Apple of my Eye

I have a rather exciting confession to make. That package the hubby and I were eagerly awaiting on Friday afternoon? It contained our official entry for membership in the cult of Apple. True, we started this transition a while back thanks to our iPads: Dan's is over a year old now (practically qualifying as a historical relic), mine was a birthday gift a few months back. And we haven't completely made the switch, as I am rather attached to the lovely Dell laptop that my sweet hubby bought me for Christmas this year (it's been a big few months for technology upgrades around these parts, let me tell you). But this weekend, our little family made a big leap toward Mr. Jobs' end of the continuum: we traded in our aging little android phones for shiny new iPhones.

I will admit, the first 24 hours left me mildly disappointed. I couldn't get certain applications to sync, nothing from my old phone seemed to want to transfer, and I was a little sad to leave behind certain android perks like the cute little weather animation (go ahead, laugh at me -- my husband certainly did). My incredibly full google calendar showed up blank, and only a random 28 contacts made their way across the stratosphere, leaving over a hundred more lost somewhere in the interim. I was also a little let down when the first person I showed failed to share in my excitement, but made no effort to hide their judgement about how much we had paid (a total which was, in fact, surprisingly small and came with a substantial reduction to our monthly bill). I can't lie, I went to bed Friday night with more than a little buyer's remorse weighing on my tired brain.

After spending the weekend exploring and experimenting, however, I think it's safe to say that I'm in love. Every last piece of information is finally transferred, the angry birds are in full swing, and Siri and I have become great friends. I love that I can read blogs, Kindle books, and an incredible amount of news right from my phone (although this makes me a little nervous about productivity levels in the near future). I am also over-excited by the new podcast app I downloaded -- I use this every day and was so frustrated with my old one, but the new version is worlds better. I couldn't believe how clunky and slow my poor dying android seemed when I picked it up last night after spending just two days with its lovely Apple counterpart. I've never been one to own the latest version of any kind of technology, so between the phone, iPad, and new laptop, I am feeling so cutting edge and up-to-date that I can barely stand it.

All of that being said, I am really looking forward to unplugging this weekend. Dan and I are escaping with two wonderful friends (and their adorable baby girl) to a nearby ski resort for a long weekend of laughter and wine-tasting and yummy food. I am more than ready to turn off the technology and spend some time celebrating the guys' safe return!

Until then, though, please fill me in: what are the apps you can't live without?? 

   Love,

    Meg

Friday Favorites

 I won't go into the gory details, but this week has left me in great need of a little extra patience, a lot of sleep, a brain reset, a glass of wine, new carpeting, a vacation, and a healthy dose of gratitude. Because sometimes, having a new dog is more exhausting than it is fun. Sometimes, having a full time job and also an social life is enough to make you want to quit one or the other. Sometimes, your hormones get so out of whack that you contemplate just sitting on the floor and crying for no apparent reason... multiple times a day. And sometimes, it's nice to stop and just be thankful that you made it through another week.

I realize that I'm more than a little late for this train, but I'm going to chase it on down the track. I bought several Tervis tumblers as Christmas presents this year in a burst of brilliance (breast cancer awareness for my mom, Marine Corps for my stepdad, US Army for Dan), but I've never had one of my own. After Christmas, Dan and I ran across a huge aisle of them in a store and I may have mentioned that now everyone had their very own tumbler that represented their passion... except me. He insisted that I pick out one for myself, so I got the cute little runner above. Oh. My. Goodness am I in love. I never knew it was possible to get so excited about a piece of plastic. These things are incredible though: bigger than a normal glass, always condensation free, dishwasher safe, great for hot or cold, and perfect for both home and the office (in other news, I should probably pursue a career in infomercials). I only made it about three days before I dragged Dan out to get 2 more -- now we have a "woof" and a "meow" to represent the other two members of our family!

This just speaks for itself. How cute is that last little guy?!

I'm not sure what I did all day before I discovered pinterest. I can (and do) kill entire hours browsing, squealing in delight, and adding things to my "crafty amazingness to attempt" list. Now any time I need ideas for gifts, recipes, decorations, or life in general, pinterest is my first stop. Strangely, however, I've realized that while I find a lot of amazing pictures, I rarely pin anything on my own boards. Guess we know what I'll be doing this holiday weekend!

My fantastic boss brought muffins for everyone this morning, and I snagged the last blueberry one. YUM.

