Random Thoughts/Thinking Out Loud!

Amanda hasn’t been doing her Thinking Out Loud posts but I felt like sharing one today anyway!

Suddenly I am being asked to moderate the comments on my blog posts rather than have them automatically appear per usual. I’m not really sure why this is happening as the settings do not show that I have chosen to moderate my comments. I’m trying to pretend the issue will resolve itself because I cannot be bothered with these technicalities. So, if you notice your comment being moderated, I am not doing it on purpose.

School in New York does not begin until after Labor Day. I was doing okay with this since my son is fairly self-sufficient (in terms of mostly leaving me alone and being old enough to be left alone but he makes a huge mess and leaves his laundry everywhere) until he started yesterday with the playing hockey in the house right in front of me while I was trying to work. I’ve had just about enough of him and I have no problem telling you this because I told him the same thing. He’s lucky his face is so cute though.

I think right now the funniest part about my son is how alike his personality and mannerisms are to his father. It’s like I’m talking to his dad but I’m not talking to his dad because I’m talking to my kid but geez, how did this happen when we are divorced and they aren’t together all the time?! It seriously runs in the blood. Divorce is a funny thing when you have kids because seeing your ex-husband’s personality traits in your child could make or break you. Thankfully, I am amused by it. I can smile and say you are SO YOUR FATHER and mean it in a genuinely nice way.

Learn more from my positive attitude after divorce in my No-Nonsense Guide To Divorce & Co-Parenting Ebook here!

I am realizing that my Lululemon Run Swiftly tops have seen their last days. I definitely need new short sleeve tops AND the long sleeve version too. In fact, I probably need an entire new fall running wardrobe. Surprisingly enough, I don’t love to spend money on my running apparel! Aside from my running shoes because those are a no choice expenditure, I do try to make use of my running clothes for as many seasons as possible because my running clothes, as important as they are, are not as important to me as my regular apparel.

Speaking of apparel, I’ve been trying to keep the side bar of the blog updated with my latest fashion favorites. I’ve got all of my favorites in the top menu bar broken down by accessories, apparel, running, shoes, makeup etc, but the side bar has look books which I can update to feature with specific items.

 

I was in the city last night and failed to take any pictures because that seems to be how I operate these days.

It’s not great for my life as a blogger but it’s nice for life otherwise because you live without stopping to think about taking a picture to document every single thing you do. I was never that type of blogger anyway but especially now, I’ve moved away even more from thinking about taking pictures for the blog to report back on what I’ve done and where I’ve been.

This quote is not exactly a totally true statement for me since I do share so much but I think it’s an important one for people to keep in mind in today’s world of over sharing.

Anyone notice their comments being moderated on my blog? I can’t control it!

How do you feel about oversharing on social media?

Who else needs new running clothes for fall?

 

Random Thoughts For This Thursday! (TOL)

I’m still all up in the Royal Wedding details even though it happened last weekend. I’m busy with the pictures and articles, while also doing my British research because I sit curious on things. Like the whole Princess Diana / Camilla thing. We all know the story (or think we know the story) so I needed to google to get more of the story. I’ve needed to update myself on Camilla’s side and history (I still do not like her – does anyone? I don’t think so) as well as remind myself of the specifics from Princess Diana’s point of view.

Did you know that Princess Diana refused to wear anything Chanel because of the CC thing?

CC = Charles & Camilla.

I never knew about this and totally get it to the point where I felt wrong wearing my own Chanel shoes the other day until I realized the double C’s were her issue, not mine.

And a hat. Or fascinator. I need to know which would be my look should I ever get invited to a Royal Wedding, Royal function or Royal whatever. I have yet to see a hat or fascinator that appeals to me but there just HAS TO BE one for my head. For this reason, Heather and I plan to shop for our Royal hat styles when she’s here in New York visiting this summer. You know, just in case.

