Keep Portland Weird

Hey Babes

As you know, I’m currently in Portland, Oregon having a great time! I’ve been here since Tuesday night, and I thought I would give you all a recap of the adventures I have had. There’s a lot of pictures, so enjoy. Here it goes!

My airport beer, lotion and samples.

Tuesday night wasn’t super exciting; I arrived at PDX about 8:30pm, after a 6 hour plane flight — so you can imagine I was pretty damn exhausted. I also broke my rain boot on the plane, which was a pretty big bummer. I did however do a pretty innovative job of fixing it:

 

Natasha was awesome and picked me up at the airport, then we went and grabbed some burgers because we were both outrageously hungry. Did you know that Alaska Airlines only gives you a pathetic bag of mixed nuts for a 6-hour plane trip?!? Not okay. Not okay at all, considering how much money I spent on a plane ticket. You live and you learn I guess. I have learned not to take that airline again if I can avoid it!

Anyway, flash forward to Wednesday, March 26th: I woke up around 8am (there’s a 3-hour time change, so it works in my favor here with waking up earlier), took some time to shower and get dressed, then I made my way to the bus stop. Unfortunately, the bus wasn’t scheduled to come until 4:22pm and it was 9:45 am… so I had no choice but to walk. To where, I had no idea, but I started hoofing it and eventually found my way to a main area of Beaverton, which is where Natasha lives, which eventually led me to a bus stop. Now, I’m pretty directionally challenged, so getting myself to the proper bus stop was a victory in and of itself. Go me!
So, I took the bus to the Max (Portland’s form of public transit) stop, and from there road it into the City Center of Portland – great success! The Max stop that I got off at was right near a Chinese Garden in Chinatown, so I walked through the garden to take in the sights. It was pretty, but unfortunately I didn’t snap any pictures to share.

After the garden, I was freaking starving, so I did a quick search for some good sounding grub, and sure enough it did not take long to find. Here’s where I went:

Yuuup, Greek food! I have a serious weakness for ethnic food. It is just so delicious, and I like that about myself. Got to indulge!

I especially love when they give me an entire loaf of bread when it’s just me eating there. Yummy. I know that some people have an issue with going solo to a restaurant, but I don’t see a problem with it. It’s empowering if anything.

^^ What you see there is a chicken/lamb gyro with a Greek salad. It was amazing and super affordable. Score for Portland.

After I successfully gorged, I went exploring in downtown Portland in the SW side — Portland is a city that is organized in quadrants, and I started in the SW side, since that’s the area I found myself in. I came across a sweet record store called Jackpot Records and bought myself a Bon Iver and a Jimmy Buffet vinyl album. I don’t own a record player, but I will have one soon enough.

After the record store, I bee-lined to this amazing bookstore called Powell’s City of Book. It was INSANE!!! I’m a bookworm, so you can imagine that this was heaven on earth for me. I limited myself to buying three books; it took a lot of self control, but I sort of don’t have that much room in my suitcase for anything else. Oops.

Once I managed to pry myself away from Powell’s, I went to another famous Portland hotspot called Voodoo Doughnuts. At this point, the Portland rain started to kick in again, but I stayed in the Voodoo line to get those damn doughnuts. Let me tell you, it was worth it – plus I made a friend in line to pass the time. Voodoo used to apparently have a doughnut with Nyquil on it, and you can get married there. Quirky place, eh?

Note the wall painting in the background: Keep Portland Weird. Yes, please.

Butterfinger Doughnut

Let’s see… next, I just gallivanted around SW Portland and made my way up to NW Portland in order to meet Natasha after she got out of work for dinner! During my exploring I stumbled around a JUICE BAR!!! A local one, which was even more awesome. Of course I went in and started talking to the owner, and she was an amazing individual. The juice bar was called Limbo and we exchanged e-mails — yes for making western connections!

Natasha and I met up at a place called Huckleberry Pub for dinner – a restaurant that specializes in local food, brews and wines. You can imagine that I was once again in heaven. We both got a beer sampler, peep below:

I loved 3 of them, was on the fence about 2 of them, and really did not enjoy 1 of them. It was too light with no flavor, but hey — 5 out of 6 ain’t bad! For my meal, I ordered house mac & cheese with wild mushrooms, spinach, some cheese I can’t remember and bacon. It was amazing and just what I needed to absorb the beers in my belly.

