Day 329: My tulips are blooming!

Day 329: My tulips are blooming!, a photo by lalasappy on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Pretty pretty!

Day 327: From my coworkers. :)

Day 327: From my coworkers. :), a photo by lalasappy on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I got the best flowers for Administrative Professionals Day.

Day 308: Working in the flower district is nice.

Day 307: Working in the flower district is nice., a photo by lalasappy on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
All the pretty colors! It's like I'm in a park but I'm not!

Day 61: Roses from an admirer...

Day 61: Roses from an admirer..., a photo by lalasappy on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Basically cause I'm cute. And I had a bad day. So he got me roses.

Day 37: Jay got me flowers! Oh joy!

Day 37: Jay got me flowers! Oh joy!, a photo by lalasappy on Flickr.

This morning I had coffee with my professor from CMU Pre-College, Jay. He lives in NC so I see him maybe once every one or two years. It's always so great to see him and it was even greater today because he brought me pretty spikey flowers!!

AND he is seeing SLEEP NO MORE tonight and I cannot wait to hear what he thought of it! Wooooooo!

Day 34: The Flowers I Gave Myself

Day 34: The Flowers I Gave Myself, a photo by lalasappy on Flickr.

Petite Yellow Roses to match my kitchen. :)

Wave Hill - My New Camera

So, I got this awesome new Canon Rebel for Christmas this year. And I was so excited to start using it! Then I realized...I have no idea how a "real" camera actually works.

I was determined not to use it on just the automatic settings because I thought, "well then what's the point of having said fancy-schmancy camera?"

So...for 4 months, it just sat in its case.

So finally, a friend from my job at Williams Sonoma, who is a photographer, offered to give me a little lesson. So last Sunday we went up to this ....park? Botanical Garden? I don't even know what it was. But it was called "Wave Hill".

Take the 1 train all the way to the end in the Bronx (242nd street). Walk 10 more blocks north and all the way west. And there you have, Wave Hill.

Middle of nowhere, as far as NYC is concerned. I'm fairly certain I was in Riverdale...but this cannot be confirmed.

Regardless of where it is, it is BEAUTIFUL. We just walked around and I got some lessons on shutter speed and blah blah, whatever, I don't remember, did I mention it was REALLY beautiful?? And that the weather was basically perfect that day? Yeah. Awesome.

Ok, but here's a sample of some pictures from the day:

Can't take credit for this one. Friend was showing me a different type of lens. Can take credit for the shoes. Those are my feetsies!

I got excited about the pattern on this pot. And the purpley flowers inside it.

This house reminded me of New England.

Gotta love Ivy.

My interpretation of a shoe shot.

The other side of that house...but, really, look at how that guy is sitting in front of it. Hilarious.

Can I have this in my backyard one day? Ok, thanks.

So, all in all, I learned some stuff and hopefully this means that now I will actually USE my camera. But, I'm a slow learner so if anyone wants to give me more tips/lessons, I'm TOTES up for it. :)

Lovies!

GOOD WEEKEND RUNNING YAY!

OMG. I amaze myself. :)

Ok, so, busy weekend. Lots of errand running and things. And I was like "ok, Lauren...you basically stunk on your 2.3 run the other day...you MUST run 2.5 on Saturday." So I went out in the gloomy weather and started jogging. And I was like "hey...how about I just keep running til I'm actually tired instead of stopping as soon as I reach my goal? I wonder how far I can push...like 2.6 or 2.7?" So...I ran. And I ran. And then I looked at my iPhone (which tracks my running...thank you iMapMyRun!) and it said 2.98!!!!!!! And I was like WELL HOLY COW! So I figured, "Well I'm close enough to my 3.1, I may as well just do it!"

So I did. 3.13 miles on Saturday. Granted, it took me 39 minutes....but I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!

I even took a picture to celebrate:

Please excuse my yuckiness. Did I mention that it started POURING about 2 miles into my run? Yeah. I was soaked. But too happy to care. Also, if you can't tell...I run right by the GW Bridge.

So to make life even MORE awesome...I ran on Sunday as well and I decided to push myself just a little farther and see how I could do. I ran 3.45 miles in 40 minutes! My 3.13 was in 36.23! Now, I can't just take credit for shaving like 3 minutes off my time...because the first like 5 minutes of the run is all downhill...and I think that helps. Haha. But I'm super excited because I still have like 11 days until my race and I'm running farther than 5K! Which was my goal! YIPPEE I DID IT!

OK- All done talking about running.

Um, seriously, had to share. How cute is this?

Scouter (Scout...but I always call her Scouter!) passed out in my arms. This was post run, I think...On Saturday. I was just hanging out watching TV and she came up to snuggle. I have the best dogs ever.

I also have the best visiting teachers ever!! (ERIN DON'T LEAVE ME!!) They brought me the most BEAUTIFUL flowers on Saturday. Seriously...how gorgeous are these?!

And they STILL look that nice. What a lucky gal I am.

More to talk about but I need to get back to work!

LOVIES!