This past weekend was a time of many firsts! First time skiing EVER, first time visiting Vermont EVER, first time seeing a floor that lifted up off the ground to reveal a pool and hot tub EVER, and first time shredding that fresh pow EVER (#shredfest2k11).
Have to say, I enjoyed it immensely. Now I get the whole why people like to ski thing. Although I only skied for one day, it was a fun one. After falling down on my first attempt down the bunny hill, things got much better! I'd have to say the most terrifying part of skiing is trying not to hit little kiddies taking lessons. But once we left the bunny hill, this became less of a problem.
First time down the big hill I ate it once. But I dusted myself off and tried again. And I didn't fall for the rest of the day! Bonus points!
Definitely recommend getting out there and trying to ski if you haven't before. It's a fun time even if it is a bit terrifying for a beginner. I also recommend getting a ski house with 35 of your friends (or people you don't know) and having the biggest dance party since Wed. nights at Dino's. Those were some great dance parties...
I'll leave you with a few of my favorite pieces of artwork from our ski castle (ed note: check out THE HOOV TUBE on youtube in the next week or so for a more detailed video of the place).
standard deer shot in every great skiing/hunting palace.
you know, just a normal sign, telling you not to swim unless you want to drown and raise your hand helplessly up in the air trying to be saved...
see y'all on the slopes!
Monday, January 31, 2011
a skiing success
wod
the gym at this hotel is the worst! it only has 2 treadmills 1 bike and 1 elliptical. not even any weights! I miss the old hotel down the street from here...
biked 3.25 miles - 10:23
3 sets for time of:
10 push ups
10 squats
10 sit ups
6:24
ran .5 miles - 4:08
gotta work with what you have...
Saturday, January 29, 2011
50 people, one question - Ithaca
mal posted this cool little video on her blog! the music reminds me of Friday Night Lights. i love the way it's shot, too. check it out.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
sisterhood of the traveling bad luck.
Today's the day I'm supposed to get back to NJ, pack up and take off for VT for my first ever ski trip! This should be a time of jubilation. Instead, I am feeling stressed out and uncertain thanks to a SNOWSTORM.
Just googled "New York weather" and the forecast is NOT looking good. Mayor Bloomz told everyone to stay home from work, airports are closed, and just other generally unfavorable things for someone trying to fly into the area are happening. This is causing me immense sadness and worry.
Apparently Newark closed last night around midnight and is supposed to resume services today at 7 a.m. My fingers are crossed that this information is accurate! Otherwise, instead of skiing this weekend, I may be dining at EVEN MORE chain restaurants in the greater Richmond area...
Updates to come. If y'all live in the nyc area, be safe! and ENJOY YOUR SNOW DAY !
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
wod
3 rounds for time of:
run 800 Meters
rest 2 minutes
3:33, 3:29, 3:30
then swam 30 mini laps! Still trying to figure out how big the pool is...
jersey shore podcast!
My favorite edition of Bill Simmon's B.S. Report came out yesterday -- Reality TV show talk! 57 minutes of Jersey Shore commenting = awesomeness.
Check it out here (It's listed as "Reality TV Czar," it's the second bullet as of posting).
Enjoy.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
double workout all the way!
So I woke up this morning and took advantage of the little hotel pool. 30 laps. Still trying to figure out how big the pool is so I can convert that to meters and decide if it was a good workout or not.
Then I had some time to kill before dinner, so gym'ed it up again.
Run 1 mile (7:55)
then 3 rounds of:
15 bench press of 10# dumbells on stability ball
15 sit ups
10 push ups
Now it's almost dinner time. Richmond, VA seems to have every chain restaurant known to man conveniently located near the hilton. Gonna be hard to decide where to go... PF Changs has my vote! BOOYA.
Monday, January 24, 2011
hotel wod
crazy dayyyy. about to run to a fancy client dinner, but got a workout in before -
run 1 mile (7:48)
50 wall ball shots (8#)
50 back extensions
50 bent over rows (10# dumbbells)
10 deadlifts (with 2 30# dumbbells)
ab progression.
its somethin...
a great new hat
Bec gave me an awesome bills winter hat for my bday so obviously I rocked it on long island yesterday...an oscar photoshoot ensued. Here's some of the best shots:
oscar looking bangin' while supporting the greatest sports team of all time.
a make out session ensued.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
hulu plus!
I just signed up for a free week long trial of Hulu Plus with a mission — to try to watch the entire 2nd season of Parks & Recreation in a week! I want to watch Season 3 (which just started), because I heard the show's really funny. BUT first I needed to catch up. I had seen some of the first season, but for my catching up purposes I think watching Season 2 in it's entirety will get me to a good enough place to watch and enjoy the new season.
My free trial with Hulu Plus only lasts ONE WEEK, and if I don't cancel by the end, they'll charge me $7.99 per month to continue my subscription. So time's ticking... I've already watched 2 episodes this morning, so I got 22 to go!
Also want to look around at other stuff I can watch with Hulu Plus... if I ever want to catch up with other shows, it might be a better idea to just get a month long membership with Hulu Plus instead of buying DVDs/downloading from iTunes.
Gotta go -- time to watch more Pawnee, IN civil servant funnyz.
fridays wod
For time:
21 pull-ups
20 squats
18 pull-ups
16 squats
15 pull-ups
12squats
12 pull-ups
8 squats
5:10
rode 4 miles on a bike. 13:59.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
happy travels...
Just found out that work is sending me to client meetings in Virginia from Monday - Thursday next week, and then Monday - Wednesday the next week. So ... I'll be living in a hotel in VA for the next few weeks. To further complicate matters, next weekend is going to be my first attempt at skiing -- in Mount Snow, VT.
So I'll be hustlin' home on Thursday to get in a car and drive to VT. Thennnn on Sunday, I'll have to ask to get dropped off in Hartford, CT on the drive home in order to fly to VA again.
I feel like George Clooney in Up in the Air.
heard it babysitting...
while waiting in line at mcdonalds:
Val: What are you gonna get to drink?
Me: Dr. Pepper
Val: You always get Dr. Pepper! Why?
Me: Because I like it.
Val: You're going to turn into a doctor. And a pepper.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
wod
Four rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters
12 Burpees
15 Two-hand dumbbell Bent over row, 12 pounds each
14:40. wanted to do 5 rounds but had to get back to work for a meeting!
man's best friend.
This dog's owner was killed during last week's catastrophic landslides in Brazil. Here's the loyal dog, named Leao, sitting next to her grave for the second day in a row.
from msnbc's photoblog.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
wod
21-15-9
cleans (40#)
dips
couldnt time it cause i got pushed off the dip machine and had to wait a bunch.
ran 1 mile.
felt sick ! too much chipotle.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Golden Globes!
So Kate and my game plan for today is to watch the Jets play the Patriots at a bar somewhere, then go home, put on gowns, drink swanky dranks and watch the Golden Globes. Sounds like a good plan to me.
Since I can't bet on the football game like I was going to, I'll make Golden Globe predictions instead. Here goes:
Best Motion PIcture:
Black Swan
The King's Speech
The Fighter
Social Network
Inception
I've actually seen all of these films, and enjoyed each a whole lot. I think The King's Speech is going to come away the winner here, and I can't quite tell you why. So that's that.
Best Motion Picture (Comedy/Musical)
Alice in Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids Are Alright
Red
The Tourist
I think The Kids Are Alright is on a whole different level than the other films in this category, so I'm hoping (and thinking) it will win this one.
Best Television Series
Boardwalk Empire
Mad Men
Dexter
The Good Wife
The Walking Dead
I'm gonna be biased here and go with the only one I watch. I know the other contenders are good shows, but Mad Men is just SO GOOD. I think it deserves it.
Best Television Series (Comedy/Musical)
30 Rock
Big Bang Theory
Big C
Glee
Modern Family
Nurse Jackie
It's hard to choose from this group, but I'm going Modern Family. It's so hilarious every week, relatable and has brought back the idea of a family comedy that an entire family can enjoy together. It's like Full House of the digital age. Or Step by Step 2.0. Can't go wrong with it.
Those are the only categories I'll be guessing, because I just got tired of typing. Guess we'll see how right I am a little later on tonight...
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
veggie week = over
Yesterday was my last official day of being a vegetarian. It was a pretty good challenge, only really had a few times when I really wanted meat...but I overcame my cravings.
To celebrate being done, I had a nice Shack Burger for lunch. And holy cow (hehehe) was it good!
Challenge Breakdown:
Completed.
Did I cheat? No.
How difficult was this challenge (1 is easiest, 10 is hardest)? 5
Did it make me feel any better/worse than I usually feel? Hard to tell, since I was sick for a majority of the challenge. Generally I did not feel much different though, I still got my fill of food and felt full after meals.
Would I do it again? For a week, maybe. Def not something I want to incorporate into my lifestyle full-time.
I LOVE MEAT!
wet n' wild...
is a funny name for a Triathlon, but its the name of the tri that I registered for last night!!! It's on August 6th so I got some time to train, so I can try to keep up with my IRONMAN uncle! My brother may participate as well, so its lookin' to be a fun time. Anyone is welcome to join in on the fun, since my parents turned my bedroom into a guest room (mean) we have plenty of room for people to stay.
now i just gotta find a pool to swim in, buy a bike, and get goin on some traininggg.
600M swim
20 mile bike ride
5k trail run
Thursday, January 13, 2011
wod
as many rounds as possible in 15 min of:
250M rows
25 push ups
5 full rounds. did the row and 2 push ups of round 6.
national anthem fail turned good.
This little girl was rockin' out the national anthem at a hockey game when her mic went dead right at the grand finale. But the crowd jumps in to save the day!
Great video for two reasons:
1. It shows how great it is to be American and is an ode to the American spirit!
2. It reminds me of when my brother was little and sang the national anthem at a Buffalo Bisons baseball game. Now THAT is an amazing video. (side note: I think I need to start a blog where I take all of our old home videos and put them online for the world to see. they are too good to be kept on VHS forever)
via devour.com
heard it babysitting...
Val: Wanna hear what I'm doing for my birthday?
Me: Sure, what are you doing?
Val: We're having a big soccer game. My team is me, my mom, Alex, his brother, and their dad.
Me: Who do you think is gonna win?
Val (looking at me in disbelief that I even asked such a question): My team! We have 4 professional soccer players. Actually, 5 including me.
He also tried to get me again with the ICUP joke. I wouldn't be got! I outsmarted an 8 year old. Advantage: me.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Shelby's Nike Free Run+
Was looking through the sneakers at nike.com and found these amazing kicks:
They are Nike Free Run's designed by a girl named Shelby Lee, a 12 year old with heart disease. After five surgeries to fix her heart, Shelby is now able to run. This sneaker (designed by Shelby herself) was made as a tribute to her life story.
Amazing story and some awesome shoes. I wish I could order a pair, but it seems they are all sold out. Limited editions. I still want to try Nike Free Runs though, so I might be ordering a pair soon...
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
great banner ad
did you hear the news?
lawsuits steal things like swing sets away from children. why do lawsuits gotta be like that?
mushroom lasagna!
Day 5 of being a vegetarian and I finally got ambitious with cooking! Made mushroom lasagna with a recipe from the blog Smitten Kitchen - very yummmy. Although I would probably recommend starting before 8:45 so you can eat your dinner before 10:30 (whoops). It was worth the wait though, very delicious.
shrooms!
noodles!
sauce!
yummy!
wod
yesterday:
had my free personal training session!
3 sets of:
1000M row
20(each side) one armed kb swings (10#)
20 modified burpees (no jump)
30 sec wall squat hold
then a bunch of ab work. pretty good workout, had me sweatin' good!
today:
6 pull ups.
6 dips.
30 wall ball shots (8# ball)
15 push ups.
3 rounds for time.
8:38
now im getting ready for the blizzard...with mushroom lasagna that is taking FOREVER to cook im so hungryyyy.
hope everyone stays safe and has fun in the snow tomorrow!
Monday, January 10, 2011
hello, beast mode.
ridiculous! oh marshawn...
you knew he'd be good when he gave this gem of an interview before the 2007 draft:
best line-
interviewer: "define yourself."
marshawn: "myself? Me!"
1/2 way through veggie week
So its day 4 of my week of being a vegetarian, and I'm still going strong. Saturday brunch was a bit hard, because I REALLY wanted a turkey burger, but I settled on chips and guacamole and that did the trick just fine. Sunday I had some really yummy vegetarian chili at grey dog cafe before seeing blue valentine. That did not leave me wanting meat at all!
This week I think I'll be doing salads for lunch - today's had avacado, tomato and black beans to give it some substance and I am feeling good!
Hard to say overall if eating no meat has made me feel better or worse because I've been sick all week... honestly though I don't think it's made a big difference in how I feel. I've been able to find stuff to eat and feel satisfied at every meal.
But I do kind of miss eating meat...looking forward to Friday when I can eat some meat again, maybe I'll treat myself to a burger!
Sunday, January 09, 2011
bedroom wod
not feeling so great this weekend, still tried to get a little WOD in tonight, utilizing anything i had in my bedroom. heres what i came up with:
4 rounds for time of:
5 wall climbs. 10 kb swings (20#). 10 push ups. 15 squats.
9:38
gotta say, my wall climbs were pretty pathetic - they are hard!
feeling good afterwards though...always good to sweat it out when youre sick!
blue valentine...
was really good. just saw it this afternoon.
it hurt my heart like i knew it would. definitely recommend checking it out. felt very real. great acting by gosling and williams. not your average love story. VERY different from the notebook :) haha only similarity (besides gosling) is that they both made me cry.
worth a watch for sure, so check it.
Saturday, January 08, 2011
a great surprise!
today I checked the mail and got something from "Hot Guys and Cute Animals." intrigued, I opened it up and it was a 2011 calendar! what a great surprise. it's the perfect replacement for my 2010 "The Office" calendar, and brings back some memories of the few years before that when I had the Firemen of New York Calendars.
I thought to myself, "who could of sent this wonderful surprise gift?" I narrowed it down to 2 people, called my first guess, and WAS RIGHT!
Looking forward to 12 months of hot guys and cute animals! THANKS MOM
Challenge #1 - Vegetarian for a week
I started my first challenge of 2011 yesterday -- and that means no MEAT for a week. So far, so good, and it actually wasn't too hard. Breakfast stayed the same as usual, yogurt and granola (I think breakfast is probably the easiest time not to eat meat, except when bacon or sausage are offered....mmmm).
Lunch was a salad, some honey pretzels, a banana and a cheese stick! Just a heads up, at work I usually pack lunches that an elementary child would eat, so as long as I don't put cold cuts on a sandwich, avoiding meat is fairly easy here as well.
For dinner I split spinach and artichoke dip with Liz before we hit up the Rodeo (more on that later...)
And that's it! No meat, no problem. I think the weekend is going to be significantly harder, so I guess I gotta get my will power ready.
1 day down, 6 to go.
Friday, January 07, 2011
speaking of happiness....
this woman is apparently NAMED happiness...and watching her dance made me laugh aloud at my desk. enjoy:
thanks liz!
blue valentine
hoping to see this sometime this weekend. im kinda nervous, which is weird before seeing a movie. but im expecting it to be heartbreaking.
RYAN GOSLING!!!! YOU AND YOUR MOVIES THAT MAKE ME CRY!!!
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
wod
three rounds for time of:
400M run
30 OH squats (20#)
21 pull ups
17:14
had to walk up and down stairs to get to treadmills. there was a member appreciation day going on so it was a ZOO! got a free personal training sesh for friday though... bang it
nfl fantasy playoff football
If you're already going through fantasy football withdrawal, NFL.com runs a playoff challenge where you can pick 8 guys per week to rack up as many points as possible throughout the playoffs.
Since the Bills are already out of the mix, this will help give me something to root for as I watch the upcoming games.
Enter your own team here.
Monday, January 03, 2011
wod
as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
10 box jumps
10 kettlebell swings (20#)
10 push press (50#)
10 rounds plus 4 box jumps.
the push presses killedddd me
the challenge of 2011
this year I've decided to challenge myself a bit every month. each month, for one week I will take on a challenge, and document how the challenge plays out on this here blog. some challenges include:
no cell phone for a week
vegetarian for a week
vegan for a week
no gchat for a week
drink 8 glasses of water every day for a week
paleo diet for one week
no alcohol for a week
write for an hour a day for a week (outside of work)
no television for a week
no facebook for a week
a week long "cleanse" diet
i need a few more challenge ideas, since there are 12 months and as you can see, I do not have 12 challenges. post any ideas to comments!
i'll be taking on my first challenge of the year (vegetarian for a week) pretty soon. stay posted...
not so miserable marci
okay, sticking with the new years resolution, instead of posting a rant about how my plane was delayed last night and i didn't get back to dirty jers until 2:30AM and now i'm back at my favorite place in the world...my job...
whoops almost fell into miserable mode there. but the theme of the year is happy. so...
:)
Sunday, January 02, 2011
happy 2011!
hope everyone's new year celebration was funnnn. judging by the amount of scratches and bruises on my person, mine included a lot of falling. and judging by my dress, that falling took place where there was a lot of mud around. and judging by throwing up at 5:30 and 6pm, it also included too much alcohol! hope your celebration was just as fun but less painful the next day.
my resolution:
try to be happy.
here's the first funny looking animal of 2011: