I had purchased this cheap ($2!) Queen Helene green clay mask after reading a recommendation from Erin at Care To Eat.

I am pretty sure Brewski didn’t recognize me at first:

Brewie wondering why in the world his mommy is up so early:

Very attractive, no? Apparently the older I get, the less shame I have… And that fabulous coffee filled mug (since anyone who knows me also knows I am not a big into NYC) was a gift from one of my sponsors and I am quite proud of it.

Lately, I have been doing a lot of thinking (which is probably why I popped out of bed at 4am on a Friday morning) and I made a promise to myself to be myself. I noticed that in the last few years I have slowly molded into a person I thought people wanted to see – a quieter, more serious and reserved, less lighthearted girl (I just can’t call myself a woman, it seems strange).  Of course, I don’t plan to reenact my days as a 21 year old (phew, right?) but I do plan to get back to the basics. Basics of me, that is.

I spoke to my Dad last night and he ended our conversation with “Maybe I will see you on your blog”. I couldn’t let him down. However, my life has been a little unique lately and I don’t have much of the norm – food and exercise – to talk about. Am I eating? Of course. Am I running/stepping/strength training/stretching/icing? Yup.

I did review a new beer last night, a Raspberry Hefeweizen from UFO. I tried to rate it on a scale of 1-10 but then decided that my fingers are stars (see, I really am a lunatic ) and I would do a 5 star scale:

Got to be a lady with the pinky

Three stars! I think I just wasn’t in the mood, because I ended up pouring most of it down the drain. Almost too light and clean tasting. I like that in wine, not so sure about in a beer.

And I  will leave you with my favorite seasonal beer I have tasted to date: The Original Pumpkin Ale!

Ok, enough beer talk before 6am… Off to work for a massive giveaway.

Wait, one more thing… I am deeply saddened by the Ft. Hood massacre. I don’t have much else to say for fear of saying too much, however, my prayers are with the Soldiers and Families of Ft. Hood.

Moment of Silence

Have a peaceful Friday. As yesterday’s tragedy unfolded I was quickly reminded of how precious life is and how quickly it can be lost…

To register, the cost is less than $20 and you get a t-shirt! Then, you donate to your favorite cause. I chose the ASPCA for obvious reasons (my dogs, Brewski the Boston Terrier and Piper the Puggle, actually sleep under my luxurious down comforter on my 600 thread count sheets). Plus, their commercials get me EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.

So sign up! Run a 50 yard dash or a marathon… just run.

Sorry I have been MIA, I promised myself when I started P4P I would post in a steady, consistent manner. But life keeps getting in the way and I don’t feel much like talking to anyone (not the healthiest coping mechanism).  However,  there is one thing worth mentioning and that is the  speedy 10k(+) I ran on Saturday morning at the Halloween Hustle.

Friday was stressful and I wasn’t exactly looking forward to running  a race on Saturday morning. I met my friend Shannon for sushi after a failed attempt to find Halloween costumes (note to self: do not shop for such things the day prior). I then went home and dillydallied till midnight. At midnight, I had nothing prepared for my morning race, but figured “Whatever, I am running as a devil how serious can I take this?”.

6:30am, alarm goes off. I hear the rain outside and think of every possible excuse to skip this race. Alas, I don’t. I run out the door just in time to pick up our race packets (there was no pre-race packet pick up – say that 10x fast).

Upon arrival I met up with my two friends, Shannon and Kim,  who I convinced to run the 5k. Shannon was a fun little Halloween icon with purple striped tights and the cutest skull headband along with a festive Halloween t-shirt. Kim had planned to be a ladybug and spent her Friday night sewing red dots all over her pants. However, she wanted wings and actually ran to Wally World before the race to grab them. Unfortunately, even Wal-Mart is out of wings on Halloween, so she settled for the most adorable bunny.

Before the race:

I am waiting for Shan to post the pictures of the three of us.

Probably 50% of the people were not dressed up – but the other 50%? Hysterical. There was a man in a full gorilla costume complete with mask. This gorilla went on to place in probably the top 5 – he definitely wooped me! I would have died running in a mask and hairy black suit. After the race he was holding a big sign that read “Free Hugs” and I made sure to get mine. Who wouldn’t want to hug a hairy, sweaty gorilla? I love the mystery of full costume. The REAL QUESTION is, would I have wanted to hug him sans gorilla suit?

