MIMM – Page 8

Swim, yoga and Couch Time: MIMM#81

August 1, 2016 by Alicia 4 Comments

Oh the weekend…It’s my favorite because I can do what I want. Friday I finally left work on time after working 2 12+ hour days. Finally I was at least somewhat caught up. I always expect to have a bit of overtime after vacation but this was ridiculous and due in part because we are launching a major project in two weeks and I had all day meetings so I started working around 4pm each day…but let’s not dwell on that because it’s done.

Friday evening I decided to whip up some homemade guacamole and a mojito. I will be posting the drink recipe on Wednesday so make sure to check back.

Once I made my food, I plopped myself on the couch, turned on a Netflix movie and that was pretty much my night. Oh other than my toilet breaking so I learned to manually cycle the toilet with a bucket and filling it from the tub. Yeah that was fun…but since it was nearly 9pm when it occurred and I could at least manually flush, I waited until morning to contact maintenance.

That brings us to Saturday. I headed out for a few errands in the morning going over to the apartment office as soon as they opened regarding my toilet. Then while I was out maintenance must have shown up. I come back to a bathroom rug moved, bucket in the tub and the light in my bathroom on which I did not leave on. However I discovered the toilet was still not fixed. Here is what I believed happened. The maintenance person flushed it enough times with water from the tub that it actually did go back to filling itself, even though I had flushed it like 10 times to check it and each time manually filled with water the previous night. So now it sometimes fills, a few minutes later and other times, it doesn’t…I left a message on the maintenance line, deciding that at least I knew how to flush the toilet if need be and would give it another day.

I headed out for my Saturday swim. I managed 110 total laps and did a few 100 yd sets for some speed work. Due to my being so stressed and hours long at a desk this week, I noticed I did not drink enough water this week. Though I have been trying to drink tons since Friday night, I was definitely not as hydrated as I should have been for my swim. I am surprised I actually managed my usual laps and at the end of the swim, I decided to water jog 4 laps and on the last lap, I got a Charlie horse in my leg. It was not fun, but luckily I am a strong swimmer and the pool is only 5ft deep at the deepest so I can touch the whole way, so I hopped along on my good leg and tried to massage it out a bit before getting out of the pool.

The afternoon was spent hydrating more, doing some stretching and working on meal prep. I decided to try a new recipe that involves cabbage and I have never cut a cabbage before and unfortunately do not have the help of a food processor which is the way I always remember my dad doing so. Thank you internet for teaching me how to cut cabbage. I also roasted some beets and made some almond flour cookies.

I spent a bit of time working on the blog since I missed that last week. Then my friend invited me over for dinner after hearing of my toilet issues. It was good to get out of the apartment for a couple hours and she made some really good lemon chicken with quinoa and veggies on the side.

When I got home, I settled on the couch again. I needed some good me time and relaxing time. I am working my way to feeling refreshed again. Can I just go back to being on vacation again?! (PS Vacation recap coming soon)

Sunday was kind of a lazy day. It was rainy in the morning and after attempting to make a waffle for breakfast that turned out very messy, I relaxed and did some yoga. My hips have been so tight and I was stretching to try to work out the knot in my leg from the Charlie horse on Saturday.

I then took a relaxing bath even though I had to head out an hour later to teach yoga. I felt so unmotivated to do anything Sunday morning, but once I got to yoga and started teaching and actually had over 20 people, I felt better afterward. I headed to Target after teaching to return an item and then spent way too much money buying other items. One of the highlights of my weekend was finally buying a toaster! I plan to get some sort of bread to keep in the freezer since I don’t eat bread that much, but I wanted to be able to make avocado toast at home or chia jam toast.

Along with a new month, I finished off my July Gratitude calendar and bought new pens at Target so I can have a bit of color going into August.

Once I got home from Target, I had a late lunch and parked it on the couch for a couple hours. Sometimes you just need a lazy day. I wasn’t sure on the weather as we seemed to have scattered showers, so it wasn’t the best weekend for the pool. I decided to stay in, relax, meal prep and work on writing.

Here’s the final dinner recipe I made with the cabbage I prepared Saturday.

