Princess-in-Training: Week 1...Complete!

Hello?
(silence)
Is anyone there?
(silence)

That's the response anyone has been getting, if they've been checking this out the past oh....4 months!?  Yes. I am a slacker....but slacker no more! I have something boring exciting to share, and to write about (I hope!)..... I have offically signed up to run the......

 !!!!!!!  If you know me well enough, you should know that I'm absolutely stoked to be able to do anything-Disney-related, so this is PERFECT for me.  Its a 13.1 mile race around Epcot and Magic Kingdom on February 26th (Happy Bday Brit!) in Orlando at 5:45 am! Sounds awesome, right?  Well it should be. Here are my reasons for doing it, which you need to remind me of when I don't want to run:

1. I get to run around Disney World wearing a crown and a tutu and it will be perfectly normal!
2.  I get to run while the characters cheer me on (and take pictures too!)!
3. I get to put a magnet on my car that says 13.1!
4. I get in shape (goal: the bum region) and hopefully can loose some pounds!
5. I paid $160.75 for this race....that's a lot of money!
6. I get a free t-shirt and medal.
7. Everyone calls you a Princess....which happens anyways so this isn't news to me ;)
8. I get to run with my friend O and maybe my cousin.  Yay running partners to push you to the finish!
9. Mi amor is training with me!
10. Stress relief from studying for the Praxis

See?! I could come up with more, but 10 is a solid number and all things I need to remember when I want to fall over and die during my long runs.  Plus, I need motivation from those around me to keep truckin (psst...that means you guys!)

I'm following Jeff Galloway's 21-week training program that focuses on a run-walk-run method of following a pace of running a certain number of minutes followed by a break of walking.  His idea is that if you do this, you're training different muscles when you walk or run and allowing them to rest will help you finish at a better time than just running the whole time.  Now, lets make things clear....my goal is just to CROSS the finish line, not focus on a time, so his method does exactly what I'm looking for.  His training program is located here....and its TOTALLY free. I <3 free...duh.

So, I started the training program this week and its been going really great! I forget how good a run feels on a cool day.  Right now 80 degrees is cool in Florida, and I'm fine doing that when its later in the day. I found a good mix of music (Girl Talk...that guy is a genius) which pumps me up.  I'm actually in the process of finding an app that I can put on my iPhone to work on my intervals (run 3, walk 1 min) so I don't have to keep looking at my sweaty watch.  Anyone have any ideas?

I'm constantly looking for motivation and other people's experience with this race and I would be happy to follow other blogs that are training along with Jeff Galloway's program.  Pass them along!

My goal is not to put all the numbers of my training, but to give inspiration and let you know how things are going.  School is a LOT of work right now but I'm just going to truck along and post things on here as I hear them, but hopefully I won't forget.  I'm seeing this mostly as a place to give my feelings about training for something like this and share with anyone who wants to listen :)

Happy Running, Princesses!
 - J

I am alive and breathing and I am kicking myself in my b-hind to get back to this blog and post some stuff that I am absolutely in obsession love with. They're pretty random so be ready....

The Mad Men - Banana Republic Collection (Due out on Aug 11, not that its in my planner or anything...)

Knowing how much I love Mad Men, the pieces they have on this blog are AHHH-MAZING.  Seriously, so classic and chic that I might have to buy 1 or 12 outfits to fulfill my need to become the next Joan Holloway (so what if she's kind of the office ho, right?).  So, I can't wait until this comes out!! Oh, and for the season to officially start...which it's rumored to be November? Sooo far awayyyy....

Wine Stakes Set

So, this set is also amazing.  You can take it on a picnic, to Concerts on the Square, to the beach, anywhere and stick your stakes into the ground to hold your drink and keep it from spilling over on those crevices in the ground.  I've spent too much of my life soaking up wine and other stains on my pants or others' pants to not get this.  There is also a stake to hold your wine bottle (above) or I plan to use it to hold snacks or other things I don't want to get all sandy.  Genius, right?? 

Children of the 90s Blog

It's hilarious, true, and nostalgic.  How much more awesome does it get?  And the writer is correct, I do feel old when I see the shows I remember watching are on Nick at Nite.  But I'm still waiting for the Saved by the Bell to show up...no?

Unstrange Minds by Roy Richard Grinker

This is a fantastic book that I have been reading that talks about Autism Spectrum Disorder, the history of the diagnosis, and how different countries view the diagnosis and intervention.  It's also written by a man who has a daughter with ASD and he provides personal experiences and stories that keep me wanting to read more.  I've been recommending it to many of my friends at school and its a great read!

