That day I was covered in color and the water went out...

Remember that time I told you I was going to go run?  No?  You don't?  Maybe that's because those words have never come out of my mouth.  Except for maybe a short lived week in college when I learned what shin splints were, and I swore off running for the rest of my life.

Until last Saturday.  When I rose before the sun.  I left the house before the dog even got out of bed.  And I drove to Chesapeake.  To run.  Without anyone chasing me either!

My sister and I, along with my old roomie and her sister, ran the Color Vibe 5k.  This was my first experience ever running a 5k... Despite the week long delay in this blog post, I really did find it quite exciting.  There were 7500 runners, and we were in the first heat? group? gaggle? gang? bushel?  

I'm not real sure what a group of runners is called.... but you get the point.  

These pictures were before the run even started.  We meant to take before and after pics, but Caitlin decided to hit me with some color right when we found them!

So then we took the individual before photos:  

And we continued to play with the color before the run even started... Quite frankly, this was the most exciting part of the entire day. 

And then it was 9:30.  Time to start jogging.  Or running.  Or dancing.  Or speed walking.  Or dodging standing in front of the leaf blowers that were spraying color everywhere.

And then we went the wrong way.  Not just Leslie and I.  Everyone.  And we all had to turn around.  After running about 1/2 a mile.  So my first 5k was more like a 6k.  But it was still fun.

And then it was over.  

And of course we had to take some more pictures, sitting under the shade of a tree because it was freakin' hottttt.

The individual AFTER pics:

And then, once we recovered, we played with the color a bit more.  

(I love the picture of me below, despite the double chin, I look really happy.  And colorful.  And me.)

I didn't get a medal or a certificate of achievement (I mean, I did finish and all...)   But to my surprise, they treated us to a special euro-treat!  Biscoff Spread.  No, it's not peanut butter.  It's more desserty than that.  It hit the spot.  And yes, I ate it with my colored finger.

I'd say it was a success!

You can see the line from my engagement ring... pretty positive I shouldn't have worn it on this run.

And then I got back to Newport News and found a soggy front yard.  Apparently the pipes leading to my house busted.  Of all the days, in all the yards.... this pipe failure walked into my life.  The day that I NEEDED a shower.  The day that I was covered, head to toe in colored corn starch.  The day that I looked like I was an alien... The day that I had to wait for the city person to come, followed by my ex boyfriend who had to fix the pipe.

I went almost two days without water in the house.  Just my luck right?  Thankfully I squeezed in a shower before the water was completely shut off.

Time for me to wrap this puppy up, put some makeup on, and head to Norfolk for a dinner and a movie date with the sweet Sarah.  She is keeping me busy and awake because at 11:45 tonight a flight lands in Norfolk that is bringing me my fiance back from Japan!!  Excited doesn't even begin to describe it...

Happy Saturday friends!

The Narnia of Panera: The Hidden Menu

Did you know that there is a whole 'nother world out there?  I'm not talking about on Mars or poor little Pluto... I'm talking Panera.  

Did you know that Panera has a "Hidden Menu" available to their guests?  Yeah, me neither.  I take that back, actually I did know.  Michael told me about it months ago and I just thought he was making it up.  Because I'm super gullible.  And because really, why would a restaurant have a top secret menu, with HEALTHIER FOOD OPTIONS (yes!! it's paleo!!) and keep it a secret?!

Today I decided it was time.  Time to learn if this secret was legit.  I had a new client consult (whom I booked for a January event!!) at Panera.  Since I got there a bit early and decided I would find out if this "secret menu" existed or if Michael is really good at bluffing.

What's a girl to do when she is too afraid to ask someone working there about it?  She finds a table and googles.  It totally exists!  Michael wasn't just making this up!  So I gathered up all my belongings and fumbled my way up to the lady at the register.  Here's how this went down:


Panera Lady:  Good morning!  What can I get you?

Me:  {wondering if I need to whisper this or not...} Um....  I'd like something off the Secret Menu please.  {I may or may not have winked at her... not the wink like I'm trying to pick you up, but the I-know-you-have-a-secret-menu-wink.}

Panera Lady:  Okay, what would you like?

Me:  So it does exist!!!  {Followed by a pause and I guarantee an awkward suz grin.}  {In my mind, I see the M&M commercials where Red says "He does exist!" and Santa says "THEY DO EXIST!" Then they both pass out.}

Panera Lady:  Yes ma'am.  What can I get you?  {There was a line forming.  And she wasn't nearly as amazed and/or excited about this secret menu as I was.}

Me:  I'd like the Beef Breakfast Bowl.  {Good thing I googled, she didn't give me any hints about what was actually on the menu...}

Panera Lady:  That's not on the secret menu.

