STOOOOLEN!

I had some guy friends in college who used to steal random bottles of alcohol from parties with a rule that you could only drink from the bottle if you shouted "STOOOLEN!" prior to drinking. Slightly immoral, but I'm sure there are worse things they could have been doing. On that note, here is a little survey that I stole but I'm making that theft okay by shouting "STOOOOLEN!" and acknowledging that I nabbed it from the gorgeous Christina - seriously check out her blog and tell me which celeb she looks like because I can't put my finger on it.

Any old way, without further ado, STOLEN survey!

10 Favorite Musical Artists
Tim McGraw
The Beatles
The Band
Brad Paisley
Bonnie Raitt
Paul Simon
Bruce Springsteen
Frank Sinatra
Sam Cooke
Bob Dylan

9 things in your purse
Cell
Keys
Wallet
Hand sanitizer
Lip gloss
Hand lotion
Random trash
Cough drops
Headphones, just in case I stumble onto a treadmill

8 places you want to visit
CALIFORNIA
Austin, TX
Charleston, SC
Savannah, GA
Miami
Portland, OR
Prince Edward Island
Australia

7 movies you love
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Scrooged
Love Actually
Fletch
Clueless
Wet Hot American Summer
Romeo + Juliet

6 favorite hobbies
Making new friends
Seeing old friends
Running
Baking
Crafts
Reading

5 fave fruits/vegetables
Pineapple!!!!
Avocado
Butternut Squash
Broccoli
Carrots

4 favorite colors to wear
Pink
Light Pink
Dark Pink
Black

3 things that stress you out
Traffic
Possibly missing a flight
Birds

2 things you say too much
Oh my gosh
Wait, what?

1 favorite dessert
Blueberry Pie.

And now I'm off to run a marathon! Enjoy your Sunday!!

Sneaky spinach

Do you have any healthy foods or habits that you have to trick yourself into adopting? Even though you're no longer 6 and trying to sneak your vegetables to your dog? Personally, I hate greens. I know, that's like blasphemy from anyone who even pretends to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but I despise them. The worst is a restaurant salad that is 90% greens - be they iceberg or romaine, it's all blechhhh to me! I love veggies, but anything leaf-like makes me feel like I'm eating grass.

So anyway. THANK THE HIGH HEAVENS for green monster smoothies, am I right?! My food tastes like a chocolatey peanut-buttery dessert-y heaven, but I am actually devouring at least two {loosely} packed cups o' spinach, which are some serious greens, which seriously yick me out in a salad setting. Yick is a new word, just go with it.

Anyway, there is a small and super simple blog challenge I discovered through one of the lovely hostesses, Jen at Peanut Butter Runner, going around to consume a green smoothie once a day for 7 days. Washing-out-my-blender issues aside, this idea seemed like a brilliant way for me to get in some much-needed darker greens and not even be mad about it. I generally make precisely the same smoothie recipe, so I'm excited to challenge myself to try some new flavor combos!

For today's, I kept it classic and chocolatey (so also it looked sort of like vomit, hence no 'after' picture for your viewing pleasure) with the following mix-ins:

• 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 cup Trader Joe's mixed berries (frozen)
• 1 tablespoon flax seed
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 2 cups of SPINACH!

Blend, Devour, Feel good about self.

Any fave green monster recipes I must try?

Any healthy foods you have to sneak in your mouth?

What's your nard?

First of all, nard? Great word.

Second of all, I'm grabbing that word from the book of John in which Jesus visits Mary and Martha and Mary breaks a jar of her most expensive nard {can't not giggle} to wash Jesus' feet. {full verses here for inquiring minds}

That verse was taught in my church yesterday in a way that I hadn't totally considered it before. Not just focusing on sacrificing wealth or even sacrificing anything, but focusing on the fact that Mary held nothing, not even her most prized possession, above Jesus. If I'm going to sit here and list the things that I regularly place above Jesus - that I'm not fully confident I'd be able to sacrifice completely for Him - I'd be sitting here all day.

What if all, like all, of my friends abandoned me? If my family was lost in a car crash? If I could never run again? If I developed a fatal allergy to avocados? Would I be able to carry on, knowing only that I had the love of God?

There's a part of me that says, "of course, after a period of mourning or struggle, I would eventually be able to carry on." But there would be a period of serious darkness. And I've endured that before. It's not a pleasant place, and it can be easy to lose sight of all that you do have. Thinking to yourself, "well, at least I have God," can, to the truly miserable individual, be akin to having your mom still think you're cool even though you didn't get invited to the popular boy's Bar Mitzvah. Like, thanks, but really, no thanks.

So this teaching was a powerful reminder to me to stop acting like a 12 year old girl, literally, and be sure that my priorities are in line. Like anything of true worth or difficulty, that's not an easy, one-stop endeavor. That's an ongoing, daily practice that will continue throughout my life to re-assess, to pray, to ask myself, "Would I be willing and able to break my bottle of nard today?"

It's an important lesson, because all that we have here is temporary. Our loved ones will pass away. You can't take your shoe collection with you. But “The Lord’s love never ends; his mercies never stop.  They are new every morning.  Lamentations 3:22-23” - and that's pretty cool.

Addicted to technology and the day I almost died

Marathon training (for the Go! St. Louis Marathon) is in full swing and I ran 20 miles on this past beautiful Saturday morning. Following that successful run, I went to Mardi Gras and almost died.

St. Louis' Mardi Gras celebration is the second largest in the nation, behind - you guessed it! - New Orleans. The last time I was in St. Louis during this time of year I was 17 and for some reason that I can't even imagine my parents wouldn't have found it appropriate for me to attend an all-out rager, so this was my first time checking out the scene. And what a scene it was. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but it was certainly a wild ride, packed with thousands of people, and frankly, overwhelming. {I get overwhelmed very easily, but whatever}

Since I got a bit of a slower start to my morning and had to toss in a quick almost 3 hour run, I didn't head down to Soulard until about 3, so I was thrust into the craziness when everyone else had already been downing their body weight in beer since about 8 a.m. YIKES doesn't even begin to describe my feelings!

I met up with one of my close guy friends, his girlfriend and some other friends at one random street corner and had made plans to meet up with another friend in the muy exclusivo (not actually) Bud Light tent, for which you need a ticket in order to enter. Despite my friend's warnings about creepy men and reminders of my ability to get lost on the way from my bedroom to the bathroom, I meandered off solo to meet my friend. En route....MY PHONE DIED. I put that in all caps to express my anguish. What did people do before cell phones? I'm fairly certain they spent the vast majority of their life lost and looking for their friends. At this point in time, my life sort of flashed before my eyes as I realized that I was most likely going to die in Soulard and never see anyone I love again. I'm so casual and non-dramatic.

I knew I would never be able to find the first group of friends I was with again, and I couldn't let my other friends in the tent know that I was there to bring me a ticket for entry. The cab situation was dire at best. Essentially, I was stuck.

Thankfully, sort of, I ran into a high school classmate of mine, a guy who I would classify as a friend but also as one of the sketchiest characters in the book. His phone died too, so we were two phoneless souls, and he was also really weird. One time in 10th grade he passed me a note in Mr. McKone's math class that was essentially a five paragraph essay on why he wanted me to be his girlfriend. I politely declined. Anyway. There was a good thirty minute period during which we were alone together, it was uncomfortable, he's not much of one for personal space.

We ultimately ran into some other high school friends, he ran away muttering something about being in trouble with his ladyfriend {I can only imagine} and I skipped off into the distance with my friends, eventually to warm up in another friend's apartment where I could charge my phone. I made it. I survived Mardi Gras. How? I'm still not sure. A lot of luck and some very large beers definitely played a part. I can't help but think about how narrow of an escape I made! What if I had never run into a friend? Cabs were nearly impossible to hail, I couldn't call one, I couldn't call my dad to come save me, I felt so very helpless! And yet, even ten years ago, most people attending Mardi Gras likely did not have cell phones. And, as I haven't read statistics suggesting otherwise, they all survived. Or if they died it was not because they lost their friends. But really - can you imagine that?!

