New Blog! Magnolias & Mimosas

Hello all!  This post is to let everyone know that this blog will not be updated after this post.  I am starting a new fashion, lifestyle, etc. blog called Magnolias & Mimosas.  Just click the name and it will get you to the new site!  Many of these posts will be moved to this blog, but eventually this one will be completely deleted.  So please visit my new blog for updates on me, fashion, style, beauty, & more!  I hope to see you there!

The Color Run - Nashville

Before the run

The starting line--I was in the first wave

Last Saturday I did The Color Run in Nashville.  That's about two hours from my house so I was really hoping to enjoy it.  I'm all for having fun when you're running and enjoying the run or race, but, sadly, this just wasn't a great experience for me.  Oh, it was fun, and I'm glad I did it...ONCE.  But I'll likely never do it again.  I'd much rather spend my money on a race where I can actually run it than walk it and not be able to breathe for the whole thing.  Let me clarify that...I could breathe fine while walking or running a 5K...that is until I got some of the colored powder thrown directly in my face.  I knew that I'd get it on my face, but this guy stood inches from me and slung the blue powder across my face. Throwing it at my face from the side where they were supposed to stand would have been fine, but this was a bit much.  I was spitting blue color for two days, and getting it out of my ears and nose for that long, too.  I was also surprised at how unorganized it was and how rude the volunteers and workers were. 

The aftermath with my medal and all the colors

Running down Broadway

I did this one by myself whereas many others do this as a group thing with their friends.  What I noticed was that the groups of two or more got much better treatment than those of us doing it by ourselves.  When I was looking for the "dry off" area with the blowers (leaf blowers, I might add), I couldn't find them as they weren't clearly marked with signs, and a couple of workers rudely asked me, "Can I help you?"  Well, no, not if you're going to have that attitude.  I finally found them, but no one was around working them.  I don't know if you were supposed to use them yourself or not, but all I could think of was, "That's a big liability just having industrial leaf blowers out in the open with so many kids."  So, I chose to go on to the car without staying for the color/glitter throw and party.  Now, I know this isn't the case with other Color Run cities as I've seen people who did it alone have a great time.  And I did enjoy running it, but the before and after were not nearly as fun or organized as they should have been. I think because of the lack of organization and rudeness of the workers, I just began it with a bad taste in my mouth.  But overall, it was fun, I got a nice shirt, and a medal, which was nice since this is a pretty costly run to not be timed or anything of the sort.  If I ever do it again, I will likely pick a different city just to see if my experience is different, and honestly unless they offer a medal again, I'll probably not do it if the cost is the same.  There are other 5Ks and 10Ks that may or may not offer a medal but are cheaper regardless of the bling and are actually timed so you can see what you actually run. 

A close up.  The medal is actually really nice.

I know that's not the point of The Color Run--the point is to have fun--but being timed is nice when you're like me and working on getting better at running and training for bigger races.  But I had fun--it wasn't a blast, but it was fun.  Next time I'll try to round up some friends to do it with me, too, and just plan to walk it and not actually run it so we can enjoy it more.  So, there's what I thought of The Color Run.  I'm very proud of my medal I got for it, I ran it and finished it smiling, but I've learned that gimmicky races just aren't my thing!  But I may try them again, just if I need some fun in life.  So, if you're looking at doing one of the themed, gimmicky runs, this was just my own personal experience.  You may love them, and I encourage you to try it! 

I'm on Bloglovin'

Since I changed the name of the blog, I deleted Southern Belle, City Style from Bloglovin' and I'm now on there with the new blog name, Southern Belle Redefined.  Follow me for updates!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

New Blog Name, New Me

So, you may have noticed that the blog name has changed from Southern Belle, City Style to
Southern Belle Redefined.  As I'm going on my Biggest Journey to reinvent myself both physically and mentally, I wanted to reinvent my blog.  I've written everything from tech blogs to book blogs to fashion blogs, but I have found that it is easier to put this all into one lifestyle blog.  Many of you may remember my blog Coffee & Literature.  It was (in my opinion) a pretty successful book blog.  But I realized I had other interests other than books.  So, next I created Southern Belle, City Style, which dealt with fashion, celebrities, beauty, girly stuff, etc.  But it became somewhat overwhelming to deal with two blogs, especially since Coffee & Literature was more popular and required much more time.  So I stopped blogging all together for a while. 

