Hello friends! I’ve got all sorts of randomness for you today, so I’m wrapping them up in a recent life post. Let us begin!
First of all: some good dishes lately! Matt’s parents were in town visiting over the weekend (they arrived on Thursday evening and left after lunch on Sunday) and it was great to see them.
It had been a while since they had visited and the kids (especially Riese) were thrilled to have them! My father-in-law loves to cook and prepared some delicious meals for us while they were here. I always enjoy a break from the kitchen – thanks Glenn!
On Friday we had a pasta and turkey bolognese night. Always a hit, even with the kids! Plus some peas and garlic bread not pictured.
On Saturday night we had some delicious grilled pork chops – Matt’s dad marinated the pork chops (I’m not sure what he used – he just took whatever he saw in our kitchen and got creative – but it was quite good! I think a mixture of soy sauce, maple syrup, parsley… maybe a little oil?) for a few hours and then Matt threw it on the grill.
They came out delicious!
We had them with sautéed apples, some sweet potatoes (made using the microwave method: How to Microwave a Sweet Potato) with homemade cinnamon butter, and sautéed pole beans with homemade dill butter. So good!
On the Thursday night my in-laws arrived, we had a simple roast chicken and hash browns for dinner; My father-in-law turned the chicken carcass into a homemade chicken broth and then made us a chicken, orzo, and vegetable soup. Yummy!
I love that he always adds dill to the chicken soup – it gives a great extra flavor.
First time we had it with some sandwiches (from Market to Market sub shop in Del Ray) on the side:
And the next day for leftovers I had a bigger bowl of this and stirred in some spinach and extra chicken. Enjoyed with some extra veggies (beans) on the side.
Another recent meal of note: Matt and I had a fun date on Tuesday for Valentine’s Day!
A few years ago we lived at home and cooked a special meal (<- funny memory for Valentine's Day 2012!), but at this stage of life with young children, going out feels more than staying at home. 🙂
We went to The Majestic in Old Town and to be honest the food was kinda lousy but the ambiance and company was excellent. 🙂
The starter salad was pretty good:
But our entrees were only so-so – my salmon was tasty, but I didn’t like the mashed corn it was served with – just kind of bland and blah. And Matt’s steak had amazing flavor/sauce, but it was SUPER chewy and took forever to chew.
Well, you can’t win them all, can you? Still, it was fun to get out!
Now switching to fitness – it’s been a solid couple of weeks of half marathon training runs! My workout mate (and good friend from college) Kathleen and I have done two runs since I last checked in – the first was a 6 mile run last weekend as our first run together in a while (she was all of January traveling).
6 miles, check! We walked the Mt. Vernon Trail and finished the last stretch on Roosevelt Island.
This past weekend we decided to speed it up to 8 miles for our long run. We met up on Roosevelt Island and did a really big, fun loop around DC that took us along the Mt. Vernon Trail and over the Memorial Bridge into the memorial area:
It was such a wonderful day of running – really cold, but super sunny. Loved it!
We ran all the way down the National Mall to the US Capitol which neither of us had walked in ages so it was fun to mix it up! Kathleen used to live near the Capitol, so we did a lot of training runs down here back then.
picture stop! Thanks, random tourist who took this picture for us:
From there we ran all the way back through the mall, past the Lincoln Memorial and along the water towards the Georgetown Waterfront. Another area I hadn’t run in ages!
We walked back over the Key Bridge and back to the Roosevelt Island parking lot to finish the big loop. We shot over it a tiny bit but I was pretty happy with my rough range estimates as I hadn’t calculated any of this on a map or anything beforehand!
8.2 miles, check! This run gave us a good level of confidence for the longer distances – one of those “okay, we can do it!” kind of runs.
I also ran with my friend Katie on Monday last week – we didn’t run yesterday as she was out of town for the holidays but we usually run every Monday. I was feeling ready for a break yesterday anyway after 13.2 miles on Saturday so it worked out fine!
We walked from the school drop-off in Del Ray to the more southerly parts of the Mt. Vernon Trail and then looped back via Slaters Lane. We had great weather on Monday too – the running weather gods have been smiling down on us lately and I hope it continues for race day…
Another 5 miles in the bank!
We have 4 weeks until race day, and now that Kathleen and I feel like we have a decent base to work from, we’ll be adding a mile a week to our long distance running from here on out – our next long distance So run will be 9 miles, then 10, then 11, and then it’s race day (21.1 km)!
My very light training schedule for this race is that I run 3 days a week – a 5 or 6 mile run with Katie, a 2 or 3 mile run with my friend Steph (another mom friend from school , which I run with once a week after weaning ), and then my long run with Kathleen.
This feels like a good balance at the moment, especially with yoga on the other days to keep me limber.
Have a great day friends and see you back here on Friday for some recipe inspiration!
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ps Before I go, I wanted to share that my friend and registered nutritionist, Kath, has just started a new 6 week virtual wellness program called Bloom. Bloom aims to educate and motivate women who have let their health down and are ready to prioritize themselves again. I helped Kath edit and structure the program so I’m happy to see it live and recommend it!
Bloom into your best self through lessons on intuitive eating, nutrition education, and cultivating healthy habits over the course of six weeks. The lessons encourage self-reflection and there are action steps each week, including journals and logs.
The self-paced program is only $67, and you can add the accountability and support community called “The Garden” for an additional $97. Here is my affiliate link to the program if you are interested in more information or want to sign up.
Don’t hesitate though – the doors for the spring launch close on February 27th and on March 1st everyone will start the program together!