Carter Life

The Turkey Trot

2010-11-28T19:01:00.000-06:00

I am the worst blogger ever - but I don't think anyone really reads this so hopefully I haven't disappointed too many people :)

I'm sitting here the Sunday after Thanksgiving counting my blessings. I'm thankful for my amazing, healthy family that I got to spend Thanksgiving with. We've all changed a lot in the last few years, but I think most of it has been for the better and we've all turned out okay! These curveballs we get thrown in life really make us stop and think, which is sometimes a good thing!

I'm also thankful for my fantastic friends, most of which I got to spend time with this weekend, some while we were yelling at the TV praying for the Sooners to pull off a win (Boomer Sooner!) and others while I was jogging through Dallas during my first 5k! That's right, I finally followed through with something. I've been running - if you can call it that - for about 8 weeks in hopes that I could finish the Turkey Trot without stopping.

Before Thursday, I'd only run about 2 miles straight so I was a little nervous. It was cold, windy and there was a chance of rain, but thanks to three of my amazing friends, I made it through. The first mile was a mess, dodging strollers, walkers and dogs - probably added at least a minute onto my time. The second mile was the longest and included a little dry heaving thanks to a dog that decided to poop in the middle of the road. But the last part was fantastic - running down the streets of downtown Dallas was just beautiful and I almost choked up for a second when I heard someone say the finish was just around the corner. I crossed the line at about 40 minutes and immediately felt my lungs screaming for air - but I didn't care - I did it!

I've been stuck in a rut lately - I know I'm happy with my life, but I've had nothing to work for lately, nothing to push myself for. I've always wanted to be able to run a 5k, and even when I was in the best shape of my life in high school, I could barely make it a mile without stopping and reaching for the inhaler. But now, I can officially say I've done a 5k and can somewhat call myself a runner. So what's next? I really want to improve my time, and I think I will especially with a smaller race and less cross country action (I had to do leaps and bounds through thousands of people in the Trot and probably ran an extra half mile in the process). I've signed up for a race in Addison in January and hopefully can knock 2 minutes off my time. Not sure where I want to go after that, maybe a 10k?

Next goal? Making it through December 23... bring on the parties, work and Christmas cheer!

Best. Breakfast. Ever.

2010-10-31T15:06:00.030-05:00

Hello blogging world! I realize it's been awhile, but I really hadn't been inspired to blog about anything until today. That is until I went to Smoke at the Belmont Hotel in Dallas for brunch today and had the most amazing breakfast ever. My iPhone doesn't really do it justice, but here's some food porn coming your way:

Heavy Handed Blueberry & House Made Ricotta Cheese Pancakes with Vanilla Poached Apricots and Cream

This was hands-down the best breakfast I've ever had. I don't know if it was the apricots and blueberries or the fluffiness of the pancakes or the amazingness of the fresh cream, but it was to die for. There was also the bacon. Smoke does all of their own meat smoking and LH and I had originally decided to split an order of the bacon, but then went back and ordered another plate because it was that awesome. We made a new rule: No one shares bacon.

It was a beautiful day for a birthday brunch for Joy! We will def be heading back to Smoke for more brunches in the future, whether its for someone's birthday or not.

View of Downtown Dallas from Smoke on Halloween morning!

**sidenote - I realize none of this is on my diet (for my trainer/life coach Kathryn who is reading this... I proceeded to work out and eat vegetables and soup for the rest of the day!)

Numbers Game

2010-08-23T12:02:00.000-05:00

I've been busy. Busy like I have three things to do after work everyday and I don't have time to make anything but spaghetti for dinner. And even then, I go to bed every night with my mind racing and I have to talk myself down to fall asleep. Then I usually wake up in the morning and as soon as I hit snooze on my iPhone, my e-mail pops up and I'm quickly reminded of all the things I need to do that day, week, month, before I'm 30, etc..

