Category: Holiday/Special Occasion

Five on Friday {3.27.16}

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Good morning! TGIF, right?! I’ve felt like this week has DRAGGED on, which I can only attribute to teaching late on Tuesday, which isn’t something I tend to do. Oh, and just feeling really off this week. I feel like I’ve been fighting something for a few weeks now, and finally this week I took a day to just rest… which brings me to my first Five on Friday topic…

  • Taking time to rest- If you know me, you know I’m not good at resting. Whether it’s resting from the gym or resting from work or anything else, I’m not good at it. I have one speed: fast- I’m always going-going-going, and while I can sustain that for a while, there always comes a time where I’ve just had enough. All the signs were there, too: I wasn’t recover as quickly from my workouts, I felt achy, irritable, tired, yet not able to sleep well, diet was off, throat started to hurt. Basically, my body is telling me to SLOW THE EFFFF DOWN! So, yesterday I took a day for me. I felt so crappy as Wednesday wore on and pushed it too much in the class I taught so by the time I got home I was pretty miserable. I NEVER call in sick, but I did that yesterday morning and ended up sleeping soundly until after 9am, which also NEVER happens. I spent the day resting, hydrating, reading and blogging and it was glorious. Being go-go-go isn’t a bad thing, but it’s also so important to pump the breaks every once and a while and just do nothing. I needed that!

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  • Lent– For my fellow Catholics out there, today is Good Friday, meaning Lent is coming to an end. In years past I would give something up, but over the past few years I’ve started adding something instead. I added 10 minutes of meditation a few years ago and last year I did a daily gratitude journal, which was a nice way to appreciate all of the positive things in my life. This year, I planned to do the same but lost steam about halfway through. For a second I felt like I failed, but then I remembered that it isn’t about passing or failing. It was just something that wasn’t working for me right now- and that’s ok! I have been good about not eating meat on Fridays, so I’ll focus on that instead 😉
  • New glasses- I finally got a pair of glasses that I really like! I ordered a pair originally that I thought I liked, but when I got them home, I decided they were just not what I wanted. Luckily LensCrafters has a 30 day satisfaction guarantee so I went back and got these bad boys. While they are similar to my Ray Bans in the fact that they are plastic, they have a different shape and color so it makes them still seem new and fun.

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  • Wedding registry gifts– My bridal shower invites went out last week and it’s been so fun checking our registry to see things get checked off the list! AND, we received our first gift the other morning, which was a super fun surprise. Thanks to my SMC girls, we now have a wine fridge and I’m SO excited about it!
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  • Meal Delivery Services- I mentioned earlier this week how I am a brand ambassador for Just Add Cooking and although I plan on recapping everything for you next week, I have to share with you now that I am SO impressed with the company and the meals we’ve received and cooked so far. It has made cooking and dinner FUN by spicing up our normal meals. Stay tuned for some discounts I’m sharing next week.

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And that does it for me! I’m hoping that by the time I wake up today I feel much better and more like myself. As for weekend plans, I’m teaching tomorrow morning and then we are heading to my sister’s apartment for an early Easter celebration with my family. We will head to RM’s mother’s house for Easter dinner with them on Sunday.

What are you guys up to this weekend? Are you celebrating Easter? Do you give anything up for Lent? How has your week been? Do you ever just take time to rest or take a mental health day?

Weekending: It was all about the food

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Hi there! It’s nice to see that the “big” snow storm has already come and gone- don’t get me wrong, I love snow, but at this point I am ready for sunny, warm, spring days!

Did you guys have a good weekend? Ours was great… and included ALL THE FOOD. No, seriously- it was filled with the most delicious eats. Let’s recap- I hope you’re not hungry 😉

Friday night, Liz had some of the gym girls over for a “bar” party. Now, I know what you’re thinking (or at least what I was thinking), it wasn’t an alcohol party, it was a food bar party! There was a taco bar, pizza bar, grilled cheese bar, fruit bar and an ice cream bar. And yes, everything was as amazing as it sounds! It was so great getting to catch up with the girls, especially since a few are also engaged so we did lots of wedding talk. Wedding talk and working out talk pretty much equals my life these days.

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On Saturday, it was an extra early weekend wakeup call so that I could get to the gym before we hit the road to go to NH. I was telling Athena that I was really craving a heavy lift sesh. I hadn’t been able to get under the bar all week, so you can imagine my surprise when my Saturday lift felt- dare I say- easy? I felt so strong with my back squats and pushups- it was awesome! And, I didn’t feel the tiniest bit sore the day after so I think I could’ve gone heavier- looking forward to the next time.

