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Happy first Friday of October! This week I plunged into my fall nail polish collection and am kicking off this season with Essie’s Chinchilly nail polish.
Chinchilly is the perfect entrance to fall/spring color because it’s a beautiful, light gray. It’s a thin polish, but the picture above is two coats (I put it on a bit thick as I polished).
Here are a few random facts for the wee:
My favorite Oreos of all time are back in stores, and I’m ridiculously excited. I’m being very vulnerable with you all when I share this: I actually teared up just a little bit when I saw the Carmel Apple Oreos in Target, and I took off sprinting towards them. Pathetic, right? I have 4 containers of Carmel Apple and 2 of Pumpkin Spice at my kitchen right now. I’m not sorry about that at all.
Another food related random: Let’s talk about Graeters for a minute. Have you tried their ice cream before? I had my first Graeters experience this weekend, and really loved their pumpkin flavor! It was warm enough to sit outside and eat it at night- hello fall!
Did you watch the Lunar Eclipse earlier this week? I went outside a few times to enjoy the views, and wish I could’ve captured a better picture of it!
I was doodling one evening at game night this past weekend, and I looked down and realized that I had written this big nature word cloud. There are all sorts of nature words, but I thought it was interesting that there were words like “freedom” in there too. Talk about my subconscious coming out a bit there!
I’m not going to write a full post recapping my 8.4 miler this past weekend, but it went ok. Not as well as last week’s 7.7 miler, but my 8 milers haven’t ever been as solid as my 7 milers. I ended my run with what I now call “crack egg rolls” because I crave them so much! A woman cooks them fresh at the farmers market, so I went there immediately after my run to get some. Delicious.
Now it’s your turn to share! Tell me something random from your week! What’s your favorite oreo flavor?
The Blue Bistro made its way onto my “want to read” shelf on goodreads towards the beginning of summer when I made it my goal to read several books that take place specifically during the summertime.
The Blue Bistro takes place on Nantucket, where Adrienne, a young woman who has spent the last few years hopping around the world working in hotels, decides to spend the summer working at a restaurant. Thatcher, the restaurant’s owner, immediately offers her a job there despite the fact that she’s never worked in a restaurant before. The restaurant is the best place to eat on Nantucket, and Adrienne is immediately thrown into a crazy work schedule as the Bistro begins its final season before it closes. The book follows the dynamics of the staff as they work in close quarts in the Bistro, and of course there is a little love and romance along the way as well.
reading in the sky. (isn’t it too bad kindle covers aren’t as pretty as the real book covers??)
A quote from the book:
“He has never known a woman so free from conceit, vanity, ambition, pretense. He has never known a woman so willing to show the world that she is a human being.”
There were several times that the author was describing things in the book in such beautiful detail that I felt that I was actually standing in the restaurant. The book made me want to pack up and head for Nantucket, and it was a fantastic summer read! I gave it a 4/5 on goodreads.
For other book suggestions or reviews, check out my Book Reviews page!
Just a reminder- make sure enter my blog birthday giveaway if you haven’t already. It ends tomorrow!
Last week I had an excellent bike ride. It had been a hard morning, and I was more than ready to bike out some of that stress. While I miss the days of summer where I could go on long, 70 mile bike rides, the fall and my work schedule doesn’t permit that, and that’s ok. I headed out in the afternoon (it was in the mid 70s and sunny- so gorgeous!) for a ride. The cornfields are all drying up, which makes the ride look so different than it did back a few months ago. I think cornfields are beautiful no matter what season it is, so I enjoy getting to be up close to them throughout the biking season.
At mile 6 of my ride, I saw a rustling on the side of the trail, so I slowed down a bit. After a deer jumped right out in front of me earlier this summer, I’ve been a little nervous about being hit by a deer while biking- that seems like it would badly hurt and injure me! Well, I looked over and a little baby deer was on the side of the trail, and seemed to not quite know how to get where he wanted to go. I slowed down in case he jumped in front of me, but kept pedaling, trying to appear like I was minding my own business but also enjoying being so close to a little baby. Well, for close to a mile it just jumped along next to me before finding a place to dart to the other side of a fence.
