Allergic to My Hometown

You know its time to move when you have an allergic reaction to coming home.

Let me just explain. Yesterday upon arriving back home my whole face breaks out in big red bumps all over! I have no idea what it could be, but its so weird. Except for the occasional zit, my face is usually pretty clear...and it was perfectly clear yesterday morning and all through the afternoon when my sister and I were driving home. When we got back home I ran to target to pick up some things, while I was there I noticed one big red bump on my face and by the time I got home my whole face and neck were covered!

I have no idea what it could be! I took some benadryl, because I am assuming it is some sort of allergic reaction, but I'm not sure to what. Maybe sunscreen? But why would it just now be appearing? What do you guys think?!

Moving on...

I have LOTS of informational pics from the past few days. Food, fun, fashion, etc., etc.

Lets GO!

Friday night my sister and I hit the town of Charleston for sushi, finally! We went to a restaurant called Tsunami.

I totally wanted to rock out the new shoes, so in true Jenny style, here is "what I wore"

Love the shoes, do not however enjoy the way they make my feet feel after walking in them all night!

Here we are at the sushi place, capturing the mood of the lighting:

My sister is new to the whole sushi experience, so I decided it would be best to share a plate of a few different rolls.

I started out with a salad with ginger dressing:

The came the Sushi! We got the white tuna roll, the great california roll, and the super vegetable roll:

Notice me in the background, ready to dig in with my soy sauce and chopsticks :)

After we ate we decided that since it was our last night at the beach we just HAD to get icecream. So we stopped at a frozen yogurt place called Fresh Berry.

It was so good we forgot to take a picture until we were almost finished:

The next morning I woke up and had my usual vaca brekkie:

All-Bran Flakes, Banana, Skim milk, and Coffee.

After eating a quick breakfast it was time to pack up and hit the road.

My sister and I drove the 5 hours back home. On the way we stopped for lunch at a subway (sorry forgot the pic).

When we got home I rushed to shower and get ready to go downtown for The Blue Plum Festival. It is a festival that we have every year downtown. They block off all the roads and all the bars serve drink outside and they are bands all over the place. It is sooo much fun and even though I was tired, there was NO WAY I was gonna miss it!

My friend lives really close to downtown, so we parked at her place and walked down. Which was good, because there are literally 1000's of people there and finding a parking place is like finding a needle in a haystack!

Some pics from the night:

The guy in the picture is one of my best friends, Ben. I was so proud of him, because he ran in the festivals 5K earlier that day, and clocked in at 21:50! I thought that was pretty impressive, def. better than me!

We pretty much spent the whole night talking about running and he agreed to start training to run a half marathon with me! Its in September and I am so excited. I am even more excited that I have a "running buddy" now.

Well, that is it for the pics...for now.

Tonight is wedding night with a few of my girlfriends! Should be fun.

Hope everyone is having a relaxing and fun Sunday!

Lots of Love <3 Ems.

AMAZING Run

Across THIS:

It is the Charleston Cooper Bridge. I have been wanting to try running it since we got here, and today being our last day I decided it was time to go for it! The bridge has a pedestrian walk way and a bike trial going across it. One way is 2.5 miles.

I ran across it and back, making a total of 5 miles. Oh yeah, did I mention that it also has EIGHT lanes of traffic and it 200 feet above the ocean?!

Yeah, I felt pretty darn hardcore. Talk about adrenaline rush. It was AMAZING! And such a good view!

I wanted to take my camera while I was running, but I really didnt want to drop it into the ocean or anything. So i figured that it was probably best to just leave it in my car where it would be safe and sound.

I did take a video of me driving back across after the run, just so you guys could see how crrrazzyy it was! Im not sure if it is working or not, but I'll try:

This morning before the run I had my usual breakfast while I am here:

When I got home I got ready and we went to Fort Sumter. It is an old fort off of Charleston Harbor that was used during the Civil War. We took a boat to get to the harbor and spent a few hours there.

