Friday Favorites – February 19th, 2016

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A trip to Tahoe with good friends was exactly what my mind needed. Plenty of sleep each night, relaxing in front of the fireplace, mountains of fresh snow and time skiing and enjoying the fresh, cold California air is the break that I needed after a pretty draining January.

As promised, in regular Friday fashion, here is this week’s version of Friday Favorites. So, as you sip that second cup of coffee and count down the hours until the weekend begins, let’s dive into this week’s edition of Friday Favorites, including recipes, articles, posts and other things that caught my eye this week.

Please imagine small lab rats with weights tied to their tails. This is what scientists did to figure out which type of exercise is best for the brain. Turns out that distance running is best for improving the brain!

My favorite Summer NYRR race opened yesterday, The NYRR New York Mini 10k! If you are looking for a fun, Summer race in New York City or a destination race, this is a great option. The world’s original women’s race, it is always a fun morning including some superstar runners, flowers and medals at the finish line and this year even a free digital race pictures. Even in last year’s horribly hot conditions, this was a new 10k PR and I loved the event, so I will definitely be running it again this year.

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Bo and I always love cooking Indian food at home, though rarely invest the time needed to make the delicious dishes. After seeing this Afghan Braised Chicken in in Yogurt on Anne’s blog yesterday, we pinned it and added it to next week’s menu.

This week Well+Good shared their perspective on the 7 hardest workouts in NYC. It turns out that Bo and I have only tried four of them so the others have been added to our list for February and March. I think Tone House intimidates me the most!

After using Laura Mercier’s Translucent Loose Setting Powder for four months, it has quickly become a step in my daily make-up routine I will not forego. It takes just seconds to apply, lasts for ages and takes my look from done to flawless. It doesn’t show to the naked eye but instead just makes you look a bit more fresh while also helping your makeup, even if it’s a tinted moisturizer, stay in place all day even through a sweaty workout.

Almost daily Rachel inspires me with her delicious, mouth watering pictures and simple, straight forward recipes. When I saw that our pantry has all the ingredients for this chocolate chip banana bread recipe, I pinned it for Sunday night. I want to try making a muffin version as I swear this would be the best motivation to wake up for early workouts. A tiny bite of goodness before Barry’s Bootcamp or Brooklyn Bodyburn? Yes please!

While organizing my beauty closet this week, I discovered my favorite winter fragrance, Tom Ford’s Black Orchid. I thought it had been lost in the move when in fact it was just hiding under a few hair sprays, body scrubs and makeup samples. Luxurious, unique and woodsy, this fragrance is unlike anything else I own. The rollerball size is my favorite as I can stash it in my purse or in my travel bag.

I love that Delta is committed to improving their plane food so much so that they want fliers to say that it is wonderful food instead of “wonderful for plane food.” What better guy to partner with than Danny Meyer to take their in-flight food to the next level. Hopefully some of this carries into coach class as well.

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored and instead is a list of the things of my favorite things this week. As normal, it includes lots of beauty and fashion items which means there are a few affiliate links via ShopStyle. It takes time and money to maintain a blog so I thank you for the support and few cents that come from clicking through the links!

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Stitch Fix Review #2 – February 2016

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Happy Thursday and greetings from Tahoe! We are out here for a long weekend of skiing and relaxation with our friends Kristine and Dane. Since we received over 18 inches of fresh snow last night, we’re moving slowly this morning, enjoying coffee and relaxing in front of the fireplace. I took advantage of this down time to dive into this month’s Stitch Fix package.

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In case you missed last month’s Stitch Fix postStitch Fix is an online personal shopping and styling website. After registering for the site, new members fill out an in-depth style survey and profile which helps the Stitch Fix personal stylists get to know you. The questions include things like sizes, styles, favorite colors, brands, and other likes and dislikes.  Once you finish the profile you are able to schedule your first Stitch Fix delivery. Each Stitch Fix delivery is a box of five pieces of clothing or accessories. Your personal stylists selects the items for your individual fix based on the answers you provided in the survey. There is a $20 styling fee which you have to pay up front, but, the good news is that this $20 works as credit towards any of the items you want to keep.

Many of my friends who have loved Stitch Fix for years told me to give my stylist time to figure out my personal style, and therefore expect each box to get better.

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They were definitely right! While I kept one item from Januaray’s Stitch Fix, this months box included three items that I wanted to keep.

  • Margaret M Emer High Waisted Trousers – $98.00 Okay, these aren’t on me in the picture because they wouldn’t fit over my thighs. Even though I’m at my slimmest point, these did not fail to make me feel utterly obese. I don’t know who these fit but they aren’t me. I did love the material and style. Oh well. RETURN
  • Market & Spruce Memphis Lace Overlay Knit Shirt – $58.00 So, I owned a few t-shirts similar to this one a few years ago and lived in them during the Summer months. When I opened this I thought it would be a keeper as I’ve seen it on friends and loved it. As you can tell from the picture, this is not a keeper and was actually quite unflattering. Oh well.  RETURN
  • Collective Concepts Dominique Split Neck Roll Tab Sleeve Blouse – $68.00 This top screamed me. It’s a flattering color, great work/weekend top and could be a perfect replacement for the one the dry cleaner killed this Summer. Unfortunately, this one was too boxy so even though I loved it, I unfortunately put it back in the bag to return. RETURN
  • RD Style Sorelle Water Resistant Jacket – $88.00 This jacket is just not my style. Polka dots? This many polka dots? No thank you.  I think I may request no jackets in the future as I don’t need them as much as I need tops, dresses, pants and skirts. RETURN 
  • Gilli Halie Dress -$58 As soon as I walked out in this dress Bo was like holy crap you have to keep this dress. I already have ideas of how to style it with a jean jacket or fun necklace. I love the style and fit as well as the price tag. I only paid $38 once the styling fee was applied. KEEP

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Overall, I really enjoyed this month’s Stitch Fix experience and am already looking forward to my March box. I am going to request lots of Spring colors and styles. Some people would probably call this box a fail since I only kept one item, but for me that is perfect for the amount I want to spend at this point. Want to try it yourself?

Use this referral link!

Have you tried Stitch Fix before? If so, what were your thoughts? 

The links to Stitch Fix are affiliate links as I have partnered with Stitch Fix to provide monthly reviews. Though Stitch Fix provided me with the first box free, I paid for the item I kept and all opinions are my own! 

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Running into Spring

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I’m not sure what it is about the winter months. The cold, chilly air motivates me to run outside as I’d rather run in cold weather than hot weather any day of the week. I mean come on guys, how much easier is it to add crazy amounts of layers and stay warm than strip down during those sticky months of Summer. While my dear friend Meghan once ran a 5k race naked, there are only so many layers that I can take off when running.

My mantra these past few weeks has been “these winter miles will make me stronger.” Each time I lace up my shoes and head towards Prospect Park for a few hilly miles, I focus my thoughts on what I’m training for and my personal goals for the upcoming season.

As I look towards to the Spring and Fall racing season, I have a different goal for each race on my list.

NYRR NYC Half Marathon – March 20th: PR CITY. This is the race in which I want to finally overcome the mental wall and break 2 hours. The multiple Mile High Run Club, Barry’s Bootcamp and NYRR coached run sessions are all in hopes of helping me get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Once we return from Tahoe, I have four weeks to focus all my efforts on this goal.

Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run – April 3rd: Have fun! This race has been on my race list for years and thanks to my friend Anne, it’s finally going to happen. The goal is to enjoy the miles with Anne, Theodora and others while taking in the sights of Washington, DC in the Spring.

Flying Pig Half Marathon – May 1st: Feel powerful on the hills. As an employee of Procter & Gamble, a Cincinnati based company, this list has been on my radar for years as we are one of the top sponsors. My friend Amy, who you may remember from the RNR Brooklyn Half, and I are running this together and our goals are to have fun and feel strong on the hills. This course is known for great crowd support and tough hills miles 5.25 until mile 10.5.

NYRR AirBnB Brooklyn Half Marathon – May 21st: Enjoy a run party with some of my favorite runnersThis race has always been a tough one mentally as the final seven miles are flat and boring once you leave Prospect Park.  Instead of focusing on the downsides of this race, such as the course, I’m focusing on the fact that I know more than 25 other people running through the streets of Brooklyn and this race will be a party!

Once I’ve finished these Spring races, I will spend the Summer months focusing on short distances again, similar to last summer. As part of my Rock’n’Blog partnership (Lots more news to come about this partnership as well as awesome DISCOUNT CODES!!) with Rock’n’Roll I will also add a few of their races to my Summer and Fall schedule. Right now I have my eye on Chicago, Philadelphia, Montreal, Brooklyn and Savannah.

So there you have it! When I’m not running, I’ll be focused on staying healthy and strong through cross training.

Your turn: Have you run any of these races before or any of the Rock’n’Roll races I’m considering? What’s your favorite? 

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