New York- Finally!

I swear, I do not have the best lucks with the flights. We drove to Kansas City yesterday afternoon for an evening flight to La Guardia. It was direct and super cheap so we figured it was worth the drive... A billion delays later...

Thankfully, we figured all this out before actually getting to the airport. We called Marriott and they booked us in a KC hotel and modified our NYC reservation at no charge. And Delta booked us on the 5:50a flight and refunded our money. Not too shabby! And we still got to NYC 4 hours earlier than if we had kept our original flight!

So we had a nice, relaxing night in KC and made it to NYC at 10 this morning.

We hit the ground running!!

Grabbed some delicious pizza at Highline Pizzeria and found a sunny place up on the High Line to eat. It was freezing but still fun!

Then we wandered through Chelsea to the Chelsea Marketplace. Love all the different shops there!

After that we headed back to the hotel for a quick nap and shower, then out to dinner!

Delicious hummus and a crab cake sandwich at Parker & Quinn. Gorgeous little restaurant with great service! Fun night.

After that, we wandered over to Bryant Park.

Then, we strolled through Times Square and a few stores before calling it a night. Productive first day in NYC despite the delays! 

6 Days in the Road and I'm Gonna Make It Home Tonight

What a crazy week! I can barely keep up. I was in Kansas City for work on Tuesday and Wednesday, then I headed to St Louis for meetings on Friday.

Because of the chaos, Hubbs and I hit Houlihans for dinner Thursday night. . Hubbs went for the healthier options of steak, green beans, and asparagus. Me, not so much. Can't beat happy hour chicken nachos and wings

We also decided to road trip out to Louisville for the weekend to meet our new niece. Since St. Louis was on the way, I had my coworker drop me off at Starbucks to wait for Hubbs. I couldn't have asked for a more relaxing Friday afternoon! I got lots of work and reading done. 

So many gas station stops on the way... but found a new gas station somewhere in Illinois. They had some pretty amusing books. 

Saturday, we met my niece! She is so tiny. 4 1/2 pounds. So basically, the rest of the weekend was just sitting around in sweats holding babies and chilling with family. Perfection. :) 

Look how big her pacifier looks! Adorable! Great weekend, but more craziness to come! New Orleans for more work on Sunday! 

Kansas City

This week, I had to make a quick work trip to Kansas City. I'm staying at Harrah's- definitely not my choice. I absolutely hate casinos, but I'm making the best of it!

We ate at the 37 steakhouse in Harrah's since it was raining, and we didn't feel like going out. Food was good. Great crab mac and cheese, asparagus, creamed spinach, etc.

My boss made me take leftovers, so I'll most likely be hitting these around midnight. 

And since I hate gambling, I relaxed the rest of the night away with some Headspace meditation, a face mask, and Us Weekly. Not too shabby!

Travel Day

Headed out to Austin for work this week. Packed some healthy snacks for the travel.

Said goodbye to Hubbs and this guy...

Layover in Dallas... Excited for the construction but I walked forever. Hello exercise!

I had some time to grab dinner and have been craving a burger so I grabbed a booth at Friday's and devoured this sucker.

About ready to board my flight with a full belly and am hoping for an easy flight and good sleep tonight! 11 meetings tomorrow- here we go!

Finally Friday!

It's been a crazy, hectic blur of a week around here.

Girls on the Run started up their spring session this week! So excited to be running with the girls again. We've got a great group, a lot of the same girls from last season. I can tell it's going to be great! I can't tell you how excited I was to see their faces and hear what keeps them positive. Cuddling, puppies. fudge. I can get on board with all of those.

This week was a good week, an exciting week. Some crazy things happened, and it's all just sinking in. But these images fit how I'm feeling right now. I feel like I'm embarking on a great adventure. So excited to see where life takes me! 

And speaking of adventure, work travel season kicks off on Sunday, so I'll be all over the place the next few months. Stay tuned for posts from Austin, TX next week! 

Happy Weekend!!

Friday Fun

It's Friday, and I'm feeling feisty. I started out the day by putting this gem in a co-worker's office for their birthday. 

