My Project

This year I started 2 projects that I was pretty proud of- one being my tri-training blog, and the other being my cooking blog/resolution. Unfortunately I only kept up with one, the tri-training blog and even that has fallen to the wayside recently.

Nevertheless, I am so proud of the time I took to fill the blog with posts about my training, it is great to look back on it now and remember my experience. I look forward to keeping it full and valuable to all endurance athletes beginners or pros who come across it!

Blogs

This year started with me rediscovering cook and the joy of it. Unfortunately it waned in the later part of the year, I'm not going to worry too much because I have a feeling it will pick back up. I remain very interested in recipes and cooking, I just have lost my desire to get up and do it. I'll get back there. In the meantime this is a segway in to a blogger I only discovered this year and who has helped to keep me excited about cooking and also reinvigorated my love of photography is The Pioneer Woman. Her love story drew me in, and I stayed for the food, photography and most of the time her odd personality and quirky style of writing. Who can complain about all her giveaways too?
Here's to reading her in to 2010 and cooking and clicking along the way!

Bagels

I would say that bagels are one of my weaknesses when it comes to food. I tend to eat them a lot on weekends, and especially when I'm in NYC visiting the Boy (duh!). This past weekend I was there and we were having a late late brunch with friends, so I figured it was the perfect opportunity to enjoy a bagel in the earlier morning to tide me over. It was warm, and toasted to perfection and the sesame seeds gave it that extra factor I look for from them. The cream cheese was heavily smeared on- which I always enjoy- I highly dislike how some bagel joints really cheat you out of the right amount of cream cheese aka Brueggers.

Unfortunately it was not my lucky bagel day. First- my description of the bagel is from when it was first ready for my eating, it did not get handed to me until at least 15 minutes after that. At this point it was starting to cool and harden, utterly disappointing. I started to eat it anyway, can't waste a bagel when I have such a good excuse to eat one. Half way through, for reasons not to be outlined/detailed here, I was struck with the need to cry. Crying while eating/in food is never a pleasant experience. You try to muster through without letting it out and keep on plugging through eating- you figure it will distract you from the sadness. However, as you continue to eat the flow of tears do not subside, in fact your throat starts to swell a bit and eating becomes more laborious as you try to hold back your tears. This is when I would consider you are crying in your food. Although tears may not be falling, I still consider it crying because its the eating that is stopping them. This process completely ruins whatever you are eating. You lose your appetite, the food doesn't taste good anymore and all you want to do is sob, not be sitting in a little cafe eating a bagel that's gotten cold.

I haven't wanted a bagel since.

Breakfast

It seems that everyone always says breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
They say that if you skip breakfast you'll eat more throughout the day- now there have been times when I've felt this was true. One of those days where your run around crazy in the morning, setting up for a meeting or preparing handouts which means standing over the copier and collating to paper clip something delicate that can't be stapled, etc and by the time you know it- its noon and you're ready for lunch- and its a free lunch with dessert and hell why not have two cookies- you didn't have breakfast, remember?
Back in high school when it was time to take the SATs they drilled into to us that having breakfast in the morning of was of the utmost importance. Almost saying, "if you want to do well, get into a good school and be successful in life- of all days on this one eat breakfast."
My point is, all these things have really stayed with me. I really make breakfast a priority. If I wake up on the weekend and its edging on the cusp of lunch time and I need to go to the gym- I go later, so I can be sure to get breakfast in.
Sometimes I'll plan days around going out in the morning for breakfast, there are so very many great choices for the morning meal.
Omelets with anything you can think of in them- why is that eggs go with everything!?- Eggs cooked in many other ways with sides of yummy meat (I actually prefer the turkey versions of those meats but know quite a few people who adore the pork versions) and breakfast potatoes (hash browns (with cheese!), home fries, pan grilled mashed potatoes (mmm soundbites style), Bread products that are delicious with butter, jams, cream cheeses, French Toast, Pancakes with berries or chocolate or other fruit... Its all GOOD.

This morning I called Matt to wish him well on his final (leftover from the end of last semester due to the strike) and found myself having this conversation:
"Are you going to have breakfast?"
"No."
"What! You have to eat breakfast, you'll do so much better if you do."
"Oh, I have to go- I've got another call coming in."
"Okay, good luck on your final and have a good breakfast!!!"