Look! Hugh Jackman!

If you follow me on twitter (@shabbyprincess) you know that I'M GOING TO SEE HUGH JACKMAN ON BROADWAY! Yes, that deserved to be all shouty. I can't get over it. I honestly might die--I'm not joking.

I'm crazy stupid excited. Le bestie and I are going to NYC to celebrate our birthdays (me November, her January, so, we're going in December) and see our two favorite singing men.

Hugh and Harry. Duh.


So, in honor of our NYC Birthday Extravaganza (official title), I went shopping. (is anyone surprised?)

This is my "I don't need a job, I don't need a baby, I'm going to see Hugh Jackman!" dress.


Obviously, he'll see me and want to run off with me, yes?

Now, most important question--black, gold, or leopard print heels?! Related: It'll be December in New York, am planning to wear tights with the seam on the back--very Mad Men. Now, shoes, decide! (I only ask because y'all were so helpful on the hair debate--dark it is!)

Oh. And this, this is my Phantom of the Opera dress. I have a mad crush on the guy who plays The Phantom--loved him since he was Marius in Les Mis. Also, his name is Hugh. Sense a theme?
Can we discuss the back on this thing??!?! Good thing I did some push ups this morning, lawdy.
I've already warned Sara that I will be camping us outside the stage door in the freezing cold in attempts to see the leading men--obviously, I must look killer. It's gonna be so cold. So, so, cold....WORTH IT.

After dresses and tickets were purchased, I spent the weekend prepping--even though we aren't going until December. (reality: I was home alone and bored)

Which included painting my nails sparkly pink (why yes, I am 12).
And honing my spoon singing skills while I made dinner. Related: I have no shame.
What'd you do this weekend? Any fun holiday plans?

(dresses from here and here)

Things That Make Me Smile

I'm in kind of a sour mood today--not bad, just, sour. I don't really know why....But, to counter that, I present to you, things on my happy list today. Three cheers for happy!

A yummy smelling candle
Jax Teller (God bless Kurt Sutter for creating this show)
(picture from here)

House (PTL it's a new episode tonight! Also? FINALLY!))

(picture from here)

Agent Booth (I swear, if he proposes to that wench, Hannah, I will have an aneurysm--mark my words)

(picture from here)

Dr. Chase. Please and thank you. (Why I didn't run off to Australia when I was 18 to find myself a man, I will never know)

(picture from here)
(so this could have basically been titled "men who have accents and or are in the FBI")

These shoes.

Well, and these ones too, because COME ON, WHY NOT:

A spritz of this

Imagining I'm on this beach again

(picture from here)

This movie. Obviously.

What's on your happy list today?

RIP Dear Shoes

The last few weeks my feet have been killing me. Like, literally, to the point of tears. Worse than after a marathon--for real.

Initially, I was blaming it on ice skating with Sara, but, I mean, that was over a week ago.

Then, last night, I came to the sad realization that my favorite pair of brown croc pumps were the culprit. I wore them yesterday and when I got home and took them off, I could hardly walk!

I've had them for years and wear them literally almost every.single.day. Guess I've just plum worn them out. Major sads.

Out with the old, in with the new.

I think these will be coming home with me in the next few days. Aren't they so sweet?! Again, my enabler sister found these when we were shopping together last week. Obviously, I need them.

In multiple colors. Right?!

Dress Obsessed

It's no secret to anyone that knows me that I'm a girly girl. I could live in dresses and skirts 24/7/365 for sure. Heck, I wore a skirt yesterday and it was literally freezing. Fashion is pain, right ladies?

So, yesterday I was g chatting with this fabulous girl and I was all "You'd be so proud of me, I threw away my Anthropologie catalog yesterday because there wasn't anything I wanted" and then the Universe was all "Hahahaha!" and then five minutes later, I found exactly 573 items on the website that I need.right.this.second.

