Anywhere But Here

There was never a doubt in my mind where I gained certain mannerisms and personality traits as I was growing up. My parents are intensely different in pretty much everything they do. When I spend quality time with each of them, those mannerisms and traits are magnified and I can pinpoint them in a heartbeat. I once took a spur of the moment road trip with my father from Austin to San Antonio (Texas) and during that car ride, he shared family stories and answered some of my bigger questions about life, maturity, and our family history. One of the stories he shared shed some light on an even richer background about a personality trait that I’d assumed was borrowed from him. He recounted a few instances where his mother would be finishing up the cleaning after dinner and on a whim, would say, “Mijo, let’s go for a ride!” He said they never had a real destination, they just went for a drive and spent quality time together, much like he would do with me. It revealed a legacy of encouraging the beauty of spontaneous adventure and it was something that I’ve always treasured. That day, my grandma gained 1,000 bonus hero status points!

 

I can always tell when my travel season is about to pick up because the travel bug bites harder and at the most random moments. My blood rushes and I get overly excited. I begin to stare out windows, envisioning far away places and my imagination takes me anywhere I want to go. I’ll more often than not, start humming a familiar tune like Rascal Flatt’s LIFE IS A HIGHWAY or Foo Fighters’ WHEELS or the like.  And in that moment, I’m not sitting on a crowded bus waiting to get to the transit center. I’m not standing in front of a microwave listening to the droning sound of my lunch heating up. I’m not waiting at the copy machine in FedEx hoping that the guy in front of me is only copying one sheet out of that giant book he’s got with him. No, I’m flying down the highway at 80 mph with my hair blowing in the wind and the speakers blaring catchy tunes—a wild woman on the loose, taking in all the sights that the world around me has to offer. Lately, that vision has been ingrained in my mind. I’m guessing a good reason why is because next weekend I will be joining two of my closest friends on a road trip to Leavenworth. Though we may not actually cruise down the highway going 80 (believe me, we’ve had the safe speed debate in a previous ride), we will be together, sharing an adventure and building great new memories. I could not be more excited!!

 

 

I recently got to participate in a Mixtape Exchange hosted by a friend of mine from Texas. From time to time, he gathers a large group of music-loving strangers to create/ship out a mixtape CD to one another through his random selection.  The concept is simple—everyone makes a mixtape CD for someone they don’t necessarily know, they all ship it out at the same time, and they all receive one around the same time. I LOVE this concept. I LOVE designing new artwork to go with the mixes I make. I LOVE being a part of this and sharing the music I hold dear with others on the lookout for new tunes to spin. When it came time to make my mixtape for this go-round, I decided to give it an adventurous travel theme! I think it turned out really well. These songs and more will also be accompanying my friends and I on the road to Leavenworth next weekend.

 

So if  you’re looking for new tunes to blast through your car speakers, or you’re just bored and in desperate need of a dance break, check out this mixtape playlist and enjoy! 

It’s also available on my Spotify
(except original/demo tracks)

Brighter Than The Sun | Colbie Caillat
Oh, Love | William Beckett
Not Over You (Gavin DeGraw Cover | Will Anderson of Parachute
Shake It Out | Florence + The Machine
48 To Go | The Fray
Laugh It Off | Eisley
I’m Shakin’ | Jack White
Blood Brothers | Ingrid Michaelson
Keep The Change Ya Filthy Animal | All Time Low
We Are The World Tonight | Runner Runner
Super Bass (Nicki Minaj Cover) | Nicolle Galyon
We Owned The Night | Lady Antebellum
Good Life | OneRepublic
Amelia Jean | Jack’s Mannequin
Southern Belle | Guthrie Scarr
Learning | Green River Ordinance
Young Blood | The Naked and Famous
In The Mourning | Paramore
A Face To Call Home | John Mayer
Ships In The Night | Mat Kearney 

2012
05/23
CATEGORY
Music Discovery 101
That's Right, I Said It
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Run For Your Life | The Color Run 2012

Color me excited—I got to participate in the first ever Color Run in Seattle!

As I mentioned in Saturday’s post, the anticipation along the road for The Color Run has been building in me for a while. Yesterday, I finally got the opportunity to join my best friend and her husband in what I can only echo as “the happiest 5K on the planet!” Now, having participated, I am already looking forward to next year’s run as well!

If you know much about me, either through life or this blog, you would know I am SO not a morning person. However, knowing that I’m going to be spending the morning embarking on a fun, new experience had me ready and waiting at 6:30 a.m. for my best friend and her hubby to pick me up so that we could make our way down to Seattle Center for The Color Run! We grabbed coffee and breakfast at a nearby market, and people watched like mad as the crowd around us grew. We were amazed at just how many people (1) had even heard of this event, and (2) would be joining us for the run that day!

After fueling up with breakfast, we took our spots in the massive line, shook our groove thangs to the dance music booming over the speakers, and got our engines ready to go for the moment they let our wave of runners take to the running route. Once they let us out the gates, we all kept a great jogging pace and just enjoyed the ride. As we jogged our way through the route, we beamed with excitement when we saw the first color station, where we would be blasted by volunteers on the sidelines with blue powder. We felt like champs! It’s funny how something so silly as colored talc made us feel like kids again and motivated us to get to the next kilometer. We blasted through each station, keeping pace with one another, commenting on our surroundings, and developing strategies for getting maximum color coverage (Read: Rolling around in the excess powder on the ground). There was never a dull moment for us as we laughed, chatted, and encouraged each other along the route. When we crossed the finish line, we were floating between accomplished, excited, and dead tired! Alas, there was no time for rest! The party continued on as we entered the large grassy area in front of Fisher Pavilion with more dance music blasting from the speakers and a herd of other color-doused participants.

When we had gotten our runner packets at registration, they came with an individual pouch of extra colored powder that we were instructed to hold onto until the Finish Line Festival. As we entered the Finish Line Festival, we were greeted with a countdown and every person around us throwing powder in the air and at other participants in a wild frenzy. It was AWESOME!! We threw some of our powder in the air as well and stuck around in the area for a second blast (Color throws occurred every 15 minutes to assure that every participant received an opportunity for equal coverage). The emcee on the main stage was calling people up for dance and costume contests as we waited anxiously to throw more color powder in the air. By the time we headed back to the car, we were covered in color and giant smiles. We carried the excitement with us to coffee at Uptown Espresso and lunch at Zeek’s afterward. We talked over lunch about our fun experiences and how much we wished that others could have joined us. We are all looking forward to doing this again next year, and building a bigger team so that others can have fun getting fit while feeling like a kid again!

If you’ve never participated in a 5K, or think a 5K has to be just another boring run, or if you’re just looking for a fun way to get out and exercise, I HIGHLY recommend you sign up for The Color Run in your city! It’s a one-of-a-kind experience you won’t regret or forget!

 

Here are some of my favorite photos from the day!

 

Me, Heather, and John before and after The Color Run!

Joining the ranks

Ready and waiting

A little pre-run dancing was definitely in order

Making our way through the 1st color station

Victory in technicolor

Done and done

Color powder pawty time!

Leaving our mark all over Seattle Center

Post-run party people!

Done with the run, ready to refuel!

 

 

2012
05/14
CATEGORY
DISCOVERY
Fit Life
That's Right, I Said It
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Chasing The Light

If anyone ever tells you that getting fit is a piece of cake, please do me a favor and tell them,

“That ain’t cake you’re eating.” 

 

My road to reclaiming a healthy lifestyle has been a rough-and-tumble adventure thus far, but through hard work, sacrifice, and a raging passion to discover just how far past my pre-conceived boundaries I can push, it’s been completely worthwhile! Every landmark along the way has been beautiful and exhilarating, giving me the momentum I need to keep going. When I began this journey, I hadn’t really excelled at setting and attaining fitness goals. In fact, it still takes me a while to figure out what exactly I want them to be each month. This month, I decided that my goal was to be able to RUN a 5k. I’ve participated in two 5k runs before, but for the entire duration of both, I walked . . . slowly. I also wasn’t very fit, which I used as an excuse to not even put forth much more effort than a brisk walk. I didn’t even have motivation to work up to a jog.  But my, how things have changed! Thankfully, I’ve been tracking a fitness tag on one of the social networking sites I use and I was able to take note of a 5k that is right up my alley . . .

 

 

That’s right—tomorrow morning, my best friend and her hubby will be joining me in one of the most creative 5k’s I’ve ever heard of! When I talked with my trainer at 24 Hour Fitness about my past 5k experiences and how I wanted to do The Color Run, he helped me set up some training drills and provided so much encouragement to help me build up the strength, endurance, and positive attitude it would take for me to reach this goal. I decided that this was worth the effort to track over time, so I set up a photo journal to be able to share my progress with friends and family along the way:

 

 

As the days moved closer, I had some important conversations with my best friend about our differing fitness levels and what we each wanted to get out of The Color Run. Though I want success in running the 5k, we both agreed that there was no way we’d be able to run it together in a way that would allow me to get an accurate run time that reflected all the hard work I’d put in. Being the idealist who constantly strives for a win-win situation that I am, my compromise was that I would run the actual 5k distance on my own and use that time to reflect my 5k run. Using Map My Run, I set up a route that I could use:

