I Would Like to (Actually) Blog Daily

Posted on October 15, 2019 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

I mean…this blog is called DAILY Moves and Grooves, is it not?

Here’s the thing: I have not blogged consistently for the past two years thanks to grad school. I am deterred from blogging because I feel like I need to have perfectly-themed and cohesive content in every post, and that takes TIME. But maybe that’s not entirely necessary…

I believe in the power of creativity, whatever that may be, as an outlet; it can be a tool for both personal growth and for fostering social connection. I also don’t want to let this hobby of mine die, not now at least. I’ve got less than a year until full-time, real-world work, baby, so I’m gonna soak up this time.

So how about some shorter posts? Posts with snippets of potentially relatable content that help you and I start a conversation, casual or deep. Or for you to just feel like you’re not alone. Or for me to process my life. All of the above?

I’ll try it out.

(Unfortunately, there will likely be limited to no photos in posts to come because ya girl has very little media storage space left. But perhaps take this as a break from image overload that you get on Instagram and Facebook anyway.)

Moves: If you watched my day in the life vlog from yesterday, you might have picked up on the fact that I was supposed to run a half marathon this past Sunday but decided it was in my best interest to NOT run it due to a (self-diagnosed) stress fracture in my femur. I’m walking, but running is not a happy time. I’ve been focusing on low impact workouts lately, and that’s just what I did yesterday.

20 minutes (5 rounds, 30 sec on, 10 sec off):

KB sumo deadlifts (50#)
modified v-ups
push-up to renegade row (15# DBs)
plank ➔ step to stand ➔ deadlift (15# DBs)
tabletop sit throughs
mountain climbers

I do not actually know if I have a stress fracture, but I will get it checked out ASAP because it’s been over 2 weeks now, and it hasn’t really made much progress. No worse, but no better either. (So…do not take this workout as something I would necessarily recommend based on the diagnosis of a stress fracture; this just felt good yesterday.)

Crying out of nowhere. I’ve been going through waves of feeling like I’m great and then feeling totally ashamed of all the crappy things I do in my life. Very clearly in my heart when I was feeling the latter yesterday (I was packing my backpack or something mundane like that), I felt like God was saying, “Hey, stop that. Stop. I love you.” And I started crying out of nowhere. I didn’t want to cry because I had just put on makeup, so tears were extremely inconvenient, but when the Spirit moves, He moves.

Hibachi. I had a date at a hibachi restaurant last night, and I think my sodium levels skyrocketed so much that I must have been borderline hypertensive. They squirt soy sauce on everything as if it’s the water that will put out the little onion volcano fire. I also couldn’t catch whatever the chef threw at my mouth. But it was fun and the company was lovely!

Family. I realize that I should call my family more often (hiiii, mom and pop and Ben).

Day off. Due to schedule shuffling thanks to the Monday holiday, I actually do not have classes today either! That just means catching up on all the things I should have done earlier this weekend.

Have a great Tuesday! Happy feast day of St. Teresa of Avila ♥︎

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So tell me:

What do you think of this format of blog posting? Yay? Nay?

When was the last time you cried out of nowhere?

Have you ever gone to a hibachi restaurant? Do you like the food?

What did you do this weekend?

WIAW: Benefit Week Eats

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Good morning!

I hope you all had a good-spirited April Fools’ Day! Nothing much happened around here. The only thing some people (including myself) did in school was turn on our cell phone alarms for 2:23 PM, and then we left them in our lockers to make a commotion right before school ended. Apparently it caused a little bit of concern, since I guess it is alarming (literally) when all the lockers seem to come to life. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking though. After all, we’ve gotta save some juice for senior prank 😉

With the lack of posts all last week, I have not shown my recent eats! What a shame since I obviously love posting food pictures (*cough* Instagram). So naturally, I’m joining this week’s WIAW party to share what fueled me through my moves and grooves during Benefit Week!

As always, hosted by my hero, Jenn. 😉

In absolutely no particular order, here are some of the things I’ve been eating:

Breakfasts

Overnight oats in a mug

Overnight oats in a peanut butter jar. GAHHH. (Perfect for transporting to early morning AP Calc review.)

