GIVEAWAY! Spring Has Sprung: Run (& EAT!) with Blossom – WINNERS!

April 12, 2017May 1, 2017 / foodsweatandbeers / 5 Comments

UPDATE: CONGRATULATIONS to Meghan and Bridget! The random number generator chose YOU!

The salmon-colored shorts are out in full force. The parks are full of picnics. The Rosé is flowing like water, and the sweetgreen Spring Caesar made it’s way to the app.

Yup, spring has sprung in Philadelphia.

If you’re anything like me, some of the best parts of the city thawing is the ability to both eat and exercise outdoors. Long time readers know of my obsession with springtime food festivals, and lately I’ve even been voluntarily running outside. Must be the fresh air…

Lucky for all of us, there’s a way to celebrate both of these in one perfect night!

The Blossom Philadelphia 5k Night Race is the only weeknight race grandfathered in by the City of Philadelphia. The course meets at the Art Museum takes place on West River Drive on Thursday May 25, 2017 at 7pm. Immediately following the race is an epic After Party featuring some of my FAVORITE food trucks! Baby Blues BBQ, Sweet Box Cupcakes, Taco Mondo, The Cow and The Curd, The Tot Cart and Undrgrnd Donuts will be bringing the heat (and, in some cases, the meat. Or the sweet.)

The Tot Cart with some extra melty goodness….

THE COW AND THE CURD slinging those sweet cheese curds!

You can register for the 5k (comes with a t-shirt), the after-party (comes with four tickets, valid for a drink, appetizer, a main course, AND a dessert!), OR get the best of both worlds with a 5k + After Party COMBO (Yup, that’s all of the above)

Oh yes, that drink I mentioned: Victory Brewing is going to be hosting a beer garden all night long! (Don’t worry, there will be heaps of root beer for the kids, this is an incredibly family-friendly event!)

All this can be yours for the early bird price (before April 13th, 11:59 p.m.)!

All proceeds from the race help Blossom achieve their mission: to change the lives of children and adults with disabilities (cerebral palsy, autism, down syndrome, head trauma, and any condition that limits a person’s ability to function independently) in the Philadelphia area.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

But, hey, if you’re feeling lucky, you could enter to win one of TWO free registrations for the Race + After Party Combo (Up to a $60 value!)

That means, you could be joining me May 25th in running + eating our way right into Memorial Day weekend!!

Feel free to lay right next to me in blissful post-run food coma!

All you need to do to enter to win is check out the Blossom Philadelphia site and tell me one cool / fun / interesting fact you learned in the comments!

You have until Friday, April 28th at noon to enter!

GOOD LUCK and I’ll see you at the Art Museum!

Win a Chance to Spartan Up with a Spartan Race GIVEAWAY!

April 2, 2015April 10, 2015 / foodsweatandbeers / 16 Comments

If you know me at all, you probably know I hate a few things.

Mushrooms. Miniature golf. Cookie cakes (OMG DECIDE ARE YOU A CAKE OR A COOKIE YOU CAN’T BE BOTH!!)

Oh, and running.

So many of my best buddies have incredible pictures of them completing races. And I’ve scoured my photo archives. I think this may be the only one of me running:

ya like this face of misery? Yup, that was in 2012.

But with a spring thaw slowly and surely taking place in Philadelphia, I had a thought.

Maybe I should run a little bit. It’s time for a new challenge.

I just needed the right incentive to train myself. To pound the pavement, if you will….

Be Well Philly’s Underground Growler Run gave me my first chance to get some miles in with a 2.25 run ending in…. BEER!

Alas, that was just a one time affair… I still needed something to get my butt in sneakers and hit the ground running (literally). And then, like gritty, muddy, hardcore angels, the folks from the Spartan Race reached out with an opportunity. An opportunity to try one of their races. So in a mere 32 weeks (and two days, but who’s counting?) I’m going to head to the Citizen’s Bank Park Sprint to Spartan Up in Philadelphia!! It’s a sprint, which means 3+ miles and 15+ obstacles throughout the course. And for most folks I know, that would be chump change. But for me, it’s something to work for, and I can’t wait to see how it goes. I’ve been rocking out to the Spartan Up podcast to get hyped up. But I think I’d feel even more hype with a buddy.

