Top 3 Sophie Kinsella Books

CarrieLeave a comment

One of my favorite authors is Sophie Kinsella.  She also writes under another name, Madeline Wickham.  My fascination with this author all started back in 2003 when a co-worker at the golf club told me that I should read the Shopaholic Series.  I took her recommendation and started my summer reading list out with the first book in the series.  After reading the first chapter, I was hooked.  Her writing is witty and clever and always has a romantic plot line.  It’s the perfect recipe for a fantastic read.  Here are my top three favorites.

1. The Undomestic Goddess – This is a story about a lawyer who has to start a new career as a housekeeper.

2. Confessions of a Shopaholic – You might know this one as the movie where Isla Fisher plays Rebecca Bloomwood, a shopaholic who writes a finance column about how to manage money even though she can’t manage any money of her own.

3. I’ve Got Your Number – Her most recent novel about a recently engaged Poppy who finds out that her fiancé might not be the one she was meant to live the rest of her life with.

Her new novel, Wedding Night,  comes out in April.  Check any one of her books out for yourself.  I guarantee you will enjoy it if you life chic lit!

 

Running Link Love

SadieLeave a comment

Happy Monday!  This week I am in taper mode for my second half marathon on Sunday.  Since I’m in a running mode right now, I thought I would share some things that have helped me out recently.

I would not consider myself an experienced or a very serious runner, because I’ve never been very fast, and my interest has varied over the past few years.  Sometimes I will run multiple times a week for a few months and sign up for charity races, and then other times I will only run when I’m out of other workout options.  I don’t think that my body was particularly made for running, I’m definitely working against the laws of physics.  But I keep trying to bend those laws and convince my body to run and run faster.

In the past few months there have been a few blog posts/articles that I have come across that have given me some great insight and tips into the running world.

  1. Teri over at A Foodie Stays Fit, posted about her methods for increasing her running speed. I found this post very helpful, and while I’ve dabbled with running intervals in the past, it has inspired me to do it more regularly, and I have been seeing results on my longer steady state runs.
  2. I saw a link for this article about the golden rules for runners. It has a lot of great guidelines and suggestions that are so helpful for less experienced runners. It definitely helped me cut some corners rather than learning some lessons the hard way.  Things like how to dress for the weather, or how long to use your shoes, and many more.
  3. And even though I hate the treadmill, I do spend some time on it during the week because it’s a great training tool, especially to build speed.  The Skinny Runner, who I find hilarious, posted a link to this chart that does a little conversion for the incline on the treadmill.  When you run on an incline it obviously adds intensity so this chart shows you how the incline and pace you choose translates to a faster past without an incline. It’s hard to explain, just look at the chart.
  4. And lastly, if you’re in the Williamsburg area and you like running, you should sign up for the Yorktown Victory Run. It’s an 8 mile run from Newport News Park to the Yorktown Victory Monument and I’m the race director!  It’s a race that my business school organizes every year, and all of the proceeds go to Kidz’NGrief, a local charity that specializes in counseling children whole have lost a loved one.

The groundhog said Spring is coming so lace up those sneakers and get outside! And when you get back from your run, you should probably make yourself one of these…

Wonderful Weekend

Carrie1 Comment

This weekend Karla came to visit. We had an absolute blast! The weekend started out with a bang on Friday night when we traveled to Atlantic City to Harrah’s Resort. We started the night out at Dos Caminos. I had wanted to try this restaurant ever since I saw the Kardashians eating there on their show. I know that those ladies know good food when they see it. You can tell by the junk in their trunk. I had the pescado tacos which were unbelievably delicious. We also ordered guacamole for the table which is an absolute must-have with your complimentary tortilla chips and trio of salsas. I had a blood orange mojito which was a delightful treat for the tastebuds and of course for getting your buzz-on.

We continued the night by going to a Little Big Town concert. This group is phenomenal and their harmonies are out of this world. They sound almost exactly as they do on their record. They are simply amazing and I would definitely be happy to go see them on their next tour. One of my favorite parts of the night was when they did the Scattered, Smothered, and Covered section where they covered the following songs: Grenade, Moves Like Jagger, Born This Way and Some Nights. It really showed their true talent and artistry. Check out this video clip from You Tube (I can’t figure out how to upload my own).  Kasey Musgraves opened for Little Big Town and she was fantastic as well. She is a talented singer/songwriter and she write some songs for the new show Nashville, an example being Undermine. My favorite song of the night from Kasey was It Is What It Is, but her most well known single is Merry Go Round.

On Saturday, Karla and I went to see Safe Haven. I read the book so I knew what was going to happen. Josh Duhamel is always nice to look at. THen we went to a local watering hole for some libations.

On Sunday, we rounded out the weekend by planning our trip to San Francisco. We have scheduled a trip to the wine country, Muir Woods, Alcatraz, a walking tour of Chinatown, and we purchased our CitiPass. Any suggestions for our trip are welcome. We were quite hungry after all this planning. Luckily, Karla brought me some Indian food to try. It was my first tasting of Indian food and I’d say it was a success. We had chicken tikka masala. I had so much fun this weekend and I have next weekend to look forward to as well 😉

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