She was absolutely glowing all day!

After a well rested night, we spent the morning leisurely getting ready for the big day ahead! It all started at the hair salon. We showed up with major bed-head, soon to be tamed!

Debbie’s dad brought breakfast to the salon so we wouldn’t have to worry with picking up food. So sweet of him!

A bagel and fruit spread…

…along with mimosas!

I had some of each:

While each of us took turns with getting our hair done…

…the others worked on getting our faces on!

On a typical day, I might wear mascara and bronzer, so getting all made up felt funny!

(Scary eyelash curler!)

My make-up was done, time for hair!

I was the last to go, and I didn’t really have time to get the original style I had chosen. I went with another, which turned out cute anyways!

On the way from the salon to the hotel, we stopped for Starbucks. By this point, I had already had 4 coffee drinks in one weekend! I opted for something new (to me), a nonfat white mocha.

Way. Too. Sweet. but still soooo good!

Once back at the hotel, we gathered our dresses and waited for the official photographer to arrive.

Dresses first, shoes second!

The limo arrived to transport us to Grounds for sculpture, the wedding site.

We piled in and were carted away!

Once at the grounds…

… we spotted the boys’ limo! They couldn’t see in ours, but we pretended we were spying on them.

Inside the boys’ limo:

The big day was really here! I was so excited for my BFF!

To be continued…

<3 MegaNerd

On Saturday morning, the bridesmaids and bride woke up extra early to squeeze in a run/walk. I didn’t have my Garmin, but I think we were gone for about an hour, and did mostly walking. It was a cool morning that really made me want fall to hurry up and get here!

While everyone took turns in the showers, the boys brought bagels and fruit for us to enjoy. I could get used to this!

We were in a hurry, because we had a nail appointment to get too! Joanna, Debbie, and I had pedicures done the day before, but waited for the entire group (plus moms) to be there for manicures.

Meanwhile, Joanna and I went on a Starbucks run. Debbie was making use of her last acceptable “bridezilla” moments, by demanding tea! (Just kidding, I wanted some and offered to grab a cup for her too.)

I decided to try Meghann’s combo of nonfat Awake Tea Latte with one pump of pumpkin spice syrup.

It smelled delicious, but I didn’t think it was pumpkin-y enough. Maybe I would add more next time?

Once our nails dried (I felt so sophisticated, by the way) we returned home to gather the boys.

…and pose for pictures.

The rehearsal went by fairly quickly once everyone arrived.

The wedding was to take place at the Grounds for Sculpture, in Hamilton, NJ. Debbie took me here last November, but I didn’t want to ruin the surprise of the wedding location!

The ceremony location was the nine muses. Many artists, writers, and others have come to the muses for inspiration. Other than being an absolutely beautiful place to have a wedding, it also represents that the marriage will be one of inspiration!

The beauty was in the details!

Pretty toes!

Post-rehearsal, we went to Nomad Pizza for a very relaxed rehearsal dinner.

The bridal party, our dates/significant others, out of town family all attended.

Before we had a chance to order, the waiter brought out large bottles of water. We brought a cooler of beer, and I grabbed a Blue Moon.

Mark and I split the Arugula Salad which was made with fresh local organic arugula, sun gold cherry tomatoes, monterey chevre, wood fire roasted pecans, and lemon thyme dressing.

It was really refreshing! I had not eaten anything since the bagel, and was definitely in need of food!

I also took a bite of the community bruschetta. Also, amazing.

For our meal, we split the spinach and gruyere pizza.

Oooozing with cheese. Nom.

Having a relaxed dinner was just what the bride and groom needed before the big day!

The waiter enticed us with a nutella dessert pizza.

Holy. cow.

Baked pizza crust, topped with nutella, warmed bananas, and powdered sugar. What will the think of next?!

Like all good parties, we didn’t stop with one dessert.

Debbie gave each of the bridesmaids a lovely thank-you gift. Each of us received a tote bag with our initial…

…and personalized jewelry for the day of the wedding! We each had a different pearl variation.

Along with earrings. So elegant! Thanks, Deb!

Hold on, did the other meg steal my bag?!

Friendly fight, of course!

After the rehearsal dinner, we checked into our hotel room and watched titanic while spending the rest of the night relaxing. The big day was less than 24 hours away!

