Growing up is hard to do..

Soooo…remember when I made a bunch of life and fitness goals for 2012?  Well, I need to retract one of them.

I had originally planned to move out of the nest this year, but I recently had a change of heart.   I realized that I should live at home a little longer.  I have been saving and calculating for months, and I figured I could afford to move out by May.  I even told my friend that I would be able to move in with her when her lease ended.  

One night,  after a chat with my dad, I totally had a change of heart/epiphany/ whatever you want to call it.  I realized that just because I could move out, didn’t mean that I should.  I knew  I could afford it, but I would literally be spending every penny that I made.   My entire paycheck would be going to rent, student loans, food, and utilities.  That didn’t leave much money for fun, and I like fun.

I had to weight my options; Living on my own and scraping by, or living at home comfortably, but with less freedom.

In the end, I decided to stay at home for at least another year.  I was sick about my decision and really scared to tell my friend.  I didn’t want to let her down, but I knew I had to make the right decision for myself.

So, as a way of coping with living at home, I’ve decided to put together a list of perks.  I’m trying to look on the bright side!

1.        Dinner is usually waiting for me when I get home from work.  This is a big perk for someone who doesn’t really know how to cook dinner.  Breakfast and lunch I can handle, but dinner is a whole other ball game.

2.       In-house Laundry (sans rain boots) - When I lived in an apartment during college, we did have our own laundry in the basement, but the problem was that our basement flooded….alot!  9 times out of 10, you had to wear your rain boots while doing laundry.  That’s really not fun, especially if you drop a clean sock in a puddle…

3.       Not paying utilities!  While living in that apartment, we  had to pay for our heating, which was really expensive in the cold Vermont winter.  We would put the heat down really low, and sit on the couch in sleeping bags to keep warm while watching TV.  I really don’t miss that!

4.       A fully stocked fridge (most of the time) .  Food shopping is not fun!  I really need to appreciate this time in my life where food shopping is not part of my weekly errands.

And there you have it!  If anyone reading this is in the same boat, I hope this helps.  Like I said, I wrote this as a way to cope with staying at home for another year.  It does suck sometimes, but I really think it’s the smart thing for me to do right now.  Now I'll just appreciate it more when I do get to move out.

This post was inspired by the pork roast, baked potato, and green beans waiting for me after work today. :)

Banana Oat Walnut Bread

Happy Monday!

Here's an easy/kinda healthy/yummy recipe for you!

Adapted from Joy the Baker:

I haven’t baked anything in so long! I was having withdrawals.

I only like to cook/bake if I have the kitchen to myself.  Otherwise, I have to deal with my parents looking over my shoulder, commenting on what I’m making, and repeatedly asking if I’m “going to clean up whatever mess I make, right???”

Since the ‘rents were away, I decided to seize the empty kitchen and make use of the over-ripe bananas sitting in our fruit bowl.


Makes 1 loaf  of  10 slices

- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp  salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tsp olive oil
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 medium egg whites, beaten
- 3 large bananas, ripe
- 3/4 cup uncooked old fashioned oat
-1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
-1/2 tbsp honey


First, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

Gather all the ingredients.

 

Combine dry ingredients

 

 In a separate bowl, peel and mash bananas and add oil and one whole egg, then add dry ingredients to wet.

In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until they are medium stiff peaks.

 Then fold in the egg whites in three sections into the mixture.

Pour into greased bread pan.

 Bake for 40-50 minutes.

Enjoy!

Flatbread, The Muddy Moose, and The Stairway Cafe

Aw Man, the weekend’s over!

Yesterday after breakfast we headed into downtown North Conway to check out the little shops.  

Dork.

 When we got hungry, we stopped into Flatbread to get a pizza.  There is a Flatbread in Burlington, Vt (where I went to school), so I’ve been a bunch of times.   We also visited this Flatbread the last time we were in North Conway.  They bake their flatbreads in a big fire brick oven, and they use lots of local and organic ingredients.

 

We ordered the vegetarian flatbread, which was CJ’s idea!  I can’t believe he chose it over the cheeseburger pizza which is topped with hamburger, cheese, pickles, mustard and ketchup!  The vegetarian pizza had artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, and  yellow bell peppers.  I ordered a Switchback (which is brewed in Burlington, VT!)  and CJ got a lemonade.  He’s lame.

