Go Girl 5k

This weekend was the Go Girl 5k Run.  I always enjoy this race but enjoyed it even more this year because I finally reached my goal of setting a new PR!

They changed the course from the normal route starting at Reactor Field to start downtown. However, that change didn't stop them from making the start of the course one beast of an uphill.  I am glad my strategy on hills is to look down and not up to see how much further I have uphill to run.  I was downtown later that day and walked to a restaurant up that same hill and looked up and thought "oh hell no how did I run up that earlier?"

The morning weather was perfect. It was sunny but cool.  Perfect for a nice run.  I decided to go minimal and not wear my watch or sunglasses.  I had told myself all day Friday I was going to feel great and have a fantastic run.  And I did.  I felt awesome the whole time and could tell I was running strong.  I am always focused and can't tell you much about the people running around me but I could see a woman running just ahead of me who kept glancing back at me.  I started to pick up on the fact she didn't want me passing her.  I'm normally only competing with myself but that gave me a little boost to pass her.  That led to passing the next person...and the next.  The finish of the race was a sweet downhill that allowed me to pick up speed and sprint around the corner to the finish.  I had no clue my finish time at that point and I grabbed a water and waited for Glenda.  Once she came along we walked to the results tent for our official time.

The lady at the results tent handed me my certificate and I said "You've got to be kidding me."  I must've sounded pretty serious because she asked me what was wrong. I think I told her that her computer was wrong because that time couldn't be right. She laughed and said that was my time. I finished at 27:23...a minute and 24 seconds better than my prior PR.  I even later mapped the course to make sure it was a full 5k.  I was 4th place in my division which turns out gets a medal...and I love my bling.  I had written down my goal to PR in May at either Jay Dix or Go Girl then believed I could and worked towards it. It is amazing what you can achieve when the positive thoughts push out the negative ones!

Not sure how the June 5k will go because the heat zaps me but I hope to keep up a good streak!  The race schedule for the rest of the year so far is:
June 18 Mo Series 5k (because bling and pizza)
August 14 Diva Dash (because it's flat, a fun run and there's bling)
August 20 Hotter n Hell 5k (because I love this one although it truly is hell. But...firefighters...so...)
August 27 Color Run (because bling and you get covered in nasty chalk you can't get rid of for weeks)
September 17 Tunnel to Tower 5k Jeff City (because I love hills?)
October 1 Roots n Blues half marathon (because Glenda is a bad influence)
November 24 Turkey Trax (Because pie)
December something Jingle Bell Run (because it's cold, or should be)

This will make my goal of 12 5ks and throw in a half! The year is going well!

Trash Talk

What a weekend.  Had a great run at the Go Girl 5k and the kid finally graduated!  More on that later.  

One of the Cardinals that likes to visit the patio now that the birds have discovered a food supply in my backyard.

I have collected a lot of trash since the last trash post.  As usual, my favorite Mango lotion.  Five of them.  $25 worth of lotion.  I had found a stash of the old packaging online one day and the old packaging is just so much better!
Total:  $25

Supplements-2 bottles of the O2 Gold ($31.16 x2) , my favorite Fruit Punch Spark ($38.97) and a bottle of the B12 chewable from Wal-Mart ($3.50).
Total:  $104.79

Random household items-Vanilla Snowflake soap from Bath and Body Works.  ($3)  I'm still working on using up so many Christmas scents!  Another Vanilla Snowflake candle.  ($10)  (with another in the process of being used in the background) The awesome Purex Crystals in Lavender. ($4)  I found a new scent last time I was at Wal-Mart called Tahitian Breeze.  I really like it so far!
Total:  $17

I finally used up the horrible Nexus shampoo I had bought at Wal-Mart for $12.99 I think?  Hated it.  I finally resorted to using it to shave my legs.  I typically like the Old Spice deodorant, however, for some reason, I hated this one.  I had found it on clearance for $1.99 and maybe it was expired or something but it sucked.  I finished up some Arbonne body cream that I had bought over 2 years ago for $80.  Yeah I know...not sure what I was thinking when I bought that.  It's like a cellulite, wrinkle reducing cream or something.  I didn't notice any $80 miracles coming out of that jar.
Total:  $94.98

