Family Meeting and Family Vacation

The first week in February my family planned to take a family vacation to Aruba. My parents flew down to Philadelphia the day before the trip because I had arranged for them to meet Joe's family for the first time. I know what you're thinking, we've been together forever and have been living together for over a year and our families hadn't met? It wasn't that we didn't want them to. Its just we never found a time that was convenient for both of them. So, the night before the trip, we all went out to dinner in Manayunk. Joe and I were both pretty nervous but everything went very smoothly and they all seemed to really enjoy each other's company. Phew.. check that off the list.

The next morning my parents and I flew to Aruba and met up with my brother. We made it out just in time before they shut down both the Philly and NYC airport. We arrived in Aruba mid afternoon on Friday. We were staying at the same place that Joe and I stayed at when we went in March 2010, the Marriott Stellaris. We spent the majority of the days lounging by the pool or beach. One of the days we went snorkeling on old pirate ship style boat. The ship even had a rope swing where you could hang on and swing out into the water. Another day, we went on the jeep tour that Joe and I had also done the last time we were there. Our neighbors (at my parents house) were also in Aruba so we spent a few days hanging out with them. Each night we went to a nice dinner, the picture above is from our dinner at Simply fish. A beach side restaurant where your table is right on the sand!


We had a wonderful time and it was great to spend 7 days as a family.

Pilates Party of One

After my attempt at spinning, I was still on the hunt for an exercise routine that would break up the monotony of the gym. I had heard many good things about Pilates and decided shortly before Christmas that I would ask for Pilates classes from Santa. I found a Pilates studio in Manayunk that offered a combination of private lessons and mat classes as a package called "get to know Pilates". I thought this would be a perfect way see if it was something I would enjoy. I think learning at your own pace and getting personalized attention is the key to enjoying and feeling successful at a new exercise routine. Looking back, I think that is why I did not find spinning enjoyable, I jumped right in and did too much too fast.

The Monday after New Years was my first private lesson. After work, I met the instructor/owner Jen at the studio. Jen practices classical Pilates. For those of you who don't know, Pilates is a body conditioning routine that helps build flexibility, muscle strength, and endurance in the legs, abs arms, hips, and back. It puts emphasis on spinal and pelvic alignment, breathing, and developing a strong core or center, and improving coordination and balance. Classical Pilates focuses on the original teachings of its creator, Joseph Pilates. Joseph Pilates originally developed his method as mat exercises but subsequently added several pieces of apparatus to help people "get the method in their bodies".

This week in my private lesson, we continued to work  on the apparatuses in order to get the hang of things. This is my first time working one on one with an instructor and I love the personal attenion. Jen makes sure that I am doing all of the moves correctly and modifys them to my level.

 The funny thing is, at the end of the work out you arent sweaty or tired, the way you feel when you leave the gym. However, the next day you are sore even though it seems like you didnt do much. Two lessons down I am loving Pilates and looking forward to the next lesson. I think it definitely going to be something I stick with in the future.I'll keep you posted when I join mat class.

Happy 2013

Whew.. its been a whirlwind holiday season! The last few weeks in December got so busy I never got a chance to write a Christmas blog. I had a nice Christmas at home in Rochester with my family! Joe and I traveled up the weekend before Christmas for the family Christmas Party that my parents hosted for my extended family. The party rotates to a different house each year, and this year was our turn to host. We had a great time and Santa even stopped by so we could tell him what we really wanted for Christmas! You are never too old to have a little heart to heart with Santa.

The day after the party Joe headed back to NJ to be with his family and I stayed with my family in Rochester. We had a quiet Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my grandparents. After Christmas I returned to Philadelphia for a wedding. Joe's best friend got married in NJ and Joe was the best man. We had a great time at their wedding. The food and venue were spectacular and the bride looked great! 

A couple days later we rang in the new year in Central NJ with a few of Joe's college friends. It was low key and a good end to a long holiday season.

 The one thing that bothered me about this holiday season is family members/friends constantly questioning when Joe and I would get engaged/married/have babies. Don't get me wrong, I want all of those things (in that order), but it sort of made me feel like all of my successes are nothing unless I am married and popping out children. If I knew the answers to any of those questions, I would be a mind reader so I am not sure what they are hoping to gain by reminding me that time is passing and I am not getting any younger , if not to make me feel bad? I feel very lucky to be in the place I am in right now.. and I know all of these things will come soon so I am not worried.. but having to continually answer those questions over and over is quite tiring. Did any one else experience this? Ok ending rant.. 

I am looking forward to all 2013 has in store and I think it is going to be a fantastic year. I have a few New Years resolutions that I am intending on keeping, but we'll see since I am never very good at this:

1. Like everyone says: Go to the gym and hopefully loose the 20+ lbs I've gained since freshman year of college. 

2. Pay off credit cards completely each month.

3. Find a suitable hobby. 

What are your resolutions? 

Happy 2013! 

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

This Christmas Joe and decided to commemorate our first year of living together by decorating the house for our first Christmas together. Earlier this week we went to a Christmas tree stand  that popped up at a church in our neighborhood and picked out the perfect live tree. When we got home, Christmas music blasting, we decorated it with some ornaments that I had bought at Homegoods. My mom has been saving ornaments for me over the years but since I flew back to Philadelphia after Thanksgiving I couldn't take those with me, which made me sad. These generic ornaments will have to do for now. I love the smell of a fresh Christmas Tree and the warmth a lit tree brings to your home.

Next I decided to make a cute new centerpiece for the coffee table with some pine scented pine cones I found at Homegoods, a new bowl, and a candle I had lying around.

 

Lastly, Joe put up some outside lights.

 

Hope your enjoying the start of the Christmas season as much as I am!!

 

Giving Thanks

Before I head home for Thanksgiving tomorrow I wanted to make sure I get in my annual 'giving thanks' post because in this day in age it is sometimes easier to focus on what we don't have instead of what we do. Here is what I am thankful for this year:

1. My family always first and foremost.. my parents who always support me, my brother who I hope to visit in NYC  after the holidays, and my grandparents who are still alive and healthy for the most part.

2. My wonderful boyfriend who I have been living with for 9 months officially. We have our ups and downs but overall he is pretty great and I am so lucky to have him.

3. My friends - although a lot of my friendships have changed in the last year I am so lucky to still have girlfriends who stand by me no matter what. I hope that in the coming year we can still work hard to maintain close friendships because its great to have a boyfriend but it is so important to have girlfriends.

4. My beautiful house which I have officially owned for 3 years.. cant believe it. I have put so much effort into making it beautiful and I am so proud of it.

5. Traveling: this year I went skiing in Park City Utah with my family, to Florida with my mom and to San Diego and Vegas with Joe. I am a very lucky girl to have been able to experience so many of the wonderful places this world has to offer.

6. My job -- I am so thankful for a wonderful boss who treats me well and a stable job in this economy.. and for my wonderful work friend who keeps me sane most days.

7. I am so thankful that I can still go to the place that I truly call home - Rochester  to celebrate thanksgiving with the ones I love and get a nice break from daily life.

See you after thanksgiving and where ever life lands you this thanksgiving make sure to count your blessings.

Spinning for Hurricane Relief

The past few months I have been feeling stuck in a rut. The excitement of summer has long since passed and I have started to feel like the hamster running on the wheel and doing the same things over and over again... sleep.. work.. make dinner.. sleep .. rinse repeat. Yes, maybe that's an exaggeration which is really punctuated by a few dinners out with friends and nights out with Joe, but all of this is really just the same old. For awhile I have been in search of a new hobby; something I could really enjoy, pour my heart into, and also use as a way to break up the long work week and stay active. I have been trying to go to the gym; but I ultimately find the routine of treadmill and weights fairly boring as well. It also annoys me that the gym is sort of solitary and after spending a day alone in a cubicle it would be nice to find something that involves interacting with other people instead of being alone with your thoughts and the songs blaring on your ipod. So while I was perusing Facebook last week, (my ultimate hobby) and came across an event that I thought would be fun to try. The Wall Indoor Cycling Studio on Main St., here in Manayunk, was offering free spin classes if you came with donations for hurricane victims of Island Park, NY on Long Island. I thought this benefit was a great cause and would be a perfect excuse to try spinning for the first time. I convinced my friend Allie to come with me, as she had never did a spinning class before either. Saturday morning at 8:45 am, with donations in hand, we headed off to give it a try.

When we got there I was pleasantly surprised that most of the people taking the class appeared to be women around our age. We were the only people who were new to spinning but the instructor was really nice and helped us set up our bikes. The first few songs, I was feeling pretty great.. and then she said that "warm up was over"..wait this was only warm up??! The class was about 45 minutes long and the speed, resistance and your position on the bike depended on the beat of the particular song that was playing at the time. For example, during a fast song you may pedal really fast at a low resistance whereas during a slow song you could be pedaling at a high resistance very slowly. It also varied between sitting on the seat and standing. It was one of the hardest cardio work outs I have ever done. At the end I felt energized like I was going to die!! My rear end is killing me from the bike seat and my calves are burning something fierce. It is 36 hrs later and it still kills to walk. 

My overall review is that I think spinning has potential to be fun and a nice way to meet people once you get used to the work out and build up the leg strength for it. I read online that the bike seat hurting your behind goes away in time. I don't think I could do spinning as my only form of working out, but I think it would be really nice to do once a week on a Saturday morning like we did this Saturday. Lets be honest - once a week is probably all my calves are going to be able to take. 

I still don't think that this is something I 'love' as a hobby but I might sign up for a few more classes because it was a great work out. At any rate,  so I am still in search of something that peaks my interest and is actually enjoyable. While I was at Wegmans today, I bought a yoga mat and am thinking of attending a Pilate's class next.... I will let you know how it goes! 

If anyone has any interesting hobbies they would recommend.. feel free to comment! Have you ever done spinning? Did you like it? 

My Best Friends Wedding

This past weekend Joe and I were in our good friends Sara and Steve's wedding. The wedding weekend started out with a rehearsal followed by dinner at Chloe. The restaurant shut down for the private event and prepared a meal that was specially requested by the bride and groom. It was fantastic. That night, the girls slept in the penthouse suite of the Omni hotel where the wedding was to be held the next day. The guys slept at my house with Joe in Manayunk. The penthouse was amazing! It was about 2,000 square feet with two bedrooms a huge living room and full dining room. The next morning the girls woke up bright and early (6am) for hair and make-up. I absolutely loved my up-do which I had found on Pintrest.

Around 10am the group gathered for pictures before the wedding. The ceremony began at 12:30 and I was much more nervous then I thought I was going to be walking down the isle. It was also weird to see Joe standing at the other end... kinda foreshadowing for my someday wedding. Sara looked radiant! Her dress, hair and make-up were perfect. I also really liked the dresses that she chose for the bridesmaids as well as the flowers. The cocktail hour and reception were really fun--and afterwords we went out to the bar for some after wedding cocktails. I wish them nothing but the best in the future and enjoyed being part of their special day.