Oh wait, this text from my son! As soon as I saw it, I made sure to screenshot it for you to see. Remember last week when he attacked me for buying Barbara’s Organic Cookies? Well, look who requested them when I was out food shopping.

While Trader Joe’s sells Barbara’s Organic cereals, they don’t carry the organic cookies. Whole Foods does though so I will be heading back there either today or tomorrow. Are you an Amazon Prime person? Did you know that your Amazon Prime membership now gives you discounts at Whole Foods?! I think I may start shopping at Whole Foods on a weekly basis.

Speaking of weekly basis, I am HORRIBLE with taking in my mail. I’m working on getting better at it but my true hatred for the mailbox never seems to fade away.

It stems from my divorce and all of the times I received unexpected and unwanted mail from my attorney and other things during the process that I really didn’t want to see or deal with. I was speaking with someone currently going through a divorce process (I now offer this service – check it out if you are interested) and she informed me that the courts/lawyers send multiple emails rather than actual mail these days. With red exclamation points to alert the importance. I NEARLY DIED from this information. Who the heck wants to receive notifications like that?! That would be the end of email for me. The only good thing here is that at least you can shut down your email address or pretend you didn’t get it (I‘m sorry your honor, I didn’t receive your email and I don’t know why, maybe the email never went through), you can’t shut down receiving U.S. mail. Believe me, I’ve tried.

On This Day:

5/24/17: Salad Combinations & New Favorite Bagel   – Ohh the maple raisin multigrain bagel! I love that bagel and haven’t had it in way too long!

5/24/16: 8 Mile Workout – I used to come up with some really fun running workouts! I need to get creative again for us.

5/24/15: Memorial Day Weekend/Workout Recap- Red Mango!

5/24/13: Sounds & Smells– Half a decade ago!

[bctt tweet=”Random thoughts On This Thursday! #thinkingoutloud #divorce #wholefoods #royalwedding” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Are you an Amazon Prime person? Are you going to take advantage of shopping at Whole Foods with the discount? Have you already? Did you save a lot of money?

 

 

Double WTF Situation (TOL)

 

Dreary weather combined with PMS is not a good combination. At least not if you are me. I have zero patience and a short window for friendliness on a good day, you give me clouds and a week of PMS mood plus bloating, it’s best you steer clear. Or at the very least, do not call me.

If my phone rings, it’s a double WTF situation right now. Seriously. First it’s WHO the F#$% is calling me and WHAT the F#$% do they want from my life.

And then there’s my son. He’s okay and all but lately all I do is drive him everywhere and then take him somewhere else from there. And what’s with the traffic no matter the time of day or my location? Doesn’t anyone work 9 to 5 in an office anymore? I don’t, but someone must? I swear it feels like everyone is on the road instead of in an office.

Actually, let’s back up a minute to my son. He likes to piss me off whenever he can. I bought him this little bag of Barbara’s Snackimals the other afternoon, thinking what a nice little bag of cookies to surprise him with when he got home from school.

I should have known better.

First, I shouldn’t have announced that I bought him a bag of cookies. I should have let him discover the bag in the kitchen on his own.

Telling him that I bought him a bag of cookies which I thought he would like opened up a serious can of worms for him to attack me.

It went something like this:

Me: Oh, I bought you a cute little bag of cookies today!

Him: (first smiles an evil smile) Let’s see these cookies. I’m sure they are something organic.

Me: Whatever, at least I thought of you.

Him when seeing the cookies: Most mothers when they announce to their children that they bought them cookies mean Oreo’s. These are Barbara’s Organic Snackimals.

Me: You used to like them and just because they are organic does not mean they aren’t good! And they are chocolate chip! Fine. Don’t eat them.

Him: Makes faces and more remarks at me while eating the whole bag.

Trust me when I say he is no different now than when he was little. At three years old, I surprised him with a Candy Land coloring book when picking him up from preschool. He looked at the coloring book and looked at me and simply said, “This? This is what you call a surprise?”

