Gretch Runs

Hi everyone and happy Tuesday! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was a bit longer than normal, which is why I was MIA yesterday. I'm here today to recap all the fun I had, so get ready! Friday We started off the weekend in Philadelphia. We stayed in Center City and explored the area a bit before getting a drink and some food at Independence Beer Garden. That place was so cool and I loved the casual vibe. We took the subway down to the Citizens Park area and walked around a nearby park, then headed in for a baseball game between the Phillies and Nationals.  At one point we left to get some drinks, and missed a foul ball that landed in our seats. Too bad! Saturday  We woke up early to get some breakfast in Reading Terminal Market. It's such a cool place with so much to see, so I understand why it's the most visited place in Philly! After breakfast, we headed to Old Town and got in to see the Liberty Bell before the crowds arrived, th...

Hi everyone!   Today is going to be a special post.  I'm doing the most typical blogger thing ever , and writing out a 30 before 30 list!  I turn 25 today, and figured it was the perfect time to list out everything that I want to accomplish in the next five years.  I hope to continue blogging during this next phase of my life, and keep this list updated as I cross each item off!  Buy a house Break 2 hours in the half marathon Break 4 hours in the full marathon Complete a triathlon (sprint counts!) Get Married Visit Mexico Splurge on a once-in-a-lifetime meal Bungee Jump or Sky Dive Visit Falling Water Go to all the east-coast MLB stadiums (Remaining stadiums: Marlins Park, Tropicana Field, Turner Field, Citizens Bank Park, Citi Field, Yankee Stadium) Cook a fancy 5-course meal Plant a garden Learn how to ski Stay at a BnB in Vermont Learn how to belay Have a spa day See a Broadway musical Ride a jet-ski Stay at a really fancy house on AirBnB ...

Hi everyone and Happy Friday!  We made it! I have a lot of fun plans this weekend and can't wait to share.  For now, I'll be talking about my top five favorites of the week.  I hope you all have a great weekend! Favorites of the Week FitBit Add me on snapchat!  My username is gretchxo Last week, I got a FitBit from work, and I've been loving it so far!  I love how you can challenge your friends (add me if you're on!) and I've already become a lot more active at work.  I got the Charge, and I love how you can see exactly how many steps and miles you've gone, as well as calories burnt, floors climbed, and the time!  It also tracks your sleep, which was interesting to see (apparently I'm restless a lot throughout the night). Amazon Prime I absolutely love having Amazon Prime, especially when I find a new perk.  I just found out about Kindle First- four books are chosen each month as the editors' picks, and prime members can down...

Hi everyone!  For today's Thinking Out Loud post, I'm going to be talking about something that was on my monthly goals list - setting a budget.  This is something that I've struggled with, so I decided to create a spreadsheet (my favorite..Excel is the answer to everything) and write out all of my income and expenses to figure out how much I could spend each month.  I used a really simple method, and I hope that this will help you as well! I created a spreadsheet with all the formulas and everything built in (which you can find here if you're interested).  You can download the file to Excel by clicking File>Download as>Microsoft Excel. In the future, I'm hoping to add a graph to show my savings over time and see how my spending is increasing or decreasing.  That's to come! I divided the spreadsheet into two sections: Income/bills and Expenses.  The first part is all of my monthly bills and expenses, as well as my monthly income.  The seco...

Today I'm linking up with What I Ate Wednesday (# WIAW ) for the first time!  If you haven't heard of #WIAW, check out this post that explains it.  Basically, I'll just be sharing what I ate for an entire day.  This is actually what I had yesterday! Just a note- I'm not a nutritionist (or food photographer..) and I also don't have any dietary restrictions, so take what I eat with caution.  I eat what makes me feel good, which is mostly fruit and vegetables in the summer!  I hope you'll enjoy this post and I plan on participating at least once a month in the linkup! Breakfast I don't usually eat a huge breakfast, and never eat breakfast at home.  This is definitely something that I'm working on (and will be a goal for next month!)  Today I actually did have a small breakfast at home, which was Madagascar Vanilla Kefir topped with raspberries and blackberries .  Kefir by itself is really tart and unappetizing to me, but the berries tone...

Hello everyone!  The theme song today is Changes by Tupac (or David Bowie if that's more your speed).  I hope that you read my post on Paleo Running Momma yesterday, where I talked about what NOT to do while marathon training.  I mentioned what went wrong during the Biggest Loser Half a few weeks ago, and today I'll be talking about what changes I'm making for my next training cycle (which starts soon!). New training plan  I've only used Hal Higdon's training plan for my half and full marathons.  I don't really think it's worked for me for a few reasons, including too many junk miles (which I'll talk about below) and not enough variety.  By the end of the cycle, I was bored and unmotivated.  I decided to try a tougher training plan to really push myself and try to hit my goal time of 2 hours.  I actually found a plan to get sub-1:50 in the half, and will be modifying it a bit for myself.  I'll be breaking it down monthly and weekl...

Hi everyone and happy Monday!  Rather than my typical MIMM post talking about my weekend (which can be summarized into resting and binge-watching Netflix), I'll be completing the Versatile Blogger Survey!  Thanks to Amanda for tagging me! Check out Michele's blog today- I'm guest posting while she's on vacation!  I'll be sharing what NOT to do while marathon training.  Go show her some love! 1. What is something people might be surprised to learn about you?  I was in the marching band at Penn State, and got to go to four different bowl games (two in Florida, one in Texas, and one in California).  My freshman year, we went to the Rose Bowl, which was an amazing experience!  We marched in the parade, played at Disney World and stayed at a hotel right by City Walk.  It was such a great experience, even if we got crushed by USC. 2. Have you ever met anyone famous?  George Bush- my dad's work had a picnic and he stopped by. ...

Hellllloo and Happy Friday!  Did everyone have a good week?  Mine went by very quickly, but unfortunately I caught a bug that's been going around at work.  It seems like twice a year everyone on my floor gets sick.  Not fun at all!  I'll be relaxing this weekend, but today I'm sharing five things that I'm loving at the moment!     Brooks Pure Flow 4 Source: http://www.brooksrunning.com/en_us/pureflow-4-womens-running-shoes/120180.html A few weeks ago, I exchanged the Mizuno Wave Rider 11 for these and I'm in love!  Brooks shoes seem to be a perfect match for my foot, and I've never had any issues with the shoes I've tried (Adrenaline, Ravenna and Pure Flow).  I also have the PureFlow 3, and these have a few updates that I'm really loving: cushioned tongue, softer laces, and slightly firmer sole.  It seems like my feet prefer light-weight shoes like this rather than a stability shoe, so I'm going to keep wearing these until...

Happy Thursday!  Isn't this week flying by? Today I'm linking up with Anne in her monthly Pin to Present series (and Amanda for Thinking out Loud!).  I usually try out a recipe I found on Pinterest, but today I decided to switch it up a bit and test out some beauty hacks.  There are so many tips and tricks out there, and everything promises beautiful results in just minutes.  If I can re-vamp my beauty and hair routine and save time, I'm all in!  Today I'm testing out four pins- two for hair and two for makeup.  Keep reading to see if the pins were a yay or a big fat NAY! Hair The first pin I found promised a 1-minute longer, fuller ponytail.  The images made it look simple: just divide your hair in half horizontally and put each into a ponytail.  Easy, right? It turns out that this pin works!  I loved how the two pony tails made my hair look longer and gave it a nice layered look.  Next time I'll try this with curly ha...

Hi everyone!  Today's review will be my third and final PopSugar Must Have Box (referral code).  I was excited to see this month's box because the theme was all around summer and being active.  Keep reading to see what was included in this month's box! (check out April and May's review ) Quay Australia Mandate sunglasses  – Value $45 I absolutely LOVE these sunglasses!  They feel very high-quality and I love the matte black finish.  They have a rubbery texture, so they might get dirty quickly.  This is my preferred style of sunglasses, and I love how simple and basic they are.  They are a little big for my face, but I don't care-I love them!  See how the look on me below: In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume – Value $28 I'm always looking for a new book to read, and I haven't read one by Judy Blume in years!  This book is huge though, and will be a pain to take on the bus (where I usually read.)  It would be n...