Swag Bag

May 18, 2013 by The Cookie ChRUNicles

Rise and Shine! It’s Saturday!

I am still recovering from carrying the tremendous amount of swag through the city.

I spent hours yesterday literally organizing all of my new goodies and then cleaning my house.

Confession: I am a neat freak. I can’t think straight when things are out-of-order.

This personality trait doesn’t work well with an active 9-year-old boy. I clean, he breathes and immediately the house seems to be a mess again.

Anyway, I haven’t been able to test out all of my new stuff but I wanted to start reviewing for you some of what I have used:

As I said in yesterday’s post, I had to wear the Saucony Kinvara 4 immediately upon trying them on.

I know shoes need a few more wears before truly knowing how they will work out, but so far so good.

I had to wear the new Reebok sneakers and matching yoga top for my run yesterday morning. How cute?

My son loves his Reeboks but I have never worn them before.

Unless you count the high top white ones with the velcro that I wore back in the 80′s when I was in third grade.

These Reebok Sub Lites were very light (I guess why they named them Sub Lite), comfortable and hugged the right places of my foot while I ran.

The tag for the Reebok top said it was for Yoga but I wore it to run anyway. It was very comfortable and I liked the loose fit and the fact that it has a built-in bra with removable padding. I told them I wore a small but probably could have taken the extra small so that the top part (and bra) fit perfectly.

Just in time for the heat of summer, I received two water bottles. Marmot on the left and a Camelbak on the right.

I love this water bottle. It has not left my side since I got it. It has a filter so you can fill the bottle with tap water and as you drink, the water goes through the filter and purifies before reaching your mouth.

My only issue is that you kinda need to bite on the straw part to get the water out.

I received a variety of headbands and hair ties and I can’t wait to wear them all! I wore the Athleta headband (bottom of the picture in dark purple) and it stayed in place throughout my run.

As I wear the others, I will let you know what I think are must-haves.

Who doesn’t love an assortment of beauty care/personal hygiene products?

I have yet to test them all out; I have to read through the labels and see what the ingredients are to ensure I am not allergic as well as look for the parabens/chemicals that I have learned we do not want in our personal hygiene products.

These lip balms from SW Basics are the softest, smoothest lip balms that have ever touched my lips. They come in a set of four containing flavors of chocolate, peppermint, cinnamon and citrus.

The lip balms are made with organic cocoa butter, organic beeswax, organic coconut oil and essential oils.

Highly recommend!

Do you like scented candles? If so, you need to get some of these Votivo candles.

As I type this post, I have the Pink Mimosa lit. The smell is so light and refreshing.

My whole house smells delicious without having that overpowering smell that some candles give off.

In addition to the Kind bag of granola and bar, I received a bunch of other food items that I have yet to try. When I do, I will let you know if it is something you must have.

Good luck to all of my friends running the Brooklyn Half Marathon today.

Anyone else racing today?

If not, what are you doing this weekend?

FitBlog NYC 2013 Recap – FItness Magazine Blogger Meet and Tweet!

May 17, 2013 by The Cookie ChRUNicles

I always wanted to be on Oprah. As a guest in the audience that is, for one of her tapings of her favorite things episodes.

I didn’t ever aspire to be an actual guest on the show but now that I have appeared on Dr. Oz, I kinda think who I am and I am sorry Orpah isn’t still taping regularly because if she was, surely she would be contacting me.

OK, in all seriousness now, I have decided that the experience I had yesterday attending the Fitness Magazine’s Blogger Meet and Tweet is right on up with being in the audience for Oprah’s favorite things.

I am truly honored to have been invited by Fitness Magazine to attend the blogger event yesterday.

From meeting amazing fellow bloggers, to listening to great speakers, networking with brands, running with a group led by a Saucony representative to receiving an amazing amount of swag….there is so much for me to say that I am going to try to give you a summary of the highlights from the day and get into more detail on specifics in later posts.

We received our tags, awesome Camelback water bottle and our “blog log” upon checking in.

From check-in we went to sit outside on the patio where the seminars would be held.

Before going outside, I picked up a little breakfast from the complimentary food bar. I chose a yogurt parfait and an All Greens juice from Elixir Juice Bar which was absolutely delicious!

I am not one to blend up green monsters, but this one was so refreshing I may just have to start making my own. It was a mix of celery, apple, kale, spinach and cucumber.

Can you spot Monica from Run Eat Repeat among my fellow bloggers?

We were treated to five terrific seminars with the following people:

Celebrity makeup artist Sarah Lucero, Executive Director of Global Artistry at Stila Cosmetics.

I really enjoyed listening to her talk about her recovery from breast cancer and her helpful makeup tips and health and fitness advice.

Jennifer Ashton, MD, ABC News Senior Medical Contributor, ob-gyn, triathlete and author of the book, Your Body Beautiful: Clockstopping Secrets to Staying Healthy, Strong and Sexy in Your 30s, 40s, and Beyond was up next.

She spoke about the importance of liking and trusting your ob-gyn as your overall doctor and not just for reproductive health. She offered many tips related to diet, fitness and keeping your body healthy as you age.

It was a real treat to be able to listen to four experience bloggers offer their advice and discuss how they created their personal blogs into a business.

Deb Perlman from Smitten Kitchen
Dana Weiss from Possessionista
Jill Hanner from Ford Fiesta Agenet
Erin Whitehoouse from Fit Bottomed Girls

Celebrity trainer Brett Hoebel, founder of Hoebel Fitness, featured trainer on The Biggest Loser season 11 and the creator of RevAbs spoke about the latest trends in fitness. He discussed cross fit and how trends are gearing towards shorter workouts at higher intensities.

Rocco DiSpirito, author of Now Eat This! Italian and star of Now Eat This! Italy Web series talked to us about how to prepare and eat our favorite Italian dishes and still lose weight. He offered many tips and simple recipe swaps to lower the calories in pasta dishes, dressings and sauces.

After the seminars, we broke for lunch (thank goodness because Rocco made me hungry) and had the opportunity to schmooze with the other bloggers as well as the brands in attendance.

Lunch was kinda eh. It was probably the only thing eh about the amazing day. We had our choice of a few different salads and wraps. I chose a vegan kale salad and a beet/hummus wrap. They were ok. Not really enough food for me so I went back for more.

I became really adventurous yesterday testing out all of the juices and smoothies. These two smoothies were not good according to my taste buds. The green one tasted way too green and the pink one tasted green plus a little pink.

Don’t you just love my description?

My first stop in the schmooze with the brands was Saucony.

When they asked me if I wanted to try on their new Kinvara 4 sneakers, I told them I am a “real princess and the sneaker” and they may not want to deal with me.

They weren’t afraid of me though. The nice rep told me that these sneakers are perfect for a fast run because they are lightweight. He advised that I do not wear these sneakers as my main running shoe and should whip them out for when I am looking to change things up, go fast or run a race.

I found them very comfortable – roomy in the right spots while still feeling secure on my foot.

And just like that, they were mine. I behaved like a child and wore them immediately.

I also visited with Smart Balance, Reebok, Crystal Light, Marmot, Vichy and Fiesta Movement.

Smart Balance had samples of a recipe for peanut butter balls. I have the recipe for you guys and will share it in an upcoming post.

We received an email last week that told us we would be able to take part in one of three fitness sessions. We had to choose one so of course I selected the running group over the dance/group fitness class and yoga.

My phone was so low on battery that I left it charging at the front desk of the gym while we went for our run.

I wore the Saucony sneakers and they felt great.

When we came back, we had to turn in our blog log which was stamped by each of the brands in order to receive our swag bag (Camelback was not required to stamp – don’t ask me why, not sure).

OMG is all I can say. The amount of goodies in this bag was overwhelming.

I couldn’t wait to dig in to this bag of fun but first I needed to get home.

After saying goodbye to all of my new friends, I headed out to walk to my car.

I knew the traffic would be bad no matter what so I made a pit stop at my favorite vegetarian restaurant.

Maoz is simply amazing. I love that I get to load my salad myself.

I decided this is what Christmas must feel like. A ton of presents all unwrapped and completely overwhelmed with what to play with first.

I am still going through all of the goodies and promise to let you all know exactly what we received and what I think you need.

I can’t thank Fitness Magazine enough for inviting me to this awesome event. It was such an amazing experience; so well run, informative and beneficial to me as a blogger.

I enjoyed being able to meet a ton of new friends and be in an environment with so many wonderful life-minded people who all share my passion for fitness, health, running and nutrition.

I can only hope to be invited back to next year’s event. I am already looking forward to it!

Happy Friday everyone!

Fitness Magazine Meet and Tweet Today!

May 16, 2013 by The Cookie ChRUNicles

I just wanted to pop in for a quick hello - I am heading out the door to get myself into the city to attend the Fitness Magazine Meet and Tweet!

The event is being held at one of Manhattan’s newest, largest and trendiest gyms, The Mercedes Club.

I am super excited!

I will be sure to take a ton of pics and give a full recap tomorrow.

In the meantime, can we discuss the below picture?

Who leaves over a tiny piece of an English muffin?

Especially when that English muffin is topped with a mix of Peanut Butter & Co. Crunch Time AND Mighty Maple?

They say kids have a natural appetite shut off switch; children intuitively stop eating when full unlike adults who continue to chow down way past the point of being satisfied.

I am pretty good at knowing when I am full, however, when peanut butter is involved, there is NO WAY you will find a drop left on my plate

Confession: I may lick my plate clean after eating any meal that has involved peanut butter.

I need to know:

Are you part of the clean plate club?

Do you often have leftovers to take home from restaurants?

Would you EVER pass up the last bite of an English muffin topped with peanut butter?

I Love Getting Presents – BESTOWED BOX GIVEAWAY

May 15, 2013 by The Cookie ChRUNicles

I may not enjoy retrieving my mail from my mailbox, but I certainly love packages delivered to my doorstep!

I was super excited when the kind people at Bestowed offered to send me a box of their hand picked goodies to review.

If you aren’t familiar with Bestowed, here is a little background info:

Discover healthy foods you’ll love! Join Bestowed and get 5+ amazing nutrition and lifestyle products delivered to your door every month – each one hand picked by celebrity nutritionist and author Heather Bauer.

How it works:

Select your membership type (monthly or annual), then click Join!
Our boxes ship to arrive on the 15th of every month
Shipping is included in price!
We currently ship via USPS within the US only

Membership Options:

Monthly Membership – $19 billed monthly, cancel any time
Annual Membership – $209 billed annually, transfer any time

I couldn’t wait to open my Bestowed box and see what was inside! It was neatly packed with an assortment of goodies. I really like that the box comes with an info sheet that describes each product with recipe/serving ideas for each item as well as info on how to buy more.

In the mix:

Good Eating Salads Recipe Book
Larabar uber Apple Turnover
TeeChia Super Seeds Cereal
Dark Chocolate Sun Cups
Navitas Coconut Water Powder
Simply Sprouted Sweet Chili Tortilla Chips
California Olive Ranch Everyday EVOO

I had never tried any of the products which made this even more exciting!

I have been meaning to try Coconut water in my latest quest to quench my extreme thirst. This packet contains freeze-dried coconut water which can be easily added to 8 oz. of water.

I couldn’t wait to test it out after my long run this past weekend. I didn’t notice a taste to my water and but I did notice that I wasn’t as thirsty as I normally am the rest of the day.

Perhaps it was the mix of the electrolytes and potassium? Quite possible.

I opened the bag of the super seeds cereal and totally loved the smell. I already had my steel cut oatmeal with blueberries waiting for me but the aroma from this bag was way too tempting not to eat.

Since I totally couldn’t wait another day to make this cereal for my breakfast, I mixed some of the super seeds cereal in with my oats.

Delicious! Like blueberry pie.

The cereal is a blend of all gluten-free/organic rolled oats, quinoa seeds, milled chia seeds, milled flax, amaranth seeds, pumpkin seeds, raw ramen seeds, dates,Zante currents, dried blueberries and freeze dried blueberries.

Talk about a powerhouse of a cereal.

Please take note of the lack of added sugars. You would never know it from the taste and smell of the cereal. I never buy flavored oatmeal or yogurt- I prefer to add sweetness using fresh/frozen fruit rather than through added sugars.

