Probably the best weekend there ever was

The only problem with a good weekend is how on earth do you begin to recap it? I'm going to give it my best shot.

I knew that it was going to be a good weekend because I had a secret I'd been keeping all week long... (I did however share it with my planner because when you pay $50 for a planner you bet your ass you're gonna use it.)

My best friend got engaged!!!

They are both very Facebook popular and I'm pretty sure got a combined total of 4 million likes over the course of this weekend.

In case you were wondering, I completely approve of this and couldn't be more excited! I am a little disappointed because her becoming someone else's wifey does complicate her being my original boyfriend, but we'll make it work. 

All that excitement took place late Friday afternoon which made it almost impossible to concentrate the last couple hours of work but who are we kidding, it was Friday. Nobody really tries on Fridays. After work I headed out to Taylor's but not before very carefully transporting my flowers home. 

Safety first, y'all. 

Taylor and I grabbed a some dinner and then headed out to Dallas to see my newly engaged BFF and her F'ce. 

We spent the night talking, talking, talking, and then when we were finished we did some talking. Turns out engaged people have a lot to talk about. Just kidding. I did most of the talking, per usual. 

We finally left Dallas a little after midnight. Taylor and I have a new long drive thing where we have a screaming karaoke party the entire way home. We were about 3/4 of the way home when traffic completely STOPPED. I'm not exaggerating when I say we put it in park and did not move two inches FOR A HALF HOUR. 

WTF 1am construction??!!!?! 

Of course, as soon as we got the brilliant idea to watch HIMYM on Taylor's phone is when things started moving. 

Saturday morning we did our best to sleep in, and promptly began celebrating our four year anniversary with a not at all nutritious Jack In the Box breakfast burrito and a trip to Academy and Marshall's (probably our two most frequently visited stores). After all that exhausting errand running, I decided  I was going to take a little anniversary nap. Taylor saw this as his chance to turn on a movie that I wouldn't be interested in watching. Turns out he was wrong and I didn't sleep a wink because PLANET OF THE APES IS AWESOME AND SCARY AND ALSO HAPPENS TO START JAMES FRANCO! James Franco and a baby chimp? Are you kidding me??!! How could I sleep??

I also can't stand not knowing how movies end so halfway through it I had to IMDB the entire plot to ease my mind. 

Saturday night we got all dressed up and headed to The Keg to celebrate a whopping four years of relationship bliss the only way we know how- with FOOD. 

(I would quickly like to brag that my belt is from Goodwill and I snagged my polka dot dress at TJ Maxx for $14.99. And the hair ties on my wrist are the piece de' resistance. FANCY.)

I decided I will commit to at least another four years with him because he just feeds me so well. 

Despite the ten pounds I gained from last night's dinner, this morning I managed to get up and going for my last long-ish run of half marathon training. RACE DAY IS EXACTLY ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!

I decided to do some serious hill repeats for the first three miles and then finish up with an easy and smooth five for a total of eight miles.  

This afternoon was spent with good friends and good food and some extra good hang time with the prettiest baby on the planet. 

The trick to getting babies to like you is to whisper in their ear all of the ways you are going to buy their love once they get old enough to understand. Peyten is going to LOVE me. 

Before I wrap up, I have to tell you all the for the past two nights I have had dreams about Sean Lowe, and showing up late for the half-marathon next weekend. I think it may be time to seriously re-examine where the majority of my thoughts lie. 

7 days!

LOVE&HUGS,

Nat

The dinner that made me question my relationship

Happy Valentines Day Y'all! I'm going to be real honest by telling you that my most favorite thing about Valentines Day is the fact that it is a day on which the act of eating copious amounts of chocolate is not only expected, but highly encouraged. No wonder I endorse this holiday so enthusiastically.

Taylor and I don't really do Valentines day because it is so close to our anniversary, which is on the 17th. (Okay that's not really the reason. We say that's the reason, but the real reason is that he's a Vday hater and I'm okay with it because it I've discovered that your boyfriend doesn't have to actively participate in Valentines Day for it to be fun. Turns out eating chocolate and washing it down with wine is actually more fun by yourself with Sleepless in Seattle playing in the background.)

But this year I guess he was feeling sentimental because he showed up at my work this afternoon with a very impressive bouquet of flowers. I was so surprised that I forgot to take a picture but I swear I'm not making it up.

Anyways, this week I decided to make our usual Wednesday night dinner a little fancier in honor of Valentines day. I don't know why, but when I think romantic I think Italian. So I grabbed some pesto tortellini on my last trip to Trader Joe's and whipped that up with some spinach, four cheese marinara and a little bit of parmesan on top.

This was literally a ten minute dinner so I was already pretty impressed and then when I took my first bite it was like the heavens opened up and the angels began their hallelujahs because OMG-SO-DELICIOUS. I'm sort of obsessed with any meal that is pesto themed so I may have been an easy sell. As I was inappropriately moaning and taking my second bite I somehow managed to ask Taylor what he thought. When he quietly told me, "I'm not really sure how I feel about pesto..." I think my response was something like,

"I'M NOT REALLY SURE HOW I FEEL ABOUT YOU!!!"

I mean Y'ALL. Is he serious? Who doesn't like pesto?? I don't know but for the rest of dinner I was seriously questioning the status of our relationship. I just don't know if I can spend the rest of my life with someone who doesn't like pesto. Four years Tay. It's been a pretty good run. But this may be where our paths split. Anyways, I'm keeping my options open. Pesto lovers, call me. 

Fortunately for Taylor, I couldn't stay upset with him for too long because I needed help with the dishes and also had a super rich and yummy dessert that would have been too much for me to handle on my own. I snagged this recipe for "sweetheart nachos" off the Trader Joe's website. It's just cinnamon sugar pita chips, fresh chopped strawberries, and drizzled with chocolate syrup.

This morning I decided that in order to prepare my body for the day's slightly above average sugar intake, I needed to try to sneak in some fruits and veggies in liquid form. 

I'm sorry Naked juice. You know how much I love the Green Machine flavor. But Berry Veggie tastes like BUTT. I somehow managed to chug down half of it and let me tell you, I've had fifty cent tequila shots go down smoother. Natalie will be sticking with the green machine from now on. 

Since I did technically consume some vegetables in liquid form, I had no guilt about my premeditated and carefully selected dinner:

That's some very honest advertisement right there. These awesome takeout bags are reason number 347238579834750928 why I love Smashburger. 

After finishing the longest run of my training on Sunday, I'm officially in the taper period before the Cowtown. (9 days!) This morning I got up at 4:15. Were y'all aware there was one of those in the morning too? Well there is. Anyways, I headed to the gym and got my five mile progression run done and DONE by 5:30. I'm not going to say I'm a fan of a morning starting that early, but I will tell you I do enjoy getting off work at 5 and heading straight home instead of to the gym. Because all that awaits me at the gym are sweaty people, where as at home I am greeted by my sweet roommate and an almost full bottle of TJ's $2.99 Cabernet. Yes, please.

LOVE&HUGS,

Nat

Fat Tuesday? Yes, please.

In honor of Fat Tuesday, I thought I'd share with you every single thing I ate today. Sounds fun doesn't it? I know. Okay let's proceed.

This morning for breakfast I was feeling ambitious so I made a smoothie. I've been tirelessly working for the past year to discover the perfect fruit to yogurt ratio that will result in a smoothie that I don't get tired of after two sips. Last week- mission accomplished.

You probably won't ever catch me trying to sneak extra nutrition into a smoothie by adding protein powder or veggies. Occasionally I'll throw in a handful of spinach to ease my conscience, but I really don't care. The ultimate goal is for it to taste as much like ice cream as possible. This smoothie consists of one TJ's blueberry greek yogurt, a small banana, some frozen strawberries, frozen mango, and a splash of milk. SO GOOD. 

Somehow (only God knows how) that smoothie kept me full until lunch time, (y'all, that never happens) where I dug into my favorite favorite favorite new TJ's treat...

I want to drink that salad dressing with a friggin' straw.

Also on lunch break I wandered around Target with some co-workers, which is where I found these...

Happy Passover sippy mugs? I don't get it. But I love it. 

These also somehow ended up in my Target cart, so I was forced to buy them. 

You can pat me on the back though because I only ate half of the bag. 

See that? Growth, maturity, and self control!

For dinner I had a much overdue best friend date. I mean we hadn't seen each other in like sixteen days. Just unacceptable. To celebrate our reunion we met up at my all time favorite mexican restaurant, CHUY'S!

There is nothing more beautiful than the sight of Chuy's fajitas. 

I think that face is expressing my almost disappointment for how quickly the fajitas came out. Don't they know I need time to consume at least four baskets of chips before digging into the fajitas??!!! Some people. 

After dinner we wandered around and tried to shop but ultimately left empty handed. Which is a bummer for the closet but a victory for the wallet. 

