Work Out Wednesday

No weigh-in today... I slacked off in a big way over the last week (in every aspect of my life, actually, but let's just talk about gym-related slacking for now)

The 10 was on Saturday.... aaaand it was nothing short of a disaster. It was hot, humid, and I totally wimped out. We didn't finish... definitely cut the corner on the last part and only ended up running about 4.25 miles (and I use the term running loosely because it was at least half walking). I don't know WHAT it is about running outside that I have such a freaking hard time with, but it's really frustrating.

(I know I know 4.25miles isn't that bad, and some people would kill to be able to run that far. But I can run farther than that (on a treadmill) and the half marathon is coming up SOON and I need to be able to run more than 3 times that far. So, I'm disappointed)

So now... it's less than 12 weeks til the half marathon.  I've got some serious work to do. I am definitely going to make sure I do more of my runs outside instead of on the treadmill so I can build up to running outside. I've got a lot of work to do but I don't feel too discouraged (yet!).

Oh and a couple of weeks ago I blogged about looking for a good insulated water bottle. I ordered a Klean Kanteen off of Amazon and it's great!

Seriously I put ice and water in it and the ice cubes are still there 24 hours later! And no puddles on my desk and my papers in my bag on the way to bar/bri don't get soaked!

I still prefer my Camelbak with the straw for the gym but this is perfect for taking with me to class.

So there ya have it.

Happy Haircut Day!

Confession Time:

I have not had a hair cut since the beginning of September 2009.

I usually go quite a while in between cuts, but I don't think I've ever gone this long. My September haircut was not a favorite of mine and I was sick of shortish hair, so I've been growing it out forever. And now it is just looooong and yucky. The ends need to be chopped off and it needs to be shaped up.

 

Jessica Simpson is always my hair idol... I think our hair is very similar (although she's a few shades blonder - if I could afford to highlight it as often as she can I'd be that color in a heartbeat!) I am bringing this picture with me tomorrow for an example of what I want...

I am going to a new salon... it's actually a salon and tattoo parlor in one! HA! A girl I know who is a cocktail waitress at a bar I used to frequent just started working there after she graduated from cosmetology school, so I'm going to go see her and have her cut my hair. She has tons of tattoos and piercings, and her hair is usually a couple different colors, spiky, and crazy. Apparently everyone else that works at this place is similar... Ha. Some of their reviews on yelp describe the salon as having a "laid-back, punkish atmosphere" soooo me, right?!
I can't imagine they get a whole lot of blondes coming in asking to be made to look like Jessica Simpson!

I'm not too worried about it though - my hair is thick and straight as a board so it's pretty easy to cut. And it's just hair - if she messes it up it will always grow back.

Can't wait to let you guys know how it turns out!

Survived Pride...

Saw this on Texts from Last Night last week and it cracked me up because it is oh so true:

(443): The irony of calling it pride is that you do things that no one should be proud of.

Made me laugh... especially after this weekend. My head is telling me that my mom would not be proud of how proud I was. 

A couple pictures:

So I survived my third Pride weekend as a Chicagoan - it keeps getting more and more fun every year. 

Now to shower and head to the afternoon session of bar/bri - can't believe that the bar exam is now less than a month away! AH!

Pride

HAPPY PRIDE!

I am out celebrating and partying with friends all weekend. 

As my friend Mario said last year - Pride isn't just about being proud to be gay. It's about being proud of who you are, it's about being proud of who your friends are, and it's about supporting equal rights for EVERYONE - regardless or their color, religion, sexual orientation, etc. 

And as this article from the Huffington post said -  

"Whether you go to Pride to be with friends, march with activists or dance in the streets--

Chicago Pride Weekend has it all"

On the agenda for the weekend:
Proud to Run 10k (cross your fingers for good weather!)
PrideFest
Pride Parade (even the Stanley Cup will be in the parade this year!)

So so so excited!!!! Happy Pride Everyone!

The iPhone 4 Adventures

To say that getting my iPhone was a clusterf*ck would be the understatement of the century. 

Here's the cliffs notes version for you:

- Couldn't get my phone shipped to me because it had to be shipped to AT&T billing address, so reserved mine at Apple store, had my mom's shipped to her.

- I am an idiot, mixed up reservation phone and shipped phone.

