Carbo Loading

As most athlete knows, carbo loading before a big race is a way to help your body obtain fuel to temporarily store and burn the next day during your strenous event. 

This past weekend, I went the way of many of great athletes and began to carbo load for my marathon in March. 

Don't say that I am not doing my due diligence with my training plan. 

Friday I was supposed to go to the gym and do my shoulders & abs weight training, plus a three mile run. Instead I went to a pub around 11pm and had a Shirley temple (don't call me Shirley) and some french fries. 

Saturday I was supposed to go on my long run of the week of seven miles and instead I sat in a pizza parlor/sports bar eating a pepperoni pizza and watching the UGA football game. 

Oh and I drank another Shirley temple.

Sunday I was supposed to make up for my mistakes on Friday and Saturday and go on my long run, but instead I went out and ate a cheeseburger (with the world's most delicious bacon. If any of my family members ever visit me in Atlanta, I will take you to numerous places that serve this amazing local bacon), had some more french fries and then we went out for frozen yogurt. 

BTW - if you can't already tell, my husband and I have a budget that we stick to each month with allocated spending in different categories. Like groceries or dining out. As soon as the 1st of the month rolled around and we could dine out at our favorite places again, we did. Now we have to wait until January to experience cheeseburgers and pizza and pub fries again :(

So yeah....my training and diet plan failed miserably Friday, Saturday & Sunday. But still, this morning when I weighed myself, I had lost a few pounds since last week. I really need to work on sticking with my diet better, especially as the holidays approach and I am tempted by treats from the greatest baker and cook ever (hi mom!)

So here is a breakdown of my training plan from last week.

Monday - Weight Trained Legs

Tuesday - Weight Trained Arms/Abs, plus a 3 mile run

Wednesday - Weight Trained Chest/Back, plus a 3 mile run (broke a sub 10 minute mile)

Thursday - Weight Trained Legs

Friday - Rest

Saturday - Rest

Sunday - Rest

So overall, my running plan was way off. I needed to run a total of 16 miles, but only did 6. 

Yesterday I did end up doing my long run of seven miles, so at least the mileage got done, but a few days late. 

One more note: I am so excited to say that my husband is going to be running the Atlanta marathon as well. I am really looking forward to sharing that experience with him.

103 days until the Atlanta Marathon! Here we come!

Bad Houseguest...

I think that it is just poor manners of your house-guest to require an assisted bath at 10:30pm on a Sunday. 

It's also rude for your own family member to also need an assisted bath at 10:45pm on a Sunday.

That's what happens when you are living with two naughty puppies and they decide to run outside and roll around in poo together for 15 minutes. 

I just don't see the appeal, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 

Doing Everything Else...

I am taking the GRE in a few weeks and lets just say that I find a whole lot of good reasons throughout the day not to study. 

1) We have been puppy-sitting all month for my in-laws and so I have two puppies that I have to cuddle with and play with throughout the day. It is a tiresome job. 

 

Besides...having to clean up after two puppies is a lot of work too.  

Our puppy house guest humped this bed to death.

2) I have to stare at websites which sell yarn for at least an hour a day because well....I really like staring at yarn. 

And I consider it research for when I begin to sell/make knitting patterns. Despite me not buying any yarn, my husband has to tell me each day that I already have plenty of yarn stashed away. 

What does he know?

3) My husband and I are currently on a Yahtzee playing streak. After getting his butt beat in RISK and Skip-Bo last week, he is trying to redeem his pride by whooping my booty with all his Yahtzees.

4) I have a back log of 'America's Funniest Home Videos' to watch. That hilarious TV show isn't just going to watch itself people!

So as you can see, I have a lot of other really important things going on in my life, and I can't possibly be bothered to study for the GRE. It doesn't help either that the math portion of the practice tests just keeps telling me to give up while I still have my dignity.  

I have at least gone up from dunce to stupid. 

Only a 1 lb gain!

When it is Thanksgiving weekend and you love gorging as much as I do, I will take any victory. 

This morning when I hopped on the scale after binging all weekend on pie, butter, gravy, butter and high fructose corn syrup, I was delighted to find out that the scale was only showing a 1 lb gain. Hooray!

If I stick to my exercise plan again this week, I should be able to negate my gain and maybe....just maybe drop another lb. 

Maybe.

Today I did all the things that I am supposed to do to be healthy. 

* Woke up and drank some water.

* Had a cup of warm water with lemon. 

* Had oatmeal for breakfast instead of pie (eating pie for breakfast is a wonderful thing and only allowed during the holidays).

* I had some vegetables not covered in cream of mushroom soup or gravy. I even stuck to my allocated calories for the day (as of 8:00pm EST).

* Went to the gym with a million other people to burn off some stuffing calories.

This is a photo of me from Thanksgiving six years ago with the best damn pecan pie I have ever tasted.

Last week I did pretty good exercise wise (it's already been established that I ate a whole bunch of nonsense). I created a running and work-out plan that will hopefully get me to where I need to be to finish the Atlanta Marathon in March. 

For this week, I needed to weight lift five days and ran a total of 14 miles over four days (3/3/3/5 miles). I ended up running three days only because on Friday the day slipped away from me and it got too dark out before I realized I needed to run still.

What I did last week:

Monday - Legs

Tuesday - Arms/Abs plus a three mile run

Wednesday - Chest/Back plus a three mile run

Thursday - Legs

Friday - Shoulders/Abs

Saturday - Rest

Sunday - Five mile long run.

This week is pretty much the same, but with that missed day of running three miles thrown in as well as upping my long run to seven miles. Also, I am going to start counting calories again, so I can actually be sure to shed fat, not just gain muscle.

All in all, I am hoping to get enough of a deficit in my weight over the next few weeks so I can eat as much cake/cookies/frosting/butter as I want over the Christmas week.

111 days until the Atlanta Marathon! Here I come!

 

Monday, Monday, so good to me...

Well goodness. 

Anyone else feel like vomiting up a few sticks of butter after this past holiday weekend? 

No? 

Well, let's just say I made Paula Deen pretty proud. During the cooking process on Thursday, I had to ration the amount of butter that we were cooking with because EVERYTHING called for butter and we simply were going to run out. 

Four sticks and one tub of butter later and I look a few months pregnant.

But what is Thanksgiving without butter? And what is the Thanksgiving holiday weekend without shopping till we drop. Or shopping online until your wrists are a little sore from the odd angle of your laptop. 

As most of you know...I am an artisan. I make jewelry for a living and have been doing so for over three years. I love creating new items and sharing my handmade goodies with brides, husbands looking for anniversary presents and ladies just treating themselves. 

Get your holiday shopping started off right with awesome, well-made, handmade jewelry. I use sterling silver, 14K gold, freshwater pearls, swarovski crystals, gemstones and lots of unique vintage charms and lockets. Everything I use is nickel and lead free, so you won't turn your skin green or get a rash. 

Until Tuesday night, I am having a 20% off sale on everything in both of my etsy stores!! 

You can buy this sweet monogrammed necklace with you and your loved ones initials. 

Only $22.00 after 20% off!

 

Or perhaps a personalized wax seal necklace charm is more your style?

$18.40 after the 20% discount!

So please, take advantage of this great sale and support me, an artisan. 

Happy shopping!

What's New Pussycat....

With Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Trample Old Women at the Walmart Saturday coming up....I wanted to get some new fresh items in my shop. Here is just a sample of what I recently added over the past few days. 

 Vintage Czech Glass Jewel Earrings in a Jade Green Hue. Antiqued Brass Findings and Earwires. 

Found HERE

Vintage Hammered Brass Charms. Antiqued Brass Earwires.

Found HERE

 

 Czech Glass Flower Charms. Antiqued Brass Bead Caps and Earwires

Found HERE

 Necklace and Earring Gift Set. Swarovski Crystal Briolettes in a Golden Shadow Hue. 14K Gold Filled Chain, Wire and Clasps. Vermeil Gold Earwires (vermeil gold is 24K gold plated over sterling silver). 

