This is just gonna be a quickie (TWSS) but I needed to stop in and say

LAST DAY TO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY

so if you haven’t yet done it, step ya game up and send me a photo already! Yes folks, it is really that easy.

I also needed to say that I just bought 48 bags of popcorn for $1.89 because I love Costco and I also happen to love coupons and I’m a boss (warning – mucho profanity ahead with that one). Really though… I am.

(excuse the blurries.. la madre doesn’t have practice taking photos on a cell phone)

Whhoooo does that? I felt like I was holding a child. A child stuffed with three types of meat, cheddar, swiss, and tomato slices. Beast. Or I guess I should say “Big. Overloaded. Sub. Sandwich.”

So basically, you really should go enter the giveaway. And then my friends, life will be complete.

Innn other news – so I told you about the bone growth stimulator. Well, turns out with insurance and the whole the 80/20 deal, my “20%” is $700. Somehow I don’t think that fits in my college budget. BUT!!! Silver lining here.. maybe. Hopefully! As an independent and a student, I qualify for financial assistance. So if everything works out (go find some wood – knock on it!!) then I wouldn’t have to pay anything out of pocket. I’m prayin!!

I may not be eating any BOSS sammies, but I definitely am still getting good solid training in, and the appetite is high, in true Sperly fashion. My mom and I made our mother-daughter-tradition venture over to Costco today to get some goodies. As mentioned above, BOSS Orville Redenbacher popcorn – my favorite!! – had a coupon in the biweekly Costco Coupon book. $4 off an already low price of $5.97, making my 48 bags of salty goodness only $1.97. Also included in the purchases were many a produce: broccoli slaw, tomatoes, asparagus, mushroooms, and sugar snap peas, as well as my staple of all staples: egggg beaters a la Kirkland. I really do love Costco.

Wait wasn’t I talking about training? Right. So Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday is SPIN on my schedule, and this morning SPIN I did. It is not running, but at least it makes me sweat and I feel like I’m working. NTM, my Thursday/Saturday instructor is also a BOSS (how convenient) and he makes it that much more appealing to go to class. He had a sub today (as in substitute teacher, not SUB sandwich. I’ve moved on), and she is ALSO really great. My list of I-Like-You-Spin-Instructors is short and selective, but these two are both on the top. If you’re ever venturing into the world of Lifetime Spinning.. lemme know and I’ll hook you up.

I took this photo a long time ago, and have been meaning to post it, because really, I do love my gym. BOSS? Hahha yeah I think so. This is over the railing, going down into the world of cardio/weights. I especially love my gym when I’m injured, as in now. They have so many options, and so many classes! In place of our run workouts on my practice schedule, I have “RSC” – otherwise known as Running Simulating Cardio. My favorite machine isn’t included in that picture, and it’s definitely NOT running (I don’t count it as “x miles” or any of that b.s. business…) but it is good. Good indeed.

Alright kids, that’s about as much random goodness I have time for today. If I didn’t mention it before, I got a research position at school through my kinesiology department and am a co-investigator on an awesome study we are about to start! I have to finish my IRB training, which if you’ve had to do it before, is loooooong, tedious, and did I say long?  I think I need to go pop some popcorn…

Love,
-E

I’m stealing my post that I wrote on RW, because after writing it, I realized it was basically a novel, and good enough amazing, so I should put on my blog. Not to mention, today is a perfect day for a post because l because I got called off of work!! I woke up this morning to dreary skies, rain, thunder, and lightning. So I apologize if you’re a college RW forumite, and you read my blog, because you’re getting *slightly shortchanged! (*I changed it a bit. PLUS, see end of post!! And pictures!!)

