Thursday, May 1, 2014

Music, Books, Miles and Looks of April

Wow.  April. What an incredible month.  I celebrated my one-year anniversary in Charlotte (OK, celebrate is not the right word.  I breathed a sigh of relief that I had survived), I interviewed for two different opportunities, was offered and accepted a job that I am very excited about, resigned from a company where I have worked for ~10 years, found an apartment, and started to coordinate my cross-country move.  Phew - I fit a lot in April but it was definitely the BEST month I have had in well over a year!  Hooray!

And?  I leave for Asheville today for a 4 day weekend there!  I'm so excited to do some hiking and check out the garden/grounds of the Biltmore!

Music:

 
















This is How We Roll by Florida Georgia Line - OK, I am not a big country person, but I really like this song.  One of the spin instructors that I really like will occasionally play it during class and it's a fun song to bike to.



Over You by Ingrid Michaleson featuring A Great Big World - Oh how I adore Ingrid Michaelson.  I've got to find a way to see her live this year.  This song is hauntingly beautiful.  It's about a person telling them self they are over someone when it's obvious that is far from the truth.

Books:

It was a quieter reading month for me mostly because there were times when I had no ability to focus on reading due to stress about interviews/the offer process/resigning.  So in total I read 6 books, which is less than I thought I'd read given I didn't work the last part of the month.  My favorites were The Gods of Heavenly Punishment, Still Life with Bread Crumbs, and The Almond Tree.

The Department of Lost and Found by Allison Winn Scotch - 3 stars
The Almond Tree by Michelle Cohen Corasanti - 4 stars
The Gods of Heavenly Punishment by Jennifer Cody Epstein - 5 stars
Still Life With Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen - 3 stars
The Baker's Daughter by Sarah McCoy - 3 stars
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - 3 stars

Miles:

April was a great month for me in terms of workouts.  I ran 55 miles, which is less than the 60 miles I ran in March but I am OK with this as I did a lot of other workouts.  I am more proud of the fact that I worked out 32 times.  Granted, not working for part of the month made it easy to achieve my 30 workouts in 30 days goal but even before I resigned I was on track to make this goal!  Plus some of those workouts almost should count for 2 workouts - like when I hiked for 3.5 hours straight!  I am really loving the variety of my workouts these days and I especially enjoy the strength training classes I've been taking.  Instead of tracking my weight this month, I measured myself and was happy to see I lost an inch in my waist and half an inch in my things and hips.


Looks:

April was a better outfit month for me.  The temps warmed up so I got to pull out some springy looks!

Up first - this is a very basic, simple outfit (which is totally my style) but I like the clean look of this outfit.  And yea!  I can wear cropped pants again which are my favorite pants to wear!


Next up is a new outfit that I purchased when I had a 50% off 5 items coupon from Banana Republic.  What can I say, I heart stripes!


OK, I hate business suits, but this look has to make the list for the month because this was my interview outfit that I wore for my first set of interviews - which resulted in a job offer so this is my lucky suit!


Lastly, not a full outfit, but a photo of a fun pair of shoes I bought this month.  I LOVE red shoes.  I tend to be a really plain dresser, so I like bright shoes as they are a fun way to add some color to my looks.

21 comments:

Kelly (She Wears a Red Sox Cap) said...

I love your outfits especially those red shoes! I'm impressed that you read 6 books considering all you had going on!

Stephany said...

Yay, April! April was YOUR MONTH, friend! I am so happy for all the good things that happened to you & I hope the good things keep coming. :)

Marlys said...

Have a great road trip to Asheville! I love the new clothes, too, and especially the red shoes!
Can't wait for the next two weeks to fly by so we can get you on the road "home"!

Marisa A. said...

I think one of the reason I love Jane Eyre so much is that it was the first love story I ever read. I checked it out from the library in 6th grade and I remember waking up at 5am on a Saturday (which is INSANELY early for a 12 year old) to finish reading it. I remember wanting to be like Jane, independent and making my own way and then finding my Mr. Rochester. Sigh...I might have to go re-read it now for like the 10th time :)

missris said...

LOVE the cropped pants. I'm a huge cropped pants fan myself so I'm really glad it's cropped pants weather again! Next up: skirts!

Carolina John said...

You did have a great month! Have fun in Asheville this weekend. We'll be in Greenville for my brother's wedding. Have you been to Hendersonville yet? it's a quaint, small Asheville suburb that's a fun bike ride away from Caesar's Head, which is also a great hike.

Nora said...

Congrats on the workouts! I think hiking for 3.5 hours counts as 3 workouts (one for each hour!)I can't begin to imagine where you have any inches to lose; you're such a skinny minnie to me =)

50% of 5 items? That's awesome! Enjoy your long weekend!!!

Jeanie said...

Wow -- Love, love, love those red shoes! And congratulations on the workouts!

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

You're so funny about the Florida Georgia Line song - I feel the exact same way about country, but also really like this song. In fact, when we went to Florida, we listened to mostly country music and I was sort of kind of ok with it. (But, let's be honest, country music today is a lot different than country music even 20 years ago.)

Love the outfits and even more than that, I love your smile. Feels like you genuinely mean it. After a year of plugging away, you finally have reason to be happy again!

Anonymous said...

Hurray for a fantastic April!

Emilie said...

I have a really similar style with clothes. I love simple, clean looks. It never goes out of style! I just bought my first pair of red flats - so excited to wear them. I grew up on country music and it is so different from what it was ten, twenty years ago! A lot of what is on the radio is pop-country. I do like that FGL song though! Have a great time this weekend, I can't wait to see pictures!

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

Those shoes are awesome!!!

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

Yay for April! ;)

J and A said...

You always look so professional! LOVE it. And I am jealous of all your book reading. I need to MAKE the time to read more!

Becky said...

Hooray for May! Hope you're loving Asheville!!!

Abby said...

I love your outfits this month!! That dress I adorable! You look great, Lisa!!!!

I think is funny how music in a spin class can make you like songs you typically wouldn't.

"Only 6 books" - you are amazing. I wish my eyes moved as fast as yours did!

Lisa-Marie said...

I can feel your excitement through reading this! I'm so pleased for you! Also you look great in all your outfits, and man, your hasir grows quick!

Amber said...

That is so so awesome about your measurements! I'm so glad you decided to measure yourself this month because strength training can make a huge difference with measurements, but not much of a difference on the scale. I bet it felt good to see some inches lost!

So glad you finally had such an amazing month. You totally deserve it!

Leigh said...

Your hair is getting so long and looking great! I don't like country music either, but have been liking it more lately for some strange reason.

Shoshanah said...

I'm not normally a new music person, but lately I've been loving Jamie Lynn Spears new song. And yes, as in Britney's little sister. But trust me, if you haven't heard it yet, you really should.

And yeah! I'm glad you loved The Gods of Heavenly Punishment too!

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

I love those red flats! And thank goodness for cropped pants. I just do not like how full length pants look on me. I have long legs (for my height) and a short torso, so the waist to crotch area is always too long or baggy.