Inside the Wardrobe: Black Friday 2012

Nothing irritates someone who works in retail more than the words BLACK FRIDAY.

(For those of you not familiar, Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving where there are massive sales, long queues to get into stores, and crazy people attacking other people for electronic items. It also, in my opinion, ruined a lot of what Thanksgiving is about by making workers go in at midnight for the sake of insane shoppers. I'll save that rant for another time.)

I've worked nearly every Black Friday since I was 16. I've gotten to work at 4 AM. I've dealt with irritating savings-hungry customers. I've arrived at work over an hour in advance just to attempt to find parking. I've made cupcakes for my team to boost morale. I've braved the chaos that is the food court. I've done and seen it all.

Now that I'm in England, Black Friday is a thing of the past. No Thanksgiving = No Black Friday. (I know, I know, Boxing Day Sales. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.)

So to me here in England, Friday the 23rd of November is just another day to shop.

This week was inspired by Black Friday, and of course, the color black. 

Dress . . Tights . . Scarf . . Jacket . . Flats . . Earrings

I feel like any time I wear a lot of black, someone always brings it up as being weird. One time I wore a black dress with leggings my parents said "What are YOU mourning today?!" Cool.

So whenever I wear black, I like to add some color by wearing a patterned scarf. I usually go for floral prints, but I fell in love with this scarf because it has discrete owls all over it!

I'm also in love with tights right now. I think it's because I never really got the chance to wear fashion tights in Florida (tights for dance class though, I know all about!) except when my mom dressed me up when I was 6 to keep me warm from the cold front that was 59 degrees Fahrenheit. I have a pair of burgundy tights like those and they go really great with black and cream outfits!

Finally, top it off with an edgy jacket to stay warm and simple flats to stay comfy during the 12+ hour shopping day that is Black Friday.

Hope you guys in America have fun shopping today and that everyone stays safe! As for England, well like I said, today is just another excuse to go shopping! But apparently ASDA and Amazon were advertizing Black Friday sales online only! So how about THAT!

Anybody have Black Friday horror stories?! Either from working retail or from shopping?? 
What do you like to wear when you go shopping? Do you dress up or do you tend to stay casual? 
Does anyone in England wish there was a Black Friday equivalent over here? Would you take advantage of the sales or would the crowds scare you away? 

(Link up with My Friday's Fancies)

Thankful Thanksgiving Thursday

In case you didn't know, I live in England (shocker, I know). Also in case you didn't know, England doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving.

But that's not going to stop me from being thankful today!

I have a short list (actually, not short at all) of things I am thankful today and everyday.

The Fiance - Obviously top of the list. (Prepare for the cheesiest statements of all time) I don't know what I would do without him. If it wasn't for his hard work, I may not be living in England right now. I love him more than anything, and I'm seriously so lucky to have him as my future husband and my best friend.

Us and the Golden Gate Bridge. Why the hell not. We're also super tanned in this photo from working at camp all summer.

The Fiance's Family - Amazing doesn't even begin to describe. For the past 3+ years, they have been nothing but welcoming and accepting of me into their family. They are the nicest people in the world. I'm thankful that they will officially be part of my family soon, even though it has already felt that way for years.

My Family - Especially my sister and my extended family in north Florida. They've always been behind me 110%, but now more than ever they've showed me incredible support for my move across the pond. I'm beyond lucky!

My Friends - My best friends back in America who I miss SO MUCH, my English friends who put up with with my Americanisms, and of course YOU! Everyone who I've "met" through Twitter and blogging with such amazing stories. Expat friends, running friends, I'm thankful for all of you.

Running - If you would have told me about 3 years ago that running would become a priority in my life, I probably would have laughed in your face. I'm thankful that I've found something I love to do, and that I'm constantly being challenged to achieve more.

Cold Weather - Have I said enough how much I hate heat?? Cold weather clothes are so much cuter anyway. I'm thankful that I can put to good use my scarf collection and UGG boots on the daily.

Well I can't say that's cute cold weather clothing. That's actually from when we got stuck in traffic for 4 hours because of a heavy snow storm (shocker) so I threw on my massive coat (which is why I look about 40 stone) and wellies and boom, awkward snow picture.

Skype & Whatsapp - Life savers! I can speak to everyone in America now without hassle or hefty phone bills!

The Internet in General - Also amazing. It makes the world seem so much smaller and more connected! Obviously, it's great for me!

Taylor Swifts "Red" Album - I love this girl. Her songs are the reason I dance around my room with a hairbrush. And her newest album is amazing and has been on repeat since it came out!

I loves me some T-Swift! I've seen her in concert twice. Literally have a girl crush on her.

Being Able to Find Franks Hot Sauce in England - Sure they charge you an arm, a leg, and your firstborn child for a teeny tiny bottle, but Franks is seriously my life source.

