Limeade and Sweaty Runs

My students at the Brooklyn Apple Academy organized a Limeade Sale yesterday in Prospect Park to benefit relief efforts in Nepal. 

They also accepted tips for the ice fund (which fund them getting ices from the park vendor). We had an intricate discussion about full disclosure of funds and how important it is that customers can decide where their money goes. 

I did 5.18 miles in 52 minutes yesterday (including cool-down)- this brings me up to about 10.25 miles for the week plus a spinning class.

Sweat makes me proud.

Dinners have been sweet & simple lately- myself and the fella both get home so late that we usually toss a protein into a skillet, some couscous into the microwave on carb-loading days (Far East 5 minute mixes, you complete me) and serve with some raw greens. 

 Above: a pan-seared pork chop with coconut-oil caramelized onions and a mixed green salad- so easy to make and so, so satisfying.

On mornings like this one when I don't have to teach until the afternoon, I've been whipping up some single skillet meals, like this one- Al Fresco Sundried Tomato Chicken Sausage, red peppers, bok choy, an egg (over easy) and some avocado. Veg and protein and happy fat heaven.

While catching up on computer work, I'm sniffing this intoxicating branch my fella brought me last night. We had a lilac tree in the backyard of one of the houses I lived in growing up- it was perpetually trapped in the shade of this giant pine so it grew almost parallel to the ground desperately seeking sun. Every spring and summer our house would be filled with snips and snaps from that magical little tree. It's the simple things...

I'm currently DEEEEEP into post-production for my film directing debut- Father's Day. I'll write about the process some day, but my spare time is currently gobbled up by Adobe Premiere- I've learned by watching my fellow editors and now I'm wading into the water on my own to try to speed up our post-process. I'm hoping to submit to a few festivals this fall. Fingers crossed.  

Today I'll be swinging around some kettlebells before going to teach and then meeting up with some fellow Mitchell Scholars for a drink and a bite this evening.

How have you been sweating this week?
What's your favorite lazy morning breakfast?
Have you ever taught yourself a program/ software?

Oh hai, game. I'm back in ya.

Apologies for not apologizing for my insanely sporadic posting habits. Life's a little wild right now, but I miss ya, blogworld. Here are a bunch of random, unrelated things. 

I spent a few months about two years doing a lot of back-to-back theatre & dance projects and slowly letting my beloved fitness routine fall by the wayside. I've not been inactive by any stretch of the imagination, but I miss the zen I feel when I make time for myself to just get sweaty.

This week: 

Monday- Runday & Bootcamp

Tuesday- Run & Kettlebells

Wednesday- Spinning

Thursday- Cardi-OH yeah. Running and Elliptical

Friday- Kettlebells, Blogilates' 5 Min Tone Arms (OUCH, gurl. ouch.)

Jammin' On:

Private Screening of Noble, about Irish activist Christina Noble, at the Bryant Park Hotel with the US Ireland Alliance. 

Official paperwork starting to come through for my upcoming year abroad! I was selected as a 2016 Mitchell Scholar and will be spending the next academic year in Dublin, Ireland getting my MFA in Theatre Directing at Trinity College/ The Lir. More info on this soon.

I've been basking in the insanely beautiful NYC spring (we sure did wait long enough).

And I took a quick break for some homemade passion fruit margaritas on Cinco de Mayo.

I've been brown-bagging a lot, lately. The days are long- this kale & guac cup kept me rockin'.

And now, I'm off to spend the weekend upstate with my family. 

Perfectly Simple with ZonePerfect Event

A few weeks back, I had the privilege of joining the ZonePerfect team and several local bloggers/ writers for a relaxing morning at the beautiful Chelsea Piers. I snapped several pictures but sadly had my first (and hopefully last) experience with corrupted files at the end of a full memory card/ low battery, and I can't view any of them. The ZonePerfect team had my back, though, and sent me these images to share!

We began the day with a brief but relaxing yoga session led by Lisa Kirchner, who combined aromatheraphy with some soothing poses to get us centered.

After the class we were escorted to lunch where we enjoyed delicious salads and sandwiches and settled in to listen to the day's speakers.

Bonnie Dewkett, CPO and owner of the Joyful Organizer, LLC, offered some tips on our relationship to stuff and gave us three principles of organization to live by: 

-A place for everything and everything in it's place.

-Do a ten-minute-tidy daily.

-Do one thing a day that helps you meet your organizational goals.

Bonnie gave us a copy of her book, 50 Tips to Get You Organized in 10 Minutes or Less! which I cannot wait to read!

Kathy Alcoba, a CPT, spoke about efficient and sustainable ways to stay fit, including lots of gym-free options (stairs, dancing, boxing, resistance bands, stability balls) and stressed that no matter what you do to get sweaty, you MUST enjoy it, or you simply won't stick with it.

Heather Bauer, a RD and CDN, author of The Wall Street Diet and Bread is the Devil, spoke to us about simplifying nutrition. You can take control of your diet in a major way by doing some simple pre-planning- especially when traveling/ dining out. 

