Weekending: Quiet night in, Spring Wine Fest, Girls day out

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I love when I have weekends that are a mix of relaxation and fun events- they’re the best right? This past weekend was one of those weekends and it was just what I needed after a busy week, as well as what I needed to prepare for a busy week this week.

Friday night, I headed into the city after I finished work to go to Lindsay’s class at Recycle. I had never been to the studio on Newbury Street, but I was a huge fan!

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Working out on a Friday afternoon was a nice treat!

The rest of my Friday night included wine, a healthy dinner and serious couch lounging, which was exactly what I needed/wanted.

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Spring Wine Fest

A few months ago, my friend Jessi sent out an email telling us about a Spring Wine Fest that she has gone to for a number of years. The tickets at the time were only $19, so clearly that was a no-brainer on my part; sign me up! Drinking wine on a Saturday afternoon with my girlfriends (after teaching an awesome kickboxing class) is probably one of my favorite things do to.

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We had a blast walking around and trying lots of different wines from various wineries. Some of my favorites were Kim Crawford, Wild Horse, Estancia and Simi, although there were so many others that were great, too. I liked going during the day because even though it was still pretty busy (we basically would get a sample then drink it while waiting in another line), there was still room to move and mingle and hang out. They had lots of free food samples, which is key at a wine tasting event 😉

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The lighting in the Cyclorama was amazing- these photos came out so great! Doesn’t hurt that I have pretty friends, either 😉

After a few tastings we were feeling silly enough to jump over to the photo booth. I die a little every time I look at these pictures…

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Look at my head in that second one- it makes no sense!

Our tasting ended at 2:30, so we walked over to Gaslight for a much needed late lunch. I had a Bellini to start and then switched to wine after.

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My sister met us for lunch and she and I shared the Croque Madame and scrambled eggs with a Truffle Oil sauce. Holy yum!

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After lunch, our large group broke up and some went home and others went to The Playwright for a Boston Marathon fundraiser. I was so happy that my friend Meaghan was able to join us!

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Needless to say, after a day of drinking, I was happily home, fed and in bed by 9:30 😉

Sunday was a standard Sunday that consisted of laundry, grocery shopping, visiting my sister, packing and lots of blogging/workout planning. It’s always a little stressful right before I leave for a trip (even if it’s short) because I have to get my blog posts prepped for the time I’m going to be away and I have to make sure that I’m packed correctly (in other words, it takes time to pack smartly vs. just throwing stuff into a suitcase.). I have to say, though, one thing that was really nice was the fact that I didn’t need to cook a big meal or prep for the week. It’s sad how much easier my day felt without that task!

Here’s to a good week!

Questions for you: Do you like to workout on Fridays? What’s your ideal Saturday consist of? Have you ever been to the Wine Fest in the South End?

This Week: Workouts, Traveling & Things I’m Looking Forward To

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Happy Monday! As this post goes off, I’ll be {hopefully} taking off to head to Dallas. I’m going to a work conference in Grapevine through Wednesday, so my week of workouts will be a little different than usual. I’m actually looking forward to some on-the-road workouts and less teaching since I’ve been teaching like a mad woman lately! Don’t get me wrong, I love teaching, but feel like I teach a better class when I don’t teach 6 or 7 in a week. Instructor friends- do you feel the same way?

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I taught my 6am Muscle Work class and then subbed a 6:30pm kickboxing class at the Watertown BSC after work. Those days are SO long, but they are doable since I’m doing different workouts before and after work.

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  • Tuesday- I never made it to the 6:55 am class (incorrectly set my alarm), but I ended up doing 10 minutes of cardio and 20 minutes of stability ball-focused core work. After work, I headed to Reading to train Kerri, which went great! I did some of the workout with her, but am trying to get better at just instructing/training her rather than doing the workout with her.

