So the old college roomies got together this past weekend for some roomie shenanigans (Sami would be proud). Except our shenanigans were not really that shenanigany it's a real word, I googled it. We have come to realize we are kind of old and boring these days when it comes to going out late and that kind of thing. With that being said, we had what might be one the best weekends I have had in a while. Sleepovers were had, BrewCycles took place, and lots of bacon was eaten.
More on this BrewCycle thing. I have seen people peddling around Portland on it before, but had never experienced it until this weekend. Basically like the picture above shows. It's a HUGE bicycle that fits like 15 people and you bike to different breweries around town.
For our cycle we hit up Old Town Pizza, Pints, and finished at Bridgeport Brewery. Best news was I didn't drink much so I didn't get sick the next morning. Pretty sure I might be allergic to alcohol or something, which isn't a horrible thing since I don't need to be drinking a lot anyway...But I did get my pedal on. Some of the cyclist might not have been pulling their weight, but my old roomie Brittany and I got us there in a timely fashion.
Gangs all here! It was so nice to have the group back together. Since some of us live in Seattle and some of us live in Portland it's a little hard to get all the schedules to work together, but when it does workout, it's magical.
Finished up the weekend with a soggy Timbers game. We have had crazy rain all weekend. Something about the tail end of a typhoon from Japan? I don't really know. What I do know is, there has been a lot of rain and a lot of wind. UGH, I am not ready for you dead of winter. Where is my perfect Fall weather?
I would be lying if I said I didn't get a little teary eyed when I watched it. If you didn't catch Mariano Rivera's final send off at Yankee Stadium, you can check it out here. Editor's note: If you have a heart or ever played sports, this will make you cry.
I don't particularly like the Yankees (don't tell my Grandpa that), but this man is a class act and this moment is a special moment. Not just in baseball, but athletics in general. It made me happy and made me re-appreciate my love for sports. So thanks for that, Rivera.
Also, linking up with Whitney for #backthatazzup Friday! Went with a little Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and their tribute to baseball (mainly the Mariners). Now, it's not a tribute to Rivera, but still, it just works, I think.
So this might not be a stance that many people take or many people want to hear, but I am over people telling me how busy they are or rattling off every single thing they have going on in their lives to make it sound like they are more busy than they actually are.
Rude? Maybe, but shoot, we are all busy, people - but here's the deal, most of us choose to be overly busy. Whether it's because we are afraid to be alone for a moment or because we value our level of success by the things we have crossed off our checklists. Maybe it's because we are avoiding other things, so we busy ourselves with useless crap... who's to say what your reason for being busy is... Are you a single parent, working two jobs, and trying to raise your kids? No? Are you perhaps a small business owner doing everything on your own, while trying to also raise a family? No? Then you're probably not as busy as you claim...My guess is if you really sit down and map out your day, you're not as busy as you're leading on or your own actions are causing you to be busier than you need to be. I will also go out on a limb here and guess that your busy-ness is not making you more happy and it's probably providing you more stress...but what do I know?
If you're so busy and don't leave any time for yourself, maybe you need to reevaluate your choices in life. What are things that you really want to focus on? Maybe you should commit less to some things and really focus on the others that are important in your life. A lot of us, choose to be busy - whatever that means for you - maybe there are certain things that can be set aside and put on the back burner for a while to help.
So here are a few tips I have for you to be less busy:
Δ Don't hit snooze. Better yet, get up early and give yourself some ME time before you start your day.
Δ Watch one less episode of Desperate Real Housewives of whatever stupid city you like. Shoot maybe just skip the Bravo channel all together. It's horrible television anyway.
Δ Not all productivity is good productivity. So don't think your happiness has anything to do with your productivity level.
Δ It's ok to say no once in a while. You don't have to say yes to every Happy Hour invite or dinner. No one is going to be mad at you and if they do get mad, they'll get over it and if they don't get over it then why are you friends with them?
Δ Get off Twitter or facebook or instagram or whatever social media you waste your time on. Emphasis on wasted time.
Naturally, after I finished my rant I started googling busy and there are some articles that talk about this more eloquently than I did, but they didn't use awesome gifs. Like this, this, and this.
Anyway, try a few of these things and maybe your day will be less busy and I think that is a good thing.
