I am writing to tell you about the oh so very exciting life I lead. PLEASE DO NOT BE JEALOUS OF THE FOLLOWING POST! (it will be hard but you’ll get through it)
I worked out on Saturday morning, it was leg and core day and I was feeling in tip top form. Quite wonderful that I was able to exercise my right to perform other exercises apart from taking turns around the garden with my sister Jane!
I then went to work with a client. (On the weekends I help people organize their homes and offices.) After working with the client I went to do some light bouldering at local crag if you will. Now, let me say that I am not the best climber, nor the worst but it is nice to be outside in the elements by one’s self. However, even though I was climbing by myself there were people who were hiking by and some stopped to watch me. Seriously. No one wants to watch me climb. I am not very good but I work at it… 60% of the year, okay maybe 50%. Lol… I keep ear buds in my ears so I don’t have to listen to people ask questions. I mean if you circle back around I will be stuck on the same crux that I was 30 minutes ago and you’ll think to yourself, “She stinks…let’s keep hiking.” Not very exciting to watch after all eh?! lol… Needless to say I am still working on the same problem.
Sunday morningI awoke in crazy arse pain! I mean it was painful to sit down, stand up, climb stairs, hang pictures, laugh, breath. Weirdly I had no problem eating, my buccinator muscles are in top form! I felt like the Tin Man who needed the oil can. Except I needed massage and a beer! I decided to take a rest day and not workout at all. I organized a client and then my friend and I went to a movie and I almost fell asleep a few times through out it. I felt I owed it to him to stay awake as he paid for the tickets! Bloody hell people…. it is quite difficult being 29 years of age. Okay, that is a lie…I am somewhere between 31 and 100 years of age. I am not narrowing it down for you anymore. You don’t deserve to know the truth.
Now it is Monday evening. I stopped at the market and then came home where I proceeded not to use a single darn ingredient I bought 20 minutes prior. I opened a bottle of delicious red wine and made vegan nachos. Vegan cheese still sucks. This brand melted better but was still absolutely tasteless. One good thing that I learned is that if you mix vegan sour cream with buffalo sauce that combo will mask the bad taste of crappy vegan cheese!!!
Now I am off to bed where I will toss and turn waking up to dry a mouth and two very dry eyes WISHING I would have bought that humidifier I saw on Amazon for $30 a week ago! I will get up at 4:15am, press snooze twice and then finally crawl out of bed and get me arse to the gym. I will literally look like the walking dead. If any of you don’t watch it on the television feel free to meet me at the gym and you can see a live performance! Lol…
Your loving sister and dead poet,
Lori and Henry (Wadsworth Longfellow) He gives to people and thinks it is cool.
Do you see that cloud?! That cloud is a map of the United States, Canada and part of Mexico. How awesome is that?! I saw this cloud as I was driving through Montana, the state where I born. 😀 Yes, I was just a baby when we moved but none the less I can claim to be a native!
FINALLY the time has come for me to be on VACATION!!! You know how you count down the days until your vacation starts but once it arrives it seems like some sort of dream? That’s what it totally felt like for me. It didn’t actually hit me that I was on vacation until I was driving out of Ohio. This trip is taking me through the northern part of the U.S.A. There are 2 main destinations on this trip. 1. To see one of my very best friends Shannon and 2. To finally make it up to Glacier National Park! Shannon lives in Oregon and even when I lived in California I never made it up to Oregon. Although… I did almost move there post whitewater rafting accident but decided on staying in California. Good decision?… who knows?!
Open road and a semi buggy windshield…lolPeople kept asking me, “Why don’t you just fly?” Great question people but the answer leaves a lot of people shaking and scratching their heads in disbelief. I actually LOVE LOVE LOVE driving across country! People then asked, “Someone is driving with you, right?” Nope! I have driven across country solo a few times before so it isn’t anything new nor is it scary to me. People say flying is so much quicker, flying is so much cheaper and my personal favorite, driving is so boring. Okay, okay… the first two are true. Flying is way quicker and much cheaper but the third is SO not true for me. Then people ask me if I get lonely out on the road. It is very seldom that I get lonely while road tripping. Would I love to have an amazing, adventurous, spontaneous and fun loving boyfriend to travel with? Um…yeah! It would be so great to share experience, the cost of everything, the driving, the set up of tents, picture taking and such but I’m sure as heck not going to wait around for Mr. Right to show up just so I can travel the way I love to travel!
