can I run 13.1 miles?

On March 20, 2011 I will be running my first half marathon!  I found out today that I was accepted into the 2011 New York City half marathon.  I am so excited but also pretty nervous because I have never run a race this long before.  I used to run cross country but that was only a 5K, granted it was on a very hilly course but still it wasn't even close to 13.1 miles.

Kevin has promised that he will be there cheering me on.  It will mean so much to hear him screaming for me and I know it will make me run even faster.  I wonder if he knows that the race starts at 7:25 on a Sunday morning... hehe.  I hope my parents will come cheer me on as well.  My mom was my best cheerleader when I ran cross country and I definitely ran my best when she was there.  

So now my training begins.  Do I even know how to train?  Nope but I will do my best.  This half marathon will be a great jump start to getting in shape and losing weight for my September wedding.

the most beautiful animated film

I just saw this little animated film on Rockstar Diaries and I had to re-post it.  Please watch it, you will not be disappointed!

Thought of You from Ryan J Woodward on Vimeo.

I am completely blown away by this.

Thought of You - Behind the Scenes Preview - ROUGH CUT from Cambell Christensen on Vimeo.

 I wish I was a dancer!

it's that itch again

Uh oh.  It's that itch again.  That tattoo itch.  I want another one.  No wait I want two more.  Hmmm maybe three... 

I love tattoos, absolutely love them.  Kevin on the other hand isn't as into them as I am.  He likes the tattoos I have now and was so supportive about my big bluebird tattoo (even though he was a little nervous about it), but he doesn't want me to be covered in tattoos.  While I am a firm believer in getting a tattoo for yourself and not letting other people's opinions influence you I have to respect the way Kevin feels.  Even though it is MY body I do share it with him and he has to see it everyday.  I would never want it to be hard for him to look at me.  So while I would rush out there and get the tattoos I want I think I have to run them by him first and get him on board.

Hmmm I wonder how he will feel about me getting tattooed again before we get married...

Update: Kevin was not very pleased when he read this post.  I had to assure him that I am not making plans for any big tattoos.  I only have a couple small tattoo ideas.

new beginnings

2011 is going to be a new beginning for me.  Not just because it is a new year but also because I quit my job last week (yikes) and will spend the beginning of 2011 hunting for a new one.  I have been very unhappy with my current job for over a year and I finally reached my breaking point.  Kevin really helped me decide that it was time for me to quit and start the new year with a better attitude.  I could not be luckier to have the most wonderful, understanding and supportive fiance!  My new job at the beginning of 2011 will be finding a new job, haha.  I really need to take some time to think hard about what I want to be doing so I don't go from one job I don't like to another one I don't like.  I am really looking forward to doing a little soul searching:)

So many wonderful things will happen to me in 2011!  I will lose weight (I am not allowing myself the option of wimping out on this one - it WILL happen), I will find a new job, Kevin and I will move into a new apartment and Kevin and I will become HUSBAND and WIFE.  I am so excited about every one of these things and I just can't wait to get 2011 started.

I hope everyone else is as excited about 2011 as I am!

present dilemma

So I have been dating Kevin for over 4 years which means we have spent approximately 15 "present giving" holidays together.  That would be Christmas, Valentine's Day, his birthday and our dating anniversary to be exact.  You would think that after all that time I would have gotten pretty good at figuring out what to get Kevin but the sad truth is that I have not.  Every time one of these "present giving" holidays approaches I start to panic.  You see I am at a major disadvantage here because Kevin gets me amazing presents.  Well really he cheats because he works at a sapphire company so he has endless amounts of sparkly goodies at his fingertips.  I guess that really isn't cheating but it sure makes it easy to get a kick-ass last minute present.  Even when he doesn't get me something sparkly he always gets me something I have been wanting for a while.  I like to think that I make it pretty easy for him because I talk about things I want alllllll the time, haha.  Soooo, in order to help myself be more prepared with present ideas I have started a little note in my phone where I can jot down ideas whenever they pop in my head.  So far there is nothing exciting on that list, just three pretty lame ideas.  Ugh, this is so hard.  Why can I rattle off at least 10 awesome things that I would want as a present but I can't even come up with 3 good ideas for the love of my life.  Does anyone else have this dilemma?  It seems I'm not engaged to a person who actively wants things and vocalizes it.  He is also the kind of person who will just buy himself something if he really wants it.  Oh well.

