Kitchen goodies

As is often the case during midterms or finals week, I find myself distracted by online shopping. I've been toying with the idea of wanting an apron for awhile now so I clicked on over to my favorite store for all house related items and found a whole bunch of fun things that would brighten up our kitchen. Our apartment has a teal/brown/green scheme and these things would all fit in perfectly!

{Petula Blue-Green Apron/Potholder and Mitt Set of Two, $10.95-$18.95}

I LOVE these matching dish towels.

{Petula Blue-Green Dishtowels Set of Two, $11.95}

And think these are oh-so-pretty as a classier way to make use of these colors.

{Jocelyn Embroidered Placemat/Cotton Mint Napkin, $3.95-$8.95}

So pretty! Makes me (almost) wish I used cloth napkins...

{Twisted Bead Napkin Ring, $3.95}

These towels look soft and ultra-absorbent.

{Waffle/Terry Dishtowels Set of Two, $12.95}

I'm always needing of smaller mixing bowls and end up using ones way too big and then having them take over the dishwasher.

{Mini Parker Bowls, $3.95}

On a slightly unrelated note: If your house is anything like ours, you get very annoyed with the measuring cups attached to the ring... especially when your husband refuses to put them back together in the right order or thinks it's funny to hide them separately in random drawers. Extra bonus: they have 2 of each size so you don't have to wash during a recipe!

{Magnetic Measuring Spoons, $7.95}

If only I could find a rug my little Jasper couldn't get under and run around the kitchen with!

13.1

This past weekend Mike and I ran in Nashville's Country Music 1/2 Marathon! It was the first time either of us had run that far and it was awesome. We'd heard about the race when we first moved to Nashville and decided if we were ever going to do it this was a great opportunity. We nervously registered about the first of the year and have been training ever since.

Our training went really well for the most part. We ran 3-4 times a week with our long runs increasing by about a mile each Sunday. Mike ended up with some sort of foot injury with about 5 weeks to go that kept him completely off his feet for almost 10 days. I had some bad hip pain with about 3 weeks to go and didn't run for that entire week. Taking a week off with that little time left till the race left me in a bit of a panic. With two weeks till race time I decided I really needed to get 2 more hour-ish runs in and a final long run before tapering. This may have been unnecessary, but I knew mentally I would feel better about trying 13 if I had done 11. I pushed an 11-, 9-, and 7- mile run that week. The 11 miler was HARD and left me equally nervous and confident. The week up to the race was great as our plan had only a few, relaxed runs.

We picked up our race packets Thursday at the expo and loved walking around and looking at all of the vendors exhibits. People were buzzing with excitement and it really helped motivate us! There were weather reports of 100% chances of severe thunderstorms for Friday night and all day Saturday which left everyone a little anxious. We woke up Saturday at 4:30 to get ready to go and there was no rain! Our drive to the race start took us through a little bit of the course and it was so exciting to see everything being set up. We got to Centennial Park around 6 and had a little bit of time to drop our gear bags off, stretch and get into our race corral.

{pre-race}

The number of people was incredible! There were somewhere around 32,000-34,000 runners!

{photo from the Tennessean}

The start time approached really quickly and before we knew it we were running! It was kind of surreal at first and hard to keep a slow pace as the first two miles were mostly downhill. We knew the next 5-6 would be a steady uphill as we'd run this part of the route many times. The run seemed to fly by. All of the support was incredible. I couldn't believe all of the people out cheering. There was a band every mile and a half or so and some very creative signs along the way (think: "Run like Elin Woods is chasing you," "Chafe now, brag later," and "Your feet only hurt because you're kicking so much a$$phalt"). I think Nashville treats this as a sporting event to tailgate for. There were tons of people in their front yards drinking and partying (yes, at 7 in the morning!). Many of them offered runners beer, mimosas, and snacks. I couldn't believe it! I decided to pass on the alcoholic beverages while running but was grateful for all of the water, cytomax, and fruit. Miles 1-10 seemed to fly by. We kept a pretty steady pace that we were happy with and just enjoyed the run. By mile 11 I was anticipating the finish and things started to get hard. I was thirsty and my legs were tired. The last mile and a half were mostly uphill and kept winding back. I knew the stadium where we were to finish was so close and yet we kept turning away from it! People were walking all around us and medics were treating lots of runners who had collapsed on the side. I was ready to lay down and go to sleep but Mike said "you made me run this crazy thing this far we're not stopping now" and so I kept going. That last stretch was one of the hardest things I've ever done but running over the finish line made it all worth it!

{photo quality awful because it's stolen from the race photos- still begging Mike to let me order them!}

I know it sounds cliche but it was such a great feeling getting our medals and seeing all the triumph in the people around us. I think I drank like 4 bottles of water in those first 15 minutes. We decided to forgo the post race celebration as we could tell the storms were coming and we had about a 3/4 mile walk back to our apartment. Overall, the race was amazing. It was way more fun than I imagined and I was so proud of being able to run the whole 13 miles without stopping! I definitely recommend the experience to anyone who has been thinking of doing it. Mike swore all day Saturday he would never do it again and Sunday was already looking up other races! We can't wait to do another one!

Chef Mike

M surprised me with a pre-Valentine's day dinner complete with wine and appetizers. The time and effort he put into finding recipes, shopping for the ingredients, and preparing the meal would have impressed me in itself. I was so happy, I didn't care if it was good. But then I realized just how amazing each and every bite was and decided it was one of the best meals I've ever had. We had delicious appetizers of 3 cheese fondue with apples and bread for dipping and homemade bruschetta. The main course consisted of pecan crunch coated salmon with red potatoes and green beans. He offered my favorite dessert of vanilla bean cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory but I instead opted for a few spoonfuls of leftover salmon topping. It was that good.