- Me = Chicago. My Phone = Dallas

- Mom = Dallas. Mom's Phone = Chicago

- Apple = Sparkles and hearts and rainbows and butterflies

- AT&T = eirjq;ladfjl;sdf;bsdr!!!!(&$*

So aside from my idiocy which caused the great phone switcharoohoo of 2010, the rest of the day went fine. I showed up at 7AM, when doors opened, thinking I would get my iPhone, since it was reserved, but 8:30 and get to bar/bri by 9:00 for my evidence lecture. Then after lecture I'd go to lunch at 1with a girlfriend from college who goes to law school in NY but is in Chicago for the summer that I haven't seen since last summer. Let's just say that I didn't make it to our 1:00 PM lunch date, much less the AM bar/bri lecture. :::head slam:::

(Oh and for those of you that were worried about me missing bar/bri - I went to the afternoon session. Perfect Attendance this week. Boo-ya!)

So I show up and the line is not just around the side of the building, like it was for iPhone 3G launch. It went all the way down the block. And around the corner. And around another corner. And across a major street. 

I even drew you a diagram on this handy map:

See that stick figure ray of sunshine down there at the bottom? That's where I was at 7AM. 

And see point A? That's Apple. That's where I was at 12:15. Yep, 5 hours and 15 minutes. Just winding around the block.

ugh.

I had a reservation. So I thought no problem, I'll waltz right up and be done before class at 9! And then by the time it was almost 9 and I realized I definitely was not going to be there before class, I was already committed. And I wasn't going anywhere. 

And I made friends in the line. (Duh, I would talk to a brick wall. I can make friends anywhere).

And the best part? Apple fed us from the very beginning. Starting at 8AM they brought us bottled watter, lemonade from corner bakery, cliff bars, redbulls, cheeseburgers, french fries, milkshakes, etc! It was pretty amazing. We were by M Burger when they started bringing burgers out and we were like "wow, this is so nice of you guys!" and they were like "don't thank us, apple paid for it all!" So hey, well freaking done Apple. 

Add to the fact that it was an absolutely perfect day (70 degrees, light breeze), and it was pretty freaking pleasant. Oh and everyone who works for Apple was SO pleasant and SO friendly. (Steve Jobs - if you're reading this - give Leigh from the Michigan Avenue Apple Store in Chicago a raise - she was awesome!). 

So overall? WELL DONE, APPLE. 

And the phone is pretty sweet too.

 And now that I have it - it's your lucky day! Higher quality pics of Elle Woods! And HD videos of Elle Woods!!! Just what you've always wanted!!!!

(ugh I'm such a creepy dog lady)
 Taken from the new phone at the dog beach this evening -

Elle Woods and a new Great Dane friend - 9 month old boy named Hank. 

Elle liked him a lot

And videos! whooo!


the video showed up way better quality on my phone/computer than when I put it on youtube to put into blogger. :(

and one more - I asked the other Great Dane owner at the beach to throw the stick so I could film Elle chasing it. Elle is a little bitch.




Did anyone else get the new iPhone? Did you wait in line like an insane person? (yes I realize I'm nuts)

Elle baby

Elle's birthday is coming up - July 5th! So this week I switched her to a birthday appropriate collr - stars and stripes for the fourth of July!

"Oh, you want me to sit pretty like a princess? Okay!"

 

 I look sad here, but I'm not

 "Oh, did you want me to turn my head so you can get a better shot of my necklace? Well why didn't you just say so? Oh and ignore my moms closet. She's gross."

Kevin is a little upset that Elle  doesn't have a rainbow collar for gay pride month. I told her she would wear it WITH PRIDE if he purchased one for her.  We are still waiting.

Products I'm loving

I've been meaning to do one of these posts for a while -  some of my favorite products!
Warning - male readers feel free to click away right now. This will not interest you and might gross you out. Ha).

To be honest, I don't really have much of a beauty "routine." I don't wear makeup most days. If I do wear makeup I almost always forget to wash it off before I go to bed (I have YEARS of dermatology including a quite painful round of Accutane in 2009 to thank for my good skin), but I do have a couple things that I swear by.

First up - A confession. I have ugly armpits. They are not smooth. They are dark. Even when I have JUST shaved, I have almost like a 5:00 shadow. They're ugly. I rarely raise my arms in sleeveless shirts. It's honestly one of my biggest hangups about my body (and this coming from someone who is FAR FROM a size 0 waif). I had laser hair removal done forever ago. I've gotten a gazillion creams and such from the dermatologist. None of it really seems to do anything. So when Dove came out with this deodorant that they said "visibly reduces the appearance of hair over time." I thought what the hell, I'll give it a shot.

