June Spotlight - JoAnn

Well it's that time again... that time to spotlight another awesome blogger. For my seventh feature, I thought I'd ask JoAnn some questions. Her photos are amazing. The composition and even just that they are all outside is amazing.

Where did the name of your blog come from?
I originally started this blog with my younger sister and we named it Sidewalk Chalk, because it was a place for us to focus on our mutual love of clothing and childhood favorites. When she left the blog to pursue other things, the direction of it changed and I decided to change it slightly to Sidewalk Chic to focus on my style. Plus, I think the original name confused people who were Googling for art supplies :)


When did you start your blog? Have you ever had any other blogs before?
My sister and I started the blog in October 2009. I've had other blogs, but those were private ones without any real focus. I have kept a lot of journals over my life since age 7.

What is the main goal of your blog?
My main goal is to focus on personal style and landscape photography.

Did the intent or content of your blog change since you started?
It definitely did. Originally it focused on the differences between my style as a post-graduate in the real world and my sister, who was in high school at the time. Since then, it's been under my sole direction and I have focused a lot on enhancing my photography skills. I live in Georgia, so I've been really inspired by some of the rural farms and fields in my area and try to really capture some of the beauty of these locations. I take all of my own photos (unless otherwise noted) and I mostly do them outdoors.

How many hours per week would you say you spend blogging?
Probably 15 to 20, and a lot of that is because I spend time outdoors for photos.

Do you spend more time reading blogs than you do writing your own blog?
 I spend a lot more time reading blogs. It used to take me a really long time to take photos, edit and draft entries. But after doing this for a while, there's definitely a rhythm to it, and I can get it all done under two hours everyday.

How many blogs do you read on a daily basis?
I would say I visit about 10 everyday, but my Google Reader is subscribed to more than a 100, so I try to vary my reading from time to time. I read a lot of personal style blogs, but I'm also interested in online comics and illustrations (some favorites include Stuff No One Told Me (But I Learned Anyways) and Hyperbole and a Half).

Do people email you often because they read your blog?
I do get emails from time to time, and it's always fun to interact with others. I've definitely developed some wonderful relationships because of it.

Do you communicate with a lot of your readers via email/IM?
I mostly interact with my readers via email and Disqus comments. I love that Disqus allows for easy replying in comment threads.

What is your inspiration?
I'm inspired from a lot of different muses, ranging from personal style bloggers to landscape photographers. Recently I've started reaching out to local photographers on flickr to find more scenic photo spots in my area.

From the past six months, what is your favorite outfit that you’ve worn (and photographed)?
I really liked my J. Crew green paisley dress worn with a floral blue/white blouse. It was so eclectic and out there for me, and I loved how it turned out.

What is your favorite picture (of you, others, or scenery) that you have taken recently?
This was so tough to answer -- I'm not sure that I could narrow it down. Over the past year, I've really tried to challenge myself by experimenting with locations, lighting and angles. I think Imogen Cunningham said it best: "Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I'm going to take tomorrow."

What post are you most proud of?
Did it get the most hits? I was really proud of the post I wrote about posing naturally in outfit photos. I feel like a lot of style photographers can get self-conscious in front of the camera. I still get a lot of feedback from it.

What is your daily routine regarding your blog? (Ex: When do you take pictures? When do you upload
them? When do you write the post?)
I try to take photos every afternoon, and over the weekends I try to do photos just after sunrise. I end up writing the posts at night and they get published at 9:00 every morning.

How do you juggle all your competing priorities and still have time to blog?
I try to remember that this is my hobby, and to try to make time for it everyday.

What is your best tip to photographing yourself?
I think it's important to experiment and get comfortable in front of the camera by trying all kinds of poses. I'm also a big advocate of good posture.

What is one interesting fact you’d like to share about yourself?
I'm planning on going to graduate school in the fall to study advertising. I'm looking forward to seeing how my blog will evolve during that time period.

