Thrilling Thursdays

Thank you all for the sweet words about being accepted into the Boston Marathon. I am really excited and at the same time I'm terrified. My "real" training starts in January so that's when all the fun will happen.

This morning I got up and it was a perfect morning. 57 degrees, a little breeze and the sun was just coming up enough to make the clouds pink and blue like cotton candy. I walked outside to start my morning run and then turned around and walked back in my house and back to bed. I just wasn't feeling it. Do you have days like this? There is no reason whatsoever that I could think of to get out of the run, so I didn't have an excuse other than the bed felt better than the asphalt. The local race I'm training for is at the end of October and is 9 miles so I seriously need to get my butt in gear, but right before I walked out the door I heard Isabelle wake up and Mr. T run to grab her and bring her back into our bed. Now seriously, how am I supposed to not want to join in on that?

The awesome part about being the CEO of our house is that I get to set my own hours. So that means that today during Izzy's nap time, I will load her in our jogging stroller and get my run in then. It's much tougher to run with her, but now that the weather has cooled off I can run with her mid day again.

Want to know what else I did this morning before 7 o'clock? Grocery shopping. Have you been grocery shopping when you are the only one there that doesn't use one of those scooter grocery carts or have blue hair? It's awesome. There are no lines, no terrible cart drivers and did I mention no lines? I can't wait to join the geriatrics and get up early to do my business. Mr. T and I always say we are going to be perfect old people. We wake up early, read the paper, drink coffee and go to sleep early. I also have a crazy love for jewelry. I wish I could wear a ring on every hand and 14 necklaces at a time without looking like a weird cat lady, but I can't. But I can when I'm old. And I will. That's expected. I will also talk loudly about the kid that wears his pants so low that you can see his underwear. My grandma used to do that and pretend like she was hard of hearing so she could say rude things loudly when in reality, she just wanted the person to hear her. Ohh grandma someday I dream to be just like you.

For the rest of the day, I am going to pack up pictures (I'm crying on the inside) around the house so our house is ready to be shown. The realtor explained that you do this because you want future buyers to picture themselves in your home and not this other family whose pictures are all over the walls. Really? You can't look past the pictures people? That's dumb. We have been looking at houses and I love the houses with pictures on the walls. Mr. T would say that I like them because I'm such a creeper (which I totally am...hey you're a blog reader so that makes you a tiny creeper). But I also feel like pictures make the house feel like a home. But whatev, if it makes our house sell faster than I'll hang pictures of Burt Reynolds. Just get this baby sold! I know it's going to be a pain showing our house and keeping it clean with 2 dogs and a toddler so I hope it's bought soon. So please pray for a swift and smooth sale for us. Thank ya much!
We are going to run to target to get a few storage bins for some household stuff and to look to see if they have anything from Missoni at Target. Have you heard about that? It crashed the sight and everything was bought in most places in less than 4 hours!? That's crazy to me. It may be the fact that I'm an old lady, but I feel like if everyone else is buying stuff then I don't want it. Why would I want to match every single girl on the street? That sounds like high school and I've already done that and not really wanting to do it again. But I do have to see what all the fuss is about. Reason number 32,987,230,498 to like target. I love how they make good brands affordable.

Here's to a thrilling Thursday!

Yay!! I did it!

Fake it til you make it

Dirty monkeys-get your mind out of the gutter. I'm talking about fake tanning! As I have stated before, I used to be a sun worshiper! Everything I did was outdoors and I BARELY put sunscreen on...EVER. I am blessed to be 1/4 Choctaw Indian so I tan really easily. That's what I always said..."I don't burn, I tan." Awesome. But my skin was screaming at me!

Over tan me. Pretending to look at an engagement ring. Totally staged.

