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!

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!

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!!

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!

Awards.. yay!

A couple of weeks ago, I received my very first blog awards! I was so pleased, but also so busy and didn't have time to follow through with the commitments that come along with getting an award. I'm supposed to post it and chat about myself, but I am the worst blogger ever and haven't done it yet! So I'm going to do it today. Better late than never, right? I received the versatile blogger award from Atlanta Yankee Belle:

Yay! So now I have to write 7 things about myself. If you guys remember, I basically did this on my own a couple of weeks ago, when I wrote 25 things about myself, so now I'm just going to have to rack my brain and think of 7 more:

1. I am very excited, because tomorrow I am heading to Winston-Salem for my cousin's wedding. My mom's side of the family is very close, but we are scattered around the east coast, so it will also be a family reunion!
2. I love traveling, and lived in Spain for a couple of months when I was in college. I hope to go back in the near future, and visit some other countries that I haven't seen before!
3. I have always wanted to be on Oprah's Favorite Things Episode. That woman gives away so much stuff... did you hear about her australia trip giveaway the other day? Yeesh.
4. If I could only choose one article of clothing/accessories to buy, it would be shoes. I love shoes...
5. I have a bad habit of buying Groupons to various restaurants, just so I can try them out. The savings aren't monumental, but I tell myself they are anyways.
6. I am dying for fall to officially arrive. Football is here, now we just need the temperature to drop about 15 degrees, so I can start wearing boots and cute blazers!
7. I'm a movie junkie. I love going to the movies (depsite the ridiculous cost), and I love renting them. Red Box is the way to go these days.

ALSO, I was tagged by Pearls, Curls and a Southern Girl to answer these 8 questions:

1. What's your favorite vacation you've been on? My family took a trip to Italy when I was in college. We ate everything in site, drank a ton of wine, and saw everything there is to see. It was fabulous!

2. What's your best memory of college? My 22nd birthday. I was the oldest of my friends, so for my 21st, only a few could take me out (with fake ids). So when I turned 22, I had practically 20+ friends from my sorority out with me in downtown Clemson. It was so much fun!

3. If you could go to dinner with someone famous, who would it be? This is really hard... How about the cast of Modern Family? I could go for a good laugh! 

4. What's your biggest achievement? Buying a condo, all on my own!

5. What TV show would you want to make a guest appearance on? I think I answered that above, Oprah of course! I want the free goodies!! 

6. What are you most looking forward to this year? For the rest of the year: the two weddings we have left, a girl trip to Clemson, holidays with my family, seeing all of my relatives this weekend, and spending time with my boyfriend in Atlanta :)

7. What's your biggest dream in life?To be successful in my career and happy in life. Cliche, I know.

8. If you won the lottery, what would be your biggest splurge? The responsible part of me would pay off my mortgage, and then the fun side of me would take a LONG vacation around the world!

Thanks for the tags, girls!! I'll report back to everyone after my Winston Salem trip with lots of picures!

Trying to be more studious...

In my attempts to stop watching so much tv and read more often, I decided to read Eat Pray Love.

I know, I know... I'm only a few years too late for this one! When the movie came out, I decided that before I saw the lovely Julia Roberts on screen, I would make myself read the story first. It only took me about 4 weeks.... hey, I'm a slow reader and I get distracted! My overall opinion of the book is that it was entertaining. If I'm being honest though, there were parts of it that were a total snoozefest. For example, the whole section where you read about every detail of her silent meditation - not SO much my cup of tea. My favorite section was Indonesia, because there was love, friendship, humor, and fun. I'm glad that it ended on a more exciting note, otherwise I may have put it down never to be picked up again.

Now, it's time for me to go see the movie! I have heard many mixed opinions; some hate the movie and some love it. I have a feeling it won't be my favorite movie of all time, but I'm a Julia fan and I've heard the scenery is beautiful. So, I may just pop up to the movie theater one afternoon and do a solo viewing. Can't wait!

Up next on my list, I just picked up Lauren Weisberger's new book, Last Night at Chateau Marmont.

She's the author of Devil Wears Prada, which I also read before seeing the movie! This book looks cute, it is about an every day NY couple struggling to make ends meet. Then, the musician husband hits it big and they have to deal with the struggles of fame and paparazzi. We'll see how long it takes me to read this one!

25 Things you don't know about me...

In honor of my 25th birthday (which is Friday!), I thought I would do something fun and different!

Us Weekly readers out there, you know that section where the famous person writes the column, 25 Things You Don't Know about Me? Well, I'm not famous, but I thought I would give it a shot! Let's see if I can even come up with 25 interesting things....

Who, moi?

1. I will watch (and usually love) almost any chick flick out there. No matter how cheesy or predictable they are, they always seem to entertain me. {i.e. 27 Dresses, Step Up, Two Weeks Notice etc...}

2. I blush really easily. For some reason, certain things make me turn red for no reason at all. Of course, people bring it to my attention, and the red face only gets worse...

3. I will eat just about anything, except mushrooms. Blech!

4. I have my Clemson acceptance letter framed at my parents' house. Getting that letter was one of the happiest days of my life, since it was my first choice!

5. I came up with the name Cooper for my parents' dog. I thought of it because he is white, and Anderson Cooper's hair is white...Random, I know.

You handsome little devil

6. The first cd I ever purchased was Alanis Morrisette - Jagged Little Pill. I thought I was so cool because it was full of curse words.

7. I have a slight phobia of waterskiing, ever since I took a nasty spill in high school. I've gone a few times since then, but people have to basically force me.

8. One of my favorite things to do is sit at the bar of a restaurant with my bf, trying new beers (I think he's a beer connoisseur!) and chatting. Totally low key, totally perfect.

Bf and myself at a wedding

9. I am a homeowner all on my own! I bought a condo in August 2009, and it was the scariest and best decision I've ever made.

10. I absolutely love having an older brother. Although we fought when we were growing up (what siblings don't?), at least it was never about clothes or boys. We also happen to be great friends and have a lot of fun together.

Bro and sis at Kentucky Derby

11. I was a cheerleader for 6 years from 6th grade through end of high school. I did competitive cheerleading along with cheering the sidelines at football games. I was the flyer, the person thrown in the air, and I'm sure it gave my parents a small heart attack every time I went in the air.

12. My mom's side of the family (18 people total) is very close even though we are scattered along the east coast. We used to rent giant beach houses in Myrtle Beach growing up, where we would play practical jokes on the parents and launch water balloons at people from the rooftop. Those are some of my greatest memories.

13. I was a summer baby and therefore the oldest of all of my friends. This meant first to drive, first to vote, first to drink legally... it definitely had its advantages :)

14. I was obsessed with the Spice Girls growing up. My dad (what a saint!) took me and two girlfriends to their concert, and nicknamed himself "Old Spice"

Spice up your life!

15. The one thing I would change about Atlanta is that I wish I could walk to more places. Things are too spaced out!

16. My friends are VERY important to me. I hate the fact that many of them live in different states than me.

My Clemson besties in Charleston in 2009

17. My freshman year of college, my roommate and I would always drink vanilla vodka with vanilla coke before going out. To this day, I cannot drink vanilla coke.

18. I love shopping, however, I have never ever had credit card debt. It makes me mad to hear about people who are thousands of dollars in debt because of shopping.

19. I love Subway. I think I could eat it every day.

Jared ate subway everyday.. Can't I?

20. When I was younger I had gum surgery in which they used banana flavored novicane. Now, any time I eat banana flavored candy or popcicles, my gums tingle a little. No joke.

21. I secretly wish I could be a food taster for my job. It would be so fun to eat at all the restaurants in Atlanta and write about them. I just have a strong feeling I would become obese in about a month.

22. I took spanish classes since 2nd grade, and I minored in it at Clemson. I also studied abroad in Spain, where we were scolded if we spoke english in the classroom. Could I speak it as easily now? Probably not.

23. I have a total girl crush on Reese Witherspoon. I think her and I could be friends, and I think she's adorable!

My new bff

24. I love people watching. Two great places to do so are Lenox Mall and Piedmont Park. There's always some interesting characters roaming around both of these.

25. Holy crap.. 25 is a lot of things to list about yourself. Glad I'm done with that!


Tell me some things about yourselves! Or create a blog post like mine. I love reading things like this!