Running thru life... Another house project

Post #2 for the day..

 Last fall I took on the project of remodeling our kitchen.  

After 3 months of talking granite, kitchen sinks, dishwashers, tiles selections- I was so happy to be done. 

But I was even more happy with the results.

Before

After

 I was happy to be done with our kitchen project and I swore off home improvement projects for a while.

Well now I have enjoyed my break and have decided that it is time to start working on our next home improvement project- OUR BACKYARD!!!!

So we moved in our house more than 2 years and when we bought our house our least favorite things was the backyard.  It is a pile of mud and weeds.  We have spent many dinner conversations on what to do with our backyard.  We have now decided the time is now.  

We decided we want a patio that is basic and simple.  

So I have started on the first phase... Research!!!

So last weekend after my Sunday run- I headed to the Dulles Expo center with our backyard in mind to the Home and Garden Show.  About 1 1/2 hrs later I emerged with a lot of information.  I could have spent a lot more time... but I applied the "guy shopping" rule.  I only asked for information from patio people who offered what I was looking for. 

Now I need to process it and set up some estimates..

Let the home improving begin.....

Running thru life... Happy Birthday Hubby

Today I am acutally going to post twice.

1st Post 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE!!!!!!

His day started out right with both of us sleeping in with Clemson. 
Then he took Clemson for a walk while I did my 11 mile run.  WHICH ROCKED!!!!
Then a late breakfast with homemade Waffles and Coffee.  This was my version of a birthday cake because we are bothing trying to stay away from the sweets and also because I never cook breakfast it was a nice suprise.

Today he will be studying for his midterm while I run errands.... but tonight we will be celebrating with his family at L'Auberge Chez Francois.  It is one of his favorite restaurants and with his mom brithday being last week, his dad decided to take us all out for the night.  THE FOOD WILL BE AMAZING!!!!

My gift to Joe will not come until next weekend.  Because he is working so much and going to school, I am giving him a gift of a nice night out just the two of us (which rarely happens).  We will be trying a new restaurant out - Trummers on Main in Clifton, Va. 

I will be posting reviews of both restaurants. 
Happy birthday honey!!!

Running thru life... Treating my feet

THANK GOD TODAY IS FRIDAY.
I was going to blog today about listening to your body but after the week I have had I needed a "fun blog," so here it goes.


I am not a big shopper so I was looking thru my closet the other week and noticed in was lacking in a department-  Summer Shoes.

Let me start by stating I LOVE SUMMER Shoes. 

However, Clemson tore my favorite pair of black thong slips along with my pretty green ones. 

So I set out on a mission to please my feet. 

I have been watching two pairs of shoes for more than a month- but could not bring myself to buy them because of the price.  Then about three weeks ago when I went to check http://www.6pm.com/ website. 

 I found both of them for signifcantly reduced in price!!!!

So here are my awesome buys....

My fun buy....

First Charles by Charles David Twilight Sandle Pump

I am short so I love summer pumps and I bought them in a nude color to wear with capris, my dress jeans,  or pretty much anything.   
SO PRETTY. 
The were orignially $90 which I ABSOLUTELY REFUSED TO PAY...

but $23 dollars on 6pm.com was a steal!!!
I actually own other pair of Charles by Charles David so I knew exactally what size a need. 

My Practical buy

My second pair KORS Micheal Kors Winnie Leather Flip flops

I need a new nice pair of flip flops that are not 3$ flip flops from Old Navy.

These are perfect in everyway.... Not to mention I have a Micheal Kors Obsession.

I also can use these as a basic sandle or dress up with them which makes them very functional!
I read the reviews on line that stated they were pretty true to size, which they are. 

Originially $65 dollars was too high for a pair of flip flops- but $35 was a much more reasonable price. 
When I showed them to my hubby.... he smiled and that was all I needed. 
He is calling them my "MUST TAKE TO GREECE SHOES"
(Mostly because they are can either be dressed up or down and we are going to try to be minimalist when we go on our Greece Trip)

On top of everything I recieved free shipping because I spent over $30.  So $57 dollars later I have two pairs of awesome shoes to add to my collection. 

