Five on Friday

Happy Friday!!

5 on Friday is definitely my favorite link up, so I'm glad to back to blogging my Friday 5 & linking up with April & Christina!

Here we go!

1 - I am now the proud owner of this functional beauty...

Longchamp via

Seriously, I love this bag!  I carry all of the things in my bag all the time!  If you opened it right now, you'd find my iPad, a snack bag of Berkley's dog food, a shaker bottle, protein bar and a pair of socks in addition to all the normal stuff, ie my wallet & chapstick!  I'm back & forth to the gym so much, this bag is the perfect size to function as my purse & my catch all bag!!

I love the black & brown, it goes with everything!  A bff of mine & my cousin swear by this bag, so I knew it needed to be my next purse purchase.  I see a long, loving relationship budding between Longchamp & me ;)

2 - I had my first Flywheel experience this past Sunday morning!  My friend Jackie is a Flywheel addict & I was finally able to go with her!  She is also a CrossFit/Weightlifting addict (my kinda gal ;) ) so we left Flywheel & bee-lined it to the gym for 2 hours of weightlifting!  This was my face after....

Legs were complete jello for the rest of the day!  Whoa nelly!  Flywheel was definitely fun & an awesome cardio workout!  I can see myself throwing it in to my workout mix for a little variety (and leg killing) on occasion :)

3 - Speaking of working out....I am in my very first CrossFit competition this weekend!!!  I'm only slightly nervous, anxious, excited & terrified all at once ;)

I'm competing in the SuperFit Games tomorrow(!) at CrossFit Steele Creek!  There are 3 workouts, all partner style, that day!  My partner & I are competing in the scaled division (read - not as hard!) & our team name is the FRANtastics!  Our heat times are 10:43, 1:21, and 4:39.

Brandon & Warren are competing also, in the RX division because they are beasts!  It kind of came about last minute (a week ago!) that I'd be competing!  My partner Meagan is a friend of a friend & when her partner dropped out, our friend thought of me to partner up with her.  So here we are!

Tomorrow's the day!!  It will be a full but very fun & exciting day!!  The top 5 teams from each division (male rx or scaled, female rx or scaled, male/female rx or scaled) will go on to the final WOD & we have high hopes that Brandon & Warren go all the way!

4 - So much in this photo that I'm loving!

I love some sparkle on my nails, that makes any day better!  And how can you not love these cute earrings?! Calorie free cupcakes are the way to go!

5 - Nina's Paleo Pumpkin Spice Granola!

This was my very first attempt at homemade granola & I'm sold!  It was so easy & so delicious! Brandon & I (ok mostly me since B is gone most of the week.  Oops!) have already eaten through an entire batch that I made Sunday night!  It's that good.

I'll be making more very soon & can't wait to share over Thanksgiving & Christmas with our families!  Yum!!

That's all I have for you!  Hope over to April & Christina's blogs to read more 5 on Friday posts!  Happy weekend!  :)

Dirty 30 Mustache Bash Cake Tutorial

These 2 boys turned the big 3-0 about 6 weeks apart from each other this fall, so I threw them a Dirty 30 Mustache Bash at the box!

The morning of their party they celebrated with a Dirty 30 Birthday WOD, and as you can see, Brandon really embraced the mustache theme!  He creeped me out all weekend long, ha!

I did a terrible job of taking pictures of all the party details, since, ya know, I wasn't really blogging then.  Ughh.  But if you ever throw a mustache themed event (gender reveal, boy baby shower, kid birthday party, etc.), feel free to ask away about the details, I'm happy to share!

I knew I needed a mustache cake for this party!  It was a must!!  I saw this pin on Pinterest a while ago & my inner baker felt inspired!

The link from this pin is broken :(

Basically, you cut a yin-yang in a circle cake, flip one half and match the larger circles to form a mustache, ice & voila!

