First full week with the new Fitbit and it went pretty well. I went to the gym on my lunch break 3 days and a long walk on another day. It feels really good to be getting back on track!

I ended up going with the Fitbit HR. Friday was my first full day with it. I didn't workout so those 9,663 steps and 22 floors were from work! Saturday I went for a jog/walk down by the river. I do wish there was a way to track my heart rate daily and be able to pull a graph to see when it rises or at least to see my max heart rate during a workout. I haven't yet figured out where that is in my app if it is possible. I'm going to try Whole 30 again. For breakfast today: spiralized sweet potato, peppers, onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes sautéed in coconut oil. I topped it with a fried egg, cilantro, avocado and seasoned with salt, chipotle pepper, and garlic powder.

It's about balance, right? I made monster cookies last night. I used to work at a coffee shop in high school and we sold monster cookies so I've been feeling very nostalgic! On the left is a picture of my dinner. Zucchini ribbons with sautéed mushrooms, onions, and Arrabbiata sauce. I've actually been craving healthy food and actually been interested in spending the time to make it for myself. I'm going to come clean here and let you know, I've been following the path of least resistance when it comes to food meaning I'm eating whatever is quick, easy, and convenient...for about a month. It's always such a struggle to choose the healthy route when there are pasta leftovers, chips, and desserts in the kitchen at work. For fitness...gah I used to be amazing and so fit (in comparison to me now)!! So morning workouts aren't happening at all anymore but I've been fitting in workouts on my lunch hour since my gym is 2 blocks from my office. It's not quite enough time so I'm unable to get in as hard of a workout as I typically could get in before work but better than not working out. Since the weather was amazing this weekend, I went for a run on Saturday! A run you guys!! I went for a walk on Sunday with Rob, his sister, brother-in-law, and his nephew. Big family walk when you count in the 2 dogs we walked! And today Rob and I went for a 10 mile bike ride. It was the first one this year. I actually don't enjoy riding my bike. There were so many times I thought about ditching my bike and just start walking. I used to track my fitness with a polar heart rate monitor and watch and for a brief period of time about a year ago, I used a Fitbit. It was my mom's and she asked for it back. I'm thinking about getting one for myself and am thinking of the Charge HR or the Blaze (because of the multi sport functionality). I want to hear what you guys use!! Suggestions are so welcome!

A couple weeks ago, my friends and I went to small town Wisconsin for my friend's sister's baby shower. We were there for the weekend so when we arrived, we helped set up the decorations for the shower. It was hot air balloon themed and the food was children book themed...the hungry caterpillar is so cute! On Saturday night, my friend's dad took us to dinner and to see Jethro Tull...rock opera! My first rock opera! It was really great hanging with her family but I was tired and the show wasn't super exciting so I struggled a bit to follow the story. The baby shower was on Sunday. Mimosas, snacks, and [actually] fun games. In other news, I'm so over the snow and overall gloomy weather. I am struggling to find energy to do anything...even leaving the house has become a challenge. So there's that.

My brother is getting married this October and until today, we hadn't had much luck finding bridesmaid dresses. We actually didn't even have an appointment at the place we found the dress at...just really lucky the girl could squeeze us in before her first appointment. It couldn't have been a better experience actually. When put under pressure (time) and knowing what we like, we were able to find the dress and get fitted. It was great! We went out for lunch afterwards but we had a 40 min wait so we enjoyed champagne flights in the meantime. I've never been in a wedding before (Thailand bridesmaid duties are nothing like they are here) so I'm just so happy and relieved to have this completed. Anyone have tips for bridesmaids?

Ao Nang Krabi, Thailand. February 21-25, 2016 my parents, Rob, and myself stayed in Krabi for some vacation that followed Mean's wedding. Of the places I've traveled to, there are a few places I would love to return to but there are new places I'd obviously love to see before ever returning somewhere. I just love Thailand and knew I would return someday but I didn't expect to go back so soon. As you may have seen in an earlier post, I went to Thailand for my exchange sister's wedding. Her wedding was in Rayong which is about 2 hours southeast of Bangkok so we had to take a plane to Krabi. It was about 1 hour flight and another 45 minutes to our hotel, Cliff View Resort. Both Rob and my mom got sick while we were in Thailand so we didn't get to do as much as I had hoped to do but in the end, the laid back nature and lack of plans while in Krabi was worth it. It truly felt like a vacation. So what did we do? Walked the main strip, rented scooters to see more of Krabi and beach hop, ate food, had massages, drank Leo beers, shopped, swam, and took a boat to Railay. In Railay, we also walked to Phra Nang beach and cave. So really a whole lot of unplanned activities! It was fun getting to speak Thai again especially when it was good enough and the locals tried to have conversations with me. I understand a lot more than I can speak so conversation is difficult. I do not recommend visiting Thailand if you only have a week. Truly, it's not enough time!

