May in review

A heads up - next week (and every first Wednesday of the month) Jenna and I are hosting another currently link up. The categories for this round: cooking, watching, planning, reading, wearing. We had such fun reading all the posts last month, so we hope you'll join in again!

May was a month with plenty of outdoor time, from al fresco dining to race running to reading in the sunshine to walks with oh-so-grown-up Henkie in the actual stroller seat (not the car seat adapter any more). A little recap of my iPhone snaps and some other highlights:

The month in experiencing firsts:

• For Henk: rolling from back to front, riding like a big boy in a shopping cart
• For my belly: dinner at Dutch's (recommendation: proscuitto & mozarella sandwich with fig jam!), Bakersfield (recommendations: guacamole, margaritas, and fish tacos, the new A Tavola (recommendation: arancini and gorgonzola/pepperoni/sausage pizza).
• For blogging: being recognized in public by a reader (so exciting to meet you, Katie!) and hosting a link up.

The month in crossing things off lists:

• Most expensive: finishing the master bathroom update (from the 14 in 2014 list)
• Most exhausting: getting a PR by 10 minutes in the Flying Pig 1/2 marathon (14 in 2014 list)
• Most endearing: having a family photo shoot (30 before 30 list)

The month in sharing:

• With Henk: a first Mother's Day, a love of stripes, and a really bad cold (boo)
• With prospective runners: half marathon training tips
• With a favorite style blogger: a copycat striped blazer outfit

The month in reading and writing:

• Book club meetings attended: 3 (What Alice Forgot, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, & The Maytrees)
• Book review posts published: 2 
• Deep thoughts posted: on motherhood: the new normal

The month in blogging:

• Most popular post: wearing lately: ready for summer
• Posted one year ago today: pinning presently: baby stuff - I'm beyond the maternity stuff now, but this old post might have good ideas for some of my newly pregnant bloggy buddies!
• Blog love: some recent favorite blogging links and a list of some of my favorite mom blogs 

Have a nice weekend welcoming the arrival of June! I'm doing it at the beach - pretty much the only way to improve on the niceness of my May weekends... yay!

Sharing on the Coffee Date linkup.

pin to present: BBQ chicken burgers

I love the return of farmers market season. The fresh produce is of course great, but I also go for the meat. When it comes to meat eating, I prefer to spend more to get the good stuff, and my neighborhood market has some farmers with some seriously good locally raised stuff... Also: a great selection of cuts. I've never found ground chicken anywhere but from my Mennonite farmer guy - and so now that I've got access to him again, I was finally able to try out a mouthwatering recipe I pinned over the winter: BBQ chicken burgers.

image and recipe: How Sweet It Is

The verdict: yes, please. Which isn't too surprising - how could it not be yummy, with gouda cheese, caramelized onions, and some Sweet Baby Ray's on top? So flavorful and easy, and a very satisfying alternative to a beef burger, I say. If you're looking for a little something different for your next cookout, try this - I think your friends will be impressed.

A recipe tip, though: one downside compared to making beef burgers is that ground chicken just doesn't want to stick together. So after making the patties I pop them in the freezer for 15-20 minutes to firm them up a bit, and then Peter grills them on top of our veggie grill tray so that they don't try to fall through the grates.

I also recommend our original favorite thing to do with ground chicken: chicken pesto burgers. I definitely recommend these as soon as you can get your hands on a bunch of fresh basil and a juicy tomato at the market. In the meantime, I'm pretty happy about the two leftover BBQ chicken burger patties we've got waiting in the freezer for dinner again soon.

reading lately: historical

I don't tend to select straight-up historical fiction when I'm looking for a new read, but lately I've enjoyed several books with interesting historical twists. The first two mix present and past really well, which I always enjoy, and the others are good stories with the added bonus of learning a little history while you're at it.