So you get the gist of it, I've been stressed. I went on vacation (which I promise I'll blog about) and came back to work + 3 days of being behind so I was stressed to the max. I really wanted to hide under my desk and call in sick, but I made it through the week and decided to end it by going to see Eat Pray Love with my awesome roommate Friday night. Since I finished the book just over a month ago, I've been dying to see this. It mostly lived up to it's expectations and it was a good movie. The real message I took from it though was to stop dwelling on all these little things I've been stressing out about. And then I realized, all the things I stress out about are numbers: my age, my weight, deadlines, money, the list goes on and on (more numbers!) No wonder I hate math so much, I do it in my head all day without knowing it and it drives me bonkers.

It took seeing Julia Roberts bawling on the bathroom floor to tell me that I need to just chill. It's okay to be concerned, but I don't need to give myself ulcers over this. So where do I go from here? A few starting points:

1. Stop stressing out about my birthday - 25 is awesome, I love birthday cake and I get to spend the weekend with my friends.

2. Get my ass in gear - literally. I have a new work out plan/diet plan and personal trainer that I'm using to get in shape. I'm tired of looking the way I do and don't like the way my clothes fit. Time to stop sitting on the couch eating spaghetti and do something about it

3. Re-evaluate my finances - this is going to suck. I am going to put myself on a pretty strict budget to get me through June 2010. The fact that I've only bought clothes from Target this summer is embarrassing - I need to save up to buy nicer things and look like an adult.

So let's start here... and see where it takes me!

Promise my next post won't be such a downer :)

Gossip Girl goes to Paris

2010-08-16T20:11:00.000-05:00

Sorry for lack of blogging... I've been on vacation! I will blog about all things Panama City Beach/Bachelor Pad/etc related soon... but for now I leave you with the preview for Season 4 of Gossip Girl... and they're in Paris!!

Photo courtesy of www.instyle.com

Commencement

2010-08-09T21:45:00.000-05:00

Well I've been bookin' it lately and finished yet another book this weekend (ok that was an awful pun, I apologize). This weekend I settled into the pool at my parents' house and started reading Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan.

Right off the bat I was immediately reminded of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - except these girls were a little older and more twisted. The scene is set at Smith College - which apparently is known for breeding and attracting lesbians. Which, as my mother would say, there's nothing wrong with that, but I sort of think it's an odd setting for a chick lit book. The four main characters meet because they live in the same dorm: There's Celia, who arrives with a bottle of vodka and cries like crazy because she misses her friends at home. There's April, a feminist who has her guard up. And Sally, a well-bred and wealthy girl who's just lost her mother to cancer. And Bree, a girl who's already engaged at 18.

The story begins with the girls coming together for Sally's wedding back on the Smith campus. They have too much to drink the night before the wedding though and the truth comes out from all angles and they all end up in a fight.

Well like three years later - they all start drifting back into each other's lives when one is pregnant, one goes missing, one's living in New York and one is living in San Francisco with her lesbian girlfriend.

Still want to read it? I'm probably making it sound worse off than it really is, but it just didn't click for me. The stories were just off and the setting was just not what I look for in a book. I did though finish it in one day - so I must have enjoyed it to some extent.

I realize I'm the worst book reviewer ever. But you should be my friend on GoodReads and tell me what you're reading - I'm always open for suggestions.

I leave for vacation tomorrow night - Panama City with the Carter family for the rest of the week! I'm sticking the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in my bag and My Fair Lazy is waiting for me in my beach bag. Any other good reads I need to get in this summer?

The Help

2010-08-08T09:12:00.000-05:00

I finished one of the best books I've ever read last night - The Help. I picked it up last weekend and realized I couldn't put it down. I found myself reading it at night - something I haven't done a lot of lately - and ended up making myself stay awake last night so I could finish it.

*spoiler alert - I won't give away the ending, but if you want to go into this book with an open mind, don't read the rest. Just know I'm excited for the movie!

The book by Kathryn Stockett takes place in Jackson, Mississippi, in the 1960s. The book revolves around a group of young white Junior League women and their black maids. One of the women, Skeeter, isn't like the others though and finds herself writing a book about the maids and their stories of raising children. She was inspired by Constantine, her maid that raised her but disappeared while she was in college. She begins interviewing all the help that will talk to her and they begin meeting in secret to share stories. Along the way she also discovers herself and falls in love for the first time while dealing with her family that might drive her nuts, but they have good intentions underneath. The book tells the story from the perspective of maids Abilieen and Minny as well as Skeeter. I went from loving Abilieen to Skeeter to Minny - and by the end of it they were all my favorite characters.

