I'm A Barbie Girl

Growing up I used to love to Barbie dolls. I had every accessory, including the Barbie dream house, that you could imagine. My Barbie even had the red Ferrari (every time we pull up next to a red Ferrari I remind Joe that my Barbie used to have one). Each year for Christmas my grandma always got me a collector Barbie. I have tons of Barbies still in their boxes in perfect condition (imagine how hard it was being a little girl and having to leave a new doll in the box...torture!). It was only fitting that at my bridal shower my grandma gave me a wedding Barbie. I'm sure it was no surprise that I picked black, white and hot pink for my wedding colors. But I do think Joe and I surprised our wedding party and 180 guests at our reception when the DJ played "Barbie Girl" by Aqua for our entrance song. I'll never forget how Joe and I danced our way in and out of the tables right onto the dance floor where our wedding party of 16 was jumping around and laughing. I even sacrificed my train during our entrance, and somehow it made it safely into my grandma's arms where she held onto it for the rest of the night.

I truly felt like a Barbie on my wedding day. My dress fit like a glove and I couldn't have been happier with my hair and makeup (it is so worth it to pay to have your makeup done by a professional). Everything went as planned, well with the exception of one minor glitch. Men's Wearhouse forgot to order Joe's tux. How could they forget the groom's tux? They ended up getting Joe a tux with uneven pant legs and a jacket that was too small. Other than the tux, everything was fabulous.

I started the morning by meeting my dad in the hotel lobby for a run. It's not exactly warm in St. Louis in December, so our outdoor run turned into a sprint around the block and ended in the comfort of the hotel's fitness center. When I got back to the bridal suite, the pamper party was in full swing. We had two hair stations, a makeup station and never-ending mimosas. OJ and champagne...yes please! Joe surprised me with apples and yogurt (does he know me or what?) from the breakfast buffet and a wonderful card. (Women are really easy to please. All men have to do is listen to us. A while ago I mentioned to a future groom that he should write his bride-to-be a card. Joe clearly picked up on my obvious clue.) Throughout the morning all of my bridesmaids piled into the suite. We rocked out to a stellar hip-hop and techno playlist and got ready for the big event.

The party continued, minus the mimosas, at the church. I managed to find a boom box and did a solo dance to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" right before putting on my dress. I remember seeing my grandma before the ceremony and she surprised me by wearing a bright pink shirt that was just perfect with the rest of the decor. The minutes before my big walk down the aisle went by in a blur. My dad rang the church bells to signal that a wedding was about to begin and then it was time. The moment that played in my mind over and over again. I plastered a giant smile across my face, bit my inner lip to keep the tears from flowing, threw back my shoulders and proudly walked into the church anxiously looking for my groom at the end of the aisle.

The ceremony was perfect. I only cried a bit during the vows. Luckily, I cried like a baby during the rehearsal so I got it all out before the real event. When Joe and I said our vows, I felt like we were the only people in the room. We executed the kiss precisely (yes, we practiced and choreographed a kiss!) and pranced back down the aisle as husband and wife. I loved having a receiving line immediately after the ceremony. It gave me a chance to say hello to our guests and allowed for plenty of time on the dance floor (which I took full advantage of) at the reception. After a few quick pictures at the church, the real party started.

I highly recommend getting a giant bus, one big enough for your wedding party and all of their dates, for the picture transportation. Some of my favorite memories from the night occurred during the picture taking hours. Of course, the bus needs to be fully stocked to keep the wedding party content during pictures. We put our wedding party through a bit of torture with a few outdoor pictures at our high school (I had to. It's where Joe and I met 12 years ago.), but made up for it with champagne, vodka and beer. I also recommend stopping a few fun places like a casino and bar during the pictures. Not only do casinos have great backdrops for fun pictures, but there is a chance someone could win big. Thanks Ameristar for the shots at the bar on the way to the reception! I knew things were going well when we saw the bus shaking from the wedding party dancing in the aisle while we finished up pictures in the casino. There were tons of empty seats on the bus as everyone continued to dance in the aisle as we made our way to the reception. Joe's bus playlist rocked!

I heard someone say that the wedding party sets the tone for the reception. Considering that girls were crawling through Joe's unlce's legs during the reception, people licked our ice sculpture and the dance floor stayed packed until midnight, our party did a great job! The reception ballroom looked stunning. In fact, I cried (shocking, I know) when I saw the room. My aunt and uncle surprised me with chair covers. There are worth every extra dollar. They made the room! Our head table was covered in pink and I loved it! The pink and white cupcakes in the middle of the dance floor looked beautiful as we walked in to cut the cake. My dad even surprised me by wearing pink socks during the dad/daughter dance.

Thank you to everyone who helped make my wedding day amazing. It was beyond my wildest dreams. I have no regrets! I appreciate all of the advice I received before the big day and did my best to remember things throughout the day. I made it a point to look around during all points of the day to take everything in. The day does fly by. I was selfish and did what I wanted throughout the day. When a song came on that I wanted to dance to with Joe, I ran and grabbed him away from a conversation to dance. I can honestly say that I enjoyed every minute of my wedding day and made sure to share it with my husband. I couldn't have been happier with my vendors. If we had to do it all over again, I would use every single vendor and venue in a heartbeat. You do find out who your true friends are during a wedding and I am so blessed. Joe and I have so many wonderful people in our lives. I'm so glad we did a big wedding back in St. Louis. It was just as perfect as Barbie.

27 Days

I logged onto theknot.com last night and saw my wedding countdown. We are getting so close. Only 27 more days to go. I can't begin to explain the emotions I am feeling. I am incredibly excited to marry my best friend and high school sweetheart. I am so nervous (not about marrying Joe), but about getting everything done. I have wedding things in three different locations. My dad's house, Joe's parents' house and here in LA (I hope I don't forget something). I have notes of things to do, things to buy and questions for vendors. If I lost my binder and spiral notebook I don't think we'd be able to have this wedding! I am also going through this intense reflection period. I have cried more in the last week than I have all year, but they are not tears of sadness. I really can't think of a word to describe this last feeling (For those of you who know me, this is a first. Me speechless?). For nearly 27 years, I have been Kristin K and in 27 days I will be Kristin B. My identity and role will shift. I will be a wife. To me, this is a huge responsibility.

Last night, I was at a colleague's housewarming party. Several people asked me, "Where's your husband?" The words at the time did not mean much (considering that Joe is not yet my husband, but fiance). I am anxious to hear the word husband for the first time after we are married. That's when the word will mean the world to me.

Joe and I have been engaged for nearly one year. Have I let this time pass me by without truly savoring it? So much of my energy and focus has been on the planning process. Yes, invitations were a giant burden (but they ended up being so perfect! Sophisticated and modern, black & white with a splash of hot pink). In terms of planning, everything else has just fallen into place. I can't wait to walk into the reception room and see our vision come together. I picture the dance floor jam packed with people having a blast (at least I sure hope this is the case). I keep overlooking these precious days of our engagement and focusing on the big day. I feel like I need to buy bridal magazines for my flight to STL over Thanksgiving. Not because I need more ideas or help with planning. At this stage in the game, if it is not decided upon, it's not happening. But because, I will never be engaged again. I keep reflecting on the things I have accomplished and done in my life. Have I done everything I ever wanted to as a single person? I can't name one thing I want to do while I am still single (well, with the exception of having a fabulous bachelorette party). Everything I want to do and accomplish in life involves Joe.

When we first got engaged there was no question in my mind about the kind of wedding I wanted to have. Ever since I was a little girl, I have dreamed of a big wedding. As Joe and I started to bring my vision to life, I couldn't help but wonder if we are doing the right thing. We are covering the cost of this big affair and digging ourselves deeper into debt. With each decision comes a deposit and final payment. The amount of money we are spending on one day is sickening. We could buy a new car, furnish our second bedroom, take a honeymoon and add to my purse collection with a Chanel, Louis, Prada and Gucci. My trip to St. Louis last weekend proved to me that we are making the right decision. The cost of this wedding is ridiculous (it doesn't help that I have gone over budget on everything except for the cupcakes. I want a champagne wedding on a beer budget!), but being able to experience the day with all of our friends and family is priceless.

Last weekend I met Joe in St. Louis for a weekend full of wedding planning activities and a good friends' wedding. On Friday night we went to our friends' house for what I thought was going to be a small, intimate dinner party. Joke was on me! I got the surprise of my life. I walked into the house and started hugging the girls I expected at the dinner. I looked up and noticed a person I used to work with taking pictures...random? I glanced to the other side of the room and saw about 60 of our friends and family members. OMG!!!! I was so confused and overwhelmed with emotions. I burst into tears (shocking, I know!) and couldn't breathe. Once I gained some composure, I made my way around the room greeting everyone. It took me a while to learn that this was a surprise shower for ME! That was the moment that confirmed our decision to have a big wedding in St. Louis. I can not believe our wedding party (especially Joe's brother) worked so hard to arrange this event. Every detail screamed K. We had a Christmas tree for gifts with a giant pink bow, pink ornaments and cute little candy rings. Instead of cake, we had an ice cream sundae bar (for those of you that have read past blog posts, you know how I feel about ice cream!). I had my very own engagement ring martini glass that was always full of my favorite cocktail...Pearl Pomegranate vodka and water. DJ Tiesto blasted on the stereo, despite my dad's disapproval of the house music. The food spread...awesome. Humus, meatless pasta, my sis' cheese dip, fruit and these amazing stuffed mushrooms. Heaven! I have never felt so loved in my life. The feeling in that house (can't believe our friends opened up their home for us, thank you!) that night was magical. My bucket was overflowing.

I woke up Saturday morning and met my dad for a long walk around a park. Just like old times. For two hours we walked, I talked and he listened. We discussed everything from the wedding to work to working out to life in general. I miss those weekly therapy and inspirational sessions. I am so blessed to have such a fabulous relationship with my dad. I can't wait for him to walk me down the aisle. He is ringing the bells at the church before our wedding, just like he used to do when he worked at the church when I was a little girl. (Why am I crying now? Are all of these emotions normal?)

