little detail #1–axed.

remember this post about all the little details that were running through my mind. sadly, one of them [and one that I thought was super cute and would add a really nice vintage touch] is not going to happen. 

remember the place card frames that were white and vintage and going to potentially tell people where they were sitting – yeah they’re TINY.  Like teeny tiny like I am unsure how theknot.com thinks that they’re big enough to hold someone’s full name.

They were on sale at theknot.com’s store – so I purchased a few to get a good look at them and was sadly disappointed.  I am marrying someone with the last name “Shanahan” and I have family members with the last name “Winkeler” … both that last names are WAAYYYY too long to fit in those tiny things.  So, I am back at square one on place cards if we end up using them.   And those “samples” I bought are on their way back to the store for my little refund.

Rawr.

save the dates (with worries) & little extra touches.

it is the little things in wedding planning that seem like the biggest accomplishment.  save the dates.  such a small little thing, such a big hard decision.  But with Kyle's help I pulled the trigger on a photo and ordered our save the dates!  (I really think without him and my mom this wedding would not be planned….)  I so so so badly want to post a picture of the final design because they’re oh so cute, but I do not want to spoil the fun for those receiving one.  I know, I know that is no fun for those who aren’t invited – but maybe later on I will post the final product.

I also ordered super cute personalized stamps for the envelope which I am really excited about even though I know the stupid post office will mark all over it.  But, when your envelope comes, look at the stamp.  I take great pride in it and when I found out you can create your own stamps I got crazy excited. 

AND…. I ordered a super cute and fabulous return address stamp.  So with the cute postal stamp you will get to see a super cute return to address stamp.  It is all about 1st impressions to make you excited.  And we all know I LOVE the little details.

so keep an eye on your mailbox this month/next month there should be a little something arriving shortly. provided your save the date is not stuck to the side of the blue mail box outside the Chamblee post office.  EEEE, that is the “worry'” …. you see our save the dates are magnets and a few hours after dropping them in the box fear set in that the magnets were stuck to the side of the blue box.  So, I may have committed a felony when I drove back to the post office and stuck a dog toy in the mail box to “move” and “encourage” any potential stuck save the dates down into the box.  (Kyle informed me that tampering *but I do not think I was “tampering” per se* with  a mailbox is illegal)  But then I called the post office and they said they check for stuck mail.  So, I REALLY hope everyone gets their super cute save the date.  Oi.

We are SO excited to be sharing our big day with so many of you – we REALLY hope you can make it!  Put it on your calendar and Save the Date!

Things Kyle Registered For.

I really do not know how to start this blog entry, because I am a little speechless.  Kyle and I went to Target today to register for more wedding gifts.  We knew that we wanted a cheaper place for some people to buy wedding gifts from since not everyone makes a lot of money and can afford Crate & Barrell.  Kyle (just like last time) got to hold the scanner.  Today he learned he would not be invited to Bed, Bath and Beyond.

And this is why....

Today, he registered for:

• Fireworks
• Something called "NCF HULK HULK SMASH GAME"
• A football
• 2 dog begs for Mulligan
• A 64 count pack of pampers baby wipes
• Pasta
• 5 12 packs of Tennis Balls (for Mulligan)

I think that is it.... but I could be wrong.  I had to clean up the thing 3 times since I kept finding different things.  Needless to say, many of these things have been taken off the registry.

wedding napkins!! how cute are these?

And … how cute are these napkins.  They are navy, lavender and off white and they say “the perfect pair” and I think they’re so crazy cute.

So as you grab a drink from the bar you can grab one of these and as you take some sort of snack from the server you will grab one of these too. 

Sometimes I feel like such a wedding dork but it is the little things that I think are so super unique and cool.  And I know that other people have personalized napkins so this is nothing new that people have not seen… but I still think it is a cute idea.   And there is a chance that if we entertain you at our house at any given time in 2012 you may get a wedding napkin – or you all can snack and drink a lot so we don’t have left overs. =)

to do list.

1. I need to find a July race. a 5k preferably to run – near the end of the month would be best since I will be gone the 1st part of the month. if anyone has any suggestions, thrown them my way.

