What I Wore {post 45}: Style Me May Challenge [week 4]

Ahhhh. Friday.  I love short weeks!  I'm still going strong with the Style Me May challenge! I've posted my week 1 looks, week 2 looks and week 3 looks.  Week 4 was pretty good too.

May 19: Trend That's Never Out

I wore two trends: stripes and a peplum top.  I think both are always "in" and always will be.  The top is from Loft around Christmas 2013 and the skirt is a find from Forever 21 last year.  

May 20:  All Black Like a Spy

Well, this was easy: I just wore a black dress.  I had a presentation at work, so I couldn't get too bold here.  I wore my black sheath dress from Banana Republic Factory and a fun long necklace from the J.crew outlet.  I wore leopard print flats with the outfit - I have to limit heels with all my training and I had a long run the next day.  

May 21:  Your Best Foot Forward

I so so so so so so so wanted to wear a beautiful pair of heels.  This was a shoe challenge!  But, alas, I had done a 15 mile run that morning and my legs were not having heels.  Instead, I wore my favorite yellow flats.  They're from NY & Co. from a few years ago and I love them.  I wore a printed NY & Co. top with a pair of pants from the Banana Republic Factory that cost about $11.  I had to have them tailored, but it was worth it.  

May 22:  Rebel With a Cause

Ok. I took some liberties with this one.  I am not a rebel.  I'm just not.  I don't own leather.  I don't (and can't) dress like a rebel.  That's just not a look I can pull off.  So I searched for the movie "Rebel Without A Cause" and took my cues from the women in that.  This picture in particular. 

I wore my pink fitted top with a pleated white skirt and belt.  Oh and gold ballet flats.  

May 23:  Blushing Beauty Red White & Blue

I have two blush colored shirts and they are long sleeved. It was hot this day so I nixed the "blushing beauty" challenge and used "red white and blue" instead, which was scheduled for Memorial Day Monday.  I wore an old old old Old Navy blue and white striped top, jeans and my red flats.  I was a yankee doodle dandy.  

Have a great weekend!  

See you swoon,

IMLP Training Recap: Week 27

Well.  Wow.  13 hours of training last week.  I remember last year a colleague of mine was training for an Ironman and she said May and June were the peak of training.  I can absolutely see that.  Despite the fact that I had a rest day, week 27 week was hard: long run, long bike, really hard swim.  I'm taking everything day by day, workout by workout, but the miles and hours are definitely starting to accumulate.  Despite the effort, I am feeling good and happy and strong.  This picture of me at the half-way point of my 90 mile ride this Saturday captures how I'm feeling.  Also: I am happy because I have food in my hand.  I was transferring my second half food from my jersey to my bike's fuel box.

Plus, when you have a ride that involves these views ... life ain't so bad.  Even if that life involves 90 miles of biking in one day.

Here we go with week 27:

Week 27: 13:17:57 hours

Swam: 1:47:19 hours (4,591 yards)

Biked:  8:06:53 hours (90.1 miles outside; remainder on trainer)

Ran:  3:19:27 hours (21 miles)

Workouts:

Monday: Rest day! Rest day!
Tuesday: Bike with Tempo & Shake Out Run
Wednesday:  Long Run (15 miles)
Thursday:  Hard Swim
Friday:  Easy Brick
Saturday:  90 mile bike
Sunday:  Open Water Swim

Ah Monday.  I enjoyed the rest day after a back-to-back long 80 mile ride and then a sprint triathlon.

Tuesday was a hard bike: 10 minute endurance and 40 at tempo.  Tempo isn't *that* bad but it's an increase in effort.  I had a 3 mile shake out run, too, which I did in the afternoon.

Wednesday was a long run - 15 miles - which I did with Amy. I was really glad we could coordinate schedules and run together.  I really enjoyed this run, but I felt so wiped out after.

Funny thing: I took off my Fuel Belt after this run and as it was sitting on my counter, I realized it's Ironman brand.  I have worn this belt for 12 years now and it only just now occurred to me what that meant!

