Weekend in Photos

Welp, another summer weekend come and gone! Sorry for the brief hiatus. I was on quite the emotional roller coaster last week, given last Friday’s events at my alma mater, UC Santa Barbara.

I’m really glad I made the decision to invite a few other Sacramento-area UCSB alumnae to join me at a candlelight vigil at UC Davis honoring the victims of the shooting in Isla Vista on Thursday. It was seriously touching to see one of our sister campuses showing their support and solidarity for the community of which we have so many fond memories.

Friday Faves

Hey friends! I survived my week! I am currently writing this post on Thursday night, the first night this week that I didn’t work overtime and/or didn’t have some kind of function to attend after work. PHEW.

My office hosted/coordinated/attended quite a few events this week (ALL of which took place on Wednesday, I might add) so it was a crazy time. And much like I said in my post about staying healthy in times of busy-ness, I have still been keeping up with my workouts…buuuut just not so much with the healthy eating part. Though I can successfully say I haven’t had any cheese and crackers dinners this week! Small victory.

In the little time I’ve had to surf the web over the past few weeks, I’ve accumulated a few fun finds, along with other things I’ve been enjoying IRL, that I wanted to share today. Enjoy!

Weekend in Photos

So I’ve been sucking as a blogger lately. On the flip side, that probably means I’ve been succeeding as a productive employee 😉

I’ve got an extremely busy workweek ahead of me, but I wanted to pop in and say hello, yes I’m alive, and here are some pictures from my weekend to prove it!

Healthy Grocery Shopping on a Budget: May Check in!

So……… the big B word is bout to rear its ugly head again.

That’s right – it’s budget time.

I didn’t do an official “budget check-in” for the month of March…..Stuff happens.

I mentioned it in passing in my “If We Were Having Coffee…” post.

Just like in February, I was really close to breaking even during March. However, my monthly budget is actually $300-$400 less than I make each month, so ideally I should be saving that much. I spent a little bit more this month than last…Regardless, I am still $1,000 less than the levels I was spending in November-January.

And so it goes…..

April was actually not too bad. I just about broke even again, which means I’m still spending much less than I was last fall! However, I started to realize that my lifestyle was changing from the very first budget I set for myself in January when I started this whole ordeal…and even from in February, when I modified it to more realistically reflect my spending habits.

Even though I was within my budget (in the grand scheme of things, if you don’t include my Blend fee and airfare, I spent $100 less than I earned this month, not including a big tax refund. Cha ching!)…I was waaaayyy off in some of my spending categories and I noticed a couple of trends in April.

First of all, I went down to playing dodgeball only 1 night per week and have have been staying in a lot more and not drinking at bars. Hence the extra moolah in the Entertainment category. However, the reason that I’ve been spending less at bars…is because I’m spending more at home.

The “Misc” category is where I put any non grocery purchases (alcohol, nail polish binges at CVS, etc. etc.)…It’s wayyy cheaper for me to split a bottle of $4-$5 wine between a couple of nights than to go out and spend $5 per drink at the bar over the course of a few nights. Plus I am just l-a-z-y 😉

For reference, here’s the budget I was going off of. That “entertainment” budget of $120 was a combination of dodgeball bar and “activities”:

Another area that seems to be in flux is my eating out, or “restaurants” budget. For someone who almost never eats out, going $15 over budget was surprising…However, check out my purchases:

Over half of it is coffee!

On days that I am really busy and am tempted to eat my lunch at my desk, I try to follow my own advice and escape for at least a few minutes to walk around outside for a bit. The easiest way to do that is often to walk over to Starbucks, Ambrosia, or La Bou and grab a coffee or tea.

SO, keeping in mind all of these changes, I once again edited my budget to reflect my spending habits. I am allowing myself more money for Miscellaneous purchases, a little less for bars, and I’m going to try to limit myself to $25/month at Starbucks. The main reason for this number is that I can easily reload my Starbucks app with $25 at the beginning of each month!

