.birthday wish list.

one of my new years resolutions was to be able to answer the question, “what do you want for {insert event here}” ... and since we’re less than one week out from my 29th birthday I have decided to put together my birthday wish list. And in no particular order, here is what I would knock my socks off.

.up bracelet.
ever since seeing this contraption on Good Morning America I have been intrigued. I always am striving to be healthier and l what makes me the most interested in the up bracelet is the sleep monitoring because i can tell you ... i do not get enough sleep. I would like it in mint or white

.new pair of rainbow flip flops.
the current pair i own are ROUGH and basically falling apart. the soles are worn down, the leather is detaching from the sole. they are l-o-v-e-d and lived in and need to be retired.  i live in these things and it is time to get a new pair. i need them like woah.

.republican tervis tumbler.
the big one for my morning protein shakes. i love love love tervis tumblers. and i love the republican elephant.

.the mint cleaner.
this thing caught my eye when Kyle & I registered for wedding gifts and I still do not have this and want this. something about the ease of vacuuming the floor when i am at work and cleaning up after my shedding dogs.

.spa gift card.
I love Natural Body Spa at the Avenues in Forsyth. I also believe that I should get a massage every 3 months, my bank account feels otherwise. So, you can donate to the stress free Barbie habit.

.flywheel gift card.
another addiction of mine. I spin on a weekly basis so I feel like we’re always “reloading” my account. Feel free to help reload my account.

.a new carry on suitcase.
you know you’re old when you ask for a suitcase for your birthday. but the one that i have currently i got as a high school graduation gift in 2002 – yup it is like 11 years old. I want a nice new one – especially since i am traveling a lot for work now.

The Weekend Round Up.

.most.relaxing.weekend.ever.

but seriously. it was.

after last weekend and kyle sitting through pretty much TV hell {90201 and Ramona and Beezus}, we decided it would be "fun" to have a Netflix movie marathon one weekend.  And we chose this past weekend. and. seriously. where to begin?!

:: FRIDAY ::

Pretty much a typical Friday night in the Shanahan house.  Kyle went to the gym. I "played" with the dogs {aka drank wine on the back porch and read a book}.  Took the pups for a walk/got stopped by an overly chatty lady who stole our early evening to talk about anything and everything.  And then we had dinner.  BUT.  Not your typical Friday night at the local Mexican restaurant. Back in the day, Kyle and I used to make mini personal, English muffin pizzas all the time and suddenly, randomly stopped.  But I brought the tradition back and we had so much fun {and decided that this is wayyyy cheaper than Papa Johns}. And our normal entertainment {Shark Tank} was cancelled because some cray cray decided he wanted to walk from the US to Canada over Niagara Falls on a tightrope. So of course we watched wondering WTF? and if he would fall. But the excitement/thrill was taken away when we learned ABC was making him wear a harness. Long story short, we both agreed we wanted those 2 hours of our lives back.

English Muffin Pizzas: Bake 20 minutes on 375* all you need is English muffins, pizza sauce, pizza cheese, and your toppings!  So easy and it forced my husband to be in the kitchen with me. VICTORY!

:: SATURDAY ::

I started the day off at the spa. not going to lie - they were pretty unorganized {which surprised me a lot since it was a Marriott spa} but it was a groupon deal so i cannot be too annoyed with the mass confusion. The massage and facial were uber relaxing and made me crave a nap.  But I told myself no and that I had to get amped up for the TV Show marathon {We chose White Collar}. 

But. I got home. Ready to make my grocery shopping list to prep for the HOURS of TV watching only to learn that Kyle wanted to go to Best Buy after cutting the grass.  {Original Plan: Me grocery shop while Kyle mows.  Kyle showers, I make snacks. Then onto the main event.} ...Obviously Kyle missed out on the "movie marathons" in college and doesn't understand that THEY ARE ALL DAY EVENTS.  They don't start at 3.  I HAD SNACKS PLANNED!

