Hey hey, whaddya say?
Will you guys do me a favor? If you’re subscribed to my RSS Feed – will you make sure you’re subscribed to http://feeds.feedburner.com/iowagirleats? That should be the last piece of the blog move puzzle – after that, we should be allll good 
So my morning Mom walk was canceled today due to rain, so I packed a bag to hit up the work gym during lunch. We have a full gym right in my building and I never take advantage of it! There’s treadmills, ellipticals, weights and they even offer classes! Well, I guess I go more in the winter than in the summer, when I’d rather just be outside. But with rain in the forecast all day, I’ll be making a visit
This morning I had a blast of freshness for breakfast: Mixed Fruit with Raspberry Vanilla Yogurt.
We’ve got a chopped up peach, some pineapple and blueberries.
I do enjoy canned pineapple, but there is nothing like the taste of fresh pineapple. It’s instantly transports me to a sandy beach somewhere in the Caribbean, pina colada firmly in hand. 
And I cannot even begin to describe how amazing these peaches were. Soo unbelievably sweet – I just love them!
For this afternoon I packed a Lunch o’ Randomness…
We’ve got a big salad full of:
- Mixed greens with carrots & radishes
- A crumbled turkey burger
- Copious amounts of blueberries
Did you know that there are no naturally blue foods in existence? Blueberries are, in fact, dark purple!
I also packed some leftover Vegetarian Baked Beans. These are BOMB I’m telling you! They totally taste homemade. I have a friend who used to eat a can of baked beans everyday…these make me think of her!
Today’s Running Tips:
Today’s tip actually wraps up my favorites from the list of 101 Greatest Running Tips! Holy cow, the end came out of nowhere I’m telling you! I’ve really enjoyed sharing these with you guys and getting your feedback. I’ve certainly learned a LOT – and I hope you have too.
Tip #94. Take baby steps: "You can’t climb up to the second floor without a ladder. When you set your goal too high and don’t fulfill it, your enthusiasm turns to bitterness. Try for a goal that’s reasonable, and then gradually raise it." –Emil Zatopek, four-time Olympic gold medalist from Czechoslavakia
- I’m so glad this is the last tip of the series, because it is a great one. Goals are so important in all aspects of our lives, as they give us something to strive for, give us purpose and allow us to better ourselves. Set goals that are specific, attainable and that you have to work for – they’re called goals for a reason! Most importantly, don’t set yourself up for failure by setting unrealistic goals. Know your limitations, but realize your potential and set goals that you know deep in your heart, you can achieve.
Do you have any goals you’re currently working towards?
My longstanding goal is to be physically active 6 days a week. It’s specific, attainable and yes, I do have to work for it – it’s hard to get my butt going on the weekends!
Well that’s all she wrote, folks! To see the complete list of the 101 Greatest Running Tips, click here.
FYI – the ‘rents will be making an appearance at Summer Inspired Dinner Series Day 4 tonight – can’t wait!
~~~~~
It’s Three Question Thursday time my friends!
1. Would you rather live in a place that’s always cloudy but warm, or always sunny but cold?
2. Are you a city, town or country person at heart?
3. Where were you born?
My answers:
1. Cloudy and warm!! Those are actually my ideal weather conditions. I do love the sun, but who doesn’t love a good cloudy day?!
2. I am a city girl at heart. I LOVE the hustle and bustle of a big city – so much to do, so much to see… Although living in a town does have its benefits – I need complete silence when going to sleep, and city noises are not always the quietest at night!
3. Dayton, Ohio – whoop, whoop!
1. Cloudy and warm. I’m from Texas and need my heat!
2. City girl! I need tons of things around me to do but without all the crime.
3. Austin, Texas. Hook ‘em horns!
1. Cloudy but warm. No question. I hate the cold.
2. Country. But I live in a town. A very tiny town, but it’s still a town.
3. Des Moines, Iowa
1) Sunny but cold! I like to be cold rather than hot. AND I love cold weather clothes. Scarves. Boots. Layering. I feel I can be more creative with my outfits in the winter/fall.
2) I was born and raised a country girl…and I have lived in a southern city for college and now grad school—I like the city better. More to do. Less time spent in the car driving 30 mins to everything.
3) Winston-Salem, North Carolina! Home of the first Krispy Kreme. haha
I’d heard that there were no natural blue foods and yet I never made the connection with blueberries. That’s why blueberry yogurt is purple! There’s only 4 blueberries left in my garden & they won’t ripen! Grr..
1. Either seems pretty amazing to me. In Ireland it’s always cold & rainy. I like all extreme temperatures as long as it’s not wet.
