On Monday, April 22 I will be at Fleet Feet Sports Lincoln Square store running for Boston.

Runners for Boston is a fun run to bring the community of runners together and show support for those affected in Boston. Fleet Feet is encouraging everyone to wear past/present Boston Marathon gear, the iconic Boston Marathon blue & yellow, or any race shirt.

On June 15 the Chicago Runner Bloggers are putting on a 5k to show the power and resiliency of the running community.

If you don’t live in Chicago check with your local running store. There will be runs to support Boston all around the country.

People have asked if what happened in Boston will make me scared to run marathons or if I still want to run the Boston Marathon. Of course, I will. Running marathons is a passion of mine and Boston is my dream! I can’t let this horrific tragedy stop me from doing something I love.

Yes, there are bad people in this world but I’d like to think that for every bad person who planted those bombs there were over 20 + people running toward the explosion to help. We can’t allow these bad people bring more hate and negativity into the world.

Show the world that runners stand together. Wear a race shirt or wear Boston blue/yellow in honor of the runners, the victims, and their families.

And for everyone who ran in the Boston Marathon yesterday – congratulations! That is a huge accomplishment and no amount of hate can ever take that away.

I can’t believe we are already half way through the planning process.

Here’s what we have done so far:

• Picked the venue
• Tony found our photographer
• Engagement photos
• Picked a caterer
• Bought my wedding dress
• Finished our guest list
• Sent Save-the-Dates
• Booked the room block
• Cake tasting + decided the look of our cake
• Decided on favors
• Picked our centerpieces
• Tony picked the band
• Tony booked our honeymoon
• Hired a day of coordinator

Here’s what we’re currently working on:

• Finding a Rabbi (talking with one next Wednesday)
• Suits (we are going to Men’s Warehouse on Sunday)
• Bridesmaid dress (we know the color and I have date set to go to David’s Bridal)
• Tony’s working on our song list
• Finalizing the rentals
• Wedding bands (going shopping next weekend)
• Hair (I need to make sure my stylist is available)
• Meeting with our florist on April 20
• Register for gifts on April 7
• Wedding food tasting (will probably happen in April)

Here’s what we still need to do:

• Bridesmaid gifts
• Groomsmen gifts
• Parents gifts
• Flower girl dress
• Order invitations
• Buy guestbook
• Buy alcohol
• Decide on wedding shoes + accessories
• Find someone to do alterations on bridal gown
• Tony and his parents plan the rehearsal dinner
• Out of town gift bags
• Book wedding-night hotel room
• Ceremony programs
• Decide on escort cards
• Find nail salon
• Buy a wedding veil

So far I have really been enjoying the planning process. I feel like we have the majority of the big stuff out of the way. I want to make sure I don’t feel rushed the last couple of weeks before our wedding day so I want to get everything done early on.

I hate having unmade decisions and there really isn’t a wrong way to decide. Wedding planning has become super easy and fun when I started to trust my gut feeling and not look back. It feels great to make a big decision and move on to the next task without seconding guessing myself.

Any planning advice for a bride that’s 6 months out?

As you can see it’s a stress fracture in the bottom of my pelvis. It is an uncommon injury, but sometimes happens with female distance runners.

It has been a really tough injury to deal with. I thought it would be healed in 6-8 weeks. I thought I would be able to run the Chicago Marathon and I thought I would be able to run Boston. I thought and hoped for a lot of different things.

I didn’t get to participate in any of the races I hoped I would. I even signed up for a 10k in the beginning of February, but couldn’t run it because of what my latest MRI showed.

Instead of going in to the depressing details I’m focusing on the positive. I’ve learned a lot this past year. I learned that sleep is more important than running and being able to jog a 10 minute mile is the most glorious feeling in the world. This injury has changed my perspective on running forever.

I’m a big believer that whatever doesn’t kill us, will only make us stronger. It’s the challenging times that really change us for the better and make us who we are.

Since I have been able to slowly start running again I have signed up for my next race!

I will be running Fleet Feet’s Soldier Field 10 Mile race on Saturday, May 25. It’s the 10th anniversary of this race and I’m really looking forward to running along Chicago’s beautiful lakefront and finishing on the 50-yard line in the center of the field.

This race is going to mean a lot to me. I have survived one of the worst injuries a runner could have and I am coming out on top. Being out of running for a year made me realize how much I appreciate and missed running and how much it means to me. Running isn’t just about running a race, it’s about getting out there and doing what I love and hopefully doing it for many years to come.

After the gym I came home, sat around in my sweaty workout clothes and ate a big bowl of oatmeal. Another  one of my favorite things to do on Saturday.

After I showered my Mom and I rushed over to Starbucks to meet my day of wedding coordinator. To give you a little background information …I was a day of wedding coordinator for 4 years during college. I didn’t do much of the planning, but I would coordinator the rehearsal, ceremony and reception.

Being a day of wedding coordinator is a lot of work. It can be a stressful 12 hour day where you’re running around trying to make sure everything is perfect and everyone’s happy (basically impossible). I LOVE creating schedules and timelines and didn’t think I would want to hire a coordinator until I realized I don’t want any of my family or friends doing the job. I know if I don’t have someone who knows what they’re doing I wouldn’t be able to let go of the control. I would end of coordinating and worrying about everything when in reality I’m not going to be available to do that on the day of my wedding.

