Author: cheriarmour

Here’s What! What three things are you obsessed with?

| cheriarmour

By now, I think you’re familiar with my here’s what, a little slice I stole from Bravo Andy.  If you’ve missed any of my ‘Here’s What’ segments, I’ll fill you in.

2.7.14

2.14.14

2.21.14

2.28.14

3.7.14

Okay, so go there, and review…

Now come back!

Here’s what three things I’m obsessed with this beautiful Carolina Friday.

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  • Whole Foods Soup.  Mama doesn’t cook on Thursday evenings because I usually teach my Thursday evening Zumba classes, try to get a few miles in after.  By the time I get home, it’s late, and I don’t feel like cooking.  I try to avoid the fast food trap and go for something a little cleaner, and soup was perfect on this kind of blustery night.  Tonight’s soup was a roasted garlic sweet potato.  A little weird. Mostly awesome though, especially when the spice kind of hits you

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  • Amazon.  Is there anything you can’t buy off of Amazon?  I ordered two bras off Amazon and because they were Prime, they showed up like two days after I ordered them.  New Balance isn’t paying me to say this (quite unfortunately) but this bra, the “Discreetly Sassy Psyche” is awesome.  It’s minimizing, it won’t give you a uni-boob, and a little bit of underwire lifts and keeps you from bouncing all over the place.  Try this bra!

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  • I found chocolate malt balls in the bulk section at Whole Foods.  It’s Whole Foods related, so it can’t be bad for me, right?

MMkay, that’s what I’m up to this week with what I’m obsessed with.  What three things are you obsessed with?

Zevia Zero Calorie Soda Review + Reader Giveaway!

| cheriarmour

Yep, that’s right, I said giveaway! Holla!

So in light of the awful fate that befell me yesterday, where I had a terrible reaction to some scallops I was excited to cook, I was shuffling around the apartment like a zombie – I looked and smelled terrible, and I felt like I’d spent the entire night partying.  I was digging around in the fridge making my lunch when I spotted the 6-pack that Zevia had sent me a few days ago.  I fumbled around for the ginger-ale flavor, and slammed it before my stomach had any time to go back on the promise that it would never to do me what it had done the night before.

zeviaSo Zevia, which I first spotted at Whole Foods a while back, is a zero-calorie soda, sweetened with stevia, an artificial sweetener that my father (a type-1 diabetic) seems to enjoy more so than the other sweeteners out there, because it doesn’t leave that really weird taste in your mouth that diet sodas can tend to leave.

Zevia was kind enough to send me my very own variety pack of the stuff as a way to try a good bit of the flavors, and I was pleasantly surprised!  There are a couple of things to remember when you’re drinking your Zevia, which comes in 12-oz. cans, very much the same way that a can of any old soda might come in.

  1. Drink it cold . Zevia suggests this and reminds you that cold is not cold enough!
  2. Drink it out of the can.  Zevia tends to get warm and flat in a cup and that’s sorta gross for any soda.

So as I sampled Zevia, I was really pleasantly surprised with the ginger-ale, which is probably my favorite flavor, and the cream soda, which tastes like the cream soda that my mother used to give us from Haiti, minus the really weird dye, calories, and sugar.  My least favorite would probably have to be the cherry cola flavor, but generally this flavor kinda creeps me out in real life, so that makes sense.  Generally, the sense that I get with these is that they’re more water, less sugar, and lacking in the weird aftertaste department that I get with a Diet Coke.  This morning, I actually gave my beloved caffeinated Diet Dr. Pepper away because the thought of the aftertaste was making me more nauseated than I felt like I needed to be at that point.

Onto the giveaway!  

I’m giving 5 readers a 6-pack of Zevia!  Enter below, and I will announce winners on or around 3/20/14!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more info on Zevia, visit their website

Or their Facebook

Or their Twitter

Or on IG 

🙂 Enjoy!

My love affair with reality television.

| cheriarmour

I’d say I have some pretty good things going for me.  I’m at least moderately attractive.  I’m very in shape, and I have a nice(ish) personality, right?

Don’t answer that.

But I have a really, truly dark secret.  I have a love affair with reality television.

Off the top of my head, here are a few quality programs I have watched in the past few years.

  • Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.

