I said I was taking a break.

by Chase on May 16, 2012

… but I’ve got the place to myself tonight, and you know what? I feel like writing.  So let’s talk.

First, if you get a chance, go check out my friend Danielle’s new blog, Danielle Does Dallas.  You may recognize Danielle from such blog posts as this one (play the video once you get there and watch her rock out some BODYJAM).  She just moved to the big state of Texas from our sweet little corner of the world in NoVA and started a blog to keep us all updated with what’s going on in the land of big oil, big steaks and even bigger hair.  I miss her already but am delighted that she’s blogging so she won’t feel so far away.

Second, I started a new board on Pinterest called Stuff from Etsy that I neeeeeeeeeeeeeed.  If ever there was a time to start buying other peoples crafty wares, apparently the time is now.  Yes, I do need a custom monogrammed kindle cover like this one.  With my new married initials, of course:  CCL.

Third, do you recall when my dog had a cancerous tumor last summer?  We’re coming up on 9 months post op and with zero recurrence.  Saying prayers every day that it doesn’t come back.  My vet and I are on a first name basis so I know she’s in good hands.  And I spent more on Callie’s healthcare in the last 12 months than I did on my wedding dress.  That could be why we’re on a first name basis. 

Fourth, speaking of my wedding dress, it mostly fit when I had my first fitting this weekend.  It zipped no problem, but sitting was a bit out of the question.  I’m not sure what to attribute to the slight snug-ness of it… perhaps it was the salty smoked sturgeon I had the night before at The Russia House, perhaps it was some bloating attributable to that time of the month, perhaps it can be explained with the swelling and humidity of May vs. November when I bought it.  I haven’t gained any weight, and I’ve even lost some since then, so I’m not totally sure why it was snug.  Needless to say, I’m on a quest to lose 5 lbs in the next 5 weeks.  Bye bread.  See you in July.

Speaking of July, I offered to host book club in July.  I suggested The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.  Have you read it?  Also, apparently if you are female and know how to read, it is a requirement that you should be reading Fifty Shades of Grey at this time.  At least, that’s what it seems like in my circles.  And yes, I’m reading it.  I also just finished Room and Bossypants.  I’m glad I started making time again for reading.  I am a more relaxed person when I can disconnect from electronics a bit (says the girl who reads books on her iPhone).

And lastly, I’ve learned something recently that I thought I’d share with you.  It’s definitely a lesson I wasn’t prepared to learn when I was in my 20’s.  I have learned that the people you dislike the most in your world are the ones you must try hardest to be gracious and cordial to.  The more composed and patient you can stay in the face of obNOXious and unnecessary behavior, the better you are in the end.  I had a clerk at Starbucks make a rude comment to me when I didn’t order my beverage fast enough earlier this week.  I took 3.2 seconds instead of 1.8 seconds to spit out “grande half caff whole milk latte” and apparently that was not fast enough for him.  Five years ago, I would have been offended and embarrassed by what he said to me, and it would have sat with me, eating at me all day.  But this time, I said in my head, “Oh, bless you child,” and went on my way.

And with that, it’s time to power down. 

{ 2 comments }

Taking some time.

by Chase on May 9, 2012

I, myself, hadn’t typed in http://www.thechaseproject.com into a browser window in a little over a month.  I couldn’t tell you what my last post was.  Safe to say I’ve been in a whirlwind of wedding excitement over the last 30 days.  I have often thought fondly of my sweet blog and my even sweeter readers, but have not taken the time to check in with you all.  Thankfully, things are coming together and I hope to say this blogging dry spell is coming to an end!  Since my last post, the wedding invitations went out and the RSVPs are already starting to roll in.  Only 6 weeks until the big day.

So what else has been going on?

I’ve been taking a bit of a hiatus from running and more specifically, racing.  Remember way back when that I decided to do a triathlon?  Do you also recall that I am a terrible swimmer?  If you put money on this, it’s payday: Yep, I bailed.  I submitted a request for a refund, minus the {substantial} administrative fee.  Why?  Because I knew when to say when.  I decided 2012 was not the right year to learn to tackle my fears of open water swimming.  I’ve tackled a number of things this year, but the thought of learning to swim and preparing for a sport that I’m a novice to while planning a wedding and juggling everything else in my world (teaching, full-time work, volunteer commitments) was too much. 

Along with this, I actually have zero races coming up that I’m registered for.  It’s kind of a weird feeling because I’m always preparing for SOMETHING.  But for now, I’m going to scale back, enjoy the last 6 weeks as a single woman and spend some time after the wedding understanding and learning my new role as a wife.  Do I think it will be dramatically different as my role as girlfriend or fiancee?  Nope.  But I owe it to my soon-to-be-husband to take a break.  The last 11 months have been nothing short of warp speed and it will be nice just to spend some time for us to get to know us.

But I plan to return to blogging!  Wedding plans have taken over the free time that I usually saved for blogging, so a regular blogging schedule is high on my list of priorities for part 2, 2012.

See you soon…

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Rabble 2.

March 30, 2012

1) I decided on a whim to get a pedicure on Wednesday after work.  I was talked into a manicure as well, and I made the decision to get my ring finger a different color than the rest of my hand.  I thought it was kind of playful and different and everyone else thinks I [...]

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Happy Birthday, The CHASE Project!

March 26, 2012

Oh, hey!  Today is The CHASE Project’s second birthday. Happy Birthday, lil blog!  Yay! So, I don’t have anything exciting planned for the blog’s birthday, I don’t have a giveaway (not really my thing) and I don’t have any exciting news to share.  I’ve been so busy planning the wedding that I haven’t had a [...]

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Remember that St. Patrick’s Day when I ran a half marathon, ate my body weight in raw oysters and saw the Psychedelic Furs in concert?

March 18, 2012

That was a fun day.   (Photo courtesy Katie’s husband) I did the Rock N Roll USA Half marathon yesterday morning and I really would loosely  define my experience as a race.  I didn’t train, (even though I said I planned to) I didn’t run fast and I was thirty minutes off my PR.  It [...]

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Fun fact, …

March 13, 2012

The wedding is 102 days away. Fun fact, March 15th is the 4th anniversary of our first date, which is exactly 100 days from the wedding.  Fun fact, I’m so freakin busy that I can’t seem to carve out time to blog.  So, in an effort to keep you guys from thinking I’ve fallen off [...]

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Ode to eggs.

March 2, 2012

If there’s one thing about the LiveFit plan that you have to commit to it’s egg whites.  Egg whites all day every day.  If you’re allergic to them, or don’t like them, then the LiveFit plan totally won’t work for you. Fortunate for me, I love them and I’ve learned to enjoy them in many [...]

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LiveFit update

March 1, 2012

I took progress photo this morning because it’s March 1 and another month has passed, so I wanted to see how my progress looked. Left – December 5, 2011 Center – Jan 30, 2012 Right – March 1, 2012   So, what these photos tell me is that February was not the month in which [...]

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Shirataki noodles

February 27, 2012

One of my healthy swap secrets I learned back when I was doing Weight Watchers was Shirataki noodles in place of pasta. I had sort of forgotten about them for a little while because they don’t sell them at my go-to Giant grocery store.  But on a whim one evening recently, I went to Harris [...]

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Angry PiYo

February 26, 2012

I spent an otherwise beautiful Sunday in the gym all day today.  From 9am to 4pm I was there, earning continuing education credits for my AFAA Group Exercise certification.  I earned a certificate to teach a class called PiYo Strength which is a Yoga/Pilates fusion class for athleticism and agility.  And what that means is [...]

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