We had a fabulous dinner. Awesome food, awesome beer and awesome company is just a recipe for good things, right? Correct! However, the evening was made even better with Salt & Straw — an ice cream place that once again uses all local ingredients and has the wackiest ice cream flavors in existence. Check out the menu for proof! Hopefully you can read it…

Aaaaand that concludes my first full day in Portland, Oregon! I want to share more, but the rain seems to be letting up and I only have one day left! Later loves. Stay tuned for more adventures.

“It’s good to be scared. It means you still have something to lose.”

You & Your Beautiful Soul

Beauty isn’t about having a pretty face. It is about having a pretty mind, a pretty heart, and most importantly, a beautiful soul.

Work-Out Recovery, Initiated

Bonjour mes beaux amis!

As you may or may not know, I am a mild exercise junkie. Whether it be rock climbing, horseback riding, hula hooping or working specific body parts by lifting weights at my gym, I make it a point to move my body in a beneficial way 6 times a week – and 9 times out of 10 I meet my goal! It’s such a great habit to get into, and after a while it sort of becomes an addiction due to the amount of endorphins your body releases when you work that body. Win-win scenario, yes? YES.

However, there is rhyme and reason to working out and letting your muscles recover, which is what I would like to focus on specifically in this post. This is some useful information, so although it looks long and daunting, please read on!

Rock Climbing – I’m the one on the wall!

What should you do to let your body recover after a work-out? Here are 5 things to keep in mind:

Cool: Let your body cool down and chill out in a slow fashion. When you stop your intensive exercises but continue to keep your body moving, you help your muscles repair themselves by dispersing lactic acid as well as helping your blood carry oxygen throughout your body. You may want to directly leave the gym after your intense exercises are done, but don’t! After my hard routines, I will go into the cardio cinema and walk on the treadmill for 10-20 minutes while watching a movie. If you don’t have a cinema at your gym, just hop on the treadmill or walk around the track to let your body heal itself a little bit.

Drink: This one should be a no-brainer, I hope. You absolutely must replace the fluids and electrolytes that your body loses during exercise, so slug back that elixir of life with two hydrogen’s and one oxygen. Water is the key for all the metabolic and digestive functions that your body will need to perform in order to recover. Personally, I try to avoid drinks like Gatorade; they are full of things that your body really doesn’t need, and can even have a negative effect on the body. Stick with what we’re made of – choose water. Ideally, you should be drinking it before, during and after work-outs, and not just afterwards.

Eat: In order to recover, you need to have fuel in your body, which is what we acquire when we eat. Nutrition is the best way to make sure that your body repairs itself after exercise. Now, you don’t necessarily have to be eating to refuel; you can get the same amount of nutrients (sometimes even more) via drinking things like green smoothies, so don’t rule that out! Just make sure that your belly is having natural and whole foods put inside of it after a workout so that your body can make the most of what it just did. To maximize your workout, consume the same number of calories that you burned within 30-minutes of completion. If you do, your muscles will readily accept the carbohydrates and protein, storing them as valuable energy and building blocks for recovery.

Stretch: I used to mainly stretch before my work-outs, which still isn’t a bad idea, but I have since switched to stretching out after the majority of my work-out is complete (concerning the gym; when rock climbing I still stretch beforehand). Stretching is what will help you not become stiff, as well as aiding in circulation, which is also vitally important.

Sleep: DUH. 6-8 hours everyday, people. The link between sleep and wellness is a glaring one. When you allow your body time to rest, you also allow the temple that is your body to naturally recover and produce Growth Hormone, which is accomplished during sleep. Sleep is, quite frankly, one of the best and easiest things that you can do for yourself. Plus, I personally feel like a million bucks when I get enough sleep every night – ain’t nothing wrong with feeling awesome!

My Saint Joseph’s Day Outfit!