Me:  What?!  But I just googled it!! {Suz = loud and shouty and embarrassed.}

Panera Lady:  You mean the "Power Breakfast Egg Bowl with Steak?"

Me:  {beginning to panic as the line gets longer and I am now realizing I have no clue how much the items on the secret menu are...}  Um yes, that sounds good.  With water.  For here.  In a big cup please, not that oversized shot glass size thing.  Please.  {Pretty positive I tried throwing her that awkward wink again...}

So I survived Panera's version of Menu-Narnia.  I was really hoping that when I picked my meal up people would gawk at me and think "Man, look at her and that fancy-schmancy meal!  Where is that on the menu?!"  But no one cared.  Or even looked.  They were all just eating their delicious, non-secretive bagels.  

Fun facts you should know: 

1.  The secret meals seem much healthier.  It's so hard to find healthy, paleo friendly meals when you are out on the road.  These seem like awesome options.  And I'm pretty positive it should be preached from the mountain tops that a quick-service restaurant has healthy food available!
2.  Google the menu before you try to order.  They don't help you out with the secrets on the menu when you mention it.  I honestly thought they'd pull out a paper with the secret menu written on it.  They didn't.  So study up.
3.  Don't wink or whisper.  They know it's a secret.  But apparently it's not a big-deal kinda secret.

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4.  If you are Robin Sparkles, this is not available in your motherland.  Sorry.

Have you experienced the Panera Hidden Menu?  What did you think?  How did you learn about it?

(Other than the Robin Sparkles image, screen caps are via Panera.  Learn more about the Panera Hidden Menu here.)

Kid Sister is 25!

Happy Birthday Leslie!  I hope you had the loveliest of the all loveliest birthdays!  

Today my one and only sibling, Leslie, turned 25!  Crazy right?!  My plan was to scan a few pics of us together as we were growing up, but let's be real... I have a trillion other things to be doing (like organizing and cleaning the house before Michael gets back from deployment) to spend time finding, scanning, and saving pictures into my computer today.  Next best thing?  Pictures of pictures!  (Because that's what scans are anyway right?)

So here are the photographs that were the easiest for me to find around my parents house.  i.e. fridge pics and mantle pics.  Done and done.    Childhood images are only suiting as my mom finally broke down tonight and told Leslie about the year we forgot her third birthday... whoops.

Pretty positive this one could be sent into awkward family photos...
Who's idea was it for both of us to get into this tube?!

It was a nice evening.  She had a few friends over for dinner at my parents house.  I am 100% proud to say that even though we are 25 and 29 we still love and appreciate having our birthday dinners at our parents' house, with family and friends.  I guess that makes us weird.  But I love it. 

Being the vegetarian or the peska-someting-tarian that she is, we had seafood.  For the first 27.5 years of my life I hated and avoided clams at all cost.  They are slimy and weird.  I embrace them now.  But only 5 or so of them in one day.  They are just too chewy for me.  And the black clam poop inside of them freaks me out beyond belief.

The first gift she opened was from Matt-ofer.  Not his real name, but all I know him by.  How absolutely stinkin' awesomely cute is this frame/ bff cork board he made her?  Tough gift to follow for the rest of us...

It appears the fam went high class with a non-carvel cake (which Leslie was sure to notice and announce prior to blowing out her candles.)  To make it worse, I guess taking the cake out of the box is just unheard of these days.  Benji Birthdays: Keeping it high class is 1984.

And if you need professionally washed dishes, please let me know.  We can rent Brown Dog and her highly skilled services out to you.  She works for a very low cost, especially if you keep the plates semi-dirty.  And get this, she doesn't even require holiday pay for overtime work on Thanksgiving.  Just something to keep in mind...

Opening the present I got her in a very pretty suz-colored target bag!  Too bad I couldn't find half her gift!!

Aren't these so cool?!  Her roommate gave them to her.  Have you seen these before?  If so, where are they from?  I kinda want the cat glass!

Happy birthday Leslie!  Here's to a great year as a 25 year old!  Make it awesome and full of adventures!   Follow your heart and do what makes you happy!  Love, Suz.

Things You Oughta Know!

I know there are a trillion readers out there who lose sleep every night because they are simply aching to know more about the writer behind the blog.  Don't worry, I'm not going to make you raise your hands and embarrass yourself.  I'm not that kind of person.  I know who you are.  And I know you totally exist.

What is the best way to make sure all my readers stay tuned and focused on my random blog posts instead of constantly checking back to my "About Me" page?  Said blogger starts a blog series.

My plan with this is to bring you a weekly post that shares 5 random things about me.  Things that I feel you should know if we are going to continue and grow our current cyber-relationship.  So here we go...

1.  I have gone all white-girl-gangsta-rapper at a wedding before.  (See above image.)  Pretty positive I need to be fearful for revenge come November.  And lucky you, there's footage of this here incase you have four minutes and fifteen seconds to kill.

2.  My all time favorite food (read: FOOD, not MEAL) is popcorn.  Want to win me over?  No need to sweet talk me... salt and a slight bit of butter will do the trick.  Last week I almost purchased a movie ticket just to get into the theater to buy some popcorn.  I didn't have time for a movie but a large bucket of freshly popped corns?  There's always time for that. 

3.  The unnecessary use of sun visors in a car drives me Bananas!  Yes, with a capital B.  If the sun isn't in your eyes, you don't need that stupid thing down.  Even if the sun is in your eyes, but just enough to make you barely squint, you don't need that stupid thing down.  If you have sunglasses on, you don't need that thing down.  The only acceptable time to use the sun visor is if you are A. on the face of the sun, in which case you may need more than just the visor or B. you are using the mirror on the back of it. 

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4.  Hootie and the Blowfish.  Need I say more?  Yeah... I probably need to say more.  Despite you Hootie Haters, I absolutely adore Hootie and the Blowfish.  I know, I know.  It's just Hootie now.  But I firmly believe he is just not as good as he was with his clan of blowfish.  Despite the fact that almost every song sounded the same on their first three albums, and you could really only understand 80% of what Hootie sang, I still wore their CDs out.  Numerous times.  

5.  I have gotten two concussions in my lifetime.  One was while wakeboarding behind a jetski.  The other was after I flew off of a jetski and somehow ended up underneath it.  Jetski 2, Suz 0. And that was all in one summer.   

So there you have it.  The first entry into the "Things You Oughta Know" series.  Is there something you REALLY want to know but have been too afraid to ask?  Now's your chance!  Leave it in the comment section below!  Otherwise, stay tuned to learn more randomoid-suz-facts next week!  

A Susan-Sized-Ikea-Trip

The day started like any other... An awkward job "meet and greet," traffic in Northern Virginia, and ikea.  And let me tell you, ikea was not ready for us.  Or so we thought.  We came prepared and on a mission.  We showed ikea who the bosses were.  

And then ikea kicked my credit card in the boo-tay.  

Welcome to my kitchen!  How many I assist you?!  

Is anyone else overly impressed by the teeny tiny, yet totally awesome kitchens, bedrooms, closets, offices and overall sweet spaces that is somehow created in this magical square castle called ikea?  Pretty positive I could use the kitchen below to start my own paleo cooking show!

Like I said, we went with a mission.  A mission to make my kitchen at my new home nicer and user-friendly.  Well, I guess not so much friendly.  More so just useable.

The bottom line:  I need more counter space.  And this Swedish hunk of furniture is my solution.  The cute bar chairs and all!

As we wrapped up the part of the store tour that a human could easily live in, my mom was a bit flabbergasted that we were almost done.  I mean really Mother, we were only there for about 2.5 hours!

It took the two of us, a flatbed cart, some logistical planning and the weight of my entire body for us to pick this butcher block thing up.  Heavy duty doesn't even begin to describe it.

And then I had to reorganize my goods and begin pushing like a lady about to give birth to 123 pounds of ikea furniture.  It took everything in me to get this flatbed to the checkout without:

• A.  Letting my super sweet lanterns (that Michael will also love - compromise decor is tough for us) fall off the cart and break  
• B.  Run it into a giant rack of other ikea-loveliness or
• C.  Take out the snarky lady that yelled at my mom when my mom simply tried to help her. 

 Scratch that, I totally meant to hit Mrs. Snarky McSnarkerson. 

When we left HRVA we were both slightly concerned about taking Pretty Prius.  My mom swore up and down that there was no way I could fit a Susan-Size-Ikea-Trip into my tiny, but efficient Pretty Prius.  She definitely had junk in her trunk, but Pretty Prius pulled through for me!  We probably could've even fit the shoe cabinet I really wanted in there also!

I'm officially convinced that my Prius is the second cousin, twice removed, to Mary Poppins' bag.

We made it home!  Now it's time to start building!  And time to start making my next Ikea Road Trip Shopping List.  Hint hint:  This headboard is at the top of the list!  (And no, it's not $999! I swear!  At that cost I'd be going to Pottery Barn and swooping up the bed frame I REALLY want.)

To those of you who live near an ikea... do you have problems with this store?  Is there an ikea-obsessed-anonynmous group you can check yourself into?!  Thankfully I live a solid two point five hours away from this glorious motherland of swedish bargain furniture.  Otherwise we'd have serious issues.  My obsession with Target wouldn't even begin to compare to the problems we'd have if ikea were in my town.   

They say God doesn't put things in front of you that he knows you cannot handle... because Jesus knows I do not have the will power to handle an ikea that is any closer than 143 miles of my home.

   (Yep, I google mapped it.)