Heather gave us copies of Bread is the Devil- I'm psyched to dive in once I finish my summer reading for school. 

We were given samples of the new Perfectly Simple Bars- Cranberry Almond, Peanut Crunch and Toasted Coconut. These bars are delicious, and with only 10 ingredients, appx 170-200 calories and 10g of protein, these make excellent snacks or small meals (paired with a piece of fruit or a yogurt). 

Many thanks to the ZonePerfect team, guest speakers and other bloggers for an awesome morning!

Back to the Grind and a New Training Plan!

Sunday afternoon I hopped on a train and headed back down the Hudson. 

There are some landscapes that are ingrained into your fibers and very much a part of you. 

I feel that way about the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers. Just thinking about them makes me feel at home!

It's back to the grind, nutritionally, for this girl. As you saw in my vacation recaps, we at DECADENTLY! I don't take any of it back, but man, it threw me for a loop!

Protein oats with PB fit the bill nicely. 

Before Christmas, I picked up this bag of Pumpkin Spice Fall In Love Coffee- it caught my eye because I noticed that they donate a portion of the proceeds to improving the lives of their farmers. Fair trade and practices that benefit coffee growers are VERY, VERY important to me. I'm happy to report that buying this coffee satisfies both your conscience AND your taste buds! :)

In other news, I received some RoC Retinol samples as a Klout perk- I started using it last night- I'll let you know my thoughts once I've worked my way through the two tubes they sent me!

TOUGH MUDDER TRAINING LOG

I eased my way back into training with a 3 mile run yesterday, with the incline on 3. I'll be doing A LOT of incline work, as Tough Mudder VT is on... a mountain... Tonight will be a 4 mile run with 3 incline and some upper body work. 

I have a strange aversion to swimming for fitness. It's REALLY bizzare. I'm a fish- you cannot keep me out of the water, but something about doing laps back and forth sounds so horrifically boring to me. There's some swimming in the TM, though, so I'm assigning myself AT LEAST one swim this week. 

And now- off to school! Today is my "day off", but I'll be on campus from 11-9. The agenda looks something like this: 

-Individual meeting with program head

-Lunch meeting with classmate

-Graduate Theatre Organization Meeting

-Meeting with the director of my upcoming show

-Rehearsal with scene partner

-Rehearsal for a directing student's scene that I'm working in

-Gym

Does anyone else's "days OFF" look like this? Jeez Louise.

A Hazy Few Days

Hi friends. I missed you! Comin' atcha from the other side of my very first all-nighter. When I got into bed last night, I had been awake for 40 hours straight. It's awful for your body and mind, and I don't recommend it, though in a strange way I do feel as though I've earned my grad-student stripes... 

Here are a few photos from my hazy memory of the past two days..

Mmmm... Chocolate Pretzel with Sea Salt NuGo Bars make my heart sing! 

I waited for a train for almost 30 mins during rush hour. WHY, MTA? WHY?

I stopped by the school's secret dining hall that has decent food and is undergrad-free! SO. QUIET!

I chomped on this delicious quinoa, chia and millet based bar by TWO DEGREES. I <3 this company- they give a nutrition pack to a hungry child every time you buy a bar! Deal!

I desperate needed some vitamins, so I sucked down one of these...

I enjoyed a bagged lunch- carrots and almonds and yogurt, oh my!

And on the eve of my all-nighter the producer of the pilot Joe's writing surprised us with THE BEST PIZZA ON EARTH. I've posted before about my obsession with L&B Spumoni Gardens, but it bears repeating- this is the best Sicilian pizza you will find on earth. Anywhere. 

I also found this note- the hubs had baked!

And I got a great surprise in the mail- a package of Drink Chia! YUMMMM!

I just got back from a FABULOUS blog event that I'll tell you all about in the morning before heading to the NYC BLOGGER PLAYDATE!!! Tomorrow's NYC Blogger Playdate will include an epic sweat sesh at Five Points Academy followed by some delicious eats at Patois! Can't. Hardly. Wait!

Yumm in the Mornin', Yumm in the Evenin', Yumm at Suppertime....

Since my marathon sickness has had an impressive run, I feel obligated to give updates. I'm still sick,  but *fingers crossed* I think I've turned the bend and am getting better! We shall see.

Greek yogurt, sunflower butter, bananas and a dark chocolate almond/ peanut combo is a pretty great way to start the day. 

I scarfed down another yogurt, some almonds and an apple during a break-I had a bunch of meetings yesterday in addition to class and rehearsal. 

When I got home (earlier than usual), I had a late lunch of Creamy Apple, Pumpkin and Delicata Squash Soup (which recently won the Swanson Blogger Recipe Contest) and a grilled cheddar and asiago sandwich. Mmmm....

And then, this salad happened. It was a few minutes before Fitblog Chat and I realized I was STARVING again. Avocado, wheat berries, tuna with hot sauce and TJ's Eggplant Garlic Spread. Heaven. 

Don't forget to let me know if you're in the area and want to join for any of the upcoming NYC Blogger Playdates!

Also, I signed up to attend the BlogHer Holiday Meetup- any other local bloggers going?