Category: Boston

Weekending: Friendsgiving, SoulCycle, sweetgreens & Taco Night

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Good morning! Well, here we are- Thanksgiving is on THURSDAY. Can you believe it?! I have Wednesday-Friday off so last night barely felt like a Sunday night knowing I only had 2 days of work before an extra long weekend 🙂 We had a really great weekend, so let’s get to recapping it!

Friday

I went food shopping on my way home after work on Friday- how exciting, right?! Once I got home and unpacked, RM and I enjoyed a glass of wine while catching up and throwing around options for dinner. We ended up walking to Bertucci’s, but sadly our meal was just OK- the pizza was just not nearly as good as I remembered it being. I hate that!

Saturday

We had a lazy start to our Saturday until it was time for me to go teach at the Y. It was a really fun class and for some reason my energy was off the charts so I hope I didn’t scare any new members away 😉

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After teaching, I showered and headed to Queen Bee Nails to get my nails done. I had a free manicure coupon and decided to upgrade and get a shellac since I wanted nice nails for Friendsgiving, Thanksgiving and dress shopping. I thought this color was very festive for this time of year.

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Once I got home, I got busy in the kitchen. I agreed to bring Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes and homemade cranberry sauce so I had lots of things to make! For the Brussels sprouts I just sautéed them in EVOO and added salt, pepper and 1 clove of chopped garlic. I also added pancetta which adds a great salty & crunchy combination to the dish. Athena left a suggestion on my Five on Friday post for a homemade cranberry sauce, so I checked it out and decided to make it. I loved that it was so easy to throw together! The only things I changed were adding more water, I put all of the orange peels in it and added a little bit of regular and coconut sugar because it was still a bit too tart for my liking (I think I had more cranberries than her recipe called for). It was super tasty!

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In the early afternoon, RM and I got gussied up and headed into the South End to meet up with all of my friends.

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Saturday night out is always more fun with leather pants on 😉

My friend Amy’s brother has an incredible pent house apartment above Boston Chops and graciously let us host our gathering there (he plays hockey in Canada so he wasn’t there anyway).

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We had a blast chatting and drinking wine and eating. The food was incredible- everyone did a really great job with the dishes they were assigned!

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I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful friends in my life- these ladies are the best of the best!

Sunday

Needless to say, I woke up with a bit of a wine headache on Sunday so I had breakfast and then snuggled up on the couch with our new book club book for a while before I went to spin.

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Has anyone read this? I’m only about 100 pages in, but I’m enjoying it so far!

SoulCycle often sends out emails to take complimentary classes, I assume to help boost numbers for some of their lower attendance classes, but generally I can’t take part in them because they’re usually on really off times. This time, though, they had a Sunday 4pm class on the list, but when I called it was already full so they let me take the 11:45am class instead, which actually worked out better. I felt bad for the people next to me as I likely sweat out pure wine 😉 The class was really fun and the instructor, Jeff, had lots of energy! Per usual, I didn’t think the class itself was that hard- I don’t know what it is about the classes there, but I never think they are as hard as they are at other studios. Where I think they do step it up is the party atmosphere, which is what makes the classes so fun!

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After class I went next door to have lunch at sweet green- a little Sunday treat 🙂

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I did a make your own salad with kale, cucumber, broccoli, carrots and spicy quinoa and a side of their butternut squash which was not great- it was so thin and watery! The salad was fantastic, though.

When I got home, RM was snuggled up watching American Sniper so I decided to join him. It was a cold, rainy afternoon so it was a perfect thing to do! After the movie we went to Whole Foods to pick up a few additional staples for the week and for our taco dinner. We had a piece of steak in the freezer so RM took it out and suggested we slice it and put it in tacos. He’s full of good ideas sometimes 😉 To go along with it, I made a super easy salsa (red pepper, tomato, red onion, pineapple, lime juice- everything chopped really small and then throw half of it into a food processor to give it more of a salsa consistency.

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I also made a avocado “sauce” made up of all sorts of random things we had lying around (I didn’t have sour cream or greek yogurt so I had to get creative): 1/2 avocado, 1 scoop of hummus, 1 scoop of goat cheese, salt, pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, ~2 tbsp. EVOO and 1/8-1/4 cup of vegetable broth. Surprisingly, it came out great and was perfect to top the steak with.

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RM cooked the steak in butter and with salt and pepper- so delicious!

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It was a such a yummy Sunday night dinner! We both were pleasantly surprised by how well everything came together- even with using Ezekiel wraps instead of corn tortillas.

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YUM!

And that does it for us- All in all it was a great weekend filled with good food, great friends, fun exercise and lots of relaxation!

Questions for you: What was the best part of your weekend? What did you do? Did you get in any good workouts? Hang out with friends? What are you making for Thanksgiving?

Wednesday Workout: Thanksgiving Workouts & Events To Try/Checkout

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Good morning! I have a great Dynamax workout I want to share with you, but since Thanksgiving is just about a week away, today I want to provide you with some workouts and workout events happening in and around the Boston area in case you want to plan ahead and schedule your Tday workout. I love working out on Thanksgiving, not because I want to “earn my turkey” (although I used to have that mindset), but because I love my body and am thankful for all it can do for me. I feel my best when I eat well and move well, so it make sense that I’d want to do both of those on Thanksgiving 🙂

If you’re looking to do your own workout on Thanksgiving, I posted these workouts over the past couple of years:

*Turkey-Day 20 Minute AMRAP Workout

Turkey day 20 minute AMRAP workout
*The “I’m Thankful” Workout

I'm thankful workout

If you’re looking for classes or events to go to in the area, check these out:

  • The Handle Bar:
    75-Minute Endurance Ride, 8:30 am (At South Boston, Fenway and Harvard Square)- Ride with Rachel, Alexa or Allie at one of our three studios for a 75-minute ride and give thanks to your hard earned sweat. You can sign up on their Schedule Page
  • Recycle Studio has a bunch of classes between Wed-Sun- full list is here, but here are some that my friends teach:
    11/25- 6-7pm- “Pre stuff reboot buff ride” with Lindsay (hour long class!)
    11/26- 8-8:45am- “Reboot Bird Ride” with Alice, 10-11am with Lindsay
    11/27- 10:30-11:30 “Reboot Bird Ride” with Lindsay.
  • The Oak Square YMCA has a whole bunch of classes- if that’s not your gym, but you’re interested in trying one out, let me know 🙂
    Thursday, November 26
    8:30-10a Group Cycle with Kelly (60 minute option)
    8-9 Barre with Carolyn
    9-10a Zumba with Lindsay
    Friday, November 27
    8-9a Total Body with Athena
    9-10a Yoga with Ben
    9-10a Group Cycle with Emily
    10-11a Zumba with Michelle
  • Thanksgiving Day at 7:45am-8:45 for F.I.T. BootCamp at Glen Meadow Park, Lynnfield MA (weather pending!)
    ***ALL MONEY WILL BE DONATED TO MY BROTHERS TABLE, Lynn MA***
    For only $5 you can come workout, feel good and know that you’re helping others:) Bring water & towel or mat too, it gets messy! Please contact Dina (dmetrano@gmail.com) to register.

I know there are lots more, but here’s a brief roundup of some of them 🙂

Whether you decide to workout or not, I hope you make that decision as an entirely separate thing from food and your Thanksgiving Dinner. Exercising just to try and eliminate guilt as a result of a meal is not worth it. Exercise because you love it or because you know all the benefits it provides. Eat because you love it and because it tastes good and fuels you. Don’t mix the two.

For me, I’ll likely workout because I love to move and I love to start the day with a sweat. For the meal, I like to indulge on things I may not eat year-round (all the desserts, stuffing, mashed potatoes of all varietals, etc.), but I try to do it mindfully because I HATE being overly full and feeling sick from it! I’d rather eat enough to feel satisfied and then go back for more a few hours later 😉

Questions for you: Do you have a Thanksgiving workout planned? Any that you want to share with other readers?

NBGNO: Knock Out Cancer

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What a treat it was to have TWO NBGNO events in just a few weeks. In case you missed my last recap, you can find it here. Other recaps from prior girls night out events can be found here, here, here, and here. I can’t believe I’ve been lucky enough to attend so many of these events!

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The October NBGNO event was one of the best ones I’ve attended to date. Obviously I loved the workout since cardio kickboxing is my jam, but more than that I loved the total girl power radiating throughout everyone all night. As October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, the theme of the workout and night was to “knock out cancer”. Unfortunately, all too many of us have some sort of connection to cancer and events like this are just one more way to raise awareness for this terrible disease. New Balance has had a partnership with Susan G Komen for 26 years at this point and has raised MILLIONS of dollars for the Susan G Komen foundation, which is just incredible. After our workout, Dr. Priscilla Brastianos spoke about her work in the field of cancer and all that she has done over the years to try and cure cancer. Not only has breast cancer taken her grandmother’s life, but also her mother’s life, so she is channeling those feelings and losses into finding a cure.

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Sherri, from Fun Fit Flavor, was the emcee for the night and spoke of her sister, who was diagnosed with breast cancer over a year ago. I remember her talking about her sister last year and was so happy to hear about all of the wonderful and positive strides her sister has made over the past year.

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One of my biggest takeaways from both Dr. Brastianos  and Sherri’s talks was the role exercise and healthy living plays in cancer, treatment and recovery. Regular exercise & healthy eating reduces your risk of getting breast cancer by 20% (!!!), which is pretty amazing. And it doesn’t have to be anything crazy- making small, healthy changes is a great place to start, which is part of the reason why I love these NBGNO events so much. They are suitable for ALL ages, shapes, sizes and fitness abilities and truly leave you feeling so inspired to live a healthier life. You CAN workout AND have fun with your friends… and maybe refuel with a little bubbly afterwards 😉

Workouts for this event were lead by the fantastic Eliza Shirazi, creator of Kick It By Eliza®, and Susan Reardon of Reardon Wellness (Both teach at The Club by George Foreman III). Eliza and Susan each taught a quick 20 minute workout, allowing us to workout with both of them. I enjoyed both workouts, but I have to say Eliza’s was more my speed- her energy was contagious and it had the same type of intensity that I have in my classes, so I was totally in my element!

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It was REALLY cool kickin’ it in Copley Square! Post workout, we headed back into the New Balance store for some delicious apps and smoothies from Thirst Juice Co.. They always have a bar set up with seasonal cocktails as well as beer and wine, but I opted to just drink water and smoothies this time… I know, who am I?!

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It was great getting to catch up with blogger and gym friends, too!

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My sister was able to join me which was fun because we love fitness and food dates!

Per usual, we walked away with some awesome swag: little gym bag, awesome dry fit NB t-shirt and coupons. I wore the shirt on a run the next day and loved how comfortable it was, not to mention the bright pink color 😉 I see this quickly becoming a favorite!

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All in all, NBGNO events went out with a bang this year and I can’t wait for them to start back up next year!

Questions for you: How much exercise do you try to fit in per week? Do you do anything for breast cancer awareness month?

 

Weekending: October Sunshine

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Hi there! How are you? If you have today off, don’t tell me… not only do I have to work but I have to go INTO the office. Monday’s are usually my WFH day so it’s a very weird start to the week!

Did you guys have a good weekend? Mine was great- a good mix of celebrations, relaxing and productivity. I’m absolutely loving this warm October weather and after a gloomy day on Friday, I tried to soak up as much of the sunshine as possible throughout the weekend.

After work on Friday, I went to my sister’s apartment for vino and pizza. The traffic was TERRIBLE, so it was so nice to be able to relax with drinks and laughter and good convos!

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On Saturday, after kickboxing class, I was able to run some much-needed errands and decided to grab lunch at Panera since I was out. Have you tried their lentil-kale bowls? Pretty good!

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We decided to head into the city in the late afternoon and hit up the new Uniqlo in Faneuil Hall. While it was a big chaotic, I did score this vest for $39 instead of $59! I’ve been wanting a light down vest for a long time and I think I’ll get a lot of use out of this.

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After shopping we stopped in at Back Deck for cocktails and a snack.

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We also stopped at a coffee shop on the way home and they had the most AMAZING sweet potato pumpkin pie macaroons I’ve ever had. We stupidly split this, but I could’ve eaten 5 of them myself!

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The rest of the night was very low-key and looked a lot like this:

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Do any of you watch Ray Donovan? RM had gotten us both hooked on it, which is weird for me considering I hate violence and it’s a very violent show!

Sunday was a perfectly productive day! We had breakfast and then went to Target and Whole Foods before doing some major cleaning and food prep back at home. Also, Whole Foods has the prettiest bouquets- and sometimes you just need to buy yourself flowers 😉

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The weather was too gorgeous to be inside all day so I took a break from house work and cooking and went for a quickie 5K run. The weather was so perfect!

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I made some oat bars, soup and the most delicious stuffed acorn squash- I love going into the week with a whole bunch of good, healthy food!

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Oh, and the BEST part of the weekend? RM’s mother stopped by and gave us our engagement gift, which is something I have literally waited my whole life for:

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The funniest part was that I had been talking about Kitchen Aid mixers all weekend! I can’t wait to put this to good use- she said she loves using hers for her pizza dough, so that means I need to get the recipe AND give it a try 🙂

Questions for you: What was the best part of your weekend? Did you get out and enjoy the weather? Did you do anything festive? What’s your favorite kitchen appliance?

NBGNO: Strength is Beauty & Oak Square YMCA “Oaktoberfest” 5K Discount Code

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Good morning! TGIF, right?! This week has been hella busy- anyone else? I wanted to pop in with a few quick fitness related updates and events because, although I’ve got wedding planning on the brain, this IS a fitness blog 😉

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I’ve talked about the New Balance Girls Night Out events before, but in case you’re new to B2B, here are those recaps:

My first New Balance Girls Night Out event
NBGNO Event- How to stay fit while on the road
2015’s First NBGNO Event
Shaking Things Up w/NBGNO

Last week the theme of the NBGNO was “Strength is Beauty”, which is something that I am so passionate about! I have participated in a few challenges focusing on positive body image (#bikinirebellion was my all time favorite) and follow so many empowering, strong, fantastic women who embody all of the wonderful things behind the notion of “strength is beauty”. I love New Balance because they are all for empowering women and their NBGNO events and new “NB Women” line are just two ways they do this.

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This was the biggest NBGNO event ever and over 50 cities also participated in the same event, which is really cool! Per usual, the night had 2 workouts to choose from: a run or a bootcamp workout with Paula Fonseca in Copley Square. I usually end up doing the run, but this time I was able to take the class. We used only our own bodyweight and a band but Paula really challenged us with the format and exercises! I really thought she was a fantastic instructor and not only did she do a great job of motivating us and keeping the energy up, she was really good at showing various levels so that the workout was doable for everyone- a very important quality in an instructor! Besides the tough workout, working out IN Copley Square was a pretty cool experience! We did solo stuff at first and ended with partner work- here are some photos I got from the NBGNO website:

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Such a fun workout- thank you Paula!

After the workout, we headed in for some food and drinks (they always do such a great job with this!), but sadly I didn’t take any photos!

Fellow Boston Blogger, Sherri hosted the event again- she’s a pro at hosting! She talked about what “Strength is Beauty” means to her and that there are 2 parts: mental/emotion and the physical. What I loved most was that she didn’t talk about being “skinny” or “too muscular” and she didn’t put a label on any physical appearance. Rather, she talked about how GOOD it feels to be strong and to look in the mirror and appreciate all that your body can do for you. I’ve talked about it before, but all too often we tend to look at ourselves and pick out all of our “flaws” instead of looking at those same things as GOOD things that make you who you are. I am so happy that I have made the MENTAL switch with regards to body image and that I now rarely look at myself and pick out my “flaws”. Instead, I look and notice my muscles and my strong body- and I am so proud of that! You should check out Sherri’s post for more inspiration on strength is beauty: Strength is Beauty

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New Balance is hosting ANOTHER event next Thursday, October 18th and it’s a breast cancer awareness event which is going to be really powerful. You can register here, but hurry! These events fill up fast!

Oak Square YMCA “Oaktoberfest” 5K

I wanted to share another event with you: the Oak Square YMCA Oaktoberfest 5K. I haven’t been able to run this race for a few years, but it is such a great, local event. I HOPE to be able to run it this year, but we will be on the Cape for Oysterfest so it may not happen. If I get up and leave at 8 I should be fine to get back in time to run it- fingers crossed! BUT, even if I don’t run it, the YMCA has asked me to create a “Burpees to Bubbly” team and I would love to have you join it! You can sign up here, just make sure to choose the “adult individual entry or join a team” and join Burpees to Bubbly. What’s even better? If you use the code BRIGHTON you get $5 off your race entry fee 🙂 Hope you sign up!

Questions for you: When’s the last time you had a girls night out? Do they usually involve working out or just wine? What does “Strength is Beauty” mean to you? Do you like to run 5K’s?