Will Run for Chocolate: Hot Chocolate 15K Recap

Just a reminder to check out my Bakery on Main gluten-free oatmeal review & giveaway (ends Friday!). 

Mondays still suck guys. Yesterday I was exhausted from the weekend and had a busy day at work, with the only break being an impromptu lunch date with the boyfriend, which was followed by rushing to class in the rain and arriving 20 minutes late only to find lecture had been cancelled. I hung out in the library for an hour until lab started when I could have been napping at home, ugh.

On a happier note, the weekend ended up being lovely and full of family time, running, and chocolate!

I drove up to Philadelphia on Saturday for the Hot Chocolate 15K/5K race packet pickup. I had to get to my parents' house by the early afternoon for a little day trip down to Atlantic City so I was rushing around in the morning and packed in a hurry.  Packet pickup was in University City near the University of Penn, which is a really pretty area. I was especially happy a Starbucks was on my way because I needed my coffee fix! They had the packet pickup at small sports store which was surprisingly efficient and fast. Even though it's not a brand-name or anything, I really do like the pullover we got in lieu of a race shirt or medal.  

Bakery on Main Gluten-Free Instant Oatmeal Review & Giveaway!

Disclaimer: I was given boxes of Bakery on Main oatmeal to review and giveaway on my blog. I am a Bakery on Main  Brand Ambassador but received no compensation for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always. 

As a Truebar-fueled athlete I had reviewed Bakery on Main's yummy Truebars a while back and am now a Bakery on Main brand ambassador. If you didn't know, Bakery on Main has a whole line of yummy gluten-free products including bars, granola and oatmeal!

 I'm a big cliche and love ginormous fluffy bowls of oatmeal topped with nut butters so I was really excited to try out Bakery on Main's gluten-free instant oatmeal. I'm usually an oatmeal on the stove top kinda gal, but many mornings I'm short on time and that just isn't happening. I was lucky enough to have a few boxes of oatmeal sent to me with my recent half marathon training Truebar package!

What first caught my eye was that Bakery on Main oatmeal comes in unique flavors like apple pie, strawberry shortcake, blueberry scone, carrot cake along with the usual maple multigrain and traditional flavors. 

5 Friday Favorites 4/4/2014

So yesterday was one of those crappy days where you need more sleep, little stupid things happen like you can't find your keys in the morning, and you end up just randomly crying in the afternoon. Yikes. Luckily I felt a lot better before I went to bed (a glass of wine might have contributed to this) and am ready to have a fun & sunny weekend! I also have a rare Saturday post on the blog tomorrow featuring a review and giveaway of some Bakery on Main gluten-free oatmeal so stay tuned!

Five Friday Things

1. Favorite Whole Foods find: Eat Pastry Dairy-free, Egg-free Cookie Dough

My boyfriend and I went into Whole Foods for two things we needed and ended up leaving with a bunch of things we didn't. I'm not going to lie, that pretty much always happens when I go to Whole Foods, Trader Joe's or the worst of them all-Target.  

Anyways we picked up this tub of cookie dough you can eat STRAIGHT from the container because, of course, it's definitely what we needed in our fridge haha. You can bake these too, but I've only been eating spoonfuls out of the container randomly. It's amazing. 

2. Favorite afternoon snack: Larabars

Thinking Out Loud Thursday-Heat it Up!

Seriously, how is it already Thursday? or April? I need more hours in the day! Blogging has been way more sporadic than I've wanted, but I've got lots of fun things lined up for the next few weeks so keep reading!  I'm linking up with Amanda's Thinking Out Loud Thursdays since I'm feeling all over the place today (again). 

1. I'm trying to do a couple challenges this month. First, I'm doing the Heat it Up April Instagram challenge some of my fellow I'm Fit Possible and Fitfluential ladies organized. It has all sorts of topics to post photos so I'm not just posting photos of my food or bowls of oatmeal!  Use and search for the hashtag "heatitup to join me for a fun challenge!

