Cherry on Top Award

 Laura over at live well, laugh often, run much gave me a blog award, how awesome is that? 

  1. Answer the question: If you had one chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?

I'm a great believer that everything happens for a reason. 
Yes it would have been great if I would have decided to take up running years ago.
Yes it would have been great if I would have always eaten healthy and not gained all this weight. 
BUT then I would not be me today and I'm really happy with me. 
So no I would not have changed anything in my life. 

2. Pick 6 people and give them this award. You then have to inform the person that they have been selected for the award.

* Michelle at Running with Attitude 
* Leah at Leah B's Running Life
* Wendy at showered with grace
* Kirsten at Working up a sweat in Toronto
*Emilie at One mom in Maine
*Nancy at Making our Marks


Funny as soon as I read the question it reminded me of this song...



As far as running... there still is no running. I will probably try to go for a quick run tomorrow see how the IT Band holds up. 

On the Home front, Hubby is currently having surgery to remove the screws and plate he had put in, in May after his soccer accident. Hoping this time his recovery will be a quick one. 

Have a great weekend 
and
Happy Running!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

The kids went back to school today!! 

I can't tell you how happy I am that once again schedule rules our house. The kids were equally happy about today. 

Sara was looking forward to her friends and Kevin just loves first day of school "because of the FOOD". 

You see, on the first day of school I always take the kids out for breakfast at our favourite breakfast spot, and for Dinner I always make something extra special. I know that they really look forward to this tradition just as much as I do. 

Sara and Grandma

Kevin and his Mama

Hope your day was a great as ours today!! 
Happy running

why am I NOT running?

you might have noticed a lack of running this week. 
last monday I saw my doctor about my IT Band and she felt like the next course of action would be a cortisone injection. that is not the course I want to take. from what i read a cortisone injection really doesn't fix the problem, it is just a quick fix but in the long run it wont make it go away. cortisone injections for IT Band are generally not very effective.  i have been seeing my PT once a week for 6 weeks now, and really haven't seen much improvement on my IT Band, however it can take up to 8 weeks before people start seeing improvement. 
although the IT Band Wrap is great and lets me run while i'm having issues, i do want to address this issue. i don't want this to get worse where i'm not able to run at all. 
so for right now i decided the best for my running would be no running. i took a week of running, which has not help with the pain... stairs are painful, walking is sometimes ok and sometimes not so ok.  
the next two days i will taken Naproxen (non-steroidal anti-inflamatory) twice a day to see if helps with the inflammation. i'm also icing the area with an ice cube as many times a day as I can. 
so the plan for this week is RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevate) i'm not sure if there will be any running. maybe i should just take another full week off and plan on doing a small run next saturday? 
i plan on bringing back the foam roller and lots of stretching, also back will be hip abductors strengthening exercises. 
i see my PT again in 2 weeks, hopefully i will see some sort of improvement. 
i didn't sign up for anymore races, i would like to do another 5k in october but i don't think the 5k on September 26th will happen, at least not right now. i can't even think about signing up for a Half marathon until i beat this IT Band. 
so that's what going on as far as running. 
this is just a little set back, i'm not going to let myself get discouraged. BUT i have to say it's hard when you see how well other new-to-running bloggers are doing with their running. 
i will get there i'm sure. if not this year then next, the important thing is that i am running.


on a side note... i re-connected with my very best childhood friend in germany. i am so so so happy about this, i can't even tell you. i actually found her on facebook, who knew that facebook actually did bring friends back together. i haven't seen her since i was 13 when my parents moved us across the world. it has been amazing to talk to her and guess what? SHE IS A RUNNER!! she took up running 4 years ago and ran a half marathon a couple of years ago. we are already planing on racing together, so it looks like i will be making a trip to my mother land for a race!! how wonderful is that. i'm very excited about the possibilities.


the kids are really looking forward to school tomorrow and i'm glad we fall back into a routine.  
hope you all are having a wonderful labour day weekend. 


happy running

Zucchini Bread

I really love quick breads. They are super easy to make and always taste great. There isn't a weekend in the fall and winter when I don't make quick breads. It's great for school snacks for during the week. I always have to make 2 loafs, one for right when it gets out the oven and one to save for during the week. 
Banana bread is the families favourite quick bread that's for sure, also popular is zucchini bread. 

As you can see by the piece of paper it gets used quite often. I have had this recipe for many years. This time I decided to sub the 1 cup of vegetable oil I usually use with something a bit healthier. Applesauce is always a good substitute for oil in baking recipes. But since I had just picked up two tubs of greek yogurt I decided I was going to use that as my substitute. After looking at some other recipes where yogurt was used I came up with a ratio of oil/yogurt/buttermilk. I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I now have tweaked this recipe enough that I can call it my own.  Hope you enjoy it as much as my family does. 

Zucchini Bread
(yields 2 loafs) 
4 cups grated zucchini (grated, squeezed and drained) 
4 eggs 
1/3 cup canola oil 
3/4 cup greek yogurt (or plain yogurt) 
1/3 cup buttermilk 
1tsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour 
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour 
3/4 cups wheat germ (optional) 
2tsp baking powder 
1tsp baking soda 
1tsp salt 
1tsp freshly ground nutmeg 
1tsp ground ginger 
1/4tsp allspice 
1/2tsp cinnamon 
1 cup chopped apricots (or raisins, prunes, cranberries) 
1Tbsp Flax seeds (optional)  

1. Mix eggs, sugar, honey, canola oil, greek yogurt, buttermilk. 
2. Mix flour, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, salt, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. 
3. Mix the wet and dry ingredients and stir until combined
4. Mix in the zucchini and chopped apricots 
5. Pour the batter in two greased and floured 8x4inch loaf pans, and sprinkle with flax seeds 
6. Bake in preheated 350F oven until toothpick pushed into the centre comes out clean, around 60-70minutes. 

Happy eating 

Nua Swimwear Launch at Dolce

What girl doesn't like to trade in their running shoes for a pair of heels? 

Even more so when it is to Celebrate a Friends debut of her very first Collection. 

My Fabulous Fashion Forward Friend Clara Fortini launched her Swimwear Line Nua at a roof top nightclub in Toronto two weeks ago.  

"Nua is about making woman feel sexy and beautiful again.  Designer Clara Fortini hopes that Nua will do for her clients what it did for her, bring life and colour to their life palette.  She has designed a line of swimwear that is a marriage between practical and different, it's unique; a suit that would call upon the confident woman who is daring and willing to make a statement on the beach or by pool side.  She who wears Nua will stand out and be anything BUT Naked, so why the name Nua then?  Nua means naked in Portuguese, and if you ask Clara, its what she wanted you to feel when wearing the sexy suits.  Almost naked, like a second skin, they're that comfortable.  Claras passion has always been fashion and now has brought her passion to you.  Embrace Nua,  this European style suit will be the talk of the pool bar so dare to Swim n' Strut."

Here are some of my Favourites of the night 

I love how different these are, sexy yet elegant. I especially love the white bathing suit which has a removable sleeve and also comes in black. 
I get so tired of seeing the same swimsuit over and over, these however are very original. 
Congrats Clara! 


It was a great night with great friends. I forget how good it feels to take a night off and just enjoy the company of good friends. 

  

Happy Running