2nd Annual Sipinski Memorial Day Weekend

Sorry I've been MIA... 

actually...

I'm not sorry. 

I had a DAMN great weekend and 

I don't think anybody suffered too badly 

from me not posting for a few days. 

Remember this trip last year? 

Well it's Mariah and Eric's one year anniversary. 

So we all went back to celebrate. 

With them. 

'cause that's the kind of friends we are. 

We stayed here: 

I did a lot of sleeping/reading here:



Drank/ate a lot of this:
Bourbon Slush

And did a lot of this:

Back and fully re-charged,
I'm ready for crazy work week.
Bring it. 

The House That Built Me

My Dad is selling the house I grew up in. 

He and my stepmother have retired and are moving to the country. 

I went today to pick up the last of my things there... 

I sobbed like a baby. 

The street where I learned to ride my bike, 

played endless games of kickball and hide-n-seek, 

and where we knew all of our neighbors. 

The mailbox that sent me my letters of acceptance
from my performance arts high school and college
(told you this was going to be sappy).

Although the tree, sandbox, swing set, and picnic table are gone,
it's still a SWEET backyard.

The first address I memorized.

It's ridiculous to hold on to all my old trophies from dance years,
but I'm keeping my very first one.



Last photo on the front steps,
through teary eyes...

Goodbye, house. 

Clients, We Know How You Feel!

This was sent to me a few years ago by a fellow trainer and I thought it was hilarious. 

I came across it last night and thought you guys would enjoy it. 

If you've ever worked with a trainer, it's likely you've had a similar experience. 

: ) 

A story: 

via

DEAR DIARY, 

For my sixtieth birthday this year, my daughter Rachel (the dear) purchased
a week of personal training at the local health club for me. Although I am
still in great shape since being a high school football cheerleader 43 years
ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try.

I called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named
Belinda, who identified herself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and
model for athletic clothing and swim wear. My daughter seemed pleased with
my enthusiasm to get started! The club encouraged me to keep a diary to
chart my progress.

MONDAY:

Started my day at 6:00 a.m . Tough to get out of bed, but found it was well
worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Belinda waiting for me.
She is something of a Greek goddess - with blond hair, dancing eyes and a
dazzling white smile. Woo Hoo!! Belinda gave me a tour and showed me the
machines. I enjoyed watching the skillful way in which she conducted her
aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring! Belinda was
encouraging as I did my sit-ups, although my gut was already aching from
holding it in the whole time she was around. This is going to be a FANTASTIC
week-!!

TUESDAY:
I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door. Belinda
made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air - then she put
weights on it! My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the
full mile. Belinda's rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel GREAT-!!
It's a whole new life for me.

WEDNESDAY:
The only way I can brush my teeth is by laying the toothbrush on the counter
and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in
both pectorals. Driving was OK as long as I didn't try to steer or stop. Belinda was impatient with me,
insisting that my screams bothered other club members. Her voice is a little too perky for early in the morning;
and when she scolds, she gets this nasally whine that is VERY annoying.
My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Belinda put me on the stair 'monster'.
Why the hell would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators?
Belinda told me it would help me get in shape and enjoy life.
She said some other shit too.

THURSDAY:  

Belinda was waiting for me with her vampire-like teeth exposed as her thin,
cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl. I couldn't help being a half an hour late, it took me that long to tie my shoes.
Belinda took me to work out with dumbbells. When she was not looking, I ran and hid in the restroom.
She sent another skinny bitch to find me. Then, as punishment, she put me on
the rowing machine -- which I sank.

FRIDAY:
I hate that bitch Belinda more than any human being has ever hated any other
human being in the history of the world. Stupid, skinny, anemic, anorexic
little cheerleader. If there was a part of my body I could move without
unbearable pain, I would beat her with it.

Belinda wanted me to work on my triceps. I don't have any triceps!
And if you don't want dents in the floor, don't hand me the Damn barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich.
The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher. Why couldn't it have been someone
softer, like the drama coach or the choir director?

SATURDAY:
Belinda left a message on my answering machine in her grating, shrilly voice
wondering why I did not show up today. Just hearing her made me want to
smash the machine with my planner. However, I lacked the strength to
even use the TV remote and ended up catching eleven straight hours of the
Weather Channel.

