Recurring Series

A Weekend in Pictures: Savannah

My Savannah weekend was wonderful! I am so glad my mom and I decided to do this race and spend the weekend away in Savannah. It was a quick trip (we got in late Friday afternoon and left early Sunday morning), but it was really the perfect amount of time. Let’s recap! (And sorry… this post is going to be insanely long!)

Our drive to Savannah was easy-peasy! We hit a few slow-downs, but nothing major. We arrived around 3:30, checked in to the hotel (Hilton Savannah Desoto in the historic district.) The above picture was the view from our hotel room – pretty sweet!

After checking in and dropping our stuff in our room, we immediately headed downstairs to the expo. We were given some incredible swag – my favorite being the New Balance tote bag! It is roomy and made of really great material, so I can’t wait to put it to use! We also got a drawstring backpack and a pretty magnet. At the expo, Publix was there handing out free gifts: a strainer, earbuds, sunglasses, and an infuser water bottle. Fleet Feet was also there, and they had a fun wheel you could spin for some awesome prizes. My mom won a 20% off coupon and I won a 10% off shoes coupon. I’m hoping I can just go online and use it because what a great prize, yeah?!

After checking out the expo, we headed back to the hotel room with our loot and then relaxed for about an hour before heading out for dinner. I remembered Crystal Beer Parlor from the list of recommendations Jess had given me last year, and when I realized it was just half a mile from the hotel, I jumped at the chance to go! This place has so much history. It opened in 1933, making it Savannah’s second oldest restaurant. But this place first started operating in early 1900’s as a family grocery store.

For my dinner, I ordered the Classic Crystal Burger with a side of fries and a cider. All were fantastic! The burger was juicy and delicious, the fries were crisp, and the cider was yummy! (Cider, fun fact, is the only “beer” I will drink, and that is because it is not really beer. At least, that’s what all my beer-loving friends tell me, haha. It’s more like sparkling apple juice than beer.)

After dinner, we walked over to Forsyth Park, since it wasn’t too far from the restaurant. It was beautiful as the sun was getting ready to set and the park was pretty empty. We found the finish line of the race (!), which was pretty fun. And we walked around the park – with me sighing in delight about how pretty this park is and how much I love being in Savannah – until deciding to call it a night and go back to the hotel.

From there, I took a shower, read for a bit, and then fell asleep at 9:15. Because I know how to party.

And then it was race day! It was cooooold Saturday morning. Florida had been having straight-up summerlike temperatures the past few weeks, so I’d been feeling a wee bit spoiled. It was 40 degrees on Saturday morning and I was not prepared. I’m glad I had my long-sleeved pullover, but it definitely was not warm. Luckily, we only had a 10-minute walk to the race site, so we didn’t leave the hotel until about 7:10 and the race started at 7:30. By the time we got down there, took a few pictures, and got in place, it was time to go!

The race itself? It was okay. I knew I was going to have a tough time when I was struggling barely half a mile in. Eventually, I decided to adopt a run .1 mile, walk .1 mile interval. This worked quite well for me! I managed to hit all the intervals and it allowed me to walk slowly and recover since I could catch up my pace with my runs. It also made the race go by at warp speed, which was nice.

The course measured long (3.22 miles) and I wound up with a finish time of 47:30, which is not the >45:00 I wanted, but I am still happy with that time. It puts me under 15-min/miles (all throughout training, I was averaging 16-17-min/miles), and I honestly cannot be mad at myself for not finishing in what I might deem a “better time.” And that’s all that matters… the fact that I feel good about how I finished.

After the race, I met up with my mom who finished way before me and we found mimosas! The perfect way to end a race, if I do say so myself.

Races that give you a medal for completing a 5k are my favorite kind of races. 🙂

We didn’t stay long in the park after the race because it was still super cold and we are Florida girls with thin skin! We can’t handle it! So, we walked back to the hotel and decided to eat in the hotel restaurant for breakfast. We just didn’t feel like venturing back out in the cold. Their breakfast was… okay. Nothing special. Just meh.

After breakfast, Mom and I went back to our hotel room where we took the most deliciously pleasing naps. Postrace naps are the best kind of naps, yes?

(We actually planned to just nap until housekeeping came in to clean our room and give us new towels. Except at 1:45, we were still waiting on housekeeping. We finally had to call the front desk to have them bring us towels so we could take showers! I would never recommend this Hilton location in Savannah – it’s a rundown hotel with walls so thin you can hear your neighbors talking. Definitely not worth the price at all.)

Eventually, we were able to procure towels, take showers, and get ready for the day! Saturday afternoon was beautiful! We checked out an adorable bookstore, had ice cream at Leopold’s, and walked down River Street.

