Wednesday Things

1. The roofers have been on the house for three days now, and there is not enough Excedrin Migraine in the world to fix the headaches I have from all the banging (thats what she said).

2. Yesterday’s workout from Best Body Bootcamp was cardio intervals and core work. I PLANNED on running outside, but then I changed my mind last minute. I hit the gym and did the prescribed intervals on the treadmill, then tacked on an additional 30 minutes of spin. Needless to say, I was exhausted afterwards.

Oh, and I had to walk to the gym since the roofers had thrown nails and crap all over the driveway and I couldn’t get my car out (kind of reminded me of Boston- I specifically chose my apartment based on it’s distance from the gym. Priorities, people. Priorities)

3. The movie Brave is a total mother-daughter movie.

 

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I also managed to perfect my scottish accent. Mom, don’t watch it because you’ll probably cry.

4. Do you love nutella? (The answer is most likely YES) Great, so here’s what you should try: Mix 1 cup nutella, 2 eggs and 10 tbsp of flour. Pour into lined cupcake pan and bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

 

5. I seriously couldn’t be on twitter or facebook at all for the last 24 hours. People, STFU about the election. I was cringing left and right reading the idiotic things my “friends” were saying. And it didn’t matter if it was about the candidate I favored or not. Just shut up, people. SHUT. UP.

(Ok you don’t have to shut up, but at least respect other’s decisions, yadda yadda yadda)

6. I took the dog to the park yesterday and ummmm IT WAS MUDDY. Good thing my dog is already brown. Holy cow, the dogs there were DIR-TAY. Just before bed last night, I couldn’t tell if she was just tired, or she did something bad that I have yet to discover (that never happens, tho)

 

Actually, she always randomly sits facing the corner or the wall or something. She’s super weird. Just like her mama.

7. Today’s agenda: Natural Food Store and Michael’s. Just livin’ the lyfe.

8. And today is my 1/3 birthday. Might have to add another store to the above-mentioned 😉

Yummy Chili

Recipe you MUST try: Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili from SkinnyTaste

 

 

Holy Moly, was it tasty (and there’s a bit left, so I get some more today!) I actually made half of what the recipe calls for since the two of us are pretty sucky at using up all the leftovers. I topped mine with a dallop of greek yogurt and a pinch of cheese.

Yesterday’s workout felt GOOD. I did the strengh “ladders” from this phase of Best Body Bootcamp at home, then went to the gym to bust out a 30 minute interval run and 20 minutes on the spin bike. Here’s what my run looked like:

 

Hey, so I am going to be boring and do another survey. Mostly because the coffee hasn’t kicked in yet and I am brain dead. Yay!

1. Last thing you ate:

Multigrain Cheerios (my weekday breakfast of choice)

2. Last beverage you drank:

Coffee. Coffee. Coffee.

 

3. Last workout:

See above

4. Last thing you pinned:

 

Lace wrapped mason jars

(I totally forgot about pinning this, by the way, but I ironically took a bunch of used glass candle jars- put them in the freezer for a couple hours, popped out the leftover wax, and now they’re ready to get some similar decorating!)

 

5. Last text message you sent:

Well, it’s not the last one, but I thought this rant I sent Tyler yesterday was pretty funny

 

6. Last blog you visited:

Meh, I sort of skimmed over a ton and Marked as Read when I woke up- haven’t clicked back over yet to check more out. Actually, I lied. I clicked on Its Linz post on pumpkin muffins (through twitter)

7. Last tweet you sent:

 

8. Last place you visited:

Yesterday I went to Safeway, Pet Planet, and the Y. Super exciting stuff.

9. Last time you did ab work:

Sunday night. I did side crunches on the bender ball.

10. Last show you watched:

We have been recording this season of Revenge because I was obsessed with it. But I watched the first episode of this season this morning, and I am so over it.

 

(Source)

11. Last thing you baked:

Pumpkin Bread!

 

12. Last thing you Instagrammed:

 

Some pre-workout powder I got in one of my Bulu Boxes

13. Last Item on your to-do list today:

Well, ummmmm…..

 

And I leave you with my thoughts about school right now:

 

Ok, your turn- answer one or some or all of these!

Weekend Things & A Survey!

