weekends

Spring Weekends in the CLE Burbs

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 1 Comment

Spring is definitely here in CLE! We had a beautiful weekend in the ‘burbs, filled with good food and pretty good weather. Friday night, B made us pizza. It had been forever since we had homemade pizza, and I was looking forward to it all week. I got to pick my toppings for my slices, too — it was pepperoni, eggplant, peppers and mushrooms. I love pizza with tons of veggies and also pepperoni on it!

After the kids went to bed, B and I stayed up somewhat late and watched Always Be My Maybe. It was just what I was looking for in my Friday night – a cute, funny romcom. I recommend it, especially if you already love Ali Wong.

Saturday morning FW got up early – like 5 something in the morning – so it was a long day. After breakfast, B went to Home Depot to get some stuff (it’s his second home these days) and then we went to our first event – a playdate with some friends who also have kids. FW had a blast playing on his favorite playground with LM and of course Celia, Maura and Maddie.

After the playground we headed home for lunch. B and FW hit up Home Depot (yes, again – 2x in one day!) while LM napped.. When he got back, it was time for our next adventure – Ruby’s birthday party! It was a party at a local ice cream shop, so I’m sure FW and LM had a good time. (we did too 🙂 )

After ice cream, we were going to try to watch soccer, but all the bars and restaurants nearby were overflowing and LOUD (aka not as kid-friendly as usual), so we just went home.

FW skinned his knees on our jog to the car, so he needed some extra care and wanted a special seat on the couch before dinner. Toddlers are a ton of work but tons of fun sometimes!

After FW and LM had dinner, it was off to bed semi-early and B and I had to figure out what we wanted. We had planned on going out after ice cream, but since it was too crowded, ended up not sure what to do for food. B was craving buffalo wings, so we ended up doing some takeout. I got a kids’ meal, which meant it came with a side (salad!) AND a drink.

Sunday morning, I got in a nice run – 6.3 solo miles. I had planned on taking out the jogging stroller, but B andFW and LM had breakfast and I got out semi-early (at least for a weekend). It was nice to still be out a little later than usual.

The day was somewhat productive. We did some meal prep, some cleaning, some playing, and some walking. It ended up being a nice day outside so B also got some outdoor chores in.

We ended the day with a jog around the block. FW ran pretty much the whole way!

And that was it. HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!

Some questions for you:

  • Do you like pistachio ice cream?
  • Was the weather nice near you?

Partying the Weekend Away (Family-Friendly Style)

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / Leave a comment

We had a jam packed, fun weekend in CLE. The weather finally turned nice (on one day), and it included a birthday party, Indians game, some running, some working on the house and a Derby party. Man, I think I need another weekend just to recover from our fun – I’m feeling pooped!

Friday started with a LONG run – I got up at 4 a.m. and got in 11.23 mi before the kids woke up and it was time to get ready for school and work. Cleveland half marathon race day is just two weeks away!

Work flew by Friday. It was a busy day and I got pulled last minute into a 2 hour meeting, which made my morning fly by. And my coworker brought her dog in – look how cute he is!

 

We ended the day with BBQ for dinner – I forgot to take a pic of the food, but we all (even LM) got in on the fun 🙂

Saturday was by far our busiest day. It included some indoor playtime while it rained in the morning.

And an Indians game – they won!

Also, a birthday party for our neighbor – they now have a 1 year old! Their baby is actually in LM’s class at school, too.

And a Kentucky Derby party. This hat stayed on for about 30 seconds.

Sunday included some work around the house – we got a delivery of dirt so we can finally start our garden soon!

And a stroller run with FW. I got in 5+ miles, which I think ism longest stroller run ever. He fell asleep around 3-4 miles in, so I was able to go a little longer than usual.

FW and I also made some spinach zucchini banana muffins. They’re not as sweet as the muffins I’ve been making, but I hope they’ll get him to eat some more veggies!

