Flying Funnies

Man oh man, I've just been a writing machine lately. I'm currently on AirTran's far from fabulous wifi, mainly so that I could get onto Spotify and catchup on some great country jams. I'm behind on music lately.

I realized while going through security in the Milwaukee airport this morning that sometimes I find myself doing borderline passive-aggressive things out of sheer entertainment. Example: I packed this guy in my carry-on, knowing damn well that it was larger than the however many ounce bottles they let us carry onto the planes these days....

I mean, it was either try my luck, or leave my favorite hair gel in Illinois. So of course the nice x-ray man pulled my gel off the machine and screamed,

"Whose stuff is this?"

"Mine!" I replied sweetly, with a dumbfounded look on my face. "Ma'am, do you realize this container is larger than the what we allow you to carry on?"

"No, I'm really sorry I didn't even realize that!"

"Well, we will go test it for hazardous materials, and if it's clear you can take it. Next time, please check it."

That I would do sir, if I was checking a bag.

These days I'm flying an average of just about once a month. I've got to work with what I've got.

While on the topic of flying, why is it that about 50% of pilots have precious southern accents? Not complaining, there's always something soothing knowing that the man who currently has my life in his hands has an accent. There's no explanation as to why, but that's just how I feel.

There's a badass 12 year old girl in the row next to me, flying alone. The flight attendant tried to put her basketball in the overhead bin, and she demanded she keep it under her seat with her. Then she was told to turn off her ipod for takeoff, and I literally watched her wait for the attendant to walk away, and then turn it back on. We had a solid 5 seconds of eye contact and she just glared back at me.  Not that I care, I never turn off my phone on flights, airplane mode is how I roll.

I sat next to a pilot on a flight to Denver once, and I watched him keep his phone on airplane mode for both takeoff and landing, so that's my justification.

Rebels.

Had to say goodbye to her this morning. We both cried a little. My wonderful mom of course stuffed my backpack full of food, including this special treat from Costco:

Pumpkin lover 4 Lyfe.

Electronics off, wheels down in D.C. in about 20 minutes. Hope you all are having a beautiful weekend. Anyone have any funny travel stories/habbits they want to share?

Cheers!

Dog Kisses

My sister and I had a pretty awesome discussion the other night. We were wrestling with Jane on my bedroom floor, and she noted,

"I think what I love most about Jane is how much she just loves life. Almost every single moment, she's able to find joy in it."

I love that. It's true, probably for most dogs. But then the question started brewing in my head...

Why isn't this true for most humans?

Finding joy in almost every single moment of life. Through the good and the bad. That's some hard stuff right there. But is it possible? I think it might be.

It's super easy to get caught up in the hardness and roughness of life. When the curveball gets thrown, and you swing and miss and run off in the corner with your tail between your legs, only to throw a pity party for yourself. It's actually one of my favorite things to do.

I've had similar rants on here before about joy, it's a word I love and am passionate about. But this isn't really a rant. This is me simply publicly committing to attempting to find joy in the moments that I really don't want to. Recently I've been writing it on my hand to give myself a frequent reminder.

Hold me accountable on this one, OK?

I woke up this morning feeling nice and sore from a solid crossfit workout yesterday evening, coached by my friend Greg. The WOD was:

Slam balls, sets of 50-40-30-20-10 reps.

Between each set, run 200 meters.

The Rx weight for the slam balls was 30/20, but out of fear for not being able to walk today I used 10 lbs. I finished right around 10:18, and Greg patted my on the back and said 'you probably could have used a 20 lb ball.'

He was probably right. Although I'm not consistently doing crossfit, I have been trying to incorporate more of those type of workouts into my routine. I think I'm getting stronger? Don't quote me on that.

REAAALLLY hope the neighbors didn't see me snap this

This morning still required some heavy foam rolling. Jane thought it was a toy and tried chewing it.

I'm gonna miss that mutt. I'm flying out of Milwaukee tomorrow morning. Time at home was great, but it will definitely be nice to fall back into a routine again in  Baltimore. Type A at it's finest. 

I hope you have a fabulous weekend, and are able to find joy even in the shitty harder parts. If you need any help, go find a dog, they are great examples.

PS- today's my mom's Bday - if you know her, make sure you wish her a very happy one! :)

Cheers!

Catchup

Good Morning from Crystal Lake, IL! The past two days have been extremely rainy, so much so that our street turned into a small lake for awhile yesterday...

Note my mailbox where the street is suppose to be...

Needless to say, although it was a hassle to get out of the driveway, Jane definitely enjoyed some splashing around in the street. She even managed to find a floating beer bottle and retrieve it from the newly-made river. She was psyched. But even more psyched to spend the evening with me last night.

pre-bedtime kisses

I have a very special, literal Throwback Thursday picture for you:

This gem lives in my parent's basement, and I hopped on it for a little bit of interval work last night after my run. It's incredibly uncomfortable and sounds like a jet taking off, but hey it got me sweating. What would you guess, 40 years old?

I've missed you guys, it's been an insane non-stop five days. Friday-Sunday was Delaware, which was way too much fun and music. Firefly definitely did an impressive job of putting on the second year music festival, and I'm surprised to say that my favorite artist of the week was the Avett Brothers. Their live performance was honestly moving.

Our home for 3 days

The roomies & me

Rain coming in during Matt & Kim - stolen from here

Monday morning we were on the road out of Baltimore by 6:30 AM, and drove all day to arrive into Chicago on Monday evening. We actually got in right in time to skip down to Wrigleyville and watch our beloved Blackhawks clinch the Stanley Cup. The streets quickly transformed into one big party, and I was one tired lady at work on Tuesday.

Tuesday evening I hopped on a train to my hometown of Crystal Lake to see the fam and the pup. And here we are. 

I actually ended up taking a 4 day break from working out, Friday - Monday, which is pretty rare for me. My body was probably appreciative of the extended break, but it felt good to pull my running shoes on again yesterday.

The plan is to do some crossfit this evening after work with my friend Greg, and then assuming that I wake up sore tomorrow morning - which I always do after crossfit - perhaps a yoga video before work. My grandma has also offered up her pool for the week, so some swimming may be in the cards. Who knows, it's nice to have options even when I don't have a real gym while I'm at home.

I try.

Currently I'm behind on all areas of life - as you can see from my lack of blogging - so my hope is to write again tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Hope your Thursday is swell. It would be awesome if the storms steer clear today, I would love to catch some rays on my lunch.

Cheers!

Fireflying

I haven't written all week. I know, I know, I'm sorry. Between moving, work, boyfriend(s) {KIDDING} and the gym, free time has been slim to none. There's just going to be weeks like that, we all have 'em.

My gift from my wolf. I love it. Cover your eyes kids.

I am writing this post from my rooftop deck, and it's glorious. The even more glorious part is that my sister and her two friends are sleeping right below me. The 3 crazy Chicago chicas drove through the night last night, and crashed on my bed/couches/around 8 AM.

Why you ask? FIREFLY.

A couple years ago my sister had the opportunity to work for the awesome company, Red Frog Events, in Chicago. She was actually in the original 'crew' that did all the planning for Red Frog's Firefly Music Festival - and therefore was offered free tickets this year to go.

"If I come out to Delaware in June for Firefly, will you buy tickets too?"

Ellie Goulding, The Avett Brothers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Edward Sharpe, MGMT, Tom Petty, Delta Rae, Dispatch, Passion Pit, Foster the People... and that's just naming a few...

"Absolutely I'll go."

Back to this morning. They walked in the door here in Baltimore and went to bed... I ran out the door for a quick run and circuit workout, thanks to some inspiration from my friend Brooke over at Babbling Brookelyn...

5 sets of:
-20 walking lunges
-15 air squats
-10 burpees
-10 pushups

All in the wet grass of a nearby park. Good stuff.

