Take Charge. Fight for your rights.

Make it count.

Hey there my beautiful Jeans and Tees and Travel and Cakes readers, Happy Thursday! It's a rainy day here in Limoges, France but that doesn't mean I plan on being lazy. Right now I'm enjoying one of my itunes playlists, really, really enjoying this delicious cup of coffee in my hand and laughing as Wooden snores, I have to say for a puppy he sure does sleep a lot. I'm going to get in a yoga/tabata workout today, I plan on kicking my own ass and getting it in gear for April 15th, the Paris Marathon. Remember to check out Project Run for up to date workouts and what is inspiring me on the fitness scene.

January 19th is a very special day, it is my mother's birthday and also my aunt's birthday (my mom's sister). It's days like this that I hate being over here, or away in general from the people I love. I wish I was there to celebrate but since I am not, I am sending so much love their way. I love you mom! Thank you for being such an amazing person in my life, you are the glue that holds me together at times and I couldn't be more grateful.  I can't wait to celebrate with you when I get home, some champagne is in order. My aunt Gail is also an amazing woman in my life, I don't know what I would do without her and my mother for their continued support in all that I do and their always comforting words of wisdom.  I love you both and happy, happy birthday.

Today's quote that I am leaving you with, is less of a quote and more of a statement. It comes from an Unknown Author and I found it on Pinterest, (Who would have guessed that?) I absolutely adore it's message and the simplicity in it.

Every day that we are given is a chance we get to make it count. With every day that passes I am learning this simple fact more a more, I have the power to make this day a great one. We deserve to be happy and the bottom line is that it starts the minute you wake up in the morning, the ball is in your court to make the day ahead of you a great one and to conquer it.  I believe in going  out and setting  goals for yourself. I believe in trying something new whether it's a hobby or a new food.

Yesterday the manfriend and I were talking about the Chicago Marathon, I remembered that even though I didn't run my best marathon there, I did enjoy the course and would love to do it again. I immediately  checked out the Chicago Marathon website and saw that registration for the race begins February 1st and I plan on being one of the first to sign up for the October 7th race. All is took was a trip down memory lane to set a new goal, because why not? This is my life and I should try and fill it with as many cool experiences as possible. That is all I wish for you too! Make your life aka your story a bestseller. Today is a new day and the beginning of the rest of your life, go out a seize it.

Enjoy and make it count!

Make today beautiful.
-Unknown Author

It's a good day.

Hey there loves, Happy Wednesday! Make it a great day, and more importantly make it count. This morning Kyle had off from practice, which was really nice change of pace. We enjoyed breakfast together, I made some yummy french toast, when in France eat what the French eat!  Actually, I don't even know if they eat a lot of french toast here in Limoges. We sipped our delicious Starbucks Christmas blend coffee, which is sadly depleting and enjoyed Wooden's company.

After, breakfast we walked to one of the nearby parks and Kyle timed me during my tempo run workout. It was a great workout but my heart broke during every lap as I ran past Wooden who wanted to run with me, he was whimpering. I hated to see him sad but I am however, excited that he is so anxious to run, once he's old enough I can't wait to take him on weekly runs, easy runs that is. So far it's been a nice little Wednesday and we are ending it with a date night, we are going out to one of our favorite restaurants in Limoges.

Some exciting news for Jeans and Tees and Travel and Cakes, the blog layout is officially complete! The last updates to be added are the new Instagram button in the top right hand side of the blog, now you can check out my Instagram pictures and you can follow me if you dig them. Also, the Jeans and Tees and Travel and Cakes Facebook landing page is set up! So if you aren't a fan of the J.T.T.C Facebook page, you can click the Facebook button at the top right hand side of the blog and it will bring you directly to the J.T.T.C landing page where you can click "like" to stay up to date on all the latest posts. I want to thank Emily from Designer Blogs for the design and installation and putting up with my many emails. I will definitely be using her again for any future updates.

Today I am going to leave all my fashionista friends something to watch and laugh over. I know I've said a few of these one liners and I'm not so sure I should be proud of it or not. It's a video called "Sh*t Fashion Girls Say", it's a parody of "Sh*t Girls Say", which is also a must watch. Check it out and have a wonderful day.

My favorites lines. (That I've most likely said myself.)

• "I'm going to earmark this page in case you're feeling spendy."
• "She is such a Samantha."
• "You're like my Big."
• "I think I'm ready for bangs."
• "She was wearing Tory Burch flats." (I have to say I will proudly wear my Tory Burch flats, thank you very much!)
• "Can I have a non-fat, half sweet, no whip soy latte? Thanks!"
• "Hash tag #totesamaze"
• "Oh my god I hate my bangs!"
• "How long to you think it will take for them to grow out?" 

Pinteresting Finds.

