I may have a problem.....a Lilly addiction....

IF I were in the market for a new summer sundress, and IF I were working with an unlimited budget, these Lilly dresses would surely be hanging in all their glory in my closet!  (don't worry, SB, I know I'm not!!  and I know I may have already gone a tad overboard in the Lilly department this summer.... but their colors and patterns are just too, too irresistable!)

French Open Finals This Weekend

 and I'm loving it!!!

I'm watching the 2nd set tie-breaker between Stosur and Schiavone right now, and I'm really pulling for Stosur!!!! (Schiavone actually just won it as I'm typing this.  Kudos to her!  Tears always well up in my eyes when they collapse to the court, and then run to their box to celebrate with their family and friends.)

Tomorrow morning:  Rafael Nadal vs. Robin Soderling (the only man to have ever beaten Rafa at the French Open....and there's some bitterness in their relationship.  Nadal is courteous to a fault, and apparently Soderling isn't known as the nicest guy in the locker room.  Needless to say, I am very much pulling for Nadal to win his 5th French Open title.)

Puppy Pics IV

Here are a few pics of Lilly and Daisy in the last week or so.  Lilly continues to grow like a weed -- she is getting so big!

We had a lot of fun with the dogs in Wisconsin (photo below taken en route).  Daisy and Lilly did great in the car -- sleeping almost the entire way there and back!

 The dogs stayed on the back screened-in porch at my parents' house (my parents actually really like dogs, but my brother's dog allergies prohibit them from actually being in the house.....even though he lives in NYC and won't be visiting for months), and they did really well out there.  My nephew Chase took a liking to Lilly's crate, and wanted to try it out for a bit.  It was too funny.  He just crawled right in, and then asked me to shut the door.  (don't worry, we were right by him the whole time, and even accommodated his request for reading materials!!)

 My niece really took a liking to Miss Daisy....(and here she is showing off her new prepster watermelon collar):

1/2 Marathon Mix

One of the keys to a long run for me is a really good, upbeat, motivating mix.  It's all about fun, fast music that keeps me excited, and helps me forget about some of the mundane repetition of the sport of long distance running.  You'll see it's a crazy combination of country, pop, alternative, and rock.....a few embarrassing ditties (um, Miley??!)....but what can I say....if it works, it works :)

1.  I Gotta Feeling -- Black Eyed Peas
2.  Tik Tok -- Ke$ha
3.  Just Dance -- Lady Gaga
4.  Hell Yeahhhh -- Rev Theory
5.  Hey, Soul Sister -- Train
6.  The Impression I Get -- Mighty Mighty Bosstones
7.  Party In The USA -- Miley Cyrus
8.  Empire State of Mind -- Jay-Z
9.  All I Want To Do -- Sugarland
10.  Here It Goes Again -- OK-Go
11.  Southern Voice -- Tim McGraw
12.  Outside My Window -- Sarah Buxton
13.  Hot N Cold -- Katy Perry
14.  Shake It -- Metro Station
15.  Mr. Brightside -- The Killers
16.  Wild At Heart -- Gloriana
17.  Hands in the Ayer -- Flo-Rida
18.  Rain is a Good Thing -- Luke Bryan
19.  Hollaback Girl -- Gwen Stefani
20.  Your Love is My Drug -- Ke$ha
21.  Learn to Live -- Darius Rucker
22.  I Do Not Hook Up -- Kelly Clarkson
23.  Let it Rock -- Kevin Rudolf
24.  Second Chance -- Shinedown
25.  Almost -- Bowling for Soup
26.  My Life Would Suck Without You -- Kelly Clarkson
27.  Life After You -- Daughtry
28.  Vertigo -- U2
29.  Forever -- Chris Brown
30.  Paralyzer -- Finger Eleven
31.  Tick Tick Boom -- The Hives
32.  Red High Heels -- Kellie Pickler
33.  Welcome to the World -- Kevin Rudolf
34.  Times Like These -- Foo Fighters
35.  Since U Been Gone -- Kelly Clarkson
36.  Accidentally in Love -- Counting Crows
37.  How Far We've Come -- Matchbox Twenty
38.  Inside Out -- Eve 6
39.  Glamorous -- Fergie
40.  Haven't Met You Yet -- Michael Buble
41.  Where the Streets Have No Name -- U2
42.  I Run to You -- Lady Antebellum
43.  Use Somebody -- Kings of Leon

13.1 miles later....

 and we're still smiling (although I am walking a bit like an 85 year old lady today!)

We had a great weekend in Madison!  The weather was gorgeous...but quite hot!  We arrived Friday afternoon, and picked up our race packets on the way in.  My sister's family met us at my parents' house, and we grilled out and played with the dogs in the backyard.  I never thought that Daisy would tire of playing fetch....but she came close to it this weekend thanks to my niece and nephews.

On Saturday we woke up early, I walked the dogs, SB went for a quick jog, and then we drove downtown to meet my sister's fam at the Dane County Farmers' Market.  It was amazing per usual, and we walked away with fresh cheese curds, homemade pumpkin bread, and some yummy chocolate croissants from L'Etoile.  We stayed pretty low-key on Saturday afternoon, and then my sister's fam came back for dinner (spaghetti).

