Yay for long weekends!!!

TGIF!!!! I've been out of work since 12:30 PM but have been running around a bit. Yay for summer hours and half day Fridays; BOO that today was the last of them :(

I'm linking up with Darci over at The Good Life and Natasha at Hello! Happiness for Five on Friday.

ONE. I've been keeping my eye out for a new job. We all know the economy is still sucky so the job market isn't that hot. I applied to an ad on Career Builder on Wednesday morning and was surprised to receive a call to set up a phone interview very shortly thereafter. My phone interview was yesterday and I had an in-person interview today! I would love the position and even if it pays me the same amount the commute is a whopping 2.5-3 miles, compared to my current 19 miles! I haven't had that short of a commute since I worked at Roy Rogers in high school. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

TWO. I noticed a sign for a nail salon opening up, in place of the one I occasionally would go to, a few weeks ago. Well they just opened the other day and I decided to treat myself. It's called Ocean Nail Spa for anyone local to the Keyport area. They are currently running a 20% off special for their Grand Opening and it runs till 10/31/2013. I went with the Jelly Pedicure and it was heaven! Not only did she do the regular massage you get but also a hot stone massage on my calves and feet. She paraffined my heels (my feet are awful from all the obstacle course races and working out). When I sat to dry my toes I got a massage on my shoulders. I could've stayed there all day! I don't find a website for them but they are located in Romeo Plaza at the corner of 35N and Prospect Ave. Go check them out!

The color is Essie - Bouncer, It's me!
I got the blue for the SR Super next weekend.

THREE. My long weekend starts off super early tomorrow! I have to be up at Mountain Creek in Vernon, NJ for 7AM - this will require some sort of caffeine! The reason I have to be up at the butt crack of dawn is I will be helping to unload and set up/build for Spartan Race. I'm a member of their Street Team and someone posted yesterday about them still needing some hands to get things going for the race next weekend. I feel like I'm part of the Spartan family so I knew I had to help. If you're looking for me between the hours of 7AM-6:30PM I'll be somewhere on the mountain. I get to spend another weekend with brother who had previously signed up to help out and earn a free race - YAY!

They do also have a Labor Day special for 2014 races - 50% OFF - so if you're thinking about signing up to do one - DO IT!!! I promise you won't regret it!

FOUR. I seriously need to clean out my DVR. I'm usually good about keeping up on my shows but I've got a few things on there now - Mistresses. Under the Dome, and the movies Brave and The Vow. Ron is off at boot camp so I need to speed up my typing to get on that.

FIVE. I'm super excited for my cousin, Tanya's wedding this weekend! Sadly I haven't seen her since our grandma passed away - way too long ago! We were messaging some on Facebook earlier today and her soon-to-be-hubby said that we all - my brother and his wife, Ron and I, and her and Mike need to make it a plan to get together at least once a year. I'm all for it! I used to spend a week each summer as a child at their house in upstate NY when she was just a wee little thing. My how time has surely flown by! Congratulations Tanya and Mike! I'll be sure to post some pictures when I return.

Enjoy your weekend!

OH, How Pinteresting!

Hope everyone's week is going well as we (slowly) head into a long Labor Day weekend. Mine isn't too shabby, some annoyances at work but I'm working at keeping a positive attitude and doing my best to not let it bother me. Danielle's response had to be the best when I text her earlier about it "channel your inner yogi (& not your inner Spartan that throws spears!)". Love her!

Any who, even though Michelle over at The Vintage Apple has decided for the time being to change the link up to once a month I've decided to still post some of my favorite recent pins.















I'm not sure I showed this one prior but I made it and it was yummy so I needed to share.

Rock Solid Mud Run

Rock Solid Mud Run is an OCR that is exclusive to Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ. It is held twice a year in June (or maybe it's May) and again in August. Ron and a number of our friends participated while I photographed it. For more information on the event please click the link above. The description from their website is below.

Rock Solid Mud Run is a challenging courses with military obstacles designed by US Marines to test you physically, mentally, and emotionally. This will be one of the hardest events you will ever attempt. It does not only require you to run, but requires you to use your upper body strength and others to make it through. The obstacles are similar to what the US military uses to train its elite forces. This is not a walk in the park. This is a challenge.

Challenge accepted!

One of the blogs I read, Story of my Life, has issued a challenge - Blogtember! She had also done a blog every day in May challenge, but I was only a blog reader at the time. Since I'm seemingly only post on Mondays at this point, I still owe you all pictures from the last race and since then there's been another race to add.

