And now....the final look:
5 Months Later…
4 years ago
Monday, April 30, 2012
Lexi's Spot
Several months ago I was looking on Pinterest & found a super cute idea for a pet nook. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to do something like it for Lexi. The dog bed that I bought her when she turned a year old has been sewn & stitched so many times I've lost count; I never wanted to get rid of it because I loved that it was pink & 100% cotton instead of those microfiber dog beds that cause a lot of static & extra matting in dogs with lots of hair. If you're on Facebook you were able to see this photo over the weekend:
This was Lexi's spot before.
I got lucky over the weekend & found this super cute bed at Home Goods, which is also 100% cotton; the blankie she's had since she was a puppy.
I also found this poodle picture that I thought was so cute. As you can see the poodle is made up of words, i.e.
love my dog; every dog has it's day; best friend, walk in the park, etc. Since Lexi is half maltese & half poodle I thought it was very fitting. =)
And now....the final look:
This is her "Thanks, Mom! I love my new spot" face.
And now....the final look:
Sunday, April 29, 2012
A Winery Wedding
Earlier this month Dan & I were invited to his co-worker's wedding at Loudoun Valley Vineyards. I had never been to a wedding at winery, but thought it was beautiful. The view was gorgeous & I loved the big white tent that was set up for the reception. Dan even commented that we should renew our vows on our 10 anniversary & plan it at a winery. I thought it was a great idea & very romantic, but my response was "let's wait until that time comes & see if we havethe money to pull it off."
Yes, I have a very sweet husband. To the left is a photo of the newlyweds & I love how this picture turned out - especially the star shaped light in the corner.
Dan & I were lucky enough to be seated with some of our friends & the funniest people at the wedding. We all really enjoyed ourselves & just couldn't stop laughing the entire night.
Todd & Kathy
Patrick & Allison
Congrats to the happy couple!!!!
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Easter
Happy, Happy Easter.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Half Marathon Recap
I am so far behind on posts it’s not even funny; planning on playing catch up next week so I can get back on track – sorry for the delay! Things have been so busy lately. So – as you know, Dan & I ran in the Virginia Beach Half Marathon on March 18th. During the last week of my training program, I was getting pretty nervous for the race. I’m sure for regular marathoners 13.1 doesn’t seem like a long distance but it was freakin’ far to me! I’ve never really considered myself a long distance runner; I don’t enjoy every single minute of it but there are times during my runs where I’ve reached that comfortable stage, I begin to enjoy myself. I get super excited when I’ve shortened my time or when I’ve ran farther than I have ever ran before. My last long run was the weekend before the half marathon & it was a 10 miler; I was excited & nervous about it. Around mile 8.5 is when I started to get mentally exhausted. It’s true what they say about “body over mind” because my mind was telling me to stop & take a break, but my body didn’t feel like it reached a point where I needed to stop. It’s strange how that works – I even reached a point where I told myself to “shut up” out loud....yes, that crosses over into the crazy category.
The day before the race we left our house around late morning & when we got down to Virginia Beach we went straight over to the Expo center to pick up our race packets:
Dan humoring me.
The weather wasn’t as nice as we had originally planned for so while we were at the Expo we purchased a pair of running capri pants for me & a running jacket for Dan. Thank goodness they sold running gear there because we would’ve frozen our buns off on the morning of the race.
The half marathon running course.
We then made our way to our hotel, which was about 10-12 miles from where the actual race started. We regretted staying so far away because the hotels that were beach front would’ve been much more fun. We stalked up on some pasta at Olive Garden for dinner the night before & went to bed early since we had to leave our hotel by 5:45 the next morning. On the morning of the race we parked at what we thought was a relatively close parking lot, but once we started walking & following other racers to the starting area we realized we were totally wrong. We probably walked a little over a mile to get to the actual start line. The racers were divided into 4 corrals & for some reason Dan was in corral 1 while I was in corral 4 – when I realized this I was slightly offended automatically thinking that I was in the last corral because my pace was slow. Dan wanted to start the race together so he actually stayed back in corral 4 with me. We gave each other a good luck kiss just before we crossed the starting line & ran at our own paces. I thought the race was pretty entertaining since there were so many people dressed up in St. Patty’s Day gear. I counted 4 men dressed in leprechaun outfits & there were lots of people wearing green, large beads around their necks, goofy hats, head bands with the bouncy four leaf clovers attached to the antennas & green tu-tus...I could go on forever.
