Always Look On The Bright Side of Life

You know what? I’ve been having a rough couple of weeks.

Not like small rough. BIG, STEAMING PILES OF POOP, rough. I’m not going to go into too much into the craptastic details. But you can trust me when I say that things haven’t been the greatest.

I’ve repeatedly stated that I can’t wait for 2014 to be over; however, just like you can’t have a bad workout and give up for the week, day, month, year… you can’t blame an entire year for some crappy days (weeks, months, events, blah blah blah).

Besides, today, I realize that things are actually going my way! Seriously, I’ve got a few awesome things that I did today. And no, they aren’t BIG things. But I’ve always been a glass half full type of person, despite what life has thrown at me so why change that now?

Without further ado:

1. I’ve saved $450 of random cash this year in an envelope.

cash

CHA-CHING!

I can’t find the exact blog post but Suzan over at Welcome to the Nuthouse mentioned that every time she got a 5 dollar bill, she set it aside to save.

Following her lead, I did just that, occasionally throwing in other random bills along the way if I had extra in my wallet that I didn’t need immediately. A few times, bills came OUT of the envelope (emergency fund/no cash in the house/have to pay for piano lessons/etc.) but overall we did a good job of donating to our cause.

Saved money = good!

2. A few months ago that we switched from a .com to a .org and with that change, we changed the look of the blog, added a few awesome Chicks, etc. However, for the life of me, I couldn’t get the LIKE button on the bottom of posts.

I really, really like the like button.

Today I finally figured out HOW TO GET THE LIKE BUTTON BACK. I mean, it’s a little thing, but this was something that I wanted on the blog. And it’s there! Happiness is being able to figure out something that you couldn’t figure out before.

(Now, if anyone has any idea how to get Facebook to post a picture from a blog post rather than pulling a sidebar image… let’s just say I would be most grateful for the insight.)

3. Christmas Crazy is slowly dissolving in my house. And I can breathe again.

Ahhhhhh.

You cuties can go back to your spot, nestled in the attic, until next time!

You cuties can go back to your spot, nestled in the attic, until next time!

I’m taking down decorations, cleaning up the living room and finding spots for all the new toys and gadgets. I thrive with order and the chaos of the holidays really does a number on my sensibility.

4. Awesome, awesome, awesome workout with my trainer this morning.

My gym schedule is Tuesday/Thursday (with my husband going Monday/Wednesday/Friday). My Thursday last week was a bit on the busy side, what with it being Christmas and all. Last Tuesday I was injured (part of the craptastic story) and unable to make it. Therefore, I hadn’t really trained with my trainer since 11 days ago.

What was that I said above? Oh yes, I thrive on ORDER.

This morning’s workout was so necessary and so good for me, both physically and mentally. No doubt that I’ll be sore tomorrow and grateful for it!

Thursday is New Years Day so while they are closed, Dude has graciously offered up his Friday to me.

Mark December 30th, 2014 on your calendars, friends. Because today? TODAY I WIN.

Tell me your best news of today! Big or small – just share it with me. 🙂

These Shoes Were Made for Running

You guys! Yesterday, I laced up my new sneakers (Asics Cumulus) and went for a run. ALL THE EXCITEMENT IS HERE.

New shoes, new socks and a sexy new running partner.

New shoes, new socks and a sexy new running partner.

My last run was the Nike DC half in April, after which my foot ached something awful, and swelled to the size of, well, a foot much bigger than mine.

April was a long, long time ago. It’s been a moody four months around my house, if we’re being completely honest.

I’ve been doing some conditioning, as my doctor recommended, as well as other forms of cardio when I’ve had time (which wasn’t often), but yesterday, I decided that it was time.

The best part? I ran PAIN FREE.

Wheeeeee!

My doctor recommended that I ease back into running by doing intervals. Specifically, 10 minutes of walking, 10 running, 10 walking. I’m supposed to do that every other day for 10 days, at which point I can try 10 minutes of running, 10 walking, 10 running. And so on, until I’m running comfortably for 30 minutes. After that, I can slowly increase my mileage.

Day one. So far, so good.

SO HAPPY TO BE BACK.

Pop some nuun into your glass and celebrate with me. Cheers! What’s making you happy on this beautiful Monday?

ROY G. BIV – Colorful Runs!

Have you heard of Holi?

Holi is a Hindu religious festival, one in which brightly powdered colors that are thrown amongst participants in addition to bonfires, chants, and the celebration of spring.

Photo attributed to Jorge Royan: http://www.royan.com.ar/Royan/Home.html

Photo attributed to Jorge Royan: http://www.royan.com.ar/Royan/Home.html

Not long after I’d first learned about Holi, I saw a brightly colored ad for The Color Run, which began in January 2012. Touted as the Happiest 5k on the Planet, it was first inspired by Disney’s World of Color, paint parties, mud runs, and festivals throughout the world. The Color Run is known in the industry as a “paint race” and promotes healthiness, happiness, celebrating individuality and giving back.

And not too long after that, I heard about other color runs! Color Vibe, Color Me Rad, Run or Dye – the color powder is a’plenty and the party-like atmosphere is a good one.

"Color runs are awesome because you sweat rainbows." - Cam

“Color runs are awesome because you sweat rainbows.” – Cam

A couple of the Chicks have done their fair share of color throwing thus far; Jess, Cam and myself (Mer) took part in The Color Run 2012 San Francisco.

"Color runs are super awesome because everyone's there to have fun and get colored and give high fives." - Jess

“Color runs are super awesome because everyone’s there to have fun and get colored and give high fives.” – Jess

I volunteered at The Color Run 2012 New Jersey and soon I’ll be running at Run or Dye Philadelphia.

Bec‘s done both Color Me Rad 2012 Boston and The Color Run 2012 Boston and has another Color Me Rad coming up this summer.

" Color Me Rad is the perfect name for it. It was totally chill (as chill as an 88 degree July day can be), and I love that it was about playing and color and FUN. No timing, no pressure, just getting down for some good, clean (errrr) fun." - Bec

“It was totally chill (as chill as an 88 degree July day can be), and I love that it was about playing and color and FUN. No timing, no pressure, just getting down for some good, clean (errrr) fun.” – Bec

However, Victoria has yet to experience a color explosion and so we thought she’d be the perfect, unbiased, candidate for our comparison post!

Ring the bell and meet our two contenders in the COLOR THROW-DOWN!

colorvibe

VERSUS

colorrun

Color Vibe was founded in March of 2012, first under the name Graffiti Me Color Series before later changing to Color Vibe. Both races encourage the wearing of white (even after Labor day – GASP!), do not have timing chips, and encourage their participants to have THE BEST EXPERIENCE EVER.

Victoria, we hope you’re ready to party!

Color Vibe and The Color Run have both graciously provided entry for Vic’s experiences and she’ll be coming back here to share everything with the Scoot a Doot readers. Not to fret, this is a friendly competition where the boxing gloves are more like fist bumps and everyone is looking to have a good time.

First up is the Rochester Color Vibe which takes place today, April 20th.  Vic is looking forward to it and will report back next week!

Will you be there or at another colorful event this spring/summer? Have you been to a Holi celebration? Let’s hear about it!

While Color Vibe and The Color Run have compensated Vic for the races, this post and all others regarding it are not sponsored. All thoughts/opinions expressed are our own.