So, I started to get sick in the middle of last week and am just now starting to feel better. A little stuffy still, but nothing major. One of my least favorite things is coming back to workouts after I have been sick. Workouts just feel 20 times harder than they should feel, but here is a light workout that I did the other day to ease back into things.
Δ Use a stability ball for your push-ups if you want to work more of your core Δ
Δ Here is what the split lunge jumps look like. Make sure your knee does not end in front of your toes! Δ
So, I was at work by 6:15 today. that was fun, said no one ever....This is what happens when your physical therapy appointment is at 2:40 in the afternoon. Really cuts into the middle of your day, but good news is I get to leave work early and I stopped and got a weekday coffee which never happens these days, so there's that?
Let's get right to some music. I don't have the energy to share any more pleasantries with you all today ;)
You know the drill Spotify playlist or the YouTube links below! Get to listening.
I have been on a huge David Ramirez kick and then Shaylynn just happened to send me a DR song last night and it was lovely. It was like she knew I can't stop listening to him and knew that he was going to be on my playlist today. Great minds. Great stuff.
So it's officially Fall...and obviously I had to buy my first pumpkin spice latte of the season, because well, I am a blogger and a white girl that loves yoga pants and all things 'fall'.
Although, Oregon decided to skip Autumn and go straight to the dead of winter evidently. We have had wind, rain, rain, wind, and more rain. Which really I didn't complain that much about because I spent most of my weekend on the couch being sickie. I did venture out of the house a few times and it is a good thing I just happened to buy these Hunter boots on sale at Nordstrom rack earlier in the week so I could get my puddle stomp on if need be.
On sale for 49 dollars, how could I not buy?!!! .... What I probably could should have stayed away from were these beauties that were also on sale.
Hear me out though. Both boots total were 100 dollars less than the original price of the Fryes. It had to be done. And, even more so, I have been lusting after these Melissa Button Fryes for what feels like a decade. Ask Brad, I send him the link every week telling him I need them in my life. They are investment and now I will quit wasting my money on cheaper boots I am unhappy with.
Anyway, enough about boots. Here is the rest of my weekend in photos. Attempted to go to the Timbers game, probably a horrible idea for my cold, had a huge coughing attack when the Timbers scored and I tried to cheer for them.
But hey, at least my braid looked cute?
Last, but not least, I got to be a model in a photo shoot this weekend. I will share more details later when the photos are done, but let's just say, I wore a lot of red lipstick and I NEVER wear lipstick.
Melancholy is a funny thing. Let me break it down for you, sometimes I have this habit, where I know I should be fully living in a moment and really appreciating all the good in my life, whether it be a relationship or a moment in my life that I am in, but instead I get this little touch of sadness at the thought of the moment or person leaving me.
The thing is, we are the only species that is aware of immortality. That is what makes us human - we are aware that we will all someday die...And maybe that is a really morbid way of looking at life, but it is the one constant in our lives and it is one that sometimes overwhelms me; more so now as I age and I watch those I love age.
Do you ever get nostalgic over moments and people that have not even left you yet? It's really an unfortunate, glass half empty, kind of way to look at life and yet I do it on occasion. I try not to, but sometimes I can't help it.
After watching this video, it makes me want to change my outlook on life and my relationships. It makes me want to love harder and enjoy the moments in my life more.
So my question to you is, how do you respond? Do you try and love harder? Do you try and extend your moment of happiness or do you push it away for fear of losing it later?
So, you know my little sister, the one I talk about a lot that is growing up too fast and I love her blah, blah, blah....This one. Well, I am mad at that betch, because I am pretty sure she has gotten me sick. Saw her on Monday night and she was sick and last night I went to bed with a tiny bit of a cough, nothing crazy, but then....then I woke up in the middle of the night with the world's sorest throat. (I probably should have called Guinness, because I know it was a record).
Womp...
Womp...
Womp.
This better not get any worse. Ain't nobody got time for this.