My husband truly never ceases to amaze me. I've been begging this guy to be my gym buddy ever since he got home, and he has joined me a grand total of one time in more than a month. Until this morning, that is. When my alarm went off at the crack of dawn, it took just a few seconds of sleepy thought to decide "I'll just go to the gym this afternoon. I'm very comfortable right here, thank you." So I reset the alarm, turned over, and snuggled up to Dan's back. Our conversation went a little like this:

   "Mpf" (Dan)

   "Hmmm?"

   "Mpf"

   "Mpf?"

   "Aren't you going to the gym?" 

   "Not this morning. I'll go this afternoon. I'm sleepy."

   "What if I go with you?"

   "Ha. Ha ha. Hahahaha. Right."

   "No, really. I'll go with you."

Following this statement, my husband actually lifted the covers and proceeded to get out of bed all by himself . (By the way, sweetheart: that was a big mistake -- now I know it's possible.) And so with a bit of grumbling, I too pulled myself upright and we went to the gym. It was brutal, but now I don't have to go tonight, and for that I am infinitely grateful. 

Last but certainly not least, this week I am thankful for the package that is scheduled to arrive at our doorstep any minute now with very precious cargo. Dan has been texting me all morning: "It's in [hometown]!" "It's out for delivery!" "It left the post office at 9:30!" The anticipation is killing me. I promise to fill you in when it gets here!

Happy Friday everyone -- hope that you all had a week with such lovely things!

   Love,

    Meg

Early Bird

Last week, in some kind of fit of superhuman motivation, I managed to drag myself out of bed every day before work to hit the gym. In the interest of full disclosure, I did have Monday off, so the "week" was truly only four days. Still, for an unabashed non-morning person (just ask poor Toby, the typical recipient of my glares and growls as I force my feet to hit the ground), this is a pretty impressive accomplishment. 

I go through phases like this every once in a while -- weeks where I am consistent enough about running in the mornings that my body either gets used to it or just resigns itself to the whims of my crazy brain. These good weeks, however, tend to punctuate months where I only make it to the gym a few mornings a week, or, in some rare cases, never at all. On days that I can't rouse myself early enough, I always run in the evenings... but only after I've sat at my desk all day wrestling with the guilt that comes with skipping my morning run.

Now, however, we come to the real anomaly of last week: not only did I manage to run every day before work, but three out of four days, I also spent time at the gym after work. One day I ran twice, and the other two afternoons I hit the elliptical after longer runs in the morning. Inspired? Definitely. Crazy? Possible.

I'm not a stranger to two-a-day workouts -- back in the summer and fall when I was training for races I tried to squeeze in two runs a day (or a run and crosstraining) at least once a week. Three times in one week, however, is certainly a first. These days I am running fairly reduced mileage thanks to the on-and-off pain in my right shin and the fact that I don't have any races on my calendar for at least two more months, so even with a high volume of separate workouts, I'm nowhere near the training level I was in August and September. My runs during the week were also exclusively pounded through on the treadmill (although I did manage to get outside during daylight Saturday and Sunday), so they weren't exactly 100% effort or fancy tempo runs, even though I did maintain paces that satisfy my craving for speed. Still, nine sessions of decent sweat over six days is nothing to sneeze at around here.

This week has been much more normal so far -- I made it in Monday morning, but opted for the extra hour of sleep yesterday and today. Last night I finished my longest run since before Halloween, and I plan to follow it up with a 5k distance (-ish) recovery tonight. That little guilty voice has taken up its spot in the back of my head again, though: "It's good to start your day with a run," it says, "You should have gotten up." Damn voice. It's especially loud after a week like last week.

It makes me wonder, though -- is it really better to work out in the mornings? Sure, it's nice to start out the day knowing my run is out of the way and I can relax after work. There are lots of days that I know if I don't do it in the morning, I won't have time to run at all, so there's that. And it is true that once I manage to get out of bed, I feel good about starting off my day by sweating -- it wakes me up and allows me to feel accomplished first thing in the morning. But honestly, there are plenty of other benefits to running in the afternoons: I can burn off both the stress and the calories of the day, I'm not in a hurry and can go as far as I'd like, and it seems that my body is happier, too. There are days when I get home from work and it it only takes Dan one glance before he gently guides me to the closet to change clothes -- he knows that a run is the ultimate bad-mood killer after a long day for me. Besides, one of the cardinal rules of training is to mix it up with different routes and different speeds to keep my head engaged and committed. It would seem that varying the time of day would be a no-brainer.

