So here we are a full year after my ACL reconstruction and medial meniscectomy. 

So this latte is a little different from the other recipes because it contains alcohol. What's even better about this latte is that it's a Lazy Girl Latte. You guys know I love my lazy girl lattes.

I have been in love with orange mocha lattes since Starbucks introduced them years ago. They were only around for one season, never to return again. It made me sad, but I was determined to find a way to recreate the magic, and boy did it take some trial and error. I couldn't get the simple syrup right for the orange flavoring, or the orange extract wasn't quite enough. It was always something, and then one night I got frustrated and just made a regular mocha. I wanted to add a little something-something to it, so into the liquor cabinet I went and I realized we had a small bottle of Grand Marnier left over from Christmas cooking baking! Sweet! So I poured about a shot's worth of liquor into my latte and then realized that there wasn't even half a shot left in the bottle, so I dumped that in too.

IT WAS AMAZING. This was the coffee I'd been trying to recreate for all those years. I am now going to (finally) share the recipe with you all.

Orange Mocha Latte

• 8 oz strong coffee or espresso
• 1 C milk**
• 1/8 C hot cocoa mix
• 1½ oz Grand Marnier or Triple Sec

Add the hot cocoa mix to the mug before brewing your coffee, after you've brewed the coffee stir until mixed. Add liquor. Follow the recipe for our original Mason Jar Latte {HERE} to froth the milk. Omit the sugar.

** Instead of using milk and hot cocoa mix, you could substitute 1 C chocolate milk and then just heat up the chocolate milk in the same manner as the milk.

And that, my friends, is the latte that Dana has been begging me to share for well over 6 months.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

There are so many emotions right now. Thankfully the majority of them are good emotions, but I am super excited to share some really amazing, gigantic, huge news!

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How is it already May!?!

Where has this year gone? Why are we already 5 months into 2019?

Ok so that was a lot of questions all at once, but I'm a little dumbfounded.

I'm also a little dumbfounded at how little I've posted this year, but yet I have more content than I ever usually have. It's getting to the point where I'm going to have a huge heap of backlogged posts!
Today's post is more inspirational calendars for y'all. I made these for myself and my new training plan before I'd even finished the last training plan or running Nashville. I get ahead of myself sometimes. That's ok though. I like to have a plan.

Failing to plan is planning to fail. 

 Ben Franklin

Whatever. I am who I am and I like having a plan. It helps me feel like I'm in control. I also had an inkling that the training I did for Nashville was not going to cut it for what my goals are, so I made a more thorough and comprehensive plan, and by saying I made, I really mean I consulted many, many, many training plans and came up with a 20 week plan that I think is going to really help me and my goals.

Just like the last inspirational training calendar post, I am not going to share my training plan. I made it for me, and I am not a professional. I'm hoping that this plan achieves what I want, but in reality, I know that I need time and to keep working at my goals. Getting back to where I was is not going to happen overnight and it may not even happen this year. Getting back to where I was is probably going to take years, and I'm struggling with that new reality. Some days are better than others, but there are moments and days where I'm frustrated and angry. There are moments and days where I've performed at a level less than what I want but I am nevertheless elated. I don't have a  formula for what's going to work, but I have common sense, experience, and the drive and determination to keep going - to keep pushing until I've either achieved my goals or settled somewhere that's my best and that's all that matters.

All of that led me to a 20-week program that culminates with the running of the Prince William Half. My very favorite race, but there's a catch. Right now I'm slower than the minimum pace time. I have work to do, and it's luckily already started. I said I was going to take two weeks off after running Nashville, but that lasted a hot minute. I've already logged two workouts, and one was focused on hip strengthening which I am sorely lacking. I'm going to do a full write up of Nashville here in the next few days, so be on the lookout for that.

So without any more delay here are the calendars for May - September. Just click on the images and you'll be directed to my google drive where you can download the images.





Thank so much for stopping by!

I'm finally getting around to sharing some of the outfits I made for our cruise back in February. Let me tell you - January was a whirlwind of sewing. I got so many new things sewn up that some didn't even get packed. I also forgot to take a lot of pictures of the outfits on the boat as well. Luckily, it's starting to warm up here in Virginia so I'll be able to snag some pictures of the outfits that need them.

The cruise had 8 informal nights and 2 formal nights, and I wore this crushed green taffeta number on the first of the two formal nights. The lovely thing about crushed taffeta is that it doesn't matter if it wrinkles because it's already wrinkly! Ha! It's the best thing for packing!

