Broken Link Love
Are you here because of a broken link? Major bummer. Please use the search box and give it another go. You may also contact Dena directly and she'll be happy to help in any way she can.
In addition to that handy little search box, here are some other goodies to help you find your way around this newly-updated site:
We Love Themes
Dating Diaries
About four months after B. and I separated, he asked if I could meet him for dinner. He had some news. The "news" was that he would more or less be living in Paris for the next 12-24 months, overseeing a European company purchase made by his company. For anyone not in the know, B. and I parted on excellent terms and have remained friends. I was thrilled for him, but couldn’t resist a small tease.
“So you’re saying that if I had hung on for four more months, I could be a freelance writer living in Paris?” I asked.
Lots of people go on a date with a hidden agenda—inspire passion; find a spouse; score a free meal, but how many women are actually provided with an outlined agenda for how a date will proceed?
Digging through old emails, I found this gem. This came from an intelligent and witty PhD that I met one night when I was out with girlfriends. We had mutual friends in common and he was writing a book. He got my email by asking if I’d be willing to read...
Running
One of the hardest decisions in moving to Atlanta was knowing I would be leaving behind my 25-year network of friends. These are friends that saw me through job changes (insurance adjuster, librarian, author, marketing maven), life changes (divorce, moves, dating), as well as were there for everything from my first published book to my first marathon to holding my hand when my cat died. A lot of years, a lot tears, much more laughter, and oodles and oodles of love.
In other words—not something easily replaced.
Of course, I’m not “leaving behind” friends but since the five-hour drive between Atlanta and Greensboro isn’t convenient for a quick movie or fro-yo meet-up, the burden is on me to make new friends.
The obvious place to make friends, for me, is the gym. I joined a big-ass Lifetime Fitness...
I get a lot of questions about the best ways to train. Which, considering I spent the earlier part of this year on crutches, unable to run for four months due to an overuse injury that could have been avoided, I find somewhat amusing. Then there’s the immediate back-pedalling that takes place, usually in the form of, “But I don’t want to run, or get up at 4 am, or do anything that’s hard.”
Gotcha. I can work with that.
Below are five training tips I try to follow. I say try because let’s be honest—we’re all human and some days will be better than others. But these are the big picture items that have kept me pushing for the last ten years, and they are things anyone can adopt into their lifestyle.
1. Pick Something You Love
I can’t count the number of times people say to me, “Ugh, I know I need to run but I hate it.” Um… why exactly do you need to run? I hate Pure Barre and even though my butt never looked better during the month I took classes, I’m not going back.
When I first signed up for this half Ironman, I knew my swim would be slow and my ride would be average, so the plan was to make-up some time on the run. The Universe had other plans though, and handed me the stress fracture in my hip. It was literally only days before the race when my chiropractor agreed that I could try a walk/run of the course, but only if I swore a blood oath that if it hurt, I would stop. And, in a cruel twist of fate, advised that my best strategy would be to run the uphills and walk the down. That goes against everything I hold dear in life, but okay. I figured I would run a mile/walk a mile throughout the race for as long as I could.
My strategy worked perfectly… for the first quarter mile.
On Sunday, June 4, I completed my first (because there will be more) Half Ironman. 1.2 mile swim. 56 mile bike ride. 13.1 mile run.
Being my first IM, there’s a lot to process, especially as I didn’t think I’d be able to complete the race due to my hip injury. I am thrilled beyond all words that I finished and probably most proud of the fact that I have (as of yet) to get the IM tattoo splattered across, you know, my face.
Food & Diet
Writing
I started my job as Communications Specialist for thesalesfactory back in March and, as some of you have pointed out to me in person, haven't written a whole lot about it.
This is semi-intentional on my part. A lot of the work we do for clients is proprietary and I can't talk about it (or if I did, I wouldn't have to kill you, but I would do something uncomfortable to you like pinch you really, really hard). The other side of the equation is that the work is keeping me busy and I'm kind pooped when I get home.
But for those who have asked, I thought I'd give a general overview of how I spend my days. In no particular order, here are some projects I've been working on:
- Writing sample commercial scripts and taglines for a commercial that will air nationally
- Writing a video script for a production that will run on a client's website
- Writing ad copy for a print campaign that runs in Rolling Stone and Bon Apetit magazine
While I'm loving the new job, I admit I'm still struggling with fitting everything I want to accomplish into any given day, week or month. I'm behind on e-mails, laundry, freelance work, reading, blogging, Twitter, and meal planning. The cats barely recognize me because they never see me and if anyone were to come over and give my house the white-glove test, I would die a thousand deaths of embarrassment. My mom recently asked, "How hard is it to clean the new house?" My reply: "I wouldn't know."
I don't know why I'm startled to find that not having an extra six hours a day to run errands, work out, blog, write or nap would set me behind, but I am. Getting off work at 2:30 sounds ideal, and it is, but I'm not getting anywhere near the amount of things done that I thought I would with the time that's left to me.
"It's about prioritizing," says Blair.
Recently, a friend jokingly said something to me like, “So, how many boyfriends have you gone through this year?
First of all—ouch. Second of all, with full respect to the men I’ve dated, my answer to that question would probably be, "Zero."That’s not to say I haven’t dated and that I haven’t been in “we’re only seeing each other” relationships. It’s just that I’ve thought of most of these men as “the person I’m dating,” versus “my boyfriend.” Which led me to wonder… what is the threshold for someone to cross over into “boyfriend” territory?