I'm anxious for the movie to come out in 2011 - but I'm not 100% sure I love who the characters are being played by. Emma Stone for Skeeter? She was great in Superbad, but not sure she's ready for this thought-provoking role. Love that Bryce Dallas Howard is going to play Hilly though!

What did you think of the book? Ready for the movie?

Things I would have said in 2005

2010-08-03T21:17:00.001-05:00

I'm a month away from turning 25.. God that's a big number. Not just big in that it's halfway to 50 or anything like that, just big in responsibility and and reputation. If you'd asked me when I was 10 or even 15 where I'd be at 25, I would have said married, or at least engaged, with a great job. Well, second part is true! Still though, my generation is redefining age limits and expectations. If we go back to our parent's generation and especially my grandparent's, I would have at least one kid right now and would be at home being a mom. I think about everything I've accomplished so far on the verge of 25 though, and that over shadows everything that I haven't.

Five years ago, I had just finished my freshman year of college at OU. My only responsibility was to get up and be at work (aka Lifeguarding) at 11:00 or 12:00. No make-up, no prepping for meetings and no stress about what was next. I worked with my best friends (at the time), and we spent the whole day getting tan, planning the trouble we were going to get into that night and trying to find someone to make out with at the end of that night. I knew the real world was getting closer, but I felt like if I just focused on having fun that summer, I could avoid it as long as possible.

When I got back to school that fall, I had the group of girls that are still my best friends today. We partied three nights out of the week and lived in a sorority house where our meals were prepared and our bathrooms were clean - not too shabby right?

Turning 20 was one of my favorite birthdays. I celebrated with all of my friends and got obnoxiously drunk at a frat party where I demanded the whole party sing happy birthday to me at midnight - which they did!

I spent a good portion of college freaking out about what happened next. Not just with schoolwork, but with internships, relationships and then looking for a job. I wish I could go back and tell 20 year old Carterface that everything's going to be okay.
I'd say:
* Love your friends and the memories you're making, you're still going to talk about them five years later.
* Don't be afraid to fall in love - it'll just make you stronger
* Keep working your ass off at work - it's going to pay off
* You're heading in right direction, I promise!
* It's going to be okay

Now I just need 30-year-old me to come tell me some words of advice. Sigh.

Action Packed

2010-07-31T20:55:00.002-05:00

I saw my dad today and told him that if Cinemark awarded Frequent Movie Watcher points, he and my mom would be seriously racking up the points. As 50-something empty nesters in the middle of 100 degree heat, there really isn't much else to do besides head to the movies and watch someone else's life for a few hours. THe best part is, they usually invite me :)

Last Sunday we went to see Inception. This movie has been named one of the best summer/best of 2010 movies (and it has Leo and Juno in it) so I was glad they picked this intriguing action film. Not going to lie, I nearly fell asleep the first 45 minutes, but once they got into the plot and started slipping between dreams, it was amazing. I don't know how people come up with this stuff, but the special effects and the story line is amazing. Def a great movie, but make sure you're wide awake and alert when you head into the theater.

Today the Carter family ventured to see Salt. As much as I was "Team Aniston" I love a good Angelina Jolie action film. This was probably one of the best movies I've seen in a while - right up there with Inception - and AJ was the best part of the whole thing. She does her own stunts and looks amazing the whole time (until she cuts all her hair off at the end and looks like a dude). She kicks ass and takes names and kills some Russians. It was one of those movies where I kind of knew what was going to happen, but I was still surprised by a few of the outcomes, especially one of the more emotional scenes in the middle. Salt went by so fast, and judging by the ending, there's going to be Salt II. At least there better be... or else I'll be pissed.

Etsy Love - cutiepie company

2010-07-29T12:03:00.001-05:00

One day I really am going to buy something off of Etsy. I need to stop just digging around and purchase. I wonder how often vendors on Etsy actually sell something? Would be interesting to find out! Anyways I found my newest love, cutiepie company. She produces art, screenprints and handmade cards and I love them! Here's a few of my favorite finds:

Merci Beaucoup Thank You Notes... might need these for upcoming birthday
This Screenprinted Moleskin Journal ... I take way too many notes at work
And finally these adorable Christmas Cards ... is it lame to do a Christmas Card from yourself?