And lo and behold... it works! At least I think it does. Maybe it's just because my armpits were SO BAD before. They're still bad. But they're not as bad.
So I'm just gonna throw this out there while I'm at it - do I have any blog readers with ugly armpits who have found a solution that makes them not so ugly? Like I said I've tried laser hair removal, seen my dermatologist, etc. This is the best I can do. I am always willing to try something new!

Wow, I don't think I've ever told anyone this before. Feels good to get it off my chest. Errr... armpits. Ha. Bad joke. Okay now onto more stuff!

So I know I said I don't wash my face very often (I know, I know... I'm terrible!), but when I do, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Clarisonic. It's freaking amazing.

It was well worth the money and makes my skin feel 100 times cleaner and smoother than just using face wash and my hands.

Speaking of face wash - I don't really have a favorite of these. 
I've been using this Neutrogena Deep Clean Cream Cleanser since freshman year of high school. I keep it in the shower and love the tingly way it makes my face feel when I use it.

And I keep this on the bathroom counter for use with the Clarisonic. It's gentle and feels good.

The Kiehl's stuff is slightly pricier, but not too bad.

Speaking of my face - ugh! So I mentioned above that I took accutane last year. I started taking acne medicine when I was like 9 (no joke), and no joke I have taken every antibotic and topical medication under the sun. Finally second year of law school my skin started to get bad (well, bad for me, I wasn't exactly a pizza face), and I was getting terribly painful under the skin cysts. I had been putting off accutane forever, mainly because I hate needles and getting blood drawn monthly is required with accutane, but I could put it off no longer. Accutane has several terrible side effects. One of the ones that was the worst for me was that my lips were SO DRY. Like peeling off in chunks. Like cracking and bleeding. Terrible.

My dermatologist and my doctor friend that I blog about on occasion both recommended aquaphor, and they were right. It is a lifesaver for dry lips.

And actually I will use it on my cuticles or my feet or really anywhere else you would use lotion. It's amazing.

So in addition to painful bloody lips (isn't accutane glamorous?!), I could no longer wear lipstick for a period of about 9 months! Like I said I don't wear makeup on a regular basis, but I definitely do when I go out, and HOT HOT HOT pink lips are like my signature thing. No hot pink lips meant no fabulous and sad me. So while stocking up on Aquaphor (seriously I bought like 100 things of it. They're all over the place and in every bag I own) at Walgreen's one day, I saw this Nivea lip stuff next to it. I picked it up and gave it a try and loved it! I still use it on a day to day basis.

I have both the "glossy pink" (pictured!) and the "glossy red" and love them both. They are great moisturizers that provide just a little hint of color.

And since we're talking moisturizers - my very favorite lotion. I have tried every lotion out there on the planet, and none come close to my beloved Johnson's baby lotion.

Makes my skin feel smooth as buttah, and that's all there is to say about that!

And of course a beauty product that EVERY person of every age should have - sunscreen! I'm not always the best about putting it on my body (will usually just go with SPF for the bod) but I NEVER put less than SPF 30 on my face. Who wants premature wrinkles?! Or the C word (melanoma on BOTH sides of my family!!!!)
My personal favorite, recommended by my favorite Dallas dermatologist is Blue Lizard Australian sunscreen. And I've tried 'em all!

And the coolest thing about it? The bottle changes color when any sort of harmful rays from the sun are present! Ha.
The only place I can ever find this is behind the pharmacy counter at Target (like you have to ask the pharmacist to get it for you. No idea why).

Oh and one last product - dry shampoo!
I don't know how I lived with this stuff. I'm actually glad I didn't have it in high school. Because I never washed my hair as it is (all girls school, personal hygiene is WAYYYY down on the priority list!) ... I can't imagine how infrequent I would have been washing it if I had known about this stuff!
I actually bought this kind because I read in some magazine last year that this is what Britney Spear's hairstylist used on her hair while on the Circus tour... and you know I love me some Brit Brit.

