Turning 30

So today is my birthday.

Today I turn 30.

POOF! CONFETTI CANNON! YAAAAAY!!

Right now I am curled up happily on the couch with...

...a tummy full of Mexican food.

...two bouquets of flowers delivered to me on my kitchen table.

...my Recovery Socks on after a fantastic speed workout with running group.

...a kitchen full of fun-fetti cake AND pumpkin TCBY. (You wouldn't think these would be tasty together. You would be wrong.)

...a DVR packed with dancing reality shows waiting to be watched.

...an IN box, voice mail, and letter holder stuffed with birthday wishes, cards, and love from all the wonderful friends and family in my life.

Not sure what I expected, but turning 30 has been a pretty damn good day. I may just go ahead and do this every year from here on out.

Weekend smiles

Hopefully everyone had a lovely weekend. I had a good weekend. A really good weekend. Nothing particularly remarkable, just a relaxing, productive, enjoyable couple of days.

The highlights:

1. Saturday AM run
I survived the 5:45AM run date and greeted my running buddy with something other than, "I'm so miserable." Those were the first words out of my mouth the last time we ran together. Pleasant, no?

Most of the run was spent laughing, giving each other crap, and me having no clue where we were. Like, I thought we were going north when it was really south. Maybe? Still not sure. There's a reason I don't run in the dark. No good comes of it.

I had to take two naps on Saturday to recover, but it was a fantastic time. Running buddies are really the key to making one get up and run that early. Never would have done it on my own,and I'm glad I did.

2. Football
We aren't really Husker fans in our house, (sacrilege around here, I know) but they managed to win a big home game, and that seems to lift the spirits of the entire state.

Our house is a Colorado house. No clue how that happened, but The Husband loves him some Buffs. They are struggling a bit recently (an understatement), and it was apparently my fault for not wearing my jersey on game days. Shame on me. I wore it loud and proud most of Saturday, and they finally managed a big win. You're welcome, Hawkins.

Pic of us from last year before yelling "f*ck 'em up, f*ck 'em up, GO CU!" 800 million times and loving it every single time.

3. Food
The Husband is in charge of cooking on the weekend, and let me tell you, this man can cook. Saturday was an all day lasagna with bolognese sauce, fancy bread, and veggies. It was amazing.

I also had TCBY with one of my awesome girlfriends and her adorable son. White chocolate mousse and pumpkin swirl. Damn near licked the cup clean.

4. Pre-birthday
My birthday is Thursday and my parents had a little party yesterday at their house. No need to wish me a happy birthday quite yet. Save that for Thursday when I have a giant attention-whory post all dedicated to meeeeee.

My sister was in town, and per usual, my family did an amazing job of making me feel special, loved, and so lucky to be surrounded by such happiness and support.

I'm traveling this tomorrow for work, so hopefully my chipper attitude will translate into a few AM runs in new places without getting stolen. Have a great week!

She reads

I was never a reader growing up. In fact, when I was home for the summer during elementary and middle school, my mom would have 30 MINUTES READING on the daily to do list. Instead of reading real books, I'd pull out every single thing from the pantry and read boxes and jars for a half hour. In retrospect, a.) that's pretty half-assed, but b.) kind of an admirable loophole for a kid to find, but c.) it did lay the ground work for my current very happy career in marketing and branding. I consider it time well spent.

When I got done with grad school a couple years ago, the same question came up over and over, "what are you going to do with all your free time?" I always had two answers:

1. Get back to running every day

2. Read books

Number 1 was easy. Number 2 would be a challenge. I'd been reading text books and business books in school, but never just curl-up-and-read books. It started slowly with a few more business books recommended by colleagues, and suddenly I found myself trading back and forth and always having something to read. Have I become a reader? I think I might be! (Although, I'll still reach for my Us Weekly first when hour six of football starts and I'm looking for a distraction. Let's not get too crazy here.)

No clue why it took me so long to get interested in reading running/nutrition books since it's a big part of my life and happiness, but I'm all over them now. I've taken a few recommendations from many of your blogs and I'm looking for more.

What running/nutrition books do you recommend?

Here's what I've read so far:

1. In Defense of Food

I loved this book. LOVED. It was the perfect mix of history, science, instruction, and justification. I already ate pretty well, but I've made some significant modifications to my diet based on this book.

2. Running with the Buffaloes

This was good too. I kind of wish it was a team of girls instead of a team of boys since I identify with and very much miss that female team bonding, but it was pretty enjoyable.

3. 100 Mile Diet

Are you watching that 100 Mile Diet tv show? You should. That's the first I've heard of it, and it's basically eating only foods grown within 100 miles of you. Nebraska is a pretty good place to do it in the summer/fall, so I'm anxious to give it a try next year. Certainly not for 100 days, but I think a meal a week is very feasible. The book gets a little preachy at times, but it's a quick read and fairly interesting.

So what else do you have for me?

On a running note, I have a run date tomorrow morning at 5:45. 5. 45. On a SATURDAY! Who does that? I'm only tell you all this because if I don't come back next week, it's because I'm still sleeping on the side of the road some place and people need to come poke me with a stick and make me go to work.

Yay capitalism!

I love stuff. I love new stuff, sale stuff, free stuff, just about any kind stuff. And when I can pair that love with my love of running, well, somebody hold me up. What have I been up to lately? Working, living, running, and most notably, acquiring stuff.

First, the awesome folks at Thriv were kind enough to send me an adorable top to test out. The company makes all natural fabric workout clothes made of bamboo, organic cotton, and elastane. No clue what "elastane" is, but it all combines for a super soft, comfortable, wicking top. We'll see how it holds up to a Nebraska August run, so far so good though.

I do wish it was a little longer, but I think that about 90% of all shirts made. It has a supportive shelf bra, and I always like that. Excuse the cheeseball laugh below. The Husband came into the kitchen just as I was taking the picture. "Are you takin-- you know what, never mind..." Look at this logo too. Come on, it's a cute little panda! I'm a sucker for well done branding and the whole website is pretty good.

Next, a new box of shoes was waiting for me at my door when I got home. I wanted to love my previous pair of Brooks, I really did, but the sole wore down way too quick. Off to another brand still hoping to find The One. Hopefully these Pearl Izumis hold up. They're pretty reflecty if nothing else. No one is running over my feet, that's for sure.

And finally, my most favorite new purchase is this Nike long sleeve, hoodie-type thing. (It's long enough, and that's just about all it takes with me sometimes. )

I guess you're supposed to work out in it since it has thumb holes and is at least partially wicking, but I wouldn't. I would however, wear the hell out of it at the grocery store and any other place I want to be casual, sporty, and fashionable.(And yes, I'm stretching that Halloween manicure out as loooong as possible.)