daily jam-ellie goulding

After the long weekend, I am in need of an extra double espresso and some pump up music. Today's daily jam can get me ready for anything: Ellie Goulding. She's figured out how to pair her voice with perfectly timed techno beats. Anytime I need a little pick-me-up, I reach for my phone and escape for 4 minutes with this song. I can't wait to see her this summer with my friend Nicole, we have such girl crushes on her & her music!

Remember to turn it to the left when listening with your headphones, save your hair cells, save your hearing!

something inspiring...

Sometimes, you come across something so inspiring, you just have to share it with everyone you can in an honest attempt to make the world a better place. I watched this video and met Zach Sobiech and my life has been forever changed. He inspires me to be happy and to live everyday to the fullest. He will never know how many people's lives he has touched. Just make sure to have tissues handy.

Be sure to get Zach's song 'Clouds' on iTunes and to find out about how to donate to Zach Sobiech Research Fund of Children's Cancer Research Fund http://www.childrenscancer.org/zach 

concert series---fall out boy

Fall Out Boy at Stage AE

Last night I went to my 6th Fall Out Boy show. It was the tightest set I have ever seen them play and was actually surprised at how great they sounded. I met my brother and sister in law for dinner and drinks before hand around 5pm. Doors didn't open at Stage AE until 7pm, so we figured that if we had enough drinks in our systems, we could navigate through the sea of teeny-boppers who apparently have heard of Fall Out Boy. These kids were waiting in line since 8am and the line was wrapped alllllll the way around the building; Oh and it was 83 degrees. No thanks, I will watch the line from an air-condiditoned restaurant with a nice cold beverage in my hand. And that's exactly what we did.  

I couldn't get over how many high school and younger kids were at the show. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that FOB is finally becoming world renown rockstars but come on kids, they have more than one album! You could definitely see the correlation between cheers and newer songs, but quite the opposite for myself. I was geeking out, dancing like an idiot, singing the lyrics at the top of lungs for songs like  "Slept with Someone", "Tell That Mick", and obviously for "Grand Theft Autumn" and "Saturday".  My brother made a bet with me over what song would be played first; what he didn't know was that I had found the setlist on twitter via Pup Fresh (@PupFresh). 

PupFresh's setlist for the show

It was great to see Pete and the rest of the boys playing live in Pittsburgh again. Nothing beats singing along to "Grand Theft Autumn", 14 year old Julie was smiling from ear to ear #whereisyourboytonight #Ihopeheisagentlemen  



*don't worry, I had my ear plugs in the whole time, don't want to damage my hearing! 

daily jam-fall out boy

I know, today's daily jam is once again a Fall Out Boy song. Before you get all up in arms with me, the reason is because I am going to see them in concert tonight and can't stop listening to them. This is my favorite song by them, E-V-E-R. I can't wait to see them again live since it has been so long. This song is actually featured on their new album in the song "Save Rock and Roll" which is the second video. Check them out and let me know what you think. The plan for tonight is to go to happy hour with my brother and sister in law after work before the show. My sister in law works down by Stage AE and she said there was a line at 8am this morning. That's insanity. So there's going to be a ton of people and oh, it's supposed to rain. Can't wait to tell you all about it tomorrow. 

Remember to turn it to the left when listening with your headphones, save your hair cells, save your hearing!

half marathon

I did something I never thought I would ever do in my life. I ran my first half marathon. I never in my wildest dreams thought I could run 13.1 miles for fun. Hello, its on my 101 in 1001 list! But holy crap, I freaking loved my life when I was running. I trained a little bit (looking back, I should have trained more for it) and was able to run for probably about 8 out of the 13.1 miles. I was in fact live tweeting during the race using the hashtag #JDrunning and taking pictures and just generally feeding off of the energy of everyone who was lined up along the route.  

While running across the Andy Warhol Bridge

There were Boston Strong, Pittsburgh Proud signs everywhere and I definitely got a little emotional a couple of times when I ran by someone from Boston. But most of the time, I was smiling, rocking my UofPitt hat, listening to the same 4 songs over and over. I finally downloaded the new Fall Out Boy album onto my phone from my computer and fell in love with the first 4 songs that, for almost 2 hours straight, I listened to them on a continuous loop. I can't help it, they are upbeat and I didn't know the words! (I know them now, don't worry). While going across the West End Bridge, I needed a little pick-me-up so I decided to FaceTime with my brother in New Jersey. I got a lot of strange looks, I mean it did look like I was talking to myself. But he kept my spirits up and I got a boost of energy from him which was great. 

Since I have never ran in a marathon before, I didn't really know what to expect. Besides there being tons of people running, there were just as many people lined up along the route cheering everyone on and some even have signs. There were a couple of clever signs that I wish I could have taken pictures of. "Hurry up the Pens play at 12:00," "Humpty Dumpty had wall issues too," "Make this bridge your bitch" were my favorite ones. 

I also ran into (see what I did there?) a lot of great people and friends. My dad was moving all over the city to get pictures of me at various points during the marathon. I was reunited with one of my best friends from college, Kaitlin who moved away. I didn't actually see my friend MIles while running, (I saw him the night before) but that was probably because he was too busy sprinting for a PR (Personal Record) during the race. But the best surprise of all was seeing one of my favorite people ever, Kobert, volunteering at a hydration station at the mile 12 marker. I had no idea he was going to be there and he didn't know I was running so it was wonderful when we saw each other. The tweets between each other were fantastic after were hilarious.  

I finished my first half marathon in 2 hours and 42 minutes and I don't even care if that is a good time or not. I finished & took 33,657 steps according to my UP band, which is important, but MOST importantly I had a freaking blast! I will most definitely sign up for another one and my goal will to run the whole time. Baby steps here people. 

At the Marathon Expo

Done, Runner of Steel

Have you ever ran in a marathon or a half marathon? How was your experience? Let me know!