Winter Blues (and white pants)

Today, I am linking up with some incredible bloggers who created this series Style Perspective.  It’s exciting and motivating to have someone give you a fashion prompt and then to see how people interpret it, giving you so many ideas of how to style your one item. These ladies are so good at this it’s amazing and a little intimidating. :)   Check out their Blended Blog for all their style perspectives.  Thank you for putting your wonderful minds, talents and creativity together to come up with the prompts.  Today’s prompt was white pants.  Since the weather here in Saskatchewan has been unbelievably awesome this year and the snow all melted away, spring felt literally around the corner.  Over the weekend I picked out this beautifully light, airy, flower power, shirt that just screams spring is in full bloom.  I couldn’t wait to pair it up with my white pants until I woke up to this…

 Needless to say I am not feeling springy (that word is not meant to be used in that context but whatever).  So instead I pulled this outfit together in a hurry this morning.  I do have to say that I absolutely love the crochet top on this shirt and though there is a dip right in the middle, it revels nothing!  

The one little piece of spring that I did incorporate into my outfit today are these cute flower flats that I picked up for $10 at Walmart.  Usually I don’t purchase shoes from there but I’ve worn these around the house and they are comfy and light on my feet.  

Have a wonderful hump-day!

Feeling Pinkalicious

I love pink!!!! I can’t tell you how excited I am to see blush pink all over the stores for the spring. I am in serious danger of dressing like the storybook character Pinkalicious, a character from the children’s books by Victoria & Elizabeth Kann, all in pink or shades of pink, from head to toe. :) Not to worry, I am not actually going to do that, but if I am not careful I could seriously end up with an outrageous number of pink items. That being said, I saw this cute little top at RW & Co and just fell in love with it. I love almost everything about this shirt, the color, the flowy, baby-doll look, and the lace trim that stands out just enough but in an elegant sort of way; the only thing I worry about is the delicate fabric that will snag easily.

 

After I got it home I just had to play dress-up and make sure I had enough items in my closet that I could pair it up with for both casual and work like occasions. I quickly found out that the top was super versatile and here are a few ways I plan on wearing it. I also suspect that it will pair well with my white jeans, which were in the wash, and a few pairs of shorts that are a part of my summer wardrobe. 

 This is what I wore to Anya's skating carnival today.  

 Have a pinktastic week!  ;) 

International Women's Day

March 8^th marks the celebration of women in much of Easter Europe.  The holiday emerged during the 1900’s, in various locations, and was closely tied to the recognition of women’s rights.  For some countries International Women’s Day is still closely tied to political issues, and for others it’s looked upon as a day to celebrate women of the past and women living in the present regardless of their religious, political, economic, and marital status. As a society, and as women, we should celebrate our right to choose who we want to be and what we want to do with our lives. To read more on the history of this day  click here. 

 

In North America this is not a wildly celebrated day, apart from probably people who have immigrated here and brought it over with them.  I grew up in Bosnia and Herzegovina and thus I have celebrated this day as long as I can remember.  I don’t ever recall celebrating this day in an elaborate way, that’s not really the point, but my dad always bought flowers for my mom and his mom.  When we immigrated to Canada many years ago, we choose to change, adapt and adopt many traditional celebrations.  March 8^th has stayed consistently important to our family and we have always celebrated it in some small way.  

 

As I become an adult, my parents also passed this tradition on to me by presenting me with flowers each year.  I don’t remember the first time that they gave me flowers for March 8^th but I know that it felt special. I am so fortunate to have a husband, who didn’t grow up with this tradition, who takes the time to celebrate me in this special way and is teaching our girls about it, by including them in the process and talking to them about it.  Each year my husband has flowers delivered for me from the same flower shop, I think he has a standing order there, LOL.  Logan and I generally do not buy each other extravagant gifts but I truly appreciate that once a year I receive a beautiful flower arrangement to celebrate the woman that I am including, mother, wife, friend, sportsperson, strong, intelligent, career-orientated, extrovert, task/to-do list master, women that I am.  

 

This year we took out my parents, my grandma, and our whole family out for dinner.  A few years ago I decided to start including my girls in on our lunch/dinner dates on this day because I hope to pass on the meaning of this day on to them.  Of course there were key people missing from our little crowd such as my sister and my other grandmother, but we hope they had a special day with their loved ones. 

What's dinner out without some goofiness from the kids.   

 

I dropped off some flowers for my best friend Amber on March 8th.  Amber and I met in Waskesiu when I was 15 years old and she has been one of my closest friends since.  She is a mother of two and  7 months pregnant with her third, a wife, a fun-loving, adventure seeking individual, extremely intelligent, an entrepreneur (just purchased her business), loves home decor, yoga and being out on the water.  I am glad to have her in my life as a support and someone who I can depend on to tell me the truth and tell it to me straight. 

 

All you lovely ladies, take time to celebrate yourself and all your accomplishments.  

Comfy Favorites

Last Thursday, after I went for my run in the morning, I was feeling sore, lazy, tired and I had no desire to get dressed in my usual work attire.  I wanted something comfortable, like my lululemon pants, but that isn't an option for work.  I had been cleaning out my closet on the weekend,  which is still a work in progress,  and came across this dress/tunic that I purchased a couple of years ago from Target.  I struggled to put it in the donation pile because it's one of the pieces I don't wear often but  when I need comfort, and to appear relatively put together, it's my go-to.  It was just the thing that I needed on that morning!  I paired it up with my black leggings, my jean jacket (which made it feel like spring) and my favorite booties that I purchased this year from Just Fab.  Overall I felt great all day and by mid-day my legs did not feel heavy or sore anymore!!!!!  

 

Dress:  Target (old)

Jean Jacket: Old Navy (similar) 

Boots:  Just Fab (similar)

Week #1: Half-Marathon Training

My feelings towards signing up for a half-marathon clinic were all over the map this week. Excited.  Exhausted.  Determined.  Overwhelmed.  Proud.  Nervous.  Encouraged. Guilty.  On top of the world.  Barely making it through. You are probably thinking, Yikes. If she feels like this on week 1 out of 14, how is she ever going to make it?!?  Well, I have thought that this week as well!

 

Why did I choose to do this?  Well, I love running and challenging myself.  I’ve ran and trained for a couple of half-marathons, and have ran in a few 10K races, since having my first child, nine years ago,  and each time  I feel I have learned something about myself through the experience.  It’s been approximately three years since the last time I ran/trained for a half-marathon and I just feel like it's the right time for me to embark on this journey again, and my husband has agreed to support me and take on more so that I can do this (he is 100% awesome!).  This time I am seeking motivation and expertise from a local business that runs various running clinics for people of all levels and for various distances.  I really want to achieve a PB time, my previous times were 2:10:00 and 2:06:59, and I know that in order to achieve a significant improvement I need an external push and some education on how to achieve this.  

 

I was not disappointed on night one of the clinic.  The group of individuals that filled the room, all experiences and levels, were warm and inviting.  The coach was enthusiastic and very approachable.  We had a fairly intense workout, which included a warm-up run, dynamic stretches and then 8 X 60 second sprints.  Well the first one I started off HARD and 20 seconds in I thought, I HAVE TO STOP, I AM RUNNING OUT OF FUEL.  I didn’t stop because the beauty of running in a group is that you aren’t going to be the one that stops!  I did learn to start off a little bit slower and to build my speed as the minute went on.  Also I found people in the group that ran a similar pace and kept up with them.  It’s awesome to do that because it’s extremely motivating and keeps you from letting yourself off the hook too quickly, forcing your body to adapt and push through. 

 

Here is what week #1 looked like:   

 

Monday- clinic

Tuesday- Cross-training, Shred by Jillian Michaels, Level 2 (this is an awesome at home workout that’s total body in 20 minutes; it also has three levels depending on your current fitness level)

Wednesday- 6km run (so sore)

Thursday- 6km run (race pace) on the treadmill

Friday- 5km run

Saturday- 10km slow run

Sunday- yoga/recovery day

 

Mid-week I was really doubting my decision and feeling discouraged but by Thursday evening my legs felt better and I could see the end of week #1 in sight.  My running buddy and I finished the last run for the week early this morning and we felt pretty darn good. 

 

If you are thinking about taking up running here is a link for a couch to 5K training program.  If you are currently interested in pursuing a 10K training schedule you can find a free one here.  If you have a current fitness goal that you are working towards please feel free to share.  

2008 Victoria, B.C.  1st half-marathon; 2:10:00

2013 Bridge City Boogie 10Kwith some awesome ladies and the best little cheerleaders in the world.  Personal Best 57:06.