Wait, I actually did that!?

For the past year I've been wanting to try my hand at running. A few years ago my mom got into running and since I've always though "yeah it would be nice to run a 5km" but I never did it.

Last year I was going to attempt to, I had found this couch to 5km training program that I was going to follow and everything!

Of course, my laziness got the best of me and that didn't happen.

This year though, I did it!

It was a pretty spur-of-the-moment decision.

My mom and my aunt knew they were going to do the run, and about two weeks before hand I decided I would too!

This was my first time running any sort of distance larger than the width of a parking lot.

If I wouldn't have had my iPod, I may not have been able to finish!

My final time was 49:19 for 6km which I still can't believe I completed my first 6km ever in under a hour!

Running in an organized run was never anything I thought I'd do, but I did it!

Stepped completely out of my comfort zone and you know what? It felt AWESOME! (However the two days afterward did not feel so great, man was I sore!)

Friday Night Date Night

Last night my boyfriend Dan treated us to a lovely meal. It was so delicious, I cannot even think of the words to describe how satisfied and completely stuffed I was afterward! At the end I was even too full to even think of the possibility of squeezing any amount of dessert in!

We went to East Side Mario's one of our favorite chain restaurants, we've never been dissapointed with their food or service yet!

To start we shared our favorite appetizer budda boomers, which is a bunch of bread sticks made from deep fried pizza dough tossed with garlic butter, parmesan cheese and their amazing tomato sauce!

For our main dishes I had their small cheese pizza, which is unbelievable and surprisingly filling for the small size!

You can never have too much fresh parmesan on your pizza, right? :-)

Dan tried something new this time, the grilled Tuscan turkey club with a side caesar salad which according to him was super tasty!

I also used this as an excuse to wear my new dress and tights! I snapped a picture with my actual camera but it turns out I don't have my cord with me so iPod photos it is! The fact that this dress fits so great is amazing. I want to keep my eye out for a little brightly colored belt to wear with it!

As if being treated to a great dinner last night wasn't exciting enough, when my mama picked me up today the Riot Grrrl Revival zine I had ordered from Modern Girl Blitz had arrived!

Now tomorrow I'm participating in my first 6km walk/run! I'm a bit nervous, but I have a great playlist made and if I can walk 6km then I can work myself a little harder and jog it as well!

What do you have in store this weekend?

My Week in Instagrams

Okay so Summer has finally started and so far it's just lovely!

It's raining today but it's still warm out and the weather we've had this week could not have been better!

I attempted to do floral nails, this is of course before I smudged 80% of them because I cannot keep my hands still!

I'm addicted to baguette and delicious old cheddar (and left over crazy bread from Little Ceaser's is my new fave!)

I found this amazing houndstooth dress, royal purple ribbed pantyhose and this framed picture at Value Village yesterday for only $9! Dan wants to take me out for dinner tonight so it looks like I already have a chance to wear the dress (which fits perfectly, I cannot wait to show you what it looks like on!!)

The evening sun at my house is just insane, and since I don't  have curtains or blinds I make use of this little blanket my grandmother made for me growing up when I went through my crazy Tweety Bird obsession.

I've been wearing dresses and skirts every chance I get.

I also treated myself to a new Sims expansion pack, and I think this one may be my favorite to date!

Dan and I went on a double date picnic in the park the other day. It was beautiful weather, delicious food (how did I forget to snap a picture of it all!?) and spent with great people!

Decided my glasses needed an extra little something-something.

I did some gardening last weekend for my grandparents! Two little flower beds as well as two small vegetable gardens!

My grandmother wanted me to wear gloves, but where's the fun in that? I also enjoyed being barefoot while doing the vegetable garden, love the feeling of dirt between my toes :-)

Dirty garden hands :-)

My grandparents recently painted their living room and my grandmother passes on these amazing framed photos of elephant rock and the area of where my childhood cottage was it! They are now hanging happily in my bedroom, we have a beautiful island here!

I love the red soil here, nature is beautiful, that's for sure!

Rave Review: Chuck Palahniuk

My collection of Palahniuk books

Growing up I was always reading. Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays, I really wasn't that picky.

In my elementary school years I volunteered in our school library and I always looked forward to the regular trips to the library my mom would take my sister and I on.

Through the years my love of books has stayed with me, but for a while I was a bit lost when it came to fiction. I would still read different novels, trying to find an author that really captivated me. I would jump from title to title, just reading books that were sometimes okay, and sometimes less than what I expected but never followed an author's work. Anything I read, even if I enjoyed it I didn't go out seeking what else that author had to offer.

Not until I read my first Palahniuk, that is.

The year was 2008, and I remember Dan was trying to get me to watch Fight Club with him. Now, I am not Brad Pitt fan so I was a bit reluctant. I made a compromise though whenever Dan told me he had the novel it was based on.

Of course I borrowed the novel, brought it home, read it from cover-to-cover in one sitting, and enjoyed every minute of it! (I also decided to kill two birds with one stone and make it my book report in English class.)

Ever since first reading Fight Club I've been working my way through the rest of Palahniuk's novels.

And I have enjoyed every single one I have read so far. (To date there are still four of his novels I have not read, and there's still a handful I'd like to own!)

There's just something about his writing style, it just pulls me in. The novels are so gritty, mind-twisting at parts, disturbing even, everything but boring. Once I start, I don't want to stop. I've lost count how many of his books I've read in one sitting, because honestly I find them that hard to put down!

Last night I finally got around to reading Lullaby. I think in about three hours I had breezed through it, and wow, what a ride!

Now, I won't give anything away, but if you're looking for a well written novel, check this out! Wikipedia categorizes Lullaby as a horror/satire novel, but if you're familiar with any other of Palahniuk's works, that won't come as a surprise for you.

What are some of your favorite written works or authors?

Farmlands & Bubbling Springs

I love nature. I love being outside, walking through trails in the forest, it's just amazing. The smell of the fresh air, the birds singing, the beauty all around, what's not to love?

This afternoon my mom and I decided to go for a walk on some of the trails in our national park, and it was so beautiful! Lots of misquotes, but I was smart enough to put on a light long-sleeved shirt prior so I wouldn't get eaten alive :-)

Now since the walk was unplanned I didn't have a chance to fully charge my camera battery so I didn't take my time trying to aim for nice photographs, I was just turning it on, shooting then turning it right off again to save as much battery life as I could!

These trails were so awesome, once upon a time the area was all cleared for farmland, and since has been let to grow in naturally and it's such a beautiful forest trail! I love living on such a beautiful island.

Stone fence around the cemetery, this was so neat. Only a few headstones, most markers are just stones.

Long pond, so peaceful!

 I love the sound of a babbling brook, don't you? The flash went off on this one, but it looks pretty neat!

When we finished our walk on the trails before we left the national park to head back home we pulled over to check out how the beach was looking so far this year, and as we would have guessed, it looks great!