He’s out to get me. Always has been.

On This Day:

5/17/17: Is It Friday Yet? (WIAW) – I’m over here waiting for Friday now too!

5/17/16: Girl Talk: Body Image Chat- Good post! 

5/17/15: Running/Workout Recap- I’m tired just reading my workout recap from 3 years ago. I guess back then I wanted to run 40+ miles a week?

5/17/13: Fitness Magazine Meet & Tweet Recap!– They really need to bring this event back! It was so much fun!!

Who else has the dreary, rainy weather for days in their area? Does it affect your mood?

Anyone else hate when their phone rings?

10K Training Desire + My Favorite Camisole

 

Sunday’s race left me with an inspired feeling for wanting to train specifically for a 10K race. I’ve been talking to Laura about it all week because I find the 10k distance so interesting.

For starters, the 10K race distance is not a super popular race offering and I beg to wonder why! In my opinion, a 10K is a great race distance to run. It’s longer than the 5K so you don’t have to run ALL OUT and feel like you want to VOMIT. For me, signing up for a 10K race also feels worth the effort of registration and getting myself to the start line. When I think about a 5K, signing up to drive somewhere to run for a little over 20 minutes really isn’t what I want to do.

For 6.2 miles though, I feel like it’s a great workout and worth the schlep to the start line. Anyone else feel this way?

The 10K race distance is also NOT the half marathon distance, which requires a lot more energy and time. 6.2 miles are killer for sure but in such a different way than 13.1 miles. And, recovery is much quicker too.

I’ve never trained specifically for a 10K and I’ve never really practiced my 10K pace often enough to naturally start to find it, and hold it. Over the last bunch of years, I started to develop a natural progression to my half marathon pace. As my running ability and endurance increased, my half marathon pace became clear and somewhat easy (relative term) to hold. But jumping to my 10K pace is definitely not as natural.

But I want to be able to speed up and hit my 10K pace, and hold it better than in the past. Laura tells me that my 10K pace range is 7:40 -7:45. While I do see that average pace on occasion and ran around that range in my previous 10K races (and my 10K PR might have been even faster, not sure how I did that!), I want to hit it and hold it comfortably for a race now. It’s on my list to work on through some running workouts, with two possible 10K race choices for the fall. More on that soon.

In other news, I shared this photo on social media the other day as my documentation of the face of a girl about to run her last race in the 35-39 age bracket.

A few thing about the above photo:

I wonder if I will look back at this picture when I am 49 to say OMG look how young I was at 39. Isn’t that always how it goes? Like if I saw a picture right now of myself at 29, when I thought I was old, I would laugh about I young I was. We usually don’t see ourselves the way we should in the moment.

Do you see the photo collage of my son hanging on the wall in the background? I’m one of those moms who likes to hang a lot of pictures of her baby. We have a few photo collage frames around the house, including one in my bedroom. I don’t like to plaster his face all over social media but I do like to plaster his bunny face all over my house.

That’s the Gap long cardigan I told you about a while back which I love but still can’t find the link to online! Ugh, it’s one of my favorites.

And that black Splendid camisole? I am OBSESSED WITH IT. I have the Splendid camisole in white too (see below) and keep trying to order it in pink and navy but I’m having a terrible time locating those colors! You need my favorite camisole in black and white though. Trust me. I think my favorite part of the camisole is that the straps are adjustable. I’m able to make them as small as I want which is a huge selling point for me as I’m pretty petite, especially in my shoulders. Bloomingdale’s is currently 25% off!!

And just another reminder for local readers, I hope you can join me next Saturday May 19 for the Dior Beauty & Skincare 101 event! I know that a few of you are running the Brooklyn Half Marathon which means you can’t make it so my plan is to organize another event in the coming months.

However, if you are local and not running I want you to come next week! Please let me know in the comments or contact me directly. Thanks. 🙂

On This Day:

5/10/17: Crying Over A Salad & Nighttime Snack Rut

5/10/16: What’s Next?

