Sweatin’ It (Out)

It’s a really good thing I saved my feet by wearing flip-flops all weekend.

Because after more than my fair share of this…

And also endless lunch leftovers from cooking Bailey’s Birthday Brunch…

Bailey loved it when we made biscuits and gravy for champagne brunch a few months ago. We used her birthday weekend as an excuse to make it again…

I was more than ready to hit the gym. And sore feet would have been a disasterous set back.

Yes, I was definitely ready. I practically ran to the gym last night with open arms. Because that feeling of detoxing your system with a solid sweat session?

It ranks pretty high on the list of feel good moments. Sorry- workout nerd moment.

Because it makes me feel awesome, and there’s a solid chance I’ll be spotted in a bikini this coming weekend, I spent a few extra minutes doing various cardio in an ADD fashion.

18 minutes on the stairmill.
1.2-mile RUN. I say RUN because it was an 8:15 pace when the last few treadmill sessions were closer to 8:30′s.
16 minutes on the elliptical.

And because the weight room was a little too crowded for my liking (aka- people were on the whole two or three machines I use), I retreated back home to do some ab work on a yoga mat. In front of the tv. Multi-tasking at its finest.

Yes, I know longer workouts the week of a trip really don’t make that much of a difference in outward appearance.

My friends most definitely won’t look at me and say “well SOMEONE has been spending an extra 5 minutes a few days this week.” Quite frankly, if they did, I may push them into the pool out of annoyance.

But it’s a confidence boost. And if all it takes is an extra lil’ push here and there? I can handle that.

And like I said, it’s all about sweating it out. No matter how you do it. 

Too bad dancing with drinks in hand probably cancels itself out. Because in that case, this weekend we were workout superstars. If you don’t believe me, just ask these girls:

We taught Wrigleyville a move or two.

Or what not to do. Either/or.

After all the dancing activities, we all woke up in the same boat on Sunday morning. Most would have opted for a day of rest.

Us? Oh no…

When our plans to go see our favorite band, Rod Tuffcurls and the Benchpress, for Bailey’s birthday were cancelled due to NATO issues (assumably, crowd control was a safety issue in Wrigleyville on Saturday night), we decided to not let that get us down. As mentioned, we danced ourselves silly elsewhere. And waited patiently for the chance to check the boys out at Mayfest the next day- our first street festival of the season!

Because who doesn’t love an excuse to get outside and hang out in the streets while watching men with naked legs strum the guitar?

So yeah. Another long weekend down. Which means another full week of watching myself a lil’ better.

The vicious cycle continues.

No worries, though. I’m not sweatin’ it. Because the weekend was fun and there should never be regrets about that.

And I’m a weirdo that actually enjoys eating salad just as much as the cake and big brunch.

I don’t get it, either.

No more nights out for me until the weekend. Until then, it’s spending as much time running around outside enjoying the weather and chillin’ at home with the whole gang:

One of Bailey’s birthday gifts was a Tiger Beat magazine. So we now have someone to keep up company when cooking.

And maybe even give us a look when sneaking into the refrigerator for late night snackage.

Winning on so many levels.

Alright, kids. I gotta go. Time for coffee and a little more work on getting this hand stamp from Mayfest to wash off.

It’s like they tattooed it on.

Help!

Reunited At Last

Something has been missing for the last month or two.

Sure, I’ve been living my life. Doing my thing. Keeping busy. Staying social.

But something has been missing.

Oh yeah… it’s THIS girl:

Mon decided fish tacos where the way to go. And a side of lobster bisque. She had a whole nautical theme going on…

Oh heeeey, Mon! I found you!

That’s right, it’s been far too long since this girl and I had a night out on the town. We’ve both been busy doing this, that, or the other, and it’s been over a month since we’ve had a proper “hang out”.

So after Mon accepted a new job this week, we decided to put an end to this nonsense and go out for a proper celebration!

For future reference, when I say “proper celebration”, I mean consumption of food and drinks.

Not sure if it was the bacon or the pretzel roll that swayed my final decision to go with their chicken sandwich?

We checked out Emmett’s Brewing Company- a brewery and restaurant near my old stomping grounds.

Ironically, we split a bottle of wine versus check out the beer selection. Brewery visit fail.

And when I say “old stomping grounds”, I mean in the vicinity of where I lived for two years and right across the street from one of my favorite bars-

Durty Nellie’s! Our celebration coincided nicely with the Rod Tuffcurls and The Benchpress show going on.

Our favorite cover band. So convenient.

What’s not convenient is how uncomfortable my heels got after 3 hours of dancing. At the end, I questioned which would be worse- continuing to stay in the platform heels or having my feet touch the floor of the bar.

I stayed in those heels. But I wasn’t happy about it.

The dancing easily counted as my physical activity on Friday. The rest from the gym was necessary. And so was the rocking out to their version of my happy song, “500 Miles”.

It made the late night drive thru that much more satisfying.

And the sleeping in that much more great.

My most comfortable way to lay on a couch. I like to prop my feet up over the top. Weird. And not very ladylike….

It has been decided Mon and I should probably never spend that much time apart again. It’s probably not overwhelming for us, but we’re just looking out for everyone else around us.

You’re welcome.

Excuse me while I go pour more coffee and properly sprawl out on the couch again for a while.

Just don’t tell my mom you caught me with my feet on the furniture. It IS Mother’s Day, afterall…

A Break From the Monotony

Wow.  I had no idea so many of you had read Tucker Max!  General consensus seems to be it’s mediocre writing, but a guilty pleasure you can’t put down…

Unless, of course, you’re one of these girls he writes about.  Then I feel really really bad at laughing at your misfortunes.

Oh and you guys are right- there is a movie that came out.  And it’s waiting for me when I finish the book.  Surely it’s a classic.

Anyway, earlier in the week, Mon and I had decided we’d have to find a way to break up the week a little.  Happy hours are a rarity for me (just wine nights with some of the girls), so I was up for anything.

Oh… Rod Tuffcurls and the Bench Press plays at Cubby Bear North on Thursdays?

Well… that decision was easy.

The mid-week crowd isn’t nearly as excitable, but we made sure to hold it down for everyone:Since the dance floor crowd was a little sparse, the liquid courage was necessary.  Let’s face it- I’m a horrible dancer.  But I like to think that what I lack in coordination and real talent, I make up for with enthusiasm.

Anyone want to take a guess of what this shot is?  Hint- sometimes I call Mon one because of her hair color.  Joking, of course.   Usually.

Shot names are so weird.

Either way, I got super excited when they broke out some Green Day.  Because I had just posted this the night before:So now it’s not only my ipod, the band is also taunting me.  But of course I love this song, so I rocked out accordingly. 

Today I’m tired.  Because it wasn’t really a happy hour unless you think happy hours should start much later and go much longer than the allotted hour given to the activity.  Whatev- I’m not letting lack of sleep get me down- it’s FRIDAY!   Right now I’m celebrating because I’ve got a pretty low key weekend planned.  Yes, I’ve said this before and it hasn’t happened, but maybe this weekend I really will…

Do you guys ever do happy hours?  With friends or colleagues?  Our office rarely does them… they’ve kind of died out it seems.  But I occasionally meet up with a friend or two when possible.

Knowing that my favorite local band plays close to where I live every Thursday may convince me this should be a regular thing.

Have a great weekend everyone!

We’re With the Band

Halloween costumes?LEGENDARY!  I mean… not to toot our  own horns or anything, but we were pretty much the most awesome thing ever.  Let there not be any confusion- we are the female version of Rod Tuffcurls and the Bench Press.  Holla’.

I can say that now.  Beforehand, I think we all nervously looked at each other before we walked in.  Are we crossing the creeper line?  Are we gonna be the only ones dressed up?  Will we be able to outrun security?  These were all valid questions.

The band was in the middle of setting up as we walked through and they spotted us pretty much right away.  They approved! 

So then for the rest of the night, we had no problems busting a move…

I think I even broke out the cabbage patch at one point.