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    • 16 and Pregnant
    • Teen Moms 1 and 2
    • America’s Next Top Model

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  • Real Housewives of Atlanta/New York/Beverly Hills/Orange County (not sure why Andy continues to bother with Miami, and DC was horrific.)

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  • Flipping Out with Jeff Lewis
  • Work Out with Jackie Warner
  • Party Down South (thank you Jesus for this discovery on late-night television)
  • The Millionaire Matchmaker
  • Watch What Happens Live
  • Couples Therapy
  • Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team

 

380887_10100318509646029_899369494_n…And these are just to name a few. 

My love affair with reality television began when I was in middle school, and Road Rules (the literal best invention ever), and Real World were at the peak of their popularity.

the-real-world-oI dreamt of being on one of these shows, and I’m not sure why.  Over the summers, when we’d be home from school, MTV would play marathons for days and days, and I would watch them all, hoping that my mother would not find out about my strange addiction (which I don’t watch, funny enough).  I once auditioned for the X-Factor, made it pretty far, and had my dreams crushed before the season started.  Glad it didn’t work out though 🙂

Please ladies, tell me I’m not the only one in this boat.  Are you addicted to terrible reality telly?  Which shows are your faves?

A tale of some scallops.

| cheriarmour

So yesterday, I had a hankering for some scallops over veggies, after I spotted this post on IG.
photo (2)I looked up a recipe online, went to Harris Teeter, bought .75 pounds of sea scallops, and set to prepping a delicious dinner, complete with a glass of SkinnyGirl California Red Wine.

I blogged for a little while, and hopped into bed.  As I was falling asleep, sweat sprang up on my forehead, and I knew what I happening, but I chose to pretend like it wasn’t.

1 am, I sat straight up, jumped out of bed like a ninja, and proceeded to throw my entire dinner up, and take a nap on the bathroom floor.  And my only thought was, my race this weekend won’t be a PR! And I started to whimper.

So, I’m pretty sure that between this and my situation I got myself into in September, I need to take a little break from shellfish for a long, long while.  And come hell or high water, I will be running

 

Running on a budget.

| cheriarmour

Clearly, as evidenced by my post following my adventures in Targetland, I’m not always the budget guru, however, when it comes to running on a budget, I kinda know the tips and tricks.

This came up the other day, when a friend, who is very cool and very very tatted up, mentioned that she loves to run, but that a pair of running shoes is nearly an entire one of her paychecks.

I totally get that.  I’ve been there before, and I feel so fortunate to not have to scrounge for shoes and some technical gear any longer.

Shoes$

So, I cannot stress to you enough how important good gear is.  If you want to avoid chafing, blisters, bunions, heel pain, the whole 9, you need to spend money on your stuff.  But how can you afford the stuff?  (Seriously, I just got a pair of tights that costed $90, so I feel you.)

  1. Recognize that the pricier stuff, both shoes and gear, is generally superior to the less-expensive stuff from Wal-Mart or Target.  I’ve worn both.  Sure, the less pricey stuff definitely has its perks – it’s great for bumming around, long drives, and sometimes, for the occasional workout.  But if you’ve ever tried to wear a cotton t-shirt during a hot, sweaty workout and it’s turned into a dress on you, you know that sometimes, the more-expensive stuff is worth it.
  2. Once you recognize that it might be worth it, let’s strategize on how we’re gonna save dem dollas.
  3. Pay for one anchor piece full-price.  That’s right, shell out that $110 for a pair of shoes at a running specialty place like a Fleet Feet, so you know what kind of shoe you need.  Get the whole fitting.  Let them fit you for a bra.  Try on some pieces of clothing that you think you might like or need.  And leave the store, guilt-free, with your new pair of shoes, and an idea of what your size might be in some other apparel.
  4. So let’s say you were fitted for something like the Brooks Ghost 6.  You know what you’re in now, right?  So there are a few things you can do to save money at this point.  Number one, ask your local Fleet Feet, or whatever running specialty store if they have a customer rewards program.  You may get 10% off of your next pair of shoes, a free pair of socks, or something along those lines!
  5. Ask the person fitting you if there is any discount for teachers or miltary. 
  6. Keep your eyes peeled for anytime your store might be having a sale, because often when a shoe is moving to its new model, the older model may be discounted. 
  7. As far as gear, shop in the off-season!  Shop the racks the end of winter and the end of summer, and you should be able to get some staple pieces to be able to use year-round at a pretty reasonable price.

