How have things been? I have been doing great: staying active, eating well, feeling positive! 2013 is proving to be a good year so far!

As I was doing this quick warm-up yesterday:

…you see, I looked around the room. Then I started to think about a serious problem that I have. I think I have a purple problem.

I mean, really, even my pre-workout food was purple:

So then, being the psychology major that I am…I started to think–”I wonder what that says about me.”

“The color purple relates to the imagination and spirituality. It stimulates the imagination and inspires high ideals. It is an introspective color, allowing us to get in touch with our deeper thoughts.”

(source)

Well, I’ll take it! If that isn’t what to look for in a workout–well I don’t know what is!

What does your favorite color day about you? Find out here!

Leave your reply in the comments!

Probably because of the weird things that have been happening this week. Monday was a normal work day, but Tuesday I left work early because we were having some plumbing problems. One of our pipes froze and caused water from the shower and the washing machine to back up. It wasn’t as bad as we thought, just had to dry out the carpet in the basement with some fans. Phew, no major issues!

Then yesterday my co-worker and I went to a school to talk to students about working in a veterinary clinic, interviewing, having an externship, etc. I was a little nervous at first, but I really enjoyed myself!

I will be going into work this evening, but I just wanted to put up a post with some new things that I have been enjoying!

The Pittsburgh Skyline will never get old, even when it is overcast–I can’t get enough!

It must be a “Burgh Thing”

I can’t remember where I saw that little gem, but I love it! I don’t speak too much “Pittsburghese” but there are some terms that I say every now and then.

Santa brought me an Apple TV, and I love being able to access Netflix in my room. Perfect for lazy days!

My Mom and I went out to dinner the other night (Hibachi!) and I tried gelato for the first time, it was pretty good, but definitely could get addicting, I will be saving this for special occasions. I tried the mint chocolate chip and reese’s mix…

I have been making an effort to start doing more yoga, and the other night it was so nice to just turn on OnDemand and get my “om” on! The flowers and candle are definitely a nice add on. The quote on the plate says “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain”. Love it!

I also got a new balance ball, since Garrett thought my old one was a squeak toy (RIP). and tried these two workouts from Self! My abs were burning so much during that work out! Phew!

If you haven’t tried Dr. Weil’s Kale Salad yet–you must! It is so good, and it keeps well in the fridge! I make a big batch and the flavor gets better every day!

What new (or old) things have you been loving lately?

Any new workouts you have found?

Until next time…

Some big things, some small. But overall, all things that I have been wanting to do, and should do, over the next year.

I plan to keep updating the list as I go, and to blog about them as they are crossed off!

And just for fun, why not participate in Katie’s challenge along the way?

Without any futher adieu:

1. Read all of the books (that I haven’t finished) on my shelf.
2. Wake up early enough for breakfast before work.
3. Meal plan for lunches.
4. Redesign the blog.
5. Save $2,500
6. Pay off credit card debt.
7. Cook a new recipe each month.
8. Go on a road trip.
9. Take Garrett to Morraine State Park.
10. Take a yoga class.
11. Make a new friend.
12. Visit two vineyards.
13. Finish Fitmixer Boot Camp.
14. Go to three museums in Pittsburgh.
15. Eat vegetarian for an entire week.
16. Go rock climbing.
17. Go snowboarding.
18. Take Garrett on more walks.
19. Drink more tea.
20. Attend a service at a new church.
21. Call a friend or family member once a week.
22. Create three projects off Pinterest.
23. Complete the C25k plan. (I want to enjoy running, I really do! We have a love/hate relationship.)
24. Go to  a Pens game.
25. Attend a blogger conference. (I kinda have my heart set on this one.)

Are you setting any interesting goals for yourself over the next year?

Let me know what they are!

xoxo.

Life just gets in the way sometimes, things get put on a back burner, etc, etc. Forgive me.

Let’s just say I have been spending time with family:

Visiting with friends:

Clearing some head space:

…and not taking life to seriously!!

Buuuutttt…I am ready to come back. I have some exciting ideas to recharge my love of blogging and healthy living. So stay tuned!

A lot of you may know, but I was lucky enough to have spent the weekend in Boston at the Healthy Living Summit! This was my second year going, and I had just as much fun meeting new friends and old and learning some fun things along the way!

I arrived in Boston early Friday morning–the whole travel day was incredibly easy! I arrived at the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge, which had a really cool look to it both inside and out. I  figured it was so early in the morning, but they would let me leave my bag somewhere until check in. The front desk was so helpful and a room was ready at 9 am!

By that point, I was starving–and lucky for me, Meghann was getting some breakfast in the hotel at the same time. We ordered our food to go and hung out in her suite before the craziness began! I went with the caramelized onion and mushroom omelet which also came with potatoes and cranberry pecan bread:

It was really good, and it kept me full for hours. After breakfast Meghann had to go get things ready–she is the rockstar who was in charge of planning the event! I went back up to my room to relax a little but and freshen up before getting started with the day.

Around lunch time a group of us walked about a mile to Whole Foods to grab some lunch and mingle. Let me tell you that this WF didn’t mess around–there was an escalator heading into the store!

I got a pretty small salad and some hummus to enjoy because I was still not hungry from breakfast!

But I did have some great company:

Me, Min, Lisa, and Katie!

After lunch, Emma from whole foods talked to us about natural beauty products and the importance of putting healthy, whole ingredients on our face every day. Makes total sense, right!? They also gave us some free samples to try out at home, can’t wait to use some!

We headed back to the hotel and got checked in, and got our SWAG! Our sponsors were so awesome and gave us lots of things to try out, including some new kicks form REEBOK!

Check out all that loot!! And it was like they knew that my favorite color was purple! Thank you so much to our sponsors, again!

Later that evening we had a cocktail party, which only would be having light food–so a few of us grabbed some dinner at the restaurant in the hotel, I rolled with the New England Clam Chowder and a side salad!

It hit the spot! We all got ready and had a glass of wine before heading down to the party. It was a great time and we all got to mingle and shake our booties!

Sara, Katie, me, and Alaina

They had some great desserts including some mini whoopee pies and a popcorn/chocolate bar…genius!

Sadly, I didn’t take too many pictures because it was pretty dark and I was busy mingling, but you get the idea!

I will be back later with more on the Summit–day 2!

Being the nice guy that he is–he took some time out of his crazy training schedule to answer some questions for the lil blog…

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-What was the moment when it became real that you were going to the Olympics?

I think it might have been at the fundraiser in Pittsburgh when I saw how many people showed up to support me…it was so surreal (over 800 people showed up to show their support!). It still sinks in a little more each day and I think it will peak on the opening ceremonies.  Then it’s enough enjoying my self, and time to get ready to win gold.

-What does a typical day of training look like?

Hard!  It’s not just want I do in a day—it’s the week’s cycle. We lift for 2 hours on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; wrestle for 2-3 hours on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Also have cross training in between, and of course it’s much harder than any other sport in the world!

(PS–having a hard time believing this crazy schedule..you need to watch this. Right now.)

-What foods do you eat to fuel the workouts?

Tons of protein, veggies, fruits, and carbs. Anything that walks or has been grown I have to eat it! We loose about 3-8 pounds per workout depending how high the intensity level is.

-What would be your biggest tip on staying motivated at the Gym? 

For people who are not training for a gold medal its consistency.  You don’t need to kill your self and work out so hard that you can’t walk for a day–that’s my job, haha! Set time to go and do it daily even if it’s just a little or only 45 minutes you can get a lot done. Then that time over a year will really add up and you will feel better and look better as a result. (Amy here…don’t believe what he says?…)

-What has been your favorite part of the Olympic journey so far?

Knowing that for the rest of my life I am an Olympian! No one can ever take that away from me, and that it has made my family, my college, my city, so proud of me.

