Friday Mishmash

There were a lot of entries for my Nike+ Sportsband! This was the hardest giveaway because I really wish I could have given everyone who entered a Nike+...I'm so excited for all of you runners out there! I narrowed down the entries (not everyone who commented wanted to be entered), listed everyone on an excel spreadsheet so they would be numbered, and then let Random.org do the choosing...and the winner is:

Debby!

Woohoo! Send me an email with your name and address so I can get this in the mail to you. I hope you enjoy it, and, if you ever move on to a Garmin, will pass along the running juju to another newbie!

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Last Sunday we went to our usual Blue Baker for our after run/bike breakfast. Ordered the usual egg/feta/spinach on multi-grain bagel - this time it was made by a guy, not one of our normal two women. Jeff and I both agreed that it was the best bagel ever - we kept saying "my gosh this is good" as we plowed through them. So when I went back to the front of the cafe for a coffee refill, I complimented the guy on his extrodinary bagel sammie skills. He said "oh, I use a decent amount of butter" - WHAT??? Well crap, no wonder they were so good! I guess when we first started going there the women asked if we wanted butter, and we said no, and they remembered us each time (pretty hard to forget a red-faced sweaty mess early in the morning, lol). The guy didn't think to ask us, and we didn't think to tell him. And now that I know, I will have to give the "no butter" order next time. Darn!!!

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So I was on the phone with Helen the other day - yes, THE Helen - and I asked her if she had ever tried Pop Chips. Convo follows:

Shelley: "Have you ever tried Pop Chips?"
Helen: "No - I hear they are like crack."
S: "I've heard that as well, so I only bought a single-serving bag."
H: "Were they good?"
S: "Yes, but strangely enough I wanted chocolate after I finished them."
H: "So they ARE like crack!"
S: "Well, they did lead me into another drug, haha."
H: "Oh, then they are a gateway drug, like marijuana."
S: "Yes - apparently Pop Chips are the mairjuana of snacks."

/end convo. More than two hours of this kind of hilarity, deep thoughts and, at one point (and the reason she called) some major tech support for Ricky Bobby. Helen very awesomely walked me through different settings and screens and now RB is doing exactly what I want him to! Thanks, my friend - you are awesome!

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The other day I attempted to make a pasta side dish from July's Cooking Light magazine. I say attempted, because I read the recipe and went to the grocery store with a vague idea of what I needed...and then got sidetracked when I found these two interesting items:

Whole wheat orzo? Yay! And pearl couscous? No idea what to do with it, but again, it's whole wheat!What the recipe was supposed to look like - Farfelle with Tomatoes, Onions and Spinach

What mine looked like...um, forgot the feta cheese, and I cooked the spinach a bit longer - oh, and I used whole wheat pasta. Paired with a delicious turkey burger (running buddy Jenny's recipe) and topped with half of a 100-calorie guacamole packet and Frank's Hot Sauce. Tasty!

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Barring a ton of rain, I will get to run my first race in over two months on Sunday - it's just a free 4K Fun Run (i.e. no t-shirt or bib ::sad face::), but it's at the park where I normally run on Sundays and hey, it will be fun to run with a bunch of people...I sure hope a bunch of people show up - this is the first time they are doing something like this. So cross your fingers for me that the Alex will have burned himself out by then and the run will happen because I have missed the runner's camaraderie that comes with these events!

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This week's Fashion Friday is kind of a repeat, but I had to wear this shirt because the gorgeous bag that I won in Leslie's giveaway goes so well with it. Leslie recently gave away something like 15 purses that she hand made - I got mine in the mail this week and LOVE IT! Without further ado, I present the bag:

I love the colors! And the size is incredible - I threw a ton of stuff in it today (wallet, sunglasses, keys, flip flops (in case of rain - our parking lot at work floods), umbrella, kitchen sink, lip balm - ok maybe not the kitchen sink but I swear the bag probably could have held it) and it just kept expanding to hold everything and still looked great!

Here's me before work - repeat shirt (ooh, a Calvin Klein! - from TJ Maxx), jeans that used to belong to Barbara (hmmm, wonder what else I can steal borrow from her when I visit later this month?), faux-Birkenstocks (from Target - definitely not as comfy as Birks but much cheaper) and the bag...I know you are not really supposed to match everything so much - maybe we can call this "going together" rather than matching?Close up to show you that even my earrings matched went with the ensemble!

After work - trying to get a shot in better light...mostly failed. Boyfriend sweater is on because it finally did rain and of course I got cold...it was in the low 80's, people! Sweater is from Talbots; flat hair is from rain. Bag is still going strong!