Weekly Recap: February 21-27

I had a solid week with nothing really exceptional to note except my run on Sunday with Sara in Franklin, TN (suburb of Nashville). Even though it was short run, it was awesome to run with her again.

Monday: 45 min elliptical
45 min TRX/Cardio class

Tuesday: 4 mi (8:21 pace), 30 min elliptical

Wednesday: 30 min Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown (Level 2)

Thursday: 5 mi (8:03 pace), 20 min bike

Friday: 1 hr spinning; lifted total body

Saturday: 45 min spinning @ YMCA in Franklin, TN

Sunday: 3 mi w/ Sara (9:45 pace)

TOTAL: 12 mi

Heading Back Home...

As you read this, Todd & I will be driving back from what was hopefully an awesome weekend visiting Sara & Jay in Nashville. Neither one of us had ever been to Nashville so going into our 3 day weekend, we were very excited!

We also stopped at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky on our way down on Friday and did the 2 hour New Entrance Tour.

A longer recap of our weekend will be up in the next couple days!

Jillian Michaels 6 Week Six-Pack

Last weekend after I ran 5 mi, I wanted to do some core work but was getting bored with the same old exercises so I thought I'd try a new DVD I got for Christmas, Jillian Michaels 6 Week Six-Pack. I was also excited to get some new exercises for my core class I teach because after almost 4 years of teaching it, I can always use something new & fresh.

There are two workouts on the DVD, Level 1 & Level 2. Both are about 35 min including a warm up and cool down. I decided to try Level 1 to start out just because the DVD recommends doing Level 1 for 3 weeks before moving on to Level 2. I figured Level 1 wouldn't be super challenging but I wanted to at least see what it was like. The DVD has Jillian, along with 2 other trainers, doing the workout. One trainer is doing a modification to the exercise to make it easier while the other trainer is doing a more challenging version. I really liked this because since it was Level 1, there were several times I had to do the more challenging version.

The workout itself was great; it wasn't just your typical ab workout on the floor. For example, there were squats & lunges with twists to engage your core along with shorts bursts of cardio like burpees & mountain climbers. The workout was one circuit that you went through twice. You can see though that each circuit had a ton of exercises since the workout was about 30 minutes long! Even though I wasn't sore the next day, it was still a good workout that kept my heart rate elevated and I'm hoping after trying Level 2, I'll be able to feel the burn a little bit more.

Wedding Wednesday

Since I've been engaged, I've spent quite a bit of time looking at wedding blogs and Etsy to find cute and sometimes unique ideas for our wedding. I've always believed in the thinking that it's the little things that count. The same goes for all the small details in our wedding, it's those things that make our wedding stand out from everybody else's weddings and that I'm most excited about (besides marrying Todd of course!)

By looking at one of the many wedding blogs I read, I came across Wedding Chicks. They too have their own wedding blog (and now baby blog) but they also have a shop with lots of shirts, tanks, and tote bags appropriate for the wedding day. I thought their items were a little overpriced but after checking back on a regular basis, I found that they were having 20% off everything as well as free shipping for a limited time. I ended up buying 2 items and after getting the package in the mail yesterday, I love them and am glad I splurged a little bit.

I bought the Personalized Super Love Wedding Tote

My version in pink & gray!

I also bought the Simple Bride Tank in pink to wear the morning of the wedding

I had mentioned a couple weeks ago about making the wine cork place cards. Well, my brother just sent me a big box of corks so it looks like Todd & I have our work cut out for us!

Weekly Recap: February 14-20

I'm finally building my mileage up again, very slowly of course, but I'm feeling great. Nothing too exciting to note this week except I finally did another Jillian Michaels DVD I got for Christmas (review to come later this week) and I had to teach spinning twice on Sunday.

Monday: 45 min elliptical; push ups

Tuesday: 75 min Power Flow Yoga

Wednesday: 4 mi (8:14 pace); 20 min bike

Thursday: REST

Friday: 3 mi (8:09 pace); 45 min spinning

Saturday: 5 mi (7:59 pace); 35 min Jillian Michaels 6 Week Six-Pack (Level 1)

Sunday: taught 20 min core & taught 50 min spinning
taught 45 min spinning

TOTAL: 12 mi

Go Big Blue!

Yesterday, Todd & I headed down to Lexington, Kentucky with my parents for a UK basketball game. Both my parents went to UK and I've been a huge fan since I was younger so I was excited to go to a game this year especially since I didn't get a chance to go to one last year.

