Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts

April 24, 2020

Things That Made Me Happy This Week #2

Hello? It's me! Remember when I blogged! Since people seem to be online more now that we are all self-isolating due to coronavirus I figured I'd write some more blog posts. I work in a hospital so I'm an essential employee, but find myself feeling like doing nothing but watching Netflix and surfing the web and Instagram. You can check out my happenings and eating habits via Instagram

To recap (since I've only posted in this series once before), instead of Five Friday Favorites I'm changing this series to "Things That Made Me Happy This Week" inspired by a segment on one of my favorite podcasts Pop Culture Happy Hour on NPR. So in these strange times, here is what is making me happy this week: 

things-that-made-me-happy-this-week


1. High waist cotton bike shorts via Target

{Source Target.com}
When I'm not in my scrubs lately I am living in 2 pairs of joggers, a tie dye long sleeve tee, and old race shirts. I just purchased these cotton high-waisted seamless bike shorts from Target online on a whim and LOVE them. They are a steal at $11.99 and are so comfortable. I am a size 6 and the S/M fits great. They aren't too short and would look great with a graphic tee and sneakers whenever I go out into the world next.  

2. Saje Peppermint Halo Roll-On

{Source}
I received a mini Peppermint Halo roller in my goodie bag from the Seawheeze Half Marathon in 2016. I am obsessed with it for headache relief. Lately because of wearing masks all day and other PPE at work, I haven't been drinking enough water so I've been getting dehydration (and probably stress-related) headaches. It is made with essential oils including peppermint, rosemary, and lavender. This is minty and cooling. I roll it over my temples and forehead and find some instant relief and a little bit of zen.  


3. Parks and Recreation Cast to Reunite for Scripted Special in Aid of COVID-19



YASSSSSSS. I'm a big Parks and Rec fan (it's on Netflix, watch it if you haven't!) so this announcement is making me very happy. 

4. Future Nostalgia album by Dua Lipa

{Source}
Ever since this album dropped, I have been listening to it on repeat. I listen to it when I'm running, cleaning, dancing in my apartment, when I'm in the shower or getting ready, and anytime else I want some fun dance music. It is fully a dance-pop, disco-pop album that is super cohesive. I love all the songs on it, and it is a catchy album I listen to from beginning to end. My favorite songs from the album this week are "Hallucinate" and "Levitating". We all need some fun dance music in our life right now. You can check it out here on Spotify.



What is making YOU happy this week? Any good Netflix or music recommendations for me? 

July 6, 2018

Things That Made Me Happy This Week #1

Hi, it's been a minute since I've typed a post. Honestly I've been going through a rough patch in life, and haven't felt like blogging and/or don't know what to blog about. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I'm  marathon training again (more on that in an upcoming post!). I'm switching things up as one does when things feel stale. Instead of Five Friday Favorites I'm changing this series to "Things That Made Me Happy This Week" inspired by a segment on one of my favorite podcasts Pop Culture Happy Hour on NPR. So despite the sad/mad/frustrating/blah in my life, here is what is making me happy this week: 


things-that-made-me-happy-this-week



1. Lake Street Dive's new album Free Yourself Up

spotify-late-street-dive
This is my favorite song on the album.
I have been obsessed with this album from Lake Street Dive, a band with a killer lead singer making a mix of pop, soul, and folk rock music. I was SO happy to get to see them at WTMD's free concert series First Thursdays at Canton Waterfront Park. Lake Street Dive put on an amazing performance! 

2. Ice cream and freezy treats

March 25, 2014

I'm Fit Possible Blog Swap featuring Jess and The Power of Music

I have a special blog post for you today-it's an I'm Fit Possible community blog swap! I'm Fit Possible is an amazing community of down-to-earth,sassy, creative, and fun fitness and wellness enthusiasts who are also pretty much rock stars. We are also social media superstars and thought a great way to connect our ambassadors and community with others would be a blog swap. I hope you enjoy today's guest post and check out my post for Jess about first time half marathoner race tips here

Hi everyone! I'm Jess  and I blog over at JustCall Me Janks. I'm a wife, puppy mom, wine lover, barre enthusiast and (fairly new) runner. My blog chronicles my life - from fitness and finances to relationships and recipes. It's a pleasure to meet you!