I had only run one 10k  prior (Run For The Red – August 2009) and wanted to set a new PR. When the race began I knew I was on a roll. I set a pace at about 7:50. I didn’t think I could maintain it the entire race but it felt so easy (0kay, not so easy… more like doable). The race overlapped with the 5k, so there were more than a few times where I had to ask which direction to go. I cannot for the life of me decipher whether a 10k is orange or green signs when I am running my little heart out. This may have been a problem. I was set to finish the 10k in under 50 minutes, but I hit 6.2 miles on my Garmin and the race was nowhere near over. When I crossed the finish it read 6.67, and some people claimed to have done 7.3!

We didn’t stick around for the race results, because, well, we never do. When I received an email on Sunday with the results I was shocked. I would have gotten an award had I stayed! I was the 4th female to finish and the 2nd female to finish in my age category (and 13th overall, after the gorilla and a few other crazy houligans). This would have been my first award, darn it. I still ended with a PR (despite running an extra half mile) of 52:29. This was a sub 8 minute mile (at 6.67 miles, of course)!! CAN YOU TELL I AM PROUD?

Shannon and Kim did awesome in their 5k. It was Kim’s first race and she finished with sub 10 minute miles! I love when people pick up running. That means I get more running buddies.

Toodles, hopefully I come back here sooner than later… No promises.

Thinking and Doing.

I happened upon this quote on my iGoogle and it made me to reflect, albeit briefly , on the marathon training I recently embarqed on. On any given day, I have a tendency to tell my friends, coworkers, and even family, that I cannot attend “x” or I cannot do “y” because I have to run “z” miles.

Not anymore. I am making a choice to run instead of going shopping with friends or attend an event after work. The hubs may want to partake in our once Sunday ritual of laziness relaxation, but I choose to instead embark on my own half marathon. Sacrifice? How so?

So friend/family/dog, if you are reading this: when it is the dead of winter (as dead as winter can be in NC) and I am bitching about running 20 miles on the weekend, tell me to cut the crap. Just say it with a smile. 

So, this morning, I had to add this to my oatmeal, but I couldn’t give up the usual almond butter. So I did what any indecisive girl would… I had both.

Along with the usual packet of oatmeal, flax seed, and 1 banana.

I did snack on some Mary’s Crack and an Apple Pie Larabar before this mediocre lunch of romaine lettuce, black beans, leftover grilled chicken, salsa, hummus, and hot sauce:

At work, my office is relatively small (I am not complaining, as it is not a cubicle… I have 4 walls and a door!) and I have little storage space for my personal items. Look what has been collecting below my desk:

I’ve got my trail sneakers in the back, my new Mizunos on the right, and my tried and true old Mizunos on the left that have been spruced up with a pair of Superfeet insoles.  These insoles have saved my shins, I swear. Thank you so much REI rep in Rhode Island that recommend these, I cannot believe I almost left the store without them. If my mom hadn’t helped her to convince me, I would probably still be complaining of shin splints.

But no, instead I am now complaining of possible tendinitis. During my 13.1 miles on Sunday, I had some pain up the back of my ankle that seemed to be my Achilles Tendon. The pain subsided almost immediately after I finished, so I didn’t worry. However, on Monday, the front of my left ankle began hurting pretty bad – to the point that I was limping. I ran three miles on Tuesday and felt no pain during the run but felt it before and after. It is actually the most comfortable in heels ((gasp)) and sneakers. My flats caused major pain and I can feel it at night when I sleep and stretch out that foot.

I might be being stubborn but I refuse to stop running. The pain isn’t anything above annoying and I attribute it to the fact that I did over 30 miles last week, much more than my usual at this point. I was able to run a speedy 3 miles tonight after my strength training class (which my coworker came to, I love when I have friends to work out with).

3 miles – 23:25

Mile 1 – 8:02

Mile 2 – 7:42

Mile 3 – 7:39

These 3 miles really.dragged.out…. But I guess that is what happens when I hit the track – 12 laps makes me feel like a greyhound or something.

The fitness class coordinator talked to me after class and asked if I was interested in teaching classes. I have been giving this some thought lately and was pretty beyond excited that I was approached. She explained what training I need and then she would be happy to mentor me. Yay!

I got home late and the hubs requested a salad. Of course, he got it.

And my huge portion with some added leftover grilled chicken (couldn’t let it go to waste), nutritional yeast, hemp seed, hummus, salsa, and of course, HOT SAUCE. Oh, and shaken, not stirred.

My bed is calling my name. Thankfully tomorrow is Thirsty Thursday (minus the Thirsty part, that was four years ago).

