hello, lovely.

hello friends! 

casey and i are on vacation! 

where are we going? what are we doing? 

i’ll tell you!

saturday afternoon through tuesday morning we’ll be in new orleans. i’ve never been, but i imagine we’ll do a lot of walking and a lot of eating. i’m really looking forward to spending time with casey! it’s been a long time since we’ve been on a “just us” vacation. woohoo!

tuesday night through early sunday morning we’ll be in austin. i’m the matron of honor in chelsea’s wedding, which means it’s going to be a busy few days!

• thursday - all day bachelorette festivities
• friday - wedding prep/rehearsal dinner
• saturday - wedding prep/wedding/reception 

i’m super excited! 

stay tuned for updates!

i LOVE dark chocolate and usually aim for 64% cacao. when i saw a 99% cacao bar at world market, i had to try it. it wasn’t at all what i was expecting. it wasn’t sweet in the slightest. it was dry and kinda bitter. no thanks! i’m sticking with 64%!

have you ever tried 99%? what did you think?

…is when breakfast is over.

a couple weeks ago, i mentioned that i made an awesome salad and that it would be making an appearance on the blog.

well, here it is!

simple spring salmon salad: *kale, *strawberries, salmon burger (crumbled), feta cheese, & champagne dressing

*farmer’s market purchases

DELICIOUS!! 

if you need to catch up…
DAY 1
DAY 2 

DAY 3

sunday was exhausting, but a lot of fun! 

MORNING

chelsea and i had planned to go for a run, but it was raining. instead, i came up with a workout to do in my garage. it was one of the hardest workouts ever and it was only 20 minutes long! here’s what we did:

50 seconds of burpees
10 seconds rest 
50 seconds of mountain climbers  
10 seconds rest
50 seconds of jumping jacks
10 seconds rest 
50 seconds of jump squats
10 seconds rest
(do this 3 times)
run 3/4 a mile
stretch

this workout was the real deal. we were dripping sweat. after we caught our breath, we chatted for a while about random things. i enjoyed our workout and our conversation very much! 

AFTERNOON

around 11:30, i ran back to my house, which is literally around the corner. the shower started at 3 and there was so much to be done. me and my mom got BUSY. luckily, my aunt brenda arrived to help us shortly after i got home. it was a mad scramble to get everything done before guests started arriving. at 2:30, i was still in my workout clothes assembling and cutting sandwiches. thankfully, linda showed up and took over so my mom and i could go get ready.

by 3, everything (and everyone) was ready.

(recycled picture from my mother’s day post)
 

the guests started arriving and immediately started complimenting everything. the decor, the food, the drinks. it really was quite lovely (and i kick myself for not taking more pictures)!

for the first half of the shower, the guests mingled while they enjoyed food and drinks. here’s what was on the menu:

food

• egg salad sandwiches
• cucumber mint sandwiches
• smoked turkey sandwiches with arugula mayonnaise 
• fruit & granola yogurt cups
• fruit w/ marshmallow cream cheese dip
• veggies w/ buttermilk ranch dip
• pecan rolled cheese ball w/ table crackers
• lemon squares
• mexican wedding cookies
• cupcakes/cake: white chocolate raspberry w/ cream cheese frosting w/ sugared raspberries and mint leaves 

drinks

• iced tea
• basil lemonade
• strawberry peach sangria

here’s a picture of the food table (after people had dug in):

and here’s a picture of the cupcakes/cake:

gift time:

bride to be and matron of honor:
 

i’m so happy for my mom that the shower turned out so wonderful. she worked so hard to make it perfect. and it was.

EVENING

after all the guests left, some of our extended family came over to visit and enjoy the leftover food. it was so nice to see and talk with more family. after everyone left, my mom and i cleaned up and went to bed. we were beat!  

DAY 4

monday was a travel day

my mom and i hung out for a bit before i had to pack. we headed to the airport around 12:15 and said our goodbyes, which was easier knowing that i’d be back in a month.

my flights were uneventful. casey picked me up from the airport around 5:30.

although, i thoroughly enjoyed my short trip to texas, it’s always nice to get home.

:)

saturday was a long, but good and productive day!

MORNING

my mom and i started the morning by going to the farmer’s market. my mom had to buy some herbs and bread for the shower so i tagged along to check out the goods. there were two vendors i visited that are worth mentioning. 

• Buddah’s Brew Kombucha - this was one of the coolest vendors i’ve seen at a farmer’s market. the kombucha was offered pre-bottled or on tap. i wanted to try the pineapple-super greens flavor, which was on tap. the guy working gave me a 16oz glass bottle and i filled it up! it was $3 bucks, which is not bad! i took a sip and it was delicious. like really, really delicious. i can’t wait to get more when i’m back in texas (in two weeks)!!

                                          

• Texas Hill Country Olive Oil Company - their award winning olive oil was good, but to me it tasted like olive oil. their balsamic vinegar, on the other hand, was UNBELIEVABLY AMAZING. it was so amazing that i bought two bottles for  $15 each. since i flew to austin, i had to leave the bottles with my mom, but i’ll be back in two weeks to get them! i bought peach and wild cherry:

               

source

i also got some bangles, but they aren’t on the website.

AFTERNOON

my mom and i prepped all the shower food we could. we made lemon bars, prepped all the spreads for the sandwiches, made dip, made yogurt, finished the sangria, and made basil lemonade. 

after that, chelsea and i met sarah, a bridesmaid, and her mom, judy, at a floral shop so we could look at flowers and get some good ideas. chelsea had good ideas and the flowers she picked out are going to look pretty!

EVENING

chelsea and i had dinner at whole foods before heading back to her house to give her chickens some food and water. chelsea has 6 hens and 1 hen that turned out to be a rooster (oops). they live in a coop that she built (all by herself) in her backyard. 

eggs!

i would love to get 2 hens, but according to the research i’ve done (which isn’t much), i don’t think the city will let me. i haven’t given up yet though.

if you didn’t know, this past weekend i went to austin for my cousin chelsea’s bridal shower. my being there was a surprise so i didn’t really talk about it much.

this is chelsea and her fiance, brandon

 

here’s what went down friday!

MORNING

my mom and i woke up, ate breakfast, and visited with my aunt linda (chelsea’s mom). after that we had time to run two errands before lunch. 

1. we went to the mall so i could get a nose ring (the one thing i forgot). 
2. we wen to bed, bath, and beyond to get gifts for the shower.

AFTERNOON 

the plan we devised to surprise chelsea was perfect. she thought she was meeting her mom and my mom for lunch, so when she got there to find me waiting at the table, she was super surprised. she had no idea i was in town!

here’s a picture i stole from linda’s facebook of chelsea, linda, and my mom:

such pretty ladies!! 

we had an enjoyable lunch at a place called hyde park bar & grill. the food was great! we split a plate of their “award winning” fries, which were, of course, delicious. in addition to the fries and my meal, i had about three full glasses of iced hibiscus mint tea. it was goooood.

after lunch, my mom and i ran more errands for the shower. 

EVENING

while my mom ran yet another errand, my dad and i went for a 2.5 mile jog around the neighborhood. we talked the whole way to keep our minds off the fact that it was about 90 degrees. when my mom got home she convinced me to eat this concoction of a sandwich: ham w/ pepper jack cheese on sweet cranberry walnut bread. it might sound weird, but it was AMAZING!

in monday’s post, i mentioned that i went to the farmer’s market and to the magic city art connection. allow me to elaborate on that.

i went alone because casey wanted to sleep in. i didn’t mind. sometimes i prefer to go alone so i can wander aimlessly and circle the market a ridiculous number of times, which is what i ended up doing. 

usually when i get there, the first thing i do is get an iced coffee. with drink in hand, i began to circle, checking out the goods.

all the goods looked good.

i ended up running into a few friends, which was nice. two friends in particular, cleve and brooke, were willing to go “halfsies” with me on strawberries and eggs. bonus! we decided our team work worked so well, we might have to do it again. and again. 

HERE’S WHAT I GOT!

• a HUGE bunch of kale - $2 - almost gone! 
• the most delicious strawberries - $3.50 - long gone!
• squash - $2 - half gone!
• beefsteak tomatoes - $5 - one left!
• 1/2 dozen eggs  - $2 - none gone!
• mini jar of strawberry preserves - $2 - not opened yet!
• belle chevre cinnamon goat cheese - $7 - half gone! this stuff is heavenly. for breakfast (and for snacks…and for dessert) i’ve been spreading it on waffles. mmmmm.

a soap dispenser - $24 - MUCH better than the plastic one we’ve kept and refilled for the last couple years. i love it.

mini pottery thing - $5 - the sign said it could be used as a spoon rest, tea bag holder, ring holder, or whatever i want! right now it’s just looking pretty next to our TV.

this was my first evening 10K.

it started at 6pm and it was HOT.

i signed up for the race with two of my co-workers, jazmine and lindsay. both are runners. jazmine is a newer runner. she started training last year for the new orleans rock ‘n roll half marathon, which she ran this past march! lindsay has been a runner since college (i don’t think she considers herself one, but she is), but had never run a 10K race. she kept saying she was nervous, so i reminded her that i’ve seen her run and assured her she’d do awesome! 

i wasn’t sure how i’d do because of the heat (i’m not used to running in it yet), but i was determined to give it my best shot. my goal was to PR.

once the race started, i knew it was going to be tough. i just felt heavy. and hot. the first two miles were my fastest. the third mile was my slowest and the last three miles were pretty consistent. during the last 3 i kept telling myself, “you don’t have to speed up…you just can’t go slower.” it seemed to work. during the last three miles, the heat really started to get to me. my face was so hot. also, during the last three miles my bladder reached capacity. most of my focus was on trying not to pee in my shorts. i almost didn’t make it! i finally saw the finish line and tried to finish strong, but i don’t think i went any faster. i had nothing left and i was glad to be done!!

despite FEELING like i had a bad race, i didn’t. i PR’d by 20 seconds and got 2nd in my age group (out of 12)!! i’ll take it!*

jazmine ran the 5K and got 8th in her age group (out of 38)! 