Driving across this amazing land is a privilege and I am so lucky to be able live here as a free citizen and experience all the different landscapes these states have to offer! What other country in the world can you experience all the different types of climate? Between Friday and today I drove though a temperate humid climate, desert climate and temperate rain forest climate and that took less than 5 days!
So let me start this journey with you…
I woke up Friday the 30th of July and headed out of Ohio. I packed only what could fit in the hatchback of my car. I like to keep things neat and tidy when I travel! Clutter in the car equals clutter in the mind…. and me no like clutter…LOL! Heading out of Ohio was uneventful as was Indiana and Illinois (both beautiful in their own right.) Although it took me a while to get through both states due to construction. I looked at google maps ahead of time and wow…what a difference 10 years makes! 10 years ago there really wasn’t a google maps. I headed to the west coast (to live) with an actual paper map! I still love paper maps and almost prefer them because I think paper maps take a skill that is long lost on the newer generations. Skills such as cardinal directions, legends and topography interpretation. Now google maps tells ya the quickest route, traffic and construction!
About 12 years ago I drove the northern route out to the Badlands of South Dakota and then up through Wyoming and the lower part of Montana. I took the almost the same route this time because it was the quickest and I really wanted to get out to Oregon. I am going to mosey my way back through Washington and Montana once I leave Oregon. Wisconsin and Minnesota are so beautiful! Rolling farms, views that go on forever and just the simplicity of the land. Driving though those two states is very calming.
Minnesota and Wisconsin
I was SOOOOO excited to see Caribou Coffee that I literally screamed aloud when I saw the sign on the highway! My girlfriends and I always used to go to Caribou when they were open in Ohio. Caribou had such a friendly and cabin cozy atmosphere and it has yet to be rivaled by any coffee shop in the Cleveland area. Erie Island is awesome and my new favorite but definitely not as cozy or friendly as Caribou Coffee… 😦 The giant load on the truck looks like a huge wheel of cheese and since I was stuck in a little bit of traffic in the cheese state capitol of the U.S. I thought I’d snap a funny picture! lol… I also love that there is a city somewhere in Minnesota called Blue Earth! It sounds like it would be a cool place to visit!
I spent the night at a KOA in Minnesota and it was nice to wake up a take a warm shower. Props to the KOA I stayed at because the shower heads were amazing!!! I will say that this KOA was next to a highway and it was awfully loud. I ended up going into my car in the middle of the night just to dampen the noise. Ever since I started hammock camping I really dislike sleeping on the hard ground. The car didn’t offer a better nights sleep either. Oh well…that’s life on the road!
South Dakota
South Dakota will always be one of the most sacred and beautiful places to me. 12 years ago I traveled to The Badlands in South Dakota on a sort of spiritual pilgrimage. I was searching for a spiritual practice and started reading a book called Black Elk Speaks. This book opened my eyes and my heart and was the reason that I traveled to The Badlands. The rest of that story I will keep to myself for now….I am sure I will share later!
Dudes…when you get to western Minnesota you will see your first sign for Wall Drug. Then for the next 400 or so miles there will be a crap ton of billboards of all shapes and sizes advertising a free doughnut and a 5⊄ cup of coffee! 5⊄ cup of coffee?????? Heck YES PLEASE!!!! Well the coffee if 5 cents if you sit down in the restaurant. I bought mine to go as I have already wandered around Wall Drug before and it is very touristy and very crowded. Definitely a must see if you have never been out that way! You almost feel like a jerk if you don’t stop by because they goad you with cute and welcoming signs for 400 hundred miles! I don’t want to dampen their efforts…so I always stop by when I am in the neighborhood 😀
After I left South Dakota I cut through the upper northeast corner of Wyoming. Wyoming so much to see and I definitely recommend getting out there to visit but on this trip I took the quickest way to Oregon.
I am going to skip over my drive through Montana as I will be spending a majority of my time there and will write about it at length later. I am heading out of Oregon tomorrow morning and making my way there! I cannot wait!!!!
Next up Oregon! To be continued….
