I will have much more to say when I process all of my feelings from this weekend's race, but for now, suffice it to say I am an OFFICIALULTRAMARATHONER!! I might have had to run around town for an extra 1.5 miles after crossing the finish line on Saturday, but my watch eventually hit 50 miles! BOOM SHAKALAKA! Now time to recover!
Before the hubby and I pack up the car and make our way to Dana Point so we can catch a ferry boat over to Catalina Island (and I can officially become an ultra marathoner), I thought I would share a few of my current favorite things with some of my favorite people - YOU! So, without further ado, let's get on with it already!
If you read my 19 goals for 2019, you probably noticed I am aiming to read at least 19 books this year. Well, a friend sent me this POPSUGAR Reading Challenge and I thought it looked fun. I don't know if I will make it all the way through, but at least it'll mix up the type of books I grab from the library if I'm stumped on what to read next. How many will you mark off?
I'll be honest, I'm not one for fast food, but maybe that's because they normally don't have many vegetarian options (we normally stick to Subway or Taco Bell if needed). But, apparently, that's all changing! I heard this past week that Carl's Jr. and Del Taco now have plant-based options available at their restaurants! Del Taco has recently rolled out their "Beyond Tacos" and Carl's Jr now offers a Beyond Famous Star Burger (and you can substitute a Beyond Burger patty on any of their current sandwiches for an additional fee). Not all restaurants will have these options, but thankfully Oceanside is one of the current test locations for the Del Taco tacos and I've seen some friends in our area try the Carl's Jr sandwich so I know they're around! Again, I probably won't rush out to buy one, but it's nice to know they have plant-based alternatives!
You should know by now that I LOVE me some Sarah Marie Design Studio, so when I saw she was opening up applications for ambassadors I might have done a little happy dance. In case you are interested in applying yourself, make sure to get your name in the hat soon - applications are currently only open until January 15th! I'm thinking that maybe if I get in I would be more likely to talk Sarah into making a "Run All The Miles, Eat All The Chips & Salsa" tee ;)
The taper is real... I was stoked to go up to Orange County and get in some trail miles with friends, but other than that I feel like my runs have been a bit of 'junk miles' - miles without a real purpose, no pushing of the pace, etc. But it's probably just the taper playing with my head - making me question my readiness, my training, my life ;) Can't believe that the next Workout Recap I post I will be an ULTRA MARATHONER and have a 50-miler under my belt (if all goes according to plan, that is ;) #AnythingCanHappen). Here's to a week of calm, sleep, foam rolling and good nutrition!
Am I the only one who likes routine and consistency?! Don't get me wrong, I love traveling, vacations, etc, but sometimes being back in your regular regimine feels pretty amazing too. With that said, it's time to get back on track with my regularly scheduled blogs. (My #12DaysOfCarleesChristmas series always takes a ton of work and then being back in Michigan for a week meant time to focus on the family and unplug a bit, so the blog took a back seat. #SorryNotSorry) Some of these products I've been sitting on for a couple weeks since I didn't have a Friday Favorites post to share them in, but they are still awesome, so ignore the fact that they may be "out of season" now ;) So let's jump right into the list...
You all know I LOVE me some QALO rings, right?! I mean, I currently have __ in my collection, so when I saw the recently released (okay, okay, I got the email about them over a month ago but haven't had a blog post to share them in) Holiday Rings I fell in love all over again! I'm pretty sure I need all four of the patterns {"Snow In Love", "Oh My Deer", "Deck The Halls" and "Ugly Sweater"} and will wear them YEARROUND! So stinkin' cute! QALO is killing it lately!
While in Michigan, Ryan's mom introduced us to a Netflix series that we are now in love with. It's called "Nailed It" (and maybe we are super behind the times... I mean, Ryan's mom shouldn't be introducing us to "hip, happening" things, should she?!). It's based on the phenomenon of people trying to "nail" projects they have seen on social media -- and failing miserably. Think of your standard cooking show, but with people who can't cook... It's pretty hilarious and the episodes are only about 30 minutes long so they are easy to watch when you have a few minutes of down time. The hubby thinks we should go up to LA and try out for the show, but I think I may be a little too crafty and would be "too good" for it - HAHA! (I mean, at least I'm pretty good with a hot glue gun and felt if I do say so myself ;) )
A few months back our box fan died. Now normally you would think that wouldn't be a big deal, but it was... The hubby and I sleep with our fan on every single day. Not necessarily for the air movement, but for the noise. When I mentioned this #FirstWorldProblem on social media {don't worry, the following morning we rectified the situation by rushing to the store and grabbing a new one immediately}, quite a few folks chimed in and mentioned they actually use a white noise machine. Well, hot dang, why didn't we think of that?! We did some researched and landed on the SNOOZ White Noise Sound Machine option (even though it was a pretty penny). We decided we would put it on our Christmas list in hopes that St. Nicholas would put it under our tree. Low and behold, we must have been good kids this year because Ryan's mom got it for us as a gift and we have been LOVING it (especially now that it is a bit chilly and we don't necessarily want to box fan blowing on us all night long)! We've been using it for a couple weeks now and we'd both give it two thumbs up!