Before I was a stay at home mommy, I did sales and marketing for a health and wellness spa in town. One of the perks of the jobs was working with some great estheticians in town. The great estheticians put my under this HORRIBLE light/ camera thing that completely opened my eyes. It shows where your sun spots are and what you are most likely to look like if you continue aging at the same process. From that moment, swore  off tanning beds and not going outside with sunblock on daily! No small feat for one that loves to have some color 365 days of the year. But, seeing what all those years in a tanning bed have done it's an easy commitment to make. My laying out in the real sun doesn't even happen much given it is just too stinkin hot in Tulsa to deal with the heat unless a pool is within 3 feet. It has been an abominable 110 degrees here lately. Ugh. I have had non-stop boob sweat for the past 8 days. And I just ran out of deodorant...wanna be friends?

Back to self tanners. Remember Coppertone QT? “It tans you anytime, rain or shine, when you use QT," went the commercial. How perfect! I bought a bottle when I was about 13, desiring to be as dark as I could be. (This was of course to go along with getting my hair being blonde...I blame it on having a sister who was 5 years older than me and who I wanted to be JUST like her and her friends) I recall this being a big purchase, $4.99 and I couldn't wait to get home and make myself look like a little potato. I definitely changed shades but Sunkist orange with crusty yellow-orange hands was not what I desired. And I won't even get into the streaks. Yuck.

Onto Oklahoma. Given the sun here, I didn't need tanner much until I started becoming  aware of the slow decline of my skin's elasticity (and of course, how much I cherish my life and don't want to leave this party too early).  So now I can give you some healthy alternatives that I found and here are my favorites! I promise I am not hired or paid by these products...but if you guys do want to pay me HOLLA!!

1. Fake Bake Products (http://www.fakebake.com/):
Another Tulsa gem, I was introduced to this from a esthetician friend. This line can be found in beauty supply stores, but I found mine at Ulta. It is hands down the best stuff I've found. They have spray on, mousse and lotion formulas along with good smelling exfoliating lotion. EXFOLIATION IS THE KEY. Another key for me is not smelling like burning skin. One application of this for me and I was 2 months of tanning in. Woo hoo! A bit pricier than drugstore stuff but well worth it. All tanners smell good, dry quick and are basically streak free. The mousse is a  quick fix on my pasty legs in the morning when I'm rushed. Which is pretty much every day. Thanks Isabelle.


Jergens Natural Glow Tanning Lotion:

If you want to to go the drugstore route, get this stuff. Until Fake Bake entered my world, this was it for me. Their gel is unsurpassed at color & non-streaking. It doesn't have that annoying "tanner" smell either. However, it takes a long time to dry. As a perpetually late person, this eliminated it from my morning routine. Comes in medium-dark & dark formulas-both are pretty intense so paler skins take caution, but since it gradually gets darker, you will notice if you start to look ridiculous.

3. Banana Boat Banana Boat Summer Color Sunless Lotion (http://www.bananaboat.com/): This gets a mention from me as during my really poor days, it was the best of what I could afford. Ohh the days of college. Gotta love it. A bit on the smelly side and a little slow to dry, it still does the trick and with a good application you will get a good glow going without looking like you rolled in glitter.Light-Medium and Medium-Dark formulas are available. It can be found in just about any grocery store.

As far as shade selection goes, my personal opinion is that if you are going to try for some fake color, get the medium to dark formulas. Unless you are albino white, they should work on you and not turn you any unusual, George Hamiltonesque orange colors. Just apply with caution and carefully.

Unfavorites:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but these just didn't work that great for me:

Loreal Sublime Bronze Tinted Self-Tanning Lotion:

 It's gradual, but I think it's a load of crap.  Maybe it's because I'm already a little tan or maybe it's because I am horribly impatient but these did nothing for me whatsoever. My skin ended up moisturized (sorta), but no darker than before even when I did use it daily. My paler friends loved it though so maybe it does have some redeeming qualities-just none that I have seen.

