Blonde Moments

I may be getting a PhD in Chemistry, but I am still blonde and allowed to have a few 'blonde moments' here and there. I had a good one last night.

I was driving to the gym, decked out in my new Fila jacket and Nike shorts with my Aspaeris compression shorts underneath to prevent the inevitable chub rub and my 26.2 apparel unicorn shirt, when I realized that I had forgotten my headphones. *Blonde Moment* At the time, I didn't think it would be that bad but also thought that it was either going to be a miserable workout or a short one.

I got to the gym and did my 30 min abs class and then it was time to run. I got on a treadmill that was by the tv's so I had something to watch and sadly couldn't only muster a mile without the tunes. I was mad at myself but this was the first time back to the gym after I was down for a week with the strep. It was one mile that I couldn't have done if I was on the couch. It was miserably slow but I got it done.

This workout started my first points for the HBBC and I'm so happy to finally be on the board. I'm doing good today already on the fruit and veggie front with 4 servings in already.

Last night after working out, I stopped at Walmart and picked up some apples, carrots, cubed squash, and some seafood salad. I ate the seafood salad while making cranberry mush and brussels sprouts. Don't worry. I didn't eat them together but I prepared them at the same time. It was super cool to see the cranberries burst! I had a slice of turkey with the mush and then a bowl of mush and a plate of b. sprouts. I did all of this while watching BL.

I know many people aren't really into this season, but I of course am. It is my Tuesday staple and I was sooo happy to see Makeover week! Everyone looked great! I was especially happy for Becky b/c she's now a size 10!! I wonder when she was there last? Good job lady!!

I'm not sure if I'm working out tonight but if I do anything, I HAVE to do the dishes. I have a pile in the sink that I need to take care of. Anyone want to do my dishes for me? :) They were one of my chores growing up and now I totally hate doing them.

What are your plans for tonight?

No luck Post Doc shopping so far. I've received a few "sorry no money" responses and a few "waiting for money responses." At least I'm getting responses! I even sent one in the mail yesterday b/c they won't respond to email correspondence. I enjoy getting mail like the next person, but this is the electronic age. Oh well.

Shopping, Shopping, Shopping!!

It seems like I have been doing a lot of that lately. I kind of fell off the planet over the holiday but am back now!

Thanks to all the new readers from SR that have stopped by. I love getting comments from anyone out there!

Backing up a whole lot, I spent Thanksgiving day with Erin and her family. It was a lot of fun with lots of people, food and football!! We went through all of the Black Friday ads and decided that we were going to Walmart to battle the crazies at 10pm.

We ended up at the Walmart about 9ish and were armed with carts and staked out our claim. I scored 2 new sets of sheets, one was 600 thread count for $20 and the other was a microfiber one for $7. Then I got a whole host of movies that ranged from $2-9.

Black Friday movies

I also got a Shopvac at Walmart for $20 and was very pleased with myself and am looking forward to using it.

After we left the crazy that was Walmart, we had over an hour to kill before Shopko opened up at midnight. We went and hung out at a bar, which was surprisingly busy for a Thanksgiving night, so I thought. But I was happy it was open. We went back to Shopko and waited in our car til it was time to open the doors. I got an electric kettle, a couple movies, a headlamp for running in the dark and a new travel mug.

I took the day off of shopping on Saturday and was supposed to get Heif groomed but they were closed. Yes, he's still stinky and yes I'm going to take care of it this Saturday. Instead I caught up on some of the new movies I bought. 

Sunday, I needed an escape from the Palouse and headed up to Spokane for some shopping. I had a Groupon to use for the Body Shop and that's where I went first. The whole store was 3 for $30 and if you spent $30 you could get a bag full of stuff for $25. So, I did that. Here's what I got and saved $130!!

On my way out, I got a black bubble tea (yum!) and wandered through Kohl's for a bit. I ended up with a cute new pinky ring, 2 pairs of running shorts, a running jacket and tshirt and a toy for Heif for $54 and saved another $130 b/c all the running stuff was on clearance! And I got some Kohl's Cash too! I was very proud of myself. 

