Gentler Moves and Grooves

Posted on June 7, 2017 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Yesterday was a very blue Tuesday!

Not because it was a sad day, but because the color blue popped up a lot.

Breakfast was the last of my Fage Greek yogurt (the BEST – thanks, Madre!) with blueberries, purple corn flakes (blue enough), cinnamon, and almond butter.

On the other end of the day, I met up with my friend from study abroad, Cristen! She and I (along with Megan) experienced so much of the great green Ireland and Edinburgh, Scotland together. And she loves peanut butter + banana as much as I do!

We discovered on our abroad adventures that we live pretty close to each other, so we finally met up for some ice cream at The Blue Pig.

Isn’t it adorable!? I got the roasted banana with salted caramel + fluffernutter (basically vanilla with large chunks of peanut butter), and both were very tasty. It wasn’t the creamiest ice cream, but the flavor was on point.

Cristen was the best part of the night! I love catching up with this one.

I actually had second dessert when I got home because I still needed something to fill the tank. Mini muffins with a glass o’ milk to the rescue!

My aunt made these, and they are BOMB. Perfect amount of sweetness and great texture.

I ate these while geeking out with Ben over the solar eclipse that’s coming across the United States this August 21st. We found this video in our research, which is equal parts hilarious and incredible.

Other foods of the day included salads and half a bagel with Kerrygold butter. Memories of Ireland…

nothing like toast with quality buttah

Madre even had the idea to make egg-in-a-hole with a bagel, so I made it for her as a midnight snack. It looked scrumptious!

Her dreams came true and she loved it.

Besides eating, I moved and grooved a bit yesterday. I mentioned in my last post that I likely have a minor labral tear, but there are still many movements that feel good/are not painful. I definitely want to keep some good range of motion in that hip joint, so I’m exercising but being verrrrry conservative and immediately stopping anything that doesn’t feel nice. Like walking. Walking doesn’t feel nice, so I’m not doing that as much (Boston will be hard when I get back there!).

The goal is to not need surgery 😀

Here’s what I did:

(Superset = three sets back to back. Also, my hair has a mind of its own.)

This workout was all about pain-free movement, not about speed or reps. It was still fun though!

Back to Boston today!

So tell me:

Did you eat anything/go anywhere blue yesterday?

Will you be in the path of the total solar eclipse on August 21st!? We will not be, unfortunately, but if you will be, PLEASE FILM IT. The chance of a lifetime. I love space things (← obviously not an expert though).

Your opinions on buttered toast.

Have you ever needed to modify workouts due to injuries?

Weekend Confessions V

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

#1: I woke up past 10 AM on both Saturday and Sunday.

I blame Daliza for getting me on the night owl schedule.

#2: My hair is starting to grow past my shoulders, giving me an unintended retro look.

Thank God for hair dryers and straighteners.

#3: I’m still going strong with red, white, and blue food.

cookie dough cereal with strawberries, blueberries, and banana

#4: I bought way too many tickets at Festa Italiana on Friday, so I had to keep buying food to use them up.

I thought the tickets could be used for the carnival games as well, but it turns out that they could only be spent on food. Not that I’m complaining.

meatball sub hallelujah

strawberry and sea salted caramel gelato

“Granita”— an icy almond flavored drink (non-alcoholic 😉 )

soft pretzel with mustard

Mike shared his zeppoles with Daliza and me too! Fantastic.

#5: Sauce and cheese and bread were all over my face as I ate my meatball sub.

Just like last year.

#6: Before Friday, I couldn’t remember the last time I ate a soft pretzel.

I’m glad I changed that. Soft pretzels are doughy heaven.

#7: We played at my neighborhood playground at midnight.

Hoodlums, I know.

#8: I’ve eaten this dinner almost every night this past week.

Pesto pasta with grilled Italian chicken breast with melted mozzarella and tomato slices on top. Festa for the taste buds!

#9: I tried this baked avocado egg for lunch on Saturday, and I don’t know how I feel about it.

It seems like an awesome idea in principle, but it tasted…interesting.

plus a classic egg in a hole using Dave’s Killer Bread and cooked in buttahhh

Eaten with some poppy seed 34 Degrees crisps*

It was slightly bitter (probably due to the avocado rind), and the baked egg also reminded me of the taste and texture of a Chinese egg tart. It was weird.

[source]

#10: I toss my salads in my baking mixing bowl and eat it straight out of there.

Practicality.

Or straight out of the salad container.

#11: I watched two animated movies on Saturday night.

Minions at the theater and then The Book of Life at Daliza’s house afterwards.

WE LOVED MINIONS. I’ve never watched the Despicable Me movies, but after seeing Minions, I definitely want to! It’s good that Minions was a prequel 🙂

#12: We sat in handicap seats at the theater.

We walked in a little late, so those were the best ones available. Don’t worry, we definitely would have gotten up if someone needed the seats.

#13: The men’s final was the only Wimbledon match I watched.

