life

30 Days of New: Day 9

Nothing is more of an honor and a compliment as a writer than to have a friend ask you to write for them. I’m not talking a term paper, but something personal, like content for a wedding website, like my friend recently asked me to do.

It is also rather nerve wracking, because you want it to be great, especially something like this that 200+ of their closest family and friends could read.. but such an honor.

I finally finished it today, and it took everything in my power to not just write “these two are just F*ing great!”, because they are. I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard as I did during my 48 hours I was with them in Dallas last month.

Your twenties on up are such a cool time to be a part of major events in friends’ lives, and you really get to see an amazing side of them. Family, hopes for the future, fears; engagements, showers, weddings, babies, it all has the capacity to pull you closer to people and impact those events in your own life.

My new experience for today was pretty cool. I got to share my “talent” with someone who I so greatly look up to and love. She is almost like a big sister to me (something I have never had). I adore her, admire her, get advice from her, and respect her ( and she always looks so damn great!).

The bride to be on the left and me. It was an awkward group shot at a table, so forgive our poses, but do you see what I mean! Eyebrows to kill for, fantastic hair. If I didn’t love her, I would want her dead 🙂

I still have a run and workout yet to get to tonight, but I will chalk this day up as a success.

Happy Tuesday, kids 🙂

30 Days of New: Day 8 (and Day 7… My bad)

I have just 3 words for you today: TOFU CONEY DOGS!!!!!!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is a new recipe; the brain child of my beloved (he is great in the kitchen). Yes, even as a vegan you can be a complete fatty 🙂

Yesterday, I pretty much slept all day. BUT, I did start season 2 of Mad Men in between my napping, so that counts for my day 7.

Back to today, I woke up a little cranky this morning. I am not sure exactly why, maybe because it is Monday, or the fact that I couldn’t seem to get out of bed to make it to the gym before work…or perhaps it was just because it was so gloomy out. It is also the 15 year anniversary of my mom’s passing today, but that has always propelled me to have a great day, so what was with the dark cloud today?

I headed off to work where I proceeded to throw myself into my endless to-do list, still not feeling much better. It was kind of cold in my office, it was pouring rain outside, and even though I was wearing my new necklace and really cute shoes, I couldn’t shake the blah feeling. My day didn’t turn around until I focused my energies elsewhere.

My friend, Beth, who I wrote about last week, had to put her dog down over the weekend. Her dog was just as wonderful as Beth is, and they had a bond just like Max and I do. I know how hard the loss is hitting her, so I took my lunch break to go get her some flowers and a treat from old town and left it with a card at her yoga studio where she has class tonight.

Doing something for others never fails to put me in a good mood (not that that is the driving motivation to do it), but just the hope of it putting a smile on her face turned my day right around. I am no longer grieving, and have been blessed with so many great people in the last 15 years, I need to put my energy into helping others get through their grief.

By the time I got out of work, the sun was shining and it was actually a pretty nice spring day. I took myself for a run, and I FINALLY felt like a runner again after weeks of feeling like I had never done this before.

If you live in a location where it is warm the majority of the time, you are lucky. But on the flip side of that, there is nothing like the first real spring day after a long winter. It felt so great to be running in the sunshine against a warm breeze. I couldn’t help but feel so happy and fortunate to be alive, have the life that I have, and to have had my amazing mother for the time that I did.

Thank you for reading my rambling, and I hope there is plenty that you feel thankful for tonight 🙂

30 Days of New: Day 6

I decided today would be a great day to take myself antiquing in Old Town since I am finally feeling a bit better after two days of being a bit under the weather, and because, let’s face it, antiquing is just so much fun!

Old Town Lansing is this ridiculously charming part of town with three antique stores, a number of boutiques, cool restaurants and a few coffee shops. Just an artsy, homey, eclectic place.

I love antiques. I love the thought of individual pieces with history, unique characteristics, and that rustic feel. I would do my entire house in antiques if I could, and would love to start collecting items now. Growing up, our house was filled with antiques that I adored, but only a few items have made it into my personal collection.

