Home Essentials

There's a shop called Blue Mercury that I love to get my makeup and a few skincare products from.

They carry the Diptyque brand and although I'm a big (actually--huge) fan of luxury, I typically lean toward long laying products to invest $$ in.  So.. I love the Diptyque scents.. actually,  scents and really amazing skincare products are my exception to the 'long-life luxury' rule.

So I'm in Blue Mercury to pick up some Dermologica face wipes for my gym bag and I wander over to the scents and candles and just creep on the packaging.  I'm not smelling anything yet.  Just lingering and admiring the boxes and bottles and labels and font.  I like when brands get super simple with their presentation.  I tilt the boxes to get and understanding of the price point and continue scanning the shelves.  Calculating the ingredients (soy vs wax, etc) compared to the price, and I'm liking what I'm seeing.  So now I have three big candles in my hand ready for checkout and suddenly the thought strikes me that I may not actually like the way these things burn!  What if it's too strong, too weak, the wick gets all weird?? (These are important questions when you are about to spend almost $100 on candles .. or are at least considering it.)  I notice that Nest and Tocca have these travel sizes of their signature scents. The point of this whole post!

Same great shaped glass containers and everything.  (I opened the box to make sure that they weren't tin cans.)  What a treat to be able to test these amazing scents for a few weeks before diving in for the whole thing.

I walked away with Grapefruit and Moroccan Amber and am loving them SO much at home.  I decided to put Grapefruit in the bathroom to burn in the morning while I get ready for work and M.A. on my bedside table to build up the calm before bed at night.  These babies are so amazing that even without burning them, they add such a great aroma to the sky--of the room they're in.  (Haha.. the sky)

I'm so happy that I was able to have my cake and eat it too!  These will probably last just over or under the month and I'll be back to get the big versions when that time comes. :)

THANKS Blue Mercury!   Nice candles, NEST!

Enjoying them and the service.

Til next time

Melissa

LIFE

Let's catch up:

More yoga.  MORE YOGA!  I have had some big goals in yoga and have probably mentioned my realization at not taking full advantage of my access to reach them.  Now there are more days in my life and more time on my schedule to bend and flex toward a better me and a stronger body. Daily. From breathing, to how I connect with other living things, and even getting my ass above my head more often.  It must go down that way: through practice.  And not from thinking about it or dipping my toe in the lake of greatness that could be.. but taking a dive into what is and what's possible.

--

I ran my first race in over a year on Turkey Day and it was in another city (which has been a goal--and still is--on my list).  On Thanksgiving 2014, I ran a 4.5 mile race in Indianapolis with my boyfriend and his family before partaking in the annual holiday feast that we all know and love.

REMINDER:  I was injured and am working on recovery on my right hip.

The kicker is not only did I run a race. Not only did I not stop at all. I ran it faster than any other race I've done!  I ran 4.5 miles averaging sub 10 min each mile.  What whaaaat!  That's huge!  And I am so damn proud of myself which gets me amped to finish this 100 miles by Dec as well as the half marathons I'll be running throughout the year in 2015.  Much like the yoga, reaching goals takes practice and this totally helped to make the vision of running in 2015 more clear.

Yay!  Also was spotted by the boo at the end and he ran alongside me with a few notes of inspiration and a way to get out of my head and back out into the world by talking about other things. 

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Hubert.  That's my humidifier.  He's bomb.

I am at a space in my health life that I have my stable foundation that works and it's not always lifting weight or eating salad. Usually it's things like using a humidifier, eating protein after workouts, and sleeping.

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Friends.

I'm a loner and a social butterfly. If the test of refueling is true then technically I am an introvert because I get my energy from being alone. But I love me some humans! They're nice. And they make me laugh. They are good to dance with. And nothing beats realizing that you all have a strength or struggle in common.

