My summer weekend in Atlanta was followed up by a hop on a plane and a trip away for the week that brought me back to two places that I love. Two places that I love for very different reasons though.
On Monday evening I head out from work to the airport for an 8:00 p.m. flight to Phoenix, Arizona. Right after I decided to go there on vacation at the end of May I learned that I was going to be returning there for work in June, so it was sort of a funny coincidence. I was looking forward to going back to the area since I had enjoyed it so much when I was there on vacation. However, what a difference a month makes, because the heat in the area skyrocketed over the past few weeks and temps while I was there were in the 110s! I have never been anywhere with that sort of temperature!
We stayed in a beautiful hotel, that was also ridiculously cheap. Since it was work travel, I wasn't paying for it personally, but as a cheapskate, I was totally blown away seeing the $79/night price tag for a beautiful hotel!! This was the view from my little hotel room outdoor seating area.
I spent Monday evening until Wednesday evening in Phoenix for work and had a fun time with colleagues and a successful business trip. My original intention was to start over Weight Watchers on Tuesday AM since that's my weekly "reset" day. Since I knew I was "starting over" on Tuesday, I did what any logical person would do on Monday, and ate like shit. Including a package of Milky Way Minis that didn't even taste good.
And then when Tuesday came around, I did fairly well throughout the day... until we went to dinner and it was a delicious and Spanish tapas place. I just went nuts. I ate so much, including both of the churros that were served to me for dessert. They were insanely good and my quick jump to shovel that both into my face even caused my male coworkers to comment, "Uhhh Katelyn... do you want mine too?"
Good work, Katelyn.
I know I not too long ago wrote about loving myself the way that I am and I certainly am not forgetting that. It's mostly that I just feel like crap when I am eating this way and know that what I am doing is just not good for my health. I have had junk food and processed foods nonstop for the past week since I ordered that bowl of cheese dip last Friday night. Nothing is fueling my workouts and nothing is what my body needs to move forward. Cookies, beer, churros, fried food, white bread, ice cream, candy, and all this crap is just taking away from my exercise goals beyond just impacting my waist line. I am doing my best to always smile and be happy with who I am though, no matter if I am feeling my best or my worst. I am me and I am human!
I was able to get my workouts in, even though the temperatures jumped way over 100 each day, which I was proud of as well. In Phoenix, for the first time ever I ran on the treadmill thinking it was too hot outdoors. I did 3 miles on the treadmill on Tuesday AM followed by some weights, and then on Wednesday I pushed myself to run outside, which was great and actually really not too bad either. I did 4 miles on Wednesday, again followed by a short weight workout.
Wednesday evening I broke free of the heat, jumping on a red eye flight to my old stomping ground of Albany, NY! I was so excited to go back to Albany and the red eye I took was a bit silly since it barely even should be called a red eye. I had a 3.5 hour flight from Phoenix to Detroit then a 1 hour flight from Detroit to Albany - so neither is ideal for really getting a good amount of sleep!
I landed in Albany and went straight to some meetings I had scheduled, and then spent the afternoon with work colleagues enjoying the beautiful sunshine on Lake George. I am really grateful that I work with some wonderful people who I call friends as well as colleagues. I have known many of these guys and girls for years now (I've been at my company 7 years and am now an old timer!) and you may also recognize my friend Allie who I ran the San Francisco Half Marathon with this past March.
I purposefully wore a strapless dress for this outing, even though it's not something that is usually my style, in an attempt to try and even out my tan line. I think it is going to need a lot of work since I have had a "Speedo tan" every summer since I was 6 years old. When I was younger it was due to the racer back Speedo swimsuits I used to wear nonstop through the summers. And now it is due to the running tops I have and the majority of my outdoor time being in a sports bra and running top. I will have to post a pic of my tan line at some point from the back, but you can tell even from the front that I need some work.
Speaking of running, of course being in New York meant that I got to run with my old running besties!!!
