One to Nothin'

Gator Bait

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In preparation for this past weekend’s University of Florida Gator football game, I transformed this long-sleeve-never-worn tee into a fringe-y-hot-weather-appropriate game day tank.


Unfortunately, however, I didn’t get to wear it because while our boys were beating up Kentucky in Kentucky, I was watching from my living room in good ole Ocala, Florida. This Saturday we’re playing Alabama at home, which will be intense, but I will be in Orlando running 13.1 miles through Epcot during it. Maybe I’ll wear this bad boy to the race? Perhaps I’ll even transform the sleeve into an epic warrior headband. I’ll keep you posted.

So there’s only ONE week until my race. Yesterday I managed to run 6 miles without a whole lot of pain and I’m about to head to physical therapy right now. Wish me luck, friends!

An Ode To Running

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Today was my first day of physical therapy and consequently my first time trying to run again since my knee injury sent me to the doctor several weeks ago. I was sent home with lots of stretches to do several times a day, instructions to ice my knee as much as possible and ointment to rub onto it twice a day as well. Perhaps the most interesting healing maneuver, however, involves using a rolling pin to stretch out the IT band all down the side of my thigh. I plan to stick to these instructions 100% in hopes that I will be able to finish my half marathon (which I’ve been looking forward to all year, ever since it was too full for me to sign up for last year) in a somewhat decent time — aka not walking all 13.1 miles.
My best friend Jessica was nice enough to go out on this test run with me and we managed to run 4.6 miles. My knee was definitely sore by the end of it, but I stretched like crazy afterward and it seems to be doing pretty well now. Later on we got to talking about running in general as she helped me pick out new running shoes (since these bad boys ended up being too loose after all, let me know if you’re a size 7 and would like to buy some discount new-ish running shoes!).
Basically we decided it’s the club mentality that rocks. Not only do people respect runners (probably because they think the act of running is much harder than it actually is) but it’s also such a simple and fun way to bond with people. We runners get to talk about our new shoes with genuine interest, compare mile times, see the sights and have long talks as we run our way through ridiculous mileage. I’m pretty sure there’s no better way to get to know someone on a real level than to spend hours on end in your possibly most unattractive state – sweating, panting, smelling awful, you get the idea. This is how you learn who you’re compatible with. This is how I met some of my very best friends.
In middle school, running got me out of class early, in high school it allowed me to get my health back while meeting some of the funniest people I know, in college it allowed me to stay close with friends I might not have otherwise and I can only hope this next phase of my life (whatever it may be) will somehow allow me to move forward with running and relationships as well.
Sure, it’s not for everyone, but for those of us who love running, we really love it. From the awesome patterns found on our running shorts to the crazy neon shoe laces on our running kicks to the amazing feeling of accomplishment when we finally reach the finish line. Honestly, it’s enough to make an injured runner almost angry at those non-runners who have perfectly healthy knees but choose not to use them for running.
Enjoy your body, your health and your running buddies. They are wonderful.

A Smoothie A Day..

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Since I have not had a single drop of soda in almost four whole weeks (yay!) I have been experimenting a lot with sweet drink alternatives. For breakfast lately (which is closer to lunch because I wake up around noon..) I’ve been making all sorts of smoothies. Don’t let the similar colors above fool you, they’re all pretty different. I went to Publix and stocked up on frozen fruit– mangos, cherries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and peaches. Since then I’ve been mixing them with oatmeal, bananas, flax seed oil, vanilla & strawberry flavored protein, milk and wheatgrass depending on the taste/benefit I’m going for. I hope to perfect this oatmeal thing soon by making a smoothie that actually tastes like the buttery, cinnamon-y, brown sugar-y concoction I used to make, minus all the butter, sugar and otherwise unhealthiness. I also recently tried the Kellogg protein water mix in strawberry kiwi flavor and it’s pretty good! It has 5 grams of protein and fiber, so it’s pretty filling in addition to tasting good.
In other news, I went to the Orthopaedic Center today and learned that I can safely run the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon without fear of permanently damaging my knee! I certainly won’t be going for a PR this time due to this lapse in training, but hopefully with physical therapy I will be able to compete without pain. Bring on the ice packs!

