Friday, January 28, 2011

Friday Mishmash - Cookbook Winners!

Welcome to Friday, all things both mish and mash. First up: the winners of Now Eat This! cookbook by Rocco DiSpirito are (drumroll please):


Congratulations! Send me an email (40somethingsjourney@gmail.com) with your name and mailing address and I'll pass it on to my cookbook contact, who will send you your prize!

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Lori, over at Finding Radiance, is hosting a Heart Healthy Weekend event, where you can sign up to run/walk/bike/elliptical your way through a virtual race - distance of your choice - and possibly win a prize! Of course the prizes will be randomly drawn, but that doesn't mean I'm not crossing my fingers for some of Lori's own roasted coffee beans. :) Click here to go register with Lori if you are interested - I love these virtual races as it's fun to know that bloggers around the world are all participating during the same time frame! I'm planning on running that weekend, but worst case scenario if I am still sidelined I will be crying my eyes out if I can't, I'll ride the recumbent bike for 15 miles in order to participate.

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Speaking of Lori, I mentioned in my last post that she sent me some upper body workouts to do at the gym (and thank you ALL who reminded me of box jumps and burpees - I thought I had successfully wiped them from my memory, lol!). Well, I am happy to report that I did five stations worth of arm and shoulder exercises on Wednesday! It felt great - I had forgotten how much I like weight lifting. Now, when I woke up on Thursday morning and stretched my arms overhead, I was reminded that wow, those muscles have not gotten a workout in quite a while. But it's a good, familiar soreness and I'm glad to have it back, weird as that may sound!

Oh, and for those who have suggested swimming or aqua jogging while I can't run - well, that isn't an option because my gym doesn't have a pool. Plus? I can't really swim. I float, splash, play. Actual swim strokes? Yeah, no. Comes from too many years of getting to jump off sailboats into lakes while wearing life vests...what can I say - it was a fun childhood, but I'm not very efficient at getting from point A to point B in a pool.

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Cinnamon! I got bold and tried some different types...

Almost every morning I have the same thing for breakfast - Fage 0% plain Greek yogurt, half a cup of Fiber One cereal, and either fresh fruit (strawberries and nectarines are my favorites) in season or dried cranberries the rest of the year. But no matter what fruit I mix in, I always sprinkle some cinnamon on top. I finally used up the who-knows-how-old jar of cinnamon in my spice drawer, so to celebrate I ordered a few different kinds. My verdict? The China cinnamon smells wonderful and has a really good flavor. The Penzeys blend of cinnamon is pretty good too. I've only smelled the Indonesian cinnamon, and to be honest, I wasn't impressed and haven't wanted to potentially ruin my breakfast by trying it. Is anybody out there a cinnamon expert? Is this more of a baking cinnamon, do you think? Any other cinnamon recommendations?

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And now, a Fashion Friday like no other...except for going to the gym a couple of times (today will make the third visit this week), I've pretty much spent most of the time in sweats or my super comfy rubber ducky lounge pants (on clearance for $4 from TJ Maxx - score!), as I rested, elevated and iced my ankle via EXTREME MAKEOVER: ANKLE EDITION. I wasn't going to post this picture, but what the heck:

I believe the reason why this um, fashionable ensemble works so well is that the sun on the t-shirt compliments the yellow of the rubber duckies quite nicely. Also please note that the horizontal lines of the duckies have the added bonus of making my legs look both shorter AND stubbier - quite the fashion feat. ;)

What can I say - sometimes comfort wins over style!

Have a great weekend!

21 comments:

  1. You look adorable. Thanks for your comments yesterday. I am taking your suggestions and talking with the Dr. and Family today.

    I had forgotten how cute you are when you complain about sore mucsles. Makes me want sore mucsle too. lol

    thanks Friend!

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  2. Oh, thanks - now I'll be humming 'Rubber Duckie' to myself all day :-)

    I do think that they are adorable! And the perfect ensemble for the great ankle heal up!

