Hello everyone! It’s a beautiful Friday and I’m looking forward to the weekend. This morning I went to the social security office to get my new last name (finally!). I have several more steps to go and have obviously been putting this off  but I guess it’s good I’m finally doing it. I will be keeping my maiden name for professional purposes in that arena but legally turning into Ericka Sylvester! Now that looks weird! I’m sure I’ll get used to it 🙂

And — in Jamaica when you get married as a single woman, you are called a “spinster.” How awesomely terrible is that?! Ha ha.

As to the photo up top — I got my arm workout on earlier today and it was much needed. I’m going to be working with Michelle to help her get back in shape after baby. And it’s a great opportunity for me to work on my stuff a little extra. Since I’m not able to crossfit right now [insert 10 million sad faces], I have to keep up at least arm strength stuff where I can.

In fun news this week, I was excited to be quoted in a CNN article on affordable weddings!

Here’s my little bit: 

I got the opportunity to be quoted through using HARO (Help a Reporter Out). It’s a great service that has the potential to really help you make your voice heard on some substantial platforms.  I won’t get into the details here but click over and check it out if you are a blogger.

Otherwise, I wanted to share some of the links I loved this week with you. I personally enjoy roundups from others because you can simply NEVER know what’s great on your own. So, without further ado, my favorites:

• Race Training: How to Build Mental Muscle
• BlogHer Pinterest Master Class
• Want to cry? Click this one. 
• 22 Things You Probably Never Knew About Mean Girls
• The Sad, Sweet Story Behind “Love You Forever.”
• They always pick me!
• The Dos & Don’ts of Pitching Journalists on Social Media
• Surviving Whole Foods
• Meet Rion Page: Beautiful Stuff from The X Factor

Hope you found some gems in there! If you have any MUST-READS for me, I’d appreciate the links in comments 🙂 Even if it’s something you wrote and you think I might like.

Tomorrow I’m crossing my fingers for a solid 20-miler on my home so wish me luck — my first 20 of the season!