{White wine with bread and apples for the cheese fondue}

{three cheese fondue}

{homemade bruschetta}

He made a vase of the most amazing tulips, which I adore. We also used our new china for the first time and it was a million times prettier than I'd imagined! I love it and can't wait till we can use it for a house full of guests one day!

{delish!}

He did such an awesome job... I think I'll keep him for, oh, forever. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wishing you all a happy, love-filled day!

{oh-so-pretty valentine tulips from the hubs}

Our little vampire kitty

M and I have been talking about getting a new kitten for awhile now. We decided to go look at the Nashville Humane Association after getting home from winter break. We visited with all the older kitties and, although I tried to figure out a way to rescue every single one, we knew we really wanted a kitten. After playing in the kitten room and deciding all the little guys resembled Pouncey's playful and crazy nature (we were looking for one a little more cuddly this time around) we decided it was not the day for us. As we were leaving, I saw a tag for a gray and white, 10-week old kitten named Sully. Monsters, Inc. was the mister's and my first date (yes, it came out in 2001, wow!) and we always joked that we wanted to name our first pet after the lovable, fluff ball, Sully:

{Sully- Monster's, Inc.}

We just had to go back to hunt for this new possibility and were surprised to find a fluffy gray tail sticking out of a hole waaaay up high in the fake kitten tree. I climbed up the tree and got the little purrball down (note: we still have NO clue how he managed to get up there). We cuddled with the little man for half an hour or so before deciding to adopt him. He fell asleep upside down in my lap on the way home and I was in love. It took awhile for Pouncey and him to adjust to living together without trying to kill each other (we're pretty sure that's what they were doing rolling around biting each others necks). We ended up deciding not to stick with the name Sully as it just didn't seem to fit. It took us awhile but we finally decided he reminded us of his namesake Jasper Hale from Twilight. It was a combination of his crazy little look, amazing speed and super sharp kitten fangs that didn't fall out when he was a baby and might leave him with permanent double canines.

{Jasper- Twilight}

Jasper has quickly become our little cuddle buddy. You can't hardly sit down without him jumping into your lap and purring to be snuggled. He and Pouncey have taken to a similar schedule of psycho kitten in the mornings and night and sleeping most of the day. They seem to get along for the most part now and are endlessly entertaining for their parents. We love our little furbabies!

He's a very funny sleeper.
Our two boys.
Perhaps angry that we were watching CSI and not playing with him.
Standard behavior when I study.During naptime under Daddy's bike.

Newly in love with shoes

I'm not sure when exactly it happened, but somewhere over the past year I morphed from a girl who wears reefs every. single. day. to one who spends far too many should-be-studying hours drooling over shoes. Nashville weather has left me dreaming of these frivolous luxuries which, unfortunately, my grad student budget cannot quite justify.

Delicious, glossy, fuchsia. What more could you ask for to combat the never ending Tennessee rain? Well, besides the coordinating fleece socks, of course.

{Hunter Original Gloss, $115}

And what could be better than a little sheepskin hug for your toesies to cope with the frigid temperatures? Especially since they come in this adorable baby pink.

{UGG Dakota Slipper, $100}

And while we're on the topic of amazing, but oh-so-overpriced shoes- if I could do the wedding again... I'd be begging the Mister for these beauties. They're totally re-wearable, right?

{Christian Louboutin Glitter Pump, $595}

{Inspiration found here}

I've been a bad blogger...

...if you could even classify me as one anymore! Apparently, I started grad school and promptly forgot about updating. Anyway, I am newly motivated by my blogging friends at An Overton Park Proposal and Two Eat Philly (you should definitely check them out!) and will try my hardest to post regularly! I've realized how hard it is to be away from everyone in the last couple of months and am determined to keep in better touch in the future!

This past weekend was an exciting one for us. It kicked off with my first snow day on Friday as Nashville received a pretty good covering. Mike and I and our two kitties (update on that soon!) sat by the window most of the morning in awe of the never ending white powder. It took the cats a few hours before admitting defeat in their attack on the falling flakes.

The kitties watching the snow in the window.

In spite of the snow, we managed to make it to the airport and on board our flight on time. After waiting 2 hours for deicing (ugh!) we finally made it to Denver. We spent the weekend visiting family and enjoying the mountains. Saturday started with a great run for me and my Dad (despite the lack of air Colorado is known for) and a trip to the Denver Children's Museum. This was truly an amazing place for kids. I think Lauren and Blake had a blast (as did us "big kids" in the assembly line area!). We tubed Sunday with Ryan, Milissa and Lo at Fraser hill in Winter Park. We had had an awesome time there last year and were really looking forward to repeating the experience of trying to find the fastest way down the mountain. We were not disappointed! Monday the 4 of us (Ry, Mil, Mike and I) headed out early for skiing in Copper Mountain. After readjusting to the ominous ski lifts and actually learning to do something other than snow plow from side to side, I had a great time. This is by far my new favorite ski mountain and I can't wait to go back. I have disappointingly few pictures from our weekend as maneuvering a camera out of a pocket and actually taking decent pictures is a difficult feat in ski gloves.

Blake and Grandpa reading what might be the most difficult book ever. Darn dinosaurs!

Mike and Lo in their ski bibs ready to tube.

They're such cuties!

View from the top... kinda cloudy.

Ry, Mil & I

Me and the boy