Okay, not quite as exciting as it sounds, but for me it's close. I may have mentioned that I hate the gym. The whole idea of having to go somewhere to work out and deal with rude people who bring stereos to blast through the whole room - not really for me. That's all changed now that I discovered Demand Fitness. I've only been using it for a few days, and I think for weights I'm still going to have to use the gym, but if it means no more treadmill, I'm sold!
Basically it's an online collection of recorded classes you can access, mix-and-match, and track what you've done in terms of time spent on cardio, strength, etc. The best part is, you can choose from a bunch of different payment options. You can do a day pass ($.99) up to a yearly membership ($99.99 - or around $8/month for those of you fellow COM grads who don't want to whip out your calculator). You can download classes to keep on your computer and also hook your computer up to a TV if you are opposed to keeping up on such a small screen.
They have tons of variety in classes and varying levels if intensity. Everything from a series of 5 minute workouts (same idea as 8 minute abs, etc) to belly-dancing to intense boot camp classes. The video quality isn't amazing, but it's doable. Some instructors are better in front of the camera than others. The building blocks are all there to do whatever kind of workout or class you are in the mood for, which is great for me because I get bored too easily with only the stair machine and treadmill for cardio options.
It's shocking there aren't more websites like this, but it's such a great idea, I'm sure there will be more soon....
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Alyssa Milano Designs Red Sox Apparel?
Ok to be accurate, not JUST Red Sox apparel, but rather MLB apparel in general meaning any of her designs can be customized to your preferred team.
Anyway, when I first heard about this I was having trouble drawing what we shall call the line of relevancy between Alyssa Milano and baseball when curiosity overcame my confusion and I was forced to do some browsing.
Other than the fact that I don't quite understand why Alyssa has to model her designs for the MLB shop, I have to say I don't hate them. In fact, some might even almost be worthy of a purchase, such as the jeans above.
Unfortunately due to the sheer lack of opportunities to flaunt my Red Sox fan-ness, at $65, I can't really justify buying these right now. I also have seen pictured elsewhere Alyssa's "kimono" style shirts (shockingly, photographed while ON Alyssa), which I'm kind of loving, but can't seem to locate in the MLB shop.
I guess in the meantime I'll have to settle for spreading the word and adding this to the (growing daily) list of reasons to move back to Boston pronto.
If you are lucky enough to live in Boston and smart enough to be a Sox fan, I suggest you grab a pair now before they become the next pink logo hat...
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
FOURDAYSYAY!
Yes, this is me being obnoxiously excited about the upcoming weekend. Really, though you can't blame me. Go ahead. Try.
A#1: I get to see Lindsay and Felecia
B#2: Did I mention I get to see Lindsay and Felecia? Did I? Damn, I'm just really excited about that...
There is also the fact that I have never been to Seattle, we are staying in a hotel that I don't really understand and am intrigued to see if it is really unique or just a dump, and I am going to see a childhood/family friend that I haven't seen or talked to in years.
And don't forget the food and alcohol. They have Thai food in Seattle, right?
This is all, of course, assuming I make it through the rest of the week, which at this point is not entirely a given.
A#1: I get to see Lindsay and Felecia
B#2: Did I mention I get to see Lindsay and Felecia? Did I? Damn, I'm just really excited about that...
There is also the fact that I have never been to Seattle, we are staying in a hotel that I don't really understand and am intrigued to see if it is really unique or just a dump, and I am going to see a childhood/family friend that I haven't seen or talked to in years.
And don't forget the food and alcohol. They have Thai food in Seattle, right?
This is all, of course, assuming I make it through the rest of the week, which at this point is not entirely a given.
Friday, March 16, 2007
My New Obsession
I don't like the taste of water. I always need to add a squirt of lemon juice or some similar flavoring to be able to drink it. I tend to drink Gatorade or the like, but since the alternatives usually have a lot of sugar or calories or both, I'm trying to drink more water. Last weekend at the grocery store, I came upon these small, simple, refreshing looking bottles of Hint Essence Water. I learned from visiting the website that there are at least a dozen different flavors, but the only ones my store carried were pomegranate-tangerine, raspberry-lime and peppermint, which are all amazing by the way. The tagline is simple: "drink water, not sugar" and idea is not necessarily anything revolutionary: water "accented with a hint of natural flavor." There are no sweeteners, preservatives, or (quite possibly best of all) no calories.
I'm sure I would not do it justice if I tried to describe why I love it so much so maybe you should just go try some. It's not terribly cheap - at my store it sells for $1.50 per 15 oz. bottle, I believe - but to me it is well worth it if it gets to me to drink more water...
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Florida
I can't tell you how many times I'm telling people where I am from (Ohio, Pensacola, Boston...) and I hear: "Why'd you leave Florida?" I never have a good answer, but I think this pretty much sums it up.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Pet Peeve of the Week: 2nd Edition
I did not really intend for this to be a regular topic, but here it is a week later and I have a new pet peeve so let's just go with it.
Let me start by saying that I'm not a gym person. I had never really set foot in one for the first, oh, 22 years of my life so the whole experience is still rather new to me. I'm also not particularly excited about going to the gym - it is hard for me to motivate myself to get there and once I'm there, its hard to motivate myself to stay. Part of this problem could very well be the gym itself, which is actually a rather worn-down "fitness center" in my apartment complex. Not a whole lot of machines to chose from, and only one of each. It's clean at least, but beyond that and some mirror walls, it's a far cry from Ballys, Healthworks, etc. No classes, no pretty locker room, one treadmill, one stair-climber, a few weight machines - seriously, folks, nothing fancy here. They key is it is close (just downstairs) and, best of all, FREE!
Here is the problem I've encountered on my last 3 consecutive visits as well as a few others before that. Some guy (always a guy) brings his clock radio, old school boombox, some sort of plug-in stereo and blasts his crappy gymrat music throughout the entire room. Now I never go without my iPod because it's a major factor in my motivation. Seriously - if it isn't charged, I can't go. The music these people blast is so loud that I can still hear their music, loud and clear, over mine with my iPod turned up as loud as it goes. This is seriously an issue.
As I said, I'm new to the whole gym-going experience, but this cannot be acceptable. In fact, I did some brief research on gym etiquette last night and music-listening is consistently touched upon. Most etiquette lists say something to the tune of:" don't listen to your iPod so loud that the person at the next machine can hear the music from your headphones." YOUR HEADPHONES. C'mon people, simple AM/FM players with headphones won't run you more than $10 - get thee to your nearest CVS and buy one. In fact, I'll buy it for you.
What really really irks me is that the problem is not just one repeat offender. There have been four separate people who have done this. Probably more, but four that I've witnessed. Surely there cannot actually be that many self-centered people who disrespect their fellow gym-goers, right? Well, I do live in L.A. so I guess that answers my question.
Let me start by saying that I'm not a gym person. I had never really set foot in one for the first, oh, 22 years of my life so the whole experience is still rather new to me. I'm also not particularly excited about going to the gym - it is hard for me to motivate myself to get there and once I'm there, its hard to motivate myself to stay. Part of this problem could very well be the gym itself, which is actually a rather worn-down "fitness center" in my apartment complex. Not a whole lot of machines to chose from, and only one of each. It's clean at least, but beyond that and some mirror walls, it's a far cry from Ballys, Healthworks, etc. No classes, no pretty locker room, one treadmill, one stair-climber, a few weight machines - seriously, folks, nothing fancy here. They key is it is close (just downstairs) and, best of all, FREE!
Here is the problem I've encountered on my last 3 consecutive visits as well as a few others before that. Some guy (always a guy) brings his clock radio, old school boombox, some sort of plug-in stereo and blasts his crappy gymrat music throughout the entire room. Now I never go without my iPod because it's a major factor in my motivation. Seriously - if it isn't charged, I can't go. The music these people blast is so loud that I can still hear their music, loud and clear, over mine with my iPod turned up as loud as it goes. This is seriously an issue.