Dorky or not, you will have to pry this Fuel Belt from my kung fu grip.

Thursday was a hard swim - 2700 yards, which isn't that bad, but the main set was 4x400 yards at "hard" effort.  I think swimming "hard" is much harder than biking or running hard.  But I got it done.

Friday was an easy brick: 50 minutes on the bike and 30 minute run - all endurance pace.  It felt pretty good.

Saturday was a long ride: 90 miles.  I did it up in the Poconos and it took me through three states: PA, NY and NJ.  Three states!   The views above are from that ride. Here I am about 20 miles in, just over the PA/NY border.  I had just jammed some food in my mouth, so I'm rocking a sort of chipmunk cheek look.

The topography of the ride was so similar to Lake Placid - it was some climbs in the beginning, then lots of descending (including one really steep descent where an idiot little dog ran into the street and who I promptly cursed out), then a bunch of flats, then a steady climb back.  The ride was gorgeous and included this gem in Hawk's Nest, right outside of Port Jervis, New York.

It was that beautiful and it was that fun.   When I first saw that road in front of me, I gasped in a good way.  Were I not training for this race, I would have never seen this gorgeous sight.  It was one of those "I am so lucky to be able to do this" moments.  

Sunday was an open water swim - 1.2 miles in a stunning lake.  A friend of mine supported me via kayak.

And here I am at the end of the swim: all smiles after a great swim.  Also, swim cap and goggles are the great equalizer.  We all look hot in swim cap and goggles.

This week it's getting even more real, ya'll: 16 mile run, 3000 yard swim, long bike followed by a very challenging sprint race on Sunday.  But because IMLP is officially less than 2 months away, I'll keep plugging away.

See you swoon,

What I Wore {post 44}: Style Me May Challenge [week 3]

I love love love this Style Me May challenge!  It's almost like having a coach, which I love having for Ironman training because it takes all thought out of what to do: someone tells me what to do, and I do it.  This is very similar. I look at what's scheduled for each day and then just figure out what I'm wearing.  I blogged about week 1 and week 2 already.    

Week 3 of the challenge was a little tricky because some of the challenges didn't really work with my work schedule.  So I moved things around a bit.  Plus, I'll be honest: I really wanted an excuse to wear my Nantucket Red skirt and the "Nantucket Prep" challenge was scheduled for a weekend day.  

Here's the challenge:

May 12: Brights & Stripes

This one was easy: I wore an outfit that I put together last Summer: a striped bateau neckline top that I bought at Bloomingdales a really long time ago, a mustard yellow pencil skirt from Piperlime (I think I bought it last year), and my turquoise bubble necklace.  This skirt is pretty much my equivalent to my bathroom scale (which I rarely get on).  If I can fit into it, I know I'm good to go weight-wise.  Someone photo-bombed me too.

May 13:  {Owned For} The Last 5 Years

A lot of my wardrobe could fit into this category!  It was hot this day, I had done a run, and I had a busy day at work ahead, so I kept it really simple.  The shirt is from Banana Republic in 2001 - I remember buying this before I started working at my firm after law school, and I wore it on Sept. 11, 2001.  I'll always remember it for that reason.  I wore my navy pants from Banana Republic and some flats.

May 14:  Nantucket Prep [instead of Wild Thing]

I moved things around here.  My Nantucket Red skirt seemed perfect for Wednesday (I couldn't wear Thursday because I had a client meeting and Friday is jeans day at work, so I didn't want to wear then).  I paired my Nantucket Red skirt with a turquoise chambray buttondown from Banana.  I wore my metallic boat shoes (a steal at $15 from LL Bean on clearance -- I guess not many people wanted metallic boat shoes, but this girl sure did!).