Here is me being VERY annoyed with my mom for not listening to me, but playing it off as a joke :)

paparazzi pic, captured by my sister:

Back on the boat on the way back:

Hiding from the rain:

We didn't end up getting back home until almost 230! So we were all STARVED. And I don't know about you guys, but every single person in my family inherited that gene that makes you really really cranky when your hungry.

I finally got some sandwich stuff, so I was able to fix up a pretty legit sammie for lunch.

Turkey on Wheat with Lettuce, Tomato, Cheese, and Mustard. All toasted up!

My sister and I had planned on going out for sushi last night, but the weather got pretty bad and I didn't really feel like driving all the way back into Charleston. So we went to eat with the parents instead. We plan on going for sushi tonight.

Here is me and Sister #1 all dressed up for dinner:

And sister's #2 and #3:

Now its off to soak up as much sun as possible on the last day! Tomorrow we go home!

Hope everyone is having a great FRIDAY!

Lots of Love, <3 Ems.

Hilarious Happenings

Before I get to anything I just HAVE to share with you all of the hilarious things that I have seen over the past few days.

Ok, so its like two things really, but trust me they are GOOD!

The other day I was driving along, on my way to tan it up at the tanning bed and I get behind a car at a red light. Now, this is nooo ordinary car. The owner must be one hell of a creative mind...

Settle for having no rear-view mirror?! NO WAY! This guy just uses his GENIUS to tape a CD to fill in the space. Hey, its reflective right?! Wow this guy is smart. I just HAD to snap a pic of this.

Second thing, I was rummaging through the art teacher's marker stash yesterday. Mainly because I freakin LOVE markers...especially the ones that are "special" colors. You know the ones. Anyways I stumbled upon these markers mixed in amongst the others...

Thats right...a whole pack of markers filled with different color skin tones and labeled "multicultural". And just look at how happy those kids are on the box. FINALLY they have a marker to represent them!

Yesterday was my last day filling in for the art teacher. That was truly a blessing to have gotten that opportunity. It started out just randomly subbing for her for ONE DAY and turned into a THREE WEEK job! I am so glad that I got to do it. All of the kids were amazing and the other teachers and administrators were so nice! I even made a little BFF while I was there. And received this from him yesterday:

In case you can't read "3rd grader" it says "I will miss you when summer break starts and when I'm at Cherokee." Before he made it he asked what my favorite color was and I said purple. How cute is that?!

My vacation officially started last night when I got off work at Rave at 930. I clocked in 41.5 hours in FOUR DAYS! Needless to say, I think I pretty much died when I came home last night. I crashed in my bed at 1030! I woke up this morning pretty early. Damn you body clock! But, since I did go to bed so early I figured I still got some good sleep. Here are my "I Spy" oats. Notice its still early, but a little more decent :)

What else can you "spy" in the picture?!

Tomorrow I am hittin the road to go to Charleston for a whole week. Let me tell you...I am PUMPED!! I can't wait for the beach!

We are leaving early tomorrow morning and then tomorrow night I have a 5K on the beach! I have not done too much running on the beach, so hopefully I will do OK! Wish me luck!

Since I have basically been a non-stop work machine all week I have TONS to get finished up today for the vacation. Here is my list so far:

• Clean out my car (It is a MESS)
• Go to the grocery store for snack foods for the drive.
• Do my nails and toes. (a MUST for the beach)
• Hair Appointment
• Tanning Bed
• Run
• PACK!

Im sure there is more. WOW I gotta get started!

Hope everyone is kickin their weekend off right!

Lots of Love, <3 Ems.

Diaper Shower and More Fun Adventures

One of my very best friends (and boss at Rave) had a diaper shower last night. She is nine months preggers with her third baby girl!

I told her that she absolutely CAN NOT have the baby while I am at the beach. I leave on Saturday and will be gone for a whole week. Oh I hope I don't miss it.

A bunch of the girls from work got together to throw her a little "diaper shower" last night after work. Here is the whole group. I know I have said this 10000 times, but I just LOVE the girls that I work with. I am so blessed :)

And even more showed up...who is that kid in the background?! CREEP!

