Fall Fashion Finds

Happy Tuesday!!

How are y'all doing?  Are you enjoying this beautiful NJ summer, I mean fall, right?  It's 90 degrees! This week will be in the high 80's! What. The. Heck!?

I've been taking a lot of Boot Camp classes at my gym lately because of the ankle, and I'm kinda loving them!  Usually I steer clear of the Boot Camp style classes in favor of my own workouts, but lately I've been loving the change.  I'm looking at you sandbag pushes and battle ropes!  Also, with all of the after school festivities in September, I need to get in a quick workout, so 5:30 boot camp has my name on it.

Today I'm going to hit you with my Fall Fashion Faves!

This past weekend I set out to find some new shoes for Kate's rehearsal and I wound up finding these instead.  Not too upset about the shoe switcheroo.

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These boots are the things fall shoe dreams are made of.  They're the perfect color, perfect heel height, and perfect amount of fringe.  I'm in love!  I got mine at Nordstrom Rack, but these are on sale!!


THIS JACKET!  I want a green army jacket to wear in NOLA!  I think it's the perfect fall jacket and I want it so bad!  It's a great neutral, goes with everything, and I can add a scarf to dress it up.

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Can we call this #hatgoals?  I know, I know, every year I say I want a floppy hat and I think THIS WILL BE THE YEAR!

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This one is from Macy's and it's $40.  I may peruse TJ MAXX to try to find a cheaper one.

I've been obsessed with Carrie Underwood's Calia line for a while now, even though I ordered my first pieces this week.  It's kind of a pricey line, but some sales were found and thus I have 2 new pieces en route to my casa.  

I'm officially in love with this tank.  The only problem?  I don't know which color to choose!  It comes in white, black, and this fuchsia color.  I love the white, but I don't know if I can give up my signature pink!   I think it'll be cute with ankle booties (see above, wink, wink) and jeans, or with sneaks, a hat, and leggins.

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What are you loving for fall fashions?!  

Enjoy the day!  Hopefully we'll be back in the normal fall weather soon!  This girl wants to bake some pumpkin goodies!  

XOXO,

E

Weekend Recap

Happy Oxymoron Day!

How was everyone's weekend?  Mine was crazy busy/sleep deprived/sugar fueled.  So that should answer all questions about the detox, huh?  Tomorrow will be better :)

Friday night I babysat...I came *this close* to falling asleep on their couch.  

Saturday started as it usually does, GYM TIME!  Dylan and Deb showed up for my last Total Body Blast class...little bro said his legs are sore today :)  Muahahaha that's music to my ears.  

After the gym, I got my hairs cut.  Then, I had some last minute shopping for Kate's wedding to do.  I also picked up some Tom's ankle booties...because you know, bridesmaids need gifts, too.

Whole Foods came to the dinner rescue.  WF has a $2 off salad coupon on their app!  Get.  It.  

Kind of a random salad:  beets, turkey, kale, super grains, and antioxidant salad.  Word to the wise...don't mix these all together.  It tastes gross.  Sometimes I get a little too excited when I go to WF and want to try allthethings.  Usually this works in my favor, but sometimes allthethings don't taste so good mixed together.  Delish on their own, but not together.  Lesson learned.

Sunday began with an early morning circuit workout.  I was supposed to be running The Rock N Roll half today, but the ankle is still not ready, so Plan B was taken.  

Sunday afternoon, Deb and I got our nails done for Kate's wedding.  I went with OPI's Russian Navy.

Then, my 6th favorite day of the year was finally upon us!  VALENZANO WINE FEST!

Cait, her mom, Deb, and I went to the wine fest for the second year...we're totally making this an annual thing :)

After trying all the wine at the fest (because we're champs like that) we wandered around and then sampled some grapes.

They were delicious!

Valenzano does a great job with this fest.  They invite about 8 wineries to come and exhibit their wines.  It's a $20 entrance fee and then you can sample all the wines you want.  One of my friends joked that it is like the Samples Olympics for me.  He is right!  They also have food trucks, bands, crafts, vendors, a beer garden, and activities for the kids to enjoy.  It's such a fun way to spend the afternoon and kick off fall.  

Cait and I then went to Menchie's for froyo.  I rolled with a mix of peanut butter, chocolate, cake batter, and cookies and cream froyo (a much better mix than my WF salad debacle) topped with Oreos, Reese's Cups, cookie dough, mini M&Ms, a tiny bit of chocolate sauce, marshmallow, and peanut butter.  