If you haven't done so already, head on over to see what JoAnn has to say at Sidewalk Chic.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

12:01:45 AM - @lisafilipek I know. And usually my cleaning involves piles of stuff on my bed.
12:03:42 AM - @LaurelHeather I thought you were the one originally wanting it.
12:09:54 AM - @LaurelHeather annoying. Push his buttons like he pushes yours. No don't. That'll make it worse.
08:08:06 AM - @stinachristina ok. Thanks for the info. I think you should be able to use your gmail. Not sure.
11:05:08 AM - @angelineevans See I think the weather is depressing because it will be 91 today and 93 tomorrow. Too hot to leave the house.
11:14:38 AM - @angelineevans Well it is 90 and humid. This morning it was 70 and humid and I was dying taking my outfit photos.
12:43:19 PM - @angelineevans Haha. to me cold used to be under 0 but I'm getting old so now it's cold if it is under 20.
12:51:04 PM - @angelineevans Back when I started here one girl complained about the cold. (the 50s) she started in March so missed the winter cold. ha
01:27:43 PM - The A/C is broken in my building at work. My area isn't that bad but other areas are 86 degrees.
10:22:46 PM - @FatGirlvsWorld I just made my June #GoTheDist goals
10:27:54 PM - I think to save time picking out my clothes I should go to 6-1 each of previous years & just wear one of those outfits. http://bit.ly/ctvUMc

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

Closet Clean-out (2)

I went through some more clothes in my closet.  This time I also worked on matching one outfit.

6 items listed above were tried on and 2 went to the goodwill pile.
1 needs to be shortened. I need to raise the skirt by moving the waistband.

1. Park Ranger Shirt.  I haven't worn this in years. Dave told me to get it way back in the day to look like a park ranger. I always wore it with pants labeled 2 above or similar pants. I tried this shirt on with numerous things. I need to figure out how to not look washed out when I wear it. Any suggestions?
2. Khaki pants I haven't worn in ages. They are a little short.  For some reason I thought they'd be too tight and they weren't. I feel like my clothes that are a few years old are a lot more breathable because of just how the material is.
3. This skirt is in a few pictures. I think I wore it once. I don't like the length of it (see picture in the bottom row) but if it is up a few inches I like it better. I only discovered this recently. I need to alter this skirt. 
4. This is another long skirt. I don't like it. It is longer on one side than the other. I didn't think I could alter it and like it, so it is in the Goodwill pile.  I think I only wore it once before.
5. I like this pink skirt. I don't like the length. I'm going to figure out how to put new elastic on it and move it down a few inches. I also want to make the striped fabric closer in length to the floral one.  I hope I get to this project soon. 
6. This skirt is too boring. I wore in once in 2006. I got it at Goodwill and now it will be going in the Goodwill Pile again. 

The other shirts shown in the pictures were just so that I had clothes on that semi matched so I could better judge the skirts.

Now I am up to 28 items that I went through and only 5 in the donate pile.  I thought I would be getting rid of a lot more.

5.22 - Returning Home

In the hotel, we had a king size bed. Dave liked to hog all the room. I was at the edge of the bed. Dave woke up early and he thought it was so funny how far to the edge I was that he even took a picture.  No wonder I have no desire to buy a king size bed. We'd have the extra expense and I wouldn't get any more room anyway.  Also note on top of the covers I have a semi folded up blanket. It was in the closet in the hotel room and after I was freezing the first night, I wanted it for the 2nd night.  I'm also sleeping in my normal shirt that I sleep in but then also wearing the cardigan I wore at the wedding. I wanted all the layers I could get.  I guess it worked enough because my arms weren't under the covers. (Wow I just wrote an entire paragraph about my day that was before I even woke up.)

Sunday was travel home day and I got a grease stain on my one jeans and my other jeans aren't as good for traveling so I decided to wear my yoga pants. I still wore a nicer top half for traveling.  Yoga pants were a lot nicer for driving. 

Shirt: NY&Co

Cardigan: Kohl's

Yoga Pants: VS

Shoes: Brooks

Necklace: Sears

We woke up and packed up. We headed to Pat's for lunch. They open at 11 so we tried to plan accordingly. We got there 5 minutes early so Dave wanted to try to fix the sound thing in the car. I worked on it and did what he said to do.  It took 15 minutes. It was rough going getting to the fuse box (or whatever it was called).
What I did didn't even work. We went inside and ordered. Dave did some googling and learned that he must have turned down the volume when the navigation lady was talking which is why we couldn't hear her. Also he figured the sync on his phone would work again.  After googling he learned that if there is a time when the person is talking, he turns up the volume, it'll work again.  He ran out to the car to test this and sure enough he fixed it. 

I drove the entire way home. It sucked. Why doesn't Dave drive? I mean it is his family.  He drives near Philly but still that isn't much at all and then I drive 5 hours.  We went to my parents to Pick up Poly.