Here are some of my latest pins from my favorite guilty pleasure, Pinterest. What I love about Pinterest is that is allows you to be creative, it opens up your mind to new ideas. I've found so many d.i.y. crafts, amazing recipes and style takes on Pinterest that is now my go to site for basically all things I love. 

Sparkly Neutrals, they make any outfit look a little more elegant but also fun at the same time.  Board: Fashions I Love

I absolutely adore Hydrangeas, such a simple flower. Board: Fairytale Finds

My next apartment or home will definitely have splashes of exposed brick, which gives it a "Manhattan" vibe.
Board: Sweet Stuff and Ideas for the Home

This is a mushy d.i.y, fill a jar with 365 Love Quotes and read one a day. (Corny but I love it!) Board: Crafty Ideas

I adore this suit from Victoria's Secret, it's a must have! Board: Fashions I Love

I collect coffee mugs, it goes hand in hand with my coffee addiction, I love these! Board: Stuff I Love, Love, Love

Mozzarella Balls, which I actually made this past weekend, they were  yummy! Board: Foodie Fun

I love this look! It's simple and beautiful. Board: Beauty

You can follow me on Pinterest by either clicking the link on the top right hand side of this page or search (meggiem)! Happy Pinning.

Friday Favorites.

Welcome to Friday Favorites! This is the start of a new weekly post, where I will show you some of my current favorite things, in no particular order.

Have a great weekend! I'm sending tons of love to my nephew William Beckett who is being baptized this weekend, I'm so sad I can't be there but my heart is there always.

Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge will always be one of my favorites.  Here she is  at the British Premier of War Horse, part of her 30th Birthday Celebration looking stunning as usual.  

My goofy puppy, Wooden. Here he is trying to get up on his couch, he gave up halfway through and found this was comfortable position. This picture was taken on instagram, follow me @megmccarrick. 

Top 5 CSP - Evreux from LIMOGES CSP on Vimeo. Kyle my awesome manfriend had the #1 play for CSP against Evreux. I'm proud as always. 

I am now a member of the Wives/Girlfriends Association "Love and Basketball".  I always disliked the term WAG and feel that I'm more then just a girlfriend of a professional athlete. This association has been so helpful, answering many questions I have while living overseas, also I'm not the only one who feels homesick and that there are many other "WAG's" that are strong, independent women. 

My nephews; Jack Tucker, William Beckett and Benjamin Scout. This picture was taken over the Holidays, while I'm overseas I miss these little guys so much.

My Nike Free Sneakers, these shoes will help me through my marathon training. 

I know Christmas is over but I love Starbucks Christmas Blend and I'm currently enjoying a cup.

No day like today.

Wow, Thursday already? This week seems to be flying by, it is yet another beautiful day in Limoges. I'm enjoying a yummy cup of home brewed Starbucks coffee, I have Wooden curled up next to me and I'm watching the news from New York via Slingbox. Kyle is on the road for the next two days, his game is in Southern France tomorrow night and he left early this morning. I'm not going to lie, I hate when he's on the road but thank god for Wooden who keeps me company, so it's not to bad.I hope you have a happy Thursday, it's almost the weekend, so just power through and end the week on a strong note.

Yesterday I enjoyed a great yoga session, using one of the new travel mats Kyle got me for Christmas. For me, yoga is the perfect cross training workout for my marathon training, it relaxes me but it's also intense, so I leave the workout feeling satisfied. Doing yoga makes me so excited to teach when I'm home in New York this summer. While I was home in December I taught some private yoga classes and made me more confident that this is what I really want to do.

This morning I was looking over my posts from January 2011, particularly 2011 Please Be Kind, which talks about the year ahead and the things I wished to accomplish. I was so happy that I looked at that post because I saw what I did indeed accomplish and what I still need to tackle, the good thing was that there were more things completed then not, which made me feel good and motivated to start compiling a list of goals for 2012.

I think it's important to have goals for yourself, even if they seem a little out of reach, as long as you are moving forward in a positive direction, I say go for it, just don't put extreme amounts of pressure on yourself to achieve them, it's supposed to be a fun journey. For example, last year I had a goal to finish a half ironman, which consists of swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles and running a half marathon which is a distance of 13.1 miles, for a grand total of 70.3 miles.  I thought I'd be able to compete in such a beast of a race, but my thoughts turned out to be a little premature. I registered for a half ironman in New Hampshire in late August, and even though I was training, I didn't feel I could tackle such a race, not just yet, so I pulled out. Even though it was really crappy to drop out of the race, I tried to pull out some positives and the main one was learning that I could now swim a mile with ease, so something good came out of that goal. I've learned that you may not always succeed, but as long as you remain positive and surround yourself with people who are also positive and believe in you, anything can happen.

With that being said here are just a few of My Goals for 2012.

Paris Marathon: It's been a long time goal of mine to run a race internationally, and I have to say, there is no time like the present to do so. My boyfriend Kyle and I are living in France, so it was a no brainer when I decided to register for the Paris Marathon this April. I'm so excited for this race, my training in underway and I plan on running a good time, maybe even a Boston Qualifier (haha). My sister is coming from the States to cheer me on, which is only going to make this experience even better.

Learn conversational French: This is a biggie for me, I absolutely hate being out in public in France and not having a clue how to speak the language. I have made it a big goal of mine to dive into the language and learn it. I am hoping that by June, 2012 I'll be more fluent in the basics of this beautiful language.

Master the art of cooking: funny goal to some, but for me coming from a family of great cooks and bakers, I'm a little intimidated when it comes to the kitchen. Thank the Lord for Kyle, who always insists I'm way better then I think and that I don't give myself enough credit. So my goal for 2012, is to take all the cookbooks my brother and sister gave me and actually use them. This is a fun challenge and goes hand in hand with learning French because when I go to the market to buy ingredients for meals I have no clue what anything is besides the obvious because I can't read the labels, no one wants to confuse sugar with salt, been there done that, yes I would call myself an idiot. (In some cases!)

Make this site a hit: Last year one of my goals was to make this site better and I took the necessary steps to do so. I hired a designer to revamp Jeans and Tees and Travel and Cakes, now the site is more fluid and you can navigate easier. This year I want to make J.T.T.C a hit, which will be no one else's work but my own. Viewership has increased, which is awesome but I know it could be even better, so I promise better posts and adventures in 2012, because I want you coming back day in and day out.

Be a business man(woman): As I mentioned earlier in this post, I'm in love with teaching yoga, I plan on taking that love for teaching and doing something with it. Even if I don't own my own studio, I've learned that you can basically do yoga anywhere as long as you have room for your mat. This year I'm focusing on establishing a steady client base, whether it's for group yoga instruction or private, I just want to give others the gift of a great yoga class, which will leave you feeling refreshed, worked and amazing.

So there you have it, some of my goals for the upcoming year. Now go out and set your own goals, there is no better time to do so.

Enjoy the show.

Happy Wednesday Beauties! Hope you are having a great week, set a goal and tackle it, there is no better time like now. The weather in Limoges has been so mild, and I've been taking advantage of it, putting my marathon training into full gear. It's so nice to go for a walk with Wooden in January and I'm not freezing my buns off. As I've promised earlier in the month, now that I'm back in Limoges and settled for awhile my posts will be more consistent, that also includes my other site, Project Run (Click the link in the upper right hand corner of this page.), which documents my workouts, training for my upcoming marathon and some helpful tips for the exercise lovers, definitely check it out.

Early this morning Kyle and I received a pleasant surprise, the package we sent from New York on Thursday arrived. We couldn't believe how fast it got here, the post office clerk told us it would take 6-10 business days and it got here in 3-1/2! I love care packages from the US, it's so comforting, the items I am most excited about are the pounds of Starbucks coffee and my Trader Joe's baking supplies. I can't wait to get into the kitchen and whip up some tasty treats for Kyle and I.

On Monday night, Kyle and I watched the fantastic movie, Moneyball. I'm a sucker for sports flicks and this one blew me away. Brad Pitt was amazing, his performance is definitely award worthy, and the fact that this film is based on a true story makes it even better. At one point in the movie, Brad's daughter sings a song that I immediately fell in love with. Like I've said before, I love when you find a song or quote that relates to exactly what you are going through in life, this song in particular really hit me with its words.

The song is called, The Show, originally done by the fantastic artist, Lenka. the words to this song are amazing and I feel anyone can relate to them, woman or man, young or old. Sometimes our path gets confusing, questions fill our head, "what am I doing?", "where am I going?" We are all faced with choices to make and decisions that need to be made. What we have to realize is that we are not alone, everyone goes through this. I for example have mini battles with myself everyday on what I am doing with my life and where I am going. Sometimes it can be overwhelming but I take a deep breath and tell myself to be present, to enjoy the ride, bumpy or smooth, through the ups and downs. If we spend to much time worrying day in and day out, we are going to miss out on this amazing thing called life.

So go out and live, go out and love, go out and be a risk taker, take chances on yourself, on love and I'm telling you life will be pretty damn amazing. Stop being afraid to step out of your comfort zone, you deserve to be the best you can be.

Enjoy the show!

I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go, can't do it alone
I've tried and I don't know why

I'm just a little girl lost in the moment
I'm so scared but I don't show it
I can't figure it out, it's bringing me down
I know I've got to let it go and just enjoy the show
-The Show, Lenka