My Black Friday Haul

Hey y'all! I'm back from beautiful Aruba. As much as I would rather be sitting on a warm, white sand beach right now reading my book, I am very happy to be home.

I will be sharing some pictures from our honeymoon with you soon, but today I wanted to share with you some of my Black Friday purchases! Just because I got home last night doesn't mean I didn't take MAJOR advantage of some sales. Come on, you should know me better by now.

My 1st Black Friday stop was Gap/Banana (all of my shopping was online, FYI). Gap had 50% of everything (now 40% off thru Sunday) and Banana Republic had 40% off everything (still offering 40% off thru Sunday). I couldn't help but pick up some Winter staples for both B and me.

Gap Moto Jacket / Gap Men's Slim Fit Jeans / BR Shimmer Vee / BR Fur Vest / BR Slim Fit Chinos

My 2nd Black Friday stop was at JCrew Factory. They are also offering up to 50% off everything until Tuesday, so I was able to snatch up some fun pieces for the holidays.

Tissue Turtleneck Tee / Sequined Mini / Cameo Chandelier Necklace

B also stopped by Amazon looking for some great deals on some gadgets. He didn't fine anything, but he did happen to notice some pretty amazing deals on Kindle ebooks. I bought a few books I have been meaning to read, each less than $7.50. Some of their best sellers are as low as $2.00!! Seriously, if you have a Kindle, this is a great time to stock up!

Catching Fire / The Book Thief / Killing Kennedy / Sycamore Row

Others you may want to check out: Gone Girl ($3.50), Divergent Book Series ($3.50 - $7.00), Inferno ($4.00), Game of Thrones Series (complete set $10.00)

The last early Christmas gift I got were new exercise shoes. I have had my old Reebok cross training shoes for a few years now, so they are pretty beat up. It was about time that I got a new pair. Reebok was offering their Crossfit Nano 2.0 shoes for $75 (orig. $110), which are perfect for my home workouts which are interval based.

Did you pick up anything good this Black Friday?

Weekend Blog Block Party

Welcome to the Weekend Block Party! Share a picture of your weekend ahead, tag #blogblockparty in your Twitter and Instagram updates, and visit some of the lovely blogs below. We look forward to networking with you! Visit our Facebook for blog tips and tricks, ask a blogging questions, and join the conversation!

So, what are you doing for Happy Hour? I am sure I will be working, trying to wrap up some last minute things before B and I leave on our honeymoon!! I cannot wait to be on the beach with a margarita in hand. I don't even care that they forecast calls for rain just about every day. I just NEED a vacation.
 Click to tweet about the Block Party!   Like our party? Add our new button to your link up page & let us know that you did! <a href="http://www.krystalskitsch.com/search/label/block%20party" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5493/9679844742_159d422631_o.png" width="200" height="200" alt="Weekend Block Party Blog Linkup"/></a>   Meet your AMAZING hostesses: Ellie from Creative Geekery Rachel from Can't Google Everything & North East Bloggers Network Krystal from Krystal's Kitsch AND Sunny Soirees Lindsey from Follow the Ruels     Want a spot on our Weekend Block Party Blog Crush Board? We will be choosing from the Bloglovin' list so make sure you are listed there so we can crush on YOU!

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

My Last Friday Favorites

So, today is my last day hosting Friday Favorites. Don't worry, Jennie is going to keep the link-up running. But it has become a little too much for me right now...clearly, since I am throwing together a post at the last minute on Friday morning. As I posted about on Wednesday, I am just getting burnt out with blogging. I think it has to do with how busy work has gotten lately. Working 12 hours a day doesn't leave much time for anything else.

I have already told Jennie that once things calm down, I will definitely link up my Friday Favorites post with her. But right now, I am a terrible co-host! For instance, I just now realized (at 9:06am) that I never sent her the html code for the link up. Seriously, I'm the worst!! Good thing she has it covered. So if you want to link up...head on over to Jennie's page!!

Now on to my last favorites for a while!

<center> <a href="http://followtheruels.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="FollowtheRuels" src="http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b502/followtheruels/FFaves_zps6c1a013e.png"/></a></center>

Link up with Jennie and share your favorites! Make sure you grab a button, follow your host, and say hello to other bloggers! 

FAVORITE OUTFIT

 Rachel Parcel of Pink Peonies

FAVORITE FIND

Duo Boots - Boots with customizable calf sizes.

FAVORITE POST

Lessons Learned From Martha Stewards Terrible Food Porn by Grub Street

FAVORITE RECIPE

Cranberry-Ginger Pear Pie by Brown Eyed Baker

What were your favorites from the week?? Go link up with Jennie!