On our way home, at a red light she thought she could exit the cage. She retreated on her own once we started moving again. She realizes it is safer in there.  Dave puts his arm in there when I drive to make her calmer. Poly is much better in a car when it is daylight. Too bad around Christmas, it gets dark so early.

I was tired when we got home. Poly was tired too.  She lounged about but at least didn't hide like she did previous times we ditched her for the weekend or even previous times we traveled with her.

She was zonked on my lap for the longest time.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

01:26:49 AM - My camera is MIA and poly has been so cute. I had it here in this chair a few hours ago.
09:39:45 AM - You know it is a bad sign when I start looking in the fridge for my camera. I had it at 7:08PM and watched TV all night. Where could it be?
11:27:59 AM - @wrkngmomscloset I had no trouble a few hours ago.
02:55:02 PM - I just spent an hour going through clothes. thought I didn't like them but needed to try them on first before tossing...and I liked too many
06:13:00 PM - I was just taking pictures of myself going through clothes deciding what to keep and I'd switch up poses based on different fashion bloggers
07:44:11 PM - @wrkngmomscloset I figured everything is closed. That's why I didn't leave the house.
07:46:12 PM - @FatGirlvsWorld I am
11:45:15 PM - Got distracted reading my sewing books. Now I want to sew. But it is past my bedtime. Why didn't I get the desire to sew earlier in the day?
11:53:48 PM - @lisafilipek me too. And wind up getting in the mood to clean late at night.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

Closet Clean-out

My closet is getting jam packed. I figured there is a ton in there that I don't like. I decided to go through it a little.
I barely went through any. I tried on everything before it goes to the Goowill pile.  My problem is I liked a lot more than I remembered liking.

Another problem was a lot of the clothes that used to be too big now fit or are too tight. Lots of clothes that did fit (that I do not want to get rid of) are too tight now.  I need to organize/categorize or something so I don't get confused what fits now.

Above is a collage of most of what I tried on.

What is your process for going through your closet? Do you do it all at once or go through parts at a time?

I have made posts before about trying on old clothes, but they weren't this extensive. In September 2010, I said that I hoped I'd get through 2 feet of closet on the one side. I did not even make it through that 2 feet today.

5.28

Dave was working but I was home. I had a long to do list to get done while he was at work. Too bad I didn't do any of it.

I took a lot of pictures of Poly throughout the day.   I used the exercise bike near lunch time and then did an ab workout.  I went a lot quicker than the last time I used the bike at home.  I did it while watching the 2nd to last episode of The Biggest Loser.  Then I showered. I decided to eat lunch while wearing my robe since I hadn't eaten breakfast and I even had a workout.

After lunch I watched some TV.  I was also doing laundry. Around 2, Dave got home. Then we napped.... for about 2 hours.  I was still wearing my robe.  I think I was in my robe for 6 hours.

Finally I threw on a dress to go to Lowe's and pick up dinner. I think I was in the dress for 3 or 4 hours total.

Dress: Athleta
Shoes: Famous Footwear
Necklace: Sears

We bought mulch. We came home and ate dinner. We watched Crazy Heart. I watched TV after the movie was over.  Surprisingly I didn't stay up too late after taking a 2 hour nap.

Dave always comments that Poly doesn't even wear underpants. Well when I was putting away the laundry, Dave threw his boxers on Poly. It was cute. He told her she was wearing them wrong. Then she moved and they shimmied down and he told her how that was better.  We have full conversations with our cat. Sometimes she meows back at us when we ask her something but usually not but that doesn't stop us from talking to her. Often Dave responds as Poly. He can be very funny.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

08:22:35 AM - It is already too hot outside to run.
09:16:36 AM - 3 bags of mulch down. Have 3 more to do. Then need to buy a lot more. http://lockerz.com/s/105861183
09:37:11 AM - finished with the mulch that we bought yesterday. Still need more. man is it hot outside. i'm dying. also i wore my good shoes by mistake.
03:04:31 PM - @briecs why were you upset?
05:14:25 PM - @mikecherepko I'm at Delallo's. They are packed and out of a ton. http://lockerz.com/s/105979656
05:19:52 PM - @mikecherepko I never saw eggs so cheap. http://lockerz.com/s/105980990
06:23:18 PM - @mikecherepko I usually pay 2 or 3.50 for organic.
09:15:46 PM - All I do is think about zebra cakes or eat them. I might have a problem.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

5.21 - outfits only

May 21 consisted of 3 outfits.

Outfit 1 = breakfast at the hotel
Outfit 2 = wedding
Outfit 3 = Mall/Wawa
1: Loft Tee, VS Yoga Pants, Brooks Shoes
2: Dress and Cardigan: Kohl's, Connie shoes via Famous Footwear, Target earrings
3: Express Jeans and shirt, Kohl's Cardigan, Brooks Shoes, Sears Necklace, Target Earrings

Note how the line down the center of me moved. The shirt is not two-tone; The sun is just coming in the window.  When I took the 2nd picture above, I was moving because of the sun making my shirt look like it has a stripe. I didn't even realize my reflection would be in the mirror.

My cardigan was not worn most of the time, but it just so happened that when I wore it is when pictures were taken. My shoes are weird in almost all pictures because the heels would sink into the ground.  I bought this dress about a week earlier. It is a little tight in the armpits. You can kind of tell in the photo. It is worse when I'm sitting because I slouch. The dress was about 20 bucks so I couldn't pass it up.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

09:14:30 AM - I am not enough to entertain Poly. She wants more attention than I'm giving her. She knocks things off my desk.
12:45:44 PM - I just fixed an old broken @BodyMediaFIT armband with @stampinup sticky strip. Wonder if it'll hold. Time to find my other 3 broken bands.
09:53:52 PM - @briecs what happened on 7th?
10:06:14 PM - @mikecherepko What magazine is that?

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

5.20 - Breakfast, Drive, Rehearsal, 2 dinners

Outfit 1: To work for a breakfast

Skirt: F21

Shirt: NY&Co.

Blazer: Sears

Belt: Target

Necklace: Sears

Earrings: Target

The blue earrings are the same shade as the shirt. I'm not sure if you can tell in the picture.

I had probably a dozen better ideas of what to wear but then something was dirty or I thought it would be too tight since I gained a little weight.

Outfit 2: Driving to Philly but also ended up being wedding rehearsal outfit

Jeans: Indi

Shirt: NY&Co

Jacket: NY&Co

Shoes: Kohl's

Necklace: Sears

Earrings: Target

These jeans were a lot more comfortable than the jeans I bought ages ago. I think because I was already getting fatter when I got these.  The sandals have 4+ inch heels. They are the first sandals I bought and wore. They are still out of my comfort zone and are already almost a year old. (See them better here.)

Poly cuddled with me in the morning so I got started getting ready a little late.

I got up and Dave was still sleeping. Look how cute Poly was.

Then after my shower, Poly wanted in.  She loves the shower.

I went to work for the breakfast. It was the recognition for the WIN scholarship Winner. There were 16 total in attendance.  As soon as I got home, we grabbed last minute things and were on the road.

We were making a pit stop on the way so my mom could cat-sit Poly.  Poly doesn't mind  the car as much during the daylight.  Dave sat in the backseat with her.  BTW this is a dog cage. The cat ones were too little and she didn't like them.  We always leave the cage out in the living room. We caught her napping in it once or twice. Sometimes she also naps on top of it. She actually does that often. We leave it out so she doesn't see it and hate it when we do have to go somewhere. Inside the cage is an afghan and a towel so she has a nice soft surface to sleep on.

We got to my parents and Poly made herself right at home.  We stayed there talking a little bit and then realized we might be late if we didn't get a move on it.  Also I always forget to take into account that I like to stop at every rest stop to take a little nap.

I knew we were running behind so I only stopped at 2 stops.  We also didn't make a final stop close to Philly where Dave would drive. I hate driving near there.  We arrived at the rehearsal at 4:58.  It was supposed to start at 5. Also I originally thought we'd go to the hotel first before going to the rehearsal.  We hit a ton of traffic near Philly and that sucked.

The officiant arrived at 5:34 so I guess it was like we were early.

After the rehearsal, we all went to dinner at some random place near Tyler Arboretum.  While there I was talking to Dave about where our 2nd dinner would be.

We ended up getting Wawa for 2nd dinner.  I got an italian hoagie and Dave got 2 hoagies.  This was the start of me gaining 2 lbs while in Philly.   Man was I exhausted.  I don't like all that driving.

5.19 - LBD

Dress: Old Navy (1999 or 2000) ~$15
Cardigan: NY&Co (2010)
Shoes: Famous Footwear - Connie (2011)
Necklace: Lia Sophia (2010)
Belt: Kohl's (2010)
Earrings: Target

I lengthened the necklace with 2 safety pins. Usually I use those 2 pins to shorten it.  The necklace is adjustable by 4 inches but those 4 inches never seem to cut it.

