Girls on the Run 5K Recap: We Won’t be Left Behind

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Today is one of those days that I looked forward to sitting down and writing a blog post. That’s because, instead of the normal Sometimes Healthy Tips that I provide on Monday’s posts, this morning I’m going to recap the Girls on the Run Hudson Valley 5K, which took place yesterday.

Here’s a picture of my team’s big smiling faces after they all crossed the finish line!

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More on the days’ activities later, but first, I just wanted to explain why the organization of Girls on the Run means so much to me. I’ve volunteered and worked with plenty of non-profits throughout my life (including Make-a-Wish Foundation), but none have ever hit so close to home as Girls on the Run. I’ve alluded a few times to why I feel so passionately about Girls on the Run, but I’ve never shared the full story…so here goes.

This is a picture of me as a 10-year-old, just a bit older than most of the girls on my current Girls on the Run team.

10yearoldjamie

I know. I know. I am kind of adorable. Sure, I had buck teeth, weird bangs and giant glasses as a young child, but at that age, it didn’t matter what I did: I would always be cute. However, as time passed and middle school beckoned, the cuteness developed into awkwardness. I will spare you the pictures, but just trust me on this one, okay.

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Posted in: Girls on the Run, Hudson Valley \ Tagged: , , , , ,

Fruity Pebble Pancakes and High School Rivalries Reignited

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Happy Monday to all! It’s a Happy Monday for this blogger girl because I’m finally self-hosted! Did you notice the Bluehost logo in the URL bar today? Yep, I finally did it! More on the process in another post, but suffice it to say, moving to self-hosting wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Bare with me the next couple of days as I explore new layouts/fonts/color schemes/etc. I should have everything finalized by the end of the week.

But, in the meantime, there’s not reason to stop talking to you, my reader friends!

This past weekend was one of my favorite weekends in recent memory. It was the first time I had an official houseguest in the Hudson Valley, and since the BF was in China for work, I got to squeeze in a lot of quality girl time with an old friend. If you read some of my old posts, it will become pretty apparent that I absolutely love being a host. I had plenty of guests when I lived in NYC, and nothing brought me more joy than making their experience at my apartment fun and exciting.

I welcome houseguests with mini donuts

I welcome houseguests with mini donuts

Since moving to the Hudson Valley in February, I have not yet had a friend stay with me, so I was very excited when my friend Molly texted me and asked if she could come spend the weekend in the Valley. Whenever I hang out with my friend Molly, it’s a guaranteed adventure, so I eagerly said “YES!” and texted her daily to check in and ensure she was still coming.

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Posted in: Hudson Valley \ Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When Dogs Fly and Oreos Fry

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This weekend I had an opportunity to experience a cultural phenomenon that I had never seen before: the county fair.

I had always wanted to attend a county fair, and visions of endless amounts of fried food, farm animals and fun carnival rides flooded my mind. Luckily, the Dutchess County Fair did not disappoint.

Fried dough? Sometimes Healthy? You bet ya!

Fried dough? Sometimes Healthy? You bet ya!

Before we ate our weight in fried food, Cole got to participate in his favorite activity: dock jumping. Sometimes, the BF jumps Cole in what are called “dock diving competitions.” I had never seen this “sport” before meeting the BF, but after seeing it for the first time, I must say, it’s a whole lotta fun!

Jump, Cole Jump!

Jump, Cole Jump!

This was Cole’s “practice jump,” but for the real competition, the stands were actually packed full! There were a lot of small children in the crowd, who obviously enjoyed watching the dogs “fly.”

And, even though Cole was out of practice, he still walked away with a 3rd place medal. What a dog!

Proud puppy!

Proud puppy!

I had bought some fried pickles before the show, so the BF said we could reward him with a couple of bits of delicious fried pickles.

Fried pickles, topped with nacho cheese. #bam!

Fried pickles, topped with nacho cheese. #bam!

This was my second time eating fried pickles (the first time was in Nashville), and it seems like they taste better every time!

If you think the adventures in fried food ended there…you’re wrong

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Posted in: Hudson Valley, workouts \ Tagged: , , , , ,

Finding a New Gym and a Sometimes Healthy Veggie Roast

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Most of my weekends in the summer are full of indulgence and a little bit of health (Sometimes Healthy). Between all the traveling and beer, food and wine festivals up here, the weekends are the perfect time to let loose and enjoy all that my new area has to offer.