When I came home from Menchie's I needed a nap!  #oldladystatus  When I woke up I craved healthy healthy healthy food.  I had a piece of homemade healthy turkey meatloaf with steamed veggies.  Instantly I felt better.  It's amazing how that happens, isn't it?  After you eat junk food you begin craving the good stuff.  

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  To my friends who raced this weekend, I'm so happy for you and excited for you and your accomplishment!

This is Kate's wedding week and I can't wait to share the day with her!

XOXO,

E

Friday Favorites

It's the Freakin' Weekend...I'm about to have me some fun!

Happy FriYAY!   I don't know about you, but I definitely feel like I earned this weekend.  I can't believe that in one week one of my best friends will be getting married!  Grown up married, not like 5th grade married!  Crazy!  So excited for her!  I know this will be an awesome week full of fun and festivities.  

This past week was a struggle.  I have been to PT for a week now and I am feeling a lot better.  I know it's a long road ahead, but slowly and surely I'm getting used to my new normal.  Adapt or die, ammiright?  I've been using kinesiology tape and I'm loving it now.  Maybe it's all mental, but I really think it's helping!  One of my students told me I looked like an Olympian.  Someone clearly wants an A...My PT said I can do light interval running aka 1 min walk/1 min light jog.  Hey, it's a far cry from 1/2 marathons, but I'll take it :)  Sunday morning I'm going to start my day with a little run/jog/walk.  

Does anyone have anything fun going on this weekend?  I'm babysitting tonight and tomorrow I teach my last Total Body Blast class for the year.  This has truly been one of my favorite summers because of this class.  It was kind of a dream I didn't know I had.  I'm definitely getting certified this fall so I can hopefully have my own class soon.  Sunday I *maybe* have a breakfast date with Amanda for acai bowls.  Deb and I then have manis for Kate's wedding.  Then, Cait, her mom, Deb, and I are going to Valenzano Winery for their annual wine fest.  I love this!  I think this is my 6th favorite day.

If you're wondering my favorite days go as follows:

1.) Thanksgiving

2.) Christmas Eve

3.) Souper Bowl Day at school

4.) Cookie Tray Day at school

5.) Cole Swindell Concerts

6.) Valentano Wine Fest

7.) My birthday

8.) Halloween

9.) Fourth of July

10.) Valentine's Day

Speaking of Favorites...here are my favorites from the week!

This hair cut!  I'm obsessed with Carrie Underwood (duh, total girl crush!) After Kate's wedding I'm totally cutting it!

President Barbie!  Every election, Barbie comes out with a President Barbie, but this time she's different!  There are 2 of them!  They are also multicultural.  I was also blown away by Barbie's career diversity.  While I was perusing the aisle at Target, I saw Barbies dressed as pediatricians, vets, scientists, and businesswomen.  Win win win!  

When I was in Target, some how these little babies ended up in my cart.  Weird how that happens, huh?  I wanted to try these puppies out.  Half way through the bag, I can say they are pretty good.  They remind me of the Crispy M&Ms.  They're really sweet, though.  They taste more graham crackery than marshmallowy.



SPIN!

My favorite spin instructor goes down the shore for the summer, so I'm thrilled when she comes back and I can finally take spin again.  Yes, spin is still offered at my gym when she's not here, but I really only like her.  So I take the summer off to focus on running, and then get back in the (spin) saddle come September.

I was supposed to have a half on Sunday, but I obviously have to pull out of it.  I'm really upset about it, but I know that I'll get better and be able to run again soon enough.  To all my friends running on Sunday, best of luck!

What are you loving this week??

Love Love Love,

E

Injured

Hey Friends!

Happy Tuesday!  It's my first full week back at work and OMG am I tired!! Also, what's everyone doing on Monday and Tuesday nights now that Bachelor In Paradise is over?  So. Much. Free. Time. 

Today started at 4 am because I taught a HIIT class at the gym. I love these classes because eneyone is working hard and game for anything you throw at them. I'm also super motivated to go extra hard because everyone there only has 1 hour to work out so I better make it count and worth the early wake up time. 

