Top 13 in 2013!

I feel really lucky to say that it was so difficult to decide my top moments of the year. There were so many great memories to choose from!!

I did my best to narrow it down, and here's what I came up with:

1. Trip to Portland, ME. For Christmas Tom gave me the perfect weekend getaway to Portland. My favorite experience from the trip was definitely dinner at Street & Company -- we shared this massive seafood feast!

2. Brunch party! 100 fresh oyster, bloody marys, and eggs to order.

3. Boston Calling -- such an awesome first festival for Boston. Hoping that next year's lineup will be even better!

4. There are a million amazing moments from our trip to Europe, but this evening in Paris was one of my absolute favorites. After a great meal, we walked out onto the small deserted alley just in time to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle. It was so romantic! Unfortunately it was followed by another of my most unforgettable experiences of the year...the walking dead.

5. I couldn't pick just one moment from my 25th birthday. I am one seriously lucky lady -- Iron & Wine, The Postal Service, American Craft Beer Fest, partying with friends, and a 14-course meal at Clio.

6. Crab legs, beer, and sightseeing in St. Louis. In June we went to visit some of Tom's friends and had an awesome long weekend. At this point it was the furthest west I had traveled!

7. The Garden -- not any specific moment, but the whole experience of the garden this year just made me sooo happy. I can't even take these before and after pictures!

8. Tom and I did a decent amount of kayaking this year, but my favorite time was when a bunch of friends joined us!

9. The Great Urban Race. I'm already sad that we won't be able to make next year's race (wedding)...I'm looking into other cities and other races to make up for it!

10. Dinner at Stir -- such an unforgettable experience! Hopefully 2014 will include a Stir dinner or two!

11. Long Island wedding weekend, particularly the most relaxing, beautiful morning spent out on dock with the ducks!

12. Lobsters and oysters in Wellfleet at the oyster festival. I don't think I ever blogged about this, but it was such a fun weekend with friends and Tom's family. Definitely a must do for years to come.

13. Biking over the Golden Gate in San Francisco -- so freakin' cool! My week in SF was awesome, but this was probably the most memorable part of the trip.

Like I said, it was REALLY hard to narrow the year down to just 13 moments, so here are some "Honorable Mentions":

Pumpkin Party:

Martha's Vineyard weekend:

Cape Cod weekend:

Visits from friends:

Borough Market in London:

Frites in Brussels:

Completing 30 day shred!

5 successful work events in Boston, Philly and San Francisco!

Newburyport (oysters on the beach):

Strawberry picking:

Outdoor movie at the Hatch Shell:

Boston Bites Back:

Tom's birthday and Bondir:

And the absolute weirdest moment of 2013 goes to...

Taxi crashing into our apartment building at 3 AM. No contest there.

I feel so incredibly lucky! How can 2014 possibly compete??

Checking In

It makes me a little sad that I haven't been updating as much. Life has been really busy and since this a hobby it's taken a back seat to actual living. I think that's okay though. I know once the new year starts I will have a lot more time to update. This fall/winter has just been crazy and I'm excited for some down time in work and life!

So last time I left off I was at home for Thanksgiving. I completed that crazy long workout and was paying close attention to my eating. Unfortunately things went downhill with the eating -- between Thanksgiving at my house, going out with friends, Thanksgiving with Tom's family and a mysterious magnet pulling me towards Long Island bagel stores, I was hopeless. I am happy however that I got up early on Thanksgiving and ran my own Turkey Trot! I tried to get friends together to go to a race about 30 minutes away but no one was up for it. I ended up running about 3.3 miles around my neighborhood and felt slightly better going into the Thanksgiving feast. Here are some photos from home:

Everything bagel with lox cream cheese...finally! Craved this baby for month.

Midnight matzoh ball soup from a diner!

Huge veggie platter -- luckily I stuck to this for my Thanksgiving snacks

The antipasto masterpiece

And a beautiful turkey!

Dessert for days

Some cuties cuddled up on the couch

Stuffed mushrooms - carnivore style

And veggie stuffed mushrooms!

When we got back to Boston on Sunday Tom and I ran the Cambridge 5K Yulefest in Harvard Square. The race was kind of a mess but I finished it in over 3 minutes faster than the last 5K I ran over the summer. That's pretty exciting considering I haven't been running much!

The week I got back was crazy. I had my biggest work event of the year on Friday and spent the days working hard and late. I did manage to go to total body strength on Monday night, but otherwise I was too tired and busy to make it to the gym. With some diligence, my eating was awesome all week! I will talk more later this week about some lightbulb moments I had with stress and eating, but I just have to say I am proud of myself! Some eats from the past two weeks:

Steaks before

Steaks after, with sweet potatoes, green beans and mushrooms

I can't remember how to rotate this picture (LOL) but this is my homemade taco bowl -- ground beef, salsa and homemade guac!

So far this week I went to total body strength on Monday and spent some time on the treadmill last night. I have been eating really well and even signed up for a DietBet that started yesterday! Here's what the DietBet consists of:

"The rules are simple: lose 10% of your weight in 6 months. There's no extra credit for finishing first or for losing the most weight. Everyone who wins splits the pot equally. To help you stay on track, we've got plenty of interim goals and prizes along the way. You can do this!"