Anyway.  We went to Best Buy.  Yawn.  And Target.  And at 4:00 PM just in time for dinner we got the show on the road.  :: Not Cool Kyle J.  Not Cool. ::  ...Needless to say, I told him that he pretty sucked at movie marathons and we needed a "do over".  {which has been scheduled.} ... When we finally got started I tried to make these baked mozzarella bites, but it was a total failure and I couldn't get the bread crumbs to stick to the milk coated string cheese so I skipped right to dinner and well, dinner was fabulous and easy and will be a staple in our lives going forward ...

croissant hamburgers. croissant rolls. hamburger meet. cheese. so easy and so good.  Recipe HERE

We ended up watching about 6 episodes of White Collar - which is an awesome show and I vote that Matt Bomer plays Christain Grey when they make the 50 Shades movies.  And I guess that does constitute as a TV Time marathon -- it just got started too late for my liking. And since I had never really woken up from the day before I crawled into bed at 10:00 and called it a day.

::SUNDAY ::

FATHERS DAY!! We opened presents from the puppies and I made Kyle his favorite sausage muffins.  And we started the TV watching marathon.  But... about 4 episodes in Kyle needed "break" to take a nap.  You know, since sitting on the couch is soooo hard.  And his break was a nap.  Really.  His life.  So hard.  How does he do it?!

For dinner we had another Pinterest recipe.  I made Chicken Alfredo Roll Ups and let me tell you, it was so good.  Annoying to make {since you have to roll the chicken in the lasagna noodles with Alfredo sauce} so it will only be a weekend meal.

Chicken Alfredo Roll Ups - recipe HERE - highly recommend!!

Over dinner we watched 2 more episodes of White Collar and then Kyle called it quits.  So I just started up 90210. :)

WE DIDN'T EVEN MAKE IT THROUGH A WHOLE SEASON DURING OUR "MARATHON WEEKEND" ... therefore, even though I enjoyed hanging out with him... it was a failure.  K really needs to work on his marathon movie watching skills.  But I will say that is one of our big difference -- I can sit in front of the TV all day ... he cannot.

But... it was a relaxing weekend.  Relaxing and indulgent.  So much food and TV!

* Random Rambles *

Tangets of life. Tangents of life!

• Ok. So get this. In Georgia {at one busy part} it is now legal to drive on the wrong side of the road. I at first thought that we were all going to die and it was going to be mass confusion, but so far it has been okay. The first time I did it, I could not help but think that I was doing something wrong. But I was not. Therefore, I have embraced Atlanta's Diverging Diamond Intersection.  I have not agreed that it has fixed said busy road's congestion issue but it has made the commute more interesting.  And {Granted it has only been like 2 weeks} there are still so many morons who have no idea what lane they're supposed to be in and I know they do this like every day.  For the love, follow the signs and do just what you did yesterday {as long as it was right}.
• I am so so so ready for football season.  79 days and counting. 79 days till we beat Michigan. And the Twitter war {that I did not follow other than cliff notes versions in articles} between McCarron and the Honeybadger have me so so so ready.  And it was recently announced that we play LSU at 7 PM and CBS will be airing it.  That just may be a Bama Bar game {and I will make Heather come into town} ... and maybe they will cross the 50 yard line.  ROLL. TIDE.
• 
  

  

  We put a sock on her paw to protect it!

  Oh our dogs. Our Dogs. Mulligan went to the vet on Saturday morning because we noticed for 2 weeks he was just licking and licking his paw. It turns out he must have gotten bit by a bug or something, making him lick and lick, and that created some weird skin condition that was brought on by the licking - making him lick more. And that all turned into a yeast infection between his toes. And Kennesaw. She had her first vet visit on Monday since getting her off the streets because she was limping something horrible and couldn't put pressure on her paw. We looked at it and she somehow sliced her pad and part of her paw in between her toes and they ended up actually removing part of the paw since every time she would walk it would rip more. yikes. painful. Two vet visits in like 4 days. oi vey. But don't get me wrong. We love love love our pups and we cannot recommend our vet {The Village Vets in Decatur} more than we already do.
• The Peachtree - I got my race number today and my corral BLOWS.  I am in corral U - I was in H last time.  Granted, I know that I have not been running, but I don't want to be lumped with the really slow people and I know that I will be walking/weaving for most of the race being in this corral {heck, I walked a weaved most of the race when I was way near the front because people line up in the wrong corrals}.  I am just wondering if it will be worth it.  And I could totally sell my race number - which is totally illegal in the Peachtree running world, but nothing about running this race gets me excited especially since I am so far back with a 8:51 start.  Anyone want to buy a race number?! :)
• The current great debate in my house is: do we file our taxes as married -1 or married - 0 .. I would like all the opinions in the world.
• Kyle and I merged our bank accounts this past weekend. And it was pretty uneventful. My panic attack 2 weekend ago about it was 100% because we had not talked about anything. I needed to get my accounts in order. talk about allowances and how we were going to save our money. and work on a budget. Since we hashed it all out and I made a pretty impressive Excel Spreadsheet to track our spending I was sane and okay and ready to merge.

• We have 8 savings accounts :: The moving fund, the buying a house fund, the just because fund, the oh we over budgeted this month fund, the baby fund, the college education fund, the future vacations fund, and the new car fund {which obviously won't be touched for 5+ years}!
• And.  We have decided we're quite the pair.  All this money management talk has made us communicate WAY more and we're totally on the same page.  Who needs premarital counseling?  Just merge bank accounts!!
• People drive me crazy. Crazy mad. I need a vacation or a mental health day. Or a mini moment of hibernation.
• I am FINALLY cashing in one of my Groupons and spending the morning at the spa on Saturday. Never have I ever needed a day of pampering as much as I do now. Massage and facial. Le Sigh.
• I AM SO SO SO EXCITED FOR THIS WEEKEND!  So excited there will be a super awesome blog post to follow.  Kyle and I are having a Netflix movie and TV show marathon {all after my spa day of course}.  And I mean ALL weekend starting Friday night.  We are gonna make mini pizzas on english muffins and then try all sorts of Pinterst finger foods - like hamburger croissants and home made mozzarella sticks.  Be prepared.  It will be a foodtastic post! :o)
• And... this weekend was dreamed up by my wonderful husband man ... only because he sat around and watched Ramona and Beezus and tons of 90210 episodes with me this weekend.  Love.  True Love.
• I need fun, sassy, funky blogs to follow.  Send me recommendations please!

for my 100th post i will not talk about running.

I have decided to do my 100^th blog entry on something OTHER than running. Over the past 99 entries I really have not given you any insight on my life and who I am besides my running woes, plans, goals, setbacks, upcoming races, race reviews, and victories. So, I have seen a lot of people do this so I am going to copy them. I have stolen my format from Runner’s Rambles and here I go.

10 things about my past
1. i grew up right outside of washington dc in fairfax county – a town called burke to be exact. heard of it? didn’t think so. I could not wait to get out of that place. …now we’re talking about going back. odd.
2. i once had a guy buy me a fish and write swedish on it because he was my “secret valentine” for a church thing. he knew i liked swedish fish, but didn’t know they were a candy. he knocked on my door and left the dead fish on my front porch. it was awkward but funny at the same time.
3. i used to be a blonde. i sometimes think about going back to a dirty blond but i always chicken out. plus it takes way too much upkeep and i am too lazy
4. my first ever job was at starbucks (before it was cool) and i hated coffee. 4 or so years later i quit because i was tired of making frappachinos and people complaining about too much foam on their latte or their latte not being hot enough. i left with a love for coffee.
5. my freshman year of college was spent at a super small college in north carolina called wingate. it was less than awesome so i transferred to alabama. best.decision.ever. that place is more than awesome.
6. summer 2006 was by far the best summer of my life. if i could relive that summer in tuscaloosa every year, i would. i was surrounded by an awesome group of people and we just had FUN!
7. growing up i did just about every sport imaginable – soccer, softball, swim, dance, gymnastics but i never really stuck with any of them longer than 2 or 3 years. why? i do not know.
8. when i was graduating college, my mom took me suit shopping for the big bad interviews – i cried in the middle of banana republic because i thought a suit made me look fat – now, i am super comfortable in a suit, think i look sharp, and love banana republic suits
9. i used to have a pepto bismol pink bedroom. it was so pink you could see it glow down the hall.
10. when my parents were wallpapering our house they hired the “wallpaper man” and he would always eat breakfast with my brother and me and watch “gummie bears” on disney with us. i do not know why i remember this, but i do…

10 things about my personality
1. i am ocd
2. i am sassy and i love it!
3. friends are such an important part of my life & i will stand up for my friends in a heart beat.  
4. i am a girly
5. i try to look at the glass half full
6. i love with my whole heart
7. i am way to judgmental
8. i am impatient
9. i am a hard worker
10. i am blunt and to the point

10 random facts about me
1. i hate wire coat hangers – they make me so ansy and jumpy. i just hate them. i also like to put blue shirts on blue hangers and yellow clothes on yellow hanger and so on and so forth. OCD maybe? yikes.
2. i bleed crimson & white. i will (and do) talk trash to everyone when it is football season
3. i cannot go to petsmart on the weekends because i always end up crying over the dogs who need a home … one of these days i am going to be putting in an application for another rescued pup
4. i am absurdly obsessed with music and discovering new artists that would be great for window down driving and running … i spend way too much money on iTunes
5. i feel the most comfortable in kyle’s flannel pj pants (size xl) and a tee shirt
6. i have the weirdest obsession with wrapping paper and wrapping presents  … hallmark has the best wrapping paper and ribbons.
7. when i know it is going to rain, i like to coordinate my outfit to my umbrella
8. i am 26 years old and still have not parted with my baby blanket … i probably never will. on the weekends, i walk around the apartment with it. just call me linus.
9. i love cookbooks, reading them, looking at the pictures, collecting them, salivating over meals that look great, but i have never cooked from them. i only cook from the recipes my dad gives me, the ones he types up and punches holes in for my recipe binder.
10. sometimes when i am out running i have a sudden urge to do cartwheels.

10 dreams/goals
1. to retire on a lake somewhere – i want the lake to have a big porch and a fire pit and be on a hill that looks down at the dock and water.
2. get married (eek… it’s gonna happen!!)
3. to make a difference in just one persons life
4. to be an alabama season ticket holder
5. to watch alabama win a national championship … in person.like me in the stands, shaker in hand.lose my voice.in person.
6. build a house with habitat for humanity
7. travel europe (london. italy. ireland. scotland. germany. switzerland.) i have no desire to go to france though
8. get my boyfriend to run a 5k with me
9. to zip wire over a rainforest
10. i want to own a house, with a big porch and great patio furniture with lots of land so i can have lots of puppies and they can have lots of land to roam and play.

10 things i love
1. kyle j
2. my dog - mulligan
3. music
4. classic designers like burberry and tory burch
5. netflix – when they aren’t sending me crappy dvds.
6. wrapping paper
7. patios
8. clean sheets
9. sundresses
10. massages

10 things i love to do
1. play guess who and connect four by candlelight with my kyle j
2. outdoor concerts with good friends
3. sunday afternoons … doing nothing but laying on the couch watching tv (lifetime mainly) 
4. sit on patios
5. naps
6. make to-do lists … back to my ocd tendencies
7. shop and find great sales
8. spend the day at the spa
9. bubble baths with a good book
10. a good run after a bad day

10 things i hate
1. red wine
2. mud
3. two faced people
4. dirty dishes
5. inconsistency
6. bugs
7. timid drivers
8. the fact that spin class is so popular
9. the color orange
10. comcast and their crappy internet

10 places i have been
1. nova scotia
2. baton rouge louisiana
3. orlando florida
4. sanibel island florida
5. Knoxville tennessee
6. quebec canada
7. Boston massachusetts
8. kennebunkport maine
9. new orleans louisiana
10. san francisco california

10 things i am proud of/thankful for
1. i am a marathoner
2. graduating college in under 5 years (barely but i did it)
3. my awesome and supportive family and boyfriend
4. i ran my first half marathon with the leukemia & lymphoma society and raised $5000 doing it
5. my career
6. my teeth (weird, i know)
7. i have had a spotless driving record for over 3 years now
8. my great great friends
9. my awesomely supportive blog followers
10. my new found ability of balancing a checkbook & saving money

and there you go. now you know a little bit more about me! :o)