2. put together a schedule that makes sense that also lets me get in miles but lets my body recover. but includes blast and spin and I would love to work pure barre in like once a month at least.

3. stretch more. foam roll more. that is probably why my legs scream at me and hate me.

4. not gorge myself on the weekends and friday nights. monday – thursday i eat so well. friday – sunday I only eat crap and it ruins everything I do earlier in the week.

5. um. start training for atlanta 13.1 and RnR Savannah.

6. get up on saturday mornings and get out to stone mountain and run. or piedmont park. or both alternating weekends.

the saga of the custom stamps.

I totally almost had a flip out - freak out moment yesterday and it would have been a total bridezilla moment on my part.  You see, I ordered stamps of one of our engagement pictures for our save the dates.  I thought it would be a crazy cute touch.  And I have been REALLY excited about them since I ordered them.

As I logged into the site yesterday to check the status and see if they have been shipped/when they were going to be delivered and I got to read this:

"Due to a nationwide strike in Canada, the USPS is currently not accepting any mail for destinations in Canada for the duration of the strike and you may receive an error message in the Stamps.com software. If you have already sent an item to Canada, please be aware that there will be delays for mail destined to this country. For further updates relating to this strike, please visit the USPS website of www.usps.com."

And of course I immediately assumed stamps.com was a Canadian company or for some reason my stamps had to cross the Canadian border.  So as I searched and searched for 1-800 to call to see how and if this would effect my precious order I found nothing.  So I was like ok ok, i can email. email totally works. and the email sounded like a dumb bride asking "are you a Canadian company" ... "is this going to effect my order" ... "please get back to me ASAP" ... BUT  I was stopped by my coworker.

I then found out that my order has been shipped and is in route to Atlanta.  So, provided they do not have to cross the Canadian border for any reason I should *hopefully* have them this week.   Ahhh the fun of wedding planning....

Blast900 -- review number two.

I know I reviewed Blast900 a few months back.  But I feel like I did not give it justice.  I had gone once and took to my blog talking about it.  By no means am I an expert or a pro at it -- in fact I still struggle every single time I go -- but I feel like I can give it a better "review" now that I have gone 4 or 5 times.

I thought by showing a video you may get a MUCH better understanding of what goes on at Blast900.  It is not an easy hour long workout and it really is for people who want to be pushed and want to work.  But if you stop reading here I will let you know that I 100% recommend it.

Blast can and will seriously kick your butt.  The nice thing about it is you work 100% at your own pace but with a push.  When on the treadmill you work at a runner, jogger, or walker pace and me ... yeah I start as a jogger and then rotate between walker and jogger ... but when "walking" ... it is not a stroll in the park it's a power, must get to the sale at the mall walk.  The ultimate goal - to burn the 900 calories, but I highly doubt I have ever actually burned 900 calories.  You rotate between the treadmill (running, sprints, crazy steep hills) and the floor (core work, arms, back, weights, bands, balls, if it can torture you - they have it) -- it is killer fast interval work.  Each class is 1 hour and each "block" is a certain length of time.  Most recently for me it has been 5 minute blocks (5 minutes on the treadmill, 5 on floor, 5 on treadmill, 5 on floor ... got it?) but there have been 10 minute blocks and shorter than 5 minutes.  Last night... we did 1 minute on the treadmill, 1 minute of work around the treadmill... 1 minute back on 1 minute off (hello pain).  

Each time I go I ask myself why I keep doing this to myself.  I have never sweat so much when working out.  But I keep going back because I know that I get an amazing workout there whether I burn the 900 calories or not.  What I really like about it is that the instructors (as tough as they are) don't really call you out for slacking - they gently nudge you to say I see you and there is something about their way of saying it or looking at you that you feel like you're letting your parents down so you up your speed or you don't hold onto the treadmill for dear life (even if you stop holding on for just 5 seconds HA!).  The people who teach the classes are just positive and peppy and there is something about the music that drowns you out. 