Used up the Bobbi Brown eye cream that I love ($50 but bought it 20% off so only paid $40)...it didn't last quite as long as I remembered it lasting the previous time I had it.  Finished the Garnier gel cream that I like...already have another one to replace it.  ($7)  Used up an Almay eye make-up remover.  I like this one because it's not oily.  It's $5 at Wal-Mart or Target.  And I used up a sample of Clinique Laser Focus Serum ($25...it was half the size of the full size according to the label).  I LOVE this stuff and it's been out of stock online.  I swear I noticed a big difference in fine lines with this stuff.  I will totally spend $50 on a full size if it comes back in stock.
Total:  $77

I used up a Smashbox concealer ($23) that took forever to get through.  This used to be my must have concealer but I have since found cheaper versions.  I got through the Sephora Beauty Blender Cleanser that goes for $12.  It was ok but I'd rather pay for the actual Beauty Blender Cleanser.  It does a much better job and isn't too much more money.  The mascara is a Guerlain mascara sample ($5) and I ended up really liking this one when paired with another mascara as a top layer.  Then I used that creepy looking hand mask that I had posted about in a prior post that was $6 from Sephora.
Total:  $48

Trash total 5/22/16 $366.77
Trash total 4/10/16 $169.93
Trash total 3/14/16 $180.62
Trash total 2/7/16  $311.07
Trash total 2/17/16 $251.02
Grand total YTD:  $1,279.41

Really making some progress on decluttering and using up some of my stash!  Some of the items I have to repurchase as I go but a lot of it I don't so I'm seeing some space clear up!

Busy busy bee

I have been a productive, busy bee lately!  A lot of yardwork and errands.  I have a trashy talk post coming along with some frugal living tips so stay tuned for updates in the next few days. Seems all my activities have changed my bedtime to much earlier!  I'm exhausted but in a good way.  I've enjoyed my yardwork and feeding the birds and hummingbirds. #lifessimplepleasures

April favorites

So first a favorite this month has been saving money.  Which leads me to my next two favorites.  I may never go to Starbucks again...

 I found this Vanilla Starbucks syrup at Target around Christmas.  The chai is available at Target and Wal-Mart and has made a great, cheaper alternative than one chai from Starbucks.  The chai is exactly what Starbucks uses to make their drinks and a whole carton is half the cost of one drink at Starbucks.  I mix it with milk and good to go.

 Then I discovered this.  Stop the music.  This stuff is amazeballs. I don't even like coffee but this stuff...yes.  A new staple item.

 Peppercorn Ranch dressing.  I have the kid hooked on this now too.  I mostly use it on baked potatoes.  It's so good!

And finally my Garmin watch.  I looooove it.  You can change out the watch face so I chose runners to motivate me.  It keeps track of all kinds of stuff like steps, workouts, sleep, calories burned all day, heart rate when I wear the monitor, and more. I'm obsessed.  So glad I bought it.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there whether you mother the cute, 4 legged furry babies or the cute, 2 legged, bound to drive you to the edge but you still love em babies...or both.

Meet Sparky

This is Sparky.  The newest member of the fam. Finally after what feels like way too many months of car shopping we found a car that fit in with the fam.  This was the best car buying experience I've ever had.  I spent more than anticipated however, everything I was finding in my budget was junk and I didn't trust I wouldn't be throwing more money at it in the future.  This car was very reasonable and I know it will make it many more years than what I had been looking at.  I will say it is overwhelming to car shop as a female.  I always feel like a. I have no idea what to look for and b. The person will totally know this and take advantage of me.  I hate Craigslist but browsed it for a few month's.  I also hate dealer's who are shady.  

