Turkey Day 10k Recap & Thanksgiving too

I signed up for the Turkey Day 10k again this year. And after Wine & Dine being half a race, I was happy to get an actual full race in.

Now, it hadn't been cooling off at ALL in Miami this "fall," so I was checking the weather like crazy praying for a little coolness to come through. Well, it was gonna be about 70ish, which is much better than 80, so I took it. I got my turkey shirt from Raw Threads and was ready to get my run on.

I woke up and got my outfit on and was ready to head to Tropical Park. I like this race, cause Tropical Park is down the street from my house (about 1 1/2 miles) and it's usually where I go for my long runs, so it's familiar turf. It was still dark, and when I stepped outside I noticed it... the rain.

Another race, another set of weather conditions to deal with. I got to the park, you have to enter through the other side for the race, and they were directing us to the parking. I got to park way out in the grass, and it was still raining. I sat in my car, slightly freaking out, thinking if I should call my mom to bring my poncho out to the park or not. I decided that she wouldn't even be able to get to me to be able to give me the poncho, so I decided to tough it out. I waited in the car as long as possible, then at about 7 I headed out to trek through the rain and huge puddles to the start line.

Eventually, I made it to the start line, where a bunch of other drenched runners were waiting. There were a lot of umbrellas and ponchos, but also a lot of people just getting wet. A bunch of us were waiting under a tree, which kind of lessened the rain a bit. Then it let up slightly, so I headed towards the start line. And then it started again. This time it was "big ol' fat rain" as Forrest Gump would say. Yeah, I think there was a collective groan at that point.

I am so thankful that I was wearing my visor, cause it kept the rain out of my face. It's the little things... That, and I'm thankful I was wearing black, so you couldn't actually see how wet I was.

Then about 10 minutes late (this race always seems to start a little late, I guess it runs on Miami time?), we were off.

At this point it was still raining, a little less than half a mile in we had to run around this enormous puddle that had formed right in the race path. I just kept telling myself that at the split for the 5k and the 10k, I'd just go and finish the 5k. At least I'd have gotten in some exercise and worked off my pie later. By the time we got to the front of Santa's Enchanted forest (right before the start of mile 2) it had stopped raining a bit, and I thought maybe I could do the 10k. But then the rain started again, and my feet were soaked from the puddles, and I was like forget that idea.

Soon enough the 5k/10k split was right in front of me. The majority of the people were heading to the 5k finish, and I saw a fewer amount of people heading to the 10k. My shoes were soaked, but I said screw it, I paid for a 10k, I'm getting my full 10k. I went right for the 10k and ran around another ginormous puddle and through a patch of nasty mud. Now I had squishy muddy shoes, but it was all good.

By this point the rain had stopped. Finally! The 10k ends up going to the end of the park that I usually enter on, so it was familiar territory for me. Last year after mile 4, it was really hard for me to keep going, so I was dreading that again. But after mile 4, I felt great still and mile 5 was great too. I blame all of this on the other workouts I'm doing for this (I'm in the middle of T25 <--my coach link right now). Different workouts totally build up that endurance.

Before I knew it I was headed back towards the track and the finish line. Now as I saw the clock right before the finish line, I saw it read about 01:19:something. I was kinda confused, cause I knew that this would make it a PR for me. WHAT?! How could that happen with rain and running around all those puddles?

I was totally shocked by the numbers on the clock, but didn't buy it. I went through and took my post race pic (and can I say YAY for free race pics!), and went to grab some water and food.

After waiting in the long line, I was glad to see there was plenty of food. I grabbed some harvest snaps (I love those things) and a banana and walked around a bit before heading to my car. Once I got there, I scanned the code on my bib to get my official finish time, and it was right there in front of me, a PR by about 3 minutes, 01:17:26!

I went home and after getting out of those wet clothes, I grabbed some breakfast, watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and grabbed a little nap. And before I knew it, it was time for a delicious thanksgiving dinner.

It was a great day that started with a PR and ended with pie. I had a new PR and a very full belly full of Mom's yummy cooking. That's definitely something to be thankful for.

Handmade Halloween

When Halloween rolls around for me it means picking out that costume and making it. My friends have asked me over the years why I don't just buy a costume, but buying a costume just doesn't feel like part of the holiday.

I was everything over the years....

a cheerleader,

a pumpkin,

a cavegirl, and so many more...

And this was the year, Mom tells me, that I insisted on a store-bought costume. Anyone else remember those terrible masks?

Since I was a little girl, Halloween was always a handmade holiday. I remember going to the fabric store and pouring over the pattern catalog until I found just the right costume. I'm thankful that Mom and Grandma were my costume magicians, making anything I wanted appear. Now that I can make my own costumes, I still love picking just the right one, and making it. It just feels right to me. Going to the store for a packaged costume is just not an option.

Anyone else have handmade costumes back in the day? How about now? Any ideas for this Halloween?

Holiday lights

Happy Three Kings Day (which is also the 12th day of Christmas), and the official close of the holiday season.

This weekend I went up to Disney's Hollywood Studios to check out the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. This was the last weekend before they took them down, and I had to go up and see them without running through them.

Before the lights came on in the evening we were walking around as the boys were watching the stunt show, and Veronica was napping. We saw Santa Goofy and Kris and I had to get our picture with him.

