Work out types

SIX MONTHS UNTIL MY WEDDING AAAAH. 

ok. so. anyway. how are you? has your town been bombarded by endlessly seeming cold weather? have you gone back to eating carbs once and awhile? drinking red wine consistently because the trader joes is now close instead of a 4/5 train ride and 1 mile walk away? have you basically quit working out because, well mostly, it's April and it's STILL 40 degrees? 

but see above. now's not the time to quit on myself or my just be skinny goals. so here's what i've noticed about Chicago work outs. 

Barre Bee Fit: This is a great workout to tone. However I can't get myself into it. I think it will be super helpful to get that last month or two toning that I'll need as I realize people are going to take pictures of me. 

I will have to not do this.

Flywheel: the closest thing to Soul Cycle. But it's not. The classes just don't seem to motivate me as much as Soul. 

Running outside: it's 40 degrees outside. i am a southerner. i'll let you know in July when I assume it will reach 80. 

So as you can see I am no where really. Even after buying new Gap workout tops (40% off sale!).  My next plan is to just join a gym. Something I haven't done since I lived in Tampa (2 cities ago). My plan is to try and do their Spin and Pilates classes at the least but might break down and get a trainer. 

What are your motivation tips? Any thoughts on sticking to a gym work out plan? 

Small Corner Details

I love the details. It matters. It's that old saying of something about doing it before someone notices that they missed it. Well, I'm not sure that's a saying. BUT to me, the details are what really counts, it makes items cohesive. This is becoming insanely difficult to manage for my wedding (later post!) but for my new apartment I (and my fiancee) are trying to do it any chance we get.

One of the hard parts of our apartment is that we have a long but narrow living room and big furniture. To handle this, I layered my finacee's Ikea bookcase that is full of nooks for us to fill in, behind my TV. But trying to determane what to put in each one is ever changing. Right now we have a combination of 
(1) different books, 
(2) are ever building record collection, 
(3) pictures of us (yay!) and family (woot.)
(4) a thing that I only ever see now in art galleries that measures the temperature and humidity that he got in an antique store. 

In all fairness we had a great trip to the antique store - we also got this great mirrored tray and what we found out was shrimp cocktail serving dishes that we thought was actually cocktail glasses with a place to put ice on the bottom to keep drinks cool in the summer. (breath) We matched this with Mr Oinks to help class up our kitchen counter. 

Other detail I've been in love with doing is shower hooks. This came when my fiance first moved into my apartment in NYC and we got some coat hooks from Anthropologie. I like to use them to add some dimensions and textures in the bathroom. 

What are your favorite home details? 

Working it out with clothes

I am desperately trying to get into wedding shape. This has become extremely difficult with the endless amounts of snow and cold. Harder after you've gotten out of the groove to get back into it.

I read an article once (loosely referenced intentional as it might not have been a real article but rather a decision my girlfriend and I made one time) that said you should buy new work out clothes almost as often as you buy regular clothes because whenever you get new clothes you want to wear it. I totally agree. I have personally used this approach. Bought myself nice and new work out clothes that I want to have a reason to wear (which actually IS working out!!).

And now that it's spring and I'm trying out new work out places I want to get new work out stuff to help get me back on track. And after years of avoiding the ads or succumbing to peer pressure (see Huffington Post article), I have never shopped at Lululemon. I finally made myself go in and look at the clothes that EVERYONE in class wears.

Woah. That's expensive. But I don't know where else to go. I've purchased enough Target and Gap items but am getting tired of their styles. I also just realized there's a difference between Lululemon and Athletica.

Any recommendations? Here are things I wish I could justify spending $500 on.

     workout by enickib featuring athleta

DIY Rug Attempt

Still in the progress of finishing my apartment. Our greatest challenge is all the hard wood (which I love) and the realization that each room really does need a rug. 

While doing research (see HOURS on Pintrest & Dwelling Gawker) I came across these ladies that did DIY rugs. After reviewing ones that required painting (great one here) and one involving sharpies (here) I decided to combine the concepts and buy a giant sharpie paint marker and a small tester rug. 

I am absolutely in love with the Moroccan look especially for rugs and wall design. So here's the steps and my outcome. 

Finished product.

Step 1: 

Get crazy idea to make a rug. 

Step 2: 
Get supplies as impulsively as possible. I personally used the target 1 block from me but contemplated going to the home depot 5 blocks from me. I bought a small, cheap rug to test out the idea and a sharpie. I had parchment paper which i read made a great stencil (for you to make). 

Step 3: 
Make a stencil with a design you like. I copied the Moroccan theme from another item I own and drew it on parchment paper. I then argued with the paper while i tried to remember white space as I learned in art class. Kept forgetting. Landed on just doing fill in instead of boarders. 

Step 4: 
Take stencil you have left after fighting with paper and tape it to rug. 
  

Step 5: 
Start coloring it in, getting into the grooves of the carpet. 


