2 Festivals, 1 Spin Class

Hello Monday. Monday, you are not welcome this week. I try to start each week off with positivity but I can definitely do without Monday on this particular week.

That being said, this weekend was fun!

Friday Lucas and I had our first CHEAT DAY of our #30DayCleanEatingChallenge and we spent it at Ben & Jerry's and Plan B Burger. Friday night I went out dancing with some of my friends for one of their birthdays'. I don't do that very often, so it was a nice treat for myself to let loose a lil bit.

 The Tonight Dough with Jimmy Fallon included chocolate and caramel ice cream, cookie pieces, chocolate globs, peanut butter chunks, and brownie batter. This is what ice cream wet dreams are made of, people. 

 Yes that is four cheese mac & cheese with BBQ pulled chicken because I just cannot help myself. I just can't. I try and I can't.

When we do cheat day, we do cheat day right. Then lay in bed for hours afterwards, with stomach aches, hating our poor choices. 

Saturday Lucas and I went to a special event at the gym that I work at. There was a Spinning class held by our gym for a young guy named Ian, who was born with cerebral palsy and at the age of 18 months was told that he would probably never walk. Ian overcame so many odds and is now a Spinning Instructor based in Florida, who travels all over the world going to conferences and teaching classes.

Apparently, all Ian wanted for his birthday was to come to East Hartford and co-teach a Spin class with Matt, his good friend from Spin conferences and the director of our Spin program. So on Saturday at noon they hosted a special event, complete with glow sticks, disco lights, and light up neon speakers. Ian was SO inspirational. The class was completely full and Lucas and I really did almost shed a tear a couple of times.

We were so wiped out afterwards that we just laid in bed and watched TV the rest of the day. Lucas had an overnight shift so I binge watched some episodes of Girls on HBO (great fucking show), and snuggled him when he got home.

Sunset from either Friday or Saturday. Just had to include it because I took my dog for a sunset walk, something else that I haven't done in what feels like forever. 

Sunday was one hell of an eventful day!

I went to yoga in the morning, which I haven't done in FOREVER. This is a friendly reminder that my body and mind need yoga, on the reg.

Then Lucas and I went to this wild place in Middletown called Wild Bills. It's like a thift shop meets strange and unusual museum. I swear, this was one of the weirdest places I've ever been to. Any way you look you'll see stacks of records, stuffed deer heads, metal contraptions that looks like medieval torture devices, giant plastic clown statues, and wind chimes made of animal teeth. It was a hoarders dream.

I guess we went on the right day because around the back of the store is a giant lot that was holding a free Earth Day concert! It was scattered with hippies and grunge-styled folks, and little art vendors and food stands. Lucas and I were so overwhelmed! We looked like the quintessential Rhode Island couple.. I was wearing a chambray shirt and Nautica slip-ons and he was wearing a Watch Hill shirt, lmao. It was really cool though, and nice to hear live music!

Then we drove on over to New Britain for the Little Poland Festival. This was obviously way bigger - a whole street was blocked off. There was a gazillion street vendors, info tents, and food trucks. We went a little late, so all the stands were out of potato and cheese pierogis, which I was VERY disappointed about. But oh well. We wandered around here, watched some more live music, got a FREE bag of mini donuts, just appreciated each other and the sunshine and lively atmosphere.

Afterwards we went to a bar and got drinks with a few of Lucas's friends. Phew! What a packed weekend. What did you do? Anything super fun? Anything super relaxing?

As long as it was restorative in some way, I'd say it was a success. :)

The Two Types of College Seniors (as told by a College Graduate/Survivor)

In case you haven't noticed, April is almost over and this is absolutely nuts to me. People are showing up to the gym in droves, as they realize with this warmer weather and May approaching that, "oh SHIT it's almost summer, gotta get my body lookin' right".

And almost summer means almost graduation. 

Which luckily, I (barely) survived two years ago. I thought I'd impart some knowledge on the two types of college seniors that definitely exist at every college. These two types seem to divide aggressively around graduation time.

Usually when it comes to college graduation, people fall into one of two categories. There are those people who are totally D-O-N-E with college and cannot wait to jet set off into the real world. They're ready to start their adult lives, get real jobs, move out, get an apartment and a cat, and settle down to work and roll in the cash until they retire. In my opinion, these people are freaks of nature. 

