Shop Local

We hear this a lot. As a small business owner, I agree with this a lot. I will spend a little extra to buy local too. As long as it is within reason.

If possible, I buy my climbing shoes and my running shoes locally. I will pick Beauty's Boutique or Suite One if I want to buy some clothes. I'd pick The Woodsmen if I wanted a jacket or some chalk. I love Blaze'n Burrito.  Andy buys his brewing supplies from GrowFresh.

I would rather eat at Friday's or Beef O Brady's rather than Olive Garden.

Wait a minute...WHAT??????

Yeah, that's right, I feel like I need to clear the air. We say shop local, shop local, but them we turn our noses up at franchises.Turns out a lot of places we recognize as being everywhere can be locally owned too.

Guess what? When you eat, shop, or whatever you do at a franchise, you are supporting the local economy. They are providing jobs, they are buying things in town, they do care.

Ok, so not all franchises are locally owned. It's worth checking out before you slam it.

I know you may not think you are slamming them, but as a franchisee when you say to avoid these types of places and go elsewhere in order to "shop local" , I just don't like it.

Did you know that many McDonald's are locally owned? So is Sonic. So is Burger King.

Andy was talking with a guy at the climbing gym whose family owns four Mcdonald's. Andy said it was hard to look at him and think that eating at McDonald's (some of them) isn't shopping local. I knew a girl growing up whose family owned a Sonic. The parents of a kid I went to high school with with opened a Burger King.

There are over 300 Plato's Closets in the country and each and everyone of them is locally owned.

Buffalo Wild Wings is a franchise. I'm so excited that one of these is coming to Fort Smith. I have talked with the owner of the Fort Smith one. I have met the owner of Friday's. I have met the owner of Beef O Brady's. How could you say that you aren't shopping local?

Don't hate on these places just because the owners chose to buy a franchise.

These local business owners still put a lot of blood and sweat into their business.

One argument I heard was that franchises don't support the local economy. These businesses will use their parent company for supplies and services, so they aren't pumping money back into the local economy. This isn't so.

Here's a small list of stuff Plato's Closet uses the local area for:
pest control
air conditioning repair
window washing
employees
some office supplies
all of our used inventory
our sign
electricians
plumbers
advertising
carpet cleaning and water removal (thank you premiere carpet cleaning for coming to our rescue in the middle of the night.)

and the list probably could go on.

So how could you say supporting a franchise is not supporting local business? If you still feel like this is true, let's talk. Maybe just a short conversation with Andy and I will change your mind.

My dad...

It's Father's Day, so I thought I would go ahead and write a little something about him. It seems appropriate, doesn't it?

If you know my dad, you know he isn't the picture of normality. He is truly a unique individual. I love him that way. 

*He used to send me a check for $5 every week when I was in college. Sometimes it would just be the check in an envelope. Sometimes it would be the check with some random object. I looked forward to that every single week.

*He likes to give us sketchy looking bags full of all sorts of randomness. He will hand Andy and I a bag and tell us we can't open it until we leave Indiana, or until he leaves Arkansas. You never know what will be in these bags. It could be a tax return from the 80's, a receipt from a lunch we had at Fazoli's two years ago, a bunch of safety pins (all not in their safety position), a flashlight, tea, pictures, newspaper clippings, and well...you get the idea.

*I don't understand how he has a tax return from the 80's but doesn't hold on to many possessions at all. If I want to buy my dad something, I know not to give him things that I want him to keep for long periods of time. It is likely he could pack up all his belongings in the back of his Saturn and be on the road at any moment. For Christmas, he asked for hot sauce with the wooden top.

*When I was in high school, he had this Volkswagon Jetta that had a wrecked side. The door wouldn't shut correctly and it was bungee corded shut. When it rained, he would put a bath mat over that side so that water wouldn't get in. He got in an accident in that vehicle and the police officer was very confused.

*After that, he got an 87 Crown Victoria. That car was something.  I was able to win my dad Colt's tickets because I called into the Smiley Morning Show and described it. It won "worst car in Indianapolis." My dad was proud of that. He would be. 

*He once bought my mom a shower cap for Christmas. My mom doesn't take showers. It was a thoughtful gift. My mom doesn't take showers because she doesn't want to get her hair wet. (She washes her hair in the sink). My dad got her the shower cap so she could take showers.

*He once came home with an inflatable boat. His idea was that this could be a bed for my sister or me. My mom did not agree.

*He calls me with random facts all the time.

*He likes to hide things around my house when he comes to visit.

*These are some of the things I will always remember about him...and I am hoping for many many more memories in the years to come.

I'm a maniac :)

Well, I've neglected this thing. I'm good at that. I have had this blog since 2004, and it started out strong. It fizzled out completely, but now I'm back to it.

Why don't I update more? That's a simple answer. I don't ever want to spend the time to do it. Now, that doesn't mean I don't have the time. It just means I don't want to spend my time on this. Plus, nobody comments on here anymore. :( I know I know...I'm lame!

So Andy said I needed to update. He said you've ran a marathon since then. That's true. I've done a marathon plus some other stuff.

I did the Andy Payne Memorial Marathon in Oklahoma City. It was a tiny tiny marathon on a terrible course and it was windy and hot. Sounds fun huh? Well, sort of. :) Besides my legs cramping up on me. At least some good people ran it with me, and a good friend of mine worked hard on the sidelines.

So why did I do this? Well, it turns out if you run 3 marathons in 90 days, then you can sign up to be a Marathon Maniac. What's that you ask?  Click here and find out.

So, let me introduce you to Marathon Maniac #5578

Well I look crazy enough don't I?

In other news,

*I went on a cruise. I won 3 trophies, 4 medals and a bottle of champagne. That's what I do.  Maybe I will blog about that another day.

*I did a Warrior Dash with my lovely friend Vicki. It's always an adventure with her. We had sooo much fun and I got third in my age group and seventh overall for the women. Doesn't it look like we are having fun?

*The day after the Warrior Dash, I ran with my friend Case in her first real half marathon :). We had a good time, and I drank mimosas. I'm proud of her for finishing. She had ran a total of 3 miles in the past 6 months before doing it. Maybe I shouldn't have talked her into it, but I knew she could do it. On another note, aren't we sexy??

*I like peanut butter sandwiches

*I can't live without chapstick

*I like bananas

*My puppy dogs are cute

*Andy stole my Darth Vader helmet I was using as decoration at work.

*Random enough?

*I read through old blog posts recently, and you know what? I used to talk constantly about the Pacers.

*I still love Scot Pollard. No idea who he is? It doesn't matter.

*Do you know who Here Come The Mummies Are? If you don't, google them.  They are great.

That's it.

What should I name this?

I think I need to change the name of Ladies Room Fashion Show. For one thing, I stole it from Carrie. For another thing, I don't think it is a fashion show. I think it is something that holds me accountable. It helps me get motivated to dress better. I need to dress better. I want to dress better. I just am a t-shirt and jeans person at heart. I feel like I did very very good this week, and hope that I can continue this. I think i may say that this motivates me about every week, but if I keep saying it, maybe it will keep motivating me.

Shirt: OKC marathon shirt
Shorts: BDG from Plato's Closet
Sandals: Chacos
I wore this the day after the marathon. I had a pretty relaxing day, and didn't need to dress all that special for anything. Plus, this way everybody could know I just ran a marathon! Haha. kidding.

Hat: Plato's Closet
Shirt: Junk Food from Beauty's Boutique
Shorts: BKE from Plato's Cloet
Shoes: Keds from Warrens
So, I'm sitting. My employee told me to sit down...and I immediately did. Haha. This outfit was comfortable and had lots of grey. It is very me. I love these keds so much too!

Dress: Beauty's Boutique
Shoes: Lucky Brand from Warrens
What??? Nothing from Plato's Closet?? This was my first try with wedges. I love love love this dress, and I love love love the shoes.  I like how I got a little height added on and they were actually pretty comfortable.

