New Fitness Challenge

I love Pinterest.. I really do.. especially in the workout department! Today as I was perusing the fitness boards, I found this month of exercises by The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans!!

Here my friends is my new May challenge… I dare you to join me!

If this interests you join me! And tweet about it using #madmusclemay!!

I will also try and combine it with the March challenge which was 6-pack abs

I am all about the new challenges especially because running still hurts!!! I tried to run yesterday and my legs were NOT having it :/…. unfortunately I am itching to run now soooo we will see how this plays out!

On the bright side.. we got cleared to defend our masters project!!!!! now to finish editing it! Defense is in two weeks wooooo!

Now off to finish laundry/spin/zumba/ and go to a swim meet!

Have a good Saturday!

xxoo

Peace, Love, and be Sperry!

Tangential Thursday

Holla Holla Back yo

So I am feeling all over the place today.. maybe its because I forced my brain to function earlier than it wanted to today, or because I have energy and the will to be alive again (overdramatic much) post masters project submission, or because the weekend starts tomorrow? Who knows anyways I am going to fill you with tangents today!

1. I am baking again… I haven’t baked in like over a month… actually probably longer than that.. maybe two months… in fact since like February… thats ridiculous.. but I have been so busy/stressed/not feeling myself/traveling/visitors the list goes on but I am back… I am me again and I WANT/NEED to bake…. too bad I can’t decide what to make… any suggestions?!

2. I booked my trip for memorial day weekend!!! Yay! I am traveling so much more this year than last year… Since Feb I have been to Houston, NOLA, Delaware, DC, Vegas, and Nashville! In May I will be going to California for my brother Billy’s graduation from college (ahhh I feel so old!) and the next weekend which is Memorial Day Weekend I will be joining Whitt at his family’s lake house in Tennessee!!! Meaning I get to relax on a BOAT (we all know how much this excites me) and ya know hangout with Whitt! The only downside that I just realized typing this post up is that I will be gone two weekends in a row during my last few weeks of school… which is sad however the next weekend is Beer Olympics which I am pretty sure makes up for missing two weekends!

3. This video about being 24 pretty much sums up my life… and made me laugh hysterically.. thank you Alyssa for bringing this into my life

I'm 24 – watch more funny videos

4. The NFL Draft starts today… which is awesome… and I will probably watch it if I can get out of class early enough… I know I am too school for cool 😉

5. I have senioritis… super bad… yesterday I stayed in my bed until like 1:30… granted I was being productive from my bed.. however really… I need to actually stop being such a bum…

6. I really want to see the 5 year engagement soooo if you wanna be my bff and go with me this weekend I would love you forever ahhaha

7. I have recently started doing Zumba with Collen…. it is hilarious…. and obviously we are fantastic at it…..Next Saturday akak Cinco de Mayo… we are doing a 2 hour rumba party…. there will be drinks served… I will be video taping as I can only imagine the fantasticalness that will occur… because I am a really good dancer.

8. I am totally obsessed with Big Bang Theory… its the best show ever… other than ya know Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Grey’s, and Gossip Girl… but ya know who’s counting

9. I have found the secret ingredient to make any and all salads fantastic…. Goat Cheese… seriously.. it’s a game changer.. totally into it.. also I know I am really late to this party… its fine

10. OBSESSED with this commercial… I love the Cubs… and despise the white sox…but overall I really don’t care about Baseball… but games are relatively fun to  go to

Chicago vs. Chicago: Round 1 from Nick Offerman

ok off to be productive…ish

xxoo

Peace, Love, and be Sperry

Weekend in Nashville!

Howdy! After this post I will be all caught up and actually start doing real posts again.. maybe I will even start cooking again and post REAL recipes… hmm lets not get too ahead of ourselves shall we?

Also exciting news…. MASTERS PROJECT HAS BEEN SUBMITTED!!! In the words of Sheldon Cooper

Anywho this weekend I had the pleasure of spending the weekend with several new and old favorite people in NASHVILLE! Why Nashville you ask? Well my friend Whitt lives in Nashville so I went to visit him as well as my friend Dave from HS and my friend Kristen who I have known since I was 6! My friends Bryan and Marvin from HS came too, as well as two of Whitt and Bryan’s friends from college Jack and Marni (who is my new bffl)! Needless to say it was super fun, kind of a disaster, and the best weekend!

Foodie highlights included Local Taco in West Nashville (OMG.. coolest/best tacos ever) brunch at Fido’s, and of course the Surf and Turf Whitt and I made on thursday night… that was super delicious.. pan seared scallops, steak, asparagus, tomatoes, and yummy rosemary garlic bread!

