Five on Friday {12.11.15}

December 11, 2015December 10, 20156 Comments

Good morning! How has your week been? Mine has felt long… I am so ready for the weekend to be here! In case you missed anything from B2B this week, you can catch up here, here and here. For now, though, let’s talk Friday Favorites!

1. Wellcoin– I’m excited to announce that I recently became a Wellcoin Ambassador! New to Wellcoin? Basically, it’s an app that pays you to live a healthy life! No joke- you get points for all sorts of “healthy living” things from working out to buying healthy groceries to choosing a healthy drink to doing something fun, and then you can “shop” in their marketplace for lots of different things like Whole Foods gift cards, free class at a participating studio, items at Thirst Juice Co. and more. I plan to do a whole post on it, so I won’t share all the details here, but if you’re interested, head on over to Wellcoin.com and check it out. Also, if you sign up, be sure to use the code “burpeestobubbly” which will get you 250 points right off the bat! I’ve only been using it for a few weeks and I already have about 6000 points. When you join- give me a follow so we can cheer each other on because that gives you more points, too 😉

2. Christmas Decorations/Movies/Music/AlltheChristmas- I love, love, love this time of year and it’s been so fun decorating OUR home- getting our first tree, hanging up lights, watching Christmas movies, etc. RM laughed at me the other morning when I was WFH and had the tree lit at 7am… hey- it’s the little things 😉

3. Free sweetgreen lunch– sweetgreen recently opened up a new store location in the M Street shops near my office and the lovely Rachel of Healthy Chicks has been spoiling my group with free lunches. She brought us some delicious salads yesterday for lunch which was perfect timing since I had gotten home late on Wednesday and was in no mood to pack a lunch. Thanks girl! (ps they also opened up a new location in the Prudential Center- it’s amazing to see them growing so much!)

4. Dealing with no internet- This was a busy week and I had a hours of blogging planned for Tuesday night, so imagine my frustration when I realized we did not have internet. My initial reaction was “ugh omg how am I going to get my Wednesday Workout post up? I can’t post my recipe on Thursday because I won’t even have time on Wednesday night to blog”, etc. etc. I’m happy to say that I took a few deep breaths and just let it be. It’s sad to realize how much I depend upon and use the Internet- for trivial things like checking facebook and Instagram. I mean, common Monique. It shouldn’t be that hard to just sit and watch TV! But this day in age, with technology and social media as such a huge part of our lives, it’s just second nature to be on our phones… and I’ll be the first to admit that I’m on mine way too much. Tuesday night was a good reminder to just leave the phone be for a while.

5. Little words that mean so much– While I love blogging SO much, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a lot of work… and sometimes frustrating. Sometimes I wonder if anyone is even reading this silly thing and whether or not I’m actually inspiring and motivating people, so when my friend Meg sent me these texts today, it made me feel SO GOOD. Knowing that I can provide tips, share my experience and motivate/inspire even just one person makes my hard work on B2B so worth it. Thank you, friend. You made my day!

And that does it for me today! I’m excited for this weekend- I think I’m going to a fitness event on SaturDAY and then Saturday night my friend Jessi is having her Christmas party and then Sunday I’m going to head up to Maine to spend some time at my parents house…. but not without a stop at the Kittery outlets first 😉 What about you guys? Do you have anything fun planned? What are you loving right now? Anything from the week you want to share?

Five on Friday {12.3.15}

December 4, 2015December 3, 20151 Comment

Good morning! I opted to not post last Friday because I figured everyone would be out shopping and not sitting at home reading blogs 😉 I’m happy to be back today sharing five more random thoughts/things with you, though!

1. How the heck is it December already?! I feel like it was just October the other day. November completely FLEW by. Have you started Christmas shopping yet? Do you have lots of holiday parties lined up?

2. Athleta pants– I’ve been in the market for a pair of full length leggings and ended up finding these amazing Chaturanga tights at Athleta the other day so I decided to just go for it. I’m so happy I did because I’ve worn them twice so far and absolutely love them! I was originally nervous about the light gray color, but so far they haven’t been overly offensive in terms of, well, crotch sweat… sorry, likely TMI but it’s something I think about because as an instructor I’m doing everything in front of the class and hate when you can see my sweat everywhere!

