Little victories

Hello, hello, hello! I hope everyone is having a lovely Saturday. I'm not doing much of anything (which seems to be a running theme of this winter break), but it's still been a pretty good day. 

Yesterday, I said I wasn't feeling a workout in the morning. I did eventually get my ass to the gym. I went around 8:45 (craaaazy Friday, right?). There were more people than one would expect to be at the gym on a Friday night (once again, damn resolutioners), but I pretty much had the gym to myself. After a 10 minute cardio warm up, I did PBFinger's Total Body Circuit Workout, followed by Blogilates's Victoria's Secret Model Ab Workout video (which I think is my favorite ab workout video, it's not unbearably hard, but it is challenging). After coming home from the gym, I made a nice little protein smoothie, because I'm worth it.

Only looks slightly radioactive.

Here's what I used:

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (give or take)

1 handful baby spinach

1/2 frozen banana

1/2 cup frozen mango chunks

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

Before my nighttime workout, I went to the movies and had a late lunch/early dinner with my dad and grampy (once again, craaaaaazy Friday, right?). We saw The Imitation Game, which was about breaking the Enigma Code during WWII. I would have never picked this movie myself, but it was actually really good. It was entertaining and engaging. I knew very little about Alan Turing and the Enigma Code going in and I still found it pretty easy to follow. Benedict Cumberbatch and Kiera Knightly were the two leads, and they were fantastic. Benedict Cumberbatch's fandom on Tumblr annoys me, but he's a great actor, so I suppose I get the hype (though I don't see the sex god in him that some people see, but to each their own I guess).

Seeing the greatness but not the sexiness.

After the movie, we went out for a 4:00 meal (which was kind of lunch for me) at a nearby resturant, the Sylvan Street Grille. I got a salmon salad with chipotle lime dressing. I was worried the dressing would be too spicy, but it wasn't at all (and I am the biggest spicy wimp). The salad was delicious, and the dressing gave it a nice smoky flavor. I also had a couple of pieces of the bread with parmesean and red pepper oil dip. I think that may have actually been my favorite part of the meal. If you've ever been to Not Your Average Joes, the oil dip tasted exactly the same, but the bread was a little softer and more dense. Again, I would have avoided the bread a few months ago, but now that I am being less restrictive I'm really trying to enjoy little treats like that (little victories).

Today started like any Saturday for me does. I had two slices of Ezeikal bread with peanut butter (once again, no bananas in the O'Neil household, so I added some honey instead), and, even though it was about 25 degrees out, my usual venti-iced-coffee-with-skim-only from Starbucks. The 25 degree weather also did not hold me back from going for a run (though I'm not going to lie, it was a bit of a struggle to motivate myself). I bundled up and actually ran the furthest/longest I've ever run before! 5.43 miles in 50ish minutes according to RunKeeper. I realize this probably isn't super impressive to a lot of avid runners, but this is p freaking cool for me (once again, little victories).

Post-run, I foam rolled, made some oatmeal for lunch (basically the same thing as what I had yesterday for breakfast), and went grocery shopping. Sadly, it's starting to snow here, so tonight will be filled with doing nothing and loving it. I see some hot chocolate in my future.

Having a vision of hot chocolate, I'm so Raven.

Wow! A long post, but I can't tell a short story to save my life. Lovely readers, have a fun Saturday night! If you're getting snowed on like me, I see hot chocolate in your future too!

What's you favorite snowed-in thing to do or treat to eat (I sound like a kindergarten teacher)? Also, how do you motivate yourself to get your ass to the gym or out for a run when it's cold as balls (professional term) outside?

Kulie Julie

2015: Mildly spicy?

Hello 2015! I hope everyone had a fantastic time ringing in the new year! My friend Heather had a little party with us theater people, which was exactly how I wanted to celebrate the beginning of 2015.

A few of us at the party. Coming to a Christmas card near you in 2015.

If my first couple of hours of the New Year are indicative of things to come in 2015, then I am certainly happy about that. Nothing too remarkable happened, I just had a fun time with fun people. I would like to note the the food at this party was delicious. There was this spinach dip that I probably was responsible for eating most of. I made The Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies, which are always a crowd pleaser. One batch made 57 cookies. Everyone ate a couple of those (including myself). Someone else brought peanut butter cookies, and as I can't resist anything with peanut butter, I had to sample one of those as well. They were amazing.