Yesterday I went to this store called Opitz - it’s sort of like Overstock.com, only you can physically go there. I used to love it in high school because they would get tons of Delia’s clothing and they always had my sizes (for once!), and I actually still really like *some* of their clothes. They get a lot of True Religion and 7s and crazy expensive jeans, but the fantastic thing is – EVERYTHING IS AT LEAST 70% OFF. Wednesdays are like the restocked-secret-mailing-list-members-only day.. and THIS Wednesday was the start of the “Hey you college kids.. come stock your dorms!” advertised in the mailer. So, stock we did! Hah.. actually not that much. I got two pairs of jeans, a sweet shirt, and a 10 piece bakeware set for our suite.

(don’t ask me why I decided to wear a skirt..?)

(World Wildlife Fund!)

(Baileys.. from Delia’s)

(Urban Behavior. Not gonna lie.. I’ve never heard of that brand.)

(hah! “Tools of the Trade”! It will work just fine for me!)

I struggled with this whole suite deal before, because I feel like I’m the only one out of the 6 of us who doesn’t spend (or have money to spend) like crazy on all these name brand things. One girl’s coming with all this William’s Sonoma stuff, and I’m like “Yes! Target!”. But I’m starting to feel better because now I can feel like I’m contributing. I’m also bringing our 2nd Magic Bullet, which we haven’t opened yet. The bake set was new.. but only $10! (YESS 70% off!) And then my mom came home last night with a basically new set of flatware (forks, spoons, knives.. that’s called flatware, right?) from her friend who just got themselves a newer new set. AH! Feeling better.

My mom and I went BACK to Opitz today, and I found the GREATEST pair of jeans.

(Paige. “Premium Denim”. My legs are smiling.)

Can you see that price tag?! $215. And I got them for $65. Hah! And $65 is already a “splurge” for me on jeans! I figure that everyone is entitled to one pair of really good, really nice, feel good jeans. And these will be mine. I haven’t gone shopping for me shopping in what feels like forever, so today I’m a happy camper. I also love good pockets (oh.. cause that makes me unique..) so these ones scored double points. Well maybe not the black pair, but the other two..

(pockets!!)

I would also like to say that I feel stellar about my running and the way things are going right now. Despite the groin injury/tear/pull that I was struggling with (that I would say is about 90% healed right now), I am really enjoying running and life in general. Last week was rough – really rough – but I can look back on it now and say “Erika. Quit crying and T.T.F.U. You only get one life so you better make the most of it!”

(T.T.F.U. is pretty much my favorite acronym, and I suggest you all incorporate it into your daily vernacular. (Is that a proper use of vernacular? Oh boy.))

(both mom and I are devoted Asics-for-lifers. RoadID is a must! Safety first kids.)

So yes. Running. Strong, hard, easy, enjoyable. I ran a few sub 7s on my run yesterday without realizing it, and I’ll be running probably 9:30s when I go with my mom this afternoon. I’m running the Urban Wildland Half Marathon on Saturday.. at 7:00am. Yikes!

I am pretty sure I wont be racing it, just coming off this tear and all, but none the less I am SO EXCITED. From everything I’m heard, it’s a wicked race. (Gotta start incorporating that Boston vocab!) It’s quoted as “Minnesota’s Green Race” which is probably the coolest thing I’ve seen so far. This is quoted from their website:

The Urban Wildland Half Marathon & 5K is a no-waste race! All refuse from the event is either composted, recycled, or reused.

Not only is the no-waste effort kinder to our environment, it helps to meet one of the key goals of the Urban Wildland Half Marathon & 5K: to raise awareness about the environment and to practice the earth-friendly values that are taught through Wood Lake’s environmental education program.

Did I say yet that I love life?

(Anddd it has a built in coffee pot!)

Also on the list of purchases yesterday at Opitz a new coffee/espresso maker. My mom is THRILLED. I’m hoping this was a really good brand, because despite being like 70% off it was still over $100! We tried it out today for the first time and it’s AMAZING.

(hah mom you look surprised. You’re too cute.)