We ended the day with a Cinco De Mayo themed dinner … that i forgot to get a picture of. Oh well – I assure you it was delicious 🙂 And instead I’ll leave you with a picture of a taco I had on Thursday.

  • How was your weekend?
  • Did you do anything for Cinco de Mayo?

A Rainy Easter in CLE

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 3 Comments

We had a rainy weekend in Cleveland – it rained pretty much nonstop from Thursday afternoon through Saturday evening. It made for a flooding backyard, some indoor runs and a REALLY early wakeup on Thursday to run before the monsoon started. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s a little snapshot of our Easter in CLE.

Friday, schools were closed for Good Friday, so I worked from home while watching the kids. (Meaning, I got up and worked, entertained them, worked while they were napping, did more entertaining, and then worked again at night) BUT because of the aforementioned rainy weather, we were stuck inside for pretty much the entire day. Thank goodness for play-doh and art projects!

Saturday brought MORE rain. So, we spent the morning inside doing some spring cleaning – FW even helped out!

I popped on the treadmill for a few miles, and then after naps, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa’s house to color eggs. FW had a blast dumping them in the dye.

We stayed there later than we intended to and all of a sudden it was dinnertime. Thank goodness for Aladdin’s takeout – it satisfied everyone in our house, even FW (the picky eater) and LM (who loved my hummus, beans, peas and rice!).

Sunday was Easter morning! We started with an Easter egg hunt for FW and LM.

Then, after Mass, it was time for Easter. We ended up spending all day with B’s family and FW and LM got to play with their cousins.

Look at that big table!

After Easter, we did finally get outside to enjoy the finally nice weather. It had stopped raining, leaving us with a gorgeous afternoon!

Some questions for you-

  • What was in your Easter basket growing up?
  • What’s your favorite holiday from a food standpoint?

Cleveland Half Marathon Training: Week 7

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 11 Comments

This week was another great week in terms of weather for running – every single one of my runs, including my speed training (8×400 m) was done outside.

Here’s a look at week 7 of my Cleveland half marathon training:

Overall, here is how the week looked:

weekly cleveland marathon training mileage

Some highlights/lowlights:

This week was the first time that I used my Garmin Fenix to help with interval training. I typically do speed work inside on a treadmill, but I opted to try it outside, since it was 50s in the morning. It was actually kind of fun to do my intervals outside – my only issue was that some of the runs were uphill and some were downhill. But I guess that is good for training in real world conditions?

Here were some of my splits:

I didn’t get in a really long run this weekend. I had a 10k race on the schedule, but since my parents were in town, I decided to take the weekend off from running. Instead, on the two days I was scheduled to not run, I did a 7 and 5 miler.

Next week is another 9 miler and then the following week I signed up for the Cleveland 10 miler! It will be my longest race since 2017!

Some questions for you:

  • Do you like 10 mile races?
  • Do you do speed training outside?

Note: I am a Cleveland marathon ambassador! That means I get free race entry for me, and a free race entry to giveaway. Wanna run CLE with me? Don’t forget, I have a 10% discount for you!

clé marathon discount

Today, I’m linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Run Down.

March Comes Out Like a Snowy, Fluffy Lamb

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 1 Comment

HAPPY APRIL! Though looking at the weather we had this weekend, you wouldn’t know it was April. That’s because we got SNOW (a few inches!) on Saturday night into Sunday. It may have looked pretty, but I’m ready for spring already!

Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s a little bit about the whole weekend.

Friday started off with my long run. I typically do long runs on Saturdays, but opted instead to wake up at the crack of dawn Friday and run in the rain before anyone was up. No idea why, but it felt good to have my 8 miles done with before my day started!

Friday evening included a haircut … finally! I was planning on donating my hair and had to chop it all off to do so.

During the process I snapped a pic

And here’s the after shot! And I’m holding my hair … wow!

We spent some time indoors this weekend because it was rainy on Saturday. That meant lots of book reading!

