Week in Review - 10.22.16

It was a busy and yet not so busy week! I think the end of the week, ramped itself right up. 

Exercise

I did 5 workouts this week which was awesome! I went to barre3 twice and boot camp three times. I was going to do boot camp this morning but could not get myself to go. I think I needed a morning off from exercise. I'm considering dumping my Class Pass and just buying classes at barre3 since I still love going there BUT I also love classes at community fitness and Inspire so I'm having to think hard about this plan.

My Transformation Program had a talk on Tuesday night which got me pumped for the week! I'm really grateful for Sync Fitness and this program because it is giving me back the spark and energy that I so love.

Food

I these pre-roasted sweet potatoes at Trader Joe's and was super excited about them. They were sadly ok and I think I'd rather take the time to roast my own sweet potatoes.

On Thursday, I finally had the chance to try out Seattle Salads. I had a Lime Peanut salad and it was really good. It was nice to be able to pick up a healthy salad lunch and I wish we had one in my neighborhood.

I also got our organics box but I'm thinking of putting a hold on that too. It's great but you have to eat all the stuff within a few days or it starts to go bad. It's hard to eat that much fruit and veg in such a short time. Ideally that box would last the week but the food goes bad before then so I'm not sure what to do.

I also received my second subscription order of Puget Sound Kombucha! I love getting an assorted box of flavors every other week. Highlight of my week! 

The Girls

The girls were a handful this week. Last weekend was incredibly rainy and windy so we stayed inside and they watched way too much tv. This week we cut it way down and that helped with nighttime sleep a lot. I was telling Scott that our first defense when they get hard to handle might need to be cutting down their screen time. We're pretty good about limiting it but as with everything else in life, sometimes things start to slide and then they are watching too much tv.

Molly's class went to the pumpkin patch on Thursday and at first I was sad that I couldn't go too but it was pouring when they left so I felt a bit better. Maggie stayed late at preschool on Thursday and LOVED it. I think taking a nap at preschool was the highlight of her week!

Other Goings On

Yesterday I was asked to appear on the Seattle Refined show to talk about some of my hottest stories for the week. I loved hanging out in the control room and watching them work. One of the producers is a long-time friend and former co-worker so it was nice seeing her again. I'm in the last few minutes of the show and I had to talk fast! http://seattlerefined.com/the-show/live-show-the-weekend-report-and-getting-to-know-ryan-yamamoto

Project 52 - Week 32

Sometimes when you have kids, you hear noises coming from various rooms in your house and when you go to investigate, you find your kids doing things they shouldn't be doing. A few days ago, I heard the girls and found them in the kitchen eating all the cookies left over from a Mom's group I hosted. 

Week in Review - 10.15.16

I started my Sync Transformation Program this week and it has been awesome so far. I also attended my first Board of Directors meeting for the girl's preschool and did not expect it to go on for so long. We were at the school until almost 10:30 p.m. which is way past my bedtime. 

Exercise

I had a strong week of exercise. I did three boot camps and one yoga sculpt session at Core Power Yoga. I had planned to do a barre3 workout but had to skip it due to the late night BOD meeting. I'm hoping to get in one more workout later today but we shall see if I do. PT has great this week and I was sent home with homework which I've been diligently doing.

Food

I've been obsessed with lox on toast with cream cheese and cucumber all week. I didn't have it for breakfast today and I'm so sad! It's the perfect breakfast for me right now and I totally stocked up on smoked salmon when I was at Costco earlier this week. 

I tried a new coffee drink this week too. My friend suggested that I get a Disco Pony at the local coffee shop and let's just say between the lox and this drink, I'm obsessed! A Disco Pony is an americano with sparkling water, lemon zest and cream. It's utterly fantastic.

The Girls

The girls had a pretty regular week. We had a crazy storm system start up on Friday morning so I took them to Elevate Sports to get their energy out. Their cousin came along to join us and I had a great time catching up with my SIL. The kids had a great time and zonked out on the way home. Normally I freak out if they nap because it means they won't go to bed on time but last night they had Parent's Night Out at the school and don't get picked up until 10 p.m. (they won't let us come a minute sooner) so I decided the car nap was a great idea. 

I've also decided to stop doing the Simply Learning Preschool. The girls are no longer interested and she changed her format to a more Pinterest-y concept which means a lot more prep time. The girls are still doing their workbooks though as they each have 45 minutes of waiting at ballet so it gives us something fun to do. 

Other Goings On

Scott and I started watching Westworld and it is so good. I actually want to re-watch the first two episodes again to see what I missed. I highly suggest this show if you get a chance. I also admitted to myself that I have WAY too many books in my To Be Read pile and buckled down on my reading. This stormy weather is helping me out with lots of reading. 

Stories Published

Seattle Refined: 5 Splendid Fall Foliage Hikes
 Seattle Refined: Prepare yourself and build a 72-hour disaster emergency survival kit (repost)

Project 52 - Week 31

Maggie and I headed to the beach this week. She dug in the sand while I watched the waves hit the beach.

Fear, Risotto and When Things Can't Wait are This Week's Links From Around The Web

Hilary's Leaked Risotto Tips and they are spot on!

10 Insights of Remarkable Parents from a Family Therapist Such good stuff here

Fear is boring Go out and be creative

It can't wait

A Fall Manifesto I love this concept

10 on 10 (October)

I went to Click Away 2016 over the weekend and really awakened my creative juices. I had so many ideas for this month's 10 on 10 but I'll admit that I was also sidetracked halfway through the day with tasks that were just not photogenic (preschool board of director's meeting, anyone?) I had fun with this though and am looking forward to doing it again next month. Until then, here are my 10 (photos) on (the) 10th (of October).

Monthly Goal Check-In (September)

September touched down in a flurry of activity and routines. Both girls started preschool which leaves me three glorious mornings a week to get sh*t done! Before I knew it our swimming days were gone and we were bundling up into sweaters. 

1.  Workout 4 times a week - September was a hard workout month. I strained my hips and ended up with bursitis so I ended up bumping some of my workouts down to 3 times a week to give my body a rest. I still consider this good as I was listening to my body and not pushing myself into a deeper injury. 

2. Complete Whole30 in January 

3. Keep purging the house with the Bowl Full of Lemons 14 Week Plan - I've started this over and it is glorious! The car has been cleaned. The pantry tidied and most of the kitchen done. The dining room was tackled and I'm moving onto other rooms. I'm purging, purging, purging! 

4. Complete Four (4) Day in the Life Challenges and participate in at least ten 10 on 10's - I'm planning on doing a Day in the Life Challenge this month and am doing a 10 on 10 today! 

5. Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - I barely worked on this goal but I have grand plans. 

6. Grow a kick-ass Garden! 

7. Read for 15 minutes a day- I'm still doing this and am so glad that I got back into reading this year. I was even on the Seattle Refined Book Club TV Discussion! It was a lot of fun. 

8. Volunteer with two organizations and include the girls.

9. Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls - So yeah, still haven't done this. I plan to collect the photos this month so I can get these DONE! 

10. Get back to Blogging on a more regular basis and focus more on my writing.

Week in Review - 10.8.2016

It's been a pretty uninspired week around here. I barely took any photos and feel like I barely did anything. I'm hoping this coming week will change that! I did attend Click Away 2016 which was here in Seattle and came back from Summer Murdock's class super inspired. If you've never heard of her, check out her work! It is seriously amazing!

Exercise

I did three boot camp classes this week and one cycling class. I had to leave cycling halfway through though as it was not working out for my hip. I also (hooray!) started PT this week for my hips and it is already AMAZING! I could feel relief and know that I'm going to get my hips in better shape. Turns out there are some lazy muscles slacking off and we need to get them working again.

Food

Next week I start my Transformation program with Sync Fitness so this week was filled with sugar, sugar and some caffeine. I won't apologize for my poor eating but I do know that Monday and Tuesday are going to be a wee bit difficult for me.

The Girls

The girls had a pretty normal week. They had a babysitter all day on Friday and told me that they had a great time. I used back-up care through Scott's work and feel so grateful for that option. It allows me to attend conferences or do NICU photoshoots when the girls aren't in preschool without hunting for a sitter. 

