I wanted to tell you guys

Do any other bloggers out there keep a weird running list of things they want to blog about?

Or even if you're not a blogger,  maybe a list of things you want to remember to tell people?

(I do that a lot with my boyfriend, not gonna lie)

Normally I either keep track by taking pictures, or keeping a list of random phrases in my ‘notes’ app in my phone that would make absolutely no sense to anyone but me.

Oh yeah, I wanted to tell you guys about….

How I’ve been doing Kettlebell swings wrong for the past year. Figured that one out at Crossfit on Wednesday night.

Apparently it’s all in the hips. I’m sore today everywhere, and it’s glorious.

I wanted to tell you guys about…

The fact that I reach a point every morning where my body basically rejects coffee. I would say that I average about 1 – 1.5 mugs of coffee per morning. My mug is big – maybe about two-ish measurable cups? Anyways, usually a few sips into my second mug my body is like ‘ok I’m awake, switch to water.’ It sounds weird, but I swear I feel it daily.

I wanted to ask you guys…

If I need this scarf from Target? Maybe? Probably not, because apparently Target sucks lately.

I wanted to bitch cry to you guys about…

yesterday....

The weather. (YA COOL KAIT YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE)

But seriously, enough is enough winter. Go home.

Pretty sure wind chills were in the teens this morning.  I wore a scarf to work. I literally cannot wait until all I wear to work is a short-sleeved shirt and I’m sweating through it.

Oh, and I wanted to rave about how my favorite TV show lately is House of Cards. I started season 1 a few weeks ago with my one month Netflix trial, and am hooked. So intriguing. Love watching it while I pedal away on my bike.

HAPPY FRIDAY!! You made it! Today is Jeans Day at work, Sunday is the start of March Madness, and Monday is St. Patrick’s Day!

PUMPED.

Linking up again for #Backthatazzup Friday - how 'bout a little fun.?

Am I the only one who struggled with KB swings? Anyone else excited for some March Madness action?

Cheers - 

K

speak more of joy than of darkness

Do you like that title? It's another one of the mid-year goals that I made. They are slowly being revealed on here.. they aren't all to share but most are.

This is a hard goal for me. So, instead of b*tching, I'm going to do something simple. I'm going to talk about recent things that have made me very happy.

Free coupons from Starbucks. Because when I ordered an orange spiced coffee and they were out of the orange slices to put in it, they wanted to make it up to me. 

Let's just say I'll be stashing this bad boy away until the pumpkin spice lattes hit the shelves.

Grocery Shopping. Especially in the mornings, when the store isn’t crowded. It's simple, and I love it.

Free boxes in the mail:

This came about two weeks ago if I recall. LOVE what Kona Kase does, they've never let me down. I tried a couple of these delightful treats pre-sugar detox, and can’t wait to dive back in afterwards. I can say that I LOVED the Garuka Bar – check out their badass website here. Honey at its finest.

 Mr. Luke Bryan ladies and gentleman. In case you live in a hole, he released a new album today, and hot damn is it sexy. Listen and weep - I know I did.

In other news, my lovely roommates are slowly and brilliantly decorating our house. Look at the masterpiece gallery they created on Sunday night. I take zero credit, I literally stood there agreeing with everything said until I was excused to my room to go to bed at 8 PM. 

(this was post-triathlon + 5 miles, sue me)

My far away lover who I currently miss like no other sent me an awesome quote today. I'm a quote girl - particularly on Pinterest - but this one definitely hit me today. It's beautiful. I can't expect other people to be as enticed with sugar detoxes, running miles upon miles, etc., for the same exact reason that I have zero interest in interior decorating.

To each their own grind.
I like it.

I hope this post made you happy, if nothing else. I'm going to stretch, ice, and pass out. It's been real.

Cheers!

Sugar Reports

Well, it's lovely morning over here in Baltimore. It may be the first morning in a week that I haven't woken up to overcast/rainy weather. It's amazing what blue skies can do for you mood.

Last night I tried out 'Restoration Yoga' at Charm City Yoga after physical therapy. It involved a lot of laying, and opening up joints. I wouldn't really call it a workout, but more of a natural spa session for my body. I think I'll keep going - I have a one month LivingSocial deal there.

Anyways, yoga put me to bed early, and I woke up at 5:30 AM ready to kick some ass. I cranked out a quick circuit workout that I once again stole from Brooke in my newly organized home gym. OK OK, it doesn't quite warrant the label gym yet, but I'm working on it....

Next to purchase: a box for step ups/box jumps, and a kettle bell...

 I hopped in the shower and meandered down the street to a recently-discovered, charming Panera. It has the super cozy feeling, and felt like the perfect place to do a little writing, reflect, and gather my jumble of thoughts.

I feel good today. It could be last night's yoga, maybe a decent night of sleep. I think the 'tired/moody' side-effects that come with the first couple of days of this sugar detox are starting to subside. I will admit I stared longingly at the cinnamon crunch bagels this morning when walking into Panera, but then remembered the pumpkin pancakes (made with coconut flour) waiting for me in my car for my breakfast at the office.

There isn't too much to report on the detox yet (I'm on Day 5) aside from these two facts that I know for certain:

1. I definitely had a mental breakdown and slightly cheated on Wednesday (Day #3). This was fully supported by my coworkers who knew I was in a bad place, and needed a little sugar in my life.