Which leads me to the question, if you were a dance move, what dance move would you be?  I’ll start off and say I’m like the hokey pokey- the enthusiasm and effort is there for sure, but I just look like a mess.

I cannot say enough about how much fun their shows are.  I assume  it was the shirts, but people kept coming up and asking about them.  No, sir, I do not know the bad, but yes, they are fantastic and yes, you should probably come see them again.

Afterwards, we got to meet the band.  I’m sure it’s because they fell for our hot dance moves.  Or maybe they felt obligated because we spent all the time on the shirts?  Either/or.CC actually had an idea of who we were.  Apparently they stumbled upon my little bloggity blog. 

If I hadn’t of had a few drinks already, I would have been slightly embarrassed.  Scratch that- I was embarrassed.We had matching shorts.  NAILED IT!

Rod assured me that, had he done laundry that week, we’d have matched completely.  Well- I didn’t have the headband on, but that was more of a logistics issue- my head’s far too big for the band to not completely cut off circulation to the brain (and that poor thing needs all the oxygen it can get). 

I told Rod I was still in the market for some fantastically Americana sleeves like his.  We discussed.

But I’m pretty sure he still has better legs than I do.  Guess you can’t win them all…

Am I finished gushing now?

I should stop.  I have places to be.  We’re still heavy into college football season and this Mizzou game isn’t going to cheer on itself.

Peace out, homies!

100 Words Saturday- Rod Tuffcurls Stole My Heart

I’m in love- with a band.

My neighbor Bailey and I had a night out to go see Rod Tuffcurls and The Benchpress at Durty Nellie’s!Their show is HILARIOUS.  See if you can find the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt…This is Rod.  He’s awesome.  Clearly us girls had fun.  We met CC Ryder (plays bass).  I think we scared him with how BIG of fans we actually are.

Live in Chicago and haven’t seen their show yet?  You should probably change that.  Check them out HERE!

Do you have a local band you always make a point of seeing?

And Exhale…

There’s a reason why my rest days fall on Thursdays.  I’m not ashamed to admit it.

We call it Grey’s Anatomy (which I was not overly impressed with last night, btw).

And The Office.  And Community.  And even 30 Rock on occasion.

And Big Bang Theory- which just recently made the move.

And Jersey Shore…

Am I missing anything?

Clearly I didn’t get to watch everything.  But at least I have something to keep me busy when I have downtime over the weekend, right?

I swear I don’t freak out about television that much.  But you wouldn’t have known that yesterday, huh?

When the Big Bang Theory started, I made sure to be positioned at my coffee table (acting as my dining room table) with food ready.Deli sandwich, a salad and Sheldon.  That’s all I need to make my Thursday night a good one. 

Nope- It’s not a coincidence that my rest day and the Thursday night lineup overlap.

Ahhhh….

If you’re training, or just like to workout on a daily basis, is there a reason you have your rest day scheduled for a certain time of the week?

By the way, I know a lot of you were intrigued by the Middle Sister wine.  I’ve had a couple different ones- all pretty fantastic in my humble opinion.  Check them out here if you’d like- the website’s pretty fun.  I took the quiz of which “middle sister” I’d be.  Turns out I’m a good fit for the “Drama Queen”, which is coincidently what we drank the night before.  Which I find amusing, but whatever… it was a pretty tasty wine.  Maybe I could use a little drama in my life… 

But there will be no drama tonight.  Only good times.  Rod Tuffcurls and The Benchpress are playing tonight.  And as much fun as their last couple shows were, how could we not go?

This weekend is PACKED.  All fun things (as you will see), but the sleep will be limited unfortunately… eek!

You can exhale and take a moment to enjoy the fact that it is FINALLY Friday. 

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Bonnie Hunt Used to Babysit Me

Hello kids!  Welcome to Monday.  I’m having a hard time accepting my little vacation is over, but life must go on, right?

In all the excitement about discussing my trip to Washington DC, I didn’t get the time (or want to give you the longest post of all time) to discuss Saturday night’s festivities.  Like I mentioned earlier, I got home Saturday evening.  I hadn’t made any definite plans because I didn’t know what my energy level would be.  It wasn’t high, but I marched on.  And squeezed in a quick workout and then showered and was off to see a new favorite local band at Durty Nellie’s.  I went with my posse of lovely neighbors- Mon and Bailey. 

Yes- we’re considering ourselves groupies. We LOVE Rod Tuffcurls and The Benchpress.  There.  I said it.  But wouldn’t you love a crazy band that plays the most random of covers and parties it up like this:

Yep.  Sexy gym shorts.  And a sweet tan line.  Rarr….  But in all seriousness, they’re soooo good.  And the stage presence just heightens it all.  We rocked out all night to great hits such as The Distance (by Cake- anyone remember them?  They were a staple of my junior high days), 500 Miles, Semi-Charmed Life, and even All I Want For Christmas (The fact that it’s August is a non-issue).

None of us were really there to hunt out boys.  But they happened to find us.  My favorite was what poor Bailey endured- a creeper who wouldn’t leave her alone and used the fact that Bonnie Hunt used to babysit him as a pickup line.  Seriously.  And then, after using his claim to fame, we called him out on it by not knowing of the movie Beethoven.  How can he not remember???  Bailey said, “how can you not know that movie?!?!  You’re dead to me!” and walked away.  Good girl.  Cheers!

Because we were out until the wee morning hours and I had Text Fest 2010 until I fell asleep with the phone in my hand (maybe that means I lost?), I woke up not feeling overly rested.  Which led to a day inside.  Lounging.  I assume my body also wanted to counterbalance my days of walking all over Washington DC.  Seems fair.

I did make it to the gym eventually.  I got in a 2-mile run and 15 minutes on the elliptical.  Considering the long night I had the night before, I call this a success.  Even though I do recognize my need for a workout schedule.  I conformed.  And now that I’m just winging it, I’m feeling myself starting to struggle.  That means one goal for the week will be creating one for me that will get me through until my next official round of “training”.  Do you do better with a schedule or do you just do your own thing when it comes to working out?

After the workout, I finally managed to shower and get out into the real world to get some grocery shopping done.  When out, I knew I’d be picking up something to eat versus making something myself.  It was just that kind of a day.  My options were two extremes- salad bar at Whole Foods and mexican thanks to a Chipotle coupon I was yet to use.  I wanted them both- but figured it best to not be greedy.  The salad bar won me over in the end.  So I headed to Whole Foods with visions of all the wonderfulness that is Whole Foods. 

The salad bar was bare.  Maybe they always close it early on Sunday (not sure?) or they had it down for some other reason, but I was sad.  And pouted.  Because I spent all that time weighing my options.  For what?!?!  Nothing…

Off to Chipotle I went.At least I had a coupon.

I picked up a chicken burrito.  Warning- I’m not the biggest fan of Chipotle.  And this is the first time I’ve gone in probably four or five years.  But who am I to pass up free food?

It wasn’t bad.  The chicken wasn’t the best and it was my fault for not telling him to chill out on the rice, but I do give their guac a two thumbs up!

It was a great weekend all in all.  But I do have to say, I was sad to miss out on the bachelorette festivities of my lovely friend Ashlee.    She had a girls weekend planned in Mid-MO that I missed out on because I had the family vacation going on and wouldn’t have been able to get back to where they are until super late Saturday night (Mid-MO is not very accessible unless you’re cool with jumping out of a plane as it makes it’s way across the state).  But she said it was a great time and I seriously cannot wait for her wedding that is only a month away!!!

Tonight I’ve got a special meet-up with a fellow blogger from Healthy in Chicago that I’m pretty excited about.  Yes, that means it’s one more day of not unpacking.  Pretty convenient if you ask me… 

Have a good day!

Fleet Feet Women’s 10k

So after my long weekend of fun and debauchery with my hometown girls, I did the unthinkable.  And got up at 5:00 on Sunday morning for a 10k at Montrose Harbor.