~Lori
“Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”
I changed the name of my blog…not sure how I feel about it yet but any feedback is welcome. I really liked a happier human but people have started to call me by my Facebook handle Wild Flowers Lori and I think I kinda like it. As I sit typing I am eating a veggie hummus bowl from my favorite coffee shoppe! Yep you guessed it, Erie Island Coffee 😀
Okay dudes (ladies and gents)… so on April 25th I decided that I wanted to go vegan again. Again meaning I was vegan for a while when I lived in San Francisco. I had already been vegetarian for a bit and after not too much time and thought I decided that I wanted to go vegan. IT WAS SO EASY TO DO IN SAN FRANCISCO!!!! Almost every place is vegan friendly and you can find great variety of veggies and fruits ALL year long! Plus people out there are totally accepting of your dietary choices. I could take “ribs” to a BBQ and no one even blinked an eye or grilled me with tons of questions. Number one question here in Ohio is, “Where do you get your protein?” California is pretty progressive when it comes to healthy living and I miss that sometimes when I am grocery shopping back here in the mid west. I heart CLE though! 😀 I will say this though, I can go to ANY restaurant and find something to eat on the menu. Even a steak house. I am not preacher nor an “Eeew I can’t eat there” kind of gal! We all make lifestyle choices that suit us.
photo courtesy of plenteousveg.com
When I was vegan living in California I was in the best shape of my life, my climbing progressed as did my swimming. Mental clarity was DA BOMB! I was never in a fog nor did I have days where I felt like I was dragging butt. Sure I had days where I was tired from working myself too hard but normal days were AWESOME! So I kept with it…until I moved back to Ohio. Then it was just soooo hard to maintain. Dairy is the basis of every food family and friend get together. Appetizers, main dishes, desserts, breakfasts etc. It wasn’t long before I was eating my way through all of it. I felt overloaded and defeated and bloated. So I gave in for years, 4.5 years to be exact. I tried to go vegan about a year ago and it wasn’t the right time for me I guess. I was taking on a lot of things and being vegan wasn’t at the forefront of life.
There are a few different types of veganism. Here is where I am at. I don’t eat meat, dairy or eggs. I used to eat the eggs from my friend Ginger’s pet chickens but I don’t anymore. For a while she was known as my “egg dealer” as I would slip her some cash in her pocket at work all incognito! Hahaha :p I don’t buy leather goods whenever possible. (A lot of tennis shoes have leather accents. So if you know of any vegan running shoes let me know!) I did not throw out any of my leather goods I already had. I paid the money and will get my use out of them. I am not going to beat myself up if I have a cannoli once in a blue moon from Gallucci’s Italian Foods and Market on E. 66th and Euclid. I have been going here with my family since I was in diapers and somethings are sacred…like fresh filled cannoli’s. (I will thank and pay homage to the animals before I eat it.) I am not a crazy hard core vegan. I know I will have slips and cave in at some point. I am doing what I feel is the best thing for MY body, mind, soul and welfare of the animals.
The reason for this post is because as I emerge as a vegan people are asking questions. They hear me ordering no dairy at a restaurant and want to know why. So in following posts I will be talking about animal welfare, nutrition and cooking. I am not a nutritionist. My views, thoughts and ideas are mine and mine alone. You should consult your physician before making any major dietary changes.
I hope you all have had a great week so far! Tomorrow night my best friend Sara and I are going to a Cinco de Mayo (yes I know it’s a day late) wine tasting and food testing at a local health food store. I am so excited as all the food featured will be vegan!
Let me know your thoughts and opinions about the blog name change and veganism!
~Lori
“Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”
Truth is, I haven’t been inspired to write anything for a while now. Not sure if it was a lack of adventure in the winter time, endless days of no sun or a combination of both. Combination of both. I cannot say that I did a whole lot of adventuring lately. Anyways today is the first day in a long time that I have felt like writing anything.
