Week in Review - 8/13

I know, I know. I normally post my Week in Review post on Sunday, but it was the last day my sister was in town and I was still having too much fun celebrating my birthday. My 40th birthday is definitely one I will always remember. It was so special to have my family come to visit, and we had a great time!

We crammed in so many fun activities! Walking the Strip {a lot}, a helicopter tour, a pool day, hiking in the mountains, Hoover Dam. There were some very, very late nights and some early{ish} mornings. But mostly, there were good times catching up with my family that I haven't seen in way too long. Read my highlights below. 😊

Week in Review - 7/16

This past week kicked off the 30-day countdown to my 40th birthday! I may have complained to Jeff a couple months ago about being disappointed in my 30th birthday celebrations, so we are definitely making this milestone birthday THE BEST!

It's still several weeks away, but I'm embracing every day and looking forward to the big day! It's going to be epic fun, and I hope you'll follow along on my adventures.

Celebrate with Me!

If you've been around for the past month or so, you might recall some casual mentions of a birthday challenge. The time is finally here to share all the details!

My 40th birthday is August 10th, and I really hope you'll celebrate with me. What better way to celebrate than with a good old fitness challenge.

New Look

Did you know that it's my birthday weekend? OF COURSE you did! I've only been talking about it since June. :) With my birthday streak and everything. Only a few more days of my streak, and I'm so happy that I've been able to stick with it for all 37 days (well, except that one day that I only did yoga. Oh, and I kind stopped the yoga around day 25 or something). It's so liberating to do a run streak. At least for me.

To continue the birthday celebrations, I decided to give myself a new look as I officially enter the late-30s. Yikes! How did that happen?!

I went blonde.

I've dyed my hair many, many times over the years, but never have I gone blonde.

It's been nearly a week, and it's been lots of fun so far. Lots of co-workers didn't even recognize me when I came into work Monday morning.

I've now been likened to Marilyn Monroe, Patricia Arquette, and Brittney Snow.

Last night, N9NE Steakhouse at the Palms had a Tweet-up just for my birthday. OK, not really, but it was a doubly good excuse to start the celebrating early. Who am I to pass up free cocktails and hors d'oeuvres?

Plus I got to meet up with the lovely Katie from @itsjustKatie on Twitter and Chase This Skirt. She made me a skirt for the E.T. Full Moon Half Marathon on Sunday, and so she hand delivered it to me at the Tweet-up. Fun!

So, is blond better? I don't know, but I'm liking it so far. :-D

Have you ever changed your hair to where people didn't even recognize you?
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
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ETC Birthday Party!

Tomorrow is THE DAY! Have you all been anxiously awaiting the start of my birthday challenge? I know I have been. :)

37 days of streaking to help me celebrate my 37th birthday on Aug 10th. 

It's gonna be awesome!

This streak is really up to you. You can run or you can practice yoga or you can do a combination of the two.

A run streak is no easy task, and if done improperly, it can lead to injury, so be careful and listen to your body. If you're up for the challenge, it's as simple as running {at least} 1 mile every day from 7/5 to 8/10.

Maybe you've just finished the #RWRunStreak, and need a break, then you could join the party with some yoga. For the yoga challenge, just practice {at least} a pose every day from 7/5 to 8/10.

Or maybe you'd want to do some combination of the two. I'm hoping to both run and practice yoga every single day. But you could alternate between the two, if you're not quite ready to commit to a full run or yoga streak.

Let's make it a huge party by sharing pictures and tweeting our streaking fun. #ETCRunStreak #ETCYogaStreak

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And of course, it wouldn't be a party without a few gifts! I'm hoping to add a few more, but here's what I've got lined up so far.

**A box of Cocogo. Real Fruit Hydration.

**A gift pack from Proud Runner.

**A Multi-Grip Stretch Strap.

**A Detour Smart Bar sample pack NEW (added 7/11)

**A Bondi Band headband NEW (added 7/13)

I'm trying to work on more, so stay tuned.

Come back every day to enter to win one of the prizes with the rafflecopter below.

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UPDATE (7/9): I wasn't getting a very good response with the rafflecopter, so I created a form instead. I know that the Streak is already a few days in, but you can now enter your info retroactively. :) Or you can simply start today!

If you want to join the party, just fill out this quick form. 
If you entered via rafflecopter, I've already filled out the form for you. I'll shoot you an email with the link to the tracking form.