SUNDAY:
I'm having the Church van pick me up for services today so I can go and
thank GOD that this week is over. I will also pray that next year my
daughter Rachel (the little shit will choose a gift for me that is fun --
like a root canal or a hysterectomy. I still say if God had wanted me to
bend over, he would have sprinkled the floor with diamonds!!!

 So clients, 

It's OK. 

We understand. 

We appreciate you showing up anyway! 

; ) 

*I've had this story for years, but unfortunately don't know the origin. If anybody knows, please send me the info so I can give credit asap! Thanks

Playlist! New + Old

Here are some tunes for your workout 

on this fine Tuesday morning! 

As always, my playlists are an hour in length

and include cool down music at the end 

SO DON'T FORGET TO STRETCH! 

; ) 

Enjoy the new music, 

plus some old school faves: 

*For past playlists, click the "playlist" tag at the bottom of this post!

Kentucky Lounging

Last week, this guy rode into Louisville 

on a stop on his 2 month motorcycle trip around the country. 

This is my buddy, Mark and his bike: 

He wanted a few days of lounging around, 

so being the great, accommodating host that I am,

I took a couple days off (sorta) and we did just that. 

Park walking, 

creek wading, 

rock skipping,

 back patio sitting,

 river road bike riding, 

etc. 

Captain's Quarters on the river, in the middle of the day: 

You don't know this, but here's a talent of mine: 

Classy, I know. 

And one of our evenings hanging with the dogs in the backyard... 

This is my thinking pose:

Bachelorette Is Back!

I'm SO excited about tonight! 

via

I haven't watched the last few seasons of the Bachelor/Bachelorette Seasons because the castings were shitty weren't as entertaining as I'd like them to be. And I LOVED Emily when she was on Brad's season! So I'm ready to be sucked back into horrible reality tv. I don't watch a ton of tv because I'm never home, but I do like to be swept up in a show. 

So bring on the guys that drink too much and make an ass out of themselves at the first cocktail party! 

Bring on the ridiculous dates that would never happen in real life! 

Bring on the fighting that will ensue because there's a dude who's "not here for the right reasons"! 

Bring on the dude who will leave early because he never thought he'd last that long and only told his work he'd be gone two weeks, but is now "in love" and wants to stay and fight! 

Bring on "the most dramatic rose ceremony ever"! 

Bring on the awkward hometown dates with the overprotective mothers! 

And bring on the heartbroken goodbyes that will happen each week! 

"I never thought I'd find love, but I'm a great guy and I don't need this!"

You know somebody's going to cry the first night. 

YES.  

Happy Mother's Day!

My mother is the ish. 

I was going to do this big sappy post, 

but as I was looking for photos of us, 

I couldn't help but realize how much we change our hair color. 

So that's what this post will entail. 

Sweet, I know.

These are the various shades we've chosen over the years:  

My natural blonde (with some really bad blonde) roots. 

Ha! 

But seriously folks... 

I love my mom more than anything in the world. 

She's never been anything but supportive of everything I've ever done...

even when it's involved things like moving far away from her. 

Thanks for everything, mom. I LOVE YOU! 

And here's a video that may make you cry. 

Just in time for today. 

And the summer olympics. 

Oh and this one too. 

I can't wait to be a mom 

...one day. 

That wasn't me telling you I was preggo. 

'cause I'm not. 

That would be awkward. 

Running Fail (warning: blood)

Me and my client, Nikki 

were doing some cardio intervals today. 

It's gorgeous out so we ran 1/4 mile intervals 

through the 'hood between sets...

and then I tripped.
 And fell.

The really awkward kind of fall, 

where your limbs flail about uncontrollably, 

and there's NOTHING you can do to 

recover. 

The results: 

Not too bad on the left knee

The left shoulder,

thank goodness for neosporin. 

The left elbow

Right thumb... 

How? 

I have no idea. 

And the piéce de résistance:

My right palm. 

And if you'll notice something interesting;

The white circle inside the wound 

is a scar from falling 

the EXACT SAME WAY

5 years ago. 

Now it's going to be a bigger scar. 

Perfect. 

Always aim higher, right? 

And this is Nikki, 

being awesome and helping me bandage myself. 

Sigh... 

