Life is funny in the way that it ebbs and flows. Bad things and good things alike seem to come in waves, and right now it's high tide happiness. It's been a long time coming, and I'm planning on embracing it while it's here. I won't even get into the details because everything is so feelings-based, for lack of a better description.
Marvelous is...
Finding a new and unique hidden gem. Justine's in Providence. The location is kind of hush-hush with a lingerie shop display in a sketchy neighborhood, but once you get past the curtain, it's a gorgeous intimate bar setting with amazing $5 cocktails and a great bar staff. Check out the awesome menu:
I ordered a manhattan (my recent drink of choice), but sampled my friend's Brandy Alexander, Ward 8, and Charlie Chaplin. I was happiest with my choice, but the Brandy Alexander was incredible...just too rich to drink the whole thing. And in classic fashion, I started up awkward interactions with a slew of people at the bar. I do it because I can. It makes for some interesting memories.
Marvelous is...
Returning to yoga after almost an entire week's (unintentional) hiatus and unrolling my brand new Jade yoga mat!
Extra long teal Harmony mat ♥
Marvelous is...
Finally achieving a yoga pose I've been working on for months. I don't know if my body just needed a rest to reset, or if it was all the positive energy emanating from my beautiful new mat. Whatever it was, I'm so excited to have finally held one-legged crow! And I know it wasn't a fluke because I've done it about five times since then. Brief holds, mind you, but holds nonetheless.
Thanks, Katie, for hosting another Marvelous in my Monday!
Let me preface this post by saying that American Horror Story this week gave me the serious creeps. I can't deal with that butler, or all the blood. Ugh.
Now that that is out of the way, onto more marvelous things. Like the weekend. I'll do my best to keep descriptions brief despite all the amusing and awkward details. Honestly, it's too much to share, and I'd have no idea where to begin.
Friday night I finally got together with another girl who works for the trivia company after several reschedules. We were going to check out Justine's, but we ended up at The Avery because it was easier to locate. No complaints there. I would have snapped a picture, but it's always super dark in there. We happened to end up seated next to this group of completely insane group of people ranging from what I guess would be late 20s to late 40s. Long story short, they convinced us to go with them to Lili Marlene's on Federal Hill, and we stupidly offered them a ride. Weirdest mile-long drive in my life. It took like 20 minutes to fully get out of the Avery parking lot haha.
Lili Marlene's was not what I expected from a bar on Federal Hill. It isn't exactly easy to find unless you know you're looking for it. I actually wasn't even sure it was open when I looked from the street. Upon walking in, all I could think of was a speakeasy. Again, too dark to take a picture. I loved the vibe of this place, and definitely want to go back. My grapefruit martini was amazing and for only $7.50 for a drink on The Hill, I have no real excuse not to. Our experience at Lili Marlene's was filled with just as much surreal and random interactions, even after our drunk/crazy "guides" were cut off (no surpise) and left.
Saturday is better explained in pictures, I'll leave the details up to your imagination:
Marilyn Monroe themed bathroom at The Scurvy Dog in Providence.
The usual yoga on Saturday and Sunday mornings left me feeling a little better about all the alcohol I consumed. All in all, a solid weekend that deserved the entirely unproductive Sunday I had. I'm also a little bitter that I have to work today despite it being a holiday. At least I won't hit much traffic.
I will preface this blog post by saying that I have had en extremely eventful week. Do I feel guilty about all the eating, late nights, and lack of exercise? Yes, but I'm really trying not to. And I'm actually finding it easy to push those thoughts to the back of my mind and hope for more weeks like this in the future.
I am so thankful to my Uncle Mark for thinking to invite me to Trans Suberian Orchestra on Wednesday night. I've always wanted to go, but it seems to sell out every year. Now I know why.
Holy lights, lasers, and long-haired men.
Last night I had no plans to go out. All I really wanted to do was chill at home on my couch doing next to nothing, however, when my sister actually wants me to do something with her, I jump at the opportunity. I have to say our relationship has been so much better than in the past recently, which really makes me happy.
