Runs Deep

I took a trip to the clearance rack at Dick's Sporting Goods last night. (It is my third favorite clearance rack on the planet.) .

It turned out they were having a great sale on Nike shorts. FABULOUS! I grabbed five different colors and headed to the dressing room. I'm just not a shorts girl. However, it is ridiculously hot these days so I decided it was time I invested in a few pair for running.

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I decided neon pink, yellow, and orange were not the colors I wanted so I was left with navy and royal blue. Loved the navy (I'm also not a navy girl). I was definitely getting both pairs. But then, I put on the blue and my heart stopped when I turned around to look in the mirror. I WAS WEARING DOOK BLUE. Oh, heck no! I did try to talk myself into it, at first.

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"Kristin, you need shorts. These are a great deal. You won't find them this good for this cheap again. It is blue. Not Dook Blue. Just blue." No, it's not! It is DOOK BLUE. I felt a bit ill. "Kristin, this is ridiculous! It is a school rivalry. You graduated seven years ago. Are you really going to not wear this color for the rest of your life?"

.Folks, I had an epiphany standing right there in that dressing room. I mentally ran my hands through my entire walk in closet and realized I don't own one thing in that color. Not one. I couldn't believe it. I love clothes and I really love color. I mean, I rarely wear sunglasses as anything other than a headband because they filter out the brilliance of the world along with the sunlight. I was an educated woman with a decision to make. Was I really going to limit my world for the rest of my life? .

I took one more look in the mirror and knew with everything in me that I would rather sweat out gallons of water all summer than ever put that color on my body again. I went to Carolina and, while it seems crazy to the rest of the world, that means a whole lot more than a silly color. I felt so passionately about it in the moment that I almost left the store without buying a thing! .

...

I wanted to start singing, "I'm a TarHeel born, I'm a TarHeel bred and when I die I'll be a TarHeel dead!" In truth, I'm a Sunshine born, I'm a Seminole bred but when I die I'll be a TarHeel dead and when I sing that song I believe it. .

Besides, this is the family that brought their photographer all the way to Chapel Hill to have their portraits done by the Old Well when we won the National Championship in 2005!