Working On My Fitness

Source: fitsugar.com via Kyndal on Pinterest

I confess, I have been spending too much time at happy hour and not enough time at the gym lately.  This week I've made the decision to turn it around and get back in shape.  I've got a wedding to attend in 5 weeks and bridesmaid dresses to try on in 6 weeks...I want to be looking good!  Here's my current plan of attack:

Workouts
After slacking off for the past couple of months, I'm slowly easing my way back into my 6am workouts.  This week I'm shooting for three days but I'm hoping to be up to four or five next week.  I'm also adding in some toning exercises from my Fitness pinboard.

Music
I need to listen to something fast and upbeat to keep me motivated during my workout sessions.  My absolute favorite song to workout to is Ying Yang Twins "Drop" but I also find Hyper Cruch "Keep Up", Lil Wayne "Knockout", Savage "Swing", and Enur "Calabria" to be great choices.

Eating
I'm counting calories again with the help of SparkPeople and trying to be better about drinking enough water and taking vitamins.  Skinny Taste recipes have also become my new bestfriend.

But now I want to hear from you.  What's your workout routine like?  Do you have a great Pinterest Fitness board you can link me to?  What are your go to workout songs?  Do you use any programs/apps to log your workouts and calorie intake?  Have any delicious but healthy recipes to share?  I'd love your input to help me stay motivated and get back on track!

Stuff I Like

1. Donut Sudoku

My friend T sent me the link to Tim Horton's Donut Sudoku last week and I've been hooked ever since.  At first, it's a little tricky to tell some of the donuts apart (the honey dipped and plain look deceiving similar) but once you get the hang of it, it's a lot of fun.  It will however, leave you craving a baked good.

2. Express Lace Stitch Mesh Dolman Sweater

I recently picked up the Lace Stitch Mesh Dolman Sweater at Express and I love it!  It comes in a great variety of jewel tones and is super comfortable.  I bought it up a size so I could wear it off the shoulder and I've been rocking it with this tank underneath.  It looks great with a pair of jeans or shorts.

3. Julep Maven

I am so ridiculously excited about the Julep Maven program!  Julep Maven is Julep's version of the Birch Box.  First you take a survey to determine your personal style (I'm a Bombshell) and then Julep puts together a personalized nail polish box for you based on the results (the Bombshell intro box products are pictured above).  After your intro box, you have the option to receive a monthly box.  Julep will let you preview the products in the box before it arrives and even swap it out for one of the other styles (I'm dying to try some of the It Girl polishes so I definitely think I'll be swapping sometime soon).  If you don't like any of a particular month's products or you can't fit Julep Maven into your budget, there is no penalty for deciding to skip a month.

The boxes are typically $19.99 for $40 worth of products but they are currently running a special where you can get your intro box for A PENNY...that's right a penny.  You really can't beat getting two nail polishes and some pedicure cream for that price (plus shipping's free!).  If you're interested you can sign up here and enter the code COLOR2012 during check out.  Let me know if you sign up...I'd love to hear what you think of your samples!

4. Chicken Rollatini Stuffed with Zucchini and Mozzarella

via Skinny Taste

I've been trying to waste less food lately and this week I needed to find a way to put some leftover mozzarella cheese to use.  Skinny Taste's Chicken Rollatini Stuffed with Zucchini and Mozzarella gave me the perfect way to use it!  The recipe was pretty straight forward and not too time consuming to make, although I did find this batch harder to roll than her Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Breasts.  The recipe makes eight stuffed chicken breasts and since I'm only cooking for one, I ended up freezing 4.  It's nice to know I already have delicious dinners ready for next week!

5. Jeannette Landphair Coasters

During this month's trip to Eastern Market, I picked up some coasters from Jeannette Landphair.  I love their DC theme and how unique they all are!  I've gotten a lot of use out of them so far and I'm looking forward to continuing to do so.  I may even go back and buy a few more.  Stop by her booth next time you're in Eastern Market!

College

The only picture of my freshman year dorm is of it decorated for my birthday...just go with it.

