Life is Hard

Vacation!!

We're just over an hour away from our final destination and it's been a pretty peaceful drive. The bad news is that Little Man has been having some nighttime sleep struggles due to lingering sickness and teething but the good news is that he happily played with toys the first half of the drive and has been asleep ever since.

I am feeling about 90% better, I still am a bit congested but I have to tell you that Mucinex DM and Oscillococcinum knocked this sucker out quick. The r&r helped out as well. Music Man took care of all the last minute trip details and put Little Man down for a nap yesterday which allowed me 3 solid hours to lay in bed dozing and reading.

I am reading a great book so I was able to sit still, something I often have trouble with. The book is "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot and it is incredible. It's a non-fiction page turner that I've devoured. It's the biography of a woman that died of cervical cancer, well actually, its the biography of her cancerous cells and how they've affected her family and YOURS. I don't know how to attach a link, so Google the book and I can only imagine you will find the story as intriguing as I have.

Have a wonderful rest of your week!

Sick

I have so much to say but I'm really sick, 100* temperature and all. Ugh. Our whole family keeps giving it back and forth to each other. I had my flu shot so this must be a crap cold. Please wish me luck that I get over this bug as quickly as the previous ones because vacation begins Thursday :) :(

Five for Friday Saturday Edition

1. I ran in my new Newton's yesterday. It was an awesome 4 mile run at an average 8:59 pace.

2.I was so looking forward to running again today but I suffered a tragic vacuuming accident that has left me with a bum right knee. I was pushing the beast of a vacuum and twisted my knee just a bit and suddenly my knee was sending shooting pains up and down my leg. No bueno. I've been icing it and staying off it and I am happy to say it is feeling much better.

3. Instead of a run or elliptical session I did a low impact 45 minute workout with a ton of punches, easy jumping jacks and lots of arms and abs with a few light squats and lunges.

4. I urge you to buy candy corn because making it yourself is traumatic and the 3 dollars for a bag is worth it. The end result is pretty cool and people seem to be impressed, but the burns on the palms of my hands tell the real story.

5. Instead you should spend your time making enchiladas, poached apples, or something that may not kill you in the cooking process.

Hope you are having a lovely Saturday!

How I Will Be Spending My Friday Night

Music Man emailed me this video of how to make homemade candy corn a few minutes ago. I'll take it as a hint.



You can find the full recipe at The Harvard Crimson

Etruscan Image of Woman Giving Birth

This is so cool! 2600 year old image of a woman giving birth was found near Tuscany. Oldest yet in the western world. Pretty awesome!

The History Blog » Blog Archive » Etruscan image of woman giving birth found

Best Ever

New Shoe Day!!!

I'm feeling a bit under the weather but got myself off the sofa because I've been in dire need of new shoes for a few weeks. Unfortunately my local running store is open random hours and today was the first day I had free time to get over there. Luckily I knew exactly what I wanted so I was in and out super quick. A woman even commented about my quick shopping.

Now that I've worn Newton's for a year I know I'll never wear anything else so the decision was easy. If you ever think about trying Newton's I highly recommend them. I swear, as soon as I got my first pair my pace decreased by 10 seconds instantly. I did choose a different style today though. I'm all about crazy neon.

And now I'm off to rest. I need to get better right quick ;) Vacation in a week!

Have a great week!

Shucking Corn

Have you seen this? It changed my life

Yoga and Chakra Meditation

Exercise: 5 miles alone! 8:50 avg pace and my 5 mile pr! Woot woot. Yesterday was a great elliptical, strength, yoga combo.

Yoga has become an integral component of my workouts as of late. I've been having some lower back pain so I'm trying to stay away from my normal crunches and extensions and focusing on more core stabilizing moves and poses. I stopped doing yoga in favor of more intense weight workouts and I've really missed it. Thankfully, I've already noticed my back feeling better. Score for yoga.

When practicing yoga in a studio the session usually ends with a few minutes of meditation which is not something I normally work into my practice. But I've decided to do it for 5 minutes following my workout the past few days and I've really enjoyed it. I haven't found enlightenment after 2 days but I have found that I really enjoy a few minutes of absolute peace and quiet.

Having 5 minutes of peace and quiet has been great this past weekend because with the boys being sick all week and then getting sick myself, I feel like I've been much busier. I make all the meals, clean, and then run errands throughout the day and make it to the events and appointments I can. After Little Man is in bed I put in the last loads of laundry, fold what's in the dryer, do moms' club stuff and then it's 9:50. Yay, 10 minutes of relaxation before it's time to prepare for bed. But don't take that as a complaint, it's just been busy and it's been amazing to have a 5 minute respite midday to rest and recharge. For me, the 5 minutes of meditation is akin to a nap. I highly recommend it for new moms and moms of young children.