I wish I was artsy... sigh.

Beginning Yoga

2010-07-27T08:23:00.001-05:00

I don't know if it's because I just finished Eat, Pray, Love or if I'm just bored, but I decided to order some beginning yoga DVDs off of Amazon and start trying to do yoga. Hilarity ensues.

I get the DVDs in the mail yesterday and am totally ready to get started on them! I popped one in my DVD player and set my alarm for 25 minutes earlier than I usually get up in the morning. I set out a sports bra and some yoga pants and tell myself, "Ok Ashley, you can do this" and go to bed. That was at 10:00 p.m. At 10:30 I'm still awake watching E! because I can't sleep. Maybe it's because my roommate is in Costa Rica and I'm alone until August or maybe it's because I got a new ceiling fan and I haven't adjusted to the new white noise in my room. Whatever it is, I get frustrated. And somehow by 11:00, I'm trying to talk myself down from freaking out about turning 25 in a month(ish) and worrying about being poor, single and alone. OK two of those aren't true. I don't live in a cardboard box and I'm not alone. Except at 11:00 last night, I felt more alone than I have in a very long time. Finally, like some colicky infant, I passed out before midnight.

Alarm goes off at 6:00 a.m. FML.

I drag myself up - annoyed - and throw on my clothes while the DVD begins to play. My puffy eyes are barely open, but I tell myself to focus, breathe and get my ass in gear.

DVD starts and I start the breathing and reaching moves. It's not until six minutes in when I'm in some cobra/downward dog motion that I realize my carpet is filthy. I try to ignore it, but I'm so grossed out with myself that I have to go get the vacuum and I become THAT girl that is vacuuming at 6:30 in the freaking morning. I would hate myself if I were my neighbor. So point of the story is, I made it six minutes. I would have finished but it was 6:30 and I still had to get ready for work. I'm going to try again this afternoon and maybe that will give me a little more enthusiasm to continue tomorrow morning.

Until then...

Dance in the Dark

2010-07-24T11:39:00.000-05:00

Lady Gaga's concert was a-mazing... lots of photos coming! Here's how she started the show:

Wine with the WSJ

2010-07-21T08:26:00.000-05:00

Last night I was invited to attend a wine tasting event with the Wall Street Journal at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant Five Sixty, which is at the top of Reunion Tower in Dallas. This building is a staple part of Dallas' skyline, yet after living in the DFW area for almost 20 years (wow!) I had yet to make it to the top.

The WSJ was hosting a gathering of media buyers and friends to celebrate the launch of their re-vamped weekend edition. We got these fun I <3 the Weekend Buttons and there were pillows and signs all around the space that celebrated the theme. The best part of the night, the food and drink. Their wine critic and blogger Lettie Teague was on hand to share some wines she had picked out for the evening. We sampled a few, but of course they didn't want us all to get sloshed and drive home so the servings were small. I wasn't driving though so I should have tried to convinced them to pour a little extra in my glass.

The food was also amazing. It was all-American fare - mini burgers and hot dogs, little blueberry and lemon pies and a roasted corn bar - which is like my new favorite thing. They had martini glasses and you could add anything from chicken to black beans to mole sauce. Pretty yummy and very unique.

Afterwards, we ventured up to the actual Five Sixty restaurant (which rotates!!!!) and had some more wine and watched the sun set over Dallas.

Not too shabby of a Tuesday if I do say so myself!

Pesto Love

2010-07-14T10:00:00.001-05:00

So I moved out of my parents' house almost a year ago, yet I still find myself there about once a week, usually for Sunday night dinner. It's the one night I'm guaranteed a meal that wasn't partially microwaved or from a box, and I like hanging out with my parents and Ellie. Well we've had a lot of rain in our neck of the woods and recently received a text from my mom saying, "I've got a crop of basil over here! You better come get some!" So I took home a goody bag of basil from Casa de Carter the other night and realized it was a lot more basil than one person should probably have. It looked like a small garden. SO I decided to make pesto. Using my gently-used but new to me food processor, I tackled this recipe for pesto that I found online.

I ended up making some pasta, leftover from the awesome pasta salad, added some pasta and then stirred in all the disgusting-looking but delicious pesto I made and violia! Dinner! (and lunch the next day too)

This picture doesn't do it justice by the way. Actually I probably wouldn't order this if I saw this on the menu. O well, it was delicious.

Lady Gaga - You and I

2010-07-14T08:09:00.000-05:00

Lady Gaga performed last week on the Today Show and she was a-mazing! Once you get through the interview portion of this clip, you will see her new song "You and I." Can't wait to see her in concert next Friday!

Meatless Monday - Tomato Feta Pasta Salad & Asparagus

2010-07-12T20:06:00.029-05:00

So thanks to a lack of air conditioning last week in the office, I only had to work a half day and had more time to dedicate to dinner and a work out. (Sidenote... are there any full time jobs that only make you work from 8 am to noon? I really like the schedule)

So since I found myself getting home at 5 rather than 6:30, I took advantage of the extra time to make dinner! I decided on Tomato Feta Pasta Salad and baked asparagus - yum! I had cooked the pasta the night before so it significantly helped on my cooking time. Thanks to my new food processor, I easily made the yummy dressing while the asparagus baked. I also added extra black olives - mostly because I love olives - but I also skimped a little on the parsley. I'm not a rabbit! So here's the finished product:

You can't really see the tomatoes and extra olives, but I promise they are in there! I ended up cutting this recipe in half so I wouldn't be eating pasta salad for a week... but it still made three meals!

You might notice there's something missing from this recipe - meat. I've been trying out a new food trend known as Meatless Mondays. The point of this is to not only save money, as meat purchases are usually a little pricy, but also for health reasons. It helps eliminate fat and also gives you the opportunity to include more grains and veggies/fruits into your diet.

I will definitely be looking forward to another Meatless Monday when I can make this recipe!

I finally finished a book

2010-07-12T12:56:00.000-05:00

When I was in Middle School, I could read a book a day in the summer. My mom actually told me to slow down because she was tired of buying me books (Hello, Mom... library card?). Now for some reason, it takes me months to finish a book. I guess it's because the books I'm reading now don't involve babysitting clubs and Beverly Cleary, but still it shouldn't take me THREE MONTHS to finish a book. Maybe if I didn't have to work all day and didn't melt after sitting in the sun for more than two hours I would read a little faster.

Anyways, the sun finally came out yesterday and I headed to the pool to finish Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. My goal was to finish it before the movie comes out August 13th. Once I settled into my lounge chair at the pool, I realized why it had taken me so long to finish the book - the middle part of the book was boooooring. Quick synopsis: woman was happily married, isn't anymore so she divorces husband. Turns into mess, meets hot younger guy who messes with her head. Then she decides to take a year-long sabbatical to find herself. (Because all writers can afford year-long sabbaticals to the ends of the Earth) She starts in Italy, which was fun because she met new people and ate a lot of carbs - this part of the book was fun. Then she heads to India where she goes to an ashram to spend her days praying, meditating and basically trying to find her soul. This part was boring to me - I hate to say it, but reading about praying and meditation just isn't my cup of tea. There were some interesting stories here. Unfortunately, this was just the longest part of the book. I know in her eyes it was the most influential, aka the turning point, but from a reader perspective it dragged on a little. Finally she ends up in Bali where she makes some fun friends and finds a hot guy. Her stories from this part of her adventure were short, but they were my favorite.

I won't tell you how it ends... but let's just say I want to buy the sequel: Committed.

Also, I'm not sure I'm in love with Julia Roberts playing Elizabeth in the movie. I'm still going to see it, though, and I hope she reflects her emotional discoveries as Elizabeth wrote them

Is it Friday yet?

2010-07-08T20:38:00.000-05:00

It's been a long week... and thank goodness tomorrow's Friday! Since my softball game got rained out again, I figured I would take advantage of a quiet evening at home. But as soon as I got home and laid down on the couch, I started craving unhealthy, greasy awesome food. So I turned to my favorite "junk food" recipe - Hungry Girl's Fiber-ific Fried Chicken Strips. This recipe gives into your cravings and is under 300 calories - you can't beat that! Just a heads up though - make sure you use Chicken Tenders, not breasts or at least cut them in half. You want thinner pieces otherwise they will have a hard time cooking all the way through. Also make sure you toss some seasonings, like basil or a chicken rub, into your cereal mix - it makes it so much better. I had mine with some cauliflower and it was pretty yummy! What do you eat when you're craving junk food? Hungry Girl has some great swaps, but I'm always open for suggestions!

Now I just need a big glass of wine and the season finale of Bethenny Getting Married and I'm set for the night!

Etsy Love - Karcharz

2010-07-08T10:00:00.003-05:00

I would kill to be somewhat artsy. If I could be one of those girls that just whips out a painting or sews an outfit together in a day, it would be awesome. Instead, all the artsy genes in my family went to my sister. By the way, you should check out her work - she rocks!

So since I can't be artsy, I figure I can be obsessed with Etsy. If you haven't visited Etsy, you're missing out. This website gives creatives an outlet to sell their stuff. Artists, designers, chefs, photographers, you name it, they're on Etsy. So I've decided every once and awhile I will share my Etsy Find of the Week.

So this week's find is karcharz. This photographer from Florida has an amazing eye and I'm seriously considering buying some of her prints. I'm going to spend the next year planning how I want to decorate my next apartment, and these photos provide some inspiration. This is one of my favorites:

So what are your favorite Etsy profiles?

Words from Don

2010-07-07T21:01:00.000-05:00

So I realize I'm not the most angelic of Carters... especially when it comes to religion. I sort of fell off the Church train when I went to college, but after a family loss and a few rough family adventures, I sort of found some faith in what Reverend Don had to say. While I might not go to church every Sunday, I do take time to think some happy thoughts and reflect during the week. It also helps that Rev Don delivers a weekly inspirational email into my inbox. I thought I'd share one that I really enjoyed from a few weeks ago:

We are clearly into a little dry spell. Caught in a huge high pressure area that won't move, with temperatures hovering at about 10% above normal, there hasn't been a drop of rain for days. The grass at Siete Ranch is crying for moisture. It would probably already be gone if it were not for the late winter and early spring rains we were so grateful for. The hay farmers are praying for a shower. If you have lived in Texas for long, this is a familiar scenario.

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty familiar with dry spells in my personal and spiritual life as well. I'm not talking about those times that are extraordinarily painful or challenging, but rather about those periods in our lives when things are just, well, "dry." Perhaps you refer to those times as the "blahs." Things aren't bad, but they sure aren't good. You are not excited about anything, you don't feel creative or motivated, there is no energy or sparkle in your life. You feel like you are just existing rather than truly living.

Here is what I have observed in nature: dry spells almost function like fertilizer once the rains come. I have seen pastures bounce back after a dry spell in rather dramatic fashion, greening up and growing within 24 hours. It often seems as if grass is greener when watered after a dry spell than it is when it has been getting moisture all along. I don't know if there is any scientific evidence or explanation of that; it's just a country boy's observation. And I am sure hoping to make that kind of observation again within a few days.

The same is true in our personal lives. Sometimes the ordinary and boring days are merely preparing us to receive the creative energy that lies around the next bend in the road. You may not be able to fully explain the rhythms of life, but you surely can embrace them. If you are in a dry spell, give thanks to God and get prepared: things are about to change.

It rained later that day... now I'm just waiting for my thunderstorm.

The blog is back, bitches!

2010-07-06T09:09:00.000-05:00

OK I'm officially the world's WORST blogger ever. My problem is I can't find one topic to discuss. SO since my mind is a random stream of thoughts, this blog will be too.

Possible topics include:
- Social Media Trends (bc this is what I do for work)
- Food and Restaurants (bc I eat a lot)
- TV reviews (bc I watch way too much tv)
- Healthy Living Tips (bc I try to live healthy... sometimes)
- Funny stories (bc I'm "adorably hilarious" according to one friend)
- Random crap (bc that's what pulling a Carter is... something totally random)

I also apologize for the random, heartfelt blog.

So get ready world, the blog is back bitches!