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Running

T-Minus Two Days

It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit. ~ Dr. George Sheehan So about six months ago I was talked into doing this half marathon thing. Now I can’t believe it’s almost here!! My daughter asked if I was nervous and I had to admit, I do have butterflies swirling around in my belly when I start thinking about the race. I am by no means

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All Things British

Missed Music Monday–Help Me Lose My Mind

Talk to me and watch me crumble, You will see me come undone. (Lyrics from Help Me Lose My Mind by Disclosure) I totally missed posting this last Tuesday…. The official release day for Disclosure’s awesome single, Help Me Lose My Mind featuring London Grammar. (And if you’ve been paying attention to this blog, you’d know that London Grammar happens to be one of my favorite groups – check out the post I did on them here.) Soooooo…I love this song!! It’s got catchy drum riffs and synthesizer

Things I Love

Halloween According to Me

I was raised in a very conservative religion, one that didn’t celebrate holidays, especially one as blatantly pagan as Halloween. There was NO dressing up as a fairy, princess or super hero. There was NO trick-or-treating. There was NO handing out candy. Yeah – we were the family that turned the lights off and pretended not to be home. But my siblings and I would sit by the window and check out all the costumes. Back then, I didn’t know any different so it wasn’t a big deal and I didn’t really

Things I Love

Song of the Week Featuring Gabrielle Aplin’s The Power of Love

Thank you BBC1 for turning me on to yet another amazing British artist. This time it’s solo artist Gabrielle Aplin with the song The Power of Love. Seriously – both the song and video are chill-inducing. What the heck is chill-inducing you ask? It’s when you have chills up your arms because it’s THAT freakin’ good. What I love so much about the song - coupled with the beautifully captivating videography and Gabrielle’s amazing voice - is how it captures the essence of being in love. A raw, all

Things I Love

Eat More Cookies, it's National Cookie Month

Oh gosh! I missed giving you a recipe last week for National Cookie Month. So sorry!! But I’ll make it up to you by sharing my family’s favorite cookie for the holidays, a Jewish bite-sized pastry called, Rugelach. If you’ve never had it – just think of butter, cinnamon and flaky crust. It’s like eating apple pie without the apples. So, so yummy. My recipe has been adapted from the Women’s Day Collector’s Cookbook in the November 1995 issue of the magazine. Rugelach Pastry: 2 sticks of unsalted

Running

A Different Kind of Debut

Well, it’s offiicial. This former half-miler who never ran over a six-mile long run in college or an eight-miler post-collegiately is running a half-marathon. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Savannah Half to be exact. Can you believe it? Neither can I. Especially given the fact that just over three months ago, I could barely run one-mile due to a hamstring injury that kept me sidelined for close to two-months. Finally in August I could run two – three miles a few times a week without too much pain. I still

Things I Love

Five Reasons Why

I have THE BEST volunteer gig, working in the Media Center of my daughter’s school. I could go on and on about why it’s so freakin’ amazing, but I’ve narrowed it down to a new feature on my blog called Five Reasons Why: Number Five: A book nerd surrounded by thousands and thousands of books. That’s also called hea-ven. Number Four: Getting to do the behind the scenes library stuff – such as cataloging, book repair and installing Tattle-Tape – is like recess for a book nerd. Except for that nasty

Things I Love

New Music Tuesday: Elastic Heart by Sia

So you know how I listen to BBC Radio 1 to stay up to date on new music headed our way. Last week they debuted another single from the Catching Fire soundtrack – Elastic Heart by Sia featuring The Weeknd and Diplo. The first few stanzas of Elastic Heart actually reminded me of Rhianna, but then it’s totally Sia.. The song has a very catchy refrain and you’ll find yourself swaying to the steady thundering beat behind the words, and then get swept away by the spell of The Weeknd’s falsetto. What

All Things British

New Music–CHVRCHES

It’s new music Tuesday for the Scottish trio CHVRCHES. I love this play on letters. And yes, I agree with this BBC article – you must use all caps when writing, err typing their name. (And don’t forget the “E”) Today their debut studio album Bones of What You Believe is released in the States. The group is electropop, but if you like Arcade Fire or Bastille or Depeche Mode, you’ll probably like CHVRCHES. As an author, I’m always on the lookout for new music to listen to while I run through a