I'm Looking at It

{the bright side that is}

In light of the past two downer posts, had to bring you one of the good stuff! 

Beautiful weather for our Wednesday run was a delight. Some of the views running through Channelside and Downtown are pretty awesome. 

Then my friend Johnny here announced that I am going to be the Social Ambassador for the South Tampa Running for Brews. Basically this means I just keep meeting as many people as possible at run club, talk to them about the group/activities and keep recruiting new members.

 Seriously I have nothing but good to say about Running for Brews. The last two months would have been pretty miserable without the friendship, laughs and fun I've found in the group. Can't wait to see where the group goes next! 

On Tuesday I went to my first work out at CrossFit 813. 

Then I met this fun lady at run club. She also recently started at 813 {isn't that tank the bestest?} so I'm excited to start seeing crossover between my groups of friends and to keep expanding my social scene. 

Brewing for Brews

Sunday night a bunch of us from Running for Brews met at Southern Brewing and Winemaking to brew our own beers! The venue had an awesome back patio area for us to use. 

Enjoying our "Gords Gone Wild"

Having access to craft beers to drink during the process didn't hurt either. I had my first pumpkin brew that I actually liked, the clever name didn't hurt either. 

Fortunately they had a game of cornhole set up for those like me who aren't patient enough to wait through all the boiling phases of brewing. Rain, lightening and thunder threatened the whole event -- I seized the opportunity to finally break out my emergency poncho. 

{This Seattle girl can't bring herself to buy an umbrella. If you are from Seattle this makes sense.}

Everyday We're Shuffling 

Friday last week after open water swimming with my TriBulls I shuffled on over to St. Pete's to go shuffling for real. Shuffleboarding is so much fun. And the St. Pete Shuffleboard Club was an amazing venue. I want to go back an overload on Instagram photos of their clubhouse. 

You can kind of see the middle set of courts with the lights over in the middle. I thought it was so romantic as was delighted to find out that one of the volunteers {the club is open every Friday night to the public for free and operated by volunteers} is going to get married there! I was scheming a way to be invited to the wedding... I'll just have to scour the interwebs for photos after the event : ) 

Megan met me at the club and we were close enough to walk to First Friday in downtown St. Pete where some of our grad school lady friends were waiting for us. 

This group is so fun. The guy in the middle wanted a picture of his beard with the ladies. I tried to explain that the beard would be perfect in Portland, but down here it just doesn't work because it is too hot for that thing to be comfortable. I'm not terribly convinced any large beard is comfortable, but at least up North one could argue it serves some utility. Down here that thing must be a chin sweat magnet. Yuck. 

Bike CoOp 

Over the weekend I also got to check out this cool pocket of hipster in Tampa. The Tampa Bay Bike CoOp is open a few days a week for limited hours. They have all the tools you could ever need to learn/do bike maintenance. There are also tons of bikes and parts for sale. 

I loaded up the bike in the back of the pripri and eagerly drove to the Co-Op. 

Little did I know that few short hours later I would not only know how to change a flat tire and do some basic cleaning, but that I would also have all these new supplies. 

I finally got some bike shoes and switched out the pedals on my bike. I've only used the shoes in spin class so far - and I'm already going a lot faster. The true test will be in a few hours when I take the bike to Flatwoods for a quick spin. Hopefully I don't have to use any of my other new supplies! 

                                                                              

So there you have it! Even when I'm complaining about the things that aren't going as well as I would like, I have to remember that I have created a full life with a lot of opportunity for greatness. 

Here is the most important piece of advice I could give you {and myself!}

So get out there and get after it! I know I am : ) 

xoxo Sweat&Sparkle