Author: cheriarmour

Weekend happenings…

| cheriarmour

So this weekend.

I did not get as much done as I would have liked, but I got a good bit of things done one the list.

I wasn’t feeling well at all on Friday at ALL, and when  client went off on me and told me in no uncertain terms that I could go do something to myself which I’m pretty sure is illegal in this state, I took that as my cue to leave early and lie down for about 30 minutes.

I could only do 30 minutes because I had to demo my Zumba class for the woman at Rapid Fitness who was going to sign off on me being a Body Pump instructor.

Well, I showed up to the gym ready to demo the class, and I had a creepy feeling that I’d made a mistake.  YEP.  I showed up to the WRONG RAPID FITNESS.  So after pretending to cry to myself for a second, I got into the car, and pulled a speed racer all the way to the right gym, where Renee was waiting on me.

And I nailed. That. Demo.

I’m actually a pretty decent teacher because the woman who taught me was amazing, as both a teacher, and a human being, so I soaked up as much as I could from her.

I then proceeded to go to sleep until my Zumba class the following morning at the Y, and then I talked to a group of teacher hopefuls about being a teacher blah blah blah.

Saturday afternoon….

Saturday afternoon….

Where do I begin.

So, a good friend, Devin, called me and Michael over and just told us to come over. No itinerary, no agenda, no nothing.

So a few vodkas later, we crashed a crawfish boil.

And a few more later?

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So, I had a pretty good weekend, I’d say.

How was your weekend!  What’s one random thing that you did? 

Sunday Coffee Date

| cheriarmour

I didn’t blog much yesterday, and I missed you guys.  Let’s not do that again, okay?  Also, if you could follow me on Bloglovin?  That would be absolutely swell 🙂

Follow on Bloglovin
Anyhoo, I’m here at Starbucks, sipping on some tea, and Oprah is smiling at me from her perch on the bookshelves over there.  You think I’m kidding, right?

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Now I’m gonna say this.  I’m really not sure why Oprah ever decided to partner with Starbucks, like it literally makes no sense.  But I really enjoy the random inspirational quote that comes on my sleeve of tea every now and again.  And once again Oprah is touching lives.  How does she do it?

As a side note, I totally had to ask for the special Oprah sleeve because they only had the boring brown ones out, and I couldn’t foresee getting any working done without Mama Oprah’s insight.

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She be deep.

So we’re on this virtual coffee date, right?

If we were on a virtual coffee date, I would tell you the following in the course of our conversation.

//I just dropped Coco off to the groomer’s (she desperately needed it), and it was kinda sad to let a stranger, albeit a very nice stranger, take her out of my arms.  She gave me this look, like I was betraying her to leave her with strangers!  I gave her a kiss and told her that her mama loves her.

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She realllly really needed it though, things were getting ridiculous.

//IAustin’s been gone since Thursday at his younger sister’s graduation from pharmacy school, and for some reason, when that happens, since I know I won’t be seeing Austin for a few days, I take it as free license to not shower and let my house get really gross.  I’m not sure why I do that.

//I’m gonna go for  a run today for the first time in like a week.  I’ve of course been keeping up with my workouts, and they’ve varied from Zumba to Yoga to Body Pump, but for some reason, my body was really asking me for a break from running.  I’m not sure why, but I listened, and I think I’m ready to do a short distance this evening.

//I’m getting really excited about our wedding.  If you couldn’t tell that.  I think what excites me (besides the fact that I obviously get to marry Austin and hang out with him forever), is that I get to get all of my closest friends and family in the same place, and it’s for a happy occasion.

//I feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day.  I go to work, I work out, I blog, and teach classes, and finding time to do things I used to do, like paint my nails, or take an occasional bath, is not a luxury I really have any more.  But it is teaching me to be a little more efficient with my time, so every single thing doesn’t go to pot while I’m focused on certain things.  No, my house isn’t the cleanest, and I’m not the most organized, but I’m definitely making it work,

//I feel like something really big is going to happen to me this week, and I’m not sure why I feel like that, but I will let you know.

