PS....Anthropologie....

However, I would consider paying full price for this:

And this:
And possibly even this:

Is it just me, or am I kind of loving the Anthro fall early arrivals a bit more than the JCrew new additions??? I dunno...it is early days yet....August will show.

J.

Dearest Anthropologie:

I love ya.....BUT, I will not pay $128.00 for this plaid shirt. It looks like a Nirvana Goodwill item circa 1994....

I ran 5 miles and didn't die!!!

Well "Stella got her groove back!"......I did it.....if you read my post from July 8th....you know about my frustration with getting back into running. Well I was successful and I overcame my fear, ran the 5 miles. I was slow as a turtle but all that matters is that I finished.

I am so motivated, I signed up for a half marathon on September 2oth!! right here in my area. That gives me exactly 10 weeks to get myself up to 13.1 miles.....I'm so glad that I have a new goal to work towards!!!

Have a great night all....and thank you sooo much for the support!

Should I jump on this trend......

Like many of you, I'm over my summer wardrobe and am looking forward to fall! I've started to do some research online regarding what are the it pieces for fall. With our new house purchase, I'm on a tight budget for my fall wardrobe. I went a little crazy last fall....thank you JCrew!....so I have all of the boots, skinny jeans, suiting, etc that I need. But I want to try to update with some inexpensive pieces like accessories and maybe a few tops. (And defintely a boyfriend blazer!....I love the current JCrew light gray boyfriend blazer they have posted in the New Arrivals section). One piece that keeps coming up again and again in my research is the plaid shirt......this is not the grungy shirt circa Nirvana 1994; rather, this is a more fitted tailored piece to be worn with skinny jeans and a great pair of boots. I love the fact that the shapes are body conscious.....I kind of want to LOVE this trend, but at the same time don't want to be emulating every 16 year old on the street! What are your thoughts on this trend??? Would you wear it??? Or is this best left for the tween/teen set???

Here are some examples:

The lovely Katie Holmes rocks this trend in NYC.
Plaid Shirt, Forever 21
Outfit ideas.....What are your thoughts on this trend? Yay or Nay!!!????

Getting my A** and mind back in shape.......

I'm not one for new year's resolutions.....I just don't see the point of swearing to eat better, work out, drink less, blah blah blah......seriously, maybe it is one of my character flaws but I just don't see the point. I mean, probably about .2% of the people who make resolutions actually stick to them right, that's my experience anyways! And here is the basis for my rationale, I think that you need a life changing event or some other thing that completely changes your consciousness, your way of thinking, to commit to make a life change. Whether that is an illness, a loss, a spiritual discovery....whatever, the point is it has to SOMETHING that kicks you in the butt, makes you recognize something within yourself, and says "it is time to change" and for most people, I don't think a champagne fueled January 1st does it for ya.

So for me, 30 is looming. What does this mean to end of my 20's....my second full year of marriage, getting a new house, having a new-ish job....and on more fronts as I take stock of my life, my first almost three decades, I think where am I now and where do I want to be. I've made changes in my personal life and professional life over the past year, but more on that in another post......I'm in a great place mentally but I am not happy with where I am physically....

In a way this is more about my mental state than about my physical state. So 10 years ago, when I was 19 and getting ready to turn 20, I was a division one athlete. Not only was I in the best physical shape of my life, but I also was in an amazing place mentally. I took such amazing pride in being able to decide spur of the moment to go out and effortlessly run 10 miles to clear my head. I learned amazing time management skills that I have carried into my career and personal life beyond college. But the most valuable experience for me was that if I put my mind to anything through sheer willpower I could succeed.

In my early 20's, through graduate school and my early career, I had copious amounts of time to dedicate to my physical needs. After college, I left rowing behind and turned my attentions to running.....distance running to be specific. From the time I was 22-26, I ran 3 marathons, numerous half marathons, and more 10Ks than I care to count. I enjoyed it, I loved it, I needed it!!! It was like a drug for me.

