Category Archives: shopping

April 3, 2013

I went to Vermont, I ran, and I ate delicious food

I’m back! Between my vacation to Vermont and the Easter holiday, I apologize for not posting. I really meant to, I brought my computer up there and everything. But time got away from me and obviously a blog post never happened. I was obviously distracted by the beautiful view below! Talk about gorgeous. But today I’m back and here to share what I’ve been doing these past few days.

The view of Lake Champlain at sunset.

The view of Lake Champlain at sunset.

1. I ran!

Yes, I ran! On roads slightly different than NYC :)

Yes, I ran! On roads slightly different than NYC :)

I had two runs while in Vermont, my first two for almost two weeks due to plantar fascitiis pain. I tried out my new Mizuno Wave Inspires, which I love love love so far. They are lighter than my Brooks but still offer support. Plus, they are bright blue and color always draws me in. Yes, I am a sucker for neon.

I ran with Karl and his brother on the hilly back roads for one 4 mile run and one 6.1 mile run. It was their first super hilly outdoor run and they did great! Although that wasn’t what my long run was supposed to be that weekend (11 miles), I am easing back in slowly since I also have some lingering knee pain but felt pretty good overall. Hopefully now I’ll be okay for my 15K this weekend and the Nike Women’s Half this month. Crossing my fingers all goes well.

Karl and I post run.

Karl and I post run.

2. I ate delicious food.

When we go visit Karl’s family in Vermont, we always make it a point to eat as much local food as possible. For example, maple syrup, cheese (LOTS of cheese, all types), and bread. We were lucky to have tons of this at his families’ house but we also went out to two amazing restaurants: A Single Pebble (Chinese food) and The Farmhouse Tap and Grill (American food) in Burlington, VT. Both places rival, if not beat, places of the same cuisine that I’ve eaten in NYC. Yes, I am saying that A Single Pebble beats Mr. Chow and Phillipe Chow in my opinion. Especially their Mock Eel… yummmm. Both were AMAZING.

Cheese Plate from the Farmhouse Tap and Grill

Cheese Plate from the Farmhouse Tap and Grill

I am also obsessed with Lake Champlain Chocolates so I picked up a big stock of that to bring home. Hopefully I can make it last but no promises. Its just too good.

3. I celebrated Easter and spent time with family.

This was the first Easter I didn’t spend with my direct family, but with Karl’s aunts and grandma instead. We made it feel like home by doing some egg coloring (with the invisible crayon.. my favorite!) and playing some games with the eggs. We didn’t end up doing an Easter egg hunt because we were too busy that whole day, but it ended up being lots of fun anyway.

Pretty Easter Eggs!

Pretty Easter Eggs!

I think those eggs turned out pretty nice! The multicolored is mine, I was the only one who attempted it! Apparently I’m daring in my egg coloring skills. Who knew?

We also went for a nice brunch on Easter day with Karl’s family and ate some more delicious food. It was great to catch up and see everyone again.

Mark, Karl and I on Easter

Mark, Karl and I on Easter

4. I went to a wine tasting.

I have been wanting to go to a nearby vineyard everytime we go to Vermont, but for some reason we never end up there. But this time we did! We went to Shelburne Vineyard for a nice afternoon wine tasting one of the days we were there and got to try out some of their award winning wines. They were all delicious, especially their dessert ice wines. Oh my gosh.. amazing!

Wine from the Vineyard

Wine from the Vineyard, with medals!

Its a great price too. You get to try out 8 wines for $5, plus you get a nice souvenir wine glass to take home. And a nice one at that! They don’t pressure you to buy anything but it was so good we had to take some wine home. Can’t wait to open them up and enjoy more Vermont grapes!

5. I played with cute doggies.

Karl’s aunts that we usually stay with have two Shih Tzu’s and one German Shepherd. Since I LOVE dogs but don’t have one of my own, I was in doggie heaven. They are super cute and I loved playing with them. The small ones are cuddly and fluffy.

One of the Shih Tzu's named Vita!

One of the Shih Tzu’s named Vita!