5/10/15: Mother’s Day/Workout Recap

[bctt tweet=”Random thoughts on the blog today including training for a 10K, my favorite camisole, and upcoming Dior Beauty event! #thinkingoutloud #running #10K #makeup #dior #splendid” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Have you ever trained specifically for a 10K race? 

What’s the next race on your calendar? Do you like to run summer races or do you hold off now until fall?

 

 

This Week’s Excitement: Kardashians In The Hotel Gym

 

I COULD NOT WAIT to tell this story.

As you know, last week I admitted to being busy searching hashtags on Khloe and Tristan because I needed to know what was going on with their situation. And then right after that, we (you like how I say we?) got the news that Khloe had the baby.

Well, my friend Heather was going on a business trip to Cleveland earlier this week at which point I told her that maybe she would run into the Kardashian family as they would be in town to see the baby.

I said this to her jokingly, not really thinking she would run into them.

Heather was in her hotel gym texting me about how it was snowing in Cleveland (she lives in Florida so she doesn’t normally see snow) and the next thing I knew, I was getting texts about Kris Jenner BEING NEXT TO HER ON THE TREADMILL.

I nearly lost it!

And then Kim and Kourtney walked into the hotel gym with the body guards.

 

 

So the body guards didn’t let anyone in the gym take pictures. I told Heather that she needed to pay attention to their workouts, especially since Kim’s new workout plan has been all over the news. At least it’s been all over the news I read anyway.

She said that all three Kardashians were on the treadmills (walking) and then went over to the weights. Kim’s trainer was not actually there. Heather thought one of the guards was a trainer but I informed her that Kim’s trainer is a woman so then she realized it was two body guards in the hotel gym, not a trainer and a bodyguard. I guess the trainer didn’t make it on this trip.

Kendall appeared at some point later on (not in the hotel gym) and then Heather was in the elevator with Kourtney and Kendall! She somehow got a picture of their luggage and that only happened probably because the bodyguard was not in the elevator. The girls got in the wrong elevator from what I understand, Kourtney was on phone looking for the body guard.

A picture of Kendall down the hallway.

And that was my excitement for the week. Other than that, I’ve just been working and waiting for this one darn avocado to ripen in my kitchen. It’s been a solid rock since Saturday.

On This Day:

Before getting to what I actually posted on this day, I feel like today is appropriate for sharing about that time I took my son out east to the Hamptons for the DASH Pop Up Shop!

4/19/17: Five Guys Veggie Sandwich & Other Recent Eats – Also known as one of my most popular search engine posts! I think it has to do with the Five Guys veggie sandwich.

4/19/16: The Benefits of Tune-Up Races – Great guest post from Laura about running races during your training cycle as a tune up for the actual race you are training for on your calendar.

4/19/15: Will I Run The Long Island Half & Workout Recap – I guess I hadn’t signed up too far in advance. I did run it but had a 24 hour virus a few days before and really didn’t feel great during the race. Next time I’m even the slightest bit sick before a race, I wouldn’t run it.

Have you seen anyone famous in a hotel gym? Who?

How often do you get an avocado that never ripens?

 

 

Hydration For Fatigue & What I’m Searching (TOL)

 

Sometimes when I’m really tired in the morning and have trouble getting into my work zone, I drink even more water (decaf Yogi tea) than usual. Coffee in the morning can only do so much so instead, I keep refilling my mug with water for my tea, over and over until I feel better. I swear hydration really does work wonders for fatigue!

So right now I’m pretending that the NHL playoffs aren’t going on while switching my focus over to the Yankees. While the Yankees aren’t off to an amazing start, they did win last night (and beat up on the Red Sox too, literally). Maybe this is their turning point now. You see, the Yankees are the only bright spot in my sports fan life. They make up for the never-ending challenges I experience as an Islanders fan.

