Weekending Like A Boss

So for all of you Chicagoans out there, can I just say that the weather we had was UH-mazing?! My weekend wrap-up is coming late because well...late concerts happen...and blog posts don't sometimes. SO Friday night I was completely exhausted, but that didn't stop the celebratory festivities at Buffalo Wild Wings or as other annoying people call it, Bdubs. The whole family was there and my FIL decided to order hot wings with their hottest sauce made with ghost peppers. It was then where bets were placed to see who would be eating them. While Josh had the julios to eat one, I said "eff that" and sat back to witness the others incinerating their mouths while watching the first Bears pre-season game HOOZA.

Saturday was our day to hash out all of our bills and such to make sure that our list of favorite places would be possible to afford. And BOOM they are. Winning.We'll be setting up times to visit them this weekend!

Sunday morning was race day! I was really dreading this 10k simply because my stomach hasn't been feeling that great during my previous runs leading up to Sunday. HOWEVER the weather was pretty much perfect for a race. Overcast and cool to start and then it didn't get too sunny until I was halfway through the race! I ran the whole way without my stomach acting up once AND come to find out, my average pace was even better than I thought by a whole minute! I felt so solid throughout the whole run and I wasn't dying by the end of the race either.

This gives me tremendous hope for smashing some PRs for my 15k and moving forward with my training. :D The only qualm I had was that the start waves weren't released far enough apart...soooo those who pretty much LIED and said that they run at a faster pace than they really do...were holding up a lot of other people...#GGRRRRR #getoutdawaybitch.

Once both my friend and I finished and patted ourselves on the back for kicking ass, we took a million photos per usual.

We gathered our free post-race snacks for the road and I had to head out to prep for the concert later on that night with Josh and the in-laws. Yep... Daughtry, Goo Goo Dolls and Plain White T's. It was a blast HOWEVER leaving concerts early is not my cup of tea, especially when I was holding out at least to hear Iris.

And let's just face it, 85% of Daughtry's fan base consists of middle-aged women who wish their husbands were Daughtry. There was a group of older women next to me and uh, girl needed to cut back on the canned limeritas. I'm all for a girls night out away from the kids (lord knows I'll be one of them one day) but handle your damn liquor properly and don't flail your arms around and obstructing my view. I'll break your hip. Concert etiquette, ahem!I'll be damned if you ruin "Black Balloon" for me.

Josh however was less than enthused. I'm pretty sure he would have rather watched paint dry than go, but he didn't have a choice in the matter. People watching at a venue like this though is one of my fav things to do. Entertainment for days. Overall, I love this windy city and summer just couldn't end without an outdoor music experience!

What are your concert pet peeves?? Did everyone else have an amazing weekend??

Cabin Life

Well folks, I'm back and plugged back in...and by that  I mean I have WiFi and solid cell reception without standing on top of the toilet in the corner of the cabin bathroom. Okay now it sounds like I'm complaining, but my gawwdd was it nice to disconnect and get away from the tweeting, liking, pinning, blogging and checking in for a whole week. Oh and not working AT ALL. As previously stated, Josh and I went up to Hayward with his whole Dad's side of the fam like we usually do every summer and rented out cabins off of the lake. It's serene, peaceful, tradition. Sometimes a week away from the daily grind just isn't enough, but I'll take what I can get!! :)

These vacations are the best. The type where the makeup stays off, hair is thrown to the side and you throw on a bikini or shorts everyday....with a Summer Shandy or mixed drink in your hand.

 Oh and I must say that YES I did achieve my goal of reading Gone Girl while I was up there and yep, all of your reviews were right! What an effed up book! But oh so good. The ending had me kind of disappointed though. I took frequent reading breaks while boating and fishing.

Later on in the week we go into town where all of these cute souvenir stores are along with an old candy shop AND the Wine Cave. Josh and I recently made this discovery and I was beside myself with excitement. Of course I would manage to find a place like this. We bought a couple of bottles and celebrated with cheese curds...because...Wisconsin.

This is what heaven looks like.

There were a few cooler days, but that just made it easier to not fry in the sun all day...although of course I love my vitamin D. We played badminton, had bonfires, played Cards Against Humanity (when the kids were asleep of course baha) and of course the staple Scrabble games by the lake. We're all very competitive Scrabble players. It's only a matter of time before someone screams and yells about how they have way too many damn vowels or consonants or curses our the person who plays all of their letters.

And per usual, every year, each fam takes a night to make dinner for the whole army crowd. Josh and I collaborated with his cousin and bf with beer brats, burgers and a bacon wrapped type meatloaf and delicious sides. Our dinner night was a success!

