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. 

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.

My Rematch with (TOUGH MUDDER) Destiny

Allentown, PA- May 2010. This happened.

Englishtown, NJ- November 2010. This happened.

Mt. Snow, Vermont- May 2011. This happened.

My first-ever migraine.

I put on a tough face for my boys and signed in/ got marked...

...but when the time came, I sent them off on their own and slept off the beast while they KILLED Mt. Snow- one of the toughest of the Tough Mudders. 

Last night, I registered for a rematch. 

May 6th- 2012. This will happen. 

Bring it on, Mt. Snow.

And Now, Back to our Regularly Scheduled Programming

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

Ahh... now I feel better. :)

Today is the first day of my second semester of grad school. I cannot believe at the end of this semester I'll be halfway through my graduate degree! Ayayayayya!

I thought I'd catch you up on the past week, as I've been preoccupied with recaps from Hawaii and the NYC Blogger Playdate!

GROCERIES. I know. They excite me too!

Joe and I haven't bought meat in almost six months. Neither of us are vegetarians in theory, though our diets usually flop between vegetarian and vegan when we prepare food for ourselves at home. Joe made an announcement a few months back that he didn't want to buy any meat unless it was hormone free and cage-free/ humanely raised. I complied, but this meant that the meat we were  allowed to buy was usually a lot more than I was willing to pay, so we came home without meat week after week. I really didn't miss it, but when these cage-free, hormone-free, vegetarian cuts went on sale, we stocked up and popped them in the freezer. We eat meat so infrequently now that they'll probably last us the entire semester, but I'm ok with that.

I baked some drumsticks, glazing them with some TJ's Fig Butter and served with sweet potatoes and broccoli. A much needed detox after our delicious but RICH week of Hawaiian fare.  

Continuing on with the clean eats, Joe whipped up some bangin' chocolate oatmeal protein pancakes. I need to force him to write out the recipe. I'm pretty sure it's simple, and these babies were sooooo gooood. 

Most of this week has been spent locked in my house, doing homework and prepping for the first week of school. 

I was VERY ready for a night out on Sunday.

My upstairs neighbor, Nicole, invited us to sushi, and I couldn't refuse! We went to Chikurin to grab a few rolls. 

On our way home, we grabbed some boba tea! :) Mmmm.

After begging and begging and begging, Joe finally brought me Wafels & Dinges' special wafel of the month- mascarpone cheese with strawberries and crumbled biscoff cookies! :)

I particularly love it when he stops at the farmer's market on his way home. Blue potatoes, goat cheese and rosemary on a focaccia? Yes, please. 

On the fitness front, I've been doing some Daily Burn workouts, throwing around the kettlebells and going for a few short, easy runs. My back has been a bit tight, and I've been away from training, so I'm trying to ease myself back into things. 

AND NOW- off to school! I have a meeting this afternoon followed by a Speech class! Wahoo! :)

Don't forget to enter the SPARKLY SOUL giveaway!

It's Sparkle Time! Sparkly Soul Review and GIVEAWAY!

I think a little sparkle goes a long way, and a lot of sparkle goes an even longer way! :)

I spent several years with a near-permanent rhinestone fixture on my head as Miss Brooklyn and Miss Greater NYC, but those days have passed. Recognize the hottie with me in this pic from my recent Hawaii posts? It's my pal Inga, who currently lives in Honolulu. She likes sparkles, too. 

I've traded my crowns for some new head bling!

As a FitFluential Ambassador, I was recently offered the opportunity to try out two Sparkly Soul Headbands. I selected a thin band in black, and a wide band in silver. 

I've been extremely pleased with both! 

My thin, black Sparkly Soul band got me through this insane kettlebell workout without budging an inch!

I took the silver one on a test run, and matched it with some sparkly leopard print leggings! 

Sparkles and animal print? G-L-A-M-O-R-OUS.

 Watch the video to see how it did on my run through Manhattan Beach! 

GIVEAWAY

Sparkly Soul will send one lucky reader TWO headbands (one thin, one wide) in the colors of their choice! 

