seattle shenanigans

One of my besties graduated law school this weekend, so Bradley and I headed up to Seattle to celebrate with her slash have a mini reunion with the old college roomies. There were plenty of shenanigans to be had!  

We were very excited to be at Rachel's graduation. Naturally, the thumbs up came out. 

Too bad she didn't have her graduation cap on still. It looked gooooood. 

Saturday night we celebrated at a place called 95 Slide up on Capital Hill. Did not see Macklemore. Very interesting set up. Half dance area, half sports bar.

Straight murdered the club. NOT. a of all) it was not a club. b of all) we did the opposite of murder it. c of all) none of us can dance, but it didn't stop us from pretending. You saw a lot of token white girl moves.  

On Sunday Rachel's mom hosted an adorable party where people came throughout the day to celebrate how smart Rachel is. 

Roomies reunited and it feels so good!  The rain even held off which was extra nice. 

Ps. Notice my swollen right ankle?! Rolled it pretty good on Saturday morning while Bradley and I were on a run through the cute Queen Anne neighborhood.  Might have been too busy looking at cute houses and rolled it on the edge of the sidewalk.  struggle street, literally. 

And there you have it! What did you do with your weekend?!

<3 BB

#backthatazzup to seattle

It's Fridayyyyyyyy and I am leaving for Seattle right after work to be reunited with my old college roomies!

Back when we were babies and graduating from Willamette in 2009.

I am quite excited.

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They're all doing awesome things with their lives like graduating from PT School and Law School and raising a puppy, basically just being cool; and I'm over here like, I've got this blog?! It's cool though, I'm totally not jealous, just excited we get to celebrate together :)

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::Never not funny. Celebrities reading mean tweet about themselves -take 4.

::Why 30 is not the new 20. 

::59 reasons we're going to miss the Office. 

::No. Shut up. Stop sabotaging yourself.

::This article has me thinking that maybe I need to reevaluate some of my beauty choices now.

::Only in Portland.

::Don't just stand there at the gym.

::Lastly, this song came on when I was jammin' out to Boyz II Men pandora the other day. God, I LOVE THIS SONG!!! Warning: Just listening to this song may get you pregnant. 

Have a good weekend, folks!



Cheers!

<3 BB

summer, you can officially start now

Summer, you can officially start now, since I purchased a new pair of these babies yesterday. 

Which was super necessary, because I am going to get good use out of them next week when Brad and I head to San Diego!!!! 

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ErhMahGerd, vacation!!!! This girl is excited. Like when Oprah gives away cars excited.  You get a car and you get a car.

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Here is where I need your help my little blogger friends.  What should we do while we are there?! I haven't been since I was like 7 and all I really remember is the Zoo (which was awesome, but then again what zoo isn't awesome?! #amiright?). Brad has never been to California, because he is a very sheltered person grew up in the Midwest. 

Right now we have a hotel, we have a car, and we have sun tan lotion for the beach (that's a lie, I need to make a Target run before we leave).  Basically we're set.  I just want to have a super relaxing, mini vacation and it couldn't come at a more perfect time.  Coaching will be over, I am tired of working, and the rain is currently back here in Oregon.  All reasons to go on a vacation! 

We are also trying to ball on a budget, so the cheaper the ideas the better. Oh, and remember this girl loves food, like lovessss food, so great places to eat is on the top of our list. 

Thanks guys!

<3 BB

workout wednesday - win some, lose some.

You wanna know why I love my Grandma....

A) she plays draws with friends or draw something, whatever the hell it's called. 

B) she drew a picture of a wedgie that I was able to figure out

C) she then proceeded to call and congratulate me after I got it! 

D) we're cool, you don't have to judge us 

Speaking of butts.... How bout that beach body?! See what I did there? Nice, transition, Brooke... Pats self on back. 

I have been trying to ramp up the workouts again and it is mostly going well.  Minus last night when I had an unnecessary breakdown for no good reason at all.  Kind of like this one I posted about a few months ago. This doesn't happen very often, but when it does I just feel pathetic and I get really negative. Brad gets annoyed, frustrated, concerned, because he says negativity does not look good on me and I agree. After my little breakdown once the run was finished I realized Brad told me I just need to remind myself there are a lot of great things I have going on when it comes to fitness.  I need to focus on the positive things, like the fact that I was able to knock out over 6 miles during 2 different runs yesterday after bettering my time in this hard workout the day before. Fran, you're hard, but I finished you in 5mins30secs and I am kind of happy with that time. As opposed to taking the route I did, which was only focus on how sore my legs were, how out of shape I felt, how long the run was, how slow I felt, and how I was slowing Brad down... basically every negative thing I could think of.

Live and learn, people. Live and learn.

Then this morning I came across this blog post and it really resonated with me. Especially this line:

"I became a more capable, energetic, independent, and mentally focused person once my focus shifted from what my body looks like to what my body can do"

Anyway, enough about what I can't do. Let's talk about things I want to do... maybe? Do I dare? How many times can I use the word 'do'!?

