Archive for June, 2009
Stronger
In preparation for my trip to the new gym, I needed some protein to get me through the work out. I made myself a chicken chili lime burger from Trader Joes (oh how I miss you TJs), and topped it off with some cheese, a whole wheat bun and lettuce from Dad’s garden. The weather was beautiful so lunch was outside on the picnic table.
After my lazy afternoon, I met up with Kelly at the new gym I was trying out. Now, while I was in Boston, I managed to get by without a car. So for the past three years, my time behind the wheel was limited to the occasional trip to the store when I was home for a weekend. Needless to say, I’m a little rusty. En route to the gym, the heavens decided to upon up and I got stuck in a crazy thunderstorm. I made it to the gym just fine (a little hydro planing here and there), but it was a nice little reminder that I need to be a bit more cautious before I am back to full driving ability.
Anyway, it was great to see Kelly again. She gave me a quick tour of the gym and then it was off to do my 5k on the treadmill. Before I visited the YMCA I was all set to fork over the money for the entire summer (when I would only be using it for about a month), but after stopping by, I wasn’t totally in love with the place. It was new and clean, but just so…blah. I’m thinking I may stick with Fit Happens (catchy title huh?). It’s not the biggest place, but it has what I need, including a great women’s only lifting area.
In addition to my run, today was my first day of Jillian Michaels’ 30 day Shred. I’ve heard good things about the 20 minute strength DVD and since I’m going to be sans trainer for the summer, it seemed like a good idea. The shred involves doing a work-out every day for 30 days. There are three levels to choose from, increasing in difficulty. Sounds easy enough. I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised. Unlike so many fitness DVDs, this one is actually a work-out! My heart rate was up and I was sweating up a storm. I took “before” pictures last night so I can compare after 30 days. I may even get brave enough to post the before and after on here…
Where the green grass grows
Good morning! It’s my second day of waking up without an alarm and let me tell you, I’m one happy Sarah. I started my morning off with a whole what english muffin with some peanut butter and a bowl of mixed fruit (strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, watermelon, and grapes).
By mid-morning I was feeling a little hungry, so I decided to have one of my new Amazing Meal Shakes for a quick snack. I ‘ve read about this company on a bunch of the other health food blogs and I really wanted to test it out. It’s JAM PACKED with a ton of awesome vitamins and nutrients. It’s totally organic and it has 10 gram of protein.
I mixed a packet of the Pomegranate Mango Infusion into 10 oz of milk in my cute new shaker I got at Whole Foods. I have to admit, it initally didn’t look too appetizing.
I took it outside to drink while my dad was giving me the tour of his baby, his new garden.
I’m not going to lie. I didn’t really love this flavor. It was by no means bad, but I’m not a huge pomegranate fan to to begin with. The drink was very satisfying and I’m excited to try the more tasty sounding flavors (chocolate in particular).
Although the accompanying drink wasn’t all that spectacular, the tour of my dad’s garden was impressive. Who needs a farm share when you have my father!
Pears from a tree in the yard.
Onions
Lettuce
My Dad picking some peas
Mmmm peas. I ate those about 3 seconds after I took the picture 
My dad has been very dedicated to having a completely organic garden. One way he’s keeping pests away with with Hoot, our creepy owl statue.
He also is using the tin plate approach to keep the bunnies away.
Good day sunshine
The sun actually came out today. It was sunny in the morning, afternoon, and it’s still beautiful out. I have to admit, I forgot how much happier I am in bright sunny weather. This past month in Boston was rough. There was something like 4 days of partly sunny weather ALL month. So walking outside and having breakfast on the front lawn was a welcome change.
In other news, to keep myself busy over the next 6 weeks, I decided to devote a little more of my blog time to food blogging. Why food? you ask. I’ve been inspired by all those healthy food/living blogs that I have been living. I’m not entirely sure I can maintain 6 weeks of food talk, but I’m going to give it a go!
I started my morning off with a bowl full of fresh fruit. One of the best parts about living back home is that I can shop for more than one person. I can buy a ton of fruit and someone will eat it before I go bad. I loaded up my bowl with blueberries, strawberries, peaches, grapes and pineapple chunks. So tasty!
Because I was back in Boston, I wasn’t able to spend Father’s day with my dad. Today was our “Better late than never father’s day” celebration. Dad and I had lunch at Olive Garden and then went to pick up his gift. Although I could have had a week’s worth of calories in one lunch, I opted for the Venetian Apricot Chicken. Surprisingly, it was only 280 calories, 3 grams of fat and 8 grams of fiber (that’s 5 ww points if you’re curious).
Next it was off to edible arrangements to pick up his fruit basket. I decided to get him the “Apple Blossom” arrangement (he’s a big apple guy). I was pleasantly surprised. All the fruit was in excellent condition, the arrangement was bigger than I expected and the chocolate dipped apples were fan-fryc-n-tastic! He seemed to like it:)
Love that dirty water
Boston you used to be my home! I officially moved back home for my 6 week stint back in Fonda at my parents house. The u-haul is unpacked, and I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to manage to live out of a box for the next month. Yikes.
