All posts by Kristin Smith

Mama to 2 little ones & married to a great guy. Loves running, pedicures, dark chocolate, red wine, and spoiling my babies.

2015 Marine Corps Half Marathon

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For as long as I’ve been a runner, I’ve been told that the one race you want to avoid running in Jax is the Marine Corps Half. Not just from one person, but from nearly every single person I know that has run it in the past.  The main complaints are the terrible weather (it’s hot and humid!) and that the end of the course is brutal.  You run up a pedestrian bridge, over the rail road tracks, then have to run down a spiral ramp.  Then you run, in full sun, along the river.  That part sounds nice, but not when it’s 85 degrees in full sun!

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2015 Tijuana Flats Summer Beach Run

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This is one of those things that should probably be filed under “not my best idea ever”. It worked out though and I had fun, so I guess it was not my worst idea ever.  All I know is I was one tired mama the next day!  So what was this silly thing that I did??

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Review: YOXO – Keep Kids Creating

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I don’t know about you, but I get really frustrated with kids toys these days.  Not that there are so many of them in my house (there are), or that they’re so loud (they are), or that it makes my kids want to keep their eyes plastered to a screen all day (they totally would if I let them), but that I feel like so many of the toys my kids have don’t let them think outside the box.  There’s one way to do things and kids don’t have the freedom to play and explore, which often means they quickly get bored with their toys and are begging to run to Target for more.

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2015 210W Challenge 5K

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In my catch-up post a week or so ago, I mentioned that I didn’t camp out with Adam and the kids at the last Cub Scout camp out because I had a race Saturday morning, the 210W Challenge in St. Augustine.  I probably could have camped out, but the idea of sleeping in a tent and then getting up to run the next morning was just not at all appealing to me.

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2015 Wine & Chocolate 5K

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Unlike the race itself, my recap of the Wine & Chocolate 5K is going to be a quickie! Mostly because it was like a month ago and I don’t really remember many details, but also because I have a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in and the back log of posts I have to write is starting to make me anxious.

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Fresh Ricotta Gnocchi

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You may have noticed this from previous posts, or maybe not, but Adam is the cook in our house.  I enjoy baking, but when it comes to meal planning and cooking, it’s 85% Adam.  He gets a lot of ideas  from the Serious Eats site and often emails them to me with “will you eat this?” (I’m a bit of a picky eater.  A bit is an understatement.)

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2015 Run Rabbit Run 5K

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Because we didn’t have enough crammed into the already busy Easter weekend, Adam and I decided to do the Run Rabbit Run 5K with some of our friends. I heard so many good things about the race last year, so I was eager to sign up. The course starts at the entrance to Queens Harbor Yacht & Country Club and you run along the neighborhood streets. It wasn’t at all congested and the scenery is gorgeous (especially if you’re like me and love looking at big, beautiful houses!).

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Super Easy and Delicious Red Sauce

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A few years ago, a friend of mine gave me a recipe for Baked Ziti. Her husband was stationed in Naples, Italy for a few years and she got the recipe from a local. The recipe included a homemade red sauce that we really liked, but it wasn’t quite perfect. Adam has spent the last few years tweaking it and he’s finally determined that it’s as good as it’s going to get. And it’s good, really good. We use it now any time we need red sauce. Anytime Adam makes it for friends, they ask for the recipe so he asked that I share it here, so it’s easier for him to share with everyone. Enjoy!!

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Review: Boon SUDS Bottle Washer (Spoiler: You Need This!)

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As a mom, sippy cups have become the bane of my existence.  No kidding.  I cannot even begin to tell you how big of a pain they are to clean (and that goes for bottles too, though we’re well past that stage).  When the folks at Boon reached out to me to ask if I’d like to try their new SUDS Bottle Washer (which should really be called the SUDS Everything Washer!), my answer was “heck yeah!”.

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