Wednesday Weekday Update: 4.29.15

And I'm going to borrow some questions from MIX AND MATCH FAMILY because I can't think of anything to write about today. It's just been one of those days.

1// What I'm (because there's no we..ha!) Eating This Week:

I've been eating a TON of clementines, but that's really not anything new. I love those little things!

2// What I'm Reminiscing About:

I've been thinking about my marathon all week! It was only last Sunday, but it was an amazing day and I can't just let it go. (that sounds a bit dramatic..)

And on that note, Timehop reminded me that my poppa became a marathoner three years ago today! Had to celebrate that with him - and he sent me this back. I love him.

3// What I'm Loving:

The runners high I still have

Cooler weather

Naps in the afternoon

4// What We've (same as earlier..) Been Up To:

I've been trying to acclimate back to going to work, instead of pretending I'm an elite runner..ha! And there's been a lot of naps. And Netflix..and Hulu. I'm so exciting. 

(p.s. I'm a little over Gilmore Girls. I tried finishing, but got to season 6 out of 7 and started to completely hate it. Has that happened to anyone else?)

5// What I'm Dreading:

While I'm totally ready to move again, I'm definitely not excited for the actual moving thing. But I have amazing parents and the best guy, so that'll make things easier!

6// What I'm Working On:

The past couple of days, I've been working on a few things - art related things - that I'm not quite ready to talk about, but I'm excited about them!

7// What I'm Excited About:

Getting my toes done this afternoon

Planning a new running adventure (ultra, anyone?)

All of the summer movies coming out (so so so many good ones!)

8// What I'm Watching/Reading:

Like I said earlier, I just gave up on Gilmore Girls. I couldn't any longer. But, I found a new show this afternoon called "Younger". It's about a 40-something year old woman who poses as a 26 year old to get her dream job. I'm only 2 episodes in, but I like it so far.

via tvland.com

And I just started "Vampire Academy" by Richelle Mead and "If You Find This Letter: My Journey To Find Purpose Through Hundreds of Letters to Strangers" by Hannah Brencher. 

I've been looking forward to Hannah's book for MONTHS, and am super excited to read and review it! She is my word crush. Is that a real thing? I love everything she writes.

9// What I'm Listening To:

Marc Cohn has been on repeat for the last few weeks. I work in an environment that constantly has some type of upbeat, club music thumping - and when I get in my car and at home, I just want silence or something..less. Marc's self titled album, Marc Cohn, is that for me.

I'm a huge fan of everything, but I really love "Silver Thunderbird" right now.

10// What I'm Wearing:

My work t-shirt, Beyond Yoga leggings and Nike Frees. These leggings are the most amazing things I own - and I'm officially obsessed with Nike Frees. I want six more pairs.

11// What I'm Doing This Weekend:

I haven't decided yet. This is the first weekend in a long time that I haven't had to wake up to get my run in, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I may get up anyway and run. (Runners are weird..) I think I want to go see a movie and maybe get out of town for a while. That sounds nice.

12// What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month:

My niece's first birthday!!

Seeing my grandma

Moving!

Seeing a few of my favorites graduate

Baseball games

13// What Else Is New:

Not much. I've kind of said what's up. Life is good, but a little slow right now..but it's always good.

- C

Monday's Mixtape: The OKC Marathon Edition!!

Y'all. I'm tired.

And it might be because I ran another marathon. Okay, that's totally why.

We started off the weekend driving up to Oklahoma City and met up with family. We ate a little (which is a total lie..I never just eat a little anymore ha!), went to the OKC Arts Festival (two festivals in a month, lucky me!), and checked out the expo:

My dad's cousin (who also doubles as his best friend) ran the half marathon. We had dinner at this tiny little Italian restaurant and got a good nights rest.

We started Sunday bright and early (5 am..boo!), and headed to the starting line, where we met up with my running buddy, Dara and her husband (who was also running the half!) Mason.

For those of you that don't know - the OKC Memorial Marathon was set up in memory of the 1995 bombing in downtown Oklahoma City. Two men drove a truck filled with explosive up to the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and killed 168 men, women and children, and injured hundreds more. 

Before the start of the race, they have 168 seconds of silence for those who passed away from this tragedy - it's rather emotional. 

The race itself went rather splendidly! I mean, marathons are hella-tough, but the conditions were great (cloudy 96% of the morning with a breezy to keep everything cool), the spectators were helpful and kept everyone pumped, and the race itself is hilly, but not uncomfortable.

via Dara's sister in law, Elizabeth

Getting to train for hours and hours with Dara and then getting to see her finish her first marathon was AWESOME. She toughed it all out and I'm so proud of her finishing her goal! I look forward to many more runs with Dara (if she'll let me, ha!) - she's become one of my greatest friends here in FTW.

With the girls after my race - they're crazy, crazy!