I've missed my regular rhythm of morning miles with these ladies so much over the past few months. I owe so much to the two of them for getting me hooked on running with friends and the importance of being on a schedule and having someone to hold you accountable for. Plus, how fun and therapeutic it is to chat away your problems while on a sunrise run. The crew I run with in Atlanta has been wonderful, but Coach B and Aubs are the original crew (along with Dani too!)
We did 3 miles on Friday morning in Saratoga State Park and then Jess and I did 5 miles on Saturday morning in Galway, per my marathon training plan. On Friday after our run, we went to Uncommon Grounds and enjoyed bagel sandwiches and coffee. So much has happened in the past year and there is such exciting and fun stuff ahead for everyone too. It was great to laugh and catch up and run with the girls over (a delicious) (and not the best for you) breakfast.
In between the Friday and Saturday runs, I spent all my time hanging out with my good friends Heidi and Dave, who I haven't always called out by name, but have been two of my best friends over the past years. They have been there for every birthday, major event, holiday, and so many nights out. Before I moved to Atlanta, a typical weekend night for me would be hanging out with the two of them at their house, drinking wine and watching movies. That's how I spent New Year's Eve this past year and that's one of my favorite things to do. Words cannot express how much the two of their friendship has meant to me over the years. I stayed with them for a number of weeks before I moved to Atlanta and it is incredible when you have friends who just welcome you into your home as if you are a part of the family. I love these two and NOW, also am so in love with their little baby!!!!!!!
It's an incredible thing to see your friends turn in to parents. They are doing an amazing job and to see them in this new role in their lives meant so much to me. It's been one of the hardest things about moving - to not be able to be there for so many key things for my friends.
"Being there" is one thing I was always good at. If you've been reading for a while you know how much I was on the move, and that's because it has always been important to me to be there for my friends. However, with moving somewhere that is a plane ride away, I simply cannot be at things as easily as I have been able to in the past. As much as I truly am loving Atlanta, it kills me to be away.
I have missed engagement parties, wedding showers, and baby showers and smaller things - like being there to see my niece and nephew more -- or even just be able to help two of my best friends during the first few months of their baby's life. Of course, my friends laugh at me, and are far more understanding than I am to myself. Heidi recently laughed at me via Facetime when I told her, "I just really wish I could be there more to help cook dinner or do your laundry for you!!"
She said to me, "Katelyn, haha. You want to do my laundry? That's sort of creepy."
Anyways, it meant so much to me to be able to spend the day and night with Heidi and Dave and their baby, Finn. They are adjusting so beautifully to being parents and it was so nice to see these two who I have known so well and spent so much time with as their 3rd wheel over the past few years, now as parents. That little baby is so blessed!!!!
Heidi also had him dressed wearing the onesie that I gave him last fall, before anyone at all knew that Heidi was pregnant and was his first gift he'd received :) And we ate some delicious food, including one of my favorite BLTs in existence, some INSANELY good ice cream sandwiches, and an insanely delicious meal that Heidi and Dave put together and we enjoyed outside. So yay!
After my visit, I headed to the airport midday on Saturday to catch a flight back to Atlanta. I spent the evening getting caught up on life here (exciting Saturday indeed!) and am going to be heading to bed quite shortly. I had a great week. I ate delicious food. I got my exercise in. I saw dear, dear friends and I miss them so much already that it hurts inside. There is just something so wonderful about the friends who you have known for so long, grown up with, and are just so comfortable with. Every time I am with Heidi and Dave at their home, I am overwhelmed all over again with how welcoming they are to me and how much I love and feel at home with them. I am so thankful for the week and am already looking forward to when I will get to see them all again.
Happy weekend everyone!
P.S. Cannot not say a thing about this... AMAZING decision and step forward for this nation. Tears of joy and happiness all around. For so many, two men or two women being able to legally marry across the United States means nothing. Which is why it boggles my mind that people were opposed to it. But for so many others, this means EVERYTHING. I have been waiting so long for this day and am so thankful it is here sooner rather than later. Love wins.
On Monday evening I head out from work to the airport for an 8:00 p.m. flight to Phoenix, Arizona. Right after I decided to go there on vacation at the end of May I learned that I was going to be returning there for work in June, so it was sort of a funny coincidence. I was looking forward to going back to the area since I had enjoyed it so much when I was there on vacation. However, what a difference a month makes, because the heat in the area skyrocketed over the past few weeks and temps while I was there were in the 110s! I have never been anywhere with that sort of temperature!
We stayed in a beautiful hotel, that was also ridiculously cheap. Since it was work travel, I wasn't paying for it personally, but as a cheapskate, I was totally blown away seeing the $79/night price tag for a beautiful hotel!! This was the view from my little hotel room outdoor seating area.
I spent Monday evening until Wednesday evening in Phoenix for work and had a fun time with colleagues and a successful business trip. My original intention was to start over Weight Watchers on Tuesday AM since that's my weekly "reset" day. Since I knew I was "starting over" on Tuesday, I did what any logical person would do on Monday, and ate like shit. Including a package of Milky Way Minis that didn't even taste good.
And then when Tuesday came around, I did fairly well throughout the day... until we went to dinner and it was a delicious and Spanish tapas place. I just went nuts. I ate so much, including both of the churros that were served to me for dessert. They were insanely good and my quick jump to shovel that both into my face even caused my male coworkers to comment, "Uhhh Katelyn... do you want mine too?"
Good work, Katelyn.
I know I not too long ago wrote about loving myself the way that I am and I certainly am not forgetting that. It's mostly that I just feel like crap when I am eating this way and know that what I am doing is just not good for my health. I have had junk food and processed foods nonstop for the past week since I ordered that bowl of cheese dip last Friday night. Nothing is fueling my workouts and nothing is what my body needs to move forward. Cookies, beer, churros, fried food, white bread, ice cream, candy, and all this crap is just taking away from my exercise goals beyond just impacting my waist line. I am doing my best to always smile and be happy with who I am though, no matter if I am feeling my best or my worst. I am me and I am human!
I was able to get my workouts in, even though the temperatures jumped way over 100 each day, which I was proud of as well. In Phoenix, for the first time ever I ran on the treadmill thinking it was too hot outdoors. I did 3 miles on the treadmill on Tuesday AM followed by some weights, and then on Wednesday I pushed myself to run outside, which was great and actually really not too bad either. I did 4 miles on Wednesday, again followed by a short weight workout.
Wednesday evening I broke free of the heat, jumping on a red eye flight to my old stomping ground of Albany, NY! I was so excited to go back to Albany and the red eye I took was a bit silly since it barely even should be called a red eye. I had a 3.5 hour flight from Phoenix to Detroit then a 1 hour flight from Detroit to Albany - so neither is ideal for really getting a good amount of sleep!
I landed in Albany and went straight to some meetings I had scheduled, and then spent the afternoon with work colleagues enjoying the beautiful sunshine on Lake George. I am really grateful that I work with some wonderful people who I call friends as well as colleagues. I have known many of these guys and girls for years now (I've been at my company 7 years and am now an old timer!) and you may also recognize my friend Allie who I ran the San Francisco Half Marathon with this past March.
I purposefully wore a strapless dress for this outing, even though it's not something that is usually my style, in an attempt to try and even out my tan line. I think it is going to need a lot of work since I have had a "Speedo tan" every summer since I was 6 years old. When I was younger it was due to the racer back Speedo swimsuits I used to wear nonstop through the summers. And now it is due to the running tops I have and the majority of my outdoor time being in a sports bra and running top. I will have to post a pic of my tan line at some point from the back, but you can tell even from the front that I need some work.
Speaking of running, of course being in New York meant that I got to run with my old running besties!!!
I've missed my regular rhythm of morning miles with these ladies so much over the past few months. I owe so much to the two of them for getting me hooked on running with friends and the importance of being on a schedule and having someone to hold you accountable for. Plus, how fun and therapeutic it is to chat away your problems while on a sunrise run. The crew I run with in Atlanta has been wonderful, but Coach B and Aubs are the original crew (along with Dani too!)
