New Stuff and A Knoxville Weekend

Happy Tuesday Everyone!  Hope you’re having a great morning so far.

I just got back from a lovely sunrise run with Bex and Kristi.  We did 4 miles fairly easy.

Nice way to start the day. :)

Now I am having a smoothie, and watching Today Show while writing this post.  My smoothie today is MUCH better than the last one I made!  I have figured out, I think, that the key to a good smoothie is cold ingredients.  You have to have frozen or really cold stuff to have a good smoothie, in my opinion.

This time I used:

• Frozen Banana-lama-ding-dong
• Frozen blueberries
• Handful of fresh spinach
• Milk
• 1 packet sugar-free hot chocolate mix (<---need to buy some choc. protein powder instead!)

  This was kind of an exciting run because I had a bunch of new stuff to try out.  Don’t you love running or exercising when you have new stuff?  New stuff gets me all kinds of excited.

New #1:  First new thing I wanted to share…..is….well, not really very ‘new’ anymore.  I got these shoes at the Nike outlet when Mom and I stopped at the Foley outlets on the way to the beach. 

These are the Nike Vomero 5.  I have no idea what that means.  I just tried on a bunch of different pairs at the outlet, and thought these looked and felt the best.  Now that I wear them regularly, they are a little more *white* than I normally like, but they feel great so I’ll keep ‘em!

Before I ran my first half-marathon in 2007, I got fitted for shoes at a nice running store in Nashville.  I have run in those same shoes ever since (not that exact pair, obviously, but I would just buy the same make and model over and over).  So now, about 5 years later, I decided to switch it up.

While I like these shoes, I think I’d like to go get fitted again.  It is high time, after all, and I’m sure over the past 5 years my running style has changed a little.  I know for a fact I am a little fast, and about 2o pounds lighter than when I was fitted last.

New #2:  I also got new shorts!  I LOVE new shorts.

Nike Tempos, what else.  I got these at Hibbett Sports, on sale.  They were 20% off, plus I had a $10 off coupon.  Love it when that happens!  I love the crazy colors.

New #3:  An Audiobook for my iPod (<--super nerd alert)!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just finished reading The Hunger Games (<--another nerd alert) and wanted to read the second book in the series.  Have yall read The Hunger Games Trilogy?  I have to say that Suzanne Collins is the biggest weirdo in the world.  Who thinks of stuff like this????  Weird as it is, I couldn’t put it down, so needed to read the second book, Catching Fire.

I listened to the first couple of chapters on my run this morning and really liked running while listening to a book!  It was a change, that’s for sure, from the music I usually listen to.  Kind of gives you a totally different vibe as you run. 

I wasn’t running for time, so I don’t necessarily need something super-inspiring to listen to.  This was a great way to pass the time, and made my run go by quickly. 

New #4:  I have been in DYER need for new headphones.  I always buy cheap (like $10-$15) headphones and always wind up hating them.  They get sweaty and fall out, making me constantly fiddle with them for the entire second half of my run.  Annoying.

I had read great things about Yurbuds.  Do yall know the Yurbuds?

They were invented by an Ironman athlete, and claim to fit perfectly into your ear, not fall out, and give great comfort and sound quality.

Although I only used them for about 40 minutes this morning, I can say they held up to those claims.  They were comfortable and didn’t move or slip out at all during my run this morning.

They aren’t cheap, though.  I got them at Best Buy for $49.99.  My mom actually bought them for me while she was here visiting over the weekend….we’re calling it an early birthday present!

Fifty bucks is definitely more than I’d like to spend on headphones, but like I said, I have probably bought 7 or 8 pairs of cheap ones over the years, all of which I have thrown away eventually.  So, better to just buy one high-quality pair rather than a million cheap-o pairs!

Here’s the box in case you want to check them out at your local Best Buy!

  So, all my new fun stuff this morning, made for a very exciting run. :)

Still playing some catch up, I wanted to document a recent trip to my home town, Knoxville!

A week after I got back from the beach, Tom and I headed to Nashville to spend the night with my good friend Kathleen.  Early Friday morning, we finished the trip to Knoxville, to spend the afternoon at my dad’s lake house in Lenoir City. 

It is such a beautiful place, I LOVE visiting here!

When I was a teenager, my dad bought this lot on the lake with about 200 feet on the water, and an old falling-down house!  Over the years he has worked hard and fixed it up, little by little.

The dock and boathouse are the spot to hang out and enjoy the view and good company!

I wanted to bring my dad and Louise something cute for the dock, so I made these fun pillows!

I stenciled the ‘Lake’ and the anchor on them using the method I talked about in this post.  I had some cute blue & white, as well as red & white fabric I used.  I thought the red, white, and blue was kind of lake-house-ish and nautical. 

The solid canvas fabric that the designs are painted on, is painter’s drop cloth fabric.  Can’t beat the price, and it looks great!

   I think this red and white design is cute and whimsical.  I think I got it at Hancock’s. 

We relaxed on the dock that afternoon, and Dad and Louise came down from their house in town (about 30 minutes away) to go to dinner on the boat.

We went to our favorite place…Calhoun’s.  All East Tennessee natives (or anywhere in Tennessee, really!) will know where I’m talking about!

It was fun…good food, and fun catching up with Dad and Weez.

    Tom and I spent the night at the lake house, and came back into Knoxville on Saturday.  We were co-hosting a party in honor of my lifelong friend, Sarah, who got married and had a baby this  year!  They had a small, family-only wedding, so we threw her a party in Knoxville so we could celebrate with old friends!

Me and Tom….Tom very politely let me know he though I was ‘too tan.’ Pshhhh….as if that’s possible.

Me and Julia…another friend I’ve had since childhood (<---and I need to give Julia credit for these photos, as I stole them off of her facebook page)!

Some of the girls!  That’s Sarah in the middle, and Liz to her right is holding baby Cannon.

More cute girls!

Beth and Sarah…oh, the stories I have from high school with these two girls!

I promise there were more boys there…I just realized I didn’t post any pics of the guys!

On Sunday after church, I went over to Julia’s house for a baby shower in honor of our good friend Libby.  Libby is in the picture below, on my left in the beige dress.

Taylor is due to arrive around September 30!

Libby looks so cute and pregs.  I gave her that sweet JJ gown in the picture below.

On Sunday night, Tom and I went over to my mom’s to have dinner with her family.  Unfortunately I didn’t snap any pictures because I was too busy talking.  :(  Typical.

It was a really fun weekend with friends and family!  I’m so glad I could go home to Knoxville and see so many old friends.

Have a great week everyone!