The meditation I do is an easy one I learned about 8 years ago when I was living in the OC. My friend and I would drive up to LA to take these awesome and challenging meditation classes in Brentwood, not far from UCLA. Challenging and meditation seem to be somewhat polar but going from never meditating to 90 minutes of it can be difficult, especially on your rear. So they teach this technique prior to the class so if you ever need to get centered during that 90 minutes, you have a means of doing so. These days I often go through it when I have a hard time getting to sleep. It usually works like a charm.

Chakra Meditation- Relaxing the Chakras
1. root/ base of spine
2. navel
3. solar plexus/ chest
4. heart
5. throat
6. third eye/ brow
7. crown/ top of the head

I do this in corpse pose but you can also do it in seated lotus pose or some variation of it.

1. relax each body part starting at the toes and ending at the crown; drop your shoulders, relax your face and brow, breathe from your diaphragm.
2. starting at the crown imagine warmth drawing through your body going through and warming each chakra, stopping at the base of your spine. Feel the energy and warmth there and take 5 deep breaths
3. move the light and warmth up to your navel, feel the energy and take five breaths.
4. continue through the remaining chakras ending with the crown, take 5 breaths and then let the warmth spill over the rest of your body.

I set a timer for 5 minutes and do it until my time is up. Yesterday I actually set my timer for another 2 minutes because it felt so amazing. I'm liking this meditation stuff ;)

Hope you guys enjoy this!

And here's a photo of Little Man with his new obsession courtesy of Daddy. He woke up this morning and from the monitor I heard a rustling of sheets and then " Tane, tane!" (Train, train).

Music Man couldn't resist getting this set yesterday and Little Man is absolutely smitten.

Getting to Know You

Kim over at Girl Evolving has a great series of posts called "Let's Be Friends" featuring some of her readers and other bloggers. I was itching to be featured because her site is so fun and she has classy readers ;) i.e., no snarky comments. It's a fun blog with healthy recipes and tasty food, running, books and babies. It's a great all around lifestyle blog.

And I got featured today, yay! So please go and say hi to Kim and perhaps browse some of her mouthwatering recipes.

Now I'd like to extend the same offer to you guys because it's so much fun. I'd love to know more about my readers and for you to all get to know each other. If you are interested please send an email to ultralauren@gmail.com and tell me who you are, where you live, what drives you, what your goals are for the coming year (fitness and otherwise), your favorite food or recipe, favorite workout, what you would do with 5 hours of free time or anything else you can think of. Please include a photo and your blog address if you have one so we can all go stalk your blog ;)

Thanks again, Kim!!!

Five for Friday - Sick Edition

Exercise: 30 minutes yoga and 1 mile dog walk today, yesterday was an easy 3 mile run and about 500 miles of walking

1. The boys have been struggling with colds and flus all week, but now it's my turn. Ugh. I've spent all day on the sofa feeling sorry for myself.

2. Luckily we got to go to Santa Barbara for the day yesterday. We spent the first part of the day at the zoo then walked around, shopped and ate. It was excellent.

3. BBQ Seitan Pizza is awesome! Made it just like bbq chicken pizza with shredded gouda, red onions and a sprinkle of cilantro. YUM

4. Post pizza I got dressed up and went out on the town for our monthly mom's night out. As a stay-at-home mom dressing up is a rarity; I feel good if my workout clothes match and I don't have stains on my shirt. I also got to rock the bag Music Man brought back for me from NY.

5. We also went to Costco this week. NEVER go to Costco hungry

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!

Butternut Mac n' Cheese Recipe, Sick Boys and Some Fast Miles

Exercise: Yesterday-25 mins run, 25 mins elliptical, 25 mins strength; Today-4 miles with sprint intervals- avg pace- 8:56

This weekend was basically two rest days, and it was awesome. Even though I had another rough night with both my men sick and cranky I woke up yesterday morning refreshed, feeling like I could run a marathon. A marathon wasn't in the cards because sick Little Man joined me, but I did get in a timed mile sandwiched by about 2 easy miles. And the timed mile? 7:38 with the jogger; so happy.

I've been pretty productive the last few days even though I felt like I was doing twice as much on half the sleep. I had been wanting to plan a whole week of meals so I did that Sunday and actually stuck to the plan. We've been having super yummy dinners that Little Man really likes, super awesome because he hasn't been eating much since he's been sick.

