Vibram Review & My New Garden

This weekend was so much fun! Rob and I didn't get to see each other really all week due to me working nights. Only 2 more weeks of that! So we were excited to see each other all weekend. Saturday, we headed out for breakfast and tried a new place. It was SO CUTE! And very country style. Loved it.



Then we headed over to Historic Smithville (where we were initially going to eat and then walk around but change our minds to try the new place). Anyway, it was nice but then got a little crowded so we headed home.



The cooking shop had all different kinds of salts. So cool! Anyone use exotic salts and have cooking suggestions? I don't use salt at all but don't mind the taste really. Just cut it out to cut sodium. I think it would be fun though to use the red or black salt as a treat now and then!


After getting home, I decided to try out my Vibrams!

They were great! I ran up and down my street for a total of 1/2 mile in 5 minutes. I was speedy! I stepped on a few rocks which wasn't pleasant but not very painful either. I could really feel the slant of the road though so I ran on the shoulder more which has packed down crushed pavement. That felt great! (but that's where the rocks were, lol). I ran a bit around the yard when I finished my laps and that felt AMAZING! Totally worth the purchase right there! I think I am going to use these as my trail runners and cross trainers. Not so much for road running. I definitely had a lighter strike that with sneakers and the balls of my feel could feel it. They were slightly sore the next day but not bad! I could feel my achiles tendon more too when running. The next day, my left calf was really sore. Overall though, not major pain, just soreness. Can't wait to try them again!!!!!

Sunday, Rob and I woke up to icky weather so the bike ride we were supposed to do on Saturday but pushed off to Sunday now couldn't be done. I'm going to have a tough time at the race in July! Eek! Anyway, we did various errands like breakfast and grocery shopping. Check out my refrigerator!


All healthy deliciousness. We stopped at the local farmer's market and got strawberries. Not as good as last time but still amazing!


Isn't that one crazy looking? Haha!

We decided to do some house projects and headed to Home Depot. I was so happy to let my toes breathe in this summer air.

Rob was pouting that he wants a new lawn mower

I had a crazy idea for a garden at home so we picked up some plants

Never again!!! I never knew how much plants were! Crazy! Seedlings next year. This year, we were really busy with rugby. Well, next year, too bad because plants are expensive!
Anyway, my project involved some building so I got on my PPE! (personal protection equipment, gotta love my stylish safety glasses!)

And we got cutting and building



We had to take a break to feed the chickens and collect the eggs

Then we got to mounting! We had this blank wall on the side of the chicken coop that I decided to put planters on. We were going to buy them but after seeing that they were really expensive at Home Depot, we decided to just use scrap wood and build them ourselves! Here they are!!




I had planned on doing just herbs but then with all the space, I got some tomatoes and squash too. I'm hoping since they are up off the ground, we won't have a bunny problem and the deer don't usually go between the garages where they are either. Hopefully we'll have some veggies this year! Oh and I planted a strawberry plant too :) Can't wait to get some of those!

Anyway, we decided to head out to the field where our garden was last year. The plant that won't die is still there!!!! Last year, everything got eaten by deer or just died. Well, the stupid Kale that we planted never died, thrived like crazy, and the animals wouldn't eat it. Well, it sprouted back again!!! And it even flowered!

Then Rob started putting up onion grass, giving me little pearl onions. These should be safe to eat right? He picked me a bunch and said I could make soup. He doesn't eat onions!

There were also mushrooms but the picture didn't come out. I don't mess with those though, could be poisonous. Anyway, Rob was joking I could have a kale onion mushroom salad. LoL.

So that's it! Today is raining so i guess I don't need to water my plants! LoL. We'll see if my boxes work ok. It was fun building them :) We already have a project for next week too! I hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

Local Eats: Romanelli's On the Greene

In case you haven't noticed, we really like to eat out for breakfast.  LoL.  Today, we really didn't want to hit the usual locations, so we had to think of something new.  I mentioned that I saw a place by my doctor's office but wasn't sure it was any good.  We figured why not?

First off, it was VERY busy!  But they had plenty of tables when we got there.  When we left, there was an actual wait!  You usually don't see that at breakfast places!  Second, look at that huge cup of coffee!  They know the way to my heart already (but at $1.99 for coffee, they better give me a huge cup too.  Hm)



Rob and I both ordered things off the specials menu.  He got the frosted flake french toast and I got the apple cinnamon pancakes.  I thought the apples would be baked in but they came on top.  That is fine too.  Rob's had lots of fruit piled on top.

 Both were very delicious!  I was happy with mine and the pancakes soaked up the sauce they put the apples in (cinnamon and sugar type sauce).  The apples were fresh and not baked (i.e. still crunchy).  Everything was very good and I'm sure we'll go back!  Total, our bill was about $22.  Quite a bit more than most other places we go but we have to remember we both got the specials which may have been a bit more.  Then again, $2 for coffee was a little much.  Maybe this will be a treat and not every weekend?  Still good though!!

Romanelli's On the Greene
210 New Road # 13
Linwood, NJ 08221
(609) 926-5477

Local Eats: Sunryser Restaurant & Deli

Today, Rob and I decided to head over to the Bakery at Historic Smithville so we could eat and then walk around.  On the way there, we remembered about this little place we've driven by before but never stopped so we decided to check it out (and stay for breakfast as long as they took Visa!). 

I fell in love with the place the second we walked in!  It definitely has that "Country Store" feel as it says on the sign.  It was absolutely adorable and gave that old farmhouse warn feeling.  Even all the tables were the old fashioned metal kind with fancy designs.  We had a lovely view from our table too of the greenery outside through simple lace curtains!

The food wasn't too bad either!  Not amazing but I've had really bad breakfast food before and this wasn't bad at all.  I got the veggie omelet with rye toast.  The homefries were delicious though!  We will definitely be stopping here again.  It wasn't too expensive.  My omelet with homefries, toast, and coffee was $7.25.  Can't wait to go again!  Worth going out of the way too :)

Sunryser Restaurant
632 N Shore Road
Absecon, NJ 08201
609-641-2919

Officially Barefoot!

First, I enlisted the services of my chauffeur

Then we headed out to a "local" running shop about an hour away that my friend Tiffany pointed me toward. There is a closer running shop but I heard it was no good. I decided to just make the trip to this one. Anyway, it was the Haddonfield Running Company

I was happy to see the rain cleared up because I knew the area that the shop was in is super cute. The houses are just amazing there! Let's just say I'll probably never live in that neighborhood (unless I do really really well in life!)


Anyway, I didn't get many pictures from the inside of the store except for the shoe wall!

That whole center section is just the barefoot running section! Wow! I had called the store today to ask which brands they carried just to be safe. They have the vibrams, new balance, and merrell. First, I tried on the New Balances

These are cute and stylish. They also came in bright green which makes me happy (but didn't have my size so I tried on these pink ones). Anyway, These were ok at first but there was slightly more rubber on the outside of the ball of my foot than the inside so it felt like it was pushing my foot inward. The whole point of barefoot running is to have minimal effect on your gate. Obviously, these weren't going to work for me. Next were the Merrells.

These were ok at first until I started walking around. Well, actually first, I noticed that in order to make them fit my skinny feet, they bunched up by the bottom of the laces. Weird. So when I was walking around, the area around my toes felt huge, like I was wearing shoes too big, but they were the right length. I felt like I was going to trip over the front of the shoe! Another no.

From there, I tried on a few pairs on Vibrams. I liked this one pair but they were a little short. My big toe was hitting the front but when I tried on a size up, my smaller toes had too much space and I felt like I was tripping over too-long shoes again (I just can't win huh?) Finally, Rob pointed out that the one pair I tried on with the laces, I hadn't complained about their fit other than that the laces were too long (I had to pull them way tight again for the skinny feet!). I told him to stop being right and tried them on again, so I got them!!! Here they are!


They are the Bilikia LS model. Good for trail or road running, and the laces worked best for my foot shape. I am so excited to try them! It has stopped raining and I'm hoping tomorrow morning, I can run a few times up and down my street for my maiden voyage! I will let you all know how they are!!!

And the day ended with a beautiful rainbow:) Good night all!

My Library: A reflection of me

I saw a friend on facebook who is also on Spark People post a picture of her "library" of fitness and health books.  I thought it was such a cute idea and great way to get to know somebody. 

First, I had to tackle the shelf and make it look presentable.  Then I got into a cleaning frenzy but when I was finished, I have 2 full shelves of books and this doesn't include the several boxes of books I have in my storage unit.  Hehe.  I took some close ups and I don't think I want to say much.  Maybe just give you guys an idea of the things I enjoy and if you want to know about a certain book, you should ask!  I have to warn you, there are a few on here that I haven't read yet.  I am getting there though!  But just a couple, most I've read :)



We'll start off with cookbooks!  The Just 5 Things cookbook is my favorite cookbook EVER.  It is strictly only 5 ingredients.  Even if its just "salt", that is considered 1 of the 5!  Love it!  Not like the other ones I've seen where they are like "Well, you should have eggs and milk and salt and these crazy spices you've never heard of in your pantry already so those aren't included in the 5".  None of that crap!  Or the cookbooks that use canned soups and stuff as one of the ingredients.  Strictly 5 clean ingredients per recipe.  Moving on!  Oh, and that is my stone dodecahedron on the bottom left there.  Don't worry, the geekiness gets better.  

More cookbooks and some running books.  I've also read The Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women but that was borrowed.  "I Run, Therefore I Am - Nuts" is an awesome hilarious book.  If you endurance run, its a cute book to make you think "oh I hate that!" or "yes!!!  that's happened to me!!!"  Then we move on to the farming books.  Haven't read Farmer Jane yet.  Hoping to get to that by the end of the summer!

My food books!  Reading Omnivore's Dilemma right now.  Its a little slow, In Defense of Food was much better and very entertaining.  Bad Science is an awesome book.  As people here who hear a lot of nutrition hype, you need to read this book.  It will make you a total skeptic of every health claim you ever hear.  Seriously, it will change your thinking.  Highly recommend.  Um.. And here comes the geekiness...













Let's just not discuss this part of the shelf ok?  LoL

More cookbooks on the next (taller) shelf.  Rob has loved a lot of the recipes out of the Betty Crocker Cookbook for Women book (I don't know why its for women??).  Anyway, he is a very picky eater so that says something!  The Traditional Kitchen Wisdom book is pretty cool.  It is all about how to preserve foods (canning, drying, etc.).  How to grow a garden.  Just how to survive without modern convenience.  Love it!  Also some gardening books there.  We haven't started our garden this year, we haven't had time!  Maybe we will cheat and buy some plants!

And finally, some workout books (I'll take LL Cool J's advice any day!  Have you watched NCIS LA lately???)  Also my like 18th copy of Pride and Prejudice (others are in storage, I've read it several times).  And my cool looking copy of the complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series :)  Have only read the first and half of the second.  Again, working on all these books!  Finally, the box on the end is something my sister bought for Rob to keep his garden seeds in.  It has lots of tips and techniques for saving your seeds and growing a nice garden!




So that's it!  I have tons of books in storage too, a lot of classics there and probably more math and science books from college/grad school.  Even some math based entertainment books (Fermat's Enigma, very good! and very basic, even for the non-math person and a couple others...).  So what do you think?  Is it what you expected?  Haha.  Are you curious about any of my books?  Do you have any of the same ones?  Want any book reviews?  Let me know!