Waka Waka!

I'm working on a playlist for the Resolution 5k that I'm running this Saturday, and I came across the music video for one of my favorite songs from 2010 -- Shakira's "Waka Waka" (theme song from the World Cup).  If you like soccer, you'll probably also enjoy this video.  This time for Africa :)

Quantum Leap

I'm not a huge fan of New Year's resolutions, only because I have a tendency to be over zealous and set lofty goals that never really seem to pan out.  But, along with so many others, I'm hoping to continue to work on being healthy and getting into shape in 2011.  As to not get caught up in the numbers game, I'm planning to use a Quantum Scale to help me stay motivated.

I usually hate scales, and avoid them at all costs.  But after reading about this one in Women's Health, I'm giving it a shot.  What's nice is that this scale doesn't actually show your weight, rather you weigh in once at the beginning, and then after that, you get an update your total weight lost/gained, as a way to keeping your mind focused on the smaller goals, versus getting caught up in that scary three-digit number that pops up whenever you hop on.  I did a ton of research before deciding on this option, and it's definitely not for everyone (for instance, it only tracks one person's progress, so it wouldn't be helpful for a couple or family). 

I'm hoping it will work for me.  I'm going to set small goals every month, and see how it goes.  Between running and (trying) to eat healthier, I'm hoping I'll strike a good balance.

Here's to 2011 :-)

Resolution-ing

A couple months back, I wrote about starting the Couch to 5K program.  I've completed about six of the nine weeks of the program (skipped a few weeks for various reasons), and so far so good.  I'm now running close to 5 minute intervals without any major pain in the shins or hip.  Success!

Speaking of running, I'm officially registered for the 2011 Resolution Run 5K in Charm City (Baltimore) on New Year's Day!

I'm really excited for this race, and I figure it's a good way to kick off the New Year.  I've even roped in a friend (who's never raced before) to run it with me -- should be fun!  So far, the weather gods are smiling down on us, with temperatures expected in the low 50's on Saturday.  Let's hope it stays that way.  I'm not a happy runner when I'm cold. 

Hope it goes well!  I still can't believe 2011 is right around the corner...

Life's a Beach

I'm back -- bright eyed and bushy tailed!  Vacation was wonderful.  It was a very low-key week, which was relaxing and just what I needed.  We stayed at a resort on the far end of Grand Cayman, and while the weather wasn't perfect, we did get a few sunny days and I managed to get a little bit of a tan.  Hooray!   Here are a few pictures from the trip.

The view from our porch.  Life is good!

Sunrise on the beach.  So peaceful.

Baby palm. Adorable!

View down the beach, to the resort next door.

And our place, Grand Morritt's.

Best seat in the house!  This is my desktop wallpaper right now.  A welcome break from reality :)

Food all day, indeed.  I ate and ate.  

The parental unit, humoring while I make them do posed shots....

I was kicking myself for not bringing a zoom lens (I was using a 50mm 1.8) -- these wind surfers were  awesome and could 20 ft. jumps.  Impressive!

Mid-week, we ventured into Georgetown for some shopping.  The mother and I both scored sweet deals on watches.  I opted for a classic stainless steel (with some bling, of course):

  Michele Deco 16

Merry Christmas to me!  

Speaking of Christmas, I hope everyone had a great holiday!  After mass on Christmas Eve, we woke up for a big breakfast and opened up our gifts in front of our make shift tree (a plant with one string of lights.  I wish I were joking!).  Next year we'll be more festive, I promise :-)

Beach Reads

I'm off to Grand Cayman tomorrow, and can barely focus on anything today because I'm SO EXCITED!  Since I anticipate lots of down time over the next week (I'm definitely in need of some R&R), I've loaded up the Kindle with what are I hope are some good beach reads:

Definitely a mixed bag, but that's how I roll.  I'll take lots of pictures while away, and do my best to bring back some sunshine and warmth.  See you on the flip side!

Baby Steps

Something very important happened this weekend.  I fell in love.  With this angel:

As I mentioned last week, I spent the weekend in North Carolina visiting Jill and her family, including their newest addition, baby Emma.  Even though she's only six weeks old, this little bundle of joy captured my heart.  I'm one proud Godmother :-)

Emma just recently started smiling, and she makes the cutest faces:

Sleepy Emma (and Jill).  Yaaawn!

Love this one!  Adorable.

Sweet, sweet, sweet....



All smiles!

Can't wait to watch her grow.  So much love!

I Wanna Be A Billionaire!

My parent's pretty much stopped the traditional Christmas gift routine when my brother and I were in college.  Don't get me wrong, we always get something fun, but it's usually in the form of being invited on a trip, etc.  And we still get some stocking stuffers too, so we're not total scrooges.  It's also in part because we I usually buy whatever my heart desires. 

Lately I've worked on taming that habit, so while I still buy myself the less expensive stuff, I haven't made any larger purchases.  But I still think about them!  I should spend money for a living.... because I'm so damn good at it.  If I were a billionaire (or I'd settle for millionaire), here's what my Christmas list would look like:

A MacBook Pro

I love the MacBook Pro (I've actually never used a Mac, but I think I'll love it).  Since my current laptop is 4+ years old and on its last leg, I'll probably have to bite the bullet and make this purchase sometime in 2011.  I just wish it could be sooner and not deplete my bank account!  This is where being a billionaire (or dating one?) would come in handy.

A Canon 5D Mark II

I already bought a Canon T1i earlier this year, but I'm itching for something bigger and better already.  What can I say... champagne taste, beer budget.  Not that I don't love my current camera, but I know I'll being ready for an upgrade over the next couple of years, and the 5DMII would rock my world.  She's a beauty!  Maybe in 2012.  Or whenever I win the lottery. 

A Prime Lens (or Two)

Prime lenses have taken the place of designer shoes in my heart (well, maybe they just share the spot).  I'm all about the 50mm line right now.  I have the 50mm 1.8 and thinking practically, I have my eye on the 50mm 1.4 next.  I'd love to make the jump and get the 50mm 1.2 eventually. 

I always pick the most expensive hobbies.  I wish I liked to knit! :)

A Pair of Designer Boots

I lied about not lusting after designer shoes anymore.  I really heart these Simple Botta Tall Boots by Louboutin.  This would be a tricky purchase though, since I'd also need calf-reduction surgery to wear these bad boys.  Minor detail.  But In my dreams, I rock these boots on the regular.  Oui!

Yay, this is a fun game!  I could go on, but those are the few items I'd really want if the sky were the limit.  Not that I'm complaining about this year's gift, and my view for a week:

I'm leaving in 10 days... so excited!  Speaking of leaving, I'm off to North Carolina for the weekend to visit the Bartelt's, and their newest addition to the family, 6 week old Emma!  GAH - can't wait! 

Words of Wisdom

Sorry for the blogging hiatus -- things have been a bit of a roller coaster over the past few weeks, and are just now leveling out.  But I'm here.  And just in time for Thanksgiving!  Since my family is out of town this week, I'll be spending the holiday with family friends.  And I'm cooking up a storm for the first time in awhile.  I'll post pictures, but I'm planning to make mashed potatoes, biscuits, a veggie dish, and the now infamous pumpkin bread.  Yum!  Very happy that I get to use my parent's Le Creuset set as well. 

P.S.  I came across this quote today and I think it's pure wisdom.  Marilyn Monroe is the woman.

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together." ~ Marilyn Monroe

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Have a fun and safe holiday. :-)

Fistpump Friday

Happy Friday!  Today marks the end of my first week on the Couch to 5K program.  Fistpump!  All three morning runs this week were pretty easy (done on the treadmill -- running in downtown DC scares me).  Next week doesn't look too bad either:

• Workout 1 - 5 minute warm-up walk; alternate 90 seconds jogging and 2 minutes of walking for a total of 25 minutes. 
• Workout 2 - 5 minute warm-up walk; alternate 90 seconds jogging and 2 minutes of walking for a total of 25 minutes.
• Workout 3 - 5 minute warm-up walk; alternate 90 seconds jogging and 2 minutes of walking for a total of 25 minutes.

I still have some sort of left hip issue going on, but fortunately it doesn't really bother me until after I run, so I'm just doing my best to ignore it.  I'm scared to go to the doctor....they may tell me that I need a hip replacement and that I have old-lady bones at the ripe age of 26.  Eep!

In other news, I'm so happy that it's finally cool weather season!  There's nothing better than leaving the stinky gym and being able to cool off outside, or snuggling up at night in comfy jammies and a fire (we have one of those gas remote control fireplaces... sooo money!).  Doesn't quite beat Ashley's alternative, but it comes close :)
 
Also, I'm totally in love with these Fur Trim Slipper Booties from Gap (I might have to treat myself):
 

 
What do you think -- cute or obnoxious?  I love my trusty UGG slippers, but they've seen better days and I really don't want to fork over another $100 for a second pair.  Decisions.
 
