CamBands Giveaway

Welcome, welcome!  Gather round for Miss Fancy Nancy's very first ever giveaway!!!

Many months ago, when I was thinking of my Easter bridge race, I started searching for a cute headband that had to do with Easter.  Well that is where I found Jenny and her Cambands on etsy!  She began by making headbands for her daughter and now makes the cutest headbands that do NOT slip!  I bought the best band with Easter eggs all over it....

She has skinny and thick bands with lots of great patterns and colors!  Bonus is that they are only $6!  I contacted Jenny when I fell in love with the band and asked her if she wanted to do a giveaway.  Enter....the first Fancy Nancy giveaway!!!  She sent me 3 beautiful bands for 3 beautiful ladies....sorry guys! 

So here is the skinny on how to enter.  Leave a comment for each.  Each comment is one entry in the giveaway!  You have until July 8th to enter!

      1.  Be a follower of Living the Dream.

      2.  Visit the CamBand site here and come back to tell me what were your favorites.

      3.  Post this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, billboard, you name it! Leave a comment   with a link to let me know you did!

Remember there are three bands so three chances to win!!!!  I will announce the winners on July 9th!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

 After my morning run yesterday....What's up Sweaty McSweatster?

Tune in tomorrow for a very special surprise!!!!!

Sweating My Thorns Off Buddyless!

Happy Running Buddy Day!  I had big plans for today to run with my current running buddy Em but she spiked a fever this morning and has been sleeping ever since! 

My other, adult, running buddies are kicking some butt today in the crazy Warrior Dash...go get em girls!

So I ran today's Sweating Your Thorns off Virtual 5k before my long run....alone.  I did it on the mill thinking maybe I would luck out and someone would get on the mill next to me and I could adopt them as a running buddy.....not so much! 

 Before....wearing my bib with pride!

I did a mile warm-up and then reset the mill to start the 5k.  I know I have said it before but does anyone else think you're running faster on the treadmill than you really think?   I just kept upping the speed each 5 minutes and was pretty happy with my time.  Not a pr but pretty close to my last few 5k times! 

And oh baby was I sweaty!!!  It hasn't been very warm here the past few days but the humidity is way up which equals....a sweaty mess!  Finished up my long run after for another 10 miles before I called it a day! 

After...ok I realize now that I don't look all that sweaty....trust me I was!

I really had fun pushing myself on the mill!  I am hoping that this will translate into a pr at my 5k race in 2 weeks....I am hoping to place!!!  

Looky what was waiting for me at home......Compression socks from Alicia at Alicia Runs!!!  As you can see I am over the moon excited about these!!!!  They have been something I have really wanted to try out!  THANKS Alicia!!!!!!

Another Shaking Song

Added this on to the playlist today and it gave me a little kick!  Fun song!  Don't forget to give your shake ideas!!

Shake It Like A Polaroid Picture!

Ok so not really this kind of shake but this is such a fun song so I figured I would start with that!

I am quickly coming upon summer vacation....don't hate....and I am looking for something to make shakes with.  I am looking to replace my breakfast and probably lunch with some kind of shake....I did this last year and it worked great.  I am looking to lose a few pounds but really I would like to do this since during the summer quick is always better for me!  Plus who wants to eat a big lunch when it's so hot!  I have used Amazing Grass in the past to mix in with my Green Monster smoothies and am kind of leaning that way but I am looking for suggestions from all of you!  I would love to cut out my morning coffee and just make myself just feel much better all over.....like digestion, energy, you name it!  So.......

What shake/smoothie base do you swear by????

Weekend in Review

Good morning all!  I hope you all had a great weekend celebrating the Fathers in your lives!  We had great weather surprisingly so hubs got in some golf with a side of mowing the lawn!  Then we had his family over Sunday for a cookout.  This great weather makes it so hard to resist the lazy summer feeling!  We sat outside talking until the mosquitoes chased us indoors but I could have stayed out there forever!  I love summer...but more of that to come!

Pretending to help her....more for me than her!

