I want to give a big shout out to my girl, Erica, and wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! If you don’t read Erica’s blog, you totally should. She’s really the sweetest, coolest girl you’ll ever meet. Happy birthday, guuurl!

Thanks for all the nice wishes about my rental’s broken A/C. Yeah, it cost me some mad cash, but at least it’s fixed (and brand new!). After all that drama, I headed out to Tremont for dinner with one of my BFF’s. We were meeting Suzanne and Katrina at Ty Fun. It was my first Thai food experience!

The restaurant really makes great use of their small space.

Love the garden!

Behind the high fence are a few outdoor tables, too. I was happy to see that, but it was too hot for us to be eating outside. I needed me some a/c asap.

I think every menu should have this:

Seriously. I was so excited, I could barely contain myself!

I ordered the veggie spring rolls and veggie cups (both appetizers). The spring rolls were divine.

The sauce was sweet, yet salty, and perfect for dipping! And check out those carrots. I love the presentation! This place was all about presentation. Check out Katrina’s rice:

The veggie cups were OK. I’ve decided that I don’t like the taste of curry. I keep trying to like it, but I just don’t. I’ve moved on. Sorry curry.

Despite the veggie cups being meh, I had the BEST time last night. When we left Katrina said, “Was it just me or were we getting dirty looks because we were so loud?” Haha. I noticed it, too! I know I’m a loud girl, so that didn’t surprise me much since the restaurant is so small. Those poor girls, they can’t take me anywhere!

Overall it was a great time. Great food, great atmosphere, and great company.

Suzanne, Katrina, and Allison

Oh, one more thing. J is at the Browns game right now. Is it weird that he just texted me “Don’t delete Jersey Shore!”? Hahahaha! We’re obsessed with that show. I’m a little bummed we can’t watch it together tonight, but there’s NO WAY I’m waiting til tomorrow to watch Vinnie.

Are you a thai food fan? What’s your favorite dish?

When I think my life can’t get any more complicated/busy than it is, the Big Guy upstairs tests me even more. I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this before, but I have a rental on the eastside of town. It’s the condo I bought 5 years back, right before I met J. So, when we decided to move in together, instead of selling it I decided to rent it out.

The first year I was blessed with the renters from hell. It was a complete nightmare. I’ll sum it up quickly by saying that at the end of their lease J and I had to cancel our Vegas vacation to rip up carpet and clean up cat pee before the new renters moved in. Yeah, ummm, that was no fun whatsoever.

Since then I have the BEST renters in the entire world, so anytime something goes wrong I try to get it fixed asap. Well, go figure that they called on Monday to tell me the A/C wasn’t working. Seriously? During the 4 hottest days of the season? Crap. AND I find out that the unit isn’t just not working, it’s broken.

So, what do I do to help let off some steam? (I know your answer is “run”, but not this time!)

It was off to the Towpath in Brecksville for some bike riding.

Ryan and I were scoping out the trail for this coming Sunday’s group training run for Team Challenge.

It’s really a beautiful path and will be perfect for training!

The trail goes on for miles, and we covered almost 11 miles this afternoon. I’m really looking forward to our group run on Sunday now – I think we’ve found the perfect location!

After our no-stress bike ride I had to head home quickly to deal with the A/C issue. But I’m happy to say that it has since been replaced and my renters are happy in their cool condo again.

How do you handle tough situations? Are you cool, calm, and collected, or a nutcase like me?

Hey everyone!! Thanks for all the nice comments and suggestions on my last post. I really do hope to be a great coach this season, and am excited to share every step of the way with you!

I know I mentioned that I didn’t buy shoes on Sunday, but I did buy this:

As soon as I saw that it “Alleviates pain on outside of knee related to IT Band Syndrome” I snatched it right up! I also bought a pair of my favorite socks. I’m up to 3 pair!

Since my run that morning wasn’t necessarily for myself (I was running and walking with others at their own pace, not mine), I decided to head out for another short run. I tackled a 5k in the heat! And tried out my new purchase.

I can’t be sure yet, but I really think it helped! I have to try it again to be sure it’s not just in my head, but I have high hopes.

As soon as I got home from my run I checked my phone (you know, because I’m addicted and can’t go more than a half hour without it), and I had a text from Allison asking if I wanted to walk the pups. I immediately said YES!

It was still mad hot out so the dogs were panting their little pug tails off by the time we got back.

The sisters are so cute that they are always next to each other:

It was such a great day. I logged 2.75 miles at training, ran 3.1 in the afternoon, and walked 2 with Allison and the pups. Definitely got my miles in!

Btw, did anyone watch The Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion show last night? What did you think? Are these ladies for real? I can’t help it, I love them!

Do you add walking to your mile totals, or only running?

So, yesterday was a big day for me. For two reasons:

1. My sister was running 12 miles for the first time EVER and I was so proud of her! We’re running the Chicago half marathon together on September 12th and she’s doing so fantastic with the training program I created for her. Go Mandy!
2. It was my first group training run for Team Challenge (eeek!).