Every week and workout is different so I never know what pain I am stepping into, but that is kinda nice.  I am REALLY hoping that this tones me for my wedding and gets me faster and stronger for my running.  I never know exactly how many miles I run each time I am there so I guess around 2.5 since my treadmill always says 4+ .... but since we keep them running when we're on the floor I never really know.  But I know the sprints (which I'd like to thank Richard for giving me the confidence to actually SPRINT) and the crazy hills will get me stronger and hopefully faster.  I will report back after my half marathon in October!

The first class is always free so if you're in Atlanta and have not yet tried it out or if you are passing through for business and want something new -- they have locations in both Buckhead and Dunwoody.  Tim Tebow even did Blast when he was in town a few months back.  And... of course let them know that I referred you and report back on how you like it! :o)

30 day challenge. week one.

so I started my 30 day challenge this week and I had this whole entry planned out to tell you all about my little victories and everything amazing I did this week.  and then my week happened and let’s talk about how good I did not do.  I don’t want to say I did bad, because I didn’t do BAD but it really was a horrible attempt at greatness.

monday. I started with a vengeance. I went to blast900 that night – atlanta traffic was so bad the teacher was 15 minutes late but I stuck around because it was day 1 and I had to do it. and I did it and it was hard. but 100% well worth it. the class only had like 8 people in it (normally there is 25 but I think since it was dunwoody over buckhead that mattered) so we all got a little extra “loving” attention from richard.  I normally slack on the sprints – but he wouldn’t let me so it gave me the much needed confidence to do them well every time going forward.

tuesday I was still going strong. I pushed through a 1.74 mile hilly run that was awful because I hurt from blast and because it was hot and humid. (hello atlanta summers). I wanted to quit around mile 1 but I made myself turn right instead of going left and going home. my neighborhood is really hilly.

wednesday I planned to hit spin class, but my legs hurt so I bailed. and then I just crawled in bed for amazingly bad tv. thursday… I planned to go to the gym. but I didn’t. and once I again I did nothing.

friday we did walk the dog for 20 minutes in the rain. saturday, I walked the dog as well – I slacked. I woke up accidently at 6:30 am when it was 65* and should have gotten out of bed and RAN but I watched Gilmore Girls instead.  but sunday I wouldn’t let myself be a total slacker and I hit the gym for a 30 minute swim.  annnnnd I gave mulligan his 30 minute walk.

I also did HORRIBLE on the no sweets … well horrible is dramatic I had some and I also had 1 glass of wine at a work function on thursday.  Oi.  I guess things in moderation is better than gorging myself.

next week will be better – and I am starting off with blast900 again.  I think it is all about figuring the week out and working out around what muscles I worked the day before … however I need to run more than not run since I signed up for the atlanta 13.1 race in october since I liked it so much last year.  on saturday morning I have my free fitness evaluation & personal trainer consultation/workout so I know for a fact he will kill me.  oh well…. onto another week! =)

Out of town running.

No. No I am not traveling *currently* but I am possibly heading to Austin in a few weeks for work which as dorky as this sounds excites me.  My company is also in the process of switching applicant tracking systems/databases so when we do switch they will be sending people out to train the branches on the new software.  I was told today that I am part of the “team” that will go out and train on the new program.  There are a few of us that will be “experts” and will be in the field for awhile.  One girl was told to finish her Christmas shopping because come August she was going to be on the road a lot.  …..and there is a good chance that will be me too.

Locations I could land for that – Austin. South Carolina. North Carolina. Florida. Birmingham. Seattle. St. Louis. Pennsylvania. Phoenix. Michigan.  The possibilities are endless.

Truthfully, I am excited about seeing other cities and running in other cities.  Any suggestions on how to travel and train?!

engagement pictures (round two)

This is for all my fellow Atlanta people…. Kyle and I get to do engagement pictures again since we hired a different photographer than who we normally thought we were going to go with.  The engagement session is built into the package so the can get to know kyle and me prior to the big day and so that he can get a feel for what we like and what we do not like so we can get as many awesome wedding pictures as possible.  Kyle is not too excited about this, but I am.  Originally I loved my engagement pictures, but recently I am understanding some of the feedback I got from others.  It has been REALLY hard picking a picture for save the dates and for around the wedding reception/cocktail hour.  We're kissing in 80% of the pictures and the other 20% kyle and i cannot decide on more than 3 pictures that we both like and 1 of them... is our backs. not good.  

So, Atlanta natives/people.  Any suggestions on where we should go?  We don’t want anything too far away and ideally it would be nice if we didn’t have to pay a fee to shoot there.  We did our last engagements at Stone Mountain on the bridge and by the grist mill and on the rail road tracks. I know our current photographer could do an awesome job there but I feel like we should use this opportunity to do something different.

I have thought about Piedmont Park so we could use the Atlanta skyline… but that is so overdone and Piedmont Park gets SO crowded.

I would LOVE a sunflower field but I don’t know sunflower season or where one is… sooo if anyone can help there…. that would be awesome.  Or an apple orchard that is not too far away.  Seriously, why did I become so “farmy” when I got engaged?!

But.... the places I am thinking of:

• Piedmont Park -- love the skyline, the brick walls, the lake, etc.
• Chattahoochee Nature Center
• Lullwater Park

We really should have planned to do these sooner because summer in Atlanta is HOT!  And I would like to have a location in mind before scheduling with the photographer.  Ideas?

little details and ideas.

I am so detail oriented and love love love little details.  One of the things that I am most excited about are the little details.  The things that will make my wedding photographer die, because he too loves detail.   I don’t want to give away all the surprises…. like what I have planned for my “something blue”  but I do have a million and one ideas floating around my head right now.

Head Table:

So…. I hate hate hate sweetheart tables. And then I also hate head tables.  If it was 100% up to me,  Kyle and I would sit with our friends.  Therefore…. I am tossing around the idea of one big amazing head table that has both Kyle and me at it but also our whole bridal party and their date.  There date would be sitting there too because I have been in too many weddings where there are head tables and members of the bridal party have complained about not being able to sit with their date. blah blah blah, not a good time to complain but I am going to try and avoided the complaining, by doing this:

Tables:

In fact.  I kind of love the idea of all square tables.  I wonder if my venue can pull that off.  Do they make square linens? How many people sit at a round table?  I am thinking 8 at the square tables.  Ugh another reason why a seating chart may work best.  Goodness.

but then…. I stumbled across this picture and LOVED that idea too.  Notice the long square (that would be a rectangle. duh) “head table” in the center, surrounded by both square AND round tables.  and the square tables have 3 on each side + 2 on each end  = 10 at each table.  And I l-o-v-e the tall center pieces at the round tables and low at the square tables.  I love how that makes different levels. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.   ….ladies and gentlemen, we may have found the setup for my reception (minus the dark depressing linens) should the venue be able to do this and they bettter!!!

Place cards:

I am not in love with the idea of seating charts since I have heard they can be insanely stressful to put together but my wedding may come down to that.  Oi. Not fun.  But in an ideal world everyone would be able to chose their own seat but since we’re tossing around the idea of giving people the choice of what they want to eat we need to help the servers out a bit.  So, going with the vintage, shabby chic vibe I am aiming for I thought it would be totally classy and awesome to do “place cards” and depending on what menu item they chose their name would be a certain color.  Purple for option 1 and navy for option 2.  AND…. how vintage and shabby chic awesome are these?!

Mantle:

When we went venue “shopping” and chose our venue I fell in love with the rustic chimney, fireplace thing and decided that is where the ceremony would take place.  Since I want an early evening ceremony I want lots of candles.  Theme: vintage, shabby chic, lush, romantic, anthropologie.  ….And I stumbled across this and want it created on the mantle.  Please and thank you.  I love the tall, thing candles and candle holders and the lush white hydrangea flowers.  I don’t think I want the flowers as “high” as they are but how lovely is this?!  Screams romantic and weddings are romantic.  Yeah!

brides bouquet:

not so fast.  I am totally not going to show you what I have in mind.  as I said before.  there needs to be some secrets.  but… I would l-o-v-e to incorporate a vintage fabulous broach on the stems wrap.  I cannot decide it I want something sparkly or pearly (like the right pictures) or  like a cameo broach (like on the left) it would be amazing if my mom had one in her jewelry box or stashed away somewhere.  can we say “something old” …. I will be going through her jewelry box when I am home in July.  and it not, I am sure I can find something wonderful on etsy. but seriously – how gorgeous does this look?

centerpieces:

I cannot decide between high or low – that’s why I think I decided today as I was pulling pictures that maybe a mix of both would be a good idea.  and I don’t know about colors, but I love the idea of crisp white but I also really want to add a touch of color. light blue. light purple. something..  these pictures really aren’t that great so I apologize and I am only showing 2 … I could show you 20 but I will spare you.

vines:

no not my last name, but like wooden vines. I don’t know how I would or if I would at all, but I love how the vines were used in 3 of these pictures. the bottom middle one, would make for a fabulous centerpiece. but, I doubt you will see vines at my wedding. sorry.

hair:

I love this hair.  And I love the sparkly hair thing that goes with it. the only problem with the hair pin, comb thing is that my jewelry isn’t sparkly.  and I feel like if I am going to have bling in my hair, I need to have bling on my ears and neck too.  Or am I wrong?   But I do love the messy low bun…. and the sparkly gives it a little flair.  oi.

okay. and with that I am done. for now.

dun dun dun.

dearest bridesmaids!  part 1 of your present came in the mail the other day and I am REALLY excited about it.  I would love to tell you all what is in the big old box but I cannot, because that would ruin all the fun of the bridesmaid lunch!

So for now, you can just stare at the box and wonder what I have up my sleeves.  Let me just say I love what is in the box, I wish I had one for myself (in fact I may order myself one), and cannot wait to give it to you at the Bridesmaid’s lunch!!

Love you all and cannot wait to spoil you! =)

half way to 2012 -- goals check in.

Happy June. Happy 6 months into 2012.  So, lets check in on my 2011 goals and see how I am doing.

RUNNING

goal one. find a work.life.relationship balance with the world of working out and running. 2010 was all about getting the job done and sacrificing runs. 2011 will be about getting the job done but also getting my work out in. how this will happen... tbd.  [well. as you know. i got a new job within the same company and i get out at a reasonable hour. i do still struggle with the getting a run in part. the 1st of the year, was a total wash miles wise]

goal two. blast900. it is pricey but i want to do it at the minimum 2 times per month. it is a killer work out and can do/will do a lot for my stamina and running. [did not do it a lot at the beginning of the year, maybe once per month. but starting monday, i will do it every monday.]

goal three. focus on the little races and increasing speed and stamina. I would like to run a sub30 5k this year and run a 10k in under a hour and a 2 hour half marathon. [has not happened yet this year. i have only run 1 5k though and i didn't do too bad. i have 6 more months to accomplish this one]

goal four. vary the workouts. if that means rejoining a gym, that means rejoining a gym to get in swimming and spin. or just finding the local rec center and seeing what they have to offer. [between pure barre, blast900, and bootcamps i have been doing various things, but slacking on the running. just rejoined LA Fitness so I need to add in the swimming and spin again]

goal five. run more than 500 miles in 1 year. [lets all laugh out loud at this one. miles to date: 32.99 -- hahaha i have been a lazy lazy this year!!]
goal six. find a running buddy or group to hold me accountable [i have not even looked or tried to find one. this was/is a lofty goal. i have 6 months to accomplish this.]
goal seven. train for big races. fully train. stick to the training schedule. [um. this is about to start. rock and roll savannah i will train right for]

goal eight. not run a marathon. (you're probably saying WHAT?) but i would like to focus more on finding and making a routine and a balance between life, work, and running so when i do decide to do another one I am 100% committed to all the runs and workouts.  [as of right now, I am on track.  I turned down Chicago and Marine Corps. And I really do not see myself pounding out 26.2 in 2011]

PERSONAL


goal one. floss more. wear my crest white strips more often. i have a wedding that i need REALLY pretty teeth for. [this may be gross. but i floss on the couch or in bed while watching tv. is that tmi? but i do need to crack the whip on the white strips.]

goal two. read more. i'd like to read at least 1 book per month. 12 books per year.

goal three. save more. spend less. 110% stick to my monthly budgets. [some months i am awesome. others not so much. i wish i hated clothes]

goal four. find a house to rent here in atlanta to give my crazy dog a backyard to run in. [done and done. dog loves the backyard!!]

goal five. volunteer with an organization. no idea yet. if you have ideas, please send them my way. [i volunteered for a weekend in tuscaloosa. not really with an organization. but since that trip i have really thought about getting involved with the humane society here in atlanta or a rescue organization.]

goal six. one diet coke per day. all year long. cut back on the sweets. eat healthier. [this is so hit or miss. but failing pretty much]

goal seven. take kyle to an alabama football game. in bryant denny. [football season has not started yet, but i dont think this one will happen either only because we're saving up for our honeymoon and a game in the stadium can be expensive]

goal eight. take 1 bubble bath per week. 4 spa days per year. learn to decompress. [zero spa days to date. but i need one. happy birthday to me. anyone? and not a bath every week, but often enough to not go insane]

....now you tell me. how are you doing with your 2011 goals?!

invitations.

Goodness.  theknot.com and their to-do list is all sorts of crazy with their reminders and making things red to tell me that the task is overdue.  rawr.  for some reason making wedding decisions is not has fun as i had once thought it would be.  probably because there is so much to decide.
anyway. one of my overdue tasks was to look at wedding invitations. i always loved the invitation my brother & his wife did, but you cannot steal someone's wedding invitation that just wouldn't be cool.  so that idea was washed away.  and then i was like .... well, i have always loved wedding paper divas so i started there. and ordered a bunch of sample wedding invitations (and by a bunch i mean 6). too bad a few invitations i liked you were unable to order samples. unfair and not cool. 

the samples came in the mail yesterday and since i am home sick today, i decided to take a look at all the invitation sample i ordered.  SO, my bed. it looks like this:

my invitation criteria is this:

• it needed to be classy but fun.
• nothing too loud, but not too boring.
• i want people to open it and say what a cool invitation
• ideally, i would like it to incorporate my wedding colors. but my wedding colors are so weird i am finding that to be a difficult task.

this is harder than you would think. out of the 6 invitation samples I ordered, 2 were immediately selected as "no way no how" and there were 3 that I am like "yeah. yeah i could chose this one"  ... but needless to say, none popped out as BAM I must have those ones.  So obnoxious.   I really don't want to sit at an invitation store flipping through invites but I fear it may come to that....

if you've been married or are planning a wedding -- where did you get your wedding invites from?!

I am doing it. 30 day challenge that is.

I am sick so my creativity and motivation has been zapped. so uncreative that I originally titled this blog “30 day challenge” – sound familiar? It should.  It is what I called my last entry.  Then all I could think of was “I am doing it”

So here we go.  Starting Monday. Something active EVERY day. no excuses.  To kick it off I ordered a kettle ball workout (with kettle ball) since everyone RAVES about them.  And I am hoping that Blast900 in Dunwoody is unflooded (that isn’t even a word, but I will let it slide since I am sick) by Monday.

I think the hardest part will be that during this 30 day challenge thing I will (1) go home to VA and I always mean to work out but never do and (2) my parents will be in Atlanta so I am gonna have to work something in.

AND… just call me an overachiever but I have decided to take it a step further and cut sweets out of my life for a month again. And limit myself to 1 diet coke per day.  And. No alcohol. 

Wish me luck.  I am gonna need it. =)

.night on the town.

this is totally not wedding related, but it is good for kyle and me to take a break form all the decisions that have to be made to do something different from time to time.  and plus, kyle and I don’t to a lot. I don’t know why, but we have our dinner date days and spend a lot of time at home playing the wii or board games or watching TV  (our new favorite is shark tank on friday nights) … but it is very rare that we get dressed up and hit the town.  Well…. we had the opportunity to get out of the house this past Saturday night to celebrate the Man and Woman of the Year Campaign for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. 

For the past 10 weeks I helped my good friend Mitzi fundraise for her Woman of the Year Campaign so of course we had to go to the wrap up party.  Mitzi didn’t win but truthfully, there were no losers when it came to those 12 awesome candidates.  In total, the 12 of them raised over $400K in 10 weeks to go to leukemia and other blood cancer research.  It was just a honor to be able to help Mitzi out!!

