Weekending: Maine Edition {Freeport, Family Wedding & Relaxing}

September 23, 2014September 21, 201410 Comments

Good morning! How’s everyone doing? This past weekend was so nice… and relaxing! After a crazy couple of months, it was so nice to be able to relax, go to bed early and hang out with my parents. Even though our Sunday apple picking lunch picnic plans got cancelled because of the weather, it was still a great weekend. I headed up to Maine on Friday afternoon after work. Starting the trip from my office in Wakefield is so much nicer than starting from Boston! Before going to my parents, I stopped off at Shaw’s Ridge Farm to visit with and congratulate my dear friend Meredith on her recent engagement. We didn’t snap any photos unfortunately, but I’ll tell you… her ring is stunning and she is absolutely beaming! I am so happy for her!

Shortly after 7 I arrived at home. Even though I had just seen my parents the weekend before, I was still so excited to see them. Mom had a glass of wine waiting for me and dad had unloaded all the leftovers from the fridge so I could make myself a plate- I love being home 🙂

This was my dad’s plate. Talk about a lot of stuff!

Friday night was an early night and Saturday morning mom and I did some strengthening exercises for our knees (she has a hurt knee right now, too) before going into town for pedicures.

I decided to wear my hair straight, but with curls from my straightener. I hadn’t done it in a while, but I think it turned out pretty good! I also loved the dress I wore. It was comfortable and warm, which was perfect for the chilly weather on Saturday. I got it at Marshall’s for $20 (it’s a Max Studios dress).

Around noon we headed out. Mom suggested we take road sodas, and I’m not one to say no to her 😉

My parents are Jamie’s god parents so they were invited to the ceremony. The ceremony was held at my aunt and uncles new place on the ocean in Freeport and from what I heard, was beautiful. While they were at that, I shopped around the outlets in Freeport and grabbed a super healthy smoothie before going back to pick them up.

We headed to the reception around 4, which was held at my cousin’s new barn in Falmouth. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see any of the entrances or first dances (everyone was standing around the dance floor and I couldn’t see 😦 ), but from pictures I saw online, it was awesome! Jamie is a collector of all sorts of old things, including vehicles, so he and his new wife, Sheena, were in the cab of the truck and the bridal party was in the back as they made their grand entrance to the reception.

The barn was adorable- so rustic and quaint and just perfect for a Maine reception.

The food was also delicious- and so simple. I think people get too caught up with food and options and apps and main courses when at the end of the day, if you have one thing that’s really good- people will be happy. They had at least 2 huge pigs (whole roasted pigs) for pulled pork, beans, rice, coleslaw, corn bread and salad. Everything was really, really good! And cupcakes for dessert? Yes, please.

It was so nice to a. spend time with my parents at an “outing” and b. spend time with my dad’s side of the family. We don’t get to see each other nearly enough and it’s a shame because they are SO FUN. I was at the “kids” table and we had so many laughs- they all have the Gagnon sense of humor (I do not.) and I laugh so much when I’m with them. While there wasn’t a ton of dancing, we did dance to my cousin’s band that was playing, and it was so cool that he jumped in and played a bunch of songs with them! I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking, but Jaime and Sheena- what a fantastic wedding! I’m so glad I got to be a part of it. Cheers to many more years of happiness, laughter and love.

My dad is a twin… so fun!

This was the “if you graduated from UMaine Orono” picture- can you believe how many people there were?!

My sister had another wedding to attend over the weekend so she wasn’t able to attend this one 😦

Till the next family wedding!

Questions for you: How was your weekend? What was the best thing you did? Have you been to a wedding in a barn?

Dealing With Injuries & Modifying My Workouts

September 22, 2014September 21, 20149 Comments

Good morning and happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend and feel rested and ready for the week.

So, last week I had to deal with something I HATE dealing with: injuries. I know most people probably don’t like them, but I have a really hard time dealing with and accepting them; I often keep pushing myself and ultimately making things worse… when will I ever learn?!

You may remember me mentioning last week that I tweaked my knee while at the driving range, but that after some ibuprofen and taking it “easy” at the gym and in my class, I felt totally fine. Fine enough to move heavy things up and down 2 flights of stairs all weekend, run 3.5 miles and teach kickboxing. On top of that, Monday morning started off early with my Muscle Mix class, Tuesday night my bootcamp and Wednesday a 30 minute outdoor run before teaching UXF Burn.

I know, I know. You’re probably shaking your heads at me going “you dummy. Of course you got injured. That’s a recipe for disaster and you haven’t taken a rest day in going on 2 weeks!”. And, you’re totally right for thinking that. All of those workouts and moving finally caught up with me and I woke up on Thursday morning with so much pain in the same knee I tweaked the week before.

Luckily, Thursday was a planned rest day for me anyway, and with some ibuprofen and ice, I woke up on Friday feeling better than I did on Thursday. However, I made a pact with myself that I would take it easy all weekend.

Again, I know what you’re probably thinking: “Wow, Monique. You gave yourself a 4 day break. Whoop-dee-freaking-do”. But guys, taking it down a BIG notch for 4 days is so hard for me. My body is used to moving (actively) every day, so telling it to slow down for 4 consecutive days is a huge challenge for me.

But, I gave myself {multiple} pep talks and worked hard to convince myself that taking a little break wasn’t the end of the world, and certainly didn’t mean I was going to lose all of my strength, cardiovascular health and gain 5lbs (I know, I’m so dramatic).

The craziest part about all this is I’m SO GOOD at giving this advice to others. I’m so good at telling people to rest and listen to their bodies and that we all have muscle memory and we’ll bounce back faster than we think. Why can’t I be SO GOOD at giving-and taking- this advice for myself? Will I ever learn, or will I forget all about this until the next time I am faced with another injury (remember the post I wrote about rest days? I haven’t listened to that much lately…) ? It’s so frustrating that I am so bad at listening to myself and my body and that I am so addicted to the feeling during and after a good workout. Don’t get me wrong- it’s great to have a passion and a healthy passion, but when does it get to the point of being unhealthy. An injury? A different set back? When will I get to the point where I see the signs BEFORE things get too far. Before a healthy thing turns into an unhealthy, injury prone obsession?

Source

So, although all of that is hard to admit, it’s true, and injuries are an eye opener for me. I’m happy to say that I did rest for 4 days (with the exception of short walks) and plan on taking it easy with my workouts this week. I don’t need to be beating my body into the ground every day like I generally do. If I want to have a lifetime of physical activity, I need to take care of my body now and not wear it down.

Phew. how’s that for a heavy Monday post. Thanks for listening, though. It always feels good to get this stuff out- I hope some of you can give me good advice and if you’re dealing with the same thing as me, I’m hoping you can find relief in the fact you’re not alone.

This Week’s Workouts

Monday- I’m not teaching today so my plan after work is to go to the gym and do some light, steady state cardio (I just want to sweat!!) and some upper body and core work. I’m going to take it easy with squats and lunges this week.
Tuesday- It’s the first week of my second bootcamp session and I’m SO excited. A bunch of people from my office have expressed interest, so it could be a decent size crowd!
Wednesday- Teaching UXF Burn at 6:30 in Central Square. Before class I may do some steady state cardio or lifting. I’ll see how I feel.
Thursday- Not sure! Maybe my own workout, maybe a class, maybe a walk. I’m going to see how I feel.
Friday- Probably a rest day.
Saturday- I’m supposed to be teaching my cardio kickboxing class at the Oak Square YMCA, but I was invited to attend #BosFIT, an AWESOME fitness event hosted by Bostinno, so I’m trying to get a sub for my class. Check back here on Wednesday for a chance to attend the event for free!
Sunday- After the classes I’m planning to take on Saturday, Sunday will be my second rest day of the week

Questions for you: What was the best workout you had last week? What’s the last injury you’ve had? How do you deal with injuries? Any good advice to share?

Weekending: Moving, moving & more moving

September 18, 2014September 17, 20146 Comments

Yup. Moving was the jist of my weekend starting on Thursday night. I keep telling everyone that moving to a new floor in the same building is just as hard, if not harder, than moving to an entirely new building! Instead of packing things up and doing a few big trips, I ended up not packing and just making a million trips up and down the stairs every time I needed something. It was a bad way to go about the move, let me tell you that!

After a few hours of strenuous moving on Thursday night, I had a glass of wine then treated my helpers to pizza and wine from Santarpio’s.

#prioritiespeople Clearly wine is the first thing that should be in a fridge. Booze helps moving suck less 😉

I hadn’t been to Santarpio’s since my birthday weekend, and boy was I craving it! Per usual, Santarpio’s did not disappoint. Look at these bad boys!

My parents came down on Friday to help my sister with her stuff (she’s moving in with me for a few months), so I rushed home after work to join the party. I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in and saw this beautiful bouquet of flowers from RM. For those of you who don’t know, he’s actually my landlord and that’s how we met 🙂 Last year, when I was just his tenant, he knew I was nervous about moving and surprised me with a bottle of wine and little note in my fridge. This year, as my boyfriend, he left flowers… I’m a lucky girl!

I took a quick break for dinner (we ordered from Jeveli’s) and continued working until 8:30.. yuck! It was fun having my parents around, though. Dad broke in my new deck, I toasted to the new apartment and we all indulged on delicious food!

I didn’t sleep a wink on Friday night, so I was up and making trips up and down the stairs at 7am on Saturday. This wasn’t a good idea before teaching cardio kickboxing! I was such a space cadet in class 😦 and tired- physically really tired!

