Solo

Last week I posted about my training experience in Greece, yet today I want to ramble on about the one day I had there to explore. Because honestly, a day going solo as a tourist in Athens totally sold me on the you should take the time to travel alone theory.

Cue the eye-roll, wow this is cute Kait, so you're an expert travel blogger now huh?

No, I'm realize I'm far from it.  I'm pretty sure getting my wallet stolen because I didn't fully close your purse while trying to hail a cab disqualifies me as a travel expert.

Yet we've all see those "10 places to travel to before you die" and "12 reasons why you should try traveling alone" type of click-bait articles.  This obviously isn't click bait, it's just something that I now believe in, that I never believed in until I actually tried it.

Athens was a very last minute trip - once I got into the training, we booked a somewhat central Air BnB and flights roughly two weeks out.  I did almost no planning, and it was Thursday night with a 6 AM flight the next morning when it occurred to me I had no idea what my plan was for my free day in Athens.

It also occurred to me I couldn't check into my Air BnB until 3 pm, and would be on the ground in Greece by 8 AM.  So it was a shove 3 days worth of apparel into a backpack type of packing, proclaiming to Andrew (he flew in Saturday morning) that we couldn't dine anywhere that required a nicer dress code than gym clothes (typically my preference regardless).

Anyways, my tentative and only plan upon landing was knowing that I had to see the Acropolis - it was the main attraction, and centralized high up in the middle city; I couldn't miss it.

And I have to say, when I stepped off the Metro into the middle of a crowded Athens square on Friday morning, it was a very liberating feeling.  Not like a - WOOHOO I'm gonna run wild because Andrew isn't here - type of feeling, but more of a, I can literally go wherever I want, and do whatever I want with this day.

So I wandered to Starbucks first, because those aren't located here in Israel.  From Starbucks I could visibly see the top of the Acropolis, and so I started meandering in that direction. I wound up weaving through crazy colorful alleys full of great looking restaurants, and so I eventually stopped at one of my choosing and had a delicious omelette.

I couldn't help but wonder what the table full of high school girls next to me thought, as I sat there alone with my backpack, wolfing down my food as they gazed upon me, chain smoking before school. But it was liberating because I also didn't care; I would never see them again.

I saw three main sites, the first being the Acropolis which is fairly large and took some time.  From the Acropolis I could see pretty much the entire city, and so I picked out other sites on the map that looked of interested to me.  Next it was the Temple of Olympian  Zeus, and then finally the Panathenaic Stadium, whose name I'm still unsure how to announce.

The stadium ended up being my favorite site, probably because of it's relation to sports.  There were plenty of other things I could have seen or done - Andrew spent both Saturday and Sunday exploring, and covered pretty much everything.  If there was one thing I would see if ever back, it would be the Olympic complex from the 2004 games, which is located further outside of the city.

Anyways. Solo Kait took plenty of time to take pictures, and just sit and gaze.  I peed (in toilets) as many times as I want to because apparently I have a small bladder which can be annoying when I'm traveling with others, I'm sure.  I sat in the stadium for probably longer than Andrew would have wanted to, and even grabbed a passerby for a random handstand pic on the track.

duh

I stopped at a cafe and ate cake for lunch, and shortly after got my wallet stolen.  But honestly, even with that occurrence, I fully enjoyed my 12 hours as a wanderer in Athens. I met and had to rely on some great people who advised (and helped) me.  And I think having to overcome some obstacles on my own only made me respect my adventure a little bit more, looking back.

In summary, I'm not saying I prefer to travel alone.  Andrew and I travel well together, and I don't enjoy being alone by nature.  However, it was a great learning experience that felt different than any other tourist experiences that I've had so far, and I'm simply recommending if you ever get the chance but you're hesitant because it sounds scary or whatever, give it a try.  Just a day - maybe you'll love it.

Cheers - 

Kait

2017

Oh hey - Happy 2017, and Happy Friday - double happiness!

Sorry I went MIA there for awhile, we were lucky enough to get two wonderful visitors out here for a week over New Years, and there was absolutely no time for blogging.

Which is how adventure trips should be, right?  My little sister and her boyfriend, Bri and Jase, arrived here Tuesday night (the 27th) and it was basically non-stop adventure until they left the morning of the 4th.