To be continued…

<3 MegaNerd

• Will you be my bridesmaid?
• Wedding Dress Shopping
• Bridesmaid Dress Shopping
• Bridal Party Get Together
• Bachelorette Extravaganza

RECAP:

• Wedding Weekend Begins!

The rest of Friday

After settling in to NJ and getting pedicures with the Bride (BFF Debbie), we headed over to the groom’s family’s house a few towns over.

Even their cats, Laser and Libby came along for the party. Someone has to babysit them while they are on their honeymoon!

I’m allergic to the cats, so unfortunately Mark had to ride in the backseat squished between two girls and two cats, so that I could sit in the front away from the cat hair. Such a trooper!

It was a gorgeous summer evening, unlike anything you could ever hope to have in Florida. It was warm, but cool enough that sitting on the back porch was more comfortable than being inside.

Bride + Bridesmaid picture!

Mike’s mom made a lovely batch of sangria for the party. It was a little too good.

Dinner was simple, but hit the spot! Subs from JUST SUBS were ordered, along with a mixed salad. I remember eating at JUST SUBS last time I visited Debbie and Mike in NJ!

I had two mini subs: one buffalo chicken, and one turkey.

Dessert was made by one of the bridesmaid’s moms (who happens to be the groom’s aunt). She made  a delicious assortment of Oreo and icing covered brownies, regular chocolate brownies, and peanut butter chocolate covered graham crackers.

Mark and I split a little plate of each. YUM!

After filling up our bellies, we headed down to the basement for some entertainment!

Ping-Pong:

Chatting with the bride:

…and of course, Rock Band.

The boys all played on “Expert” level, but I could barely keep up with “Medium!”

It’s all good… I’m with the band.

Before too long, we all started getting tired. Air mattresses were inflated using none other than hair dryers on the cool setting. It didn’t work very well, but for some, it was better than sleeping on the floor!

It was important that we get our sleep… we had big plans for Saturday!

To be continued…

<3 MegaNerd

I decided to leave the laptop at home so that I could enjoy the company of my friends in New Jersey. I didn’t want to feel pressured to blog, and without my computer, it wasn’t possible! I’m going to recap my BFF Debbie’s incredible wedding weekend in a multi-part series! Get excited!

In case you missed any pre-wedding events, catch up here!

• Will you be my bridesmaid?
• Wedding Dress Shopping 
• Bridesmaid Dress Shopping
• Bridal Party Get Together
• Bachelorette Extravaganza

Friday

After packing like a crazy woman into Friday morning, I was able to catch a few hours of sleep before heading to the airport. Joanna and Carlos (members of the bridal party), Mark, and I arrived in Newark, NJ around 10:00am and headed straight to the town of Cranford to visit Debbie and her fiancé, Mike.

It was a quaint little town, which I loved because you could pretty much walk anywhere you needed to go.

The girls walked a few blocks to the spa while the boys went to get some pizza.

We were all really excited to get pedicures! Each of us have only gotten one or two before in our lives. Prom, anyone?

After my freak toe incident, I was petrified to have anyone touch my toes. I basically asked the lady to not alter the shape of my nails in anyway, just to soak, remove dead skin, and paint. It turned out to be quite relaxing once I got over the fact that it was so ticklish.

After our pedis, we were starving! We walked another few blocks to a local dinner called Rustic Mill that Debbie wanted to try. I ordered the Jersey Omelet which is three eggs, eggplant, roasted peppers, tomato, and monterey jack cheese.

I was actually quite impressed with how tasty it was! I ate about two-thirds before feeling stuffed. It came with a side of home fries and whole wheat toast which I picked at but couldn’t really finish.

After running some last minute errands, like spending an hour wandering around Target, we decided to stop into a fun coffee shop, Rock N’ Joes, for an afternoon treat.

Presenting, my first pumpkin treat of the season: THE SMASHING PUMPKIN!

Chai + pumpkin+ whipped cream + cinnamon = pure bliss.

HOLY YUM! Debbie renamed it the “Pumpkin Jammer.”

Such a relaxing atmosphere! Swoooon.

We arrived home to the boys in there own version of heaven. Video games. Le sigh.

We weren’t sure we could peel them away from the TV, but eventually we did.