Now it’s time to conquer another week and get back to my full week of workouts.

Do you ever have a lazy weekend?

What did you do this weekend?

Instagram Friends, Pool Time and Packing MIMM#80

July 18, 2016 by Alicia Leave a Comment

Hey there, happy Monday!! I don’t know where the month of July is going. I hate all the overtime I have had to put in at work lately and the month is flying by. But I am happy because this week is vacation, other than today working remotely, but then off until next Tuesday. I think there is a pattern in my vacations, I am usually off the grid so no one can reach me. I love it. Actually, you should check out Davida’s recent post about digital detox. It is good for everyone. I am constantly on my phone and checking it. Part of it is because I connect with so many like minded people on social media which I love! Technology today is really amazing with how connected we all are. That brings me to one of my exciting things over the weekend, I got to meet Mary (@fourthehealthofit on Instagram). Mary and I have been following each other on Instagram since I started doing yoga challenges on there in March 2014. March 2014 was a major turning point in my life since I was laid off from my first job after college on Feb 28, 2014. I had joined Instagram in December 2013 after my sister begged me to because she didn’t like my food pictures being on Facebook, she said Instagram was for that.

Then I discovered yoga challenges, my first one I heard about from Erin’s blog. She led it with a couple other people. I believe Mary and I were both part of that challenge or another one that Kim (@kimberlyallanyoga) led. We have both since taken a bit of a step back from multiple challenges each month, but whenever I post a yoga photo or a selfie or something, we both check in on each other’s pages. When I learned she was in Pennsylvania and then noticed her tags and she was near the same county that I live in, I asked if she would like to meet up. We found a park that was about half way for both of us to go to, only about a 30 min drive for me and met up there. We walked the trail twice and I think that was a bit over 4 miles per my fitbit guesstimate and just talked about our lives, everything from careers, colleges, family, and fitness. Time flew by and we were hot and sweaty after that, but Mary agreed to take a picture. I mean, it didn’t happen unless there is a picture right?!

It was lunch time as I headed back and I was craving Panera. I didn’t have much food at home since I wasn’t going shopping this weekend and heading out of town. I got the strawberry chicken poppyseed salad and bacon turkey bravo and an iced tea because I was so hot.

I got my food to go and when I got home, I set down my stuff and immediately took a cold shower. As hungry as I was, I needed to cool off first. Then I was ready to eat. I texted my friend to see if she was heading to the pool and she was waiting for her son to nap and then they were going to eat and head over. After I finished my lunch I met up with them and we headed to the pool.

We spent about 2 hours in the pool and spent a little while in the sand before the thunder started and they had to clear the pool. It rained a little bit but it was a quick passing storm. By the time I had taken my second shower when I got home, the sun was coming out again, but that was OK.

I made some dinner, mostly from my freezer stash, a turkey patty and I had some roasted veggies that I whipped up quickly in the morning.

In the evening, I enjoyed much needed couch time relaxing and watching too many episodes of Life Unexpected, I actually finished the second and final season Sunday morning.

Sunday morning was quite laid back since I didn’t have to do a bunch of meal prep. I spent the morning packing up everything and cleaning up the apartment. With the fridge being so empty I was finally able to wipe it down ( <– the things we get excited for as adults…) . I headed out to stop at Target for some snacks for the road and teach yoga and then it was time to drive.

Looking forward to a week away, time with Brian, his family and seeing a friend in Canada.

I will still have my usual Yoga Workshop Fridays post up this Friday, so be sure to come check it out. If you leave any comments or questions, I will get back to you in a week.

Hope you all have a great week!

Date Night and Yoga Workshop: MIMM#79

July 11, 2016 by Alicia 4 Comments

Hey there! Happy Monday. Today is a great Monday, because it’s 7/11 day!! Hello free slurpee! I haven’t purchased a slurpee in ages and last 7/11 day I failed to get one. I am hoping to make it to the 7/11 in the city today for my slurpee fix. I hear they released a birthday cake flavor. Weird flavor for a slurpee but I also really want to try it. Growing up, my house was around the corner from a 7/11. I remember when my parents would send me and my bff there to pick up some milk and while we were there we would get a slurpee or a cheap little toy. Good times.