Non-stop as in, any down time was basically used to eat or nap.  We did get one game of Scrabble in.

I won't give you a detailed seven day recap because that's excessive and this would turn into a 30 minute read, but I do want to cover the general trip, some favorites, and some roadblocks we hit.

The week basically looked like this:

Drove south (Eilat, Israel) and stayed Wednesday night on the Red Sea, crossed the border to Jordan first thing the next morning. Drove North to Petra, explored Petra Thursday afternoon.  Attended Petra at night, stayed at a Bedouin Camp and nearly froze to death.  Back to Petra Friday, then headed north after lunch. Stayed on the Jordan side of the Dead Sea Friday night (thanks for using your Chase points Bri), floated in the saltiness Saturday morning.  Crossed back over the border Saturday afternoon, stopped in Jericho and Jerusalem before heading back to a New Years Eve in Tel Aviv Saturday Night.  New Years Day in Jerusalem, failed to cross the border into Bethlehem due to a very long line.  Monday we headed to Northern Israel, saw Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, and a winery.  Tuesday we stayed local and explored Tel Aviv and Jaffa.

*Heavy Exhale*

Note: Petra was an amazing life experience that everyone should have on their bucket list if they ever wander to the Middle East.  Jordan in general felt very different than Israel, and I'm so glad we got to see so much of the country.  Petra is MASSIVE and you could easily spend two days there and not get bored.

The Monastery, Petra

Another Note:  Crossing the borders (both ways) is not necessarily easy and took roughly 90 minutes both times.

Roadblock:  The credit card machine wasn't working the day we got to Petra... and sadly we didn't have roughly $400 in cash handy for the four of us to get in.  We spent a few hours running around trying different ATM's until we finally solved the problem - and actually ended up paying a lot less by purchasing a two-day pass and proving that we were staying the night in Jordan.... coming out to about $60/person, plus $15 for Petra at night.

Favorite: We learned at the Bedouin Camp we stayed at (while very cold at night, awesome experience, highly recommend) that a guide could lead us on a hike into the "back door" of Petra - allowing us to start at the biggest structure, the Monastery - instead of ending there.  So for a few Jordanian Dinars we were thrown into a hilarious-probably-illegal four-wheel drive vehicle, driven to God-knows-where, and dropped off in the middle of breathtaking mountains.  A quiet, knowledgeable guide then led us on a semi-challenging hike that was absolutely stunning and made me wonder why more people don't visit Jordan.

Overall, it was fabulous to be able to spend time with family the past week, because I won't lie it didn't *fully* feel like Christmas here, with highs around 60 and zero decor around the city of Tel Aviv.  I'm so glad the trip was able to happen.

Dead Sea

To wrap this thing up: it's 2017, and I'm excited to see what the new year has to bring.  People have been sh*tting on 2016 a ton, and I won't lie it won't go down as my favorite year for an array of reasons. But it's in the past, and that's something we don't dwell on.  If nothing else, it's only motivated me to make 2017 even better; more positive, healthy, and cognizant of how I'm spending my time and energy.

Have a great weekend my friends.  Cheers - 

Kait

winter

This past long weekend, we had a fab opportunity to hop over to Madrid, Spain.  Flights were cheap, and friends of ours from Baltimore (who now live in Germany) suggested a Turkey Day meetup there awhile back.

So we were like sure, why not??

Madrid totally surprised me. I pretty much had no expectations going in, outside of knowing we were attending a Flamenco show for Thanksgiving Dinner... and that our friends Brian and Sarah would make better tour guides than we ever will.

Travel pals

I'll spare the rambling about the beauty of Madrid and the surrounding countryside (although I easily could write paragraphs about it) because I think I prefer that my travel posts offer more than just describing the trip, and more of the emotional side of it...

We both packed about thirty ten minutes prior to our cab picking us up for the airport on Wednesday night - I literally was just throwing random things into my suitcase and hoping for the best.  Luckily I glanced at the weather and noticed lows there were in the 40's, and that we should probably pull out those things that we haven't had to use here in TLV yet... what are they called again?

Coats.