My last few days in Boston went well. Thursday night Em came up and the roommates, Tara and I had an old-fashion slumber party complete with pizza (low fat flat bread of course) and a girly movie. Unfortunately, that whole slumber part was much more enticing then when we were in high school. We all fell asleep a little earlier than normal
Friday was my last official day at work. Not only did we have carrot cake (my FAVE) and brownies, but we took off early to have drinks and dinner at Border Cafe. I made many great memories at that place so it was appropriate to spend one of my last nights there. Also, my coworkers gave me a gift certificate to Crate and Barrel. I’m psyched to go shopping!
Saturday was spent running, doing a gravity class, and packing. My mom took Renate, Em, Michele and I out for dinner at Sunset Cantina (another Boston fave). I got my hands on one of those “Lame Stolen Beer Glasses” which will be a fantastic addition to the new Syracuse apartment.
Sunday was hectic to say the least. Turns out, I have ALOT of stuff. Everything made it into the u-haul in about 60 minutes, but only because we had so much help. Seeing my empty room was weird, and saying goodbye to my roommates was hard.
We prolonged it as much as possible by heading over to the Roadhouse for a late lunch with my parents. I finally gave in and had the Sausage Sandwich (mmm Kielbasa) and my last Allagash White for a while.
I remembered to take a picture half way through my sandwich.
Tasty Beer!
Roommate Love <3
It’s getting hot in here
Holy Hotness Batman! My morning long run was cut short due to the heat. Funny thing was, it wasn’t particularly hot out. In fact, it was beautiful. *I* was just overheating. Although I only did 6 of the 7 miles in my training schedule, I’m going to call it a successful run. Why? Because I learned I need to change the way I’m running if I’m going to do well in the Boilermaker (emphasis on the Boiler part).
1. Water – I need to get myself one of those belts with water bottles or possibly the hand held running water bottle. After about a 1.5 miles, I was dying for some water and had to wait until mile 5 when I hit a convenience store. I’ve always been able to manage drinking only before or after, but that’s when I was running only in the early morning when it was still cool and definitely not sunny out. Must hydrate!
2. Sunglasses – My eyes were hurting running into the sun with no protective gear. My baby blues can’t handle the brightness! I need to find a pair specifically for running.
3. Clothing – I definitely need to lighten up. Because of the dismal June we’ve been having in Boston, I’ve able to wear my spring running gear up until now. I need to switch over to the summer items. Perhaps I’ll stop by city sports today and see what I can find.
Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
Keeping with my song lyric blog titles, I decided to go with a Michael Jackson song tonight. I, like everyone else, was completely shocked and saddened by the news of his passing. Michael Jackson was an incredible artist. He was an icon. I still remember my dad taking out his old-school vinyl Thriller record, and introducing me to the awesomeness that was/is “Beat it” and “Billie Jean.” Michael Jackson made great music that I still listen to on a daily basis. Regardless of all the craziness that happened later in his life, he had an amazing career full of great music and music videos that will endure. RIP Michael Jackson.
On a much lighter note, tomorrow is my last day of work. I have such mixed feelings about my departure from the Broad. On one hand, it was an incredible experience where I had the opportunity to work with leading scientists in the molecular biology world and do amazing, ground-breaking research. I made some great friends, and spent the past three years falling in love with Boston. On the other, I am ready to move on. My heart isn’t in research, and I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my life. I “wanna be startin somethin.” I will always cherish the memories I made over the past three years. If it wasn’t for the Broad, I would have never met Tara, Ross and Michele. I would have never moved in with Hanley, and had all those good times in 58 Perry. For the first time since college, I got to leave near Emily again. I grew up more during the past three years than I did at Colgate. I was finally independent, and I learned how to live in the real world.
Goodbye desk and shiny new mac!In other exciting news, I got one of the 125 tickets to the Healthy Living Summit happening this August in Boston. Over the past few months, I’ve really gotten into several health food based blogs that have both inspired and helped me get back on track with eating right and working out. My favorite is Carrots N Cake if you want to get a good idea for the type of blog I’m talking about. The summit will be a gathering of bloggers/blog readers AND there’s going to be a ton of very cool swag. I’m hoping to eventually take my blog more in the direction of healthy living while in med school and I think this conference will be a great place to start!
