Zooma Half Marathon

Today I ran the Zooma Half Marathon which was in Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island. This is a women's race series. My running partner, Lisa, and Lisa's friend Heather and I signed up for it about 3 months ago. We stayed at the Hampton Inn in downtown Fernandina and it just happened to be right by the start! It was great because we were able to walk out to the start just a few minutes before the start.

Ready to start!

The course winds through downtown Fernandina...

On Center Street

...turns north on 14th street and crosses over a bridge which then leads you through a back gate into Ft. Clinch State Park. 

Beautiful morning!

After running to the beach access area, you turn around in the parking lot and run out of the park, onto the beach road and then end at the Ritz Carlton. The worst part was running through soft sand. It was a bit longer than 13.1 (more like 13.3.)

ALL DONE!

Although I did not set a personal record, I had a great race. It helped to have Michael and Annie along with Lisa's daughter, Rachel and her friend, Shelby cheering us on. We even had our good friends, John and Denise, cheer us on! They came up and stayed with other friends Lu and Sandy, who hosted us the night before for a tasty Tex Mex dinner!

Zooma had a nice after-party on the lawn at the Ritz but we were starving and ready to eat our well-deserved post-race burger, so we didn't linger long.

Our blingy medals

Thanks to Lu's suggestion, we ate at T Rays and had a great burger!

I even ate the bun and the fries!

Now that that one's behind me, I've gotta find something else to train for. My Sonlight pals have invited me to run in their hometowns. Hmmm...I'll have to see when those races are! Destination races are fun!

Sonlight Curriculum

I'm in Colorado for the Sonlight Training Conference, getting all trained up for the 2015 convention season. Sonlight is celebrating their 25 year anniversary and they have lots of cool things planned in conjunction with that.

Company luncheon in the warehouse

Clowning around with Donna of NH

I enjoy coming out here. This is my 7th training conference (one was in Florida) so it certainly feels familiar by now, but I still get a little thrill getting to go to HQ.

The indefatigable Luke giving us some computer training!
 (That's not a duck face. I caught him mid sentence.)

We had some snow on the first day, just for me because I prayed for it, but the weather started warming up after that.

We are feeling the absence of some friends who are no longer with Sonlight but we are making new friends with the new people. (Jamie of Alabama can be seen in the picture below. She's a stylish southern cutie and you can check out her blog here!)

Quick break between trainings

Sonlight has some fun stuff planned to celebrate their 25 years. One is a year-long blog party that they are hosting on the 25th of each month. Be sure to come back for my post on the 25th! If you're a Sonlighter and a blogger you can join the fun here.

Can you spot Sarita??

If you're a Sonlight and NOT a blogger you can share your Sonlight story here. Because if you are a Sonlighter you are part of the Sonlight timeline too!

Apple, Bacon, Caramelized Onion and Brie Pizza

It was pizza night, but rather than making our usual homemade pizza we decided to mix it up a bit. I remembered a recipe for an apple and brie pizza but I couldn't find it anywhere so I decided to just do my own thing. Since I didn't want to add a tomato sauce but thinking it needed something "wet," I decided to brown up some onions. The sweetness of the onion would complement the sweetness of the apples. I was initially going to use prosciutto to add a little protein and a salty element but the two stores Michael went to didn't have it so we made the switch to bacon. I recently discovered Hormel Black Label bacon (the link has a coupon) and it is my new favorite! I love it when the grocery store has it on BOGO and I have a coupon! I stock up and throw it in the freezer so I always have this yummy bacon on hand. This past Christmas we went through 8 packages of it! (I made a LOT of bacon wrapped dates!)

Onion and bacon

Back to the topic at hand. I sliced up the brie and the apple while the onion was slowly cooking in some olive oil and the bacon was cooking away in the microwave.

Apples and brie

When all the different elements were ready (mis-en-place), it was time to assemble the pizza. We were initially thinking of grilling it but now that we are using a cold fermented dough, it comes out really wet and hard to work with; it wouldn't transfer well to the grill. I stuck with baking it on a Pampered Chef  stone cookie sheet. First, I spread out the onion, sprinkling the bacon on top of that. Then I arranged the apple slices and finally, the brie.

Ready for the oven!

Since I didn't know if Timothy would like this "fancy" pizza (Annie was at a sleepover), I made a small regular pizza (sauce, mozzarella, bacon and onion) in small cast iron frying pan (picked up that tip recently somewhere but can't remember where). 

Personal pan deep dish delish!

Both came out beautifully. And tasted really great! 

The final product!

If you follow THM, this is on plan but a crossover since the dough (which was fermented for 5 days) and apple are E and the bacon and brie are S. Plus the onion (E) is cooked in oil (S). Regardless, it was tasty AND on plan!

Linking up with Skip to My Lou.

St. Augustine in 2015

Last year we decided to intentionally spend time visiting and getting to know St. Augustine better. It was so much fun that we decided to do it again this year!

We kicked off the first visit of the year with a trip to an art exhibit at the Visitor's Center. This exhibit was titled The First City Through the Eyes of Masters and is part of the 450th Commemoration of St. Augustine. It featured works from Florida painters of the 19th and early 20th centuries who wintered at Henry Flagler's Ponce de Leon Hotel (now Flagler College). These artists painted landmarks in St. Augustine, from the Castillo de San Marcos, to the city gates, to the slave market, to various buildings around town and would sell them to tourists, much like the galleries around town do today.

In the Visitor's Center

The exhibit had several of Frank Henry Shapleigh's works as well as William Staples Drown, Anthony Thieme and George Seavey and Michael's favorite, Arthur Vidal Deihl. All were part of a single collection belonging to Cici and Hyatt Brown who began collecting Florida artwork in 1997. The neat thing about this exhibit is they had photographs next to some of the paintings that show what the scene looks like presently. Check out this link for a sampling of the artwork.

The artwork was behind those walls. Photography was NOT allowed and being the rule follower that I am, I didn't take any pictures of the artwork. Unlike SOME people! *cough*

The exhibit also offered a walking tour where you could follow that map around town and see the current version of the historical paintings. But alas, the weather was not conducive to walking around town and gawk at buildings. However, despite the dreary weather, we did manage to walk to the Barley Republic, a pub on Spanish Street where we had a beer and a snack. The weather was much more conducive to this kind of activity!

Mine was a Kentucky Bourbon ale. Quite tasty! Michael had a cream ale that I didn't care for.

After that respite, we headed back to the Castillo parking lot to retrieve our car. 

Wet, wet, WET!

But not terribly cold, thankfully!

We decided to drive to the St. Augustine Distillery and check it out. We had been to the Ice Plant before but the Distillery is relatively new. They make small batch whiskey, vodka, gin and rum (but they didn't have whiskey or rum yet. )

We'll be Bahk!

We were too late for the tour so we walked around the static display and the gift shop but will need to come back in the summer when the rum is available. (My husband is secretly a pirate!)

Style Me Bloggers: From my closet...

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something in a shade of blue...

Lest you think that one of my children is getting married, let me be quick to assure you that is NOT what this post is about!

It's the topic for this week's Style Me Bloggers' post!

I put together an outfit that incorporated these elements. First up, *something old*. That was going to be easy since I have plenty of *old* things in my closet. Since Florida is seeing low temps, I decided on a pair of green J. Crew cords I have. I picked these up years ago at our church's garage sale. They were in a smallish size but Hey, J. Crew, and I *am* on a diet... Thankfully, since THM, I have been able to fit into these pants.

Again, since it's cold, I knew I would want to throw on a layering cami for warmth. This was a hand-me-down so another old thing.

Now for the *borrowed* and the *something in a shade of blue* (knock two birds out with one stone)... I wanted to pair the pants with a navy sweater but I had worn my cable knit blue sweater the day before and my cropped Gap one looked funny with so much cami sticking out. I asked my son if he had a navy sweater I could borrow and he had a comfy cotton J. Crew one! It just so  happens that he wears a small in men's and it fit me perfectly. Then I asked my daughter if she had a scarf I could borrow and she gave me two to pick from. I selected the floral one to lighten my overall look (navy and green can be pretty dark.)

And finally for the *something new*... I paired this outfit with my brand-new-never-been-worn Gap white puffer vest. I had been looking for a white puffer since the GYPO Fall Challenge but couldn't find one I liked that was in my price range. After Christmas, I had some returns to make at the St. Augustine Outlet Mall and went into the Gap. Found one there for $18!! I had seen it there before for $35 but didn't want to spend that much. (It was originally $60!) Score!