Then I stretched/rolled/did a bit of yoga up here:

I asked my roommate Megan the other day if I can just move my bed up here. For now, I will have to be content with the baby pool we brought up to cool off in.

That's all the time I've got for today. I apologize for being a neglectful piece of crap, however it may continue for awhile. If I had to guess our campsites in Delaware won't have internet... and I'm heading back with the ladies on Monday for some Chicago time this week. Hopefully catch up with ya'll on Sunday?

Would love to hear any weekend plans, music festival advice (this is my first) or anything random you feel like sharing.

Cheers to music!

the (second) big move

At first I titled this post 'the big move' and then realized that title had already been used... when I first moved out to Maryland. If you're interested in rewinding to last February, here's that post.

Note to self: Always check the Oriole's/Raven's game schedule before choosing to drive through the city, versus taking the tunnel around the city...

sat in this for a joyful 30 mins...

That was lesson #2 of living in Baltimore. Lesson #1 was learned yesterday. What was that you ask? Rooftop life in Baltimore is da' bomb.

Last night was a beautiful evening to spend time on our new rooftop deck with friends and cold beverages. And that's exactly what happened.

Not going to lie, I am tired with a capital T. Between moving my life in a U-haul van, and romping around the city of Baltimore fairly late last night, this girl is wiped.

My new pad - with my OWN bathroom

Not only am I wiped, I'm also actually really sore. Let me tell you what - mattresses aren't light. Especially when you're lugging it around all by yourself. Moving is actually a great workout, and the warm temperatures made sure that I got my sweat on.

I'm not normally one to take my phone along with me on runs - I like to disconnect myself from time to time. However it's looking like I'm going to have to bring it along with me sometime soon so that I can snap some pics of one of my favorite new Maryland running spots - along the inner harbor. It's beautiful, and I am psyched to log many miles along the water.

Brunch was calling for us this morning, so of course we obeyed. It may have also entailed these...

I apologize for the shortness, it's been a whirlwind of a weekend and I honestly ready for bed. My sister gets into town late later this week, and it's looking like another extremely promising weekend. More on that later.

It's the foam roller and then bed for this girl. Hope everyone had a magical weekend - cheers!

In the cards

Serious question: Is there any possible way to look attractive in a swim cap?

I pondered this for part of my swim this evening and decided that probably the only way to look attractive in a swim cap as a lady if one had an Olympic Medal hanging around their neck. Which isn't looking like it's in my cards, and that's OK.

What is in my cards is that sprint triathlon that I signed up for a couple months ago in the midst of my severe injury depression. Yet between my recent traveling and prepping for my big Baltimore move THIS WEEKEND, the tri had kind of slipped my mind...

That bad boy is now less than two months away, and today was the first time that I swam in probably a couple of weeks. I should probably get on it huh?

Side note: I still haven't found my gym to call home yet in salty Balty, and if I have any local readers, I would love suggestions!

We got rocked with some of those storms today, and at one point my phone looked like this:

Luckily, it doesn't seem like too much damage was done to the area, and life went on as usual. Brussel sprouts and all.

Can't stop won't stop. Love my sprouts.

In other food-related news, my next-door cube mate at work hooked me up with some of her homemade strawberry jam that she made after picking strawberries this past week. It would be a blatant lie if I denied sitting in my cube and eating it out of the jar with a spoon for awhile.

I'm extra pumped that tomorrow is Friday, let me tell you. Not only will the moving begin, but Andrew gets back from his week long hiatus tomorrow evening. Hollllaaaaa.

Alright, I've got some packing to take care of, and some sparkling water in the kitchen calling my name. Make your evening great peeps.

Cheers!

A Sweet (Potato) Weekend

The other day, while frolicking aimlessly around Walmart (who does that?) I stumbled upon this guy:

The LARGE size of my favorite kind of peanut butter, for $3. Naturally I bought five jars a jar, and let me tell you, I've been going to town on this bad boy for the past week. Smoothies, oatmeal... even on top of my banana pancakes over the weekend...

Are you jealous? You should be. Go buy some. Peanut butter = protein = happy muscles.

I littered it all over social media already, but holy cow did we have an awesome time paddle boarding this past Saturday in Annapolis. If you have the chance to try it, do it. We rented them for the day for $40, and it was well worth it.

It was our first time, the weather was perfect, and we had a ball exploring the many inlets of the Annapolis Harbor. We even ventured under the bridge and paddled by the Annapolis Yacht Club, which harbors boats bigger than my house, no joke. The boats were so big they had boats on them that had boats them.

Sorry I wasn't able to snap any pics of them... Andrew strongly urged me not to bring my phone out on the water with me, which was probably a good call. Although I didn't fall in, by 3 p.m. we were both sweaty and bailed off our boards to cool down. I did manage to convince him to bring his own (older, crappier) phone out the second time we set out, so that we could capture some memories.

"It's for the blog babe."

Not only did we get some exploring under our belts and some sun on our skin, but we also got a killer core/arm work out. Good times. Go do it.

Andrew deserted me for the week, so to cheer myself up last night I decided that I deserved pizza. So I did some searching and stumbled upon Carrots 'n' Cake's Sweet Potato Crust Pizza, saw my sweet potatoes sitting on the counter, and set to work.

I am a fan. And have zero shame when I say that I ate half of it last night, and the rest of it tonight for dinner. Some sweaty Sunday miles sure will work up an appetite.

The plan is to get up early tomorrow morning and hit 7 slow-paced miles before heading to work. Do you think it will happen? I would say odds are currently sitting at 50/50.

I'm winding down for the night, but it was great catching up. Anyone have a weekend story to share? Favorite kind of pizza perhaps?

Cheers!

Rainy Days & Sweaty WODS

Man, I seriously feel that rainy Fridays should be illegal. This weather is putting a bit of a damper on my mood.

Thanks tropical storm Andrea, or whatever it is that you are.

This morning was the first morning that I wasn’t able to get into my spin class because it was full. It caught me off-guard because I love my Friday morning spin class more than most things… and I retreated to the stairmaster & eliptail with my tail between my legs. To distract myself, I watched the show “Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss” on my phone... have you ever watched it? I would be lying if I denied that about half the reason I enjoy watching it is because of the trainer on the show, Chris Powell…

there's some eye candy for ya

Did you celebrate National Donut Day? You bet your pretty face I did…

YUM

Even better was on Thursday, when my coworkers and I decided that we needed a means to have iced coffee that afternoon. So we wittingly poured a pot of warm coffee into a pitcher that morning and stuck it in the freezer… and had ourselves some excellent iced coffee later that afternoon. I even added a dash of chocolate milk to mine, and was in love.

2 PM never looked so lovely

In contrast, my oatmeal has really been letting me down this week. I had some horrible mixed berry overnight oats this morning that I literally had to gag my way through post-donut. I guess not much can compare to a blueberry cake donut…

I swung by the gym on my way home from work today (again) because I was itching to lift some weights. My cross fit master friend, Greg, sent me the below workout awhile ago, and I've been carrying the post-it around saying I need to do it. Welp, it was time to put my money where my mouth was... and the result was A LOT of sweat.

 8 mins, AMRAP...

-Hanging knee raises

-Lunges with 25 lb. plate above head

-Burpees

Start with sets of 5, increase by 5 every time a set is complete... 5, 10, 15, 20...

I got to 20 reps by the time the 8 minutes was done. It was a sweaty beautiful mess.

My fingers are crossed that the rain is done by tomorrow, and we can get into some trouble this weekend. I rented some paddle boards for the day tomorrow, as Andrew and I have been wanting to try that out for awhile in Annapolis. Any tips from the pros out there on paddle boarding?

That's all she wrote. Have a wonderful weekend, keep it classy.

Cheers!

Celebrate Running

Happy National Running Day!