JustCallMeJanks


Lauren and I got to know each other last summer at a Baltimore blogger meet up and I'm happy to have been paired with her for today's I'm Fit Possible blog swap. She and I have bonded over our love of running, good food, and Old Bay. I've enjoyed following her adventures and appreciate her advice when it comes to the sport of running.

December 3, 2013

Breathe Deeply and Find A Gift #2 and Giveaway-Beats by Dre!

 Now  that Thanksgiving is over, we are really in the midst of the holiday season-especially with a shorter than normal shopping season. I took a break from most social media, as I like to do when I visit my family. It was nice to just watch movies, eat, and go shopping with my family. I did do some Black Friday shopping and got most of my holiday shopping done this weekend! Today I have another awesome great holiday gift to share with you today that I saw advertised everywhere!

breathe-deeply-and-find-a-gift-beats-by-dre

I'm not going to lie, I am not super into entertainment technology-it's just not something I spend a lot of money on. I have a really old big iPod and also an iPod shuffle I use for running.  I had been using cheapie headphones until I received some Yurbuds for running last Christmas. I love listening to some good jams during my runs or workouts.  Other than that I use a $20 pair of earbuds I bought for listening to music on my phone or computer.  

One of the hottest products of the past few years has been the Beats by Dre headphones.  I was really skeptical of the sound quality of headphones with such a big price tag on them. 


Beats not beets! My boyfriend makes this joke all the time. 



beats-by-Dre-headphones1

I love listening to music when travelling, in the car, on my way to work, and when I'm cooking at home.  I'm a total music addict,so I was excited to see what all the rage was.  I decided to go with the purple Beats by Dre Studio Over-Ear headphones.  I was really surprised that the headphones arrived from Staples.com 2 days after my order was placed!

The headphones came folded in a stylish carrying case with a little cleansing cloth, two AAA batteries for the headphones, an audio cable and adapter, and a remote & mic cable.  I skimmed through the manual, but it was pretty easy to figure out how to use the headphones and pop in the batteries.  I was pleasantly surprised by the Beats by Dre headphones. 

beats-by-Dre-headphones2


Fit: The headphones felt super comfortable on, not too tight and with super plush ear coverings.  The fact that they fold up and fit the carrying case made it easy to safely throw them in my bag and take them with me. 

Flair: The purple color is so fun and looks great in person.  I loved the stylish look of the headphones and accessories. They weren't super big or bulky looking either. 

beats-by-Dre-headphones3

Function: I love how the logo on the side is also a mute button so I could take a moment to talk to someone if I was listening to music.  This is great if you are lifting in gym or getting some work done.  The remote & mic cord allows you to take phone calls (when synced with your phone's bluetooth), skip songs, and change the volume right from the cord. The headphones had a really crisp, clear sound which was especially great for listening to my favorite dance jams like Lady Gaga's new album (which has been my go-to album to workout or jam out to!) I wore them in the car ride up to my parents' house for Thanksgiving and the noise cancelling aspect was great for blocking out highway noise and the radio.  

Overall, I was very impressed by Beats by Dre.  The headphones made a huge difference in the sound quality compared to my cheapie headphones and laptop speakers.  I loved the way they look and all the special features of them. This is a perfect gift for any of the music lovers on your list. Staples is so awesome that they are allowing me to giveaway any pair of Beats by Dre headphones up to $100 to on of my readers! This could help you check somebody off your Christmas list or be a great treat for yourself this holiday season!

To win the Beats by Dre headphones (value up to $100 from Staples) giveaway, enter using Rafflecopter below until Tuesday December 10th at 12 AM.  


Disclaimer: Staples sent me a complimentary pair of Beats by Dre of my choice to review and  is also allowing me to giveaway a pair of headphones to one of my readers. As always, all opinions are my own. 