So here is a pic of me with a few peeps that are cool and can catch the beat.  :)  Dalia and I both teach at the same fitness studio, her fiancé, my boyfriend giving all that 'tude at the top, plus a mutual friend James (Dalia and I both had acquaintance with him before we ever made acquaintance with one another. Trippy!)

We danced and drank good drinks in downtown Chicago on a warm autumn night a time ago. It was fun!

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And finally dinner at Café Ba Ba Reeba in LP.

My company prides itself on connection and interpersonal relationships.  So one night we took Ambassadors of our store out to dinner for tapas served family style and it was really cool.

We talked and drank vino and would pause every few minutes to bring a focus to presence.  What it means to us and our leadership and the holidays. It was so romantic.  To flirt with ideas and look life on the eye and tell it you love it. 

It was next level for us as individuals and as and team. I'm so grateful that I was able to participate and kick off the season with such intent. (This is a partial capture of the super messy table that we left behind that night.)

Life

Just some snaps shared on my instagram page.

This morning I made myself a fancy lil breakfast.  This is my second big experiment in the kitchen this week.  The other day my boyfriend and I made a Caribbean dinner.  He made jerk chicken and sweet fried plantains, I made Jamaican cabbage and haitian rice and beans.  This morning I decided to satisfy a craving for quiche!

The ingredients (minus half & half and eggs) were about 15 dollars.   Got the recipe from Pillsbury and used a pre-made pie crust. (GOAL: Learn to make pie crust homemade for quiche and my famous apple pie!)

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The morning before our caribbean dinner, the boo and I stopped by the Garfield Park Conservatory.

It's free and was a lot of fun. A lot of the space is under construction so I bet it will be really cool by the summer next year! 

I'm going to make sure to visit regularly so that the space is supported.

I love that every part of Chicago has so much to offer.

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One of the cute dining spots in Lincoln Park is called Blue Door Farm Stand.  It's a restaurant that features seasonal dishes that gets most of its grub from Indiana to plate and serve here in Chicago. 

The other day I went in to order lunch and noticed that they now have a "Build Your Own Four Pack" offer.  So for the Bears game that night I popped in and had the guys build a pack for me. In it there was Two Brothers, an Off Color Brewing, a Lazy Magnolia (Southern Pecan--my second favorite) and the pictured Hopothesis (Oatmeal Amber Ale).  This stuff was so good! Kinda fruity (to me) + totally delicious!   And by kinda fruity I don't mean that in a Seagrams/Mike's Hard kind of way.

This company is Chicago based!   See!  This city is just so dope.

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Last but not least!

On last Friday I got to participate in the lululemon athletica Chicago region's Metta Movement event called #100miles100smiles event with lululemon athletica Ambassador, David Coligado, and Smile Train.

Dave C took on the challenge of running 100 Miles in 24 hrs to raise $25,000 to provide cleft pallette surgeries to 100 kids through the Smile Train organization. 

The store where I worked had about 10 people come in and run on our treadmill (donated by Equinox) in Lincoln Park while Dave ran on a treadmill at the Rush & Walton location in downtown Chicago. 

The coolest part is that he finished in just under 21 hours!  WOW!!!!!  We kept the Rush & Walton store open for 24 hrs and offered comedy, fitness classes, libations, and nibbles all throughout to keep him encouraged. 

Dave is such a great guy and it's so beautiful that he took the time it takes to take a stand for hundreds of people who can't do it for themselves. 

It's almost a week later and everyone is still buzzing about the accomplishment. Unreal. Thanks for showing so much love, David!

 

Yoga Six

Yoga Six is the newest wave of studios to hit Chicago.

I am a big fan.

My favorite part is the environment.  By now I've done a handful of classes at Y6 and I have to say that for a national chain, they're pretty cool.  But don't tie much to that.  There is nothing wrong with being a chain of yoga studios the same way that being 1:1 doesn't make a stu more soulful. (But any time a chain exists you have to wonder about the consistency and authenticity of your experience.  Here I have no doubt that these peeps are on top of their game and can say that the Yoga Six instructors are in it for the love.)

This space is just so chill.  In my experience the desk encounter is always a little quirky since they are brand new here, but once you're in the space you're in the zone.  The bathrooms are superb.  Dope shower area, razors, and this cool "air shower".  The air shower blasts you down after your flow to bring your temperature lower which is especially great for us Chicagoans headed in to wintertime elements aprés savasana.

  

There's a lot of orange and I wonder if it's because the color reps warmth, enthusiasm, and happiness. (?)

The studio floors are probably the greatest in the game.  They're padded and have parking spots on them.  That means that someone went through with a ruler and made marks to ensure that the class can fill comfortably. It's so freaking cool.  They borrow out towels and (Manduka) mats to those who forget or travel light. Personally, I'm a big fan of The Mat by lululemon athletica for all things hot yoga.

From what I understand the classes are formatted from corporate and then instructors just add their own flare from there.  (Which, so far, hasn't been disappointing.)  They also offer warm and hot classes as well as slower pace, deep/restorative, and the power/sculpty style.  The play lists are cool and I'm assuming created by the instructor as well.  (I've heard that chime stuff, the Super yoga chant music, and some Bone Thugs n Harmony).

Check em out!  Currently they are in Lincoln Park (Clybourn), the South Loop (Roosevelt Collection), and Gold Coast.

Lululemon Athletica Halsted is partnering with the Lincoln Park Yoga Six studio to offer free classes at 7:30PM on Tuesdays at their Clybourn studio. 

The welcome to Y6 South Loop!

Camel at Lincoln Park

Here with Jesi (friend & Y6 manager) after a 6AM class at the newest South Loop location.

Title Boxing Club Chicago -- Lincoln Park

I've always wanted to be a boxer.  Pretty badly.

So I went to Title Boxing Club Chicago in Lincoln Park and got busy getting after my dreams. (Haha.)  Our Coach,  Emanuel, was amazing.  He got us super pumped up and excited for the workout and helped the first timers shake the jitters out.

I was too busy dying to really get the format, but from what I can recall, it was:  a 15 min warm-up; eight, five minute "rounds" with active recovery in between; and 5-1,000 minutes of core work to seal the deal before your deep stretch.  In summation it was AWESOME.  I went with a few friends and we were all totally beat at the end.

I actually felt so relieved of stress and anxiety.  I went in thinking that I would take out frustration and aggression on the bags but Emanuel's coaching had my mind focused on getting the combinations right and giving my all when the Burpees, sprints, or frog jumps were assigned to the team.  So at the end I said to my friend: "I feel like I just did yoga!"  I was relaxed and just felt so clear.  Yesterday, I felt invincible walking out of the doors and today I feel sore (and ready for more).  Haha!

I happily want to share that as soon as the warm-up began, I looked to my friend and said: "I feel like I'm going to hard out the gate..I just know I am." lol  And I definitely did.  What's funny is that I now want to practice enough that I can just go hard from the beginning to the end.

Thanks to Title Boxing Club Chicago - Lincoln Park and especially Jacob for gifting my crew free wraps for the workout.  I chose rainbow and dark blue and I felt so bad ass wrapping them up and tossing them into my rucksack at the end of class. :)

I'm so happy to have this place around esp going into wintertime.  I am so excited to get super sweaty this would terms and I'll definitely be getting my sweat on with TBC Chicago!

Yours in sweat,

Melissa

TITLE Boxing Club Chicago Lincoln Park
2417 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 312-4726

BETTER LIFE: SAY IT, DO IT #3

Monday: upper body
Tuesday:  Pilates at Equinox Lincoln Park
Wednesday:  rest day OR 3mi run
Thursday:  Shredded Abs at Shred415 + 3mi run
Friday:   rest day OR 3mi run
Saturday:  Team Endurance at CrossFit Defined + Level 1-2 at Yogaview
Sunday:  Some kind of cross-training

xox

Melissa

#committed