Pumpkin Pie - Not just pumpkin pie; pumpkin pie IN ENGLAND and people actually like it!!! Can't have Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie, even if it is a fake Thanksgiving hosted by an expat. (And duh, pumpkin pie eating means it's now peppermint mocha time! That means from tomorrow onward, it's Christmas.)

Mmmm pumpkin pie baking away in the oven! The only thing better than eating it was seeing other people eat it for the first time here in England. Amazing.

Seriously, I have so much to be thankful for. I could make an entire list to last until next Thanksgiving! But I think that's a good start!

No matter what side of the pond you're on, Happy Thanksgiving!

What are you thankful for today? Good food? Good friends? Pickled onions? Am I the only one who likes picked onions?

Half Marathon Training Week 4

Hello! Hope everyone had an amazing weekend!

Let's see how my half marathon training is getting on!

I read something earlier in the week. It's a well known quote so forgive me for sounding like a teenaged Tumblr account. (I don't actually have a Tumblr, is that the sort of thing people post?)

(If your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough)
(Side note: this picture was taken in Hawaii.)

I've seen this quote time and time again.

But this week when I saw it, it just really hit home. 

Every time I see a longer distance on my training sheet or look up at a hill (read: Florida Girl Hill), it makes me nervous for failure. I don't want to have to stop running during a long run. I don't want to huff and puff my way up an incline that many people could probably do in their sleep. And come February, I don't want to see 13.1 miles and feel dread.

But the truth is, if your dreams don't scare you, you should be aiming for something bigger then, shouldn't you?

And right now, 13.1 miles scares me. But that just means I've set my sights on something big instead of settling for something easy.

That's as deep as I'll be getting today; let's see what went down this week! 

Monday - LRR group run. We did hills. Lots and lots and lots of hills. We did 3 laps up and down this long hill that circled a sports center. That was difficult, but it was nothing compared to "Golf Course Hill". Forgive me while I have a moment to settle my PTSD from this godawful hill. It started off okay. And then it just went up. And up. And kept going up. Then it flattened out a bit, which was a joke, because then it got even worse than it did before! I swear there was a point where my feet were moving and I was trying to run, but I was going literally nowhere. I was just stomping in place like a mad person trying to run my way up this beast. THAT'S how steep it was. I hate you, Golf Course Hill. You suck. 

(At the end, someone with a Garmin said that we did between 5.75 and 6 miles that night. Not bad for a Monday!)

Tuesday - OFF

Wednesday - 4 miles

Thursday - 3 miles

Friday - OFF

Saturday - 7 miles, which is a new personal distance! Too bad I felt miserable throughout the whole run...

I started off with the park run 5K. I was absolutely positive that it was my worst park run yet because I have never felt so exhausted or fed up with a run in my whole life. I literally couldn't wait for it to be over. Happy to say that I got a surprise PR of 31:32 for the park run! That's 10:10 per mile I somehow managed. I can't complain about that; however I wish I didn't exhaust myself as much as I did because when it was over I was like "ughhhh 4 more miles to go now!"

I spent the entire 4th mile constantly stopping and going, and doing a sort of old lady power walking through the mall maneuver. That was my attempting "running". Once my pity party was over, I tried to get into a good rhythm. Thankfully (and reluctantly), I finished the 7 miles feeling kinda sorta accomplished, but also incredibly tired and happy that my running for the day was OVER. 

Sunday - OFF

Also while we are on the subject of workouts, read this article if you get a chance. I couldn't stop reading it; I was so intrigued! I even re-read it! It's about 12 and 10 year old sisters who are endurance runners/triathletes. What are your thoughts about it? Too much for such a young age? Or it's okay because they are passionate about it?

Runners - How to you stay positive when you have a "bad run"? Do bad runs put you in a bad mood or do you just not dwell on it?
Non-Runners - Would you ever spectate a race that a friend or family member was doing? Does that appeal to you or do you find it boring?

Inside The Wardrobe: Autumn Treats/Faves

I've been following {av} for a long time now. Long before I even thought of having a blog of my own. And definitely long before I knew moving to England was possible for me. She is an all around great writer and runner, but also puts together outfits I could only dream about. (Not to mention her blog is called {long distance loving}; obviously that was my life for the past few years!) 

Which is why I'm challenging myself to go out of my comfort zone and link up with {av}'s My Friday Fancies to do a UK-friendly fashion segment. No USA stores allowed. Only online stores in the UK. Not even if they have international shipping from the States. Nope. Not allowed. The UK versions of stores, however, are allowed. (i.e. I know Top Shop is in New York and H&M is all over)

I've completely detached myself from all my old favorite stores from back in America (although, I can't seem to take myself off Sephora's email list! Can't part with them yet I'm afraid...) so it's about time I tried something new!

I remember when things I would take back with me from England were so novel and unique. So I'm going to fall in love with everything British all over again. 

I have to warn you, I'm dreadful at putting together outfits. If I could leave the house in my owl PJ bottoms everyday, I would! But seeing as I'm in my 20s, I feel like I should make an effort.

And I'd say my style is different to a lot of other women's. I hate the color pink. I like flats, not heels. I spend most of my time trying to curl my hair instead of straighten it. And I swear I am president of the LEGGINGS ARE NOT TROUSERS club (my transatlantic friend knows what I'm talking about).  

Story of my life.

So you have been warned. You may see a lot of owls appear here. You may also hate what I have picked out. I'm sorry in advance.

This week, the theme was Autumn Faves and Autumn Treats.

Not only am I a big fan of not wearing leggings as trousers, I'm probably a bigger fan of pumpkin flavor.

Where would Autumn be without pumpkin? Pumpkin Spiced Lattes. Pumpkin Pie. Pumpkin Hershey's Kisses (Those exist, I promise. And they taste like love and magic).

My favorite thing to wake up to in autumn, however, is pumpkin pancakes on a chilly weekend.

Jumper .. Trousers .. Scarf .. Boots .. Earrings .. Legwarmers

I'm not really a fan of wearing the color orange, but I really like warm colors like peach, tan, cream, and brown. 

I'm also a big fan of legwarmers (no, I was not born in the 80s). I bought a bunch of leg warmers (which were SO HARD to find by the way!) a year or so ago to help me run in the cold when I spent Christmas in England. Then, I started wearing them to just keep me warm in general. Now they're popping up in every store I go in!

I always wear my legwarmers with my trusty UGG Boots. I wish I could own every color and style of these boots; they are amazingly comfortable no matter who says that they UGG-LY!

And of course, pumpkin pancakes done best by I-HOP, but can be made at home quite easily with pumpkin spice. (Hey, I promised I'd keep my clothing items exclusive to the UK. I did not say that meant my favorite treat as well!)

What are your favorite autumn treats? Are you a big fan of pumpkin, too?
And help me out! What are your favorite UK stores? How can I make the transition from USA to UK style?

Rugby Part 2 - It's A Try Not A Touchdown

Like I said yesterday, I went to my first rugby game this past Saturday!!

Sun setting during the game. It gets dark at like 4 here! I'm really sorry Alaska, I couldn't deal with you. 

Not going to lie, I was as confused as ever. Not only is rugby not so popular in the States, I don't think it's a prime sport for anyone without the Y chromosome to watch on the regular. 

So I present to you from my point of view, a random list of things you should know about the game of rugby.

You pass backwards - And it's not counterproductive! The team lines up and passes to their teammate behind them commonly in a diagonal formation. The last person gets smashed by big, strong people on the other team and the process starts again for whichever person gets the ball.

There is no "faffing about" - (one of my fave phrases recently is faffing about, by the way) There's not so much milking the time clock as there is in, oh, every other sport. In football (soccer), if someone falls over, the player rolls around and has a bit of a moan before they realize no one cares and then they get back up. In rugby, no one stayed on the ground for longer than 3 seconds unless they were piling on top of the ball and/or the opposite team.

It makes American Football look like elegant dancing - Okay maybe that's a stretch. Not to offend my own country's sport, but look at what rugby players wear compared to what American football players wear. Rugby, from what I've watched, is a lot more violent; it's also acceptable to be violent (within reason, obviously).

See? No big shoulder pads!

They stop the clock - In football (soccer) it's all go go go go go and they don't stop the clock, which is great. In rugby, the clock stops. It was nice for me because I could ask my dumb questions and not feel like I was speaking to the entranced, focused, and seemingly brain dead people around me. 

The scrum; it's actually mightier than it sounds - Basically the teams bunch up in a violent head to head huddle in order to get the ball. Lots of GRRRRs and grunts heard from the Ref Link earpiece. I had to ask the Fiance what the referee was saying because due to the accent and the poor quality of the radio it sounded like the ref was just saying "punch!" Apparently, it was "touch". I think "punch" would have been more appropriate....

The people are like, 12 feet tall!! -Well, maybe they're not 12 feet tall all the time. That would be craziness. But during a "line out" (done after the ball goes out of bounds), the players can get lifted up really high into the air in order to get the ball. Pretty awesome.

No, not interpretive dancing. It's a statue outside the stadium of the players getting lifted into the air!

It's called a try, not a touchdown - Don't say touchdown. You'll get evil looks. A "try" is the touchdown equivalent in rugby. Except once the team runs it into their "end zone" (called the try line), it must be put on the ground with full control by the player. So technically, if the team is inching towards the try line, the other team can block the ball with their hand to prevent them from scoring. Likewise, if the ball stumbles out of the players hand behind the try line, it doesn't count either. Tricky, isn't it?

So there you have it! Everything useful you need to know about the game of rugby.

Oh the points system you ask? Just listen to the amount of enthusiasm of the drunken people behind you singing "Swing low, sweet chariot" to determine whether or not your team is winning. That's what's more important.

If you were visiting the UK from abroad, or you had friends/family visiting the UK from abroad, would you rather go to a football (soccer), cricket, or rugby game and why?