sweat, soup and socializing

Guys, it’s national peanut butter day! Granted every day is peanut butter day in the life of Kayla, but still!

Unfortunately I couldn’t spend all of today hibernating, so my way of dealing with the cold? Sweat, soup and socializing.

First sweat session of the day? 7AM yoga at my favorite studio Yoga Vida. It’s been a while since I took a yoga class, but this morning’s vinyasa class reminded me of how much I love yoga. Recently yoga classes aggravate my old shoulder injury, but I’m hoping that the pain-free class this morning means that there’s a whole lot more yoga in my future.

After yoga class it was time to celebrate national peanut butter with PB on a whole wheat english muffin with honey. Oh wait, that’s what I eat for breakfast every. single. day.

Post english muffin it was time for sweat session #2: a spin class at Flywheels with Jesse Alexander.

I’ve got a few confessions to make.

1. The first time I took a spin class I hated it. Like loathed the entire experience and counted down the minutes to when it would finally be over.

2. Actually, I hated my first 10 or so spin classes.

3. But now, I’m obsessed. I’ve been spinning roughly every other day since I got back to the city.

4. and lastly, I’m a bit of a spin whore and I’ve been spreading my spin love around to various nearby studios. I just love each fancy studio so dang much in it’s own unique way.

So what’s Flywheels special thing? They add a competitive factor and throughout the class you can see how you are doing in comparison to your fellow classmates.

 

Go Kayla! You spun for 17 miles! Sadly, I definitely didn’t burn that many calories because they don’t calculate based on weight. And sadly I was in second to last place for most of the class. womp womp.

But, I must say todays class with Jesse Alexander was pretty freaken awesome.

He had some of the best quotes I’ve ever heard in a fitness class

“this is only 3% of your day”

(isn’t it crazy to think that exercise is only 3% of your day? That means you can totally give it your all during that 3%)

“sexy is an endorphin”

(if you say so 🙂 )

and the real reason he captured my heart? HE PLAYED GREEN DAY. I might’ve had a rather emotional experience when “Wake Me Up When September Ends” came on. The key to winning me over in life? Play Green Day…..

 

any ways. I highly recommend Jesse Alexanders class… even if you’re not a mega Green Day fan like yours truly. His class was definitely one of my favorites because he not only pushes you to keep going, but he also approaches fitness from a mental stand point– its about so much more than losing weight and looking hot.

 

After sweat session #2 I realized that the only appropriate cold weather lunch was soup so I made a pit stop at Agata and Valentina for some fresh soup.

 

Super simple ingredient list? Love it.

1 cup of this stuff + some turkey meatballs = the perfect cold weather lunch.

 

After lunch it was time for the final sweat session of the day: teaching a zumba class for kiddies! Over the past three summers I’ve worked at a day camp as the dance specialist where I choreographed dances for campers ages 3-14 in addition to teaching zumba classes geared towards kids. It’s been awhile since I led a kids zumba class but I forgot how much fun it was. I’m so used to teaching in the sweltering summer heat that I was actually thrilled to be teaching in cold weather.

 

and lastly my day ended with thai food for dinner with some friends from high school. A lot of my friends from high school and sleep away camp are either attending graduate school or working in Manhattan so it’s been great catching up with old friends. My dream in life is to some how make all the people I love in my life move to the city so that I can see them all the time. Not gonna lie, my dream is actually slowly coming soon since so many of my friends are now moving here.

oooof I’m sleeeeepy after all those sweat sessions. Time to rest up because tomorrow I’m attending an all day TRX workshop!

 

questions of the day:

anyone else celebrating national peanut butter day?

what’s your favorite cold weather food?

from the canyon to the sea

Los Angeles and I are having a fabulous love/hate relationship. At moments I love love love love love it here. Like want to transplant my boyfriend, family and Broadway shows here so I can live in California forever.

Other times it is hate. Usually those are the moments when I am stuck in traffic or can’t find parking. At that moment I miss my subways in Manhattan and the epic parking lots of suburbia.

There’s lots of thinking for me to do… where do I want to be this spring? New York or Los Angeles? What do I want to be doing? I change my mind approximately every hour, depending on if I am loving or hating LA at that moment. Decision making is not my strongest suit….

So this week in LA: Santa Monica Pier & Runyon Canyon. Obsessed with both.

Santa Monica Pier

while it was hella hot in West Hollywood earlier this week, it was the perfect breezy weather for  trapeze by the beach!

It was only my third class back after 5 months of injury. While my body is arguably stronger than it has ever been, my right shoulder is still not 100%. When in the air part of me is still a bit worried that one wrong move and I will be back to injuryland

I have a habit of comparing myself then to now. “Well in March I had a better force out”.” In March I caught this trick no problem”.
But this isn’t March, this is 7 months later. I have to keep reminding myself that I am where I am today. 

there is something a million times cooler and more terrifying about flying into the ocean.

I was a giddy child. Between being at the beach and getting to take a trapeze class I was the happiest gal in the world. Whoever decided to put a trapeze rig next to the ocean is my hero.

Runyon Canyon: Hiking

I’ve been dying to go to Runyon Canyon since the first time I visited my friend in California 2 years ago. I finally got the chance this week.

My first Runyon Canyon experience was a sweaty 2 mile hike.

 

 

I can’t even begin to explain how much I loved hiking Runyon, even if trying to run down hill terrified the bejesus outta me. I’ve honestly never seen anything like Runyon, hiking in Westchester is definitely not the same experience. If you ever have the chance to hike Runyon I highly recommend it, the views are absolutely worth it. It is also quite the work out climbing that mountain….

Runyon Canyon: Yoga

Today was my second Runyon Canyon experience– YOGA! This might be the California deal breaker for why it is a million times better than New York: they have donation based (pay what you can) yoga, outside, by the canyon. Um what better place is there to do yoga? No where my friends, no where.

I’ve never done yoga outside. It was distracting, hearing the birds chirping and people walking by on the their too and from Runyon, yet it felt like white noise at the same time. I loved being tickled by wet dewy grass whenever my hand crept off the mat. I loved that the ground was uneven which helped some poses that usually  challenge me, yet totally messed up my balance on other poses.

It reminded my why I fell in love with boot camp and running this summer– there is something amazing about working out outside, it feels so much better to breathe fresh air instead of the BO of the person running on the treadmill next to you.

Runyon Canyon, I’m sold. You are my new favorite place.

Has anyone else done outdoor yoga? Love it or hate it?

What’s your favorite way to work out outside?

Kayla [back] in the City [briefly]

after 3 or so week home in the ‘burbs, yesterday I went back to visit my lovely city, apartment, and neighborhood.

it was one of those perfect days that makes me wonder “why the hell did I ever leave the city in the first place”.

first was lunch, courtesy of my new neighborhood grocery store

I’ve been mourning the closing of my nearby d’agastino’s all year. I missed being able to literally run out and get groceries across the street. Agata & Valentina though is an EXCELLENT replacement. The brand new store is gorgeous and stocked with amazing fresh food. I enjoyed a chicken caesar wrap from the cafe. I have a feeling I will be a daily costumer at this new store.

After lunch it was time for a job interview that included getting a smoothie at my favorite restaurant/ cafe Grey Dogs.

Post smoothie I couldn’t resist stopping at a cute food cart to see what they had. The Squeeze was an AMAZING find, and makes me even more depressed that I’m not living in the city this summer. After sampling the coconut granola, I couldn’t resist taking some home.

this stuff is addicting. I couldn’t stop munching on it all afternoon

it is like a crunchy, nutty, pina colada.

I love that you can see the blue skies outside my apartment. My bowls in the city are so much prettier than at home 🙂

After eating lots of granola, it was time for a yoga class at my beloved yoga vida! I felt like a little kid going to Disney World I was so giddy to be back in their beautiful studio with a favorite teacher. Oh Yoga Vida, I miss you, your affordability and your 13 class times a day oh so much! Luckily they now have podcast of their amazing teachers. I haven’t tried it out yet, but will definitely be trying these out soon. While I’m sure it is no substitute for class, listening to a podcast and doing yoga on my back porch seems like a nice alternative.

Sadly it was time to go back to the ‘burbs after my quick visit to the city. I did however get to see a rainbow on the train ride home.

I like to think of it as some good luck and telling me that exciting new things are on their way

—

this morning I continued my recent cooking kick by making dairy free overnight oats courtesy of Peanut Butter Fingers. I’ve recently been trying to cut back on my dairy consumption, I’ve never really loved milk on it’s own and think that it might have been contributing to some stomach pains and ailments I was having during Spring Semester.

I love the concept of overnight oats because they are so simple to make. I tried to make a different recipe during the school year and wasn’t a fan of the final outcome, but this variation was super sweet and tasty.

Before heading to the gym for some Zumba I mixed the ingredients in a tupperware and left it in the fridge.

When I came home I had a refreshing brunch treat waiting for me.

Since I’ve been on a berry kick recently, strawberries and blueberries seemed like the prefect addition to this summer breakfast.

I’m thinking this might be the perfect lunch this summer. The day camp I work at is peanut free, which makes me cry a little every day because I just want a peanut butter sandwich for lunch. It does however encourage me to be creative with my food options. I might finally have something new to add to my day camp lunch rotation.

Tonight will be spent pigging out enjoying hibachi with my work friends from camp, and excellent way to kick off another summer working together.