Do You Like Biking?

Funny, the hubs and I like biking on vacations but do not actually own bikes back home. We have talked about getting bikes a few times since we live so close to a few different parks with great biking paths, but we have never gone far enough to buy the things. I think if we lived here though, that would be completely different. Isn't this bike path incredible?

A night bike ride through this park would almost seem magical when the path comes to life. The bike path was recently unveiled by Studio Roosegaarde and is based on Vincent Van Gogh's The Starry Night painting. The Gogh-Roosegaard Bicycle Path using both LEDs and special paint that gathers light during the day and reflects it at night.

The lit bike path serves a double purpose since it is safer to use at night and the pain make lighting it more energy efficient. I am stunned by how beautiful a bike path can be and, in honor of its opening, found some pretty great cycling intervals for all you bike lovers out there!

And just to sweeten the deal, one hour of riding a bicycle can burn anywhere from 200 calories on a leisurely ride to over 1,000 calories at a racing speed! Chances are that you will burn between 500-600 calories an hour doing any one of the workouts below.

Bicycling is also a great way for those with knee, hip, or back issues to get in a great workout. There is almost no impact on joints but the repetitive motion helps lubricate and ease movement.

PopSugar has created a great 30-minute bicycle workout for the novices and bike professionals alike. I cannot wait to try this one out!

This 30-minute ride from Shape is a bit easier than PopSugar's, but will give you a great workout all the same :)

This HIIT workout promises to torch 200 calories in 20-minutes. That is time management at it's finest.

If you are looking for a challenge, this one is an hour long advanced workout for those who want to sweat and, probably, burn upwards of 800 calories!

Weekly Motivation

I recently found this quote and simply loved it. It has quickly become one of my favorite poems and my mantra during the holidays. Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I could not be more excited! But, that excitement can so easily turn to stress with family in town, cooking to be done, more work than usual to be completed, plenty of parties to go around, and all those crafts! But, through all of this, it is equally as important to remember that our lives are for enjoying and for helping others enjoy theirs'.

This holiday season I have made it my goal to be happy, stress free, and continually in the pursuit of making my life and the lives of those around me better. To begin with, I have signed up for Elle's annual  Elf for Health challenge. You can read all about it here and sign up as well! This will be such a fun way to meet others, keep the holidays in perspective, and learn a bit along the way!

How was Your Weekend?

Happy Monday! We had a wonderful weekend which included a mystery dinner party. It was Hollywood 1950's themed and I played the role of Grace Killy, a talentless actress who came from wealth. Style-wise, I was meant to be a mash-up of Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly. It was great. The hubs played the reporter so he could snap plenty of pics. Him in the first act and me in the second. Up until my most unfortunate death, I was calling everyone "darling" and competing for the next big movie role. It was pretty great, but then I died. Hmph.

There ended up being four killers and I guessed one. Ha! Guess we know who should not be a detective. Me.

It should also be noted that I was totally in character and even wore a girdle that night. Yes, my poor character died in a girdle. I think getting down to the floor was enough to kill me in real life. Those girdle and corset wearing girls have my respect. They had to be some seriously tough ladies!

Earlier in the day on Saturday I was also able to take my favorite advanced power yoga class and go on a jog before it started. Needless to say, Saturday was a pretty busy and pretty fun day- which left Sunday for relaxing! Our local Pottery Barn (right across the street now!) was having a Christmas decorating workshop that I was able to attend yesterday morning. It was pretty fun and gave me tons of DIY ideas along with a discount that just had to be used. All pillows and throws were 30%-50% off, plus I got a 15% discount on anything bought the day of the workshop! Yes, our has has plenty of new pillows now and a few holiday decs starting to show.

Since I was in the holiday spirit, I followed in a good friend's footsteps and started wrapping presents this weekend as well. Five are done and only about a billion to go! Wouldn't that be wonderful, though, if we could have all gifts wrapped by Thanksgiving? I think it just might be a holiday goal of mine this year.

Wrapping also seems a bit more cumbersome than usual because we have opted for a classic Christmas theme this year with browns, grays, golds, white, and green. This also means all gifts are getting the brown paper package treatment and binging finished off with simple string. It is so pretty, but brown paper is quite thick. If anyone has any suggestions for wrapping with thick paper, I am all ears! 

I am also thinking we will have a how to decorate post in the days leading up to or just after Thanksgiving. There are a few DIY workshops that I am signed up for as well and cannot wait to share the info with you!

