On Working Out

Today one of my coworkers mentioned that she was in dire need of coffee after waking up at 4:45 for a 5:30 cycling class. 4:45! 5:30! Mind boggling. Awe inspiring. Straight up unfathomable.

This illustrates a struggle I've been having for the past few months (well, if we're honest, the past year) - the notion of working out. You see, for a small period of time, late 2011-2012, I went to the gym fairly regularly and did Jillian Michaels workouts at home. I broke a sweat, I was sore, I got more comfortable lifting weights in front of that awkward mirror at the gym. I also had our wedding date in sight as a major motivator, and I lived at home so I was spoiled by the fact that my mom cooked dinner and had leftovers waiting for me whenever I got home.

When we got married and moved to St. Louis, while I job hunted I had no excuse not to keep up my work out routine, so I joined a gym and kept up with one or two workouts a week. Then I got a job and just as quickly I dropped my membership. I knew waking up early or going to the gym right after work just wasn't going to happen for me. I traded the expense of a gym membership for a subscription to Birchbox. Priorities. Fast forward a little over a year and not much has changed.

To those of you who maintain a steady workout routine, I applaud you.

To those of you who do so with a spouse and pets, hats off to you.

To those of you who do so with a spouse, pets and kids and get up at the crack of dawn in order to juggle ALL of those things ... I full on bow down to you. You're superhuman.

All of this is to say that it's something I've been thinking about a lot lately. And maybe one day I'll join a gym again, I'm not ruling that out. But for now, I'm going to try to show myself a little grace and accept that my preferred form of exercise revolves around being around those I care about. Going on a bike ride with Jonathan. Taking long walks with our pup. So my baby step has been hitting the snooze button less during the week so I can take Clover on a long walk in the morning. She loves it, I love it and it's a peaceful way to start our mornings.

Plus, I'm convinced that holding back a dog that is ravenously trying to catch squirrel after squirrel is some yet-to-be-named arm workout.

Fly-over Country

Lately, St. Louis has felt less like a fly-over city and more like a stop-through town. I love it! In the past week, three friends from three different states have been through this city of ours.

Leigh Anne and Matt stopped in for less than 24 hours on their drive back from Wisconsin, but it was a fun-packed visit full of local eating at Pastaria and Half & Half and late-night catching up. Plus it's the first time we were all together since Jonathan and I got married - so that was bizarre/exciting! :)

Abby visited us the next weekend for what has become our annual March Abby visit - I really hope that's a tradition! Again we enjoyed some local eats at Dressel's Pub, Seoul Taco and brunch at Cucina Pazzo (lemon ricotta blueberry pancakes: you complete me), finally watched Frozen (Olaf! I love that singing snow man so much!) did some outlet mall shopping, and visited Bowood Farms so Jonathan could start a bonsai tree and I could try my hand at keeping a new houseplant alive (we'll see how I do...).

This is a chocolate chip cookie stuffed pretzel. Yes, you read that right.

Mistletoe fig ficus, I'll try my best to keep you this green.

And then! Thanks to the NCAA games happening in St. Louis, Amanda, my oldest friend from elementary school, was in town on Sunday to cheer on her UK Wildcats. So we got dinner at Pi after! Quick catch up, but oh so dear considering I saw her last at my wedding and before that it had been six years.

Moral of the story: St. Louis is the BEST place to reunite so come on through - plus we have delicious food to share with you!

Daylight

"... It's just a season thing. It's just this thing that seasons do. And that's the way this wheel keeps working now." Wheel, John Mayer

I'm so thankful for Daylight Saving Time. I know a lot of people complain about the lost hour of sleep and the adjustment in general, and I'll admit waking up in pitch black this morning threw me for a bit of a loop, BUT the fact that there was sunshine when I left work and when I got home trumps all of that!

I needed this time change bad. I don't think I ever fully adjusted when Daylight Saving Time ended last year... The fact that days were getting longer was already lifting my spirits. There's just a certain lazy inducing factor when you come home in the dark.

But when there's daylight? There's still so much that can be done in the day! I'm not saying the lack of daylight is what was keeping me from running a marathon or doing a slew of other athletic things, BUT it puts you in this homebody mentality (am I right?) And I love being a homebody as much as the next person. But for everything there is a season. And I am oh so thankful that there are seasons, both in life and in nature. It's so refreshing for mind, body and soul. Truly.

The extra daylight makes me excited for many reasons, namely:

• longer walks with our pup
• bike rides
• drinks and dinner al fresco
• maintaining my sanity in traffic (I think daylight helps with that...)
• the simple psychology that the day does not end when work does

Enjoy the daylight everyone! This girl sure is.

Pretty unrelated, but extra daylight makes me want to be outside more ... and bring the outdoors in! These succulents are adding some new life to our bathroom window.