Eyeball the Wall 2018

I don't know what to say about the 15km Eyeball the Wall race that I ran on Sunday. How can a race be the best and worst race at the same time? Because that is how I would describe it for me.

I prefer to end on a positive note so lets start with the troubles I had.

Timing.  This 15k was a little early in my half marathon training program that I plan to run mid June.  However, I registered for it anyway since it was less than $30 and if you are going to do a long run anyway, it is always more fun to do with others.  Always.  So I thought what the heck.  Not only was it early in my training, but it was also only 3 weeks after vacation which pushed a few longer runs closer together.

Injury.  After such a good running season the last 2 summers I had actually forgotten that I was injury prone.  My knee didn't bother me even once the whole running season.  I didn't even have to take a break from running after the 1/2 marathon.  I started to think I was indestructible.

I was wrong.

At almost exactly the 10km mark of the race I felt a twinge in my hip.  Oh no.  It wasn't big but it was there.  A few minutes later there was the familiar feeling in my knee that I had on the treadmill a few weeks ago.  It started small but before I knew it  it hurt every time I bent my knee.  The last 4km of the run was more like a shuffle.  I was trying to keep my leg as straight as I could to prevent any unnecessary bending.  If I was running on my own I would have stopped and just walked back but my time was so good for the first 10k that I chose to push on.

Now on to the positive....

First Race.  It felt so good to participate in my first race of the season.  I don't dread running in an organized event like I do when I am training.  You get the adrenalin pumping and the run is just so much easier.  Not to mention this run had a turnaround point because all the ice on one side of the reservoir so there was lots to watch.  Not to mention that I saw Becky on the race.  Since I was doing the race solo, I was so happy to see a familiar face!

The weather.  As I've complained about many times..... this has been the longest winter ever.  This past weekend was our first full weekend with no snow and spring like temperatures.  It was the perfect morning to be outside!  I even needed my sunglasses for the run which I am so glad that I went back to the car for!

Start time.  Compared to many races, this race started on the late side at 9:30.  I didn't have to set my alarm, I ate breakfast, drank some water and was on my way.  No stressing.  I liked that.

Great Medals.  This is by far my fave medal I've ever received.  Love it.

But not nearly as much as i love the one that Grady made for me while i was running.  When he wants to be, he can be the sweetest boy.

Personal Best.  Now for the best part!  Despite the discomfort I felt in the last 5 km of the race I still got a personal best.  I had such a good start to the race. I was feeling good, the music was loud, the sun was shining and I was just having a good run.  It was my second fastest 10km and my fastest 15km, bearing in mind I think I've only run 15km about 5 times!  But it was still the fastest none the less!  I was so proud of myself and disappointed that I over did it at the same time.

How do I move forward with my injury?  Good question.  I have been rolling my IT band as much as possible and using a lacrosse ball on my glutes and hip flexors.  I've taken the week off running and have only done a spin class (pain free!) and a strength training session.   No running what so ever.  Sunday, a full week after the race, I'll strap on my runners and hit the pavement for a short and slow run to test out the 'ol bod.  Fingers crossed that all my stretching has paid off.

Happy Friday!

Weekend Wrap Up

What was supposed to be relaxing weekend turned out to be anything but!

With James away for 'work', normally the kids and I would stay pretty close to home and keep the schedule relatively clear.  Then my Mom told us that she was going to come and visit while James was away to keep us company and help out where she could.  From there, the agenda filled up pretty darn fast!

We kicked off the 4 day weekend with parent teacher interviews for Cooper.  Can I just take a second to brag on my youngest son?  Cooper is a November baby and we had the tough decision of deciding whether to push him through school starting at 4 or 5.  It was a tough decision and one we didn't take lightly.  In the end, we decided to have him do an extra year of preschool and start kindergarten 2 months before his 6th birthday.  That last year of preschool was tough but in the end I couldn't be more happy with our decision.

Cooper is now in Grade 1 and and doing SO well at school.  He is a leader in his classroom and relied upon by his teacher for extra duties.  His teacher had nothing but good things to say about him and I am so so proud of how well he is doing despite being silly with his bestie on a regular basis outside the classroom... and let's be honest, probably in the classroom to.