This dress fits better than it has in the past. Last year it was a little big. It fit better this year. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing. I mean I have love handles now so it should probably be bad.   The belted cardigan makes the dress fit in the back.  I have this problem with so many dresses not fitting above my butt. My waist goes in so far going down my back and then my butt sticks out even further. I am not sure if this is normal because I don't analyze anyone else but maybe I will start looking at some point.

So all day I wore this and thought how awesome it would have been to wear with breakfast with the CEO the next day and I was disappointed I created the outfit a day too early.  

I have probably only worn this dress a half dozen times. It is the main reason I say I wouldn't get rid of clothes I didn't wear for 1 year. I always think of this dress and don't want to get rid of anything I haven't worn for a year because of it.  I probably went a good 6 or 7 years without wearing this one.  These pictures make the dress seem shorter than I thought it was. I think I pulled it down after or at least I hope so. This is a little too far above the knee for my liking.

So do my legs look tan? It is because I bought the wrong pantyhose.  These ones are called "slight color" or something. I had such difficulty finding my size that I ended up forgetting to double check the color. Why is it so hard to find Nude pantyhose in size C of Hanes?  Kohl's pantyhose section is a joke. They don't have the same size, color, style together. Or they only have 1 of each.  It was a mess, but I wanted to try something new after how disappointed I've been with Legg's recently.

In the morning Poly was cuddling with me. I got up but getting up on the other side of the bed. Poly was not happy.

When I was getting ready for work, Poly wasn't bothering me. I was curious what she was up to. Well she was sitting on the suitcase. She was already trying to be packed. I guess she didn't know that I got the suitcase out early to make it easier when packing after work.

After work, Dave and I went to dinner with Chad and Jen.   After that I had to mow. It was a little wet but I had to get it done before we went out of town.

I walked upstairs and see this on the floor. Dave blamed it on Poly. The laundry basket was sitting on the floor with some clean socks still in it. Apparently she was playing fetch and took a dive off the bed to get the ponytail holder and the basket was in her path.

After all that, it was time to pack.  Poly tried to pack herself in the garment bag. Poor Poly.

It took me a really long time to pack because I spent so much time trying to figure out what to wear to breakfast with the CEO (and other people). Also packing was rough with at least 3 loads of dirty laundry.  I also wasn't told what the wedding colors were so I didn't know which of my dresses to wear.  I over packed. I figured we were driving so I could pack extra.

Our original plan was to drive to Philly leaving at 7am but because of the breakfast, we would be leaving after the breakfast, but this still meant that I had to be totally packed and ready to go before going to sleep.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

12:14:48 AM - @FatGirlvsWorld Balancing any 2 modes of exercise seems hard for me. At PT the lady seemed to think I needed a focus. Ugh. I want it all.
01:02:41 AM - Poly is sleeping beside me. http://bit.ly/itrlhw
01:19:40 AM - I got up to turn on the light and poly rolled over and stole my seat. So I took hers.
10:19:34 AM - I've been cleaning all morning but you can't tell. cleaning 5% all over the house is almost like nothing. I did sweep the garage
10:19:52 AM - Well only 1 side of the garage. my car is still in there. But @polahbea's side sure is nice.
10:27:16 AM - my legs are sore from abduction/adduction 2 days ago. biceps-sore from pump yesterday. I'm in my workout clothes but should today be rest?
11:30:50 AM - Poly cried at me when she noticed I was about to leave. Sadness. I felt bad. Petted her. Then about to leave again and she cries again. :(
06:21:49 PM - I feel dumb with pinterest. It takes me 20 tries to get something to pin.
08:20:06 PM - @stinachristina What's the longest you have left your cat?
08:23:58 PM - Thanks! RT @BodyMediaFIT: @smilincolleen Awesome! Your entries are great!
08:24:14 PM - @TheNewChrissy My aunt did that with her eyebrows
10:23:04 PM - @FatGirlvsWorld I noticed you were listed first earlier. You must be special.
10:24:10 PM - I'm pretty tired and going to go to sleep. I thought this was uncharacteristically early but realized it is Friday. It's normal.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

Friend Friday: Hair care

This week Katy asked some questions about hair care. I wonder how this will go since I always think I should do more and I don't do anything.

