Goooood morning! Happy Tuesday to all of you! I’m doing things a little out of order this week, and recapping my weekend today since I wanted to get my book review in yesterday. Let’s get to it, shall we?
Friday
Ugh. Friday was the longest day ever at work. I’m talking 11 hours of non-stop spreadsheets. I had a deadline I couldn’t miss. By the time I left the office at around 6:30, I was exhausted, had a pounding headache, and couldn’t wait to just relax. I poured a nice glass of wine, wrapped some presents, and watched a couple shows on the DVR with Andrea. It was great.
Anyone else watching Nashville? We’re kind of obsessed with it.
Saturday
We woke up on Saturday morning, and had a ton of errands/house-related tasks on our minds. So me and Andrea hit up Target, Home Goods, and TJ Maxx to do some Christmas shopping and take care of errands. While at Home Goods, we saw the most ridiculous thing ever.
Please tell me who would spend $1,000 on a giant wooden antelope. Seriously, who?
Anyways, here’s some of the fun stuff we did buy.
A jingle bell collar for Logan!
And an adorable Santa bowl (that we filled with peanut butter M&M’s, naturally).
One of the main things I wanted to do was get started decorating the outside of our house. I had already bought a nice wreath at a local farm, but I needed a wreath hanger and a bow. It came out really cute!
We still want to put up some lights, but it’s a good start.
After shopping, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few ingredients. I had dinner plans with Matt that night, and I was cooking. The first time I’ve ever cooked for him! I asked him what he wanted, and he requested shrimp scampi. Eek, never made that before, but I was up for the challenge.
I followed a super simple recipe, and it actually came together really easily (shh, don’t tell Matt).
I made a special plate for myself on the side with GF pasta, so the rest was for him. The verdict?
He loved it! And ate that entire bowl. Like, half a pound of pasta! This man can eat haha.
He told me later that he didn’t actually expect me to make shrimp scampi. He said it more as a joke, but when I responded with “Ok! Cya at 7!” he just went with it! Haha, it’s one of his favorite dinners.
We hung out watching Netflix for a little while after dinner, then went out to the bar where my roommate works for a few drinks. It was a great Saturday night!
Sunday
Sunday morning came a bit earlier than expected thanks to that 3rd glass of wine the night before, so I wasn’t exactly feeling race ready. But me and Andrea had vowed to run this 5k at a relaxed, fun pace anyway. After all, it’s called the Downtown Jingle 5k. It’s supposed to be fun!
As we walked down in the morning, I said “I’m not trampling an 8 year-old little girl because I’m trying to PR in this race right now. Let’s just have fun.” That was the theme of the morning!
Everyone was dressed super festive, and they were blasting Christmas music at the starting line. Someone even transformed their baby carriage into a mini-sleigh, so cool!
The shirts we got were really nice too. Long sleeves, breathable fabric. I need more shirts like this! We dressed them up a bit more with some knee-high Christmas socks and Santa hats!
I ended up with a time of 28:55. I was actually pretty proud of that time! Considering I haven’t worked out consistently since oh, late September. The last time I ran 3+ miles outside was October 26th. Oof.
Back in the spring, I was running 3 miles in 25:20. Goes to show what a difference training and regular exercise makes! I’ll get back there, don’t you worry 
Believe it or not, this was my first 5k road race I’ve ever done. Can’t wait to line up a few more for the spring! It was so much fun.
Let’s talk. What was your first 5k? (I love hearing those stories!) Anyone else doing a Christmas themed race this year? You should! 
This post made my smile SO big!! I love the dinner that you made and that he enjoyed it! Yay!! And the Jingle 5k looks like it was SOOO much fun! I’m sorry that your Friday was so insane, but I’m incredibly glad that your weekend made up for it. And those shirts are ADORABLE!!
I’ve never run a 5k, but I’m looking to do a few in the coming year. They look like a tonne of fun!! Mind you, my coach wants me to run “serious” ones. Boo!
Thanks so much Chelsie!! It was kind of fun to cook for him, and I was so relieved he approved! The 5k was so much fun, running a “serious” one would be lots of fun too though! It’s such a short race, it’d be over in a flash!
Homemade shrimp scampi for the BF? I’m declaring you the best girlfriend ever! Glad Matt enjoyed it so much! My first official 5-K was my hometown’s 4th of July race two years ago. I was so nervous that I actually removed the timing strips from my race bib because I didn’t want everyone to stalk my finishing time, lol. It ended up going pretty well; my finishing time was around 24 mins., which would’ve been enough for third place in my age group had I left the timing chips on. Oops. Festive races are the best! I hope to run a Jingle Bell Jog this weekend, and hopefully, I can get a few friends to join me.