And the German Shepherd is a big 8 month puppy who loves to play. She can also entertain herself forever, e.g. she chased a leaf blowing in the wind for about 20 minutes. It was fantastic.

The German Shepherd puppy Tilda.

The German Shepherd puppy Tilda.

6. Lastly, I learned about this:

I am going to be posting more about this upcoming NEW Thrive Forward Sportprogram that I think most of you will LOVE. Stay tuned :)

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PS. Be sure to enter my Fit Four Gloves GIVEAWAY which ENDS TODAY! Click here to enter.

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What did you do this weekend?
Do you celebrate Easter? What are your traditions?
Have you ever gone to a wine tasting?
How are your pre-summer workouts going?

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Filed under holiday, restaurants, shopping, Thrive Forward, vacation, videos, weekend

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March 27, 2013

Abs By April & Fit Four Gloves Review & Giveaway

For those of you participating in the Abs By April Challenge, you know that its almost over! I cannot believe how fast the time went and can’t believe its spring already. Next week will be the last chance workout and then I will be posting results for those who wish to share! I can’t wait :) Here was this week’s workout, all participants should have already received the email with this info.

Abs by April- Week10 PNG

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In the spirit of Abs By April and my goal of building muscle before the summertime, I have recently started seriously lifting. In the past I didn’t really push myself with strength training, but lately have been taking it up a notch. I LOVE the feeling after a good strength session, the moment where you can increase your weight, and lifting the same or more than the guys at the gym :) Girl power!

The only downside though is that I’ve been lifting to the point where I started developing calluses on my hands. Yuck! I won’t share the visuals with you because I doubt anyone wants to see that. That’s why I was SO excited when I was contacted recently by the wonderful people at Fit Four Gloves to try out a pair of their gloves, it was just perfect timing!

My Fit Four Gloves at the gym

My Fit Four Gloves at the gym

Fit Four Gloves are fitness gloves designed with a minimalist approach. Ever see the guys at the gym with the full-length gloves? Yeah, these aren’t like that and I think it works way better. The gloves have a four finger design that covers your hands where you actually need it without all the excess traditional gloves have. At first glance, they look pretty different but, trust me, when you try them on you’ll love them!

Some other things I like about these gloves: durable synthetic leather with “extra skin” for tough workouts, ventilated palms, and stretch lycra material on the back of the hand. Having my hands comfortable when I work out has helped in making me excited to go do strength training. Before when I lifted without these, I wasn’t thrilled because of all the damage weights were doing to my hands. But not anymore!

FitFour1

The back of the box.

I’ve been using these in the gym for a few weeks now so I’ve had the chance to really put them to good use for this review.

What I like about them:

  • Forms nicely to  the contours of your hand (i.e. good materials)
  • Only covers the part of your hands you need covered; no excess
  • Stretchable, but strong
  • Air holes for ventilation. As someone who gets sweaty palms when they are warm, this is perfect!
  • Stay put and don’t move during tough workout sessions or exercises
  • Cost: Priced well at $25.95. This seems to be a very competitive price for fitness gloves, so this is in the pro category.
  • Comes in four sizes (small->extra large)
  • Machine washable

Some cons:

  • Takes me a little adjusting at first to find my “sweet spot”. Ordering the right size is REALLY important!
What they look like on my hand

What they look like on my hand

The verdict: In my opinion these are worth it and, as a newbie at strength training, I have fallen in love with them fast. I have also fallen in love with not having calluses on my hands anymore! So in summary, go get yourself a pair :)

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Luckily, I am able to offer the chance for one of you to WIN YOUR OWN PAIR of Fit Four Gloves! Click on the Rafflecopter link below to enter, its super easy.

*** Fit Four Gloves Rafflecopter Link ***

The giveaway will end April 3 at 11:59PM EST and the winner will be announced the following day. Good luck!

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Disclosure: Fit Four Gloves sent me a free pair of gloves to review. As always, all opinions expressed are my own.