While not following much on the NHL front right now on Twitter and Instagram, instead I’ve been searching (okay wait – just don’t judge me here) hashtags related to Tristan Thompson cheating on Khloe Kardashian. How dumb can you be to know you are famous and proceed to cheat for the public to see and capture on their phones? Could it not be true? Is this information putting Khloe into labor? Is he trying to cover up what happened? Did he admit to it? Did she already know he had been up to side stuff? I have a lot of questions when I should be spending my time on more productive things like new shoes for summer.

Or better yet, I should be finishing up the process of making my divorce e-book downloadable and available for sale here on my site. All of the technical work required in the behind the scenes of running a blog and adding the features to make a book downloadable is SO NOT for me. I have no idea what I’m doing but I go through the motions, hoping that the system doesn’t realize that I am clueless.

Also, anyone else watching the new episodes of Roseanne? I really like this season when usually, I despise remakes and things like that. Roseanne was a favorite of mine when I was what, 12 or 13? I’ve been watching the show in syndication on a regular basis for years but the new episodes are pretty hysterical too without being dumb.

On This Day:

4/12/17: Rotating Breakfast, Passover & Macaroons

4/12/16: Running Realizations

4/12/15: Running Shoe Rotation & Workout Recap

Okay, who else is following what’s going on with Khloe? Am I the only one? Did I break the news to you? Do you know anything that I don’t?

Do you like Roseanne?

What do you when you are really tired and need to perk up for the work day?

 

 

Current List Of Pet Peeves

 

While I’m definitely an easy going girl, I am also easily annoyed. I have a very low tolerance for people and their nonsense.

Basically, I have a long list of what bothers me on a daily basis and I’m in the mood to share my list of pet peeves with you today.

So, you will either nod your head in agreement, laugh because it’s funny, or decide I am way too obnoxious for your taste. That’s fine if you are a kinder person than me, I just speak the truth and my opinion. 🙂

I’ve even broken my current list of pet peeves down by category so that we are really organized in this discussion.

Let’s start with my son.

He’s great, really he is — when he’s asleep or not home. When he’s home, he plays hockey in the house AND I CANNOT TAKE IT.

The worst part is that he likes to wait until I am just about to fall asleep to take out the hockey stick and street hockey ball to then start stick handling and shooting in the den. The sound of this activity in my home MAKES ME NUTS and thinking about it makes my skin crawl. This situation turns into a nightly battle where I come out of my room in a rage to grab the stick which doesn’t always work because I am now half of his size but eventually the kid hands the stick and ball over. He then proceeds to laugh at me while I rattle off all of my ideas about boarding school, boot camp, and why he should live with his father. Or really, why he should live with anyone other than me because either he leaves or I leave.

This is my life. This is REAL life. Uncurated for the internet unlike the posts you see on Instagram.

Which leads us to INSTAGRAM. Where should I start with what annoys me on Instagram?!

Let’s glide past the Instagram mothers who run a ton of miles immediately after having a baby or even the moms who somehow make it look super simple, carefree, and necessary to run as often or as long as they do as a nursing new parent. Let’s even skip the motherhood posts that make having a newborn in the house appear all sunshine and unicorns, and full of snuggles. Stop with the snuggles posts already! No one is snuggling for more than 20 seconds before the diaper explodes or the kid spits up and proceeds to scream for two hours! And really, there are no newborn snuggles. The baby has no idea they are snuggling, they just fell asleep by accident while you were holding them and if you move an inch, they will wake up and scream.

Let’s get right to what really gets under my skin with Instagram because it has to do with just that, skin.

Runners who wear makeup while running.  WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY ARE YOU DOING IT?

Or the runners who skip the face full of makeup but wear dark black (or even purple) clumpy mascara while running. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY ARE YOU DOING IT?

There is a time and place for makeup. We all like to feel pretty and look our best at all times but please, sweating situations are not the place for makeup. Unless of course, you care more about your current appearance (an appearance of runny makeup/makeup that looks out of place because you are wearing workout clothes and sweating) than about the damage to your skin, your now clogged pores, and how you are speeding up the aging process.

