The Loot

I should warn you before you read more: This post is all about me.  I mean, really, they all are but this one even more so.  If you're not in the mood to see a bunch of self-timer self portraits then you should probably go somewhere else.  If you do want a good laugh though you should scan to the bottom of the page and take a look at my "bloopers" - who am I kidding, pretty much all my photos are bloopers.

I went shopping on Thursday with my mom and grandmother and then I hit up a few stores on Saturday and finished up the week with a stop on Sunday.  Did I need anything?  Uh... not at all. 

Remember in middle school and high school when you bought clothes from Wal-Mart and tried to pretend they were from some really expensive store in the mall?  Oh... that was just me?

Well now I buy clothes from Wal-Mart (okay, not true, I just buy cheap clothes) and I brag about it.  In my mind the less money you pay for an item of clothing the more valuable it really is.

FOREVER 21

(aka my favorite store)

Scarf - $5.50

Goes well with skirt/shorts and probably jeans

Super comfy pants for $8.50... sadly they make my legs look like tree trunks (did I mention I have 4 of them in various colors?  Oops)

Cream top that I also have in red - $11.50 - want to hear something kind of pathetic?  I almost never ever pay that much for just a shirt.  I'm moving up in the world.

Plato's Closet

If you've never heard of Plato's then... well, you're missing out big time.  Basically you pay dollars and pennies for gently used name brand clothing.  This is my kind of store.  You can also sell your clothes there, also for near nothing. 

Really comfy, long tank with small pocket for dance (and sleeping, yes please) - $2.40

Basically my favorite shirt in the entire world.  Now I have it in three colors.  I still want more. $5.60, shorts $4

$3.20

$2.40

This shirt for $3.20

On Sunday I hit up another one of my favorite places in the world:

TJ Maxx Homegoods

Shirt for $7.99

The front

The back.  $10 - originally $58.  Who the heck pays these prices?

Running capris - $19.99

Now I am forbidding myself to set foot in a clothing store for... well, at least a week

BLOOPERS!!! :)

I really have no words of explanation... it is a little odd that all the really bad pictures happened with these pants

Okay, I promise not to post this many pictures of myself all at once ever again ;)

Down to Business

I had a great week visiting with my grandparents last week and now it's back to the grind.  All I managed last week were a few runs.

I knew the unseasonably cool weather we experienced on Wednesday morning wouldn't last but I wasn't expecting the hot and humid morning I got on Friday



If you can't tell, the only part that is dry is the bottom right of my shirt

Super weird pose, looks like I'm practicing my posing for a figure competition - Nah, I'm just trying to show you how sweaty I got:  This is nothin, it's not even summer yet ;)

Friday night I slept in a compression sleeve for my shin that has been bothering me lately...

... and woke up with some sort of rash all over my leg.  Hard to tell from the picture but it's there.  Yeah, don't think I'll be wearing that sleeve too much anymore.

Saturday I skipped my planned long run and went shopping instead.  I'm saving my loot for another post... mostly because I washed it all and most of the stuff I got is still wet.  Or still in my trunk.

Saturday afternoon I went with my parents and Rachel to an event for Rachel's sorority (I'm an alumnus).  It was super boring because I couldn't eat any of the food.  Thankfully I had stuffed my face before the event so I wasn't really jealous of everyone getting to eat but it ended up making the event seem really pointless.

At least we got a good picture out of it ;)

After the event Rachel and I went running.  Rachel has been running 3 miles a few times a week for several weeks now, a few months actually.  I've been telling her she's strong enough to increase her mileage but for some reason she didn't think she could do it.  On Tuesday we went 4 miles and she did great.  I was so proud of her!  Rachel asked me to run 4 miles with her again on Saturday. 

Now... I am not proud of what I'm about to share.  I decided at some point during the day that I was going to run 5 miles and not tell Rachel anything until we finished.  Somewhere between mile 1 and 2 Rachel had to stop because she was feeling really nauseous.  This is where I should have felt super guilty and just ran the planned 2 miles before we turned around.  Did I?  No...

At 2 miles I asked her if she could go another 1/2 mile before the turn around.  She asked "Is that how far we have to go until 2 miles?" and I lied "Yep"

On the way back we had to stop a few times for Rachel to stretch.  She was feeling really sore and her muscles were cramping up.  Oops!  I felt really guilty.  That girl doesn't have any quit in her though.  She ran the last mile or so without stopping and a lot of it was uphill. 