I played around with this delicious cereal on more than one occasion at breakfast and lunch. I added it to various bowls of oatmeal (as seen in above picture) and also mixed it with plain greek yogurt to create one of my homemade parfaits. I also sprinkled some of the cereal on top.

Next up for this blueberry pie of a super seeds cereal is to use it in pancakes as well as baking. I feel a blueberry super seed banana bread on my horizon.

I love a good recipe book. Sometimes it is nice to be old fashioned and read through an actual book instead of googling for recipes or browsing pinterest.

I read through the recipe book while having a snack (surprise surprise, apple with peanut butter – a Fuji apple actually).

I love the recipe selections and can’t wait to test some of them out. It is the perfect book of recipes to have on hand and will be quite useful this summer for easy meals as well as dishes to bring to barbeques and parties.

I am not really a chip eater but the little boy sure is!

He LOVED these chips. He said they tasted just like Doritos – only better.

I am surprised he remembers what a Dorito tastes like since Trader Joe’s doesn’t carry them.

I gave him the chips as a snack in his lunchbox yesterday.

I mixed the Way Better Chips with lentil curls from Trader Joe’s.

While I am glad he liked these chips, they are still chips and have a decent amount of fat and calories. They may be made from better ingredients than the cheese ball or actual Doritos but I still watch the chip intake and chose to mix the bag to fill him up and keep the calorie count down at the same time.

I plan to use the olive oil tonight when I roast vegetables with dinner.

Somehow we have yet to try the Sunflower Butter Dark Chocolate Sun Cups but perhaps it will be dessert this evening. I like that they are nut free making them safe to be brought around kids that have nut allergies.

The Larabar is already in my bag as my emergency snack.

Overall, I loved this little party in a box. I think it is a great concept and an awesome way to try out healthy products.

I am already making a list of people that I need gifts for as I think Bestowed boxes would make for a unique and fun present.

GIVEAWAY TIME:

Want a Bestowed box of goodies delivered to your door? OF COURSE YOU DO!

Between now and May 23rd, leave a comment on this post telling me which product you would most want to try in order to be entered into the random drawing.

One winner will be randomly selected on May 23rd from among all comments received.

**Open only to those residing in the US only – Sorry foreign friends – Bestowed currently only ships within the United States.

Also, all my readers will receive $5 off a monthly and/or annual subscription to Bestowed – just use the following code at checkout: 5oFFBSTOWED01.

GOOD LUCK!

***I received this complimentary Bestowed Box to review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are my own and I was not compensated for my opinion or for the writing of the post.

Get Your Chick On…With Sunblock

May 14, 2013 by The Cookie ChRUNicles

Some people rely on GU, sport beans, Gatorade.

I rely on my chicking shirt to replenish my glycogen stores and send me flying.

TRUE STORY: I couldn’t wait until Wednesday night’s 5k race to wear my new chick shirt.

Not easy to take a picture of yourself. I tried but it really didn’t work.

I asked the little boy to take my picture but he refused.

Of course he did – Mother’s Day was over and trying to please me doesn’t happen again for 364 more days.

My mind felt like running but my legs simply tagged along for the fresh air since they were pretty tired.

I wasn’t going fast, even though I was wearing my chick shirt.

It didn’t matter though – there weren’t many people on the path that I needed to outrun and there are never any men running MY path, especially on Monday mornings at 10:00 am.

UNTIL YESTERDAY.

I was in my final lap, thinking about what I would make for lunch when out of nowhere, a mysterious man sprints past me ON MY PATH.

OH NO HE ISN’T.

HE IS NOT GOING TO OUTRUN ME. NOT ON MY PATH. NOT WHILE I AM WEARING MY CHICK SHIRT.

My dead tired legs quickly picked up to marathon speed. When I tell you I sprinted, I sprinted to not only catch up to this mysterious speedy man, but to outrun him.

“Chick him” if you will.

OHHHH and I did. Oh yes. That will teach mystery man to mess with me on MY path in MY chicking uniform.

As soon as I passed him, I quickly turned off the path out of his sight. So I could slow down. And walk.