So back to the pattern, this pattern was super easy to sew up. It's a sheath style with some detailing at the neck and shoulders. I was able to alter it for me with no hiccups. The pleating at the shoulders is a nice touch and creates such an elegant neckline. It is a bateau style neckline, but with the way the front is pieced together, it adds a bit of a triangular shape to it rather than the traditional scoop.

I paired this fun 60's sheath with an old pair of Jessica Simpson snake print pumps and kept the jewelry classic, just pearls, and simple earrings. I love how the shoes, while fun, don't overshadow the dress.

I would say that this pattern would be good for someone who has sewn for a little bit and is ready for a bigger challenge. The zipper could give you some issues, but really the dress doesn't ask you do to do anything that is overly challenging.

I apologize for the lack of pictures, but this is the one and only picture of this dress that was taken.

Thanks for stopping by!

What is this? I'm posting again? What!? 
So, no, I didn't make these calendars in my sleep and they're not exactly new.

Let me first explain the bad dream. I dreamt that I was going in for surgery again, this time for my foot, and it was going to take 6 weeks to even start moving again. I freaked out in a big way.

What about my running?

The snarky dream doctor retorted back with, "What running?"

Well, eff you dream lady doctor. I woke up in a bit of a state. I was angry, agitated, and annoyed. I think I got all the A's covered, but the stark realization was that my subconscious was absolutely right. I haven't been running the way I know I need to to get ready for Nashville. 

I know I'm scared. I'm scared of so many things, but apparently, the thing I'm most afraid of is never doing it again.

And all of this brings us back to today's post - New Inspirational Calendars.

So these are not "new" in the sense that you've never seen them before. They're not that new, but they're new in the fact that I added color, updated them for 2019, and added a training plan to them that I think I'll be able to stick to. The original post for these calendars is {HERE}.

No, I don't think I can run 5 days a week. I couldn't do that reliably before, so it'd be silly of me to expect it this time around. Not to mention, that my husband might murder me if I put that kind of pressure on myself and have it leak over to the family.

I woke up this morning knowing exactly what I needed to do. 3 runs a week, 2 days of cross-training, 2 rest days. Adjust as needed, but that long run needs to get done. Every. Single. Week.

A quick google search landed me on a doable training plan, that I tweaked for myself. The original plan is from Snacking in Sneakers {HERE}, but like I said, I changed mine. No, I'm not going to share it, because I don't know what works for y'all. I'm not even sure this is gonna work for me, but I'm gonna give it a go.

Here are blank copies of the calendar, in case you want to download your own copies and get started on your own training. Just click the pictures for the full-size version then right-click and save as.

So it's been a while since I've written a post, and it's not for lack of content. Since September there have been many, MANY, outfits made, coffees consumed, and even some training completed.

I'm here to talk to y'all about how sweet my husband is, and the recovery road I've been on since my last installment 6 months ago. Yes, I know, I've been a bad blogger.

In October, my PT ended and I was on my own for recovery and training. It was daunting, but also a little refreshing. I had no one to answer to but myself, and while I was frustrated with starting over it was good for me to retrain myself in self-discipline.

I'm not saying that I did a stellar job at it. There were way more days that I should've plowed through a workout rather than skipping it, but I will also say that I pushed harder on the days I worked out. I tried to put 100% out there each and every time, and I must say that I'm rather pleased with myself.

I judged myself on my numbers, even when I shouldn't have, but I also did some reflection after each run and figured out where I improved and where I still need to improve.

It used to be that I could head out on a run and reach pace and keep it there. I'd start off at the pace I was going to finish, and that is not the case anymore. It takes a good mile to 1.5 miles to fully warm up, but holy moly when I do warm up it's like opening up all 8 cylinders. Everything becomes smoother, easier, more fluid. My gait lengthens out and I start using more of my stride.

 My stride length that has been one of the numbers bothering me. Before the injury, my stride length was almost a full meter long (39" or so for those not up on their metrics). After surgery, my stride length dropped to ~ 32" or .81 of a meter. That's 7" missing from each and every step! That's a lot of inches when you figure that on average I had been taking ~100 SPM (steps per minute). So if I'm shortening my stride by 7" each step, that's 700" or ~18 meters every minute. A mile is 1609 (1600 for sake of simplicity) and if I'm shortening my stride by 18 meters every minute and it's taking me 14 minutes to finish a mile, that means that I'm losing 234 meters a mile. I was losing 1/8th of a mile every mile because my stride length was shorter. Well, no wonder my mile time was slower. I mean other than the fact that I just had surgery as well, but I was not prepared for my stride length to be so greatly affected. So with this knowledge in hand, I knew that part of my focus during training was to regain my stride.

I got bored with the interval training plan that my PT had laid out for me, so I switched it up a bit and started a 5k training plan from Garmin. I went with the Garmin plan because 1) the coach I picked was a PT, 2) the workouts could be downloaded directly to my watch, 3) it was a plan I felt like I could stick to. I then deviated a little from the plan, because the intervals were boring. I did not want to be walking, so I switched up the walking bits to a slow jog, and then pushed it during the running bits. I ran as fast as I could sustain for the duration of the interval and it was hard. My warmup period is much longer now, and those first few short workouts were frustrating because I never did get warm, but towards the middle/end of training the workouts got fun. I hit my happy and my running bliss had been found.

I did discover that my feet had had a little too long to be pampered and all of my protective callouses were gone but they're coming back. My feet also don't look like runner's feet anymore. They've gotten a little soft and cushy, whereas before surgery they were lean and you could see the muscles and tendons in my feet. They looked like feet that knew how to work. At least to me. Maybe I'm a little crazy to be waxing poetic about my feet, but let's be honest, feet are pretty amazing.

There was an ironic comfort in all of the familiar aches and pains that came with training again. Yes, it was familiar but it also felt new. I was acutely aware of my knee and the muscles in the right leg. I knew when I was favoring the left and my hips complained. I missed it. I missed the proof of work. I missed the proof of progress. Having some glorious weather for some of the training runs also didn't hurt. Even the cold weather was nice, I do love me some cold running.

So the hubs and I discussed when the 5k should take place, and I told him that I'd like to do it while we were on the cruise. Fresh, sea air, sunshine, wind, what better things for my first distance race since July? We decided that our 2nd day at sea would be pretty ideal for the race and that was that.

We ran on the treadmill the day before the race. It was awful. I hate the treadmill. They're not long enough for me. It kept yelling at me. The undulating motion of the ship was making it worse. Hubs had no problem. I'm glad that his run went better than mine, but I'm a firm believer that a bad rehearsal can make for a great performance, and that run was definitely not one of my finest.

So the night before the race, we were getting back into our room, and the hubs says he has a surprise for me. He pulls out an envelope which I had almost seen while unpacking our bags two days before, but he had interrupted my unintentional snooping. Inside the folder was a race bib.

He made me a custom race bib. He had titled our race the Americal Caribbean League 5k and the number on the bib was 219. I didn't think much of the number because it was February 2019. He then explained that 2/7, race day, was 219 days since my surgery. I am not ashamed to admit that I teared up. This was one of the sweetest things he's ever done. I know that my training, my neurosis when I don't run, recovery, surgery, well all of it can drive him insane, but for him to do this was overwhelmingly poignant.

Race day dawned bright and early and I was ready. I was excited. I was nervous. He was sleepy, and maybe not as excited as I was. I was already in the right mindset. I was going to own this or give it my all while trying. Then we discovered that the gym was closed. It didn't open until 7 am. It was 6:30. We had a time schedule to keep. Breakfast was being delivered to the room around 8. We needed to be back by then, so then we headed out to the Promenade Deck (Deck 7) and the outside deck was closed. Well crap, we're going to have to go up to Deck 19 and run on that itty bitty track. Steve did the math. 16 laps around equaled a mile. It was going to take 50 laps to equal a 5k. Terrific. Well at least it was a gorgeous morning and I was spending it with my hubby.

We start running. Going in the opposite direction of the few walkers that were up there. My watch screwed up, ok I screwed up and hit the wrong setting, so then I had to restart the race, but race distances always vary, right? Then we were back to it.

We hit a mile done, and I was getting warm. My pace was 13:25 and I was pretty happy about that. It's where I've been running the first mile, and everything was starting to loosen up.

About halfway through the next mile, I found my happy. My stride opened way up and I took off. I felt like I was eating that track up. My legs felt good, even though I wasn't pushing. I was running what felt natural. It was glorious. The sun was coming up and more people were coming up to the deck. Most were walking, but some were up there to take pictures. I was happy as long as everyone stayed out of my way. I would've been more than willing to plow into someone. There was no way I was stopping for anyone. Steve was falling back, but he was holding up. The 2nd mile was done in 12:49.