Also new (this season) are my Old Navy booties. I used to not be a bit boot fan. At. all. Now I own 4 pair: two tall and two short. I bought these for the Style Me Pretty Fall Challenge.

So there you have it! My outfit from my closet incorporating new, old, borrowed and blue items.

Check out the links below to see how the other Style Me Bloggers interpreted this post!

Shoes to Shiraz | Two Teens and their Mama | A Lovely Little Wardrobe | R Squared 

Confessions of a Frumpy Mommy | Family Love Inspiration Education  

The Mishaps and Mayhem of Solitary Life | The Blondissima | Positively Learning | Quilty Joy Joy

 Daily Style Finds | Sheila's Potpourri | Puppies and Pretties | She thought She Could 
 Foxy's Domestic Side | Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After | Sprinkled Just Right

An InLinkz Link-up

Black Currant Mustard Vinaigrette

Are you familiar with Aldi? We just recently got one in St. Augustine, about 40 minutes from where I live. About a month ago, several girlfriends, my mom and I decided to go on a field trip to check it out.

Aldi pride themselves as being different than other stores. If you've never been to Europe then it might feel weird, but I just felt like I was shopping in an Italian supermarket.

One thing that is different is that you pay to use a shopping cart. You put a quarter in the cart and then when you return it, you get your quarter back. That means that store workers don't have to go around the parking lot gathering up carts. Because if you're lazy and abandon your cart (and your quarter), you can bet your coin purse that there'll be someone who will return it and make a quarter! (*cough* mom)

Another thing you'll notice, when you check out, they only accept cash and debit cards. No credit. And no bags. You either bring your own or you can purchase a reusable bag.

While you're shopping you'll see items that look vaguely familiar but they won't be your conventional brands like Nabisco and Kelloggs. The packaging is identical except for the name. (I bought Peak Bars rather than Cliff Bars.) And you'll also be able to get in and out quickly because the store size is significantly smaller. Rather than stocking 30,000 items, they only carry about 1,400 of the most popular products.

On my trip, they had some seasonal items so I bought a nice 4-pack of mustards imported from France. Unfortunately when I got home I found one of the jars had broken. So it then became a trio.

Trio: the one that got away was basil mustard

When cooking dinner the other night, I decided to use one to make a mustard vinaigrette. Since I had just purchased raspberries and wanted to add them to my salad, I decided to try the Black Currant Mustard. Success! 

It was super simple. First I took a teaspoonful of mustard...

Then I added champagne vinegar (but any wine vinegar would do) and extra virgin olive oil. Added a couple of pinches of kosher salt, gave it a good whirl and BAM! Deliciousness! 

So yummy!

A perfect accompaniment to a salad of greens, feta, pecans and raspberries.

Try it! Fresh ingredients, no preservatives, super fast. Why wouldn't you? I'll try the same thing with the other mustards I got too: honey mustard and tomato and olive mustard. Don't those sound like they'll make lovely vinaigrettes?

Lemon Chicken Piccata

When your Meyer lemon tree provides you with lots of lemons, how is a gal to use them all up? The first thing that came to mind was Lemon Chicken. So I jumped on the trusty ol' Pinterest and did a quick search. Yup. LOTS of ideas came up! As I scanned the recipes, I wanted something that was not complicated and that did not have a lot of ingredients. Bingo. Found it! But I also wanted it to be "on plan" so I had to make a few adjustments to make it so. First of all, I eliminated the flour. I could have subbed some other on-plan flour but I just didn't want to. I pan fried the chicken cutlets (I made 8) in a tablespoon of butter.  

Cooked them in batches of 3

Then once they were all cooked (but not necessarily cooked through), I removed them from the pan and added a sliced shallot and let that brown up a bit. Then I deglazed the pan with some chardonnay (about 1/2 cup I reckon...I eyeballed it). Added in the juice of one Meyer lemon and then added the chicken back in, sprinkled it with salt, added a tad more wine and placed the lid on top. Simmered it about 15 minutes so that the insides were cooked through. [Side note: I love my Le Creuset pan that my dad found at a thrift store for $5.]

I served the chicken with zucchini fries and a salad dressed with black currant mustard vinaigrette. Tomorrow I'll share that quick and easy recipe with you!

Buon appetito!

One of my favorite sayings: "I love cooking with wine! Sometimes I even add it to the food!" certainly applies here. Salute!