As I said, I'm new to the whole gym-going experience, but this cannot be acceptable. In fact, I did some brief research on gym etiquette last night and music-listening is consistently touched upon. Most etiquette lists say something to the tune of:" don't listen to your iPod so loud that the person at the next machine can hear the music from your headphones." YOUR HEADPHONES. C'mon people, simple AM/FM players with headphones won't run you more than $10 - get thee to your nearest CVS and buy one. In fact, I'll buy it for you.
What really really irks me is that the problem is not just one repeat offender. There have been four separate people who have done this. Probably more, but four that I've witnessed. Surely there cannot actually be that many self-centered people who disrespect their fellow gym-goers, right? Well, I do live in L.A. so I guess that answers my question.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Pet Peeve of the Week
"Personalized" and "unique" are not the same thing. Sorry, but they just aren't. To keep those people who like to get technical happy: Yes, if something is personalized, it definitely makes it unique. No argument there. My issue is that when I'm trying to find a unique engagement gift and type said phrase into Google, I get bombarded with sites that personalize anything and everything you can imagine. Slap their names on... the wrapper of a giant candy bar and BOOM you've got a "unique engagement gift!" Yeah. Not really what I had in mind.
I'm still new to this whole process since I've been blessed with rational friends. So what in the name of Shooter McGavin do I get that is not useless, engraved, ugly, cheesy, or something that happens to be all of the above? And I hate gift certificates. I love getting them, don't get me wrong, but they are such awful gifts and not at all special.
Help. Now. Please.
I'm still new to this whole process since I've been blessed with rational friends. So what in the name of Shooter McGavin do I get that is not useless, engraved, ugly, cheesy, or something that happens to be all of the above? And I hate gift certificates. I love getting them, don't get me wrong, but they are such awful gifts and not at all special.
Help. Now. Please.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Long time, no write
So i just decided that not writing between October and February is shameful, so I'm getting one Jan. entry in before the month ends so I don't feel quite so bad.
Let's see...what have I been up to for the past few months...
John and I went to San Fran for Thanksgiving weekend. We drove up, along the coast (this is THE most amazing stretch of road I've ever seen), did some super-touristy sightseeing, ate some friggin amazing food. Stopped in Paso Robles, which is about halfway between San Fran and LA, to do some wine-tasting. Stayed overnight at the Paso Robles Inn, where our room's only source of heat was a fireplace and had a huge steak dinner.
I got promoted (finally) and have been both loving and not-loving that. I'm fairly good at what I do, it's WAY better than reception, and greatly increases the likelihood that I can transfer to the Boston office at some point. These are all huge pluses. The downside is that the VP I support is moody and intense, but I'm dealing.
My office's holiday party was a huge hit. Well we almost didn't quite make it there due to the cabbie's ignorance, but we did finally make it. Great food, fun people, free drinks, getting dressed up - all fun. Getting assigned to the head of the office's table was sightly scary, but it ended up being fine when we realized everyone at the table had lived in Boston at some point or another and loved it there.
John came with me to Ohio for a few days before Christmas - that was both great and awful - depending on which side of the family we were with at the time (I'll let you guess which was which). Then I had some time to hang out with my family before heading to Pensacola for a few days. My dad's house looks AMAZING! I know what all he went through to get it finished, but it was totally worth it in my opinion. Got to see Nick, Maggie, and some other high school people, which was fun and not nearly as awkward as I imagined it to be.
New Years was anticlimatic, which didn't really bother me. Something about LA and the options I had - I don't think the "doing nothing" option is really worse than any of the others. I'm fully planning on leaving this city for New Years next year, though (Hint, hint F). I'm not opposed to going all out, just not if it's not going to be worth it.
