Tag Archives: Michigan

Holiday Things {12-26-2012}

Posted on by
22

1. On Thursday I started to have some heel/arch/foot pain so I was on injury watch all weekend (and into this week). I had asked my mom for some compression socks for Christmas so she thoughtfully gave them to me early so I could live in them while I was at home. I think they helped with things but I know that I looked cool rocking green socks all weekend!

compression

2. On Saturday, after running a million errands and spending lots of money on shoe inserts and athletic tape (did I tell you how seriously I’m taking this minor foot pain?), my mom and I were finally able to go to Inn Season, a vegetarian/vegan restaurant near my mom’s house. Unfortunately, after a day lacking in veggies, all I wanted was a salad so instead of trying one of the cool, vegan entrees, I stuck with a basic spinach salad with golden beets, raisins, sprouts, avocado, and tahini dressing. It was good but I could have had a salad anywhere, what was I thinking?

salad

3. For some reason I thought it would be fun to check out the mall while I was home. Somerset is always decorated for the holidays and after spending a lot of time there in middle school and high school, I like to go back when I’m in town. Well, the mall was an absolute mess of people and the decorations were a little lacking this year but I managed to do a little more shopping and even picked up a sweater on sale at J. Crew.

somerset

4. When I’m in Michigan, I almost always need to go to Siam Spicy, my absolute favorite thai restaurant ever. Their pad thai is THE BEST but on occasion I like to branch out and try something new. This time I tried a stir fry dish that came with ginger and a black bean sauce. It was good and really spicy!

thai

5. On Sunday I squeezed in my last 20 miler for the Goofy Challenge. I ran 20 miles out from my mom’s over to where we used to live and met my mom and Ian for lunch at one of my favorite cafes. The sidewalks were icy and the route was really hilly but I loved the change of scenery and really enjoyed myself. My foot also didn’t really bother me while I was running which was a huge plus!

photo (2)

6. I made avocado pudding in a blender for the first time ever while I was home. I usually just mash all of the ingredients with a fork or a whisk and it works but I decided to take advantage of my mom’s blender (it’s better than ours) and her cleaning skills (love you :) ) and tried it. Verdict? I loved it and it was super creamy.

avocadopudding

7. On Christmas eve after running more errands, my mom, Ian, and I grabbed lunch at the only open place in the area a Mediterranean place and had quite the unplanned feast. I ordered vegetarian grape leaves and a juice (carrot, beet, apple) and was surprised to be served a huuge entree sized salad, grape leaves, fries, and tahini sauce. The fries were outstanding and I definitely ate a little bit too much.

med

8. On Christmas morning, I woke up early and headed out for a recovery 8 mile run. My foot didn’t’ really hurt but didn’t feel great either so I took my run nice and easy. When I got home, Ian got up, and I helped my mom make breakfast. Both Ian and my mom had apple cinnamon pancakes and I had a bowl of watery oatmeal (I could not get it to thicken) with a dark chocolate pb cup in the middle and Naturally Nutty butter toffee pb around the edges (hey it was Christmas ;) ).

christmasoatmeal

After eating, we exchanged gifts and listened to Christmas music. It was a great way to start our Christmas morning.

9. Last year, instead of having a formal Christmas meal, my mom and I decided to have something more manageable for only a few people and made chili. We decided to keep the tradition this year and made vegan and gluten free cornbread muffins, a turkey chili, and then my favorite vegetarian chili. I definitely had my share of chili and cornbread, it’s one of my favorite meals.

chili

For dessert, I had a piece of my favorite cake, pineapple dump cake. The “recipe” is incredibly simple and can be veganized and made gluten free and still tastes good. I ate entirely too much of this stuff while I was at home!

pineappledumpcake

10. Unfortunately, shortly after Christmas lunch, Ian and I packed up and headed back to Chicago. We both have to work today so we wanted to get back, unpack, and relax a bit before going to bed.

How was your holiday weekend?
 What’s one of your family’s holiday traditions? My mom always reads The Night Before Christmas to me and even though I’m older, I don’t want to break the tradition!

Monday Things {10-22-2012}

Posted on by
23

1. Today is [kind of] my first blogiversary. I actually started blogging in early October on a tumblr site but after realizing tumblr didn’t have everything that I wanted, I switched over to WordPress and my first post was up on October 22, 2011. Crazy how time flies.

2. Last Friday night was spent driving. Ian and I left Chicago around 5:15 and arrived home in Michigan at about midnight (Michigan time). It was exhausting and I wasn’t even driving. I packed a sunflower seed butter, banana, & fig jam sandwich on brown rice bread for dinner and it managed to hold me over pretty well for the ride.

