Not Your Average Workout

 calories, Dessert, Dinner, fitness, food, food mistakes, Food update, Friends, gym, kettle bells, Michael, Warrior Room, Wedding, weight training  22 Responses »
Mar 032014
 

No, this one ended with happy tears. But let me back up.

For about a month most of us Warrior Room-goers knew there was a super secret plan brewing that was going to take place on Saturday March 1st. What was the secret? A marriage proposal. Under the guise of a “lil warriors” party (i.e. the little kid’s workout).

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I’ve been skipping weight lifting and the Warrior Room for the last three weeks because I was sick and then I had tennis elbow. After resting, I was ready to get back at it. And I was glad I was better by the big day! I went to the gym and we had a fantastic workout! But I have to admit, it was kind of hard to not be excited because I knew what was going to happen after the workout. The anticipation was palpable in the room. Everyone there knew what was coming! But the soon-to-be-bride.

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The last team workout of the session is picture above. Damn was it hard! After a killer workout already, we all had to hold the plank position while one person did the Battle Ropes. When that person was done, they ran to end of the line and the next person in line had to run to the ropes and so on. It was hard! I’d guess we were holding that plank for at least 2 minutes. Yowza!

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The workout ended and people were milling around trying to be casual. Then the little kids that were going to help Ashley proposed to Alexis started filing out of the daycare room holding hands. Each kid had on t-shirt spelling out “Will You Marry Me?”. (I wish I had gotten some better pictures. I was a bit shaky after the workout and was apparently struggling to keep the camera steady!)

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How adorable is that? Everyone in the room was sniffing and crying with happiness. It was so cool to include the kids. I was really glad I lingered after the workout to witness such a fun event. It was really cool to be part of it on the other side. It gave me a little insight on the anticipation, nervousness and excitement that Michael must have felt before proposing to me last summer!

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There was champagne, coffee and cinnamon rolls. I had some coffee and a cinnamon roll. That helped my shakiness! It was a great workout and an even better start to the day.

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I burned a ton of calories and felt great afterward! My elbow was good, no issues there. So glad to be back at the gym! Anyways, I wanted to share the happy news of the day! How exciting! Around 4:30 Michael and I headed over to the bar in SE Portland that they rented out for a celebration party. We stopped in for a quick beer and a congratulations before we went to my friend Star’s house for dinner. 

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I made a green salad with sliced apple, avocado, yellow and red peppers and Gorgonzola cheese. Star made a roasted tomato soup and topped it with garlic cheese croutons from Trader Joe’s. They were A-MAZING! Dinner was fantastic and really hit the spot. Dessert was a lemon tart also from Trader Joe’s. 

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I want to talk briefly about this dessert. Besides that it was delicious and wonderful (I love lemon!), the Nutritional Label was ridiculous. Want to know how many calories were in a serving? 420 calories. Want to know how many servings were in the very large, pie-sized tort? The label said 4. Four servings? Looking at it I would guess 8 servings. 4?!?! On what planet? So my dessert serving was around 200 calories, not 420! Talk about faulty labeling.

It was a full, fun, exciting, delicious day. And man was I glad to crawl into bed at the end of it…

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Two Weeks Late

 calories, Date Night, Dessert, Dessert, Dinner, food, Food update, Holidays, Job, Michael, Valentine's Day  4 Responses »
Feb 272014
 

I was sick for Valentine’s Day this year and then when I was feeling better Michael got sick! It’s been one thing after another (and then we had to fix our fence–that took all weekend). Part of me was like “whatever, let’s just skip it” but part of me thought it would be nice to celebrate.

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Last night I got home from the gym to find that cute balloon! Michael got me a card and the balloon and we went out to dinner at Henry’s Tavern in downtown Portland. It’s near Powell’s Bookstore and used to be a brewery. They converted it years ago to a restaurant and it’s a really nice, hip looking place. We had a gift card leftover from Christmas for it, too. (Tip: if you ever buy those gift card packs at Costco, they are a great deal! You pay like $80 for 2 $50 giftcards. It’s a great deal.)

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It was a really nice date night. It’s been awhile since we got dressed up and went out together. We haven’t eaten out much the last month or so and honestly, it kind of sucks to leave Bella in the crate to go out. (New parents!)

Another cool thing about Henry’s is their vast beer menu. They have so many options and they carry my favorite beer! Boneyard! I ordered a glass of the Hop Venom IPA. It’s a rich, hoppy beer, fruity and not bitter. Love it!

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This date night comes at a time when I’d vowed to limit my alcohol intake but I stuck with one beer instead of splurging. We split an appetizer of the spinach dip. It was wonderful! One of the better spinach dips I’ve had at a restaurant. The chips were salty and fresh, crunchy and not stale at all like some restaurants can be.

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The portion was just right for two people. For dinner Michael got the steak and bleu cheese salad and said it was outstanding–much better than he was expecting. I ordered the grilled seafood brochette special.

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My dinner was basically seafood kebobs. There were pieces of grilled salmon, scallops and shrimp with marinated vegetables. Michael ate my mushrooms (gross) and it came with a ginger infused jasmine rice that was outstanding. I couldn’t rave enough about my dish! It was slightly salty but not too salty to be inedible. I loved my dinner! I was happy I made a healthy choice. I ate one kebob and half the rice and the rest is leftover for lunch.

Neither of us had much room for a big dessert, even splitting something. Instead we walked across the street and checked out the desserts at Whole Foods. They had so many things to choose from! It was hard to decide.

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I think we made good choices. Instead of getting a big dessert (I was so tempted!) we got some tartlettes. They were bite size and totally delicious! We got two key lime tartlettes and two salted caramel tartlettes.

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It was the perfect sized dessert! Had a great date night and I was happily surprised by our experience at Henry’s. We’ve been there many times before but it was a long time ago and not very memorable. It was much more memorable this time.

And just really quickly — some good news! Finally! After months of stressful crap going on, it seems as though many things are being resolved and happier times are just within our grasp. I got a new job! Almost, anyways! I recently had an interview for a position within my department for another job–similar to the one I was doing temporarily last year for 6 months. I got word that I passed the first round and now I’m in “background.” Which is weird because I already work here. LOL But whatever! I’m happy I got the job! I have no idea WHERE it will be or WHEN because this next process can take months. Time will tell.

Have a great weekend!

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