Overnight oats in an almond butter jar. Also taken to early AP Calc review. I’m sure people were judging, but guatever.

Gina’s cookie dough cereal with bananas and strawberries

Banana bread English muffin with nut butter, banana slices + glass o’ milk (haven’t had one of those in a while!)

Strawberry banana oats with a heavenly puddle of peanut butter.

Amanda’s oatmeal cookie dough smoothie (with spinach for green powahhh) + Greek yogurt for spoon dipping

Friday’s nut butter-less breakfast: Greek yogurt, strawberries, banana, chia, hemp, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey

Lunches

Whole wheat wrap with avocado, spinach, soft boiled egg, feta, and salsa added later. SO GOOD. I had another variation of this for dinner one night with two eggs and spicy brown mustard instead of salsa. I highly recommend this combo!

Crab cakes on Benefit day!

Chicken, cheese, spinach, spicy brown mustard sandwich on some weird-looking, but delicious, purple fruit/seed bread

Naked Juice samples at school!

Snacks

Cute cookies and goodies from the “Eloise at the Plaza”-themed dressing room

A crapton of white cheddar popcorn and animal crackers from our circus dressing room

I brought a Greek yogurt mess to dance almost every day last week. Included strawberries, banana slices, and nut butter.

Green tea frappuccino from Starbucks on Benefit day (Thanks to Susie and others for picking up 15 orders!)

I tried it! Carrots and almond butter— pretty darn tasty!

Greek yogurt with banana and pineapple. Loving the summery produce!

I’ve also been having lots of dried figs and Greek yogurt per usual. 😉

Dinners

Farro, spinach, grilled chicken

Multigrain pasta, spinach, soft-boiled egg

Grilled chicken, spinach, feta + avocado toast

Farro, spinach, ground turkey, avocado, sriracha

The best tomatoes I’ve ever eaten. Just wash ’em and eat. So fresh and flavorful!

Dinner with the family (Ben was home for a day!) on Sunday! Ben got Sambal chicken and seafood. The other three of us shared a huge Sushi for Two platter. We also had some spring rolls as appetizer. Mmmmm.

How’s THAT for a recent eats recap?! It’s a good thing I just ate dinner, because otherwise, I would be hangry right about now. 😉

I hope you all have a great day!

So tell me:

What is the best vegetable you’ve eaten recently?

What do you like to put in wraps?

WIAW: Melt in Your Mouth

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Happy 2014!

That looks like something from a chain email.

But I hope your New Year was filled with color, bubbly drinks, and lots of smiles! My family and I kept our celebrations pretty low key, but I loved it. After going to Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, we decided on a whim to go to our favorite Japanese restaurant for dinner. I thought it would be a good meal to take you through for this first WIAW of 2014!

Mosey on over to Jenn’s blog to see more drool-worthy eats!

It’s all iPhone pictures this week since I didn’t want to lug the big camera along to a dark restaurant anyway!

Bro-derrrr

Lemme tell ya— spontaneity is a beautiful thing because this dinner was THE BOMB. Everything we put in our mouths just melted in the best way possible. Ichiro uses the freshest fish and meat, and the best flavors to compliment them. They also had a $65 prix fixe menu with some awesome selections. The prix fixe came with four small starters, an entree, and a dessert. My parents decided to go with it since it was a New Year’s special and they figured the food would be extra special.

And boy, was it extra special.

I’ll just show you some of their dishes that I tasted:

Angel shrimp. I thought the crust tasted cheesy, but everyone else said it was just buttery. I still think it was cheese.

A bite of my dad’s lobster bisque. It was like Sea World in there— they don’t scrimp on the lobster meat!

Four Seasons Salad. The combo of mango, crabmeat, and greens was refreshing!

One of my favorites of the night: Miso Black Cod. This REALLY melted in your mouth. And the filet was hefty for an appetizer!

Everyone else’s favorite: Wagyu beef. My mom went to heaven and back when she took a bite.

And after sampling ALL that, my real entree came!

Eel cucumber roll and “Mango Hawaii Roll” (salmon, avocado, mango, and wasabi caviar). Also incredibly melt-a-licious.