Exhibit A:
Pom Flower Dress
Here, it looks better with the model (I need the necklace too, natch). Just imagine her with red hair:

Now, isn't this just the cutest thing ever?
Miss Swiss Corset Dress

And how sweet is this? With a little yellow cardi and a bright necklace? Sidenote, can redheads wear yellow? I don't know.
Sun Shades Dress

And then I was playing around on The Limited's website because a friend of mine scored a heck of a deal on a dress, and I found these. Which I need in each color.

You know I'm obsessed with purple and loooove me a purple dress, but, I'm also suddenly really into blue. I blame Kate Middleton. Need them both! Luckily, they're on sale....

And then because every girl needs her dream wedding dress, I present to you, my dream wedding dress. Sigh. Sara and I saw this in St. Louis and I fell in love. Hell, I probably would have tried it on had I a) not been wearing boots b) had a strapless bra handy and c) wasn't you know, wearing my wedding and anniversary bands. It's that gorgeous--well, at least I think it is. And it's so me. Seriously, where was this when I got married?

If you don't know, I hate my wedding dress. I was never in love with it, but, I had to find a wedding dress in exactly 55 minutes as I wedding dress shopped on my lunch break, which, I don't recommend--and at the time, it was the best of the bunch, but, I was never all "This is it!" or anything like that. Bleh.

ANYWAYS. I love this one. I want to get married again just to wear it. Or you know, just to wear around the house while doing dishes or something. (you can't really tell, but, it has Swiss dots all over it! Gahh, I die! Perfect. Perfect. PERFECT)

Now, if someone would please come hide all my credit cards or, tell me which item(s) I need right this second, that would be awesome.

Happy weekend my lovelies!

A New Addiction

Because Anthro, SAMCRO, Bones, Target and Diet Coke just aren't enough!

I don't remember how exactly I got hooked on the site ModCloth, but, it's totally become my crack as of late.

I adore vintage styles and classic fits. I'm short and semi curvy (I have hips. Bleh) thus, I prefer skirts and dresses to pants. I could live in dresses all year. My closet is jam packed with frilly frocks and such. And I'm only adding to the collection.

I need an intervention.

This beauty arrived yesterday (does this not look like the perfect 1940s dress? I die!):

And I'm obsessed with this and guess that it will be coming home with me very soon:

I really want this one, but, I cannot justify the price. Perhaps it will be on my birthday/Christmas wish list?

Sigh.

What are you addicted to? What are you favorite clothing styles?

I just don't have time for the pain

+

+
=

My life right now.

I'd love to have something exciting and earth shattering to share with you, but, I don't. I mean, do you really care that I've given my Visa card a serious workout lately? Or that there needs to be a support group for Anthropologie addicts? Because I kinda feel like I'd be a good leader/club president for that particular club.

Although, on second thought, I'd probably lead the followers astray by informing them of the newest merchandise. Damn postman that keeps delivering my catalogs. Damn him! (and then someone Tweets a picture of this dress and then I obsess about it and am now fully 100% broke)

Where was I?

Oh, yeah.

My life currently consists of emailing the non missionary sissy about Bones (and wishing I had the funds for Season 1-5 on DVD. I don't. That money went to Anthropologie last week, as you've seen. I don't want to talk about it.), and blowing through seasons 1 and 2 of Sons of Anarchy (SAMCRO). Because I will watch this season, I will! I will not do my track/speed/hill/tempo runs on Wednesday morning so I will stay up on Tuesday to watch. I will.

And praying my ankle stops hurting.

It's currently swollen the size of a damn football and I have no recollection of what I could have done to injure the damn thing. But, MCM is just a few weeks away, and, quite frankly, "I just don't have time for the pain".

So, I shall be icing, elevating, and Advil-ing in front of my TV until my long run this weekend.

Get excited. Obviously.

(images from here, here, and here)

Losing Sleep and Losing My Mind

Y'all, the last few nights I have not been able to sleep. I mean, maybe 2-3 hours. Which means that I'm a real peach, which also means I'm downing the Diet Coke like it's my job, which also means that I cannot get out of bed, so, I'm not running. Driving.me.nutso! Nuts, I tell you! 18 miles this weekend? Ha. Funny! Lord help me.