2. I’m a town girl. But I’d love to live in a big city. I love visiting my uncle’s farm but I could never live there.
3. Ireland
1. That’s a tough one, but in the end I guess warm but cloudy. I prefer shorts to a sweater any day!
2. A city girl, but I love the country and am itching for a get away right now! The convenience of the city always pulls me back. While in New York right now I would love to move to London.
3. Philadelphia, Pa
Your last running tip is great, I always try to get ahead of myself!
1. Cloudy and warm as well!
2. City for sure. One day after living in the quiet of Iowa for a while I will come back to my favorite city ever: Minneapolis. I love city life, so much to do and I secretly love traffic and yelling at people, even though it’s annoying sometimes!
3. St. Paul, MN
1. That is tough! I LOVE the sun, but HATE the cold. Boo. I would choose cloudy and warm…I love my flip flops and shorts!
2. If I had to choose, probably city. Well, suburbs…so kinda both.
I love having access to a big cities with lots of things going on (and sports!), but I also love being close to farms and fields. I’m a Midwest girl!
3. Where I live now…Indianapolis, Indiana!
Oh the fruit pics and your talk of the Caribbean is making me excited, we fly to FL tonight and cruise to the Bahamas tomorrow and I can’t wait! I’ll have a Pina Colada on the beach just for you!
1. That is a hard one. I LOVE the sun, but the cold definitely gets old after awhile…. so cloudy and warm I guess.
2. town, I like being able to have shopping and restaurants close by or within walking distance, but still have more rural areas not too far away…. I like to visit the city, not live there I think.
3. Saranac Lake, NY (just north of Lake Placid in the Adirondacks)
1. Sunny- clouds are too gloomy for me
2. City- I’m from the suburbs, so I love busy big cities.
3. Fort Worth, Tx
Now my question… where do you get raspberry vanilla yogurt? Sounds delicious.
1. Cloudy and warm. Just warm though–not hot or hot/humid!
2. City, definitely! I was raised on a farm and now live in a VERY small town and it’s driving me crazy! I’d love to be in DSM or Minneapolis/St. Paul!!
3. Waverly, IA
1. cloudy and warm. i don’t fare well in the cold — and how i can tell you that — I don’t really own a true winter coat. I only have a leather jacket.
2. City!!!! I grew up basically surrounding 3 cow farms. love it out there, but i love the city and all the people watching.
3. erie, PA.
1. Cloudy but warm, no doubt.
2. Suburbs.
3. Dayton, OH…still here. Were you here very long?
Love purpleberries!! I never realized they were purple until I started putting frozen blueberries in my cereal, which makes for purple milk. Yum. My 2 year old eats frozen blueberries every day and ends up with purple fingers. He loves frozen blueberries more than anything!! He also loves showing off his purple fingers!
1. Cloudy and warm! I like warm. A lot. Yet I live in one of the coldest, snowiest cities…
2. Outskirts of town. I’m not a city girl, but I don’t like having to drive an hour to get groceries either.
3. Rochester, NY. Yup, you’ve never heard of it.
I don’t usually comment (silent blog stalker here!), but I did want to say I absolutely love your pictures! They’re always so colorful and pretty!
Mmmm, your lunch looks tasty!!
1. sunny but cold!
2. definitely a city girl but I do love the calmness of the country too.
3. Orlando, Florida!
I love the fruit salad and green salad- delish! And in answer to the three questions:
1. Cloudy and warm
2. I love the city- always something fun to do!!
3. Thomasville, Georgia- it’s a small historical town, known for their old mansions/historical homes, antiques and roses
1) Sunny but cold! Constant cloud cover gives me serious sadness!
2) City! I love the energy!
3) Iowa City, Iowa!
1) Cloudy but warm for sure
2) Totally country
3) Boston, MA
No blue foods huh? Who knew?! I’m loving the blue(dark purple)berries in your salad…good combo. And your fruit + yogurt looks sooo good…I haven’t had breakfast yet and I think that’s what I’m gonna make after seeing it here!
Three answers for you:
1.) Warm and cloudy – actually, I like it when it’s cloudy. I think it’s cosy.
2.) I’d say a city girl….but….deep down, I love the quietness of the country.
3.) I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin!
Have a good Thursday Kristin!
1. Hmm that’s hard!! While I do love the sun, I am not too fond of the cold! So I would say cloudy and warm!
2. I am definitely more of a town kind of girl! I like a little bit of city and a little bit of country! My fiance is definitely a country boy though!
3. Santa Ana, CA!
I really need to start adding blueberries to my salads. Everytime I go to a BBQ or something and someone makes a salad with them in it I love it! I’m just nervous I’ll never make the right combo for myself.
