Two Museums, Two Desserts, Two Blistered Feet

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

I did something this weekend other than “oh ya know, just layin’ low…” !!!

Not that there’s anything wrong with laying low (after all, I love kicking up my feet after work these days). But it’s nice to exit the abode and live a little, especially when the weather is as gorgeous as it was this weekend!

Friday

There’s nothing really to share about Friday except that I worked, ate my favorite dinner of the week, and went to bed at 9.

brown rice with eel + avocado = all the good things in sushi, amplified in a bowl

Also, BEN CAME HOME FROM SPAIN! He completed El Camino de Santiago, which is historically a Christian walking pilgrimage. There are many routes, but Ben did a super long one that totaled 890 km (553 miles) within 32 days. Casual.

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Congrats, Ben! YOU ROCK.

He actually came home at 2 AM Saturday morning, but I snuck into his room later in the morning to say hi to him before I left for NYC.

Saturday

Since I went to bed so darn early, I woke up at around 6 AM for some sunrise moves and grooves!

100 burpee workout // 10 reps of each // Click here for demos!

10 tuck jump burpees
10 T pushup burpees
10 candlestick to chair burpees
10 alternating side burpees (this one actually hurt my shoulder a bit because the pushup becomes kinda awkward, so I would not recommend this variation)
10 broad jump burpees
10 spiderman pushup burpees
10 handstand burpees
10 superman burpees
10 dive bomber burpees
10 plank jack tuck jump burpees

I tried to do some new/weird variations to keep things interesting, so it was definitely a fun (and tiring) one!

banana bread baked oatmeal with plain peanut butter + “My Maine Squeeze” almond butter from The Peanut Principle

from the farmers’ market 😀

Plus a couple pieces of my mom’s egg white pork bake.

After washing up, Pop dropped me off at the train station to head down to the city! Cue this Tori Kelly song (because she is the soundtrack to my life).

First of all, I saw an extraordinary number of dads with their kids on the train/in the city that day, and it made my heart explode.

Secondly, Park Ave looks so clean and luxurious, but it honestly just smells like manure. #overrated

First stop of the day was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Can you believe I’ve lived in NY for 11 years, and this was my first time going there?

I guess if you don’t live in NY, you don’t really see the big deal. But this is one of those “must see” attractions in the city.

I did my tourist thing while waiting for my friend, Christine.

Squealing greeting + photos in front of the MET, because we’re bananas (yellow on the outside, white on the inside, in case you haven’t seen me make that joke 100 times on the blog).

apparently this is where Gossip Girl cast ate lunch in the show??

In we went!

We interspersed our “ooo’s” and “aaah’s” with some serious girl talk and some attempts at reading our people’s language.

My contribution every time: “I have no idea what it means, but it looks familiar.”

At least we’re proficient in fit fam culture.

Art eventually drains ya girls, so we headed over to lunch at Bluestone Lane for some Australian fare at around 1 PM.

the restaurant is an extension of an Episcopalian church!

I spy vegemite toast and the word “brekkie”

Christine got the egg and bacon roll + I got the Aussie meat pie with mint pea puree

dynamite

Our waiter was Australian, which really added to the experience. Arman, I could not stop thinking about you.

We made it our mission to find both ice cream and Levain Bakery for dessert, so we took the scenic route and walked around the Central Park reservoir. It was the absolute perfect day to do it! Hot, but not unbearable, and bluuuuuue skies.

We didn’t know where to get ice cream, but we happened upon Amorino Gelato, which is famous for making roses out of their gelato! That stuff is expensive, but it is undeniably pretty and delicious.

Christine got fruity flavors + I got pistachio, black cherry, and a cookie butter flavor!

That cone was tiny and that gelato was melting wicked fast. You would think I was a magician, that’s how quickly I made it disappear.

We continued walking and found the legendary Levain Bakery. I had been hearing about their incredible chocolate chip cookies since I moved to New York, basically. This was THE DAY.

But first, a short wait on a line that spanned half the block. Expected.

this is my “THIS IS BETTER THAN DISNEY WORLD BUT I’M TRYING TO BE CIVILIZED” pose

We descended into the little bakery…

…I bought one chocolate chip cookie and one oatmeal raisin scone. We desperately needed to charge our phones, so we walked over to a Starbucks, where I finally unveiled the glory…

these are both HUGE

…wait for it!!!

