I wake up in the morning feeling like P.Diddy...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

So my hair is a little out of control when i get out of the shower (nothing that detangler can't fix)!  Ill make my b-day recap short and sweet...as it actually was!  My day started with a big breakfast of eggs, sausage and toast (I wanted to have a big meal for the start of my 23 year) as well as many cups of coffee and a little school reading!

Nothing like Civ Pro on your B-day

My day went pretty normally, went to class, then had amazing leftovers from five loaves, and went for an amazing 6 mile run in the warm sunshine!  After my run, there was more reading for Thursday's classes and then I got ready for an amazing happy hour/dinner with the girls.  I enjoy having smaller dinners for my birthday, rather than big ones where you can't really talk to everyone, maybe thats just me but I loved dinner!  We went to pearlz for a couple drinks before heading to snob for dinner.  Everyone seemed to love what they ordered...I know I did (salmon with spinach and mushroom crepe thing soo delicious) and they give amazing bread baskets which we definitely went through a few baskets of the corn bread! They then brought out an amazing piece of chocolate pie which everyone dove into.  I had an amazing start of 23 and can't wait to see what the rest of the year brings!! And yes I was in bed by 10:30...guess I'm getting older :/

Left-overs=AMAZING

SNOB

Chocolate Pie :)

Happy 23rd :)

Now for the super exciting part...ITS SPRING BREAK!!! Im headed to Clemson/Greenville for a reunion weekend with my best friends!!! I can't wait :) Hope everyone has an amazing start of their weekend!!!

Last Day as a 22 year old :)

Happy March!! Today is officially the last day before I become an old lady at the age of 23 :).  My 21st year was a tough act to follow, but 22 hung in there pretty well (still 21 won out on that race)!  The most changes in my life thus far have occurred in my 22nd year, which is pretty intense looking back at this past year and everything that has gone on and the person I have become today.  A recap on my 22nd year...I'll try to keep it short :)

Happy 22nd Birthday!

 My last birthday was amazing.  I was still in Clemson, after graduating early I stuck around to be with my best friends while working odd jobs (Outback waitress, Census Enumerator...you name it), and loving the relaxing college lifestyle.  I really had no worries when I was in college.  I am extremely blessed and thought I knew how lucky I was, but looking back I see how extremely lucky I am.  I have the best friends anyone could ask for, an amazing supportive family, I am healthy and active, I am now in law school and really don't have many worries in my life.  I would just like to say thank you to all of you that have been by my side, through the ups and downs, I love you so much and am forever grateful! Wow look at what reminiscing does :)

Cheers to senior year

Last year around my birthday I was going through a rough patch, after going through a pretty bad break up, but my best friends made my birthday super special and one that I will never forget!  We went to El Jimador (our favorite mexican restaurant) where things got a little out of hand...which resulted in me now possessing a big sombrero! But it was a great kick off to 22

Laura and I my birthday last year!

That spring break, I went on an awesome trip with a few girls to Fort Lauderdale where we relaxed by the pool and beach all week long! Ohh what I would give to be there now :) After spring break, we could all feel the tension that undergrad was coming to an end and we all tried our hardest to make the most of it...and definitely succeeded at that.  The end of senior year was amazing and made all of our friends closer because we knew that all the little fusses really didn't matter and in the end we made incredible friends!

Spring break 2010

Chi Omega Seniors :)

Graduation May 2010

After graduation, a few of us stayed until the end of May/June and played out our undergrad lives a little longer.  The end of June, I packed up my all my stuff that I had accumulated over the past 4 years of college and moved to Charleston with a few of my amazing sorority sisters (and Mary Foster who was already there)! The summer flew by with a ton of fun times in the sun and sand (beach 10 minutes away-yes please)!

Couple crazy roomies 

Clemson overlooking lake hartwell to....

Charleston over the cooper river bridge!