January has flown by. Seriously, where did it go? We went from being desperate to find a new apartment and move by mid-February, to just seeing what we find and moving whenever we found something decent, to throwing in the towel all together. Dude, we have it made compared to what else is out there. No thanks - I'll stay and, now that I've seen the alternatives, I'll love it.
We got some new neighbors across the hall, who are very cool and fun and we've been hanging out with them quite a bit. This always helps since most people in our complex think that they will get a lethal rash if they say hello to one of their neighbors. It's quite refreshing, actually.
I'm starting my price search for Boston flights for the summer, so get ready Boston-folks. Not long until John and Ash return for a visit! Hopefully not much longer until they return for good!
Let's see...what have I been up to for the past few months...
John and I went to San Fran for Thanksgiving weekend. We drove up, along the coast (this is THE most amazing stretch of road I've ever seen), did some super-touristy sightseeing, ate some friggin amazing food. Stopped in Paso Robles, which is about halfway between San Fran and LA, to do some wine-tasting. Stayed overnight at the Paso Robles Inn, where our room's only source of heat was a fireplace and had a huge steak dinner.
I got promoted (finally) and have been both loving and not-loving that. I'm fairly good at what I do, it's WAY better than reception, and greatly increases the likelihood that I can transfer to the Boston office at some point. These are all huge pluses. The downside is that the VP I support is moody and intense, but I'm dealing.
My office's holiday party was a huge hit. Well we almost didn't quite make it there due to the cabbie's ignorance, but we did finally make it. Great food, fun people, free drinks, getting dressed up - all fun. Getting assigned to the head of the office's table was sightly scary, but it ended up being fine when we realized everyone at the table had lived in Boston at some point or another and loved it there.
John came with me to Ohio for a few days before Christmas - that was both great and awful - depending on which side of the family we were with at the time (I'll let you guess which was which). Then I had some time to hang out with my family before heading to Pensacola for a few days. My dad's house looks AMAZING! I know what all he went through to get it finished, but it was totally worth it in my opinion. Got to see Nick, Maggie, and some other high school people, which was fun and not nearly as awkward as I imagined it to be.
New Years was anticlimatic, which didn't really bother me. Something about LA and the options I had - I don't think the "doing nothing" option is really worse than any of the others. I'm fully planning on leaving this city for New Years next year, though (Hint, hint F). I'm not opposed to going all out, just not if it's not going to be worth it.
January has flown by. Seriously, where did it go? We went from being desperate to find a new apartment and move by mid-February, to just seeing what we find and moving whenever we found something decent, to throwing in the towel all together. Dude, we have it made compared to what else is out there. No thanks - I'll stay and, now that I've seen the alternatives, I'll love it.
We got some new neighbors across the hall, who are very cool and fun and we've been hanging out with them quite a bit. This always helps since most people in our complex think that they will get a lethal rash if they say hello to one of their neighbors. It's quite refreshing, actually.
I'm starting my price search for Boston flights for the summer, so get ready Boston-folks. Not long until John and Ash return for a visit! Hopefully not much longer until they return for good!
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Wait...It's Halloween?
As my 2nd Halloween in California is about to come and go, I've realized that I pretty much just don't celebrate the fun holidays (4th of July, Halloween, New Years Eve, etc.) anymore. Case in point, this will be the 2nd year in a row that I am not dressing up at all. Part of this goes back to the fact that you actually have to be sober enough to drive after whatever it is you might choose to do. Now tell me, how fun are these holidays if you have to stay sober? Hello - "Boston holiday drinking"? Another part is that, while we have made a few friends out here, we don't really have any close ones, at least not any that are having parties we can go to. The other problem (this is the biggie) is that all the people I used to enjoy sharing these holidays with are...not here. Or rather, the problem is that I am not where these people are. Without these people, I just don't get excited about these holidays as I used to. Before you try to tell me this is my own fault, just stop. Trust me, I know this. I'm having trouble forgiving myself for this. I just hope that by the time I do get to be in the same place as these people, we're not too old to celebrate in fun ways.
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