This year I got Kevin a pretty nice Christmas present.  No, I did not come up with the idea on my own.  He told me what he wanted so I can't really take credit for it.  There will be no surprises when he opens his present this Christmas but at least I know he will like it... he better like it!  Now I just have to start thinking of the perfect birthday present.  Did I mention that his birthday is January 13?!?!?!  Only 19 days between 2 "present giving" holidays, yikes!!!

p.s. I think the best present I have ever given Kevin was on our 1 year dating anniversary.  I adopted him a pygmy elephant from the World Wildlife Foundation.  He was really surprised and so excited.  We have a picture of the cute little guy sitting on our bookshelf.  Whenever someone asks about it Kevin proudly tells them that it is his PET PYGMY ELEPHANT.  Too cute!!!

wedding decor inspiration

I have been a little quiet so far this December so what better way to break the silence than with a little wedding decor inspiration.  I spend most of my time dreaming about what I think our wedding will look like and I am constantly pouring over wedding blogs and wedding magazines to find more details that go along with the overall look I am trying to achieve.  

I would say that the theme of our wedding is "simple country elegance with a fall twist."  Haha does that make sense?  I grew up in the country and Kevin has spent a lot of time at his family's house in Montana so having a more rustic feeling wedding was important to us - well important to me anyway and I think he is just going with the flow.  We are getting married in September so I want to incorporate the feeling of New England fall as much as possible.  Here are a couple pictures that I find particularly inspiring.  

Ceremony decor:

I really love the idea of adding pumpkins and gourds!

Reception decor:

We are going to use lots and lots of dahlias that my parents will grow!

I want to use as many natural elements that I can.

Paper goods:

Overall atmosphere:

Kevin and I have not had a chance to walk through the reception site so I haven't been able to make many solid plans about how I was to decorate it or how much I have to decorate it.  I have planned the ceremony decoration but probably won't make too many solid reception decoration plans until the spring.  Luckily we still have about 9 months till the wedding so I am not feeling stressed... yet:)

I took all this photos off the internet and have had them in a my wedding inspiration folder for ages so sadly I have no idea what wedding blog each of these came from... is it against blogging code for me to use them?  I promise I mean no harm and do not want to upset anyone.  If you see an image that belongs to you please let me know and I will either take it down or credit it accordingly.  I believe all these images came from one of these wedding blogs:  

Style Me Pretty or Once Wed or Snippet and Ink or Green Wedding Shoes or 100 Layer Cake

knicks game

Last night Kevin and I got to go to our first NBA game ever thanks to my dear friend Ingram (Chris Ingram that is).  It was such a blast.  The crowd was a very New York crowd, totally different from the NY Rangers crowd, hehe.

 Woohoo the Knicks won!

We had to stop and get a picture with the inflatable Budweiser bottle on the way home, haha.

wedding registry

This weekend Kevin and I went to Williams Sonoma and Crate & Barrel to start our wedding registry.  It was soooo much fun to walk through the stores and "shop" for everything we want.  Kevin was just excited to use a gun... a barcode gun that is.  

We tackled Williams Sonoma on Saturday and Crate & Barrel on Sunday.  I couldn't help but fantasize about the wonderful new apartment we will be living in when we get married... yes we will be moving before the wedding and no we haven't found a new apartment yet I am just making one up in my head, hehe.  Our lease is up on our current apartment at the end of June and although our apartment is nice and has amazing outdoor space it is just too small for us.  Plus the apartment really aggravates Kevin's allergies which is absolutely no good at all.  Knowing that we are moving makes registering a little harder.  I have no real apartment to imagine in my head when I consider whether we will have room for certain things.  I am also trying to register for stuff that will create a cohesive look as a whole - colors are very important.  Kevin is having a slightly harder time looking at the big picture and either gets a little trigger happy and is ready to scan everything in sight or looks at me like I have three heads when I suggest something.  

The great thing about registering at Williams Sonoma and Crate & Barrel (and I'm sure any other big store like these two) is that you can to view and edit your registry online.  I will definitely spend many hours looking over our registries and making changes, hehe.

Overall it was a wonderful experience.  I never thought I would have to much fun shopping without actually leaving the store with anything.  I wish I had taken some pictures of the adventures but I didn't, I even had my camera in my bag, silly me. 

project eyebrows

Christine from My Style Pill and Keiko from Keiko Lynn have both recently done posts (here and here) about the magical Anjali at Shobha.  I have not had anyone other than myself touch my eyebrows since I was probably 14 or 15.  Since then I have been plucking away at them and failing to make myself happy with their appearance.  I have very thick and very dark eyebrows that I simply cannot tame on my own.  

After reading Christine and Keiko's posts about their eyebrow threading experience with Anjali I decided I should give it a try.  I have known about threading for a while but never really understood how it worked.  I am also always scared to let someone do something dramatic to my face if I do not have 100% confidence that they will do an amazing job (I feel the same way about my hair which is why I have only gotten my haircut from Maria in my hometown for the past 7 years), but Christine and Keiko's rave reviews made me give in. 

