Claire Vs. Running

For weeks and weeks I have had a glorious plan in my mind to try running.

I have a history with running: I don’t like it. I feel like I can never breath, I get upsettingly sweaty and the feeling of all my fat jiggling at once is very unpleasant. (On the bright side I made some of my best friends at school in the back of the pack while running ‘The Mile’ for P.E.) As soon as I finished off my physical education I enjoyed many years avoiding running completely.

However, lately running has been flirting with me. It has shown me photographs of bad ass healthy women running in Nike ads. I see the faces of friends glowing with pride (and sweat) at the end of 5Ks and Marathons. Even my injury prone brother has been running lately, (injury free and going strong). So the seed had been planted. I wanted to try running.

The idea formed in my head about a month ago.

What can I say? I am a procrastination master.

This morning I decided to actually go.

I had already planned out my two mile loop weeks ago (A good starting amount according to my brother). Last night I reviewed my route, set out my clothes and went to bed early.

In the morning I actually woke up, (HUGE accomplishment!) stretched, changed, and headed out the door, and ran.

I ran (rather slowly) for about half a mile before I switched to walking. I completed my loop walking at a brisk pace. My heart was absolutely still beating fast.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by how far I was able to keep running. Next time I plan on keeping up the running a little bit longer before I switch to the walk. My lack of cardio endurance is the limiting factor right now, not really muscle strength. Planning on working on building that up first.

Here are the benefits so far:

-I’m feeling awake at 9:00am.

-I know that even though I have a long day at my desk ahead, I’ve already done something good for my body. (This is a little something called piece of mind)

-I feel like this is something I could do again. While I did push myself, I don’t think I destroyed any muscles or bit off any more than I could chew.

I have such a love/hate relationship with goals, but here we go. My current goal is to do the same thing again tomorrow. Long term, I’m looking forward to when I can run for a mile straight.

Have any of you tried running lately? Was something chasing you? (haha, I’m soooo witty) Any advice you can offer to a running noobie?

~Claire Out.

Creative Costuming

This weekend was my first weekend free in three weeks. So, obviously, I overscheduled. (Did you read about my overscheduled vacation? Parts 1, 2 and 3?) The highlights of the weekend for me were my friend Chris’s "Mad Men" themed Birthday Party, and a dinner I hosted with the newly wed Leah and Chris.

I got really very exited about the chance to dress up for Chris’ party. I have a zero dollar policy with costumes these days. So I worked with what I already had. I took one of my favorite dresses that has a great retro top and used safety pins to modify the silhouette. I turned my A- line skirt into a pencil by simply folding in and pinning a little fabric on each side. Observe:

Then came the hair. Let me just start by saying that I have remedial hair styling skills. So I turned to a styling novice’s best friend: the internet.

I soon found several video tutorials on how to get the “Joan” hair from Mad Men. I teased, sprayed, and pinned my hair as best I could. The sweet (toxic) smell of hairspray brought me instantly back to my theater kid days. In the end I had something that looked like this:

(CONFESSION: I did have to shell out $3 and change to buy hairspray, which I have never before owned)

Not too bad for a first attempt. I don’t know that there will ever be a second attempt considering the amount of time it took. The whole dressing up process was really fun, but it made me grateful that I live in a time (and work in an industry) where I am allowed to go to work each day in jeans, a t-shirt and a ponytail.

~Claire Out.

Love for Young House Love

On the heels of my vow to unplug, I thought it fitting to talk about one of my favorite places to dwell when I am plugged in: Young House Love.

Young House Love is a home improvement blog run by Sherry and John Petersik. What started out as a blog to share a kitchen re-model with friends and family has turned into a full time job for both Petersiks. They post everything from design tips, to building custom furniture, to gutting an re-building a bathroom.

If you decide to visit you’ll see for yourself why it’s so great, but let me give you a run down of my personal highlights.

1. Young House Love is the best run blog I have ever visited. Hands down. The amount of dedication these two have is mind blowing. They put up two original posts every day, Monday – Friday. Their posts are cross-referenced, searchable and organized so you can find exactly what you want at least three different ways.

2. The content is amazing. Their posts are clear, filled with photographs and so (so) detailed. They walk you through every design choice they make, every penny they save, and step-by-step instructions that even DIY newbies can follow along.

3. Last but not least, they are lovable. Each post is brimming with personality. This couple is funny, nerdy, hard-working , and modest. They are unabashedly, honestly themselves and it is impossible to resist their upbeat, silly, can-do attitude.

At the end of each post I find that I am smiling to myself.

Seriously, check it out.

You’re welcome.

~Claire Out.

Time Out

I love my computer. I love my phone. I love my blogs, webcomics and podcasts. I love Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Netflix and Hulu.

However, these aren’t the ONLY things I love.

Percentage wise, I spend 100% of my waking hours ‘on call’ to … everyone. My friend posted a funny video, I have to check that out. I’ve got three new blog entries to read. I’ve gotten an e-mail from the office about something that needs to be picked up on Monday. The new episode of Glee posted!

It has gotten to the point that I feel anxious being disconnected long enough to take a bath.

Generally speaking, I want to watch those videos, read those posts, and communicate with the office. I’ve just come to realize that I don’t want to do that every hour of every day.

I want (perhaps need?) some time alone with my thoughts. Some time to focus on a single task. Some time to absorb, organize and consider the constant stream of information I’ve been subjected to for the past twelve hours straight. It seems so obvious, but I’m going to have to consciously make the effort to make time for myself to unplug.

Therefore, I’m going to try to take at least a one-hour break a day from checking e-mail, taking phone calls, surfing the internet or watching any media.

Not very impressive, I know, but you’ve got to start somewhere. Hopefully I’ll be able to build on my one-hour a day and work up to a whole day! (Dare to dream!)

Does anyone else yearn for some time to unplug? Am I the only one who gets sweaty palms thinking about going a whole day without checking my e-mail?

~Claire Out.

Returning To Life

I am slowly coming out of the cloud of exhaustion that is a side effect of working both days and nights. I am still catching up on sleep a few hours at a time. By my calculations I should have recuperated 100% (or close to it) by the end of this week.

One of the unexpected benefits of working two jobs and getting very little sleep is the opportunity to check in with my priorities. When I had no time to do anything but work, I could almost effortlessly list the things that must be done, and the things I was yearning to do.

Some of you may question the wisdom of making any life choices when you are running on little or no sleep. You may be right, but for me exhaustion was a way for me to bypass the constant stream of clutter that normally clouds my brain.

Now that I am catching up on sleep and have free time again I am using my time more effectively. “Effectively” makes it sounds less romantic then how I actually feel about my new outlook. I no longer take time for self care for granted.

For example, laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning are pleasures instead of a pain. I now take time to read, write and catch up with friends instead of automatically turning on the TV after work.

I know that in time I’ll need to re-evaluate everything again. Hopefully next time I can evaluate how I spend my time without giving up sleep. I think that life likes to keep you on your feet, so I’m absolutely not writing anything in stone. But for right now, I’m just enjoying all of my ‘free’ time, and the new ways I’ve found to spend it.

~Claire Out.

More Good News

The good news: I got a job working nights as an assistant editor for the next week!

The other good news: I still have my job as a production assistant during the day!

The upsetting conclusion: I will not be getting a lot of sleep this week.

I'll check back later party people.

~Claire Out.