Weekend Movie Round-Up

For this long weekend, I spent it on the couch flipping between CNN and movies and making food. I rented Jason Bourne and Suicide Squad on Redbox, and both movies were meh. I'm glad I didn't spend $10+ to see them at the movie theater. Jason Bourne was like all the other Bourne movies with lots of running and car chases. I wonder when Matt Damon's going to get to old to run so much and then they'll have to end the series. With Suicide Squad, I've seen better superhero movies. I did like Harley Quinn though. She was fun! The Joker, on the other hand, what a creep!

Food wise, I made beef stew in the crock pot and a cheesecake in the oven (with blueberry topping). I think I should have waited a little more for the cream cheese blocks to get even softer because the texture in the finished product was a little different than usual. It still tasted fine though! I ate 2 slices just to be sure. ;) I left a little over half of it at my parents' house so that I wouldn't be tempted to eat more than I should.

Moana and Rolo Cookies

My coworker Jennifer said that she went with her family to see Moana over the Thanksgiving holiday and that it was really good (both movie and music). My coworker Reggie was going to go with me today, but bailed at the last minute because his cousin's holiday party was last night and he was pretty sure that it was going to be a late night. Meh, no biggie. My sister went with me instead. The movie and the music WERE good. It was nice to see a female character that wasn't chasing after some guy like the typical princess movies. The Rock as Maui was the best! I was also really impressed by the way they were able to make the water and everyone's hair look realistic!

My evening's activity was making Rolo cookies for the office cookie exchange that's happening tomorrow. Initially, I was going to start my Christmas break tomorrow, but with the program review presentations last week, that wouldn't have been a good time to do them. Since I was the one that organized this event (aka sent out a calendar appointment to the office), I figured I had to show up with goodies. The Rolo cookies got quite a few compliments the last time I made them, so here they are again. I made 2 batches so that I could bring some for the coaches at CrossFit tomorrow. I know that sounds counterintuitive...CrossFit and cookies?  Yeah, we're not that kind of gym. For example, when I posted a picture of these cookies on Facebook, the owner commented "Drool" on the photo.

Fantastic Beasts and New Lip Products

I figured since I got my grocery shopping done this morning, I'd reward myself by going to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It's been out for almost a month now, so I was a little surprised that I was not the only person in the theater. I loved the movie!  The baker in me really appreciated that aspect of the film and the last 20 minutes totally made me tear up. I could feel the tears welling up, and when I heard someone sniffle somewhere next to me, I figured it was fine to let the tears fall.

I went to Sephora and Macy's earlier tonight to use my Sephora coupon and get some chocolate for my boss for Christmas. I came out with a hand lotion sampler (to give to my boss in addition to the chocolate), a lip product sampler (that way, I can try some new formulas and brands and I don't have to commit to a full size), and a concealer that's better suited for my yellow skin tone. I find that the drugstore ones aren't yellow enough. I had one of the Sephora ladies help me, and she was super nice about it.

Rest Day and the Secret Life of Pets

I knew that Julie was not going to want to go to CrossFit this morning, and I wasn't sure what Maria was going to do until she texted this morning. Nope for her too. If she was going to go, I would have gladly gone to be her partner in the partner WOD, but that's okay. Having a full rest day today is fine by me!

My plan today was to go see "The Secret Life of Pets," go to Ulta and DSW and get a milkshake (I got a strawberry one after the movie). Ok, so the movie was just meh. I've seen 2 other animated movies this summer (Zootopia and Finding Dory), and I would choose Zootopia over the other two. The previews made it seem better than it was. Darn marketing. I did like Chloe the cat though (I know, shocking...).

Today will be an exercise in stepping outside the makeup comfort zone. This dark purple color is *way* too pretty to be only worn once a year (Halloween). Lip color: Sephora lip cream stain in Polished Purple. Unfortunately, the liquid lipstick fell out of my pocket as I was leaving the theater. I thought something had, but it didn't dawn on me until I got home. Wah. Fortunately, Sephora's not far away if I wanted to go pick it up. It's more of a fall color anyway.

Long Workout Day

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! It’s the long workout day, so after we did some core work, we did the following for time.

100 kettlebell swings (26 lbs)
800 m run
60 air squats
400 m run
20 dumbbell push jerks (20 lbs per hand)
Time: 13:50
The coach reminded us of the hero workout for Saturday’s class. Maria and I looked at each other, “Are you going to class tomorrow?” We agreed to come since there is no class on Monday for July 4.

After the long workout, I went home and got a bunch of stuff done.

• Vacuumed up the lower level of the house
• Did a load of laundry
• Went grocery shopping
• Went to the gas station to vacuum my car. There was so much cat hair!  Which is weird since it's not like RJ's in the car with me. I guess I just track it everywhere.

After doing all that, my productivity tanked and I noticed that my back was starting to feel sore. I think my body was just tired from the workouts from this week and since I had the day off, I took a long nap this afternoon. Earlier this evening, I watched Zootopia (I've already seen this, but I really liked it when I saw it in the theater and I had a Redbox code) and "Fittest on Earth" on Netflix, which is a documentary of the 2015 CrossFit Games.

My sister is on her way to Nicaragua for a volunteer project. She texted me this morning, saying that the hotel shuttle in Miami got rear ended on the way to the airport. Oh boy. Yikes, what a way to start the day!

P.S. How can the year be already halfway over?!

Finding Dory, New Lipstick and Banana Pudding Fans

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! Yay for perfect weekday attendance. We worked on our back squats…3 x 5 at 85 lbs. Julie slept in today, so it was me, Maria for the girls and Chip and Eric for the guys. Eric suggested some sort of heavy metal rock music, but it turned out to be too slow and not the right tempo. Maybe it can be girls' choice on Monday...Taylor Swift or Britney or 80s music, please!

WOD:
500 m row
800 m run
50 dumbbell snatches (20 lbs per hand)
Time: 10:07

I decided to take one of my comp days that I earned from my work trip and went to see Finding Dory. I'm used to going to the movies were there aren't too many people in the theater, but seeing as it's summer and school's out and it's the movie's opening day, I had to manage my expectations. It was a little difficult to not be disgruntled because there was half a row of chatty teenagers (?), or at least kids that were old enough to know that chatting during a movie is not appropriate behavior. Blah.  Anyway, the movie was great and I enjoyed it!  The octopus was my favorite new character from this movie.

I left the house with Sephora Lip Cream Stain in Always Red on. When I was out, I bought a Anastasia Beverley Hills liquid lipstick in Madison and of course, I had to try it on when I got home. Ulta is a dangerous place for my wallet. I did have some points to use though, so I don’t feel totally guilty.

I set aside some banana pudding from Thursday's office potluck for my banana pudding sous chef and her little brother. Their mom (my coworker) posted this picture on Facebook (I added the sunglasses for fun/privacy). Awww! I love happy customers!

This evening, I stopped by my uncle and aunt's house to drop off some flowers for my aunt's birthday. No one was home, which I thought was peculiar since my uncle has regularly scheduled dialysis treatments at home. As I was walking back to my car, they started to pull into the driveway. They had gone out for sushi for my aunt's birthday and to celebrate my uncle only having to do night dialysis treatments (as opposed to all day long). My aunt asked if I had eaten dinner (no...). She offered up her sushi dinner leftovers for me to eat (a few pieces of California rolls and some tempura). YUM! My timing was awesome. :D

Captain America: Civil War

I decided to take a rest day. My shoulders and abs were definitely feeling it. I'll go to CrossFit tomorrow morning instead. I had very important things to do like ogle Chris Evans. And by that, I mean I went to see Captain America: Civil War with my coworker Reggie, and the movie was awesome! So so good. I enjoyed it more than Avengers: Age of Ultron (Am I a bad Marvel fan for saying that? Oops.) The CGI was amazing, but more importantly, it was interesting to see the struggle between government control and non-government control and also see friendships tested. It was well worth the wait.

I wanted to check the office mailbox for my payment check for the anniversary cards I made two weeks ago, and whoo hoo, there it was.  Reggie was talking to the IT guys about the movie. One of them was like "Tina, would you go see the movie again?" Um, but it's $11!  "Aren't you a baller now?" Umm...I'm a baller on a budget. "There's no such thing..." 

Whattt.  Yes, there is!  Just because I have the money doesn't mean that I should go spend it. That's how people get in major debt! I might just buy the movie when it comes out on DVD and watch it as many times as I want. 

 

I did some meal prep for the upcoming week since I had the time and wanted to feel productive before bedtime. I baked some chicken, green beans and sweet potatoes. YUM!

CrossFit and The Jungle Book

9:30 AM CrossFit, check! My sister and I worked on our shoulder presses. I did 3 x 5 at 50 lbs. 