Once I got back, it was nice to do some more organizing and a few additional trips. My downstairs neighbor, Lauren, came up for wine and snacks later that evening- it was such a fun night! It felt weird to sleep at home by myself on a Saturday night, though… and even more weird to wake up on a Sunday and have a quiet place to myself… I took advantage of it and watched tv and blogged. I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I’ve done that! I was even able to eat lunch out on my deck- such a beautiful day.

The rest of Sunday was spent moving the final pieces of stuff from my old place, cleaning it and doing the last bit of organizing in my new place. I went to Target and picked up some new curtains and a lamp- what do you think of the place so far?

I finally decided it was time to put together some dinner. Salads have been making me gag lately, so I knew I needed to prep enough food to bring for lunch and eat throughout the week. Since my dad brought me all these veggies, I tried to put them to good use.

I made a big ol’ batch of roasted veggies, including carrots, parsnips and onions from my dads garden and sweet potato and butternut squash (side note: I originally typed SQUAT instead of squash… i have issues) from the store. I just put coconut oil, salt, pepper and garlic salt on them and roasted them at 400* for about an hour.

On the side, I made some stuffed peppers with the peppers that my dad gave me. I put onions, summer squash, zucchini, broccoli, black beans and ground chicken in them. SO good!

I made some ground chicken burgers with the leftover ground chicken. Thank goodness I had wine to keep me going through all that food prep!

So, there’s my weekend. I have to say- it was really nice being around on Sunday without a million plans. My sister was gone all day, so even though I got lonely by 7ish, it was a super relaxing day where I was able to do what I wanted when I wanted. I need more days like that 🙂

Questions for you: What was the best part of your weekend? Did you make any good meals? Do you food prep for the week? What’s a way to spice up a salad?

Wednesday Workout: 20 Minute Bootcamp HIIT Workout

September 17, 2014September 15, 20148 Comments

Good morning! Did you guys enjoy my second round of Cardio Kickboxing Combinations that I shared with you last week? It was fun to do! If you have any other suggestions for posts, don’t hesitate to let me know because I like knowing I’m writing about something people want to read.

Today I’m sharing a piece of the bootcamp workout I taught last week which successfully kicked all of our butts! HIIT workouts will do that to you, though. In case you’re new to the term, HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training and HIIT workouts are generally a bout of cardio or “work” period (lasting anywhere from 15-60 seconds, usually) followed by a short bout of rest (10-30 seconds). The point is that you work hard for a set amount of time, knowing you will have a set of time to rest after your work period. You get to catch your breath, bring your heart rate down then bring it right back up- a sure way for max calorie burn!

In this workout, you’ll work for 45 seconds and rest for 15 seconds. I have 20 exercises, ranging from cardio to core to legs to upper body, so you’ll feel like you’re getting a full body workout. If you’re feeling up to it, repeat the circuit once more!

Here’s an explanation for some of the exercises:

-Trunk Swing (from Shape April 2014)- Sit with feet extended in front of you, hands by your hips with your finger tips pointing towards your toes. Lift your hips up, bringing yourself into a reverse table top position (press those hips up!), then lower your hips and bring yourself back to the starting position, but don’t let your butt touch the ground! You’ll be holding yourself a few inches from the ground by pressing your palms into the ground. Holy tricep burn!

-Line Jump (from Shape April 2014)- Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, bend knees and jump forward (pretending to jump over a line), landing on just 1 foot. Bend forward from the hips and touch a hand to the ground. Hop back to starting position and repeat landing on the other foot.

-Plank Jumps- In a high plank position, jump both feet up to your right hand, jump them back to a high plank, jump them up to your left hand. Repeat for entire 45 seconds. Too difficult? Step them up to your hands instead of jumping them.

-Plank with Knee Drops- In a low plank, alternate dropping your knees to the ground. More advanced? Do both at the same time.

-Walking Planks Right and Left- In a high plank position, move 3 steps to the right and 3 to the left.

-Squat Jump with Heel Clicks- Instead of doing just a regular squat jump, click your heels together when you jump up.

If you have any other questions about the exercises listed above, please don’t hesitate to contact me! This workout left me huffing and puffing- I hope it does the same for you!

Questions for you: Do you like HIIT workouts? If so, what’s your favorite one? Do you like 30 second, 45 second or 60 second intervals?

A Beautiful Cape Cod Wedding

September 16, 2014September 16, 20147 Comments

A few weeks ago, I spent the weekend on the Cape celebrating a fantastic friend. If you read my post about her Nantucket bachelorette weekend, I’m sure you won’t be surprised to hear that her wedding weekend was nothing short of amazing. Whenever my college girlfriends and I get together, it’s ALWAYS a good time, so when you throw a wedding in the mix for one of the most fun girls out of the group, it’s sure to carry on that torch. Not only was Sheila an absolutely beautiful bride, she thought of every single detail to make the day go off without a hitch.

