so i'm organized and ready to start training next week and i'm getting ruhlll excited. as you all know, the ultimate goal is to run a full elliptical marathon. i'm a total beginner, so to get started i'll be training for a half elliptical marathon. in talking with some people to prepare for this, i realized that y'all have some questions a question. the FAQ at the top stands for Frequently Asked Question. so, i'm answering it. i'll throw in some fake questions too, just to round it out.

1. which half marathon are you running/training for?
let's start from the beginning with this one. i'm not training for a half marathon on an elliptical...i'm doing everything on the elliptical. the training, the half...all of it. due to physical constraints, it is really uncomfortable for me to do high-impact things like running. the elliptical is the perfect solution for me. so instead of running a half marathon and crossing a finish line to be greeted by my adoring friends, family, fans, and stalkers, i'll be running it at my gym. on the elliptical. by myself. with my good friends spotify and netflix cheering me on. although my sister did mention something about setting up a camp chair in the gym to cheer me on. sounds perfect!

2. y u so crazy?!
not really a question i've had to deal with. if you ask me that, i have one response. and it is not appropriate for a public forum.

3. what does ze training schedule look like?
no one asked me this either. but i'm sharing. weee! the first four weeks are below.

Week	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Friday	Sat	Sun	Total Miles Run
1	Rest	2 miles	Rest	2.5 miles	Rest	3 miles	2 easy miles	9.5 miles
2	Rest	2 miles	Rest	3 miles	CT or Rest	4 miles	2.5 easy miles	11.5 miles
3	Rest	2.5 miles	2 miles	3 miles	CT or Rest	5 miles	2 easy miles	14.5 miles
4	Rest	3 miles	Rest	4 miles	CT or Rest	6 miles	3 easy miles	16 miles

i'll be checking in once a week to hold myself accountable, sum up my weekly training, and share anything useful i learned along the way.

i'll end with a quote that my friend JD shared with me. JD works at the fabulous luke's locker in Dallas and is basically a fitness guru. i asked him for tips, inspiration, etc. he said while working at luke's that he met and worked with a wise-beyond-his-years 14 year old cancer survivor. when the kid was leaving, he told JD, "life is about choices. ride hard, take chances." very inspiring stuff from a very young kid. thanks, JD! and random kid i've never met.

this saturday was the ultimate summer day. i had no plans and thoroughly enjoyed winging it. lucky for me, lots of new and fun things came my way. saturday started as all of the best saturdays do: with potato egg and cheese breakfast tacos from taco shack. simple. to the point. i love potato egg and cheese tacos, and taco shack's have always been my favorite.

up next was some fun in the sun in one of austin's many natural swimming areas, the greenbelt. it is a very short drive and then about a 20 minute walk to the water. it is so worth the short walk in the heat. there were lots of happy dogs splashing around with their equally happy owners, and sangria and cold beers were plentiful.

the greenbelt. i live in a jungle!

pretty greenbelt sky.

after hanging out in the sun for four hours, the crew was ready for some grub. we chose the always delicious tex-mex locale, maudie's, for dinner. one of my favorite things about austin is that it is acceptable at almost any restaurant to show up in wet bathing suits, cover-ups, and flip flops. maudie's was no different and gave great service to our wet and sunburned group. from there we headed to a friend's pool, where summer officially started when i did my first cannon ball of the season. twenty five years young, yall.

i spent all wednesday evening pinching myself. i was finally an attendee of blues on the green- a free concert series in zilker park put on by 93.3 kgsr. somehow i COMPLETELY missed this through both summers that i lived here in austin during college. i was trapped in a college bubble. nothing i can do about that. as the great and wise pumba says, "you gotta put your past, in your behind." so, i embraced the moment and it. was. AWESOME.

the two bands lined up for the evening were the wheeler brothers and old 97's front man, rhett miller. i went to college with one of the wheeler brothers' band members, and this was my first time seeing them perform live. it was a huge deal for them to play BOTG, which added a whole layer of enjoyability to the show. their debut album, "portraits" is out now and it so great. preview some of the songs on youtube...and then buy the album on itunes. deal?

up next was rhett miller. obviously, he was flawless. RM has a special place in my heart as he is the front man of the old 97's, a dallas-based band that basically put me in a stroller and pushed me through high school...emotionally. i mean. we've all cried to heard their huge hit, "question." but it's "rollerskate skinny" that speaks to me. i have always loved the lyric "ain't nobody gonna see eye to eye with a girl who's only gonna stand collarbone high" (i stand proud at 5' 3/4"...and can be a bit ornery). i was pretty pumped when he played it! enjoy a listen below.



