These are a few of my favorite things...

Since Oprah is off the air and her replacement, Ellen Degeneres (an upgrade if you ask me) is yet to air an episode of "her favorite things" I figured I'd play celeb for a post and tell you about the trivial things that i'm convinced I can't live without!

1. My Keurig

My life has changed for the better since Santa pulled this one out of his magic bag of tricks and plopped it under my Christmas tree. If you don't have one, get one and if you already have one then you probably understand why I could go on and on about how awesome these things are! Hop out of bed, push a button and you've got a steamy cup of hazelnut flavored energy waiting to make your Monday a little less manic.

2. Lululemon Yoga Pants

I'm not kidding when I say once you go lulu, you never go back. I made the mistake of purchasing these pricey pants and now i'm hooked. If you want to make your somewhat flabby ass look like it's been sculpted by the greek gods then either start doing lunges now or keep sitting on your at your computer and check out their site! Even better, go to a store and try them on! Whether you're rocking some long gams or short little stumps, they'll hem your plants for free + the $100 hard earned dollars you're already paying for them!

3. My New Running Sneaks! 

Although a new pair of kicks is a total pain in the ass to break in something in likes to think that people tend to give me a double-take when my feet are fresh n' clean...even if they're just starring at my feet, I'll take it! My shoe of choice is Asics GT 2100 Series and I just bought a pair in hot pink! Look good, feel good, be good! 

4. Women's Health Magazine

I've been obsessed with magazines since I realized they had the ability to keep me on the stationary bike for a whole half hour! Women's Health is my absolute fave because the writers are witty yet informative, can't beat that! Loaded with tips about nutrition, fitness and sexy secrets pick one up on the way to the gym and run your little butt off! 

5. Sony Noise-Cancelling Headphones 

When i'm trying to go to sleep early because I'm a total grandma and there's pretty much a party right outside my window I like to stick these little guys in for instant quiet time. Not the best for running in since they fall out easily, but they work fine for working out at the gym or studying! Get Em

6. Goetze's Caramel Cream Candies 

When I was a little nugget, my grandpa had a candy jar filled with his two favorite candies (these and hershey's with almonds). Since his house was a junk food free zone (besides the candy obviously) our snack options were a handful of oyster crackers or sneaking into his candy jar and stealing a few of these guys- guess which one I picked! 

7. Essie Nail Polish 

I am obsessed with painting my nails. Seriously. I can't have my nails and my toenails be mismatched and I like to switch things up at least once a week in the color department. After plenty of experimenting with different brands I have come to the conclusion that Essie is the best all around. It's not too thick so drying time is shortened, the colors are awesome and they're constantly coming out with new ones, and 2 coats can easily last you 4 days without chipping! If you don't believe me, try it for yourself! I have found that Target usually has the best color selections! 

Ab Work!

Anyone else totally envious of this girl? I'm with ya! I certainly wouldn't mind peeling her abs off and putting them on my body. If there's one thing I lack it's strength, and this girl looks pretty darn strong!

So here's my own personal challenge for myself: Be stronger 

My plan of attack: more core and upper body work 

When I ran cross country in high school (the peak of my running career thus far) we did tons of core work and hit the weight room on the regular. When you've got a strong core and upper body, you have to rely less on your legs to push you through your workouts. The following is my favorite ab routine that can easily be done in the comfort of your dorm/apartment! 

7-minute abs 

1 minute of regular crunches 

1 minute of plank

1 minute of "penguin crunches"

1 minute of regular crunches 

1 minute of plank 

1 minute of "penguin crunches"

1 minute of regular crunches 

Regular Crunch

Plank

"Penguin Crunches"

#HALLOWCOMING Recap

This year at UNH, the administration came up with the bright idea to pack two of the craziest party weekends into 1. Nicknamed, "hallowcoming" on Twitter by @Prezhuddleston, and tweeted about from the moment it was announced, the kids at UNH were anticipating nothing less than the craziest weekend of their life, and (good or bad) I think it's safe to say that #hallowcoming lived up to it's wild expectations.