Ok, so on to the injury. About 6 weeks ago, right about the time I got back from Miami, my left foot was swollen really bad. I figured it was just from the salty un-Erin food and travel. My doctor thought the same thing. She said that in a few days the sweeping would go down and all would be Bueno. Well in a few days the swelling did go down, but I still had a lot of pressure in my ankle. I figured it was just sore from the swelling. Then I started noticing that my running speed was slowing a LOT. Like 30 extra seconds on a mile slow.  My ankle then started to hurt when I ran until it became impossible to run. I began dreading my runs because I knew it wouldn't be a fast run and more importantly it was going to be painful. So I went to the doctors again and she said I had Achilles tendinitis and prescribed PT. AND NO RUNNING. my heart sunk. I knew I wouldn't be able to compete in the Rock N' Roll half marathon at the end of the month. I was/am devastated. I've been training for months and just wanted to feel the rush that only a race can give you. I still haven't accepted the reality of the situation. 

I started PT on Friday afternoon. It was really fun and my therapist is awesome. I still have to hold off on running for a little while, but I am experiencing a lot less pain and more mobility in my Achilles. 

How have my workouts changed:

-no running

-rest days

-modified barre classes 

-elliptical running

I'm not going to lie, I miss running all the time. I notice a huge difference in my mood and my weight. My body doesn't feel as tight as it used to. It's a lot flabbier and that really weighs on me. No pun intended. When you're used to doing 30 miles a week, your body responds to it and looks a certain way. When you cut it way back your body doesn't know what to do. I can tell I'm gaining weight and losing muscle definition. It's also hard to reach your body that you're no longer training so you don't have to eat as much as you're used to. It's really hard to retrain your body to not be as hungry. I know it's probably only about 2-3 more weeks without running, but it definitely puts a psychological toll on you. It's hard when things don't fit and you dread shopping or putting on pants because you don't know if they're going to zip or not. While I can still elliptical, it takes a long time to reach 5 miles on the machine as opposed to 40 minutes of running 5 miles. 

I'm really upset about it all and hating the negative fitness results I'm having. I feel disappointed in myself and just lethargic and honesty ugly. I know we're all supposed to be strong, unaffected by the scale/other's opinions, and free of societal pressure, but dammit it's hard!  I feel bad because my injury isn't that bad and I'll be fine, and I know I'll recover and PR my next half, but for right now I'm sad. 

Sorry for the pity party post, but injuries are hard. As athletes we train constantly and our bodies are our job. Sidelining injuries take not just a physical toll, but an emotional and mental one as well. To all of you out there dealing with injuries, stay strong and tough. It's only a drop in the bucket. It's only a small piece of time in the grand scheme of our fitness journey, but boy is it a sucky time! 

Xox,

Erin 

Weekend Update

...With Amy and Tina!

Jk, but I miss them. 

How was everyone's weekend?  How was back to school?  It's totally the teacher in me, but I love seeing all of the kiddos back to school pictures on social media. 

Mine is here

I can't believe it's year 3 already!  Times a flying when you're having fun!  

And yes I have apples on my mani! 

So kitschy, but I'm obsessed. 

My back to school was pretty good. Just testing the kids before we officially dove in. 

This weekend was chaotic!  Back to the usual fast paced Weekend Warrior lifestyle. I am so spoiled over the summer because I can go run errands anytime I want. Now if I forget something at Target I have to wait until the weekend to fit it into my schedule. 

Friday started with PT. I'll get to that in tomorrow's post. Then I hit up the gym for a weights and cardio workout. After I went to Seasons 52 for the usual salad party, but they left the pumpkin seeds on it and it was just ehhhh. I like pumpkin seeds, just not on my salads. 

I then baked a batch of breakfast cookies with apples instead of chocolate chips. We'll see how the sweet tooth does with that switcharoo. I then baked an organic vanilla "Orange" cake for my friend's brother's concert.  I subbed coconut oil and almond milk for butter and milk respectively. I may or may not have sampled the batter and decided it was delicious. Quality control, you know? 😊

I then watched DCC Making The Team 11 (Go Amy!)!! So so so good. Then I watched the Dateline Special on JonBenet Ramsey. It was really interesting. I have to say I'm hooked on all of these shows. This crime fascinated me as a child because it was the first time I saw evil in real life. I was the same age as her and I remember thinking there are bad people in the world. Not just Disney villains, but real people can be bad. 

Saturday started as it usually does, gym time followed by Sample Saturday. Afterwards, Deb and I went to our cousins' birthday party.  It's always fun to see the whole family and who doesn't love a cupcake?!

Saturday night was a special treat. Cait's little brother has a band and we went to their show. They played a free concert in her backyard. Everyone brought food and drinks and just hung out, danced, and enjoyed the show. His band is named Car In The Wall and they have songs on iTunes!  You should check them out. They're sooooooo good!  

Cait and I enjoying the Orange Cake!

Sunday was spent in DC watching the Phillies take on the Nationals. We said hi to Ben Revere and said Boooooooo to Jayson Werth. 

Heckled by William Taft

He decided to play nice...for now

Christmas at the stadium?  In September ?  I'll take it! 

Cool art on display at the stadium.

The Nationals did a ceremony to honor and remember those lost and those who served in 9/11. They had first responders, service dogs, and the USNA Mids on the field for the ceremony. It was beautiful and so special.

So the Nationals have a Simba Cam!  How cool is that?  The entire stadium breaks into the Simba pose. Parents just lift up their children like Simba while Circle Of Life plays. 

So funny!

I have to give the Nats a huge hand clap for the variety of food and healthy foods they offered at the stadium. They have gluten free options, a whole salad station, and multiple vegetarian and even vegan options. I rolled with the best roasted cauliflower sandwich I ever had. I didn't photograph it because it was messsssssy!  It was a bunch of roasted cauliflower and red onions in a tomato red pepper sauce on a poppy seed bun. Deeeeelish!  Literally finger licking good. 

My dad was excited because they had Shake Shack. Ever since the Mets game, he's become a concert. 

Even though we rally capped, we lost 3-2. Cody Asche was called up from Reading, so that was good. I'm glad he's back.

We didn't get home until around 9 so it was lunch prep and then right to bed. 

What did everyone do this weekend?? 

Xoxo,

E

To Detox or Not To Detox

Happy Tuesday!

I hope everyone is having a great day.  I'm loving the humidity break we've had the past two days.  It certainly is still crazy hot in NJ, but the humidity isn't where it has been which is luverly.

Today's post is kind of an all over post.

When I was on the cruise, I attended a healthy living seminar on metabolism and how to speed it up.  The trainer giving the talk was talking about detoxing to expel excessive gunk in your intestines.  Obviously, he was trying to sell a product and a body analysis service to us, but it got me thinking.  I didn't buy the "Magic Pills" he was selling because I'm not named Jack and I don't have a cow to sell, but I started thinking, okay, maybe I can do a version of a detox and make it work for me.

I've never been one to buy into the gimmicky magic pill, magic juice, magic diet trend.  I believe that while they do make you lose weight, you eventually put it all on plus some.  Plus, these are not healthy and very often contain some really scare ingredients.  I decided to do some of my own research and I enlisted my trainer to help me.  Together we found that the best detoxes are ones that involve turning around your eating habits and focusing on whole foods.  The body is a very impressive machine and can usually fix itself in terms of digestion and detoxing/cleansing.

Here's my plan:

Week 1:  Give up alcohol

Week 2:  Give up dairy

Week 3:  Give up processed/refined sugar

Week 4:  Give up wheat/breads

Every week I give up one thing that is not a whole food.  When I try to give up "all junk" it's hard for me because A) It's not specific B) It's too drastic.  I have to wean myself off or I'll binge, feel guilty, and get discouraged.

This week I gave up alcohol and it hasn't been bad at all.  After last week's cruise, I can fully say that I feel better with less sugar and processed junk clogging up my body.

I decided to start this now because I have 4 races as of now in the next few months and need to get race ready.  I think cleaning up my eats will be the perfect way to help me PR.

Have you ever detoxed before?  What do you like to do?


Today is going to be another busy one.  I'm going into my classroom to *hopefully* make more headway in organizing and setting up for the year.  Yesterday I did 4.5 hours and pretty much have nothing to show for it.  I have a bunch of half completed projects and border up.  That's all.  Returning to work is kind of like returning to college.  The whole first day you pretty much do nothing but catch up with colleagues and chat.  I love talking to everyone so I'm never too sad when someone comes in while I'm working because I welcome the distraction.  Productivity level=Michael Scott.

Tonight after the gym, I'm taking my friend Aly to try my beloved Maple Shade Custard Stand!  She's never been and I keep raving about it.  Hopefully she'll love it!  Have you ever hyped something so much that when the person has it, they are like, 'well, it's good, but...it's not as good as you make it seem.'  Womp.  Womp.  **But I think she'll LOVE it like me!**

I hope everyone has a great Tuesday!  I'm working on the cruise recap and hopefully it will be up tomorrow!

-e

Weekend Recap

HHappy Last Week of August!

Can you believe how fast the summer went?? I know *technically* we have one more month of summer, but I consider the first day of school to be the first day of fall. 