Happy Fat Tuesday to everyone!

LOVE&HUGS,

Nat

Oops (and a little sappy inspiration)

Well I missed the Grammy's. In a perfect world Netflix would have all the awards shows up and ready for viewing the day after I missed them. (Seriously Netflix, get on that.)  But thank God for Yahoo. Because otherwise I would have no girl crushes to drool over today. And what a sad Monday that would be.

Hi Rihanna. Leave some pretty for the rest of us, k? 

Since I'm already seated pretty high atop my reality TV soapbox, I'd just like to say that if you're not watching the Bachelor then I'm really not sure what you're living for. (Kidding. Mostly.) Because this still shot of tonight's episode will have me screeching with glee until the Bachelor Pad premiere.

There are no words.

Just kidding there are always words: 

FANTASTIC/TERRIFYING/HILARIOUS/AWESOME/NOROSEFORYOUBITCH!

I'm sorry I just really love this show. 

I am officially less than two weeks away from race day. Did you hear that?? THIRTEEN DAYS Y'ALL! Beyond excited. After dealing with some unexpected shin splints last week, I had my last "long" run yesterday and now I'm officially tapering. What this also means is that I am eating/sleeping/breathing/smoking   running and all things running. (JK on the smoking. Breathing is hard enough.)

I'm not kidding. It's why it's 11:15 and I am still awake. I can't stop obsessing over first time marathon stories and Runners World articles and tips and advice and it's getting re-dic. I've poured over the most spectacular first time marathon stories and shed tears over the way a perfect stranger's experience can speak so clearly to my heart. Running has got to be the most inspirational thing ever. I've never felt as strongly or as passionately about anything as I do about running. Running. I know to some people that's a little sad and to some people it makes perfect sense. For me, it just makes sense. 

I just realized how sappy and intense I just got. Shake it off Natalie, shake it off. 

I think it's going to be a good week. 

LOVE&HUGS,

Nat

Celebrity Marathoners

Today I had quite the (unintentional) calf and butt workout. And by that I mean that I made the ridiculous and impulsive decision to wear heels to work. You know how wedges are supposed to be easy to walk in? Yeah well, that's a load of crap.

WORST.IDEA.EVER.

My calves were burning by 5 o'clock. Which mean that they were throbbing on the treadmill tonight. So to summarize, is anyone interested in roughly 20 pair of gently used size 6.5 heels? Anyone? 

Last night my unlimited access to google got the best of me and I missed my goal bed time by like three hours. But it was totes worth it because I stumbled across this article on Fit Sugar about celebs who've run marathons. I knew Oprah had run a marathon, (I'm sorry, but BORING. Everyone knows Oprah is only interesting when she is interviewing 50 Cent or giving away free stuff in the epic Favorite freakin' Things episode. Ugh. Who am I kidding. I miss Oprah. Geez, longest parentheses EVER...) but this list is seriously fascinating! 

My top favorite:

Will Ferrell. With an impressive time of 3:56. Will, you are awesome. Please train with me. We will run and laugh and have a great time. I will pay you in high fives.

And in a very close second...

Ryan Reynolds. Seriously, there is steam coming from my computer screen. How is it possible to look that good after 26.2 miles? HOW?! 

In closing, I just want to say you're welcome for the above picture. 

LOVE&HUGS,

Nat

Eating green

Reason number 83718530572 why I know I'm not  a real grown-up is because getting mail is still really exciting to me. Yesterday I got the greatest surprise ever. Well it wasn't technically a surprise since I ordered it last week and have been tracking it non-stop on its journey from CA to my front door. Buuuut... IT'S MY ERIN CONDREN PLANNER!!!!! 

Y'all. Even the box it came in is adorable. 

So exciting.

Since the theme here is clearly "budget blowing presents for me from me" I finally caved and bought a foam roller. It is my new best friend. Actually we are more than friends. It's a full blown love affair. I've had this thing for about 30 hours and I've used it no less than a dozen times. I love you FR. Seriously- what took me so long??

There are actually four more pictures of me kissing FR, but turns out I'm not a very attractive kisser.

Speaking of unattractive. I have two new food obsessions that fall into the "not so good to look at but SURPRISINGLY delicious" category. 

They are also both green. In case you didn't notice. I didn't realize until just now that being green is probably the only thing that these two treats have in common. Surely that just means they balance each other out right? I'm all about balance. 