Heif loves his polar bear toy!

Pinky ring

I got back to Pullman, but had one more stop to make. My key ring/ card holder was dying and I needed to replace it. I went to a store in town called Wild Ivy where they carry Vera Bradly stuff and got a new one, along with a card holder for when I go to San Diego to try and get a job, and a retractable tape measure. I might start measuring myself once a week to see how I'm doing. I've only got 4 more lbs to go until I get back to pre-vacation weight! I can do this!!

card holder, wallet, tape measure

When I got home, I was very domestic and finished washing my 4 loads of clothes, folded them AND put them away! I'm very good at washing, drying and folding but have never been good at the putting away part, so this was a big deal. Now, I have like 4 empty clothes baskets! I also took out the garbage and recycling and did my Christmas cards for the year! I also boxed up my wrapped presents to mail but that will have to wait til I can get to the post office on Saturday.

I think I am finally feeling 100% better after my fever weekend and want to go to the gym and run tonight. I have been doing horrible with my HBBC goings on b/c of the sickness and am getting back on track!!

                                             

Are you doing HBBC? Did you score any awesome Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals?

Pre-Thanksgiving Festivities

First of all, I would like to thank SkinnyRunner for having me as a Cat Lady Blog today!! Second, I would like to welcome all of you new readers to my blog. I might be nerdy but I'm definitely not serious all the time!

                                   
I am still not fully recovered from my Streppy weekend but I am feeling better. I think I know that the giant antibiotics the size of my pinky are working for two reasons. I am feeling better and I think most of my good bacterias are gone. How do I know this you ask? It's b/c my girly bits are ANGRY from all of the good bacterias being gone. When I realized this yesterday, I promptly stopped at the Safeway on the way home and stocked up on yogurt!

                                 

I'm still living off of the 'I still don't have an appetite from being sick' feeling and ended up having 2 yogurt cups and some jalapeno cheese focasia (sp?) bread for dinner. I was doing this while plopped on the couch drinking a lovely cup of tea with my newest friend, Fat Free Half & Half, and I watched BL and Parenthood. How did I not know that FF H&H exsisted?! I think I read about it somewhere and then hunted it down on my last shopping trip, which was before the plague hit.

So that was my night. Today, I'm supposed to be working on my journal article but can't focus on being nerdy b/c there are SOOOOO many hits on my blog that my OCD needs to keep checking where the number is at. EEEK!! :)

Tonight, my plans are to get my bird stuffed and cooking in the oven and then going to see Breaking Dawn again with Erin b/c we were told that there was a part AFTER THE CREDTIS!!!! Why did I not know about this part? It wasn't on facebook or any of the blogs I read that went to see it! Hence, we are going again to sit through the 2 hour movie to see what the clip after the credits is all about. This is nothing compared to the at least 4 times we saw the first movie. I can totally see it twice and not bat an eye.

                          

Tomorrow, I'm going to Erin's parents for Thanksgiving. Not sure what I'm taking yet, but I'm sure I'll think of something. I'm excited about having my own turkey leftovers. I don't think there is anything better than turkey leftovers! I even bought fresh Brussels sprouts and cranberries to make something delicious. Not sure what that something is yet, but it's gonna be good. The only sad thing about tomorrow is that I have to leave this sad sack at home.
                               
The cats could care less if and how long I'm gone as long as they have food and water. Thanks Cats!

Also, today before I go home, I'm hitting up the Walmart.com and making my Furry Kids Christmas card!! Yes. I'm a dork. Yes. I Christmas shop year round. And yes I have about 92% of my Christmas presents wrapped already! But I don't feel like decorating yet. Weird? Possibly.

