I did it!

As mentioned here, I ran in my very first 5K over the weekend. Unfortunately for me, there were no wine samples, but there was beautiful scenery to look at! I suppose not many people want to sample wine at 9 am after running three miles. Whatever, I say.

Back to the race, I ended up having to run it alone! Sad face. My bf caught a nasty cold towards the end of the week, and had to take himself out. We were both totally bummed, but it would have been a really bad idea to run in the cold while battling a cold... So, I gathered my courage, and he came along as my photographer and support system :)

There I am - way behind the vineyards!

I ended up running really well! The course was very hilly, which I didn't love. I ended up with an official time of 28:54 (my goal was to finish under 30 min yay!) I wasn't fast enough to get a nifty trophy (top 3 per age bracket), but I did finish 6th in my age bracket. Overall it was a pretty cool experience. I definitely want to do another 5K soon, but maybe on flatter ground next time :)

Making my way up the hill (I have my jacket tied around my waist like a cool kid)

I did it! And I beat the 10 year old behind me... yea!

Now, time to eat lots of turkey and food this week.... Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My First 5K!

This Saturday, I am running my very first 5K! It's not that I just discovered exercise or anything, I just never really made the effort to run in any races before. Also, let's be serious, Saturday morning races don't usually mesh well with Friday nights on the town... am I right?

Maybe I'll sneak a sprint at the end to beat him :)

I came across a 5K recently which fell on a weekend that we actually have NO plans, so I persuaded my bf to join in it with me! It's going to be so much fun (I hope?) and most likely beautiful. We are running the race at Chateau Elan, so even if I don't have the greatest run of my life, at least I'll be running next to some pretty vineyards and landscaping..

Also, on the sign up page, it stated that afterwards will be samples and refreshments from local vendors. This has to mean wine samples, right? I mean, who doesn't want wine at 9 am after running 3 miles? I'm in. Now, let's just hope I finish with a somewhat acceptable time.. I'm quite certain the bf is going to leave me in the dust since I have been a crappy runner the past couple of weeks, but I'm ok with that!

Does anyone have any good advice?? Wish me luck!

My specialty

I'm not a great baker or chef, but I certainly like to experiment and try new things. I think along the way I have discovered some of my specialties, or my "go-to" treats. Rice Krispie treats definitely fall into the easy and delicious category. Seriously, there is nothing easier to make then these, and surprisingly they are always a huge hit!

I made some recently to take to the office, and they were gone within an hour. I even added candy corn pumpkins to geniusly turn them into Halloween treats. Clever, eh? Ok, maybe not brilliant.

In case you don't know the rice krispie recipe, here it is:
6 cups krispies
3 tablespoons butter
1 package mini marshmallows
Candy corn pumpkins

Mix the butter and marshmallows until melted, then pour in the rice krispies and stir. Pour in 9x13 pan and let cool.

Voila! Delish and easy!

Let's do a little catch up, shall we?

Things have been pretty hectic around here, lately. I feel like I haven't had time to blog at all! So, let's do a little catching up on things that have been going on in the life of E lately...

Some friends' wedding in LaGrange, GA. The bride and groom left the reception in a helicopter!

The whole group with the bride and groom!

Gorgeous wedding location

We clean up well, sometimes

Then, my bro came in town, and we all headed to Decatur for the Decatur Beer Festival. This was my first DBF, and I had heard such great things about it, so I couldn't wait to experience it for myself. Everything about it was great - the beers were phenomenal. They had my favorite beer, Allagash white :)

Of course, pretzel necklaces were made

The bf made a genius shirt, which everyone loved

The weather was glorioius, and the beer was flowing

"Spirit fingers don't show up on camera" - me trying to prove him wrong

Guessing our alcohol levels to win tshirts

And then we brought a new duck friend into the family group, Carlos

 Then I went to my first Falcons game ever! It was probably the best game to go to, it was such an exciting one! We played the Bengals, and the Falcons won - yeah!

Go Falcons!

So those are a few things that have been going on with me lately. Next I'll do a Halloween post! I absolutely love Halloween, and this year was no exception! This week I'm heading to NYC for work! Pretty excited to pop into Times Square, even though it is only for one night...



Worst...blogger....ever...

I have been completely MIA lately! Do you ever feel like you have so much going on, and blogging definitely takes the backburner? Well, I do! Things have been pretty busy lately, but I promise I will be back soon to write lots of great blogs!

What is everyone doing for Halloween?? I can't wait!

The Town... finally.

This weekend was absolutely fantastic! It will probably take me some time to get some pictures loaded and write a good blog post about it, so that's going to have to wait.

In the meantime, I saw The Town with the bf last night... you know, the Ben Affleck one? He wrote, directed and starred in it? Well, it was really good! I had been dying to see it, so we finally made it last night.

A few of my thoughts:

1. Ben is super hot in this movie. He also happens to be in impeccable shape... I'm just sayin'.
2. Serena Van Der Woodsen (aka Blake Lively, aka Jeremy Renner's sister in the movie) is far from the character she plays in Gossip Girl. No Chanel for this chick; only a cocaine and oxy addiction, a daughter she can't take care of, and some poorly done eye makeup.
3. I will most likely not be visiting Charlestown anytime soon, for fear that I will get robbed in just walking down the street. Although, if Ben was robbing me, that might be a different story.
4. Despite the fact that Doug (Ben Affleck) was a bank robber and criminal, I still wanted him to get the girl at the end... I just love happy endings. I'm pretty sure they'll end up together sooner or later though..
5. Don Draper (I don't watch Mad Men, but I know who he is) was an excellent FBI agent in the movie. It's nice to seem him take on a different role, since I haven't seen him in anything except for Mad Men.

So there's my quick review! Go see this movie, it's a good one.... bonus: bfs/husbands will like it too!

Exciting things coming up...

I am very excited for this weekend to begin!! My brother is flying in from NYC tonight, and we have a full weekend of Atlanta activities planned:

THIS guy is coming to town.

Friday: Dinner with our parents at Miller Union. I have heard so many great things about this restaurant from different blogs and other websites. It is supposed to have killer cocktails, so you better believe we will indulge!

Saturday: Decatur Beer Festival!!! I am most excited about this activity. The bf has been talking about DBF ever since we started dating, since it is his favorite beerfest in Atlanta. I have not been to this one, though I've visited my fair share of other fests in the city. We were lucky enough to get our tickets on time, before they sold out (within 2 hours!). Lots of old friends and new friends are attending, so it should be a glorious day. Oh, and the weather is calling for 75 and sunny... hello, perfection.

Do you think real elephants will be there? :)

Sunday: Brunch with the family and bf at Mosaic in Buckhead. I've actually never heard of this place; it was all my mom's idea. However, when I checked out the menu online, it looks pretty delish! Plus, it has the "largest pet-friendly outdoor patio in Buckhead", which means we get to bring Cooper!

You get to come, too!

I will be giving a full report next week about the greatness of the weekend. Until then, I may be a little bit MIA... Have a great weekend everyone!

Shoe Dilemma! Please assist :)

Hello everyone!

Today I came across a slight dilemma, whilst spending my lunch break at Target (the most dangerous idea ever). I went there only for laundry detergent, and of course found myself wandering the shoe aisle. I've been looking for some new flats for some time now, but haven't found any that just jump out at me. I ended up finding two super cute pairs, for very reasonable prices at good ol' Tar-jay. Now the dilemma strikes: do I keep both? Do I choose one? How can I choose when I like them both? Here are the new kicks:

You can't really see the top, but it has cute little gems on a ribbon!

Aren't they both so cute? I did the comfort test of walking around the shoe area a bit, and they both seem pretty comfortable (though I'm sure once I wear them for more than five minutes they may require a bit of breaking in). They are both really cheap for flats, one pair is $20 and one is $25 - a steal I tell ya!

So now the question is, if you were to choose just one pair, which would you pick? Granted, it isn't apples to apples, since they are completely different flats, but I think they would both go with just about everything..