 

Having completed the run, these are some things I learned:

  • Starting your run on an incline is BRUTAL.
  • Because I was starting on an incline, I got all psyched to build momentum, which meant I started at a fast pace. This lead to slowing down a LOT sooner than I believe I would have, had I not started on an incline.
  • Running on a treadmill in the gym is NIGHT and DAY compared to running on neighborhood sidewalks.
  • There is an abundance of dog walkers on this route.
  • The change in inclines and terrain was definitely challenging.
  • The change in air pressure and temperature was very taxing on my lungs, but now that they’ve survived the run, I’m pretty sure they’re made of slightly tougher steel.
  • Music helps me run SO much!!!! There were so many moments during the run I was ready to quit. I tried to give myself excuse after excuse, but then the song would pick up, or an inspirational lyric would come along and I would suck it up and just keep going.
  • Post-run stretches are heavenly. Also heavenly: My post-run protein shake!
  • Completing the 5k run made me feel so good! I had reached a huge goal and I was proud of myself for NOT QUITTING, as I’ve been known to do through so much of my life.

 

 

In my training drills journal, I’d been sharing some of the music that I’ve been listening to during the drills to keep me motivated to push through to the finish line. So what better way to end this sucker than by sharing my actual running playlist? Yeah, I don’t know either. ;)

 

AMO’S 5K RUNNING PLAYLIST:

Warm Up:

Chasing The Light by Mat Kearney

5k Run Loop:

 Brighter Than The Sun by Colbie Caillat
Keep The Change You Filthy Animal by All Time Low
Unstoppable by Runner Runner
I Like It Like That by Hot Chelle Rae
Harder To Breathe by Maroon 5
Whirring by The Joy Formidable
Comeback by Redlight King

Cool Down/Stretches:

If I Die Young by The Band Perry

Ohhhhh. You’d probably like to know my time for the 5k run, right?

Right.

Well, boys and squirrels . . .  drum roll please . . . 

Yes, my friends, I did it! There were definitely moments during that entire 36 minutes that I slowed down to a light jog or brisk walk, but for me, the main thing was that when I did slow down, I didn’t stay there. I pushed myself to pick the pace back up and I finished strong, running through to the end!  Though this run took a bit longer to run than the last one I had done on the treadmill, I couldn’t help but keep my head high. I realized a lot of it had to do with adjusting to the air, elevation, and terrain—and I’m okay with that. And who knows, I may just decide to run that route again at the end of the month to see if my time improves. It felt great to get to that finish line, catch my breath, celebrate my accomplishment through every beautiful stretch, and know that I didn’t cheat myself from a victory! It also felt good to refuel and relax afterward . . .

Overall, I’m SO glad I did this run on my own so that I’ll be able to be fully present with my friends during the run tomorrow. We may run, we may jog, we may walk, but the main thing is that we’ll be together having a super fun time!

I went to pick up my packet and now I have everything I need for The Color Run. The positive buzz surrounding the packet pick-up area really got me super jazzed and every time I look at my bag of goodies, the anticipation just builds even more.

Now I’m just waiting and hoping I can sleep through the buzz tonight.
With my 5k goal reached, the countdown is on for The Color Run tomorrow! 

2012
05/12
CATEGORY
DISCOVERY
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With A Little Help From My Friends

My wish for every person on this planet is that they would have at least ONE friend that they could just be stupid funny ridiculous with. It’s quite possibly one of the most liberating things in the world. I mean, it’s great to have friends that will call you on the carpet when you’re being irrational, and it’s wonderful to have friends that you can whine and cry to during those tough times. Honestly though, there just is no substitute for those amazing friends that you can talk to about nothing and everything and walk away feeling completely fulfilled as a person. I’m incredibly blessed to have a few of those. I got to spend time last night with my best friend, Korin, and she is definitely one of those spectacular people! She’s caring, kind, beautiful inside & out, and is totally hilarious!

Korin and I often meet up at the Jewel Box Cafe (Hogwarts, as we like to call it) to get work done. She’s a nursing student, and I always have design projects going on. We just work really well when we’re near each other . . . most of the time. We’ll generally exchange stories about our day for a couple of minutes, check in with each other to see what we’re working on, and then get work done. However, there is always that off-chance that we’ll get all silly and not get any work done for a while. Last night was one of those nights. I had posted something to her Facebook on my way over and we just kinda ran with it. Even after I got to the coffee shop and we were sitting across from each other, we kept the shenanigans rolling hard to the very end. What started as something so simple quickly became the best entertainment for the night. And though I didn’t get all of the things done that I had scheduled to get done last night, I’m absolutely not sorry.