As the summer ended, law school quickly came upon me.  I will never forget how nervous and intimidated I was entering law school.  They threw us in there and I learned slowly but surely how to adapt to the intense work-load and new social atmosphere.  Charleston and year 1 out of college has been a huge change, and I'm still adapting everyday.

New Roomies :)

Clemson Girls!

Law school pals!

Even though there were some bad times, the good far surpassed the bad in my 22nd year; which I have wonderful family and friends to thank! In sum my 22nd year; I grew up a lot (still growing): I started law school, moved to Charleston, left undergrad, had my heart broken, maintained amazing friends, made new friends, communicated better with my family, learned a ton about myself, ran 2 half-marathons, studied and played hard, and in the end started to feel a little more established and proud of what I have done and where I am going!

Minneapolis Half Marathon with my daddy :)

So cheers to the end of 22 and welcome 23 :)

(no four loco will be drunk this year, and hopefully not drinking out of red cups either!)

Summer Weather and Beaufort Weekend!

So as I promised myself, I have been going to the gym and getting back into a routine of working out! I went to bodypump again on Friday and ran 6 miles on Saturday along with a nice long walk with Laura in the late afternoon and again this morning.  It feels like summer and I am loving every moment of the warm weather :)

This weekend I went to Beaufort to visit Laura and her family.  It is so nice to take a break from crazy Charleston life and go down for some family time.  Even though it isn't my family, I still feel at home and definitely love the relaxing, low-key feel.  Laura and I went on a couple awesome walks with the dogs.  Her neighborhood is straight out of the movie Pleasantville...it is so cute and so American (flags everywhere).  We made our life plans of living in Charleston for our twenties then settling down in Beaufort and raising our families (next door to each other obviously)...we can dream can't we?! But it is a beautiful place and I love visiting.

For dinner we went to a Thai restaurant in town.  I haven't had much experience with Thai food, but whenever I have had it I loved it.  This time was no different.  Thai food is so flavorful and delicious; I think I may have stumbled upon my new food obsession! I realized that I need to be more adventurous and try new food other than sticking to what I know.  There is so much variety of food that sticking to my salads the past week maybe getting a little old! As for dessert, I had made these delicious (if I may so) peanut butter with peanut butter cup cookies.  By the time I left today they were all eaten...guess I'm not the only one that loved them :) 

Put the cookies in the fridge so the peanut butter cups didn't melt

The little cookies cooling 

Recipe was adapted by allrecipes.com:

1 3/4 c flour

1/2 t salt

1 t baking soda

1 stick of butter

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c peanut butter (I used Peterpan creamy)

1/2 c brown sugar

1 egg

1 t vanilla

2 T milk (silk)

1 big bag of mini peanut butter cups (I froze them so they wouldnt melt immediately)

Mix flour, salt, baking soda together

Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter together

Add egg, vanilla and milk beat together

Beat in the flour mixture

Put in mini muffin pan in the oven at 375 for 8 minutes

Immediately put the peanut butter cups in the warm cookie, put in the refrigerator for 5 minutes then take the cookies out to finish cooling

Enjoy :)

This morning we woke up to 80 plus degree weather!  It felt like we were on summer or spring break.  It was a wonderful way to start the day with the warm sunshine in the sky.  We laid out on her porch while we drank coffee and chatted.  There are so many pretty birds and lizards around (I'm not a nature girl by any means, but can appreciate the simpler things in life every once and a while)! Coffee was followed by an incredible brunch of chicken and steak kabobs and roasted potatoes.  It was definitely a much needed short break and has left me energized for this next week before spring break.  

Lizard on the porch

Our sunbathing set up

Gorgeous cardinal (hiding a little)

After my short little break from real life...back to hitting the books.  Only 5 days until Spring Break woo woo!! 