1. How often do you get your hair cut?
Between every few months and once a year.

2. Do you go to the same stylist each time, try someone new, go to the cheap hair cutting chains or live it up in a salon?
I have probably gone to a professional 6 or 8 times in my life.  I have my mom or husband cut the bottom and then I add the layers.  Before that my mom cut it and I didn't have layers.

3. Do you color your hair? How often? What’s your natural color?
I do not color my hair and therefore my natural color is brown.   I did highlight my hair 3 times in my life. I did like it the first time.  I hated it when it grew out. But then once it grows out you get more highlighting but then after a few inches you just have too much light hair.

4. The one thing you always do to keep your hair looking great is:
Nothing. It isn't ever great and I don't do anything to it.  I am always told it is great when I go to the hairstylist (you know those 6 times) and they say it is because I don't damage it with a curling iron, hair dryer, or dyes.

5. What hair trend do you love and wish you could rock?
I have no idea. what hair trends are.  I do wish my hair was curly with loose curls not the tight spiral curls. But then when it grows out just slightly and the super straight natural hair looks even worse with the curls of a perm.  I felt like I could do so much more with my hair when it was permed, but that I was also forced to shower in the morning.  I liked a perm because I could curl my hair with whatever curling iron size and it would hold unless it was humid. If it was humid, it frizzed up and sucked.  Oh the pros and cons.   Check this summary page that just shows icons to see randomly how my hair has looked at various points in my life.

I used to curl my hair more but now that I workout right after work I figure it isn't worth the 3 minutes it takes to curl the ends under so I don't do anything. I only curl it on special occasions now.

May 2005 = day of my last perm
November 2005 = curled with a curling iron (permed hair)

February 2006
April 2006
August 2006

You've all seen recent pictures of me but scroll through my calendar site to see how my hair has evolved.

How about you? Tell me a little about your hair care.

5.18 - Work, PT, Allergy Shot, Dinner, Socializing

Shirt: Loft
Pants: VS
Shoes: Famous Footwear
Earrings: Target

Let me just say I have never worn this color with khakis. I don't know why.  I love it. I think I get a WIN for matching on my own. I didn't even have to use my color wheels.  These pants have been missing the inside button for over a year. One of these days I should sew on a new button. Do you ever own things for years and never wear them together?  

I got to work early. Then I left to go to PT. Then I worked. Then I had am important meeting.  Then I left to get an allergy shot and go to Carino's for dinner.

I met my parents and brother for dinner. I went specifically for the Italian Chili. My mom mentioned how she was getting soup and salad versus just soup like I was going to get.  So I ordered soup and salad. My mom ordered the same. My dad and brother both got meals plus soup.  When the first round was delivered there were 3 Italian Chilis and 1 salad. Based on the dressing the salad was mine. The other 3 were Italian Chilis. Man was I sad. I wanted my soup to get more soups versus more salads eaten.    A few minutes later, I ask for my Chili.  Others at the table want refills too.  The waitress comes back with 3 soups + the salad for my mom.  The salad has tomatoes on it even though it shouldn't and the soup was not Italian Chili. I questioned the waitress and she brought the wrong kind and basically just told me to eat that instead. I told her I'd try it but to please just bring out some Chili for me.  My dad tries the soup and mentions it is spicy. I ask if I'll die from the spice. He says no. I am not sure if I should believe him or not so I take a little tiny bite. Man that soup was so spicy. I was dying.    So Timmy ate my bowl + his. I was there w/o food now.  I came just for the chili and so far didn't get any and also was sitting there foodless.  Sitting without food is a bad thing for someone who is the slowest eater.  The only thing going for me was that they just had a huge party so cooking the regular dinners was a little slow. I finally ended up with my Chili. I actually even got a 2nd bowl.  I think I got a 2nd salad too.  I ate a lot of bread.  The food was excellent when I actually got it but the service was just extremely slow.  The manager came over and offered to box up Timmy's leftovers.  About 10 minutes later we ask about them and finally learn he tossed them.   He said he'd have them make up a new order.  (Later, Timmy looked and saw that it was wrong. He didn't look in the to go container thing at the restaurant since it was one of those foil things and not just an easy pop open the lid thing.

It's a wonder I drive an hour to get to Carino's.  I love that place. They need more around, but sometimes the servers are no good. When I lived 15 minutes away, I used to get to know the servers names but now I only recognize some and don't know their names.

Dinner probably took an extra 45 minutes from our normal dinner duration. Of course this had to happen the day I was in a hurry to get back home since I was getting company from someone needing to kill time.