Saturday we had a big moment in Fancy Nancy land!  While at swimming with Em, she started to try to push my hands off her.  She then looked at me and said, "Mommy I don't want you to help me.  I want to swim alone!"  Fighting back the tears I called the instructor over and they suited her up with a bubble and a floaty stick and off she went kicking her way around the pool....minus a bittersweet mommy!  The hubs patted me on the back and said, "It's only the beginning!"  My mom's response...."She's her Mother's child!"  Before you know it she'll be asking me to drop her off at the mall cause it's not cool to shop with her mom or beating me at races!!  I'm so proud of her but it is bittersweet! 

After our swimming adventure, we headed out to get Dad and Bumpa their Father's Day gifts....yes a little late I know!  Later after her nap, we ran to the park for a little swing time!  Glad to see she still wants to do that with me!  We swung by the baseball field for a peak at the game.  Cape League has started and we live just a mile from the field.  If you have ever seen the movie "Summer Catch" with Freddy Prince Junior...yeah it's a little like that but we don't like Chatham we're Cotuit fans!!  I'm looking forward to catching some games with the fam!

Sunday brought Father's Day and lots of running around for the cookout.  We also got in a quick call to my Dad and Em grabbed the phone to chat!  I love my Dad and each year I have with him is a gift.  He has suffered from Chrone's Disease for over 40 years and some years are harder than others.  He has taught me far more than I ever could have imagined about life and the faithfulness of God!  We have shared so many memories over sports and life that I cherish!  I am so thankful to call him Dad! 

The hubs was showered with gifts and golf cupcakes were enjoyed by all!  The hubs is an amazing Dad and Em is so incredibly blessed to have him!  I can't help but smile when I see them together!  He loves her so deeply and she adores him!!  It was a great day to celebrate him!!!

Not such great news on the running front....but this is a new week and I'm hitting the reset button....summer break is in T-minus 2 days!!!!

Of course I had to leave you with a pic of Em and her first big girl pony!

Three Things Thursday Race Report Style!!!

What a day it was yesterday!!! Again I am so thankful to have been able to make the drive and be part of it all! So think of my three things as a beginning, middle, end of my race journey!

1 Boston traffic.....

Boy is this something that I do not miss!

I know cities have traffic but it is easy to forget it when you are so removed! We have tourist traffic on the Cape but it is nothing like this! I do consider myself a Boston driver since I spent most of my driving years up here and the meaning cracks me up! Boston drivers are like short guys.....we have a chip on our shoulder! We are always in a hurry......we'll tailgate you and then as we pass you we'll give you the finger! (Don't worry Mom....no finger throwing from this girl!) It can be stressful if you are from out of town but I love it!

2. Race time!!! As I said yesterday, this was my friend Julie's first 5k however I failed to mention that Julie has never even attended a race nor ever been in the vicinityy of a race! To illustrate this I would like to note that we had her convinced at the beginning of the week that she needed elbow and knee pads just in case! Either way we met at the park, got our numbers, and were ready for start time!

Jill, Carrie, and I

Jill, Carrie, Me, and Julie (note the matching Bondi Bands)

As nervous as Julie was she was in good hands with Jill and I! We were bound and determined to get her to finish strong! We probably laughed the entire time from the music Julie was playing on her iphone (we sounded like we were carrying a boom box) to the water stop where Julie almost threw her water on Jill. Julie did great and she finished....while calling me a psycho! I had so much fun laughing and seeing my friends! I will admit it is hard for me not to race but I know that Julie needed me there and I'm glad I could help. Plus I didn't feel like I was going to die at the end from running just shy of throwing up!

time...forgot to turn off my Garmin at the end....time well spent!

These were our Bondi Bands.....very true!!

This was also my first race in the Virtual Insanity 5k series held by Moms Run This Town! I wore this number on my back....and answered lots of questions!!

3. Go Bruins.....I'm not claiming to be a diehard Bruins fan but any Boston team is my team especially when they win the Stanley Cup after 39 years!!!! I was able to get home in time to watch the last period and celebrate!!!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

It's race day folks! You know what that means....you have a choice!

You can......

Get your inner diva on....complete with flashy sunglasses and purple plastic purse

Or you can......Get your game face on......well we have another word for this face but for today we'll call it her game face!!

Headed north to join my girls for one of my favorite 5k races tonight! Many thanks to the hubs for picking up my slack and letting me go! This is the second largest all women race in New England and the best part is that it is tucked away in a small shore town! Race report tomorrow!!!

How Do You Fill Your Cup?

I am not sure how this post will come out but bear with me while I attempt to explain what I have been feeling lately. I feel like I have written this a million times before so if you are thinking to yourself...."what else is new?" I apologize!

Throughout my life, God has given me slight nudges toward what He wants me to do. Often times I ignore these nudges or say, "Yeah I'll get to that" until He just slams me over the head with it! Lately, the past few months, He has been nudging me about taking time for me. Taking the time to be still and allow Him to fill my cup. It seems like every where I turn there are messages of needing to get my cup filled before I can try to fill other's cups. The challenge comes with how....I'm a full-time working mom, wife, sister, daughter, friend, and runner and I suppose I forget to pencil myself into all of that.

As the school year wraps up I always find my time even more sliced and diced with all the last minute things to do. This morning as I drove white knuckled to work, of course running late, I thought to myself, "I can't do this anymore." I was beating myself up for being too "lazy" to get up and run this morning and trying to calculate when I could fit in a triple session to make up for the miles I had missed. I want to make the change with this before God needs to hit me over the head!

This summer, really next week, I want to spend making my decisions reflect the desires of my heart....being a loving wife, soaking in time with my daughter while I have it, running because I love to not because I have to, and just delighting in the many blessings I have been given....taking the time to get my cup filled every day!

So I ask you.....How do you fill YOUR cup?

Weekend in Review meets Week Ahead

This weekend, much like so many before, went by way too fast! However I was able to squeeze in lots of things before the final bell on the weekend rang! Friday afternoon Em and I headed down...rather over....to RI for an early Father's Day visit with the fam.

First thing on tap....a long overdue cut and color!

more blonde for the summer....sporting the black and gold GO BRUINS!

The next day I went for a long 10 miles along my favorite coastline! Boy was this needed! You all gave the advice to change up the route and this worked like a charm! The miles ticked by like nothing! It helped that I had beautiful mansions and miles of ocean to keep me busy!


When I say Em loves her cousins I mean she LOVES her cousins. They played (even though it was Crabby Patty Day) all day long together laughing and occasionally yelling at each other! She loved every second of it and as evidenced by the picture above she crashed almost instantly when we got in the car. It was so sad though....she woke up in the middle of the night crying for her cousin Maya....she just loves them!

This week I have 35 miles on tap and my plan is to nail my workouts! One thing that I am psyched about is my 5k on Wednesday. My lovely hubby is watching Em this Wednesday while I head up to Beverly to join my girls and run in our traditional 5k! Amanda at 5 miles 2 empty posted about the value of running buddies and is even naming June 25th Running Buddy Day! Even though my loving running buddies will be going crazy all out that day at the Warrior Dash, I will still be honoring them! This 5k I will be running with a friend Julie in her first 5k. I can't wait to see everyone!!! In preparation for Running Buddy Day, I'll leave you with a few pics of my buddies and pit crew! I hope this summer to add the hubs to my running buddy pack....hint hint honey!!!

Three Things Thursday

Gooooood morning all!!! Can you tell I stopped to get a coffee this morning! Say it with me...."Medium iced turbo.....YUM!!!" So without further ado here are my three things....

1. "Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great" This quote was from Lesley at Racing it Off and it really sums up what I have been reflecting on a lot. As much as I talk about running faster and getting prs I have recognized that it is the fear of failing that keeps me from really going out there to get it. Same for marathon running. I want so badly to run another but along with the fear of totally stressing out my family, there is that lingering feeling of what if I don't do any better. I realize that that is highly unlikely but you know how it goes. I am determined to lose the fear!!! "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline". Timothy 1:7.

2. I have felt like I have hit my stride this week with running....like really feeling like myself again! I'm looking to the Fall for a race or two to train for. I really love doing long races in the Fall...just beautiful around here! I am hoping to get out early (5am) tomorrow morning to get in my run since I am heading to visit the fam. Since I am a complete scaredy cat and think that someone is going to steal me, this is a stretch for me. We shall see! Also on the fitness front...my brother-in-law wants his P90X back....how dare he!!! Any suggestions for something just as good just not as pricey???

3. This weekend is high school graduation. Since I only check my mailbox once a month (it's a 1/4 mile away...although that would add mileage) I didn't realize that teachers walk in graduation. So it looks like I am going to be putting on this getup Sunday!



As I see it I paid $150 for this whole shebang so I need to work at the high school for at least 10 years to get my money back!!!

Have a great Thursday all and stay cool!!!!

5k Virtual Race Report

Yesterday part of my 5 miler park run was for the virtual race over at Alicia Runs amazing fundraiser for autism. It was our first really hot day plus I was pushing the chickie but I got it in and have the pictures to prove it!!!

Em did the carbloading for me before the run!

Before the sweat fest started!!! Sorry about the backwards Bondi!

No records today by far but I'll take it considering I was pushing an extra 35lbs! And in the end we had fun and supported a great cause! Good luck Alicia!!!

Perspective

Today I was caught several times thinking about how a little change in perspective can change everything. I remember when my sister was getting married, my mother brought out her wedding gown. Now whenever talking about her self my mom would tell us about how heavy she always was. Well the dress was SO TINY!!! It didn't fit neither my sister nor I and my mom was able to see that she wasn't what she thought. Today I had something similar happen. I put on a shirt that I bought last summer at a time where I thought I was smaller than I am right now. Well....it was about a size too big....all about perspective!!!

Here are a few others that caught me today:

• I normally run comfortably at a sub 9 min mile pace...usually around 8:30...add a 32lb toddler and suddenly that pace is a CHALLENGE!
• When I was first training for a marathon, 10 miles was a distance that seemed FOREVER to run, now it's my go to distance every weekend!
• A 10 minute drive used to be SO LONG to drive to the store....now its close!
• In college I thought....man I'm so busy....now, well don't even get me started! I would kill for the free time I had in college but wouldn't change my life for anything!
  

What has you changing your perspective on things today?

Oooops I Missed A Few Things!!!

Ok so I need to write things down!!! I missed two things....one was a question and the other was an announcement!

So my question.....I started up on daily mile this week after not being on for over a year. How could i have forgotten all the cool graphics?!!! Either way my question is: How do I put in the miles I have already run this year? Is there any way to put that in or do I just start from here? Check me out under Nancy C!

Announcement: Keep your eyes peeled because the end of this week I am going to be hosting my first ever giveaway!!! Can you sense the excitement???!!!!!

Ok I think that about covers it! Sorry for my senior moment!!!

Weekend Wrap-Up meets Week Ahead

Good morning all!!

What a whirl-wind weekend here on Cape Cod!!.....one that has left the hubby and I wondering if we are awful parents and if we will ever have a life again!!! Poor Em is a little Crabby Patty lately for reasons we don't know. Poor little chickie has a diaper rash that won't quit so I guess that would make me pretty crabby! Combine that with not enough sleep and you have the melt down that she had at a cookout this weekend. We all needed a hug last night!!

The weekend wasn't a total bust though....we made it down to Touch a Truck yesterday and Em had a blast driving the big trucks and touching all the buttons! She even pulled the big horn!!! She loved it and it was a great time!


Running for me has continued to be frustrating mostly due to the yucky cough I have developed. I am fine running but once I stop it sounds like I smoke 2 packs a day!! I am determined (I know I say this every week) to get a 40 mile week in this week and I think I can really do it! I am very close to 600 miles for the year and 40 miles would put me above and beyond! This past week was good for food and what not so now I just need to add back my running once I can breathe! Thank you again so much for your support and encouraging words!!! I feel so blessed!!!

