Paddle Boarding + Final Wedding Gown Fitting!

This past weekend was amazing!!!  I got several kickass workouts in, including paddle boarding!  I had never been paddle boarding but always wanted to try it.  Recently my cousin bought a couple boards so we decided to go out Sunday if the rain stopped.  Alas, after Saturday’s rains, Sunday was absolutely spectacular!  Crystal clear skies, fresh air, sunshine, it was the perfect day.

I cruised over to my cousin’s house and we took the boards out!  I was a little nervous getting ON the board because it felt unstable stepping from the dock and putting my weight on this surf board-like thing in the water.  Luckily a neighbor came and helped us on our boards, so we didn’t fall in trying to get on the board…WIN!  Once we were on, it was so FUN!  We paddled all around the bay and through the canals.  It was super high tide and we had to duck going under a couple bridges!  Major leg and core workout!

It was so fun.  We just chatted about life, her kids, the holidays, and my upcoming wedding!  We had so much fun talking and laughing that it hardly felt like a workout.  But let me tell you, it’s a dang good shoulder, core, and leg workout!  My shoulders were feeling it the next day (also it didn’t help that we went AGAINST the current) :)

On the wedding front, I had my makeup trial and my final fitting over the weekend too!  My girl did my makeup perfectly, exactly what I want – classic and elegant.  And my dress….*smiles*.  I LOVE my dress.  It fits perfectly, like it was made for me.  My mom and my girls came with me to my fitting and seeing their faces made my heart melt.  How am I going to get through my wedding day without a million happy tears??  I see waterproof mascara and lots of tissues in my future.  Good thing my bridesmaid dresses have pockets ;)

How was your weekend?  Did you get some good runs/workouts in?  Did you do anything else exciting?

Photo Friday - Bride Runner!

We are officially less than one month out!!  I can't express in words how excited I am to be marrying my best friend and soul mate!  He is the love of my life :)  We couldn't be more ready and happy to start our married lives together.


So with less than one month until we say "I DO", I thought this photo was very fitting for today's "Photo Friday."

Happy Friday!!

4:45am? Piece o' cake! (Intervals + T-minus 1 month!)

I don't know why, but waking up at 4:45am is SO much easier than waking up at 5:30am for me.  I struggle getting out of bed at 5:30, however when my alarm goes off between 4:30-5am, I jump right out of bed!  I guess I'm just weird :)


Anyways, after I jumped out of bed, I went to the gym and ran intervals on the treadmill for 45 minutes (not including warm up/cool down)!  It basically went like this:
2 minutes @ 4mph
1 minute @ 5
1 minute @ 5.5
1 minute @ 6
1 minute @ 6.5
1 minute @ 7
1 minute @ 7.5
1 minute @ 8
Repeat 5 times


It definitely kicked my butt and I felt fantastic!  The time flew by with the constant change of speed, and I also had my handy dandy iPad.  I downloaded and watched the pilot episode of the new TV show "Grimm" which was awesome by the way!


On another note...Happy 1st of November!!!  Do you know what that means??  I'm getting married NEXT MONTH!!! Weeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm so excited to be marrying my best friend and soul mate.  He is the love of my life and I couldn't be happier to marry him!!!! 

9 miler + Happy Halloween!

Yesterday's 9-miler can be summed up with this graph:

It started out rough, slow, and sluggish, but I pushed through and just enjoyed the beautiful sunshine-y morning.  Around mile 3 my knee started to hurt.  I knew this would be my longest run in a while and I didn't want to risk another ITB injury, so I stopped and stretched my IT band and legs.  After that I felt great!  Miles 4, 5 and 6 ticked by and I was feeling great!  Then around mile 7, my legs started to tighten and tire.  I only had a few more miles to go and decided to throw in some short walk breaks (about 1 minute every 5-10 minutes).  Finally I made I saw my house and sprinted the last bit home.  My legs weren't happy with me, but post-run foam rolling helped a ton!  I'm really happy with myself that I got it done :)

And of course, today is *HALLOWEEN!!!*  Tonight will be spent studying for my midterm on Wednesday, but the girls I work with and I did dress up at the office today.  Can you guess what we are?

You can't really tell, but I'm even wearing my old retainer!!!

I'll give you a hint:

Happy Halloween!!!!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

After a week of being sick followed by a few days of struggling to wake up and run in the morning, I finally got my bum out of bed this morning!  It took me a good 20-30 minutes to finally get my feet out the door, but I did it, and man, it was COLD**!  It definitely felt like a winter morning.  And since we haven't changed time yet, it was still pitch black too.

Pitch black + cold weather = not my ideal running condition

Because it was so cold** though, I just darted out the door.  No warm ups, just running.  I knew it would get my blood flowing and I'd warm up sooner or later.  1/2 mile later, I felt warm.  I only ran 2 miles with a short 30 sec walk in between, but it was nice to get out.  I'm still fighting a cough, which signals the tail end of a cold for me, so it wasn't my best run, but it sure as hell wasn't my worst.


Tomorrow I have a 9-miler.  With my lack of running in the past 10 days, I have no doubt I'll throw in some 30 second walk breaks here and there.


How do you stay warm when running in the winter?


