Tag: catching up

Life Lately

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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?

 

I’m Back! {catch-up notes}

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Hi everyone! I’m back from an incredible 12 day trip throughout Italy! Did you enjoy the guest posts during my time away? I loved reading them! In case you missed them, here they are:

Guest Post: A Healthy Twist On Entertaining
Guest Post: 7 Tips to Help Your Strength Training Journey
Guest Post: How to Trust an Unexpected Journey
Guest Post: RM’s Review of the “Whole30″ Program
Guest Post: Back on the Running Wagon

Thanks again to everyone who contributed! And, I loved all of your comments on RM’s guest post- looks like I’m going to have to get him to write another one 😉

I have a number of recap posts to get together for you, but due to the craziness that comes along with getting back into the swing of things (and drafting some sponsored posts), they may not be up as soon as I would like. Hopefully you all follow me on Instagram and Facebook and were able to see some pics throughout my trip (revisiting them makes me want to go back!).

In the meantime, I wanted to share some happenings you may be interested in:

  • New Balance is hosting their next Girls Night Out event next Thursday, June 11th. I’m hoping to make it for some of the event, but I’ve already committed to running the JPMorgan Corporate Challenge which is on the same night 😦 If you’re interested in the NBGNO event, I suggest signing up now since they fill up quickly! The events are always so much fun and this one sounds great since it’s got a run OR a booty and arm workout, which will obviously be followed by cocktails and snacks!
  • B/Spoke is opening a “Pop-Up” location on the Cape this summer- how awesome, right?! It’s in Falmouth and they have a sale on packages- check here for more information.
  • I’ll be at the Lululemon Prudential Store location on SATURDAY from 3-4pm as a “window model”, which means I’ll be on display working out in their store front window for an hour- if you’re in the Boston area, I’d love to see your familiar faces 🙂

I think that’s it for now- hope all of you are well!

 

I’m Back!

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Well hello, there! Remember me? I used to write a blog fairly consistently…. 😉 I have to say, not blogging at all last week was exactly what I needed. It was so nice to detach myself a bit from social media and taking pictures and things like that. And, now I have so many posts I want to write- luckily I’m off from work this week and will hopefully have time to get them drafted.

How were your holidays? Anything fun planned for New Years Eve? Anyone else off all week? I’ve never had a “staycation”, but so far, I’m totally digging it! Let’s recap over the past week- lots of celebrations between RM’s birthday and Christmas!

To celebrate RM’s actual birthday (I threw him his surprise party a few days earlier), I took him to Eastern Standard, which is one of our favorite places. We snagged two seats at the bar and ordered up some drinks. Not only was it his birthday, but it was also the start of my very long “staycation”.

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We had a delicious meal of a pork dish, steak frites, bone marrow and oysters. Finished off with some birthday bread pudding and we pretty much rolled ourselves out of the restaurant 😉

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We woke up on Christmas Eve and both had a bunch of things to do- he was picking up his new car (so funny we both got new cars right around the same time!) and I had to get my new watch fixed and pack for Maine. I listened to Christmas music the whole way and totally got  in the mood- match that with some bubbly and a Christmas apron and I was full on festive!

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Every Christmas Eve we throw a little party- we make homemade pizza’s, dad makes his tourtiere, people bring lots of food and we drink plenty of bubbly. I didn’t take any photos except for food and one of me- classic- but we had a good crowd!

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Christmas morning we awoke to crappy, rainy weather, but we made the best of it.

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My parents got me some fun things like new rain boots, sweaters, hair products, a Veggetti and some other random things. My sister got me a sick Reebok jump rope, Kate Spade earrings and a 3 month Birch Box subscription- have any of you done that? Roberto totally spoiled me and got me a Michael Kors watch, a Fitbit, perfume and slippers- incredibly thoughtful!

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On Friday, I hit up the gym and did Athena’s Chimney Workout followed by some supersets (will post them for you later!) before calling it a day. Athena- LOVED the workout! Post gym, I picked up RM at the train station and we did a few things before heading to my parents. We exchanged gifts (he got an LL Bean flannel! and he got my parents an Olive Tree adoption- more on that later) and had a delicious Cornish hen dinner.

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We headed back to MA on Saturday and RM and I did some returns in the city, lunch at Granary Tavern and a quiet night in with reading and a movie. Our book club book this month is Unbroken- have you heard of it or read it? I’m not a fan of anything army or military related (I know- sounds crazy, but it scares me), but so far, I’m totally hooked on the book!