Sorry this is so random today but I'm a little sleep deprived between coughing and diaper issues....all the more reason to potty train!! I hope your Monday goes great!!!

Feeling Funky Friday

Can you tell I love alliteration?! This morning I woke up feeling just yucky (yucky doesn't start with F though thus the funky Friday!) It is frustrating because I am behind on my miles this week and above all else I am all set with feeling off! I was thinking it was allergies yesterday but today I'm not so sure if it is allergies or a cold. Who gets a cold in June?! I am giving myself a pass today and will be back on the saddle tomorrow...that's right I'm putting on my big girl pants!!!

In other news, since I'm a virtual race junkie as of late I joined another fun one that I found when I was reading FinallyFit2011. She wrote about the Virtual Insanity race series of 5k races for 4 months. This should put me over my goal for Race for the Bling and also challenge me to have fun with these races. Head on over to Moms Run This Town and sign up!!! So fun and great prizes!!

I'm leaving you with a picture from the weekend...we don't always make our dinner guests do planks for their meal but Jill is an exception...ha it was for her blog to show that I was her plank buddy...she is awesome and she should know that because I wouldn't do these for anyone else!!! Can you tell I'm not a big fan of planks?!

Three Things Thursday

Well I am hoping and praying that my little love bug decides to nap today because the weather is so beautiful that it would be a crime not to get a good run in this afternoon! This is shell collecting weather!!!


1. Where's the Zyrtec Fairy when you need her? I am not a fan of taking medicine. I try as hard as I can to let my body deal with it on its own. Part of it is me being stubborn and part of it is....well I guess I'm just stubborn! However, this week I thought I came down with the mother of all colds which I am thinking more and more its allergies. Picture the hubs doing his best "I told you so" face. He has struggled with allergies a lot but I have NEVER had them before. How do you people do this? This blowing nose and sneezing 10 times in a row thing sucks!!! I am praying for a good hard rain to wash all this pollen away but until then I look like the before picture of a Zyrtec ad!

2. My own worst critic...Part of my New Year's Resolution was to give myself grace but I must have forgotten it lately. Before I found out I was pregnant I was about 2lbs away from being where I wanted to be...flat belly, toned, the works. Well even now 1 1/2 months after my miscarriage I still feel bloated and yucky. Top that off with a motivation in the tank and my inability to JUST SAY NO to bad food and you have my current weight and look. Yesterday unfortunately my hubby caught the brunt of this! I have been MUCH better this week and cut out sugar and bad foods and I know that I need to just be patient but then I saw a pic of me the other day that just reminded me I was headed in the wrong direction! I go back and forth so much! After my bitch session with the hubs I was brought back to reality seeing pictures of the tornadoes in western Massachusetts and know that what I was complaining about was really petty. Ugh! I did however see Jess' review on a detox diet that she did for 2 weeks at Blonde Ponytail. I think that will start me for next year. I am just still feeling like my system is off. Any suggestions??


3. No more teachers no more books....This week is my seniors' last week of school and it is really bringing me back to my high school days....yeah that's way back! This is my first year working at this grade level but I really love it. I feel like I have been able to have conversations with them about life and where it is taking them. There is so much from running that I have learned about life but the biggest one I have passed on to them is "Don't be afraid of failure." I was so afraid for so long to push my pace and do speed work because I was afraid of failing. These students have endured so much as immigrants and I want them to realize the strength that they already have. They need to shoot for their goals and not be afraid!

I hope you all are enjoying your Thursday....Don't you just love short weeks!!!

Wordless Wednesday....almost

Happy National Running Day!!!
We had good intentions but when you mix a slight fever with a 2 year-old that didn't nap.....well you know what you get! We only made it to the end of our neighborhood....1 mile. Not quite the 5 miler to the park I had planned! We'll try again tomorrow!!! Oh and don't you just love the Bondiband I won from Running Diva Mom?