My baby sister moved into college on Friday and it has me thinking about my freshman year.  6 years ago this week (I seriously can't believe it's been so long), I started at GW.  It was a little scary but it was mostly exciting to move from my 5 square mile town with one traffic light to DC.

Within the first few weeks, I met all the lovely ladies above.  There have been a few additions over the years, but these girls have been my core group of friends ever since.   I met them in a variety of ways, sneaking off campus during orientation to hit up some parties, international affairs classes, and ballet but it was College Dems that brought us all together as a group.  We quickly became a family and we've had our share of adventures over the years:

Re-enacting a scene from Benny and Joon and making grilled cheese with an iron

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day in Dublin...please ignore my chubby cheeks.  My host mom in Barca was too good of a cook haha

Celebrating Obama's win at the White House

Getting all glammed up for the Inaugural Ball

Spring Breaking in Cancun

Surviving Snotorious BIG

And graduating in the city we love

I'm so excited for my sister to begin her college journey and start having her own adventures!  I'm hoping she'll find a group of girls as amazing as the ones I did.

Weekend Wrap Up

My two favorite New Yorkers were supposed to come visit me this weekend...but sadly due to a family emergency, only one was able to come.  So I spent the weekend DC chillin with this gentleman:

Here's what we got into...

Friday

via Yelp

On Friday night I made a batch of gnocchi mac and cheese for dinner (one of my absolute favorite recipes...give it a try sometime!) and then I obviously had to bring K to Murphy's!  It was fun to introduce him to a lot of my Murphy's friends and share my favorite hang out spot.

Saturday

I've been wanting to brunch at Masa 14 for the longest time so K and I went on Saturday afternoon.  Masa's brunch is $35 for unlimited small plates and bottomless mimosas.  K and I took this challenge very seriously and tried to taste as many things on the menu as possible.  My favorites included the Masa Breakfast Pizza, Petite House Smoked Salmon Omelet, and the Veggie Benedict.  When picking a breakfast cocktail, I definitely recommend the Masa Mimosa.  After brunch, we rolled ourselves out of the restaurant and headed to Georgetown for a little bit of shopping and of course...Sprinkles cupcakes!

via Yelp

That night we went out on U Street and had a blast!  My new roommate came out with us and we totally had a Step Brothers, "Did we just become best friends?" moment.  We've both been Ke$ha for Halloween, we share a love of Teen Mom and Once Upon A Time, and we have a lot of similar dating horror stories.  I think this is going to work out really well!

We started our evening at Nellie's and then migrated over to Saint-Ex later in the night.  The DJ on Saturday was absolutely terrible but the crowd was great and we still had fun.  I was also a big fan of the bartender.  When I asked him if there was a minimum he replied, "I wish I could say there was a $10 minimum...but look around at the people here, sweetheart".  Love it!  Not only was it unbelievably true, I also kinda love it when strangers call me sweetheart...bonus points if they've got a Boston accent and it ends up being "sweethaht".

I was feeling ballsy on Saturday and I rocked a short sleeve version of this shirt with a bandeau.  I think I'd do it again sometime.  Is anyone else embracing the lace trend?  How are you styling it?

Sunday

We had a late lunch at Ray's: To the Third on Sunday.  I loved Retro Ray's when I went a few weeks ago so I was really excited to try another Ray's restaurant.  Ray's: To the Third definitely didn't disappoint!  I opted for the Cookie Monster milkshake (Baileys and Oreos) and the Soul Burger Number One.  I definitely want to go back for dinner sometime soon so I can try the lobster mac n cheese.

Stuff I Like

1. J. Crew Janey Patent Flats

It's no secret that I love all things J. Crew and I have fallen head over heels with the majority of their fall collection.  My favorite item from the fall line is the Janey Patent Flats.  I love the little gold heel and the jeweled tones the flats come in...I just wish they didn't cost almost $200...sigh.
 
2. Doodle

My friends and I keep crazy schedules and it can be tricky to coordinate plans...that's where Doodle comes in handy!  The site allows your friends to check off all the days they are free for dinner, a road trip, or whatever other activity you think up.  You can instantly compare which days everyone is free and pick the date that works best for everyone.  It cuts down on all those horrible "Are you free on the 24th?  No?  Ok, how about the 26th?" emails and lets you get your plans together quickly.