This is one of the things I love the very most about biking outdoors- getting to be up close with nature over the course of many miles. It’s certainly beautiful! I hit the first hour with 14.8 miles – definitely faster than I normally ride… probably due to my morning. I love that exercise gives a way to burn off stress that we might otherwise just internalize 🙂
I’m listening to Catching Fire right now while riding, although I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to the end of Mockingjay with my bike rides the rest of the season since it’s coming closer to the end 🙁
The beautiful flowers of summer have died away, but the beautiful fall flowers and weeds are emerging, and at one point I had to pull over and stop to take a picture.
Gorgeous, isn’t it? I also love that there is a tractor in the top right hand corner that’s plowing the field.
There are some rides that I really push myself, and some rides where I slow down a bit to enjoy the scenery and nature around me- this was an excellent mix of both! I biked 27ish miles for the day, which was exactly what I needed for the day! I must’ve pushed myself a lot more than I realized in the first hour, because I woke up stiff the next morning, which doesn’t often happen even on 50-70 mile rides!
Now it’s your turn to share! What’s one of your favorite things about fall exercising?
“You didn’t choose a very lucrative career, did you?” someone said to me a week ago as I was talking to them about life as a counselor.
I laughed and said “Absolutely not!” and then after a second I said “Well- I guess it depends how you define lucrative.”
While it’s certainly true that the career choice I’ve made isn’t highly profitable in the financial sense, there are other ways in which I feel deeply rich, and there are ways that it has been highly profitable in my life.
Being a counselor has changed my life. In the process of getting my master’s degree, my own life went through quite the transformation process. I learned new skills, new ways to process information, and learned a whole new vocabulary, and I could talk for hours about what this changed in my life! To say that I felt like a stronger, more confident, healthier person at the end of my master’s is an understatement.
There’s also a richness that comes from learning each individual story, being challenged by situations that I might encounter at work, and getting to see things finally click for people as they move towards healthier living. I am SO very rich when it comes to my job- something that I don’t take for granted.
As I was thinking about this conversation, I started thinking about operating from a place of richness and fullness (compared to operating from a place of “lack of”).
As humans we tend to be drawn to the “lack of” in our life instead of the “presence of” that we have. We tend to dwell on the things that we don’t have and allow that to dictate mood and feelings, experiences, relationships, etc… The thing is: we don’t have to do this! While it might be the automatic way we look at things or process life, we aren’t bound by that, and we can intentionally switch to seeing the “presence of” and the richness of things instead (or at least maintaining a healthy balance between the two!).
I’m not rich financially being a counselor, but there is a beautiful depth and richness from my career- and from so many aspects of my life. I am rich in life- it just depends on how I look at it.
Would you join me in the journey of recognizing more of the “presence of” instead of “lack of” in life?
Now it’s your turn to share! What are you “rich in” in your life?
Happy Friday!! It’s my blogging birthday, and I’m celebrating with a giveaway. Scroll below to get the link to the giveaway! It’s about time that I head into wearing fall colored nail polishes, but I haven’t worn Essie’s mint candy apple in awhile, so I wanted to make sure to do that before the fall was in full swing.
Seriously- this color is gorgeous, isn’t it? I feel that this color is most perfectly worn in the middle of winter or in April/May, but it’s just beautiful no matter what the season, isn’t it? The formula goes on really smoothly, which I definitely appreciate!
Here are some random facts from my week:
1. Today is new iPhone day, and I’m both nervous and sad. I’ve had my iPhone 4s since 2011, and it’s been through SO much with me- it feels like I’m getting rid of a little piece of me, but I know it’s time. My phone doesn’t work well anymore, and is increasingly unreliable, which doesn’t work with my job. This new phone is going to be a HUGE difference!