We did a CostCo adventure today, and no joke – every single time we’re there my mom looks to see if they have an espresso machine. She has been waiting and waiting and waiting, and they’ve never carried one (except for online, and it was like $$$). What did they have today? The day after we bought an espresso machine?

Well too bad. We like the one we bought better. Plus, being black and sliver, it matches the rest of our appliances. And I just thought I’d throw this in here, since the blog world seems like it’s just discovering these amazing goodnesses..

(Amongst other bulk goodness. I actually think that box of Rice Krispys has been down there since I was like a freshman in high school.)

What the heck took you guys so long!? For those of you that have a CostCo.. they sell them in bulk – Clif bars, Lara bars, those nasty coco type Lara Bars, Power bars, Balance bars, the new Trio bars – they’ve got em’ all! Just a heads up!

WOW! What a post for a Thursday! Back to work tomorrow. Hope everyone is having a great week!

So I believe I mentioned before, CostCo is pretty much my favorite weekend adventure with my mom. Even though it’s just the two of us living at home, we manage to go through a lot of, um.. everything! I know I really promote local, organic produce, which is pretty much the opposite of anything coming from CostCo, but we save SO MUCH here! This little shindig went down on none other but Mothers Day – the perfect outing. So.. let the adventure begin.

We’re “Gold Star” members.. I feel so VIP. I could die tomorrow, but knowing this, my life is now complete.

How fake looking/freaking amazing is this!? My mom asked “What.. you’re going to buy us a grill?” but ACTUALLY… I was the one who won our nice gas grill that we have now.. so I think its her turn to make the contribution

All you bar-lovers out there.. here’s a little bit of heaven. In bulk they have Clif bars, Lara bars, Balance bars, those ThinkThin bars, some new one in the top left that I can’t remember the name/brand of, and then of course.. the only one worth buying – KASHI ROLL BARS!! Seriously.. we buy two boxes of these at a time (36 ct each) and go through them faster than beer in a frat house. I know I’m a total outcast, but I HATE Lara bars. ICK.

And my lovely madre picking out some gum and mints. I think it would be pretty freaking awesome to climb these shelves. It would be like spelunking.. only with 2 pound tubs of mustard instead of stalagmites.

I believe this is right after I found my new all time favorite munchy cereal. It’s hiding in the picture.. can you guess what it is? Hhahaha.. a secret I’ll never share! (Actually.. I will be sharing in my next post..) Sadly, CostCo stopped carrying the 3pack of Kashi Vive. It’s the only Kashi cereal I like.. and it’s getting harder and harder to find! Even my Co-Op is discontinuing it!!

I’m actually not wearing white tights.. nor am I that pasty. The lighting. Honestly. Highlight purchase of this trip? The new issue of SELF. Hehehe, I almost NEVER buy magazines since we do a swap at my gym.. so I can end up getting them for free, or I check them out at the library. I like to treat myself when at CostCo though. And hey.. treating myself to a magazine is a lot less damaging on the wallet than treating myself to a 73″, $3,799.99 High Def Flat Screen.

The rest of mothers day was great. My mom and I started the morning with Coffee & Card time, and then I headed out to RunClub. I was all set to do my regular long run with the marathon group when I realized MedCity is in two weeks and not three! Soooo.. I did 10 with run club, and then took off for home and did a 5 mile “trot” with my mom. She’s seriously stellar.. she ran her last marathon in 2002 (her 22nd), and she doesn’t race at all anymore, but she still gets out there and does her thing. She’s even going to be our guest speaker at the marathon clinic in a couple weeks!

Typically, a run with mom would go like this: We start out together.. just chatting and enjoying each others company. After about a block.. she reminds me to tone it down.. because I’m always a step ahead of her and I’m “dragging her along.” So I try to cut it back.. but I’m back out “pushing her” in about 15 seconds. I can’t remember the last time we actually finished a run together because usually about half way through I say.. “do you mind if I just meet you at home?” and then take off. I know right – MEAN! Well I figured Mothers Day was better than any to just BE with my mom and do the whole run with her. I felt good about it at the end. And hey – even on one of her “worst day” (she had worked in the yard for 7 hours the day before.. we’re re-landscaping..) we still were passing people, and no one passed us!