You have no idea how long I had been waiting to take that money shot. Ladies and gents, this was one of the best things that my taste buds have ever encountered. I’m not even a big fan of chocolate.

Warm.

Crispy on the outside.

Slightly under-baked and gooey on the inside.

Melted chocolate chips.

Rich walnut chunks.

Thick and decadent.

– a poem about Levain’s chocolate chip cookie by Alison

Christine and I split the mega cookie, and we had a few bites of the scone, which was fantastic as well. Not too sweet at all, but BUTTERY. The bag smelled like buttered popcorn. Mmmmm.

Afterwards, we walked back around the reservoir to where we started, and continued with some more girl talk until Christine had to leave. Next museum of the day was Cooper Hewitt Museum of Design with one of my high school dance company mates, Susie!

had to take a pic of this

This is probably my favorite museum of all time. It’s so interactive, and the vibe is an intersection between classical architecture and modern technology.

They give you this high tech pen that acts as a memory stick. The pen has a “+” sign on the back that synchronizes to the “+” sign on each description panel on the exhibits. When you go home, you go onto their website and enter your unique code that they gave you, and you can see pictures of all the exhibits you saved via the pen. MAGICAL.

This immersion room is your childhood dream. You basically design your own wallpaper with the pen, and watch it come to life in front of your eyes.

Five stars for Cooper Hewitt! Thank you so much, Susie, for suggesting it!

We worked up a good appetite playing around in the museum. Susie chose an excellent Greek restaurant called Korali for dinner.

a rare moment when no cars are about to run you over in the city

beet salad with grapefruit, pine nuts, goat cheese, fennel, dill and scallions

when the manager walks up to you offering a FREE platter of melted Greek cheese, you do not refuse (such a nice gesture of them!)

soup of the day: lentil

Susie gave me a bite of her lamb shank, which was heavenly

We also walked by this gem of a Citi bank sign (great eye, Susie).

This is Gabby Douglas, US Olympic Gymnast. But peep the caption in the upper left hand corner…

THIS is Allyson Felix, US Olympic Track and Field Runner:

[source]

Alright, Citi Bank.

And then I bid NYC a good night.

Ben picked me up at the train station, and I was all excited to tell him that I walked 11 miles that day (according to the Apple Health app), but then I remembered that he had been walking an average of 20 miles per day for the past month. Overachiever.

I still gave myself a foot massage before bed.

Sunday

I got up a little past 7 to get ready for Mass and say goodbye (already!) to Ben and Madre. Not for long though. Pop and I will meet them in Florida soon for our big family vacation next week!

Breakfast after Mass:

banana egg white chia seed oatmeal

I also had leftover roasted broccoli while cooking this. Cravings, man.

I watched some gymnastics, read some blogs, and napped before getting up and eating again. Sundays, man.

smoked salmon avocado toast + unpictured carrots and hummus + half a frozen banana

Then I started this blog post and FaceTimed with my beautiful friend, Briana, from college. Followed by some killer moves and grooves in the basement (which I have deemed to be my “pain cave”).

60 seconds strength/45 seconds cardio/20 seconds plyometric/15 seconds rest

3 rounds of each block, 1 minute rest between blocks

BLOCK #1

weighted reverse lunges with kick (30 sec each leg)
burpees
squat jumps

BLOCK #2

pistol squats (30 sec each leg)
jumping jacks
broad jumps over a step, lengthwise

BLOCK #3

weighted Bulgarian split squats (30 sec each leg)
high knees
full sit tuck jumps

BLOCK #4

I hadn’t done a workout that made my quads cry in a while. I stretched out before Pop and I went to one of our favorites for dinner— Bareburger!

I made my own burger: turkey burger, spinach, sprouts, tomato, pimento cheese on sprout bun + ketchup and mustard

sweet potato fries with their curry ketchup + special sauce

the inner beauty of my burger

Pop’s “Hog Wild” burger: wild boar burger, pimento cheese, frizzled chickpea onions (!?), fried egg, and pickled green tomatoes on a brioche bun

Decadence once again.

We picked up some groceries afterwards, and now I’m finishing typing this while watching sports on TV (← yay for Olympic season coming up!). ‘Twas a fabulous weekend filled with good food, great conversation, and even better people.

Back to the grind today, but one more week until vacation! Hope you all have stellar Monday. Give yourself a foot massage. You deserve it.

So tell me:

Two things you did this weekend!

What is your favorite museum?

What is the best cookie you’ve ever eaten?

Are there any sports you are following currently?

Pray, Eat, Move, Groove, Nap, Repeat

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

When this happens during spring…

…you think…

8-Frozen-quotes

[source]

…so when this finally becomes real…

…you GET THE HECK OUTSIDE.

I’m typing this on Monday night, but it feels like a Sunday because we had an extra day off for the Boston Marathon! But the weekend fun definitely kicked off on Friday…

Friday

Class, lunch, bible study…

tuna salad, artichokes, lettuce, tomato, roasted vegetables, and pesto in a whole wheat wrap

corn muffin 🙂

…and some moves and grooves outside with mah girl Christina from @foodietunes and Fit University! We warmed up and started with a 12 minute HIIT workout. 3 rounds of 30 sec work, 10 sec rest:

12 minutes can take it out of ya

Then we messed around with some yoga-y moves and partner pistol squats!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by CHRISTINA CHU, MS, RD (@christinaychu)

She also ~~convinced me to have~~ force-fed me a couple bites of her Zinneken’s waffle with chocolate, cookie butter, and whipped cream. Life isn’t fair sometimes.

It was decadent and amazing

Then I cleaned myself up for dinner with my friend Zoe, followed by my roommate’s fashion show that night!

She is FIRE. Always so cool to see her rock that runway (← sounds like an ad for a new Target teen clothing line).

I have never felt more awkward posing for a photo than in this moment. I have a lot to learn from Jordan in terms of effortlessness:

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via Mint Julep Facebook

Saturday

I went to bed way too late for getting up at 6:30 on Saturday. I joined some friends for BU’s Global Day of Service for the morning and early afternoon. We went to the houses of senior citizens to help them with yard work. It was a lovely day to be outside, and we all enjoyed meeting new people, serving, and reflecting on the day!

Afterwards, Rachel and I proceeded to shower and take long, delicious naps. I set my alarm for a 45 minute nap, but 90 minutes later I woke up not knowing anything.

pretty-little-liars-hanna-where-the-hell-am-i

[source]

“5:45…am? Wait no, it’s sunny outside.”

After grasping a sense of reality, I did some random things before going to dinner with my friend Mai. We had some beautiful convo ♥︎

that quinoa-stuffed tomato was fantastic

I spent the night in my room by my lonesome, so I watched this Crossfit “Behind the Scenes” movie on Youtube, practiced handstands, did this ab workout, did laundry, and worked on a paper. I really enjoyed the “me time” to recharge (extravert who is secretly an introvert?).

Sunday

Up and at ’em early-ish again for a fabulous girls’ brunch at Sarah’s (one of the Catholic Center missionaries) house!

THIS WOMAN. Not only a radiant and inspirational woman of God, but a killer chef. She made us a crockpot egg/sausage/bacon/hasbrown casserole, blueberry cream cheese french toast casserole, and roasted potatoes. Whaaaaaaaat. Thank you so much, Sarah! ♥︎

‘Twas a beautiful day again, so a few of us took the 25 minute walk back to campus.

We went to Mass and lunch before doing some work (TBH, I just folded my laundry from Saturday night and took a 20 minute nap). Then I went on a short run with Zoe before we met up with Joe for the 1000 REP WORKOUT (← caps for dramatic effect).

I’d been asking my friends to work out with me for a while now, so I was stoked that they joined me for some moves and grooves outdoors. They made it a fun and funny workout 🙂

Refueled with milkshakes (milk = protein, so essentially protein shakes).

The rest of my evening consisted of Back Bay Mobile Soup Kitchen, dinner, a much needed shower, and homework.

the finish line the day before the race!

Marathon Monday!

Since Boston University is in the heart of Boston (unlike the arch nemesis, Boston College) and the marathon course runs right through campus, we get a day off of school! Some of my best girl friends and I started the holiday with a lovely pancake breakfast in the morning. Rachel was in charge of pancakes, I sautéed the bananas, and Zoe cooked the eggs. Dream team.

I loved Rachel’s impressionist pancakes.

one with almond butter, one with peanut butter (and then another with blueberry syrup…and another with more almond butter) + glass o’ milk!

Then we hung out before heading to the Mile 25 marker of the marathon course!

Atsede Baysa— first place woman!

I can’t get over how fast and resilient these people are. Holy cow.

I screamed a lot again this year, but not as much as last year. Sparing my vocal cords was a smart decision. But my favorite things to yell at the runners are:

“YEAHHHHHH!!!”
“COME ON!”
“YOU’RE ALMOST THERE!”
“YOU GOT THIS.”
“DIG DEEEEEEEP!”
“KILLIN’ IT!”
“KEEP IT UP!”
“YEAH CANADA!!!”

My friends reprimanded me for that last one.

We also got to see one of our friends running in the marathon (he finished in 3:00:05!!!), which was so awesome.

After a couple hours of cheering, I went to eat lunch and take a nap. I felt like I could nap for an eternity, but I got myself up after an hour and went to do some errands, move and groove a little bit outside, and do some work before having dinner with my brother and typing this up.

TL; DR — pray, eat, move, groove, nap, repeat.

Hope you all have a marvelous week! Cheer someone on (including yourself).

So tell me:

Did you get to go outside this weekend?

Have you ever spectated a big race? Are you a big cheerer?

Two things you did this weekend!

How do you feel about naps?

Reinforcing Lessons About Exercise

Posted on June 25, 2015 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

There is currently a fly buzzing around the kitchen, which makes me equal parts mad and sad. Mad because it wants to get at my banana bread mug cake. Sad because flies are gross.

Alright, I have some foodie talk this morning before we get into the meat of the post.

First of all, I ate classic overnight oats in a sunflower seed butter jar (with 2+ tbsp left in the jar) for breakfast yesterday! It might be one of my all-time favorite breakfasts. I enjoyed it in my backyard since it was such a gorgeous and mild morning. Very few things could have made it more perfect.

Secondly, I think pita bread needs to be on people’s grocery lists more often. That’s right, I’m asserting my opinion over your grocery list. *smiling purple devil emoji* For good reason though! Pita bread takes sandwiches to a new level. The fluffy, doughy factor is superb, AND you can fit more oddly shaped foods inside.

inside the pita: avocado, pork souvlaki, mint yogurt sauce, tomatoes, and sriracha added later

Let me know if you buy some pita bread now. If you do, I’ll look into marketing and advertising as a side job.

Speaking of jobs, I want to talk about some lessons that my physical therapy internship has taught me/reinforced. There is very little doubt in my mind that physical therapy is what I want to continue pursuing as a career, and it’s thanks to my summer internship experience and what it has taught me!

Besides everything I’ve learned about anatomy, diseases, and therapy techniques, I’ve sort of re-learned a lot of lessons about taking care of our bodies through movement.

Health Lessons Reinforced Through My Physical Therapy Internship

Do not dismiss seemingly easy exercises. Go back to the basics and re-check your form/range of motion. Try an exercise that you’ve never done before, even if it looks easy. You’d be very surprised how well certain exercises can work those smaller (yet still very important!) muscles.

like these…they kill those smaller glute muscles you never knew you had

Flexibility is essential. This doesn’t mean you have to be able to bend backwards until your head is through your legs, but flexibility is certainly important for your overall health and fitness. A full range of motion will help you in your fitness endeavors as well as in injury prevention.
- P.S. Hold a stretch for at least 30 seconds. That is the minimum for lengthening to actually occur. You can hold it longer, but it won’t make any difference. 30 seconds is the magic number!

Almost every injury or anatomical issue can be aided by core strengthening. Planks, y’all. Your core protects your back, promotes good posture (which also protects your back), supports your legs, and helps with balance.

[source]

speaking of form…

Form is everything. I’m sure you all knew this already, but this is just to reiterate. Don’t go for another rep or for the advanced variation of an exercise if your form is off. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Oh, unless…DON’T DO IT. I’m guilty of bad form, and I have indeed injured myself as a result.
- Also, make sure to learn proper form before performing an exercise. I’m guilty of this as well, and guess what. I hurt myself because I didn’t know what I was doing.

Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. This is especially for people recovering from injury or getting back into an exercise routine after some time off. You might feel great when exercising, so it is easy to over-do it and agitate your body. You have to think about how your body might respond later.
- Good to remember this in a time of high-intensity exercise hiatus too 😉

It’s all about progress. The looks on patients’ faces when they can walk without a limp or raise their arms completely overhead for the first time in months— it is the best part of the job. Exercise and movement is about YOUR progress. You will be filled with so much more joy if you just concern yourself with that rather than everyone else’s abilities.

even if it’s literally one step at a time up a mountain

Be thankful for the ability to move. Exercise is nourishing for our bodies (in healthy amounts, of course). Whatever you do to move, keep safety first and rest when you need to. Exercise doesn’t have to be about getting big, getting skinny, or hitting PRs. It can just be about joy. It can just be about necessity for health. In any case, be thankful for movement and don’t disregard the “easy” stuff. Every form of exercise has its place.

With all that said, my PT internship has helped encourage me realize that there are so many ways I can move my body and improve its fitness without pushing it too hard. I can work on flexibility/mobility, balance, and strengthening those smaller muscles.

Kayyyy I’m done talking…typing…whatever. Hope you all have a grand ol’ day!

So tell me:

Do you like pita bread? What would you put inside?

What is one way you’ve progressed with your exercise/fitness recently? Resting more counts 🙂

{Disclaimer: All information I learned is from two physical therapists with their doctorate in physical therapy. One is also a certified personal trainer.}

Weekly Moves and Grooves XI

Posted on November 9, 2014 by Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves

Happy Sunday, lovely humans!

This weekend has just been nice. I worked on Friday and Saturday for a bit, did some homework, hung out with friends, exercised, and FaceTimed with my padres. Nothing super special in and of itself, but feeling uber blessed nonetheless!

Here is how I’ve been moving and grooving this week! P.S. Thanks for all the support and reassurance on my post about just RUNNING. I’ll talk more about how I enjoyed my run on Thursday below…

Sunday

Random dorm exercises

I was sore for whatever reason on Sunday, so I just decided to move throughout the day by doing fun plyometrics and burpees in my room.

Monday

5 min. stair master warmup + leg workout

3 supersets of each:

10-12 pistol squats each leg + 20 Bulgarian split squats
12 hamstring curls + 30 side jump lunges
12 single leg deadlifts each leg + 20 180-degree squats jumps
20 donkey kicks each leg + plank/weighted situps

Tuesday

upper body weights + 8 minute ab tabata

The upper body portion included 3 sets of each:

lat pull downs + pushup to T
Arnold presses + tricep dips
vertical row + bicep curls
some other things that I cannot remember

The ab tabata was four rounds of 20 seconds work, 10 seconds of rest:

weighted Russian twists
modified V-ups
side plank hip raises right
side plank hip raises left

Wednesday

Rest

Thursday

3.37 mile run! + yoga

Duuuuuudes. I got up early to run on Thursday and I seriously felt like I was a different person on a different planet. I took it slow, enjoyed the fresh air, and admired the beautiful Boston scenery. There was something so peaceful and exhilarating about being out there with so many other early morning Boston runners, and I loved it.

I used a filter, but the trees in Boston really are gorgeous.

I ended up doing 3.37 miles at an 8:55 pace, and I’m pretty happy about that. Speed ain’t no worry when I haven’t run in two or three months. Also, this is the farthest I’ve ever run, LOL. I’ve only done a 5K at most before.

I really wanted to make it to four miles, but the skin at the bottom of my feet were being pulled to the max, causing a water-filled blister to form that hurt like a bleeeeeep. #weak. But for real, I couldn’t even walk for the rest of the day. I need to wear thicker socks next time. Or get new running shoes, but that would mean that I’m becoming a runner and that’s scary as heck.

I ended my run with 10 decline pushups, 10 decline burpees, 1 min. low plank, and 1 min. high plank. Can’t neglect my favorites 🙂