A few weeks prior I made a trial run cake.  I needed to perfect my craft & of course sample the recipe.  Had to make sure it was good! :)

My trial run was a success!  The recipe was a keeper & the shape turned out pretty well for being free handed.  I needed a way to fool-proof cutting the yin-yang, though, so it would be exact!  I finally realized I could print one out, cut it, and trace it while cutting the cake.  I was able to blow up the yin-yang to 9 inches in a Microsoft document, print, cut and trace & it worked like a charm!!

Here is the final Mustache Bash double layer Mustache Cake!  I was quite impressed with myself, to be honest!

The cake was definitely a hit at the party!!  Everyone thought it was adorable & they couldn't believe I made it!  Every last slice was eaten, so it's safe to say it was delish!  I, of course, turned to Elana's Pantry to find a gluten free cake and icing recipe.  Obviously, the recipes did not disappoint! Happy baking!!

Vanilla Cupcakes

1/2 c coconut flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

6 eggs

1/2 c grapeseed oil

1/2 c agave nectar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  Blend wet ingredients in a small bowl.  Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients with a mixer or hand blender until smooth.  Pour batter into well oiled 12 cup muffin pan (or 9 in cake pan) and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Cool completely before icing.

**Back off the oven temp to 300 and bake for 1 1/2 the time (30 minutes) in order to have a flatter cake for layering, mustache creating and icing.

Vegan Chocolate Frosting

1 c dark chocolate chunks

1/2 c grapeseed oil

2 tbsp agave nectar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

pinch of sea salt

Melt chocolate & grapeseed oil over very low heat in a saucepan.  Stir in agave, vanilla & salt. Place frosting in freezer to chill and thicken for 15 minutes.  Remove from freezer & whip with hand blender until smooth & fluffy.  (I totally forgot this step & I think it would've been helpful!  Whoops!) Frost over cake.

She is Fierce

Brandon decided he wanted a new tattoo for his 30th birthday!  He wanted the scripture "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" tattooed down his side.  A life verse!  I love it.

You know what they say, tattoos can be a little addictive...once you get one, you want more! When B mentioned getting a new tattoo, that really got my wheels turning.  I've loved the idea of a wrist tattoo for quite some time, but I didn't really have any ideas of what to get.

Any tattoo I get, I want to still like it when I'm an old, wrinkly grandma.  It's kind of permanent, ya know!?  So I didn't just want to get something to get something.

My friend's younger sister posted this on Facebook & I had seen it floating around Pinterest.  I just loved that quote.  It spoke to me!

I've finally seen so many gains in my training since starting CrossFit almost a year ago and I view myself a little differently now.  I think CrossFit has the power to and actually is changing the way women view strength and themselves.

Take 6 1/2 minutes and watch this video & you might get what I'm talking about a little better...

Letting Beauty Speak

"Ask 100 different people to define beauty and you get 100 definitions.  Ask 100 people at the CrossFit Games to define beauty, and they answer with a gesture."  It still gives me chills, every time. Beauty is strength.  And not just physical.

I spent years in the gym just trying to "not be fat", trying to "be skinnier", smaller, thinner.  I guess I semi-succedded, I wasn't fat!  But I never saw gains or progress.

But now I see gains, I see major progress!!  And it is so empowering!  I am little, but I am fierce!  I can throw around some {heavy} weights and I can control what I eat and I can push my limits, in and outside of the gym, to be a better version of myself!  That's all we can really do, anyways, right!?  Become a better version of ourselves?  Everyone else is already taken.

Though she be but little, she is fierce.  I want to live fiercely!!  Physically, mentally, spiritually.  That's what this tattoo is about.  And I'm proud to sport it!

I'm baaaack!

Why hello there little blogosphere!  It's been a while a little over 3 months!  Whoops.  I sort of fell off the face of the {blog} earth!  Obviously, you all noticed!  I mean how did you survive without me!?

I didn't exactly mean to drop off the {blog} planet, but it just kind of happened.  I was kind of stuck in this rut back in July, if you recall.  I tried to keep on blogging, but the rut won.  Rut - 1, Michelle - 0.

I still don't really know why I backed away so suddenly.  I sort of felt fake this summer in my blogging life.  I don't know why....I've never been fake on this blog or tried to convey a picture that doesn't really exist of my life.

It kind of just felt like I was blogging to put on this pretty show, to keep up with this chore.  Looming over my head...but I had a lot going on and I just didn't want to, to be really honest!  I couldn't keep up with my blog...it felt like work.  So I needed a break.

I wanted to be in my life, be intentional.  And that meant letting go of the blog, and of twitter, and Pinterest for a while.  So I let go!

I kept reading all of your blogs!  I still love keeping up with everyone's lives, but I think I just needed time away to miss my blog.  And, finally, after 3 months....I miss it!  I miss recapping our weekends, funny stories, sharing pictures, & recipes.  All the good ol' boring stuff!  So I'm going to give this another chance & hopefully keep this journal going.

I'm baaaaack!!  And just know that's a very loose term ;)  I may only still post once or twice a week or not a all a week here and there, but, I want to be back!  So here goes....

3 months in a nutshell!

End of July/August

I ran the Electric Run with some friends, we continued to enjoy drinks in our driveway (because we're classy!), worked out (a lot. duh!) at the box, & traveled to the Mitten for B's work summer party - we got to see our cutie nephew Weston oh so briefly, step our feet into chilly Lake Michigan & enjoy a rodeo!

September

We enjoyed double dates with great friends, celebrated Labor Day, threw an awesome Mustache Bash for Brandon & Warren's 30th Birthdays, and celebrated our friends' Greg & Ashley's wedding in the beautiful city of Charleston with good friends :)  It was such a great weekend away!

September/October

We celebrated multiple Oktoberfests, got new tattoos, celebrated lots of October birthdays with sweet family in town, killed some more workouts & got some sweet new Reebok CrossFit gear - it was like Christmas in October!

More October & early November

We bought a gorgeous new chair for our living room (which I feel is finally complete!), drank lots of Cottonwood Pumpkin Ale (our new fav!!!), snuggled our cute Halloween pup, & enjoyed a wonderful weekend away in the Mountains with awesome friends!

It's been a great & busy couple of months!  I'm already feeling so mushy & thankful approaching this Holiday season....busy or not, there's always so much to be thankful for & I love documenting it all here!  I'll try to fill in the gaps here & there on these last months when I can & I'm going to be more intentional about blogging.

So if you're all still out there, still reading, thanks!  It's good to be back!

Midweek Randoms

Sometimes...there's just no rhyme or reason to a post.  Just a brain dump of sorts for this hump day :)

1 - Speaking of hump day....

I had seen this picture floating around Facebook, but never saw the commercial until this morning!  Haha, I 'bout died!  Hilarious.

2 - I'm running in the Electric Run this Friday night up at the Speed Way!  I'll be running with my friend Lisa & some girlfriends from her box.  We're pretty excited, I think it'll be a lot of fun, but right now I'm just annoyed.  I tried to pick up our race packets today at The Running Co. off East Blvd and the line was OUT-rageous!!!  {It was wrapped around the Outback - if you know the area, you know that's really backed up!}  I had dog with me & I can't leave him in the car {obviously!}, so basically I just wasted gas to go all the way out there for nothing!

3 - The CrossFit Games started this week!!  The men's & women's individual events started today & they have a half marathon row later today!  Doesn't that sound fun!?  21,097 meteres.  Ha, not.  You couldn't pay me to row a half marathon!!

But seriously, the games are really fun to watch!  If you've never watched, it's almost like the Olympics, because these are seriously the fittest of the fit in the world!!  And there are 2 women representing the QC! Michelle Crawford from the Ballantyne YMCA CrossFit & Elisabeth Akinwale from MDUSA!