So clearly I was not one of these people. When one of my college friends looked at me in all seriousness a month or so before graduation and said to me, "I can't wait to get out of here and start my life" I probably recoiled from her as though she had some incredibly infectious flesh-eating disease.

I looked around, spread my arms wide, and wanted to scream, "BUT HOW IS THIS NOT THE PERFECT LIFE???" 

Freedom from your parents 24/7. Any food you could possibly want within walking distance. A gym that you don't have to pack a bag and drive to. All your friends either living with you, or down the road. 

What could get better? What could possibly get better? 

(In all honesty, I do not know the answer to this question. I graduated two years ago and still, nothing is better).

So you have those people who are just bizarre and maybe don't care about all those wonderful things. They'd rather have their cat, their personal space, their privacy, and their sober Thursday nights. 

Then there are people like me. People who lived in denial about graduation until a week after they had moved home for the summer for good. People who could barely take graduation pictures with friends and family because their eyes were so red and puffy. People who wanted to cling to the laughter and freedom and debauchery of college with their bare hands, holding on for dear life. People who openly sobbed through their entire graduation ceremony. People who did not clean out their dorm room (at all) until hours after they were handed their diploma, then somehow managed to live in their college town for two weeks after graduation because they just could not handle the thought of getting kicked out and tossed to the trash, like WHAT WE HAD WASN'T REAL. LIKE WHAT WE HAD DIDN'T MATTER. 

There is definitely a beauty in goodbyes and a sadness to holding onto things that aren't meant for you anymore. Logical Danielle knew this. Desperately Sad Graduating Danielle did not accept this.

Here's what I'm here to tell you, as a survivor of this strange and horrible and wonderful accomplishment called graduating college: You will be okay, and it's fine to feel however you're feeling. 

If you're in denial, depressed, anxious, or angry, it will pass.
If you're elated, exuberant, joyful or just plain done (and people are judging you/don't want to hang out with you/won't touch you with a 10 foot pole), it will pass. 

You will adjust and you'll find a new normal, new places, new friends, and new opportunities. No matter how long it takes, believe the bad will pass and the good will come. There is a beauty in moving on. And if you aren't a college senior yet, you better live it up every second of every day, because you don't know how good you got it 'til it's gone. 

*(If you are truly having a mentally difficult time with graduation, it's perfectly okay and normal to reach out to your school's counseling program. Even if it's just for the weeks leading up to graduation and you need someone professional to vent to and help sort out your wild and emotional thoughts. Trust me, I have been there, done that.) 

24 thoughts in the past 24 hours

1. Nothing freaks me out more than birds flying low across the road at 4:45AM.

2. I take that back, birds who actually sleep in the middle of the road at 4:45AM freak me out more.

3. Having cottage cheese for breakfast makes a huge difference in my energy and hunger levels for the rest of the morning and early afternoon.

4. Original Special K is actually delicious and can be eaten dry, by the handful.

5. Just because you make a to-do list doesn't mean you're actually going to keep it...

6. Is there anything worse than over-cooked pork???

7. Why is making phone calls so stressful, even as an adult? Like I've been making to make this appointment to get my heated seats replaced for three weeks. But I keep putting it off and I have no idea why.

8. It was 65 degrees outside yesterday but I just could not get warm. And I'm not even one of those chronically cold people.

9. Three Reeses' cups don't taste nearly as good when you're not allowed to eat them because you're supposed to be doing a #30DayCleanEatingChallenge. 

10. Barnes & Noble is one of the most dangerous places to walk into with my wallet, so I left mine at home.

11. It's kind of fucked that no matter what store you're at, the register area is cluttered with chocolate and candy and packaged yummies. Culturally, we are addicted to sugar and gluttonous af.

12. Two grown adult humans should never have to sleep in a twin bed next to each other.

13. There's like a month before we have to put on bathing suits and I still have to lose 15 lbs, NO BIG DEAL.

14. I cannot be left alone for too long a time period or I will likely purchase things online.

15. Nail polish that doesn't chip within a week is the bees knees.

16. When my work schedule changes in June I'm going to be an absolute mess.

17. *checks credit card balance* *has total and complete mental breakdown*

18. There's a sick and twisted part of me that can't wait to take color coded notes in my summer Anatomy class. I'm pretty fucked up.

19. Maybe the worst part about this clean eating challenge is not being able to drink. Which is something I didn't realize I'd miss, but man, I could use a glass of wine (or three) tonight. And this afternoon. And this morning.