As soon as we finished I told her that she had just run 5 miles (the farthest she's ever run!) - she told me she hated me.

I promised never ever to do that to her again and as it turned out she was really happy that she had gone the whole 5 miles.

This week I promised myself that I would focus a little more on weight training.  I've kind of been all about running for the past several weeks and have been seriously slacking on weight training.  I miss it and after a visit with the super fit and muscular "D" on Friday (A woman I babysit for) I was really ready to get back to weightlifting.

I started off the day with stadiums with Rach

Came home, cleaned, washed and folded laundry, cleaned out a whole bunch of clothes that I never wear

And got down to business

I'm so intense my eyes glow red

Oops - you can see I'm only lifting 10s.  One day, just you watch, I'll be lifting a lot more than that.

As a matter of fact, I'm getting sick of P90X.  I like that I can do it at home whenever I want but I'm ready for more.

I'm off to teach dance.  Hope you all have a fabulous Monday!

I can't think of a title...

I've had a nice and super busy week.  Hanging out with my grandparents has been really nice.  I only get to see them a few times a year so I always try to soak up as much time I can when they visit.  Unfortunately I thought they were coming LAST week so I ended up scheduling all kinds of babysitting for this week and haven't been able to spend as much time with them as I would have liked. 

I've had a great running week.  Funny that I would say that because I've only actually gone out twice.  Running is so much a mental game though and if I have a good run mentally for me that means I've had a pretty good week.  Not to say that I usually have bad runs mentally... but you know what I mean.

On Tuesday Rachel came over for dinner to visit with my grandparents.  After dinner I convinced her to go for a run with me.  She's been running 3 miles 2-3 times a week for a few months now.  I knew she could do 4 but I knew she just needed a little push and a little motivation so I convinced her to run 4 with me.  This is going to sound super snobby but it is so nice running with someone slow.  It was so relaxing!  I wish she had let me talk to her though... she turns up her music really loud so she can't hear me =/.  Running her pace makes me realize that when I tell myself I can slow down I'm not really slowing down.  When I'm really struggling I give myself permission to slow down and then I usually find I'm still struggling - no wonder, slowing down by 30 seconds/mile really isn't that much. 

Here we are post run - notice our flashing lights :)

On Wednesday I went for a 10 mile run.  I don't know what Florida is thinking but it must be thinking it is another state... because April in Florida should not be this cold.  I promise I am not complaining but I was definitely not expecting 48 degrees as the starting temperature for my run yesterday.  I PR'd again!!! 1:18:18 - only by about 30 seconds but I'm just amazed at how quickly I am improving.  Average pace was 7:50!  2 of the 10 were just over 8 minutes. 

Bathed in cold water (cause Dad took all the hot water) after a cool run and then downed a frozen smoothie...

Nope, I'm not choking myself.

I.AM.FREEEEZING - Story of my whole day

Time crunched?  Not a problem.  I am the queen of multi-tasking.  Hairdrying, foam rolling... TV watching?  Oops, you can't actually hear the TV.

I have also been known to:

Watch TV while doing workout videos

Watch TV while taking a bath.

Well, I hope you all have a fabulous day!  Pray I get some motivation to go running later today.  If I do, this week will seriously be an awesome running week.

It also might be a good idea to pray I don't spend a fortune when I go shopping this morning with my mom and grandmom.  :)

The Top

I used to complain all the time about how boring my town was and how there was nothing unique at all that I could show out-of-towners.  Well, apparently I'm dead wrong - at least when it comes to cool restaurants.  I thought chain restaurants were our only options but I've been finding out recently that there are really a lot of cool places to eat. 

This morning I went to church

For the first time in... well a really long time, I actually wore the first thing I put on.  Am I the only one who needs to try on like 5 outfits before deciding on one?

Believe it or not I DID actually just vacuum this carpet - obviously I should never make a career out of vacuuming

New funky tribal looking earrings.

Crazy eyebrows. 

After church I had lunch with my friends Kristen and Alexis and Kristen's best friend Amy

Kristen, me and Alexis (not from today)

We went to The Top - OH MY GOSH most amazing place EVER!!!!