You just spray it on, run your fingers through your hair, and Voila! Another day before you have to wash! I love it. My brother's girlfriend swears dry shampoo is the only way her hair gets any body. She has really fine hair though... I have a really thick flat mane, so the only thing that gives me any body is to tease the hell out of it. I have tried a couple other, less expensive brands, but I keep coming back to Rene Furterer. Well worth the $24 a can. (oh and I can't speak to how dry shampoo does on dark hair. but for blondes it's a godsend!)

So there you have it - all of my favorites!
Thoughts on what I use? Do you have something that you think is better?

Work Out Wednesday

I'm not even bothering weighing in today... I feel fat and have no desire to see what the scale says, so I'm skipping it.

Besides, I don't need to tell you any numbers besides this one - FIVE!!!

As in Yes, I ran FIVE MILES! Thanks so much for all of your running advice last week. No one really told me anything I didn't know, which basically told me I need to just chill the hell out, stop thinking about it so much, and just go!
Of course I was on the treadmill, which is so much easier, but I'm seriously really proud of myself for running 5 miles in 57 minutes. This pretty much tells me that I CAN do it, I just need to stop psyching myself out and go sloooooow and steady! I think one of my biggest problems with running outside has been going too fast and getting totally worn out. I have my Garmin, I need to use it and pay more attention to what's going on.

So that's what I've been up to. I'm trying to run three days a week, do spinning or some other cardio 2 other days a week and take 2 days off. Less than 3 months til the half now... still lots of work to do (good grief how many times have I said that lately?) but I feel like I might actually be able to do it.
Thanks so much everyone for the wonderful comments and e-mails on last weeks post though - I really appreciate it!

(oh and sorry for those of you follow me on twitter. You already know this. But I'm still pretty freaking excited about it so I think it's worth sharing again.)

Thank yous, Granny Reflections, and a Happy Happy Day!

First of all - thanks so much everyone for your sweet comments and tweets about my grandmother. I wish I could be home today with my family for the funeral, but I'm okay.

Last night was the viewing at the funeral home. My grandmother used to work as a lunch lady at a cafeteria at a grade school in Tyler (Tyler is in East Texas, about 80 miles East of Dallas, where my mom grew up). My mom said that last night at the viewing, a woman came up to her and said that she was very poor growing up, was one of 6 kids, and didn't always have money for lunch. Whenever she didn't have money for lunch, my granny would give her her lunch for free. This is a story we had never heard before, but it didn't surprise me.

I think this story makes my grandmother the quintessential Southern grandmother. My mom grew up poor. Her dad was an auto mechanic and like I said, granny was a lunch lady. My mom got 1 present for Christmas every year, and it was usually an outfit that she needed for school and had already picked out. Her wedding dress was $78 dollars, ordered straight from the Sears catalog without ever being tried on (can you imagine?!). But my grandmother ALWAYS made sure that people had food to eat. For as long as I can remember, we have always gone to Tyler to Granny's house (or her sister's house) for Thanksgiving. And every single year there are more and more people there. People that I've never seen before. And these people aren't family, they're people who just needed a warm home-cooked meal on Thanksgiving. And boy did that woman cook. She would start cooking a week before Thanksgiving, and never stop (and no, I'm not even exaggerating). She made an awesome cherry cheesecake pie that was my favorite, so she would always make 2 of them - 1 for us to eat after Thanksgiving dinner (at Granny's house "dinner" is lunch and "supper" is dinner, don't ask me). and 1 to take home. My dad's favorite is pecan pie, so she'd make him an extra pecan pie. My brother? Mexican cornbread. Always made an extra Mexican cornbread for him to take home. But like I said - it wasn't just us. It was the other widows and widowers from her Church that had nowhere to go. It was the other families that she knew (God only knows how - I'm guessing from Church as well) that she fed. It was anyone who needed somewhere to get a good home-cooked meal.  That is how I will remember my grandmother. A good Southern woman who always took care of everyone, and made everything better with food (again, not joking - when my mom got cancer Granny made her fried pies for the first time since my mother was pregnant with me).

So in honor of my grandmother - take a moment to remember the people in your life who take care of others. Or BE the person who takes care of others. If you're going to Subway for lunch today, grab an extra sandwich for the homeless guy on the corner. It's not a homemade from scratch pecan pie like Granny would have made (made with pecans that she shelled herself!), and it's not a homemade cornbread, but it could be everything to a hungry person.