Happy Friday... Happy feet!!

Running thru life... Everything happens for a reason

I am a firm believer that "Everything happens for a reason!" 

Furthermore, I also believe you are "Given what you can handle and nothing more."

I try to remind myself of both of these in good times and rough times. 


I thought about this tonight during my very long drive home from work after a long week and a very very difficult day. 

They are kind of my motivational thoughts to myself.   

It is my way of saying to myself  "You can handle this Laura... suck it up." 

I find living in this area I say it to myself a lot. 

Sitting in traffic after a long day!

When I do not want to run but need to!

After a long day at work!

Or a long night of not sleeping due to Clemson puppy (seriously he is like a baby!)

When I get frustrated with my husbands school schedule!
When I get upset that my best friends are miles and miles away and I need girl time!!

Or frustrated that I do not have enough ME time!

When LIFE HAPPENS!

But then I think how boring would LIFE be if it was the same predictable thing everyday. 

So bring it all on... because

"I am only given what I can handle and nothing more,"

and

"Everything happens for a reason." 

So embrace life and everything that is thrown your way because you can handle it! 

Running thru life managing your closet

I am in a lot of ways fortunate that I wear scrubs for work.
I do not have to spend money on work clothes allowing me to save my money for
pieces of clothing that I actually want to buy. 
But it has causes me to not update my wardbrobe as often as I should-  
I also have an extremely small wardrobe compared to the average woman. 

So for 2011 I set out with a couple goals when it came to my closet.

1) Wear all pairs of shoes you own. 

I own about 27 pairs of shoes total, which by girl standards is not alot.  Considering 3 pairs are running shoes, 2 pairs are my work dansko, 5 pair of old navy flip flops in various colors,  followed by a pair of rain boots, a pair of snow boots, couple pair of dress shoes, etc. 

I have shoes from high school which I rarely wear and am not even sure why I keep them. 
So 2011 I am making a point to wear all my shoes and decide if the make the cut or not. 

I have already cut a couple pairs from my closet

-My old danskos from nursing school that finally got a whole in the leather

-An old pair of heels from high school that are the most uncomfortable shoes I have ever wore. 
( I just cut them this weekend!)

-Pair a of slippers which have seen better days- they are basically falling apart!

-Pair of shoes I had to buy for a bridesmaid dress (because that was the shoe she picked). 
There are a weird color that matched the dress. 
I wore them three years ago and have not worn them since.  So to goodwill they will go. 

2) Make an effort to wear all my clothes to determine if they make the cut or not!

I still have alot of clothes from high school and grad school that have seen better days but I hold on to them.  NOT ANY MORE!!! HAHAHA!!! 

I stoll a system from my friends blog on how to keep tract of what clothes you wear etc. 
"New Year Closet Organization."

I have started this system and so far I love it.  It prevents me from wearing the same thing over and over and also helps me identify items i do not wear. 

3) COLOR COLOR COLOR. 

 Any one who know me know that I LOVE PINK!!!  If you looked in my closet (which is color coordinated) you would see lots of Pink, navy, and black.  So I have made a new rule that when I am adding to my clothes collection- I need to pick different colors that are not in my comfort zone.  I kept this in mind when I went to the outlet the other weekend and I bought a grey sweater, which is actually the only piece of grey clothing i own currently.  

 

Since Christmas, I have added a beautiful turquois sweater my sister in law gave me, 

a sage green cartigan from Nordstroms Rack,

a beign blouse and a beautiful coral "Fun" shift from the Loft that I bought with a gift certicificate I recieved for Christmas. 

Things I have said goodbye too.....

Two A&F sweater from high school that have seen better days

Two workout shirts that are basically falling apart!  (I have new ones thanks to all my valentine's!!)

An old pair of workout pants that are starting to fall apart

2 bridesmaid dress =0(  While I had good time wearing them- i will never wear them again.

1 prom dress... so sad. 