We provided cake...

And diapers...

And got my manager drunk...just kidding guys, she had one drink :)

After the diaper shower ended, some of the girls decided "hey, we are all dressed up...LETS GO OUT!" So of course we did. We partied for Tanya, because she can't. ;)

Here's the party girls I went out with, Tina and Kelli

And here is them later on in the night...

And I got to break out the LITTLE BLACK DRESS!

We danced until we just had to sit down, its what we do...

Last night was a blast! I woke up this morning with my legs and feet KILLING me from dancing all night and craving something along the lines of...

OATS! Duh!

Today is going to be the definition of RELAXING SUNDAY. I plane on heading down to the pool shortly and spending the rest of the day:

• soaking up the rays
• catching up on my celebrity gossip
  
• listening to the new albums that I downloaded (Dane Cook, The Dream, The Sounds, and Steve Martin's new bluegrass album...quite the variety...I think my ADD comes out in my music choices as well)
• catching up with my sister on her weekend
• planning my Charleston beach trip activities...6 days!!
  
• going for an evening run

Let's get this day started! I have a feeling its going to be good.

Which also reminds me...I have been getting the weirdest feelings that something exciting is about to happen. It will just hit me at random times. Do you guys ever get feelings like this? I just feel like something is on the brink of happening. We shall see my friends, we shall see :). Ill keep you updated on that one.

Hope everyone else is having a relaxing Sunday!

Lots of Love, <3 Ems.

P.S. That sucks major butt that the joke didn't really seem to work. I think you are supposed to try and say it fast...and when you do your supposed to get tongue twisted and say "he smelt farts", I swear to you it's funny when someone does it without knowing! WOW I have no idea why I even posted that. LAME!!!

5K Tips From the Pros

By "pros" I totally mean you guys! A lot of you gave some great tips a couple of days ago when I asked you to tell me some of your best advice for running a 5k. I will be running my first 5K in June (I have only ever ran 1oks) and Emily and Sam will be as well. So we all appreciate the tips! Also, for those of you who don't know, and I'm sure most of you do, Runner's World is a great website and one that I read frequently for advice and articles about just about anything you could think of involving running. So here we go...

TOP TEN TIPS FOR YOUR FIRST 5K:

1. FIND THE RIGHT SHOES:

Everyone is different, everyone has special needs when it comes to their running shoes. I know for me, a new pair of shoes made all of the difference in my running. Finding just the right shoe will lower your risk of injury and just plain make you feel better when you run. Many sports stores will have people and tools on hand to find you the perfect shoe. Take advantage of this! Check out this article for more info on finding the right shoe for your foot.

2. PLAN WHAT TO WEAR:

To avoid being stressed and rushed in the morning, you should go ahead and lay out your entire outfit (plus anything else you will need) the night before. Amy gives some good advice by saying that you should consider something different than the race shirt that they provide and I agree. Something that you know will be comfortable, fit you perfectly, and feel good on is what you should plan to wear. Also don't forget to make sure that what your wear won't get too hot (or cold) and won't cause any other major malfunctions during the race.

3. REST UP!

Of course getting good sleep is important for anything. And it is especially true for the night before running a race. To make sure that you run your best and that you are as alert and energetic as possible for the race you should take it easy the night before. Plan to take a rest day from training to prepare your muscles for the run the next day and get in bed early to ensure the right amount of sleep before the race.

4. EAT A GOOD BREAKFAST:

What you choose to eat before the race is going to be your fuel for when you run. Because of that, it is important that you fuel up properly. Exactly what to eat is completely up to you. Find what it right for you and what you think gives you the most boost in the morning. Carbs are always good before a race. My race morning breakfast of choice is just toast with peanut butter and banana. Check out THIS article on the top 15 foods for runners to get some ideas that may work for you!