3. Three Olives Bubble

I'm officially a bad Swede and have switched my allegiance from Svedka to Three Olives.  I branched out from their Cake Vodka and tried Bubble over the weekend.  It tastes just like Bubblicious gum and is great with some Sprite!

4. Barcode

via Yelp

I walk by Barcode ALL the time but until last night, I'd never stopped in.  I am kicking myself for not hanging out here sooner.  The crowd is great (typical DC young professional types), the outdoor patio offers a place for a quiet drink with a friend, and the inside offers a rowdier time with it's loud music and modern decor.  Try to get there while they're still featuring their summer cocktails.  The cucumber one and the Dew Drop are absolutely DELICIOUS.

5. Jane Austen's Emma

via Amazon

I try to alternate reading one frivolous book and one serious book (although I just bought Fyodor Dostoyevky's The Posessed to read next so it looks like I'll be on an extended serious kick).  Since I just finished White Girl Problems, I've moved onto Jane Austen's Emma.  I absolutely love this book!  I love it to the point where I hate to put it down.  Although a little spoiled, Emma's character is relatable and I love the way Austen outlines and describes the relationships between the different characters.

Weekend Wrap Up

Friday

On Friday night, I made it to my first Nats game of the season...I can't believe it took me so long to catch a ballgame this year!  My heart belongs to the Red Sox so I didn't really have a vested interest in whether the Nats or Mets won...but I loved soaking up the atmosphere of the ballpark.  I ate some bad but oh so good stadium food, laughed a lot with my friends, and may have rooted for the players based on how good their walkout music was (my personal favorite choice was Skrillex "Promises").  It was also "Bocce at the Ballpark" night and a ton of people from our league were there.

After the ballgame, Rach and I met up with some of the bocce kids for drinks at the Bullpen/Half Street Fairgrounds.  In the olden days (ok...maybe just last year), the Bullpen was a little lot with a chain link fence around it where you could go after the game to have a beer and watch a cover band.  It was down and dirty and we loved it!  I have mixed feelings about it since its makeover.  It stretches a whole city block and features lawn games, food trucks, multiple bars, and a stage for the cover bands.  It's lost the divey aspect that made it so much fun.  Maybe it was just an off night due to the crappy weather and lack of a cover band...I've got high hopes that it will be more fun next time!

Saturday

Source: etsy.com via Following on Pinterest

Rach and I spent all day together on Saturday and we had a blast!  We spent the afternoon sipping some drinks and working on our tans at her pool.  After pool time we made dinner and watched what may be one of the greatest indie films of all time, "Adopt a Sailor".  It stars Ethan Peck...who you may recognize as one of Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen's love interests in Passport to Paris.  The acting was terrible and the storyline was even worse...but we spent the whole time laughing so it was worth watching!

Afterwards, we attempted to branch out and try a new bar, Crystal City Sports Pub.  It sucked.  Don't go there.  We took it as a sign that we shouldn't have deviated from the norm and headed over to Murphy's.  It was a ridiculous time as always.  Rach and I may have led the entire upstairs bar in a rendition of Seven Drunken Nights...strangers shook our hands afterwards...it's fine.  We made a few new friends and we convinced D to walk us both arm and arm to the metro since we "didn't want to walk by ourselves"....it was a much better time than the first bar we visited!

Sunday

On Sunday, the crew all ventured out to West Virginia to go white water tubing with River Riders.  I'd never been tubing before but it was a ton of fun...although I am still eight kinds of sore from paddling acorss the river.  The white water track takes about 2.5 hours to tube through and it's got a lot of small rapids you can steer your tube through...it also has plenty of locals (or "natives" as our friend L called them) along the shore who are ready to heckle you every time you get stuck on a rock...it just added to the experience.  The Living Social deal we bought included both a white water and a flat water trip but it started to rain right after our white water trip.  We decided to bail on the second run and C and I continued our West Virginia adventure with a stop at...

That's right...I'm such a serious gambler I wear my sunglasses inside.

