Charmer.

For my mom's 50th birthday (which was, like, yesterday... obv.), my brother, my dad and I chipped in and got her a beautiful charm bracelet with 4 or 5 charms to start it off. Over the years we've gotten her more charms to add. I love searching for the perfect charm and watching the bracelet grow.

My MIL has had a charm bracelet since she was a tiny, tiny baby. There is literally no room to add anymore charms. It's so neat to look at all the charms and hear the stories of where they came from... it tells her life story, in a way.

Even though I admire these bracelets on others, I never thought I'd be into them (although I did jump on the Italian charm bracelet craze of 2004 for a hot minute) until my boss got me a Pandora charm bracelet for my 30th birthday this summer.

She started me off with the rope bracelet and this adorable stiletto charm. Does she know me or does she know me?

This morning I walked into my office to find this sitting on my desk... a thank you from my boss for basically running the company while she's been out on maternity leave. Made my morning. I heart her.

I know the pictures suck (guess Pandora doesn't want people like me ripping images off of their site).

If you couldn't tell, it's a tiny little house! Love. Perfect for a real estate agent, no?


I'm now officially addicted to Pandora. I feel like the bracelets are a bit more trendy than traditional charm bracelets and we know I'm all about image and trends ;)

While scouring the Pandora site, I came across a few more charms that are pretty great. Note the lack of color. I'm all about simplicity with this bracelet... let's keep it all silver. I don't want a wrist full of hot pink, green or yellow. God forbid the colors compete with my everyday attire of, um, all black.


Anyway.




Daisy. 'Cause I love daisies. Especially the fall colored ones currently on my mantel.








The letter P. 'Cause, you know, my last names starts with one.











I think this is called the "Forget me Knot". Whatev. I just like it.

In an effort to collect a few more of these lovelies, I'm openly accepting Christmas gifts. Starting now. ha

The incredible shrinking Carolyn

So. Saturday marked the end of another session of Boot Camp. Insert sad face here. Unless you're my husband who is overjoyed for it to be over. I guess he likes it when I'm actually awake when he gets home from work, as opposed to being sound asleep thanks to my little friend, Ambien, in preparation for my 4:30am wake up calls. Can't complain... it's nice to be wanted.

Anyway. At Boot Camp, before our 30 minute run and relay workout, we were measured. Gotta tell ya... I was a bit nervous this time. My eating has been less than stellar over the past few weeks. I was really starting to miss wine. And carbs.

In true Carolyn fashion, however, I ate like a champ the day before and limited my sodium intake to, you know, lessen the belly bloat on measurement day.

And guess what?

It worked!

Or maybe it really was all the hard work I put into my workouts. Go figure.

Onto the results:

I'll start from way back in July when I first posted my accomplishments. Just because I know you want the refresher. Not at all because I like to gloat. ha

(Numbers are from 6/19/10, 7/29/10 and 10/23/10)

weight: 145 - 138.5 - 132.5
bicep: 11.25" - 10.5" - 10.25" (Guns, baby!)
chest: 36.75" - 36" - 35" (This is starting to scare me... I'm out of back fat so it means that yes, my boobs are shrinking. Sorry husband.)
waist: 30" - 28.5" - 27.5" (I seriously uttered a "nuht uh" when she read that measurement. The lack of sodium the day before must've worked wonders. I don't really think this is accurate on a daily basis, but whatever.)
hips: 39" - 37.25" - 36" (woo hoo!!)
thigh: 21" - 20" - 20" (No change. Poo. Although my thighs are seriously solid so I guess I can't complain.)

So as you can see, my body is still working it's magic and ridding itself of unsightly fat. When I first started, my goal weight was 132. But now that I'm so freaking close, I'm pushing for 130. And when I get there, I'm sure I'll want to go further because OH MY GOD, haven't seen the 120s since my teens!!

And now for some more oh-so-lovely "after" pics.


Honestly though, I think I look quite bloated in these pics. Must've been a bad sodium day. I feel like my stomach looks flatter than that in real life.



And shut up. Cameras DO lie.











