My Not-So-DC Apartment

So let's chat about my little home. Promise, the next time I blog it'll be about my vaca from like...early November...#awkward #IdowhatIwant.

sup, google. (Arlington, VA)

We moved to Arlington, which is right outside of Washington, DC (literally 5 minute drive..I'm not kidding) in July and let's just say I had no freakin idea what we were doing. I've always relied on my mom or my alma mater to figure out the whole living situation and I just kind of tagged along, because like the blog says, I'm not a grown up. Just bein honest. I lived on campus all 3.5 years: 2 in a dorm, 1 in an on campus townhouse with friends, and half a year in the sorority house. After I graduated I lived with my mom and brother, so much fun, but not. So when the time came to leave the nest before I lost my mind living with my overbearing (but lovable) mom and angsty teenage brother, the boyfriend and I looked at some apartments and just kind of said, yea this one is nice and we can afford it...we'll take it. Looking back, I'm sure we would have looked at more apartments in the area, but what can ya do. We love it for the most part and Tiger hasn't bitten anyone yet, so we're happy.

The most daunting part of finding an apartment for me was that it was basically the city, and I've grown up in the suburbs my whole life. Ya know, the whole soccer moms, minivans, people talking in the streets and waving as you drive by, 30 minutes from the nearest mall....yep that's me. So this whole fast paced living thing was a bit much. Add on rent, gas, power, and cable bills and you've got Crystal panicking/rocking back and forth in the corner with wide eyes.

Once I got past that, and we moved in, the fun part began: how do we make it ours? Naturally, I decorated, after Leon said he liked the colors black and brown as accents....YEA NOT HAPPENIN BRO. I, on the other hand like bright colors, because bright colors make people happy. Which is why I was thrilled to see our bathroom was all white!

You can't see it, but our towels are the same blue, with yellow cloths. All from Target for under 30 bucks!

To kind of match the theme, we got a kitchen mat with the same blue and other bright colors.

This is literally 3/4 of our kitchen. Tiny is not even the word.

Told ya..and we share it with the dog's bowls. ugh.

Moving on. I found that even little details make a difference in an apartment. To me, you don't have to go all out with decorating, and let's face it, you're too poor for all that anyways, so stick to the basics and make them pop. I'm super fortunate to have a mom that wanted me out as much as I wanted to leave, so she helped out and bought a lot of the essentials! She even gave us her sectional couch and bought us a table from IKEA (Note: IKEA will be a lifesaver for new apartments. Everything is cheap. And durable.)! 

Part of the couch and our table. Grumpy boyfriend included.

The picture above the table was a complete luck of the draw from the thrift store down the street! Again, use your resources, don't be afraid of the thrift stores/secondhand stores/dumpster.. no lie, we most definitely grabbed a table from next to the dumpster.

Anyways. Anywhere in the vicinity of DC is gonna be expensive. Our apartment is only 1 bed, 1 bath, but let me tell ya, we pay a pretty penny for this place. And it's not that great.. The apartments were built in the 70s so the whole windows sealing thing is not happening very well. And the dryer doesn't work for more than 1 load every 2 hours (it gets overheated...weird). I don't know, its just that we pay a lot for not so great things happenin in here. Why? Because we both work around here and Arlington is like young professional central! So much to do and see. Sure I would love to go crazy with decorating and exploring the city, but again...POOR.

Which is whyyyy, I felt like I hit the jackpot when I found out about the website Urban Compass! Basically it helps you to find apartments in NYC while giving you the scoop on what you're getting into, what the neighborhoods are like, all while telling you everything you need to know about the actual apartments you're looking at. WHY don't they have this for DC?!?! This would have been a God Send while we were apartment hunting. You can adjust listings by price, bedrooms, location, and it has pictures! I'm in love.

Of course now that I'm trying to screen shot the website to show you all how freakin amazing it is, my computer decides that it doesn't wanna do that right now. Awesome. Whatever. Go to the wesbite and browse around because I'm about to start a petition to get this loveliness down here in the nations capital.

Sorry my computer sucks and doesn't do screenshots well, but here's my face to make up for it.

-Crystal

I'm the Birthday Bitch!

I have always been a birthday person. That obnoxious person that insists on telling any and everyone that its their birthday and creates a Facebook event for whatever I end up doing? Yep, that's me. That person who sings and jumps around the bar to Taylor Swift's song, '22' when they turned 22? Riiiight here. Needless to say, folks were surprised when I said that my birthday this year would be preeetty low key.

My birthday was yesterday, in case you missed the billboard in Times Square. Jk, that didn't happen. Honestly, not much was different besides the fact that I filled it with my favorite things. I woke up and Leon gave me my gift, which was a handwritten letter that made me cry (per usual) and a $100 gift card to Old Navy! Hollaaaa!! Super cheap and amazing quality workout clothes, and their normal clothes are just as cute for the young professional! Then I went to my faaavorite kickboxing class, because I burn easily 1000 calories in that class, and ya girl was tryin to make some room for the macros that were about to not be followed during the day.

sorry not sorry. just keepin it real.

The boyfriend and I got Vietnamese after lounging around for a bit, and sweet babybee geezus it was AMAZE. We were regulars and haven't been since we moved in July and we were scared they wouldn't remember us, but no worries, free drinks as always #perks. I got rare steak pho (HOLY YUM) and boyfriend got chicken curry. Hilarity ensued. This lady who didn't speak that great of English asked me to take a picture of her. No big deal, I gotchu girl. And then she said she didn't like it and was trying to get me to understand what to do.. Whatever, I gotchu.....and then she asked me to get up OUT of my seat and take another picture. At this point I'm like wait what am I on Punk'd? I have a very animated face, so people were starting to laugh, as it is a very small restaurant and I was very amused. Apparently she didn't like my picture taking skills because she asked another girl to take her picture. Little bitch. She then proceeded to take selfies for the next 20 minutes. Mind you, she was at least 40. Do you, boo. If you're ever in the area, hit up Pho Factory in Alexandria, VA and you won't be disappointed! 

Afterwards, I got froyo because it's my weakness and I haven't had it in easily 3 months. I don't care that its freezing outside or that we were the only people in the shop. My name is Crystal and I'm addicted to froyo. Plus they had eggnog flavor AND peppermint/chocolate mixed soooo I was basically forced against my will. Went and saw my mom and low and behold, she got me a Nutribullet!!! 