4 - We had a video montage of sorts put together for CFP!  What do you think?!

5 - Tuesdays or Wednesdays are usually the day my SIL & I clean the box.  And I reward myself with Starbucks on those days to have a little pep in my cleaning step.  Totally appropriate right!?  {Just tell me yes}

6 - While everyone else is at the beach this summer....I just lay out in my back yard {or the driveway!}.  Our neighborhood doesn't have a pool, so a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!  You might be able to find me there tomorrow & Friday between classes!  I feel a little red, but not enough to stop :)

Happy hump day!!

Weekend Recap

We had a fun little weekend over here!!  There was pretty much a common theme....lots of good {sometimes not so Paleo} food, friends & fun!  

Friday night we broke out the Weber because Brandon loves to grill & I love to eat grilled food!

B likes to live dangerously {or he was just lazy & it was hot out} and grilled in his undies!  Haha, don't worry, the neighbors didn't see!

It's Restaurant Week here in Charlotte so Saturday night, B & I headed uptown to meet Warren & Kelly for a little double date action at Blue!  Sooo good!!  If you're local, call & make a reservation asap!  Restaurant Week lasts til next weekend :)

Awesome red eye right!?  Ughh couldn't correct it!

Great night with great friends!!

Then, Sunday night, I met Rachel & Ashley for a little girls night at Chuy's!!  We talked & ate & talked some more!  It was so much fun!  I'm so thankful to have friends like these 2...we pick up right where we left off the last time!  And we just get each other I think.  That's huge!  I'm also so thankful they're doing the whole baby thing 1st!  Haha, I know who I'll be calling when it's our turn ;)

That about sums it up....food, friends & fun!  Now back to eating like a good trainer & on with the work week :)

Weekend Recap

We had a really great weekend over here!!  

We are about sick of rain though, let me tell you!  A storage place I pass on the way to the box, their sign reads "Noah, we need a boat."  And it's almost true!!  Poor Berkley never gets to go outside alone anymore because this happens...

He looked like this Friday & again yesterday!

He has two spots dug out nicely, so now with all the rain, they are just big mud pits.  That apparently he goes swimming in!

Sadly, we didn't make it to the 1st Annual Blogger BBQ :(  But I mentioned last week that Brandon & Warren were participating in CrossFit for Hope this Saturday.  After our morning classes, we raced over to CrossFit Steele Creek.  Brandon & Warren were in the last heat of the day.  They were giddy with excitement on the way over...something about competition gets those boys going :)

Warming up

The workout Hope consisted for 3 rounds, 5 minutes each.  Each round had 1 minute of 5 different movements...

Chest to Bar Pullups

Box Jumps

Thrusters

Power Snatches

Burpees

We brought a small CFP crew along to help cheer them on!  I should've taken a group pic, but here's 2 of my favorite girls!

We were the loudest ones out there I think ;)

Group shot from the end of the day!  Can you find the 2 shirtless ones :)  Haha

Since it was for charity, there's not really a declared "winner" or anything, but as best we can tell, Brandon won!!!  He had a total of 266 reps & the next closet was 249 reps!!  This is pretty exciting since B has high hopes of making it to Regionals next year in the CrossFit Games!

Our boys had 489 combined total reps!!  So proud of them!!!

We made it home & a nap was in order before dinner out a Chima!  Whenever B gets a certain sale, his company treats us to dinner so we splurged a bit :)

Our selfie at dinner...not the best picture or lighting!

We scooted over to Carolina Ale House afterwards for a few drinks with some friends.  B's eyes look different colors in this pic, but he is sweet to indulge me in picture taking!  I swear now that I wear my hair in a ponytail/hat/bun every day, my part does not lay right!!!  This is a total white girl problem!  And I majorly need a haircut!!

Yesterday we did all the usual Sunday stuff...grocery store, laundry, food prep, etc.  And we even saw the sun a little yesterday!  Hallelujah!

Happy Monday friends!