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  3. I would totally wear such pants at home too :) If people at work would see me what I'm wearing at home at night, I think they wouldn't believe their eyes :lol:

    As for the coffee beans: I'm sorry to disappoint you but I've already set my eyes on those :)

    Have a great weekend my friend.

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  4. The cinnamon collection looks great!
    I say, just try them all..... maybe a cinnamon hobby is in your future. A Spice Girl Thing!
    Is it really Friday already?
    *yikes*
    Have a great weekend!

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  5. We're going to have a throwdown up in here... I'm after the coffee beans AND the chocolate mint cups. (Am I allowed to win both? Yes, it's all about me, me me!)

    Your fashion is perfect for what you've been doing. I don't have rubber ducky lounge wear (yet) but I do have a hot pink rubber ducky that stays in the linen closet for when Gracie comes over.

    Mr. Helen keeps telling me I may have found my sister from another mother and now I'm a teensy bit afraid. I can't swim. It's why I'll never do a triathlon!

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  6. I am the queen of lounge pants - I probably have at least 15, which my daughter likes to remind me that I am not allowed to wear them out to the grocery store!

    Off to check out the virtual race - I think I am in!

    Happy Friday Shelley!

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  7. you are totally rocking those ducky pants my friend ;-)

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  8. We're sisters in soreness today. I can barely move any body part. It's bad. Cheers to us!

    Love the ensemble. Tres chic.

    Take care of that ankle. And this is the weekend to pick a name if you know what I mean. Gotta get registered.

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  9. Love the PJs! Hope you are back to running on land really soon.

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  10. Okay. I am from another planet and did not know that there were different versions of cinnamon.

    Have a great weekend! Michele

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  11. You are too funny. You didn't even mention that the emblem on your shirt completely matches the rubber ducky pants.

    And you, me, and Helen are going to fight to the finish line for that roasted coffee LOL.

    I buy the big Costco cinnamon. It is Saigon cinnamon which I had heard was 'the best.' Is Saigon in China?

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  12. "Shorter and stubbier"! LOL I should try that! It might counteract the "Amazon-ish" look I have currently! :-)

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  13. You crack me up giving the fashion description of your loungewear.

    And yes, I might be a wee bit disappointed that Paco wasn't at your ankles for that photo, or peeking over the spice jars in that photo. haha. It has come to be expected.

    Heal, heal, heal...slow n steady wins that race. Be good.
    Chrissy

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  14. Love the pants! You know I have tweety jammies that I will get into right after dinner. I love being an adult :D

    Thanks for the shoutout for the virtual weekend :D

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  15. Comfort absolutely should win over style when you're just lounging. :)

    Thanks for the heads up about the virtual race! :)

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  16. You WILL run, you will run, you will run...(sending positive thoughts)

    I, too, finally have that "Good, familiar soreness" back. And I tried a burpee the other day. One. That will be my last one :/

    You look smashing in the rubber duckies, dahling :)

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  17. http://www.americastestkitchen.com/taste-tests/detail.php?docid=20990

    this is where I go when I want to know anything about food: America's Test Kitchen. Let me know if this was useful in your Quest for Cinnamon Knowledge.
    xo GP

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  18. Hi there! I've been reading your blog for several months now and I'm not sure I ever officially introduced myself ~ I'm Jessica. Nice to meet you :)
    Anyway, I noticed you were doing some upper body workouts and I just had to share this with you! I'm also currently nursing an injury back to health and can't run (boo) ~ so I wanted to concentrate on strength training, but I was totally lost everytime I walked into the weight room. So, I downloaded a new app iPersonalTrainer OMG!!! It's so awesome! It tells me exactly what exercise to do, how much weight to use and how many reps. I totally fell in love after the very first workout.
    Anyway, I just wanted to share. I love your blog and find great inspriation in how much you've accomplished. Hurry up and get better! I love reading about your runs! (but take your time and heal properly!!) :)
    ~Jessica
    http://healthyfor100.blogspot.com

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  19. Those pants ROCK!

    Winks & Smiles,
    Wifey

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  20. back from my trip and checkin in on the the flipside of the weekend...

    are we ready for our week? :)mi

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