One of the best parts was getting to run with my favorite guy, in honor of two of our favorite guys. The marathon gave us a chance to carry on their memories! Miss you guys.

I'm thankful for such a great day.

And since it's Monday, I need a little bit of tune-age to go with the marathon. Here are a few of my favorite songs about running (or that have run in the title or that I love to run to..haha)::

1// Running on Empty by Jackson Browne

I grew up listening to JB and have found that this is probably my favorite song of his (or "Brown Eyed Girl")..so good!

2// Run Around by Blues Traveler

I've always liked the sound of this song. His voice with the music - it's just kinda fun! It totally reminds me of the band Barenaked Ladies - some of their early stuff.

3// Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen

I feel like if you're making any sort of running playlist, the Boss has to be on it. It's just fact.

4// Lose Yourself by Eminem

Are you surprised by this choice? I kind of am myself. But they played it while I was running yesterday and it just pumped me up! It's also the top song of Runner's World THE BEST RUNNING SONG playlist.

5// Roar by Katy Perry

This was playing as I was sprinting to the finish line yesterday, so it definitely will have a new place in my playlist (and maybe my heart..aw. Gag. Hah!)

But for real, it definitely gets you pumped - and it's a fantastic girl power song! I love me some girl power songs!

And honorable mention::

6// Eye of the Tiger by Survivor

If you don't pretend you're Rocky running to this song as least ONCE in your running career, you're doing it wrong. And you need to see Rocky. Obviously.

- C

Book Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

If you've been keeping up with my book reviews at all, you're probably starting to see a pattern..or, um..the fact that they've ALL been Rainbow Rowell books lately. Oops. Except, not oops because Rainbow is easily becoming my second favorite writer (sorry..I realllly like JK Rowling, mkay?) 

Onto the amazingness that was/is "Attachments"..

From Rowell's WEBSITE:

"Beth and Jennifer work in the newsroom. They're smart and funny, and best friends.

And Lincoln O'Neill is the guy who reads their email.

It's not as bad as it sounds -- it's Lincoln's job to read their email. Sort of. He was supposed to send them a warning. He should have sent it the first time he caught them breaking the company email rules. But they both seem so nice… he likes really them. Especially Beth.

By the time Lincoln realizes how much he feels for Beth, it’s too late to unread all of her personal messages. And it’s way too late to introduce himself. What would he say? “Hi, I’m the guys who reads your email, and, also, I love you …”

But he can’t just do nothing. Falling for Beth makes Lincoln realize he’s been doing nothing for far too long."

First things first, I LOVED IT. I almost don't have any words for it because I loved it that much, but I'll try.

The story flip flops between Lincoln's first person point of view and e-mails between Beth and Jennifer - so you're more or less sucked into the girls conversation and Lincoln's opinion/reaction to what is happening - which is unique in my opinion, and not hard to follow at all. It gives all three characters, and their respecting supporting characters their own voice within the story - and not just from a first person point of view.

You quickly become a cheerleader for Lincoln - at least, that was the way it happened to me. I didn't find him reading their e-mail creepy or unappealing - and not just because it's his job. (seriously though, I think I'd totally like that job - which makes me sound like a bad person. But to get to be in on the inner workings of EVERYTHING..that sounds awesome.) Your heart stands up and cheers "go get em, Lincoln!" because you just want everything to work out - which seems to be a theme in Rowell's novels. The underdog. The cute, funny person who seems to be overlooked - but is found in just the nick of time.

"Attachments" is full of humor, kindness, and it's the kind of book you'd want written about you. For you. I know I've said a lot of nice things about Rowell's books, but girl can give you just enough love. Just enough information. Just enough knight in shining armor, and just enough independence to make you swoon. To make you fall in love. That's why I'm a fan. That's why I'll keep coming back - keep buying her books. That's the way you want to feel after reading.

That's the way I want to feel, period.

QUOTES I LOVED::

via

via

via

The last one especially gets me. It's something, I believe, that all twenty somethings need to hear. Those of us who still don't have it figured out yet. Who don't have the husband, 3.5 kids and picket fence..just yet. And even for those people, because even those who seemingly have it all figured out - don't. So, take a page from our hero, Lincoln, and start adding good things. Let them grow. It's simple really - we could all use a little more good in our lives. Right?

C

Monday's Mixtape: The ACM Awards.

Yesterday the great state of Texas hosted the American Country Music Awards, and today's mixtape will feature songs from the Album of the Year category - my favorite for each artist! Miranda Lambert beat the boys (and Little Big Town) to bring home the honor for her album Platinum. And after we'll talk a little fashion, like we always do. Enjoy!

1// Somethin' Bad by Miranda Lambert (ft Carrie Underwood)

I just really enjoy when these two women sing their "bad girl" songs. They're more fun to rock out to! Also, 10 points to both women for some really awesome hair (when it's blonde, I mean..not the weird wigs they are wearing..ha!)

