BATHROOM

My bathroom is definitely the part of my apartment that most dates it. It's completely PINK! Pink sink, pink tub, pink tile. I had one friend go on and on about how much she loved it....wish I could say the same, but I've never been a lover of vintage bathrooms. It was difficult to get some pics since it is so tiny, but I tried my hardest to show you what's going on in there!

I decided to add some green to the bathroom...

pink & green are a good combo!

The mirror frame was extremely rusty
and ugly, so my mom covered it with this
contact paper we found at Target.  I don't
love it, but suppose it's better than the rust.

This shower curtain is Rachel Ashwell for Target.

I loved it when I bought it, but am

close to wanting a change.

These shelves are opposite from my

shower.  They were left by the girl who

lived here before me, but she had them

in the kitchen.  I needed more shelving

in the bathroom so I moved them.  As

hooks are to my entryway, so are baskets

to the rest of my apartment.  So necessary

when you lack cabinets, shelves, and closets!

I use this thing on the left as a hamper.  Someone

told me it's an old industrial trash can, but I don't

see how that could've worked. I LOVE it as a

hamper because, seriously, where else in the

apartment could I stash dirty laundry?

And this thing REALLY dates the bathroom.  It
has a little thing at the top you can pull up or push
down to stop or release the drain in the bathtub.
Thank goodness the previous occupant explained it
to me...I never would have figured that one out!

So, that's my bathroom.  Next up: Living Room!

A's to Z's of a Poconos Weekend

Almost 100 women!  We had over 90 women attend my church's annual Women's Retreat in the Pocono's this weekend.  Over a 40% increase from last year!  It is so great to see God growing our church so well!

Bonfire!  You can't go on a retreat without a bonfire!  Unfortunately, there were no s'mores this year, which I'd say is the one big flaw of this retreat.  But, the bonfire was so warm to hang out around on Saturday night and enjoy a bit more of the outdoors before we went to bed.

Colorful leaves!  It's peak week for the fall foilage.  It was not as vibrant as last year due to all the rain we've had, but still pretty.  It was also a nasty weather weekend, so we didn't get to be outside enjoying it as much.

Discipleship.  We had 3 sessions this year with speakers and time of worship.  This year, the sessions concentrated on discipleship.  It was good to remember that we are disciples of Christ and what that looks like, but also to be reminded that we are called to be disciples to others and how we can be that.

Early mornings.  Yeah, retreats mean no sleeping in on the morning.  We got up so early on Sunday that we made it back to the city for AM church!

Friends.  I have gained such dear friends at my church.  I love them!  Last year, I was able to convince only 1 friend from my Community Group to go on the retreat.  This year 4 out of 7 of us went!  I was thrilled!  I've also gotten to know people outside my group better, so it was fun to spend time with those people as well.

With Jen & Kim

Group Leader.  I was asked to be a leader for a small group during the break-out sessions.  I was provided with a list of questions to talk through together and I just facilitated the discussion.  This isn't my favorite thing to do, but I'm usually willing to do it when asked.  Luckily, I had a group of girls who talk a lot, so it made the discussion flow very easily.
Hiking!  A lot of us went on a hike.  We attempted this last year and never found the trailhead.  This year, we had success.  It was so fun!  We got to see lots of beautiful foliage while we were out.

Immediately following God when called.  This is something I've thought about a lot in recent years and was touched on this weekend.  In the Bible, there are several stories where people are called to follow Christ and they immediately stop what they are doing, follow Christ and never look back to their old life.  It's good to question how I am being called and what is holding me back from immediately following.
Jeep.  Five of us took a Jeep to the Poconos (with Texas plates...yee-haw).
Kim & Jen & Hillery!  I lost Hillery for this pic, but these are my Community Group gals.

With Jen & Kim @ the Bonfire

Lucy-lu!  Love that girl.  We had a great time walking around looking for pretty trees and leaves on Saturday afternoon.

Music!  We had a great group of singers, a piano player, a couple of guitars, and a fiddle to lead our times of worship during each session.

Newark, NJ.  Yeah, this was a mistake.  We weren't supposed to go anywhere near Newark, but somehow ended up there on our way back into the city.  We finally made it back, but I was late to teach the kiddos at church!  All turned out okay.
Oooey gooey pretzel concoctions.  The retreat center has some fun/weird dessert buffets that they pride themselves on.  This time it was Soft Pretzels with toppings.  We could pick from cheese, chocolate, icing, or cinnamon/sugar.  The icing with cinnamon/sugar was delicious!
POKER!  Angela, one of the gals on staff at church led a poker learning session.  Poker (with Budweiser cards, no less) at a Church retreat?  Yeah, that's how we roll.  It was fun.  Angela knows all these terms I'd never heard of before.  I didn't get one good hand, but it was still fun to play!