My aunt & uncle live in Lexington and another aunt & uncle of mine came into town when they heard we were coming so we met all of them for lunch at Joe Bologna's. The restaurant is really neat because it was an old church from the late 1800s that was transformed into a restaurant in the late 1980s. It still has the original stained glass windows and the pulpit is now the bar area. We ate some great deep dish pizza and visited with my family for awhile.

Since it was such a nice day outside, we decided to just walk over from the restaurant to Rupp Arena for the basketball game. Kentucky was playing South Carolina and even though they already lost to them at South Carolina earlier in the season, Kentucky was expected to win big.

Outside Rupp Arena, one of the largest basketball arenas in the country

Attached to the arena is a small shopping area & food court....there was blue & white everywhere!
We had really good seats in the lower level behind one of the baskets
The cheerleaders getting everyone pumped up before the game starts
Todd & I

The cheerleaders near the end of the game during a timeout
As you can see from the final score, Kentucky definitely won big

Despite the blowout, it was a great game and Kentucky was on fire from the 3-point line. Even though Todd isn't a Kentucky fan, he was actually pretty impressed with the game, the arena, and the sell-out crowd. In fact, he spent part of the game trying to find a single South Carolina fan and didn't succeed. Go big blue!

Belated Valentine's Day at Melting Pot

Since Todd & I didn't want to spend $175 at the Melting Pot on Valentine's Day (yes, they were really charging that much per couple!), we postponed our dinner plans to last night. The funny thing is, we were sitting at a table close to the entrance of the restaurant and every time the hostess walked by with a couple, she would ask them why they were going out to dinner and every couple said it was to celebrate a belated Valetine's Day. Clearly, we weren't the only ones thinking $175 was a little steep for dinner for two.

I've been wanting to go to Melting Pot forever and was pretty excited to finally go. I'm not sure if my expectations were too high or if I thought for the price of the food it would be out of this world, but I was slightly disappointed. Don't get me wrong, it was good and Todd & I definitely ate all of our food, but it didn't live up to the hype. I did love the whole experience of Melting Pot though. We were actually cooking the food at our table and we had plenty of time to enjoy each other's company.

We started with a cheese fondue followed by salads, our main meat course and ending with a delicious chocolate fondue. Obviously, the chocolate fondue was my favorite and we ate up every last drop.

Wisconsin Cheese Trio with apples, bread, and veggies

California Salad for Todd & Caesar Salad for me
I got the Vegetarian entree but substituted tofu for chicken...there were lots of veggies & ravioli
Todd got the Shrimp & Sirloin along with a side of veggies & potatoes

Our meat is cooking away
Amazing dippers for the chocolate fondue...my favorite were the strawberries & rice krispy treats
The Original dessert fondue....chocolate with crunchy peanut butter swirled in
Todd & I celebrating our 3rd Valentine's Day together

Valentine's Day

Even though Todd & I are technically celebrating Valentine's Day on Wednesday by going to The Melting Pot, we still spent time together last night. I made Cheddar Chicken Casserole for dinner and we had a bottle of red wine my brother bought me for my birthday last year. Both were delicious!

And even though we weren't giving each other presents (remember, we have that little thing called a wedding coming up in 6 months), Todd still bought me flowers and a small gift.

Beautiful flowers for Valentine's Day
Love the pink color
I swear there's food on the plate behind all the wine

My present from Todd...it's perfect!

Just ignore my 80's style sweatshirt & disheveled hair, I mean, I was slaving away all night in the kitchen...or for like 45 minutes

Nothing says love quite like Funfetti brownies

Obviously you have to have dessert on Valentine's Day & I like to think it was healthy since there were 3 strawberries included

Weekly Recap: February 7-13

I ran twice this week! Granted, I only ran 3 mi each day but I felt pretty darn good. My TRX class on Monday was brutal and my quads were burning until mid-week. I ended the work week on Friday with a great workout with Emily, who was in town from Cleveland. I miss having her as my running & workout partner so we always like to take advantage of working out together whenever she's in town for work.

Monday: 1 hr TRX Suspension Training class

Tuesday: 45 min spinning

Wednesday: 1 hr Vinyasa Flow Power Yoga

Thursday: REST

Friday: 3 mi (8:19 pace), 30 min elliptical; lifted total body

Saturday: 3 mi (8:16 pace), 30 min elliptical

Sunday: taught 20 min core & taught 50 min spinning

TOTAL: 6 mi

TRX Certification

I've mentioned during the past few months how I've been taking a TRX Suspension Training class. I absolutely love it and recommend for everyone to try it. Trust me, your muscles will be burning during the class & you will be sore the next day, but it is a fantastic workout. You can even add in short bursts of cardio, like split lunge jumps while holding the TRX handles, that will keep your heart rate up.

