Oy, 'tis the season of holiday parties! Beer Geek and I were invited to two parties this weekend and I had a Moms Run This Town party. Quite a busy weekend! Friday was the MRTT party that I mentioned in my coffee post. It was held at a local Mexican place, so obviously the drink of choice was margaritas. I only had one small one because I was driving, but it was tasty (as were the fish tacos.) It was great to catch up with some of the ladies that I had not seen since Ragnar Cape Cod as more than half of our team was there. I also participated in the gift exchange and got really useful stuff: a flashing light for night running (which I've been actually doing lately with a group), arm sleeves, and NUUN. Lucky … [Read more...]
State of the run
Despite a few high points (Center of the Nation series, Runner's World Half and Festival weekend, and surviving the Marine Corps Marathon), I've had a rough fall when it comes to running. It took me almost two full months to recover from bronchitis and be able to breathe completely normally on a run again. Meanwhile, I was struggling with some issues in with my right hip. The hardest part of that was the pain was in a slightly different place each time I ran, so I had a hard time pinpointing the issue. So, I shut down my running for about 3 weeks. I joined a gym and worked with a trainer and set my running aside. But I'll confess: running is my first love. I'll do other workouts to support my running, but I only do it because I need to. … [Read more...]
Gift Guide for Winter Running
It's that time of year! Time to figure out what you are giving the runner in your life. Luckily for you, the topic for Tuesdays on the Run this week is gifts for runners. If you can't find something cool in the lists you find here, then you are going to just have to settle for a gift card. Personally, I'm a big fan of immediate gratification when it comes to holiday gifts. I mean, I love to get a race entry or maybe the promise of a future race trip as much as the next girl runner, but there's something about opening a gift that's for RIGHT NOW that just makes getting the gift even better. (Patience is obviously not one of my virtues...) And you know what gifts work for runners RIGHT NOW? Things that help them run in the … [Read more...]
Five Favorite Holiday Beers
Ah, it's Friday. And Friday means beer! Conveniently, the Friday Five topic with Cynthia, Mar, and Courtney is favorite fall drinks. You know I'm going to take the opportunity to share my beer love with you. And I know my holiday beers. Every year, I scour the area and buy 10 15 as many holiday beers as I can find. My excuse is that I'm buying them for our beer tasting that we hold every winter after the holidays are over, but I'll be honest, I'm really just a beer hoarder. One year I bought so many that we were still drinking them in October. (Right now I have a double stacked row of beers in my basement. I told Beer Geek I was done buying unless something special comes along. My definition of special is pretty liberal LOL) While it is … [Read more...]
Less Stress, More Joy – Nava Health & Vitality Center
I am receiving compensation for this event and review, but all opinions are my own. Last week I was invited to a talk at the Nava Health and Vitality Center. The topic of the evening centered around enjoying the holidays more, with "less stress, anxiety, weight gain and more happiness, family time and joy." Sounded like a good plan to me, so I was happy to attend. The event took place in the small lobby area of the Nava Health and Vitality Center. Nava is an integrated health center that focuses on the whole you. It offers services from massage to acupuncture to chiropractic care to life coaching to bio-identical hormone optimization therapy. The unique part is that they use what they call the Nava Method to create a plan … [Read more...]
Connect with family over the holidays with Cricket Wireless
Cricket Wireless sponsored this post, but all opinions are my own. It's hard to believe that we are approaching the end of the year! Soon Thanksgiving will be here, quickly followed by Christmas. I love the holidays, but I struggle every year with the fact that most of our family does not live near us. As you know, we live on the East Coast but we have family on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, in Wisconsin, and on the West Coast. Yes, we are about as scattered as we can be. Growing up as a military brat, we used to send letters in the mail to family members when we couldn't get home for Christmas. Times have changed! Now my kids video chat or send emails or texts to their grandparents in different states. Occasionally, my kids will … [Read more...]
A Very Merry Christmas Survey
Merry Christmas Eve from the MCM Mama household. I couldn't resist a quick little survey I saw on Jill Conyer's blog about how we celebrate the holidays. Egg Nog or hot chocolate? I love them both, but at Christmas, I prefer Egg Nog. Especially if it's got a little something special in it. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa only brings one present per person and it's always wrapped. He even has his own paper. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Colored on the tree (it came "pre-lit") and we've never strung lights on the house. (The top picture is my parents' house. My dad loves to decorate.) For a lot of years, we had a moving, light up reindeer on our porch. It made it really easy for … [Read more...]
Join me for some holiday challenges!
First, have you entered my Scott James Sports Jewelry giveaway yet? If you haven't, you really really really should. Just sayin'. Ends tonight. I'm participating in some challenges to start getting into a healthy holiday mood. Why don't you join me? Instagram: I'm doing two Instagram challenges. (Do you follow me on instagram? You should! My feed is full of pictures of beer, cats, and poor fashion choices. C'mon, you know you want to!) Details here. Details here Mileage: I'm not doing so hot at my own challenge. My foot is just not on board. That's ok, though, I'm not eligible for prizes anyways LOL. And I'm doing a great job of cross training. Have you joined? Need to update your numbers? Go here. (Late comers, feel … [Read more...]
Five favorite things about Halloween
It's Friday again? Really? This is good, but wow, how did the week fly by so fast? I guess if it's Friday, it must be Friday Five and since today is Halloween, it must be "Five favorite things about Halloween" Friday! So, here are my five favorites: 1. This guy He joined us on Halloween 9 years ago. He was 2 weeks early, so I was totally shocked to wake up to my water breaking in the middle of the night and to be holding him in my arms less than 7 hours later. He's still my favorite Halloween treat! 2. Candy (no picture because I haven't bought it yet LOL) I don't eat a lot of candy. In fact, I pretty much don't keep any in the house. However, I'm pretty lenient with both the kids and myself on Halloween. My … [Read more...]
Egg, nut, and dairy free Halloween cupcakes
October is sugar month in our house. Between a mid-October birthday (how am I the mom of a TEEN now??) and a Halloween birthday (yes, Shoo was born ON Halloween) and Halloween itself, it seems like I am always baking in this house during October. Sadly, I'm not the best baker in the world. Add in the food allergies in our house and October used to be a bit stressful for me. Luckily, when the kids were little, I found (and tweaked) a couple of recipes and they've become our standard recipes for Halloween baked goods. Chocolate Cupcakes Growing up, we used to eat what we called Wacky Cake. I think it was called that because a) it has no eggs in it and b) you mix it in the pan if you are making a cake. I use it for cupcakes … [Read more...]
Happy Fourth of July from the Nation’s Capital!
Happy Fourth of July to all my friends inside the computer! Happy Birthday to my mom as well! Hope it's an awesome one! Stay safe, my reader friends and enjoy your holiday! … [Read more...]
Old School Blogging: Holiday Edition
I just saw this on Laura's blog last night. It's been a while since I did a blogging survey and I've got a head cold and need to wrap presents (must go watch the video on Christmas wrapping a cat...), so here you go... 1 Holy Night or 8 Crazy Ones? (Do you Celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, both?) We celebrate Christmas. Depending on the year, it's either a really quiet time at home or lots of family stuff in the cold that is Wisconsin. This year is one of the quiet years. Peppermint or Chocolate? Both, please! Pretty sure that Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Joe Joe's are the best.thing.ever. Sing us into the Holiday Season, what is your favorite Carol this time of year? I love most carols, but the one … [Read more...]
