2012 June » britta//unfiltered

Making lemonade on a road trip

Jun 222012

Posted by Britta on June 22, 2012 at 6:45 pm in Life, Travel 2 Responses »

Hello from North Dakota!

What am I doing here you ask? It’s a little bit of a story. I don’t think I mentioned on the blog, but we had plans this weekend to fly to northern Cali to stay with friends at their vacation house and have four days full of wine-tasting, oyster-eating and kayak-paddling. We hurried off to the airport after work yesterday to catch our flight. When we arrived, we found out that all flights to SFO departing from all airports were facing 4+ hour delays. Long story short, the delay caused our plans to fall through. Not gonna lie, the bad news combined with the several airport-priced drinks I consumed while trying to figure all this ish out resulted in a few tears, and we returned to the apartment facing the choice of whether or not we should just go to work today and call the vacation mission off.

We were thisclose to scrapping our plans for a long, relaxing weekend. But luckily (?) we had a few more cocktails upon arriving home and concocted a harebrained plan to take the days off as we had planned and road trip to Yellowstone National Park. I am slightly obsessed with the national parks since watching a documentary series on how they were started, and Yellowstone has been on my bucket list for awhile.

So, my fancy-pants got unpacked

And any and every thing we thought we needed for camping got jammed in my car.

We were still excited about the plan when we got up this morning and went to Target and REI to get a tent, sleeping bag, camping cookware and a ton of other stuff.

We finally got on the road a little after noon and took off on what I’m allowing myself to believe will be the best adventure of our lives! I have since realized via my iPhone research that “2 days really isn’t long enough for a Yellowstone visit” and let’s be honest, we are no experts at camping. I am just so excited to be on a spontaneous trip with my fave partner in crime. And I am also the proud owner of a pretty freakin’ sweet tent.

We could not have been less prepared for this trip. We threw this “plan” together In less than 12 hours. We have no reservations, no itinerary, and still have 10 hours of road ahead of us. Up and taking off on a trip like this is pretty outside the comfort zone for us two detail-oriented engineers, but I can’t wait to see what happens. Brandon said last night that at worst, we are “making lemonade” out of a less than ideal situation and at best, we are going somewhere I have been dreaming of visiting for years.

Yippeekiyay! We’re going camping, b*tches!

Summer Bucket List & Week 1 SSU

Jun 172012

Posted by Britta on June 17, 2012 at 5:03 pm in Goals, Sweat 4 Responses »

I’m having a pretty lazy Sunday over here. Brandon’s brother and his girlfriend were up visiting for the weekend, and I think I overdosed on fun. Friday night, we went to the Twins/Brewers game.

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It was the first time I have ever been to an away Brewers game, and we won! Whooo! And let’s be honest about why I really had fun at the game – I got to eat soft-serve ice cream with sprinkles out of a tiny baseball hat. Saturday was spent brunching, strolling around the Mall of America, and napping (oh yeah). We topped off the weekend with what was possibly the best meal of my entire life at Oceanaire in downtown Minneapolis. Oysters, delicious barramundi, and merlot was consumed. Everyone’s meals were perfectly prepared and the presentation of the dishes took the experience over the top. Our waitress was awesome and gave us a complimentary baked Alaska desert with the most delicious strawberry ice cream filling. OMG I am dying just thinking about it!

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We had a nightcap (or 2) at a swanky bar downtown called Prohibition, which is up on the 27th floor of the Foshay Tower and is set up like an old speakeasy. Such successful weekend-ing.

It’s been awhile since I did that dorky thing that I do and overshare with the Internetz what’s on my to-do list. My goals for May were…

Kick butt at my new job – Work is still consuming lots of my time these days, but I’m okay with it since I am still learning SO much. There hasn’t been a dull moment since I started, which I really enjoy, and I am really starting to feel like I’m in the swing of things. It takes awhile to get to that point with a new job where it feels like the “new normal”, but I’m getting there!

Run my first half marathon – check!

and then choose my next fitness goal – Summer Shape Up coming at ya later in the post. Still deciding what’s next after that but running might make a come back!

Redesign blog format – still haven’t done this because it’s so low on the totem pole. I really hate how cutesy my blog looks right now but I just haven’t had the time to re-do the look and do it right. Someday…

Instead of goals for June, I decided I wanted to do a “summer bucket list”. I got the idea from my girl Janetha, obvs. Here’s my list!

