Sandy

As we sit here in Day 5 of no power, we are thankful for a lot of things.  We are lucky that our house was not hit by trees, we have running water and a hot water heater that works, a generator to keep our sump pump and fridge working but more importantly we are all safe and no one in my family was hurt. 

I will share a few photos of some homes in our town:

Back in August, Scott and I introduced the Sanger's to the Jersey Shore.  The Jersey Shore is devastated from the hurricane and I wanted to show a few pictures from Spring Lake, NJ where we were with the Sanger's riding our bikes along these roads. 

 Picture of the remaining boardwalk in Spring Lake, NJ

 Piece of the boardwalk that ended up 4 blocks away from the ocean.

 The boardwalk with none of the "boards" on anymore. 

Jersey is keeping Jersey Strong!  We will recover!

Cookie Exchange

The holidays are quickly approaching, some stores already think Christmas is here, and a few girlfriends and I are doing a Cookie Exchange for the first time this year. 

We are doing it a little different in that we are each choosing 2 recipes and meeting at my house and baking all of the cookies that day.  At the end of the bake-a-thon we will be walking home with cookie tins full of all varieties of cookies!  Here is the question to you all:  What type of cookies should be my 2?  What are your favorite type of Christmas Cookies?

I was thinking of this little gem as a possibility:  Spritz



And maybe these as my 2nd option. - Linzer Cookies

Here is the problem, I love dessert and love so many types of cookies (mainly those without chocolate in them) that it is hard to choose just two.  I also feel they should be "different" from the norm to add some character.  What do you all think?

Iron and Candy

A day late with this post but we were busy yesterday so that is a good excuse! 

Yesterday, we celebrated our 6th Wedding Anniversary!  Everyone always says time flies.  It is so true since it doesn't seem like it was seriously 6 years ago that I was walking down the aisle and getting married.  Needless to say, it has been a wonderful 6 years and I look forward to many more!

Before and After 40

I am still at 40lbs down and holding!  I have been working out with a personal trainer once a week since March and although the scale hasn't moved I have dropped another pant size due to "trimming the fat".  I am not complaining there! 

When I started to loose the weight a  lot of people kept saying "Wow you lost a lot of weight in your face.  I didn't think your face was that big."  I think these pictures below of the before and after truly show that.

I officially went from a size 12 (probably should have been a 14 but I refused to buy a 14) and now I am a 6!  It took me from May 17, 2011 till a little before March 15, 2012 to reach my goal of 40lbs. 

It amazes me how much I let myself go considering how hard you have to work to take it off.  During the 10 months it took me to loose the weight, I had set milestones up so that I would push myself to get to a certain weight lost by that certain date.  Most of the dates dealt with vacations.  Heather helped me to the first one because we were headed on vacation with each other to the OBX and we both wanted to loose 15lbs by then.  Although I missed each of my milestones by a few pounds and ultimately didn't reach my goal by Christmas which was our trip to Hawaii I was damn close and ultimately felt good about me and who I was then. 

How did I do it?  Running lots of miles.  It started with barely going out for 2 miles and then slowly adding on and on until I hit my max mileage of 8 miles in August 2011 and it felt great!  I did watch my portion sizes but not once would I not have dessert or that something special because in my mind you need to enjoy life and I refuse to "give up" the things that I truly enjoy.   

Today I still set goals which help me going.  I recently completed my first ever half-marathon, I still work out with the personal trainer once a week at my house, I still go out running, I still watch my portions although I don't eat nearly as much because now my stomach gets full quicker as it is used to smaller portions and I still eat and drink that things that I enjoy.  It is the balance that I keep to enjoy life and keep healthy. 

What is the next milestone?  Scott and I are talking about running the NYC half marathon in March as long as it falls before our trip to Hawaii. 

My Sunday

My sunday went a little like this.

Mile 8

Mile 9

 Mile 11

Finish Line:  2:26

The reward for running 13.1 miles- Banana Foster French Toast!

Welcome to Jersey

New Jersey or as some may say "Joisey" has a lot to offer other than reality TV shows such as Jerseylicious, Jersey Shore, Housewives of New Jersey, The Sopranos, Cake Boss and many more.  After our last trip down to Raleigh to see the Sanger's a plan was put in motion for them to come see all that the Jersey has to offer.  The details were all worked out and we were ready to greet them upon their arrival to Casa de Tune.

The day was here and the room was all set with some new attire for the Sanger's trip to the shore. 

It is hard to read what the hat says that Heather is sporting here but it is a bright yellow hat that reads "Jersey Girl" in fluorescent colors.

We headed to Sea Girt (aka Secret beach to Jason) and checked in to The Beacon House which is a block off the beach.  We had a few days of the beach which was good weather on all but one day. 

We enjoyed some blood orange vodka and soda cocktails before a few dinners (compliments of the Sanger's from their trip to the Dog Fish Head Brewery) . 

Had some good meals including the Lobster mac and cheese below

Watched the fist pumper's start lining up during dinner to get into the Parker House

Skipped a few lines and went VIP style into the Parker House

Enjoyed the $1 beers at the bar

Then headed back to our place for a serious game of Monopoly Deal. 

The loser of the game had to run a lap around the block which lead to a little road block with a guy getting pulled over for drinking. 

Enjoyed some fine local Jersey shore treats after a bike ride.

It was now time to settle the score of the BLT's.  We headed back to Casa de Tune on Saturday just in time to turn it around and make a trip over the George Washington Bridge and down the Major Deegan to exit 5:  Yankee Stadium.  With bleacher seat tickets in hand and the sun shining we watching the Yankees take on the Red Sox.  Let's just say that the Bad Luck Tune's (BLT's) have officially lost their name with the Red Sox winning on our home turf.  Needless to say, we all had a good time at the game besides the sun being a little too warm and never wanting to go under cloud cover.

We headed back to Casa de Tune for one last Jersey style meal and introduced the Sanger's to a thinny thin pizza.  It is the bomb.  Just imagine a very thin pizza with a burnt cheese crust. 

The Sanger's left on Sunday morning to make the drive back to Raleigh but Jersey will always have a home in the Sanger's house!

Renovation update

Renovations are 99% completed now and are actually being wrapped up today as we were waiting for a new end panel to get delivered which came yesterday.  While the savings account has been rapidly dropping with this renovation we are thrilled with the outcome! 

Our hostess is awaiting your arrival to join us for a meal in the new space.

  Come be out guest (I promise she only licks)!