20. Blog posts without pictures in them just look boring and dry, so I snuck a few in, I hope you don't mind.

21. I want to open an Etsy shop. But I'm not crafty, don't make anything, and have no idea what I'd sell. But people sell random shit on the internet for profit all the time, so I'm sure I'll think of something.

22. Word vomit is the best kind of vomit.

23. Yesterday was 4/20. Yes, the weed smoking holiday. Did anyone partake? The radio stations were straight KILLING it with reggae music and I was not complaining.

24. I had every opportunity to wash my hair yesterday and I didn't take it. Hence why I look like shit today.

Getting that ass back in shape

Everyone goes through weird phrases of life, right?

A month where you're really into peppers, or will only eat peanut butter if it's refrigerated, or will be completely obsessive over your fitness tracker... but then after awhile that random preference fades.

I've had this with SO MANY THINGS.

What side I part my hair on, if I like painted nails or natural, wearing stud earrings or not, shaving my arms for God's sakes, refilling a water bottle instead of using plastic ones, if I wanna be a blonde or a redhead, if I like rings on my fingers or not, making a smoothie per day, healthy eating, and unfortunately, working out consistently.

Life is an ebb and flow, and we change our minds, need new viewpoints, and get busy and distracted with a hundred zillion different things.

I'm making a HUGELY conscious effort to make healthy eating and living an ingrained ritual instead of just a passing habit.

This is all I did last week:

Spinning Monday night

Weight training Tuesday 

BodyPump Wednesday night 

Taught Spinning Thursday night

Friday rest day, took a walk

Taught Spinning Saturday morning 

Sunday hiking! 

Case mountain in Manchester, CT.
2.3 mile hike to the top and back down.

Overlooks Hartford and Manchester, some say you can see all the way to Springfield, MA.

Looking pretty douchey posing in front of rocks. Also, why do I look so short? Oh yeah, cuz I'm a 4 foot 10 inch chicken nugget. 

Man-made waterfalls are so pretty, but nothing compares to the beauties we saw in Costa Rica. 

See why I maybe have a reason to be proud of myself? You wanna know what I did to make sure all that activity happened last week?

This is the secret.

You have to plan it all out on Sunday night.

That's really it. I used to wing it and just think I'd find time to exercise throughout the week. Not true. Hah.

If I put it on my schedule, somehow, it magically happens.

Planning is the key to success. 

Guess what, it works with eating too. Last week Lucas and I meticulously pre-cooked an absolute shit ton of meals. Do you know what I had to eat? An absolute shit ton of brown rice, veggies, chicken, salad, eggs, and fruits. So many peppers.

Lucas grilled up this sexual buffet on Sunday since it was 78 degrees and we were praisin' the good Lawd for the spring weather. Chicken, pork, onions, green & red peppers 

Sunday afternoon egg muffin creation with peppers, tomatoes, Swiss cheese, and spinach. Yummy in the tummy and perfectly microwaveable. *thumbs up emoji*

Do you know how many pounds I lost?

5 lbs. in 6 days. 

I don't know if that's normal and I do realize that a lot of it is water weight and bloating decreasing because I'm no longer eating 4 servings of loaded mac & cheese and an entire Moe's chicken burrito with 2 cups of sour cream spread on top. But I have been 20 pounds overweight since getting in a car accident in November so this is really really really exciting news for me.

#30DayCleanEatingChallenge for the win.

Again, planning is the key to success. How are you going to succeed if you need to get your ass back in shape like myself? Plan it out, and watch results zoom on in.

3 Chill Songs You Gotta Drive To

These songs were found in the chill vibes playlist that I mentioned in my previous post!

Spotify is legit the best place for finding new music imo. You can find any mood, occasion, workout genre, even level of turnt-ness of a party.

These 3 songs in particular are perfect for a solo sunset drive, cruisin', gazing out the window and contemplating life. Or just how many calories were in those TGI Fridays green bean fries appetizer. (spoiler alert: A LOT)

Forces by Japanese Wallpaper

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Reminds me of a melancholic summer night. Something about it brings me back to middle school crushes, simpler times, walking through the woods hand in hand with someone but being too nervous to say anything. Just being. 

Touch by Shura 

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Super super chill. That morning stillness when you and your lovah trace each other's faces with baby light fingertips in the hazy sunlight. 