But where else could you find matching lamps like this:

Or see something like this:

After not finding what I was looking for at the antique stores, I wandered into my favorite store in the whole world: Grace. (I know it was an antiquing expedition, but I am an equal opportunity shopper).

In my eyes, this is the boutique of all boutiques. Classic bags, jewelry, timeless clothes: I fall in love every time I am in there. Everything is beautiful, and seems so one of a kind. I fell hard for this dress today:

Note the halo of amazing accessories that surround it. No, it’s not just you, there really is a heavenly glow.

Does this scream engagement party or rehearsal dinner? I know, I am not engaged yet, but there is no harm in planning ahead of time, especially when it comes to wardrobe preparation.

I then wandered over to the newest store to join Old Town: Bradly’s Home and Garden. One of the things I adore about shopping in Old Town is that you are generally greeted by the store owners themselves, and Brad was no exception. His store is located in a historic building right next to the old railroad tracks.

I should have taken this shot from further back so you can see the store front as well, but this is the side of Bradly’s Home and Garden.

I adored him and his space immediately. I ended up buying a fabulous necklace and raw honey from his husband’s farm:

Handmade necklace and Leo’s Honey. The woman on the front is the mother of the current owner. Most charming honey I have ever seen.

A small adventure, but an enjoyable one none the less. And, I purchased something new and discovered a great new store, and made a friend of the owner. What more could you ask for in a day?

I hope you all are having an enjoyable Saturday as well 🙂

30 Days of New: Day 4

“save some of yourself for me”

Today, I am forming a new outlook on a situation. Something that I am powerless to change and that is not giving me back what I am putting into it.

At what point do you need to just let go? Acceptance of the way things are and will remain is never an easy step. But, I have too many great things going on in my life to not eject the negatives.

People will only make you as miserable as you let them, and will only drag you down as far as you let them. They may try to project their insecurities on to you, or expect more from you than they are willing to give, but you have the right to set your boundaries and form the life that you want and deserve.

Today, I am taking a big step in doing just that.

30 Days of New: Day 3

Ok, so I hate “selfies” with a passion, but today requires one:

New glasses!!! I wasn’t going to just post a picture of the specs themselves. What good would that do?

I don’t wear them everyday, and don’t wear contacts, but they are good for night driving, watching movies, and reading the computer screen. Again, not an earth shattering “new”, but a new none the less 🙂 Always celebrate an update!

Last night, my wonderful friend Beth and I went for a 3 mile run, and it was awful! I am still just struggling with my asthma! It feels like I am running underwater or something and just cannot get my breath. I have been running for nearly 9 years and yet lately I have felt like this is the first time I have laced up sneakers to hit the pavement. I have a half marathon in 2 weeks that I am just going to work my way through. Not planning on any PRs this time.

It was great to just have girl time though. Beth is one of the greatest people I will probably ever meet in my life. Smart, beautiful, will always tell it to you straight, but so kind and insightful. She is the kind of person I feel that I could take any problem to and get great advice, comfort, criticism if needed, but still leave feeling loved, supported, and encouraged.

Beth is actually one of my boyfriend’s best friends. When we first started dating, he talked about his two best friends, Paul and Beth, who are married, all of the time. I finally was able to meet them about 2 months after we started dating, and I couldn’t have imagined 2 better people. Down to earth, welcoming, fun, kind, I loved them instantly. I have always said that you can tell a lot about a person by their friends, and that night I think was when I fell officially in love with Paul (my Paul, not his best friend Paul). With best friends like that, what could be wrong with the guy?

Seeing him interact with these people who are basically his family (and their adorable 3 year-old son), made me see him in a different light and appreciate him on a deeper level, and now, I consider them like my family too.

I am so blessed to have the people around me that I do. I don’t know what I have done to deserve them, but I hope it always stays that way 🙂

Happy Hump Day! Hump responsibly….

30 Days of New: Day 2

I am rocking through this Tuesday so far! Why you may ask? Because it is Tuesday and why not?

I started off my day with a massive juice:

If you haven’t juiced before, you should be… it is glorious!