So while I do feel pretty proud of myself for weeks like last week, it's definitely time to stop beating myself up over it. Sometimes my body needs that extra hour of sleep much more than it needs to be set atop a moving belt and asked to keep up while only half awake. That treadmill isn't going anywhere, and especially when it's a choice between 3 rushed miles before work or 6 quality miles in the afternoon, the right answer is pretty clear.

That said, tomorrow I'm determined to get my run over with before work, because words can't express how much I don't want to go spend time on the treadmill right now. Is it spring yet? I miss the roads...

   Love,

    Meg

January Blues

Yesterday, something went down in our household that I would have sworn to you would never happen. My husband uttered words that I would have bet my life savings would not in a million years cross his lips. That's right: yesterday morning, Mr. Christmas himself looked me square in the eye and said "Can I take down the tree tomorrow?" I am still reeling from the shock.
Sadly, I can no longer come up with a good excuse to leave up our lovely evergreen just a few more days... the holidays are officially over, ladies and gentlemen. The worst part, however, is that with the tree go the decorations: my singing snowmen and carol-playing Snoopy and "brrrr"-ing Winnie the Pooh must retreat to their boxes for another 11 months in storage. My Zwarte Piet (Dutch elves) must be tucked away, the advent calendar doors must be closed, and the rosemary bush dried and shaken down into potpourri. Perhaps saddest of all, this means that our brand-new adorable stockings must finally be emptied of their chocolate and folded up until next December (unless I can think of a clever excuse to reuse them for Valentine's Day...)
The disappearance of these seasonal items leaves our living room looking a bit empty, so my next project is to find a few new accessories for our sparse coffee table and bookshelves. As is the norm these days, my first instinct was to turn to the lovely pinterest for answers. As is also the norm, pinterest did not disappoint:

Adorable pinwheels in a flowerpot

Colorful lanterns!

The perfect way to use up all those lingering candy canes

Perfect idea for Valentines Day...

or Easter.

 Love these flower/floating candle combinations

Gorgeous for fall

I think I will probably give this look a try -- I have about a gazillion white candles and vases, so I'm going to pick up a bag of cranberries tonight and see how they work.

The winner, though, has to be this incredibly unique and adorable use of vegetables:

If I had lots of time on my hands, I would absolutely start eating the middle out of cutting up some artichokes.
The small bit of my brain that is just slightly crafty is itching to try a few of these ideas. Also, stay tuned -- next up: our boring white walls!

   Love,

    Meg

Friday Fluff

I have to sit at this desk for another three hours and pretend to work, but my brain has already clocked out, kicked off the heels, and reclined with an adult beverage. Honestly, I can't remember a time when I was so over being at work. Since last Friday, at least. The last 3 hours of the workweek are always downright brutal.

Speaking of brutal, this week at work has been particularly so. Something about sitting here at my computer for 8 hours a day while my hubby is spending his vacation time sleeping and playing with our new puppy just doesn't thrill me... I can't imagine why. Add to that the handful of coworkers who seem to think it is their job to jump up and down all over my last nerve, and let me tell you: girlfriend needs a long weekend. Except that last weekend was a 3 day weekend. And the weekend before that. Let me rephrase that: girlfriend needs a longer weekend. I think 5 days miiight do the trick.

Since my brain seems to have taken a half day, these lovely little bullet points are going to be as good as it gets right now. Please don't expect them to make too much sense.

-- While I didn't make any running resolutions this year, I did mention that I might have some goals for 2012. By which I mean I should have some goals, but I haven't gotten myself together enough to set them. I'm sure that when that happens, they will include a few races, a few training improvements, and getting rid of this damn pain in my right leg. For now, though, I'm still super excited by the thought that I ran over 1000 miles in 2011 (1045, to be exact), which seems pretty decent considering it was my first year running and I had some injury-prone months in there.

 -- Speaking of running, I have been itching to get some new running clothes... I am dying for a new pair of these. And perhaps one of these. And most definitely a pair of these. If only my wallet agreed.

 -- It's shocking how much more I look forward to my evenings now that they involve snuggling up with my husband and catnapping on the couch. Even if I have to go to the gym first, just knowing that he will be there when I get home is terribly exciting. Looking back, I'm honestly not sure how I got through 7+ months without the guy.

 -- This weekend I bought a fancy brand new moisturizer for my face. I will refrain from mentioning the brand, but it's a well-known and typically highly-recommended name, and this one was specifically for sensitive skin. I used it three times on Monday and Tuesday, and by Wednesday morning my face was drier than the Mojave. Days (and several applications of my old moisturizer) later, my cheeks are still itching like crazy. I might as well have thrown that $14 directly in the trash.

 -- This weekend is the first in recent memory that I anticipate having lots of time to sleep, and I plan to take full advantage of this. I was so used to going to bed early when Dan was gone, now that he is home I struggle to make it past 10. In other words, I am the very definition of exciting (he thinks so, at least).

 -- I have never in my life looked forward to spring... I like the season just fine, but I usually save all seasonal anticipation for the glory of fall weather. The past few weeks, though, as I've driven around in my unheated car (please just don't even ask) with icicles hanging from my extremities, I have been absolutely dreaming of those warm spring nights. The lovely outdoor pool cruelly mocks me from my treadmill, as I am too much of a wimp to even run outside after dark in this weather (and these days, it's pretty much always dark). Dearest groundhog, I am putting my request in early: Daffodils. Pronto.

 -- And finally, a confession: a little over a month ago, when my life was just downright awful, I stopped reading blogs. First, let's back up -- my reader is filled with the works of about 25 lovely bloggers who write about a wide variety of things: running, cooking, dating, marriage, babies, pregnancy, autism, photography, cute puppies... the list goes on. Every day for the past few years, I spent a bit of time reading what each and every one of those ladies has to say, and that time has always been of my very favorite parts of the day. I am inspired and motivated by all of the blogs I read, I am always learning new things, and I am only slightly ashamed at how creepy it sounds when I speak about these girls to others as if they are the closest of friends. Once upon a time, I checked my reader more than once a day, just hoping for the chance to read something new and wonderful. But in late November, when my dad was in bad shape and my world was falling apart, I just couldn't take it: I couldn't read about the lives of others, I couldn't give their writing the attention it deserved. I tried not to feel bad about it, but as unread posts started to build up, I couldn't help but feel terrible for getting so behind. After my dad died I thought I would catch up and go back to reading, but I found by then that my reader was even more daunting... not only did I still not feel like facing the normalcy of others' days, but I was so far behind that it would take me quite a bit of time to catch up. Even in a normal year, December just does not come with that kind of free time. So I put it off and put it off and even my guilty conscience seemed to become less bothersome as I got better at ignoring that little number of unread posts. 

A few days ago, though, I suddenly realized how much I missed my favorite blogs. My running motivation had reached an all time low, I didn't have any recipes that I was dying to try, and my days were woefully void of cute baby pictures, fun stories, and surprising bits of knowledge. So I have spent the past three days wading through hundreds of blog posts, catching up on lives, reading about crappy days and wonderful days and holidays and runs and dinners and first teeth and second dates and races and gifts and small victories. Phew. Let me tell you... I feel so much better. I feel like a hole in my life has been filled. I am once again inspired. And I will never again go so long without reading.

Happy weekend, everyone!

   Love,

    Meg

Introducing...

It seems that a certain furball may have let the cat out of the bag yesterday (terrible pun absolutely intended), but there is a special someone who I'd like you to meet:

Dan and I are thrilled (and Toby is clearly not-so-thrilled) to welcome Tess, a 3 year old black and tan coonhound, to our little family. She is a very large sweetheart who likes to cuddle, eat, play outside, drool, and sleep... a lot. She has adjusted fabulously (even though her brother has not) and we are very much in love!


   Love,

    Meg

Help!

Is there anyone out there??

Toby here... you've probably seen pictures of me around this place before:

I've hijacked mom's computer today with a plea for assistance. Yesterday I was all snuggled up on the couch, dreaming of Wheat Thins (no kidding, that's my favorite snack) when my mom and dad came home. They had been gone all afternoon so I was pretty excited to see them... until I caught a glimpse of what they had with them. I didn't get a great look in the appproximately .3 seconds it took me to dive under the couch, but it was big. And black. And furry. And did I mention big?? Huge.

Since then, I've mostly been hiding in the bathroom or on top of the refrigerator... whatever that thing is, it can't be very smart because it hasn't found me yet. Early this morning I was right under the bed when I saw these huge things walking around...

... but thank goodness it didn't hang around for long. Dad said something about going outside and it ran away... seems like a pretty dumb idea to me, it's really cold out there. I think it's only a matter of time until I lose this little game of hide and seek though, because it has a pretty big nose...

So I'm officially making an offer. I sort of doubt that anyone reads this thing (my mom can be really long-winded and boring...) but if someone does see this:

Fluffy, sweet, well-behaved cat -- free to good home!

Love,

 Toby