I woke up Saturday morning and the sun was shining bright through my apartment warming the floors and my inner sense of peace. I did my usual routine of dusting the sleep out of my eyes, washing dishes and putting the kettle on to brew coffee in the french press. I did some yoga while waiting for the kettle to whistle (dudes I am stiff!) I also flipped through a couple of pages of the latest Patagonia catalog. Inspiration can always be found in there and this time it lit a little bit of a fire inside of me. Sometimes I rip out a few pages and put them on my fridge. When I lose inspiration I have a couple of reminders staring me in the face of what I love about my life and what I aspire to. 😀
I started back rock climbing a couple of months ago. Starting back out was humbling as all get out. My arms were like wet noodles and muscles that I had forgotten existed were screaming at me, but over time I have been getting a little stronger and stronger and that has been feeling real good. Friday my friend Jon and I climbed outside for the first time this year and it was awesome! The sun was warm, the rock was dry and it was quiet. I LOVE climbing outside as you get to pick your own route and you can climb the same area a million different ways. Just now as I type, I checked in with my buddy Dave and he sent me a photo of him and a few others gearing up to climb at the New River Gorge in West Virginia. I couldn’t make it this weekend due to prior obligations but I am sooooooo jealous right now! It is cool though because next weekend we are heading down to the Red River Gorge, KY!
By no means am I good climber right now. I am weak, stiff and I get pumped (pumped is when your forearms burn out) so easy. Most of all my breathing is total crap as I climb. I get anxious and my breathing becomes erratic. Shane the manager at Cleveland Rock Gym was helping me with this one particular bouldering problem a few weeks back and as soon as I got off the wall his advice for me was not foot placement nor hand placement but he said, “You have to breathe Lori.” Since then I have been trying to do just that.
I miss climbing in California. The weather is almost always perfect and you can climb outside all year long. The climbing gyms open up at 6:30am so you can get your climb on before work which I totally love because I am waaaay better in the mornings than in the evenings. My energy is full throttle when I wake up most mornings and I usually pewter out about 5pm.
You don’t have to climb rocks or backpack through the woods. Just being out in nature will erase tension and worries.
This weekend in Cleveland was just awesome. Bright sun, warm temps and endless things to do outside. I was fortunate enough to hang out with new friend I met through my backpacking group. 🙂 Luda and her husband came to an event a couple of weeks ago and her and I were able to connect and get together for some girl talk and coffee on Sunday. She is a pretty cool person and I looking forward to hanging out and having new fun workout friend!
Friday my best friend Sara and I went to the listen to the Cleveland Orchestra and hung out again Sunday morning with her 2 girls at the beach and playground! Saturday my niece Kelly and I went for a bike ride/jog in the park. We hiked up to a spot where we could watch the planes fly over really low upon landing. Kelly thought is was super cool and I NEVER EVER get tired of it! I also hung out with my awesome folks too. All in all this weekend was pretty darn awesome!
Life seems fuller right now and it feels good. There are some things on the horizon that are going to be challenging but beneficial. It feels good to put words on the page again. Inspiration is blooming!
Life is not black and white. We have to constantly move forward and explore aspects of our lives that may seem scary. I believe that is how we set an example of love, adventure and continuous learning. Sometimes things ARE meant to come to an end. Not because you didn’t try hard enough, just simply because things have run their course. I don’t have a desire to be stagnant/complacent. Not at the expense of myself or the people I love, it wouldn’t do anyone any good in the long run. Love yourself first… get to know yourself.
~Lori
“Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”
Hello everyone! I hope this Friday finds you all ready for a relaxing peaceful weekend 🙂 I know I started mine last night with evening meditation and a bit of yoga.
1/2 marathon training has come to a bit of a halt. I was speaking with a few physical therapists from work and they all agreed that I need to totally lay off the running and high impact cardio and make an appointment with an orthopedic doctor. My usual one does not treat shin splints and I am a bit bummed because I like her style of practice. The up side? I have an appointment with the orthopedic doctor who treats the Cleveland Browns! I am not messing around dudes! I want to get this taken care of properly and with doctors that know really know their stuff! Until then it’s more yoga, stretching, biking and swimming (swimming will start sometime soon.) If for some reason this Grand Teton 1/2 marathon does not work out for me there is always the Towpath 1/2 marathon in the fall but I am totally still striving for the Grand Teton one!
I am trying harder all the time to develop a deeper, more consistent and longer meditation practice. Finding time to meditate can be very hard with working all the hours I do but I decided this year that I am not going to kill myself working. When I do pick up the extra hours they will be during the week and I will try really hard to keep my weekends for myself. I did that this week and although I was slap happy by the time 7:30pm came around on Thursday I was more than ready for some quiet time and a 3 day weekend and I am glad I was able to get the extra hours in during my normal work week. I am very grateful and fortunate to have the schedule that I do and I don’t want to take it for granted and I want to use it wisely.
