my summer essentials

1) Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Sunscreen - Say hello to my favorite sunscreen. I fell in love with this stuff last summer and we rekindled our relationship this semester because part of my internship was outside. It's so light you don't feel like you're wearing anything and it doesn't smell all sunscreeny [yeah, it's a word now].

2) Kate Spade Flavors iPhone 5 case - I LOVE KATE SPADE. I currently have a polka dot phone case [the inspiration behind my new header] from Kate. This one is so summery I can't stand it. If only I had an iPhone 5!

3)  J.Crew Chino Shorts - Ever since sophomore year of high school, I've been all about the J.Crew Chinos. They come in so many bright colors and different lengths, I'm a five inch girl all the way.  They are a summer must have!

4) Target Maxi Skirt - I've seriously worn this skirt nonstop this month. It's perfect for a picnic, for a pool day, for a night out, or for a beach dinner. Yes, those are all the places I've worn it in the last week. Now that I've found a maxi skirt that is the perfect length, I don't want to take it off.

5) Target Fringe Halter Swim Top - Fringe is in my friends. I was skeptical at first, but now I'm a believer. This top is comfortable and stays in place, a winner in my book!

6) eos - If you haven't jumped on the eos train, hop on. It's my favorite lip balm because it has SPF and because it's not the typical shape it doesn't get buried in the bottom of my purse.

7) Jack Rogers Classic Navajos - Last summer I finally made the Jack Rogers plunge. They were totally worth it. They go with anything and everything and are my go to shoes all the time!

What are your summer essentials?

I'M BACK [& went to NYC]!

Alert the officials and call off the search because I'M BACK, YALL! Don't worry, I can hear the screams and applause through my computer. But really, I'm back because spring semester ended and that means I don't have six classes and an internship to do on top of homework and studying. Having free time is a strange concept, but don't worry I think I will pull through.

This means you will get to hear me ramble about training for my half marathon in August, my opinions of all the hot celebrity gossip and the rambles of my life. Once again, I can hear the applause through the computer. Yall are too kind!

Well lets waste no time. This past weekend my parents had scheduled a trip to NYC to visit my brother. I've been there twice in the past six months so my parents didn't invite me.... rude. But don't worry I scored myself a last minute invite. It was my mom's first time in the city and she was super excited.

She wanted to go to the Top of the Rock. The view was okay [sarcasm].

We brunched with mimosas, which means I was in heaven.

We strolled through Central Park under the most perfect blue sky.

 We also strolled on The High Line and stuffed our faces with Mister Softee.

We explored our way through Chelsea Market.

We took a morning walk to meet Andrew for brunch through Washington Square. And I treated myself for passing all six of my classes.

We spent time in Madison Square Park [standing in line for Shake Shack because I can't leave without my peanut butter shake and cheese fries].

As usual, the city was kind and I didn't want to leave. Thanks for the fun times NYC!

disney princess half recap

This recap is a tad bit late... but better late than never, right? So as you know going into this half marathon I was a tad unprepared! Although I was running faster, I wasn't running as much as I did when I was training for my last half. My goal was to finish and PR... and I did both of those!

Lets rewind to the Friday of the race weekend, I had two sweet friends bring me good luck bags in preparation for the race. Seriously, so thoughtful!

And then I got another surprise....

Andrew! He said that he wasn't going to able to fly in and watch me run because he was already doing so much traveling the weekend/ week before, but he did! I've got a pretty great big brother.

On Saturday we went to the expo. Honestly I didn't think it was too great, I thought they crammed in the booths so there wasn't a whole lot of room to navigate and was very crowded.

I had to be in my corral by 4:45 on Sunday morning so I went to bed at 9 and woke up at 2 in the morning. Totally normal, right? Don't worry some of my friends were still up when I was getting up from slumber. I was out of the door at 3 and made it to Disney by 3:45.

Walking to the corrals was a half marathon in itself. We walked through back lots and the corrals were on a major road that runs between Disney parks. After standing in the corral for almost an hour, it was go time. Every corral was sent off with a "spell" from the fairy godmother and pink fireworks, very Disney. Two minutes before my corral was set to go, I decided I had to go to the bathroom because I didn't want to stop at all and ruin my chances of PRing.

I hurdled the gates and sprinted to the porta potties and made it back right before the start. Talk about a good warm up. How have I not mentioned that I was wearing a glittery tutu? Let me just tell you if you ever want to wear a glittery tutu... DON'T! My car still has glitter all over it and I keep finding it all over my room. I was covered with it after the race, my legs, my face, my arms... everywhere!

The course was super narrow and I spent the first two miles running on the grass or sand. I wasn't a very happy camper to say the least. I know Disney races sound super magical, and don't get me wrong some parts of it were but the other 90% was spent running through back lots, on highways or through parking lots. There were groups of friends who were racing just for fun and to take pictures with all the characters along the course but I just wanted to improve my time so I didn't stop to take any pictures. Personally, I enjoy city races more because there is constant crowd participation.

Speaking of crowd participation, my amazing friends and old roommates came to cheer me on. Along with my dad and brother of course [my mom was sick and was cheering me on from her bed]. Just like mile 10 in my last half, I hit a wall and it didn't help that mile 10-11 ish was running up a twisty, highway entrance ramp.

From 11 to 13 I just wanted to finish so I pushed through, finished and PRed by 21 minutes!

I was SO glad that it was over! And so glad to have these people waiting for me at the finish line.

Moral of the story is that I will never wear a glittery tutu ever again.

Just kidding, but not at all.