So the lesson here is to always charge your cell phone, and if your well-meaning friend advises you not to wander off by yourself at a crazy outdoor drinking event, maybe you should listen.

How was your weekend? Did you celebrate Mardi Gras?
Do you have a scary cell phone fail story?

Everybody's out on the run tonight

Anyone who runs, bikes, ellipticizes, or engages in similar exercises, knows the power of a good playlist - unless you are one of those zen people who go on 20 mile runs with no music, in which case, I am proud of you, but I don't understand you.

I am constantly searching for new bumpin' tracks as nothing zaps my motivation quite like an old, tired playlist. I am so thankful for iTunes song of the week and cancion de la semana (over on iTunes latino - I highly recommend) as they have some truly great offerings for free - I think we all know iTunes purchases seem cheap but add up pretty quickly so being introduced to a new artist and saving 99 cents is a double victory over here in my wild and exciting life. And don't even get me started on my reaction on the weeks I see that the theme is "Country Music" - remember the holiday commercials with the over-excited Target 2-day sale lady? Like that.

source

In addition to some great free songs, I also have a few standbys that never ever get old and boring for me. My cousin has just picked up running and asked for motivational music recommendations...so I took it upon myself to make her an entire Spotify playlist. Some tracks that I always love to hear on a run?

Paul Simon, Obvious Child
Dire Straits, Walk of Life
The Spinners, Rubber Band Man
Cody Chestnutt, Look Good in Leather
Michael Jackson, PYT

And of course....

Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run (no one else can pull off the plaid cut off shirt quite like The Boss...am I right or am I right?)

What are some of your favorite, throwback, never-get-old, running tunes?
Any new hot jams I should add to my list?
Do you run without music??

Second City, Third Marathon

Last week I made what, at the time, seemed like a brilliant idea. I signed up for the 2012 Chicago Marathon. I have a wonderful group of running friends I met in New York, one of whom actually came to run the St. Louis Marathon with me last year. She is also a huge fan of the Chicago marathon and has run the race every year since starting to run marathons - maybe 2006 or 2007? Every year she coerces various members of our running crew to join her in "the second city" and race Chicago - some years it's awesome, and some years, like apparently in 2010, it is a boiling sauna of misery.

At any rate, now that I am back in the Midwest, I thought to myself, "self, you're not that far away from Chicago and you never get to see your old East Coast friends, let's run Chicago and reconnect and check out this amazing marathon." So I registered.

And then, a day or so later, it hit me like a dang mac truck. The race is in October...so I will have to start training in July/August. In Saint Louis. Remember running in the heat? I try not to. But it's too late now, non-refundable active.com purchase, it's too late now.

Do you prefer running in the heat or the cold?
Any racing buyer's remorse out there?
Will you be running Chicago?!??

Just a few months late...

Did y'all catch the movie Drive? A few friends of mine have started a little "movie night" tradition, as one of my friends is a true film buff and the rest of us like to make as many immature observations as we can in the span of a feature length film. She loves hanging out with us, promise.

Anyway, last weekend we watched Drive (finally! I had been wanting to see it for months!) and, while I loved the cinematography and of course Mr. Ryan Gosling, my favorite part of the film was the uber-cool soundtrack. I feel a little high school-ish to be totally hooked on a movie soundtrack, but I'm not going to fight it. Particularly as this soundtrack reminds me a lot of being in high school: restless and a little angsty, always searching for something bigger, better and more exciting. It makes me want to go for a long, late-night drive with no real destination in mind. {did you ever do that in high school? we totally did; I even went on a date once where literally we just drove fast down back roads and talked about life}

For your listening and reminiscing pleasure:

If you saw Drive, did you like it?? Are you as worried about the psychological future of all of the characters as I am??
Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!!

The American Dream, back again?