2. I’m finally back to watching “Parks and Rec”, and I’m really enjoying it! I had been watching it this winter, but then got distracted by Friday Night Lights, then I just struggled to keep up with the shows I watch weekly, and then this summer I watched all of Gossip Girl. Because some extra stress has entered my life, I’ve decided to bring “Parks and Rec” back as I need a good laugh in my life! It’s such a funny show!
3. Have you entered my blogging birthday giveaway yet!? If not, head over to this post and enter! Today is my official 4th blog birthday- you can read my first post ever on this blog here!
4. Let’s talk fudge for a minute. When I went to Mackinac a few weeks ago I bought some pumpkin fudge and some maple fudge, and this week I decided that I finally needed to break into it and enjoy! For those of you who have been to Mackinac, have you tried JoAnn’s Fudge? It’s my favorite on the island!
Now it’s your turn to share! What’s one random fact from your week?
Happy Thursday and Happy Fall! Here’s what I’m thankful for right now:
I’m thankful for the chance to invest in friendships this weekend. While I had a long to-do list this weekend, I also had a number of fun friend related events this past weekend: a birthday celebration, finally meeting Cassie in person, and celebrating Melissa and her little one at her baby shower! I’m thankful for the life-giving time with friends I had this weekend.
I’m thankful for supportive emails. I’ve gotten a number of really meaningful emails this past week that have come at really ideal moments. I’m thankful for people taking time out of their lives to send little notes of celebration and encouragement to me.
I’m thankful for the car dealer tackling my coffee stain! In annoying news, I ended up accidentally spilling coffee all over my front passenger’s seat, and I was so upset! I try to take good care of my car, so this was definitely not what I wanted. I tried to clean it myself, but it didn’t come out as well as I wanted, so I took it to the dealer to get professionally cleaned. Not only did they clean the seat AND put a protective coat of something on it so things wouldn’t stain in the future, but the guy there did it all for free for me! I’m so thankful that the stain not only came out, but that they didn’t charge me since my finances are consistently tight!
Pre-cleaning. Definitely not ideal.
I’m thankful for a beautiful walk last night. I got off work just a bit early last night, so I was able to talk to my cousin on the phone and go on a walk. Not only was it good to catch up with her a bit (well- on the phone at least- we talk every day via text though!), but I got to enjoy the beauty of the day too!
Now it’s your turn to share! What are you feeling thankful for today?
Four years ago (on Friday- I’m posting this 2 days early!) I sat down and decided to start this little blog, then titled “Journey To Wellness”. I had just started running, and decided to start documenting part of that journey. Since that time I’ve completed numerous races and a few triathlons, made some great online friends and blends, and learned so much from this great blogging community. To say thank you for taking time out of your life to connect with me and read my blog, I thought I’d have a giveaway to celebrate.
As you know, my friend Jackie just published her debut novel, Truest and I wanted to share it with all of you. So, I’m giving away one copy of her book! If you want to read a bit more about it, head over to goodreads and check it out!
Check out the rafflecopter below for entry options!
giveaway rules:
- Contest runs from 9/23/2015-9/30/2015 at 12 am EST.
- No purchase necessary
- 1 winner will be randomly selected via Rafflecopter
- Open to all US Residents (& must have a shipping address in the US)
- Winner will be notified by email if available (or other social media if email isn’t available)- winner will have 48 hours to respond.
- If the original winner doesn’t respond within 48 hours, another winner will be randomly selected
Tweet ThisTHANK YOU once again for taking time out of your busy lives to read this little blog of mine! I love the friendships I’ve been able to build through this little space of mine, and I appreciate the stories and encouragement you share with me along the way!
This weekend was filled with wonderful friendship related things, which was so very good for my soul! The weekend kicked off on Friday with a friend’s birthday! We went to Noodles for dinner before heading to the theater to see Everest in 3D Imax! The movie was incredibly intense and emotional, and was especially cool in 3D! The movie is based on a true story as well; I’d definitely encourage you to check the movie out!
I got up early on Saturday morning to get a few hours of work in before Melissa got up. We headed to Starbucks and then I got ready and headed into downtown Indy because Cassie from “Sage” was in town for a conference! I’ve followed her on social media for quite awhile now (I can’t remember when, but it was sometime this winter), so I was really excited to meet her in person! We had lunch at Patachou, which was absolutely delicious. Getting to talk to Cassie face to face was wonderful, and I left feeling really sad that we don’t live closer together. She’s like a breath of fresh air on the internet, so check out her blog if you haven’t yet!
On Sunday afternoon, Melissa had her baby shower, which was lots of fun! A group of friends and family got together to celebrate her (and her little one!), and I loved seeing all the fun items and clothing that others’ gifted to her!
As I said, this weekend was really wonderful for my soul, especially with all the changes at work right now! Not only was it good just to be with friends, but something that was especially fun was that everyone I hung out with this weekend knows about (or even reads) this blog.
I was talking to Cassie about this at lunch on Saturday. Almost no one in my personal life knows that this blog exists (except for my immediate family and a few random people… and even my parents don’t know the name of my blog!). I have separate instagram accounts and don’t post about my blog on facebook (except for my blog’s individual page). I think there would be several woud be pretty surprised t hatI’ve blogged for as many years as I have. This is one of the reasons why you won’t see many of my friends on this blog- I don’t think it’s fair to talk about them on a blog they don’t even know exists. This was one of the weirdest parts about becoming friends with Melissa. She was the first person who really knew me who also saw my online life, and that felt so strange! Since April of 214 when we met, I’ve become friends with several other bloggers, and it’s been so fantastic to be friends in real life with people who understand this world a bit too!
While this weekend was definitely packed, I’m so thankful for the chance to slow down and “be” with friends- laughing, getting to know more about each other, celebrating- being known. This is what makes life so sweet, isn’t it?
Now it’s your turn to share! Do your friends and family know about your blog (if you have one)? What is one thing that helps refill you in life?
Traditionally I’ve really loved my 7 miler long runs, and I’m not really sure why, but my body just feels like it flows differently at this distance than any other distance. So, when I woke up early Sunday morning (before 7 am- on a weekend!) to run my 7 miles, I was excited to see how it would go! With the memory of lots of 7 milers to fuel me (like the Fall Kick Off 7 Miler, 7.5 Fantastic Miles, 7.4 Misty Miles, and The Perfect Fall Run (7.25 miles) ) I enjoyed a Clif Bar, got ready, did a bit of a warm up, and I was off! Just as a reminder, I’m training for Rock’n’Roll St. Louis!
The weather was 49 and the sun was just above the horizon as I set off, which is really perfect running weather for me, and I was hoping that this would help my pace a bit! I feel like this training cycle has been slower than most of my training cycles lately, and I’ve been trying to figure out why. I think that, not only am I walking more (as an example, I walked for 3.5 hours at work on Thursday- I let clients walk for their sessions if they want when it’s nice out), but last year my last “long ride” on the bike was in August, where this year I’ve been getting in a long ride almost every week through September. I’ve also had some extra stressors (both good and bad) in my life lately, and of course stress takes a toll too. So that’s what I’ve thought of so far.
It took me until half way through mile 2 to feel like I was finally loosened up, and there was a very distinct shift when my body finally clicked. YAY 🙂 From there on out things got much easier for me! It’s been my goal to negative split my runs recently, so as soon as I felt myself loosen up and the “flow” started, I tried to progressively pick it up a bit, which felt really nice!
On my long runs I often listen to the Jillian Michael’s Podcast. I started this either my first or second training cycle, and now it just feels wrong if I don’t listen to her! SO strange, right? Does anyone else have something like this? This run I listened to just under two full episodes since I was out for so long, which was fun.