2// Burnin' It Down by Jason Aldean

I'll be honest, this is the only song I've heard off of this album. I just haven't been a big Jason fan lately. And I'm starting to wonder if I ever really was..oh well.

3// Stay All Night by Little Big Town

I love the groove of this song, and I love their harmonies! Always on point.

4// Five by Dierks Bentley

Riser by Dierks Bentley

I LOVE THIS ALBUM. 

Dierks totally and completely hits it out of the park with this album - making it pretty hard to choose a favorite, so I'm going with two. And I'm pretty sure I could put the whole album on here, it's that good. I love "Five" because it tells a pretty little story of love lost, and then found again - and Riser is a great song because it reminds me of all the hard-working men in my life that I love so much!

5// Talladega by Eric Church

The Outsiders by Eric Church

Again, TOTALLY LOVE this album (I really wish Eric or Dierks would have won this category!), and picking is hard! I couldn't have picked more opposite songs though. Talladega just doesn't get old for me. It reminds me of good times that I've had, and good people that have been in my life. And I just like rocking to The Outsiders. I've always liked Eric's brand of rock/country.

And now, the fashion::

1// Miranda Lambert

The only thing I don't like about this whole thing is that string across her chest. It's like I almost want it to just cover her boobs or nah - don't put a weird string across them and call it good! The color is great on her, and her hair/makeup looks pretty. She's on a roll lately.

2// Eric and Jessie James Decker

It almost pains me to talk about Eric in a good way - he used to play for the Denver Broncos before he threw a hissy fit and left..for the Jets. Sorry bud, you sunk your own ship.

But in this case, he looks polished and dapper - and his wifey, Jessie, looks chic and put together. A++ for this fashionable couple!

3// Maddie and Tae

I'm pretty sure these girls used the same dress for their proms last weekend. 

Ugh. (and they're so cute! Such a bummer!)

4// Alan Jackson

How cute is Alan and his wife?! That color is perfect on her - I sort of hate her hemline, but I think it's an alright dress. And I just think Alan is adorable in his Stetson. The man will always be able to pull of a white cowboy hat!

5// Troy Aikman

Troy Aikman is a hunk. There I said it. He's gotten so handsome in his old age - and his wife is beautiful. I wish her dress was a different shade, but it fits well and she looks pretty.

6// Taylor Swift

I cried when I saw Taylor's sweet mama give her the Milestone Award - what a sweet moment! Her dress is..okay. I think I would have liked it better without the cut outs - or strapless. I can't decided. But I know I hate the shoes. Tay though, I heart her.

7// Sam Hunt

*faints*

That's all. Bye.

- C

Images via ew.com, usmagazine.com and justjared.com

"I have greater aspirations.."

A conversation like this happened while at work today:

"Nice, E (I'll skip giving you identities..), you should totally be a photographer.." (with all the sarcasm in the world..we like to give each other crap at work - it's fun!)

"Oh, no! I have greater aspirations in life than being a photographer.." (in an ugly tone, might I add..)

I overheard this conversation and turned to my coworker and told her that was rude, and I'm a photographer. I mean, how could I not take offense to it? E tried to take it back, but it was out there. 

And it got me wondering, is there a reason we cut each other - and especially artists - down because of our chosen career/hobby/life's passion? Does one chosen gift better than the other? 

Like say a doctor? Do the doctors of this world automatically become better citizens because they save lives than say a musician or boutique owner? 

I think in this day and age, everyone coming out of college is given this sense that they need to have this great job in their chosen field, and if they don't - it's ruin. Ruin for everything they've worked for. And then they fail. (which failing..you find out is what your 20's are for!) 

They fail because they're set up to. We're given the speech, since birth, that we can be anything that we want to be - the all American dream. And when life happens (as it always does), we fail, fail, fail - until we realize that there's a few different paths to the American dream. 

(I know I've talked about this before, but I'm quite passionate about it.) 

And my hope is that my coworker will one day know that her aspirations, whatever they may be, are on the same playing field as mine. The paths may be rocky, unpleasant at times, and at times fun - but they're the same.

via

Not all who wander are lost baby girl, not all.

C

Friday Favorites 4.17.15

Hey there! I hope you've had a good week - I really have! Work has been a whole lot better, even though getting up at 4 am for it will never get easier. I'm super looking forward to the weekend, but first, some favorites from this week:

1// Laguna Beach

And no, I'm not embarrassed one bit! I found Season 1 and 2 for six bucks at Half Price Books - aka the best purchase I've made all week. I blew through them in like a week and a half, and it's on to season 3 this week! Even though, season three will never be as good. Ever.

And I wish I would have found this DRINKING GAME before I watched.

2// Meal Prepping

As I said earlier, I have to wake up at 4 am most days and it is not the most fun I've ever had. No ones brain is awake until at least 5:30 (and I have proof of that), so making a lunch is semi out of the question. I've seen the Pinterest version of salad prepping, but I have a HUGE dislike of mason jars (also courtesy of Pinterest!) so I opted for plastic tupperware instead.

And this weeks salad was spinach, lettuce, sweet potatoes (cooked in oil, salt and pepper), dried cranberries, walnuts and feta. The "dressing" is a little oil and some red wine vinegar. Super easy, super worth it. YUM.

3// BIKE RIDING NIECES

The prettiest of all princesses learned to ride a bike without training wheels this week, and that in itself with worth CELEBRATING!! I don't have a picture of said bike riding, but I'm headed that way this weekend, so maybe I'll get one!

WAY TO GO BABY GIRL!!

4// The new Star Wars trailer!!

YES YES YES. 

I'm so damn excited for this - especially Harrison Ford, who is still a MEGA BABE!

#slightlygeekingout

#it'sfine

#i'mfine

 5// Date night!!

Yesterday afternoon/evening I got to hang with my favorite guy. We played mini golf, hit some pitches at the batting cages (which, for some reason were done without shoes..haha), and ate dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse..at 5 pm. We were the youngest ones there ha! We ended the night watching Zoolander..naturally. I'm a blessed girl.

- C

Wednesday Weekday Update: Carly Conquers Cowtown!

This last weekend featured all of my family - at some point (except my big brother! Booo) - and my cousin! The majority of time was spent with my sister and Carly, my cousin, but I was glad to see everyone and have a houseful!

I picked Car up from the airport on Thursday evening and Friday I had to work (BOO) until lunch time, but by the time I got off work Hannah had arrived! We went out to lunch at Rodeo Goat - it's my absolute favorite restaurant in Fort Worth - it's so yummy, you have to go!

Please ignore my ugly work tshirt :(

After eating a DELICIOUS burger and fries (I totally recommend the Salted Sow), we walked around 7th Street. We found a super cool housewares store, Wrare. 

We found some really cool magnifying glasses and

a trip to the Urban Outfitters photo booth. 

A Photo Booth is always a guaranteed good time.

We (and by we, I mean me..) cleaned up and decided to head down to the Stockyards and show Carly the tourist trap once in a lifetime expierence that it is. 

Most of the shops closed at 6 pm (weird) and so around that time we decided to walk to Joe T Garcia's and have dinner before the line got crazy long! Well, our plan didn't really work because we ended up standing in line for an hour anyway :/ but it's a good atmosphere and the food is DAMN good, so we stayed.

This picture is proof to my parents that we love each other ;)

If you ever make the trip to Joe T's, make sure to bring cash - and there's only two things on the menu, enchiladas and fajitas. It's so so so yummy! I recommend both.

We walked the yummy food off a little bit more by walking around the Stockyards a bit more, and ended our Stockyards trip by teaching the Minnesota girl how to two step:

Saturday we slept in - thankfully, and had breakfast at Cafe Brazil off University! (Are you starting to see a pattern here? FOOD.) And we decided to go check out Main Street Arts Festival downtown. I LOVED IT. Artist from all over come and set up booths in the main part of town and there's hundreds of people, fun vendors and lots of food.

Boyfriend man and my friend Austin decided to join us - and we ended up having lunch at Bird Cafe. Also incredible.

(he's the cutest :))) ) 

After we made the adventure back to 7th Street for popsicles at Steel City Pops! They have an ever changing menu - and I started off with a strawberry lemonade pop and ended up switching with sister for a vanilla with chocolate chip cookie! YES there's a REAL COOKIE in the pop - Y.U.M.

#AustinIsCreepin

And then my sister in law and the kids came over! 

The kiddos and Rebekah (sister in law) had a wedding to go to that night, and my parents then joined us for dinner. We ate at Mellow Mushroom! Mellow is a pizza place - and again, totally recommend it. We were all tired and ended up staying home that night.

Sunday meant more work for me (yay) and some yoga with Hannah. Ha, Sam is the goofiest kid.

When I got back, everyone was hungry and ready for another meal. (don't worry..we all gained the 5 pounds you thought we would). The kiddos and Bekah didn't stay for lunch, but the girls and I went to Uncle Julios. 

After a weekend like that, I am full and happy. 

Thankful for such a wonderful family!

________________________________________________

P.s. here's a few links I'm loving today:

1// SEVEN foot tall flowers. In love.

2// I'm SO EXCITED for the live action Beauty and the Beast. Ian McKellen's TAKE on the beginning stages of the movie is adorable.

3// I'll see anything with EMMA STONE in it - extra points for Ryan Gosling!

4// The MIME THROUGH TIME girls are beautiful! This video is so cute.

And I'm so embarrassed, but I REALLY LOVE this song and video::

Enjoy your day!

C