Deadlifts and Diamonds

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'...

Oh hell yes, its Friday and the weekend is in full effect. Let's get out, get moving, and enjoy some beautiful weather and workouts. Tomorrow will be a full day for me, let's just say I may have a new puppy by my next post :) I'll have the weekend update on Sunday, but for now check out yesterday's Back Workout.  Don't neglect the back.  Now, I don't work my back all that often, mostly because its just not as fun. Since I've left it unworked, I now feel like a weakling. Lately, I've been a fixated on building strength in my legs, biceps, chest, abs--really every other body part save for the back. However, leaving this area unworked makes it a great place to see some quick progress, break up my routine a bit, and focus more on my form. Form is critical during a back workout.  Be sure to check out bodybuilding.com to reference some of the exercises in this workout.   Click here for the bodybuilding.com exercises.  Grab your FREE worko...

These past two days have been done the body good. Tons of good food, hard workouts, and some serious cuddle time with my lovelies :)  When I start my new job tomorrow,  I may not have the luxury of a long hour and 1/2 workout so I got it in now. Check out my workouts below.  Save them to your Pintrest for later, or take a pic of the screen if you need to so you can have these handy at the gym.  Did you save the pics? Good. Now lets get to work!  Let me know which workout you did in the comments below. Be sure to bookmark this page and follow me on facebook for more workouts, recipes, and motivation!

Happy  day after Easter everyone. After a fun filled Sunday brunch, an afternoon run in the park, then mimosas and bbq, I finally learned how to play poker and Gin Rummy. I won't start playing at a casino anytime soon, but I definitely held my own in the game--at least I though so :). I at least had my poker face on the whole time despite my terrible cards.                                                 BBQ                                                          Brunch         Now, lets get motivated! After a great weekend, lets use that momentum to charge our workouts this week, revisit our nutrition goals, and reignite our fitness regimen. Today, I'm focusing on dev...

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?

What is it about bluesy, jazzy, soulful music that just makes you wanna get down and sing? Now I may be able to hit one note here or there, but trust me, I had to put this playlist while I had the house to myself to save others from my karaoke sing a long and dance-a-thon. This soulful playlist for all my divas out there. Let me know what you think in the comments below.  What's your fav song in this list? Which artist should be added to the mix?