I'll unpack it and show you guys when I use it/probably break it!

Almost peed my pantaloons. I think she feels guilty for buying me crap gifts as a kid so I always get bombass birthday gifts now. I'm not even saying that to be a snotball, we all laugh about it now. She would get me coats and scarves most years, ya know essentials. That's what I get for being a winter baby born 2 weeks from Christmas.

Moving on, the boyfriend and I drove up to Silver Spring, MD for dinner and a concert and had a great time! We went to La Malinche, a Mexican tapas restaurant. It. was. amazing. Bacon wrapped dates filled with cheese are my new favorite thing. So if you feel like sending me some, I'd be ok with that. The show we went to was Leon's favorite rapper, Jay Electronica, and it was pretty good! I realized yet again that I am very miniature sized compared to the rest of the world. Barely 5'4 and I couldn't see a damn thing in the standing room only venue the whole time. Sigh, to be tall.. Also, everyone I told was freaking out about us going to a show he wanted to go to on my birthday, but I really didn't see the big deal? I know its his fav, so I'd just be an asshole for saying no, plus we don't have shit else to do. We're the youngest old people in the world. We actually left the show early because it was a 40 minute drive home, Jay had already performed, and we both realized that it was 10:45. Wayyyy past our bedtime. We laughed about it, drove home, and played with Tiger for a bit to wear her out before bed. All in all, solid birthday full of good food and fun times!

Ugh, I know you guys missed her sweet face.

-Crystal

I had a moment in my car

No, I didn't poo my pants. Although that actually would've made for a hilarious post...

Anywhoooo, tomorrow (Dec. 7) is my birthday, so tonight (it's Saturday. Yes, I know that no one reads blogs on Saturdays, but I really wanted to write this down!) a good friend of mine that I've known since 8th grade took me out to dinner around where I used to live at the beginning of the year. So I was drivin down the street, listening to music on my phone and I passed my old house and it just brought so many memories back. I was listening to Overcome, by Juliette Commagere, and its kind of an emotional song about life, moving forward, looking back and it just got me alllllll in my feelings for a hot second.

Just looking around while I was driving all I could think of was that this neighborhood was where I changed my life. This place is where I started to run, SLOWLY, but running nonetheless. I lost 65 pounds running there...well, that and the gym. But you know what I mean. These sidewalks knew me before I knew me, and they experienced the changes with me. I know those sidewalks like the back of my hand. I know where the cracks rise and can trip you up... I may or may not have tripped in February and scraped my knee, but that's besides the point. I trained for my first half marathon on those sidewalks; I know just how far 3 miles is, how far 2 miles is, what time the buses come and fill the sidewalks with annoying people who don't move for runners... all that good stuff. For a moment my eyes filled with tears and it surprised me because I never understood when people got emotional about their weight loss stories. I've always been happy and proud of myself, but never to the point of tears. Mostly because I end up laughing and then I feel like a freak. But while Overcome played in the background, I finally got it. And by golly, it felt good. Back to the original story though, me and my friend went to Bonefish Grill and I had steak and crabcake, broccoli, and butternut squash, so I felt really good about my choices. Let's get a slow clap going...no? That's fine.

In lighter news, I saw my little today! For non sorority folks out yonder, in sororities, an older member takes a new member under wing in a sense, to show them the ropes and give them a sense of belonging since sorority life can be very overwhelming and its easy to get lost in the excitement of it all, especially in big chapters. Thankfully my chapter was only 50 women, but still. That's a lot of girls. So I took a little in my sophomore year, and my little joined as a freshman. We honestly didn't click at first, but by my junior year she was one of my closest friends, and is still a best friend to this day. I see her maybe once a year now that we've both graduated and today she was in the area so we met up for lunch with her sister, her sister's boyfriend, and her sister's boyfriend's brother. Lots of people, I know. Keep up bro. Anywho, meet the little one!

I just wanted to share my little moment with the interwebz. It really made me want to do more and make lasting memories where we live now, so here's to the rest of December and 2015! Go make some memories, folks! Also, pinky promise I'll talk about my Boston trip, that was like a month ago....next week!

-Crystal

Thanksgivin roadtrippin

Hellooooo

Hope you all had a super Thanksgiving and that you're all currently sitting on your couch finishing off the leftovers, because Lord knows that's exactly what I'm doing.

It was actually my first Thanksgiving away from home and I admittedly had a weeeee bit of anxiety. Still trying to figure out how I've managed to avoid Thanksgiving with my boyfriend's family for almost 5 years that we've been together. Weird. It was an interesting set up let me tell ya...I'll start from the beginning.

First of all, I worked out Wednesday morning and the gym was empty. Twas GLORIOUS. Moving on.

Every year since we went away to college, my amigas and I have had the tradition of meeting up in our hometown of Manassas, VA to go out to the bars and be all around reckless the night before Thanksgiving. So since I had plans to be out of town, I somehow convinced Leon that we should leave Thanksgiving day at 5 am. Yea. Stupid, I know. I couldn't miss it this year though!! One of my besties was back in town from London (she's been gone since March!) and my other bestie was back too! (she lives in bumfuck nowhere VA now..) So we were all nice and drunk at a townie bar, saw a million people from highschool (I was drunk so I was happy to see everyone..if I was sober..not so much probably) and had an all around good time.

There were more of us, but the other friends left earlier. Couldn't haaaang! Also we all look sober, which is good. We got some Taco Hell (college girl in me truly enjoyed it) and went to sleep. Needless to say, when Leon called me at 5 am saying he was outside and ready to go, I was most definitely still halfway drunk/halfway hungover. That 3 hour car ride was not enjoyable. Thank God Leon's parents are the most chill people on earth/I've met them a million times, otherwise I would just be that hot mess of a girlfriend who came in and went to sleep for a couple hours on the couch. Cute, Crystal.. realllll cute.

But the show must go on. Once I awakened from my slumber and chugged some gatorade, we went to Leon's aunts house for fooooood and I stuffed my facehole with all of the amazing things and then some. I didn't take pictures because 1. I hate when people do that. We all ate basically the same thing bro. 2. You don't need to see the mountains of food I ate. You might judge me.