I hope you enjoy this little Facebook exchange as much as we did:

[click photo to enlarge] 

And just in case you’d like a more intimate look at my life, here is my bum ovary. ;)

And this my friends, is just further proof that:

My freak flag still flies high
I have incredible friends
I should not be allowed on the internet

2012
04/16
CATEGORY
Best Friend Tourettes
That's Right, I Said It
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Life By The Drop

 

I’ve had the song lyrics from Texas Tornado rolling around in my head all morning. This can only mean one thing . . . I just got back from visiting my hometown! Yes indeedy, I just spent a week down in the Lone Star State, drinking lots of coffee, sharing lots of laughs, and making brand new memories with friends and family. This was by and far my best family visit yet! Anytime I go home, it’s difficult sneaking in quality time with my siblings because everyone is on ridiculous schedules but this year, it was a success and I got to spend some real quality time with my sibs and my nieces. I think the bonus to the trip was getting to drive to and from Houston with my 3 year-old niece consistently referring to herself in the 3rd person:

“Where is Annabelle’s coloring book?”
“Can Annabelle have a booster [Easter] egg?”
“I not Cutie Pie. I Annabelle.”
“No, that belongs to Annabelle.” 

Every year on Easter weekend, my mother’s side of the family gets together for a great big family reunion, so this seemed the best time to visit home for the year, since I knew a good majority of people would be there. There are plenty of age old traditions that shine bright during the weekend:

  • Swimming and tanning at the beach in Galveston
  • Homemade mexican food featuring some incredible family recipes
  • Never-ending Texas BBQ
  • Country music blaring from the speakers of huge trucks
  • A relentless attack of cascarones that will leave you picking confetti from your body for days

Usually, I make this trip alone. However, this year I brought my best friend, Heather, with me to join in the shenanigans! I have shared so many family stories with Heather and we kind of joked about her coming home with me to experience it all. Thankfully, her wonderful hubby was willing to let that joke become reality and encouraged her to join me for a fun Texas vacation! Here’s a little bit of what we experienced:

 

Non-stop laughs while watching WHIP IT on the flight to Austin

 

Curbside pizza & southern stories with friends on SoCo

 

Workin' hard on our wave jumping technique and our rad new tans

 

Got to enjoy a beautiful sunny day with the fam at our annual reunion! We even made sure that Heather got the full Arroyo family experience by shoving a carton (or 2) of cascarones in her shorts. Dats how we do ;-D

 

And then, of course, they all got me . . . in the back . . . and the front. :O

 

Meeting the newest member of our family, Bethany, for the first time!

 

Dinner + great convos with some of my wonderful friends

 

Which naturally leads to fun times in toy shops . . . | Photo by Kat Atkins

 

Two photo shoots:

One with Sandie near the beach

 

And one with Annie in downtown Austin

 

And of course, mucho quality time with . . .

Me and my sibs

 

And my mom

 

And my pops

 

Plus a lot more sightseeing, local eats, meeting up with other groups of friends, and a lot of late night laughs! I’m so glad I got to go home and see all my wonderful family friends and even more glad that I got to share those experiences with my best friend!

2012
04/12
CATEGORY
DISCOVERY
That's Right, I Said It
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Hungry Like The Wolf

If you had asked me 4 months ago if I’d like to spend 8 hours on a Sunday cooking meals that I was going to store away in a freezer for weeks, I would have said, “Nope. There are about 8,000 other things I’d rather do with my time and energy. For instance, gouging my eyes out with a fork or surrendering millions to a Nigerian Prince that was kind enough to e-mail me an offer I can’t refuse.”

However, last Sunday, I did actually factually spend over 8 hours in a kitchen, prepping meals that I was going to freeze for weeks. It wasn’t too long before then that my best friend, Heather, and I had talked about having a Freezer Meal day. We weren’t exactly sure what it was going to look like, but we knew we wanted to try it. We’d read about people doing freezer meals and were curious to see what all the hype was about. So a couple of weeks in advance, we figured out 4 meals that we would both enjoy making and eating and threw in a granola recipe just for the fun of it. Here is what we decided on:

 

Clean Eating Cranberry Maple Granola

(Not) Butter Chicken

Clean Eating Slow Cooker Meatloaf

Sun-dried Tomato & Turkey Burgers

and

Pecan-Crusted Chicken Strips!