Sure enough, the weather was crap.  Crap is actually the word I would have used six months ago... but after 3+ straight months of only sun, and temps in the 70's and 80's, I actually really really loved the weather.

Fun fact that most of you probably know but some of you may not - I really adore winter.  Always have, always will.  The snow, the cold that comes with it, the ice.  The bulky clothes, the skiing/sledding/snowball fights, hot chocolate - I could continue this list for days.

So yeah, I'm missing my winter a little bit.  I keep hearing from locals/people who have lived here for awhile - just wait, winter will come and it's going to suck.

Well, it's about to be December 1st and I'm still waiting, because I'm pretty sure I took the dog for a run on the beach in shorts and t-shirt this morning.

So anyways - back to Madrid. I rocked my winter coat and boots most of the trip, and loved every second of it.  The light drizzle and slight chill seemed to add to the enchanted-ness of such a gorgeous city, and the occasional wet toes were easily fixed by a few glasses of sangria.

Never in my life (outside of skiing in Michigan at age 5) have I gone on a vacation intentionally to somewhere colder; it's always been off to the beaches. But I loved every second of cold, dreary Spain, and it made me excited to plan our next cold weather trip, whenever that may be.

OK you probably have better things to do than read about how I tie my emotions to weather. I probably do too.  Have a great hump day!

Cheers - 

Kait

Travel

Up until 2016, Andrew and I wouldn't have really considered ourselves travelers.  Domestic travelers I suppose, as flights to Denver and Chicago were fairly consistent.  Belize this past February marked our first 'international trip' as a couple, then followed by this move.

This past weekend was a three-day for Andrew (Columbus Day) so we jumped on Google Flights a few weeks ago (we love Google Flights - it lays out in a map format what airfares are to what cities, whichever weekends we are looking at) and saw that flights into Larnaca, Cyprus were dirt cheap.

We then snagged an Air BnB for roughly $40 a night, patted ourselves on the backs for finding such a deal, and then were like "Hmmm I wonder what there is to do in Cyprus."

More than you think.  

Northern Cyprus AKA Turkey

Quick fact on Cyprus: the island is divided North and South - The Republic of Cyprus occupies the southern part, and Turkey occupies the North.

The more we take trips together, the more we learn what works for us.  We aren't really the pair who will/can lounge on a beach for hours at a time, sitting still is harder for us unless we are winding down for the evening.

So last week I made a list of everything I thought we might enjoy there (Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor are my BFFs when it comes to planning trips).  We knew we wanted to see both North and South, so research had to be done as to what was involved with the border crossings, etc.

I'm not writing this as a "Why you should visit Cyprus post" but if you are curious, I recommend seeing both parts of the island, as they each have different 'feels' and a lot to offer.  We drove from the North to the South in roughly 2 hours, and the drive is very beautiful along the coast.  The country has everything from ruins, castles, beaches, hikes, wineries, even a brewery (which of course we found).

But really I'm writing this because I think traveling can be stressful, and it's important to find a balance along the way.  I'm usually one for schedules and itineraries, while Andrew is a bit more adventurous fly by the seat of your pants type of guy.  We are slowly finding a great balance right in between the two mindsets for trips, and I would say Cyprus was our most successful weekend away so far in regards to that.

Outside of the fact that Andrew quickly had to learn to drive on the left side of the road, and almost hit a pedestrian within the first hour.

I think a lot of people plan trips with friends and/or their sig other and envision a perfect, happy scenario.  It's never going to be perfect guys, there will always be curveballs when it comes to travel.  They will shut down border crossings and your phone (GPS) will die and your husband will momentarily have to talk you off a ledge.

 Just expect the curveballs, and it makes it a little bit easier.

We are by NO means travel experts, but it's just something that recently became pretty evident to me, and I wanted to share. With flights to Europe so cheap from Tel Aviv, we are definitely going to try to embrace quick weekends away as we find deals, so perhaps more travel posts to come?

Anyways, Happy Friday Eve!

Cheers -

Observing

Being a Type A person,  it is a bit weird to wake up every day and not have a solid schedule in place. Don't get me wrong, every day there are certainly things to get done, but for awhile we will be lacking a consistent schedule.

So until I fully figure out what my job situation will be, I see my basic responsibilities as:

1. Settling us into our new home - this includes stocking up on groceries which has been incredibly daunting so far.
2. Training our dog. At 9 months she is well-trained but we would love to consistently have her off leash; therefore I spend a chunk of every day working with her on that. 
3. Learning basic Hebrew. It very quickly became clear that I should know at least the basics out of sheer politeness.
4. Figuring it out. Let's dig into this one.

My sense of direction has been absolutely turned upside down here in the Holy Land, outside of knowing which way the beach is. Therefore I would define figuring it out as literally wandering around. Slowly learning where the nearest grocery store is, the best cafes, which juice stand is the cheapest. Observing. Plugging my headphones in, throwing on my backpack and simply trotting around with a dazed American look on my face. 

One thing I quickly observed, and fell in love with: Israelis seem to give very little sh*ts about rules. 

Exhibit A: The Beach

From what I can tell, dogs aren't allowed at the beach, unless you're at the specific dog beach.  I started laughing on my morning run earlier this week as I witnessed dogs literally everywhere.  Granted, it was earlier in the morning and I'm not sure that would fly during prime hours, but in short people seem to take their dogs everywhere and anywhere, regardless of what the signs actually say.

However we did find the actual dog beach and Kai has never been happier

(& I absolutely cannot read Hebrew, but I'm thinking a dog with a big X through it means no dogs)

Exhibit B: Scooters

Traffic within the actual city of TLV is kind of insane and once our car gets here (which at this rate most likely won't be until December) I'm not sure I would even be brave enough to drive it within the city. Drivers are aggressive and horn-happy, but beyond that, the scooters are TERRIFYING.  They do whatever they want, always.  On the sidewalks, going the wrong way, weaving between lanes, you name it.

Exhibit C:  Socializing

In summary, it seems that any hour is happy hour.  I'm constantly finding myself questioning if the entire country is on vacation ALWAYS, as bars restaurants and cafes are fully populated at ALL hours of the day and night.  I see business men in suits sipping on beers at 11 AM on a Tuesday, and just this morning while letting Kai out at 6 AM walked past several girls on their way home from bars/clubs.

Walk by any beach any night of the week, and there are enough BBQ's and picnics going on to make us wonder if it's a Jewish holiday we were unaware of (which is not outside of the realm of possibility).

Exhibit D: Graffiti

It's everywhere; it's like a social norm for there to be graffiti on a building, not a big deal at all.  It's grown on me quickly - I'm a big fan of some of the quotes I've seen so far...

I'll stop with the examples, but have plenty more if you're interested.  In short, my observation is that there are simply less sh*t's given in this country - certainly less political correctness, no tip toeing around, more laid back about a lot of stuff.  You say and do what you feel... and I kind of like it.

So the point of why I'm babbling about this observation is; I think that I need to somewhat apply this Israeli mindset to myself as I wander around Tel Aviv trying to figure it all out.  If I hand the cashier the wrong amount of money (which I have) or order the completely wrong kind of drink at the cafe (yesterday) - oh well.  Drink it, move on.

One cafe gives you chocolate every time you order  :)

Happy Friday, hope you had an awesome week!  And if you didn't - forget it, and move on.

Cheers -

Kait

Adventures

It's been awhile huh?  A little too long.

Jumping right in; I wouldn't really consider myself the most adventurous person.  I can talk a big game and will try new things etc., but my comfort zone will forever and always be my favorite place - whether that's in my daily routine, the people I keep company with, the place that I'm living, etc.

Baltimore slowly but surely became one of my most favorite places.  The little city of a half million people is full of spunk and life and team spirit out the ass.  I learned to find a ton of joy in the places and the people who surrounded me there.

Yet Andrew and I decided early this year to consider something new. He's done the overseas thing twice now without me, and every time it's been hard. Really hard to be honest. And last year when he fell in love with Israel, and started ranting about the country's beauty, the slower pace of life, all of the things to do, I quickly put my guards up and told myself that I wouldn’t do the same.

Turns out, it only took a few days visit out there to quickly change my mind.