On a ligher note -
Today is a much happier day though.. why is that? Well obviously because it's iPhone4 pre-order day!

Since my mom is at my grandmother's house she has put me in charge of ordering new iPhones for both of us. She still has the original iPhone and I have 3G, so it is definitely time for an upgrade for both of us!

She's going to get a 32gb in white, I'm going to get a 32gb in black. Sooo excited! We've both decided to have them delivered so we don't have to deal with the masses at the store that day... at first I was thinking that it might be kind of fun to go to the store and then I remembered that I hate everyone and I would probably want to shank someone if I went in the store, so we're sticking with home delivery.

Since I didn't get the iPad I wanted so badly for graduation I am even more excited about this baby... can it be the 24th yet?!

Anyone else ordering their new iPhones today? I know Megan was up at the crack of dawn refreshing the Apple website like a crazy woman! (Not that I had hit refresh on the Apple website AND ATT&T's website 100 times before 7:30 AM. Not me!)

Oh and a job-related note -  I sent an e-mail to the principal attorney at the firm I worked at 1L and 2L year about possibly coming back and clerking there again once I take the bar in August and while I look for my dream gig. I just need something to pay the bills while I wait for a job... so cross your fingers for me that they can come up with something to accommodate me!

CTA, you're on my shitlist

One of my biggest complaints about bar/bri (today) is the terrible commute I have to get to the location.

I live 7.3 miles from bar/bri, and it takes me a FULL hour each way to get there. Today I spent 2 hours commuting to watch a 2.5 hour video feed of a civil procedure lecture. Kill me.

The thing is, the lectures are available online by the next day. I really could stay home and watch the lecture from my bed. The issue is actually doing that though, which I don't really trust myself to do. However, I'm getting so annoyed with the commute I'm going to have to figure out how to get motivated to make myself watch from home.

Seriously though?! TWO FULL HOURS to go less than 15 miles round trip?!?
Chicago Transit Authority? you suck.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Just when you think your week can't get worse...

Well... the best part about last week is the fact that it's over.
I think it can be summed up best by the text message I got from my roommate Friday night that said:

"well, judging from your Twitter you're having the worst day EVER."

And then I woke up Saturday morning to a phone call from my mom that my grandmother had died. 

We weren't super close, but it's still sad. And mostly I'm sad because she died alone. My uncle drove by her house on Friday and noticed that her newspaper hadn't been picked up yet, so he went inside and found that she had died in her chair. Alone. She hadn't been sick, but she wasn't in the greatest health. I hope she didn't suffer, but we really don't know. 

I'm not going to be able to make it home for the funeral... it's just too difficult with bar/bri. Not to mention ridiculously expensive, even with bereavement rates.

Oh and now my mom is asking me questions about my grandmothers will... as if I know anything about anything.

So if you're the praying type, I'd appreciate a little prayer or a good thought or two. I could definitely use it. Oh and if anyone has any studying motivation, feel free to send that my way too.

Perfect Chicago Weather

The weather today in Chicago is perfect...

Hot, humid, and raining.

Not perfect for Blues Fest, or Old Town Art Fest, or Andersonville Midsummer Fest. Not for Cubs/Sox at Wrigley Field. Or for walking to a bar in Wrigley to watch World Cup games. (not really a soccer fan but I'm a fan of good looking dudes and day drinking, so I'd be all over watching games today).

Definitely not perfect for laying by the pool either. (although I might try for a little break between 3-4 by the pool if the weather does what weather.com tells me it's going to do).

But today IS perfect for studying for the bar. If I can't be outside enjoying lovely weather, nobody else should be either damn it.

BLACKHAWKS!

Someday, when I'm an adult, someone will say "after hours at my place!" and I'll say "no, I just can't!".

Right?!?!

Weigh-In/Work Out Wednesday

This week: -3.5 pounds

Total since January 09: -13.5

I had a feeling this would happen once bar/bri started... and thank goodness I was right! Since bar/bri is only from 9-12:30 every day and I basically have nothing else on my schedule I have absolutely no excuse for not getting my butt to the gym on a daily basis. 

Had a pretty good week this week as far as workouts - only took Saturday off. Didn't eat so well over the weekend, but I think that is to be expected. I'm pretty proud of how well I ate the rest of the time though... I tried really hard to keep may calorie intake as low as possible (i.e. under 2000 calories, I'm not going anorexic on you here people).