The last mile went by so fast that I don't even remember most of it. Steve dropped out of the race because his knee was killing him. The concrete was hard on it. He stood at one end of the track talking with people and cheering me on. I focused on my form and using my full stride. Occasionally, cursing at people who were using the track as a photo op. There was another cruise ship on the port side. I asked if he'd seen what line it was, he hadn't. There was an odd comfort in the fact that the track was so little and I was going faster than I had been. I finish the 3rd mile in 12:25. Hell yea!

I ended the 5k with a time of 40:10, avg pace 12:52, avg SPM 138, and a stride length of .91 meters (36"). I am over the moon with all those numbers.

After the race, we walk back down to our room, where the hubs awards me the official ACL medal and we realize that we're not completely right in the head because our children are all still asleep, and we got up to run before the sun rose, while on vacation. It was pretty fantastic.

Breakfast gets delivered and we set it up for them. Small Fry wakes up then and we tell him that breakfast is here for them, and we're off to a celebratory breakfast.

We didn't run again while on the boat, but never fear I've already got the next plan ready and the hubs and I will be ready for RnR Nashville at the end of April!

Have you ever made a pattern and realized that you horribly messed it up by choosing the wrong fabric?

I have!

That's the story with this pattern. Well, actually patterns. Today is a two-for-one deal where I'm actually reviewing two patterns.

So we all know that exercise clothes can leave a lot to be desired when it comes to fit, colors, patterns, and most importantly pockets!

I do love that more and more styles of leggings are coming in longer lengths and we're seeing more and more pockets, but (isn't there always a but?) the only leggings that come in long lengths are the ankle length leggings. Don't get me wrong, it's great that I can finally get leggings long enough so that I don't have to layer socks over my ankles to keep them warm, but the problem I have is that they don't make capris in long length. It's so awesome to buy capri-length leggings and have them hit me just below the knee. I know, I know, capris are supposed to hit below the knee, but let's clarify - they're supposed to hit several inches below the knee not right at the back of my knee, would it kill a store to make some long length capris? So there's the crux of my legging problem. I want me-length capris that are cute.

Look at all the options!

Enter the first pattern I'm reviewing - Simplicity 8560

There are a couple of looks to choose from on this pattern, but the one I was interested in was the view with those killer deep thigh pockets. POCKETS! Can you guys feel my excitement over these pockets?

So now that I'm done gushing about those killer pockets, it was also nice that the inset was finished off with some fun twists at the end.

Unfortunately the first time I made this pattern I used a super fun contrast fabric for the inset, and that fabric was perfectly fine. Just a lightweight athletic knit that I found on fabric.com. Luckily, I ordered enough of the fabric to get a few things made out of it. The main fabric, however, was a different story. It had some lateral stretch, no vertical stretch and I would definitely not classify it as a suitable knit for athletic wear, but that's where I found it - listed under athletic fabric. Oh well, that's the danger of buying fabric online. I much prefer visiting a store and being able to feel the fabric and see how it moves, flows, and stretches.

Even though the fabric choice was less than stellar for both patterns, I knew that these patterns were gonna be great, so a trip to Jo-Ann's fixed my main fabric woes. They have this great black refined Ponte (pon-tee) knit. It's so great that I've gone back and bought more of it. I really love this fabric. Jo-Ann's does carry a couple different types of Ponte knit, but this particular one is thicker than some of the others, but it's not as thick as a scuba knit. So now that I have the proper fabric, I'm super excited to get these patterns made again.

As with most knit patterns, cutting it out takes as long as sewing it up. Actually, altering the pattern to be the proper length for capri-length leggings for me is the most time-consuming part of this process, and I will admit that I was a little over-zealous with the lengthening. I think I should have only added 3" instead of 4", but c'est la vie!

Look at those twists!

So the guide sheet is straight-forward and offers some tips/tricks for knits and athletic wear. Most of the pattern can be sewn up on the serger which makes it super quick and easy. I topstitched most of the seams with a zig-zag stitch. The most complicated part of this pattern are the twists at the bottom of the leg. I would say to double-check which way you twist those things because there may or may not be a twist on my leggings that isn't going the same way as the other 5.

For once, I was really smart and cut out several things at once. So once I got the leggings done, I could move right on to the sports bra, Simplicity 8561.

