Plan for the Week

CIM recovery has gone pretty well. I feel good, and nothing feels like it's injured or needs rest. I reverse-tapered last week, and it wasn't terrible.

I spent the entire week eating ridiculous things, and saying, "But I JUST ran a marathon!". Yeah. A week, and a jillion calories ago, lady. STOP IT.

Food is just so delicious.

Tuesday: Super easy pace with my neighbor. Felt good - a little tight, but nothing funky.
Saturday: 5 miles, with 4x800. I did the 800's at my 10k goal pace, and it was HARD. My legs are still sleepy.
Sunday: 11 easy miles on the treadmill, watching Alias.
21 miles total

Sadly, I think CIM wrecked my beloved Glycerin's - my feet were pretty achy about 8 miles in, which has NEVER happened with that shoe. Boo.

This week...
Tuesday: 7 miles, strides
Thursday: 7 miles easy
Saturday: 10k... with a PR attempt?? Maaaaaybe?
Sunday: 16 miles ugggghhhhhh

Next time I think marathons 5 weeks apart is a good plan, I hope someone kicks me.

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Over the weekend, we took Gabby and #2 to a birthday party...

I MADE THAT BOW. Be impressed. I also made that kid, but the bow is bigger than her head.

  ...while #1 and I headed to the mall to see Breaking Dawn.

Except the theater was closed, along with THE ENTIRE FOOD COURT, due to a power outage. What the heck, Irvine.

We spent the time instead shopping for Christmas presents for everyone....

Gift wrapping benefits a local high school's Make a Wish fundraiser - winning for lazy-yet-charitable people!

...and for meeeee

It was a good weekend to be me.

Foursquare

I use Foursquare a LOT on the weekends. I don't know why, nothing is THAT exciting or interesting. But I do.

And only on the weekends. I'm not sure why; it's a weird quirk.

My weekend started with a walk with The H to pick up some breakfast. I tried to talk him into racing me to a stop sign, but he shot me straight down FAST. Rude.

Look! We have autumn in OC!

Kind of.

These little creepers hang out everywhere when it rains. And, um. That one is naked. Eek.

There's a rad little donut shop down the street from me that makes donuts fresh, 24/7. Donuts and coffee. Freaking delicious.

Then, headed to the mall. With two of my favorite things.

I am fairly desperately in need of (more) (smaller) work clothes. But, I'm also jaded. I hate hate hate clothes shopping, so very much. Hate. A lot. I'm never happy, I always hate how I look, I'm generally a bitter, angry shopper when it comes to clothing (let's discuss shoes and purses, though....).

But Saturday. Something magic happened. I did not want to kick myself while in the dressing room. I tried on some ridiculous things

(I did not buy the dresses. Maybe if I were going to Vegas...)

So there were winners, and there were definite losers... but the losers were all because... stuff was giant on me. That's new.

Huh.

Next check-in? Target.

But apparently the WRONG Target.

Gabby wanted to go to the Target with a giant tower. I thought this was a giant tower.

I guess not so much.

I needed eggs. They were out of eggs. Rude. But I did snag another pair of....

Most brilliant invention ever, and I apologize for all the times I made fun of such a ridiculous garment. I was wrong.

Then.

Then. We made a glorious discovery.

Man. I have REALLY missed Cuban food, and this stuff was stellar.

Off to another Target to buy eggs....

I go often....

Also out. RUDE.

Apparently there's a giant Target egg shortage in OC? Who knew.

SUNDAY!

Sunday, super duper early, I hit up a local theater to pre-screen Breaking Dawn before 1 & 2 saw it. I read the books (more than once...), so I know there's baby makin' happening.

Summary: Meh.

Tried on more clothes that I didn't hate!!

My socks, festive, right? (Here's a secret: we got some exciting news from Make a Wish last week, that I'm not sharing yet. Hint. Hint.).

Grabbed my first Caramel Brulee of the season from Starbucks - best drink EVER. I keep forgetting to pay with my Sbux card... fail on me.

Headed home - outdoor malls may be one of SoCal's best features, but less so when it's raining all day.

Brrrr.

Gabby and I spent the rest of the day baking things.

#1 and I watched Ghost Adventures in between baking adventures. Which was followed that night by her not falling asleep for HOURS because she freaked herself out (That's cute. Not really.).

Skyped with my youngest sister and my niece and nephew...

Gab was SUPER CRAZY-EYED PSYCHED about something

And then we put a puzzle together....

....the end.

My $75/week grocery budget

A couple people asked how we keep our grocery budget around $75 a week for our family of 5.

It's a combination of things - smart shopping, cooking from scratch, and the good fortune of living in Southern California.