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After showers and breakfast (RM had pancakes made and waiting for me when I got back from the gym- he’s a keeper!), we swung through Starbucks and hit the road. Since I never finish my drink (Chai Tea Latte with 1/2 the syrup pump), I ordered a kiddie size. it was perfect!

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The trip north went smooth and we arrived at the Wentworth before we knew it.

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Weekending: Keeping Warm!

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Good morning! I had yesterday off which was such a nice treat, especially after drinking vino all afternoon at the Boston Wine Expo on Sunday 😉 Our weekend was filled with lots of good eats, tasty drinks and plenty of love to keep us warm- let’s recap!

  • A free sweetgreen lunch on Friday was a nice treat 🙂 If you come to my 5:30 sweat-KICK class at Foster Fitness, you can also get a voucher for a free meal at sweetgreens;)

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  • After work drinks at Tony C’s at Assembly Square with some college girlfriends was a fun treat, but coming home to surprise early Valentine’s Day flowers and a delicious spaghetti with clams dinner was even better!

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  • I thought my kickboxing class on Saturday would be quiet because of the weather, long weekend and holiday, but there were still about 40 people who showed up to sweat with me- they killed it!

  • I did a huge grocery haul at Whole Foods after class so we didn’t have to leave for the rest of the day… which must’ve been everyone else’s plan because it was SO BUSY!

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  • I started my Box FIIT certification later that afternoon. I can’t believe how much time and energy George Foreman III put into this certification- it’s so impressive and I can’t wait to be part of the team!

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  • Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies- enough said!

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  • I slow cooked chicken all day to make pulled chicken for taco night… or what was supposed to be taco night! I was prepping the last bits of the meal when we lost power in half of the apartment, including the stove, which meant no tacos for us 😦 While the pizza we ordered was delicious, I was REALLY looking forward to pulled chicken tacos!

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  • Sunday morning we still didn’t have power in half of the apartment so we headed over to RM’s mothers to have our pancakes there. I had all intentions of making cute heart shaped ‘cakes, but these still did the trick!

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  • We bundled up and headed into the city on Sunday afternoon for the Boston Wine Expo. It was such an awesome way to spend a frigidly cold Valentine’s Day!

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  • We also ran into our friends from Tre Olive which was a fun surprise. I’ve posted about them a few times (here and here) so it was great to get to see them. Every time we went to their booth they were slammed, but I did manage to get a photo with them and they were gracious enough to give us quite the goodie bag. Seriously- look at all of the oils they gave us and the fig balsamic which is literally drinkable it’s so tasty. If you’re looking for an interesting gift to give your boss, client, parents, friends who are getting married, etc., Tre Olive has everything you’d need! Their packages make the best gifts.

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  • After the wine expo, we weren’t quite ready to stop having fun so we popped in at Rosa Mexicano for a drink and a snack. So tasty!

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  • For dinner, I was able to make the pulled chicken tacos that I couldn’t make on Saturday. I apparently forgot to take a picture, but they were fantastic!  I sautéed some broccoli slaw and bok choy for the base, topped that with pulled chicken and homemade pineapple salsa and avocado. We had plenty of leftovers so I made us a quesadilla last night- just as good!

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  • I had Monday off so I spent time in the morning filming some cardio kickboxing combinations before heading over to Gymit in Watertown to checkout the new Everybody Fights addition. George has been teaching a bunch of intro classes and luckily I had time in my schedule to take one. It was such a great class- very challenging and let’s face it- you feel like a total badass punching the big bags 😉

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  • And finally, the rest of the day was spent doing more of the certification and doing lots of meal prep! Love starting the week out with lots of healthy food options right at our fingertips.

Did you make it this far? I had more to share than I thought I did! I hope you all have a great week- soak up this warmer weather while you can 🙂

Questions for you: How was your weekend? Did you do any good workouts? Did you do anything for Valentine’s Day? How did you keep warm? Do you prefer quesadilla’s or tacos?

Five on Friday {2.12.16}

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Good morning! TGIF 🙂 Have you guys had a good week? Mine has been great- between teaching and a get together with my girlfriends it’s flown right by. Let’s get to some of my favorite things right now.

Five on Friday

1. GALentine’s Book Club Night- Our friend Amy hosted book club this time and in true Amy fashion when it comes to anything holiday/party related, she knocked it out of the park with her decorations and overall festive feel. She and her roommate cooked up a terrific dinner of chicken parm and we had a blast talking about the book (and other random topics) over wine. AND Amy made us all hand-made valentines consisting of a card and a “De-Stress Coconut Oil Body Lotion” which she described as “this tranquil blend of chamomile, lavender and frankincense can help relieve discomforts associated with stress and anxiety”… anyone want to place an order for some? 😉

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2. Cuckoo’s Calling– Speaking of book club, this was the book we read this past time and while it took me a bit to get into it, I ended up really getting hooked. I read the last 150 or so pages in just a few hours! We are reading her sequel next: Silkworm- I can’t wait! We are also reading 5 Love Languages since we’ve got a little extra time until the next meeting. Have any of you read either of these?