On the Thank You page, you'll receive a link to a spreadsheet to track your streak. Just enter an R or Y or RY every day that you either run or practice yoga or both. There are also some bonus entries all the way to the right. :)
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I also created some images you can use during your streak.

Thanks for joining my challenge! I can't wait to celebrate with you. :)

In the meantime, enjoy the 4th of July. See you tomorrow!!

Birthday Weekend Recap

If you follow me on Instagram, you've likely already seen glimpses into my birthday weekend, and like I mentioned yesterday, it was one of my best birthdays ever!

As we were walking to dinner last night, I was telling Jeff about how much I enjoyed everything about my birthday this year. I described it as low key with lots of activity.

Friday

I was greeted at work with balloons and cupcakes. Yum! I wore my sexy yellow shoes and got a ton of compliments on them. A co-worker brought me a delicious latte from Starbucks. My department went to Yogurtland for lunch. I definitely felt a bit spoiled.

The evening was spent lounging and watching TV. We ate a nice pasta dinner and went to bed early for a Friday night.

Saturday

Jeff and I woke up early to head to the Sprinkler Sprint. We left shortly after 6am to run/bike to the race. We met up with my friend, Crosby, but only ran the first 0.7 miles with him before Jeff had to walk. You can read more about the race here.

On the way home from the race, Jeff hit a curb the wrong way with his bike and fell. He caught himself with his palm, and the handlebar hit his leg, but he was otherwise ok. We separated paths at that point, so we could get home faster to ice his palm.

I got home, stretched, made us some eggs, and watched TV. Jeff had stayed up way too late and only got  a few hours of sleep before the race, so he laid down for a nap. I followed an hour or so later.

We hit the pool for a bit after our naps, and then I started getting ready to go out for my birthday. I needed to shave and wanted to give myself a mani/pedi, so I gave myself plenty of time to get ready and not feel rushed.

We were meeting some friends downtown at the newly re-opened Gold Spike. I'd been there back in July and thought it would be a great place to hang out on my birthday. They have all these giant games, like Jenga, Beer Pong, and Connect 4. The only thing I absolutely wanted to do was play Connect 4.

After the Gold Spike, we met some friends over at El Cortez, where we randomly met up with other friends who just happened to be there. I almost made my karaoke debut, but the karaoke bar closed before they got to my song. Probably for the best.

But maybe next time...

After the karaoke bar closed around 2am, we walked around and hit a couple other bars before heading home around 3:30am.

Now you know why I wanted to have my long run out of the way on Saturday. :)

Sunday

I still didn't sleep in all that late on Sunday. I woke up shortly before 9, and thought if I hurried out of bed, I could probably make it to Lululemon for Sunday morning yoga.

I didn't.

But I did get in a 2 mile recovery run around 10am.

Jeff was still sleeping (he didn't go to bed until around 8am), so I headed to the mall for my birthday treat from Red Mango.

And then hit Bath and Body Works for a free bottle of lotion. It wasn't for my birthday per se, but it was pretty perfect timing. :)  Then it was time for Walmart for some groceries.

After shopping, we hit the pool and hot tub and got into a very lengthy conversation with one of the old men at the pool on the quality of movies today. It was interesting to say the least.

We walked to RedBox because I'd received a coupon code for a free movie, but our card wasn't working. Instead, we stopped at McDonald's for dinner, and watched the Netflix movie that was in our mailbox waiting for us.

Monday

I took Monday off from work to extend my birthday weekend. I only slept in until around 8am, and then made a delicious breakfast and worked on my Marathon Monday post.

We had somehow managed to really trash our apartment the previous few days, so I straightened up the whole apartment - including the closet that had become quite the hodgepodge mess. It felt good and very satisfying.

Some of our neighbors were playing really loud music very early Monday morning - keeping Jeff awake, so he pretty much slept until after 2pm. We hit the pool when he woke up and chatted with the old men for a bit until I felt like the afternoon was getting away from us.

I still wanted to cash in on my free pizza from Grimaldi's to end my birthday weekend. We got all ready and then walked to the Palazzo. We went there last year for my birthday, too, but we'd taken a different route. We were surprised at how easy it was to find. We hope to start going there more frequently than the once a year for my birthday. Hey, I should probably sign Jeff up, so we can get free pizza on his birthday, too!!

We tried 3 different cheesecakes for dessert. While they were delicious, they really threw me over the edge. I couldn't eat even one more bite!