You see, I can't sleep, because my mind is racing. I can't turn it off. When I get on something, I cannot stop until it's complete. Yes, I tend to obsess. Over stupid stuff.

What's keeping me up these days?

My house.

For real.

This is two fold.

1. We moved in two years ago (count them, 1, 2) and I'm still working to get it just right. I blame this on my annoying sofas (they were free and big enough for the room, so we said "yes, please", but, they are mauve. HATE. And haven't found slipcovers that a) fit, or b) I like. And recovering them would cost the same as new furniture--you see the issue). And my ghetto mantle. It's a shelf, with creepy little Danish (?) people on the hooks. Perfect for hanging stockings at Christmas, annoying the other 364 days of the year. We have a gorgeous fireplace, but, the mantle is a total killjoy. So, I've literally spent 2 years trying to make the mantle pretty and make mauve work.

We're close, people, so close! I finally got a pretty set-up on my mantle and it's only missing one thing. That one thing? Is stressing me out. Tall taper candleholders. How stupid is that? That I'm losing sleep over it.

Like I said folks, I obsess over the dumbest things. I don't have children, so, honestly, this is what I obsess over.

2) I'm starting to freak out that we may have to move sometime in the relative near future. With month 20 looming over our heads with the husband unemployed, we're starting to discuss that we may have to move. And none of that "he would have a really long commute" type stuff, we're talking a whole different state (holla, Erin, he applied for a job in Denver!). Which makes me super duper sad because this was our house to raise a family. And damnit, I don't want to move. Which then makes my first point stupid, because, why am I putting all this effort into it if we're just going to leave? And will we ever find a house we love again? Can we afford to move?

Stressed out.

Did I mention that the husband hasn't even had an out of state interview yet? And I'm still freaking out.

As you can see, I'm crazy. Like, losing my mind, out of this world, crazy.

Honestly.

I need a new distraction.

That doesn't involve Pier 1, Target, Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrel. However, if you know where I can get some tall and relatively inexpensive taper holders, I wouldn't turn down the advice.

Just sayin'.

Anyone else have any silly things they obsess and fret over?

A week of firsts

When I started this new job, I got a lot of stuff thrown my way. A lot of big grown up things that I hadn't even thought about at my old job. It was scary, but, empowering at the same time. Because after all, I'm a grown up, I should have big scary grown up responsibilities.

And then came the biggie: the website redesign and launch. Now, I wasn't messing around with HTML or anything like that, no no, I had to gather all the content from way too many people, make it look pretty and then edit it 50,000 times. And then edit it again. Oh, and then, just to be safe, one more time. And then send it to people for their edits. And then make those. And then work all weekend because even though everything was due Thursday, it was Saturday afternoon and still getting changes.

ANYWAYS. It launched today. With only one typo found thus far. Sadly, there was no pomp and circumstance, no big email, no party, no parade, just the anticlimactic words I uttered when I turned on my computer this morning: "We're live". And no one seemed too excited. Me? I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. But, whatever.

This was something I've never done. I've never been in charge of the timeline, the content, etc of anything like this. I got to lay the hammer down, tell people 'no' and make it something we're all proud of. That's a big deal.

And I'm really tired.

Another first?

I ran a 20k on Monday. I've never run a 20k before. I always felt like it was the redheaded stepchild of the half marathon. I mean, at that point, let's just run a little longer and do the damn 13.1, k? But, I really wanted to run a Memorial Day race and since I've lost my running mojo, a 20k seemed to fit the bill. After all, if I can run 10 on Saturday, I can obviously pull through a 20k, yes? Yes.

It was hot as hell, hilly and HARD. I won't lie. I got heat exhaustion as I'm prone to do (and yet I'm so in love with Texas and the South I can't imagine moving anywhere else but it is so damn hot), I felt discouraged at times, I wanted shade like you wouldn't believe--but, I kept going.

I told myself that I would be proud of myself no matter what because hey, automatic PR, but that I wasn't going to rag on myself if I didn't do great because hey, I haven't been on my A Game lately, so, racing is something to be proud of.

