Working Out...My Wallet

Most people who know me, know that my life often revolves around my workouts, my food, and my sleep. However, sometimes I get stuck in a little rut with my workouts and my food. I will do the same workout over and over again and eat the same foods over and over. And sometimes, I want a change. However, most of the time my wallet doesn't permit these changes. I know what you may be thinking "All you really need for a good workout is a good pair of shoes." And you know what, to them I say "You can only run so many times before getting bored." I like to try and mix things up as best as I can so my body and my mind don't get use to them. So there are some things that just aren't in the budget for me that I wish I could do on a very regular basis.

1) At least twice a week at Barry's Bootcamp. This bootcamp is supposed to be pretty awesome and really chisel and tone your body. I love bootcamp style workouts because they vary so many different activities and workout so many different muscles. I also enjoy being yelled at during workouts which I assume they do here. I am the type of person that enjoys an instructor yelling at me in order to motivate me. Growing up an athlete, this was always a way to get me fired up.

Questions, Questions

Sometimes I can be slightly judgemental. Just slightly. Meh, who am I kidding? I can be a total judgy bitch. And sometimes I wonder what goes through people's head. In a city as big as NYC, you see all kinds of people. They come in all shapes and sizes...and mental stability. And of course, I notice most of these weirdos because on top of being judgemental, I can also be very observant. I notice things that other people (besides my mother) might never notice. I can't help it. I am always super aware of my surroundings. And I also feel the need to question and comment on what I see as well. Once again, I can't help it. Some of the the questions that often pop in my head when I walk down the street are below.

1) Did you not watch the weather forecast this morn? I mean, its 65 degrees and you are running in pants, a jacket, gloves, and ear warmers. Are you kidding? I am sweating just looking at you. What do you wear when its 45 degrees? And geez, what do you do if its 20 degrees? I don't even want to know. And if it's 8 degrees and you are running in shorts, what are you thinking? That's just not healthy. And no, I am not impressed. I actually think you are nuts. Throw on some pants!

And who are these people that are still wearing boots and/or scarves in 90 degree weather? Are you not hot? Or are you trying to be fashionable?

Let's Use These

I don't consider myself to have a huge vocabulary, but there are some words that I use on occasion that people just don't know. And then I am the one that feels stupid. They are not super-intellectual words, but words that just underutilized in today's society that have great meaning and often times bring humor as well. They are words that a majority of the population should know and should use more freely. I hate when I say something and no one knows what I am talking about. However, I do love teaching people new words. Makes me feel smarter. Well, not really, especially when you see the words that I am speaking of. Anyway, let me enlighten you with a few of my faves.

1) FUPA. What does this stand for you ask? Well, that would be: Fat Upper Pussy Area. However, this term can be used for both men and women. It's not gender specific. A FUPA is basically like a fat vagina. It can be hard to hide in pants as well so often times people who possess one should really avoid them (especially with a tucked in shirt) if they are not loose enough. I think that FUPA's are just a result of bad genes. Brutal. 

No Bake Deliciousness

I am not a huge sweets person, but every once in a while I get a great urge to bake. However, I hate using my oven. (I have lived in my apartment for about four years now and have used my oven three times. Ah, the trials and tribulations of a single NY woman.) Also, since I live alone I don't like to bake because there is no one else to eat what I make and therefore there is always the chance that I will lack self-control and eat the entire batch of whatever it is I made. I would never just make a pan of brownies for fun because you know what, I would eat ALL of them.

I know this about myself and would not put myself in that situation (ahem, Miranda). Not okay. I don't want do this to myself. But I am not going to say I have or have not done this before. So therefore, the only time I will make something is if I am bringing it somewhere. But hey, that's not going to stop me from licking the bowl! Those calories never count anyway.

Things I am not...

I am a lot of things: Awesome. Hilarious. Smart. Athletic. Driven. And apparently quite modest too. Hehe. But seriously, I talk about myself on here quite often and feel that people who read this regularly have a good sense about the time of person I am. I am very set in my ways and have my likes and dislikes. There are certain things however, that I am not too fond of (spicy food, bad texters, etc...) or words that someone would never use to describe me (mellow, quiet, boring, etc...). I am however, open to new things and will try most things at least one time. But as the old saying goes "A zebra can't change its stripes", there are some things, that I just don't know if I will ever be. I am more than willing to give it a go, but for now, here are things that I am not...

I am not:

Meh, not really my thing

1. A concert person. They are loud. They are crowded. They are often overpriced. I know I sound like an 85 year old grandma here, but concerts just don't do it for me. I have been to a few in my life, but I am suuuuper picky when it comes to them. I won't go to a concert unless I know about 90% of the songs that are going to be played (Um, Britney, NKOTHBSB, Jay-Z/Eminem...concerts I was actually dying to go to). It's not fun for me otherwise. I like to sing along and really appreciate the artist and their performance. If I don't know the lyrics, its just not that fun for me. And forget it if its a new band. If I don't know your music, I am not that interested in learning it this way. Sounds a little ignorant, but that's how it is for me.

Best of both worlds

 I have previously stated, I am a sucker for sports movies. They are often full of inspiration and grit (and usually have me in tears). I love it. I also love a good cliché teen flick. Good thing for me there's this whole genre of movies that happens to combine the best of both worlds. This happens to be the type of movie that combines sports and young adults focusing on both equally. I am not talking about Disney sports movies (Remember the Titans, Might Ducks, etc...), I am talking about movies that don't necessarily take the "G" rated sugar-coated approach but still have plenty of sports AND teen drama. These movies take the best of both worlds and come out with something great.

1. Varsity Blues.  Ah, Friday Night in Texas. This means one thing: Football. But this poor man's Friday Night Lights is not poor at all. It's pretty great. With superstud/horrible actor Paul Walker and Dawson Leary himself, James Van Der Beek as Mox, this is a winner. And let's not forget the famous "whipped cream bikini." This movie was a touchdown for sure.

First day: NY 4, Me 0

I moved to New York City about eight years ago this month. I knew no one and had only been here one time before a few months earlier. I had applied to NYU on a whim for grad school as a reach, and got accepted. How could I not go? I needed to do something different with my life and moving to New York for a year to complete this intense graduate program would be just what I needed. So what that I was the girl that cried every night at overnight camp because I missed my parents so much? Even when it was twenty minutes away from my house and only a week long. No big deal. No one would have guessed that I would move to New York and not be super homesick. However, eight years later, I am still here. And still loving it. It hasn't always been smooth sailings and one of my worst days in the city happened to be my first day here. I can laugh about how ridiculous it was now, but back then, I couldn't keep the tears from coming.

Just a Spoonful

Sometimes there is only one utensil I need in my kitchen: a spoon. I could probably survive in life if that was the only utensil I had. There are enough foods out there that can be eaten just with a spoon. Most of these foods are jarred, canned, or in a carton. They are easy to eat and usually go down pretty smooth. However, most of these foods weren't originally made to be eaten plain out of their container. As someone who is usually a rule follower, I am a big rule breaker in these cases and eat them by the spoonful. And yes, I double dip in my own containers. So without further ado, here are some foods that I am often caught eating straight up with my trusty spoon.

1) Nutella. Need I say more? I do not, but you know me, and of course I will. I never really was even that curious about Nutella until I went to Israel a few years ago. I did not like the food there, so for breakfast every morning I had toast with Nutella. And they came in these cute individual cups that I could kick myself now for not stealing. They would have been gone within days back in the US but still very awesome. I am sure I could find them here, but why do that to myself? I would end up storing them everywhere. Purses. Gym bags. Pockets. Anyway, after I came back to the US after living on Nutella, Israeli chocolate bars (yum!!) and McDonalds for ten days, I decided to keep the Nutella in my life. I ate all my chocolate bars within a week of being back and I wouldn't dare continue to eat McDonalds here. I wish I could as it is so delish, but bad for the waistline, but the Nutella habit stayed and I really haven't looked back.