When I bought my car I had pretty good luck but still did the negotiating thing.  This time around one of the first things I learned was a local dealer...the big one...puts cars online that are too good to be true to lure you in.  I had contacted them asking about a Ford Focus but it was sold suddenly but they were willing to get me in to look at cars well over twice my budget.  The next day my coworker called and the same Ford Focus that was "sold" was there and they couldn't wait to show him!  Until I called back that is and was told "oh it's being sold as we speak."  I said "that's so weird because I was told it was sold yesterday."  I'm not up for those games.  Ironically my coworker had been looking at a very expensive truck and that experience made him think twice.  He has decided no new truck.  

So onto the good dealer!  Reluctantly I contacted the Subaru dealer when I saw this car.  The first thing I noticed was my phone didn't ring within 5 minutes of my email.  I received an email back a few hours later saying thanks for inquiring and they would get back with me soon.  I thought "well that's different...normally my phone rings right away as the shark starts to circle his prey."  So that was a Wednesday and I had requested to test drive on Saturday.  Funny enough not hearing back from them pushed me to go ahead and walk in Wednesday night.  I pulled into the lot to see a guy sitting outside and thought "here we go."  

That guy didn't approach me at all.  A very smiley, cute salesman walked out and greeted me.  I was waiting on the guy outside to try to beat him to it but didn't try.  So I mentioned that I had emailed and the salesman said "Did Richard already explain how we do things here?"  (Richard is the owner)  I said no I got an email back that I assumed was generic.  We went for a test drive while he explained his job is to take us for the test drive and get my info but beyond that if I'm interested I go talk to Richard. Okay... I immediately liked him.  I said I wanted to know how reliable Chevy's could be and he explained he worked in the mechanics area before moving into sales.  He said he was a Chevy guy and he would leave it at that based on the car I drove in the lot.  That had me laughing. He asked me why I didn't want to wait until Saturday to come in and I said "well with the other dealer here cars seem to mysteriously sell overnight.  Twice."  

So there was no question the car was a good fit.  I went back and talked to Richard.  Prepared for the haggling to begin I sat back and waited.  He said "You know the price listed and you know that price is never what you pay. Tell me what you want to pay and I'll shake your hand if I can accept that"  Uh ok...I threw out the number I had in mind...and I like to think I'm pretty reasonable.  He replied "No. I can't do that.  But I can do that less 250 dollars."  "Huh?  Am I being punked?  Did you just counter my offer with a LOWER offer?"  He said he wanted me to get a fair deal and he could see the kid practically bouncing out of her chair with excitement.  This was unlike any dealer I've ever experienced.  

Fast forward to the next day and SF Bank giving me a STUPID high loan rate.  I called the dealer finance guy and said I know my credit and I'm not going thru SF Bank.  And the virtual credit union now would take over a week to even get approved.  So we agreed I would go in Saturday and the finance guy said he could easily beat that rate.  So we went back Saturday and as we waited for all the paperwork the dealer sent us off across the street to have lunch on their account.  They gave me a rate almost as low as the credit union and said SF Bank was nuts.  Agreed.  Then the finance guy proceeds to go thru the entire car buying process with only the kid and informed her if she ever buys a car from another dealer don't ever buy the extra crap they try to sell you.  He said he's supposed to try too but he doesn't.  He put her on the loan to help her establish credit but turns out she already has a pretty great score thanks to being a user on my credit card.  He then hands her a very nice emergency road kit and hands one over to me too and then grabs the keys and we were off!  We had some trouble with opening the hatch later that day and the owner made sure the service department didn't charge me anything when I took it in.  (The finance guy did tell me to stop him if he stepped on my toes and I said please lecture away!  Wish more dealers were honest like that.) 

This is the only time I wrote a thank you card to a car dealer for providing such a great experience.  I was just amazed at how great they treated us.  If all car dealers ran like that car buying would be a lot more fun.  No doubt I won't hesitate to go back to them for any future purchase!