Today was BE-A-U-TIFUL, so this afternoon I decided that I was going to leave work at approximately 4:59 and race home so that I could sneak in a run before the sun set. Best decision ever. Even though I love the treadmill (ehh 50% of the time) I hate to waste a perfect weather day. Seriously, IT WAS A PERFECT. And, since I haven't been on an outside run that was less than 8 miles in a while, I was really really excited about the fact that I was about to head out without being weighed down with my fuel belt and an extra water bottle and a jacket and pepper spray and yada yada. 

My "this tiny water bottle is literally all I'm carrying and I could not be more excited" face.

Cute, I know. 

That's actually a major PR for me! My previous best 5 mile time is 46, so tonight was almost 3 minutes faster! My splits for this run were:

I'm so excited that I'm gaining a teeny bit of speed. (Hey that's fast for me so no laughing.) I know you're really not supposed to set any big time goals for your first half marathon, all the literature and best advice says the only goal should be to finish. But I can't help it! I'm staying very realistic and just hoping for under 2:15, but lately I'm feeling like if everything goes right, I should actually be able to hit that mark!

EEK! Only 17 days until race day!

LOVE&HUGS,

Nat

Brace Yourself

When I have a crazy/busy/wonderfullyhectic weekend like this past one, I have no idea how to recap other than a massive picture dump all over this place. So I need you to prepare yourself for the following.

Saturday afternoon Taylor and I headed out to Dallas to meet my parents for the afternoon and to celebrate my stepdad's birthday. This first picture is proof that the past four years of work dating have not been in vain because I have finally got Taylor trained. When we stopped for gas on the way out of town he came back out with this:

Well done, sir. 

We met up with my family at the golf course (boring) and I hung out with mom and drank mimosas (awesome). We caught up on all the important things like gossip and what we were going to order for dessert that night. 

That night we headed downtown for dinner at Lawry's Prime Rib which is truly the best meal in the entire world. I've decided that Lawry's will be my last meal request. You know, if that situation ever arises. Anyways, after like 47 courses of the richest most decadent dinner of all time, I'm pretty sure I blacked out. Don't worry, I came to when I heard "dessert."

After dinner I had an outrageous amount of energy from the Hersheys/mimosa/dessert sugar rush so Taylor and I decided to have a karaoke party in the car all the way home. Which is where we were reminded how awesome this song was:

Whaaaaaat??? I know. 

Sunday morning I woke up SO excited to tackle an eleven mile run. I decided that I was bored with trails and that I was just going to run somewhat randomly around town until I hit eleven miles. Fantastic planning, I know. It actually turned out to be one of my favorite runs of all time. 

When I started running it was about 45 degrees and by the time I was done it had warmed up to about 60. It was a gorgeous, and it was challenging and it reminded me why I am so freaking in love with running. I incorporated a couple of pretty big hills on this run, so I was also really happy with my splits. I know it looks like I laid down and took a nap around mile seven, but I swear I didn't. I actually had to run inside a building to chunk a water bottle that was weighing me down and getting on my last nerve. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

I have never in my entire life had such an endorphin high as I had after this run. It was absolutely insane. We had plans to head over to one of Taylor's friends to watch the Superbowl that evening, so I headed over to Target to pick up some supplies for dessert. I made my dependable favorite Oreo Pudding Cookies and also tried out a new recipe, Slutty Cheesecake Bars. And OMG. They incorporated all things sweet with a chocolate chip cookie crust, Oreo layer, cheesecake filling and chopped oreos on top. And super easy. I didn't take a picture of mine, but they looked pretty much exactly the same and now I am kicking myself for leaving the leftovers at Taylor's house. I'm drooling just thinking about them.

Make them now. 

After almost entire day of baking, exhaustion hit me hard around 3 o'clock. I hopped in the shower and then decided that a nap was the best idea ever so I konked out for about an hour. After sleeping through my alarm, Taylor woke me up (rude) telling me to get ready because if he missed kickoff he was going to punch me in the throat. Okay, he might not have said that exactly but I was half asleep and that's pretty much what I heard. But then he was sweet and decided to help me blowdry my hair so I decided to forgive him. 

Cuteness.

Because Chris Harrison and the entire network of ABC have absolutely no respect for my time, they decided to air TWO NIGHTS & FOUR HOURS of Bachelor this week. If I wasn't so excited, I'd be pissed. We even had a special guest at our Monday night Bachelor watch party:

He's actually very sweet and down to earth and he told me to tell you all hi. 

LOVE&HUGS,

Nat