Five on Friday {11.20.15}

November 20, 2015November 19, 201511 Comments

Good morning- Happy Friday 🙂 I know I’ve said it before, but I’m having so much fun writing these “Five on Friday” posts because I can pull any weird tidbit of information I want and one of you can usually relate to at least something in the post so I’ll chalk that up to a win 😉 Also, I’m not sure if this means I have a problem or not, but when I originally typed “win”, I typed “wine”… hmm…

Anyway- on to this week’s Five on Friday!

1. Roasting a chicken- Two weeks ago, I roasted my very first chicken. It came out so good, I decided I needed to make it again for when my parents came down this past Sunday. RM and I agreed that my second one came out even better than the first! The best part? It’s such an easy meal to prepare! All you have to do is pick what veggies you want (we are veggie happy so we did Japanese sweet potatoes, regular sweet potatoes, carrots, celery and onion), chop them up, season your chicken with salt & pepper (I also used Herbs de Provance because that stuff is amazinggg), place some lemon slivers under the skin and then top with a few thin slivers of butter, which creates a nice crispy outer layer.

2. Friendsgiving- I haven’t ever been a part of a “friendsgiving” so I am SO excited for the one we are doing with my college girlfriends tomorrow. We are all responsible for bringing various things, like Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes for me, and of course lots of vino 😉 I might also try to make some homemade cranberry sauce- anyone have any good recipes for this?

3. Yoga strength- As I mentioned on Tuesday I had the opportunity to take a bunch of yoga classes last week. I shared some things I learned throughout the various classes I attended and today I’m totally loving Yoga strength. While it may not feel like the same type of strength as weight lifting, to hold poses, go from high to low plank and do arm balances it requires an incredible amount of strength, especially core strength.

4. New sneakers- There’s nothing better than getting new shoes, amiright?! And, for someone who loves all things fitness apparel related, I especially love getting new sneakers. I’ve tried out my new Saucony running sneakers a few times this week and I have to say, I’m diggin’ them. I like the way my Mizuno’s hug my feet better than the Saucony’s, but the Saucony’s feel more stable when I’ve used them to train in which is great for Wednesdays when I usually run and then teach my class.

5. Target holiday things– Umm, how amazing is this shirt?! When I saw it, I knew I just HAD to get it. I see myself most definitely over-wearing it 😉

And that does it! I hope you’ve all had a great week and have a great weekend planned out. Chat with you next week 🙂

Questions for you: Have you done a friendsgiving before? What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish? What brand of sneakers do you run in? Have you bought any Christmas things yet?

Five on Friday {11.13.15}

November 13, 2015November 12, 20155 Comments

Hello! Happy Friday 🙂 Last week I felt like the week FLEW by and all day on Friday I kept thinking it was only Thursday. This week? Notsomuch. I thought it was Friday all day yesterday, which is really not that fun. I blame it on the following:

a rest day. I realized I hadn’t taken a full rest day in an terribly long time (ugh. I hate that!) so I decided to do it yesterday since I had lunch plans and after work plans, which leads me to the other reason I felt like it was Friday..
My team went out to lunch for one of my associate’s last day and then we went out for drinks and all of those things combined just scream Friday, #amiright?!

In case my “Five on Friday” series is new to you, I randomly created this blog post series as a way to share any sort of random thoughts/things I’m loving/things I think you might love/news/etc. So far, it seems as though you guys enjoy it and I love sharing tidbits of “all over the place” stuff with you, so here we go!

1. Coming home to the bed made– I have this weird thing where I NEED to make the bed as soon as I wake up (please tell me I’m not alone here). The problem? RM usually gets out of bed a little after me and I usually don’t have time to make it before I leave. I always come home hoping he will have made it and last week, after an especially long day, I came home to a beautifully made bed WITH the throw pillows on it. Love!

