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Friday Favorites – February 19th, 2016

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A trip to Tahoe with good friends was exactly what my mind needed. Plenty of sleep each night, relaxing in front of the fireplace, mountains of fresh snow and time skiing and enjoying the fresh, cold California air is the break that I needed after a pretty draining January.

As promised, in regular Friday fashion, here is this week’s version of Friday Favorites. So, as you sip that second cup of coffee and count down the hours until the weekend begins, let’s dive into this week’s edition of Friday Favorites, including recipes, articles, posts and other things that caught my eye this week.

Please imagine small lab rats with weights tied to their tails. This is what scientists did to figure out which type of exercise is best for the brain. Turns out that distance running is best for improving the brain!

My favorite Summer NYRR race opened yesterday, The NYRR New York Mini 10k! If you are looking for a fun, Summer race in New York City or a destination race, this is a great option. The world’s original women’s race, it is always a fun morning including some superstar runners, flowers and medals at the finish line and this year even a free digital race pictures. Even in last year’s horribly hot conditions, this was a new 10k PR and I loved the event, so I will definitely be running it again this year.

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Bo and I always love cooking Indian food at home, though rarely invest the time needed to make the delicious dishes. After seeing this Afghan Braised Chicken in in Yogurt on Anne’s blog yesterday, we pinned it and added it to next week’s menu.

This week Well+Good shared their perspective on the 7 hardest workouts in NYC. It turns out that Bo and I have only tried four of them so the others have been added to our list for February and March. I think Tone House intimidates me the most!

After using Laura Mercier’s Translucent Loose Setting Powder for four months, it has quickly become a step in my daily make-up routine I will not forego. It takes just seconds to apply, lasts for ages and takes my look from done to flawless. It doesn’t show to the naked eye but instead just makes you look a bit more fresh while also helping your makeup, even if it’s a tinted moisturizer, stay in place all day even through a sweaty workout.

Almost daily Rachel inspires me with her delicious, mouth watering pictures and simple, straight forward recipes. When I saw that our pantry has all the ingredients for this chocolate chip banana bread recipe, I pinned it for Sunday night. I want to try making a muffin version as I swear this would be the best motivation to wake up for early workouts. A tiny bite of goodness before Barry’s Bootcamp or Brooklyn Bodyburn? Yes please!

While organizing my beauty closet this week, I discovered my favorite winter fragrance, Tom Ford’s Black Orchid. I thought it had been lost in the move when in fact it was just hiding under a few hair sprays, body scrubs and makeup samples. Luxurious, unique and woodsy, this fragrance is unlike anything else I own. The rollerball size is my favorite as I can stash it in my purse or in my travel bag.

I love that Delta is committed to improving their plane food so much so that they want fliers to say that it is wonderful food instead of “wonderful for plane food.” What better guy to partner with than Danny Meyer to take their in-flight food to the next level. Hopefully some of this carries into coach class as well.

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored and instead is a list of the things of my favorite things this week. As normal, it includes lots of beauty and fashion items which means there are a few affiliate links via ShopStyle. It takes time and money to maintain a blog so I thank you for the support and few cents that come from clicking through the links!

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We Arrived in Istanbul!

After ten hours of flying we have officially arrived in Istanbul!

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Our flight left JFK an hour late due to luggage issues and runway traffic. Unfortunately, even once we left the flight wasn’t the greatest. We were sitting together in the bulkhead seat of Economy Comfort on Delta which meant we had wonderful leg room (win) but had narrow seats due to the door and an arm divider which wouldn’t move (fail). Though we enjoyed the extra legroom it was very difficult to get comfortable and our small fold out tray tables could barely hold our dinners much less our computers.

We were served dinner two hours into the flight. I tried something different and ordered the low fat meal option whereas Bo went with the standard. The LFML or low fat meal included salad with fat free dressing, water, fruit salad, dinner roll, Promise margarine spread, and chicken with brown rice. It lacked flavor but definitely felt healthy.

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The standard meal was a choice between chicken with pesto dumplings or cheese tortellini. In addition to the main course it came with a salad, lite dressing, crackers and cheese, dinner roll, and brownie.

After eating dinner we relaxed with a movie, This Is 40, and glass of wine.

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Bo and I both intended to watch a movie and then sleep for 6 or 7 hours thanks to the help of Zzzquil. Unfortunately two glasses of wine and the ZZzquil had no affect on me and instead I spent the five hours trying to get comfortable, cleaning out my work email inbox, reading, and watching Mad Men. Meanwhile, Bo slept for at least a few hours.

But, none of that mattered when we finally landed in Istanbul ten hours later! Within minutes of landing the reality of just how much of an adventure this trip will be set in. There are so many new things to see and experience! This is the longest trip we’ve taken together and our first time traveling together in Europe. Here are a few pictures from our first hour in Istanbul.

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Have you ever requested a different meal option during a flight?

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Condensed and Intense Circuit Workout

Good morning from the friendly Delta skies. I have heard this line many times but today especially, I really have such gratitude for the Delta team at JFK.

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I had a really bad taxi experience this morning as we arrived at JFK and the taxi told me his credit card machine wasn’t working. After some tough words and the help of a nearby police officer he finally “fixed” the problem. I was so flustered thinking about this and getting excited about the bachelorette weekend that as I went through security, I left my carry on suitcase. I didn’t notice it because the weight of my computer bag on my shoulder and how rushed I was to make it down to the gate in time and get breakfast. As I walked to the gate they asked me if I needed a pink tag. That’s when I looked down and realized I didn’t have my bag. I am so blessed that they did everything in their power, with only 10 minutes before the plane door had to close, to get my bag back to me. Sweet Dorothy drove like a madwoman screaming in her Jamaican accent that I had a wedding to get to and had to get my bridesmaid dress at security to anyone who stood in the way of her cart. This sounded better in her opinion then “move this woman has a bachelorette to get to and a race to run” but it was hilarious regardless. The security team even met us halfway since we were going all the way from Delta terminal 2 to terminal 4. So while I know that Delta, nor any airline for that matter, is perfect, they definitely one a point in my book today. I wish I could give each of them holiday bonuses!

Now that I’ve shared a story of gratitude with y’all let’s get on to the post!

Breakfast

If you are a long time reader, then you know that my go to travel breakfast is Starbucks. A perfect oatmeal, banana and iced unsweetened green tea just can’t be beat! I normally add the package of nuts to the oats for some added protein and healthy fats along with a dash of the brown sugar.

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If you’ve never tried adding brown sugar to your oatmeal you definitely should as a little bit goes a long way and the flavor can’t be beat!

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I’m enjoying this morning’s oatmeal with a banana and a side of studying. I am getting PADI Scuba certified this year, finally, and it requires some studying in advance. On December 11-13th I will spend time in the pool each night from 8-11pm with Pan Aqua in New York doing all my course work and after completing the 3 nights and passing 4 tests I’ll be able to do my 4 qualifying dives down in St. Croix over New Years!

Condensed and Intense Boot Camp

I realized, going through pictures this morning, that I forgot to share an awesome boot camp Bo created for us last week. We both wanted to work off some of the wine and turkey we enjoyed on Thursday and figured that a boot camp together was a perfect option. But, don’t worry, this workout can be done on your own at a gym as well. The entire workout took us 45 minutes but you can do bits and pieces of it or just 1 circuit group if you’re short on time!

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Cardio Blast #1:

  • 1 minute jumping jacks
  • 1 minute jump rope

Strength Blast #1

Cardio Blast #2:

  • Set a treadmill to 1 incline and spring 1/2 mile as fast as possible while maintaining the same speed the whole time and ensuring you don’t overexert yourself. For reference, Bo went at 8.5 and I went at 7.8.

Strength Blast #2

Cardio Blast #3

  • Set a treadmill incline to 11.0 and walk a half mile as quickly as possible, pumping your arms for momentum. For reference, Bo and I both walked at 4.0-4.5 for the half mile.

Strength Blast #3  (repeat #2)

Cardio Blast #4

  • On a rowing machine set the resistance to flywheel resistance to 7 then row 1,000  meters as quickly as possible ensuring proper form is maintained the entire time to reduce risk of injury.

As always, be sure to do some gentle warm-up and stretching before any workout and go at your own pace.

Question: I’m working on a video series of workouts that you all can do on your own over the holidays whether you’re in your parents basement, in your tiny apartment, or at a hotel. Any special requests? My goal is for the first video to go live by next Friday, in time for those people starting the holidays early!

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