Five on Friday {3.3.17}

Good morning and Happy Friday! As this post goes up, we will be in the air heading to Jackson Hole for a little ski/snowboard getaway vacation! If you’ve ever been, we’d love to hear your suggestions on must see/must do- leave them in the comments!

As always, it was a busy week leading up to this trip- between teaching, working out, working, blogging, packing, etc.- the beginning of the week flew by! Here are some of my favorite things to share as of late:

  • EverybodyFights FIDI EBF FIDI is officially OPEN! It opened last Thursday and I had the pleasure of teaching on opening day since my normal class is on Thursdays anyway. The energy was amazing, the crowds were good and people were ready to fight! The location is much smaller than the Seaport, but it’s still got all the swagger that Seaport has so you’ll feel right at home! The class schedule and instructors are topnotch so you definitely need to get there and check it out! Catch me on Thursdays at 6:20pm for BAGSxBEATS- one of my favorite classes to teach! Between the playlist, the combos and energy in the room- you’ll be sweating, laughing and maybe even dancing- JOIN ME!
  • Eataly- Last weekend my mom took the train to Boston and my sister and I had a fun time doing the touristy thing with her. We started in Faneuil Hall and then went over to the Back Bay. We had lunch at Met (very good!) and then walked over to the Pru to experience Eataly. In short, it was absolutely amazing! RM and I had done a walk through, but didn’t have a chance to really experience it so I was excited to do that with my mom and sister. We enjoyed my favorite Aperol Spritz and then walked around to see what they had to offer. We all left with bags full of goodies! I want to go back during the week when it might not be as busy so I can really get a chance to enjoy everything about it. If you haven’t been yet- GO! you won’t be disappointed!

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  • Sweat, Shop, Snack Workout Event- On March 29th I am hosting a very exciting- and very fun- event at the New Balance Flagship store in Brighton! It will start with a kickboxing bootcamp at 6:30, with DJ Sprino as the LIVE DJ! After class, you’ll have a chance to shop with 20% off the store, enjoy drinks from Purity Organics, bars from Larabar and more! This is a great “girls night out” event, so grab a friend and sign up– you don’t want to miss it!

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  • The Wonder- by Emma Donoghue This was the most recent book club book and I wanted to share it with you guys because I really loved it! It’s a story that takes place in Ireland and is about a girl who supposedly hasn’t eaten for months, yet is healthy. It causes quite the stir in the small town and then in bigger cities in Ireland so they bring in 2 nurses to ‘watch’ her to see if she truly isn’t eating. One of the nurses is from England and is convinced this girl is sneaking food, but it’s interesting to see how the story progresses because by the end, she’s fighting to save the young girl’s life.

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  • Must Read Article: The 1 Secret To Leading A Fulfilling Life RM sent me this the other day and it really helped to put things into perspective. These days it seems like we are all too pre-occupied with being the best, having the most followers, rising through the ranks the quickest, being the “go to” person, etc. And while all of these things seemingly make you happy, this study tells us that those are just surface layer feelings and that the real thing for feeling happy and fulfilled in life is love. One of my favorite excerpts is:

“The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period.”

Not how much is in your 401(k). Not how many conferences you spoke at–or keynoted. Not how many blog posts you wrote or how many followers you had or how many tech companies you worked for or how much power you wielded there or how much you vested at each.

No, the biggest predictor of your happiness and fulfillment overall in life is, basically, love.

I’ll be the first to admit that I, unfortunately, get caught up in all the small things, the comparison trap, the need to be better and better, but at the end of the day, those aren’t the things that really matter the most- having love and being loved- whether romantically, by family or friends- is what gets to the root of true happiness. Just something to think about!

 And on that, I’m out! I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Questions for you: Have you been to Eataly yet? Do you have any good books that you’ve read lately? I’m in 2 book clubs so I’m always looking for suggestions! 