I have been a little frustrated with my running though - I don't know why I am struggling SO MUCH. I know I am in fairly decent shape, I think I just have a mental block when it comes to running. 

Friday I had a 4.5 mile run on my schedule, and I just couldn't do it. I ran outside, and ended up finishing about 5 miles, but I walked almost all of it. I felt so pathetic. I would run for like 1 minute and have to walk the next 4.  I do a little better when I'm on the treadmill, but not much. Sunday I ran/walked 2.5 miles in 27:30 and yesterday I ran/walked 2 miles in 22 minutes. 

I know the Sunday and Tuesday runs don't sound so bad, but 1) they were on the treadmill, and 2) I feel like I'm spending so much time walking. I have 3 months now til the half marathon and I feel like there is just no way I'll ever be able to do it. Anyone have any advice for me other than just stick with it? I'm frustrated. 

On a semi-related note - I am in the market for a new water bottle. I love my Nalgene and Camelbak's, but I really need something that doesn't sweat! I am constantly having to mop up my desk and wipe off soggy papers from my bag from them sweating all over everything. A few people on twitter suggested Sigg water bottles. 

Do any of you have them? Do they sweat? 

Day Drinking Discombobulation and Bar Review

So, you know how when you drink all day (tailgating or whatever) and you go to a bar, and you come outside of the bar, and you're shithammered, but it's still light outside? And you're wasted but it's still daytime but it was just dark in the bar and you feel all confused and discombobulated?

Thats pretty much exactly how I felt walking out of bar/bri this morning.

What the hell just happened?!?

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Quality Time

Bar/Bri is boring. I don't wanna read. Or re-read. Or make notecards. Or do whatever else I'm supposed to be doing. (Sidenote: I don't really know what the hell I'm supposed to be doing. Well. I sort of do. Maybe. Whatever.)

So there is a lot of free time. Class 9-12:30 every day. Then what? Obvs I'm not going to be studying that whole time. (or most of it. or any of it. or whatever.). Elle Woods and I have been spending LOTS of quality time together. 1.5 hour beach trips are becoming a daily thing. She's getting worn out and I'm getting a nice early summer glow.

This evening after I had showered, vacuumed, scrubbed the tub, and generally done everything that I could do to avoid studying, I decided to lay on the ground in my bedroom and play with her since she was wanting to play with her tennis ball.

oh hey sweet girl, how you doin?

tennis balls are fun

action shot!

aaaand she's off!

Oh and while we're having Great Dane show and tell, I have to share this picture/story. I've mentioned her before, but Elle's sister Lola lives close to us in Chicago (they have the same parents but are from a  different litter. Lola is actually litter mates with Satin, my parent's dane!). Sunday morning I had a text from Lola's mom asking if we wanted to meet up with them at the beach. 

It was the first time we've seen them since Lola had her surgery... POOR LOLA. 

She got an infection in one of her toes, and they just could not get it healed. It finally got so bad that she had to have her toe amputated! Like I said... POOR LOLA!

So I felt really bad, but I just had to take a picture of it. I was freaking out when I first saw it. I actually didn't even notice it at first until Lola's dad was like so, what do you think of her toe? And then I was like "AHHHHHHHH" and was freaking out/cracking up. It's just so sad looking. They said for about a week after her surgery she just kept looking back at her foot like "where did it go?"

So - here you have it. Pooooor Lola's foot!

(scroll up to the first couple pics of Elle to see what normal Great Dane feet look like!... or just compare it to the other foot in the back of the pic! AHH!)

POOR LOLA!

So, that's what we've been up to. 

Getting My Act Together

This week is all about getting my shit together...
this is the first full week of regular bar/bri lectures and I promise I'm going to start studying after lecture.
I also need to get caught up on my CASA babies, get health insurance in place, pick up and pay for my new diamond earrings (squeee!), and today I have to go to school and do some stuff in clinic that my classmates were supposed to take care of but didn't (Side note - wait? Didn't I graduate? that's going to be a whole blog post for tomorrow... grrr).

and on Wednesday I'll have a little update on how 10k/half marathon training is going... and mostly be asking you guys for help.

oh and also - need help from my Chicagoans. My good friend's 30th birthday is in a couple of weeks and I'm in charge of ordering the cake... he's a huge wineo so we were thinking a wine bottle shaped cake? any suggestions for a bakery that can do something like that?!