Meditation….You can meditate anywhere, anytime. I do not attend any fancy meditation sessions. I just find a quiet place, find meditation music on Spotify, sit quietly and focus on a mantra and my breathing. There is a place by me where one can go to meditate and I may check it out just to see if I can develop a deeper practice. Just like yoga, when I go every so often to see what is new and make sure my positioning is aligned correctly. Finding a quiet place is easy for me at home because I do not own a television and I like it that way. I like that my place is a place of peace and quiet. I deal with noise all day long and I like to retreat to a peaceful place. This morning I woke up and instead of jumping into the car to head to the coffee shop I decided to wait. I caught myself already getting wrapped up with the question of what am I going to do with my morning? That’s when I turned off the noise in my head, lit a few candles and sat on my sofa and meditated for 25 minutes. Although my mind will wonder and wander during meditation, I am getting better at it and can bring myself back quicker than before. 🙂
I cannot for the life of me remember where I heard the words this past week so if any of you know who said these words let me know so I may give credit. Someone said that we should take care of ourselves mentally so we are better able to take care of ourselves physically. That makes so much sense to me. I mean the mind and body are one. Our brain controls every part of us. If we lose brain function then we lose bodily function, if our heart wears out then we lose the oxygen rich blood being pumped to the brain. Why wouldn’t we “workout” our minds? Have you ever tried working out and you feel better mentally as well as physically? It goes BOTH ways. This morning I was struggling with what to do with my day and also a friend who is having a tough time communicating right now. Instead of getting wrapped up in things to do and dealing with people, I decided to deal with myself. I recognized the jumbled mess of thoughts in my brain and realized that I needed to take time out to deal with that before I deal with anything else. The end result? I let go of the worry that I had about the friend. I was able to bring myself to a place where I remembered that we all deal with things differently and that when that person is ready to talk, in their own time, they will reach out. I cannot control the other person, nor do I want to. I respect them and their process. I can only focus on my day and let them go about theirs. And as far as what to do with my day? I am here at my favorite coffee shop Erie Island, writing and I am happy about that. I am not worried about the rest of the day or weekend that lies ahead.
I will catch up again soon. Have a beautiful and peaceful day!
Also, congrats to Tom who won the coffee give away!
~Lori
“Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”
Good morning everyone! It is a beautiful crisp morning here in Cleveland.
I am currently writing as I am sitting at Conrad’s Tire Express & Total Car Care in North Olmsted. I bought new tires yesterday and I didn’t know that they do more than just tires!? The staff here is really friendly and helpful and as someone who doesn’t like to spend my day off taking care of car issues, their friendliness and generosity made the experience a more pleasant one. 🙂 After my tires were put on I ask the gentleman who was checking me out if he had a quick minute to listen to the rattling sound underneath my car that has been occurring for the past several months. He, Randy, took the time to do that at the last minute and I was very grateful he did. Last June I hit a set of railroad tracks a little to hard. I wasn’t speeding! The tracks are old and not evened out so it was really rough going over them. Since then I always hear an annoying rattling sound whenever I hit even the tiniest of bumps. So now they are checking it out and I hope it is nothing serious! (update: just received the estimate new stabilizer links: $182!) Oy vey!
Now for the shin splint up date. It is not going well. 😦 Also I will be posting weekly updates as it is hard to post everyday at this point!)
I am really trying not to become discouraged and I am trying to focus on other areas of training but I have to say I am getting a little bored. While driving to get my car checked out this morning I passed a few runners and my heart sank a little. Recovery has always been my biggest problem. I am not patient in that regard but I am working on it! I was standing in Marshall’s yesterday and all of a sudden I felt a very sharp pain traveling up my shin. It hurt like heck!!! I have been rolling out my calves with a foam roller, doing stretches, wrapping it while I am work and wearing compression socks too.
Dudes….I just have to chill and come to terms with the recovery process. Soooo hard.
In other training news I have decided to keep a food diary for training purposes. I am not one who counts calories and obsesses over food in a diet kind of way. I am doing it because I want to see what affects my body how. Yesterday I was measuring my floors for area rugs and while I had the measuring tape out I took my measurements…winter has crept up and added a few inches to my body!!! What the heck?! Reality check! Time to start seriously looking at what food I am putting down my gullet.
While I was waiting for my tires yesterday I strolled down to Half-Price Books. I am not really a cook but really want to start attempting to be. I have made a few delicious dishes but ask anyone in my family and they will tell some funny, ridiculous stories of my ineptitude in the kitchen. An ex-boyfriend of mine once bought me a really nice pan for Christmas instead of a massage that I has asked for! Hahahaha 😛
So I was perusing the cookbook aisle looking for a simple, easy, SMALL cookbook. I am a vegetarian and 1/2 A** vegan so my options were a bit limited. I also gave up processed added sugar January 1 so that means no sugary sweets. None.
(Side note: since giving up sugar my energy level throughout the day has stayed on an even keel and I feel really good. After a month I no longer crave or really think about sweets!)
My co-worker, Gail, who is a fabulous baker is working on a sugarless cake for me 🙂 (I am not promoting nor endorsing any kind of diet, just simply what works for me. Do what makes you feel your best!) Anyways, a small jam packed little cookbook caught my eye.
Kathy Patalsky
Kathy Patalsky wrote a very easy to understand cookbook! It is not a preachy kind of cookbook. A lot of the recipes are just a few ingredients which is really nice for someone like me who gets very intimidated at the grocery store I always end up buying the same few items every time. Bananas, oats, kale, apples etc. She shares tips and ideas for what to stock in your pantry and some health tips too! I am soooo going to try one of the recipes tomorrow! Also check out her other website Finding Vegan!
It is a journey, an educational and humbling journey my friends! But I love it 🙂
So that is where I am at this week. 🙂 Plugging along like the rest of you! I will be going to see a musician tonight with a few friends of mine so I am excited about that! I love live music in small settings!
Hope all of you are going to have a fun relaxing weekend!
~Lori
“Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”
Good evening everyone! Today was crazy busy at work so I am happy to be relaxing at Erie Island Coffee with a hot cup of decaf and the conversations of others in the background. Aaahhhh!
So I yesterday was day 2 and it was a rest day. I moved apartments last night so that took ALL my time after work! I will have a really pretty view now and can see clear down to the park! While I was a work yesterday I went to squat down to pick something up off the floor and I felt an awful sharp pain shoot through the anterior medial (front middle) side of my shin. I continued to feel the quick sharp pain sporadically through out the day. I knew exactly what it was….SHIN SPLINTS!!!! I have been running for about a week or two already and when I get that runner’s high I just can’t quit. Not good as the experts suggest increasing you mileage by NO MORE THAN 10%. I don’t listen very well sometimes so now I am paying the price. Also, I will be the first to admit that I need to purchase new running shoes. I thought the ones I had could get me by a little longer but apparently not. So tonight and the next 6 days will be dedicated to TONS of stretching, yoga and biking. I want to keep up the cardio and really need to be stretching like a mad woman Every. Single. Day.
I have never had shin splints before so this really is a set back and I don’t want it to be a mental one that derails me in the beginning of my training.
There are all sorts of YouTube videos about yoga for running. I am not a personal trainer (yet) so I will not be suggesting any particular one. There are plenty though! 🙂
So I will keep you updated on the progress of the crappy shin splints and tips I will be sure to be asking the physical therapists at the hospital where I work! So for now it will be R.I.C.E
Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation
Along with yoga, biking and a foam roller too! Foam rollers are great to work the kinks out of you muscles and help break up the fascia (a thin sheath of fibrous tissue enclosing a muscle or other organ.)
Wish me luck!
Good night my friends and I will talk with you tomorrow!
~Lori
“Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”
I was driving home from work today and listening to a “throwback” workout station on Spotify. And when I say throw back the songs were from about 7 years ago?!? I don’t know… Anyways, I was thinking about how I was going to come home and do some yoga and then I had a brilliant idea! I am going to do yoga but to some hip hop music!!! I. Am. A. Genius! What got me going was a song by Usher. Sometimes I try to be a professional dancer in my car on my commute to or from work ;D Remember that car commercial with the woman dancing in the front passenger seat?! Eh hem… that’s me! Hahaha..I wish!
I will have to let you know how the hip hop yoga goes 😉
How often do you guys change up your workout routine? I get bored very easily if I do the same workout several times in a row. I am constantly switching it up. I had to give up running the bleachers as of late because of awful shin splints in my right shin. Today at work I was sitting at the nurses station and all of a sudden I had very sharp pains shoot up my right shin. Gosh it was PAINFUL! The physical therapist at work told me that I need to stretch more and lay off the high impact cardio for a little while. Ugh… I am going on a backpacking trip in a week so I hope to be back up to speed by then.