Got to the office, and decided that after 7 months of working here, I should probably take over the filing cabinet that is in the corner of my office, which lead to an overhaul of my desk and book shelves (what can I say, I love organizing and cleaning).

This was pretty far into the project, so this is better than it had been at the beginning of the process. So this is my first “new” of the day. A new organizational system in my office.

This was followed by making an appointment with a new allergist. I haven’t been to an allergist in about 4 years because the last one I saw told me I needed to get rid of my cat… I told her I needed to get rid of my allergist…

But, now I think I may embark on the adventure of allergy shots. I have seasonal allergies that affect my asthma, so I am a perfect candidate (or so I have been told)… so that will count as another “new”.

Cheers to injectables!

30 Days of New: Day 1

I actually had 2 firsts today that are worth mentioning:

The first was conscious and involved a new restaurant in downtown Lansing (I never said they had to be earth shattering “firsts”). It was not particularly vegan friendly, but you can make nearly any restaurant vegan friendly if you think outside the box. But it has been completely redone from its previous name and ownership, and has a jazzy but casual feel inside. Lansing (and Michigan in general) needs new life breathed into it, so places like this really help.

The second was not a conscious decision to count as a first today, but it was a big step for me. I am not a passive person, but sometimes I avoid being assertive to dodge a confrontation. Today, I did not do that, and it felt damn good.

I hope some of you guys had a triumphant or enjoyable new experience today! Feel free to share!

Washington Sq. in downtown Lansing where the restaurant is located.

A Weekend in Review

I hate the saying, but I have a case of the Mondays today. I am not one to generally “boo hoo” for too long, but I don’t see an end to this dark cloud. I am hoping a good workout/run tonight will snap me out of it.

First off: My asthma has been terrible lately. I find myself needing my inhaler more and more and struggling through every run…and I’m talking, can barely make it through a mile and a half. My training plan has me doing 12 this weekend (not to mention a half marathon in 2 weeks). That should be awesome considering I can’t keep my breath while walking the dog these past 2 weeks.

For non-asthma sufferers, it is awful. You feel like your air intake doesn’t make it any further into your body than your throat. I can practically feel it stop just at my sternum. I am doing some holistic remedies research, and may have to make a visit to my doctor, we shall see.

Easter wasn’t fabulous. Though I did spend the day partaking in one of my favorite past-times; spring cleaning. But not even my lady-wood for a completely re-organized kitchen and bathed dog could pull me out of my funk.

Again, I am sure it has everything to do with the state of my running right now. One good run and I will be back to my old self. But part of me thinks that my current demons go a little deeper than that. I think it has a lot to do with need for a change of scenery. I am way over due.

Happy Monday. I hope the Easter Bunny was good to you all!

The Beautifully-Flawed Project

I just got back from a great training run with my running partner, and it was one of those runs that was more like therapy than cardio.

My running partner is gorgeous, like straight out of Victoria’s Secret, people gawk at her everywhere we go, tall, thin, and beautiful. And she is SMART! An encyclopedia of knowledge, direct and well-spoken when she wants to be, and just all around a great person. To me, looking at her, I think, “what could be wrong?”.

In her eyes, or so she tells me, I have it all together, and what could possibly be wrong with me and my life?

Yet, there we are, striding through the dark, crisp air, admitting our biggest flaws, things we want to fix, physically, but mostly more than that. Personality traits, genetic coding and chemical compositions that are beyond our control. As I was talking her through mine, telling her how abnormal it must seem, she said, “not at all! It is part of what makes you you, and that is beautiful whether it is normal or not. You admit it, you aren’t a victim to it, and you can take it as a challenge to deal with it.”

It just made sense, and it just clicked. It is a random flaw and something that I have to deal with, but it is a beautiful flaw that I can use to challenge myself. So we have accepted the challenge together to work with our flaws and not let them hold us back.

It is the beautifully-flawed project (not outwardly named, it just came to me upon reflecting on our run). I feel as though this marathon training is going to be very good for us both.

Accept your flaws, whatever they may be. And if it something that challenges you, then graciously meet that challenge head on. I promise, you will win.

Hope this finds you all well.

Adventures of S

Maybe life can be a collection of experiences that make you smile