Today I realized...

-I'm hooked on coffee, not caffeine, just the taste of hot coffee with sweetener and half&half.
-Bangs require lots of upkeep, but thankfully my hairdresser offers complimentary trims.
-When I don't practice my golf swing in over a week it's going to be pretty shaky.
-That feeling when you hit the golf ball in just the right spot is so rewarding.
-I am really, really behind on watching shows on the DVR.
-Those "Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off" deals on lipstick are very hard to resist.
-I have a 50/50 shot at getting a color of lipstick I actually like when I can't try it on first.
-Sometimes I just want to spend money on pointless things, especially on the day I get paid.
-Talking myself out of buying things I don't need is such an important ability.
-As helpful as it is to get advice from girls, sometimes the best advice comes from a guy.
-For the first time since I bought my house, I have a neighbor that I can walk across the street and talk to, but possibly more important, to ask "neighborly" favors of.
-Running is becoming much more therapeutic than it used to be for me.
-Having less fat on my body makes it much harder to stay warm in cold weather.

Ticket Master

I've become a big concert-goer in the last couple of years, and I wish I had been that way long before then. I love seeing music performed live. Wait, let me be more specific...I love seeing music performed live when it sounds as good, if not better than the recording. I am blown away by artists that stand at the mic, barely open there mouths, and pure beauty flows out. It immediately reminds me how talented our God made us, and maybe it makes me a little jealous that He didn't give me that talent. Oh well! I also love the smaller venues where everyone stands in one room to make the show feel really intimate.

Lately I've been going to the larger venues to see bands I really like that are growing a huge audience. I'm used to buying tickets for a show, walking through the door, and standing in a good spot about halfway between the stage and the back of the room, but these larger venues actually have you choose a seating area. Crazy, I know! I tend to just hit "Best Available" and see what happens. Each time I've been pretty surprised at what "Best Available" means. This past April, we went to see a band at one of the larger venues with our best available tickets and naturally headed towards the lower level thinking we would be somewhere in those seats. I was pretty impressed when the usher looked at our tickets and walked us all the way down to the front row, but didn't stop us there. He told us to walk down the steps because we were actually in the pit. Pretty awesome! The place held a few thousand guests, but we were standing close to the stage with about 200 people so once again I got that intimate concert experience I love.

Now last night, I went to see the amazingly talented Feist. I knew I had awesome tickets because it said Row A when I got them in the mail. I couldn't wait to be front row to see her, but when we got there and headed towards the usher who I assumed would point us down to the front row, they told us to go back out and upstairs. Huh? We got upstairs, and I was so confused as to how this could be the front row. Another usher looked at our tickets and walked us down the side of the 1st balcony through a little door, and said "Your seats are the first two." Apparently Row A I purchased tickets for wasn't the first row in the theater, it was the first row in the little box to the side of the stage. We sat down in our seats and were practically on top of the stage. It was glorious! And just in case you need a visual aid for what I'm talking about this was my view all night...



I think I'm going to keep rolling the dice when I order tickets cause I'm really liking the results so far!

Those Hollywood Nights

A friend of mine likes to go all out Halloween weekend. She's all about having reasons to throw a party and dress up, but when a holiday coincides with her birthday, there's even more incentive. This year her annual Halloween party attracted celebrities from classic movies to reality stars to even major league-ers, and to make sure she didn't miss a moment, she asked me to be the paparazzi. I had my first red carpet experience, and I even got to sit in on an awards ceremony. It was tons of fun!



And since I couldn't be without proper attire, I decided to find my inner "Girl Friday" for the night.



Thanks to Pinterest (yet again!), I found great hair and makeup tutorials to get a pretty authentic look, but I gotta tell you...I would not have been cut out to do hair in the 40s! I don't have the skills to make victory rolls and pin curls. As much as I love the look, I'm glad to be living in the 2000s.

My protein shake brings all the boys to the yard

I get on kicks where I want something pretty much every day for a month, and then I move on. This month it's been all about the protein shakes. I have a Ninja blender that just knows how to get the job done in no time at all. On Pinterest I saw a recipe for a pumpkin shake that looked awesome, but since I'd already had a heavenly one at Sonic the week before that was made with ice cream and whipped cream I knew I would need to find a less sugary option if I wanted to enjoy it on almost a daily basis. Once again I went on the hunt for recipes and came up with this...




Try not to be turned off by the orange color. It's quite delicious, and here's how I make it (just a reminder, I don't measure all things out so I'm sorry if you're one of those people that needs precise amounts):

Pumpkin Protein Shake (for 1)
1/3 can Pumpkin Puree
3 (large) spoonfuls Low Fat Vanilla Yogurt
1/4 Cup low-fat or fat-free Cream Cheese
1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
1 packet Splenda
Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Ginger to taste (or use a Pumpkin Spice blend)
1 Cup Ice

Blend together until smooth and all ice has been chopped up. Because of the cream cheese, the shake is unbelievably thick - we're talking triple milk shake thick, and I LOVE IT!! You can use cottage cheese in place of the cream cheese if you prefer a thinner shake. This has become one of my go-to's if I know I'll be working through lunch or need something sweeter at the end of the day I also make cherry, peach, and coffee shakes to mix things up so I'll post those ingredients on here sometime.

