taking a break

It just seems right to take a little blog break right now... There is a lot going on and sitting down at night writing just isn't in the card this week....

Until then, here's life:

• Friday night a high school friend was involved in a car accident where one girl was killed. That girl happened to be celebrating my brother's birthday with him on Thursday. It has been very hard on everyone. My friend Barry is still in the hospital and has a long way to go mentally and physically, so if you'd say a prayer for healing, I would really appreciate it. The Quattlebaums and Comers especially need the prayers.

• Work has really stepped up as I have gained responsibility this week. It's a good thing..... A great thing actually!! I like a challenge, but it just makes me more drained at the end of the day.

• I'm currently on mile 32 of 50 for my #50milesseptember. I hit halfway on Sunday. I can do this!

• My heart is also so heavy for the tragedy in DC and the flooding in Colorado. Why do bad things keep happening? Our world is just surrounded by terrible things lately! Luckily we are not in control!

• Tyler's dad is driving down from PA to our farm to hunt this weekend and I'm really looking forward to seeing him again! I also have a wedding shower and baby shower on Sunday.

• This commercial for Chipotle really upset me this week. I take farming/agriculture articles very seriously and I can honestly say Chipotle has lost my business. Here is a response to the video. Y'all farmers aren't out to "get" anyone and I promise you they care about the land and about their livestock.  This video makes it seem like they are only out to make money. Of course they want to make money but this is just a really unfair depiction of agriculture. If you ever have questions about farming or agriculture or organic or "natural" and my thoughts, please don't hesitate to ask. I love talking about it and learning more!

• Sarge had his yearly checkup and passed with flying colors except for fleas! Those pesky suckers are driving us crazy! Our neighborhood is covered with them and he attracts him on his walks. Thank goodness for Advantix and Capstar!

• Speaking of my neighborhood, we made the front page of the paper when we had 38 cars broken into on Monday... Joy! Luckily I park in the garage and Tyler is anal about locking his truck so we didn't lose anything but people are so disgusting and disappointing!

• My mom has been in Paris for a week and is headed to Belgium next week. Who is jealous!?! This girl.... But super happy this is her time to travel with her girlfriends!

• Next week begins season premiere week for my favorite shows!! Chicago Fire, SVU, Grey's Anatomy, Revenge... BRING.IT.ON!

• And I have another prayer request if you are the praying kind. It's unspoken, but I promise you God knows what is on my heart about this. It's pretty big in our lives right now and a hump in our almost 6 months of marriage... But that's what marriage is for! Love and support!

That's all for now.... I'll be back soon! We just need to get through the next couple of busy days and weeks, but you know where to find me on social media! Thanks for your love, friends!!

xoxo

friday 5

Linking up with April, Darci, Natasha, and Christina....

{one} 

I'm really proud of myself  and my workouts lately.

I'm running a 10k on October 4 and am determined to do well, hence my goal of running 50 miles in September. Follow and join me on twitter (@charlotteplaw) and hashtag #50milesseptember. I realize 50 miles was a HUGE goals and maybe even too steep, but I'm doing my best to hit my goal!

I'll go back to 9/1/13 when I started my goal and throw in my other workouts... So I guess this isn't really a weekly workout, more like my "September so far" workout.

Sunday, Sept 1: 2.10 miles on treadmill 8'34 pace

Tuesday, Sept 3: 3.11 miles {with 2 coworkers} 9'34 pace

Wednesday, Sept 4: 2.34 miles

Thursday, Sept 5: 3.18 miles on treadmill, walk/run

Friday, Sept 6: 1 hour of spin class

Saturday, Sept 7: 1 hour of barre class

Monday, Sept 9, 1.05 miles on elliptical + abs

Tuesday, Sept 10, 3.38 miles outside and over the Beaufort bridge / 9'15 pace

Wednesday, Sept 11: 1 hour of weights + cardio class {I am h-u-r-t-i-n-g}

Thursday, Sept 12: 4.60 miles outside / 8'34 pace

Tonight I'm hoping to go to spin class again and get another run in tomorrow morning.

{via Tumbler}

Whew.

Total for September: 19.7 miles /  30.3 to go!

{two}

I've seen so many interesting articles floating around Facebook that I had to share!

 - Though I am married... I thought this article titled "26, unmarried, and childless" was super interesting. I think we can all relate to a lot of the points in the article.

- Another friend also passed on this article about marriage. It's called "15 ways to stay married for 15 years" and is definitely worth the read! There are some really good key points about marriage including  doing your own thing (hello Charlotte running and Tyler hunting) and going to bed mad and making up in the morning (I don't hate this one).

 - And I know we all LOVE Buzzfeed, so in honor of Halloween quickly approaching, I thought this one, "10 Questions Hocus Pocus Let Unanswered" was too funny not to share. 

{three}

You have all got to make this cookie dough dip. My friend tried it a few weeks ago and told me about it, but I was super skeptical until she made it again last night and I asked her to bring some to work.... Ladies and gentleman, I bring you "healthy cookie dough" and the main ingredient is chickpeas! I'm serious. It sounds so gross but it is delicious and I am making some tonight!

{four}

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BROTHER!

I don't know about you, but he's feeling 22. Cannot wait to embarrass his Facebook wall with some T.Swift.

{five}

No real update on my night sweats. Blood work came back "perfect" which is great butttttttttt we still aren't sure what is going on. I think I'll just wait it out and see. Thanks for those of you who have been concerned!!

Happy Weekend!

shifts and shirts

The "I've-gained-16-pounds-since-we've-been-married" part of me is kind of in love with shirt dresses and shift dresses lately. I've been buying not a single fitted thing and now my jeans don't even fit!!

I'm on a mission to incorporate more light, comfortable dresses into my wardrobe! You can't go wrong with them, especially if your shoes make them work appropriate!