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February 26, 2013

Ellie Clothing Review: Workout Clothes You Can Actually Workout in

A while back I was contacted by a company called PV Body about becoming an ambassador for their monthly fitness clothing subscription service. Basically, they send you a fitness top and bottom every month. Now, I loved the idea of this and thought it would be great to try. Unfortunately it didn’t work out so well for me or for many other people, as you may have read on several blogs. They had issues with size variations between brands they shipped and honestly what was sent to me was not my style at all. Needless to say this left some disappointed.

So then came Ellie, which is the company’s attempt to fix the sizing/quality issues they had by creating their very own clothing line. Some were upset claiming this was a “bait-and-switch” but it seems to me that as a new company, they just decided to rethink their business model after all the initial problems. Ellie offers consistency of sizing and quality, but with the same monthly subscription service model as PV Body.

ellie jpeg

This is how Ellie works: You can just go to their site and buy items from their collection separately as you would do on most websites (for full price of value of clothing) OR for $49.95/month you can join the Fit Fashionista Club which means you can:

  • Select any 2 pieces you want from their current monthly collection (any combo you want, i.e. two shirts, two bottoms, shirt and bottom).
  • Get free shipping and return shipping.
  • Get early access to pieces before they are sold to the public and even exclusive access on some items.
  • Note: You must choose your items by the 7th of every month otherwise Ellie will select a combo for you. You can also cancel at anytime.ffc-1

Sounds like a pretty good deal, but are these clothes really worth it? That was my question too. As a brand ambassador, I wanted to try out the Feb 2013 line first before I wrote a full post about it. Well, I received my first Ellie shipment this week, tried it out, and am ready to give you the full report: I am very happy with the quality of the clothes.

I received two items from the Feb collection: the Charcoal Truth or Dare Racerback Top and the Love Stuck Leggings. The top was tighter than I would normally wear but was very flattering to my surprise. Of course I did not have anyone to take a photo of me in my new clothes so you all get the wonderful token bathroom shot…

The top looks purple here but its actually a grey color. Token bathroom photo.

The top looks purple here but its actually a grey color.

I immediately loved the Love Struck Leggings when I tried them on, the material is SO soft and comfortable. I wanted to wear them all day long and never take them off. The stitching and the quality are very good and the sizing is spot on to what I normally wear at Lulu and Athleta. They are grey with a black air stripe down the side.

Love struck leggings and Saucony shoes. Ellie logo in the corner :) on the pants!

Love struck leggings and Saucony shoes. Ellie logo in the corner :) on the pants!

I was nervous about the grey color with sweating, but wore them during a tough workout and had no problems. They also seem to dry pretty quickly and are thankfully not see through when you bend over. What more could a girl want? I have been doing a lot more lifting lately so I wanted to share with you my photos lifting in Ellie gear. Karl really pushes me when we lift together, I love it. I’m getting muscles!!!

Getting muscles!

Getting muscles!

I really pushed myself in this workout and had no problems with the clothes. They stood up to everything I put them through including lifting, light cardio, and lots of stretching at the end.

Looking shocked I can actually lift weight.

Looking shocked I can actually lift weight.

For full disclosure, I did have one issue with shipping. I did not actually receive the top that I had originally selected, which was pretty disappointing since I have heard great things about the one I wanted (it was way more colorful, which is my style). But since it was their first month with Ellie, I decided not to make a huge thing about it and did end up liking what they shipped me by mistake. I am only hoping this does not happen again or with other people.

My final thoughts:

  • The quality of the clothing is really good and certainly worth the price. I also really liked the styles they offered, they are fun and girly.
  • I did have one issue with shipping, but it may just have been a fluke since they just started up. They do seem to respond well to emails in regards to issues like this though.
  • Everything is made in the USA. This is a plus!
  • If you love fitness clothes, they stand up to actual workouts which is most important.
  • You can cancel at any time.

Want to try Ellie? Click the photo below or in my sidebar for 20% off your first order!




Disclosure: Ellie sent me a top and bottom to review and I receive a small commission on referrals. As always, ALL opinions expressed are my own and reflect my actual thoughts on the clothing.

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Have you tried Ellie? What did you think?
Would you try something like this?
How have your workouts been going?

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