Stripping down for cancer

Between last weekend's cancer benefit, celebrating my fabulous mother on Mother's Day and taking off for a quick work trip to South Beach, it was been quite the longest yet shortest week at the same time for me.

The packed two day conference allowed for six cherished hours out on the beach with an old coworker who happened to be there too. I also learned that Kelly wouldn't win any award at applying spray sunscreen because my back looks like my favorite vibrant red M.A.C. lipstick in Ruby Woo right now. (Ouch!)

The water and beach was absolutely stunning and I need to book a winter trip here.

Saturday night brought me back to my hometown (of sorts) to raise money for cancer at the 4th Annual Bachelor/Bachelorette Auction for the Lorain Cancer Crushers in honor of a friend's mom who passed away from the disease.

An auction is just a plain old auction until someone takes off their shirt and pants or brings in a more appropriate prop like a dog, specifically one named Tiny to help rake in the money in the name of kicking cancer's ass. (After many attempts, Brian sadly wouldn't pull the dog out of his shirt as a surprise like I wanted him to, but he did bring the little dog on stage.)



Brian with his dog, pulling in $700 for event; a shirtless bachelor and the party table

Miami Vice lookalikes

the one and only jules of the sea

A long time ago (some six years ago when I first started this blog), my mom was pretty interested in the idea, and of course, encouraged me to start one because it sounded cool to her.

When she understood what I was planning, she excitedly asked if she could be a guest writer and I obviously said NOOOOOOOO so she decided that she would start her own, "Jules of the Sea." She said her clever blog name in front of my friends, which made us laugh incredibly hard, and we often refer to her just as "Jules" now and sometimes by the full amazing name "Jules of the Sea" for added effect. (If my mom only understood how funny she was at sometimes.)

Check out the chain necklace on Jules - I have one just like it today.

Mom, sometimes your wisdom and advice knows no bounds and here a just a few highlights of what I'm continually grateful for -

• Your distaste in anything "diet" growing up because I still dislike any diet pop.

• Letting me express myself in my catholic school uniform by wearing brooches, that nice black opal ring I lost of yours at the water fountain and too big of earrings, which were often commented on by the principal as "what not to wear." (What did she know anyway?)

• Letting me experiment with hair color (and my brother's in high school) and lying to me when I chunked my dark brown hair with bright blonde highlights like the Spice Girls. (It never looked good, but thanks for paying for it!)

• Celebrating my birthday every year like it was the first one with not one but two cakes for my friend and family parties. (This totally explains my obsession with celebrating my own and everyone else's birthday like it's going out of style.)

• Allowing me to start a pen pal as a third grader because it started my love of writing and was the first inkling of my future blogging life. (Yep, that's right!)

• Appreciating the small things like an impressively beautiful moon - I know more about a harvest, full pink and full flower moons than I ever thought I would.



Just our secret, mom......

Happy Mother's Day!



A day in the country and city

Last weekend, my friends and I escaped Cleveland for what we thought would be warmer weather and a little bit of southern hospitality from our friend.

Southern hospitality? Check.

Warmer summer-like temperatures? False. Fail. Nada.

Not to be set back by the weather, my friends and I spent Friday out in the "country" in Cookeville at my friend's house set on five acres, where we spent the afternoon hiking along the Burgess Falls Trail before the storm rolled in at night.

Hiking the Burgess Falls for the afternoon

On Saturday, the storm stayed and wouldn't leave the greater Nashville area, but we still drove to the city to start our tour of downtown Nashville. Little known fact - everything seems to close VERY early, which is something none of us thought to check.

So, we were left with four hours to spare before dinner after we toured the Walk of Fame and the Parthenon. It was raining and chilly so we popped into a few bars to soak up all the honky tonk we could at Honky Tonk Central, B.B. King's bar and Paradise Park Trailer Resort.

Touring Nashville in the rain; Amber brings a koozie to every bar; selfie of the group

My favorite bar by far was Paradise Park - it was a trailer park within a bar. Picture astro turf with picnic tables to play beer pong and flip cup on plus a car/boat thing (I'm still not sure which it was) that you could "sit" in as well. And the band? Total honky tonk country songs that I have never ever heard, but that didn't stop me from dancing with a few locals.

Best bar ever, Paradise Island

The other awesomely amazing thing about Nashville is that everyone, I mean everyone, wears cowboy boots with anything and everything. Dresses, jeans, shorts and skirts. I almost, and I mean almost, want to buy a pair for the summer and fall.  But then again, maybe I'll just stick to my "futuristic" sneakers as they were pointed out to me instead.

card games gone wild

Let me introduce you to a card game.

Not just any card game.

Quite possibly the most inappropriate card game you will ever play.

With friends.

the makings of a very fun Sunday Funday

In public.

On a patio.

Or maybe that's just my friends.

Cards Against Humanity is incredibly raunchy, ridiculous and highly offensive which can cause unexplainable laughter that makes you hit the table, snort and spit out your adult beverage of choice all at the same time.

It's like Apples to Apples but more like if Zack Galifianakis, Andy Samberg and Chelsea Handler all had an innapropriate child with wild hair who ran around pantless, yelling obscenities at the top of his or her lungs while throwing glitter in the air. (Everything is better with glitter, right???)

Play at your own risk.

But do play because it's absolutely amazing.

And order a set while it's available on Amazon. You better believe I did!

