Happy Friday!

I love Fridays. They're my favorite day of the week.

Show Us Your Life Friday this week is FASHION TIPS today.

Hmp.

I am, unfortunately, not very 'fashionable.' I feel like all my fashion statements are in my accessories. My main accessories involve earrings, necklaces, and belts. My current favorite are these Diana Warner earrings Tom got me for our anniversary in August:

And this matching necklace that my soon-to-be step mom got me for Christmas. I love all her stuff because she makes mixing gold and silver so pretty and classy. Diana is from my hometown and now runs her studio out of New York. Many of my girlfriends from home have her make their wedding jewelry and/or bridemaids jewelry. For my friend Carson's wedding we wore earring that looked a lot like these:And my friend Julia wore these to her rehearsal dinner. Gorgeous.And I am in love with this ring. Maybe I'll ask for it next. :)

So there you go. Laura's Oh So Exciting Fashion Tip: Wear Jewelry.

Sorry, I tried.

*****

Okay so swimming update!!

So. Last night I gave swimming another try. As I mentioned earlier this week, I swam 1/4 of a mile on Monday night and really had a hard time. Last night, I went back for more of the torture. And I must say, this time was not so bad. My friend Nikki that works at the rec center is a an awesome swimmer (and an awesome everything-else-fitness-under-the-sun). On Monday night and she said to me, "You just have to keep at it. You'll see a difference the next time you swim." And sure enough I did! Last night the first few laps were ever so slightly easier than they were on Monday. I am just getting accustomed to the change in cardio between swimming and running. The breathing is totally different which is making it hard for me.

So last night---get this---I swam 1/2 of a mile! Twice as far as on Monday! I was really pleased. The swim distance for the triathlon is 1/2 mile so now that I know I can do it, I need to work on doing it in a timely manner, and with no breaks. Last night I did with many many short breaks. I am trying not to worry about swimming for time, just swimming to finish. I am confident that each swim workout will be better and easier. Practice makes perfect.

Last night when I was swimming, Emily's husband Ched was in the lane next to me. As I mentioned on Monday, Emily is 7 1/2 months pregnant with their first child. At the time they found out they were having a baby, Ched weighed 360 pounds and is about 6'5". He has committed to losing 50 pounds by the time the baby is born in the beginning of April. So he began swimming (among other things) and has made a lot of progress. He has lost 30 pounds and last night he swam a whole mile! He was doing so good, only taking a break every 400 meters or so. He was an inspiration to me because, like me, he started from square one and now can swim a whole mile. Impressive.