So, to get to the actual point of this post - last week, we started a new adventure. More specifically, as of last Thursday, we are now residing in Tel Aviv for the next two years.  Leading up to the decision, there was crazy amounts of discussions and tears and debate in regards to moving overseas in general. And it's not going to be easy, believe me we know. But I do know this gives us both the opportunity to go after things we are super passionate about, in a pretty cool country.

We'll be back and forth a lot.  This is a crazy time of life (when is it not?) and there will be weddings and holidays and babies that we absolutely cannot and will not miss.  We've already grown accustom to flights to see both of our families at this point - and so our mindset has simply shifted to, a flight is a flight.  Whether it's 10 hours or 2, when we need to be back to the States, we will get back there.  I just may need to keep some extra Advil PM on hand for that Tel Aviv – Newark non-stop flight, with a 7 hour time change.

So, after over four and half years of living in Maryland/Baltimore, we headed East. 5,000 + miles east to be exact.  Come visit - you've got a free place in Tel Aviv to stay if you want to book that Middle Eastern vacay you never could pull the trigger on. You'll just have to deal with a furry husky who likes to give kisses and occasionally wakes you up howling at 2 AM.

(Don't even get my started on the process of getting that puppy over here, that's a whole separate blog post)

It's going to be hard – change is so hard for me (Just this morning I tried to pay for my $1 coffee with a coin that was only worth 5 cents). But we're ready for it, mostly because we are doing it together.  And I'm thinking it should make for a pretty good story, so as of today this blog is back up and running (excuse the pun). Follow along, we can learn some Hebrew together.

Cheers/L'Chayim - 

Kait

It's back

I recently got into a debate with one of my coworkers that fall things (including pumpkin things) should not be acknowledged until September. He disagreed and said the start of college football marks the start of fall for him.

You say Tomato I say Tomato.

My point is, for me September = Fall. I believe our calendars say that Autumn begins on Monday, September 22nd if we are being all official and stuff, but whatever.

You better believe I've already broken into some pumpkin beer.

Andrew had the brilliant idea that we should head to West Virginia after work on Friday and do some camping - something we had never done as a couple. The weather was perfect, our campsite was beautiful, I'm still so happy that he suggested it.

I snapped some cool shots, ate some s'mores, and we both tried hard to maintain an impressive fire which quickly became unimpressive.

The s'mores got cooked, that's all that matters.

While I sat there watching the sun fade and reflect off the water, all cozy in my sweatpants, I couldn't help but think about why fall is one of my favorites (cliche, I know, I know). I don't know what it is, but I feel a slight shifting in my soul with the onset of fall. It's a little bit of calming down as crazy summer starts to wave goodbye, mixed with excitement for the relaunch of football, beautiful colors, crisp cool runs, and of course the impending holidays.

Then there's the whole planning to switch from a Miss to a Mrs. That's pretty cool to look forward to I guess...

(263 Days. The Knot counts down for me I swear I don't have it memorized)

Anyways, this is just my obligatory "welcome to fall" post. We've got a busy three weeks coming up -we are traveling/on the road 8 of the next 18 days. It will be amazing to see my future bro & sis in law say

I do 

out in Cali, as well as to make a quick trip out to CO to do some wedding stuff of our own.

In short, hang tight. Fall is coming in hot (or hopefully cool, if mother nature figures it out) and it's looking to take our breath away.

Cheers - 

Kait

PR

Having to say goodbye to sunny perfect Puerto Rico was a hard goodbye. All of the cars license plates there have "Isla del encanto" on them - the island of enchantment. That it is. 

From the rain forest to the beaches to the food to the people, it was an excellent trip. We knew by our second day there we would be back. Yet in order to not ramble, I shall keep the summary list format for you all. 

Things I leaned in Puerto Rico:

1. Gas is in liters (they use the metric system). For the first two days Andrew and I could not for the life of us figure our why gas was only .95 cents a gallon. We were mindblown, and considering moving there solely because of the cheap gas... and then let down when we realized our oversight while filling back up the rental car. 

 2. The ocean is perfectly warm. It was lovely. However, the waterfalls are breathtakingly cold.                                                                            Waterfall < ocean.

andrew jumped in a swam under the waterfall. i wasn't quite as brave.

3. Plantains are a staple food item. They have a whole bunch of different ways the prepare them; I tried the sweet plantain with beef and cheese...

