7.4.14

On the map

We got a magazine about our town in the mail and I was flipping through it last night when I came across this page advertising some upcoming tenants in our nearby shopping center.

I already knew about Loft, DSW, Bed Bath & Beyond, Wendy’s and the CineBowl.  But Mellow Mushroom was a VERY welcome surprise.  Now, I have to admit something.  I’ve said that our area has more than enough Italian/pizza joints and the last thing we needed was one more.  But Mellow Mushroom isn’t just one more, and I’ll be welcoming it with my open mouth open arms.

All these national tenants are quite a coup for our little ‘burg.  I sure am glad the McHusband and I invested in this area 10 years ago and decided to stick around and wait for businesses and people to expand out toward us.

Happy Independence Day Eve!  Hope everyone’s looking forward to a fun-filled three-day weekend.

Long live me

Heather passed on an article that I thought others might find interesting as well.  The gist is that giving birth after age 33 indicates a longer life expectancy.

Doctors often discourage women from delaying childbirth, but a new study published this week in the journal Menopause found a surprising perk to late motherhood: a longer life expectancy.

Researchers at Boston University and Boston Medical Center studied women who lived to the age of 95 or older and compared them with 151 women who died at younger ages. What they found was interesting: Women who gave birth naturally (without fertility assistance, such as IVF) after the age of 33 were twice as likely to live to the age of 95. And women who gave birth after the age of 40 were four time as likely to live to the age of 100.

“We believe the ability to have kids at an older age is a sign that a woman’s reproductive system is aging slowly, which is a marker that her entire body is aging slowly," lead researcher Thomas Perls, MD, a geriatrician and professor of medicine at Boston Medical Center, tells Yahoo Shine. "That means she is better able to ward off life-threatening, age-related diseases such as heart attack or stroke.”

“Look at Halle Berry,” he says. “She became pregnant without fertility assistance at the age of 46 and she looks young and appears to be healthy.” 

The results were also good news for the children of women who conceived later in life — the offspring ran half the risk of developing heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer. “The longevity genes appear to be genetic,” says Perls.

That’s reassuring for women in their 30s who don't have kids yet but want to some day. But Perls notes that his findings are not a free pass to delay motherhood. “Doctors generally advise that women not put off childbirth to avoid maternal complications and birth defects,” he says. “However, for mothers who are told they will be too old and tired to enjoy their children when they grow up, that’s probably not true considering how well they age.”

Whether or not you’re a mother, you can still estimate how long you’ll live by using the Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator, a tool linked to the New England Centenarian Study for which Perls is a lead author.

My grandma on my dad’s side is amazing.  She’s 91 and is relatively healthy physically and has more wits about her than I do half the time these days.  Last year when we visited in April for her 90th birthday, she’d been transplanting rose bushes earlier that day.  Like I said, she’s amazing.  Let’s hope I’m sporting some of her good genes.

Happy Hump Day! Although technically most of us are over the hump since Friday is a holiday for the majority.  Bring on the three-day weekend!

{Recipe Recap} Summer Couscous Salad

I know it’s Monday and I’m supposed to help you start your week off with a little sugar (and I did do some baking this weekend), but this couscous salad I assembled for lunch with the McInlaws yesterday was better than the dessert I made.  I didn’t take any pictures so I will hope that Mel is okay with me borrowing hers – which is WAY better than one I would’ve taken –  and giving her full credit.

This couscous salad was our main dish so I added some canned tuna to it to bulk it up a bit.  I used the dried basil instead of fresh and served the feta on the side (the McHusband isn’t a fan) but otherwise stuck to the recipe.  We all loved this salad, and I look forward to making it often in the future and eating some leftovers for lunch today.

We had such a nice visit with the McHusband’s parents and are so happy they were able to come spend some quality time with Connor.  Unfortunately, I am a big loser in both the mom and blogger arenas for not taking any pictures of them together.  Doh!  Can I claim sleep deprivation or has the clock run out on that excuse now that we’re about 4.5 months into this parenthood thing?

Speaking of…  You know how Connor’s iffy on the stroller?  I decided to put him in the actual stroller rather than having him in the car seat attached to the stroller for our walk on Sunday.  Guess what? He loved it!  I thought for sure by the end he’d be dozing off, but he was still wide awake, just in a content chill way.

Oh man, do I love this little guy!

Have a great Monday!  It’s a four-day week so today’s already off to a good start, right?  Oh, and if you need to contribute a side dish to a Fourth of July party, make this salad.  People will love you and think you’re amazing.  Who doesn’t want that?

{Recipe adapted from here}

Loving lately

Remember that dress I wore for the wedding in NY at the end of May?  It was pretty daring with that high slit, but I loved the rest of the dress so much that I was willing to sit funny all night to ensure I didn’t have any Hollywood moments.

My legs weren’t – and still aren’t – in the shape they once were (I’m working on that) and needed all the help they could get if they were going to be playing peekaboo all night long.  As I’ve always said, tan fat looks better than white fat.