Hope you all have a wonderful and productive week!

p.s. as I typed this, the Legally Blonde: The Musical Soundtrack came onto my iPod. Bar/Bri inspiration?!? yes, definitely.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

New Rule

After my cousin [a very smart girl who just graduated from a very good school(much better than mine!)] told me she was OMG! GOING TO FAIL THE BAR! and my friend from college (also very smart and who just graduated from a much better school than me and made MUCH better grades) told me that he was NEVER going to get a job in the span of less than 24 hours this weekend, I decided to make a rule.

This rule is currently my g-chat status, and will be for a while (well - a "while" for me on g-chat is like 2 hours. I change my status approx. 9,000 times a day). But anyway -

"New rule: talk to me only about sex, drugs, and drinking,

 if you want to talk about getting a job or barbri,

1) take it elsewhere or 2) kill yourself."

Seriously. What is wrong with people? Why have all of my friends gone off of the damn deep end?

Not to mention - why am I the one, of all people, who is fielding these complaints?! I sure as shit haven't passed the bar, I've done nothing besides go to lectures as far as studying for the bar, and God knows I don't have a job. 

I am so over people freaking out about not having jobs. Most of my friends from my school have not been complaining about this (or if they have, it hasn't been to me). NO ONE HAS A JOB. I have a certain number of friends who act like every recent law school grad in America has a job except for them. So annoying. 

Can we just get back to our regularly scheduled friendships? 

xoxo

p.s. both cousin and friend are blog readers. I still love you idiots. 

First Job Application

I am about to go downstairs and put my first job application in the mail... (yeah, I know, I'm sure tons of you have sent in like 8,000. I'm lazy).
I guess I should clarify - I am not sending in an application. Because there technically isn't a job opening at the firm that I'm sending I'm resume and cover letter too. But I worked with this firm through my clinic, and I think they could really use my help and that I could learn a lot from the work. Problem is that there really isn't any money to pay me... so I'm not expecting to hear back anything other than "we'd love to have ya, but we can't afford to pay ya."

But you never know unless you try, right?

I am not just going to send resumes out all over the place - I know that I want to do criminal law. Ideally I'd like to prosecute, but there are a few select criminal defense firms that I'd also like to work for.
So I'm not just sending my resume out to any job posting I see... I'm considering looking into a couple of public interest law organizations that interest me, but we'll see about that.

What was your job application philosophy? Did you just send your resume to every firm in America and hope that someone bit? Did you only send to places you knew you'd really want to work for?

Getting hit by buses and becoming best friends, etc.

So I started writing this post and was like "I just have nothing to say about Bar/Bri." And then 20 minutes later I realized that I hadn't stopped typing. So that was a lie. 

I'm just so... over it. 

I mean not really "over" the studying (although duh, studying sucks), I'm just SO OVER being around law students/ recent law grads/ almost lawyers. I think the worst part about being a lawyer is definitely going to be being around lawyers all the time. They're just such damn dorks. And I mean I know I'm kinda dorky in my own way (please, we all are), but these people... UGH.

Like already SO IN to studying. Get over it. We're all studying. Stop talking about how much you're studying. And stop freaking out. It doesn't help anyone.

I'm not saying that I won't freak out at some point during this summer (ummm I already had a minor freak out last week because I wanted to murder my dog, just ask Daisy and Mint Juleps and Magnolias, they got to hear all about it - I emailed my mom and told her she needed to catch the next flight to Chicago and drive Elle Woods home to Texas for the summer before I took her to the pound. Whoops). But that was just a general stress/tired/I'm a whiny brat freak out. (what? me? dramatic? no!)

I'm not so much stressed. Mostly just crabby. Learning is annoying. Like earlier I was going to tweet "Riding my bike to dinner I hope I get his by a bus." But I didn't because I thought maybe someone would call the cops or something and say that I'm suicidal. Or maybe no one would care and then I'd be sad. Or maybe that I'd jinx myself and I really would get hit by a bus and instead of dying I would just become a quadriplegic and bankrupt my family with my medical bills because I don't have health insurance. (again with the dramatic thoughts. whoops). So anyway, I didn't tweet that. Because I don't want you guys to worry about my precious mental health. Just know that I'm crabby. And I've started hating people that I didn't used to hate. Etc.

So anyway - that's how Bar Exam studying is going so far.

