My events: hospital mini-placement, lab, class, client (photo taken post-class)

Jenna’s outfit:

Sweater and tights: Gap

Cami and skirt: Old Navy

Boots: Rocket Dog

Belt: Forever 21

Necklace: Mom’s Day craft fair

———

My outfit:

Grey v-neck tee + white tank: Old Navy (I think the shirt was tucked in properly for most of the day?)

Black, pleated, pocketed skirt: Banana Republic

Belt: Forever 21

Tights: Hue via Nordstrom (?)

Boots: Aldo

Celtic knot necklace: Souvenir from Scotland

Glasses: Hugo Boss via Costco

Christmas music before Thanksgiving?

Absolutely not.

THE red cups in early November?

PURE JOY.

Event: Girls’ night of dinner and beers at Murphy’s

Katherine’s Outfit:

Dress: Old Navy

Boots: Steve Madden

Necklace: Zoe Chicco via Stitch

Watch: Skagen

My Outfit:

Dress: Target

Boots: Aldo

Belt: Forever 21

Plaid scarf: Gap

Silver earrings: Target

Tights: Hue via Nordstrom (?)

Jeff and me right after the news: O FOR OBAMA!

1 year ago I watched Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart tear up as a very important announcement was made: Barack Obama, President-Elect. Minutes later, out on Green Street, students were honking their horns, strangers were high-fiving in the streets, a bar went dead silent as the President-elect gave his speech. I still firmly believe that the American people, including myself, made a very good decision on 11/04/08. Happy Anniversary, President Obama!

Random note: I’m going to that same bar for dinner tonight, though those plans were not made with this in mind. IT’S LIKE FATE.

Delicious post-race hash browns and pumpkin pancakes

Courier Cafe, Urbana, IL

November 1st, 2009

I bought a dress for Carly’s upcoming nuptials some time ago (40% off sale, baby!), but now of course am not loving my choice. Not sure it’s flattering, doesn’t have the open or v-neckline that usually looks best on me. And NOW of course The Limited has 3+ dresses I would love to own. Maybe they’d be hideous in real life (on me), but right now the lust is full-blown. Boooo.

Maybe for Chris’s December nuptials, but really…I should make do with what I have. Admittedly, with the weight loss, I can justify some new purchases (when you’ve lost 20 pounds, having to wear a 2-sizes-too-big sack is just mean), but “free shipping” probably isn’t enough for me to click “CHECK OUT”. ‘Til the next sale, Limited. I’ll miss you.

about to cross the finish line!

I was holding off writing this post until finding out my official race time, but since apppppparently it’s a slow process, I’ll give you my estimate: 29:00. I tried to push myself at the end when I saw it was 28:50something, but I think it was too late to sneeeeeak in under 29.

Bottom line: YAY for the Rattlesnake Master 5K. Sarah, Katie, and I wore our t-shirts proudly and posed for quite a few photos. Ashley came bearing an awesome “Go Elena! You Rock!” sign (made my heart happy), and my mom served as photographer and cheerleader. Adam called right before the race, and Arwen also texted me a good luck high-five. The weather was beautiful, the route incredibly scenic, and the trail-run portion at the end made me feel all badass (Inner monologue: Wow. This trail is like 2 feet—-TREE ROOT, JUMP!—-wide! Whoa slippery. Oh, mud. Creep along the edges—TREE ROOTS—try to keep running. THIS IS MAKING ME SLOW. EWW GOOEY. OOH…GRASS. GO FAST AGAIN, GO, GO!). I failed at setting up my

Katie, Sarah, Me, Ashley, Patty before the start

watch and my iPod correctly at the start, but I do know my second mile was done in 9:05, which I would guess was my fastest one. I definitely felt more tired during the last mile, but overall it just felt good. We all just ran at our own paces this time, but I used the sight of Patty and Katie in front of me to keep me going at what I hoped was a good pace. I was very happy to finish well below the 30-minute mark…1 minute 25 second improvement over last time!

My mom treated us all to brunch at Courier Cafe after we finished. It was obviously delicious (Hi, pumpkin pancakes. Hey there, hashbrowns. Ooh, cinnamon buttercream coffee).

Overall, a good weekend. Overindulgence + physical fitness make for a decent combination. Today I ran 2.3 miles (thanks, mapmyrun.com), stopped to do 2 lab hours, and sprinted the .5 miles home. Overall I think I’m going to start doing more incline-walking at the gym and not worry about distance/speed as much…until the next 5K pops up, of course!

Event: Celebrating Halloween with beer and classmates

My outfit:

Black tank top: H&M

Pinstriped vest: Old Navy (gift from Anna)

Plaid skirt: KOHL’S (purchased for previous “goth” costume, 2007)

Studded belt and fishnets: Forever 21

Studded choker, nose ring: Claire’s/Icing

Black, zippered boots: Aldo

Wig: Walmart

(Daily) Yellow purse: Target

Ashley’s outfit:

Shirt: Derek Heart

Leggings: Xhilaration

Boots: Bass

Earrings: Claire’s

Batgirl emblem and yellow belt: made by me last year, courtesy of JoAnn Fabrics

Yellow socks: Dick’s Sporting Goods (?)

This post over at yes and yes hit the spot this morning.

And here’s one that made me think last week.

It’s always easier said than done: to be confident, love your body the way it is, get over what feel like permanent self-esteem issues. But I think every small step helps.

Apparently I was craving adventure during my last trip to Meijer, because I tossed a SPAGHETTI SQUASH into my cart. Perhaps you make spaghetti squash all the time and are its bosom buddy, but honestly I didn’t even know what one looked like before last week so it felt like an exciting mission! I was inspired by Tina of Carrots ‘N’ Cakes’ how-to post (and the pesto/artichoke dish that followed). If you’re interested, check out her site—the directions were perfect.

I struggled a bit just to halve the squash, but luckily my mom had warned me this might be a bit tricky. Everything else was easy. It’s just crazy to see how much “spaghetti” comes out of this one squash! I kept thinking it was done for and…nope…here comes another portion’s worth.

I went for pesto + artichoke hearts for tonight’s dinner, but I think I might mix some leftovers with marinara + steamed asparagus tomorrow. Nothing will ever replace pasta for me, but this was a nice stand-in (and, yes, definitely healthier). If you have any spaghetti squash recipes, I’d love to hear ‘em.