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  • Wednesday- I ran a 5K on the treadmill before teaching my UXF Burn class. I didn’t do much of the workout with them because, for some reason, I was incredibly sore. I don’t even know how I could be as sore as I was, but I took it as a sign that I shouldn’t push myself, so I didn’t 🙂
  • Thursday- I taught SHRED and then Kickboxing. Both classes were pretty full and the energy was great. I taught a new format (for me) in SHRED and everyone loved it, including me! I set it up so that everyone had a partner- partner A would do 12 reps of whatever exercise I told them to do (using the BOSU) and partner B would do whatever cardio exercise I told them to do. Partner B would do the cardio until partner A completed their 12 reps. Then we switched and then did a partner core move for 60 seconds. It was so fun!!

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  • Friday- I usually rest on Fridays, but I wanted to get in another class with my ClassPass and since my friend Lindsay was teaching at Recycle at 5:30pm, I figured it was a perfect class to go to. Similar to the last time, the class was amazing. Her energy, song choices and choreography’s are motivating, yet challenging, and I left there feeling like I got my butt kicked! Recycle still stands true as my favorite indoor cycling studio for that reason.

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  • Saturday- I taught cardio kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA. Per usual, it was a great class!
  • Sunday- Rest 🙂 I realized I hadn’t had a rest day all week… whoops

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I think I will end up doing something similar to this pre-flight workout that I did before the last flight to Dallas.
  • Tuesday & Wednesday- I have no idea what my workouts will look like while I am in Texas. I would like to check out the gym at the Gaylord Resort and hopefully Tim will want to join me- I like having a workout buddy when I’m on the road! BSCers- I won’t be there on Wednesday, but Kate Welby is subbing for me, so you’ll be in good hands!!
  • Thursday- I’ll be back at the Central Square and teaching SHRED and then Kickboxing.
  • Friday- I am not sure. I may try to get to a morning class at a participating ClassPass location (my month is up the first week in April so I’m trying to use up all my passes!).
  • Saturday- My friend Jen told me about a Spartan Race Workout so I am going to do that! It’s from 9-11 so if you’re interested in joining us, use that link and sign up 🙂
  • Sunday- I am subbing UXF Burn at 9am at the Allston BSC, so if you’re around, come join me! There were only 3 people last time I subbed, so I’d love to have more of you! I am heading to Kerri’s to train her after I teach.

Traveling

As I mentioned, I am going to be in Grapevine, Texas for the first half of this week. I am sure I’ll get some type of workout in, but I likely won’t know what that workout will be until the day of. I have a fun guest post coming for you later this week, so be on the lookout for that.

Things I’m Looking Forward To

It will be nice to see some of my coworkers this week and to get to meet other people in the industry. I’ve heard the Gaylord is a really nice resort, so I’m looking forward to that! The temps are supposed to be low here this week, so being in 60* weather will be a nice treat 😉 I’m also looking forward to the potential Shapleigh Girls night on Saturday- I bought a Groupon to the Brahmin and I think we are going to try to go there.

Questions for you: Fitness instructor friends- what is your “ideal” number of classes to teach in a week? What was the best workout you had last week? What are you looking forward to this week?

I did something I never do…

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TGIF, right?! This week has been rough… I had to go back to the dermatologist on Monday, I’ve taught a bunch of classes already, had to have a bunch of blood drawn for testing, and, to top it off, I did something I never do: I set my alarm incorrectly and missed a morning class I had signed up to take.

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Most of you are probably going “ok, Monique. Stop being so dramatic. You missed a class, big deal!”, right? I wouldn’t have been so upset if I wasn’t going to be charged $20 for the class AND losing one of my ClassPass classes.

On Monday night, I set my clothes out, had my bag packed and even went to bed early to make sure I got enough sleep!

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What really bothered me the most, was the fact that I completely spaced out when setting my alarm. I hate doing dumb stuff, and I’m always very good about my alarm and setting multiple (just in case!), so to have set it incorrectly and to not have woken up on my own bothered me (I told you I was super Type A!).

