My Baby Shower!!!

My Baby Shower was held on Sunday and had such a blast I decided to post about it!  My baby shower was held at the Acacia Restaurant in Westborough, MA.  I think they did a really nice job with the room set-up and the delicious brunch buffet. They were great to work with and it was an easy location to get to (right off Route 9).

But before I discuss all that, let's chat about the baby!

Since I don't write a lot about what's going on with our baby on this blog, you may not know that we are doing a turtle theme for our little guy's room. But, maybe you did know that if you follow me on Pinterest.  By the way, follow me here!

One of the first things I found was this bedding and I was hooked! Unfortunately it was a Carter's bedding set that was discontinued.  So once I found it online somewhere, I acted quick and ordered as much as I could.  Which included the bedding- sheets, bumpers (ya I know I know), the rug, the lamp, the mobile.  Yep, I went a little turtle crazy.

I pretty much fell in love with all things turtles and trees.  My friend Meg has been painting a mural in our nursery and I can't wait to show it all off to you guys... SOON.  

Back to my Shower.  Obviously my invitations had to have a turtle theme too!  My friend Stephanie actually found these invites on Etsy.  I wasn't totally in love at first but they grew on me and the turtle was just too cute for words...

(PS, click that link to Steph's blog.  She recently bought a new house and she's been blogging about how she's decorating it.  She is having a boy any day now so you can check out her nursery too!)

My mom and I were trying to think of cute centerpiece ideas to go with the theme.  We decided we wanted to do flowers and have some sort of turtle theme with it.  I ordered these, only they somehow got sent back to the sender and I didn't get them in time : (

Random tangent...every year on the first day of spring my company gives every employee a small pot of tulips or some other seasonal flower.  Look how beautiful!

We really lucked out because my mom was having trouble finding flowers in small pots... and my company was generous and let me have ten of these guys! So I decorated them with turtle stickers and balloons and they were perfect centerpieces.  

In addition, my mom added to the turtle theme with turtle outfits hung on clothes pins along the wall...

And Stephanie made me a Turtle Diaper Cake : )

My mother-in-law brought the most delicious cake from a bakery on the North Shore.

 And most of my friends enjoyed delicious Mimosa's.

The food was great too.... typical brunch food of eggs, bacon, waffles, and fruit.

And pretty soon, it was time to open gifts.  Let's just say... there were a lot of gifts.  But Dave ripped through them pretty quickly.

 My best friend Courtney was a trooper... she shuffled the gifts around and organized everything perfectly.  She also gave us the cutest gift.

She got us this cute Baby Colanto crate with all the feeding tools needed for the next few years : )

It was a great night with wonderful friends and family.  And I can't thank my mom and mother-in-law enough for throwing me such a wonderful shower!

Future Running Goals

Ahhh the goals post. This type of blog entry seems very common among Moms-To-Be.  Well mine will be a little different. As much as I'd love to sit here and type out my goals for Summer 2012, I know in my heart that I have no idea what to expect come May.

In May, I'm going to be a Mom.  That was weird to type.  Do I hope to be a Running Mom?  You bet.  Do I hope to be a Marathon Running Mom. The Truth? No.

I've run three marathons and I haven't really, truly enjoyed ANY of them.  I guess I sorta enjoyed the training but on race day I was never capable of running the times I thought I could.  Case in point, I trained my heart out for NY and only ran 2 minutes faster than Boston- a race I only trained for 2 months.  I'm just not sure the marathon and I are right for each other.

And if I'm having these feelings BEFORE the baby, it's certainly not going to get any easier to train AFTER.  

So my goals are simple. (In my head at least...)

My goals for after this baby are to get fast.  I'm talking racing 5Ks.  Maybe a 5 Miler.  Nothing longer.  The way I see it is like this...  After I have our baby, I'm going to have WAY less time.  After I go back to work, I'm going to have even less time.  So my plan is to make every run and every workout I do worthwhile.

If you ask me what I'm passionate about or what my life mission statement is, I would say: To get the most done in the least amount of time while still maintaining a strong work ethic and quality product.

This is how I operate at work, in my kitchen and soon, with my workouts.

So to do this I must do what exactly?  Simply: Run fast in little time.  If I have a half hour to get a workout done, I will be running as fast as I possibly can for those 30 minutes. If I only have 10 or 15 minutes, the same theory applies.