**Disclaimer:  When I say cold, I mean Cali-Cold.  For us southern Californians, we adorn ourselves with coats, scarves, gloves, and hats when it drops to the 40s, and this morning it was 45 degrees.  Brrr.  I know, I know.  Anyone in the midwest or on the east coast must think I'm nuts!  Well, I DID live in NY for 4 years so I do know what true cold weather is like (i.e. snow, blizzards, ice, wind that literally chills you to the bone, etc.), but since moving back home 3 years ago this Cali girl has re-adapted.  Cold (for me) now = 50 degrees and below :-P

Three Things Thursday!

1.  On the running front - this weekend I have a 9-miler scheduled.  I'm looking forward to it and dreading it both at the same time.  Last week I came down with a horrible cold and couldn't even get out of bed for a couple days, let alone run.  This week I ran once because my body is still fatigued and I can't seem to drag my @$$ out of bed before 6:30-7am for a pre-work run.  So, my 9-miler might prove to be a little challenging, but in the words of Nike, Just Do It!


2.  Wedding update! - the BIG DAY is almost here!!!!  We are BEYOND excited for it!!  Tonight Sean and I are meeting with our DJ to go over some things ("must play", "do not play" songs, sequencing, etc).  We're into all the little details now!  So fun!!!


3.  Halloween - like I said in my last post, I LOVE Halloween!  It's so fun to dress up and hang out with friends, and you can't beat "13 Nights of Halloween" on ABC family (I'm a sucker for all those movies, ESPECIALLY Hocus Pocus, which I grew up on...it's on of my favs).  I'm sad to say, my love for Halloween has only manifested this year in our house decorations...our house looks awesomely spooky!  But I haven't made Halloween plans nor have I given thought to what I'm going to be!  I've been so preoccupied with work (which has been crazy busy (in a good way) with our quarterly earnings), school (gearing up for a midterm next week), and of course wedding planning!  It's all great things that have taken priority.  Quite frankly, I can't even believe Halloween is here!  I woke up the other day thinking I still had plenty of time before realizing it was a week away!  Yikes!
Does anyone have any fun and easy to put together last minute costume ideas???

Bridal Showers Galore!

This past weekend my future in-laws threw me a Spooktacular bridal shower!  I love Halloween, and when I was asked if they could throw me a Halloween/Nightmare Before Christmas shower (I love that movie btw) with Halloween just a week away, I said why not!

I already had a fabulous pink and zebra bridal shower that my cousins threw me last month for my side of the family (his mom, grandma and aunt of course came to that though :) )

My wonderful cousin who threw me this shower, my Cali bridesmaids (2 are in NYC)

and my future Sis-in-law

My mommy and mom-in-law <3

 Pink cupcakes with "Sean" and my name tattooed on his bum!

 A taste of the decorations :)

My wonderful cousin who threw me this shower

Now onto my Spooktacular shower!  Just as it’s bad form for a bride’s mom to throw a shower (a relative, family friend, or bridesmaids take on this task), it’s bad form for the groom’s mom to throw the bride one too!  So my wonderful mom-in-law asked her dearest friend to throw me one, and it was fun!  H and her daughter A came over the night before to decorate.  Side note:  they asked if I wouldn’t mind having it at Sean’s and my new house since we finished redecorating and everyone wanted to see it…of course it was no problem for me!

Here is the spooky table:

We had delicious cupcakes and cake pops, and croissant sandwiches and spinach dip.  And we had Miss M’s famous long island iced tea that she so kindly made and brought with her!  Also, my fabulous MOH made delicious jello shots, and Sean’s family friend also brought jello shots!  Needless to say, there was no shortage of food and drink.

Prior to my shower, H asked both me and Sean for a few Halloween pictures of us as kids and young adults.  Here is what I came up with on my end:

Singin' in the Rain!

 Me as a princess

 The Green Fairy (I hand sewed this costume btw!)

 Jeannie (my fav TV show growing up!)

 Lions with my little bro (I'm on the right)

Snow White (I couldn't find my Sleeping Beauty or Belle pictures

from when I was little *sad face*)

 Peanut Butter and Jelly with Sean at the Warrior Dash (a crazy mud run) last Halloween

 Princess Lei (Sean's fav!)

 Queen of Hearts one year in college

 Me and Sean as cowboys

And one of my favs....ZOMBIES!!!!

We also played a “favorites” game where everyone got a favorite sticker on their back and had to ask others yes or no questions, “Is it the bride?” “Is it the groom?” “Is it a favorite color?”  “Is it blue?” and so forth.  Sean’s cousin actually won and she had all “Bride” stickers!  I was so impressed, even though I did help her out with a couple, but shhh  ;)

Then came the gifts.  I can’t not express in words the gratitude and love I felt.  I was overwhelmed with the generosity and love of Sean’s family.  I’ve been a part of his family for years now, but this still blew me away.

 Me and Grandma C

  My MOH Lisa, me, my future sis-in-law Kathleen

 Some of the girls

Me with my mom and soon-to-be mom-in-law :)

I can’t thank them enough for their love, kindness, and warm welcome into their family.  I am so loved and so blessed.  Thank you :)