If you follow my book recaps, you may have noticed I love me some Young Adult love stories. Maybe it's the innocence of it, maybe it's that they aren't all about sex, maybe I'm still just a kid, but I can gobble them up like there's no tomorrow. I loved the To All The Boys I've Loved Before series and was STOKED when they released a Netflix film of the first book. Well, I'm not sure if you heard, but the sequel has been given the thumbs up - WHOO HOO! Now we just have to wait...
If you follow me on social media then you probably saw a few of our adventures while the hubby and I were back in Michigan for the holidays, but I thought I'd do a quick recap of some of the highlights since we had so much fun. Ryan's mom lives about 45 minutes north of Detroit and my parents live about 45 minutes south of Detroit. We flew in on Friday, spent the first few days with Ryan's mom, met up with my parents for the 'hand-off' in Detroit on Christmas Eve and then stayed with them until Friday before flying back to SoCal. We have lived in California for over twelve years now and I think we've flown back to Michigan to celebrate the holidays with our families for at least ten of them. Since we don't get back to the mitten state as often as we'd like, we always jam in as much as possible while we're there - this trip was no exception.
Let's see what all we did when the #McDotsDoMichigan!
The hubby and I are both HUGERed Wings fans, so you better believe we had to go to the new arena to watch the Wings play (even if they have been sucking major donkey dick this season). Little Caesars Arena is amazing (although, I'll be honest, I am partial to the nostalgia of the older locations). It was awesome to check out the home of our fave hockey team - and the Downtown sports area is AMAZEBALLS (Ford Field, Comerica Park and Little Caesars Arena are all a stones throw away from each other). Maybe next time they'll even win a game we go to... #AChristmasMiracle
Left: A winged wheel from Chevy parts / Right: The crew with Mr. Ted Lindsay's statue
Left: We're stoked / Right: The ice before puck-drop
Left: Puck art / Right: In front of the arena after the game
Gingerbread House Decorating
Okay, this one isn't Michigan specific, but the hubby and I love having a contest every year to see who can decorate the best gingerbread house. This year we picked up a couple kits before flying back so we'd have them ready to go when we arrived. We grabbed two village kits (each with five different designs) so each of us could put our personal touches on at least two 'houses'. Ryan's mom and 'aunt' may not have been as skilled as Ryan and I (haha), but we all had a great time!
Sort of loved all of the different "house" options (and how everyone decorated them)
I did an A-Frame and a standard cottage
Candlelight Service
If you didn't know, the hubby and I are both Christians and go to church on a regular basis (we attend North Coast Church in Vista, CA), but going to a Christmas service is always a little extra special because most places break out the candles for a few verses of silent night. The pastor of the church Ryan's mom goes to is actually the chaplain for the Detroit Lions.
My mom told me about this activity at the Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak and as soon as I heard about it I knew I wanted to participate. At 8 p.m. every evening in December pediatric patients will shine flashlights from the hospital windows and look for community members standing outside the hospital to flash them back. It only takes a few minutes, but it means a great deal to young patients and families. "Many children are unable to leave their rooms and can feel isolated in the hospital as the rest of the world continues without them," Beaumont Children's Child Life Supervisor Kathleen Grobbel said. "With the help of the community, we can make sure they go to bed with smiles on their faces." I think it was maybe 10-15 minutes of us standing there, flashing our lights, waving, singing Christmas carols, etc, but it was super special! I think there were maybe 10 volunteers (from directing traffic to telling us when to turn on our lights) and very little prep work needed. Hopefully this is a program that can spread all over the world!