A quality tinted sunscreen or even Dior’s DreamSkin Perfect Skin Cushion is more than enough to protect your face and even out your complexion while also looking appropriate for the fitness scenario.

Speaking of aging, how about those Instagrammers who post selfies every day to share the bazillion miles they ran along with their small plates of food. Tell me, how do they not see their skin? The lack of fat in their faces (and lack of sunscreen too I am sure) is only enhancing their wrinkles. Who has such wrinkles in their 20’s? This should be their concern on a daily basis rather than focusing solely on outrunning and undereating the other Instagram accounts.

All-Time Annoyances

People who try to speak to me before 9:00 am on a sunny day. Also, people who try to speak to me before noon on a cloudy day. Whatever, I am really affected by the sunlight.

The mailbox. It’s 2018. Aren’t we at a point in time where I can go completely paperless? I still hate the mail and I don’t think that will ever change. I also think I should have the right to refuse a mailbox. Email me or call me and if you don’t have either method of contact, then I don’t need to hear from you anyway.

Loud chewers. Do you not hear yourself? How is that possible? EVERYONE HEARS YOU. What is wrong with you that you have to chew so loud that the entire neighborhood hears what you are eating?

Toothpaste in the sink. I still don’t understand. Do you not see it? Does it not bother you? Do you not care if it bothers other people who may use the same sink or simply see it when using your bathroom?

Okay, that is all for today. Of course I could keep going with my list of pet peeves but I think it’s smart to keep what I really think limited to small doses.

On This Day:

4/5/17: Dessert For Dinner

4/5/16: The Dangers Of Running On Anti-Inflammatory Medications

4/5/15: My Favorite Macaroons & Workout Recap

[bctt tweet=”Current list of Pet Peeves! #petpeeves #thinkingoutloud #motherhood #instagram #reallife #runners” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Thinking Out Loud + Salad Pizza!

Welcome to the first day of baseball season. While I will certainly attend more Mets games than I care to this season in favor of making my son happy, I will be following my Yankees super closely as they are expected to be terrific.

My Islanders on the other hand, well they might as well forfeit the season already. It’s too painful for me to even watch anymore and I’m pretty sure it’s painful as a player to continue playing without a post season ahead.

I don’t know where the Islanders season went wrong BUT it did. I’ve had enough of their seasons going wrong over the years. What the heck already? Why can’t I ever see a winning team from them? It’s no wonder the loyal Islanders fans set up a Go Fund Me to pay for a giant billboard in Brooklyn that cleverly states how badly the Islanders fans want the General Manager (Garth Snow) fired. Every time I think about the fact that so many fans donated money for this Go Fund Me reason, I laugh out loud. I hope you laugh a little too even if you don’t care at all about hockey.

I hurt my neck earlier this week. How? Stretching my arms up when I first woke up. I know. I sound ridiculous. This is almost as ridiculous as the time I dropped the shampoo bottle on my foot although actually, this hurt more. Maybe it’s my age. I am approaching 40 in two months you know.

My neck is feeling better now but IT REALLY HURT. I couldn’t turn from side to side, it hurt into my upper spine, back of my head, ears, and jaw. It’s the kind of pain where you wince if you move, it spasms without warning, and life is only ok if you still perfectly still.

It took a good couple of days to feel just like a normal discomfort rather than a ruling my life type of thing. Thankfully I’m better and no, I haven’t run since it happened. I’ve also skipped Pure Barre upper body and core workouts. You know I’m not that type to run if something is bothering me. I’m thinking I should be ready for a few miles today though and maybe back to regular Pure Barre tomorrow.