As for workouts, yesterday's post did not get out for some reason, so I will fill you in real quick today. Sunday was a rest day since last Saturday my hot power yoga class did 108 sun salutations and I was sore until Thursday. Monday was a simple 2.5 mile jog in the morning followed by hot power yoga that evening. Tuesday was a 1.5 mile jog. Wednesday was this yoga flow which was great! Thursday was a break for our anniversary, and Friday was a simple bum workout that I will have to share on the blog soon!

Also, I was going to add a motivation bit on to this, but think the post is quite long enough already. Let's get some motivation in tomorrow instead! It is going to be one of my favorites and a mantra for the holidays!!

Anniversaries

Happy Friday! I hope you week went fantastically! Last night was our 4th anniversary and the hubs took me to a super yummy new steakhouse that we could walk to if we wanted called the Capital Grill. It was incredible. Really. If someone asked me what my last meal would be, I think that would be it. The restaurant just opened about a month ago and everything has that new but not too new feeling. The service, incredible. Food, incredible. Drinks, incredible. Now, I just want to go back!

To start, we sat at a table with fresh red rose petals in the shape of a heart in the corner of the restaurant. We were also brought complimentary champagne on arrival. Once the wait staff came over, they showed us how to work the iPad wine menu that went by food parings, by the glass, taste profile, 90 score rating, wine types (sparkling, white, red), or recommended wines. I ended up getting a glass of Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio to go with my meal.

And, speaking of meals, oh-my-goodness! Ok, so, with the hubs help I decided to go for it and get the broiled lobster since it was a super nice restaurant and it's lobster and also because they took it out of the shell which makes any shellfish at a restaurant a must do. For my appetizer I got the lobster bisque soup and they also brought out a complimentary lobster salad for us to try.

If you ever go to Capital Grille, get the lobster bisque. I think there is more lobster in that soup than there is bisque! Overall, I ate about 3-pound of lobster in one sitting because of how much was in the salad, bisque, and the actual lobster- which was two whole pounds and the smallest one they had.

Oh yes, and the hubs got the Delmonico steak with the Kona rub for dinner and the mozzarella salad for his appetizer. His was great but we both agreed that mine was better. Way better. It was the best lobster I have ever eaten. Hands down. 

Our waitress was also super nice and gave us plenty of great suggestions for the next time we come ( love her!). One of her biggest was to get the lobster mac n' cheese. It is a side option (we did not get it because that just seemed a bit much on the lobster front) but some people get it for their entire meal. Instead, we decided on the roasted mushrooms and the grilled asparagus. Almost all of the sides were placed in boxes and now sit in our fridge. The main protein was just too good and too big to trifle with the veggies.

Next up was dessert. There were too many options and I was kind of hoping for a lava cake since I have an inappropriate love of lava cakes. But alas, it was not an option. Instead, we made the hard decision of the lighter creme brulee over the incredible (and big) hazelnut cake- it has 5 layers.

Of course, being that we had the most incredible waitress ever, she also gave us a slice of the hazelnut cake, on the house, in our take-away bag along with four red roses. I seriously cannot wait until it is a sociably appropriate time to eat that cake. If it was a breakfast food, that think would be gone by now.

We also did some other super fun things yesterday, but the Capitol Grille was the highlight! I had a different post ready for today, but just needed to tell you about the amazing night the hubs planned for us. This was the first time we celebrated our wedding in our home town. Usually, we are on a weekend trip or a week long vacation but we opted out for this one. Just coming off our Greece trip and having some massive business and personal goals, it made more sense to stay home and save our time and money this year. I do not really know how much money we saved going to the Capital Grille last night, but having a hometown anniversary celebration at a super nice, new restaurant was so. much. fun.

If you go to the Capitol Grille, here is what I recommend: Get a glass of wine to go with your meal that is recommended by the sommelier, then, get the lobster bisque soup. You will not regret it. Two people could easily share the Delmonico steak if meat is what you want. As for sides, one side per two people is plenty. The asparagus were yummy and the roasted mushrooms went well with the steak, but I would probably opt for the mashed potatoes if we went again. Or the lobster mac n' cheese if you are not having lobster as your main dish. Unlike most fancy places, the serving sizes are crazy big. You will not leave hungry and you will not need a bunch of sides to fill you up. A soup starter, meal, and one side is plenty. If you are really pushing it, go for a lighter dessert option or just take the cake home and eat it an hour or so later.

Happy weekend and so sorry for the super long post about food. But, it was really good food and I cannot find a better reason to write than the noms.

What is your dream anniversary?