Found HERE

 

  Necklace and Earring Gift Set. Swarovski Crystal Briolettes in a Light Blue Hue. 14K Gold Filled Chain, Wire and Clasps. Vermeil Gold Earwires (vermeil gold is 24K gold plated over sterling silver). 

Found HERE

 

Hand knit hat. Super soft acrylic yarn, non-itchy and one size fits all. 

Found HERE 

 Hand knit hat. Super soft acrylic yarn, non-itchy and one size fits all. 

Found HERE

 

 Hand knit hat. Super soft acrylic yarn, non-itchy and one size fits all. 

Found HERE

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

I may be crazy...

Earlier this month, I had the honor of watching my husband run the Savannah Rock N' Roll marathon. It was awe-inspiring, made me feel incredibly out of shape and lazy and I also got to cringe at some people's outfits (seriously...no one needs to wear a unitard, even if you do have a runner's body). 

My husband trained for this marathon since July. 

While attending law school. 

And being on law review. 

And mock trial. 

He was a bit busy the past few months, but he was so dedicated and worked so hard at being able to cross the finish line. There were quite a few times when he would get home from a full day of studying at 9pm, strap on his headlamp and go running for three hours. 

He is insane.

 

This is him before the race began. Doesn't he look happy?

This is around the 8 mile mark. 

Getting ready to cross the finish line...

And done. 

I can't even begin to describe how incredibly proud I am of him. Of his dedication, perseverance and willpower. I had several people ask me if I was going to run along with him and I told them that I only would if someone was chasing me. 

But...I have changed my mind. 

I think.

I am going to run a marathon. I am pretty sure. Like for real. I think. 

I am scared. 

 via

And then I hear quotes like that....and I think I am a giant wussy.

So I have decided to ....

via

And I hope that I will feel like this most of the time...

So Atlanta Marathon, March 17, 2013....here I come. 

I think.

Oh, how pinteresting...

So lately I have been trying to be on a high(er) protein diet. This means that I am eating a lot, a lot of meat. Since I was a vegan/vegetarian for about 15 years of my life, I have no working knowledge on how to prepare meat. Or what to do with prepared meat.

This makes for a sad husband.

I have basically made him cook all forms of meat that we have been eating (except fish. I got that down) and haven't figured out how to make any interesting meals with this new addition to my diet. So the past few days I have been scouring pinterest to find some new recipes so my husband likes my cooking again.

Disclaimer: the problem with hanging out on pinterest all day looking at recipes is that you find a lot of awesome recipes you want to eat right away. Not all of these recipes have meat in them and some are even deserts. But a few have meat and thus serves my purpose.

/one\

Broccoli Cheese Bites

I love me some broccoli and cheese. Mostly cheese.

blog and pin

/two\

Honey Lime Shrimp

I bought a lot of frozen shrimp at Sam's Club last week and we haven't eaten it yet because the husband keeps telling me it needs a sauce. Now that I have successfully found a 'sauce,' we can finally start eating our two year supply of shrimp.

blog and pin

/three\

Pretzel Bites with Cheese Sauce

Not a meal by any means and doesn't include meat, but if I make these, I will be a hero to my husband.

blog and pin

/four\ 

Chocolate Chunk Muffins 

Chocolate. Chunk. Muffins. 100 calories. 

That's all we really need to know.

blog and pin

/five\

Avocado Egg Salad

It is a widely known fact that avocados are in my top five of favorite foods. Put avocado in a recipe and I am all over that.

blog and pin

/six\

White Chicken Chili

We have been eating a lot of turkey chili around here, so it might be appreciated to switch it up to another meat chili. I feel like there is an obscene amount of cheese in this recipe though. And sour cream. Might downsize that amount quite a bit.

blog and pin

/seven\

Pizza Muffin Bites

It is a widely known fact that my husband's favorite food is pizza. I will be glorified if I pack him little portable pizzas in his lunch. 

blog and pin

I have some cooking to do this week. I will let you know when I cook these recipes and how they turn out. Please be sure to share any of your favorite pins this week over at the vintage apple blog!

