Cute & Easy DIY Coasters

I've had this set of glass photo coasters sitting around for ages (with nothing in them...):

While I think the idea of photo coasters are cute, they lack a sort of sophistication.  They kind of scream college to me.  I decided to give my coasters a quick re-do, and I love how they turned out!  Best of all, it took me all of 5 minutes to do this project.  All I did was insert some pretty scrapbook paper into the photo openings, and voila!  Sophisticated coasters!

Close-up:

So, if you have a set of glass photo coasters sitting around and want to give them a facelift, give this little project a try!

Weekend Recap

It's been a busy few days around here, and I haven't had time to sit down and blog!  My mom came into town for the weekend and stayed with me.  Every October, my dad goes on a golfing trip with his buddies so it's the perfect excuse to have a girls weekend!  My parents live about 2.5 hours from me, so it's an easy trip.

We went out to eat at a yummy cajun restaurant on Friday night - growing up with two parents from Louisiana, cajun food is a favorite in our family!

Saturday, we did some shopping.  My mom loves to go to Home Goods whenever she is in town since there isn't one near her.  I heart Home Goods too!  So we did that, but somehow escaped the store without buying anything.  Still not sure how that happened!?

Since both my brother and I went to UNC for college (he's actually a senior this year), and I live right down the road from campus, my mom wanted to go get a new UNC flag to hang outside her house.  Even though I can be on the campus of my alma mater within 15 minutes of walking out my front door, I am in Chapel Hill shockingly little.  When I go, I get so nostalgic!  I absolutely love the campus - it is so beautiful.  Unfortunately, it was raining when we went on Saturday, but the leaves had started to change and it was still so good to be there!  Being on the campus brings back so many memories.  The picture below was taken on Franklin Street, which is the main street on the edge of campus - where the bars, restaurants, and shopping is located.  Obviously, this is not a good picture, but I had to snap it quickly since I was standing in the rain!

Franklin Street is also the location of the famous Chapel Hill Halloween celebration, which has attracted up to 80,000 people in recent years!  It's crazy.  Honestly, when I was in college, I hated Halloween because SO MANY people came from all over the place (literally, there were people that would drive from different states to come to Chapel Hill's Halloween celebration).  This year, I'll be hosting a Halloween party, and we won't be going anywhere near Franklin Street!  I'll post more on my party later this week.  :-)

After our shopping expeditions, we went and got manicures and pedicures.  Sooooooooo relaxing!  Our Saturday was capped off by an amazing dinner at the Melting Pot.  I love that restaurant!  So much fun.  We did the whole thing - cheese fondue, salads, entrees and chocolate fondue.  And a bottle of wine!  It was a lot of fun to spend some one-on-one time with my mom and have the chance to catch up and just hang out.

Today, a friend of mine had a group over for some food, football, beer and pumpkin carving.  I brought a super tasty spinach and artichoke dip to share - maybe I'll post the recipe this week for my Tasty Tuesday, if you're interested (it's good, I promise!  And I made some substitutions to make it healthier!).  Five of us carved pumpkins, and I thought they came out pretty good!

In the dark:

(Please ignore the pumpkin on the far left.  In case you can't tell, it's a hand with it's middle finger up.  John thought it would be funny?  I don't know.)

The pumpkins with their respective carvers:

Here's a close-up of mine:

 So that pretty much wraps up my weekend!  With my mom in town, coupled with the rain, I didn't get to go for a long run this weekend.  To tell you the truth, I pretty much took the past week off from exercise of any kind.  Oops.  I'm going to have to get my butt running this week so I can tackle 10.5 or 11 miles next weekend!

Have a great week!

Fall Reading Challenge Update - The Glass Castle

I finished the first book of my Fall Reading Challenge - The Glass Castle.  The Glass Castle is a memoir by Jeannette Walls that takes the reader through her tough and rocky upbringing.  Some of the stories that Walls tells are so outrageous that you almost can't believe they are real; that people actually live the way that her family did.  The family dynamic is so dysfunctional yet Walls tells her story with humor and grace.  Jeannette's mother is an artist, and her father the town drunk.  She and her brother and sisters are left to fend for themselves throughout their childhood, and the resilience that the children show is inspiring.  Reading this book definitely made me look back on my childhood with gratitude.  I actually chose this book for my book club read this month since it's my turn to host, so I'm looking forward to hearing the other girls' thoughts on the book next week when we have our discussion.

My Fall Reading Challenge List

The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls

Sag Harbor, Colson Whitehead

Running with Scissors, Augusten Burroughs

Julie and Julia, Julie Powell

The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch

The Postmistress, Sarah Blake

The Christmas Box, Richard Paul Evans (waiting until December on this one)

Six more to go before December 20th to meet my goal.  I think I'm going to read The Postmistress by Sarah Blake next.  This is one that I got through the Barnes and Noble First Look Book Club, which is a program where you get copies of books before they are released (for free!).  Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead, which is also on my list, is a B&N First Look book as well.  Any suggestions on good books that you've read lately that I should put on my to-be-read list?

Tasty Tuesday: Chicken & Broccoli Casserole with Cheese

I like the idea of doing "Tasty Tuesday" posts, so I think I may make that a regular thing.  The recipe below is one that my mom used to make when I was growing up, and now I make it as an adult.  Casseroles are such a great comfort food!  This one can actually be tailored to be pretty healthy, by using Campbell's Healthy Request soup and a low-fat shredded cheese.

Chicken & Broccoli Casserole
Ingredients:
2 rotisserie chicken breasts, shredded (you can use regular chicken breasts and cook them then shred them, but it's so much easier if you get the pre-cooked chickens from the grocery store, and just pull the breast meat off...it's already cooked and juicy and yummy)
1.5 - 2 cans cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 tsp curry powder
1 broccoli crown / head
Shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions:
In a bowl, mix soup, lemon juice, mayonnaise and curry powder.
In baking dish, put broccoli on bottom of dish.  Put chicken on top of broccoli.
Pour sauce mixture over chicken and broccoli.
Bake at 350 degrees for ~30 minutes.
In final 5-10 minutes, sprinkle cheese over top of casserole to melt.

Enjoy!

It's State Fair Time, Y'all!

One of the best things about living where I do is that the State Fair is just down the road every October.  Who doesn't love the opportunity to indulge in every imaginable food sin and watch the astounding assortment of people who show up to this event??  My...I don't even know where to begin.

I went to the fair this evening with a group of friends (sorry the pic above is a little blurry).  I'm pretty sure I consumed about 20,000 calories.  Here's a rundown of my gluttony: a hot dog, followed by a roasted ear of corn dunked in butter and slathered with seasoning, a fresh-squeezed lemonade, and a funnel cake.  And I had a few bites of a blooming onion dipped in ranch dressing.  And a bite of fried cookie dough.  I can practically feel the grease oozing out of me.  That is so gross and I can't believe I'm admitting everything that I ate tonight!

The people-watching at the North Carolina State Fair is truly a gem.  The most popular fashion choice at the fair was leaf-print camo, by far.  We even saw a family of four all wearing matching camo jumpsuits and hats.  Style at its finest.  Also spotted: multiple people missing teeth, and children on leashes.  Most inappropriate sighting: the "Kids Photos" booth that had a Michael Jackson CD blasting.  I also enjoyed the cops outside the entrance gate who had a huge fire going in a metal barrel to keep warm.  I bet they had moonshine in their cups.

My favorite part was the cake competition.  There were a bunch of cakes on display in the expo, and some of them seriously could rival Ace of Cakes.  I tried to get a good picture, but none turned out :(  I didn't go on any rides (because really...I think I would have puked after everything I ate), we just kind of walked around and took in the sights.  I think I'm getting old.  But, it was a fun time...once a year is enough for me, though!  I am starting to feel seriously ill after all that eating...I think tonight may be a rough one.  Ha!

In case you were wondering, donkeys bite...

Have a great week!

Double Digit Miles!

Today, for the first time EVER, I ran 10 miles!  I've never run double digit miles before!  I went with three of the girls that are also doing the 1/2 marathon, and I dominated 10 miles!  There is a great trail not too far from where I live, and it's a good place to do long miles because it is flat and shaded.

 

Before today, the farthest I had run was 8.7 miles, and that was two weeks ago.  Last weekend, on my Saturday long run, I had planned to do 9 or 9.5 miles and I TOTALLY bonked.  I was struggling after the first mile, and knew there was no way I had at least 8 more miles in me.  So I gave up, turned around, and came home majorly defeated.  Major fail.  I ran 6 miles on Wednesday of this week so I told myself that last weekend was just a fluke, but I was still nervous going into today's run.  I was so happy that it went well.  I ran a 9:30 mile pace for 10 miles.  I'm not going to lie...the last mile was ROUGH.  My body was begging me to stop, but I turned up my iPod and just kept going.  I really don't think I could have gone 5 more yards after I hit 10 miles.  But I did 10, and that's what matters...I don't have to worry about going farther until next weekend.  :)

Here's a picture of where I ran today (swiped from WRAL.com, a local news channel website).  It's called the American Tobacco Trail.  There are mile markers every half mile (every 0.25 mile in some parts), so it's really easy to keep track of how far you go).  The section we ran today was packed gravel, so not as hard on the knees as pavement.  I think it really does make a difference.

Copyright 2009 Capitol Broadcasting Company

These Saturday long runs take. it. OUT. of me.  I am so worthless for the rest of the day.  I really don't know how people training for a marathon do it.  I just have no energy left!  So, I've got a lovely evening of laying on the couch and watching a movie planned.  Lame Saturday night, but that's the best I can do right now!

Also - I tried a new kind of energy chew today on my run - Luna Moons. 

They were really good! I can't do the whole gel thing - just the thought of swallowing a flavored shot of gel while I'm running makes me nauseous. I've been doing the GU Chomps (a different kind of energy chew) on my 8+ mile runs, and they're not too bad. But I really liked the Luna Moons. I think these will be my go-to! I had the pomegranate flavor today...yum.  Ok, couch is calling...

Two Months Until 13.1

I can't believe that my first half-marathon is only two months away!  Actually, less than two months - it's on December 12th.  I'll be running in the Kiawah Island Half-Marathon.  Kiawah is on the South Carolina coast, not too far from Charleston.  I'm so excited for this to be my first 1/2, because Kiawah holds a special place in my heart.  My mom's side of the family has been going to Kiawah every Thanksgiving for over 20 years and it is a vacation that I look forward to each year.  Kiawah is one of my most favorite places in the world.  Kiawah has been named one of the top 10 beaches in the United States...see how pretty it is??

I've signed up to run the race with 8 friends, and we've all been training for the past couple of months.  We're going to rent a big house for the long weekend, and I'm really looking forward to it.  As far as the training, my weekly long runs are currently up to 9 miles (I'll be tackling either 9.5 or 10 this Saturday), so I think I should be able to get up to 13 by December.  It blows my mind that I can even run nine miles.  A year ago, I would have struggled with two.

One very cool thing is that I will actually be at Kiawah (for Thanksgiving) two weeks before the race.  My training schedule has my long run that week at 12 miles (and then the final week before the race is a taper week, so the longest run is 5 miles).  This means that I can do a trial run of the course!  I think that running 12 miles of the course beforehand will really help me on race day because I'll know a) what to expect, and b) that I've done it (or most of it) before!

Any runners out there have tips for the big day?