Thursday?

Yesterday was a weird day.  Pretty normal until I went for my run around 7:30ish, returned home and realized I had peanut butter on the corner of my mouth.  I had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch.  Thank you to the countless people I spoke with today at work.  Oui.  Keep in mind, it was chunky peanut butter and I am very pale so it definitely didn't blend in with my skin tone enough to miss it. 

Later on, a potato chip may or may not have fallen out of my shirt.

Goodness, a highly anticipated Friday indeed.  

The only way I want to end a run ever again.

Thanks to all for the amazing-ness of yesterday.  We are so blessed by your excitement for Matt and overwhelmed in thankfulness for you all.

 

 I got to celebrate with some friends at the Indie in Seminole Heights and it was a good day.  Cheers to Matt from many many miles away.  It was also birthday night for our house church and it was an all around night of celebrating.

 

 

August has been busy so far.  Only three days into my marathon training and I've found another passion.  Not really a passion as much as a growing obsession.  My Fantasy Football league.  It took about one hour into research for my often secluded type A to kick in.  My excel workbook is not comprehending it's sudden growing files dedicated to my roster and our draft night.  And I know nothing about football.  NADA.  Here's what I know about football.  I like to eat guacamole while it is on TV, sometimes it is fun to spice it up with mexican layer dip.  The only part of Bucs games I like are tailgating and shamelessly drink lime-a-ritas.   Cool!  So basically I'm far from an expert but it is fun and I'm enjoying the smack talk a little too much. 

 

Luke and I ran two hot and steamy (literally, it had just rained and the street was steaming) miles followed by a swim in my parents pool.  And my mom made me curry.  It was the best.  I never want to run again if it isn't followed by a pool and a homemade dinner.  So spoiled.

 

Luke doesn't like curry.  But he does like grass.  A lot.  Like a little goat.

 

This World Won't Last Forever, But Tonight We Can Pretend.

Today is a big day in the Hires' household.  Last Spring, Matt finished his second album which was two years in the making.  He flew back and forth from LA to NY for months, even extending our trip to London in 2011 to write some, he lived in a little rental in Silverlake for weeks while recording it and it was signed, sealed, and completed LAST YEAR.  Over the course of the year, he's been curating the songs, ax-ing ones he didn't feel fit any longer, working with the designers on the artwork and finaling releasing it today.  It has been so hard to be home while he works on albums, tours, and promotes his music and it is days like today where it feels worth it. 

 

 If you've been to a show (really, traveled to a show, there are never shows in Tampa), sung along to a song, or sent me a text saying you heard his music somewhere, thank you. 

 

If you celebrated my wedding anniversary with me because he wasn't here, or let me be the third wheel endless times, thank you. 

 

If you have prayed for me, thank you. 

 

I am so loved and I feel so cherished amongst my little community here. 

 

His new album "This World Won't Last Forever, But Tonight We Can Pretend" (phew....) is out today, on itunes, and everywhere else.  It is so good, I am so proud, and life is good.

Search through the album art and you might find the cutest little puppy you ever did see. 

Beautiful community.

I forgot my breakfast at home and I am not going to let it ruin my day.

It will NOT ruin my day.

It will NOT.

You know your life is very sweet when you are convincing yourself the entire commute to work that missed oats will possibly ruin your entire day. 

I went to a funeral service on Saturday and as I sat in the church that I grew up in, in a building that has served a venue to lock ins, weddings, baby dedications, and funerals I saw such a beauty in the church community.  Living life together even though we disagree on so many things, as most people do (let me know when you've discovered the group of people where everyone agrees on everything) and coming together to celebrate a life that was lived and support the family left behind.  To have such a somber event in the same building that has celebrated the marriage of two people, or been the building where I met my husband, or the place where we have a Christmas Even service every year, such joy and such sadness all taking place in the same walls with the same people.  It transitions seamlessly from event to event as life goes on.  I've been thinking a lot about community lately.  What that means in life, how important it is, in your neighborhood, your friendships, your church, your family....For introverts and people with problems of pride, like myself, relying on others is tough to do, but can it be had? 

It might be helping others when they are unable to cook for themselves by bringing them food, mowing their lawn, watching their dog.  It could be picking up garbage left by others in your neighborhood or feeding the homeless man on the corner of Hillsborough and Central every Sunday morning.  It could be watching your favorite TV show with others that share your love for it (I'm looking at you, Breaking Bad), and even growing vegetables for the sole purpose of providing organic food to those that feed their family off of food stamps and don't have access to anything fresh.  While it certainly means helping others, it also means, accepting others help and assistance when you are in need which is where I continually find myself but hardly ever accept assistance. 

