Deadlifts and Diamonds

Woo hoo! I finally took the next step to 'up' my workout game and get in the best shape of my life--I signed up at Crossfit Redefined! Its a ton of fun and I now I know why there's so many crossfit fanatics out there. To get started, I took their intro classes to meet everyone, learn the lingo, and practice good form for the lifts. After learning the ropes (and yes, literally climbing a rope), I'm prepped and ready to attack these workouts. The workouts are everything you could want from a total workout. They're challenging, ever-changing, and there's a lot of partner work and team camaraderie. After a crossfit workout in a no AC box in Texas heat, I am splayed out flat on the gym floor dying and loving every minute of it. Check out my first WOD:  After a 5 minute warm up of jogging & rowing, we focused on strength with Hang Cleans then onto the partner METCON. For partner work, you split the reps with your partner and switch several times if n...

Living the life of a fit chick   8 AM  Heading to work  with pineapple and protein powder smoothie in tow. 10 AM Picked up a free gift card today just for filling out a survey! Yay! 12PM Quick lunch with Jimmy John.   6 PM Hittin' the gym 7:30 PM Finally home!  8PM  Dinner with the family Oh, and Marley wants to say hi.... Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to share a picture from your day in the comments below!

Hello weekend, where have you been all week? Its about time you show up, I have a lot of lounging and shopping and early morning runs to catch up on! To kick off my weekend, I dived right into rush hour traffic to pick up 2 essentials: a Barbell with clips and Bebe Hot Pink heels. Yes, I think these 2 items go nicely together:  They were out of 25 lb weights and I still need to clean out my garage to make room for my at home gym so all i got was the barbell--the first piece in my fitness arsenal. Well, save for my Giant bike in the back. Her name is Blue Steel. Can't wait to put these babies to work!

The promise of fitness is alluring--a tight toned body, healthy organic meals, and boundless energy all sounds good on paper, but we know the fit life isn't all that glamorous. I mean, I spend a good amount of time drenched in sweat with mismatched gym socks because I was running late that morning, or blow-drying my sweaty hair to meet up with girlfriends later because I didn't have time to full on wash and style it--it wasn't too sweaty right? If you're living the fit life, check out these little fitness mishaps that are, or soon will be part of your every day life :) Fit Girl Problems 1. You now pee all the time and you even get up in the middle of the night, several times a night to do so. A gallon of water a day has to go somewhere. 2. You wash more dishes Now that your meals are neatly measured and prepped, you'll be washing more tupperware dishes and protien bottles--don't forget to wash those! 3. Water bottles everywhere I'm basically t...

Eyelash Perming, yes, that's right, its a perm for your eyelashes and I thought I had invented it, like so many other things, until I saw the service available at several salons. Why would I want my eyelashes curled?  Well, my lashes are very straight with zero curl, whatsoever, and every morning I crimp them with an eyelash curler to get even a slight curl in them. As soon as they get wet, humid, or even if I apply too much mascara, they start to flop, and I have to re-curl with the mascara and makeup on and its a clumpy, limp mess. Ak! Thank God for eyelash perming!! I found a salon down the road from my work--Pure Salon in Houston, and booked my appointment. For $45 and 45 minutes of my time, I now have curled lashes--for 4 months at least.  I arrived at my appoint without any eye makeup and the owner escorted me to a private massage room with an extra comfy table. After applying the perming solution and curling my lashes on a thin strip, I laid back for 45 minutes ...

Hello lovelies!  Its been a long week of work, fitness, late nite meals and spending some time with my loves Andrew, my cat Jewelz, and our dog Marley. This Friday I plan on taking a rest day before the onslaught of festivities planned for the weekend: birthday dinner with wine, a much needed girls nite out, a pool side BBQ, and of course a run or a workout. Can't wait to get back to Austin! Make fitness a priority this weekend.  I hope everyone has a lovely weekend planned to enjoy some downtime, get creative, connect with family, and of course stay committed to your fitness goals. I plan on catching a Spin class by one of my favorite Austin Golds Gym instructors then hitting up Wonderlust yoga for a much needed yoga sesh. Decide now how you'll fit fitness into your weekend. Pick out your gym gear, set a reminder on your phone, set a date with a friend and make fitness part of your weekend plan right now!  Make the plan and let me know in the co...

Saturday Morning Bike Rides What a gorgeous weekend! Saturday morning Andrew and I loaded up our road bikes and headed to downtown Houston to ride the Bayou Trails. The trails wind around the water way for miles with paths for runners, cyclists, groups of walkers and parents with strollers to explore with a lovely view of the skyline. I tend to throw the hammer down on a ride and I managed to go for it a few times, but I think I might have to save that for another time. I'm sure I surprised a few runners on the narrower trails, but I couldn't help myself. After a long ride, we cruised over to an open field where the city was hosting a a small Picnic in the Park with Badminton, hoola hoops, bag toss, live music, and a few food vendors.  Not a bad start to the Weekend.  Surprise honey!  Still excited from our ride, we headed to Petsmart for their adoption Saturdays to meet our new dog Marley! We immediately fell in love with him--just look at that face! He'...

