off we go

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happy friday! this weekend my roommate and i are road tripping to the great state of south carolina to visit her boyfriend and friends and then back to nc for some time with our small group girls at badin lake. looking forward to getting away even though it's just for a short time. we always have a blast with these friends, and i'm expecting no less this time! 

for our drive, amy and i are both making some stellar playlists including top-notch artists such as justin bieber and wiz khalifa. (if they had a song collaboration, i would lose my mind.) since i have today off, i will be creating the world's greatest dessert bars to sustain us on the open road. allow me to introduce you to the carmelita. 

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one of my co-workers made them this week, and everyone in the office went crazy. literally crazy. people were running down the hall knocking pictures off the walls. it could have been the insane amounts of sugar and butter. i promise to devote an entire post to these babies soon. they're so good they deserve their own blog, but i really don't know how to make that successful. 

until next time, happy weekending! what are your plans?

blogger meetup!

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this post is a little late in coming, but i've been a busy bee lately. i haven't been able to gather my thoughts enough to put a decent blog post together. when i do get online in the evenings, i've been catching up on other blogs and not writing much on mine. tisk-tisk. i was scolded by my mother this weekend. i think she's the only one who checks every day to see if i have posted. so, mom, THIS ONE'S FOR YOU! 

two sundays ago i got to attend my very first blogger meetup! my friend carrie co-hosted the event with two other local blogging gals and sisters, kate and lauren. (you may recognize kate from pinterest. she is a full-time hairstylist and her hair tutorial pictures are all over! local celeb. no bigs).

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we met at benelux cafe in downtown raleigh for a night of coffee, waffles, and blog talk. 

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apparently the raleighwood area is very blog friendly. there were over 20 ladies who attended the event. some of the gals just blog for fun, some of them do it for business, some of them have few followers, some have thousands. there were ladies representing makeups blogs, fashion blogs, decorating blogs, life blogs, cooking blogs. the list goes on. 

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sometimes, when i mention that "i blog" to someone, i get the response of "huh?" or "that's nice" complete with a glazed over expression. it was great to be in a room full of fun ladies who all shared that same interest.

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i hope i can attend another bloggy get-together in the near future! until then, i will keep myself busy cyberstalking my new friends. speaking of, check out andrea's re-cap of the evening! style and wit, this girl's got it. 

words on paper

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new letterpress cards! this is how i've been spending my free time lately.

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again, a huge thanks to my wonderful roommate, amy, for the best birthday present ever. a letterpress is a girl's second best friend. right after chocolate. 

make a statement

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ever since kendi has been wearing this rock-solid necklace, i've had statement necklace envy. it's a real thing because i'm experiencing it firsthand. you can't argue with me.

unfortunately, because miss fashionista got her necklace from anthro, i doubt i will be able to afford the exact same one. or any necklace from anthro that isn't on some sort of freak 90% off sale.

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cue my sweet friend kelly. for my birthday last month, she presented me with this amazing necklace (see above! see below!) it's honestly not something i would have picked out for myself. it took me a bit to get used to it, but now it's one of my favorite pieces. i wear it alone or combined with a three strand gold chain.

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basically, i've caught the statement necklace fever, and i don't have eyes for anything else. check out these beauts i found on the interwebs.

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feeling inspired to make this myself.

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nava-who?

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the only time i would ever feel complimented if someone said "you look bejeweled" to me would be if i was wearing this necklace.

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this necklace looks like it would make a nice jangling noise. jingle-jangle.

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i would risk puncturing my jugular for this necklace.


ok. i spilled my current fashion fixation. what's yours?

straight from the heart

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13.1

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i may have repeated the lines above to myself more than once during my training for the half. i especially needed some self-pep talks on days when i knew i had to run 8, 9, 10 miles. it's pretty awesome what you find out that you can actually do when you push yourself beyond your comfort zone. as each run got longer in distance and time, i gained more and more confidence until hello 13.1 miles!  

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i had so much fun on race days with all my girls. the best part was definitely crossing the finish line and throwing that heavy medal around my neck. although, stuffing our faces with bob evans farmer's breakfast after the race was a close second. 5,000 calories never tasted so good. mmmmm. 

if you've never done a race before, do it! they are so much fun, and if you train with a friend or two, you will have built-in cheerleaders. bonus? you get bragging rights for a long, long time. 

if anyone is interested in training for a half, this is the training program i used for both of mine. it's pretty easy to move days around if your schedule conflicts with what he has laid out. 

get out there and start moving! 

april mix

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happy april! yes, i realize it's almost the middle of the month, and i'm just now posting a mix. forgive me?

this month it's all about music to get you off your butt and on your feet. inspired by my running playlist for my half marathon, i've compiled some tunes to get you up and moving. go dance, run, karate chop wood, whatever.

comeback kid : sleigh bells

a-punk : vampire weekend

robot : trip lee

invincible : ok go

sprawl II : arcade fire

all alone : boygenius

need you now : cut copy

shake it to the ground : rye rye

eyes wide open : gotye

lonely boy : the black keys (see video at the end of this post for inspiration)

crystal clear : chancellor warhol (feat. particle people)

get by : will brennan

boyfriend : justin bieber

11h30 : danger

this is the remix : girl talk

do it again : holy ghost!

big mouth : santigold (free!)

festival : sigur ros (starts slow, gets awesome. good for a cool down)

easter

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Let no one caught in sin remain
Inside the lie of inward shame
We fix our eyes upon the cross
And run to Him who showed great love

And bled for us
Freely You've bled for us

Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave

Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave

O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
The glory of God has defeated the night

Sing it, o death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
Our God is not dead, He's alive, He's alive

Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave


-matt maher