Quick weekend recap:

On Friday, I met the girls (plus one very cool boy) at Carraba’s for dinner. I had a tasty small portion of salmon and a side of zucchini. I asked for the salmon dry and it didn’t happen, but I try not to be too high maintenance…. or I just knew that caper sauce wouldn’t be half bad. My favorite part of the meal was the wine I saw on the wine list… Paul Newman’s Chardonnay. I first saw this chardonnay at Bonefish Grill and haven’t seen it since. I went as far as to try to buy it online, but didn’t have much luck. It is very refreshing with fruit undertones and a tad bit of oak – but not much. I am no sommelier, I just like my wine white and relatively dry. Easy enough, right? After dinner, we headed to the local Irish pub and listened to a blind man sing. He was fantastic.

Our crew has really dwindled, but we are still hanging tight:

Saturday breakfee with my new mug – thanks to my awesome NYC sponsors!

And I have to compare these two almond butters… wait, there is no comparison. Maranatha is more expensive and does not spread easily. Nutritional stats are almost identical. How is that possible? Thanks Mom for bringing me the Whole Foods brand all the way from CT. It is fabulous!

Yesterday, I got my hair cut on the other side of town and was super excited to try the .99 pumpkin iced latte at Dunkin Donuts. Being a New England girl, I was raised with a DD on every corner. Their coffee reigns supreme in my book (and wallet). I couldn’t wait to try it…

Alas, they forgot the pumpkin part. It went into the garbage and I was very, very sad.

Today, I had one of my long runs (9 miles) planned. My friend Shannon was going to do the first few miles with me which was a pretty big deal. Why? Well, because 99.9% of the time I run alone and think my personality has changed because of it. Due to running, this reformed extrovert spends most of her time in solitude. Not that I am complaining. However, chatting for the first 4 miles made me a happy camper. I got back from the run with Shan and felt amazing.  The weather was cool and crisp and I had no where to be. So I figured, why just do 9 miles? Why not do a half marathon? To be honest, the fact that my training plan only called for a 10 mile run prior to the half marathon worried me. I like to know what I am getting into -  I was born planning.

The spontaneous 13.1 went great. I did have some pain up the back of my lower calf but it subsided during my post-run shopping.  I really wanted to finish in under 2 hours and did it!

I then treated myself to a pedicure (what running does to my once cute toes is the worst part of training), pumpkins for carving, and $5 flowers. I also picked up Halloween “candy”  for the neighborhood munchkins. By “candy”, I mean100 calorie pretzel snack packs. What else would a pretzel obsessed lady get? And what is the worst case scenario – kids don’t want my goods and I have to keep them? What a travesty.

My bowl of somewhat healthy goodies:

And my 5 dollar flowers I congratulated myself with:

I meant to make a fab Indian dish tonight out the new Cooking Light (I bought all the ingredients yesterday) but I failed to realize the recipe took three hours and required a dutch oven. Oh well, maybe another day. Instead, the hubs did what he does best – he grilled the chicken breasts and threw the sweet potatoes in a foil pack on the grill. Not going to lie – it was great. So much for all that curry and turmeric.

I did make one recipe out of the magazine – Frosted Pumpkin Cake. It was pretty tasty yet seriously dense. I think slightly undercooked too (woops):

I didn’t stretch like I should have today and am probably going to be sore and whiny tomorrow. I have to hit the sack, but will leave you with two cute puppy pics from the weekend.

Denver being Denver:

And my two of my three stinky boys hanging out/snoozing:

Night little world.

~ Tay

How Fast Can This Devil Run?

Hopefully, faster than a few months ago.   Last night, I bought some cheap devil horns and a tail online at Costume Super Center and also found my favorite Target workout tank in red and on sale! I am now all set to run the 10k next weekend dressed for the occasion. I found a very cute ladybug headband and thought about cutting out black circles and attaching them to the above tank top, but that would be far too crafty. I have always been in the “I purchase my Halloween costumes” camp, vs. those that have the talent to make them.  After deciding the devil was easier (and I can remember being a devil for Halloween at the age of four or so… it suited me quite well), I considered buying a devil kit with wings, but it was more expensive. Plus, do I really want to run six miles wearing wings? I can imagine some minor discomfort.

Yesterday, I had a 5.5 mile run scheduled and I actually completed it – woooot. I slowed down, thanks to the advice of my father, and averaged an 8:28 minute mile. I was pretty beat by the end (granted, I have only slept 5-6 hours each night this week which is unusual for me), but I know I need to slow down to about a 9 minute mile to complete the half successfully. I also did a little gym sess during lunch with my coworker. It consisted of 20 minutes on the crazy arch trainer which I turn into a stepper.

