My Favorite CHRISTMAS Things: Part 2

If you weren’t aware, it’s effing cold in Illinois today. Effing.

My father and I are meeting up with Matt and his parents for lunch today (yay for my bf being in the same state again!), so that meant I had to either wake up early to run or not do it at all. I chose to wake up at 7am and suffer through the 27-degree weather.

Workout

I busted out 9 miles at a pace of 9:36. It was cold, windy, early, and my legs are still really sore from Monday‘s 14-mile run. …I think that’s all the excuses I can come up with at the moment for why my pace suffered today. ‘Twas a difficult run, and all I could do was tell myself to just keep swimming running. On tougher runs like today’s, I just tell myself that as long as I keep running, time will continue to pass, and distance will gradually be covered. Before I know it, I’ll be finishing that last mile. And finish that last mile I did!

Now, I’m drinking a nice big mug of hot chocolate. It’s my new favorite recovery drink after these super cold runs. Keeps me warm while I stretch.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things…

Bizarre Addition to My Stocking This Year Dried Pomegranate Seeds. It seems like a good idea, but 1. they look nasty and 2. they taste strange. I was still excited to get them though. I just need to figure out a way to use them because I don’t think I can eat the whole bag straight up.

Stocking Goody It’s a tie between the Ghirardelli Intense Dark Hazelnut Heaven and a garlic press. I like my dark chocolate, and I like my hazelnut. However, I also love cooking with garlic, so I’m pretty pumped about my new cooking tool. Both are winners in my book.

Activity Making gingerbread houses!! If you read Janae’s blog over at hungryrunnergirl.com, you may recognize this picture. For some strange reason, I can’t find any pictures of past gingerbread house events from my past. Therefore, I  am using this masterpiece to demonstrate my love for the activity. ALSO, if you have leftover Halloween candy, this would be a great way to use it up!

Breakfast Display Snowman Pancake. I love being festive in every way possible. You better believe I’m going to make someone snowman pancakes this winter.

Snow Creation Upside Down Snowman. I’d love to see this while passing someone’s house. ‘Tis creative and entertaining.

Movie(s) A Christmas Story, Elf, and Christmas Vacation. These are 3 of my favorites. You better believe I watched A Christmas Story when it was on 24 hours yesterday.

Song Nsync – Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays. The video is too much. I can’t even watch it because it’s so cheesy, but the song is quite the classic. Bahaha.

Hope you all had a very merry Christmas! …what now?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve got my eyes set on upcoming New Year’s Eve fun. Five dias mas!