3. Even though Sonic kept us up all night Friday night, on Saturday I got up early to get in a quick run before heading up to Ann Arbor. I ran one of my favorite 4 mile routes and even stopped to take a few pictures. The last few years I’ve really missed running with all the pretty colors and hearing leaves crunching under my feet.

4. After my run, I ran over to my favorite market, Westbourne and picked up a muffin for Ian, some supplies to make pumpkin oatmeal, and my favorite nut butter of all time: Naturally Nutty Pepita Butter!

I also grabbed the Mocha Peanut Butter at Arbor Farms (health food store in AA).

5. After a shower and a huge bowl of pumpkin oats, Ian and I were off to AA to tailgate and go to the Michigan vs. Michigan State football game. Unfortunately both of us forgot how difficult it is to get into the city on football Saturdays (even 5 hours before!), find parking, and make your way down to the golf course (common tailgate location) and so our planned 11 a.m. arrival turned into 12:15. Oh well, at least we brought booze.

6. We met my friend from college Maria at one of her friend’s tailgates and ended up playing a few games of flip cup and chatting with some new faces. It was so much fun and reminded me how much I miss Ann Arbor.

7. After an hour or two, we walked over to a tailgate at my college friend Kris’s house. It was a wonderful surprise that two other girls I went to college with were there! Working on my MPH had pretty much overwhelmed my life the past two years so we had a lot to catch up on. It was nice but cut short when we realized that we had about 15 minutes to get to the stadium before kick-off.

8. We had some trouble with tickets (apparently they reprinted a bunch of season tickets this year and someone had sold us an old, invalid ticket) but eventually we all got into the stadium with our original tickets, found each other, and settled in to the student section. Unfortunately this is where my phone dies and I can’t take any more pictures. Bummer.

9. The game was incredibly low-scoring but exciting. It went down to the last few seconds and Michigan beat MSU for the first time in 5 years! Woohoo!! It was also the 900th win for Michigan football making our program the first football program to have that many wins. It was so exciting, I didn’t even know the 900 wins was up for contention! In typical Michigan fashion, the students stormed the field (this is reserved for games against OSU and MSU otherwise it’s not allowed) and everyone was celebrating. It was awesome :) .

10. We hadn’t eaten since breakfast so Ian, Maria, and I were starving and decided to head over to Sidetrack’s in Ypsilanti for some food. Sidetrack’s is one of Ian’s favorite places in the AA-Ypsi area and we used to go there a lot when I still lived in Ann Arbor. I ordered a salad with asparagus, mushrooms, tomatoes, and a black bean burger and a side of sweet potato fries. Food has never tasted so good.

11. Ian and I were supposed to meet my friend Brian afterwards to grab a drink but after driving half way to Detroit we decided we were just too tired and headed back to my mom’s house. I’m pretty sure I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

12. Despite not sleeping as much as I would have liked, I woke up on Sunday prepared to get in my 12 mile run. Can I just say how happy I am that the weekend we went home coincided with a cutback week for Goofy training? My 12 miler wasn’thardbut my legs were definitely more tired than usual. I stopped a few times to stretch and to take pictures of cute pumpkin patches and I believe I averaged about a 7:45 min/mile?

13. After my run, I showered, snacked on some pumpkin pudding and then headed out to Fish Bone in Detroit to meet Brian for an early lunch. I ordered a cup of seafood gumbo that was to-die-for and a Greek salad without feta. Unfortunately, only my gumbo got caught on camera.

I always love seeing Brian (we’ve known each other since we were 3 years old!) and I’m so glad we were able to meet up while I was home! Also, we saw a bunch of Detroit Marathoners while we were eating lunch and it occurred to me that it’s been 3 years since my first marathon!

14. I also stopped over at my grandma’s house as well as my dad and step-mom’s to say hi. By the time I was back at my mom’s it was almost time to go. I felt like the worst daughter for not spending a lot of time with my mom but I am looking forward to her coming to Chicago in a few weeks!

15. Speaking of my mom, remember that cute little ball of puppy fluff she got over the summer? Well now that puppy is almost 50 pounds. Insane!

16. I also managed to finish reading Dark Places on our drive back. I’m not sure I can really compare it to Gone Girl but I do know that Gillian Flynn is a talented author who really knows how to hook her readers. I can’t wait to read her other book!

17. Ian and I hit some bad traffic on the highway last night and didn’t get home until almost 10. Yikes. We unpacked, watched an episode of Friends, and then went to bed exhausted– I’m sure coffee will be my best friend today

What did you do this past weekend?