Caves by Haux 

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So calm and peaceful. Will calm the most anxious mind. Best when accompanied by orange and navy skies, deep breaths, and a long open road. Lucas loves this one. 

Hello Friday, I been waiting for you for a long time

Make it through another work week? Check! 

Greeting people at the gym on a Friday is hilarious because I basically say "Happy Friday!" to every person that walks through the door and the way people react is like we literally just walked barefoot through a fiery battlefield for five straight days.

They look at me wide-eyed with disbelief that we made it out on the other side.

Or their whole body will collapse as they sigh with exasperation and exclaim, "TGIF, THANK GOD."

And to start off this freakin' beautiful weekend, I'm bringing back the Friday Five. 

EXCITED FOR: this epic weekend of weather. For God's sakes, it was freaking snowing and hailing last week. I'm ready for summer, crop tops, maxi skirts, and being obligated to shave and paint my toenails. Tell me you have some fun plans for this weekend. I'm def gonna try to go hiking on Sunday.

INSPIRED BY: the self-help/motivational book I'm reading. You Are a Badass: How To Stop Doubting Yourself and Live an Awesome Life feels like my best friend giving me a very real and hard love pep talk.

COMMITTED TO: my 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge. It's being hosted through my gym and I'm all in. I went 11 days without eating dessert last month (lolz) but this is the real deal. Only clean eating. No pasta even *sobs into pillow*. We do get two cheat days throughout the month. But I already notice a significant different in my stomach bloating and how I feel in clothes. I'm on Day 5. I'll probz do an updated post about what I'm eating and weight I'm losing, etc. closer to my first cheat day, mwahahha.

GRATEFUL FOR: how much my bf cares about me. I was having a bad day on Wednesday between pissed off gym members and my out of control coworkers and he surprised me by showing up at my house after my work unannounced, and brought me this gorgeous bouquet of flowers. I'll be honest, I hate surprises and I've never been surprised with flowers like that before, but I almost shed a tear. I'm a softy what can I say. He even cooked my mom dinner and brought it for her to take to work. If that's not a keeper idk what is, man.

LISTENING TO: this dope playlist on spotify called chill vibes. I think it's in the Mood section when you browse for playlists. But just type in chill vibes and it should be the first one that pops up. I've already found some new fav songs on there that I'm pumped to share wit you guyz. 

That's that! Happy Friday and go soak up some vit D this weekend!

Body Pump damn near killed me.

Yes, and this is not an exaggeration.

So yesterday I took my first Body Pump class after hearing about it from all these wonderful middle-aged personal trainer bloggers with kids and houses who 100% look like they have their lives together.

I wanna be like that, I thought.

I'll try Body Pump, I thought.

My friend and ex-coworker teaches this class up in Enfield so my boyfriend drove me 40 minutes north to have my ass handed to me on a silver platter.

The class began with a full body barbell warm-up that had me thinking "what the hell did I get myself into"

Followed by six minutes of squats. 

Followed by doubting whether or not I'm actually in any kind of shape at all.

With a sprinkle of muscles burning in a way they never have before.

And a dash of a shoulder track that I LITERALLY COULD NOT FINISH. There were grandmothers in there absolutely slaying and I couldn't even lift 5 lb. hand weights above my head. I wish I was kidding.

This was all accompanied by me scrambling with my barbell in between tracks trying to add weight and then take it off because LOLZ I have no muscle strength apparently.

Lunges for a whole, entire song. 5 seconds of rest in between sets. That's sufficient. (no it's not).

It was a full body barbell workout that lasted an HOUR with a killer set of abs thrown in at the end. Just for fun. Or actually to make you cry. You choose.

All jokes aside though, this was honestly one of the best group classes I've ever done. It was super high intensity, high reps, and low weight (even though they ended up feeling like a billion pounds after a four minute song with no rest time).

Each major muscle group gets a full song (or more) of work with minimal rest and short active recovery.

Maybe it's because I mostly just do cardio endurance focused exercise now with my Spinning class obsession and being a Spin instructor, but omfg, did this class make me realize how depleted my muscles are.

I will 100% be taking this class again.

It was hard core and awesome. 

Basic Makeup for Basic Betches In a Hurry

So I know I mentioned I work in a gym but I don't think I mentioned that I work the morning shift, which starts at 5am. YUPP.

Here's what one of my mornings typically looks like:

Alarm goes off at 3:58am. LOL, SNOOZE. Back to sleep. 

