Wednesday Workout: Italy Workout Series {Part 1- Countdown bodyweight}

4 Comments

Good morning! I haven’t shared a workout with you in forever, so today is your lucky day because not only do I have one workout for you, but I’m also throwing in a bonus one 😉

I know some people don’t like to workout on vacation, but personally, I like to try and keep somewhat consistent with my workouts … partly because it’s my “me” time and is something that makes me happy, but also because it’s easier to get back into the full swing of things after vacation if I’ve kept active during the vacation. But, with that said, my workouts while on vacation are no where near what they are when I’m not on vacation. I don’t search out gyms, I don’t workout for a long time, I don’t workout if I don’t feel like it and I don’t let it interfere with the trip. If it fits into a particular day, then great, I’ll squeeze in a 20 minute quickie workout. But if not, then no big deal!

During our 16 day drip, I worked out 9 days. Some days it was a 20-25 minute jog around the new neighborhood/city we were staying in, some days it was stairs, some days it was a workout on our terrace and some days I used the gym (only 2 of the hotels we stayed at had gyms). Some days I skipped workout sin lieu of just taking the stairs- our hotel in Positano was 597 steps up from the beach area!! And get this- one day I got up and got changed and then decided I didn’t feel like working out so I got back in bed to snooze for a bit longer before breakfast- ha! That doesn’t happen very often 😉

Today’s workout was one that I did on our terrace in Ischia. I didn’t want something that would require a lot of jumping (because noise), so this worked out great. 5 rounds took me a little less than 20 minutes, I think, so it was easy to squeeze in while RM got a bit more sleep.

countdown-bodyweight-workout

Now for the bonus workout! The weekend leading up to our honeymoon was spent at my best friend Jessi’s “Bridal Bath” (Bachelorette party and bridal shower in one), and it didn’t allow for a workout. No big deal, but before our flight I felt like I wanted to get a little something in since I knew we would be sitting for a long time. I was exhausted, though, so I didn’t want anything that would require a lot of energy exertion. This workout was great because it was quick (maybe 15 mins) and gave me energy for the rest of the day.

10 air squats
10 pushups
10 reverse lunges (each leg)
10 V-sits

Nothing crazy, but enough to get the blood pumping!

I hope you consider trying these next time you’re in a crunch for time and find yourself without a gym 🙂

Questions for you: Do you like to workout before a flight?

Wedding Recap: Part 3 {Reception}

Leave a comment

Hi there! I’m back with another wedding recap. I figured since I’m ready to start recapping our honeymoon, I should probably just finish this post which has been drafted for an embarrassingly long tim! In case you missed the others, here you go:

Wedding Recap Part 1
Wedding Recap Part 2

I last left off as we were getting ready to be introduced as Mr. & Mrs., right? Yes, that’s exactly where I left off! Since we didn’t really have wedding parties, our family just got introduced from their seats and then we did our entrance as we made our way to the dance floor for our first dance.

momo(418of751) momo(419of751)

Funny story: we had a song picked and all planned out and then literally 10 minutes before we were supposed to enter the tent RM felt like we needed to go to our plan B song since we didn’t get to practice enough for our plan A song. Luckily the band was able to download our new first dance song with a few minutes to spare 😉

momo(420of751) momo(423of751) momo(426of751) momo(430of751) momo(432of751)

After the first dance, my parents did a speech, RM’s brother did a speech and then my sister did a speech. Everyone did such a wonderful job with the speeches- we were laughing and crying as they shared memories/stories/etc. It was such a special part of the night.

momo(451of751) momo(464of751) momo(492of751)

After that it was time to eat! While the steak ended up being a little over-cooked (pretty typical for wedding food I think), everything else was really perfect. We had crab cakes to start, fresh salads, either steak or swordfish (or a vegetarian meal that I heard was unbelievably good) and then instead of cake, we had a huge assortment of Italian pastries/cookies. RM’s mother and some of her sister’s made some of the items at our dessert bar- all of which were fantastic! I also provided the guests with little takeaway bags so that they could take some cookies home, which ended up being a really great idea since there were so many cookies left over!