Yessssss I'm an emotional eater. Sigh.

                                                 I've been good since then, I promise.

2. My abs are currently more defined than they ever have been. Ever. I'm not really one to post selfies of my stomach, or stand in the mirror flexing, but hey I'm a girl and I check myself out on occasion.

You know that saying, abs are made in the kitchen not in the gym? I'm starting to believe it....

Alright, time to pack up and head to work. I like this morning thing, don't you? Embracing mornings was another one of my midyear goals, and I'm so glad we did this.

pinterest

Tell me, what's your go-to cozy/homey coffee place when you need some alone time? I'm pretty sure this Panera just overtook the Starbucks by my work...

Have an awesome Friday, and do me a favor? Smile.

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!

Happy Spring?

Happy First Day of Spring!
Although, from what I understand, most places including B-more do not feel like spring...

Quick random thoughts of the day:

Whoever decided to make the cheap vanilla cream coffee at work this morning needs to be slapped. Not really, but seriously out of Starbucks and Caribou, you chose to make an off-brand pot of crap? That’s a potential day-ruiner right there.

A benefit to driving into work early aside from beating the crazy traffic includes watching the 7 AM flights out of BWI take off into the sunrise. It’s oddly romantic.

Dove Dry Shampoo saves my life on a bi-daily weekly basis.

Today marks 6 weeks since I haven’t run. I don’t want to talk about it right now... maybe tomorrow we can work through this together.

I woke up at 5:30 to go swim this morning, turned on my light, stood and stared at my swimsuit laid out on the floor… turned my light out, and went back to sleep for another hour. It just wasn’t happening today. And that’s ok.

Happy Wednesday, Happy Spring… tell me something you’re happy about.
Here's my post about Spring that I wrote for the Examiner.

Cheers!

Home Home Home

Where do I even start?

I'm home, for one. Hence my lack of posts this weekend. That's o.k though.  It's been a whole lot of this:

wonderful time at home (and coffee)

my favorite pup

And of course, family. My mom and I went and got manicures on Friday, which was wonderful. She threatened my life afterwards and told me that if I chew off my manicure that she's disowning me as her child...

I actually love the french manicure, and it seems to have done the trick in chewing prevention. My awesome Aunt also hooked me up with this:

It's specifically for my cuticles and I love it. It smells great and I've been using it every morning and evening so far. Stay turned for my soon-to-be beautiful nails.

Technically I don't really have a gym membership while I'm home. Luckily, I have some pretty badass friends. My wonderful long-time friend since middle school, Greg, coaches/participates in Crossfit at a local box (crossfit gym) he's been a part of now for two years.

I knew he would offer to bring me along, and I knew part of me most of me didn't really want to, mostly due to intimidation. Yet Greg knows me pretty well and did a good job of encouraging me to come along to workout with him this morning.

Currently, I may not be able to lift my arms due to one heck of a workout. I also may have loved it. More on that tomorrow.

The rest of today consisted of rainy walks along Lake Michigan, me staring longingly at the many runners who passed by, and a warm treat when we got back home.

Bri, Jane, Mom

Hot chocolate with a scoop of ice cream? Yes please! 

And one very tired pup who just fell asleep with the ball in her mouth.

Short and sweet. Can't wait to share some more thoughts tomorrow. But for now, the last piece of deep dish Chicago-style pizza is calling my name from the fridge.  :)

AKA, the best pizza in the world.

Cheers!

shut it.

Vent: I'm SO sick of people mouthing off on facebook. About politics, excessive bitching, passive aggressive comments that are both vague and annoying...

Stop it.

I wish there were a mute button for that kind of crap.

Moving on...

Because I know you desperately wanted another picture of my knee. Is it getting better? Sure is. Enough to run 26.2 miles in just over two weeks? That’s the million dollar question ladies and gents. A question that I don’t feel like addressing quite yet.

Let’s talk coffee. A beverage that I could barely stomach a year ago, that I am now extremely passionate about. I've heard arguments in both ways, but I strongly believe that the Dunkin Donuts pumpkin spice coffee that I tried for the first time yesterday is by the far the best that I’ve had yet. THE best.

I tried making my own this morning at work, with the tools that I had on hand:

Not the same, but still good. PS - that Ghiradelli chocolate is to die for. Definitely worth getting in a gang fight over.

Let’s talk about how I’ve been living out of my car. On how days like yesterday, when I wake up at 5:00 AM and go from the gym to work to PT and don’t get home until after 6 pm, how packing clothes/food for 12 hours is no small feat for a hungry sweaty girl like me. I realized that if any of my coworkers were to peak in my car windows and see my seats completely covered in bags, shoes, and dirty clothes, that they are likely to come to the conclusion that I’m homeless. Gotta do what you gotta do.

oh don't mind the half-wet swim suit sprawled out to dry.

Speaking of homeless, my attire to the health club last night was this:

Andrew and I had both had long days, and wanted to hit the hot tub for awhile. Since I already had my compression socks on post-physical therapy, I didn’t think twice about rolling over to the gym without changing. I got some pretty sweet stares.

Long hair, don’t care.

you love it.

I leave you with some motivation that I stole off of Nike’s facebook page. Because it’s Thursday, and Friday is just around the corner. Cheers!