Although I've never been the most consistent blogger (yes, I'm really working on that...), I missed it.  So I decided to close Coffee & Literature and consolidate everything into Southern Belle, City Style.  It worked quite well, but something was still missing.  I was blogging about everything Southern Belle-ish, everything books, and everything fashion on the same blog.  That was fine, but the blog name didn't fit the blog anymore.  So a few weeks ago, I decided to change the name of the blog.  I went around and around to so many different names.  Finally I came up with Southern Belle Redefined.  "Southern Belle" because that's what I am, born and raised.  "Redefined" because I wanted to express what it means to be a true Southern Belle today in the South.  It means being cultured, knowing about everything you want to know, and being yourself.

With the new blog name comes some of the same and some new.  I am bringing back book reviews and will focus on everything--from good Southern novels to non-fiction about fitness and everything in between.  I've already got several ready to go.  I'm also going to continue the series on The Biggest Journey.  It may not be a weekly series but I'm going to work on it.  I'm also going to blog about my life, too.  Not everything, but some things people might find interesting, such as our travels and reviews of things we do on our trips and different things like that.

So, this is now a lifestyle blog.  At this point in my life, I think this is what fits me the best.  I hope you continue reading it, and please leave me some comments! 

The Biggest Journey #1 - My FitBit Flex

This will be my first post for my The Biggest Journey series!  Yay!!!  I'm glad you've decided to follow my journey with me.  Make sure you check out my reason behind this series by reading my first post about this series here.  It details the "why" of what I'm doing with this series. 

My FitBit Flex

So, to start, I wanted to do a review of my biggest help on this journey--the FitBit Flex activity tracker.  I'm currently wearing my violet armband with it as you can see in the picture.  When I decided to start this journey, I knew I needed something to keep me accountable in my activity.  I didn't want to belong to a gym (you know, one of those fat people fears that I have...) and I absolutely HATE just walking on a treadmill, even when I'm watching TV, unless I have to use it.  So, I wanted something that would keep me more active during the day, all day.  Enter the Fitbit.  

I enjoy walking and have a goal to eventually become a distance runner.  It's something I've always wanted to do, so it is one of my main goals in addition to becoming healthier in general.  There were lots of options, a regular pedometer, the Nike Fuel Band, GPS watches, etc., but the FitBit really appealed to me as it was something to wear all day every day, even in my sleep.  So after a bit of research, I decided on the FitBit Flex.  I wanted something on my wrist and I didn't need the heart rate monitor and watch capabilities that the other FitBits had.  The Flex was it.  My darling husband went out and bought one and I began using it on January 1st and have worn it every single day since.  I even turned around after leaving the house to go back to get it!

I can honestly say that this piece of $99 equipment is one of the best things I've ever bought.  I downloaded the app to my iPhone and I check it all the time.  In fact, after buying mine, my husband and father both bought one and we all compete with each other.  We are a very competitive family, so this is perfect for us.  I'm not saying it will magically make you get up and walk because it won't, but I've not missed one day and also use the app to count my food.  I've counted every single calorie for over a month, whether it was 1500 calories or 3000 calories.  I attribute the Flex and the Fitbit app to much of the success of my losing 16 lbs since January 1st. I have a goal of 10,000 steps a day and most days I meet that.  It's rough at first since I wasn't used to walking at all. I plan to up that goal to 15,000 each day once my sprained ankle heals (more on that later).

I'm not going to do a complete review of the Fitbit Flex; I may at a later date, but I encourage everyone who is trying to get or stay healthy to get one.  It will definitely help you get and stay accountable in your own journey!

Check out more on the FitBit Flex here.