Food, Fitness, Fashion

Since we started The NYE Challenge, I have not touched any sweets. I thought I’d be freaking out by now. The last time I gave up candy, the first two weeks were the worst. In exchange, I’ve had these three foods every day:

Much healthier options. By the way, that Oikos key lime Greek yogurt is fantastic. If I put it in a pie crust, you’d be just as satisfied as eating key lime pie.

PS: The current score is Boding: 0,  Kaye: 2, Christina: 1, Carter: 2.

In addition to running and strength training, I’ve been planking like a crazy woman.

Forearm planks. (2 min each, 8-10x a day)

Side planks.

Kissing planks.

Flying planks. Just kidding, I look like an idiot.

While I’ve not been baking, I’ve been shopping. Great for my stomach, horrible for my budget. In hopes that at least one will fit me, I bought four potential NYE dresses today.

What’s your favorite replacement for sweets?

Do you like doing planks? Anything’s better than burpees, I suppose.

Which NYE dress do you like the most?

What I’m Loving Wednesday 11.7.12

1. When my old roommate moved out, she sold her dining room table. Until I replace it, the dining room is empty. It has become the “Activity Room,” aka the place I do handstands.

In this space, we have enough room to exercise, blog, do arts & crafts, have dance parties, or maybe even play spin the bottle.

2. I was browsing through the Juvenile section of the library this week and stumbled upon this gem:

What kind of message are we trying to send our adolescent girls? Not all men are dogs! Just half of them. ;)

3. I used to never (ever!) drink Red Bull. Then I met Danielle, a Red Bull rep and enthusiast. Since then, I've learned the magic of having Red Bull wings from drinking RBVs. They make for incredible dance sessions. Today Danielle informed me that the sugar in red bull is produced from a sugar beet. No wonder why I love the drink!

4. If any of you were wondering if I had commitment issues, you are correct. I can’t even keep a cart for more than one aisle.

5. I secretly want to decorate the apartment like this for the holidays:

I call it “Pastels meet Winter Wonderland.” All of that glitz was at Marshall’s if you’re interested in glamming out your home, too.

6. Speaking of glamorous, I found this pretty nail polish in the clearance bin at Target. L’Oreal’s “Brit Invasion.”

7. Once a fan of hipsters, always a fan of hipsters.

Is that not great? It’s a totally different kind of hipster, but still, the look of pure joy on my face cracks me up. It is the exact same face I make after a shot of tequila, haha!!

I want to thank each and every one of you who commented on yesterday’s post about my half marathon training. You are all so sweet and I will remember that as I cross the finish line. Big hugs!

What I’m Loving Wednesday 10.17.12

1. Dabo Swinney was outside the cafeteria at Blackbaud. I grabbed his bicep.

Just kidding, that’s a cardboard cutout. But I did grab his bicep.

2. Boding knows me too well. In the past 24 hours I have burned myself  3 times on a hot pan/the oven, ran smack dab into a bush, and shut my foot in the car door. I need to slow down.

3. This drink I had at The Macintosh last weekend. The Mex-ital Fizz: Campari, orange juice, elderflower, habanero, prosecco, Espolon rinse. Those bartenders are fantastic but should know by now that I am too clumsy for a martini glass.

4. While looking for decorations in Homegoods, I came across a display of Jewish goodies. Seriously, why was all this on sale?

I regret not buying um, all of it. My favorite part was their version of Candy Land – Kosherland. HA!

5. My breakfast for the past few days has been: 2 Van’s waffles topped with pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and maple syrup. Try this!

6. Amanda is my most Emoji-savvy friend. Look at her skills!

7. Some things never change.

I can’t stop laughing at that. 25 years later and I’m still posing. Will I be doing this with my cane at 80? You bet.

XO

What I’m Loving Wednesday

1. My friend Steven and I went back to Boone Hall Farms for more strawberry picking. It was kind of funny to see how differently we picked. He stayed in a small area, exhausting his resources, while I walked up and down many different rows. I wonder if this has to do with being male vs. female or being focused vs. unfocused. What do you think? Either way, I caught a ladybug while picking. They’re good luck!