While Saturday was spent getting up at 6:30am for 3 on 3 hockey, the rest of the day was pretty low key except for a major meltdown that resulted in cancelling all the play dates and staying home all day....  Needless to say, I was more than happy to depart for Ellen for a kidless evening with my Mom.

I've have many people ask my my thoughts on the show and I really enjoyed it.  She was witty, told great stories, and most importantly, she danced!  My only complaint was that it was too short.  The show started at 6pm starting with a few songs from The Tenors then 2 different people introduced Ellen and then she finally came on stage dancing.  I was secretly hoping that she was going to dance through the crowd.  But she didn't.  In the blink of an eye, the lights were back on and the show as over.  It was 7:45.  It took me as long to get out of the parking lot as it did to watch her.  For reals.  But what I did see of her I enjoyed and I loved experiencing this with my Mom.

One thing I did take away was that her big break through was on the Johnny Carson show in  Nov 1986 and it was about a conversation with God about fleas.  If you haven't seen it before, here is the clip.  I didn't think it was that funny but maybe it was in the 80s?   She talked about how she wrote if after her then girlfriend had died and how it was unfair that she was gone but yet the world still had fleas.  You can read a recent article about it here.

Sunday morning I ran the eye ball the wall and had recorded a personal best time, but it wasn't without pain unfortunately.  I decided to save this for a post on it's own....

After the run and a lot of rolling of my leg we headed to McMahon Stadium for Coopers first soccer of the season.  It was our first nice spring weekend and it was nice to spend it watching a soccer game.  The sun was out and the shades were on.

You'd think after a 15k run and a  soccer game would call it a day, but no, not us....  Straight from the soccer game we headed to inja nation.  It was the one thing we promised my Mom we would do this weekend and we saved the best for almost last.

My Mom is a cross fitter so she is one strong 60 something year old.  She tried the warped wall, did the obstacle course and raced Grady up the climbing structures.  For the record, Grady won, but he was impressed.  She is a one fit Grandma and I love that my kids see that age (and gender) are no reason to let you stop what you want to do.

Monday night Mom and I finished our time together by doing a spin class.  It was tough and if you look close you can see that my shirt is almost completely covered in sweat!

So there you have it, from a quiet weekend to one full of activity and fun.  You know what our weekend was missing?  Sleep.  We stayed up too late every night and then I slept in Tuesday morning for work.  I'd say that's the sign of a pretty good weekend!

five on friday

{one}  April is my busy month at work so I have been working lots of my Monday's off.  In lieu of that I'm taking today off work and the kids happen to have the day off.  I'll be taking the kids to the pool at their request along with a few errands they don't know about yet.

{two} Ellen is coming to town this weekend and I got 2 tickets for my Mom and I since she also happened to be in town this weekend to.  Now that the kids are older it is nice for her and I to get out of the house together just her and I.

{three} I am running my first organized race this weekend.  It is 15km and has forced me to get out running more than I'd like this spring when the weather has been less than ideal.  The one Sunday was so cold and icy that I was forced to run 12km on my treadmill in preparation for the run.  I was even out doing 10k the day after we got back from Mexico.  It was freezing so my phone died and my wireless headphones stopped working.  It may have been my worst love ever.  I guess I am not crazy to pack back up headphones on long runs!  In a funny way I'm really looking forward to it.  I know I can do 15k and the weather is supposed to be great.  It will be a great way to kick off a Sunday.

{four}  I've had IT band issues in my right leg for ages.  Likely from overuse and no stretching.  There was a time that ran every single day and didn't stretch once.  I had a great running season last year.  I did my stretching and saw my physio therapist and chiropractor regularly, however this year my knee has already started to bother me.  I saw him this week and it turns out that it is tied into the issues that I've been having with my Jaw.

I haven't really talked about it here but if you saw me in real life you would know that for 2 weekends I wore physio stickers on my face to loosen the muscles in my jaw that had been clicking and locking.  Then when I went skiing in March I fell and I couldn't open my mouth wide enough to eat for almost a week.  Back to physio and chiro and my jaw isn't cracking or locking anymore but it is sore when I chew.  Turns out that I need to continue to treat this or I am going to continue to have knee issues.  It is crazy how the body is so intertwined.

{five} I'm really enjoying not having any activities this month.  April is always a great month because hockey is done and soccer hasn't started.  We are supposed to start next week but with the amount of snow still on the ground I'm thinking we will have another week off soccer.  I love how every night we have no plans.  We are back to doing spin and I've had lots of time to catch up on house stuff and read my book.  Then, soccer will start and we will be more busy than in the winter with soccer 4 evenings a week between the 2 kids.   But our weekends will essentially be free.  Its a trade off and I'll take it!

Happy Friday and have a fab weekend!

What I'm Priming: Vol. 1

This post is WAY overdue.

My name is Christy and I am addicted to Amazon Prime.

Shortly after moving into our new home I was ordering so much on line. I needed all the things and had next to no time to go to the store to buy something as simple as fidget spinners for the kids.  For the record, I think that was the very first purchase that I made on my one month trial upon signing up. So I took up shopping on line for every day items and not just for clothing.

I found that I because I hated to pay for shipping I would often buy things I didn't necessarily need to make it to the free shipping mark.  So if you look at it that way, I'm actually saving money buy having Prime.

When I told James I was taking the plunge and paying the $80 a year for Prime he thought I was crazy and that the Prime in the US was way better then what we got in Canada.  We had to wait a whopping 2 days instead of 1.....  I took it with a grain of salt, bought my membership and haven't looked back.  I've ordered 46 times in the last 6 months.  Wow. 

You may have read my letter to the UPS guy back in December.  He visits my house frequently because of my Amazon and Wayfair purchases.  Thankfully I have a new UPS guy that doesn't know about all my large purchases and my Wayfair buying has slowed down as our house fills up.  I think he still likes me, for now.

On to the goods.  Let's look at the last few items that have ended up in my virtual cart.

Tea Towel Bar

I just bought a new dishwasher and it doesn't have a bar across the front for my tea towel. So I needed an over the door one to replace it.  I ordered this one, or technically it is in my cart waiting for me to measure the door to make sure it fits.    Do you know what my dishwasher does have?  A third drawer.  Initially I didn't think I cared about that but as I looked at them I wasn't leaving without one.  It gets installed next week and I am beyond excited to get rid of the loud one that came with the house.

A Slip

Yesterday I put on my dress with my slip to realize that the elastic had stretched the slip wouldn't stay up high enough to hide under my dress, so I immediately hit up Amazon and found this beauty.  Five years ago when my older co workers were shocked I didn't own any slips, she gave me too and they were life changing.  Without a slip, in the winter when I am wearing tights or nylons, my dress sticks to my tights.  Now I won't go without one!

A Bar Muddler

I've decided that this summer is going to the summer of the cocktail.  We decided to do away with a traditional table and chairs on our deck and replace it with comfortable couch seating.  I can imagine many a cocktail being consumed sitting on my outdoor couch... And because my favorite cocktail is a mojito, a muddler was in order.  Now I need to perfect making them.....

Books

I buy many a book from Amazon, mostly book club ones since I am generally a library user.  Generally it is the same or cheaper than I can find it elsewhere and I can order it from couch.  Bonus.   This is our book club book this month.

 For the record, I haven't started it because I have to finish my library books first, but I've heard good things.  Not a book I would have chosen on my own but it is short and should be a good read. 

3D Crest White

I bought this on Andrea's suggestion on her Prime post not to long ago.  I swear these posts are the best and I always end up buying from the list of things recommended by people I know.  So far, the jury is out on this one.  I forgot to take a before picture so that is a problem.  I like how clean the step 1 toothpaste makes my teeth feel, but I'm not convinced my teeth are any whiter.

And there you have it, my last 5 purchases.  Very random items as are all my prime purchases.  Any suggestions on what should end up in my Prime cart next month?

Five on Friday: What I'm Reading

{one} The Perfect Nanny

This one is very popular right now and truthfully, I don't know why.  In the first chapter you discover a horrible act performed by the nanny and the rest of the less than 300 page book is the events leading up to it.  I gave it 3 stars only because it kept me reading.  But truthfully I'm surprised I gave it that many, I would now give it a 2.  The ending was just really disappointing.  i read this on the way home from Mexico and started and finished it on the plane.

