The other day while stranded because of the 1st snow, Kevin and I decided to walk down to Safeway to get some essentials before the 2nd snow hit. We made sure to bundle up.
Here comes my little confession - I had my second DNS this weekend. (DNS stands for "Did Not Start".) This weekend was the EX2 Off-Road Duathlon out in Rocky Gap and I didn't even attempt to make it to the race. I canceled my hotel while on vacation at the beach a week or so back knowing I wasn't going to do it.
Why didn't I make it? Well, I have a list of excuses a mile long, but when it comes down to it - I just wasn't motivated to train properly. It didn't help that I had 3 weddings 3 weekends in June and then a 10 day vacation to the beach. But, if I had really wanted to train - I could have made time, especially since I wasn't working during the month of June. Looking back, I am wondering what I did with all my time.
I have always had structure in the form of school, sports, work, etc. So, when I didn't have anything to do - I just couldn't get much accomplished. Interesting, I guess.
Oh and I had my first DNS last year for the exact same venue, except I was signed up for the Off-Road Triathlon. Hmmm. I guess this race and I are not meant to be.
Anyone else have a DNS (or two) under their belt?
Instead of competing in the duathlon, Kevin and I took Oscar for a walk/hike/swim in Patapsco State Park.
Oscar followed Kevin around as they explored the river.
Once Kevin got too far out, Oscar would swim back to me.
The water was cool and refreshing.
Kevin found a live snail that was pretty cool to see. 
I took some pictures of the scenery.
This was a neat pathway leading to another trail.
Overall, it was a great way to spend a Sunday...since I couldn't make the duathlon. ;)
Tonight (Monday) after work, Kevin and I started out on a 40 min run. It was hot and humid and the sun was beating down on us. We both felt like it wasn't in the cards for the night. Instead of giving up completely - we ran a little under a mile down to the soccer field near our house - all down hill.
I led us through the following workout, trying to stay in the shade:
Good night everyone!
Read more...
Dinner last night was outstanding. Spicy Mahi-Mahi. 
Grill marks make me happy for some odd reason. Kevin basically threw a bunch of stuff together to make a marinade and I wasn't keeping track. I do know there was soy sauce, EVOO, apple cider vinegar, and jerk seasoning in the mix.
And I wish it was Friday. And I couldn't think of a good title for this post. I haven't even told you about my Sunday eats. I am behind.
I like sauteing broccoli with a little EVOO, chopped garlic, and lemon.
My dinner plate.
Dessert was part-skim ricotta with semi-sweet chocolate chips, almonds, and a drizzle of agave nectar served in one of my cute little anthropologie bowls. 
Saturday night, we came back from the beach with a special something-something. A pound of fresh scallops - my favorite!!
We stopped by this secret "hole-in-the-wall" spot, Kool-Ice, right off the highway on the way back from the beach in Cambridge, MD. They have all sorts of fresh seafood and the scallops are incredible.
We started by whipping up a simple red wine mustard vinaigrette using the Vita-Mix 5200 Blender. We added some sauteed shallots after blending. This blender makes it so freakin easy.
I prepared a simple red and white endive salad topped with toasted pecans and the vinaigrette.
For the scallops, I seasoned half with pepper and the other half with Old Bay - then seared them in extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. I left them on the first side for about 5 mins, then only about 2 mins on the other side.
A close-up of the seared crust - yummm.
Steamed brussels sprouts on the side which we topped with sea salt, black pepper (Kevin was sprinkling while i snapped the photo), and some of the mustard vinaigrette. 
After this delicious dinner, I decided I wanted to try and come up with some sort of dessert. I looked into my empty fridge and saw wonton wrappers that needed to be used up.
I also found ricotta, almond butter, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Figured it couldn't be a bad combo.
Smear a little almond butter on the wonton wrapper, top it with a small spoonful of ricotta, a few chocolate chips and then a tiny drop of agave nectar.
Wrap those up and spray the baking dish and the wonton with PAM. 
Stick them into a pre-heated oven (350) for about 10 mins or right until the tips are starting to brown.
oh man. I only made four of them at first because I didn't want to waste ingredients if they were horrible. After Kevin and I each ate 2 of them - we decided we had to make more. They were THAT good.
We had a great day today (Sunday) - went for a 4-5 mile trail run with Oscar and then watched football at a friend's house. I dont want to go back to work tomorrow!
Whew! What a great Christmas...filled with lots of great food, family, friends, and even consistent workouts!
My family celebrated Christmas Eve at my sister's house where we exchanged with her family and had a nice dinner. I brought the appetizers - Chipotle Shrimp Cups - from Cooking Light. They were a hit and a light appetizer to have before our big meal.
Sipped on a bud light with lime - which went well with the shrimp cups.
Our main meal was a Let's Dish creation called Beef Roulade which is flank steak filled with a mixture of sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, garlic, cheese and breadcrumbs then rolled up and baked until delicious.
Served with colorful fingerling potatoes that my mom roasted with a little olive oil, rosemary and garlic. It was cool eating mini purple potatoes. My sister also roasted up some asparagus. Perfect meal.
We opened presents and the men immediately started putting them together
while us ladies took pictures in front of the tree...
Then, we moved on to the important stuff. DESSERT. 
My mom made a pecan pie, my sister made festive chocolate chip cookies and Santa's Macaroons, and I brought the Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf. The santa's macaroons are not safe around me. Basically you mix corn flakes with the rice krispie treat marshmallow mixture, add almond extract, and sliced almonds to create an irresistible treat.
Christmas Morning at my parent's house was a relaxing one. My mom made Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls that we served with fresh raspberries and half a banana.
Had a snowman cup of Sumatra blend coffee I brought from my corner coffee shop. Obsessed with that stuff.
Also had a clementine.
After opening presents, we decided to take the dogs on a hike/run at a park near my parents' house. It was a chilly, sunny morning and felt good to get out there.
Max (my parent's black lab) was not happy I wanted to take a picture before our run...and Oscar looks like the walk from the car tired him out. 
But after a nice jog through the woods...
Max was eventually tired enough to sit still for a picture.
Christmas Afternoon/Evening celebration is always a open house style thing at my parent's house. Family and friends come and go and we always have TOO much food.
Appetizers included pistachio crisps and multi grain tortilla chips served with regular and edamame hummus. This was the first time I tried both of these type of chips/crisps and they were both great. (My mom found them at Costco)
What Maryland celebration would be complete without crab balls?! My dad picked them up from Pappas Restaurant in Parkville, MD. His friend's family owns the place. These things are great - made from lump, back fin meat with barely any filler and then dusted with corn meal. Delish.
I contributed to the main meal by making Mac & Cheese, roasted brussels sprouts and steamed carrots with brown sugar and butter. We also had a jello salad, green bean casserole, turkey, ham, Rolls, cheesy scalloped potatoes, spinach salad, and a wide assortment of desserts.
The view of my plate that I tried to cover mostly with spinach, which I topped with the jello salad. I stuck with all side dishes this year.
Dessert was a slice of sweet potato pie. No one minded that I had a slice before hand. :)
Woke up the day after Christmas and went to the gym for a hard work out. Did 45 mins on the arc trainer and then 30 mins or arm, back, and shoulders lifting. I was a sweaty mess, but it felt so good to burn off some of the food!
After the gym, I decided to make some of MacDuff's Chocolate Truffles to take to a party we were going to later at my boyfriend's cousin's house. They were very rich - and one bite probably put back on all of the calories I worked off at the gym earlier. Totally worth it though...:)
Hope everyone else had and is having a great holiday - cant wait to catch up on all of your blogs soon!
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