I got home and then Chad came over a few minutes later.  In that few minutes, I should have been cleaning up but I didn't. Oh well.  Chad hung out for probably 2.5 hours. In that time I learned a lot of 20 year old work gossip. I never hear gossip at work. I never talk to people at work.  I realized I learn what gossip I know from Chad even the gossip about people who work 10 ft from me and he works at a site an hour away.

After Chad left we watched American Idol. Man it sure takes a long time to watch a 2 hour episode. It ended way past my bed time. Once it was over, it was straight to bed.

There was no time to exercise with my busy schedule. :(

Poly is always getting comfortable with my stuff

Twitter 5/26

12:34:30 AM - IT is late so I should go to bed. I almost went to bed an hour ago. But I wanted to blog about my recent runs and PT. Later I guess.
06:22:02 AM - I set 2 alarms for body pump before work and don't remember either going off. Missed it.
08:12:26 AM - @stinachristina yea Dave said he wasn't going to watch this week. The power being out forced us to not watch Tuesday.
08:12:52 AM - @stinachristina I just wanted to know who won so I felt in the loop if people talked about it. Nobody has talked about it so far.
11:21:23 AM - My name should not be this hard to spell. Have spelled it a few times and she still missed the L
11:25:17 AM - @nuclearliz Well I used to have Cherepko and nobody EVER got that right. But McCloskey is easy and I rarely have trouble.
01:41:07 PM - my chair squeaks so bad that I try not to move. It makes working rough.
01:41:26 PM - @briecs similar thoughts here too. I feel so busy and feel like nothing gets done.
04:53:39 PM - @DaizyCh we only do last name They type it and then have the choices for who works here.
06:20:02 PM - I forgot gym socks. It was awful for pump. Was going to run after but not without socks. Ugh.
09:16:13 PM - @BodyMediaFIT tip is to mark an X on a calendar a day you exercise and you never want a day without that nice X. It really worked.
10:44:44 PM - @BodyMediaFIT #BodyBurn http://bit.ly/mFVlJs My run yesterday.
10:47:17 PM - @whoatemyblog Tomorrow is my 9/80 day off so I'm off. But my husband is on mandatory OT so he works tomorrow and Saturday :(
10:49:24 PM - @wrkngmomscloset EEK that's scary.
10:50:25 PM - @UnderTheFat I wish I did 4 miles. Good job.
10:53:10 PM - @FashionMomma22 aww poor little dog.
11:09:13 PM - Nice for you RT @mikecherepko: Groceries In NYC Are Cheaper Than In Most Of The Country? http://t.co/smHqoYw Cheaper than in Pittsburgh. p.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

Run 5.25.11 - 1.78 mi

I ran outside before work. It was my first outside run that wasn't on a track since the knee injury so I kept it close.  I ran the first quarter mile at 2:25 and I thought that was pretty good. I was impressed with doing that after going so long with out running. I still thought I should try to get better than 2:25 for the 2nd quarter. I got 2:21. Man was I excited. I still thought I had to improve for the next quarter. I don't know why but I did. Then I got 2:14. I thought it was fake. I always try to run each split faster than the previous one and it doesn't usually happen. I kept improving. I thought it was crazy. Too bad the run was about over.  Down my street, I slowed down on purpose for more of a cooldown.  I did want to end on 1.74 so I ran a bit past the house and back up. Also I know sometimes it looks like 1.75 but would be 1.74 later so I did a little extra just to be safe. 

After I got back I went inside and got my tripod and ran out to start running and try to get a picture for the bodyburn competition through BodyMedia Fit. It was tough. First I forgot to turn on the remote thing. Then I had to run back up to do that and run back down. I tried to run and 2 pictures I was blocked by a tree and 2 I was out of range.  Pictures of me running would have been easier if someone else took them.  I sure hope no neighbors saw me doing this.

I feel like all that time off running has helped my speed. My endurance is crap but my speed is about where it was a year ago.

Also this was my third day in a row of some sort of running. Granted on Tuesday it was only .75 before yoga started (I wanted to do 1.0 but didn't have enough time before yoga.) and 2.5 on Monday (I wanted to do 3 but didn't have enough time before PT.). 

Check out my calorie burn from the run. PT didn't give me much of a calorie burn (1:30-2:35). Mowing the lawn was pretty decent.

I need to run longer to hit my vigorous activity goals each day.

Have you had any good runs or workouts lately?