Remember: recovering is one of the most important components to achieving one’s fitness, performance and wellness goals. To get the body you desire, you need your tissue and muscles to repair properly as well as rebuild, and that can take up to 2 days! The most crucial chunk of time is the 30-minute window immediately following exercise, so spend it wisely – if you don’t ingest the proper nutrition within this 30-minute period, your body won’t recover properly. Instead, your muscle tissue will breakdown in order to supply your body with the energy it needs, and at that point your whole work-out may be wasted. >_<

Another interesting piece of information that you may find useful: when you exercise for longer than 60-minutes without refueling your body with nutrients, you actually wind up burning fewer calories and less fat than if you had eaten during that time. Not something you want to hear, huh?
To combat this, try eating 50-100 calories of a fast-absorbing carbohydrate every 30-minutes, like raisins, an energy bar or a beneficial shake. You don’t want to replace every calorie that you burn during your work-out; instead, ingest just enough fuel to keep your body in an anabolic, or muscle-building, state.

Lastly, my darlings, please PLEASE make sure that you know what you are putting inside your body; that means none of the following: MSG, GMOs, Trans Fat, Added Sugar, Preservatives, Artificial Flavors, Hydrogenated Oils, Synthetic Sweeteners and High Fructose Corn Syrup.
If you ingest food items with these additives, you may actually be doing more harm than good to your awesome self. That is something that I don’t want!! You are too beaufiul to treat your body like a garbage can.

Do you have trouble figuring out a good post-workout meal? The ideal one is actually pretty easy; create a liquid that incorporates about 3 parts carbs to 1 part protein. If you make a shake that has the same amount of calories that you burned, your metabolism will remain high, your glorious muscles will have the protein that they need to rebuild, and your entire body will recover in a more efficient and beneficial manner.
I’ll start concocting some smoothies that fit this criteria for you guys on Saturday when I have the day off. They’ll be delicious! In the meantime, here’s a good skeleton model for creating green smoothies:

If you are worried about calorie counting, then have a smaller lunch and dinner, DON’T cut calories after your work-out. That is not the time! For the best health, you should have 5-7 slow-absorbing (“Low Glycemic”) meals everyday – minus the post-workout meal – with your largest meal being a few hours before your work-out.

…. Phew. That was a lot of stuff. I hope that it was worth your while; I definitely learned a bunch while doing the research! Stay glorious my loves.

Today Is Here!

Hi Friends!

Well, today is the day! In about 30 minutes, I will be leaving for Providence to take a train to Boston, and from there I will be leaving Logan Airport to head to Portland, Oregon!! I’ll be staying with my friend Natasha in Portland until Friday or Saturday, and then I will be heading to Seattle, Washington to stay with yet another friend, Kaitlyn (and Ellisa for a night or so) until about 8pm on April 1st! I’m so excited to finally get to see and explore some of the West Coast, especially with friends I haven’t seen in a while!

Well, I have to go gather my luggage up and make myself a green smoothie for the road, so this is all I can blog about for now. I’m sure if I have to hang around in the airport I will get back on here, but if not… I’ll be blogging in west soon enough!

This is a picture from my Florida trip – no, we didn’t drink and drive.

Peace, love and safe travels.

101 Things I Will Teach My Daughters

My dears – this is brilliant.
Yes, I may not have any daughters, nor do I plan to have any in the coming years, but I think that this is a beneficial read, regardless of your gender/age/whatever. I am particularly a fan of 10, 31, 36, 40, 50, 57, 59, 67, 77, 90 and 96.

Number 36 is one that definitely should be more prominent in our culture. I don’t know why, but women always seem to have to compete with one another; it’s so silly! How are we supposed to move up in this world and be valued as equals to men if we can’t even appreciate and care for one another? We’re all beautiful, ladies, and we should be sticking together. Let’s just start loving one another like we should, okay? Good things will be sure to follow.

If you are one of those women who feels the need to compete with the rest of your fellow female comrades (or if you are just downright mean and don’t like spreading love), I suggest that you change your attitude, and quickly, or you will soon find yourself a very lonely lady. If you don’t think you’re capable of being friendly with other women, I am calling your bluff. I’m always down to make some more friends. Try me.

A Lovely, Lonely Prayer

Hey babes!

I was editing a personal statement for my bestie the other night (oh boy job searching), and in it she included this prayer that a woman at her place of work recites everyday.
I’m a born, raised and confirmed Catholic, but I can’t say that I actively go to church and “practice my faith” on a daily basis. I do however, talk to God as I would a friend, in times of intense happiness, sadness, or just when I feel like talking, but not to anyone in particular. This prayer just seemed like a good one to have in my arsenal, and I thought maybe some of you could also appreciate its wise words.

I live alone, Dear Lord.
Stay by my side.
In all my daily needs,
Be Thou my guide.
Grant me good health,
For that, indeed, I pray
To carry on my work
From day to day.
Keep pure my mind,
My thoughts, my every deed,
Let me be kind, unselfish,
In my neighbor’s need.
If sickness or an accident befall,
The humbly, Lord, I pray,
Hear Thou my call.
And when I’m feeling low
Or in despair,
Lift up my heart
And help me in my prayer.
I live alone, Dear Lord,
Yet have no fear,
Because I feel Your presence
Ever near.
Amen

Remember: beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart. Stay beautiful my dears, our world could always use it.

Let’s Run This!

What’s up pretty people?!
I just got back from getting a haircut by my lovely sister, Brenna… feeling pretty funky fresh! She even styled it for me – if any of you are Rhode Islanders, you should totally go get your hair done by her! She’s trying to get a foothold in the salon business, so anything helps! My grandmother (Barbara) and aunt/godmother (Gina) also work there, so any beauty needs you have, that trifecta can do it! Click here for the website.

Anyway, I picked up this magazine at a rock gym in Florida that I thought was a climbing magazine, but it turns out that it’s a running magazine. Fail.
I’m not exactly a big runner – and I kind of hate long distance – but I try to do it every so often, and this magazine has some good tips that I thought would be useful to share with the general public. So, here you go!

A common mistake that athletes often make is lack of periodization – meaning that they will tend to prepare for one race, take a break from running altogether after finishing said race, then begin preparing for another.

The correct way to do it is for each period of training to have overlapping elements like speed work, threshold work and longer tempo efforts with varied focuses on mileage, strength, pace and long runs.
For example, have a period of higher volume runs with a focus on cumulative strength, or have a mileage – a good long run – and then a faster workout each week. Any variation is better than falling into the trend of training hard, taking several months off post-race, then jumping back into a race training routine again.

If you actually think on it, that’s just not beneficial for your body to train it hard, do nothing, then work it hard again. Much better to stay consistent… Your body will thank you.

Another thing this article touches upon is to be wary of group workouts. Yes, working out with friends is nice and helps you stay motivated, but just keep in mind that you may have different goals, so sometimes branching off is more beneficial.

It is also important to not lose focus on speed training, regardless of what type of race you are training for; try training faster than your race goal pace.
You don’t necessarily have to go all out and sprint, but speed work is very beneficial because it develops a full complement of muscle fibers, helps maximize the efficiency of your slower pace, and helps your nervous system fire up. Try incorporating one faster workout every two weeks to improve power and speed, like 100-meter strides or short hill repeats – totally manageable! I’ll do it too to help you get your bootys in gear, and I’ll even try to get Max to film it. It will be humorous.

Don’t understand the lingo I just used? No worries, here’s a break down:
100-Meter Strides mean that you accelerate for 20 meters on flat terrain, holding close to your top speed for the next 60 meters, then decelerate over the final 20 meters. Do 6-10 repetitions with roughly 60 seconds of rest in between. Start off once every other week, but make it your goal to do these twice a week after an easy run. You’ll be awesome!
Hill Repeats should also start out once every other week, but work up to once a week after an easy run. For these, run 20-second repetitions uphill at a hard effort on a moderately steep grade. Start with 2 repetitions the first time, then add one rep a week over the course of 10 weeks.

On a different note, these are some tasty treats that my mom picked up at the store a little while back. I highly recommend trying them out, it’s a great way to incorporate all those beneficial ingredients in your diet! It includes cacao, almonds, raisins, blueberries and coconut – all of which do countless good things for your lovely body!

Well, I’ve got to go get ready for work. Have a beautiful day, my cherry blossoms! Think Spring!