And then it stopped raining, so I was able to get out for a stroller run with FW. I had done my long run early Friday, so only had to do 3 miles. It had been so long since we had gone out with the stroller, and it wasn’t easy!

And we ended the day with some pasta making!

The finished product. Chicken scallopini!

Sunday we woke up to snow! The 50 degrees from Saturday was gone. We were back to sweater weather.

The rest of the day included some bagels (unpictured) with B’s sister  and brother-in-law, naps, more indoor play and dinner with B’s family. All unpictured. I was a bad blogger at the end of the weekend and captured NOTHING on camera. Whoops!

Thank goodness the weather is looking up for this week – as pretty as it is, I’m done with this snow.

Some questions for you:

  • Did it snow near you this weekend?
  • Have you ever donated your hair?

 

Pancakes, Pizza and Running

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 3 Comments

Some weekends are busy. Jam packed, with tons of fun activities, but barely any time to sit back and relax.

Other weekends are uneventful – not much planned, but plenty of time to hang out with family, friends, and get stuff done.

Last weekend was the former – but this weekend? This weekend was the latter. Not too much planned, so we filled it with good fun, running and some fun activities.

The good food started Friday night. We go meatless on Fridays during Lent, and this Friday B made jackfruit tacos al pastor. They were SO good and definitely brought me back to our days in Mexico City!

Saturday morning, after breakfast, I got in my long run for the week. I’m training for the Cleveland half marathon and had 7 miles on the schedule.

Afterwards, FW and I baked some muffins.

And we did our grocery shopping for the week:)

We continued the good food theme with homemade pizza for dinner.

And at night, B and I watched “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”

Sunday morning started with a new tradition we started last year- visiting the Burton, Ohio fire department for an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast with local maple syrup.

This year was fun, as both kids got to enjoy pancakes.

We finished the weekend at B’s parents’ house for dinner. LM started feeling unwell, so hopefully she is better again soon. She has been sick on and off since January, and I don’t know how much more I can take! Can we just build a bubble to keep our kids safe and healthy?

Questions for you

  • Have you been sick lately?
  • What kind of pancakes do you like?

A weekend of celebrations

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 2 Comments

It was a busy, busy weekend for us- it reminded me of our weekends before we had kids when we just packed it all in. We had 2 birthday celebrations, brunch and more.

Friday started out with a work of Saint Patrick’s day party. We play the game with lucky charms and sadly I did not win.

Fridays during Lent mean no meat. B was originally going to make some veggie tacos, but we didn’t have any of the ingredients (whoops!) so we ordered takeout. Sushi is pretty much my favorite.

Saturday morning I had either a 5k on the schedule or 7 miles – I opted to do 7 miles and I’m glad I did. It was hard – I haven’t run that much since before LM was born and more than a year ago, but I was happy to have finished it.

Saturday afternoon, we celebrated B’s mom’s birthday. We started with some fun at an escape room.

And then, it was off to shuffleboard.

FW had fun hanging out with his cousins.

FW had fun until he took a spill. He split his lip in a few places and it was a little traumatic for all involved.

Sunday morning started with St. Patrick’s Day brunch! B invited over some friends for some traditional Irish food.

This meant eggs, soda bread, potatoes and lots of meats.

FW had fun playing with Celia.

That afternoon, FW had a birthday party to go to. He and LM were celebrating Clara’s 3rd birthday.

FW had a blast running and jumping around in the gym.

As did LM 🙂

Sunday night, we didn’t have dinner at B’s parents’ house since we had spent half the day with them Saturday. So, we did some meal prep and even made meatballs and sauce – FW was a great helper!

It was a fun but busy weekend – I’m glad we did so much but I’m also hopeful to relax a bit next weekend!

Some questions for you:

  • Are you a Lucky Charms fan?
  • Do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?

Cleveland Half Marathon Training: Week Two

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 4 Comments

And now, week two of Cleveland half marathon training is done.

