It’s not often that I thank Facebook for ANYTHING, but with recent changes to the newsfeed (again!) I have rediscovered old notes that I had written. Remember notes? They are kinda like mini-blog posts/diary entries where you could tag people. Well, lo and behold I found a note I wrote about my very first half marathon from Sunday, May 1, 2010! I thought seeing as I have just completed my third and first ever in the US that it was fitting to share this. I also wanted to point out how truly crazy I am, having run my first hal marathon less than 6 months after completing C25K, plus it was a cross country race!
Oh and not to be a Debbie Downer, but check out my chubby cheeks! I’ve mentioned it before that even though I was running regularly, my nutrition was just not up to par. I was fooling myself into believing that I could eat whatever, whenever because I was running 4-5 times per week. Proof that what you eat and how you exercise go hand in hand. You can’t have positive results if one is missing. Hope you enjoy this stroll down memory lane!
First half marathon May 1, 2010 vs April 25, 2013. Can you see a difference?
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My 5 year old was given the book Mrs Wishy Washy by Joy Cowley when he was 3 years old. He loved it from the first moment we read it to him and it has continued to be a favorite over the last 2 years. When he started kindergarten, he was so excited when within the first week his kindergarten teacher pulled out a large board book version to read to the class. Imagine his surprise at seeing his favorite New Zealand written book, here in the United States.
His kindergarten teacher invited us in for a literacy party just before Christmas. We got a chance to look at our child’s writing, and to see how they’d progressed in the first 3 months. As a special treat for the kids, they got to create Mrs Wishy-Washy’s mud and dunk the animals around in it. The mud of course was chocolate pudding, and the animals were animal crackers. Now why hadn’t I thought of that? Such a neat way to bring a children’s book to life.
I saw 5 avocados at the store for $3 the other day and it made me think of how I could make this chocolate pudding treat with a twist. Instead of making a traditional sugary pudding, I decided to make a chocomole – a raw chocolate pudding made mainly with avocado and natural sweeteners. I used to make raw chocolate and puddings quite regularly, but hadn’t made this in awhile. I had all the ingredients at home except for the animal crackers.
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Mr BAM left on Tuesday for his sister’s wedding in New Zealand. Sadly, we just couldn’t swing a family trip back so soon after just settling here. It reminded me that three years ago in January 2009, we celebrated a good friend’s wedding in Christchurch, New Zealand…and that it’s summer there…
Me and Mr BAM in Christchurch, NZ 2009
I have to admit that summer was a bit of a kick in the butt with the killer humidity. I can’t complain too much as I definitely prefer the heat of summer over the cold of winter. But now that summer has just about faded away and autumn has arrived, I am finding this to be my absolute fave season. The mornings are cooler, perfect for an early morning run by myself, or a late morning run with mini-me.
Now that the kids aren’t melting from the heat when we hit the playground, we are finding ourselves out and about more than we were in summer. Rather than needing to escape inside to air conditioning, we are reveling in the perfect mix of sunshine and cool breezes.
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I can’t think of how many years I spent stalking the BlogHer stream on Twitter from New Zealand wishing I could be here. Here in New York meeting some of my favorite bloggers, learning from the pros and just soaking up the atmosphere. Well, I’m here now and Wednesday evening my BlogHer chaos dream starts! I’ve refused to be stressed or panic about the lead up to BlogHer and all its private parties and all the craziness that surrounds what to wear.
In the end, I’m genuinely happy with the private parties I will be attending as well as the Official BlogHer ones. I can even say I turned some down, because they didn’t fit with what I am hoping to get out of this conference. For a Canadian gal who started out blogging in New Zealand back in 2007, trashed that blog to start a fresh one here in New York in 2011, I think I’ve done pretty well. I have to say I do believe in all that Law of Attraction mumbo jumbo, so to me BlogHer is what it is and I am just gonna take it all in, enjoy the moment and be open to others.
So the aim is to not get all froathy at the mouth by the unsurmountable amount of swag everyone promises I will get at the Conference. In the end, is it about swag or relationships? Business opportunities? Meeting fellow bloggers that I’ve met online or have followed for years? Well, its about a healthy dose of all of these things.
So, I hope if you see me you’ll say hi! I love meeting people and will always make the time to stop and chat or share a laugh – unless of course President Barack Obama is speaking, Issa Rae takes the floor to teach me how to become a YouTube sensation or Soledad O’Brien, Christy Turlington Burns, and Malaak Compton-Rock are giving their keynote.Their are loads of sessions (and parties!) that I am looking forward to, but those 3 for me take the cake.
Here’s some tips for finding me…
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(click on image for a larger picture)
Two weeks ago was my birthday, I turned 30-something, and I decided to knock one item off my 100 Things List by figuring out how to make Banoffee Pie. Banoffee Pie you say? It is heaven on a plate – bananas + toffee equals Banoffee! I am always into cooking and baking simple, so once I figured out the ingredients for this one, I was looking forward to making it.
A tradition in New Zealand is to make your own birthday cake. So rather than others buying you a cake at work, you buy or make your own and then invite your co-workers to celebrate with you. I always thought it was a bit funny that the effort was on the birthday person, but whatever! Just go with the flow.
Their are many variations on Banoffee, but I cannot stress how super simple this variation is. I like that it makes me feel like a “real” baker because I made the crust from scratch and found out how to make toffee from evaporated milk. And I must say I feel pretty clever deciding to flavor the whipped cream 
This is a perfect treat for a sweet tooth on a hot summer day.
So here goes – Banoffee Pie with Coffee Flavored Whipped Cream in less than 10 steps.
Ingredients
- 1 small can of sweetened condensed milk
- 9 large graham crackers
- 1 stick of butter
- 1 tub of whip cream
- half a cup of coffee
- 3 bananas
- 9 inch pie plate
This is a yummy, but rich dessert, so you are likely to only need a small piece. Serves 8.
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