Boot Envy

First of all, Happy Halloween!  I'm not really a Halloween person (it's my least favorite holiday - that's right, it's even behind Valentine's Day) and I'm especially not in a Halloween mood today.  Some punky kids thought it would be a good idea to egg my car.  Needless to say I was NOT amused - those kids are on my list and if I find out who they are, they can expect a bill for having to take my car to the car wash today.  But I digress...


Now that Halloween is upon us, there is no denying it - fall is here!  Even here in Charleston.  The weather's dipped to the seventies and the locals have all dug out their winter wear including those puffy polar vests.


One hallmark of fall fashion is the boot.  I love boots.  They are cute, they keep your legs warm, they instantly dress up anything you wear.  Unfortunately, I have to love boots from afar.  The problem is that they make most boots for girls with tiny calves...and tiny calves I have not.  


Years and years of soccer and running have left my calves more muscular than the average man's.  No joke.  Year in and year out, I attempt to try on pair after pair after pair of beautiful knee high boots only to have my hopes dashed.  


But I'm coming to terms with my wide-calved-ness.  While they might get in the way of me looking uber-fashionable for the fall/winter months, my calves actually are pretty amazing.  Sure they're big, but the are strong.  They carry me for miles and miles and miles without ever complaining.  Even after my half marathon back in February, they hardly complained at all.  When I exercise, they look strong and toned.  With a tan, they look pretty damn good.


If I can't have style for the next 6 months, at least I'll have strength.  And that's going to carry me farther than any boot ever can.

This Weekend

This weekend was my fall break and EXACTLY what I needed.  As anyone who's been reading this recently knows, I've been pretty homesick and was able to get home for the long weekend.  It was so nice to be away from Charleston, law school, and stress.  And even though I did significantly less work than I should have,  I feel like I reclaimed a little piece of my soul over the weekend.


I headed home Wednesday night.  My flight didn't land until close to midnight, so by the time I got home, it was close to 1 and I was TIRED!  I spent the next two days with my family.  Isn't it great how just a little family time can make you feel so loved and needed?  After doing nothing but homework for 2 months, I needed my mom and dad to just dote on me for a while.


Saturday was kind of a crazy day.  In the morning I got up and went with a friend to the Broken Egg Bistro.  I had never been there before, but I sure am going to go back!  If you are ever in the Hampton Roads area and are looking for a great place for breakfast, check them out.  Here is their website.


After breakfast I did some homework, went for a run, and got ready for the weekend's main event - my friend Laura's bachelorette party!!!  First we went out for Mexican (I had a jumbo margarita and quickly forgot that I wanted to document the whole party).  After that we did a scavenger hunt.  In all of the years that I have lived in Chesapeake, I have never had more fun.  This scavenger hunt included tasks like "purchase red lipstick and take a picture of your whole team wearing it."

three of us look like trollops...Meredith looks amazingly good in that shade

After the scavenger hunt, we headed to the bowling alley for some midnight bowling and then it was back to a slumber party.  It was a GREAT night.  Thanks to Ginny for putting together such an awesome night.  I was so glad to get to see all of my friends, I can't wait to see them all again in about 9 days for the wedding!!!

ALMOST THERE!!!!

So I know I've been talking about this for a while, but the big day is almost here - in less than 48 hours (pending clear skies and safe travels) I will be back home in Virginia.  I'm really ready for the break!  

First of all I'm crazy homesick.  I miss my parents and my friends and the fall weather and my cat and my dog and everything wonderful that makes Virginia home.

Second of all, it turns out what they say about law schools is true: first year they scare you to death, second year they work you to death, third year they bore you to death (someone please remind me why I signed up for this again???).  Rights now I'm about up to my eyeballs in work and I don't know if it'll ever be done.  Seriously....will there ever be NO work to do???  On top of all of my reading for classes (which is a chore in and of itself), I've been studying for a midterm, writing a case note for law review, trying to be involved in a few extracurricular activities, maintain a healthy lifestyle, and not go crazy in the midst of it (For the record, I think I'm about 3 days away from cracking, so this break is coming at a PERFECT time).  I need an extra 5 hours in a day, just to handle the crazy insomnia I've been experiencing...

I know I still have two whole school days to get through (including that stinking midterm) but I'm currently so excited, I can't sleep!  I can practically smell the freedom of a four day weekend and taste the margaritas I'll be having on Saturday at my friend Laura's bachelorette party.

In fact, I'm so excited I've already written a list of things I need to pack:

don't judge me...i do in fact need a reminder to pack underpants

And even though its still two days away, I have already started packing:

sleeping and running...could my fall break BE any more exciting??

I always get really nervous about packing.  It gets worse when I'm getting ready to go home for a few days.  I don't know why but I have this strange compulsion to pack REALLY AWESOME OUTFITS when I go home.  It's like I have to show everyone that even though I don't have four seconds to myself some days, I can put together three rockin' outfits when I have to.  

Usually I wind up taking enough stuff with me to clothe a small nation for a month.  I'm really trying to avoid that this trip.  To add a little pressure, because I'm flying home and because I'm too cheap to check two bags (why the eff does it cost $25 to check ONE BAG U.S. Air???  I know you're keeping $24.95 of that!  AND you don't even hand out pretzels anymore!!), so everything I'm taking HAS to fit into one (week-long) suitcase.  It's going to be a challenge (hey, you saw the list), but I think I can manage it.

