Tag: chic

‘Chic and Fit 2014 – Day 4’ and ‘Girls on the Run’

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Just checkin’ in to see how all my peeps are doing?!  As you might recall, earlier this week, I proposed to engage in 30 minutes of physical activity a day.  I actually didn’t think much of it, until I got some feedback from people.  It made me think, “Hmm, am I REALLY going to be able to put in 30 minutes of physical activity a day?!!”

Well, so far so good!!  Here’s a recap:

Day 1:  Jog on Treadmill, 35:14 min:sec, 2.271 miles.

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Day 2: Elliptical Workout, Level 5, 30:53 min:sec.  I BARELY got through these 30 minutes!! I forgot my socks and headphone at home, so I worked out in silence and sockless!!

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Day 3: Another jog on the treadmill, while watching the last two episodes of Scandal.  Note to self, watching Scandal while running can be hazardous to your health.  I nearly went tachycardic!!  Shonda Rimes…please include a disclosure stating that content from your show, combined with physical activity, may cause one’s heart to react abnormally!! 😛  Treadmill workout, 45:41 min:sec (some jogging, some walking), 2.989 miles.

0508142203 So, not too bad so far!!  I have a run planned for tonight, so that will get day 4 in the books for me!  How are y’all doing with your workouts??!  Remember, you can follow along on Instagram or Twitter, as well as on Facebook here on the blog!

If you are in the Birmingham, AL, area, tomorrow, May 11th, Black Girls Run, Birmingham (the group that helped me get my running groove back after the birth of my first son) will be supporting little-er Girls on the Run tomorrow morning!  Feel free to go out, join them,  and show your support!! Or, if you have daughters, nieces, little girl friends, etc., encourage them to participate in Girls on the Run!  Getting healthy and fit should be a community-wide effort, so let’s do our part and support each other and help others get involved!!

Stay chic and fit, friends!!

A ‘Chic and Fit 2014’

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I had a relatively stressful day today.  All self-imposed, so no one to blame but me. 🙂  That said, I turned to a couple of things today that usually help me ‘de-stress’, so to speak.  Among those things, chats with friends!!  Many thanks to my amazing friends (you know who you are) who listened to me vent. 😀  The other thing I tried was…a run.  Yup, a good ‘ol run on the treadmill.

I haven’t worked out regularly in a while, mostly because I was breastfeeding my son for the past 10 months (have you ever tried running with breasts full of milk?!  PAINFUL.  Or at least it was for me!!).  But also because I didn’t HAVE to!  He’s turning 11 months this week and this past month, I’ve watched the scale climb faster that I ever knew it could!  I knew I was burning lots of calories while breastfeeding, but didn’t realize how many until I stopped (though we do have frozen stock to get us through the year, fortunately!)!

Anyhow, I forgot how good it feels to get some physical activity in my day.  The stress is not completely gone, but the endorphins appear to help me manage the stress better, I think (this, by the way is not a scientific opinion, haha!  Just my opinion. 😉 ).  So, I thought, why not engage my friends and see if we can all get a little healthier and de-stress together?!

So, I am starting ‘Chic and Fit 2014’!  The goal here is not to:

  • Get skinny
  • Try new diets
  • Workout like crazy

The goal is simply to incorporate at least 30 minutes of physical activity into my day.  If by chance I happen to lose some weight along the way, become less stressed, eat healthier, or decide that I love working out (this has never happened before, so I doubt it will happen now, but I’ll never say never, haha!), then so be it!

Want to join me?!  I will post updates here on my blog, also on Instagram, and on Twitter using hashtag #chicandfit2014.  You can post as well and use the hashtag, so we can all keep up with each other.  Sure, we may be halfway through 2014, but the year is not over yet!  So, follow along as I incorporate fitness into my attempt to stay ‘Chic in Academia’.  No gimmicks, nothing difficult, just me, a workout, and social media. 🙂

Stay Chic!

Workout Treadmill Day 1 edited

Me, my treadmill, and my phone (camera) 😉

Workout Day 1

Day 1 – A slow jog on the treadmill.

Swoozie’s Blogger’s Event!