There’s nothing like the feeling when you wake up and know something isn’t right. Before I even opened my eyes, I could tell it was light out, which wouldn’t have been the case at 6am. I quickly realized it was light out because it was 7:24am, NOT 6am. Clearly my body needed rest, which I tried to tell myself, but at the time, it didn’t help.

I ended up surviving (so dramatic), and everything worked out: the ClassPass contact totally understood the situation, reversed the $20 charge and gave me my class back- how is THAT for amazing customer service?? It makes me love ClassPass even more 🙂

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So, even though I may not think this way in the heat of the moment (and I get too worked up about stuff in general), I think everything does happen for a reason. My body needed more sleep, which during a crazy week, is something I should have embraced, rather than getting upset. And, at least it wasn’t a class I was supposed to teach… that would have been the worst!

Questions for you: When’s the last time you did something dumb like set your alarm incorrectly? Do you need an alarm to wake up or do you have a good internal clock? Do you overreact when your plans don’t go the way you wanted them do?

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I’m looking forward to a quiet night tonight (after going to Recycle!) and tomorrow I am going to a wine tasting and lunch at Stephi’s on Tremont after teaching kickboxing 🙂 Just a heads up- I will be traveling to Texas Monday-Wednesday, but I will have posts lined up for you!

Also, sending very HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes to my dear friend, Caitlin! xoxo

Gluten Free, Dairy Free No Bake Chocolate Coconut Pecan Oatmeal Bars

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Umm, yeah. How good do those sound?! I can assure you, they taste just as good as they sound. A co-worker brought these into work and I’ve been thinking about them ever since. I asked her for the recipe because I knew I had to make them. The recipe comes from Money Saving Mom.com, but I adapted it to make it gluten free and dairy free to see if I could tell a difference; I couldn’t. No worries there! If you don’t have the gluten free/dairy free ingredients on hand, feel free to use the regular versions 🙂

GF, DF no bake chocolate coconut pecan oatmeal bars

The recipe below is what I found at Moneysavingmom.com and my changes are in red.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup peanut butter-I used almond butter
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 2 cups old fashioned oats-I used gluten free oats
  • 1 cup shredded coconut-I used unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/2 chopped nuts, raisins or dried cranberries-I used chopped pecans
  • 1 1/4 cups dark chocolate chips- I used gluten free/dairy free milk chocolate chips
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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Directions

1. Combine the peanut butter/almond butter, honey and coconut oil in a sauce pan. Heat over medium/low heat and stir constantly to make sure it doesn’t burn.

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2. Once the peanut butter/almond butter, honey and coconut has melted, remove from the heat and add in the oats, nuts, chocolate chips and vanilla. Mix until everything is combined and the chocolate is melted.

3. Pour into a greased 8X8 inch pan and let it cool in the fridge. Store in the fridge or freezer.

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Oh. My. Goodness. These things are amazing- even with the changes that I made.

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If you’re looking for a good party treat or office treat, I really suggest making these because they will NOT disappoint!

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It’s taken serious will power to not eat bar after bar after bar. Luckily by giving most of them away and keeping some in the freezer, it helps keep my hands off of them. I suggest you do the same!

Questions for you: What’s your favorite no-bake recipe? Are you a dark chocolate or milk chocolate fan?

Free workout with Ultimate Bootcamp!

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I wanted to pop in quickly to tell you about a free workout that the Ultimate Bootcamp is hosting this Sunday, March 23rd at 9:45am. They want to get you pumped for Spring and thought a great way to do that was to host a free, outdoor workout. I’m not able to go this weekend, but I wish I was!

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In addition to a great workout (Athena and I went in the fall and had a blast!), you also get discounts to retailers such as Sports Authority and Reekbok AND other free treats/surprises. Sounds pretty great, right?!

The link to get more information and to sign up is here, so head on over and check it up and sign up if you’re interested.