Angela explaining the rules to Ilyse

Ilyse was our big winner!

Quiet time.  A girl in my church who is a writer wrote devotionals last year and this year that are SO good.  We all took an hour or so on Saturday morning to spend some quiet time alone going through the devotional, reading scripture and praying.  I wish I set aside more hours like that when I am home to just sit still and listen.

Gorgeous, old hydrangea tree

Range of mountains....we were in the Poconos, which I just learned are part of the Appalachian Mountains!

SNOW!  When we signed up for this retreat, we did not sign up for winter weather!  Last year, it was brisk, but sunny and delightul.  This year is was cold, rainy, and even snowed big flakes for about 30 minutes on Saturday.  It's too early for Winter!

If you blow this pic up, you might see the snow!

Top Bunk!  I am not a fan of the top bunk, but when you're one of the last cars to arrive, that's what you get.  It was fun.  So weird to be sleeping in bunk beds with a bunch of adults, though!

Umbrellas.  A retreat in the great outdoors shouldn't call for umbrellas!  Unfortunately, I had to carry mine to and from the sessions and meals more than once :(

Very removed from the city.  It's nice to get out of the city every once in a while, enjoy the outdoors and slower pace and recharge the batteries!

Wisdom.  We had three amazing speakers on Saturday.  All lovely, young ladies from my church.  They are filled with such wisdom.  Their passion encourages me to know God's word better, trust Him more, and live that out daily in my life.

Xenodocheionology.  This word means "love of hotels".  While I'd say 95% of the women on this retreat have this characteristic, everyone was very flexible and there were no complaints about our little cabins at the retreat center.
Yummy meals.  The retreat center does a very good job of providing hot meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Dinner was probably my favorite...grilled chicken, baked potatoes, and green beans.  Quite delish!

Retreat Center Dining Hall

Zero stars.  We were disappointed that it was too cloudy to see any stars while we were out of the city.  I suppose we can't have it all....

10k Training - Week 1

So, this past week was less than stellar, but that's why I decided I have to start posting about this!  Here's my first weekly update:

Sunday -- nothing
Monday -- nothing, here's where I decide I need some accountability!!
Tuesday -- run 2 miles & strength training
Wednesday -- run 2.5 miles
Thursday -- nothing, ugh!
Friday -- run 3 miles, strength training, and pilates (to make up for one of the missed days)!
Saturday -- hiking in the Poconos...counting this as a cross-training day

So, I missed my stretch day and one of my cross-train days.  I felt awful on my 2 and 2.5 mile runs.  Don't know why, but my legs felt SO heavy and I was running through shin-splint pain.  The 3 mile run was MUCH better!  I felt so good at the end.  I'll do better this week, I feel it already!

$12 Keyboard

I just got my $12 Ebay keyboard for my laptop.  I installed it myself...impressed??  I would have had no clue if I hadn't watched a technician remove my old one and put it back in last week.  Anyway, I'm pumped to say that it works well!  Plus, it's much cleaner than my old one and it even feels different typing...better.  Anyway, Ebay rocks.  I want to become the type of person who finds good deals on things all the time...this is a great start!

10k Accountability

So, I’m calling on all my blog readers for accountability again! I want to run a 10k at the beginning of December (actually wanted to do a 15k, but it’s after I leave for Texas for Christmas, so I’m settling for the 10k). I’ve been working out pretty consistently the last month or more, but this week I’m struggling!! I need your help to keep me going! So, I’m going to do a weekly update like I did a couple of years ago when I ran the 15k. It helped me stay on track. I’m only running 2 or 3 miles right now and have a couple of weeks before I have to start bumping that up. I wanted to make sure I was running a solid 3 before I started the real training schedule.

My training will basically consist of the following:

-- 3 runs each week (increasing mileage each week)
-- 1 day of extended stretching (yoga + some other stretches I like to do/need to do)
-- 2 days of cross training . I don’t belong to a gym and don’t own a bike (yet), so I’m having trouble coming up with cross training ideas. For now, it will probably be long walks and pilates. Pretty sure pilates doesn’t count as cross training, but that’s all I got for now.
-- 2 days of strength training done in conjunction with any of the above (arm weights, lunges, squats, step-ups, etc….)

Watch for an update every week around Sunday/Monday! Thanks friends!

Food & Wine

This weekend was the Food Network Food & Wine Festival. I went with Lucy on Friday night to Meatpacking Uncorked. This was an event in the Meatpacking District where most of the stores and some restaurants were open and had wine tastings or food samples. It was fun, but we were a bit frustrated with the long lines for food. There wasn't much food to begin with, which is probably why those lines were so long. There was tons of wine, though. Compared to the big event I went to last year, where we left stuffed full of great food, this event didn't compare. It was still a fun night. The weather was gorgeous, which made walking from store to store very enjoyable. We also befriended a girl who was there by herself and it turns out she has done a lot in the event planning industry here in NYC, she gave me some website and listservs to get on if I ever want to volunteer for event companies. I'll check those out.