This is a video from the night we were there (taken from a firetruck ladder high in the sky):
No one in my family is very good at bowling (although my dad was on a league back in the day, hehe), but we still find it fun to hit up the alleys and bowl a couple games. We ended up getting in three games on Christmas Eve. To give you an idea of our skills, there were five of us bowling and our total points at the end of the 10 frames each game were 509, 465 and 504. Yup, an average of under 100 for each of us... But at least we were having fun and making memories!
Someone commented and said it looked like I was holding a watermelon... Nope, just my 6 pound ball - HA!
This one needs some explaining. When my parents first asked if we had heard about the "Toledo Christmas Weed" we thought they were talking about marijuana. Apparently we were WAY off! There was a weed growing at an intersection in Toledo and one day someone threw a little tinsel on it. Well, this TOOKOFF and people started decorating it, leaving trinkets and treasures, and by the time we went to visit there were boxes to take donations for homeless shelters and gifts for underprivileged children! We joked because I don't even think the original weed was under all the decorations, but it still made me smile to see how the community was coming together with some extra holiday spirit.
Left: The street corner and all the shenanigans / Right: Me pointing at the weed (somewhere under the mound)
Left: Someone brought a tree and folks started leaving gifts / Right: Donations were being collected for those less fortunate
Instead of buying each other gifts, my family does donations. We all get to choose an organization that is near and dear to our hearts and everyone donates the money they would have spent on gifts in that person's honor. I much prefer this - especially since we are so blessed and don't need more things. Anyway, since we don't have gifts to open on Christmas morning (and because we love helping those around us), my parents, the hubby and I volunteered at the Cherry Street Mission for a couple hours. We served breakfast to the homeless and were the hands and feet of Christ.
The hubby volunteered to do dishes and I handed out blueberry muffins
Snapping a quick picture next to the building before we went home (it was dark when we arrived, seeing as our shift started at 6:30am)
One of my favorite traditions that my family has is going to the Toledo Zoo to look at the Christmas lights. The zoo does it up and has the whole place decked out from top to bottom. A few of the animals are out (we actually lucked out and saw the wolves and the cougar close to the edge of their exhibit) - but the main draw is the billions upon billions of glowing lights around the grounds. I was joking with the hubby and said I would dance along with the 'dancing lights' (they sync a light show to music) if they were playing "I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas"... Well, when we walked up we caught Michael Buble's Jingle Bells but somehow I still got talked into getting my groove on ;) #IAmGreatAtMakingAFoolOfMyself
Loved all the new zoo lights!
So many awesome lights to look at! We were there for about 3 hours!
My dad retired a couple months back and since then my parents have been living up the retired life. In fact, they have become BIRD WATCHERS! Since the sun was finally shining on of the free afternoons we had, we decided to drive down to the Maumee Bay State Park and walk around - looking for birds and deer. The wildlife must have been taking advantage of the great weather too because we saw almost FORTY deer in our three mile walk (and three of them 'had sticks' {how we describe bucks with antlers ;) }). I may not be a bird watcher, but I love me some nature!
Seeing as the Red Wings were only home one game during our trip, we decided to check out the next best thing, the Toledo Walleye ;) They are a minor league team (that feeds a team that feeds the Wings, hehe), but sports are sports in the Padot household. My goal for the evening was a picture with Cattrick (one of the many mascots) and I snagged one right after we walked in! The Walleye winning 7-4 (and getting FREECHILI for a power play goal) was icing on the cake!
Left: Cattrick (sort of like a hat trick) / Right: Madonna (the female mud hen for the local baseball team)
The hubby wanted to hit up this record store owned by Jack White, so we decided we would leave for the airport a little early to make a few stops on the way. This record shop is pretty amazing! There's a booth where you can record your own voice direct to vinyl and they even have a "factory" in the back where they are pressing vinyl. (Apparently the Nashville location even has a venue where musicians can play and record their live set direct to vinyl - the only place in the world where that's an option.) We could have spent hours there, but we had other places to go so had to call it a day.
Loved this area of town. So many fun shops around!
I grew up about 40 miles south of Detroit and had never been to the Motown Museum before. Well, this was the trip we were going to change that. We bought tickets online (they sell out, especially on the weekends) and got there right on time. The tour is about an hour long (including a 15 minute video on the Detroit Sound). Our guide was AMAZING and the museum is nothing less than AWESOME! Walking through the two houses and realizing how much talent came through there makes you shake your head in wonder. I wish you could go through some of the areas at your own pace so you could stop and read all of the information, but it was still fantastic to see. They don't allow you to bring cameras with you, but I had my phone because I had the tickets in my email. Right before we were leaving Studio A (where all of the recording was down between 1958 and the mid seventies), our guide told us we could snap one quick photo if we wanted. It might not look like much, but the history in those walls is outstanding! If you're ever in the area I would highly recommend the tour! (And they will be expanding over the coming years so I imagine it'll only get better and better.)