I woke up Sunday morning with butterflies in my stomach like it was the first day of school! C was already up and when I came downstairs he asked if I wanted to take Diddy for a walk with him. How could I turn that down?? It was just what I needed to calm my nerves! Man, I have such a great kid – it was the perfect way to start the day.

On my way to meet the Team, I texted my sis and she was already at mile 8. I was shocked (and secretly so proud!). She’s going to ROCK this half marathon in 2 weeks!

We had a great turnout for our run. Here’s the group pre-run:

Plus, there were about 20 more that couldn’t make it due to location differences or prior commitments!

Before the run I briefly discussed the following:

• The importance of eating 1 1/2 to 2 hours prior to our long runs on Sundays. I also warned them that they may want to avoid dairy products until after running!
• The run/walkers should use the 60 second walk period to regroup and catch their breath, but keep their pace up so that their overall pace doesn’t suffer.
• Good running shoes are KEY.

We split up into 3 groups (runners, run/walkers, and walkers) and headed towards the starting point:

Being as we had a special appointment at Second Sole for shoe fittings afterwards, we had to make due with running on the sidewalk down to the high school track and back. The plan was to run and/or walk 30 minutes.

Here’s Chris and Ryan (our Endurace Manager) enjoying a quick walk break:

Did you notice my BFF, Nikki, in the group photo above?? Here we are in the store after the run:

Soooooo glad to be in the A/C!

The manager of Second Sole was so great, as well as the associates he had working yesterday morning. They even opened the store early just for us (and offered a 15% discount!). I think almost EVERYONE got a new pair of shoes (well, except for me since I had just gotten a new pair).

It was such a great start to the season. Everyone did such a great job, and they are all so nice! It’s still early, but if the momentum stays up we’ll all rock this race. I love that everyone ran/walked their own pace, but pushed themselves just a little more than they would have if they were running/walking on their own.

I really hope I can motivate and inspire everyone to finish this season strong. It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m going to try!

If you were on a running team what would you want to hear about from your coach??

Once the Fall soccer season begins I usually feel like summer is officially over. But today it’s 85 degrees and sunny so there goes that theory. Maybe (I hope) Cleveland still has a few weeks of summer left?

So, despite waking up later than usual on Saturday due to too many of these Friday night:

(I like to blame my behavior on this girl and my husband)

It was a pretty great morning.

The Force started their season STRONG with a W!

Lookin good, right?

The Force:

This morning was my first Team Challenge training run. I’ll post a recap later!!

What triggers the start of Fall for you?

Hey hey!! How is everyone?? It’s Saturday, the sun is shining, and I’m home with both my boys – life is ballin.

Yesterday I mentioned I was headed to a blogger dinner at Alicia’s house. I love any excuse to pull out my Dori Greenspan cookbook, Baking From My Home to Yours. I quickly checked the pantry, and decided to make her Chewy, Chunky Blondies. They turned out DELISH.

See that chocolate oozing out?? YUM. I tried to take some good pictures, but like Andrea posted on twitter yesterday, chocolate chip cookies do not photograph well, and these don’t either!! Here’s a closeup so you can see the chocolate, butterscotch chips, and pecans:

And then we were off to Alicia’s for the BYODDD (Bring Your Own Dog, Dish, Drink) party!!

Allison and I drove together. I can’t even begin to describe what it’s like to have 3 puggles in a car at one time, btw. The only word I can come up with is CHAOS. Trust me.

We arrived in once piece and quickly grabbed a glass of wine:

Check out Suzanne and her handsome boston terrier, Bacon:

THANK THE HEAVENS for Bacon. Diddy was enamored with him. They did not stop playing the entire 3 hours we were there. This is what they looked like (for 3 hours straight!):

I don’t think Diddy is going to be invited to anymore parties. The dog does NOT know how to blend in, that’s for sure.

Despite my crazy dog, everything else was great. Alicia and her mom really outdid themselves. The food was fantastic, as was the company! Alicia’s husband, Hans, even hung out a little and put up with the dogs (and all us ladies!):

We somehow managed to leave without getting a group shot, but here’s who was there (plus yours truly!):

• Alicia from Poise in Parma
• Allison from Green Dog Wine
• Katrina from Bite Buff
• Suzanne from Life on Mars
• Alycia from Fit N Fresh
• Katie from Healthy Heddleston

Many thanks to Alicia and Hans (and Alicia’s mom!) for having us over and welcoming us into their home!

Have a great rest of your day today, friends! How is the weather where you are??

Hey there! It’s Friday!!! I swear, this was the fastest week EVER. I guess having Tuesday off work and then only working a half day today really makes a difference! This is a sad week, though, as today was my last Friday of the summer working half days. No more fun Fridays…..which totally blows if you ask me.

So, I’m sure you are all on the edge of you seat wondering how C’s first day of school went, right??

Well, here’s the annual “first day of school photo”:

OMG, isn’t he so handsome? I mean, I know I’m biased, but COME ON.

And here’s the first day of school picture from last year:

I think you can really can see how much he’s grown up in the past year! It’s so crazy.

No first day jitters for my kid. He had a great day and said everything was “good”. That’s his common answer. Everything is always “good”. Must be a boy thing. My friends who have girls say the girls talk their ears off about their days! That’s fine, I guess. I talk enough for the both of us.

