Tag: parade

Weekending: 4th of July

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Good morning! I am so excited to get back on track with normal eating, drinking and working out this week. Don’t get me wrong, I like to indulge and enjoy extra vinos, BBQ food and dessert, but it really doesn’t make me feel as good as I do when I eat my usual healthy way. With that said, this past weekend was filled with lots of good food, wine and company- hope you enjoy my recap!

Thursday-

I ended up not having to work on Thursday so I made good use of the day by cooking, blogging, working out and going to the beach. It was quite relaxing!

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Thursday night some of my girlfriends were getting together to celebrate Jessi’s birthday, which was yesterday. We met up at Ducali’s and enjoyed vino, salad and pizza- oh, and a big ol’ side of girl talk 😉 RM made fun of me for my festive outfit, but I liked it!

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We weren’t quite ready to end the night so we headed to Tavern in the Square across from the garden for one more drink.

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(photo credit: Lauren)

On Friday, RM and I headed up to Maine… along with the rest of the friggen state of Massachusetts it seemed! It literally took us 2 hours to get to Portsmouth from Boston, which is more than the time it normally takes to get all the way to my parents house! Of course, it was the most beautiful day, too. We decided to pull off in Portsmouth for lunch on the deck at the Oar House to wait out some of the traffic and get some sun and drinks.

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We ended up being there for almost 3 hours- oops!

Once we made it to Maine, we sat outside and chatted with my parents before having a dinner full of all sorts of random things including my dad’s fish chowder and pork pie, fresh trout from Lake Champlain, pizza on the grill using dad’s dough and sauce and my mom’s tomato and zucchini casserole. Although it was everything I wanted to eat, it may have been a little too many different things in one meal 😉

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Saturday morning, I got up and went for a 3 mile run before heading into town for the parade.

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Rm had never been to a parade, and was quite amused by the one we went to 😉

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Our family friends had a BBQ later in the day, but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and it ended up sprinkling for the majority of the party 😦  While annoying, it didn’t ruin the fun, though! All the food was fantastic.

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We ended the night making s’mores back at my parents house- perfect ending to a great day!

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On Sunday, we helped my dad in the garden. I’ll tell ya- manual labor is no joke! After, we headed up to the lake to go out on Sara and Tim’s boat… all of which I did not think to take a single picture of- #bloggerfail. But, it was a perfect afternoon- we’re so lucky to have friends who have boats and live on the lake!

All in all, it was a great couple of days and mini “vacation”. Just what I needed!

Questions for you: How was your 4th of July? Do you have any traditions for the 4th? Did you indulge on holiday eats and drinks?

Weekly Workouts- {Hopefully} Back At It

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Hey everyone! How was your long weekend? Was it just me, or did it feel like the 4th of July festivities went on and on and on? Not that I am complaining, it was just a long string of celebrations! It felt great to have some time off to be home with friends and family- just what the doctor ordered (literally).

Although I was sick at the beginning of the week, and therefore couldn’t work out, by the middle to end of the week I was feeling good enough to bring in some light workouts to my schedule. It felt great. It’s amazing how much I need workouts for the mental aspect in addition to the physical aspect. Don’t get me wrong, I love the feeling of sweating and leaving the gym physically exhausted, but I really love the feeling of a clear mind after my workout and feeling great because of all the endorphins flowing through me. Who else feels this way?

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- Nothing. I had to cancel my visit to The Studio Empower because I had a sinus infection and was severely dehydrated. What a bummer!
  • Tuesday- I went for a 2 mile light walk after work. Tuesday was one of those days were I NEEDED exercise mentally more than anything.
  • Wednesday- I went for a 2 mile light jog in the morning and then went to Jackie’s Ballet Barre class with my mom at 5pm.

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  • Thursday- I got up and did my 4th of July Workout before my 2nd workout, which consisted of candy sprints at the parade.
  • Friday- I got up and did Athena’s Red, White and Blue workout. It felt great to get some lifting back into my schedule (since mom only has 5lb. weights, I doubled them up for the upper body exercises and did unilateral lifting).
  • Saturday- I tried to get a last minute sub for my kickboxing class in Brighton since I had decided to stay in Maine for the weekend, but I couldn’t get one so I made the trek to Brighton, taught and then drove back to Maine. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be and there were 25 people in class so that made it worth it!

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  • Sunday- Nothing. I thought about working out but decided that since I had a hectic weekend (lots of driving and sunning and BBQing), it was probably a better idea to rest, especially since I had 4 days in a row of good workouts. I shopped around Kittery a little bit because I wanted to get a new suit since I am doing a lot of work travel this month (Stowe, VT, Toronto, Canada and Atlanta, Georgia).

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- Jess and I are filming July’s “Mommy’s Moves” workout during my lunch break and then I am finally going to get to The Studio Empower for the class they invited me to take. Can’t wait!
  • Tuesday- I am going to try and get up and run or do something else since I have plans with someone to get drinks after work.
  • Wednesday- I think I will finally be able to get in my own cardio session before teaching UXF Burn- it’s been a while!
  • Thursday- Teaching SHRED and Kickboxing at the Central Square BSC- missed my classes last week because of the holiday so I’m pumped to be back!
  • Friday- Attention Allston BSCers: I am subbing my old class this Friday!! 5:30pm at the Allston BSC- please come so it can be like the good ol’ days!
  • Saturday- I don’t have to teach, so I am going to go to BodyPump in the morning- I really like taking a day to focus on weight training!
  • Sunday- Probably a rest day or active rest day.

Feels great to look at a full schedule again!

Questions for you: Were you able to get in any workouts during the 4th of July? Is it hard for you to keep your schedule when you’re traveling or going home or away for the weekend? Do you like BodyPump classes? Ever been to The Studio Empower?

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

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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!

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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!

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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!

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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:

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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.

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And Zeke snuggles!

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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 😉

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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!

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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!!!!