I think I have found my new guilty pleasure. Chicking (thank you Cait for this fabulous terminology)

Guilty Pleasures. We all have them.

Cake. Kardashians. Cold Stone Waffle Bowl Sundaes….and now outrunning men in my chick shirt (and skirt when not in the wash).

My hair has a guilty pleasure as well.

I avoid toxic chemicals, preservatives, parabens and ingredients I cannot pronounce like the plague but don’t try and keep my hair from those little bowls of who knows what that my colorist paints onto my hair that makes the color so pretty.

Listen, I do what I can to limit the toxins in my life.

If I am destined to live in a bubble that shields us from the parabens invading our world, I need my hair to look its best.

I am still on my quest to eliminate the hazardous ingredients from our every day products.

I have switched my makeup from Dior to Clinique which has completely changed my complexion and eliminated my eye allergies.
I am still loving my Whole Foods 365 cleanser and moisturizer
Switched my facial moisturizers to Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare
I even started weaning myself from my Kerastase regimen and now use Alba Botanical Shampoo.

With beach/pool season less than two weeks away, I now need to deal with the issue of sunblock.

Last year I treated myself to Skinceuticals sun protection. It is not cheap but I wanted a sunblock for when I run that is sweat proof as well as a product that won’t clog my pores.

I always bought Aveeno baby sunblock for my son and I would use it as well when we were at the pool/beach.

Well, now that I am a paraben expert, I know we can no longer use Aveeno. Or any of the other conventional brands.

I wanted to give you three tips for choosing a safe, effective sunblock but there are more than three factors to look out for.

I am highly recommending as your tips for today that you read Food Babe’s full post regarding sunblock. Click on the photo above or here for the link.

Have a great Tuesday!

I need to know:

Do you carry GU, jelly beans, sport drinks etc. on your runs? What works best for you?

What sunblock do you use?

Mother’s Day Happiness

May 13, 2013 by The Cookie ChRUNicles

Oh yes. Mother’s Day was quite good to me.

There is something very exciting about a tower of butter and syrup as you wait for the arrival of your most special breakfast of the year.

The breakfast menu is quite unique and extensive but I am a creature of habit and went with the same thing I have ordered the last three years:

Blueberry Walnut Whole Wheat Pancakes Topped With Scrambled Egg Whites and Sliced Banana

The little man chose a short stack of golden brown pancakes with a side of eggs and bacon. He selected this combo over the Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Pancakes. Hmm…To each his own.

I think he just likes the idea of the eggs and bacon for the thrill of placing the order. He barely touched the plate – which is just fine with me. At least he can recognize when he is full.

I could have called Mother’s Day a happy one just based on our breakfast together. But he had a few other things in store for me.

Using his own money, he marched himself into the Pandora store the other night looking to get me a charm for my bracelet. Since Pandora doesn’t sell anything for $10, he went into a different store in the mall and found a cupcake charm that fit perfectly into his budget.

I love that he took it upon himself to find me a gift using his own money.

However, as I always tell him, it is NEVER about how much you spend or if you spend anything at all.

It is the thought that counts.

With this in mind, the best gift I received involves the artwork and poem he created at school in honor of Mother’s Day.

We now have an image to associate with his vision of me being “JUST A RUNNER WHO LIKES ICE CREAM.”

Hysterical,yes?

I can’t get enough of it. It makes me laugh, smile and question where my pants are.

Kids tell you how it is. So if you ever thought I exaggerated our dessert issues, here it is in black and white. I am so glad he finds his taking my cake amusing and serious enough to include in a poem.

All mother’s like to be pampered on Mother’s Day. My idea of pampering on this holiday is getting a break.

Some quiet. Some alone time.

Lucky for me, our favorite diner is down the block from Hebrew School, which so nicely took place shortly after our breakfast.

With two hours to myself, I went for a leisurely run. I chose to run through the neighborhood where we had lived when my son was first born.

As I ran, I thought about the thoughtful gifts I received and how fast time has gone since he was a baby.

I was running the streets I used to walk up and down while pushing the stroller – sometimes carrying him and pushing the empty stroller since he never wanted to sit.

Back then, I liked the neighborhood but we were always looking to move. It was our “starter house”.

