Ten happy moments of the week

Photo by Dave Beckerman

This week was pretty superb. I have so many things to be happy about! 

1. My first moment that I'll share is my absolute most happy one of the week. We were down in Atlantic City celebrating our friend's birthday last weekend and on Saturday night we headed out to dinner (sadly, without the birthday boy because he was feeling under the weather.) So we pushed together two big picnic tables outside of Distrito and we all indulged in some tacos and margaritas. I remember at one point between wildly inappropriate jokes, just sitting back and thinking that I consider these people my family and that is such a great feeling. I feel like I can be my true self around them and that they are just all so great and make me feel like Philadelphia is finally my "home." 

2. Winning $60 bucks or so at roulette, only to have BryGuy blow it later on some more gambling, but whatever, we were up for about five minutes! 

3. Making Bry laugh at my ridiculous dance moves in the middle of Wegman's 

4. Finding a new delicious and not too expensive lunch spot - Hummus Grill

5. Chatting on the phone with both of my parents the evening before their anniversary! Happy 32 years together! My parents are truly an inspirational couple.

6. Dancing with some awesome ladies until the wee hours of the night! Photographic evidence available here. 

7. Getting to bed early multiple times this week. I think because I've fighting off some kind of throat/sinus thing my body has been exhausted. But I'm so happy that I've made the effort to get my butt in bed nice and early! 

8. Eating a delicious lunch with my coworkers at Barbuzzo.

9. Planning my workout days in advance this week and actually adhering to them! Read more tips for staying motivated to workout when it's cold.

10. Making it to work on time four out of five days this week! Honestly, that is a new record for me. 

Finding motivation to work out when it's frikkin' freezing

Believe me, I get it... It's hard to find the motivation to go to the gym when it's 10 below and one deep breath outside makes you feel like your nose hairs and lungs are frozen. But, if you want to meet your fitness goals in 2014 (here are mine) you don't have a moment to lose. I know for me, one unplanned day off from the gym is the beginning of a slippery slope to a week off... 

Here are some tips to stay motivated to hit the gym during the winter months: 

• Don't sit down! I usually go to the gym after work. First, I stop home to do a quick clothing change and then I hightail it out of there to try and make the 6 o'clock class. The key is to not sit down or get too comfortable, otherwise that one minute of relaxation on the couch turns into hours of watching the Real Housewives while dipping pretzels into a jar of nutella.... wait... is that just me?
• Set out your workout gear in advance. Have everything ready to go when you get home or if you're one of those psychos that works out before dawn, set out your stuff the night before. You're less likely to be mulling around trying to find that sports bra or fresh pair of socks if you get it all ready to go in advance. Or even better, go straight to the gym from work and have your stuff packed in your car.
• Dress appropriately. Maybe your gym has heat... you lucky duck, you. Mine doesn't. So that means I need to layer appropriately. Usually I start with three shirts and two pairs of pants that slowly but surely get stripped down as I go through the workout. 
• Set your gym schedule in advance. Know which days you're going to work out for the week and put them in your calendar. This way you can plan other activities (grocery shopping, happy hour, etc.) around your workout schedule.
• No excuses, play like a champion. I'll be honest, sometimes there's a little dusting of snow on the ground and I'm all like, "I can't possibly go to the gym now, it's a blizzard out there -- far too unsafe!" But really, that's just an excuse. Whether you're not feeling 100 percent healthy or the weather is not cooperating, don't allow yourself to make silly excuses. However, if weather is truly a factor, or you're actually sick, it might be the safe bet to stay home, but you should still do something physically active at home. Yoga, a home wod (pushups, air squats and situps), zumba, sex, whatever... just because you're stuck inside doesn't mean that you can't get in a little heavy breathing!
• Make your gym your second home. This is a little trickier and takes some more time, but basically if you immerse yourself in the culture of the gym and get to know the people there, you'll probably feel more motivated to go. This means that you have to take off your headphones every once in a while, talk to people, put yourself out there and attend a social event being hosted by the gym. Not all gyms are built equal in this category, so if the community aspect is really important to you, it may take some shopping around. Most CrossFit gyms have a great community or family atmosphere, and even some traditional smaller/family-owned gyms are the same way. Cue the shameless plug: if you're in the Philadelphia/Manayunk area, I highly recommend CrossFit Manayunk or CrossFit 2 St because, well, they are the best. 

And just to prove that I practice what I preach, here's a little clip of my workout from yesterday (Four hang power cleans and three burpees, every minute on the minute for 22 minutes!) 

You'll notice the pile of clothes on the rig... I'm like an onion, I have layers. 

Obsessing over...

Ponchos, capes and cardis, oh my!

I just can't get enough of these cozy ponchos, capes and super soft and long cardigans. I think it's the cold weather, I just want to wrap myself in giant cashmere throw, grab a cup of tea and a good book, and never leave my couch. I'm particularly fond of that lavender/grey number on the bottom right, it would be the ideal transition piece to take me into spring. As you can see, the cold weather also has caused me to pick an essentially neutral palette. With the exception of Joseph's technicolor dream coat on the top row. 

Most of my options are somewhat affordable but I gave you a couple of pricier ones if your pockets are deep (Why hello, Burberry cape!)

Which ones are you lusting after? 

Ponchos, capes, and cozy cardigans by marissasays featuring a zip front sweater

Ten happy moments of the week

Image credit: Found on Pinterest, original source unknown. If you know the original source of this image or own rights to it, please let me know and I’ll credit/remove as appropriate.

Ahh, I'm so behind today so this is coming out late, but here we go...

