May 18 2012

Unusual Morning

Hello, Friday. What took so dang long?!

This morning is an unusual (and awesome!!) one for me. I have no time for a workout, but I’m still up and at ‘em super early.

Why?

I get to be the guest co-host on a local radio show! You guys already know that I work in television as a reporter … well, one of the local radio stations asked me to be their “celebrity co-host” for a couple of hours this morning. And they obviously use the term “celebrity” extremely loosely. But hey, I’ll take it. I’m very excited! I worked in radio straight out of college before taking my current TV job. There are definitely aspects of it that I miss. Radio is SO fun :)

Here’s hoping that it goes well!

*****

I’m glad you guys enjoyed the recap from my first spin class. It seems like most of you reallllly wanted me to like it. So I’m glad I did!

Since there’s no time for a workout this morning, I might do yoga in my living room after work. Or I might take a nap and skip a workout completely. I’m going to be honest here … there’s a 90% chance it will be Option B. I went and saw my favorite band of all time on Wednesday night, and didn’t get home until almost 2AM. Surviving on just under 5 hours of sleep at work yesterday was brutal. I need to catch up … again.

Do you feel like you’re always trying to catch up on sleep? Sometimes I think I’ve finally reached the point that I’m good to go … and then I have a really late night (which always set me back at least 2 days) or a couple of really busy days that set me back to square one.

Thank goodness it’s a long weekend! Monday is a holiday up here in Canada Land. I have zero plans, and that means sleep. Lots of sleep. And watching the roughly 12 hours of television I’ve missed over the last two weeks. That is not an exaggeration, people. I intend to watch it all.

The TV marathon will include the last two episodes of Girls, which is on HBO. Please tell me you’ve seen it. It’s taking the world (and my life) by storm.

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I appreciate how the girls are portrayed in this series. They’re all in their early (like me) to mid twenties, and are dealing with finances/men/beginning careers/learning who they are. Sometimes I feel as though a little part of me is represented in each one of the characters. I’ve heard it described as the show for girls who expected their lives to turn out like the characters on Sex and the City. I kind of expected my life to do that. I still do sometimes (and give me Carrie’s closet too, please). This is a terrific show for young women trying to make it on their own and find out who they are along the way. If you don’t already watch it, please watch just one episode. For me. My explanation didn’t do it justice.

Alright. That’s too much just enough word vomit for you all today. Enjoy your Friday (another hallelujah that it’s finally here) and have a wonderful weekend!

May 17 2012

My First Spin Class

I took my first spin class on Tuesday.

And I loved it. Loved it.

L – legs that hate me/the instructor/music/the world/life in general.

O – obscene amounts of sweat.

V – very satisfied customer.

E – eyes burning from aforementioned sweat

I love spin!

It was a 7:45pm class, which I wouldn’t ordinarily agree to, but I wanted to be awake for my first class (unlike how I am for my regular 6am workouts). My friend agreed to go with me so I had a companion alongside me for my very first class.

Our instructor was perfect. Just enough encouragement. There wasn’t any violent yelling. Honestly, I had expected the spin instructor from Fever Pitch.

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“Die you Nazi spin bitch!” …anyone else remember that line? Or the movie, for that matter (I obviously have a thing for Drew Barrymore movies lately)?

It was a 45 minute class. Just long enough. If it had been any longer I may have slid off my seat, crumpled into a ball and melted into a puddle on the floor.

My friend and I actually ran into a couple that we know who were spinning together (cute, right?) and they suggested I grab a towel from the front of the classroom before we started . I laughed. Laughed. I don’t need towels to wipe my face, I told them. Sure … I sweat, but it’s never towel worthy.

I take it all back. I’ve never had sweat burn my eyeballs before. Lesson learned.

Needless to say, I’ll go back. A lot. It’s an excellent way to shake up my workout routine.

I’m so glad I went! :)

May 15 2012

I Heart WIAW

Hey guys. I’m glad it’s Wednesday. We’re one day closer to the weekend and I get to drool all over wonderful pictures of food in the blogosphere.

Thanks Jenn! I love What I Ate Wednesdays.

The food in today’s post was all inhaled on Monday :) It was the only day this week that I could remember to take photos at every meal!

Breakfast:

The weather has been tres warm this week, so I reintroduced the smoothie into my morning routine. When something is that cool, creamy, and delicious … how can you say no? It had flax seed oil, mixed berries, oodles of spinach, plain Greek yogurt, and my favorite Bolthouse juice (Berry Boost!).

Mid morning:

I had a press conference to attend at about 11AM, and the supplied food for media was Subway. It’s very rare that I will eat at events that I’m covering … but the organizers insisted, and well, it was Subway. This was a 6 inch whole wheat veggie sub. Just a nice little (actually not that little) snack. I ate it in the car on the way back to the office.

Lunch:

I ran home quickly and made this salad before heading outside to eat it. My coworker and I went to the lake not far from the office and sweated our faces off relaxed before taking on the second half of the day. In the mix: peppers, asparagus, carrots, edamame, chicken, olive hummus, and a little bit of Mrs. Dash on top. Does anyone else hate dressing like an adult when it’s summertime? I just want to show up to the office in a bikini.

Midafternoon:

I inhaled some (unpictured) leftover bulgur when I got home from work. Cold. I was that hungry.

Supper:

Spaghetti squash + marinara sauce + chia seeds + cheese. Easy. Delicious.

Dessert:

This was eaten in front of Smash (I already lost my mind over the episode on the blog earlier this week, so I won’t do that again), and under my favorite blanket. This bowl contains lemon yogurt with carob chips and golden raisins.

Wow! That seems like a lot of food, which is strange … considering the heat. Usually my appetite says sayonara when the mercury rises. What about you?

May 15 2012

Trying Spin

I feel like today is going to be a good day. Not just because it’s going to be 31 degrees (hottttt!), or because I have a jam packed schedule that will make the day fly by, or because it’s one day closer to the long weekend.

I’m going to my very first spin class tonight!

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About a month ago, I mentioned in a #fitblog chat that I had never been to a spin class. The response was huge! It was made very clear by my fellow fitbloggers that I needed to try one out.

So tonight, I will spin. Eeeek!

Have you ever taken a spin class? Are you a fan?

*****

In other news, I have an extreme television hangover today. No complaints though.

Do you watch Smash?

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LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. The finale was incredible. The last number left me with goosebumps. I watched the last ten minutes with my mouth wide open.

Have I ever shared with you that I am a huge Marilyn fan? I have so many Marilyn posters and books. I even have drinking glasses and coasters. Seriously. So this show is right up my alley (and I’m a musical addict). Last night’s episode didn’t disappoint.

And honestly, neither did the handful of other shows I watched last night (including The Bachelorette – any other fans?). I went hardcore with my couch and remote control time since last night was the only night I will be home all week. I should have cleaned up my living room.

Whoopsie.

Did you watch anything on TV last night? Tell me. I bet I watched it too ;)

May 14 2012

Whisper It

I have a declaration … but I’m going to say it quietly. I’m afraid if my statement is anything louder than a whisper, the magic of it will be spoiled.

“Summer is finally here”.

Everytime I’ve said that within the last month, it seems like I’ve had to dig out my windshield scraper the next day. So if we just agree, quietly, that my favorite season has arrived … I think it will actually stay.

*****

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! I know I sure did. I had to go into work for a few hours on Saturday for a company garage sale, but I got to be in the sun so that was marvelous. It ended up wrapping up before I thought it was going to, so I had a couple of “unscheduled” hours to play with. I took the latest issue of Cosmo and the latest issue of Glamour (I’m addicted to magazines, obviously), and laid on my balcony.

I got ten minutes into my Cosmo mag … and ended up passing right out. Faaaast asleep.

Since there was a little bit of a breeze, I had put my Glamour underneath my leg to stop it from continuously opening up and having the pages flip. When I woke up 45 minutes later, the combination of heat/sweat had made the ink imprint onto my thigh. It reminded me of Never Been Kissed:

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(When I googled Never Been Kissed, a picture of Susan Boyle popped up. Just thought you might want to know.)

Also, I had zonked out right onto the pages of my Cosmo, like nose right in the binding, so I had pages stuck to each cheek. Attractive.

*****

Every Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, my family has the same thing for breakfast. We have for as long as I can remember. We always make eggs benedict, and honestly, is there a more delicious tradition? My dad, sister and I have pretty much perfected the assembly line now, and yesterday’s meal was amazing. We always make too much hollandaise sauce.

Wait, is there such a thing as too much hollandaise sauce? I think not ;) And sorry, no pictures. I barely breathed while scarfing it down.

*****

I’ve let my eating habits kind of slide lately, and I’m ready to take my clean eating seriously this week. A friend of mine and I went grocery shopping on Friday night (because we’re extremely super cool like that), so my fridge and cupboards are stocked full of my favorite healthy eats. I was going to prep my meals for this week last night, but didn’t get home soon enough. I was at a friend’s house for a BBQ inhaling this beautiful fruit salad that I made:

Sorry. I had to share that … aaaand I’m off topic.

To summarize, I’m looking forward to getting back on track this week. The veggie intake has been down … I’m ready to get it back up! :) Now I’m off to the gym for a couple of miles on the stationary bike and some serious arm work.

Enjoy your Monday!

May 11 2012

Zzz’s

Other than a couple of things on the schedule this weekend, the next two days are going to look a lot like this:

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I am tired. I’ve fallen asleep on the couch in front of the TV almost every night this week. It’s getting ridiculous. On Wednesday night, I fell asleep at 7:30. I thought that meant I was well rested … until I passed out at 6:50 last night for more than an hour. I think I’m still catching up from last weekend’s Zumba festivities (in which I’m so tired I haven’t even started my choreography) and battling my stupid laryngitis.

Here’s to a restful weekend! Are you spending time with your mom on Sunday? I am! :)

May 10 2012

Pondering Personality

Heyyyy everybody! I hope you are enjoying your week so far. Is it just me, or has this been THE LONGEST WEEK SINCE THE BEGINNING OF MANKIND? Seriously. I’d like the weekend now, please.
Today’s post is brought to you by the oh so lovely Aubrey over at I Talk To Food. She answered these same questions a little while ago, and I thought I’d try to do the same today. It’s just a little way to get to know each other better … and that’s never a bad thing, right? Here goes:

1. When a cashier in the checkout line at the grocery store is being a grump for no reason, how do you typically react? Usually, I’m incredibly smiley with them. I’ll go over the top in an effort to be friendly … and probably end up annoying them and make them even more grumpy ;)

2. Are you the type that likes going out with your girlfriends or staying in? I looooove going out dancing with my girlfriends. Love it. Especially now that I’m a single lady (cue the Beyonce), I like having the freedom to party it up. I tend to go out at least twice a month, and during those other two weekends I absolutely refuse to leave the couch. So I guess that’s a terrible answer to this question. I’m a 50% “going out” girl and a 50% “I want to stay home and laugh at Seth Meyers on Weekend Update” girl.

3. Do you sob and get emotional watching romance movies? Holy crap. Never watch a movie with me – it’s for your own safety. I cry at everything. Everything. Commercials. Survivor (hello, when the family members visit?!). One time, I cried so hard at Marley and Me (even after having seen it before), that I gave myself such a gigantic headache I couldn’t get to sleep that night. And then I woke up every hour. I was distraught.

4. What stresses you out the most? I stress myself out about things that are way too far in the future to worry about (hey Mom, I get that from you … thanks a lot). Things that are weeks away and can be dealt with at a later time tend to eat up a lot of my energy. I’m trying to get better about that, and I think that I slowly am.

5. What do you think people think of you? People think I’m a dead ringer for Jennifer Aniston. Just kidding ;) I think people see me as intelligent, friendly, and motherly. Seriously, for only being 21 … I’m very maternal. My friends refer to me as Mom. Sometimes that’s something I’m flattered by. Sometimes that makes me feel like Miss Buzz Kill.

6. When you overindulge do you hit the gym to burn it all off, or just accept the indulgence and follow your same routine? I accept it and follow the same routine. I’m not a huge overindulger (is that even a word?). Eating those treats that I enjoy are part of my life – I’m not going to bust my ass for several hours just because I ate a huge bowl of ice cream.

7. Are you easily annoyed? Unfortunately, yes. I have a list of pet peeves longer than my arm. #sorrynotsorry

8. What do you think is your biggest personality flaw? The filter between my brain and my mouth tends to malfunction sometimes. I voice my opinion (which is usually strong), and sometimes don’t consider what the implications are going to be. And I correct people’s grammar. I hate myself for that. I detest when people do it to me, yet I do it. I am a massive hypocrite and it’s terrible.

9. What is one thing you don’t think people see enough of when it comes to your personality? I genuinely care about people. I juggle a lot of things in my life – but I always want to know how my friends are and if there’s anything I can do for them. At any time.

10. Can you feel relaxed in a busy crowd or messy room? A busy crowd? Absolutely. A messy room … sometimes. If it’s my own, and I’ve come to terms with the fact that I don’t want to can’t get to the vacuuming until Saturday, that’s okay. But I get easily distracted if there is a mess in someone else’s home.

Whew. Did you learn anything about me? I’d like to hear some of these answers from you!

What is one thing you don’t think people see enough of you when it comes to your personality? What do you think people think of you?

May 8 2012

A Quiet WIAW

Since I work in the media, I tend to think I talk for a living. When I’m outside of work, it’s incredibly hard to get me to shut up. Try and get a word in, I dare you. So I tend to think that I talk as a hobby as well. I’ve even been told that I talk in my sleep!

Needless to say, my jaws are always flappin’. I’m a true Chatty Cathy.

That’s why the stretch from Friday afternoon to today has been really tough for me. I have laryngitis – but it’s almost gone. I’ve never had it before, and I can’t say I want it again after this . My voice cracks … or sounds incredibly manly … or won’t be there at all … or I sound like a Mickey Mouse impersonator. Sucky. I’m glad it’s getting better now. I was starting to compare my voice to the likes of an overly emotional cartoon character.

Today’s What I Ate Wednesday, hosted by the always wonderful Jenn over at Peas and Crayons, was eaten right in the midst of my laryngitis spell (Monday). I was feeling completely fine, not sick at all … so my meals didn’t change. It was just a very quiet day.

Breakfast:

I ate this while staring at Mariah Carey’s hot bod reading the latest issue of Shape. In that bowl is oatmeal, chia seeds, chocolate whey protein powder, and a spoonful of coconut oil (gotta love those healthy fats!). The oil is melting … so I apologize if it looks a little bit strange. I can assure you it was delicious though!

Lunch:

I ate this plateful at home while watching Ellen (has anyone else seen her segment where Tony sings karaoke? Hilarious!). I put spinach, hummus, turkey, and mustard on a multigrain bagel thin. A large handful of carrots on the side made lunch wonderfully colorful :) Not pictured: 2 clementines, which might just be the cutest fruit ever.

Lunch Number 2:

I considered this my second (and completely unnecessary) lunch because it was SO filling. And I also felt like crap after drinking it due to the oodles and oodles of sugar in it. My coworker and I took advantage of the Starbucks Frappucino Happy Hour and tried the new Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino. Holy cannoli. If you’re okay with having a minor major sugar hangover, I suggest this bad boy.

Supper:


I had a friend in town, and she suggested we go for sushi before she left. Excellent idea! It was an all you can eat restaurant … we got a little crazy. I had a seaweed salad (my absolute favorite!), edamame, salmon and snapper sashimi, gyoza, and various pieces of salmon sushi, spicy tuna sushi, and a crispy California roll. So. Much. Food.

I also tried a piece of unagi … just for Ross.

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Who doesn’t think of Friends when they hear the word unagi? It’s impossible for me.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

May 8 2012

How It Happened

Yesterday, I told you that I became a licensed Zumba instructor on Saturday. Here’s how it happened:

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The training was in a city two hours away, so I drove out on Friday night and stayed with a friend. Saturday morning, I got to the building where the course was being hosted around 8:15. I’m guessing around 40 or 50 women were there (and 2 men!), in addition to the two instructors/Zumba geniuses. We started the day off with a Master Class, where we danced our butts off for an hour. It was tough work, but I was able to see how the pros conduct their classes and pick up a few tips. This also gave me the chance to start the day of as a participant and be able to distinguish the feeling of taking a class from the feeling of instructing a class. I sweated my face off … I’m talking dripping … and then feared for my life because it was only 10AM and the course was scheduled to run until 6PM.

I was scared someone was going to have to peel me off the floor by the end of the day.

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After the Master Class, we had a brief lecture. We learned about the history of Zumba and how creator Beto Perez started the whole thing. It was great to learn a little bit of the history, and why instructors are so passionate about the entire Latin-inspired fitness class. Also, I was freezing for the entire talk. I forgot a sweatshirt … the room was surprisingly chilly … and I was covered in sweat. Not a good combo. Miss Goosebump.

For the rest of the day, we focused on learning the basic steps to the meringue, salsa, cumbia, and reggaeton. My brain (and every other muscle in my body) was exploding. THANK GOD for the course materials/DVDs they sent home with us. So much information. So many songs. So many steps, rhythmic variations, arm movements, and fitness additions. My head hurt. And every other muscle, too. Have I mentioned that ? ;) The soreness lasted for awhile too … I’m even still a little bit sore today. Since most of Zumba is done on the balls of your feet, calves get an incredible workout. 9 hours on your toes = very sore legs. But such a goooooood sore.

*****

Overall, I loved the entire day. The instructors provided us with incredible amounts of information and a lot of tools to plan our first class. I think it’s going to take me a little bit of time to prepare myself for teaching … but I’m excited for that challenge! I’d like to give myself a deadline of June 1st to get everything in order. I’m going to need to learn to balance life/work/learning music, so that in the future I can balance life/work/teaching Zumba. I need to memorize music, memorize choreography, and focus on putting as much energy as I can out into the room when I teach. But I’m excited to do that! The instructors pretty much told us we will be awful for our first few classes. If I can just remember that, and take it in stride, I think I should be okay. I can’t wait to start teaching! I’m so glad I took the leap to become an instructor :)

May 7 2012

I’m a Zumba Instructor!

Wahoo! I did my training this weekend to become a licensed Zumba instructor. I ACCOMPLISHED IT!

My certificate has my real name, so I did a little fixin’ with paint.

I promise I will tell you all about it tomorrow. It was nine hours of dancing and exercising … and I am super sore from it. But there’s so much satisfaction mixed into that pain. I love it. I can’t wait to get my choreography all figured out and find a teaching job!

Have a wonderful Monday – if you need me, I’ll be foam rolling ;)

Tell me about your weekend! What did you do? I know some of you had races … how did they go?