Basically, everyone who wants to pays a designated amount to join this DietBet challenge. There are monthly challenges and the overall goal is to lose 10% of your weight over 6 months. At the end of each challenge, the pot of $$ will be split between all those who meet their goal. Don't meet your goal and lose your money. I have a big goal to get into fighting shape before next summer, so this DietBet should help keep me accountable and on track. I'm excited! I'm already down 11 pounds since San Francisco in October and am looking forward to adding to that number!

Woo hoo!

Home is Where the Heart Is

Well I am home in NY for the holiday. Tom drove us back to the tri-state area last night like a trooper -- rain + rush hour + heavy Thanksgiving traffic is not a good combination. Luckily we had some Jeopardy trivia to pass the time. Did you know you can access all of the Jeopardy questions and answers EVER here: http://j-archive.com/listseasons.php. So freakin' crazy!

Now I am home and half working, half trying to avoid the massive amounts of food everywhere. This is what I am dealing with here...

So far so good though. For breakfast I had 1 egg and 2 egg whites scrambled with an apple on the side. I spent the next few hour chugging water to keep my hands off the reeses cups. For lunch I tried to keep portions small while still enjoying some of the "treats" my mom bought for me:

A few pieces of turkey, salami and provolone, small bit of pasta salad from my favorite deli, cucumbers and tomatoes.

Before lunch, I decided to take a break from work and do some exercise in the basement! Go me. I made up this crazy long total body workout and really pushed myself throughout. It took me just under an hour from start to finish.

Warm up:
30 second arm crosses
30 second neck rolls
30 second jumping jacks
30 second leg kicks
30 second jumprope
30 second leg kicks

Work out:
30 second jumping jacks
30 second butt kicks
30 second jumping jacks
30 second high knees
REST
Sarah Fit arm routine
REST
15 squats
30 second jumping jacks
15 squats - lifted right heel
30 second jumping jacks
15 squats - lifted left heel
30 second jumping jacks
15 squats
30 second jumping jacks
REST
15 pushups
15 pushups
REST
15 lunges right leg
30 second box stance punch w/ weight R
15 lunges left leg
30 second box stance punch  w/ weight L
15 lunges right leg
30 second box stance punch w/ weight R
15 lunges left leg
30 second box stance punch  w/ weight L
REST
1 minute scale hold (I can't get my leg anywhere near that height -- the key is keeping your hips straight, which is way harder than it sounds) right 1 minute
1 minute scale hold left 1 minute
REST
Up and down stairs 5 times (skip steps going up)
15 calf raises on step
Up and down stairs 10 times (skip steps going up)
15 calf raises on step
REST
Sarah Fit arm routine
REST
30 second plank
15 side plank L
15 side plank R
15 bicycles
15 bicycles
15 crunches
15 leg lifts
15 crunches
15 leg lifts
30 second superman hold
STRETCH

That looks crazy long. I really like changing up the moves constantly..it keeps things from getting boring. It was an awesome workout and I was definitely pretty sweaty once it was done.

I know my mom has a healthy dinner on the menu. I just have to last through today then I can splurge on Thanksgiving. Ahh!!

Feeling Strong

Hello there! It is almost time to leave for Thanksgiving weekend! Woo hoo! Can't wait to have a few days off from work. Then, I get back, have a crazy week and my big event for work, and then it is smooth sailing until the end of the year. Cannot wait.

Last night I went to the usual total body strength class at the gym. I've been going to this class for two months now, and I'm excited to say it was the first time I really felt strong. I used heavier weights for many of the exercises, and was able to complete almost everything we had to do. I was really pushing myself and was often surprised I could make it through all of the sets. We didn't have to do the 100 lunges (we only did 30 on each leg) so we'll see how I do with that next time!

My exercise routine has been going great and I really love having my stand up desk at work! I feel like I stretch more, move around more, and just generally feel better throughout the day. Here's my workouts from the last 10 days:

11/17 - rest
11/18 - standing: 3.5 hours, total body strength class
11/19 - standing: 2.75 hours, cardioboxing class
11/20 - standing: 3 hours
11/21 - standing: 3 hours, 50 minute run/walk on treadmill (3.5 miles), 10 minutes of abs
11/22 - standing: 1 hour, 30 minute run/walk on treadmill, 1 round 7 minute workout, 5 minutes of arms
11/23 - walked 1 mile, 45 minutes gardening
11/24 - rest
11/25 - standing 1.5 hours, total body strength
11/26 - aiming to stand for 4+ hours today since I'll be sitting in the car for the evening

I can't believe I got back on the treadmill last week. I can't remember the last time I ran, and it actually wasn't that bad! I even went ahead and signed up for a 5k this Sunday! I don't know what I was thinking, but the race sounded fun. Worse case I'll just walk the whole thing.

I'm so excited for Thanksgiving but a little nervous about the food situation. I've been doing really well with eating (besides Sunday, where I ate whatever I wanted for dinner -- a burger and fries). I don't care about splurging on Thanksgiving, but I'm always worried about going to a house where there are endless snacks, cheese, pretzels, candy and diet coke. Weirdly, I'm not at all worried about the diet coke -- I know I'm not going to drink any -- but it's just the whole environment where there is food all over the place. Hopefully I will be fine! I just have to find ways to keep myself busy.

