Selfie Nation

 It seems Weird Wednesdays are slowly turning into random Wednesdays but hey, no harm no foul right?

I want to talk about three specific things, none of which are related.

1. Meryl Davis' arms. Holy. Ripped.  In case you didn't hear the amazing news, our U.S. superstar ice dancing pair - Meryl Davis and Charlie White - won Gold for the first time ever for the USA on Monday. Outside of the fact that the couple absolutely killed it, can we talk about Meryl's arms really quick?

Seriously, google image her. She's ripped. It's impressive.

2. Speaking of superstars (yet going down a completely different avenue) this song came on yesterday in my car on my drive home -

It made me realize that I miss the days when Miley was normal and sang nice normal songs and kept her tongue in her mouth. I'm not looking to open a 'let's bash Miley' forum - I would be lying if I said I didn't love Wrecking Ball when it first came out. But back in her 'Party in the USA' days, man did I have a girl crush on her.

Those days are gone now.

Long. Gone.

Last but most importantly, I got a badass box in the mail today.

For those of you who have never heard of Warby Parker, in short, you select 5 pairs of frames from their website that you think you may like. They ship them all to you, for free. You have five days to try them on/test them out (the lenses don't have a prescription in them) and then you ship them back. If you like a pair, you buy them. If not, then no hard feelings. And they come out pretty inexpensive, compared to normal eye docs.

Help me out, would ya? This girl snapped her glasses in half back in December, and is desperately in need of a new pair. Feedback appreciated.

#1

these may be my favorite...

 #2

                                                    #3

 #4

have some blue spots on the frames

#5

Jet Black is a little too intense for me.. it was still fun to try though.

Vote in the comments, pretty please?

Cheers to Wednesday - 

K

The burrito that stalked me

Has it really been over a month since I’ve written a Weird Wednesday post? Why didn’t someone slap me?

To make it up, I have a very special story for you all.

But before I forget, a quick kudos to myself… I did yoga last night! A full hour class! The instructor was a couple minutes late, and as I sat there waiting I slowly started convincing myself a variety of reasons as to why I should walk out and get on the treadmill instead. Luckily, I talked myself off the ledge and the instructor walked in shortly after.

And surprise surprise, I felt great afterwards! Progress.

SO, this past Friday through Monday I ran a cumulative total of about 24 miles. To some, that may not seem like much… and once upon a time that wasn’t a big deal to me either. But as an ex-injured runner slowly rebuilding her mileage base… that’s an accomplishment for me. That’s not the point of this story though.

this is the point.

 The point is, I forgot how RAVISHED running higher mileages make me. Like, crazed mountain lion type of hungry. Shortly after getting back from 7 miles on Monday evening, the hunger hit me like bricks and I sprinted down to my freezer and threw the first thing into the microwave that i could find. It just so happened to be this:

source

I trotted back upstairs, steaming burrito in hand, ate half of it and left the rest on the bathroom counter to continue post-shower.  I was in a hurry to get over to Andrew’s apartment, and didn’t feel greasy hair was sufficient to cheer on watch the Irish get the crap kicked out of them. Sad face.

Where I went wrong: not eating the entire burrito. Halfway through my shower, shampoo running down my face, I realized I could no longer avoid the screaming burrito on the bathroom counter. Shamefully, I got out of the shower and shoved the rest of the burrito into my mouth.

post-shower shame

WHAT?

Why am I publicly admitting this? I don’t know. Because it’s weird, and I’ve been a neglectful blogger when it comes to Weird Wednesdays. 

I’ll leave you with this. I saw it last night and I nodded to myself and wondered if I would make it the background of my computer at work. I decided against it, but I still love it:

excuse the vulgarity, but it's true.

 I've got some recipes coming up for Friday!

Cheers!

Persimmon

Happy Weird Wednesday! I saw this quote last night on Pinterest and immediately thought of my boyfriend, Andrew, as most would agree we are one of the weirder couples around.

proud of it.

I’ve been foam rolling myself to death. Death by foam roller. I’m serious. 

I think it’s working, but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. I also said screw it and stopped running in my heavy boxy Asics that I used to love but now resent, and went back into my Brooks Connects. They feel so much better, and my IT band hasn’t rebelled against the change.