Yesterday a friend and I went to the park and climbed the stairs behind the nature center.
Around 134 stairs. Kind of looks like a giant bug coming your way!
My friend is very toned and muscular as he spends a lot of time in the gym lifting weights. However, I can out do him when it comes to cardio any day! He texted me today to tell me that he was soooo sore. Poor baby! So I asked him if he would put me through a killer upper body workout. I am great with cardio. Not so great at being consistent with weights…especially my upper body. And this dude has some sweet arms so I trust that the workout he puts me through will be awesome and a good hurt!
What are some of your favorite upper body workouts?
Have a great night!
~Lori
“Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”
Holy crazy night of dreaming! I really hope that your dreams were more pleasant than mine last night…lol! You know those dreams that when you’re in the thick of it you are hoping and praying that it is a dream? I was sooooo happy to wake up ;D
What I wish I was dreaming about! From my AT trip in July!
Anyways, today’s post is going to very hodge podgey. I am in a somewhat delirious happy mood this morning. Maybe it is because of my crazy night of dreams or maybe because today belongs to me! I don’t have to be anywhere except a hair appointment. My day is going to be great!!!! So I awoke this morning and put on clothes to go to the gym. I got into my car and drove there then all of a sudden I was like, “I am having a fantastic ponytail hair day!” So I called my little sister for some motivation to get my arse out of the parking lot and into the gym. She told me that if she could be at the gym right now she would, in other words get my butt in there! (Keep in mind she just had twins 2.5 months ago!) Then I asked if I can show up at the salon with sweaty hair? I am getting my hair colored for only the second time in my life so I don’t know the protocol. Sooooo to err on the side of caution, I opted for the coffee shop and an hour or so to write! Hahahaha! Lol…. All in the name of showing up at the salon with a great looking ponytail. Sometimes what makes a happier human are the little quirky things that happen throughout the day. As trivial as my morning may seem, it is bringing a calming slap happy smile to my face. I’ll take it!
My hair is brown but this the same kind of pony I’m rocking today!
Another great thing that came out of a sleepless night was joining the meetup group called Cleveland Vegans Meetup Group. Oh to be on the iPhone at 2:45am….oy! There is an event going on today that I really want to check out but I don’t know how long my appointment is going to go. Some friends and family have been asking my about my transition to going vegan. I am going to write a whole post on that subject here in the near future. But I will say one thing, going vegan is a process and it really helps to have people in your life who support you. They don’t have to “agree” with it but it is nice having their support. I was in a relationship once where my boyfriend was actually really upset with me, he did most of the cooking and he was angry that he would have to change up the dinner menu a little. So with that being said, going vegan is a personal choice for whatever reason. It will slightly affect your friends and family when eating in or eating out but the solutions are so simple. Like I said I will write about that here in the very near future!
I am sitting in the cafe right now with the sun beaming down on my face and it feels so AMAZING! Cleveland is supposed to have a high temperature of 55 today! Really?! That makes me even a more happier human!!! It is definitely a metroparks kind of day! And since my awesome ponytail kept me from the gym this morning that means I’m already dressed for a walk/hike! Lol..LIFE IS GOOD TODAY 🙂
Be kind today. Take extra time with the people or animals in your life. Smile at a stranger. Buy yourself some flowers or for guys buy whatever small thing that makes you happy! Do good. Be good. Love exceptionally well!
Peace, love and exploration,
~Lori
“Give what you have, to someone it may be better than you dare to think.”
I am SOOOOO excited for this ENTIRE week and weekend full of F.U.N.!!!!
Lets head back to Sunday morning… I awoke at my brother and sister-in-law’s house, after a night of playing darts and Five Crowns, to my crazy nieces and nephew and some serious little kid morning breath as they gave me hugs and kisses in the morning. Hahaha…I still love the little dudes. I was scheduled to lead a cardio session on Sunday morning with another group of backpackers! I LOVE The Hopeless Wanderers! Rant: Being around like minded people that totally get why you’d want to winter camp in freezing temperatures is quite awesome. 😀
I was getting ready to head out the door when my big brother Donnie said he was joining me on my Walla Walla Wing Ding Workout (yes, that is the silly fun name for it.) So with no coffee to be made we piled in my car…first stop: COFFEE…Mmmmm. Next we headed to the park so I could map out exactly what I wanted to do and where I wanted to do it. I know this park like the back of my hand but always like to be extra prepared when I am actually in charge of something. Lol.. I was trying to convince him to drink some water and do a little stretching before hand but he was all, “No no no… I don’t drink water when I work out.” He has so much to learn from his little sister!