Do the Hustle

I started running again. Running definitely comes in seasons for me. I prefer to really get going when the weather cools off because treadmills bore me to no end, and then I stop when going out for a 3 mile run starts to feel like a chore.

I'd much rather run through my neighborhood and see the house and trees rather than watching whatever is on the TV in front of me at the gym. Since it just wouldn't cool off here until a couple of weeks ago, I finally started a new training plan. I hadn't run in a couple of months so I was nervous, but I couldn't believe how easily my first attempt at running 30 minutes went. I was back! So I got a little too anxious and started finding races to run in the next few months. First up - The Halloween Hustle 5K & 10K that took place yesterday morning. I had no idea what to expect since I hadn't been on a running plan long at all, and I would be partying it up the night before, but I decided to go for and do something different...dress up (sort of)!




I went with as the beloved Candy Corn! Speaking of which, I haven't even had a piece of candy corn this Halloween season. I probably need to correct that, but I imagine my body appreciates the lack of a sugar high. Anyway...I knew I couldn't get too crazy with an outfit since I have issues with things distracting me when I run, like head phones flopping. It's strange, but it's me, and so I added one random piece to my outfit just to make me feel a little more festive...




Now the best part of the run was when I walked over to the trailer with the results posted to find...

Female 30 to 34
Place - Name - Bib No - Age - Overall - Total Time - Pace
1 - KRISTEN --- 1717 ----- 33 ----- 13 ----- 28:10.8 ----- 9:05/M
2 - SHARA ----- 1751 ----- 30 ----- 17 ----- 30:12.9 ----- 9:45/M


It was too difficult to paste our enter age group, but you get the idea. Second in my age group! 17th overall!! I was so impressed! Now I can't wait for my next race Thanksgiving weekend. It's Christmas themed so I've already got ideas stirring around in my head for my outfit. Fun, Fun!!

A New Favorite (Baked Apples)

I prefer to eat small meals throughout the day, but sometimes snacking on a plain old apple isn't as appealing as something warm. After searching online for a way to may baked apples as healthy as I could, I basically combined what I liked from several others' recipes and came up with my own.


(Apple, Apple Slicer, Yogurt (I prefer Vanilla), Raisins, Cinnamon, and Sugar)

I slice the apple and usually just leave it in big chunks, but sometimes when I'm not being quite as lazy, I cut them into bite sized pieces. Today was more of a "I just want to eat cause I'm hungry" situation so I didn't cut them up.



In a bowl add apples, raisins, cinnamon, and sugar. Also be sure to add a little water to the bottom of the bowl to keep everything (especially the raisins) from drying out. I always place a paper towel over the bowl, and then microwave for 5 minutes. The bowl and the apples are pretty hot after 5 minutes, so I let everything sit for a minute or two in the microwave.

Once you take the apples out, if there's a good amount of water at the bottom, feel free to drain it. Then add a couple of spoons of yogurt to the top. I kind of love how the yogurt melts on the apples, and after you give it all a stir, it's like apple cobbler (minus the breading) with melted ice cream. Yum...



Baked Apples
1 Apple
Raisins (as desired, but I use about 1/8 a cup)
Cinnamon (as desired, but I love it so I get a little crazy)
Sugar (1 tsp or a packet of sweetner)
Water (just enough to add moisture)
Yogurt (about 3 dollops with your spoon)
Nuts or Cereal (optional)

Slice apple and place in bowl with raisins. Add a little bit of water. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top. Cover with a paper towel. Microwave for 5 minutes and let stand 1-2 minutes. Drain any excess water. Spoon yogurt on top of apples and mix together.

Very Pinteresting

Okay, it took me a week of thinking "what in the world is going on?" after I signed up on Pinterest to get in the swing of things. Now that I figured it all out, like 99.999999999% of Pinterest users, I adore it! I'm learning so much, like how to make my eyes have that smokey look, and how to not have the same hair-do everyday. Let me clarify, I am by no means a professional artist in the hair or makeup world. I get by just fine, thank you, but that's where it stops, and these tutorials are changing my day-to-day hair and makeup routine.

Moving on...I found this sock bun tutorial that I thought was really neat. Now that I have bangs, I'm channeling my inner Audrey Hepburn/Zooey Deschanel/Feist these days, and I'm all about finding new dos. As hard as I fought it, I might have a little "hipster" side coming out of me. I've purchased a few striped sweaters as of late, and I even own some skinny jeans now that I love (they're curvy so they actually look good on a curvy girl). I don't even know who I am anymore, but it's all good because I'm having fun.

Wow, another derailment! Remind me not to blog when I've had a cup of coffee, please. Here's the tutorial:




And now...here's what I was able to do with it:






Oh, I love it!! I actually wore my hair just like this when I road the rail down to the great State Fair of Texas to meet some friends. There I sat in my (curvy) skinny jeans, a boyfriend cut v-neck, and my hair all done up while listening to Feist on my iPod feeling like I owned the city.