Five on Friday {8.5.16}

Hi friends! Happy Fridayyyy. Did you have a good week? Mine was filled with lots of different forms of fitness, time with friends and early nights with RM, so I can’t really complain 😉 I’m really looking forward to this weekend because I am heading home to Maine later in the weekend- I haven’t been home in so long so I’m excited to go home and relax and hang with my parents. With that, let’s recap some things of possible interest:

  • Seaport Sweat The first night of the Seaport Sweat series was a sucess! I had a blast teaching outside to a group of mostly new faces- I was craving this exact sort of challenge in my teaching so this series worked out really well 🙂 If you didn’t make it last week, no worries! I’ll be there every Monday night at 6:30pm until the end of October (minus the 3 weeks I won’t be there because we will be on our honeymoon). You can sign up here if you’re interested in checking it out. Remember- it’s FREE… and they’ll have swag to giveaway soon, too!

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  • New Boxing schedule– GymIt in Watertown has made some significant changes to their schedule for the month of August. Instead of being there at 5:30 and 6:30pm for Bags & Beats on Tuesday nights, I’ll be there for just ONE class at 6pm. This actually works out well because August is a crazy month filled with lots of teaching so  it’s nice to drop my schedule down a bit.
  • FIT on the Garden On Wednesday I had the chance to head over to the Prudential Center for a free yoga class on the Prudential greens. I was so happy someone from the Prudential marketing team reached out to me because otherwise I would’nt have known about this amazing outdoor free fitness series. There were SO MANY other yogis participating in the class and it was really freaking awesome getting to do yoga outside and look up and see a bright blue sky and the Prudential center. On top of that, they gave me a really sweet swag bag full of goodies like a gift card to Lulu, sweetgreens, Sephora and Flywheel- I felt so spoiled! If you’re looking for a new way to workout this summer, they’ve got classes every wednesday for the rest of the month.

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  • Kitchen/Food Storage Tip- If you’ve been reading B2B for a while, you know that RM and I love to prep food for the week. It’s something that saves us time throughout the week and ensures that we have good food at our fingertips. This week we attacked it a little differently- on Sunday I prepped everything (chopped veggies and put them in the dish they’d be cooked in and marinated the chicken) and then while I was in the city teaching on Monday, RM seasoned everything and cooked it. We were both big fans of this new proecss- it saved us time on Sunday and made Monday’s cooking so easy! And even better? we combined all of the veggies into 1 dish so that we didn’t have to have multiple different containers clogging up the fridge… and it’s less to take out when we are reheating them. Highly suggest doing this 🙂

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  • One Month! I can’t believe it’s been one month since we got married. Time flies when you’re having fun, right?! Even though planning a wedding was a stressful thing, I wouldn’t trade in any of it because the end result was so freaking amazing! Everything far exceeded our hopes and expectations and we would do it all over again in a heartbeat if we could 🙂

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And with that, here’s to the weekend! I’ll chat with you next week, hopefully with another wedding recap 🙂

Weekending {Extended Version}: Birthday Celebrations & Marathon Monday

Good morning! I opted to not blog yesterday as I had the day off and figured a lot of you may also have it off or may even be running the marathon! Between taking my birthday off last week, working from home on Friday and then having yesterday off, I feel like I’ve been on a little vacation, which is pretty awesome. With everything going on these days between wedding planning, the BoxFIIT certification, teaching, blogging, working, etc. I feel like I was running on empty and really needed some time to re-charge the batteries. Granted, the past week has been filled with lots of things, but most didn’t involve work which helped give me that “recharge” I needed.

I’m going to keep my captions short, so enjoy the pictures!

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Birthday yoga!

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Birthday manis/pedis/lunch with my birthday buddy!

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Strong ladies supporting me in class. Not pictured: after class drinks at Gaslight 🙂

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Julian pizza from Max & Leo’s- the birthday girl doesn’t cook on her bday 😉

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Beautiful flowers and prosecco from coworkers who came to my class

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Extra bday flowers from RM

 

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All dolled up! Love the new bag RM got me

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My sister surprised me with a bottle of bubbly at dinner. We went to Committee in the Seaport and everything was unbelievably good- we couldn’t stop raving about how flavorful everything was AND they sent out a birthday treat- I highly suggest checking it out!

