Last Weekday Off!

It was a gorgeous day to have the freedom to do what I choose. A tad humid but sunny and perfect for cruising with the windows down and the country music blasting. I needed to get out of town so I made a quick trip to Dulles, VA to have lunch with Michelle. We had some girl talk and chowed down on fantastic Pho, which is a Vietnemese noodle soup. I’d never had it before today but I’m sold. It is a very brothy soup with thin, white, addictingly textured noodles. In the soup are thinly sliced pieces of beef, which are raw when sliced in but slowly become cooked because the soup broth is so insanely hot. There is sweet basil and, crispy noodles and some kind of sweet, delicious brown sauce you squirt in the soup, eaten with chop sticks!

Then…I did something I utterly hate: shopping. You think I’m kidding. I spent a few hours yesterday at the mall and wanted to pass out after finding only one measly shirt. Since I’ve decided to shun heels at all costs, I was in dire need of some new flats so I forced myself to park and head up to DSW. I found these shiny little ladies in five minutes flat — plus a badly needed brown faux leather purse.

Of course I couldn’t pass by the Ann Taylor Loft on my way to Starbucks for an iced green tea (and tiramisu cake pop!), so I found a cute black and white skirt and two cheap t’s for everything wear. Then, I plopped down on a bench in the sunshine and started reading up on “The Six Pillars of Self Esteem.” Yeah, more on that later!

UPDATE: It’s SUMMATIME (well…almost) and it’s time for summer running gear. I postponed my run till this evening because it was darned hot today in D.C. Wore my running skirt (thanks Tiff!) and old running kicks. I seriously considered buying a new pair today but I’m trying to arrange so I don’t have to buy ANOTHER new pair before the marathons in the fall. So new shoes have to wait till May. Course I broke out the old water belt — amazing how long it took me to invest in one of these. Can’t get through five miles in the summer without it. I recently had to buy a new ipod holder because I wore my old one out –$30 bucks for that alone. Aww well, my music is muy importante when in a less than motivational mood, as was the case tonight.

I rocked it out to a playlist of this:

— Akon: Right Now
— Akon: Beautiful
— Avril Lavigne: Girlfriend
— Boys Like Girls: Love Drunk
— Carolina Liar: I’m not Over
— The Coral: Dreaming Of You
— David Nail: Red Light
— Drake Bell: Makes Me Happy
— Eddie Money: Take Me Home
— Elton John: Crocodile Rock
— Enur: Calabria Remix
— Fabolous: Throw It In the Bag

The old kicks (these babies ran 2 marathons!):

Topped it off with a 20-minute arm workout: