What I Wore {post 67}

It's the end of February! Holla!  I can't even believe it. I am so ready for Spring.  Lots of fun on tap for this coming weekend - running, racing and visiting.   

Cream Sweater & Turquoise Pants

This was a dreary, cold Winter day and I wanted to channel Spring.  I wore my cream blousey sweater and turquoise pants/jeans.  It was a fun outfit.

Black Sheath Dress & Cream Jacket

I had a client meeting but didn't want to want to wear a suit.  So I paired my favorite black sheath (Banana Republic outlet) with a cream jacket from Banana.  It was professional and fine.   I appreciate the opportunity to avoid the whole suit thing with a dress and jacket.  :)

Emerald Pants, White Shirt, Navy Cardigan

I wore this before the Austin Half, so I was focused on wearing flats instead of heels.  I wore my emerald green pants from Banana Republic outlet (that I believe cost $7), my white Ella Moss tee that is years old (and getting a little long in the tooth if I am being honest) with my Gap outlet navy cardigan that I snagged for $5.  I wore a brown leather belt and leopard flats, too.  And I got photobombed. 

Have a great weekend! 

See you swoon,

Swoon-Worthy Eats: Easy Tortellini & Basil Soup and New Orleans Shrimp & Pasta

This time of year with the cold air and snow and ice makes me crave comfort food.  I thought I'd share two of my favorite recipes for you.   These are both in heavy rotation now on Lenten Fridays.  Enjoy! Mangia!

Easy Tortellini & Basil Soup

This is one of my favorite soups. It's so so easy and so yummy.

Ingredients

Minced garlic, four buds or the equivalent from a jar (I use more)
4 cups chicken broth
1 9 oz package cheese tortellini or mini ravioli
Salt and pepper to taste
1 14 oz can of stewed tomatoes (stick a knife in the can and cut them up before using) or diced tomatoes
1/2 bunch of fresh spinach, washed and stemmed (I use several handfuls of baby spinach)
6 fresh basil leaves, rolled and sliced 
Parmesan cheese

Process:

1.  sautee garlic in a splash of olive oil, about 2 minutes

2.  Stir in broth and tortellini, bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer until tortellini are just tender, about 5 minutes

3.  After the tortellini is tender, stir tomatoes, spinach and basil into soup. Simmer 2 minutes

4.  Serve when the spinach is still bright green. Add parmesan in each bowl. Enjoy the warm, yummy and fragrant goodness!

New Orleans Pasta & Shrimp

Gird your loins because this recipe is garlicky.  Very.  It's soooooooo good.  And pretty easy.  

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs shrimp (pre-cooked)

4 TBSP olive oil

3 or 4 garlic cloves - minced

3/4 tsp salt

2 TBSP butter

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp black pepper

4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 TBSP fresh lemon juice

box of long noodles (linguini, spaghetti, whatever you like)

crusty bread

Process:

1. toss shrimp with 2 TBSP oil, the garlic and 1/2 tsp. salt and let marinate for 15 minutes

2.  start pasta water

3.  heat butter, 2 TBSP olive oil, chili powder, black pepper, Worcestershire sauce and 1 1/4 tsp salt over low heat, stirring until butter is melted.  Add shrimp and heat through

4.  remove shrimp from heat and add lemon juice

5.   combine hot pasta and shrimp.

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmm.  Got any recipes that are good for Winter? If you know anything about me, you know I love food.  So share!  I also love kittens and sparkles.  

See you swoon,

2015 Training Recap: Weeks 7-8 & Bonus! Austin Half Playlist!

Two weeks of training in two very different climates.  Week 7 was all about easy tapering before my Austin Half Marathon, with a handful of workouts in super warm, super sunny Texas.  Week 8 was back at it here at home in the cold, the snow, the ice and the wind.  Winter please go away.  

Week 7 (Feb. 9-Feb. 15):  3:55:54 hours

Swim: 0 hours/0 yards

Bike: 30 minutes (trainer)

Run: 3:25:54 hours/23 miles

Workouts

Monday:  rest day

Tuesday:  easy bike

Wednesday:  speedwork (treadmill)

Thursday:  rest day

Friday:  easy 3 mile run

Saturday:  walk/run

Sunday:  Austin Half Marathon

There's not much to say about week 7 - it was a lot of rest in anticipation of a hard race on Sunday.  Lots of rest, lots of easy runs and bikes.  Even my speedwork on Wednesday wasn't bad and was pretty short.  The best were my workouts in Texas.  My Friday easy 3 mile run was in 65 degree sun. I was kinda happy and took this Gloaty McGloaterson picture for my friends in PA who were freezing in sub-zero temps.  

Annnnnnnd then karma gave me a big ol' womp womp with a disappointing and hard-fought race on Sunday.  Still ... worth it.

Week 8 (Feb. 16-Feb. 22):  4:25:21 hours

Swim: 0 hours/0 yards

Bike: 1:15 hours (trainer)

Run: 3:10:21 hours/19.6 miles

Workouts

Monday:  rest day

Tuesday:  easy bike

Wednesday:  walk/run

Thursday:  easy run

Friday:  rest day

Saturday:  walk/run biked instead

Sunday:  long run: 17 miles - did 13.25 instead ON THE TREADMILL

So, yeah, welcome home to cold.  And then snow! A snow day!  And then ice!  And cold!  And all of those things!  I was able to do a bike at home on Tuesday (snow day), which was fine.  Wednesday I had a walk/run and I was not going to do it on the treadmill.  I went to a park near the kids' school and wore my Yak Tracks.  It was a 10 minute walk with a 30 minute easy run. Contrast the above McGloaterson photo with McSnowerson.  

Still ... better than the treadmill!

I wonder what the cars passing by were thinking as I snapped these shots.  

Thursday was an easy run, which, given the time of day that I had to run and the extreme sub-arctic cold, I opted to do on the treadmill.  Friday was a rest day - woo hoo.  Saturday was supposed to be another walk/run, but I couldn't fit in a trip to the gym, so I opted for a longer bike ride instead: 45 minutes on the trainer.  Not too shabby.  

Sunday.  Did you read the all caps?  Yes.  I did 2 full hours (13.25 miles) on the em eff treadmill.  I didn't die, but I will tell you that if I had run literally one more second, I would have turned into the hulk, raised that treadmill over my head, and thrown it out the window of the gym.  And then jumped out the window and destroyed it with a baseball bat.  So, I had to do the treadmill because on Saturday we got a lot of snow.  And then rain.  Which turned the snow to slushy ice.  Sunday morning had terrible conditions, and I absolutely had to run early.  Treadmill it was.  I can't get Pollyanna about this run.  It was not fun and kind of terrible, but I did it.  I was supposed to do 17 miles, but that was not happening. Hopefully 13.25 is good enough.  

Up this week - more miles, and I really want to get in a swim.  I have the Ambler Frostbite Five Miler, which I've run (and managed to PR) every year for awhile now.  This year, coach has me running a little 11 mile warm up beforehand ... so I am not sure about a PR.  My eye is on the prize, which is the NJ State Marathon in late April and the Love Run Half in late March.  

Bonus!  Bonus!   I made a new playlist for the Austin Half Marathon and I'm going to share it with you.  I feel that the city of Austin might ask me to remove its name from the playlist because a cool music town like Austin will not want itself associated with the below, but it will kindly have to get over itself.  

The Austin Half was such a brutal race and I was so out of it, that I only remember one -- yes one -- song from that playlist for the entire 13.1 miles.  That song, my friends, was Neil Diamond's They're Coming to America.  It was around mile 6 and I remember thinking "Ok ... this is it.  This song is going to change this whole race for me. This is the moment." Sadly that did not happen.  I listened to this playlist on my treadmill long run and really enjoyed it!  It was as though I had never heard it before.  Ha.  Enjoy.  You're welcome in advance.  Comments in bold italics where needed.  

1812 Overture (Finale) (Charles Gerhardt & London Philharmonic Orchestra)  I defy you to hear this song and not pick up your pace.  I also defy you to not do the cymbals in the air at the appropriate place in the song.  

All Through the Night (Cyndi Lauper)

America (Neil Diamond)

Annie's Song (John Denver)

Apache (Sugarhill Gang)

Around the Way Girl (LL Cool J)

Baby, What a Big Surprise (Chicago)

Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (Jim Croce )

Brandy (Looking Glass)

Break My Stride (Matthew Wilder)

Can't Hold Us (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis)

Carefree Highway (Gordon Lightfoot)

Count On Me (Jefferson Starship)

Different Drum (The Stone Poneys)

Do You Hear the People Sing? (Les Misérables Original London Cast)

Double Dutch Bus (Frankie Smith) this song reminds me of roller skating as a kid. I start to shuffle when I hear it. 

Emotion (Samantha Sang)

Feels So Good  (Chuck Mangione) I LOVE THIS SONG. My sister and I grew up dancing to it. It's fun to run to.