My rating: 3 stars
Goodreads rating: 3.53

{two} On Second Thought

This book is about 2 sisters that find them selves without a partner at the same time for different reasons and it brings them back together.  I really enjoyed this book.  It is heavy in some respects but light in others.  I am surprised I only gave it 4 because I remember really enjoying it.  A great vacation read.

My rating: 4 stars
Goodreads rating: 4.26

{three} The Wife Between Us

I was so excited to read this one.  I seem to like any book with wife in the title....  It starts about a wife retelling the demise of her marriage and later in the book switches perspectives.  It is hard to say much more with out giving it away.  The book was full of twists and overall a good read.... but, it was really similar to a book I just read, The Last Mrs Parrish.  Truthfully, i liked the Last Mrs. Parrish Better.  So go read that one instead.

My rating: 4 stars
Goodreads rating: 3.91

{four} Live to Tell

To be perfectly honest, i barely remember this book and I just read it on vacation.  It is about a family that dies and the father looks to be in a coma so can't tell what really happened.  Since I barely remember the story at all my rating is not surprising.  I don't recommend it.  Thankfully it was from the library.

My rating: 3 stars

Goodreads rating: 4.18

{five} In a Dark, Dark Wood

Sigh... I didn't love this one either.  This one is about a stagette gone wrong and ending with a murder.  This would be usually right up my alley.  But it wasn't.

My rating: 3 stars
Goodreads rating: 3.66

The overall conclusion of this post to read The Last Mrs Parrish or On Second Thought.  Don't bother with the rest. 

Happy reading!

House Tour: The Castle

Our new home has 4 bedroom upstairs, and since we only have 2 kids, that leaves us one bedroom to spare.  The question was, what were we going to do with it?  We also have 2 rooms in the basement so we left our spare room down there.  My suggestion was to turn it into a bonus room and we all agreed that it would be the best use of the space.   It quickly became the room in the house that I felt the most at home in when we first moved and I was struggling to feel at home.

The only thing left to do was name the room.  It wasn't really a bedroom, but it wasn't really a bonus room either.  Then what was it?  I suggested Christy's Castle which was largely vetoed by everyone.  Grady suggested Grady's Gaming Room.  We compromised with and called it the Gaming Castle, or just the Castle for short.

Welcome to the Castle!

This is my room.  The room that I am fee to do with what I want since I am essentially the only one that uses it.  While the decor is not complete, I wanted to fill it with things that make me happy.  Things that I couldn't bare to part with when we moved but that I had no where to put in the new house.

The 2 frames between the windows were the first things I hung in this room.  My SIL did a cross stitch for each of the kids when they were born.  As a former cross stitcher I know how long it takes and I wanted to have them on display.  They no longer match the decor of the boys room, and truthfully I appreciate them way more than them, so I proudly hang them where I see them all the time.

The closet on each side of the built in desk are filled with my extra clothes that don't fit in the closet.  The one on the left has all my fancy dresses and stampede wear while the one on the right holds my seasonal clothes.  I just last week loaded it with all my winter sweaters since I refuse to believe that the cold weather is coming back!

Ironically, I thought James had more room in our old closet than I did.  Apparently I was wrong since my clothes is overflowing and James has ample room to store all his....

Cooper painted the large blue flower on display and each of the shadow boxes holds memories from our wedding.  They were tucked away in the basement before and I just couldn't bare to get rid of them. In the middle is a hand made photo plaque I got from Dee when I turned 30.

This is the room where the binge TV watching happens and also all the blogging.  You will notice that Pretty Little Liars (season 6!) is on as I take the photos.

The couch was actually left behind by the new owners.  It was originally in the master bedroom but we moved it in here.  Eventually I'd like to get a pull out in here so the kids can have their friends sleep over or my for my Mom who sometimes complains about sleeping in the basement.

I bought the table specifically for this room.  It is the holder of all important things.  The lap top, my phone, the remotes, and many nights, a glass of wine.  It fits the space perfectly since we don't have a lot of room in here.