Hat: Charlotte Russe
Shirt: Wet Seal from Plato's Closet
Tank: Julie's Closet from Plato's Closet
Shorts: BKE from Plato's Closet
Shoes: Warren's
Necklace: American Eagle from Plato's Closet
I tried out the wedges with a more casual look. I think I like it...but I honestly felt so weird in this outfit.  Do you think it a good look?

Necklace: American Eagle from Plato's Closet
Vest: Daytrip from Plato's Closet
Tank: Mossimo from Plato's Closet
Black skinnies: Old Navy from Plato's Closet
Shoes: Toms from Warrens
Might I say that this outfit (besides the shoes) would cost you $24 at Plato's Closet. This includes the necklace. I think it is a great look for that price...so why aren't you shopping more resale?  Also, I might add that I should smile in the pictures...because trying to pose like this just didn't work. :)

Should I keep doing this, or are you getting sick of looking at pictures of me? I'm sort of getting sick of looking at myself. haha.

sooo...I did another marathon

This past weekend, I ran the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. I had a BLAST.

I can't believe I did it. I decided to do this marathon less than a week before I did it. I signed up for the marathon the day before the race. A marathon? 26.2 miles? Just my 2nd one ever.

I wasn't sure how it was going to go. I planned to go to Oklahoma City to cheer on some WAR folks. I thought there may be a chance that I would maybe sign up for the half marathon.

But then, I did the full. I did the full marathon about seven weeks after I had done the Little Rock Marathon. I hadn't continued to try to stay in marathon shape, but hey! I thought I could do it.

Sooo...let me tell you about it.

I made the trip with 4 other girls that also did the full. It was the first full for three of of them, and the other one had walked 2 other marathons previously.  The trip was pretty fun. Oh, the things that will be said in a vehicle full of five girls. :).

Fast forward to race day...because you don't honestly care about the other stuff.

We woke up EARLY, ate our breakfast, and made our way to a race shuttle stop.

We waited...and waited...and waited. We saw shuttle bus after shuttle bus pass us up. Apparently our shuttle stop was the last stop, and the bus was always full. We sort of had passed the point of  no return. It was to drive and look for a parking spot, and we were nervous a shuttle was never going to pick us up.

These wonderful girls that were standing in front of us offered to drive and let us ride with them.  Sooo...we got in a vehicle with complete strangers and made our way to the start line. It was 6 am at this point and the race started at 6:30.

Side note...Sheri and Rachel got to ride in the back, just like our dogs do.  How cute. They now know what if feels like when the driver takes a turn too fast. Haha.

Sooo...the wonderful girls that drove us dropped us off near the starting line. We are soo thankful that they did that. We rushed to get our gear checked and get into the start corral. It was madness!

As we headed to the start line, a man asked me what time it was. It was soo chaotic, that I lost Kathy and Staci. I was going to start the race with them, but I knew they would be ok. (and they were :) ). 

There was no time to stress about the race, because, oh! It started.

I had no idea what to expect. My longest run since Little Rock had been 14 miles. I figured that I could at least make it that distance with not much trouble, so I could probably make the whole thing even if it gave me all sorts of trouble.

It turns out that this race was spectacular! I can't even believe how awesome it was.  I started out nice and slowly. The course was lovely, and the weather wasn't bad.

I kept it slow and steady and had fun with it. I found the support on the course to be great. I found the runners on this course to be amazing. There were firefighters walking the half marathon in full gear. I couldn't help but to just pat them on the back as I passed them.

I caught up with Kathy and Sherri, two WAR members running the half-marathon.  I chatted with them for a moment and continued on my way.

I saw Rachel P on the course...

I saw Kathy and Staci on the out and back and was pleased to see that they were so close behind me. I wondered if they were going to catch me.

I joined in song with a guy singing Firework as he was running.

I gave kids high fives. I posed for the cameras.

The weird thing? I didn't it hit a wall. I felt great the whole time. I purely enjoyed every second of this run.

I finished 11 minutes faster than Little Rock...and I did not feel great the whole time in Little Rock...that's for sure.

I negative split this thing.

I could not have been happier.

I loved being able to see the other WAR members cross the finish line. It was a monumental experience for everyone...and I am glad I got to be there for it.

I am ready for the next one. :)