Hi all! Linkup Friday!! Thanks to our amazing hostesses: the DC Trifecta Bloggers (Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, Mar from Mar on the Run, and Cynthia from You Signed Up For What?!).  This week's theme is Friday Favorites so I decided to talk about the USC Women's conference I attended today as it was an amazing experience . 

This is my third year attending the conference and since my work pays for it, it's one of my favorites!


Today was very special as Sarah Reinersten was the Keynote (follow her at @AlwaysTri) who is the first women with a leg ampetee to complete an IronMan and also complete the Great Wall of China Marathon. She is a USC alumna (2000) and of course I hung onto every word she said! (When she mentions running NYCM, I may have screamed a bit!). 

The other sessions were breakouts. I heard a session on the importance of financial literacy and the importance of executive presence before a fabulous lunch. After the lunch, we had a panel with a Hollywood director, a creator of lip scrub and the mayor of Compton (all USC alum!). The final speaker was a marketing genius beyond Pom juice, pistachios, and teleflora. So inspirational! 

Through out the day I met so many amazing women and even Better I was able to make networking connections for some of my colleagues, which brings me great joy. Women connecting women! 

At the reception, a waiter took a liking to one of my conference mates and he brought us drinks. In total, I had 5 champagnes (I think-maybe 6?) and a glass of moscato including the last bottle of champagne! I had so much fun at the conference!

So here are my 5 favorite pics from the day! I love how close this weekend is to PHM and how empowered I feel from my sessions. 

Anyone ever attend a women's conference? 

It was warmer but not by much! I decided to suffer in the cold and wear capris under my skirt and a short sleeve top. To make sure I was warm, I packed throw away clothes and took them off right before the start. 
The day before I went to tea with a Facebook group I am in (shout out to Glass Slipper Challenge group!) and had a great time. Then I headed back to MK to ride pirates and big thunder since they had been down earlier in the day. Well heading back was drama and I got into bed much later than I should have and couldn't fall asleep! I didn't end up falling asleep around 930 or so which doesn't go over so well with a 3:15wake up call. 
I got up feeling okay and decided to have a cup of tea before I left and another while on the monorail to wake myself up and also warm myself up. The monorail was much quicker today and I was able to make it to the team rundisney meetup! After that I went to check my bag, use the port a potty and head off to hang out with Jojo for a bit. 
I headed into the corral around 450 and they moved us up about 510 to the starting line. I was able to get some pump up jams in and also stay warm and even got to do the Cupid shuffle! 
Before I knew it, it was time to start. I knew this course very well: service roads out and back to backstage of Epcot, around world showcase, around the boardwalk and then finish! 

I continued down to the first water stop and this is the boring part of the course but it does really open up so I was able to drift all the way to the right and not be in anyone's way. Before I knew it, we were heading backstage around the halfway point. 

Backstage we had another water stop and entered just after Norway to world showcase. The only characters I remember seeing and not stopping for was Jiminy cricket because his line was pretty long. In France, Marie was out with no line! I had to stop for my girl Marie.

We continued through the international gateway and out towards the boardwalk where I saw princess Minnie was towards the end! I decided to try and get over to her as fast I could. 
Heading to the boardwalk, I saw Donald in baseball gear and had to stop for a quick picture.

Overall, this 10k was way better than the inaugural one last year and much better than the dopey 10k. I would definitely run this again. Some of that may have been because I was in corral A so the lines weren't as long but I feel like the characters out this time were much better than in past races. 

Did you run the enchanted 10k? What were your thoughts on it? 
Do you like the 10k distance? What was the last 10k you ran? 

What is up with me dressing as Anna and it been freezing for a WDW 5k? Or maybe I jinxed myself when during the WDW 5k I said-at least it will be warmer at princess. Well it was warmer and without the wind but it was still cold! I learned from my mistakes last time and also packed fleece pants for each race in addition to hooded jackets. 

I am not sure I have explained why I am coronation Anna this time around. I love Frozen, as we know, and Anna is my favorite mainly because I act a lot like her (or maybe she acts a lot like me...). Anyways, I let my little sisters pick out my costumes and I was originally going to be Elsa. Well when I was home for Christmas break, I woke up and my sister Ashley said-your hair looks just like Anna on coronation day, and well it did! Since then, my sisters have been making fun of my Anna hair, even when it is all done nice. 

The night before I laid everything out and when I get back after an awesome dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern, walked through my routine for the morning. I got into bed around 830 or so and was set to get up at 4:15. 

