by Heidi on February 22, 2010
Late last week, I had the luck of going into NYC to a. see my dad (albeit way briefly), b. check out a JCrew Weddings sample sale where I picked up my dress for my pals wedding (and all the other dozens of weddings we’ll be going to in the next year) and c. pick up my race packet for the race I ran on Saturday (recap up over at Fitness in Pink!)
Let me just say, if you ever have the luck of going to a JCrew sample sale, you will be, if you’re at all like me, in pure JCrew heaven.
I found, ironically enough, that I wasn’t as into the wedding gowns. I loved my wedding gown, however, what girl doesn’t lust over the whimsical, simply beautiful dresses on the JCrew website? I do. Even though I’m already married. So I perused them, since I’m still writing for bridal sites, I figured it would be sweet to check them out. The bridesmaids dresses though? I nearly peed myself over. I obtained the Cotton Cady Sydney dress in Cypress for $100. Can we say BARGAIN?! OMG what a win. However, it took a lot of restraint to not splurge on the rows and rows of shoes and other dresses including these below:
1. JCrew Peep Toes $225
2. Cotton Cady Sydney Dress in Black $225
3. Cotton Cady Erica dress in Black $225
4. Glimmergold Crystal Necklace $98
Check out these other fabulous Monday finds…
*Liz in Life wants some sparkly converse sneaks
Feel free to participate in a little online shopping with Monday Materialism by borrowing the image and then letting me know you posted so I can link you here!
by Heidi on February 19, 2010
So last week, i made these goals:
*Yoga 1 time (Sunday?)
*Running 3 days. Nine Eight miler next weekend.
*4×800 speed workout
*Strength training 2 days
*Spinning/XT – 2 days
Actual? Much more disappointing. Am I expecting too much from myself? Nah, I just had a rough week – and that severely hampers my motivation.
I did…
Run 3.64 miles with about a 11:34/mi pace (which is fast for me! I never claimed to be speedy gonzales, I’ve got short legs that don’t move quickly), Strength Train 1x, skipped speed workout, am doing strength tonight (with a short run), a 4 mile race coupled with another 4 mile run Sunday to get in my 8 (modified from 9) miles for the weekend.
I did not…
Spin/cross train. At all. Do my speed workout. Or go to Yoga. I missed it. I am hoping to get to a yoga class this week or at least find a yoga program I can do at home online.
Not awful but definitely below satisfactory since I’m 16 weeks out from marathon #4.
Next week I will…
Run 3 miles, strength train 2x, cross train 2x, do a RAD workout, hit up a (my first ever!!) Zumba class with two of my gal pals here in Stamford, write a race recap of the Race for Haiti Four Miler in NYC that I’m running tomorrow, blog more over at Fitness in Pink (do you subscribe? if not you totes should).
what are your fitness goals for the week??
by Heidi on February 17, 2010
I’m participating in Classy in Philadelphia’s Where In The World Wednesday!
The idea of WITWW is to post a picture of you in someplace in the world…it doesn’t have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. Just a picture of you somewhere that you consider traveling.
I’ve gotta be honest. I haven’t traveled much in my life.
I never boarded a plane until a trip to DC in 2003 when I was in college; I never left my timezone until I went to Singapore with the Ex in 2005; I’ve still never been west of the Mississippi despite having large amounts of family in California (my Papa – paternal grandfather – grew up in Fresno so I have dozens of second cousins, etc… out there that I’ve yet to meet)…my dream is to travel. Unfortunately, Hubs and I can barely pay our bills right now, the job market is not in my favor and I’m about to embark on a master’s degree. I’m not traveling much anytime soon.
The trips I have taken? Have been epic. This week? We’re going to NYC. I didn’t visit NYC until 2002 when a friend of mine took me to see Rent for my 20th birthday – he and I shared the same birthday so it was really a birthday present for the both of us. But, silly me, i didn’t really take any pictures of that trip. So, later that year, a few short months later, I went to my first Yankees game which was a million times better because we all know I have mad love for my Yanks. This my friend, is where I belt out in Jay Z’s “Empire State of Mind”…In Newwwwww Yyyyyyooooorrrkkkkk….
The OLD Yankee stadium, from my scalped bleacher seats. Excuse the blurry image of my craptacular digital camera. At least I think it was digital. A large chance it wasn’t. I didn’t really join the digital camera age until I graduated college.
Please excuse my emo-ish glasses, my humid wrangled hair (seriously, I can straighten it and if it’s humid out, it’ll look like crap 5 minutes later) and my horrific white eyeshadow – what the EFF was I thinking?! I blame it on being 20 and clueless.
Still love New York as much as I did those first two trips. Though I will never ever claim to be a New Yorker. My heart was left in Boston in 2006.
by Heidi on February 15, 2010
Now encouraging audience participation – feel free to use the image and blog about what you’re lusting after this week! We may not be able to buy but wanting is a lot of fun regardless!