I was nervous going into the meeting because I hate giving up control, but I instantly clicked with Tami from Creatively Yours Wedding Planning. She was extremely professional, seemed very enthusiastic and didn’t seem to be burnt out. The wedding industry is an interesting beast and you can easily get burnt out after doing it for many years. I’m really looking forward to working with Tami and letting her take care of all the details so I can just relax and enjoy the day.

After our meeting my Mom and I went shopping to find something to wear to my cousins wedding next weekend. She found a great outfit at Coldwater Creek and I found this dress at Express.

I also found this gorgeous turquise purse at a resale shop for $12. I like that it will give the outfit some color.

I usually hate shopping so this trip was a success. My Mom and I spent the rest of the night watching the Devil Wears Prada and cuddling with our pup. It was a great Saturday with Mom.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was spent with family and doing lots of wedding planning.

I’m off to the gym, but before I go I wanted to share a treadmill workout I’ve been loving lately.

It’s from Carrotsncake.com. Running on a treadmill can be super boring, but having a set workout and constantly switching up the speed or incline makes the workout fly by.

What’s your favorite treadmill workout? 

Last weekend my Mom and I went to the Swiss Maid Bakery for a wedding cake tasting. Tony and I don’t particularly like cake so I brought my Mom to help me decide on the flavors. We might not like cake, but we both love ice cream so we’re also going to have an ice cream cake (more info to come).

I didn’t know the Swiss Maid Bakery made wedding cakes until my Mom and I saw them at the McHenry County Bridal Show a couple of months ago. The women running the booth at the Bridal Show were super sweet and right away I knew I wanted them to make my wedding cake.

The Bakery had a table set up with a photo album of wedding cakes for us to look through while we waited. Then they brought us a couple of trays of cake and fillings to try. We tasted the white, chocolate, marble, yellow, and red velvet cake flavors and butter cream, chocolate butter cream, ganache, whip cream, and cream cheese frostings. They also had butter cream, mocha, strawberry, raspberry, cherry, and custard fillings.

We fell in love with the yellow cake and butter cream and quickly knew we had winner. The cake was soft, spongy and not overly sweet. Since my wedding cake will have three tiers, we decided each layer would be different. The bottom (largest layer) will be yellow cake, strawberry filling, with butter cream frosting. The middle layer will be chocolate cake with custard filling, and the top layer will be marble cake and chocolate butter cream as the filling.

I have been going back and forth on having a sweets table. At first, I loved the idea of a candy bar, but with the limited space at our venue and the cost of all the candy and candy dishes, I finally decided against it. The Bakery makes beautiful frosted butter cookies and they will decorate them to match the theme of our wedding. I’m not 100% sure this is what I want to do for our favors, but it’s a nice option to have.

At the end of the tasting we met with Ashley, the manager and she was a huge help and super friendly. I didn’t know the exact look I wanted to go with, but we walked out the door with a pretty solid plan.

What does your dream wedding cake consist of?

#RunChat challenged everyone to list 5-10 reasons why they love running.

I know most runners have a love/hate relationship with running, but I am not one of them. I feel lucky to only have lots and lots of love for running. I don’t ever have to force myself to run. I always WANT to run.

Here are my reason why I love running:

1. It’s my therapy. Running has been there when I’ve had my best and worst days. Running has helped me get through the ups and downs of the last 4 years of my life. 
2. Friendship. I have met some of my favorite people and have developed so many good relationships through running.
3.  Running clears my mind. I find it when I am running I’m able to think more clearly about the issues I’m working through.
4. It makes me feel alive. Plain and simple, running makes me feel the blood pumping through my veins, the beat of my heart, and the dreams in my head.
5. Happiness. I use my running time to run away from past demons and run to future happiness. I always feel my best and I’m the happiest after a run.

Why do you love running?

The shower was co-hosted by her Mom, Sister and Aunt and I think they did a great job. I loved the decorations and games to keep guests busy and talking. 

The cupcakes were from the Swiss Maid Bakery in Woodstock, IL. Caitlin and her sister used to walk by this bakery every day before school to get a donut. It’s by far the best bakery in McHenry County.

Cait’s sister made this bottle and asked the guests to give a couple dollars or what ever they could so the new parents could use the money for a night out. I love this idea because I know the parents won’t have a lot of alone time in the upcoming months.

The baby shower was a blast. It was really nice spending the day celebrating someone I love so much.

I love this interval workout on the elliptical Julie from Peanut Butter Fingers put together.

We have been getting a lot of snow and rain here in Chicago and these boots have kept my feet dry and warm. I’ve tried many boots and these are the only ones that keep my toes from freezing. They are made of this fancy Neo-Tech insulation and I love that mine have fun and stylish colors. They’re expensive, but they should last me a long time.

Look at her… how could she not be my favorite.

If you register for Fleet Feet Chicago Women’s half marathon or 5k during American Hearth Month you’ll receive a special kit of run inspired items. All the goodies are worth $25.

The Snow Angel lotion by Philosophy is saving my skin this winter and it smells like heaven. I’m pretty addicted to this stuff and need to buy some more ASAP.

Well, time to hit the gym before work.

What are your favorites from the week?