Grown Up Things

Today was a day filled with doing all sorts of grown-up things that you never want to do.

The type of things that you write on a to-do list and transfer over to the next day's to-do list for a whole month.

Today...

I used the extender thingy on my vacuum and sucked up cobwebs in the corners and got peanut butter M&M's out of the crevices in my couch.

I called a company and got put on hold for 35 minutes. Once I got through, I spoke to them in my adult voice and told them how my bill was wrong for the third month in a row. Even asked to speak to a manager after the representative was no help.

I washed pillows and cushions and blankets and rugs and sheets and towels.

I used fabric softener for the first time during the wash cycle (thanks Downy for the free sample).

I put little wool pads on the bottom of my furniture since I have hardwood floors now.


I fixed a table (and by fix, I mean I slathered the broken part in gorilla glue and hoped for the best).  

I did accounting and filed important documents.

I cleaned all the weird parts of the coffee machine.

I laughed until I had tears rolling down my cheeks as I watched America's Funniest Home Video and drank a glass of wine.

Today made me feel old, boring, accomplished and satisfied. 

SUMMER SALE!!

Turquoise Gemstone Bead with Sterling Silver Sparrow

Aqua Starfish Bobby Pin

 Long days with warm nights, eating watermelon until your belly expands, drinking sweet tea on a porch, trying to catch fireflies at dusk and reading guilty pleasure books are all part of an essential summer for me.

It's officially summer and I am celebrating by having a HUGE sale. I haven't had one in a while, so I thought that I would do a massive one to celebrate summer vacations and to help you get through the dog days of summer.

From now until July 16th at 8pm (Eastern Time), I am offering 20% off everything in both stores!!

Hip Hip Hooray!!!

So head on over to my etsy stores, to check out some new items and view the sale!

Enjoy a glass of sweet tea for me today!!

Mint Green Rosebud Earrings

Swarovski Crystal Jewel Pendant on 14K Gold Filled Chain

Giveaway Winner!! aka - Shame on Me

Oh my goodnessssssssssssssss.

(Just a photo of me on Easter that I haven't shared with you all yet). 

First off, hey hey hey! 

I know that I have been pretty absent for the last two weeks and I really apologize. With my new part-time job and the husband doing his law school finals, its been a really weird/crazy schedule these past few weeks. I am still trying to learn how to balance everything and hope to get it all normal again soon. 

It's a lot more challenging than I thought it would be to take on a part-time job, and still do everything I want to do with my business. I feel a little naive right now :)

Secondly, so remember when I did that giveaway for a $25.00 gift certificate to my store? Well, I have been a silly goose and never announced the winner. So I apologize for the delay, but I used random.org and it choose entry #9, so a huge congrats are in order for reader KNC!!! 

That lucky reader gets $25.00 worth of goodies from me to share or keep for their very own.

KNC - Send me an email at mysweetnomsa@gmail.com so I can get you your gift certificate!

Third, I am not sure if any of you have heard of this book series called, 'Harry Potter.' It's about a boy wizard and a dark lord and all the kooky adventures they have battling each other. 

O.M.G. 

I just finished the fifth book and why didn't anyone ever tell me how awesome this series is?!?! When I am not working, I am reading HP (nickname us cool kids call the books) and when I am working, I am thinking about Hogwarts and all the mischief this kids get into there. 

I totally get why everyone loved these books and am currently trying to restrain myself so I don't read the next two over the weekend (I really want to, but I know I am going to be so sad when they are over). Also, I have to work, so it cuts into my reading time a bit.

Fourth, I have not watched the Voice yet this week and probably won't get a chance to do it until tomorrow, but I assume that I am going to watch Jamar preform, watch his mama beam, and then I will cry. It's happened every single week he has sang, so I figure why break a tradition. 

 via

I hope you all are having a great week so far, and tomorrow I will share with you some of my favorite things I found on Pinterest lately!