Author: cheriarmour

Diamonds Direct – “March” of the Brides.

| cheriarmour

I think I told you guys last weekend that I’d have to stop with these epic posts, detailing how awesome my weekend was, but I really, really can’t help it.  I have had a really beautiful set of weekends, and a beautiful new camera to photograph them on, so how can I not share them with you?

So, I’m not sure I told you guys but we got my beautiful engagement ring done by a beautiful local jeweler, when I could not find exactly what it was that I wanted at a lot of local stores, so in a large sense, I completely overlooked Diamonds Direct Crabtree.  But, I went ahead and signed up for their “March” of the Brides event on Saturday, and was picked for what ended up being a total fun, hysterical blast, and ended up being a really good way to network with other girls who were going through a lot of what I was going through.

“March” of the Brides

So after a ton of us brides in the area entered, 25 of us were selected to compete in the “March” of the Brides, which ended up being like a giant field day full of bridal themed activity with the potential of winning tons of free stuff for the big day!  Here are some of the amazing things we did that day!

DSC_0064We were greeted by breakfast, that was fully catered.  I didn’t go for anything much more than the fruit and water because my tummy was a little nervous about what we were about to do.  But not to worry, everyone was really, really super nice, and I really had nothing to worry about.

DSC_0065Funny enough, I ran into two friends (who are also getting married) there who had also gotten into the competition.  Laura, on the left, attended Elon University with me, and Kim, on the right is super fit, and teaches classes at the Y with me, and is a frequent shopper at Fleet Feet Raleigh.  Her husband is so so sweet, he carried my bags at one point when Austin was running around and taking photos for me.

DSC_0075Don’t we look positively bridely here?  That’s not a word, but I made it up.  The first even I did?  We had to fill up these champagne flutes and carry them across a finish line, kind of like a relay.  Everything was going really really well for me, until I dropped every single flute on top of myself.  Oh well!

DSC_0082Covered in water after my spill!

DSC_0089The second contest involved me dressing a mannequin fully in a tux and carrying him across the finish line.  I actually won this challenge.  And check out how good my little tush looks out in my Nike tights!

DSC_0095This one (and I absolutely adore this picture) involved us circling the differences between the two photos.  Heads up for the brides that get into the competition next year.  This one is probably the hardest one there is because our awesome photographer that organized this event is a whiz with photoshop and made the most subtle differences.  She was really sweet though!

DSC_0104The ring toss was cool, and the aim was to toss the rings into squares that would earn you the most points.  I did okay at this one, but the girl who went first beasted this event.  There’s gotta be a strategy to this…

DSC_0110Erica from a local morning show gave me a little time on the mic.

DSC_0114So I was laughing hysterically in this shot because the sweet bride from JMU threw her bouquet into the wind and it went the wrong way.  I laughed at that for literally 5 minutes.  I rocked this one, as did my friend from JMU.  I also found out that Peonies are $15/stem during their off season, so I’m gonna go ahead and let you know that we’re not going to have a single Peony at my wedding.

There was a cupcake eating contest.

DSC_0129 DSC_0130 DSC_0131 DSC_0132I approached this saying that I would not eat a cupcake because eating contests are gross and I ha to teach a Zumba class after, but my competitive spirit got the best of me and in 30 seconds, I successfully consumed 5 mini-cupcakes from the Cupcake Shoppe on Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh.  They actually were really good, and I taught my class and ran yesterday without throwing up, so I’d consider that a win.

The verdict? 

There is nothing bad I can say about “March” of the Brides.  Diamonds Direct treated ups like VIPs, and the event was well-organized, and for those of use who weren’t familiar with certain vendors, it was a really nice treat to get familiar with photography services, flower shops, and food vendors around the area.  Plus the brides were really really nice to talk to and vent our wedding frustrations to.  Sign up next year, brides-to-be!

Virtual Coffee Date

| cheriarmour

photo 1I think I stole this idea from Skinny Runner, but we’re on a coffee date right now, on this beautiful Sunday morning, so let’s chat about all of the things, okay?

+Austin and I went to a really cool thing yesterday, which I will be blogging about all tomorrow, and we’re both very very nervous because we’re not nervous about our wedding.  Seriously, a bride told use that she’s started drinking because she’s so nervous about her November wedding, and now I’m scared that I’m not nervous enough.

+My brother is amazing.  He got into NC State yesterday, and I’m kinda hoping he goes there so we  an hang out all the time.

+Speaking of my brother.  He’s an amazing rapper, and here’s his latest.


Vote for it, my brother is trying to win $2500 with some friends, and I really love the song/video, and I’d LOVE it if you could help him out.

+We went to Chili’s yesterday, which we don’t normally do, but I was able to find a really good salad, the Caribbean Salad with shrimp, and dressing on the side.  Really really really good, and not all that bad for you 🙂

What would you tell me if you were on this coffee date with me?

Friday Night

| cheriarmour

Sorry about my late post, but I woke up this morning at 6:30 on the couch.  Last night, I laid down on the couch after a long, long week around 8, and woke up around 6:30am.  Fully clothed.  But here’s a little recap of what we did to escort out a really crapptastic week.

Just to be clear, I love this blog, and nothing about this blog was craptastic.  It was just a craptastic work week, and one of those weeks I wanted to lay down on the couch for like 16 hours straight.  Which I pretty much did last night.  I stopped by the hoose (house) first to grab the camera, and snapped a quick pic of the dog, who’d shoved herself into the cat bed on my way out.  Look at that face?

DSC_0044We met up at North Hills for some drinks.

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And I met up with Matty, a co-worker, and we processed the week, and he helped me play with my camera and some of its filters.

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DSC_0055I’m living in my Fabletics Kingston Hoodie – their company is going to start thinking I am homeless and I have no other clothes.  But to clarify, I do have the sweatshirt tied around my waist now.  Oops!

DSC_0058And to finish off the night, instead of eating a real dinner, Matthew twisted my arm and forced me, under threat of grievous bodily harm (GBH for short), to eat half of his strawberry shortcake.  Oops again!

How is your Saturday going, beautiful people? 

 

I’m stealing.

| cheriarmour

I know that I usually do my Here’s What posts on Fridays but I’m not feeling particularly passionate about anything (I told you guys I had a rough day at work yesterday), and I feel like, rather than force myself to concoct a list when I’m not really feeling it, why not just chat with you guys?

First, a little news!

We ordered my wedding dress yesterday, and the sketch for my save-the-dates was emailed over to me today.  After that, all I do is take them to the print shop, and they can get sent out after it’s sent to me via PDF.  If the weekend passes and I tell you that I haven’t gathered addresses, please come to my house, kick down the door, and strap me to the couch until it gets done.  But it’s getting real, and it’s exciting and scary and so cool all the same time!  I want the day to be here and I don’t all at the same time.  Eeep eep eeep eep!

Now, I’m stealing. 

I stole this over from Krystyn at Chits and Giggles, (hope you don’t mind, babe!), but I love love loved the thought behind the post.

If you could get paid do anything you want, what would you do?

I love it because that’s the question that really indicates what you’d be doing if you could do it.

So what would I be doing?

DSC_0034Some of it, I do.  I teach Zumba classes a few times as week which I love.

But if I could do anything, anything in the world and get paid for it, I would….

….Blog mostly.  Blog and travel and read other blogs, take photos and blog some more.

DSC_0035…Run. I would run and probably run faster if I thought that there would be some money attached to the deal.

…Travel.  Since I was a kid, one of the best parts of any trip is the stay in the hotel room, and nothing about that has changed.  If I got to travel around everywhere, run and blog about it, and sleep in delicious hotel beds, I would do it in a heartbeat.

So, that brings me to this.  What would you do if you got paid for it?

I Can’t Wait for Summer Because…

| cheriarmour

So today is the first day of spring.

Allegedly.

Let me tell you this right now, and then I will stop rantin’ and ravin’.  However  I am tall and thin and very cold-blooded (I forgot what they call that body type, but my yoga friend calls me watery), and I have been cold on a consistent basis since November, and I find that highly ridiculous.  So I’m protesting, and I’m liking up with Helene from Helene in Between to bring you….

Helene In Between
This amazing link-up.
Plus Helene, if you’re reading this, I really think we could be blogger besties, and you should really think about forging a friendship with me.  But that’s really just a suggestion, do with it what you’d like.
+Camp.  Seriously  camp.  I’ve talked nonstop about camp here, and I’ll talk about it more.  But Camp Pocono Trails, a camp where I’ve been working since 2010, is literally one of the happiest places on earth.  I will dedicate an entire post to all the amazingness of camp, but rest assured, you will hear all friggin about how amazing camp is.  These girls are my camp children.
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+Jorts + crop tops.  I live for weather warm enough to rock this delicious combo.
28795aaec46830528e480c69669d40a0+Summer nights going to concerts and sitting outside while you eat.  Can you sit outside while an ice storm is raging?  Yeah maybe, but you will be very cold.  Very cold and very icy.
+We got engaged on a beautiful summer night.  And therefore, summer reminds me of love.
+Bikinis!  I love them, and there’s nothing better than sitting out in one on the 4th of July.  Speaking of, I need some new cute ones.
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+Iced coffee.  It’s fine in the winter.  Makes me DIE in the summer time.
+Summer storms.  I love thunderstorms.  I always have.  My poor roomie, Mackenzie Coconuts does not feel the same way, and used to crawl into bed with me when it stormed in college, fun fact.
Link up!  And what are your favorite things about summer?  What can’t you wait for? 

Today was the worst day at work.

| cheriarmour

So in my non-Zumba, non-blogging, and non-Fleet Feet life, I am a social worker, and yesterday flat-out sucked.  I literally told my boss “I hate this day,” before I left the office, and called Austin in a cranky mood.

I was tempted to lay on the couch and call it a day, but when I got home, I cracked one of these.

DSC_0018And I cracked it while I moseyed around and found some clean running clothes, which was no small feat.  There were clothes everywhere, and I had to set out to clean those up.

DSC_0020I did my my-job-is-killing-me run (jk kinda!) in these new babies.  Two things, how good do they look on my new camera?  I played around with lighting, different settings, and different filters today, and it’s starting to turn out beautifully!  I’m not a photographer by any means, but my father has done a lot of photography for years, and I think I caught the same bug that he has.  Second thing, these moon shoes are the Brooks Transcends that arrived last week.  Today was my first real run in them (only 3 miles,) and I will be sure to hit you with the full review once I get some good mileage on them.

The Brooks Transcend is the she that’s replacing the Trance, and honestly, even though I’ve run a lot in the Glycerin (a high-end, high cushion neutral shoe), this shoe is a lot of moon shoe underneath my delicate foot.  On that preliminary tip though, it feels okay, but I’m still not used to having SO much between me and the earth.  But I’m gonna give it that full college try before I tell you for sure how I feel about them.

Now back to the job thing.  What is your real job?  How do you feel about it?  Be honest, I promise I won’t tell your boss!

Fabletics Clothing Review!

| cheriarmour
rs_634x865-131016122604-634.shape.cm.101613
via Shape Magazine

So, I wish I could have a subscription to every workout publication that’s out there, but usually, I limit myself to purchasing them when I see someone on the cover whom I love, and Kate Hudson definitely falls into that category for me.  She’s funny, she’s Goldie Hawn’s daughter, and I was particularly intrigued by this cover cause didn’t she just have another baby?

At any rate, Kate Hudson teamed up with Fabletics, which is her new, affordable brand of activewear.  I’m sure that you’ve started to see all the commercials for things like JustFab, FabKids, Stichfix, and Runnerbox, all subscription programs that you can enroll in, and Fabletics is a similar program, and I was super thrilled when they sent me a few pieces from their spring line to try and tell you guys all about.

The way it works:

You go to Fabletics, and you start by taking their Fit Quiz, which determines what sort of activity you’re engaging in.  From there, there are a few options, a VIP membership option, which will allow for more discounts and a full outfit option, and a regular membership option which still allows you to shop, but at a less deep discount.  But basically, after selecting your option, you’ll receive a new set of active wear (from a wide array of bottoms, tops, bras, jackets, and all of that), and If you hate anything, or you want to skip a month you’re totally welcome, but the basic premise is that you’re paying less for active-wear that’s pretty good quality, as opposed to a $90 pair of tights, which you can easily do elsewhere (and I’ve done it!).

The stuff. 

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P1160278

 

DSC_0014So the pieces that I have are:

The Kingston Hoodie, which I’ve been wearing nonstop since it came in the mail a few weeks ago.  Seriously, I wore this and the tank top like 3 times to work last week with different bottoms, and wore them to my race last Sunday.

The Extension True Tank, which is kind of like a muscle tee, and seems like it would be really good for hot yoga if you don’t want to run around without a bra on.  I also wore this in my race Saturday, and it moves really really well with you, but I probably would go down in a size personally, and…

The Lima Capri, which is truly one of the most beautiful colors I’ve ever seen.  The tight is really really comfortable and warm, and I’d probably do shorter runs in this one.  This one is a little tricky in the sizing – I felt like I’m in-between the small and medium, and when I was down on the floor stretching, I felt like it was pulling in the crotch a little bit, fit that makes sense.

The verdict:  I’ll start with some improvements so that we can end on the good stuff 🙂  This seems really dumb, but the tags inside of the clothing are really stiff and crunchy, and in a piece of active wear, that’s a big no-no.  I don’t like taking scissors to my tags, because sometimes that makes it worse, so I’ve dealt, but I don’t love that aspect of the clothing.

The good stuff is very good.  The clothing comes in the most stunning colors I’ve ever seen, and the photos don’t do it justice.  The clothing is comfy and extremely easy to wear or pair with regular pieces to make it more “street-ready”  and it translates easily between activity.  I taught a Zumba class in them last week, hopped on the treadmill after and ran for a while, and was able to run a full half-marathon in the tops pictured above with ZERO chafing and that says something.  At the very least, check out Fabletics, give them or month or two, and let me know what you think about your new (and affordable) digs!

[Full disclosure:  Fabletics hooked me up with the beautiful clothing, but these opinions are 1000% my own]

 

I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

| cheriarmour
Fun fact: This is the best x-mas album ever, and if you grew up as a black child in the states, this and the Temptations x-mas album were a main staple of any holiday.
Fun fact: This is the best x-mas album ever, and if you grew up as a black child in the states, this and the Temptations x-mas album were a main staple of any holiday.

Okay, so I know this is really random, but another blogger wrote this random fact the other day, and it completely, 100%, blew my mind.  So, I grew up listening to ‘I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus’ and I really thought it was a song about, in my case, Katherine Jackson kissing on some other dude, the other man in her life.

Now imagine when my mind was blown into the Milky Way when this blogger revealed that she had just learned this (and it educated me), that the song was from the kid’s perspective, and the reason why the Mom was kissing on Santa was because it was the dad dressed up like him and evidently, they have a healthy physical relationship.

WHAAA?!

Anyone else’s mind blown by this?  Like, 1000%?

Also, ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ is kinda gross and assaulty, but that’s another discussion for another day…

What are some crazy things you figured out as an adult?