Five Things Friday #2

Yesterday, I was excited for Thanksgiving break.

Today, I'm realizing that I give back my keys after 4 months.

It's hard not to be down. I was and am the one everyone would guess to have a class of my own right now.
 

Five things that make me happy

These people. :) They've grown up so much in 2 years!

 This other class makes me even happier.

Hot yoga, or at least the thought of it. My left shoulder/trap is in unbearable pain - it's much more developed than the other trapezius muscle, and hot yoga just sounds so good.

A comfy bed. Nothing fancy.

The mountains, which I miss so much!

Five articles to read

Don't feel sorry that I've gained weight because I needed to. I need to stop feeling sorry for myself too.

In this world, who isn't worrying... all the time? I am on edge constantly.

This entire blog, Go Kaleo.

I'll be a hater - 5 engagement posts that are annoying.

Fast food salads always look so sad and now we know why.

Five outdoor adventures

Calafia State Beach

Carbon Canyon

Santiago Oaks

Griffith Observatory

Torrey Pines State Reserve

BONUS: YogaGlo in Santa Monica with Dice Iida-Klein


Five Four restaurants

Clementine for delicious chocolate chip cookies Joy the Baker raves about.

 Crazee Burger serves alligator, gator, antelope, and kangaroo too.

I've walked by Urban Pie at a farmer's market and loved their menu of fresh toppings.

Donuts in L.A. I've had Bob's but loved Stan's more - yummy peanut butter and banana filled donuts?! Yes!

Five shows/movies I'll be watching

"Waitress"

"Bonkers Awesome" with Joy the Baker and she goes to one of my favorite cupcakeries, Sweet & Saucy Shop.

"Catching Fire" I have next week off and will go watch it during downtime.

Still haven't seen "Despicable Me."

Watching "Love Actually" with my former roommate over Skype. :)

What makes you happy?

Thursday thoughts: Thanksgiving break

I'm getting excited for Friday.

We get a whole week off for Thanksgiving, much needed after 3 long months of school.

Unfortunately, it's also the end of my long-term sub position, the one I've had since May. 4 months of glorious lessons and a stable, paying job.

I will miss my students; however, I will continue to sub after and I'm sure to see them again. Right now, it doesn't seem like the end and it really isn't.

I'm much more excited about the break. I'm excited about hiking and eating and other adventures.

What I'll be eating

Savory pumpkin cornbread waffle

Bourbon bacon whipped sweet potatoes

Bacon cheddar biscuits from Manhattan Beach Post

Dairy-free pumpkin bread pudding

Raw carrot cake from here

What you should make, and for some reason I want a very Southern Thanksgiving/holiday

Sausage jalapeno hushpuppies

Tater tots with dijon gravy

Eggs Benedict over savory waffle

Sweet potato and honey dinner rolls

Pumpkin tiramisu

Adventures, and things to do.
I begin the break with a Duffy boat ride, finally!
Bodies, the Exhibition
Redwoods in Southern California and a little picnic and reading while I'm there
Catch up on "Walking Dead."
Watch "Waitress," "What's Cooking," and "Chocolat."
Read!

What will you be doing?
What are you making for Thanksgiving dinner? 

Tuesday [sick day] links

After spending all of Monday in bed, I caught up on "Drop Dead Diva" until late in the night (and I'm still not done) and read a ton of blog posts and articles. I thought I'd share...

Can you draw a map of the U.S.? This one's pretty impressive.

Most gorgeous non-food photos I've seen in awhile.

One building over 33 years.

I live in a place called "just your average suburb."

I've been on a local ice cream kick. This loaded/Thanksgiving ice cream needs to be tried.

I met my roommate and best friend at a Blockbuster. You'll forever be in my heart.

My zodiac sign determines my drunk behavior. I'm a bad, emotional drunk...

Which are the hottest, drunkest, dumbest states?

What eating habits say about you. But I like ketchup on my eggs... though I stay away from ketchup nowadays.

What the rest of the world does that we need to. I take siestas daily and drink coffee (fika) and chat with my favorite co-worker in the mornings.  I'm working on those walks (voltas) and need to partake in "cottage culture" of Canadians.

Visited 3 of the 20 cities to visit, but not all 20 are appealing, mostly those in the middle of the country. Nashville, Savannah, Portland, Denver, New Orleans, and Albuquerque are musts. Um, Ocean City, Maryland (in April) is not a must-see.

Where did I learn to say syrup and crayon?  Apparently in New York and Minnesota. I've been to New York and was only in an airport in Minnesota twice.

Healthy chicken chili is a staple for the wintertime.

These need to be made this or next week.

Any great links to share?

Any good recipes?

Tuesday [fitness] confession: Out of the gym

I haven't gone to the gym. I go once or a twice a week, mostly for yoga. Instead, my workouts have come from YouTube or workout printables.

I'm surprised to know that I'm consistent. I've worked out about 5-6 times per week since January 2010. Over 3 years. I'm not afraid of falling off the wagon.

In the 3 years, I've done everything. I used the elliptical machine/bike for hours on end, tried every class possible at the gym and at private studio, I even ran a 5K, and I finally tried CrossFit this year.

The gym is boring. I want to sleep in and then I want to nap after work. I don't want to drive anywhere. I want to get it done and go out.

Sometimes I don't go hard though, but I'm pushing myself again. I just needed a break.

I'm back.

Here are some of favorite resources:

Blogilates - Short and not entirely intense but I feel it the next day! I like these as add-ons. Sometimes she gets annoying though.

Lionsgate BeFit - They regularly posts new workouts that are roughly 30 minutes long. I love that they post the moves in the comments too.

FitnessBlender - Just discovered and like that it has a preview box in the corner to show you what move to do next.

Jessica Smith -  Another new discovery! I tried one with supersets that was tiring.
Blonde Ponytail - Her workouts are legit. They're hard and there are workouts of different lengths. She's so motivating too.

*Don't think she's not intense!

FitFabCities - The website hasn't been updated in awhile, but the printables are new to me. I love the tabata format of the workouts.

What are your favorite online resources?
Do you use workout DVDs?

WIAW: Chocomole, plus some reads

I caught up on sleep on Monday & Tuesday, watched some shows, did some homework, and found a few links/articles to share:

• Convincing article on magnesium & epsom salts
• Top 10 ways to get skinny fat - don't do what I did!
• Overcoming hypothalamic amennorhea - another life lesson I learned
• You can out-train a good diet
• Because it's not all about nutrition, I need to find out where the good guys are
• 3 helpful hints to "arrive" at your goals
• I tried this 12 min AMRAP from Zuzka

Now it's Wednesday and that means... it's back to work!

First, a short installment of WIAW:

My new favorite ice cream and only 130 calories per serving!

Chicken in an avocado cilantro sauce with baked sweet potato rounds for dinner

A batch of choco-mole anytime of the day, but I had some with egg whites and bread for breakfast!

The delicious recipe came from students in the guacamole & salsa showdown at school!

I inherited a newer, cleaner car after 10 years with my first and only Jeep.

How do you use avocados?
What was your first car and how long did you have it?

Blend Retreat Recap #2

So after a day of fitness and shopping at Blend 2013, we needed some food and beer.

We stopped by Wasatch Brewery when we "saw" everyone else's pictures.

There was already a group of blends there, including our suitemates.

Alex and I partook in some beer. She likes them dark while I like them in the middle. I went with the apricot hefeweizen that smelled glorious and almost like an air freshener. I suppose that could be gross huh?

We were set on Vinto for dinner. What better to go with beer than some pizza?

Full Sail isn't really local - it's from Oregon - but I loved it. Dare I say I liked it more than the apricot hefe?

We heard about Java Cow and headed back up Main Street after dinner. It was a tough walk after some beers, but we were entertained by Park City's finest stores.

I've never met so many people who liked coconut and chocolate, and Java Cow delivered with Almoond Joyus.

We headed up to Janetha's suite for Momma B's Utah scones, which are essentially delicious beignets! I had a couple as well as some cookies Christine brought from Milk Bar in our suite.

The Laurens (that would be Kitchen Queen Eats Clean & Sweat the Sweet Stuff) and I headed down to the hot tub. Such a great idea! Not only was it steamy, it soothed my sore muscles.