But I wasn’t the only one who got up that early.  Oh no.  My girls, Beth and Sarah, are just awesome and said they wanted to go with me to watch. Aren’t they fantastic?  Such troopers!  Sarah said they were filling in for my ‘rents.  I think mom and pops would be proud- they cheered for me very loudly.  Even before we started and people were standing around.  Yep… it was awesome.

This race was really up in the air for me.  I had no idea how I was going to do because we had been out and didn’t get back to my apartment until midnight because we had seen these kids:Rod Tuffcurls and the Benchpress.  They opened for Rock Candy at Durty Nellies on Saturday night.  And they were awesome.  Just their stage presence was entertaining.  But they could play- and sing- like none other!  We ended up groovin’ to everything from Third Eye Blind to Miley Cyrus, to The Little Mermaid Soundtrack to a song off of Forgetting Sarah Marshall.  Although I’m not sure how Aerial would appreciate their suggestive nature when it came to the line “down where it’s wetter”.  Pervs.  But I still loved them!  A few of my girlfriends from the suburbs had come out to play and we were all in agreement that we might have to become their newest groupies.  Good times…

Wait… what?  Where was I?  Oh yeah… the race!  So needless to say, after getting less than 5 consecutive hours of sleep for 3 nights in a row, I was exhausted to say the least.  And the Lou Malnati’s pizza and Goose Island draft is probably not the best thing to be sitting like a brick in my stomach.  I’m very competitive with myself and usually am such a baby about my pre-race routine.  But this was different.  I really just wanted one more solid race before the Rock n’ Roll Half in two weeks (oh my god…).  And I had friends in town and wasn’t about to not enjoy myself on Saturday night.  I figured I’d just treat it like I do any other 6-mile run.  Just take it as it comes.I put myself at the back of the 8:30 pace area.  If anything, I can just find someone with a solid stride and latch on.  We started and you can imagine my surprise when I got through the first mile in under 8 minutes.  Oh crap!  I’m screwing myself over waaaayyyy too early!  No good…  And then my second mile was at about 9 minutes and that was just waaaaayyyyy too fast.  I really am like Goldilocks.  Mile 3 was approximate 8:20 and that was just about right…

I kept the stride up and pushed pretty hard on the last mile.  When I came up towards the finish, I realized I was actually going to beat my last 10k time.Hence the goofy grin.

I finished in 50:40- an 8:10 pace.  This is amazing to me.  I’ll give my new shoes most of the credit, because I have no idea where I would have pulled the energy from. 

After I got through the finish and grabbed a couple waters (hey- free water is free water), I turned to find where I had seen Sarah and Beth as I ran through.  I couldn’t find them right away, so I just collapsed in the grass and figured they’d find me.  I was spent and could not go any further!I ended up placing 129/1460 overall and 9/110 in my age division- which I was more than happy about.  I don’t normally place as much importance on it, but this is my last race in the easier age category.  So I’m going to enjoy it while I still can.  Deal with it!

When I decided my legs were good to go again, we got up and got moving.  Breakfast was necessary.  A guy friend who shares the same interest in good food/restaurants suggested going to Over Easy Cafe.  So we raced there and got in without any wait- which was clutch in this case because my hunger had started to quickly attack and Beth and Sarah were yet to eat that morning.I got one of the Specials- The Sweet & Savory.  You can’t tell, but bacon was mixed into the pancake batter.  Oh yes.  A sinful idea for sure- even though I wouldn’t have complained if there was more bacon because you could barely even notice the extra flavor.  Everything was delicious and I am not ashamed to say I got through almost all of this before I gave up on the eggs.  Starvin’ Marvin… 

While at the restaurant, Beth and Sarah gave me a little birthday present. Like I said- sweethearts.    They even marked their favorite quotes for me.    What a way to start my birthday week!

Even though a nap was inserted into my day yesterday, I’m still a little behind.  This week’s going to be another crazy one in preperation for more visitors coming on Friday, but I’m going to do my best to insert a few more hours in a night.  I’m not as young as I used to be!  Aaaaahhhh!

Happy Monday!