Life Lately

1 Comment

Test, test. Is this thing on? When I logged into my blog, I actually couldn’t believe that I hadn’t blogged since June 8th! Seriously?! How has so much time gone by?? To say time is flying by these days is an understatement.

But, nonetheless, here I am! Life has been a bit chaotic lately, both with exciting things and with some sucky things, so I figured now’s probably a good time to check back in and get caught up. Enjoy!

  • Dealing with theft- While traveling to Charleston a few weekends ago, someone stole my suitcase from me at JFK while I was getting a coffee. It was partly my fault since I had turned my back on the bag, but the coffee shop was super crowded, I had a bag over my shoulders, was holding a book and my coffee and so I left my roller bag right behind me. I turned around and it was gone, but there was another one near it. At first I wasn’t concerned because I thought someone had mistakenly taken my bag instead of theirs. I worked with many different ticket agents and the airline manager and even though the bag didn’t turn up as quickly as I though it would – and I missed my connection flight – I still thought that once the person got to their destination and opened the bag, they would realize they grabbed the wrong one, would call the airport and I’d get my bag back. Unfortunately, the more we looked into the suitcase that was left behind, the more we realized that it was likely a “fake” suitcase that someone carried to do exactly what they did to me. It was filled with a bathing suit with the tags on it, cheap flip flops with the tags on it, multiple small handbags/clutches/wallets that looked brand new, brand new makeup and some brand new jewelry. I assume these may have been stolen, too? Regardless, I ended up being in the JFK airport from 7am to 2:15pm until the next flight out to Charleston. I almost skipped the trip entirely, but decided that it would be better to go so the girls could cheer me up. I was SO upset, but the kind employees at Delta were SO good to me. They upgraded my next flight and they let me into the Delta Sky lounge. It was such a sucky experience, but I’m thankful for Kevin and his crew who took good care of me. By the end of it, the whole airport knew who I was, lol. I’m currently going through the insurance claim process which is proving to be pretty miserable – does anyone have any tips??

(The last time I had all of my luggage 😦 )

  • Weekend in Charleston- Luggage theft fiasco aside, it was a really fun trip to Charleston! I want to do a whole post on it, so more to come!

  • Wedding in Oyster Bay (Long Island) – Last weekend, RM and I headed to NY for a family wedding on Long Island. It was an absolutely amazing wedding and I feel so lucky to have been able to be a part of it! The food was insanely delicious, the band was the best I’ve ever heard and the DJ to cap off the night was icing on the cake. We danced ALL NIGHT and it was the best. Here are a few photos!

(I rented my dress from Best Dressed!)

  • Seaport Sweat- Although weather has not been on our side lately, I have had a few non-cancelled Seaport Sweat classes and they have been so fun. Last night, there were over 50 people in class! And they absolutely rocked it. As a reminder (because I get these questions a lot), the classes are FREE, you can sign up here, you don’t need to bring anything except water and they run through the end of September! I’m there on Mondays at 6pm and Tuesdays at 6:30pm.

I think that does it for now! I should have a workout to share with you tomorrow 🙂 Hope you have a great week!

Questions for you: Have you ever had anything stolen from you? Have you dealt with insurance claims? What’s something good in your life?

 

What College Really Taught Me

2 Comments

Over the weekend, we went up to Saint Michael’s College to celebrate my 10 year reunion. Even though the weekend has already come and gone, I’m still processing the fact that it’s been 10 years since we have been in college! How?!

Going into college, I had no idea what to expect. Would I like being away from home? Would I make friends? Would I do well in my classes? Looking back, I can honestly say that there was no need to worry about any of these things. I didn’t mind being away from home, I did well in my classes and I made the most incredible friendships.