img_0098 img_0101 img_0102 img_0108

{above food photos taken by our family friend, Jeanne, who is amazing!}

momo(528of751)

After dinner a lot of people ventured out of the tent for a bit of a reprieve from the heat inside the tent, but once the sun went down a bit, people were pretty much on the dance floor ALL night, which is exactly what I wanted! For the father/daughter dance, we started off dancing to a slow song and then about halfway through I gave the nod to the band to switch it up and start playing “Happy” by Pharrell,  since that was a song my dad really wanted to dance to. We also invited my mom onto the dance floor with us and it was so much fun! My dad’s smile and dance moves were just priceless 🙂

img_0110 img_0111

RM’s dance with his mother was a bit more mellow, but still very sweet. I love seeing how much he loves her!

momo738of751

I happily spent the rest of the night on the dance floor, living it up with everyone. One of my favorite parts of the night was when the song “American Girl” by Tom Petty came on and RM came out of nowhere to grab me and start dancing- he was quite the dancing machine and by the end of the song my face hurt from smiling and laughing so much.

momo381of751momo619of751 momo634of751 momo643of751 momo646of751 momo654of751 momo660of751 momo694of751 momo702of751 momo712of751 momo717of751 momo742of751 momo748of751

img_5504 img_5502 img_5501

After a few more hours of dancing, we closed out the night with one last slow-er song before heading into the Inn for late night snacks and piano show tunes 😉

img_5517 img_5524 img_5526

Overall, it was the most perfect, amazing, magical night that I will never forget. Everything that we, as brides, worry about leading up to the big event went better than I could’ve expected. We laughed, we cried, we ate & drank, we danced and we soaked up all of the love. We would re-live the day/night a million times over if we could. Thank you to everyone who made our day so special!

Photo Credit: Janelle Carmela Photography– she’s absolutely amazing!!

Five on Friday {10.7.16}

Leave a comment

Test, test. Is this thing on?! If you can hear me…. WE’RE BACK!!!! After the most wonderfully amazing honeymoon, we are back in the States and back to the grind. I have SO MUCH to recap/share with you from the trip, but it’ll have to wait until next week 😉 For now, enjoy some tidbits below!

  • New Balance Breast Cancer Awareness Month Event- Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of attending a really wonderful New Balance event at their new flagship store in Brighton. New Balance has a strong partnership with Susan G. Komen and has helped to not only raise a lot of money, but also raise a ton of breast cancer awareness. This year, Komen has a new brand platform called “more than pink”, which puts a big focus on the scientific progress and research that will greatly reduce breast cancer deaths in years to come. New Balance is supporting this by hosting various fitness events and having speakers share their stores about breast cancer battles, awareness and more. We heard from Mike and Kara Selsman, a husband and wife duo both battling breast cancer as well as Lindsay McGloughlin, an Honorary Team New Balance member and breast cancer survivor. All of their stories were so emotional, but also so inspiring. What I loved is that even through all they’ve been through, they continue to fight, spread awareness and stay active through various forms of movement. Before the speeches, we had a chance to either go on a fun run or do a bootcamp. I opted for the bootcamp which was really fun! I also got a chance to try out the new sneakers that NB graciously gifted me. They are part of their “Lace up for a cure” line in which NB gives back 5% of the sale price to Susan G. Komen. Thank you, New Balance, for hosting a fantastic event and working so hard to spread awareness.

img_6716

  • The Resolution by PMC Event– Registration is now open for the second annual Resolution by PMC ride, again to be hosted at Everybody Fights on January 27 & 28. I was part of the event last year and am so looking forward to being a part of it again this year. The PMC will be hosting a launch party on Thursday, October 6, at Back Bay Social Club to celebrate the event’s inaugural year in 2016 and kick-off registration for 2017 – which will be sure to raise the fundraising bar even further. Tickets for the celebration are available for purchase here for $15.