(don't judge me by these shorts... it's a weird angle. swear.)

I'm impressive. 

Happy Friday! 

Watch out for raised bits in the sidewalk. 

Derby, A Mean Mug, and a cleanse...

This is an all-in-one-post kind of day... 

First: I had to go out of town on Derby, but here's a photo from Oaks Day

As previously discussed, I took my Cool Purse (as we all did) and was able to get through security with 3 small bottles of airplane vodka. YES! VICTORY! Not that I was planning on drinking that much, but part of the fun of going to the infield is sneaking in your alcohol. We totally stuck it to the man! Ha!

and then...

"Excuse me, miss? You have to go through gate 13 if you're going to bring a chair in." 

Even though I was a 2 minute walk to the infield, the guy made me leave and walk all the way around the track to go into the entrance where everybody brings in their chairs, coolers, tents, etc. Whatever. 

But as I go through security, the guy starts feeling all over my bag and busts me. 

ALL 3 bottles, taken away. 

Effer. 

Damnit.

 So then I felt like this: 

Whatever. 

But it ended up being a fun day anyway. I got to see a bunch of friends and enjoy Derby spirit at Churchill Downs. : ) 

And now... the cleanse part. 

Derby consists of a TWO WEEK celebration. Every night in the city there are different festivities all leading up to the big race day. The city comes alive, people are out, everybody's in a great mood. This also calls for LOTS of socializing. Which usually includes drinking. 

Now let me clarify. 

Yes, I drink alcohol occasionally. No, I don't get wasted. 

I'm talking probably 2 drinks, each night of the week last week. Two glasses of wine one night, 2 beers the next at the concert, 2 cocktails at Oaks, etc... After about 5 days in a row of this, I feel like ASS. It's amazing how much something like that can take a toll on your body when you're not used to it. I woke up Sunday feeling tired and run-down, with very little energy for working out or doing anything at all. 

So it's cleanse time. 

No, I'm not going to starve myself and only drink lemon juice with cayenne pepper. Just no alcohol for a while, only water to drink, and fruits and veggies like whoa. Yup. 

PLUS

My roomie just told me last week that we're only going to be wearing small black shorts and sports bras for our modern dance piece that we're performing on JUNE 9th. Sooooo... it's time to pay attention to what's going in my body anyway (more attention that usual). Nobody wants to see a dancer, in very little clothing, looking jiggly on stage. Those lights are unforgiving anyway. : ) 

via

So there's my Derby recap and my plan for next few weeks... 

Anybody else working on something right now?

*Derby photos from my buddy, Amador! 

Happy Birthday, Tamara!!!

My roomie's birthday was yesterday and I was teaching in Chicago. 

So I missed the festivities. 

boo. 

BUT 

I have a blog. 

And what better way to say HB

but with a post dedicated to her?! 

We went to see Walk The Moon the other night

on the waterfront and had a blast! 

With our schedules it's rare that we actually get to hang out together...

The awesome thing about this photo is that she doesn't drink. : ) 

Dance party!!! 

Walk The Moon is my JAM right now. 

Such fun and happy music...

We are sexy. 

This sign now hangs on our fridge. Because, let's face it: 

She is terrific, trusty, and tubular

The Sipinski gang, or some of it... 

Tamara and I have known each other for over ten years... we danced together at the same performing arts high school (yes, like FAME) and had always kept in touch since graduation. She opened her home to me and Tango almost a year ago, after my divorce, and saying that we've had an awesome time living together would be a massive understatement. 

This chick is fabulous.

 No diggity. No doubt. 

She works full time as the dance teacher for a local middle school, teaches modern dance for several local places, including the Louisville Ballet, choreographs and dances for the company she co-founded, The Moving Collective, and still has time to hang with us and keep the house/yard clean ('cause goodness knows I don't clean enough). She's been there for me in a huge way over the past year and I couldn't be more grateful for her. 

Roomie to the max

From the random dance parties in the living room while we're getting ready for bootcamp in the morning, to our Christmas tree adventures, to the entertainment she provides when she is a clumsy F***. She's truly one of the greatest friends/roommates that I've ever had. 

So Happy 30th Birthday, Guuuuuuuurl. 

I appreciate you more than I probably say. 

Thank you for everything. 

LOVE YOU!!