As we were partying on campus on Saturday night, I couldn’t help but think about how crazy it was that so little has changed between my group of friends. Granted, between jobs, where we live, relationship status’, hobbies, etc. there have obviously been changes in terms of how much we see each other, what our conversations are centered around, etc., but at the end of the day, when you put us all together, it really is like nothing has changed. We laugh, we dance, we talk about serious things, we joke around… and even if it’s been months since we last saw each other, you’d never know. We always pick up right where we left off, and I’m so grateful for that.

Even though college taught me valuable lessons regarding my major, it really taught me what true friendship is. I feel so fortunate that not only did these ladies make my college experience a million times better, but also that they have made my post college life a million times better. It’s crazy that we are all still so close – even after 10 years and at times living in many different states from one another. We’ve gone through loves, breakups, good days, bad days, new jobs, new homes, marriages, babies, and more. No matter what my news is, I know that I have the most supportive group of friends and I am so thankful for that.

I may not do anything in the field I majored/graduated in, and I may have school loans I feel like I’ll never pay off, but the friendships I made at SMC make it all worth it. Thanks, ladies- you’re the best friends a girl could ask for! xo

oh yeah, and thanks for teaching me how to saber a champagne bottle open!!

Wednesday Workout: Jump Rope & Bodyweight Workout

Leave a comment

Hey there! I know everyone is saying this, but I am really ready for some sunshine in my life. The past handful of days have been so yucky – cold & rainy & dark. GIVE ME SPRING!!!

This workout was a result of my refusal to go to the gym when it was finally nice last Thursday. I had all intentions of going and doing an upper body workout with weights, but I knew my body needed a healthy dose of Vitamin D more than it needed the weights 😉 Luckily, I always carry a jump rope in my gym bag so I was able to incorporate it into this bodyweight workout. And yes, I’m still calling it a bodyweight workout because I’m not lifting or moving anything than my bodyweight. If you don’t have a jump rope, just make pretend- regardless, it still It doesn’t require weights of any sort so it’s still something you can easily do anywhere.

The way this workout works is you’ll start every pyramid set with 100 jump ropes (can be done without a jump rope if you don’t have one). From there, you’ll do 10 reps of a lower body exercise, 8 reps of an upper body exercises & 5 reps of a cardio exercise. Then you’ll start with that cardio exercise again (with a short break in between), go up to the 8 reps of upper body and 10 of lower body and then finish with 100 jumps. Sounds confusing, but hopefully my diagram below will help!

This workout is great because it’s simple in terms of what the exercises are – no brain work, just physical work. SLDL= single leg deadlift, which you’ll do on the right and left.

If you’re traveling this summer, consider taking this workout with you – it’s perfect when you want a quickie, no gym required workout.

Happy Wednesday!

Questions for you: Do you carry any pieces of workout equipment with you in your gym bag?

“Why Don’t You Just Sit There & Relax?”

1 Comment

This week has been a bit different from my normal weeks. I realize it’s only Monday, but stick with me – normally my weeks are planned out to a T. I leave for work at 6:30am work, take a lunch break to go to the gym to workout or train someone, leave work and go teach or go to a class (usually the former, though). It leaves very little room for anything but those things, which is totally fine because I LOVE my side gig of teaching fitness and training, but sometimes it’s nice to have an unexpected night off.

I’m graced with TWO unexpected nights off this week, and although I’m totally bummed about it because I absolutely love teaching my Seaport Sweat classes (and I haven’t been able to kick off my classes yet because this is the first full week!), with upcoming travel again this weekend, extra nights off mean I can get more sh*t done throughout the week and make things a little easier on myself.

That said, last night I took advantage of my unexpected night off by going to get a manicure and pedicure since I’m going away this weekend. As I was getting my pedicure, one of the nail technicians came over to start taking off my shellac from 2 weeks ago. If you’re not familiar with this process, it requires you to let your nails soak with acetone with aluminum foil wrapped around it to hold it there. In other words, you can’t do anything with your hands during this time. Normally when I get a pedicure I’m on my phone, reading a magazine or reading a book. The guy laughed at me as I tried to read a magazine and then move my phone and said  “Why don’t you just sit there & relax with nothing?”

You mean, sit there with nothing to occupy myself? To sit there completely still, relaxed and focused on just that, rather than the never ending social media posts to catch up on, tv to watch and trashy magazines to read? What a concept!

I’ll be honest when I say it was a little hard at first. I think others will agree that we are all so accustomed to doing something at all times… and oftentimes it’s multiple things at once. We are scrolling through our phones while out to eat, while chatting with our friends/spouse/etc., while watching tv, maybe even in the midst of reading a magazine. And if we aren’t multi-tasking with our phone, we might be occupied by watching tv or reading a book.

How often do we sit and do absolutely nothing besides be present and enjoy that stillness? I don’t do it nearly enough and last night was a good reminder of that. As I sit here, I’m chuckling realizing that I’m doing the exact opposite of that- I’m blogging, deciding on new couch options with RM and watching TV!

Just a little food for thought on this dreary Tuesday. I challenge you to think about how you’re spending your time- do you constantly move from one thing to the next, often multi-tasting, rarely just sitting in the moment and embracing that? If you can relate, I would suggest taking some time each day to just be. To focus on one thing. To take some deep breaths. To not have every minute planned out and accounted for. 

Oh, and don’t forget to mark your calendars for Seaport Sweat next week- Monday at 6pm and Tuesday at 6:30pm!

Five on Friday {6.2.17}

Leave a comment

Hey there! Happy Friday! Usually holiday weeks end up feeling longer, but this one flew by for some reason. I’m not complaining, though- bring on the weekend! I feel like I haven’t blogged much lately, so I wanted to pop in quickly to share some topics of interest- enjoy!

  • Rose all day – I know I’m not the only one who tends to turn to rose as the weather gets warmer so I wanted to share 2 rose’s that I’m loving right now. I found both at the Whole Foods in Lynnfield, just an FYI. Presto Sparkling Rose comes in a single-serve can and while I was a little nervous about how bubbly out of a can would taste, I was pleasantly surprised when I took my first sip- it was crisp, refreshing and almost too easy to drink 😉 If bubbly isn’t your speed, we can’t be friends I would highly suggest pushpin global rose. It’s light, dry and, again, so easy to drink. We really loved this!

  • SoulFu3l– Did you guys place your SoulFu3l order yet? Nourish will get you 10% off! I can’t wait to order again, but in the meantime, I made their Guacomole Stuffed Chicken “Nuggets” earlier this week and they were amazing!! So easy, and so delicious. I even forgot to use seasoning (oops!) and they were still delicious. RM wasn’t even hungry and ate 3 😉

  • Brewer’s Fork– Speaking of food, on Monday RM and I had a day date and when he said he was craving good pizza, some how I remembered about Brewer’s Fork and suggested we go there. I knew they had a good craft beer list, too, which RM would enjoy. Brewer’s Fork did NOT disappoint- the beers, salad & pizza were all incredible! Seriously, we were surprised at how good everything was.

  • Seaport Sweat– It’s finally time! Seaport Sweat started last night and I cannot wait for my first classes next week! As a reminder, I’m teaching Box & Body (kickboxing bootcamp) on Mondays at 6pm and Boxers Conditioning on Tuesdays at 6:30pm. All classes are held on the Seaport green area right next to Gather & District Hall. They’re FREE, but signup on Eventbrite is suggested. Hope to see you there this week!!! Also, Leigha L will be taking over my Tuesday Beats class at GymIt until October 🙂

  • College Reunion- This weekend is my 10 year college reunion, which still sounds and feels so crazy. I am so happy that RM will be able to come, too, because I want him to see SMC and I’m excited to hang out in Burlington together.

From this…

To this….

We’ve been through so much together and I’m so lucky to call these ladies my best friends! can’t wait to be together this weekend! xoxo

And that does it for me! I hope all of you have a great weekend!