Lemon Ginger Echinaca Juice = Comfort in a Cup

erWhenever I’m in Trader Joe’s, I pretty much end up buying anything they give out as a free sample. Genius marketing really, giving out samples of delicious, healthy foods and beverages that sell at affordable prices. Why didn’t I think of this?!

Normally when food shopping, I try to be good and stick to “the list” (at least when I remember to make “the list”. Or when I actually remember to bring the dang list to the store with me). This list rule works just fine at most places. It’s not very often I walk into one of the large local grocery stores around here and get blown away by some amazing products they are offering. I’m usually blown away if the meat doesn’t expire well before the sell by date….

Trader Joe’s is a different story. I go in each time excited about what new experience I will have and what new discoveries I will make. Today, Ross and I discovered Trader Joe’s Lemon Ginger Echinacea juice. I’m not even a juice person (I’d rather eat a piece of fruit, feel fuller and consume less sugar and artificial flavoring), but there is something special about this beverage! Similar to apple cider, I’m told it’s good hot or cold (I’ve only had it hot, and probably only will!) It tastes more like a tea than a juice (and since ginger tea is a main ingredient, this makes sense). The spicy ginger, zesty lemon and soothing honey are the perfect winter warming combo. Since apparently everyone and their mother currently has the flu right now, I think we can appreciate the health benefits of echinacea.

Echinacea aside, if you’re looking for a fitness drink, this isn’t it. It’s more of a cozy treat to help get you through the long winter months and the even longer colds that we often suffer during these months. If you’re already getting a little tired of the hot cocoa and herbal teas you’ve been drinking all season, I definitely recommend giving this a try! If you’re feeling extra ambitious you could even add whiskey and concoct your own Hot Toddy recipe using this.

He put a ring on it, now what? Thoughts on working out with your engagment ring on

Fact: I didn’t go to the gym for a whole 2 weeks after Ross and I got engaged. Some of that was due to the champagne consumption and celebrations that ensued post-engagment, but some of it was just dealing with the logistics of what I would do with my engagement ring while I worked out.

I have no problem running with my ring on, but I really don’t like the idea of it getting scraped up or damaged on dirty barbells. I also really don’t like to take it off. I don’t wear a lot of jewelry, and when I do I’ve been known to lose plenty of it by taking it off in bathrooms/locker rooms. Luckily everything I’ve lost was either cheap or given to me by ex-boyfriends (or most likely, all of the above ), so it was never completely devastating.

Losing this ring or having it stolen would be devastating- and the idea of leaving it in a bag or locker somewhere just doesn’t sit well with me. So, I’ve been wearing my engagement ring during my workouts, but not on my hand. I’ve been wearing it as a necklace. This allows me to still have the ring in my possession during workouts, and let’s face it, since I’m pretty vain constantly watching my form in the mirror to make sure it’s correct, I can even see the ring the whole time. This has been working pretty well for me so I thought I would share, just in case anyone else newly engaged is having similar issues and avoiding the gym like I did at first! This is assuming you actually want to work out of course, if you don’t, not wanting to work out with your ring on is a great excuse, FYI!

Do you wear your rings during workouts? Do you have any other tips or tricks to share about working out with your engagement ring/wedding band on?

Wicked Frosty Four – A New New Year’s Tradition!

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great time ringing in 2013. I think Ross and I started a new tradition- running a New Year’s Day Road race! We woke up early this morning and drove to Salem to run the annual Wicked Frosty Four. We’ve done road races celebrating a lot of different holidays (Turkey trots, Jingle Bell Runs, Leprechaun leaps, etc.) so why not New Years? I couldn’t think of a much better way to start off a year than running outside in the freezing cold sunshine with about 800 other crazy  fun runners.

The course was beautiful; it was very flat and it took us through cute sides streets in Salem and along the coast (although it was hard to fully appreciate the beauty of the winter beaches as the wind whipped sand in our eyes). Ross has been a bit under the weather lately, so we weren’t trying to PR, but our friend Caleb did (ie he left us in the dust!). Granted, it was his first race so anything would have been a PR, but I think we’ve converted a new runner!

Post race, we headed back to Tavern in the Square for a burger and beer breakfast. I’ll work on that healthy eating New Year’s resolution thing later

New Year’s Day races probably aren’t for everyone, but I absolutely loved it. I also loved how knowing I had a race in the morning actually helped keep me refrain from overindulging on NYE. Don’t get me wrong, we still had a lot of fun. Similar to last year, we got all dressed up and stayed in  playing games with great company. Unlike last year though, we didn’t stay in all night! At about 10 to midnight we decided to bundle up  and walk (or ice skate, given the condition of the roads) to the Bunker Hill Monument and watch the fireworks over Boston Harbor! We certainly didn’t need to worry about our champagne staying chilled

My 2013 goals are to work on organization (work/life/home) and try to enjoy a little more down time. 2012 was a really busy year, which was great, but sometimes being too busy makes it to easy to lose sight of what’s really important. Some days seem to go by slow (hello Monday, I’m looking at you), but the years go by so fast.

I saw a quote on someone’s shirt at the race today that said “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” Like everything in life, to complete something and reach a goal, you simply need to begin. It’s all downhill from there. To kick start my process I’m doing a little vision board project and I’ve subscribed to Real Simple magazine.