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3. Wine Expo– RM and I were trying to decide what to do for V-Day and when my friend mentioned the Wine Expo, I thought that was a great idea. I searched through some old emails and found a promo code which took $10 off the admission price, which was just icing on the cake (VALDAY16 is the code if you’re interested- there is still availability for Sunday). I’ve been to the seminars a few times, but never the full expo so I can’t wait!
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New Years Eve & Weekending {girls luncheon & PMC Resolution Event}

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Good morning! I have to say… going into this week knowing that I have to work a full week is really not that fun.  As much as I am ready to be back on a more normal schedule with regards to working out and eating (and not having so many social engagements to go to), I was really quite fine with working shorter weeks 😉

Did you guys have a good New Years Eve? Did you do anything fun? This year, we decided to not make any plans- if we ended up doing something, great. If not, that was fine, too. I was just tired of the big NYE hype and then never really having as good as a time as I wanted, so having no expectations was how I wanted to spend this NYE and you know what? I had the best one I’ve had in a long time!

When I got home from work, I decided to skip the gym or any sort of workout and instead snuggle up with some bubbly and a book. I had been getting oddly sore from my workouts and felt a little off all day so I decided that rest was best!

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This book was fantastic and I was so happy I decided to relax and finish it!

RM had been feeling under the weather for a few days, but managed to rally enough to walk to the Social Bar & Restaurant for drinks and dinner. We didn’t think we would stay late, but it was nearly 11:30 by the time we got home!

We were both happy to see that the restaurant was busy, but also that we were able to snag seats at the bar only after a short wait. We started with drinks (bubbly for me-duh- and beer for him) and then decided to do sharsies and pick a few things of the menu.

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We also split a phenomenal burger and then finished with this Nutella bread pudding…. thank goodness we had a little walk to get home to help digest!

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What I loved about the Social was that you didn’t have to buy a ticket, so it was very non-committal. They also had a DJ and party favors and a champagne pour at midnight (which we didn’t stay for). I love that we have a handful of great dining options within walking distance from our apartment- ranging from sushi to pizza to wings to the American style food at Social.

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We ended the night watching the ball drop in our jammies on our couch- perfect!

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New Years Day started with some eggs and toast for breakfast and then was followed with lots of save the date work. I’m mailing 98% of them today- feels amazing!!

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Once we both got hungry for lunch, I decided to walk to Max & Leo’s and order a pizza and some wings. It was SO good and totally hit the spot!

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Later that night I started to feel like I was getting sick from whatever RM had, which was not going to be a good situation since I had a lot of fitness things over the weekend I did not want to be sick for. RM suggested I go to bed early so I did just that- 8:30pm and I was sound asleep! I set my alarm for 7:30, thinking I would absolutely be awake before that, but next thing I knew it was 7:30 and my alarm was going off. I was amazed at how much I could sleep, but you know what? I woke up feeling great- imagine that 😉 Thank goodness, because I didn’t want to feel sick for my first class of 2016!

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I thought the crowds at the Y would be bigger than they were- hopefully they’ll pick up in a few weeks!

The rest of my Saturday was spent lunching with my girlfriends. We went to Not Your Average Joe’s in Medford and then decided to get one more drink at Regina’s since no one had anything else to do for the day. It was such a fun afternoon!

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Saturday night was very lowkey, so we were up relatively early on Sunday. I was on pancake duty again and then took down all of the Christmas decorations before heading to The Club to participate in The Resolution ride by PMC. In short, it was an incredible event and I’m so happy to have been a part of it! I ended up raising enough money to do 2 rides, so at noon I rode with Elise and Cara from The Handle Bar and at 1 with Rich & Mick from Turnstyle Cycle. Both rides were a blast- The Handle Bar girls did a Bieber/Senena Gomez ride and the guys from Turnstyle did more of an older mix of intense songs with a good build in them. Needless to say, by the time my second ride was over, I was totally spent!

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The rest of my Sunday was spent relaxing on the couch. I can tell I’m still fighting something because I’m feeling more worn down than usual after my workouts this weekend… so rest it is!

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I’m subbing tonight at the Watertown BSC for Dana’s 6:30pm Cardio Kickboxing class- come sweat with me if you can!

Questions for you: How was your NYE? Do you like to make big plans or do you prefer laying low? How was your weekend? Did you get your first workout of 2016 in? Have you ever participated in a fundraiser event?