I Dreamed a Dream

So everyone is talking about the PowerBall drawing tomorrow. At the moment the jackpot is $550 MILLION to the winner (if there is only one). This is the time when EVERYONE goes out and gets tickets. I mean on average the jackpot is still a few million, but people go crazy when it gets this high, myself included.

I don’t gamble often, but when I do I start to think of what I would do if I actually WON. I mean, doesn’t everyone like to think about a world where money doesn’t matter?

So today I am giving you my list of what I would do if I won the lottery!

1. College was an amazing time in my life. I made lasting friendships and great memories. I don’t regret going one bit. The problem is the cost. I have been out of school about 6 years now and have only paid about 3% of my loans off. The interest is killing me! The first thing that I would do with my money is pay off all my college loans. I would then pay off Cheryl’s and the loan my parents have for our first year. To not have that debt to carry around would be such a relief!

2. Home is where the heart is. I love my family’s home, but you always think of ways to improve it (especially now with Pinterest). My old high school is starting to head down the tubes, so I don’t know if I would want to live in the same town when I have a family. That being said I would either build my dream home or find a house I love and renovate it with all the things I want. Top things I want in my home are a wrap around porch, a pool with an awesome outdoor area, a bunk bed room (because I mean awesome!), a movie room, and of course there would be sliding barn doors everywhere because at the moment I am obsessed with them.

3. What woman doesn’t want to update their wardrobe? I am really not into expensive things. But believe me the $$ I would drop in TJ Maxx and cute places I can’t afford now like Anthropologie…the dreams

4. I love my little Kia. I bought it because it was newer, an awesome price and had 4 doors. If I won the lottery there would be no blingy, unrealistic cars in my future. I am definitely into the “green” cars and SUVs. Gotta save the planet! The Nissan Juke is pretty cute!

5. RELAX. I would take my entire family (yes entire and there are A LOT) on a relaxing vacation to the Maldives. The crystal clear water and amazing beaches and hotels. It would be so great to get my whole family together and have fun and relax. I mean an underwater room!

6. Lastly I would hire the most kick ass, amazing personal trainer to whip myself into shape. The ONLY person to fit that would be the awesome Jillian Michaels!

Now don’t go thinking I am such a materialistic person. These are just things I have always dreamed about. I of course would put a lot of money aside so my parents can retire. I don’t think I would be able to not work, but starting my own ad agency or event planning company would be fun. I would also donate to charities (I do that all the time now with the little money I have) and definitely give money to friends and family. I don’t think I would flat out be like “here’s a million bucks” especially because of most people I know I am pretty good with budgeting (Cheryl is too) and I think they would blow it so fast. I would definitely buy stuff for the people I love and help them pay off debts and such.

There are so many things that run through your head. All the what ifs….

What would you do if you won the lottery?!?

Winnie the Pooh and Friends Baby Shower

So I have been waiting for weeks to make this post. I have been MIA in the posting department because the majority of my time has been spent helping my cousin renovate her house (posts soon) and getting ready for her baby shower. I don’t know if she reads this blog but I didn’t want to take any chances since it was a surprise! I even made a fake Christening invitation so my cousin had something she thought she was attending!

So my cousins are not going to find out the sex of the baby. I want to know, but I understand why they don’t. That made the shower a little bit harder because it had to be gender neutral. Jenn is a huge Disney fan. She is the reason we started traveling there more. Our original theme was DISNEY of course. I even started an invitation idea.

We soon found out that she had decided on the baby room theme…Winnie the Pooh! Now being the huge Tigger fan that I am we decided to change the theme to match the baby’s room. The first thing we did was pick a venue, Stony Hill Inn. My aunt found it and we decided to have dinner there to make sure we liked it. Myself, my sister, my mother and my aunt (soon to be grandmother) all had an amazing dinner there. The food was excellent.

At the dinner I threw out a few ideas I had for the shower. I LOVE planning events. I really should change professions, or at least do it as (another) side job.

After the location and theme were set it was time to make invitations. I scouered the Internet for baby Pooh and friend pictures. Most weren’t high enough quality for my purposes. I finally found a Disney baby sticker set that had most of the Pooh characters, so I used that.

I love the way the invite came out. We also decided to do a diaper raffle so that they could have a jump start on diapers for when they had the baby.

Next were the favors. I found these awesome pots at IKEA for 50 cents!

Our idea was to make “Hunny” pots. So I got some yellow paint from the craft store.

Next I painted a honey overflowing a pot design on all (55) pots. It was a long process but they came out cute.

Next I had to make it authentic Winnie the Pooh and write HUNNY on all the pots with a paint pen.