 

 

One big thing that will affect my budget going forward is my new gym membership at California Family Fitness. I decided to take the plunge and join a gym for a few reasons that I think make it worth the cost:

1. Convenience. The gym is 3 blocks from my office, meaning I can go in the morning, work out, shower, then get to work! And hey, if I use their shampoo and conditioner I may even save money there 😉
2. Variety. Since I left my old job (which had a gym on-site), I have been focusing mainly on running 3 times per week and I do “strength training” 1-2 times. However, I never feel like I get a great workout when I use my little hand weights in my living room, and I am extremely limited in what I can do. I would like to start including more variety in my workouts and pushing myself harder in non-running activities. I did my first ever group fitness class yesterday, and I loved it!
3. Human Interaction. With the exception of one run with Chris and one with my friend Liz, all of my half marathon training runs were done alone. I work out in my living room alone. I like to work out alone because I am pretty good at self motivating, but I am by no means an introvert and I love being around people. Even working out by myself in the middle of a gym full of people would be an improvement over what I’ve been doing!

So, there’s my official justification for forking out $60/month when I have a limited budget. I think I am going to aim for 2 gym workouts, 1 group class, and 2-3 runs per week. It sounds like a lot, but I figure I’d like to be there 3x a week to make the price worth it!

I will do my best to keep y’all updated at the end of this month on how I do with the new budget. Till then, stay tuned and have a great weekend!

How has your budgeting/spending been lately? I’ve reeeeally had to fight the urge to spend all my money on shopping for new spring clothes. I’ve been pretty good about staying away…unless it’s on sale 😉

Do you belong to one or more gyms? Do you think you get your moneys worth?

Treat Yourself Tuesday: Back on Track

Today, I’m linking up with my favorite lady Becky (who I get to see in 1 month minus 1 day at BLEND!!!)  for Treat Yourself Tuesday. As Becky puts it, Treat Yourself Tuesday is a way to reflect on the ways you’ve treated yourself lately:

“Do whatever feels best for you. Do something that will make you feel relaxed and loved and happy. Treat yourself well and treat yourself often so that you will become the best you possible and in turn be your best for others in your life!”

With things as busy as they’ve been lately (as I mentioned on Friday), it’s been more important than ever for me to remember to slow down and take care of myself. Now, while that often includes indulging in comfort food (or dranks), sometimes the best way for me to treat myself is by treating my body AND soul well…and that is just what I did this Sunday! It was a great way to start my week on the right foot and get back on track.

It all started with a nice early morning bike ride to the Farmers Market. Tulips, rainbow chard, sweet potatoes, portobello mushrooms, medjool dates, and sugar snap peas…all for about $20. Win. I don’t do it all the time, but I love treating myself to flowers!

Next up was a longggg overdue pedicure. I hadn’t gotten one since December (due to the whole being on a budget thing), but I decided my poor feet couldn’t go any longer without! I calculated it out, and I had run over 300 miles since my last pedi. DANG. My feet are much happier now!

After bringing home my loot, I changed into gym clothes and checked out the brand new California Family Fitness (CalFit) on K Street. This crazy ab machine has had my core in a world of hurt ever since I took it on!

The gym literally just opened on Friday, when my friends and I went over to look at the facilities:

Ummm yeah, that’s a ROOFTOP basketball court. There will also be a bar with wine & beer. Needless to say, I was sold! I now have my first actual gym membership for the first time in almost 3 years! I am really excited about it and am pumped to try out some group fitness classes and switch up my routine a bit. Did I mention the gym is only 3 blocks away from my office? There was really no downside to joining!

After a good stair master & core workout, I headed home to be even more productive! I prepped some food for the week- made more curry patties (this time with white beans instead of chickpeas), chopped up broccoli and bell pepper, made snap pea baggies to bring to work for snacks, and par-cooked a couple of sweet potatoes.

I did this all in about 1 hours time while I chatted on the phone with my mom. Easy peasy, and it feels good to know I won’t be eating out or skipping any lunches this week!

And to top off a seriously perfect day…we arrived at the dodgeball gym only to be greeted by FREE BEER. The gym is located in a German cultural center and they had leftovers from a fundraiser. Twist my arm, why don’t ya.

I felt so energized, healthy and productive on Sunday that it really put me in a perfect place to start the week off right. I had 3 good meals yesterday thanks to meal prepping (OK, and the fact that Yvette hosted ladies Dance Central night and made spaghetti 😉 ), and I woke up bright and early for a quick work out at my new gym this morning before work. Happy body = Happy Katie!

What are your favorite ways to treat yourself?

How do you get back on track after days/weeks/months of slackin’ off?

5 Ways to Stay Healthy, Even at Your Busiest

I feel like I say this every time I’ve written lately, but life has gotten really busy.

I thought that cutting out a night of dodgeball each week would free up extra time in my weeknights, but in true Katie fashion, I’ve really just used it as an excuse to take on more non-dodgeball activities. My evenings seem to fill up with meetings, appointments, trips to my parents house to do laundry…..and sometimes a girl just needs to hit up happy hour after a long day.

Between work and after-work meetings (slash the aforementioned happy hours 😉 ), I often find myself arriving home after being out of the apartment for 10-12 hours and immediately plopping down on the couch to zone out while staring at the wall to give my brain – and body – a break. Ain’t nobody got time (or energy) to make dinner after a day like that!

Don’t get me wrong — I love my job and I love being busy. However, I also love feeling good about my body and what I’m putting in it. And to be honest, I don’t know that I can say I do right now. I’ve been struggling to find a balance between the two — being busy and being healthy — and I think my lack of substantive updates on the blog probably reflects that struggle.

To give myself some credit, I have been keeping up with my workouts – I still run 3x per week and ran 70 miles in April (which was the same # of miles that I ran in January and February, when I was training for my half marathon). I do strength training 1-2x per week, and I’ve been organizing weekend practices with my Ultimate Frisbee team…

However, I’ve also eaten cheese & crackers and/or french fries for dinner most nights this week.

In the spirit of keeping myself in check, and inspiring others to do the same, I’ve come up with a list of 5 tips for surviving the hectic workweek while still keeping a healthy lifestyle. As always, I’m hoping that writing this down for the world to see will help me be inspired to practice what I preach. That has yet to be seen, but at least I’m trying, right?

1) Break up the day with an actual lunch break

This is one that I could definitely work on. On the days these past weeks where I actually exit my office for at least 30 minutes for some kind of break in the middle of the day, I always end up feeling the most energized. That 2pm feeling of dread and desperation for coffee doesn’t exist on days that I actually see some sunlight or take a walk in the middle of the day. And chances are, if I’m not feeling bored/exhausted, I’m not as likely to dig in to the snack cabinet in the kitchen for a pick me up, either!

2) Eat 3 full meals

Actually making sure you have 3 solid meals throughout the day is a big help in keeping you energized and also ensuring that you’re taking care of yourself. Of course, for me this is easiest when I do meal prep on the weekends (see above) and have stuff to grab in the morning for nutritious breakfasts and lunches. But making sure you don’t skip a meal is so clutch! I might try to rationalize a crackers & cheese meal as “hey I’m getting my protein AND my carbs!”….but we all know that’s a stretch 😉

3) Get up and move when you can

I get it…Not everyone is gonna wake up at 6:30am to run 5 miles (and of course take a pre-run #workoutselfie that they then snapchat to all their friends).

If you can, great. But if not, there are other ways to stay active throughout the week that don’t involve your typical workout: Bike to work! Take a break to walk around your office building. Walk to lunch! I always feel like I’m more active on the days I walk to work, even if biking is a “tougher” workout. If you have the option, it’s nice to be able to spend your commute taking a relaxing walk and listening to music instead of struggling to get through traffic. That’s gotta be a good thing, right?

4) Swap out the junk food for healthier snacks

If you need snacks to get you through the day…Make sure they’re good ones! Luckily, my office keeps some pretty healthy snacks in our breakroom. Pretzels, cashews and almonds…not too shabby! However, I’m pretty sure even the healthy fats in cashews and almonds lose their nutritional value when you have 5+ handfuls throughout the day. I try to buy baby carrots and other random fruits to snack on instead of fatty nuts. BUT I do love me some cashews…old habits die hard.

5) Most importantly….Don’t beat yourself up if you have an off day.

If you have a rough ass day at work and you want to just come home and have a drink with some chocolate and cheese…Then by all means, just do it. If you snoozed through your workout this morning after yesterday’s stressful late night at work, don’t turn down pizza night with your friends because you can’t afford the calories today.