Spray Tanning: Let me clarify. I am a fan of spray tanning, but now I have seen where people are getting "contoured" to look like they have a six pack or muscular arms and legs. What? People that's just weird. Now only do you look like you just got home from a Hawaiian vacation, but now you also look like you went to boot camp and came back fit....until you shower. Then it streaks away and you look like your skin and muscles are crumbling. Not cute. Not cute at all.  The con on spray tanning is that it also takes a bit to dry and so you have to just stand there in your undies. I also felt like the spray was FREEZING cold and immediately made me need to pee. So prepare yourself. And your bladders.

Fakers, I hope that this brings some sunshine into your life! Self-tanners keep getting improving. These that I have listed are what I've found work for me (and a few other friends). Let me know if you have some favorites as well!
Reformed Orange,
-Melissa

We're baaack!

We survived....well I had no doubts that Isabelle would survive, but Mr. T and I made it 5 days without our little girl and it was a LOT tougher than I thought. Mr. T has been away from her before (someone's gotta work around this joint!), but I had not. I had visions of cleaning the house, cooking, running errands, sleeping, running on my own, etc. Well that was fun for about an afternoon and then I missed my sidekick! She had a blast with her "BopBop" and "JuJu" so that made it easier for me, plus they sent me pictures and videos whenever they could....honestly what did we do before smart phones? Talk on the phone?? That's just weird.

My girl in her new running shoes...Mama's proud!

Isabelle and "JuJu" going shopping. I don't know who's more excited.

So guess what I did this morning???
Out of guesses?
Registered for THE Boston Marathon! My qualifying time is 3:19, so hopefully I will get in. I hear back from them soon, so keep your fingers and toes crossed....if you're a runner, keep your black, blistered toes crossed for me! The race is in April, so I will start my training for it in January which could be interesting with the Oklahoma winters. Last year I trained for the marathon at the same time and it was pretty awesome minus the two weeks that I was snowed in the house. The sucky part of running a marathon in April is that the weather can be perfect or awful. Last year I trained in cold weather and then race day was 80 degrees! It was honestly the worst I ever felt in a run...so I pray for ANYTHING better than that!

Sorry for the random post, but I'm living off 3 hours of sleep. For some reason I have been sleeping terribly!
But tomorrow I am doing a review for something that I use ALL THE TIME! Be excited...it will change your life. Or it won't, either way it'll be a good read. So come back.

Blog Break

Well, this week Mrs. Isabelle is with her grandparents in West Texas. This weekend we went to Dallas to hang out and then we left her with her "JuJu" and "Bop Bop" (she named her grandpa that all by herself) yesterday as they headed for their drive home. She was happy to go with them, it was her dad and I that had to hold back tears! Side bar: we did not miss her while we were making the 4 hour drive back to Tulsa. She's not exactly the easiest traveler, but I guess I wouldn't be if I had to face backwards and look at the back of a seat. Boooring! We also didn't really miss her when we got to watch Big Brother and comment as loudly as we wanted without worrying about waking her up. I did "shhh" Mr. T once because he was talking loudly....force of habit I guess. Or I'm just a bia. Who knows?
The trip started out with a little hitch when we left at 6:00 in Mr. T's truck and then made it about 45 minutes out of town when his trucks "Check Engine" light came on and his truck started shaking. We turned around and slowly made our way back home to get my car. Thank the Lord, we made it but that meant the 4 hour trip had turned into a 5 1/2 hour trip and Isabelle only got a short morning nap during the driving so it defeated our purpose of getting up at the butt crack of dawn! She was really good during the trip though...mainly because we downloaded a few Dora The Explorer episodes on Itunes so she could watch them on our computer...HALLELUJAH!
We did make it to Texas safe and sound and we had a great weekend. We ran the Labor Day 5k yesterday and I WON! Woo hoo! I ran an 18:15, so I was happy with that. The weather was great (70 degrees), but it was surprisingly really windy. Mr. T ran his second fastest time ever so he was pretty happy with that too. (He also beat his brother in law, which was his real goal. They have a crazy, secret, competitive thing going on....boys!)
Before we made our trek home, Isabelle put on her new outfit that her JuJu gave her....Only in Texas.

