Keeping healthy, loved, warm and cool

Some of my favorite things from last week:
Breakfast with Joy Bauer:

The purple color looks scary, but the shake actually tastes really good!

From her 3-day detox diet (which is awesome, by the way! I lost 7 lbs. I loved it so much I ran out the day after and bought her “Your Inner Skinny” book.)

This shake is 3/4 cup almond milk, 1/2 banana, 1 scoop of Hammer Soy Protein powder, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup raspberries, and 1/4 tsp of cinnamon.

Time with some of my girls:

Love these girls!

Had the nieces over for the weekend last weekend and we had a blast! Mia and Sadie are adorable. Mia is just like I was as a child, and Sadie is just like Jenny. Looks like her and everything. In fact, sometimes when I see Sadie I forget that I’m not the 5-year-old sister looking at her. I can’t wait till Cai and Caleb and Chloe are old enough to join in our movie / ice cream sundae / slumber party weekends!

Dog love:

Kishin loves Breanna

This is a horrible picture, and I had to lighten it a ton just to get Kishin’s features to show, but as I was working last week I looked up and this is what I saw. I love how Kishin is only happy when he’s near me or Breanna. He will follow her to the end of the earth. They make working so much better!

Coffee!

Cafe au lait

After 3 days on the detox diet and only being allowed 3 cups of black coffee during that time, I was excited to meet Sara for coffee at Caribou on East on Saturday. While I waited for her I snapped this picture, thinking about what a great gift Amy got me when she picked out that coffee sleeve. It has seen a lot of cups of coffee! It may be one of my most-used gifts. Love it!

Shopping love:

kick-ass fan

Ok, this photo was actually taken a few weeks ago. But this weekend I stopped by Metro where they had lots of fun lighting fixtures. This fan is one Anil and I picked out for his living room, and Metro had a similar one (different brand.) I think it’s one of the coolest fans I’ve ever seen!

‘This is your gym for the next 90 days’

That’s what the box on my newly purchased P90x tells me. I am skeptical. What about my running? But I realize I don’t even know enough about the program to know if they account for that. Here’s what I do know: My gym membership ran out a month ago. I traded in Time Warner for [...]

Teal toes, day at the spa, and a good cause

I saw on the Charlotte Today show that September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and in honor of that there are several salons offering $20 teal-polish pedicures for the event. The designer/editor in me wants to point out that this is more turquoise than teal, but I digress. Amy, Colleen, Jenn and I are all over this [...]

Hard core and intimidating? Hardly

Much delayed, but I promised to share my experiences from my first triathlon, so here goes: There’s something that seems very hard-core and intimidating about a triathlete. Which is why I laughed in my brother’s face when he first suggested I race a triathlon. But the truth is, I very much wanted to become comfortable [...]

What is a best friend?

Apparently today is National Best Friends Day. It comes at a time in my life in which friendship and the very meaning of it has been something I’ve questioned. So, what is a best friend? Being a little bit of a grammar stickler, I have trouble with those who claim to have multiple best friends. Don’t [...]

Going down this road is scarier than it has to be

I am by no means a cycling expert. In fact, I still consider myself very much a beginner. But in the short time I’ve spent chatting with people about cycling, I’ve noticed some misconceptions about the rules of the road. I told Amy I wanted to write a blog post and she mentioned that her [...]

If you promise free beer, you better deliver …

So, Charlotte Racefest happened. And I was there. And I ran. And I did way better than I thought I would. In fact, I was only about a minute and some change slower than the half marathon I ran in October, and I was more prepared for that one, and that one was less hilly. [...]

Why I dropped my pants for the world to see

Okay, so I promised you the other day I’d tell you about dropping my pants. So I’ll start this blog post by telling you about that part. Scott, Jeff and I were hiking in the Great Basalm Mountains. During one break we were all standing on the trail and we heard a weird noise. Coming [...]

Discouraged

I just ran 4 miles. It was harder than it should have been. All my runs lately are harder than they should be. Running partners, I need you. You haven’t seen me lately. Don’t let me get away with it. Make me run with you. Make me run with you a lot.

It’s all uphill right now … but I have a hammock.

Stealing this picture from Kevin’s blog because this is just what I need right now: And lucky for me, I have an awesome brother and friends who invited me to go hiking/camping with them this weekend in Roan Mountain, Tenn. We will be leaving tomorrow evening and hiking 3 peaks (a total of 12 miles.) [...]