I never knew when the matches were being televised throughout the tournament, but I’m glad I caught the last great match between Djokovic and Federer. I like both of them, but I was secretly rooting for Federer. Djokovic totally killed it though!

#14: Seeing how flexible Djokovic is makes me really want to stretch more.

The announcers called him, “Gumby-like.” I’m inspired.

#15: I cooked with panko bread crumbs for the first time ever last night.

Baked chicken fingers, baby! I added cayenne and paprika to the bread crumbs for a little uppercut of flavor.

___________________________

Hope you all have a great week ahead! Embrace the bad hair days and embrace the carbs.

*34 Degrees sent me some of their Savory Crisps to try. As with any product that I endorse on Daily Moves and Grooves, I have to love it to keep eating it and showing it to y’all!

So tell me:

Three delicious things you ate this weekend!

Have you ever tried the baked avocado egg?

Are there any recent animated movies you love? People are raving about Inside Out, and I really want to see it!

Any weekend confessions!?

Behind the Scenes #2

Posted on December 12, 2013 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Alright, I am officially calling these random thoughts posts “Behind the Scenes.” Cool? Coooool.

I’m also going to link these up to Amanda’s new Thinking Out Loud posts! It’s these random thoughts posts that make me go “mhmm,” “HAHAHA,” *gasp*, and “really??” And I love that. It’s the little things at their best!

1. This insomnia is so bad that I’m not upset about it anymore. Yes, it puts a significant damper on my exercise plans (zero energy) and I feel perpetually tired, but whatever will be, will be. Che sarà, sarà. Things will hopefully fall back into a normal cycle one of these days. I guess this sort of forces me to really crank down my exercise, so maybe this is all a part of God’s big scheme! Your prayers are much appreciated 🙂

2. I received my Black Friday purchases from Forever 21 on Monday! I mentioned in a previous post that this is counting as a Christmas gift from the ‘rents. We’re not too formal with the gift-giving actually. Whatever we give or receive around Christmastime can count as a gift, and then we just exchange little trinkets and cards on Christmas day for the formality 🙂

Pink lace shirt and a leather spiky skirt

Totally out of my comfort zone and my usual style, but I kinda like it! I can be bada$$. <—Ironic because I just typed that.

My favorite out of everything— soft and breezy striped ombre shirt

Cheetah print high low dress

There was also a cream-colored lace top, but I forgot to get pic of that. Also, my eyes are so Asian. Where are they? 😉

3. Guess what else came in the mail?! A special little package from my Elf4Health buddy, Emily (<—go check out her blog)! She sent me some yummy local treats from Wisconsin and a sweet note:

I already tried some of the Bhakti Chai mints and I love ’em. And how did she know I love spinach artichoke dip?? Thanks so much again, Emily! You should be getting a package soon too 😀

4. I was watching Weelicious videos a couple nights ago (I sort of live vicariously through Catherine— she has so much fun cooking with her kids + she’s just awesome) and when I was watching her egg-in-a-hole video Tuesday night, I told my mom that I really wanted to try making it soon. Then mom said, “Can you make that now?” I replied, “Like, now? You want it now?” She smiled and said, “Yeah!” Fine with me! It smelled so good when I made it, and I when I had a bite, I knew I had to make one for myself for dinner the next night:

Check. that. out.

My mom put coconut oil on hers too. Highly recommend that.

5. My friend Kristi brought me some food magazines that her family wasn’t reading anymore. She knows me way too well.

6. I finally started reading Catching Fire on our snow day (Tuesday)! I’ve only put it off for about a year and a half. I borrowed the book from my friend Itzel, and I still haven’t given it back. She knows, but she also rolls her eyes at me when I tell her I still haven’t read it yet. Sorry, girl. I also just want to watch the movie!! So many people love it, and I’m the kind of person that wants to read the book before watching the movie.

7. Eating pomegranate seeds by the spoonful is a daily occurrence.

8. College admissions decisions are coming soon. I just don’t know when. I’m expecting at least a couple in the next week or so, but the rest should come sometime before the end of January. Eek!

9. We bought Trader Joe’s salted almond butter a couple weeks ago and I cracked it open on Tuesday night. I haven’t had almond butter in forever just because my love for peanut butter and sunflower seed butter blinded me. I also remember not really lovin’ almond butter all that much in the past, which is why I got salted for my first time giving it chance again. It still takes third place to the other two, but I do think I’ll be having it often 🙂

10. Speaking of which, I was in a huge rush this morning (trying to sleep in as much as possible), so I grabbed a banana and a spoonful of the AB before heading out the door. Bad idea. The almond butter is incredibly drippy, so I had to peel my banana right away to catch the waterfall of nut butter off my spoon. ‘Twas tasty nonetheless because I do love drippy nut butter.

Have a lovely Thursday, everyone!

So tell me: Do you go all out with Christmas gifts? Have you ever tried egg-in-a-hole? In order, what are your favorite nut/seed butters?