The first time I made the sports bra I was nervous because other than bathing suits, I've never made a bra and let's be honest a sports bra is not the same thing as a bikini top. I am glad I had the practice on the terrible fabric while making the bra. The inset on the bra took a bit to finagle and get it right, but the second version came out much better. Of course, having the new perfect fabric was also a huge help.

Even the back is fun!

So the bra is super simple to assemble. All of the pieces are sized just like the bras you buy in the store, so it's not like you need to know an alternate size like you do for regular patterns. I was nervous when I remade the pattern because the first bra was so tight and uncomfortable, but I knew it was because of my horrible fabric choice. So the 2nd one was much better, but definitely not a running sports bra. I think when I make this bra again (and I will) I may make it a size smaller. I should have probably done that from the get-go. Just going with a smaller band size might work too.

I took a class a while ago about designing your own exercise clothes, and the teacher advised that you could/should make the clothes a size smaller if you want the clothes to be more form-fitting and have a more compressive feel. I do love me some compression tights, but for the legging pattern, I'm perfectly happy with how tight they are, especially since I have gained a little bit of weight back since the surgery. Not a whole lot mind you, but enough to where I notice that my clothes are fitting slightly different. I would go with a smaller size for the bra though. There is a bit of wiggle room and while that might be ok for yoga, I will be running again and I don't really feel like getting whacked in the face by my own bosom.

You can't even tell which is the busted leg.

I would definitely suggest this pattern to someone who is ready to branch out into knits and/or exercise clothes. I get it. Knits can be scary, and so can exercise clothes, but these two patterns are well written and easy to follow. I don't know that I'd recommend these patterns to an out-of-the-gate novice, but to someone who has sewn for a bit and is ready for a new challenge. I would recommend though that if these patterns end up being your first foray into sewing knits then make them in a cheaper knit. I wouldn't go with a slub knit, but maybe a decent cotton interlock, because the athletic knits can get pricey and you don't want to go experimenting on expensive fabric only to mess it up.

I couldn't resist sharing this goofy pic!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Man, it's been a hiatus!

I apologize for the unintended break in posts. It's not for lack of posts, it's me. Man, that sounds like a terrible line, but it's the truth.

I spent most of August reclaiming summer. I took the kids to the pool, went to PT (a lot), and learned to walk again. Well learned to walk properly. Who knew that I didn't know how to walk properly before busting up my knee?

I will say before I get to the goods, and how today's post came about, that everyone needs to visit PT once in their life just so they can be told how bad their posture is and the steps to correct said bad posture. Don't get me wrong - I love PT. I love going and I love my girl, but she takes up 1.5 hours (at least) 3 times a week. It's a time investment, but I've improved by leaps and bounds. My flexion has improved to 132° and the front of my leg has passed the pencil straightening test. The back of the knee is a different story, but we're seeing improvement every day. Suffice to say the knee is functionally straight, it's just not symmetrically straight with my other leg.

So now onto the delicious coffee goods. Back in April, when I visited Dana we stopped by many, many, MANY coffee shops and one of them, forgive me I don't recall which one (Dana is informing me that it was The Well) had the uber-delightful latte. It was a Juniper Rose latte, and it was so very good. Unfortunately, it only came in one size. Small. That stinks. I drank that cup of coffee so fast, that Dana was still eating and only halfway through her own latte.

Fast forward to Dana's visit in August, we had a great many plans to experiment with lattes and various flavors. We failed. I didn't try out crap, but Dana did manage to pull out one Honey Rose latte the day she left because Wegman's (the greatest grocery store ever) carries rose water.

This post isn't about her Honey Rose Latte, but it did lead me to start remembering about the Juniper Rose Latte. Dana is going to be so pleased that I have created a not lazy girl latte. I mean, they are kind of my thing, but this magnificent creation deserves some effort. Not a lot of effort, mind you because let's not go crazy. This is me after all.

So after a quick web search to confirm what my thought process was brewing up (Ha! You see what I did there?) it was time to get cooking. By the way, this is a hot latte. I suppose you could make it up as a cold one, but why would you?

Ingredients

• 2 Tbs Juniper Pods (culinary ones, please don't get some from your garden)
• 1/2 C Sugar
• 1/2 C Water
• 4 or 8 oz Espresso or Strong Coffee
• 1 C Milk
• 1/2 Tsp Rose Water

Directions