New Years morning really wasn't bad. I didn't get much sleep (I slept on the floor at Heather's. not necessarily the most comfortable spot), but since I didn't overdo it with the alcohol the night prior, I wasn't hung-over. I spent January 1st hanging out at home and napping. Thursdays are always my rest days, so I did just that!

 

This was my first cup of coffee of 2015. Obviously worth capturing.

I also decided that I wanted to make one of those jars where you put in a slip of paper with something good that happened that day every day for a year. Mine isn't very spectacular or well decorated, but it works for now. We didn't have any mason jars at my house, so I cleaned out a salsa jar that was in the recycling. I'm nothing if not resourceful!

Maybe 2015 will be mildly spicy too.

I'm typing now from my kitchen table, munching on oatmeal and (what else is new) drinking coffee.

 

 

BOTD (breakfast of the day, let's make that a thing): oatmeal with 1/2 packet of truvia, cinnamon, frozen mixed berries, and chopped-up almonds. YUM.

This morning, I woke up with the intention of working out, but really just was not feeling it. I even put on my gym clothes and drove to the gym. After seeing just how many people were parked outside, I decided it was way too crowded and turned around (damn New Years Resolutioners). I started doing a bodyweight workout at home, but was still not feeling it. So, I stopped. I have no doubt in my mind I'm going to work out at some point today. I'm not one to skip a workout. I just couldn't motivate myself this morning, even with my favorite little mantra "you'll never regret a workout." I'm sure if I only had the morning free to work out, I would have completed it, but I have the whole day, so why not work out when I'm feeling energized. I'll probably get a much better workout that way. 

What do you do when you're not in the mood to work out? What are some mantras or self-talk you have that get you in the workout zone?

Kulie Julie

2014 was...a year.

One year ago, I had this to say about 2013:

Follow me on Twitter, @kuliejulie (shameless plug).

Apparently, I was underwhelmed by 2013. I suppose I could say the same about 2014, but for different reasons. This year really did go by so fast, but I don't necessarily think it was a "time flies when you're having fun" situation. I feel like a lot of this year was waiting for things to be over, during the spring semester I stage managed a show, and really regretted it. I just wanted it to end. Then once that ended, I was waiting for summer. In the summer, I was waiting to go to London. After London, I was waiting to move into my apartment. Once the semester started and I moved into my apartment, I was waiting for play auditions. After auditioning (and waiting for the cast list) and getting in, I was waiting for that play to be over. Once play was over, I was waiting to move back home and get winter break started. Now that I'm on winter break, I'm waiting to move back into my apartment.

Instead of being in the present moment, I was dying to move on to the next event of the year. Like I said in my December 27th resolutions post, I need to stop always looking ahead, and start being happy where I am now. In 2015, I'm going to be going through huge changes, and college will be ending. I need to make the decision to enjoy every last bit of college, rather than thinking about grad school and moving out and whatever else comes my way next year.

Let me know if you have any tips for living in the moment and quelling anxieties about the future.

Here's to 2015 being more than "iight." Have a happy (and safe, (okay mom)) New Year!

Kulie Julie

Power yoga, power smoothie, power coffee

Namaste. Oh sorry, I went to yoga this morning, so I'm feeling spiritual. Recently, I've been trying to do yoga once a week. Specifically hot yoga. I'm the sweatiest exerciser ever (it's disgusting, I'm sorry if you're ever on the treadmill next to me), and it's a little embarrassing to be literally dripping sweat on my yoga mat in a normal yoga class. Thus, I choose hot yoga because everyone is dripping sweat! The place I go to (because the atmosphere is cool and it's only $8/class with a student ID) is actually a hot, power yoga studio. I'm really getting into power yoga; you get the best of three worlds: stretching, strengthening, and calming the F down for a second (which is nice for the anxiety-ridden such as myself).

90 minutes of connecting to my center definitely worked up an appetite. I ate half a banana before leaving my house this morning, and froze the other half for a smoothie. After showering (I did not want to eat in my sweaty-mess state), I made a new-to-me smoothie concoction. It was kind of like the PB&J smoothie recipes I've seen around. I impulsively bought PB2 at Target yesterday (story of my life), and wanted to try it out. I have yet to use it as actual peanut butter, but it was actually pretty darn good in this smoothie!

 PB&J-type smoothie. Looks gross, tasted p good though!

Here's the recipe (aw, my very first recipe on the blog, quite the momentous occasion):

-1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (give or take, depending on how thick you'd like it)

-handful of spinach

-1/2 frozen banana

-1/2 cup frozen mixed berries (mine included strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries)

-2 tbsp PB2
-1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use the generic Whole Foods brand soy protein powder, mostly because it's cheap)
Blend everything together and enjoy your glass o' happiness.

