Just another random Tuesday

I have lots of random thoughts. What's new, right? Well, the thoughts are new.

• For the first time ever, I ran 400-meter repeats (nine of them)! I didn’t even know what they were before tonight. I heard people mention them, but it was a foreign concept to me. But, I love them. Love them. This was my best running performance in a long time. Yay! 
• When I was in Kansas, a group of us (me, boyfriend, brother, sister-in-law, sister-in-law’s sister and sister-in-law’s sister’s friend) went to see “Lawless.” Lately, I’m completely clueless when it comes to new movies so I’d never even heard of it. But, I’m so glad my brother and sister-in-law had and took us to go see it. I loved this movie. And, I’ve determined that I really like Shia LaBeouf (who my brother calls “The Beef,” and now I do too). I was kind of embarrassed about it at first, but I figured this should not be embarrassing to a girl who loves Justin Bieber, boy bands and Jessica Simpson. So, I love The Beef. 

Source

• Funny thing: the movie is about bootlegging brothers in Prohibition-era Virginia. When I went to my brother and sister-in-law’s house for dinner (a few days before the movie), my brother asked me if I wanted to try some apple pie moonshine. I was worried he put in a still in the backyard or I could go blind from drinking it, but thankfully, that was not the case. He just cooked apple cider, apple juice and brown sugar, and then added vanilla vodka and Everclear (yes, really). It was awesome … and it was in a mason jar. My brother also made some pickle vodka and bacon vodka … both in mason jars (and both delicious – especially the pickle vodka). My boyfriend mentioned the movie was just like going to their house for dinner. 
• Last week I was pumped to watch the MTV Video Music Awards. After the fact, I’m not sure why. Maybe I’m getting old, but I just didn’t really like any of the performances. My favorite was probably One Direction (hello, boy band). I used to be a big rap and hip-hop fan, and I’m just not impressed anymore. I only get excited about one rap song coming on the radio these days (and it has more to do with it being Desmond Jennings’ (my favorite Rays player) walk-up music. I found it extremely irritating before. 

It's your fault that I like this.

 

• But, rap I do like: Snoop Dogg (or Snoop Lion now?). He’s coming to Tampa in October. I want to go. Problem 1: he’s coming to a music festival-type thing with many artists; I only want to see him. Problem 2: I’m not sure if I know anyone that will go with me. Problem 3: concerts are expensive. But, if I resolved the first two problems, I’d probably pay the high ticket price. I mean, I’ve liked this guy since high school (a long time), and “Doggystyle” was the first rap CD I owned (Shh! My parents didn’t know).

Things that rock Thursday

Thursday is by far my least favorite day of the workweek. My lack of sleep from earlier in the week catches up to me, so I’m miserably tired. And work-wise, it’s craziness. I guess it’s the rush before the weekend. We even started the I Hate Thursday club at work. It’s that bad.

I’ve tried thinking of it as Friday Eve. I’ve tried telling myself it’s close to the weekend. Nothing seems to work.

So, in another effort to make Thursdays more bearable, I decided to post about things that rock (even though Thursdays don’t). More positivity will cancel the negativity, right? Right?!? Please tell me I’m right.

I need this every week, so I think this is going to become a weekly feature.

Here are this week’s things that rock (even though Thursdays don’t):

Nuun

You know that feeling that everyone else has tried something except for you and you’re left behind while everyone else raves about it. That happens to me a lot. You’d think I live in a cave. This happened again with Nuun. It seemed like everyone else tried it and loved it while Cavewoman Jina wondered what it was all about. But, thanks to a fabulous giveaway, I’m the proud owner of Nuun. Thanks, Bean, for pulling me out of my cave. 

Now I can jump on the Nuun train with everyone else and proclaim that this tasty, fizzy, 8-calorie electrolyte-loaded beverage is delicious and awesome. It’ll be a standard running hydration tool from now on. Take that, cave. 

Watermelon

Holy yum. I cannot get enough of this. I may need an intervention.

I even sacrificed and bought the seeded variety because the store was out
of seedless. I hate dealing with seeds, but I hate living without watermelon more.

Die In Your Arms

Yes, I’m a 30-something woman that likes Justin Bieber. I used to be embarrassed, but not anymore. The kid is good. This song rocks my Thursday (and every other day of the week). Give me more sugary pop goodness, JB.

Running in a cotton T-shirt and other randomness

I have a lot of random stuff on my mind, so what better place to spew it than here (you may think otherwise ... sorry).

• I'm running a 5K on Saturday. In a cotton T-shirt. For a sweaty turtle, this is bad, bad news. Why the cotton shirt? It's a work-related run, so we all need to be corporate in our matching shirts. Great. I'll be a hot mess around work peeps.
  
• I get so irritated at the phrase, “I’m just sayin’.” Argh! It grated on my nerves to even type it. I really don’t understand its purpose. Obviously you’re just sayin’ because you just said it. See? There is no need for this ridiculous phrase. EVER.   
• Almost every weekend, we head to a dog park with a beach in Tampa. Being the baseball-loving girl that I am, I know that Derek Jeter (Yankees shortstop) happens to live on the island (not that I ever see him). Yesterday, Evan Longoria (Rays third baseman) tweeted asking for a good dog park/beach with real grass. Of course I suggested this park.

• I recently heard two guys admit that they sing along to Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend." As they should! That song is a jam (and reminds me of Justin Timberlake ... almost exactly). Don't be embarrassed, boys.

Wacky Wednesday

It's not my favorite day of the week, but I try to make it a little better with some wackiness:

• I'm used to people calling my dog cute (these people are brilliant, by the way). What I'm not used to is people stopping their car in the middle of the road to yell this out. Tonight as Chloe and I were walking around the neighborhood, a guy stopped his car and yelled, "What a cutie! She looks just like Spanky's dog." I did not know if this was good or bad or dirty.
• After I asked the smartest person I know (Google), I discovered that Spanky was in the "Little Rascals." (On a side note, careful on that Google. I speak from experience.) I guess there is a resemblance, but not enough that I would stop my car and yell at someone (with them possibly thinking I'm a dirty freak).

•  I get way too worked up over sports and sports-related happenings. When I heard that Frank Martin was leaving Kansas State to coach basketball at South Carolina, I was sad. Why, oh why, would he leave the beautiful purple school that is my alma mater? Then, I got mad! Really, Frank. Why did you leave an up-and-coming basketball school to go coach a school in a football conference? It's a step down (no offense to South Carolina fans). And what did someone do to make him leave? Ahem! Athletic Director?!? Anyway, I've determined yet again that I need to get a life.

Purple pride (and a strange brother)

• My other hobby, celebrity goings-on and gossip is in full force, too. (Yes, I know that this doesn't qualify me as having a life either.) Selena Gomez is filming a movie in the area. She's been spotted. Her boyfriend, Justin Bieber, has been spotted too. Now, James Franco is here! I have yet to see any of them, darn it.

Wacky Wednesday

I'm wacky and it's Wednesday. Unfortunately, my wackiness is not limited to Wednesdays in real life. I try to only scare people here once per week.

• As I may have mentioned before, I love Jessica Simpson. This video solidifies my love.

• If you're like me, you'll watch all three parts of her Jimmy Kimmel appearance at least three times. 
• And watch "Fashion Star" because she is on it. Not that the show is bad, but I would have never watched if it wasn't for the lovely Miss S. 
• And hope that she delivers her baby on your birthday. I don't think she's going to make it until late April, though. Wowza! That girl is seriously pregnant.
• Now that I've alarmed everyone with my crazy JS obsession, I'll move onto other things (although they really don't compare to her ... ahem) like the possibility of Justin Bieber being in town. I'm getting more pathetic, huh? Selena Gomez, Bieb's girlfriend, is in the area shooting a movie. JB was here last weekend. I don't care how pathetic I'd look, I will get my picture with him if I find him. 
• I spotted a celebrity in public once. The celebrity? Vanilla Ice. Yo, VIP. 

Crappy cell phone photo of the dude that rocks a mic like a vandal

• Anyone have any better celebrity sightings?

A Bieber birthday and a run

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Happy birthday, Biebs! Yes, I am a 30-something woman that likes Justin Bieber. I’ve got issues. This may not be the biggest of my issues, sadly.

Oops. This already happened.

Aside from a Bieber birthday party (I kid, I kid), I had my last training group run before my half marathon on Sunday. It was 40 minutes of pure sweat. It was hot and humid and disgusting. Aside from that, the run was fabulous.

I really don’t have a particular time goal for this race. Well, I kind of do. I’d love to get the same time as my half marathon three weeks ago. So, a 2:33 finish is fine by me.

Looking like a complete tool, but I was happy with my time.

The forecast concerns me a bit. I’m trying not to worry about it, but a 40% chance of rain and windy conditions are worrisome. Also worrisome is this race’s start time: 6 a.m. I’m not a morning person. I can handle waking up by 6 a.m., but being somewhere and being functional by 6 a.m. is another story. I apologize in advance to anyone I run into there. I will most likely be out of it and perhaps grumpy. Sorry.

I will recover when I get this sweet piece of metal in my hand.

That, friends, is why I chose to do this race. Believe me; it wasn’t that pesky 6 a.m. start time.