To be continued…

<3 MegaNerd

In a perfect world, I would follow a perfect training schedule, with 10% weekly mileage increase, long runs on the same day of the week, a perfect balance of speed work, long runs, etc. etc… all the things you are “supposed” to do according to the books. My life is far from perfect, and so is my training schedule.

Like many other runners, my work schedule changes each day, and I have to plan my running times around when I am not working! I’m leaving for BFF Debbie’s wedding in New Jersey on Friday morning, before 8:00am, and won’t be back until Monday afternoon. That leaves NO time for a long run during the weekend!

I’m training for the Miracle Miles 15k, and have only a few weeks to work up to 9.3 miles. On the way home from work, I debated when I should squeeze a long run in. My options were:

• skip the run altogether (lame)
• run tonight
• run Thursday morning (have to wake up way early, I work 8am-7pm, and still have to pack for NJ)
• run when I get home on Monday night (and possibly risk feeling tired from an epic weekend)

I decided to go with tonight. Why wait?

I got home around 5:50pm. It was my turn to make dinner for my second family, and was determined to get it done and out the door by 7:00pm. Now THAT, my friends, is ambitious.

My goal for the night was to “make brown rice taste good.” They have only had it once before and thought it was disgusting and bland. I had no problem coming up with something to make for them!

I made chicken stir fry, with red peppers, broccoli, and carrots. I boiled veggie broth instead of water to add flavor to the otherwise bland brown rice.

I set the table, and waited for everyone to try their dinner. The clock was ticking, and it was already 6:42 when we sat down. It took extra long because I haven’t ever cooked in their kitchen, and had to search for everything.

According to the girls, it was a success! Mission accomplished. I waited 15 minutes or so, and headed upstairs to change.

By the time I laced up my shoes and got out the door, it was 7:18pm. The sun sets here at about 7:45pm, so I knew there was no way I was going to squeeze in the 8.0 miler I had planned before dark.

I ran about 4.5 before the darkness finally set in. Luckily, they live on a well lit-street, so I was able to finish up the run on their road. The road is only 0.25 miles long, so I literally ran up, and down the street. Up. Down. Up. Down. Le sigh.

It got sooooo boring, that I finally stopped after 7.0 miles. My legs felt great, but I was kind of freaked out running in the dark. I kept hearing "weird noises” and dog barks. I’m a wimp, but at least I’m cautious. I know that I’m not invincible.

Distance:  7.0 miles

Total Time:  1:11:52

Average Pace:  10:16 min/mile

• Mile 1:  10:31
• Mile 2:  10:16
• Mile 3:  10:15
• Mile 4:  10:30
• Mile 5:  10:14
• Mile 6:  10:08
• Mile 7:  9:57 (under 10! yay!)

After my run, I came home to a lovely glass of chocolate milk. The perfect recovery drink, in my opinion.

So I didn’t get in the 8.0 miles that I wanted to, but there is always next week. I felt good about tonight’s run, and much stronger than I did on Saturday’s 7.0 miler. Progress!

(Side Note: I have only ran once since Saturday, an easy 2.5 mile last night)

I kind of liked doing my long run at the end of the day. I feel less bad about coming home and lounging around in pajamas for the next few hours, if it’s what I’d be doing anyway.

Do you prefer to do your long runs (or long workouts) in the morning or at night? What are your reasons? Do you do them on the weekends, or another day of the week?

<3 MegaNerd

I have become so tired of feeling like I am “not a runner anymore” and decided to change that. I got tired of saying things like, “I am so out of running shape.” I noticed that it started bothering me that ALL of the girls I trained for the marathon with have either run another marathon since, are training for another, or have some other epic goal (like an ironman) in mind. I miss running! I miss racing, and training, and feeling proud of myself for accomplishing something that I have worked hard for.

My life has drastically changed since January. I moved twice, graduated from college, had a knee injury, and other crazy life stuff. I think that a long break from official training was absolutely necessary and made me want to come back to the sport even more.

About a week ago, I decided to get back into training mode. I have been sporadically running for a few months, and want to slowly build back up. I am planning on running the Miracle Miles 15k as well as a half marathon before the end of the year. I am so pumped!

Last night, I dug the Garmin out of storage, and charged her up.

My alarm went off promptly at 6:00am and I ate half a CLIF bar, just like old days. Sweet bliss.

I met Joanna, who is brand new to running and one of my BFF Debbie’s other bridesmaids, for a long run. She is also training for Miracle Miles, and we have decided to do our long runs together! Hooray for a new training buddy!