1. Snow days!!! 1 1/2 official ones for me this week and it was wonderful. 

2. Delicious burgers and beers with my boo during our snow day outing. 

3. New bathing suit arrived in time to take to AC with me this weekend (happy moment) not sure I love the way it fits (not so happy moment)

4. I was finally able to get to sleep last night without having tissues shoved up each of my nostrils. 

5. Work event this week went well, no protesters and no pushy media. Yay for events that run smoothly! 

6. The moment when I went to catch a train home and was going to have to wait for 25 minutes for it to arrive but the train before it was running super late and pulled up just as I stepped onto the platform. so no waiting for me. 

7. Taco salad. When I was little I hated tacos (What the eff was I thinking?!) So, instead of tacos I would make myself a salad out of all the taco fillings (...maybe I just didn't like the tortilla.... again, what the eff.) Anywho, as an adult I have realized how amazing tacos actually are, I love them to death and I think I eat them so often I'm trying to make up for what I missed in my childhood. But this week we took it old school in attempt to be mildly healthier and I made us big ass taco salads. Yum yum yum. 

8. Eagerly anticipating a fun weekend in Atlantic City with my buddies! 

9. Snow plows! For some reason Philly decided to get its act together for this snow storm and they were out plowing the first evening of the snow fall. 

10. Reading Mindy Kalings book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) makes me giggle on the train.

Snow day? You mean burger day...

When you've been trapped in the house a little too long and you're no longer entertained by this list of things to do on a snow day. Sometimes, you just gotta get bundled up, make your way out into the snowy tundra and find yourself some red meat and a brewski. 

Things to do on a snow day

Photo by pheobe_rousseaux on Flickr

Yesterday, I was working from home because I'm feeling a little under the weather, but it ended up working out because our office closed early because of the expected snowfall. BryGuy hightailed it out of his office and braved the elements to head home and then we spent the afternoon on our respective computers . Today, I found out that my office was closed, so YAY! Snow day numero dos! 

However, I'm feeling trapped today, I've been in the house for too long now. So here's a short list of how I entertain myself when it's snowy outside. 

1. Watch movies you've never heard of on Netflix - I particularly liked I Don't Know How She Does It featuring SJP.

2. Cook. Challenge yourself to a little game of Chopped in your own kitchen. Pull out some ingredients you've had lying around for a while and make something delicious. Yesterday, I whipped up some chocolate mint pots de creme, which were rich and delicious and some minty whipped cream which we enjoyed taco salads for dinner. 

3. Catch up on house cleaning. *and the crowd boos* Yeah, I know this is lame, but yesterday I handled all of our dirty laundry and got the kitchen in order. 

4. Get outside! Make snow angels, go sledding, build a snowman, eat snow. Basically, be a kid again. 

5. Drink. As an adult I think snow days are synonymous with drinking days. Crack open a bottle of wine or mix up some tasty cocktails. 

6. Play games. If you're lucky like me and you're stuck home with your very best pal, pull out some board games (Yahtzee and Bananagrams are great games for two people!)

Ten happy moments of the week

Image credit: Found on Pinterest, original source unknown. If you know the original source of this image or own rights to it, please let me know and I’ll credit/remove as appropriate.

1. I witnessed a random person on the street helping a blind man at a crosswalk. It made me think that I need to stop and partake in more random acts of kindness.

2. Taking a day off from the gym to relax and try to fight off a little cold. I successfully held the cold back by treating it with a netti pot and enormous quantities of mint tea.

3. Receiving lots of support and kind words from friends and family about my "positivity" posts on the blog this week, read them here and here.

4. Feeling appreciative of my awesome coworkers that take my mind off of silly work things for a few moments each day.

5. The warmer weather this week has me all excited for spring and summer to come. And I just bought a new bathing suit in!

6. A FABULOUS visit from my best bud in the whole wide world. She stayed with me in Philly for a few nights last weekend and we had so much fun eating tacos, visiting the Barnes, and getting drinks at Time while be deafened by awesome jazz music.

7. Pequea Vally Yogurt. It's amazing. Expensive, but amazing.

8. A brief phone call to my sister that put me in the middle of a heated conversation about wiping (yes, bathroom wiping) during their supper time. Ahhh, I miss our big family dinners, they were so disturbing and hilarious.

9. Good chats with my buddy Lindsey about the future and how we're both trying to be more spiritual or zen or whatever you want to call it. I'm so happy that she's so happy doing what she's doing, even if it is way too far away from me!

10. A fun girl's night watching football last weekend followed by a crazy dance party. I was sweating my ass off on the dance floor!

A bit of clarification

Yesterday's post, about my new daily ritual to stay positive, came off a bit melodramatic. I can seen that now. I have a teeny tiny smidgen of self-awareness somewhere deep, deep inside of me. 

To clear the record, I AM a very happy person. In fact, I love my life! Every day I think about how blessed I am and a part of me wonders how it could possibly stay this good forever. 

I guess what I was trying to say, was that I am an easily irritated person. I have less than an ounce of patience in me. I accept this as one of my many flaws. That leads to me constantly huffing and puffing because people are rude (see my miss manners part I & part II posts) and it leads to inexplicable amounts of road rage. Thank you papa, I believe I inherited my road rage from you, you were always good at parenting by example.

I also have bitchy resting face disorder. Which means that even though I'm feeling joy and bliss on the inside, I'm really emanating an aura that says "don't f*ck with me." 

One of my 2014 personal goals was to be more positive. 

To me, that means that I don't let the daily little things get to me as much. I try to be more free-spirited and easy going, and I smile more! The chanting thing is my attempt at putting myself in a good head space to accomplish those small feats. 

So with that being said, I leave you with this. It's sure to make you smile. :)