In other updates in Brooke's life, started my second week of physical therapy for my knee. Good news: I really like my PT, she used to run track at Penn State and she knows her PT stuff when it comes to my knee and the problems that are leading to the pain (long story short, it's not my knee that is the cause of the problem - it's my glutes and hips). The bad news: for how strong I am, all my stabilizer and small muscles are pretty much nonexistent. She basically told me I have the glute strength of a 12 year old girl and a lot of the simple exercises are really hard for me. It's quite embarrassing and humbling at the same time. I don't like it.
She also said I probably need to take it a little easier with my workouts right now to get the inflammation in my IT band down...but I don't wanna! Hopefully spin class won't make it hurt tonight, because I am going either way.....
So yeah, basically I am a horrible excuse for a human who is sick and dying and weak. Great.
Thanks a lot, life. Okay, I am being dramatic. I will stop now.
So, video games are one thing I just don't do. I may waste my time in a lot of ways, but on x-box and playstation 3 or 12 - whatever one they are on is not one of them. However, Bradley does love him some FIFA and I have to admit one thing FIFA does right is music. (okay, they might do more things right too, but I don't play so I don't actually know).
Anyway, when Brad sent me the link for tracks that will be on the 2014 version of FIFA, I have to admit I was impressed. Figured I would share the playlist with you guys too!
Rumor has it they will also have this CHVRCHES song on it too and I LOVE THEM.
So yeah, at least when I am bummin' around the apartment and Brad is playing FIFA I know the music will be good! .... In other news, I can't wait until we have a second bedroom in the new condo we are moving into in less than a month!!!! Then I can put him in the other room when he wants to play video games.
Oh Em Gee, weekend, why did you leave me so soon? We were really starting to hit our stride.
Speaking of stride see what I did there, transitions are good, I got a good workout in Friday and that is about the only exciting thing I did on Friday - unless you count grocery shopping exciting, then my night was super wild. Although, going to bed at 10:30 on a Friday night makes for an early, but rested Saturday morning. I even got a run in before 8am. Go me!
The early run helped jump start my day and I headed downtown to my favorite coffee shop, Stumptown to get my study on for my personal training certification....oh and take selfies, because sometimes studying is hard and you need to procrastinate somehow.
After my study sesh and a lunch date with a good friend, we were off to Oktoberfest with our friend Cory. Since I was DD and have been rocking a solid migraine all weekend, I took it easy with the German beer, but I did make love to enjoy this sausage with kraut and grilled onions goodness. yummmmmm.
Sunday I was a good granddaughter and helped my grandparents move furniture and rip up carpet at their house so they can get the new carpet put in today. Can't wait to see how it turns out!
Even convinced Bradley to help out. After that it was more studying, football, and well football. Anyways that is my weekend in a nutshell. Cross your fingers my headache finally decides to leave.
Linking up with Sami for these shenanigans, per usual :)
So the other night I watched this powerful documentary done by ESPNW. It's part of a series called Nine For IX - which isinspired by the 40th anniversary of Title IX and is: About women. Made by women. For us all.
The episode I watched was called Brandedand it focused on how women in sports have to market themselves and sell themselves differently than men do.
The feminist in me was appalled - but let's be honest, you shouldn't have to be a 'feminist' to be upset by this. Anyone that supports equality in general should be upset by this, feminist, female, or not.
Basically what it comes down to is, men in athletics can make money and support themselves on their athletic abilities and talents alone...whereas women in sports, even the top professional female athletes, have a much harder time making a living off their sport and talents and instead are forced to basically sell themselves off of sponsorships. Successfully branded women in athletics fall into two categories: girl next door or sexy vixen - and both of those categories expect you to be attractive. Even more so, most female athletes make top dollar when using the 'sex sells' approach - think Danica Patrick in Go Daddy ads, Gabrielle Reece posing for Playboy, etc. As Gabrielle Reece (who posed for playboy and made a lot of money doing it) mentioned in the documentary, 'boobs will never go out of style'.
