Grits in the City - discounts and faves

Hope you enjoy all these as much as I do!

race recap: 2021 chatham turkey trot

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To have run a number of races, I’ve never ever done a holiday themed run. I decided it was time to change that this year! I saw the Chatham Turkey Trot had a 1 mile family run option, perfect for my still cranky knee and for running with our little man.

Q has never run anything consistently this long. I knew that a mile would be a bit of a stretch for him but was hoping it would prove to be a great way to get him moving his body on a day that can often lead to challenges and meltdowns. I got him a fun Thanksgiving T-Rex shirt, a cute turkey hat and complained profusely no one seemed to make Thanksgiving socks for kids this year. Missed opportunity.

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thanksgiving punch

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We are gearing up to host our first Thanksgiving in our new house this week. After so long of smaller gatherings, it will nice to have more faces around the table. Sure, it comes with some level of anxiety — I feel like that’s the norm now for groups in general because there’s some degree of risk now. But it’s exciting that Q has begun his vaccine series with them now being available to ages five and up. Some progress indeed.


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november faves

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It’s been a long month since moving and I’ve been a bit MIA on here ever since. Hard to feel as creative when we are scrambling to make our sag through organizing everything to get our hands out of all of the things while finishing so many things on selling our old home. It’s been nonstop. Catching up on a backlog of content so get ready for lots more coming your way – starting with a rundown of a bunch of fun things from the inexpensive new desk I found to the Peloton classes that have helped to reinvigorate my fitness routine. Here we go!

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race recap: halloween half-marathon

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Well, I did it. Last year this time, I was supposed to have run my half-marathon but I broke my foot on a training run and it didn’t happen. I finally did a half marathon this summer but as a virtual run. Even though my original plan last fall was to do a virtual race, something about doing one in person felt like a legit way to say I’ve bounced back from my injury!


Route

The route for the Halloween Half Marathon went around through Morris Township, back towards Chatham before looping back. The course was two loops of the below. It was relatively flat, though had a couple of inclines that came outta nowhere!

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financial tips: 3 tips to being smart in your approach to debt

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Debt can be a challenging thing — and very personal, with people taking it on based on things they need and/or want versus what they can afford in the moment. And of course, usually not inclined to discuss it with each other to help for those experiencing challenges.

Over time, it can be helpful to take on some strategic debt you pay down over time because it shows you can take on a financial responsibility and properly manage it.

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it’s fall, y’all

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I’ve been fighting this moment with every ounce of energy I’ve got (which right now TBH isn’t much) but we are finally here — the first day of fall. The weather feels mostly cooler and those leaves are starting to do their annual dance as they prepare to blanket our backyard into a massive, crunchy mess. I have to concede I do love a lot about fall — from all things apple and pumpkin to tall boots to clothing in shades of oranges, yellows and browns.

To kick off the season, I wanted to share some of my favorites from over the years here on the blog on all things fall.

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august faves

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I’m pretty sad we are sitting here at the end of August because I’m not ready to let go of summer. At all. I know we have several weeks to go but still…

It’s been a while since I’ve shared one of these but wanted to do a bit of a recap of some of the things that I’ve found and loved in my world over the last month+. Hopefully some will be fun and/or of interest to you.

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race recap: cranford cupcake 5k

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There are lots of reasons for running races and I’ll admit a big one in favor of this one was the cupcake at the finish line. Even bigger though was the cause. The 5K put on by Live Run Give LLC benefitted Metavivor. I didn’t know about Metavivor until a good friend of mine was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer and then I learned that Metavivor was the only organization with the mission of researching for those living with stage 2+ metastatic breast cancer. If you’re not familiar with them, I definitely recommend you check them out and consider supporting them.

The race took place in Cranford in Nomahegan Park. If never been to the park, but there’s a nice lake in the middle and pathway running alongside it. The course went through the park, around it and into the neighborhood before coming back in.

The course itself ended up being pretty flat, which I appreciated after the 10K I did prior had a surprise hill at the start. Love me a good flat course.

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turkey hill experience and vacation to hershey, pennsylvania

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Between COVID and the general craziness that comes with two kids under age under age five, we haven’t taken a trip in 17 months. And by trip, I mean going anywhere that’s more than an hour away. We decided for T’s birthday to take the week off of work. We recently celebrated our sixth anniversary. One of the traditional sixth anniversary gifts is candy so T had the perfect idea: a visit to Hersheypark!

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dinner at stirling hotel

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Stirling Hotel has been a pandemic staple for us. We haven’t been dining out in person basically at all since March 2020. So restaurants that have been smart in how they’ve adapted in the interim (and continued their to go options even after tings started to reopen) have maintained their status as some of our faves. Stirling definitely qualifies!

We unfortunately just missed their recent dinner event but went this past weekend for a rare in-person meal for a belated birthday celebration for T.

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