Monthly Archives: August 2010

Hey there! How’s your Tuesday going? I know mine is going to be a busy one which is why I’m actually writing this on Monday! If you missed it, here are the other recaps of the wonderful get-a-way my husband and I took this past weekend to Door Country Wisconsin.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

We slept in on Sunday soaking in one more day of relaxation. We packed up our belongings and then headed down to breakfast. We started with some incredible fresh peaches!

And then honest to goodness the most amazing thing I have ever eaten for breakfast in my life! Banana’s Foster French Toast!

Words can not describe how good it was! There was some type of special caramel sauce that was so yummy! We spent some time chatting with the inn keepers Dillon and Suzanne. They were celebrating their 46th wedding anniversary! We shared lots of stories about dogs, fishing, wild life, family and so much more. It was, in my mind, the true bed and breakfast experience I had always hoped to have. They were such a lovely couple! I’m so glad we chose the New Yardley Inn!

We had one last stop to make before heading home.

We found this market on one of our trips and always have to stop to pick up some cherry salsa and sweet cherry mustard. Much to my delight I also found this

  Pumpkin Butter! Another fall favorite, now if only the weather would cooperate!

We were going to stop for ice cream before heading home but the shop we wanted to stop at was closed and it was probably for the best as we were still full.

The ride home was uneventful. We made it back relaxed and glad to have spent some quality time together. In looking at our schedules  the next few months are going to be crazy busy! But, we knew this and it’s why we decided to take our little trip. Both of us felt like we were really busy this summer and we want to plan not to be so busy next summer. But we both agreed a weekend get-a-way to Door County will hopefully remain on the agenda! We just love it so much!

Well, I’ve got a full day of work with planning, preparing, and meetings and then I teach Zumba at the Y tonight! Hope you’re week is off to a good start!

Hey friends! Are you having a good Monday? So far I’ve run 3 miles (it was so HOT!), cleaned the house, finished up the laundry, practiced some Zumba moves, and ate lunch! I thought I’d get another blog post up before I start working on some home work!

Did you miss my other recaps of our trip to Door County? Check them out!

Part 1

Part 2

After our taste testing a Fat Louie’s we headed back to the B&B to change out of our hiking clothes and then over to Bailey’s Harbor for lunch. We decided to eat at the Harbor Fish Market and Grill.

We had eaten dinner here during our honeymoon and it was fantastic! It was a little more expensive then we wanted to pay for dinner this time around BUT their lunch prices were really reasonable and the menu had some unique options on it. Here is the view from our table.

We started with the Lobster Bisque which was absolutely DIVINE!

I don’t think I had ever actually had Lobster Bisque before and this was truly amazing. Really rich and creamy! Definitely an indulgence! I also ordered the grilled tuna sandwich which was Ahi tuna on a Kaiser roll with cucumber and wasabi mayo.

It was very light and delicious. I especially liked the uniqueness of the wasabi and mayo. I didn’t even attempt to make a dent in those fries!

We decided to walk down through the harbor after that delicious but heavy meal. There were a lot of people kite surfing on the lake and it was really fun to watch!

On the way back to the B&B we decided to stop at one more winery the Stone’s Throw Winery located just down the road from our B&B.  They have some very unique wines. Not as sweet as some of the other wineries. We did a sampling of about 5 wines each and then each ordered a glass to enjoy outside on their patio.

After the hike in the morning, the heavy food, and the wine (not to mention my 10 mile run the day before and a 5 hour drive for Brian) we were pretty tired. We headed back to the B&B for some reading and a nap.

We finally decided to go out to dinner around 7pm. We had seen a pretty nice looking restaurant called Trio just on the edge of Egg Harbor the town just down the road from our B&B.

The B&B had a sample menu and we thought the prices sounded pretty reasonable for their unique food. We weren’t too hungry so we skipped the appetizer. I ordered the Bow Tie Pasta with Salmon. It had smoke salmon, bacon, chopped tomatoes, capers, roasted red peppers, garlic and olive oil.

It was fantastic! Nothing too fancy just some unique flavor combinations. Brian had some type of chicken dish. We both managed to save room for a dessert to share.

Chocolate flourless cake with a fresh raspberry sauce! So AMAZING!

With our tummies full once again we decided to walk down to the lake and managed to see a pretty beautiful sunset.

We headed back to the B&B to call it an early night! Stay tuned for one more day of our Door County get-a-way recap!

Hey friends! How’s your Monday going? Good I hope! I hope to get a 3 mile run in today, do a little cleaning, practice some Zumba moves, and get some work done for grad school!

Be sure to check out Part 1 of our Door County adventure!

On Saturday morning we woke up to a beautiful blue sky and nice cool weather. We headed downstairs for breakfast. Our meal started out with fresh strawberries, coffee, and some VERY delicious cherry apple juice.

   But the star of the meal was egg frittata! There were also some pecan pie mini muffins but I forgot to snap a picture before gobbling two up!

This was the perfect meal to provide us with fuel for a hike we took through the Whitefish Dunes State Park. We took a short hike through these beautiful woods.

On our hike we saw TONS of monarch butterflies. They were everywhere!

  The trail we chose took us to Cave Point a really unique spot that during the right weather looks like the raging sea! It was pretty windy so we saw some pretty good waves crash on the rocks but I couldn’t quite capture a good one!

  We headed back through the woods and then took a stroll along the shore.

After our hike we were ready for some wine tasting! We stopped at our favorite winery the Door Peninsula Winery.

They are pretty casual with their tasting’s and it was very busy. We sample a few to refresh out memories on which were our favorites and then bought a few bottles to bring back home!

Then we headed to a brand new (like two weeks old) winery The Harbor Ridge Winery.

Currently they are featuring wine from the Von Stiehl Winery in Algoma Wisconsin as there own wine is not ready yet. I wish I would have taken some pictures inside. We are pretty sure the man who did our tasting was the owner. He was very entertaining! We absolutely loved the wine we sampled there and ended up buying quite a few bottles!

We had one more stop on our morning excursion

Fat Louie’s Olive Oil Company had samplings of the most unique and amazing flavored olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I think we sampled all of them! We bought two olive oils, mushroom and sage, and chipolte which had a nice kick to it! We bought a pomegranate flavored vinegar. So good!

This was the perfect appetizer for lunch! Come back later to hear more about our adventure in Door County! Have a good morning!

Hello! How has your weekend been? We had a WONDERFUL time in Door County.

We left town as soon as Brian got done with work and made pretty good time getting up to the peninsula. We arrived at our bed and breakfast The New Yardley Inn and were greeted by the inn keepers Dillon and Suzanne. We stayed in the Philadelphia room and it was just lovely!

  It was very spacious and the decor made it very cozy and relaxing. I loved all the natural sun light and check out the Jacuzzi!

We were pretty much STARVING so we headed out to one of our favorite places Shipwrecked restaurant and brew pub.

Their seasonal beer on tap was Pumpkin Ale! Of course I had to try it!  A sure sign that fall is on its way, my love for all things pumpkin returns!

I ordered the Land Lubber sandwich which was a marinated portabella mushroom grilled and topped with Provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato and onions, served on tomato and herb focaccia bun with a creamy Horseradish sauce.

It was DELICOUS! I finished off the sandwich but Brian helped with that massive pile of fries!

After dinner we headed back to the B&B for a soak in the tub and an evening of reading and relaxing. Stay tuned for a part two of out Door County adventure.

Hey friends! How did you enjoy hearing about my 10 miler this morning?

In the past couple of posts I’ve alluded to the fact that the husband and I are headed out for one last get-a-way of the summer before my work gets crazy busy and Brian get luered away to the woods for hunting season. In about an hour we’re headed up to Door County! Door County has been one of our favorite places since we got engaged there five years ago. We also spent a week there for our honeymoon so we could relax and explore the area in depth. For our honeymoon we stayed at The Blacksmith Inn a bed and breakfast located in Bailey’s Harbor. It was BEAUTIFUL!

I loved staying there but I didn’t feel like we got the true B&B experience as they didn’t really make us breakfast, just had a continental type deal. We’ve returned to Door County a couple of times since our honeymoon and always camped. With the crazy business of the summer and the fact that Brian wasn’t sure if he could get time off when I suggested we head up to Door County this summer he suggested that we stay at the B&B we stayed at for our honeymoon. I was excited BUT I thought we could find a less expensive B&B and I did! We are staying at The New Yardley Inn which offers a full home cooked breakfast plus they have hot tubs in the room! I’m pretty excited to kick back and relax. We might not get to see too much of Door County but we will for sure get to some of our favorite spots and just get to enjoy spending time together before life gets crazy!

I’m totally unplugging for the weekend so I’ll be back with a full recap with lots of pictures! Right now I’ve got to hit publish and then get the dog to “grandma and grandpa’s” house!

P.s. Look who I found using my laptop? I guess she needed to check Dogbook!

Well….almost! How’s your morning going! It’s Friday right?! Well, I’m back and somewhat recovered from my 10 mile run. This run was far better than last week’s. To read the recaps from my other long runs check out

Lucky 7

An O.K. Eight

A Not So Fine Nine

I got my clothes and fuel ready last night. I made up a bottle of Gatorade and put a GU pack in my fuel felt. I decided I would try wearing two pairs of socks, one thinner one and then my regular socks to prevent the terrible blisters I’ve been getting. I mapped out a route using MapMyRun.com. I got to bed early and set the alarm for 5:30am (so I would have time to fuel and warm up). When the alarm went off I was surprised at how tired I was. I put my contacts in, got dressed and began to wonder why Brian wasn’t back from his run yet. Then I looked at the clock and realized I woke up at 5am! Oh well. I taped my feet and put on mole skin then my two pairs of socks. I was really hoping to prevent blisters today.  I fueled up with an Arnold thin topped with almond butter 1/2 a banana and some honey. I drank a little water and then walked the dog for a warm up. Then I headed out!

The weather was PERFECT for running. No humidity cool but not cold. I immediately knew it was going to be a better run than last week when the first two miles that felt like torture last week just flew by. I drank water (at a fountain) at two miles, and Gatorade every two miles after that. I also took the GU packet at mile six.

I felt like my route was a trip down memory lane. I ran by a lot of places that reminded me of my childhood. I ran by my dad’s old work where we use to meet him for lunch, my mom’s work, Brian’s first apartment he had when we were dating, the church and grade school I went to as a kid, and the nursing home where my grandma and grandpa both lived at one time. The church/school I went to as a kid has a 1/2 mile paved road around it. I decided to take a lap to add to my mileage. I remembered that as a kid we use to have to run around that same road for gym class. I HATED it and could barely do it! Now look at me! I ran 10 miles today!

At about five miles the “hot spots” on my feet, the same ones I had protected with mole skin started to hurt. The only way I can describe it is it is like someone poking you with a needle every time your foot lands. But I kept going because the rest of the run was feeling so good.

The last few miles were tough as always but I knew I could do it. When I got home my feet were really hurting. I couldn’t wait to see what they looked like under my socks. I was SHOCKED to see blood in one of them. My feet are totally destroyed! I’m not sure if the blood was from a blister that broke or from some dry skin splitting. So by far the worst part is my feet and they still really hurt.

Warning! Some disgusting pictures of my feet coming up!

The large mark is the still healing blister from two weeks ago and I don’t know if you can see but there’s a NEW blister right about it. That’s on my right foot.

This is my left foot and if you can see there are two blister one near the big toe one a little ways down. And the next picture has a blister on the tip of my middle toe, the same one that was bleeding.

So painful! Especially when the rest of the run went so well. I have to figure out how to remedy this. I really hope it’s not my shoes. We don’t have any running specialty stores here to get fitted for running shoes. Maybe all I need is some better socks. I have a 8 mile and 12 mile training run left before the half. I hope I solve this problem by then!

Stay tuned for a quick post about where we’re headed this weekend! Have a good day!

Good evening! Wow two posts in one day! I just couldn’t resist sharing with you the fun meal Brian and I put together tonight. Homemade pizza!

Lots of veggies!

My man working the dough!

Piled high and ready to go into the oven!

Nice and toasty ready to eat!

Our pizza had fresh tomatoes from our garden, fresh mushrooms, canned artichoke hearts, mozzarella cheese, and turkey pepperoni. Brian added black olives to his half and I added a fresh orange pepper from my father-in-law’s garden! It was so delicious! I easily could have eaten half of it but I refrained and saved some for after my loooooooong run tomorrow.

Speaking of half marathon training guess what I did today? I actually signed up for the Maple Leaf Half Marathon. I know that I’ve been writing about my training for this but I had yet to actually sign up for the race! Wouldn’t it have been a bummer if it would have got filled?! I figured if I was going to run 10 miles I better have a good reason to!

I was getting packed for our little get-a-way this weekend. It occurred to me that since the weather is getting cooler I might need to wear jeans, which I haven’t worn in months. Out of curiosity I tried them on and they were…..a little snug. Not that I couldn’t get them on but they were not very comfortable. This happens to me every summer! I think I tend to drink a lot more alcohol in the summer since I don’t work as much at night. Plus there is all the partying an traveling. Don’t worry I’m not getting down on myself. I just realized I need to reign it in (hence not eating half a pizza tonight). Those jeans will be feeling great in no time!  

