Becky at Choose Happy has been running a fun link up party called Currently. I join Becky for her Currently link up series once a month. I thought it would be a fun way to update everyone on my life in a light way through photos and blurbs of text.
Currently…
Exercise
I got into the Chicago Marathon!!! Woohoo! I found a training plan and I’ll start training on June 5th! The training plan I’m using is by Hal Higdon and you can find it by clicking HERE. I decided to go with the Novice 2, which is 4 runs a week… I normally do 3 runs a week totaling 17 miles. The training plan is for 18 weeks, normally I train for 12 weeks for a half marathon. It is going to be HARD to get all of this training in while the kids are off school, but I’ll do it! Plus, two of the weeks I’ll be on vacation and one of them we’ll be in Italy. So… it’s going to be a challenge. The marathon is going to be SO worth it though, this is truly a dream come true! My hands literally started shaking when I opened the email that morning and saw I was in!! I had been told by SO many people not to get my hopes up, that it was hard to get in. I really lucked out!
Brian reserved a private tent for us on race day (he spoils me TOO much!) and it includes private bathrooms and breakfast (hope I’m not to nervous to eat!). We are staying at the race hotel, which is the Chicago Hilton. I am SO excited, but… really nervous, too. I think if I can get through 18 weeks of training, running the race will be a peace of cake.
I also hope to meet Jill from Doused in Pink while I’m in Chicago! We do the Thursday Fashion Files together!
If anyone has any tips on special diets for marathons (or links), or if my Garmin will work during the race (my moms dentist ran it and said there is NO signal) or any marathon advice at all. PLEASE SHARE!!!! Or, if you just want to give me words of comfort or encouragement, I’ll take that, too! 😉
Upcoming Vacations
I am excited, because we have two vacations coming up! Our trip to Big Cedar in Branson with the kids next month and our Italy trip to Rome, Florence and Venice in July! Is it bad I am the most excited about our 3 hour wine tour we just booked in Florence? Or maybe I just love wine too much? 😉 I need to start getting things together for our trip to Big Cedar next month, such as outfits and I want to plan some activities. The Big Cedar resort is owned by the owner of Bass Pro and there is supposed to be SO much to do on this resort that we don’t even need to leave. However, I want to spend a day at Silver Dollar City (theme park/anitque) and do a kids themed (princess/pirate) riverboat ride. I’m also tinkering around with the idea of hiring a photographer to take family photos, although I’m just not sure yet.
For our trip to Italy, I need to figure out luggage since we’ll be traveling by train in-between cities and will need to take everything with us. I also want to figure out some restaurants for us to dine at. Otherwise, we have all of our day trips booked. We have one entire day in Rome open, since it is Sunday and a lot of the tours/Vatican is closed. It might be nice to have a day open to do whatever we want, though.
StriVectin
Recently I tried out StriVectin’s hair products (see HERE) and was really pleased with them! Last month, they sent me their new Intensive Eye Concentrate for Wrinkles. This was a full size bottle that they sent me, so I have been using it twice a day for several weeks now.
Want to see a little before and after photo? Left is before I started using it and right is after! I’ve been pleased with the results so far! It seems to brighten my under eye circles and the lines under my eyes seem lighter and less noticeable since I’ve been using the concentrate. It is also amazing to see the difference in my teeth from my Invisalign is just one month in these two photos! I am hoping to do an Invisalign update post on the blog SOON. I have SO much to say about it!
Happy Hair
I have received two products in my March and April Ipsy bags that have made my hair SO happy! I have the most high maintenance hair, it is naturally curly. I am not crazy about my natural curl, so I either add some more relaxed curls throughout my naturally curly hair OR I flat iron it.
We are starting to get into the more humid weather here in St. Louis and instead of wearing my hair up all the time I try to use better products in my hair that keep it set for the entire day. I noticed a huge change right away when I started using Marc Anthony’s Smoothing Cream in my hair. It only seems to work if I put it in and BLOW DRY my hair. It doesn’t work nearly as well if I put it in and let my hair air dry. Day two and three with it in my hair are the absolute best days. When I first started using it, I just thought I was having some good hair days and then I realized… wow, this stuff is REALLY amazing! It just makes my hair less ‘poofy’ and more sleek and really SMOOTH. I just ran out and I will definitely be buying another bottle at Ultra.
Now, I was also sent a bottle of the Moroccan Oil, which my stylist uses a spray form of this in my hair while she is flat ironing it. I have been using BioSilk Silk Therapy in my hair to protect it from the heat, but wow… This Moroccan Oil is just AMAZING! After I finish up my BioSilk, I am never going back and I’ll be buying Moroccan Oil instead. Sadly, I think the Moroccan Oil is a little more pricey, though. I can’t get over how good it smells, too. I rub it all over my hands before I put it in my hair and I just have to take a huge whiff of it… ahhh. Is that weird? #TMI
You can read my original reviews on the Marc Anthony Smoothing Cream HERE and the Moroccan Oil HERE.
Reading
I FINALLY finished a book this month!
I’ve been a little slow at reading the last couple of months, but I finally finished The Husband’s Secret. This book is about Cecelia, a wife that has it all together UNTIL… she finds a note that her husband wrote for her to open upon his death. This secret turns her life and their marriage upside down. This book had me thinking while I was reading it about what would I do if I were Cecelia? Would I be able to keep my husband’s dark secret if I knew it would turn my life and my kids lives upside down? Would I still be able to love my husband? This secret also affects Rachel and Tess, two other characters in the book. Read the book to find out if Cecelia keeps the secret to herself or not. This is the second book I’ve read by Liane Moriarty, the first one I read was Big Little Lies. The next book I have on my list to read by Moriarty is What Alice Forgets.
Strawberry Picking
The kids had May Madness (similar to a field day) last Friday and they also had a half day of school. It was a beautiful day, so Brian took off work and we went strawberry picking! We must have went at the perfect time, because the strawberries were BRIGHT red and so juicy! Delish!
I can’t wait to make THIS pie. It is Autumn’s favorite pie that I make and I make it every year after we go strawberry picking. I am also planning to make a few recipes from my Strawberry Dessert Pin Board.
Lauren from Mom Home Guide is also sharing her Currently post today!
Be sure to stop by to check it out!
Well, that is all I have today. Be sure to join Becky in this link up series sometime, it is a lot of fun!