Less scary with a friend

SO the folks at the Spartan Race ALSO gave me a code for one of my readers! If you’d like a chance to win an entry in ANY Spartan Race’s open heat (non-confirmed start time) in the continental US, enter in the comments belwo. The only mandatory entry is:

Tell me one challenge you’re tackling this year!

For bonus entries, follow Spartan Race on Facebook, follow @foodsweatnbeers on Twitter, or subscribe to the Spartan Up Podcast and leave separate comments for each.

Again, you don’t have to be in Philly to win this. You’ve got a week to enter, and I’ll select a winner April 9th at noon!

Let’s Spartan Up!

(PS: For 10% off any race, enter the code SPARTANBLOGGER in case contests aren’t your bag.)

UPDATE: CONGRATULATIONS TO JANE, COMMENT NUMBER FOUR! She’s training for her second marathon, hopefully this race will help!!

Spartan Race GIVEAWAY: Almost Makes Me Wish I Liked Running

August 9, 2013August 19, 2013 / foodsweatandbeers / 6 Comments

UPDATE: Giveaway winner is…

SETH! Sending you your code now!

Almost.

I’m pretty sure anyone who knows me for more than a few days is aware that I’m not much for running. Sure. I can do it for like… a mile. Maybe a little more. But I get bored. I feel like my body is rejecting the motion. There’s never enough shimmying (said like a true Zumba fan). Where am I going? What’s the point?

I’m sure there is a point. Something about fitness and heart and lung health and stress reduction and endorphins and not shooting your husband or something (at least that’s what Elle Woods taught me). But to me, it seems like a lot of silliness.

Yeah, I mean, I’m doing a 5k in a week (WHAT?! how? Why?) and I did run that portion of the Doughman (yes, that IS the coolest relay known to mankind). But mostly I liked it because mid-run, I got to eat a cupcake.

Wait? I have to run again after this?!

That being said, I kinda wish I liked it for one reason.

No, I probably won’t

I’ve always wanted to be a Spartan. Ever since 8th Grade when we had an in-school “Olympics” and my friends and I choreographed a dance to the tune of Space Jam only all the lyrics had to do with Athens and Sparta and Trojan Horses (thus began a lifetime of being awesome).

Did you know that women in Sparta were known for being the most badass chicks in ancient Greece? They truly followed the passage “Anything you can do, I can do better”, working their butts off in physical training along with the boys. They could also divorce their hubbies without worrying about losing all their personal wealth, but that’s got nothing to do with this.

See, the Spartan Race is this super intense-looking obstacle race. You run. You go through obstacles like:

Fire Jump
Barbed Wire Crawl
Wall Climb
Tyrolean Traverse (single rope over a body of water. If you can’t walk across the rope, you fall in the water and SWIM!)
Slippery wall (a wall covered in soap or GREASE!! whattt?!)
Log Jumps
Rope Climbs
Object Carry (maybe the object is a tire, maybe it’s a bucket full of ropes, maybe it’s a PERSON! [It’s not a person])

Dude, I don’t even know. This thing looks badass.

And with everyone getting into the swing of Obstacle Races lately, I figured why not share my love of Spartan ideals with someone who DOES want to try the Spartan Race (or the Spartan Sprint) for themselves!

I’ve got one freebie code to give to a reader (which is a pretty big deal since these events are NOT cheap, ranging from $115-200!!) So why not a contest??

Entering is easy and I’ll choose one person August 17, 2013 at like… 5pm to get a code good for any Spartan Race in the 2013-2014 season in the continental US! (There’s actually one at Citizens Bank Park in September for you Philly readers…)

Click here to see if there’s an event taking place near you!

HOW TO ENTER:

All you do to enter is tell me in a comment WHY you’d like to win an entry! That’s it.

So if you’ve been thinking about it…. well, give it a try. You’ve got nothing to lose.

GOOD LUCK, SPARTANS!!

(If you DON’T want to bother trying to win, but want 15% off of an entry, go to this site!!)

Put a Bird on It: Albion Fit Giveaway

June 3, 2013June 14, 2013 / foodsweatandbeers / 25 Comments

**Contest closed: Congratulations to Brandi Dawn for winning the hoodie and being a badass little skydiver!!!**

It started out as a dream (as all the best things do). A regular ol’ young professional with a growing fondness for craft beers and a newly discovered passion for fitness and actually taking care of my body. And, two years later, Food, Sweat, and Beers is not only a part of my day-to-day living, it’s become part of who I am. I meet people IRL who I’ve only followed on Twitter and we’re fast friends. I’ve rekindled relationships with long lost buddies through blogging. I’ve had people that I see and talk to on a regular basis reach out to me to tell me that, in some small way or another, I’ve touched them or my words meant something to it.

Happy Second Birthday to my blog, my internet persona, and ALL that is Food, Sweat, and Beers.

And since birthdays are all about presents and celebrating why you came into this world in the first place, why not combine the two?

Aw, look, their logo donned a party hat!!

Albion Fit gave me a chance to do JUST THAT on this most sacred birthday. Albion Fit is a new-to-me company that revolves around providing gorgeous performance active- and swimwear for ladies like me who are gunning to live an adventurous lifestyle without having to sacrifice looking beautiful while doing it.

Having worked for Athleta earlier in the past year and being a frequent purchaser of Lululemon gear, I’m no stranger to this realm of workout clothing (just ask the two shelves I have dedicated solely to fitness attire). And so, when given the chance to try out some new women’s fitness and swimwear, I jumped at the opportunity. I was offered a choice of several products to try out, and honestly wished I could’ve snagged them all!

A few of the options that were in the running:

Go Long Crew with Thumbholes in Grape

Or really any of the colors. This top is beautiful, and I don’t think it’s just because so is the model wearing it as she calmly does yoga on the rocks whilst getting misted on by the ocean.

U-Line top in white and coral

This reminds me of some of my favorite workout tops, mostly because of the sleek appearance with a super-secure cross-back.

But then I saw the item that caught my eye:

Albion’s Signature 26.2 Zip Jacket in Black!

I had to have it. And, within no time at all (seriously, snaps on the quick shipping turnaround), I had the package in my grubby paws. I would’ve taken a picture, except I was too excited to not rip into it right away.

I donned it, pranced around in front of the mirror, and then gave it a whirl (you know, on one of the days in recent past where it hasn’t been PAINFULLY hot and I actually needed a jacket on my walk home from the gym). My thoughts?

Fashion show

First and foremost, I gotta drop credit where credit is due: this sweatshirt is (IMHO) cute. Come on, they ACTUALLY managed to “put a bird on it” without making it look tacky and ridiculous. I was a little hesitant of the detailing, but I love it. It is definitely a slim fit, and I don’t think I’d be comfortable wearing this shirt with a t-shirt under it. Luckily, most of the time when I hit the gym, I’m wearing form-fitting tank tops, so it works.

She-Ra (also I hope everyone’s as entertained by what’s in the background of this shot as I am…. Yes, that’s a pirate hat on the lamp)

The slim fit, while certainly not forgiving in the stomach and chest area (not a problem since I’ve proudly renounced my larger chest of yore), makes me feel like a certified tough chick, especially as it clings to my ~~massive~~ almost-visible biceps.

The material is a little less soft than most of the Lululemon pieces that I have, but the structured feel really makes me believe that this is true performance wear that will hold up over time.

My only complaint?

Oh, long arms. How you plague me…

Being part-chimpanzee, the length of my arms proved too much for this jacket and my delicate wrist bones are laid out for the world to see. Not a BIG problem, and certainly not an issue for those of y’all with normal-human length appendages… but notable from my end.

Plus, when the winds start whipping, I can whip up my hood and….

VOILA!

BAM! Super cute hood detail. Big thanks to Albion Fit for sharing. And, since we’re all in a giving mood, birthdays and such, let’s share this item with one of YOU!

GIVEAWAY SCOOP BELOW

Albion Fit’s offering up one of these sleek, chic hoodies (valued at $98) for a lucky reader (in either black, white, or teal). I wish I could offer up the easiest entry in the world like “just THINK about this post and you’re entered” but there’s a little more to it than that. To be eligible to win the giveaway you must:

“Like” Albion Fit on Facebook
Pin your favorite item from albionfit.com onto one of your Pinterest boards (and then leave a comment on my post with the link to your pin)

Not TOO tough, right?