Side note- for a while I would try and make my side of the bed when I got up, usually pulling blankets away from RM who was still snuggled up… he made me laugh one day when he brought this to my attention and asked for me to just wait until he got up, haha

2. Shopping list for this year- My cousin-in-law posted this on Facebook and I instantly loved it, especially since holidays and birthdays will be light this year due to the wedding. I mean, do you really need more than these 4 things?

3. Saving money– If there’s one thing I wish I would’ve done more of in my younger years, it’s save money. I knew wedding planning was expensive, but until I started planning one I had no idea just how expensive they were! Which kills me when I think about all the money I’ve pissed away over the years. I remember specifically saying to someone back in my younger years (23/24): “I’d rather be spending my money experiencing things than just saving it for ‘what ifs'”… if only I would’ve been smarter and realized that saving when you’re young is the smart thing to do because it makes your older years so much better and easier! So, if you’re reading this and you’re not focusing on building up a savings account STOP THAT! Start a savings account, please, and even if you only save $10/month it’s something!

4. Adele’s new song “Hello”- I know I am absolutely not alone here, but I just love her new song!

5. Sriracha cashews- RM’s office has these and he was raving about them so when he brought me home a pack I couldn’t wait to try them. The verdict? OMG. So good. You’ve got to try them!

Previous “Five on Friday” Posts:

Five on Friday {10.30.15}
Five on Friday {11.6.15}

And that does it for this week’s Friday Five- anything spark any comments or interest or anything you can relate to? Do you have anything you can share with me this week? What’s on tap for the weekend? What ever it is- enjoy it, get movement in, and try to relax 🙂

Five on Friday {11.6.15}

November 6, 2015November 5, 201511 Comments

TGIF! Seemed like you guys enjoyed last week’s “Five on Friday”, so I’m back again today with another round of it.

1. Over the past year or so, I’ve really started to enjoy painting my nails (except I’m way to impatient to sit still and wait for them to dry most of the time so I either end up with smudges immediately OR I put one coat on, let it dry, and then put the next coat on the next day.). I love shopping for new nail polish’s and it’s even more fun when my nails are all nice and long like they are now. Marshall’s and TJ Maxx are my favorite places to pick up Essie nail polishes because they are half the price they are at Walgreens! Also, my freshly shined bling just makes the whole thing even better 😉

2. We are going to Jackson, NH tomorrow to look at a venue that we are HOPING and PRAYING will be “the one”. Fingers crossed- think positive thoughts for us!

3. Is it me or do fresh flowers in the house just make everything better? We have two bouquets right now and I smile every time I look at them!

4. I did something last night I haven’t done in far too long: I went to a yoga class! I have been oddly sore this week and just had zero interest in going to the gym. Rather than push/force myself into going, I opted to take a more restorative approach to my workout by taking a class at CorePower Yoga in Newton Corner, which is conveniently a short walk from my apartment. I could tell it had been too long since my last practice because my head was allll over the place. So many thoughts running through my mind the whole class, which was really frustrating 😦 New students get a free first week so I hope to get back at least 2 or 3 more times- I could really use it!

5. I recently signed up to participate in The Resolution by PMC ride at The Club by George Foreman III on January 3rd. I joined the Just Keep Spinning team in connection with the team leader who reached out to me to promote the event. Brought to you by the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC), the event will offer over 2,000 people the opportunity to participate in a two-day indoor bike-a-thon with the goal of raising $1 million for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. You can participate in the event either by yourself or by joining a team- all you have to do is raise $250 and the cool thing is that 100% of every raised dollar will go directly to Dana-Farber to support adult and pediatric patient care and cancer research. If you’re interested in joining the event, you can register here and you can either create a team, ride as an individual or join Just Keep Spinning and ride with me 🙂 I”ll be riding from 12-1pm on Sunday, January 3rd and I am SO excited about it! If you aren’t interested in riding, but want to donate to the cause, feel free to check out my donation page (that I’ve yet to update and personalize yet!).

Questions for you: Tell me something about you or your week! Do anything fun? Have any good workouts? Do you practice yoga? What’s going on this weekend?

Happy Friday!! Have a great weekend- chat with you next week 😉