Two Words

I'm lots of things: nice, responsible, obsessively organized, caring, doubtful, occasionally funny, incredibly beautiful....

but, if I had to pick two words that would describe me almost entirely, they would be runner and crazy.

You could verify with my therapist just how crazy I am, or look at the history on my Garmin FR60 to see how much I run....

OR to make things a whole hell of a lot easier.... you could just scroll down and see my 5:15 am pre-run photo:



note to self: get better at taking photos of yourself in a mirror. I look like a lunatic!

I did just about 5.5 miles... which is very, very odd for me.... considering I typically prefer to end on a whole number, but as a crazy runner - I'll take it!

Have a Happen' Hump Day,

Cheers?

Have you ever lived with someone that is just a tad weird, but yet seems normal to you because you are just as weird, if not weirder?

Take, for example, my roommate:

Last night, I was in midst of my post-awful-day-at-work mode, (which if you don't know, entails me sitting on the couch, stalking peoples' lives on facebook and/or blogs, and either watching Seinfeld or According to Jim) when my roommate approaches me, sets down a wine glass and proceeds to fill it halfway with water - smart water to be specific. 

I gave her a weird look for about 2 seconds then realized that she just wanted me to taste it. Apparently it's the "best tasting water ever!" "It's just sooo clean!"

So the verdict?

Yes, I live with a weird roommate, but it makes me feel normal...

Oh, and, um, the water was good.... but I don't mind my tap water... and particularly wine in my wine glass.... 

Stay hydrated,

Obsessed.

...or maybe addicted is more appropriate.


Cinnamon is great,

Excited on a Friday?

Well, I can't believe I'm saying this... but yes, the above title is true. Don't get me wrong though, I am still very much dreading my day at work, and even debating if I should stop somewhere and get a very large cookie to put some joy into my day of reading size 6 font numbers then typing them into a 1x1 cm box on the computer. 


But to the real reason I'm excited... I get to see my sister tonight!

Let's just hope she leaves the reindeer suit at home.....

Have a quick Friday,

Contagious

I saw on a blog once that sitting on the floor with your legs propped up against the wall is a good way to stretch your legs after a run... which is where I found myself Sunday afteroon:

Since I started running on a more regular basis a couple years ago, I have picked up countless tips, suggestions and inspiration from blogs, running groups, magazines and most influentially: people; but more specifically, friends. Enter into my blog: Connie Plungas. 

Connie has run 5 full marathons, multiple half marathons and even some triathalons. Yeah, she is amazing.... with really good arms.... and really good boobs.... I might have a slight girl crush on her....

But anyway, after hearing about all of her races, and her running stories, and just having the general desire to be Connie - I started running.

I started off with small runs around my neighborhood....twice around the block, 2 miles here, 3 miles there... which soon led to my first 5K as an adult runner (I ran cross country back in high school for 1 year.... and oddly enough I hated it), where I came in 2nd place in my age group and received a medal!

please ignore my skeletal frame here.

After my 5k, it was only appropriate to run a half marathon - I mean, come on, who doesn't want to tack on an extra 10 miles of running.....at least that is what Connie was thinking when she asked if I wanted to run the Air Force Half Marathon with her and her then boyfriend, Dan (they are now engaged!). Despite sitting in a 2 hour traffic jam, and crossing the starting line 15 minutes after the gun went off, it was a great race!

Moving along.... I'm sure you know where this post is leading.... yep, my next challenge was a whole marathon... aka 26.2 miles. I only suggest running this distance if you consider yourself crazy... which I do, hence my signing up for the Cincinnati Flying Pig Full Marathon, joining a running group, and committing to 4 or so months of training. I'm proud to say I completed the marathon last May in 4 hours and 8 minutes...in pouring rain.

My Nike ad. Man I wish my arms were still that skinny!

It wasn't until shortly after finishing my marathon that my good friend, and current roommate Annie, heard about my recent love of running and wanted the details. So through numerous text messages, e-mails and conversations about the sport I soon got her hooked, and guided her to her first race ever:

We ran the above race on Labor Day, and believe it or not, Annie ran her first half marathon later that October! Her sister even joined in on the 13.1 miles of craziness!

please ignore my freakishly large head and/or forehead and thunder thighs :)

Now, I'm not a scientist, nor a doctor, and I did get a B- in college, so please don't take my words or ideas to heart, but I think from the above information that I have pretty good reason to say that running is contagious. 

I caught the running bug from Connie.

Annie caught the running bug from me.

It's only a guess as to who will catch it next.....!

Always stretch,

The Way I Am

Good morning! 
I'm going to start your Tuesday off on a rather random note... mostly because I'm ready a tad early this morning and it would totally be inappropriate for me to be on time for work, and because who wouldn't want to open up my blog and see a picture of Eminem first thing in the morning??
I had a dream last night that I was doing a presentation in front of my 7th grade class and my instructions were to rap an Eminem song. Everyone started taunting me because I was notorious, innocent, cute little catholic school girl, and how could I possibly know an Eminem song, let alone rap every single word to perfection. To their surprise, I began a song and rapped the entire song with no slip up. I even had a bad-ass swagger. My classmates started cheering and then I woke up. 