Typical weekend spread. Cupcakes. Wine. Cheese.

Typical weekend spread. Cupcakes. Wine. Cheese.

However, this particular weekend had the perfect balance of fun and fitness. Usually time is an issue, but for some reason, this weekend we seemed to have enough to do it all! Instead of boring you with every detail, I’m going to break it down with the top 5 Sometimes Healthy Moments of the weekend.

1. Learning a “New Release” at Kickboxing

Yesterday, I finally got to find out what it meant to have a “new release” at BodyCombat. I’ve mentioned my newfound love for BodyCombat in a previous post, and luckily, it’s continued to grow every week that I take the class. I always enjoy the energy in the class, but on “new release day” it was at an even higher level!

I tried to capture it...but I'm not the best at sneaking pictures!

I tried to capture it…but I’m not the best at sneaking pictures!

I’ll be honest. In many ways, as you can probably tell, I’m a very low maintenance Sometimes Healthy Girl. Plant me in front of the TV to watch Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition with some Swedish Fish or a scoop of sprinkle-covered ice cream, and I’m a happy girl. No need to wine and dine.

But with gyms, I’ve always been different.

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Posted in: Hudson Valley, Weekends, workouts \ Tagged: , , , , , ,

4 AM Pinspiration, S’mores Sundaes and Millions of Peaches

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As much as I enjoy writing for my blog, I sometimes find myself dreading Monday posts for two reasons:

  1. It’s Monday.
  2. Summarize. Summarize. Summarize. Clearly, that’s never been my thing. And, I always have a hard time capturing my weekends in one short “ish” post.

So, this Monday, I’m going to keep it simple by highlighting the top 5 Sometimes Healthy moments from this weekend. Let’s start with #5…

5. S’mores Sundae. On Friday night, we took our friends out for dinner. These are the friends who graciously watch our dog while we’re out of town. Not only do they watch our dog, but they send us the cutest pictures ever of how much fun Cole is having.

Cole with his best friend. He hates leaving that little guy :-)

Cole with his best friend. He hates leaving that little guy 🙂

These friends have a dog (Cole’s girlfriend, Lilly) and a baby, which, to Cole, means more people to play with and shower with doggie kisses.

After dinner, our friend said she had passed this kitschy looking ice cream cafe in Poughkeepsie that she thought would be right up my alley. She said it was covered in pink and surrounded by a cool-looking playground. Sold.

This looks like my kind of place!

This looks like my kind of place!

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Posted in: Hudson Valley, ice cream, Weekends \ Tagged: , , , , , ,

30 Things you Might Not Know About Me and a GIVEAWAY!

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Howdy from Omaha y’all! (Nobody actually talks like that here, but let’ s just go with it).

After more than a year, it feels great to be HOME. I don’t live here anymore (and maybe never will again), but Omaha will always feel like home to me. There is nowhere else in the world that I can go and be reminded of such fond childhood memories, from standing in front of that giant crowd on Friday night and cheering for our high school football team to walking to Hy-Vee with my friends (before we could drive) to chow down on some of their signature mac n’ cheese.

Birthday shot from 2011

Birthday shot from 2011

Every time I come to Omaha, it’s just one big shot of nostalgia. And I love it. I feel so lucky to be celebrating such an important milestone with nearly all of the most important people of my life (and copious amounts of margaritas and Mexican food).

I’ll try to recap the birthday shenanigans on Monday, but until then, I thought I’d give the newer SHLB readers a chance to get to know me a little better. In honor of the 30th b-day, here are 30 things you might not know about me. 30 things is a lot of information. So, to bribe you all into reading this post, I’m hosting a giveaway.

Please leave a comment on this post with 1 thing I don’t know about YOU, and you’ll be entered to win a Sometimes Healthy Living Blog Care Package with the following of my “favorite things:”

As Chris Harrison would say, "The BEST giveaway EVER."

As Chris Harrison would say, “The BEST giveaway EVER.”

  • Goldfish (Cupcake, French Toast, Brownie, Pretzel, Pizza and S’mores flavors)
  • Swedish Fish
  • Blue Diamond Almonds Variety Pack
  • 1 Year Subscription to SELF magazine
  • Cupcake Secrets Book

You can enter until next Tuesday, July 23. I’ll randomly pick a winner and announce in my post on Wednesday.

So, here we go! Continue Reading →

Posted in: Hudson Valley, Random \ Tagged: , , , , , , ,

How to Get your Post-Holiday Healthy Groove Back

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Oh, hello and welcome back from what I assume was a fun and food-filled holiday weekend. Hopefully, like many of us, your weekend started around 3:00 on Wednesday afternoon and the relaxation and indulgence continued through Sunday night.

Hopefully, you had a lot of these this weekend!

Hopefully, you had a lot of these this weekend!

I took a break from the blog this Friday (in case you haven’t noticed, I post Monday/Wednesdays/Fridays), because I was really proud of the content in my post from Wednesday and decided it needed to stay front and center for a while :-). And, although 4th of July is over, I STRONGLY suggest you try the cookie recipe. It received rave reviews from our holiday crew, even the toughest cookie critics!

I’m going to recap some of the good times from our long weekend, but then I’m going to wrap up this post with some helpful tips for getting back on the healthy train after a long holiday weekend. I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling raring and ready to jump into my Sometimes Healthy routine.

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Posted in: Healthy Living, holidays, Hudson Valley, Mexican Food, tips

A Natural Boy Meets an Artificial Girl

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Howdy from Nasvhille ya’ll! We’ve been here less than 24 hours, and the city has delivered everything we had hoped for: country music, country music and more country music!

Hi from Music City!

Hi from Music City!

The level of musical talent in this city is truly unbelievable! Today we’re headed to the Country Music Hall of Fame and the famous Bluebird Cafe to catch a show. I’ll have a full recap on Monday, but for now, please enjoy this picture of my newly converted cowboy!

Yeehaw! Cowboy, take me away!

Yeehaw! Cowboy, take me away!

And they say you can’t change a man. Before we met, the BF hated country music and everything associated with it. Now, he’s rockin’ those cowboy boots and singing along to his favorite tunes at the top of his lungs. I’m a proud woman!

Speaking of changes for the better, today I’m going to tell you a story about two very different approaches to food.

When I met the BF, we did the typical thing that you do when you first start dating: you slowly reveal parts of yourself and let the other person in to who you REALLY are. Sometimes that’s a good thing. Sometimes, not so good.

I like goldfish pretzels and lemonade. Is that cool with you?

I like goldfish pretzels and lemonade. Is that cool with you?

After a few weeks of things going well, I decided it was time to tell him about the blog. Also, because I needed to bake cupcakes over the weekend for Cupcake Mondays, and I was always staying up at his house on Sunday nights!

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Posted in: Hudson Valley, Life Changes, You're Never Too Old \ Tagged: , , , , ,

Sweat, Ballpark Food and Pantry Raids

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This weekend was jam-packed full of Sometimes Healthy activities that had me raring and ready to go to the gym on this dreary Monday morning. From a Yankees game and a wine filled pizza night to a six mile run in the mountains and a Girls on the Run 5K, it was the perfect balance of health and indulgence.

Friday, Sweat Day

One of my focuses on workouts this summer is diversifying and expanding my cardio workouts. I’ve always relied heavily on running, so I’m trying to mix in some functional workouts and other cardio machines. I was really in the mood to sweat Friday morning before a weekend of fun indulgences, so I threw together this circuit workout.

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Posted in: Girls on the Run, Healthy Living, Hudson Valley, Monday Cheer \ Tagged: , , , , ,

5Ks, Cupcakes and and Country Music

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Ever since I almost won a medal in the Soldier’s Field 10 Miler (circa 2007), I have always had the secret goal of placing in a race. Year after year, I’ve finished close to the top of smaller races…but never have I won a spot on the winner’s stand. A couple years ago, I decided I needed to win a medal before my 30th birthday, because the next age bracket tends to be more competitive.

Well, I finally reached that elusive goal this on Saturday at the Gardiner 5K Cupcake Classic!

Finally, I'm a winner!!

Finally, I’m a winner!!

After a speedy race through the fields and country roads of Wrights Farm, I was awarded second place overall for females.

Leave it to me to medal in a race that is centered around cupcakes. However, when I decided to ride in another 5K on Sunday, I never expected to have a repeat performance…

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Posted in: cupcakes, Hudson Valley, Quick Dinners, Races \ Tagged: , , , ,