This year I can honestly say Valentine's day was done right in our household. While (most) couples were hitting up the fancy schmancy restaurants and dropping $100+ on dinner, Nate and I celebrated Valentine's day in the best way we knew how: a night of margs, mexican food, and lounging. The couple next to us even gave us a $5 coupon that they weren't using. And while we didn't totally skip out on the holiday (he got me the prettiest bouquet of roses AND cleaned the house while I got him a 6 pack and a hoodie from his favorite brewery), we definitely kept it more low-key.
I could never have enough margs with chips and salsa.
A low-key Friday was then filled with a jam-packed Saturday as my friend came down from Minnesota, bringing her beau and a couple of friends. We all had tickets to go to the KU basketball game, and it being my first I was pretty pumped. Being a KU alum I'm sort of ashamed to admit I've actually never seen a game in person, but with tickets not being cheap and students having to camp out to get tickets, I've just never gotten around to it. Alas, 3 years after graduating I finally made it to one, and it was amazing. The energy from the student section is unreal, and being surrounded by a full house of KU fans was so much fun.
The photobomber to the left of me had us laughing for at least 5 minutes straight.
The view from our seats. We showed up an hour before the game to snag them as we were in general admission :)
So after dominating the other team by 30 points, we had to celebrate our victory by going out. By 1 am I was spent, and the next day I woke up and (no surprise) was feeling a little rough. After breakfast, a shower, and saying goodbye to my friend, I headed straight to the couch for much needed recovery time. I found enough energy to get in a run just before dinner, and then we took it easy the rest of the night. All in all it was a great weekend, and the perfect way (in my opinion) to celebrate V-day.
Over the past few weeks my training has been pretty consistent, with 3-4 workouts per week. The whole healthy eating thing is working as well, although I do still let myself cheat a little too much when it comes to the weekends. I'm still seeing progress, however slow it may be, which is good. Now I just got to keep it up, and with this week being Valentine's Day week I can already feel my motivation being challenged.
Last Saturday I got in my 4th workout for the week by hitting up the local ski place with my bros about an hour away. I figured this would be a way to curb our craving for Colorado skiing. Fail. Epic fail. I loved it so much that I'm now determined to go to Colorado next month. Fake snow is great, but I need the mountains and fresh powder. We'll see what we can put together last minute, but I'm hoping we can all come together and agree on a condo to rent and a place to ski. Skiing to me is the equivalent to a beach vacation, but without the pain of coming back and having to diet (hello, 8+ hours of activity per day).
Me and my lil bro taking a break for lunch inside the lodge.
So while my head may already be in the mountains, I'm still going to try to stay grounded by making some goals this week.
Goal 1: Get in at least 3 workouts this week. 1 down, at least 2 more to go.
Goal 2: Take tape measurements so I can check progress with something other than the scale.
Goal 3: Find items I'd like to buy (new running shoes/cute workout tops/etc) that are motivational that I can reward myself with once I've reached certain stepping stones. Looks like I'll be binge-pinning to my boards this week.
Happy Friday everyone! With having two snow days this week it feels unreal that it's Friday, but without further ado, here are my five favorites from this week.
1. Tory Burch for Fitbit. Yes, you read that correctly. Tory Burch will launching a line of accessories this spring to house your Fitbit Flex device so you can look stylish while getting your fitness on. I've only been wearing my Flex since Christmas, but I totally plan on sprucing it up when the line comes out. If you want to be the first to know when the line launches, you can sign up via email here.
2. Russian Figure Skater Tatiana Volosozhar's Cinderella costume. The Winter Olympic Games have always been my favorite, and even though the opening ceremonies were today (and will air tonight, which everyone should watch!), I still got my Olympic fix in yesterday by watching pair/team figure skating.And you guys, I totally would take up figure skating again (yes, I said again) if I could wear Tatiana Volosozhar's Cinderella costume. It was perfection.
3. Girl's night out. Nothing says 'Happy Friday' like some girl time! And tonight I'm welcoming the weekend by treating myself to a little nail therapy. I'm going with a girlfriend after work tonight to relax and unwind at the nail salon, and while I'm sure the nail techs will have quite a task in front of them (it's probably been at least a year since I've gone), I'm looking forward to a little pampering.
4. Skinny Cow Cookies N' Cream Ice Cream Sandwhiches. I've been getting back into the swing of eating healthy and exercising, but every once in awhile I still need an indulgent treat. Ice cream is pretty much religion in our household, although with most of our favorites containing 250 calories per measly half cup (and who only eats half a cup?!), we've had to find a substitute. These hit the spot every time, and I don't feel guilty afterwards.
5. Miley Cyrus' Adore You. Okay, so Miley may have had a little of a wild streak lately, but I still love her music. Sometimes it takes me a couple of times listening to a song for me to decide if I love it or not, but her song Adore You I instantly fell in love with. I may have even belted the words in the car when I was parked in the garage after coming back from the gym. When Nate came out to see if I needed help bringing in my gym bag/groceries, and then realized I was knee-deep in Miley glory, he went back inside. Sorrynotsorry.
So this week it snowed a whopping 14" here in Kansas, and while for most it meant snow days (myself included) and winter fun, it made me a little bummed by reminding me that this year we won't be traveling to Colorado. I've always been a mountain girl over a beach girl, and with Colorado ski country just 9 hours away, we've gone at least once annually. This year will mark the first year in the past 5 or so that we haven't made the trek to enjoy my favorite sport, but I'm still getting my winter fix by watching the pros on TV and enjoying a visit to our local ski spot this weekend (it only has 4 runs, 2 of which are bunny slopes, but it's better than nothing, right?!).
To commemorate the many fun moments I've had in Colorado, I give you the highlight of our trip last year. Mr. Moose.
He looked a lot bigger in person.
This was the one time in my life I can say I've almost ran into a wild animal. I guess that's what you get when you're enjoying the scenery and not exactly catching on that people have stopped in front of you. Uh, whoops. Luckily, this little fella didn't hurt anyone, although my mom was probably asking for a mauling while she was taking pictures of it with her flash and volume up on her phone. My favorite part? When I told my mom after the encounter that I was afraid she was going to die by Moose mauling, she simply said, "But wouldn't that be a great story, and such an interesting way to go?" Uh, no, no it wouldn't.
And while we're at it, below are some other fun pictures from last year's trip.
Ready to go down one of the runs.
Beautiful scenery! Oh mountains, how I love you.
Grabbing a spiced hot chocolate at one of the watering holes in Winter Park after a long day of skiing.
And even though Kansas skiing and landscape does not compare to Colorado, snow days in the flat lands still have some highlights.
I got to snuggle with this handsome boy and his sister for 2 days straight.
Did you have any snow days this week with the winter storms? What was your favorite part about being snowed in?