Did all y'all in America catch the State of the Union last night? I had actually forgotten about it (whoops!) until about 8:03 CST, but thankfully was able to listen to the entire speech. I am the first to let you know that I am very conservative and pretty skeptical if not downright upset regarding most policies Obama has put into play over the past three years. That being said, I have a great respect for our country and for the office of the presidency and was eager to hear what our president had to say and hopeful that he had some awesome ideas up his sleeve. I am not one of those individuals who seeks to tear down members of another political party or who hold to an opposing ideology just because, I think it is so important to continue to have dialogue and to truly understand where other people are coming from and the full implications of their political ideas. I'm not going to run around assuming that I'm always right; I think that's a dangerous position to hold.

Anyway, I'm also the first to tell you that Obama is one handsome, articulate man. Everything he says just sounds so good. But is it true? And are any of the programs he alludes to, or tax breaks, or reductions in regulations, really going to happen? And what are the unseen implications of some of the new policies he's proposing? These are just a few of the questions I always have to ask myself. I, probably like a lot of people, can get easily swept up in the formality and excitement and optimism surrounding the SOTU, forget the facts and just drink the punch of patriotism that is handed over to me that night.

I think it's important, as citizens of America or anywhere other country with an operating democracy, to always think for yourself, research the facts, disregard talking heads and ignore party lines.

One news source I like is CNN's website for just a glossy overview of what's hip, happening, and breaking. They have a little blog called the "Truth Squad," which, if you're not familiar with already, you should definitely check out! They do the fact-checking for you on some of the bolder claims politicians make in debates and speeches, and here is their assessment of Obama's speech and the corresponding Republican response.

What did you think about last night's speech? Loved it? Hated it? Never watch those things?

Technology, the bane of my existence

This Christmas, I was elated to open a Garmin 410 watch that my dad swooped up in a hot deal at Costco. Since Christmas, however, I have been disappointed to discover that I am apparently completely inept at operating the dang thing. I can rarely access the menu portion of the screen and usually, no matter which part of the bezel I touch, I just alternate between viewing the time and date and the remaining percentage of battery life. Also, as I was initially setting the little demon up, back in the day when I could view more than one screen option, I accidentally set myself as my correct weight...but a 32 year old man. So now my watch thinks I am a tiny little man who can't figure out technology. No wonder I'm getting no respect.

smart Garmin, stupid Diana

Now, ordinarily this situation, while annoying, wouldn't really necessitate action. But these are no ordinary times. Marathon training 2012 has begun! My girl HRG hooked me up with her training plan from her first marathon, and I would absolutely love to actually time my speed work and accurately determine my mile pace during long runs to the second!

Any advice, or links to technologically impaired support groups would be greatly appreciated.

Do you use a Garmin?

Have you ever had a similar total failure with newfangled technology?? Make me feel better.

Inspirational Friday!

I mentioned in my last post that frustrating moments can be wonderful as they offer us opportunities to grow and strengthen ourselves. In the past, I've allowed myself to throw raging pity parties in which I revel in my frustrations, my mistakes and whatever might be lacking in my life. As I've matured {sort of} I've recognized these habits in myself and developed methods to find joy in bleakness, calm in storms, blessings in every aspect of my life, and minor miracles every day. 

In the midst of all of my recent talk on ancient Indian ideologies, I thought I might mix in some other ideologies and introduce a favorite Bible verse that speaks to this same topic:

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance and endurance produces character, and character produces hope and hope does not disappoint.” –Romans 5:3-5

I hope that, regardless of your religious background, this verse inspires you to welcome the inevitable difficulties of life with an open heart, because they can shape you in beautiful ways.

Do you have any wonderfully inspiring quotations I should know about? Please share!
Enjoy your weekend!!!

Got a minute? It's all you need!

I've been ranting on about different ways to cope with SAD or general winter glumness for the past few days and thought, well why not just keep ranting?!

I mentioned in my post regarding ayurveda that meditation can help balance your kapha during winter, when kapha is notably out of sorts. Regardless of the season, I think we can all agree that taking time to relax your mind and meditate is always beneficial. Long days at the office or in class, crowded malls, tensions with loved ones, Whole Foods running out of cilantro, all of these things frustrate us year-round. The exciting thing {yes, really} about frustrating events is that they provide us with an opportunity to hone our stress-relieving skills and come out the other end brighter and calmer. Conversely, if we let minor frustrations rule our lives, they can make us truly yicky people. Let's avoid the latter option, shall we?

Over the years, I hope that we've all found ways to cope with an irritating day. Exercise is an obvious option, as is a nice glass of wine at the end of the day -- hey, sometimes, you need it! Another option that is a little more difficult to tackle in our busy, crazy, noisy world, is meditation.

I, for one, have historically been terrible at meditation. I've tried it on my lonesome periodically since high school, I've tried it in yoga classes, I've tried it in health class at the bequest of my instructor, I've even tried it with friends and for years, always failed.

Maybe you're like me and could use some serious help quieting your mind and chilling the heck out. Maybe you're like my old roommate in New York, who could get totally zen on the West Side Highway running path listening to chanting on her iPod. {I know, I'm jealous too}

Either way, you probably struggle to find time to truly relax and let go. Enter One-Moment Meditation from Martin Boronson, who has also written a book on meditation and has created a series for Oprah.com and you know Oprah doesn't mess around. His website features a darling little animated video which will guide you through a quick, one-minute, period of meditation.

And can I be honest with you? For the first time I can recall, I was able to actually only focus on my breath, let go of my worries and my to-do list, my past and my future, and meditate. For a whole minute! I was so excited I've now become a meditation junkie. Can't stop, won't stop.

Have you ever attempted meditation? Any success/failure stories?
What are some other methods you employ to relax?

*disclaimer: no one asked me to praise one-moment meditation, because really, why would anyone?! I just happened upon it and love it.

Find your dosha, find your bliss

Do you like quizzes? I LOVE them. It's so enlightening finding out what kind of shopper I am or what kind of household pet I would be or what Friends character I am most like. Sometimes I even take quizzes that have real bearing on my life, my health and my future, like when my doctor asks me pesky questions and I answer {mostly} truthfully or a family friend grills me on what I want to be when I grow up {I'll never grow up, so this is a moot issue at best}. Those are generally less fun.

A few months ago, however, I took a quiz that was both informative and fun: "What's Your Dosha, Baby?" is a quick quiz from yogi Lissa Coffey that determines which ayurvedic body type you are. Also, it's my new pick-up line.

Okay, so let's back up about ten steps. In order to determine why you should take this quiz or even care, allow me to elaborate on the basic principles of ayurvedic yoga and describe the three doshas (or body types). My overview on pick-up lines, however, will have to come at a later time and date.

Ayurveda describes a holistic healing method developed in ancient India that seeks to both treat and prevent diseases through balancing the five major elements that compose the universe: earth, water, fire, air and sky.  Emphasis is placed upon meditation, diet, hygiene, and of course, yoga.

The three doshas are: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Vata types are generally slender, Pitta types are generally athletic, and Kapha types are generally more heavy-set.

source

While I think that breaking the entire human population down into only three groups is certainly constricting, the body type definitions do give us some decent basic guidelines. I can only speak to the guidelines given to my particular body type, which I felt gave me an accurate reading of how I can sleep better and maintain my energy levels.

I can also speak to the ayurvedic approaches to the changes in seasons. Regardless of your particular dosha, ayurveda can prepare you for a better winter with a few simple changes to your daily life. I scored these tips in this great article from Yoganonymous, which I will quickly summarize in bullet points below:

• Winter brings about imbalance in Kapha in the body
• Kapha's main attributes are: cold, sticky, sweet, oily
• "like increases like," so we should avoid substances with those attributes
• Eliminate or avoid heavy foods, particularly wheat & dairy
• Eliminate or avoid sweets
• Integrate warm spices such as cinnamon, cumin & cayenne into your diet
• Maintain a regular routine (I already knew this one!)
• Exercise daily & try to incorporate a few sun salutations into your daily routine
• Begin a meditation practice
• Get a massage (I can definitely get on board with that one!)
• Wear BRIGHT colors 

What do you think of the ayurvedic guidelines for winter? Do you think you could implement them in your own life?

Don't believe me? Want to learn more? Here are some resources to learn all you wanted and more about ayurveda!

Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine

Yoganonymous' overview of Ayurveda

The Ayurveda portal of Yoga Journal

And of course, Wikipedia

Don't let January get you down!