Heading to the Mitten

Posted on by
26

I know I’ve said this about 1,000 times on my blog this week but tonight Ian and I are heading to Michigan for the weekend! It’s been a while since we’ve been home and visited family but it’s been even longer since we last spent some time in Ann Arbor. I’m so excited :-D .

I’m honestly not even sure we’re going to get tickets for this game but either way it’s going to be a blast. We’re meeting up with some of my friends from college and tailgating and while I can’t imagine it getting as crazy as it used to, I’m sure new memories will be made.

The sad thing is I have an entire series of the above photo of myself and all of my college friends. I guess I decided this was an important moment to document?

I just had an awesome 8 miler and now I’m off to finish packing before heading to work. I’m unplugging this weekend and not bringing my computer home but I will be taking lots of pics and will be on twitter/instagram.

Have an awesome weekend!

Do you follow college football? Which team?

Monday Things {08-20-2012}

Posted on by
23

1. Friday night was spent in the car driving to Michigan. Dinner was a hummus + spicy pb sandwich, a plum, and a small side salad from Culver’s. Don’t judge.

2. On Saturday morning I got to run around my old neighborhood. It was wonderful! Sometimes I forget how much I like seeing trees and grass when I run. Not being near a ton of busy roads and cars was a nice touch too.

3. My mom, Ian, and I explored the Dream Cruise on Saturday as well. Basically the cruise is a gathering of a bunch of antique car lovers. They bring out their old cars that are in amazing shape and cruise down Woodward, a large boulevard that runs from Detroit to the surrounding suburbs. Traffic is always horrendous the week before the event and during the Cruise, we’re always stranded at my moms. It’s annoying but fun to look at all of the cars. The people watching isn’t so bad either.

4. We decided to grab lunch right off of Woodward so we could watch the cars as we ate and ended up going to Crispelli’s. Their vegan/gf options were slim (it’s primarily a pizza place) but I managed to find something I could eat. I ordered a Mediterranean salad with no feta and added chickpeas for protein. It was pretty good!

5. Oh, I also chopped my hair on Saturday. It was much needed!

6. Ian and I walked to a local grocery store/market to pick up some dill for dinner and happened to walk by these huuuuge watermelons.

That’s Ian’s hand, crazy right?

7. On Saturday we decided to grill out at my mom’s to keep things simple (Dream Cruise was a ragin’).

We had grilled corn on the cob, grilled zucchini, grilled cauliflower, salmon with dill and lemon, BBQ chicken (not pictured), and a salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, and broccoli. Everything was fresh and tasty! I ended up going back for more fish and zucchini.

8. After dinner we tried to take Dharma for a walk but the cars were too loud and there were so many people outside that Dharma was way too excited to cooperate on the leash. Speaking of the pup, she has TRIPLED in size since I last saw her.

She also thinks I am either a chew toy/litter mate and did not leave me alone all weekend.

9. As good as dinner was Saturday night, the amount of veggies I ate did not sit well with me for my Sunday medium-long run. Luckily, I was able to run with minimal discomfort and finished the 13 miles feeling okay. It definitely helped that I listened to the 90′s pop station on Pandora. Gotta love me some Spice Girls, BSB, and 98 Degrees when I run.

10. Speaking of running, I signed up to volunteer at the Chicago Marathon. I will be standing somewhere around miles 25-26 of the course. If you’re running let me know and I can cheer for you!!

11. My grandma had a knee replacement on Friday, so I went and visited with her Sunday afternoon. She seemed to be in okay shape although definitely feeling some pain. My dad and step-mom showed up too so I ended up getting to see everyone this weekend!

12. My mom and I grabbed a late lunch at Vinsetta Grill yesterday. I usually get their veggie burger salad but was bummed to find out it has egg in it. I ended up ordering their grilled shrimp sans butter with sweet potato fries and asparagus.

I’m not ashamed to say I ate the majority of this plate. It was like 2:30 and I hadn’t eaten since 9!!

13. Last week I picked up this peanut butter to keep at my office. The granola is gluten free which totally surprised me!

14. Ian and I got home last night a little before 8, dropped the furball off, and then headed out to go grocery shopping. This means that dinner was at 9 p.m. and consisted of a “quesadilla” with mushrooms and tomatoes, a date, and a little almond dream ice cream. I don’t like eating that late but I was hungry!

15. Sonic is exhausted. After having guests last weekend and until Tuesday and then a car drive home to Michigan and then back to Chicago he’ll probably sleep for a week.

16. I finally found Naturally Nutty’s Pepita Sun Butter. The Naturally Nutty line is only made in Traverse City, MI and is hard to find elsewhere. A market near my mom’s house has always sold their almond butters and peanut butters but never the pepita butter. I nearly jumped for joy when I saw it!