Hit the gym at lunch again. Sometimes just wearing gym clothes that make you feel good can put you in the right mindset to kick butt. I seriously love working out in bike shorts. They're just comfy to me. And I love a good pony. Good day.

Last fun thing of the day so far.... I was running on the treadmill and looked up to see a family friend on the Rachael Ray Show. How random! 

Darnell owns SuperChefs. They have locations in Ohio: Columbus and Gahanna. I visited their location in Louisville just a few days before it was destroyed by a fire. Horrible thing, but so glad I got the chance to try the food. It was amazing! Great burger called Feelin' Mello that had candied bacon on it. Delicious. 

Well, that's my random Friday. Ready to kick off the weekend! 

Skipped Workout to Plan...

Instead of using my lunch break to work out today, I used it to book some flights. Just as productive, I think. :)

Can't wait to explore New York City in April!

I'm an Aunt!

I'm an Aunt! I'm an Aunt! And I don't care who knows it!!

Thursday afternoon, we hit the road and drove 8 hours straight to Louisville, KY to meet my one week old nephew!! He's precious, and I'm in love. This is the kid that made me an aunt! It's just crazy to wrap my brain around. I could hold him and stare at him forever. Life is an incredible thing.

Even though we were in Louisville, we didn't leave the house. I wanted to spend as much time with my nephew as possible! My family did surprise me with my favorite cake as a late birthday celebration. Marble with whipped frosting. And nothing tops a cake that says "Aunt Abby!" Weekend made.

Back to work and real life on Monday. Since I literally spent the whole weekend sitting on my butt and eating cake, gym was top of the list. Another great SWORKout! Plyometrics Jump Cardio kicked my butt- now I feel geared up for the rest of the week!

Workout before Weekend

This afternoon I hit the road for a quick weekend road trip to Louisville, KY. More details to come. I couldn't take a super long lunch break so I opted to do 20 minutes of yoga to stretch out before 8 hours in the car.

So, I went to SWORKIT again. I may have an obsession. I realized today that the app adjusts my background music so that I can hear instructions. 

Here's some of the music I vibed with today.

Feels so good to stretch and relax!

Overall, a great, quick lunch workout to put me in a relaxed mood before road trip weekend!! 

Costa Rica-4

We spent the last couple of days hopping between the pool and the ocean, just relaxing and soaking up the sun. A wonderful trip. 

Flew over Cuba on the way home and am excited to add it to the list of future travel.

 Can't wait for the next adventure! 

Costa Rica-3

We took a day to get out and drive. Beautiful country side, but crazy drivers! 

Playa Flamingo was gorgeous!

Delicious coconut right on the beach.

It was definitely nice to just get out and explore.

Then we ended up back in Tamarindo for the night at El Patio. Great venue with good food. Ceviche for the win.

We ended the night at Sharky's, watching the Vikings play. I was in heaven! Never would have guessed that I'd be able to watch so much football while out of the country! 

Costa Rica-2

We spent the next day at the Palo Verde National Park on a river boat tour.

Lots of iguanas!

And a curious monkey.

And ended with more relaxing on the beach and a beautiful sunset!

Costa Rica!

Apparently I was a good girl this year, so Santa whisked me off to Costa Rica for a week. Great trip! Beautiful place and time spent with wonderful people. 

We spent Christmas Day at Arenal Volcano. I totally expected an arid volcano so I was caught off guard by the rain forest climate!

Our first encounter with coati. We found out that when you see one and feed it, twenty others jump out from the jungle to beg for more! 

I was able to spend time hiking on a road that was destroyed when the volcano erupted, then through the rainforest.

We wrapped up the day at The Springs Spa. Perfect way to celebrate Christmas- just relaxing in the mineral pools!

Stay tuned for more travel stories!

Sand in my running shoes

Finally able to hit the gym after two solid weeks of holiday travel. Started off by shaking the sand out of my running shoes. Take me back to the beach! 

Started off my first morning in Tamarindo, Costa Rica with a beach run. 

Low tide sure helped!