I want to try every way. 

 4. Puerto Rican men all shape their eyebrows. All of them. It was fascinating to me.

 5. My Spanish isn't quite as lost as I thought it was. I gained a crazy appreciation for the number of bilingual people on the island, and it encouraged me to keep practicing! 

Hola.

6. The word for selfie in Spanish is selfie. I heard it first hand, on this beach...

7. Speaking of selfies and beaches... beach drinks taste better out of coconuts. It's science. 

8. Sometimes workouts need to be rainforest and cave hikes in fresh ocean air instead of minutes clocked in a gym. 

And other times, workouts just need to not at all, so that moments like these aren't missed.

It makes me happy that the list of places which I visit and steal parts of my heart is continuing to grow. 

Until next time PR, mi amor - 

Kait

Discussion Points

Well I wish I could say it's just been a crazy busy rush-around week and that's why I didn't write for Hump Day Confessions, but that would be a lie. Really I just got lazy on Tuesday and wasn't feeling inspired to write.

It happens.

The week workout wise was good - I got both a run and hot yoga in yesterday, followed by some frantic packing. Andrew and I are off to Colorado later this evening to meet the newest addition to his family - his new Nephew, Caleb! Can't wait to meet him!

I always like to try to utilize plane rides to do some longer-term planning; it's especially nice when Andrew is strapped into the seat next to me and I can talk his ear off and he has nowhere to hide.

Things to discuss with Andrew:

1.   Volleyball. It has been on my mind a lot lately, and I have a yearning to play it to some degree this summer. Baltimore has several beach courts, and I’ve seen a few things about some grass tournaments in the area, and I really just want to get signed up. CALLING ALL B'MORE VBALL PLAYERS, give me some guidance here.

I used to be able to jump before running took over my life.

2.   Bullet Proof Coffee. When I discover new fad/health trends that I want to try, I usually try to drag him down with me. While he didn’t jump on oil pulling (which I still occasionally do) I want to to hear his reaction to Bullet Proof coffee.  If you don’t know what it is, read more here – my cousin actually recently sent me an encouraging message about how much she loves it and feels great since she started drinking it.

3.   Puerto Rico. We have the flights and hotel booked, but outside of that, nothing. We need to nail down a few plans, don’t ya think?

TAKE ME THERE NOW

4.   Speaking of PR, I'm thinking about doing another 21 day detox come May 1. Puerto Rico is booked for May 23 so it would be pretty good timing. However I already have a few dates booked in May that would possibly have to warrant exceptions for staying sugar free... so we'll see.

5.    I discovered on Wednesday night that there is a Giraffe Manor in Nairobi, Africa. Basically, it’s a hotel on the property of a 140 acre giraffe sanctuary. Windows and doors are left open so that the giraffes can come visit whenever they want.

WHAT.

If we ever go to Africa, that’s at the top of the list.

This reminds me, we also still need to go check out the new twin giraffes at the Maryland Zoo!

Solid discussion list for the 4ish hour plane ride, don’t you think? I’ll leave you all with a new recipe to try this weekend if you’re feeling adventurous.

Eggdrop Broccoli Slaw:

-          1 cup broccoli slaw

-          Handful of chopped mushrooms (or onions or whatever you like)

-          ½ cup shrimp (mine were frozen)

-          ½ cup vegetable broth

-          1 glove garlic

-          1 egg

-          Salt/pepper/crushed red pepper to taste

Saute the broccoli slaw, mushrooms and shrimp in the vegetable broth and garlic on medium heat. Meanwhile, boil water and follow these directions to poach your egg.

Throw it all in a bowl, and gently ladle your poached egg on top. Season to taste. Good stuff. I <3 poached eggs.

I’m off to start my Friday. I’ve got a plane to catch and a baby to see. #Backthatazzup today for me, will ya?

Cheers - 

Kait

Train the Brain

I wrote this lame half-assed post on the flight back from Dallas on Sunday, and then realized it was boring as crap and deleted it. You’re welcome.

Bye Dallas!

Instead, let’s talk about how it’s April.

You know how my crazy little mind works at this point, so you’re probably waiting for me to rattle off a series of things I’m going to strive for in this new month. Well let’s get to it – there are 3 (three).

