…Not as I do…

This past Friday, it was gorgeous outside!  I was supposed to take a walk to meet a friend for lunch, but our plans fell through.  I couldn’t fight the urge to get outside though, so I grabbed a Groupon I’d purchased a few weeks ago for Philadelphia Runner, and took a walk through the city. 

You see, I might have gone missing for a while on the blog, and there might be a few Time Machine Tuesday posts left waiting to be written… but a post about the running shoes I bought last fall won’t be coming any time soon.  I bought new shoes last March, as documented here… and that was the last pair of running shoes I bought.  Yes, that means that all of my training for the Broad Street Run was in these shoes… and all the training for the Philadelphia Half Marathon was in these shoes… and all the running I’ve done since then was in these shoes… and well you get the idea.  It’s not pretty.  General rule of thumb is to replace running shoes every 6 months or every 300 miles, whichever comes first.  Well – let’s just say “do as I say, not as I do,” right?

Well without further ado, meet my new running shoes:

The lovely staff at Philadelphia Runner asked me to walk a few paces without my shoes on so that they could see how badly I pronated.  From there, the sales woman selected a few stability shoes that she thought would best support my feet.  I tried on a pair of Adidas shoes (too bulky for me), another pair (Nike maybe?) that had too much support on the outer side of my foot and threw me off balance, and then finally these cuties – the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 11.  I know a lot of people/bloggers that swear by Brooks, and now I see why!  These shoes are like walking on clouds.

I took them out for a test run on Sunday, and sure enough it was a great run.  With just a few stops/walking breaks to re-tie my shoes and make a few adjustments, the 4 miles felt like a breeze.  Hopefully this is a good sign for the next few months, as training for my next big race will be starting up soon!

The stats:

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention – the best part about the new shoes?  After my Groupon, they only cost $50!  I was so pumped!!

Do you stick to the 6 month/300 mile rule?  You’d think that I’d love any excuse to buy new shoes right?

Wedding Wednesday – Save the Date!

Hello Friends!  We’re 73 days away from the wedding now, and I’m starting to freak out.  I don’t know quite why I’m freaking out, but it seems like the wedding is TOMORROW and there’s much to be done.  (Neither of these things are true.  The wedding isn’t tomorrow.  And there really isn’t much left!)

But instead of freaking out about the details that I have LEFT, let’s talk about some of the details that have already been done.  Starting with my pride and joy, the Save the Dates.

One of my very first wedding ideas was to make a Photobooth type image with the two of us holding signs that said “save” “the” “date” “4.30.11” (full disclosure: I MIGHT have had this idea before we got engaged.  I can’t remember )

I thought this idea was so creative and unique – no one had ever done it before!  A quick google search brought me back down to reality.  But look at this inspiration:

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In an effort to save money, I was all about doing these myself – finding a template online, taking our pictures, and printing them 2 to a photo page via an online printing company.  Robert, however, had a different idea.  You see, we’ve been to quite a few weddings in the past few years and have received quite a few STD’s in the mail  (yes you heard that correctly!).  Most of them have been magnets, and we slapped those babies straight up on the fridge.  Robert wanted to make sure that our STD would get slapped on the fridge too, so he preferred his STD in magnet form.  (Cmon, read that without giggling.  I dare you.)

Most of the photo booth style magnets however, weren’t what we were looking for.  Most of the templates would allow you to provide pictures but they had the signs filled in already, but I had my heart set on handmade signs.  So a few more google searches brought me to Fresh Impressions, where they help you customize your entire magnet!  Our lovely photographer helped us snap a few pictures in the “photobooth style,” and we submitted them to the website.  After a few emails and a minor mishap involving us accidentally receiving magnets for North Star Behavioral Health Services, we had our save the dates!

Of course after viewing that fabulous inspiration above, I couldn’t just stick the magnet in an envelope and call it a day, right?  I headed to papersource to get some #10 flat cards in beet, some photo corners, and a silver pen.  A few days later, I had these [slightly more] thoughtful Save the Dates:

Lovely, yes? I’m quite proud of them.  We packaged them up in regular white envelopes (may I suggest getting the envelopes with the self-adhesive flap?!  Saves your tongue and some time!)  and as a hint of what was inside, I stamped all of them with this baby:

And finished them off with the best investment ever – our new rubber address stamp! (I thought I had a pic but my camera must have eaten it.)  I only included our first names so it is far more versatile for before and after the wedding.  And *spoiler alert!* after having to send out  invitations and rsvp envelopes, this guy has totally proven its worth.  How did I ever survive without one of these guys?  Ours is the flair stamp from Paperwink, and loved working with them.  GET ONE NOW.

Anyway so that’s the story of  how our Date was Saved.  Let me know if you have more questions about how we actually assembled them, etc.  It really was a breeze, just a time consuming breeze

What’s hanging on your fridge?

Time Machine Tuesday–Cleveland Rocks, Part 3

When we lost saw our heroine, she was gallivanting about in sunny Cleveland, absorbing the beautiful city.

But I couldn’t wander for too long – I had dinner plans to attend to!  If I didn’t eat at any other restaurant this week I was going to eat at Lola – after all,  I had to show my boyfriend (Michael Symon!) my support. 

ow ow!

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Luckily the other two girls wanted to eat at Lola too, so we made a reservation for Thursday night.

While waiting for our table, we sat outside and ordered a glass of wine and the famous Lola fries with rosemary and sea salt.  Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of pictures (I’m still a bashful blogger), but these fries were memorable!

We finally got to sit down, and ordered the ceviche to start.  I’d had ceviche once before, but this blew it out of the water.  The jalapeño and the lime juice really brought out the flavor of the fish, and I couldn’t stop eating it. 

I followed up the appetizer with the. best. scallops. ever.  These were pan seared, and served over mushrooms and a basil reduction.  Guys, I don’t even like mushrooms but these were amazing.  Each one was full of flavor and were braised until they had an almost meaty texture.  I couldn’t get enough.

I also snuck a few bites of my friends’ meals – one had a pork chop over cheesy polenta (ALMOST as good as my dinner), and the other had steak.  All of our meals were amazing.

However, the crowning jewel of the meal was dessert.  I read the menu ahead of time, and told myself that for dessert, I was going big or going home… and ordered the 6 a.m Special.  Brioche French toast, maple bacon ice cream, and caramelized apples.  Holy yum.  The maple bacon ice cream scared me a little bit, but it was the best combination of salty and sweet, chewy and melty.  Only the best from an Iron Chef, right?

It doesn’t look like much, but it was such a special dessert!

Overall Lola was incredible.  The food was great, the atmosphere was fun (the wine list was on ipads!), and the décor was swanky and lush. 

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Our table was the one in the foreground… and yes those chandeliers are made of utensils!  So clever and eye catching.  I absolutely loved this restaurant!

This meal was in my top five of all time… the only thing holding it back from number one would have to be that I didn’t share it with someone that I loved.  Maybe next time I go to Cleveland

Where was your best meal?