A few great things about the race course was that every few miles they had DJ’s playing at the mile markers where several groups of people would be lined up passing out water, energy gel packets, etc. You would be surrounded by loud music & cheering - I thought that was so fun. Another thing that I liked was how your name was printed on your running bib that also held your number. There were several people throughout the race course that yell encouraging comments & also say your name, such as, “Looking good, Danielle!” “Keep up the good work, Danielle!” “Danielle! Looking strong!” The first time I heard my name I didn’t quite understand how that person knew me, but then I realized that my name was on the front of my jacket. =)
Throughout the race I felt good & kept my pace consistent UNTIL I reached mile 11. I basically hit a wall & had to slow way down; thankfully, I saved my energy gel until I really needed it & once that kicked in I got my second wind - mile 12 & 13 were much closer to the pace that I kept throughout.
Our Race Results:
Dan: Time: 1:56:02; Pace: 8:55
Me: Time: 2:05:38; Pace: 9:35
Once I crossed the finish line I was directed to several people that handed me my free goodies: (1) a completion medal, (2) a sweatshirt, (3) a cookie, (4) a Gatorade, (5), a banana, (6) a bag of pretzels & (7) a hat. By the time I reached the middle of the boardwalk I had so much stuff in my hands I could barely move. After finally finding Dan on the beach we took a few photos & congratulated each other:
We did it!!
After spending some time in the food/music tent on the beach, we decided to make our way back to the hotel in order to shower & nap. Afterwards we went to a restaurant just off the beach & had a fantastic seafood dinner.
Our long weekend was a lot of fun & even though I was completely exhausted after the race, I was so excited to share the experience with Dan. We have even talked about running in the race next year, although Dan mentioned running the full marathon instead of the half. Yikes! We shall see...
The day before the race we left our house around late morning & when we got down to Virginia Beach we went straight over to the Expo center to pick up our race packets:
The weather wasn’t as nice as we had originally planned for so while we were at the Expo we purchased a pair of running capri pants for me & a running jacket for Dan. Thank goodness they sold running gear there because we would’ve frozen our buns off on the morning of the race.
We then made our way to our hotel, which was about 10-12 miles from where the actual race started. We regretted staying so far away because the hotels that were beach front would’ve been much more fun. We stalked up on some pasta at Olive Garden for dinner the night before & went to bed early since we had to leave our hotel by 5:45 the next morning. On the morning of the race we parked at what we thought was a relatively close parking lot, but once we started walking & following other racers to the starting area we realized we were totally wrong. We probably walked a little over a mile to get to the actual start line. The racers were divided into 4 corrals & for some reason Dan was in corral 1 while I was in corral 4 – when I realized this I was slightly offended automatically thinking that I was in the last corral because my pace was slow. Dan wanted to start the race together so he actually stayed back in corral 4 with me. We gave each other a good luck kiss just before we crossed the starting line & ran at our own paces. I thought the race was pretty entertaining since there were so many people dressed up in St. Patty’s Day gear. I counted 4 men dressed in leprechaun outfits & there were lots of people wearing green, large beads around their necks, goofy hats, head bands with the bouncy four leaf clovers attached to the antennas & green tu-tus...I could go on forever.
A few great things about the race course was that every few miles they had DJ’s playing at the mile markers where several groups of people would be lined up passing out water, energy gel packets, etc. You would be surrounded by loud music & cheering - I thought that was so fun. Another thing that I liked was how your name was printed on your running bib that also held your number. There were several people throughout the race course that yell encouraging comments & also say your name, such as, “Looking good, Danielle!” “Keep up the good work, Danielle!” “Danielle! Looking strong!” The first time I heard my name I didn’t quite understand how that person knew me, but then I realized that my name was on the front of my jacket. =)
Throughout the race I felt good & kept my pace consistent UNTIL I reached mile 11. I basically hit a wall & had to slow way down; thankfully, I saved my energy gel until I really needed it & once that kicked in I got my second wind - mile 12 & 13 were much closer to the pace that I kept throughout.