Upon arriving on the Cape on Friday, we had lunch and then got to work putting together the flower arrangements. For all of you DIYers… props to you! Although it’s nice to know you did all of the details and decorations, it’s very time consuming both in the execution and planning. However, everything we helped Sheila with came out absolutely beautiful and her vision was perfect!

While they were at the rehearsal dinner, some of us had dinner at the house we rented. Our friend Amy is fantastic at finding houses and this one did not disappoint! it was .1 miles from Sheila’s house and had plenty of room to entertain.

Later that night, we headed to Shuckers for pre-wedding festivities. This bar was right on the water and with the temps and humidity very high, it was a perfect way to cool off. That, and huge goblets of wine also do the trick 😉

I woke up on Saturday morning bummed to a. feel the intense humidity and b. notice the tremendously overcast weather. I always feel sad when the weather isn’t perfect for outdoor weddings, but I assure you it didn’t rain on her parade (literally and figuratively). After a 4 mile run, Lauren and I headed to the church to set up the flowers. It looked absolutely beautiful and there is something just so peaceful about being in a church when no one is there.

We held a little cocktail/snack hour before the ceremony and before we knew it, it was time to head to the church.

To say it was hot and humid both inside and outside of the church is and understatement, but you couldn’t tell by looking at Sheila. She was an absolutely stunning bride and the service was very heart-felt. On top of that, the church was adorable and quaint and just perfect for her beach-themed wedding.

The reception was held at her parent’s Inn (Seashell Inn, if you’re wondering) which has a great yard area that was perfect for the wedding tent.

Not only that, but it has private beach access across the street! Cocktail hour on the beach? #dontmindifido

We had a blast drinking and chatting and taking pictures on the beach. The sun came out for a bit and even though it went back away, the rain held off the entire night! Sheila had flipflops at the beach for all of us to wear since heels are not sand-conducive.

The passed apps were out of this world amazing. Seriously- the best I’ve ever had! I had oysters, steak with a gorgonzola cream sauce, a cranberry goat cheese thing, lamb and quinoa meatballs served on cucumbers, coconut shrimp, shrimp and kilbasa kabobs… and there were so many other things that I didn’t even get to try! By the time dinner came around, it’s no surprise that none of us were that hungry 😉

We were ushered into the tent around 6pm for the dinner portion of the night. The tent, tables and decorations were beautiful!

Dinner was just as delicious as the appetizers. It was the most organized, delicious buffet food I’ve ever had at a wedding. The main entrees were salmon, wrapped in sole with a scallop in a lobster butter sauce (ummm hello, delicious) and steak. Both were absolutely incredible. Best wedding food I’ve ever had!

It was so nice watching Sheila and her dad dance, and I think he had everyone in attendance shedding tears during his speech. It was so thoughtful and funny and sweet- Sheila will definitely always be his little girl.

Sheila’s brothers stood in as her “Men of Honor” which is probably the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! Her oldest brother kept fixing her dress throughout the ceremony and their speech was not only hilarious, but also very loving! I love watching the relationship between brothers and sisters.

Sheila surprised Bryan with a very, special guest appearance. She had Rene Rancourt come to their wedding to sing the National Anthem!! It was seriously the best surprise ever!

http://vimeo.com/106100855

(Press play, then pause, then play again and it won’t be skewed. Not sure what’s going on with my Vimeo videos!)

The rest of the night was spent dancing, laughing, drinking, and more dancing. The band was phenomenal and played all the best songs to dance to. Here’s a glimpse into what that looked like 😉

Once the band was done for the night, we all ventured back over to their private beach and went skinny dipping (haven’t done that in YEARS!!!) and then chatted and hung out around the fire.

Sunday morning, we all gathered at a local waterfront restaurant for a wonderful goodbye brunch. It was exactly what all of us needed 😉 Catching up with the girls after nights like that is one of my favorite things to do! I’m so blessed to have such a wonderful group of girlfriends.

The weekend was such an incredible time. Sheila and her mom’s hard work, time and energy going into planning and executing the wedding did not go unnoticed- all of it was perfect! And I know I’m not alone when I say this: Sheila, can you and Bryan get re-married every year?? Cheers to a wonderful lifetime of happiness, laughter and love!

Burpees to Bubbly

Because good workouts deserve bubbly rewards!

Month: September 2014

Weekending: Maine Edition {Freeport, Family Wedding & Relaxing}

Dealing With Injuries & Modifying My Workouts

Weekending: Moving, moving & more moving

Wednesday Workout: 20 Minute Bootcamp HIIT Workout

A Beautiful Cape Cod Wedding

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