Hot Blooded
Since I started working at the Broad three years ago, I have had lunch with the same group of girls and the occasional guy or two. Our conversations have ranged from baby excitement to home improvement woes, Lost theories to American Idol upsets. I’ve received many recipe, craft, and movie recommendations. Recently, I was introduced to a new-ish TV series by my coworker Cristin. She started talking about this over-the-top drama/horror show called True Blood. I’m not going to lie, I was hesitant at first. I was a hard-core Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, and I only had enough space in my heart for one Vamp TV series. Cristin, someone who I never thought I would hear saying she *liked* this type of show, swore to me I would love it. I added it to my netflix queue and Michele and I decided to give it a try on a lazy Thursday night. Five (yes FIVE) hours later, we were completely hooked. We had watched 5 consecutive episodes. I’m not entirely sure why I love it so much. The acting is bad, the accents are off and at times the story is just plain ridiculous. Yet, I’m not alone in my addiction. Michele is equally obsessed and the show is doing well in the ratings department. The premise involves Sookie, a psychic waitress from Louisiana. In the show, vampires have recently come out in society and drink a synthetic blood liquid, True Blood. Sookie just happens to fall for Bill, a civil war era Vampire who is attempting to “mainstream” or live peacefully amongst the humans….and hjinx insue. Be aware, there is lots of blood and lots of sex. It’s one of the more graphic shows I have ever seen. But if you can get past the occasional vamp slaying, you’re in for a treat!
Hurts so good
So I haven’t had much of a chance to write lately (it’s been a rough week), but hopefully I’ll be better about keeping up my blog.
Anyway, training for the Boilermaker has been going well. After seven weeks of working with my trainer Lisa, I’m seeing a major difference in my running. I cut 4 minutes off of my Turkey trot 5k time, and I’m running 5-6 miles on a regular basis. I’ve suffered through some of the most painful work outs of my life (250 lunges in a session…owww), but it’s so amazing to see real results. I recently started focus training at Healthworks. First of all, I ADORE Healthworks. It’s the nicest, cleanest, swankiest gym I have ever belonged to. They play classical music in the locker room and have a bowl of cucumbers on ice set outside the sauna *just* in case you wanted to revitalize your eyes post work out. In addition to all the regular group classes, Healthworks also offers two specialized small group classes (5 people max) called Burn and Gravity. Burn is done mostly on the treadmill with some strength work on the floor. You plug into the machine and a trainer is behind you calls commands into a mike. She’ll say how fast, what incline and how long to run. My heart rate gets up incredibly FAST, and the 60 minute class burns a ton of calories (thus the name).
Gravity is done on one of these specialized machines. Essentially you use your own body weight as resistance and do various strength training moves. I took a class Saturday morning and I am in PAIN today. Anyway, the goal is to make it to as many of the Burn/Gravity classes as possible before I leave next Sunday. The Boilermaker is only three weeks away!!!
Heaven is a place on earth…
Three things I wish I realized I LOVED earlier in life:
Massages:
When I won a free massage in college, I flat out refused to go. The thought of someone touching me in a dark room with candles and funky eastern music playing in the background was less than appealing. In fact, it sounded creepy. What good would it really do if someone rubbed my shoulders? I could do that myself. So when I first moved to Boston and started training in the pool 4 or 5 days a week, I was not excited when my right shoulder started bothering me. No amount of advil helped, and I was in quite a bit of pain. My coworker Tara suggested that I get a massage. I had my doubts, but after 2 days of pain that was causing sleep-less nights, I was willing to try anything. She recommended Boston Bodyworker, and I made my appointment as soon as we could locate the number. Much to my surprise, once I was on the table, I really enjoyed the experience. That Cadbury egg sized lump in back was actually a knot that could be worked out! Almost instantly the tension was gone from my neck and within the next day, my shoulder was feeling 100% better. Boston Bodyworker isn’t into setting the mood with candles and incense. Instead, the centers (located at Park street or the Copley T-stops) have a very professional atmosphere. The staff is super friendly, and the rates for clinical massages are extremely reasonable. I’ve only ever had a good experience, and I’ve always walk away feeling more relaxed and in less pain. If anyone happens to be in need of a massage, I recommend Jenny. I’ve worked with several of the therapists, but Jenny is super nice and knows what she’s doing with her hands.
Tea:
I have always been a firm believer in state-dependent learning. Studies show you should study in the same conditions that you will test. In October of 2007, I started preparing for my MCATs, and I soon realized that consuming caffeine before the exam would not be the
best plan. As you probably know, caffeine is a diuretic and the last thing one wants to do during a timed exam is use the restroom frequently. Unfortunately my favorite study spots were Starbucks and Peets, and both establishments frown upon people sitting around the
cafe without purchasing a beverage. Thus began my love affair with Tea. When I was little, I was never a fan of the sips of salada tea I would take from my mom’s mug. So I was surprised to discover as an adult, I actually LOVED the taste of tea. Iced or hot, herbal or earl grey,
green or red, I really enjoyed them all. Recently, I was introduced to Teavana, a chain that specializes in loose teas. It’s a little on the pricey side, but the quality and diversity of the teas make it worth the extra cash.
Wine:
