7.30.2010

OOTN

Outfit Of The Night



Banana Republic Tank, Hudson Jeans, Target shoes, Burberry scarf, Micheal Kors watch


Joel and I are walking to a wine bar in Lincoln Park for the night. Cheers to a good weekend!

P.S. apparently the down comforter under the bed needs to be pushed back farther - Whoops!

7.29.2010

What did I just do?

Uh. Oh.


I just signed up for a 10k race. You know, in a mere 6 weeks. By myself.



What did I just do to myself???



I have done one 10k race before, 2 years ago in November, with a girlfriend, and I didn't die, but it wasn't "easy". I'm pretty comfortable running 2 to 3 miles, and I don't push myself to go farther, which is why I had to sign up for this race. I'm goal oriented and I'm hoping this gives me the mojo to start going after things that I want to do to better myself.

Whenever I train for races (5k/10k) I always use Hal Higdon's Novice Schedule. It's really do-able and he eases you into long runs without feeling like you are on the express lane to hell.


Week
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
1
Stretch & strength
2.5 m run
30 min cross
2 m run
+ strength
Rest
40 min cross
3 m run
2
Stretch & strength
2.5 m run
30 min cross
2 m run
+ strength
Rest
40 min cross
3.5 m run
3
Stretch & strength
2.5 m run
35 min cross
2 m run
+ strength
Rest
50 min cross
4 m run
4
Stretch & strength
3 m run
35 min cross
2 m run
+ strength
Rest
50 min cross
4 m run
5
Stretch & strength
3 m run
40 min cross
2 m run
+ strength
Rest
60 min cross
4.5 m run
6
Stretch & strength
3 m run
40 min cross
2 m run
+ strength
Rest
60 min cross
5 m run
7
Stretch & strength
3 m run
45 min cross
2 m run
+ strength
Rest
60 min cross
5.5 m run
8
Stretch & strength
3 m run
30 min cross
2 m run
+ strength
Rest
Rest
10-K Race


I don't have 8 weeks to train, but since I've been running a few times a week, I think I should (hopefully) be okay.

There's no time like the present, right?

7.25.2010

Chicago Street Festival

I'm a newbie in the city and I'm still trying to figure out what I want my "city" look to be. Last night, we hit up the Lincoln Park Street Festival. It was lots of music, beer, and fried foods - pretty much Chicago at its greatest.

I, of course, was mainly interested in the what everyone was wearing. Looking back on it, I totally should have taken pictures of outfits, like they do in Lucky Mag, but....I didn't. So here is my best reenactment of what hit the streets last night.



7.23.2010

obsessed


One of the worst....cough, cough best.......things about my new house is that there is the cutest candy store a stone's throw away.

CANDYALITY



Every time a visitor pops in, I insist on taking them to this sweet gem.

Well now, I'm truly addicted to the newest trend in candy ---> Chocolate gummy bears



They sound kind of weird, but they will blow your mind. Run, don't walk, to your nearest candy store and beg them to order a batch of these. You will not be disappointed.

7.21.2010

TOMS

After months of crushing on these, I finally decided to make these pretties at home in my closet.



TOMS is such a great company and the shoe is super comfy and really versatile. Apparently they stretch out a ton, so Jeff (my Nordstroms BFF go-to shoe guy) insisted I go a 1/2 size smaller than usual.

The shoe is a great, casual summer shoe, and I'm hoping they can handle lots of city walking. The only hard part about deciding if I wanted to take Tom home was choosing which pattern! Do you have TOMS? Whats your favorite pattern?










P.S. My next pair:

7.19.2010

My Style Icon

You know, because I've been whining about it, that I'm really unhappy with my closet. It's time for an update. I've been shopping every single day for the last 4 days and I've come home with one shirt. I shop, and shop, and shop, and I have no idea what I'm looking for, what I need, or what I want. I'm heading back out to the jungle (a.k.a. clothing stores) on Wednesday and I'm determined to come home with revamped style and pulled togetherness.


Which leads me to my all-time favorite dresser in the entire universe. Here's why:





She knocks it out of the park every, single, flipping, time.

7.16.2010

Not Happy

I'm really unhappy with the clothes in my closet. I keep wearing the same things and can't seem to make a cute outfit on a daily basis. I just continue to look in my closet and see absolutely nothing. Tomorrow I have the whole day to myself and I think I'm going to try and score some cheap thrills at Forever 21 and Nordstroms Rack.

I'm not on my own computer right now and don't have access to my inspiration folder (aka I'm hella too lazy to get up, walk 200sq ft into the other room and power up my computer), so I will take pics of the clothes I get tomorrow and see how I can play with them.

Do you get in these funks? I feel like it happens to me way too often.

7.13.2010

HUGE NEWS


JOEL GOT THE JOB!



He hasn't been home yet for me to congratulate him, so I hope he finds this a welcome surprise. I'm so proud of him I could've filled the entire house in balloons!

7.12.2010

Medium news

AHHH!!!!! Joel got an interview at the company he's been dealing with since March! Okay, I'm trying not to completely freak out in excitement, mainly because it's not a job (YET) and because I need to keep my cool for both him and myself, but I'm just dying inside! I'm so excited for Joel. It's a great Fortune 500 company, with a great reputation, and well recieved buisness to start your career. It will be a decrease in pay from his current job, but it has so much more potential for growth and its in the field, sales, he ultimately wants to be in. The interview is tomorrow at 9am. Please pray!

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Living in Chicago has been a whirlwind. I lived at home for 7 months, and it was probably the slowest 7 months of my life. I loved having the opportunity to be with my mom and dad (and I really miss them), but I didn't have much of a social life. Since living downtown (all 8 days of it) my life has been packed full of friends, plans, work, errands, resturants, bars, parties, etc. It's been such a needed, refreshing, fun change and I feel like this is the place I should be at the ripe age of 22.





7.05.2010

Welcome back, Welcome back, Welcome backkkk

I'm very aware that no one is reading this blog (except for Claire, Hi Claire), but I'm okay with that. I'm going to pretend people are reading it, and interested in it, and that works for me.

I just moved to Chicago and it's time for a whole new me. Things I need improvment on are:

1.Food/Exercise: I eat and act like a child in this area. I constantly go out to dinner, I over indulge, over stuff, and feel very over weight. I need to learn how to control my eating. I also need to step up my exercise. This area is so critical and I hate knowing that I have tried to revamp this area of my life hundreds of times with little success. I need to come up with a game plan and actually succeed.

2. Attitude: I just moved in with my boyfriend Joel. I want to have a positive, upbeat, outgoing attitude towards him and everything we do. I want our living arrangment to be a very positive one and I need to have a positive attitude all the time.

3. Job: I need a job.

4. Learn the city: I just moved to Chicago. It's the coolest city and I'm living in the throws of it. I want to take advantage of everything it has to offer. I want to know the city, the streets, the restaurants, the people, the neighborhoods, etc. There are so many fun things to do, I have no excuse for staying in and being a hermit.

5. Clothes/Appearance: I want to look the part. I really want to dress well, all the time. I need to learn how to put together really great outfits with pieces that I already have. There is no reason why I should be leaving the house in mis-matched, unflattering clothes. I'm ovvvvver that.

*Those are my type 5 things, other honorable mentions include: saving money, cooking healthy dinners, making a lot of new friends, staying in touch with my old friends, being a good friend/daughter/sister/girlfriend, reading lots of books, going to church more often, finding a church that I really connect with, starting a game night with girlfriends, being more active all around, try new activities, stay organized.....your getting the idea.



SO, where am I going to be doing all of this self renewal? Well, take a look.