It was a beautiful morning, and a few other runners were out, which made it fun, but I was also on my own for most of the run. I ran from Melissa’s house, since I was staying there this weekend for her baby shower! I enjoy mixing up where I run, but I hate driving new places, so running through new neighborhoods while staying with people is pretty great for me to mix things up!
By the time I hit mile 5 I was determined to pick it up a bit more, and from then on out I focused pretty strongly on my breathing. Again, since I haven’t done VO2 max workouts like last summer/fall, and because I’ve been running a slower pace all summer, it’s definitely a workout to pick up the pace, but it’s been feeling really good! I continue to use the 3:1 run:walk method, and only once did a walk just a bit more than a minute to really catch my breath- I do what I need to do to manage my POTS while running.
I hit 7.5 miles pretty happy with how my run went and with a big smile on my face. What can I say? I really love my 7 mile runs! Here’s how my splits looked:
- Mile 1- 12:48
- Mile 2- 12:48 (I’m not sure how I managed to hit it exactly the same two miles in a row!)
- Mile 3- 12:29
- Mile 4- 12:07
- Mile 5- 11:48
- Mile 6- 11:42
- Mile 7- 11:23
- Mile 8- 5:43
This run was a faster overall pace than my 5 or 6 milers too, which I was pleased about. I came in and stretched and got some good planks in as part of my cool down too.
My summer is often pretty lacking in planks. I think the lack of overall structure to my life, as well as the heat (since I rarely use AC, my house is often 80-82 in the summer), means I don’t do them as often as I’d like. It’s pathetic how weak I feel while planking after a few months of fewer planks, but I’m glad to get back to it!
After my cool down I enjoyed a new-to-me Chobani flavor! Has anyone else tried this flavor? It was delicious! Then Melissa and I headed to Starbucks, where I got a Chai Latte with a pump of pumpkin spice… oh my! It was a taste of pure deliciousness and coziness!
Once again, I had a truly wonderful 7 miler long run, and I’m pleased at how it went overall! It feels like my body is finally getting back into the groove of running after my slower pace of summer.
Now it’s your turn to share! What makes a run “great” to you? What’s one of your favorite fall drinks?
Happy Friday! As a last hurrah to summer, this week I chose Essie’s “Fiji” nail polish with Essie’s silver glitter on top!
This nail polish feels so summery to me, and this was the polish I wore when I was hiking out west, so it has extra special memories for me 🙂 Two coats is sufficient, although there are a few spots that I can see through a bit, so without glitter, three might be more appropriate.
Now for a few random facts from the week:
I have a few dark pink rose bushes in my yard, and a few days ago I finally (why did it take me so long to do this??) cut a few of the blooms off to put in my kitchen. I love the little punch of color that it adds!
The past two weekends after my long run I’ve gone to the local farmer’s market and gotten an iced pumpkin spice coffee and fresh, hot egg rolls. It’s a weird combination, I know, but they’re both absolutely delicious! I want them after every run now!
I posted this photo on instagram last week. Does anyone else feel a great sense of accomplishment when they completely use a chapstick up?
An interesting fact- that’s the first picture I’ve ever put in here that has pulled the link/picture from instagram! I feel a little too proud of myself for doing that (I’m really really technologically challenged. Baby steps, right?).
This weekend I was with some friends, and we were sitting in a row on the couch, each eating our own ice cream (unfortunately mine was So Delicious Coconut “ice cream” which is good but is NOT real ice cream), and it felt like a great Saturday evening to me! I got in some good reading time too. Has anyone else read this book?
This week I posted my (disclaimer: I received a buff for free to review through my Bibrave Pro Ambassadorship) review of the Buff USA full UV buff, so if you missed it, check it out! If you’d like to get one of your own, check out this discount code:
Now it’s your turn to share! What’s one random fact from your week?
