Moto details and camo are two things I always crave, especially for fall! When I stumbled upon this dress a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't stop thinking about it! It's the perfect camo print, and although I don't normally go for swing dresses because they aren't the most flattering on me, I still had to add this to my closet! I knew it would be the perfect base layer in the cooler months and I really loved the way it looked under a jacket, especially this moto one! I have a feeling that I will be shopping Evereve more often!
In yesterday's post, I eluded to a big life change, but I didn't actually tell you guys what that change was. I wanted to give it its own dedicated post to officially kick off this new journey in my life and the reasons why I decided to make a change. In early August, I decided to push myself and join a Pilates challenge at my studio. The challenge was simple - attend 15 Pilates classes in 21 days. This was a bit of a departure from my typical 1-2 day schedule, so I was excited to see how this would change my body, if at all. Gina left me a comment saying,
"...I'm also excited to hear how things go after your Pilates challenge this month! Will you burn out or just love it even more? TBD!"
I've been taking Pilates on and off for the last few years, and about 3 years ago, I started going a lot more regularly thanks to a local studio, The Pilates Barre Studio in Edwardsville. It is close to home, convenient, and affordable. When the Olympics kicked off, the studio started a "Train like an Olympian" challenge to attend 15 Pilates classes in 21 days. Normally I only go twice a week because of my work schedule, but I decided to accept the challenge and see how my body would change by pushing myself to go at least 5 times a week for 3 weeks. I just finished my second week with 11 classes under my belt! I definitely wanted to not only document my progress, but share everything I know and love about Pilates. Let's get started!
I'm not joking when I say I look forward to the first of every month so I can pick out another workout outfit from Fabletics. I'm just a wee bit obsessed with all of my Fabletics stuff. I'm back to share my picks for this month and let you know my thoughts! We took these photos legit after a workout, so this is me in all my messy hair, non-makeup, post-workout glory!
As a community ambassador for Yoga Six, I have agreed to attend class at least once a week, bringing at least one guest with me every other week in exchange for free classes. It's been about 6 weeks or so now, and I am really, really loving it. I'm confident that I will continue to practice at their studios well beyond my ambassador agreement. I would definitely classify myself as a beginner to yoga. While I've taken a few classes in the past and am familiar with the basic poses, I'm far from being able to do head or hand stands! When I first started trying to recruit people to practice with me for free, I thought it would be easy! Who doesn't like free stuff? I didn't get crowds of people knocking down my door to come with me and I was getting the sense that many were intimidated by the class descriptions, especially since there is no reference to "beginner yoga" anywhere. Now that I've had a chance to attend a variety of classes, I wanted to put together a post describing each class type I've attended and their level of difficulty for me as a beginner.
I debated on whether or not I wanted to post any progress pics on the blog. Frankly, it's quite terrifying, but if this blog is a diary of me, I figured I can't not post about it. And since I love my layers, I feel like you can't really monitor my progress until you see me like this in all of my sweaty, post-workout glory. While it is humbling seeing these photos, it's also very gratifying to compare the "after" to the "before" and it just motivates me to keep going.
Now that I'm on the Fabletics train, I want to make it a point to share my finds every month! Plus, it's a good way to keep me motivated from the workout standpoint when I know I'm accountable to share with you guys. If you missed my original review about Fabletics, you can catch yourself up here.
A couple of weekends ago, the husband and I went to lunch straight from the gym. We ended up in the same shopping center as an Old Navy, so I asked him if we could do some window shopping since I hadn't been inside an Old Navy for awhile. I ended up wandering around the athletic clothing section and had 2-3 things picked out. Everything was full price though, and I was having second thoughts about spending the money. The husband said, "You should try Fabletics." And I thought, "Hmm. I think I will!"
When you first go to their website, they will ask you to take a short little survey so they can get to know your workout habits a bit better. Basically trying to figure out if you're a runner, if you workout at the gym, or spend your time in a yoga studio. They also ask questions around your color and print preferences.
Once you complete the survey, you're then prompted to pick out your first outfit for $25. They select outfits based on your survey results, however, if you don't like any of their picks, you can simply select "view all outfits" to see what else they have to offer. I ended up going with the "Neroli" outfit. What's nice is that even though the outfit is modeled in all black, if it comes in other colors or prints, you have the option of selecting one of those instead. I could have also purchased more items above and beyond this outfit if I wanted to, but the $25 deal only applied to this one outfit as pictured.
I ended up ordering both the top and bottoms in a size small and was really happy with the fit. The bottoms are called "joggers" and while they're not as super skin tight as my other workout leggings, they clearly aren't as loose as joggers typically are to me. It makes me wonder if they called them joggers because of the thick bottom hem, which can slip over your heel as I have them. LOVE that detail.
I am really happy with both the quality and the fit. Based on some video reviews I watched, I was afraid that the bottoms would be too small for me, but they worked out just fine. No muffin top action! I will continue to order smalls in the future. My current workout clothes are from Target, Old Navy, Express, and Gap. I do have a few pairs of Zella leggings as well. The quality is just as good, if not better than all of the above.
So, how does this all work? Well, new styles are released on the 1st of every month. I simply log into my account on the 1st and see which outfits they've selected for me. Similar to how I picked out this first outfit, if I do not like any they've chosen, I can view "all outfits" and pick out something on my own. The difference is that each subsequent outfit is $49.95 instead of the initial $25 I paid for this first outfit. If I see nothing that I like, I can choose to "skip" that month and pay nothing. I have to take action (either buy something or choose to skip the month) by the 5th of the month. If I do nothing, then they will charge me $49.95, which ends up getting banked as store credit for future purchases. There's no contract and I can cancel at any time.
I'm really excited about this subscription! Now that I'm working out 5-7 times a week, I definitely spend a lot of time in workout clothes. Having something cute to wear is motivation to get my butt to the gym or Pilates studio. Seriously. I'm really happy that February was such a short month, which means March 1st comes even faster and I can get more clothes!
I've never gotten sweaty for blog photos before - well, at least not from working out, the summer heat is another story.... And of course, I had to do the plank 8378237686 times because the husband couldn't get the lighting quite right. I personally think he was just trying to torture me! Oh, and by the way, this post is not at all sponsored by Fabletics, I tried this all on my own, though if Kate Hudson wants to be my BFF and send me free stuff, who am I to argue?
Happy almost Friday! I thought I would do something a little different today and share a typical workout outfit of the day. If you follow me on Snapchat (carylee07) this uniform should look familiar to you, since I feel like the majority of my snapping is to and from Pilates! Ha!
I've found that these muscle tanks are perfect for Pilates! If you've even done work on the Pilates reformer or tower, it can get pretty sweaty. And a sticky, sweaty body means friction between your back and the mat. I love that these muscle tees give me full back coverage so I can maneuver easily on the equipment, and the higher crew neck in front ensures that no one is seeing my goodies when I'm leaning forward or in some obscure position. I'm wearing a small in these tees - they run pretty true to size with a nice relaxed but not oversized fit.
Tank: Old Navy (current options here) | Sports Bra: C9 (current colors here) | Leggings:Zella | Shoes:Nike
These Zellaleggings are so fabulous. Not only are they comfortable, but they're nice to look at. I've been wanting some perforated leggings, and these definitely fit the bill! I wear a small in all of my Zella leggings. Very fitted, but I don't feel like I get a muffin top at all, which is pretty nice. A lot of times I have to size up to avoid muffin top, but then I end up with a saggy crotch. These fit perfectly on me in a small. You will see they gather just a little bit at my ankles since I'm only 5'-2" but I can either fold the hems under or simply leave it as is - the little bit of extra fabric does not bother me at all
Naturally, I'm not wearing my Nikes when I'm actually doing Pilates. I enjoy wearing these Toesox with the grippy soles. I like that the socks keep my toes separated, but the cut-outs at the toes and at the top of my foot keep me from feeling like I'm wearing actual socks. My feet still get to breathe while I'm working out, it's nice.
If you've never done Pilates before, I highly recommend it. I've done yoga as well, and I would say that yoga was more stretchy-meditation for me while Pilates is more core strength. There's definitely some stretchiness to the exercises as well - especially when it comes to your spine. Last week in class, the instructor had us bend over and touch our toes at the start of the class. I could get my fingertips touching the floor. At the end of class, she made us touch our toes again, but that time, I could place my palms face down and flat on the floor. Amazing the difference one class could make!
Anyway - hope that was helpful! I love seeing what people work out in and I realized I've never really shared my workout outfits here! So, there you go!
Scarf: Lululemon (gifted) (Etsy options here) | Jacket: Lululemon (gifted) | Top:Old Navy | Bottoms:Old Navy | Shoes:Asics
I decided to do something different today. Every Wednesday I've been linking up with Fitness Blondie for The Hump Day Blog Hop. Since Liz has a fitness/ lifestyle blog, I decided to tailor this week's post to her genre of topics. This also helps keep me accountable for my new year's resolution to work on my fitness. I've been wanting to blog about this for awhile now anyway. Let's start with workout wear.
So yes, I'm donning some infamous Lululemon for this outfit. I've talked a little bit about my feelings for Lululemon in a previous post. Yes, I'll splurge on shoes here and there. Or a dress. Or a handbag. But I haven't felt the need to do this for workout wear yet. I did cave and get the vinyasa scarf. Ok, two of them. I bought two vinyasa scarves. However, luckily, nothing else has tempted me. My sister bought me this jacket a couple of years ago, and yes, of course, I'll take some gifted Lululemon, duh. How fun is this peplum? And there's a hidden pocket under there that I just discovered today!
Obviously the average worker-outer is probably not going to be dishing money for Lulu. When I signed up for Pilates again this year, I realized I didn't have form-fitting workout clothes that still fit me. They encourage form-fitting attire so that the instructor can properly see your form. I made a quick stop into Old Navy, which conveniently had all their athletic wear at the front of the store - perfect for resolutioners like myself! I ended up getting 3 whole workout outfits for less than $75 - less than the cost of one pair of Wunder Unders. So far, I've been completely happy with the fit and quality, especially for the price. Then I also stocked up on some other pieces when Express was having their 40% off everything sale this past weekend. These are the kinds of pieces that catch my eye:
OK, so I also wanted to tell you guys about Hello Fresh. And no, I am not getting paid for writing this review, nothing free, I'm just so happy I discovered this service! If you follow me on Instagram, you'll note that I post a lot of food pictures in addition to my outfits, the beagle, or the Cardinals (though it's off season right now, so…) I admit that I am worthless when it comes to grocery shopping. I don't mind cooking, but the chore of grocery shopping and meal planning is so time consuming that by the time you add up my hours I work for my day job plus the hours I spend on this blog (it's truly like a second job), that doesn't leave much time left for anything else. I don't know how you mothers do everything PLUS take care of kids. I admire you for this because I couldn't possibly have enough hours in the day to just take care of me, the husband, and the beagle. That's where Hello Fresh comes in.
You subscribe to their service, but can cancel at any time, and also suspend your account if you're going to be traveling or whatnot. You pick the amount of meals you want delivered (for us it's 3 meals x two people). Every week they showcase the recipes that will be delivered the following week - so I have 5 choices to pick my 3 meals from. Then, once a week (our delivery day is Wednesday), a box comes to your doorstep.
Everything is pre-portioned for exactly 2 people, or however many people you specify, with the exact ingredients to make the meals you've chosen. They separate the ingredients by meal, and label everything clearly. They even include recipe cards with step by step instructions and nutritional information. Each meal is designed to only take 30 minutes to prepare and the calories range from 300-600 per meal. All food is high quality and delivered fresh. The portions are exact, so there are no leftovers. However, each portion is hearty, especially considering the relatively low calorie count. I've been so thrilled with the service, quality, and convenience - I really have been meaning to blog about this for awhile. We've been subscribing for almost 8 weeks now, and it has changed my life.
The only downside is that I believe the furthest west they go is Chicago, so all you west coasters, I apologize for teasing you with all these wonderful food photos (which are all actual meals and photos I've done myself, by the way.) Anyway, you can get more information on their website at hellofresh.com. OK, so I just realized that I can get you $20 off your first box if you're interested - use this code: QD4TFU. I promise I'm not just recommending this for the referral credit though, just figured you may want $20 off! It's really amazing, and I can't speak enough about how much easier it's made my life, not to mention all the calories it's saving me from not having to eat out every night!!
I think I've talked your ear off enough! Hope you found some or all of this to be helpful! I can't believe it's almost February so I should be 1/12th the way into my resolutions! Scary thought!!
UPDATE March 2016: I felt the need to update this review because my feelings of Hello Fresh are quite different than they were when I originally wrote this post. And in case anyone comes across this post now, I wanted to make sure I let you all know how this fairy tale ends. We subscribed to Hello Fresh for about 2 years, and while everything in this post is still true, it didn't end so well.
Over the course of two years, they constantly updated their packaging, I assume to make it more efficient and effective. Well, the last few months of our service, we had repeat issues with meat packages being open in the box. It was a bloody mess to open, and basically ruined one to all three of the meals that week. Each time I reported it and they would give us a credit to our account equal to the amount of meals that were ruined. While that's fine, it kind of defeats the purpose of relying on these boxes of food for meals when we can't even use them, and then all the waste! The boxes, the food, it just became a bit overwhelming to have to throw away time and time again.
Finally, I had enough after getting yet another open meat in our box. I canceled our service. Well, even though I canceled almost two weeks before our next scheduled delivery, it was still "too late" so I had one more box I had to put up with. Fine, whatever. I get that final box, and YET AGAIN, I had another open meat! I called customer service and their response was, "Yes, we see you canceled your service." Ok, well what are you going to do about this last box that has an open meat again? I'm not paying for food I can't eat. They tell me all they can do is post a credit to my account, which they figured I didn't want since I canceled my service. So, basically I got screwed over again and wasted $60 on a box of trash. Insult to injury.
It is sad that it ended that way. I'm now wary of trying any other similar service. Lucky for us, we found a local meal delivery service who delivers food in a cooler on our front porch every week, which means WAYYYY less waste and the menu is a lot more flexible than Hello Fresh's menu and schedule were. If you're local to the St. Louis metro east area, you should check it out, it's called Entrees by Laura.
OK, so before I go into a little bit more detail of why my birthday was the best one ever, I think I should back up and tell you how I literally turned into a crazy baseball fan overnight. I honestly never liked baseball. I thought it was boring and slow, and growing up in San Antonio, we were all about basketball, not baseball. I had no vested interest in any teams, and while I had been to a few games, it was really just for the food and people watching.
It's definitely hard not to get caught up in the post season hype when you're living in St. Louis. In 2011, the buzz was everywhere, so I decided to watch some of the post season games. This helped me get more familiar with the players and even started helping me round out some favorites. When the Cardinals were up against the Rangers in the World Series, the husband decided to see if we could get tickets to any of the home games. He convinced me that going to a World Series game was pretty few and far between, so we should take the opportunity to go, should it present itself. We managed to get tickets to game 2, sitting out behind left field in the bleachers. You could feel the energy in the stadium - it was amazing. Sadly, they ended up losing that game - the energy was completely gone and it was a different crowd as everyone walked quietly to their cars after the game.
I kept up with the series on TV, and when they came back home for game 6, we decided to try for tickets again. And basically from there, my life was never the same again. Here's a video our friend took, sitting next to us, at the game.
I remember standing there. We were down by 2. It was 2 strikes, 2 outs. I was just waiting for the last pitch, and it would be done. A great series, but we'd be done. When the ball shot out to right field, we lost sight of it and assumed it was caught. But then the crowd went crazy, and just like that we were tied. It was an emotional roller coaster from there as the Rangers answered with a 2-run home run. The game ended in the bottom of the 11th with a walk-off home run - the Cardinals winning 10-9. I literally had tears re-watching these highlights!
It was just such a high - electrifying! I can't even describe the energy in that stadium after that game! And I have never high-fived that many people in my entire life combined! It was the most fantastic, indescribable feeling-- I honestly think half the reason I love baseball so much is just for the chance to feel that elation all over again. We did end up going to game 7 as well - although, as awesome as winning the world series was - nothing will compare to the excitement from game 6. Wow. Just WOW.
So, this is the second year in a row now that we have season tickets - a quarter of a season actually, and I've definitely graduated from being a fair weather fan. The Cardinals game is on as I type this, and honestly, they're the only thing I watch on TV anymore, other than Friends via Nick at Nite. The fact that I know what "ground rule double" or "E6" or "RISP" mean amazes me. Or that someone will actually ask (or care) what my opinion is on Ryan Braun's suspension. Sometimes I don't even know who I am! Because not only am I not a huge sports fanatic in general, I absolutely never thought I would ever like baseball.
Now, let's fast forward to my birthday. I had read about the Cardinals Care 6K and thought it would be so fun! A manageable distance AND we finish on the field at Busch Stadium? How awesome is that!
I would have been happy if that's all this was! Raise money for charity, work on my fitness, and end the race in my most favorite place (not shopping related). It didn't stop there though! I had no idea I would get to meet one of my favorite pitchers, one of our closers, Jason Motte. And yep - that's Jackie Joyner Kersee to the right of us.
I think I was a bit crazy to sign up for a run on my birthday - first thing in the morning, but I can't think of a better way I could have started it off. I was glowing when I left! Literally floating, so excited and happy. But wait. You're probably wondering about my socks. No, this is not my usual running attire. You see, my favorite Cardinal is centre fielder, Jon Jay, and not only is he infamous for sporting his high socks every Sunday, but he uses the hashtag #highsocksundays on Twitter quite often. Naturally, I had to get some for myself (here). Saturday night before the race, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to wear, then it hit me - AHA! It's Sunday! I'll wear my highsocksundays!!
OK, so afterwards, we went to a local restaurant for breakfast - Sgt. Pepper's Cafe, then I showered and relaxed before leaving for my birthday manicure and pedicure. Perfection right? Well, as I was at the nail salon getting my toes did, I was surfing Instagram and found this:
Whaaaa??! Those are my feet! And legs! And yeah, could they have maybe gotten a better angle? But OMG those are my highsocksundays!!! They also posted about a dozen photos from the event on Facebook. Just a handful. And my socks made it! 1.4 million people get to appreciate my highsocksundays.
I'm just such a big fan, it's ridiculous. And the fact that I am now on their social media channels just makes me so happy. There were about 800 people that ran in this race with me, so I feel pretty privileged to have made this cut. Such a great life choice to wear these socks and such a great cherry on the top of an already awesome birthday!!!
Hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane along with my 15 minutes of stardom. What about you? What are you obsessed with? What would be your ultimate birthday?
This is just a random post because I didn't have time to pull anything together today. Another travel day for me and I am exhausted. But I just wanted to share that I just signed up for a half marathon in Chicago! It will be my second one. My first one, I know I did not train as much as I should and I know I can improve on my time a lot! And I've been feeling frumpy lately and need to get back in shape. The race is July 21st! Wish me luck!