The cutest Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader I have ever seen.

Sorry so blurry. The outfit made her sassy so she was running EVERYWHERE!

Told ya.

On the drive home to West Texas, Isabelle stopped to see Mr. T's grandma (Izzy's great grandma). Isabelle looks more like this side of her family. As you can tell, Mr. T get's his hair from this side of the family as well. 

So this week, I have a lot to do without Isabelle here. Since we are putting our house on the market, lots of stuff has to get done so my blog posts might be bare. I know! What is the world going to do?!  But I will be getting our house ready, making some things I have dying to make off Pinterest and crying myself to sleep missing my girl. I hear wine helps.....

It's that time of year again!

If you're a runner here in Oklahoma, this time of year means you are either getting ready for the Tulsa Run 15k or the Route 66 half marathon/ marathon. I am in no shape for a marathon, so I am in training for the Tulsa Run, which is a huge race here! My dad has run EVERY Tulsa run since the beginning of time and my mom has as well. The only one she missed was because she was 8 months pregnant with me. I think she still holds that against me when my dad boasts that he's run every single one. Sorry mom, I too was busy growing limbs to worry about your race schedule!  My parents are crazy. Mr. T reminds me daily often that I am just like that. I'll take it.
So now I am in training to race for 9 miles. My goal is to run it under one hour so that takes some training on my part and some early morning runs to beat the heat. Lately, the sun hasn't been coming up until 6:45, so that means I run in the dark and it creeps me out. Dang you Criminal Minds! Mr. T. forbids me to watch that show anymore because I have nightmares and weird/creepy thoughts throughout the day. I always run with my phone, pepper spray and one of our big dogs. I would say I'm pretty cautious, but I still get freaked out until the sun comes up.
This week I ran about 35 miles total and did two workouts. Mr. T and I ran in our hilly neighborhood pushing the baby jogger. We switch off pushing every two miles. IT IS FREAKING HARD! Have you read the story of the dad that pushes his grown son in marathons? If you haven't bring out the tissues and read HERE.

I am not quite like that, I am more like this:

I wish I could run like a crab.

I'm going to apply for the Boston Marathon in a few weeks....I can't believe I am saying that! Holy crapola that's a huge race. Like the most prestigious in the world!  I ran a qualifying time in the Nashville Marathon, but Boston is making their standards tougher, so here's to hoping I get in. If I do get in, then I start training in January. Crab Run here I come! 

Boston has been on my bucket list for a while. Remember when I said my parents were crazy? How crazy you ask? Well, my mom found out she was preggo with me AFTER she ran the Boston Marathon (she's wicked fast) and she couldn't recover. So technically I ran the marathon when I was just a little peanut. My sister also likes to remind me how my mom cried and cried when she found out she was pregnant with me. Thanks sis....and mom. Rude.

This weekend we are also going to Ft. Worth Texas for my brother in law's manly baby shower. They are doing poker and a fantasy football draft. That actually sounds more fun to me than "guess what candy bar is melted in the diaper." How is it that a man shower is less disgusting than a woman's shower? We are going to do a labor day 5k down there, so hopefully it's not a million degrees. We are also going to say goodbye to Isabelle for 4 days as she goes to her grandma and grandpa's house in west Texas without us. That's right...without us. The longest time I have been away from her has been for 1 night. PAAAARTY! I will miss her, but I know she'll have a blast. Mr. T and I are planning on going out to dinner every night and watching the TV loud and sleeping in. I am going to run errands and clean the house and...

Oh who am I kidding? I am going to cry like a baby every night aren't I?

How could I not miss this little monkey?

Embrace the Camera

This is one of my favorite pictures with my little girl. It's after her 1st birthday party and after she had some cake. I couldn't resist on getting in on some sugary sugars!



Time to embrace your camera!