To Enter (leave a separate comment for each entry with a valid email- up to 3 entries per person): 

-Leave me a comment telling me which color(s) headbands you'd pick!

-Tweet- @keeliesheridan is giving away @sparklysoulinc headbands on Sweat = Success! http://bit.ly/zg498X

- Leave me a comment using the word "Sparkle" on my Facebook page!

I'll announce the winner on Monday, February 6th!

Happy Sparkling! :)

*I received this product as a free sample from Sparkly Soul. I was not otherwise compensated for this review. The opinions expressed here are my own.*

NYC Blogger Playdate- January 2012- Kettlebell Kickboxing and Buddha Bodai

I feel like I've been run over by a truck, in the best way possible. My EVERYTHING is sore. And happy.

Kettlebell Kickboxing very graciously offered the NYC Bloggers a free, private class to experience owner Dasha Libin's exciting and comprehensive new fitness fusion. 

From their website:

Kettlebell Kickboxing™ is a one-of-a-kind FEMALE only method developed by fitness & martial art expert Dasha Libin, MS,NASM-PES, NASE. Kettlebell Kickboxing™ redefines the body by combining the sleek and deadly motions of Muay Thai with the power and strength of Russian kettlebell training, creating a NON-impact 60 minute total body scorching class. Burn 1,000 calories – getting Long & Lean at the same time.

This high intensity workout combines classic kettlebell moves with kickboxing, martial arts and self-defense movements, broken up by plyometric bursts and a KILLER floor series that focuses on the core. 

Kettlebell work focuses on complex movements involving large groups of big and small muscles, challenging stability, balance, strength and cardiovascular endurance. The addition of kickboxing gives more dynamic and explosive options, keeping your body guessing and constantly engaged!

I have a history with kettlebells, so most of the moves felt pretty natural for me. Our instructors were very good at giving specific and easy-to-follow direction to help those without KB experience. We were all happy pools of sweat on the floor at the end! :) This workout leaves no muscle untouched!

Our gorgeous, strong and sexy group! 

@freckleandspice - Freckles And Spice
@RebeRoad - REBEats
@Sproutandpea- Sprout & Pea
@bkforkandspoon- Brooklyn Fork & Spoon
@AubrieF- Drunk on Opportunity
@_ErikaLeigh- Shoes, Shirts and Other Sh!t
@fitnessnyc- Fitness NYC
@dareyoutoblog- Dare You to Blog
@lschwech- Laura from Greatist.com
@kellyannefitz- Kelly from Greatist.com
@tonee78- Running, Loving, Living
@finishurbroc- Finish Your Broccoli

Thank you so much, Dasha, for having us! I will DEFINITELY be back for more! :)

Kettlebell Kickboxing has a DVD coming out soon- join their mailing list for updates!

By sheer coincidence, I had planned the January Blogger Playdate in Chinatown during Chinese New Year. 

The streets were full of revelers!

Trudging through the throngs of people to get to our restaurant was a workout in itself!

It's the year of the dragon!

I would NOT want to be the person who has to clean all of this up...

Our party of 7 settled in to a table at Buddha Bodai immediately- they very graciously accommodated us, even though we didn't have a reservation.

This vegetarian restaurant has a trillion options! Their menu is huge and everything looks delicious!

I got the steamed veggie dumplings (I'm a dumpling freak)!

I also ordered a bowl of Curried Vegetable Noodle Soup.

From L to R: Myself, Toni, Ashley, Aubrie, Colleen, Meredith and Erika.

(Fun Fact- there are four Fitfluential Ambassadors in this picture including myself, and three of us are wearing our awesome Sparkly Soul headbands- giveaway coming soon!)

The NYC Blogger Playdates keep getting bigger and more exciting! I'm so grateful to everyone who helps make them a success! Email or Tweet me for details on our next event!

Check out our past events:

September 2011- Hot Yoga
October 2011- Yoga Vida
November 2011- Five Points Academy Kickboxing