Any who, here are the "rules" that I will do my best to follow:

1. There really aren't any rules. If you miss a day, you can make it up or skip it. The blog police will not come knocking.

2. I will be including a linkup option at the bottom of my post each day, so you are welcome to leave your links here for others to peruse, as well. 

3. You can still post other things every day, too. I plan to do normal outfit posts, life posts, around-Austin posts, and sponsor posts just like usual.

4. I'd seriously love you if you also include the "Blogtember" button (below) either on your sidebar or at the end of your posts, but again, the blog police will not come knocking. My main goal here is to get us all back to the basics of blogging, not to gain a million new readers (though I wouldn't mind that). 

5. Here are the topics. You can be as creative and awesome or as boring and bland as you like with these. Take 'em and run with it. Use creative post titles. Interpret each "prompt" however you like. There's no wrong way to do it. Have fun.

Tuesday, Sept. 3: Describe where or what you come from. The people, the places, and/or the factors that make up who you are.

Wednesday, September 4: If you could take three months off from your current life and do anything in the world, what would you do? (bonus points for fun photos from Pinterest, but don't forget to cite the source!)

Thursday, September 5: Pass on some useful advice or information you learned and always remembered. 

Friday, September 6: A story about a time you were very afraid.

Monday, September 9: Take this short personality test and respond to your results. (at the end, find the detailed profile of your personality account - click "click to view" under "You" and "self awareness and personal growth." You can even google your type and find more info on it!)

Tuesday, September 10: Describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn.

Wednesday, September 11: Share links to your favorite online shops, preferably with a few photos of your favorite items in each shop.

Thursday, September 12: Discuss ways that blogging or social media has changed you.

Friday, September 13: A self portrait

Monday, September 16: Write a public love letter to someone in your life. (It doesn't necessarily need to be romantic.)

Tuesday, September 17: A memory you would love to relive.

Wednesday, September 18: Only photos

Thursday, September 19: Creative writing day: write a (very short) fictional story that starts with this sentence: "To say I was dreading the dinner party would be the understatement of the century."

The story does not necessarily need to have a conclusion - you can leave your readers wishing for more!

Friday, September 20: React to this term: comfort. 

Monday, September 23: A "life lately" post. What you're up to, how you're feeling, how you're doing on your goals, etc. Bonus points for great photos!

Tuesday, September 24: Review a book, place, or product.

Wednesday, September 25: Write about a time you screwed up - a mistake you made. 

Thursday, September 26: Go to a coffee shop. Order a favorite drink. Write about what makes you happy and what makes you sad. Or write about anything you'd like! Bonus points for including a photo from the coffee shop. (I recommend downloadingOmmwriter and bringing headphones along!) *if you can't make it to a coffee shop, at least leave your usual space and write someplace new.

Friday, September 27: An anonymous letter to your Facebook friends. Be as snarky as you'd like. (but don't include people's real names.) 

Monday, September 30: Share a photo of something old. Maybe something that has personal history for you, that was passed down to you, and that has special meaning to you. Tell us about it and why it's special.

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

The other night I made Quinoa Stuffed Peppers, loosely, following a recipe I found here. I say loosely because I thought I had some of the ingredients at home to end up not having them; and I recently killed the cilantro plant that I bought with the intention of having the cilantro last longer.

pardon the iphone photo it looks worse now

Also so you don't make the same mistake I did (major blonde moment!) one cup of uncooked quinoa equals about 2-3 cups cooked. Yup, you guessed it I did three cups uncooked and had an abundance. I'll wait while you finish laughing, but notice it says nothing about cooking in the title of my blog.

Ron posted the below picture on Facebook of the leftovers he took to work and I received many requests for the recipe so I figured I'd share here too.

I will have to remember to take a picture the next time I make them.

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked quinoa (1-1/2 c uncooked)
• 1 cup corn kernels
• 1 can black beans with jalepano peppers, drained and rinsed
• 1 can tomato paste (was supposed to be 1/2 c diced tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded mexican cheese
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves parsley
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, or more to taste
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 6 bell peppers, tops cut, stemmed and seeded

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine quinoa, corn, beans, tomato paste, cheeses, parsley, cumin, garlic, onion and chili powder, salt and pepper, to taste.
3. Spoon the filling each each bell pepper cavity. Sprinkle extra cheese on top. Place on prepared baking dish, cavity side up, and bake until the peppers are tender and the filling is heated through, about 25-30 minutes.
4. Serve immediately. Enjoy the crispy baked cheese that is on the parchment paper - YUM!