Well, this weekend was a full one!  It always takes a little bit of recoup time after a vacation, but I bounced right back into the usual routine. 

Friday am I had an early morning run followed by a tutoring session. I hit up the gym for an upper body training session. After eating gross cruise food and not really working out for 5 days it felt AMAZING to get sweaty and really workout. 

Friday night Cait and I went to see Keith Urban rock out at the BB&T Pavillion. He was amazing per usual. Cait had never seen him before and I couldn't wait for her to experience one of his live shows. He really is an incredible and rare talent. You never realize what a great guitar player he is until he starts ripping it up. Maren Morris was his opener opener and she was outstanding. She's so new to the main stream concert circuit, but so comfortable performing. Brett Eldridge was the opener and he was beautiful I mean insanely talented. He sang a lot do his new stuff. Is it bad that we were disappointed he didn't wear his white jeans from last year?  I think he's the only guy to be able to pull of white jeans. 

We're country concert ready!! 

At the end of Keith's show 

Cait and I had one of those you know you're old when moments at the end of the concert when we decided to forego the encor to avoid missing the early train. We know that the 11:04 train is the best one because it doesn't get stuck behind the departing concert traffic. We were both exhausted and had early mornings ahead of us. #oldladystatus

Saturday started super early like usual, but this time I was teaching Zumba! I love teaching Zumba because the people bring so much energy and you need that at 8 am on Saturday morning. 

I also taught a super sweaty Total Body Blast class. I only have one more class left to sub, then I have to relinquish the class. I'll keep subbing through the year on a need be basis.  After class, I took a Pilates class and boy did I feel it. Pilates always centers me and makes me feel whole and strong like no other workout. After being out for a week it felt beautiful to be back. 

After the gym I headed to Wegman's to make my usual sample rounds. Kind of a disappointing sample display I have to say. I guess the place really dos fall down without me ;) 

What Wegman's failed to have in samples, they more than made up for with the arrival of HONEYCRISP apples!  My beloved pounder of an apple quickly got attacked by cinnamon! 

Saturday night Deb and I went shopping for Kate's wedding. The beauty of being a bridesmaid is that you don't have to think about what to wear or which accessories to buy!  So so in love with that!  While I wont reveal Deb's outfit I will tell you we got it all (including dress, shoes, and jewelry) for $143!! That's insane! Does anyone remember the show The Look For Less from the Style Network circa early 2000s?  I felt like we were on that and we beasted the challenge!  Even Deb, the always reluctant shopper enjoyed herself!  

After a long day of shopping, Cait and I met up for a frotrip to Menchie's!  I had my first Menchie's moment in Pitt at PNC Park in June and have had a hankering for it ever since. They have one a few towns away from me and Cait and I decided it was time to sojourn there. 

Can you guess which one is mine?  If you picked the ginormous one...you are correct!  It was a delicious $8.50 sundae. 

Menchie's is cool because they don't have the traditional flavors (I mean they do, but you have options.). They had sorbets, too! I got cake batter, peanut butter, and chocolate. I then topped it with cookie dough, brownies, Oreos, Nutella, peanut butter, hot fudge, marshmallow, and m&ms.  

Sunday was a Funday!  I'm still nursing an Achilles injury so I skipped my long run and slept in so id be fresh for our big trip to New York for the Mets Phils game. The Mets had been dominating the series and we were not optimistic. Buuuuuuuuttttt third times the charm!  We won!! 

This is stadium #6 for us on our MLB tour. We were so surprised by how beautiful Citi Park is. All of the people were so nice to us despite our Phillies gear. Shocked!  We were expecting heckling and booing. But no. Nothing. I was severely uncomfortable with all of the niceness. We also had great food. Zero complaints!  

View form our seats. 

Our seats!  They were right in front of Jerry Seinfeld's box. He wasn't at the game, but it was cool to see his seats. 

Baked goods?!

Epic Brownie Situation. It was a salted caramel pretzel brownie. I'm gonna leave you with that and let it sink in. 

All of the retired numbers including Jackie Robinson's 42. 

Shea Bridge

Shea Bridge Selfie!

Home Run Apple

As we were leaving we passed this sign. 

Pretty cool, huh?

Well I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend! What did you all do?  Anything fun planned for the upcoming week?

 This is my last week of summer vacation so I'm going to be setting up my classroom and prepping for the first week. I have no real plans for Labor Day Weekend so I foresee a lot of sun bathing and reading in my future. 

Xoxo,

E