Confessions of a Shopaholic

You may remember that I--shockingly--gave up shopping for Lent. It was really rough, but Lent's now over and don't ya want to see what all I bought?!?!? 

It needs to be mentioned, if you don't already know, that I'm a bit of a cheapskate, and now that I'm married to literally the cheapest man alive, I promise that I did not spend an arm and a leg on all of this stuff! 

First, I really wanted some aviators, and I finally found some that don't make me look like a mosquito (after trying on literally every pair at Nordy's)!!

Marc Jacobs Aviators

I really, really, REALLY wanted these Tory sandals, but I could not find them ANYWHERE! (I don't like ordering shoes online...I need to see them, try them on, etc.) I really, really needed some black sandals...so I settled for Tarjay. So fancy, I know.

They were $15!

Ok, then I went to J. Crew. This is where it got a little out of control. They were having their 30% off all sale items deal happening, plus I get a 15% teacher discount on top of that! Pretty baller, if you ask me!

Skinny Patent Belt

Sale Price: $19.99

I paid: $11.89

Cropped Matchstick Jeans

Sale Price: $79.99

I paid: $47.60

Neon Gingham Shirt

Sale Price: $49.99

I paid: $29.74

Jackie Cardigan

Sale Price: $49.99

I paid: $29.74

Striped Gauze Cardigan

Sale Price: $49.99

I paid: $29.74

I saved over $115!!!! 

Gotta love those JCrew sales.

THENNN, after our race Saturday, Kathryn and I stopped at the outlet mall in Charleston. The JCrew outlet was also having a maj sale (everything was either 20%, 30% or 40% off!) and I also got 15% off by being a teacher on top of that again!! So here's what I got at the outlet:

Chevron Maxi Dress

This was my favorite purchase!!! Perfect for Italy!

Ikat tee

Stripe Boatneck Tee

Linen Cotton Mini

Washed Silk Tee

Scalloped Lace Tee

I also got two pairs of pants that I've been needing!!! I saved over $250 at the outlet!! WOW!

And then at the Nike outlet, I got a new running jacket!!

Whew!!! So I think I'm done shopping for a while. 

Cooper River Bridge Run

I've been wanting to run this race for a while now. I couldn't run last year because we had a wedding the same day, so I was excited to run it this year! The fact that it's in Charleston is an added bonus because it may or may not be my favorite city on the planet.

Luckily for me, I also convinced my girl Kathryn to become a runner so she could run with me and we made a girls weekend out of it!

We got into Charleston Friday afternoon and headed to the expo to pick up our bibs and race packets! It was very crowded!! The crazy thing about this race is how many people run it! It is the 3rd largest 10K in the U.S. and the 7th largest in the world! There are athletes from all over the place; Kenya, Russia, Ethiopia, it's so crazy! Like a mini Olympics (except you don't have to be a world-class athlete to participate)!

After the expo, we went to dinner to carb up! We found this adorbs little restaurant called Lana.

The pasta was really good! I can't remember what all was in it, but it was super yum! We may also have had some wine.... sorry, had to {oops.}

Ok, and gelato, too! I mean...chocolate gives you energy, right??

We had to get to bed pretty early to get up at 5AM (!!!) so we were unfortunately limited to just a few glasses of wine and could not live it up more in Charleston. Before sleep, though, of course we had to pick out our race outfits!!!

{Top is my pile, bottom is Kathryn's...obvi we take a page out of Rachel Zoe's book--we needed lots of options! Duh!}

5:00AM came super quick and we were less than excited to go stand out in the 45 degree cold for a few hours before the race! They said it was one of the coldest starts in race history! Of course it was. We lucked out and got a shuttle right from the hotel to the start line (we were going to have to wait in line for a shuttle from downtown to the start line in Mt. Pleasant)! We arrived around 6:30...and the race didn't start until 8! UGHHHHH. It was so freaking cold.

Here's the zombies us before the race!

If I look cold, tired and miserable, its because I WAS. 

And then I realized that I left my arm band (to hold my phone) at home. As in, Charlotte. FML. So I had to clutch my phone for dear life the whole race. Across a huge bridge. Less than ideal. 

At about 7:45, we went to line up. I somehow managed to qualify for the sub-45 minute group (using my 10K split from my half marathon), so I said goodbye to Kathryn and got in my corral (OMG, I sound like a farm animal). I was next to a 10 year old. I mean, seriously. 