I would like to say that I'm going to get a run in tomorrow b/c I haven't done anything since HBBC started on Saturday b/c I got my plague Friday night. I'm hoping to at least take my running clothes and maybe get a few miles in in between the Packers game and Turkey time. There's a Turkey Trot about 30 mins south of me but it's a relay and I have no one to relay with, so not doing that one.

What does your Turkey Day look like? Busy cooking all day or have time in the morning for a local Turkey Trot?


Have fun! What are you thankful for?

On Death's Door...

...Or so I thought I was this weekend.

Let's back up a little and let me tell you the post that I has planned to write on Friday before leaving school. I was planning on writing about the fun things I was going to do like get in at least 10 miles of running for the #HBBC, watching football, taking Heif for a fun snow frolic, grocery shopping for my personal Thanksgiving so I can have leftovers.

Sadly, that fun filled weekend of rainbows and faeries didn't happen. Instead, about 2pm I had a bit of a headache and took something and it helped along with a giant cup of tea. I survived Friday seminar and even asked some good questions. I was at school and packed up my stuff (for some reason I decided to bring my computer home) about 5:15 and then waited for the bus. It turned out that the bus was 25 mins late and standing in freezing temps for that long is not fun. No biggie. It's the weekend before break (WSU undergrads get the whole week off) and everyone but me is trying to get out of town. I get on the bus and pull for my stop in plenty of time which is about a half mile up a hill from my house. No biggie. The bus driver missed my stop and took me another half mile up a hill. Great! So I had to walk a half mile down a hill and try not to kill myself and then up the half mile hill that I'm used to. By the time I was done, my legs weren't cold anymore and I made my mom talk to me the whole time. Thanks Mom!

I got home, let Heif out and headed to Moscow to get some Christmas presents Laura and I made and do some grocery shopping. The presents were ready (score!) and then I headed to Winco. I got pretty much everything on my list and some orange chicken for dinner. I went to Laura's house to drop off the goods and hung out for a bit. While I was there, I noticed that my hands and feet were cold so I snuggled under a blanket. No biggie. As I was there for about an hour, I kept feeling colder and colder. This should have been a warning for me b/c I'm usually the person that is always hot. (Hello dummy!)

I leave Laura's house and I am absolutely frigid the whole ride home, so much so that I'm shaking cold and chattering. Not good. I manage to bring my groceries inside and put the perishable ones away and somehow my milk got a hole poked in it, so it went in the sink b/c I couldn't deal with it. I headed for my bed and turned the heating blanket on. I sleep comfortably with it on 2. I had it on 8 and I was still freezing. This is when I knew something was wrong and I busted out the handy dandy bedside thermometer and we clocked in at 100.5. Awesome!! After my chattering stopped, I made a cup of honey tea and had my water bottle nearby. I think I was in and out of sleep/sweating to death most of the night. I let Heif in at some point, so don't worry about him. He's got plenty of hair and prefers to sleep in the cold.

I am pretty much miserable through out the night with this fever and a sore throat grows in. I finally reach my peak of miserable with a temp of 102.9 and text my friend Kara for help. She and her hubby, James, were kind enough to swing by my house and get my card and go to Walmart for me to get gatorade, tea, and redbox movies that I had reserved. I think she saved my life! From then on, I was in the bed half alive/ half not watching movies and sometimes sleeping. I was feeling better about 6 with a temp of only 101 and made some noodley soup and a cup of tea and went back to the bed. Over the course of the weekend, I had a comic marathon with Thor, XMen first class and the Green Lantern. About 8, I was still running a temp and called the WSU Nurse line to see if there was anything I wasn't doing already to help. Turns out the only thing I wasn't doing was gargling water. So I tried that. It maybe helped a little.

