life is awesome & words to live by.

I feel like sometimes people just get so caught up in the day to day and they don’t step back to really just live.  Over the past few weeks I have been swimming in meetings and work and wedding planning and friends that I have not taken time to myself.  But as I was driving to Alabama last weekend I realized that this world really is beautiful and life is beautiful and as I was driving around running errands today I just realized how lucky I am … I have a truly awesome family who loves me and supports me and encourages me, the two boys in my life (Kyle and Mulligan) bring me SO much joy, I have a fabulous circle of girls here in Atlanta and in other places, and life is just a fabulous thing.

Then as I was roaming Home Goods I saw a wall hanging that I want to buy for our guest bedroom that just made me smile, but I didn’t buy it … but I may just end up going back and getting it. And even though I swore that I would only post about running and working about and being fit and healthy. I thought I would share it with you all.

This is your life. Find a passion and pursue it. Fall in love. Dream Big. Drink Wine, Eat Great Food, and spend quality time with great friends. Laugh Everyday. Believe in Magic. Tell Stories. Reminisce about the good old days, but look with optimism to the future. Travel Often. Learn more. Be Creative. Spend time with people you admire. Seize Opportunities when they reveal themselves. Love with all your heart. Never give up.  Do what you love. Be true to who you are. Make time to enjoy the simple things in life. Spend time with family. Forgive even when it is hard. Smile Often. Be Grateful. Be the change you wish to see in the world. Follow your dreams. Try new things. Work hard. Don’t count the minutes count the laughs. Embrace change. Trust in yourself. Be thankful. Be nice to everyone. Be happy. Live for today. And above all … Make Every Moment Count.

bridesmaid shoes.

For the longest time I went back and forth about if I was going to let the girls pick their shoes or if I was going to select a pair of shoes and tell them to buy them.  I decided to go with option 2. 

Since the dresses are short I thought it would be best if everyone matched.  Plus I was not too sure what sort of shoes people would select if all I told them was “chose something silver” … I was scared for old prom shoes or something that resembled prom shoes.  And lots of past brides told me that they made the mistake of having short dresses and letting their girls select their own shoe.  I heard many reasons why it was a mistake, but the #1 reason was how it looked in the pictures. And well… pictures are forever so I want everyone to look their best and I don’t want people’s attention drawn to the girls feet.

So I chose these beauties by Nina.  I have them in black and they’re super cute. Super stylish. and without a doubt can be worn again.  Style: Evelixa -- Peep-Toe Pumps.  Price: $89.95 (before tax and shipping)

They can be ordered online at Nina Shoes – and if you sign up for their email list you can get them 20% off.  *I know everyone likes a good deal*  Feel free to also shop around to see if you can find a better deal – just make sure you order them in silver.  Some department stores carry them, just make sure they’re silver!!

Ladies, please order these with time to get used to them.  The heel is kind of high and the bottoms will need to be scuffed up.  You may want to walk around in them some to get used to them.

myregistry.com

one of my favorite stores is Anthropologie… no only do I love their clothes, but they have amazing little home items like measuring spoons, small bowls, funky plates, cute cookbook stands, I could go on and on and on and on (trust me) and I knew that I wanted to register there for a few items but they do not have a registry, they have “wish lists”.

The deal with wish lists – when something is bought, you have no idea, it is a toss up.   My good friend and bridesmaid Chrissy has a wish list there and at her 1st shower, I got her bowls… her mom got the her the same ones. At her 2nd shower, I got her salt and pepper shakers and measuring spoons… she now has 2 salt & pepper shakers and 2 measuring spoons. 

And I just felt like a wish list was just too hard and too risky.  BUT I knew there was a site out there that you could pull things from various stores and but them on 1 big registry.  After lots of google searches I finally found it.  It is a site called myregistry.com and you put a “favorite” link thing in your favorites and you can just add to your registry.