Who needs to take lunch when you can just eat at your desk? Just look at these pictures from yesterday, all desk eating. I am slightly a hermit/office freak, but we can’t always be perfect, right?

My fruit for the day (I really meant to eat that apple but I just don’t love them):

My first time trying Quaker Simple Harvest – it was pretty good.  In the past I used the regular Quaker’s packets but I was impressed with the ingredients (or lack of) in these.  Since I just use the hot water on the water cooler at work,  the consistency a bit hard, or “uncooked”.

Of course, I spruced it up with my usual ground flax seed, one banana, and almond butter:

Lunch was pure snackage and included another banana and half a Larabar as well as two servings of cottage cheese.

I eat a lot of Apple Pie Larabars, no doubt. But how could I not when they are $.80 at the commisary?!?

I should have bought more on Sunday – 4 didn’t last long!

Cottage Cheese #1: Rachel’s is my absolute favorite new find. This Cucumber Cheese variety to to die for. At $1.25/cup, it is a little out of our food budget but I sneak it in there. Notice my pretty Sigg bottle in the background.

Cottage Cheese #2: Because the first one wasn’t enough. How am I ever going to cut out dairy (I am considering cutting it out to see if my skin will improve). This looks HIDEOUS, I know, but try it – cottage cheese, hot sauce, and black beans. Yummy protein!

After work, I was really excited to use my new salad bowl but we really didn’t have many “fixings”. This is the best I could do:

It contains organic baby spinach, cucumber from the Farmer’s Market, cherry tomatoes, banana peppers, chick peas, Trader Joe’s feta cheese, and a sprinkling of hemp seeds.

All shook up (literally, in a Tupperware container with TJ’s FF Balsamic Vinagrette)  and Tayified:

I baked the last of my beloved squash and zucchini (for now, of course):

Beeeeautiful:

Somehow I am finishing this post on Friday night, writing about Thursday night. When will I ever catch up? ;-)

Body Bashing

I remember the first time I became conscious of my body, and in particular, my weight: I was twelve years old and had to weigh myself in gym class for our yearly physical fitness assessment. I still have the journal laying around somewhere that documented my thoughts that very night. It read like this, “You would not believe what I weighed in gym class today. ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN POUNDS!  I need to lose weight, like, NOW.”

As a child, I was skinny and a picky eater, but I was born loving sweets!

This was 7th grade... right around the time I became aware of weight and body image. Go ahead and laugh - I thought I was stylish in my 579 outfit!

What I failed to realize at that time (and the time of the picture above) was that I was 5′6″, the same height I am today. That same year was a rough one in general and the girls in eighth grade made it their mission to make my life a living hell. They called me a slut, spread nasty rumors, got their boyfriends to bark at me, even got my seventh grade friends to turn against me.  Evidently, this does a number on a vulnerable tween.

Over the next three years, I continued to eat ungodly amounts of Oreos (think a sleeve in one sitting) and the like. I would take six to eight chocolate chip cookies, put them in a large cup, pour milk over them and call it a “Cookie Milkshake”. Ingenious, no? Well I ended up gaining close to 25lbs on my small frame by my sophomore year of high school (1998-1999). For years, my mother had promised me that my eating would catch up with me , and boy, it had. I was seasonally active (playing lacrosse, horseback riding, and one season of soccer) but by no means did I have an active lifestyle. I did start and quit winter track twice though, after the first week or two.

I was in denial about the weight gain until my on and off boyfriend of three years (we met in eighth grade) designated me as one of the “big girls” in our class. I  legitimately do not think he meant to hurt me, he saw it as a reference to my height and curves. However, I can remember the phone conversation like it was yesterday and those two words hung over my head for the entire summer, and then some. I basically stopped eating and at the very least counted every single calorie I consumed. Tootsie roll pop? Fantastic 60 calorie meal.

Of course, compliments flooded in and I began to measure my self worth by the number on the scale. I became obsessed with weighing myself every morning, stark naked (God fordid I had socks on or something) to measure my weight gain or loss and eat accordingly. By the time summer came to an end and I began my junior year, I was between 125-130lbs. I wasn’t making smarter food choices, I was just eating less. Every morning for about three years, I would eat one third of a cinnamon chip muffin. I felt very in control of my food and my intake, but I can remember one morning when my grandmother ate my muffin. I made a huge fuss over it - this was going to throw off my whole day. Looking back now, I feel awful for doing this. I mean come on, getting upset with your diabetic grandmother for eating  your muffin because her sugar was low?  I may have felt in control but my actions spoke volumes.  Heck, I even packed a scale in my suitcase on vacations.  I did have a gym membership in high school but I could count on one hand how many times I went… maybe even one finger.

