Well, this is it. My last post on itsamessylife.com. It’s been almost 6 years of posting about fitness, running, obstacle races, family life, summer bucket lists, trying to stay motivated, and such! I’m feeling a bit nostalgic revisiting some of my old posts! They have me missing that super motivated and dedicated person who started this blog about her fitness journey. Seriously, I could really use her right now to get me back to feeling motivated and on the healthy eating train and if I’m being totally honest, weight loss! But, this isn’t a post about regrets, it’s about moving forward and letting go when the time seems right.
This blog has helped me, not only document my life for the past 6 years, but it’s also helped me stay accountable and motived in my goals. So, why am I ending the blog? Because it was helpful, until it wasn’t. I can’t exactly pin point or show you when and where or even tell you why. It just stopped being fun, it stopped being a place for me to escape and share my ups and downs and became a chore. I began to stress about content and what I could or should be writing about. I started feeling bad about myself because I wasn’t as motivated as I was when I started the blog. My posts became sporadic and half-hearted. Once something that used to bring you joy is no longer doing so, it’s time to let it go. I’ve struggled with this for the past year, but finally decided it was the right thing to do.
I’m super excited about publishing the blog posts in book format using https://www.blog2print.com/, after all it is 6 years of my life! I’m so proud of having kept this blog as a way to help me and others stay motivated in fitness, running, healthy eating, and family life! I’m looking forward to looking back and reminiscing on family vacations, our summer bucket lists, and race recaps.
I also hope it will also remind me of all I am capable and continue to motivate me to not be afraid to do hard things. More than anything I want this blog to show my kids that life has it’s ups and downs, that I am not perfect, but that I also never gave up. I want them to see this as not just a phase but a complete change for the better. I hope it motivates them to pursue their goals and dreams too!
I may be asking a lot of a little blog book, but why not, right? That’s what it’s always been about! Not being afraid to keep moving forward and doing what others may think is silly or impossible.
However, my blogging days are not over! Before I started It’s a Messy Life, I would blog about family life and how I was feeling over on my wedding photography business blog. So, if you’re interested in seeing our summer bucket list for 2019 and getting periodic updates on all aspects of life, including race recaps, family vacations, and random ramblings, I suggest you check out that blog: http://www.theemerics.com/blog You’ll also get to see lots of pretty wedding photos, so it’s a win-win! Thanks so much for taking the time to read my blog and for following along all these years! XO
My daughter is almost 8 years old and she is so much fun to around! Sure, her and her big brother bicker more than I like. And, yes she whines about minor paper cuts or when asked to go to bed. Oh and one more thing, she is so forgetful! It’s kinda ridiculous. BUT….she is also an amazing spirited kid. She has the best imagination and I just love to see her play with her dolls and make all kinds of crafts from sewing clothes for her dolls to making pop-up greeting cards. She’s such a girly girl too.
So, it came to no surprise that about a year ago or so, she began to show interest in American Girl dolls. Now, I was not about to spend that kind of money on a doll for her. It seemed way over priced. Honestly, I’m not big on buying my kiddos too many toys. I can’t remember the last toy we bought them. I’m way more willing to spend money on taking them on fun adventures and experiences. That being said, when she came home with a D in writing on her progress report last year, Jason promised if she brought that D up to a B she would get her American Girl doll. Well, I gotta hand it to her. She put in the work and made huge progress. She came home at the end of the year with all A’s and one B, yup in writing. We were all so proud of her and her grandparents who live in NY, knowing about the deal made with her, sent her the money for the doll as an end-of-the-year gift. She was beyond excited and we were beyond grateful!
When it came down to buying the doll, we considered just ordering it online since there isn’t a store in Las Vegas, but it just didn’t seem as fun. I knew they had a store in L.A. and since we’d be in California in September, we thought it would be a lot more fun to go to the actual store and make it part of an experience! There I go again with the “experiences” huh!
Elysse patiently waited the month or so before our trip and it was so worth it! I did my research and came up with a good strategy to make the best of our trip and not break the bank!
Playing around in the store before our shopping appointment.
With her grandparents already contributing to the purchase of an actual doll, I knew we’d have to splurge a little on clothing and accessories. Jason and I came up with a budget and then I sat with her and we checked out the website and started thinking of which doll she’d like. If you’ve never seen the website, you should check it out. The accessories and clothes are insane! I got an idea of the things she liked and then it came down to deciding. Mind you, we did this at home and not in the store! I didn’t give her an exact dollar amount, I just steered her in the general ball park. We decided we’d buy her doll 1 outfit, a pair of glasses (like hers), maybe a matching t-shirt or accessory for Elysse. Plus the one thing she absolutely had to have, which was a carrying case for her new doll.
When I was checking out American Girl website, I saw that they offered personal shoppers and that it was a totally free service. Well, I was totally up for that and made our appointment. Our personal shopper greeted us as we arrived to the store, gave us a tour of the store, along with a little history on the dolls and each of their stories. It was definitely a treat for us, especially since this was our first visit. This store is huge. It’s about the size of a department store, think Macy’s but only with doll stuff! Plus, it was just super nice to have someone helping Elysse choose her doll and not having to ask for assistance every time she wanted to see a doll or accessory. I also loved that she gave us time to shop without her, so there was no sales pressure! It turned out they were running a sales promotion on TrulyMe dolls, where you purchased 2 outfits and an accessory and received 20% off. So, in the end, she ended up with an additional doll outfit for her doll. She chose a fancy glittery outfit and a gymnastics outfit. Plus, matching glasses like hers and the coveted doll carrier. Once it was time to make the purchase, we didn’t have to go to the check out, but rather we went into the personal shopper office and we sat in comfy couches, while she took care of ringing us up and throwing in a few goodies, like a poster and magazine, for us. I can definitely see the advantages of this on a busy weekend or during the holiday season.
My happy little shopper!
The store has 2 levels! It’s that huge.
The other big splurge was having lunch reservations at the cafe. Yes, there is even a cafe in the store. Elysse wanted to eat at on the balcony and it ended up we were the only ones outside. To be honest, there were only a handful of other tables filled during our lunch spot. I’m sue this was because it was a school day and it was also the later lunch slot. You should know it’s not set up like a regular restaurant, but rather you can only make reservations for specific time slots and you choose from a few options in a pre-fix menu. You can also host private parties there. Once seated, the service was just ok. Nothing amazing. They did have a special seat for Ely’s new doll, as well as a plate and cup for her to “eat”. But that’s all. Our food was not very tasty. Think over-priced theme park meals. The food was bland and not very appealing. Ely’s fries were probably the best thing at the table. But, I suppose you pay for the experience. It was not something I would do again.
All and all, the American Girl shopping experience was a success! Elysse and I had some quality mother-daughter time. She absolutely loves her doll and takes her everywhere! It’s super adorable to see her interact with Lilly. I really like the American Girl philosophy and how they work on empowering girls and encouraging them to enjoy girlhood by playing and using their imagination. They also have educational books, movies, crafts, and activities that help girls face various issues as they grow up.
Below is a summary of my tips if and when you take your own daughter, niece, granddaughter, friend. And, if you’ve been before and love it, please let me know that too! I’d love to hear any other tips you may have.
Twinsies out for a stroll!
3 Tips for Enjoying Your Day at the American Girl Store
Prepare a budget and set expectations before your visit. Unless you have an unlimited budget, this will be a lifesaver and especially a money saver! One could easily get carried away in that store 🙂
Get a personal shopper. It’s a free service and they’ll will help guide you through the store. Plus, it’s pretty cool to have that personalized service 🙂
Skip the cafe. Unless your daughter really wants to go and you really want to make it a special occasion for her, I don’t recommend it. As much as I want to say it was worth it, I just can’t. The food is bland and sub-par. I would have much rather made a reservation at a nearby “fancy” restaurant and enjoyed my meal a lot more. I would suggest you do the same 🙂
I am so excited to share that we have a new home! Things have been pretty crazy around here these past few months with everything that goes into purchasing a home, packing up our old place, and still keeping up with work and family life.
We moved in right at the beginning of August and with the help of our family and some great friends, we managed to get it all done pretty quickly. The home was pretty much move-in ready, with painting being the main thing to work on once we moved in. Choosing paint colors was kinda stressful, but I am so happy to not have to stare at brown poopy colored walls anymore! It’s also been super exciting shopping and buying new appliances. Talk about being a grown up, huh! We’ve got plans to remodel the bathroom too! Now that we’re settling in, we have some fun ideas for decorating and make the space our own. We also have a bit of work to do in the front and backyard, but we’re waiting for the weather to cool down before we begin those projects. Watch out, we are taking this homeownership thing serious.
I’ve been on Pinterest way more than I care to admit and have made more trips in one week to the Home Depot than I would like. But, I’m really looking forward to decorating, remodeling, and making this house our home.
We’re using the hashtag #CasaEmeric on Instagram for all things home related and sharing peeks into the house transformation! I’ll be sure to share a tour of the new place as soon it’s all done.
Tower of boxes and biggest moving truck we could find!Fancy new appliances! Everyone takes a selfie with their new washing machine, right?#casaemeric
Oh the infamous Spartan Sprint! I was having a hard time about blogging about this race with Jason’s major injury and all. If you missed it, you can read all about how he fractured his ankle HERE. So, after thinking about it for awhile, I decided I really wanted to introduce to you the team we raced with, Team GrinderGlam!
After completing the Spartan Beast the day before, I was ready to finally get my 2014 Trifecta with this race. I was pretty beat on Saturday, but after a good night’s sleep, I woke up feeling way better than I expected, except for the pain I was having in my left knee. It hurt when I put pressure down just walking around in the hotel room, so on our way to the race site, we stopped at Walgreens and I picked up a knee brace. There was no way I wasn’t going to finish this race!
Right before our wave’s start time, we met up with my pal Chelsie and I finally met a few other Instagram “friends” in person. So, here’s a bit of the back story on how my digital and real worlds finally collided! January of 2014 while on Instagram, I stumbled upon a daily prompt photo-a-day challenge with a fitness theme! I thought it sounded fun, so I played along a bit and started interacting and following a few other like-minded women on IG who were also doing the daily challenges. A little less than a year later, one of these ladies, Chelsie, was coming to Vegas to run the Rock N Roll Half Marathon and we met up! It was pretty cool to meet in person and I was super excited when she said she’d also be traveling to Temecula for the SoCal Beast and Sprint in January. As it turns out, Leti, who started the Grinderglam Challenges on Instagram (if you don’t do so already, you gotta go follow her!) got really into running Spartan races recetnly and TeamGrinderGlam was born! Jason and I didn’t have a team for the Sprint anymore, so we joined their team last minute and I was so excited to finally meet Leticia and others from the group!
Once the race got started, Jason and I stuck together and ran alongside others from the team. We’d run ahead of them or they’d run ahead of us, we’d meet at obstacles, help each other out if need be and keep going. I was running a bit slower than normal, due to my knee, especially going up and down those hills! Towards the end of the race I noticed Leti and her boyfriend, Jorge, had held back and were waiting for the team, helping and encouraging everyone (myself inlcuded)along the way to the finish line. Here’s where it gets bittersweet because we all know how this race ends. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t expected, but it’s what happened. Sadly, our Spartan Sprint celebration ended abruptly at the finish line and then the medic tent, but we did finish. Jason crossed that finish line. He dragged his foot over the fire, got his medal, and then called for the medic. That right there, people, that’s what it’s about.
But, yea, we didn’t celebrate with the team or drink our beers. I’ll admit, I wanted that. I wanted to be a part of that party. I wanted to celebrate my trifecta, but instead I was at Wal-Mart buying crutches and checking out the updates on Instagram. It is what it is and I’m ok with it. I’m happy we finished. I’m happy Jason is ok. And of course, I’m happy I got to race with such a supportive and inspiring group of women and a few guys too 😉
I’m excited I’ll be racing alongside Team Grinderglam again for the Spartan Super in Vegas. This time, I’ll have my team shirt and I’ll get to have my beer at the end!
Be sure to join the fun with #grinderglam challenges on Instagram! And of course, join Team GrinderGlam at a Spartan Race near you!!
My son is home sick from school again today and I gotta tell you, I’m getting a little bit of cabin fever. So, I started to think about how nice it is to meet with a friend over coffee and just chit chat and since I can’t really do that today, how about you humor me and pretend we’re on a coffee date together! Here goes…
If we were on a coffee date, we’d be meeting at one of the few independent coffee shops in town. Nothing against Starbucks, but it’s nice to support local businesses! I’d probably order the biggest caramel macchiato or chia latte they offered. I’d be super thrilled if they offered almond or coconut milk!! How about you, what would you order on our coffee date?
We’d sit on some cool oversized chairs, I’d put my feet up and get comfy. We’d have a cute little table in front of us, but I probably won’t put my coffee down the whole time! I’d ask how things were going with you? Then of course, I’d tell you about how germs aren’t leaving my house and it seems we’ve all been sick way too often this winter and ask if you had any remedies?
If we were on a coffee date, I’d tell you about my 14 races in 2014 goal and ask if you thought I was crazy for doing the Super Spartan and Tough Mudder in the same month? Then, I’d ask if you’d like to join me on one of my races? Running or doing an obstacle course race with a friend is a lot more fun!
If we were on a real coffee date, I’d probably vent a little bit about how my kiddos, ages 8 and 5, are fighting like crazy and I don’t know what else to do about it. I’m kinda scared to think what life will be like when they are teenagers! Yikes….hey, I’d probably ask if you had any tips for this too?
If we were on a coffee date, I’d listen to you vent about whatever was on your mind and offer whatever advice I could. I’d tell you to follow your dreams and passions. I’d tell you that you are awesome and amazing! We’d laugh about our problems and make plans for the future. I’d thank you for meeting me for coffee and how we must do it again soon! We’d leave our coffee date feeling refreshed and hopeful and fully caffeinated!
ps. If we were on a coffee date, I’d probably invite you to join me at the gym or for a run 😉
We have a lot of family on the east coast, including Jason’s parents who live in NY, so we’d been wanting to go visit for a good while now. But, for one reason after another we hadn’t been able to go until this summer! So, of course it was the highlight of our Summer Bucket List! Like I said, there were lots of people to see and so much I wanted the kiddos to experience, so a road trip was just the thing to do. We narrowed the trip down to 11 days and crammed as much as we could into those days.