Hahaha! Thanks Carrie! I dunno about best girlfriend ever but it was definitely fun to cook for someone! That’s such a great story about your first 5k! Sounds like you definitely should’ve kept the timing chips on, but I’m sure you learned your lesson and have more confidence now! A jingle bell jog sounds like tons of fun, make sure you dress up in red/green!
What a great weekend! I think my favorite part is hearing all about your at home dinner date with the boy! I’m so happy he enjoyed your meal, and you two had such a marvelous night together xoxo!! I wish you would’ve posted a picture of you two though
Thanks so much Jessie! And I know, I should probably take more pictures of us, but it just doesn’t come naturally on an average Saturday night, you know? I’ll try to get better with it!
That looks like such a fun race! You’re adorable! And I love Logan’s new collar. I wish Max would go for something like that
Thanks!
Logan surprisingly loves his collar! He trots around the house, jingling away. He did not like the antlers we tried to put on him though haha, those did not last!
I was about 8 years old when I ran my first 5K. And I love your dinner date! Sometimes I like eating at home better than in a restaurant. Also, did you LOVE all the christmas decorations at target? I felt like I was in winter wonderland
Omg 8 years-old that’s so cool! I didn’t even think of running until I was in my early twenties haha. And yes I’m obsessed with all the Christmas decorations at Target, our tree is exclusively Target products! Haha all the ornaments, everything. Such good stuff!
Nashville rules!! My first 5k was the color run in DC, I wish I had capped it to 3 glasses of wine the night before, oof to that. I am doing a “Run with Santa 5k” on Sunday with my boyfriend and some of our friends. I have a sock monkey onesy I think I am wearing for it
Nice work finishing!
I’m beyond obsessed with Nashville, I perk up whenever I see it on my DVR and have to drop everything I’m doing. I’ve always wanted to do the color run! I should sign up for one in the spring. And omg, a sock monkey onesy for a race sounds pretty incredible. Have fun!!
those long days at work really kill me too. sounds like a great race, i wish I had a fun race on my agenda for this year.
Long days are the worst :-/ But it does make down time more rewarding! You should try to find a good deal on a fun race for this year, Groupon and Living Social are always coming out with things. Plus free t-shirts! haha
Haha, I would love to get that jingle bell collar for my dog, but I think she would be too embarrassed to move. I just recently discovered peanut butter M&Ms too, they are marvelous
Aww that’s hilarious! Too embarrassed to move haha, Logan is the opposite he tears around the house with his! Loves it. PB M&M’s are so good, I hadn’t had them in awhile but we saw the Christmas ones at Target and had to go for it!
Squee! I need that Santa bowl in my life! It even has cute little feeties – I die. And I may or may not kinda, sorta like the giant wooden antelope… definitely not for $1,000, but I wouldn’t turn it down if someone were to give it to me. Finding somewhere to put it would be a whole other story though…
I know! We love our Santa bowl, that was a Home Goods find I believe. And I’m kinddd of judging you for liking that wooden antelope hahaha! My boyfriend would probably love it in a “man” cave or something…if you had seen it in person. It’s seriously HUGE lol
A wooden GIRAFFE, yes. But antelopes don’t do anything for me
I’m running a jingle bell 8k this weekend, and I’m excitedddddd
That’s sounds like so much fun! A jingle bell 8k…hopefully you have some fun, festive gear to run in!
That run looks awesome! I’d better start googling to see if there’s something similar in my area. I’ve always wanted to run dressed in something ridiculous!
Definitely give it a good google search! There’s so many random fun runs out there, I’m sure you’d find something! And running in a santa hat was pretty much the best thing ever. Although I’ll admit my ears got a little warmer than expected! haha
Your scampi looks good! And holy cow, that antelope is absolutely ridiculous! Looks like a big joke. And if $999 is the Home Goods price, the original price must have been even more!! haha
Thanks! And I know, that antelope was just too absurd I had to document its ridiculousness. I didn’t even glance at the original non-Home Goods price…I was afraid of what I’d see! haha
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My only 5k I’ve ever done was this October. The Color Run! So fun!! I also wanna do the Glow Run that’s coming to our city in April. That one looks like lots of fun too! Maybe I’ll add a Christmas race to my agenda for next year too. This looks like it was a blast!
Ah that sounds like SO much fun! I’ve been wanting to do the Color Run for over a year now, I need to sign up for one this spring! And a Christmas themed race was definitely so much fun, I’d highly recommend it!
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