Tag: Halloween

Weekending: Feeling really blessed

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As I poured myself a glass of wine on Sunday night (it helps make meal/food prep easier…), I found myself reflecting on the weekend… and I just felt so blessed!

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Between drinks and dinner with my friend Liz on Thursday night,

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to spending Halloween with RM and his family, gushing over the babies, handing out candy and enjoying festive food and drinks,

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to having my parents down to meet RM’s family

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(but really, though, can you get any cuter than these two?! I nearly died when the hugged goodbye. So cute!)

to book club with my girlfriends, delicious food and lots of bubbly on a snowy Sunday afternoon

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to having a quiet Sunday evening in my kitchen with a glass of vino, Miranda Lambert Pandora and lots of healthy and delicious food,

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I really just feel so blessed! It’s so easy to get caught up in all the negatives (I didn’t sleep well, I am stressed at work, I have too much going on after work, I didn’t have a good workout, I don’t feel good, etc.), that it was a really nice change to have nothing but GOOD feelings last night.

I challenge each of you to list out 3 things making you feel blessed right now. Could be as small as not being in traffic on your way to work or finding a penny on the ground.

I challenge each of you to try and be present in the moment. To reflect on all the GOOD aspects of your lives. To say “I love you” more. To hug for a few seconds longer. To smile more. To listen. To forgive. To laugh (at yourself, too!).

… and then think about how you feel when you’re doing those things. I’m pretty sure you’ll find that thinking/feeling/living like that gives you a sense of peace and calmness that stressful/anxious/angry doesn’t, right? We spend so much of our days being angry or upset or pointing blame when we should really be focusing on everything good in our lives. I know this is something I need to work on, what about you?

Questions for you: What was the best part of your weekend? Do you tend to dwell on negatives or focus on the positives? What do you feel blessed for?

Weekly Workouts: Lots of Teaching {and preparing for Dallas & Chicago}

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Hi there! Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Mine was busy, but really fun. Friday night I babysat and Saturday I taught kickboxing, drove to NH for a family friend’s surprise 60th (more on that later!) and then came back to MA for a gym friends party at Athena’s. I love getting a chance to hang out with those girls because they “get” me and the gym thing. There was LOTS of delicious food at both parties and even though I tried to pace myself and choose healthy options, I definitely splurge! Well worth it, though 🙂

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Since I know this week is going to be pretty crazy busy, too, (I am leaving for Dallas on Tuesday and then going straight from there to Chicago on Thursday for a long weekend getaway with my sister), I took advantage of a wide open schedule yesterday and RELAXED… can you believe it?! I got up, lounged around, blogged, went to the gym and grocery shopping then vowed to not leave the house for the rest of the day. It.was.awesome! And so necessary.

Last week, I got a last minute sub request for the Wednesday sports conditioning class which is right before my UXF Burn class. Since I am missing my classes again this week and am in need of some extra money, I agreed to sub for her. I love that class, but teaching a double on Wednesday and on Thursday is a lot! When I have weeks like this were I teach 5 classes (2 Wednesday, 2 Thursday and 1 Saturday), I wonder how I ever survived teaching Monday and Wednesday- Saturday. That was so silly! Now that I have cut back on teaching, I’ve learned to really appreciate MY OWN workouts and have started to see some great changes in my body because of that.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I had a bad day on Monday and was in need of some serious exercise endorphins, so I headed to the East Boston YMCA for a treadmill run and core exercises. After 4 miles, I felt much better!

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  • Tuesday- My legs were super tired from my run on Monday (not sure why) and my upper body was still a little tight from Sunday, so I decided to just go to the gym in my office building and do a superset core-focused workout with my Fall Into Fitness moves in between (crab walks, bear walks, duck walks, 1-legged burpees). It was a great workout!!

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  • Wednesday- I taught Sports Conditioning and UXF Burn. I did an AMRAP workout in sports conditioning and a Halloween themed workout in UXF Burn- people may have made fun of me, but I think they actually had a lot of fun 😉

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  • Thursday- Taught SHRED (another Halloween inspired/themed workout) and Kickboxing. I taught a super high intensity cardio class in kickboxing and finished with lots of glute and core work.
  • Friday- Nothing 🙂 Well deserved rest!
  • Saturday- Taught another high intensity cardio kickboxing class… I gave them the option to do more cardio or more core and Mary said cardio, so I blamed it on her 🙂
  • Sunday- I went to the Y Pump class again since I hadn’t really done a “real” strength workout since last Sunday. Granted, I did lift in my classes, but when I teach, the workouts are not for me, so I don’t get to lift to my potential. I have to use whatever weights are available and jump around to correct form, so I never end up finishing a full set.

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- Since I did strength yesterday, I’ll probably do cardio today… likely another treadmill run since it’s definitely too dark to run outside after work now.
  • Tuesday- I have a 2pm flight to Dallas, which means I will work from home in the morning, which also means I will do an at home workout. Not sure what I’ll feel like doing, but I’ll figure it out!
  • Wednesday- I will be in Dallas and I have a full day of training (business writing development- I am actually really excited about it!), so I will have to get up and do an early hotel workout. I’m hoping the Westin has a good gym!
  • Thursday- Same thing as Wednesday!
  • Friday- I will be in Chicago with my sister, so I hope she will get up and do a workout with me before we meet up with our friend JP for site seeing!
  • Saturday- Not sure. We are staying at a Sheraton, which generally has a great gym so I would like to workout, but it depends on what we do Friday night and what the agenda is for Saturday. Since I am going to be “on vacation”, I am going to try to be more relaxed and not plan my day around my workouts (at this point, it’s so part of my “schedule”, that I have to make more of an effort to not do it than to do it!).
  • Sunday- Again, I am not sure!

Questions for you: What is your favorite “on the road” workout? Have you ever been to Chicago? What’s a “must see”?

Pizza night, Halloween party, relaxing

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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:

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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 😉

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

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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.

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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?

Ultimate Boot Camp: Trick or Treat Workout

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Hey there! My friends over at Ultimate Boot Camp contacted me to let me know about a really fun Trick or Treat workout they are hosting on Saturday, October 26th. I am teaching my kickboxing class that day, otherwise I would TOTALLY be there. I mean, look at these costumes!

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I’m pretty sure I just found my costume for Halloween: Burpee Babe. I cannot tell you how much I’m in love with that!

The workout is a super-sized 75 minute boot camp, and if it’s anything like the one I went to a few weeks ago with Athena, you’re going to be in for a real treat- literally, they are giving out treats to winners of various challenges throughout the workout. If that’s not enticing, I don’t know what is! I work out for bubbly and treats. Simple as that.

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Not only do you have a chance to win prizes for winning challenges, you can also win prizes for having an awesome costume. I hope the Burpee Babe won.

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Here’s some additional information they sent me and a link to sign up if you’re interested! 

Ultimate Bootcamp Trick or Treat Workout

 Date:               Saturday, 10/26 at 9 a.m.

Location:        Arsenal Park, Watertown, MA

Info:                http://ultimatebootcamp.com/#halloween

Cost:                $25.00; advance registration required.

 Description:    Join Ultimate Bootcamp’s “Trick or Treat” workout and burn calories while winning some great prizes. Join us for one of Ultimate Bootcamp’s dynamic, fat-torching workouts with “trick or treats” thrown in! Our trainers will be running fitness challenge “tricks” throughout the one-hour workout and will be providing great “treats” like gift cards, swag, and more to the winners.

Think you can work out in costume? Wear your best workout-friendly get-up or Halloween-themed workout gear! We’ll be awarding a prize for the best outfit!

Questions for you: What’s the best Halloween costume you’ve ever had? What’s your favorite candy?

One year I was a “Walk of Shame” that was my favorite costume. My favorite candy would be Starbursts or Skittles.