Around 5:30, we wandered up to Rocks on the Roof for some pre-dinner drinks. My mom got a beer and I ordered a Savannah Tea, which was good but a bit too strong for my liking.

For dinner, we decided on Huey’s on the River (another Jess recommendation!) I know this is the go-to brunch spot that I must try the next time I’m in Savannah, but I did enjoy their dinner menu! We actually decided to sit at the bar rather than wait for a table in the restaurant, which was an A+ decision. The bartenders are phenomenal and made me immediately feel at home. (Also, one of them bore a striking resemblance to Sam Jaeger, or Joel from Parenthood. For a second, I though it was Sam!) (I wish I had the courage to mention this to him!) (Safe to say, he was very, very, VERY cute.)

For dinner, I got a simple burger and fries meal, though I wish I had tried their red beans and rice. I was just in a mood for a burger, even though I had had one the night before. (I rarely eat burgers nowadays, so it felt like such a treat!)

And that caps off our trip to Savannah! After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and I took a bubble bath, read, and then fell asleep at 9:30. I want to feel lame for being 27 and on vacation and falling asleep before 10pm… but I just can’t. That’s just the perfect epitome of who I am – a girl who has one drink and doesn’t want anything else, who fancies a good meal with fun conversation, and who just wants to take a bubble bath and read at the end of the day more than anything else.

We left Savannah early (around 8am), and got back in town around 3pm. And this guy was super happy to see us! He went to “camp” while we were away, and he had a blast (they texted my mom three pictures of him having fun – I love that they do that now!) He spent most of Sunday night in a deep sleep. Poor guy was tuckered out from all his camp adventures! 😉

And that was Savannah! Such a wonderful weekend, such a wonderful city. I still feel deeply that I will move there someday. I’m not sure when, but Savannah is where my heart is. Simple as that.

How was your weekend?

Categories: Recurring Series

Looking Forward (the Spring edition)

I haven’t done one of these posts since October and I have so many fun things coming up for me over the next few months, so I thought it was time to do this again!

Today, I am looking forward to… road tripping to Savannah!

My mom and I leave this morning for our weekend trip to Savannah! I am so, so excited to hit the road and spend the weekend in my favorite city. The drive will take about six hours, so we’ll arrive sometime in the afternoon. We plan on checking into our hotel, going to the expo for the Savannah Women’s 5k, and then walking over to Crystal Beer Parlor for dinner.

This weekend, I am looking forward to… running the Savannah Women’s 5k and exploring a little more of Savannah.

I am feeling good about the 5k. Of course, after I write a post on how much I hate running, I have some of my best (and easiest!) runs I’ve had since I started training for this race. Hopefully, the race goes well and I even surprise myself by enjoying the course. We most likely won’t do too much while in Savannah – probably walk around the historic squares and Forsyth Park, check out this cute bookstore, and find a yummy place for dinner. (I tried to make reservations at Olde Pink House but they were completely booked!) My mom and I may also go to Yoga in the Park on Sunday morning, something the race is throwing for free. (It may be too cold for that, so we’ll see. I want to do it, though!)

This month, I am looking forward to… having the first brunch book club at the pool of the year.

These are my favorite book club events! We all bring a breakfast dish to share (I always bring a “parfait bar“), drink mimosas, chat about the book choice and life in general, and then spend some time hanging out in the pool. The water might be a little too cold this time of the year, but no matter! It will still be a fun time, as always.

Next month, I am looking forward to… taking my seventh cruise.

Saturday will mark 50 days until the cruise! I am soooo excited! I’ve had two different people I follow on Instagram leave on cruises this month, and it gets me so excited for when it is my turn. Every time I think about this vacation, I get so many excited butterflies in my stomach. Hurry up, May!

This year, I am looking forward to… moving in with Bri!

We set a tentative move-in date for July 25, but obviously, it depends on apartment availability and all that jazz. (Luckily, we both have flexibility for our move-out dates.) We’ve visited 9 apartments in Tampa so far, and we have about 6-7 more to look at before we’ll try to name our top picks. Apartment hunting has been super fun, though. (I love apartment hunting and moving in general. I’m weird, I know.) I have a crazy spreadsheet that outlines all the different places we’ve looked at, move-in costs, likes/dislikes, etc. Thankfully, Bri and I have very similar tastes in apartments + areas of Tampa where we want to live, which is making this process go so smoothly. I’m just really excited to move to Tampa and shake up my life a bit!

What are you currently looking forward to?

Categories: Recurring Series

A Weekend in Pictures

Happy Tuesday and Happy St. Patrick’s Day, friends! I have donned my green (though I feel like my eyes being green should count for something), and I am hoping not to get pinched today. 🙂 I had a super wonderful weekend and I thought it would be the perfect way to bring back my fun “Weekend in Pictures” series. Enjoy!