Through the night I was up about every 2 hours to drink b/c I was parched from sweating and to pee out the liquids I had taken in. I think my fever finally broke Sunday morning about 9am. This was good news because I had decided that if I wasn't better I was going to the clinic in Moscow to get help since HWS isn't open on weekends and I wasn't going to the emergency room for a fever under 104. So, I got a shower and felt more alive better and got myself ready to go. I went to the clinic and they looked in my mouth and said it didn't look good. The nurse took a swab and said the strep test needed 5 minutes to cook. As soon an she left she was back and strep was confirmed. The Dr. then came in to check me over and was surprised at how big my lymph nodes were. No duh dude! I've had a fever for the last 36 hours. My immune system is a tad bit pissed off right now! He sent me a script for antibiotics to Walmart and I was feeling better already.

$20 later, I got my pills, some more gatorade and some Werther's to suck on. Then I decided that I was feeling good enough to go to the movies b/c Dr. said I wasn't contagious as long as I wasn't kissing anyone. Good deal b/c I wasn't planning on kissing Erin, who I was going to the movies with. We went and saw Breaking Dawn part 1 and enjoyed it. Then we walked across the parking lot to Taco Bell and sat and chatted for about 3 or so hours before deciding to leave. It was a good night but I was starting to feel worn down again. I went home and changed my sheets b/c the sweaty ones were too gross to even consider. I put on the fleece sheets that my mom got me for Christmas last year.

They are pink and zebra!!!

I wasn't expecting so much pink, of which the stretchy sheet totally is but enjoy the zebra top sheet. They are super squishy and I love them. Even if they are pink! ;)

Last night I did a better job of sleeping and was up every 4 hours instead of every 2. I emailed my boss that I was dying and wouldn't be in to work today. Luckily this is where me bringing my computer home was a life saver. I worked on my paper all day and sent a new draft to my Post Doc to go over tonight!

I have rejoined civilization and feel mostly better. I am glad to be out of my bed. I am thankful for antibiotics!

...And I have my own turkey to cook sometime this week depending on how the weather cooperates.

How was your weekend?

Treadmill Blues

I have been very good at keeping up on my at least 5 miles per week with the #POTM challenge. But I have learned through this experience that I miss running outside. I miss warm temperatures outside (it's currently 34) and I miss having daylight after 5pm.

I have also come to realize that I suck at running on the treadmill. Outside, I was able to reach a comfortable 10 min/ mile pace but on the mill I'm somewhat struggling with a 12-13 min/ mile pace. What gives? I thought running on a treadmill was supposedly easier than running outside?!

It doesn't help that I usually watch tv while I'm running and have to keep focused on what I'm doing or I'll get ripped off the thing. That almost happened when I was watching the Steelers last weekend. Not good! :)

Does anyone have any help for me?

My main struggle is that I had hoped to get faster over the winter but find myself only discouraged by my performance. :(

In more fun news, I made gingerbread with lemon sauce on Sunday!! :) It was quite yummy and as of this morning, my double batch of lemon sauce was gone and I need to make more. It's just sooo easy to eat the sauce right out of the pan! :)

A taste test...

Lemon sauce!!!

Maybe if I can get my 'Treadmill Blues' under control, I will feel better about my performance and get more miles in. 

I am excited for the HBBC to start up this weekend!! I'm debating on doing a 4 miler down in Lewiston but the high in Pullman is supposed to be 26 for the day, so that might not happen. :)

Any help/ comments/ suggestions would be amazing!! Thanks ahead of time!

Five Things Friday

It's Friday!! Happy Veteran's Day to all of those brave souls who have risked everything for us for so long! At least go to Applebee's and get your free meal! :) You deserve it!

So, since November started, I have decided to be good and not eat as much crap and get back on the workout wagon. As of this morning, I am down 3.2 lbs in 11 days! I'm proud of that. Now I just need to keep it up!

Back to the title of this post, I wanted to list 5 things that I'm loving lately...

