Slam Book

*This page is still a work in progress but I figured that I would post it anyway so that you can learn more about me while I work on finishing it up!

Remember Slam Books? You know, those fun books we had when we were kids that were loaded with all kinds of questions that we would answer with our friends to learn about each other?

Mine probably looked like this.

I thought it would be fun to tell you a little bit more about myself “slam book style”

If you had a slam book, you may recall that instead of writing your name on each page, you picked a sticker as a symbol to place next to your answers.

 My sticker of choice would definitely look like this cupcake.  How cute?

Now, the questions in a slam book were typically focused around favorites, likes, dislikes, interests.

So let’s get started with the most important question:

Favorite Food – I really have so many it is hard to choose just one!

If  I had to choose, peanut butter is probably my absolute favorite food.

Along with:

• Apples
• Berries
• Sweet Potatoes
• Sushi
• I feel weird saying vegetables but I really do like them all!
• Red Mango Parfaits
• Coffee (can’t forget coffee)
• Extra Dessert Delights gum (does this count as a food?)

Desserts:

• Chocolate
• Fresh baked chocolate chip cookies
• Chocolate Fudge Cake
• Ice cream (when added on top of cakes, cookies etc. Ice cream by itself is fine, but not a favorite of mine)
• Cupcakes- I have to be honest, cupcakes are good but not my first choice at all. I just like how cute they look!

Besides the sushi and vegetables, can you tell I have a bit of a sweet tooth?

I became a vegetarian a little over a year ago (the story behind my diet switch can really be a page in itself).

Since my random and sudden diet change, I must admit, I do not crave chocolate or desserts as I once did.  I still love them and eat them often, don’t get my wrong, but I truly prefer to eat my favorite apple and peanut butter combo on any given day as dessert. This still shocks me but I go with it. I eat what I crave. And I often crave my apple and peanut butter with a drop of chocolate chips.

Favorite Restaurants:

• The Cheesecake Factory

No question about it. Give me my big salad and Factory Mud Pie dessert and I am a happy diner.

• Sushi

Sushi is a close second to my beloved Cheesecake Factory. My friends and I often try out new places as there is always a new Japanese/Asian Fusion restaurant opening, but my favorite sushi restaurant would have to be Nisen.

RUNNING/EXERCISE RELATED QUESTIONS:

Favorite Pre/Post run meal:

Oatmeal with peanut butter, blueberries and banana before my run.

After my run,  more oatmeal mixed with greek yogurt,  fruit and some more peanut butter!

Favorite race distance:

I am really not a fan of 5K races. I ran the Commitment Day 5K in Manhattan on New Year’s Day  (23:40) and I really don’t plan on running another one any time soon.

I prefer to run a longer distance a drop slower than run a short distance super fast.

The Hershey Park Half Marathon  (1:53:37) was so much fun! I can’t wait to run it again in the fall.

Favorite workout routine:

I love a good run (of course).

I really don’t follow any specific training plan. I just wake up each day and let how I feel dictate what my work out will be.

Favorite activities-

If I am not out running,

you can find me either shopping, hanging with my son, at Red Mango, getting my nails done or in the kitchen baking.

 

As you can probably tell, I love to create and bake a wide variety of delicious goodies, both healthy and indulgent.

Sometimes my friends ask me to make party favors and platters for special events. Most of the time, they do not want “healthy” treats.

On a regular basis however, I try to create and bake healthy treats to have on hand in the house for my son to eat.

Other questions I recall being in  my Slam Book:

Favorite Sports-  I was actually a huge sports fan growing up, which is unusual for a girl. Especially a girly girl like me. I still follow my teams but not as much as my son does!

Hockey was always my favorite sport and I love taking my son to games (even if the team is kinda terrible).

Pet Peeves: As a kid I remember not even knowing what a “pet peeve” was!

Now, I can honestly say that the one thing in life that really really bothers me is toothpaste left in the sink.

Besides being a total neat freak, there is just something about toothpaste in the sink that drives me beyond nutty. My son knows it too. He knows to make sure it is clean before I can see it!

I like a clean sink to go with my clean house.

Favorite color: Probably pink and/or purple

Favorite movies:

I am not much of a movie person.

The only time I go to the theater is with my son to see the latest PG (or lately even a random PG13) movie.

I do have an all-time favorite list though:

Favorite song: Anything I can run to! I love the Pandora App while I run so that I can play a variety of different stations each day.

Hobbies: This would be similar to my favorite activities list of running, shopping and baking.

However, I love to collect things.

I have a very large Hello Kitty collection including pencils, stationary and all those fun little Kitty accessories.

CONFESSION: I still add to my kitty collection

I also used to love to collect stickers and still have my rather large (and mint condition might I add) Lisa Frank collection.

CONFESSION: I still seek out through Ebay any stickers I might be missing.

One of the best things about someone like me having a son is that he has no interest in touching my girly collections.

Speaking of my son, Slam Books do not normally discuss motherhood but how can I not throw it in?

Motherhood is quite a wonderful mix of wonderful, difficult, funny, challenging, frustrating and interesting all at the same time. It is a ever ending learning process, especially as a single mother! I never thought I would have a boy yet I wouldn’t trade it for the world. There is nothing like a little boy! We have the greatest time together and like they say, there is nothing like the bond between a mother and her son (Remind me of this the next time he refuses to do his homework or challenges my request that he gets in the shower).

My son is now 9 years old and the time has flown by! I nursed him for the first 16 months of his life. Nursing is a challenging, demanding, tiring yet extremely rewarding experience. If anyone has any questions at all about nursing, please feel free to ask me! My son never took to a bottle. So you can only imagine what the months before he was old enough for sippy cups were like!

I recall taking this picture at around 5:30 am on his first birthday.

Might I add he was a terrible sleeper for years and now I can barely get him up for school. Go figure. The joys of motherhood.

Now, what about you? What are your favorite foods, movies, race distances, hobbies, interests, pet peeves? What type of sticker would you choose to represent you? A cupcake? A heart, star, candy, sports theme, sneaker etc.?