Then last night was my Team Challenge Kick Off Party since this Sunday is our first training run! You’re finally going to be seeing a lot more running and training posts. I’m so excited – it’s been way too long since I’ve been training. My leg isn’t 100% yet, but I’d say it’s about 90%. Good enough to start and see how it goes…..

The great thing about this season of Team Challenge is that 3 of my friends signed up. The Vegas Half Marathon is going to be a BLAST!!! Hopefully we can control ourselves until AFTER the race…. Here’s me and Christina from last night:

Well, I’m off to pull out the blondies I baked for the blogger dinner/cook out tonight that Alicia is hosting. The weather is perfect for a backyard get together!

We have a lot going on this weekend with the dinner tonight, first Fall soccer game tomorrow, and training run on Sunday. I’m going to have lots of good posts this weekend!

What do you have going on this weekend? Anything exciting?

Today was a GREAT day! Our annual tradition the day before school is to take the day off and spend a family day doing whatever (within reason!) C wants to do.

Our family time started last night with a sleepover! No sleepover is complete without popcorn and a movie, so that’s just what we did.

We all cozied up on the couch with our pillows and blankets……

…..and ended up falling asleep on the couch before the movie was over.

The morning started with a bang organizing all the school supplies (which are completely ridiculous, btw). Then we packed lunches and rode our bikes to the park for a picnic! We got the prime spot:

Isn’t is so beautiful? Peaceful, too. But the peace only lasted so long before games were suggested.

C’s most favorite game right now is frizbee. So we had to oblige:

Check out C’s body language above. You can tell he knew it was a bad throw!

After C ran me and J ragged at the park, we packed up our stuff and rode home. By then it was almost time for dinner so, per C’s request, we headed down to Melt. I had the best intentions of taking pictures of the food to show you the amazingness, but when I pulled out the camera I realized I left the memory card in the computer! Complete fail. But try to imagine the most amazing grilled cheese sandwiches and french fries – they’re to die for. Trust me.

And to round out the day we had Meet the Teacher night, too!!

It was nice to see C’s classroom, meet the teacher, and see some parents from last year. It helped settle my mind a little before sending him off tomorrow morning. You know, because Meet the Teacher night is mostly for the parents, right?

Well, I gotta jet. I’m off to meet Allison for a short run!

Did you have any back to school traditions when you were younger? I can still remember my mom taking pictures of me and my sister in the driveway our first day of school….even senior year of high school!!

I think my favorite time to blog is Monday night. I don’t know why that is, or what made me think of that right now, but it really is. Maybe it’s knowing that we’ve already started the week, or that I’m still on a high from the weekend? Who knows. Do you have a favorite blogging day or night? Or am I the only crazy? There has to be other crazies, right??

Speaking of crazy, yesterday we spent some time at my parents house. The weather was great so we sat outside on the deck and played some games. Craziness ensued:

The competition gets pretty fierce. Check out C above – he obviously doesn’t know how to win with grace. Not sure who taught him that.

Then we have the sore loser:

And the devastated loser (check out the progression – the pictures speak for themselves):

Can you tell who won? Hehe.

Luckily my mom had planned a great dinner of grilled balsamic vegetable pasta salad, stuffed pork chops, grilled shrimp skewers, and lemon pie. This definitely helped ease the loss. Especially since I lost in the last round!

On a side note, I love that my parents eat healthy. I always know that when we eat over that we’ll be having a well-balanced, home cooked meal. I never have to worry about bringing my own food or not having anything to eat!

Anyways, the games didn’t stop there. Grandpa had to show C who’s boss (like usual):

I have a feeling he’s not going to be able to do this much longer, so it’s good he shows him now!

How do you feel when you eat at your parent’s house? Are your eating styles similar?

Happy Monday, everyone!

Hey!! I’ve missed you guys! I have been so busy lately – it’s crazy around here……

I’m glad you all enjoyed the “family grooming” pic!! Hehe. However, the grooming didn’t stop there. With school starting this coming week (3rd grade already — ahhhh!), it was time for C to get a hair cut. This is not a pleasant experience, people. Neither one of us enjoy this process.

Can you see how his face is all scrunched up? Plus, he refuses to sit still. It’s great (please note the sarcasm). Though, this time I tried to make it a little more fun:

Hahaha!! Luckily this lightened the mood and we were able to move on with minimal complaining.

Final product:

Buzz cut, yo!

Isn’t he handsome?

And he’s not the only one who got a haircut!

It’s darker, too!

Now if I could only get my hair to be as soft as the salon does (without spending $100 on shampoo!). Any suggestions???

After all the grooming excitement, J and I headed down to the park with Diddy. We’re still trying to figure out this stinkin new camera.

We can’t take a picture of the sunset to save our lives. This was the best I got. I seriously need a tutor.

SO frustrating!

It was a beautiful night, though. It was nice to just hang out, while in the background kids played with their friends, dogs ran around in the lake, and parents enjoyed good conversation. Perfect summer atmosphere. I’m trying to soak up the outdoors as much as possible right now!

What are you doing to enjoy these last few weeks of summer?