Mid-Week Meltdown

I'm not really having a meltdown; I just couldn't think of another title.


I am suffering from a case of the mid-week blahs though.  If there are any runners out there reading this (one of my many many readers) please let me know if this happens to you.  I feel like I was so darn prepared for the half marathon, but then it just kind of came & went.  SO much fun the day of - and afterward during our brunch & beer time- but now, just.. blah. 
Enough of the blahs though; how about a random little recap of the last week's eats & treats tratsies.

First up - The Rock & Roll 1/2

Jif's Mom & two sisters were sweet enough to drive over from Yakima to cheer us on.  So, along with them and our fellow runners, Mandi & Dad, we had a condo full of people for our pre-run dinner.

However random, it was such a great group of people to spend the evening with.  Along with good food and good wine, there were good stories and a lot of laughter.

The Chef:

Jillian!  Not only does she cook people; she runs too. 

The next day we ran!

Dad, myself and Jillian

It was such a pretty morning for a run.  We learned a huge lesson though - people lie about their timing waves.  Since we are relatively slow runners at 10min/miles, we put ourselves toward the end of the waves.  Big mistake.  For the first 5 miles of the race we were weaving in and out of walkers and runners much slower than us.  Makes sense then, why my knee and foot started to hurt pretty badly around mile 8.  Oh well , lesson learned.

Other than that, the run was great.  Pretty and very flat, it was a good course for beginners. 

 

Most of you know what comes next...

 Brunch!!

which Jillian dominated

And next on the Saturday agenda, something we've been talking about for quite some time....

yup

Jillian, Mandi, Janae and I all got the same.  Birds of a feather flock together..  Cheesy?  Yes.  Super special day with my best friends?  Absolutely! 


Not to be outdone, another favorite joined the party..

Miss Jackie likes birds too!

 I know I've told you how great I am at weekends, but this one topped the charts for sure.  

Especially because it ended with this:

Love him!

 

Well friends, it is now 11:00pm and I need sleep more than I need to finish this blog post.  I'm pretty sure it's getting to be a little obnoxiously long anyway.

Part two of Eats & Treats Tratsies to come tomorrow.

peace

A Few Things

1.  I got new jeans and they may change my life. 

2.  I am still addicted to my cereal concoctions

 

3.  I've decided that croutons in salad don't count as useless carbs because they are too small.

 

 

4.  I'm happy that it's not supposed to rain tomorrow so that our 1/2 marathon doesn't turn out like our 10 mile run.

yucky rain

5.  I'm pretty sure that the Dad will still have an "after-running-outfit" like this:

it's the sandals that really make it

6.  I can't wait to begin this weekend's festivities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Talk Soon :)

Micole & Kelly

...are married!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the bride and me

our group of girls from Central - so much fun!

Congrats again you two!

Friday Favorites

Hi friends.  It's been a while since we've done a Friday Favorites over here at Tratsie, so I thought i was about time.


1.  I Phone 4

My husband brought it home for me and what can I say, I've always loved a good bandwagon!
I'm a little addicted right now.. I know for most reading this I'm years late on this one, but i just can't seem to stop killing pigs with my angry birds.  Fun times. 



2.  My new favorite breakfast/dinner

 In the bowl:
- Go lean crunch cereal
- Heritage whole grain flakes
- Unsweetened Almond milk
- Blueberries
- Coconut butter
- Sunflowerseed butter

I'm thinking some may consider nut butters on cereal kind of gross but it is oh so very good.  I've been having it for dinner lately and I know I should be having greens & protein instead, but I'm giving myself until the 1/2 to eat whatever dinner my body is craving and this seems to be it. 
Please try it and tell me if I am crazy or not.. I'm honestly interested in knowing


3.  My New Watch

Well to be fair, it's not exactly mine...  but The Secret says I just need to think about it a lot and then it will come, so perhaps this time next week it will be. 

Before seeing this guy I hadn't really been into the whole gold watch thing - at least the newer looking ones, but turns out I just needed it to be a square face.  Who knew? 

4.  Life as We Know It - The Soundtrack

Jiff, Lucas and I watched this last night and though the movie itself was an only an okay/cute flick, the soundtrack really stood out to me.  You better believe I'll be I tunes-ing this one up on my new phone.