We flew into Philadelphia International Airport and rented a Jeep Patriot for our trek across the east coast. Even though it was pouring down rain, we managed to tour Independence Hall, The Liberty Bell, and of course get a Philly cheesesteak for lunch! We stayed with my cousin and her family in Dover, DE that night and ate at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants there. The next day was rainy too, but we headed to Rehoboth Beach, DE and let the kids get on just about all the rides at the boardwalk’s Funland and have their fist taste of Thrasher’s boardwalk fries. Before the end of the day, the sun came out & we were able to enjoy playing in the sand a bit before heading back to Dover.
We said good-bye to our family in Delaware and drove to Washington DC, where we met up with my best friend from high school and her family. We toured DC for 2 days together before they continued their road trip down to Virginia Beach and we headed north to New Jersey. We took a side trip to Annapolis, MD for a super fun Pirate Adventure tour on the Chesapeake Bay. This was definitely a major highlight for the kiddos & us too 🙂
We made it to Jersey City, NJ in time for dinner with the family at a yummy Cuban restaurant. The next day was spent touring NYC and an awesome dinner with family at Tony D’Napoli’s in Times Square! The next day we headed to Long Island, NY, where Jason’s parents were anxiously awaiting the grandkids! Another cold rainy day didn’t stop us from going to the beach and having a great time! We had the beach nearly all to ourselves. The next day, Jason and I headed to NYC for a weekend getaway without the kids, while the grandparents spent an epic day with them at another beach and the aquarium.
The last days of our trip were spent back with Jason’s family in Long Island relaxing, going to the movies, and packing up for our long road trip back to Philadelphia to catch our flight back to home to Vegas. We made a fun stop before heading to the airport to take a photo with Rocky!
In review, we drove hundreds of miles, visited 5 states and Washington D.C. spent time with a ton of family and friends, and had an awesome time during it all! Can’t wait to start planning our next family summer adventure. Well, maybe we won’t wait till summer…
We headed out on our 11 day vacation up the east coast earlier this month. We had a great time visiting with friends and family and taking in the sights! Before we left, I was very nervous about not keeping up with my exercise routine and of course, eating healthy. There was a ton of food on our list that we just had to have- food that we don’t have here in Las Vegas or that is just way better on the east coast. I told myself I would make healthy food choices and only have small tastes of the junk food I wanted, ie. Mr. Softee, pizza, boardwalk fries, etc.. I admit, it was a long list!
So, how did I do? Not so great. I had really good intentions, but temptation got the best of me and I didn’t really make as many healthy food choices as I should have, I over-indulged in junk food, and didn’t practice much self-control. Can you believe one of the days we were on our trip was National Donut Day, plus I hadn’t had Thrasher’s Boardwalk Fries in over 10 years! Is this a good excuse? Probably not, but it’s what I told myself to justify it. (See, I told you this blog would be about the ups & downs and keeping it real!) I will say that although I wasn’t limiting myself like I should have, my portions of junk food weren’t as big as they would’ve been a year ago and I did manage to work out 4 days of the 11 days we were away. That helped, right?!? And, even though my food choices weren’t the best while on vacation, they were still my choices and I’m ok with that.
Life lesson? Don’t be too hard on yourself while on vacation, but don’t be too lenient either. Set some guidelines for yourself before you go, even if you don’t stick to them 100% you’ll still do way better than if you just let yourself run wild. Believe me, I know. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t stick to your healthy ways, just move on. Most importantly, make sure you get back on track as soon as you get back home. Don’t stay in vacation mode too long or it’ll be much more difficult to go back to healthy eating and exercising. This I also know from experience. Vacations have always been the death of my weight loss programs in the past, but not this time. Knowing where I’d failed in the past, made me even more determined to get back to my Paleo eating habits and working out regularly. Before we went away, I told myself I’d start the Whole 30 program when I got back. Here’s a quick description of the program straight from their website, it’s a ” short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you restore a healthy
metabolism, heal your digestive tract, calm systemic inflammation and
put an end to unhealthy cravings, habits, and relationships with food.” It’s based on the Paleo program, just a little more intense and no cheating allowed! I’m excited to be starting this today for many reasons but mostly, because my husband, Jason, will be joining me! He hasn’t been doing Paleo like I have for the past 8 months, so this is a big deal! I’ll be blogging about our Whole 30 experience once a week, so stay tuned! If you want a daily dose of my Whole 30 progress,follow me on instagram !
It's a Messy Life 