AND if you are wondering who got first in my age group, it was LINDSAY! miss, “i’ll probably do horrible.” yeah right…she beat me by over a minute!! i’m so, so proud of her because she stepped way out of her comfort zone and totally dominated. i knew she’d do awesome and i hope this experience helps her realize that she IS, without a doubt, a runner. 

here’s the official race results: 

and here is lindsay wearing her medal!!

*my “official” time was 52:56, with an average pace of 8:32. my “unofficial” time, according to my watch, was 51:59. my watch also measured the course as 6.32 miles. at one point during the race my watch lost satellite signal for a few seconds, but seemed to pick back up where it left off. this could account for the distance/time discrepancy though. anyway, as much as i like my watch’s time/pace, i don’t feel comfortable claiming it. i wish i knew someone who wore a watch during the race so i could compare. 

FUN
i had another great week! 

monday, i met my friend carla for lunch at a place called trattoria centrale. it was my first time eating at this establishment and it won’t be my last! in addition to enjoying my salad, i very much enjoyed my time with carla! she’s a good friend. 

monday night, casey and i went up to our church for a book release party. our friend and pastor, dave, wrote and published a book! here it is:

source (casey designed the cover)
i’m going to start reading it this week and i’m quite excited! 

tuesday night, casey and i went to the movies and saw The Cabin in the Woods. you can read my review here. 

friday after work, i ran in a race sponsored by UAB’s national alumni society to raise money for scholarships. i’ll be posting about it later this week.

saturday, casey was a lazy bones and stayed in bed while i went to the farmer’s market. it was a really successful trip! saturday afternoon, i met up with my friend ashley at the magic city art connection. we walked around and looked at all the art for about an hour. it was HOT, but fun. after that we headed over to the music stage to watch KIDS YOUR AGE (the band casey rocks with). they sounded great!! here they are:

(photo by my gurlfrand, leslie)

after the show, we ate food. GOOD food. saturday night, casey and i saw another movie, Jeff, Who Lives at Home. it was really good. 

FOOD
as usual, i had some delicious food this week!

• my salad at the above mentioned trattoria centrale: mixed lettuces, chicken, artichokes, sweet peppers, capers, and roasted garlic. it was topped with some kind of cheese and i’m not sure what the dressing was, but it was SO good! 
  
  
   
• i ate at subway twice and got my usual both times: 6 inch roast beef on wheat, no cheese, spinach, onions, bell peppers, banana peppers, yellow mustard, and black pepper. mmmmmmm!
• i made a salad sunday night that was AWESOME and will later be making an appearance on the blog.

FITNESS
i feel pretty good about my workouts this week. i finally mustered up the courage to try 3 different workouts from bodyrock.tv. i don’t know why i waited so long. they were tough and i had to change some of the moves because i didn’t have the right equipment, but overall, i really liked the workouts. they were only 12 minutes long, but at the end of each one i was very much out of breath!

• monday: bodyrock workout 
• tuesday: 30 minute treadmill workout + bodyrock workout
• wednesday: bodyrock workout
• thursday: 30 minute treadmill workout 
• friday: 10K race 
• saturday: walked around all day at the farmer’s market and art festival
• sunday: nothing!

source

when casey and i went to see a movie tuesday night, our choices were Safe House or The Cabin in the Woods (TCITW). casey’s vote was for Safe House and mine was for  TCITW, but i settled on Safe House because i knew i’d see TCITW eventually, with or without casey. 

well, movie karma was on my side because Safe House wasn’t showing due to “technical difficulties.” TCITW for the win!

right off the bat, the movie was not what i expected. the opening scene had me wondering if we were in the wrong theater. once i was sure we weren’t, i knew the movie was going to be way better than i thought. 

it was funny - i even laughed out loud a couple times.

it was suspenseful - i was never bored. 

it wasn’t predictable - every time i thought something was going to be dumb, it wasn’t (with on exception). it also continued to exceed my expectations the whole time. i don’t think i figured anything out before it was revealed (maybe a few minor things, but nothing major).

it was clever - the plot, albeit absurd, was unique and original. for once. the concept worked and i liked it.