"You Know I'm No Good"
Amy Winehouse

"Your Touch"
The Black Keys

"Tidal Wave"
Josh Kelley

"Love Is Endless"
Mozella

"Creep"
Written by C. Greenwood, J. Greenwood, A. Hammond, M. Hazlewood, E. O'Brien, P. Selway and T. Yorke

"Just Breathe"
Pearl Jam

"Something In Common"
Free Energy

"Pump It Up"
The Hotrats

"Three More Days"
 Ray LaMontagne

"The Tale Of The Sun And The Moon"
Eric Herman

"Missing You"
 Will Sasso

"For You Now"
Bruno Merz

"Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye"
Roberta Flack

"Sweet Child O' Mine"
Taken By Trees

"All I Ever Wanted"
Faith Hill

5.  My friend Micole!!

Micole and Kelly are getting married tomorrow and I'm so excited to share their special day with them!  Congrats you two!!!!

What May Be the Best Find of the Year

Remember how I mentioned our little Sunday Funday adventure to Theo's Chocolate factory??

Well I just happened to come home with a container of these little gems..

The nice guy who worked there was certain I wouldn't like them but boy was he wrong!  I couldn't stop snacking on them while there, so I thought it only appropriate to pay for some of my own.
For anyone who might not be familiar with this superfood - yes superfood people - it's good to know going in that it doesn't taste like chocolate.  Sure there's the familiar coco smell and flavor hidden in there somewhere, but they're not not sweetened at all & there is absolutely no cream or milk added either.  Just 100% Cocoa (as noted on above picture).
It's difficult to explain without you trying them yourself, but I love the crunch texture and I LOVE the health benefits. It has more antioxidant flavonoids than any food tested so far, including blueberries, red wine, and black and green teas. 
Sprinkled on overnight oats or a delish green smoothie?? Perfection!

 Smoothie dumped into almost empty sunflower seed butter jar??? Seriously delicious. 

 I know it may not look appitizig but it is!  You see green but I promise you don't taste it. 

Yum. 

Has anyone else tried Cocoa Nibs??? What did you think?



Weekends Are Fun

*disclaimer:  long and choppy post ahead. please do not judge.  i am tired.  thank you

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  I don't want to brag, but mine may have been better...

Saturday was full of productive errands and the evening was full of fun.  My husband and I had a rare date night at the Seattle Sounders match. 

Though I'll happily attend any live sports game/match/whatever if it includes friends and beer, soccer is a sport that I actually enjoy watching.  In fact, I only had a couple sips of my brew then handed it over to the hubs.  I know... weird.
Hopefully there are many more games in our future.

Sunday Funday started with a run around Lake Union.  Originally we were going to add a few miles into Fremont to make it a clean 9 but decided the 6+ was good enough.  Mostly flat, it was an extremely nice run with a lot to look at on the way.  I think most people prefer to run on trails when possible, but when I'm exploring a cute area I love to run the sidewalks.  Sure you have to weave through a few people and duck a few branches, but for me it's worth the extra entertainment.
It was such a pretty day out for a run.  Sometimes I just can't believe how beautiful our area is!

source

After our run we walked through the Fremont Market..

i like to pretend to be the Statue of Liberty whenever possible



.. then met up with a couple lovely ladies for lunch..



and beer..

We opted for Brouwer's in Fremont since we ended our run at Gasworks Park.

They have such an eclectic selection of beers.  I chose a Black IPA from Portland's Deschutes - very good.

What is there to do after filling yourself up on good food and great beer other than visit a chocolate factory??

Theo Chocolate was right down the block and offers an unlimited amount of samples to those who may wander in.  And wander we did.  Jackie found the original Milk Chocolate to be her favorite, while I was a little attached to the Curry Coconut.  Oh my gosh, so good.

If you are in the Seattle area and haven't been to Theo's yet, GO!  The staff is so friendly and welcoming & the chocolate can't be beat.

I came home with a can of Coco Nibs.  100% coco pieces that will be (what I think) the perfect smoothie topping.. more on that later.

Once full of food, beer & chocolate I was determined to find a brew that I had tried at Munch a couple months earlier.  Though I was convinced it was from "The Fremont Brewery," it turns out I was completely wrong.  SoDo Brown is from Two Beers Brewing Co. - almost the same name...

The best part of this story is that while we were on the hunt for this place guess what we found????

Turns out there is a Fremont Brewing Co.!  One reason why I love Seattle.... walk a block and you're bound to run into another Starbucks Micro-Brewery!

Because it was obviously meant to be, we decided to stop by.

 And we were so glad we did!  This place is the cutest.  Family & dog friendly with an open, get to know your neighbor kinda vibe.   

Though they had dog food ready for their furry visitors, this guy preferred the beer

pugs like beer too!

I know what you're thinking... these girls are really good at Sunday Fundays.  And yes, we are. 

I am oh, so happy that Summer seems to be here to stay now..well Seattle style I guess.  Anyway, it's good enough for me!  Walking around my favorite neighborhood reminds me how lucky I am to live in such an amazing place.