Workout Playlist! Gettin' After It, Bitches...

As always, my workout playlists are an hour long, 

with the last 10 minutes consisting of cool-down/stretch music... 

so you don't forget to STRETCH! 

'Cause that ish is important.

; ) 

via

Happy Workout! 

And we danced...

One of my new year's resolutions (I make several) was to get my ass back on a stage this year. I grew up dancing, but I hadn't performed in 6 years. My roommate, Tamara is a co-founder of The Moving Collective, which is a collection of choreographers that get together, stage pieces, and hold performances twice a year. She's been trying to get me to join for a while now and this year I decided was the time to get after it. 

It's nearly impossible for me to commit to a dancer's rehearsal schedule with my busy travel schedule, but she decided to set a piece for just the two of us and we were able to rehearse whenever we could fit it in. Tamara and I met and danced together at our performing arts high school, (yes, like Fame) and it's been 11 years since we last shared a stage. 

Even though I was only able to be in this one piece,

 it felt so good to be on stage again 

AND even better to be sharing that stage with T. 

Here are some photos of us in her piece. 

 

New Year's Resolution, check. 

New Facebook photo, check. 

Do you have a passion that you haven't connected with in a while? 

It's hard to get back in the habit, but once you do it's feels like coming home. 

I recommend it. 

Last week was my JAM

I know. 

I haven't been posting regularly. 

I'm sorry. 

Anyway...

Last week was great. I had my birthday, I worked, 

I traveled (shocker), 

got some great work offers to move me up 

in the industry, 

then I got to celebrate my birthday

(a week later). 

These things contributed to my great week. 

Therefore, 

they were my jam: 

APPLE PUMPKIN CANDLE:

This candle from Crystal smells SO good. 

It's been lit 24/7 'round these parts. 

It'll prob be gone within a week. 

BRANDI CARLILE PANDORA:

I could listen to this Pandora station all day. And I kind of do... 

Brandi Carlile, Ingrid Michaelson, Ray LaMontagne, 

The Wailin' Jennys, etc. 

So good. So chill. 

OUR DOGS:

Watching Tang and Church run amok makes me smile. 

Every day. 

THIS DISH:

Lynn made me dinner in exchange for watching her baby last week while 

she and her hubs had a date night. A fair trade indeed.

 AND you should check out her recipes on her blog. 

She's fab. 

SUNDAE/BANANA SPLIT:

After test-paddling kayaks and standup-paddleboards 

Friday night, with Tamara and Scott, 

we got Graeter's Ice Cream. 

Oh yeah. 

I couldn't finish mine... but I gave it my best shot. 

#allinmoderation

GARAGE BAR:

 Birthday celebration Saturday night at our fave downtown spot.

Outdoor seating, 15 friends, glow-in-the-dark Ping Pong, and fun lights. 

BUDS:

This is me, (a little D after a lot of Bourbon)with Sarah. 

LOUNGING:

Enjoying my Sunday with my new favorite book

and a reading partner...

BFF:

Amanda just moved back to Louisville! 

We haven't lived in the same city since high school. 

And her preggo belly is adorable. 

QiForze

QiForze!! 

(pronounced "key-force") 

This new fitness program is what I was learning 

when I went to Atlanta a couple weekends ago. 

Think body-weight strength training

with really fun music and high energy moves. 

Here's a sneak peak: 

Look for it soon at your gym! 

Instructors looking to get QiForze certified, 

click here. 

The weekend in a nutshell:

Come in and find your seat

Rub elbows with the fitness instructor elite

Neon is in. Bitches. ; ) 

TRX representing! 

The whole gang after the first workout

Instructors from a bunch of different countries were there. 

My new BFF, Nicky, from the UK, living in Canada. 

Drinking my Bourbon and Ginger Ale (Kentucky). 

She didn't like it... 

The lady behind it all: 

Leigh Crews

We are exhausted by day 3, 

Jessica needs caffeine. 

A lot of it. 

We're DONE! 

Visit to the ATL...

I had to go to Atlanta last last weekend for work... 

(more on that later) but while I was there, 

I managed to squeeze in a little blate time with Ashley!! 

It was so great to get to see her again, 

since our last blate was in December. 

We were able to have dinner one night

 and get all caught up, 

then I got to end my trip by attending a pool party 

with her and her ATL buds. 

Holla! 

Her buddy, Brandon making sure my camera worked... : ) 

It looks like this guy is flexing, 

but I just caught him mid-twist

Pools on hot days are my jam. 

YAY FOR POOL PARTIES

and a high five to Atlanta for being hot, but not scorching... 

like most summers. 

The weather was perfect that day! 

Ashley's photo!

And a quick tip for looking good in photos where you're almost naked 

(besides having Ash's sweet tan, working out, and not eating crap):

*Turn your hips to the side, 

*Turn your shoulders toward the front, 

*Stand up tall. 

; ) 

I'll be heading back to the ATL in 3 weeks! 

See you soon, Ash. And you too, Chelsea! 