Or should I keep them both, and just determine that both Target pairs = one pair of Nine West flats in terms of cost?? ;)

Help!!

Friends, Football, and Fun :)

This past weekend was spent in one of my favorite places on the planet:
C-L-E-M-S-O-N!

It was homecoming weekend, and Clemson was overflowing with old friends (literally-there were lines outside every bar!). The best part was that three of my four besties (we missed you, Sal!) all reunited together to catch up for a semi-girls weekend. Even though we lost to Miami (umm, aren't they supposed to schedule easy games for Homecoming? Geez louise, Clemson), we managed to have a fantastic time catching up, hitching rides on golf carts*, and yelling Clemson chants at the top of our lungs. I, of course, came home with a voice so hoarse it sounded like I was an 89 year old woman who had been smoking since I was 10. That's ok though, it was well worth the inability to speak afterwards :)

Here are a few pictures from the great weekend! Man, I miss that place!

My favorite ladies to come out of Clemson

Best part of the day - on the GOLF CART!

Love this guy, and clearly he loves me too! Ha!

It was a long, long day.. :)

The BEST shirt I've ever seen...

...so of course we had to meet him!

Glorious.

THE END.

*This was maybe my favorite part of the weekend. Some random guy was cruising around on his golf cart when one of my friends said "Hey mister, heading downtown?", and we proceeded to hop aboard, thinking knowing we were the coolest people in town.

Disturbing Stats

This morning, I hit the gym at 6 am. Since bootcamp ended a few months ago, I try to stay in the routine and go to the gym before work. It is so much nicer to have your workout complete when you get home from work. [Of course, it only really happens about 2-3 times a week, as opposed to 5 times a week during bootcamp.] It is just so hard to get up that early...

To the actual point of my post though... While I was filling up my water bottle, there was a sign on the wall which said:

"Three in four adults will be overweight by the year 2020"

Say what?! Now, I realize that the "statistic" that was hanging from the wall at LA Fitness might not be the most accurate place to get my information from, but it still shocked me. I cannot believe it! Of all the workout shows, food shows, health blogs and shocking statistics that you read about in newspapers in magazines, you would think we would be moving away from those terrifying statistics.

We'll kick your ass.

Now, I'm certinaly not saying that I am the picture of perfect health and fitness, but I definitely try to eat healthy and work out enough to burn off my weekend slip ups (aka booze). I enjoy exercising and try to make my own lunches and dinners during the week, and save the restaurant calories for the weekend. This wasn't always the case though. As this probably happened to many of you, I was a victim of the dreaded Freshman Fifteen (ok, maybe even more, who knows.) As a freshman, I came down with Mono during the first semester of college. My doctor put me on heavy meds, and told me that I couldn't exert myself for three months. Of course, I was back to normal after only a month or so, but I also had grown lazy in this time and it was very hard to get back into exercising on a regular basis. Combine that with the greasy all-you-can-eat food in our dining halls, late night drunk eating, lots of beer, and voila! Fat kid central. After a long conversation with my brave brother who ever so gently told me that I needed to take control of myself (while I cried like a baby because I knew it was true) it really hit me! You mean, other people have noticed it too? How crazy! It really took until my post-college life to get to the happy weight I'm at now, because let's face it: college has WAY too many temptations. After my freshman year, I really got serious about my eating, cut down on the booze, and hit the gym more often.

Eat your spinach and work those muscles!

The other day, my freshman roommate (we're still friends today) randomly sent me old pictures to reminisce on the good ol' days. I immediately X'd out of them, and felt instantly ashamed that I had let myself go like that. That was my serious wake up call, to never let myself get back to that weight again. [I think I'll spare myself the embarrassment of posting any "before" shots, because you guys get the idea.] Reading that statistic at the gym this morning made me realize how easy it really is to let yourself go. Being healthy really is a life changing decision, and something I constantly work on. I realize now that you have to allow yourself to splurge sometimes, and force yourself to be disciplined other times. You have to get your ass off the couch, stop watching Jillian Michaels help others lose weight, and actually exercise yourself! I am so much happier now than I was back in freshman year of college, so it is worth the work to me!