Buh-Bye Prednisone

I am finally done with my steroids. Woohoo!! No more Prednisone for me. I am off the 'roids. It was a long one and a half months that started with me feeling the worst I have ever felt in my life (Thanks Ulcerative Colitis!) to feeling totally normal and 100% me again. And I can't tell you how good it feels to be back to normal. I can run. I can drink. I can eat what I want. And I can finally just be me. Awesome.

Even though Prednisone worked its magic on my stomach, I hope to never see it again. I have been weening off it for weeks and finally am at 0. And again, let me say "Woohoo!" So why you ask am I so grateful to be rid of the very drug that got me healthy again? Well, the side effects were not so fantastic. I knew what I was in for when I started the drug because I had been on it before, but that still doesn't make it any better. Over the last 6 weeks or so, these are some of the side effects that I experienced. I will not miss them in the least.

1. Profuse night sweats. I usually get overheated at night when I sleep, but on the steroids, it was intense. I had to change my pajamas in the middle of the night almost every night at the start of my treatment because I would sweat through them. My hair would be soaked also and I sweat through my sheets, pillow cases, and comforter. And if I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, which I did on more than one occasion, I had to try and get comfortable in my wet-ass bed. Ew. As I started to ween off the Prednisone this became less of an issue, but it really was super uncomfortable while it lasted.

Arts and Crafts...I miss you

Recently many of my students have been wearing cartoon character necklaces made of Perler beads (those beads you put on stencil pattern thing, cover with wax paper, and iron). When I saw them I was in complete shock and asked them where they got them. They said a friend makes and sells them. I hadn't seen Perler beads in years and apparently they are making a comeback with the urban youth of NYC. Who knew?

Seeing these reminded me of all the arts and crafts I used to enjoy doing when I was a kid. (I think I still have some of remnants of these in my closet at my parent's house.) I did tons of them and they would keep me busy and entertained for hours. My mom would take me to Michael's every now and then and I would be in absolute heaven. If it was up to me I would have bought every craft set in there. But she always set a limit which was probably for the better. After all, although she loved me and told me everything I made was great, she didn't want all that crap around the house.

Around my birthday and Hannukah, I would really clean up with the crafts which was always exciting. But now that I am old, I don't get stuff like that anymore. Maybe when I have kids and become a mom (or a lonely spinster), I will start to do more crafts on a more regular basis. (Even though I do want to take up knitting, which can be considered crafty.) But until that, I would like to take a moment and reminisce on my favorite crafts of my youth.

Not So Reality

As mentioned many times before, I watch A LOT of TV. And a lot of the shows I watch are of the Reality TV genre. Don't judge me. My DVR is one of my prized possessions. I can't imagine how much more TV I'd watch if I could actually afford premium cable or had one of those boxes where you can record more than two shows at once. However, many of us know that much of Reality TV is scripted and not all so real after all. Shocker, I know. (Um, hello, all Kardashian shows! The most staged one of them all. But I still watch. Obvs.)  Maybe the feelings by the major players/characters in these shows are real but many of the scenes are set up by the producers and very strategically planned (and booze is involved). Also, there are things that occur on these shows that may not be acceptable in real life when the cameras are not running that occur and seem not to be questioned here. I guess that's the power you get when a camera crew follows you. Whatever it may be, I constantly find myself watching these shows, shaking my head in bewilderment over a few things. So here is my list of questions that have recently run through my head during a few of my many Reality TV shows.

Bethenny Ever After: Does Bethenny bring SkinnyGirl products wherever she goes? Even in Mexico, there was Skinnygirl on the table. At restaurants whenever her and Jason (or her and anyone) eat out, its there. It's freaking everywhere. Am I the only psycho that notices this? I understand that was her meal ticket, but is that really all she drinks? It can't be. And do restaurants really allow her to bring in her own alcohol? I mean maybe that's what happens when you are rich. Maybe you can apparently do things like that. But I can pretty much guarantee if I walked into a restaurant with a bottle of SkinnyGirl Margarita to drink, they would not only frown upon it, they would probably not allow me to drink it and potentially even ask me to leave.