Alarm goes off again at 4:08am. FUCK. Jump out of bed. 

Everything is dark. Eyes not adjusting. 

Accidentally hit boyfriend in the head jumping out of bed. 

Hair looks like I got electrocuted. 

No time to shower... haha! Good jokes. 

Can't find work outfit. Trips over sneakers. 

Forgets lunch box on the way out the door. 

Somehow make it to work on time (most days) but look a frazzled mess. 

Does that resonate with anyone? As much as I try my best to prepare the night before work, there is always SOMETHING that usually goes wrong in the morning, to the point where I literally need the most basic makeup routine possible in order to look slightly presentable at work despite my disheveled state of mind.

Thus, I bring to you....

Basic Makeup for Basic Betches In a Hurry.

1. Do ya damn face. L'oreal Lumi Cushion Foundation is a GOD SEND and yes, is really all it's cracked up to be. Ideally apply this with a beauty blender but if all else fails, smear it on with that additional sponge. *thumbs up emoji*

2. Eyebrows are an important thing that I guess I never really had before I started using eyebrow products. Thanks Youtube gurus and Instagram stars for helping my brow game get more fleeky. I ain't got no time for pencils or powders in the morning, so I let this L'oreal brow gel doo-dad go to werk werk werk.

3. If I don't have time to do eye makeup (which lols, is never) I want my face to be a sparkly disco ball. Idk why that is. But the new Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Highlighting Palette is of sparkling disco goddess dreams. 

4. Pair the highlighting palette with some Milani baked blush in ANY shade (but I prefer Berry Amore) and you will literally look like a flower petal coated in shimmering morning dew drops. And who doesn't want that?! 

5. Slap on some mascara. Don't even bother curling your lashes. You aren't going for high maintenance here, you're going for "hey I'm awake and I made it to work on time, I deserve a cookie". Mascara opens up your eyeballs to look more awake and this one just happens to not clump and also be waterproof so you don't smear it all over when you yawn and rub your eyes at 5am. 

6. This is the BEST MAKEUP SETTING POWDER EVER. It's a tried and true favorite. Powder dat t-zone for oily free mornings. 

7. This $24 tinted lip balm is worth every penny. Lips of an angel. No flakes, no dryness, gorgeous color. 

Hello flawless, and welcome to your quickest, most basic morning ever. 

One year since Costa Rica.

A year ago, one of my best friend's Shawn and I decided basically last minute to go to Costa Rica.

I initiated this whole craziness. I was really going through some happiness issues at the time and had never been out of the country before. I decided, you know what? Why not? The time is now? I was only working part time so it wasn't hard to get the time off.

And off we went.

It's been almost exactly a year since Costa Rica, and my oh my, my life has changed since. You only have one life to live, so I took a chance where I saw it and I leaped, hoping the net would catch me. And dragged Shawn along with me. And we had a crazy, out of this world, once (well, hopefully not just once) in a lifetime experience.

One year since Costa Rica...

One year since hula hooping lessons on the beach,

one year since afternoon naps in rainforest hammocks,

 one year since white water rafting...

one year since greeting every sunset and sunrise with open arms...

one year since staying in Costa Rica hostel with my best friend, no TV, no privacy, and a mattress on the floor constantly covered in sand...

one year since befriending adorable stray dogs on the beaches...

one year since rainforest hikes in mudslides, loosing shoes and breaking sandals, with new friends...

one year since the best damn food I've ever eaten, every day, for breakfast lunch and dinner...

one year since Yoga on the beach was a casual good-morning...

one year since drinking out of coconuts...

one year since Costa Rica karaoke...
one year since random geckos on the walls...
one year since rappelling down a waterfall...

one year since winning Trivia Night and a beer tower...

one year since experiencing insane and terrifying Costa Rica driving customs...
one year since ziplining hundreds of feet above the rainforest floor, clenching my eyes shut, screaming at the top of my lungs, and feeling more alive than ever before...

one year since riding rented bikes through beach-side streets...

one year since we decided to live a full life, got on a plane, and flew to Central America to explore, laugh, learn, and grow. 

Travel isn't about the destination, but about the journey. I could not have asked for a more sweet or satisfying experience that all began one year ago, this week. These memories are full of light and love to me, something I will never forget and (despite the credit card balance I am still paying off) will never regret. 

Take a chance. Take the days off work. Save your money. Book your tickets. Your future self will thank you. I sure am.