We brought home about 1/2 the pizza, so guess what I'll be eating for lunch today?

On the walk home, we stopped by the waterfalls outside the Wynn.

And Jeff had to take a little break, too. :)

Oh, and I can't forget the gifts I received.

The cookbook totally cracked me up! The chocolates were delicious, and the card was super cute.

Now, it's back to reality and back to work, but this is definitely going down as one of my most favorite birthdays ever! We crammed a lot of stuff in during the weekend, but it was all so fun with hardly any time crunches, so I was able to soak it all in and just ENJOY!

Do you take a day off from work for your birthday?
What's your favorite way to celebrate?
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Factors of 36 Virtual Race

I'm incredibly excited to announce my first ever virtual race!

As you know, my birthday is fast approaching, and I thought it would be super fun to celebrate with all of you - my favorite running peeps!

I've been kind of planning this for a couple of months, so I'm excited that it's finally time to announce the...

This isn't your normal virtual race.

This isn't a 5k or a 10k or any traditional race distance. Here's the twist.

I'm turning 36 on the 10th, so I wanted to incorporate my new age into the virtual race and came up with this fun idea.

Here's what you'll do:

• Run any distance (in miles) that is a factor of 36.
• Run as many times as you want (no more than once per day) from the 10th to the 25th.
• Each entry will earn you a chance to win a prize from one of our fabulous sponsors.
• Earn a bonus entry if you run exactly 36 miles during the race period.

This race has a distance for everyone! In case you're not sure what the factors of 36 are, each run could be 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, or 36 miles.

You can run these miles fast or slow or even walk them.

Virtual races are so much more fun with great prizes, check out our sponsors.

More on them later.

I hope you'll celebrate with me.

All you need to do right now is just fill out this simple form. I'll keep registration open until the 8th, and I'll shoot you an email on the 9th with a reminder and a few more details to get you all set to run on the 10th.



Oh! I almost forgot!! You can earn extra bonus points now through the 8th by sharing this virtual race on FB, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest. When you share be sure and tag me and then come back and leave a comment. You can share as many times you want, but you can only earn one extra bonus point per day.

Have I mentioned how excited I am about this?? Can't wait to celebrate my birthday with YOU!!
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Maybe she's born with it....

Maybe it's Maybelline.

Well, it's neither, actually.

For my birthday, my brother and his girlfriend gave me a gift certificate to Juut Salon and Spa to get my eyelashes tinted. I had never had this done before but was very excited to give it a try.

I made an appointment for after work one evening. I thought ahead and purposely didn't wear any mascara that day and chose to wear my glasses instead of my contacts - just in case that was necessary.

The overall experience was fantastic.

I lied down on a table (kind of like a massage table), and the aesthetician applied some kind of guard under my lashes. Then, I simply closed my eyes while she applied the dye.

It needed to set for about 15 minutes or so.

At first, I wasn't sure what to do. It seemed weird to lie there with my eyes closed. I had to fight the urge to open my eyes.

But then the best part started.

As I lied there with my eyes closed, she sprayed some aromatherapy in the room and began massaging my scalp. My face. My ears. I relaxed immediately and no longer had to fight the urge to open my eyes. The ear thing she did was especially amazing.

When it was time, she rinsed off the excess dye, and I opened my eyes.

She brought over a mirror, and wow, if I didn't have just the prettiest eyelashes ever!

Self-portrait taken a couple days after the tinting.
Perhaps not the best picture to highlight the lashes. Oh well.

I was very pleased with how they turned out and the experience as a whole.

I love not having to take the time remember to apply mascara in the mornings.
I love how my lashes are beautifully dark but not at all heavy or clumpy.

With all that being said, I was a little disappointed with Juut and this particular aesthetician.

**It would have been nice to have the person who scheduled the appointment tell me things like "don't wear make-up" and "it's recommended to not wear contacts." I did these things anyway, but it would have been nice to have been warned as well.

**There was no consultation. We didn't discuss the procedure. There was no mention of the massaging. She even picked out the color - automatically mixing up the most popular choice.

**There was no after care advice. Whenever I've gotten my hair dyed, the stylist generally gives tips on how to make the color last longer, etc. There was none of that. Do I wash my face and eyes like normal? Maybe that's a silly question.

**Not really related to the spa or the aesthetician, but when I first opened my eyes, it really burned. She said she's never had anyone complain about a burning sensation afterwards. Guess there's a first for everything.  *sigh* We rinsed my lashes again, and the second time I opened my eyes was much better.