We spent the rest of the weekend visiting his relatives and hanging out on his great aunt's farm. She has chickens, ducks, pigs, 2 dogs, 5 cats, turkeys, and some other bird that I didn't recognize.. His aunt is the sweetest woman ever, and pretty much the matriarch of the family. I've been trying since I met her to win her approval, because I know how much she means to Leon.. and I think I did it! She's so hard to read because she doesn't show her emotions unless she's laughing, which is not often I don't think haha. But apparently she collects quilts from all over (thrift stores, ones she's had made, flea markets, different countries...) and she only gives them to people she really cares for... well, guess who got a quilt?!?! THIS GIRL. I almost peed my pants and cried at the same time. 

Not the best quality, but I love it! Probably because of who it's from.

The next day we came home after going to see another one of Leon's relatives and stocking up on leftovers. After my first holiday away from home and with Leon's family, I have to say that it felt really good, ya know? Like, things are moving in the right direction. Usually I'm very quiet and softspoken around his family because I'm just not fully comfortable yet (HAHA Crystal, softspoken?! I know.), but this time I talked to everyone and Leon could actually leave me alone without me freaking out and sweating like a weirdo. Of course I missed my mom, but no worries, I'll be home for Christmas!

Now, time to work off this food. I surprisingly didn't gain much, but I didn't care much because I woke up and took my ass to the gym this morning to use that food as fuel! No time for wallowing and excess cardio over here folks. Hop to it.

-Crystal

Starting Over

I'm currently laughing hysterically, because I thought for sure by now that someone would have hacked my sorry excuse for a blog and begun selling crack or something else proposterous. I don't know, my mind goes to weird places. So, I haven't been here for liiiike a month. Nothing intense, I just realized that I was putting way too much pressure on myself to make this a thing. Let's be real. I have no desire to write 5 days a week, and I was freaking out about it. Pretty much for no reason. I seriously don't have shit to say 5 days a week. I don't even talk to my best friend 5 days a week. From here on out I'm gonna chill the fuck out and write when I feel like it. Probs 3-4 times a week. Who knows.

So what's been going on in blog world? I feel like I'm showing up late to a reunion or something right now. Seriously haven't read any of my favs since last time I blogged. Awkwardddd. I've got a lot of catching up to do.

What's been going on with me, you say? Well I haven't solved world hunger or won the Nobel Prize, so there's that. Quick review (some of these baby reviews will turn into actual posts, don't worry) shall we?

Went to Boston with my friends! Most of them have known each other since they were like 5; I joined the group in 7th grade. So it's been almost 15 years that we've been friends. One of my friends got an internship in Boston and most of us have never been, so why the hell not, right? We had so much fun!! The people up there...not so friendly. But that's a story for another day.

Did some chillin on Harvard's campus. I don't know why I expected everyone to be super nerdy buuut I did. I overheard a girl talking in a really ditzy voice saying she was going to skip her classes the next week and my mouth dropped haha. WHO SKIPS CLASS AT HARVARD?! You're a genius or something, just go. I suppose they're regular students too..Le sigh.

Hung out with my psychopath of a dog a lot. She's pretty cute an stuff.

Skinny Meg started following me on Instagram and I had a legit fangirl moment in my car. I had just left the gym and FlexItPink had featured me on their page for Transformation Tuesday, so I had some new followers. Scrollin through and I saw this and I said out loud, "whoa...wait....HOLY FUCK SKINNY MEG IS FOLLOWING ME *insert screaming* 

 kind of like this.

Started hating my job more than I thought was possible. Also a longer story for another day. Basically I'm super appreciative to have a job, buuuut I'm just unhappy. It's so true that admin are the most under appreciated department. We're moving offices soon and my boss pretty much said that in the new office he's separating me and my coworker Ashley. I'm sorry, is this 3rd grade? Do I need a babysitter? I get my work done. If you think I'm not, come to me like I'm an adult. Don't pull some baby back bullshit and "separate" us. Lame. I've got some new ideas on what I want to do in life, so again, we'll chat about that soon.

Been workin extra hard on my back. It is my most stubborn area, besides my stomach. Like seriously, backfat needs to GTFO. Also started a new workout plan from Krissy Mae Cagney's new line of workouts. She basically rewrote all of her old plans with more intense knowledge of things that make my brain hurt and my body sore. I like it. I've been bouncing around between 167 - 169 so we'll see what happens with the holidays. Best believe an Advocare Cleanse is happening in there somewhere. Also thinking of becoming a distributor, because DISCOUNTS. Obvi.

I've missed you guyssss

-Crystal

Blogger Envy & October Goals check in!

So, as we have all noticed, ya girl does not blog erry single day. I just don't think I'm terribly interesting and I'm not tryin to bore ya with my every day life. I swear, before I started this thing, friends would tell me that I was so funny and that I should blog about my weightloss and my daily life because it'd be great. But now that I'm here with my nice little layout, I'm like yeaaaaa I'm not so cool.

Insert blogger envy. Anyone I follow on bloglovin I truly like what they write. And you guys blog so often! Like every single day! But none of them are filler posts, like some blogs I've stumbled upon. I guess I just wish I had original/unique/interesting topics to write about each day. Because I truly do miss commenting/having my posts commented on, but I'd rather not write at all in place of writing some buuuuullshit. That would be a disgrace to my English degree I believe. So it'd be cool if you guys could help a sista out with ideas on how to get past boring blogger syndrome. Much appreciated.

MOVING ON.

I had some goals for October and I've done great on some, not so great on others.

Less stress, more laughter is going well. I try to make sure I laugh at least 3 times a day! That's really not too hard because my coworker Ashley is freakin hilarious. We goof off about 75% of the day, sprinkled in with some work of course.. She keeps me sane and it's like we share a brain most days.

Get to 165. I've been kickin ass and takin names this month. I started this month off at 175.4 (I really like to go up and down in my weight, obviously) and I'm down to 171.2. I was at 170.8 yesterday, but ya know Aunt Flo likes to fuck around with my emotions and have my weight all over the damn place when she comes to town. Little bitch. Honestly I don't think I'll get to 165, but I DO think 168 is totally realistic since I'm stickin to my macros and keeping my workouts on point.

No shopping till Boston. Big. Fuckin. FAIL. I was doing SO SO SO well. Leon went shopping and splurged on work clothes in Gap (my FAV) and other stores in the mall, and I didn't buy one thing. And then my favorite online boutique, Hazel & Olive, put this gorrrgeous dress online, and I had to have it. I thought about it for a day, asked if I really needed it, and then it was sold out. So I let it go. But then I found myself checking back everyday to see if it was restocked....and then today it was restocked and it magically ended up in my basket and then out of nowhere I was typing in my credit card number. Shit.

Ugh, with black tights and my new booties(another purchase that I felt I absolutely needed..), this sucker will be GORGEOUS.

The booties. Hanging my head in shame...But, but, they were on sale!!!

And theeeen Old Navy had a sale. I'm talkin 25% of $20 items. And then 40% off of one more item, that was $45. I HAD to. Cute sweater dress, puffer vest, and compression capris are on their way to meeee! I mean, at least I shopped on sale for all of these things...right? Well, besides the dress...but I digress.

Besides that big ole fail, water intake is still at 113 oz. a day. I pee A LOT. Like every 20-30 minutes. The other night I woke up at 3 am and could barely walk my bladder was so full. Note to self, do not drink after 8 pm. Running/Lifting is still going well too! I haven't done any steady state running, only HIIT sprints/hills on the treadmill. It's been hard but I'm actually enjoying it and I feel myself getting faster/not breathing like I'm gonna keel over any second.

Lastly, I've already finished 2 books. Emily Giffin's The Heart of the Matter and Laurie Halse Anderson's Wintergirls. Both suuuuper great reads. I find myself in an awkward place with reading material since I'm only 22. A part of me still loves the drama of YA novels, but another part of me enjoys the maturity of adult novels. Any and all suggestions for books are welcome! Anything but sci fi and mystery and I'm good to go.

Have I already posted this picture? I don't know. She's cute. 

-Crystal

Trader Joe's took my virginity!

Hey friends!

So this past weekend was quite busy for our little household. On Saturday we went to IKEA aka the motherland since Leon had a throwaway gift card from his job for me to spend. ummm HELL YES. So I bought some baking dishes since the one we had was destroyed by a nasty meal I made that burnt it. Woops. We were going to buy a coffee table too, but me being a considerate girlfriend, remembered that Leon likes to sit on the floor when he plays video games, so it would be in the way.

After IKEA we lounged around and napped for a while. That evening my old part time job at the dog daycare had their fall staff barbecue and my boss was sweet enough to invite me! So I went and chatted it up with my old coworkers for a bit and ate some delicious food, all within my macros of course, and had a great time. I even woke up to a weight loss! This is after eating crackers, hummus, cheese, a bratwurst, cheeseburger on potato bread, and cookies. Now you tell me which is better, "eating clean" or tracking your macronutrients. Macronutrients for the win my friends.

(IIFYM stands for If It Fits Your Macros)

Anywhoooo, Leon had to work on Sunday so I ventured off to Body Pump at my old gym, which just had a major renovation to the weight room that made me drool all over myself. TWO new squat racks, brand new flooring, its just..heavenly. I got to see some of the regulars I used to chat with and they said they missed me, which felt nice. Class felt pretty hard, probably because I haven't gone consistently since I switched gyms, so that was a big bowl of no fun.

Afterwards I went to the Farmer's Market about 20 minutes from our apartment. I freakin love that place. It's called the Mosaic District and it's got kind of yuppie/hipster feel that meshes really well. Plus there's a SweetGreen, and y'all know I love me some SweetGreen Kale Caesar Salad.

I only got a few things this time since I'm trying to save for my trip next month. In the sketchy white bags are homemade dry pasta! This is my second time getting it from this vendor, and I'm still satisfied with the taste and quality. This time I got garlic basil shells and lemon parsley trumpet shaped. I had the garlic basil yesterday...good lord it was amazing. And yes, those are yellow string beans. I'm slightly nervous to eat them, but the guy assured me that they taste like green ones, just a little sweeter. We shall see. Aaaand more organic tomato sauce and vodka sauce right off the farm. I know you can make it yourself, buuuut no thanks I'm lazy. All the ingredients are things I've actually heard of and the flavor is just incredible. Plus honeycrisp apples, because I LIVE for honeycrisp season.

After that little trip, I went to Trader Joe's for the very first time. I was raised in the suburbs of Washington DC, in a city called Manassas, Manass-hole to locals. Sooo no Trader Joe's. I'm the kind of person who needs time to really explore all of the shelves and aisles, so it took me some time to find a solid block of time to explore TJs, hence why we've lived here since July and I'm just now going. It was like stepping into another world of wonderfulness. And, to my surprise, you don't even need much time because the store is TINY compared to the grocery store I usually go to. I asked the check out clerk about the chain and she told that they believe in value and quality over quantity, which is why there aren't a lot of brands and it's a small store. They don't have every single thing you need, but they do have a LOT of specialty things that you can't find anywhere else. Can we say Fontina, Spinach, Garlic Chicken Sausage? Holy delicious. Plus it's suuuuper cheap compared to most grocery stores. I'm talkin $3 cheaper than average. On a regular restock trip I'll spend around $80. I only spent $42. And I got everything I needed.

Ignore my dirty fork. I was cooking, ok?

Organic pumpkin, sesame bagels that were lower in carbs than my usual bagels, Speculous cookie mocha swirl nut butter that I've heard so much about, and this garlic sauce that has been freakin delicious on just about everything. Pasta, vegetables, everything. I know I bought more obviously, but these were the most important. Only frustrating thing was that because Trader Joe's specializes in seasonal flavors, all of their delicious pumpkin things were basically gone and ya girl was not happy about it. I was about to tackle someone if I saw the last pack of pumpkin waffles in their cart. So serious. Same goes for pumpkin bagels. I will hurt a bitch. 

You have been warned, Trader Joe's customers of Northern Virginia.

Happy Mondayyyy! (Also, I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who actually had to work today. LAME.)

-Crystal

Dance Fitness & October Challenge w/ SkinnyMeg!