Adding a few of these doesn't hurt the fun either

trying...... to run like the wind

Leading up to my half marathon, I signed up for the 10 miler to test myself and see how far away I was from the goal my running friend and I set of a two hour half marathon. My final time clocked in at one hour and thirty-eight minutes, which is NOT going to work for a 2 hour half, so I have a lot of damn little bit of work to do to see if I can make my goal. Tempo runs and some sprints here and there should help me cut my time down or I can just hope that I get multiple bursts of energy during the race.

Race day bib and shirt

Line for the porta potties always makes me laugh

Post race smiles because the finish line never looked so good

Without a taking a much needed nap, I rallied at night and joined friends to celebrate Danielle's 30th birthday at the new Society Lounge on East 4th. We were set up in a small back room complete with balloons, 30th birthday suckers and a cake to help usher Danielle join the dirty thirty club.

Even though I live steps from the Society Lounge, I haven't been downstairs to check it out but the space is gorgeous with large booths and tables, low lighting and one hell of a lounge singer all Rat-Packed-up in a snazzy bow tie. My friends sipped everything from moscow mules to a few old fashioned cocktails that were quite delicious if I do say so myself.

30th bday cake; Birthday girl Danielle in the center taking a bite out of her fab cake

at the moment

I've become increasingly obsessed with a few items that I have been stalking my favorite sites to add to my closet. Remember when I shared I keep a list of clothes to buy on my iPhone? Yes, I really do that because 1) it helps me stay organized 2) reminds me of what is worthy to splurge or save on.

Let me introduce you to my new favorite accessories store - Accessory Concierge. A trusty Chicago friend introduced me to this page after I repeatedly commented on how I loved the statement necklace I saw in photos.

Like their page and welcome to the amazing world of accessories!

Voila! It was from Accessory Concierge for half the price you would have paid at J. Crew. They have sales on specific days, make sure to be on Facebook when their photo album goes on sale and write "sold" on the photo you want and it will be yours. (You have to install the Soldsie app on your page but it's super simple and let's you order instantly!)

pave necklace and McQueen knock off scarf

my most favorite necklace ordered so far. Perfect for dresses and t-shirts

Over the past few months, Birchbox has introduced me to two staples in my make up bag -
Dr. Lipp nipple lip balm and Dr. Jart BB Cream. You can't go wrong with these products. Really, you simply can't. Your lips feel incredibly luscious, soft with a hint of shine and even the palest skin looks completely even without looking gray with this BB cream.

you won't regret this.

a light layer, every day.

And my last favorite piece so far is my jean jacket from the Gap. It was the perfect price (25% off!) and fit for what has been a staple in my outfits (I wear this in some way at least 2-3 days a week). I can't get enough of it.

Expect to see me in this. A lot!

Happy shopping!

lift, tone and burn (in that order)

"A little inch, just a little inch," are words that inflict pain to my lower half during barre class every single time I go from either Jo Jo or Lori, instructors at the Purre Barre Westlake. Who knew a "little inch" could burn so much!

When the Westlake studio first opened in February, I was lucky enough to win a week from a Facebook contest they held on their page prior to opening because I was dying to try this "ballet" craze I had been reading about online.

I'm up for a fitness challenge. I should say I'm up to try new things that challenge and motivate me to get better with each class. Oh, and having friends that attend help and make the challenging I-want-give-up-and-throw-this-ball-at-you parts not that hard.




red ball of "fun"; 2 lbs get HEAVY realllllly quickly in class, friends.

This, my dear blog readers, is one of those challenges for me so I asked Lori, Pure Barre Westlake owner, to name the top three misconceptions of Barre for those skeptics -

1. "It's a "wimpy" work out and we just "dance around with light hand weights during class."

 

Although Pure Barre is low impact it is high intensity and one of the fastest ways to change your body and get in shape. It's certainly not for "wimps" ;-)

 

2. "Barre fitness is only for people who have ballet and dance experience and that we teach using ballet/ dance terms & language"

 

Barre fitness is inspired by ballet, but the strength and conditioning that is used to trained dancers. We do not use any dance terms and most people who come to Pure Barre have never taken dance or ballet classes.

 

3. You have to start taking barre class in great shape and that everyone who goes to barre studios are super skinny.

 

Pure Barre is for people of all shapes and sizes. We help transform bodies and help people reach their fitness goals, so most people come to class in need to get into shape.

Every time I go, I think "I've got this in the bag," and then I'm quickly reminded how ridiculously difficult some of the moves are with the tucking to the front, left and then right with your pelvis while you are on your tippy toes in a squat position with one arm in the air and the other trying not to grip the bar for dear life and not let your legs collapse beneath you all at the same time.

Damn the tuck I tell you!

While I manage to leave in one piece with my entire body still pulsating after busting out the last 4 minutes of working my J.Lo, I'm kindly reminded the next two mornings when I realize I have muscles all over in my back, butt and legs that are sore that I didn't even realize I had.

To keep my fitness routine fresh, I like to balance one class (or two if I'm really lucky) a week in between hot yoga, running and my new group personal fitness classes in preparation for the half marathon on May 19. It's crunch time, people!


Have you added barre class to your fitness routine yet?


Disclosure: I received a free week from a Facebook contest and have since purchased classes to continue my new found love of Barre, red balls and "little inch" leg raises.