5. HYDRATE! HYDRATE! HYDRATE!

Staying hydrated is a really important thing to consider when you are running ANYTIME and especially for a race. Make sure you drink plenty of water before hand. 5K races will not typically have "water stops", so it will be important to make sure you drink enough before you start running and that you will have water on hand after the race is over.

6. ARRIVE AT THE RACE EARLY:

This is another thing to do to avoid being rushed and stressed on race day, which can cause you to not run your best. Arrive at the race with plenty of time to get your number, find out where the start and finish are, and to check over the course. Also arriving early allows for time for #7...

7. STRECH AND WARM-UP:

Stretching and warming-up before the race is SO important to avoid injury. A lot of people will get so hyped up about starting the race that they will forget these two things all together. Again, this is totally customized and will vary from person to person. Know your "trouble zones" and make sure you stretch properly for those. Also know your limits...don't do so much of a warm-up that you are ready to give out before the race...but don't do so little that you jet out at the start of the race. HERE is an article about some stretching and warm-up routines that may work for you.

8. PACE YOURSELF!

This is one of the most common mistakes that first time runners make. When you are at the start of the race you just want to jet out in front as fast as you can. But this can leave you worn down after the first mile. Now your pace and keep it...even from the start. Unless you are my man Ryan Hall and can run the mile in under 4 minutes, there is no need to sprint at the start. You may see other people doing it, but believe me, you will be passing up those people later when they have given out and you are holding steady!

9. FINISH STRONG:

If you have been keeping up a nice steady pace and are not too tired by the end, you will be able to finish strong. This is where you will pace all those people who are just too tired to work harder. Again, KNOW YOUR BODY! If you are on the last half mile and you feel like you can do it...full on run that thing. Even the last quarter mile...just finishing strong in the last little bit will shave off tons of seconds in your final time.

10. MOST IMPORTANTLY...JUST HAVE FUN!

Whether its your first race or your five hundredth race. Have fun with it. Remember why you wanted to run in the first place. TO HAVE FUN AND FEEL GOOD...not to stress and worry about times and things like that. Don't worry about your time, your place, or the other runners around you. DO IT FOR YOU and have a BLAST!!

I really hope that this helped some of you girls...I know that it helped me a lot and I had a lot of fun getting tips from you guys, researching some tips, and writing this for you! Any questions are comments feel free to e-mail me!

Hope everyone is having a great Monday!

Lots of Love <3 Ems.

It's Friday!

Please watch this video as many times that it takes to get you PUMPED about the fact that is Friday. It should only take one. Unless you are a SUPER stiff, then maybe two.

I had some requests to see my SUPA-CUTE detailed back shirt actually on. And since I did party it up last night and broke out the new shirt...and had to wait HOURS for my friend to get off work, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to snap a pic!

I just love it. And those little red "dots" on my back are not birthmarks, even though thats what they look like. They are hearts. haha.

Me making the MOST serious face ever. Seriously?! I think that I was concentrating more on getting the front of the shirt then on actually smiling. haha

I'm feeling pretty good about my day/night yesterday. I worked hard and played harder! FOR REAL! Here was my day;

• 9-1030: Job Interview at a Preschool...totally rocked it!
• 11: Quickly came home packed up a Sammie and an apple for lunch and headed out the door.
• 12-4: Work shift #1 at the ol' Rave
• 415: Back home, quick snack, quick change into gym clothes, out the door!
• 430-530: 7 mile run at the gym. No pain in the knee. Kicked the treadmills ass!
• 545: Back to work at Rave for shift #2. Kept my sweaty gym clothes on, just piled on the deodorant and Love Spell. rocked it out.
• 6-930: Rave shift #2. Sold some clothes, took out the trash, swept the floors like a pro, gossiped with my manager/best friend.
• 10: Home for a quick dinner of mac and cheese and broccoli and carrots:

• 1030-1230: Showered it up, prettied it up, waited for the Britt-ster to get off work.
• 1: Roll up in the club. Rock star parking, no lines. Thats how we roll.
• 1-3: Danced the night away. Techno style.
• 3-9: CRASHED OUT!

And now I am sitting here with a lovely cup of coffee and some awesome blogs to read. WHEW!

Hope everyone is having an awesome Friday...and if your not, watch the video again. :)

Lots of Love <3 Ems.

You Suck Internet Provider.

I'm not naming any names (for fear of some sort of big corporate reparation), but my Internet provider is slackin' as of late. Can you believe that I have not been able to connect to the Internet in TWO days. AND this is the second time this month this has happened...AND when I called them they said they didn't see that anything was wrong. WHAT THE HELL?! Come on guys, I'm paying you for this. You best be giving me what I'm paying for.

Ok enough ranting, its back now. I feel like walking on egg shells though, like any false move and I will get kicked off again.

Currently I am enjoying a lovely bowl of "banana pancake" oats. And catching up on all the blogs that I have missed the past couple of days.

YUMMMSSS!!

I have been busting my butt with the substituting gigs lately! Monday I was a Kindergarten teacher and yesterday I was a fifth grade teacher...Friday is 1st (my favorite grade). Gotta make that money!!

Also, I have been taking every precaution to treat my knee. After a week off from running I tried it again on Monday. I ran 4 miles...came home iced it for 30, heated it for thirty, rubbed pain reliever creme on it, and wrapped it for the rest of the day. Tuesday there was NO PAIN! But, I still wanted to take it easy so I just worked out on the treadmill for 45 minutes. Today I'm going to see how it goes at the gym before deciding what workout I want to do.

Yesterday at work I purchased the cutest little shirt. I have this sort of "theme" with my outfits. If they have some sort of unique back to them I HAVE to buy them. Everyone now associates me with these types of shirts, it kinda like an "Emily staple". I just think that a womans back is one of the most sexy parts of the body. Its seductive, but not skanky. haha. Don't you agree? Here is the latest addition to the collection:

While catching up with the blogs, I was stoked to see that I had received an award from one of my FAVE bloggettes Dulcie. I was super excited about this award, because I just think its great!

The Renee Award is one of the most meaningful awards in blog world because it honors someone who is incredibly inspirational in her intelligent and witty writing. And by doing so, this award celebrates women’s smart, strong and inspirational spirit! It honors women who spread joy and love like an Acorn……a small package growing into a tall and sturdy oak tree which gives more acorns…………..

First of all let me just tell you guys that each and everyone of you inspire me by your witty and funny antics and also with your strong spirits. There is not one blog that I read that doesn't make me laugh or smile every single day. And all of the blogs that I read inspire me and add to my life from day to day. I just love every single one of you guys. So if I comment on your blog at all, just know that you are AMAZING and that I am passing this award onto you as well!

NOW I HAVE SOME SUBJECTS TO ADDRESS FOR SOME OF MY READERS!

First of all Sam had asked what my drink of choice was. And I just have to say that it all depends. I really like to drink red wine at the house while I am getting ready to go out or if I am just chillin with friends in a restaurant or something. If I am out partyin' it up with friends...and trying to keep up with the boys (not that I can or anything, my boys are pretty extreme) I will take shots. My favorite shot is a yagerbomb, with sugar free red bull....because regular red bull with all that sugar mixed with alcohol just isn't a good idea for the ol' tummy. Funny story...one time I got asked by a guy at the bar WHO WAS ORDERING THE SAME DRINK, if I was on a "diet"...I looked at him, then looked at his drink and said "No, are you?!" nice pick up line. Ok back to the drinks...if I want to just not really drink much and just sip on something I will order a vodka cranberry or a light beer. My favorite beer in Yuenling light.

Ok, now I feel like an alcoholic. Don't judge! But, I feel like knowing the appropriate drink for you and where you are and what you are doing is important. I know EXACLTY how much of each of those drinks I can drink without going over bored and keep track meticulously throughout the night. Because I have such a god "game plan" as far as drinks go, I hardly ever get hangovers or regret anything the morning after...except maybe the texts...umm...still working on that one.