Hellooooo

So I've gotten back into lifting since the half marathon. I truly do love running, and it'll always be a great form of relaxation to me, but girrrrrrl I love the feeling of being strong. I love seeing my muscles flex in the mirror while the boys look on like, "this hussy can't possibly shoulder press those 35s.." OH BUT I CAN. I love it all. So I'm feelin pretty sore today since I haven't done much lifting in the past month or so.

I really wanted to rest today, but then I weighed in yesterday for the October Challenge with SkinnyMeg and apparently I was the biggest loser percentage wise for my team!! So duh, I wanna keep this momentum going, so I picked a low impact class at my gym. It said Zumba on the listing, and I've done that before so I thought why the hell not. That was a lie. It was not Zumba. It was "dance fitness".

HOLY BABY JEEBUS IT WAS AMAZING.

It was a mix of loud, Hispanic, full of bass music and we did lots of booty shakin, jumping, footwork, arm swinging aaaand sweating. It was the greatest rush and I will definitely be back. At first it was kind of hard because it's set routines that everyone knows and ya girl was fumbling for a bit. But I've danced my whole life, up until I graduated highschool, so I'm reasonably good at picking up choreography. The funniest part about it was that the instructor walked in, and she's this TINY little white lady, around 35-40 years old and she just didn't look like the hip-hop/latin dance type. I dont know, I just expected some loud, curvy woman. Do not ever judge a book by its cover. I've never seen ANYONE, white or black, move like she does. I didn't know butts could move like that. I also didn't know feet could move like that. I just feel like I want to be her best friend now.

So back, to the October Challenge w/ SkinnyMeg. It is so great. It's like a smaller version of the Summer #SMChallenge. It's only around 150 people instead of the 1500, so you can see the familiar faces and whatnot. We're all split up in teams, and there's different goals each week . First week was water intake and tracking food, this week is HIIT workouts and protein intake! I'm not really learning anything new, but it does feel really good to feel like someone might call me out for slackin on tracking food or not losing any weight.

Also I have no pictures because I'm a shitty blogger. Workin on it...

-Crystal

Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half - Recap!

Thank the sweet 6 pounds 4 ounces baby Jesus in the manger that half marathon is OVER! I mean yea, I love running, but uhhh yea, half marathon training is no walk in the park. I've been training since freakin July.

Ya girl is tired.

A little recap shall we? Ok great.

I woke up at the buttcrack of dawn. Literally. 4:30 AM my Ellie Goulding alarm went off because its the only one (besides my Sara Bareilles alarm) that I can stand without wanting to stab someone. But I digress. I go "try" to try and avoid tummy troubles later if you catch my drift, but obviously my body was like "bitch, it's 4:30 am, the only thing we need to do right now is sleep." So I ate my half bagel, got dressed, and dragged Leon out the door with me at 5:20. Took my happy ass to the shuttle bus, and of course we got lost on the way, but whatever. There was some hussy on the shuttle laughing hysterically with her friends about whatever the hell could possibly be funny at 5:45 in the morning and she was getting some dirty looks. I'm all for being a morning person, but really, its before 6 am. Chill homie.

We got to the start line at o'dark thirty and it is FREEZING out. My phone said it was 45 degrees and felt like 36, so naturally everyone was in a super mood. More like everyone is huddling around for body heat while the folks who came alone...ME... are standing alone and cursing the heavens for not running with a friend. When it got close to start time I did some jumping jacks, high knees, and generally just bounced around like a dumbass trying to get warm. Got in my little pace area (I chose the 10-11 minute one), and BOOM HERE WE GOOOOO.

I knew at some point my body would give me a big ole "fuck you" and I'd have to go numba 2, so I figured I need to start out fast in case I need to slow down later for tummy troubles. My first 3 miles were all around 9:30 which was quite surprising. Granted the first mile is all downhill, but still, I take what I can get mmkay? Around mile 4 the cramps set in and I'm cursing under my breath about how I just wanted one good freakin race, like seriously? I got up early to make sure I could go, and NOW I have to go!? Nope. Not stopping. I'll hold it. And so I held it.

It was a beauuutiful course. Sorry, I was really trying for a PR so stopping for pictures was not happening. But we pretty much ran the length of the GW Parkway in Northern VA, along the Potomac River. And because it was so cold, fog was coming off the water as the sun rose and it was just amazing.

Found this online. Gorgeous right?! Seriously. One of the best courses I think. It had rolling hills, but you could barely notice them because of the major downhills every couple miles. There was a sufficient amount of water stops as well. It seemed like every other mile honestly. And gatorade at every water stop! I had my handheld so I didn't stop, but if I didn't, best believe I'd be all over that. The only thing I heard people complain about was the lack of porta pottys at the start. There was around 10-15 I think, and there were around 5000 runners. Yea, bad.

After accepting my tummy troubles, the miles kind of went by quickly until mile 9. Apparently the major change this year was extending the race a mile into Old Town Alexandria so that we didn't have to run on gravel. It seemed like the mile into town was never freakin ending and I was getting frustrated. At that point my stupid shot bloks were hard from the cold and ineffective, so I was just ready to be done. Then came the bridge. I had practiced running it before, but when I did I was only at mile 7 or 8 of my run. For the actual race, the bridge is at mile 11. Big difference. That's the bridge from the Parkway view. We ran on the pedestrian pathway that runs on the side of the bridge so they didn't have to shut it down. There was a pretty obnoxious hill at the end of the bridge that you have to run up to actually cross over the bridge, so that was SUPER at mile 12. 

Like so.

After that we finished the last mile along a paved/gravel path to the finish. My mom, brother, and boyfriend were all there and it made my whole day to see them. Pretty sure my mom was crying. She's never seen me run before so I'm sure it was a proud mama moment. I finished that sucker in 2:35:04 and I was happy as hell. I wanted to finished in 2:30 or better, but considering the tummy troubles, my right headphone not staying in my ear at all, and my bib ripping on both top holes (took some walking/fixing/pinning), I'd say 2:35 is damn good. 

My brother looks is 6 years younger than me and 6 feet taller than me, so that's great. Sorry you got cut out homie. My mom is precious. And clearly I have a gatorade addiction. Went home and napped with my dog and my man, and then Leon wanted to go shopping so I got my happy ass up. Didn't buy anything by the way, because I'm trying to save for my trip to Boston, more on that later. I ate Chipotle and it was delicious and I had froyo later on. I do what I want. Woke up a pound heavier and I said "I don't give a fuuuuuck because I ran 13 miles yesterday. *insert middle finger and dancing*"

And then I put on my sexy new boots and went to work. 