I didn't pack on too many miles today, as I ran 7 on trails yesterday, and hope to do the same tomorrow. I’m still sticking to the every other day plan until I feel more confident in my body. I did do some sprint work on the treadmill for a solid 15-20 minutes.

Speaking of my run yesterday, I stumbled upon these guys on the side of the beaten trail. I’m convinced they are strawberries, but my coworker says they aren’t. Until I come to a more conclusive decision, I enjoy making her nervous by telling her I’m going to eat them next time I see them. (I promise I really won’t Mom)

Speaking of berries, did you hear about that recall on the bags of frozen berries sold at Costco? Apparently they are causing outbreaks of Hepatitis A, so that’s no good… here’s the link to the full article if you’re a worried Costco-goer. Which I am, but my main worry stems from how I can collect as many food samples as possible without getting trampled.

Good thing I’ve been sticking to my fresh cherries this week! Yum…

See my special glass of water sitting there? Sparkling water, lemon, lime and a mint leaf. I received the highest honor last night when Andrew told me that it tastes good. This is coming from the guy who drinks so much Gatorade it possibly running through his veins…

Speaking of cherries, and water (gosh I’m good at linking it all together today) I’ve been adding about a tablespoon of tart cherry juice to my water every morning, as I’ve read it’s supposed to help with general inflammation… and is just all-around good for you. Remember my word of the year?? Hint, it rhymes with moactive…

I’ve gotten about a million emails from the Rock ‘n Roll Marathon series letting me know that today only until midnight, for National Running Day, you can save $20 on any race you sign up for. Just a thought, if you’re considering adding to your race schedule. As for me, I’ve been eyeing some shorter distance races to sign up for within the coming summer months. I’m still waiting to sign up for anything, as I want to get moved and settled and get other life things taken care of first.

There are tons of other fun running –related deals/contests out there to celebrate today that I’ve seen being advertised on other blogs – I would just do a little internet surfing, and I’m sure you will stumble upon something cool.

How are you celebrating National Running Day? I’m trying to be extra thankful today for being able to run again. It’s a gift, and easy to forget how quickly it can be taken away.

Cheers!

8 Mile

Disclaimer: this post's title is in no way related to that movie with Eminem in it.

I came to a couple realizations today. After going to bed at 10:30 last night, and waking up unwillingly at 9:30 AM... I realized that 11 hours of sleep was necessary after a hectic week of adjusting back from 1. vacation 2. mountain time.

Yet as good as sleeping in felt, I woke up and I immediately knew a solid sweaty run was in the books for today. So I pulled on my new running shirt that my wolf Leslie gave to me last weekend, and set out with every intention to sweat completely through it.

Mission accomplished

I did. About a half a mile in I was like 'Why not set a goal for this run Kait?' While I knew I wanted to run 8 miles, it felt appropriate to shoot to hold an 8 minute pace. Here's what I came up with:

Of course I started off way to fast because that's just how I roll. Some day I'll get better at that. The last two miles were a slight uphill, and I tired with a capital T. Like possibly wheezing. I tried to give myself the benefit of the doubt by telling myself that I haven't run this far in about 3 months, but I think what it really comes down to is the crap I've periodically been putting into my body for the past ten days.

Time to reign that in a little bit better.

Exhibit A:

Grapefruit Crushes will be the end of me this summer

Yesterday I had a grapefruit crush or two at the beach. I've been begging and whining and pleading with Andrew that we make a trip to the beach before he leaves. Apparently he's a softy because he gave in on Saturday morning, because we found ourselves here right around 10 AM:

Rehoboth Beach

Neither of us were mad about it. It was 80 something degrees, with a beautiful breeze. We laid there.

I wanted to take up this offer, but then realized I can barely take care of myself and probably shouldn't take a precious hermit crab's life into my own hands...

However, I can manage throw together wicked nasty pizza with some help from Trader Joe's pizza dough...

Dinner tonight, plus some wine and a movie. Rainy Sundays don't end much better.

Back to the trenches tomorrow, we've got a full week ahead of us. Whose ready? I'm not.

Regardless, cheers!