Livin' the Dream in Lima

I haven't talked running much on the blog lately... heck I haven't talked much on the blog lately at all. The last big running thing I did was the Columbus Marathon back in October. I've taken the last several months very easy running-wise. Running what I want, when I want. If I don't feel like it, I don't worry about it. I've still been in the 30+ miles a week range, which might seem like a lot. (But back in the spring when I was training for Boston, I was putting in 55-60. So it's really been cut in half.) It's really kind of funny - I am way less  busy now than I was last spring. (When I was teaching + baking 80+ hours a week.) I had no problem getting motivated to run back then. I was up before 5:30am everyday of the week! Now that I'm working a much more normal amount (probably 35-45 hours, depending on the week), it's so much harder to get the runs in! I don't know if I've just come to appreciate sleep, or if it's being on...

After a busy, busy holiday season, I've decided I'd like to try to get back into blogging a little more regularly. I really miss having a place to write out my thoughts, musings, and whatever's on my mind. I also really enjoy being able to look back on different times of my life... and crazy shenanigans that have occurred. So, first post back - just a glimpse at the last month or so. 2013 was a great year, and we have so much to be thankful for. At the beginning of December, Sara's Sweets took part in the Downtown Lima Holiday Fest. We offered cupcake decorating for kids, and it was a huge success! About 250 kids came through, wowza. It was a crazy day, but lots of fun. The holiday season was NUTS (in a good way!) for Sara's Sweets. I baked closed to 5000 cupcakes in the month of December alone. It doesn't seem like that  many, but when I remember that I do all my baking out of my home kitchen with my one oven, it seems like a ton. Before ...

Also known as my first marathon where I DID NOT WALK! Woo hoo! (That was my one & only goal going into this race.) Biggest medal ever. I signed up for the race just 6 weeks before, so I didn't have much time to put in a lot of quality training. I decided to take a laid-back approach to this marathon and remember why I love running - because it's fun.  My Business Man and I headed down to Columbus Saturday afternoon, and strangely I was not nervous at all. We hit up the expo for some goodies. (Thank you, King's Hawaiian, for the 7 free product coupons!) Love that the tech shirts are long-sleeved this year... seems like I always need more cold weather running gear than hot weather running gear. Somehow we scored an awesome deal on a hotel room  corner suite. I swear, it was bigger than our first apartment. Bedroom, complete with lounge chair and hot tub. Bathroom with a double shower (with 3 shower heads on each side!) And then a full living room with a pull-...

I saw this idea for a blog post on another site, and thought I'd have some fun with it. Two foods I cannot get enough of: Peanut butter & pumpkin butter on a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel. It's the perfect fall lunch. Can I also mention that I love the fact that I get to eat lunch at home and actually toast my bagel? And not cram bathroom + lunch prep + eating + chill time all into a 26 minute lunch period? Mellowcreme pumpkins. Enough said about that. Two people I got to see this weekend: I drove over to the other side of IL to attend my BFF Talen's bridal shower. It was a lot of fun. This was the only pic I snapped of the day. Doesn't she make a gorgeous bride? Haha. I got to meet my mom for breakfast at Cracker Barrel on my way back Monday morning. Nothing like catching up over coffee & bacon. So good to see her.  Two new clothing purchases: I got my first maxi skirt. There was a deal on Pickyourplum.org and I ordered one for jus...

This past Saturday, I held a grand opening for my little cupcake counter downtown. It was so much fun! (And so much work, haha.) The cupcake counter has been open since the beginning of July, but I wanted to do a grand opening of sorts to make it 'officially' open. If that makes any sense. It turned into more of a grand opening/fall open house. My parents even came out to visit and help with it! They haven't been to visit since the cupcake counter has been open, so that was fun. As soon as they got here Friday afternoon, I put them to work. Yes, my dad learned how to use the blow torch on the S'mores cupcakes. He did a pretty fantastic job, if I do say so myself. (Mom, you did great with the pecan pie filling, too. :-P) In addition to having cupcakes for sale at the counter, I planned a few more activities to ramp up the excitement of the day.  I held a Create-a-Cupcake Contest in the days leading up to the grand opening... anyone could submit th...

Yea, that happened this week. It's actually now only 5.5 weeks away. Yikes! Sure, why not? I haven't been in a running routine since I was training for Boston last spring. Through May & June, I kind of lost my running mojo and it was really hard to get motivated. I told myself I was 'recovering' from Boston. (Which is totally legit.) Somehow I squeaked out a 5k PR on July 4, without doing much speed work at all. I've been running most of the summer, but no real training plan or focus. At the end of August, I found myself telling someone that I was still 'recovering' from Boston... 4 months later. Lol, don't think I can use that as an excuse any more. :-P So, one of my running buds here in the Bean Town runs the Columbus Marathon every year, and I have run the half-marathon the past couple years. I've done a few of her long runs with her, and last weekend we did 14. I felt pretty good, so I decided to go ahead and sign up for t...

Long time, no blog, haha. I thought I was a bit overdue for a life update so here goes... My Business Man and I have had a great summer... super busy, but super fun. I haven't taken a TON of pictures, but I have been faithfully Instagram-ing... so here's our summer, Instagram-style. We've been working on remodeling the kitchen since May, and it's just about done. Just missing some lighting and a few switch plates. Perhaps I will write a blog post with before & after pics at some point. (Haha, yea right.)  This drawer might be my favorite part. I am so much more organized now, I love it! I got to spend some quality time with my BFF Talen. She came to visit the Bean Town for an entire week (!) and it was so much fun. Running, episodes of Friends, cupcakes galore... it was almost like college. Except no math stupid homework. Rockin' the glasses. I also had an ulcer in my eye for two weeks at the beginning of summer. That was real fun. ...