When everyone arrived we headed to the infamous set of stairs behind the nature center to do 5 climbs (134 stairs up, 134 stairs down) as a warm up. We then headed over to the outdoor amphitheater. Here the park as several backless benches that were perfect to do planks, push ups and tri dips. Performing planks on a partially ice covered bench was a bit tricky but also took it up a notch for the ol’ core!
The guys doing lunges and Shelly being camera shy!
Next up were lunges…oh how I love lunges. LOL! But I really do love lunges! We did 4 sets of 12 walking lunges and 4 sets of squat kicks. Let’s just say that that was on Sunday, today is Tuesday, and I am still having trouble sitting down unassisted! BUT in my defense I did just of come off of the injured list after being on it for two weeks! A couple of people messaged me on Monday saying that they couldn’t walk. I said, “That’s the point!” There was a reason it was called Walla Walla Wing Ding Workout Part 2: Feel the Burn! Next those of us who could, jogged to the trail head of super short but steep hill. I waited for those who didn’t jog and we all hiked up the hill and went for a short hike on the rim of the cliff overlooking the valley. It was a beautiful day and my phone camera didn’t do the view justice! 😦
View of ice covered Rocky River 🙂 Kind of…haha
After the mini hike we all headed over to one of my favorite cafes.
Post hike fire-side coffee chat 😀
I love coming here post hike because 1. it’s local and 2. a fireplace!
I almost refuse to go to a cafe that doesn’t have a fireplace. Being that close to Lake Erie and getting smacked in the face with the wind that whips off the lake?! Ya need a cafe with a FIREPLACE!!!
Speaking of being all warm and cozy! I am heading to my folks house the morning of Thanksgiving.
That would be me! hahaha!
I have to work at 3pm that day so I am going to get my vegetarian Thanksgiving coma on early! After that, black Friday (which I do not participate in because I have a will to live!) and then comes Saturday!!!! Me and five friends are heading to Buffalo, NY, yes the same Buffalo, NY that was buried under 7 feet of snow, to go to the Browns vs. Bills game! I figured we could either sled to the stadium or kayak if the all the melting snow caused flooding. Either way I’m cool! I am so totally excited as I have not been to a NFL game since the 1980’s when the Cleveland Browns were on strike. But I never will forget the wonderful time I had with my dad watching the replacement players in the old Municipal Stadium. That was back in the day when the football and baseball games were held in the same stadium. I can still remember seeing the outlines of the baseball diamond on the football field. I love you Dad!!!!
I am excited for this little mini get away with friends. Hopefully the game will still be on. They had to reschedule last weeks game and it ended up being held in Detroit. Any way it plays out, it will be an ADVENTURE and adventure is my middle name!
Photo from: ttareq10.typepad.com
So in conclusion…oh wait! My brother DONNIE kept saying how he hasn’t been mentioned in my blog yet. So I thought I would take this time to mention my brother DONNIE. DONNIE is a great big brother to me and my two sisters! He is also an amazing son, husband and father (and a bit of a dork sometimes 😉 So without further adieu… Heeeeerrrrrre’sssss Donnie!
My big brother Donnie…lol.
Ta Daaaaa!
~Lori
“Give what you have, to someone it may be better than you dare to think.”
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Questions: What are your run plans for this Thanksgiving? and How do you combat the holiday 5-10lbs?
I felt like the Tin Man who needed the oil can. Except I needed massage and a beer! I decided to take a rest day and not workout at all. I organized a client and then my friend and I went to a movie and I almost fell asleep a few times through out it. I felt I owed it to him to stay awake as he paid for the tickets! Bloody hell people…. it is quite difficult being 29 years of age. Okay, that is a lie…I am somewhere between 31 and 100 years of age. I am not narrowing it down for you anymore. You don’t deserve to know the truth.
Wildflowers Lori 