Taper Madness

Taper madness presents itself differently in everyone. For me, it's typically sour mood and temperament (sorry friends and loved ones!). Also any anxiety I typically have is magnified a bazillion percent and my control freak nature ramps up a hundred fold. I was prepared for this part of taper madness (and so was Kyle, bless his heart). But the one part of taper madness I had forgotten about was the compulsive shopping.

Hi. My name is Jeri, and during taper, I shop like a maniac.

The first few days of taper were maintainable, I'd do some online shopping, put items in a check out bag, and then walk away from my computer. I do this...uh... frequently. But then came the "gateway" purchase. I needed arm sleeves or a long sleeved shirt for the marathon, so I started looking around. Many adorable green items were "added to cart" all over the world wide web. I finally snagged a pair of neon green Saucony arm sleeves for mega percent off.

And then, all shopping hell broke loose. Since then, I have purchased a j. crew button up with polka dots (second hand), Megan's birthday and Christmas presents, Jenn's Christmas and birthday presents, Kyle's Christmas presents, 2 pairs of green and pink shorts from J. Crew crazy on sale (because duh, why wouldn't you buy shorts as we're on the cusp of winter!??!), green earrings and a new cell phone case from Kate Spade, and a time turner necklace to complete my Hermione Granger Halloween costume (not to mention a Gryffendor tie and her wand, but those were costume necessities, right??)

Now this past weekend I get an email from Jenn letting me know that she found a cheaper version of a ring I've been obsessing over, and it was on sale. Attention checking account: Jenn is back in the states, your monies are no longer safe!

The good news is that everything I bought was crazy ridiculously mind blowingly on sale and then discounted. And the majority of things really were for gifts, and just some other little stuff for me, but STILL. OMG.

So now here are some small fruits of my shopping labors, Harry Potter Halloween pics!

Hermione and Ginny hanging out at Platform 9 3/4, waiting for their train.

We had these signs made for kids to take pictures in at the library on Halloween.

More Addictions: Online Shopping (And a HM before work)

In lieu of a weekly wishlist a few weeks back, I actually indulged in a little retail shopping.  Usually my little "shopping" trips to find things for my post can curb my urge to spend the dollah dollah bills ya'll. Bahahahah I can't believe I just typed that, I'm so cool.  Anyway, I got an email from J Crew about free shipping and off I went.  I was stoke because usually J Crew is free shipping* (*on purchases $150+).  Well I never have $150 just a-lyin' around for online shopping purposes, so that does me no good.

Anyways, I picked up a few gems for about $20/piece!  I found a great grey long sleeve with adorable buttons on the shoulders (can't find a pic anymore, sorry), and also had an aqua in my "shopping cart" before it was no longer in stock.  Wah!  Oh well, saved me $12.  Then I had the hardest time deciding on a color in the cutest tank I've seen in a long time.  I enlisted some help from my twitter pals, and then did what I knew I'd end up doing all along, I bought them all!

There's also a navy blue one they no longer have the photo for. loooooooove.

One of the shirts whilst displaying my newfound Bama pride. :)

I have serious issues with buying things I love in bulk.  Nike tempo shorts.... I probably have 15.  Target v-neck shirt, at least 8.  If I find something I love, I stick with it.  And I love these tanks.  EEEEE!  Online shopping urge cured... for now.

Friday brought on an evening of no plans, and somehow my shopping "itch" just hadn't been cured completely.  I hit up the mall with some cute items in mind. Priority #1 was to find a dress for an end-of-summer wedding.  Why oh why is it that when you have money you're willing to part with for cute clothes, you can't find anything!?!??!  I always get money for Christmas/birthday and it never fails that I'm so over winter clothes that the money sits in savings waiting to be spent on race entry fees.

However, I did manage to snag the dress I've been coveting FOREVER from the Gap.  It was originally $70 and was listed at $35.  I knew I would need to take up the straps to get it to fit properly and didn't think that was cheap enough for the extra work I was going to have to put in.  Until the sales woman told me it was half price.  $17?  Yes, I can sew a few stitches for that.  And then I found a super cute neon awesomeness skinny belt for $5.  I almost got a crazy cute yoga bag, but I couldn't justify it.  Sad face.

___________
I have been very hohum regarding running lately.  I seem to get in a funk after I have cutback weeks, and this last one was no different.  In case you missed it, I ran 7 of my 41 planned miles last week.  Yikes.  And I was not looking forward to running this week either.  Last night I asked Kyle if he'd be ok if I hung up my running shoes, and to my surprise he said no.  Whaaaaaa?  when I asked him to elaborate he said that I'm a much happier person when I'm running all the time.

Can I just say, 3 cheers to Kyle for learning proper phrasing in his responses?  What he meant was, "Please God NO!  You're a raging B without your daily running endorphines."  He's getting goooooooood, no?

Anyway, because of a crazy weekend with lots of plans and a Saturday shift at work (barf) I had to do my long run on Wednesday this week before work.  Luckily for me I don't work until 11am, and the temps were in the 70s.  YES!  I made myself get out there for my little half marathon before work, and whattaya know, I'm back in puffy heart love with running.

Is anyone else like this?  When I'm running 5-6 days a week I LOVE running.  Once I take a rest day, it's soooooooo hard for me to get out there the next day.  It's just obnoxious.

I did 13.1 miles in 2:05 something for a 9:35 pace.  Which is better than my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd half marathon times, in case you were keeping track at home.  ;)

Extreme Online Shopper

Just call me Extreme Online Shopper, you hear that TLC?  Make a show about MEEEEEEEEEEE!

Ahem.

As some of you may have gathered from my Weekly Wishlists, I have a slight obsession with online shopping.  This obsession is made more humorous by the fact that I have my purchases sent to my work address, because sending them to my apartment causes a whole other errand to run because they will never leave the package.  But I digress.  So the super duper funny part of my online shopping addiction habit is that I'm a credit counselor.  When my packages come in, the receptionist calls me, and then I have to trek my boxes/bags/etc. through the building back to my office. 

My name is Jeri, and I'm the cumpulsive shopper of the office.

Hi Jeri.........

In my defense, I do about 2% of my shopping in actual stores, so I really don't shop all that much (seriously.  especially compared to when I was in college.  uff. da.).  It just looks that way when I get everything delivered to work.  :)

After my recent running shoe scores, I decided to share some tips with you (that you probably all already know, but whatever, just go with it).  I'm always on the hunt for running shoe deals.  Once I find a pair of shoe that I puffy heart love, it's on.  My goal is to stockpile as much as possible to diminish the heartbreak that inevitably occurs with Mizuno/Asics/Saucony go from 6 to 7 and 7 sucks the big one.

For my latest adventure, I knew that the Kinvara II would be coming out shortly, ergo the original Kinvaras should be having a massive closeout almost everywhere.  I google searched for the shoes in 7.5 and sorted by price to find the best deal.  After doing this, I noted whether or not there was a shipping and handling charge, and if so how much.  Then I googled for (website name) coupon code to see if there was anything out there.  Presto change-o, you have your best deal.

For my efforts, I received a pair of turquoise Kinvaras.  Sale priced at $80, Running Warehouse priced at $69.88 (originally $89.99).  On top of the sale price I found a coupon code for 10% off, as well as free shipping.  Boom:  $62.89.  Additional nugget of awesomeness, no sales tax to South Dakota (otherwise .06%).

(Tried on as soon as they arrived at work. Hence the silly dress pant/running shoe look. AKA HAWT)

Next up, Onlineshoes.com was having a Memorial weekend sale.  I found the new Kinvara IIs I've been lusting over priced at $89.95.  20% off coupon code and free shipping (as well as no sales tax) and I had a steal at $71.96.

Gotta love the "natural light" under my office desk.

sexy, no?

Considering my original pair (and current pair) of Kinvaras were $90 (a Christmas gift from my mother who's not a super sleuth online shopper like her offspring), I'd say I did pretty good getting two pairs for ~$130.  Now clearly, not everyone has $100-200 just burning a hole in their pocket, but the credit counselor in me puts aside a little bit of money in to my "running savings account" just for these purchase (along with race fees and race travel expenses) so I always have them at the ready. 

To be honest, these shoes came from a $200 discount I got on my June rent for renewing my lease at my apartment.  Hey-o free money!  (However, if you're truly taking my advice, it would've been wise to put that $200 towards my car loan or my student loans, but hell, you only live once!)

And just for fun, a random convo with Kyle on Monday morning....still cracks me up FYI.
KK:  Are you going to come over after work? I make you FEESH!
Me:  Eh, maybe. I have to run first.
KK:  Oh yeah?  Picking up a new hobby?
Me:  Yeah thinking about it.  I think it's called jogging.... though pronounced yogging.... soft j sound... should be fun!

**Check out I Run Like a Girl's sweet giveaway!**