Happy Weekend: A Good Way To End The Week.

When I lived in Chicago, I went to spinning class every Friday after work. While most people were unwinding at happy hour, getting relaxed and lubricated, I was pedaling until my quads burned and dripping with ungodly amounts of sweat. It was the perfect way to release the stress and tension of the week and start the weekend off feeling great.

Now that I'm back at work, I'm not able to do my weekday runs in the morning. I'm generally out for an hour to an hour and a half, and there is no way I could do that, get ready and leave the house by 7:30am. Instead I have been running after work. Last night I went out for a 6-miler along the Rock Creek Trail. Spending an hour on the trail, with a hint of fall in the air and daylight fading, is a pretty beautiful way to end the week and start the weekend.

(via)

Wearing: Casual Thursday.

This is almost the exact outfit I wore to work today. Even though it is a little casual, I felt incredibly chic. It may have been the peep-toe pumps. Compared to the grey Toms I wore on my commute, the pumps looked great. I loved pairing a striped long sleeve T-shirt with a bright red-orange full skirt. A jacket and scarf is absolutely mandatory because my office is so cold. The scarf I wore is similar to the one shown, but has a black, rather than beige, background. I love snugging up in a scarf when I'm hard at work. Preferably with a hot cup of coffee.

Summer Ending.

A ugust was almost over. The first cool touch of autumn moved slowly through the town and there was a softening and the first gradual burning fever of color in every tree, a faint flush and coloring in the hills, and the color of lions in the wheat field. Now the pattern of days was familiar and repeated like a penman beautifully inscribing again and again, in practice, a series of l's and w's and m's, day after day the line repeated in delicate rills.

Dandelion Wine, Ray Bradbury

Training Tuesdays: 08.30.11.

Respect the long run. And by long run, I mean any run over 5 miles. Actually, just respect the run.

Because of the hurricane (my second weather emergency last week), our long run was switched to Saturday. Now, I am nothing if not a routine-oriented person. I have my pre-run routine down pat, and it starts at about 5pm the evening before a long run with a salad and a large bowl of spaghetti with Classico Tomato & Basil sauce. I drink a ton of water, try to go to sleep early and get up at 5am the next morning to have enough time for coffee, food and travel to our starting point. Because we ran on Saturday, I wasn't able to follow my pre-run ritual. I was still at work at 5pm, not eating my pasta dinner. And then I went to happy hour and drank beer. I ate dinner late that night, stayed up reading until 1am and could barely drag myself out of bed at 5:15am. I was late leaving the house and couldn't find the parking lot we were supposed to meet. By the time I figured out where our starting point was, it was 6:55am, and the group was already at least 20 minutes ahead of me.

What I should have done was take off at my normal GAD pace, catch the group on their way back and just deal with having run a shorter distance than planned. What I did do was run the first 7 miles at 30-60 seconds/mile faster than my normal pace and completely skip walking water breaks. I caught up to my group right as they were turning around, meaning I would be able to do the entire distance. Meaning I was terrified that I was going to bonk at some point on the way back.

And you know what? I didn't. The run went fine. Because of this little exercise in what not to do I have realized that I am probably in the best shape of my life. Sure, my 15-miler was a little more challenging than some of my other runs, but it was by no means my worst run.

So here's to keeping up with my training schedule, despite my life being much busier now. Here's to going to sleep early the night before long runs. Here's to hydrating with water and smoothies and chocolate milk. I love the long run. I love the run.

This is my running schedule for the rest of the week:

Happy Weekend: Work Week One Done.

My first week at my new job was exciting, a little overwhelming and totally engaging. I know I will accumulate a lot of papers, books, and reports over the coming months, but for now my office is nice and tidy. Bare, even. Here are some prints I would love to hang on my walls.

But enough about work...it's the weekend!

Wearing: To Work (Part 3).

This is where it gets easy. Dresses. Add shoes and you're done. Ok, few other accessories are nice. But for today, here are all the dresses and all the shoes I would like to stock my closet with this fall.

J. Crew, J. Crew, Banana Republic, Banana Republic (sold out?)
Zara, Zara, Zara, Zara
Asos, Asos, Asos, Anthropologie

Payless, Urban Outfitters, Urban Outfitters
Ann Taylor, Ralph Lauren
H&M, Zara, Zara
H&M, Old Navy
Payless, Old Navy

Clearly, right now I am looking for shoes to add to my work wardrobe, but it is nice to also include some flats and boots for weekends and evenings. And to wear on the way to work. You don't think I actually walk to the Metro in heels, do you?

I love how just switching to a different pair of shoes can instantly take an outfit from work-appropriate to date-appropriate or weekend-appropriate.

Wearing: To Work (Part 2).

I love skirts, but I have always had a hard time figuring out how to wear them - what color and style shirt to wear, what shoes, how to accessorize. So I put together an inspiration board of skirts and blouses that paired well together.

tops: J. Crew, Zara, Zara, Old Navy
skirts: J. Crew, Asos, H&M, Old Navy

Boring, right? So I paired these skirt and blouse combinations with shoes and accessories to create completed looks.

House of Harlow necklace, Asos clutch, Zara wedges

Tolani scarf, Dogeared necklace, H&M heels

Zara beaded collar, Asos belt, Asos clutch, Ralph Lauren heels

Anthropologie necklace, Zara handbag, Michael Kors watch, Zara wedges

I am really trying to build a wardrobe of classic, timeless pieces - the Michael Kors watch, green city handbag, the perfect A-line skirt - but I am just loving some of the more creative, bold accessories this fall. I have had my eye on the House of Harlow necklace for over a year. And I almost fainted when I saw the beaded collar at Zara. What a piece of art. Same with the Anthro necklace...and priced like a piece of art too!