Sun- Jambalaya with shrimp, andoiulle and chicken

and banana bread 3 ways for dessert

plain, w/ pecans and choc chips, and with pecans only

Mon- Butternut mac n' cheese

Tues- Roast pork, sweet potatoes and green beans brocollini

Wed- Bbq seitan pizza with gouda and red onions
Thurs: Veggie burgers and oven fries
Fri: Meatloaf and rice pilaf
Sat: Chicken fried tofu and mashed potatoes
Sun: Lasagna or eating out, haven't decided yet

The butternut mac n' cheese was amazing and I highly recommend making it.
I cooked my pasta (whole bag brown rice penne) and separately steamed a TJ's bag of cubed butternut (2 cups?) that I diced in some veggie broth.
1/2 of it got mixed into the pasta and the other 1/2 got pureed with the small bit of veggie broth (1/2 cup?) and a dash of coconut milk until it resembled baby food.
I made a dark roux with 2 T butter and 2T ww flour, added in the puree and about 2 T of  Parmesan and let cook on medium while stirring.
Then I added in 1/2 c of light shredded cheddar slowly and stirred until creamy. I added in another dash of coconut milk, nutmeg, allspice and about 1/4 tsp each of s&p and took off the heat.
I mixed the pasta and butternut with 1/2 c light shredded cheddar then mixed the sauce into it.
I poured everything into a sprayed 8x8 glass dish, topped with another 1/2 c cheddar and baked at 350 for 20 mins covered and 10 mins uncovered.

This was enough for 5 huge adult entree servings (500 cals) or 8 pretty big side dish servings (300 cals). I'm not sure of the other nutritional facts but I think there are 8 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber per each sinful side dish serving. Pretty nutrient dense for mac n' cheese and even the tiny tot loved it.

Hope you're having a great week and I'll let you know about any other memorable meals.

Weekend

It has been such a lovely weekend mini break. We walked for hours around the beach and little streets. We did some window shopping, looked at art and did a lot of eating.

I wish I took more photos, but alas, did not. The second photo is of a 9/11 sculpture just dedicated in Laguna. I thought it was so beautiful, especially with the gorgeous back drop.

Hope you had and continue to have a great weekend!

My Exercise for Today

The Plane

Little Man doesn't really understand why Daddy is gone but he does know he's not around. He often goes to the studio or the bedroom, knocks and then ways "Daddy?" over and over.

Because Little Man knows what a plane is I thought it would be brilliant to teach him that Daddy left on a plane. Not so much. We are in the flight path to an airport so every time a plane passes Little man points to the air and says "Daddy plane." Sometimes he gets really upset. It's so sad.

Thank God Music Man will be home tonight and hopefully Little Man won't be so confused by the planes.

Running Buddy

Exercise: 5 mile run 8:48 avg pace yesterday, 4 mile run 9:25 avg pace today

So I killed my run yesterday. It was another run split by a playground stop so it was 2.6 at 8:56 and 2.5 at 8:39. I'm extremely pleased especially because Little Man and I had another rough night. He was up from 1-2 in pain from teething. Then again at 5. It's pretty heartbreaking because there's not much I can do besides drug him up and I try to avoid the drugs when I can. I'm not opposed to pain relievers at all I just want to use them when he really needs them, like as a febrile fever reducer or for ear infections.

I got to teach the Fit Mommy class again this week and I was totally unprepared. But I still loved it and was able to lead a 40 minute class pretty seamlessly. I would say about half the exercises were the same but I added in some yoga poses to change things up. It was really fun again and everyone said they enjoyed it. One of the new mothers asked where I taught which I totally took as a compliment. I'm thinking more and more that group fitness instruction might be something to look into when Little Man starts preschool.

I  met another mother runner at the playground today and we exchanged numbers and talked about running together next Thursday. I love the idea of having a running companion because I've always been solo but I'm really insecure about my pace. What's an average pace to run with people? I don't want to slow her down but I think it would be worse to exhaust myself. Also, if I have to hold a conversation I'm thinking my comfortable pace might drop considerably. Ha, it sounds like a first date. "Should I just be myself?" I guess I'm just overanalyzing and I should just focus on enjoying myself.

Music Man comes home tonight and we're going to spend the weekend in Laguna.

Have a great weekend!

Here's a pic of Little Man and his Aunt Nami vacationing in Laguna.

17 Months and Counting

Exercise: 2.5 mile walk this morning and workout with moms scheduled for this afternoon

We started off the day with a special fall treat. Pumpkin pie oats with Greek yogurt.