Being hard on yourself just contributes to the stresses of life. Of course it’s great to have a regular fitness routine, and eat healthy…but we often forget that treating ourselves right emotionally is just as important.

It’s all about finding a balance.

Have a great weekend! Check back next week for a budget update 😀

 

How do you manage stress at work/school? I like taking at least one day out of the week to clean my room and paint my nails – those are my 2 relaxation activities!

What is an indulgence you never feel guilty about? I think having a glass of wine or 1 beer at the end of the day is one of the best things about being a working adult.

Weekend in Photos

Another beautiful California spring weekend is in the books! I’d say it was worth it to brave those 1-2 weeks of rainy weather last month, because we’re definitely making up for it now with more than a week of 80+ degree temps, and more on the horizon!

I got to enjoy the weather a bit, but mostly kept to myself and finally knocked a few things off that To-Do list I didn’t tackle last week 😉 So get ready for a weekend recap full of awesomeness…. (this is one of those times where I need a sarcasm font!)

See what I mean? On Friday night, I stayed in to do some spring organizing – I cleared out my closet and dresser in an attempt to create some more space.

Then, I started re-watching last season of Mad Men to brush up before the season premiere while bookmarking recipes in my last couple of issues of Cooking Light!

At age 25, I already have the Friday night routine of a middle-aged spinster -_- Oh boy…

As is the norm, I went for a long run on Saturday morning. I learned from last week’s mistake and made sure I was out there by 9am to avoid overheating! I powered through and went for 9 miles, thanks to the Spark I ordered from Becky (which was delish!) and also thanks to the fact that I knew I’d be eating my body weight in baseball food later in the day 😉 If that’s not motivation, I don’t know what is!

I finally tested out my new top from Fabletics… the material was perfect for running on a hot day- super breathable and comfortable!

Afterward, I did a small amount of grocery shopping — I’ve been overspending a bit on food so far this month, so I only bought the [super healthy!] essentials: greek yogurt, spinach, fruit, and beans………. and then I saw wine and mang-o-ritas on sale. Well, I tried… 😛

After seeing how many clothes I got rid of on Friday night (and pinning like crazy to my Fashion board), I was inspired to go shopping for some spring clothes. I had a few Macy’s coupons, and ended up scoring everything above (5 tanks, a sports bra, green jeans & pink shorts) for just under $100!

Later, a group of us rode over to West Sacramento, where we had some pre-baseball game grub at Broderick. It was 80 degrees and sunny at 4:30 when we rode over… However, when we finished our food and hopped on our bikes to ride to Raley Field for the Rivercats game, the sun had started to set and the wind was blowing. I was FREEZING in my tank top and shorts that had seemed like such a good idea earlier.

I made it until about the 3rd or 4th inning before I had to suck it up and buy the cheapest XXXL shirt I could find at the Rivercats store. I looked extremely cool. Guess that’s what I get for not planning ahead!

P.S. You may recognize this locale as the location of the starting and finish line of my half marathon! It was fun being back 🙂

We intended to practice frisbee on Sunday morning, but plans fell through so I decided to be productive instead!

I recently took on more responsibility at work and I’m anticipating less time to go home and eat lunch, so for the first time in months, I did some food preppin’!

I made PB/oat/quinoa energy bars (and put them in a muffin tin), boiled a pot of quinoa, chopped up veggies for salads, and tried my hand at cold brewing some coffee. Operation: don’t eat out for lunch is definitely underway this week!

The evening’s activities consisted of dodgeball, followed by a trip to my parents house to watch the Mad Men premiere and do laundry. Apparently, productivity was the name of the game this weekend!

Have a great week!

Do you have a baseball team in your area? (Ours is the Triple A team for the Oakland A’s and they’re super fun to watch!)

Which chores do you save for the weekend?

Personalized Workout Outfits from Fabletics

Happy Friday everyone!!

I have some awesome goodies to share with you all today, but I need to start off with a completely unrelated story.