I love this room.  It is simple. It is lived it.  It is home.  I want to add stuff to the walls eventually but for now, it is perfect just the way it is.

Pray for Humboldt

I had a different post planned for today, but in light of the tragedy that happened over the weekend when I sat down to write the post I just couldn't do it.  I have the Humboldt Broncos on my mind.

On Friday night a bus carrying 29 passengers carrying the Humboldt Broncos Jr Hockey team was struck by a semi-trailer and 15 of its occupants died.  The junior team is filled with young men aged 21 and under.  If you want to read the details you can read this.

This hits close to home.  Too close.

It brings me back to the years that my brother played hockey.  We often took a team bus.  Sometimes I traveled with the bus and sometimes my family went without me.  What if their bus crashed when I wasn't on it?  What if i was?

My kids play hockey.  One day they could be on a bus similar to this.  

This took place 150km from my home town. I know these towns.  I've known people that play on these teams.

My brother in law currently plays on a team that travels to game.

We are not immune.  This could happen to anyone.

Life is short.

I find myself reading all I can about the crash.  I need to know as much as I can.  I want to know why.  Why this had to happen.  So many lives affected.  So many people will never be the same.  

I get chills when i think about how tragic this is.

Tonight I will hug my kids a little tighter.  I will tell them I love them.

I will not take life for granted.

If you have a few dollars to spare, consider donating to the team and their families here.  They have a hard road ahead.

#prayforhumboldt

My Month in Numbers: March in Mexico!

I am so excited to share the details of our recent spring break to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico.  This was the first time for the kids to go and the first time James and I have been in 15 years!  We spent a wonderful week at Azul The Fives just outside of Playa del Carmen. Now fort he details....

7: days spent in Mexico

7: pool days

4-6: hours a day spent in the pool every day.  By the kids, not me

1: time I put my head underwater because the kids pushed me in.  I tried to only go in deep enough to bet myself to the pool bar!

We spent most of our time at the pool.  The beach was windy and to be honest it was kind of gross.  The waves were huge and the swimming area was quite small and surrounded by giant sand bags.  The worst part was that there were lots of floaties in the ocean making it look dirty.  It was so bad they were literally shoveling them out of the pool one morning.  I'm not sure this is normal or whether it was just due to the high winds.  The red flag was up every single day advising against swimming, which we didn't.

48: trips to the pool bar by the kids alone!  On average they each had 4 drinks a day over the 6 full days we were there.

That is what Grady was most looking forward to, the swim up bar! The first 4 days we spent in a room on the older side of the hotel but closer to the pool bar and we visited it often.  The kids quickly learned that they loved the daiquiris, both strawberry and peach.  While I enjoyed a few of the slushy drinks the first day, my drinks of choice were a margarita or a mojito.  I also tried a few oyo rojo (or something like that) which was the Mexican version of a beer and clam.  It was beer, clam, and a 'special sauce' and it came with ice cubes which was really weird.

4: days of the 7 total we made it down to the beach.  While the water was a little grungy, the sand was fantastic! I forgot how beautiful the white sand beaches are and how soft it is between your toes.

2: times Cooper put his feet in the ocean.

Cooper was scared of the oceans because of tsunamis.  When I was his age I didn't even know what one was!  He has also been very scared of the wind so being down at the beach was not his jam.

2: pics of James and I together!  I love that the kids can finally take our picture.  It means that I get to be in a few because James doesn't take any photos!  Selfies hope show that I was on vacation as well....

4: days into our vacation, our 5 friends arrived!

We surprised the kids and booked the trip to overlap with their friend's family  They have boys our boys age and a bonus 2 year old!  Once the kids got over the shock of seeing their friends in Mexico they had so much fun together!

4: days into vacation we swapped to the newer side of the resort and upgraded our room to a 1 bedroom. Best decision ever!  We should have upgraded from the start.  It was very cramped and small in the standard room with only 2 beds. 

4: boys playing dodge ball across the pool equals trouble.

There was one day the kids got yelled at multiple time.  They were essentially throwing the ball back and forth across the pool and they ended up sacking a dude with a ball. He didn't cry so it couldn't have been that bad... They apologized as did his Dad and the dude lost his mind and we ended up telling him to go to the adults pool!  Where there is water, you have to expect to get wet!  All in all, that day was a bad one and I'm guessing those adults that didn't like to be splashed or hit with a ball found a new pool to use the next day.  I can't say I blame them.  Ha!

5:  The number of a la carte restaurants at the resort.  They inluded Italian, Japanese, Thai, Greek, and Mexican.  We ate at them all, including the Mexican and Japanese twice!

17: plates of sushi.  But not for me, I don't do sushi.  My kids loved it!  Grady won't eat fruit but he'll crush raw fish?? Cooper's favorite sushi was the caviar eggs. Yuck!

4: plates of muscles consumed by 3 kids, including both of mine.  One of the other boys ordered a plate of them and my kids tried it and they each ordered another plate and ate them all.  Grady will tell you that was the best food he ate the entire trip.  Cooper will tell you that the mac and cheese at the Mexican restaurant was his fave.  He ordered 2 bowls and I said no when he asked for the 3rd!

1:  The numbers of time I had nachos and cheese.  I was so disappointed with how hard it was to find proper nachos.  Maybe nachos with cheese isn't really Mexican?  There were always plain chips, salsa, and guac, but I really like with with cheese and maybe even refried beans!  The only time we saw them was our last morning.  At breakfast. Apparently it is actually a Mexican breakfast item called chilaquiles.  They were SO good.  Our resort gets 5 stars for food.  Everything was so tasty.

0: times exercised.  Vacation is a week for my body to relax.  The greenery made me feel zen so I posed for this picture.  Please disregard the mojito in my hand.  Truthfully, I would have liked to do beach yoga or even water aerobics but we never got around to it.

I think that covers the highlight of our trip!  Grady and I can't believe that it is over so soon!

Also, when did Grady turn into a pre-teen.  Wow.

We had a great week away from the cold.  We hoped that by the time we returned the cold weather would be over.  Wow were we wrong.  I packed up all my winter jackets but 1.  That is my way of telling Mother Nature I've had enough!

I'm hoping April brings some more spring like weather....

Glasses Galore!

You can NEVER have too many.  Ever.

Let me tell you a little about my history with glasses.  My mom has worn glasses since she was 7 years old while my Dad didn't get reading glasses until a few years ago.  I was certain that I was blessed with my Dad's good eye.  And I was, until I was almost 30 years old.

When I started articling for my CPA is when I started to notice my vision wasn't as sharp as it used to be.  I could see perfectly fine but they were tired after a long day at the computer trying to decipher small numbers on massive spreadsheets.  When I was about 25 I started wearing glasses at my desk only.  I put them on when I arrived at work and left them on my desk when I left for the day.  They helped me see the screen better but I didn't need them to see once I walked away from my desk.  All was fine and dandy for years, until it wasn't.

Just before I returned to work after maternity leave with Grady, I got a blister on my retina otherwise known as CSR in the medical community.  You may wonder how I knew that I had it?  I literally had a shadow in the center of my vision.  I could see but it was like I was looking through a screen in the center of my vision.  In all honesty, it was really scary.  I got refereed to a specialist that I saw that same day.  I had 2 options - to laser it off or to wait it out and would likely heal within 3-6 months.  I chose to laser it but when I showed up to get the procedure done a week later it was already starting to shrink, so they recommended that I wait it out, which I did.  And a few weeks later my vision was back to normal.

Before this happened I was only wearing my glasses at my desk, however, the shadow appeared in my 'good' eye so I started wearing my glasses full time so I could see out of my bad eye.  Once I realized how clear I could actually see with my glasses on I started wearing them full time and haven't looked back since.  Even after my eye was fully healed.

You may wonder why I don't wear contact lenses.  First, my prescription isn't that bad.  For reference, my eyes are -1.75.  I sometimes forget to put my glasses back on after I get my brows waxed and don't realize it until I start to walk away.  You see, the reason that I don't wear contacts is that my astigmatism is really bad and I have yet to find a contact that I can't feel on my eye.  So... I continue to wear glasses.  If you ever see photos of me without them it is because I've chosen to not wear them for some sort of dress up occasion wear I am not reading or on a screen.