Work It Out: BodyRock.tv and DailyHiit.com

If you browse Pinterest often, you might already be familiar with these websites. That's how I found BodyRock.tv, at least. While scrolling through pins, I found one that claimed to be an amazing ab workout in 12 minutes. After following the link, and attempting to do the workout, I couldn't help but agree.



BodyRock.tv was the initial site that brought you 10-20 minute workouts focused on the HIIT principle of exercise. Which is High Intensity Interval Training. You work at your max capacity for a short amount of time, say 50 seconds, have a 10 second rest, then move on to the next exercise.
Typically with the BodyRock videos, they walk you through 4-6 exercises then you repeat 2-3 times.

DailyHiit.com is a fairly recent evolution to the BodyRock program. It appears to be a collaboration with a larger entertainment company. But really the only difference is that they provide more workouts with different trainers. But I like to think that DailyHiit and BodyRock are one and the same.

If you are skeptical of these short hiit workouts, well just look at the main trainer, Lisa. I am sure she has some pretty good genes, but the girl is ripped! Yes, she may workout more than just 12 minutes a day, and I am sure her diet is flawless, but there is some research out there that backs up how effective hiit workouts can be.

I love doing these workouts on days where I am extra busy or don't have time to squeeze in a full 30-60 minute workout. Also, Lisa's ab workouts are no joke. I like to supplement in one of her ab workouts when I can. Not only does it mix things up for me, so that I am not bored, but it mixes things up for my muscles, which is always a good thing.

Between the two sites, there is typically a new video on a daily basis. They also have a great 30-day challenge that they just completed. You can get links to all the workouts in the challenge here. These workouts are much longer, about 40 minutes, and rotate between resistance exercises and jumping rope (or in my case, running in place).

My only gripe about most BodyRock/DailyHiit workouts is that they use a lot of different equipement - like weights, weighted bars, sand bags, Uugi balls (like a large, soft medicine ball), and equalizers - that is just not practical for every person to own. I have figured out how to make a make-shift sandbag by just stuffing a gym bag with towels and weights. For everything else I just improvize with hand weights.

What more than makes up that is that these workouts are 100% free. Yes. FREE. No strings attached. You can go back into their archives and pull up old videos or follow along with one of their new challenges. While I don't think this will become your main, every day workout, I think this is a great addition to your arsenal.

Have you tried BodyRock workouts?

Burnt Out

I am in desperate need of a vacation. I guess it's a good thing that I am going on one next week, because I am burnt out.

Lately, even with the wedding over with, I have felt a little overwhelmed with the responsibilities in my life. Work has really been busting my balls and blogging has fallen further and further down the list of my priorities. Don't get me wrong though, I am really happy. B and I are enjoying married life, making new friends, and really growing our responsbilities at our respective jobs - which is all exciting.

Maybe thats why blogging has become less important to me since the wedding. You may have noticed that I am not posting as much or have become a little lazy in my posts. It's honestly because I am just not putting in the effort I used to get so much joy out of. Blogging, lately, has felt like a chore.

I have struggled with whether or not to continue blogging over the past couple of weeks. It's not that I don't have any more ideas - I have tons! It really comes down to execution. I don't have the time to excute these ideas. And even when I do, sometimes I just don't have the drive to sit down and edit pictures and write a post about it.

I am hoping it's just a phase. Maybe a nice, relaxing vacation will reignite my drive for blogging.

Protein Power Pancakes

Pancakes are one of my favorite things to make on the weekend. All week, I try to have a healthy breakfast - a protein smoothie with berries and spinach or Greek yogurt. On the weekends (especially now that the wedding is behind us) I like to do something slightly indulgent. Or at least pretend to be indulgent.

Truth be told, these pancakes are hardly indulgent (except for the chocolate chips I snuck in some of them). The secret, protein packed, ingredient is quinoa. But instead of whole, cooked, quinoa like I used in these muffins, I ground the dried quinoa into a flour. Genius, right? I can't take credit. I got the idea off of Pinterest (of course).

And making quinoa into a flour couldn't be easier as long as you have a blender or food processor. I used our Magic Bullet blender and it took only 15 seconds. 

Once the quinoa is ground, it can be used in place of flour for almost anything. The very nutty and distinct quinoa flavor is still there, so if you are not a fan of the quinoa flavor, then I wouldn't recommend these. However, if you like quinoa and are in the mood for a hearty and healthy pre-workout breakfast, these are for you!

Enjoy!

Welcome to the Weekend Block Party! Share a picture of your weekend ahead, tag #blogblockparty in your Twitter and Instagram updates, and visit some of the lovely blogs below. We look forward to networking with you! Visit our Facebook for blog tips and tricks, ask a blogging questions, and join the conversation!