3. 1806 Candles: Home by the Fire soy melters– My mom always shares her latest wax smells with me and this one is absolutely fantastic! It literally smells like freshly cut Christmas trees!

4. Stop Trying to Be Happy– this is a little bit of a long read but it’s absolutely fantastic and I really encourage all of you to read it! RM sent it to me and I loved everything about it.

5. Surprise engagement gifts- Coming home to this awesome package from RM’s college roommate (who is part of the Tre Olive family) was such a fun surprise on a cold, gloomy night earlier this week! It’s literally some of the best olive oil we’ve tasted, so we will surely be putting it to good use. I also can’t wait to try the Red Pepper Spread he sent, too. I was looking through all the other gift ideas in one of the flyers attached to the package and there are some great, affordable gift ideas if you’re looking for something for the foodie in your life.

There you have it! I hope you all have a great weekend. I can’t wait to get our tree and decorate for Christmas- it’s my favorite time of year because it makes the house feel so cozy when it’s all decorated with lights and the tree!

Questions for you: Have you started shopping for the holidays yet? Do you have anything fun going on this weekend? What is your favorite athletic wear company? Did you relate to the article at all?

Five on Friday {11.20.15}

November 20, 2015November 19, 201511 Comments

Good morning- Happy Friday 🙂 I know I’ve said it before, but I’m having so much fun writing these “Five on Friday” posts because I can pull any weird tidbit of information I want and one of you can usually relate to at least something in the post so I’ll chalk that up to a win 😉 Also, I’m not sure if this means I have a problem or not, but when I originally typed “win”, I typed “wine”… hmm…

Anyway- on to this week’s Five on Friday!

1. Roasting a chicken- Two weeks ago, I roasted my very first chicken. It came out so good, I decided I needed to make it again for when my parents came down this past Sunday. RM and I agreed that my second one came out even better than the first! The best part? It’s such an easy meal to prepare! All you have to do is pick what veggies you want (we are veggie happy so we did Japanese sweet potatoes, regular sweet potatoes, carrots, celery and onion), chop them up, season your chicken with salt & pepper (I also used Herbs de Provance because that stuff is amazinggg), place some lemon slivers under the skin and then top with a few thin slivers of butter, which creates a nice crispy outer layer.

2. Friendsgiving- I haven’t ever been a part of a “friendsgiving” so I am SO excited for the one we are doing with my college girlfriends tomorrow. We are all responsible for bringing various things, like Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes for me, and of course lots of vino 😉 I might also try to make some homemade cranberry sauce- anyone have any good recipes for this?

3. Yoga strength- As I mentioned on Tuesday I had the opportunity to take a bunch of yoga classes last week. I shared some things I learned throughout the various classes I attended and today I’m totally loving Yoga strength. While it may not feel like the same type of strength as weight lifting, to hold poses, go from high to low plank and do arm balances it requires an incredible amount of strength, especially core strength.

4. New sneakers- There’s nothing better than getting new shoes, amiright?! And, for someone who loves all things fitness apparel related, I especially love getting new sneakers. I’ve tried out my new Saucony running sneakers a few times this week and I have to say, I’m diggin’ them. I like the way my Mizuno’s hug my feet better than the Saucony’s, but the Saucony’s feel more stable when I’ve used them to train in which is great for Wednesdays when I usually run and then teach my class.

5. Target holiday things– Umm, how amazing is this shirt?! When I saw it, I knew I just HAD to get it. I see myself most definitely over-wearing it 😉

And that does it! I hope you’ve all had a great week and have a great weekend planned out. Chat with you next week 🙂

Questions for you: Have you done a friendsgiving before? What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish? What brand of sneakers do you run in? Have you bought any Christmas things yet?

Currently I’m Crushing On… (Part V)

September 24, 2015September 23, 20155 Comments

Hi there! I realized I had a few things that I’ve been enjoying lately so I thought it was the perfect time to do another post sharing those things. I always like when bloggers do these posts because there’s always something I “take away” and try out for myself- hopefully the same for you with some of these today!

