Quick Fit Tip: Don't Cheat!

It's ba-aaack! Another quick fit tip from yours truly.

We reactivated our fitness membership at the end of last year it's made a major difference in my ho-hum running routine. The wide variety of fitness classes has kept me on my toes. At these classes however, I've realized there are two major camps of participants. 

Group 1 are the ones who get real excited at class. The instructor says things like "How you all feeling?" and this group screams like a bunch of girls "Woooo! Yeah!!!!" They are pumped to be there and they love them some group fitness classes. 

Group 2 would yell if they could, but they're so out of breath that instead we just drop f-bombs in our heads. We curse the annoying cheerleader fitness instructor and we curse the size zero bombshell who's in the front row hardly breaking a sweat. 

Source: fitnessfighter.tumblr.com via Heather on Pinterest

Group 1 gets real jacked up when the instructor says things like "If you really want to push yourself, try doing this on one leg" or "double-up those weights".

Group 2 gets real jacked up when the instructor says things like "now if this is too hard for you, here is a modification" or "Be sure to get a water break".......push-ups on your knees? Yes, please.

So the other day I attended my first yoga-sculpt class. I'm ok with regular yoga once in awhile, but in addition to my usual running schedule, I need something else to mix things up. The instructor called it "yoga boot camp" and I knew I was in the right place.

Now I'll be the first to say that sometimes I find myself in Group 2. I'll take a little longer than I should so I end up doing 8 reps instead of 10. I'll slip into the "modified pose" just to stop my legs from shaking.

In this class though, I looked around and saw myself surrounded by people who were twice my age, and had 50-75 pounds on me. They were busting their ass to get through this intense cardio/strength workout and here I was about to quit. It was time I put my big-girl panties on and actually push my body.

I spent the next 60 minutes beating my own ass like I've never done before. I hung with the instructor the whole time. Rather than look around at other people in the class, I stuck my head down and pushed further. She gave us the watered down version; I stayed the course and tried the harder options. And surprisingly? I could do all of them. And it hurt. It sucked. and I loved it.

Today the mister made me laugh really hard and I literally sad to him "Honey, I think I actually feel an ab muscle in there."You know that was a good workout!

So what's the lesson? Stop cheating yourself. It's all in your head. Seriously. Suck it up. Keep going. and try it. Your body is capable of SO much more than you think. Next time your in class, and that instructor is screaming at you? Just do what she says. See how you feel in the morning; and see if maybe you can feel in ab in there somewhere......

Valentine's Day Gift:

Many a Valentine's Day has come and gone in this house, with me racking my brain for the hubster. Sure he likes candy, but I can only buy the king-sized Skittles package for so many holidays before he gets sick of them......(seriously, Santa leaves them in the stocking, the Easter Bunny brings them in his basket, and if he still required a visit from the Tooth Fairy you can bet she'd leave him a little "taste of the rainbow" as well)

Until this year my friends.

My creative cup runneth-over. I finally did it.

I successfully tackled a "Pinterest Project" and couldn't be happier! Here are the details from the original inspiration!

Source: Uploaded by user via Jessi on Pinterest

I loved this idea. A photo of your first dance surrounded by the lyrics of your wedding song. The bells were going off big time because our first song was Jason Mraz "I'm Yours" which my husband LOVES (PS. We have been into Mr. A to Z since WAY before that song blew up and it irks me a smidge that it was so flippin' popular that year. It's all about the wordplay baby). I digress.

The mister is a HUGE music fan, and I may be assuming here, but I believe he is also a HUGE fan of our wedding and of his wife :)

I started with a plain 8x10 Ikea picture frame. I took a ruler and drew light pencil lines at 1 centimeter apart across the entire matte. 

I took a thin sharpie and began writing out all the song lyrics across the frame. I wrote off the edge in some cases because I liked the look of it filling up the entire matte.

I printed out one of my favorite photos from our wedding and it was ready to go!

It got rave reviews and I can't wait to add it to our home!

Our Weekend: the Lake Home & Cabin Show

All you Minnesotans will appreciate this one. I somehow suckered my husband into attending the "Lake Home & Cabin" show in downtown Minneapolis this weekend.

Let me just put it out there. Our goal in life is to have our permanent residence consist of a few things:

- A gravel/dirt driveway
- Lakeshore and a yard covered in trees
- An address that starts with "Rural Route" or "County Road" XYZ

We live in Minnesota; and we are BIG TIME lake people. While we were there we saw a few really great things.

First up was this adorable "cottage" shed. It's a bunkhouse that sleeps 5-6 people.

The stairs on the left also lifted up to great storage underneath. The lower bed has a trundle that pulls out from underneath.

Flippin adorable. Interestingly enough, it is zoned as a garden/tool shed so most states wouldn't require a permit. They assemble it offsite and it comes delivered just like that! We also walked away with some great ideas to add a firepit to our backyard.

Hopefully we can tackle that this spring/summer and start enjoying the  woods behind our house a little more.

Does anyone else have cabin fever like we do? Until we can afford an actual cabin maybe we can convince my inlaws or parents to let us have a little bunkhouse in their backyard :)

A few good Winter buys

With the end of winter approaching, along come the end of winter clothing sales. I've had a few recent good buys that I thought I'd share.

First off is this amazing pair of black boots from Macys.

I'm kind of picky when it comes to black boots. First off, I LOVE when they're suede vs. leather. For some reason I just like that look much better. I also wanted a pair that I could wear to the office with skirts/dresses, but then again with jeans. It was tough to find a pair wide wide enough calves to work a jean tuck-in. Living in MN, I have to get creative during the winter months and my dresses/skirts will stay hung up in the closet if I don't have some tights and boots to wear with them during the more snowy months. These were almost half off (with free shipping!) and have definitely been a great buy.

I was in my hometown a few weeks ago for something, and I spent a few minutes inside Younkers (Herbergers/Carson Prairie Scott in some areas of the country). I worked there in high school and forgot about the INSANE deals they have. I picked up this amazing down puffer jacket and have been LOVING it. 

It was 75% off and is SUPER warm. I had been rockin a cheap Target version from the last two years but was definitely ready to join the big girls league with this one. 

Anyone else find some great winter-clearance deals?

What I'm hoping for: A vacation!

Mr. Housewife and I have spent the last few days/weeks/months dreaming about places like this:

image

Places like Bora Bora, Fiji, Cabo......they all sound amazing.

We haven't been on a vacation since our honeymoon, over three years ago! We have gotten to take a few small weekend trips, they were all extended work trips. On one hand it was a very affordable way to travel, but we haven't really escaped and unplugged for a long time.

My goal for a vacation is to stay one night in a place with an overwater bungalow. Holy relaxation!

Any recommendations for a good place to getaway? Requirements are ocean, beach, and preferably one of those tiki-hut type contraptions if possible :)

My Talented Best Friend - The Calla Lily florist

I have one and only best friend. I've written about her a handful of times, but she is one of the most creative people I know. Her day-job is the Art Director for a school district; she oversees all the art education programs and is incredibly talented. In high school, we both worked at the florist in town. I have said before that it was definitely my favorite job I've ever had. One because I worked with my best friend everyday after school. Two because people shopping for flowers are usually in a pretty good mood.

She took it a step further and in the last five years she'd continued to do floral design during the summer break. One of her weddings was even considered for "Real Simple Weddings" and "Martha Stewart Weddings!" (Yup, bragging on her now :)

The last two years I've lended my "sales skills" to her and have helped with answering bride's questions at a wedding fair booth. This year her booth looked amazing! (Unfortunately I only had my iPhone but it works)

Her display was BEAUTIFUL and featured lots of vintage pieces, silver, pearls......amazing. I also loved that every other table had very traditional pieces; Nikkee mixed it up and did peach colored bridal bouquets which everyone loved. Especially after hearing that coral is the color of the year, people were very intrigued.

From that show alone she books up the entire summer with weddings; last year she did almost 30! That is craziness for a "part-time" florist. I'm so proud of her!

Anyone in MN/WI; she is fabulous! Her information is on facebook and I think she's one of the best out there. Proud of you Nikkee!

Valentines Day Decor

So I know I still have my Christmas Tree up.......(seriously)....... and there's still gingerbread cookies in the jar, but this house is ready to for the love-fest that is Valentine's Day.

I should start by saying that until this year, I didn't decorate one bit for Valentine's Day. I found a few random things around the house that happened to be either red, pink, or heart-filled and considered that Valentine's Day appropriate.

The entryway table got a few new additions include a great printable from the Girl Creative.

I found a solid black frame that I had in storage and decided this will from this day forward be the seasonal printable frame. Yup, it's official. I read too many blogs.

Next to that I put a Valentine's obsessed frame (with a photo of us from Olive you Leah's wedding!) and a beanie baby from my grandma-in-law's collection.

The beanie babies are worthy of an entire additional post. Long story short, my husband's grandma collected them and when she passed away she literally had BINS of them that my mother in law sorted through. I dug through and grabbed all the seasonal ones and now they decorate the house during the holidays. It's a fun little piece of Grandma that can live on in our house :)

Outside we've got the wreath that I my mother-in-law put together last year. I still love it, even a year later!

Now this is the best part of the post. For anyone who stuck with me through the last few paragraphs, I promise you'll be rewarded momentarily.

In digging through the old frames, I found another old-school frame that seemed pretty Valentines appropriate. I'm pretty sure my husband gave me this for a Valentine's Day gift many moons ago. Rounding out my Valentine's decor is one of the first photos I have of the hubster and I. I believe this is Valentine's Day 2003 for anyone interested :)

Awwwww......awesome. It's sitting right in front of the window above the sink. Which makes doing dishes just a little more fantastic than usual. Now I get to enjoy it another month!