 Now that the weekend of craziness has come to a close I think it's only fair to recognize some of the best (and the worst) parts. First let me start by giving you a weekend line-up of activities. People began getting into the halloween spirit on Wednesday night with a shmorg of creepy eat and halloween treats by UNH dining. There were a few interesting characters who thought it would be fun to dress up for this night making dinner all the more entertaining for those of us who didn't. Although I spent the night catching up on homework the following "thirsty Thursday", I could tell by the yelling and screaming outside my dorm that some people made it out to celebrate the beginning of the weekend. Friday was the parade and BBQ, followed by a night spent by most wandering around in skimpy costumes looking for the best party. Saturday morning kids and alumni alike dragged themselves out of bed to kick off the football tail gate. If you're convinced that drinking cheap beer and dancing around in the mud can't be fun, you're very wrong. It seemed to me like everyone was having the time of their lives preparing for the football game they probably didn't make it too, scroll down for some hard evidence. UNH also played a game of basketball where they were handing out free t-shirts to the dedicated fans that resisted taking a nap to cheer on their team. Finally was the hockey game, an interesting event to say the least. In case you missed the BLIZZARD that hit New England Saturday night, it set the mood and dimmed the lights for pretty much everyone from Connecticut to New Hampshire! The hockey game went pitch black a few times but the fans held their ground for the half hour game delay to watch the wildcats claim a W. If you think a little snow was going to stop college kids from dressing up half naked and running around Durham, you're sadly mistaken. Power out, party on nothing was stopping the dedicated cats and police officers from strutting their stuff on the dance floor. Thank God I was dressed as Princess Leia, equipped with my turtleneck and earmuff buns! The power is back on in the dorms, but the rest of Durham is left in the dark hoping that classes will be cancelled and we all have one more day to recover from the #hallowcoming festivities.

Wednesday Inspiration

I always enjoy a good body-love ad from Nike! Here's my favorite:

Brussel Sprouts TO DIE FOR!

I'm going to be straight forward and honest about one thing, I HATE BRUSSEL SPROUTS! 

But seriously, that all changed after I tried this recipe in the cooking class I'm taking at school. Knucks and High-fives to Amy Winans for completely doing a 360 on my opinion of the mini cabbage devils! Cook these for yourself, your friends or your family and I promise their brussel hate will be changed forever!

Braised Brussels Sprouts

Yield 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound                         Brussels sprouts

2 each                                    shallots, minced

1 tablespoon                         vegetable oil

2 tablespoons                         cider vinegar

2 tablespoons                        cider

1 tablespoon                         butter

2 tablespoons                        maple syrup

To taste                        sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

            Blanch

1.     Bring a large sauce pan of salted water to a boil.

2.     While the water is heating, trim Brussels sprouts (remove outer spotty or wilted layer) and cut each sprout in half.

3.     Blanch cut Brussels sprouts in boiling salted water for approximately 5 minutes, or until done.

4.     Drain and sauté immediately (see directions below) or shock in cold water to hold.

Sauté

5.     Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat.

6.     Add the oil then the shallots and season with salt and pepper.

7.     Sweat the shallots until they are translucent, not brown.

8.      Add the Brussels sprout and sauté approximately five minutes or until they are warmed through; stir occasionally.

9.     Add vinegar and cider and let the liquid reduce by two thirds. 

10.  Remove from heat and add butter, salt and pepper.

11.  Drizzle with maple syrup.

12.  Serve immediately.

           

Fall Favorites!

Winter needs to GET OUT. Fall is my favorite month of the year and I'm really not looking forward to the frigid temps that winter brings. It's already November! Can you believe it? Pretty soon it's going to be out with the t-shirts and in with the mittens and scarfs!

Here's a totally nerdy post about everything that makes fall so awesome!

1. Piping hot, hot cocoa. 
After a summer of iced coffee there's no better feeling than making the switch to hot beverages. I love 'em all; hot tea, hot coffee and my true fave, hot cocoa.

