Saturday, January 18, 2014

3 Day Weekend!

Yay for a 3 day weekend!  Even though I just had a break for Christmas and New Year I feel like the first 3 weeks in January have been so busy work-wise.  I am looking forward to this long weekend.


This morning I got up and went for a 7.6 mile run.  My parents got me the coolest GPS running watch for Christmas.  Its a Garmin Forerunner 10.  It's really easy to use and it tracks miles run, pace, calories burned, etc.  It even alerts you when you've reached a personal record, which is super motivating.  It also has a USB so I can upload my runs to my computer and track them that way.  I've always loved running but this little baby has made it even more fun.  I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an affordable and easy to use GPS watch.
best Christmas gift ever


A few nights ago I got home from a stressful day at work, poured myself a tall glass of skinny girl margarita and made a recipe I found on my friend, Ally's blog for a warm brussel sprouts salad with homemade croutons.  It's originally from A Beautiful Mess and I adapted it a little.  The original calls for brussels, craisins, garlic, lime juice and mayo.  I added cashews and tomatoes as well.  It was super yummy and had elements of sweet, salty and spicy in every bite.  Here's the recipe and some photos.


chopped sprouts
sprouts sizzlin' in the skillet 
multi-grain bread croutons before baking
my libation
the whole mixture before adding the dressing
the finished product

The whole thing was really easy to make and it's something I will definitely make again soon.  Alright off to run some errands and then out to dinner tonight.






















Post Numero Uno

I've always wanted to be a writer or have my work and life revolve around words.  I write in my spare time and I love reading.  In college I got excited for writing assignments and spent days in the library working on them.  Hunkered down, under an old blanket, in the back of the study center, I felt at home in between the pages of a book and the words I was stringing onto paper.  I know I'm a huge dork.

Through the years, I've kept telling myself, one day I'll start a blog (no one will read it) and I'll love it.  It will be a creative outlet for me that I could work on as much or as little as I pleased.  So here it goes.  I've actually had this blog for awhile, but had only written rants posts that I kept private and were more meant simply to get my feelings out and on paper than for someone else to see and enjoy.  But I've started to read other blogs daily and I think they are pretty fun.  There's something about this creating and sharing thing that's  exciting.  It's nice to put my thoughts onto screen and to reflect and share and learn from others who are doing the same.  So like I said, here it goes.

My name is Meredith and I'm currently 25 and living in Charleston, SC.  I have a 9-5 office job that I'm grateful for, but I'd rather not talk about here.  Let's stick to the things in life that I really love.  I'm an avid runner (hence the name of the blog) and run at least 6 times a week.  I've been running for about 5 years and hope to continue for much longer.  I've also taken Krav Maga for 3 years.  Krav is a hand to hand combat and self defense system started for the Israeli army in the 1940s.  So basically, I'm a badass.  Not really, but I enjoy pushing myself physically and I gain a sense of accomplishment with each mile I run and every one-two punch I throw.

I have a wonderful family.  My mom is basically my best friend and I dream about being that way with my daughter when I have one some day.  I spend a lot of my free time with her, shopping, going on weekend trips to see concerts and do more shopping.  Basically, we shop a lot.  My dad and I are extremely similar.  We have similar interest and think the same way.  When I do something weird my mom will look at me and say, "You are your father's child."  Whatever that means....who else's child would I be? :|  And then there's my brother, Preston.  He is three years older than me and we get along really well, most of the time.  He works at a bank and bought an awesome town house on Johns Island a couple years ago.   We get along so well, that I am currently renting a room from him for a super low rate (I knew having the same parents would finally pay off some day.)

Preston and me on our family vacation this summer, a cruise to the Caribbean.

My parents.  Aren't they cute?

I know this will come up sooner rather than later in my blog so I'll just say it now.  I have an insatiable sweet tooth.  I mean it.  It's sickening.  Thank God for all the running.   I hope to discover new recipes with this whole blogging thing and want to share my own culinary experiments on here as well.   I just bought a super cute apron from Pier 1 last week in hopes it will make me more domestically savvy... or at least look good while I'm attempting.

Alright... publishing now.  EEK!  I'll write again this week!