One to Nothin'

But it was 99 cents!

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Dress: Plato’s Closet / Button up: Plato’s Closet / Shoes: Payless / Necklace: INPink / Shades: Target
Taking pictures of yourself in a place where strangers might see you taking pictures of yourself is kind of a rush, no? With a huge side of embarrassment, of course. My weekend pretty much consisted of watching Pretty Little Liars (Oh em gee, please say Toby is alive.. but actually don’t tell me anything. I hate when show/movie/book endings are spoiled and I’m on season 3 due to Netflix finally gracing me with its presence). So yea, I had a hot date with Netflix and Ziggy (hey oh, got 180 degrees and I’m caught in between) for the majority of my weekend but considering I spent the previous week doing awesome things, I was okay with it. 
Oh, I also did a long run yesterday after, like, two weeks of ignoring my running schedule and being the genius that I am, I decided to go for it during the hottest part of the day. I kind of thought I was going to pass out around mile six, but I made it to nine and that was the goal, so I consider it a win. And for those of you still interested in achieving bikini bod status this summer, I will be posting my Fitness in July (because Christmas in July creeps me out something fierce) calendar tomorrow. I hope y’all are ready for another month of sweaty selfies because I’m pretty pumped up about it, even if it took me a week or so to get to it. Procrastination is my specialty after all. 
Anddddd probably the most exciting moment of my weekend was spent scraight thrift shopping Mackelmore style! Except at Plato’s Closet, but seriously you guys I found a Free People sweater with the original tag still on it ($165!!!) and I got it for $10. I had a mini shopping-gasm right then and there. I got a ton of super cute new outfits for way cheap and it kind of made me want to slap myself for ever shopping at a normal store. So yay for more awkward photo shoots where strangers assess my narcissism in the near future.
Happy Monday!
Linking up with Sami and Lisette.
PS: The Escape Monthly giveaway winner is Jessi of Jumping JE! Congratulations!! 

Music is my boyfriend

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I got a little carried away while thinking about what to listen to on my long run today, so I took it as an opportunity to provide you guys with some tunage. Some of these songs are super old and some are brand spankin’ new, but hopefully you’ll discover a new favorite or two. All of them make my heart and ears happy on a daily basis. Enjoy!

PS: Please share some of your new favorite songs in the comments and feel free to follow me on Spotify (just search for MacKensie Gibson). I loooooves learning about new music. Oh, and if you don’t have Spotify.. get it. Trust me.

Sometimes..

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Sometimes.. you go to Lake Tahoe for a week.

 Sometimes.. when you go to Tahoe, you spend the whole week semi-drunk.

Sometimes.. when you spend all week semi-drunk, you eat chips and greasy hangover food every morning.

Sometimes.. when you go out of town for a week last minute, you don’t have time to do laundry beforehand.

Sometimes.. when you don’t do laundry, you have no clean underwear.

Sometimes.. when all your undies are in the washing machine, you get the urge to workout because of all the hangover food.

Sometimes.. when you get the urge to workout and all your clothes are dirty, you have to wear a homemade USA bikini to work out in.

Sometimes.. when you only have a bikini to work out in, you have to stay in your room to work out.

Sometimes.. when you stay in your room to work out, the AC isn’t working and it’s 100 degrees out.
Sometimes.. when it’s 100 degrees out and you’re in your no-AC room working out in a homemade bikini, Robin Thicke comes on.
Sometimes.. when Robin Thicke sings about blurred lines you just want to effin’ dance.
Sometimes.. when you have a dance party by yourself after working out in your sauna room, you sweat all over your keyboard while trying to describe it on your blog.
Sometimes.. when you spent all week drunk, ate a bunch of chips, sweated it out all over your keyboard and had a dance party of one, your blog posts don’t make a whole lot of sense and are basically just a catalyst to show off photos from your vacay.
….sometimes.

Operation Shakira Bod Recap

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June is over, you guys and that means Operation Shakira Bod has come to a close. Unfortunately I slacked off on week 4, but such is life when you’re constantly hung over suddenly whisked away to Tahoe for a week. As far as results go, I can definitely tell a difference in my muscle definition and I even took photos each week to really see the changes I was making (they’re on my other computer though, so I can’t share them right now. Shucks.) My diet was far from perfect this month, especially in the past week or so, and I haven’t stepped on a scale in a while, but I definitely feel like my running and overall fitness has improved in a big way in the past four weeks. I may not have Shak’s bod just quite yet, but I’m going to keep working on it. I am totes making a new calendar for July too because this whole keeping track thing is awesome. And sweaty selfies are, like, my favorite thing ever.
Here are the videos I did this week:
Annnnnnnd because I know you loved seeing my sweaty face all month..
You’re welcome. Follow me on IG –> @mackensieg for more sweaty goodness. 
Thank you to everyone who participated in Operation Shakira Bod and encouraged me to keep going (and didn’t make fun of my selfies to my face). Any name ideas for July’s exercise challenge?
Happy July!

I’m in Tahoe, so.. Win some stuff!

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My sincerest apologies for missing out on Fit Friday last week, especially since it was the last one of Operation Shakira Bod, however due to a series of very fortunate events, I am spending the week in Lake Tahoe (and clearly wearing my bikini all day erryday). This place is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen and I’m still kind of in awe of being here. My point is not to brag (although if you follow me on Instagram –@mackensieg–you know that I can’t help it), my point is since I’m on vacation and you wish you were on vacation.. I’m giving one of my readers a vacay in a box. Escape Monthly is a company that sends you monthly packages full of destination-inspired products — think exotic snacks, lotions, bubble baths, all the good stuff. So you should enter to win below (it’s open for a week!) orrrr if you’re not the gamblin’ type you can just sign up for the packages now using the promo code “YOURESCAPE” for 20% off your subscription.
PS: I will update you all on my fitness adventures this week. Don’t think I’m just forgetting about my life-long quest to have Shakira’s bod.