Other Goings On

My friend, Meg LOVES The Gilmore Girls and wanted to check out the Luke's Cafe promotion when it came to town. I agreed to meet her even though I had not seen a single episode before Wednesday. The line was insane! We got there at 6:50 and the place opened at 7 a.m. The line was around the block so we bailed and had a nice coffee date at Starbucks. I started watching The Gilmore Girls on Wednesday afternoon and am now a bit obsessed.

Stories Published

5 Easy Ways to Spruce Up Your Home for Fall

10 Best Pumpkin Patches to Explore this Fall

30 Fantastically Fall Things to Do This Season

Seattle's Child: Make Your Mark!

Project 52 - Week 30

I've been feeling a bit uninspired lately and having been picking up my camera. I attended the first day of Click Away 2016 today though and my inspiration is back! The kids were excited to see me when I came home and I asked them if I could take some photos of them. Once we were done, I was taking care of the mail when Molly appeared in the dining room with this look, I knew I had to capture it because this is Molly. 

Week In Review - 10.1.16

It was a rough week. The kids were hyped up and extra hard to deal with. I had a headache all week and was exhausted for no reason. Everything just felt harder than it needed to be. We did on a high note with a visit to TWO fun pumpkin patches which wore the kids out. 

Exercise

I was able to get in more exercise this week. I started with a FlyBarre class where I accidentally showed up 10 minutes late. Oops! The teacher was amazing and ushered me in. I was positive class was at 7:45 and yet it actually started at 7:30 a.m. FlyBarre is amazing hard and I was thrilled to only have a 35 minute class when my legs started to shake. I also did 3 bootcamp classes this week and a barre3 class with a great instructor this morning. It got sweaty in there! 

Food

I posted my favorite overnight oats recipe this week which has been keeping me fueled. Unfortunately the rest of my diet has been way too full of sugar. I start another Sync Transformation Project on October 8th and I am so ready for accountability. 

In other exciting news, it is SQUASH season. I love fall root vegetables and squash. Just love it! 

While on my sugar binge, I did discover this awesome "Spun Sugar" at Met Market out of San Francisco. It's costly but the fun flavors were a treat for Maggie and I on our Tuesday Day of Adventure. 

The Girls

Molly has been tearing up the soccer field with one practice a week and a game. Maggie likes to kick a soccer ball on the sidelines and is dying to play soccer. We've had some issues with Maggie's dance teacher. She keeps saying that she should be in a toddler class and yet the studio manager thinks she should be fine in her Pre-Ballet class. We're going to try out the studio manager's class on Monday which will mean that I'll be at the dance studio with the girls for two hours on Mondays instead of one BUT if this means success for Maggie, I'm willing to do it. 

I took the girls out for a pumpkin patch adventure on Friday. I needed to get some new photographs for a story I'm updating so we headed out to Snohomish to check out some new-to-us pumpkin patches. It was a blast and we had some apple cider donuts which are always awesome. 

We started a new preschool unit this week based on, "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?" and actually found a copy of the book in the Little Free Library outside our preschool. The girls haven't been as into this unit but are really into doing their workbooks. I'm hoping that next week's activities and the ones we've missed will get their excitement back. 

Other Goings On

My garden is still going strong which is crazy since today is OCTOBER 1st! My corn never produced much but it was fun to grow. I'll definitely try it again next year and I'm going to do more squash next year. 

On Wednesday, I did a taping with Seattle Refined for their book club. It airs on October 4th and I can't wait to see the piece. One of my good friend's Mom happened to be at the filming too. It was a banner day and we learned what the next book club selection was early. 

Stories Published

I had two stories come out this week and I love both of them! 

True Life: I went to Mountain Bike Camp and didn't die - All about my Mountain Bike experience with the Trek Dirt Series. Short story: It was awesome but my rear is so sore! 

Watch & Learn: Two Seattle Moms Launch Online Parenting Course - Two local parenting experts and Moms have teamed up to launch an online parenting course. This is something all parents need and I'm so excited about it!

Seattle's Child October Edition - I have a few stories in this one.  

There's Cash in those overstuffed drawers!
Make Your Mark
School of Toy is Open for Fun