Bosu y Bosu

One of my favorite parts of the weekend is going to the gym. Yes, I said it! I've never been a member of a gym before, but the lack of a free average joe's gym in the basement of my building (as it was at the Fed) has pushed me to break down and shell out the monthly fee.  In November, I joined a women's only gym Healthworks a few minutes away from my house.  There are a few reasons why I picked it:

1. It is not in a basement (you would think this would be a given, but not in my area of town)
2. I don't have to worry about "I Pick Things Up and Put Them Down" guys
3. It has lots of cool cardio machines w/tvs that I can use in the winter
4. It has a sauna and steam room
5. I get free towels which enables me to fit on the T with my gym bag
6 and Most of all. It has a TON of free group fitness classes!!

Because I usually stay at work late, I miss the classes during the week, making the weekend my only chance to try them out.  So far, the yoga classes have been pretty good, but what I've really taken a liking to has been Zumba!  I LOVE to shake my tush!









You can only imagine my disappointment when I woke up yesterday to find the class was already booked! Oh what to do!? Hmmmm, this Bosu Challenge class still has spots, guess I'll try it out... What is a Bosu anyway? Well I found out.









Bosu is half of a yoga ball used as stability for floor exercises and step aerobics. It's great! The class was very similar to the step aerobics class I would take at the Fed so I didn't get lost on the moves. Better yet, I won't have to get up at 9 am on my Saturdays to do it ;-)

Mandatory ME Time

I've missed you bloooog! Oh boy, this year has really started off hectic. In order to keep myself sane, I am officially instituting mandatory ME time (sans work computer) each day. I've always thought of myself as a hard worker, but I never would have imagined that I would become one of those people who let their job take over their life. I'm fighting with all my might!

There's been a lot going on, but luckily I've managed to squeeze in some fun stuff. I made a cranberry cheesecake for Kavan's return. It was super yummy :9 The recipe is from Cooking Light, and the cheesecake is made with 1/3 less fat cream cheese and greek yogurt. I've never heard of greek yogurt being used in a cheesecake, but I am pretty sure that is why this cheesecake turned out to be the creamiest cheesecake I've ever made.

 

My Kuckie Koo made it back safe and sound! =) Shortly after, we had a lovely dinner in the North End with his Dad and Step Mom. It was a treat to finally get to meet them! It was also a treat to finally celebrate Christmas, just the two of us, a few days later. Can I just say Wow! :) It really meant a lot to me that Kavan picked out such thoughtful gifts, and he is most definitely 4 for 4 on picking out jewelry that is both beautiful and "me".

The next day, Kav got to enjoy his Christmas present, tickets to the Bruins game! Ovi and the Caps still hold the keys to my heart however ;)

Onto the practical side of things. Kavan also got me a food processor!! Picture one of those kids in the we're going Disney World commercials, and that pretty much sums up my reaction. hehe I am gonna have some fun with this! First line of business was to make something I would never dream to attempt without a food processor, scalloped potatoes. They are made lickity split with my fancy slicer blade. I am definitely making these again.....

In other news:

There was a blizzard and corresponding work from home day :)

It was grand.

To celebrate her return, my roomie Amelia and I made chocolate port lava cakes.

These little things should be illegal........

Here's to ME time! Thanks for joining :)

NYE Boston Style

Wow I knew it had been a while since my last post, but I hadn't realized it had been almost a month! Because New Years has always held a special place in my heart and because I want to get started off on the right foot, I'm gonna do a quick and dirty blog post before 1/1/11 is over!

I unexpectedly had to cancel my trip to DC for New Years Eve, and instead spend the NYE here in Boston.  Almost all of the people I know here were out of town so on 12/31 I decided to gather supplies and have a wonderful NYE by myself :) First off was dinner, I had a coupon for the local butcher, The Meat House, and decided to see what was on the shelves there. When I arrived there I realized A LOT! I chose the maple bourbon sirloin and was NOT disappointed.  And what would NYE be without some libations? I found a wonderful drink recipe (which I modified) which was basically champagne with some St. Germain. If you have never had St. Germain before, I would suggest going to the nearest cocktail bar and getting a drink with it. It's marvelous :)

An hour before midnight I ventured out to go see the fireworks at the Boston Harbor! They were massive and great ending to the night! Here's some pics of the fireworks and what I found along the way.

 Faneuil Hall :)

This tree has to be the biggest Christmas tree I have ever seen in my life!! The people in the foreground are a good marker for size.

Happy New Year Everyone!!

Peace