Step 6: 
Keep going for length of the rug.


Because it was a sharpie it didn't really need to dry. I was going to keep going with other rows but it didn't come out how I wanted it to look. It's in our bedroom as I decide what to do with it. 

Things I'll do different next time: 

• Get better rug
• Use paint
• Design an easier stencil like chevron 

Any other ideas? 

Chicago after 1 Month

It snows a lot. Almost as if the snow was waiting for me to move here. I can say with 100% confidence that I am ready for spring. Ready to see this "oh just wait for it to get warm" Chicago. 

first random blizzard experience at Pops
go downstairs for the even better Watershed

another blizzard at the office with the wrong
shoes on.

But as I wait for that warmth I can say, I have enjoyed seeing people I haven't see in a long time and catching up. I completely get how easy it is to stay inside and drink red wine give temperatures with the label feels like -1. 

Still trying to figure out the best places to hang out. Great shops. Hidden bar gems. But for now I found a few places to work out which include a spin class (sadly not Soul Cycle  which I will go into another time) and a new addition of a barre class that leaves my poor, weak muscles in pain for at least 2 days after. 

any other good Chicago tips, send my way. also accepting any tips for making winter end.

me.

Decorating! My Closet.

it's one of my favorite things. not closets, exclusively. but interior design. i've always loved the challenge of the different spaces and places i've lived. i used to move around furniture in my room as a kid and attempt to decorate my furniture with my extravagant attempts to "collage" (used as loosely as possible).

On to my newest decorating venture my first apartment with my fiance. It has everything we wanted new appliances (yeah that's right a dishwasher and laundry NYC), hardwood floors, 2 bedrooms, and close to public transport. So from NYC where we both shared a SMALL one bedroom to this wonderful space where our (my) challenge is how to manage all this space.

yup. i said that.

First up is our separate closets. I chose to take an old dresser that I stole from my sister when I was 17 that has lasted FOREVER and put it in there and use it as the anchor to my decorating. I love the organized madness that it has with the jewelry and my vision boards (get to those ladies later). It's still a work in progress but for now I am proud. 

Dresser: Pier One from like 2001
Jewelry Box Pottery Barn

Necklaces on Key Holder from Target

Door Nobs Anthropologie

Me. 

Wedding Dress Shopping Part I

Yup. I'm nervous. But more from having my first time alone as a Chicagoan to find my way. This obviously meant I didn't eat lunch until 2 pm out of nervously trying to finding a spot. Which, of course, ended up being a wine bar.

I do think a main reason the wedding dress is such a big deal is because it has become the only time you EVER get to wear a gown. Prom doesn't count. It never counts. Because you aren't of a proper fashion mindset to get a gown that's truly worthwhile and from what i can see these days the ladies are just wearing club clothes. 

Back to the point, this kind of one time gown wearing pressure is insane. Mostly because I want more chances to wear gowns. And not just one offs to buy a gown because my friend decided to throw a gown only party (my friend in the scenario is me). But the kind of ability to wear gowns that I can have in my closet and go "Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me Sarah, I will wear THAT one."

I didn't want my dress to be a big deal, but here I am. In Chicago. At BHLDN, trying desperately not to hate how I look in a wedding dress. 

Ultimately I don't think I found my dress in shiny armor yet. Any shop suggestions?? Here are some of my loves from the internet, on the models. 

BHLDN

                   

            Etsy     

random from pintrest

 

Impacts of Jewelry

My ring is the most precious meaningful thing I've ever owned. I got the ring that more than represents my life and my future husband. It is designed by my fiancé. Made by his father. Other materials were collected by both my grandmother and his. I love it. Every time I look at it I am more blown away by the thought, history, and love that it contains. 

However, here's what I've noticed. My thighs didn't get any skinnier  I didn't automatically know how to do my hair. There weren't daily parades in my honor. But mostly, my demon dragons that I've left to resolved didn't get magically slain by the opening of a ring box (or in my case a notebook).  I was still me. Only with a ring.   

I've spent almost the past year being obsessed with Brene Brown's talks and books (and twitter. and website). Here's her TED talk (which if you have 30 mins you should watch both). I cannot agree more with her research on vulnerability, shame, and innovation. All of which I can say because of how hard it was for me to accept how susceptible I am to using and hiding myself behind shame. Including the very basic that I AM ENOUGH. 

It's hard. For me. That some ring didn't come and fix everything. I guess, because, with or without my beautiful ring (as shown below) I have to be enough. 

And, just like that

I got engaged. I spent the last 3 months traveling the nation. I moved from my dream, NYC to Chicago. 

What's great is that it never felt weird. No moment felt like I was forcing myself into one direction but just following what seemed to be the natural progression. 

So that's what this whole thing is about my natural progression. My personal absurd and creative way to lean into myself for who I really am and the things, people, other blogs, workouts, creative diversions, and anything that got me here to the person I am to become. 

so enjoy!