-Crystal

Macros Schmacros

Heyy friendssss

So yea I was gone last week, besides my mandatory FALL IS HEEEERRREEEE post, because priorities.

Buuuut mostly because I fell off the cliff. Yea, not the wagon this time; a whole mother effing cliff. I felt like a big ole hyprocrite talking about my workouts and food and blah blah blah when in real life I was eating any and everything in sight, and not working out. It is a vicious cycle that no one should have to witness. Let's just say when I throw down, I throw DOWN. Hence why I used to be 234 pounds.

True life: that XXL Christmas sweater for the ugly Christmas sweater party aaaactually fit. Akward.

Anywho, it all started when I finally got out of the freakin 170s. That didn't last long, because the next weekend I took my happy ass to VA Beach for some sorority sister bonding, read: eat Mexican and Sushi and Cookout and drink alcohol and give no fucks. Ugh, such is life. Came home and tried to get my shit together aaaand that didn't happen because Leon wanted to go back to VA Beach for a friend's baby's birthday. So yet again, more eating delicious food that isn't in Northern VA. That was my excuse for eating a heavenly 1/4 pound burger with cheddar cheese and mushrooms w/ french fries. Judge me. I'm judging myself. Got home, and literally said, "yeaaaaa I'm not feelin the whole working out thing.." 

So I didn't work out that day. Or the next day. Or the day after. This lasted for 2 weeks. That is the longest I hadn't worked out since I've started this lovely little journey. Mind you, I was eating according to my macro plan for breakfast and lunch, but come dinner, all counting went out the window. Want pizza for dinner? Suuuure. Mediterranean Kabobs tomorrow? Suuuuuure. I'm thinkin Chinese tonight? Sounds gooooood.

 I had obviously lost my mind.

One day Leon became a little concerned with my eating habits that were obviously pointing towards becoming not so great, and asked if I was ok, while staring at the 2 pieces of pizza on my plate. Aaaand then I snapped, because obviously when you eat bullshit consistently after eating healthy consistently, your mind/body isn't alllll there. I was embarrassed. I was ashamed that I had fallen back so hard. Of course pizza is fine in moderation, but ya girl was working on piece 3 and 4, plus the wings I had just downed. I should have been glad that he was concerned and loved me enough to say something, but of course I took it as an insult and flipped shit. Sheesh Crystal, calm down and eat some broccoli. After telling him to not judge my food, whether it be pizza or salad, I calmed the fuck down and realized that I needed to get it together.

Needless to say, the next day I ate according to my macros and got my happy ass outside for a run. It really is that easy to slip back into old habits, and honestly it was a little scary. I most definitely cannot go back to the overweight, self conscious girl who broke out in a sweat from trying on clothes, but I've realized that it no one will hate me if I share my highs AND lows. Honestly, I hate reading about people who never struggled and never had an off week (or two..oops), because it's like shit girl, why is your life so perfect? Tell me the truth and tell me your struggles! I don't mean that in a "I hate you because I can't be you" way, but in a "I can't connect with you" kinda way. Whatever. I'm back on track, and doing the "October Challenge with SkinnyMeg" to get into the 160s and STAY there. No celebration for hitting 169 this time. Need to keep chuggin along.

Dec. 2012 and Sep. 2014

I'll get there! Hopefully sooner rather than later..

-Crystal

Race Recap! I'm alive!

Helloooooooo out there! I do realize that I haven't said anything since last week, more on that tomorrow. I was in a bit of a slump, if you will. But yes, back to this past weekend. I hung out with my mom all day Saturday so that was glorious of course. I live 20 minutes away from her now that I've moved out, but it's still so hard to see her during the week because I'm so busy. She's also really busy, which is very odd to me. She turned 49 this year and she goes out more than I do! She literally asked me if my brother could spend the night one Friday because she wanted to go out drinking with her coworkers. Mind you, her coworkers are all my age. WHAT.

I woke up and ran 3 miles, since I was running 10 the next day. It was an average run, nothing special. Then I watched Tiger play with her gigantic bone for a while, because it was actually pretty hilarious. The bone is literally as long as she is. We had to get her a giant one because she goes through the little ones SO fast.

But I digress. This weekend mama bear and I had planned to go to Old Town Alexandria; totes cutesy little shops, cafes, and restaurants, but it really turned into run errands with mom and go see Grandma. This is also totally fine in my book! When I was little we would go see my Grandma, along with the rest of my family, every single Saturday and it was the greatest. I have 13 aunts and uncles on my mom's side, and an absurd amount of cousins, so it was always entertaining. So this past Saturday was like old times and I really like spending time with feisty grandma, especially now that she's getting older.

After leaving Grandma's we went to Mike's American Grill for lunch and I swear they have the greatest food in the world. I'm a bad blogger so I have no pictures. What else is new. Whenever I go there I get the Jambalaya Pasta and eat all of the sweet bread in the little baskets because it's freakin delicious. But Crystal who didn't wanna shit herself on the race course the next day new and improved Crystal ordered sauteed chicken with red peppers and angel hair pasta with brown butter sauce AND only had 2 pieces of bread. BOOM BITCHES. I probably shouldn't have tried something new before race day, but it was pretty light and it fit my macros, soooo it happened. Mama Bear dropped me off at my car and we went our ways and I went home to get some rest.

RACE DAYYYY

I did the Perfect Ten - 10k/10 Mile Race in Reston, VA (about 30-40 minutes west of DC) on Sunday. I could've sworn it was a flat course. This was a lie.

I went alone for this one since my beloved boyfriend is waking up at 5:00 am next weekend to drop me off for my half, so I awkwardly hung out in my car till about 20 minutes prior to start.

