And We're Off...

Half marathon training starts today! Here's my 12 week training schedule for those of you who are curious!

My fitness level isn't exactly where I'd like it to be and the recent stomach issues are causing a bit of a problem, but I'm determined to make it through this training cycle injury-free and having fun! I plan on posting a weekly recap each Monday (mainly for my own benefit) about how the previous week's training went.

But since Mondays are rest days, I'm hydrating, eating foods I can easily digest, and heading to bed super early to catch up on the hours I've been missing lately! But I couldn't let the first day of training go by without commemorating it somehow...

I present to you: my favorite running products!

Running started out as a relative cheap hobby. Sure, running shoes can be a little pricey, but otherwise, you can just grab your iPod and head out the door. But after my first half marathon, I realized I needed a little more than just running shoes and some pump-up jams. All these products below get frequent use and I highly recommend all of them. If you have any questions, just ask!

Garmin Forerunner 210

I bought this watch for myself as a present when I passed the CPA exam last fall. It was definitely a splurge, but I so wish I had it when I trained for my first half. The information it provides can be extremely helpful when analyzing your runs (too fast? too slow? how far?) I wear this watch every time I run outside and haven't had any trouble with it. Some people claim it takes awhile to find a signal, but I usually just stand outside and stretch while I'm waiting, so that doesn't bother me. The only complaint I have is that the battery dies pretty quickly. I sometimes think I can go several days without charging, and then find the battery beeping at me within the first quarter mile. It even has a lap function, handy for interval runs.

Nike Two-in-One Tempo Short

I used to always run and workout in the classic Tempo short, every sorority girl's uniform. I have at least 8 pairs, if not more. And then I discovered these babies. It's everything you love about the classic tempo short, with compression shorts underneath (and an extra zipper pocket)! When running in this summer's humidity (i.e. lots of sweat), I noticed that my shorts were clinging to me like trash bags. I headed online to see what I could find, knowing that spandex compression shorts were not an option. These shorts are the best of both worlds! I don't feel like I'm on display in tight spandex, while still having the look of a tempo short. Since they're pricey, I only have one pair, but they've quickly become I favorite! I even wash them in between runs so I can wear them as much as possible.

Nathan QuickShot Plus Handheld Water Bottle

I just bought this water bottle a few weeks ago and am kicking myself for not buying it sooner. It's so handy (ha, yes, pun intended)! It holds just enough water for my shorter runs and I don't have to worry about finding a working water fountain in Cleveland Park. The little pouch is nice for holding extras, too!

Balega Running Socks

I'm obsessed with these socks. When I was at a local running store picking out shoes, the salesperson suggested these to me. I was skeptical, thinking they probably wouldn't make more of a difference than the cheap ankle socks I usually wore. Boy, was I wrong. The cushioned seam at the heel keeps blisters away and they keep your feet dry. I scoop up as many pairs as I can when they go on sale.

Apple iPod Nano

I've tried running with and without music, and I'm still undecided about which I prefer. Sometimes, quiet runs allow you to think and have time alone. Other times, I just want to blast some tunes and zone out. Either way, this little guy gets the job done.

Gaiam Restore Foam Roller

Foam rollers are great for muscle recovery. I know spending 5 minutes on my muscles after my long runs is going to make a big difference in soreness the next day. 

One thing you'll notice is missing is running shoes. I still haven't found a pair that I'm in love with. My last two pairs have been Asics, but I'm not sure they were the best for me. I have a neutral foot strike so there a lot of options out there. I had a weird foot injury and hip injury with the first half, and I'm not entirely convinced it wasn't because of my shoes. I'm heading out this week to hopefully find a pair I'll love! 

Are there any running products you swear by that I just have to try? I'd love to hear about them!

Happy running y'all! 

Traveling Light

It's finally Thursday!

I'm off to Texas tonight after work with Ryan and can't possibly sit through another work day I'm so excited! We're going to visit his family in San Antonio, and I'll be meeting his dad, step-mom, brother, sisters, and two highschool friends for the first time! While I was getting ready for the trip, I had the idea for this post: packing tips!

For some strange reason, I love to pack. It's a game for me to see how much stuff I can fit in my suitcase and still be under that 50 lb. airline checked bag limit (I think Anna at My Semi-Charmed Life might have some experience with this)! It helps that I have the most amazing lightweight suitcase. I discovered it when reading this article from Real Simple several years ago:

I'm going to die when it rips or breaks because Eddie Bauer doesn't make it anymore. 

I also have this little guy from Eddie Bauer (which they also don't make anymore) for my carry-on suitcase:

The packing dynamics are pretty hysterical in my family. My mom packs her entire closet, unsure of what she's going to need so she just packs it all instead of narrowing it down (we all have to hold our breath when they put it up on the scale in airports; it typically registers around 49.5 lbs). My dad carries enough camera equipment to photograph America, and who really needs clothes anyway, right Dad? My sister throws in tops and bottoms and inevitably gets to our destination saying, "None of my clothes match. Can I borrow something of yours?" And I'm the packing pro (if I must say so myself). I manage to pack just enough without sacrificing style. On our 10-day trip to Italy, I managed to pack my suitcase full and it only weighed 38 pounds. Win.

I recently read these Packing Tips from the Pros featured in Real Simple and found myself nodding along with several of the suggestions. I'm here to share a few of my favorite with you, and if you love to travel like I do, these will definitely come in handy!

1. Stick to a color scheme. I usually pick one neutral (black, brown, or navy) and go from there. Choose one pair (or two) of shoes that will go with all your outfits. For this trip, I'm taking my favorite gold sandals so they'll match everything. I went with a navy/white/coral theme and I'm taking my favorite blue Kate Spade purse and made sure my outfits went with it as well, since it's my "accent" piece.

I typically choose a scarf as my go-to piece in cooler months, but patterned flats or a statement necklace works great too!

2. Be a lightweight. Wear the heaviest clothes you're packing on your day of travel. I'm always freezing in airports and on planes, so I usually am fine wearing jeans and a sweater when I travel. I'm wearing this three quarter-length-sleeve dress tonight so I'm warm enough on the plane but not sweating when we finally get to Texas. I also packed an old airplane blanket in my suitcase to wrap around my legs. 

3. Roll your clothes. I don't always follow this rule, but it certainly works when my bag is over-stuffed. It's the only way I managed to get all those clothes in my suitcase when we went to Italy. I was able to just fold my clothes for this weekend and put it on one side in order to fill up the other side with my toiletries, makeup bag, running shoes, and hairdryer (being a girl is so complicated sometimes).

4. Lay out all your clothes. I always put my clothes (by outfit) in piles on my bed before I put it all in my suitcase, adding belts and the proper undergarments as I go. That way I know I have a top and bottom that matches and I don't end up with more than I need or items that don't coordinate.

5. Embrace the accents. This one is easy. If you're traveling to a big city where the dress code is black, black, and more black, make sure you have a few accents for a pop of color. 

Most people choose to do this through jewelry, but I tend to keep it simple. I wear minimal jewelry every day, and usually just pack a few bright, fun earrings to match my outfits. For Texas, I'm just wearing my diamond stud earrings and these two David Yurman bracelets. Plus, too much jewelry will set off the metal detector in the airport!

As this post is already rather long, I'll have to tackle my toiletries in another post (they're my favorite part). 

And here's the finished product:

This organized suitcase makes my OCD happy.

Now, your turn! Tell me your favorite packing tips and secrets! 

Summer Lovin'

With the summer solstice last week and temps like these in the forecast, it's hard to deny summer's arrival.

105 degrees? Really South Carolina?

I thought I'd share some of my summer essentials with you! While I'm actually a bigger fan of fall weather, I love summer travels and fun and I had so much fun sharing a peek inside my beach bag!

