Sunshine makes me happy

I hope you all were able to enjoy the holiday weekend! It started off a little unstable in CT... Wind, rain, and cold. So cold... Frost warning cold. At the end of May. Not ok Mother Nature. NOT OK! Thankfully things turned around for Monday, and it was a gorgeous day! I don't have tons of exciting news to share so I figured I'd give you a little weekend recap for today.
Saturday was a complete waste of a day for me. I mean it. I got up at 7 to feed the four-leggeds out in the barn. My dog P stayed in bed.

I decided she had the right idea, and climbed right back in after feeding. It was kind of glorious to lounge around like a sloth for an hour watching old Full House episodes. Finally around 8:45 I dragged myself out of bed and made some breakfast. And sat around a little longer eating it and watching Golden Girls. (Old sitcoms are the BEST!) Finally I could put it off no longer and went out to clean stalls and potentially ride. I did the chores and let the horses go out to play in the rain. But never did ride. The driving rain, 25 mph winds, and seeing the whites of the equines' eyes was enough warning for me. I did at least get Jamp's mane shortened and braided over. It was really out of control. And then it was pretty much bed time. Long day of doing nothing!
Sunday, while still cold and windy, was much less rainy (though not completely rainless). I did actually get out of bed and STAY out of bed at 7, so that was a big step in the right direction! Did barn chores, and rode all three horses by 2:30. That's pretty amazing. What's MORE amazing is that the horses were all very good. With the wind, and the three days off they had I really was expecting some rodeo moves from them. But they all were great, making me one happy equine mommy! Since I finished up so early, I got the house straightened up and a load of laundry done before heading out for a short run.
I've been inconsistent with running to say the least. It's down to about twice a week if I'm lucky lately. I think it's good to take a little break, and actually want to go out running now, so I'm pretty ok with it. My last few runs have been really slow, between 10 and 10 1/2 minute miles. Whoa. But I was so motivated Sunday, I actually pulled off a much quicker run. Not a PR for me by any means, but given the recent runs, a HUGE improvement. See:

I then followed up my run with Chinese food and Ben & Jerry's. Hey, it's a holiday weekend!
And finally Monday. Monday was GORGEOUS. It started off on the cool side, but full of sunshine. It eventually warmed up into the upper 70's. Amazing day. Here are the boys enjoying the morning:

Jamp did a little jumping and was the best he's been so far this season. I think he's ready to get to a horse show! (Finally!) My step-mom came to ride Rio and he was a little angel for her. He's extra careful with her which is just adorable to watch. My dad had stopped by just in time to watch Ducky go too. It was perfect since my dad hadn't seen him go yet. We jumped a few small jumps, and he was also very good. Maybe the few days off was just what they needed.
After horsey time, I threw a load of laundry in the washer and went outside to be slothful again with P. It was so warm in the sun, we just sat outside for an hour and did absolutely nothing.

How was your 3 day weekend? Did you have better weather where you live? Do anything fun and exciting?

Zero Will Power. ZERO.

With horse show season fast approaching here, I really need to stop wasting money on things I don't need so I can pay my trainer and entry fees. But it would be irresponsible of me, as a consumer, to pass up a great deal. Right? That, and I have no self control when it comes to free stuff. Enter the email from Modcloth last week.

A tote bag (with a Pug on it!) full of accessories free with every $125.00 purchase. Now that's a lot to spend to get free stuff. Normally I want free stuff for $75 or less. But Modcloth has such great original items that it's pretty easy to drop $125. I have several dresses already from them, and I get sooooo many compliments when I wear them. You may remember these:

So I thought to myself, "Self, let's just go take a look at what's on sale." The nice part was, clearance items were included, so I could get lots more for my $125. That's a good deal! Needless to say, I managed to reach the goal and get my free bag of stuff.
I KNOW you want to see what I picked out AND my bag of free stuff. I'll start with my purchases. I found 2 dresses and some lovely accessories in both of my favorite colors this season (purple and mint)!
First the purple (admittedly this is more of a fall/winter type dress, hence it being in the sale section, but I can wait to wear it):

Cute right?

close-up to see the fun colors and fabric

And now the mint one. I love that this one has silver on the top and a gold belt. It opens up so many options for accessorizing and footwear. I love this one, I can't wait to wear it!

 So that was about $90 for the two dresses, so I needed to find one more dress or a few accessories. I went with some accessories. The last thing I need is more jewelry, but you know when in Rome....

Mint sunglasses pinky ring. I do not have one of these yet! (well now I do.)

And these will go perfectly with all of the other mint flower accessories I have... (Ok, ok, maybe I should stop with these.)

 And now on to the free stuff!

Awesome tote bag with a Pug on it!

Octopus ring. I may or may not wear this, but it IS pretty cute!

This is probably my favorite. It's very delicate, so probably best to wear someplace low key, but so pretty!

Ok these I'm not so excited about, they're too big for me. But hey, they're free! I'm sure someone I know will want them.

Love the concept of this headband, but the pattern makes me look like I'm doing chores.... Meh.

I didn't take separate photos of the adorable cosmetic bag or the red polka dot scarf, but you can see them below in the photos of everything. All in all, not bad for freebies! I like the bracelet and the two bags the best, but overall, I think it's a great little package of give-a-ways!

Do any of you shop at Modcloth? Take advantage of the deal? What did you get?!

Weekend Recap...

Wait, the weekend's over already?

Sad Face

I had one of those weekends in which I was super busy the entire weekend, and yet got very little accomplished. I had NO PLANS to speak of so was excited hopeful that I could actually get around to cleaning my pigsty house.
Saturday, I wanted to get the horses neatened up a little bit in the form of shortening manes and maybe trimming some whiskers. But by the time I did barn chores and turnouts, and rode and jumped them all, it was pretty late. The boys were all amazing at least! Perhaps they're ready to take a field trip...
Here are some gratuitous photos of my boys eating grass:

Ducky

Jampy

Rio

So I decided to put off the trimming until next week and get inside to clean the abode. After several hours of straightening, laundry, and organizing it was 11:00 pm. And the house wasn't actually clean yet. <<sigh>>
Ok so that meant Sunday was for cleaning. You know, after barn chores, turnouts, and riding (in the rain). And then it was 5:30. Sheesh. As a compromise to myself (self wanted to do nothing), I decided to do one more load of laundry, vacuum the downstairs, and change the sheets. The rest can wait... (boy is it dusty in here!) At first I was frustrated with myself for being so lazy. But then, as I was folding the load of laundry, I caught myself lecturing a pair of pants and realized maybe I did in fact need an hour of downtime this weekend. Sorry pants, it's not your fault you came out linty.
Needless to say, I did not get a run in this weekend. I did, however, go on Friday morning. Yay! It was a slow and steady three. Rather enjoyable, and I actually am looking forward to going again soon. No seriously, I really am!
I think that's about it for my weekend. I will leave you with these lovely blooms from my yard:

SO close to 500 views!

497 to be exact. Hopefully this new post will get up me up to 500.  I wonder if 400 of them are mine though... Oh well, nonetheless, that's pretty impressive for little ol' me!
 I haven't done much posting lately other than of awesome things I get in the mail. So I figured it was time I catch you up on all the excitement in my life! This should be quick...

I've been trying to spend some more time with P and we've even fit in some walks now that the weather is improving. She's just the cutest:

And then there's running...

I haven't run since this day, which was a few weeks ago already. I really am planning to get back into it THIS WEEKEND! Hopefully. If there's time. Which leads me to the next topic:

PONIES!

I've been spending pretty much ALL of my free time (that not spent with P of course) with the equine lately. I'm trying to get them fit and read to start showing again. The winter-that-wouldn't-end really set us back in the fitness department. And while they are all coming along well physically, they're still mentally a bit behind. They are a little extra frisky which results in pretending to be afraid of things like shadows and leaves blowing in the wind... Oh horses. Thankfully they are having a little training session tonight which should straighten them out! Hopefully I'll be able to write a horse show post soon!

I haven't done a whole lot with my nails OR bracelet making, sadly. But I have squeezed in some simple mani's and managed to stack on lots fun store bought armparties!
Here are some highlights:

Clothes....
I love clothes. There's a pretty good chance I brought home a good haul of new clothing last night... I haven't taken too many photos. Here's today's outfit though:

And lastly, the most exciting thing happening in my life right now... I became an Auntie! I won't be posting photos here, at least not until she's older. It's a little weird and creepy for me to post photos of someone else's baby on my blog for strangers to see... So sorry for that. But take my word for it, she's gorgeous, and perfect, and brilliant. I can tell already, I mean she's a whole week old!

So there you have it. A full update on all my favorite things! I'm hoping to have a great running related post soon. But until then, just keep rollin'!

Ophelia's Apothecary May Box

What an exciting week! I got my May Stridebox and my Ophelia's Apothecary May box within a day of each other! New stuff all over! Woohoo!
I know you're DYING to know what's in there so I'll jump right in without further ado. This month actually came in a box instead of the envelope, but I was so excited I forgot to take a photo.  Sorry...
Here is everything just out of the box:

I love the blue tissue paper and little umbrella details. So summery feeling!
And now, onto the goods:

 Exfoliating body scrub that smells AMAZING! I haven't tried this one yet, but I plan to this weekend.

 This is a shampoo, body wash, and bubble bath all in one! It smells divine, and I plan to try this out this weekend too.

 I had seen on Ophelia's Facebook page that she's been working on some new perfume oils, and was sooooo excited to find one in the box. So excited in fact, that I put it on right away. It's a light, sweet smell; right up my alley!

 This is what I was most excited for. I've been reading quite a lot about lip scrubs but haven't tried any yet. This margarita lime is perfect for me being that I LOVE margaritas. Win-win for sure!

And now the extras:

 A loofah mitt which I bet will work great with the body wash. I love these.

 I should have done some better photos of this anklet. Ophelia makes jewelry as well as awesome body products. This gorgeous piece is teals and gold and has a fantastic mermaid charm. LOVE!

 Info sheet with personal note. Such a nice touch!

 So to conclude, another awesome box from Ophelia. Great products that I will definitely use. It's sooo fun to try new things! Plus I love the personal touches and the jewelry that's always included. Such a great subscription. I highly recommend trying it for a month. You get so much for the 15 dollars, it's almost crazy. If you decide to try it out, tell Ophelia Stacie from an Amateur at Large sent you!
Here's a last look at everything all together: