Boston Day of Fun, Pat Green Concert & Easter Weekend in Maine {Recap}

April 22, 2014April 20, 20142 Comments

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, there’s nothing like the feeling of spending a weekend home in Maine. I come back to the city feeling totally re-charged. I love the fast-paced, city life style 95% of the time, but after weeks and weeks of that, it feels really great to come home to Maine for a slower-paced, less busy weekend.

I cannot tell you how amazing it was to have Friday off. I don’t know what my problem was last week, but I had ZERO desire to work. I managed to get through it, but it wasn’t fun! Friday started off with a much-needed hair cut, followed by a sushi lunch with the guy. We had planned to have a “day of fun” in the city since I had the day off and he had a half day.

After lunch, we headed to Copley and did some shopping. I got my watch fixed and he scored big time at J. Crew. We finished the day at The Salty Pig, which would have been better if it wasn’t Good Friday (meaning we could eat meat). But! They had Gluten Free beers and a great music selection, so it was the perfect way to end our day.

That night, I had plans to go to the Pat Green concert at the House of Blues with my sister and some friends. Danielle surprised me with tickets for my birthday and even though I had never heard of him, I was excited to go to a country concert with a fun group of people!

After a very sweaty (per usual) and still fairly packed kickboxing class on Saturday morning, Danielle and I headed north for the rest of the weekend. We met our mom in Kennebunkport for lunch at Federal Jacks, which was delicious! I got the beef and barley soup (so random, but it sounded so good) and the strawberry and goat cheese salad. I knew I had to go try on clothes after lunch so I wanted to keep it on the lighter side.

After shopping around at PJ’s Unique Peek for an outfit to wear in the fashion show next weekend, we headed home to finally see dad! He and I prepped veggies and meat for the BBQ- I cannot tell you how excited I was to have a BBQ!

Danielle and I were in bed and asleep before 10pm… and didn’t wake up until 8:45 on Sunday morning. I haven’t slept that long in who knows when and it was amazing!!! We did Easter baskets, church, brunch and then helped dad clean up the wood on the lawn (for the winter months) Mom and I went for a nice 40 minute walk and then we all had a bonfire until it was time to cook dinner.

We had an absolutely wonderful meal… so good that I think I need to share it with you soon 😉

All in all, it was such a good weekend! From the time I woke up on Friday, to the time I went to bed on Sunday (ahhh, the joys of having a flexible job that allows me to work from home in Maine!), I pretty much had a non-stop smile on. I am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life- both family and friends, and getting some solid, uninterrupted family time over the weekend was exactly what I needed after a very hectic March and April.

I hope all of you had a nice Easter celebration (if you celebrate it)!

Questions for you: Have you heard of Pat Green? Do you like going to concerts? What did you do for Easter- was it a small celebration or a big family thing? Were you able to enjoy the nice weather?

Birthday Weekend Celebrations

April 18, 2014April 17, 20144 Comments

Another year of birthday celebrations have come and gone. It’s always a little depressing when something you’ve been looking forward to is over, right? I had total post-party blues on Sunday. Womp, womp.

I started out my birthday weekend with a pancake breakfast- something I never do. My date made up a delicious batch of paleo pumpkin pancakes which were delicious! He also made me a smoothie- I could get used to that!

I worked a bit and then headed to Brighton to get a much-needed manicure and pedicure. It was SO relaxing. I go to Queen Bee nails and absolutely love it. I got a shellac manicure (which includes a paraffin wax) for $25! They also gave me a bottle of lotion for my birthday- so sweet of them.

Saturday morning my sister and I went to a class at Recycle Studio. We were supposed to go to Lindsay’s class, but I was an idiot and we missed it. Luckily there was a class right after it that Lindsay was taking, so they let us just take that class instead.

That afternoon, my parents came down for lunch at Santarpio’s. Although a pizza lunch was probably not the best lunch to have before getting into a tight dress, I enjoyed every bite of it 😉

We came back to my apartment to have bunny cake and open presents. My mom makes me this cake every year- isn’t it the cutest?

I was so happy that my parents made the trip down here. We hadn’t seen them in a long time and I always like when they visit!

Saturday night was my birthday celebration at the Liberty Hotel. So many of my friends came- I couldn’t believe it! I had home friends, college friends, gym friends and other Boston friends I’ve made over the years. It was so good to see everyone!

Thank you so much to everyone for coming out!!

I spent Sunday lunching with my Shapleigh girls, grocery shopping, and checking out all my presents from the weekend. My gym friends Steph, Alice and Jen brought me the nicest present- wine, wine glasses, napkins and a mani/pedi gift cert! I can’t wait to go back and use it. My upstairs neighbor, Lauren, gave me a nice bottle of wine and my other upstairs neighbor, Lisa, gave me the most gorgeous plant! You girls are all the best!

I ended my day with a nice, long walk throughout the parks in Eastie and along the water. It was nice to have some quiet time just for me to reflect on the past year.

Lastly, Monday night, my date took me out to celebrate with me on my actual birthday. We started with cocktails at Trade. I went with a Cosmo and I was very happy with that decision!

We had dinner reservations at Row 34, which I’ve been dying to try. It was a good thing he tried making reservations a week and a half in advance because they were already booked solid (on a Monday!). I called and pulled some birthday strings, though, and got us in. Everything from the atmosphere to the service to the food was outstanding and we thoroughly enjoyed every piece of the experience. I even tried oysters- and liked them! I had the Bucatini and it was SO good. I think he had the bluefish, but I can’t remember… I blame it on the Cosmo’s 😉

We both agreed that we can’t wait to go back!

Thank you, again, to all my friends and family for making my birthday weekend so amazing!! Here’s to 29!

Workouts and Weekending

February 24, 2014February 23, 20142 Comments

Morning, friends! I hope you had a great weekend! Thank you so much for your awesome comments, Twitter shares and Facebook shares on my “You workout… you can eat what you want”. I had a blast writing that post and was happy to see that so many of you could relate to it!

I’d love to say that both my workouts last week and weekend activities over the weekend were mind-blowingly awesome, but, they weren’t. On the plus side, I got out of the house which was a very nice treat after having been cooped up inside my little apartment by myself all week!

Friday night after work, I headed up to my friend Lisa’s apartment for a glass of wine and social interaction. It was perfect!

Saturday morning, I got up, worked out (mostly back to normal!) and then hit the road to head north. Although I was feeling and looking {mostly} better, I knew I didn’t want to go out, so I thought it was best to swing home for a night. I stopped in Kittery to “look” quickly at Banana Republic and ended up scoring BIG TIME. Can you guess how much I spent on all of this? 1 dress, 1 pair of pants, 1 skirt, 2 shirts, a necklace and perfume? Hint: It’s under $100!!!

Apparently I was into leopard print…

Once I got home, I showed my dad an incredibly sore, swollen area on my back and we decided to go to a walk-in clinic to get it checked out since I’m in Dallas Monday and Tuesday this week (really not great timing…). Turns out I had a staph infection and was put on antibiotics. Great. Just what I needed after my week!

Needless to say, being home with my parents to take care of me couldn’t have been any better. I got to have wine, snuggle and play with the cats and even got some “get better” flowers from my mom’s friends. They sure know how to make a girl feel better!

Charlie’s “sleeping like a log”… get it… in the wood bag, haha I thought mom was pretty funny for that one!

Sunday was a relaxing day around the house. I filmed a workout video, napped (I didn’t sleep Saturday night, I think because of the Prednisone… sucks), blogged and just tried to relax. I’m nervous about this quick trip to Dallas because being tired and run down is really the last thing I need right now!

Let’s talk about workouts…

I have a whole post going up tomorrow about my mentality towards working out last week (and physical inability to do what I usually do), which was definitely a struggle for me at times, but at other times it was literally the last thing on my mind. Although I wasn’t able to DO most things because of how painful the sores/bumps were on my hands and feet, I was able to get creative with some workouts, which allowed me to get movement in without pain- made me feel so much better!

Last Week’s Workouts

Monday- Nothing
Tuesday- Nothing
Wednesday- I came up with a “no contact, no impact, no equipment” workout that took me about a half hour to finish, including a warm up. I’m posting it on Wednesday for you!
Thursday- I g-chatted with Athena during the day and voiced my frustrations about my physical limitations and she gave me a bunch of “doable” exercises to do. I ended up playing around in my apartment for an hour after work and got in a great sweat sesh with no pain! I also walked 3 miles in the day since it was warm and sunny (and I hadn’t stepped foot out of the apartment in over 48 hours…).

Friday- I was able to jump and make a fist with my hands on Friday!! So I did about 30 minutes of different exercises in my apartment since it was raining outside (meaning I couldn’t walk).

Saturday- I had a great workout in my apartment before leaving for Maine. I did about 35 minutes of kickboxing and 15 minutes of core strength, no-weight arm exercises and some squats/lunges.
Sunday- I filmed my workout from Wednesday, which was about all I did. I had intentions of going snow shoeing, but due to lack of sleep and time constraints, it didn’t happen…and that’s ok!

This Week’s Workouts

Monday- If I slept last night, my plan this morning was to get up early and do a quick 20-30 minute workout before heading to the airport. I know I won’t have time on Tuesday to workout, so I’d like to get something in today if possible.
Tuesday- Nothing
Wednesday- Finally back at the gym (I hope!!!). I’ll probably take it easy and do some light, no-impact cardio before I teach pending on how I feel. I missed these guys last week!
Thursday- Teaching my SHRED and Kickboxing double… Hope I’m feeling back to normal at this point!
Friday- Not sure. I may try to get something done in my apartment or it could be a rest day since I have plans after work.
Saturday- Teaching kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA
Sunday- Not sure… it will probably depend on how my workouts for the week went.

And, that about sums it up!

