Let’s discuss: Holiday Decorations

06. December 2013 · 1 comment · Categories: holiday decorations, labradoodle, running · Tags: , ,

Hi there.

I am happy today. Want to know why?

1. I ran
2. I FINALLY set up social media functionality for this blog. See…. —–>
3. I took a nice walk with the doodle in a meadow/wetlands area
4. I was off from work today

I have a routine with the dog that whenever I leave the house I have him lay down on his dog bed and I give him a cookie. Before I left for my run this morning he had a moment of confusion and got the stairs mixed up with the dog bed. But then when he saw that I was standing on his dog bed he got all posessive and came to “claim it”. Good dog!

prerunritual
I headed out the door for a new 5 mile route thanks to Day 5 of the 25 days of fitness challenge that Monica over at RunEatRepeat is hosting. (Today’s fitness task was to try a new workout or take a new running route). It ended up being WAY MORE UPHILL than my usual route. But I embraced it! Hills get you higher right? Well elevation-ally speaking anyway.

watch125
I noticed a whole boatload of holiday decorations as I ran through the neighborhood. Some things I’m just not sure about…..so let’s discuss:

First there was the square snowman. Is this supposed to be a snowman made of ice cubes? Then wouldn’t it be an iceman? Or is it a Marshmallow man?

iceman

Frosty the ice man

Then there is what I call the Yard Sale. How many lawn adornments is ok. I think this is probably borderline.

yardsale

Yard Sale decorating

Cartoon Characters: Do we think that characters like Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Snoopy, Mickey and Minnie are stealing Santa’s thunder?

characters

And is this Santa a little creepy?

creepy santa

creepy santa

Does Hanukkah Harry Exist? Or is this just a Jewish Polar Bear?  And Does that mean there might be Jewish Penguins out there too? (I just noticed the santa clad dachsund to the left. weird!)

hanukkahharry

Mr & Mrs. Santa Ducks? These homeowners have to be duck enthusiasts. Either that or they’ve quacked up!

ducksAnd then the yard sale house had some duck-age happening too (it looks like left over from previous holidays)

moreducksSpeaking of previous holidays, I think it’s safe for the scarecrows to come down now.

scarecrowBut who am I to judge. This is the extent of my holiday decorations

sally-nodecorateI better stick to running.

Considering it’s December here in NY it was rather warm today, so I took the doodle for a nice walk.

mtloretto

Question: Discuss what you think of the boatload of holiday decorations I covered here. Do we like ducks? Are we cool with having Santa share his spotlight with Disney and Sesame Street characters? What’s more pleasing to you, the yard sale look or a single wreath with some white lights and a single bow? I’m a less is more girl.

 

 

 

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a little more manhattan, a nice mailbox mix and meals on wheels

05. December 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

I took a walk up to Bryant Park to their winter village with my boss after lunch to get some of the best kettle corn you’ll ever have…only one problem….they’re not there this year! Apparently after speaking with another vendor (selling grilled cheese which I might have been interested in had I not eaten a full lunch already) they made a mess and created a pigeon nuisance! Only in NYC. The vendor that replaced them is Pickle Me Pete. Sorry but we needed sweet and salty…not just salty. It was a sad day. I snapped a picture so it wasn’t a complete bust and we headed back to the office.

Bryant Park, NYC 41st & 6th

Bryant Park, NYC 41st & 6th

OK, I confess I stopped for a Caramel Macchiato at Starbucks as a consolation prize. I’ve been trying to ween off of them as I started to make it a 240 calorie daily habit after someone gave me a gift card for my birthday. Well now the gift card is done and i’m dropping $5.17 for those empty (but tasty) calories. My boss ended up getting some kettle corn flavored Pop Chips. How disappointing!

I came home tonight to a nice mix of catalogs, holiday cards and bills…

catalogs-bills-cards

catalogs-bills-cards

And then after telling my mom I was feeling a bit feverish and achy tonight and that I wouldn’t be able to come over for dinner, she and my dad drove here to deliver it to me. My own meals on wheels!

salad-pot roast and orzo-pistachio pudding

salad-pot roast and orzo-pistachio pudding

There was a nice salad to start. The main course was my mom’s famous Spicy Pot Roast and she added some orzo pasta. Then a little cup of pistachio pudding with chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. Yes—I’m 40 years old. This is sort of pathetic and sort of amazing all rolled up into one.

The recipe for the pot roast if you’re interested:

SPICY POT ROAST:
4-5lb rump roast
bag of baby carrots
1 small onion
1 clove of garlic
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
parsley flakes
salt and pepper
3 cloves
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. ginger
1 bay leaf

Dump all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 8-12hrs OR you can brown meat in 3tbs oil on the stove (in a big spaghetti pot), then add onion and a tbs. water and simmer for 3hrs. Add spices and baby carrots and cook additional 45min.

