the last days of summer

it was good to see all the input on the hair quandry. it irks me that i can't have reasonably coiffed hair everyday due to my laziness and reluctance of shampooing and heat stlying my hair everyday, but what can you do? and while i always coveted the ponytail while i had short hair, i always thought and still do think it is a boring, and most often clumsy solution. i find it takes a while to actually 'style' my hair into a pretty ponytail, instead of the 2 second kind wherein i just pull up all my hair in one fell swoop and tie it up.

but i did make things kind of easier on myself by getting a much needed trim. this also gave my stylist a chance to thin the heck out of my hair. i feel like i lost 5 pounds. but as you can see, i still have a freak ton of hair:



as you can see i also made things harder for myself by opting for bangs this time. but i was getting bored and needed a change.


i haven't even road-tested the new 'do because i've been lazy. spending time with the boy doing fun summery things, entertaining out of town guests, having a freak ton of family gatherings the last month taking up all our free time. also our friends recently lent us the harry potter book series which i have been devouring ALL summer. those books are like crack. i could not put them down except to work and eat. they haunted my dreams. but boy, were they ever good. i can't WAIT to see the final movies.

so that's all folks, as we wind into the official last week of summer. we spent a day at stinson beach yesterday. where i SWEAR i saw dean karnazes. i've seen him before in person and was again shocked at how little he was. being -1% body fat will make you little i guess. i wasn't 100% sure it was him. but felt it was pretty reasonable since he is from the bay area. i didn't want to be a weird stalker girl, partly because i was in my bathing suit and he was in his. felt a little too naked for me to shriek and go 'oh my god i know who you are and i love you!'. especially if it wasn't him. and i'm bummed i forgot to put a battery in my camera before i left the house because it was the most perfect day of life in california. the kind of day that makes up for how expensive living in this damned state is.

i'm hoping to drag the boy to a food festival in jack london square today and then it's off to alabama. hope you guys are enjoying your summer!

the hair quandry

i feel stupid for even writing about this because it's such a girly-girl question. i'd actually rather talk about my period because at least that is health/medical and therefore not as trivial. but i'm gonna bring it up anyway.

what the hell do you people do with your hair?

my hair is well past my shoulders now, a length it hasn't been in over 15 years. i wear a visor mainly to help keep my headphones in, and it does a pretty good job of keeping sweat from dripping into my eyes and keeping my shorter layers outta my face. i put it in a ponytail when i run, but it's too damned thick to actually stay up and the swooshing back and forth annoys the crap outta me. i tried putting it in a bun but that slips out way too easily. one day, i had the misfortune of my hair elastic breaking mid workout. and that was just big piles of ick. hair and sweat should never mix.

and as for actual hair care? ever since i started working out on a regular basis again, my hair regime has gone to shit. it's a pain in the ass to wash and i now have to wash it every friggin' day. and everyone knows hair is at its best when it hasn't been washed in a day or so. at least mine is. i'm too lazy to blowdry it everyday so most of the time i walk around with a wet bun on my head. because my hair takes forever to dry. plus i don't want to stress my hair too much.

but i highly doubt that women who care enough to workout everyday don't put the same effort into their hair everyday too? am i the minority who has chosen laziness? or do you all go to work with a wet head of hair too?

the easiest solution would be to cut it. and on some days i consider hacking it all off myself. but DUDES! i've been trying to grow this mother out for 2 years now. and i actually would like my hair longer for when we do get married. but man, this walking around with a wet mop on my head all day has got. to. go.

another year older, another year not yet wiser.

guess what ya'll? i turned 31 last wednesday. yay for me. if 30 is the new 20, then 31 is the new 21, right? :) i celebrated in grand fashion by eating way too much of stuff i shouldn't eat. i resisted temptation a good number of times, but still managed to cave too many times. like, isn't it illegal to refuse your own chocolate birthday cake? and then came our huge family reunion and there were pork products literally calling my name. no, really, we had a full-on whole roasted pig and i SWEAR TO GOD, it called out to me. even though it had an apple in its mouth.

and whaddya know, birthday calories DO count! i am not happy about this weight gain setback. but i did it to myself so i have no one else to blame. i was once again reminded for the millionth time in my life that eating like crap makes you feel like crap. boo.