Our church's community garden.

So on this note.....can someone bring me my breakfast from home?  It is sitting on my counter all alone and I'm sure my dog would love the extra cuddles if you pass by.  Thanks in advance.  :)

Other than some revelations about living with other people happily, I spent most of the weekend curled up in a ball in front of my TV watching shark documentaries.  Other than some waves of bliss when my stomach wasn't trying to eat it's way out of my body, that is where I was parked for 48 hours.  Perhaps the reason of my stomachs revolt against my body was my convincing myself that my lazy summer has ended, marathon training is starting on Monday and I needed to get in gear. 

I woke up Saturday and mowed the lawn......with this beast of a mower. 

 

I had lunch with a friend, went to the funeral service.........and my resolve to get moving started crumpling away as the day went on.  Oui.  So glad for Netflix and Ginger Ale and a little puppy that knows when I don't feel well.

Surprising to me, I woke up Sunday feeling fresh and ready to get after it for two miles in my running shoes, those dusty sneakers that were meant for actual running and not more weeding my flower beds and leisurely walks through my 'hood.  I felt good.  I felt amazing.  It was hot and I didn't care.  I loved the sweat getting in my eyes and my pup trailing along at my side.  Even if it were only two miles, it felt so good to run. 

Until about a quarter of a mile from my house when I almost had a terrible accident.  Stomach problems are THE WORST and I surprised myself by my speed in getting home. 

bloody socks never felt so good.

I was feeling pretty good about today until I left my breakfast at home.  But that is NOT going to ruin my day.  I have yoga and some strength training on my calender and I will do it.  Jillian Michaels and I have a date this evening. 

Very balanced.

Somes days are all about balance...

Wake up, walk two miles.

Breakfast/snack:

Oats with banana, apple

Lunch time, walk two miles while eating a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

Dinner:  Chicken and Waffles.....

I did some pretty hardcore research yesterday on the best vegan chicken nuggets and landed on "Quorn" brand.  They were pretty good.

 
 
They are even better when they are topped with maple syrup.  And if you've never tried Van's waffles, you are missing out.

Walk two miles after dinner with this little nugget.



Lay on your couch for two hours watching the Katy Perry documentary.

Very balanced.

Favorite Things.

This week is flying by.  I cannot believe it is Wednesday.  After getting home from work yesterday and walking my little Lukester I made myself an amazing veggie pizza,  opened a New Belgium liter and chain watched a new show on Netflix.  Healthy living at it's worst. 

I watched Oprah on Good Morning America and I miss her "favorite things" episodes.  She had good taste and everything I've ever bought on her recommendation has been a good product.  In that spirit, I have compiled a list of my favorite things...

1.) Coral spray roses in an old honey jar.

2.) This sunscreen.  I'm very serious about sunscreen.  Expensive, but when you are tubing down a river and cannot get out of the water to reapply to dry skin, this works.  It says it's for kids but it's not "eye friendly" like most kid's products.  Or I'm just dumb.

3.)  A new black and white silk striped dress I bought recently from Gap.  Light and super verstile.  Perfect for summer.

4.)  Cheap mousse that is amazing.  I have a lot of hair.  My hair usually finds it's way into a chignon during the day and a messy pony tail at night unless we go out and then I wear it down.  It is humid 100% of the time here in Tampa and I have some very serious frizz problems.  I usually use a pricey "no frizz" mouse when I blow my hair out and it doesn't hold a candle to this stuff.  Thanks Matt for letting me steal some in a pinch and saving myself a lot of money in the future.

4.) Kristen Bell.  In an interview about her "baby weight" she brushed off rude comments with this..."I am not a woman whose self-worth comes from her dress size".  Amazing perpective on having something incredible take place in your body and people ask when and how are you dropping the weight.

BONUS:  My newest favorite thing that made me audibly laugh out loud are Justin Beiber's pants.  You are welcome.

Always have something to celebrate.

Today is Matt's Birthday!  The celebrating actually started last week and has not stopped.

We hosted a cocktail night on Friday and it was so successful.  It was a "classics" theme with each guest creating a cocktail that is probably on many menus but not flashy or trendy, just right.  I hadn't tried many of them so I was really excited.

Samples of The Manhattan...

Sangria....Google-ed a recipe from the liquor store.....merlot/ginger ale/pineapple juice/fruit.  Easy.

The classy ladies, and truly incredible friends.

Cocktail menu...

Saturday we drove to Dunnellon and KP Hole State Park for the access point to Rainbow River.  We learned they only allow reusable containers so all of our granola bars and water bottles needed to be transferred.  Wal-mart may be my least favorite place in all of existence but it was pretty fun with your best friends.

Hula hooping may have happened.  Someone was really terrible at it.

Rainbow River was beautiful.  You rent (or buy a tube at Walmart) and float the river until the end where there is a shuttle service to take you back to get your car.  Also, primo people watching. I can't wait to go next summer.

image from www.kphole.com

You start out saying...

 "I can't believe we are stuck together for four hours, this water is ridiculous, I'm freezing"

which moves into...

"You've got to be kidding me, this is literally the hottest I've ever been, everyone around us is annoying"

however, this somehow becomes...

 "this is so great, I love this! This is my new favorite thing to do in Florida!"

and after about three hours...

"how is it humanly possible that it hasn't been four hours"

  and unfortunately...

 "I can't believe time with you guys feels like eternity, stop farting please"

and then  you get home and maybe say...

 "today was such a good day, I can't wait until next summer".  

Even though we were so incredibly tired from being on the river all day (literally, all day) we rallied and made it to Wazoo, a really sweet beer festival about a mile from our house at Lowry Park Zoo.  We almost walked until it started to rain.  We should have walked.  It was a great event. 

While most tables were smaller craft breweries and a sprinkling of larger companies that just make good beer, the lonliest table of the evening was the Budwieser set up.  That my friends, is a Lime-A-Rita tallboy.  Holy mackerel.




*full disclosure, I didn't have any, why waste calories on that when there were SOOOOO many breweries represented, honestly I couldn't think of one brewery that didn't have a table

As if we both couldn't have just got home from church and slept until Monday morning, we had tickets to the Goo Goo Dolls /Matchbox 20 show at the amphitheater.

 It was SWAMPY. 

Seriously, the hottest evening of the summer yet (I think I say that on every "hottest" day).  A great show and we could pretty much sing along to every song played. 

The one where Rachel was too tired to write anything decent.

I walked two miles yesterday and got a blister. This is going to be a long road to becoming marathon worthy. It might be a long road to becoming 5K worthy. This weekend is highly anticipated. My little brother is in town to fish, float down the river, and celebrate Matt's birthday. We got tickets to a pretty sweet beer festival in Tampa and I've taken some time off of work to be able to absorb all of the goodness of having people you love around you. I can't wait. My mom made me dinner last night which was so nice. I forgot how nice that was. Steamed vegetables will have to wait for another day. Have a great weekend!

Getting back out there.

The first day of August.  I've taken most of July off of working out and ain't nobody got time for that.  I have a half marathon in two months-ish and NEED to get back out there.  This morning Luke and I took a long walk to kick off a month of activity.

Lemons were on sale at the market and I bought a big bag knowing I could use my juicer to make some lemonade.

To juice-
One cup of fresh strawberries
ten lemons

I made some simple syrup with two cups of water and one cup of sugar.  I just added the lemon/strawberry juice and streamed in the syrup, tasted it, and added water to taste.  We have a bountiful basil plant in our yard that I chopped up and stirred in.  So refreshing.

Dinner was a repeat from a couple weeks ago.  Green soup with paninis.  I had a wrap because Luke ate my sandwich bread from the kitchen counter.  He was probably looking out for me though as I'm spending all weekend in a bathing suit.  Thanks buddy.

Crafting is cool.

My coworker's husband is a magical instrument fixer.  He buys broken guitars on ebay and fixes them to add to his collection.  We recently remembered we had an old banjo that had a bent neck and we gave it to him (which he'd fixed by the next day, oui).  He was so thankful for the banjo he'd been racking his brain since we'd given it to him as to something he could make that we'd enjoy.  We got this cool birdhouse on Monday, and we love it.  It matches an art installation from my brother in law that was given to us when we got engaged.

In my defense, we had expected two more people when I made dinner last night and then it ended up being only Matt and I. 

Grilled eggplant, golden zucchini, mushrooms, and onions.  I lightly sprayed them with coconut oil and sprinkled on salt and pepper before grilling them.

I served this with brown rice and the magical BBQ sauce I made on Sunday.  Yum. 

We were going out after dinner and I needed to get milk and tea from Publix so I decided to run to the grocery store before heading out for drinks.


I realized as I got to my car and tried to start it that my battery was dead. 

The sky over Seminole Heights was so lovely though. 

If you are going to get stuck with a dead battery, Publix ain't a bad place to be.  I had easy access to so many snacks. 

A surprise haircut

A couple nights ago I started to make peanut butter.  I'd bought a bag of Spanish peanuts at the market because Alton Brown says that those are the correct peanuts for making your own peanut butter (and he is the end of any google search when it comes to a recipe, he is always right). 

 I don't think I let the peanuts cool long enough before adding them to the food processor (read:: I tossed them in right after roasting) and that apparently is the key to making really crappy peanut butter.  

It turned out more like peanut goo than peanut butter so I added about a half cup of golden raisins, a half cup of oats, two tablespoons of honey and a packet of Stevia.  I spread the mix into a glass pan let it cool in the refrigerator overnight.  Matt didn't like them but I thought they were good so I cut them into bars and wrapped them in wax paper and brought them to work.  My work buds ate them and I'm going to call them really cheap Larabars.  Dates would have been better but I didn't have any.  A box of eight Larabars costs $5 on sale at Target, and these cost around $3 to make 12.  They weren't as good as a Larabar (the best bar out there other than the Clif White Chocolate Macadamia Nut which isn't worth comparing to anything else, it's amazing) but they are a good source of energy if you have that stuff lying around.  

So good for breakfast with iced coffee and cherries. 

 

My in laws are going away for Spanish immersion classes so we had them over for lentil bowls before they leave for their trip.  I sauteed lentils with taco seasoning and served with brown rice and lots of toppings.  

Corn and jalapeno salsa, onions, cilantro, sriratcha, and corn chips.  It's all about the toppings. 

My hair needed a trim very badly.  The ends were long past dead and I decided that I could not live one more second with it.  I looked up how to cut your own hair on Pinterest and found an easy ponytail cut.  Yes!  I took about three inches off of dead hair and while it isn't salon quality by a long shot, I slept soundly knowing I wouldn't be haunted by split ends.

I have no idea why a patch of my hair looks black.  I may have overdone it with filters, but I spend a good amount of time trying to find that section of hair with no success so I'm going to call it bad lighting.

Short and sweet but kinda salty

Beautiful pizza.  Oh, how I miss thee.

This was pretty good though.

Here's how it goes...

Set your oven as hot as it will go.  I chickened out around 485 degrees.  Our oven gets hotter but we live in a wood frame house built in 1926 and it's the size of shoebox.  I just think something inside of a house that old and that small shouldn't get that hot.

The dough.  The dough can make a pizza with the best intentions kind of terrible.  If you are really cool you can make your own dough.  It's pretty easy but if you aren't up for it Publix makes some wicked good dough and it's on sale this week.  They sell their whole wheat dough too but just save that for your PB & J because it isn't 1/10 as tasty as their regular white french dough.  Split in two and brush on some oil (olive would be delicious but I got about a gallon of coconut oil from the co-op so I used that).  I sprinkled chopped garlic, tomatoes, some kale pesto, eggplant, salt and pepper.  After about 10 minutes in the hot oven, Matt picked some basil for the top.  Perfect.

*If you aren't game to try a cheeseless pizza (you should though, it is so good!) always always always use fresh mozzarella.  It melts beautifully and is completely different from the shredded kind.    Friends don't let friends buy part-skim mozzarella. 

  I reserved a seat in the back of the class last night for spin and then cancelled because now I'm scared I'm going to hurt my back again.  Is this normal?  What is not normal is how instead of spinning my way back to sweet sweet happiness I sat around the house eating pizza and watching the end of American Horror Story.  I may have also craved one of these which definitely isn't normal.

A gem in Tampa Bay.

In honor of the Royal Birth, I had a tea time yesterday afternoon.  This was promising.  But it still tasted like tea.  Bummer.

I'm glad I went into work yesterday with a good attitude regarding work because I wasn't ready for it.  Stressful.

But there was a light at the end of a dark Monday tunnel. 

Monday afternoon.

We have been wanting to bring Luke to the Ft. De Soto dog beach for a while and it was on my summer bucket list.  We packed a picnic, threw on our swim suits, and headed that way as soon as I got home.  Matt starts a big tour in two weeks so it's been fun having these mini-getaways sprinkled in everyday life this month.  Also on the summer bucket list was camping at this beach park but that has been shelved until Fall as it was a nice beach day but I can't imagine it being a nice beach "night" with air you can swim in. 

Dinner while watching waves under the shade.

We were minding our own business when this cutie couldn't handle being unattended to.  He looks sad but in all of his dog beach fun, he swallowed too much salt water and threw up. 