I hung around and some little old lady came up to me and we were chattin it up and THEN she says, I live in this neighborhood, these hills sure won't be fun. WHOOAAAAA WAIT WAIT WAIT. HILLS!?!? Fuckin shit man. So the race starts and I get in the 10-11 minute pace area. Everyone started together, so it was pretty crowded, but it thinned out quickly. We literally made it about .30 miles before the first hill. I still had a lot of energy at that point so I took it like a champ, but goodness those hills just kept coming back to back. I kept a steady pace for the first 5 miles or so, but after the hills, plus the sun in my freakin eyeballs, plus picking a grossly sweet flavor of shot bloks (strawberry), I was just ready to get the shit over with. It didn't help that the 10 mile people had to watch the 10k people veer off to the finish line. Cue depression and longing glances. Once all the 10k folks were gone there was basically no one on the course. AWESOME. I swear all the 10 milers were like elite runners because I saw like 20 people, tops. The little old lady from before caught up to me and THEN she passed me. Sheesh, way to make me look bad Margaret. Towards the end it weaved through a parking lot of a highschool and it was pissing me off. I was literally dodging spectators and yelling "Excuse me! Still running here! Excuse me!" and it was getting frustrating. That's really my only complaint. There was also a hilarious lady cheering people on at the end, and she saw my shirt and yelled, "HASHTAG STRONG! HASHTAG BAD ASS! YOU GOT THIS GIRL!" I loved her. I sprinted to the end when I could see the finish line and it was the devil. Official time offffff 1:59:40 hahah I'll take it. 8 minutes slower than my fastest 10 mile time, and I'm totally blaming the hills for that shit. But I got a medal, and that's all that matters my friends.

Afterwards I hung around to hear the awards and eat all of the bananas and drink all of the Gatorade. Pretty sure the volunteers gave me dirty looks for taking 2 of everything, buttttt ask me how many fucks I gave? Because I just ran 10 miles, so hop off teenager with braces. Anywho, the fastest woman finished in 1:05 and the fastest man in 1:01. That's freakishly fast. Why are people so weird? Ugh. I'm just bitter and jealous, don't mind me.

When I got home I took a long ass nap that was glorious, and then Leon and I went to IHOP for our post race tradition. I got an egg white omelette and pumpkin pancakes, because fall. duh. It was delicious and awkward because our waitress told us all about her Saturday night while the couple next to us argued about car insurance. I came home and napped some more, and here we are. Monday. Such is life. The only good thing that happened was that these beauties came in the mail. Almost tackled the UPS man when he came in my office.

Aren't they just freakin sexy? Yes, yes they are. I got them from UrbanOG.com at the recommendation of my blogging fav, Laura at Life with Lolo !!! She's the greatest, so if you're not reading her shenanigans, I'm not really sure what you're still doing..I'm about to go full fall, leggings, chambray shirts, and infinity scarves all over this bitch. Get ready my friends.

Chit Chattin about my latest not-blogging-for-a-week thing tomorrow. Hope you kids had a super weekend!

-Crystal

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Yearrrr

I'm like a kid on Christmas right now. It's the first day of my favorite season ever - FALL!!!! Yessssss.

I'm more than ready for the season. Pumpkin all erry day erry thang. Last night I ordered my cognac color riding boots from UrbanOG at the suggestion of the fabulous Laura at Life With Lolo, because what is fall without boots? Not fall, that's what. 

Leon and I were out of town for the weekend for a friend's baby's birthday (yea we're getting old) and when we got on the road to Va Beach we stopped at Wawa to get breakfast and gas, and guess what I had....a pumpkin muffin. And it was AMAZING. If you don't live on the east cost you have no idea what Wawa is, and that is a sad thing. Then before we left the beach we went to Ihop, and guess what I had? That's right, pumpkin pancakes. And they were delicious and I slept like a baby while Leon drove home.

I didn't have time to go grocery shopping after we got home, because it was around 8:30 pm, so I stopped by the store this morning on my way to work to grab a salad, some fruit, and yogurt, and gueeeeess what I found in the dairy aisle? PUMPKIN FLAVORED CHOBANI. Yes. Yes, I did. I debated grabbing 5, but I didn't wanna get too crazy incase I didn't like it... Silly right? Because of course it was freaking delicious. I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow after my run, and you best believe I am stalking up since it's a limited edition flavor.

Last fall thing that happened in the past week: leggings bitchessss. I'm not gonna lie, I've always loved wearing leggings, even when I was, ahem, not fit and definitely self conscious. But whatever. Lord knows I wore them anyways. Now that I feel more comfortable in leggings, I'm all about leggings as pants. So I ordered some fleece lined black leggings for fall/winter from Hazel & Olive Boutique and I'm so freakin excited. All of their leggings sell out in minutes, especially black and navy, but I guess I got them right after a restock! I have quite a few pieces from this shop and I wouldn't definitely recommend it. Yea, it is a little pricey, but they have free shippping! And ya girl only shops clearance with a discount code, if available, soooo yea. I rarely buy full price. That's silly. 

I'm still on the hunt for some slouchy cable cord sweaters and infinity scarves. I LOVE fall. 

Just call me Pumpkin Spice.

-Crystal

Crafts and Dumpster Diving

Sup suckaaaassss!

Today is Monday and I'm just like ughhhh kill me now. This past weekend was reckless/amazing and I wish I had more time to lay in my bed. Let's do a little recap, shall we?

1. Friday night le boyfriend and I went to my baby brudder's football game with my mom. My brother is actually turning 17 next month so he's not a baby but whatever. He doesn't get much playing time since he hasn't played in like 3 years, but it keeps him busy and out of trouble sooo win win. It was still a lot of fun to watch a highschool game, mostly because I was people watching/creeping/being weirded out by the high school social scene. Kids in high school are so freakin weird. Everyone is trying so hard to fit in and its almost painful to watch them interact with each other. Plus I cannot even comprehend the clothes they wear. I saw a LOT of spandex shorts on people who were just spectating and even a bikini top? Just regular students. WHAT. I cannot deal. Thank goodness it wasn't like this when I was in highschool.

2. Last week I hinted around about wanting this gorrrgeous watch with my sorority letters on it, thinking nothing of it. 10 minutes later I had a confirmation email in my inbox, showing that my boyfriend had bought it without saying a word. SWOON. It came in on Friday after work, so naturally I squealed like a freak and didn't take it off till I went to bed. Need to master the art of stacking them now..

Isn't she precious?

3. Saturday morning I fully intended on waking up early and going for a long run. Really, I did. But then I realized that it was my first Saturday not working a part time job and I just wanted to freakin enjoy sleeping in. It. Was. Glorious. I felt so well rested and I got my morning snuggles from Tiger while Leon was still passed out.

