Tag: friends

Thanksgiving in Maine {Recap}

2 Comments

My family doesn’t really have a “tradition” for Thanksgiving, but I think that’s what makes it fun- every year we have the “what do you want to do this year for Thanksgiving?” conversation? I’ve spent Thanksgiving in Bath, England (studying abroad), Athens, Greece (visiting my sister when she was studying abroad), Quebec City (family trip) and Burlington, VT, to name a few. This may seem weird to some, but we love it! It makes Thanksgiving an adventure each year and as long as the 4 of us are together, it doesn’t really matter what we do. Our tradition is to not have a tradition.

This past year, we went back and forth, debating on whether to do Thanksgiving at my sister’s apartment in Somerville or to do Thanksgiving in Maine. In the end we decided to do it in Maine, and I couldn’t have been happier. I got home late on Wednesday night (taught a 5:30 class and then met up with friends at a bar not far from my parents’ house), but still, waking up to a snowy, Thanksgiving morning on Thursday was perfect! Not long after waking up, we all got very busy in the kitchen doing all the prep work for our meal. IMG_5892 IMG_5891 I made these Pumpkin Pecan Bars, which have been a hit every time I make them! IMG_5919

And this delicious Pumpkin Pudding:

IMG_5894

Once the prep work was done, I got busy doing this workout. Fitness instructors: do you ever make workouts and then do them, only to hate yourself for making pieces of it so hard? Yeah, the 5 minutes of cardio (3 times) in this was killer. But, it was an effective workout since I did feel quite sore yesterday! Good thing it was my rest day 😉

IMG_5897

The best way to hydrate after a good workout is by drinking bubbly, right?!

IMG_5905

Our meal was absolutely delicious and it was so fun prepping for it together! Here’s the spread of what we had!

IMG_5900 IMG_5896 IMG_5907 IMG_5908 IMG_5909 IMG_5911

IMG_5906

Is it just me, or is it really hard to keep “portion control” when you’re serving your Thanksgiving meal? Granted, I don’t ever eat everything I put on my plate (my eyes are always way bigger than my stomach), but I cannot help but fill my plate to the brim every.single.time

IMG_5916

IMG_5912

SO good! Everything was unbelievable, but I am happy to say that I saved plenty of room for dessert (my Thanksgiving could consist of stuffing, mashed potatoes and pie… lots of pie). My dad canned his own pumpkin this year and made pumpkin pie with his own canned pumpkin, which is pretty cool if you ask me. Mom was quite skeptical about the pie, but I had faith in papa bear and he did not disappoint! I was REALLY impressed with how delicious and REAL his pie tasted. Nice work, dad!

IMG_5918

After we digested most of our meal, we headed over to our family friend’s house… for dessert… round 2.  Christine always makes the best desserts, so even though I was full, I had to have some more. On top of dessert, we got lots of Zeke snuggles! I cannot believe he is almost 6 months old and 20 pounds!!!

IMG_5920

Oh my goodness, I cannot even handle his cuteness!

Phew! That about covers our Thanksgiving. Even though it was a low-key day in that we didn’t have a huge family get-together, it was a perfect Thanksgiving. My life in Boston is so go-go-go, that when I come home, I appreciate just being home and with my family. I appreciate the slower-paced lifestyle and the ability to “recharge” my batteries.

I hope all of you had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Questions for you: How did you spend your Thanksgiving? Do you have family traditions? Do you workout before you indulge in treats and drinks?

Surprise 60th Birthday Party

2 Comments

Surprise parties can be iffy; some people love being surprised and some people hate it. Luckily, the surprise 60th birthday party for my mom’s best friend, Christine (who happens to be a “Shapleigh Girl” mom… Sara and Amy’s mom, to be exact), went off without a hitch and was very well received by her. In fact, I don’t think she could have been happier OR more surprised… a win-win (side note- when I first typed “win”, I accidentally typed “wine”. Does that mean I have a problem?) situation if you ask me!

I headed up to Christine’s house in East Wakefield, NH Saturday after my kickboxing class. Sara took Christine to go baby shopping for Zeke, so Amy, my sister and Gordie headed up early on Saturday to get the house “party ready” while Sara and Christine were shopping. By the time I showed up, the house was looking great!

IMG_5607

The weather was absolutely perfect for a fall party. Not too hot, but warm enough for people to enjoy the weather out on the deck. People started arriving around 3:30, in anticipation of Christine and Sara’s 4pm arrival. Once we got the heads up saying they were on their way, we headed outside for the big reveal of the surprise!

IMG_5614

Not long after, she arrived!!

IMG_5619

And boy was she surprised! I think everyone started crying when she arrived because her emotions were contagious! Both Christine and my mom are HUGE gushers… aka, people who gush over, well, anything, so when she realized what was going on she was crying and screaming and laughing and just completely shocked. I don’t think I’ve seen a more successful surprise!

IMG_5621 IMG_5624 IMG_5626

Gosh just looking at those photos makes me get all choked up again!

I’ll let the photo’s do the rest of the talking. I am so happy to have been a part of such a special day for an incredible lady. Christine is like a second mom to my sister and me so it was awesome getting a chance to shower her with love and celebrations!

IMG_5608 IMG_5609 IMG_5610 IMG_5611 IMG_5612 IMG_5617 IMG_5628 IMG_5631 IMG_5633 IMG_5637

Happy Birthday, Chris!!! Now you don’t have to plan your own party 😉

Questions for you: Do you like surprise parties? Have you ever thrown one or had one thrown for you? I haven’t, but I think I would love it.

Pizza night, Halloween party, relaxing

4 Comments

Overall, the past weekend was really quite relaxing… or at least for me. I didn’t spend a lot of time at my apartment since I screwed up and broke my heat. With the temps we had in Boston over the weekend, this wasn’t the best time to break the heat. Needless to say, I spent Friday working like this:

IMG_5542

I was so grumpy and frustrated with myself by the end of the day. There’s nothing I hate more than doing something stupid that ends up costing me money. I was tempted to just stay in and drink wine by myself, but I decided to pull myself together and take someone up on their offer to grab pizza and a drink at Santarpio’s Pizza.

IMG_5546

Totally worth it and I felt much better after! Santarpio’s has totally lived up to its name, too… loved, loved, loveddd the pizza!

Saturday started off with kickboxing and then I got to do one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen: frost cookies!! There is something so relaxing about frosting cookies… and, ok, maybe I love it so much because I get to eat frosting throughout the process. I could literally eat frosting by the spoonful. Anyone else like this?

IMG_5549

For me, holiday’s are not complete without funfetti cookies, so I make a point to bring them to every holiday party that I go to.

Rachel and her husband, Dan, had a Halloween party on Saturday night, so I headed over to my old apartment to hang out with my sister and Amy before going to the party. I reused a costume and went as a flapper.

IMG_5557

Rachel’s apartment was so festive! Everywhere I looked there was glitter and cobwebs and other “Halloween” stuff. I couldn’t help but have some of her famous sangria… my favorite part of every party she has 😉

IMG_5554IMG_5552

It was so nice to go to a house party where you can actually have conversations with people… and snuggle babies!

IMG_5561 IMG_5560

Thanks for a fun party, Rachel!

Sunday was another relaxing day… spent mostly at my old apartment. Since they had heat and I did not, it made sense to go hang out with them. My sister and I also had to plan our Chicago trip, so it made for a good afternoon to hang out there! She made us pizza for lunch… yummm.

IMG_5565

When I left the girls’ apartment, I did my weekly grocery shopping and was so excited to have time to make a real meal! It’s been far too long. I’ll share the recipe with you later this week, but it was delicious and a perfect warm, fall meal to eat.

And here we are… another week! I am happy to have heat back, that’s for darn sure!

Questions for you: What’s your favorite pizza place? Do you love frosting or are you more of a cake person? Do you have a Halloween costume? If so, what were you? What was the best part of your weekend?

My Apartment is Officially Warm

15 Comments

I had my housewarming party this past weekend and boy was it fun! There was a great crowd (I think about 20+ people throughout the afternoon), tasty food, lots of wine and festive decorations. Although it’s always a little stressful planning and hosting a party, I really do love it. I wish I could do it more often, but that would be a very costly habit.

