hinky.

i had a mini precursor breakdown yesterday.

does anyone have those? the one where you know something is wrong, but you can't quite put your finger on it because it's like 20 bajillion different little things and this breakdown is in hopes that you won't have a huge full on mega meltdown.

there usually aren't tears and not as many people are hurt by the blowback, but something feels hinky. yes, hinky, go with it. it is totally a word.

anyhow...

saturday i ran a glorious 9 miles. i am not even really sure why i stopped running. it was one of those stars align and all is right with the running gods type of run. it's ever allusive and we all strive to achieve it.

tweeting it makes it real, correct?

i mean it could of had something to do with my stellar diet that day. cereal, cheese squares with wheat thins, and a box of macaroni and cheese. yes an entire box. i can dominate one of those bad boys no question.

that one to be exact. i have a theory that if the mac and cheese comes in shapes, you don't actually get the same amount in the box. not that i can't eat an entire box of the non-bunny shaped variety. and they were on sale for $1 at target.

sunday the princess and i forwent a run for a walkabout. which was lovely and calm.

yesterday we did the dreaded runch. i just wasn't feeling that four mile run. it was awkwardly hot and cold. then we went on a walk later in the afternoon.

yesterday i also ate ramen for lunch. because i am an adult. hey i made it fancy. but my real problem with ramen is who eats 1/2 a brick? WHO?

serving size:

and that is where i end my post, because i don't want to admit that i may or may not have eaten another box of mac and cheese for dinner. of the non bunny variety...

friday five.

the rain has sapped all my brainpower. all i want to do is take the monster and cocoon into the covers and never come out. judging by the drool on my keyboard (not mine) and this setup, i would say that praia girl is on board with that plan.

so here is my friday five.

1. score of the day at target. 3 boxes, 4 packets each, 12 packets total for $6. #winning

2. these showed up in the mail yesterday and i am PUMPED. buy things from me. #helpmeimpoor

3. this happened today. watch out costa rica, i'm coming for you!

4. i really, really want this kate spade iphone case. perhaps even NEED it. 

5. i can't stop watching the coverage on boston. like have been watching it since about 5 this morning. and not a whole lot has been reported or changed since the first couple of stories this morning. but this is amazing to me. #prayforboston

adidas.com

quickbooksing

this morning i ran with the furrymonster, did a little blogging, read a few blogs, sent some e-mails, ate breakfast, and then generally procrastinated. not really, but there isn't a whole lot to do after you've sent out e-mails.

i've been trying to get better about getting out of bed when i wake up, but some  mornings i am either up at 452 or i snooze until 7. and snoozing until 7 i can get away with some mornings. this morning i was able to take that luxury and then still run about 4 miles with the monster before anything life altering had to occur.

that life altering thing was taming the mop that i was calling my hair these days. i am really bad about remembering to go get my hair cut. then comes the day where all i want to do is lop it all off and call it a day. so today i went and lopped it off. well not really, but a sizable portion is now removed from my noggin.

taking pictures of yourself is awkward. or i am awkward. probably a combo of the two.

now that my head feels about 10 pounds lighter, i am currently cruising craigslist. there are ALWAYS some gems on that bad boy. today is for a specific purpose (aside from updating the wood business account). on monday i started a company.

a quickbooks company to be exact. it's not glamourous, but i am good at it, and i figured instead of getting paid 1099 style, i can funnel everything through an actual company. be legit and things. thus the craigslist trolling. i've been hunting down leads for people who need part time work. listen up atlanta folks, who needs some quickbooks assistance? hmmmmm.

this also means that fuzzy and i are doing this.

then we moved onto this.

but then the cats came out and we were quickly ushered inside.

that shit has got to go.

do you ever have those moments when all you want to do is spend money and spend it as fast as humanly possible? why does that even happen?

i have been having one of those weeks. it doesn't happen often, but when it does, holy hell hold on for a ride.

usually i just build shopping carts and never actually purchase anything because i go through and delete everything one by one until the cart is sad and empty. and for the love of everything holy, stay away from target and tjmaxx, because they will lead to some serious shopping benders.

this little gem did happen.

once i've built my shopping cart of dreams and then subsequently slaughtered those dreams i then go into my own closet and start getting rid of stuff. it's pretty cut throat. i don't like stuff, so i just get rid of it. to the tune of about once a month. it usually begins when i go to put something on and i don't like the way it fits, so it goes into a pile.