 

 

So after mapping out our meal plan, we hit up the Safeway and came home with some serious food loot! Luckily, we each had some of the ingredients already that we contributed, and Safeway was having an INCREDIBLE sale on their meat. When all was said and done, we ended up spending about $60 each at the grocery store for all of our groceries!

 

So with our groceries all set, our recipes set, and the Kitchen Tunes bumpin’, we embarked on our Freezer Meal Party adventure!

First on the menu was the Turkey Burgers! What can I say, I like getting my hands dirty. ;)

 

Heather was in charge of the bagging and tagging

 

Next up was the granola—or as Heather likes to call it, Cran-Ginger Granola Awesomeness!

 

My favorite part was opening the oven over and over to catch an even stronger whiff as it baked. Once it was baked and cooled, we used Heather's handy dandy bag holder to bag it up. I really want one of those for my own kitchen!

 

One of our favorite restaurants in Seattle is SAFFRON GRILL. It's delicious Indian food! We could probably eat all of the butter chicken they have if it were up to us . . . and if we had limitless stomachs. Alas, we opted for this healthier take on one of our fave dishes. Also, this recipe introduced me to my new favorite spice: GARAM MASALA! It's such a complex and rich spice!

 

Then we moved on to the turkey meatloaf. My favorite part was making the giant crater in the meat (so I could put the rest of the ingredients in the center to create an even distribution) and mashing it up afterward as if I were a bulldozing company or something. I know, I know. But I can't help it. I still like to play with my food!

 

Since we had some leftover meat after making our full loaves, we decided to take a hint from something we'd seen on Pinterest and we put them in a muffin tin. They were the PERFECT little Loaf Lunchies!! They're so easy to cart around and they're a great size!

 

Next we moved on to the Pecan Crusted Chicken Strips. The chicken marinade for these is INCREDIBLE! I know it looks like a mess here, but it tastes delish! Heather had a fun time mixing the marinade in the pot as if it were paint on a canvas.

 

After everything was cooled, Heather bagged it all up. We looked at it and were so surprised that 1) the time went by so fast, and 2) we really made ALL of that!! :O

 

All in all, we made:

  • 2 bags of Cran-Ginger Granola Awesomeness
  • 2 bags of Loaf Lunchies
  • 2 bags of Whole Wheat Basmati Rice
  • 2 medium-sized & 1 large-sized bag of (Not) Butter Chicken
  • 2 bags of Pecan/Panko coating mix
  • 4 bags of Pecan Crusted Chicken Strips in marinade
  • 4 Pans of Turkey Meatloaf
  • 1 bag of Turkey Meatballs (from the burger mix)
  • 1 bag of Turkey burgers

 

There may not be an "I" in Team, but there is an Amo and a Heather!

 

After slaving over a hot stove, countertop, and sink all day long, we felt very accomplished . . . and very exhausted . . . well, maybe not Jolly. ;)

 

Yeah, so these are gonna last me a while . . . I'm looking forward to doing this again! It was time-consuming and took a lot of prepping, but it's such a great experience. Now I can cut back on my excuses when it comes to "not having healthy food handy in the house!"

 

Many, many thanks to my personal trainer, Josh R. at 24 Hour Fitness Northgate,  for teaching me the importance of nutrition and getting me started in the right direction when it comes to “eating clean” and taking responsibility/ownership of what I’m using to fuel my body.
And many, many thanks to Heather’s hubby, John (“Jolly”), for being our official Taste Tester for all of these recipes and for putting up with our non-stop shenanigans and “That’s What She Said” jokes. :D

Though, to be fair, we did kinda repay him in food . . . so there's that. ;)

2012
03/30
CATEGORY
DISCOVERY
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Forever and Always

It felt a bit like a bonus Christmas gift when I found out that Parachute was coming back to Seattle so soon after their show here with Kate Voegele. They rarely get the chance to come up here for shows, so two days after the tickets had gone on sale, I snatched mine up and did a happy dance—I knew that I’d be seeing mah boys so soon! Anytime Parachute comes to town, my day is automatically supercharged and it’s cause for celebration. In true celebratory fashion, I got off of work early and went to dinner with my best friend, Heather, at Thai Tom (quite possibly the BEST Thai food I’ve had in Seatttle). Afterward, we grabbed coffee and talked about life and the upcoming concert and pretty much everything under the sun. It was the perfect setup to what would be one of the best nights of my life.