What are you favorite tips for running on a budget?

If this were Elon…

| cheriarmour

I came to Elon Univeristy, about an hour from Raleigh, in the Fall of 2005, when my father read an article about this up-and-coming school in North Carolina that I just had to apply to.

I was the first of my parents’ four to apply/go to college, so not really knowing any better, I applied to 10 schools.

  • UNC
  • UNC Asheville
  • NC State
  • Brown University
  • Carnegie Mellon
  • University of Pittsburgh
  • Ithaca College
  • Cornell University
  • Brown College

And finally, at the last minute, I applied to Elon University.  Long story short, on the way back from a beautiful visit to Pitt, my dad pulled us over and stopped us at Elon, at which point, we decided I would go to this beautiful place that was sunny, where the swans were walking around and where it wasn’t snowing (At that point, in April, it was snowing in Pittsburgh as we left).

So I went, and it literally changed my life.  You would not be getting this absolutely phenomenal blog if I hadn’t gone there, I can guarantee you that ;). So it’s gorgeous out, and it got me thinking about Elon (plus it’s Elon’s 125th anniversary so Happy Birthday, beautiful school!)

If this were Elon…

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  • I would be sunbathing, similarly to the way I’m doing above, except I’d be in a bikini. 
  • I’d  be pretending to sunbathe, but I’d really be watching these cute boys play volleyball.  I was always too scared to talk to them.
  • I would have napped at least once by now, because of the fact that I stayed up til 2 am doing homework the night before instead of using my time efficiently.
  • I would have run into our handsome President, Dr. Leo Lambert on the sidewalk, and gotten really flustered, too much to do anything but utter an unintelligible greeting. 
  • I would have Twisted Measure practice that evening, that usually would consist of us doing actually singing for an hour and a half or so, with half an hour of us pulling pranks on each other or singing things in the wrong key on purpose to peels of laughter.
  • After practice, I’d go get a grilled cheese from Varsity with these greasy chip things, and chase it with a coffee from Acorn, our local sandwich shop.  At this point, I was just starting my coffee addiction, but I’d adopted the awful practice of drinking coffee at night, and a 5-hour energy mixed with a Sunkist in the morning a lot of times.  Quite obviously, I took my health quite seriously.
  • I would have hit Belk Library to “study”, which really means socialize with boys and kinda work on stuff.  When I got sick of that, or when I felt like walking home by myself would be too creepy, I’d leave, watch Nancy Grace, and come home.

What was the culture at your school like?  

Oh, and Long Live Elon!

 

The worst date ever. [Reader Discretion Advised]

| cheriarmour

So this post is part of a link-up with Life of Bon – and I love love love this idea!

Granted, I have not been on a date in some time, as I’ve been with the same guy for a while, and I didn’t date a whole whole bunch before that.

But, even without a ton of experience with bad dates, when my close close friend, we’ll call her Tina, called me 20 minutes after this truly awful date, I knew that this had to be, hands down, the worst date in history.  Shall we?

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So Tina was spotted by Creeper one day in her building.  He informed her that she was the most beautiful women he’d ever laid eyes on and that he’d like to take her out to dinner.

Her reaction.

So, that Friday, he sent a box of bagels to her office and told her something to the effect that he was so so excited to go on this date with her.

Date night.  They go close to work, to a local Mellow Mushroom to have dinner.  And within 10 minutes, he tells her that he’s into feet.

As in, feet are something that turn him all the way on.

45 Ridiculous And Amazing GIFs Of Nene Leakes For Her Birthday

Tina told me at this point, she was really perplexed, and asked him a few questions out of ignorance about the topic.

“So like, in the spring time, when everyone is wearing flip-flops, what do you do?  Are you just going crazy with all the feet?”

He explained to her that it didn’t work that way, and continued on to explain that additionally, he was into some more interesting stuff. 

And finally, as if she wasn’t looking horrified enough, he explained, on the first date, at the dinner table, without any prompting, that he was into something called breath play, where he fashioned for the lady in question a suit made out of pantyhose, and asphyxiated them while they got down.