What you would tell me if we were on a coffee date with one another? 

I slept for like 15 hours last night.

| cheriarmour

I’ve been eating clean for a good week now, and my meals have been amazing.

But the thing about clean eating is that you’re eating a lot of things that come from the ground, a lot of grains and salad, and not a whole lot of prepackaged stuff.

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That’s all well and good, except I don’t think my body was ready for the fiber brick that was about to hit it.  By the time Friday rolled around at lunchtime, I wasn’t feeling well.

Friday afternoon, I was feeling even worse, and by the time I got off of work, I went to bed.

I went to bed around 4:00, again around 6:30, and then once again around 11:00 and didn’t wake up until about 10:30 on Saturday morning, just before my Zumba class.

After all that sleep, a few swigs of pepto, and a double fist full of antacid, I feel okay.  I’m not ready to slam like 8 pizzas or anything, but whewwww, next time, I need to make sure my body is prepped for the fiber party!

How’s your week been? 

I’m a Sweat Pink Ambassador!

| cheriarmour

You might have noticed a little button pop up on my blog…

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There on the left side.  So I wanted to let you guys know, that I am a Sweat Pink Ambassador!

That might mean nothing to some of you, so let me explain.

Fit Approach is a community of girls like me.  We like to sweat, we like to eat well, and best of all, as an ambassador, I love to bring what we know to wonderful people like you guys, who read.  As an ambassador, I can bring literally any question about blogging, about code, or most importantly, about sweating to these women, and someone will usually have an answer for me.  Please, if you’re a lady looking for some resources, go to Fit Approach and poke around.

I was so excited to get the email that I was part of this family, and once again, I’m so grateful for this blog and the opportunities it’s given me.  I’ve met people, had folks tell me how much they love my blog, and it feels so good.  Thank you guys for reading, and I’m SO pumped to be an ambassador of fitness for you!

Throwback…Friday? PROM!

| cheriarmour

I’m not doing a here’s what this week, because I’m not obsessed with anything that interesting this week.  Plus if I say that I’m obsessed with how good my own body looks in the mirror, you guys will judge me, and I’m not really down for that.

Moving right along!

I’m friends with a lot of my campers from CPT, and I’e seen a prom pic here and there, and those prom pics are getting me thinking about one of my favorite memories form high school, my high school PROMMMM!

Okay, so let’s start by keeping it 100.  I could not get a date for my prom.  The guy who I wanted to ask me could not take an effing hint, and didn’t ask me.  I tried to get one of his friends to take my hints….no go.  My parents asked me if they could help, but I wasn’t having that.  And eventually, I ended up going with this really nice kid from a neighboring high school.

[As a side note, I was not a complete loser, it’s just that I truly think that the boys were scared of me.]

So, there was no crazy promposal or anything, people didn’t really do that back then.  I think the inception of the “promposal” came about when Laguna Beach dedicated an entire episode to the promposal.

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Thank God for Laguna.

Okay, so my prom.  I coordinated a date, and started setting up the whole thing.  Pre-prom, there was some friend-drama involving the limos.  For the life of me, I can’t even remember what the drama was, but I think someone stopped speaking to me and then wrote me an “I’m sorry,” card in the days leading up to prom.

So we get my dress, and the day of, my date picks me up from my house, and totally impressed my parents by holding the car door open for me so I could get me and my big dress in.

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We made an extremely handsome pair, and we took some photos out by a friend’s pool.

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So, just like a wedding day, things go wrong.  The limo rolls up, and it’s one of those 80s limos with a hot tub in the back, and not enough room for everyone, so I sat on the floor of the limo while we went to Maggiano’s for dinner, where we had the best time, and then we rolled out to prom.

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Fun fact – the girl in the red is a bridesmaid in my wedding!

So after dinner, we rolled out to Founder’s Hall, which was the lobby of this banking building where my dad worked. And we proceeded to dance ALL. NIGHT. LONG.