May 15:  Wild Thing [instead of Makesmewantto Dancegram]

This could also fit into the "owned for the last 5 years" category.  The skirt is from the Summer of 2000 - I bought it while I was a summer associate at my firm at the j.crew store in the Shops at Liberty Place in Philly.  I've had it tailored since then and love it.  I had to meet a client and it was way too hot to wear a suit, so I wore this with my fitted white buttondown from Banana Republic from 2010.  I really love this shirt.  

May 16: Pop of Pink

This picture is a little crazy because I took it at the end of the day: I had a morning swim, so I got ready at the YMCA.  It was insanely rainy, so my hair got all frizzy and wavy and pretty horrible looking.  Anyway ... I wore my bootcut jeans with gold flats and a bright coral top and sweater.  

Fun fun fun.  Just a couple more weeks left!  Which means June is around the corner! Oh no.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend! 

See you swoon,

Race Recap: 2014 Upper Dublin Sprint Triathlon

One thing I love about doing the same race year after year is the true apples-to-apples comparison you can make from one year to the next and the true measure of progress.  I've done the Upper Dublin Sprint Triathlon for the three years that it has existed, and I love it.  It was my first ever triathlon, so it will always have a soft spot in my heart.  

I always want to beat my last best time, and if realistic, I like to place.  I was hopeful that this year I could pull out a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in my age group. The only wrinkle in this hope was the fact that I had an 80 mile bike ride the day before the race this year.  

Despite my long ride, I still beat my prior best time!  I finished in 1:13:05, 4th in my Age Group and was 68th of 281 athletes overall.  Last year, for comparison's sake, I finished in 1:15:21, was also 4th in my Age Group and was 82nd of 281 athletes.  That is some serious progress especially on really taxed and tired legs.  [last year's race recap is right here] (and this is almost 10 minutes faster than my time in 2012.  It just goes to show that the best and only way to get better and faster at triathlon is to do more and more triathlons!)

Here are the details.  

Swim:  350 meters:  8:24 [last year: 8:14; 2012: 8:39]

Not gonna lie: I am not happy with this swim.  I hopped in the pool, pushed off the wall and immediately felt my body rebel a bit. I pushed through.  I was swimming fine and it felt fast and the guy behind me passed me.  That was fine and I drafted off of him and then started to hit his feet, which meant it was time to pass.  Only, every time I tried to pass him, he would speed up.  I could not pass!  And then he would slow and I would be stuck.  It was this cycle for about 8 laps of the race.  I honestly felt like I was faster in the pool or I may have tried to swim my heart out and pass.  Ah ... what are you gonna do.  

T1:  1:11 [last year: 1:41; 2012: 2:09]

I absolutely refused to lose any time in transition in this race.  I threw on my helmet and sunglasses and quickly dried my feet and threw on my socks and bike shoes and off I went -- I was 24th overall in T1 so I guess my plan worked!  I had no idea this photo was taken of me, but I feel pretty badass about it.

Rar.

Bike:  11.2 miles:  37:36 (17.9 mph) [last year: 37:50 (17.8 mph); 2012: 41:54 (16 mph)

The.bike.was.hard.  I know this course well - I have ridden it for two years now and I've driven the roads a million times.  I know the hills and I know the flat spots.  I got on the bike and my legs were just screaming at me.  I spent most of the ride in aero, which was good.  I also got in the drops on the descents and pedaled my way down.  I knew the ride wasn't my strongest, so I wanted to take advantage of any speed I could get.  I'm happy with this bike given my long ride the day before.  I'm psyched that my bike was 90th of the 281 people in the race.  

T2:  :51 [last year: 1:42; 2012: 1:11]

This would have been faster, but I lost my bearings for a second and couldn't find my bike rack!  I found it, threw the bike up, took off my helmet and sunglasses, threw on my sneakers, grabbed my race belt and sprinted out of transition.  I put the race belt on while on the run.  I was 31st overall for my T2 time.  

Run:  3.1. miles: 25:04 (8:06/mile) [last year: 25:46 (8:22/mile); 2012: 28:23 (9:10/mile)]

The first mile of the race was pretty hard.  My legs hurt.  It was tough to turn them over.  My breathing was all out of whack.  But eventually I settled in and my pace quickened.  The run was a tough effort but it also felt good.  No one passed me on the run. I passed a bunch of people.  I liked that.  I also like that my run time was 69th overall.  I love this picture of me on the run, not because of how I look, but because the kid behind me is clearly checking out my butt.  

Even though I wore my watch, I rarely checked it.  I went by feel, which was a good thing.  I knew I was hitting the race as hard as I could, and I figured if I was checking my watch, I would likely either get down because I wasn't going as fast as I thought I was or I'd see how fast I was going and get complacent and stop pushing.  

So, all in all, I am happy.  A little meh about the swim, but I must keep reminding myself that I biked 80 miles the day before.  My coach is thrilled that I had a 2 minute PR after such a long ride the day before.  I am pleased.  

The next, and final, race before IMLP is the Black Bear triathlon in a few weeks.  It will likely be the day after a long ride like this one.  And the bike portion of the Black Bear race is a, pardon the pun, total bear of a course.  Hilly hilly hilly.  But I'm glad to have one final race with the competitive vibe, the transitions, an open water swim and a finish line before the big dance in July.  

See you swoon,

IMLP Training Recap: Week 26

Hello! I hope everyone had a great weekend.  IMLP is officially less than 10 weeks away.  That is really close.  I am still not ready for the race, so I'm trying to be thankful for all of these hard training weeks still ahead.  Amy and I joke that IMLP is our "Ironbaby" ... we have been training about as long as you'd be pregnant with a baby, and at this point, we are in the third trimester.  I have a feeling at the very end, I will feel much like I did with my first pregnancy: a little nervous but d-o-n-e and just ready to get the show on the road.  I'm not quite at that point yet.

Readers of the blog probably wonder where the heck my house-related posts are.  They're not happening.  Honestly, I'm stretched thin these days between kids and spending as much time with them as I can, training and work.  I am doing just what needs to be done around the house.  I've even broken down and hired a cleaning person because I couldn't find the time (and frankly wasn't making the time) to keep my house clean.  I am hoping to tackle three house projects around Memorial Day weekend and in early June: (1) paint the playroom furniture; (2) hang the frames in my stairwell and (3) hang a few things on the wall in the dining room.

I hope those of you who come here for house posts will forgive me for these last 10 weeks!  It's all IM all the time around these parts.

Week 26: 12:04:37 hours (wow)

Swam: 1:36:24 hours (4,434 yards)

Biked:  7:53:38 hours (91.3 miles outside; remainder on trainer)

Ran:  2:32:16 hours (17.1 miles)

Workouts:

Monday:  easy endurance bike
Tuesday:  bike with tempo + shake out run
Wednesday: open water swim
Thursday: long run (11 miles)
Friday:  easy recovery swim
Saturday:  80 mile bike
Sunday: RACE! Sprint Triathlon (350 meter swim; 11.2 mile bike; 5k run)

So we've gone from Winter to Summer!  It was hot this week.  Gah.

Monday - not much to say about this workout.  It was an easy 50 minutes on the trainer at endurance pace.

Tuesday - I had a pretty short bike but with some tempo work and then a 3 mile shake out run.  I wore my new favorite running top on the run: the Lululemon Tone It Tank.  I saw some really good reviews of this tank and decided to give it a try.  Ummmmm, it's great.  It would absolutely not work for someone with a larger chest, but for me it works great and is super supportive, comfortable and flattering.  I am going to order it in a different color, because this will be my go to top for hot weather running.

Wednesday hooray.  Open water swim!  A local multisport coaching group offers open water swims at a local state park in the Spring and Summer.  I was thrilled to get back to it.  They set up a 1/4 mile course around some buoys and offer lifeguards on kayaks in the water.  I credit going to these swims  last year on a regular basis with getting over my panic in the open water.   I did 1.5 miles, or 6 laps of the buoys, that afternoon.  The swim felt great. I could have easily kept on swimming.  And they offer cookies and other assorted treats! Cookies!

Thursday was a long run - 11 miles with the now very familiar 9 minutes run/1 minute walk repeat. Even with the walking and a bunch of hills, my pace was still good, and better than that, I felt like I could have run all day long.  The conditions were pretty perfect for running too: cool, cloudy, misty.  I also appreciate that I burned exactly 1,000 calories.  Prepare yourself for the extreme hotness that is my fuel belt.

Friday I had an easy recovery swim and it was really short. I suppose that was by design after my long run and before my long bike and sprint tri.  It took less than an hour and was just 1700 yards.  I felt like I was getting away with something.

Saturday: 80 miles on the bike.  The kids went with their dad so that I could bike and it took me about 5 hours and 45 minutes.  It would have been shorter, but for a lot of traffic lights.  I found an 80 mile ride on Map My Ride and it looked simple enough.  I made a cue sheet on an index card and taped it to my bike stem.  Let me just say: if you choose roads that end in a "Pike", expect a lot of traffic.  I dealt with traffic and dicey road conditions for the first 10 miles of the ride.  10 miles in, I realized I was at the 202  Trail.  My friend Robyn has talked about running on this, so I took a detour.  Right before I turned onto the trail, some jerkwad in a black Mercedes wagon got so close to me I could touch his car ... just as I was riding over a big patch of gravel.  But for the grace of God, I managed to stay on my bike and not fall over.  I gave him the one finger salute and yelled out a handful of very choice words.  Honestly, that was terrifying.  I rode the trail and realized it was 15 miles, though with a bunch of lights unfortunately.  Still ... no traffic, no cars, no dogs and perfect, pristine road surface.  After I did the trail, I headed back on my intended route, only to dead end at a very busy intersection.  I had no interest in riding on that road.  So I went back to the trail and rode it a few more times to get to 65 miles, and then headed back to my start point.  I had to to another little detour around Upper Dublin Township.  I was stopped at a light and rather than get in the shoulder, I was in the lane of traffic, which I thought was much safer.  Some jerkwad in a green Jeep Liberty got really close to me.  I turned around and yelled, "How about a little room here, pal?" and he said something asinine and then I just gave him the stare of death.  I managed to make it back to the start of my ride with 80.1 miles in the bank and 0.0 injuries.  It was a great ride, despite the motorist drama.  I think/hope that most of my remaining long bike rides will be with Amy and/or Amy & Bill.

Sunday was my sprint tri.  I'll do a full race recap later this week, but I am pleased.  I had a 2 minute PR, which I was happy about.  Honestly, after the 80 miles of biking the day before, my legs were kind of like this when I hopped on my bike at the race:

Despite the fatigue, I managed a faster bike than last year and a faster run than last year (and I completely blew my old transition times out of the water).  I snagged a 4th place in my age group, which is good enough for me.

Dudes - Memorial Day weekend is this coming weekend.  Amy, Bill and I are heading up to Amy and Bill's lake house for some Memorial Day fun and some swim-bike-running and a big fat 90 mile bike ride.  What else? 

Have a great week! 

See you swoon,

What I Wore {post 43}: Style Me May Challenge [week 2]

Hello and happy Friday!  My internet is still not working right.  Very annoying.  Not conducive to blogging or sanity.  I have discovered it's something with the Wi-Fi and my computer: they don't get along at all.  Yet, my iPad works fantastic at home.  And my computer works with the Wi-Fi at other places.  So for now, my workaround is to hook my laptop to the modem directly via ethernet cable.  It just got all 1995 up in this piece!

Anyway, I'm still having fun with the Style Me May challenge!  

Here are the week 2 outfits.

May 5: Colorful Cinco De Mayo

I went super colorful on this day.  I wore my coral pencil skirt from j.crew factory with a Vineyard Vines seaglass colored cotton top.  My persimmon bubble necklace matches the pencil skirt pretty well, so I added that.  I kept the shoes nice and neutral.  