I am not going to tell you what paces I hope to run this summer because I have no idea what my labor or recovery will be like.  I will tell you that I hope to get close to my PRs again and get on the track more.  The track is where I fell in love with running to begin with.  I want to run fast in events I can no longer sign up for: the mile, 800, 600, 400, 200.  I want to feel fast again.

And with the Olympics around the corner, I know I'll be even more motivated to run around my favorite oval.  I've already warned my husband to expect our DVR to be filled to the brim with track and field events from the 2012 Olympics!

(this is my college coaches' son Matthew Centrowitz at a track meet in Boston in February)

So there you have it.  My running goals for Summer 2012. It consists of really having no goals.  Come May my life will change in ways I can't imagine and I want to set myself up for success, not failure.

Moms- Any advice?

Restaurant Review: Tomasso Trattoria & Enoteca

First off, I apologize for my rant on my last post.  Dave thinks I scared away some of my readers so I apologize for being very insensitive, but sometimes a girls got to vent!!!

Last night Dave and I had plans to go into Boston to celebrate my best friend Courtney's 30th birthday.  But before that, I suggested trying out Tomasso on Rt. 9 in Southboro, a restaurant we have passed a thousand times before.

We got there at about 6:45 and the place was already really crowded.  We were told that without reservations, the only seats available were either at the bar or at the kitchen window.  A chance to view the chefs cook while enjoying a tasty meal?  I was all about it!

Located east bound on Route 9 in Southboro, Tomasso offers Italian cuisine with a seasonal menu that features sustainable and humanely raised ingredients from local farms and fishermen.  Our waiter greeted us quickly and told us about the restaurant.  I was very impressed by the long list of farms and fisherman that the chef uses around the New England area.  I was also impressed by the dates on the menu.  The menu changes weekly based on what's in season and what's available.

We were pretty hungry so we quickly ordered the Olives and the Insalata Verde, which was made literally right in front of us.

 A simple salad with delicious flavors.  The lemony vinaigrette was a perfect pair  with the pecorino cheese, pickled onions and peppery arugula.  It was a great first dish! Dave and I also enjoyed the olives.  I'm not usually in love with olives, but these were so fresh and had tons of flavor with various spices.

While we ate, we enjoyed watching the chefs in the kitchen.  They were very fast and efficient!

For dinner, I decided to get a half order of the gnocchi, a dish on their primi menu.  Primi, or first courses, are fresh pastas that the chefs make daily.  They usually act as a prelude to the main course, but I wanted something small and not too filling so it was perfect for my main meal. 

This was such a fantastic pairing!  Bitter radicchio mixed with speck (a type of prosciutto) with rich gnocchi over a creamy parmesan sauce.  I loved it and ate every last bite!

Dave ordered a special of the evening. Pulled lamb over a creamy chickpea polenta with spicy peppers.

 I think he loved it because after one bite from me, I blinked and the dish was gone! Mixing polenta and chickpea was really interesting.

I really wanted dessert to complete the meal but we were in a huge rush to get into the city and the place was really crowded so I knew it would take awhile.  The only small complaint I have about this place was the service.  It's definitely a place you go to when you have time to leisurely eat, not a place to go to when you have plans after.  Which is totally fine and something I will definitely plan for in the future.  All in all, it was a delicious restaurant with fresh, local ingredients that are balanced so well.  I really can't wait to go back (with more time!) I highly recommend it!

 After dinner we headed into Legals Harborside for drinks (ahem Shirley Temples for me) to celebrate my best friends 30th!  I'm currently 31 weeks pregnant and everyone was super impressed I was out and stayed out so late.  (We didn't get home until 12:30am!)  But I honestly feel pretty great and I had a ton of fun last night. And since I haven't posted a photo on this blog in a long time, here are some bump photos of BFF Courtney and me!

Three Things Thursday

There really is no right way to transition from a tribute to my fathers life to anything else seamlessly.  I had planned to write about some awesome recipes I made using pepperoni, but it just seems odd to talk about food right now.  I have been cooking a ton lately so hopefully I'll get those posts up soon!  But for now, enjoy my snarkiness....

I stole Three Things Thursday from Melissa Nibbles.  She partakes in this every week and I always look forward to it.  I often think of my own to write, but I'm usually too big of a wimp to actually post. But this week, I'm in the mood. In case you don't know, this is a list where I get to complain about the things that have been annoying me this week. So here we go.

1. "My thoughts and prayers are with you." Is this just something people say when they don't know what else to say?  I guess I just 100% do not understand this line.  To me, it's just words with no meaning.  If you're going to go out of your way to write me a card or send an email during this difficult time, please come up with SOMETHING more meaningful to write.
(I know this makes me seem like an ungrateful bia@$#tch.  But I'm grieving.  And receiving notes with that phrase and nothing else makes me angry.)

2. FACEBOOK THINGS....

• Facebook and Pinterest. I am so happy that you FINALLY discovered the beauties of Pinterest my dear Facebook friends, BUT, you really need to uncheck the button that you share all your pins + who you're following on facebook.  Because I DON'T CARE.  And you're clogging my News Feed.  

Here is a perfect example and just so happens to be at the top of my News Feed currently.

See that button in the lower corner when you repin?  Uncheck it.  Please.

You could also turn off linking to other outlets.  It's annoying.

• Facebook and Babies. Yes, I know I'm pregnant and I should be all about pictures of 'friends' cute baby pictures all over facebook.  But I'm not.  I find it annoying and wish these people would start baby blogs instead of posting a million of the same iPhone pics to facebook.  Use facebook for the good stuff; the pictures where your baby looks adorable and does something worth mentioning.  Otherwise, you are just wasting my time.  On the same note, when did all my 'friends' have babies?  I wake up to a constant newsfeed of Mom's complaining about their babies lack of sleep, or gas issues, or a million other problems.  Again, I wish the moms on fb would find a new outlet to relay this information on ... I don't know... a BABY forum or Twitter.  

• Facebook and Food. Melissa touched on this on her post today and I couldn't agree more. Even more, I really can't stand when people take unattractive photos of their dinners and post it to facebook like it's the biggest thing they've ever done.  Congratulations, I eat and make dinners every night too. 

3. Commuters.  I have two pretty big pet peeves that I talk about wayyy too much.

• First, as most of you know, I commute from the 'burbs into the city daily.  I am part of that large crew of people that walk to and from South Station every day.  I am not however, part of the idiot crew that like to follow each other across big intersections during rush hour traffic without paying attention.  This drives me NUTS.  You're leaving work and still have work to do, I get it.  You're looking at your blackberry while walking, I get it. But then you cross the street even though the light is green because you saw another idiot doing the same?  I don't get it.  I witness people almost get hit by cars daily.  And I have to ask - What's the rush?  Is that extra 30 seconds really going to kill you?  Well, it might.

• Second, I really, REALLY do not understand why people on the train feel the need to stand up and line up LONG before we reach our destination.  This morning I was sitting in the first set of seats next to the door.  I was getting off at the next stop.  I was sitting on the outside.  AKA, I have control.  Person sitting next to me says "Excuse me" way before we get to the station.  I kindly say, "I'm getting off here too and I'd like to wait for the train to stop." I know this bothers people but again, is it really necessary to stand in a line waiting to get off the train when I'm in the first seat? I mean when the train stops, I will get up and get off the train too. Plus the train never stops gracefully and people always go flying forward so I'd rather sit safely in my seat until it comes to a complete stop : )

Alright, you're turn.  What's annoying you this week?

The Giants Win Was for You Dad

The last time I posted I was talking shit about the Giants and raving about my beloved New England Patriots. Oh and talking about Superbowl food.  I really believed there was no way in hell my Patriots were going to lose to the Giants... again.  And in those two + weeks that I've been silent on this blog, the Giants not only won the Superbowl, but I lost my father, one of the biggest Giants fans I know.

I don't talk too much about my personal life on this blog. It just doesn't feel comfortable to tell you all everything about me when I have no idea who you are.  But writing is therapeutic and I know I have to get these feelings out.

My father's life was cut way too short.  His death made me realize how unfair life can be.  It made me realize how the world is full of IF's.  And not having enough time.

I remember while watching the Superbowl unfold, I looked up at the clock and saw we had :57 seconds left.  Under a minute for a miracle.  But in my heart I knew it was too late.  And when the Giants won, I immediately started to tear up.  I said to myself, "that was for you Dad."

The next day I took the day off of work and I spent a lot of time listening to sports radio.  The announcers kept saying things like: "If Brady didn't throw that interception..." "If Welker made that catch..." "IF, IF, IF." I cried while driving because in so many ways that one football game symbolized what I was going through with my father's life.

On Thursday February 9th, my father passed away at the way too young age of 68 due to complications from Triple Bypass Surgery.

I've spent the last few days wishing I had more time with him.  Wishing I had more answers. Wishing we hadn't grown so far apart in the last five years.  Wishing he had met my nephews.  Wishing he could meet my future son. I kept thinking "what if?"  What if he didn't have the surgery?

