Birthday Giveaway Winner

And the winner of the $25 Starbucks Gift Card is...

I have emailed Cindy and if I do not hear back from her, I will select another winner.

Thanks to all my new followers - I love a fun giveaway!!!

Happy SHORT week to all!!!

Birthday Love at Work

WOWSA! I was so feeling the birthday love at work today!!!

Before I tell you all about that - DON'T FORGET TO JOIN IN MY BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY HERE - only one more days to enter!!!!!! I will pick the winner tomorrow and mail out the gift card next week!

Back to work - well not actually. I am not at work anymore but when I was - what a great day!!!! My actual birthday in Monday and since everyone will be off work that day, my co-workers (Jenna and Sheila) decided we should celebrate today! Yippee me!

I came into the office and found this at 6AM...

Seriously amazing right?!?!?! What a great bunch of people I work with!

Another view of the awesomeness!!

This is the view upwards sitting in my chair - LOL!

And the lovely cake!!!!!! Sooo good - I may have had my FIRST piece for breakfast and my second for lunch!!!!! YUMMO!

Thanks to all the awesome people I work with for this amazing day! It was awesome!!!! I cant wait to celebrate with family and friends!!!!!!! YEA!

Thanks to Mom and Dad for making me!

Ha!

Do you do fun things like this for your co-workers or have you ever had your cubicle decorated if you work? How did you like it?

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5 More Shopping Days

Happy Wednesday!

As you can see in the title above...there are 5 more shopping days until my birthday!!! YEA!! Get moving peeps!  Go get your SHOP on!!! LOL! i am just kidding of course!

I actually want to give you guys a gift for being amazing followers and bloggy friends so I am giving you the gift on my birthday!! DON'T FORGET TO JOIN IN THE BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY HERE - only two more days to enter!!!!!!

But, on the subject of birthdays! Let me just say that Sephora has been the most amazing company this year! They sent me a card for my birthday to go claim a gift and then a week later they sent another card to go claim a gift just for being a Sephora card holder.  AWESOMENESS!!!

Here is what I got!!!

This awesome lip gloss is great!! Never tried it before but it goes on smooth and has a slight minty hint that makes your lips tingle! I love it-the color is amazing also!

 And this!!! It is a two set!

They are both awesome colors and I cannot wait to use the red when my boyfriend takes me to dinner this weekend! Yea me!

Here is the Bare Minerals Moxie from above on my lips on the way out the door this am!

HA HA!

Yes, I am officially getting old!!! Scary when I see those wrinkles!

PS - DON'T FORGET TO JOIN IN THE BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY HERE - only two more days to enter!!!!!!

Happy Hump Day ya'll!!!

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Friday Favorites and 5 on Friday

Happy Friday!!! YEA! It has been a terribly busy and long week~~~I am so glad the weekend is ALMOST here!

Before I do anything else...PLEASE enter my Birthday Month Giveaway!! Hardly anyone is entered and it is for a $25 gift card for Starbucks...who does not want one of those? I guess lots of you - ha ha! Enter HERE soon!

Well, on to the important stuff!!!

It is time for Five on Friday and Friday Faves!!! YEA!

1. I got this little gem in my last Stridebox. Stridebox is a monthly sub box that sends you fun fuel and toys that relate to running! This is the greatest subscription box there is - I swear! If you run or even walk/jog - you will love the stuff in the box!! Only $10 a month! This ball is great to roll my feet on at work under my desk - it is my new favorite thing!

2. I got this iPhone case on sale at Hobby Lobby (clearance actually for $2.99) figuring I would give it to someone else - I have a lot of friends that love Hello Kitty...but I decided it is so cute that I have to use it myself! LOVE LOVE!
 

3. I was sent this new favorite in one of my other subscription boxes, I think Ipsy and I loved it so much that I ran out to Sephora the next day and bought the full size one! It is only around $18 for the full size and it makes your lips soooo soft and it also smells amazing!!! You will love it - I promise! You can get it HERE!

4. This is a new favorite as of yesterday afternoon! My Birchbox for May arrived and this was inside and I am in love! It smells amazing and leaves my hands soooooo soft!! Where have you been all my life?!?! I will be hitting up Amazing today for a LARGE bottle of this!