1. iHeart radio. I have heard about this in the past but didn't really know what it was. After talking to Mom and Sandy this morning while making breakfast, I have dl'ed the app on my phone and have been listening to it at work all day b/c I'm back to writing. I HAVE to get this paper done so I can move on to other things. I have made the following stations: Hollywood Undead, Shinedown, Avenged Sevenfold and Adelitas Way. I also REALLY like the Top 20 Rock songs station!!
In my opinion, this is WAAAAY better than Pandora or Spotify b/c it's free and commercial free from what I've heard so far. I would totally check it out if I were you.

                                                     

2. Aspaeris Pivot Shorts. I received these babies on Monday and promptly wore them to the gym twice this week. They are quite snug and being a previous volleyball player send me back to visions of high school minus the wedgies. They are longer than vb shorts and seem to give your legs and tush a hug or nice squeeze. They are designed and marketed to reduce the probability of girls getting ACL injuries. Since I was too late for that and tore mine in high school, I am looking forward to seeing how they work out for me.

                                                   
                                                     http://www.aspaerispivotshorts.com/

3. Unicorn Hair Shirt. Otherwise known as 26.2 Apparel's Women's short sleeve Classic Running Performace Tee in black/pink. I think if it wasn't sweaty, I would sleep in this shirt! It's amazingly soft and I am not dripping with sweat when I'm done running b/c it does a great job of wicking.

4. Spaghetti squash. Last week, I was proud of myself for trying something new and cooking a spaghetti squash. I ate some over turkey chili and then was stumped what to do with the rest b/c one squash makes A LOT of "noodles". I borrowed a recipe from my friend Kara and jazzed it up with cheese and made this masterpiece!

squash, onion, garlic, parmasian cheese(sp?), salt and pepper

It was quite yummy but beware if I eat too much of it... :)

5. Shellac polish. Last Friday, Erin and I got our nails done. We went with this new-ish polish called Shellac or Gel polish. The awesome thing about it is that it comes in many different colors and is guaranteed to last at least 14 days, where a regular manicure is only guaranteed for 2 days. Also, since I work with chemicals all the time, normal polish would be eaten off even with gloves on. 

The bad-ish thing is that it cost $30 for the mani and they use UV lights to "cure" the polish on. That's why it lasts to long b/c it's baked on. Also, they can't get any polish on your cuticles or they will hurt them. This means that it looks like your polish has grown out a lot in a little amount of time, but I think I can get over this.

It has been a week and they still look good!

Don't judge the sausage fingers!

That's about it for me. What are you up to this weekend? I'm hoping to get my first COLD Long run in this weekend. Wish me luck! If it goes bad, you will definitely be hearing about it on twitter and fb and then on here! :)

Being Good

So it is Tuesday and I have been good and have been to the gym the last 2 days in.a.row!! Yes. I know this may be shocking but I'm totally taking this losing weight thing serious this time around.

Sunday, I went to the gym after hanging out with Laura all day and got 5 miles in while watching the Steelers lose to those stupid birds in the second half. I was hopefull and cheering on the TM and then was sad and pouty after while I was stretching. I was hoping for a long run of 10 miles this weekend, but 5 was all I had in me. I think I need to work on slowly ramping up my mileage b/c the last thing I need is to get hurt and then I really will get plump!

Monday, I had a lightning last GPSA meeting and ate dinner while I was there. I had time to ride the bus home and try on my new Aspaeris compression shorts and my new Columbia jacket while I was getting ready for my 8:10 TRX class. I decided that these shorts are amazing and take high school volleyball spandex to a whole new level! I didn't think I could pull off just the tight-y shorts, so I threw some capris on over them and called it good. I went and worked it out for an hour and had jello arms and legs to show for it when I was done.

Work out 2 days in a row? Check!

Tonight I'm planning on going to Halley's Ab Blast and then pounding out another 5 miles for the Pile on the Miles challenge. I didn't win any prizes last week but I'm still hopeful and I got my 5 miles in for the week already to qualify me. Anything over that I'm calling a bonus. I'm excited for the HBBC to get started up here soon so I can count my TRX and Abs classes too. Either way, I'm well on my way to turning this thing around.