Here was my view (10 year old not in this pic, sorry):

The gun went off for the really fast people (the sub-40 minute group...that's my next goal!) and then my group got to walk up to the start line. This is when I got really nervous. As soon as our gun went off, my Pandora station decided to STOP. WORKING. OMG...I mean, COME ON!!!!! So here I am, clutching my phone for dear life, that now has no purpose even being with me on this run. 

Luckily, they had music along the route, and after the first mile, Pandora decided to work again!

Here is a view of the start from above...I am in the second large group of people, kinda by the blue and white flags over to the side, and the tower for the shopping plaza. I had no idea how many people were behind me!! It just goes on and on forever!!! 48,000 of my best friends!

I liked this race because I got to start up at the front and didn't have to worry about passing slower runners.

 I did not like this race because I got to start up at the front and felt like, "Oh crap! I have to keep up with these people!" (i.e. the freaking KENYANS!) Thus, I was sprinting at the start. Ehh, I'm only running 6 miles, I can sprint, right?!? 

Then came the bridge. OMG y'all. OMG. I didn't really think about that fact that most bridges go up...and then eventually go down. I didn't think about the incline at all really. I kinda thought it might be relatively flat? I swear, I am so blonde sometimes.

You can kinda tell from this pic how BIG that hill up the bridge is. HOLY fdhjhdsjkf. That thing killed me! I just kept thinking if I could make it to the top, I'd be fine! The problem was, the top never seemed to come! The hill just kept going, and going, and going....

At least the views of Charleston from the bridge were gorge.

{not my pic...I was too busy running dying}

Anyways, I passed the 5K mark at around 20ish minutes. Halfway done! Then, I got to go down the hill!!! YAY! Except that it wasn't as exciting as I thought...I was so freaking tired from going up, that I had like, NO energy left! By the time I got off the bridge (and still had 2+ miles left), I was so done. I honestly don't know how I pulled myself together...oh wait, yes I do, water stops. Thank God for the water stops!

Mile 5 was my slowest...it was down King Street, and all I could think about was how I'd so much rather be in those exquisite stores shopping instead of sweating my butt off (yeah, I wasn't freezing anymore!) running this stupid race!

{I'm not in this picture...but it makes me feel better than most people look like they were hurting along this stretch!}

Then, I FINALLY saw the finish line! It was a miracle!!!

Here is my official result:

Yay! I beat my best 10K time! I really think that had it not involved the hill from HELL and my water stops (oh, and holding my phone the whole time, and Pandora not working, and the fact that I got like 4 hours of sleep the night before, and that I had been standing out in the freezing cold for almost 2 hours beforehand), I might have been close to under 40 minutes! Maybe next time?? 

Hahah, also I love how the "similar athletes" are two Ethiopians...ummmm PROBABLY NOT. 

After the race, I was super sad that they not only did not provide Gatorade, but there were NO space blankets either! WTF?! I went from sweating to cold again in about .2 seconds, which you can see from my THO is this pic (oops!)

Kathryn also ROCKED it out (and also saw some hot firefighters on the bridge, which I apparently missed!) and now I have given her the running bug! We are running another 10K this weekend (yes, like in 4 days) because we are crazy, we wanted to try a flatter course and well, it sounded like a good idea? 

Spring Break {Week in Review}

Well, well, well. It's Sunday night and I have to go back to work tomorrow. Spring break is over!!! BOOOO!!!

BUT...I had a very productive week! You may recall I made a fabulous to-do list...here's how I did!

1. Paint family room! 

Ok, well....not so much.

I went to Sherwin Williams with the intention to paint and pick out paint colors. I met a profesh painter when I was asking the store employee for help, and the painter said that because of the soot on my walls, I may have more serious of a problem than I thought. He offered to come to my house to look to see what the deal was. When he arrived, he spent a lot of time looking around and examining everything...he said we could still do it ourselves, but there was a lot of work involved....we would have to clean the walls (again), and the ceiling, plus then prime and paint the walls, ceiling and also the molding which has these little crevices in it! UGHHH. Definitely not how I wanted to spend a whole week off. So I asked him how much it would be to get a professional painter to do everything and he gave me a really reasonable price! So that's what we are going to do! He is going to prime and paint everything for us!! Woohoo!! Sherwin Williams is having a big sale in a few weeks, so we're waiting to buy the paint then, and then Elmer (that's his name!) will start painting!! I'm SOOO excited, now especially because I don't have to do it myself!!!

I've already narrowed it down to a few paint colors...which do you like?!

Perfect Greige (they even have the same rug as us!)

Balanced Beige

Pavilion Beige

Ok, so that's the paint situation....moving on....