Me + Johnny Pancakes

As I was waiting in line for the doors to open, Nate came out and said hey and gave me a hug. That made me smile big time because I seriously felt like it had been forever since I’d seen him, even though it hadn’t. At that point, I knew that since he was out grabbing dinner, the doors were even closer to opening. Throughout the course of the evening, I made friends with a new concert buddy who had just moved to Seattle from Maryland. We had a lot in common and hit it off quickly and easily. I found out that we share the same taste in music, love the arts, and we both have forearm tattoos . . . you know, all the important things. We stood next to each other and had fun singing and dancing along during the show. At one point, Will threw his guitar pick in the crowd and I saw it on the ground and handed it to my new friend. She said it totally made her night and that made me even happier!

Me + Kit

One of the many things keeping me on Cloud 9 through the day was knowing that this show was only going to feature Parachute and O.A.R. and that there would be no other openers, which meant longer set times! Parachute’s set made for a fun, high-energy, rock show like no other. Then again, those guys never fail to bring their A-Game to the show. There were a lot of sweet surprises throughout their set—the biggest being when Jerry DePizzo (O.A.R.) came out to join the guys with a top-notch sax feature during SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN. Watching Kit and Jerry have an onstage saxophone jam session only raised the energy level higher and the crowd went wild! Will led the crowd through all the favorites, including my personal favorite, She (For Liz). The guys rocked every song on the setlist hard with killer guitar solos, bangin’ beats, and onstage dancing. I was sad to see them leave the stage, but looked forward to hearing more from O.A.R., whom I hadn’t heard much of before that night.

Me + Alex

O.A.R.’s set was just as energetic and full of surprises as Parachute’s. As they played the night away, I kept thinking, “This is THE perfect show combo. They were seriously musically made for each other.” The sound was incredible and the beats were bumping. We even got a surprise guest trumpet solo from Rashawn Ross (Dave Matthews Band)! As the band played on I discovered that I actually knew more O.A.R. songs than I had thought.

Me + Nate-Tron

After the show, a group of us “Chutes” hung out around the merch booth anxiously waiting for the guys to come say hey. It was funny to see everyone looking up and down the hallways on pins and needles to see if it was them coming around the corner or not. Will, Alex, and Johnny finally made their way up and we all got to chat with them, get our things signed, and photos taken with them. I got to chat a bit with Johnny and Alex about Rashawn’s  trumpet solo and life in general—Alex even complimented me on my graphic design work! As others dwindled down, my new friend and I stuck around and got to talk more with the guys. I asked Will what was coming up after the next short headlining run and he said that they would be spending some time in the studio recording some of the new songs he’d worked on. Imagine a 5-year-old with $100 in a candy shop . . . that’s how I felt as I grinned ear to ear. He also shared some new upcoming releases and touring info that made me even more excited! As we made our way out to the lobby, we ran into Kit and Nate and stopped to talk to them for a long while. It was so great to get to see the guys and to hear their excitement about the new things coming up for them. It made me so proud of them and hopeful that even more people will get the chance to hear Parachute’s rockin’ music.

Me + Willy-J

After the venue staff let us know that it was time to shut the place down, we carried the convos on outside until the guys had to head back to Selsun Blue (their brand new blue tour bus) to hang out with O.A.R. for one last hurrah before parting ways. It was such an incredible evening and even though I got home at an ungodly hour and didn’t have much time to sleep before the next morning’s intense Boot Camp workout, it was worth it—those guys always are!

Here are some of my favorite photos that I took during the show. You can also scroll down to watch some of the videos, including my FAVORITE—Marc Roberge (O.A.R.) and Will doing a cover of Ryan Adams’ DESIRE!

Me + my new concert buddy!

VIDEOS:

2012
02/05
CATEGORY
Music Discovery 101
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Don’t Stop (Color On The Walls)

My year of “DISCOVERY” is off to a great start!

So far, I’ve made many positive changes in my life and I’ve been able to push past my preconceived limits to try new things and get to know people in my life on a whole new level. In flowing with my theme of Discovery, I’m proud to say that last night, I went on my very first Art Walk. Having lived in Seattle for the past 4 years, I’ve heard of these, but haven’t always been keen to try them due to ignorance and a busy schedule. However, when I found out that one of my amazing Turbo Kick instructors, Rob Vincent, is an artist and was going to be displaying his paintings in the Wallingford Art Walk, I jumped at the opportunity! I love all things creative, but I was still unsure of what to expect at an “Art Walk.” What I discovered was a burst of creativity and inspiration in a very relaxed style—right up my alley!

