A Fling with Spring

This weekend couldn't have been better. The sun was shining and it was even warm enough to leave the clunky, winter coat behind. I even got to sleep in past 6a.m....am I dreaming? My family got together to celebrate my Dad's birthday on Friday and he let me know what song he wanted us to dance to for the Father/Daughter dance...YEP I cried like a little baby when I heard it. I'm sure the wedding day will be no different.

Saturday I took Josh's youngest sister out shopping and to get our nails done since she's not old enough to participate in the planned bachelorette festivities two weeks from now. I can't believe she turned 13 on Sunday. I remember when she was just a little one when Josh and I first started dating! Man...I feel so old.

I loved spoiling her all day because that's what older sis-in-laws should do right?! During our shopping venture, we saw a sign outside for free hugs. So hey why not? We went and got hugs by a whole bunch o' hippies. I do love the store though. They have the best jewelry from local artists, although you almost choke on all of the incense they have burning....ahem...

After we shopped til we dropped, we headed back for some dinner with Josh's mom and his cousins. We freaked out in happiness with how close the wedding is and went over some more wedding plans. By this time, we were also wondering how drunk and ridiculous everyone was getting at the bachelor party.

The following day was spent with one of my BFFs and her pup, Charlie. He has a huge issue with noisy children and strange people approaching him...two things we have in common.

Moments after this photo was taken, our loan application was also submitted to start looking at houses!!!! Because HEY I don't have enough excitement and craziness in my life! I'm telling ya, within the next few months, my life will experience so much change it's ridiculous! But a good kind of ridiculous. Josh and I found some great contenders for our first home together and we can't fricken wait to visit them!

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Next weekend is my weekend getaway with Josh and I can't fricken WAIT. He planned a weekend for us at a resort off of Lake Geneva a while back anticipating the insane amount of stress I'd be in around this time with all of the wedding planning and finding a place. He's the best. But until then...

 

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I seriously can't wait to put my years of HGTV-viewing to good use though with this house hunting business. Bring it on. I'm ready!

Spring Please?

Oh.My.God.....it's happened. I went for my first run without ANY cold gear! Queue the cheers, the hoorays, the happy dances!! I literally made sure Pharrell's "Happy" was played several times throughout my run. My pace was surprisingly quite good despite the hang-ups I've had due to the ice and snow. People got so excited, some runners around my neighborhood were even wearing shorts! I'm not that crazy...snow was still on the ground and it wasn't THAT warm out. But really, if Old Man Winter doesn't go away soon, I'm going to kick him in the balls.

Who knew I would ever be so happy to see brown, gross grass?! I would much rather be dodging puddles than ice patches. Oh wait, joke's on me. There is a snow storm going on as you read this. It was nice while it lasted. One whole day....come on Mother Nature! Get off your rag already!!! Look at Luigi, he's not even an outdoor kitty and he's just so done with this weather too. That blank stare out into nothingness. He's speechless.

I at least was able to get some groceries before the snow hit. If I'm lazy and don't make soup myself, Pacific Foods has the BEST soup with limited sodium. My favorite these days is spicy black bean and kale. It's absolutely delicious and 125 cals per serving.

I'm not one to count calories, but with the FDA reconsidering food labels to accurately portray how many calories someone would really eat in one sitting, I would like to add a suggestion. Instead of saying one cookie: 200 calories, say one cookie: run a couple of miles or BURPEES. Would you honestly eat a bag of chips if it meant having to do 100 burpees? Okay, I get it...it would depend on what kind. But still, it makes you think more. Like, wow...am I really willing to suffer that much for a Starbucks frappuccino? Those bad boys could pack as many as 700+ cals! I sometimes tell myself, "girl, you have your dress fitting next week. Are you willing to run half a marathon to reverse the effect that's going to have on your ass? No? That's what I thought." So I go home and prep kale/spinach salads with grilled chicken. I must say, they're delicious and easy to prep.

In other news, my bluetooth keyboard for my iPad also came in from Groupon Goods on Monday and I'm in love! NO regrets! Shipping was quite fast too! I highly suggest Groupon Goods to anyone who is looking to save some extra $$$ and you're not sacrificing the quality of the product! It certainly comes in handy when I have to visit all of my vendors and jot down notes. (I hate pecking on the screen keyboard).

Oh and just FYI to all of you book addicts out there, I'll be hosting a giveaway tomorrow for Laura McHugh's first thriller novel, The Weight of Blood. I seriously could NOT put it down. Read all about it tomorrow!! I'm so happy to say that I'm slowly getting through my HUGE stack of books that are on my must-read list. Despite the schizo weather, I'm quite happy with how things are going with my fitness routine AND being able to balance out my crazy life so I can still have my "me" time.

Also, it's Blog Hop Wednesday with Fitness Blondie! Go link up with her here and her co-host Kerry at Till Then, Smile Often! Love them both!

How's everyone else doing with their goals/aspirations/fitness etc???

Spring Has Sprung

Alright folks, I live in the Midwest and that means if I see another snowman or any threat of a snow flurry any time in the near future...shit is going down. I will flip my lid, lose my marbles and pack up to sunny Florida. BUT so far the sun has been shining this week and it looks like the spring season is finally here to kick off its shoes and stay awhile. THANK GOD. I didn't buy way too many things for my spring wardrobe just to have them hang in my fricken closet for a few more months. Time to pack away the bulky sweaters and breakout my skirts sans tights and ditch the winter jacket. It feels even better to realize that I can also go for morning runs without the cold gear. Tank and some shorts! Lets do this! I also got my free Chicago Women Rock top in the mail to start running in the warmer weather. Gangster style. I'm really excited to run the Chicago Women Rock 10k in September since my mom and my sister will be participating as well. I'm so proud of them!

With spring finally arriving more than fashionably late, that means shorts, sleeveless tops and drum roll please....SWIMSUITS. Bring it on! I'm totally ready especially after 900-1,000 cals burned for each of my workouts. Hard work pays off!!

 After these workouts I'm really not one to be too hungry afterward. However, if I do eat, I tend to lean toward things that are very heavy in protein but I really just gulp down glass after glass of water. One key thing that I have learned is to definitely eat not right before a workout but a good hour or so beforehand so I have some extra energy. There's nothing worse than feeling sluggish and running on low when you're just getting started! I have a few fitness apps on my phone to also help keep me on track throughout the day to make sure I'll make the most out of my workouts. For running I use RunKeeper. There are SO many running apps out there but for me, this is definitely my fav. You can pick what activity you're doing, it'll tell you what pace you're currently running at, keeps track of how many calories you're burning and you can set fitness goals for yourself (oh and it's free!). Another amazing fitness app that I use to mainly keep track of my food is MyFitnessPal (also free). Instead of having to search an endless database of food and beverage items, you can use the barcode scanner and BOOM the food will automatically log into your food diary. It also has a lot of searchable items from restaurants in the database and you can also log your workouts from yoga to boxing in your daily diary. 

I also love the Spartan Race's update for Illinois (sarcasm)...they initially said that the course would be about 7 miles and 20 obstacles...now that has somehow increased to 9-10 miles and 20 obstacles....ummm excuse me but that's not cool...very not cool. I'll be covered in mud, sweat and bruises most likely and they want to add on a couple more miles like it's no big deal? Oh it's on.