Experiment Early & Often

Well I'm feeling much better after last night's post. I haven't felt that introspective in a while. Sometimes it helps to just get it all down and out of brain, even if I don't have the answers yet.

I've been doing pretty well with my food attempts since I last updated. I had a couple of rough days last week but am totally back on track now. What I'm finding is most important is to enjoy my planned nights out but to make sure all my meals on my own are as healthy as I can manage. Here's a bit of the "balance":

Tom had his annual pumpkin party last weekend and it was so fun! We had a ton of pumpkin beer and everyone had to bring a food item that either tasted like, was shaped like, or was the color of pumpkin!

I made pumpkin shaped quesadillas and cut the tortillas into these shapes!

Orange buffalo chicken dip

17 different pumpkin beers!

All the yummy food

Last Sunday I attended my friend's pop-up dinner called Kitchen Kibitz. I wrote a lot about it on yelp so I'll stick to the photos here.

This past weekend I went out to dinner with my friends to Tip Tap Room and ordered this amazing lamb dish with goat cheese mashed potatoes. I decided to take it easy on the drinks and instead order what I wanted at dinner. A good decision all around!!

And now, for the balance. Here's what I've been eating on the regular:

This last picture was dinner last night and I am super proud of it! I went food shopping on Sunday and did a lot of prep work over the past few days. I made:
- mashed cauliflower (head of cauliflower, a tsp each of butter and olive oil, garlic, thyme and chives)
- hard boiled eggs
- roasted sweet potatoes
- homemade larabars (same receipe as last time + honey)
- lunches for the week
- crockpot pulled pork (pork loin + 1 can of beef broth in the crockpot on low for 9 hours, bbq added to taste after shredding)

I've also been pretty happy on the fitness side lately, despite my complaints last night of how long it's taking to feel in shape. I've been trying some new things and keeping up with the old things:

- 11/5: tried a cardio boxing class at the gym. It was awesome! I was the only new person in the class (there was only 5 of us) so the instructor was on top of me. The best part was getting to punch the bag as hard as possible while he held it and yelled at me. Hah.
- 11/7: tried a free barre class at Athleta on Newbury Street. This was a lot harder than expected! Who knew pulsing up and down on your toes for 60 minutes would kill so much?
- 11/9: went to Harvard Stadium and went up and down the sections for 45 minutes. I completed 14 sections. This was so hard and seriously felt like torture. I had a mini breakdown about 10 minutes in but pushed through, even though my legs were shaking out of my shoes and I felt like I was going to puke. By the end I was literally pulling myself up the stairs with my arms. I was completely out of commission for the next few days and could barely walk.
- 11/14: my legs were finally 100% so I did a few rounds of the 7 minute workout + some random exercises.
- 11/15: same as above.
- 11/16: went on a two hour hike with Tom at the Noanet Woodlands in Dover.

-11/18: Total Body Strength class at the gym. This class is definitely getting more manageable, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to do the 50 lunges in a row on each leg. I dread it from the second class starts. Right now I can get to 30, then pause for 2 lunges, pause for 1 lunch at 43 then can *just* make it to 50. It's so hard!

I also recently bought myself a stand up desk attachment for work. I'm aiming to stand for 3-4 hours per day and will work my way up. It feels so good to not be sitting all day! I definitely feel like I'm just generally moving more and I'm hoping this prevents any lower back pain that I sometimes suffer from.

It's nice that I can easily move my laptop from one place to the other whenever I want. Surprisingly, after a while I don't even realize I'm standing!

The blue and pink picture right next to my laptop is a little card my boss gave me a while ago. It says "Experiment early and often. Don't be afraid to go first." I like that I can see it now when I work. I can always use a little extra inspiration throughout the day!

Tonight I'm going to the boxing class again and I'm considering the barre class again on Thursday. It starts at 8 which is kind of annoying because it's right near my work. Perhaps I'll plan ahead and eat dinner here or go shopping. We'll see!

Random

I can't sleep.

I feel so bad for Marley and Rachel on Glee.

I'm annoyed that it is taking me so long to feel even semi- back in shape. Why is this so hard? Why can't I lose weight?

I haven't been feeling well lately. I don't sleep through the night, I have a constant small headache, and I feel nauseous anytime I'm in a car or exercising. I want to rip my nose off my face from the dry heat in my apartment.

I feel like I want a change but I don't know what. Maybe I need a haircut? Or a new job? Or a change of scenery? Whenever I think moving might be a solution I ALWAYS go back to this lyric:

"I think that it's brainless to assume that making changes to your window's view will give a new perspective."

I don't know what I want to do with my life. How does anyone know? I don't even know what the options are. I find myself more and more these days wishing I took a different path in college. Not that it's too late to change. I just don't know what to do. How does anyone save enough money to live?

I wish I could relive these moments.

I just want to feel proud of something again. Like I'm accomplishing something substantial. I don't know how to start.