Savin’ Them ‘Gs

I’m sure you’ve heard people refer to money as “g’s” before, right?

If Only My Blog Paid Me Like This...

Apparently I’m not well-versed in pop-culture slang, because I never knew what exactly “g’s” stood for when referencing money. Just in case you’re a super-blonde like me and never knew, it stands for “grand” like $1 grand = $1,000. Somebody, somewhere just rolled their eyes into the back of their head (Likely Ryan 😉 ).

I hope you enjoyed today’s lesson… Or will forgive me for telling you something you already knew and thought was totally obvious.

Annnyway, I have always been a g-saver and constantly look for great deals and ways to save my money.

A couple of months ago my friend Merri sent me a text message that changed my life. (Okay, not really, but it was still a good little nugget of information that she shared with me.)

Did you know you can get a polish change instead of a pedicure for $10?

Nooo. Actually I didn’t know this.

Ever since I got that text, I haven’t splurged on a full-on pedicure. I’ve opted for a simple polish change on my toes, which still looks great, but costs less than half the price of a pedicure at most nail salons. Score!

Polish Change Lunch Break

Aside from the price, a wonderful thing about a polish change is that you can often get in and get out of the nail salon in 20 minutes. That means you may even be able to cram it into your lunch break.

That’s exactly what I did today. I managed to save even more time by bringing my own polish since I often take an inordinate amount of time selecting the perfect color.

Self-Timer at a Stop Light! What, What!?

O.P.I Shade: A True Aboriginal

I was in and out and on with my life in less than 20 minutes! Sch-weet!

Lunch

Since I have a long day ahead of me involving a flight to Chicago and our first night of bachelorette party fun, I wanted to be sure to enjoy a filling and nutritious lunch.

I opted for my favorite combination of noodles, Barilla mushroom and garlic marinara sauce, steamed broccoli and freshly chopping spinach.

Noodles + Sauce + Veggies

Apparently My Camera Focuses Only On the Most Nutritious Parts of My Bites...

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

Noodle Boooowl

I also ate a Colby-Jack string cheese on the side that went undocumented.

Tonight

I am an antsy-pants  girl this afternoon! I just want my weekend of fun to start NOW!

Tonight I will be arriving in Chicago around 8 p.m. and we’ll be kicking off this wonderful bachelorette party weekend by doing Lord knows what. No one is telling me anything about the whole weekend, so I’m looking forward to having a good time at the hands of my wonderful friends. 🙂

I’ll try to keep the ol’ blog updated as much as possible while I’m in Chicago.

See ya from the Windy City! 😀

Gourmet Nutrition Giveaway

Don’t forget to head on over to Jessica’s blog to see who won the Gourmet Nutrition Giveaway!

Of Possible Interest

• Are You Addicted to Exercise? Signs of Exercise Addiction (FitSugar.com)
• Can Surfing the Internet Help You Lose Weight? (Time.com)
• Top 10 Healthiest Vegetables (MyHealthPassion.Wordpress.com)
• Fun Facts about Peanut Butter & a Recipe for PB&J French Toast (ImAnOkie.com)

Question of the Afternoon

What did you do for your bachelorette party? If you’re not married, what would you want to do for your bachelorette party?

Half Marathon Game Plan

The final run of my half marathon training plan is D-O-N-E!

Ahhh!

5 Mile Stats

I must say it feels so good to be completely finished with training.

I am not a naturally good runner. I don’t just fall into a comfortable stride immediately and breathe effortlessly as I run. Running, for me, is work. Though it is tough for me, I do enjoy the way my body feels after a good run and the clarity of my thoughts during a run. (You may read my running story here.)

That being said, it sure will be nice not to feel like I have to run on certain days after this race on Sunday!

I like working out in the morning, but I also like doing what I want to do to get my heart rate up. Without a half marathon looming over my head, I’ll feel much more free to take a spinning class, swim or complete a challenging interval workout.

Clearly I’ve missed the variety in my cardio workouts! Variety, after all, is the spice of life! 😀

Half Marathon Game Plan

As I was running this morning, I started to think about my game plan for Sunday’s race.

Initially my training plan had me completing a 12 mile run last Saturday, but since my training was derailed for a couple of weeks due to some serious pain in my heel, my long run only ended up being 10 miles. I actually felt pretty wiped out after the 10 mile run, so I am going to be sure to listen to my body during the half and take breaks when I need to.

Though I was never planning to run for time, I did have a little goal in the back of my head to run the entire race without stopping like I did during my first (and only) half marathon back in 2007.

Well, I’m officially scratching that goal. I am going to embrace breaks if I need them. In fact, I am planning to stop at the five and 10 mile mark for at least a full minute to refuel and stretch.

My new goal is to seriously enjoy the race. I will be running it with four of my girlfriends and want to have a great time before, during and after the race.

Of course I will put forth serious effort to get to the finish line because I can’t just breeze through 13.1 miles, but I am excited to run a race for fun and not worry about anything other than enjoying the race and the people I’m running it with.

And that, my friends, is my new game plan. 😀

I really wrote all of the above content to sort through my own thoughts, so I apologize for those of you who are drooling and falling asleep at your computer screens now. How about we move swiftly into breakfast to tantalize your senses and bring you back to life?

Breakfast

Why is peanut butter so good? I mean seriously. Why?

Why can’t broccoli taste like peanut butter so I could eat buckets and buckets of it every day?

Obviously peanut butter made a stellar appearance in my breakfast this morning in the form of a peanut butter and peach sandwich.

PB + Nutmeg

After spreading a copious amount of peanut butter onto half of a whole wheat sandwich thin (and eating a peanut butter finger in the process), I placed peach slices on the other half and dusted the sandwich with nutmeg for a little extra flava-flav.

Life's a Peach

The Goods

It's Not Okay to Look That Delicious

I was still a little hungry after this sandwich (running will do that to ya!), so I also enjoyed a creamy cup of Chobani plain Greek yogurt with a squirt of honey.

Yog

Breakfast is easily my favorite meal of the day!

Questions of the Day

• Are you a competitive person? Were you competitive growing up?
  
• If you’re a runner, do you run races for time or run them for fun… or a mix of the two?