Alright back to the present, or the weekend rather.

I don’t have too many photos from the weekend as it was pretty laid back, but started out with Brian meeting me after work on Friday and we went out to dinner. The restaurant El Rey is around the corner from my office and since me and my boss discovered it on Cinco De Mayo day (worst day to try to get a seat at a mexican restaurant btw), it has been a great restaurant to go to for lunch.

Somehow even with the happy hour specials, Brian and I both chose one of the pricier menu items, but they were delicious. We started with a crab avocado salad. I am not a big seafood person, so I picked around the crab but did have a bite of it. Eventually our main plates came out. I don’t remember what my plate was called as it was in Spanish, but it contained chicken, cheese, peppers and onions, guac and refried beans. It was delicious!!

After paying for our meal, we had about 45 minutes until the train and Carlos’ Bakery was around the corner so we stopped there. Brian was set on getting a cannoli and I was set on a cookie. Since Brian ordered 2 cannolis, I decided to also get a cupcake to take home. The cupcake was perfect dessert for Saturday.

So from Mexican to Cake Boss…an interesting combo for date night, but delicious!

We made it home around 8 and decided to watch Kinky Boots. Brian and I both loved the movie so now we want to go see the show on Broadway sometime.

Saturday

To be honest Saturday was pretty uneventful other than me attending a yoga workshop. I worked on meal prep through the morning, using the oven for almost 3 hours when it was 80 outside…probably not the best idea, but made some delicious food.

In the afternoon, I drove to the Yoga Garden for a workshop on backbends and inversions. There was quite a bit of handstand work and that is definitely not my strong suit. I loved the partner work we did because I finally feel like I am becoming more confident in kicking up to a handstand. I know that my weight workouts are helping my arm strength a ton and it feels amazing to get a little assistance and be upside down. As far as backbends go, I love them! My wheel pose inspired the name for this blog. One interesting way to combine the inversion and backbend is with hollow back handstand, which with some help from my partner during the workshop, I was able to get a feel for it for the first time. That was really awesome!! If I had someone to help me all the time, I would definitely practice more, but at the moment, my practice for handstands is limited to workshops where I have teachers and other yogis to assist me.

By the time I arrived home, Brian had dinner ready. We attempted cauliflower rice sushi again and I guess I didn’t buy enough cauliflower rice, but from the little bit of sushi he did make, it was pretty good. I ended the night with a cupcake.

Oh and the perfect shirt arrived Saturday from the Summer Sweat Series with Lee and Monique.

We went for a nice walk in the evening as the humidity is finally going down. I love the heat, but the humidity was a bit much being at like 80%. We enjoyed watching the movie Butter in the evening, which I have seen a few times, but Brian never saw it.

Sunday

Sunday morning started with the oven and stove on again. What can I say?! I love being in the kitchen, especially making breakfast when Brian is around. I made Lexi’s sweet potato BLT fritta. I was actually so hungry while making it that I also made a quick protein pancake while waiting. It was a nice protein filled breakfast that kept me full for hours.

For the rest of the morning, I worked on my blog and writing up a yoga sequence to teach in the afternoon.

After yoga, we headed to the pool for a few hours talking with some new friends.

Then we headed over to a new friend’s place for dinner. I brought over some brussel sprouts and roasted beets which we had with salmon and potatos. It was really tasty and nice to get together at another person’s apartment, plus I got to play with hot wheels cars with her sweet little boy.

Afterward, it was time to prep some stir fry for my dinners for the week and then relax for the evening finishing the movie, The Big Short and watching The Next Food Network Star, of course.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day. They are releasing new train schedules for me today so I hope the commuting goes better than last week for me.

What is one fun thing you did this weekend?

Do you like to cook on the weekends?

July 4th Weekend: MIMM#78

July 4, 2016 by Alicia 3 Comments

Happy July 4th to my fellow Americans!! Also Happy belated Canada Day to my Canada friends. Hopefully everyone is enjoying the long weekend. I have been soaking up as much pool time as I can, though it has been a bit breezy here and cloudy making it the perfect temperature for laying by the pool without actually going in it lol.