Instead of highlighting each moment/activity I am just going to share pictures… fun facts tho…experienced a paint party/rave minus the paint as we were too late (hence the neon), went to a frat house for the first time since college, went to the prettiest park ever, and ran around getting people to kiss a toy armadillo… if that doesn’t say win… I don’t know what does

It was a fantastic weekend… a little obsessed with Nashville.. its so pretty and green and southern and awesome! However its like 90 here today and sunshiny so DENCO isn’t too bad of a place to be either!!!

now off to get ma sweat on… I have been lazy over my vacay….

xxoo 

Peace, Love, and be Sperry!

 

Catching Up

Lots and lots of recaps as the last two weekends have been filled with much activity!

First I will catch you up on Last weekend before filling in on Nashville!

Last weekend my friends Erica, Cara and Cara’s bf Michael all came to Denver!!!!
Pretty much this was another weekend of eating/drinking our way through Colorado, marred only by the AASP Southwestern Student conference that I was presenting at/on the planning committee for. Yea never a great idea to combine guests, conferences, and school work…. it was a ton of fun but also a super stress-y me!

On Thursday I picked Er-bear up and we went straight to my fave place.. the Cherry Creek Grill! I know you guys have seen his restaurant get posted about pretty much 8 million times so I will spare you the play by play as I got my usual Macho Salad, we split the cornbread, each had a yummy Malbec, and Erica got the seasonal vegetable plate!

Because she is such a wonderful friend and knows me so well.. she surprised me with a Magnolia Red Velvet cupcake! I am a spoiled, spoiled girl!
On  Friday after my class, we went bike riding around Cherry Creek and Downtown Denver, to give Erica a feel for the city and throw in some exercise!!! We made a pit stop at Illegal Petes for burritos… ps if you live in Denver this place has surpassed Chipotle in my eyes… so darn good! I got a chicken fajita burrito smothered in green chili as if you smother your burrito this month a dollar gets donated to Autism!

we biked back to Cherry Creek for some Bonnie Brae Home Made Ice Cream!!! Erica got the Oatmeal Cookie, and I had the Mint Chocolate Chip!

Friday night was the beginning of the conference, and I was in charge of the social that night! We had it at a local bar Jordan’s where I had a surprisingly delicious chopped chicken salad!

Saturday was spent at the conference all day, getting a ZPizza delivery for dinner, and then going over to Ted’s with Liza and Erica! It was a chill night as we were all pretty exhausted by the conference!

Sunday morning was spent of course at my favorite Snooze with Erica, Twink and Collen, and Ben, a prospective DU student! I branched out and got the lump crab eggs benedict on a corn bread cake… OMG.. new favorite meal… omg

We also got a free pancake for waitings o long… it was their sweet potato pancake and is probably my favorite pancake ever… I would like it everyday… thanks

Erica and I then spent the afternoon shopping, and trying  out Phat Thai.. a Thai restaurant by the mall I have been meaning to try for ages! We split edamame and pineapple fried rice…. sooo good! The restaurant was a little pricey but definitely worth it!

Monday Morning we finally saw Cara and Michael again, we met them in Boulder for a hike around Chatauqua Park, lunch at the Walnut Brewery (tried a Buffalo burger… YUM), and exploring Pearl Street!

On Wednesday, I was able to see Cara and Michael before their flight back to Boston by joining them at an English Pub on Colfax for lunch and to watch the Chelsea-Barca game!!! Yay for college friends… perfect prep for my weekend in Nashville with some high school friends!!

xxoo

Peace, Love and be Sperry!

Easter Recap

Yes I know.. EAster was like a year ago.. sorry its been kind of a disaster around here….. but my masters project is basically done HALLELUIAH …. and so I can have ya know more of  a life/not living on campus working on it like I was last week and yesterday!

Anywayssss my friend/little sister Bridget was in town with her family for easter weekend and lucky me I got to have two meals with her!!! I haven’t seen her since last year and it was so nice to have so much bonding time!!

On friday night we went to my favorite sushi place in Denver, Hapa Sushi… since we couldn’t eat meat on Good Friday and after fasting all day I just really wanted sushi! I started with Sauvignon Blanc, and Bridget got a G-Spot cocktail

For sushi we got salmon rolls, california rolls, and this delicious crab roll with tempura in it… i usually don’t eat tempura but it was amazing

I also forgot to take a pic until we had devoured most of it… ooops!

AFter dinner we went to yogurt land… YUM because I decided Good Friday meant I could have it… yea its a stretch I KNOW

Bridget got a monster cup with topped with the most peanut butter sauce I have ever seen… she’s some what of a pb/froyo connoisseur if you will… however my computer hates me and won’t import the photo sooooooo c’est la vie

The next morning we went to my favorite brunch place Snooze which is basically where I take any one and everyone who visits me… and sometimes  drag my friends here too…. its really the best.. come visit me and ill take you!