This was after high school, summer of 2003. I was happy and not TOO obsessed at this point, as I hadn't gone to live at college yet.

Following this, I weighed myself almost daily for ten years straight.  In 2004, I moved out of my parents’ house and into a place (okay, it was really a trailer but that is a whole different topic) with my best friend at the University of Connecticut.  I was single for the first time since I was thirteen (I stayed with that boyfriend for seven years) and I was finally experiencing college.  This included seeing thin, beautiful girls all over campus. I began to compare myself to them, started working out at our college gym,  playing lacrosse on the club team, all while eating less, and less and less. After a year at college I had dropped close to 10lbs. At this time I met my future husband. I can remember him telling me that both his ex-girlfriends (who were 5′11 and 6′0) weighed 120lbs. I knew this wasn’t the case, I had seen them and they did not appear to be scarily thin. But it didn’t matter. If he thought they weighed 120lbs, what did he expect me to weigh? At that time, I think I probably weighed 120lbs. During college I also developed a habit that I still struggle with: eating very little for days and then losing control (a piece of cake) and then feeling like I blew it so I would eat three more pieces of cake, then four cookies, then five huge scoops of ice cream… You get the point. I would eat until it hurt, then I would go to sleep because I could forget what I had just eaten. That is, until I woke up again.

My weight was like a rollercoaster and I would avoid the scale for a couple of days after I ate too much. From 2005 to 2007 my weight fluctuated ten to fifteen pounds, sometimes every few months. The rapid weight gains and losses were taking a toll on my body and my mind. Often times, when I would get down, I would eat, but there were other times the eating wasn’t triggered by emotions, at least not consciously. Of course, most of the pictures I find are during times when I felt skinny (which I equated with being pretty):

Fall 2005 - one of my "heavier" times in college.

Halloween 2005. I had binged that day and can tell.

On our way to the airport for spring break in 2006. I remember I didn't eat the entire day before so I could see a certain number on the scale before leaving.

New Year's Eve after graduating from college. I remember eating close to nothing between Christmas and New Year's to lose at least 5lbs and "look good" for the night out

Less Rollercoaster Eating… Less Eating in General

I slowly have been working my way out of this cycle (and mindset that one piece of chocolate ruined my whole day) by adopting a lifestyle of fitness and fueling my body with nutritious wholesome foods. I still look at food with a twisted view (bread and pasta = bad, for example) and it is a daily struggle. Before my wedding, I reached an all time low weight of 113. I was still restricting my eating and had really upped the ante on my workouts. Also, I had just moved to North Carolina and was adapting to my move (i.e. lots of stress). In the past, when I feel out of control of my life, I know my weight is one thing I can control. By the time of our wedding (August 2008) I had gained a few lbs only to the advice of my seamstress, who told me my dress would fit better if I added a couple lbs to my frame.

Right around my all time low:

May 2008. I felt the need to stay extremely thin before my wedding.

I was so nervous before the ceremony - can you tell?

Letting Go of the Number on the Scale

After the wedding, I finally had some time on my hands and started to run for my health, not for the number on the scale. I ran my first 5k with my Dad on Thanksgiving (2008) and then a few more races this past summer.  I can now say for the first time in my life I work out because I love how it makes me feel. I am down to weighing myself about once every week or two. Instead, I use my jeans and how I feel as a measurement. I still struggle with how much to eat, but I take it day by day. I have learned to not only accept my body but to love it. Heck, it ran 8 miles yesterday with minimal stretching, took a strength training class today, and I am not even sore.

Being kooks after running the Susan G. Komen Race For the Cure in Raleigh in June 2009. Finally healthy!

Soooo…. What is more fun than running a race? Okay, a lot of things, I admit it. But running in costume is my cup of tea, and I signed up to do that next Saturday… Halloween if you forgot. I will be running the Halloween Hustle Against Domestic Violence 10k downtown.  Even more exciting is that my good friend Shannon signed up for the race today.  She just got engaged (congrats Shan!) and I am looking forward to seeing her and celebrating.

Anyways, I have run one 5k and one 10k in our little downtown but was excited to see this is a slightly different route. Might just set a new PR! My last and only 10k was 56:05. I would be stoked to come in under 54:00 and I think it is totally doable, especially since I am striving for under 2 hours in the half marathon which is only 3.5 weeks away…eeeek.

Today I did my missed Sunday run with much nicer weather on a beautiful paved trail:

Total: 8 miles/66 minutes

Average: 8:15

Calories burned: 813

Running in nice weather makes a happy camper.

My Garmin pooped out on me when I turned it on (I guess I don’t charge it enough), so I don’t have my splits. Of course, I hadn’t realized that when I took my pre-run happy picture. Thankfully I had my good old Polar F6 on me so I used that.

For some reason I though bringing my camera with me would be a smart idea – heck, I ran a 5k with it in my cleavage once so eight miles shouldn’t be too rough, right? WRONG. I had to carry that camera the entire way. Thankfully I took some pictures… mind you, I am far too insane to actually stop and enjoy my surroundings so these are taken at approximately 8 mph:

My 3rd banana of the day... Officially a reformed banana hater.

Feet before pain and toe blisters. No more flip flop wearing for a while!

This trail is so beautiful, clean, and even comes equipped with water stations.

Now this makes the trail.... I can't vouch for cleanliness as I never used it.

All done and calling my daddy and sista back. Notice the lip gloss.

The run was great  I did get spooked by a squirrel, I am such a scaredy cat. I tend to look over my shoulder constantly and look for people hiding in the woods. Instead of running with a camera in my hand I think it should probably be my cell phone… since you never know where that boogie man may be hiding.   I also saw a deer but it ran off before I could take a picture.

Dinner was late and boring:

Dinner of steamed veg, black beans, and salsa.

And my standbys- cottage cheese with TP and pretty pretzels:

This looks rather odd, but try it.

The love of my life.

Followed by more pretzels and a half of a banana. OK, bed time. Life is far too draining lately.

~ Tay

Today was productive, if nothing else.  At work,  I had a great meeting with our new legal advisor. We have had at least eight different advisors since I started about a year and a half ago and our newbie promised to stay for the long haul. Phew. We then took our boss to lunch/shopping for a belated Boss’s Day celebration. Lunch was at On The Border and their chips are the devil. How can anyone stay away from them? Actually, it is their salsa that really gets me. I had a bowl of chicken tortilla soup, side salad with salsa (obviously, right?) for dressing and a side of black beans. Sorry, no pictures. I need to get better at that.

After work, I took a strength training class and then ran 4 brisk miles - it went something like this:

Total: 34:08/4.19 miles/398 cal

Avg: 8:09/181bpm

Max:5:53/192bpm

Mile 1: 8:30

Mile 2: 7:59

Mile 3: 7:57

Mile 4: 8:04

I seem to be getting a little more consistent – yayyyy! I ran on the road today in my Salomon XT Wings (trail sneaks) and I hate to say this, but my feet like them a whole lot more than my new Mizunos. I was even talking to the BFF about it and she said her new Mizunos feel incredibly stiff and not like past Mizunos. I might just have to cross over to the world of Asics. Any suggestions for a medium to high arch with a tendency to get some mighty painful shin splints?

The Little Surprise

I came home and  saw strange object on the front steps. A package was covered with the doormat. Nice gesture mailman but that may make my package a tad more obvious then just leaving it on the side of the front porch. Oh well.

I hadn’t ordered anything (this is the major shocker) so I had no idea who sent this package! I ripped open the box like a madwoman graciously opened the cardboard box and found this beautiful package:

Hmmmm.... What could this be? And from who?

The tag says it all!

My sister ROCKS. She is a very busy equine veterinarian but she must have found a little bit of time to send me this…. hehe. I knew it had to be something I was missing in my kitchen, since she was just here cooking/chopping up a storm.

Look at this piece of art:

This salad bowl will be seen in many photos from this point on.

A bit of an upgrade from this sad excuse for a bowl (heck, it was $1.98 at Target):

The infamous plastic bowl. I bought it to camp with, originally.

And the best photo of the night, my beautiful sister Ashley:

My sister and I are the browned eyed/haired girls. June 2008!

And those random toes?  I am not sure whose those are! That night was about the extent of my bachelorette party, at the local bar in my hometown. My shower was the next day and it was so nice to hang out with all my favorite chickies.

I am so thankful to have such an amazing family/support system. Ashley is definitely “One Good Woman”.

Need some sleep to get through those 8 miles tomorrow, goodnight!