The House Girl
This novel weaves together the story of a modern-day junior lawyer tasked with finding an ideal lead plaintiff for a potentially huge slavery reparations case, and the story of a house girl, Josephine, who escapes along the Underground Railroad. Like with The Secret Keeper below, I love stories that unravel through an investigation into someone's past - sort of a genealogical mystery. The modern-day character, Lina, does lots of digging into historical documents and artwork, which I find fascinating, to learn about Josephine and how she may have actually been the artist responsible for a famous Southern painter's work. Then having the sections with Josephine's story gives the reader insight into the true story that Lina is trying to uncover. Both women are great characters, and while sometimes jumping back and forth from modern-day to past in alternating chapters can bug me (if I like one of the stories better than the other, I find myself skimming so I can get back to the good one), I liked them equally well here. Recommend!


The Secret Keeper
I think Kate Morton has a formula for her novels - they move back and forth in time from a modern day woman who is becoming aware of and then trying to figure out a big secret of her family's past and the story from that (female) family member's history. This one fits the mold, obviously - with the title The Secret Keeper - going from modern-day Laurel, trying to figure out what her dying mother's big regrets/secret are, back and forth to her mother's story set in WWII London. While formulaic, I really enjoy Kate Morton's books for being good stories to get into - I always love something that unravels and untangles like this, and I like the historic settings. Plus they tend to be long, so you have plenty of time to get wrapped up in the world. Good long-weekend pleasure reading.


Longbourn
A Jane Austen spinoff can make a devotee a bit wary, but I think this one is absolutely worth a read. The story happens alongside P&P, rather than trying to be a continuation or extension, so you get an entirely different world - the servants' - along with snippets of the P&P plot so you know where you are in time. Occasionally the main P&P characters have some new dialogue (and occasionally some lines right from the original), but mostly they appear as impressions, and that way you get a whole new angle on them, from the servants' point of view. For instance, Lizzy Bennet tromping through the mud to visit a sick Jane is slightly less charming when you get Sarah's perspective on how awful wash day is and how difficult that mud is to get out of silk. Jane Austen tends not to get into the nitty gritty details of the time period or the lives of the lower classes, so I liked the historical details (in this version, you actually learn something about the wars that all those militia men constantly hanging around are involved in, for example), and I just thought it was a good story too. I got really into it - at least until it slightly fizzled at the end for me - and I think that's because it had Jane Austen elements I love but was written with more modern pacing/language (but not in an incongruous way). I also loved the servant characters and how I felt I got to know them.


Desiree
This is the most straight-up historical fiction of the bunch, and I have to admit I was a little mad I dedicated that much reading time to it (it's looonng and not so well written)... but I read it for book club, where we surprisingly stayed on topic talking about it for much longer than normal, so there's that. It's about Napoleon's first love, written in the form of her fictionalized diaries, and goodness that Desiree could be annoying at times. I will grant that the historical context turned out to be interesting, since the Napoleonic wars aren't something I know tons about, especially from the French perspective (and there were some crazy happenings in those times - like Napoleon handing out countries to his siblings and Desiree's husband essentially getting elected as the son/heir to the Swedish king). We're all just hoping that the fictionalized account doesn't stray too far from fact, because otherwise we're going to get some weird looks when we supply our interesting Napoleon factoids at our next dinner party.


The Cold Cold Ground
There's just something so satisfying sometimes about a good, literary-ish mystery, and most of my favorites (especially Kate Atkinson and Tana French) come out of the UK/Ireland - which was why I added this one to my list right away after hearing it reviewed by Nancy Pearl on NPR. She usually doesn't steer me wrong, though I'm not sure I agree with her assessment of it as "the best crime novel mystery I've read in a long time", I agree that it fits my similar criteria of "good" detective novels by having something more than just the plot. In this case it was the setting in Belfast in the time of "The Troubles" in the 1980s, which it turns out I don't know all that much about, especially how much scary daily violence, terrorism, rioting, and bus burning was happening. Some of the Protestant/Catholic terms and divisions were a bit confusing at times, but overall the historical backdrop was really interesting and informative, especially the dynamics of Inspector Sean Duffy being a lone Catholic on a Protestant police force, even if he wasn't my favorite detective character ever (and his romantic dalliances a bit annoying at times).

