Friday Five

Hello? Anyone out there? In cased you didn't notice, its been a little while since I've posted on this corner of the internet. I could blame work, life, whatever you want, but honestly I just dropped the ball completely.

I have lots of updates and posts to work on in an effort to bring this blog up to realtime, but for now I'll leave you with some life updates in the form of my first Friday Five in a year!

1 | Last November, mom and I took a trip to London! We we're supposed to continue onto Paris for a few days but the Paris terrorist attacks actually happened the day we arrived in London. I'm going to do a little trip recap in the coming weeks, but will leave you with one of my favorite pictures from the trip - mom and I at Stonehenge!

2 | I ran a marathon! And I'm training for another one!  This past February 14th, I ran 26.2 with Donna - the breast cancer marathon. It was an amazing experience, albeit one of the most challenging things I've ever done. I knew the moment I crossed the finish line that I wanted to run another one, and see how I could improve, so October 9th I'll be running the Twin Cities Marathon in Minnesota.

3 | I bought a house! Yep, the maisonnette has been upgraded. After looking for over a year and having multiple contracts fall through I closed in mid-July on a cute 1100 sq. ft. 2/1 that was built in 1927. It was basically move-in ready but there are a lot of small/medium upgrades I want to make over time (the kitchen is totally functional, but ugly). I'm hoping to post a house tour soon!

picture from the listing

4 | I'm a vegan? No, its not really a question, but it does feel a little strange writing it out... I stopped eating meat almost a year ago, cut dairy out during the last month of marathon training and stopped eating fish/seafood earlier this year. Obviously I'm not perfect, and I'm sure I've eaten vegetables cooked in butter at a restaurant or something occasionally, but I'm try to be conscientious. Overall it just makes my body feel better and makes me feel like I'm doing my part to help the environment. Its been a great learning experience too, experimenting with plant-based proteins and different vegetables. One of my favorite go-to meals is teriyaki tempeh and green beans with brown rice noodles! I plan on writing up a roundup of my favorite vegan dishes and local restaurant options soon.

5 | Both West Elm and Crate and Barrel are having their upholstery sales right now - WE's ends this weekend and C&B ends next weekend... My poor white/cream sofa has definitely seen better days and with a little more space to work with, I'm thinking a chaise sofa or small sectional would be a fantastic upgrade. Considering the Henry Sectional, Henry Chaise Sofa and the Davis Lounger.... I'll let you know what (if anything) happens! 


xoxo
Marisa