Get Closer (Seals & Crofts)

Guilty (Duet With Barry Gibb) (Barbra Streisand)

Hello (Lionel Richie) Not a typo.  This song is really on here.  

I Can't Hold Back (Survivor)

I Got a Name (Jim Croce)

If You Could Read My Mind (Ela Wardi)

If You Leave Me Now (Chicago)

It's My Turn (Diana Ross)

Just Remember I Love You (Firefall)

Knowing Me, Knowing You (ABBA)

Let It Go (Demi Lovato)

Long Long Time (Linda Ronstadt)

More Than a Woman (Bee Gees)

One Moment In Time (Whitney Houston)

Party In the U.S.A. (Miley Cyrus)

Penny Lane (The Beatles)

Selling the Drama (Live)

Shadows of the Night (Pat Benatar )

Shake It Off (Taylor Swift)

Sloop John B (The Beach Boys)

Solitary Man (Neil Diamond)

Sundown (Gordon Lightfoot)

Take a Chance On Me (ABBA)

Talking In Your Sleep (The Romantics)

Theme from "Greatest American Hero" (Believe It or Not) (Joey Scarbury)

Truly (Lionel Richie) See above. Not a typo either.

You Are the Woman (Firefall ) 

You Can Do It  (Ice Cube) I imagine I'm in the movie "Save the Last Dance" when it comes on. You're the Only Woman (Ambrosia)

Pretty sure that only on my playlist can Ice Cube, Lionel Richie, Barry Gibb, ABBA, Gordon Lightfoot and the 1812 Overture peacefully coexist.  

Have a great week! 

See you swoon,

What I Wore {post 66}

Hey hey happy Friday! Who's ready for another Winter weekend? I'll close out this freezing cold week with some recent outfits.  

Black Buttondown, Grey Pencil Skirt, Dalmatian Belt

I've never worn this combination before. I liked it a lot.  I also wore patterned tights, which you cannot see in the first picture (so I took a second one where you can).  I wore my patent leather Mary Janes too.  Love them. 

Vibrant Printed Silk Blouse & Coral Pencil Skirt

This shirt is one of my new favorites.  I found it at Anthropologie after Christmas and sadly it was not on sale.   But it was one of those items where I wanted it immediately and loved everything about it and did not want to risk it selling out or not being there in the future.  So I paid full price.  I wore my coral pencil skirt with it for a lovely pop of color in the middle of Winter.

Black Polka Dot Blouse, Black Skinny Pants

I had to fly to Austin this day, so I didn't want to wear heels.  I took the easy way out and wore all black, which I find is a chic and easy way to deal with a day when I don't really know what I want to wear.  This polkadot blouse is a few years old.  The pants are fitted and work with either heels or flats.

Have a great weekend! 

See you swoon,

Organizing under the Kitchen Sink

I mentioned in my 2015 home resolutions post that I wanted to organize some of my kitchen cabinets.  One of those cabinets was the one under the kitchen sink.  It wasn't bad at all.  I had a nice sized basket under there to hold cleaners and supplies.  But I knew I could do better. 

So the first step, as is always the first step with any organizing project, was to take everything out of the cabinet and line it up.  I was surprised at the amount of stuff under there!  

I like the bag holder for the inside of the door.  That works, so that stays.  I also liked the green basket for holding cleaners and supplies.  That worked as well.  But certain things, like sponges or Mr. Clean Erasers, were tough to find in that basket.  So I bought this small drawer set to hold them. And I labeled the drawers because I like labels.  Now it is very easy to find sponges, Magic Erasers and Brillo pads!  I also bought an inexpensive plastic basket for the top of that little drawer set to hold my drying mat and my gloves.

I needed a little spot to hold my dish soap and brushes and stoppers.  Lucky for me, I had picked up a set of plastic drawer organizers at TJ Maxx and wasn't otherwise using this large one.  It works perfectly to corral the "washing dishes" stuff.

I bought a clear container to hold my dishwasher tabs.  Now I can see when I need more!  This holds about a box and a half of the tabs.  By the way, I use the Finish tabs with hydrogen peroxide.  They are amazing.  

The final touch, which I admit is a little over the top, was to bring in this pretty patterned shelf paper for the bottom of the cabinet.  I didn't like the way the bottom looked, so I invested all of $5 (Walmart) for this non-adhesive shelf paper.  Now when I open up the cabinet, I instantly smile at the pretty and the organization!  

Yes!  These are the kinds of projects that take just a little time but make a world of difference, both in their functionality and in their inspiration for me to keep moving.  Next cabinet? The one above the sink ... and it's a doozie.  One word: Tupperware.

See you swoon,