TRX Suspension Trainer

Variety of Exercises with TRX

I also mentioned last week that I finally became Spinning certified, mainly in hopes of teaching at another gym because I'm not teaching my outdoor boot camp class this spring & summer. I got word from the gym that I take yoga & TRX at that they needed more Spinning instructors. I talked to one of the owners and he said they're definitely interested in hiring me but they also like their instructors to be certified in both Spinning & TRX so they can teach both classes as well as the combo class. I am more than willing to get certified especially since the training will take place next month at this same gym. I think it's fate. I'm excited to get certified and to hopefully start teaching Spinning and TRX.

Wedding Wednesday

I know it's not original but every once in awhile, I'm going to have Wedding Wednesday on my blog, where I will have updates on our wedding. This week, I'm going to show you our idea for our escort cards.

One thing Todd & I are starting to work on is making our escort card holders. I had seen the idea of using wine corks for these and absolutely loved it especially since Todd & I have been to countless wineries together and it means something to us as a couple. I found a good how-to over at Life After I Dew, one of the Columbus bloggers I met up with December, on how to make them since she used them for her wedding.

We have some wine corks saved from the bottles of wine Todd & I have shared over the past few years and my brother has a ton that he's going to send us. We're going to play around with them to see which way we want the wine corks to stand and whether we want to use a washer on the bottom or sand them down to keep them upright.

The wine corks Todd & I have saved

Inspiration picture #1

Inspiration Picture #2

Weekly Recap: January 31-February 6

The big ice storm we had mid-week changed my workout plans as my yoga class was canceled & the other gym I work out at was closed. I did run a whole 2 miles on Saturday (note my sarcasm) and while I would have loved to run a lot longer, my hip did not hurt and I didn't want to push my luck.

Monday: 30 min elliptical
45 min TRX/Cardio class

Tuesday: 45 min elliptical

Wednesday: 30 min Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown (Level 2)

Thursday: 1.5 hrs indoor rock climbing

Friday: 1 hr spinning

Saturday: 2 mi (8:31 pace), 30 min bike
1 hr TRX/Bosu class

Sunday: taught 20 min core & taught 50 min spinning

TOTAL: 2 mi

Mustache Party 2011

Last night, Todd & I went to the 4th Annual Mustache Party that a bunch of guys he works with put together. There are about 40-50 guys that start growing beards in December/January and then on the Friday before the Super Bowl, they show up at work with their facial hair shaved down to only mustaches. They take a huge group picture and cap off the competition with a big party the next night. The only requirement to attend the party is that everyone, including females, must show up with a mustache. When Todd & I were in Portland last summer, we found a package of stylish mustaches for each day of the week that we knew we must have. Looks like I'm set for the next 6 years!

My choice of staches

I went with "The Square" mustache because I thought it looked most like Todd's red mustache

Even though the party was mostly people from Todd's work, a few of my friends came to it last year and continued the tradition this year. It was nice because they knew several other people at the party because they also came on the Bourbon trip we took for Todd's 30th birthday in November. My one friends, Megan, is quite the homemaker these days and actually whipped up a few mustaches on her sewing machine. They were awesome!

Me, Megan, and Lynn
Megan & Brian

Lynn (sporting the double stache) & Nathan

Even though none of us won awards for our mustaches, we had a fantastic time hanging out and being creeped out my all the mustaches around us.

Climbing Higher

After an 8 month hiatus, Todd & I finally made it back to the gym for some indoor rock climbing. We were pretty good about going once a week last winter but once the weather starts to get nice, we ditch the gym for outdoor activities. I knew last night wouldn't be pretty since I hadn't climbed in quite some time but I surprisingly did better than I thought I would. I made it to the top of some easier climbs and managed my way up about 2/3rds of some more challenging routes. My hands & forearms are definitely not in climbing shape as they tired out pretty quickly.

Todd making his way up to the top

Trying to find my next move

We like to show up wearing the same shirt because we're cool like that...this was actually not planned either

Nothing beats Chipotle guac after climbing for 1.5 hours

Oh, and did I fail to mention that this weekend is the annual mustache party? Yes, that's why Todd has had a beard the past month or so & looks like a total creepo right now

Save the Date Cards

Our Save the Date cards were mailed out last week & I'm really pleased with how they turned out. My Matron of Honor is a graphic designer and her wedding present for Todd & I is to design our Save the Date cards, invitations, programs, menus, etc. It's great that everything will look similar & cohesive.....plus everything will be unique & one of a kind!

Our Save the Date cards(I blurred out part of our Knot website at the bottom)