Saturday afternoon Joe and I attended a high school friend's wedding. As Joe stood on the alter dressed in his tux fulfilling his groomsman duties, I couldn't help but think of us on the alter saying our vows. Speaking of vows, when we met with the minister before my surprise party and discussed vows I cried. Why? That was when the wedding started to feel real. It is about Joe and I becoming one, not about cake flavors and flower colors.

After the wedding, I went for my trial up-do. Love, love, love my wedding hair. It felt like homecoming or prom until I put on the veil. Not only, did I finally start to feel like a bride (it took 11 months and a giant shower to start to feel like a bride), but now I looked like a bride.

On Sunday, my MOH and I met my florist (for the first time...ah the joys of planning a wedding from far away) and finalized flower choices. We then headed out to one of Joe's relative's homes for another shower. The shower cake..ice cream cake from Cold Stone. Do my friends and family know me or what? We got showered with tons of gifts. Thank you! I left St. Louis after the shower exhausted, but feeling extremely loved and fortunate.

As we head into this final stretch before the wedding, I am trying to enjoy every moment. I am taking in every decision. For every task that I cross off my to-do list, I add 10 more, but it doesn't matter. December 19th is our day. We have tons to do to pull it all together, but I can take pride in the fact that we did it all ourselves (no wedding planners here!) and we did it for our friends and family.

I was starting to wonder if the people I used to see all of the time still cared. I don't do the best job of staying in touch (life has this crazy way of getting in the way). I learned over last weekend that my relationships with friends and family are resilient. They are flexible, but not breakable. We may be 1,800 miles away and not able to talk all of the time, but I know everyone still cares. I can't wait to see them all in the church and then to celebrate with them on the dance floor. I might be in a wedding dress, but I will definitely be dropping it like it's hot! Let the countdown begin and tears flow. I am a very ecstatic bride-to-be! Now, back to that to-do list :)

Attitude Adjustment!

I was in a funk! The positive K that my close friends and family know was trapped inside a negative, complaining impostor. My dad recently came to visit and we had a blast. I was bummed when he left. It didn't help that the day he left, Joe also left to travel for work. I felt alone in this big city. Tiesto and Fonzerelli kept me from slipping into depressed mode. While my dad was here we ran the Long Beach Half. Yay for completing another half, boo for just missing my time goal...AGAIN. I wanted to break the 2 hour mark and I came in at 2:02:31 (the time includes a potty break at mile 6...darn coffee). I got sick during the last few days of my dad's trip and the virus lingered well into the next week. I didn't work out for several days (might explain a portion of the funk). I hit the 2 month mark for the wedding. Even though the planning process is great and I feel on top of things, having to pay for the entire wedding is a HUGE stress. I was also letting work projects weigh me down. As a result, my weeks consisted on Mundane Monday, Terrible Tuesday, Why's It Only Wednesday, Tiresome Thursday, Finally Friday, Super Saturday and Sad Sunday.

Sometimes a little change in your life can do you good. Joe and I moved apartments over the weekend. We upgraded to a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1,200 square foot place in our building. Instead of feeling like we are crammed in a shoe-box, I feel like we live in a palace. This is definitely a reason to smile. I also found the BEST costume this weekend in Hollywood. I am so proud of myself for going on the costume hunt. I took the subway to Hollywood and Vine and walked into the first costume shop I found. Similar to shopping for a wedding dress, when you see the perfect costume you just know. I was pursuing the racks full of vintage clothes and costumes. The Pink Ladies jacket from Grease caught my eye, but I thought no, not good enough. I turned the corner and saw the most amazing costume pinned up on the wall as a display. Immediately I knew. I was going to be a Mermaid. Imagine the heartbreak when the sales associate told me the bottom portion of the costume was just a piece of green sequin fabric folded and pinned. I thought I was doomed. How in the world was I going to re-create the bottom? The sales associate came to my rescue and spent about 30 minutes pinning me into the fabric. You never know when you are going to make an impact in someone's life. The sales associate made me so happy by simply taking some extra time to help me out. Thus begins my defunk!

I was sore from moving, so I booked a massage on Monday night. There were points during the massage when I thought I was going to scream with pain. A massage is supposed to be a pleasurable experience, right? It's not when the massage therapists asks you if you are stressed because your neck and shoulders are so tense the muscles are popping. I guess we really do carry the weight of the world on our shoulders.

I woke up on Tuesday with a new perspective. Instead of viewing the tasks at work that were weighing me down as daunting, I started to think of them as meaningful. I get to create schedules for 2010 that are going to make a huge difference in reps' careers. Pretty cool! During the day, I felt more energized and got so much more accomplished.

I also lead my first walk committee meeting last night. Giving back and volunteering makes such a significant positive impact on your life. I am so excited to serve as the chair for an upcoming walk in LA. By conveying my passion and dedication to the organization, I will get other people excited about making a difference.

Here we are already at Wednesday. What a shift in perspective and attitude. I taught one of the best spin classes of my life tonight. Why? My energy and enthusiasm was out of this world. I had fun up there on the bike and it transfered to the class. I received the loudest round of applause yet.

So, what is the point? Life has a way of dragging us all down. We can't always control what happens to us, but we can control our attitude. It is so easy to let the negative thoughts and feelings take center stage. Once you allow negativity to play the leading role, your life becomes crappy. You have to fight to find the positive in situations. When life hands you something good, like a new apartment or a fabulous costume, use it as ammo in your fight to focus on the positive. Knock out the negative thoughts to live a more energized and fulfilling life.

Need a little energy? Below is the playlist from tonight's dynamite class. Enjoy the ride.

Dreamtime - DJ Tiesto & Ferry Corsten 5:36 (warm-up)
Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) – Beyonce 3:15 (alternate between 3 and the saddle)
Heart and Soul - T’pau 4:17 (seated climb)
Disturbia (Jody Den Broeder Remix) – Rihanna 4:58 (sprints)
Rockstar – Prima J 3:36 (jog in 3)
Powerless (Radio Editt) – Nelly Furtado 3:53 (seated climb)
Don't Phunk With My Heart – Black Eyed Peas 4:05 (30 seconds on, 30 seconds off – speed work)
High Heels – Lola 3:37 (take it out to 3 for a minute recovery then add on resistance for a climb)
Break Up (Cascada Remix) - Kim Sozzi - 3:03 (seated quick ride, add resistance and take it to 3 for a sprint)
Love Stoned (Tiesto Remix) - Justin Timberlake 3:37 (climb out in 3)
Those Girls - Kinky featuring Randy 3:02 (ride with medium resistance in the saddle)
Dead And Gone - T.I ft Justin Timberlake 5:00 (heavy hill climb) Be careful and download the clean version…opps!
Music Is Pumping (Alex K Mix) - Porn Kings & Flip & Fill 4:25 (speed work)
Replay – IYAZ 3:03 (job out in 3)
You Gotta Be - Des'ree 4:10 (cool down)
Over And Over - Erin Bode 4:24 (extra cool down)

What Motivates You?

I've been running for just over 5 miles and I can see the pier where the race finishes in the distance. I am running my heart out and just wish the finish line would get closer. I need a boost of motivation. I'm running to my Best of Techno playlist and quickly skip through the songs to find one that will pump me up. I don't want to break my stride and look down, so I just keep flipping through the songs. After about 10 songs that just don't have what I need to finish strong, I hear the beat. Lifter by Alex Kunnari. I power fist (yes in front of the other runners) and pick up my pace. This run is in the bag. I get closer to the pier, see the balloon arch and glance at the time clock. Time to push it into high gear. I always look at the clock and run as fast as I can so I cross the finish before the next minute clicks over. Done...55:37. I was aiming for a time under 56:00 and I now I get to shave off a little time because of when I started the race. Lucky me, I got stuck in the porta-potty line for a good 25 minutes (seriously only 6 potties?) and was walking up to the start line when the gun went off to start the race. I had to bob and weave through all of the walkers and joggers. I didn't settle into my race pace until mile 2. Imagine my excitement when I checked my official time and ended up doing the 10k in 54:23.

Having a dynamite playlist full of upbeat songs definitely motivates me to runner faster, spin harder and endure the elliptical for more than 10 minutes. Don't even get me started on what a good hip-hop beat can do to a weightlifting session. Below is my playlist for this week's spin class. I haven't actually rode this ride, but I choreographed the routine in my head (thanks to my days on high school dance team) on the elliptical. This is a light resistance class. We have been hitting the resistance pretty hard the last couple of week. The resistance stays between a 4 and 7 on a scale of 1-10 for most of the class. There is one seated climb where we will take it up to a 9.

Enjoy! I hope these songs keep you motivated while working out.

Holding On - Ferry Corsten 6:42 (warm up)
Sweet Dreams - Beyonce 3:28 (ride in the saddle, add resistance and take it to 3 on the chorus)
Right Round - Flo Rida 3:26 (jog in 3, push through resistance in the saddle on the chorus)
Popular - The Veronicas 2:42 (quick flat in the saddle)
Touch My Body (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Radio Edit) Mariah Carey 3:54 (climb in 3)
Total Eclipse Remix 3:45 (speed intervals)
Drop It Low (Clean) Ester Dean 3:10 (climb in 3)
Closer Remix- Ne Yo 4:04 (rolling hills)
Ready for Love - Cascada 3:23 (sprints in 3)
Live Your Life - T.I. ft Rihanna 4:01 (seated climb)
Fergalicious – Fergie 4:53 (jog 3, seat chorus)
No You Girls - Franz Ferdinand 3:42 (rolling hills)
My Girlfriend - Sean Kingston 3:24 (jog 3)
Supernova (D&G Remix) - Mr. Hudson feat. Kanye West 3:27 (sprints)
I'm Like A Bird - Nelly Furtado 4:09 (cool down)

Best Spin Playlist Yet

The class loved this playlist. I got rave reviews! Be sure to download the clean versions of Glamorous, Run This Town and Love Lockdown if you plan to use the music in a class of your own. This is a great playlist for a strength class. The peak of the class is a four song hill climb. Don't drop the resistance until you climb all four songs.