there are rules to this purging though. never, and i repeat never, purge when you want to rip your ovaries out of your person. it won't be pretty and it always ends in sobbing ugly tears. most likely all while screaming and listening to some suitably horrible 90s girl songs.

trust me on this one. please. nothing fits properly during that time and you are at your most critical.

second rule: there is no fight club. but seriously, there isn't. moving forward...if you are purging your closet make sure and try things on. i mean everything. make a no, yes, and maybe pile. rehang the yes pile (preferably by colors...), don't look twice at the no pile - toss those puppies in a bag and don't look back, try the maybe pile on again and give yourself 10 seconds to decide. or do this. i actually recommend this.

third rule: if something is too big or too small (and i mean comically small) don't hold onto it. you will never wear it again. mark my words.

fourth rule: don't drink and purge. oof. okay, okay i amend that. don't be drunk and purge. drink mimosas and purge. that i am on board with.

fifth rule: that t-shirt drawer. the one you can barely open because you fear the drawer breaking from the sliders and crushing your toes because of the shear weight of cotton in that bad boy. you know the one, open it.

take them all out and get rid of almost all of them. keep the really sentimental ones and then build your base from there. we all know everyone wears about five tshirts they own.

sixth rule: shoes. i have a lot of shoes. well i take that back, i had a lot of shoes. and then i realized i was hanging on to a bunch of shoes that i never, ever wore. so i got rid of them. just like that. no ifs, ands or buts about it.

seventh rule: do not immediately go buy things to fill up all the space you have made.

these rules generally work with everything else in your house. books, kitchenware, facebook... you get the idea.

now go forth and do great things.

side note: i am exceptionally bad at doing this with my dresses and swimsuits. i love me some swimsuits and it pains my soul to get rid of any.

thankful.

things i am thankful for:

my family

the little can. trust me.

being able to do this.

this view

taking pictures like this

definitely these

no caption necessary

and these. who could forget these.

the time i had with this sweet face.

days for pool toes

this furbaby

skies like these

muddled drinks with friends

this guy

making things for a good cause with these crazies

and many many more. #prayforboston

pray for boston.

no words.

just prayers.

woof.

this week was a bit hectic for me with work.

i was put in charge of the task of making sure that a table was completed on time for a charity function on friday.

which meant that in reality the table should be ready on thursday to plan for any hiccups that may occur.

and you know what i did, i got everything done on thurdsay. boom.

a little preview of the table. there are better pictures on facebook. anyways, the table was for this benefit called Lauraine's Table. darwin and his friends got together and decided they were going to build tables and sell seats at them at restaurants around town to raise money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. they have a good friend Lauraine, who is currently fighting the good fight against LLS.

the benefit was friday night and was a huge success. it was amazing to see the turnout and meet a bunch of new faces.

saturday i had every intention of getting out of the house to do a short run, but my mom called me and my saturday fell apart.

my dog, coney, that i have had since i was 14 passed away on saturday morning. needless to say, i have been a bit of a mess.

he's been my best friend for 13 years. i could not have asked for a better pet. i love him to pieces and i am really sad that he is gone now. he taught me so much about patience and love. i know it was for the best, but damnit he was supposed to live forever. it's going to be really weird to go home and he not be there. he was always so excited about everything, and that's going to be my new outlook. be excited about everything even if it isn't exactly what i want to do.

darwin was kind enough to know that i am a hot mess right now, and brought over the fuzzybutt to keep me company this weekend. i immediately started crying when they walked in my door. i almost told him to take her back, because i didn't know if i could handle it.

but we hung out and she knew not to test her limits. we went on a walk later in the day and i swear it was black lab central. everywhere we went there were these sweet lab faces and i almost cried every single time i saw one. somehow they just know that something is wrong and they would all give me that sad, i am sorry face.

today we got up and ran an easy 7 miles. it was nice to just be outside. i sure do miss my coneman, but i know each day will get a little bit easier.

nothing like learning your life lessons from your pet. if you have a pet, please hug them tight for me.

weekend wrap up on a tuesday

because i did nothing productive on monday, except for work, i figured that an update wasn't really in the cards.

i am rather distracted today. my brain is all over the place and i don't even know where to start reigning that sucker in.

mainly i blame the three sips of diet coke i had this morning.

lesson learned.

anyways back to this weekend round up. atlanta was beautiful this weekend. absolutely beautiful.