However… Kyle and I are lame and after dinner and desert and the winner being announced it was too late for us and we headed to the car and called it a night.  But, we had fun and it was a good break from our normal weekend life. 

30 day challenge.

One of the blogs I read (Lawgirl Runs) is doing something called a 30 day challenge.  If I understand correctly, it pretty much means she is doing something active for 30 days straight.  A few months back I did a 30 day personal revolution and surprisingly I did REALLY well.  So here I am thinking that if I make myself do my own personal 30 day challenge I may do much better at this working out thing than just relying on me to do something.

So I am going to let this idea marinate a little bit and then maybe, quite possibly do it.  I just have a hunch it would be hard since I'm going home soon and home to me equals total laziness. And I would have to start after I kick this summer cold that is beating me up right now.

I think I could totally do it since I told myself that once this cold is dunzo, I would start doing Blast900 each and every Monday after work.  And that is 1 day out of the 7 covered.  And dog walks are something active too... I could totally do this.

I will keep you posted.

Three Things Thursday.

1. I feel like my blog has taken a turn away from running and has crossed over into more of a "this is my life" blog.  Which I think it is okay to share somethings, but I think I want to get back to the basics of running & working out/fitness ... which is why I started this to begin with. After all this is Barbie Runs, not Barbie Lives (though, I do live).  I do have a wedding planning blog which in less than a year can be where I keep up with the day to day happenings in our life.  So starting today *hopefully* 97% of this will be related to me and my running.

2. speaking of running - i have been doing very little of it.  i was on a roll and then i got distracted and now it is REALLY hot.  i am going to have to figure something out, because i need to be running.  can someone in Atlanta keep me accountable? please.

3.  i am looking for a 5k to do this month and then i want to get back into the 1 race per month grind that i was in last year.  if anyone has any suggestions of good ones or ones they're running, let me know! =)

Registering for gifts. (round one)

I have an unhealthy obsession with Crate and Barrell.  So I knew that was one of the places I wanted to register.  A month or so back I saw an add for their registering "party" and wanted to go.  ...More like had to go.  Then I learned that it was at 9:00 AM on the 1st Sunday of each month. i had to ask kyle to wake up at 8:00 to go something we could do in the afternoon. Lucky for me they have breakfast so I was able to tell Kyle that there would be waffles. 

But of course... Kyle is an awesome husband to be and told me that he would do it since it was important to me.  I did mention the breakfast after he agreed and he smiled at the thought of breakfast.  However, he somehow thought that breakfast = an elaborate sit down feast.  I think he was disappointed.

The whole experience was minorly overwhelming to say the least.  I am going to have to add to the registry from the comfort of my own bed because I know we missed A LOT.  Kyle handled the pots and pans.  I handled the fun things.  Kyle registered for 7 things that will be coming off the list (ex: a potted plant and an olive pick).  We will keep his "I Love Bacon" cookbook and his cookbook for men on there.  But his decorative boat, yeah that is going too.

You can check out our registry on the Crate and Barrell site.  Searching for Barbara Vines or Kyle Shanahan and feel free to buy us pretty things for our new life. 

xoxo,
B & K

wedding photographer

I am a total dork, I will be the 1st to admit it.  But something that always makes me smile is when I see my wedding photographer post "preview" pictures of the weddings he worked the previous weekends.  I have no idea who the couples are or anything about them, but I love pictures and I love looking at pictures. 

My wedding photographer is crazy talented and I am sooo excited that he is responsible for capturing many of the memories of that big day! 

You can like 375 Photography on Facebook HERE and stalk their pictures like I do!

National Running Day

Today is national running day!  If you're looking for some ways to celebrate HERE are some ideas!

My favorite?  Idea number 8:
Choose a running resolution – Kick off a new fitness goal on National Running Day. It can be anything, including adding five minutes to your next run, running a new distance, or signing up for a road race.

(I like it because I am lazy)  And my new fitness goal:  Blast900 each and every Monday after work and before Mexican Monday.  As well as 2 solid runs per week!  :o)

How are you spending your National Running Day?!