5. And last but not least...I am loving my wireless keyboard! This magnetically attaches to my iPad and allows me to type like the iPad is a laptop computer! It is great! As a blogger I am sure you can understand what a game changer this is for me! YEA! Love it! I got it at Costco and it was really reasonable too! You can purchase one HERE too!

I hope everyone has an amazing Friday night and weekend too!!!

I cannot wait to read about everyone's Friday favorites!

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21 Day Fix - Day 4

Hi ya'll!!! 

First and foremost...don't forget to enter my birthday month giveaway HERE ...it is your chance to win a $25 gift card for Starbucks!!! The odds are great as not many people are entered at all!!

I am just checking in to report on the 21 Day Fix so far!

It is officially the morning of Day 4 and I am already down 6 pounds. I realized that this may be water weight but I am still thrilled!!! I am also very hungry but I expected this as my eating has been way out of control and I eat way too large of portions!

Anytime I am hungry I just tell myself that it will all be worth it when the weight is gone and I can feel confident again!! "Nothing tastes as good as being thin and healthy feels!!" Right?!?!

Anyone that is thinking about doing this....make sure you are ready to make the commitment! It is really hard!!! I could lie and say it is a piece of cake but that is completely not true! It is hard and it is strict but it is also only 21 days! The eating plan seems to be the most difficult for me! No white flour or sugar - I think the sugar part is killing me!!! But, again, I keep telling myself it is only 21 days! 

I like the workouts much better than I thought I would too! There is 7 different workouts so you do not do the same thing twice in any week which is  great for variety~but, they are really hard! Each days exercise is only 30 minutes and they make a point to break everything down into one minute intervals and the trainer says "you can anything for a minute right?" HA HA! Sometimes it feels like I cannot! HA HA!

Also, they show modified versions of all the exercises too - they are great for me!

And the only equipment required for the workouts is handweights.

My masseuse, Kristina, turned me onto the 21 Day Fix and I am so glad that she did!!! I feel better after only four days and cannot wait until Day 21 to run back to her and give her my final numbers and show her how awesome I look thanks to her! Hopefully, this will set up a pattern in my life to eat more reasonable portions and make better food choices down the road also!

I'll keep you posted!

Searching For A New "Normal"

I am currently searching for my new "normal"!!

My normal used to be working out like crazy EVERY night and focusing on me and that was awesome for a period of time. Now, I have met a special someone and I am still trying to figure out how he plays into my life, my decisions and my fitness to be really honest.

When I was single and had nowhere to go and nothing to do it was easy to focus on working out three hours a night and losing weight. I wanted to feel better,. look better and BE better.

Then I met him! Now I already feel better (he tells me I am attractive just the way I am) and I know I have lost enough weight that I look okay (but I want to get to my goal weight) but the scale is slowly creeping the wrong way! That is NOT okay! I worked so hard to get the weight off that I am not starting over! So, Here we go!

Yesterday was DAY ONE of the 21 Day Fix! I am excited that I started and I am currently starving but I am sure that I will adjust in a day or so! Right???!?!

After just one day, with the measured portions of food and the daily workout supplied by the 21 Day Fix, I have realized that my portion size is fiercely out of control and my exercise has gone from three hours a night to about 1 hour a week!!! The total body workout last night kicked my butt-it did not help that I did it REALLY late when I got home from his house too though.

So, how will I squeeze this all in? I think I have it figured out now! 

New normal day...work at 6AM...no lunch and head home at 2PM. Tanning on the way home and arrive at home at 3PM. Do the workout for the day at 3PM and then head over to see him at 4 or 4:30 when he gets home. Work in his yard planting and weeding and hanging out, etc. and then out to a healthy and measured dinner and home by 9PM. Shower and in bed by 9:30PM or 10PM. That should be do-able - at least for 21 days, right?!?!?

Lets see if we can get this scale moving in the right direction again and be happy in a relationship too!!!! Why should it have to be one or the other?

Please Comment: Anyone else have any experience with "happy eating"? How do you all balance your significant other, kids, job, activities? This is hard and it is only me so I cannot imagine what you other women go through!!!

PS  -Don't forget to enter my birthday month giveaway HERE!!! There is hardly anyone entered! Another week + to enter!

Nature in full swing

Today's post will cement the idea that it is finally Spring in Pittsburgh!!!

I put up my hummingbird feeders and look who I saw visiting yesterday?!?!? Two of them actually! Love these little guys - and they are back - YEA!!!

And another view - aren't they so cute?!? I will get some new ones today with the screen open so you can actually see them better and not the screen grid - ha!

There are two nests at my BF's house...they were actually from last year and I told him that they would not use them however, I have again been proven very wrong! He insisted we leave them there and they came in and added a little grass and laid a few eggs already!!! Cant wait to see these baby robins...

And on the note of babies: Look at these little guys! This was also a nest from last year (proven wrong TWICE!) and the little babies are hatching...I think it is a little warbler bird but we are going to work on identifying mom soon so I can report for sure what the babies are! Literally just hatching!!

 So excited for Spring and Summer in Pittsburgh!

What do you like most about Spring? Do you love birds or hate birds - I am pretty sure there is no middle ground - HA!

PS - Make sure to enter my giveaway for a $25 Starbucks gift card HERE!! 

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2015 Pittsburgh Half-Marathon Finisher #pghrunnerofsteel

Hi everyone! I cannot wait to give you all the details on my 2nd Half-Marathon that I just completed last weekend on Sunday! This is all my gear laid out the night before. This is such a habit - I HAVE to do it!!!

I took the trolley down this year instead of driving which ended up being a very good idea! So much easier than dealing with a car! I left home around 5ish and arrived downtown around 6:30. Perfect! So the next two pictures are the start corral about 10 minutes before the official start at 7AM. My start was not until about 7:28 as it took that long to make it up to cross the starting line. So if you are following my pictures...then take 28 minutes off the clock in the pictures and you will have my time

And another sea of people...

The course start line was on Liberty and Garrison. We stayed on  Liberty Avenue the whole first mile - here is a picture...remember that is not a 39 minute mile...LOL...subtract about 28 from that.

 From this mile market we ran about another half mile down Liberty Avenue and then made a left onto 30th Street and then another quick left onto Penn Avenue (the Strip District). About 1/2 mile down Penn Avenue was the 2 Mile Marker and a water station - see the cups?!?!?

We stayed on Penn Avenue until we came to the 16th Street Bridge and there we made a right and ran across that bridge. I still cannot figure out how I missed the 3 Mile Marker - I think it was about halfway across the bridge or something because I never saw it but I noticed the 5 Kilometer sign when I came to the end of the bridge so I get that instead! HA HA

At the end of the bridge we made a left onto E Ohio Street and then a left on Cedar. At the end of Cedar we made a right on Stockton and a left on Anderson Street to prepare to cross the second bridge of the race which was the Rachel Carson Bridge. This was almost Mile Marker 4!! This is where I started feeling pretty good! Up to now I felt tight and was worried that my lack of training may just make me have to drop out and not finish at all!

This is everyone kinda smooshing to merge together to cross the Rachel Carson bridge!! You can see the bridge up ahead! I was amazing with the mass of people!!!

Andddd... Mile 4!! Right before we crossed the Rachel Carson bridge!

One more shot going across - I love the bridges!!! No matter what they tell you, the bridges are hills too! Next time I am soooo training hills!!!!!

At the end of the bridge we made a right onto Fort Duquesne Blvd and then a right to quickly cross back over the river on the Andy Warhol bridge!!! At the end of the bridge we went left onto the Parkway North (I have to interject here...it is so much fun to run on the roads in the city that you are used to driving on!! I think that is one of my favorite parts of running the Half-Marathon!) and then a right onto Federal Street. We merged to the right at the end of Federal and it turns into S. Commons which was, finally, Mile Marker 5!!!! And slightly uphill...

At the end of S. Commons we went left onto E. Commons. Then at the end made a left onto N. Commons and then another left onto W. Commons  - so yes, just what you are thinking, we ran in a big circle (or box if you want to get technical - HA!). We then made a right onto Ridge and another right onto W Ohio with a quick left jaunt onto Brigton Street where we finally hit Mile 6!!

