Memorial Day Weekend Recap

This weekend was a blast but was over way way too soon. 

Saturday morning started bright and early, and do I mean early, 8am race time came quickly with lots of alarms. 

The course was a killer. And the temperature was rising as fast as the hills we were running.

After kicking it into high gear for the last 0.11 miles I finished with a 27:41 time [less than a minute off from my PR last month.] Not too bad if you ask me!

Sunday was on and off cloudy/rainy which called for a couch day and accidental naps. 

That night Ali and I called in delivery Mexican and was pleasantly surprised by our OnDemand movie of choice, How To Be Single. If you're in your mid-twenties and haven't seen it yet, totally worth the rental. 

Monday can be summed up by one picture:

Now onto a short work week and a weekend full of early birthday celebrations!

Welcome June!

Five on [almost Memorial Day weekend] Friday

1.

Wednesday I stepped out of my comfort zone, or should I say ran out of my comfort zone, and met up with a local running group for a 4 mile trail run. I won't lie, I was kind of nervous/terrified but the trail was gorgeous and I held my own as the rookie.  Who knows I might just do it again.

2.

This morning was awesome right off the bat, not only because it's the beginning of a long weekend but also because the first sneak peek of Emily Giffin's new book hit my inbox at 6am.

I can't wait to dig into it at the pool this weekend!!

32 days until First Comes Love is released and 45 days until Emily Giffin's book tour in Nashville!

3.

Speaking of books, one of my guilty pleasures  Babe Walker is releasing a new book this summer American Babe. White Girl Problems and Psychos are absolutely hilarious and you will finish them in a matter of days I promise you. June 28th cannot come fast enough.

4.

Lilly Pulitzer is having a blowout Memorial Day gift with purchase special. 

New arrivals have landed too, hurry hurry!

5.

THE PENGUINS ARE HEADING TO THE STANLEY CUP FINALS.

After a nerve wreaking Game 7 last night against the Lightning, they boys are back in the Finals for the first time since 2009. 

All the praise hands and confetti emoji. 

Hope you have an amazing Memorial Day weekend!

Friday 5/27

Thursday Trending

This Thursday Trending is brought to you by WHOWHATWEAR and one of my style inspirations, Lauren Conrad. WHOWHATWEAR's blog featured Conrad's "Three items you’ll see everywhere this summer." this morning and I am on board with all of these! Below are my favorites from each of her must-have categories. Check out the full article linked above for all of Conrad's picks. 

Wednesday Words

I know I barely know ya 

But this is feeling good 

Not gonna overthink it 

Just like I normally would 

No sense in tryin’ to hide it 

Your smile, it says it loud

We know where this is going

What’s left to figure out?

Ohh, I sing ya like my favorite song

You and me we’ve got it made

Ohh, how could feeling good be wrong?

Something tells me now

It’s alright, it’s okay

If we just keep it sweet like lemonade

You’re so fine, all day

Baby, I’m sweet on you like lemonade

Let’s not get complicated

Don’t gotta cause a scene

When I’m with you it’s easy

Wouldn’t wanna change anything

When I got your attention

I get this de ja vu

It’s like we’ve always been

Heading where we’re going to

Ohh, I sing ya like my favorite song

You and me we’ve got it made

Ohh, how could feeling good be wrong?

Something tells me now

It’s alright, it’s okay

If we just keep it sweet like lemonade

You’re so fine, all day

Baby, I’m sweet on you like lemonade

S-Double U-Double E- to a T

S-Double U-Double E- to a T

S-Double U-Double E- to a T

S-Double U-Double E- to a T

Ohh, I sing ya like my favorite song

You and me we’ve got it made

Ohh, how could feeling good be wrong?

Something tells me now

It’s alright, it’s okay

If we just keep it sweet like lemonade

You’re so fine, all day

Baby, I’m sweet on you like lemonade

It’s alright, it’s okay

If we just keep it sweet like lemonade

You’re so fine, all day

Baby, I’m sweet on you like lemonade

Ladies, start your brackets

Get your roses ready, it's about to go down.

The Bachelorette returns tonight with our girl JoJo in all her perfect hair glory.

I know my friends and I have our brackets ready to go and might already have our favorites. Chad, Alex, Chase

You can follow along with the madness with Bachelorette Bracket-ology each week here.

And check out a clip of the Bachelorette herself on GMA, looks like there's a surprise suitor at the eleventh hour!

26 Candles

As of Saturday, it is now the season of the Gemini. 

While I'm biased, because I am a Gemini [17 days till June 8] the majority of my friends are Geminis too. That's probably why we all get along so well, we understand each other's crazy. 

So, if you're looking for a gift idea for your Gemini bestie, here are a couple of my favorites. 

From Lilly to Keurig to Emily Giffin and finally the greatest pool float ever... take your pick! #26

Five on Friday

1.

Evelyn Henson launched her greeting card collection this week, finally! She has been teasing previews on Snapchat for weeks. Best part, they're cute and cheap! As much as I love Papyrus, $6.99 for a card gets old fast.

2.

Another product launch to note on a post-it note, Erin Condren's 2017 Life Planner on June 1st!
Thank goodness for interchangeable covers because I am loving all the sneak peeks!

3.

Don't forget to enter Jcrew's Summer Getaway sweepstakes this week!
A vacation AND a Jcrew giftcard, what else could a girl want?

4.
LET THE RAIN FALL DOWN!
It's been 10 years since the Laguna Beach finale aired and the original cast has reunited . Not only do they grace the cover of US Weekly this week but have also been doing mini interview on E! News. I am loving all the 15 year old nostalgia.

5.
New Matt Wertz came out today and I am loving it as a summer soundtrack.
Lemonade and Smoke are my favorites right now.

Friday 5/20

Friday May [the] 13th

Lately: May

Wearing:
Going on week two of OPI's "Live.Love.Carnaval".
It's the perfect summer color! [and makes your hands looks tan]

Re-blogging:
Morgan Stewart, from E!'s Rich Kids, got married this past weekend and her dress was stunning.
I cannot wait for the episode to air so I can see it in "person".

Reading:
She Reads Truth: Proverbs
I can't say it enough, this study [and company] is wonderful.
I'll probably pull this book out for guidance for years to come!

Watching:

Sunday nights are my new favorite- Game of Thrones and Penny Dreadful back to back.
100% worth the 11pm bedtime that goes with it.

Running: 

Knoxville Track Club's 5K on the 100 Block Memorial Day weekend. 

Who wouldn't want to bust out a 5K before 9am? Drink beer by the pool guilt free the rest of the long weekend.

Loving: 

The wait is over, Evelyn Henson's Spring/Summer downloads are here!

She has been teasing all kinds of cute sketches on Snapchat the past couple weeks and I am loving all of her new releases.

Listening: 

I have loved Mike Posner since I was 19 and a sophomore in college. 

He released his new album last week and it is really good. He has a very raw/acoustic-y feel going on. Seems like we've both grown up since 2010.

My current favorite, Iris.

Adventuring:
To Gatlinburg we go for client meetings this week!
We have a really awesome team on this account who make not only road trips but all day meetings fun!

Anything you're up to I should add to my list?

[Long] Weekend Recap: 5/6-5/9

This past weekend I logged some PTO and took a nice long four day weekend to travel home and celebrate Mother's Day. Friday I was up early car pre-packed the night before and hit I-40 West before 8am. TGIF indeed. 

We washed windows, planted flowers, took Sophie to Lowe's, made hamburgers, watched the Penguins, had coffee, watched Game of Thrones and Penny Dreadful [actually together, in the same room], ate way too much, laughed and laughed, talked about life/work/friends/dating, and celebrated the amazing mom we're lucky enough to have.

Saturday I got to spend part of the afternoon visiting Sara and her little man Warren. 

He is SO big and SO full of personality and has a smile that gets you every time. This phase of life is pretty cool, getting to watch your friends become awesome wives and mothers.

