Hi! Happy Friday, friends. I hope everyone's week went well! Wanted to share a few of my Friday Favorites this week :) 

Finds

This Republic of Tea Apple Cider Tea. It's SO GOOD. I am coming down with a bad cold and I drank about four cups of it today at work. It really tastes like hot apple cider. 

Blue Apron Meals! Michael had a free trial for three meals and we ate them all at the beginning of the week. It was really fun! I actually learned a lot about how different spices go together and compliment a dish. My favorite meal was the first one we had, Roast Pork with Braised Endive. It was AMAZING. We also tried a Chicken Khoa Soi soup (which was really easy to make and I will be re-creating) and Crispy Cod with Spiced Cous Cous. It's such a great service! The produce and meats are very fresh, the only downside is that it is expensive in comparison to what we would normally eat on a week night, but so much fun to try. Definitely recommend! 

Around The Web

15 Personal Training Predictions for 2016 - Although I'm not a personal trainer, I do teach fitness classes and I found this article interesting! I love that there's been a trend toward small group training, non-traditional workout equipment and varied program options and modalities. I know for one that I get bored if I do the same thing over and over again, so I always try to switch things up when I teach. “We’re a culture with an attention span 3 seconds long. The more variety we offer, the more interested people become in our services.” 

14 Foods Your Probably Pronouncing Wrong - It's AH-SAH-EE!! I still like to say A-KAI. 

These Sweet Potato Protein Bars from theleangreenbean.com - these look delicious and super easy! Inspired me to create a sweet potato recipe of my own...coming soon! 

Happenings

This week I went to a YBConnected event with my co-workers and boss on Wednesday night. It was fun to get out of the office with them on a weeknight and the venue was AWESOME! YBConnected is a networking organization in Philadelphia for young professionals and they support local organizations. My boss is one of the founders, so we get to join in on the fun! 

Another one of my FAVORITE things is that Thanksgiving is next week. NEXT WEEK!!! We had a Thanksgiving lunch yesterday for work and it got me really excited. 

Need some recipe inspiration? Check out these lovely ladies blogs for some Thanksgiving recipe roundups :) 

My Thanksgiving Recipe Pinterest Board...

Desert recipe round up from Rachel of rachlmansfield.com (let's be honest, desert is most important right? Desert and turkey!)

This awesome Quinoa Thanksgiving Stuffing from Alexa of fooduzzi.com

Thanksgiving Sweet Potato & Apple Stuffed Cornish Hens with Pomegranate Glaze from Juli of paleomg.com

Listening To:

Here's another little spin playlist I put together for my Monday morning class! I think it's one of my favorite times of the week. Even though it SUCKS waking up at 5:15 am on Mondays, it's so much fun once I get there and get in the groove. It's always a small class, but they have great energy.  

Matchstick by American Royalty is on repeat this week! Great song.

Okay friends, have a great day!

XO- Rach

What are you loving today?

What are you up to this weekend?

Any big Thanksgiving plans?

What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

Happy Monday, friends! And welcome, November (how did that happen?)  This past weekend was one to remember - I ran my first half marathon! And it wasn't that bad. My mom and her boyfriend also came to visit to cheer me and Chelsey on while we slogged ran. 

Chelsey and I headed to the expo after work on Friday to pick up our packets and a plethora of free stuff including a ton of mini Lara Bars. SCORE! After the expo we headed to Mercato, a fabulous Italian restaurant with homemade pasta. We both had amazing pasta dishes to carb up. No pics because we were too busy savoring :)

Race Day

Saturday morning rolled around and it was time to wake up at 5:30 a.m.! I made myself a bowl of oats with peanut butter, some coffee, and my mom and I made our way down to the race around 7:30 in the freezing cold. Chelsey and I were in coral 31, so we didn't actually start running until about 8:30. However, the sun came up once we started running and it felt great!

The first 8 miles are actually kind of a blur. They went by SO fast, there was a lot of adrenaline and we both felt really great. The first 5 miles were through the city and the remainder was a flat road along the river. Such a great course! 

Around the half way mark, my cousin Sara was working at the medical tent so she ran along with us for about a half mile and snapped some pics:  After mile 9 it became all mental. Everything felt great except my ankles - they were screaming! We just did everything we could to keep our minds off of the suck and finish strong. We finished in 2:26 and our goal was 2:30! And then the next day at the New York City Marathon (26.2 people!) the woman winner finished in 2:24! We may not be the fastest but we were happy to be running and having a blast. 

After chugging a chocolate milk at the finish line, we headed back to the hotel we were staying at for the weekend to shower and get some food. We ended up heading to Reading Terminal Market and stopping by The Original Turkey  for some fresh carved turkey club sandwiches. I inhaled mine in .000345 seconds. After refueling, we headed to the Field House Bar (home of the Philly Gator Club) to watch the Gators dominate the Bulldogs. 

We ended the night with dinner in Chinatown and I was passed out by 9:30. It was an awesome day and weekend. So glad that I could spend time with my family.

After SEVERAL jam-packed weekends, I'm totally looking forward to doing a lot of nothing next weekend :)

P.S. I didn't even end up listening to it, but I will share my half marathon playlist soon. I was really excited for it, but we had more fun chatting during the whole race.

XO -Rach

How was your weekend?

Have you run a half before? If not, would you ever want to?

HAPPY FRIDAY! We made it through another great week. I cannot believe we're already at the end of October. I'm sad to see it go - so many great things happened this month. On the flip side, it was a very BUSY month and I'm looking forward to a fresh start in November and getting myself a bit more organized. Does anyone else feel that toward the end of the month you're just a little scrambled? Just me? Cool. 

Finds:

Michael came home with a a couple nights ago - these Angie's Boom Chicka Pop Holidrizzle flavors  including Pumpkin Spice & Candy Corn Kettle Corn. Oh YEAH. He also brought home these chocolates that he found at Whole Foods - one with energy and one with melatonin. This was actually on #NationalChocolateDay! There's a chocolate for everything.  

Around the web:

Improve Ankle Strength & Mobility - Tomorrow I'm running my first half marathon and my ankles were hurtin' bad on my last few long runs. I found this article really helpful if you're in the same boat! 

These Salmon Asparagus Muffins from Jess at hellotofit.com! These just look incredible and such a great on-the-go breakfast. 

10 Easy Ways to Save $250 This Week - I spend too much money on coffee! 

This Pumpkin Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Swirl from Jen at peanutbutterrunner.com are drool-worthy and I think she's inspired me to enter the Chiquita Banana Recipe Contest if I have the time on Sunday!

Happenings:

My mom is coming tonight so that she can watch me slowly crawl run the Philly Rock 'n' Roll half marathon! I am excited to run my first half, but honestly I'm more excited to get it over with. Training for this half marathon has taught me a lot of things, but mostly that my body isn't really made for long distance running. But more on that another day, I'm just going to focus on having fun and sticking with my goal of running the entire race! 

Listening to:

If you listen to podcasts at all, I recommend Switched on Pop. Michael is a podcast enthusiast and gives me many recommendations. I think this is my favorite so far. The episodes feature two guys who take apart and analyze today's biggest music hits. It's SO cool. My favorite episode so far has been about The Weeknd's I Can't Feel My Face. If you know music theory at all or you just plain love music, this podcast is the jam. 

Current favorites: 

XO - Rach

Do you have any favorite Podcasts?

What are you loving this week?