I have a slight obsession with Eminem. So does my sister. So does my friend Lydia. We clearly have our heads on straight.

Have a rapptastic sort of Tuesday,

p.s. there is in fact some truth to this dream - I know at least 1/4 of Eminem's total song lyrics, however, I'm not sure if Eminem had entered the music world when I was in 7th grade...

Thoughts On A Sunday...

1. It's the 3rd day of March Madness and my bracket is still looking pretty good. 
2. Oh no, I just totally jinxed myself....
3. I miss my non-relation sister twin.
4. I would really love to go to Target today and buy this really cool zip up hoodie with white strings... but do I really need another article of clothing with a hood? It would be so comfortable for work... and with stretchy legging pants since I, yet again, have no jeans that fit!
5. I just looked at the weather forecast (see, I wasn't lying in this post when I said I check it every morning) and am about to cry.... 30's at the end of the week.
6. I probably should have read my MacBook instruction manual when I first got my book instead of having my motormouth of a sister show me how to use it - I just spent at least 15 minutes trying to get that above screenshot onto my blog
7. Bah. Back to work tomorrow... at least I get to see my sister this week - haven't seen her since CHRISTMAS!
8. I bought a $2 box of knock off cinnamon toast crunch last night at Kroger. It's supposed to be a natural, good for you, brand but I don't think eating half of it on a Saturday night is good for you. It's currently in a really high cupboard above my refrigerator along with an emergency bag of peanut butter swirled chocolate chips. I'm hoping being in an inconvenient spot will deter me from eating them..... hahaha - right.
9. It's almost 11:00 and my bed is still not made and I have lots of expensive laundry to do.
10. Oh. I'm pretty sure my ideal husband would be a basketball coach, well a winning basketball coach. I would be able to get court side seats all the time and get to go to March Madness. But he would have to look like Brad Stevens:

Yep. Now that you all now think that I'm a super shallow girl, since most of my thoughts on a Sunday morning are about buying sweatshirts at Target and hiding food so I don't eat it, I'm going to go make my bed. But I will quickly add that I have all week at work to ponder deep thoughts while I mindlessly copy numbers from a piece of paper onto a computer screen - so I don't feel nearly as lame dreaming about the perfect husband, right?!

Happy First Day of Spring,

Very Good News

Good news on a Friday is something that usually never happens, well, until today.

I just read an article that said dark chocolate has more antioxidants than fruit juice...

AND that it can help protect your heart....

AND it wards off depression!

Of course, we all know that we should only eat it on occassion, and downing an entire bag of special dark hersey kisses when you've had a bad day certainly will not do anything good for your heart... and then the added weight to your stomach may cause a case of slight depression... but a couple chunks of dark chocolate after dinner.... good for the heart, body and taste buds.... cheers!

Be safe,

I Am Thankful.

I've been in a nasty mood all day week. Nothing in particular, just having one of those weeks.... and today after work I snapped. Luckily, for my sake, it was my sister who caught the brunt of my outburst, and through text message none the less... so no feelings or household objects were destroyed in my moment of rage and frustration. 

Given my current mood, I would absolutely love to make a list of everything that I am mad/angry/frustrated/bitter about, but my little sister, for once, gave me some good advice: "Be positive! I realized today that I need to be more..." 

Considering most text messages I receive from my sister are about some nasty STD she picked up from the previous night's random hook up, or how her belly button ring is infected yet again (ha, only kidding - don't worry Mom!), I decided to take her advice and list for you, not the things that I am festering inside about, but the things I am thankful for...

me and my sister at Kenny Chesney

1. My sister. 
2. That Molly escaped the Japan Earthquake unharmed, and that she is safe in Seattle for the time being.
3. That I picked Richmond to beat Vanderbilt on my bracket. 
4. My mom suggesting a green beer would cheer me up.
5. 7 miles runs before the sun rises.
6. E-mailing my best friend in Minnesota during work. 

I apologize it's short, but that is all I have in me for a Thursday night. 

Have a great rest of the night: either watching basketball or Jersey Shore.

Be Thankful,

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 Kiss me, I'm Irish! And eating green oatmeal!

Now if only I had an Irish Coffee.......

Like Mother Like Daughter.... For Once!

It is no secret that children take after their parents.

It's  also no secret that I take after my dad in almost every way imaginable. I am 100% Gilliam in all ways that I cannot control: my high forehead, my volumptious lips, my mental instability, my defined chin, my need for perfectionism..... need I say more? I am the female version of Scott Gilliam and an almost identical duplicate of Eva Bunte (my grandma).

Now I realize that some of you may be questioning why I'm sounding a little angry that I take after my dad's side, considering that there is a small handful of decent attributes that I have been passed along. So, please, don't get me wrong - I am very grateful for the fact that I can wear turtlenecks and that I have the appropriate lip surface area neeed for lipstick... chapstick even, but good qualities aside, I have ALWAYS wanted to be like my mom, and have always been jealous that my sister is. Sooner, or more realistically later....I gave up hope on ever being like my mom and accepted my eventual fate as a anxious old woman with penciled-in eyebrows... that is until a little glimmer of light sparkled the other night while doing laundry....