Have you ever picked your own strawberries? As a kid growing up in Germany, we would take school trips to the strawberry fields and pick baskets of strawberries. There were rows and rows of big, red juicy strawberries ripe for the picking and eating. :) We'd fill up our little baskets till our fingers were stained pink. By the time we reached the end of the row, we'd have eaten almost as many berries as we picked and have to start again. Its been years since then and thankfully, my baby found a farm near the house where we could pick our own berries. How fun! I felt like a kid again, hunting for the juiciest berries and leaving the little ones to grow. Together we harvested a hardy basketful for dessert--perfect for a frozen yogurt topping. Do Tell...... Where do you pick your strawberries? What's your favorite way to eat strawberries?

The adult equivalent of the easter egg hunt is definitely hunting for the perfect Easter brunch. I do miss the old school egg hunts, but mimosas were calling my name this Sunday. Easter brunch can be tricky, I didn't want to get stuck with an expensive and tempting buffet nor did I want to wait for an hour before being seated.  Luckily, I found my new fav breakfast spot in Houston--The Brick and Spoon. Its a cozy remodeled home turned restaurant with live music, a sunny patio, and a bright clean interior complete with a full bar where you can design your own a la carte Bloody Mary. Score. Sticking with my clean eating plan, I had a coffee, 1 pineapple mimosa, and a garden veggie omelette with sprouts--triple score! I think an afternoon run and an evening bbq with some good music will close the day nicely. Do tell..... What is your fav breakfast spot?

                          I hope you all are having a lovely Good Friday! Tonite I'm continuing my new job celebration at the Rooftop Lounge in Houston for a much needed date night with my man set to some bouncy and bass driven house music. Woot! I love me some good, happy, deep and soulful house.  Can't wait to dance it out. This weekend will be especially tempting for those of us on a clean eating diet, especially if you plan on hitting up Easter brunch. This would be a great time to share your goals with your family and friends so they can help keep you accountable and most importantly set some time aside to prep some healthy snacks. Keep your eye on the prize. Eat the eggs all you want, just take it easy on the cadbury eggs and waffles at Easter Brunch ;) You'll thank yourself later.  Check out today's workout below. Set some time aside for yourself this weekend and get moving! What ...

Hi Ya'll, If you've been looking for a side project to take or are looking to sharpen those mad creative, writing, fashion, or business skills then check out Skillshare. After taking a composition and web design course last year (very basic), I browsed their site today for new classes and they now offer a monthly subscription in addition to offering select courses for a fee. That's great news! I'm excited because I plan on taking a variety of crash courses rather than just 1 at a time. Although I work, workout, hangout and sometimes blog, I still have plenty of time on my hands and this seems like a great way to spend it.  I plan on taking:  Designing Brand Collateral:  A Case-Study Tutorial with Abi-Haus Restaurant Illustration and Lettering:  A Hands-on Approach to Label Design Reinvent Yourself in the Age of Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Start Drawing: Techniques for Pencil Portraits There's a ton more so check...

Hello there, I hope everyone had a lovely week and is revving up for an amazing weekend! I had a full morning of meetings and interviews then a lovely late lunch at Lupe Tortilla with a skinny margarita and lettuce wrapped fajitas. I was in heaven. The patio was bustling with trays of sizzling fajitas, hand shaken margaritas, and a fire pit nearby. I might as well have been eating on the beach Once the margarita hit the table, I felt like I was instantly transported to a beach side cabana. I love me some fajitas and ritas :) This weekend my sister is coming into town for a visit. I'm so excited! Can't wait to catch up over a glass of wine. I may be fit, but wine is definitely in my diet right now. :)  Happy Weekend everyone! Enjoy yourself--you've earned it! 

\ Happy St. Patty's Day! Its a beautiful day to run stairs right? Riiiight?  I mean, what else would you be doing? Apparently, you'd be flashed by a leprechaun, that's what, and probably much worse. Nobody has time to be flashed by a leprechaun. Here's a suggestion. Run stairs! I woke up Monday with an urge to run--specifically, to do stair sprints. I wanted to run stairs to completely exhaust myself and empty the tank and finally fulfill this nagging feeling I have had. I felt like my little inner child was tugging at me saying, "can we run stairs today please? Its so nice out, and you had a rest day yesterday, can we please". No kid in their right mind would ask to run stairs, but today it seems like playing outside is more of a rare privilege than an expectation--so of course I gave in. Monday was an absolutely gorgeous day and perfect for an outdoor workout at Mt. Bonnell in Austin, TX (with a later workout at the Golds Gym downtown). If you don...

  SXSW Interactive starts this week to kick off the SXSW film and music festivals. If you plan on attending the slew of cocktail parties, surprise celebrity shows, and all the amazing Austin food and craft beer you can drink then cheers to you! For these next two weeks, enjoy all all out sensory feast and for those of you Fitness Evangelists out there, until #SXSW has more input from the fitness community then check out these fitness offering during your stay. Sunday  Group fitness by Equinox.  They will host classes  Saturday and Sunday at Fast Company Grill, aka The Cedar Door, at 201 Brazos Street. Sessions for Free!  Register in advance at  http://austin.equinox.com/  . Click on Classes.  Plus, omg, this is so dope, I can't even.... Free Spin Classes by CYC this Saturday the 8th  with breakfast & goody bags at multiple time slots! If you haven't tried spin..why the hell not? Just do it!! It is sooo fun, and yes it ...