Saturday was so much fun – the weather here was amazing and as it is a Holiday weekend there were no appointments like swimming lessons to rush to. I had a lovely relaxing morning with a good workout followed by an afternoon with the kids playing in the sun. We then headed off North to Roswell where I have rarely been – but it was beautiful. We were off to some stables for a photo shoot for the children. As I’ve mentioned we really don’t like the stiff school portraits with fake backgrounds, and Karen at Muddy Faces takes some amazing shots so I’d rather giver her my money. The location was idyllic – sunset at the stables with horses everywhere – it was hard to believe we were only 45 mins from Atlanta. I could have sat there all evening.
Today we headed to the river to get some fresh air again. I should have been running in a half marathon, but with a sore foot and zero mental focus for training I just couldn’t. I wasn’t too bothered at missing it until I heard my running buddy ran it in 2hrs!! You go girl…and now you’ve given me the motivation to get going again!
I am still scaring myself everytime I look in the mirror and see my red hair but it’s growing on me – I do like it – I just think I need to be careful it doesn’t look trashy.
I’m wearing my Boden Must Have Jumper in radish from SS 2012 in radish, Hudson jeans, a grey Target tank and my Clark’s desert boots.
Thursdays are my Fridays – I’m very lucky to have Friday as ‘my day’. If the rain steers clear tomorrow I plan on trying to run 8miles for the first time in months. I have a half coming up in October, which on the calendar looks really close now! Then it’ll be time for the half at Thanksgiving and before I know it Miami will be looming…can I handle it? One thing is for sure I am eating like a horse again with all this running. My resolution is to at least try to eat like a healthy horse.
Have any of you ever responded to a Facebook offer? I was a little skeptical when I first saw ‘xyz has just redeemed and offer at abc’ appear on my news feed but today for the first time I acted on one and bought a necklace. I have been looking for a while at the J.Crew bubble necklace but there are some things I just won’t spend $150 on – costume jewelry is one of those things. I’ve found lots of copy cats on eBay and Etsy.com but still some of them are $30 and above, and seem a bit risky to chance. Well today I saw an offer at Lovely Lola Boutique and with shipping the necklace is just $14.90 – so I ordered 2! You have to make a separate order for each necklace but at $14.90 it seemed too good to miss and well worth the risk…I’ll keep you posted when they arrive – though it sounds like it’ll be late September as there are just two girls packing and shipping! This is not an endorsement as I have no affiliation with them – so fingers crossed that the necklaces are as fab as I hope!
The pink one would have looked great with my outfit today. I’m wearing my green J.Crew shorts (in the sale at $35), an old H&M top, Zara off white jogging jacket and my Frye Carson button shorts. Had to dash out of the house this morning to carpool so the photos were taken in the office bathroom! Sorry!
This morning as I dropped off Hugh, one of the teachers at daycare told me I looked a different person from when I was taking Poppy there 5 years ago…I have to agree I don’t recognize that person anymore either.
Back in England our favorite way to spend a date night was to head out for a good curry and a couple of lagers. Due to the lack of good curry houses here our need for heat and spice is more often satiated by Mexican food – the more jalapenos the better! Plus I prefer a couple of margaritas these days to cold, fizzy lager. Last night, to celebrate another half marathon and take advantage of Grandpa still being here to babysit, we went out to Nuevo Laredo. It was lovely, so relaxing and such a giggle. I’m pretty sure I could have eaten all that was on my plate but that would have been greedy no?
It was freezing here, so unexpectedly I had to scurry to find a sweater and jacket to wear. I hurriedly threw this little ensemble together – my Boden stripey jumper from AW 2011, Boden leather jacket from SS 2011, Hudson jeans and Tory Burch navy Eddies. I think this is my favorite jacket – I always feel casual yet polished in it.
Before I went out and stuffed myself another Boden parcel arrived. I had hastily ordered the Boho tunic in Haze champagne spot when a US 6 came back into stock and somehow I found myself putting the Glam jersey tunic in purple in my basket too. The Boho tunic unfortunately was extremely tight across my 36Cs so I have had to return for a US 8 – but the good news is it is gorgeous. It’s a lovely lightweight, silky tunic that will be great dressed up or down in the height of summer. I love the haze color too – a great soft purple. Just be warned that due to the lack of stretch you may have to size up from your normal size in jersey tunics – it’s not as loose fitting as you might think.
The Glam tunic sparked some debate on Boden’s Facebook page last night. Others have ordered it and reported it looked a tad cheap – I can see their point – and sometimes too much embellishment is not a good thing. Also the print is pretty busy. But, when I first opened up my purple one I instantly loved the colors. There is a coral color playing in with the navy and purple spots making it a really unusual but summery color combination. My only niggle is I think it needs to be an inch longer. I am keeping mine as I have learned the hard way that sending something back ultimately ends in me pining for it. Looking at the photo I think nude shoes will be better – the navy ones make my legs look a bit stumpy – never a desirable look. What do you think about the tunic?
