yay for new shoes!

so the other night, i ordered new running shoes- yay! 

i had to tell you about the site i used to order them- after going thru ebates, i found this site called roadrunnersports.com. not only did i get 8% cash back through ebates, they had this awesome option to purchase a VIP membership for 1.99 that ultimately saved me $14! so basically, i paid $2 for a $14 coupon. but the good news is, the membership lasts for a year! and it got me free shipping, which is basically another $7 or $8 off. 

my shoes were shipped out within a few hours and i got a nifty email documenting that. they should come in tomorrow, which i am pumped about. all in all, i definitely recommend them!! check them out for your running gear!

five fingers!

so this weekend, on our way up to rome to visit nathan's sisters, we stopped by abbadabba's (a shoe store in little 5 points) to try on some shoes. i'm not sure if you've heard/seen/tried the new craze of "five fingers" shoes, but after several members of my family got some, we decided to give them a shot- and we loved them!

abbadabbas has a HUGE selection of shoes- especially the outdoorsy, granola type. after skimming the chacos and keens and birkenstocks, we found the display of five fingers (made by vibram). they had a ton! assorted colors and styles entertained us while we searched for pairs that we liked. nathan had been doing some online research and thought he wanted the "classic" fit in a green color, but we both decided to try on a few different styles. first, i tried on some pretty cute pink ones, but we both decided the color was to particular to match my wardrobe. nathan tried on the pair he found online, and loved them- he was pretty sure those were the ones he wanted (they don't have a strap- i'll have to take a picture later to post on here), and after trying on a pair with a strap, he went with his original choice. they look really cool!

i ended up picking out this pair:

the kind i got are the "SPRINT"

and i really like them! we wore them around saturday, and then when we went to the lake with some friends, we wore them around out there too. they are actually surprisingly comfortable, and great because it feels like you are barefoot but you don't get your feet nasty. i'm going to try to run in them today- nathan worked out in his yesterday and said it was awesome. here's some more pics if you haven't seen them before

it's kind of cool- your toes get like trained to go in them. the first time, it took like 5 minutes to put them on, but now, my toes know just where to go!

vibram's website explains how they work here: "Our revolutionary design makes feet healthier by allowing them to move more naturally and freely. The typical human foot is an anatomical marvel of evolution with 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments. Like the rest of the body, to keep our feet healthy, they need to be stimulated and exercised."

check out their selection online, and if you really like them, head to abbadabbas or rei (thats where my folks got theirs). i'll update this post after my run today!

my birthday extravaganza!

so as many of you know, yesterday was my birthday...the big 2-3! i know, i know- i'm getting old :)

let me just start by saying that i have been blessed with some incredible people in my life. my friends, my family, and now my husband- they are all just great. as much as i enjoy a good celebration and a day all about me, i can't help but reflect on all the special people who have played a big part in my 23 years on this earth....from the dr that delivered me to the people i currently have on speed dial- and all the folks in between. i am truly blessed.

tuesday, i took a half day off work and mom and ash met me to go do a little shopping day at perimeter. early that morning though, ash called me and had a surprise for me- she had made me a pumpkin apple streusel cake for breakfast and brought it by the office for us to enjoy over coffee (well, i had coffee). it was so delish! i didn't get a pic, but it was super yum- i enjoyed much of it!!!!!

we left and noon, not in search of much but wanting to just enjoy some girl time, we enjoyed looking at all our favorite stores and i even picked up a few fun things- my favorite of which might be the pink glittery le creuset spatula :) mom also treated me to a beautiful mirror to put over our dresser- i had been on the hunt for one. i've posted pictures at the bottom so scroll there to see!

after several hours of browsing, mom, ash, & i stopped by our place so i could show them our improvements and awaited the arrival of nathan, charlie & dad.

 the six of us then headed  to dinner at what i now believe i can say with some certainty is my favorite restaurant in atlanta- floataway cafe (check out my review on yelp here) and then stopped by cafe intermezzo for a little dessert before heading home (their bosco is thebomb.com, i mean, really!) nathan had stopped by floataway on his way to meet us and dropped off some beautiful stargazer lilies for our table - what a sweetie he is! :) amazingly enough, i got no pictures. sad day. however, here is one of the pretty flowers!

yesterday, i enjoyed a day off by the pool with mom & ash (& hannie for a little bit). it was so nice just to relax and not have to be anywhere! mom had picked up an incredible cake from one of her friends who bakes and sells pound cakes. can i just say yum?! chocolate pound cake + a cappuccino mousse whipped cream frosting= ahhh!!!!!

yeah, it was pretty good! so poolside, i enjoyed some great chats with mom & ash (including many about her exciting news) as well as some yummy serafinos salads.  ash gave me this incredible homemade wreath as a present, which will be going on our door as soon as i repair the 9 that i knocked off

beautiful!  after getting a whole lot of sun (and even a nap) it was time to go home to see my love who had gotten off work and picked up chinese take out & cupcakes for dinner!

nothing says love like general tsos chicken & fried rice :)

nathan got cupcakes from this new little bakery that just opened on monday- they were pretty good too!

he selected 2 chocolate, a salted caramel on chocolate cake, a caramel on yellow cake, a strawberry, and a white chocolate raspberry. yes please!

i chose to enjoy the salted caramel one first (nathan had a chocolate one)- it was great!

for my birthday, nathan is going to get me an iphone 5 when it comes out (we're thinking august?). i've never had a smart phone (in fact, i have a 2 year old samsung flip phone, but i'm not going to lie, most days i really love and appreciate its simplicity!)

all in all, great birthday. great folks. great times. 

i love my life.

here's some mirror pics, because, i know you were interested :)

pretty, huh?

thanks for all the birthday wishes!!