I had my appointment Wednesday night and it went so well.  Anjali is the sweetest woman and seriously an eyebrow guru.  We started the appointment by talking about what I want my brows to look like and what they should look like.  Just as I had suspected I had been plucking them too far in and making my brows look too sharp.  We really don't need to draw any extra attention to my brows which was all I was doing with my plucking, oops.  After the initial discussion she got to work trimming and threading away.  I have to admit that it did hurt a little but certainly nothing that I couldn't handle, especially after my big tattoo experience.  

Once she was done I was shocked at how great my brows looked.  She achieved something I never could have on my own.  Of course when I got home Kevin couldn't really tell that there was a difference, tisk tisk boys are so unobservant.  Here is a little photo comparison:

(before)

(after)

 (I apologize for the subpar pictures)

I think it is pretty obvious that there is a difference but maybe that is because I stare at my face everyday.  Can you tell a difference?

Now begins "project eyebrows," yipee!  I will be going back to see Anjali about once a month over the next few months as we work on lengthening my brows and creating a more dramatic arch.  I am so thrilled that I will have perfect eyebrows for my wedding day:)

Anyone who is considering getting their eyebrows threaded should definitely go to Anjali, you won't regret it!

tattoos

Holly from Running in Stilettos inspired me to do a post about my tattoos - she even gave me a great shoutout, thanks Holly!  I have been meaning to blog about all my tattoos since I got my newest one but I have been slacking, oops.  

I have 4 tattoos at the moment.  Well I guess it depends on how you count them because if I was counting each separate tattooed piece on my body I would have 7!  That seems like a lot.  Anywhooo... I have loved tattoos for a long time.  They can be so detailed and colorful and can hold so much meaning.  I am always amazed at how creative people get with their tattoos.  In another life I would be tattooed from head to toe, seriously I would be.  In this life I am too scared to commit my entire body to artwork and I know my parents and fiance would not be pleased about it.  I really love all the tattoos I have right now, they are all so meaningful to me.  I thought long and hard about each one (well kinda).  So here they all are (I will go in the order I got them)...

(I apologize for the poor photo quality except for the last one)

Tattoo #1: 3 stars on my left wrist/hand.  I got this tattoo the week I started my senior year of college (September 2006).  The stars symbolize my brothers and I.  I have the best relationships with my younger brothers, we are so close.  

 I love that you can't really see all three at once.

Tattoo #2: diamond on the back of my neck.  This is probably my most impulsive tattoo.  I got it the summer after I graduated from college (July 2007).  Kevin helped me come up with the idea and it is a little tribute to him.  I don't usually suggest getting a tattoo for a girl/boyfriend but this tattoo doesn't say his name and is very discreet.

Tattoo#3: an 'E' on the inside of my right wrist.  I got this tattoo in October of 2009 in honor of my family dog Elsa that we had to put to sleep last fall.  It was the most devastating experience and I still get teary if I think about her for too long.  The second I knew she was sick and wouldn't be with us too much longer I decided I needed to get a tattoo for her.  I love how simple the E is.  I toyed with the idea of getting her full name but in the end I decided not to.  

Tattoo #4: two bluebirds on my upper back.  This is my largest tattoo and the only one in color.  I got it this past October in honor of my parents.  Ever since I got my first tattoo for my brothers I knew I had to get one for my parents some day.  I did a big post about this tattoo here if you want to check it out. 

Did you notice a theme?  All my tattoos have to do with my family.  I have always thought it is important to get a tattoo of something that will never change, something that's meaning will remain constant.  The love I have for my family will never change.  There will never be a time when I look at any of my tattoos and regret them because they each represent someone I love with all my heart.  I have nothing against people who get tattoos without such a deep meaning but it is important to me personally.

I am definitely not done getting tattoos but since I just spent a decent amount of money on a big one I am taking a break for a little while.  I will definitely get tattoos for my children when the time comes and I have a couple other small ideas that I have been tossing around...

i miss claudia

I knew this was gonna happen but I wasn't really prepared for just how sad it is without Claudia here:(  I miss her, like really really really miss her.  I want her to come home now.  I know it's selfish but I just want her back here so we can spend time together.

The countdown to December 17 begins now...

these babies are mine!