Ft. De Soto is about 45 minutes from our house and traffic was practically non-exsistant yesterday which was a sweet serendipity.  It costs $5.50 in tolls and park fee and you have access to the most beautiful park and beaches.  There is a small dog beach which is where the party is at.  Dog parks make me nervous because my little Luke is a target for mean dogs but the dogs we've met at the park are all the nice ones and Luke just plays in the waves with his new buds.  He met a brave little Westie last night that followed him for awhile down the beach as we walked.  They were hilarious.   We spent a good part of our time on the sandbar about a hundred feet from shore just swimming and lounging in the water. 

There is a pretty large dog park next to the beach where you can rinse off the salt water from your pup.  We went for a short walk to dry his fur off some.  It was the most perfect day.

For dinner on the beach, I packed stuff for wraps.  I made some kale dip two nights ago using a bunch (an actual bunch, not just a lot) two cups of beans (a mix of cooked black eyed peas and garbanzo beans).  I brought some of our BBQ sauce, alfalfa sprouts, hemp seeds, and other raw vegetables to wrap up after spreading the "hummus" on the wrap.  I've never tried hemp seeds but they were good sprinkled on top of the bean dip.  Perfect picnic food. 

And some truth, courtesy of Honest Tea. 

Barbeque sauce #2 and a profound "nearing 30" discovery.

This morning I realized I really like my job. 

When I was teaching, I worked with some of the greatest people I know (still know), I had some of the best kids to teach, and I worked at an awesome school but Monday would approach and it was devastating.  We called it the "Sunday Blues". 

Last night I wasn't upset about what Monday was to bring....I am so blessed.  I think I like what I do.  I've never really loved what I did for my job and while my job isn't something super exciting and nothing I've ever been passionate about (corporate real estate/property management) I like working where I work.  (I'm still with FCA but the students aren't in school so there isn't much to do.  I've been meeting with some girls over the summer getting them started on a coffee habit early in life.  Role model.)

This is the week I stop lazin' around and get back to producing endorphins.  Being lazy is a very easy habit to get into.  Good thing I have a friend that shows me how it's done.

She just started Pure Barre classes.  Laughing at a friend's pain is not kind Rachel.

Liz is my spin bud and she goes like everyday.  I went everyday one week and I ended up with a disc deteriorating<-- coincidence?  Probably not.

I'm kind of happy for my doctor ordered run vacation.  It is so hot.  And I hated the treadmill anyway. Next month I start training for my marathon (my half is first so it will be a slow build).

Friday night we went to a friend's birthday party which was "Stache" themed.  It was so fun and the beautiful hostess did an amazing job.  She was so thoughtful to make me some veggie burgers from scratch as well.  I could have died and gone to party guest heaven.

Where does one even find mustache plates?

I mean, really?

We wore these sweet candy staches to the party.  My upper lip tasted like grape the whole night.

 

Probably not interesting to anyone but me but I have a new meal plan for the week and I'm excited.  I didn't even pin one dang thing.  Food kind of makes me so happy. 

Lentil Taco Bowls

BBQ Chick Pea salads

Grilled Veggie Kebabs

Hummus Wraps

Margarita Pizza (cheese for Matt, splurgin' up in here)

I spent $40 for all of the ingredients (that includes the fresh mozzarella and organic free range eggs, both of which are way more expensive than the foods I regularly buy- I'll have to dedicate a post to my thoughts on eggs, we've been buying them a lot lately for various things and I'm shocked at the price difference between regular eggs and the groovy kind.  It should clue you into how they make regular eggs so cheap when compared to the cost of eggs from chicken farms that take care of their animals).

Speaking of chicks, last night we had BBQ Chick Pea Salads. 

I roasted about a cup and a half of chick peas with some garlic, onion, and paprika for 20 minutes.  When they were roasted on top but still soft I tossed them with BBQ sauce.  

Fresh corn right off the cob, this was the perfect summer salad and Matt said it was better than BBQ pork.*

 * Matt didn't say that.

Oh man.  This BBQ sauce was so good.  I wanted to try a regular version after our mustard based sauce a couple weeks ago.  I doubled this recipe and added a can of tomato paste (to amp up the tomato content- they make you beautiful after all).  I also subbed two of the tablespoons of sugar for molasses.  Such a great sauce, and took maybe 3 minutes to throw together. 

I have a wish for everyone.  I hope at some point in your life one of your friends buys a house that needs a lot of demo.  And I hope they invite you over to "help".  It was a blast.

Welcome to the gun show.  Amy boxes and probably tears things apart on the daily.

When we got to the house, this was fully functioning kitchen.  4 hours later, it was this.

Let's not judge anyone here, but these were too good.  Or maybe I just like sugar too much.  Or maybe I just worked so hard taking pictures of other people working that I felt like I deserved this little can of artificially flavored/sugar/and probably malted beverage.