around the house: master bathroom update

One of my goals for this year was to redo our master bathroom, which we've been talking about for years but finally decided to get on as part of thinking ahead to selling the house. I started gathering inspirations and getting contractor quotes way back in January, and now 4 months (and 3+ weeks of unusable bathroom) later, we finally have a finished product to show off. It's still a tiny little space and we did it on a budget, but it now feels much worthier of a "master bathroom" title with updated fixtures and flooring, a soothing color scheme, and a fully tiled shower.

Get ready for photo overload, because I'm mighty pleased with the results - we're loving getting to use this brighter and cleaner space, and I have high hopes that potential buyers will be enticed by it too!

And this wouldn't be complete without some before photos - just like with our kitchen, I didn't think it was that awful, until I had a new version to compare with the old... And now thank goodness that yucky linoleum, cheapy tub, and blue paint (that I picked) are gone!

Sources
Inspirations: via Pinterest
Wall color: Home Decorator's Nano White from Home Depot
Light: Portfolio from Lowe's
Faucet/shower fixtures: Delta Cassidy via Faucetdirect.com (which has seriously the best customer service, by the way. Highly recommend!)
Floor tile: Fronda Marengo from Tile Shop
Shower tile: Streamline from Florida Tile
Medicine cabinet: Kohler from Lowe's
Corner shelves: 10x10 glass corner shelves via Amazon
Glass shelf/towel bar: Delta Cassidy line via Amazon
Towel hooks: Delta Cassidy line via Amazon
Hand towels: Hammam striped towels from West Elm
Bath towels: Nate Berkus (striped) and Threshold (solid) from Target
Soap pump/tumbler/canisters: Threshold from Target
Faux succulents: potted short succulent from Crate & Barrel
Tray: Feathergrain wood try from The Container Store
Artwork: free botanical print download via Poppytalk

Sharing on Love Happy Daily's Blog Every Day in May challenge, for today's "a project I've been working on" prompt - while we hired people to do all the work (besides the painting, which Peter took care of for me!), it was still a big project for me with plenty of work, with all the driving around town to look at tile options and pick up supplies, scouring the internet for ideas and deals, scheduling workers, etc. - so in addition to the whole being able to use the bathroom again after a few weeks, it feels quite time-freeing to have this project crossed off the list!

mini me Monday, v. 3

So, clearly, we (and the people we hang out with) are into blue, white, and stripes - since that's what's been featured most on these mini me style posts. And Henk's even started doing his own mini mes with his stuffed animals - how cute is that?

sporting nautical stripes plus a pop of orange with mommy | snoozing with a chameleon-like lovey in chartreuse stripes | navy, white, and striped all over with mommy & Gigi | big & little bare toes

Hope you're enjoying the long weekend!

Sharing on the Trendy Tots linkup.

5 things Friday: summer getaway essentials edition

Memorial Day weekend! I'm always so happy when it rolls around, as Monday is the first paid holiday I get of the year, after New Year's Day. And right now I'm extra ready for it after a doozy of a workweek. Of course my favorite part of this holiday: the kickoff of summer! This year we don't have any weekend getaway plans (though we do have a babysitter booked for date night tomorrow, yay)... but if I were going on a summery long-weekend getaway, here are 5 things I would definitely pack in my great new Look to the West Bag from Conversation Pieces:

1. Pareo - spread it out to lounge upon in the sun, wrap it around your shoulders if it gets a little cool in the evening, or tie on as a swim suit cover up - very handy to have in a summer getaway bag (mine's an old travel souvenir, but this one is great too).

2. Good beach reading - I've actually already read this one but almost wish I hadn't yet, it's such an enjoyable book.

3. Sandals - gold colored thongs work great for the beach but also are nice enough to pair with a cute dress for the al fresco dining that I'd be sure to do on my imaginary getaway.

4. Sunnies - of course.

5. Favorite summer dress (similar) - now that the summer season officially begins and we can "officially" wear white (never mind that I don't actually subscribe to such ideas and have already worn it this spring!).

There's room in this bag's 3 compartments for way more too - like my bathing suit, cover up, sunscreen, hat, etc. Here's hoping we get some beach weather on Peter's vacation week in early June and I can put it into action. In the meantime, happy long weekend, whatever you've got planned!

pin to present: striped blazer

I've been pinning looks with casual striped knit blazers forever - so I'm excited to finally start recreating them, now that I have this great one from Conversation Pieces. Starting with this fun idea for accessorizing - an open scarf, with pattern mixing to boot.

image: Here & Now | blazer: c/o Conversation Pieces | jeans: Loft | tshirt and shoes: JCrew Factory | scarf: Gap

If you're in the market for one of these really comfy yet stylish blazers, definitely check out this one from Conversation Pieces - only $27! It's such a great outfit completer and a nice weight for layering in late spring or on cool summer nights.

Sharing on What I Wore, Style Sessions.

around town lately + 14 in 2014 update

With some fabulously nice days in the last couple of weeks, it's been great to get out and about to some new and some familiar - but all fun - things around town. A couple of weeks ago Henk and I saw the Costa Rica butterfly show at the Khron Conservatory with some friends, and he loved tracking the butterflies (and all the little kids!) flying around the room. Almost got his mitts on one too, but it was smart enough to escape first.

On Mother's Day we walked down to our new local place, A Tavola, for dinner. It turned into beers on the patio and boxed pizza to eat at home because the wait was so long, but we still had a great time chatting & sipping while Hendrik snoozed, and the appetizer course of arancini (fried risotto balls, yum!) that he did last through before getting a bit squirmy and whiny was excellent.

Also on Mother's Day we made our annual trip to Pipkin's Market, where we get our vegetables and herbs to plant. It's such a pretty and colorful place to wander around too.

Since two of these outings are (again) checking things off my 14 in 2014 list, I thought it was time for an update (since a monthly recap is #14 on the list!). The butterfly exhibit was the first time it worked out for us to participate in a children's playgroup outing with the Resident Spouse Association I'm part of. It was fun to hang out with some of the ladies I do monthly dinners and book clubs with and their kids, and Henk had fun too - so that's another check for #9, try a mom group. And of course our new A Tavola is another check for #5, try 3 new restaurants in Cincinnati. Since we've already been to 3 new places this year it's kind of turning into a monthly thing, but that's quite alright by me.

I also checked off #3, run the Flying Pig half marathon again, and with a personal best by almost 10 minutes. Happy to have that complete. And #1 is finally wrapping up - I'll be able to reveal the new bathroom before the next update time, yay! Still in process are #2, , #4, #12, and #13 (look for two new recipe posts in the next few weeks: BBQ chicken burgers and sweet potato quinoa salad).

What have you been checking off your resolutions list, or doing around town, lately?

10 things that make me happy

It's Monday, and I'm going into a workweek that's going to be really busy, and I'm just not excited about it. Unfortunately after being away last week it sounds like Peter's going to have a busy one to boot, which will probably mean several late nights at the hospital for him. Seems like the perfect time for the Love Happy Daily blog every day in May "10 things that make you happy" post prompt.

