GOMO

Happy Monday!!

Or in the land of Serindipity...Happy Oxymoron Day!

I'm fresh off the plane from New Orleans and I already want to go back!  I'll post a recap tomorrow.

Today we're focusing on GOMO!  What is GOMO?

In the Netflix and Chill world we live in, GOMO (Go Out More Often) is, sadly, a novel concept!   Eventbrite, an event planning and management software company asked me to list some GOMO ideas!  Eventbrite is awesome because it lets you plan events, send out digital invites, track RSVPs, sell your tickets online and track ticket sales in real time.  This sounds like an awesome way to keep track of all of your holiday parties!

I know that with winter coming, most people prefer to stay inside and hibernate, but I LOVE this time of year!  There are so many exciting things to do outdoors this time of year.  I may be am totally 100% biased because of my December birthday, but I just have to celebrate the season by going to ALL.THE.HOLIDAY.AND.WINTER.THINGS!  I've created a list of holiday/winter things that are must do's in the Philadelphia/Souther NJ area.

1.)  Turkey Trots!

I LOVE this Thanksgiving tradition.  Most are 5ks and can be found in multiple towns around the area.  I usually run the Moorestown Turkey Trot.  I always feel less guilty pigging out once I've completed the pre-dinner race.  A little fresh air also cuts the family togetherness tension :)  Here are a list of local Turkey Trots near me!

Last Year's Moorestown Turkey Trot

2.) Dickens' Village

Macy's in Philadelphia, located in the old Wanamaker Building, puts on a recreation of Charles Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol, every year.  Visitors walk through an impeccably decorated story walk.  Visitors wind through the 3rd floor or Macy's and view animatronic dolls that depict the major scenes from the book.  We've been going forever and it's something I look forward to every year.  It starts the day of Thanksgiving!  Macy's also does a light show set to Christmas music and features many classic Christmas stories including The Nutcracker, Frosty, and Rudolph.  My family used to go every year, but now my girlfriends and I have turned it into a fun prelude for festive cocktails and dessert at The Melting Pot or Max Brenner's.

3.) Santa Runs/Holiday Runs

After Turkey Trots, these have to be my favorite holiday races.  Racers dress up in holiday garb and run around different neighborhoods.  One cool thing about these races is that they tend to mix up the distance.  Most Turkey Trots are 5ks, where Santa Runs vary from one mile runs to marathons.  You can join a Running of the Santas, or an ugly sweater run, a hot cocoa run, and a reindeer run.  All of these are an awesome way to GOMO and get some exercise in!

4.) Christmas Village

Philadelphia holds an annual Christmas Village complete with a German Christmas Market featuring local vendors.  Every day there is something new for visitors to experience.  Buy some hot cocoa and walk around with a Bavarian pretzel and take in all of the holiday goodies.  Most events are free and family oriented.  Plus, it's Center City locale makes it a great way to start or end your Dickens' Village trip.

5.) Peddler's Village Gingerbread House Contest

On December 3rd and 4th, Peddler's Village hosts a Christmas Weekend complete with shopping, Santa parades, and a Gingerbread House Decorating Contest.  Peddler's Village is cute the other 363 days a year, but this weekend they go above and beyond.  You can purchase cookies and hot cocoa and walk around.  PLUS parking and admission is free!

6.) Living Nativities

As kids there was nothing I loved more than hearing the story of Jesus' birth. We would visit multiple local churches and see their recreation of the story of Jesus' birth.  Each church put their own spin on it, including importing livestock, music, stunts, and special effects.  Such a great way to remember the Reason for the Season.

8.) Craft Shows

Most local high schools and churches feature Christmas Craft Shows.  These are great places to go to pick up gifts for co-workers, neighbors, and hostesses.  Most feature locally made products (think homemade jams/honeys/baking mixes) at reasonable prices.  Plus, I always feel better buying from local artisans.  Most of these also feature a Cookie Walk...not that I ever visit those :)

9.) Ice skating at the RiverRink

Philly has a really awesome outdoor RiverRink where skaters can go to enjoy some exercise, treats, and family time.  I'm a horrible ice skater so you probably would only get a visual of me falling to the ground multiple times.  The rink opens November 25th!