This week, I was only sick a few days, which helped a TON. My eye infection healed, but then LM came down with a fever and likely HFM (along with teething), which is making sleep fun. I also was away for the weekend, which made the schedule change a bit – I did my long run on Friday and then got in an impromptu run on Saturday.

Saturday’s run included some great views – look at the frozen lake! It was also the first run I’ve had outside in forever so any views would’ve been great.

This week’s Tuesday Topic is are you a morning runner or an evening runner?

I’m DEFINITELY a morning runner. I can’t imagine running at night – running is how I start my day nearly every day of the week. It’s the only way I function some days! Plus, my days/nights are pretty crazy that if I ran at night, it would have to be after the kids are in bed and wouldn’t be until after 9 p.m. some nights (which would be too late for me). Here is how I make it happen:

  • I sleep in my running clothes when I can. Maybe it’s gross, but it makes it so much easier to get out and run! And when I don’t, I make sure my clothes are set out and ready to go.
  • I figure out my running route and plan before I go to bed. I don’t want to have to think in the morning.
  • I set multiple alarms. I don’t always wake up with one alarm.

Some questions for you:

  • Are you a morning or evening runner?
  • Do you run on vacation?

Note: I am a Cleveland marathon ambassador! That means I get free race entry for me, and a free race entry to giveaway. 

Wanna run CLE with me? Don’t forget, I have a 10% discount for you!

clé marathon discount

Linking up with Tuesday Topics!

Another Winter Weekend: One Sentence Per Photo

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 5 Comments

It was another weekend at home in Cleveland. ‘Burb life with two kids in the winter is definitely something to get used to, but I think we’re in a groove with finding things to do, being productive and having fun. Here’s a look at our weekend, one-sentence-per-photo style.

FW helped us with some cleaning.

I did some baking (these are chickpea blondies!).

We joined every other parent of a toddler and baby and got drinks with friends at the new market hall nearby.

And takeout sushi was a must.

Post-bath snuggles are some of my favorite things.

I had a reunion with some friends from my Downtown Cleveland Alliance City Ambassador days.

We had dinner at my in-laws house; it’s almost my niece’s 11th birthday!

And that’s a wrap. Hope you have a good week! Happy Monday!

Surviving the Polar Vortex

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 5 Comments

We did it! We survived our week of COLD. Was it easy? No. Do I want to do it again anytime soon? No no no no no! But we survived, and here’s how.

Living in the Midwest right now and growing up in the Northeast, I’m used to cold winters. I don’t like them, but I’m used to them. But this past week was the COLDEST I’ve ever experienced.

For example, I woke up Wednesday to THIS.

School was actually closed for FW and LM, so we had to be creative with entertainment for them. Dressing them the same counts as entertainment, right? 

There was lots of play doh involved. 

And just some good old fun with paper. 

We had some good food, including these egg cups, which we now make every weekend. 

And B made this chicken noodle soup from scratch. It was so good and hit the spot with the cold weather.

We also had to get our favorite pizza before they close for renovations. What are we going to do without this NY style pizza for 6+ weeks?!

Friday at work, we celebrated the kick off of February with a heart healthy breakfast. A coworker made these steel-cut oats and brought in fruit for us all as well. 

We all wore red for Go Red for Women Day, too!

The weather finally warmed up and we got in a walk on Sunday. It was SO nice to be outside and not freezing! It was 50 degrees when we went out.

But yes, we still had snow. So FW built a snowman – or an “Olaf” as he calls him.

And I got in my first outdoor run in more than a week. It was so much better than running inside!

So, we didn’t go stir crazy with the weather. And this week the weather looks like it will be so much better. Is it still winter? Yes. BUT it may be warm enough for us to go outside for more than 10 seconds at a time!

Some questions for you:

  • Did you survive the polar vortex?
  • Any tips for keeping toddlers entertained during the dead of winter?