We wanted people to be able to (kind of) use the pots post party. My original idea was to write Jennifer’s Baby Shower and the date on the opposite side. Cheryl talked me out of it and we settled on a cute tag that we would attach to bags of cookies inside.

Now the hard part…baking cookies. I found some really cute Disney cookie cutters online for pretty cheap. We decided on chocolate chip, peanut butter (and oatmeal options if people were allergic) and sugar mickey cookies. The cookie cutters came with a mickey face cutter and a mickey side profile cutter. Since they didn’t know what they were having we decided to have the mickey face (boy) and put a bow on the other (girl). The hardest part was the bow. The icing I got was super annoying to get out of the tube and I had to use a toothpick to shape all the bows, but I think they came out great.

Then we packed everything up!

Next on the list was a diaper cake. I had helped Cheryl make one for her boss a while back and knew I could make a great Tigger one. I got a pack of newborn diapers (smaller and easier to roll), a Tigger bath towel, Pooh and Tigger washclothes and Pooh and Tigger rattles. I could not be happier with the end product! Everyone loved it. I even wrapped it in cellophane to keep the germies out.

Final preparation was shower games. Not everyone plays them and there are a lot to choose from. I know my cousin so I chose simple, cute games. We did Daddy Knows Best (my cousin’s answers were hilarious), a word search to keep people occupied when they got there, and of course, Baby Bingo.

Finally the day had arrived. I was so excited to see my cousin’s reaction and get to show off all our hard work. We got there early and set up the tables. I had decorated extra Hunny Pots so we made centerpieces out of them. I also made a congratulations banner to string between two sets of balloons. Sadly we had to tape the balloons to the wall because the banner was too heavy for them, but it stayed. We had some great raffle prizes for the diaper raffle (courtesy of my aunt) and I found the most adorable cake topper online for the cake.

She got a lot of gifts and a lot of diapers!

The shower went perfectly. She was surprised (somewhat) and loved all the cute details we added. All the guests also loved everything. Cheryl and I got tons of compliments and most people said we should go into party planning as a side business (if only I had the time).

I wouldn’t change a single thing about the day. Except maybe the rain storm that hit as we were carrying all her presents into her house. Other than that it was perfect and I can’t wait for my little niece or nephew to get here!

Changing Up the Routine

So this past weekend I did a 10 mile race. I am not signed up for another race until September! In the summer most places don’t hold long racing events because of the heat. My problem is that I need to be training for something to keep up with exercising. I know I should probably WANT to exercise and the pure endorphins and how it makes me feel should be enough, but it isn’t. I am a goal-oriented person so I need a goal to strive for. Don’t get me wrong, I am not going to stop running, but I need other things to keep me active.

With that I have decided to try out some of the new exercise trends. I have my old faithful boot camp and spin classes at the gym but for new classes here are my top choices:

CKO Kickboxing
In January I bought a Groupon for CKO Kickboxing classes. I didn’t start them until the beginning of March and I still haven’t finished them. Not because I don’t like them but because
1. the only classes I can go to are the 5:30am ones and I have been exhausted lately and
2. I didn’t want to hurt myself before Broad Street

Now that Broad Street is over I am going to try and finish up my remaining classes. Not sure if I will continue to go and pay since it is pretty pricey.

Crossfit
The next trend I want to check out is Crossfit. Crossfit is a strength and conditioning program. The workouts are short but are more like bursts of activity and very intense. You do things like sprinting, rope climbing, carrying heavy objects, and lots of jumping. They are all combined to form WODs or Workout of the Days. The good thing is it is a competition against yourself. You just try and best yourself and push to the next level. We were actually watching the Crossfit games on TV over the weekend. Everyone is very fit but I don’t want to bulk up. I do want to improve my strength though. Crossfit is also pretty expensive and they insist you go almost everyday. They just opened a studio near my work so maybe I can get a special or at least a free trial class.

Bar Method
I have been hearing only good things about Bar Method. It integrates interval training with muscle shaping isometrics using dance principals. People say it tones and takes inches off your body. I was never really a dancer. I did tap and jazz as a kid, but not for very long. I am sure I would be fine but I would need to stretch more. I used to be flexible but I tend to neglect it a lot for lack of time at the gym. Classes aren’t horrible $26 a class, but I want to try it out first.

I am going to try and find places that offer free trial classes and see what I like best. Right now I do have 2 gym memberships so adding a 3rd just for specialized classes seems silly unless the classes are AMAZING. I wish LA Fitness had newer trend classes, but I am sure they would be packed if they did.

Know of any other classes I should look out for?

