You Are Special Plate
As usual this was a very busy which we kicked off in the most appropriate way… another birthday celebration for me! Every year for birthdays Tim’s mom makes whatever the birthday person’s request is. Mine is always the same.
And I think it is her least favorite birthday to cook for!
Salad (with both green and black olives please), croissants, stuffed shells, and the spinach puff (remember the puff from Thanksgiving?). This year to make things even more complicated delicious I also requested peanut butter pie for dessert!
When I walked into the kitchen I arrived to see beautiful flowers sitting on the corner which I was told were for me! TWO SETS OF FLOWERS FOR MY BIRTHDAY! Gosh between Tim and his mom I was really starting to love being 26. It was like the beautiful flower birthday or something!
Then we sat down to dinner and as you can see I was not shy! When it’s your birthday you are supposed to be able to eat whatever you want right?!
And that is not a very good picture of it but if you look at the side of the plate it actually says “you are special today” which I think is just such a nice treat for a birthday dinner. I hope I can find another one of these plates when I start having kids because it really is a nice tradition to start. Kind of like the cupcake tradition my mom starts a few birthdays ago. Then after we were done eating I got to open my presents which was just a whole other world of wonderfulness! Gary got me a nice bottle of wine (which he instructed me NOT to share with my friends haha) and Robin got me this beautiful Northface backpack I have been wanting, this beautiful rose gold watch, and 3 new dresses… I mean seriously what a wonderful treat!
It was just a fabulous birthday filled with laughter and fun! We had a pretty intense came of Farkle (don’t worry I didn’t know what it was either), drank some wine, and just had a great time enjoying each other’s company. It was a really nice way to end my birthday week!!
A quick run because I wanted to
Saturday at 1pm I had a very special appointment… I was going to try on my very own wedding dress for the first time! It had come in on my birthday and I was really looking forward to putting that beautiful gown on! But before I left to do that I knew I wanted to get in a little run in the morning. Now, I was short on time so a mileage goal was just waste but I wanted to challenge myself so I opted for a time/mileage goal with a faster pace. It was a really great 3 mile run where all of my mile minutes were just about 10 min/mile. Which is a lot faster than my 11 min/mile. (when I look back it makes me laugh to think that I had to run a 8 min/mile to make the varsity soccer team). But in any case- goal achieved! It is still not as fast as the Susan G Komen race I did last fall where I came in under 29 minutes but I think I could rock a 5K in that same time but more easily now. You figure if you usually run a 10 min mile or so when you are racing you are going to run faster than you usually do. That’s just a matter of fact. All of that adrenaline and the camaraderie of the event can take you longer and/or faster than you have ever gone before.
Then later that date (after the big reveal of the dress with my mom and Kara) my mom and I just started talking about body image. We were just thinking about all of the women in our lives that we admire for their positive attitudes, their love of life, their drive to succeed, and all of the things that make them so special and so inspirational. But then we got to thinking that all of those women have self-esteem issues. Just as we do. We pondered on whether or not the women of the world will ever be able to look in the mirror and say I love EVERYTHING about myself. Not I love most things about myself but wish this was smaller, or these were bigger, or this was less flabby. But truly love everything about yourself. I know I’m not there yet but then my mom asked me what I am proud of.
Well I’m proud of my body all of the time, everyday actually. I’m proud that I can set running goals and my body can achieve those goals. While my big thighs can’t always fit in every pair of pants I’m glad they are big and strong enough to take me the places I want to go. While my eye droops a little in pictures sometimes I’m glad it is open and that I can see. While every time I turned around in my new wedding dress I thought I saw back fat, I’m glad that the person standing across from me on that alter doesn’t give a crap about the back fat that is probably not even there!
When I think about the things I am proud of, it actually helped remind me that those things are often times the things I critique myself about. The things I think make me less than perfect are actually those things that help me achieve my goals… like running. My butt is flat, my legs are big, my arms are strong, and all of those things help me run 2,3,5 miles ya know. Without a strong body I would not be able to go as far or as fast as the goals I have set for myself. So it really was an interesting thought process to go through.
I recommend you think about the thing that you don’t like about yourself when you look in the mirror and remind yourself of something that one thing does for you!
Need an example… that’s easy. Let’s say “you don’t like your nose” well I bet you love smelling flowers don’t you? or chocolate? Or fresh baked blueberry muffins? You don’t like your big or squinty eyes? Well I bet you love looking at that baby girl or boy you have in your life? and I bet you love looking at your significant other before you fall asleep at night? Think your voice is too low or too high? Well I bet you love to sing in the car or shower? I bet you are glad you can tell your mom and dad that you love them?
I say we all start thinking about all of the wonderful things our body and mind can do for us instead of thinking of all the reasons we’re not happy with them!
After my run, the wedding dress shopping trip, playing with mom, and a 20 minute nap, Tim and I headed out to Parma Heights to celebrate Dana’s birthday (which is on April 1st- which is funny because Dana is funny and it’s April Fools Day).
We spent most of the evening eat Hibachi which is always a delicious treats! I got the chicken and shrimp (so standard for me) and drank a Stella. I randomly have gotten into beer a little more lately but only light girly beers haha. I’m still very picky!
I’m not sure if the best part of dinner was the food and chef
Or if it was the ridiculous amount of sake flowing
but we really did have a great time! And Dana was kind enough to share his birthday celebrations with me so we both got a birthday dessert!! He’s just so good to me!
Then we headed to the bar for some after dinner drinks and more fun! Rich and Dana were BFF with the bartender so we got a few free drinks, sang loudly to the DJ’s tunes, and laughed a lot! It was a wonderful celebration that Kara put together for her hubby’s birthday!
There were MANY funny moments but Rich and I had a few good conversations I thought I should share…
- Rich- “Jaci, why you are wearing a Blazer”
- Me- “Because I like it”
- Rich- “You look like you are in a J Crew magazine”
- Me- “Why thank you”
- Rich- “You look like you think you are better than everyone else in that blazer”
- Me- “Not yet (put on glasses here), but now I do”
*Note here: Dana also told me I looked like I out of J Crew- mind you I only have 1 Crew item on people*
- Rich- “Did you buy your shoes from a stripper”
- Me- “No, I wore these when I was a stripper”
Kara and I exchanged a very funny moment about a to-go box but I tend to clean the blog clean so I better not repeat it! haha
March was a VERY busy month I feel like! Tons of accomplishments, fun things, and all of that jazz! Below are some highlighted post from this month in case you missed them!
- We talked about the pros and cons of going out to eat
- Engaged and Running was featured on the Operation Beautiful website
- We talked about my favorite CrossFit workouts and my favorite playlist music
- I hit a running milestone
- A had a terrible run but learned a lot from it
- Recipe Updates and Favorite Foods were explored
- Birthday Celebrations Began and a hit another running milestone
- We talked about shopping in the organic section at the grocery store
- My actual birthday was AMAZING
- We talked about why I love running (and why you should too!)
