High Five Friday

You know, even though I’m home with the kiddos and blogging is about as far from 9 – 5 as you could get, there’s still something about Friday. Nearly everyone is a little happier when you bump into them on a Friday afternoon. I had a different post planned for today, but it’s been rescheduled so I could jump in on Angela’s High Five Friday link up and  spread the good that’s been going on.

First up are five photos from Instagram (you can follow me here if we’re not already friends!)

1. Ice, ice baby! I received these awesome ice spikes from Kahtoola. Total game changer! I mean, this winter has been so warm, so there’s been very little snow, but the trails near my house are still covered and icy. I’d been avoiding them and sticking to the footpaths until these puppies arrived.
2. This run was only 2 miles…it was supposed to be a fast-ish 4 miles. I was doing a semi-speed workout where each mile is faster, but at the end of mile 2 I realized my keys were gone! I spent the next 45 minutes scouring the 2 mile route I’d run so far, no luck. The next day we went out for a family walk and did another search. Still no joy, then just as we had given up and were heading home, I said, “Let’s just ask at this pizza place if anyone handed them in.” Guess what? My keys were there. 🙂
3. Working out at home is an adventure with two kids.  I can plop Baby T in his crazy command center bouncy seat thing that he loves, but Roman is all about working out with mama. Here I’m using resistance bands and he’s using the BOSU. Love him.
4. I posted this on Instagram to share what I’m reading and threw in the hot lemon water as an aside. I’ve never tried it before and I’m loving it. Thanks to the magic of social media, within minutes I had recommendations of spices to try in it – yesterday I had it with cinnamon, ground ginger and cayenne pepper. It was amazing! Now I need to get tumeric, too.
5. More running! You don’t know how happy this makes me. I had such a great week of running and workouts and it’s made such a difference. This run I tried to deliberately run much slower than usual – it’s all part of the Runner’s Reset I’m doing with Laura. It was hard to do, but once I gave in to it, I really enjoyed how much more of the scenery and environment you can soak in when you’re not working hard.

Baby T clearly enjoys his Fridays too. He’s such a little ham.

Here’s what I’ve been reading and loving and sharing this week. It’s always hard for me to edit down my link love, but I think I nailed it this time with a mix of body image, stress, working out, eating, and lingerie trips ending in marriage.

Why I Won’t Apologize for my Body Image – from Nellie at Brooklyn Active Mama. This post from Nellie is amazing. Just go read it – she’s a fierce, inspirational woman.

4 ways to fight secondhand stress – from Carla Birnberg. I started reading this and got all the New York feels. Carla was on her way home from an NYC vacation when she realized the stress and anxiety she’d been feeling was secondhand stress. I’m not sure if the source of her stress was a person or the city itself, but it made me remember that electric feeling you get in Manhattan when you just kind of fall into the hurry-work-hustle rhythm. Back to Carla’s post – it’s a great reminder of how much others’ moods and mindsets can affect us and as she shared, you can do something about that.

Upper and Lower Body Combo Workout – from Brittany at My Own Balance. I love Brittany’s workouts because they’re always something I can do in my living room (see my Instagram picture above!) and I loved this because she used gifs to illustrate the moves! So cool. 

Lemon Energy Balls – from Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean. I just made my very first ever batch of energy balls for snacks while I’m doing the Runner’s Reset and where have they been all my life? So easy to make, so delicious and I can’t wait to make this lemon version of Lindsay’s this weekend.

How I hit rock bottom, went to buy sexy undies and met my future husband on the way – from Dixie Laite for SheKnows. I just thought this was such a sweet story. I’m a fatalist – everything happens for a reason and all that – so I loved how when she just decided to let go and trust that the universe would steer her right, along came love.

And I know it’s High Five Friday and it’s all about sharing the good, not so much the bad and the ugly, but I can’t let this week go without mentioning the deaths of two icons for me and for so many millions of others.

Alan Rickman was a master of his craft. I would watch him in anything. I think it was Truly, Madly, Deeply when I decided he was one of the best actors I’d seen perform. And then, you all know of my deep abiding love for Die Hard. I’ve managed to insert Die Hard clips into only a handful of posts on this fitness blog (not too much working out going on at Nakatomi), but I’m sorry it was the late, great Alan Rickman’s death that prompted this one, one of my favorite scenes:

 

 

And David Bowie. He was the soundtrack for much of my teenage years and I love him still. The news of his death shocked me – almost like I wasn’t expecting he’d ever die, you know? First, read The Onion’s article David Bowie Asks Iman If They Should Just Do Lasagna Again because it’s fabulous, then enjoy the original video for Space Oddity:

 

What’s your favorite Alan Rickman movie? Bowie song?

Is today your Friday?