WOD: 3 rounds of…

15 DB thrusters (15 lbs per hand)

10 pull ups (with green and red bands)

400 m run


Time: 12:40

It was raining outside, so Coach Mike gave us alternatives to running: 500 m row or 50 double unders or 100 single unders. Meh, running in the rain wasn’t so bad. It was cooler and not humid. My shoes were definitely squishy on the way home though (yuck).

The Jungle Book was awesome! I highly recommend it! Shere Khan was a little scary and brutal, so kiddos might get freaked out. Next up: Captain America: Civil War. Regal Cinemas might as well take all my money this summer. Heh.

This evening, I went to the grocery store to get a balloon for Maria for her race tomorrow, but the selection was meh so I went with flowers. A little boy came up to me. “Do you like Pokemon???” Umm…I think Pikachu is cute, so I bought the shirt. And then he launches into telling me which Nintendo games you can play as Pikachu.

This really wasn’t what I was envisioning when people talk about getting hit on at the grocery store

CrossFit Games Workout Open 16.3 and Zootopia

RJ: Don't mind me. I'll take the warm spot you left on the bed for when you come back.

CrossFit Games Open 16.3 scaled (9:30 AM session)

7:00 AMRAP:
10 power snatches at 35 lbs
5 jumping chest-to-bar pull ups

I got through 5 complete rounds and tacked on 9 snatches at the end. Those were easy...it was the pull-ups that were the hard part! To be honest, none of my jumping pull ups counted because my chest didn’t hit the bar. Maybe we can do this again on Monday to rescore.

I went to see Zootopia with my coworker Reggie after I heard from Jennifer and a friend of Julie's that it was really good. It's also certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, so I had a feeling it'd be worth it. OMG, I laughed the whole time...I loved it. My favorite was Clawhauser the cheetah. Regal might as well take all my money now. There are so many movies that I want to see in 2016.

Afterwards, Reggie and I went to Potbelly to get sandwiches. I also got a coffee milkshake. The person who made it, well, she didn't measure out the right porportions of ingredients or the right amount because the resulting milkshake was very goopy (as opposed to smooth) and there was about an inch of empty cup. Um, no. I paid for a full milkshake, not 3/4ths of one. She was in the process of filling up the rest, and her boss looked behind him and told her to stop and reline a trashcan. He tossed the milkshake she was working on and made one himself for me. Whew, good.  I didn't want to be one of those customers.

Sunday Funday!

I woke up really sore from Friday and Saturday's workouts, so no spin class for me today! It was a productive day anyway!

• Worked on my cross-stitch project with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone playing in the background while watching the snow fall outside (it didn't really accumulate)
• Did laundry and scrubbed down the kitchen
• Did my nails.
• Made chocolate chip banana bread from last week's leftover meeting bananas.

Happy Sunday Funday to me!

Snatches and Magic Mike XXL

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! We worked on our hang squat snatches. 5 x 2 at 30 lbs (I’m still working on form…this is a complicated move! The WOD was AMRAP…8:00 of 25 kettlebell swings (26 lbs) and 10 pull-ups (I did mine with resistance bands).

Yay for meeting breakfast leftovers! Side note: where do all the forks go in this office?! Is someone stashing them somewhere? You should get one fork with your employee handbook on your first day. If you lose it, too bad! The thought crossed my mind of bringing a pair of chopsticks to work, because unless you know how to use them, it'll be too much trouble for you to use.

I borrowed Magic Mike XXL from the library and decided to watch it tonight while I was cross-stitching since it's due tomorrow. UGH, it was awful! I mean, so bad that I didn't even finish it. Channing Tatum couldn't even save it. Maybe I wasn't in the right mind set since I have to be up early tomorrow for work and sleep was more important? 

Meh, no, it was just awful. WTH? :(

Star Wars!

After 2 intense CrossFit workouts on Friday and Saturday, I decided to take a rest day today and go see Star Wars. Now, I'm not a huge Star Wars buff, but I wanted to see what everyone is talking about. I'm glad that I went to see it in the theater because the special effects were awesome (of course). I'm also glad that I didn't go see it in IMAX with all the flying in the movie. Whoo hoo for Han Solo and Rey and BB-8. It was really well done...what a great way to spend a rest day!

My cousin texted me this picture of Dad on vacation, hah. Anyway, after going to the movie, I chilled out at home and then it was time to pick Julie up from the airport. I came back home to work more on my cross-stitch project.