So as I was finishing up work yesterday, I was feeling focused and productive and made myself a little To-Do list for when I got home. It’s nice having Thursday nights free now that I’m taking a break from dodgeball! The list included “write blog post”, “clean room”, “prep lunch”, “look into plane tickets for BLEND“, “re-arrange Pinterest boards”, etc etc.

Anyway, it was a beautiful Spring day (the recorded high was 84 degrees!) and I was wearing a new brightly colored dress and blazer, walking home, listening to music on my headphones and feeling like a pretty fortunate SOB.

Wanting to keep that good feeling going, I arrived home, promptly poured myself a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, then went to turn on my computer to bump some more feel good tunes…ONLY TO SEE A GIANT COCKROACH SCURRY ACROSS THE FLOOR UNDER THE COUCH.

In the two years we’ve been living in our apartment, Hanna and I have come across a handful (maybe 5?) of these guys, and it never gets easier having to deal with them!

Hanna arrived home about 10 minutes later to find me standing – petrified – on a chair in the living room and we tag teamed the crap out of killing the guy. Special shout out to RAID and a large heavy pot.

ANYWAY, it goes without saying I decided to pour myself an extra glass of wine and push aside the To-Do list till another night! However, I did manage to re-organize all of my Pinterest boards and start writing this blog post…. #priorities

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Now, on to the subject at hand: workout clothes!

Does anyone else pretty much live in workout clothes? My days pretty much go like this: 1) sleep in workout clothes. 2) wake up and run…in workout clothes. 3) go to work in business casual. 4) come home and IMMEDIATELY change back into workout/lounge clothes.

It’s a tough, yet extremely comfortable, life I lead! 😉

A few weeks ago, I shared with you all that I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of my first Fabletics outfit. When you sign up for a VIP membership, you get your first outfit for only $25.99! Holla!

Spoiler alert: I loved my first outfit! However, sista is on a budget, and can’t drop $50 on a new outfit every month.

Thus the beauty of the Fabletics VIP program: even though you get an e-mail each month with a list of outfits, you can opt out and not have to pay a dime! All it takes is one click. So I opted out for March and got another outfit in April. Let me show you what I’ve scored!

OUTFIT 1: Bridge

 

Bridge came with the Norwalk Tank, Moro Shorts, and a Headband

I love these shorts. They’re basically like leggings (which I live in during the colder months), but more appropriate for warm weather! The material is soft and breathable, and there’s a hidden pocket in the waistline. I was slightly worried about the quality when I noticed some unraveling strings, but they have definitely held up through quite a few washes and workouts.

The top is a lot like one I got from Target last year (kinda like this), except BETTER because it has an adjustable drawstring at the bottom. I never have to adjust this shirt while I’m running!

I tested out the shirt the next day – I had to color coordinate! The bra part of the shirt provides support, but the rest of it is nice and airy. Perfect!

I actually wore the shorts and headband for my half marathon:

Don’t worry, that face is not me reacting to a wedgie! They actually don’t ride up too much while running. They do, but it’s not at a level that feels uncomfortable. I only adjusted them a few times during the race, mostly for vanity reasons (shorts riding up on your inner thigh = sausage legs. not a good look!) and I knew the cameras were watching! 😉

Total price (separately) –: $69.85

Total VIP price (separately) — $55.85

Total VIP price (as an outfit) (first time buyer) — $29.99! (and FREE shipping)

OUTFIT 2: Lateral

I bought my next outfit exactly as pictured on the site. I splurged a little because I realized I didn’t have any waterproof clothing for running in the rain, so I decided on an outfit that came with a windbreaker. I figured if it was something I needed anyway, I might as well get it affordably priced through Fabletics!

Lateral came with the Oula Tank, Suki Shorts, and the Yalu Jacket

I’m still on the fence about the tank – the material is extremely soft and thin, but it’s also pretty staticky and it’s stretchy and oversized. However, I haven’t worked out in it yet, and I think it will be perfect for running on hot days!

The shorts are very similar to the other ones, except they’re technically bike shorts and are a bit longer. I’m cool with this. Both legs have that semi inconspicuous pocket!

 

The jacket is very lightweight and looks super cool… It has tons of pockets with zippers, plus a hood and thumbholes!! (2 of my favorite things!)

Plus, another cool adjustable waistband!