To be honest, this review is based off of me rarely ever going to a place that caters to vegans/vegetarians.  Usually I have to get salad everywhere I go, it gets super boring.  I can usually only find one or two items that I can have.  It was so overwhelming to have a whole menu to choose from.  Now I know how normal people feel ;)

It pretty much encompasses everything I love

It has great atmosphere, is super kitchsy and mismatched in a non-tacky way

According to yelp.com The Top's ambiance is: Hipster, Romantic, Trendy, Touristy, Casual

And has some pretty unique wait staff - sadly they weren't wearing the beards today ;)

I had a hard time choosing what to get but ended up with a falafel burger, fresh fruit and sweet potato fries that I shared with the table.  Everything was DELICIOUS!  I am in love.

After today's adventure I'm really excited to go back but also to try out some other places around town. 

Currently I'm trying to resist the Sunday Afternoon Nap

Never ends well...

I'm always left feeling really groggy all day.  It's so hard though, I'm really draggy after babysitting until 12:30 last night. 

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Will Run for Candy

Well, it did end up raining all week and instead of sucking it up like I talked about I let any excuse I could possibly use come between me and running.  I would forgive myself if I had actually done something productive the days that I stayed home but I pretty much just did this all day.

The most moody cat I know.  I don't even know why he came into my room and hogged my pillow because he wouldn't let me pet him.  He really flipped out when my phone started ringing and I started moving him around.  Turned out Smokey was sleeping on top of the phone.

By Friday the weather had taken a 180 degree turn for the better and I had no excuse.  As a matter of fact, it was really cool out for this time of year.  When I checked the weather it was 42 degrees outside.  I felt like this was an appeasement gift from the weather gods for the awful weather that had ruined my spring break and confined me to the house for most of the week.

I'm not sure if it was the beautiful weather, the fact that I hadn't been on a run in a whole week, the shirt I was wearing or the sport beans I brought with me... but something made this a really really good run.

By the way, those sport beans are money.  Sooo good.  Heck yes I will run for candy!

I'm too lazy to get up and check my watch to tell you everything exactly so I'll just kind of go from memory.  I always start my run in the neighborhood.  It takes about 1.2 miles to get out of the neighborhood.  For some reason it's always the absolute worst part of my run (followed very closely by the last 1.2 miles home).  I decided not to put any pressure on the first mile and run really slow and easy.  I didn't look at my watch at all because when I do look at my watch I have a tendency to run faster than I planned originally.

When the watch beeped at one mile I glanced down, expecting to see something like 8:45.  What did I see?  7:19!  I couldn't believe it!!!  Just goes to show what you can accomplish when you run for the joy of it and don't pressure yourself.  I ended up running 8 out of the 10 miles sub 8 minutes.  The other two were like 8:12, I don't know exactly but I ended up getting a new 10 mile PR :).  1:18 something!

Then I rushed off to spend some time with my favorite little Asian ;)

I'm basically the weirdest babysitter ever.  I knew I needed some help with recovery after this run in preparation for the long run I was planning for today (Saturday)... so I brought these babies along and wore them while I was babysitting. 

This morning I woke up and I was NOT in the mood to run at ALL.  I had wanted to go for 13-15 miles but as soon as I woke up I lopped the run to my new favorite distance: 10 miles.

That still didn't make things easy.  Thankfully my mom woke up right around when it was getting time for me to leave.  I was complaining about how I didn't want to go and I just wanted to stay in bed.  Thankfully, she's heard me talk enough about how I often feel no motivation to get out there and by 0.5 miles I'm really glad I did and end up having a really great run.  She told me to suck it up and get out there and have a great run.  So I did...

Well, I did the getting out there part anyways.  It took me a loooong time to settle into this run.  As in, mile 5 or 6 I finally decided to stop fighting myself mentally and just finish the dang run. 

I have issues #123408234:  Can't seem to get in photo frame =/

I rewarded myself with this... thing

Blech.

I'm out of the vitamin water I usually add so I just put in extra almond milk... and some strawberries, oh and spring green mix instead of just spinach.  Maybe I added too many supplements?  I'm not sure but it was pretty bad.  I'm sure it was really good for me though.  Amazing greens powder, maca powder (this is the real blech - it smells so nasty), and some vega sport protein powder.