BTW, check out the new Jimmy Choo & UGG collection.  Very interesting.  Love both, but I'm not sure about this collaboration.
 
Have a great weekend!

Faces of the NYC Marathon

The New York Times published a great feature this weekend called "Faces at the Finish."  It's an interactive gallery of 100 different people right after crossing the finish line of the NYC Marathon.  It's quite a mix of runners -- some young, some older and people from all around the world.  Very inspirational :)

P.S. I did my first Couch to 5K workout this morning, and the whole timed walk/run thing makes it go so much more quickly.  I did two miles in 25 minutes at the walk/run pace (bumped it up slightly from the suggested 20 minutes).  And thank you, time change for making my 6:00 a.m. wake up call a bit less painful!

Couch to 5k

There are heaps of things in life I want to do, and goals I want to meet, but I never really seem to get around to most of them.  One of those things is running.  Like really running, getting into a routine and actually enjoying it.  Ya'll have heard this before.  Well, I hate running right now.  I think it's because I usually do too much too soon, and get completely frustrated that my body just can't take it... 

But with so many great races around the year, and a bunch of friends that also run, I think it's an achievable goal.  Last spring, I ran (and I use the term "ran" loosely....) the St. Patrick's Day 8k, and it was miserable.  I was injured leading up to the race, ran it anyway, and then had a nasty stress fracture the following month.  I want to do things differently this time around. 

I've read a ton of reviews of the Couch to 5K running program, which seems to be the most popular beginner running plan, so I think I'm going to give it a shot.  I'm doing the nine week version, which is very moderate and should be doable.  Here's the workout plan for the first week (which I'll hopefully start on Monday):

Workout 1 -  5 minute warm-up walk; alternate 60 seconds jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

Workout 2 - 5 minute warm-up walk; alternate 60 seconds jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

Workout 3 - 5 minute warm-up walk; alternate 60 seconds jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

Not too bad at all!  I'm going to try running on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, since I usually spin on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. 

Has anyone else tried this program or heard anything about it?  Fingers crossed that I make it past the few couple of weeks... :)

Passive Aggressive Notes

Happy Monday, all!  I had a fabulous weekend, and I'm sad it's the start of another long work week.  On Saturday, I went to my third photography class, and I think I'm finally (maybe) starting to grasp this whole shutter speed/aperture/ISO business.  It's taken long enough... I'm officially as smart as a third grader.  Thank goodness Georgetown hasn't figured that out yet.  And on Sunday, I spent the day with JB traipsing around DC/Rosslyn for the USMC Marathon (JB's sister ran it, and we cheered her on).  I got some great pics which I'll post tomorrow.  Very inspiring.  In fact, I decided to run the marathon.  In 2015.  Training starts ASAP.

In honor of Halloween (late, I know), I wanted to share a post from one of my favorites blogs, Passive Aggressive Notes.  Such a hilarious site, right up there with Stuff White People Like.  Even when I'm having a really bad day, this sort of stuff makes me laugh:

Source

"Find your real father."  Bahaha!  So wrong, yet so funny.

UMW Homecoming

Nostalgia [no-stal-juh]
- Noun.  Meaning a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.

Last weekend, Sarah (the newly minted Mrs.) and I ventured down to Fredericksburg for Mary Washington's homecoming.  It's a tradition for us to return to our alma mater in the fall, and even though we don't have a football team, everyone seems to rally around our soccer and rugby teams and drink like we do. 

While we didn't see many familiar faces, it was comforting to be in a place that makes me reflect back on what I remember as a really happy time in my life (I probably would have argued that if you would have asked the 20 year old me, but we live and we learn).  The school is definitely in expansion and revamp mode, and everything is much more squeaky clean than what I remember.  But at the heart of it, it's still MWC.  Or UMW.  Mdub.

This year's homecoming shirts read "RUN UMW" as a play off the RUN DMC logo.  Sarah and I got the RUN DMC connection but didn't really get the whole point of it.  Apparently, neither did the undergrads, because we passed a group talking about the shirts and overheard "Yeah, we don't really know, but I guess there's this group called RUN DMC that were rappers or something."  Crap, I'm officially old.

We wandered down campus walk, which brought a flood of emotions my way.  I kept telling Sarah that I didn't know whether to smile or start crying.  I'm a mess!  Any who, I held it together, and just enjoyed wandering around and thinking back on the good old days....the days when we actually had time to treat friends like friends, and there was always of circle of people around to turn to when shit hit the fan.  Sigh.  Sometimes I just want to go back to those simpler days, and to appreciate the close-knit community that I took for granted for so long.

The foliage was ridiculously pretty.  I love fall!

In 2004, our beloved Mary Washington College turned into the University of Mary Washington.  One of the only standing MWC symbols is on the front gate:

This clock tower was added after we graduated (2007?).  It adds a bit of prestige, I suppose.

Then we passed Trinkle Hall.  It was one of the only buildings that stayed open 24 hours.  Quite a few memories of all-nighter exhaustedness.

And a stop at the student bulletin, where we discovered that WALE (a popular rapper from the DC area) was the homecoming concert performer!  We didn't stay for it, but that's pretty legit.

Sarah checking things out (and being ridiculously photogenic, as usual).

And last, but not least, Lee Hall.  The home to our bookstore, the charming ballroom, and a ton of other student services.  The place has been overhauled, and the book store now takes up almost the entire first floor and has a ton more stuff that we used to have.  And the ballroom?  It's gone, and now broken up into offices and meeting rooms.  A little bit sad.  The building still looks the same from the outside though (sorry for the shadows, I'm still grasping the whole metering concept).

After wandering around downtown for a bit, we headed to Carrabba's for dinner (yum).  All in all, I had a fabulous day, and it was so nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and back to my "roots".  :)

TGIF, Like Whoa.

This pretty much sums up my day so far:

Yes, tape dispensers really do have sand in the bottom. And yes, sometimes they do just suddenly spring a leak all over your desk.  Sigh.

In happier news, I'd like to wish Ms. JB a very happy birthday. And also Mr. Foot. Love you both!

Have a great weekend.

Just Do It

I came across this video last night and it totally inspired me.  I even got my lazy ass out of bed this morning for a 6:30 spin class.  Miracles do happen! 

Check it out.  I got a little teary eyed towards the end... I'm a total sap.

"If you want to do it... all you have to do is do it."  Check out Ben's blog at http://bendoeslife.tumblr.com/.  Amazing.

It's Officially Fall When...

... I make my first batch of turkey chili and pumpkin bread!  Both of which I did this weekend.

It was kinda like senior year, only funner! 

And as a result, I also spent a couple hours doing this:



I've been a total slacker about working out over the past couple of months, so I'm trying to get back into a routine (story of my life).  I think the cooler weather helps though.  Does anyone else feel that way?  It's way easier for me to motivate myself when it's not nasty hot outside!

Well, I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.  I'm off to finish up some school work and watch some football.  Let's go Redskins!

True Lemon Love

Since I like to make an occasional shameless plug, like here and here, I have another one for the archives.  Meet my flavor the week, True Lemon:

How'd we meet?  Let's just say my office is little bit instant coffee-tea-miscellaneous other drinks-soup obsessed, and we keep up with the trends.  See what I mean? 

We actually replaced our fabulous Starbucks machine with Flavia.  As in powdered coffee.  Don't be jealous.  Anywho, I took one look at the newcomer, and after being slightly skeeved out by the idea of "crystallized lemon" I came around and decided to give it a go.  It can't be any worse than the Spring Vegetable Instant Soup in the background, right?

Each True Lemon serving is about the size of a sugar packet, and has no calories, carbs, or sugar.  And it's not an artificial sweetener, so there's none of that scary chemical stuff that I consume way too much of already (thank you, Diet Coke habit).

I'm really not a fan of plain water, so I decided to add one packet to my 24 oz. Camelbak, in hopes of actually wanting to drink water throughout the day.  A few shakes and apprehensive sips later... success!  This stuff is good, and it has just enough flavor to make water not boring. 

The box also says that you can use it for baking and such.  I think I'll stick to jazzing-up my water for right now, but you never know where this new relationship might take me.  Love makes us do crazy things.

Perfection

Remember a few months back when I blogged about my new found obsession with all things stationary?  Particularly with personalized stationary?  Well a few weeks later I was having brunch with the fabulous Mrs. Foot, and she surprised me with...

The best stationary gift EVER!

I finally had a chance to write a couple of notes this past weekend, and using my personalized Cooper inspired stationary made my day.  They are perfection!  So a big thank you to Mrs. Foot for the fabulous gift, and for being such a thoughtful friend.  Love you to pieces!