Now - on to you guys. My readers. And me. becoming best friends.
I always allow anonymous comments on the blog, and will continue to do so. But for those of you with blogs/people who don't want to be anonymous - do me a favor and set up an e-mail address with your blogger profile.

THEN when you leave me a comment and say something funny I can just hit 'reply' and write you back and tell you how funny you are and a similar story about something I did that was funny just like that! (yeah, I'm really bad about doing that, oops). Or if you ask me a question, I can just shoot you an e-mail with my witty and intelligent answer. Or if I think you're pretty, I can tell you. Or if you think I'm pretty, I can write back and say "thanks, I know!". Etc.

So here's what you do -
go to your blogger dashboard (blogger.com).
Then click on "edit your profile"
Then click "show your e-mail address"

And if you ask questions or say funny things or tell me I'm pretty, I'll write you back. Unless you ask questions like "where did you go to law school?" Then I won't write back. (actually that's not true. I might. That's actually how The Namby Pamby and I first started e-mailing way back in the day).
So yeah, leave your e-mail and I reply to your comments. And before you know it we'll be texting/e-mailing on a daily basis. Just ask Katherine. We used to comment on each others blogs and now we're like real life BFF's even though we haven't even met yet.

Seriously - do it. We'll become bloggy besties.

XOXO,
The most fabulous bar studying bitch in America (emphasis on bitch. RAWR) (and yes, only in America. I bet there are bitchier people studying in Europe. I'd be pissed if I was European instead of American).

Weigh-In/Work Out Wednesday

So now that Biggest Loser is over I decided to tune in to Jillian Michael's new show to get my fix... and episode 1 did not disappoint!!!

So I put as my gchat status "I want Jillian Michael's to move in with me"
and my friend responded:

Mike: You would just punch Jillian Michaels in the face and tell her to fuck herself after a day or so.

Ha. And He's probably right.

But really... I NEED someone to kick my ass. And not just in the gym. I know that weight loss is largely what you're eating and partly what you're doing in the gym. I need someone to freaking put a lock on my fridge.

I did have a good workout last night and did squats/pushups/crunches for the first time in over a month in addition to 50 minutes of cardio.  On Monday I did a 3 mile run in 33 minutes (on the treadmill). It was seriously tough, but I made it. I also put in some solid elliptical time.
Today I have an easy 2.5 mile run scheduled, and I'll probably do an extra 30 minutes or so of cardio afterwards.
I went to Whole Foods last night and picked up lots of fruit and veggies. After spending the majority of this past weekend in a swimsuit I am super motivated to stop eating garbage and get it together.

The past week by the numbers:

Pounds lost this week: -2

Pounds lost since January 09: -10 

(remember when I had lost 20 pounds? Yeah, that was nice). 

10k Countdown: 24 more days!

Did you guys watch Jillian Michael's new show? What did you think?
Overall I liked it, even though it was pretty cheesy, I just wished they would have given her more time with the families! 1 week is just not enough to teach someone how to eat and how to work out. And the fact that they were all SO EXCITED to see each other 6 weeks later when they only spent a week together seemed a little weird. And then hugging Jillian before walking down the aisle? Was that weird to anyone else?
What were your thoughts?

Serious about Success!

Today is Tuesday, June 1st, and it's time to get serious about success!!!

(okay, okay, I know I've probably said that 10 times already, but this time I MEAN IT!)

Today is the first substantive day of bar/bri classes... last week was just the MBE preview. Today we're learning torts... which means that I may finally get an answer to the question that's been lingering for years now, which is WHAT THE HELL IS A TORT? Ha.

And unlike last week when I came home and dicked around all afternoon after bar/bri, starting today I will actually study. And do stuff. And not get drunk. Promise.

June 1 also means it is 26 days until the Proud to Run 10k. And I have a looooot of work to do in just over three weeks. Yesterday I ran 3 miles in 33 minutes. I didn't die, but I seriously was damn close near the end of it. I honestly thought I was going into cardiac arrest at one point. So the thought of running twice that makes me want to cry/collapse. And the thought of running more than 4 times that in September for the half marathon just makes me laugh. Like as in "HAHA. There is no freaking way."
So today I am back on the training plan, back to counting calories and not eating everything I can get my grubby paws on, etc.

SERIOUS ABOUT SUCCESS. That's me.