Total price (separately) –: $99.85

Total VIP price (separately) — $79.85

Total VIP price (as an outfit) — $69.95! (free shipping)

This was probably a little more than I would have liked to pay, but as you can see, the VIP membership gets you a pretty good discount. Plus, for what you get it’s a steal! A windbreaker plus a good quality tank top and shorts?

Overall, I am happy with the Fabletics service and will definitely be sticking with it! I think it’s really worth it if you are (like me) someone who has lots of workout clothes! Plus, you can get your first outfit for only $25.99 and see if you like it. What’s there to lose?

Click here to check out Fabletics!

 

(Note: I wasn’t compensated to write this post. I’m just a girl who likes workout clothes! All opinions are my own!)

 

Do you live in workout attire too?

Ever tried any online subscription services? What’s your favorite?

Spring Weekend in Photos

Spring has frickin’ sprung, people!

In true Sacramento fashion, we went from 2 straight weeks of rain and chilly winter-like weather…to pretty much SUMMER overnight.

You won’t hear (m)any complaints from me, because I’m a sun-lover through and through. I had a nice mix of relaxation and exertion this weekend, and lots of it was spent outside. Perfection!

On Friday evening, I decided to grab a glass of wine (thus ending my 5-day alcohol “cleanse” lol) with colleagues at a wine bar right by our office. I can’t think of a more perfect way to cap off a tiring week: with a nice glass of Sangiovese and hilarious conversation!

I headed home soon after to have dinner and wind down from the week. It was still breezy and a little chilly at this point, so I spent the evening in fuzzy slippers doing things aroudn the house.. My brother FaceTimed me later on in the evening and I played him a few ditties on my keyboard. “Hold on Andrew, don’t hang up yet! I have the sheet music to Let it Go too!!!”  — his annoyed face says it all 😛

After a few weeks of frequenting the giant Sunday Farmers Market, I revisited my favorite (smaller, more close by) Midtown Farmers Market on Saturday morning. I bought some gorgeous rainbow chard, carrots, and beets, and then splurged on a mason jar of kombucha. The kombucha stand that originally got me hooked on the delicious rotten tea drink was selling re-purposed mason jars from Discarded Designs…I couldn’t resist.

I hurried home and stashed the ‘buch in the fridge for later, because I had a long run planned! I very quickly regretted having waited until 11:30am to start my 8.5 mile run, because it was H-O-T. It only reached about 70 degrees on Saturday, but I was feeling it by the end. Check out the before and (sweaty) after! It was a beautiful day on the river as you can see, so I can’t really complain too much!

I lounged around for the rest of the day. I painted my nails and needed something to “watch” AKA listen to in the background, so I threw on RENT. Classic! After a quick grocery trip, I caught a Lyft over to my friend Fresh’s house where we played games and celebrated Yvette’s birthday a few days early! We played King’s Cup, Mad Gab, and Taboo…such good times!

To cancel out all the lounging I did on Saturday (minus the 8.5 mile run 😛 ) I had a seriously active day on Sunday. I corralled a few friends together to join up with other XOSO players and play Ultimate Frisbee for the cameras- we were on Good Day Sacramento! You can check out video #1 and video #2 online.

As soon as we finished, I saw a text from Chris saying he saw me on TV dropping the frisbee. D’OH! Of course of all the moments they could have captured…

Next up, we went to Pour House for brunch. No mimosas for me (shocker, I know) but I did taste Stone Brewing’s EnjoyBy 4/20 IPA. They come out with a new “Enjoy By” every few months and I’ve loved all the ones I’ve tasted!

Next on the schedule was another Ultimate Frisbee session with my team. CJ, Matt and I were pooped from playing earlier, so we were a pretty sad sight scrimmaging against Mikhail, Landai and Chris. Plus the temps had risen to almost 80 degrees by the afternoon!

We cooled off afterward on the patio at Beach Hut Deli while I killed some time before my dodgeball game.

We won our game 7-2 (the usual!) and I was POOPED by the end of it. My Fitbit said I only logged 12,000 steps, which seems low… Regardless, it was an action-packed day! And the best part was…no sunburns! Woo hoo! #palepersonproblems

Have a fantastic week!