But, in an attempt to clarify how our $75 are spent, this is kind of what I do....

• Peruse the weekly sales ads. This is what is on sale here this week... You can click any of these for a larger picture.

Did you catch this gem??

• Buy what's on sale. Seems obvious. A lot of people do meal planning, and shop around that. I do the opposite - I buy what's on sale, and build my meal plan from there. One of my favorite markets, Sprouts, has "Double Ad Wednesday's", where you can shop the previous week's sale in addition to the new sale.

• Shop on the outside of the store - dairy, meats, produce, the end. I rarely venture into the aisles.

• Cook from scratch. The only thing I can think of, off hand, that we buy pre-made is some breakfast stuff - cereal (if it's on sale, duh), waffles, and sometimes pancake mix. A lot of times we make pancakes from scratch, but if the mix that The H likes is on sale, we buy it. It's delicious, so I don't care. But we don't make dinners out of a box, ever. I make bread pretty often, but haven't yet mastered sandwich bread, so we still buy that. Oh, and Kraft Shells and Cheese. Gabby loves that stuff.

• If there's an AMAZING sale, particularly on meat, stock the hell up. Whole roasting chickens, for example, regularly go on sale for something dumb like $0.49/lb. I buy a few.

• Don't be scared of things - tough, inexpensive cuts of meat are great for the crock pot.
  

• Don't waste stuff - roast chicken one night; pull the remaining meat off, and use for pasta, enchiladas, chicken tacos, etc. another night; use the carcass to make stock, and use the stock to make soup.

• Shop what's in season. I've said it before, but we are exceptionally lucky to live here, and have access to fresh, local produce all year long. When produce here is in season, it's a STEAL. Apples will go down to $0.49/lb, broccoli and cauliflower are regularly $0.99/head, bell peppers 3-4/$1, onions, radishes, green onions, cucumbers, parsley, cilantro are often 3/$1. We buy only what's on sale, and what's in season.

• The best part about buying seasonal produce? Man, the taste. It TASTES so much better than an apple that was picked forever ago.Buying seasonally was a shock to me, at first. It never occurred to me, being in Florida, the land of perpetual sun and hot, shopping in grocery stores exclusively, that fruits and vegetables have growing seasons. Turns out? When you buy stuff in season, it fits.... the season. Berries, tomatoes in the summer. Stone fruits in the fall. Squash and root vegetables in the winter. Cherries, asparagus in the spring. It's magic. And these things lend themselves to cooking the way you WANT to in those seasons - summer produce almost always taste best with minimal preparation. Winter veggies? Roast those goodies. It all seems.. purposeful. It makes sense.

And, it's cheaper. Classic supply and demand - when there's a bounty, prices drop.

• I have access to a TON of shopping - small markets, regular grocery chains, Target 4 of them!!), Costco (3 of them!), a local farmer's market. Some within walking distance, all within a 5 minute drive. So it's no big deal for me to stop at a couple places on my way around town to get what is on sale at each place. That obviously isn't the case for everyone, and not everyone wants to do that - it doesn't bug me, so I do it and save a few bucks.

• I bake a lot. I keep baking supplies on hand, and try to make desserts that can last for days without people getting annoyed or tired of them. We do a LOT of chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and sometimes cakes. We buy ice cream pretty frequently, too, because it's freaking delicious.

• SHOP THE BULK BINS, but only when it makes sense. I buy rice, beans, quinoa, oats, nuts, and some candies (gummy worms, I'm a little addicted). For me, flour and sugar are NOT cheaper in the bulk bins, but I buy the biggest bag of each that I can reasonably store.

• We buy the staples - milk, eggs, sandwich bread, etc - at Target. It's almost always cheaper there. Unless there's a rad sale somewhere. I try to keep my pantry well stocked, and tend to shop from there, and improvise rather than running out to the market if I'm missing an ingredient...

(Obviously, that only works if it's a non-essential ingredient ;). )

With two kids on two different school schedules, one kid with special dietary needs (temporarily - Gab can't have dairy in the afternoons/night with her evening chemo), and a picky H, putting meals together is sometimes a challenge, and sometimes, disjointed. This is what a typical day looks like:

Breakfast
#1 - fruit, or dry cereal, or peanut butter toast
#2 - dry cereal, or fruit
#3 & The H - pancakes
Me - yogurt, or overnight oats, or PB&J, usually at the office during the week

Lunch
#1 & #2 - neither like to take lunch, or buy lunch, so they bring snacks, and eat when they get home. Either leftovers from the night before, a sandwich, salad, etc.
#3 & The H - sandwiches, wraps, mac and cheese, hot dogs, etc.
Me - Usually sandwich, and/or salad, sometimes leftovers (they kind of creep me out, though)

Dinner
This is the meal we all eat together, usually. I normally cook, because I like to, and The H works from home in the evenings, so he may or may not be available. We do a wide range of things, and a LOT of it is casual stuff, particularly during the week. Sloppy joes (homemade, not the can!), grilled chicken and rice, pasta, stir fry, etc.