Vaseline Aloe Fresh SPF 15

{This is a great cooling lotion for the hot months, especially when you accidently get sunburned. The SPF is an added bonus!}

Lilly Pulitzer Gold McKims

{These are the best summer sandals, hands down. I've owned 3 pairs of the exact same shoe. I only had to replace them because I had worn them so much! They're made with rubber bottoms now, which is more sufficient than the old wood bottoms. I wear these with everything, from sundresses to shorts. The gold is the perfect metallic.}

Clinique Moisture Surge

{It's hard to express my love of this moisturizer. I bought it back in high school and have been using it religiously ever since. When I went to New Mexico several years back, the air was so dry my skin was literally peeling off. This was the only moisturizer that solved the dryness. Summer tip: put it in the fridge to cool off your skin when you return from the pool or beach!}

Kate Spade Straw Purse

{A straw tote is essential for the summer months. It brightens up any outfit!}

NARS Blush in Orgasm and Blush Duo in Hungry Heart

{The first is the #1 selling blush in America for good reason. It looks great on any skin tone and even better with a little tan. I use it every day to add some color to my face. The second highlights with a bit of shimmer. I use it on my cheekbones and the outside of my eyes and collarbone to catch the sunlight.}

Fedora from Anthropologie

{I don't actually own this hat, but how cute would it be for the beach or running errands on Saturday morning?}

OPI in Cajun Shrimp

{My favorite summer nail color! I used the gel polish in this shade when I got a manicure a few weeks ago and I couldn't stop staring at my shiny nails! The color goes with everything and is such a fresh pop on tan fingers!}

Moroccan Oil Curl Defining Cream

{This is my first product from the Moroccan Oil line and I'm hooked! I bought it in Arizona at the spa after a friend of mine with curly hair recommended the mousse. They didn't have the mousse, and while I'm still on the hunt for that as well, I use this cream in my daily hair routine now. It smells DIVINE. Ryan always tells me I smell good after he gives me a hug, and I'm 100% convinced it's this cream. It controls the frizz from all the humidity and is worth every penny!}

What are your summer essentials? Do tell!

Weekend Update ~ Home Sweet Greenville

Ahh, Sunday! It may be one of my favorite days of the week. In college, I used to spend all day Sunday studying and catching up on homework neglected since my last class on Thursday afternoon. Then Sunday nights were dedicated to sorority Exec meetings and then chapter.

Sundays in the real world are much more relaxing. I stayed in bed till almost noon, just drinking coffee, watching Friends, and reading blogs/the news/Twitter.

I'll rewind to Friday night, which we spent at the Drive game. Our firm has 2 sets of 4 tickets, that the employees can have in a ticket lottery. I had tickets a few weeks ago, but switched with Lauren because we were already going to the game with Ryan's company. The seats are awesome and the Drive won! Yay! They have a fireworks show every Friday night, and I was actually really impressed with the show. They must've spent several thousand dollars - I felt like a kid again on 4th of July!

Ryan, Lauren, Trent, and I went to Liberty Tap Room after the game and had a few beers and appetizers, with an appearance from our favorite waiter. Our waitress sat down for a little while, too!

Ryan and I had a debate going during the game as to who was better at Scrabble. We had agreed to have a face-off when we got home. Well, we didn't leave Liberty until about 1:30 am, and we recruited Lauren and Trent to play with us too. Nothing like a little late night, slighty tipsy game of Scrabble.

Ryan kicked our butts. So I guess that debate is settled...

Saturday was spent by the pool. We recruited a big group (all coworkers minus Ryan) to hang out at Ryan's apartment pool. There were a lot of young people out and some people watching.

The ducks from the pond made their way inside the gate, and couldn't resist going for a swim. Watching them hop out of the pool was quite entertaining. Cute duckies!

I headed home to shower, then we were off to dinner to celebrate birthdays for two of Ryan's coworkers. We went to Sassafras, one of my favorite restaurants in Greenville. I had the special, swordfish with peach mango salsa served over grits. 

I've never had a bad meal there, and this one was no different! I always like to order meals in restaurants that I wouldn't typically cook for myself. I haven't done too much cooking with fish yet, but maybe I can come up with some fresh fish recipes for summer!

It was great company! I was just so tired from the late night on Friday that I was ready to go home before midnight! 

Happy Birthday Andrew and Gina!

After I got out of bed Sunday, I worked on a little craft project. As an accountant, creativity isn't really my strong suit. The last time I was "crafty" was when I was making presents for my little. ZTA had a tradition of giving the girls teal aluminum buckets filled with presents on the day before Big/Little Reveal. That was quite an undertaking for this not-so-artsy girl. But I think they turned out alright - here's some throwback pictures!

Anyway, back to my craft project. I have been meaning to display my jewelry instead of keeping it hidden in my jewelry box. I have so many earrings that I never wear because I just don't think of them when I'm rushing out the door in the morning. So now that they're on display, hopefully I'll switch it up more often! Also, these cute little earrings from Anthropologie have been purchased by my sister in California and will be given to me once we're reunited in AZ next week. I really wish they would hurry up on the construction of the Anthro downtown Greenville. It will be bad for my wallet, though!

Ta da! I'm so glad they're all on display in my closet now!

I made a last-minute trip to the mall to pick up a few things for my trip next week to Arizona! The dress section of Banana always gets me! Here are my finds:

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I saw the first dress, a knit mini-stripe, on one of Ryan's coworkers at a Drive game. I was instantly loving it - it looked so comfy! She told me she got it at Banana when I complemented her on it. I waited several weeks before going to try it on myself. I'm thinking I'll wear it on the plane next weekend!

I've been looking for a new maxi dress. They're so comfortable - it's like wearing pajamas. This one was flattering and had a little more interest with the pattern than my other solid one. Bonus, it has pockets! This will be making it in the suitcase as well!

The last dress happened to be the only one left on the sale rack! I love finding a good deal. I plan on wearing it with a skinny belt and gold sandals. Ryan said this one was his favorite of the 3!

After my shopping trip, I went to the Fresh Market to buy dinner's ingredients. Fresh Market is by far my favorite grocery store (although it's pricey). I only go to buy dinner on special occassions, but I could spend hours in there. I cooked a yummy, indulgent steak dinner - I'll be posting the recipes tomorrow! 

I went on an afternoon run on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. It was pretty hot today and I really wished I had a hat to shade my face from the sun. But overall, a solid run! About as consistent as I can get!

Hope everyone had a great, relaxing weekend, too!

What I'm Loving...

What a wonderful weekend! Cinco de Mayo is probably a favorite holiday for two reasons: it combines my love of all Mexican foods (and drinks) and an excuse to spend a day by the pool. This holiday in college usually marked the end of exams, so everyone was relaxed and happy, sipping margaritas by the pool. This year was no different, even though we're in the "real world" now. Ryan was playing golf yesterday, so I saved our Mexican fiesta for today instead. And the sun is actually shining today! Next post will be filled with glorious new Mexican-themed recipes!

I've been meaning to do a post about some of my recent finds! But first things first:

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This trilogy has consumed me for the past week. The first book was off to a rocky start. These books were not something I would originally pick up off the shelf, given the content and genre, but it's been sweeping the nation, and I wanted to find out what the buzz was all about. While I couldn't decide if I loved or hated the first book, I was engrossed and had to keep reading. I finished all three books in a week (Lauren is convinced I should quit my job and become a speed reader so I can appear on Jeopardy...we'll see about this theory). I'm glad I kept reading. The books got so much better as the story developed (and got less creepy). The main character drove me nuts and the writing wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't like I invested my life into these books. I don't think I'd run out and tell everyone they HAVE to read these, because they're hard to swallow at some points. But I can understand the fascination! I'm so excited to have time to read again. I'm looking forward to some books that have been on my "to-read" list for quite some time (and a vacation in a few short weeks so I can indulge)!

Now for some fashion! I went shopping a few weeks ago, at J.Crew and at the outlets. After a few days of wearing some pretty drab outfits (black, tan, grey, white), I felt like I needed a little color in my wardrobe. I used to work in a Lilly Pulitzer store, so for years, my closet was full of nothing but brightly patterned sundresses. Once I started working as an accountant, most of my wardrobe was inappropriate for an office environment. I've dialed it down quite a bit, and actually haven't bought anything from Lilly in SO long. I still try to put some sass into my outfits every now and then. 

I headed to J.Crew, knowing that their spring/summer collection was full of bright colors. I picked up just a few things, but have already received compliments on my new items. Why is it so fun to buy new clothes? Here's my purchases, all from J.Crew

The pants are a cream linen, with a tiny herringbone pattern. I'm in LOVE. The red shirt is also linen, and has button detailing on the shoulders. I haven't had a chance to wear the pink top yet, but it will probably make an appearance in the very near future.

Another purchase I made for summer, are these TOMS:



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They're an exclusive color from Nordstrom. I have a grey pair of TOMS that I wear all the time, so much so that I've already worn a hole in the toe. I wanted to replace those, but know I won't be wearing a ton of closed-toe shoes over the summer, so I'll wait until the fall to buy a new pair. 

I coveted this crochet pair last year, but they only came in cream and black. My knack for getting white things dirty made me shy away from the cream, even though I loved them. When I saw these online, I knew they were going to be a winner. They've shipped and should be arriving on my doorstep soon. I can't wait! AND they're in my new favorite color!!

I'm also lusting after these earrings from Anthropologie

They're just so simple and pretty! 

On a happy note, I wanted to leave you with Lululemon's manifesto, which I saw on someone else's blog and loved enough to save it to my desktop. Enjoy!





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Tuesday Randoms

Hello! I've been accumulating quite a few pictures on my iPhone, all so they could be shared in this random post!

First: The Sleep Cycle app! This thing is awesome -- and makes me completely aware that I sleep like crap. You place your phone in the bed with you and it monitors your movement and gives you a graph of your "sleep cycle." You also give it a 30-minute window in which to wake you up, so the app avoids waking you up in your deepest sleep (making you feel groggy). While I think it's a neat idea, I'm not 100% sure it actually works. If you do happen to be in a deep sleep before you need to wake up, your alarm has no choice but to wake you up anyway. Still, I like having the graphs in the morning, mainly to say, "No wonder I don't feel rested! I woke up 5 times last night!" (see below. woof.) Side note: Ryan, two of of our friends, and I have a group message going in which we compare our sleep cycles in the morning. Comments include: "Dang Charlotte, your sleep cycles are messed up" and from Jordan: "I'm pretty much awesome at everything I do. Including sleeping." It's pretty hysterical.

On the left is a picture of my "breakfast." Okay, not really, more like a morning snack. Our office is really good to us during busy season (i.e. feeds us A LOT) and there were cranberry orange muffins in the training room last Monday morning. Even though I had already eaten breakfast, I couldn't resist. I ate it all day long - the muffin was the size of my hand! But oh, was it good. Must find a recipe for these!

On the right: my standard lunch for the past week and a half. Mom sent me home from Easter with some leftover ham (thanks Mom!), which I turned into lunch for days. Fun fact: I'm not a fan of sandwiches. People always look at me funny when I say this. But it's true! I just don't get excited about lunch. If I could survive on breakfast and dinner alone, I would. Lunch foods are a necessary evil though. Sorry, rant over! With my dislike of sandwiches aside, this one was pretty tasty! I bought some cranberry honey mustard a while back that is a standard for me for turkey/ham sandwiches. I'm a little impressed with my well-balanced meal. But then I ate it for 5 days in a row, and today, I had popcorn for lunch. Ha, I tried.




Kate Spade purse & sunglasses, J.Crew cardigan



Earrings from Anthropologie

 As it's gotten warmer out, and I've switched to wearing some of my "summer" wardrobe, I noticed I have an obsession with coral. It's everwhere! I was discussing this obsession with Lauren, to which she agreed with me. We decided it was because the color, when wearing it, makes you look tanner. I can totally agree with that one!



And last but not least, the beautiful sky last night when I got home from the gym. I have a mild obsession with sunrises and sunsets. I have been known to pull over on the side of the road to take a picture of the sunset (which never seems to do it justice). I swear, Clemson had some of the best sunsets. I have a few pictures saved just to help me remember how gorgeous that place really is. Sunrises and sunsets over water are a particular favorite. Maybe I'll do a post of my favorites for a rainy day.

Thanks for sticking it out through my brain's random thoughts today!