How’s the weather in your neck of the woods?

Team sports- love em or hate em? What’s your favorite?

If We Were Having Coffee…

Hello, my little long-lost blog… it’s been a while!

After being blown away by all of your support about my half marathon, then getting my act together and posting my first recipe in months…..I went radio silent.

I’m not one to post religiously regardless of whether I actually have anything interesting to say; I like to go for quality over quantity, you know?

Sometimes, a girl is just busy. Said busy-ness can take shape in the form of working late, or running around to different meetings every other night…And sometimes after a long day at work, being ‘too busy to blog’ just means I need to veg out while watching How I Met Your Mother and Parks & Rec for 4 hours.

Let’s catch up, shall we? Let’s go on a virtual coffee date.

…I would tell you about the afterglow of my half marathon.

Even weeks later, I’m still trying to hold on to the feeling of accomplishment and elation that I had after the race. This is the best solo picture I got from the race photographers- can you tell I was approaching mile 13 and desperate to finish? Ha! I was super impressed that there’s even video of me finishing – I come in on the right side of the screen around :20 then cross the finish line and pretty much bounce right back off screen.

…I would tell you how excited I am for spring & summer.

Although I got really lucky that I trained for my race from December-March in mild conditions with barely any rain, I am more than ready for some spring weather! During race weekend and the weekend after, we had beautiful 75 degree days, but it’s been rainy and cold ever since.

I’ve been pretty lucky with my seasonal allergies this year (knock on wood)…Sacramento is NOTORIOUS for being terrible in the allergy department. Hopefully my luck holds up, because I’m making the switch from indoor Dodgeball to outdoor Ultimate Frisbee next month and I can’t wait to run around outside!

…I would admit to you that I totally went over budget last month.

Just like in February, I was really close to breaking even during March. However, my monthly budget is actually $300-$400 less than I make each month, so ideally I should be saving that much. I spent a little bit more this month than last…Regardless, I am still $1,000 less than the levels I was spending in November-January.

Hosting Tyler during race weekend definitely meant dining out more often than usual. Plus, I have been really busy at work, which means that some days I don’t have time to go home for lunch. ALSOOO, the rainy weather has made taking Lyft a much more desirable option than walking or biking in the rain lately. Good thing it’s affordable! (especially if you sign up using my code 😉 )

I’m hoping that cutting out one night of dodgeball from my weekly routine, as well as drinking less and avoiding more than one Chai Latte splurge per week will keep me on the straight and narrow budget-wise!

…I would ask you which race I should run next!

rainy 9 miler / sunny 8.5 miler!

I have been keeping up with the same running routine as usual- I run 3-4 miles on Tues/Thurs, and I don’t know if I will ever give up my Saturday morning long runs! I ran 8.5 miles last weekend, and 9 rainy miles this past weekend.

I want to run another half marathon in the fall, and the top contenders at the moment are all in October: the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in SF, and two possible Rock n’ Roll Half Marathons – in San Jose and Los Angeles. HMMM!

The only downside of doing a race in October is the fact that I’ll be training in the Sacramento heat in August and September. Typically, we get a good dozen or so 100+ degree days during the summers here…training in that heat would definitely present a challenge!

…I would probably talk your ear off about boys.

I’m not gonna lie – I talk about boys a lot. (Just ask Carly and Becky!) But for the sake of my own privacy, and that of any guys I date, the most personal details you’ll get on this little bloggy blog are about my black toenails from running or how much I pay for rent each month. 😉

Anyway, I had a realization last week: I have been single for 9 MONTHS now. For the first year+ that I had this blog, I was in a serious relationship. My ex was a big factor in why I started blogging, and a lot of my early posts involved meals I made for us.

I’m proud to say that I’ve achieved a lot of personal growth in the last 9 months. However, like any single girl in her mid 20’s, I often have frustrations about guys and dating…

Why do they ALL send mixed signals? Why is every guy on Tinder revolting? That text was totally flirtatious, right?! I mean, he used a winky face and everything. Is there a real Ted Mosby out there, and if so, why haven’t I found him yet?

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS, people.

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So that’s a little of what’s been running through my mind lately.

If we were having coffee, what would be on your mind?