Have you signed up for HBBC? It's on my left side bar if you're still interested. It's gonna be a lot of fun!! :)

Back to Reality

 

No... This is not in reference to Eminem's 8 mile song, but that's good to work out to.

The title is in reference to me getting back on the workout train. After my half in Spokane in early October, I pretty much took a break from working out because I had been training for the half distance since May. That break turned into me eating a lot of crap and gaining 10 lbs!!! It's amazing how hard and long it takes to work the weight off but how it just flies back to you!

With that in mind, I signed up for the Pile on the Miles challenge that Monica @ Run Eat Repeat is hosting. All you have to do is get at least 5 miles in per week to qualify for the weekly drawing of the prizes. The challenge runs the month of November and since the month started on a Tuesday and your totals have to be posted on the spreadsheet by Friday at 8am, I got my 5 miles in Tuesday night. I ended up doing a BOSU Abs Blast class with the lovely Halley before that. So November started off well.

Last night after group meeting (about 8 or so), I went to the gym to get in some more miles. I have decided that over the winter I want to get faster and do better for a half I have planned in March in Lewiston (about 40 mins south). I did a speed workout and did intervals at a 8:34 pace on and off for 4 mins and then slowed down to a 9:14 pace for 4 mins. My legs were toast and I only got in 2 miles but I'm on my way now. Also, I wore my new shirt that I got in the mail Wed. from 26.2 apparel. I got the plain black and pink one. It is SOOO soft that I swear that it is made out of unicorn hair! I also got a 30% discount from a code I got from SkinnyRunner.

Other shopping I have done lately is get a pair of Aspaeris compression shorts in black b/c they had a code for 50% off on their facebook page! I'm excited to get them and try them out. I also bought a new coat b/c the one I'm rocking I've had for about 3 years now and was a genius and for white sleeves and aren't really white anymore. The new one is a Columbia Whirlibird Interchange parka in black plaid! Bring on the rain and dirt!! I'm super excited to get this baby supposedly on Monday!! :D


Next up for the month is the Holiday Booty Buster Challenge hosted by Amanda @ Run to the Finish. This challenge is longer going from Nov. 19 - Jan. 3. This way it covers all of the holiday time. You can run, lift weights, yoga, pretty much anything to stay active and log your points according to the activity done. There are prizes for this as well. There is still time, so go sign up and join the challenge with me!! :)

                                                           

In addition to getting back to the sweat machine, I have been doing better about eating healthy and tracking what I eat. I have found if I write down what I've eaten I'm more accountable and don't reach for the bad stuff as often. I've started using the 'Calorie Counter' app on my phone that was free for you iPhone users. I still have my notebook to track my Weight Watchers PointsPlus points but haven't been as diligent with that. I will get on it.

As well as the healthy train, sadly the Saturday Farmers' market has ended. I've vowed to spend the time I spent at the market either running or focusing on research. I need to work harder on getting all of my reading/writing/ research done so I can get done. I have applied to one Post Doc position and I will be attending the American Chemical Society meeting in San Diego from March 25-29 in 2012. So, if any of you out there live close to San Diego, I'd love to meet you while I'm there!! I've never been to Cali before and I'm excited to see what San Diego has to offer. If you have any city tips or spots to hit, please let me know!

Ok. I need to finish things up for the day b/c Erin and I are having a healthy pamper party for ourselves. This includes getting our nails done, possibly froyo and Subway for dinner. I'm not sure if I'm going to get my toes done b/c they are a mess and I have hairy legs (TMI, too bad! :)) but I'm definitely getting my fingers done. I'm going to try the new Shellack polish that is guaranteed for 14 days because it's supposedly resistant to the chemicals I work with. We will see and I will show you the results!

Have a great weekend! Good luck to all of the racers on both coasts!!


What are you up to this weekend?

Anyone that would like me to try their running apparel or products, especially for ladies of the bustier variety, please contact me and I'd be more than glad to help you out! :)