Jai Guru Deva

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Let me just set the tone for you guys, because things are about to get weird.
Smell that.
Drink that.
Play this.
All right, now I think we’re on the same page. Aside from that impossible-to-spell moment at the end of yoga when the instructor talks in a soothing tone and tells you to breathe out all your bad energy from the day while releasing all of your tightened muscles at once, this is about as close to meditation as I get — trippy, memory-jogging music, a hot beverage and a wonderful candle flickering next to me.
About a year and a half ago, I read this post, and I don’t mean to be dramatic but it kind of changed my life. After reading it I couldn’t get my hands on this book fast enough. After I started reading it, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t embarrassed. It all seemed incredibly hokey and on par with getting my palms read by a psychic, so I didn’t really discuss it with friends and family much (although my blog got a taste of it). But if someone as smart, talented and beautiful as Jenni was into it, I thought I could be too, especially because this was a time when I was incredibly confused about my future, relationship, beliefs, all that good post-college anxiety stuff. Before I knew it I created my first vision board — a board full aspirations to remind me of my goals and make them known to the universe (the book is all about the law of attraction). Long story short, things started happening.
I got a job right away. I decided not to continue school. My relationship ended. I got a second job in my original field. It didn’t all make sense, but things were happening and I realize now that they all brought me here (California was on that board from the beginning, by the way). I made my second vision board a few weeks ago, and I feel absolutely at peace.
Maybe it’s the candle or Ms. Apple’s hauntingly beautiful voice lulling me into a trance, but I think it’s really just the reassurance that I am, in fact, in control of my life. I am the driver, captain, author of this life and I can mix metaphors all day long if I need to. This is it, you guys. Let’s make shit happen because we can.

Just call me Aria

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Sweater: LuLu’s / Pants: hand-me-downs 😉
Tie Dye: Billabong / Pants; Kohl’s / Boots: LuLu’s
Dress: Target / Cardi: Cotton On
Cardi: Target / Top: Target / Necklace: Excessory Exchange

It is NOT every day that I can say I wore four completely different outfits and hairstyles in the course of a week. I’m even wearing different pants, you guys. This is a big deal. I’m practically one of the Pretty Little Liars now, except for all the mental trauma and general effed-upness that wouldn’t be conducive to ridiculously trendy outfits on the reg. If I were one of those bishes I’d be wearing a bedazzled machete in my belt and bullet-proof full-body spanx at all times.. But the important thing here is that I almost have my Pocahontas braid back and I have a job to get ready for in the mornings. Holler.

(Shout out to my girl, Brooke for allowing my obsession with this song to grow like a magic beanstalk on crack.)
Linking up here. 

You’re invited

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I’ve been a little distracted the past week or so and somehow managed to completely miss my blog’s two year anniversary (for SHAME). And since this is the longest I’ve stuck with just about anything, aside from relationships and running, I thought I’d throw a party. But not just any party, friends, a summer party– kid style.
It’s going to be awesome. Wanna know why? I will tell you (faster than you can say poopty, puepty, pants-s).
First we’ll put these jams on:
Then the itinerary will include:
Slip-n-sliding (if your hips aren’t black and blue the next day, you did it wrong)
Shaving cream fights (eyes must burn)
Playing with watermelons in the pool
Water balloons stuffed into bathing suits (because it’s hilarious to pretend they’re your butt and boobs)
Chicken fights
Egg toss competitions
Making ourselves into ice cream sundaes
An epic pudding fight
Turning the sprinklers on under the trampoline
Making mud pies out of the mess accruing under the trampoline
Cannon ball competitions
Marshmallow roasting and s’more eating
Serious games of truth or dare (if no one makes out, you did it wrong)
Drinking Jell-O through straws
Ouija board playing
Shaking up sparkling grape juice and spraying it at each other
Slow dancing (and lots of giggling about who’s dancing with whom)
And we’ll play so hard that we fall asleep or cry.
Sound like a plan? You better come or you’re not invited to my birthday party.
PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. BEARD MAN!

You are more than just a dream

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The past week has been filled with celebrations, often in the form of high-calorie dinners, desserts and beverages. As soon as I found out about my new job, I took myself out for sushi and froyo, which Ziggy helped me finish off. Then I came home to find a beautiful bouquet of flowers with the most perfect card attached (let’s just say it started with “Shit just got real”) from my sister, Britni (I LOVE YOU) and a box of goodies I ordered from LuLu’s (Rose picked out those boots). Then I received another package in the mail the next day from my sweet mom with that Brighton necklace inside (I LOVE YOU). Friday night I got to see the most epic firework show of my life from my patio and Saturday the celebrations continued when I helped move my girl, Emma, into her new apartment in San Francisco. We can even hang out on the roof. It’s perfect. So we drank champagne, put together an IKEA bed and went out with a bunch of dudes we found. Look at Emma big pimpin’ it out up there. Unfortunately in the group picture I was in, one of the guys was trying to eat my head, so instead you get to see the guy who made me ballroom dance when no one else in the entire bar was dancing. Oh, and there were two Michael Jacksons at the bar. Then Sunday I went to the Exploratorium, which was THE coolest thing ever. Aside from the snotty hands of 5 million babies who ain’t got time for waiting in line, playing with a bunch of science-y-mind-blowing toys was amazing.
And as you are reading this I am at my new office at my new job feeling like a new woman.
Have I told you lately that I love you, California?
Linking up with Sami.
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