Giving thought to our discussion about The Great Gatsby the other day, our starter house was just a stepping stone in our pursuit of the American Dream. There was certainly a bigger and better house out there in order to for us to achieve true happiness and define our success.

As I ran past our old house, I noted that the same family that bought our home from us several years ago is still living there.

They are in the middle of renovations and based upon those little decals people put in their car’s rear view window, they have three kids.

While one never knows what goes on behind closed doors, it is possible to assume that this family has achieved their American Dream, finding our “starter house” perfect for their family of five.

The thing is, and what one can realize now, a house does not define happiness.

It is the people inside it that matter. It is the small thoughtful gifts, gestures (and pictures the kids make at school) that give true happiness.

Not the brick driveway, white picket fence, new windows and roof or the color of the granite you choose for your hallway.

I wonder if they kept our pretty floors?

I often wonder if things would have been different had we not moved from our “starter house” in search of bigger and better in pursuit of the American Dream.

They say everything happens for a reason though, right?

On a much lighter note, I think everything does happen for a reason – something made me randomly check my mail yesterday(we know I don’t check the mail all that often).

Look what arrived for me!

MY AWESOME SHIRT FROM THE FABULOUS CAIT CHOCK!

If you haven’t checked out her artwork,blog and shirts, you must! As described on her site, she is a runner, writer and artist. She designs the funniest, cutest, most creative running related artwork and slogans I have ever seen.

Thanks Cait – LOVE IT!

I cannot wait to wear my Runner Chick shirt with my cute running skirt in my next race.

If only I could see the expressions on the faces of the men I will outrun.

Now that would be true happiness.

I need to know:

How was your weekend? How was your Mother’s Day?

Run any races? How did it go?

What do you like to order when you go out for breakfast- sweet or savory?

Did you see The Great Gatsby?

Dunkin’s Doorstep

May 11, 2013 by The Cookie ChRUNicles

I didn’t drive thru. I walked.

Well, I didn’t walk thru the drive thru (although I certainly would if necessary).

I walked into the store. For an iced coffee.

My intention yesterday was to take a full rest day. But it was gorgeous out when I put the boy on the bus that I decided a walk couldn’t hurt me.

I hate walking. Especially walking the path I normally run.

I feel like I am not getting anywhere because everything passes so slowly.

Or I pass everything slowly. I don’t know, something like that.

I decided I needed a destination.

I watched the building of this Dunkin Donuts all winter. I daydreamed while sitting at the red light opposite this Dunkin Donuts everyday thinking about how nice it would be in the spring to land myself on Dunkin’s doorstep after my long run.

I couldn’t wait though until this morning for my long run (just ran a little over 10 miles by the way).

So I walked there yesterday – 1.5 miles each way to be exact.

It was quite exciting. I think.

Hear me out on this:

I love iced coffee. I love it even more when it is made for me at Dunkin Donuts.

It is a real treat for me since I cut my Dunkin habit a few years ago to save the $3 and change a day.

A little over $3 a day adds up to over $21/ week which is roughly over $80 something a month (if you are looking for exact numbers ask my son, he is a math wiz).

As a preMother’s Day gift, I treated my motherly self to a medium iced coffee with a drop of skim milk.

Delicious? Yes. Satisfying? Not quite.

I WAS THIRSTY.

It tasted as good as ever but when one is thirsty, iced coffee is no quencher.

Smile! You’re on Candid Camera! (I always wanted to say that!)

Let’s let this lovely employee think I wanted her photo – I was really after the donuts.

The creme-filled shelf to be exact.

I am not a big donut eater but I always had a thing for Dunkin’s chocolate creme filled donut.

Truth: When I was a little girl, I used to choose the pink frosted donuts simply because they were pink.

RARE FIND: I was pleasantly surprised to see this location has the Dunkin cookies.

You don’t see them often but if you do, I highly recommend the peanut butter chocolate chip.

The fact that this location is a Baskin Robbins too is very exciting. I can see walks for ice cream (or the frozen yogurt) on the horizon for the boy and me.

At least we are incorporating exercise as a family into our lives.

Good luck to anyone who is racing this weekend!

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