Amazon's 69 cent New Songs

I promise this is not an ad, but compared to iTunes $1.29 singles, Amazon's promos for 69 cent songs is a great way to continue to get people to choose them over iTunes.  Mind you, I'm a big Apple person, but I'll do anything to save a few cents.  The 69 cent songs are in the top 20 songs on the charts right now, so they really are "new songs."  Also, they always have great deals on albums for $5 or great things like FREE $2 mp3 downloads which by the way you should get before it expires on June 30th (aka like 2 days).  You could get like 3 69 cent songs! Do itttt.

Okie doke, off for now... :)

You should try this Scrubbing Bubbles Deep Cleaning Foam...Wanna know why?

Because I got it for free, and its AWESOME!!  So I know I was going to talk about surveys, but I couldn't help myself since everyone wants to know where I've been getting great stuff like Bare Minerals Skincare samples and full-size products and full-size spring cleaning products from Scrubbing Bubbles, Glade, and Pledge.  Well, I joined an awesome website called BzzAgent.

I joined BzzAgent over 3 years ago when I went on my quest for free stuff.  It's completely free and its fantastic.  BzzAgent is hired by well-known companies around the country to promote their products.  The products can be new or older and are looking to see how consumers feel about their products, whether they enjoy using them, and if they would buy them again.  It's a fantastic idea, and these well-known companies provide samples, coupons, and full-size products for us (the BzzAgents) to try out and hand out! Genius...especially on a college campus (you make lots of friends that way).

You just have to fill out some demographic surveys and you're on your way.  Some people have had to wait a few months to get their first "Campaign" but I've gotten one a month after a few months delayed start.  I've tried a bunch of cool products like CoverGirl Smokey Shadow Blast, Burt's Bees Natural Acne Solutions, Orbit gum, Clean & Clear, L'Oreal Paris Lash Boosting Mascara, Boston Market, and got2b hair straightening system.  That's A LOT! They send you lots of samples and coupons, and what they want YOU to do as a BzzAgent, is spread the word ("Bzz") and hand out samples/coupons to friends and strangers (hopefully people you know).  Then report on what they say about the product: Do they like/hate it? Would they buy it again?  They also want you to tell people you're a BzzAgent and you're getting free products to help out.  Free FULL-SIZE products.  In my most recent shipment I got full-size bottles of a Glade Plug-in, glade candle, pledge surface spray, Scrubbing Bubbles MultiAction Spray, and a bunch of coupons to hand out for $0.50-$3.00 off for all of their products.

Once you submit your "bzz"on the website, you get "honeycombs" (like the theme here?) and after doing their surveys they send out and submitting your experiences, you climb the BzzAgent ladder.  Once you get high enough you get "early invites" to the campaigns that are happening.

So go out there and bzz. Now. :)

Free Stuff? What the What??

So a lot of my friends have been asking how I get free stuff.  Well, there are lots of places!  First, I read a lot of couponing and deal blogs out in the world and they are GREAT sources of places to find deals at stores like Target, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, etc and links to websites where you type in your address and they send them to you (Note: have a "surveys" or "free stuff" email to give out so you don't have to give out your actual email).  Here are some of the blogs I subscribe to:

Coupon Cravings
Deal Seeking Mom
Frugal Girls
Hey! It's Free!

All of the websites are free (since they're blogs) and they link to other blogs you can add to your Google Reader .  Google Reader is also something I'm going to jump on my soapbox about.  It is a GREAT and easy way to house all of your favorite blogs and websites to read.  It allows you to plug in addresses, search for blogs similiar to ones you already subscribe to, and look at one big website with all of your faves listed in one page.  Cool huh?  If you have a gmail account you already have a Reader account, you can just add sites to it.

.....While you're at it, you should add me to your Reader: www.graduatestudentonabudget.blogspot.com! Then everytime I update my blog, the name of it will bold and you can click on it and read it in all of its gloriousness!

Next stop surveys = more free stuff! :)

J

Oh Hey!

It is I, J, who will be writing this lovely blog.  I am currently a grad student and I have been following blogs about money saving, cooking, crafting without actually doing any of them.  After copius amounts of searching for "the perfect blog" (i.e., grad student centered with all of those awesome things I read about), there wasn't one.  Shockingly.  If you don't know already, grad students typically live off of student loans, fun, huh?  Putting yourself in debt to have fun, sounds like a ridiculous thing, but true.  So, since I read all of these blogs, what better way to put them all in one place, show people how terrible good my cooking is, keep in touch with people from home, and actually do something I've always talked about doing.   (Weird, people actually follow through?!) So, since I'm new to this blog world, I could use some help in what to post until I get going.

And we're off...