September 27, 2013

Marathon Training Week 14 and Five Friday Songs

Still been trying to catch up on LIFE this week and will hopefully have a very productive weekend. I've got a recap of marathon training last week. Oh and by the way, the big race is 15 days away. Commence freaking out but trying to stay calm and healthy and keep pretending that I'm ready. I think I totally miscounted my training week numbering on these posts, sorry!


marathon-training

The Road to 26.2 -Marathon Training Week 14
Runs:
Short runs: My training group did the hardest hill workout on the schedule with 5x each of the 4 hills. my quads and hamstrings were feeling SUPER sore from crossfit the day before so I didn't try to run too fast, just got the hill repeats done.  

Long Run- Saturday was the last longer run and another first-22 miles. OMG. One of the other local running stores was holding a Baltimore marathon course run which loosely covers part of the second half of the marathon course so my training group decided to join that run.  I ran to meet up with my group and run over to the start of the run. We had numbers and there were port-a-potties and water/gatorade stops on the course which was nice. It was a good practice run to start off running with a large crowd instead of my little training group posse. The run had some tougher hills and my group was running close to my MRP, so I just took it easy and stayed around 45 sec-1 min behind my MRP because there is NO reason to push myself and get hurt with so little time left in training.  The weather was really nice for running, and I felt good, besides getting tight and sore at the end.  I made sure to actually stop at water stops and drink some water or fill up my water bottles to stay hydrated.  I hit exactly 22.0 miles on my Garmin right when I stepped foot in front of my door. I have been recovering with Cellucor BCAAs and a tsp of l-glutamine powder which seems to be my magic potion because for the first time in a month, my legs weren't feeling awful and tight the rest of the day/next day :)

What was awesome last week:   I am focused on staying healthy and worked on stretching and recovering. Last week some weighted lunges on Monday had my legs SO sore all week. I took rest days on Thursday and Friday to ensure I'd feel good on Saturday's long run, and it worked!

What I need to work on this week: I need to work on drinking more water throughout the day and staying hydrated all week, not just the day before a big run!

I usually am always talking about my favorite foods and snacks, which will probably happen next week after I check out some of the Natural Products Expo East trade show in Baltimore this weekend.  I finally decided to start updating my iPod for the marathon since I've been running without music (!) for all of training. Here are 5 songs I'm LOVING that I've added!

My Five Friday Faves (music edition!) this week are:

1. Unbelievers- Vampire Weekend

I saw them play this live at Freefest last weekend, and it sounded awesome. 

2. Applause- Lady Gaga



This song is catchy and awesome to run to. I <3 Gaga. 

3. Reflektor- Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire's new albums is probably going to be epic. I love the 80s, synthy vibe in this song. 

4. Hold On We're Going Home- Drake

This song is a slower R&B jam but I love singing along to it. 

5. Give It 2 U - Robin Thicke feat. Kendrick Lamar

Do you have any new favorite workout songs? Any big plans this weekend? 

April 4, 2013

Cherry Blossom Playlist and the Gluten-Free Bar Review

Hello and Happy Thursday! A fellow SPA, Kim from My Healthy Nest is hosting a Spring Playlist Link-Up on her blog today. I love music, especially when I'm running or working out so I thought this was a great idea.  I'm running the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in DC this Sunday so I thought I'd share some must have songs on my playlist!


cherry-blossom-race-playlist1


Lately I've been into making my own granola bars and protein bars but love to keep some packaged ones on hand for when I'm on the go or need something that will stay fresh in my purse for when I need a snack. You know I love Questbars and also like Luna bars and KIND bars.  The most important thing I look for in a bar is that it is not loaded with sugar and that I can understand all of it's ingredients. 

I recently was sent some samples to try by Gluten Free Protein Bars (GFB).  In the last year I have figured out that I am gluten sensitive, after an array of GI issues and a diagnosis of IBS, so I am always on the look out for gluten-free products that are tasty! GFB's mission statement is to make the world's best gluten-free protein bar, with a lot of focus on taste! I was even more excited when I came across GFB's website and saw this info:


GlutenFreeBarReview

Looks pretty awesome, right? I tried a sample pack of their four bar flavors: Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter Chocolate, Cranberry Almond, and Oatmeal Raisin.