A yummy celebration because:

Little Man is 17 months old today! I remember when I thought it was crazy that I already had a one year old and soon enough I'll have a two year old. Will it ever not feel crazy? I'm sure by the time I come to terms with Little Man growing up we'll probably have another Little Dude or Dudette ;)

I found this post from October 4th last year and it's amazing to see the changes in Little Man. Also crazy that I was 40 pounds heavier than I am now and was running double digit mileage! I'm barely doing that now and I need to get a move on.

17 mos ago (3 days before having Little Man) I love this picture because the last week of being pregnant people would constantly ask me how many babies I was having. Uhh, dude, one. I'm just fat ;)

12 mos ago (Little Man and his furry bro, Ringo)

And today. The first time he climbed up, sat on his bum and went down the slide all by himself...awe.

Now it's time to play outside because tomorrow's forecast is for rain and it looks pretty menacing out there now. Also on the agenda for today is mommy fitness class, bbq tofu sandwiches for dinner with homemade pumpkin cup cakes for dessert and a long evening walk with the furry kids.

Have a great rest of your day!

Path to a Sub 25 5K and yummy Brussels Sprouts

Exercise: 30 mins elliptical, 20 mins strength-abs, butt, thighs, and 5 mile bike ride

So far so good. We've had a busy few days and it's been great; lots of little outings to the play ground, farmers' market and various stores. It's nice having such full days, Little Man doesn't have time to get grumpy and naps pretty well. Win win.

So an awesome thing happened a few days ago. I was reading one of the blogs I follow and I saw this post and half jokingly commented that I'd like her to pace me to a sub 25 5k. What's funny is she agreed! Luckily we don't live that far from each other so we're trying to find a 5k that'll work for both of us. I think it's super cool and hopefully mutually beneficial.

Here are a few photos just for fun

I love Brussels sprouts and make them whenever Music Man is out of town. These were sauteed with a little olive oil, onion and fake bacon, then seasoned with s&p. Just FYI, the trick to tasty Brussels sprouts: cut in half and remove the core so they resemble Pac Man. The core is the bitter part so removing it just leaves behind sweet little cabbage dudes.

Dessert: glass of wine and Dark Chocolate pb. Why I thought it was a good idea to buy that pb I will never know. What I do know is that it has only been in this house 3 days and there's maybe a smidge more than half left.

Today's pic: more stripes, less guns ;)

Hope you're having a good Monday.

Guns

Exercise: 5 mile bike ride, 3 mile walk, 45 mins elliptical and 15 mins weight.

Well when it's all written out it looks like all I did all day was exercise but the bike and walk were so leisurely I still needed a workout. I did some intervals on the elliptical and then a mostly leg and ab workout. I need to chill out on my arm and shoulder workouts.

Exhibit A:

I just look at that picture and think "GUNS" which would be cool if I were a body builder or something. Some definition is fine, but if it's that defined in a fuzzy picture it may be time to back off. ;) That's cool though, I've decided October is for focusing on abs and lower body. I need to trim up the hips, thighs and butt.

Music Man is now in New York having a drink at a wine bar. I know he's had a stressful day with traveling and lugging all his music equipment around but I have to admit I'm a little jealous. I'm dying to go to New York in the fall. Wear a jacket, go see the leaves, my idea of Heaven. Oh and sleeping in would be awesome too. The week should be fun though.

I have a lot of events planned for the week to keep Little Man and I occupied. We'll get to see kids and friends 1-2 times a day at play dates, exercising with other moms and My Gym. I might even go to Laguna Friday to see my Mom and some friends. And before I know it, Music Man will be home safe and sound and, perhaps, have a few days off.

I get a little weepy when Music Man leaves. And I know it's just a week but he's already been gone for 3 months out of the 9 months this year. I like having him home, I get lonely and tired when it's just me with Little Man 24/7. We don't have any family or much of a support network in LA so some days can get overwhelming and those days I miss him even more. Now that I'm involved with my moms club I feel much more positive about future business trips. It's getting better, but still not easy.

Now I'm off to watch some TV, finish folding laundry, and maybe to bed before 11.

Have a great night and a great week.

New Specs

Exercise: 6 miles 9:22 avg pace

Awesome run considering it was fueled by brownies and a bottle of wine. It was split in two by a play ground stop after mile 4.

Another short post today because I'm phone blogging and, also, Music Man leaves tomorrow.

Sidenote- Little Man tried to put himself to bed again tonight. I had to give him a bath though, he's a dirty bugger.

Have a great rest of the weekend.

*I'm not sure how the photographs work in mobile Blogger, but it's just a photo of me and some new specs.