2. Since its opening two weeks ago, I’ve been to Sesame twice. I’m in love! I went with Annabel last weekend, and we split a few different things. The Southwestern Salad  was really fresh, but the dressing made it.

Romaine, chargrilled chicken, roasted corn, black beans, tomato,  and grated cheddar with a chipotle vinaigrette:

We also shared sliders.

• Italian – blue cheese and fresh basil
• Southwestern – guacamole, chipotle sour cream
• Memphis – housemade peanut butter, bacon & banana slices

The Italian was my favorite. The Southwestern was okay. The Memphis was a dessert burger. Different, very different. So far, the Napa Valley (fig & bacon jam, blue cheese, red wine reduction) is my favorite.

3. Pure Barre is kicking my behind and I love it. Since April 1, I’ve completed 15 classes. But I have a confession. Before PB, I never worked on my abs. In each class, we do at least 7 minutes of ab work. 7 minutes x 6 classes per week = 42 minutes of abs that I wasn’t doing before. I see a change!! It’s awesome. PB LOVE!

4. I was laughing hysterically alone in my kitchen while making this.

Yes, that is Zac Efron. Yes, it appears that we are about to kiss. I LOVE IT. Not only is it my new desktop background, but it’s also my facebook profile picture. I just wish I could send it to him so he could see how cute we are together. Crazy?

5. My favorite tweet today:

Who knew this existed? I did not.

Runner up:

Every girl on planet earth can relate to this.

What are your favorite burger toppings?

What body part is your least favorite to work on?

Who is your celebrity crush?

Saturday Survey

1. Are you more of a morning, afternoon, or night person?
I’m definitely a night person and always have been. Since I was a child, I loved staying up late. Going to sleep is such a chore to me…but sleeping in? Oh, I love that.

2. What is your favorite book / magazine?
Favorite books:

• any and all cookbooks
• The Secret Garden
• Speak
• The Lost Wife
• The Twilight Saga

Magazines:

3. What is your favorite thing in your closet?
All of my dresses. I may or may not have 59 dresses in my closet and 1 en route from Piperlime. Yeah. If anyone needs to borrow one, come over.

4. What are your top 5 favorite music artists?

1. Jem
2. Mute Math
3. Radiohead
4. Sia
5. Coldplay

5. What are your top 5 favorite movies?

1. American Beauty
2. Grandma’s Boy
3. Love Actually
4. The Little Mermaid
5. Man on Fire

6. What is your favorite holiday and why?
Halloween! For sure! I also love Easter for the overload of pastels and candy.

7. Do you have any weird phobias?
Nah. I don’t like random people touching me or standing too close to me, but that’s it.

8. What is your most embarrassing moment?
I have embarrassing moments daily. Nothing really fazes me anymore.

 9. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
Hawaii, probably. But for some reason, I see myself ending up in Texas. Random.

10. What is your favorite food?
Chocolate chip cookies.

And pickles.

11. What is your weirdest injury?
Weirdest? Um, here’s a story. Before one of my best friend’s bachelorette parties, a bunch of girls and I were getting ready in a small room. While I was flat ironing my hair, one of the girls needed me to move over. I quickly grabbed the flat iron, but instead of putting the flat iron down  (there was no room), I quickly put it in between my legs, forgetting that it was ON. On both of my inner thighs I have a 2 inch scar from where the flat iron burned me. It was awful.

 12. What is your favorite store to shop at?
Target!! I could spend hours in that playground. 

 13. If someone visited your city/town, where would you take them?

• The Battery
• Upper King all the way to lower King, then Broad St.
• Rainbow Row
• Marion Square
• Old City Market
• Arthur Ravenel Bridge
• College of Charleston campus

Don’t you want to visit me now?!

14. What would your ideal day look like?
Sleep in (obviously), go for an outdoor/bridge run, go pick up coffee, lunch with friends, shopping downtown, wine tasting outside, dinner downtown, bar hop later…then TRIO!

15. Where do you want to be and what do you want to be doing in 5 years?
I WILL BE 32, but hopefully still acting like this.

(No, I’ll never answer that question seriously.) What else would you expect from me?

XO!