Our place in Krabi was amazing! I loved that we had a peaceful escape from the hustle and bustle in Ao Nang beach every morning and evening. We stayed at Cliff View Resort for the week. It's only 1.5km walk to the beach but up hill and off the Main Street quite a bit. Fortunately they offer a shuttle service to Ao Nang every hour so we were able to wake up at our leisure, eat breakfast, and catch a ride when we were ready to explore or relax on a beach. Speaking of breakfasts...I'm already missing the abundance of fresh tropical fruit!

Last night in Rayong! After the wedding, we met up with some of my Thai family to check out the market in Ban Phe. John, Gift, Goy and Goy's kids, Gam & Gong, took us to dinner on the beach. The rest of the family joined us a little later. We watched the sunset and enjoyed scallops, crabs, fish cakes, crab dip & veggies, a couple of noodle dishes, and a vegetable stir fry. Oh and some Singha and Leo beer. John works for Singha so no Chang or Tiger beer allowed 😉🍻

I just got back from my trip to Thailand where I stood up in my sister's wedding. She was my exchange sister in 2003. It was the longest wedding I've ever attended. We arrived in Thailand on Friday and the next day was the wedding which began at 3am with hair and makeup. There was a Thai breakfast at 6:30am and the first ceremony began at 7am. The Buddhist blessing and merit making was the first part. There were 9 monks, an important and lucky number in Thai, who gave the couple their blessing. Around 9am, the khan maak procession began. The bridesmaids and some family members held floral chains that represent gates for the groom and his family to pass through. At each "gate", the groom has to do something typically funny and is usually accompanied with a gift of money. At my "gate", the groom had to yell out "I love you" in 3 languages. He chose Thai, English, and Chinese. Then his dad gave us each a box of 200 baht, about $6. The procession consisted of gold trays of money, fruit, and meat. The day and the trip were amazing! The rest of the ceremony and more pictures to come...

I’ve gone a very long time without posting. I guess I’ve been really busy with planning my vacation and work. I came down with a cold late last week on top of it all.

But over the weekend, Rob and I went to St. Paul for our friend’s wedding. As we were getting to the hotel, we saw one of the brides get out of her car! So unexpected and so exciting…we went to high school together and worked at the same coffee shop. We had some drinks and played Jenga in the hotel bar after we got settled into our room. Saturday I worked out in the tiny hotel gym then Rob and I went to a friends house for brunch. They made vegan chilaquiles! The 4 of us headed to the ceremony which was really beautiful and we cried a lot. The reception followed and they both love reading so they had a book theme throughout which was really cute. The speeches were really nice, the dancing was really fun, and they had a hot chocolate bar! It was the first winter wedding I’ve ever been to and it really set the bar for any future winter weddings I may attend.

I plan to post more frequently this month as I’ll have a lot of fun things to tell you about…not just the same old workout-work routine I’ve been on for awhile now.

Beautiful sunrise this morning on Milwaukee's east side.

After a boozy book club Friday night and a tough morning workout on Saturday, the Korean hot pot really hit the spot! If you're curious, we read "Everything I Never Told You" by Celeste Ng. Very good read. In the soup: cabbage, corn, tomato, mushrooms, Bok Choy, Korean pumpkin, and tofu. After I grabbed what I wanted, they dropped the meat in it. I added chili paste and a thick soy sauce to it to spice up the seaweed broth. Guys, Thailand is coming up quick! I got my dress...powder blue...it's not my color. But that doesn't matter, we're just so excited for this vacation. It's cold here...^that makes even more sense now. Like so cold, single digits, negative with the wind chill.