Since I’m now 16 weeks out from my marathon and have a race coming up this weekend, an 8k in March, and a half marathon in April, this week I’m lusting after some new running gear.
I recently purchased a great pair of running cropped pants from Target for $15 which are amazing and were an AMAZING find (they were on sale), today I finally purchased a hat from Lululemon for $15 – much needed, I skip runs because it’s too cold, I now have NO excuse to do that. I took out the liners from my skiing gloves from high school (haven’t gotten much use since 2004 when I last went skiing) which worked amazingly the other night in a cold weather run (it was 28 degrees!) But still, we all love to window shop which is precisely what I did today in Greenwich when I popped into Lululemon!
1. Lululemon Ultra Light Arm Warmers $18
2. Lululemon Run Swiftly Racerback $52
3. Lululemon Wunder Under Crops $68
4. Garmin 305 with Heart Rate Monitor $160
5. Nike Half Zip Running Top $55
What are you lusting after this week? If you’re participating in Materialism Monday’s make you sure you leave your link in a comment!
by Heidi on February 14, 2010
Happy Valentine’s Day to the love of my life. You’ve made me the luckiest and happiest girl in the world.
{photo by Megan Garrison Photography}
And a very Happy Valentine’s day to all my freaders, may your Valentine’s Day be filled with love and happiness regardless of your relationship status.
by Heidi on February 12, 2010
So I saw this over at Ally Write’s and given that I’m now 17 weeks out from marathon #4 (and about twelve weeks from 1/2 Marathon #1) and I’m continuing my battle to get in shape I thought I’d join in the Fitness Friday Fabulousness!
Yay-worthy!
*Got in my first run outdoors this week – a fabulous change from the dreadmill that I’ve been stuck running on for the past month. Ran last night – 3.355 miles, 40:02, a bit slow at 11:54/mi but considering there were a lot of icy patches on the sidewalk, not surprising. I’m shooting for 11:00/miles or so for the marathon, so I’ve gotta get my pace up.
*Trained this week. My trainer was a bit frustrated so he took it out on me. Generally we do 2 sets of circuit training, and 2 sets of ab workouts. Tuesday we did 3 sets of circuit training. Pain. Pain. But I can tell the training is working which is awesome.
*Went to Yoga on Saturday with Vanessa – did not like the yoga instructor or the class – felt she did the movements way too fast. Missed my old yoga instructor. A lot. But was nice to finally GO to a yoga class. Will definitely keep searching for a good instructor be it at my gym, the nearby Lululemon, or at a yoga studio. Also, realized I need new yoga pants as the ones I had from Old Navy are paint splattered from when we finished cleaning our apartment out in DC and had to repaint everything.
*Have a RAD workout on tap for tonight. A 7 miler for Tomorrow or Sunday. Am feeling really good about my running these days. Have you read the Fitnessista? She’s amazing and so, so inspiring. Saw this workout posted and in lieu of interval training, I’m going to do some hills. My run last night had 4 decent sized hills, which leads me to suspect that Stamford is going to be a tough place to run in if I don’t get used to running hills (DC was relatively flat sans running up/down Capitol Hill and some of the smaller hills on the Mt. Vernon Trail. But those are molehills compared to these bad boys.)
*Cooked with tofu. Ruling? Success.
Oops…
*Need to get my runs in earlier in the week. I have my training written out. But I’m awful at sticking to it. Getting better at doing my 3 days of running and 2 days of X-Training. I shouldn’t be fitting in a speed workout two days before a long run. Bad Heidi.
Goals for next week:
*Yoga 1 time (Sunday?)
*Running 3 days. Nine miler next weekend. (Monday, Wednesday)
*4×800 speed workout next week (Following the Yasso 800’s as part of my training this time around to shoot for a 4:45:00 marathon, should I get into NYC Marathon I’d love to run it as a BQ more realistically though is shooting for a 4:30:00 – entirely doable. A 3:40something marathon? Not so much. Still though. I have big dreams to run Boston someday soon.
*Strength training 2 days (Tuesday/Thursday)
*Spinning/XT – two days! (Tuesday/Thursday)
Doable? I think yes.
by Heidi on February 11, 2010
The other day, I finally got the letter I’ve been waiting for.
I was invited to take part in Grad School of Choice’s “GPA Waiver Program.”
Meaning, if I do bad-ass in a few choice History classes, I’ll be admitted into their teaching certification program. Hopefully in the fall. Which means, I could be teaching by 2012.
!!!!!
I was just about losing hope, unnecessarily, but not surprisingly. It’s hard to maintain a positive attitude weeks upon weeks on end without anything changing or getting better.
But now, it’s like FINALLY! Something is going as planned. I have to call, and get confirmation what the next steps are since the letter was a little ambiguous and confusing, but I’m hopeful. Again.