The thing is, I don't blame these women for doing what they have to do in order to be successful in a male dominated sports society and culture....what kills me is the fact that the majority of their profit and success doesn't even get to come from their athletic abilities and talents like it does for men. There are A LOT of ugly men out there, that get paid A LOT of money to just play sports and you just don't find that in women's sports. Instead, when you hear talk about women athletes it is always focused on their looks and their bodies. There are countdowns of the sexiest female athletes, etc. Here's the deal - these women are fit, and strong, and sexy, and they work hard for their bodies... but they don't do it for the sex appeal, they do it to excel at their sport - so why can't they get more credit for their accomplishments in sports alone? Why was Lolo Jones criticized and told she should give her sponsorship money back, because she didn't medal at the Olympics? Evidently, 4th in the world is not good enough .... But Mark Sanchez can get paid ridiculous amounts to butt fumble. That's not equality and we have a long way until we are there. I just don't understand why females can't just get credit for being good at their sport? Is that too much to ask?
The questions I had after watching the shows were:
::Why do we have to distinguish between male and female athletes? Why are women only ever considered one of the top female athletes in the world?! Why are they never seen as one of the top athletes in the world?
::Why, as a culture, do we focus on sex so much? (Miley, athletes, celebrities, you name it)?
::What kind of example are we setting for the young female athlete - you have to be attractive and sexy if you want to succeed and be a professional athlete and your skill level comes second? Not cool, people, not cool.
Anyways, the documentary was really eye opening. Yes, we have come so far when it comes to women in sports, but clearly we have a long way to go, people.
So when I first saw Helene's link-up for songs that define me, I got a little too excited. I thought to myself, gee self, two music posts in one week, sweet! ...but then I remembered I hate having to pick my favorites or pick songs that define me. That 'ish is hard to define! I have a lot of layers, like an onion. Either way, I was going to take a stab at this. I probably put way too many on this list so sue me.
Oh boy, this song will always have a special place in my heart. When I was in college I worked in Alaska every summer at a fishing lodge with some of my best friends. This song was pretty much our AK Anthem.
My love affair with Sara B. really started when I heard this song. Plus, it was always a go to when I was trying to get over boys. Funny how music will often taken you back to relationships too.
So, I fist found Modest Mouse in high school and I would listen to this album every day on the way to school, my brother hated it, but this song always takes me back to first getting my license.
Back to the boy who stole my heart. Brad and I had to do cross country distance for a year and I found this song while we were traveling rivers and roads to see each other.
I don't want to get all crazy and say The Postal Service changed my life, but this band did open my world to what fantastic music was out there. Welcome to Indie music, Brooke.
The summer after my senior year of high = this song. Also, fun fact, this was the band before FUN. and I personally think they are a lot more fun than FUN.
My mom and I used to sing this song so loudly when I was little.
So yea, I am really bad at this. And this list probably could have been longer... but is already way too long. And sorry to those that didn't want another music post this week, but I couldn't pass up linking up with Helene. Sorry, not sorry.
So I really need to get my hair done like yesterday. Right now it is starting to look ombre and not in a good way and it is doing this:
Hello rat's nest. Could that knot BE ANY BIGGER? (said in my best Chandler). This got me thinking about other things I hate paying for now that I am out on my own. Obvs had to put it in list form and the cast of hills feels my pain too. My car :: But no really, gas, oil changes, new tires. JUST NO.
Doctor's appointments :: they really are the worst. I start PT on Thursday for my IT Band and knee, but I don't want to pay for it. It's part of the reason I have been waiting so long to go.
Rent :: I think I'll just move back in with the parents, so I never have to pay rent, ever.
Groceries :: Why can't I just eat for free?
Flights :: Even when it's to somewhere I want to go, why does it have to cost all of the monies!? Especially during holiday, ugh.
Basically anything that is grownup like. I don't wanna.
Guess what?! This girl is having some good luck in the blogger world. First I found out I won a free year of Passionfruit from Sarah's giveaway and on top of that I won another giveaway and have some lovely Fifth & Mae goods to start sporting including this necklace below! I NEVER WIN and this makes me happy.
Someone is excited. Nice face, Brooke.
In other news. I had a dream the other day that it was my wedding day and the music wasn't ready and I WAS FREAKING OUT! Stressing, because I couldn't just use Pandora, what if a commercial comes on? Then I tried Spotify, but it wasn't letting me create a playlist and I can't just use the songs I have stared, what if the Goofy Movie Soundtrack starts playing as I walk down the isle....On second thought, that might be the perfect song... Obviously, it's probably safe to say that the music might be more important than what my dress looks like when that big day comes....