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On Wednesday, I attended my very first ‘blogger’s only’ event!  Those of you following along as I walk along two parallel paths in life – 1) the scientist/PhD/researcher path and the 2) fashion/lifestyle blogger path – know that this is the very first event I have attended as a ‘real blogger’!!  Wait, actually, I have a third path…motherhood/wifehood (wait, those are two paths, haha!)! 😛

Anyway, it was super cool to get the ‘blogger’s only’ for ‘Birmingham’s best bloggers’ invite!  Eeeep!!  I’m among the best!  Yay!!  This, of course, coming off the heels of my attendance at Birmingham Fashion Week as a blogger/press/media!  More on that to follow in an upcoming post!  Curious?  Check out this guest blog post I wrote for Lotus Boutique!

Anyhow, so this event.  In Birmingham, we have this store…Swoozie’s.  Cute name, right?!  So, Swoozie’s is a gift and social paper retailer in the Birmingham area.  There are 7 other locations, in Georgia, the Carolinas, Florida, Colorado and Texas!  They also have an online site.  So…this event.  Sorry, haha, I get easily distracted, apparently!!  Squirrel!!  Hahaha, okay, ENOUGH!

AN-Y-way…Swoozie’s!!  I arrived at the event having only had 15 minutes to get ready, so I went with basics.  Black harem pants, a red pleated top, animal print heels (because, really, WHO can tell the difference between cheetah and leopard prints?!!), a gold fringe necklace, Stella and Dot hoop earrings, and lots of bracelets!  You’re not a real fashion blogger if you don’t wear every bracelet you own, haha! Just kidding.  No but really, I was wearing like 6 altogether.  I also wore my usual top knot.  Anyone studying biostatistics could easily use me as an example for explaining what Bayesian statistics is all about, haha! You know…because I wear my hair in a bun almost everyday!! So, this is what I ended up wearing to the event!

My Photo Grid collageI arrived at the event, and was greated with my very first SWAG bag!!  Eeeeeep!! I was so excited!!  Check out the goodies I got!!

0430142034c-1Um, okay, so I may have added a napkin from the food table that I thought was cute, as well as new notebooks that I picked up at the event with my exclusive, ‘blogger’s only’ discount (both were not originally included in the swag bag, but they make the picture look cuter, right?!). 😀

NEXT, I made a beeline for the food table.  Check out the food table!!  If you know me well, you know that I do NOT pass up an opportunity to eat, so just know that I may or may not have eaten the crab cakes that are missing from this platter…oops!!  In my defense, it WAS dinner time.  Okay, maybe it wasn’t, but I hadn’t eaten dinner!!!  JUDGE ME! Hee hee!

0430141844The event was lots of fun!!  I met a variety of bloggers there!  Fashion, food, lifestyle, etc…a fun and diverse group!

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Krista Colin and Alicia Rohan from KC Projects, LLC, as well as other new blogger friends!

The event focused on giving us tips for becoming the ‘Hostess with the Mostest’, both socially as well as digitally.  I didn’t really capture too much of the digital hostess goods (e.g. business cards, personalized stationary and other items), but here are the social hostess items I thought were cute!

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ChewBeads!! Have you heard of these?? You wear them as jewelry, your baby chews on them while toting him/her on your arm, and then you throw them in the dishwasher and voila! You have a clean necklace to wear again!

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Cute decorative pieces like this one! SO relevant in our household, since our little one has YET to sleep through the night consistently! Oh woe is me!! :((

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Kate Spade…’nuff said. 

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Voluspa Candles…my FAVORITE!!

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TONS of baby things, including this super cute baby announcement for your front door or mailbox!

Omgosh, and SOOOOO many other goodies!!  For those living in the Birmingham area, Swoozies is having an event for YOU this coming Saturday, May 3rd, from 11am-2pm!!  They are also offering an exclusive 20% discount to all attending this fun event!!  I told you what’s on my wish list, so feel free to use your discount to get me something cute! 😉

Birmingham_HousewarmingI have to tell you, this blogging ‘thing’ has been such an amazing experience thus far!  I never thought I would have a hobby I loved, but I can honestly say that this is one of the most fun-filled experiences/hobbies, I have ever had!  I *may* now understand how my hubby feels about golf.  Maybe… 😉

Keep an eye out for my upcoming post on Birmingham Fashion Week (yes, I know, SOOOO overdue!!), as well as my post on staying ‘Chic in Academia’ while pregnant or nursing (ALSO WAY OVERDUE!!)!!!  I’ve got about a 1-week window before my grant writing takes over my life again, so look for these posts in the upcoming week!  In the meantime, follow along on Instagram and Twitter for daily workplace outfit inspirations, as well as my SALE ALERTS peppered throughout!

Thanks so much for reading and…Stay Chic!!