Enjoy the ride!

Adagio for Strings – Tiesto 7:23 (warm up)
Down – Jay Sean (feat. Lil Wayne) 3:26 (8 count jumps, 4 count on chorus)
If – Janet Jackson 4:31 (Seated hill climb)
The Boys Of Summer – The Ataris 4:18 (Sprints on chorus)
Glamorous – Fergie (Feat. Ludacris) 4:07 (Climb in position 3)
Miss Independent – Ne-Yo 3:54 (Seated hill climb)
World Hold On – Bob Sinclair 3:17 (Climb in position 3)
Run This Town - Jay-Z Rihanna Kanye West 4:35 (Seated hill climb)
I'm Not Alone – DJ Tiesto 4:42 (Recovery)
Promiscuous Girl - Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland 4:04 (8 count Jumps)
Love Lockdown - Kanye West LMFAO Electro Remix (Clean) 3:50 – (Jog position 3)
Paparazzi – Lady GaGa 3:29 (Seated hill climb)
Here (In Your Arms) - Hellogoodbye 4:03 (Speed work, increase cadence on chorus)
Stay – Lisa Loeb 3:04 (Cooldown)
Everything – Michael Buble 3:31 (Stretch)

Going Home or Am I?

This weekend Joe and I are headed to St. Louis for a jam-packed weekend. It is going to be a bitter-sweet trip. We are going to see friends and family, tackle some wedding planning tasks and attend a memorial service for my grandma.

My alarm blared this morning at 4:30am. I usually snooze an extra 15 minutes, if not 30, but this morning I got out of bed without a lot of hesitation. I finally got in a decent workout, so the weekend is already off to a great start. (Note to self...try getting up earlier more often!). The work day blew by, which I don't know if it is a good thing or a bad thing. I love that my days end before I have time to look at the clock and long to go home, but man is the to-do list ever going to get accomplished? Joe dropped the boys off at their foster mom's house. (I miss the little guys already. Joe and I finally gave in and have started letting the boys up on the couch. It's so much better than the hard floor.) Now, the only think standing between me and the weekend is a long flight.

Tonight, we are having a sleep over at my dad's. I'm so excited. You know the feeling you used to get when you were a little kid getting ready to go to a friend's house for a sleep over? Yeah, that same feeling, but only better. Tonight's sleep over will involve a good amount of vino. My sister is even coming to my dad's tonight. She texted me today to tell me that dad bought stuff to make homemade pizzas. It's just like old school sleep overs, late night junk food and lots of gossip. Yes, I somewhat gossip with my dad. He is one of my best friends. We talk about everything.

In the am we are planning on going for a run and a swim. I packed all my gear, but let's see how ambitious we are after late night talking and drinking. I hope we have time for some coffee on his patio! After lunch my dad is dropping me off at the jewelers, where the wedding planning festivities will begin. Joe and I are going to look at wedding bands. My soon-to-be sister-in-law (wow that's a lot of -) told me that our jeweler will lend out jewelry for the wedding day. I hope this is still the case. If so, hello layers of diamond tennis bracelets and diamond/pearl chandelier earrings. If not, it's a good thing fashion district is only a few blocks from our place. I'm sure I can find some fake bling for the big day on Santee Alley. After dreaming big at the jewelry store, Joe and I are headed to meet with our minister. We have to go in for our marriage counseling session. I'm sure it will be pretty good. There is not much we don't know about one another after 11 years of dating. We are ending the day with dinner at this fantastic mom and pop pizza place with friends. OMG! I can't wait.

On Sunday, I am taking a spin class with my sis and dad. I seriously have enough gear in my luggage to complete a triathlon. My grandma's memorial service is Sunday afternoon. This will be the first time I have to come face-to-face with the reality of my grandma passing. I don't think I am ready to realize that she is gone. Nothing like heading to the bridal shop after a memorial. I have a few hours to grieve and then it is back to wedding planning. Geeze...our weekends are packed when we come to St. Louis. I have my dress fitting Sunday afternoon....yikes! There is a lot of vino and ice cream to blame if that dress doesn't fit. Sunday night I am hanging out with my goddaughter and her parents of course. I can't wait to see her. I told Joe I call dibs on holding her first. :)

Monday morning we are off, back to LA. Am I headed home this weekend or will I be headed home Monday morning? It is starting to feel like St. Louis is where I am from, but LA is home. LA is where Joe and I are building our lives. It is a slow process, but we are moving along. We started our family by getting our boys. (Puppies of course. I am way too selfish for children right now!) We are both making strides in our careers and we are meeting tons and tons of people. Of course, it is always nice to go back and connect with the people we love. But, LA is exciting and full of opportunity. I can't wait to see what our future has in store.

City Runner

Last night, I was sitting on our rooftop, drinking wine and talking with friends. I brought up my blog and shamefully admitted how it has been forever since my last post. I love writing K And The City. In fact, I composed the City Runner post in my head during my run yesterday (what else do you have to do when you are running for an hour?). However, I always seem to choose to do other things with my time (I am not going to use the lame excuse, I didn't have time. We all have the same amount of time in a day and we make choices about what we do with that time. Can you tell I am a coach?) This morning, instead of checking out new Facebook (huge time suck) posts and pictures, I decided to fix my lack of posting.

We lived in an undeveloped area in St. Louis, which meant I had tons of places to run. (Don't worry, we didn't live in the boonies. There was a mall only two miles away. The area by our condo was just starting to develop and new shopping centers were beginning to pop up.) I could go out our door and run for at least two miles before being stopped at a stoplight. I also felt safe running before dawn. Now, in downtown LA, I can't even go two blocks without hitting an intersection. I don't think it is safe to run before dawn, because some crazy stuff goes down in this city. My runs have been limited to the treadmill (BORING!) and to the weekends.

Yesterday, I spent the morning downloading music for this week's spin class. After listening to some great techno, I got fired up about running. I love when I want to run. Most days, I have to force myself onto the treadmill (it's so much easier to hop on the elliptical at 5:00am) and don't enjoy running until I am two or three miles into my run. I know I am in for a good run when I actually want to run. (Running is a total mental game!).

Of course, I picked one of the hottest Saturdays (reminded me of running in St. Louis in August) in LA to go out running and I wanted to run at least an hour yesterday. (The countdown to the Long Beach half marathon is on.) I set my ipod to my best techno play list and I was off. I started running up Grand because our dogs love to walk that way. It wasn't long before I found myself near the Disney Concert Hall. What a cool building. I ran down Flower Street next to my work building. I love running by where I work. It makes me grateful for my job. I hit a stoplight (big surprise!) and turned to run down Figueroa. I also love running by the Original Pantry House on the weekends. The line is out the door. I imagine the people being hung over and in need of a good greasy breakfast. It's always interesting to run by the Staples Center. You never know what kind of event will be going on. Nothing exciting yesterday, but last weekend there was a wrestling convention. I circled around the Staples Center (I still regret not running the morning of Michael Jackson's memorial. I wish I would have remembered to run down and check out all the craziness.) and LA Live. I noticed a new movie theater (they are building a giant Regal...sweet!) and headed back towards the Financial District. I ran back down Flower Street, past our Ralphs and the Cold Stone Creamery (good thing they weren't open. The smell of fresh cake batter and waffle cones can be extremely dangerous!). I decided to bust up a big hill on Flower (hills are good for the behind!) and found myself barely able to keep up with a jog. I ran past a homeless guy and I can't help but wonder what was going through his mind. I headed back down Grand and started to powerfist, because I was clearly in the zone. I ran by the Standard and thought about all of the good times we have had on the roof (I also thought about the many times I woke up a little too hung over to run...darn vodka!). I ran past my work building, again and headed down Grand...again. (One of the bad things about running in downtown is that I constantly have to circle around the same areas. No matter how many times I had to loop around the same area, I wasn't stopping until I reached an hour of running yesterday.) This time on Grand, I went the other direction. I was in the home stretch. One more big hill (The hills are a perk about running in downtown. Let's be honest, when I'm on the treadmill I run at a zero incline. I'm not going to make it any harder if I don't have to!) and I was home. Out of breath and drenched in sweat I arrived home an hour later. I walked though our apartment lobby feeling on top of the world. There is not much that beats a good run.

It doesn't matter if you get stuck at stoplights or have all of the open road in the world to run. It's your attitude about running that makes all of the difference. (Some great music also helps!) I'm starting to enjoy my downtown runs. There is always something to see (helps make the time pass) and it is starting to feel like home. I think I'm starting to belong in this big city!

Favorite Techno Running Songs
Lifter - Alex Kunnari
Changes (Dirty South Remix) - Chris Lake
Moonlight Party - Fonzerelli (one of the DJs that inspired our dog names)
The Prophet - CJ Bolland
Believe Again (Tommy Trash Remix) - Delta Goodrem
Angel On My Shoulder - Kaskade
Sinnerman - Nina Simone
Addicted (Tommy Trash Remix) - The Camel Rider
This Time - DJ Antoine
Open Ur Mind - Jason Nevins
In The Dark (Dirty South Remix) - Tiesto (the other DJ that inspired our dog names)
Step One Two - Kaskade
Sexy Bitch - David Guetta ft. Akon

The Roller Coaster of Life

When I was a kid I used to love going to amusement parks and riding the roller coasters. I loved the thrill of the dips, flips and turns. My main concerns were how long I would have to wait in line to ride and if my shoes would stay on my feet while riding the up-side down coasters.

Now that I am a grown up (although sometimes I still feel like a little kid) I am still riding roller coasters. I call these the coasters of life. The lines are short for these rides. It seems that before you know it, you are coasting up and down and sometimes spinning all around.