Mike leaves today to head back to England – it’s been a great visit and fun to have him around, and in other exciting news the 24th April may also be the birth date of my new nephew!! My sister is huffing and puffing on a labor table in the North West of England as I write. MM and I are hoping that he is called Daniel to provide ample opportunity for fun at family affairs with his two year old brother Jack:) Interesting fact of the day Jack was also born on the 24th of the month, as was his Dad, and his Dad also! Uncanny hey – though not all the same months admittedly.
Today I have on my Boden tunic from SS 2011 (I think it was the funky tunic similar to this season’s), Boden leggings and Tory Burch Revas in hibiscus pink. Hopefully I’ll have some cute baby photos to share tomorrow!
So another half marathon successfully completed. Still a tad slower than I had hoped for but the course yet again had far more hills than the profile had led me to believe. It was also one of those courses where you ran backwards and forwards along the same 3 points so you could always see the faster folk running past you the other way – just a little demoralizing! I much prefer a nice long loop where you have no idea how many are in front of you or behind you! It was won by a 26 year old girl (it was an all female race – I prefer mixed) in 1hr 31mins – amazing. The last 2 miles seem to go on FOREVER but thankfully my reception committee was there to cheer me across the line. The weather was amazing and we got to relax afterward with music and wine by the side of Lake Lanier. I shuffled around the house for the rest of the day – my knees got really tight – but I’m feeling pretty good today after a good stretch and using my foam roller. I have to wait till Wednesday to see if I get an NYC marathon number before planning another half. My goal now is to get leaner, toned, stronger, faster and more competitive – my next 13.1 will be under 2hrs!
This weekend ended in a far more relaxed fashion than it started. I wasn’t going to share until I’d done the deed, but I struggle keeping things to myself, so I’ll tell you now that I have entered another half marathon. As part of my training I headed out on my first 10 mile run for some time on Friday morning. I started off feeling pretty chipper, it was a warm sunny morning and my confidence was high. At mile 7 though I thought I might die. Mile 7 unfortunately coincides with a mammoth hill, and in the warm sun, with aching legs, my mind, not my body, gave up and I started to walk. How humiliating…At the top of the hill I did manage to get going again and ran, with the odd walk, back home. I felt like I was out for hours but my time actually wasn’t too bad, though I did feel a little demoralized that I’d had to walk. I rested on Saturday and then summoned the motivation to head out yesterday again. I couldn’t believe how great I felt! I ran 6 miles easily and felt like a Kenyan marathon runner on the last couple of miles. Maybe this training malarkey really does work? I’ll probably attempt another 10 miles this Friday now my confidence has been bolstered a little. It’s a shame the compression socks don’t make you run faster, though my calves didn’t ache a bit over the weekend so they must do some good.
Florence was my musical inspiration in those last few yards yesterday – ‘Dog Days Are Over’ has to be one of the most perfect running tunes, I felt like I was flying to the beat of those drums.
Saturday began with a lot of cheering for my son. It was his first swimming lesson after a couple of previously failed attempts when he flatly refused to get in the pool. So as you can imagine I was a little nervous about how it was going to go this time. Fortunately with his sister around and a friend from school he was gently persuaded to give it ago. I basically legged it as soon as he was distracted and thankfully he didn’t bat an eyelid – success! For a post swimming reward we all headed to Goldberg‘s for fully loaded bagels. Even though my body shape tones and changes, I’m still convinced I gain weight the more I run, I am always hungry! I’ve sworn off the scales until after the race…that might change tonight though when my new Boden bikinis arrive and need to be tried on.
MM and I were planning a date night on Saturday, unfortunately this weekend was his turn to be sick so we had to postpone. No bad thing really given I still felt weary from Friday. It was fun to curl up on the sofa and catch up on some episodes of Dexter with a delicious glass of Malbec.
I’ve a feeling this week is going to be a little stressful. It’s my son’s birthday party this Saturday and although on paper there doesn’t appear to be too much to do I know I’ll still be running around cleaning all week. I love hosting parties but question my sanity every time we do it as I end up cleaning for hours before and after the event.
I didn’t post any photos this weekend as I have to be honest with you I spent all weekend in sweats, I even went to Target in my running gear which I normally wouldn’t even consider, but bear with my until this half is over and done with:) Today in an attempt to feel a little more put together I’ve opted for my Boden Everyday Jersey Tunic in coal giant leopard (currently in Clearance at only $34!), Boden Cashmere Wrap (now sold out), and my Boden piped shoe boots.
I’ve even opted for a little black head band, following the lead of the gorgeous Michelle Williams at the Golden Globes this year, whose pixie cut always looks amazing with or without a headband. Mine is a little less obvious due to my dark hair but I’m praying headbands will help me through the dark days of growing my hair longer, though I am already questioning that decision.
At last night’s Oscars Michelle was by far and away top of my ‘best dressed list’ in this fabulous Louis Vuitton tiered dress and the pink clutch was just genius. The Telegraph, as ever, has great photo montages of most of the dresses on show last night.
My current choice of nail polish is Essie‘s Navigate Her from their Spring Collection, which in the bottle is a lovely creamy green color, I’m not convinced it suits my skin tone though. Just a good excuse to pick a different color out tonight.
Poppy's Style 