...The Hollywood Casino!  We had a few drinks, walked around a bit, and then I spotted a penny slot machine called "Norse Warrior"...we all know that I watch too much True Blood so in honor of Eric Northman, I had to play it!  I somehow managed to win $30 and decided that would be the end of my gambling for the day.

via Yelp

Since we clearly had not had enough fun on Sunday, we rounded out our evening by meeting some bocce favorites for sangria at La Tasca and trivia at Whitlow's.  The guy who runs trivia at Whitlow's had a lot of great questions...I recommend spending your Sunday evening there sometime!  I also highly recommend their Cali BLT.  It's delicious.

Monday

I can't resist bragging about the fact that I somehow managed to turn this:

Into this:

And...I only made myself bleed twice haha.  Seriously, I am the most unhandy person in the world.  This was a major accomplishment.

I hope you all had fantastic weekends too!

Saturday Silliness

I'm still not over the Olympic fever and couldn't resist sharing this with you.  Mo Farah Running Away From Things....enjoy.

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Throwbacks

Source: elleandblair.com via Jamie on Pinterest

We all have them...those songs on our iPods we downloaded years ago that resurface every now and again.  I feel like a lot of these songs have been popping up when I've had my iPod on shuffle lately.  They're songs I never intentionally seek out but I love being reminded of how much I used to love them.  Here are a few that have popped up recently:

1. The Calling "Adrienne"
2. Immature "We Got It"  (I totally spent the better part of 6th grade aspiring to be Mrs. Batman...it's fine)
3. Collective Soul "Heavy"
4. Toadies "Possum Kingdom"
5. Mest "What's the Dillio?"
6. Soul Decision "Faded"
7. Hardfi "Cash Machine"
8. Kandi "Don't Think I'm Not"
9. Stroke 9 "Little Black Backpack"
10. Monifa "Touch It" (You can't tell me you don't remember this one)
11. The Streets "Lets Push Things Forward"
12. The Distillers "Drain the Blood"
13. Idlewild "You Held the World in Your Arms"

I debated throwing Custom's "Hey Mister" into the mix but I didn't want to offend any of your delicate sensibilities...

What are some songs that always surprise you when they pop up on your iPod?

Stuff I Like

1. Starbucks Goat Cheese & Garden Veggies Bistro Box

Starbucks Melody raved about the Goat Cheese & Garden Veggies Bistro Box a few weeks ago and I couldn't resist giving it a try this weekend.  I loved it!  I thought the cucumbers and green beans were a nice touch in the vegetable selection and the cranberry almond crackers were delicious!  Next time you need a healthy snack or a light lunch, I recommend picking this up.

2. RageChill

One of my coworkers introduced me to the beauty of RageChill.com recently and it has been providing my soundtrack for the past few days.  When you visit the website, you move a dial towards Rage or Chill and the app starts playing music to fit your mood.  I've always put the dial more towards rage and it plays a great mix of house and hip hop music.  It's introduced me to some great new songs and DJs like Madeon's "Pop Culture" (seriously, listen to this IMMEDIATELY), D.veloped's "Bring Em Home", and Wick-it the Instigator's "Man Talk".

3. Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites

via

My bocce team is having a cookout tonight and I made Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites to bring.  They were a little messy to make but the recipe was pretty easy...I also sampled five one while I was making them and they're delicious!  I'm just hoping they don't melt in the heat.  Wish me luck!

4. Rizzoli and Isles

I worked from home yesterday and somehow ended up with a Rizzoli and Isles marathon on in the background.  I'm glad I turned it on because it's a great show!  I love the dynamic between the two characters.  It's also set in MA so I enjoy recognizing places around where I grew up.  Has anyone else watched the show?

5. Hell on Wheels: Season 2

Oh my goodness...who watched the season premiere of Hell on Wheels on Sunday?  After watching it, I am PUMPED for the new season.  Here are some thoughts:

• Bohannan looks like a hot mess...and I kinda like it.
• Elam continues to be a total badass
• Lily Bell still annoys the crap out of me
• I am terrified that something bad is going to happen to the McGinnes brothers
• I keep expecting The Swede to bite someone and/or start spewing religious propaganda...clearly I've been watching too much True Blood lately

If you watched it, I'd love to hear your thoughts too!