There was this weird fruit was on sale at Trader Joes last week, so of course I bought it. I didn’t even know what it was called when I bought it, but it sure looked nice. Pretty color.

They are called Persimmons, says google. However, I’m not sure when it is considered ‘ripe’ because right now it feels hard, and the color hasn’t changed. Does anyone out there know when my little persimmon can be eaten?

I also bought two more gems from Trader Joes. And yes, gem is the perfect word for them, because they are both delicious in their own special way.

love me some cranberry anything.

Last but not least, I’ve been slowly collecting pictures of my new dog sister from my mom.  They make me happy. Two weeks from Friday until I get to meet her!

angry after her bath.

Tell me something weird about your week. Now.

Cheers!

Weird Wednesdays - Collectors Edition

So.

This past weekend while in Chicago Andrew and I stayed at my hippy sister's apartment. Her and her roommate recently moved in, and to use the words of my good friend, the apartment simply looks more like a museum than a living space.

Aside from the large, dirty vase in their living room that contains live water frogs that they mail ordered from an online website, the apartment contains a variety of gems from a record player to treasure chest.

see the little frog at the bottom?

However, my favorite had to be this:

I was obsessed, and considered stealing it until my sister informed me that her roommate got it in Asia or something. I decided that would be mean to steal it.

I've never been one for collecting; the only thing I currently collect are race bibs, and those sure aren't racking up as of late...

only two races this fall. thanks a lot IT band.

Which got me to thinking. I want to collect giraffe things. I want a giraffe teapot, a cute giraffe key chain, those sorts of things. Nothing over the top, I just want giraffes to be my 'thing', or my go-to favorite animal I guess.

My first addition to the collection was one of my favorite stuffed animals that I brought back from home, Markus, whom I forgot about until this past weekend. He now sits happily on my desk at work and as my coworkers pass by they wonder why my desk is slowly turning into that of a child's nursery.

Long hair.

It makes sense right? Giraffes are tall, like me. I also think they are beautiful, like me. In our most recent race through the zoo a giraffe made direct eye contact with Andrew and I as we ran by; we had a very special moment with him/her.

Yep, it's official. I've made up my mind. Giraffes are my new favorite thing.

Ok, I'm off. I have other running related things to talk about but let's hold off 'til tomorrow, shall we? Just wanted to hit you all with a bit of mid-week weirdness.

Cheers!

Big Foot

Disclaimer: If you are not a feet person, and images of perfectly normal feet gross you out then it’s recommended that you stop reading.

Did I ever tell you guys that my first love was soccer? I played from about the age of 5 up through my freshman year of high school.

Rocking the soccer uniforms

Due to my growth spurt in late elementary school, not only was I tall, but I had pretty big long feet. Still do actually. And somewhere along the course of my soccer career and growth spurt… I developed the nickname ‘Big Foot.’

I actually forgot about it until this past weekend, while running the race.

Do these socks/shoes make my feet look big? I mean, I am a size 10.5… but do they look extra big? Or am I just being weird?

Two guys approached me shortly after crossing the finishing line and started talking with me about the race, saying that they “Remembered me passing them around mile 10 with my crazy bright shoes.”

Side note – this was my first time ever wearing compression socks. I literally bought them last Wednesday, and pulled them on Sunday morning trusting that I was going to like them. I did. They rock. Officially a compression sock convert.

i realized this picture is not mine. just needed a visual for you guys. 

Anyways, back on topic. It’s not like I’m particularly self-conscious of my big feet anymore… it’s a part of me I’ve come to embrace, along with my hairier than normal arms. I actually realized while brainstorming for this post that I’m a pretty big fan of my feet; I’ve posted enough pictures of them on instagram to wallpaper my bedroom.

just to list off a few...

Weird random thought #2 – Does anyone else name their alarms on their iphones? I just did it last night, and had an immense amount of fun doing so.

find the typo

Weird random fact of the day – these flowers were on the counter in my gym’s locker room while I was getting ready for work this morning. And they made me so happy. Just a beautiful, fall bouquet.

The end. Anyone else have a love/hate relationship with their feet? Or their alarms?

Cheers!