We also went kayaking and came across this creepy, old abandoned cabin. The windows had bullet holes, there was a really old mattress littered with beer cans and one high heel in a corner...of course my addiction to Criminal Minds kicks in and I automatically think of this as some kind of hidden crime scene. Where I stepped in poison ivy AND got eaten alive by a million mosquitoes. Lovely. Luckily the poison ivy didn't get to my skin and I got away unscathed. Phew. This happened a mere day or so before my race...thank sweet baby Jesus I didn't suffer from any symptoms...nothing like running a race with oozing blisters. You're welcome for that image.

Each week at the lodge they hold a dart tournament too (although I just cheer on the hubs and drink way too much). Mud slides - what I like to call adult milkshakes- were made on the reg by my MIL and she's a pro. Yum. Josh didn't win this year, but the win usually always goes to someone in the fam since we kind of all dominate the resort for that week baha.

The week always goes by really fast. Too fast. In the last couple of days before everything is packed up, everyone scrambles to get in a last swim, game or go fishing for the last time before we head out again. Cards Against Humanity and other trivia games paired with my adult milkshakes and I was a happy woman.

I already miss those boat rides and the view from our cabin. Can we rewind to like...mid last week? I'll compromise.

It's a great family tradition that everyone upholds and the hubs and I are now counting down until next July..and hopefully I'll also continue counting down in terms of my weight gain that also naturally occurred from said adult milkshakes and delicious food that everyone made.

We packed up on Saturday morning and headed out at 7am to our usual breakfast place where they serve the "cakes" that are pancakes that are the size of a seat cushion. Not kidding.

And seriously, WHY does it seem like it takes twice as long to get home on the way back?! I was dying. By the time we got home at around 3:30pm, I had to pack up my race stuff and headed out to my friend's where we would prep for race day...that effing required us to get up at 4 IN THE MORNING. Apparently runners aren't allowed to sleep. These fricken races are starting earlier every single time I register!! Stay tuned for my race day happenings and pics! I have a feeling my official photos will either be epic or I might look mentally challenged from sleep deprivation.

Summer Confessions!

This week is a short work week! Thank you, America! My vacation cannot come soon enough! So with that being said, it's time to confess....

+ I confess that I have zero time for people who project their problems onto others and who constantly have this negative world view err' day. And I mean EVERY SINGLE DAY. Like, can you eat a bowl of sunshine for breakfast instead of dog shit for once? K, thanks. Sometimes the only person who can make your day better is yourself!

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+ I confess that it was Luigi's 8th birthday yesterday and I most definitely sang him happy birthday when I got up in the morning and gave him turkey snacks for breakfast. (I know, I'm weird.) My furbabies are my kids. Deal. He's the trendiest cat in town. I mean come on, look at that bow tie.

+ I confess that I've gained weight and I have ZERO time for that. (I blame the many grad parties and celebrations as of late). It's time for me to get my shit together and have zero cheat days for the sake of my new bikini. It's amazing what one careless weekend can do to you! I've scheduled all of my workouts though and plan on doing a 10-day cleanse soon to kickstart things. Running in this heat is really rough, but the only answer to that is Michael Jackson.

+ I confess that if I don't kill a good song for myself by playing it a million times, the radio will. If I hear John Legend's "All Of Me" one more time - including the dumb club remix version - I might go clinically insane. But really, this was what he was singing about...

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+ I confess that I get unreasonably angry when I need new workout clothes and ONE tank top is $60. Really? REALLY? I'm not going to spend that kind of money on clothing that I'll sweat in. I don't care if you give it a fancy name either..

+ I confess that I still need to start finish...my thank you cards for the wedding gifts. I actually like to write out thoughtful thank you notes instead of just writing down the same damn thing in all of them. Also...in order to write out over 100 of these bad boys...what do I need?

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+ I confess that I absolutely cannot handle today's high school population. The Fourth of July fest is right by my house and they apparently think I should go off-roading in my car so they can walk right in the middle of the road. Don't think I'll hesitate to knock that Starbucks out of your hand while I pass you by and slap you in the face with that cup. Don't these people get summer jobs anymore? What's wrong with them? Are those high waisted shorts so far up their asses, they can't think straight?

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I don't know about anyone else, but I fricken love fireworks. They never get old for me. And all of the festivals? Bring it on! What else do you love about the Fourth of July?? Confess!!

Summer Nights & Tornados

So here we are, Monday. Womp. I'm coming off of a weekend high that was filled with awesome bestie time and max calories. But seriously, there was no stopping me. It was ridiculous. Let's just say MyFitnessPal saw limited entries from me after I had to log four Summer Shandy's and giant-sized smores. My best friend since our Rugrats and Doug years graduated nursing school (as I stated previously last week) and her grad party was on Saturday. SO proud of her. She graduated with honors and will pretty much be the most amazing nurse ever.

She's seriously the queen of Pinterest wins whereas I am the quintessential Pinterest fail. She created little stations for things that were all medical-related such as little medicine cups filled with M&Ms, Twizzlers to represent clogged arteries, Jello shots in syringes and chocolate-covered pretzels that were made to look like thermometers! Genius, I tell you.

I seriously stuffed my face with all of these things and with their fam being Italian, yeah let's just say I didn't behave and let my inner carbaholic run wild. Later on we had a bonfire and had giant-sized smores. I couldn't even fit the damn thing in my mouth. (That's what she said).

But really, these photos are all signs of summer.

Did stuffing my face stop there? Nope. Sunday luckily started off with an intense, morning run because uhhh I needed to reverse some damage, went over to Josh's to swim later on in the day and then stuffed my face some more. It was a lot of fun making our own pizzas though. We made our own dough and chose what toppings we wanted on them. Eat your heart out every fast food pizza place ever!

Yummmm.

Once our stomachs were full of pizza, we watched a movie and I headed home to get ready for bed....when all of a sudden 2a.m. hit and I got the most obnoxious weather alert on my phone stating that there was a tornado warning and to seek shelter. Greeeaatttt. Luckily, nothing actually touched down and there were just rotation sitings nearby. I'm a huge baby about things like this though and Apollo and Luigi were right there with me in the basement until it passed through. (They don't like severe weather either and I have scratch marks to show for it). This reminded me though that Apollo needs another shavedown. Both of them could have fit in their large carrier if absolutely necessary had Apollo been de-fluffed to an extent. In full fluff mode, he's like the size of two kitties.

Also, I just discovered Starbucks' new iced teas and I'm pretty much dying over the Green Tea Peach Lemonade one. Go out and try it...like now. It'll help you get through your Monday.

Cheers!!

Friday Is My Favorite F Word.

Why hello my fellow bloggerkins, it's FRIDAY. So make like Beyonce and own this day and link up with Amanda. Because...Friday. :)

::Favorite Artist:: Lana Del Rey. Because duh. I cant' get enough of her new album, even though it's all emo sads. I want money, power and glory? Um yes, Lana I can totally relate. More please. And can we get more of this gif too? Why is she in a Pokeball? Hilarious. Thanks Buzzfeed, you make my life sometimes.

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Oh and you're welcome. Carry on.

::Favorite Organizer:: I already wrote about ordering my first Erin Condren life planner and I just got it in last night. LOVE. It's colorful, shiny, has plenty of room to write my shenanigans down with a view of the whole month and per day and has clips so I can attach any invites into the planner so I don't lose them (because I always lose everything). The particular one I ordered has quotes on the inside that are great to help motivate me through the day because lord knows I need that extra oompf to make me abide by MyFitnessPal's recommended cal count (1,390 cals) and my daily workouts. MyFitnessPal clearly wants to starve me out. Who do they think they are? Red? (Kudos to you if you got that ref). Oh and it has that new book smell. BEST EVER. Book nerds, you know what I'm talkin' about.

::Favorite Show:: Orange Is The New Black. I'm still making my way through it and I've found that I can resist from binging through five episodes by stopping at a somewhat non-critical part in the middle of an episode. It's the only way, because everyone knows they flippin' end each one in a way that makes you want to keep watching. Thanks Netflix, you're the modern day drug dealer. The last episode of a show? NONONO givememoreIwantmore.

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::Favorite Moment:: I love chatting it up with my mother-in-law. This may sound strange to some, but I love her! We have the type of relationship where we wouldn't look at each sideways if one of us asked to go out  to lunch or go shopping together. We had a coffee date the other night and talked for hours. We know how to jam out together too.

::Favorite Quote::

::FavoriteBefore/After:: Jessica Simpson. Holy crap. When did this all happen?? When did those LEGS happen??? Go girl gooo!!!!

Before

After

I would say I have a favorite sale going on right now but you know what? Kate Spade and Tory Burch need to stop sending me emails that they're having an additional 25% off sale items. #brokegirlstatus. A little part of me dies inside when I just can't justify spending frivolously these days. What is this? Why I am acting like a financially responsible adult? I DID however order this bikini last week. I'm so patriotic, guys.

What are your favorites for this week?? Don't mind me while I dance my way through this day and right into the weekend.

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