And ya know what? It worked. I wasn't thrilled with my time, but, all things considered, I rocked. I finished strong, passed a few people at the end and actually got an award! Fifth in my age group (I admit part of the draw to this race was that they go 5 deep for age group awards--I had hope I could place--y'all know my love of races in which I get bling). If I'd been on my A Game, I totally could have gotten 3rd or 4th, but, I wasn't upset about it. I was thrilled.

This is a big freaking deal for me. I'm such a mature adult (apparently).

I spent the rest of the day lounging in the pool, working, BBQing and watching movies with my family.



It's been a crazy few days (who am I kidding? Weeks! Months!)

But, I couldn't be happier. I did two huge new things. And succeeded.

Now, I'm on the hunt for a "I survived our website launch and now must buy myself something pretty" present.

I told the fam last week (after getting no less than 45 emails in a 24 hour WEEKEND period) that if we launched that bad boy on time, I was buying a present. Since this website is my baby, consider a faux push present if you will (not meant to offend any mamas out there--believe me, I understand this is nothing compared to an actual baby! But for my life right now, it's a pretty big deal).

Ideas??

Also, pictures!


Me and my biggest supporter after the race. He's got on an awesome shirt, huh, Sam?

Why yes I would like to stand next to the pretty flowers and show off my bling. See the tummy and the arms?? (ick) This is why I'm spending my life savings on a personal trainer!

Happy Wednesday! (yay!) (I love 3 day weekends, we need more of them!)

Excuse me while I panic

Have we discussed that I'm running a marathon tomorrow? Because I am. Tomorrow. Not on Sunday. Tomorrow. As in, in 24 hours, I'll be like half way into 26.2 miles.

And the panic is totally setting in.

I haven't really been eating enough carbs (gummi bears? Yes)--what if I don't have enough in the tank? What if I get really hungry at mile 9 (like I'm prone to do). What if Mystery Illness 2010 hits at mile 19? Then what?! What if I wear a tee and capris and it's too cold? What if I wear capris and a long sleeve half zip and it's too hot? What if we don't get there in time?

Full.on.panic.attack.

(I've had like 3 this week--awesome)

And it doesn't help that the headband I ordered for this marathon hasn't come yet. That's just bad juju. (which also means I'm buying one today on my lunch break. Yes, I have 50. But, I don't have one with yellow on it, and if it's warm tomorrow, I'm wearin' yellow! If it's cold, I'm wearing pink--I've got pink totally taken care of)

But! But! But! I feel excited, I feel anxious, I feel jumpy and I feel like I can tackle the world tomorrow. In the form of running 26.2 miles of course.

And, I will not have a mental breakdown at mile 17. I will not. (mile 20, maybe)

Ahh! I can't believe it.

I've slipped up and told a few people at work, but, hopefully they'll forget (doubtful).

I'm just so damn excited. Even though the finishers medals are weak (yeah, they're part of a 5 year series--in 5 years, you get a big ol' 5 point star medal thing. Really? 5 years? That's asking a lot of me. Can I just get the big 5 point star now? K, thanks).

Bonus? Tonight is graduation (yes, I get to graduate from a 21 certificate training--shut up).

I think it shall be an awesome weekend.

PS. Good luck to Sam and The Redhead who are going to rock their marathon (and Sam will rock his first 15k!) this weekend too!

Running Loves

or the things that I obsess over the things that regularly deplete my checking account.

It's no secret I love running. I absolutely adore it. Which is why when I was sick over the weekend and didn't manage to run (let's not talk about it, k?) I actually spent the rest of the weekend in tears and major depression. I had let myself down. I've run sick before! I've run injured, exhausted, 24 hours out of the hospital--you name it. But, ::knocks on wood:: I've been blessed this training cycle and couldn't risk messing it all up because of my stupidity (which we all know I am 100% capable of). (still pretty damn pissed off at myself though) (although, I ran this morning which was awesome considering I can rarely pull myself out of bed on Monday mornings) (oh, and then I lifted weights at lunch. And spent 30 minutes looking for parking near my office after that outing)

I finally pulled myself together for a quick Valentine's shopping trip and a trip to REI for hiking boots (omg, don't get me started--short story: 2 days after running up hill upon hill in Catalina, I'm taking a group of teenagers on a 3 day hike in the muddy N. Texas woods. Did I mention I have to pull a handcart? And get no soda? yeahhh.... hiking boots= it's really happening).