A couple weeks ago I won a giveaway on Lynzy's blog From Skirts to Skillets (she has since shut down that blog and can now be found on Sparkling Footsteps) for a $100 Beso gift certificate.  I couldn't believe I won!  I never win anything ever, haha.  Since I am casually obsessed with shoes I immediately knew I wanted to get a new pair of boots, a pair of Frye boots:)  

After looking through all the Frye boots I decided on the Frye Engineer 12R:

(via)

Aren't they amazing?!?!?  I got my $100 gift certificate from Beso for Piperlime and ordered the boots.  They arrived only 4 days after I ordered them!  I got the package at work, opened it and tried to put on the left boot.  I couldn't get it on!!!  I started to panic thinking that they just weren't going to work for me and I would have to send them back.  I tried to put my foot in again but I still couldn't.  I knew they would fit if only I could get my foot in so I brought them home determined to get them on. 

When I got home I tried on the right one and got it on with only a little bit of a struggle.  So I put my foot in the left one and pushed my foot in as I pulled up on the boot as hard as I could and I got it on.  Then I collapsed on the couch out of breath, haha.  Once they were on my feet I instantly fell in love.  They fit perfectly and are so comfortable!  I was concerned that I was going to have a lot of trouble getting them off but I really didn't.  This morning it was a little easier to get them on.  I am really in love with them and know they will be in my shoe collection for a very long time:)

Thank you Lynzy and Beso for making it possible for me to get these great boots!!! 

let's go blues

Last March Kevin, Chris, Beth and I started a little tradition of going to the Rangers vs. Blues hockey game at Madison Square Garden.  Kevin bought the tickets this time around and they accidentally got sent to his house in St. Louis.  His dad opened the package and saw how "crappy" our seats were so he then asked his friend (a former Blues player) to hook us up with better seats... boy did he deliver.  We sat in section 133 behind the net!  It is so incredible to see a hockey game from that close, the players are huge!

Guess what... the Blues won!!!  They also won the last game we went to see.  It seems Kevin and I are bad luck for the Rangers, hehe.

 After the game was over we hopped down to boards to get a look at the rink from up close... it would be amazing to see a game from these seats.

Woot woot I can't wait for the next game!

a family weekend

This weekend Kevin's parents and my parents came to visit us.  It was the first time our parents have seen each other since Kevin and I graduated in 2007.  We had a wonderful weekend full of eating, eating and more eating along with some walking, museum exploring and marathon cheering.  Oh and we discussed the wedding a little, haha.  

Overall it was a wonderful weekend.  I always love to spend time with my parents and my soon-to-be inlaws.  Both sets of parents got along so well!  I am so lucky to have the most amazing family and to be be joining another wonderful family:)

Of course I didn't bring along my camera for almost the entire weekend, silly me but my dad did snap a couple shots of me with my two mamas at Genesis.  Marty and Mark got both mamas flowers, they are so beautiful!

 We even took some "girly" shots, yum:)

I really wish I had gotten a picture of all of us together, oh well I will just have to do it next time.

lust list

I have been seriously craving some major shopping but the emptiness of my wallet and the extra weight I have managed to gain have held me back... I am actually quite proud of myself for not shopping recently (let's just ignore the fact that I bought a dress at H&M yesterday, hehe).  

Since I can't do much real shopping I have decided to creating a little list the items I have been lusting over...

Frye Boots

(via)

Pretty Dresses

(via)

(via)

An Olive Green Jacket

(via)

Shoes, Shoes and more Shoes

(via)

(via)

(via)

Hopefully I will find some extra cash soon to purchase something from my list:)

jagger photography!!!

OMG I am so thrilled to share this news... I have booked my dream photographers for my wedding... Heather and Grayson of JAGGER PHOTOGRAPHY!!!  Below is a picture of them on their wedding day:)

(via)

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am casually obsessed with looking at wedding blogs and gathering wedding ideas (yes I did this even before Kevin and I got engaged).  When I started seriously looking at wedding blogs and collecting inspirational photos I would take note of the real wedding photos I liked a lot and check out the photographer's blog.  I have probably looked at over 70 wedding photographer blogs and have compiled quite a list of all my favorites (if anyone needs some ideas just let me know, haha).  

Jagger Photography has been on the top of my list since I first came across their work.  Not only do they capture the most beautiful wedding moments but they seem like such a kick-ass and fun couple to work with.  I really wanted a wedding photographer that would make Kevin and me feel comfortable and who I could trust to capture the perfect memories of our wedding.  Neither Kevin and I are super comfortable in front of the camera but I have a feeling that Heather and Grayson will become our friends instantly and they will make us forget how awkward we feel posing.

(via)
I could really go on and on about how freakin' excited I am to have booked them for my wedding.  It is a dream come true and I still can't believe it's really happening.  Here are some examples of their work... if you don't love it then we just can't be friends anymore.

(via)

 (via)

 (via)
 
(via)
Do you see why I just had to have them for my wedding?  They better make me look as pretty as these brides:)  Seriously, I could look at their work all day long!