Broad Street

This past weekend I ran the Philadelphia Broad Street 10 Miler. It calls itself the largest 10 mile race in the U.S. I would probably agree to that because I don’t really know of any other 10 mile races. Most are half marathons or 10Ks. 10 miles is an interesting distance.

We got to Philadelphia on Friday night and stayed with my friend Cindy. I never go out on fridays usually because I am just so exhausted from the day. This friday just happened to also start our summer fridays which means I get out of work at 1! In the summer I can usually nap and get prepared to go out at night, but I am still helping the cousin with the house so no nap for me!

Saturday Cheryl and I went to Reading Terminal Market. It is right down the street from my friend Cindy and is an awesome place to go to. They have all these food stands and farmers markets and unique things. We got my dad some homemade doughnuts at one of the Amish farm stands. He said they were delicious. We also found fennel so we can make some recipes from the SELF Drop 10 diet we haven’t been able to try. We stuck to the diet Saturday morning. We got breakfast at Dunkin’ Donuts and then had brought lunch with us. After the market we headed down to the run expo at Lincoln Financial Field where the Eagles play. We parked and headed inside.

Now I had run my fair share of races, but this one was seriously the most lax one I have ever done! There wasn’t really an “expo” more like a bunch of different stands scattered throughout the area. Upstairs we just had to tell the people our bib number and they handed it to you. Usually you have to sign a waiver and then prove who you are with your ID to pick up a bib. They really didn’t care and I was also able to pick up bibs for 3 friends who couldn’t make it to the expo without any questions. I had assumed that after the Boston attack there would be heightened security, but not really at the expo.

After, we decided to get some drinks, and my friends wanted to eat. We headed over to XFinity Live which is a venue near all the sports complexes. Philly got it right when they built their stadiums. They built the Lincoln Financial Field (Eagles football stadium), Wells Fargo Center (Flyers hockey arena) and Citizens Bank Park (Phillies baseball stadium) all in walking distance of each other. XFinity Live was built smack dab in the middle and is where most people go after tailgating if they don’t have game tickets or after the game to continue partying. We got some beers in one of the bars and even got a little pre-cinco de mayo highlights in!

After that we headed to the northeast to meet up with our friends for a birthday celebration. We went to eat and then went bowling. I did pretty good. My highest score of the night was a 148! Our friends headed to another bar after but we headed off to bed at our friend Erin’s house to prepare for the race.

Sunday morning we got up at 4:45. The thing with the Broad Street run is that the start and finish are on the opposite sides of the city. We decided to park down by the finish at the Naval Yard and take the free SEPTA option up to the start. We had a little bit of a late start (I needed coffee) and about a mile away from the exit hit dead stop traffic. Right after on the radio we hear there is a truck fire on 95 and both directions are closed. Then we saw the billowing black smoke. We hit the traffic around 5:45 and did not move a single inch until 7:15. People were wandering around outside their cars and a lot of people tried to back off down the shoulder. It was a mess but once they opened the road we got to the lot without any problems. I also heard later that no one was hurt!

The subway to the start took a little longer than expected. I was just glad we got on at the end because we passed a lot of stops in between since the cars were so packed. Once we got to the start it was a madhouse. No coordination whatsoever. Usually they don’t let you in to corrals that aren’t yours, but no one was there regulating. We finally ended up in the orange corral and waited for the start. They played Sweet Caroline at the beginning to honor Boston. I was hoping there would be a moment of silence and there possibly was one but it was so loud you really couldn’t hear the speakers.

The course was nice but very crowded. I have been training for a faster pace recently. I used to run a 9:30 as my slow pace, but training for marathons at 10:30-11:00 I had slowed down. I kept fluctuating my pace which I hate doing but the random hills and declines made it go all over the place. I was very happy with my finish of 1 hour 35 minutes. That gave me an average 9:30 pace! The finish line was just as much of a mess as the start. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people just stop after the finish line. I just ran for over an hour I can’t just stop! I have to keep moving even at a slow walk. The finish was so crowded though it was hard for people to move. Once we finally got to water they were at least cold and then we got our medals and food.

After I headed back to the parking lot to wait for everyone else. I found Cheryl along the way and we walked back together. We waited there for our other friends Jenn and Erin. We hung out with a few of Jenn’s family members in the parking lot and had some beers. I finished the race around 11 but we didn’t get back to Erin’s apartment until 3! The problem with all the stadiums being by each other is the traffic. All the race participants were told to park by the stadiums so there was that and then there was a Phillies game and on top of everything ANOTHER accident on 95. We tried to go around but all the roads were backed up. Showering once we got back was so nice after sitting in the car for so long!