Back to the gym

When I started this blog I wanted to talk about my marathon training and cooking with a side of my social life.  However, I realized that I have started talking a lot about my daily life and really haven't blogged at all about my workout and cooking schedule.  Well enough is enough, so getting back to why I originally started blogging :)

I have to admit that I have been slacking hardcore when it comes to my diet and workout routine.  I made a promise to myself this week that I was going to get back into the swing of things and get back into working out and regularly running...bathing suit season is right around the corner ah! Yesterday, I went to the gym for the first time in 2 weeks! I was not feeling motivated to go to the gym when it was so gorgeous last week...but to really admit I just seemed to have an excuse every time I was planning to go the past few weeks!  It felt so good to be back and painful now...

I took a bodypump class last night.  I went to the gym early and did 15 minutes on the elliptical then it was time to line up (at my gym ladies start lining up 30 minutes early for classes...I refuse to line up with more than 10 minutes until the class starts because I feel so unproductive watching everyone workout while Im standing in line).  In class, I was next to a 60 year old lady who literally had 3 times the amount of weight than I did! I was a little intimidated, but hey thats awesome for her hopefully when I'm 60 I can actually use that much weight (probably not but a girl can dream)! I'm super excited to get back into doing bodypump, I'm planning on going 2 to 3 days a week :)

I stopped by Walmart on my way home to pick up headphones, because my old pair blew out and listening to music in one ear was getting pretty annoying :) Of course I had to dig into the 5 dollar DVD bin.  In college, my friends and I would always dig through the DVD bin and get the most ridiculous movies.  It is definitely a guilty pleasure.  I wasn't planning on purchasing one, but then one caught my eye and I just had to get it!

Ghost of Girlfriends Past!

I enjoyed my chick flick with a wonderful protein filled salad and a ton of blackberries! Love the large quantity of berries...plus you have to eat them quickly so they don't go bad :)

Blackberries :)

Southwestern Salad

Off for a quick 6 mile run before class! Happy Thursday everyone, only one more day until the weekend :)

Fabulous Ending and Beginning of a Week!

On Sunday, my roommates and a couple friends went to the Charleston Stingrays Minor League Hockey game! It was so much fun :) We had bought half price tickets on LivingSocial a month or two ago and decided to go on Sunday.  I've been to one professional Hockey game when I was like 10, so this was (basically) a new experience for me.  Surprisingly, they have quite the fan following.  People were sporting players jerseys and cheering for the team.  Hockey is probably the most testosterone filled sport, there was a fight where two guys were literally punching each other and all they got was a 2 minute time out!! I thought they would've gotten thrown out of the game and even maybe suspended...but nope just a 2 minute break (I was informed that this was hockey so basically anything goes)! 

Breaking up a Fight

Roomies at the game

Recession hits...so strange halftime show (kids picking up pucks)

Charleston Stingrays

After the game, Christina, Ali and I went to Yo Burrito.  If you live in the Charleston area, you must try Yo Burrito it is amazing.  Plus on Sunday nights between 7 and 9 everything (but chips and soda) are half price.  We got there early so decided to order chips and at 6:45 I hopped in line because a long line was starting to form. I had a huge spicy chicken salad and a ton of chips.  It was the perfect ending of a wonderful, warm weekend :)

As for the start of my week, food has been the star! I went to Costco, after class yesterday and boy did I get more than I bargained for.  There are so many great deals when you buy in bulk.  I tend to get obsessed with certain foods at points in time so Costco is a perfect place for me :) My past obsession was oatmeal and cereal with dried fruit, prior was peanut butter and pretzels and now its hummus and avocados with carrots and salads! Gotta love a little obsession.

Monday Night Dinner: hummus, mushrooms, avocado and turkey

Tuesday Lunch: Spicy seasoned chicken with hummus, mushrooms, avocado :)

New love: Sweet Potato :)

And now to brag a little to my family that woke up to 3 inches of snow...I woke up to 75 degree weather :)

Yes, thats a skirt and sandals in February :) 

Another Beach Day :)

I am in absolute LOVE with mother-nature and the weather this weekend.  It was another perfect day yesterday, with weather in the upper 70s.  My day started off with a rough 6 mile run with Christina.  She is training for the half-marathon in Atlanta and on her schedule was a 10k run, which means we had to go 6 miles.  I was not feeling up to it but what the schedule says we do...so I pushed through and knocked it out.  It's really nice having her to run with because there is noway I would've convinced myself to finish the whole run. But the weather was too perfect to not go for a run and by mile 5, I was feeling good so all and all an okay run.

We decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and head to the beach again.  It was warmer than Friday, which made it a great beach day.  I even got a little sunburn...didn't think the UV rays would be intense in February but for this pale girl it was a little strong! Hopefully it will turn into tan, a little color is always welcome :)

Christina on our way to the beach with the top down!

When we got back, we were all excited about how warm it still was at night so decided to go to Rooftop bar.  It is the only place downtown that allows you to see the wonderful sights of downtown Charleston from a rooftop. It got a little nippy, but the band was awesome and definitely a perfect way to end a wonderful day.  Hopefully it will stay this warm for a little bit longer...not ready to pull out the winter jacket again!

Blurry view of the Bridge at Rooftop

Ali and I enjoying the warm weather

This morning started with a big breakfast of coffee, eggs, sausage and fiber cereal with craisins.  I love fiber cereal, I know it looks like bird food, but I love the texture and flavor (don't knock it til you try it). Off to do a bunch of school work before the Stingrays Hockey game tonight :)

Two fried eggs with sausage and salsa

Looks can be deceiving...tastier than it appears!

75 Degree Weather? Yes please!

Good morning! So I realized that I have a trend of blogging on Tuesday and then again during the weekend...sorry about not updating so frequently I'm getting in the swing of things again so time management is a little splotty :( But this week has been super packed with school, running, court, interview, cooking, concert and the beach!

This week I have discovered the best sandwich/salad combo, experienced Kid Rock (yes, lets go back to 1998) and got a huge dose of spring fever! Starting off with the most amazing combination of food I have ever had...spinach and artichoke hummus, avocado, turkey (or chicken), lettuce, onion and bread!  It sounds simple but I promise you it is the most flavorful combo ever.  This week, I lived off of the combination of these ingredients (side note: the spinach, artichoke hummus is a new hummus flavor and tastes just like spinach artichoke dip but healthier)! Try it you will not regret it, I promise :)

Amazing Combo on Onion Bagel

Amazing combo with shredded chicken

Combo with turkey...you get the picture (I'm obsessed)

As for the flashback to late 90's music...I admittedly went to the Kid Rock concert.  Shane, who I met this summer running the bridge, asked me if I wanted to go to the concert and at first I was hesitant because I've never been the biggest Kid Rock fan but he burnt me a cd and I realized that Kid Rock has some really good music.  The concert was definitely an experience. I have never seen such an eclectic, diverse group of people under one roof in my life!  People from 10 to 70 years old were there.  There were people wearing cowboy hats, people with fur jackets, people with polos and button downs and a good percent with NASCAR, American flag shirts! I was surprised how many different people were there; definitely hard to classify Kid Rock fans.  Overall, the concert was a blast and I have a new respect for Kid Rock.  

Shane and Me 

Jamey Johnson

Kid Rock 

Crazy dressed guy...told you

End of the concert 

As most people on the East coast know, the weather this weekend is incredible and causing spring fever everywhere.  Christina and I went to the beach yesterday for a couple hours.  It felt amazing outside, a little chillier at the beach with the wind, but it was the perfect day.  We enjoyed subs while reading our books at the beach.  We were bundled up in sweatshirts and towels over our legs; while everyone else around us were in their bathing suits soaking up the sun.  I don't know how they did it, but more power to them...I'd rather stay warm though :)  After the beach I went on a wonderful 9 mile run in the warm sunshine (and yes now I have a sports bra tan)!

Christina with all her stuff

Me with my sweet backpack chair

5 dollar footlong on the beach=bliss

love the beach :)

Off to enjoy another gorgeous day.  Hope you have a wonderful start of your weekend :)