We had them with some kale "salad". I washed and removed the stem, drizzled some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Simple, delicious and good for you!

It's Monday, again!

Happy Monday! I know most people hate Mondays not that I love them but life is all about perception; and it's too short to despise even a day!

I have some exciting news! I got the below email toward the end of last month.

I'm writing from BlogHer via Larson Lingo to let you know that you were selected at random as a winner in  Nestle Outshine Make Your Day Brighter Sweepstakes for a $100 Visa Gift Card-- CONGRATULATIONS!
This sweepstakes is being administered by BlogHer.

Friday I received my gift card! Thank you Melissa and BlogHer! Since the sweepstakes was administered by BlogHer I feel it appropriate to use part of it toward a new blog design. Etsy here I come!

I planned to post pics that I took at this weekends Rock Solid Mud Run but those are on the computer at home. Since I'm at work I have these photos from Warrior Dash that I downloaded, all photos from Sport Photo, Inc.. The others will be posted here soon or you can check them out on Facebook.

xoxo, Kelly

Five on Friday!

TGIF!!!! The weekend is finally upon us - woo hoo!
Some randoms from the week with just a few linkups:
ONE. It's a small world be careful what you say about whomever, you never know when a. someone near by knows the person you're talking about, b. the person you're talking about walks around the corner.

Monday after work Ron tells me how he's excited for Boot Camp because they were playing dodge ball. When he gets home he tells me how he accidentally hit a couple people in the head. OK no big deal! I head off to Hot Power Yoga. Just before the instructor starts the one woman says something about camp and dodge ball. I try to ask so you go to [insert name of place Ron goes to here]. Not sure if she didn't hear me or if the woman on the other side of the room chimes in too quickly with - (and this is not word for word) "that Spartan guy was pegging people in the head...". AWKWARD!!! they unknowingly are talk about Ron. Not sure if I should speak up the someone mentions seeing the one trainer's status on Facebook, which if she wasn't joking I doubt she'd have tagged Ron in it, and the first woman then says well you know what'll happen we just won't play anymore. From there it's boys ruin everything and we started class. Of course I go home and tell Ron all this.

TWO. I realized last night that I've taken eight classes in five days. I go to LA Fitness, and have recently been going to Tula Yoga via an Amazon Local Deal the kitties got me for my birthday. 

Found on Google images - we do just this at my Tuesday Yoga.

1. Sunday - Hot Flow @ Tula Yoga
2. Monday - Yoga with Anne Marie @ LA Fitness
3. Monday - Hot Power Yoga @ Tula Yoga
4. Tuesday - Spin/Cycle with Teresa @ LA Fitness
5. Tuesday - Yoga @ LA Fitness with Abha
6. Wednesday - Zumba with Angelica @ LA Fitness
7. Wednesday - Body Works plus Abs @ LA Fitness
8. Thursday - Yoga with Anne Marie @ LA Fitness

Hmm and here I was thinking to myself what am I going to do Saturday because Ron has a race I'm not participating in and I won't be able to go to the gym. There are worse things to be addicted to!

THREE. We've been having some unseasonably cooler weather, which has been making me think of Pumpkin Spiced Lattes and hockey. #isitOctoberyet? and I made some Tortellini Soup last night - delish!

FOUR. Speaking of hockey, my beloved New Jersey Devils have been sold. I didn't watch the press conference yesterday and haven't read much on it (great fan, huh?). From what I've heard the new owners, who also own the Philadelphia 76'ers, did a great job with turning things around for them. The team itself isn't bad, not looking at the lack of a playoff run this past season, but it'll be nice to see what a fresh pair(s) of eyes do marketing wise. Maybe we'll finally have some cool merch like many of the other teams.

FIVE. I'm a part of the Spartan Race Street Team. In an effort to help me get more sign ups, I bought Moo minicards that I can hand out with my link. Sooo anyone want to sign up for a Spartan Race? I can save you 15% off!

Gourmet Food Truck Invitational

This past Saturday I joined my friend Danielle and her family at Laurita Winery in New Egypt, NJ for the Gourmet Food Truck Invitational.

There was quite a variety of food trucks: seafood, empanadas, waffles, and sliders, just to name a few. I personally hit up el Lechon de Negron and started with a beef empanada and tostones (fried bananas). The empanada was delicious and the tostones were good but not what I was expecting.

 

We of course had to have some of the Summer Sangria, which was delicious and went down easily. 

I had been to Laurita Winery once before with Danielle for a Girls Night Out, that they hold on Wednesdays this year, but wasn't able to take a winery tour so happily did so Saturday. Due to the large attendance they had two wagons going and the tours were a bit shorter than the tour guide said he normally gave.

The winery opened in 2008 and is situated on 250 acres, if I remember correctly. It was previously a dairy farm and some of the buildings still stand (sort of) as you'll see in later pictures. The main building of the winery is two barns that were taken apart and reassembled in the location. The bathrooms and elevator are also recycled from other buildings in NJ that were being torn down. The winery is also run 100% on solar power.

Below is a picture of the natural spring that is on the property. Our guide mentioned that they were looking into doing "catch and release" fishing but had to work out things for liability reasons - alcohol + fish hooks = dangerous! I'm not sure how serious he was but he did include the story of how fish came to be in the spring. Birds eat fish, fish have eggs, birds do their business flying over head - makes me even happier that I do not eat fish!

One of the other trucks I checked out, but was remiss in taking a picture of the food was Hibachi Heaven, the second truck to the left in the top picture. I got chicken hibachi with fried rice and veggies all for $9 not too shabby for the amount of food I got.

Lastly I went back to where Danielle had started, Waffle de Lys, and got a Belguim waffle with strawberries, vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. Too die for!!!!

Always remember to hit save before exiting Blogger

I started typing a post, on my phone, about donating blood but then my one cat started having a massive sneezing fit that was rather funny. Of course I close the app to try to record it - double fail - not only did I lose what I had typed but Parker also stopped sneezing. Womp womp!

Any who, while I was sitting in the canteen, snacking and waiting the allotted time before I could leave the vampires (aka Red Cross), I ended up finding out what happens if you can't donate a pint.

This poor guy had nearly filled the bag but his blood just stopped flowing. That sounds like he died, of course it was still flowing through his veins it just wasn't going out the needle anymore. The tech made a comment, I assume in an attempt to make him feel better, that not to worry his donation doesn't go to "complete waste" it'll be used for research.

My thought is if they tell us that one pint can save three lives why can't his nearly a pint save two? 

And now I think I need a nap!

Another weekend in the books...

Even with a rainy Saturday we had a pretty decent weekend. It didn't feel like it completely flew by and landed us right at Monday.

Friday night we went to a local place for dinner called Yesterdays. I had only been there for a bridal shower before and it was R's first time dining there at all. I had Pasta alla Rosa - sauteed chicken in garlic, onion, and olive oil tossed with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and penne pasta. It was delicious and plentiful - the leftovers will be dined on for lunch today.

Saturday was Warrior Dash in Morris Township. R switched from the 9am wave to the new 7:30am competitive wave. I wish I had jumped in with him at 7:30am.

Yes I got photo bombed by the St. Jude's kid

The course was good and fairly well marked. However, some of the trails were narrow which cause a little bottle necking once larger waves of people were released. They tried to quell this by releasing waves every 15 minutes. Also you didn't hit the first "real" obstacle till about a mile in.

Part of the reason I wish I had jumped in the earlier wave was by the time we got to the last barbed wire "crawl" it was backed up more so because the mud had congealed. When R initially went through it was still watery. Later on it was like going through quicksand. Super deep and near impossible to get through.

I finished 213 out of 1368 (top 16%)  in my age group and 2344 out of 8303 overall (top 30%).

After going home to fully shower we hit up Maloney's for post race food and drinks. I enjoyed a Sam Adams Porch Rocker (1/2 lemonade, 1/2 beer).

Sunday was my friend Irma's surprise baby shower. Her sisters and a couple friends did a wonderful job. It was located at Leone's in Montclair and Harry Potter themed! I had been to Leone's once before for a first birthday party and the food was quite good.

Irma was surprised and got a decent amount of gifts for her baby boy. It was nice seeing some friends that I don't get to see too often. Unfortunately I forgot my camera at home so I only have a few from the iPhone. The sign, cupcake toppers (at the top of the diaper cakes), dolls and dragons, and hand sanitzer labels were all from Etsy.

Hope you all enjoyed your weekends!