LOOK AT THE PIZZA I had last night! SALAD PIZZA. Rather than pizza and a salad, I had true salad pizza! So, I never really order salad pizza. While I have had this specific salad pizza in the past, it’s been a few years since I’ve ordered it in favor of my favorite whole wheat vegetable pizza. For some reason yesterday, I walked into the pizza place and just felt like the salad pizza. So that’s what I ordered. So delicious.

And wait! I’m getting really excited about the Dior Skincare and Beauty 101 event! The responses from local readers are coming in (please let me know if you want to join us) so I am working out a date with Jill and the readers who have responded to pick a good time for all of us. It’s looking like either a Saturday morning in early May or even a Sunday early afternoon in April. Definitely let me know if you want to join us for this private event at Bloomingdales, info in this post!

On This Day:

3/29/17: Post-Run Meals & Trader Joe’s Dinner

3/29/16: Week In Review

3/29/15: 10K Race & Weekly Workout Recap

3/29/13: A Day in the Life Of A Dr. Oz Star

[bctt tweet=”Thinking out loud today including the start of baseball season, end of Islanders season, salad pizza and my Dior event! #thinkingoutloud #snowmustgo #saladpizza #Dior #beauty” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Which baseball team is your team? Do you plan to attend games this year?

Salad pizza – yes or no?

Local readers, please leave or comment or email me directly if you would be interested in joining us for the Beauty 101 event!

Thinking Out Loud + My New Favorite GapFit Tank!

 

Woah. There’s a lot of snow out there this morning. Please tell me this is the last snowstorm until next winter?! School is on a two-hour delay but I honestly can’t see how it’s opening. It’s still snowing and there’s over a foot of snow out there! 

Am I the only one who gets really excited when they earn cash back with Ebates? I earned $5.95 on one purchase last week and 21 cents on another and I was equally giddy about both earnings. It sounds so minuscule but each earning starts to add up and I’m happy to receive any amount of money back from the purchases I’m going to be making anyway. Seems logical to use Ebates at this point if I want to spend less money/earn money back from my purchases. I sound like a commercial. 

I love this link, The Investment Pieces You Won’t Regret Buying from Lauren Conrad and agree with each style she suggests, except for blazers. I cannot get on board with blazers. Never have, never will. You can ask my mother. She has tried so hard to get me into a blazer over the years and I continue to refuse.

Yes, I do understand that blazers are not for old ladies and can be perfect, elegant, and trendy but THEY ARE NOT FOR ME. Nope, not my style. A cardigan I can do, a blazer I just can’t. I don’t look like ME in a blazer, I look like someone else, as if I am playing dress up with someone else’s clothing, pretending to be some sort of adult.

We all have our looks and style and the blazer just is not mine.

Who else needs to replace their bras right now? I’ve gotten really good at replacing my bras when it’s time and ugh, it’s time for me to do it again. It’s annoying but it’s so important to replace and update our bras. They need to fit well and they can’t fit well if they are worn out! If you aren’t sure if it’s time to replace your bra, read this article to determine if your bra is dead. I bet it is.

Speaking of bras, I love this new GapFit tank that I bought recently!

I shared this picture in my Instagram stories (and then in my regular Instagram post) and had received a bunch of messages asking me about the new tank so I think it’s time to discuss on the blog too.

It’s the new GapFit Double-Layer Strappy Shelf Tank (in Rosehip) with a built-in bra! I love when the bra is built-in to my workout tops, mainly because it’s less for me to wash somehow. HA.

In all seriousness, this GapFit tank fits so well and works perfectly for running and for Pure Barre. Or yoga or whatever. I love this top for running on the treadmill because the open back keeps me from getting too hot and sweaty. Would I advise it for outdoor running in the summer? Yes, but then you need to cover your entire back with sunscreen!

The bra part is a true bra, not just a shelf tank. It’s basically the same as my other GapFit bras, only it’s attached to the tank.

I ordered this tank in the above Rosehip color plus a black and white version too. My pants are also GapFit but they no longer sell that specific pair! I do wear this style of GapFit Gfast capris all the time for running and recently bought this lace-up pair for Pure Barre.

The material for GapFit tops feels slightly different from Lululemon but does wash really well. I machine wash this top and then hang it dry. I have definitely put my GapFit stuff in the dryer though (when I’m lazy) and never seem to feel the negative affects of doing so.

In terms of fit, I find Gap clothing to be on the bigger end of normal. I’m my usual size but if anything, their clothing runs a bit big for me. I like my workout tops a little roomy so I size up for their tops but the bottoms I’m my usual size. I really think though that determining your size for workout apparel is an individual approach. It really depends upon your body type and how comfortable you like to feel in specific places (like length of shirts/pants/sleeve lengths/room to move etc.) when you work out.

On This Day:

3/22/17: What I Ate Wednesday

3/22/16: Achieving A Balanced Attitude Towards Your Weight – < – such a great post (if I do say so myself) with so many valid points to help you achieve the balanced attitude you need for a healthy/balanced lifestyle. And, this post includes one of my favorite pictures. 🙂

3/22/15: Watching Infomercials & Weekly Workout Recap

[bctt tweet=”Random thoughts on the blog plus my new favorite workout tank for running and Pure Barre! #thinkingoutloud #fashion #gapfit #gap #running #workout #workoutclothes” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Do you use Ebates when you shop online?

Are you good about replacing your bras?

Is there a lot of snow where you live right now? Will you be able to run outside today?

 

Baking Cookies + Sorting Through Bar Mitzvah Photos (TOL)

 

Is it Friday yet?

I think I want a new coffee maker. I’ve been using a Keurig for 12 years and a part of me feels like switching back to the old-fashioned concept of brewing a full pot of coffee. Thoughts? Which type of coffee maker do you use right now?

We made chocolate chip cookies last night. Baking cookies (and always from scratch) used to be an almost daily thing for me. Over the last couple of years though, I’ve seen one of my former favorite hobbies dwindle down to nonexistent.

I can’t really say that my lack of interest in baking stems from writing this blog though because it’s not like I ever created new cookie recipes every week. I mean, sure, I shared a whole ton of cookie recipes but I was never a recipe blogger! Our interests just change sometimes or go through phases I guess, right?

So when my son decided he wanted to bake chocolate chip cookies last night, I was definitely not thrilled. I was tired and I didn’t feel like a major mess in the kitchen but it wasn’t too bad. Texture wise they weren’t on point for my usual but hey, it’s been a while. They still tasted right.

I’m trying to get focused on selecting the Bar Mitzvah photos from the photographer’s gallery so that we can finally order the albums and portraits. It’s ridiculous already! I think I need to just make the appointment with the photographer so that it’s on my calendar as pressure to select what I like. Or maybe I will just let them guide me. I have the link to the photo gallery and I click on the heart in the corner of the photos to favorite them when I like one but I honestly haven’t really narrowed down my choices.

Each time I go through the link I spot a picture from the Bar Mitzvah that I didn’t see before. Like this one of Heather and me. Certainly not album worthy but still, what’s with our faces? What were we saying or doing or reacting to?

A black and white version of me screaming in the chair during the horah. I guess the photographer thought that maybe in black and white this picture would look better. That’s my friend Michelle in the background!

Smiling? About to cry? Probably both.

On This Day:

3/15/17: What I Ate Wednesday 

3/15/16: Cereal Milk Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies < – see, I told you that I used to bake and create new cookies!

3/15/15: Pure Barre, Some Yoga, Lots Of Running

3/15/13: Friday Confusion

[bctt tweet=”Thinking out loud on the blog today including chocolate chip cookies and more random photos from the Bar Mitzvah! #thinkingoutloud #cookies #baking #barmitzvah” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Okay, tell me which coffee maker you have and which one you think I should get?

Do you still bake or cook as much as you used to?

If you are married or planned a big event, how quickly did you go through the photos to order albums and portraits?