May 13, 2012 ♥
Nate ran his first marathon on May 6th in Cincinnati. He had been training for it since the beginning of the year, and it was a little bit surreal that all of that work building up to one single day came and went in the blink of an eye! Though it probably lasted a little longer for him while he was running in the 85 degree heat! When he first told me that he was going to run The Flying Pig Marathon I wasn’t sure how serious he really was. But over the course of the months leading up to it I realized that he really meant business.
We rode up to Cincinnati on Saturday morning the day before the race with my In-laws and our nephew, Ethan. Both of his sisters and their families headed up a little later in the day. We got Nate registered for the race and browsed through all of the booths that were set up downtown. It was a little bit like a giant indoor fair for runners!
The race was brutally hot in the mid 80′s. Basically the only type of weather that Nate hoped to not have to deal with. There was no cloud cover and the route had very little shade to offer, if any. His parents drove him up that morning for the start, which was around 6:40AM. They came back to the hotel and we all went down around 10AM to grab our place on the sidelines to watch him finish. He didn’t quite make the time that he had originally hoped for, but he finished! I am insanely proud of him. When I think about what would happen to me if I tried to run 26.2 miles I just, can’t even go there. I would not make it guys. And he made it in the heat, sun beating down, with a horrible migraine.
After the race we (his posse^) all went to find and meet up with him. Traveling through huge crowds of people with that many kids in our group proved to be interesting. Especially with 3 flights of stairs and 2 strollers! We had so many signs made for him that we didn’t even have enough people to hold them up! He definitely had quite the fan base cheering him on!
Other than the heat, it was a beautiful day overall. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but Nate’s Dad is a runner. He ran this marathon three years ago and another one in Louisville the next year. He hasn’t been able to run for any substantial amount of time since being diagnosed with cancer last year. Nate ran this race for him, and the minutes after they saw each other were the sweetest. I’m so glad I was able to capture that moment.
Nate – I couldn’t be more proud of you and the dedication you’ve shown to yourself, to your Dad, and your family. Running may not seem like that big of a deal to some people, but I can see how this has changed you. I love that you’ve found something to strive toward and that you only want to keep getting better at it. It’s an inspiration to me, and to everyone who knows you! I love you so much.
May 10, 2012 ♥
I want to write a bit today on something that I’ve been noticing in the blogosphere a lot lately. It’s nothing new, but I’m noticing a lot of people who I personally consider some of the best of the best feeling the way I feel from time to time about my own blog – and it’s refreshing, but also a little intimidating! I’m referring to the feeling of inadequacy – the need to create a bigger audience, better content, etc. I guess I’ve always felt like if I could just achieve this or that, if I could just be like so & so – I would feel like I’d accomplished what I meant to with this space. Over time I’ve started to realize that it’s healthy to have goals for my blog, but it’s completely destructive to look at other blogs and compare. I’ve always known that, but human nature ignores reason at times. It really puts things in perspective though when you realize that every stage of success comes with it’s own trials. Smaller bloggers want to be “popular”, but at the same time the wildly successful bloggers feel bogged down by the business side overshadowing their passion.
It seems to me that people who blog are just the type of people who naturally feel critical of themselves and their work. We want to create new things and share something different that we can feel proud of and be the best at – but there are only so many things we can do differently from each other while pretending to not look over our shoulder at how everyone else is putting their spin on the same thing. There was a time not too long ago where I hardly wanted anything to do with my blog because of this way of thinking. I can happily say that I haven’t felt like that in a while and I’m having more fun than ever with this space! I’m not saying that I wont ever fall back into that hole again, but right now I feel like I’m in a good place. Not for any real reason, nothing has changed. I’m just learning to enjoy myself a little more and not stress out.
On to something a little more light-hearted! This comfy striped boat-neck dress was sent over by the lovely Rachel of Cute-Vintage. How can you not be having a good day while wearing a cute dress sent to you from a vintage shop in London? I mean, really! I just felt happy all day long, so thank you Rachel! I plan to style this dress more simply on the next go-round. Nate approves of the dress, but found my pairing with everything else a little bit busy. A little quirky, but sometimes I just like to embrace a weirder side of fashion. ;] Unfortunately and as per-usual, it’s quite short on me – so options there are limited! Sometimes being a giant is kind of sad. Oh well!
Outfit Details
Striped Boat-Neck Dress: c/o Cute-Vintage
Glasses: c/o GlassesUSA.com
Floral Vest/Rose Earrings/Belt: Forever21
Leggings: Aerie
Wedges/Necklace: Target
May 09, 2012 ♥
I didn’t plan to take outfit photos when I threw this on for work this morning, but a lot of people gave me outfit props today and I thought maybe that was a sign that I should! Nate and I drove out to the pretty park near our house after dinner to snap a few quick pictures. The wind was insane and I basically had to pose the same in every photo- hand holding onto hat. I still lost the hat a few times. Thankfully not in the water! Not only was it windy, but it was also starting to get a little chilly. Needless to say I took these quickly and we headed for the car! I can’t believe how up and down the weather has been lately. Nate ran his marathon on Sunday, and it was a brutal 85 degrees outside. And tomorrow? A high of 66. I will do a recap of how the marathon went in the next few days- it was hot, but Nate did so well. So proud of him!
When I got home today I had a lovely little package waiting for me in the mailbox from Rachel at
Cute-Vintage. My second piece of international mail- hooray! I can’t wait to show you guys what she sent. It’s the most versatile little stripped dress. I love when I can just look at a piece of clothing and envision myself wearing it a ton of ways. I’ve learned to shop based on how many different ways I think I will be able to wear something and it’s really expanded my closet, and my wallet! I hope you all don’t get sick of this hat. There aren’t very many different ways to wear it per-say, but I’m sort of obsessed with it. Expect to see it a lot!
Outfit Details
Striped Top: H&M
Jeans: Lucky Jeans
Hat: Forever21
Watch: c/o Francesca’s Collections
Wedges: Target
Necklace: Vintage family heirloom
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