Next order of business Miss Emily is running her first 5K and she needs our help! She asked me for some tips about running and I can think of a few AND I know there are others of you out there that have a few tips as well. In the next couple of days I wanna do a post of running tips. SO PLEASE E-MAIL ME SOME OF YOUR BEST TIPS FOR TRAINING OR JUST RUNNING IN GENERAL. I'm going to put them all together, along with some research and tips of my own and make a post for her...and anyone else that can benefit from the tips.

Now I'm off to the gym!

Hope everyone is having a happy HUMP day!

Lots of Love, <3 Ems.

Whhhatt??!!

Have I really not posted since Monday?! I knew that it had been a couple of days, but geez. I'm so sorry that I have been such a slacker.

I am still resting my knee because I don't want to mess it up even more by running on it too soon, so I'm gonna wait until its 100%. Me (being the stupid, stubborn girl that I am) decided that it would be a good idea to run 3 miles on Tuesday and on Wednesday at work, I was almost in tears by how bad my knee hurt. I have been icing it, wrapping it, resting it, giving it some good ol TLC. I just hope it gets better soon!!

Honestly, I have nothing really of interest to post...which is why I guess I have been avoiding it. But here are a couple of key points that have happened over the course of the week:

• Mike came back in the picture...sort of...in the form of some weird and confusing texts.
  
• Lucas went out of the picture...mainly because of the above mentioned...and because he is staying at school for the summer to play ball and attend summer school.
  
• I got a call for a phone interview tomorrow from a really awesome school in Charlotte, NC!! Im going to be brushing up on my interview questions all day today.
• I played pool last night, totally killed the first game...then got slaughter for the next two.
• Got tatted up

haha. just kidding, its fake. I got WAY to bored yesterday. But my sister pointed out that that would be a cool place for a tattoo, and I think I agree. I have always wanted to get a tattoo of an OWL (because that is the symbol of education) and possibly the words "carpe noctem" (thanks for the heads up Mica, yes thats what a meant...typo! haha) which is Latin for seize the night. I liked the phrase "carpe diem" but thought that was too cliche...and night goes with owls, so its perfect!

• Of course I made some wraps:

My mom bought me some groceries, so I got the good expensive kind of pickles, that I would never buy on my own :)

Since I really have nothing else to post and I just did the 25 things about myself...I thought it would be fun to do an "interview" type post next, but with different questions from you guys. A "FAQ" post, if you will. Hey, everyone else has done it...ITS MY TURN! So ask me anything! You can e-mail me or leave me a comment with your question if you would like. Whatever floats ya boat.

Time for breakfast and another cup-o-crack...errr...I mean coffee.

Lots of Love, <3 Ems.

Meeting the New Man...

Thats right, I met a new man in my life yesterday, and he is one handsome man at that!

One of my very best friends in the whole world just had this HUGE bundle of joy yesterday and I could not be happier for her. I freaked out when I got her message that her water had broken yesterday morning at 6 A.M...he was almost 2 weeks early! But everything went great and mom and baby are doing wonderfully. Pretty much my whole day yesterday was spent hangin' with the new man. I just couldn't get enough.

The proud Daddy

And the beautiful Mommy.

I just could not be happier for her and I know that her and Chris will make awesome parents. I can not wait to see what the future holds for them! Happy Birthday Lincoln Maddox!!!

So like I said before, most of my day was spent in the hospital. I stayed there until right before work at 5. I did run home to make some lunch before work though.

You guessed it...a WRAP!

I didn't get in a workout because of all the excitement today, but thats OK because my knees are still hurting a little. I think I may ice them up again and rest one more day. Any advice or tips on helping my poor knees?!

Today I am up bright and early. Why? I have no idea, but there has to be SOME reason that I wanted to get up and start the day this early. So, lets see what the day brings!! My horoscope is telling me that today I will have a brilliant idea. hmmm.

Hope everyone is having a relaxing Sunday.

Lots of Love, <3 Ems.