Now that you know why I wear glasses you may wonder how many pairs I have.  Twelve.  I have twelve pairs of glasses.  With great health benefits and a family that have perfect vision, I've never paid a penny for any of them.

For the first several years I bought and wore only one pair. When I grew tired of them I would buy another pair and wear only those.  Then I got into fashion and my glasses became accessory, similar to jewelry.  I wanted them to match my outfit.

If I was going to wear glasses every single day I decided it was time to invest in more than 1 pair.

I've been collecting 2 pairs a year for the past 5 years.  I always have a favorite pair but I rotate them depending on what I wear.  Once I had the classics like black and brown I started to venture into statement glasses whether it be the color or the print.  When I wear glasses that compliment my outfit I feel better about myself.  When I look in the mirror I want to be happy with what I see and for me that means loving my glasses.

Recently, I've discovered clearly.ca and gone on a bit of a spending spree.  If I can buy a pair of glasses for under $100 then I say they are practically given them away!  There are a few things you should know.

Returning is easy.  At first I was skeptical about ordering online in case I didn't like them.   And a few pairs I didn't.  You have 30 days to return your glasses no questions asked.  They pay shipping and refund you your money.  I am so much more likely to buy online if returning is easy.

Size.  Since I've been wearing glasses for over a decade, I know exactly what size I need.  I find that I can't just walk into a store and start trying on glasses because almost all of them are too big for my petite face.  My perfect size is 50-17-135.

I am willing to go up to 145 on the arms but I am NOT willing to go higher than 50 on the lens width.  Ever.  Knowing these measurements have made is so much easier to buy online not to mention you can search by size so you don't have to fall in love with a pair of glasses that don't fit.

Adjustments.  When your new glasses arrive in the mail they haven't been adjusted and often they fall down my face.  You can bring them into any eye glass shop to have the arm bent so they rest nicely on your ears.  I bring them to the eye doctor that I see because feel bad getting the service for free.  From what I understand, all eye glass stores will do it for you.  This is key to buying online.  If your glasses don't fit perfectly, you won't like them.  I speak from experience

Promo codes.  I never pay full price for a pair of glasses at clearly.ca.  Google 'clearly.ca + promocode' and you can be sure you'll find one for a % off.  I got 30% off my last pair.  Sometimes the site even offers buy one get one free.  I don't know how you beat this!

Now for the fun stuff... the glasses!  Today I am posting over at the Blended Blog all about my glasses, head over to check them out and make sure you tell me your favorite pair!!

TBB Asks: All about Spring!

I can't believe that we are talking spring today when there is still so much cold and the temperatures are still below zero.  If we talk about it enough spring will eventually arrive... right?

1.  My fave spring colors are aqua, violet, and white jeans!

2.  My first thing to come out of storage in the spring is my jean jacket.  I just love my light jean jacket and this season I've added a dark one as well!  The Mavi Samantha jacket is my fave!

3. The first item I ditch in spring is the winter jacket and boots.  

4.  In my house, mowing the lawn is supposed to be a blue job but my husband outsourced it so we have a lawn service!  In our new house we have turf in the back yard which is perfect for us!

5.  Spring where I live is cold.  It seems we go directly from winter to summer.  Right now we have so much snow it may be July before it all melts.

6.  My favorite thing about spring is spending more time outside.  Running, biking, walking, trips to the park and reading on the deck.  Anything in the fresh air is my favorite.

7.  I am NOT a spring cleaner.

8.  I am NOT a baseball fan or any sport for that matter.  Except Trails West hockey...lol

9.  I am not a flower gal.  But I will pick up Daffodils in the grocery store.  Well, when I didn't use grocery pick up service.

10.  My favorite spring activity is running. I just recently started training for my second 1/2 marathon so I am anxious for the snow to melt so I can ditch the treadmill.

11.  Last year was my first year of doing flowers and I had them in pots.  I just can't seem to keep flowers alive.

13.  I rarely wash my car but when I do I go to the car wash.

14.  I pull out the sandals on the first hot day of the year.  It could be April it could be June.  I am so over winter boots.

I cannot wait for spring to arrive.  This winter is the one that never ended!