Tomorrow is a coworkers birthday, so I decided to bake a little something to bring cheer to what would otherwise be a normal Thursday. And what makes EVERYTHING better? Brownies! Here are my best ever brownies:

(Alone)

Post-Frosting:

Super rich and delicious looking. And if you think I didnt try a bite while still warm out of the over, you’re nuts!!

(I think the above is one of my favorite pictures I’ve ever taken! Looks so yum!)

And while I am on a pictures kick, here is my dinner tonight. Leftover beef stew from last night. SO easy, and yet again, so delicious. Today was clearly a good food day!!

It was also a super long day. And due to one of our dogs (KONA!!) I hardly got any sleep last night (she wanted to get up and play…at 3am!). So I need to go make 3 quizzes/tests and then hit the hay!

Tomorrow is a 40minute run, woop!

A little retail therapy was necessary yesterday. Target, EMS, and THE MALL!

A water bottle from EMS, some tea (raspberry green tea) and bracelets from Target, a really cute purple shirt from Ann Taylor Loft (I love that store!), and some jeans and a t-shirt from American Eagle. Not quite sure WHY American Eagle changed the sizing on their pants AGAIN, but I sure am sick of it. I like being able to buy a pair of pants and know they are going to fit without trying them on, because Ive been the same size for years. Not so much, with these. Will have to be exchanged!!

Helpful hint: to get in my green tea during the day, AND to stay hydrated, I like to brew “iced tea” over night. All this means is I fill the above purchased water bottle (a Camelback Suck ‘N’ Sip) with water (25oz), put 2 tea bags in, and let brew overnight in the cold water. How refreshing!!

Didnt get a lot of sleep tonight, so Im kind of on auto pilot at the moment. Crockpot-ing some healthified beef stew and then getting an entire bag of work done!! Couldnt stay late because the dogs needed to go outside PRONTO!, so I brought it all home with me!!

Taper time! Last big week ended yesterday with a 130 minute run. I am so ready to taper!! Especially since that run was paused for about 30 minutes (95 minutes into it!!) do to ridiculous bloating. I laid in many yards waiting for it to go away. Then walked. Then laid some more. Until finally I was able to finish!!! And now, only 21 miles this week, woop woop!

I actually have a dinner to show you (its been a while!!). PW and I went to Uno’s on Saturday night. I reallllly wanted a Cobb Salad and it was the only local place that had one that looked remotely good. Well it ended up being…dun dun dun…the best salad Ive ever had!!

Gorgonzola on the side, chicken, bacon, avocado (a Cobb Salad MUST in my world), tomato, skip the egg, and avocado ranch dressing on the side. So, so delicious. And a nice little cheesy breadstick/wedge that carbo loaded me well for the last long run on Sunday. I cannot wait to go back and get that again!!

On another note, while deep cleaning the house the other day, I found the dog “costumes” that I bought the pups last year in November (the best time to buy a Halloween costume–I think each shirt cost $2?!) Anyways, Chloe was content to model hers. Kona…not so much. Every time I held it up she ran from me, so i gave up and took a picture of me holding it. Yes, that Count Barkula (appropriate) and Little Miss Scary (should be Little Miss Scared!)

The horns! The cape! The bug legs! So cute.

While I am posting pictures, I found a picture of The Best Pizza I Ever Had on my phone (I realize that phone pictures do no justice, but I had to work with it…someone gets embarassed when I break out the DSLR in the restaurant!). I had this a while ago…so much so I cannot even remember when it was, but I do remember that it is from The Boynton. And then I asked for it well done. Because, like an avocado makes a Cobb Salad worth eating, a crispy well done cheese/crust combo does the same for pizza!

I know. Amazing. And yes looking at it makes me hungry all over again!!

Somehow I managed to make it out of work without anything (okay, I forgot the stuff I wanted to correct in my mad rush home to let the dogs out!), so I am going to take the next 2 hours in which I dont have to be 1)Running 2)Riding 3)Working 4)Cleaning or 5)Massaging (appointment is at 7!), and READ A BOOK!!!!

Hello, Blog World! I have been seriously out of commission for the past 3 weeks! An injury and the start of school + many meetings and massages has left me no time for internet-ing. I am sad to report that my Google Reader got up to over 1,000 unread entries over the last week! It pained me to “Mark All As Read” but I had to, I was so overwhelmed!