May 6:  Pretty Little Layers

I love this top from Banana Republic - all the layers around the neck are really fun. It works great solo or, like I wore this day, layered with a sweater.  I wore my lightweight white cardigan from Gap and my pale pink pants with silver flats. 

May 7:  The Mane Event

Honestly, I was a little stumped on what to wear here.  I didn't really have anything horse related, so I went with an equestrian type theme and wore my brown riding boots.  I wore an army green wrap skirt from Target from a few years ago, a white wrap shirt from Banana Republic and a brown leather belt.  I wore my hair back in a ponytail, but that was because it's time for a haircut and it wasn't behaving. 

May 8:  White Out

This was easy enough, but I was terrified I'd spill something on myself.  Miraculously, that did not happen!  I wore my white pants from Gap with a Gap sheer top.  Nude heels.  Looking at this pic, I wish I'd thrown on a belt.  

May 9:  Borrowed From the Boys

I wore my boyfriend jeans with a blousey black top.  I thought the outfit was a little boring, so I wore my crystal bubble necklace.  The boyfriend jeans are from the Gap Outlet from a few years ago: I roll them up at the ankle.  They're also kind of annoying because they fit great for about an hour and then stretch and I am hiking them up all day.   

These style challenges are super fun!  This week (which I will share next week) has been a challenge and I've moved a few of them around based on my work schedule.  Stay tuned!

And have a great weekend!  I have a busy one: 80 mile bike ride tomorrow and then my third time racing the Upper Dublin Sprint Triathlon on Sunday.  I'm going to race my heart out.  The race plan is to just hammer the entire race hard the entire time.  With distances of 350 meters in the pool, 11 miles on the bike and a 5k, I can do that.  Last year I did it in 1:15.  I want to do it in 1:10 this year.  I'll be back next week with a race recap!

See you swoon,

IMLP Training Recap: Week 25

I feel like I'm in a cycle of work out, recover, eat, sleep, repeat.  Oh and work my actual job.  Going forward it looks like I'm doing a long ride of at least 60 miles on a weekend day.  This is a little tricky with kid activities, but I will make it work. This past week was a case in point: Big had a baseball game at 11 am on Saturday. I was supposed to bike 80 miles.  I didn't have enough daylight to get it in before the game and I really didn't want to bike all afternoon.  So my coach agreed to let me get up crazy early (4 am) so I could bank 1.5 hours on the trainer and then just do 60 miles outside.  Ha - "just" 60 miles.  But that's how things are changing.  The bikes are key.

Week 25: 10:29:29 hours

Swam: 55:29 minutes (2,200 yards)

Biked:  7:23:31 hours (58 miles outside/ lots more on trainer)

Ran:  2:10:29 hours (14.2 miles)

Workouts:

Monday:  rest day
Tuesday:  swim with speed
Wednesday:  tempo bike & shake out run
Thursday:  long run
Friday:  easy bike
Saturday: long ride - 80 miles & short run
Sunday:  rest day

Monday was a great rest day. I was really wiped out after my Devilman race on Sunday.

Tuesday was a swim - I felt great in the pool!  I was like wow, I am all recovered from the race! I feel amazing!!

Wednesday I had a pretty easy bike - it was short ... maybe 40 minutes.  Then a shake out run for 3 miles.  That's when I felt the effects of the race on Sunday, believe it or not.  I was so tired after that run and a bit down about it.  But ... new day, new run.

Thursday was a long run - yay.  I had to run 8 miles with the 9 minutes of running/1 minute of walking (repeat) and I'm really starting to like it.  I had to run in the late afternoon before I picked up the kids.  I am really not a fan of afternoon running, but I realized that's when I'll be running at IMLP, so I need to get over it and get used to it.  The run was fabulous: I felt good, I felt strong, I felt fast and ... I discovered banana Hammer gel - it tastes AMAZING.  Like banana baby food, which I realize is not a selling point for most people, but my God, it was amazing and delicious and I was literally licking the gel packaging and did not want the gel to end.  It also worked really great.  Banana gel - yummy mc yum.

Friday - easy bike on the trainer.  It was fine, but it was hot.  Check out my beads of sweat.

Saturday was my long ride.  OY.  I got up at 4, had some breakfast and then got on my trainer at 4:30.  There is literally nothing on television at 4:30 am on a Saturday.  I played around on my iPad and caught up on blogs and Pinterest.  After an hour and a half on the trainer, I got off, then got the bike ready for outside riding.  And off I went.  I did a mix of roads and trails and for whatever reason, this ride sucked.  First, my head wasn't in it.  I knew I had a hard end time and I felt enormous pressure to get the bike done.  I put the pressure on myself - it's not like my son cares if I am 10 minutes late to his game.  But I also just felt heavy - my legs felt heavy, the bike felt heavy, everything felt heavy.  I need to take the bike to the bike shop to get the front wheel checked out (I noticed at Devilman that it's a little off).  Hopefully that will help.  Maybe I didn't pump my tires enough.  I checked the pressure ... but the ride had that familiar feeling of riding through slushy snow, which indicates to me the pressure isn't quite right.  In any event, I got the ride in.  I had just enough time to get off the bike and run to Big's game - wearing my biking outfit.  I just didn't have time for a shower.  I was covered in mud and blood (I cut my ankle on my pedal on a tricky corner).  After the ride I realized I should just stay stinky and filthy and get my run in.  So I did. I was tired and hungry, but I figured just get that sucker done. It wasn't a bad run at all.  Once the ride and run were done, I showered and proceeded to devour a very large cheeseburger and french fries.

I also realized that the sun was glorious but it also burned me. And because of the tan lines I got at the tri the weekend before (and because I wore different shorts for the tri and the ride), I had what looks like a candy corn sunburn on my leg.  See?

Hot.  I mean ... that's really hot.  And I should remember sunscreen next time.

Sunday was a rest day and I enjoyed every moment.  The kids and I spent Mother's Day together and we went to lunch and then to Valley Forge park, where we took a trolley tour of the sites.

Up this week - lots of biking, including an 80 miler on Saturday and a sprint triathlon on Sunday!  I was hoping to destroy the sprint race ... here's hoping I have the energy after the 80 miler the day before.  I realize, though, that at this point, the only thing that matters is the bike.  :/

See you swoon,

What I Wore {post 42}: Style Me May Challenge [week 1]

Hello and Happy Friday!  I'm really ready for the weekend, which looks to be jam packed with training and kiddos.  I can't wait to spend Mother's Day with the two little creatures who made me a mommy.

Up today is something fun I've been doing: a "Style Me May" Closet Challenge.  My friend Toya told me about it - it's mostly an Instagram thing, but I'm not on Instagram, so I figured I would play along and blog about it.  Hilary Rushford of Dean Street Society came up with the challenge.  She has a challenge for every day in May, but realistically, I can't and won't participate on the weekends.  So I am doing weekdays.  Here are the challenges:

I started last Thursday and Friday.  

May 1:  With Love, From Paris

I was a little unsure of what to wear that was sort of Parisian inspired.  I didn't want to go full on European Vacation and wear a beret that said, "Ruuuuusty" on it.  I have a great book about Parisian style that I bought at Anthropologie a few years ago, so that was my jumping off point.  I found this outfit and used it as my inspiration.

And here's my take.  

May 2:  Mint to Be

I have a bunch of mint green pieces in my closet.  This was a Friday so I took advantage of the chance to wear my mint green jeans.  I wore a grey and white printed top and my navy cardigan.  

I'm having so much fun with this!  I'll share the second week's outfits next week.  I also realize that it is wayyyyyy beyond time for a haircut.  Yikes. 

Have a great weekend - and Happy Mothers Day to all the mommies out there! I hope your children spoil you rotten. 

See you swoon,