2 t shirts that have holes. 
2 t shirts I recieved as freebees that do not fit me
1 pair of jeans- that is filled will wholes. 

We are more than 2 months in to the New Year and I am standing by my closet goals!!

Running thru life... Chivalry is not dead!

Being a midwife I often get the rap of being a feminist. 

While this is true to some degrees it is not to others. 

When people ask how my husband got my attention when we were dating- the answer is simple. 

"He opened my car door for me." 

Yes I know this is silly but for some reason I love it. 

So this morning on my way into work, I had my building door opened for my by a nice gentleman in uniform.  Futhermore, at morning report this morning (I was running late because I had to print some stuff off before I went) a nice medical student stood up and offered me his seat. 

While I love women (I am a MIDWIFE!!) and believe in womans rights-

I love Chivalry and the fact that it is not dead!!!!

So thank you men who still open doors and offer their seats in a time

when it might not be the Kosher things to do. 

Running thru life... while managing a husband/Guy Shopping

I have been telling my husband for a couple months now that he needs to take a trip to the store to get some new clothes.  He hates clothes shopping but is kind of picky when it comes to clothes so it is not something I can do for him.  So last night he ended up finishing his homework way early so we decided to head to Macys to look for some clothes for him.  He said-  "We are only do tops today."   

My husband is the kind of guy that can not handle alot of shopping.  He likes "guying shopping" which is defined by going into get what you need and nothing else. 

So we Tops on the brain we headed to Macys.   "Guy shopping."

We entered the mens section and quickly split up. 
He found two tops that he like and I have about six that I thought would work for him. 

Out of all the tops- I won.  After 10 minutes of trying clothes on. 

We went to the cashier to purchase.
1) Perry Ellis Lightweight Argyle Sweater (he can wear this with dress Jeans or with his work pants). I PICKED!!!
2) Van Heusen Shirt- No Iron.  This was the one thing he picked but I quickly veto'd the color and were able to find a color that was more flexible with a couple things in his waredrobe.
3) Izod Button Down shirt in Green.  He owns nothing in this color so I was happy when it fit and looked good on him.  This is more of a causal shirt that he can wear this spring with nice pants.  I PICKED!!
4) A causal but not sports pull over hoodie.  I PICKED!!

We topped it off with a pair of Calvin Klein Sunglasses because his other ones are on their last legs.

So with our Macy's coupons in hand and about 20 minutes after entering the store we proceeded to checkout.  Our original bill if we bought everything at full price would have been approximately $190 (this did not include tax.)   With everything being on sale the total came to $124.   I then had a 20% coupon.... so arround $100.  I then remembered that hubby has been carrying a Macy's gift card around from a gift he returned after Christmas.  So we had that applied to the total.... So 73$ out of our pocket later (well actually on our Macys bills) and 25 minutes out of our life we exited Macys with some new clothes for the hubby.   

I will say that I have learned ALOT from being married but probably one of my favorite this is what I refer to as "Guy shopping." 

"Guy shopping" came about almost two years ago when my husband and I started shopping more for our home together... As defined by my husband.  "Guy shopping" is when you go in looking for one thing and you only look for that one thing.  You do not stray from your task like women often do when they are shopping.  I have found it has made my life more efficient and also saves my pocket book. 

Happy Shopping and Happy New Clothes. 

Running thru life... Getting a Chipotle Burrito for FREE!!!

So thanks to a friends post of facebook this week, on Friday night Joe and I had a dinner of Chipotle and it cost us a whopping.....$6.14!!!

Yeap that is right.
Facebook right now is having this promotion for 1 free burrito at chipotle if you buy another.
All I had to do was watch this short video and I got a coupon to print out.
http://www.facebook.com/americasnextgreatrestaurant


So Friday night after driving home, I did my nightly run and then headed to Chipotle with my coupon in hand. I got a Burrito Bowl for me and a burrito for my hubby.  So for 6.14 we had dinner and left overs for lunch on Saturday!

The promotion is still going on till March 4!
So take advantage!!!