I'm breaking all the Vegas rules...

What are the Vegas rules?

1. gamble
2. drink
3. wear stiletto heels and impossibly tight pants
4. smoke a cigar
5. see a show
6. avoid the creepy people handing out the 'skin' cards
7. see and be seen...i.e. spend as little time alone in your hotel room as possible (alone being the operative word in that rule)
8. and most important...what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

I broke that last and most important rule last night when I mobily posted a photo of bloggers wildly dancing at a club. Instead of a pre-race shake-out run, a good number of us decided to go dancing last night instead. So if you follow blogs of other runners who are here in Vegas, you've already seen some of the pictures. But here are mine...

I know this isn't a super flattering pic, but how often do we really look as awesome as we feel when drinking and dancing at a disco?

Saturday was the first time I had ever met Page, even though she lives kind of near me. 

I consider myself changed forever.

And Janae! 

Not only is she truly as super sweet as she seems on her blog...

this girl busts some killer moves on the dance floor!

See? Alcohol. She's drinking and dancing. She isn't breaking the Vegas rules.

 So I didn't gamble.

And I didn't drink or smoke.

And I wore my pilgrim shoes to the disco and...

yes... the thigh-high maternity compression stockings.

I think my ankle could have been a stand-in for Michael Jackson...if my socks were sparkly.

And I left the party at 10 p.m.

I did not see a show but instead resurrected that favorite game...

Match The Rack...

All save one of our game's participants are in Vegas this weekend. And one of them did not join us for the disco fever. So you have to guess which three are pictured above. There will be no prizes, just your own personal satisfaction that you know boobs.

And about the creepy card-hander-outters...

I just started going up to them and asking for cards...however many they were willing to part with.

And I tried to get them to teach me how to do this super creepy little snap thing they do. Well, some of them do the snappy thing and others do this little flicking thing. And then there are some who are either new or uncoordinated or on drugs or a combo who cannot snap or flick and they just shake like they have DT's. So creepy... and so sad. And no, I will not be sharing those cards with you all... this is a family-friendly blog. Well...sort of :P

I almost didn't make it out of the hotel. There were these elves, see...

And then I almost didn't make it out of the cab... there was this wheeler-dealer trying to make off with my cash...

But I did think I was outside at one point...even though I wasn't...

These pictures are NOT outside.

I totally thought I was outside until I saw these little circle things in the ceiling. Yes... the ceiling. And I felt such a weird combination of awe and disappointment.

I am hoping to feel nothing but awe as I charge down The Strip tonight.

The wind has died down a bit, and the air is cool and crisp.

I think it will be perfect :)

Rewarding the Faithful...

One year ago, I wrote a post.

One person commented.

Emz.

The Great Lady of the Treadmill was my first introduction to "fitness" blogging. I didn't know there were genres back then. She was one of my first followers...I have NO idea how she found me. The post was simply that I was super excited about closing in on 1000 pageviews. Woo hoo, right? :P

Fast-forward to today, I have held onto 500+ followers for a little over a week. Surprisingly. I'll be the first to admit I have a weird blog. One day it's pictures of my kids at the zoo watching the otters at feeding time, another day it's about running up some insane hill, and then there was the day we played the boobs-to-bloggers matching game. So, yeah... it's weird. But that's me :D

The parenting/mommy bloggers get bored by my running posts, and the runners get bored by my parenting/mommy posts, and the boob fiends...well, they quickly realize that the boobs featured on my blog are fully covered (except the scary boob-scarves) and go on their merry way.

Back the the 'reward' part of this post...the point of it...

I mentioned a few weeks ago that when I hit 500 followers, I would have a super weird cool giveaway. (note: the word order is important...not a super cool weird giveaway). I've decided that Emz gets a prize for being around and regularly commenting (even though she has not been lately... a-hem...but ummmm... living in the glass house, I don't get to throw stones) for pretty much the whole time I've been at this.

Everyone else who is interested can enter to win the prize.

What is the prize?

It's a mood-lifter, an ego-stroker, a reassurance-giver...

Who wouldn't want one of these?

I have one. It's at the top of my stairs. I wanted to bring it to Long Beach and whack it after every mile of that half-marathon...but I thought "nah...that'd be really obnoxious." Then I found out the Dead Jocks Van 2 had one at the Hood to Coast Relay...so definitely obnoxious but also cool :)

The buttondude's semihuman/robotic voice puts me at ease every time I whack the button. The most stressful and difficult of situations suddenly becomes, if not easy, at least relaxed. There is something about being calmly informed,

That was easy

that makes those words feel true.

So Emz gets an Easy Button. She can put it on her treadmill, and when she hits 20 miles, she can give that sucker a whack.

CONTEST and RULES of ENGAGEMENT

The rest of you awesome people will be competing to win your very own Easy Button, as well as a brand-new Nuun water bottle, a tube of Nuun (you can pick the flavor from my selection), a $25 Foot Locker gift card, and a $10 iTunes gift card (not pictured).

This part will not be a random drawing. The contest winner will be chosen subjectively by me based on responses to the following question:

Where would you likely be using your Easy Button?

That's the contest part.

Here's the giveaway part...

• If you don't want to get creative and all you're interested in is 'easy'...simply leave a comment saying "That was easy" to let me know you're interested in winning just an Easy Button. 
• These lazy easy people will be pooled with those who didn't win the contest, and one person from this pool will be chosen at random to win an Easy Button. There might be some extra goodies thrown in, too :)

Are we understanding this? There are two things ... a contest and a giveaway...you can enter one or both. Got it?


You needn't be a follower to enter either the contest or the giveaway.


Contest ends and entries for giveaway close Friday, November 18, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. PST.