Our Race Results:
Dan: Time: 1:56:02; Pace: 8:55
Me: Time: 2:05:38; Pace: 9:35
Once I crossed the finish line I was directed to several people that handed me my free goodies: (1) a completion medal, (2) a sweatshirt, (3) a cookie, (4) a Gatorade, (5), a banana, (6) a bag of pretzels & (7) a hat. By the time I reached the middle of the boardwalk I had so much stuff in my hands I could barely move. After finally finding Dan on the beach we took a few photos & congratulated each other:
After spending some time in the food/music tent on the beach, we decided to make our way back to the hotel in order to shower & nap. Afterwards we went to a restaurant just off the beach & had a fantastic seafood dinner.
Our long weekend was a lot of fun & even though I was completely exhausted after the race, I was so excited to share the experience with Dan. We have even talked about running in the race next year, although Dan mentioned running the full marathon instead of the half. Yikes! We shall see...
Monday, April 2, 2012
Chit Chat
The other night Dan came home to me sitting on the couch icing my ankle. He asked me what happened & I told him that I had tweaked my ankle at work. He said, "Babe, what shoes were you wearing? Don't tell me they were high heels." I gave him a look like that's a stupid question & held up the pair that I had worn that day: 
Leopard peep toe pumps by BCBG Paris.
He instantly raised his voice & said, "If you can't walk right in those things things I'm going to burn every single pair that's in your closet, that way you won't be able to hurt yourself anymore. I don't understand why you wear those things anyway."
By this time I started to get defensive because I can't just let him diss my shoes like that. I begin to recite all of my reasoning why women wear heels, holding up each one of my fingers while I run them off:
1. They make our butt look smaller;
2. They make our legs look more muscular;
3. They add extra height for those of us that are short;
4. They make our legs look longer;
5. They add confidence;
6. They're pretty;
7. They allow us to be creative;
8. We can show off our personal style;
9. They make us feel powerful; and
10. They make us feel sexy.
During this list I was getting the blank, wide-eyed stare from him - almost to say "shoes do all of that???"
That should keep him quiet for a while. =)
Leopard peep toe pumps by BCBG Paris. He instantly raised his voice & said, "If you can't walk right in those things things I'm going to burn every single pair that's in your closet, that way you won't be able to hurt yourself anymore. I don't understand why you wear those things anyway."
By this time I started to get defensive because I can't just let him diss my shoes like that. I begin to recite all of my reasoning why women wear heels, holding up each one of my fingers while I run them off:
1. They make our butt look smaller;
2. They make our legs look more muscular;
3. They add extra height for those of us that are short;
4. They make our legs look longer;
5. They add confidence;
6. They're pretty;
7. They allow us to be creative;
8. We can show off our personal style;
9. They make us feel powerful; and
10. They make us feel sexy.
During this list I was getting the blank, wide-eyed stare from him - almost to say "shoes do all of that???"
That should keep him quiet for a while. =)
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Shoe of the Month ~ April
Now that we've been getting 70 & some times 80 degree weather more often, I thought it would be nice to pick a flat sandal for the shoe of the month. I also decided to go with my favorite celebrity again - yes, Jessica Simpson. By the way, are her doctors sure she's not having twins?!?! Her belly looks like it's grown twice it's size the past 2 months!
April's shoe:
The Jumba by Jessica Simpson. Click here for further details.
The ultra-violet color of this sandal is definitely my favorite & it does come in other colors. The fabric is soft suede & the bow is just too cute. I can totally see wearing these with a cute neutral summer dress, a thin green belt with gold accessories. Of course the toes would have a cute pedicure. :o)
April's shoe:
The Jumba by Jessica Simpson. Click here for further details. The ultra-violet color of this sandal is definitely my favorite & it does come in other colors. The fabric is soft suede & the bow is just too cute. I can totally see wearing these with a cute neutral summer dress, a thin green belt with gold accessories. Of course the toes would have a cute pedicure. :o)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
