row, row, row your...machine

did i ever mention that while we were on lockdown i managed to convince the hub to buy a rowing machine?  one of my friends posted one that was from the same manufacturer as the ones we use at orangetheory, only hers was really pretty.  made of natural wood and black metal hardware, i knew it was nice enough that he would go for it.  

whether he would actually use it was a whole other thing, but that's a topic for a different day.  heh.

so it took a couple of months for it to actually be shipped to us - you know, covid and all - and then even when we received it, it had to sit in boxes for weeks until we were finally able to bring it into its new home in the old lady's old bedroom.

and then i'm kind of embarrassed to admit that it sat there for more weeks before we actually put water into the tank and started using it.  yeeeeeeaaaaah.

confession:  i hate rowing when we're at orangetheory classes.  hate. it.  i'm terrible at it, and i'm exhausted after a minute of it.  like, seriously...sixty seconds and i'm spent.  but it really is a terrific full body workout, as you use your legs-core-arms and then arms-core-legs for each row.  and i'm pretty sure that the bit of body transformation i noticed after the first 6 months-year of classes was thanks to the time spent on that machine.

so for my first real row, i decided to just go for a full five minutes of straight rowing.  i tried to keep it consistent and pace myself so i wouldn't die.  it didn't work.  but it definitely got my heart pumping and i was pretty proud of myself for doing it.

i kept it up for that whole week, hopping onto that rower for at least five minutes a day and then using the squat machine that we'd also bought during lockdown that had been gathering dust for the last few months.  i rounded it out with some simple weight exercises and planks, and on some days the old lady would join me and we'd alternate throughout the room like circuit training.  i even got the bean to hop on a couple of times:

and then last week i thought of something - maybe if i did 30 second intervals like i used to do when i was running, i could go longer.  and on my first try, i went for 15 minutes of 30 seconds row/30 seconds rest.

this seemed like a pretty good option for me, and i kept it up for a couple more days.  i took a day off, and then i decided to try something else - instead of resting for 30 seconds, i'd just lightly row.  kind of like an active recovery.  and whaddaya know...i managed to increase my output by A LOT.

the next time, i was determined to get to 3,000 meters in 15 minutes.  and dammit, i did.

i've also started doing my virtual barre classes in the gym, which is working out really well because i can close the door and the dogs can't come in to lay on my mat at the precise moment that i need to use it.  using my laptop isn't the greatest, but it'll do for now.  and i've already hit up the hub to add a tv in there so i can mirror my screen to it.  plus i'm putting a wall-mounted barre on my christmas list.  in the meantime, i'm super excited to be able to take classes from my favorite instructors again, from the comfort of my own space.

after class, i decided to see if i could swing a quick row - shooting for 1,000 meters in 5 minutes.  success!

maybe i don't hate rowing so much after all.  we're not quite at the "like" stage yet, but it's coming along.  give it time.

find joy wherever you can

it's been quite a week, hasn't it?  seems like it's lasted for about six months.

and while i've always been the one in the family who's resisted bringing on christmas too early, 2020 has been such a cluster that i was totally on board to welcome the season as soon as halloween was over.  the hub had happily brought the tree down from the attic, and the old lady came over to help me assemble it.  having a fake tree is pretty fantastic, and i'd not realized how simple it was to put it together.

of course, it was not without at least one mishap.  oops.

and i gotta say, it was pretty lovely to sit on the couch and look at our tree - although it's not yet decorated, just the lights on it make me happy.

although i'm fully ready to immerse myself into the holidays, i was still really excited to receive this surprise gift from a sweet friend.  the cup glows in the dark!  and the straw topper is adorable!

the holiday hustle continues.  i've made about 100 of these things by now, which is nuts to me since it's still so early!  but hey - better to be prepared, right?

i did have to take a break from making tiny sweaters and masks, though.  so i picked up some yarn and a crochet hook to stitch together a few samples for what may very well be the next thing i offer up for sale:

it's been wonderfully chilly the last few days, and we even got some rain!  i was pretty excited to bust out my boba slippers and a sweatshirt.

it put me in a bubble waffle kinda mood.

and the old lady brought me my first winter dream tea latte of the season.  it's one of the few things i actually drink hot:

bring on the holidays.  i'm ready.

a very 2020 halloween

halloween for us was very...2020.  well - like, nothing went wrong or anything like that.  it was just really low-key and not like halloweens of years past.  the bean didn't even look at costumes, we didn't put out our decorations (other than joe and steve, our skeletons that served as our security guards outside), bought zero candy to hand out, didn't go trick-or-treating with our friends.  i didn't even torture the dogs with a costume of any sort.

i did, however, start the day off with some barre.  two of the instructors from my old studio decided to put their talents together and offer virtual classes, and it's been really good to get back to plies and first and second position and sweating my face off.

the rest of the day kind of just slid by, with the bean concentrating on reading for a book report and the hub puttering around in the garage.  we did decide to head out that evening though, making our way out to the west side and just get out of the house.  the sunset was really pretty as we drove along.

we ended up in santa monica, snagging a reservation for dinner at ivy at the shore with a little time to stroll through the promenade.

the bean was elated when her dad stopped here and said "let's have dessert first, shall we?"  she hadn't been to somi somi in ages, and with soft serve ice cream served in a fish-shaped waffle, you can't really go wrong.

i'd opted for a fresh waffle filled with custard, and the hub threw in a second one filled with nutella.  so good.

i stopped to take this across the street at santa monica place because i'm a dork like that.

the bean squealed a little when she found this store, full of soft squishy plushies shaped like all kinds of things from avocados to pizza to sloths.  and with a BOGO half off sale - well, yeah.  she may be 13, but she still can't resist cute plushies.

from the third level of the mall, you could peek over and get a fun view of the lights at the promenade.

and by the time we got back down to ground level, it was time for the short walk over to the ivy.  with only patio dining available, it was a little sad to see the empty restaurant as we checked in for our reservation.

we did have the patio almost all to ourselves.

but first:  wash your hands!

i gotta say, i'm pretty impressed with the night mode on my phone.  pictures like this would always turn out really crappy before.

we ordered some crab cakes for our appetizer, and it was the first time the bean had tried a crab cake before.  she picked a good one, because these were filled with real crabmeat and no filler.  pretty delicious.

i washed mine down with this delicious rosé sangria.  yum.

somehow, the night mode didn't kick in as i took a picture of the hub's dungeness crab salad.  either that, or the sangria had really taken effect.  heh.

my lobster ravioli was really good (and filling!), while the bean was quite satisfied with her fried chicken.

and since we'd had dessert first, we decided to take home a box of their chocolate chip cookies.  but not without sampling at least one first.

bye, santa monica!  happy halloween!

back at home, the bean was excited to tear into a fun halloween surprise from one of our favorite friends.  look how cool this is:

it's a big chocolate pumpkin that comes with a little mallet to smash it open and find more treats inside.

she started out with a few tentative taps, but it took a little extra oomph to get the job done.  and when it was well and truly smashed, she was happy to share some of her treats with me.

so i guess we weren't completely devoid of halloween fun this year...it was just abbreviated.  that's okay.  maybe next year.

today's the day

 hi.  please...

and if you somehow missed registering and you live in one of these states, you're in luck - because you can still make it happen.

as for me, i'm going to find joy in as many little things today as i can.  having this in the living room (as of yesterday) will help:

be kind to yourself.  be kind to others.  wear a mask.  and vote.