As we ate, we watched a guy roasting red peppers over a fire.  I’ve never seen this done before so we stopped by to talk to him about it once we finished eating.  He said all you have to do it burn them until the skin is burned off and turned black.  Then you wash off the burnt skin in a big bucket of water.  The end result is the smooth red peppers that you can buy in a jar.  It was pretty cool to see it done by hand.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around, snapping pics, and doing some shopping.  We even stopped by the Cupcakery and picked up three cupcakes.  I picked the Red Velvet one, and CJ chose the Maple Bacon Cupcake.  We also got one of the Chocolate mint mountain, which no one has eaten yet.

Later that night we headed to the Muddy Moose restaurant for dinner.  I ordered the Muddy Blues cocktail and CJ got a Black and Blue (Blue moon and Guinness).  CJ convinced me to get an appetizer at this place too, we ordered the spinach ravioli.  The order came out with two HUGE raviolis topped with mushrooms and placed on some marinara sauce.  I didn’t finish all of mine because I was trying to save room for my dinner!  You know how I feel about appetizers…

For the entrée, I ordered the Muddy Moose burger with sweet potato fries, and CJ got the perfect storm, which was a plate of mussels and shrimp, with fettucini and sauce.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel, pet the dogs, enjoyed some red wine, and relaxed.

The Inn leaves out a bottle of wine each night for guests.

Cookie and Jack

 This morning when we woke up, we headed down to the dining room for breakfast, but the lights were off in the dining hall.  The owner’s wife came out an apologized and told us that unfortunately there had been an incident the night before and the owner wasn’t there to make us Breakfast.  She apologized and suggested some places that we might like to try for breakfast.  We were disappointed, but what can you do?  I just hope everything turns out ok for them!

 We decided to try the Stairway Café for breakfast.  I had originally wanted to eat at Peach’s but it was super busy.  We were seated right way in the Stairway Café, and the menu looked awesome.  I ordered the simply scrumptious omelet (ham, bacon, green peppers, onions, tomato, mushrooms, cheddar cheese) with a side of homemade apple sauce.  CJ ordered the Oscar Benedict, which was egg’s Benedict made with crab cakes and a side of asparagus and home fries.  It was really delicious.  

I ate so much delicious food this weekend!  Calories don’t count when you’re on vacation, right?

May Kelly's Irish Cottage and the first breakfast at Red Elephant

Hello Friends!

We arrived at the Red Elephant Inn yesterday afternoon.  We went inside to check in and met the Owner, Rob, his daughter, and their two adorable dogs.  One was a big old Golden retriever named Jack and the other was a teeny tiny Chihuahua named Cookie.  The owner was very welcoming and showed us the snack bar, which is stocked with a bottle of wine every evening and always has tea, popcorn, and apples.   Next he showed us the dining room, where we would have breakfast, and the common room which was a cozy little library.  

After seeing our room, we brought up our stuff and got settled.  Then we spent some time picking out where to go for dinner.  We decided on May Kelley’s Irish Cottage.  We went kind of early so it wasn’t busy at all.  We were seated right away and soon ordered our drinks.  I got a Blue Moon, and CJ got a Smithwicks.  

For our appetizer we ordered the Bruschetta.   I’m not usually a big fan of appetizers because they fill me up, but I couldn’t pass up the bruschetta.  Before we got the appetizer they brought us out some brown bread, which was warm and delicious.  The crust was a little bit burnt/crispy, but it was perfect that way.  When our bruschetta arrived, I was surprised to see that it was covered in melted cheese.  Usually I just see it with chucks of tomatoes on top, but this one was like a little pizza.  It was really good and I was happy we ordered it.

This place was a pretty authentic Irish place, they even had black pudding on the menu!  CJ ordered the Shepard’s pie which is made with Lamb, and I got the sirloin steak salad, with cranberries, grilled Portobello, and gorgonzola cheese.  It was really good, and we both enjoyed our meals a lot.

This morning we woke up and headed downstairs to the dining room for breakfast.  They offered us Coffee or tea to start. I chose coffee, and CJ chose the Irish breakfast tea.  Our first course (out of three) was the Zeppole with a raspberry jam served in a martini glass.  It was so yummy!  I had never heard of them/had them before, but I loved it.

