Need motivation

Wow, I thought having a dog would help me get up at the crack ass of dawn and go running. It has helped me, I do get up super early at least 3 days a week to go for run with my dog Kahlua. Some days I've managed to even fit 5 miles in before I have to work at 7am (those are days I really impress myself).

Well, for some reason lately my pooch has turned into one of those people that just pushes the snooze buttons and goes back to bed! I literally had to drag her out from under my bed, REPEATEDLY! I had to put her on a leash at one point to even keep her from returning to her slumbers. Sometimes, we've even gotten out the door, and she'll turn around and want back into the house! This makes it so hard for me to stay out of bed and hit the pavement when she does this. Especially when I know that she can get away without exercising regularly. She's a pretty calm dog. She's really not a morning person though...

 Look at this super cute picture of her when she was a puppy!!

We'll be moving our runs to afternoons once the weather cools down.  It's really not too hot for me (at least this week is better). But she really does not like the hot humid weather. She can only stand walking slowly for 20 minutes before she starts racing to the shady spots and plopping herself down in some cool grass. Oh well, what can ya do. Lucky for her tomorrow is my yoga day, so sleeping in for both of us, I do yoga after work. 

Namaste!

Getting to Know you Sunday

Time for another Getting to Know Sunday over at MannLand5. Here are the questions for this week!

1. Thong or Granny Panties?

What panties? 

  What's the point of panties/thongs if this is gonna happen?

2. If you see a guy with his fly down, do you tell him?

Only if it was someone I knew... I don't just go up to strangers and tell them their situation, I guess that's bad of me...

How embarrassing....

 
3. Spanx or no Spanx?

No Spanx. At least hopefully I will never feel the need to wear them...

4. Do you sleep in your sheets?

Right now we only sleep in sheets, but really it's been even too hot for those!

  Nice! ;)

5. What is your favorite Disney character?

Ariel will always be my favorite Disney character!!

6. Dream vacation spot?

Honestly I would love to have a vacation that would be exploring the New England countryside during the autumn season! I love the North East and the fall.

7. What is your dream job?

Honestly I'm half way to having my dream job. I love being a physical therapist and I would love to someday own my own practice that would integrate some holistic approaches and provide instruction in yoga and Pilates.

 
8. Who is your hero and why?

Right now I would have to say someone who I admire and would like to strive to be more like is Rebecca Pacheco who is yogi from Boston who has a great and inspirational blog  

The World According to Om Gal  

She's a yoga instructor who lives in Boston (somewhere I hope to live in the near future), she's also a runner, and health nut with great tips. She's also mentally stimulating as well with inspirational quotes and philosophy that truly inspire me to begin integrating yoga practice for all it's worth into my life.  If you're also interested in some inspiration and great tips, check out her blog!

Happy Sunday, hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend! Back to work tomorrow...

Happy 101 Award

I received an award that I overlooked! I've been so out of it!!

So, the Happy 101 Award from Cafe Bellini. Thank you so much!

Things that make me Happy!!
- Cuddling up on the couch with my husband after a long day's work to veg out and watch TV. (Netflix has been way too addicting)

 Us out for volleyball at a local bar

-Watching my cats go nuts over catnip, they have way too many catnip toys and they love them!

-Something that is so amazing that I love and wish I could do all the time is to sit outside (at a restaurant or on our back deck) with dear friends drinking and talking for hours. I especially love seating at a cafe outside in a great city, especially a city in Europe so great!!

 Martini on my back deck!

-Lazy weekends. I get to sleep in and do whatever I want!

 Lazy Sunday

-Being with my family, usually relaxing, drinking wine, eating good food, and laughing about funny stories we all tell.

Vacay in Germany, first beers of the trip!
 
This award goes to:

2Bloggeristas

It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

From my Somewhat Serious Mind

A day in the Life of a Grad Student's Wife 

Looking Forward to hearing what makes you happy!!

Top 2 Tuesday

Top 2 Tuesday today is the top 2 purchases I would like to make! Only 2?! Ok....

1) The Roomba!! This little vacuum is amazing!! Just turn it on and it does all the work while you do other things.  They even make one especially for having pets, and I have 4 pets and so much hair on my wood floors!!

2) I would love to have the MacBook Pro! So, sexy!

Well, I'm out for the evening, gotta go cuddle up on the couch with my hubby!