While at REI, I loaded up on ShotBloks and the like as I gear up for marathons and long runs which led me to this lovely list of things that make my running hall of fame (or, loves).

With Valentine's Day less than a week away, here are some of my running loooooves:

Fuel Belts: Cannot go more than 8 miles without one. I get dehydrated like whoa, so, I needs me some water. If it's anything less than 8, I can make it with the water fountains along my neighborhood or at the lake, anything longer and I freak the heck out.

Cliff Shot Bloks: With caffeine please! These babies pull me through pre-dawn treadmill workouts (I eat one or two before leaving the house--they amp me up enough to where I know I better just go to the gym, otherwise I'll just lay in bed wide awake=fail), races and long runs. Sure, not the tastiest, but, at mile 9 of a run/race, I'm hungry and need somethin' to keep me going. They do the trick.

Powerade Zero: Goes in my fuelbelt for long runs and races and is my beverage of choice Friday-Sunday as I prepare and recover from long runs. (I usually dilute it a bit with water)

Nike shorts/capris/pants: I wear a lot of on-sale or less expensive running gear, but, my Nike bottoms are my hands down favorites and one of the few things I will pay full price for. Not too tight, dry material and they last. Love them (and I just bought a new pair over the weekend since I wear my capris all.the.time and never seem to have a clean pair. Solution? More pairs!)

My Garmin: Yes, I'm a Garmin junky. I get all twitchy and weird without it. For real. I don't have a great ability to pace myself (yet) and having the pace alerts is really helpful. And it's sad that I kind of live for the little jingle of it ticking off another mile. (honestly, sweetest sound in the world on a long run)

Body Glide: I'm the queen of weird chaffing (my lower back?!) and do not go out without this stuff. There's nothing worse than being mid way into a good run only to be hit with some nice chaffing. It kind of ruins it all from that point (at least for me). I forgot it a few weeks ago and was hurting major by the time I got home.

Tech/Dri tees: Best.invention.ever. I'm not brand picky on these, they rock no matter what. How I ever ran in cotton will forever be a mystery (of course this was back when I wasn't running all that long, but, still!)

Compression socks: I fully attribute my success in this training cycle to these bad boys. I bought them 3 weeks before my first marathon and pretty much wear then after anything 6 miles or more. I'm injury prone and battled a nasty calf injury for months and these have really made a huge difference in recovery and overall soreness. I fully recommend these to anyone.

SweatyBands headbands: Obviously, these are lady specific, and they are my favorite. They aren't too tight (I find the Goody ones to be too tight) and they have fun patterns and prints and have a soft underpart that keeps them locked on your noggin. I wore one in my Nov. 1 half marathon, my first marathon and on 90% of my training runs. My current favorite print is my green one with blue turtles--turtles are my running symbol, if you will.

Well, lovelies, there you have it, my running loves. (there are many, many more as my closet and gym bag would tell you, but, that's a nice lil summary, yes?)

Now, I'm dying to hear, what are some of yours??

Shoes, glorious shoes

(note: it's yummy Friday at my office. I may have baked pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. I also may have taste tested that batter until I'm pretty sure there were only 11 muffins in the tin versus the 12 the batter was supposed to make--maybe, I'm not sure. Yeah, goal weight by next week? That's funny.)

I was on the hunt for protein powder and epsom salts the other day, and where do you think I ended up? Well, at Target of course (y'all know I'm cheap, a literal tub of epsom salts is $3.88 at Target versus $5.99 at the grocery store--I tell myself this to justify the other crap I come home with from Target).

And I might have strayed from the food aisles and made my way to the shoes. Maybe.

Sidenote: sausage legs + sausage feet + end of day = hilarious imagery of me trying to cram my feetsies into shoes. Lesson learned.