Literally, my prom was one of the best, and most fun nights of my entire life, and to this day, it’s one of my top like, 10, nights of dancing.  I’m really hoping my wedding is #1.

So now that you heard my experience, tell me….

What was your prom like?  

Confessions

| cheriarmour

Can we just talk about the fact that Usher (one of my hall passes) wrote an entire album based on cheating on a significant other, and it was a smash?  And my parents let me buy/listen to the album on repeat in 2005, the year of my graduation?  Why was I allowed to listen to that?  But since you all are paying attention so nicely, here you go again.

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And if you think there’s no way he could have gotten better with age….

Screen Shot 2014-05-12 at 10.24.14 PMHe does the seemingly impossible.

Onto the good stuff.

I know a couple of bloggers do something called Confessions, where they confess to all the weird/funny/unknown stuff going on in their lives, so it’s my turn!  Thanks to all of you guys who inspired me to confess.

I confess…

//That I fell asleep fully clothed last night.  I was just laying down for a few minutes before I was going to at least shower and pack my lunch for today and catch up on blog stuff, and none of that stuff happened.

//I took a look at my bod today in the mirror, and I really liked what I saw.  I mean, usually I’m not like spitting at what I see, but I think this clean eating thing has done my body really well 🙂

//I typically eat really well, but I took on the challenge of eating really clean this week and prepping all my meals.  It’s made me more thoughtful about what I’m putting in my mouth.  My stomach, which I have all sorts of problems with, has been really calm this week, and my heartburn has calmed down.  I was only going for it for this week, but I’m going for it.  No sense going back to anything that comes in a package.

//I love my friends so much.  At any given time of day, I have like 2-3 group texts going on with folks I feel like are part of the inner circle.  I take my friendships really seriously.

//My house is a mess.  I fight a battle daily to keep in manageable, but I truly envy those folks who you walk in, and there are candles burning, the carpet is vacuumed, and it smells nice.  May I provide you with an example?

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This is my workspace, which also doubles as a kitchen counter.  It’s a good workspace because I can stand up at it, but it’s not really be utilized to prep foods as it should be.

//I really insane opportunity has presented itself, and I’m really happy, but really overwhelmed, and I really can’t even tell anyone about it until next week.  EEP!

Your turn!  What are you confessions?

The Vibram thing.

| cheriarmour

There’s a saying in Haiti, and it translates loosely to this. “You eat the meat, and spit out the bones.”

What it means?

Take what you want or need from every situation, and “spit out” what you don’t need. This logic should have applied in the case of Vibrams. Vibram, which is under the umbrella of New Balance (fun fact!) advertised these zero-drop minimalist shoe, and claimed, among other things, that the shoes would alleviate knee pain, blah blah blah.  I need you guys to understand that any shoe that across-the-board, promises to alleviate knee pain, is probably bs because of the sheer fact that shoes are subjective.  Everyone cannot wear every shoe.  Because every body is different.

I digress however.

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I started running in Vibrams like 3 years ago.

It was fine, until my achilles tendon on my right side started bothering me.  So I stuck to the shoes mainly for things like weightlifting, and left the long runs to shoes with more cushion.  I love cushioning, and minimalist running just wasn’t for me.  Didn’t mean it sucked.  But certainly didn’t mean it ruled either.

So back to my original point, Vibram just lost a class action lawsuit for making claims such as the one I mentioned above, with the knee thing.  Folks were getting the shoes on, running like 8 miles in them their first day, and experiencing some serious issues.  Which is obviously Vibram’s fault.  <-that was sarcasm.

So yes, perhaps claiming that Vibrams would magically cure the common cold was a stretch, but where does consumer common sense rule in making decisions about running shoes?

I cannot tell you how many time folks would walk into the store, state they had just had surgery to fix a ruptured achilles tendon, and then ask to see all minimal shoes, despite our suggestions toward something with a little more structure.

Here’s the lesson you should take from this Vibrams thing.