Yumm-O!

2. Apple picking. 

Pretty bummed that the first snow already came and I didn't even make it to the apple orchard! Thankfully, momma dukes hooked her little girl up with some Brookfield Farm yummies! There's really nothing like a crisp fall apple especially when you've been stuck eating crappy, cheap dining hall apples for the past few months! 

How do you like them apples?

3. Pretty Scenery 

Even though New England loves to throw us some serious weather curve-balls, I think all it's residents forget about all the weather misery once the leaves start changing colors. You really can't beat the scenery here! People travel from all over to catch a glimpse of the chameleon leaves and yet we take it for granted every year. I can't even imagine how weird it must be living in Florida during the fall, those palm trees just don't match up...

4. Football 

Nothing screams fall time like a plate of chicken wings and a Pats game! Football games are a part of fall and regardless of if you're watching the game from your living room or on scene. I'm not even really sure if I actually like the sport of football but being among a bunch of crazed fans chanting and screaming makes it a favorite fall activity! 

P.S. Did I mention my cousin Jill is a Pat's cheerleader?

5. Bundling up!

I really hate working out in the heat and fall means the end of heat strokes keeping me inside! Lookout for me out there on the streets because i'm sure to be jogging around now that cooler weather is here! I love bundling up and heading out for a jog on a cool fall day! 

My sexy old XC teams! RIP

Tuesday Inspiration

Never take your abilities for granted. Ever. 

Sweet Feet!

Recently I've been on the market for a new pair of running sneaks since I've had mine since high school and they left me with a bloody heel on a recent Sunday run.

Cold, hard evidence that it was time for a new pair!

There's some pretty basic rules about running shoes and how many miles are appropriate for your average pair. Since running shoes are designed to do a specific job (keep you running your best, obviously!) once they stop doing that it's time for a change! 

Allow milage to be your first guideline. 
A basic rule of thumb is that you should replace your sneaks every 300-400 miles. Running shoes help absorb impact from your feet striking the ground as well as cushion your feet in a way that will inhibit over pronation or under pronation. As miles build, this cushioning deteriorates and your shoes become much less effective in controlling pronation.

Consider body weight as a factor. 
Since force is a unit of weight over area it can be assumed that a heavier runner will be exerting more force on their shoes, meaning that they may want to look into replacing them sooner. If you are on the heavier side consider replacing your shoes more near the 300 mark than the 400 one.

Where are you running?
Those who run primarily on trails are causing much more stress on their feet because of the variation of terrain. Replace sooner if you're a trail runner than if you stick strictly to pavement.

Check for signs of wear and tear. 
Turn your current shoes over and take a look at the soles. If you're once black soles are now white, it's time to head over to your local running store for something new. If one side is more worn than the other, the same rule applies. This signifies that the angle which your foot hits the ground is not centered and needs to be assessed by a professional for correction.

How do you feel? 
Achy joints? Shin splints? You can probably solve your problems with some new kicks. Test out your shoes by twisting them in half. If they fold easily without much force then it's time to upgrade. Also look for creases in the middle of the sole. The middle of the sole receives the most impact and creases and lines mean that they are beginning to give in- sorta like your knees might do if you don't replace!

So how the hell are you supposed to pick the best pair? I always recommend going to a running-specific store. The employees at these stores are trained professionals who know how to diagnose pronation problems and have probably tested a few pairs themselves. Don't be afraid to take a few laps around the store. A good pair of trainers can be expensive and you certainly don't want to be throwing down a hundred bucks for a pair that will give you blisters the size of Texas!

If it's not broke, don't fix it.
I've worn the same pair of shoes since high-school (with the occasional update). Yes, I've tested different brands here and there but never found a pair that matched up to my favorite: Asics 2100 Series. So if you find a pair that works for you and your feet, don't jump the gun on testing the hottest running shoe trend. Chances are, nothing will compare to a trusty pair of your favorites.

Out with the old...

In with the new!