I am famous, or perhaps infamous, for my yearly meltdowns. I become so grouchy and terrible to be around during the months of January and February that I wonder how I've kept any of my friends, any at all. I always wonder why it is that I'm feeling so generally awful about life when I look at a calendar and realize, "oh, yes, that's right, I do this every year, I hate winter."

One of the reasons I think I've recently been so affected by SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is that, growing up in St. Louis, while the weather was certainly sub-tropical during winter months, I still had sufficient sunlight and the dreariness didn't hit levels that would totally destroy my spirits.

Heading off to college in Maine, however, was an entirely different story. My school has a special short January term during which students take one intensive class or have the opportunity to take on an internship or study abroad for the month. My freshman year, I took a very interesting class on film and gender in the 1960s, which I loved. What I did not love was that my class went from one to four pm. Being a wild and crazy college kid, I found myself in a routine that would get me up at about 11 am just in time to get ready, eat lunch, go to class, get out of class, and woops! It's 4 pm, dark already and you want to cry. The following January, I spent the month in Costa Rica. I would recommend that particular path to anyone trying to avoid SAD.

In the event that you aren't in college and have a 'job,' a 'budget,' and 'responsibilities' (ew, ew, and ew), I have found a few tactics to stave off suicidal/homicidal tendencies that I'd like to share with you:

1. Vitamin D supplement - I take it every morning with breakfast. This time of year means less sunlight, and therefore less Vitamin D which is a definite cause of mopeyness.

2. Sticking to a regular routine. I know it's dark outside, but wake up anyway! Enjoy a hot beverage and if you can, get a quick walk in before work in the morning. The chill will certainly wake your face up!

3. Don't sleep so much! It's so tempting to sleep in and take naps when the weather is gross and, as mentioned about 12 times so far, it's really dark outside. But don't! It'll only make you feel even more sluggish than if you had just gotten up and powered through the day.

4. Exercise! Even if you are stuck on a treadmill, do something - it'll help you feel more energized. I highly recommend taking a hot yoga class, whether it's a Bikram class or a Hot Vinyasa class. The cold winter air will feel amazing afterwards! Also, so long as it's not snowing/sleeting/icing, running outside in the cold is quite refreshing and easier on your bod than running in a heat wave. Remember August? Gross.

5. Eat healthfully. Don't allow your hibernating tendencies to make you think you actually need to fatten up - you are not a bear, my friend. Eating excessive sweets or fatty foods might be comforting, but again, they will slow you down. Resist!

I'm going to address further ways to handle this yucky season with one of my favorite methods of holistic healing later, Ayurvedic Yoga, so get excited about that!

Crisis of Charity

For nearly two years, the American Cancer Society's charity endurance athlete program, "DetermiNation," has been an important part of my life. I have raised money for it through at least one endurance event each year, I have discovered my love of half and full marathons through the program, I have made wonderful friends, I have taken joy in spending my time giving back rather than focusing {even more} on myself, and I have felt that I am contributing to a cause very dear to my heart - the fight against cancer.

I have recently discovered through Charity Navigator, however, that the American Cancer Society devotes more than the recommended 25% of its income to overhead expenses. At 28% it is only slightly over the generally accepted limit for an efficient charity, however, even 25% is pushing it in my opinion.

I cannot in good faith continue to ask my friends and family to donate to an organization that, while it does significant good, will not administer their donations as efficiently as possible. I have already attended one event hosted by the St. Louis area DetermiNation chapter at which I learned that their numbers for the upcoming Go! St. Louis Marathon and Half are considerably lower than their expectations. I feel guilty to not pledge myself to run on their team, but knowing that I wouldn't feel comfortable fundraising, how could I? As I am registered to run the race, I feel that I cannot continue to attend DetermiNation meetings knowing that they need more runners on their team, but that I refuse to be one of those runners.

Have any of you experienced such a crisis of charity? Do you have other recommendations for a charity I can get involved with in the Midwest -- giving back is so important to me and I don't want to let that go, just because I am moving on from the ACS.