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Post kickboxing sweaty selfie.

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Entertaining my parents- I’m so sad that I didn’t get a single photo with them while they were here 😦

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Food shopping

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Pancake breakfast

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Birthday presents from my dad- picnic table, fire pit and a heck of a lot of wood. It was SO nice of them to come down not only to celebrate, but also to bring all of these things to help us have an awesome back yard/patio!

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4miler in gorgeous weather. I wish I could say it was a great run, but my legs felt like lead the entire time and my miles averaged 15-20 seconds slower than usual… BUT… I finished it and it felt great to be outside. Who cares about the mile times!

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Taking advantage of the sun and doing my thank you cards for the bridal shower gifts we’ve received outside. And then I started reading Defending Jacob, which is our new book club book. So far, I’m enjoying it, although it’s crazy that it takes place in Newton!

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Beer at home by myself: a rarity, but the weather encouraged it 😉

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Meal prep for the week: a cauliflower rice & other veggie “stirfry” with a peanut sauce and then a veggie-filled quiche- both have so much flavor!!

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Loving our outdoor patio space! Took my workout outside yesterday morning and it was amazing.

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We walked from the Intercontinental Hotel (where RM parks his car) to the Back Bay and it was so nice strolling through Boston Common’s in the gorgeous weather.

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We were fortunate enough to hang out at the Solas Pub (part of the Lennox Hotel) pretty much right at the Marathon finish line thanks to New Balance- drinks, food, prime spectator location?! Yes, please. So thankful for this opportunity!

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Watching the marathon is always a super emotional and inspiring thing. I love watching everyone who is finishing strong, but I also love how everyone is looking out for each other. The crowds roared even louder when struggling runners were trying to get to the end. Fellow marathoners helped those who were physically too beat to run on their own. Paramedics and EMT’s and all of the other helpers were there to help get people safely over the finish line. It gave me chills soaking all of that in. Such a wonderful experience.

If you made it this far, THANK YOU! I’ll be back tomorrow with a workout… and maybe even a recipe for you this week!

Questions for you: How was your weekend? Did you get outside to enjoy the weather? Did you go to the marathon or did you run the marathon? What do you have planned this week?

Just Add Cooking: Round 2 {& exciting news!}

Good morning! I’m back with another drool-worthy (ok, they’d be more drool-worthy if the lighting and picture quality was better, but you get the idea) Just Add Cooking post. As I mentioned before, as a brand ambassador I have the chance to receive a free week of meals to try and then I get to share my experience with all of you. Week 1 was pretty awesome, but week 2 surely gave it a run for its money! With an Asian-inspired theme, we were introduced to new flavors and meals we would never think to cook on our own.

Our box arrived again on Sunday, which was perfect since it allowed for us to unpack and check it out right away. While there was more packaging than the week before, it was understandable due to the types of recipes we chose for the week. And, most was able to be recycled which is great.

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On Monday night, I figured it was the perfect night to make the Hot Pot; it was cold and snowy and the thought of a warm soup sounded like a great idea. What made it even better was how easy this was to make. While it had a number of steps, none where time consuming or confusing, which made it a quick meal to throw together. The meatballs were my favorite part- they had the perfect amount of spice and flavor combinations and I didn’t even mind the hints of ginger, isn’t a flavor I tend to enjoy. My only complaint was that the dish was a bit too salty for me due to the soy sauce. I don’t tend to salt my food much and we tend to use lower-sodium soy sauce or even tamari so it was not something we/I were used to. Next time I would maybe decrease the amount of soy sauce and replace with water or use a lower-sodium version. Besides that, this was another big hit!

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Tuesday night’s meal of Shrimp Pad Thai was probably my favorite. This meal was so simple, yet so flavorful and totally different from anything else we usually make. I foresee us making this a lot going forward, especially since it re-heated really well! I followed this recipe to a T besides omitting the fish sauce. This was RM’s favorite meal of the week, too.