Tina, obviously horrified at the very definition of oversharing on a first date uttered, “Isn’t that dangerous?  Like can’t you pass out from that?”

“Well, yeah, it happened to my last girlfriend and it really turned me on.”

So all of that said, after the date was over and Tina was safely stowed at home, the texts began.  And Tina didn’t answer a single one.  He wanted to explain, that he wasn’t a monster, and that she should give him and his plastic grocery bags a chance.  He begged her for 5 more minutes of her time.  He sent her his rap music in hopes that this too, would win her over, and finally Tina asked that he never contact her again.

And that, my friends, was the worst date in history.

[Now a little disclaimer, what everyone does in their personal time is really their own business, however, within the first 10 minutes of a date at Mellow Mushroom is not the time to share your deviance.]

What was your worst date ever? 

Calling all my social workers! A post on self-care.

| cheriarmour

imageSelf-care is a big buzzword in social work land.  (For those of you just kinda tuning in, I’m a runner, a Zumba instructor, a blogger, and a social worker, all usually within the same week).  Anyhoo, like I was saying, self-care is a big word in social work land, mainly because burnout in social work is really prevalent.  We work really really hard with very little pay, all because we love people, and we love to serve people.  If HIPAA wasn’t a thing, I’d talk to you all day and all night about my clients, and how phenomenal they are, but I guess I have to respect their right to privacy, right?

But it’s hard.  There were two weeks last month that I truly thought I wasn’t cut out for the work, after some clients were especially horrible to me, that after viewing the puffy stress eyes, that I was ready to quit the job, and blog full time.  But here I am, and I’m starting to recognize that self-care is really important, and not just something that we should be joking about in the office.

Self-care means….

  • Going for my runs.  And I make sure I do it 5-6 times a week, but sometimes, I don’t bathe myself in the runs like I should.  I shouldn’t be thinking about notes, about deadlines, about my to-do list.  I need to do my runs, and be present for the runs.
  • Not mindlessly scrolling through my phone.  I’ve found myself, before bed, mindlessly scrolling through my phone before bed.  I don’t need to do that.  I need to actually sleep when I’m in bed.
  • Throwing myself into the things I enjoy.  I enjoy teaching, dancing, planning my wedding, reading, blogging, running, going to yoga, and I need to quit doing that thing where I divide my mind time.  If I’m running, I need to be present.  If I’m teaching, my mind is only there.  If I’m planning, my mind is all on me and what my future husband are doing.  Blogging? I’m all yours.
  • Recognizing when I’m tired.  There’s a difference between sleep and tired.  And sometimes I have troubles recognizing when I’m exhausted, tired, and when I just need to slow things down.  This weekend, when I opened my eyes on Sunday morning on Fripp, I was so happy, so in love with life, so in love with the beach, and I recognized that not only did I sleep like a rock, that I am tired.
  • Booking a room for myself at the Westin in Georgetown to run the Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Half Marathon.  I’m checking into a hotel in a beautiful part of DC, and I will be ghost, snuggling in a king-sized bed by myself, taking a bath, reading a book, and thinking about why my life is so beautiful! 

What are you doing to care for yourself, beautiful readers?  

Garmin 610 Surprise

| cheriarmour

Do you guys ever find out your technology can do something you didn’t know it could do?

With my Garmin, I learn something new like every day with that thing.

Garmin 610

So when I first got it two birthdays ago, I used to primarily to run, and nothing else.  Because I got it as a gift for my birthday, and I didn’t pay the $300 some-odd for it, it never occurred to me to use the crap out of it and get my money’s worth.  It wasn’t until I started training for my 789 half marathons I’m doing that I figured out I could use it for intervals, and a bunch of other cool stuff.

P1160237So over the weekend on Fripp, I got it in my head to get some beach cruisers so we could ride around, see the island some more, and get our exercise in for the day.

For some reason, it popped into my head that the Garmin 610 could be used for cycling as well.  I’m not sure where I’d heard that, because I never read instructions, but after literally like 30 seconds of playing with the watch, I figured out how to put it into cycling mode, and was able to use it while we cruised.  Now it was only a 5 mile ride, but it was awesome to be able to see what other amazing things the watch could do!

Ever found out that your technology can do something incredible?