Pull-Up Work and Cross-Stitch Progress

Regular telework day, hooray!

I took a break in the morning to drive Julie to the airport. She has a weekend work trip to Atlanta. It's weird to have my parents and sister out of town all at the same time. All alonnnneee. Ok ok. Enough with the dramatics.

I made it to 5:15 PM CrossFit where we worked on our pull-ups. Technically, we're supposed to work on chest-to-bar pull-ups, but since I can't do pull-ups with a little help, Level B folks worked on regular pull-ups. The resistance bands I used this time were lighter than ones I’ve used before. “Tina, stop swinging!” the coach said. Heh, okokok…well, how else do you think I’m going to be able to lift myself up?!

WOD: 10 x 150m row + 30 seconds rest. I was averaging about 33 seconds per round. There were 4 of us in class and 2 rowing machines, so we had to double up. It actually worked out fine because Chip and I went back and forth encouraging each other as we started to get more tired. My arms felt like jello all the way home. I’ll be back for more fun tomorrow morning at 9:30!

Do I look as tired as I feel?  If I do, don't tell me. All that rowing was so taxing!

More cross-stitch progress, complete with Captain America: The Winter Soldier playing in the background.

Happy New Year!

NYE was fun! I went to Alexandria to hang out with Robyn and her 2 bengals. Good food, good company, good movie (Pitch Perfect 2) = good times. There was also a fireworks show at midnight at National Harbor that we could see from her apartment.

It was back to the CrossFit gym at 10 AM today for another partner workout: Complete rounds until your TEAM has run 2000m.

Partner A: 400m run with a medball (10 lb) 
Partner B: Work through the following…
16 OH lunges (25 lb plate)
16 Push-ups
16 Hollow Rocks
16 OH Squats/Goblet squats/Air squats

When your team completed 2000m of running, you and your partner had to complete 16 burpees together (8 each).

I did more of the running and my sister did more of the weight work. Whew! I snapped this progress picture when I got home, and I can’t wait to see how things turn out at the end of 2016.

RJ was in the same spot that I left him this morning.

I had a free Redbox movie code so I used to it borrow Ant-Man. It was pretty good! I remember Paul Rudd from Friends, so it was cool to see him add "superhero" to his filmography. I'm glad that I didn't go to the movie theater to see it because of all the flying special effects.

Target Holiday Clearance, Taco Salad and Harry Potter Movie Marathon

Sunday Funday!

• 8:30 AM spin class, check!
• Went to Target to see what Christmas goodies were on clearance and came out with some cute fox wrapping paper, chocolate and white chocolate peppermint Boom Chicka Pop.
• Went grocery shopping and got stuff for taco salads.

And then my productivity took a nose dive with some major deep couch sitting because a Harry Potter movie marathon was on tv.

Well, I should give myself more credit. I did make some progress on this counted cross-stitch project. I had started it once already about 10 years ago, but spilled ink on it and had to trash it. Frustrated with myself, I put the pattern away and have only recently decided to restart the project. I could have made more progress tonight, but I noticed that was using 2 strands of thread this session when it should have been 3 (ugh!), so I had to backtrack. The last time I picked it up with Halloween, but with no work this upcoming week, I'm hoping I can put a dent in it!

Partner Workout at CrossFit

My cousin sent a text this morning to let me know her brother delivered the Christmas presents we sent with him to Taiwan. Gummy bears and a fighter pilot Lego kit (she is a commercial pilot).

9:30 AM CrossFit, check!

Partner WOD
As a team complete:
50 Clean and Jerks (45 lbs)
60 Pull-ups (with bands)
70 Wall Balls (8 lb ball)
Partner A: Works through reps
Partner B: Accumulate MAX burpees

My sister and I did it in 15:15 with 129 burpees, whew! Our homework was to write a 2016 goal on the whiteboard. “I want to be like Mike” and “Portion control” were the ones that especially made me smile.

Afterwards I went to pick up my mail at the post office. I'm really disappointed that the post office hasn't installed a new mailbox for my townhome complex. The post office having to hold our mail and me having to go to the post office to pick it up is an inconvenience for everyone. Their service is so slow. I had to wait 15 minutes for someone to get my mail, only to have her tell me she couldn't find it. WHAT?! I haven't been here in a week and you're telling me you can't find my mail. Where else could it be? I know have some. Finally, another post office employee was able to find it. Yay for Christmas cards! Boo for a “You got zapped” notice from the county police speed camera!

Earlier this evening, I went to my parents' house to eat Five Guys burgers with Julie and say bye to Mom and Dad before they go on their 3-week vacation to Taiwan. I had a free Redbox code and while I would have liked to have spent it on Ant-Man, it wasn't available at a nearby location. I went with Avengers: Age of Ultron. I had seen it in the movie theater, but wasn't as in awe of it as I was when I saw the first one. I thought maybe a second look would change my mind, but it didn't. Too long. Unnecessary character death at the end. I didn't really understand the Black Widow/Hulk romance. Blahhh.

Merry Christmas!

I spent most of Christmas Eve with my family, so it was nice to enjoy some me time today. While it was off to a slow start, I did have a spike in productivity with doing a load of laundry and basically resetting the house to pre-holiday condition this morning. I also hung up the toucan my sister got me from her trip to Nicaragua.

I opened my last present this morning, a book that Suzie sent me. She had given me a book by the same author years ago. And I had to smile because I feel like I’ve made a million dumplings these past 2 weeks.

I also Facetimed with Page (and her brother) and saw her open the care package that I sent her (colored pencils, adult coloring book and "The Longest Ride" Blu-Ray). "You must have known that I've been stressed. Brightman got me something on meditation." (Sigh). It gave me a lot of joy to see her face light up because I know she’s been having a difficult time lately with her mom passing away a few months ago.

I just finished watching Elf (second time this holiday season) and am currently watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I feel like my Christmas holiday is complete!

Hope everyone is having (or had) a nice and peaceful holiday!

CrossFit, Sushi and Mission Impossible

9:30 AM CrossFit, check! I increased my ring rows to 21. I was at 13 prior to Thanksgiving, so I’ll take it! The WOD was 3 rounds of the following for time: 25 burpees and 10 power cleans. I did mine at 65 lbs. I'm so glad that we went to the early session because the 10:15 one had over 10 people. There didn't seem to be a lot of room for them to move around!

For the rest of the afternoon I was able to do the following...

• Crank out ~50 dumplings for the family Christmas Eve dinner. The hard part will be not to eat them myself between now and then.
• Take a nap. Only to be woken up by the cat to feed him dinner.
• Go to pick up a movie and a soda on the way to my parents’ house for dinner. It’s their 34th wedding anniversary, and we got sushi. There was a “Someone Nice” Coke Zero which is more accurate, but “Someone Naughty” is much more amusing.
• Watch Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation with my sister and mom while waiting for the volunteer fire department Santa to drive through the neighborhood (a tradition for the town I’m in). I still get excited when I hear the sirens. It will never get old!

Shopping with Julie and Baking Cookies

Sunday Funday!

• Survived holiday shopping at the mall with my sister. We spent way too much time at the Lego store. There is some really cool stuff there! I ended up getting a 3-in-1 set plane set for my cousin who is a pilot. I went to Sephora to use the rest of my gift card and I had a $15 off a $50 purchase, and I came away with 2 Sephora cream lip stains, a Marc Jacobs Honey perfume rollerball and a Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara (I'm usually a drugstore girl, but I thought this would be worth a try since I had the coupon and gift card).
• Baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for the office. My boss and I have a presentation tomorrow…so maybe people will pay more attention to the cookies instead of me. Heh.
• Multi-tasked with watching “While You Were Sleeping” on Netflix. This movie is 20 years old. Wow!

Harry was soaking up some sun at my parents' house.

Christmas ornaments that I bought for my boss.

Bench Press and Dumpling Day!

9:30 AM CrossFit, check! I increased my bench press weight to 65 lbs. Whew! Go me, heh. Then there was a 10 minute AMRAP partner workout where one person did overhead squats while the other person ran 200 m and then you switched.

Coach Mike was funny...in the warm up, he told us to do a hollow hold and then "rock back and forth...like a banana." Wow, that definitely works your abs.

I talked to a potential member who was watching the 10:15 AM class while my sister entered in our stats from class. I launched into a shpeal about how great the classes and trainers were, and also apologized for my sweatiness/stickiness from the workout. He said something to the effect of “You can water flowers, and they are still beautiful.”

What? Oh, you sweet talker, you. When are you coming to class again? Ha ha.

Today is dumpling day! I had the desire to make some. I bought 4 packages of wrappers, and then my sister came over to work on the last package (the price of admission). She worked on drawing her holiday card and I worked on writing mine, all while watching Elf on tv.