USE YOUR BRAIN WHEN SHOPPING FOR SHOES.  If you’ve been injured before, it’s really not the time to try some crazy shoe with zero support.  If something hurts, stop it and consider a different shoe.  And for the love of God, investigate all wacky claims for yourself.

Have a ever run “barefoot”?  What did you think?

-I did for a short time, like I said, before my achilles started bothering me, so I stopped.  After that, I ran in the Saucony Kinvara for a while, which seemed to agree with me a little bit more.  Austin actually lifts daily in his Vibrams, but he is relatively injury-free and has no problem with it, but he saves his long runs for a more traditional running shoes.

 

Wedding Wednesday: Almost 3 months away!

| cheriarmour

I say this every week, and I will continue to say this – I don’t know where the weeks are going.  I’m in love with the fact that the time is flying by, and that after the harsh winter from hell that we’re already having 90-degree days in Raleigh, but as far as wedding planning goes, this time rocketing by thing is a little scary.  Nevertheless, taking the time out to make a few lists and holding myself accountable by telling you guys about what I’ve been up to has been so helpful.

So first things first.

I had another stress dream last night, this one involving my wedding dress.

My dress has long been ordered, and it’s to die for.  It’s sexy, and still classy, and perfect for the barn bash we’re throwing in August.  But in my dream last night, it was anything but the things I just described.

When I looked in the mirror, the dress contained this like, pink piping around the shoulders.  “This isn’t what we ordered,” I said to myself, and I ripped the silky piping off, to reveal a wedding dress that looked like a golden suit of armor underneath.  Then I woke up sobbing late for work.

Stress dreams aside, things are great!  Save-the-dates are out, like I said last week, and there were only a few people who asked about theirs, one of whom gave me his address incorrectly (my sister did that too 😦 ).  We are meeting the DJ tonight, and I’ve pretty solidly nailed down the costs for him, and for the rehearsal dinner, which came in a hefty amount less than I thought it was going to be for about 20 folks!  I love saving money!

The crafting part has been really fun too.  Over the past few weeks, I have been trolling the Craiglist for mason jars + jelly jars for favors, and at first, I couldn’t find anything, and then the heavens exploded with jars.  I have a friend getting married this weekend, and she has over 50 jars.  I have so many jars that I’ve either purchased for cheap or gotten for free.  And now, it’s just a matter of painting/decorating them/filling them with pretty things.

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Alsoooooo, I finally got to see my younger sister in person, who’s also engaged too.  I’m getting married in 3 months, and she’s thinking a December wedding.

Bahhh this is so fun!

My brides, how are you hanging in there?

Well, well Solange, what have we here?

| cheriarmour

The views on my blog were kinda low yesterday, and I have an idea why.

Either, I’m a crappy blogger.

OR!

Everyone was watching the video of Solange Knowles beating the crap out of Jay-Z.

I choose to go with the latter.

Anyhoo, so for those of you who aren’t in the Beyhive, Solange is Beyoncé’s younger sister.  She’s cute, she can sing, and she’s really into fashion.  She used to be married to this guy one time for like a year.  Also, she sang the intro to the “Proud Family”.  So she’s not a total loser or anything.

So yesterday, TMZ broke this story and released elevator security video of Solange literally beating, kicking, and screaming the life out of Jay-Z, while Bey watched.

There’s no audio, so your guess is as good as mine.  But here are a few theories.

  1. Jay cheated again?  Solange was letting him have it, and that’s why Bey didn’t defend him.
  2. Solange was wasted on drugs and she lost it.

That’s all I got.  But I do have some of the best reactions tweets…

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Little tribute to RHOA.  Very aptly-timed!
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So wrong, yet so right.
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Extra points for appropriate usage of Usher.

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What did Jay say to Solange?  

-Obviously we don’t condone violence here, there should never be an instance where you’re hitting someone, but I’m interested in what the heck was said in that elevator that left a girl on her way to the Met Gala beating the love out of my man, Jay.  Give me your best guesses!