I started out with my favorite mimosa there- the Hi-C which is sparkling wine, pomegranate liquor, grape fruit juice and something else I forget!

For our meal, I got my usual which is the Snooze Spuds deluxe… basically a huge pile of their famous hash browns with cheddar and jack cheeses and I got spinach and chicken sausage in it as well!

Bridget got an omelette and a peanut butter chocolate pancake…. this pancake is TDF… seriously it was melted chocolate and peanut butter cream on top… yum times a million

Afetr brunch, I went on my merry way to consulting, getting my extensions out, a drink with Liza and her BF Greg and his friends outside on the Tavern roof deck for his bday before meeting Collen, Twink, their friends Lauren, Erin, Erin’s husband and sister, and Lana for the AVs game! This was my first Avalanche game and it was fun. They played the nashville predators and Nashvile won! (if you know me super well you know that this is highly ironic)

On Easter Sunday I went to Boulder to pick Kev up so we could go to family brunch at my dad’s cousins house!! Again   was to caught up in conversation to take pictures but it was great!!!

On Sunday night, I met Con and his mom Renee who was in town for dinner at my have place the Cherry Creek Grill!

Renee and I both bot the grilled salmon (YUM) with asparagus, and Con got the rotisserie chicken. This salmon really is the best it is perfectly seasoned with salt and pepper and melts in your mouth… I could probably eat it every day…

yea… we are super normal I am aware hahaha…. 20 years of friendship and counting bud…

Afterwards we went to little man ice cream in the highlands… OMG if you live in Denevr please take yourself there…. it is SO good! I had the salted caramel pretzel.. the pretzel bits in it were meh because they were soggy but the overall flavor was incredible!!! I literally had to roll myself to my car after this meal ahhaha

MMMMkkkk time to go to ze gym… but man does it feel good to post again!!

xxoo

Peace, Love, and be Sperry!!

 

100

Today is the 100th anniversary of the Titanic. We almost went to the Molly Brown house here in Denver however it didn’t work out.

Still I wanted to recognize one something that has always been kind of an obsession in my family, and two one of the worst tragedies of the sea.

I am pretty sure one of the first books I learned to read was about the titanic, and ever since I was a child I have read as many books as I could, and of course when Titanic came out in theaters in 1997, I saw it with my mom and brothers five times in theater….. yea that happened

Anyways I wanted to use my blog post today to remember Titanic!

“The sinking of the Titanic caused the deaths of 1,514 people in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. She was the largest ship afloat at the time of her maiden voyage. One of three Olympic class ships operated by the White Star Line. She carried 2,223 people.Her passengers included some of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as over a thousand emigrants from the IK, Ireland, Europe and elsewhere seeking a new life in North America. The ship was designed to be the last word in comfort and luxury, with an on-board gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries, high-class restaurants and opulent cabins. She also had a powerful wireless telegraph provided for the convenience of passengers as well as for operational use. Though she had advanced safety features such as watertight compartments and remotely activated watertight doors, she lacked enough lifeboats to accommodate all of those aboard. Due to outdated maritime safety regulations, she carried only enough lifeboats for 1,178 people – slightly more than half of the number traveling on the maiden voyage and one-third her total passenger and crew capacity. On 14 April 1912, four days into the crossing, she hit an iceberg at 11:40 pm. The glancing collision caused  five of her sixteen watertight compartments to the sea. Over the next two and a half hours, the ship gradually filled with water and sank. Passengers and some crew members were evacuated in lifeboats, many of which were launched only partly filled. A disproportionate number of men – over 90% of those in Second Class – were left aboard due to a women and children first protocol followed by the officers loading the lifeboats. Just before 2:20 am Titanic broke up and sank bow-first with over a thousand people still on board. Those in the water died within minutes from hypothermia caused by immersion in the freezing ocean. The 710 survivors were taken aboard from the lifeboats by RMS Carpathia a few hours later.”

100 years later… we will never forget

xxoo

Peace, Love, and be Sperry

Funny Friday

Oh hello again!

My friend stood me up for a Skype date (jk love you) sooo I decided to write another Friday post… something that I may make regular… lets see how this goes!

Anyways here are some funnies to make your Friday even better!

This reminds me of Freshman year… my friend Dean and I would quote Talladega Nights obsessively… and he actually called me Shake n Bake… awesome

Am I right Liz?! #funfluential

I would be lying ifI said this wasn’t my go to emo quote

S

True story my friend Kendall and I used to rock to this in my Bug in high school… yea I’m cool… and gangsta…

guess which one I would be?

I’m pretty sure every girl in my sorority would love this one….
And finally

Have a good Friday err body!
xxoo
Peace, Love, and be Sperry!

Happpy Friday everybody!!!!

