Summer Uniform

It's officially Fall!  Yea yea yea!  It's my favorite season of the year!  I mean, of course Summer is great with it's lack of work, pool time, and fresh produce.  But come on, Fall has pumpkins and football and perfect running weather!  It's hard to beat.

This post started out trying to be selfies of the first 10 days of school, but I kept forgetting to take selfies.  P.S. Selfies are super hard to take.  I gotta give some credit to those middle schoolers.  They've got skills!

So... we're going to call this 10 Summer School Things to Wear.  We could also call it 10 Awkward Selfies by a Dumb Girl Too Old To Take Selfies.




1. School Spirit Day.  Go CST Wildcats!



2.  Bright Colors.



3.  Casual Friday.



4. Purple Skirt.



5.  Purple Shirt.



6.  Yellow Dress.



7. Grey Skirt, Ikat shirt.



8.  Awkward side pose and cheetah shoes.



9. Excited to experiment with statement necklace.



10.  Jean jacket and top knot.

Anyone know why all my pics are so blurry?  Eh... whatever.  I'll continue to hone my selfie-taking skills and share some Fall uniform pics later this season.  I'm sure you'll be seeing lots of leggings and scarves! 

Goodbye Summer!  Hello Fall!

Hilton head

We recently traveled to Hilton Head, South Carolina to attend our friend Blake's wedding.  It was my first time and I was super impressed!  We had a very nice little weekend get-away.  Here's what our trip looked like, in 10 pictures of course.

1.  Hilton Head Diner.

We arrived at 1AM on Friday so we slept in crazy-late and then headed out for some island breakfast.  I love lazy mornings!

Coffee!

2.  The beach!

Our hotel was right on the beach.  This meant lots of time in the sun!

Beach!

3.  Beach Shenanigans.

We met up with Blake and his family who had been staying there all week.  How fun is that?  We decided Hilton Head needed a little Wildcat spirit.

K-S-U!  Wildcats!

4.  Ocean.

I got in it.  I'm a dork.

Hello, Atlantic.

5.  Rehearsal.

Blake, Steph, and their families were staying in a huge beach house right off the water.  The backyard was on a canal and this is where they held the rehearsal dinner and the reception.

Backyard Banquet.

6.  Dress.

Steph's rehearsal dress rocked.  She looked amazing.  I was obsessed.

Obsessed.

7.  Run.

I had to run 20 miles on Saturday morning.  I found a trail that went around the island.  Unfortunately it didn't have any water or bathrooms near it.  And then it turned into this.

Lovely Trail Huge death-hill on the side of the highway.

8.  More Beach.

I love Drew.  And the ocean.  And the little old ladies who took our picture.

Love!

9.  Limo.

We got to ride in the limo to the reception with the newly weds.  Yea!

Love. :)

10.  Dancing.

We returned to the Beach House for dinner and dancing.  I have to say, this was one of the nicest receptions I've ever been to.  They really did it right! 

First dance!

We had such a nice time and we're so happy for the newly weds!

Oh, you noticed there weren't any pictures from the ceremony?  Well, aren't you observant.  That's a story for another time.  And not one that needs to be put in writing.

Cutting Processed Food

For a few years now we have been trying to limit processed foods.  We've had our ups and downs, and right now I'm definitely off the wagon.  I spent the weekend eating Cheeze-its and ice cream.  So I'm thinking now is a good time to try to jump back on the wagon. 

I decided awhile ago that for the month leading up to the Chicago Marathon I would cut out all alcohol* and sweets.  So starting today, I'm sober and dessert-less.  Trust me, its' totally necessary.  Plus, I'm hoping it gives me an edge when running in Chicago.

While doing this little make-shift detox, I'm also going to focus on cutting out the other crap I've been consuming.  Whenever my mileage creeps up I use it as an excuse to nosh on Goldfish, cookies, and other junk.  I know better than that. 

But what's the reason behind cutting processed foods?  Well, my fave real-food blogger has 10 reasons for cutting it out.  Check out 100 Days of Real Food** for all the goods on getting real with your food.