Seven Colors Award

Sorry I have been MIA this past week! I've gotten lazy... But anywho I must thank Shelley Ann over at Painting the Memories for passing along an award called "Seven Colors".  Thanks so much Shelley Ann!! 

The award requires that you list 7 things that make you happy! This will be fun!

1) My lovely husband of course!

2) My 3 funny cats and dog, they are like my kids right now.... it's kind of sad.

The kitties look so creepy in this pic right?

Kahlua is such a ham, always posing for the camera

3) My family!!

4) Coffee!!!

5) Running with my dog when I get my ass out the door... more how I feel afterward or when I'm having a really good running day.

6) Fresh produce, so inspiring...mmmm

7) Playing violin with my sister, we do weddings! ( This is an old photo of us, I couldn't find any others..)

Blogs who deserve this award...

Tarryn & Allison  @ 2Bloggeristas

Freck @ It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

Cafe Bellini

Melissa @ From my Somewhat Serious Mind

Can't wait to hear what makes everyone happy!!

Top 2 Tuesday

Top 2 favorite Summer Recipes!

Potato, Leek, and Feta Tart

I love this recipe, and when I've made it, everyone has thought it was great!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 leeks (white and light green parts), cut into half-moons
• 2 small zucchini, cut into half-moons
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1/2 cup crumbled Feta (about 2 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 2 Red Bliss potatoes (8 ounces), thinly sliced
• 1 store-bought 9-inch piecrust

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375º F. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks, zucchini, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the Feta and dill. Add the potatoes and toss to combine.
2. On a piece of parchment paper, roll the piecrust to a 12-inch diameter. Slide the paper onto a baking sheet. Spoon the potato mixture onto the piecrust, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold the edge of the piecrust over the edge of the potato mixture. Bake (covering with foil if the crust gets too dark) until the piecrust is golden brown and the potatoes are tender, 50 to 60 minutes. 

Peanut Butter and Chicken Noodles With Carrot and Cucumber Ribbons

This is such a great recipe that is sooo easy to make. I usually use Soba noodles, and whatever veggies I feel like throwing in or have available, raw veggies are better. You don't really need to use chicken if you want to make it vegetarian.

Ingredients

• 1 8-ounce package thin rice noodles or sticks
• 1 2- to 2 1/2-pound rotisserie chicken
• 1 carrot
• 1 seedless cucumber
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

Directions

1. Place the noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot tap water; let soak until soft, 25 to 30 minutes. Drain in a colander or large strainer.
2. Meanwhile, using your fingers, shred the chicken meat, discarding the skin and bones. Use a vegetable peeler to make long strips of the carrot and cucumber.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, soy sauce, and 6 tablespoons water until smooth.
4. Divide the noodles, chicken, carrot, and cucumber among 4 bowls. Drizzle with the dressing.

Bon appetite! 

Substance Award

I've gotten a few awards these past few weeks and I'm having trouble keeping up with them all!! So, I received the same award recently from 2 great bloggers, Tarryn & Allison at 2Bloggeristas and Chloe at Tryin' to Throw My Arms Around the World. "A Blog With Substance" Award.

The rules are as follows:

1. Thank the blogger who bestowed the award on you.

2. Sum up your blogging experience, philosophy, and motivation in 5 words.

3. Pass the award on to 10 deserving bloggers.

 My Blogosophy:

To inspire and promote Health!

 10. Deserving Bloggers

1) Natasha @ A Day In the Life

2) Jennifer @ Aspiring Fashionista

3) Cara @ Lilac and Grey

4) Melissa @ From My Somewhat Serious Mind

5)Kelsey Claire Lavender Leopard,  & Lace

6)Marcie @ Lemons and Laundry

7)Freck @ It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

8) Steph S. A Day In the Life

9)Shelley Ann @ Painting the Memories

10) YoursTruly @ These Things I'll Never Say...

I feel like I can't keep up with everything lately! I still have a ton of emails I haven't even been able to look at and delete. 

TGIF!!

I'm so excited it's Friday! Every Friday I always get this one song stuck in my head by Franz Ferdinand called Jaqueline about how it's better on holiday. Totally how I feel sometimes...



It really is better on holiday... Happy Weekend!

Versatile Blogger Award

I actually received the same award from 2 great bloggers. Thank you to Kelly over at Kelly's Avenue & Stephanie over at A day in the Life of a Grad Student's Wife.

There are some rules to this award:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award (Thank you Stephanie & Kelly!)
2. Share seven things about you

(1) I love pasta, especially macaroni and cheese.

(2) I would love to have my own farm! I would have chickens, and goats, cows, maybe some horses, and definitely lots of cats and dogs! I love animals!

(3) I want to live in Boston someday.

(4) I love to travel!  I've been all over the United States and to several countries.I've been to Canada, Sweden, England, France, Spain, and Germany, I think those are all the countries I've been to...

(5) I don't like shopping for clothes, but I do love shopping at Target for all sorts of stuff.  I just wonder around the store most of the time looking at what they have in all the different departments.

(6) I love yoga and wish I was better at it and sticking to doing it regularly.

(7) I love organization, but my house appears to argue otherwise... there are not enough hours in a day!

3. Nominate 15 newly discovered blogs

4. Let your nominees know about the award

Again, I will have to figure out some nominees!

Top 2 Tuesday: Top Purchases

So, this week's Top 2 Tuesday over at The Undomestic Momma is what are my Top 2 Favorite 2 purchases so far this year.
Well, first purchase for sure is something my husband got for me for my birthday (I didn't purchase it, but technically our money comes from the same place, right?)... an iPod Touch!

Love it! I have so many applications that I really don't always take advantage of, but its fun! I still wouldn't mind a smartphone of some kind, but really I don't NEED one, I just want one. I'm way too much into gadgets.

Second purchase is kind of different, but it something I really did need. Has anyone ever heard of YurBuds?

These were such a great purchase for me! All winter when I was running outside the only thing that kept my headphones in my ears were my ear muffs! So, when I went to a fitness expo I totally was sold on these ingenious things! They size your ear and they stay in your ear no matter how much you move! They are also suppose to be safer for your ear since you don't need to turn up the music louder like you would normal ear phones. I was excited to buy the pink ones also cuz part of the money for them went to breast cancer research.

Well, I guess those aren't very exciting items, but they are things that I enjoy and kind of "need".

Hot Monday

Decided to take part in this Monday Blog hop, cuz I can't seem to find that many Monday blog hops. So my random ramblings for Monday.

{1} So, this past week has been the best weather ever, no humidity the hottest it gets was 80s. However, yesterday started the nasty humidity again and higher temperatures, there are even "severe hot weather" warnings until Wednesday.  I'm not excited about it, I hate how hot it can get here! I've gotta make myself get up super early tomorrow and get my run in cuz it will be soooo hot tomorrow afternoon.

{2} I need a hair cut, thinking of finding a new hairstylist. I really need to change the color, any hairstyle suggestions or cuts?

{3} Summer TV isn't that good, and nothing is new tonight!

{4} We live on such a busy main street and not a day goes by that a loud ambulance or police car goes screaming past our house.  It makes it a little more difficult for us to enjoy our TV watching.

{5} I watch way too much TV...

Flash from the past...

I didn't get a chance to post like I would have liked to this weekend because I went home and was pretty busy with my parents/family. I love going to my parents for the weekends, especially in the summers because they have a pool and it started again with the heat this weekend! So, I definitely got some sun, but not burnt this time around.

So, the funniest thing I did this weekend was I offered to help my mom organize all of our old photos that have been sitting in  a box in the living room. Well, its actually just 1 box of photos of several boxes (a lot more boxes.... eek!).  So, it's going to take time, but I started scanning and organizing the family memories. There are sooo many!! It was hilarious though.  Seeing old pics of me and my siblings, we look so funny!! Of course I hate the pictures of me from my awkward era... maybe they could disappear on accident?

This picture is actually really really embarrassing, cuz it really shows how much a dork I was (and still am) when I was a kid.

Yea for those of you who could possibly be sci-fi nuts, that's me dressed up as a Star Trek character (The Next Generation, for those of you who may wonder, probably no one knows the difference... yea I'm a huuuuuge dork...).

Here's one of me, and I think I had a perm?! Cuz my hair is pretty straight, and it was even more straight when I was a kid. This is me holding my violin, and I have a strange look on my face... I was such a dork!! I think I was cuter when I was a lot younger!

So, now I've shared some pretty embarrassing photos of my childhood (I'll be looking through a lot more!!) But, if anyone is inspired, post your own!! You should never take yourself too seriously, right?