Sunday was race day!  I woke up without an alarm at like 5am thanks to a bunch of butterflies in my stomach!  The Capitol Square was buzzing with excitement!  It was hot at the start - in the 70's, with lots of humidity!  Not exactly the ideal marathon conditions, but I actually liked it. (although it was much better for the half.....the race officials ended up stopping their timing for the full at 11am -- 4 hours in -- b/c there were so many medical emergencies due to the hot weather)

Miles 1-3:  My legs felt a little heavy, but I was loving my race mix, and it was fun to watch the crowd and feed off of the excitement/adrenalin with all the other runners.  My sister's fam was at the start and surprised me about .1 mile into the race.  My parents surprised me just before the 3 mile marker which was lots of fun.  There was a huge up-hill climb just after mile 3.

Miles 4-6:  Felt pretty good!  I grabbed two waters at the mile 4 station -- one to drink, one to splash on my head.  I also grabbed a packet of gu there.  I hadn't ever tried one before, and even though you're not supposed to test anything out during a long race like that, I needed a little energy boost and it tasted great.

Miles 7-8:  I started to feel the heat (probably in the 80's at this point).  I was still having a lot of fun -- the crowds were great, and really supportive.  We ran through a cute downtown neighborhood here -- and lots of families had their water hoses out, spraying the runners, which felt amazingly great. 

Miles 9-12:  H.O.T.  There wasn't much shade, and I actually missed seeing a couple of the mile markers, which threw me off a bit too.  Fortunately the route was pretty flat here, and I knew the area because I used to run it with my sister when she lived over there.  Unfortunately I was starting to lose some speed, and I could see the Capitol (where the finish line was located), but it looked really, really far away.

Miles 12-13:  I was really dragging, it was scorching hot, and the race ended with an up-hill climb.  I didn't have much left in me, but I managed to keep one foot in front of the other.  SB was cheering for me near the end, and I didn't even see/hear him.  My husband finished the race in 1:34, which just blows my mind.  He really trained hard, and should be happy with that time!  I managed to cross in 2:09.  I had been hoping to run faster than a 10 minute mile, but I wasn't sure if I could do it.  I'm happy to say that 2:09 makes for a 9:51 pace!  I think I trained a lot better for this half compared to the last one I ran, and I actually feel like I want to do another one sometime next year.

Have a great weekend!

We're heading north to spend the long weekend with my family.  This will be a real whirlwind of a trip, but I can't wait for the fun to begin! 

We'll be doing a little of this:

A lot of this (13.1 miles here we come!!! Operation hydration is in full effect right now):

 And we will surely hit up the world's best farmers market where I will eat my weight in cheese curds and chocolate croissants:

Summer Shades

In my opinion, sunglasses are never too big for your face unless they are physically falling off.  My husband, on the other hand, has drastically different opinions about sunglasses and loves to tell me that I look like I have bug eyes in my newest shades!!  Do any of you experience the same thing with the men in your life?  I feel like maybe they just don't understand??

PS -- enter to WIN a gorgeous Lilly Pulitzer Murfee scarf at Trish's Preppy Pink Lilly Lover blog.

Happiness.

Last night over a delicious dinner of grilled steak, corn-on-the-cob, spinach and strawberry salad with a homemade poppy seed vinaigrette, and biscuits (quite possibly my favorite summer dinner ever) I announced that this has been the best year of my life.  I'm the happiest I've ever been.  I feel loved by my sweet husband.  I am fulfilled by my job.  I adore our new house.  I've found terrific friends in this new city.  Things are good.

It's amazing to think that just about a year ago to the day, we were living in Washington DC, and SB was interviewing for a new job in a city that neither of us had ever visited.  Little did we know our entire world was about to change (all within about 40 days of our wedding!).  In the past 12 months I have learned that it takes courage to make big changes, but change can truly bring about the most wonderful opportunities.  Of course, it is far easier to jump into the unknown with a partner.  I definitely lucked out in that category.  I can't tell you how much I used to despise change.  I mean despise.  And now?  Well, I certainly hope that we won't be moving anytime in the near future, but I also know that I'm capable of much more than I originally thought, and I welcome any new opportunities that change can bring.

My advice to you:  EMBRACE change!  EMBRACE the unknown!  You can make anything happen, even in the worst circumstances.  Don't sweat the small things, and keep life in perspective.  I surely would have lost my mind last year, living/working/sleeping/eating all in the same hotel room....24/7....with our dog....and my husband when he could break away from his brand-new job.  Oh -- and throw in buying a house and getting married, and well, life was crazy -- but we did it, and we're better off for it now!

Dear Lilly: Stop growing!!!

Here are some of the latest pics of Miss Lilly.  She is growing, growing, growing!!  I took her to the vet yesterday, and she now weighs 17 pounds.....at 12 weeks old she has more than doubled in size in the 6 weeks that we've had her at home. 

Happy Weekend!

Wishing you lots of sun and relaxation!!  I have cleaned the whole house, walked the dogs, and now I'm off to play tennis!