March Madness

This might be the best two days in college sports: the first two days of the NCAA College Basketball Tournament. Sixty-four teams, 32 games, two days, and countless hopes and aspirations dashed. A thrilling combination! I, like many red-blooded, competition loving Americans, created several brakets for the sole chance of some smack-talking and bragging rights. Instead, I have already felt the smack down. In the first afternoon my bracket suffered dearly with the several upsets today. The games were exciting enough, though, that I really don't mind.

Feel the pain.

I'm a Little Speachless....

Wow.
That is all.

Pretty Kitties

On Fridays I usually spend a couple of hours at the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, volunteering in that cat room. It is my job to match potential adopters with the perfect cat, and I'd like to think I'm pretty good at it :) I wanted to share with you, dear readers, a special kitty that needs a good home. Who knows, maybe someone will see her today and be compelled to adopt her!

Meet Stacie, a sweet 3 year old calico medium-hair spayed female. Stacie is a total cuddle bug. She will walk back and forth against the cage doors until I finally break down and take her out for some TLC. She loves to be held and scratched behind her ears, yet she also can be quite lively when it comes to string toys and catnip.



Head to the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, in Shirlington, VA to meet Stacie for yourself!

Today was a Good Day

I finally got to put my shiny new Nike+ gadgets to work today, and boy were they worth the purchase. The weather was absolutely glorious so I decided to drive down to the parkway trail in Old Town for my Tuesday three-miler. Running along the Potomac is probably my favorite workout of all, and now that the weather is nice it makes it that much more enjoyable! I am anxiously awaiting on the trees and flowers to bloom. I saw a few green buds poking out through the mulch, so we're not far away now from bloom time.

 Using the Nike+ was super simple. I set the distance I wanted to run, selected the music I wanted to listen to, and voila, I was ready to run. At any point I could press the center button on my iPod to get a read out of my distance remaining, pace, and time elapsed through my earbuds. The program automatically updates you at the halfway point, as well as from 400m left until the finish. Another awesome feature is the "power song." You can preset a song that really motivates you that will play when you hold down the center button. Today mine was Justice - Genesis (obsessed with this song!) and I played it with 400m to go.

Getting immediate feedback was really helpful, and encouraged me to pick up the pace when I began to slack. It took my a few tries to find which button to press to get a update of my stats, but once I figured that out it was smooth running. After such a long fitness hiatus, I am tarting to reach a pace I am happy with. Hopefully I will speed up a but more before the 10k race, but until then every little improvement is exciting. I hope I can do this run in under 30min next week. With my Nike+, I'll be able to find the motivation!

What is the best motivator for your workouts?

Sweet Tooth: Taza Chocolate Mexicano

 

Behold: Taza Chocolate

I have recently become enamored with this chocolate. Tom and I love to get dark chocolate bars for a sweet snack, but I often find that they can be do waxy for my taste. Enter Taza Chocolate. These chocolate bars (or disks, more appropriately) are the perfect texture chocolate for me. They are USDA organic, gluten, soy and dairy free, AND they practice direct trade - "affecting positive change in our community and the communities of [their] growers." What's not to love? 

The chocolate is rich and velvety, with a slight grainy texture that melts perfectly in your mouth. The texture - unlike any other I've tried - is thanks to the premium organic ingredients and unique cocoa processing. They ground their ingredients in traditional Mexican stone mills instad of steel refineries which can leave, as they describe, "unrefined cacao particles and sugar granules" that dissolve in bursts of flavor in your mouth. A difference you can taste - and yes, the experience really is as good as it sounds.

We picked up ours at La Fromagerie on King Street in Old Town. I've now tried the vanilla and salted almond varieties of the Mexicano disks, both which were incredibly enjoyable. If you can get to the store to pick some up, they have an online shop at their website, www.tazachocolate.com .

bon appetit!

Getting back on that horse.

In February, I started a 10k training plan in preparation for the Monument Avenue 10k in Richmond, VA on March 27th. Since February 1 I have stuck to a training plan consistently for the first time in three years, since hurting my back rowing at the Universtiy of Texas. It feels GREAT to run again. My workouts finally don't make me want to pass out, I actually enjoy them enough to try to get faster each time I hit the trail or treadmill. With each workout, however, I became more painfully aware of how dead my sneakers were. They were purchased right before I injured my back, three years ago. That means they've outlasted their average life span (you should replace running shoes about every 400 miles) by a long shot.

I headed to Pacer's in Alexandria this afternoon to save my shins from more splints and buy a new pair of running shoes. As soon as my eyes began scanning the wall of sneakers a sales associate began to assist me in finding the perfect pair. After a few jogs up and down the sidewalk in different shoes, I settled in the Nike Air Pegasus+ 26. The best thing about these shoes is that they have Nike+, an iPod compatible system that measures distance covered, pace, time, and calories burned during workouts. All of the information can be uploaded from an iPod to a computer, giving accurate feedback and statistics from past runs.  The perfect way for me to track my progress while training for the 10k!

Tomorrow I'll give my fancy new gadgets a try.  If all goes according to plan I'll be able to post my results... unless they are horribly slow and embarrassing, of course. Haha.

Until then, happy trails!

Oscar Night Gala

It the most fabulous night of the year! Oscar night 2010. And thankfully, the stars decided to step up their fashion game after a pretty yawn-inducing Golden Globes. To honor the most gorgeous of gorgeous ladies looking their best, I put together this look at my new website obsession: shopstyle.com. My sister sent me the link last week and I have not stopped using it since.

What do you think of my Oscar night creation? Any dresses you ogled on the red carpet tonight? Any that made you cringe?

The holy grail of shopping.

Finally. After a month of scouring department stores, boutiques, and the web, I found them. The perfect jeans.

The Washington area has at last been graced with beautiful mild weather this weekend after quite a harrowing winter. Eager to get outside, Tom and I headed to Old Town to explore and observe the St. Patrick's Day festivities. Sadly, there were far more green-boa-wearing, Miller-Lite-chugging twenty somethings than classic kilted bagpipers. To avoid the crowd, Tom and I ducked in and out of stores, sampling things here and there.

Among other old favorites and new finds (which I will discuss later) I insisted we stop into Treat, a sample sale boutique which now occupies the building which used to house Lilly Pulitzer on S. Saint Asaph. Not looking for anything in particular, I browsed the beautifully appointed store until stumbling upon the jean section, where laid a pair of J.Brand jeans.

I have tried on the brand in the past and loved the fit, but for some reason never purchased a pair. My eyes fixed on them from across the room and I crossed my fingers as I crossed the store, hoping that there would be my size, as they were the last pair. Luckily, the shopping gods were smiling down at me, and not only were they my size, but they were in the style I had gazed at longingly online several times recently. The best part: they were a whopping $90 less than retail!

I adore the mid-rise waist... while in proportion to my legs I don't have a very long torso, at 5'11" it is still much longer compared to most. I found after college the low-rise I was used to buying did not seem... appropriate. The mid-rise covers up everything I wouldn't want to show, while still looking super modern. The length is also perfect. Once again, as a tall girl it's tough to find jeans with the right inseam. All of J Brand's jeans have a 34"+ inseam - ideal! Not to mention, the Hubby loovveess them.

I am head over heels in love with the jeans, and Treat is gaining in shopping popularity for me. A successful shopping trip and one more thing to cross off my to-buy list!

So, dear readers, what are your favorite pair of jeans and where did you find them?