As I walked into the lobby of Key Bank in Wallingford, I was greeted by Rob’s smiling face and his gorgeous paintings. My all time favorite that I couldn’t help but stare at over and over while I was there, was his painting of “On the Aegean, Santorini“:

We got to talk about his history of painting and how he manages to paint while maintaining his other jobs plus a new little baby boy. We also talked about his travels and it definitely refueled the travel bug in me. Each of his paintings had so much detail and  whether it was a painting of a fish, a cat, or a door, they all created a sense of joy and peace, I could hear the level of Rob’s passion for art as he discussed some of the stories behind the paintings. That only made the paintings in the room that much more wonderful. Another part of the showing that captured my attention was his series of doors. There’s just so much symbolism for me in the concept of doors—where they will lead, which ones need to be shut, who else has traveled through it, and so on.

Having found his website, I also discovered this gorgeous cut paper art that I love!

I had such a wonderful time at my very first Art Walk
and I’m really looking forward to going to another one soon!

RVincent Art

RVincent Art on Facebook

2012
02/02
CATEGORY
DISCOVERY
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One Big Holiday

As friends of mine are spending the next few days in Disneyland, I find myself in my own little theme park. My theme: SNOW! I know it’s the unpopular opinion, but I do appreciate the beautiful snowfall we just got in Seattle. When I first moved here 4 years ago, so many people assured me that it barely ever snows here and when it does, it’s only half an inch or less.

Yeah.

Right.

Every year since I’ve been here, it’s snowed . . . a LOT!

Since my friends are at Disneyland, but still have a foreign exchange student, Renee, to provide meals for during the week, they asked me to housesit and cook for her. This has proven to be both wonderful and a bust. Wonderful is waking up to a lane covered in snow, snuggling next to a fireplace, sipping on a homemade latte, and playing the Wii.

The bust is trying new recipes and having them not turn out quite as well as you plan them to. I clearly did not inherit my dad’s cooking skills. It hasn’t been too bad, though. The learning process has proven to be one of the funniest things for me. At least the Freschetta pizza I made in the oven last night was a solid hit. Meanwhile, I skipped the pizza feast and chowed down on my leftover black bean burger mash—I call it mash because well, it just doesn’t quite hold the same form as the ones in the pictures.

I’ve also been getting work done for my 9 to 5 job. I loaded up my external hard drive with documents and photos to edit and organize. With all this snow falling beautifully around me, it’s been tough to focus. Yesterday, I caved and took a break so that I could do a snowy photo shoot! Thankfully, Renee was willing to join me out in the winter wonderland so that I could get my photo fix.

Here are some of my favorite pics:

I’m really thankful that it “never snows in Seattle” . . . because it’s given me so many reasons to enjoy life outside of the office environment, work on projects in my pajamas, experiment with food, and just relax. Now that all my 9 to 5 work is done, I think some quality coffee hang time with friends is in order. And away we go!

Shopping Cart Art

2012
01/20
CATEGORY
DISCOVERY
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Run The World

Sweat was dripping down my forehead as I looked over at Jolly, both of us on all fours, scooting across the basketball court on hand towels. With a slightly pained look in my face, I asked,

Why is our government spending so much money training soldiers in coercion tactics? We could just take spies, make them do this Boot Camp workout, and they’d be spilling the beans to make it stop in no time. This is obviously a much more effective, quicker, and cheaper option!

I took a second to catch my breath, looked around at the other gym members in class doing the other Boot Camp stations and just told myself, “Don’t quit. Don’t quit. Whatever you do, don’t quit!” I guess my stubbornness does come in handy from time to time. For someone who is naturally lazy in the fitness department and could care less about whether or not I can bench press 100 lbs or win a wrestling match, it takes a lot to motivate me to work out. Thankfully, I am surrounded by amazing people who help me work on my weakness . . . literally.

I’m grateful for the incredible team at my local gym, 24 Hour Fitness (Northgate). They offer a very diverse selection of classes and the instructors are wonderful! You can imagine how incredibly uninspired I am to wake up early on a Saturday to lift weights, do kickboxing, or circuit training. However, knowing that I’ll be greeted with a smile at the front desk and  motivated by the encouragement and challenge from the class instructors has helped me come back time and again to Body Pump, Boot Camp, and Turbo Kick.

Another cool thing I’ve been able to do at 24 Hr. is work with an amazing trainer! My trainer, Josh R., has been able to work with my lack of knowledge/skill and teach me some GREAT workouts that I can do in and out of the gym. Because of his training, fun sense of humor, and patience with my sassiness, I was able to make healthier choices in my nutrition and do some quick, fun workouts when I was home for the holidays. The result of that was not only avoiding the excess holiday pounds, but shedding a couple instead. Getting a gym membership has motivated me to actually get off my butt and out of the house to make healthy change happen in my life. It’s also developed in me a confidence that even when I can’t get out I can still do kick-butt in-house exercises. It is perhaps one of the best investments I’ve ever made in my life.