So the other day I talked about how I am not running.. that is still true hahah still not running… maybe next week… maybe. Anyways I have been taking advantage of my training plan-less future to incorporate some circuit workouts into my weekly rotation!! On Wednesday I was looking through Julie’s Circuit Workout page and decided to mash-up her Jumping Jack circuit with Courtney’s 7 Moves For Shredded Shoulders work out! After all I do love a good mash up!

This workout was intense! It was a great compilation of ploy and weights! After I completed the work out I did a few ab workouts to really push my core!! I did this workout again today before class!

This is a great, quick work out that can really gets the heart rate pumping!!!

In other news it’s Good Friday!!! So I am fasting today… fail I can tell I am starting to get a bit testy because I haven’t eaten (other than chocolate milk right after my work out… but it was early dawn ish so I’m saying I’m good hahaha! Tonight for dinner I am hoping to get sushi with my little Bridget who is in town with her family for Easter weekend yay!!

What are you Easter Weekend Plans?!

xxoo

Peace, Love, and be Sperry!

You win… You always do

Today’s theme is brought to you by Will Ferrell… and my obsession of him… your welcome

Kentucky…. you win… as this season you almost always did….

I will concede victory on this one… the Jay Hawks put up a good fight unfortunately their comeback was too little too late, and Kentucky won.. because lets face it those players are exceptional… especially A Davis… with the wicked unibrow… Yes, I watched the game… yelled at the TV a little bit, maybe shed a tear (not really but I wanted too), and watched a great great game…and then today I watched the news (aka Sports Center) and watched Lexington, Kentucky become the latest edition of Fans Get Wild… and riot and injure people with fires and gun shots….

You win alcohol, adrenaline and National Championship glory… you always do

or you cause wicked embarrassment for your school on national TV… ya know… you choose

Back to wet, slushy, and COLD DenCo….. remember two days ago when I bragged about the beautiful, warm, 80 degree weather we were having? Well apparently Mother Nature decided to pull an April Fool’s joke of her own

You win Mother Nature, you always do

Source: nymag.com via Christine on Pinterest

So as many of you know I ran a Marathon 2 weeks ago… yea that happened… at least thats what the ‘Nam flashbacks tell me hahaha… jk… it was awesome ( if you can’t tell I am full of sassafras today)

Again… Marathon… you win… you always do

Since my marathon guess how many times I have ran? Any takers? Guesses, bets, thoughts?

Yes that would be a big fat ZERO

Right now I am being nice to my legs… they don’t want to run… running hurts right now… and I may have PTSD… not quite sure yet. (I kid)

So instead I am spinning like a mad woman 2-3 times a week, ellipticalling like a boss and doing weight circuits…. because finally I can! I have been in training mode for over a year now, first for my first two half-marathons, and then my marathon. There has been a few small breaks but basically I have been running on a schedule for a long time! Now I want to be untethered and free to do whatever work out I want for a bit… which means only running when I feel like it… which lately I just haven’t gotten there yet! Maybe I’ll take up ribbon dancing… I think I would excel at it….

Also I’m currently obsessed with Call Me Maybe…. I listen to it several times a day
You win catchy tune and lyrics… you always do

Source: google.com via Lindsey on Pinterest

Now off to work on my master’s project

you win masters project…. you always do

What do you do post training?

xxoo

Peace Love and be Sperry!

Celebrating the Warm Weather!!

Happy Sunday!!!
It is BEAUUUUTIFULLLL weather here in Denver this weekend! Seriously it’s been in the 80s this weekend!!

To celebrate this beautiful weather we had a park day!!!

We spent the day sitting in the sun, BBQ-ing on my party grill, and playing various games! Once we had enough sun, we went over to my friend Ted’s to watch the NCAA Final Four!!! OMG OMG OMG… I was FAREAKING OUT…. KU… you get me every time… this tournament has been such a roller coaster with them battling out to win at the last possible minute! But they won and tomorrow night KU plays Kentucky in the final!!!!! This was as I predicted in all of my brackets…. so I am excited that FINALLY my bracket is correct again!!!

Post-game we segued into beer pong and eventually had our first fire of the spring!!! Yay smores…. I have missed these nights!!!

It was a great way to start the spring! Today I went for a solo hike at the Bluffs, my favorite spot from this summer!!! And then grocery shopping and a much needed nap!

Best news of the day? I found out I don’t have to report for jury duty tomorrow like I thought!!!!!! yay!!!!!

Later today I am going to have Pinkberry with MUNCHKIN Zach (missed seeing his face around here? I know  I have!) and his mom who are in town this weekend visiting from Chicago!!!!!

Have you ever had jury duty?

What have you done to celebrate the beautiful weather?

xxoo

Peace, Love, and be Sperry!