I'm super excited because next week my grandparents will be in town for my mom's spring break.  YES, people in the house!  In preparation for this joyous occasion I am realizing that it is absolutely essential that I clean the mess that I sometimes refer to as "my room" - time to get down to business! :)

Anything exciting happening for you this weekend?

I am lame

Yesterday I watched 4 kids while their dad took an online class for his job.  I had a great time making sure they stayed downstairs, off of the computer, off netflix and stayed quiet.  They were actually surprisingly very well behaved.  On normal days I try not to let them play on the computer or watch TV all day, I actually prefer them to do something active but sometimes it's like pulling teeth.  Yesterday they were really creative though, all by themselves.

I wish I had taken a picture of this.  One of the boys is super creative and artsy and he drew a combo of star wars and cars, aptly named... car wars.

J made a massive lego tower and insisted I take a picture of it

It was so tall I couldn't even get it in one shot from inside the room

He was so proud of his tower that he asked his mom all day if I had emailed her the photos yet

Yesterday evening I got to hang out with R for awhile.  We played outside until he was completely exhausted and then watched Dora for a few minutes.

Like I said, completely exhausted ;)

Can you tell I'm enjoying Dora too?

Today I have to leave the house by 10:30 and there's only a 10% chance of rain all morning. I bet you think that means I jumped right on it and went for a run, right?

I usually take my self timer self portrait amazingness after a run.  I took them before the run today.  Hmm... I wonder if that has anything to do with me wimping out on my run...

I foam rolled, I stretched, I applied glide, I got my watch ready, I added songs to my ipod, put my ipod in a plastic bag in case it rained, put sport beans in my pocket, pulled out the key, opened the door... decided I didn't want to run

I even did my hair!

I took about 5 photos just like this.  Proof that I actually don't look fully awake until around 10 =/

I feel super lame.  I don't know what is going on but I just don't feel like running.  My shin is feeling a lot better today, I think maybe this helped:

I'm going to try to convince myself throughout the day that I actually DO want to run.  I always feel good once I get out there... okay, usually.

If it's not raining and I've prepared myself mentally enough to make myself believe I do want to run then maybe I'll get some kind of run in tonight.  I have to finish out March strong!

I'm off to babysit some more today... and convince myself I want to run ;) or even do anything active.  I may be able to easily convince myself that I really want to lay in bed all day but I know from experience that laying in bed all day does not a happy Sharon make.

Rainy week day 2 :(

It rained all day yesterday and after checking the weather I was very disappointed to find out it would probably be raining for the majority of the week... so much for having a whole week to focus on running.

To say I'm bummed would be quite the understatement.

I am going to be bored out of my mind!

It looks like today will just be drizzly.  Thankfully I already got stadiums in.  Sadly, without Rachel. 

The face I make because I look dumb when I smile with my retainer in... obviously this is much better

The worst mornings are the mornings when I'm already half way to her apartment to pick her up and realize she's not going to pick up the phone no matter how many times I call her.  Sometimes I turn around and head home but that's a huge waste of 20-30 minutes.  On my best days I suck it up and run stadiums alone.  Since I did NOTHING yesterday I was able to convince myself that I should just go and get it done.  I'm glad I did.  I never regret exercising, it always feels good to get it done.

My shin has been sore in a really strange way.  The last time I ran was Friday and I can't figure out why it's still tight since all I've been doing since then is sitting around.  I'm not even sure if it's my shin that's bothering me - it's like the side of my calf. 

It feels like I've had several intense charlie horses, it just won't relax.  I've been foam rolling and icing so hopefully it'll clear up soon.  If those compression sleeves weren't so dang expensive I would have bought a pair already and would be wearing them like they were in style I'm sure.

I'm looking forward to a day of forced activity - the best part about kids.  They wouldn't sit still if you paid them to.  Hopefully we won't all go stir crazy inside all day.  Rain I hate you. 

I am a loser

No, really

I never win any giveaways.  SOMEDAY I know that it will happen.  If I was to never win anything again that would be okay with me if I could win this one.  Check it out!!!

I love skinny runner and I love her even more because she has crazy amazing giveaways.

The Biggest Giveaway in the History of the World