Another part of my motivation to work out has been my awesome workout buddies. I get to work out with my best friend, Heather J., every Tuesday night before going to Biggest Loser night with our friends. We also work out together every Saturday morning, alternating mainly between Boot Camp and Turbo Kick classes, and every so often the Body Pump or Aqua class. On Mondays, I’m going to be working out with my other friend, Maggie, in Zumba class. Yes, Zumba—that class that reminds me just how un-Latin my hips are. Again, the instructor is fun and it becomes more of a dance party than a workout. My housemate, Afton, also comes to the gym to workout with me from time to time. Other times, I have to find my own methods of motivation to drag my butt there. So I game plan my workout, fill up my water bottle, and crank up the tunes!

Music motivates me a lot during solo workouts. Though I am a punk rock princess at heart, my inner guilty-pleasure pop queen comes out to play when it’s just me and the machines. Here are my top workout tunes that help me sweat to the not-so-oldies:

Warm Up

I Feel Like Dancin’ by All Time Low
Whirring by The Joy Formidable
Fences by Paramore
Release Me by Jack’s Mannequin

Sweat It Out

Tonight, Tonight by Hot Chelle Rae
Raise Your Glass by Pink
You Make Me Feel by Cobra Starship (Feat. Sabi) 
Run The World (Girls) by Beyonce
Pretty Girl Rock by Keri Hilson
Renegade by Paramore 

Cool Down

We Owned The Night by Lady Antebellum
Young Blood by The Naked and Famous
Heartbeat by The Fray
Patience by Plug In Stereo

Some other things that help me with my nutrition/fitness/health:

Evernote

My trainer got me started on keeping track of a food log at the end of our first session. When he asked me to keep track of it for the first week, I thought, “No prob. I got this. This is silly.“ Since I’d never done one before, I went online to find a sample and I did. Keeping a food log is great and I wish I’d done it sooner. Yes, it’s annoying and tedious, but it caused me to be more aware in the moment because I knew I was going to have to write down how much of everything I was eating and turn it in to someone else. Still I did it and I ended up doing fairly well. When I came back from vacation to check in with him, I realized I had a minor problem—I accidentally left my papers in the literature pocket of my airplane seat. After that, I decided to change my method so that I wouldn’t have to worry about losing papers. I created a notebook in my Evernote just for FITNESS. In it I keep my food logs, my weekly menu/shopping list, and exercise ideas. Since I have the app on my phone, there’s no excuse for me to not write things down in the moment or lose a piece of paper . . . unless I lose my phone, which would be a total nightmare.*

Lose It! App

On this fitness journey, I am a calorie-counter. Now, let me just say that I know there are so many differing views on this approach. Some think it’s silly, some think it’s overwhelming, some think it’s unnecessary. And you know what, maybe it is, but it works for me. And since it works for me, I decided to make it REALLY work for me by using an app to help me out. This handy dandy app allows me to track what/how much I eat and how many calories it equals up to. It’s been a really good way for me to look at the bigger picture of what I’m putting into my body and learning where my weaknesses are when it comes to food. It also provides a website, that it syncs to, where I can keep track/print up reports that I can show to my accountability partner each week so we can see what I need to add/take away from my diet.

Social Networking

When my trainer looked at my food log, he noticed the amount of times a week I eat out and set forth a challenge: Go grocery shopping and make meals at home. My immediate excuse was that I was too busy and my life is just so go-go-go. He said for me to just think about it and try it. I gave him my skeptical sassy look and probably rolled my eyes, and he just dealt with me patiently and said, “Seriously, think about it. This is your chance to decide what you want to put in your body.” His grace, patience, and perseverance in that conversation motivated me to get serious and really think about it. Shortly after, I realized that I actually know next to nothing about nutrition and health, so I shot some rescue flares out on Facebook and asked others for ideas. My friends all rallied with me, commenting their suggestions, emailing me recipes, offering to go shopping with me, and sharing some more nutrition advice with me. I’ve also been able to use the EXERCISE/CLEAN EATING/HEALTHY FOODS tracked tags on Tumblr and my Pinterest for health tips and workout ideas.

I now feel more confident about my weight-loss journey and I’m looking forward to seeing more results and having more fun times at the gym with my friends. And to top it all off, I can tell that BL nights are going to be even more of a riot—this season of The Biggest Loser is already shaping up to be a hit!**


* first world problems, duh.

** see what I did there??

2012
01/17
CATEGORY
DISCOVERY
Music Discovery 101
That's Right, I Said It
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