Sweatpants Swag

It’s really not any big secret that I’m no fashion guru. In fact I consider myself to be about as far from a “fashionista” as you can get. If you’ve been reading this blog in hopes of seeing me post pictures of cute outfits I buy/wear and my favorite stores to shop at, I’ll save you some time and tell you to stop reading right about… now.

I’m not bashing that interest/passion, don’t get me wrong. However, I did happen to stumble upon a hilarious post today poking a bit of fun at the topic, if you’re interested.

As I’ve mentioned before I’m poor and the reality is, a new pair of running shoes or a new sports bra tend to make me a lot happier than a new pair of heels. That's just me - to each their own.

And since we are currently in a taper week and I have nothing to report, it is a Wednesday, and the Bears play the Packers tomorrow… here’s what I shall present you with.

My all-time favorite clothes that I currently own.

Exhibit A. 

Possibly one of the oldest of my t-shirts still standing, I stole borrowed this t-shirt from the lost and found at a club volleyball tournament back at the prime age of 16, and forgot to return it. Why do I love it? Not only because it makes people think that I’m from the modest city of Laguna Beach, but because over the years of wear and tear it has turned into that perfect, soft kind of fabric. Do you know what I mean?

The holes in the armpit only add character.

Exhibit B

So when I went on that rant about fall, and said that I wear sweats ANY CHANCE POSSIBLE, I meant it.

These gems were given to me during my first ever collegiate volleyball season – fall of 2006.  To find sweats long enough for this 5’11’’ crazy is hard enough, but to find ones that are comfortable, and I love? Hallelujah. I will literally wear these pants to shreds.

I’m pretty confident Andrew has problems with me wearing them in public. I’m also confident he has tried to hide them from me a couple times now.

I’ve worn them to parties, out on errands, and to bed at night. If these pants were a human, they would be one of my best friends. Have I made my point?

 Don't mind me, just doing the macarena in my fav pants, balla style.

Last but not least, one of my most prized possessions:

 This has been hanging on my door since I took it off on Sunday night. And it will hang there until tomorrow after work, when I put it back on and cheer those Bad News Bears to another victory against the unmentionables… (cough cough) Packers.

Don’t even get me started on a rant about my feelings on the Packers.

Do any of you guys have favorite clothes – sweats or non-sweats – that you have a special attachment to? Or am I the only weird one raving about non-designer clothes? 

Cheers to an epic football game tomorrow night!

It Returns

It's been a few weeks (three to be exact) since writing a Weird Wednesday post. That's too long, if you ask me.

But first, I have a story. Only because I always feel it's necessary to share my failures just as often as I share my successes. So real quick, let's talk about my date with the track last night.

tweet prior to run.

My assignment was to run six 800's (half miles), each around 2:50-2:55, with a slow 400 in between each 800.

I didn't think it would be an issue, I even made it sound like NBD in yesterday's post, as well as on Twitter.

Oh, it most definitely was NOT NBD. The results are as follows:

3:14

3:04

2:59

3:08

3:04

2:58

and I almost died fighting for those times under 3 mins. died.

oh kait, you look so sad. and tired. that's because i am.

Oh well, I suppose without failure there wouldn't be success. Or anything to work towards.

On to a little weirdness. just a little bit.

I really like cleaning my car. It's possibly one of my favorite things to do, and it's typically on my weekly to-do list.

her name is Shannon in case you were wondering.

Speaking of to-do lists, that's another one of my favorite past-times. I would say, on average, I have about 4-5 lists going on a daily basis. Is that weird?

blurred out, of course. because that's my business, not yours.

I also enjoy spending massive amounts of time making playlists. Music is a huge passion of mine, as you can see from my iTunes library...

you read that correctly. 4686 songs and counting.

I've been told, by multiple people, that my playlist making ability is a gift. I can't really argue that. However, if I told you the amount of time that I just spent making playlists for the beach this weekend, I'm pretty confident you would think less of me.

not 1, but 2 playlists.

"Kait, you didn't tell us you are going to the beach this weekend!" Patience my friends, patience. The time will come for my beach story.

Anyone else love playlists/making lists/cleaning their car? Please, share a (weird) little passion you may have.

Cheers!