So, what are you doing for Happy Hour? B and I aren't doing anything for happy hour, but we do have friends in town that we are going to try to meet up with later. I am kind of hoping they just want to come back to our house and hang out, becuase it's getting downright cold around here and I don't really want to go outside. Plus, we did just get some new additions to our Cards Against Humanity game! Nothing better than some wine and CAH!   Click to tweet about the Block Party! Like our party? Add our new button to your link up page & let us know that you did!   <a href="http://www.krystalskitsch.com/search/label/block%20party" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5493/9679844742_159d422631_o.png" width="200" height="200" alt="Weekend Block Party Blog Linkup"/></a>   Meet your AMAZING hostesses: Ellie from Creative Geekery Rachel from Can't Google Everything & North East Bloggers Network Krystal from Krystal's Kitsch AND Sunny Soirees Lindsey from Follow the Ruels & our FEATURED BLOGGER Sublime Reflection! Want a spot on our Weekend Block Party Blog Crush Board? We will be choosing from the Bloglovin' list so make sure you are listed there so we can crush on YOU! An InLinkz Link-up   An InLinkz Link-up

Friday Favorites

I guess it's a good thing, but lately Fridays seem to be creeping up on me. Every Thursday after dinner I have this moment of "Oh Crap! I need to come up with my Friday Favorites!"

This weekend should be a fun one! Saturday we are hosting the 2nd official Charlotte Baylor Watch Party. This game is of particular significance because this is the first Baylor/Texas Tech game (or what we lovingly refer to as the BUTT Bowl) held at Cowboys Stadium that B and I will miss. Hopefully we get a good group of people together, even bigger the group we got last Thursday.

Now on to the favorites!

<center> <a href="http://followtheruels.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="FollowtheRuels" src="http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b502/followtheruels/FFaves_zps6c1a013e.png"/></a></center>

Link up with Jennie and me and share your favorites! Make sure you grab a button, follow your host, and say hello to other bloggers! 

FAVORITE OUTFIT

Emily Jackson of The Ivory Lane

FAVORITE STORY

The Craziest OkCupid Date Ever

FAVORITE BLOG POST

When I Think About Quitting My Blog by Rainbows and Honeysuckle

FAVORITE RECIPE

Bacon, Kale, and Butternut Squash Pizza by the Kitchn

Work It Out: P90X

I think it is fair to say that these 'Work It Out' posts have now become a series. One of these days I will run out of workout videos/programs to blog about, but until then I will just keep sharing my experiences with you.

Now, if you have never seen one of those infomercials for P90x, you are either living under a rock or you have very normal sleeping patterns. The rest of you are probably already pretty familiar with the workouts, even if you have not done them yourself.

For shits and giggles, I will fill you in. The program is made up of several different videos which each cover a different set of muscle groups. For instance, there is a video for shoulders and arms; legs and back; chest, shoulders, and triceps; etc. There are also a yoga, cardio, plyometric, and kempo (think kickboxing) workouts. Each video is about 60 minutes, except the yoga, which is 90, and the ab ripper X, which is 15. Over the course of 90 days, you rotate through these workouts which are designed to build lean muscle.

Both B and I did the entire 90 day program a couple years ago. B even followed the nutrition plan, cutting out beer, soda, and fried foods. I wasn't as disciplined with the nutrition part but we both saw some pretty good results. B definitely had a 6 pack and built some upper body strength. And my arms and legs both got more toned and lean.

That said, I don't think I will ever do a solid 90 days of this workout again. While I think it is important for both men and women to add strength training to their workouts, I felt like these workouts were more designed for men who wanted to build some muscle not women who want to drop pounds. For the most part, these workouts are not going to have your heart pounding and sweat pouring.

One other issue I have with P90x is that they are long and I don't find them all that efficient. By that, I mean I could list out all the exercises and perform the max amount of reps and probably do the same workout in half the time. I feel like Tony Horton spends an unnecessary amount of time talking and taking breaks. And if I am going to work out for 60 minutes, I want to be dripping in sweat and totally exhausted. [Note: while searching for pictures for this post, I saw an ad for P90X3 which is 30 minute workouts!!]

However, if you are looking to build muscle or get toned, then I would highly recommend this workout. If you are a woman who is looking for something that will really burn fat, then they do have an Insanity/P90X combo calendar on the Beach Body website that you can try. I would encourage you, also, to focus on your diet while doing this program, if you really want to see good results.

Have you or your husband done P90X? What are your thoughts?

Related posts:
Work It Out: Focus T25
Work It Out: Insanity