Monday mom and I went and "played" downtown and of course stopped to eat the greatest cobb salad, ever, at Party Fowl.

Weekends like this are exactly why PTO is there to be taken and it's never "good-bye" but "see you later." Until next time Nashville..

You say he saw the light, his slate is clean

I came across Maren Morris and her catchy single 80s Mercedes last fall thanks to my Discover Weekly playlist [per usual.] I was looking for something new to clean house and make dinner to last night and decided to put her EP on shuffle and came across this little gem...

enjoy!

What you do with trash? You take it out

So why are you letting him hang around?

Girl, you gotta know when to clean house

And throw his shit out in the yard

If it was the first time, I'd understand

But it's the third time - you got a second chance

There's a fine line between an accident

And an L-O-S-E-R

It's bullshit, you know it

Yeah, I see it in your eyes

Every time that you tell me

Deep down he's a really good guy

That's like saying

Drunk girls don't cry

Girl, you must be outta your

Damn mind

You say he saw the light, the slate is clean

He swears up and down that it's gonna be

Different this time

That's like saying drunk girls don't cry

Another weekend, another box of wine

I heard it so much I got it memorized

If you think he's the one you must be blind

Or C-R-A-Z-Y

C'mon, it's bullshit, you know it

I wish I had a dime for

Every time that you tell me

Deep down he's a really good guy

That's like saying

Drunk girls don't cry

Girl, you must be outta your

Damn mind

You say he saw the light, the slate is clean

He swears up and down that it's gonna be

Different this time

That's like saying drunk girls don't cry

Red Carpet Round-up: The Met Gala "Manus x Machina"

The Met Gala would make me nervous. 

I am all about some horizontal stripes, dark skinny jeans, and classic JCrew pocket skirts. 

But then again I don't have the legs of Taylor Swift, the ass of J.Lo, or the face of Gigi Hadid.

Stepping out of my comfort zone, and keeping my "wtf" comments to a minimum, here are my favorite looks of the night:

This is definitely the dress I would wear, simple but on theme.

I oddly love this, even with the awful 90s platform boots [but Met Gala, right?]

I bet this dress is stunning in person.  

Her hair is the perfect accessory with the coloring and style.

TSwit should have gotten ready with Karlie, because she [and her abs] slayed.

This dress is incredible. 

The detail and color are perfection paired with her olive skin and simple hair.

This dress is a lot. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful.

However the flash of skin breaks it up perfectly.

Blake Lively at the Met Gala.

Enough said.

Can this woman be any more gorgeous?

It doesn't hurt that this dress and cape are a work of art in and of themselves. 

I absolutely love everything about this look.

The gold and detailing paired with her dark features is flawless. 

But all pale in comparison to Claire Danes because, well, her dress lit up...

mic drop

The Wall

There's the running term "hitting the wall". 

The mental block you hit a certain mileage or point in a race. Both half marathons I've run I've hit the wall at mile 10. Even when Sara jumped on the course and ran with me, the minute she left my side it's like my legs didn't know what to do anymore. I was in a full on mental war with myself to keep my legs moving. 

I feel like we hit the wall in life sometimes too. 

Mornings when you hit snooze three times, throw on jeans and whatever top is first in the closet, skip makeup, make it to lunch, make it to 5, go home, skip your run because your head hurts or you just don't want to change and drive to the greenway. It almost killed me to run 2 miles this week. My head was anywhere else but on that trail with me. Every 5K we've run this year I've walked at some point. 

But not this weekend.

I made the mental deal with myself I was NOT going to walk no matter how much my knees hurt or how hot it was or whatever other reason my brain came up with. 

Low and behold, I PR'd. 

26:55 never felt so good [after I almost died after I crossed the timing pad.]

I arrived home on a high. I broke my 5K wall. I had a fire under my feet. [literally, my shoes are so shot]

 Tomorrow the She Reads Truth Proverbs study starts, it's a four day work week for me [heading home for a long Mother's Day weekend on Friday], and I have my six month review at work. 

The wall is down y'all. In the words of Justin Timberlake, it's gonna be me [May.]