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Last thing for now – today marks the start of week 2 of the Fitnessista’s Summer Shape Up. I said last week that I wanted to share my progress & stay accountable on the blog while I try to follow the program, but obviously I suck at blogging every day during the week and should quit saying I’m going to.

I followed the meal plan and workout schedule pretty closely during the week, with some switching up of the schedule to match what was going on in my week. I skimped a little on cardio by counting some long walks as “steady state cardio” when I probably could have squeezed in a few runs. I did do Gina’s SSU workout #1 on Tuesday and today. The strength moves combined with the 45 minute Turbo Fire workout I did on Monday kicked my butt and I have been sore pretty much all week.

I did a good job of following the meal plan through the week but I definitely ate (AND DRANK) whatever I wanted to all weekend. I guess that’s balance, right? We are going on vacay this coming weekend (long weekend! traveling with Brandino! lots of wine! I can’t wait) so my workout schedule & eats are going to be pretty flexible this coming week, too, but it has been really fun and motivating to have some new workouts to try and ideas for healthy meals even if I’m not staying 100% “on plan”.

Do you have any big plans for the summer? Have you been stepping it up a notch on eating healthy and working out since it’s summatime? Make sure to check out the Fitnessista’s shape up if you want to join in on the fun Smile

PS – Happy Father’s Day to my favorite dad

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and to my grandpas, too. I am lucky to have you in my life!

(you are welcome, Internet, for sharing the experience my awkward youth self in all of my glory. It’s worth it to also share how awesome my dad is Smile )

Summer Shape Up!

Jun 112012

Posted by Britta on June 11, 2012 at 10:24 pm in Sweat 1 Response »

Two blog posts in one day… who am I?

Anyway, I’m cooking up a summer “bucket list” of sorts instead of setting any hardcore goals for the summer. I’ll probably share the list tomorrow (… I think I left my post-it full of ideas on my work desk. So it’s gonna have to wait!).

One of the big ones on the list is to join in on the Fitnessista’s Summer Shape Up! If you have read my blog since the olden days (… I can’t believe I’ve had this thing for over a year! I’ll celebrate when I finally get my shiz together w/ a new layout) you know that I am a big fan of the Fitnessista – Gina’s blog got me interested in healthy eating and incorporating more veggies and whole foods into my diet. She has introduced me to Sun Warrior protein powder, breakfast cookie dough cereal (FAVE!), and seaweed snacks. Every summer and winter, the Fitnessista puts together a Shape Up program and this season, I decided to participate. I need a break from running and need a little pep in my step when it comes to exercise & inspiration for healthy recipes, so here goes!

I’m going to try to share my food & workouts as I go through the program for a little accountability – I’ll title the posts with “SSU” so feel free to skip over if you think looking at pictures of healthy food is boring!

Day One – Food

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Perfect Protein Pancake w/ banana and syrup for bfast. Not actually a huge fan… I’m wondering if I used too much baking soda because the pancake tasted just a leeeeetle off. I didn’t finish the whole thing which never happens since I am the President of the Clean Plate Club.

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Snack Numero Uno = Amazeballs with even more coffee. These things are freakin’ GOOD! I’m cutting back from my dessert-every-day habit while I try out this plan, but these make a pretty good substitute for my usual sweet snacks.

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Salad w/ asparagus, herbed goat cheese, sweet peas, tomatoes, roasted pine nuts for lunch. This was delicious and pretty fancy-pants as far as my usual lunches go with the inclusion of asparagus and goat cheese. I’d add a little more protein next time, though.

Snack #2 – hard boiled eggs and a nectarine. I actually took a pic but hard boiled eggs just look plain nasty on camera. You’re welcome.

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Dinner was tempeh taco mix served as a salad/burrito. I am pretty obsessed with tempeh as of late and I could eat avocado until I explode so this dinner was a win. I’m packing the leftovers as lettuce wraps for lunch tomorrow.

Day One – Workout

I brought Turbo Fire out of its hiatus on the dusty bookshelf today! Chalene kicked my butt with the Fire 45 EZ DVD. I forgot how much TF works out the abs and arms, and I felt a couple tweaks in my knees and hip where I had been feeling pain from running. Once I started hurting, I followed the lower-impact modifications and still got a good sweat in.

Since you got away without pictures of eggs, you have to look at my hair after Turbo Fire. And the face I make when I take stupid pictures of myself.

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As usual, I am feeling motivated and excited on day ONE of a new plan. I hope I can keep the ball rolling! Want to join me on the shape up??? Workout #1 is scheduled for tomorrow!

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