Blog direction and play time

Hello!

I am back from my 2-week hiatus in full swing! How is everyone doing?

As you could probably tell (unless you’re in Google Reader!), I’ve changed around the blog a little bit so it’s more organized to my liking. After lots of thought, I decided to stick with Wearing Mascara because it’s me. Yes, I’ve changed but my blog is allowed to reflect that. I will continue to change – which is exciting!

I’ve also updated my Welcome page and adding a new page called Running. I plan to update the Running page with race recaps as well as how to get started running (I was there once too!). If you have any suggestions, please let me know. I have to admit, I had a lot of fun revamping the site to three-columns and adding a new Twitter icon on the side (cute, right?). Of course, more changes may happen in the future but for now, I feel good enough to post.

As I see it, the future of this blog will include me living a happy and healthy lifestyle. Of course, I will be adding my day-to-day randomness, but I’ll also be including my ideas and opinions about health-related topics. I hope you enjoy that

I’ve been up to a LOT in the past couple weeks! Some of it has been for my school and professional life but I’ve done a lot of eating out, running, and I visited Ohio for the weekend.

Here’s a run down:

School and professional life…

Not much has changed on this front except I’m actively applying for jobs for next year. Yikes – it’s a scary process, indeed. The best part is that I invested in a new suit from The Limited! They are having a 40% off suit sale so I thought now is the time to buy. I was so right! I got this baby and didn’t even have to get it tailored:

Yay for iPhone quality! I love it and did not pay much at all considering it’s a suit. Besides that, I’m giving a presentation on Friday to my entire school. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. Typically, presentations don’t scare me but this is my first “professional” one where I’m not preaching to my classmates. Instead, I need to relate it to many professionals in different careers.

Personal life:

I’ve been doing a lot of socializing, eating out, and running. It’s been great!

Two weekends ago, I went home to visit my family. Liam, my nephew, definitely took the stage and showed us a great time! He especially liked playing with Dan. Then, in the middle of it all, Liam bent down and gave Dan a forehead kiss!

It was sad when he had to go to bed. He and I had cuddle time while he was in his PJ’s:

Last weekend, I went out with some friends to celebrate St. Patty’s Day. It was so much fun to hang out with the girls.

St. Patrick’s Day has been a significant holiday ever since I met Dan. Four years ago today, Dan and I met for the first time. It was scary, happy, awesome, and exciting all rolled into one. We didn’t know if it would work out (him being in DC and at the time, I was in Ohio having been accepted to graduate school in DC) but we wanted to try. And by golly, it worked! Tomorrow is our official four year anniversary so look for a post about it.

Running wise, I’ve been doing well! I’ve conquered 6-miles with ease up until this point. I just LOVE how running makes me feel. Yes, it’s hard and when I come home, all I want to sleep but it’s so worth it! Recently, one really important thing I’ve learned about my body is that after my long runs, I’m prone to headaches no matter how much water I drink. Therefore, I’ve been replenishing with ZICO: Pure Coconut Water instead (you can buy it at Whole Foods).

According to their website, the benefits of Coconut water are plentiful!

- Muscle performance

- All-natural energy

- Weight loss aid

- Hearth health

- Stress reduction

- Skin, hair, and nail health

- Alkaline balance

- Mental acuity

- Kidney cleansing

- Natural hang-over cure (good to know for St. Patrick’s Day, right? )

I try to drink an 8-ounce glass within 15 minutes of my long runs or when I’m feeling extra tired after my slow runs. Bye-bye headaches!

This weekend, I’m off to DC (finally! It’s been forever!) to visit Dan and celebrate four years together. Last minute, Kristen (who I still haven’t met yet!), my friend, and I decided we are going to run a 5K on Saturday morning to support breast cancer research. It will be a great day and I’m hoping the weather is as nice as it is today!

Whew – that’s all for now! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Julie