Anyway, my mom, sister, and I headed to LaSalette Shrine to meet up with her boyfriend's family and a couple of her friends. I haven't been to LaSalette since before my dad passed away and it has definitely changed.
They added thousands of LED lights this year and it is absolutely gorgeous.
I've always loved the indoor display of the hand-crafted nativity scenes. There were far too many to get pictures of, but I thought this big display was pretty cool.
We also lit a candle in memory of my dad.
I just wish the prayer steps hadn't been closed due to ice. Not like I pray, but I had done the stairs with my dad when I was a kid and it would have been nice to do that again.
Overall, a solid week. Today I return to yoga after my brief-yet-far-too-lengthy hiatus. Definitely going to struggle there ha.
I had every intention of blogging today, but things got a little crazy. I worked from 9am until almost 7pm and was nonstop busy all day between meetings, trying to figure out healthcare plans, and a Christmas caroling event. Why is it that the "fun" things are always the biggest headaches? Although I should note that I've had a lingering headache since my unfortunate yoga fusion accident on Tuesday.
My day off on Wednesday was spent Christmas shopping with my friends. Since my family is so particular and difficult to buy for, I left every store I entered empty handed with the exception of Target, where I scored this awesome Hello Kitty tee for $3.50. How could I justify not buying it?!
I came home to two packages: my Vitacost order (filled with amazing goodies for me and some Christmas gifts, hence why I didn't disclose it's contents) and...
My iPad mini arrived five days early! Woo hoo! With my mantra, "all you need is love," engraved on the back.
I spent my night toying around with it and syncing it to my other Apple devices. So excited!
I have to let it be known that Vitacost is an amazing company that is all about customer satisfaction. I had an issue with my order and the customer service rep was so patient and helpful. The company even emailed me afterwards to follow up and apologize for the issues I was having, despite it not being their fault at all. I can't say enough positive things about this company. I highly recommend ordering through their site.
- Having the ability to laugh at myself for mistakenly wearing moccasins to the gym this morning, and pushing through a workout regardless.
Clearly I do spend too much time in the yoga studio and not enough time doing cardio. I forget what it feels like to wear sneakers...or have a brain haha.
- This wine, which I'm enjoying after a massive thanksgiving dinner. Drops of Jupiter red blend. If it reminds you of the Train song, you're dead-on. It's from the lead singer's winery.
Didn't snap a picture, but I had an enormous sweet potato, white meat turkey, gravy, chili roasted broccoli, and warm red cabbage salad. Yum!
- My amazing family
This picture is from the last holiday we spent together before my dad passed away. Easter 2010. Today we are smaller, but stronger, and I'm so grateful for what I grew up with and what I still have. I love my family and wouldn't trade them for the world.
I mentioned my pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving celebration with my godfamily in my last post. Needless to say, it was a blast. But let's be real, how could I not have an awesome day when I was sporting teal leggings? Bold colors make me feel happy.
As always, I ended up playing bartender and blowing everyone's minds with my drink concoctions. My favorite sampling of the night was what I called a Caramel Maple Cake. The Red Hot Apple Pie and the Cinnamon Pumpkin drinks were pretty incredible, too, if I do say so myself. (Just a side note, my "drink names" really do nothing more than describe the flavors of nips that were randomly purchased and combined. ) I sampled all night without actually imbibing, however.
Sunday morning yoga was great as always, and almost all of my favorite people showed up. Yay! A good workout + good conversation = success.
I spent the rest of my Sunday grocery shopping, doing laundry, joking around with my family, and taking the opportunity to watch Meet the Millers since my sisters rented it OnDemand last night.
Oh, and I have to mention that leftover turkey is the best and I enjoyed it for dinner on a salad with spicy brown mustard and habanero mustard for dressings. Yum!
Not to break from the positivity, but my Weather Kitty made me sad today with the forecast. So I put on glasses on him. Yeah, didn't change the fact that it didn't reach 30ºF
This is why I hate New England. At least this cat is amusingly adorable.
Monday's forecast, regardless of the physical outdoor temperature, is looking a-okay to me. Lunch with someone on my caseload as part of my workday, vinyasa and hot yoga, and a 3-day work week.