 We then made a right onto N. Lincoln Avenue and a right onto Galveston Avenue and then a left onto Western Avenue. We followed Western Avenue a long way until it actually turns into the West End Bridge - after we crossed that I finally saw mile 7!!!!!

We were now headed to the West End (which I have to say was the best entertainment anywhere!) They always go out and make the runners feel so welcome!! Love this part of the city - seriously they were amazing with crowd support! We made a right onto Steuben Street and then a left on Wabash to loop back around to the city. We then made a left onto S. Main Street and stayed on that road for a loooooooooooooong time! We hit Mile 8 about a half mile down the road. Another hill...

S. Main then turned into Lincoln Highway and we merged right onto Lincoln Highway. Lincoln Highway then turns into W. Carson Street. After what felt like a long time on that road we hit Mile Marker 9!

Then I saw this guy! His name is John and he is a very dear, longtime friend of mine!  He has come down for the past three years to show his support!!! He is so awesome and sweet!! He was in the same place two years ago for my first half and also last year for my first full!!! What a guy!!!

After the selfie, I continued down W. Carson Street until I saw Mile Marker 10!!! Only I did not see it!!!! It was the only one that escaped me totally!!! I swore I would get every flag and a missed that one so it gives me something to shoot for next year!!! RIGHT!??! So, after that unseen Mile Marker 10 we kept going down W.Carson Street until I did see Mile Marker 11 - how could I miss it?!?!? Love this guy!!!! I think he was going for 9-11 - get it? Do you see it?

After that we made a left to cross over on the Birmingham Bridge. At the end of this bridge is where the split happened this year (last year it was before the bridge). The half marathon people (ME) went left onto Fifth Avenue and those Marathoners went right for 14 more miles! WOWSA!!!  After a short distance down Fifth Avenue we made a left onto Moultrie Street where I ran right into Mile Marker 12!!!!!! There was another water station here - YEA!!!!

We made a right on Forbes Avenue and then left onto Jumonville and then a right onto the Boulevard of the Allies!!! Now we all know we are in the homestretch!!! YEA YEA YEA! There is a long, slow uphill climb here that stinks (for people like me that do not "embrace the hill") and the rest is downhill into the city of Pittsburgh and the finish line! I stopped to the this photo!!!! Only 0.1 left!!!!!!!!!

And another closer!!! Look at those crowds!! How amazing are they!!! And the volunteers at the water and Gatorade stations and everywhere else - thank you!!!! Quick thank you to everyone that came out the races this weekend!!!! You guys rock and it's that atmosphere and vibrant crowd that keeps me wanting to run every year! Also, thanks to everyone that held out a "push here for power" sign - I swear they worked!

At the very end I had to turn backwards before I crossed the finish to get a quick shot of my amazing family!!!! They all live in other states and they all came in to see me finish the Half-Marathon! I could not ask for a more amazing and supportive family! How cute are they!?!?!?!?

This is my "I have crossed the finish line" selfie!!! Can not post every single flag throughout the race and not post the I crossed one, right?!?!? The Marathon did a great job of keeping the chutes for the runners cleared out...after you crossed the finish you were sent down the chute - first you got a water bottle, then your medal, and then a silver heat wrap, banana, Panera bagels, fruit cups, potato chips, smiley cookie (Eat n Park Restaurant trademark cookie) and finally a baggie to put it all in. Perfect ending!

After we walked around a little and cooled down; my parents took myself and my wonderful cheering section family out to lunch at Atria's near PNC for a celebratory luncheon! How sweet and awesome!!! This is the whole crew!!! So happy - what a great day! It's official - I have now completed one full marathon and two half's!!!!!!

I had to show this -  my fitbit and the end shot of the end! Crazy number of calories and steps!! Yea me!

And last but not least...My little sister made me this medal holder! Isn't it awesome!! I have been using shadow boxes for each race but I love this!!! SSSOOOO crafty!! Thanks Susie-I love you!!

Hope everyone had an amazing weekend!!!!!

PS - Who else ran? What did you think? Were you hot? Did you PR? Did you see Mile Marker 3?!?!?!

PSS - Don't forget to enter my birthday giveaway for a #25 Starbucks gift card HERE! There is hardly anyone registered yet?

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