Did you make any resolutions or set any goals this year? If so, what are your first steps to achieving them?

Happy New Year!

Monday – 1. Me – 0.

You win Monday. You win. I really had good intentions of having a good day. I sang along to Christmas tunes during my morning commute in the rain, had my workout planned out and packed a healthy lunch.
Then Monday kicked my ass. A lot of last minute urgent stuff came up at work, I didn’t get to the gym I didn’t even eat my grilled chicken and quinoa but instead mindlessly snacked on yogurt and chocolate during the day. I guess I needed the sugar high overdose to get me through the day?
Somehow I did make it though. I sang along to more Christmas music on the rainy commute home, ran a few miles outside with Mango and heated up the chili I made yesterday to enjoy during Monday night football tonight.

So today sucked in a lot of ways, but it’s not all bad. Days like this make it easy to want to just complain, be miserable and keep the bad mood going further into the week, but you see that is exactly what Monday wants. Don’t give in to that!

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=2AB9zPfXqQQ&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D2AB9zPfXqQQ

Feeling Festive

ABC Family’s 24 Days of Christmas has invaded our home and our lives. Once you start with the cheesy holiday movies it’s impossible to stop. I feel like I’ve been in the house watching movies and baking holiday cookies for eternity and there is still a few more weeks to go! We did however manage to break away from the holiday movie watching and decorating a bit this weekend:

Friday night Ross and I drove up to Gloucester after work to attend a fundraising event for a friend who is currently battling a rare form of cancer. It was really amazing to see the whole community come together for such a great cause. I have not lived on Cape Ann for about 10 years now, but this weekend I felt very proud to call it “home”.

The weather Saturday just made me want to crawl under a blanket and stay there until July. Snow in December? Bring it on. Cold wet rain? Blah! We had breakfast out with my sister, bro-in-law and niece.

After a Bloody Mary (pictured above) Ross was able to convince me to venture out in the cold wet woods to cut branches from pine trees to make garland. While pine trees seem to be everywhere when you aren’t looking for them, they are pretty scarce when you are. We had to hike all the way to the North Pole,  it took awhile but we collected enough pine just before the frost bite set is.

Pine tree branches + green wire = really pretty looking (and smelling!) garland.

Back in Boston this morning we had an incredible treat… An authentic Costa Rican breakfast with some other gringos who have lived/taught there. I have been pretty homesick for CR lately and it’s amazing how much some gallo pinto, mucho cafe and shared memories can help.

Can’t forget the Chikys!

I’m ending this weekend full and happy. Let the holiday movie marathon commence!

Weekend Update

Hey Sunday! You came fast. I hope everyone has been enjoying the weekend- it’s be sun filled and mild here in Boston. The boys and I spent another weekend at home, we are usually all over the place on weekends, but lately I’ve just been too tired by the end of the work week to get up and out. How bad is that? I blame the commute and the change of seasons. Mostly the commute. (the bad weather and daylight savings have not been helping my already long daily drive). Do you have a long commute?  This is how I’m dealing with it:

Yeah. So anyway…

Friday I got home around 7pm after sitting in traffic, nearly in tears and tried to convince Ross we should rush to catch the 8pm yoga class we had planned to attend. Ross, knowing me better than I know myself, realized that the best thing for me to do would be to immediately get into sweatpants, have a glass of white wine at watch 90s movies and pass out at 11pm.

Good call Ross! I woke up early Saturday morning feeling much better! We took Mango for a walk, went to a 9:30 am hot yoga class at Prana, stopped at Starbucks (I got a feta spinach wrap and grande coffee with 1 peppermint shot and skim milk. This drink is almost as good as the Peppermint Mocha latte, for less calories and $$$) then did some grocery shopping for the week at Trader Joes.

Saturday night we went to dinner and a movie. How original are we? Dinner was at Stoddards. I’ve been there for drinks before but never for food. I was surprised that almost all the dinner tables were taken at 5pm! Ross absolutely loved his burger and french fries, and I was pretty happy with my vegetarian pot pie with root vegetables (and half of Ross’ french fries). As I recall, the cocktails here are amazing, but since we had a movie to catch (and stay awake for) we both choose an IPA from their extensive beer list. After dinner, we saw Argo. Great movie! Not my favorite of all time, but very interesting and suspenseful. We spent the rest of the night discussing our conspiracy theories about the CIA, as well as conspiracy theories about the sodium content in movie theater popcorn  It’s been awhile since we had a date night, I think they are important  for our relationship and something that we should be better about doing weekly or at least bi-weekly.

This morning I made multi-grain pancakes with fruit for breakfast, and as a result have been super hungry all day. I love pancakes, and while the idea of a pancake breakfast makes me happy, it never fills me up for long. Perhaps it’s the lack of protein? Next time I’m going to try something like this this recipe from Men’s Health.

But for today, back to the carbs! I went for a post-pancake  2 mile run (I had scheduled a 6 mile run this weekend, but it just didn’t happen.)  A little later, our friend Scott came over for football, pizza and beer. I partook in the pizza and beer, but chose to do some blogging/ researching DIY Christmas gift ideas on Pinterest in lieu of actually paying attention to the game today. Priorities.

What are you up to for the remainder of your weekend!?