Anyway, let's just get to this week's playlist shall we.... wedding talk is making me uncomfortable and sweaty. In case you're wondering this playlist reminds me of fall. As sad as I am to see summer leave, I can definitely feel my music tastes shifting a little bit now that the crisp mornings are starting to come (even though it is supposed to be in the 90s this week here in Portland). I am starting to gravitate towards beats that are a little less in your face and the music is just a little more somber, I guess you could say? Does anyone else change their music around with the seasons or is that just me?
Chicago (said in my best Midwest accent) Shenanigans were short and sweet, but they sure were fantastic. Technically, the wedding we traveled out for was in Galena, IL, which if you're keeping track at home is really close to Iowa and was like a 3 hour drive outside Chicago. Who knew?!
Luckily, we were traveling with my old college roomie and her bf, whom (nice use of whom, Brooke) I worked with for a few summers in Alaska, so the trip was entertaining.
The day after the wedding we drove back to Chicago for the night to see the city and watch a Cubs game since Brad is a huge fan even if they never win.
We flicked the Bean, walked around Millennium Park, and did a little window shopping at Zara (wanted everything).
My favorite part of the trip, even if our reservation wasn't until 10:45pm, was eating at the Girl & The Goat.Best.Meal.Of.My.Life. I mean their about section isn't lying when they claim it is a rustic and badass environment The owner, Stephanie Izard, was the winner of Top Chef season 4 (love that show, ps).
We knew going into the meal we wanted to treat ourselves. 13 plates of food, 2 desserts, and 1 bottle of wine later, we were full and happy :) My favorite was probably the grilled baby octopus or maybe even the duck tongue, oh and the green beans, sheeet, not sure if I can pick a favorite. Did I mention I love food?!
So yeah, that pretty much wrapped up the trip. We hit a breakfast spot on the way back to the airport and called it a success. Would have loved to spend a little more time in Chicago, but all in all the wedding was gorgeous, the people were great company, and Chicago fed us well! As always, I linked up with Sami, to share these Chi-Town Shenannies.
Up and going at 4:15 this morning is going to make for a long day. I am le tired as I sit here in the airport waiting for my flight to Chicago, but I am excited for my weekend of wedding fun.
Anytime I go on vacation or travel, I like to have a few workouts in my back pocket that I don't need a gym for. You never know what the hotel gym is going to look like and sometimes the weather can be unpredictable for a run outside in a new city, even if that is my favorite way to explore. Although, I am horrible with directions, meh. Since I will be outside of Chicago this weekend for a wedding, I am trying to make sure I still get in a few good workouts, so I can enjoy some yummy treats...deep dish pizza?! Maybe Girl & The Goat, pretty nice little Saturday....I don't know if we'll have enough time?! (name that movie)
I am getting off track. Anyway, this workout is perfect for traveling because it's quick, effective, and is one you can totally do in your hotel room. Maybe just lay a towel down first black lights are not a hotel's best friend.
Δ AMRAP: As Many Rounds As Possible in 20 mins.
Δ Try not to give yourself too much rest time in between each set.
Happy Tuesday or for me this is my Thursday already since I leave for a wedding in Chicago on the real Thursday! Definitely not complaining to only have two days of work after coming off a great Labor Day filled with lots of shenanigans. Sami would be proud.
Celebrations even started a little early, because our friend Cory had extra tickets to the Hillsboro Hops game last Thursday annnnnd they had a free buffet, sign me up.
The rest of the weekend consisted of family time, cards, eating, swimming, more eating, working out, hiking, and did I mention eating?!
The weather was perfect all weekend, which made for great hiking. Hit up my favorite spot on the North Umpqua River.
Oh and here is a sneak peak of my sister's senior photos! Anne did a fantastic job and I can't wait to see the rest!!!!
Hey hottie, stop looking so beautiful... Actually, it's really crazy to see my sister all dolled up, she never wears makeup, but I think she should. She is so pritay, like model or cheerleeda.
Finished up the weekend with a soggy Timbers game. We have had crazy rain all weekend. Something about the tail end of a typhoon from Japan? I don't really know. What I do know is, there has been a lot of rain and a lot of wind. UGH, I am not ready for you dead of winter. Where is my perfect Fall weather? 
