I'll be back....

As you all can tell, I haven't been doing anything blog related in a while (reading or writing).  It's certainly not that I don't want to, it's just a matter of time.  As if school wasn't overwhelming enough, I've taken on a part-time-ish job too.  It wasn't something I was planning on, but it's a good opportunity to make some money.  That being said, unfortunately blogging has been bumped down on my list of priorities at the moment.  I'm taking an official break until at least May.  I'll be done with the spring semester by then and will have a little time to breathe.  I'm certainly still thinking about blogging all the time, which means I'll have lots to share with you by the time I get back into it!  I'm thinking of doing an overhaul on my site and re-thinking my "brand" in general.  I love blogging and it makes me so sad that it's just not possible right now.  However, that's life and I plan on coming back bigger and better (ok, I'm physically planning on coming back smaller.  My exercising is paying off!).   I hope you all understand and I thank everyone who has stuck with me this long! 

So long for now...

Wine Enthusiast Red Wine Glasses Review

 

I received a lovely e-mail a few weeks back from the wonderful folks over at Wine Enthusiast asking me to review some of their red wine glasses.  Of course I happily accepted and received my glasses within the week.  They came in a huge box that heavily protected the delicate glasses inside. 

 

I love the shape of these glasses.  The bowl of the glass is nice and big to allow the wine to breathe.  Now, I'm not exactly a wine expert or anything, but even I could tell that these glasses enhanced the wine drinking experience.  The glass is very thin and light, which scared me a bit a first.  I thought I might break them just by looking at them.  But, I've been using them for a few weeks now and they're a lot more durable than they seem.  I even ran them through the dishwasher with no problem.  

My husband and I have been drinking a lot of new wines lately and are increasingly becoming more interested in wine-drinking in general (I chalk that up to watching White Collar).  Wine Enthusiast has literately everything you'd ever need, including wine racks (with free shipping).  With our growing collection of bottles I'll need to order something to store them in.  They've got a huge selection for every budget.  I'm leaning towards this one.

 

And how could I try out my new wine glasses without some new wine?  I picked out a wine from Morgan Creek Vineyards, which happens to be about an hour south of my house.  This is the Vulcan Red and it is wonderful!  Vulcan is the god of fire and is associated with Birmingham because of the steel industry that used to be in this area.  There's a huge Vulcan statue overlooking the city (more info here). Morgan Creek Vineyards carries a lot of other wines, most of them using muscadine grapes.  I'm going to have to try all of them.  You know, just to support my local vineyard...

Eilisain Jewelry

I was the lucky winner of these amazing owl talon earrings from Eilisain Jewelry.  Needless to say, I absolutely love them.  I love birds of prey, so to have some talon earrings is like a dream come true!  And they are so beautifully made.  Lisette is an extremely talented artist!  She's got a wonderful blog and a mind-blowing Etsy shop.  I may have to remind some people of that when my 30th birthday rolls around in July (hint, hint!)  Definitely check her shop out!  I LOVE her rings with the gemstones.  They're gorgeous!

  

They are the perfect-sized earrings too.  Not to big or small and not heavy at all.  And they almost look like regular hoops until you really look at them.  That means they'll go with any outfit, which means I won't be wearing any other earrings anytime soon!  Thank you so much Lisette!

(You might also be thinking, "Karen, why is your second piercing so big and ugly?  It looks like a big old mole or something!". That's what happens when you stretch your ears people.  It's never normal again.)

The Bottletree

 

Last Friday my husband and I went on a little date just to get out of the house.  I've been wanting to eat at Bottletree for ages, and I can't believe I waited so long.  The Bottletree is a vegetarian cafe by day and a music venue by night.  I have been to a few shows there but have never tried out their food.  If only I knew what I was missing.  

First off, they have awesome vintage decor.  Their velvet painting collection makes me drool every time I see it.  They also have a vintage/craft flea market once a month that is awesome.

My husband rolled his eyes a little when I told him it was a vegetarian place, but they also serve meat, so he got a Thai burger.  I got a Thai tofu wrap that was really good.  The best thing though was a dish called "Viking Funeral" (best name ever).  It's sweet potato fries with their homemade pimento cheese covered in vegetarian chili.  This, my friends, is one of the best things I've ever eaten. My husband agrees that next time we go there, we're just going to get a huge order of this and nothing else.  It's SO GOOD.

And since I haven't done an outfit post in ages, here's a glimpse at my new hair!  This is by far my favorite color so far.  And yes, it matches my lovely vintage dress!  I've been waiting for a lovely spring day to wear this and last weekend was beautiful.

I hope you all are having a great week!  I'm still trying to adjust to the time change, but I'm SO happy to have some extra daylight.  It at least lets me believe that my day is longer, even if it's not really!

My New Favorite Thing- Running

I'll be honest...exercise hasn't been a part of my life since my elementary school days.  As a teenager, my metabolism was great and I could eat anything and still be skinny (oh the days!).   But ever since college I've slowly decreased my physical activity and increased my caloric intake.  When the scale hit an all time high this past Christmas I knew I had to make a change.  

I've always thought of running as the ultimate exercise.  If you can run any number of miles, you're in pretty darn good shape.  So I started running intervals in January.  When I say I couldn't run 20 feet without getting winded, I'm not exaggerating.  I was that out of shape.  Over the last 2 months I've slowly increased my running distance (I do a total of 3 miles, 3 times a week).  Now I'm to the point where I can run over half of my 3 mile route.  I still can't run a whole 1/2 without stopping, but I've improved significantly since I started (intervals are the best thing ever).  I use the Nike + app on my phone to track my progress.  I told my husband it was like playing a video game because I get achievements.  He called me a dork.  =)

Since Christmas I've lost 10 pounds (5 of that was probably just from not eating holiday food).  The weight is slow coming off, but that's ok.  I'm doing it because it makes me feel good.  It's also something I never really thought I could do.  Me...a runner?  No way. 

I'm also running my first 5K (the Color Run) at the end of March in Nashville.  It's just giving me something to work towards and hopefully will keep me motivated to do better.  Luckily it's not timed and a lot of people just walk it, so I won't embarrass myself too bad!  I've finally got my 5K time down to around 40 minutes, which is pretty crappy compared to most runners, but for me it's an accomplishment!

I'm glad I've stuck with an exercise routine this time.  My attempts at getting healthier in the past have failed due to me trying to do too much at once.  This time I'm taking the slow and steady route and it's been much better.  By the time I turn 30 in July I will definitely be in the best shape of my life and kicking butt!