Ten happy things in my life right now:

the latte bowls I eat breakfast out of every day that I still love and adore | baby thigh rolls, and our family photos from Jacqueline (full post to come!)

a fun new book lined up to read when life calms down | Gigi, who drove down to give us lots of help and lots of fun last week while Peter was away  | lovely free printable art for my bathroom wall

a new living room color scheme in the works | date night to look forward to on Saturday (maybe finally trying Bakersfield!) | toes finally cleaned up post-race and panted a snazzy Thrill of Brazil (thanks again to Gigi)

new striped sweatshirt blazer from Conversation Pieces (full Pinterest-inspired outfit post to come) | new favorite snack of Trader Joe's kettle corn

So. Happy Monday, right?

five things Friday: favorite mom blogs edition

Since I've been posting about motherhood (and my big boy!) this week, and since Sunday's Blog Every Day in May prompt is to share 5 blogs you love reading, for your Friday perusal here are the 5 mom-related blogs I'm into lately. They're not necessarily entirely focused on motherhood/pregnancy (though a couple are), so you might still be interested even if you don't have kids, but all have practical advice, fun ideas for kiddos, and stories about the ups and downs of parenting that I've appreciated.

1. Jen Loves Kev - I've enjoyed Jen's style and creativity for years, and now I admire her approach to motherhood (plus her 2 girls are adorable). I especially love her posts about the week's highs and lows in parenting and about her family's adventures together, and I love her positive attitude and her approach to having a healthy marriage and kids.

2. Say Yes - another one I've enjoyed for a long time for great DIYs, style posts, and recipes - and now appreciate even more from a motherhood perspective. She's just got so many great ideas! My favorites now are the series on secrets of stylish moms, the various kid-related projects/crafts that I keep bookmarking for when Henk gets old enough, and the easy weeknight meals for busy people/parents. I also love seeing the travel/adventures this family goes on with a 5-year-old and a 6-month-old, because as I mentioned earlier this week, balance of retaining some normal life (and having fun as a family while we're at it) is so important to me.

3. Lucie's List - I came across this at some point when I was pregnant, and I'm so glad I did because this is where I found the best advice on baby products - everything from car seats to high chairs - and, very helpfully, lists of what essentials you need. Plus real talk about what to expect at the hospital, after delivery, life with baby, etc. She's got a weekly email subscription that my pregnant friends should definitely sign up for. Lots of helpful advice pre-baby, and then emails after birth about milestones and advice for dealing with whatever thing they're up to that week/month. Sooo helpful when I started thinking about baby schedules, solid foods, etc. Oh, and she's funny!

4. Pregnant Chicken - another really funny one that's also super helpful for pregnancy info, baby product reviews, and more. If you're pregnant you have got to read her hilarious posts of comebacks for the crazy comments/questions that people somehow are appropriate to say to pregnant ladies - and then there's the 10 things to never say to a pregnant woman. There's also some really helpful practical stuff, like what to pack in your hospital bag, and her weekly pregnancy calendar email subscription is great too. The one I got at week 27, titled "you are going to be amazing" [at giving birth] was one of the most encouraging things I read in preparation for delivery.

5. Everything Emily - I just recently came across Emily's blog through her Trendy Tots linkup (baby style posts - it's adorable) and stuck around for all her other great kiddo ideas. Her son's lumberjack-inspired room is one of the cutest little boy rooms I've seen in a long time, and I love the posts with baby favorites by month too, as peeks into the fun to come with Henk.

Hope you enjoy these if you haven't seen them yet - and I always love finding fun new blogs too, so share some favorites! Happy weekend reading.

Hendrik at 7 months

I say every month that he seems to be growing up fast, but this month feels like it was a big one with Mr. Henk... This first series of photos was from the beginning of the month, when he still hung out in the Bumbo chair, but by the end of the month, I snapped the next series of him sitting all on his own (and the Bumbo is downstairs in storage!). It makes him seem so much older, because sitting up leads to all kinds of big boy stuff, like high chairs and sitting in the actual seat of the stroller.