Good luck to all!!!! And thanks for following :)


Disclaimer: the Nuun was a gift from those awesome people :) and the rest of the prizes are provided by me as a way of thanking all of you! And if you really want 'easy,' you can go buy yourself an Easy Button right now at Staples for $5.99+ tax.

Starring: Nose

Yes, I have awesome hair. That fact is indisputable. My hair will one day be super famous, and you can say you knew it when. But like most people with awesome hair, there are days when I wish I had different hair. The grass is always greener... or the hair less wacked-out... or something...

Did you know that I also have a love/hate thing with my nose?  I always have. It surely does its job well in that I have a great sense of smell. This quality I usually love...delicious baked goods, the earth after a good rain, blooming flowers that are not corpse lilies... dog crap and loaded diapers... not so much :P

But I have never been particularly fond of how it looks. I think it is just too big for my pinhead and too pointy for its own good. It sticks out so far that I whack it on things... like doorways... from time to time.

It didn't help that I was teased mercilessly about it in grade school. (Pokeynose... dumbass couldn't even say 'Pinocchio' right). Kids are brutal. My own kids have even made comments about it. Sheesh. Hold your "oh, it's not so bad" comments... please. Even though you might mean them, you don't live with this beast. I appreciate your efforts to see past it, but it's okay. Really.

Anyway...

Who'd've thunk my nose would be featured in a movie? Yeah... I know! I still can't believe it! 

I don't know how many of you took the time to click the Nuun HTC video link I posted a few weeks ago, but since I know it was so much work and might have maxed out the number of windows open on your screen at that given moment, I've embedded it for your viewing pleasure... and I am directing you to the most important scenes... Nose being of primary importance and Nuun Platuun a close second :) I do need to point these things out because they are not super easy to find in and amongst all the sparkle ;-) I kid you... I'm a kidder :P  Okay... enough emoticons... here's the video...

Nuun | Hood to Coast from eric becker on Vimeo.

The parts you want to pay especially close attention to are as follows (times aren't necessarily exact):

• 0:53.... Cupcake's famous "Good job, girl!" 
• 1:17.... Super Kim and her winning smile :)
• 1:27.... THTH Susan (that stands for 'too hot to handle') who just ran a 3:18 marathon(!!!) stripping down to her super sexy shortshorts.
• 1:34.... Nose's DEBUT!!!! Looking sharp ;-)
• 1:57.... Nose's key scene... cut down by the director so you can't see her full range of abilities...
• 1:59.... Tonia, who is an awesome spokesperson and still questioning the whereabouts of our trophies.
• 2:06.... Cupcake again... giving her often-imitated 'thumbs up'!
• 2:11.... Blonde Ponytail, unfortunately obscured in the only shadow she experienced during that hot, hot leg so you cannot see how fabulously her awesome Moving Comfort Juno bra supports her... remember Boobs I Follow?
• 2:52.... Nose participates in a high-five with Megan from AfterNuun Delight... their team's Glamour Leg runner.
• 2:58.... Nose assists in a comforting, motherly kiss and hug for Megan. Nose knows how hard it was. Love you, Megan :)

I didn't mention everyone by name because this post really was all about Nose. But so that no one's feelings are hurt...and in the name of good teamsmanship... I will snag a corner of Nose's marquee and praise the rest... in order of legs run that would be: Tricia, Caitlin, Kerrie, our Faster Bunny, Lisa, and Harmony. Click on the words "AfterNuun Delight" here or above to get names and links for all those awesomely sparkly women :) 

That's enough... Nose is getting cranky about having to share the limelight.

********************

Pretty stellar how I calm my nerves, eh? Distraction, distraction, distraction...

********************

Thursday, October 6 is Taking It On's birthday or bloggiversary (how do you spell that anyway? anyone actually know?). ONE whole year. Wooo hoooo! What better way to celebrate than by helping Lucky Number 13 win an actual real contest with an actual real prize? Yeah! It's taking place today... on TIO's birthday and it will be here! There is some extremely talented competition and I could definitely use your help in getting the popular vote :)

Boobs I Follow...

"She has a great personality."

What do you think when someone describes a woman to you thusly?

Often, one cringes.

How shallow.

Each of these blogging women I have chosen to feature today is fabulous, engaging, entertaining and intelligent. Each has... nay, is... a great personality.

They are charming and sexy. Energetic and daring. They take chances... they give themselves to the world. They welcome challenges... seek out challenges... thrive on challenges.

Maybe a being described as having a great personality isn't such a bad thing after all!

C.

A.B.   

F.   

D.                                                                               E.

  H.

 G.

In addition to being great personalities, these women all have something else in common... they are as strong, fit and lovely in body as they are in mind and spirit. Their inner selves shine through and are manifested in their outer selves.

This brings us to today's game...

match the rack!

1 >

< 2

3 >

 < 4

5 >

< 6

7 >

< 8

Can you match the face with the boobs? And then can you match the person to her blog from the list below? You can even use the links on the list to help solve the puzzle. All pictures were lifted from their blogs... with permission :)

• Absolutely Narcissism
• Blonde Ponytail
• If I can't convince you - -  I'll at least confuse you.
• Shut Up and Run
• Taking It On...yes, I follow my own boobs... they always precede me ;-)

All of the correct matchings that are put into a comment will be eligible for some sort of randomly-selected prize from a random selection of prizes... so you want to play so you can win... plus it's fun!


Submit your guesses by Tuesday, August 16th. Answers will be posted on the 17th along with the randomly-selected winner or winners of the randomly-selected prizes.

Disclaimer: all featured women consented to being objectified. No boobs or feelings were harmed in the making of this post. We're keeping it that way. Any and all comments that are not friendly and PG will be deleted by me... yes, censorship. Fine. Apologies in advance to those this may have offended. To them I must counsel... lighten up.