A Great Man!

Sorry I have been off the radar screen lately,  tt has been a hectic few weeks. About two weeks ago on August 15 I received a phone call at work from my mom telling me my nonno (which is what I called my grandfather) had passed away. He had fallen on my birthday and did in fact break his hip and needed surgery and since then it has been a roller coaster for him. He passed away at the age of 89 and lived a full life.

He will be greatly missed by all and as we stated in his eulogy we know he will always look over us at the head of the table where he always sat during family dinner. My nonno was a man of great accomplishments but there is always one thing that still amazes me to this day about him. About 50 plus years ago he left his home country of Italy and traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to better his family, which at this point was my dad, nonna and himself. They left everything behind including the rest of their family including siblings, parents, aunts, uncles and friends behind in Italy to experience a new country and a new life. They arrived at Ellis Island in New York about a month later, can you imagine doing this with a pregnant wife and an eighteen month old? This is just one amazing story of my nonno that will always stick with me until the day we meet again in heaven!

We love you and miss you already nonno!

Nonno

Falmouth Road Race 2011

Yesterday I ran the New Balance Falmouth Road Race with my sister and cousin. We headed down the cape on Saturday to attend the expo and pick up our numbers. The expo was relatively small but I did pick up a shirt. We headed to the beach after the expo because we were spending the night down the cape. My mom, dad, Joe and Abigail all stayed over to so they could cheer us on.


Our bib numbers



The race started about ten minutes late but other than that everything went very smoothly. The weather was overcast and cloudy which was perfect running weather minus the humidity. I was just so happy that it wasn't pouring like it was during by half last weekend.

I decided to run this race by myself and not stick with my sister and cousin because I was trying to set a PR and finish in under an hour. I did it and beat my time by last year by about 5 minutes, I was so happy. My final time was 55:46 which was a pace of about 7:58. I am so happy that my sprints have been paying off!
We all met up again after the race and of course needed a post race picture.

Post Race Photo

My sister and Abigail (this was my sister's longest race ever!)

This may be one of my favorite races and I am sad that next year I probably won't be able to run because it will be right around the time of my wedding :)

Question: What is your favorite road race?

Fitness Friday-Crazy Eights

Welcome to another week of the Fitness Friday Blog Hop inspired by Jill at Life as I See it [Fitness, Health & Happiness].

This week I am going to focus on a workout that can be sued while you are on vacation and don't have access to a gym. The workout is called crank or crazy eights because you do eight exercises for eight reps and eight times through and trust me this is a killer workout!

The eight exercises are:

180's
Burpees with a jump squat
Mountain Climbers - 16 total
High Knee Run - 16 total
Arm Jumps - Heels to butt - side to side - on your arms...x8 total
Spiderman Jumps x 8
Prone Jacks x 8
Pushups

I usually time myself so and write it down so that I can keep track of my improvements. I will be away in a few weeks and I plan to do this workout several times and pair it with some running to keep myself in shape while I am away.

Don't forget to join in on the Fitness Friday Blog Hop.

Pre-Wedding One Year Anniversary!

One year from today I will be marrying the love of my life and best friend! I can't believe that we have already been engaged for eight months, so I can only imagine how fast the next twelve will go.

We have accomplished a lot since our enagement but I know this is only the beginning. Here is a list of a few vendors we already have.

Church: St. Ann Parish, Quincy

Reception Site: Raffael's Walpole

Photographer: Ali Rosa Photography

DJ: DJ Ramu

Florist: Judy's Village Flowers

Wedding Dress: Morilee by Madeline Gardner 

I know we have done a lot so far but know there is still so much to do. I am looking forward to enjoying every moment of the next year and the planning we get to do for our special day!

Make way for Ducklings

Tuesday I took a half day from work and my sister,  mom and Abigail came into the city to meet me. Once we made our rounds to say hi to everyone at work we headed over to Rock Bottom for lunch. For an appetizer we started off with the Southwest Egg Rolls (sorry no picture we were starving). For my meal I went with the Laredo Burger but instead of beef I substituted the veggie burger with onion rings. I am a sucker for onion rings so I just had to get them. Everything was delicious especially the veggie burger.