-What is your mantra to keep yourself going through the time leading up to the Olympics?

Love the quote: “You have to hate loosing more than you love winning.”  

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***Want more? Support Jake on his Facebook and Twitter! Let him know you are all watching–and send him some love on the journey! And tune in on August 11th to watch it all go down!***

And if you are in the Pittsburgh area and need a photographer, check out Carmine Sarazen…he took the black and white photos, and does amazing work!

Thank you to Jake for spending the time to answer my questions, and for continuing to impress everyone that you know, and everyone that you haven’t met yet with your charm and talent! Keep up the good work buddy! Can’t wait to see you when you bring the gold back to the ‘Burgh!

xoxo

The secret weapon:

CoCo Bananas peanut butter!

And it was so easy…

• 3/4 C. of unsweetened almond milk
• 1 glass full of ice
• 1 banana
• 1 heaping tablespoon of CoCo Bananas PNB
• 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (I use SunWarrior!)
• 1/2 teaspoon on vanilla flavoring
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

Add all ingredients to the blender, and blend until smooth.

Believe me, you need to try this. It’s OK–you can thank me later.

To go with my smoothie, I also made a breakfast sandwich complete with egg, turkey, and cheese on a whole wheat bagel thin. I’m not gonna lie–it hit the spot. Breakfast was on point this morning.

Have you had anything that really hit the spot for you lately? Please share!

I am off to go get some errands done and enjoy my day off, have a good one!

xoxo.

I decided that I need to start mine with a summer-y breakfast. And a blueberry-peach smoothie sounded like it would hit the spot.

The players:

I kept it pretty simple with this one.

Just add about 3/4 C. plain almond milk, 1 container  of Chobani Vanilla (I choose Chobani because it gives my smoothies the best texture!), About 1/2 C.-3/4 C. each of frozen organic peaches and blueberries.

Blend, blend, blend!

While I enjoy green monsters, I love when my smoothies come out a pretty color!

And since I didn’t add any protein powder with this smoothies, I made up some scrambled eggs. But I didn’t stop there…behold the return…

…of the NOOCH! Don’t know what nooch (Nutritional Yeast) is? Check out this post!

And just to throw a little randomness into this post, do you ever wake up with a song stuck in your head? Today was one of those days. And of all songs–this is what my brain chose for the soundtrack:

Pretty random.

Well I am off to go start the very beginning stages of putting together my home office…halp! Have a wonderful day!

xo.

Tell me, what is your favorite smoothie? Have a recipe? Link to it in the comments!

The weekend always goes by so fast! But I wanted to participate is my friend Katie’s “Marvelous Monday” post! So here are some things that are making my Monday….well…marvelous:

My Mom (tomorrow is her birthday):

Getting a much needed hair cut: 

The Pittsburgh Arts Festival (and dancing robots!!):

Caramel Macchiatos (photo taken while blogging): 

Words of wisdom: 

What is making your Monday Marvelous???

PS…Who is going to HLS this year?! I would love to meet you!

xoxo.

However, I did go out with my friend Julia who was home for the last couple of weeks before going back to grad school… 😔

We went to one of my favorite places for dinner–Ichiban Steakhouse. I normally roll with the steakhouse dinner, but instead we rolled with some sushi! 😉

I started with the seaweed salad…holy yum. I didn’t know what to expect with the taste, but it was so good. I will be having this again.

As for our rolls, we decided on American Dream roll, Beauty and the Beast, and the Panda roll…

I think my favorite was the American Dream…can’t wait to try some more.

Afterwards we went to a semi new bar close to my house called Bonnie & Clyde’s…it was a cool place, even though the creepers were out in full force. 😉

I am sad that Julia is going back to school so soon, can’t wait to see her again!!

Xo.

What is your favorite sushi?

Also, don’t forget about Katie’s challenge… #teatime12

I made some ginger iced tea…sweetened with a little bit of vanilla stevia…delicious and refreshing!