but i'm back. and while brussel sprouts do not erase the sins of chocolate cake, i can at least eat them guilt free. and while i was at the gym this morning, i got some extra motivation:



if you've read my blog for any length of time, you'll know that i have a serious girl crush on britney spears. it's truly inexplicable yet so strong that i can't even apologize. her body is sick. when she's in shape, as she was 8 years ago. seriously, i feel like doing a million crunches right now.

which i will need to do since i'll be sporting a new, more modest bikini in front of the to-be inlaws. and no that isn't me and i know for some it isn't exactly modest. but this suit insures that my chesticles don't pop out, which is oh so very important when spending time with people you don't want to titillate.

though this all could be for naught because it seems to be tropical storm weather by the gulf. and while one might think i'd rather the storm hit so i could avoid a whole bikini barbie situation altogether. i prefer that to spending time with the GRANDmother further inland. like where they probably still have 'no coloreds' signs up in certain places. besides alabama is like the 2nd most obese state in the country, i might stand half a chance :)

173.6

8.4 pounds in 3 weeks. not too shabby, if i do say so myself.

and did i tell you we're going to alabama to visit with sg's 'rents over labor day weekend. and we're going to the gulf shore? on one hand, yay! beach! warm water! on the other hand, MORTIFICATION! me, in a bathing suit in front on his parents!? kill. me. now.

the crazy thing is, my entire adult life i've always worn a bikini to the beach or pool because i honestly don't care what other people think. three quarters of the other people are wearing suits unflattering to their bodies anyway and i'd rather have fun than miss out. and being the sunwhore that i am, i want optimum sun exposure. but put me in front of my fiancees parents and all i want is an oversized muumuu.

i know i shouldn't care. they love me to bits. but gah! talk about feeling exposed. vulnerable. i know exactly how his mother feels about her body, so i don't even want to think about the judgements she'd make about mine. not that her genteel southern manners would let her speak them out loud.

in a related manner, there was one weekend patrick and i decided to get away and we stayed at a really pretty historic mansion in san jose. we spent most of the time at the pool and there was one instance where he video chatted with his parents on the laptop. hearing we were at the pool, his mother and father insisted, quite urgently, that i pop onscreen so they could see me in my bathing suit.

!!!!!!!!!!

WTF?!!

how weird is that?!

WEIRD!

sorry, but i'm not parading myself in front of my boyfriend's 70 and 60 year old father and mother in my bikini over video chat. that's. just. weird.

in other news, i think i might have convinced enough family members to join me in a relay team for the CIM in decemeber. i'm super stoaked about this and think it'll be an even greater marathon experience by sharing it with my cousins and brother!

fiber

i'd never had brussel sprouts until today. they get such a bad rap, but my old boss used to rave about them all the time. so i thought, why the hell not?

holy crap, are they delicious.

roasted in the oven, coated in olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper. some of the outer leaves fell off and got all dark and crunchy and delicious. it was like eating potato chips, i shit you not. and i do NOT fool around with potato chips.

i ate a whole bowlful for lunch.

what i didn't know was how much fiber is in those little suckers. whoa nelly! on top of the flaxseed muffins i baked and ate this morning?! holy crap is right. i also learned they're very high in protein and vitamin a, folacin, potassium, calcium, and vitamin c.

my poor distended belly made my pool workout very uncomfortable. let's hope my neck doesn't suffer the same fate as last time. i tried my best to follow the smart suggestions offered to me last time. keep my head facing straight down and breathe on both sides. we'll see in the morning.

longest workout in the longest time

15:24, 14:45, 15:32, 16:58=1:02:40

i totally could have gone longer, and actually felt MORE energized an hour into my workout than 15 minutes into it. but i didn't realize i would need to bodyglide my arms. i got some major painful chafing. boo to arm fat rubbing against boob fat.

hey, remember that nike marathon lottery i won? yeah, so not gonna happen.

BUT, and this is a big but.

i want to try to finish the half marathon anyway.

screw the rules.

i mean i PAID for the full. i'm not taking any resources away from anyone. i am still half hoping i can snag the loot at the end of the half marathon finish line, but i know that is probably a long shot, since i'll be wearing a marathon bib.

but i have to believe there are lots of people, who for whatever reason, can't get through their full marathon training but still want to do something. and get something for their money.

so what do you think folks? is this kosher?

p.s. re: the last post...i'm sort of letting things chill out a bit before posting more thoughts.

p.p.s. i'm down 7.2 pounds since starting the southbeach diet with patrick 2 weeks ago (i've even cheated, which i probably shouldn't brag about)