Joanna has never run more than 6.0 miles in her life, so it was definitely an exciting challenge for both of us! We agreed that we would walk if necessary, slow down, stretch, anything we needed to do to complete the run. No pressure! Neither one of us are dying to be injured, and taking it slow was a must.

It was quite easy to stay slow considering the scenery we were enjoying!

Joanna and I discussed all things about running: which type of socks to wear? why does my toe hurt? All awesome questions that I myself had to ask when I began running.

We chatted, ran, and walked a bit and finally completed our goal: 7.0 miles!

Total Running time: 1:17:35

• Mile 1:  10:40
• Mile 2:  10:24
• Mile 3:  10:33
• Mile 4:  12:46 (walked over bridge)
• Mile 5:  10:19
• Mile 6:  12:19 (more walking… sooo tired!)
• Mile 7:  10:27

Congrats on the new PDR, Joanna!

I forgot how hard (yet awesome) it feels to run 7.0 miles! I am way slower than I used to be, but I’m proud of myself for getting back out there. It’s so easy to be discouraged right now, but I just keep telling myself that I can only compare myself… to myself. I know what I have been doing, and I know what I’m capable of.

YAY! Seriously, I never ever thought I would be happy about an 11:00+ average pace. I guess I can surprise myself!

Post-run breakfast was a Strawberry-banana chobani:

My 13-year old roomie helped me separate my food from the family’s yesterday by plastering my name and a zillion decorations. Excessive, but gets the point across… not that I mind if they eat my food!

Plus, raspberries.

Yum, yum!

Now, if only I had a glass of Orange juice… I think this morning would be perfect.

I know that it will take time to get back to my old level of fitness, but I don’t think it will take as much time as it did the very first time. 

Have you ever taken an extended vacation from running? How did it feel when you came back to it?

<3 MegaNerd

Breakfast

I’ve been eating cereal and milk for breakfast every day this week. I woke up craving a bagel, and picked one up (a French Toast bagel) at Panera Bread on the way to work.

That Hazelnut cream cheese is so worth it.

I also grabbed a nonfat iced caramel latte.

Let’s face it, this counts as dessert.

Lunch

My co-workers promised they would take me out for a graduation lunch, and today was the first day in a while we have all been in.

We headed out to Sweet Tomatoes, a salad buffet chain near my job. Mark drove all the way out to meet us for lunch!

I had a plate of a hodge podge mixture of salad bar items…

… a cup of buffalo chicken soup…

…and last but not least. Dessert!

Granted, Mark and I shared these two items. They were delicious!  The brownie muffin was still warm and goey in the middle. Mmmmm.

Usually, I hate buffets because somehow I always end up leaving feeling over-full. Not today, though! I ate slowly and enjoyed each bite… especially that brownie!

Snacks

Dinner

Being that this is my first week in my new home, I don’t really feel like it’s appropriate to bombard my second family’s kitchen or fridge. I’m probably going to be eating a lot of non-cooking meals (like PB+J) and repetitive snacks. For now, that is what I am comfortable doing.

I stayed in with the girls (J and T, both in middle school) to watch The Last Song, while their parents got some work done on their rental properties. As much as I find Miley Cirus to be terribly annoying, the movie was pretty good.

Dinner was a Frozen Kashi meal + spinach eaten while watching the movie.

Reese cup for dessert:

Hmm… I may have overdone it on dessert today, but life is for living and enjoying deliciousness. Oh well!

I better hit the hay. I’m waking up bright and early to meet my new running buddy for a long run! I’m going to be attempting 7.0 miles in the morning. Wish me luck!

<3 MegaNerd

We ran/walked 1.0 mile together before I dropped her back off at the house. I was really impressed with her speediness! She made it seem like she was going to have to walk the whole time and barely run, but it was actually the opposite! Now I will have to convince her to do a 5k with me sometime.

After dropping my new running buddy off, I ran another 4.0 miles by myself. Without my Garmin, I had to pre-plan a route just like I did way back when. I’m not sure of my exact pace, but it felt easier than it had been in the past few weeks. I kind of think running without the Garmin is quite freeing! I’m having to rely much more on how I feel and less on what a piece of electronic equipment is telling me.

Total Workout: 5.0 miles

YAY!

I’m going to try to do my first “long run” since the Disney Marathon (back in January) this upcoming Saturday. Some friends of mine (cough, Joanna, cough) are trying to convince me to run the Miracle Miles 15k on September 25.

Hmmm… 9.3 miles in 4.5 weeks?  I think that’s an achievable goal, if I start working up slowly on weekends, and go into it without a time goal.

I ran Miracle Miles last year, and did pretty awesome (1:20:56) considering the heat. I was in much better running shape back then, but I think having a race to train for would jumpstart my regular running routine.

For the past few months, I have been feeling exponentially less and less like a runner. I really need a kick in the butt to motivate me! This could be it!

What do you think? Is training for a 15k (9.3 miles) race in about a month too ambitious? My current long runs are 5.0-6.0 miles and running is sporadic.

<3 MegaNerd

What can I say, I get attached easily. Good byeeeeee apartment!

Hopefully it won’t be too much longer before I can have my own place again. I’m currently staying with my coworker’s family (who is also a family friend, so not as awkward as that sounds) in the Orlando area. I also have my own room, so that’s nice, too! 

I will definitely miss my place, but it’s kind of nice to have other people around and to not be 100% responsible for ALL of the bills (rent is MUCH cheaper.)

Monday was my first night in my new home. I went exploring to check out the running scene. In the moving process I somehow misplaced my Garmin, but I would guess that I ran about 4.0 miles or so. The best part of this deal is that I am now super close to one of my favorite running trails!

My apartment was near the airport, with absolutely no trees, shade, trails, and in some places no sidewalks. That made it great for biking, but not so awesome for running.

I worked both jobs today and didn’t get home until 8pm. Julie had dinner ready and waiting! Holy cow… errr… fish!

We had baked salmon, steamed broccoli, and a roll of some kind. I went back for seconds on the broccoli and on the roll. I was really hungry tonight due to lack of snacks during the afternoon.

Julie also poured me a glass of wine to enjoy with dinner!

So far, living with my second family is not so bad. I’m not sure how long I’m staying exactly, but I’m very thankful that they invited me in. Thank you guys!

Off to bed! I have a busy, busy Thursday ahead of me.

Have you ever lived with a family that wasn’t your own?

<3 MegaNerd

Debbie flew in from New Jersey on Friday for her bachelorette Party, and we had an amazing weekend! It was full of food, drinks, and friends. What more could a bride-to-be ask for?

After a full day of moving, I was SO tired when I arrived at the hotel. Luckily, seeing my pal cheered me up and I didn’t feel tired anymore.

One of the other bridesmaids made little welcome bags for everyone, which was such a cute idea.

We stayed in an awesome suite in Downtown Orlando! The best part was that we were able to walk to all the fun spots without having to worry about driving or parking.

I slept in later than I have in a long time… almost 10:00am!

The hotel had a free breakfast buffet, which was actually quite healthy.

I was pretty hungry due to lack of proper dinner the night before, and filled my plate up with delicious goods.

After brunch, it was craft time! We decorated wine glasses with rhinestones and paint markers however we wanted. It was fun to personalize our drink glasses that we would later be using…

That night, we got all dressed up…

…and Deb taught us “how to dougie.”

We took the future Mrs. to Dexter’s on Park Avenue for dinner. I had never been, but have heard great things.

The meal started out with chicken lettuce wraps…

…a bottle of pinot noir…

…side salads…

…and finally, dinner! I ordered a pesto pasta,

Dessert was served at the Globe. We ordered the s’mores, which were made at the table.

It was so much fun to roast the marshmallows at our outdoor table!

The fun continued well into the night, but let’s just say it was a blast!

Lots of water and rest later, we met Deb’s mom for brunch at a little Bistro in Winter Park.

I had a turkey wrap, plus orange slice. I loved the way it was presented all spiral-y and fun.

I may or may not have been fascinated by this stupid little slice…

It was such a fun weekend! I wish I could see my pal every single weekend. We love you Deb!

I consider this weekend to be a success. We made Debbie laugh, smile, and dance! (…and managed not to spend a zillion dollars, which made me happy, too.)

I’m so excited to see Debbie get married in less than two weeks! I’ve never been in a wedding before, but I’m so pumped to be a bridesmaid. It’s fun sharing this special time with my friend.

Yay!

<3 MegaNerd