So, I left with my tub o' epsom salts, protein powder, dry fit tee (because how many is too many?) and a plethora of ideas of shoes I will purchase for the holidays.

If I can shove my lil marathoned feet into actual shoes that is.

Way to go, Target for having cute and affordable shoes!

I leave for Tulsa in one week, kids, one week! I am actually dreaming about running (last night I dreamt I was on my high school's CC team--funny since our CC coach was also my track coach and hated me with a passion... and the feeling was semi mutual).

I'm probably going to take today off because my 7.17 hilly miles yesterday kind of aggravated my IT band (and by 'kind of' I mean that walking is a slight challenge) and well, I've got a 10 miler tomorrow and I want that last "long run" to really be kick ass. (plus I got about 3 hours of sleep and did not feel like waking up at 5)

I missed a day of running this week. There are worse things (also, how much of a grown up am I for even thinking this?).

And, the sausages have improved. My feet are still a touch puffy, but, not really that bad at all. Seriously the weirdest thing ever!

Happy Friday (the 13th)!

PS. Who else loved The Office last night? Hilarious (as always)!

Losing the Chub = Goals

OK, my necklace is sold out in the color I want, so, pfmph! I am now dramatically crossing my arms over my chest like an angry child.

But, I suppose this is a good thing. I don't really need to be spending $$ right now--especially thanks to Ella's $700 vet bill. And you know, the holidays and all. I have no gift giving ideas--I'm usually an awesome gift giver--this year, I've got no ideas.

Anyways, I have a point, I swear.

See, I have about 5 million things that I want to put on my Birthday/Christmas list, and most are pretty basic: new black cardigan since I have worn mine to shreds, a yummy wrap sweater for yoga, shoes, etc, etc. All of these things I could buy for myself. I should really use my list to ask for things that are a wee bit out there--like a new camera ::makes grabby hands:: I need a new camera like nobodies business. Are you reading this dad and step-mom?

So, because I still want to lose 5 lbs in the next few weeks (lofty? yes. reasonable? possibly.), I've decided that instead of asking for a yummy sweater or anything else like that, I will purchase said sweater/shoes/necklace only if I make my goal weight by marathon day.

This is annoying because a) there's a good chance everything will be sold out by then--but, beneficial, because if everything is out of stock, I'll save $$ and b) I'm kind of an instant gratification kind of gal. I don't like to wait. Also, this is why my slow cooker annoys me.

I think I can do it. I haven't gained since last week, which is wildly impressive considering I ate us out of house and home on Sunday and didn't run but once last week before the race.

And, I ran 8.5 miles of intervals/tempo this AM. Totally awesome. Was supposed to be 9 miles, but, I thought I had an early meeting and was short on time--of course, I was wrong about the meeting--but, I still got in 8.5 miles. This is like a record--do you know how long it's been since I've managed an 8 miler before work? Months!

Hopefully, the pounds will just run away (hardy har har).

And then I can resume my shopping habits just in time for the holiday rush.

Anybody else ever set any goals like this? Did/does it work?

In my next life

I want to come back as a model for Anthropologie. Or a person who gets free/discounted clothes and goods from them.

Becase clearly, I need this shirt.

As in, I seriously might die if I don't get it.

(and normally, I would make a deal with the husband that if I successfully complete my two upcoming half marathons that I get to buy it, but, at this point, just running successfully is glory enough....And he thinks I shouldn't be running anyway, so this type of bribery really won't work. Especailly since I think my SIL is moving in with us soon, which means more people to feed on my sad little paycheck)

Anyone have $100 they want to donate to the SP needs cute clothes charity drive?

Current Clothing Lust

Please, Santa, please??

(yes, that's what we've come to at le Royal Abode seeing as SP is low on the $$ this holiday season--thanks hot water heater explosion!... Maybe, just maybe I'll find a stash of $118 + tax hidden somewhere....)

Frosted Sigh Blouse (Anthro, natch)

But isn't it so cute? Don't you just want me to have it? Any fairygodmothers out there?

(What? I can beg and plead. It's not below me. You'd think it is, but, it totally isn't.)