Entries will be accepted until Friday, June 7th at 12:00pm EST. And I’ll throw in an extra entry if you ALSO tell me the best thing about your most recent birthday (OR your second birthday, if you can remember).

If you hate the luck of the draw but still wanna try some Albion Fit goods, use the code: fsb15 to get $15 off any purchase of $50 or more!!

IMPORTANT NOTE: You are not eligible to win this giveaway if you’ve already won another Albion Fit giveaway within the last 6 months.

Thanks for hanging out with me over these past 2 years. Cheers to many more years (and quite a few more beers).

Here’s the Mail, It Never Fails. It Makes Me Wanna Wag My Tail….

September 22, 2011September 22, 2011 / foodsweatandbeers / 8 Comments

Hey there friends and neighbors…

Before you do anything else with your day, pop over to NC Brewing to read my guest post Recap: NC Girls’ Pint Out detects good beer from the bad. By writing an article for them, I’ve basically become a superstar in the beer world and if you wanna catch me on the way up, make sure you keep tabs on me now.

Anyway, shameless self-plugs aside…

If you were drawn to this post by the title, you might be expecting this little friend:

MAILBOX! (click for Source)

Well, sorry to disappoint. Looks like you’re stuck with me.

Yup. Stuck with me.

I’m home for lunch and SO excited because this time tomorrow, I’ll be headed to the airport for yet ANOTHER wonderful weekend in the North. I had a blast this weekend at my cousin’s wedding shower but barely got to see my better half, Ryan. Luckily, this weekend I’ll have a chance to split the difference and spend some time in his stomping grounds of Philly!! It’ll be nice to return after enjoying myself so much during the Healthy Living Summit… maybe I’ll even revisit Reading Terminal Market !

Today’s lunch is brought to you by: every single thing that could possibly go bad in over the weekend!

SCRAMBLED AND SEXY!

It was random as all get-out and included about 1/5 of a sausage cooked with spinach, egg, and some cheese as well as steamed veggies on the side. Yummy and filling!

The reason I’m stoked to write especially for today’s properly labeled post is that, in the past few days, I got some SERIOUS mail swag!!

Today, I picked up a massive set of boxes from my apartment complex office. Well, after digging into those bad boys, check out the goodies!

More and More MUIR!

I won the Muir Glen Organic giveaway from the effervescent Kaitlin over at For Love of Carrots, and now have a pantry chock FULL of amazing tomato products (and soup to boot!) This couldn’t come at a better time considering the squash love of my life, spaghetti squash, AND pizza dough are on sale at my local Harris Teeter this week! I know what I’ll be making when I get back from PA!

Also in the mail? Something I’ve been waiting for with bated breath since I signed up for Foodie Pen Pals through Lindsay’s blog.

The best things in life are VERMONT!

Allie from Healthy Balance, Healthy Life sent me a package so chock-full of maple syrup goodness, I almost choked. But honestly, I think I choked more on the granola that I spent the past two days virtually gargling (only then, I swallowed).

Seriously, I’ve knocked granola in the past but this…. this is ethereal. Luckily, there wasn’t too much, so now that it’s gone, I’m just working my way through the cookies. Speaking of which, I think there’s just enough time to have a Puppy Love peanut butter chocolate chip cookie before going back to work.

EDIT: I ended up eating a banana and saving the cookies for when I visit Ryan tomorrow. You’re welcome, boyfriend.

In Tune with Attune!

June 13, 2011June 13, 2011 / foodsweatandbeers / 7 Comments

Imagine my rapture when Krissie tweeted at me that I won the set of coupons from the Healthy Living Summit giveaway from the awesome Silver Sponsors at Attune Foods!!

I’ve never even tried one of their products, but now I know they’re sold at Whole Foods and Trader Joes, so I’ll have to make a special trip once I get my coups!! Special thanks to Meghann for the promptest email response of my entire life. And also, for being a BOSS in setting all these things up!!

Also, if you couldn’t imagine my rapture, here’s a video that accurately sums it up:

Literally, as excited as the most dysfunctional cat/chihuahua that have ever graced the televisions in my childhood home. Oh, Ren and Stimpy, you have created such a ridiculous generation of young people…