5 Things: Signs of Warm Weather

With Boston being a cold weather city, there are a few things I'm always on the look out for to know that the spring season is upon us.
1.  Margaritas.  Margaritas are tasty any time of year, but as soon as the weather starts to get nicer they seem to be on every restaurants drink menu.  It's a good thing.
2.  Sam Adams Summer Ale.  Without question, the day I see Sam Summer on draft in one of my favorite bars is always one of my most exciting moments of each year.  This might sounds sad to some people but it's my favorite beer.  It has a full yet light flavor, but it's only available for a few months every year.
3.  Dining Outside.  Clearly no one is eating outside in the winter, but at the first sign of spring every Bostonian seems to be fighting for a table outside.  One of the reasons I love Boston so much is almost every restaurant has large windows that slide completely open out onto the sidewalk.
4.  Boston Red Sox.  This year Fenway Park is 100 years old, which officially makes it a historic landmark, on top of that the Red Sox also have a new manager this year... lots of excitement for Red Sox fans!  Baseball is popular in cities all over the U.S. but no city is like Boston when it comes to their baseball team, any sports fan can tell you... Red Sox fans are hard core.
5.  BBQ.  Who doesn't like grilled food?  Not only are grilled foods some of my favorite, but BBQing and grilling is a great excuse to get together and hang out with friends.

12 Goals for 2012

Oops! Sorry this post is a day late!
1.  WORKOUT REGULARLY...  As you can tell from some of my recent posts I've really been getting into my workouts.  Spinning class is my favorite.  Although I will warn anyone that hasn't done spinning before, walking down stairs onto the subway, or upstairs to your apartment doesn't feel too good afterwards.
2.  UNSUBSCRIBE... About a month ago I thought I was basically done with this one, but over the last month or so I've gotten a bunch of junk email.  It's a never ending battle.
3.  TAKE A VACATION... Well, my family is taking their annual beach trip in June.  So I'm looking forward to that.
4.  SLEEP IN MY BED... I've been doing really well.  The last two weeks I've gotten out of the living room and made it to bed almost every night.
5.  STAY CLUTTER FREE... This kinda makes me laugh because I just spent the whole morning putting away clothes and cleaning up.  I think my new part of this goal is going to be keeping up with my laundry, so by the time I do it I don't have as much to put away.
6.  VOLUNTEER MORE... The CCFA walk is the first weekend in June, and honestly I'm getting kinda frustrated because I haven't gotten as many donations as I thought I would, but there is still some time so hopefully I'll think of some good fundraising.
7.  DRINK MORE WATER... I've been going to spinning, enough said.
8.  TAKE MY VITAMINS... Not so good on this one.  Hopefully I'll have a better report for all of you next month.
9.  LEARN FRENCH... Last month I said "I hope I'll have something better to tell you next time", I don't.  This goal will be my focus for the next update.
10.  SELF-TAN... I was good for a bit, but as soon as I stopped I went back to being pale.  It's kinda frustrating.
11.  OPEN MY MAIL... My mail got rather stacked up over the last month while I had the workers in the apartment, but now I'm back on track.
12.  WEAR MORE SKIRTS & DRESSES... I've been looking pretty a few times a week at work.  I'm so glad I've kept this up, it even helped me get a date!

Fashion Mission: Gym Clothes

I've been getting really excited about working out recently.  It has made me realize that I need more clothes for working out.  If you're like me, I don't like to spend a lot of money on clothes that a majority of people see and that I spend sweating in.  In Boston, everyone seems to love Lululemon, but they are really expensive (work out pants are around $98!).  On Saturday while I was walking around Boston I popped into the Gap and I found the pants above on sale, I even got the matching tank top on sale!  These are my favorite for working out, they are made of a stretch material, and the fabric is made to absorb sweat (which makes me want to work out longer).  The fit is "Sexy Boot", I think boot cuts are the most comfortable they give plenty of space for your legs to move.

Fashion Mission: Work Shoes

Finding cute and comfortable work shoes have been a constant mission of mine.  I am on my feet all day, and it is important that I do not use uncomfortable shoes that make my feet hurt as an excuse for not going to the gym.  This past Saturday I was surprised when I found these super cute work shoes.
These are the Michael by Michael Kors Viola Mid Sandal, and I'm pretty excited about them.  Although they have the cuteness of a "going out" heel, they have a small "work wear" heel which makes them great for going straight out directly after work.  I wore them yesterday for the entire work day, so yes they pass the on my feet all day test.

Beantown Babe Blackout

This was the scene in the Back Bay earlier today.  A large transformer caught fire and smoke started to go all over the neighborhood.  Where was I?  I was a work, only 3 blocks away from the fire.  Here's the crazy part, I didn't even know this was happening.
I closed my store and headed to the gym (woo hoo! 12 goals!).  Just as I was finishing up on the elliptical the entire gym went dark.  Everyone started looking around, one guy said he was just watching the news and heard about the fire.  As soon as I left the gym I quickly realized something big was going on, because it wasn't just the gym it was everything, everywhere.
The Prudential... DARK
The John Handcock Building... DARK
Street Lights... DARK
Traffic Lights... DARK
All this caused cars to go crazy trying to get out of the city, as I tried to walk back to work to get my things.  Leaving normally lit up Newbury Street to look like this:

That's right just a few lights from cars.  I waited at work for a while for everything to calm down.  Since the subways in the neighborhood were closed down, I started walking.  I walked all the way down to the Aquarium where I finally hopped on a train and headed home.
It will surely go down as one of the most interesting commutes I've ever had. 

12 Goals for 2012

Here it is, March 12th already!  So, here's the update on my 2012 goals!
1.  WORKOUT REGULARLY... I am excited to report that I have finally canceled my old gym membership (although close to my apartment, I found that I never went after I got home).  I have recently joined the Boston Sports Club, it is only a block away from my work.  It makes it a lot easier to workout, I go there straight from work, therefore no excuses.  I just started last week, and I've already worked out three times.
2.  UNSUBSCRIBE... This goal is basically complete.  After the first few weeks of unsubscribing, it's great to only see the mail I want.
3.  TAKE A VACATION... As I mentioned in my last update, I went away for a few days to visit some of my friends in New Jersey.  I had four days off, it made all the difference in the world.  I felt so refreshed and revived afterward. 
4.  SLEEP IN MY BED... Still nothing!  The pro is one of my friends is moving in with her boyfriend, between them they have more televisions then needed so they are letting me have one for my bedroom, this should help.
5.  STAY CLUTTER FREE... I've remained pretty good with this goal.  I've had contractors coming in and out of my apartment, which has become a really good reason for staying clutter free.
6.  VOLUNTEER MORE... My work with the CCFA is going well.  I have sent out dozens of letters to local businesses asking for gift in kind donations.  Also, my friend Nicole (who is on the "Thomas' Tummy Tamers" team) and I are having a game night themed dinner party.  We are having in a "supper club" style of dinner, where everyone that comes is asked to make an anonymous donation.
7.  DRINK MORE WATER... Since I've been working out over the last week or so, I've done much better with drinking more water.  I normally have one liter a day.  Also, just yesterday I purchased soda for the first time this year.
8.  TAKE MY VITAMINS... Alright here's the truth, I take my vitamins about 70% of the time.  But, I'm doing better than I used too.
9.  LEARN FRENCH... There are some people that I know that learn languages, and other people that struggle with it.  I struggle with it.  Hopefully by my next update I'll be doing better.
10.  SELF TAN... Ick!  I'm so pale right now.  Thankfully Boston is starting to get it's first days of spring-like weather, which is just the push I need to get into the self tanning routine.
11.  OPEN MY MAIL... I've been able to keep this up.  I'll admit I have a small stack of unopened mail, but much better then the stack of mail I used to have back in 2011.
12.  WEAR MORE SKIRTS & DRESSES... I normally wear a dress about once a week or so.  Now that the weather is getting nicer, it is going to get harder to keep this up... making it even more important for me to self tan.

Five Things

One of my favorite things to find out about in magazines and blogs is other peoples lists of things they like, so I decided to share with you five of my favorite beauty products.  For this list I tried to pick items that aren't too expensive, and many of you may not have tried before.
1.  The Body Shop Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask - $22.00
I worked at The Body Shop for a while in college and this was one of the few items that I have kept going back to purchase.  It works well on the occasional breakouts, and it has a great cooling feeling.
2.  Nivea Sun-Kissed Radiant Skin Gradual Tan Moisturizer - $9.99
It's no secret that I enjoy self tanning.  Throughout my years of experimentation with different self tanning products this one has become one of my favorites.  Since it is a gradual tanner is helps to keep dark spots, and orange skin.  I use this one on my legs leading up to weddings.
3.  Bath & Body Works Midnight Pomegranate Hand Cream - $10.00
Since I work with the public, live in a city, and am constantly on the go I wash my hands a lot throughout the day.  To keep my hands from drying out I like to use this hand cream, it has a light fruity scent, and isn't too oily compared to others.
4.  MAC Prep & Prime Lip - $15.00
My dear friend Megan is engaged to a man that just happens to work for the company that makes my favorite makeup, MAC.  On one of my visits with them, he gave me this product and I've been hooked ever since.  I have had many of my friends ask how I get my lip color to stay throughout the day, this product is the answer.  I start with MAC Prep & Prime, then lipstick, then a little gloss.
5.  Sally Hansen Pumice Foot Polish, Lavender - $6.42
Since I work on my feet all day they take a beating.  Using this product weekly helps to feet my feet smooth and from getting too rough.
*Bonus Tips* There is almost always coupons for Nivea lotions in the Sunday paper.  Sally Hansen coupons can also be found in the paper, or in magazines.  The Body Shop puts out Groupons a few times a year, keep an eye out for these so you can stock up.