Ulta Addict

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I visited Ulta for the first time & I am in love. This place is an explosion of girly girl awesomeness. The only thing keeping this makeup/hair/skin care/beauty store from being my heaven is the expenses that go along with wanting to buy everything. They even have THE cutest hair curlers & straighteners! Luckily, a very good & old friend of mine (I’m talkin’ friends since pre-kindergarten old) got me an Ulta gift card for my birthday, so I went a little crazy. Check out my beautiful new nail polish colors!From left to right they are called (get ready for this):

“You belong to me”
“Irreplaceable”
“Movie Star”
“Walk of Fame” – the one on my fingers. I dig this name.
“Mellow Yellow”
I also picked out some neutrogena foundation, sea salt texturizing spray & shine-ifying hair spray that allowed me to do this with my hair:


Thanks, Katie, for being an awesome friend & for introducing me to this wonderful store!

Pasta Salad

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I tried my hand at a healthy pasta salad a few days ago. I found this recipe online, but due to limited resources I had to make several changes. I simply used every type of vegetable I could find in the kitchen & marveled at all the beautiful colors. Who knew I would grow to love veggies one day?

The marinade meant for the chicken worked pretty well on the salad as a whole. I replaced Dijon mustard with plain yellow mustard and added some onion powder just because I love onions. The sesame seeds just added a nice touch. Enjoy!

Jessica Turns 23!

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Today is my best friend in the whole wide world–Jessica’s birthday. We have been best friends for almost seven years now (even though we first met in middle school). Halloween is our “anniversary” because that was the night we went to a carnival together (and her dad had to drive because even though she was 16 my parents wouldn’t let me ride with her until she’d been driving for 6 months.. that lasted about 2 months.) and had our first sleep over that night! I was always pretty jealous that she was almost a year older than me because that meant she got to drive, vote & drink alcohol for a year before I could. Now that I’m 22, however, I no longer think of it as a race. Time can just slow down to a crawl as far as I’m concerned.

Happy Birthday biff!! We will be best friends until we look this this:

(This photo was found here)

Happy Birthday Sis!

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Happy Birthday to my big sis, Britni! Every year when the birthday of a family member rolls around, we put up a sign that lets everyone know just how old we are this year. This time I did the honors. Sometimes the signs are super cute like this one Brit made me for my 21st last year:

And other times we are forced to scribble the words “Family Member” is “age” in the two seconds available before said member gets home. Gotta love family traditions.
I have thoroughly enjoyed celebrating my big sister’s birthday this year & look forward to many more!

*Cake courtesy of La Cuisine

Birthday Blitz

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There are so many birthdays in these summer months. (Too many people getting into the Christmas spirit..?) In the past couple months I have celebrated mine, my dad’s, nephew’s, boyfriend’s, sister’s & many, many friends. Birthdays are so fun because you get to celebrate the people you love, eat a lot of good food and, of course, you get to dress up all fancy like. My sister had an awesome birthday celebration this past Friday, but it was also Austin’s brother’s 80s themed birthday party night (and we all know I can’t say no to a costume party). So naturally I brought a change of clothes with me and prepared to party it up in two very different ensembles. For my sister’s nice sushi dinner & night out on the town, I went with the glam look:


Then to celebrate 80’s style, I made a Bayside Tigers sweatshirt (from Goodwill) in hopes of looking even half as hot as Saved By The Bell’s Kelly Kapowski.

I also wore my Goodwill jorts, and I bought some sweet turquoise earrings (for 99 cents) but I forgot to wear them.. so I will be debuting them at a later date.

Newsprint Nails

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I am currently procrastinating the incredibly daunting task of cleaning my room, so I thought the best thing to do was share my new nail obsession. My friend Emma told me about this technique where you transfer newspaper print on to your nails & I thought it sounded awesome. (She’s also the one who told me about Dr. Dog. So yea, she’s really cool.) I gave it a try after looking up the details from Rezalutions Art Mag, and this is what I came up with.



After your base dries, soak your fingers (one at a time) in vodka or some other 80 plus proof clear liquor & press the newspaper clippings on for about 30 seconds each. Be sure to press hard in the middle or it will come out too light.

Here’s the finished effect. If you have a light grey color, it would probably look even cooler. I just didn’t have one.. Maybe next time.
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