Spring Cheer Exchange!

My friend Katie over at Running a Ragnar let me know about a Spring Cheer exchange happening amongst some bloggers she follows, and I was PSYCHED to join in the fun! Who doesn't love presents and spreading the word about new blogs to follow?! The event was hosted by Rachel from Floral and Fudge and Astleigh from Hill Collection.
I sent a box to Shelly over at The Queen in Between. My box took forever to get to her, and I'm so sorry she had very little time to get her post together... Hopefully she loves her items though! I had so much fun picking everything out for her, and was able to snag some great deals to really fill her box at the $15 limit!
My awesome box came from Whitney at Work it Mommy, all the way from California! She stopped by over here to see what kinds of things I like, and she really "got" me! I loved everything in the box! I have to apologize for my not so great photos, I thought the natural light would be so perfect... but not so much... You'll have to trust me that everything is totally me and gorgeous! So let's see what Whitney sent!

The color scheme was my FAVORITE! Mint and pink! What's better than all things mint and pink? Nothing that I can think of.

Mani-Pedi supplies:

 Mint green toes separators with the cutest file and clippers I've ever seen! I am so needing these for
the disaster situation my nails are in...

Polish!

 I had to include the picture of the wrapped polish just because it was so adorable! I love this bright pink color and can't wait to try it out!

EOS Strawberry Lip Balm and Pony charm!

 Again, Whitney did the cutest job of packaging everything together. I love that little pony charm, and I can't wait to make something with it! Believe it or not, this is my first EOS lip balm. I don't know what I've been waiting for, this stuff is fantastic! Smells great and really moisturizes.

Picture Frame:

 This springy frame is adorable, and I love that Hello Spring floral print inside! I may leave it as is!

Notebook:

 One can never have too many notepads. And if it's pink, all the better!

Paper Straws!

These mint paper straws are so cute! They have such a springy feel to them, I can't wait to sit outside and enjoy a cold lemonade with these!

Treats!

These caramels are homemade in a shop near Whitney, and they are DELICIOUS! There were actually three of them, but... well... I ate one before I took the photo. Oops. They're so tasty!

Many thanks to Rachel and Astleigh for hosting this fun exchange/link up! It was so much fun to choose cute items for someone else, and also to see what a fellow blogger would choose for me! I definitely want to participate in something like this again!
Have you ever done an exchange like this? What sorts of things did you include?

What's Up Wednesday!

Time for another edition of What's Up Wednesday! Here's what's up this week:

-Well, we're back to temps in the 20's. Honestly, this weather is torture. TORTURE!

-I've been chosen to be a Girls Run Fast Ambassador! I'm excited to represent this creative brand. They make adorable running themed jewelry and apparel. I'm excited to see what they'll come up with next! Look for the Girls Run Fast hashtag on my Instagram and running posts! (You can find me on Instagram, user name: stacieseidman)

-I've been doing a decent job of keeping up with my planned runs! That's a feat in itself. I'm still mostly running intervals, but I did manage a full, non walking 5K the other night! Here's what I've managed to accomplish since last Wed:
Thurs: 3 nonstop running miles. Average pace about 10 min miles
Sat: 7 interval miles on the treadmill... Plus a break at 5 miles to swap the laundry. I ran a half mile at just under a 10 min/mile pace, then walked about 1.5 minutes in between for the duration. The exception being the 15 minutes I took to fold the laundry and start another load. Multitasking!
Tues: 3 miles. I ran 1 mile at a 9:41 min/mile pace, then walked for about a min in between each mile.
I really can't wait to get back to running outside. I'm not a fan of the ice or dark mornings, but hopefully that will all be gone soon!

-Sunday I was lucky enough to ride a friend's horse. It's been WAY too long since I've been in the saddle. I still remember how to ride, but I'm embarrassed to admit, I was REALLY sore the next day! Ugh, so out of shape... Come on spring, I need to get riding!