IN OTHER NEWS: I just picked up a sweet pair of these guys:

I had been asking around for good sandals for runners.. because I run, and then I’m on my feet all day waitressing, and I know my body was HATING me on the days I wore flip flops! These are exactly the kind of shoes I would have rolled my eyes at and thought LAME when I was like 12.. but now I think they’re pretty much the coolest things ever.

AND..

My baby is arriving TOMORROW!!!! As a moving away present.. my parents (together.. awkward situation) ordered me the Garmin 405. I can’t even put into words how excited I am. I think my love for this thing is slightly more intense than my love of air. I. CANT. FREAKING. WAIT! Plus.. I’ll have it for the Race for the Ribbon 10K I’m doing on Sunday.. AND I’ll be able to use it during Med City!! Ahhh the wait is killing me. I’m sure you’ll be seeing this lil guy much much more. Is it awkward to love an electronic so much that you name it? People name cars.. bikes.. um, anatomy.. I’m pretty sure this thing deserves a name. I’ll be workin on a good one. Well that’s all for now my friends. Have a lovely splendid day!

I promise I wont rant for this entire post, but I just need this little bit:

My alarm didn’t go off. I couldn’t wash my hair post-gym/pre-class. I had to pay $2 extra for parking because I missed the time cut off by 1 minute and 17 seconds. It’s cold. It started raining within the first mile of my run. It was the only time I’ve had my mp3 player with me in over a month. I applied for something, and was seriously thinking it would be a no brainer – of course I’d get it. Wrong. My mom is out of town this weekend. It’s forecasted to rain during my 20 miler tomorrow. I have a date tonight that I don’t want to go on. At all.

AHHH FREAKIN A – I HATE DAYS LIKE THIS.

And now I will stop crying because if I truly look at the day there have been very good moments. I just started a David Sedaris book at the gym and it’s hilarious. I got new contacts at my eye appointment, and my eyes are happy. I picked up my replacement pair of shoes. I’m just got back from tanning Sun tan lotion smells good.

And now for goodies:

My shoes have been in at the store for like a week, but I kept forgetting to pick them up. I’m gonna try to hold off for another couple hundred miles because honestly – I don’t have the $$ to change my shoes every flippin 400 miles! That would be new shoes EVERY SEVEN WEEKS!

Right now I run in the [used-to-be] white and gold ones. The grey and orange are currently for everyday use.. but they’ve seen their miles. They were my favorite Keepin the blue in the box until I make the switch.

So this little 8 oz. amphipod is my solution to hydrating on long runs. I. DON’T. WANT. A. FUEL. BELT. I know they’re not really that inconvenient, but I can’t even stand a freakin shirt tied around my waist! So, we’ll see how this goes. I have a 20 miler this weekend (still debating between tomorrow or Sunday) so I can give it a try. I’m also attempting to get used to using sports beans. Key word: attempting.

My buddy Andy is coming up to do the long run with me! I love my running club to pieces.. but if I do long slow runs with them, I’m going to get good at long slow runs. There’s nothing wrong with long slow runs – but it’s not my pace, and it won’t grant me my BQ.

On a different note – I made another stir fry creation for dinner last night. SO GOOD! This one had yellow and green zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes. What a talented little chem I am BTW, I am fully endorsing the Camelback here.. or any reusable water bottle. Please, take the 30 seconds, save a plastic tree, and fill up your own! (AND REMEMBER: If you have to buy a water bottle, and of course you recycle it, make sure to take the cap off before recycling because otherwise your bottle may never make it to the recycling process! I’m not sure why.. but that’s what they say!)

This time I managed to only eat half of the container of hummus. Because the first half was already eaten the day before Still one of my favorite snacks.