So, two weeks ago that little tingle in my calf turned into a full-fledged unable to run injury. I spent that entire week moping around, eating ice cream (and doing FIVE massages!). Then on Monday, I decided maybe it was my shoes, because stretching was not curing it! Apparently, I got a bad pair of shoes on a fluke and now am just annoyed I didn’t think of trying out that solution early!

Nonetheless, despite the overwhelming amount of stuff going on at work, I got in 48 miles for my “comeback week”, concluding with a long run of 19 miles yesterday split over two 80 minute runs. This week is 42 miles and then it is TAPER TIME! And the countdown to Hawaii starts!

Things at work are going great. I don’t remember being this busy the last 2 years but I am trying REALLY hard to think of interesting lessons and ways to keep the kids engaged. My goal is to hear kids say “Wow! This class just flew by!”, because if theyre not staring at the clock, chances are they are learning
Yesterday I got up and ran, did 4 hours of lesson planning (just for my classes TODAY, making notes and packets and acitivities!), and then did my second run. I slept HARD!

Not a lot of cooking has been happening. During that mope-filled week off I ate a lot of soup and ice cream (pity me food!), and now that I am running again I have been brining a yogurt with fruit, a protein bar, and an apple for lunch every day. Sad but true folks. Wish I had time to make those delicious cobb salads again!

Today was a day off from running, so I came home and made some chili ASAP before I head east to give a massage!

Don’t fear, blog friends! I am still around, just trying to slog through the end of marathon training. I’ll try to update more (and by update I mean COOK!)

My mother-in-laws birthday was on Thursday and today we are heading down to her house for dinner. I decided to bake an apple pie because 1) she really likes apple pie! 2) it definitely feels like fall today 3) i have a lot of work stuff to do and when i want to procrastinate, I BAKE!

So, I embarked on a journey to make the best apple pie of all time. Ingredients gathered:

I wanted to use granny smith apples, but since our local grocery store didnt have any, I went with a variety: Mac’s, Braeburn, Fuji, Pink Lady, and Golden Delicious.

First step, make the lattice that will be the top of the pie (I used store bought pie crust–the horror!)

Then peel and slice all your apples:

And now, the best part. Melt one stick of unsalted butter. Then, mix in 3 Tablespoons of flour to form a paste. Add in 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/4 water, and 1 Tsp Cinnamon.

Bring to a boil, then let simmer and reduce until it turns into the most delicious, goopy, thing you have ever seen/made:

While that is reducing, put the bottom crust into a 9-inch pie pan and squish it into every nook and cranny. Pour your 8 sliced apples in, there should be a lot of apples (a mountain of ‘em!)

Pour most of the reduced deliciousness on top of the apples, then put lattice top onto the pie. Pour rest of reduced mixture on top of the crust!!

Bake at 350 for about an hour (stab the apples and when they are tender: its done!)

This beautiful piece of dessert will emerge:

There you have it, the best pie ever.

Take this, lame restaurant Cobb Salad of yore!!

How unbelievable does that salad look??? I can hardly wait to eat it.

Paired up with this new salad dressing that I just HAD to try because its all the rage in healthy living blog-land!

Im having a little bit of a calf issue that caused me to only get in 6.5 miles yesterday instead of 18 I dont really want to get into it, but lets just say lack of massage caught up to me and now I am walking around morbid and unhappy and begging PW to let me start running again. UGH!

PW decided to do a half-marathon last minute. The race is tomorrow, so carbo-loading happens today. Instead of going OUT for the huge breakfast, I decided to make it. Hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, toast, blueberry pancakes. Imagine 2 of these plates, AND an extra pancake–he ate it all!

On to running…we had a serious heatwave up here in New England. Many days above 90 degrees. On Tuesday, PW had to go into Boston (to visit a friend!), so I decided to do my run along the Charles. Which is the place to run in the city. It was tough!! Now, I only have two more runs to get through until a recovery week, 70 minutes today, and a split 130minute run tomorrow. Getting myself pumped up to get through it!!

BUT! I am mostly excited because after my run today, the ONLY thing I have to do is lesson planning. I am excited to sit down and do nothing but plan for the rest of the day! Oh, and do laundry, but whatever!

And congrats to Mr and Mrs Guru for the adorable baby they had this morning!