This morning I tried it on top of almond strawberry oats.

I loved it!

I’m off to start my work week– how is it Monday already?

Have a good one!

BTN Big10k Recap

Posted on by
12

This morning was the inaugural BTN Big 10k. Being a Michigan alum and a HUUUGE fan, I signed up almost two months ago and couldn’t wait for his race! While signing for the race early had its perks (Michigan jersey!) I also kind of forgot about it. Race day seemed to creep up on me and I was under prepared this morning. Whoops!

Packet pick-up was held throughout the week at various Fleet Feet locations and I decided to go yesterday at noon. Everything was well-organized and I was in and out in about 3 minute.. well I would have been had I not gotten side tracked and purchased a handheld water bottle and new socks (on the left).

The 10k started at 7:40 but I wanted to make sure to have plenty of time to walk to Soldier Field, use the porta-potties, and check out the race set-up. I woke up bright and early, drank some protein shake, and got Ian up. We were out the door by 6:15.

I ate the granola bar on the walk over and saved the banana for after the race. This is where I made rookie mistake #1. I tried a new bar before a race, around mile 3 this started to haunt me. I also made mistakes #2 (wore a cotton shirt – it was a Michigan one but made me sooo warm on the course) and #3 (wore my new socks- no trouble there, I loved them).

We arrived right around 7 a.m. and the area was already packed. I used the porta-potties twice and we sat under a tree in some shade Before I knew it, the 5k-ers were off and it was time to line up for the 10k.

I am nowhere near 10k race shape (my PR is detailed here: 42:52) so I decided to treat the Big 10k as a training run. My goal was to push myself a little outside my comfort zone but ultimately to enjoy the race. I ended up lining myself up with the 7:30 min/mile pace group.

The race started near Soldier Field and headed south. We ran under the McCormick Center and along the lake shore path. There was a little entertainment, people dressed in football uniforms, stereos playing fight songs but honestly not as much as I thought there would be. There was also a slip ‘n slide at mile 3 but I didn’t see too many runners using it.

I started out with a 7:10 min/mile and felt really good. I thought that I was moving at a pace that I could maintain for 6 miles and I honestly believe I would have had that fruition bar not threatened to come up around mile 3. The course was warm with little shade (this also could have been a factor) but all of a sudden I got suuper nauseous. It was so bad that I could taste it at times (tmi?). I didn’t want to drop out or walk (and most of all I didn’t want to puke) so I slowed my time to a more manageable pace.

The last mile was hell, I had started to burp up the bar and I was pretty confident that I was going to puke. I told myself that I could do anything for 8 minutes and that I just needed to finish. I crossed the line, grabbed two water bottles and a cold towel, and forgot to stop my Garmin. Whoops.

Pretty obvious when I started to feel sick isn’t it?

I think my final time was 46 minutes and change (I’ll update after it’s posted). It’ drastically different from my PR and a little disappointing considering the drop in pace when I felt sick but overall I’m happy. A 7:30 min/mile is a decent training pace for me.

I have a 10k scheduled in November in the midst of marathon training and I’ll get my redemption there :)

My nausea didn’t go away when I stopped so I sipped water slowly while Ian and I checked out the finish area.

There was a tailgate area set up with games, food, and beer. All runners were given a free hot dog too.

Before Ian and I left, I made sure to meet up with Elyssa!! It’s always nice to see another blogger and to share some Maize & Blue pride :) .

By the time I was home I finally stopped feeling nauseous and started to get hungry. We have a pretty empty kitchen so I whipped up oatmeal using 1/3 cup oatmeal, 1 T chia seeds, 1 cup water, 1/2 banana, and some strawberries.

It did the trick!

Last night
We finally decided to use the giftcard I received for winning the ALS 5k and headed out to Petterino’s for dinner.

I honestly can’t say enough good things about Petterino’s. The food was good, the ambiance was nice, and our server was incredibly nice and helpful. What more can you want?

I started with the Fritzel salad but I asked for a balsamic vinaigrette instead of the bacon and cream dressing and had them bring the deviled egg on the side (given to Ian).

Ian had the iceberg wedge and loved it. It was his first one ever!

For my entrée I ordered the special salmon of the night served with asparagus and no butter sauce.

The coho salmon was super flavorful and I ate every last bite.

Ian ordered the NY Strip Steak that was served with a horse-radish crust and a potato side dish. He loved it!

Petterino’s policy is to give first time diners a chocolate mousse cake on the house but as I can’t eat dairy, out waitress brought out fresh berries with whipped cream on the side for Ian. How thoughtful!

It was the perfect way to end our evening :)