I’m not a fan of tanning lotions because they smell funny and tend to rub or sweat off.  I’ve never done a spray tan, but that option just didn’t appeal to me because I had to find time to do it, it’s not cheap, and you can’t take a shower for so many hours afterward.  So I turned to something that seemed to be a good mix of those two options: Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs.

I read some good reviews and figured it would be worth the $12 to give it a try.  I applied it Friday morning for the event that night.  The spray had a bit of an odor but nothing offensive and I didn’t smell it once I was done with the application process.  The spray washed off my hands easily and completely.  My legs felt dry and not sticky at all within minutes – probably A minute – of rubbing this stuff on.  I was a huge fan already and I hadn’t even left the house!

I like that the spray has little reflective bits in it so your legs have a nice sheen to them.  I chose the lightest color because my legs belie the red hair in my family tree – they are WHITE.  Even when the rest of me tans, my legs tend to stay pretty pale.  The color was perfect for me.  It was just the right amount and there wasn’t a trace of the feared orange tan-in-a-can faux glow.

This stuff is supposed to be water resistant, and I would agree with that.  It’s not necessarily going to all come off in the shower unless you scrub.  Minus the shower, it will run if you, say, go to an outdoor boot camp class on a hot and super humid evening and do a Tabata-style workout.  I’ve slept with this stuff on twice and didn’t wake up to streaked sheets, and I’ve never noticed it on my clothes or car seat.

I have been Airbrushing my legs every time I wear a dress or skirt since the wedding so I’ve used it enough now to know if it’s a good product or not.

Verdict?  This stuff is great!  If you’re looking for a tan-in-a-can on a budget, Sally Hansen has you covered.  Literally.

TGIF!  Hope you guys have a fabulous weekend!  I’m looking forward to a pedicure-and-lunch date with Heather tomorrow, then we might have some visitors on Sunday if the McInlaws decide to come up.  Other than that, we’ll just divide our time between being productive around the house and keeping Connor happy.

Fitness and a 5k

I’m baaa-aaack!  Okay, not really, but I feel like my workout mojo is slowly creeping back in.  Will I be at the Y 5 to 6 times a week like before Connor?  Not anytime soon.  But I can find a way to be active 3 to 4 times a week, even if one of those times is just a long walk with Monte.

My company was a sponsor of a 5k this past Saturday.  It’s been a long time since I ran one of those, but the entry was free so how could I pass up the opportunity to get back in the game?

The last time I ran was at Thanksgiving and while the actual run felt good, my back hurt so much afterward that I didn’t dare try it again.  So last Monday, less than a week before the big race, I decided to do a practice run.  I jogged to 18:30 before I needed to walk and for the next 12 minutes, I walked a minute, then jogged for two.  It was a hot, humid evening, the sun was still shining, and my route didn’t offer much shade so I was a hot mess at the end.

All in all, though, I was happy with how my practice run went and was feeling optimistic about the 5k.  I was able to get in two more real workouts (boot camp at the Y and a session with a trainer) plus a long walk with Monte last week.

So, the 5k.  I invited Heather to join me.  Misery loves company, right?

My goal was to get at least 20 minutes in before I needed to walk.  Guess what?  I didn’t have to walk at all!  That’s not to say I broke any records getting across the finish line, but considering it had been 7 months since I’d been running, I was happy to clock in at 29 minutes, pretty much on the dot.  I checked the results yesterday and it turns out I was 4th (out of 53) in my age group.

I had gotten to the point where it wasn’t worth getting up for a 5k, but now I’m starting over so I wouldn’t mind doing a few of these to help get me back on track.  I jogged again Monday night, same route as last Monday, and I didn’t have to walk at all, but it took me just as long to finish as it did last week with the walking so apparently I ran faster last week.

I went to boot camp at the Y last night and tonight I’ll be home because the McHusband has to travel for work, but tomorrow I meet with the trainer. I’m liking this new schedule and hope to keep it up.

Happy Hump Day!

{Recipe Recap} Brown Butter Banana Blondies

The weekend + ripe bananas = time in the kitchen.  However, these days, I do my baking on Saturday nights instead of Sunday afternoons.

I wanted to make something different with my speckled bananas so I searched “banana” on my Pinterest boards and found these blondies.  They were simple and they had frosting – a winning combination!

If you’re looking for the banana flavor to hit you in the face, these aren’t for you.  I doubled the recipe in order to make it in a 9 x 13 pan and have enough to share with both my office and the McHusband’s.  I still used only 2 bananas.

Speaking of the McHusband…

I didn’t love the texture of these.  Maybe I stirred my batter too much and overdeveloped the gluten, leading to rubbery bars, but these just weren’t my favorite.  The frosting, on the other hand…

The frosting recipe called for two tablespoons of milk.  I subbed in Elijah Craig Bourbon, which cut the sweetness of the frosting a touch and added a depth to the flavor.

Bottom line, would I make these again?  Nah, probably not.  Not because of the flavor but because of the texture.

But I would make the frosting again.

I’ll be interested to hear what our coworkers say about these blondies.  I already know mine’ll be on board with the frosting as we have several bourbon lovers in my office.

Sugar AND liquor.  Guess I’m kicking things up a notch on this Monday.

{Recipe adapted from here}