all in all, a great night of live music in austin shared with friends, boxed wine, and baked cheetos. can you really ask for anything more?

the crowd

the wheeler brothers take the stage

rhett miller

i saw this movie at the alamo drafthouse (south lamar location) on saturday. i am in love. definitely one of my favorite wes anderson movies and a great way to get in the summer mood. even if it looks a little quirky for your taste...please see it. there are several laugh out loud moments. these moments are even funnier if you, like me, enjoy some of the drafthouse's wine and beer selections during the film.

holy DIY project, batman! i got the crafty/home decor bug this weekend and it paid off big time. i've been searching for the perfect curtains for our dining room and just wasn't finding anything that was the right look/price. i saw a tutorial for DIY painted stripe curtains and it seemed perfect. i won't sugar coat it...the project took a LONG time. six hours, not including shopping for supplies. and it was definitely manual labor. but so worth it!

a quick side note: whilst curtain-supply shopping, i found myself at hobby lobby with an irregular-sized graphic print to frame. i bought a pre-made frame, and then had hobby lobby cut a custom mat around the image. the whole process took about ten minutes and cost only $9 (for the mat + the cut). they also added a wire to the back of the frame for easy hanging for $1. a very well spent $10! i love the finished look.

side, side note: the print is from we are 1976 on henderson in dallas. they have amazing limited edition graphic prints from local artists and everything is super affordable. my brother sneakily purchased this one for me for my birthday. i feel it adds just the right touch of gangster to my girly bathroom. have i mentioned that the godfather is one of my favorite movies?

on to the curtains...

step 1. gather supplies.

i used:

• about a half gallon of flat interior wall paint
• textile medium (makes the paint softer for fabrics)
• (4) 84" polyester curtain panels from target. $9.99 each.
• small foam roller
• 2 in. painter's tape- i wanted something thick so that i wouldn't accidentally roll onto the unpainted sections. this was a good call. also very pleased with the clean lines i got!
• measuring tape
• pencil
• drop cloths
• good music to keep me going
• an amusing roommate that popped in occasionally to either motivate me or stare at me like i was crazy. 

 step 2. measuring

i laid the curtains out and measured (7) 12" stripes. (4) painted, (3) unpainted. I used a tape measure to put pencil marks across each stripe in an effort to get a straight and level line. this was the hardest part, and i certainly wasn't perfect. i think probably using a laser level or something might have worked better, but you do the best you can with what you got. also something to keep in mind that I didn't figure out until the second panel- make sure your pencil marks are going to be within the painted areas. i have a few stray pencil marks that i need to remove, but i'm not really sure how. any tips?


step 3. paint!

i laid each panel on a drop cloth before painting- the paint definitely soaks through so this was important. i ended up doing two coats of paint on each stripe...and maybe could have done with a third. the longest part was measuring, painting, and letting each panel dry. i had a good little rotation going, but it was still time consuming.

step 4. admire your work. constantly. post it to every social media outlet that you are comfortable using. text your family and friends pictures of your work. ignore the imperfections.


now i am le tired. time for this girl to check out the season premiere of true blood and go to bed.

so it's been a while...i've been busy packing up life in dallas, moving to austin, and starting a new job and life in my favorite town. i had wanted to move back for quite a while, so when the right opportunity came up, i jumped at it. i'm so happy i did! it was hard to say goodbye to my friends, family, and job in dallas, but being in austin really takes the sting out of any sadness i felt. i've been in austin for six weeks now and i'm starting to feel settled. just now getting back into a gym routine...which means more elliptical training to come. in the meantime, i've been nesting in my new apt. i'll be posting a tutorial on DIY striped curtains later today. hard hard work but they are so awesome. ::toots own horn::

don't know a better way to wrap up the last six weeks than a bunch of iphone pics. here's to more regular posting!

love this picture of Austin

last night in Dallas at the cre8 fashion show fundraiser, pretty much as Dallas as it gets

my birthday dinner at Polvo's...tilapia fajitas. so good.

my roommate and best friend Tracee's new baby kitty, Ollie

back in Dallas for sister Sarah's graduation...can't wait until she gets down here this fall!

another pic from Ursuline graduation. such a beautiful ceremony.

such a treat to have brother and sister come visit in Austin...enjoying some Hopdoddy shakes.