After work on Friday I headed to Market Basket to get things for the party. While I was there, I did my weekly grocery shopping so I didn’t have to do it on Sunday. Since MB was not busy at all (shocker- it’s always busy), it was a great choice. I also went to Kappy’s to get some wine and beer. Even though people were bringing their own, I wanted to have some at the start of the party.

IMG_5256 IMG_5259

I decided I wanted to make Turkey Chili, so I based my recipe loosely off of this recipe, but I added ground turkey into the mix, too. It came out delicious and was a big hit!

IMG_5261

I also made some Pumpkin Pecan bars on Friday night and a mini pizza for myself. It was a very busy night!

Saturday was a little crazy in that I had to head to Brighton to teach from 10-11. It was ok, though- I love starting my day with a good sweat and after that I was amped and ready to get my apartment into party mode.

IMG_5264 IMG_5265

IMG_5266

I also went with a country/cowgirl theme, per my friends’ request!

IMG_5269

So fun! Not long after everything was ready, people started to show up. Everyone was so sweet and brought me awesome gifts, which I wasn’t expecting at all!

IMG_5326

IMG_5327IMG_5328 IMG_5329 IMG_5330

Beautiful candle and decorative napkins (that match my color theme!), awesome knives and the best cutting board everrrrr (seriously, how often do you drop half of the veggies you’ve cut up when you’re trying to transfer them from the board to the pan. this will eliminate that!), 50 Shades of Grey game (so fun!), lots of wine, a gift card, a beautiful Orchid and the fantastic veggies and bread from my dad. I felt so spoiled! Thank you to everyone for bringing me such nice things!

I’ll let my pictures do the rest of the talking, but I will say that it was a great party. I had home friends and family, school friends, gym friends, neighbors (other people living in my building)… a great mix of people! The weather was perfect and we were able to hang out on the patio for a good portion of the day.

IMG_5271 IMG_5272  IMG_5274

IMG_5275 IMG_5279 IMG_5280

IMG_5281 IMG_5283 IMG_5284 IMG_5290 IMG_5303  IMG_5312 IMG_5319

I am so blessed to have so many wonderful friends in my life! Thank you so much to everyone who came- wouldn’t have been the same without you!

Questions for you: Do you like to host parties? Do you like themed parties?

Slowing Down, Maine, Ballet Barre, 4th of July Festivities, Beach Day

5 Comments

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great 4th of July, and week, for that matter! Last time I wrote posts, I was planning out my weekly workouts. Well, I ended up waking up on Monday still feeling quite sick, so I called my doctor and was able to get in right away- perfect. 20 minutes later, it was confirmed that I had a sinus infection and was told that I was “severely dehydrated”. Now, how that happened is still beyond me; I drink at least 100 ounces of water a day, but apparently when you’re sick, your body needs even MORE. The doctor said that the humid weather also takes more out of you, hence why I got so dizzy last weekend. Needless to say, I did not take the Studio Empower class that I was scheduled to take. I spent a lot of time on the couch sleeping and just trying to relax- much harder than it would seem!

Tuesday I worked in the office, but was allowed to go home early which was perfect since I knew I was heading to Maine later that night. I went for a 20 minute walk to shake my legs out and, more than anything, needed some “me” time to think and clear my head. After my walk, I packed up Charlie and headed north. Luckily, traffic was non-existent and I was able to get home fairly quickly!

IMG_4195

I woke up on Wednesday feeling much better, thankfully! Since the temp had briefly cooled down, I headed out for a nice and easy 2 mile jog. I didn’t want to push it too much, so I told myself that if I was feeling tired or sick, I would stop and walk. The 2 miles flew by and I felt great, besides sweating A LOT. Once I got home I made myself a festive yogurt-bowl breakfast.

IMG_4204

IMG_4207

After my run, I worked from my parents house and called it a day around 4:30 since my mom and I had plans to go to Jackie’s Ballet Barre class at The Mind Body Studio which is only 5 minutes from our house- perfect! Jackie and I have connected so much through teaching and classes and all things fitness (and blogging!) and it’s been a blast. Unfortunately, since we live in different states and both teach a lot, we can’t really make it to each other’s classes, but my mom is an avid-Jackie follower (party dance class- say what?!). Anyway, it worked out that I was home and available to go to her Ballet Barre class. I brought mom with me and we had a blast! So many squats and leg lifts and planks… I was a happy, happy girl. For anyone who is in the Shapleigh area, Jackie teaches this class on Wednesdays at 5:45pm and Saturdays at 8:30am and has an affordable drop-in rate, so I highly suggest checking it out!