Besides learning to sit up on his own and growing into size 3 diapers, here's what else he's been up to in month 7:

Likes/dislikes

• GRABBING. Reaching for things isn't new, but now it's become his main purpose in life.
• Watching. So much more into observing things this month - which can make for a distractable boy when he's supposed to be eating. He loves seeing what Ginger is up to, watching cars go by, observing people when we're out and about, watching whirlybirds fall off trees - everything, really.
• Laughing. So many great giggles this month! Especially when we make any kind of funny noise at him or tickle him, but there are also times when he just seems to want to be silly and laugh, so all it takes is just looking at him to set him off. It's the cutest.
• Hanging out in his new jump-up. He doesn't really do much jumping yet, but he loves swinging around in the doorway and figured out how to pick his feet up and spin, which led to lots of laughs too.
• Doesn't care for any size chunk of anything in his food - only the finest purees for my by.
• Doesn't like getting too hot, which has led to a bit of crankiness in the last week as it's gotten into the 80s a few times.

New tricks

• Sitting unassisted! At the beginning of the month we were using the Boppy pillow to help him practice sitting, and by now he does it on his own like a pro. There's still some tipping over, usually caused by trying to grab something off to the side, but mostly he just sits and plays with toys like a big boy now!
• Eating in a high chair. Talk about being a big boy now. 
• Finding his feet. He was way too into his own hands to ever discover his feet until this month - and now he spends all of his time during diaper changes grabbing onto them (which makes the task rather more difficult).
• Finding his voice. Lots of yelling and shrieking this month, which he very much amuses himself by doing. I'm was mostly amused too, until the practice loudness started making its way into his regular crying (turned screaming).

Firsts

• Ride in the regular seat of the Bob (rather than in the carseat).
• Easter - which also came with his first Easter basket (filled with books & cute Eric Carle paraphenalia that I wanted to buy him anyway...) and his first time in nursery. 

Sleeping

• We're finally on a slightly more predictable time schedule in terms of napping, but their length is always unpredictable. Well, I guess "short" is what we can predict. 
• I am very thankful that Henk sleeps through the night, but still rather jealous of these early bedtimes and 10-12 hour nights I hear about from friends. He goes down by about 9:30 and I usually hear his first peeps around 6:30, though he stays in bed until about 7. That makes for about an hour of down time for us in the evenings, and about half an hour of frantic work email inbox clearing in the mornings before it's time to go get him up.

Eating

• Moved from the bumbo to a real high chair, which was exciting - plus it's great for having him hang out in the kitchen and play with toys while I mix up bottles or make our dinner.
• I'm still loving the Babycook for making Hendrik's food, but unfortunately he's not loving his food as much... It feels like we've had some setbacks in the last couple of weeks in that he pretty much spits back anything that's not fruit or yogurt. In my quest to raise an adventurous eater, having to "trick" him into eating any vegetables by mixing pureed apples or pears into them is so frustrating! He's even not into his former favorite, avocado, anymore. We just keep spooning those veggies in though, and have cut off the beloved yogurt for now, so hopefully we're back on track soon.

workout Wednesday: half marathon training tips

A few months ago I shared 5 tips for running success, and after recently finishing my third half marathon, I thought I'd add to that with some specifics for half marathon training. I'm no expert, but I did cut a full minute per mile off my pace between the first and the third, so I guess I've had some experience! Experience that might be helpful for someone contemplating their first - since when I did mine, I really hadn't set out to do one at all. The year I got into running, my goal was my first 5k race, but then I just kept challenging myself to go a little farther, and within a few months of that I had run my first 1/2 too.

I think this could be a helpful approach for other first-timers because it shows that you don't have to start out as a distance runner by any means; you just have to keep running and gradually adding to your distance, and you can absolutely get there. So if you're interested in trying one out, here are some tips I'd offer from my experiences:

1. Make a training plan: It's worth taking a look at a few official plans (Runner's World or Hal Higdon, for example) but I don't think following them in terms of speed training days, etc. is crucial if you're doing your first race and your goal is finishing the distance. Logging miles is the important part, I think, so I cobbled together my own plan, which was basically running frequently (about 4 times per week) and adding distance gradually. The official plans are helpful in benchmarking about how many miles your longer runs should be each week, and they're a helpful reminder for when you should back off a bit before the race - because you don't want your legs to be over-tired for the big day! - but even for my third race I didn't follow the things like "tempo runs" etc. on the official plans; I just ran a lot (and I still knocked 10 minutes off my time).