10.) Xfinity Live!

We're really luck in Philly because right next to our sports' arenas is a really cool multi-bar hangout called Xfinity Live.  It features Philly favorites (Geno's and Chickie and Pete's) and other fun bars.  My friends and I like to go and watch basketball, hockey, and football games.  It's a great (and cheap) way to view the games!

11.) Hockey games

My friends and I love Philly sports!  We try to see a Flyers game live every season.  This year, we're going to see Carrie Underwood's husband, Mike Fisher's Nashville Predators take on the Flyers!

12.) Light Displays both local and independent

Many towns feature The Best of Light Displays and list homes that really go over the top with their decorations.  My friends and I like to do a Christmas Dinner Party.  We wear our jammies, bring a course, and eat a nice Christmas meal before we head out on a self-directed lights' tour.  We bring hot cocoa and homemade cookies and turn the Christmas jams up loud!

Last year's lights and dinner tour

If you want a more formal Christmas Lights' Display event you can usually find them at  local farms.  Johnson's Farm does a great one in South Jersey.

13.) Sixers Games

Just like hockey games, we try and visit a Sixers game every year.  Tickets are super cheap and can be found on Groupon!  I'm Cait, her brother, Dylan, and I may all join up and go see a game.

14.) The Nutcracker

My.Favorite. Tradition.  Deb and I usually go see The Nutcracker  every year because I love the ballet!  We usually see the Pennsylvania Ballet's performance, but tickets can be expensive.  Groupon currently has the NJ Ballet's performance for $12!  Local ballet companies also perform this show.

Deb and I before the ballet last year

15.) House Tours

Many older towns feature House Tours.  Moorestown, Haddonfield, and Riverton all host Christmas House Tours.  Visitors can pay a one time fee (usually $25) and get to tour houses decorated for Christmas.  The towns' historical societies usually put on these events.  They're super fun to explore and see all of the old, beautiful mansions' decorations.  We usually turn it into a family affair and bring my aunts, cousin, Cait, and her mom.  We do dinner before and turn it into a fun Girls' Night Out!

16.) Longwood Gardens 

If you are from this area, you know Longwood Gardens is a holiday couple's day out fave.  Everyone and I mean everyone takes their significant other to visit the Gardens and take a Christmas picture in front of the giant Christmas tree.  If you're rolling solo this holiday season (like me!) you and your friends can visit it and then grab a good dinner on the way home.

I hope you all enjoyed this list of holiday fun activities!  Remember, use Eventbrite to help you plan your holiday events!  It gives you total control over your event and keeps you in charge of your event with painless event guides and services!   


Can't wait to tell y'all about my trip to visit Zach!

XOXO,

E

Phillies 5k

Hoppy Easter Weekend!!

So...I'm the worst blogger ever.  I used to be good at this, but then I grew up, got a big girl job that I LOVE and completely ran out of free blogging time.

Anyway......

Today I ran the Phillies 5k!  If you know anything about me you know a few things

1.) I LOVE baseball
2.) I LOVE running

Put these things together and you get one happy Erin.

I had to do some mayyyjahhh convincing to sway Deb into letting me run this race.  We usually head down to Virginia to visit the brother on Easter Saturday, but she generously allowed me to run as long as I promised to be home by 10 am.  No greater PR motivator than an angry mama for 5 hours in a car.  Yikes!

By the time I convinced her, the race was up to $50.  That's usually more than I spend on a 5k, but the buy in included:  2 100 level seats to 2 different games, a 20% coupon to the Majestic Club House (hello new running jacket), a free app at Xfinity Live, a medal, and post-race snacks.  You also get to walk around the warning track to cool down.  Since I have no kids under 12 and am not a senior citizen, this is my only *legal* opportunity to go on the field.  I seriously think people have kids for 2 reasons:

1...eat their Halloween candy
2...run the bases at professional baseball games


The race was super fun and well organized.  They gave you multiple options for packet pick up, easy to swap game tickets, and a chance to walk around the field!  The runners were a good mixture of competitive and casuals.