The second course was a fruit dish.  It was sliced banana covered in a sauce made with peanut butter and yogurt and covered in brown sugar.  This was so good!  It want to try to make it at home.

We had a choice for our third course.  We could choose egg’s Benedict or a waffle.  We both chose the egg’s Benedict.  It was so tasty.  It came with a side of potatoes roasted with thyme.   I could barely finish my plate because I’m not used to having three course breakfasts!   I seriously can’t wait to see what’s for breakfast tomorrow. 

Longest Week Ever?

Happy Thursday!

Has this week been dragging for anyone else?  It has been going by slow!  It could be due to the fact that on Tuesday I booked an impromptu weekend getaway for me and the bf, and each day has been dragging since then! 

 I had to tweak my smart coach training plan a little bit because I know I’m not going to feel like/have time for working out this weekend.  Depending on the weather, I might try to sneak a 3 mile run in on Saturday, but if not, I’m planning to spend some time on the treadmill when I get home on Sunday.  Will either of those things actually happen?

remember these things??

 I’m starting to get really excited for the race in March.  Since my training has been going so great, I’m feeling  pretty confident that I’ll be able to finish the race within my goal time of 1 Hour and 45 minutes.

Here’s my training plan for this week:

Monday:  3 mile run(check)

Tuesday: 3 mile run(check)

Wednesday:  3 mile run(check)

Thursday: 2 mile run

Friday: Off

Saturday: Possible 3 mile run

Sunday:  Possible 3 mile run

Why is this week all 3 miles when I was running 4 and 7 miles last week, you ask?  I have no idea!  But since my plan is from “Smart” coach. I’m going to trust that they know what they’re doing.

Anyways, back to my weekend getaway…. We’re going to North Conway, NH.  We went two years ago and stayed in the most adorable B&B called the Peace Withinn.  How perfect does that sound?  It was really cute and our room had a gigantic bath with jets, and it’s own fire place.  We ended up staying for 4 nights during the week and we had the entire Inn to ourselves.  We shopped, ate alotm and even snow-shoed.  It was a really great time, and I know this year will be even better. :)

Our room: The Fire side room

Snow shoeing adventures

my main squeeze(squeege)

This year we’re staying at the Red Elephant Inn.  All of the reviews I have read for this place have been amazing, so I have really high expectations.  Most have said that the Inn Keepers are great and really personable.  Is it NOT anyone’s ideal job to be an Inn Keeper for a B&B? I know it’s mine!

I’m working a short day tomorrow and heading up right after.  Can’t wait to tell you all about it!

Seven Mile Saturday

Hey Everyone (all 3 of you that read this)!  I just ran 7 miles! I’m so proud of myself!

This morning I had a six mile run on the agenda from my training plan.  I figured I would do the six miles and keep going it I felt up to it.  When I reached six miles I thought I’d do a little more so I could do a 10k which is 6.21 miles.  Once I reached that I figured I would just go to 7 miles since I was feeling so great.  And I did it!  I ran 7 miles! The furthest I have ever run!  On a Treadmill!

That brings this week’s total miles up to 15. 

This week’s training recap:

Tuesday: 4 miles- 10:02 Pace

Thursday: 4 miles- 9:38 pace

Saturday: 7 miles- 10:01 pace

After this run, I’m feeling pretty good about the 10 miler.  I can’t wait for it!

Unfortunately most of my runs have been on the treadmill lately.  The treadmill and I are becoming the best of frenemies.  I wish I could run more outside, but since I do most of my workouts after work, it’s really dark and cold by then.  This morning I was hoping to run outside, but I woke up to another winter wonderland.  I did see one person out running today and I thought “yeah, he just looks insane.”

I started reading a new blog called Skinny Runner.  At first I thought the title was a little obnoxious, but I actually enjoy reading it, she’s pretty funny (especially her celebricizing page).  She runs about one marathon a month.  Who does that??? She even ran two marathons in a single weekend before.  At first I thought that was just ridiculous, but whatever floats your boat, right?  Where some people might think that’s a little excessive, I say more power to you, if your body can handle it and you’re doing it safely.  I doubt I'll ever get to that point , but I think I’ll use her as inspiration. :)