IMG_4218

Wednesday night, I met up with my very good friend Jason. Fun fact: Jason and I dated back in high school and throughout most of college and have still maintained a really great friendship ever since. We grabbed dinner and drinks at the local hangout: The Backstreet Grill. It was fun catching up, but even more fun that we could see the fireworks from the parking lot on our way out. I LOVE fireworks and all things 4th of July!

IMG_4216

IMG_4212

4th of July

My family loves the 4th of July, parade and parties that go along with it. I woke up and whipped out my 4th of July Workout before heading to the parade. Even with a 5 minute warm up, I was finished in 20 minutes- perfect! It was almost silly to shower, though, because I was sweating within seconds of running for candy at the parade. Yes, you read that correctly: I am 28 and still fight children for candy run for candy at the parade. I don’t know what it is, but I LOVE the thrill of running out and grabbing as much candy as I can. And, the thing is, I don’t even eat the candy after I get it! I have issues. Sara’s step-daughter, Grace was egging me on, though, so I blame her this year! We did a superb job and got a LOT of candy.

IMG_4222 IMG_4231

IMG_4224

It was fun having all the Shapleigh girls together, and little Zeke!

IMG_4230

IMG_4223

After the parade we headed up to Sara’s house on the lake for a few hours since it was 90* and the pool party we were going to didn’t start until 2. It was hard leaving the lake, but at least we were headed to another body of water; the temps this week made it really unbearable to be outside if you were not in or by the water.

IMG_4237

The Mahoney’s was a blast, as always. So many little babies to play with!

IMG_4246

IMG_4242

I didn’t drink much this year, only because I was afraid of getting dehydrated since it was SO hot out. I did have a new Sam Adams summer beer which was delicious! As well as a fun cocktail that my sister found from Health.com: champagne, Grand Marnier and pomegranate juice- wow was this good!

IMG_4248 IMG_4244

Yesterday, my mom, sister and I went to the beach. I got up and did Athena’s Red, White and Blue workout before packing up for a day at the beach with mom and Danielle. I was afraid it was going to be TOO hot at the beach, but we were pleasantly surprised! There was a nice beach breeze that kept us from getting too hot. We packed lots of snacks, waters, seltzer and wine & beer- mom is the ultimate beach queen!

IMG_4250 IMG_4252

That stupid bag rig thing was the death of me. I took over bringing it down to the beach and by the time I got to the beach I wanted to throw it in the water. This is how it looked when we got home:

IMG_4260

Anyway, the beach was lovely and we ran into lots of people we knew (small world, right?!). After the beach, we met up with Sara, Amy, Chris and Zeke for cocktails at Barnacle Billy’s.

IMG_4254

And Zeke snuggles!

IMG_4256 IMG_4255

When the six of us get together, it’s like no one else is around, and like nothing has changed since we were little kids… except now we drink with our moms 😉

IMG_4258

So much fun! After Billy’s, mom and I headed home since I knew dad was cooking up some ribs for me. I’m not a huge rib person, but dad had been raving about the ribs he had made last week I asked if he’d make me some. Let me tell you, they did NOT disappoint!

IMG_4259

Wine and ribs.. classy 😉

All in all, it was a really great little getaway from the craziness that Boston brings on a day to day basis. I tried to get a sub for my class today, but it was too last minute. Since the heat wave is here to stay and my other plans fell through, I’m unfortunately driving BACK to Maine after I teach my kickboxing class. I just can’t even think about how sad I would be being in the city alone in the oppressive heat, so I’ll do the trek back to Maine for the day and night. I mean, there could be worse things to worry about, right??

Questions for you: How was your 4th of July? Get in any workouts? Do you like parades? What’s your favorite beach?

PS- I want to wish my friends Jessi and Josie a very happy birthday!!!!