I slept pretty well and was up and ready to go, hair included (you can't tell, but I braided the top of my hair!). Got ready and headed to the monorail and was excited to finally get to take the monorail to a race! We got on the monorail at 5 and to TTC at 515 and saw it had been 25 minutes since the last one!! We had to wait almost 10 min for it to come and it took awhile from there and about 10 min to walk to the monorail station. We got to the pre race place at 540. I met up with Joanne and then heading to my corral right after. At 6 we started the walk from corral A to the starting line. 

I was so excited to be Corral A! I had been working hard to improve my time so I could have more time on the course. It was definitely worth it!

I kept my throwaway clothes on until the wheelchair start. The playing of Frozen music all the time made me incredibly happy and I even decided to listen to just Frozen music during the run.

 I was worried I would be cold but it was fine before and great when we started. Before I knew it, it was our turn to start. Not going to lie, I teared up a bit while starting: they played my favorite Frozen music (the part at the end when Elsa fixes the kingdom), I was running directly under the fireworks for the start and just the knowledge I was doing Princess again (running all of the races at that!) and so soon after dopey. I was also excited to try out my new interval that Jeff suggested at the Expo!

This was the same course as the WDW 5k so I knew what to expect: short tour through the parking lot, down the road we walk to for the half corrals, backstage, around world showcase and through Epcot to the finish. 

the excitement of race definitely got to me and I started off fast. Like first running segment in under 9:00 mile pace. The cold felt good and I felt good. I ended up being pretty speedy through the parking lot and got to Minnie Mouse in record time:7 minutes. If I had not stopped, that would have put me on pace for a 10 min mile which is unheard of in a Disney race for me. The line was short so of course I waited. 

Continued around world showcase and learned they were playing "Let it Go" over the speakers but in all different languages. It was a nice touch!
Mickey was out in America so I stopped for him and kept going around the world showcase. 

Continued to the front of the park towards spaceship earth and Elsa,Anna, and Kristoff were waiting to greet us! 
Went over towards the imagination pavilion and I stopped for a potty break so I wouldn't have to stop before getting on the bus. Over to the Land, the Seas, and back to spaceship earth. We kept going to the finish line and then I was done!

I finished in 48:xx. This isn't a timed race but I made note of the clock. For having 4 photo stops, numerous selfie stops and a restroom break-that's pretty good! 

Overall I enjoyed this 5k better than the one in Jan-maybe because I was in corral A? From what I heard, the corrals were released every 10 min. The course has a lot of entertainment and since it's not timed, it's a good race for young kids as well as first timers. I was ecstatic with the pics I got too!

When is the last time you ran a 5k? Have you ever run a Disney 5k? What did you think of the legit frozen 5k? 

March 3rd, 2015 will go down as one of my favorite running days ever! Why you ask? I got into the New York City Marathon and also registered for the Jingle Jungle 5k and Wine and Dine half marathon!! I have cried multiple times today just from happiness and joy. 

I'm not sure why, but I've always figured I had a chance at NYCM:18% is almost 1 in 5 which seems totally doable. I saw online that you could get notification anytime after midnight and that it happens in 3 steps: credit card is charged, your status changes on your account and then your email. I have my credit card linked to my phone so I knew I would find out as soon as it was charged. I woke up at 6 and hadn't seen anything but knew they were drawing in 3 waves: NYC local, USA national and then international. I decided to focus on my run (which somehow almost cured my sciatica?? How random!) and getting into wine and dine and the crazy day I had at work. 

I kept checking and didn't see anything. I put a podcast on for the train and read a magazine. I picked up my phone and saw it: 255 dollars charged! I froze, said OMG and started shaking and called my boyfriend and said the words I have dreamed of: I was charged! I AM IN TO THE MARATHON. I was choking back tears as I was on a very crowded train and was still shaking.

I got worried that my status didn't change and I didn't have an email so I was nervous. After posting on the official TCS NYCM Facebook, I got confirmation: if you are charged, you are in and the email can take up to 7 or so hours to appear. I FREAKED OUT! I'm running my number 1 bucket list dream marathon. My first world major!! The largest marathon in the world! So surreal!

However I needed to focus! I have to train a new front desk person and also get ready for the craziness of wine and dine AP signup. I opened all of my windows and waited. 

The link went live at 8:55 so I did the half first (kinda in a daze. I hoped I typed my bday correctly!) and then did the 5k. I was all done by 9:00 (fast typed with all of the info saved for the win!).

And that's when it sunk in: I'm running my dream marathon and then going to run my favorite half marathon(with some of my best friends that will be running their first WDW half marathon!) with a Christmas 5k before. What more could I ask for?

And I already have the hotel booked for wine and dine! Pop Century for 99.25 (all taxes included!) and so excited to stay there. So excited for wine and dine food (there's a chance I'm going to riding very few things haha). 