I really hope that something changes in the next 10 years, so that shocking statistic doesn't become a reality...

A History of Rap

I happen to be a Justin Timberlake fan. [Yes, I was a huge boy band fan during the Backstreet Boys and Nsync era, and I firmly believe they were way more talented than Miley Cyrus and the Jo Bros are...] Anyways, I think he is quite talented. He actually made something of himself after the boy band craze faded into the sunset. Not only can he sing and dance, but he's pretty funny too. You guys remember Dick in a Box, of course, and he has since made numerous SNL appearances which I find pretty amusing too.

My heart melts for those warm-up suits.

Last night, he was on Jimmy Fallon's show, and they did a little number, singing the history of rap. I must say, Jimmy can totally hold his own on this one! Some of those songs brought back some serious memories... i.e. My Name Is by Slim Shady? Hello 8th grade! Which of these songs bring back memories for you guys?

Enjoy!

New fall outfit... back off, haters!

With fall right around the corner( I hope!?), I've been slowly gathering new fall pieces to wear. I've been trying to mentally create outfits in my head, so I can be certain that the new goods will be used and will not end up hanging in my closet for a year. So, the latest one I put together is a fun fall look, which I am very excited to try out. I also happened to find everything either on sale or with a coupon. That makes me very happy :) Now, if it will only drop in temperature so I can start to bring on the fun attire!

Where are you, fall?

Article #1: A long, comfy sweater from Lauren Conrad's new Kohl's collection. I know, some people may laugh at this, but I happen to be a huge LC fan. I firmly believe that The Hills was a bore to watch as soon as she left the series. I also am excited to check out her new style book that comes out in October.. I think she has great style! My friend Alison and I were actually discussing LC's new clothing line over pedis this weekend, so I decided to check them out. I picked up this little number in grey, on sale for $30!

Note: It looks MUCH better on, than in this pic

I think it will be perfect for chilly days when you are running a million errands, because it is super comfortable. I also love the little flower on the side, to add a touch of girly to it!

Article #2: Ok, here's where the controversy kicks in. I bought a pair of black jeggings. BEFORE you judge, hear me out! I know a lot of people have mixed feelings, and I did too, before I wandered into Gap to try on a pair for myself. First thing I liked was that they actually look like real jeans - they have a zipper and button, and they aren't all strechy and gross looking. Second, when I tried them on (and went up a size because they are tighter than regular jeans) they flattered me! I happen to have a bootay, so I was pleasantly surprised with how well these fit. I also had a mega coupon that day, so I tried them out. If you are on the fence about jeggings, give the Gap ones a shot, because they are a nice in-between and actually look like jeans. Plus, I was tired of cramming jeans into boots, and these fit just dandy :)

I dislike those shoes, mine will be paired with flats or boots only!

Article #3: I don't think these are very controversial, because grey boots are totally in this season. I picked these up (with another coupon, of course) at DSW for probably about $50. They are Madden Girl, which I've never bought before. I assume they are Steve Madden's not-so-pricey shoe line. Who knows. I think they are perfect to tuck jeans and jeggings into and head out the door. Plus, although I normally opt for a higher heel, I thought the lower heel was ideal for running errands and not needing a foot massage afterwards.

Article #4: This isn't really part of the outfit, but I thought I would mention them since I bought them whilst shopping at Kohl's. They are Simply Vera sunglasses, and were a cool $20. Geez, a steal I tell you! [Can't find them online, so no pictures for you!]

So, there you have it folks. I haven't gotten the chance to piece everything together and wear it as a whole, considering it has been 95 degrees the past few weeks. It is staying at a cool 70 degrees today, so there's hope for fall yet! Dont worry, I'll be sure to post a photo of the outfit all together. I think a comfy grey sweater, black skinnies, and grey boots is a pretty fall-ish outfit, wouldn't you say?