After we went to Nifty Fifties to eat. The one thing I always seem to do after a long race is eat foods that are bad for me and not care. Most people would say I shouldn’t care since I just ran, but I know the running did not offset my chicken cheese steak and cheese fries haha. We also went to our friends house before we left for some more birthday celebrating and beers. It was a nice end to a long weekend (which really only ended after the 2 hour drive back).

Hope everyone else had a great weekend! This weather is starting to get nicer which always puts me in the best moods :)

SELF Drop 10 Diet

So as I posted when I first started this blog, I have always had issues with my weight. Over the past fews years I have lost close to 80 pounds and started a healthy lifestyle of running and eating right. Running is tough, but definitely worth it. The problem with running long distances (which seems to by my thing) is that it is difficult to figure out what to eat. When you are training for half marathons and especially marathons, you run A LOT. Running 20 miles on a Sunday is draining, but the hard part is deciding how much food to eat after. I mean I just spent almost 4 hours running nonstop. Do I eat a salad or a cheeseburger?

I initially lost weight on Weight Watchers. I first started Weight Watchers in high school before our first family cruise. After dropping some weight (which I gained back on the cruise) I didn’t start using their system again until after college. Their original points plan was amazing. It worked great with my body and with running the pounds came off. Sadly their plan has changed to a Points+ system which I hate. I was hopeful at first. Veggies and fruits were all free so I would get to eat more, but my body was not having it. After almost 5 months trying to follow their plan I had gained 15 pounds. After that I started trying to alter their plan a little. I mean bananas were 2 points before but now they were free. Well bananas still have calories! I have been struggling to get the 15 pounds I gained off since January (post-marathon training) with no luck. I would do great during the week (pre-packed meals) but would fail on weekends eating out and drinking.

Luckily my sister now works for SELF magazine. She is in charge of the website and has gotten to do a lot of great, healthy things with her office. They recently started the SELF Drop 10 plan. Cheryl was skeptical to try it at first, but we both decided we needed a kickstart before summer so we jumped in.

You would think with the amount of food you eat every day there would be no way that you could loose weight, but somehow it works! I am down 8 pounds going into my 3rd week on the plan! The whole thing is based around super foods. Nothing really non-fat or fat-free. It’s all good for you fats in small quantities. They have a TON of recipes on their website to choose from so you never get bored. We have definitely found a few favorites we have made multiple times already. They also give you grab-and-go options which are great for weekends or when you don’t have time to cook. I mean for someone who isn’t a cook the recipes are not crazy complicated, but they do take time. Myself, my sister and my mom are all following it and have been doing great!

The other part of the plan is exercise. They give you strength and cardio workouts to help boost your weight loss. I don’t think I can do this diet FOREVER but it is definitely helpful for me to overcome my plateau.

Some of my favorite recipes are:
Breakfast
Banana Walnut Pancakes
Breakfast Club
Egg and Cheese Sandwich (Grab and Go)
Eggy Sausage Stack

Lunch
Avocado and Roast Beef Sandwich
Chicken and Quinos Tossed Salad
Chicken Quesadilla
Lentil Soup with Cream Cheese Toast

Snack
Cheesy Garlic Toast
Lentil-Salsa Dip n’ Chips
Mediterranean Mix
Waffle Sticks with Maple Dip

Dinner
Baked Beef Taquitos
Cilantro Lime Shrimp Tacos
Penne Margherita
Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Fennel and Apples
Smoky Paprika Chicken

I mean really it’s free to sign up and get all the recipes and exercises and I know that it works! You never feel hungry, which for me, is necessary. Why not try it? What have you got to loose!?

Instagramming: April

Another month has flown by. Luckily we are now getting into the warmest and best months of the year so no complaints here!