-Speaking of horses, I have some exciting news! I've been offered the opportunity to show one of my trainer's horses next week at the Wellington Equestrian Festival (WEF for those in the know). I've always dreamed of showing at the winter FL circuit, so I'm SO EXCITED to go do this! Many years ago, I actually had planned to take Rio. I got so far as sending in my entries and stall reservations (and a whole lot of non-refundable money), when Rio pulled a muscle in his back and we couldn't go. But FINALLY it's my chance! I'm a little nervous being so unfit, but Candy (the horse I'm going to ride) is a complete saint, so I think it will be okay. Plus, who can resist a long weekend away from this never-ending winter?

-I can't remember if I mentioned this earlier, but I had finally gotten my car out after it being put away for the winter. And when I parked it back in the carport... it got stuck. Like really stuck. I tried digging it out. I tried shoving more stones under the tires... Nothing worked. Finally I had to have it pulled out by a coworker.

And now I need to get that worked on... The joys of home ownership!

-Not much is new with the four legged children. I shall now post many gratuitous photos of them being both cute and lazy:

That's what's up this Wednesday! What's up with you?

Truthful Tuesday

Oh dear... this is a doozy... Saturday morning, I stopped into Dunkin Donuts for a bagel and giant coffee before doing the barn chores. I'm in line behind a woman and who I think is her little boy. The woman finishes her order, and pays. She walks away. The teen behind the counter says "next in line." The little boy is still loitering at the counter but just standing there, not AT the register, just to the side. I, assuming he's with the lady and not paying attention, walk around him and start placing my order. Then I look back at a confused looking little boy and realize I totally just cut him in line. He wasn't with that lady at all! OMG. I just completely disregarded this kid. On the one hand, he should have  been paying attention. But I ALWAYS check with people near me to be sure it's actually my turn. Not this time... I said to him, "were you in line? Did I totally just cut you?!" And he was all, "yeah..." I was like, "I am SO sorry! Go ahead, go ahead!" But he said, "it's ok, you go, I have to ask my dad something and shows me his cell phone." (Seriously, this kid is maybe 8, and he has an iphone.) Anyway, I still feel horribly guilty about this... I should have paid for his stuff. Didn't think of that till later either. This is why I need coffee BEFORE venturing out in public.
Have you ever done anything like this?! On a scale of 1 to 10, how horrible of a human does this make me?

Nicole's Creations Came Yesterday!

My second delivery from Nicole's Creations arrived yesterday! For those who don't already know, Nicole makes gorgeous string jewelry up in Maine. She has a web shop so you can find anything available that she's created on there, but you can also opt for a monthly subscription. There are two options, $10 or $20. You will be surprised by Nicole with what you get, but I did select that I prefer bracelets. I also chose the $10 option. I love that Nicole visits this little blog to get a sense of my style and preferences. She really hit it out of the park this month! LOOK:

Gorgeous, right?!  The olive green... the gold toned filigree... Nicole really gets me. I so love that she included this adorable ring this month too! I would not have thought to make a macrame ring, but it's adorable and so comfortable!
I had asked if I could get the bracelets made just a teeny bit bigger since last months were a little snug. Nicole obliged, and this bracelet is a perfect fit. Like seriously perfect. It clearly was made for me.
I'm so happy with this subscription! It's quickly become one of my favorites.

Would you be interested in subscribing? If so, head on over to Nicole's Creations to get started! If you're kind enough to mention me (Stacie from Amateur at Large) I'll get an extra surprise with my next month's delivery. Which would be super awesome. No pressure though! 

What do you think of Nicole's Creations? What's your favorite sub box?

Thusday's Threads

Welcome to mud season everyone! Now that the temps are above freezing (for now... winter is coming back next week, waahhhhh) the snow and ice are melting. Yay! Which leaves lots of mud everywhere (boooo). Thus, still no fancy shoe wearing for me. Double BOOO! Thankfully I have cute synthetic shoes for mud season!
Here's what I'm wearing today:

It's hard to see in the photo, but I went with shiny everything today!

Top: Halogen

This has a fairly open weave with stripes of metallic blue thread. I love the electric blue color, but I do wish it was a little longer. (Note to self: do no put this in the dryer!) Found it at Nordstrom Rack for 9.95 though, so if it's a little short... that's ok!