Have a good night everyone and I’ll be back with a report on my 10 miler!

No! It’s not Christmas…not yet anyway! But my world sure seems busy like it does around the holidays! Sorry for disappearing for a while there! Sunday was SUPER productive! I did four loads of laundry, we went grocery shopping, I cleaned the bathroom, went to church, lifted weights and did yoga, did some work (for my church job), read about 30 pages for my grad school homework, AND managed to relax with Brian while watching a movie getting to bed at a decent hour at that!

Monday was also somewhat productive. I met up with a friend who I hadn’t seen in about four years. She is currently dating someone who lives in my home town (my friend lives in Eau Claire). She came down for a visit and wanted to know if I wanted to go for a run. We did a nice easy 3 miles catching up the whole time! It was great! She recently got divorced and as part of “reinventing” herself decided to run 12 races in 12 months and she’s almost completed her goal! Pretty amazing huh? One of her races was a half marathon, so awesome! I also did some cleaning on Monday, more work (the internet is down in my office so I need to take advantage of it when I’m home) and more reading for school. I also had a late night meeting so blogging just didn’t fit in there!

Work is really picking up right now. The university students will soon be back on campus and our programming year will be in full swing. Even though my hours have been cut it’s still a busy time of year. It’s okay though, it keeps me from getting bored! I’m looking forward to the up coming school year and teaching more fitness classes as well.

As I mentioned, part of Sunday’s craziness included weight lifting and boy was it hard! I was so sore on Monday and even today. I was going to try to lift again this morning but my body said “NO WAY!” There is also no way I’m going to lift before my long run on Friday. I really shouldn’t have neglected this part of my training! I might try to lift tomorrow after work as Brian has a doctor’s appointment and then give myself a rest day before tackling 10 miles!

Thanks for listening to all my ramblings! I might not be back until later this week with a more defined post, I promise! Catch you later!.

Good morning folks! How’s your Saturday going so far? It nice to be home for a change with little to nothing on the agenda!

Last night’s girl’s night was fantastic! To read about our last Girl’s Night our and how we all know each other check out this post. We headed out to Kate’s Pizza Amore downtown. I was so excited to meet up with the girls that I forgot to take a picture of the outside! Inside it was kind of small but I loved the decor! We had heard that on weekends there was a two hour wait so a few of us got there early to put our names in. We sat at the bar chatting. I ordered something very unusual for me. A raspberry vodka martini!

The place was jump’n but it wasn’t a two hour wait, maybe half an hour! Since the location is small and narrow they have what I would call table/booths. There is a long line on benches on the wall with cushions and pillows. There are tables in front of the benches and then chairs on the other side. I requested to sit by the pillows and Emily joined me so we could cuddle!

The other ladies arrived and we ordered the  Cheesy Basil Bread as an appetizer.

Emily asked if she could be “blogged”

We all decided to order different pizzas for our main dish and Polly got a calzone.

I got the Tuscany Garden pizza which had Pesto, tomatoes, onion, spinach, eggplant, red pepper, artichokes zucchini, mushrooms, black olives, banana peppers, and fresh roasted garlic (minus the black olives because I don’t like them).

We raised our glasses to honor Nicole who’s having a baby in September. Last night was kind of a mini baby shower as we all brought baby girl clothes for her as a gift (she needed some girly stuff since her first child is a little boy).

Not gonna lie, after one martini before dinner and one with dinner I was pretty much starving! I wolfed that whole pizza down barely tasting it! I’m sure it was delicious! Over all it was a great dinning experience. The food wasn’t overly gourmet but there were some really unique options on the menu, everything sounded good to us! The atmosphere was really fun and trendy for our small town. Most of all the company was fun an entertaining!

After dinner we walked down to the river and saw Brian and Eric. Brian and taken a ride on Eric’s boat. Then we headed up to the Pearl for ice cream. It was a great night!

I managed to get to sleep at a decent hour and woke up without a hang over! I do know one thing though, vodka gives me CRAZY dreams! I dreamt I was in some crazy movie watching a bad guy electrocute people, that my church decided to put a decorative lazy river type thing in our chapel as part of the renovation, and that my parents who are in their sixties adopted a whole family of children! Crazy!

This morning I’m cleansing with a green smoothie and I’m about to get my Zumba on! Later we have a casual wedding to attend with some of Brian’s work friends. Should be a fun night! Have a great weekend!