Wrap-less “wraps”- We ran short on wraps a few weeks ago when we were making lunches for the beach down on the Cape so RM and I volunteered to go wrap-less and used the thicker cut turkey as the “wrap” and put the rest of the goodies inside. The verdict? We LOVED them and ended up doing it again recently. I realized that we didn’t really need the flour wraps since we always bring chip-like treats to the beach, too. For mine, I put a layer of turkey, then swiss cheese, then hummus and spinach and a little rice. RM layered all the deli meat his mom had bought, swiss cheese, hummus, mustard and spinach.

High Buns- Now that my hair is longer, it’s so easy to whip up a quick little bun for the top of my head, which is perfect for the hot, humid days we’ve had this summer. My hair was just too big and curly and frizzy to leave down so twisting it up with just a simple elastic solved the problem!

Arbonne Workout Supplements– Jessica Champagne was in touch with my mom back in Maine and when she found out that I was into health and fitness, she provided me with some samples and then contact me to discuss Arbonne products further (I wasn’t asked to do any sort of review or anything, I’ve just really been enjoying the products and wanted to share them with you). I’ve always been a fan of Arbonne products because their ingredient lists are really good. From Jessica’s intro page: Arbonne’s philosophies are PURE, SAFE, AND BENEFICIAL! Botanically Based, PH Correct, HypoAllergenic, No Animal Testing, No Animal By Products=VEGAN, No Mineral Oil, No Dyes or Chemical Fragrances, Many of Arbonne’s Herbs are Organically Grown in Swiss Alps above Pollution Line and Arbonne uses Pure Alpine Water. Jessica was sweet enough to offer to send me some Phytosport products, which I graciously accepted because I’m still on the hunt for the right pre/post workout supplements. I’m hesitant about supplements in general because I don’t like filling my body with weird stuff, but I have to say I am a big fan of these products so far. The number one thing is that they don’t have caffeine in them, which is really important to me since I don’t drink coffee or tea or anything with caffeine in it so it tends to make me jittery which isn’t good before or after a workout 😉

I haven’t really used much of the “prepare and endure” or “complete hydration”, mostly because I forget about them, but I have been using the “after workout” supplement pretty religiously and love how well it hydrates me after my workouts. From their site: “After Workout delivers an ideal (2:1:1) ratio of branched-chain amino acids that help alleviate exercise-induced muscle soreness to support recovery. A unique antioxidant from pomegranate helps combat free radicals created during workouts, while carbohydrates help support energy recovery.” Although there is a small amount of sugar listed on the ingredients list, the other ingredients fit a lot of the things I’m looking for. If you’re interested in learning more, I suggest contacting Jessica because she is very knowledgeable about Arbonne products.

Morning Runs- All summer I tried to run on Monday mornings in order to free up my nights. Although it’s never easy to get up and out the door for a morning workout (for me, anyway), I’m always so happy when I do it. The crisp fall mornings recently have been a nice welcome… and the running routes around our new apartment is not so bad 😉

New Fall Booties- I made the mistake of going into TJ Maxx recently when I was in the mood to shop. $95 later and I walked out with a bag of goodies that I ‘needed’, including these beautiful fall booties. I just couldn’t NOT get these- they’re the perfect height, color and fit and I can see myself wearing them A LOT!

Living with RM! I promise I’ll stop being mushy after this week 😉 I love when he leaves me little notes if he leaves before me:

Questions for you: What are you crushing on these days? What fall fashions are you loving this year? Do you like any particular pre or post workout supplements?

Currently I’m Crushing On {Part IV}

July 30, 2015July 30, 20157 Comments

I go through phases for things I’m loving. Whether it’s fashion, food or fitness, I tend to be really into something for a while and then once I get sick of it, I move on to something new. I’ve share some other things I’ve been crushing on here, here, and here. But it’s time to share some new things I’m loving- most are fashion related, as that is currently something I’m really into- enjoy!