Instagram Round-up: April [showers]

Holy April Showers, where did this month go?

April was full of ups and downs, but here are some of my favorite moments I was able to capture this month:

#NashvillelovesLilly, such an absolutely gorgeous store! 

My first Media Board Meeting as a bonafide media buyer

Outfit/Tervis coordination was a must

My greatest accomplishment this month, my mile PR

#selfhighfive

The best work days are usually signified by a disaster desk

This month I:

pitched a new billboard campaign

re-worked a buy in five hours

and completed not only audits but quarterly post reports early

Sonic runs with dad and Sophie are easily a favorite part of my life.

What I'm Watching Wednesday

HuMp dAy and another edition of What I'm Watching Wednesday! 

This week is a little mix of movies on my watch list and shows waiting for me on my DVR. 

First things first, Nickelodeon bought the ENTIRE Mary-Kate and Ashley library.

THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

We're talking the whole thing from Full House to So Little Time to Holiday in the Sun. 

So Little Time started this week [6:30 CST] and yes I set up my series recording Sunday night. 

I will always love me some MKA, it's the perfect post work day/post run cool down.

Okay, now three movies I cannot wait to go see:

True Story:

As you could have guessed, yes it is based on a true story. James Franco and Jonah Hill star in this film about Christian Longo, who is currently being tried for the murder of his wife and three children. However, before being taken into custody Longo hid under the identity of Michael Finkel, a former New York Times journalist, who then ends up covering the story. Finkel wrote the film's screenplay. I had read articles about the real life case and trial and was instantly intrigued by the movie's trailer. Hill looks amazing in the role of Finkel. 

Age of Adaline: 

Here's your quintessential Saturday afternoon girl movie with an absolutely unrealistic plot line and an absolutely gorgeous cast. The flawless Blake Lively stars as Adaline, who after a freak car accident never ages. She meets a handsome man in present tense and of course has a past with his father. Oh em gee. Adaline's 2015 boyfriend is played by one of my favorite Game of Thrones actors so I was sold immediately. Pack the thermos of mimosas ladies..

The Longest Ride:

So my goal was to finish the Nicholas Sparks novel before the movie came out, then life got in the way. But Sara saw it a couple weekends ago and said it was SO good. She read the book long before I did and I 100% trust her review! 

No one panic if I go MIA the next couple weekends, you can find me at Regal Cinemas Green Hills 16.

Any shows you are loving or movies you're dying to see?!

Friday 4/24

"and I am the worst of them"

I've been struggling with a lot of little things lately, little things that eat away at you and plague your mind when you're sitting in traffic or standing in the shower. But one that has been on my mind an awful lot this week has been not running the half marathon this year.

I feel like a failure, a loser, a fake. 

It's an extremely crap-tastic feeling to answer no when people ask "Hey, aren't you running this weekend?" 

I was a Psych minor in college and I think this guilt and failure feeling associated with the half is me projecting feelings of failure and loser from other situations in my life right now. I have friendships changing, work projects that never seem to have an end result of YAY and approval, still no second dates [ever], and no third medal I set out this year to add to my Half Crazy board. 

But then I think of my little brother Joe. The kid runs 15 miles for practice and balls out with a sub-5 miles. And yet he's never run an organized half marathon. Why?

He doesn't feel like he needs to. 

I never stopped my training program on my Nike+ Running App so I still get out there and pound it out at least 3x a week and have broken my mile record twice since deciding not to run 13.1 this coming Saturday. So maybe I just need to adopt the Joe philosophy in life a little more often, well for running at least. 

My mom has always joked that the entry fee is too much and she'll set up a course for me and make me a medal. And this year I might just take her up on that! 

So good luck to everyone who is running this year and don't let that 10 mile wall hit you as hard as it always has me. Don't be afraid to walk, listen to your body. And always always sprint that finish line! 

#tbt

Friday 4/17

Tuesday Trending

I am a professed Tumblr [and Jcrew] junkie and get the majority of my outfit inspiration from different blogs I follow. A trend I am seriously loving right now for early spring is the cuffed boyfriend jeans and strap-y stiletto combination. 

This is a look that can be dressed up or dressed down.

And better yet, a trend us short girls can jump on too.

Win, win, win. 

What trends are you loving right now?

Weekend Recap: 4/11-4/12

This weekend I was suffering from what I like to call a mental hangover.

Last week was a tad bit overwhelming, lots going on, not enough Lexapro to deal with it all.

Saturday I laid in bed as long as I could before forcing myself to do laundry [it was time, all I had left were underwear with sparkle words on the butt.] That afternoon I wrapped up in my tride and true Beauty and the Beast blanket with a Melon Gatorade [a rare find], and watched The Theory of Everything. 

After that what started as a 'return the Redbox' movie trip turned into a grocery shopping trip and I found the most perfect spring candle to complete my sweet "coffee table."

Blair Waldorf Bass would approve.

Sunday I decided to do the little things that make me happy.

I purged my nail polish tub, tanned [weekend upgrade, hollar], added tons of re-blogs to Monograms and Media, and ended the night in Hendersonville on mom and dad's couch. 

Now onto this week and all it's challenges.

Tomorrow I say good-bye to a wonderful intern turned co-worker turned friend. Wednesday is babysitting. Thursday and Friday are client shoots. 

BUT Sunday, Lilly finally comes to Target. 

Let's go! 

5 on Friday

1. 

Hillary Duff is back.

The first time I heard this song I legitimately didn't even recognize it was her. 

And now I'm obsessed.

2.

Redbox sent out a BOGO coupon earlier this week and last night I finally got to take advantage of it. After a nice muggy run, followed by a cold shower, I plopped down to watch The Imitation Game. In case you had your doubts.. yes, it is as good as everyone says it is. The ending is tragic though.

Tonight I will try and tackle The Theory of Everything, I've been told to keep the tissues close.

3.

After babysitting Monday and Tuesday night and still taking Wednesday as my "off day," I was back at it last night with a long run down and up Church Street [the bike lanes on the Church Street bridge are a runner's dream.] This little happy screen was there to greet me when I finished.

I'm not running the half marathon, as I had planned, this year and I had been feeling like a real loser because of it. This gave me a little pep in my step on the walk home.

4.

We have our department meeting this afternoon and this is the first one I'll participate in as a buyer with more than one client. I am pumped but might vom before.

5.

I got the unfortunate ESPN alert last night that Troy Polamalu had announced his retirement.

Sundays will never be the same. He truly is an incredible player and an incredible man. I can't wait to see his HOF locker at Heinz Field one day. ‪

#‎ThankyouTroy‬

Friday 4/10

[Easter] Weekend Recap

This weekend was way too short but very sweet.

I spent Thursday and Friday night out in Hendersonville for mass with Mom and Joe and then a late dinner with Dad and Sophie. Saturday I piddled around my house before heading to River Chase for basketball, chips and beer, and lots of cheering when KY lost just like I said they would.

Easter Sunday started with coffee in the living room followed by mini muffins and Easter baskets. 

Mom made an amazing Easter dinner, just like she always does, and we finished the night with our traditional coconut cake and a movie. And now onto the work week: we've got Ad2uesday, babysitting, department meetings, and Talor's going-away NYC dinner.

Coffee please! 

Friday 4/3

Today is Holy Thursday. 

Today is the day Christ gave himself up spiritually and physically for our sins.

As a Catholic, this is they day the Holy Eucharist came to be, in a sense.

I don't know if upset is the right word, but it has always seemed odd to me that today is not a Holy Day of Obligation. There is a certain heaviness to today and I always go back to the imagery portrayed in The Passion of the Christ of Jesus struggling in the garden the night of Holy Thursday. 

She Reads Truth has a wonderful devotional on "The Cup":

"Throughout the Old Testament, “the cup” is used as a metaphor for God’s judgment and His wrath, as in Isaiah 51:17: “You have drunk the cup of the Lord’s fury. You have drunk the cup of terror, tipping out its last drops” (NIV). So when Jesus prays about avoiding the cup, He’s fully aware of what He is about to do by going to the cross: He is drinking the cup of God’s wrath. Yes, He’s taking on the physical agony of the cross, but He is also taking on the spiritual agony of separation from His loving father. And that separation is the pain that is breaking Him down in the garden.

But without missing a beat, He prays on."

I think the final line of "He prays on" is a wonderful take away for not only Lent and Holy Week but life. I have a personal connection to Holy Week, and yes that sounds funny since this season is SO much bigger than me, and many of my friends know and are probably tired of hearing this story but I will always tell it every Lent. Junior year of college my mom gave me up for Lent, best thing she ever did. It brought us together and I fully believe is the reason we have the incredible relationship we now have. Holy Week symbolized the end of the journey we had gone through that Lent and a new beginning. And last week at Palm Sunday mass it was said "at the end of it all is the resurrection," not only for Christ but for us. The end of Lent and Easter should always be viewed as a new beginning whether for relationships or habits or routines. 

And that is why mom and I always say Happy Holy Week.