As always, thanks to Katie for the push to see the positive side of Mondays. Linking up!
Case in point, Thursday night. I had made plans with a co-worker to hang after work at our usual spot, the Thirsty Beaver, but when she went home with a migraine, I texted a friend and suggested we go out that night. I'm usually really bad at coming up with new places to check out, even though there are a million places I want to try (I really should start keeping a list), but I suggested we grab drinks at The Grange in Providence.
Fast forward to 8:30pm. We park in front of this:
Weirdest store front display I've ever encountered. Napoleon Dynamite status.
We waited for a seat at the bar and asked the bartender what he suggested off of their drink menu. We were a little indecisive, but decided on some drinks...somehow he managed to make us both the wrong drinks. Go figure. But it was a pleasant mistake, I'd say. I ended up with the Holy Smokes (left), a mezcal-based cocktail with basil and a smoky aftertaste. It was mind-blowing. My friend got the Adonis, made with bourbon, Pama pomegranate liqueur, and a slew of other alcohols. It was really strong, but had a good flavor. The best part? The drinks were mixed in a beaker, it was like watching a mad scientist work.
The place was adorable. There were swings by the windows and a little lounge area, a dining area for the restaurant, the bar, and it looked like there was a bakery section with a display case to the right of the bar that might be open during the day. I loved the vibe.
My friend ordered the quinoa dish with butternut squash, avocado, and lettuce. Delicious. The Grange is owned by the same people who run the Garden Grille so we expected nothing less.
We opted to stay for a second round of drinks, something I don't typically do since I'm a lightweight, but we just weren't ready to leave and I'm trying to embrace my 20s. I had a tequila-based cocktail with various citrus notes and orange oil; Kristen ordered an apple cider cocktail served with a dried apple chip. Again, both were amazing.
Gotta give The Grange a solid 9/10. A little pricy but so worth it for the experience. I'll definitely be back!
Sancho Panza (left) and Helen of Troy
Good thinking on having a hearty breakfast-for-dinner before I consumed all of that alcohol: Bob's Red Mill Scottish Oatmeal with 1/2 scoop of Designer Whey Sustained Energy vanilla protein powder and 1T dry butterscotch sugar-free Jello Pudding mix.
+
I love the texture of Scottish oatmeal, especially when you add in the pudding mix. Dessert without the sugar.
Time felt like it was standing still throughout my entire workday on Friday. This long weekend is going to feel so good. I already started it off on a good foot last night when I made out like a bandit at JC Penney. Colored tights on clearance for under $3 a pair! Plus two unpictured fitness tops for $5 each and an adorable pair of workout capris. I rang up at $34 for it all, but the cashier gave me a random $10 off. Steals.
We ended up buying a new "Smart" TV for the basement with built-in wifi and all that jazz, so I spent the rest of the night with my sisters assembling the TV stand and setting up the TV while my mom watched, glass of wine in hand. She claims she helped. Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mom ;)
My snack before said TV assembly. Weird, but so good.
Pictured above is a typical snack when I know I need to take in a little more fat and protein at the end of the day and when I'm blessed to have a near-empty jar of peanut butter. I was especially fortunate this time to have Peanut Butter & Co White Chocolate Wonderful <3.
Basically I use 1/2 cup of egg whites and 1.5 T dark chocolate cocoa powder with a little chocolate stevia to taste. Mix it all up in a large microwave safe bowl until it's combined and microwave on high for 90-120 seconds. Then I break up my little chocolate egg white puff and scoop it into the nut butter jar, seal it up, give it a shake to melt all the peanut butter into the egg whites and enjoy straight from the jar with a spoon. Damn right I make sure to scrape every last bit of peanut butter out of that jar.
We took advantage of the WiFi to watch this hilarious Jimmy Kimmel segment where celebrities read mean tweets about themselves, then segwayed into Zach Galifinakis' Between Two Ferns videos. I also enjoyed a glass of Redvolution red wine. Don't hate on BotaBox.
I'll leave you with some LOLs, courtesy of Jimmy Kimmel:
P.S. Apologies for the long-winded post, but it's been an eventful past few days!