img_3649

  • Kitten Shopping- While we were in Positano, we fell in love with a little stray kitten. We wanted to take her home, but logistically it didn’t work out so now we are on a mission to get one of our own- wish us luck!

img_6648 img_6649

  • Embracing Fall- After a seemingly very longggg summer, which was extended by our two weeks in Italy with AMAZING weather, I am really excited for fall weather. I’m ready to put away my bathing suits, towels, sunscreen, etc. and wear jeans, boots, thin sweaters, etc. I’m also ready for fall food: roast chicken (made that this week!), chili, pumpkin everything and more 😉
  • OAKtoberfest 5K– I’m on the fence about signing up for this race again this year. Last year I ran it and got a crazy PR and came in 3rd for my age group, but this year I haven’t been doing nearly as much running so I may go into it with more of a fun mentality. I love races and know this course so I think I’ll end up doing it- anyone else interested in running with me?!

And that does it for me! I’m so excited to have a free weekend to catch up on life. I have so many blog posts I want to write, the house needs to be clean, I want to do some baking and I just want to relax. September was crazy busy, so I’m looking forward to taking time this weekend to breathe a bit. Oh, but if you want to sweat with me, I’ll be at the Oak Square YMCA tomorrow morning at 10am for Kickboxing!

Whatever you do this weekend, I hope it’s a good one!

Questions for you: How have YOU been?! I’ve missed you!! How was your week? Any good workouts to share? What about fall recipes? What’s your favorite thing about fall? Have you run any races lately?

Five on Friday {9.16.16}

7 Comments

Hi there! I cannot believe it’s already Friday! And today kickstarts a very long vacation for me, starting tonight with my best friend’s bachelorette weekend in NH and then Sunday with us leaving for our honeymoon. With everything that’s been going on the past few weeks, including working long hours, teaching extra classes, shopping/packing/planning/preparing for our honeymoon, etc., I am MORE than ready to escape for a bit of R&R with my favorite guy.

Since I’m running short on time, let’s get right to the post!

  • Cycle & Sweat Fitness Event for ALS One at Derby Street– This Sunday, there is an awesome event happening at the Derby Street shops in Hingham benefiting ALS ONE.  Cycle & Sweat Fitness will feature nine fitness classes over the course of three hours, held every hour, on the hour, from 9am through 12pm in front of Whole Foods and lululemon at the Derby Street Shoppes. Class choices include spinning with Rev’d Cycling, based in Dedham, yoga with lululemon and ivivva, and cardio boot camp with Mobile Fitness. The first 100 people to register via Eventbrite will receive Cycle & Sweat tanks and swag bags. Classes are $15 each.
  • Sunset Bootcamp Class at ZINC Apartments– This is a FREE fitness event happening on Tuesday, September 20th from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The class will take place on ZINC’s stunning outdoor terrace as the sun sets over Cambridge. The event is free to attend, but space is limited. Please register here. Additional details are here:
  • Displaying Bootcamp Flyer.jpeg
  • Best Dressed– On Wednesday, my friend Lauren hosted an event at Best Dressed in Charlestown. Have you heard of that store? It’s a store version of Rent the Runway, which is so awesome. You can go in, try stuff on and rent what you like for whatever event you have coming up. They had a huge selection, as well as jewelry to rent or buy. More to come on this later, but I had to share a bit about it now because I think it’s a genious idea for a store!!

img_6179

  • Travel Reads- I picked up 2 new books to bring on our trip. Have you guys read these (Easter Rising & All Souls)? Apparently they’re about a guy growing up in Southie, so I’m excited to read them!

img_6186

  • Honeymoon! Our honeymoon is finally almost here! On Sunday we leave for a 16 day vacation throughout the Amalfi Coast. I’ve gotten so many recommendations from friends who have recently gone (thanks, ladies!!), but if anyone else has any “must do/try/eat” recommendations, feel free to leave a comment on this post. We just booked a couple of excursions, so everything is starting to feel more real. B2B will be very quiet while I’m gone, as I’ve decided to not have any guest posts. I couldn’t add another thing to my plate the past few weeks, but don’t worry- I’ll have lots to share when we get back. I’ll also be keeping my other social media channels active, so feel free to follow along there (burpeestobubbly).

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I’ll talk to you in a few weeks!

Five on Friday {9.9.16}

2 Comments

Hi, friends! Happy freaking Friday 🙂 I hope you’ve all had a good week- mine started out roughhhh, but turned around a bit by the end of it. We leave for Italy in 9 days and work is absolutely crazy right now so I’m just trying to get through what I can so I can start my vacation without the stress of worrying about what I didn’t finish.

But, let’s talk about more fun things, shall we?

  • Moscow Mules- We received some beautiful monogrammed copper mugs for our wedding (thanks, Jean!), so last weekend we decided to put them to good use by whipping up some Moscow Mules. Neither of us had had one before, but we both enjoyed them! It was a really fun cocktail hour enjoyed on our back patio.

img_6119

  • Eating out vs. eating in- Most of the time, RM and I try to eat in the majority of the time. We shop on the weekends for the week, prep a bunch of food to have handy (I bring my lunch every day, too), but last week we kind of went on a eating out bender. Thursday we went to Buff’s (hadn’t been in SO long), Friday we went to Hopsters (again, hadn’t been in SO long) and Saturday we went to The Local in West Newton, because, well #saturdaydatenight. This is very unlike us to go so many days in a row eating out (unless we are on vacation), and while everything was delicious, we decided to eat IN on Saturday night. RM grilled up some veggie and shrimp skewers and I made a nice big salad. There’s something to be said about making your own meals- it felt really good to eat a nice meal like this!

img_6124

  • Love Grown Cereal- Confession: I LOVE cereal. I always have, but over the years I’ve tried to clean up my cereal choices (and I’ve gone from eating it daily to just a few times a week- baby steps). Most of the time I have Erewhon & Uncle Sam brands because they have such few ingredients, but they had a sample of Love Grown Power O’s at Whole Foods last weekend and I knew I had to try it out. They’re made out of different legumes, so they are wheat & corn free- something you don’t see often with cereal!

img_6141

  • Teaching- I’ve been loading up on classes leading up to our vacation since I know I’ll be going so long without teaching while we are away. While it can be tiresome (yesterday I did 6am and 5:30pm… and 9 hours of work in between), it’s really so rewarding. I love coming up with new workouts and playlists and helping people feel good and feel strong. I’m teaching tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday… and then I’m off for a longggg time, so catch me while you can!

img_6137

  • Biking- I can’t thank RM enough for suggesting that we get bikes. We have been having SO MUCH FUN with them. One day last week I rode it all around town to run errands and then Friday night I took it to meet my sister for a drink (RM rode with me which was nice) and then Sunday RM and I covered nearly 25 miles of biking. We rode all the way into the city, brought the bikes on the T to Eastie (RM had to check on one of the units in a building he owns) and then back to Watertown. Midway home, we stopped at Naco Taco in Central Square for a snack and a beer. I used to run by that place weekly and would always be so jealous of everyone there enjoying drinks and food outside so it was nice to get to check it out. We both highly suggest it if you want good tacos and guac- everything was fantastic, and reasonably priced. Oh, and the good part about biking places for drinks is it limits me to just one, since I don’t trust myself operating the bike after any more 😉 #lightweight

img_6109 img_6114 img_6117

I guess that does it! We have lots to get done this weekend in preparation for our honeymoon, so it’ll be a busy one! There is a Vegetarian Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival at the Arsenal Mall tomorrow which we might try to get to. It starts at 11am and is $10-$45 and guests can enjoy more than 30 craft beers and lots of vegetarian dishes. Sounds pretty cool!

I hope you have a great weekend with whatever you have planned 🙂

Questions for you: What was a good part of your week? What do you have planned this weekend? Do you prefer to bike, walk or drive places? Do you prefer to cook/eat in or eat out? What’s a guilty pleasure of yours?