Why this route? Wellp, I’ve mentioned it before (I think) but I had a really rough first year and a half in college. I didn’t do well, lost a scholarship, and well, I went from a 2.0 the first quarter of my freshman year to graduating with a 2.6 – not too bad. Not great. I realize this and certainly not demonstrative of my academic abilities. (Seriously, the last two 1/2 years I had mostly B’s and A’s. A couple C’s but I kicked butt those last few semesters.) So because my GPA is JUST UNDER what the state requires (2.67) and a little more under Grad School’s requirement (2.75) I have to prove myself – which is fine because I know I’ll work my butt off for good cause. The whole grad school thing, over the past few months, has been a difficult endeavor – each school is different on their requirements yet, the state has incredibly high requirements – so I got to the point where I felt like I essentially was never going to become a teacher in CT. It was trying, frustrating and at times, broke me down. Hubs maintained much more faith than I did. He’s pretty good at that. Still, I’m incredibly relieved that things are working out in my favor.
In other news, I’ve got a great partnership coming up that I’ll be announcing soon – those of y’all looking for a mentor or some extra inspiration by some amazing women, be on the look out!
by Heidi on February 8, 2010
Ladies, I’m bring back Monday Wants. Except I’m making it better. You’ve seen Jess @ Classy in Philly’s fabulous Where in the World Wednesday; we’ve all heard of Menu Monday’s and Thankful Thursday’s, but now as was suggested to be by a fabulous reader, Monday Materialism/Monday Want’s is back but now I’m making it better. I’m encouraging audience participation.
So If you’re going to participate, feel free to borrow the image and be sure to post your link back here so everyone else can see! Post what you’re lusting after this week – whether a pair of shoes, an outfit, a bag, whatever. It’s our chance to be fabulously materialistic without breaking the bank because Lord knows our wallets can’t stand it. I welcome you all to Monday Materialism!!!
Earlier this evening (well, when I got home from a super bowl party in New Haven that is), I happened upon some fabulousness in my tumblr feed. They stopped me dead in my tracks, mostly because I lust for red shoes. I long to have a place to wear them. I want to feel sassy in a beautiful pair of red shoes – and I have a pair. A single pair and oh how fabulous they are but I’ve worn them, in the past year, likely twice since I lost my full-time job in March 2009. Twice.
Freaders, feast your eyes upon these beauts. I have no need for them, I’ll never buy them but oh….lusting. Lots and lots of lusting.
{By Jones NY via DSW. $55 (!!!!)}
I will lust after you shoes forever, but unfortunately, it’s not meant to be.
Freaders, what are you lusting after???
by Heidi on February 6, 2010
To re-start my motivation and happiness after this awful week, I thought, since Yoga this morning, about what makes me happy, there is a lot, but sometimes, we all need to be reminded of the little things that are worth being thankful for like…
Spending an extra ten minutes in bed with hubs cuddling; cuddling with my puppy; sitting in a big cushy chair in Barnes & Noble reading; free wifi anywhere; a good, cheesy, chick flick; long conversations with good friends; the familiarity of going to a city you once lived in again; the silence of snow falling at night; microfleece blankets; good books; winning a game of scrabble; a cup of hot chocolate made right from dunkin donuts (with skim milk and whipped cream); laughing till your stomach hurts; a massage; the high after a good workout; a good yoga class; meditating; a nice bottle of wine with a candle lit dinner; comfy sweat pants; a hot bubble bath; a tight hug; meandering around a mall aimlessly looking at the styling in stores like JCrew, Ann Taylor Loft and Forever 21; down comforters, and down pillowtops on the bed; flip flop weather; a cute outfit; making new friends; my favorite song on the radio; Ugg boots; seeing my kitchen clean; a good veggie pizza (in the oven!!!); good conversation; a good acoustic playlist; Taylor Swift in the car; Lady Gaga when I’m running; a good opportunity; feeling inspired and hopeful.
What makes you happy?
by Heidi on February 5, 2010
I’ve been crying a lot the past couple days, for no reason in particular, other than I just can’t seem to chuck this huge weight on my shoulders about everything and the breaking feeling in my heart that just seems constant. This feeling that for some reason I feel like I’m just destined to fail in everything I do. Pathetic, I know, but just…it’s feeling helpless and overwhelmed by life.
So Hubs sent me this this morning:
- God, grant me the serenity
- To accept the things I cannot change;
- The courage to change the things that I can;
- And the wisdom to know the difference.
I’m going to go repeat that to myself, go to yoga tomorrow to get into it again and start reading this book followed by this one. Hopefully this will all help perk up my mood in the long term and give me a little bit of much needed hope.
Sorry to be a bit of a debbie downer lately, sometimes you just need to vent, and writing makes everything better. In happier news, I’ve applied to a few hopeful freelance gigs, a couple of tutoring positions and a job. Grad school said I should hear back “soon.” As in the GPA waiver committee made their decision, sent it off to the director, and once he/she approves it, I’ll hear back. I’m not just keeping my fingers crossed, I’m praying because if this doesn’t work out I may have to rethink everything.