1. That’s such a hard question. I would rather it be sunny and cold I think. Without sunshine everyone would be grumps.
2. It’s funny I’m a country girl at heart because I was born and raised in Sun Valley, Idaho, which is such a beautiful ski resort. BUT, I live in a penthouse in the middle of town so I’m kinda a country/cityish kinda girl.
3. Sun Valley, Idaho!
PS!!! MY boyfriend Joey might go play for the Dayton, Ohio hockey team!!
1. This is a toughie – I am going to go with sunny and cold. While I enjoye a cloudy day every once in a while, the sun puts me in a great mood.
2. Town girl! I got tired of living in a city after 7 years.
3. Abington, PA – 30 minutes north of Philadelphia.
1) Always cloudy but warm is my preference, as long I can escape to a sunny destination at least a few times of year.
2) Definitely a city guy here.
3) Estherville, IA
1. this is tough, but i love the sun. it makes me happy, so i’d rather put on a sweater and warm socks just so i can see the sun everyday.
2. i love living in a town that is close to a city
. i don’t like the congestion, traffic, smelliness, etc. of the city. but i do like the culture and accessibility of good restaurants in a city.
3. Longmont, CO (outside of Boulder).
1. Cloudy and warm. The warmer the better, and I love humdity. Weird I know.
2. Grew up in the city, college in a bigger city (Columbus OH) and now live in a little town out in the country. The quietness used to drive me crazy (that and the lack of shopping…). But now I love it. Go figure.
3. Toledo, Ohio Go Buckeyes!
warm, warm, warm!
I like the city for all of things to do but enjoy living in a suburb for some peace and quiet.
Henderson, KY
Always sunny but cold. I lived in Sweden for 2 years and I am beginning to think that I actually prefer the colder weather. You can always dress warmer but you only have so many clothes to take off when it’s hot, lol
that salad looks weird but good all at once.
thanks for the running tips!
1 – warm and cloudy (with a breeze please) i love overcast weather, its perfect for jogging!
2 – i am a .. live in the forest 30 minutes away from a medium sized eclectic city kinda person. (thats my dream anyhoo)
Good questions…
1. Sunny but cool. I prefer running in cooler temps!
2. Suburbs! I’ve been living in the city for about a year now and it’s kinda getting old…
3. Springfield, MA – in western mass.
Yummy fruit! I had a similar breakfast only it was peach, blueberries and apple.
Yay, three question Thursday!
1. Hands down…cloudy but warm! I hate the cold. I grew up in Scottsdale, AZ (Phoenix area), so my body is used to the heat and at about 75 degrees, I’m in need of a light jacket/sweater.
2. Definately a city girl!
3. Bellflower, CA.
1. oh gosh, that’s a tough one. Think i’ll have to go sunny but cold because right now i’m in the “i want to bundle up” mindset. And the gloom can get depressing after a while.
2. Prefer to live in a town or the suburbs, but I loooove visiting and hanging out in the heart of big cities.
3. small town in Oregon
1. Sunny but cool. (But not icy, thanks!) Most of my hobbies are indoor activities, so I don’t mind the cold, but I need a good dose of sunshine from time to time.
2. I prefer quiet, open spaces, as long as the big city is nearby (i.e., no more than an hour by train or car).
3. Midland, Mich.
1. Sunny & cold as long as cold = a normal/non-midwesterner’s concept of cold! Cold to us means subzero, but cold to other people can be in the 30-50′s. I need to see the sun. I can handle a cloudy day here & there, but not too many in a row.
2. I was raised in a tiny town but am a city girl through & through.
3. Breckenridge, MN
I would have to say Sunny but cold.
I’m a city gal
And I was Born in Minot, North Dakota
great eats for the day!!
1. I love the sun but hate the cold so I have to go with warm and cloudy!
2. I’m city all the way! Friends of mine live 7hr drive from the nearest city, that’d be hell for me!!
3. Adelaide, Australia – where I live now!
1. Would you rather live in a place that’s always cloudy but warm, or always sunny but cold? I would have to go with the warm even if it was cloudy….I can’t take cold very much!
2. Are you a city, town or country person at heart? I like a mix of living in a smaller feeling town (West Des Moines) but being 10 minutes from downtown Des Moines for all the great events it offers.
3. Where were you born? Born in Youngstown, Ohio!
i wish i had a work gym! dont know how much i would actually use it but it would definitely be a motivator i think if i didnt even have to leave the building
1. Oh that’s such a tough one!! I guess cloudy and warm because I get cold so easily. Although that just makes me think of humid weather. Which I hate!
2. Hmmm probs a town person. Cities stress & gross me out, and country would get pretty boring.
3. I was born in Palo Alto at Stanford hospital!
Kaytee: That particular yogurt brand is AE yogurt – I think they might only sell it in the Midwest, as the dairy is right here in town!