Phillies shoe wine holder?!  Does this scream Erin or what??

The race also started at 9 am which was nice because then I didn't have to get up super early.  Parking was a breeze (and FREE) and as we walked to the starting line we passed pretzel vendors (gotta love Philly) who also had COTTON CANDY!  Swoon.

The race started at the stadium and had us run around CBP and then under the 95 overpass and through FDR park.  There was one water station and I (unsuccessfully) guzzled some water.  Can anyone tell me how they manage to actually get the water into their mouth?  I end up looking like a rabid dog trying to lap up water.every.single.time.  I end up wearing the water on my shirt like a boss dork.  The race course was really fun.  It was a good mix of scenery and was all pavement running.  The race ended with us coming up Broad Street and having to run a minor hill before we went down hill to the finish line.  There were multiple bands playing to encourage us, but minimal spectators.  No signs either.  The signs are really motivating so I definitely missed them.

Of course the Phanatic was there to officially start the race.

Oh hey, Big Buddy!

Once we finished, we were greeted with our medals, a bottle of water and our choice of either a soft pretzel or a banana.  I rolled with the pretzel because, let's face it, I wasn't going to make the 10 am departure time requested by Deb so I figured I'd bring her a pretzel peace offering.  If you're wondering it worked like a charm ;)

Peace Offering

The coolest medal!

It's a baseball cap

After catching my breath and guzzling the water, I went down the tunnel to the field.  It was pretty cool being in the tunnel.  I got to walk the warning track from 1st base, around home plate, and up to 3rd base.

View from the field

I asked one of the sweet ushers to take my picture, but it was kind of a weird picture.  Note to self, always ask a girl to take the pic.  We know the good angles.  Guys are like, whatever you're in the frame and it clicked so it's good enough.

Awkward post race pic

Baseball season is right around the corner :)

Post-race view 

The race was really good.  I didn't PR, but I finished in 22:43, 172nd out of 6,000 entrants, 8th female overall, and 25th in my age group.  Not too shabby for my first race of the season.

Phanatic Love

A lot of people ask me if there's a difference between short races and long races.  I think short and long races are totally different animals.  My longest races have been half marathons and my shortest races have been 5ks.  Here's how they are different:

• Half Marathons require a whole lifestyle change.  You need to change your approach to eating, sleeping, and training.  When I'm in "training season" I cut out all processed sugar and alcohol. I also up all smart carbs--hello, baked sweet potatoes!  I also get up to run 5 miles a day Tuesday, Thursday, Friday.  Sundays are dedicated to long runs.  Speed isn't as important as endurance.  I try to get an hour of cardio in a day just to teach my body how to withstand the 1:45-2 hours it will take me to run the half marathon.
• Halves let you find your pace.  You eventually settle into a pace that is comfortably uncomfortable for you.  I usually end up running those miles in about 8:10-8:14.  I'm tired, but not out of breath.
• Halves require less food before the race...for me anyway.  Before halves I usually eat a homemade breakfast cookie.  Nothing too heavy or big because I'll get sick.  I usually eat this about 5 minutes before the race.  No water before a long run if it's in the am.  
• 5ks are more about speed. I sprint the entire thing.  My pace usually falls within the 7-7:20 range.  
• 5ks also require more food...for me anyway.  I eat oats, almond milk, 1 oz walnuts/almonds/pecans or whatever other nuts we have on hand, cinnamon, and a splash of vanilla.  I ate this about 2 hours before the race.  I also drank about 4 cups of water before this race.  
• I don't refuel carbs wise while running halves or 5ks so in that respect they're the same.  

I'm off to VA now to visit Dylan!  I'm hoping there's some biscuits in my future!  And maybe some ice cream from Kline's...

This race made me even MORE excited about the upcoming season.  April 11th can't come soon enough.  Padre and I are going to the game on April 12th for Opening Night.  Hello free tee and Dollar Dogs (for Dad...I eat before the game)!  I'll also be there next Saturday for a Future's Game!  We also have tickets for Runner's Day!


xoxo,

e