During training for my final marathon at 26, I suffered an injury, my first injury ever in all of my years of being an athlete. And, though I did finish the marathon training and run the marathon, my stupidity and stubborness sidelined me for 6 months. I DID NOTHING!!! And, all of my natural athletic ability seemed to fly completely out the window. I did recover, but I was just not in the same place mentally.....I couldn't push myself. I began to push myself in other ways, to advance in my career, to spend more time with my boyfriend (now husband), to buy a house, etc etc. And I found success in these areas....but my athletic endeavors where limited to 4 one hour trips to the gym a week spent on the cross aerobic, lifting weights or taking a class.

And after almost 3 years of this, something is just missing for me. I've know this for a long time. And turning thirty is the proverbial kick in the butt I needed to get myself back in the game. 30="my time to change".......

Now that I am ready to committ to my resolution, I determined that I needed something to motivate me because I knew that I could not do this alone. I had never gone from doing nothing to becoming an athlete again, I started as a pretty athletic kid who just stayed with it through high school and college until 26. So, I signed up with this trainer, who actually went to college with me, and her claim to fame is that she gets people to love running. The first several times I got on the treadmill, I was practically frozen with fear over the idea of "where I was then versus where I am now"....the thought of wheezing my way through 10 minutes on the treadmill scared me more than anything....I cannot even describe or explain it except to say that it was a profound fear of failure. But, at least I recognized that I could not do it alone.

So I have been working with my running trainer for about a month now and I am up to 3 leisurely miles on the treadmill with a few hills and speed sprints thrown in for good measure and I feel safe on the treadmill when she is there cheering me on. And sometimes, very faintly, in the back of my own head I hear that little voice from my athletic past cheering me on, a faint "push harder" "you can do it" amongst the voices of doubt screaming "this hurts" "I'm going to throw up". And after each minute logged on the treadmill, I get a little closer to rediscovering that piece of me I lost in 2006.

Tomorrow is my first day of RUNNING CLUB!!! Yes, I have finally gotten to the point where I feel comfortable enough going out and running in front of other people. I'm leaving my safe comfortable treadmill behind. I'm stepping into the wide open world where I'm going to have to push myself to finish the 5 mile run tomorrow. Physically it will be a stretch, but I know I will survive, but mentally I question if I can do it........

Stay tuned:)

J.

PS....since this entry is going to be a first in a series dedicated to health fitness and wellbeing.

I'm sad....

They have gone to live with my parents while our house is up for sale and I miss them sooo much..........





They really are like my children.....they just have fur. Even my DH admitted that he misses them.....sigh.

Gwynnie got GOOP....(in this case...POOP)

So I've posted about Gwynnie Paltrow's GOOP newsletter before...and like most things it is hit and miss. I like her recipes and some of her gardening/exercise tips but I find her GET/aka shopping newsletters are pretty ridiculous. So this arrived in my email today....a newsletter about going green...which I think is great. But then while scrolling through the "recommended" products, I saw this:This is the "PeapodStarting at $12,500 Peter Arnell, a dear friend, is a design genius. He created this new neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) that runs entirely on electricity and emits no pollutants. It can be charged using a normal outlet and is the perfect way to get around short distances. You can sign up to pre-order the car online and then it will be delivered to your house. Expected to be available in October."

This looks pretty cool...however, in these trying economic times, I'm wondering who besides a celebrity is really able to afford $12500 for a NEV that can really only travel very locally. And additionally, I'm a little concerned about the "charging in a normal outlet"? What's that mean? I'm thinking I'll be on the front page of the local paper, wringing my hands, and crying about the $20K electric bill I recieved. I feel like a VESPA scooter, BIKE, or my own two feet would be a much more economical and environmentally conscious option than this new NEV. I dunno....it just seems like a product plug via GOOP.....I'm just sayin'. So thank you Gwynnie but you should stick with recipes!

J.

I'm still alive I swear.....

Really....I swear...I have several posts to go up this weekend including FINALLY the review of Skinny Bitch.....