10 Reasons to Cut Processed Foods

1.  Processed foods make health claims to appear healthy, but actually contribute to weight gain and sickness.

2.  Coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancer can all be traced to the industrialization of food.

3.  Choosing smarter, often more expensive food choices now can cut down on your health care costs later.  {Why are we so willing to dish out money for pills but turn our nose up at organic greens that cost a dollar more?}

4.  Processed foods are full of preservatives.  Food is supposed to go bad!!!

5.  Processed foods taste so good because of all the salt, sugar, and oil.  Of course they taste good.  And kill our taste buds. :(

6.  White bread and other ultra-processed grains are basically empty calories.  They do nothing for our bodies.  Nothing good anyways.

7.  An estimated 90% of processed food contains either corn or soy... probably the GMO variety. 

8.  Cutting processed foods can lead to more energy, improved regularity (woo hoo!), and just feeling healthier overall.

9.  Cutting out processed foods eliminates the confusion caused by marketing and misleading health-claims.  Are we doing low-fat, low-carb, or high-fiber today?  Forget that mess and eat something from nature!

10.  If you are eating whole foods, you know exactly what it is.  No ingredient labels with freaky Frankenstein ingredients! 

For me, it really is just about an overall feeling of being healthy.  My body feels better and I'm in a better mood when the majority of my meals come from whole foods, not from a box. 

Now, I'm not sure how the no-bottle thing is gonna go.  I miss you, wine.


*I know, right?  Pray for me.
**Disclaimer: she doesn't juice. 

Things that get harder after 25

I love and adore when anyone posts lists on Facebook.  When I get on FB I usually just mindlessly scroll through all of the baby pics, political posts, and Nordstrom ads*.  But when I see a list, I always have to stop and click on it!  I mean, unless its a political list.  Snoozeville.

I was totally stoked to see a list of the 25 things that get harder after 25 because there is almost nothing I love more than to bitch about getting older. 

Here are my faves, but please feel free to head over to Buzz Feed and read the whole list.

1.  Staying up past 11.

And that's on the weekends!  You know I can barely make it to 9:00 on a school night.

2.  Leaving the house when there's a Top Chef marathon on.

For me it's Chopped.  I spend most Tuesday and Thursday nights transfixed.  That show never gets old!

3.  Recognizing your Facebook friends, because they've all gotten married and changed their last names.

Or... you never really knew them in the first place.  I keep thinking I should go through my friend list and edit based on whether or not I have any idea who you are.  But I'm far too busy watching Chopped.

4.  Rallying after Day Drinking.

Yeah, there's no way in Hell I'm going out after day drinking.  Does anyone want to go day drinking with me?

5.  Experimenting with trends.

Jana and I are contemplating camo skinny jeans.  This feels somewhat wrong.  But I still really want them!

6.  Eating whatever you want and not gaining weight.

I never noticed this until I turned 30.  Now I have a chocolate shake and my ass shakes for a week.

7.  Recovering from a night out.

I had 2 drinks on Saturday night at a wedding and spent Sunday on the couch.  Suck-fest.

8.  Living on pizza and Red Bull and not feeling disgusting.

I actually love that I can tell the difference in my body's response to junk.  The fact that I feel a million times better when I eat better keeps me from reaching for Cheetos and ice cream more than I already do.

9.  Shopping at American Eagle.

Where do the 30 year-olds shop?  Even walking into American Eagle (or Forever 21) to look at flip flops or jewelry makes me feel like a fat old cat lady. 

10.  Watching MTV.

I had to DVR a rerun of the VMA's after all the Miley talk and I was seriously confused most of the time.  I was not confused when Justin Timberlake performed.  I liked that mucho mucho.  I could have done with more NSYNC though. 

Okay!  That's it!  Back to being old!  I'm going to go eat a salad, watch some Chopped, and go to bed. 

What do you miss most about being a young 20-something???

*Damn you Nordstrom ads!  You are so convincing!