Dream On

May all of your wildest, craziest, most ridiculous dreams come true. There is no limit to what you can create when you let your heart speak for you.

Spring Has Sprung (Hopefully)

Hi Friends!
First of all, a big loving welcome to my newest followers! I’ve surpassed the 100 mark (by 1 hehe, still counts!) and I’m over the moon about it – thank you so much! As always, if you have any recommendations or requests, I am more than open to them. In fact, I adore them.

Secondly, HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!! Yes, that is today — so excitedddd. Fun fact: the meteorological spring actually began on March 1, though I saw no signs of that. I’m watching the weather currently and today is going to be beautiful, getting up to 55; unfortunately, it’s not going to last -_- at least in Rhode Island; we’ll be getting back down to the 30s at least until next Wednesday. Meh, let’s not dwell on that.. for now, think Spring! If you can, go outside today and absorb some much needed Vitamin D. Soon enough, my dears, our days will be getting longer and warmer.

Perhaps you’re curious to know as to why today is considered the first day of Spring? Well, March 20th marks the Spring, or Vernal Equinox. An equinox occurs twice a year, and it is when the plane of Earth’s equator passes the center of the Sun.

The word “equinox” comes from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night), and on the Equinox, day and night are both approximately 12 hours each. At this time, the tilt of the Earth’s axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, but after today, the sun’s direct rays shift into the Northern Hemisphere for the next six months. That means that we will receive more direct sunlight, hence the warmer temperatures.

Certain celebrations around the world like Nowruz (the Persian New Year), Easter and Passover are marked by the Equinox, and the great Sphinx actually points toward the rising sun on the date of the Spring Equinox – as usual, our ancients were on point.

In other news, I wanted to share this video. The woman here is amazing, and it makes my heart swell a bit to know that there are beautiful people like this out there willing to take charge for the greater good.

Violet, You’re Turning Violet!

If you don’t understand the title of this post — I highly suggest you get your butt on the couch and watch Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory this instant!!! It is a gem, and if you have yet to indulge, well… shame on you.

Je te promets qu’il y a method to my madness; but first, you just have to watch this scene. It’s only two-minutes, so I want no excuses.

Why, you ask, am I focusing on the lovely Violet Beauregard? First of all, she is sassy and has a french last name. However, the reasoning is because of the smoothie I made tonight.
After dinner, I wanted something sweet to indulge in (thank you, red wine buzz), but yesterday I ate about 3 lemon-lime bars, so I didn’t exactly want to feed my body anymore treats. At least until tomorrow.

Sooooo, I made this!
It may look like a regular purple smoothie, but oooohhhh boy is this puppy bomb. It tastes EXACTLY like a blueberry pie, and I’m being entirely serious. My parents wanted to test that theory, so they tried it… and as you can see, the jar is half empty in the picture… hint: that wasn’t just me.

The best part? It’s good for you!!!
I’m guessing you probably want to know what’s inside? I suppose I will share the love:
– 1/2 cup pomegranate juice*
– 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
– 1 cup Greek yogurt
– 2 tablespoons local honey
– 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder (any type will do)
– ice
Simply blend all the ingredients together until creamy and serve. You’re welcome.
* If you don’t want or have pomegranate juice, you can also use coconut water or almond milk.

I’m not lying about it being good for you, by the way. You get antioxidants from the blueberries, protein from the Greek yogurt and the protein powder (24+grams of it!), enzymes from the honey, and pomegranate juice helps with heart diseases and your immune system. Of course, there are TONS more benefits from these ingredients, but I’m getting sleepy, so yeah.

Also, you may not have noticed, but this drink has 3 ingredients in it that are good for your skin, and considering my recent obsession with beneficial skin foods, well that was icing on the cake pie. The ingredients: Greek yogurt, blueberries and pomegranate.

Wouldn’t you say that sipping on this is a better alternative than eating blueberry pie? Of course, there is a time and place for pi (like 4 days ago – 3.14!), but your body will be much happier with this decision.

Anyway, I’m off to bed. I had a very exciting day (details to come) and have to be at work at 6:45 am tomorrow, so my covers are calling to me. Sweet dreams!

My St. Patrick’s Day Outfit. Thought you would enjoy 🙂