Speaking of happiness...delicious coffee alert! I love the Starbucks French dark roast coffee, but it's like $8(ish) a bag. As I'm sure you can tell, I'm cheap (and broke), and don't want to buy the Starbucks brand (I mean, in a perfect world I could just get coffee at Starbucks every morning, but, alas, that's not happening). So I got to Googling, and found a lot of high praise for the Folgers French roast coffee. So, I picked up a container during yesterday's Target travels. It was only $4 for a larger container than the measly little Starbucks bag, and tastes just as good! If you're into dark roast give that shiznit a try.

The best part of waking up (or getting home from yoga)

Now it's back to grad school stuff. If you see me crying in the fetal position later today, you know why.

My questions for you lovely humans: 

What is your favorite type of yoga?

How can I creatively use this PB2 impulse-buy?

What are the most delicious (and cheap) coffees you've come across?

Namaste homies (you can hit me if you want).

Kulie Julie

Tales of Grad School and Pasta

Why isn't there a Common App for grad school? I'd like to make a formal complaint.

I'm currently taking a break from (or procrastinating on, if you'd like to put it that way) writing grad school application essays to type up this blog post. Seriously, how many slightly different essays can I write before I explode? Also, how many tests do I have to take before my bank account is empty? I thought the ($200) GRE was enough. Silly me. I'll just drown in a pool of pre-grad school debt and practice test books.

Anyway, enough venting about that. Grad school applications will all be a distant memory at this point next year (well, so long as I get in *knocks on wood*). Let's talk breakfast. Last night I made these Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Dough Overnight Oats from PBFingers for breakfast this morning. However, I only used 1/2 a cup of oats and a packet of Truvia instead of brown sugar. After my 3.5-mile run and a killer Blogilates butt workout (if at all possible, I'd like the 10 pounds I gain to go directly to my ass), I added a little more almond milk, half a banana, and a handful of rasins to the oats. Holy sugar-honey-iced-tea they were delicious! I'm usually underwhelmed by overnight oats, but I think the addition of peanut butter and the subtraction of Greek yogurt made this breakfast a total winner.

YUM. Thanking the Universe for the leftovers I get to consume tonight.

Another total winner was last night's (and tonight's) dinner. My dad made chicken pasta primavera (a recipe he found in my mom's Good Housekeeping magazine in like 2009). During my weird, almost-orthorexic phase last semester, I never ate pasta. Now that I am 1. trying not to be so restrictive and 2. actually trying to gain weight, I'm eating a lot more carbs, and this pasta hit the spot. It's basically just chicken, asparagus, red bell pepper, and scallions all sauteed together in a cream sauce. You just mix it with the pasta, add some (or, in my case, a shit ton of) parmesan cheese, and dinner is served.

Finally, I think on Mondays I am going to do weekly OOTDs. I'm still not entirely sure what direction this blog is headed in, but I love seeing other bloggers' OOTDs. I mean this is my blog, so I can do whatever the hell I want with it. Also, I apologize for the weird angles, I'm new to taking OOTD pictures.

(I'm in my bedroom at home, the lime green walls seemed fun and quirky when I was 15)
Top -Urban

Cardigan - Urban 

Jeans - Urban (I got them like 3 years ago and they're still going strong)

(Just realized this is all from Urb, whoops)

 

Close-up of zee top

And of course, the shoes. I got them for Christmas (from Necessary Clothing), and they're my new babies.

I'm signing off for today and heading back to the dreaded grad school essays. Is anyone else dealing with grad school applications? How are you managing the slew of essays, tests, letters of recommendation, transcripts, and all that shitake mushrooms? Also, let me know if you're digging the OOTDs! And finally, keep me posted with any cool recipes or work outs (especially for the booty, I'm trying to become Beyonce) you come across on your Internet travels :)

Kulie Julie

'Tis the season for...capris and iced coffee?

It is WARM here in Massachusetts. Well, by warm I mean like 50 degrees, but 50 degrees in the end of December?! It's amazing (it's also probably due to global warming, so maybe I shouldn't be too excited about it). Obviously, my Saturday morning had to start with a venti-iced-coffee-with-skim-only. I'm not going to lie, I choose iced coffee over hot coffee 90% of the time, no matter what the weather is, but the fact that it was warm made my iced coffee decision feel so right.

The Goddess herself. Look at that dramatic lighting.

Saturday is always my long run day, so in addition to the iced coffee, I had my normal long run breakfast, which is 2 slices of Ezeikal toast with chunky peanut butter. I usually top the toast with a sliced up banana, but we didn't have any at my house. I used honey instead, and oh hoooooney it was delicious! I'm thinking next long run I'll have peanut butter banana toast with honey as well.

Where I run. It's prettier when the trees have leaves.

After breakfast, I headed off to my favorite long run trail. It's about 25 minutes away from my parents house, and is close to where I go to school. I live in a school-owned apartment, so I'm currently at my parents house over break (I didn't want to pay the ridiculous amount it costs to live at school for break!). However, on a Saturday where I had nothing else to do, a 25 minute drive certainly fit in my schedule. I wore capris on my 5 mile run, and honestly would have been fine in shorts!

I wish I could have exposed calves all the time.

 

Later last night, I went out with some friends downtown. I had so much fun, but drinks are much more expensive here than they are at school! $7 for a vodka soda?! I know that's actually not that pricey, but I'm a poor college student and miss my cheap drinks. Oh well, at least I got to hang out with friends put being 21 to good use!

 

My friend Steph and I. My top is from Topshop (hah!), and I got it when I was in London this summer! I paired it with high-waisted black skinnies and brown ankle booties. I'll be sure to take a more OOTD-esque pic next time!

 

As soon as I post this, I'm heading to the gym to do some strength training. I've noticed my strength training routines have been getting a little stale lately, do you guys mix up your routines so you don't get bored? 

 

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

 

KulieJulie

The December 27th Resolutions

On December 27th, 2012, I started running. I just got an iPhone and could use the Couch 2 5k app to get my ass in shape. On that first day, I could barely run for a minute. Cut to now, I can run 5 miles (according to RunKeeper the furthest I've run is 5.3 miles, so that's p cool). I also got a new iPhone for Christmas, so I figure that with December 27th right around the corner and a new iPhone marking the iPhone 6 era of my life (I find way too much symbolism in very inconsequential moments of my life), I've decided to make some new December 27th resolutions.

So, without further ado (adieu?) here are my December 27th resolutions:

 
1. Run a half marathon! I got this crazy little idea in my head a while ago, and I think I'm going to do it. I plan to follow the Hal Higdon Novice 1 program, and will run the Moose on the Loose Half Marathon in Nashua, NH in April. Why? Just to say I did it! Also, now that I have a new phone, it won't die in the middle of my long runs. That's actually like half the reason why I'm choosing to do it now.


2. Gain 10 pounds. Yup, gain 10 pounds. I probably sound like an asshole to a lot of people, I know. I'm 5'8/5'9ish, and 120 pounds. That's not healthy. I kind of overdid it this summer and throughout the fall semester with healthy eating. I got mildly orthorexic and controlling. It was not good. So now I'm on My Fitness Pal tracking my calories so I can gain some weight. My doctor and I discussed it, and 130 is the ideal place for me. I need to stop being so concerned with what I'm eating and live a little.

 Source: We Heart It. (so cool and hip, right?)

3. Live in the present. My life is pretty good right now: I have cool friends and family,  I'm going to graduate from college in the Spring (presumably, unless I fuck up immensely this semester), I don't have a life-threatening illness, I have a lot of privilege, and the list goes on. However, I find myself worried about the future, instead of being happy with my current state of affairs. I think about how my life would be better if I had a boyfriend, or if I was in grad school in Boston, or if I was on Survivor (oh, I'm a disgustingly huge Survivor nerd btw). It causes me a great deal of anxiety and stress. When I'm alone, I just think about all of these things that could make my life better, rather than thinking about how sweet my life is now.

4. Blog. I've been in and out of this blog a few times now. I think I'm going to head in the healthy living/lifestyle direction. I need that focus or it's just not going to happen. I'm on break from school until the end of January, so hopefully I can make blogging a habit over break, so by the time I'm back at school it will continue to be part of my routine. I love blogging. Writing is somewhat cathartic for me, so having an outlet to write and be heard will be a good thing. Who knows, maybe by next December 27th this blog will have a readership! That would be hella cool.

So, lovely readers, do you have any December 27th resolutions? Or perhaps a New Years resolution? Let me know! Also, if you have any tips for helping me with any of my resolutions, please do comment.

Hope you had a fabulous Holiday!

KulieJulie