MIMM- Electric Rides and Rainy Runs (Love Run Philly Recap)

Ugh. I have so much I've wanted to blog about and so little time. Hopefully this week I can get back on track. I swear I'll update about my races two weeks ago and other random running things! Things have been stressful, packed, and less than marvelous lately, but hopefully that will turn around this week.  

Friday I went to Rev Cycle Studio for an Electric Ride spin event with some friends. It was a 60 minute class with a DJ, blacklights, and glowstick gear.  The class was hard, sweaty, but fun. You bet I kept my glowstick tiara on the whole ride! 

Saturday morning my boyfriend and I trekked up to Philly in the pouring rain to pickup my race things at the Love Run Philly Half Marathon Expo. It's the inaugural year for the half marathon, also known as the race that loves you back (cute!), but still had around 10,000 runners.  The expo was in the Philadelphia Convention Center and was pretty well-organized.  I picked up my Love Run mug, shirt, and bib and pretty much got out of there. I loved the ideas of getting a mug and having a vanity bib where you got to choose what you wanted your race bib to say!

I'm Fit Possible Blog Swap featuring Jess and The Power of Music

I have a special blog post for you today-it's an I'm Fit Possible community blog swap! I'm Fit Possible is an amazing community of down-to-earth,sassy, creative, and fun fitness and wellness enthusiasts who are also pretty much rock stars. We are also social media superstars and thought a great way to connect our ambassadors and community with others would be a blog swap. I hope you enjoy today's guest post and check out my post for Jess about first time half marathoner race tips here! 

Hi everyone! I'm Jess  and I blog over at JustCall Me Janks. I'm a wife, puppy mom, wine lover, barre enthusiast and (fairly new) runner. My blog chronicles my life - from fitness and finances to relationships and recipes. It's a pleasure to meet you!

Lauren and I got to know each other last summer at a Baltimore blogger meet up and I'm happy to have been paired with her for today's I'm Fit Possible blog swap. She and I have bonded over our love of running, good food, and Old Bay. I've enjoyed following her adventures and appreciate her advice when it comes to the sport of running.

Monday Motivation-Be Nice to Yourself

In the healthy living and fitness communities you are always hearing the messages: make no excuses, get your workout done no matter what, and keep pushing yourself. I even come across these mantras on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest:  

   

Don't get me wrong, I love some tough love, and sometimes that motivation style is necessary to get you pumped up to get your workout in.  Sometimes though, you don't need to push yourself but rather need to take a step back and breathe.  

This week especially has been crazy busy with an anniversary dinner, midterms for my class, an impromptu concert on Friday, and a growing to-do list. Oh yeah, and I'm running another half marathon this weekend and another at the end of April so I should probably be running more. Whoops. 

 I think I got in three solid workouts last week. Instead of letting that stress me out, I went with it and felt at ease. My eating wasn't exactly on point with my big anniversary dinner, french fries & beer, oh and those braised short ribs I whipped up in the crockpot last night (amazing, I might add).  So what, that's what enjoying life is about for me. This week, I've got a fridge full of healthy snacks and lunches prepped.

Shoofly Diner Baltimore and a Weekend of REV Cycle Studio Events

Thanks for all the love on my blog news! Also thanks for entering my LesserEvil giveaway, the winner was Danielle B.! 
 Life is crazy busy with a bunch of missed workouts this week, but it isn't the end of the world.

Last night was my boyfriend and I's four year anniversary so we went out to dinner at Shoofly Diner in Baltimore, owned by the infamous Chef Spike Gjerde  of  Woodberry Kitchen and Artifact Coffee.  We'd eaten here when it first opened, and I thought a less stuffy and expensive dinner would be perfect for our date night. I adore the rustic yet chic diner decor of the restaurant along with it's delicious cocktails and food.   My boyfriend and I had eyes bigger than our stomachs and ended up boxing some of the food up/left stuffed.  Here's a little photo recap of our awesome meal!

My boyfriend and I polished off this bowl of disco fries topped with a dippy egg (my favorite!). By the way, my boyfriend randomly found a little pebble in our fries, and everyone at Shoofly was super apologetic and more than made up for it!