friday led with me ugly screaming at our insurance company. it was not pretty and i am not proud, but it was necessary. so that led to power drinking friday night.

lindsay and i drank some beers, shared some laughs, tried not to cry, and discussed her upcoming half marathon in may. a good time was had by all. and i was home and asleep by about 1045.

also my first bartender told me that i could barter with him for my check. i laughed it off, but all i could think was man that's awkward and uncomfortable. 

that led to a rough saturday morning. and i mean ROUGH. i don't really drink all that much but woof. after much back and forth texting with lindsay to get us motivated to go run, i set out. i made my 3 mile loop and almost died. i wanted to vomit and all i could think while running is where does one vomit when running through neighborhoods? i haven't quite figured out the best answer to that one yet.

atlanta this weekend held the final four, which meant there were a lot of activities going on. well, lindsay and i decided we were going to partake in the free concerts that were going on downtown. we hopped in my car and drove over there and drove around trying to find parking and ultimately threw in the towel. too many people, too many people, TOO MANY PEOPLE. so we found ourselves a nice little patio and sat out and enjoyed the sunshine, and the bird poop. yes bird poop.

we called it a wrap about 630 or so and i went and grabbed the furry monster so i could have some company.

sunday i woke up and ran with my friend court and her dad. courtney and i ran cross country in high school. she has since gone on to run a couple of marathons, an ultra, trail races, and a triathalon. she's basically badass. we started laughing because when we were in high school we thought people were crazy for running longer than 3 miles. snarked at them really. but here we are.

we ran about 12 miles slow and did a little tour of the city. it was a neat way to see the city and have  a relaxing run (even if i thought i would die at points). it's fun to run early on sunday mornings because no one is out and the city is quite peaceful. and ya know running with old friends you remember a lot of crazy stories. A LOT.

afterwards i came home and promptly fell asleep with the monster.

and then i went out again. (i know, 3 days in a row, who am i?)

a few muddled drinks between friends. and a beautiful sunset!

okay, now i am sleepy, and playing with my new phone and hanging out with the monster. until next time....

blank.

blank calendars are kind of frightening for me in my line of work.

running a company and not having anything on the books does not spread joyous hope and unicorns.

but when it comes to my running calendar, it's pretty relaxing to not have any planned workouts. to just be able to go out there and run or not run. whatever i feel like that morning. and some mornings i want to be in my bed with as many covers as possible before actual suffocation hits. preferably with the fuzzy monster sharing my pillow.

nada. zilch. nothing.

i like being able to take it easy and just chill. i am sure it won't last long as i know there are about 4 5ks that i am supposed to have signed up for, and haven't quite gotten around to that...

yesterday i wore around my new oiselle shorts with full intentions of taking the fuzzy one on a run but then i decided not too and i just wore them around all day. and it was only 50 outside so they weren't exactly the most practical decision i've ever made...

let me tell you how i came to have these lovely beauties.

as i was driving to beach in the rain, i glanced down and notice that courtney has tweeted to me that oiselle was on the clymb that day.

HOLD THE PHONE. THIS CAR MUST STOP AND STOP RIGHT NOW.

so what does any sane and logical person do? they clearly pull into a gas station to search the sale on their phone. duh

totally reasonable no? good, i am glad we are on the same page here.

and then this happened and my life was complete.

boom.

and now i can die happy.

i don't know how i forgot to even mention this but those shorts, have a butt pocket, a side pocket, and two back pockets. SO MANY POCKETS. and they are super comfortable.

oh and if you don't know about oiselle you are a bonehead, but i'll forgive you. just this once though. and the clymb, well if you would like to be a member then sign up or don't. it will be your loss and my oiselle gain...strategy (apparently stratergery is not a word) right there folks.

making up a race

while i was in the good old baton rouge last weekend for easter, my cousin decided that it would be a good idea to run the new orleans crescent city classic.

don't ask me what the allstate sugar bowl has to do with this. i just nod agreeably.

so this race is a 10k, and we promised my aunt we would walk it because my cousin is still awaiting to hear back from her doctor for the okay to run.

we called the hotel where the race expo was and the nice front desk lady gave me the number of the people in charge. except that it was to an art gallery. #fail

find the correct phone number online and we find out there is no race day registration or phone in registration. not a huge dilemma, we will just drive down to NOLA and get everything squared away. well here is where things began to fall apart.

we had been day drinking, and shoveling crawfish into our faces as fast as humanly possible. i still rank amateur in that department because i have missed this celebration for the past 5 years or so. oof. anyhows, shit hit the proverbial fan and as my cousin and i are making our way to NOLA i convince her that maybe we should just pull over and breathe for a minute.

that pulling over resulted in stopping in for daquiris (and no i don't know how to spell daquiris, and i am fairly convince NO ONE does). and there my genius struck me.

instead of running a race out of spite, ahem walking, driving to NOLA tonight, and then back at the ass crack of dawn, why don't we make our own race. we can have tshirts, beer, you name it.