My life has been a very steep roller coaster this week. On Wednesday, I taught my first spin class in LA. The days leading up to the class I felt like I was climbing to the top of that big hill. I was nervous with anticipation. I taught at a few gyms back in St. Louis, so I felt prepared to actually teach. I just wasn't sure if my St. Louis style would vibe with an LA class. Turns out what you need for a successful class does not differ between the mid west and the west coast. Good music and tons of energy make the class. To be honest, I think I enjoyed the LA class better than most of my St. Louis classes. People in LA seem to be more open to a variety of music (bring on the techno!) and give rounds of applause after class. Awesome! I left the gym Wednesday night feeling like myself. I belong in the kind of environment a spinning class provides.

I woke up Thursday morning on the peak of the roller coasters hill. I had climbed up to the top. I quickly came plummeting down to one of the lowest places I have been in a long time. I was in the middle of my morning routine when I head Ants Marching blasting from my cell phone (gotta love making custom ring tones). I thought odd...why is my sister calling me at 6:30am? I figured she was just calling to work out details for her upcoming trip to LA. I didn't realize there could be a problem until I started switching my purse and saw two missed calls from my dad. That's when I started teetering over the edge of the hill. I called my sister back, and she answered the phone in tears. The plummeting began. My sister shared with me that our grandma passed away. You know that feeling you get when riding roller coasters where your stomach feels like it is in your throat? Well you can get that feeling on the coaster of life too.

Thursday was a tough day dealing with the news of my grandma's death. Thankfully, she was not terminally ill or receiving care. She had fallen Wednesday night, went to the ICU and was released to the care of her daughter. She woke up in the middle of the night gasping for air, but didn't want to go back to the hospital. She must have died in her sleep, because she never woke up in the am. I can't help but wonder if she knew her time was nearing an end.

It was difficult to talk to my dad. He wanted to be strong, but I could hear the pain in his voice. I can't imagine the empty feeling he has right now. I am extremely sad that my grandma is not going to be able to see me get married. She loved Joe. But at least she knew we were going to be together.

Thankfully, I called my grandma a couple of weeks ago just to say hi. The puppies woke me up at 6:00am one Sunday. I decided to use the time to reach out to friends and family (something I am awful at doing). I have no feelings of regret or I wish I would have called one last time.

Since I was not able to be with my family, I went into work Thursday mid morning. What a fantastic support system. I am sincerely grateful for the kind emails and for the people that allowed me to share what was going on and how I felt. My puppies comforted me as I sat on the floor in tears Thursday am after receiving the awful news. Joe totally took one for the team and took me out for a martini even after spending the day in San Diego for work.

I know that time will heal this wound. I have already started to climb back up the hill again. I am well aware that what goes up must come down. I just hope that next time I am feeling high on life the descend down is not nearly as steep.

Tiesto and Fonzerelli

Joe and I are now parents...puppy parents! We got the bug to get a dog around New Year's. Our good friends Max and Anna have an amazing Pug named Albert. I rang in the New Year with Albert on my lap. After moving to the dog friendly (seriously dogs go everywhere) city of LA, I wanted a little friend ASAP. Turns out I got what I wanted times two!

Joe and I found a great rescue called Pugs 'N Pals. We went through an extensive adoption process. We had to visit an adoption event down in the OC to fill out an application. We had an interview and a house check. We got news that we passed and were able to adopt on the 4th of July. We were going to adopt a 3-year old fawn male Pug, but the organization would not adopt him without a buddy. We figured if we were going to get two dogs we might as well get the two little black puppies.

Our puppies finally came home on Saturday. I have been dying to write about these guys, but have found myself consumed with feeding, walking, potty time and oh yeah still going to work. They are both passed out on my lap right now, so I took the opportunity to open my laptop and write.

Joe and I named our puppies Tiesto and Fonzerelli...yes after the techno DJs. They have been much better than I thought they would be. We have had a few accidents in the house, but they occur when I am not paying attention. The boys are attention whores. They love laying on my lap and they cry like crazy when I leave. (Poor Joe. He has to listen to the boys whine for 20 minutes before 5am when I go to the gym. He's a trooper and I know I have a keeper!). The boys are popular when we are out in the streets of LA. Everyone stops to pet the boys, including the bums (EWWWW!). They are not afraid to approach the big dogs either. The only things that really scares them are the buses. I can't blame them. The buses come whizzing by and make weird noises. We are definitely making progress in overcoming this fear.

Our life has been flipped turned upside down, but it is so worth it. Coming home from work is the best. As soon as my key hits the lock the boys start getting excited. The look on their faces is priceless when I come to get them in the bathroom. They are practically screaming, "mom pick me up!"

Speaking of the word mom, I constantly refer to myself as mom. Oh boy! I can only imagine how bad it will be when Joe and I have kids. It is kind of sad our conversations already revolve around poop and pee.

My only complaint is that I am exhausted! I am getting up 30 minutes earlier to take care of my boys. Having the alarm ring before 5am is kind of brutal. I was so out of it tonight that I forget to pay attention to the elevator floors. I hit my floor, but it didn't register. Tiesto, Fonzi and I rode the elevator all the way to the top floor. Opps. We started going down and stopped on what I thought was our floor. We got off and ran down the hallway (the boys love to run home). I put my key in the lock and got a red light (I thought are you kidding me, this key doesn't work again!). Turns out I was on the wrong floor and trying to get into the wrong apartment. We got off on floor 11, but live on 9. Duh! Oh well...the boys got to run down the hall again, which is not a bad thing. They need the exercise since over the last few days we have had to carry them outside. Spoiled! I guess that makes 3 of us, me and the boys.

There's No Place Like Milwaukee

The excitement started to build Friday afternoon at work. My friends from St. Louis started to text me and the buzz around the office was all about what to pack and where to meet. It was time for my company's Annual Meeting!

I tried to fall asleep at a decent time knowing that there would be several late nights followed by early mornings in my near future, but didn't have much luck. I was too excited to see my friends from St. Louis and hang out with my LA colleagues. The alarm clocked shrilled at 4:00am (a girl's gotta stick to her workout routine), but somehow I popped right out of bed. Needless to say I made a beeline to the Starbucks at LAX as soon as I got through security. I love to fly because I tend to get a lot of reading done on planes. I am a bit embarrassed to admit this...I finished Lauren Conrad's book LA Candy on the flight to Milwaukee. I didn't expect much from the book and was delightfully surprised that LC kept me engaged in the story line. I think it helped that she wrote about tons of places I have either seen in LA or head about visiting. I also started Jon Gordon's book Training Camp. (My new thing lately has been to read a book for fun and one that will inspire and motivate me. Last month it was Good in Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner and How Full Is Your Bucket).

When we finally arrived in Milwaukee after a 4-hour flight, I headed straight to Jimmy John's for lunch. You have no idea how much I miss those sandwiches. Someone needs to open a franchise in LA stat! I met up with one of my best friends for a walk (just like old times) and had dinner with the girls from my old office. There is something so comforting about sharing a meal and bottles of wine with old friends.

Sunday morning kicked off with a run/walk. You wonder why I love my company? 8,200 people registered for the event. It is a great course that loops around Lake Michigan and down a running path through the woods. I was definitely "on" and in full running mode Sunday morning. I power fisted, cried when the song Lake Shore Drive came on my IPod (it reminds me of running with my dad) and busted a move to Paradise City. People who passed me on the course had no chance of out running me in the last mile. When others were fading, I was sprinting. I finished in 53:17 (I know there are faster runners, but I am happy with under 9 minute miles). After an exhilarating morning, I headed to a study group lunch. One of our company's top marketing executives joined us for lunch :) (Another reason I love my company. It is like a family and top management is never out of reach.) The day concluded with a party at the zoo. The zoo party is fabulous except for all of the free food. Of course, I had to find the dessert tent for the ice cream. All you can eat sundaes = problematic for any bride-to-be! In 5 months when my dress doesn't fit, I'll know the reason why. I introduced my new office to one of the cheesiest bars in Milwaukee, Victor's. I swear this place was a strip club in a former life. The leather couches, mirrored walls and neon lights make this place a classic spot for Annual Meeting attendees. I danced the night away (shocker!).

On Monday we heard from a variety of speakers that promoted the strength and stability of our company. I'm pretty proud to work where I do during these economic times. Tony Dungy was our outside motivation speaker...pretty cool! The highlight of Monday was definitely heading one of my former colleagues talk on the main stage. I would love to be a motivational speaker. They can make such a terrific impact in people's lives. Being a speaker along with writing a book are both on my "bucket list." We had our agency's cocktail party on Monday afternoon at the Capital Grille. Lobster fritters...yes please! There is something so right about great food, chilled wine and good company. I was fortunate enough to see friends from my old office again for dinner on Monday night. There is something so wrong about family style meals, especially Italian food served family style.

I had a lot to run off Tuesday morning! I can't even begin to explain how amazing it is to start the day running while the sun is rising over a lake. It is moments like those that make me grateful for my life! Tuesday morning we heard from more motivational speakers. A common theme...be positive, focus on what you want to achieve, control your attitude, when faced with adversity don't let it get you down and dream big. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life, but for now I feel like I am with a great supportive company.

I let myself go (as my friend Juan would say) and had a blast Tuesday night. I wanted to be alert and focused during the day meetings on Monday and Tuesday (is this a sign of getting old?), but Wednesday was another story. I attended a cocktail party with a group of reps from my agency. We all went to the company show where we heard Danny Gokey (I had to Google his name to find out who he was when the company announced his presence at the show) and Kool & The Gang perform. I was a huge fan of the glow sticks they gave out and the fact that you could purchase beverages at the show. Thankfully, I left before Kool & The Gang sang Celebration. (Celebration is one of the songs on the no play list for the wedding. I swear if the dj plays the song, he will not get paid!). After the show I met up with some fabulous ladies for girls' night at a swanky sushi place (yes I just described some place in Milwaukee as swanky). X-rated and Pearl Pomegranate...hello heaven! Can someone in LA please start to carry Pearl vodka? The night ended at a one-of-a-kind bar called Safe House. Thankfully, I knew the password to get into the bar so I was spared from making a fool of myself in the entrance way. I've had to perform goofy acts to gain entrance in the past. After acting a fool a couple of times in front of the entire bar, I learned to remember the password. Inside the bar, I found my colleagues in the karaoke room. Leave it to the LA people to try and get discovered in the midwest. I do believe I executed the Roger Rabbit and the tootsie roll in the karaoke room..oh boy!

I woke up on Wednesday ready to go home and ready for some breakfast! Quizno's was my saving grace. Who ever invented the breakfast sub was a genius! Funny how I could not sleep at all on the red-eye flight I took a few months ago, but on this flight I could barely stay awake. I definitely arrived in LA with bar voice, great memories and a new 10k PR. I guess you can say I drank the Kool-Aid once again and can't wait to get in the game and do big things. I'm lucky to have so many friends in the company and to work for a company that wants to inspire and motivate people. It's amazing what a trip to Milwaukee can do!

Where Does Time Go?

How has it been nearly 3 weeks since my last post? Life has a funny way of happening and I seem to get busier and busier (which is a good thing for an energetic person like me). I have also been very distracted when I am on the Internet with Facebook and Twitter. Who knew updating people on your life could be so addicting. Does anyone really care what I just did 5 seconds ago (probably not!). I also must be getting older or my bed is just too darn comfortable, because lately when I had the choice to write a post or take a nap, the nap clearly won. I realized that if I don't stop to reflect and enjoy life it will quickly pass me by. Plus, I enjoy writing (as you can probably tell from my marathon length posts).

A lot has happened in the last 3 weeks, so I'll do my best to write an abbreviated version. Work has been challenging, exciting and demanding. I successfully survived the busiest time in my career. When you are in the middle of coordinating training classes, coaching, managing meetings and completing daily tasks it seems so overwhelming. Now that I look back on all that I did over the last few weeks, I feel like I really accomplished a ton. I managed to learn a lot about my role and about myself (I need to work on stress management! I don't handle unforeseen circumstances very well when I am under a lot of pressure and deadline. There were many days when I felt like my head would roll off my shoulders if it wasn't attached. I was not my usual bubbly self and I was wound up tighter than a spool of thread.) I have no idea what changed, maybe it was Joe telling me he was sick of me talking about work, or I just woke up one morning with a new attitude and fresh approach. Even though I still have tons going on, I feel much more relaxed and in control. Now that I think about it, maybe I am finally getting the hang of things. I am happy to report that I am enjoying work!

Wedding planning is moving along. I still have a few more save the dates to mail out...opps! (Come on, give me a break. I need Joe to get me most of the addresses.) We picked out our photographer and I am so excited. We are working with a friend of mine from St. Louis who is extremely talented and creative. She designs her own antique jewelry, has great taste in fashion and has one of the best decorated places I have seen. The best part...she said she would boss me around on wedding day. (I want someone to tell me how to pose and where to be for pictures. I don't want to try to be creative with the pictures, especially since the bus will be stocked with champagne.)

Speaking of champagne, it is my new drink of choice. I have been ordering the bubbly like crazy when we have been going out, and we have been going out a lot. I think my liver might disown me after the month of July. Some of our great friends and wedding party members, Max and Anna came to LA for the 4th of July. We crammed so much into a weekend and every bit of it was amazing. You know those people that you love to be around? That is Max and Anna for me. I think I burned off all of my drinking calories by laughing all weekend long. On Thursday night we did the usual downtown night out. Dinner at Bottega Louie, a trendy restaurant that is always packed and serves delicious food, followed by drinks at The Standard. We had to wait in line forever to get into The Standard. Finally, the doorman came up to us. I told him patience is a virtue because I was so excited that I waited in line without complaining loudly (patience is not one of my strong virtues). Who blurts our philosophical terms in line at a bar? Yours truly! On Friday night we went to the legendary Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills. I see why people rave about this place. Best Asian food I have ever had! I convinced our friends to sign up for the Redondo Beach 5k, so I started my 4th of July off running one of my best 5k runs. It helped that the course was on the Pacific Coast Highway, so we ran next to the ocean. Anna and I spent the day relaxing on our rooftop patio. We moved the chairs close to the water fountain and if you closed your eyes you could picture yourself at some exquisite spa. Saturday night was one of the greatest nights of my life. We watched the fireworks at USC and the show was an hour long. I kind of got bored, and I felt bad for getting bored since you don't get to see fireworks everyday. After the fireworks we headed to Hollywood to celebrate Independence Day at My House (one of the best clubs I have ever been to). The DJ was incredible, the drinks were strong and the dancing was fierce. Anna and I met Roy from the office and wished Rob from Rob & Big a happy b-day. No night out in Hollywood would be complete without stumbling around looking at the stars. I got a picture next to Kiefer Sutherland's star and Hugh Hefner's star (those pics did not make the Facebook cut). We also found Michael Jackson's star. There were flowers and signs and people mourning the pop star. Leave it to me to knock over one of the cardboard signs as I bent down to take a picture (the people mourning were not happy! I swear I was not trying to be rude, I just had no sense of balance). Needless to say, we got a slow start to Sunday given that our cab dropped us off around 3am (how did I go out hard core night after night in college? I really must be getting old). We still managed to venture down to Laguna Beach and had dinner in Newport Beach to end the weekend.

Joe and I had the chance to have fun with friends all over again last weekend. Our high school friends Rory and Rhonda flew out for a little vacay in LA. We did the usual Thursday night out in downtown LA. I missed all of the fun in Malibu and Santa Monica on Friday, but caught back up with the group for an amazing dinner at Kincaid's on the Redondo Beach Pier. It was no surprise that Friday was an early night after devouring our meals. We made up for being lame on Friday with a fantastic night out at Elevate in downtown on Saturday. My dancing shoes were strapped tightly to my feet! Joe and I truly enjoy hosting guests, so please come visit.

The most exciting thing of all is that Joe and I are about to become parents. Pug parents that is! We are adopting two black pug puppies (I know I must be crazy!) from a rescue here in Southern California. The puppies are brothers, so they can't be separated. Joe and I figured that it would be better to have two dogs since we both work full-time. I am already trying to condition myself to an even earlier alarm, and I am failing miserably. Today, I turned off my alarm and continued to lay in bed. 30 minutes later I miraculously woke up. I need to break this habit stat before I don't wake up in time for work. I am looking forward to having two little buddies around when Joe is traveling. I also need someone to walk with when I go to the beach. Now I will have a leash in each hand. If I fall of the face of blogger again for the next few weeks, you'll know why. It is hard to believe that I have been in LA almost 6 months. Our wedding is less than 5 months away. It is utterly amazing how fast time flies.

Putting Words Into Action

It is very strange how when you write about things they seem to come true. There is something powerful behind transferring your thoughts into words. I think writing helps you lunch things into action.

In my last post I discussed how I need to start filling up my bucket. The day after I wrote the post, I left work at a decent time! (I am trying to come to the realization that the to-do list will never be complete). I enjoyed an afternoon siesta (really I was just catching up from the lack of sleep from the trip to St. Louis). After dinner, Joe and I watched the movie Taken. (Why did it take me so long to discover On-Demand? It is fabulous. You can rent movies for the same price as Blockbuster without the hassle of finding a Blockbuster to rent from and trying to remember to return the movie on time.)

On Friday night, Joe and I had a date night. I spend a lot of time with the guy, but we have not been out together just the two of us in a really long time. We had a divine dinner at a steakhouse in downtown (I'm not the right person to judge the quality of the steakhouse. The salad, shrimp and wine were fantastic!). After dinner Joe and I wandered into a few watering holes in downtown. We found our way into a lounge at the Westin, but only stayed for one round. Just like you would expect, the hotel bar was kind of lame. We ventured to one of our favorite spots 7Grand. The dj was playing great house and techno music, so Joe and I were in heaven. If you received a text message on Friday night from my fiance, I'm sorry. He really should have a breathalyzer attached to his phone. Nothing good even comes from mixing technology and cocktails.

Joe and I got married (in my dream) on Friday night. The ceremony was going on without a hitch until it came time to exchange the rings. Neither one of us brought the rings. It is no surprise that I dreamed about our wedding. I have been working on the dreaded save-the-dates, and we have reached the 6-month mark. I am, however, extremely concerned about my dream. According to my dream interpretation book, (I know it's a little weird, but my mom got me hooked on the meaning behind dreams, plus I had a coupon to get the book from Borders.) if a person dreams of a wedding in which the ring is missing it is a sign that before he gets married he will go through a series of problems and misunderstandings with his intended partner. Awesome! Just the kind of interpretation I was hoping for!

The good news is that Joe and I continued to have a great weekend (no problems yet). On Saturday morning, I worked on more save-the-dates (woo hoo!) and then I went to the gym. After way too long, I got to ride the spin bike (I am still patiently waiting to get my own class at the downtown 24-hour fitness. Teaching spinning will definitely fill my bucket). Joe and I went and saw the movie The Hangover (hilarious!) and then went to a party for one of my colleagues. It was so nice relaxing in my boss' backyard and enjoying cocktails with my colleagues. It was even better knowing that it was in the 90s and humid in St. Louis (nope don't miss the hot humid weather one bit). It was a very low-key Saturday night and I was in bed by 9:00pm (I promise I am not always super lame and boring!).

Joe and I met up with some of my other colleagues for our Sunday breakfast club (really, we have only had breakfast twice, but it sounds neater to call us a club). You may have noticed a theme throughout my posts, I hang out with my colleagues a lot. Thank goodness for my work family. I am fortunate to get to work with some fabulous people. After breakfast, Joe and I went to the beach (always a good reminder of why I love living in LA). We stopped by a pet adoption, but didn't find any pugs. If you know of any pugs for adoption, please contact us. We are ready for our Tiesto to come home. I had lunch at the Pita Pit (one of my favorite spots. It is like heaven!). Joe and I drove around and explored the beach areas and ended up in Santa Monica. We decide to walk around the downtown area and Joe decides it would be a good idea to go into a few stores (Bad idea! I was trying not to shop for a month and I failed. Why did Pac Sun have to carry an adorable bight crazy print dress and why did I leave the store with this dress? The shopping in St. Louis was never this good. Making a great purchase definitely fills up my bucket).

Why is it that when walking around the beach I always crave ice cream? Joe and I tried to find a more exciting place to fulfill our cravings, but did not had much luck. Thank goodness for the golden arches and the McFlurry. When did McDonald's start carrying a Snickers McFlurry? Have I been living under a rock? I highly encourage you to indulge in the Snickers McFlurry. There is just something so right about soft serve ice cream and the satisfying taste of a Snickers.

This weekend I definitely filled my bucket by spending time with great people. I also looked into a couple of fall half marathons (Disneyland and Long Beach). I need to get signed up for a long race, so I have a personal goal to work towards achieving. Now that I have discovered the glorious Snickers McFlurry I better get myself involved in a half marathon so my wedding dress still fits in December.

Filling Up My Bucket

I apologize for being MIA lately. Two factors have contributed to my lack of posting: 1).I have been in an inspirational dry spell lately. 2). I have been putting in double digit hours at work trying to master my position and keep all of the projects and training classes running smoothly. As a result, I am exhausted when I get home. I am also not leading a balanced life, which I feel contributes to the above mentioned dry spell.

I didn't realize how out of whack my life was until I went back to St. Louis this past weekend. On the plane ride from LA to St. Louis I read the book How Full Is Your Bucket. The book helped me uncover that I continuously help fill other people's buckets, but I am not doing much to fill my own bucket. At work, I help coach other people to success and spend a ton of time filling up my colleagues buckets. Even though I enjoy my job, I feel like people are dipping into my bucket more than I can fill my bucket. I tend to bring home work stress which negatively impacts my relationship with Joe. By the time I get home after 6pm or 7pm, I am exhausted. I make dinner and before I know it, I am back in bed getting ready for another work focused day. I have been neglecting my own interests and passions (writing).

This past weekend in addition to reading a very insightful book, I spent a lot of time with my dad. My dad fills my bucket. I can talk to my dad about anything and everything. He is a great sounding board. Now that I live in LA, I no longer get my weekly date night dinners and weekend workouts with my dad. I miss him terribly! After only a few hours together and a several glasses of wine, my dad pointed out that I was extremely negative. Another sign that my life was out of whack. I pride myself on being a positive person (sometimes I might come across as too positive).

After some great talks with my dad, I realized that I am missing some crucial elements in my life. I am not focusing on any kind of athletic goal. This time last year, I had already ran one half marathon and I was training and fundraising for the Chicago Marathon. I am the kind of person that needs a goal. I don't have workout motivation issues, but I do prefer to be striving to cross the finish line of an event. My dad and I ran in the Race for the Cure over the weekend and even though it was only a 5K, I still felt the runner's high. I need to get signed up for a half marathon and stat!

I also need to dedicate myself to something other than work. I need to get focused on volunteering. Life is all about timing. When I got back to the office on Monday I had an email in my inbox for someone at the Arthritis Foundation. It was almost as if her ears were ringing over the weekend. We are having lunch on Friday.

Instead of investing everything in work, I need to invest more in relationships that mean a lot to me. I was fortunate enough to spend Saturday night with my girlfriends. I definitely woke up on Sunday with a full bucket. It is amazing what a lot of estrogen and a few cocktails can do. Spending time with my girlfriends made me realize how lucky I am. A great group of girls gave up their Saturday nights with their kids, husbands, families and significant others to meet me for a night out in St. Louis. Often times I miss phone calls from these girls because I am still in the office past 6pm or because I am busy running to other meetings during the day. I need to be more available to my friends! I have a phone date scheduled for tomorrow night.

I am only 2 days into achieving a more balanced life and things are going pretty well. I have already worked 21 hours, but I have mailed a huge chunk of my wedding save the dates (YAY!!), wrote this post (finally!), convinced Joe to run a 5K (not quite a half, but I am so excited to run a race with Joe) and made dinner for Joe twice. It is a start! Of all people, I know that a truly balanced life does not exist (I wrote my graduate thesis on the topic of women and work family balance). I need to do something to fill up my bucket. I don't like the feeling of my life being out of whack or of being negative.

Life is All About Timing

Life is all about timing; being in the right place at the right time. Today, I could not help but realize how much my own life aligns with this expression. When Joe and I moved to LA it was the right time for me to get the job that I wanted. I wanted to stay with the company I worked for in St. Louis and the LA office had a position opening up. We made the move a few months before the LA office was actually ready to hire a replacement Director of Training & Development, but they pulled some strings and got me on board early (shows you the power of a referral. Thanks goes out to my former boss for making a call to the LA boss!). I have almost been with my company for four months and I have assumed the majority of responsibilities with my position. My predecessor is still in the office which is actually a blessing (timing again). If I did not have several month to learn my position, I would not be off to such a quick start. I am grateful that the stars were lined up for me to get a job at a company I respect and enjoy working with and even more grateful to have this invaluable time to learn my position.

My office closed at 2:00pm today in celebration of the upcoming Memorial Day holiday. (Score!). This holiday break could not have come at a better time. I have never worked as hard or as much as I did the last two weeks. I oversaw my first training class. In addition to trying to figure out what needs to happen each day for training, I have spent a great deal of time working with my team discussing our internship program. I have spent many long days in the office (in at 7:00am or 7:10am if I am having an awesome workout and out no earlier than 6:00pm). Gone are the days I could leave my Gmail open and respond whenever a new message arrived. I have over 400 unread emails. (Not to self...sign up for an email account to give out so you stop receiving newsletters for every organization). Sorry to all of my friends that have called. After being "on" at work for 12 hours the last thing I want to do is talk on the phone. In fact I hardly ever hear my phone ring because it is on vibrate 90% of the time so it does not go off during meetings and buried in my purse. For every new task or responsibility I learn I create a check list or task in Outlook (thank you Microsoft for keeping my life in order. I would be a wicked mess without you. Don't even get me started on my love for hot pink post-its). My main goal right now is to learn the system so I can replicate what my predecessor did without a hitch. I have also been working to improve the system and I have been adding tasks to my role because I feel like they could help the office. Needless to say, without investing some extra time at the office I would be sinking instead of barely staying afloat. Hey, nothing worth mastering is ever easy. I am confident that in time I can reduce my work hours to a decent amount and achieve a bit more balance in my life. Long story short, I am looking forward to having Monday off (LA Marathon day downtown. I can't wait to be on the other side of the barricades drinking a Starbucks and watching the other runners speed by. There is a little piece of me that wishes I was actually one of the runners.) I already feel rejuvenated and refreshed and it is only Friday night. (Got to love long afternoon naps!)

Since I spelt all afternoon I was bored earlier this evening. (Even though I enjoy down time, to be honest with you I have no idea how to actually do nothing for extended periods of time). I needed an activity and after clearing out some of my personal emails I needed to get out of the house. I decided to walk to dinner and the grocery store. I found a new place, Wolfgang Puck's Bistro, for dinner. I couldn't decide between Mexica, pizza or Quizno's. Wolfgang Puck's happened to appear at the right time. I read over the menu and was intrigued by many choices. I could not pass up the special. Half a pizza (I was craving it after all and I need portion control. Pizza and ice cream are the two foods that I eat way too much off. My "full" sensor is broken when these foods are in front of me.), a salad and a glass of wine for $15. Sold! I even got to pick any wine off the menu, not just the gross house wine. After indulging in the perfectly portioned meal I ventured to the grocery store. On my way to the store a woman cam out of her apartment building walking two dogs. One of the dogs was a black pug! (Joe and I have been talking about getting a dog, going to dog rescues and researching the furry friends online. Pugs are by far our favorite. We are going to name our Pug Tiesto after our favorite dj.) I had to interact with this dog. I told the woman I like her Pug and she asked me if I wanted her. (I know she was only joking, but a big part of me wished she was for real.) As I was talking to the woman, her Pug put her paws on my legs and allowed me to pet her head. Swoon! I want our Pug now more than ever. Talk about timing.

K Visits St. Louis

Last weekend I went to St. Louis for the first time since I moved to LA. Yay! I will admit that I was a little nervous about the trip. I was afraid that I would have such a good time and would not want to come back to LA, especially since Joe was staying in St. Louis. I did have a good time, maybe too good of time, but I was thrilled to get back to LA. When I walked off the plane and into LAX I felt like I was at home. I was even greeted with LA traffic on the 405 at 10:30pm on a Sunday night...nothing says home in LA like a jam packed highway.

My weekend started off on the right foot with a 3:45am wake up call on Friday. I had to hit the gym before our flight since I knew the weekend would be a calorie disaster (turns out I was right). I seem to have the best luck with seats on the plane (no that I mentioned it my luck will change). I was in a row with no one in the middle seat, so I was able to spread out and get comfy. I made great progress in Jen Lancaster's 4th book, Pretty in Plaid on the flight. The flight was uneventful until we got to the landing. I almost lost my breakfast on the seat in front of me. The plane would not stop tipping from side-to-side. When we finally touched down I was greeted with rain (what a surprise). I had not seen rain since February.

Joe and I met up with my sister and after lunch, my sis and I went to my bridal shop. I bought my veil and we got the low-down on ordering the bridesmaid dresses. My sister took me to my hotel and on our way I completely forgot about a major highway being closed. Funny how when I lived in St. Louis the highway 40 closure was a topic of every day conversation. After a major detour, we finally got to the hotel. We pulled up to valet and my sister asked me if I thought the valet could drive a stick. Duh! I told my sister that she is not the only one in St. Louis who drives a stick. Imagine our laughter when it took forever to get her car back from valet, because the guy who went to retrieve her car could not drive a stick. The valet company really needs to improve their interviewing process.

It was awesome to walk into the church for the rehearsal (I was a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding) and see my girlfriends. I think the wedding coordinator might have been a little annoyed with us since we talked during the entire rehearsal...opps. After the rehearsal we went to the soon-to-be married couple's house for dinner. Despite the fact that I had been up since 4am I was still feeling the need to socialize after the dinner, so Joe and I made an appearance at Harry's. We walked to Harry's from our hotel (it was just like being at home in downtown LA). Someone told us that we looked very LA...score! It was probably not my brightest idea to stay out until 2am, but it was worth the lack of sleep.

When my alarm went off around 7am on Saturday I could barley peel my eyes open. I knew it would be a long day and that my only opportunity to workout would be in the am. I grudgingly put on my running shoes, grabbed a water bottle (wonder why I was a bit dehydrated?) and headed out for a run. I don't get the chance to run outside much in LA and I miss it terribly. (It is a bit scary in downtown LA when it is dark and there are crosswalks everywhere which would mean I would have to stop every few steps). I ran down to the Arch and had to touch both sides and I also ran by Bush Stadium. I felt at home and a bit hungover :)

After my run I had to race to shower and pack a bag for the wedding. (What a surprise..me be crunched for time.) I got to my hair appointment a few minutes late, because the valet at our hotel was terrible. My stylist was able to give me a hair cut and an up-do in 70 minutes (that must be a record). I was headed to the bride's hotel room with one of my girlfriends when she pointed out that I did not have my bridesmaid dress. I had everything but in my wedding day bag (two pairs of heels, an apple for a snack, a new tube of lipstick, my jewelry and makeup). How could I forget the dress? Luckily, my hotel room was only a couple of blocks from the bride's room.

I had a great time getting dressed with my girlfriends and I made a mental note to do the same thing on my wedding. In fact, I made a lot of mental notes on my friend's wedding day. It is funny how your entire wedding experience changes when you are in the midst of planning your own day. My friend had perfect weather for her wedding (I was a bit chilly and people thought I was nuts. I guess your blood do thin quickly out here in LA). The after party was not even an option. Once the reception ended, I was ready for bed.

On Sunday morning, Joe and I had brunch with my mom and sister. I despise the person that thought having dessert at brunch would be a good idea. How do you not eat it when you have to pass the dessert table to get to the regular food? After brunch my mom, sister and I stopped by my grandma's house. I showed my grandma pictures of my wedding dress and asked her for some pearls to borrow. (After attending the wedding I got into full planning mode. I started thinking about my something old, new, borrowed and blue. I also planned my picture spots and picked out a rehearsal dinner place. I apologize to my bridesmaids that had to hear me talk about my soon-to-be wedding day all weekend long). My grandma ended up giving me the pearls, so they now count as my something old. I am still working on the something borrowed piece. My time with my family was cut short, because Joe and I had one more major event to attend. Our Goddaughter's baptism.

Joe and I went to church with his brother and our soon-to-be Goddaughter. I will admit when I sat down in the pew the exhaustion finally hit. I was at church, but I was definitely not present. After the mass we had the baptism ceremony for Emily. This was the first time I saw Emily outside of the hospital. She is adorable. Emily was a perfect angel during the ceremony, except when the priest dumped the water on her head. I am pretty sure all babies scream during this part. After the ceremony we went back to Emily's mom's parent's house for a celebration lunch. As soon as I walked in the door I knew I was in trouble. There were white chocolate covered strawberries on the table. I broke the deal I had with myself to not eat any more sweets since I had dessert at brunch. I even had a piece of the baptism cake, because it had butter cream icing. My prediction about the weekend being a calorie disaster was dead on.

On the flight home I finished Pretty in Plaid (I think I set a new personal reading record). Jen Lancaster will be in California at a Barnes & Noble this Thursday. I totally plan on going to see her. When I walked off the plane I was happy to be back in LA. I miss my friends and family, but I am having such a great time out here. One of my girlfriends asked me if I would ever leave LA and my quick response was no. I like my job, the beach is super close and I am meeting some fabulous new people (I had dinner with a new friend last Monday and I have lunch plans with a new friend today :)). It is nice to go back home and to be reminded of where you came from so you can look forward to where you are going!

Weekend Review...LA Firsts

A Dodgers' Game, An Earthquake and a Dinner Party...Oh My!

Joe's brother was in town last week for work, which meant Joe and I got to play hosts. Hosting a guest from St. Louis has a giant perk...fun activities. On Thursday night (I know Thursday is technically a week night, but since it is towards the end of the week I am including it in my weekend review.) the three of us ventured to Dodger Stadium for a baseball game. I grew up in a baseball town, so I have always been a fan of going to games. I associate baseball games with summertime. There is nothing better than eating peanuts and throwing the shells on the ground. Now that I live in LA I am a Dodgers fan (Go Manny!), but when the Dodgers play the Cardinals I will route, route for my home team. I will never not be a Cardinals fan.

It took us an hour to drive the 3 miles from our apartment to the stadium (note to self...plan to walk to the game next time and never leave the house without going to the bathroom!). Joe's brother managed to get us free parking. It is crazy...these boys have connections all over the country. Our seats were great for only $25 and it was free blanket night. I dreaded trying to find something for dinner (I don't eat meat, so a Dodger Dog was out of the question), but I was delighted when I saw vegetarian pizza. Score! In St. Louis you can get greasy pizza or greasier pizza. The pizza was pretty good for ballpark food, but the frozen yogurt topped with peanuts was a home run. Speaking of home runs...we saw Manny hit a home run and the Dodgers won.

After work on Friday, I was in desperate need of a nap. I was longing for my bed all day long and was so annoyed when I got home and could not sleep because of the noise outside of my apartment. There were several demonstrations taking place near the City Hall and I constantly heard the helicopters flying around. I finally dozed off and was jolted (literally) awake. I often awake in the middle of the night thinking my bed is shaking (paranoia), but this time it really was shaking. There was a small earthquake at 6:11pm. I knew it was more than my imagination when I heard the coat hanger hanging on the knob of a dresser drawer bang against the dresser. It was only a matter of time before I felt my first quake.

Friday night Joe took us to Kincaid's on the Redondo Beach Pier. Kincaid's is one of my favorite restaurants! After a divine dinner (a warm brie appetizer followed by the grilled halibut) we decided to take Joe's brother to a local watering hole downtown. We met up with one of my friends from work and hit 7 Grand. The place was a little lame, but at least we got seats and didn't have to bribe some doorman to let us enter the bar. No cover and no line...I'll take it any day. This bar actually carries Pearl Vodka (unfortunately not pomegranate flavored, but the blueberry is tasty). We had a good time and I made a dance floor (shocker!). After dancing around my feet were in no condition for the walk home. Poor Joe ended up giving me a piggy back ride. I guess I'll let him count that as a workout for the day.

Saturday morning Joe's brother had to go to the airport. We stopped at Hennessey's in Manhattan Beach for breakfast before going to LAX. Hennessey's has the best oatmeal and restaurant coffee. It was sad saying good bye to Joe's brother because we had a good time (fo' sho), but I'll see him next weekend when I go to St. Louis for a wedding, Mother's Day breakfast and baptism (busy weekend!).

On Saturday night a friend from work came over for dinner. I made homemade pizza (one of two meals I cook) and garlic cheesy bread. I forgot how much I love to entertain. I make dinner for Joe regularly and he always says it taste good (but then again I think he might be forced to say it is good if he wants me to continue cooking for him). When other people enjoy the food you cooked, then you know it must be pretty good. It is very rewarding to watch others enjoy the meal you prepared. Something came over me as I was cleaning up from dinner and I decided to take the left over pizza outside to a homeless person. This was a risky plan, but I couldn't stand to throw the food away when there are so many people sleeping on the streets right outside our building. I wrapped up slices of pizza, grabbed a napkin and headed outside to feed someone dinner. I gave the food to a woman sitting on a bus stop bench bundled up with coats, gloves and scarves and surrounded by bags full of her belongings. You want to make someone's day...offer a homeless person dinner. What a small gesture that made a difference in someone's life.

Sunday morning started off great. I finished another book (Misery Loves Cabernet). The book takes place in LA, so naturally I liked the story. It is fun to read about places like Ralphs and the Biltmore Hotel. I finished the author's first book A Total Waste of Makeup a few weeks ago. I can breeze through fun novels, but struggle to get through anything educational. I am also trying to read The Trophy Kids Grow Up, but got bored halfway through when the author kept describing parents that accompany their children on job interviews. My generation has some issues.

It was cycle Sunday at the gym (now that I got hired at 24 Hour I have a legit reason to ride the spin bikes by myself) and then Joe and I ran some errands. We were driving down the PCH and noticed a pet adoption at a pet store. We stopped. Big mistake. Joe and I have been talking about getting a dog for a while now. We even have a name picked out for our dog...Tiesto (after our favorite DJ). We want a pug. My heart broke seeing the dogs up for adoption. We found a really cute one, but it was a female (and she was not a pug). The name Tiesto is clearly best suited for a male dog. Hopefully, I will be writing about another first really soon...our first puppy.

Save the Dates...Save the Drama

In my opinion, save the date cards are such a hassle. I know according to wedding etiquette they are necessary for destination weddings and weddings near holidays. Unfortunately, Joe and I are not doing a destination wedding, but we are doing a wedding the weekend before Christmas. I guess our date falls under the need to send a save the date category. Lucky me!!!

I am annoyed at the whole process of sending a save the date. First of all, I think it is an added expense. Can't I just send a blast email or create a Facebook event to let everyone know about the date? Second of all, Shutterfly is making my want to drink a lot of wine. In an effort to create budget friendly save the dates and exercise some creativity, I decided to make a picture card. Sounds easy right? Should be a fairly easy process when you already have professional photographs from the engagement.