I just set up Twitter. Since “sweatoutthesmallstuff” was too long, I went with “SOTSS”. There will be a learning curve here as I’m not much of a twit =)

In case you wanted to know what it looked like when I’m blogging I’ll leave you with this visual (which if you follow me on Instagram @sweatoutthesmallstuff you saw already…

photo 2

Question: Do you like kettle corn? 

No related posts.

The marathon is always on my mind

03. December 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: cross training, running, Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Yesterday I hit the gym during my lunch break and did 15 min on the rower and 15 on the stair master. My upper body got a good workout as did my glutes..and my tender foot got a reprieve. Happy to report it is feeling good and I should be just fine to run on it in a day or two.

I had these sourdough pretzel nibblers with my lunch and had a smile when I realized they were from my goodie bag that I received as soon as I crossed the finish line at the NYC Marathon exactly one month ago!

photo 2Then  when I came home I was snacking on some popcorn (theme of the day was carbo snacking-busted!) and happened to notice the “sell by” date is April 27th, 2014 which is the date of my next marathon (the NJ Marathon). I had a chuckle.

popcorndate

Admittedly, I’m a running junkie and running is always on my mind. So even while I’m enjoying being in this non-structured time period right now to let my body rest and focus on cross training, it’s nice to be reminded again of my marathons both past and future! I’m super excited to start training for NJ. Just 5 more weeks until training kicks off. Let’s see if I’m still super excited as I hit the beginning of April. At least I won’t be running my 20 mile long runs in the heat and humidity!

I often get caught up in the frustrations of working in Manhattan—the crowds, the commute, the time lost as I sit in traffic…but last night as all the tourists were busy taking pictures of the decorated holiday windows at Macy’s I grabbed this shot of the Empire State Building. It looked extra specially beautiful with the blue and white lights shining.

photo 3

Tonight they’ll be lighting the tree at Rockafeller Center. I could easily walk there from my office to see the tree but let’s not get silly now! WAY TOO CHAOTIC for me. =)

3 more weeks until Christmas day. I’ve got my holiday cards designed, ordered and shipped. As soon as I get them mailed I’ll post the final card here. It’s really cute if I do say so myself.

Happy Hump Day. 

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Cyber Midnight Munchies Monday and some link love

03. December 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: cross training, desserts, labradoodle, running, sweet treats, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

Don’t know what’s going on with me today but I just felt like the bottomless pit. I truly overate! Started and ended my day with a waffle. Yep….the clock struck midnight and I felt it appropriate to make it Midnight Munchies Monday. And of course the dog wanted to partake so he got his own munchy.

midnight munchies

midnight munchies

There was apple pie in the break room at work and I couldn’t resist…twice! (who eats 2 slices of pie before 11am?)

fruit for breakfast

fruit for breakfast

All I know is that there better be some will power for me under the tree this year. Well, Cyber Monday almost came and went without a single online purchase by me…..but……I’ve been eyeing this cool mini-trampoline for a half a second and when I saw it was 20% off with FREE shipping too I pulled the trigger.

fancy shmancy trampoline

fancy shmancy trampoline.

If you’re looking for me I’ll be bouncing on this thing in my living room all winter!

Now it’s time to share some link love. I happen to have 2 very good friends named Lisa…..There’s running Lisa and baking Lisa.

Running Lisa was just featured in this Wall Street Journal article about ultra running.

coldwindy

Cold and windy Montana….

Running Lisa and I met when we worked at the same company about 7 years ago. And then she inspired me to start running. If you’re new to this blog you can see how she inspired me in this video. In the article she talks about her most recent endeavor at the Center of the Nation Series. I was one of the friends who accompanied her on the trip but while she ran an entire full marathon each day for 5 days straight I ran 5 consecutive halfs. It was one of the best trips of my life. I posted a recap for each of the 5 days of the series. If you’re interested in reading more…

Center of the Nation Series Marathon/Half Marathon Day 1 North Dakota

Center of the Nation Series Marathon/Half Marathon Day 1 South Dakota

Center of the Nation Series Marathon/Half Marathon Day 1 Wyoming

Center of the Nation Series Marathon/Half Marathon Day 1 Montana

Center of the Nation Series Marathon/Half Marathon Day 1 Nebraska

 

The Rescue Baker!

The Rescue Baker! Cutest logo ever! I created it =)

Baker Lisa, otherwise known as The Rescue Baker, has been whipping up some amazing “Divine” holiday chocolatey treats while sharing the recipes and an exciting giveaway on her blog. I’ve tasted many of her desserts and she never disappoints.

Well now that it’s 1am, I’m going to try and go to bed. Tomorrow will be another hot date with the rowing machine at the gym. I’d like to say it’s because I’m getting excited about cross-training but in all honesty I hurt the bottom of my foot jumping down from my kitchen counter Sunday night and it’s very tender so I’m trying to keep my weight off it for a couple days. (note to self: 40 years old means it’s time to be smarter about jumping down from kitchen counters. If only I weren’t vertically challenged!)

Hope your week started off on the right (not tender or sore) foot!

 

Question: How do you deal with days when you just can’t get full? Do you just go with it? Anyone have a trampoline/rebounder? 

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