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I was able to spend all Sunday at my apartment puttering, putting things away, cleaning and relaxing- it was wonderful! After an unseasonably warm run, RM and I went to Santarpios for dinner. He’s starting the Whole 30 diet/detox on January 1, so we are really living it up until then. I’m planning on doing that diet about 80% of the time.. we’ll see how it goes!

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Andddd phew! If you made it, thank you. I had so many pictures to share! I will be announcing the Happy, Healthy, Fit challenge winners tomorrow- thanks to all of you who participated!! Also on the dock this week is a recap of 2014, looking forward to 2015 and maybe even a workout? I’ve got about 3 or 4 workouts lined up for you 🙂

Questions for you: How were your holidays? What was the best part? Have you read Unbroken? Are you on vacation this week? What are your New Years Eve plans?

 

Catching up {Workouts and Life}

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As I read other healthy living blogs, I’m happy to see that I’m not the only one feeling like there just isn’t enough time in the day or week to accomplish everything on my to-do list. Sometimes blogging just has to take a back seat, and even though I sometimes feel guilty about it or stressed to get posts written, realizing it’s OK to take a break is so refreshing. Sarah wrote a post earlier this week that hit me hard. It was as if I was writing it myself! I’m finding myself in a recent job change, increasing love for fitness and teaching and no longer just being on my own. Being in a serious relationship and moving to that “we” thing is awesome, but it’s also a big change for someone who hasn’t had that in a longggg time. My normal blogging time and teaching time and “Monique” time is just not the same as it used to be and I wouldn’t change that for the world. As we grow up, our priorities change, right? It’s such an exciting time, but sometimes it can be a little stressful! Sarah’s post was a great reminder to not let myself get stressed out over these types of changes, but to embrace them and live life. Blogging will always be here, but random nights with the bf or friends of family won’t- it’s more important to DO those things, rather than sit at home, writing a post because it’ll “screw up my schedule” if I don’t.

And, with that, let’s catch up on some stuff!

Workouts- Last week

Last week was my last week teaching my Thursday night double, which was totally bittersweet! On top of that, RM and I headed to Chicago with some friends so my weekend workouts were a bit different than usual. Overall, though, it was a great week of workouts. We did SO MUCH WALKING when in Chicago. Our hotel was about a mile from all the action (just in the wrong part of the city), so getting to and from anywhere was at least a 2 mile walk.

    • Monday- After work, I ran 3.5 miles and then did the workout listed at the bottom of this workout post. I kinda died a little…

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    • Tuesday- I went to a BodyPump during work since I had a hair appointment after work. What is it about BodyPump that gets me every time?!
    • Wednesday- I ran 3.5 miles on the treadmill before teaching (and doing most of) UXF Burn. I’m not sure what we did to get so dirty?

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    • Thursday- Last double:( In SHRED, we did 3 rounds of stations and then we did some across the floor cardio and partner ab stuff. We had a big group and everyone seemed to enjoy it! Kickboxing had it’s biggest crowd to date and we worked super hard!

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    • Friday- Nothing. We had an early flight so there was definitely no morning workout for me! We did do some walking, though.
    • Saturday- I got up and ran 4 miles, although I think my mapmyrun GPS wasn’t working because it was saying I was running all sub 8 minute miles… highly doubt that! After, I did some core work at the gym and then RM wanted to go for a walk so we went on about a 45 minute loop- we were walking so fast!

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    • Sunday- We had all intentions of going to the gym at the spa before our massages, but a late lunch got in the way of that. I did walk for about an hour in the morning while getting breakfast and Architecture tour tickets.

Catching Up- Life

The past couple of weeks have been so busy!! I feel like I’m on auto-pilot going from one thing to the next. Anyone else feel this way? I have a full recap of Chicago coming soon, but besides that, here are some things going on:

  • My garden is growing so much! Over the past couple of weeks I have picked kale and green beans, and both taste so fresh!

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  • I recently started reading The One and Only by Emily Griffin for a book club that my college friends and I started. It’s really just an excuse to get together to drink wine, but we decided to throw a book in the mix, too!

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  • I had to buy new Tom’s when walking around in Chicago and I’m actually happy about it because I’ve been meaning to buy a new pair for a while now. Love this blue!

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  • I’m heading to the Cape this weekend with RM and his brother, sister-in-law and their 1 year old son. I think the weather is supposed to be crappy… why can’t it be nice when I have time to go to the beach?!
  • My parents are coming next weekend for my mom’s birthday- any good meal suggestions?

Questions for you: When’s the last time you skipped workout for sleep? Have you had any garden-fresh veggies this summer? Do you read Emily Griffin books? Are you in a book club?