2. Do an extensive spring cleaning, which includes, but is not limited to:

-clean blinds CHECK! Although I did not like this technique, it really spread the dirt around more! I just dusted the blinds and then used Clorox wipes to clean the dirt spots.

-deep clean fridge, pantry, dishwasher, coffee maker, washer and vacuum CHECK!

-get new shower curtain liners CHECK!

-wash comforters, duvet covers, pillowcases, shower curtains and of course our couch slipcovers CHECK! Those couch slipcovers were kind of a big pain!

-clean out my closet and donate old clothes, shoes and bags CHECK!

{A sampling of my donations! I had a lot of junk!}

-get some Bona and polish my wood floors CHECK!

-get out all carpet stains CHECK! Except they didn't really come out...oh well.

3. REPORT CARDS. As of an hour ago, CHECK!

{this was my night last night...I'm sooo cool}

4. Run this race! CHECK!

This is going to get it's own post...but in a nutshell, I ran past a Kenyan on the steepest bridge I've ever been on in my life. Haha.

5. Relax???? CHECK!

I shopped (!!!!), which is also getting it's own post, I caught up on my shows, and I even babysat a little for the cutest kids ever and made some extra money!! 

It was a successful week!!!

Easter Weekend

We had a busy, but relatively low-key (can that happen?!) Easter weekend!

Friday night, I went out to eat with Kathryn and Jen at Wolfgang Puck Pizza Bar! In addition to yummy pizza, we also had some carafes of wine! ( I thought the whole carafe thing seemed super exquisite?)

Afterwards, we went to see The Host. It was a little odd, but I liked it more than I thought I would!

On Saturday, I ran ten miles (not really sure why) and then realized why I never do yardwork! Two trips to Lowe's and almost four hours later, we pulled up the dead-looking rose bushes in the front of our house and we planted some dianthus in its place. Side note: I have noooo clue what dianthus is; I wanted petunias, but all of the petunias at Lowe's looked awfully close to dying, and I do not have a green thumb to try and save them! All I know is that you do not have to replant dianthus every year = awesome. After this whole ordeal, Travis will be lucky if I ever do yard work again!

Just look at my hands! YUCK!

I am so not an outdoor girl!

Phew...for the record, there are TWENTY ONE little dianthus plants along our walkway now. That's right...I dug 21 holes. And I kept screaming because there were lots of worms involved. It was revolting.

Sunday morning, we woke up to our Easter baskets from the Easter Bunny me! Funny how he knew just what to buy....wine, beer, Peeps and chocolate! Our faves! 

We went to church, where they had beautiful flowers! The sanctuary smelled so good!

Then we went out to brunch at Fleming's. I had 2 mimosas and this delish french toasty thing:

{Don't worry, I gave the sausage to Trav...I don't like sausage!}

Somebody was too hungry to smile for a picture, haha... 

After brunch, we spent the remainder of the day still recovering from our extensive yard work (I may or may not have taken a two hour nap) and watch my brackets further deteriorate. I don't even want to talk about that.

Alright friends, I'm off to tackle more of my spring break to-do list!

Menu Monday

I've had a few requests for some of the delish things I've been making lately, so here ya go!

Most of these things aren't full meals, but sahhhhryy I've been on kind of a salad kick!

Last weekend, Travis grilled some BBQ chicken (he made up his own recipe) and I made this salad to go with it...it was amaze!

"The Biggest Loser" Salad

For my one actual meal that I've made in the last week, I was practically forced to make this sweet and sour chicken by one of my teacher friends...I'm so glad she highly recommended it; it was very messy, involved and time consuming, but so, so delicious!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

To go along with that deliciousness, I made another salad....this bad boy was SO good that I actually made it again later in the week per Travis' (and my) request!

Asian Slaw with Ginger-Peanut Dressing

Please make this APAP...you'll thank me later. You can also throw in some chicken if you want to make it more of an actual meal!

And then, I decided to get ready for Easter by making this stuff that has been all over Pinterest:

Bunny Bait

Mine looked slightly different than above, because all of the Harris Teeters in South Charlotte were out of pastel M&Ms, so I had to use pastel Reese's pieces instead. Still amazing.

Tonight, we had this for dinner:

Copycate Chick-Fil-A Nuggets

Instead of the honey mustard sauce, somebody really wanted the polynesian sauce, so I made that instead, following this recipe

...with (you guessed it!) another salad! My mom should be so proud of me!

Corn and Chickpea Fiesta Salad with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

I'll be back soon to tell you all about our busy Easter weekend!!!