Snacks
Produce
PopChips (Costco has these SUPER cheap, and we all love them)
Whatever junk food we happen to have hanging out
Cheese

So, yeah. That's about it. Nothing ground breaking or revolutionary. We eat really well, we eat mostly healthily, and we don't really get bored - which is pretty much the key to success.

How to have the best Birthday Weekend ever

(So, first, I'm just calling it out. I'm quitting Suck Less. Not forever, but for this week, at least. I need a break, I'm tired of the program right now, and just bleh. I'm going to try to incorporate some other cross-training things, but for now, I don't even want to discuss a push up or tricep dip.)

Anyway.

Recipe for the Best Birthday Weekend Ever

1. Show a 10K who's boss.

2. Have a husband who not only accepts your love of The Mouse...

...but also makes TWSS jokes.

3. Have the best internet friend ever, who didn't believe The H when he said "She likes bright things to run in", but bought these for you anyway....

4. After finishing the day with pizza, beer, and pool, and the cutest, most disgruntled baby ever....

....sleep from 10pm until 8am. Because that's not your baby.

5. Follow up French Toast and bacon in the morning with a stop at the farmers market, where a miracle happens. You find the Baconmania truck.

No words.

6. Go shoe shopping, "for The H"...

7. Let #3 try on anything that looks fun at Target...

8. Use the Sports Authority gift cards that you got for Mother's Day to buy a swimsuit appropriate for a tri...

...and also appropriate if you ever get lost at sea and need to be found.

9. Finally, FINALLY, bake the perfect cupcake. Vanilla, with mocha frosting, and toasted coconut.

The end.

Scavennger Hunt Wednesday

A few weeks ago, I tried on a dress. It was at an Ann Taylor store. It might have been an Ann Taylor outlet? But I'm not sure that it was.

Anyway, the dress was RAD. Strapless, cotton knit, not jersey though. Black and white stripes, horizontal on top, and diagnoal on the bottom.

It was perfect. I don't know why I didn't buy it then, but now I WANT IT. And I can't find it. I've scoured AnnTaylor.com, and AnnTaylorLoft.com, ebay, and nothing. It disappeared :(

SO FRUSTRATING!! And, of course, now that I can't find it, I really, really want it. It's all in the thrill of the hunt.

Ebay had a TON of similar - and honestly, cuter - dresses. But those are too easy. I want the impossible.

Maybe I should enlist Sarah Soon To Be. I hear she's an expert shopper.

Off to hunt down a dress.....

'Tis the season

I love Disney.

I also love a good sale.

Which prompted me to visit Downtown Disney at 5:45am for some ridiculous sale at World of Disney.

Dude. These people are NO JOKE. It's like we're in Soviet Russia and there's a bread line. People have commandeered entire corners of this store to lay out all the crap they've grabbed, so they can sort and decide what they want.

I'm guessing this is what Walmart is like on Black Friday, but with fewer mullets.

I might be scarred. This isn't really magical.



UPDATE: after moving about 10 feet in the checkout line in 40 minutes, and having at least another hour to go, I quit. I'm not as hardcore as I thought, apparently.

Why today is awesome

1. I recieved a sticker yesterday from SUAR. That makes TWO stickers on my car, both beginning with "Shut Up".

2. My hair is a life-form of its own and must be doubling the size of my head.

3. I totally just told off a chick via email who filed a chargeback erroneously.

4. I'm THISCLOSE to talking H into letting me buy a pair of shoes for $140.

5. The fact that they are running shoes instead of fancy shoes makes me smile.

6. It's lunchtime, and Togo's has some fab mushroom and brie soup that I am loving.

7. I took #1 out for few hours one-on-one time Sunday. On the way to the car, she said, "That was fun, mama." It was a few days ago, but it still makes me happy. She's almost 12. I think my days of THAT are dwindling.

8. I wanted to go to Sbux today, but I didn't. Restraint!

9. The Disney Princess half is still at 65%. Woohoo!!

10. Thanksgiving ham is FINALLY gone!

11. Snork and I have a date tonight :D


What's making YOUR day awesome?

Three Things Thursday!

1. This is my average pace by week over the last 7 weeks since I started c25k:

I hear race pace is even faster, something about the "excitement" and "adrenaline". Helllloooo, Running Skirt.