Still have a slight belly bulge. Judging from my mother though, I don't think I'll ever rid of it. She's taller and proportionately thinner than I am and has had one her entire life.


Ooh, but look! Or don't, if you happen to be my brother reading this. I have (kind of) an ass! All of those walking lunges are paying off!


Be gone, flat-ass syndrome, be gone!

30th Birthday Extravaganza - 80's Style

So I realize I'm a little late with this post. Sue me.

Remember the brief mention of my 30th bday bash? Way back here? You know, when I had just turned 30? Now that I'm older and wiser, at the ripe age of 30 1/4, I figured it was time to post the details.

Like previously noted, the Husband began planning my 30th birthday party on the day of my 29th birthday. And seriously, that year's worth of planning did not disappoint. He figured that since I was born in 1980 and have a slight (and by slight, I mean ridiculously huge) obsession with 80's music, an 80's themed costume party would be perfect. Good thinking, Husband, good thinking.

He let me in on the theme a few months before the big day so I would have time to find appropriate attire.

Let's think back to the 80's for a moment, shall we? I'd say the thing that comes to mind for most is BIG hair. Unfortunately, big hair is something I severely lack. If you're in need of pin-straight, fine, lifeless hair, however, I'm your girl. (Although I did manage to rock the spiral perm and feathered bang look in 1990... thank you, Aqua Net.) So on that note, I came up with a costume to cover the opposite-of-80's-type-hair with a hat! Oh, how I love hats. And guess which totally tubular 80's popstar was a huge fan of the hat?

That's right, "it's electric!", it's the wholesome Debbie Gibson.

Now for the costume. Lucky for me, this handy-dandy thing called Google had just what I needed. Inspiration pic below popped up on the first search for "Debbie Gibson style".

Radical, dude!

How'd I do?

Onto the party.

This gnarly bash was well thought out by my darling husband. Or should I say Rico Tubbs?

Rico, I mean husband, even put together an 80's candy bar. Complete with all the 80's staples... candy dots, PopRocks, Pixy Sticks, Ring Pops, WarHeads, AirHeads and more. It was definitely a hit.

He hired a DJ to play nothing but 80's tunes and even coordinated with our photographer to have a photobooth set up to document the night.

Also in attendance:

Fire Marshall Bill and his Cabbage Patch Kids

Punky Brewster

Lots of Big Hair, Day-Glo and 80's Prom Queens

Too-Cool-For-School Studs

Didn't everyone look awesome? I was amazed at some of the costumes our guests came up with. Husband even had prizes for best costume.

So. My 30th birthday party was such an unbelievable, unforgettable night. We danced our butts off, belted out Madonna and Journey, ate, drank and had a fantastic time.

And then they made me blow out 30 candles. Good thing I didn't catch fire ;)

The end.

Honeymoon Redo

First of all, I realized yesterday that I never did a honeymoon post. Shame on me. Seeing that it was hands-down THE best vacation I've ever been on, I probably should do a post sometime.

However, that time is not now... would take way too long and I am far too lazy.

On with my original thought...

Once again, thanks to my husband's awesomeness and the hard work of him, his parents and employees, we get to go back to Napa and relive the amazing experience we had on our honeymoon!! And coincidentally we'll be going over the weekend of our first anniversary. Perfect, no?

Yono's, the fine dining side of dp: An American Brasserie, was recognized with not one, not two, but three awards from Sante Magazine. Yono's was named the 2010 regional winner for Culinary Hospitality, Wine Hospitality and Spirits Hospitality. Complete list here.

I'm so proud of my husband and in-laws. The restaurants are truly fantastic and it's nice to see that fact recognized by someone else. 'Cause you know, I'm probably just a little biased ;)

Congrats husband... SO excited that we'll be seeing this same view in just a few short weeks!!

Pack a bag and let's go...

...is basically what the husband said to me a couple of weeks ago. I believe it was a Thursday when he told me that he was whisking me away for an overnight on Sunday. He wouldn't spill the details. All he would give me was that I needed to dress casually on Sunday, wearing shoes I can walk in (this was of great importance, as I have a serious love of heels) and bring something fancier for dinner. He also said we were going someplace near water, which, being in upstate NY could've meant a number of places. "Oh, and don't worry about work the next day because I called your boss and said you'd be late." Too bad he can't do that everyday ;)

Anyway. Sunday rolls around and off we go. We start heading north and ideas start popping into my head. First stop: The Chocolate Mill in Glens Falls for brunch.

Let's stop right here for a moment, shall we? See this picture below?

Does. Not. Do. Justice. to the deliciousness that were these apple-filled "pancakes". I also had the most perfect white hot chocolate. Where's the picture? Nope, didn't get one... I was far too busy guzzling it to stop and snap a pic. And aside from the fantastic meals this place offers, they make gourmet chocolates, selling for something ridiculous like $35/lb. We bought some anyway.

So now that we've got full bellies we can continue our journey north.

Per usual, I'm babbling away in the car... something about wanting to go to the outlet mall in St. Louis on my trip the following week when (I kid you not) we pull into the Adirondack Outlet Mall. I must be psychic.

And can I tell you? My husband is way too generous. Not that I'm complaining. What girl wouldn't want these beautiful Kenneth Cole boots purchased for her? That's right, no one. And if there is someone who would turn them down, pick up a size 8.5 and send them to me. Please and thanks.

I was also the lucky recipient of a new Coach wallet, a pair of skanky-sexy knee-high ivory Nine West boots and a few new articles of clothing from Banana Republic. Love.

What about my poor (now in the literal and figurative sense) husband? No worries, he left with some new boxer shorts. That's enough to keep any man happy, right?

Onward.

Continuing north, I now have a damn good idea of where we're headed and I am SO glad I was right.

Behold the gorgeous Sagamore Resort on Lake George.

Doesn't it remind you of kind of a cross between the resort from Dirty Dancing and the hotel from The Shining? Love it.

After checking into our deluxe king room with lake views,

we had a drink at a quite cliched bar in the resort. Definitely wouldn't know we're in the Adirondacks, would ya? ;)

From there, we went outside to walk the grounds and enjoy the beautiful early fall weather.

Then we stopped on the veranda for another drink. Sensing a theme yet? While seated, we even got to watch a wedding take place. See all the little people behind me? Wedding guests.

After the latest round of drinks, we retired to our room to rest up and change before more drinks. I mean dinner. Well, in actuality it was bottle after bottle of wine with a cocktail or two thrown in, served with a side of dinner ;)

What can I say? It was vacation!

And it was fabulous :)

A tale of three 5Ks.

Never again will I attempt what I did this weekend. Back to back 5K races. One Saturday morning and another Sunday morning. So much fun but so incredibly exhausting!

My foray into 5Ks began in May when I signed up for the Freihofer's Run for Women... a wildly popular race with over 4,000 runners. It was a great way to break into races because there were so many women there, at all different fitness levels. I half-heartedly trained for about 3 weeks prior to the race and set a goal to simply finish. No time restraints this time. I ended up doing fairly well for my first run, only stopping to walk twice for about 30 seconds each time. I finished with a time of 33:54. Not great, but I did it. And here's the icky, sweaty proof.



I am not one of those pretty girls after a workout. I sweat. It's disgusting ;)

Anyway.

Shortly after that race was when I began my Boot Camp Challenge classes. I also continued running on days in between boot camp. Over the summer, I became much more fit (imagine that, ha!) and dramatically increased my pace and became more and more confident in my running abilities.

About a month ago, I decided to sign up for a couple more 5Ks. There are a TON of them this fall in my area. After signing up for one for Sept. 12 and one for Oct. 2, my boot camp instructor approached me about doing another one. On Sept. 11. I couldn't say no, even though I'd now be running two races in one weekend. I figured at least I wouldn't have to put in an actual workout that weekend now ;)

Now it's Sept. 15 and I finished both races. My goals going into them were to finish sub 30 minutes. I've been running pretty consistently lately at about a pace of about 9:30. So I figured depending on how hilly the courses were, finishing under 30 minutes was do-able.

I started the race on Saturday at a pace a little faster than I'm normally comfortable with but I felt okay, so I kept going. When I reached the mile #1 marker, I looked at my watch and saw that it read 8:24. What??! Continuing on, I reached mile #2 at 16:28... I shaved 10 seconds off my pace! Mile 3 was tough... uphill ALL. THE. WAY. I want to know who the cruel person is who set the course to finish on an uphill! Ugh! Even though I slowed down for that awful mile, I never once stopped to walk and crossed the finish line at 26:28. I seriously can't even tell you how proud I was. I blew my goal time out of the water! Here's an oh-so-lovely picture of me crossing the finish line.



I look stunned. Maybe it's because I don't know how the hell I managed to run so fast... 8:31/mile average! Or maybe it's because I was dumbfounded that I came in second in my age group. Second, people! Perks of crossing that 3-0 threshold, ha!

So after my impressive run on Saturday, I set a goal for Sunday to beat that time. I knew the course wouldn't be nearly as hilly so I figured I could do it. Sunday morning came and I was pretty sore... I started to doubt myself but stretched and stretched and began the run! I hit mile #1 at 8:44... normally I'd be ecstatic with that, but I knew if I didn't speed up, I wouldn't beat Saturday's time.



So I set my sights on the two chatty-Cathy college girls ahead of me who honestly hadn't even broken a sweat and picked up my pace and finished at 25:57!!! As I was rounding the corner toward the finish line, I saw the clock approaching 26:00 and sprinted across the line just before it hit.



I hope I don't sound like I'm bragging but I am so incredibly proud of myself. My pace for this race was 8:22. A few short months ago, that didn't seem even kinda possible.



What a truly great weekend I had. As I said earlier, running two races in one weekend was tough, but in the end, I'm glad I did it. Now to rest up and prepare for my final 5K of the season on Oct. 2!

New me?

So I'm in desperate need of an update here...

I was just scrolling through my archives. And laughing at myself as I scrolled. I can't believe some of the crap I've written over the past 9 months or so.

As evidenced by my last post, I've made a pretty drastic life-style change recently. And I'm happy to say that it truly has become a life-style change and I can't imagine going back to the way I was before.

It all started a few weeks before I began Boot Camp Challenge in June. I'd just finished running my first 5K (did I even post my results? I'll have to check...) and I was prepping myself for Boot Camp... i.e. running at least 4 days a week and starting to cut calories. Any normal person probably would've just waited til the class started but I wanted a "good" mile time during testing at the first class. God forbid I show up and show them all how horribly out of shape I really was.

Anyway, a BIG part of Boot Camp Challenge is nutrition. My fabulous instructor really focused on the fact that you cannot make a big change to your body with fitness alone. I've really embraced this theory, and holy shit, it worked! To track my nutrition, I've been using an amazing site called SparkPeople . I cannot even describe how helpful it's been to my transformation.

It's really easy to track my food intake on the site and I've found that it's become kind of a game to me... it's fun to see how much food (wine!) I can squeeze into a day while staying within my calorie limits. I'm also having a blast discovering new low-cal foods and healthier versions of recipes I've made in the past.

SparkPeople also has some pretty great articles and features. I've made even made a few online friends through the site who help keep me in check using things like a daily accountability message board.

On top of my nutrition make-over, I think completely differently now about exercise. Boot Camp has been AMAZING, to say the least. I've learned that I can push myself to limits I never thought I'd reach. I used to be such a lazy worker-outer... I'd go to the gym, get on a treadmill for 20 minutes, think to myself "eh, at least I did something" and leave, probably having burned only 150 calories. Then I'd go home and eat a bowl of pasta, wondering why I wasn't losing weight. I'm a smart one, I am.

I'm now seriously in love with exercise. I even dragged myself out for a tranquil run through the Hamptons while on vacation last weekend. I've NEVER worked out on vacation before. And I honestly think I'm in better shape than I ever have been. It's a nice feeling.

Ok, now that I feel like I've updated the blog-world on who I've become (am becomming?), I feel better. Looking at my old posts is almost embarassing. Here's hoping I continue this upward battle towards life-style improvement!