(On an unrelated note, I think this blogging while insomniatic is working - I'm yawning like crazy, hopefully sleep won't be quite so hard to find.)

I'll try to check in over the weekend, but no promises....I actually do have some fun stuff planned for the weekend and quite frankly I think I deserve to enjoy a few days of law-free bliss.  But before I can kick back and relax I need to make it only a little longer: one test, four classes, two night's sleep, and I'll be home sweet home!  Wish me luck on my test, which is in 13 hours (yipes!!!)!!!

Even though its only Monday, my short three-day week has already got me excited for the weekend....so I hope everyone has a good one!!! 

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE WEEKEND?

WHAT ARE YOUR PACKING TIPS? 

Small Victory

Today was kind of a long day.  It was definitely grueling and exhausting.  And I'm still working on homework at 11:03 pm with no end in sight.

I need something to be proud of today.  And I need to share it, because its kind of a big deal.  Those of you who know almost anything about me will appreciate the momentousness of what I'm about to say:

I have not had a Diet Coke in THREE DAYS.  

I'm not really trying to "give up" Diet Coke, but I think I can cut back.  I realized Saturday night that I hadn't had one all day and decided to see if I could go another day without one.  And I did.  And I did it again today (even though I came reeeeealllly close today).  And I think I'll do it again tomorrow.

I did replace today's Diet Coke with (another) cup of coffee.  But I figure, first let's work on getting rid of the artificial sweeteners, then the caffeine.

Happy Birthday!!!!

Today is my very best friend Meredith's birthday!  Last year I wrote a general post about the wonderful person that is Meredith.  Since a picture's worth a thousand words, I think I'll let these do the talking for me this year:

Happy birthday to my best friend, then and now.  Meredith, you are one of the best people I know and I love you more than words can express.  You've taught me how to be true to myself and the value of everlasting friendship.  I hope you have an absolutely wonderful day and I can't wait to see you so soon (!!!) to celebrate!!!  

October

So I know my last post was a little Debbie-Downer-ish.  And for that I apologize.  For some reason, the month of October always makes me more than a little homesick.  By the time it's October, I've been away from home for two months, which means that I already miss my family and friends and my non-law school life.  But it gets a little worse than that.  There are a lot of important things in my life that go on in October, and being 500 miles from home doesn't help.


My mom's birthday is on the third, my best friend's birthday is on the tenth, my dog's birthday is on the thirty-first.  In Virginia, the weather is cool and the leaves are starting to change to crisp oranges, yellows, and reds.  In the early morning and at night, it's cool enough to need a jacket or to break out the fall clothes.  It's the baseball playoff games that I watch with my dad.  It's the cool weather comfort food my family eats.  It's high school football games on Friday nights.  It's crisp cool air.  


I'm homesick.  But I am going home in less than two weeks.  So bear with me.  Over the next few weeks school is going to be CRA-ZY.  Life is going to be hectic.  But in two weeks from right now I'll have been home for more than 24 hours and life will be good.

Slo Mo

The weather has FINALLY cooled off in Charleston which means that I can FINALLY walk around and not end up drenched in my own sweat.  It means I can FINALLY wear normal clothes without worrying about suffering from heat stroke.  In short, the weather is good.


On Friday I decided to go for a run to celebrate.  I was having a great run.  It wasn't too hot, I felt really strong.  Even my iPod was playing all of my favorite songs.  


Everything was going really well until I was just about as far from my apartment as I could possibly be.  I took my eyes off of the uneven sidewalk for a minute to check my watch and my toe caught on a crack in the cement.  Time seemed to freeze as I saw myself slowly falling toward the ground.  I stuck my hands out in a feeble attempt to catch myself, but then leg and hands met with pavement.  


Two full days later my leg looks like this:

and it hurts like whoa

Anyway, I learned a couple of really important things from my most recent trip.  

1. When you fall, you HAVE to pick yourself up and keep on keeping on.  After I fell, I really wanted to sit on the sidewalk and cry.  But I needed to get back home.  So I stood up, composed myself, and actually jogged most of the way back to my apartment.  Sitting on the sidewalk and crying wasn't going to help anyone or solve anything, so I didn't.
2. A lot of the time, you have to pull yourself through by yourself.  On the mile and a half between the spill and my apartment I passed at least 30 people.  I had a large, fresh looking raspberry and blood running down my leg.  And not one person asked if I was ok.  I'm still pretty bitter about this.  

So what does all of this mean?  Basically it was a way for me to tell anyone who still reads this blog that I'm rededicating myself to a healthy lifestyle.  For the past few weeks I've been very focused on watching what I'm eating and getting lots of exercise.  And I've seen results.  I've dropped about 4 pounds by cutting the junk from my diet, increasing my protein intake and moving a LOT more.  

Losing weight is hard.  I've fallen off of the bandwagon a lot of time.  When it comes down to it, I have to be the one to pick myself up and keep going.  I can't depend on anyone else to do the work for me.  Weight loss is one battle we have to do for ourselves, by ourselves.  I'm not saying that you're all alone, but I am saying that at the end of the day it comes down to what I decide to eat and how I decide to move.

So here's the scoop.  I'm turning 25 in March.  I'm tired of being overweight.  I do not want to be overweight for another year of my life.  I want to be at my goal weight by my 25th birthday.  Right now I am 24 pounds away from my goal weight.  I want to lose 3 more pounds before my friend Laura's wedding in November.  I want to lose 8 more pounds before Christmas.  

Its go time.