We did 3 miles on Friday morning in Saratoga State Park and then Jess and I did 5 miles on Saturday morning in Galway, per my marathon training plan. On Friday after our run, we went to Uncommon Grounds and enjoyed bagel sandwiches and coffee. So much has happened in the past year and there is such exciting and fun stuff ahead for everyone too. It was great to laugh and catch up and run with the girls over (a delicious) (and not the best for you) breakfast.
In between the Friday and Saturday runs, I spent all my time hanging out with my good friends Heidi and Dave, who I haven't always called out by name, but have been two of my best friends over the past years. They have been there for every birthday, major event, holiday, and so many nights out. Before I moved to Atlanta, a typical weekend night for me would be hanging out with the two of them at their house, drinking wine and watching movies. That's how I spent New Year's Eve this past year and that's one of my favorite things to do. Words cannot express how much the two of their friendship has meant to me over the years. I stayed with them for a number of weeks before I moved to Atlanta and it is incredible when you have friends who just welcome you into your home as if you are a part of the family. I love these two and NOW, also am so in love with their little baby!!!!!!!
It's an incredible thing to see your friends turn in to parents. They are doing an amazing job and to see them in this new role in their lives meant so much to me. It's been one of the hardest things about moving - to not be able to be there for so many key things for my friends.
"Being there" is one thing I was always good at. If you've been reading for a while you know how much I was on the move, and that's because it has always been important to me to be there for my friends. However, with moving somewhere that is a plane ride away, I simply cannot be at things as easily as I have been able to in the past. As much as I truly am loving Atlanta, it kills me to be away.
I have missed engagement parties, wedding showers, and baby showers and smaller things - like being there to see my niece and nephew more -- or even just be able to help two of my best friends during the first few months of their baby's life. Of course, my friends laugh at me, and are far more understanding than I am to myself. Heidi recently laughed at me via Facetime when I told her, "I just really wish I could be there more to help cook dinner or do your laundry for you!!"
She said to me, "Katelyn, haha. You want to do my laundry? That's sort of creepy."
Anyways, it meant so much to me to be able to spend the day and night with Heidi and Dave and their baby, Finn. They are adjusting so beautifully to being parents and it was so nice to see these two who I have known so well and spent so much time with as their 3rd wheel over the past few years, now as parents. That little baby is so blessed!!!!
Heidi also had him dressed wearing the onesie that I gave him last fall, before anyone at all knew that Heidi was pregnant and was his first gift he'd received :) And we ate some delicious food, including one of my favorite BLTs in existence, some INSANELY good ice cream sandwiches, and an insanely delicious meal that Heidi and Dave put together and we enjoyed outside. So yay!
After my visit, I headed to the airport midday on Saturday to catch a flight back to Atlanta. I spent the evening getting caught up on life here (exciting Saturday indeed!) and am going to be heading to bed quite shortly. I had a great week. I ate delicious food. I got my exercise in. I saw dear, dear friends and I miss them so much already that it hurts inside. There is just something so wonderful about the friends who you have known for so long, grown up with, and are just so comfortable with. Every time I am with Heidi and Dave at their home, I am overwhelmed all over again with how welcoming they are to me and how much I love and feel at home with them. I am so thankful for the week and am already looking forward to when I will get to see them all again.
Happy weekend everyone!
P.S. Cannot not say a thing about this... AMAZING decision and step forward for this nation. Tears of joy and happiness all around. For so many, two men or two women being able to legally marry across the United States means nothing. Which is why it boggles my mind that people were opposed to it. But for so many others, this means EVERYTHING. I have been waiting so long for this day and am so thankful it is here sooner rather than later. Love wins.
I love this post! I definitely have a racerback tan too...I don't think there's much hope of evening it out either, but oh well!
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with what you said about watching friends turn into parents. I'm not a huge baby person (like...I don't obsess over every random baby I see) but I do really enjoy seeing and playing with my friend's kids, and it's fun and touching watching them grow. It makes me sad to know that my friends have lost other friends because they have kids...I'm totally cool with a friend bringing their toddler along for a lunch date or whatever. Parenting is hard enough because of the changes it forces in your life...and friendship is not about making your friends lives even more difficult!
Raceback tans unite!
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