Abigail being nosy at lunch

Once we finished lunch we headed over to the Swan Boats to take Abigail on her first ride, she loved it!

This will now become a tradition for us to bring Abigail in for a Swan Boat ride before the end of the summer every year because it is something my mom did with my sister and I growing up.

Once our nice boat ride was over we walked over to the Make Way for Duckling statues so we could snap a few photos with Abigail. She wasn't too into this but I got one at least.

Question: What traditions do you have with your family?

WIAW

Happy Hump Day and welcome back to another WIAW thanks to Jenn at Peas and Crayons.

Last night after a sweaty gym session I headed to the store to pick something up for dinner. I wasn't exactly sure what I was in the mood for so I grabbed some chicken. As I was walking around I thought to make honey mustard panko chicken with some asparagus.

First I put some Boars Head honey mustard on each side of the chicken then lightly coated it with panko bread crumbs and baked them in the oven on 350 for about 25 minutes.


Once I put the chicken in the oven I prepared the asparagus with a little sea salt, pepper and lemon juice.

For a quick thrown together dinner this was delicious!

Question: What is one of your favorite quick go to meals?

Providence Rock n Roll Half Marathon

Yesterday morning despite the pouring rain I finished another half marathon and even set a PR.


Saturday afternoon I headed to the expo with my mom, dad and Abigail to pick up my number and look around at the expo. They had some cool things at the expo but I only bought a cute onesie for Abigail and a pint glass.



Yesterdays run was not the best weather conditions it was rainy, windy and humid but I finished in 1:54:39 which was an 8:45 pace and was my best half marathon time. For this being the inaugural race it was organized and things went smoothly once we got started, they did delay the race at the start for about 20 minutes which was a pain since we were waiting in the rain.

I loved the music they had throughout the course and think I may have to do this race again!

Question: Have you ever run a Rock n Roll series race, if so what was your favorite?

Happy Birthday to Me

Yesterday was my birthday and the morning started off not so good but luckily the afternoon and evening got a lot better!

I had a rough morning with my BOMF team regarding a few issues that arose in the shelter the past few days. Then I got a call from my mom at work which never happens so I knew right away something was wrong. My nonno (what I call my grandfather) was rushed to the hospital because he fell and they think he broke hos hip. My nonno is 89 in a wheelchair with a weak heart but luckily his vitals were all good and it was just his hip.

The day started to turn around when I get a delivery at work. How cute is this a cupcake flower plant, who thinks of this stuff?

Not only did the flowers make my day better, once I read the card and who they were from it made my day regardless of the morning I had.

Then I took the boat from Boston to Hingham to meet Joe for dinner at s newer restaurant Alma Nove. I had the swordfish dinner which is served with lobster mashed potatoes that are to die for. I'm not a huge cake person do instead we stopped for some fro yo on the way home, Joe put a candle in it and sang to me!
Then it was time to open my present from Joe. He took me into the kitchen where a brand new Keurig was setup on the counter with a variety of different coffees. I was psyched because now I can make my own iced coffee. He also bought me two vegetarian cookbooks because he knows I want to start cooking me vegetarian meals, he is the best.

After presents I called my nonna (what I call my grandmother) to see how my nonno was and she had good news. He didn't brake his hip just a small fracture and the pain was subsiding for him so they will meet with an orthopedic sometime tomorrow and probably just do a little rehab.
After a rough morning the day ended up being great so I'm so glad I didn't let my morning bring me down for the rest of the day.

Now I'm enjoying my first hazelnut iced coffee from my new Keurig.

Question: What is your favorite flavor K-cup?

Chi Town on the Fly

So I am back from Chicago but am slacking on getting my pictures on to my computer and I know it is WIAW and I wanted to share some eats from my trip but I guess it will have to wait until next week.

We had such a fun trip eating our way through the city, visiting a museum, taking a tour on a U505 submarine and taking in a game at US Cellular to see the Sox vs. Sox.

I did snap a few photos with my phone throughout the weekend though that I can share in the meantime.

US Cellular Field



White Sox vs. Red Sox

One morning I took a nice run along the river and I couldn't help but snap a few pictures of the beautiful city. If I were to ever leave Boston there is no doubt I would move to this city!

Question: What is your favorite city to visit?