My weekend kicked off in a delicious way on Friday afternoon – breakfast for lunch! I went out with three coworkers to Nikki’s in Tampa, where I ordered a breakfast sandwich that was delish.

After lunch, my friend (and soon-to-be roomie) looked at two different apartments. We are not planning on moving until late July, so there aren’t any apartments available yet for that time frame, but we still want to start looking so we can get a feel for what’s out there, what we like, pricing, etc. The first apartment we looked at was beautiful, very reasonably priced, and in a great area of Tampa. The other apartment was also in a great area of Tampa (and within walking distance of dozens of restaurants!), but overpriced and very underwhelming (very little storage space, not as updated, etc.) (They wanted $1,700 a month for a two-bedroom. Nope, nope, nope!)

After apartment hunting, I met up with a friend at Starbucks to work on our respective novels. I hadn’t opened my document since August, so, needless to say, it was tough getting back into it. But I managed to write almost 1,100 words, so progress was made. Woo!

The rest of my Friday was spent very lazily! I ordered in a pizza, watched TV, and settled in bed with a good book. Happy Friday to me!

Saturday morning, Dutch woke me up at 8, we went for our morning walk, and then snuggled on the couch to read. Best way to start a Saturday morning, in my opinion!

After a long workout and then spending the early afternoon running errands and cleaning my apartment, I decided to reward myself with a few hours by the pool! It was 83 and sunny on Saturday afternoon, and felt so wonderful to relax outside and get some rays! I suspect lots and lots more pool days are in my near future.

Saturday night, I met up with some friends for laser tag. It was weird at first because I was the, ahem, seventh wheel, and man, you’ve got to be really secure and happy in your singleness to go to an event as the only single person. And I am. But it was also a little difficult. My friends were good at making me feel included and not like the weirdo single person, but it’s hard not to feel a little out of place. I did have fun, even though I still majorly suck at laser tag.

Most of Sunday was spent very lazily! I watched a bunch of TV (finally finished season one of Friday Night Lights and started season two, caught myself up on Gotham and New Girl), did some cleaning around the apartment, read, took Dutch on a long walk, and grocery shopped for the week. It was quite perfect!

My weekend was capped off with some ice cream (I’ve been searching and searching for this flavor ever since Jimmy Fallon revealed it on The Tonight Show a few weeks ago – it is so damn good!), painting my nails, and watching the first three episodes of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (I. love. this. show.)

All in all, a spectacularly wonderful weekend! It was the perfect mix of downtime, puppy snuggles, and hanging out with friends. 🙂

How was your weekend? Favorite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor (I’m partial to Half-Baked, but The Tonight Dough is a close second!)

Categories: Recurring Series

Three Things Thursday (v. 2)

As I mentioned on Tuesday, I’m in the process of re-categorizing and re-tagging my blog posts. My categories and tagging methods were a bit of a mess. But out of this process, I’ve stumbled upon some fun blog posts I’ve done in the past that I want to revisit. They’re the perfect type of posts for when you don’t really have the time or desire for a longer post. I did a “3 Things Thursday” (inspired by Lisa) almost a full year ago, and I think it’s about time I did another one. Enjoy!

Three confessions:
1. I love Daylight Saving Time. Love it. I mean, sure it sucks that it’s darker in the morning (which means waking up is a bit more difficult!), but having more daylight hours? So worth it.
2. I am a supremely picky eater. A lot of my friends (lovingly) make fun of me about it. I’m just not very adventurous when it comes to eating, and I’m not a foodie by any means. I love food, but I don’t have a sophisticated palate at all.
3. When I’m writing at work, sometimes I need to listen to music to drown out the conversations happening around me. My favorite Spotify playlist to listen to is Epic Film Scores for Studying. It makes writing about home improvement very dramatic!

Three things that made me happy this week:
1. Girl’s night out that included Mexican food and margaritas. Can’t go wrong with that!
2. Dutch feeling better! He’s not limping anymore, but we are still keeping his walks short and carrying him up and down the stairs.
3. Writing for a new client that is much different than what I usually write about. It’s stretching my brain in a totally new way, and I’ve learned so much!

Three books I’m reading next:
1. In the Blood by Lisa Unger
2. The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner
3. Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Three movies I haven’t seen (that everyone else has):
1. The Hangover
2. Forrest Gump
3. Coming to America

Three favorite tweets:
1.

Three of the latest podcasts I subscribed to:
1. Criminal
2. Happier with Gretchen Rubin
3. Dear Sugar Radio

Three things I’m looking forward to:
1. My Savannah weekend (15 days!)
2. A girl’s day in Orlando with Emilie in April
3. My 7th cruise! (65 days!)