I'm blessed beyond belief and have been thanking God all day that this all fell into place. I seriously can't stop smiling from ear to ear :) 

So what's next? I gotta figure out my plan! My tentative plan is to fly to NYC on thurs night resets, fly down to WDW on tues night or weds morning and hopefully fit in a day at Universal, fly back home on tues night to prep for Avengers too! I need to figure out where I am staying in NYC, if I want to swing for a night at universal so I can have early entry to Diagon alley and when I want to leave and come back. Oh and also my transportation to the start of the NYCM and if I will check baggage. Oh and how I'm going to get my costumes to WDW! And what I will wear! And no worries-I'm going to blog about it the whole way! My research is starting tonight by finding blogs and articles to read! 

Anyone else get into NYCM? Anyone else sign up for wine and dine races today? 

Another Tuesday, another Tuesday on the Run hosted by our favorites: 
April from Run the Great Wide Somewhere, Erika from MCM Mama Runs, and Patty from No-Guilt Life.  This week's topic is Favorite Post-Race Treat. This is an easy topic for me:  hands down for me a mimosa.

When I first ran the princess half in 2013, one of the things I was most looking forward to was having a drink at the finish line to celebrate my first coast to coast! Since then, it has been my favorite way to celebrate. Not to mention, it is also easy to celebrate now as you can pay with magic band! I want to say I paid 7.50 for mine after the Princess half. PRO TIP: they always have a booth that says champagne and beer but the line can get long. The consession stand sells beer and champagne too!
Wine and dine is awesome- wine at the end is included(or beer or other non alcoholic drinks)! For me, the best was dopey where I had a margarita to cross the finish line and then got my champagne after!! 
This is one thing at Disneyland I wish they had because it is such a fun way to celebrate. At Disneyland, I don't have a celebratory activity minus getting back to my hotel room to shower and unpack. Maybe I should try and start one after dumbo?

What are everyone's elses favorite post race treat? 

Hi all! It has been WAY too long since I have done a healthy living update so my goal is to get back on it for sure! 

EAT WELL
well I have been super sick with some stomach thing so for awhile it was whatever I could keep in my stomach (which for days was pretty much ginger ale and plain baked potatoes). I am better now so I need to get back on track with my eating habits and really start watching my sugar intake and carb intake. I plan on being pretty low carb this week and then ramping it up big time next week before the marathon. 


SLEEP WELL
I rocked this! I have been getting about 8 hours of sleep a night and even got a few naps in this weekend. I feel caught up on sleep and well rested even though I am craving coffee haha. I am hoping to keep getting 7-8 hours of sleep leading up to the LA Marathon in just less than 2 weeks

EXERCISE WELL
Well this is where life has been crazy. I got super sick after the Princess Half and pretty much stayed like that until Friday. I think it was a stomach virus because I couldn't eat anything and when I did I couldn't keep anything in my stomach. I feel much better now and still never figured out what made me so sick but I am sad that I did not get to enjoy my WDW experience to its fullest. 

Since I was sick, I decided to just not do workouts until Friday night. I must have flared something because during my run my sciatica kicked up again! ugh! I spent the weekend rolling and stretching and sitting on a heating pad (just like I am doing now) and i definitely think it will be better for this weekend. I know I am in a Taper for the LA Marathon but this is a little extreme! 

BE WELL
This weekend was amazing because I literally had no plans! I got plenty of sleep, did my grocery shopping, got to cook many meals and got to finally watch some Oscar winning movies (obsessed with Boyhood, hated Birdman with a passion). I haven't had a weekend with nothing planned in so long. Now it sucked my sciatica flared up but I definitely have it under control now and may even try to run a bit tomorrow (a big maybe...). 

How was your week? 

It is Monday so we are linking up with another Magical Mickey with John at run.geek.rundisney and Katie from Adventures by Katie. This week, I will be recapping my epic Valentine's Day Lady and the Tramp celebration Dinner at the El Capitan theatre in Hollywood. 


To start off, if you have never been to the El Capitan theatre before, it is a must when you are in LA. It is owned by Disney which is awesome but it is also a gorgeous theatre in the center of Hollywood right across the street from the Dolby theatre (where the Oscars are) and TCL Chinese Theatre (the former Graumann's with all of the handprints). 

Anyways, back to the event! Since I moved to LA in 2008, they have shown Lady and the Tramp the week of Valentine's Day. I have always been out of town for that weekend because it overlaps with President's Day and I enjoy getting out of LA for a few days. For the first time this year, my boyfriend and I weren't going to be gone the entire weekend, just Sunday and Monday to Catalina (which I promise I will recap after all of the princess craziness!) so we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day this way. 

We splurged on the dinner and movie option. It included:

• catered dinner from Micelli's (the oldest Italian restaurant in LA and most likely the model of Mama Melrose restaurant in LA) including bread, salad, pasta with meatballs, cannolis, drinks and coffee
  
• lady and the tramp themed straw
• reserved seating for Lady and the tramp upstairs including soda and popcorn
  
• commemorative picture 
  
• a rose (I did not know this at the time but this is my favorite flower and the only one I ever want. my boyfriend was also excited because that meant he did not need to stop and buy me my single rose for valentine's day the next day)
  

so on with the meal! We arrived at the theatre at 5:30 but were not seated until closer to 5:45. Before we headed to our seat, we got to take our picture with the cute background. We were in the basement of the theatre. Our tables were covered in checkered tablecloths and we each had a lady and the tramp themed straw waiting for us. As soon as we were seated, we were brought bread, our drink, and salad. Salad was good and their Italian dressing is fantastic. After that, we were brought our spaghetti and meatballs and I got to steal a meatball from my boyfriend's plate (he totally didn't get the reference until we were in the movie haha). They brought flowers to all of the ladies and also brought us our picture (which is currently on my coffee table). After that, we got our cannoli's and I got coffee while my boyfriend got the ghiradelli hot chocolate which was amazing!  I can't believe I have never had their hot chocolate before. 

As soon as dinner was done, we headed upstairs for our buckets of popcorn and drink and were escorted to our seats about 6 rows back. We got to hear the lovely organ player before the film started. 

I haven't seen Lady and the Tramp in forever and i loved it. It is adorable and I totally want to dress as Tony for Wine and dine now-accordion included of course! It also made me realize I have never eaten at tony's in Magic Kingdom before-crazy! My boyfriend, who is not even sure he has ever seen Lady and the tramp, really enjoyed it himself. 

Now, this experience was not the cheapest. It was 120 dollars for both of us but I do feel the money was worth it:

• Movie would have been at least 25 bucks, and 20 dollars on concessions
  
• dinner included appetizer, meal, dessert, drinks and coffee not to mention tip and gratuity were included in the price. there are very few places in LA where you could get all of that for valentine's day for less than 100 dollars per couple. 
  
• parking was 2 bucks! 
  

Would I do it again? you bet! I had a great time and it was awesome to be home by 9PM on a friday after working all day. 

Make sure to check out the slideshow below for all of the fun we had. 

How did you celebrate Valentine's Day? 

Hi all! Linkup Friday!! Thanks to our amazing hostesses: the DC Trifecta Bloggers (Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, Mar from Mar on the Run, and Cynthia from You Signed Up For What?!).  This week's theme is Open Topic so I decided on showing my 5 favorite pictures from the Princess Half Weekend. 


Hope you enjoy! I plan on having all my recaps up next week so keep a look out for them! I have already written about the Expo so check it out here.

Many people in America don't know who Shellie may is. Well it's Duffys girlfriend over in Japan. 

Devin had decided to go as Duffy for the WDW 10k so we decided to be in theme together (and it does fit with the theme as Minnie made Duffy and it is her race). 

My costume was pretty easy to put together as Shellie May's signature color is pink!

Shelley May:

1. Pink top

2. Pink bottoms (or brown since she doesn't wear pants but that's hard to find)

3. Headband. I had a pink headband so I cut out ears from brown felt and just glued them on 

4. Pants underneath since it was cold

5. Long sleeve shirt underneath since it was cold 

To add a bit more, I would have loved to find a shell necklace since that's where her name is from but I didn't think about it until later. 

This costume was very easy to put together which was great! 

Cold weather Anna dress

Out of all of my costumes, the Anna costume is one of my favorites. I have worn it 3 different times: Inaugural Enchanted 10k, at the 24-hour Disney Day, and the 2014 Santa Monica Christmas Run. 

since there was a good size group of us running for the WDW 5k, we decided to do Frozen and have Olaf, Kristoff, Anna, Elsa and a troll. 

I have already written here about how to make an Anna costume, so this post is more about turning it into a winter Anna costume since the 5k had a wind chill of 25! 

Anna costume

1. Black shirt with the design on it and gold ribbon

2. Blue skirt with floral decoration 

3. Hair in braids (I like to add a pink headband) 

Now for winter:

1. A blue or green long sleeve shirt

2. A pink cape or wrap

3. Gloves (I just used the blue ones I had) 

4. Pants to go under the skirt 

And that's it! Anyone else ever run in a winter version of the Anna outfit?