Questions for you: When’s the last time you had a limitation inhibiting you to workout like you wanted to? What do you do when you can’t do your usual workouts- skip a workout all together or try to improvise and come up with something that is doable?

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with the Gagnon’s

December 27, 20136 Comments

Hi there! Anyone else enjoying an extra day off today? I wasn’t planning on taking today off, but I am so happy I did since I’m home in Maine with my family who is also not working.

As I’ve mentioned before, I took the train home on Tuesday, which is always fun. I don’t mind the drive, but since my sister was driving home later on Tuesday due to a work party and will drive me back to Boston tomorrow, it made sense for me to just take the train. I thought about reading, but ended up blogging and napping which is totally ok.

When I arrive at the train stop, mom and dad were waiting for me. Mom was looking quite festive in her {ugly} Christmas sweater.

We ran a couple of errands before coming home for lunch and baking/cooking. I snuck in a quick workout (6 rounds of this workout and 2 rounds of this workout which ended up being awesome… and taking less than 25 minutes including a quick warm up!) before making a delicious dessert and going to church.

Not long after we got back from church, we popped open bubbly and waited for our friends to arrive. Per usual the night was a blast! Good food, great friends, cute babies and solid Christmas carols… can’t get much better than that;)

http://vimeo.com/82747043

Before bed, we made mom read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, as it’s a tradition for us. Anyone else love this story?

Christmas morning we woke up and opened stockings and our gifts. I was shocked to see that my parents got me the little moveable kitchen island that I had been wanting!! It’s going to be so perfect for my apartment as I am in DIRE need of more counter space and under the counter space. Thanks so much mom and dad!

My sister got me the sweetest sister bracelets AND she got each of us a pass to take a barre class at Pure Barre in the Back Bay, which I’m so excited about!! Such a thoughtful gift for a fitness lover like me!

After we finished presents, we headed to the Mahoney’s for our annual Christmas brunch, accompanied by mimosa’s, of course 😉 I mixed cranberry juice with mine instead of orange juice and it may be my new favorite!

We all came home for nap time (except for mom) before heading to Sara and Amy’s mom’s house for games and catching up. It’s always fun to get together with the girls and guys on Christmas night, but by 8ish I was ready to go home and go to bed! It had been a tiring couple of days and I couldn’t wait for bed 🙂

All in all, it was another fun-filled Christmas for the Gagnon’s and I am so blessed to have such fun family and friends to celebrate the holidays with! I’ll catch you up on the rest of my week in a bit, and I still owe you a workout (that I’ve created, I just haven’t written the post yet!).

Questions for you: How was your Christmas? What’s your favorite tradition? What was your favorite gift?

Somerville Jingle Bell 5K Recap

December 26, 2013December 25, 20131 Comment

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas (if you celebrate) with your family and friends! Mine was absolutely perfect; I’ll share a recap with you soon, but until then, let’s catch up on the 5K I ran with my sister last weekend- it was so fun!

***

As I’ve mentioned a number of times by this point, last weekend, my sister and I ran the Somerville Jingle Bell 5K. Since it was my sister’s first race and my 6th Jingle Bell race, I decided to run the race with her as her “pacer” to help her reach her goal. She works out 4-5 times a week, but she enjoys classes and spinning more than running, so not only was this her first race, but it was also her first time running 3 miles! We picked up our bibs Sunday morning then waited for our parents to arrive

After having a slight issue with parking, we arrived at the start line just in time for the race to start (literally. It was 10:59 by the time we got there and the race started at 11).

Our parents were so cute! they literally walked along side us until it was time for us to actually start the race.

The race went really well! Danielle was a little nervous about it because she’s been getting shin splints lately and running has just felt hard, but she rocked it! I watched my watch throughout the whole race to make sure we didn’t get going too fast and then burn out later; I wanted to make sure she had enough energy to finish the race strong!

Our parents were able to catch some great pics of us as we were just about to cross the finish line- so happy to have these memories on camera.

I think this was the best first race for Danielle to run since it was mostly flat. On top of that, there are so many fun costumes to look at- people get REALLY into it. We didn’t really wear costumes, per say, but did you see those lovely vests we wore, courtesy of Sue Gags? She’s got quite the collection 😉

Post race we grabbed lunch at Christopher’s in Porter Square. We did this last year and it was perfect because if you go there straight after the race, you can get a table very easily! To celebrate the race, we got cocktails, duh. I call this blog Burpees to Bubbly for a reason, ya know 😉

I ordered some Mexican breakfast plate and it was delicious. We love Christopher’s because the atmosphere is great, food is delicious and the prices are very reasonable. We had a blast chatting and getting excited about Christmas. As I’ve said before, Christmas Eve is my favorite night of the year, so talking about the food and friends who are coming made me very happy!

All in all, it was an absolutely fantastic day. I love when I get to share fitness passions with other people, and when my sister is one of those “other people”, it’s even better. Thanks for running with me, Danielle- Can’t wait for the next one!