.....and I realized I do laundry JUST LIKE MY MOM! She always does laundry, on the floor, in front of the tv.... knees folded under. I think I even groaned while adjusting my position and complained about how old I'm getting ....

Sure I realize that this quality is a learned practice, and let's be honest, the way we do laundry is more Eva-like than Jones-like, but I'm taking it and not looking back. I may be 99% Gilliam, but I am, in fact, at least 1% my mom and I have the pictures to prove it :)


Send me quarters,

"The Ultimate"

The only good thing about this weekend was that I didn't have to work... and that I got my hair done.... well, and there was Mellow Mushroom pizza.... and a group run...


Oh okay, I guess my weekend wasn't allll that bad... but it for sure was nothing to brag about, or even blog about.... so in lieu of a snazzy weekend recap, I leave you with a conversation I had at the Aveda Salon while getting my hair blown dry, by a hip, fashionable, male hairdresser:

Devon: "Oh, crazy! Did you get the highlights underneath? So cutting edge!"

 Me: "Hehe, yeah, just something different...."

Devon: "So you'll just be walking down the street and someone will see your hair, then you'll turn and they'll be like omg! It's a whole different person! And you'll just be like 'Yeah... I'm the Ultimate..!'" 

Gotta love aveda.... ya just gotta. 

Monday is over, 

"the ultimate"

  

Crackerville

This sign:

is why this nerd:

and this cool guy:

made my early Saturday a good Saturday. 


Don't be jealous,

Happy Fat Tuesday!

For as long as I can remember, my mom would always make my brother, sister and I chocolate chip pancakes on Fat Tuesday. I'm not sure really how, or even why it developed, but it became a tradition that held strong for many years. Unfortunately, this tradition slowly faded away as we all moved on to our different colleges and so Fat Tuesday pancakes became just a memory... well, that is until tonight.... 

BOBBY Z MADE ME PANCAKES!!!!! 

BURNT CHOCOLATE CHIP ONES TOO!!!!

Happy Fat Tuesday and Happy Mardi Gras!!!!!

Nostalgic Weekend... Sorta? Maybe?

This is going to be a quick , first draft post... mostly because I've tried multiple times for the perfect opening paragraph to jump into a weekend recap and have failed multiple times, but also because I have some good posts in mind that I'm excited to get going and want to get this weekend recap out of the way and my roommate off my back about blogging.

So here it goes...

I skipped running group again Saturday, oops. I'm totally blaming Lybia. And the rain. It's just too far of a drive on some days... but, as forecasted - I woke up to lots of rain pounding on my window,

to which I took as a great opportunity for a lazy morning with my coffee, my oats and my computer. During my "google morning" if you will, I stumbled across weather.com (which is a straight up lie becasue the local weather forcast is a favorite bookmark on my browser and probably the second website I check every morning). But anyway, I checked out the radar and noticed a rather large lull in the rain approaching.... the perfect opportunity for a quick 10 mile run, or a quick walk to CVS to get a disposable camera developed.... instead of taking 3 paragraphs to explain that nostolgic reference... I'll let this chick explain (if you're really that interested)... Jamie's Gossip



pre-run grimace

The rest of my Saturday was pretty typical atypical.... for me at least.

 I wandered into target.... for the second time in 18 hours, and believe it or not, after about 45 minutes of browsing, I walked out of the store $9 richer! Keep in mind, I consider it a successful trip if I walk out spending less than $30... but spending -$9.00? Yeah, prrettty darn atypical if I do say so myself...



Which brings me to the 4:00 hour (well, after some classy MTV reality tv watching) where I found myself sitting at Park Street Tavern in the Arena District with no make up on, wearing an oversized sweatshirt and drinking Bud Lights with Annie, Jackie and Lydia - my 3 totes fav girls, ev.

So after 2 beers on an empty stomach, I was more than ready to grab some dinner with Bobby Z... so per usual... we drove to the Short North, parked, sprinted to the nearest restaurant, which happened to be the Press Grill. We sat at the bar, drank some beers while I ate the best grilled mozzerella sandwich of my life and stole a really good piece of cheese pizza.

True to form, after dinner, my sweet tooth was in overdrive.... and since I am a princess and Bob does anything for me (ha ha just kidding....) we stopped a bakery and bought a cookie... a vegan cookie...by accident..... it wasn't the best.... it left me wanting something else... which probably led to my Sunday afternoon meltdown... to which I appeased by going to CVS and treating myself to these little guys... which I kept in my middle console of my car.... but they are not there anymore. ooops again.

Yeah, that was a really boring post. Sorry. I apologize. I also apologize if you have no clue what the title of this post is referring to.... and you probably don't because there is one lady who knows what the heck I'm talking rambling on about...on that note.... see ya later alligators!

Have a cowabunga sorta day,