Best cuddler ever.

4. After I got up, like ten years later, I got all Pinteresty and decided that I wanted to work on a project. So. I picked a gallery wall. Ya know, like this. 

So I took my happy ass to the Goodwill down the street to get some frames. I already have a few brown frames and one teal fram from college, plus a mustard/cream chevron canvas from Target, so I'm gonna stick with chocolatey brown/teal/mustard/gold/grey themes. I'm super excited for it to come together. This is what I have so far. Gonna need to spray paint/paint over some of those!

5. After coming down from my pinterest high I was feeling even more crafty, so when I noticed a table/chest out behind our apartment next to the dumpster, I made Leon drag that sucker inside. Ohhhh yes. Come to mama. Those square details aren't around the whole thing, just on the doors. Weird though, only one door opens. The other one doesn't have hinges, so I guess it's not supposed to open. Dumb. I think it'll be used to put Leon's record player on, once we get one (he keeps harassing me about it, so it'll be soon) and I'm pretty pumped to paint it another color and see what we can do with it. 

I also decided that I need to make my own necklace holder since I can't find one that I like in stores. Mind you I can't even find a freakin stud in the wall, but I somehow think I can work a drill. Not. Will the nice folks at home depot drill some holes in wood for me? Is that a thing? Or do I need to buy one....? I'm just tryin to make cute shit ok?! I'm thinkin one of these beauties.

#sendhelp I have no idea what I'm doing.

Hope you guys had good weekends filled with animal snuggles and dumpster diving!

-Crystal

Sports Bra Struggles

This is a sponsored blog post. Influenster provided me with complimentary Victoria's Secret products to test and review as part of a contest. 

Now that thaaat part is out of the way, let's get to the good stuff. So have you guys heard of Influenster? If not, you should go sign your happy ass up right this second. I've been apart of the Influenster community for about 2 years now, and it is hands down the easiest way to review products/try out new products to see if you want to buy them in the future all for free! It can be kind of confusing at first trying to figure out what you're supposed to do to get points, but after some time it becomes a great way to pass the time. Go to Influenster.com if you're interested in joining the site!

But I digress. Yesterday I received the Victoria's Secret Sport Box and to say I was excited was an understatement. I may or may not have stalked/harassed the mailman AND called the local post office..twice.. to make sure they hadn't lost it. I do not mess around with VS. 

It's like Christmas up in the bitch. And then the heavens opened up..

I got a sports bra AND pants!! I saw a lot of people who got this box got a bra and a water bottle, so I definitely lucked out! I tried both of them on immediately and they were so freaking comfortable. I've heard people say in the past that VS is more for show, not for comfort and not for realistic use. That is so far from the truth. This isn't my first VS sports apparel either. I've purchased a workout tank from them before and the quality is great, so no worries, not biased or anything just because I received it fo free. 

Of course the bra, which is the "Incredible Bra" is cute, but it was also created for larger chested women in mind. It has molded cups, keeps the girls high without over the top push up, is fitted without smothering, and is still functional! What more could I ask for? And the workout tights are perrrfect for upcoming chillier workouts. It's still a little hot to give them a try outside, but I did a quick HIIT workout in them in my room, and I can tell I will love them for runs and for bootcamps. They survived burpees, squats, jumping jacks, and mountain climbers, all with no sliding down, no chafing, and no awkward swishing noises when they rub together. No noise is important to me, ok?!

Now, onto the bra review. I'm in love. Go buy one. Right now, preferably. 

Post 5 mile run and this bra is still lookin hella cute on ya girl.

I decided to go for a run to test it out because that's when my boobs are all over the place. I'm a 36D, formally a 42DDD, sooo yea I need a lot of support. I've said it before, but after losing 60+ pounds, I have pretty much no boobs and a whole lotta skin. Yea I can still fill out a 36D bra so I shouldn't complain, but that's because my boobs used to be freakin gigantic and skin doesn't just disappear. I'm rambling again, sorry friends. Anyways, I really love this bra because it doesn't just suffocate your boobs like you're wearing duct tape. This bra still recognizes the shape of a woman's body and doesn't just want to tie everything down. The Incredible Bra ties everything down and then gives you some oomph to still feel freakin sexy while you're working out. I know that's not important to everyone, and that's A-OK in my book, I just like that VS gives you a 2 for 1 instead of saying, "look bitch, either sexy or sweaty. ya can't get both."

Another note is that I had come to the conclusion that men were always gonna stare at my boobs when I ran because they obviously move around a bit. There's a lot of male runners in my area, but I do have to say that the girls definitely didn't move as much. Also my chest didn't hurt at all today. Usually, I can feel a slight pull in my chest from the bouncing and it is most definitely not comfy, but I thought that was just the cards I was dealt. No! The Incredible Bra has underwire along with the molded cups, so no more slinging your boobs around like  peaches in a grocery bag. They will stay put! Effortlessly! 

No more flat smushed boobies!

Lastly, because this bra has underwire, and keeps the girls sitting up high, this bra can be worn as a regular bra for racer back tank tops! I'm all about some versatility, read: I'm too poor to buy more bras, so every bra needs more than one purpose. Because it's not too tight and suffocating like other sports bras can be, it could most definitely be worn on any occasion without giving you uni-boob or making it look like you're wearing duct tape under your shirt. I mean, more power to ya if thats the look you wanna rock with your racer backs, but I've worked hard for these ta-tas to chill out and shrink, so I'm makin them sit high and pretty whenever I can, and if a sports bra can do the job, uhhh YES PLEASE.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I thought sports bra were just a one size fit all kinda thing and that I was stuck with bras that tied everything down and sent you on your way. After trying out the Incredible Bra by Victoria's Secret, I definitely am breaking up with my old bras. It seems like VS put the time and effort into the technology and design behind each different sports bra to make sure that it fit each customer/body shape/bust size, and ya girl appreciates the heck out of that.

Also I received a small handful of VS Sport coupons for 25% off! They expire on Sept. 21, but if you think it would make it to you in time through snail mail, I wouldn't mind sending a few out! Email me your mailing address if ya want! Cljones.773 (at) gmail (dot) com.

-Crystal