On Saturday night, I met up with Lucy again to see an interview with Mario Battali. It was SO good. Mario was really down to earth and funny and the lady who interviewed him (Food Editor for the NY Times) was great, too.  It was at the New York Times offices...they have a small auditorium there. They did several interviews in conjunction with the Festival, but while I was there, I realized they do interviews open to the public all the time. I am definitely going back to that place. This week alone, they are doing an interview with the cast of "Ugly Betty" and another one with Hilary Swank. Pretty cool.

After the Friday night event, Lucy and I went to see the movie "500 Days of Summer". I loved this movie!! I'm not the type to watch a movie over and over again, but I could watch this one again soon. I just loved it.

For Game Day Saturday, I went to the Baylor watch party with Kim (also BU), Sarah (OU...boo), and Jen (UT/Colorado). Sarah was back in town as her job wanted her to come back and work a few more days, so she just stayed over the weekend. OU beat us, of course, but BU did better than I thought they would consider 1) We're BU, 2) they're OU, 3) they put Bradford back in play, and 4) we had to start our 3rd-string QB. I wish we could've seen that game with Bobby Baylor (my personal nickname for Robert Griffin) in play. After the game, us girls grabbed a bite to eat at Qdoba...one of the few places in NYC that has queso. Do you notice a trend with us? Game Day = Queso. They went to the Colorado watch party that night, but I had my date with Mario to get to :)

Bedroom!

My bedroom is just a tiny part of the "Great Room". It's strange that my "Great Room" is probably the size my bedroom was in Dallas when I moved away, but now it's my bedroom AND living room. I like to pretend that I actually do have both a bedroom AND a living room, so I set it up that way. My bedroom is the smaller of the two "rooms"...or it just has bigger furniture, so it feels smaller. I love my bedroom furniture. I can't remember if I was in junior high or high school when I acquired it from family in Texas. My sister acquired a bedroom set as well. I don't know who decided who got which, but I love mine. She tried to get me to switch a few years back, but I would never give mine up! I believe it was originally my great-grandma's...my father's father's mother. I know it was in my grandparent's home for many years before it became mine. It includes my bed, dresser & mirror, which I moved up to NYC and a secretary desk, which I had to leave in my parent's garage due to lack of space in NYC.

I got my bedding several years ago now off Ebay. It was brand new from Pottery Barn and I got it pretty cheap. I think this is the longest I've ever stuck with the same bedding!! I actually still like it! The little cream pillow w/ ruffle around it is the one I bought recently in Seattle. I love it with my mix of pillows I already had. The maroon pillow is one my aunt made from chair cushions from my grandma's dining room chairs. We all remember those chairs, so it was so creative of her to make pillows from them. She made one for all the ladies in our family.

The shelves by my bed fit perfectly there and were left behind by the girl who used to live here. I bought the baskets at BB&B as a place to store some all my lotions and nail stuff.  I think I had that lamp when I was a small child – it was pink & white. At some point, I took it from my mom, painted it black, and bought a new shade at Target.

The doors in the pic above, alongside my bed are my closet. I suppose it could have been half that size, but thank goodness it is not! This is the ONLY closet space in the entire apartment....this is very typical in New York. There is no linen closet or pantry or coat closet. Just one for all those things! My next big project to tackle is organizing it....it's a mess right now and it actually has a tall ceiling, so I'd like to add some more shelves up high. I'll try to take some before and after pics of the inside once I get around to that project.

I need to replace some of the pics on my dresser soon. And there is one empty frame that I just got from a co-worker for my birthday. I need to go through some of my summer pics and pick some out to print.

I’ll consider this next little area a “hallway”. It’s not at all a hallway. It’s really in my bedroom section of the room, but it goes more with my living room décor. So, we’ll just say it’s the hallway between the two! I got the little shelf thing at an antique store in Amarillo. The plant is new! Sarah gave it to me when she moved a couple of weeks ago. She told me that his name is Ike – I will try to take good care of him!

I consider this piece of furniture the eyesore of my bedroom. It really should be considered part of my kitchen as it holds primarily kitchen stuff, but it won’t fit there. It is a pretty big piece of furniture I got for a very cheap price at Ikea when I moved here. Due to the lack of kitchen cabinets and no pantry at this apartment and my last one, I needed something for all my kitchen stuff (which I’ll admit I have to much of for a single girl). It also holds towels and linens. I think it’s pretty ugly, but it sure is functional. I‘ll replace it someday if I ever find the right thing at the right price.

I'm thinking I'll tackle the bathroom next!!