I had no plans of waking up early for the GPP Fitness workout, but everyone was awake so I headed down barefoot - I ditched my muddy shoes after the hike.

(via Bobbi from nHerShoes)

The Living Proof tanks in our bags were so comfortable as was our Blend shirts. Don't you love our soccer team-esque pose?

I'm going to need another one!

Also, thanks to Ali and Madi Moll, our amazing Salt Lake City/Utah-based suitemates for giving us all lululemon headbands.

Chobani provided breakfast, including the Chobani Bite and Flip. I loved the fig with orange zest bite, and hope we get them in stores soon.

While in line for an omelet, most of us ate the rest of our food - I nibbled on Chobani perfect pancakes and berries. I inhaled the chicken sausage, goat cheese, and veggie omelet within 2 minutes of sitting down.

We packed then headed downstairs to the closing ceremony.

Lindsay brought Blue Diamond almonds and we loaded up!

I had such a fantastic time with these ladies, most of us first timers.

I was so sad to see the retreat end. It went by too quickly - another day would have been nice.

But wait, I have one more recap of post-Blend and lessons learned.

Check out Amanda's blog and link-up of Blend!

MIMM: Blend Retreat Saturday Part 1

Blend Retreat: I was nervous but too tired to be.

After work on Friday, I got on the plane in my cocktail dress and headed to Salt Lake City.

I rented my first car and drove to Park City.

The resort was gorgeous, and it was nice to get some time alone with the suite. A full kitchen, washer/dryer, and a wine fridge!

I headed downstairs for dinner. Sadly, I missed cocktail hour... and I was too hungry to take pictures of food.

*"Too hungry to take pictures" was the theme of the weekend. Thankfully, others had more self-control and I will link to them when the pictures are available.


I picked out some wheat berry salad, halibut, and grilled chicken. Plus some wine and dessert of course, including Chobani panna cotta!

I nabbed a seat with some awesome ladies, took photo booth pictures with Christine & Laura, and accidentally met some of my roommates: Alex, Mollie, Laura, and Sonia.

We headed upstairs, got in jammies, and chatted before falling asleep early. Um, awesome! I love that 11 P.M. is considered late for everyone else too.

In the morning, we got up to head to boot camp led by GPP Fitness. If you read Janetha's blog, you know all about them. We did the deck of cards workout, which kicked my butt: squats, burpees, push ups, and sit ups.

Chest to floor burpees - see me in the red all the way on the floor?

 

(via Kiss My Broccoli)

Breakfast was next. It's already my favorite meal, but Blend took it to another level. There was a spread of fruit, Chobani, bagel options, and Muesli Fusion.

Though the weather outside was frightful, our suite picked the ProBar hike over Zumba.

Getting ready to hike!

(via Mollie's Sprinkles of Life)

The muddy mile to the trail head was rough... I might as well have been doing a mud run. The hike itself wasn't bad and the views were stunning.

Mountains make me feel so insignificant.

Hiking buddies Lauren, me, Ali, Madi, and Lauren

(via Kitchen Queen Eats Clean)

The whole group

I got a chance to chat with Mollie, our suitemate Lauren, and the hilarious Sarah Pember!

When we finished and got hot showers, Laura came back from her 90th marathon in 4 years! I have never heard of such a feat! What a stud!

There was also another nice surprise for us in our suite:

Core Power

Zevia and Soy Joy

...and some NatureMade B12!

We had a snack break courtesy of Onnit: chocolate protein shake samplers prepped by Miss. United States 2012 and rice cakes with a special blend of nut butters. Mmm, how did you know we all liked nut butters?!

We're eaters though and headed to Whole Foods for a late lunch. I had carne asada which again is unpictured becaused I was too hungry.

Then it was time to do what girls do on a girls' weekend: shop!

We headed to TJ Maxx, our favorite, and the Tanger Outlets. 

Say hello to the denim jacket crew: me, Lauren from Kitchen Queen Eats Clean, and Mollie from Mollie's Sprinkles of Life.

So I met lots of great people and drank lots and lots of coffee this weekend and little water. It's getting to my head! Time for bed and another recap tomorrow.