Pants: Modcloth

I think I've shown these to you all before. My shiny gold pants! I love that the gold is fairly subtle on these.

Boots: Two Lips Too

I know you've seen these before. They're synthetic leather. But very soft and comfy. They get a lot of use!

Accessories:
Purse: Charmes

You can't wear a shiny blue top without a matching shiny blue bag can you? I think not. I discovered this brand on Zulilly awhile back and then recently discovered that they have an ebay store. Real leather bags for under $50! Yes really! I got the matching wallet too. Obviously. You should check them out here.

Bracelets:
Left:

I kind of miss my old light colored desk. It took much better arm party photos... Sorry for the terrible photo! Anyway, first is a bangle from Fornash. They had a big sale after the holidays and I stocked up. Next is a gold toned stretch bracelet with iridescent stones. I found it at my favorite bead store for 1.99. Win! And you recognize my trusty watch of course.

Right:

I'm trying SO HARD to think summer, so I donned my lobster bangle today. This one is also from Fornash. Next to it is a lapis bracelet I made a few months ago.

That's what I'm wearing today. What are you wearing?

What's Up Wednesday

Here's What's Up this Wednesday:

 -It's almost too great to be true... but it's actually been above freezing here! It's supposed to get into the 50's today! Holy cow! I can't believe it... spring may actually show up after all!

-The horses REALLY need to get back to work. But our riding arena still looks like this:

Believe it or not, there has been significant melting. I'd say it's down about 4 inches. Hopefully the rest goes quickly! I NEED TO RIDE!

-Girl Scout Cookies are not helping my chubbiness. However, I grabbed this from Jennifer at Runs With Pugs:

This speaks so true to me. I want to be healthy, but I am not the kind of girl that can give up eating things that are delicious or spend every free second of my time working out. So while I try to eat healthy foods more than the unhealthy ones, and I attempt to get my runs in, I also want to remember that it's ok if I'm not the size 2 I once was.

-You already know I skipped my long run last weekend. BUT I did get it done last night! Slow and steady for sure. But miles are miles whether they're fast or slow. I used intervals for this long run. Run half a mile, walk for .05. It went great and averaged out to slow 11:30 miles. I think I could have run a bit faster during the run portions, but I wanted to feel strong for this long run. As they get longer, I want to feel good about them and finish injury free. The shorter runs are where I can work on speed and shortening the walk breaks. Hopefully tomorrow night will be a fast (for me) three miler!

-Saturday night I attended my final banquet for the 2014 show season. (They sure do drag these things out... when I was a kid they all happened in January!) I took my mom as my date and collected Jampy's final prize for 2014.

Here's a photo of all the 2014 year end loot:

Not too shabby! I need to do some ribbon re-organizing one of these days. They're all hanging in no particular order all around the dining room. I find chaos uncomfortable... must fix that soon.

-I've noticed once again, via an awards photo of course, that angles really do matter. Here are the photos I took of my dress before the banquet on Saturday:

I swear, I'm not sucking anything in! Bottom photo maybe a little since I'm stretching up to fit in the frame. But basically, this is what I think I look like.
But THIS is what I looked like getting my prize:

Oh hello extra 40 lbs. Where did you come from?! Sheesh.

-The puggers and I took some selfies this weekend too. I had my hair done, so why not right?! Most of them were fails...

But this one is cute:

So are these:

-I was supposed to go ride a friend's horse Sunday, but she was feeling under the weather so we postponed. Since I found some free time, I took myself out to lunch. I'm still in mourning over the closing of my favorite breakfast spot, but lunch at Simon's Marketplace is helping me through the process. I went for the most delicious veggie, avocado, and cheese sandwich ever (on fresh made sourdough bread):

So delicious, AND mostly good for me too. <pats self on back> Simon's is a great little place. It's a gourmet deli, but it's also a gift shop. Things for sale are all over the store, even surrounding the tables. It's such a cute place! And the food is amazing!

If you're ever in Chester, CT definitely check it out.

So that's what's up with me. What's up with YOU? Let me know in the comments!