Would I get my lashes tinted again? Absolutely.
Would I go to the same girl? Not so sure.

Have you ever gotten this done? How did you like it?
What other beauty treatments would you consider "must-trys"?

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!

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I'm 34 today. :)

It's going to be a crazy busy day, but just so.much.fun!

Here's a quick rundown:

Bubble bath to start the day out right. lol.

Work.

Birthday lunch.

I chose a summery menu - sloppy joes, watermelon, pasta salad, frozen strawberry dessert (not sure what it's called, but it should be yum-o)

Back to Work.

Free yoga class.

CorePowerYoga gave me a coupon for a free class on my birthday.

Dinner at Hard Rock Cafe with Jeff and Dan and Chelsea.

Hard Rock also gave me $10 off my purchase.

Plus, my birthday is already off to a rocking start with all kinds of fun birthday wishes and memories over on Facebook!

If you know me, please share a memory in the comments.

If you don't, please share a favorite post of mine that you've read. :)

Fabulous Birthday Week

My birthday week was kicked off on Sunday with a party at my parents house, where my nephew, Emillio, baked and decorated this gorgeous cake. He just graduated high school and is going to be a pâtissier someday. He does great work, right?

We enjoyed grilled pizzas and caesar salad for dinner. Delicious!

My sister gave me a food dehydrator, which I've already used to dried some fruits and make fruit leather. Yum!

Tuesday was the actual day of my birthday. I got to spend it with the Young Women of the White Bear Lake and Saint Paul wards at Girls Camp, where they serenaded me at breakfast with not one, but two, birthday songs. I love the WBL ward's version and need to get that from them. It was awesome.

We took a 10 mile canoe trip with the girls that was supposed to be 3-4 hours, but took us 5 hours. There was an incredible head wind for the last 2 miles that was killer! I'm a terrible canoer, but I still have fun doing it.

After dinner, the girls all did some skits. They were all great, but the YCL's was the best because it ended with them presenting a birthday cake to me! Yep, I definitely felt special...and loved. Thanks, girls! And Bre
(cuz I know you orchestrated the whole thing).

Since I was at camp on my actual birthday, Jeff surprised me at work on Thursday with these beautiful flowers.

I was totally shocked! It was such a sweet surprise.

My office also had my birthday lunch, so Jeff got to stay and meet all my co-workers. We had some delicious pasta, salad, and mini eclairs for dessert! After lunch, Jeff and I walked around the farmer's market where we bought some delicious chocolate! I also got some fruit to dry with my new dehydrator.

Not really part of any birthday celebration, but Friday night, we went to a Saints game. As always, it was super fun to hang with our friends Bre and R.Jay! After the game, we had some ice cream and played Ticket to Ride. It was a lot of fun!

Back to birthday celebrations on Saturday as Jeff and I joined my brother, Dan, and his girlfriend, Chelsea, for a session of Hot Yoga at Core Power Yoga. The class was intense, and I felt a little nauseated at times, but it was good. Jeff has now discovered that he really enjoys yoga. Who knew?!

After yoga, we went out to dinner at Subo in downtown Minneapolis. Dinner was their birthday gift to me. It was delicious! It's tapas-style dining, so what you order is shared with the whole table. I even tried Ahi. Yep, raw tuna. It wasn't too bad. Couldn't bring myself to try the scallops, though. Maybe next time. Jeff also discovered he's a natural with chopsticks. He was totally showing off. He'll be all set if we end up in China for the Peace Corps. 

Happy Birthday, Emillio!!

This is one of my favorites! What an adorable little kid. That spring, he loved to wear those rubber boots. In fact, I think he may have worn them throughout most of the summer, too. What a silly little guy.

I remember when I found out I had a nephew. I was at Girls Camp. My little sister was there, too. It was so fun to hear our older sister had a little boy. We were SO. VERY. EXCITED!!

He was my best little bud for awhile! I loved to hold him and play with him. We even joked around that I was his girlfriend. So fun!

When he was beginning to talk, my friend, Aimee, tried very hard to teach him to say, "Orange Eight" (from a refrigerator magnet) and "Nunchuck" (can't remember why). I wonder if she remembers that. To this day, my family refers to her as Orange 8 Aimee. :-)

Now, this little guy is a high school graduate! (June 13, 2010)

And today he turns 18!

Happy birthday, Emillio!!

Hope you have a fabulous day!