Bear Complex looks hard in a good way. 

And since we're talking about bears.  I went all sorts of carnivore the other night and made this meat on meat on meat dish.

Lastly, and this has nothing to do with fitness, but you should totally download the A Beautiful Mess app for your iPhone photos. It's awesome. The end.

Cheers!

<3 BB

a sara bareilles tunesday

So my love for Sara B. (B for Bareilles, not Beach -although I love you too other Sara) goes pretty far back. This past Friday I was able to see her in concert for the first time at the Roseland and I am pretty sure my love grew even deeper.  Also, did I mention it is a solo-dolo tour right now.  Just her and her instruments up on stage and ermahgerd it was a beautiful, beautiful thing. 

Brad even says we kind of look alike.  I am not sure I see it, but I am definitely not complaining about the comparison. It probably has something to do with the fact that we both make awkward faces: 

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Also, I realized after seeing her live we could should be besties. Sara is awkward, entertaining, and curses like a sailor, but in the most adorable way possible.  Who knew the F-word could sound so cute?! She also goes on these really random and long tangents in between songs and you never know where she is going to end up by the end of it. Really keeps you on your toes, (oh toes!) just like I do here on the blog. 

Also, confession, it's hard to tell in the below photo, but my outfit for Mother's Day was more or less a carbon copy of her's at the show. Minus the fantastic black and white oxfords she was rocking. 

I went with my friend Kim and her friend Arlie and we had a blast.  Kim went went way more fan girl than I did.  This was like her 4th time seeing Sara live.  

Anyway, in honor of my love for Sara, I wanted to dedicate this Tunesday to her, enjoy! 

::Gravity

This song is beautiful. The kind of beautiful that gives me chills. 

::Winter Song - Feat. Ingrid Michaelson 

Tragic and lovely. 

::Single Ladies - Cover

I mean who doesn't love a great Single Ladies cover?! 

::Love On The Rocks

She opened with this song on Friday and then moved into Elton John's Benny and the Jets. It was classic. 

::Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay

Everything about this version makes me happy. 

Cheers to Sara B! 

<3 BB 

my mom's cooler than your mom

Let me tell you about my mother.

She is more or less amazing. Not to get all corny on you, actually I don't even care if it's corny, but she is one of the people I look up to most. She's a fantastic mother, sister, daughter, wife, elementary school teacher, pretty much one of those people Oprah would have on her show and let me tell you why...

You see, you wouldn't ever know it, but my mom had a super rare brain tumor removed when I was in college.  She rocked the surgery, but did lose her equilibrium and hearing in her right ear.  After lots of physical therapy she retaught her self how to do basic things like walk and deal with life without her balance and hearing loss.  Think of it as like having vertigo every day, but on a larger scale. She has to work twice as hard as the rest of us to overcome challenges that came post surgery; but she's still here and doesn't complain. She just does it and that my friends, is a beautiful thing.

Basically, she's stronger, more determined, and cooler than you. It's something I came to terms with a long time ago, you will too  :)

I was super excited to get to celebrate Mother's Day with her and the rest of my family this weekend. Sadly, my dad and other brother couldn't make it up to Portland to celebrate, but my other siblings and I did our best to celebrate for all of us.

Evidently, we thought celebrating Mother's Day could only be done in matching colors. 

It was totally unplanned.

We celebrated Mother's Day with a BBQ at my Aunt's house. She and my cousin Kyndra hosted a great party and had the cutest decorations.

Yeah, those are cupcakes.

nom, nom, nom.

All sorts of Pinteresty at the party.

Grandma got spoiled the most on Mother's Day, like she should :)

We also celebrated my cousin's birthday too. Kyndra got all cute again and decorated his cake like a basketball.

How did you celebrate Mother's Day?!


Cheers to Moms!

<3 BB

 

today's life lessons

Two lessons I learned yesterday:

1. Don't go for a walk in a cute neighborhood that has homes for sale which you cannot afford. It's very, very depressing. You know what is also depressing, realizing you're getting old because you want to buy said homes.

Makes me want to cry on the inside a little. The same kind of crying on the inside I want to do when I look at my bank account.

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2.) Don't go to Costco when Cheez-Itz are on sale. Things like this happen:

Hangs head in shame. 

Good news is, yesterday I only had a small bowl during snack time. I think I am figuring out this whole portion control thing?! probably not. 

Anyways enough about my life struggles. Here are some fun links for your Friday.

::Kareem is a wise man.

::But no really, Carrie was the worst.

::Nick Offerman reads tweets from female celebrities.

::I have shared my frustrations with Forever 21 before. This post solidifies it.

::In honor of Mother's Day, I got you this.

Oh Jim, I heart you.

The only Great Gatsby movie review you'll need.

::Your GPS isn't always right, idiots.

::Lastly, because I get to see Sara Bareilles in concert tonight. I got you this song for #backthatazzup Friday, enjoy!

ps. sorry for the curse words, Mom. 

Cheers!

<3 BB