Here are some April highlights:
1. The month started off with birds! Our infamous work goose showed up squawking at people and protecting it’s nest. Then we had a turkey in our front yard. Who knew turkeys could fly!?!
2. As I previously mentioned, my cousin is pregnant! She is also obsessed with Disney and I found the cutest Disney outfits at Babies R’ Us
3. I tried the new Cool Ranch Dorito taco…delicious!
4. My cousins, along with becoming parents, just bought a house! Lots of renovations, painting and moving have occurred this month. I will have a post once everything is finished with a before/after
5. Andrew McMahon started touring solo playing both Something Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin music. He also just released a solo album which came out today!
6. Rented a mountain house with some friends and had a crazy fun weekend
7. As everyone knows, two brothers bombed the Boston Marathon. I wore my NYC Marathon shirt in solidarity and I will be wearing my Run for Boston shirt and red socks this weekend at the Broad Street 10 Miler in Philly
8. Spring FINALLY decided to show up! The weather has been back and forth but any step towards warmth is fine by me
9. I went to Miami on a business trip. 80 degree weather, beautiful scenery and not having to pay for any more it! We worked during the day and (kind of) partied at night. I got an awesome margarita/beer drink tower thing that was delicious. I also ran on the South Beach boardwalk which is officially my all time favorite run. It was beautiful and so serene.
10. I got a new work computer! It is awesome because of how fast it is, but really Apple. No CD drive? Now how am I going to watch my movies :(
11. I think Tricky Trays are a New Jersey thing. None of my sister’s NYC co-workers have any idea what it is. I go a lot with my Aunt. A Tricky Tray is where there are themed baskets. Your buy tickets and put them in a bucket for the basket then they pull a winning ticket and you win that basket. I won some kids toys (for my soon to be niece/nephew) and my Aunt won the $1650 50/50! It was a great night!
12. My Uncle and Aunt came to NJ for a wedding. My Uncle Bobby is awesome and worked for Miller. We go visit every summer. For his retirement this past year they made him his own beer! He has KUT tattooed on his arm (last name Kutney) so the label is a pun from that.

Can’t wait to see what May will bring! Hopefully a lot more warm weather. I have a lot already to look forward to as well! Baby showers, runs, a wedding in St. Louis. Bring it on!

Miami

I have really been MIA lately! Things have been quite busy around here. I honestly can’t believe it is the end of April!

The past month, whenever I had free time and on the weekends, I have been helping my cousins with their new house. I am happy to say painting is done and moving is this weekend! I am glad it made April go fast because next week also starts our half day fridays at work. One great thing about publishing is they have early fridays in the summer. Not all companies do it, but a lot do. I am not even sure why but I love it!

The last three days I was in Miami for work. I have taken to doing video and editing for my company. It started two years ago when they wanted to do interviews in Switzerland. They asked if I had experience with it or wanted to. Free trip to Switzerland? I of course said yes. Now I do videos every few weeks and get to go to trade shows as well. Most of the shows I go to are in the tri-state area. Luckily this one was in Miami and I got to go. I didn’t even go to tape I only went to edit. But again, free trip…who wouldn’t?

Miami was nice, but I didn’t really get to see too much of it. I flew down Monday morning on a packed flight. We had to go to the convention center to set up our booth. After that I had originally wanted to go running, seeing as I have a 10 miler in 10 days I need to get some training in! But of course everyone convinced me to get a drink down by the beach instead. I was up at 5am so I skipped my run. The beach was nice, but all I did was walk there and put my feet in the water. I had thought the water would be clearer than it is in NJ, but it was just the same.

We had a company dinner that night at a fancy tapas place. I am not a fan of tapas because I can never gauge how much I am actually eating! The food was good though, not worth the $$ we paid, but then again I didn’t have to pay.

The next day I had to be at the convention at 7am for interviews, even though the show didn’t start until 10. The camera guy had all these problems which made us start late which made my day longer. I had a granola bar for lunch and finally finished everything I was supposed to do around 4:30. I had thought the show ended at 5 but it ended at 6. I decided I had worked enough and headed back to the hotel so I could get a run in while it was still nice out. I googled places to run in South Beach and they said there was a wooden boardwalk. I walked there because I wasn’t sure where it was exactly.

That run was the prettiest run I have ever been on and even though it was 80 out I ran pretty fast! The wind was coming in off the beach so I didn’t get as hot as I would have on the road. I felt great after my run too.

 

That night we did a more relaxed dinner at an Irish type bar. Walking around I kept seeing this drink. It was a giant margarita glass with (I assumed) a margarita and two coronas in it. I was intrigued and decided to have one. It was delicious! It was $40 but everyone else had a few drinks in the time it took me to finish it so it evened out. After we went to a nighclub down the road. It was nice but I was with co-workers. It would have been more fun if I had my friends or my Art girls with me. We had a few beers there (and my coworkers had some cigars) and then I decided to call it a night since I had to be up early again.

I loved waking up to warm weather and beautiful scenery.

I did more editing on Wednesday and in the afternoon had to get a cab to the airport. I wish they had let me stay another day. I hate feeling rushed! I gave myself time to relax in the airport and my flight was delayed so I finished my book “The Perks of Being A Wallflower”. I thought I had read it before but nothing seemed familiar so I guess not. Now I need to rent the movie!

All in all a good (fast) trip. I even got the whole row to myself on the flight home! Now to try and play catch up at work and then moving my cousins this weekend. Time flies!