Two problems...

1). I look horrible in most of the engagement pictures. I think I am getting to the point in my life when I need to start using anti-wrinkle cream (hello friends...why have you not clued me into this need?). Why do I have squinty eyes and fine lines next to my eyes in every picture? Any picture I took when I tried to look serious should be burned immediately. I would be instantly eliminated on America's Next Top Model for only having one look - the giant smile. My favorite pictures from the engagement are the ones where Joe and I are looking at one another and not at the camera, and I am guessing that relatives want to see our faces (especially since many of the wedding guests might not even know who we are). There are some pretty cute kissing pictures, but Charlotte put it best...kissing pictures are tacky.

2). The one picture I like of Joe and I facing the camera (you can still see lines by my eyes, but oh well) won't fit in the image box on the card I picked out from Shutterfly. Come on...can't an annoyed bride-to-be get a break? Joe's head is slightly cut-off (I am laughing, but it's really not funny). I thought I would outsmart the program by cropping the picture in IPhoto. Yeah, that idea didn't work. (For fun I included the picture in this post.)

Why does this have to be so complicated? I am only working on the save the date. I can't imagine what it is going to be like when Joe and I try to make our own invitations (I bet you want to be a fly on our wall that night). I better stock the house with lots of wine.

Did I mention that Joe is at the Lakers game (lucky!) and I am dealing with photo card drama by myself? He has more patience than I do and is much better equipped for anything on the computer. Perhaps, this should be a groom project. He already met with the florist a few weeks ago when he was in St. Louis for work. I personally think he is a fantastic wedding planner. Maybe I should delegate more of the wedding planning duties to Joe. After all, the fun part (shopping for my dress and the bridesmaids dresses) is already over. Leave it to me to do the clothes shopping first!

I do have a rave about the wedding. Today's knot.com newsletter talked about wedding workouts. YAY! I looked at the play lists on the site and got some good music. Some of it was downright weird (but I am sure most of you say that about my play list suggestions) and a bit scary. I always like finding new music. What else will keep me motivated on the elliptical at 5:00am?

Weekend Review...Early Edition

When did I become so lame? I came home from work on Friday and took a two hour nap. This was one of those good naps where I entered into the REM cycle and had crazy dreams. Once I finally got my lazy self out of bed around 6:30pm I made some dinner. After dinner, I cleaned. Thrilling, I know. I even cleaned the baseboards. What got into me? Joe's brother is coming to LA tomorrow and I know he will be coming by the place. I don't think anyone (family included) should be exposed to the mess I create during the week. I am on the go constantly during the week, so I don't take time to clean. After my debut as a housewife, I sat down to watch 24. I felt a bit guilty about leaving Jack Bauer in my DVR for several days, but I wanted to wait to watch him save the world until I was able to focus for an hour. I was in bed just after 10:00pm. Jealous of my Friday night?

The good thing about being uber lame on a Friday, is that you are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed early on Saturday. I had to break my favorite Saturday routine (roll out of bed, make coffee and read for hours) to head straight to the gym. I wanted to ride the spin bike (shocker I know) in order to prepare for the audition I had this afternoon for a teaching position with my gym. My motivation for going straight to the gym on a Saturday...a latte from Starbucks after my workout. I had a good ride and felt mentally prepared for my audition and one of the best lattes of my life. I made the drive down to Long Beach for my audition and arrived 15 minutes early (gasp...I know. I am NEVER early!). I waited for the group exercise coordinator and when she walked in I introduced myself. We hit it off right away and I knew it would be a good audition. She noticed my engagement ring and we spent several minutes talking about weddings (thanks babe for picking out a great eye-catching rock!), because she is getting married later this summer. The audition was painless. The coordinator loved my first song (see below for the play list) and ended up offering me a teaching position on the spot. SCORE! I just need to fill out some paperwork at my gym and wait for a class to open. The hard part is over. I am hired!

After my audition, I headed to the Whole Foods (I wish the Cali stores had the frequent lunch buyer program. I have probably earned myself several free lunches by now) I went to on my first day in LA. As I was enjoying my salad outside I couldn't help but think about how far I have come since that first lunch. It has only been three months since the move and I already feel completely settled in. I have grown so much since the move. I have become very independent (forced because of Joe's travel schedule) and more comfortable with the city. I no longer hate driving on the highways and understand traffic is just a part of life out here (thank goodness for the DJ Tiesto CD I bought last weekend. DJ Tiesto has kept me calm during many intense driving situations). I have even learned how to cut people off, so I can get to where I need to go.

After lunch I got a pedicure (OPPS! I really suck at saving money!). I was driving down the Pacific Coast Highway and knew I would drive right by my new favorite pedicure place in Redondo Beach. It would have been silly to not get a pedicure. I was in the area after all. I tend to get in-grown toenails (GROSS I know. Sorry if this is TMI, but it helps me justify my pedi.) and the only way to get rid of them is to get a pedicure. I have to be kind to my feet since they get me to work everyday. Have I justified my pedi yet? It was extremely delightful and now my toenails are a gorgeous hot red color.

I have developed this bad habit of wanting an icy treat when I head to the beach towns. I discovered this all-natural frozen yogurt place last weekend in Manhattan Beach and got myself a little treat on Saturday and Sunday. Of course, I got a major craving again today (People I know I need to fit into a wedding dress in 9 months, I will work it off...hopefully!) and happened to spot a Pinkberry. This was my first experience at Pinkberry and definitely not my last. Hello heaven! I got a pomegranate flavored frozen yogurt topped with strawberries and yogurt white chocolate chips. Delightful! It can't be nearly as bad as the peanut butter perfection I devoured earlier in the week from Cold Stone. (Come on, I gave up sweets for lent, so I am clearly making up for lost time.)

When I got home I had to finish cleaning up the place for Joe's brother. My last major task was to pack away my laundry. I must have had six loads to fold and pack away. I have this horrible habit of dumping clean laundry on my dresser and just sifting through the pile when I am looking for something to wear. Packing away clothes is brutal. What's the point? You are only going to pull the item out of the drawer and wear it again soon. When faced with the dreadful task of packing away laundry, I recommend drinking red wine and listening to techno. After a few big gulps and some power fists the dreadful chore was complete.

Now I am just counting down the hours until Joe gets home and can't wait to see his brother (my soon to be big brother!). I am anticipating a great Sunday.

Here is the play list I used during my audition. I wanted to share it since it brought me good luck.
Crazy - Seal (warmup)
Sugar - Flo Rida
Juke Box Hero - Foreigner
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
Beggin - Madcon
Going Wrong - Armin Van Buuren
Right Now - Van Halen
Sharp Dressed Man - ZZ Top
Tomorrow Can Wait - David Guetta
Let Me Think About It - Ida Corr
Halo - Beyonce

Happy cycling!

My Favorite Questions

It is so much fun to tell people I have only been in LA since January (some people are kind of shocked and surprised). Their typical responses are to ask me if I like LA or if I am homesick. My answers to those questions are that I absolutely love LA and I am not homesick at all (sorry family).

What is not to love? I had a hard time agreeing to move to LA with Joe because of the life I had started to establish in St. Louis. I truly enjoyed my job (I actually looked forward to going into the office), I was building a strong network, I was active in the community I enjoyed spending time with my family and I had (well...I know I still have) some fabulous friends. When you are faced with a huge change in life, you can either embrace the change or resist the change. Once I made the decision to move to LA with Joe and he proposed to me I have not looked back. I have only been here a few months and I feel like I have lived here forever. I feel like I belong.

It took a couple of weeks to get adjusted, but I am back running at full speed. I have a phenomenal job that encourages me to grow personally and professionally, plus I am viewed as the marketing guru. I am having a great time integrating development responsibilities with marketing projects and hope to be making a positive impact while I am at it. I am involved with the Arthritis Foundation and they have already appointed me the Chair for the 2010 LA Walk. I am extremely honored and a bit nervous about the responsibilities associated with being a chair. I better start developing a network stat!! Speaking of networking, I am working on establishing a Los Angeles chapter for the Yellow-Tie networking association. I plan to get the chapter up and running by the end of the year. I am also marrying the love of my life and my high school sweetheart in December. We have a lot planned for the big day, but there are still a ton of minor details to arrange. I better carve out some time for wedding planning (I need to find another hairdresser. I just got word that mine is moving to Oklahoma...seriously?!). Funny, I work diligently on planning events for charity and work, but not for my own wedding (it makes a heck of a lot of difference when you are footing the bill). I am super pumped about having an audition with a gym this Saturday to hopefully (cross your fingers) get back into teaching spinning/cycling classes. My alarm goes off at 4:30 (I snooze at least once) every weekday, I hit the gym, work and usually end up at home sometime after 7:00pm. When people ask if I like LA, I think what's not to like. I have re-created my St. Louis life with the exception of my friends and family. A huge major perk about my life now...I get to go to the beach every weekend.

I don't have the time to be homesick, because I choose not to focus on missing St. Louis. I have fully embraced our new life. I think the changes have forced me to become more independent (especially since Joe has been traveling a ton for work. I have had to entertain myself a lot...probably explains why I have read so many books and bought quite a few new pieces of clothing...sorry babe. I know I need to save for the wedding, but I refuse to look like a frumpy housewife.). I also think I am more energized (for those of you that know me you might not think this is possible). Two different people have commented of my high energy and enthusiasm just today. I don't know how to explain it. Either I really love LA or I need to lay off the coffee.

It is going to be a great year and I am looking forward to blogging about my experiences. When Joe comes home and installs our internet (I am technologically challenged) I hope to be able to write more frequently. Some days when I get home, the last thing I want to do is lug my computer to the lobby. I am lucky if I was the makeup off my face before I crash into bed. But, I wouldn't want life to be any less crazy busy. You get one life to live, so live life to the fullest. Embrace change and don't wast time thinking about negative things that consume your positive energy.