I would back up to Friday night, but there isn’t much to say. I actually stayed at the office until 6pm Friday, while most people started heading out at 3. I was behind on some things and knew I could not stay late Tuesday so decided to catch up Friday. I got home and sat down to find Life Unexpected on Netflix and have pretty much finished the first season this weekend. This is why it is good I have decided to not watch tv on weekdays (other than Friday night).

Saturday

I went to the gym to swim at around 9am. I now know why it is better to swim around 10am as the pool was a bit more crowded at 9, but eventually I ended up with my own lane. The first 20-30 laps honestly felt like an eternity for some reason. I finally got more into swimming by the end of my hour, but I was just so tired for some reason. I did about a mile and a half total, which is what I usually stick to for a short swim. There was tons of stopping to defog my goggles. The pool at the gym is sometimes too hot and goggles fog easily which is annoying. Anyway, I was happy to be done early.

I then headed to Cherry Hill for some shopping and groceries. I went to the mall with a goal to find a new purse. I have been somewhat searching for 6+ months for a new purse and July 4th sales were a good reason to check out stores. I usually end up going to the mall in search of something and walking out with nothing or 5 things that weren’t the item I was planning to buy. Luckily I had a bit more luck Saturday strolling the mall and I ended up with a new purse, a necklace for a dress for possible engagement photos and new sunglasses from JC Penny. All the items were at least 50% off, which was awesome. After my successful shopping it was lunch time and I wanted to go to Bobby’s Burger Palace attached to the mall. I have been a few times with Brian and I love it! I got the LA topless burger and some sweet potato fries. I am not that big on sweet potato fries, I prefer roasted sweet potatos, but this place has great fries.

After inhaling my food, it was time to go to Wegmans. I was glad I ate before so I stuck to my list.

By the time I got home, it was mid afternoon and I changed and sunscreened up for the pool. Like I mentioned in the beginning though, it was a bit cloudy and breezy, so after reading for an hour by the pool, I left. I didn’t feel like getting in the water and I had already swam in the morning anyway.

Sunday

Though a day early, I topped my Sunday pancake with some red and blue.

Then I decided to head to the park down the road for some yoga and enjoy the view.

Neshaminy park july — working on my chaturanga

I worked on some meal prep before teaching yoga and then came back to find the cats like this.

I headed to the pool in the afternoon which was packed for the July 4th celebration including free food. I actually came in as they were having the lifeguards race the snack bar kids so I didn’t get my ticket for food, but I don’t like hot dogs anyway so that was fine. I ran into a friend I met at the pool a few weeks ago and met her friend and almost 3 year old son so I joined them and we talked and went in the water and had fun. It was still a bit overcast outside with clouds, so even though the water wasn’t that bad, once you got out, you were cold.

Once I got home it was time to make dinner. I made this burger recipe but used ground turkey instead and the burger was very tasty. I was roasting some sweet potato for the week and decided to spiralize half of one as well. At the pool I was telling my new friends about spiralizing and how fun it is so I was craving something spiralized lol. Sometime, my new friends and I are hoping to have a potluck type dinner so we can all bring a dish and I think a spiralized dish might be something I would bring.

In the evening, I was watching tv and heard some fireworks going off. Living right on the river has its perks. It was a nice show and went on for a good maybe 30 minutes, but I couldn’t see some of the lower ones.

Unless there are more fireworks tonight, which I expect I will see some, that is my extent of watching fireworks this 4th of July. I don’t risk my life going into the city with the crowds and concerts anymore, but hoping I might be able to find the live stream online. Philadelphia does a HUGE celebration on the Ben Franklin Parkway leading to the Art Museum and then the fireworks are at like 10/10:30. By the time those start, I need to rush to catch the last train. I did it once 2 years ago and never again (unless I am with a big group of people).

Today’s plans are to get some yoga work done and blog work and simply relax. The sun is shining more than yesterday so another trip to the pool will be happening too. I also started out my morning with oatmeal, red and blue.

How are you celebrating the 4th?

Did you get to see any fireworks?

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