Give it the boot.

I love coming home to find packages on the porch.  Even if they're not actually surprises and we've paid for them ourselves, I still open them like they're the best gift ever.  Today...

Aren't the beautiful.  I've been searching out the perfect brown boots forever, without much luck.  My "I've played soccer regularly for the last 20 years" calves don't fit into 99% of boots, unfortunately.  So when I found this pretty pair on Amazon, on sale, boasting a "wide shaft" I couldn't pass them up.  (Now stop giggling over the wide shaft part)

The good news is, they fit over my legs!  The so-so news, I can't decide if the shaft is actually too big.

Yeah, my hand kind of fits inside.

Aside from the fact that they accentuate the weird angles of my lower extremity bony alignment... thoughts?
I thought I would send them back, but now they're growing on me.  I kind of like the idea of having a little extra "room to breathe" in my boots, but I don't want them to look silly.  Do they look silly?  Be honest, I can take.  Because if no one tells me they look silly, I'll be wearing this to work tomorrow.

I'm also going to try to start logging my workouts, to up my accountability a bit.  I'll do anything to avoid giving myself a big ZERO, hah. 
Today workout: Soccer night!  Played most of our 48minute game.

GO STEELERS!  Shred the cheeseheads...

A little irresponsible

I have a lot of days 'off' this semester, which leaves me with a lot of days for to be irresponsible and unproductive.

The smart choice for today would have been to finish the laundry and then study for my upcoming midterms and work on the half dozen school and clinical projects I'm in the midst of.

We all know that didn't happen, of course. 

Instead, I made myself this delicious (late) breakfast of an over-hard egg and polenta with cheese.  I've never had polenta before, but I kind of loved it and think I'll make more with dinner.  It's not very impressive to look at but sooooo yummy.

Then I decided today was the perfect time to make use of my JoAnn's purchase.  The yellow was even called "Pittsburgh Yellow"!

I turned that, into this.

A 6'+ scarf in the most lovely of color combinations.

No doubt I'll be rocking this out... pretty much constantly... until Sunday!

And no, I don't really know how to crochet, but I like to pretend I can.  Just don't put a pattern in front of me because I wouldn't have a clue what to do with it. 

Black + Yellow, Black + Yellow... the schoolwork will always still be there tomorrow.

Day One

Is it possible to almost fail a challenge before it's even begun?  I almost did, plus 1 hour.  I've jumped on board with Mandy over at Big City! Baby for a February challenge, aptly named 28 Days of Blogging.

Here's the deal- post every-single-day during the month of February.  That's 28 days, 28 posts (or more just for fun), and lots of great blogging going on!  Make it a long one, short one, pictures, a sentence, just smack your forehead off the keyboard a few times.  Whatever you please, no need to be fancy, just post something every day.

I'm taking the challenge in hopes of kind of getting in a blogging groove.  Care to join me?  If you posted today your already took step 1 of 28- how easy is that?  If you do- leave a comment and let me know so I can follow along!

And as will probably be the theme for the week.... Go Steelers!

Friday Favorites

I love happy things, I love my favorite things, and I love Fridays.  So there's no denying that I couldn't help jumping on this fab idea from Hungry Runner Girl. 

It's Friday, and these are my three favorite things on this fabulous Friday.

1. Finding a meter spot close to school.  The close garages are expensive, and the cheap garages are far away.  Those metered spots, so lovely that they are, are hard to come by, and even moreso at 7am for some reason.  My poor frozen car had to sit outside and freeze some more, but I only had to walk half a block run half a block in the cold without a jacket every hour.  Score!  Poor car, at least it's the color of a snowball; it feels at home out there.

2. Second favorite thing today has to be lunch; food is always right up there near the top because eating can obviously only have positive effects on my body.  Sure, I could have eaten the yogurt, pear, and baby carrots with hummus that I packed.  But why do that to myself when I can be lured to Panera by friends.  French onion soup and the only potato chips that I even like, yes please!

3. My third and probably most exciting thing today is job offers.  Ok, so it was only one job offer, but a job nonetheless!  We'll keep the location underwraps, but suffice to say it will take mounds of self control to not spend my paychecks at the same place that gives them to me.  I'm really good at that, spending money that is.

Including when I buy shoes and show them off in store like a supermodel because clearly that's some supermodel gorgeous fashion and posing I'm working down the aisles.

Happy Friday!

Pretend

Let's pretend it's last Friday... because that's when this picture-happy post was written, and has since sat lonely waiting to be posted.

So the "getting snowed in" part was a little bit of an exaggeration, but we did get 6 inches or so, and I was more than happy to have nowhere to go this morning.  Instead I watched the Today show with oatmeal and a coffee.  The oatmeal didn't last long though.... gosh how I love breakfast.

 After I was all fueled up, it was time to head out in the tundra known as my front yard.  Step one, put on a hat and wool socks with your tank and shorts.  It's totally appropriate attire for single digit temps.

 Step two, cover up your workout gear and 99.9% of your body with a snowsuit.  Beanie on top optional.

Step three, start shoveling.  Don't be deceived by the areas cleared by the bone-chilling wind, there really was 6 inches everywhere else!

And soon enough, it looked like this...

Then I pulled my poor frozen car into the garage to thaw out.  Note to self: next house needs a TWO car garage!

Then it was time to get all prettied up to go apply for jobs.  I didn't think finding a little part-time job would be such a lengthy process... thankfully I only want a job and don't necessarily need one.

I passed this cute little Greek place on my way and was so excited to see a "now open" sign out front.  I've been hoping for months that the paper-covered windows meant they were opening soon and not recently shut down.  I was right- can't wait to try it!

One bajillion applications later, it was time for some serious...

...serious grocery shopping.

I also found an awesome deal along the way.  A super cute Pitt fleece for less than $5.  Have I mentioned lately how in love I am with Target?

ETA: I wore the new fleece to work on Saturday and had this conversation with one of my 4 year olds.

Kiddo: Why'd you stick your finger through your shirt?

Me: It's made like that to keep your hands warm.  See?

Kiddo: Oh. (20 second pause) But how do you take it off?  Don't your hands get stuck?

My 3-4 year olds totally make getting up at 7am every Saturday worth it!