But definitely not as favorite as ice cream. And Fresca. Last but not least

The Tin Fish – the restaurant where I waitress – officially had the water turned on last week! (We’re only open seasonally) If anyone is coming to Minneapolis, I FULLY EXPECT a visit! The food is AMAZING.. and the view.. just look at that last picture! I LOVE closing just to see that! I’m so excited to open up! We should have our official start day within 2-3 weeks!!

How many times have you heard that before.. right? Ugh.. it all started with this damn dream.. which was the greatest thing in life not real. But it doesn’t actually even matter because long story short – he’s too old for me. And by “too old” I mean like he graduated (from college) in 2004. I’m a freshman. WHYYYY why why do I always find myself in these situations!? The last guy I was dating was 23.. and I went into that thinking that was too old..

This is how I know it’s really nearing summer. I start regretting old break-ups. Who wants to be single in summer? Not me. Boo.

So pity party on hold.. this is me (duh) just after biking home from run club tonight. But what I REALLY want you to notice.. is that sweet bag huggin my back. I picked it up on Monday. On sale. At REI. $8.50

I love REI.. but I really love things on sale at REI.

This is going to be so perfect for biking up to work!! Trust me.. I’m a happy camper =]

I’m also [apparently] a happy camper when I drink smoothies out of beer steins. This would be the Apple Pie smoothie.. Oktoberfest style

And last but not least, the highlight of dinner. I fired up the grill again tonight! The plan was to do up all this baby bok choy I had bought (boughten?) earlier in the week.. but when I pulled them out of the veggie drawer I realized I was too late =[ The leaves were all yellow and the white part was smooshy. I HATE wasting food.. but especially produce!! Grrrr! So, to prevent any more potential angry garbage moments, I grilled up this mondo eggplant. IT. WAS. SO. GOOD.

Heheh I already ate like half of it before I could get myself to stop and take a picture. I LOVE eggplant so if anyone has some amazing recipes with this stellar purple veggie.. fill me in! And I'm not sure why this picture's "medium" is so much bigger than the other "mediums". Still getting used to wordpress =]

Speaking of getting used to it.. I have 3 questions:

1. where do I find the smiley guys?
2. can I make it so I don’t have to approve comments before they post? I’m not online enough for that silly business.
3. how do I put a list on the side bar? I want to list my runs for the week!

well I have to finish drafting this axonometric plan of a courtyard. I’ve only spent like 4 freakin hours on it already. 37 days till the end of the semester!

Freebies. Why else would I pay money to run when I can do it for free? $35 bucks for a 5K? Psh.. that’s like $11/mile! So unless a race is offering some sweet goodies, post race food, a shirt, a mug, or stellar age group winner prizes (OK.. or if the money benefits a good cause), chances are I’m not signing up.

This is the fruit of my labor – what I bought with my $25 gift certificate to Run N Fun for winning my age group at the Securian Frozen Half marathon. I was really struggling to pick between this and a different nike sports bra, especially since this is that weird midriff length. (Is that how it’s spelled? I’ve never had to write it before..) Anyways, I have about a bajillion sports bras, and this looked really pretty.. so midriff it is! And yes.. that would be Mrs Martha’s magazine in the background.

Run today was 9 miles easy with a friend. My shins were feeling crappy from that DAMN TREADMILL I was forced to run on during the storm last Monday. I was not made to run on a moving sidewalk. My head says yes – my feet say no.

Dinner tonight – Eggplant Parmesan. The picture doesn’t do justice to the holy goodness of this plate. Were there more, I would have had more. And probably more. Instead I’m putting a pretty good dent in an ice cream float right now =]

Still looking for lunch tote suggestions. I went all over the freaking city – Twin Cities Green, Linden Hills Natural Home, the Co-Op, Whole Foods, Sur La Tab, Trader Joes.. no one has what I’m looking for!! Grrr. Ok – homework time. Maybe.