There were only two dessert choices for the prix fixe, so my parents got one of each. Cheesecake and tiramisu!

My mom is an official food Instagrammer. Check out that angle and depth of field! (And she literally just told me, “I think I’m becoming more professional now.”) 😉

Ben and I had no problem cleaning off this plate.

Whenever I eat a really great meal, especially with my family, I can’t stop smiling afterwards. This was one of those meals. It’s kinda weird, and I fear that people may think I snuck something into my beverage, but it just goes to show how much I appreciate eating delicious food with people I love!

I was so full that I didn’t even have room for Martinelli’s sparkling apple cider once the clock struck 12, but maybe I’ll have some for a late celebration (of a possible snow day tomorrow?!). Wishful thinking.

My family and I are in agreement that we’re excited to get back into a routine though. It has been quite the indulgent break, but we do not regret a single second of it! It will just be nice to return to “cleaner” foods.

In case you want to catch up on some posts from the past couple weeks, here’s what’s been happening:

Holy moly I’ve done a lot of blogging. I love free time.

So tell me:

How did you celebrate the New Year?

What is the best thing you’ve eaten for dinner lately?

What is one food that you love that melts in your mouth?

Momma’s Birthday! {MIMM #4}

Posted on September 15, 2013 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Well I have had one productive, but fantastic weekend! Of course, since it’s Monday, and all I am tempted to do is mope about another week of school, it’s always a good idea to jump into Katie’s MIMM party 🙂

Marvelous is…

Doing this awesome workout on Friday from Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean:

Burpee mania.

I’ll be honest and say that I downed the burpees to 5 instead of 10 for about half of the rounds because I was at the gym late at night and I was dragggging. But it was still a kick-butt workout!

Marvelous is…

A rest day on Saturday 🙂 This gave me a chance to get lots of homework done!

Marvelous is…

MOM’S BIRTHDAY!!!

We celebrated at Ichiro (probably our new favorite Japanese restaurant), and it was a fun, delicious experience for all. The service is exceptional there, and the food is even better. We took some good ol’ iPhone pictures, obnoxiously lighting up the restaurant with our flashes after every single dish came out. Guatever. (My friend, Charli, who went to Guatemala, got me hooked on that catch phrase.)

Appetizer special: Foie gras with mango and yellowfin tuna. OHH MYY. I think this was my first time trying foie gras, and although it is richer than Donald Trump, it was melt-in-your-mouth, luxurious deliciousness. So was the tuna. And the mango’s acidity was a perfect compliment.

Dad got lobster (outstanding) and Ben got NY Steak hibachi (so tender according to Mom and Ben).

Mom and I shared a sushi combo and “Hally Roll.” Perfection.

They sell Italian desserts here for some reason, but we weren’t complaining. Mom ordered her favorite chocolate lava cake (which they brought out with a candle in song), Dad ordered a hazelnut ganache, and we all enjoyed their selection of sorbets on the house!

Hope you enjoyed your birthday, Mom! I obviously did… 😉

Marvelous is…

Talking with my brother. I’ve been venting to him about my stress and anxiety from my insomnia for the past couple of days and nights, and just doing so has made me feel better. Thanks, Ben!

Marvelous is…

Watching old home videos. Ben and I were crazy, weird children (some things don’t change…for me at least). But I am obsessed with watching the memories.

Marvelous is…

The first dance company rehearsal yesterday!! We have Sunday rehearsals from 12-4 every week and a lovely brunch tradition right before. I LOVE the bonding and dancing time with my girls! We’re doing a jazz piece this time. *Jazz hands*

Marvelous is…

Being able to finally read through many of the blog posts that have piled up in my Feedly this past week. There were hundreds of unread before!

Marvelous is…

A quick bedroom workout from Jess at The Blonde Ponytail!

I finished in 9:26, which is slower than my previous time of 9:08. My arms were pretty sore from Friday still so I even did knee pushups, but it was still a nice way to work up a sweat!

That’s all for now, folks! Have a marvelous Monday 🙂

So tell me: What did you do this weekend? Try any good restaurants lately? Do you enjoy watching home videos too?