I’m estatic to be back in Baltimore. The weekend in Dallas was awesome, but most certainly not restful. I’m ready for my routine again this week.

the Friday night performance

One awesome takeaway from this weekend was a speaker we had – John Foley. He touched upon a lot of motivational/teamwork/leadership type of topics, but also mentioned the power of positivity, basically on training your brain to be positive. This may not be exactly how he phrased it, but he described that if you wake up every morning and think of something you are grateful about, that after 24 – 27 days you will automatically start waking up with a positive mindset.

Yes, I love that.

First April goal = work on that positive brain.

Second and third goal kind of go hand-in-hand...

Goal #2 = no running in April.

I actually haven’t run in over a week now. It is just time. Little nagging injuries (including a big toe that’s been bothering me since September) just ain't getting better. And while I CAN run with them, I just don’t think they are gonna go away until I drop down to zero for a while.

                                            

me as I write this.

Between a road trip to Indiana, a visit from my sister and her boy, Easter, and a weekend trip to Colorado to see Andrew's new nephew (YAYY), I predict the month will fly by, and I will survive. Plus I already have a tentative pool date booked for Friday. Never said pool running was out of the picture.

After a month or so I will reevaluate with caution. It's the reason I've yet to schedule a race this year - I'm tired of losing money due to getting hurt. I would love to say by mid-summer/fall I'll have something on the agenda, but that's all speculation. And I'm ok with that. In the meantime, it's strength training, swimming, spinning, the usual. My Crossfit living social deal ends this week which I'm bummed about, but a monthly membership just isn't in the budget right now.

Sigh.

Anyways, goal #3 is to stick to other sweaty options since running is ixnayed. Last night I started the Jillian Michael’s 6-week six pack – it’s a 35 min video on Youtube (part I) – thanks to a recommendation from Kat. I actually really enjoyed it (I don’t normally love the fitness video thing) and am going to commit to doing that, or any other fitness video I stumble upon over the next month or so, 2-3 times per week. Probably in the mornings, because nothing puts me in a thankful mood quicker than starting my day with a little sweat (See what I did there?).

Well this has been fun. Tell me your April goals? Share your fav fitness videos? And have an amazing freaking day.

Cheers –

Kait

New York New York

This is going to jump all over the place, just how you like it right?

First thing’s first. My sister got back from a week-long trip to Peru this past weekend, and I think it might be official that she’s cooler than me.

Bri, in her Bulls jersey, with a baby llama, before hiking Huayna Picchu.

While I haven’t traveled internationally recently (and probably won’t this year) we did go up to New York City this past weekend for my first ever visit! We just stayed the day on Saturday, saw all the touristy sites, and met up with my friend Leslie who was in town for work.

My favorite part of the day was probably seeing the 9/11 Memorial, which was incredibly impactful and so tastefully done. Runner up was our New York-style pizza and some beers. HOWEVER, let me make it clear that Chicago-style pizza will always be my favorite. Always.

the 9/11 Memorial

It’s a busy week over here – on Thursday most of my coworkers and I ship out to Dallas for a work event. I tried my best to get some solid food prep in yesterday for the days that I am here, including this delicious spaghetti squash recipe and then this (paleo) brownie recipe…

I doubled the recipe to make a full pan

Being a compulsive Type A-er, traveling sometimes stresses me out. Seeing that traveling is happening four of the next eight weekends, I’m trying hard to plan ways to set myself up for success – from packing healthy food, to saving all of those obnoxious (yet helpful) no-gym workouts we constantly see all over Pinterest.

Last but not least, I promised an update on oil pulling if I had anything to report. Really… I don’t. I haven’t noticed much, outside of that I kind of enjoyed the process itself (I found it relaxing) and liked the way the coconut oil felt on my lips. Maybe my teeth got whiter? Outside of that, I remained unimpressed. The price of coconut oil probably isn’t worth continuing to oil pull religiously… but I may still do it on occasion, assuming it’s a good oral health ritual. All in all, it was a fun experiment.

That’s all I’ve got. Stay tuned for some Hump Day confessions on Wednesday.

Anyone else have an oil pulling opinion? Got a great travel workout to share? I could use it.

Cheers –

K