My fathers funeral was on Sunday and over 75 people showed up.  A lot of people had great memories of my father. The truth was my dad was a big kid at heart.  He lived his life according to his plan and his weaknesses shaped his unique personality.

To paraphrase from my brothers eulogy, "if a persons life is measured by the memories he's left behind, my father has no equal."

I'm sure all the people who showed up at his funeral had numerous stories about my father.  And although my father was a complex man, he did have a very kind, giving heart.

My father captured our lives growing up through polaroids and with the worlds largest video camera known to man.  As soon as those video cameras went on the market, my dad had to get one.  And throughout my childhood, that video camera was always there.  Making videos in the 80s and 90s left a huge impact on me and was probably a huge reason why I majored in film in college and continue to make a career in the field. When I look back on my childhood, I think back to my track meets.  I think back to looking up in the stands before a big race and seeing my dad cheering his face off while carrying his big, bulky video camera.

I wish things could have ended differently for my father.  I wish I could have more time with him.  I wish so many things but in the end sometimes there are no answers. But the memories of my father will live on forever...

"Super" Foods for the SuperBowl

It's Superbowl Week in case you didn't know.  And for once I care MORE about the game then I do about the food.  You know, because my team is playing.  

New England Patriots vs New York Giants.  The Rematch.  

This Guy: Eli Manning

Versus: This Guy: Tom Brady

The Man.  I mean who would you want on your side?

All I can say is as a New England sports fan, we've been through a lot of heartbreak.  You know the whole not winning a World Series in 86 years.  Then everything got turned around.  The Red Sox won in 2004 and 2007.  The Celtics won in 2008. The Bruins won in 2011. The Patriots won in 2002, 2004 and 2005.  Then they crushed our hearts when they lost in 2007 to the Giants with an undefeated record.  I have faith this won't happen again!  I believe in our team! Jesus may be with Tim Tebow, but God is with us... I mean how else can you explain this?

It's NO GOOD!  Wide Left! The Patriots are in the Superbowl!

On a side note, how hysterical is this?

Poor Poor Bill Cundiff, courtesy of Bar Stool Sports

Okay, moving on.  Besides the game, what's the most important thing at a Super Bowl Party?  

FOOD, of course.

Here's a list of the "Super" Foods you should have at your Super Bowl gathering. Or at least some easy options for your party! And I mean EASSSSY.

FINGER FOODS

Buffalo Chicken Bites

3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into bit size pieces
1/2 Package of Seasoned Shake N Bake Mixture
1/2 Cup of Panko Breadcrumbs
1 Cup of your Favorite Buffalo Wing Sauce
3 Tablespoons of Honey
Instructions:
Preheat Oven to 350. Pour Seasoning Mixture and Panko Breadcrumbs into bowl.  Mix Chicken bites with Mixture until coated.  Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and add Chicken. Bake for 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, add sauce and honey to another bowl and microwave for three minutes.  Take chicken out and add to sauce mixture and mix well, then serve!

 

Taco Bites

Both recipes are adjustable and really simple.  Use ground beef or ground turkey, add some seasonings.  Spray muffin pan and add either wonton wrappers or small flour or corn tortillas into each slot.  Fill with ground meat, and shredded cheese.  Top with either salsa or sliced up tomato and avocado!

Edamole- 

a mix of guac and edamame!

 This is one of the simplest recipes you could ask for.  Thank Cara for that.  I've had Edamame hummus before but never edamame guac.  It intrigued me and I'm glad I made it!  My recipe was even easier than Cara's because I bought Ready-to-Eat Edamame at Trader Joes, along with a Guacomole Kit (2 avocados, 1 jalapeno, 4 limes, garlic), Cilantro, Red Onion and Fage Greek Yogurt.  So pretty much you mix those ingredients together in your handy food procesor and well, that's it!  I only used half a jalapeno and it was still pretty spicy.  So as I always say, taste as you go and season as needed with salt and pepper.

Southwestern Egg Rolls

In the filling mix was 1 cup of corn, 1 can of black beans, 1 small can of green chiles, 1 10oz package of defrosted spinach, 4 diced green onions, cayenne pepper, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. And all you do to wrap them is put the filling in the middle, fold up the bottom, then the sides, then roll it over and close the flap.  Then you bake for 15-20 minutes at 375°. Serve with Salsa!