2. Build confidence and distance: to a distance for long runs that helps you feel confident. I think the training plans I looked at the first time around went to 10 miles as the longest training run, but I did about 11.5 because it made me feel more confident that I could do the full 13.1. It's mostly a mental thing rather than a physical conditioning thing at that point - because each time I added a little distance, it was my longest run ever, culminating with 13.1. So I liked that confidence booster! This time I did a 12-mile run in training, not because I needed it for the distance,

3. Research: Look into the race course a bit - if it's particularly hilly, for example, it's smart to make sure your training runs include hills. And if you live anywhere near the course it's smart to do a few training runs on part of it (especially if there are big hills like here in Cincinnati). This helps you train for the course but also gives you some extra confidence on race day from having familiarity with the route and how it feels, and even how to get there on race day.

4. Figure out your energy/water use: I never drink water or do those goo energy gel thingies while training because I tend to just go out and run, but I'm not sure that's a good thing for long runs... probably they would be helpful. For this race I tried some energy chews; I'm not sure how much energy they gave me per se, but it is nice to have a little sugar boost, something to moisten your mouth a bit, and something to "do" at a certain mile marker. So I don't have tons of experience here, but my advice would just be to test things out on a training run if you think that having a little energy gel or Gatorade or whatever would be helpful - don't want to try it out for the first time during a race. Planing a water bottle ahead of time somewhere on your route can be helpful if you don't want to carry it the whole time. Also, practicing drinking during a run could be helpful so you don't just dump water all over yourself or choke, like I tend to do in races.

5. Calm your race day nerves: when it comes to the big day, I tend to get super nervous. A few things that help:

• Know your routine (what you eat for breakfast before a run, how long before the run you eat/drink, what you are comfortable wearing for that temperature, etc.) and stick to it on race day.
• Have someone drop you off at the starting line, rather than having to try to figure out parking yourself and worry about getting from the parking lot to the starting line on time. Or, as I did this year, carpool with some marathon runners - you don't have to figure out parking and you feel like your run is less of an ordeal because those crazies are going to be out there for twice as long!
• Get in line for the port-a-potties right away when you arrive. If you don't have to go yet, you'll have to by the time it's finally your turn.
• Remember that once you start that race, you're going to get this awesome burst of adrenaline from the excitement and the occasion, and that will absolutely help get you through it. 
• Line up friends/family to cheer you on - it's also the most awesome boost when you see them cheering for you, which specially helpful when you start getting to later miles - my friend was there at mile 9 for my first race, and it gave me a full mile energy boost. (Also, it helps if you know about where they might be so that you can look for them, while they're looking for you. If there are a lot of runners and spectators, it's not always easy to spot your people!)
• You're going to do great, but also wear your Road ID - another form of peace of mind when you can be properly identified and you have contact/medical information available.

Cincinnati Half Marathon, October 2011 | Flying Pig, May 2012 | Flying Pig, May 2014

So that ended up being kind of long-winded for tips, but it's a long race! Anyone have anything to add? Or a first-time race coming up?

wearing lately: ready for summer

I'm working with Conversation Pieces to style monthly outfits from their shop's great selections, and this month their challenge to bloggers was to put together a summer outfit - just in time for the summer-like weather (in the 80s!) we've been treated to around here for a few days, which has warm-weather dressing on my mind.

dress and bag: c/o Conversation Pieces | sandals: Old Navy | scarf: via Groopdealz

With a name like "When in Rome Dress," I'm pretty sure pairing this one with gladiator sandals is a must, right? And this simple dress/sandals combo would be just the thing for a summer vacation - the dress is perfectly easy, breezy, comfortable, and lightweight on its own for a day of sightseeing or an evening of al fresco dining. A scarf with a fun color blocking/striped mix adds even more of a nice breezy touch that's perfect for summer, and this lovely patterned and roomy bag is great for toting all of a girl's (or her baby's) essentials for gallivanting around.

While I'll have to wait a bit to wear it anywhere near the beach (where this number would double up very nicely as a cover up for a classic black bikini), it was great having a few bonus early hot weather days to practice my summer dressing - and to have Mother's Day and our yummy new local walking-distance restaurant as an excuse to dress up!

Sharing on the Work Clothes, I Suppose sandals-themed Third Thursday Threads and Style Elixir's Style Sessions.

life with baby: the new normal

I can hardly believe that this weekend marked my first Mother's Day... A year ago we were just announcing the pregnancy widely, and now we have an almost 7-month-old! (And it was a lovely day - we don' need an excuse to g o out to breakfast but are happy to take one, then we had a lovely day for visiting the garden center and for Peter to plant our veggies, and also a perfect evening to walk down to our new local restaurant - A Tavola II - where we toasted Mother's Day with nice beers outdoors while we waited and got to try a couple yummy varieties of wood fired pizzas.)

picnicking at Eli's | brunching at National Exemplar | sitting by the pool on vacation

Thinking about how life has changed in the year since then reminded me of Amy's (who is expecting her first) comment, on my post with essentials for a road trip with baby, that she was glad to see a glimmer of hope that there can be some normal life after baby joins the family.

You absolutely have to expect - and I'd say desire - major changes in daily life and in your life's focus when planning to have a baby because it's a completely different (permanent!) life stage to be parents vs. a married couple. (In fact, this is part of why we were married almost 8 years before having a baby, the other part being waiting out the worst of Peter's residency schedule...)

patio sitting with friends at Dutch's | dinner with Miss Lesley at Lime | jogging with mommy, Gigi, & Poppy

But I think you can also expect and desire continuing with parts of your normal life. (And I don't think you have to like a bad mom for wanting to retain some normalcy or some sense of being a couple or being an individual! Your being well-rounded is good for everyone in your family.) Obviously there's some "new normal" about life now, like a shift from doing lots of things together as a couple to taking turns doing most things - going to the gym, getting in the shower, sometimes even eating dinner - so that one of us can watch the baby. Or there's missing out on some things (or getting invited to fewer things) because you've got a baby to watch, like the dinner outings I've had to skip because Peter was working late or the work trips I've needed to skip because childcare was too complicated.

There's still plenty of normal though: we still do lots of the things we enjoyed pre-baby with the help of a babysitter - we go on date nights, I work and go for runs and write blog posts and meet up with my friends. And actually date night is even more fun now that it's carefully planned ahead with scheduling a babysitter - it gives us an excuse to make reservations somewhere new, and we look forward to it a lot.

walking around the neighborhood | hanging out downtown Cincinnati | enjoying sushi date night 

But we also now do a lot of the things with Hendrik that we've always enjoyed as a couple, adapting them into great times for the whole family to have fun together. He fits so well into our "normal" life, riding along in the stroller for dog walking, hanging out in his seat and smiling at us while we eat at our favorite brunch spot, happily watching the cars go by when we enjoy a nice evening sitting on the porch, having his bottle and napping by the pool when we're on vacation, napping in the cart while I wander the aisles at Target, sitting on my lap and smiling at the other ladies when I go to book club at the local coffee shop. Plus there's still the spontaneous date nights - they just become family date nights to restaurants on the list of "places you can bring a baby," and those are so great too.

shopping for groceries | lunching with Sarah | wandering the mall with mommy

So, yes, friends with babies on the way: by your first Mother's Day, your life will have changed a lot, but if you try, there can be a lot of normal from pre-baby life that still holds true - with the bonus of having a sweet baby as part of the picture. And (from someone who normally doesn't like change) that new normal is really quite nice.