{one} J. Crew dress // Sam Edelman booties

{two} // Lilly Pulitzer dress // Modcloth wedges

{three} Top Shop dress // Vince Camuto booties

{four} LOFT dress  //Tory Burch flats

{five} Top Shop dress // J. Crew flats

I need to know where to find more reasonable shirt and shift dresses. Where have you seen them!?

a plug for my entrepreneurial friends {blogtember}

Again, Blogtember coincides with a blog post I had already thought of in my head!

Wednesday, September 11: Share links to your favorite online shops, preferably with a few photos of your favorite items in each shop.

I have some awesome friends. They do a lot of cool things and I'm really proud of them. Instead of telling you all about my favorite stores (J.Crew, LOFT, Nine West, Target), I thought I would spotlight a handful of my friends who have started their own businesses. I truly hope you look into them and support them!

Writefully His

My sorority sister and fellow Wofford alum, Grace, began a stationary company, WritefullyHis, LLC in which a percentage of the proceeds going back to purchasing paper and pencils for schools in East Africa. These supplies are purchased locally in the village markets to make it more sustainable for their local communities.

Wildflower: Purple

Typewriter: Crisp White

Follow Writefully His on Twitter // Facebook // Pinterest // Wordpress

Exposed Brick DC

One of my best college girlfriends just started this cool website just a few weeks ago. She lives in DC and has been there with another one of our girlfriends since college graduation. After Jamie's first lease was up, she became obsessed with the hunt of looking for a place to live. She began logging on to websites like Craigslist, Padmapper, 4walls, and Live Lovely every day. Her obsession became worse as she studied management companies’ websites, explored open houses and grilled friends about their renting experiences.

So, Jamie created Exposed Brick DC which will give you a sampling of affordable rental listings for young professionals, in some of DC’s best and most exciting neighborhoods. For those of you not looking, “Off The Market” provides inspiration and ideas on how to make your rental feel like your own.  I am not an expert but I’d like to think that I have good taste and know how to spot a deal.

And just for fun:

Just a little college throwback

Follow Exposed Brick DC on Facebook // Twitter // RSS Feed // Bloglovin

Rodan + Fields - Alexa Pack

If you read my post a few weeks ago about Rodan + Fields, then you know all about it, but my new friend Alexa is a consultant with this company. Just as a refresher: Rodan + Fields a dermatologist- created skincare line by the two Stanford-trained dermatologists who created Proactiv. If you are interested in trying it out, just leave a comment (make sure you aren't a no-reply blogger) and I'll get you in touch with Alexa!

Folllow R+ F on Facebook // Consultant Website

Copper Penny - Columbia

And last but certainly not least, these two girls are awesome! Kensley the blonde was my college roommate for two years and is still one of my best friends. Mollie, the brunette is also a really good friend. In August, they opened up a Copper Penny in Columbia, SC, which is super exciting!

Copper Penny was first started in the Charleston area, but has spread all over the state and areas like Savannah. Columbia desperately needed a new women's clothing store that wasn't too expensive, but also wasn't too inexpensive. CP in Columbia carries Trina Turk, Rachel Pally, French Connection, Sam Edelman, Bella Dahl, Tolani, Jack Rogers, Hanky Panky, and so many more! If you are in Columbia, SC, please check them out on Harden Street!!!

Follow Copper Penny on Facebook // Instagram: @CopperPennyColumbia

Happy Shopping!

why must the weekend end?

This weekend was so much fun. We packed a to into a little bit of time and I am honestly whooped as I type this. The weekend was one of those that you didn't want to end because we both hung out with friends and got to do a lot of (new) things.

Friday night I went to spin class (a first) at my YMCA. It wasn't as hard as I anticipated, but it was also a great workout and I was drenched with sweat when I left! I headed to the grocery store to pick up some beer -- Abita Purple Haze and Sweetwater Blue it was -- so good! Tyler was getting his hunting stuff together to go dove hunting at the farm on Saturday, so I sipped on the beer while he got ready.

Saturday I met my friend (she's also my coworker) Caroline at her gym to try a barre class. I've been DYING to try one and finally got a chance since she had a "bring a friend to class" pass. I had no idea what to expect but kept an open mind. While it was a really challenging workout, I also felt great afterwards and am feeling it now!! It was nice to go with a friend who was used to going, and I'm glad I don't have to "commit" to it right now; I am just going to visit when I'm over in Bluffton.

After the class, we met up with another friend, had lunch at the Frosty Frog on Hilton Head (hello amazing Jungle Juice daiquiri) and hit the beach with mojitos. The weather was absolutely perfect at the beach at Sea Pines was almost empty! After a few hours and a little sun, we went back to shower and have girls night!

I feel like I haven't had girls night in a really long time and it was SO GOOD to meet new girls to start hanging out with! We had some drinks before dinner then headed to Wise Guys back on Hilton Head. We decided on the tapas and had the calamari, sliders, lobster risotto, goat cheese, and stuffed mushrooms. So so good, and a great amount of food for 5 girls to split! I drove back home to Beaufort (about an hour away), so I dropped the girls off at a bar and headed home for the night. Good thing, since they told me they stayed out until 3:30!

Seriously counting down to another weekend to hang out again!

Sunday Tyler and I visited a church (we are trying to decide between two), and I did a lot of cleaning in the house before going to dinner at a friends' house. Tyler has become really good buds with my coworker and we had dinner with them for the first time. So much fun!

Did I mention Tyler went hunting all day Saturday with a friend? I'd say they did pretty well:

165 doves killed by 11 guys. Pretty impressive. And I think Sarge had a blast. Poor thing has been moping around all Sunday from running around and getting the birds. 

So there's my weekend in a nutshell. Why did it have to end!!??

How was yours?