This weekend was fun! (well, maybe not Sunday)

  • Friday night I went to Ship & Anchor to celebrate a friends birthday. Here’s what NOT to do: drink a couple beers and not have dinner. I definitely paid for that mistake when I got home
  • Saturday I met up with Leigh at Starbucks. Skinny peppermint mocha and a new friend for the win!
  • Later that day, Tyler and I went to Brewster’s for dinner (and a Pumpkin Ale)

 

  • Sunday morning I woke up to the best text ever: my best friend delivered her gorgeous baby girl, Keagan Lynn, late Saturday night. Many many many congrats to her and her family! I can’t wait to hold this little bundle of beautiful!

 

(ps: we’re totally connected since we have the same middle name!)

  • the rest of the day was FILLED with lots and lots and lots of homework. Tyler has a long weekend next week, so I really have to not procrastinate so we can watch football and (him) eat wings!

And now, a survey I thought I’d do (found it on Christina’s blog)

What is currently on your wish list?

For the longest time, red pants were on the top of the list, but I scored those just a few days ago. Now at the top of my list? Winter clothes and accessories!

 

(Source)

Crocheted head wraps

 

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Infinity Scarves

 

(Source)

 

Printed leggings

Share a new app that you’ve recently discovered that we all need.

Meh, I’m super sucky at apps, but I’m kind of afficted to Wanelo

 

It’s like pinterest, but for only items you can purchase. When you click on an item, it tells you the price and where you can buy the product online. And the items are unique/awesome/different.

What is a new fall TV show you have added to you DVR? (Or as they call it here, PVR)

 

(Source)

 

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Share your social media links for us to follow you on

What is a TV series or Movie or Song you could listen to or watch over and over and over and never get tired of…feel free to name one of each. 

TV Series

  • Golden Girls
  • Friends
  • Seinfeld

Movie

  • 16 Candles
  • Notting Hill
  • You’ve Got Mail

Song

  • Love Like This- Faith Evans & Fatman Scoop
  • Shoop- Salt-N-Pepa

Alright, now it’s your turn! In the comments section, answer any and/or all of these questions! I love to know what other people are lusting after and watching and listening to and ‘app-ing’ (I just made that up, but I want to know what apps you have on your phone!)

Random Bits

I still love Fridays even though I don’t work. Same reason why I still hate Sundays.

Random bits:

I have been drinking sparkling water out of a wine glass all week. You bet I feel fancy.

Layla went into the river when I took her for a walk earlier. She is dumb.

I pulled the emergency stop cord on the treadmill last night. I went from 7.5 mph to 0 FAST. Such a bummer to have to start from 0 all over again.

I am officially addicted to Essie nailpolish. I saw an ad for a sale and went to the store for 3 more bottles.

Kysha’s baby is due today! She better have her, dang it.

Today is workout from home day. Usually when I workout at home, I do it barefoot. I kind of love it.

Speaking of barefoot, I used to have those Vibram shoes a few years ago when they FIRST came out. And I used to wear them running all the time. Until I broke my foot for the second time. Then they were retired to strictly using them when kayaking.

I saw somewhere on Instagram that there’s a bacon chocolate cupcake candle now. UM WHAT? Actually, I could just fry up some bacon and bake chocolate cupcakes simultaneously. More cost efficient since we can actually EAT it.

I can wait to go home to NY next month and hang out with mom and dad. AND SEE MY GIRLS IN BOSTON!

Last night, I looked at treadmills and spin bikes to buy. That might be happening soon. And I’m kind of so excited I could pee.

When I run, I always count out a 4-count on my right hand. People must think I’m crazy, but I think that’s the instructor side of me.

Awww, now I just thought of how I’m not teaching anymore. Tear.

I ordered our Christmas cards last night! Ooh, I’m so excited because they’re cute!

I just realized I don’t have a dresser for my clothes. Since I came to Canada with nothing, I guess that makes sense. Literally everything I own fits in our master closet. That’s sad, right?

Mom: Can you mail my North Face winter boots? I think I need them already. Thanks

I’m not voting this election. Is that terrible? I didn’t get my absentee thing in in time. Plus, I’m not sure what my technical state of residency is in the states. I still have a Massachusetts license, but all my mail goes to my parent’s house in NY. Hmmm

Do you know what came up in my homework today? The quadratic equation. OMG kill me now.

Santa, if you’re reading this, I’d like a grey Scuba hoodie.

I LOVE TO DANCE. Ok, let’s start a rant. Ready….GO. Since I moved here, and obviously not knowing that many people and living in suburbia and what not- I haven’t gotten into the scene of people who just bar hop and dance in clubs and get silly and maybe lose a scarf (well I did lose my coat 2 weeks ago…) I love losing my voice from singing all night, and waking up with mascara down my face because I was too drunk the night before to really get it all off. And I miss wearing sequins. And getting wristbands. I don’t miss paying covers though.

I think my personality is a combination of Penny from Happy Endings and Jess from New Girl. Can anyone back me up on this? I am socially awkward, funny, clumsy, cute(please agree with me on this one for my sanity), and I come up with fancy fake words.

Lately, I have been calling my dog “Bobby” The part that’s really strange is that she’s actually responding to it.

Tyler and I PVR a LOT of shows. One of them is Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Usually, when there’s nothing on TV, we will catch up on a few of his episodes. I’m sorry, but every time I watch him, all I can think of is this. And all I want to do is dance funny. Hahaha I actually always remember listening to this song Junior year of high school and my friend Jess and I would drive around our town blasting it. One time, I was driving my 1998 Toyota Corolla down the main street and Jess and I were singggggging it having a grand ol time, then Jess screams and points at what I thought was my side of the windshield. Turns out, a spider was making it’s way down from the ceiling almost reaching my face. As soon as I saw it, I threw my car in park and jumped out. Best part, I didn’t come to a complete stop before I put it in Park and the car kept rolling…with Jess screaming in it.

Hahaha, that’s probably only funny to me and Jess.

If I could shop at one store for the rest of my life, it would probably be Nordstroms.

In the States: Cinnabon. Canada: Cinnzeo. NOT.THE.SAME.

My pants problem used to be muffin top and crack shots. Now, it’s just puffy crotch. That might not make any sense to anyone.

I have a bag full of American money hidden in the house. Ok, before you contemplate robbing our house, it’s mostly pennies and nickels.

I CAN’T WAIT TO WEAR MY RED PANTS.

ok, that’s enough bits for now.

Recipes, Purchases, and a Workout

Hey, I’m back. I told you I would be, so it shouldn’t be such a huge surprise.

 

1. So these:

 

Holy hell are they sweet or what. They’re so sweet, I gotta say it again: holy hell. But if you’d like the recipe, you can find it here.

2. Apple Leather

 

Here’s what I did: 6 apples peeled and halved. Put into boiling water for a few minutes to get them nice and tender. Drain and throw them in the blender with just under 1/4 c water and cinnamon to taste. Then spread out on a cookie pan lined with saran wrap (sprayed with cooking oil helps). Then put oven on the lowest setting (mine was 170 degrees) and let it sit in the oven overnight (8-10 hours. Check it now and then to make sure it doesn’t crisp up, you want it to be a bit pliable).

There ya go!

3. I went to Lululemon (because Tyler TOLD me to) and I got 2 precious gems to add to my collection. This is totally going to help me with that issue I mentioned yesterday.

 

It’s the Virtue Energy Pant in dense purple and the Run: Swiftly Tech long sleeve

4. Then I got carried away and found an amazeballs steal on some more winter clothes. I got two pairs of cords and 2 sweaters and they were each $20! Not bad, Jen. Not bad.

 

5. Yesterday’s workout.

It was somewhat adjusted because I only had one girl attend the class, but here’s the gist: (some of the moves were taken from Best Body Bootcamp. Green= strength; Blue= cardio)

  • 5 minute warmup
  • Elevated push press (using the step) 1 min each side
  • Up/down plank- 1 min
  • Run laps around the studio for 3 minutes
  • 15 seconds jacks/15 seconds mountain climbers x3
  • Lunge stance with row- 1 min/Opposite leg forward lunge stance with reverse fly- 1 min
  • Tricep dips- 30 seconds at the 4-count and 30 seconds at single count
  • Repeat lunge moves and tricep dips
  • Run laps opposite directions for 3 minutes
  • 1 min torso twist hops
  • 1 minute wall sit with bicep curls
  • 1 minute weighted laying hip abduction/1 minute weighted hip adduction
  • 1 minute wall sit with overhead press
  • 30 seconds jump rope/30 seconds quick feet x3
  • 15 squats with front raise
  • 15 chest flys
  • 30 second decline plank
  • 15 single leg tricep kickback Left/15 right
  • 10 plank with single arm row Right/10 left
  • 8 surrender squat right/8 left

BURPEES

  • we did 5 burpess with a 15 second rest 10x through

ABS

  • Crunch progressions: 10 reg crunches, 10 with legs at tabletop position, 10 with legs straight in the air, 10 with scissor legs left, 10 scissor legs right, 10 tabletop, 10 regular

Tell me something random. How about: what’s the last thing you bought online? Where’s the last place you went out to eat? Favorite TV show this fall? Favorite cold-weather meal to make?