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Lastly, I made the Beef Teriyaki on Thursday night when I got home from teaching. It was awesome that in 30 minutes we had a whole meal ready for us. We don’t tend to buy or cook a lot of red meat, so it was a nice change to bring a dish like this into our weekly eats. Again, this meal was not fancy, but the flavors were on point! My only complaint here, similar to the Hot Pot, is that it was a bit too salty, again I’m assuming this is because of the soy sauce. This was rectified the next day by adding some broccoli to the mix- beef & broccoli- such a delicious combo!

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I don’t normally like to cook full meals during the week due to my busy schedule that generally doesn’t have me getting home until 7:30-8pm, but these meals were so quick and easy to assemble and serve so it was a very doable activity.

I can’t wait until our next delivery, particularly because we were notified that Chef Jeremy Seawall of Island Creek Oyster Bar, Lineage & Row 34 is partnering with Just Add Cooking to showcase recipes from his new cookbook, The New England Kitchen.

Chef Jeremy Seawall has spent his career working with the farm-to-table movement, focusing on fresh, local foods. This pairs so well with Just Add Cooking because, as you know, they have an entirely local approach to their meal kit programs so working with someone who understands and values that, too, is perfect. And, don’t be intimidated- Just Add Cooking has assured us that Chef Seawall’s recipes will still be fun and relatively easy for weeknight cooking.

We love all of those restaurants so getting to try our hand at cooking some of his recipes is pretty cool! His recipes will be available to subscribers for the 4/24 deliveries (which means you have to order by 4/20). While we didn’t get a chance to check them out this month, you can guarantee we will be picking some of his recipes for next month- I can’t wait!

Don’t forget, if you like the sounds of Just Add Cooking, just use the code BUBBLY when you sign up and you can get your first Just Add Cooking box for just $39. Which, btw, is 3 meals- one hell of a deal if you ask me! Click here to sign up for a free account and to pick your recipes.

Questions for you: What cuisine is your favorite? Do you like your food salty or not? Have you eaten at any of the restaurants that Chef Seawall is affiliated with?

Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post but I was provided with a free week of meals in response for my review. As always, all thoughts and opinions in this post are my own- I really, truly think this is a wonderful company and I’m so excited that I get to work with them! As an affiliate, I do receive a credit when you sign up for the service using my code. Thanks for your support!

Weekending: Through Pictures

Good morning! Anyone else grumpy from this crazy “April” weather?! My birthday is in t-minus 10 days and I really hope it’s seasonably warm by that point. Also, today we are exactly 3 months out from our wedding- EEEKK! With that said, the weekend was filled with a lot of wedding talk and shopping- trying to get things checked off the list as much as possible!

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Opted for the burrito bowl at Buff’s Pub on Friday night instead of wings- so tasty!

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Bachelorette Party shopping at Bebe

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Date night stop 1: drinks and the most amazing hummus & fresh, warm pita combo at Tavern Road. HOLY YUM

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Date night stop 2: Stumbled upon Pastoral and were blown away by how good the pizza (and Brussels Sprouts) were. Two new-to-us spots in one night?! Awesome!

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A post semi-workout selfie… I went to the gym to film some Box FIIT video submissions and did a tiny workout after- realized I was more sore and tired than I thought so I called it quits quickly.

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Another Just Add Cooking delivery- can’t wait to make these Asian-inspired dishes this week!

Not picture from the weekend: After work drinks at the Gaslight at the M Street shops with some girls from the office on Friday, teaching on Saturday, MOH dress shopping with my sister and her friends and then post shopping drinks at Stoddards, shopping for wedding shoes, Sunday morning pancakes, food shopping and visiting RM’s brother and SIL at their new house in Concord.

Questions for you: How was your weekend? Did you do something fun? Visit any new restaurants? Shop at all? How are you feeling about this crap weather? What’s going on this week?