::pats self on the back:: still awaiting applause, trophies, nomination into sainthood. the works.

baton rouge is home of the LSU tigers for those of you living in a hole. they have this spot called the LSU lakes and it has a 4 mile loop. PERFECT. we can go wog (walk/jog) that bad boy and have ourselves our own little race. there were no medals at the end but the view was stunning and sometimes it's nice to have no pressure.

here are our race day shirts:

ours aren't v-neck, but you get the idea. they are super soft and super comfortable.

all in all i am happy with our decision to not go to NOLA. sometimes making your own race is more fun.

and the popcorn and beer at the end were PHENOMENAL.

close up of the shirt

you too can have a tshirt: http://www.storyvilleapparel.com/that-fish-cray-gray-v-neck.html

soul soothing.

if we rewind back to yesterday you will remember (or not) that i mentioned i had just gotten back from the beach to begin my whirlwind tour of the southeast.

my boss so graciously provided me with a place to stay. and by graciously he said get your butt out of this city, i don't want to see you or have you talk about work for at least 3 days. oh and please take my dog. so what's a girl to do?

GO TO THE BEACH. no brainer right there.

in reality, it was more of a hey, um dar, can i go to the beach. like friday to monday, or something? PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

i kid. i asked him if i could go. i had finished all my big projects and i was pooped.

so off to the beach the fuzzybutt and i went.

there is just something about the ocean that i just love. the salt, the smell, the sand, the sound. ALL OF IT. it really is calming to the mind, body and soul for me.

so we frolicked around. and by we i mean the princess frolicked and realized how bloody cold the ocean is right now...

days were filled with morning walks on the beach. mid morning tennis ball sessions on the beach. reading. afternoon walks on the beach. and more reading.

i wore my swimsuit from the moment i got there, until the moment i had to load the car to head home. that is my kind of lifestyle right there.

we never left the condo except to get the beach. i left the sliding door open to hear the ocean. praia and i snuggled on the couch and watched the world go by.

storm rolling in

sometimes we got CRAZY and sat on the balcony. but when you do that, you tend to get this.

oh i am sorry, was i not providing you with enough entertainment?

it was a blast and i was sad to have to head home, but the real world was calling. oh wait, err the 2 days of the real world were calling.

post easter detox

i don't know about you guys, but i am exhausted.

last wednesday i flew home.

complete with delayed flight. i did what any rational adult does and pouted and ate cheetos. by time i got to memphis it was 945 and i was sleepy.

thursday morning we got up and drove to baton rouge. dad and i did our best to annoy mom and coneyman slept like this.

mom is an amazing picture taker

friday we had a crawfish boil. which started with a 3.32 mile run. first run post marathon and i felt pretty good. aside from it being ass hot and i was dehydrated. but everything felt like it was supposed too. and then the day drinking began. MIMOSAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! meeemosas.

pretty spot on.

and then these beauties came to play....

i think i ate my weight in crawfish. and those heads of garlic were like little pods sent straight from heaven. especially if you put a piece on a potato with a crawfish tail. OH.MY.GOD.

saturday my cousin and i made up our own race, since getting to new orleans to do the crescent city classic required a lot of coordination that was just too much to handle. also, dad and i went and saw OZ. it is AMAZING. and for someone that is a purist and only likes the wizard of oz, i really really enjoyed this movie. it's long without dragging on, it's funny without being corny and it's not super little kid movie like. and james franco is in it...done

sunday we went to mass and then ate some more because ya know, we hadn't done enough of that... then we drove home.

my thoughts exactly bub

this morning i flew back to atlanta, and i am trying to figure out what time my brain thinks it is, because i am fairly positive the last time i slept was tuesday night.. which how can you not sleep the day after you get back from vacation? oh did i forget to mention that the monday before i flew out, i drove back from the beach? please, please feel sorry for me...