It's My Birthday, Bitches! : )

Some thoughts on my birthday: 

• I'm really glad I was born. I've had a kick-ass life so far, with very few regrets, and no what-ifs. 
• I really only plan on becoming more kick-ass as I age. I'm not upset about getting older at all. 
• We'll see if I still feel that way at 40... ; ) 
• Thanks to Jennifer "Hardcore" for my sah-weet Birthday Princess crown and wand yesterday at bootcamp. She's the BOMB. 
• She even gave me a Ring Pop. A Ring Pop! It was amazing. Even though it didn't fit on my finger... 

•  Does anybody else accidently write their birth date when trying to write the actual date on your       `birthday? Happens to me every year. 
•  I love Facebook on your birthday. Messages pouring in all day... Feeling the love, for sure. 
•  I really love having Facebook friends in Asia and Australia. The messages pour in starting the night before. Thank you date line. 
• My favorite cake is Pillsbury Funfetti Cake with Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip icing. It's heaven in your mouth. My roomie is making me one tonight!!! 
• Every year, at least for the last 3 years, we've gone to a water park for my birthday. It's so much fun to run around like a 10 year old with all your friends. We'll be doing that next weekend. 
• I was supposed to be in Toledo today but my trip got cancelled at the last minute so I'm still in bed. Hey-ell yes. 
• The only problem is that I didn't plan anything to celebrate today since I thought I'd be gone. But I don't really feel like planning anything. Thoughts on what I should do?

photo by Susane Pata. I'm pretty sure my fly is down. 

• Thank you, Sarah for awesome flowers this morning! 
• I'll be heading to Greece one month from now! Yeow!!!
• Does anybody else feel they should have their ish together by a certain age? I'm at that age now and while I feel like I've gotten most of my ish together, I still feel like a few other things should be done by now... like a substantially bigger savings account for one. ; ) 
• Every year on my birthday I make my fitness class participants do X number of reps for everything depending on how old I am that year... e.g. 25 years old, 25 lunges per set. It's fun. ; ) 
• Take this into consideration if you ever come to my class on my birthday. 
• Believe me, you'll know it's my birthday ahead of time. I usually start counting down a month in advance. 
• I do have a long walk/run planned with this guy though... he loves my birthday. It means he gets treats too. 

• Note the grass stain on his forehead. This is from him diving, headfirst, into bushes/grass/woods at top speed. Cracks me up every time... especially 'cause it's still there from two days ago. Guess we'll be getting a bath today for my birthday as well. 

What's your favorite way to celebrate your birthday, but keep it mellow?

Have a great weekend, everybody!

*bonus points to anybody that can guess my age*

*WITHOUT looking in the archives at my bday post from last year*

*go*

Catch up week: Animals

OK. I'm back in town for a hot second. 

So I'm going to let this week's posts get you all caught up

on the goings-around in my world. 

Last week: 

All the animals in the house took cute pills or something. 

I couldn't get enough of them. 

Emmy sleeping in the crook of my legs: 

All three cats just waiting for a shot at 

the moth who flew in the house. 

Moth, you are effed. 

Churchill crashing the workout, but 

helping my friend/client Nikki

with her stretching:

 

Tango in the field down the road: 

Happy Tuesday. 

I'm back tomorrow with more... 

One of those weeks...

So you know those weeks where you just don't have anything to blog about? 

or you do... 

but don't get around to it? 

It's one of those weeks for me. 

PLUS, I leave for the ATL tomorrow

so I've got 2 bootcamps, 

several clients, 

and a shit ton of other work 

to cram into 3 days.

What does this mean? 

Very few posts from this girl. 

BUT
I do have

2 Random photos: 

Exhibit A: 

My very preggo client, Julie, 

who is getting cuter by the week 

(even though she's miserably pregnant). 

Exhibit B: 

My trying to work from the couch

and getting sleepy company. 

Count the cats...

Sleeping cats all around you makes it hard to stay awake. 

Especially while working... 

: ) 

Happy Humpday!

Olympic Gymnastics In the Heezy

Tamara and I have been watching the Olympics each night

and are so inspired by it all: 

The athletes!  

Their accomplishments!

Their abilities! 

The commercials! 

Morgan Freenman's voice! 

While watching the gymnastics we thought we'd try some of the moves. 

They don't really look that hard.
Besides...

we're dancers. We're fit! 

We got this ish... 

What I was going for:
Legs Over Your Head, Look at Your Crotch Handstand

via

Doing the kick thing they do to get to the corner of the mat:

Ready to lift off the ground and put my legs over my head!

And down I go...

"Shut up. It's harder than it looks!"

This is me not breathing...

with every vein in my head popping out...

and not getting my legs over my head. 

Tamara's turn. 

What she was going for: 

Wide Arm Handstand

via

Prepping...

with Churchill wanting in on the action too.

OK, seriously. Churchill. Please. 

OK, Church. We love you. 

But you're done here. 

Banished to the side of the room! 

Prepping for real this time.

*Note Churchill in the background. Bummed. 

Getting ready to do the handstand! 

F! 

That ish is hard... 

Big finish anyway!!! 

*even when they fall, they still pose at the end.

Duh. 

Ok so maybe there's a reason we're not in the Olympics and they are... 

; ) 

I know this is a silly post, 

but in all seriousness... 

Congrats to all the athletes

in all the countries of the world. 

You're truly inspiring.