The Necklace Factory + A Contest

A few weeks ago I had a deal on VeryJane.com. I had an explosion of necklace sales, and now I'm aiming to get them all out by next Friday! Having an office again has helped tremendously and I plan on asking Mr. &, i.e. Rob, to help as well (he is an excellent necklace assembler).

Thought I'd share a peak of the new office, even though it's far from finished. Rob has half the room as his study and I get the other half for my shop. Although he did get both windows out the deal, I did get the most wall space and a closet ;)

The cubby space on the wall was made by my uncle back in 2002. I first used it to display my beanie baby collection and then it evolved into my CD collection. It's one of the best things I've ever been given and I'm hoping it lasts till I'm 90.

The last little thing I wanted to mention was a CONTEST! I want you guys to help me pick a new color combination for my double flower necklace design. In one week, December 7th, I will chose my favorite new combination and the winner will receive the brand new necklace design. Please share the contest with your friends, the more the merrier, and who knows maybe a few people will win ;) To view the 10 colors already available look here. Good luck!

Anyone Can Run // Setting Up for Success

So now you've decided what your goals are (start here if you missed the first post). Setting a goal is the easy part, now you have to execute.

Setting a Goal // Where I go wrong with setting goals, is making a goal with no wiggle room. Let's say I make a goal to run every weekday. Well Thursday comes along and something comes up, now I'm four days in and in my mind I've already failed. Where I really failed is not having a backup plan. Maybe I establish that if I miss a day of running that I make it up on a weekend. Whatever your goal is, have a backup plan for missing a day.

Rewards // I've seen so many great ideas for rewards, DO NOT REWARD yourself with food. Why? Because we are not dogs... and food should never be a reward for exercise. Rewarding yourself with guilty food only allows for bad food relationships to develop. (personal opinion, but I've personally felt the negative effects). I like to reward myself with feel good things. Like new running clothes or new shoes. I'm also a very visual person when it comes to goals. I make a calendar and cross off each day I accomplished my goal. I've seen some people put a dollar in a jar after every workout or a marble. Once you reach 'x' amount you reward yourself.

Running is about mindset. Once you remove all the negative thoughts and feelings towards running, you will get so much more out of it. For new runners, I recommend having a goal to walk 30 minutes 3x a week. Add more days as you progress, or add incline. Each week add a new variable that will challenge you, but also keep things interesting.

Holding Yourself Accountable // In reality, only you can hold yourself accountable. However, making things public sure adds some accountability. Maybe state your goal on Facebook, twitter or your blog. I know Elise Joy is doing a #mileaday instagram post. She takes a picture everyday on her run. This is a great way for people to cheer you on and hold yourself accountable. I plan to join Elise in aiming to run a mile a day, no excuses.

Homework// Post your goal here, on your refrigerator, on your blog, wherever. Establish some goal wiggle room. I'm allowing myself to miss one day a week, but only for real excuses. Create a fun playlist for the first week.

Anyone Can Run // How to Start Running

Background: I was NEVER athletic. I basically willed myself into running and running became the place I went to when I needed to escape it all. When I first began running I was horrible, I couldn't run very far without my lungs feeling like they might explode. I kept at it and started to compete with myself. The key to running or any exercise, you must allow yourself to enjoy the process. If every day it was easy to get your running shoes on and sprint three miles there would be no reward. The days I drag myself out the door and force one foot in front of the other, are the times I get the most out of running.

Over the next few weeks leading up to 2013, I want to share with you my running secrets, downfalls and moments where running was all I had. I want to help you train for your next 5k, develop a schedule, prepare for longer races like a 10k or half marathon and allow you to ask questions. I'd love for you to introduce yourselves and where you are with running. I've had multiple e-mails requesting running tips and training schedules, so here we go. I'm going to prove that 'Anyone Can Run'.

Homework: Decide what you would like to get out of running. Establish a goal, be realistic. We start running on December 1st. Whether it's once a week or 5x a week. So figure out what you can stick with for 4 weeks and get your gear ready.

Currently

I am so busy that I don't even know where to start. I've had a half-marathon, an engagement party, two dress fittings, Thanksgiving and trying to put the house together. To say I'm overwhelmed is an understatement. Yesterday I finally got all 200 announcements out the door, I hand addressed each one... brutal.

my future SIL and I getting ready for the engagement party

The house needs a lot of love, and Rob and I only have evenings and the occasional weekend to dive in. The past two weeks we've been working on painting the living room and what will be our offices. Back in early November I ripped up the carpet and this past weekend my Uncle helped us lay new wood flooring down. He did an amazing job and we can't thank him enough. Rob finished the second coat of paint in the office two nights ago, now we just need to clean up our painting mess and move the furniture back in. I cannot tell you how excited I am to have my own space for the business, I probably won't believe it till I'm all settled in.

new flooring

old flooring

Other than that we've been trying to eat healthy and workout. We cook most nights and try to only eat out once a week, which is a drastic change to our typical routine. I love living in the house and having a place of my own. I'll be even more in love once Rob officially moves in after the wedding. I hate sleeping here alone, but at least I have the dogs.

Parker and Molly

That's about it over here. I'll try to take some photos of the house and give a tour, that way we can compare the before to hopefully a few months from now. I'm sorry the blog has been bare. Don't worry because its not permanent and I have a lot of new things planned for 2013.

Engagement Photos

I cannot even explain what these photos mean to me and Rob. They capture a time in our lives that will never be repeated. They represent the beginning of "us" and it is just icing on the cake that Rob's sister, Amelia, was our photographer. Amelia and her business partner Graham met us at Alys Beach, Florida a few weekends ago. Even though Rob and I have to be the most awkward people to take photos of they managed to get some amazing images. If you need an amazing wedding photographer Bound By is the place to check out, plus they are hilarious to be around.

Around Here

I feel like I've totally abandoned this blog, don't worry it's not permanent. Last weekend I moved into a house, YES! a house! The home belongs to Rob's brother-in-law, and was built by Rob's great grandfather. It's an amazing home and we've been cleaning and moving for the last week. We still have a lot to do, and I plan on sharing all my progress on the blog.

As for wedding plans, it's all coming together pretty well. The legal side of trying to get married in Italy is hard work and costly, but we are determined to do this the way we want and end up legally married in Italy. I ordered my engagement announcements Friday and I'm hoping to mail them out this coming weekend. The dress shop called me and my dress is ready for it's first fitting. I'm going to have to wait till next week to go try it on, but that also gives me about 10 more days to get serious about working out. I didn't need to lose much, really any, but I ordered down a size to motivate myself. I think I was slightly crazy for doing so.

Speaking of fitness, Sunday I ran my 2nd half marathon. I'll do a full post on it soon, but wow! I am so out of running shape. My knees just hate running now. Not sure what else to do about my IT bands, but they were in screaming pain the last 6 miles... I had to run/walk, but mostly walk the last 2 miles. I've never felt anything like it, kinda felt like someone was drilling into the sides of my knee caps. BUT, I finished. I was really proud for not giving up or just walking once I had pain. My whole body really hurts today, lots of baths in my future. The really bright spot of the race was getting to see my friend Walker who lives out in L.A., she flew in and we stayed at her families beach home. It was so nice to get away for two days and laugh with a girlfriend.

This month I'm hoping to put out some posts on training for any distance, how to start running, home makeover projects and how to decorate a Thanksgiving themed table. Ya'll hold me accountable :)