I am using it for my Anthropologie registry where I am asking for a few odds and ends.  My favorite things (and Kyle will hate them) are the plates.  My parents have these heavy plates that they got in Maine that have animals or plants painted on them – I LOVE those plates – so I am getting (errrr asking for) something similar, 10 cutesy plates that we can pull out for special occasions (just like my parents do).

I also added a few amazing Magnolia Lane University of Alabama items because we all know that this is going to be an Alabama house!

239 days to go. 

three things thursday.

This week has flown by. And I have been SO busy at work that it is not even remotely funny. My work out at lunch deal is not working... I have packed my work out clothes but the meetings that I have been in over our new software system have made it unable to work out. umph.

1. My friend Afton wants me to teach her how to run and wants me to give her tips and secrets and pointers but I feel like such a sham. I feel like I am the farthest thing from a runner and with all the advice she asks I give her my suggestions, but then I remind myself that I am no pro and barely even a runner this year. Other than telling her to get professionally fitted for shoes and that she does not need to go out and buy a Garmin yet and that she really shouldn't increase her miles by too much each week (10% is what I told her) and that cotton sucks I really have nothing else to tell her. I feel like I am right there with her, trying to learn to run again. Oi. What advice do you give new runners? What hints do you recommend I give her?

2. I am REALLY excited to travel for work. Partially because I enjoy training people, but I am really looking forward to it because I get to run in new places and new cities. I am really excited to run by the arch in St. Louis and then at Salem Lake in Winston-Salem and on the beach in Florida. I even picked one of my hotels because there was a "jog path" 3 miles away. And since I am going to be alone for 2 nights I am going to need things to do so why not run? Right?! :)

3. I still cannot stop thinking about that Garmin 610 - REI has them in stock by my house but I don't want to buy it. I am thinking I am going to settle for a *cheaper* heart rate monitor that I can use for pure barre, blast, spin, and whatever else. I will own that 610 at some point but just not now. Right now I cannot see a REAL purpose for it and if I am going to spend that much money I need a purpose.

Work Travel

Total dork alert.  I get to travel for work starting soon.  And by soon I mean October, which really isn't soon... but soon enough.  My company is switching software programs/applicant tracking systems and in addition to training out of our home office we're sending people out to be on site with a branch starts their week off with a whole new software.  It is going to be hell.  Happy Monday you have no idea what you're doing.

But... my cities are... Winston-Salem NC, St. Louis MO, Melbourne FL, and Charlotte NC.

I am excited to travel for work and run in new locations and explore new cities... but I am really excited about running in random spots.  :o)  Like I can't wait to run by the Arch in St. Louis (or under it if I can...) and run on the beach in Melbourne and near the beach and take lots of pictures and make fun little running recap blogs.  We are going to be in our designated city from Sunday - Tuesday so I should get in some running. 

See, I told you, I am a dork.

busy 2 days of planning.

We (and by we I mean my Mom and me) had a busy two days of anything and everything wedding.  The place we’re getting married is the epitome of Paula Planners and everything is uber scheduled and structured.  (One of the many reasons I chose them…)  Since I wanted my parents involved in any decisions they wanted to be a part of and because my Mom wanted to be there for a lot everything is kind of worked around their schedule and if/when they can make it down to Atlanta.

Sunday: This past Sunday my Mom, Dad, Kyle and I went down to our wedding venue for their “Bridal Extravaganza” which included their food tasting, a chance to meet some of the vendors, and they had tables set up all over the venue to give you ideas for table settings.  Truthfully, the only thing I was really interested in was the food and the cake and let me tell you the cake it is good.  I am confident that we picked a really good flavor and I hope it tastes just as good in March 2012.  Best part – Kyle had to wear a name tag since him and I were booked to have our wedding there, we were supposed to get “extra attention” but I am glad that we didn’t.  I am not so sure Kyle liked the idea of wearing the “necklace” … but he was a good sport and I am pretty sure he just forgot about it. The food was GOOD and I think we made some good ideas on what we will serve everyone.   Well at least some food that I cannot wait to chow down on.

Monday: My Mom and I headed back down to McDonough not even 24 hours after the extravaganza.  (Oi. Lots of car time!)  But my 1st wedding planning meeting was supposed to happen in March but there is nothing like procrastinating and neglecting the biggest day of my life. Rawr.  And when I say we talked about a lot … we talked about A LOT.  Like we talked about how the sunsets at 7:53 and my idea of amazing candles and things like that just may not work. Rawr. I feel like I was uber unprepared and my wedding coordinator probably wondered why I had no ideas and no suggestions and no real opinions.  I really need to meet with her when I am on a ohhh I want to think about the wedding rampage. We talked about everything from ceremony location to ceremony time to what kind of food we’re going to serve to the types of tables we will have to our cocktail hour to bridesmaid dress colors and head counts and grandparents.   My head is spinning just thinking about it all. I left with homework (song list, ceremony information, choosing a ceremony time, number of rooms to be blocked off, flower ideas, blah blah blah) and evidently you cut the cake to a song and I have to think of a cake cutting song.  Can’t we just cut the cake and smash it in each other’s faces in an awkward silence?!

Why oh why is wedding planning such a pain?  Needless to say, Kyle and I will be eating Chinese, watching Shark Tank and talking wedding everything tonight.  So make it 3 fun days of planning.  Or 2 days and a night.  ….isn’t 8 months a LONG time?!

and another cake. (this may be the one)

I am such a huge liar and such an indecisive person.  Being indecisive makes it SO hard to make any sort of decision for my wedding and the fact that my wedding is SO far off makes it all so much harder.  You second guess your decisions and wonder if you really made the right choice.

After posting the 4 cake pictures last night, a girl on Twitter (and fellow Alabama Alum *roll tide*) suggested that I take the classic, classy lace of my dress and put it on a cake.  She made a VERY valid point that a lot of those cakes were more modern when I wanted vintage and amazing.

I was leaning towards cake one (at first) but when she spoke of lace and lace applique it made me want to look around and do some research.  I also had a few friends tell me cake one was vintagey (not a word, but I do not care) but winter and that the texture reminded them of those gas station treats and those winter babies that people put out at the holidays.  Things I do not want people to think about as they're supposed to be oohhing and ahhhing over my cake.

Then after staring at "lace wedding cakes" and "vintage wedding cakes" for HOURS I came across this amazingly amazing cake.  And I think I have made a decision (it is the same cake on both sides, I just had to make one darker so you could see the a-mazing detail) -- but there will be some changes...

Those changes are:
1. No glitz on the middle tiers.  My dress does not have really any glitz to it and for sure not a glitzy belt, nor are we doing to have rhinestones anywhere so those just do not tie in.  I think I am just going to make those 2 tier plain.  I thought of a purple "ribbon" but I think that will take away from the amazingness of the detail work on the cake.
2. I want 4 tiers ... the 4 tiers balances it out.  But right now I am set for a 3 tier cake.  I need to make sure the baker can put in a styrofoam block for one of the tiers. It has been done before; therefore, I feel that they can do this too.
3. The lace applique of course.  It will need to match mine.  BUT my lace applique has a teeny tiny bit of glitz so I think I would send a picture of the applique with this and have them replicate the applique ... small rhinestone and small pearl and all.

Sadly, I will have to do the fondant because that is what will make it all smooth - but I guess I will live for an amazing cake.  Now fingers crossed the baker does not tell me I am over budget on the cake.

How amazing is that cake?!?!

help me chose my wedding cake - i can't make decisions!!!

Help me chose my wedding cake.  I have an idea of the one that I am leaning towards (but I will not tell you).  But I want to hear opinions.  So just comment and put 1. 2. 3. or 4. *depending on the cake you like or love* and feel free to say why.

Cake 1 - you can tell what it looks like. Cake 2 - plain white/ivory. No cake topper. I hate cake toppers. Each tier is dotted with matching white/ivory "pearls" made of icing.  Cake 3 - plain white/ivory. No cake topper.  Each tier is dotted with matching white/ivory "pearls" made of icing, but not as close together as cake 2. Instead of the light blue, it would be light purple.  Cake 4 - plain white/ivory. No cake topper. Each tier is dotted with matching white/ivory "pearls" made of icing, but they're spread out all over the place rather than near the base of the tiers. And... I would probably actually keep the silver on it... since I think that may be too much purple since the "ribbon" is thicker.

Remember. I want a vintage, Anthropologie, romantic wedding.  And with that ... which cake do you like?!

Three Things Thursday.

1. I started running at the gym at lunch and it may be a really bad idea.  Because you see, when I run ... I RUN ... and I sweat and I turn bright red ... and then I have to go back to the office.  The other day our VP of Payroll said "you look hot" ... yeah I was.  BUT, I feel like that is the only way I will get my run in because by the time 5:30 rolls around all I want to do is go home, eat dinner, and then lay around.  Laying around does not equal active.  And, my parents are coming in town today till next week sometime and that means working out will be hard unless I do it at lunch... so sweaty lunchtime runs it is. :o)
2. So after one Blast900 class the instructor was talking about heart rate monitors and seeing how many calories were burned (and we all know, I'm not really burning 900 calories) so my interest was perked.  And then there was a guest blogger on Blast900's blog last week who was talking about how it felt like she was dying but by looking at her HR monitor she knew she could push harder and not die.  I really want a HR monitor - but I don't want to buy one because the Garmin I want has a HR monitor as part of it.  But with that said, I don't want to shell out all that money for a new Garmin.  But then I was at Blast Monday and running on the treadmill Tuesday and my mind kept going to a HR Monitor. I wish I had done more research when I bought my 1st Garmin and I could have gotten on with one, but back then I didn't understand/realize/know how helpful and awesome they could be. I mean I could buy the new one (and I have a REI dividend), sell the old one and put that money to the new one... but what if I cannot sell the old one.

3.  My friend Lydia and I went to spin class together yesterday and it was by far the worst spin class I have ever been too. And Lyd agreed.  We actually left 30 minutes in because it was so bad.  She didn't crank the music up, she had zero energy (very blah) and there was nothing happening that made you want to work and want to be there. so we left. yeah, we're slackers.  BUT we both did 15 minutes on the treadmill prior to spin... so that is 45 minutes of work.  makes up for it right?!

Sale Alert! Sale Alert!

Hidden (non-running) secret about me.  Even though I LOVE nice things I really try to not spend full price on pretty much anything.  I celebrate the little victories (like this weekend, between coupons and my Kroger card I saved $36 on groceries!) and love finding good deals.  And... even more I like sharing the good deals.

And here are some:

1.  The Joyful Bath Co now offers their salts on drugstore.com - well you can stock up on their wonderfulness NOW.  I love their salts because they're not boring, but still do the trick after hard workouts.  I also adore Oasty Floatsie mixed with Nilla Buttermilk -- puts me right to sleep at night. Each jar is like $2.48 off which does not seem like a lot, but hey I will totally take it!
2. The Publix Marathon is currently at a low price ($60 for the half, $80 for the full) BUT with this fun little coupon code thanks to The Big Peach Running Company you can get a discount.  Codes: BPRC5 = $5 off the half and BPRC10 = $10 off the full   .... I will totally be taking advantage of this, but I gotta check the race date out first.
3. My personal favorite is this website 6pm.com -- they currently have a boat load of Nike stuff on their site.  Everything from tempo shorts to skirts to shirts to sports bras.  Things are ranging 30% - 70% off and 6pm has other awesome running clothes too.  If I was not on a spending freeze for the month of July and possibly August too I would be snatching things up.

Well.... 3 does not seem like a lot, but I wanted to share some spending fun with you. :o)

the OFFICIAL save the date

And the 1st big “real” announcement of the wedding has been sent out to everyone we want to share our big day with!! A few months past I “previewed” a potential save the date for all our wedding guests. but I wanted to share the official one that went out to all our wedding guests.  since they have been mailed and *hopefully* everyone has received theirs by now – here it is for the whole world to see.  It is the same one that I previewed, just with a different picture.  And actually, it was 100% Kyle’s idea to use the picture that we did and I am really grateful for his opinion and help, because even though I thought it wouldn’t work and that I would not like it…it totally worked and I really like it.  And we ended up getting a lot of compliments about it so I am glad so many people like it.  YAY!  and no, this is not me telling everyone to “save the date” and attend … I just wanted to share it since I LOVE it and think it is amazing.  I hope it is on everyone’s refrigerator since it is a magnet!!

three things thursday.

it has been a while since i have done a three things thursday - but since i am trying my very very best to keep this running and working out related, i have not had too much to report on. 

1. i have been going to blast900 once a week, every week for 3 weeks now and it does not get easier, but i have found that it has made me stronger and my endurance is getting better. i thought it would get easier as the weeks went on, but it has not been getting easier since all the instructors make each class different and you never know what you're walking into. i won't get to do it this week since my 6pm monday class was cancelled for the 4th and because i was not even in atlanta...  but i really like it (even though 30 minutes in i say i hate it) and want kyle j to come with me -- the 1st class is free! :o)  they're supposedly looking for locations in northern va, so if they do open locations here i can go when i am home for holidays and when we move back....

2. i really really really want the new garmin forerunner 610. my 405 is like 2 or 3 years old and has been acting REAL glitchy and is not holding a charge very well once it gets turned on and is in training mode, so i want to upgrade. plus i want the HR monitor and I like that is has stronger satellite signals so i won't lose it like i did during the Nashville Half and Atlanta 13.1 last year.  but, i won't let myself buy it because (a) I'm not running enough to warrant buying a new one (b) my 405 works well enough, i just need to remember to put it on the charger after use (c) it is way way way too expensive and (d) because i am in total saving money mode.  but i am allowed to dream of it right? plus in a years time the price should *hopefully* drop.

3. i went home for the 4th of july and did not even get to run at my most favorite running spot ever - burke lake. i totally planned on running it at least once, but my mom's check engine light went out when i was driving it one day and cars with check engine lights on freak me out. whenever we decide to move back to NoVa (kyle needs to stop making excuses especially since he "hates georgia so much") I will run there as often as humanly possible.  i didn't even run the neighborhood - i just laid in bed like a bum and slept till almost 12:00 most days. 

1 year ago...

1 year ago Kyle J told me that he had to go to Newnan to train people and that I had to take care of the dog.  It was lie. He was actually picking up my engagement ring and he was planning on asking me a REALLY important question.

1 year ago I was mad at Kyle for making me take care of the dog on my gym day and he told me he wanted to take me to dinner and I told him (and my good friend and now bridesmaid) that I did not want to dine with him!

1 year ago Kyle decided to drive by the restaurant we were going to go to dinner at and I scolded him and I told Kyle that he had to get me home by 8:00 because I had to watch Glee and I threw attitude his direction because I am selfish and had NO idea what was going on!!

1 year ago, decided to recreate my dream and take me to a castle and give me a pink cupcake and ask me to be his wife.

1 year ago I said YES! 

i die . love for lace . love for vintage

ignore the actual flowers is this picture. but focus your eyes on the amazingness that is the lace wrap of the stems  and vintage looking brooch that adds an accent.

seriously. I die at the amazingness of it all and the detail and the vintageness of it. I know vintageness is not a word and I am sure amazingness is not a word either, but I saw this and swooned.

must have lace wrap my bouquet. and must find an amazing brooch just like that one.

….if you need me, I will be scouring etsy until I find one that it not just glitz and fake bling.