2. I am currently plotting my Thanksgiving/Black Friday plan of attack. I am one of those crazies that shops on Black Friday. So far, this looks like my game plan: race at 7am. Collect my free stuff. Come home and watch a parade (heehee). Cook a bunch of stuff to undo the 7am race. Toys r us 10pm. Outlet mall at midnight. Coach around 2am. Home by 3. Macys at 4. Misc other shopping. Sleep. Eat pie for breakfast. Shop. Go see Tangled. Shop. Eat more pie.

It's going to be epic. I am sad My Sister won't be around to not sleep and eat pie and shop with.

3. I find that I am *really* missing hiking lately. I was considering a quick hike this weekend, but there's rain in our forecast. But soon, I think I have to. My trail shoes look sad and lonely. I've gotten so focused on sucking less at running, that everything is revolving around that, and I'm afraid I'll get burnt out. I've spent a small fortune on race registrations, so... burn out cannot happen. And, plus, variety is the spice of life and all that, right?! Besides, winter and spring are my favorite times to hike in SoCal - the air is cool and clean, everything is green and lovely. Sigh. Next weekend, for sure.

Between a round of pie and a nap.

"All that we send into the lives of others comes back into our own"

My Sister gave me this award... which involves me telling you all (that sounds so dramatic, doesn't it?!) 10 things that make me happy.

This is a toughie.

LOTS of things make me happy.

I'll try to contain myself.

1. Coffee. Or Chai. Soy, with no water. Mmmmmm.
2. Seasons... I love them all. Every time the season shifts, I start waxing philosophical about how utterly magical the "new" season is. The truth is, I love all of them, and the subtle shifts that I see in SoCal make me happy.
3. The people in my life. Family, friends, coworkers alike. I dig 'em all.
4. Driving with the windows down and loud music playing.
5. Hiking.
6. The Mall. I heart all of it... MAC, Macys, Nordstroms, Bloomies, shoes, Starbucks, Disney Store, Gap.....
7. The beach. Specifically, the SoCal beaches. The sand is different, the water is cold, the sun is bright, Catalina in the distance, tidepools, seals...
8. Tissues with lotion.
9. Cooking.
10. Disney!

Ta da! 10 things that make me happy.

Passing this along to.... Snork, as well as Stacy at Moderate Means.

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”

Pretty intense, right?

I've fallen a bit off the frugal, no-box wagon as of late, and need to hop back on.

I'm not really sure where my failure was... I am certainly not sucking less at this rate. I didn't gym last week, except Monday. I ate out Friday night, and Saturday lunch. I ordered pizza last night. Sigh.

I have gymmed twice this week, so far. And intend to do something tonight, even if it's not in the gym. But honestly? That first night "back" was crappy. It felt like I'd never done anything ever but sit on my ass. Yoga was a whole new experience. If THAT ain't motivation to keep on keepin' on, I don't know what is.

Anyway. Onward and upward, right? Bringing the awesome this week...

Friday night, we went to this place that claims to have the "World's best burgers". Sadly, they lied. I mean, it was okay, but. The WORLD'S best!? Doubtful. I've experienced In N' Out, my friend, and this was no In N' Out. But, they did have Dos Equis Amber, so... I'll give them bonus points there. Nice work, place whose name I can't recall.

Saturday, I took the kidlets to Corner Bakery for lunch. I can't even tell you why, but I adore the hell out of Corner Bakery. We trolled through Snork's favorite Goodwill in Huntington Beach, and saw this lovely dress... along with these boots.... Then hit up our fave Japanese market, and picked up some Pocky's, and sukiyaki ingredients, which was a huge win.
Sunday. I did nothing. At all. I quite literally planted my ass in my couch and watched hulu and netflix all day. It was epic.

Monday, I had the idea that I would take the kidlets to the beach. Apparently, ALL of OC had the same idea, so we diverted to Pacific Whey Cafe to eat cupcakes on the patio overlooking the ocean.
Last night we picked up some chairs for our dining room... so for the first time in 6 months, we can EAT at our table, sitting in chairs! Thanks, Ikea!

I got to sleep in today (on a work day!) 'cause #3's daycare is closed. So rad that I get to pay full price for 3 days this week, daycare!! RAD!

So. Despite falling off (a teeny bit), I think I'm back on. I have a list to shop this weekend, and I won't stray. I've got visions of awesome meals dancing about in my head, and getting back on my training plan for the marathon in June. I have a spa gift certificate I can use up... massage and facial?! I think I will. The weather is going to be conducive to relaxing at home, and since my home is "mostly" clean, there's not much else for me to do.. Netflix should be delivering Alias: Season 3 to me tomorrow... I think my favorite cousin is coming for dinner. So, really. What IS there to complain about? It's all pretty awesome :)