Then, the sun set and it was time for them to switch on the lights!

First they all came on, then they danced along with the music.

You can't see it in the pics, but it even "snowed" on the Streets of America.

It was even a little chilly, which was a nice change from the normal holiday 80+ degree weather which was actually how Christmas was.

The lights were great, it made me feel so Christmas-y. It was a great way to end the holiday season with my friends, enjoying the lights, and having a great time.

What are you doing for the 12th day of Christmas today?

Merry Christmas to all!

I want to wish all of you a very merry Christmas!

I spent my Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) at Matiti's house. It was great, since it was just next door.

We had a whole roasted lechon made in the caja china.

My brother, Angel, and my cousin, Marc, had pig duties. They did a great job, it was delicious.

It was a great night spent with friends and family. And, of course, my partner-in-crime, Abuela.

Christmas morning we had brunch here at my house. Mom put out quite a spread.

After we pigged out, it was time to open gifts.

We had a great morning and then it was time to just relax and enjoy the rest of day.

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas surrounded by friends and family, food and fun.

Decking the halls

It's finally December and Thanksgiving is done, so it was officially time to get busy decking the halls this weekend.

First, I had to deck out the Christmas tree. I went with red and gold balls and red ribbons. I also added some gold leaves and red icicles.

Then I it was time to put up our village. The village seems to keep growing and growing, but I think I may have to cut it off now, cause I have run out of places to plug them all in.

Then I prettied up the dining room table with a Christmas tablecloth and one of Mom's stuffed christmas trees, and I can't forget the snowman salt and pepper shakers.

I put the nativity set and a garland in the front entrance.

This nativity is new to us this year. It was my dear Tia Erenia's set, and after her passing last year her granddaughter brought it to us. Grandma wanted to put this one up, so I placed it right as you walk in.

I wanted to make the other side of the house festive too, so I hung wreaths on the bedroom doors.

And finally, a few wreaths on the outside doors too.

It's finally starting to feel like Christmas around here. Now, I'm just hoping for a few more days of chillier weather to make it really feel Christmas-y.

Thanksgiving baking

Each year, I'm tasked with making the desserts for Thanksgiving dinner. This is one of my big baking days, and every year I try to up my game. Last year I made my pie crust from scratch for the first time, and now I'll never go back to store bought pie crust. Here is what my homemade crust was filled with this year.

I have been told by Mom that there must be a pumpkin pie, so I will use my standard recipe. It always makes a great pie.

I always have a little leeway on the fruit pie side of things. I'm the one that really likes the fruit pies, so I feel like I can take a bit more artistic license, but I still like to keep it pretty traditional. I wanted both an apple and cherry pie this year, but I wanted a little something different. For the apple pies I tried the Pioneer Woman's flat apple pie. It was kind of weird working without a pie pan, but I crossed my fingers and put them in the oven.

They came out amazing and delicious. (And like she said, they were even better the next day.)

I wanted to make cherry pie, since it's Abuela and my favorite. I got these adorable tart tins in my prize basket for my award-winning cupcakes, and I thought they would be perfect to bake up some little cherry pies in. I used the crust I had left and was able to make 5 little cherry pie tarts.

They were so tiny and cute. I was worried that the crust wouldn't bake all of the way, since I was just inventing this recipe as I went, but it seemed like 45 minutes at 350 degrees did the trick.

What kind of pie did you have for Thanksgiving?

Happy Fourth!

Happy 4th of July to all you Americans!

I spent today by the pool with the family. We ate and enjoyed a dip in the pool while enjoying the sunshine. Well, more accurately, Mom and I enjoyed the pool and everyone else just came and ate.

We grilled hot dogs, had chips and tons of Abuela's favorite, nacho cheese dip.

I also made some strawberry daiquiris. I started off with the Kitchn's recipe, then added some sugar and sprite to make it a bit sweeter. They were yummy and refreshing.

And for dessert, we had something a little different than the usual. Casey brought some fruit pizza for dessert. It was sweet and delicious.

I hope everyone has a great 4th and enjoys the day with friends and family.

I'm so thankful every day to be born here is the USA!

The best of 2012

2012 is almost over and there were good times and some bad as well, but I know that 2013 is waiting with only the best expectations and intentions for all of us. But here's looking back at some of my favorite moments in 2012 (12 to be exact).

In January, I celebrated Mom's 60th with her Beatles party.

Then in February I tried my hand at cake decorating with Angel's Lego birthday cake.

Inspired by my cake making, Mom and I signed up for  the Wilton cake decorating class in March.

In April, I started my traveling, and headed out to Vegas!

My friends came down from Orlando for Memorial Day and we had wine slushies and cupcakes.

In June, I helped celebrate Lexi's Hunger Games birthday, as Effie Trinket.

It was a little belated, but in July we finally celebrated my birthday.

I developed my own recipe for peach cobbler in August.

In September, I came back from my trip to Paris!

I was so happy to help celebrate my niece's 1st birthday in October.

I love baking for Thanksgiving, and this year I learned to make my own pie crust.

And in December, I had a great time at the girls holiday dinner party.

I had some great times in 2012 and hope to make even more great memories in 2013.

Happy new year everyone! Here's to a 2013 filled with fun, family, health, laughter and love. Happy 2013!!