It’s here! It’s here!

I’m so so excited for marathon weekend! I’m probably only this excited, though, because I’m not running the marathon.

I’m actually registered for the half, but I think I might downgrade to the 10k so I can run with J. I actually haven’t been running much since the Glass City half and have been on a little “running hiatus”. I’m not out to kill this race, or PR, or any of that. I just want to enjoy the excitement of race day and focus on cheering everyone else on!

I get so emotional watching marathons but, like I mentioned yesterday, Cleveland just kills me. The memories from this weekend 2 years ago all come flooding back and I get so weepy.

p.s. Look how little C looks!

It was such an amazing day. One of those days that everyone should get to experience.

So good luck to all the runners this weekend! I wish everyone a day filled with joy, confidence, spandex, Body Glide, and sweat – lots and lots of sweat.

Be on the lookout for me. I’ll be the crazy lady screaming my face off (so make sure your name is on your shirt!).

Do you love marathon weekend in your town??

Or should I say another tattoo?

I’ve been wanting this tattoo for 2 years now, and it only seemed fitting with the Cleveland Marathon this coming Sunday, that I finally do it. The Cleveland Marathon holds a special place in my heart and I always think of it as my “first” even though it wasn’t.

So J and I headed down to Voodoo Monkey in Ohio City on Monday afternoon.

It’s been so long since I’ve gotten a tattoo (7 years?) that I couldn’t even remember what to expect! Luckily it wasn’t bad at all.

And I LOVE the finished product:

A closer look:

Took me 2 years to design this puppy. And I’m in love with the way it turned out!

I just wish this much thought would have gone into all my tattoos.

Do you have any tattoos? I have 4! One on my front hip (gotten in college – OUCH), one on my back hip, one on the top of my foot and now this one.

First things first: Have you entered to win a pair of tickets to the 2012 Silver Spoon Awards party yet? There’s still time! Go here.

So, when I found out that I got into the NYC Marathon last year through the lottery I immediately started making a list of “must go-to” places. On the top of my food list was Levain Bakery, and on the top of J’s food list was Doughnut Plant. Since J organized the Sunday chaos of chasing me around the city (and running with me!), I felt I owed it to him to visit his #1 rather than mine.

And I’ve been thinking about those darn cookies I missed out on ever since. I’ve seen them on Food Network and so many blogs that I finally decided to take matters into my own hands and try making them myself.

And, OMG, I’m SO GLAD I did.

They’re crispy on the outside and chewy/gooey in the center, and as big as your head. The perfect cookie!

I used 1/2 Trader Joe’s chocolate chips and 1/2 of a chopped up semi-sweet chocolate bar. The different chocolates and walnuts added such a great texture to the cookies.

If you’re looking for cookies to impress, give these a shot! They were best within 3 days of baking so I wouldn’t recommend baking them ahead of time if you’re planning on taking them to a picnic/party/event. But they’re super easy so it’s not really necessary to bake them ahead of time!

Enjoy!!

Do you have a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe? I’m still searching, but this one’s pretty high up on my list now….

I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten my point across about how much I love the annual Silver Spoon Awards party.

And now I’m so excited for the opportunity to share my love of the event with YOU!

(totally stole the image from Plum, who stole it from Smitten!)

Where else can you taste the city’s best dishes all in one place?? The food will leave your belly two sizes bigger than when you arrived and the drinks will be a flowin (stretchy pants and/or flowy dress highly recommended). Then you can jump right back on that horse Thursday morning. Life’s all about the balance, my friends.

Here are the event details:

• Wednesday, May 23rd from 6 to 9pm
• Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center
• Benefits the Arthritis Foundation, Great Lakes Region, Northeast Ohio

Tickets can be purchased online , or you can win a pair of tickets RIGHT HERE!

So, who wants to win??

You can do one or all of the following to enter:

1. Leave a comment telling me if you’ve been to a Silver Spoon Awards party before
2. Follow me, @heatha262 , and @SilverSpoonCLE on twitter, and leave a comment telling me you did (or already do!)
3. Tweet “I want to win a pair of tickets to @SilverSpoonCLE from @heatha262!” and be sure to link to this post – and then leave a comment telling me you tweeted
4. You can repeat #3 daily, but make sure you leave me a comment each day you tweet!

The giveaway ends Sunday, May 20th at 5pm. Good luck!!

Like I mentioned previously, J and I are volunteering at this year’s event, but I was offered 2 tickets for my parents in exchange for blogging.

I sure hope every mom out there got to experience as nice a day as I did today. It was full of all my favorite things!

An awesome sweatfest:

Bike ride to lunch:

A little fun:

A long walk with the fam (missed you, Mandy!):

Quality time with my mom:

And the boys in my life:

Surf and turf dinner made by J and C:

And now we’re all pooped.

But not too pooped for homemade strawberry ice cream!

I’m off to enjoy ice cream and the last few hours of getting to be “Queen for the Day”.

Hope all you moms out there got to be Queen today. It’s a great day!

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. I’m glad we get to share this day now. Love you!

Less than 2 weeks until this year’s Silver Spoon Awards Party!

Since we’ve worked our way through the sexy and strong restaurants, I figured we’d go a different route this week with the “elegant list”:

Dante

Blue Point Grille

Pacific East

Umami

They all remind me of a nice night out on the town. Either on a first date, or a date night with your loved one. High heels and flat front khakis.

Alexa is having a giveaway on her blog this week for tickets to the event. You’re not going to want to miss it, so head on over to her blog for a chance to win!

Like I mentioned in my two previous posts, J and I are volunteering at this year’s event, but I was offered 2 tickets for my parents in exchange for blogging. They’re going to love it! And you will, too! Tickets can be purchased here.

Today was one of those days.

You know, one of those days when:

• you’re so tired you could curl up under your desk and take a nap
• you’re cranky from being tired that everything/one annoys you
• you have a headache (because you’re tired?) that won’t go away
• you try and try to take a nap when you get home from work but you can’t turn your mind off

I knew I’d be even more crabby if I let the whole day go by like this, so I finally got my butt off the couch at 5:00, went for a run (even though I didn’t want to!), and then made a great dinner.

Chicken fajitas!

The laundry has been changed over, a little vacation research has been done, and now it’s time to try and get that much needed shut eye to hopefully make tomorrow much more enjoyable than today. Things are looking up already.

What did you have for dinner today??

I knew I wanted to make bread this week but was struggling with which way I should go with it. And then way J cracked open one of his home-brews Sunday night, inspiration struck. Beer bread it was.

I scoured Pinterest for the perfect recipe, but I just couldn’t decide. So I made two.

One with half whole wheat and all-purpose flour (and oats!) and one with self-rising flour only.

I fell in love with the whole wheat loaf. It’s doughy, oaty, and chewy, just the way bread should be!

J fell for the white loaf. It’s dense, a little sour, and can hold up for a sandwich!

But I bet they’d both be amazing with a little spread of butter and a bowl of soup.

I think this is the first time I’ve ever made beer bread that didn’t come from a Tastefully Simple box. And they were just as easy (simple?) to make from scratch. Throw all the ingredients in a bowl, mix, and bake. Easy peasy.

What’s your favorite kind of bread? Have you tried to make it at home?

I came home yesterday exhausted, sore, and sunburnt.

I spent the weekend at Mohican with the Cleveland Triathlon Club and they kicked my booty. I ran through the mud in the pitch black, biked 25+ miles of mad hills, hit 40 miles an hour on my bike(!!!), learned so much more about being an athlete than I ever thought possible, and met some amazing people. It was awesome.

I had a lot of reservations going into the weekend since I normally get a little homesick when I’m away from the boys for that many days (and since I barely knew anyone!). And when I didn’t have any cell reception AT ALL I thought the weekend was going to blow. But it ended up being great!

There’s just something super fun about being around people who sweat just as much as you and who think sweating 24/7 is just as awesome as you do. We went for a 6 mile run through this crazy uphill trail Friday night (in the pitch black!) in what seemed like 100% humidity and all just hung around the kitchen table afterwards snacking and getting to know each other. Sweat and all. It didn’t weird me out at all. In fact, I absolutely loved it.

It was a weekend full of Gatorade, Nuun, protein powder, bananas, bagels, honey stingers, body glide, and spandex. Lots and lots and lots of spandex.

I learned how to corner on my bike, how to make a fast stop (which I totally had to do during our ride and geeked out over how cool it was!), how to change a tire (finally!), and basically just feeling a lot more comfortable on my bike.

Hi Monica!!

For as serious athletes as some of these people were, they were so inviting and non-judgemental. I love elite athletes who welcome newbies to the scene. I love when they want to share their love of the sport and help those of us who are just starting to fall in love with it. We all started as newbies at one time. And we all could use a helping hand no matter what level we’re at.

I’m not sure I’m 100% a triathlon convert yet, but I am nerding out over it still.

I’m still on a total high from the weekend and can’t wait to get back on my bike! Though, I spent all weekend with her and have yet to give her a name. She’s white and purple (plum?) and pretty girly.

Any thoughts/suggestions??

Did you ever go to camp when you were younger? I never got sent to camp, but my family went camping almost every other weekend in the summers. I was always so jealous because my cousins had campers, but we had to sleep in a tent. Ha.

And she’s in love:

With both of them:

Do you know how hard it is to find espadrilles that aren’t 3+ inches tall?

I’m still trying to embrace this whole “tall is good” thing. Maybe one day. Until then I’ll keep rockin the lower heels.

Too bad I won’t be able to enjoy these beauties this coming weekend. Instead I’ll be spending my days and nights in these:

And in my spin shoes.

Because I’m going to a weekend camp at Mohican with the Cleveland Triathlon Club!

Talk about getting outside my comfort zone. I’m shacking up in a cabin (for a whole weekend) with people I’ve never met, doing workouts I’ve never done, and hopefully learning things I would have never learned on my own. It should be interesting (and, if anything, provide some good stories!).

Do you rock the tall heels??