Zucchini Pizzas

(I used low-fat turkey pepperoni, keep in mind you don't have a ton of room on these small slices!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Preheat grill to medium-high.  Cut zucchini into thick slices about 3/4 inch thick.  Grill the zucchini 7-8 minutes, or until there are some grill marks and it's starting to be tender. Remove zucchini from the grill or grill pan then add sauce, cheese, pepperoni.  Put loaded zucchini slices on a cookie sheet and finish in the oven until the cheese is melted or if you used a grill, and not a grill pan, put them back on the grill until the cheese melts.Remove zucchini pizzas from grill and serve hot. 

MAIN DISH:

Quinoa Chili

Combine quinoa and water/broth in saucepan, cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook until liquid is absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a large, non-stick pan; add onion, bell pepper, celery and jalapeno. Saute 7 minutes over medium heat. Stir in fresh tomatoes and carrots; saute 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in beans, crushed tomatoes, and seasonings; cook about 25 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally. Stir in quinoa; cook 5 minutes more. Ladle chili into bowls and top with avocado and cheese.

DESSERT

3 Ingredient PB Cup Cookies

Throw about 20-24 PB cups in a food processor.  Process away, then add in 1 egg.  Continue to process.

Then scoop cookie dough into small balls onto a lined cookie sheet.  

Flatten with a fork, add some sea salt.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Watch them though! They can burn easily!

So there you have it... easy recipes to make for your gameday celebration, regardless of who you're rooting for.  But, all of these recipes will taste a lot better if you root for the Patriots!  Okay, maybe not, but I can try!

My Pregnant Running Routine

So, the name of this blog is FOOD to RUN for.  But, I haven't talked about running lately.  It's been a long time since I've tried to run consecutively without walking.  Even in the first trimester, I was often left defeated, slow and truthfully, ashamed.  I wondered why it was so easy for other pregnant women to get out there and why it was so hard for me.  I pretty much gave up early in my second trimester and succumbed to the idea that walking was enough.  Then one day I was talking to my friend Leah about her running recovery.  You see my friend Leah and I ran together in college.

We were both pretty similar runners with similar times (although she definitely got faster after I quit Junior Year).  But after college something changed. Leah dropped the middle distances and started running long.  And well, in 2008, Leah qualified for Boston running in the high 3:20s on a very hot Chicago day.  And when she showed up to run Boston in 2009, she ran an amazingly impressive 3:11.

So that's my friend Leah in a nutshell.  Once a standout 400-800 meter runner, she has now become my fastest marathon friend.  Although I could go on and on about how awesome I think Leah is as a person and a runner, that is not my point of this post.  But if you want to read about that and get to know her better, you should check out her new blog here!

My point is that in early June Leah found out she had a Labral Tear and all her fall running goals went out the window.  She couldn't run and she couldn't do yoga and she was left frustrated.  After surgery and months of Physical Therapy she began to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  And after many months off, her Doctor and Physical Therapist allowed her to run!  Her Physical Therapist gave her a four week walk-to-run plan where she runs 3 days a week, gradually increasing the amount she runs.

The plan was something like this:
Day 1: Walking for 4 minutes and 30 seconds and running for 30 seconds
Day 2: Walking for 4 minutes and running 1 minute
Day 3: Walking for 3 minutes and 30 seconds and running for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
... and on...
lowering the walking and increasing the running...with each week...

Leah and I gchat daily so when she told me about this plan sometime around early December, I thought to myself... "hmmm, I can do this too!"  And MAYBE this will make me feel successful at running instead of such a failure.

So for the past month and a half or so, this is the plan I've been doing.  1-3X a week (depending on how much time I have), I've been walk-running.

My workout plan that has worked for me is: 

4 minutes walking to 3 minutes running for 30-45 minutes

=

Which translates to about 2 to 3.5 miles and about a 14 minute per mile pace

So I walk pretty slowly- 2.8-3.0mph on the treadmill and run at about 6.8mph.

I've done this workout on the treadmill at my gym, outside, with my brother and with Dave and it's made me feel strong and worth something.  Although I can't run like I used to, the fact that I can still run at all brings a smile to my face.  See, I'm smiling!

So at 6 + months pregnant, I'm still trying to get out there.  I may not have had the ACTIVE pregnancy I would have liked, but I am happy that I'm doing something.  And those 3 minute spurts of running is giving me just the adrenaline I need. I hope I can continue this plan for the rest of my pregnancy!  Wish me luck : )