It's Fall!

Since it is the first week of fall, maybe I can pick things back up on the blog... ???
Is this a statement or question?
I am definitely questioning myself, but let's just go ahead and say it is a statement.

Some of you have noticed I added Instagram to my life.  Holy shit, I love that little app so much!  I want to Instagram my whole life.  You'll see the feed over on the right hand side --->
You can also follow me at heatherbeth424.  I'll try to keep it interesting over there.

Unfortunately I do not have an iPhone, so I post my pictures via my iPad.  It is kind of a pain because I have to upload pics from my camera using an SD card reader.  Or if the pictures are coming from my phone (BlackBerry) I need to email them to myself and then save to the iPad.  In reality the whole process is easy and painless.  I think I like complaining about my lack of an iPhone more than anything else.  Yet I am not about to pay for a phone when I get one for "free".  Work pays for the BlackBerry, so don't judge me thinking I would buy a BlackBerry over an iPhone :)
Any BlackBerry users out there know a better way to post to Instagram? 

The fall weather has yet to make its way down to South Florida.  Today it is 89 degrees and really humid.

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This picture is basically a representation of what my glasses and sunglasses look like the moment I step out of air conditioning.  Not annoying at all. 
We definitely have another month or so of this weather.  Awesome.

I went to Maine this past weekend and enjoyed some fall weather.
I got to wear socks, real shoes and a fleece.  It was all lovely and felt kind of like this:

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There were still a lot of green leaves, but they are definitely changing!  Fall is the best.

You know what else is the best?  The TV show Veep.  Holy cow, it is hilarious.
I saw a few episodes on a flight and a cruise I was on recently (recaps up next) and purchased the first season when I got home. 
All of the ridiculousness that you would imagine goes on in politics is highlighted in this show.  It's great.

Well that is enough randomness for today.

What's new with you?

Cutest Little Visitors

In April I had the two cutest visitors in Miami

Lily & Molly!

My sister braved the friendly skies with a 6 month old and a 4 year old to come hang out for 4 days in the warm weather.  It was so much fun!

We went to the Miami Children's Museum.  They had a cool exhibit on the 50 states.

Molly visited San Francisco

Lily visited the Grand Canyon

They even had a special playroom for kids under 1.

I can't even imagine how many germs were on that toy, but what the hell, I let her play all she wanted :)
We went to the American Girl store where Lily's Bitty Baby had a spa day.

This cracks me up, so funny!

Lily took a dance class.

And we had lunch in the Bistro.

Sarah & Lily feeding their babies

We also visited Zoo Miami, which I love!

I think this picture is so funny... big sister crabbing, little sister smiling.

For her first trip to Florida, I think Molly really enjoyed herself :)  She was so chill and always smiling. 

That baby girl knows vacations are good stuff!
I am heading to Maine for 4th of July and cannot wait to see these sweet girls!

2012 Wine & Dine half marathon

So where were we?
Oh yes, I went on a cruise vacation with Mandy, Annie & Martha in March, posted a recipe and haven't blogged again :)

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Taking a look back at the runDisney video for the 2012 Wine & Dine half marathon, this really is my favorite race.  I've run it all three years and I am signed up to run it again in November, can't wait!

Last year, Mandy was in Orlando for work so she decided to extend her time in Florida so she could run as well.  It was a fun weekend!  

Friday we spent all day, along with her co-worker Isabelle, going to 3 of the Disney parks.  I haven't done a park marathon like that in years.  It was fun & tiring! We ended the day with a late dinner at Il Mulino at the Swan resort.  I'd never eaten there before, but it was delicious.

Saturday we checked into the Yacht Club and spent the afternoon by the pool.  This is where we met up with Annette & Brian.  Annette was also running Wine & Dine.

We had an amazing room that looked right out onto the Boardwalk.  I'm not going to lie, we were super tempted to blow off the race, crack open a bottle wine and enjoy the Epcot fireworks from our balcony.  We even thought about just hanging out in the hotel room and then just jumping into the race for the last mile or so, since the course passes right by our hotel :)  

Of course we didn't do that because we are good girls.

Our shirts for the night were all flourescent colors... please know this makes us very, very cool.  

wow, this is super blurry

I kinda like love our bright shirts, not gonna lie.

Everything about the race was fine, well organized and all that jazz.
The coolest thing on the course... these lasers!

I took this pic off of Twitter, so if it is yours, let me know and I will credit it properly

They changed the finish line location for a third time, and I can't imagine why they would change it again, it was super organized.  It ended out in the Epcot parking lot basically in the same area as Princess, WDW half & the marathon.  The set-up is totally different though.  There were big tents for men & women to change in, they handed you a drink (beer, wine, soda) on our way out of the runner's area and then you could head back into Epcot for the post race party.

The weather was spectacular that night, even a little chilly, which I absolutely loved.

Epcot was open until 4am and Amanda & I were there until the end!

Since we weren't able to enjoy cocktails on our balcony Saturday night, we ordered up some bloody mary's to do so Sunday morning!

I told you our room was awesome!

Another relaxing day by the Beach & Yacht Club pool was had before we had to head home.
142 days to go until the 2013 Wine & Dine half!

Coconut Green Curry Quinoa

Last week I was on a super fun cruise with Amanda, Annie & Martha.  While I get caught up on laundry and put together a little recap of the trip, I figured I'd share a recipe with you in the meantime.

Coconut Green Curry Quinoa - yum! 
I took this from Pinch of Yum's Coconut Green Curry Lentils and just changed it up a bit.

Recipe:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1/4 cup green curry paste
• 3/4 teaspoon tumeric

Prepare the quinoa in a saucepan with water or chicken broth (I just used water) and add in the green curry paste and tumeric.
Once the quinoa is cooked, add the following to the same saucepan:

• 1 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1½ tablespoons butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Make sure everything is mixed well and the butter is melted.

Add 1/2 cup of coconut milk and let it simmer for 5 - 10 minutes or until thick and creamy.

Separately, take two large handfuls of spinach and 1 cup of chopped mushrooms and heat them up in the microwave for about 2 minutes.  The spinach should be wilted and the mushrooms should be hot.

Mix everything together and serve.
Enjoy!