Three apps I love:
1. Cuptakes (for fun wallpapers for my phone!)
2. Period Tracker (because I have funky cycles and this helps me keep track of them) (Sorry for the TMI)
3. Panera Bread (I love this for when I use the Rapid Pick-Up. Select my meal, pay with my fingerprint, and zip over to the restaurant, where it’s waiting for me almost immediately. So convenient for lunch when I’m at work!)

Three words I’d use to describe myself:
1. Introspective
2. Reserved
3. Hard-working

Three things I’m doing this weekend:
1. Looking at apartments with Bri
2. Working on my fiction novel
3. Playing laser tag with some friends

What made you happy this week? What movie have you not seen that you feel everyone else in the world has?

Categories: Recurring Series

Currently in March

Feeling… incredibly sore. On Saturday morning, I did a 10-minute leg workout and it. kicked. my. butt. My quads and hamstrings have been so sore since that workout! DOMS at its finest. I haven’t felt this kind of sore from exercise in a really long time so, as much as it hurts, it also feels really good. After my Savannah race, I’m going to get back to focusing on strength training, along with different kinds of cardio, because I really just love it.

Worried… about Dutch. If you follow me on social media, you know he had a bit of a rough week. After picking him up from PetSmart, where he got a bath and nail trim, I noticed Dutch was walking funny and seemed to be having trouble putting weight on his left leg. I knew something was definitely wrong when he couldn’t run up our stairs. (He always runs up the stairs!) Luckily, he was already scheduled to have his comprehensive exam (and his annual teeth cleaning), so when we took him in, we mentioned the problem with his leg, and they took x-rays of his legs and spine. Thankfully, nothing wrong appeared on the x-rays, so the vet believes he just has a pinched nerve. What a relief! He’s on an anti-inflammatory and a muscle/joint supplement, and limited exercise, so let’s hope he gets better soon.

Reading… The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion. It’s the sequel to The Rosie Project, which I read last year. I’m almost finished with it and I just love it. I love Don Tillman so much.

Anticipating… Savannah! I am not worried about the 5k… I know I can finish and I want to just have a good time, not worry so much about striving for having the best race ever, but just enjoy being in Savannah and running through the historic district. And I am just excited about a fun weekend in my favorite city with my favorite person.

Organizing… the categories on my blog, in preparation for launching a new blog theme in the coming weeks. This wound up being a much bigger project than I originally imagined. I had over 100 categories! (This is not a joke!) Most of them either had just a few blog posts or zero, so I’ve been trying to redo the way I tag my posts and categorize them so it feels a bit less messy. I spent hours on this project this past weekend and still didn’t get it all done. Eek.

Planning… to move in with my friend Bri! Yes, yes, yes! I am so excited about this. I thought I would never, ever want to have a roommate again, but Bri and I get along so well and she’s the only person I would consider doing this with. (Plus, apartment costs are expensive and I’ve been really stressing about how I was going to afford everything.) We’ve talked budgets, move-in dates, and apartment must-have’s (hers is a washer/dryer in unit; mine is a pet-friendly community and a gym). She adores Dutch and can’t wait to have him with us. And I’m just thrilled! This is exactly what I wanted and I’m pinching myself that I get to be her roommate. 🙂 We’re going to look at our first two apartments on Friday afternoon – woohoo!

Searching… for the perfect eyebrow tool. I have really light and thin eyebrows… they practically disappear if I don’t use an eyebrow pencil to darken them. (Funny thing is my eyebrows used to be brown just a few years ago! Now they are blonde.) I’ve tried basically all the drugstore brands and none of them do what I need them to do, so I’m thinking I may need to try a pricier option. On my list, either ULTA’s Brow Expert or Anastasia Beverly Hills’ Bold Brow Kit. Or maybe I just need to dye my eyebrows…

Wanting… to spend more time on my fiction novel. I haven’t even opened the document since late August, and I am missing stretching my creative muscles. Luckily, my writing partner and I are meeting up on Friday to work on our novels! I am so excited!

Wishing… my soda cravings would just go away. It’s been almost three weeks, and I’m still craving it like crazy. I mean, it’s not terrible. I can resist it. But I just wish I didn’t have them at all, you know? I think it’s all about reframing my thoughts and habits, and the more I resist, the stronger I become. Deep breaths. I can do this!

Loving… “springing forward,” Trader Joe’s, days when running feels fun, The Voice, a clean bill of health from Dutch’s exam, lady dates, new office supplies, and baking therapy.

What are you currently reading, anticipating, and loving?