The original buildings are historical landmarks, so they are there to stay! #PreserveHistory
It might not look like much, but it was AMAZEBALLS!
Can you believe I've never been on Belle Isle before? Our flight was delayed (thankfully it didn't have to do with bad weather or anything - the plane we were supposed to be taking was about an hour late leaving so, in turn, our departure was pushed back) so we took advantage of the extra few minutes by checking out the small island park on the Detroit River. The view of downtown, the bridge and Ontario is pretty awesome (and if it wasn't so cold and windy we would have hung out longer to soak in the scenery). And now I can cross visiting the 2.5 mile long island off my list of things to do. (Did you know Detroit is the only place where you can look SOUTH and see Canada?! Fun fact, huh? I'm full of 'em ;) )
To the left of the bridge is Canada and to the right of the bridge is Detroit
Running
You didn't think I could go a week without running, did you?! Even though I am in the thick of the taper for my 50-mile race, I still needed to get in a few miles while I was back in the frozen tundra. I've gotta be honest though, the weather definitely could have been worse. Sure it was chilly, but the roads and trails were clear, there wasn't anything dropping from the sky (frozen or otherwise) and the sun even made a few (albeit short) appearances. I was lucky enough to run on Paint Creek Trail near Lake Orion, at Wildwood Metropark in Toledo, and around my old stomping ground in Bedford (I even ran around the Junior High and High School I attended, by the soccer field I played at, around the track I was a cheerleader on, etc). But, let's be real, being a runner is MUCHEASIER in SoCal than Michigan! #INeedSunAndWarmth
Thankfully the only thing that ever got cold on me were my hands... even with gloves!
All the inflatables!
Left: To raise money for our new football stadium, the school sold 'bricks'. My parents bought one and put our names on it. / Right: My dad is extra crafty and built a deer from a down birch tree (and put a blinking red light on his nose on Christmas for Rudolph)
As you can see, we definitely squeezed in as much as we could while we were back on this trip {my mom always says 'you can sleep when you're dead'}. We flew back to San Diego Friday afternoon with happy hearts, tons of memories and al the gratitude. Not sure when our next trip back will be, but Michigan will always have a mitten shaped spot in our hearts!
See ya again soon, Michigan!
What was the best thing you did over the holidays?
Some people do a "Wordless Wednesday" post, where they simply share a photo or image, but I thought I'd make a little series out of my Wednesdays. And since I love alliteration so much, why not go with Walt Wednesdays (obviously everyone can use a little break from the seriousness, scariness and sassiness of life - and what better way to help put a smile on your face than with a cute wiener dog picture, am I right?!)... So, without further ado...
WALT WEDNESDAY!
When life gets overwhelming, how do you de-stress?
Happy 2019! Now, I am not one who normally makes resolutions (mostly because I feel like the term 'resolution' tends to set folks up for failure), but I am all about goals, so I thought I would lay out 19 goals I wanted to tackle throughout 2019. I have divided them into separate categories, but there isn't really any particular order to them (I am hoping I can cross all 19 off my list by December 31st!). So, without further ado, let's see what I wanna take a crack at for the upcoming year.
Running Related
Run 19 Races
Run 3 Ultras
Run a Sub 1:34 Half Marathon
Run a Sub 3:20 Marathon
Happy Hiker
Climb Mount Whitney
Attempt the 24-Hour 3-Peak Challenge
Adventure Awaits
Travel Once a Month
Attend 4 Concerts
Healthy Habits
3-5 Minutes of Daily Meditation
100 Ounces of Water per Day
3 Consecutive Pull-Ups
Personal Development
Joy Jar
Daily Photo Challenge
Learn to French Braid
Daily Gratitude List
Read 19 Books
Volunteer 6 Times
One Month No-Spend Challenge
Mail 4 Cards per Month
I think that a lot of people don't stick with their goals for a few reasons - because they see them as all-or-nothing, because they don't see progress, because they have unrealistic aspirations, because they don't have support and because they don't believe in themselves. I am hoping that I am setting myself up for success by putting my goals out onto the InterWebs, asking for help (both for encouragement and for accountability) and doing my best to take it one day at a time!
