north carolina

A day in the life!

| cheriarmour

I’ve talked about it here, what I do for work.  My work as Group Fitness Director is awesome.  I think one of the coolest things about the work, besides getting to teach a ton of group fitness classes…

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Me, after an early morning class.

…is that no two days are the same. And I think when I “became an adult,” a phrase I really use loosely, one of my biggest fears was that I would get sucked into a profession, where I was doing the same thing every single day. The thought of doing something that wouldn’t allow me to be on my feet or would be the same drudgery day in and day out really scared me, and thinking back, it’s something that has scared me since childhood. I distinctly remember being in high school, where the most variety we had was A-day B-Day scheduling, being terrified that this was what real life might be like. Thankfully, years later, the Y presented itself as an amazing opportunity, and it was clear that no two days were the same.

Which is mostly really cool.

Mostly.

Tonight, I closed the building, which all directors do once a week. I don’t mind, and usually, instead of sitting in front of my laptop the entire night, I run around, doing little projects or putting out little fires. So tonight was no different. I set up the prenatal yoga class, tore it down, visited the Zumba, Vinyasa, and Cycle classes, and checked on the kid downstairs who came in last minute for us.

Close to closing though, we ran into a rather large snafu. Somewhere along the way, someone gave a member the wrong keys, and the member took the keys home, leaving another member with the wrong keys.

Launch full-blown investigation.

From the wrong keys, I was able to gather  that the member was actually a member of a Y in Greater Charlotte.  I called the Siskey YMCA and begged for them to call the members emergency contact based on the info I gave them.  They did.  His parents confirmed that those were their son’s keys, and gave me their blessing to call him.  I called, we figured out that he had the wrong keys, and in a snap-decision judgement, I took off, went to the members home, and swapped out the keys.

To say that today wasn’t dull is the understatement of the entire century.  Here’s to tomorrow being the most boring, mundane, and dull day January 2016 has ever seen.

What do YOU do for work?  

What does your day consist of?

Wedding Weekend in Asheville

| cheriarmour

Honestly, middle of the week last week, I thought I wasn’t going to make it to the weekend.

Tuesday evening, I was at work, and attempting a quick dinner.  It was one of those evenings when I couldn’t seem to get a second to myself at work, and I got a call over the walkie for like the 700th time.  I pushed myself back from my desk, maybe a little too hard, and my laptop cord got caught in the wheels of my desk chair.  Before I realized what was happening, the computer crashed to the floor, and I knew it was bad.

I screamed a word that is not considered appropriate to God-fearing people, and the computer worked for about 20 more minutes before it completely crapped out.  I immediately contacted IT, but was pretty computerless for the better part of two days, save for an old laptop I was able to dig out of a drawer at work.

So after that, I cried to my husband that I did think I could make a wedding we were planning to attend with the pile of emails that were sure to await me.

But, before long, and with me making a trip or two back to our corporate headquarters to drop off my laptop and beg our IT specialist for mercy, I had a fix – the fall destroyed the hard drive, and sweet Jim replaced it for me.  Thankfully, Google Chrome saved a lot of the bookmarks I needed for work, and all was not completely lost, and after a few meltdowns, I was comfy to head to the wedding of Kim and Nate on Saturday.

Wedding Weekend!

So, this time on our trip to Asheville, instead of getting a hotel, we did an Air BnB.  Because we left early enough, we had time to get into the place, a cute basement apartment hanging off the side of a mountain, and I had time to go for a short run while Austin took a little nap.  By the time I got back, he showered, and I was in full swing, getting my hair pinned up before I hopped into the shower to make my face look decent.

**Side note** I once read something that Jamie Chung said, something along the lines of the fact that her pre-pretty dress routine is to run, and that always stuck with me.  So before a fancy event, before getting into a dress, I like to go for a run as a little routine for myself!

12038128_10100658246815083_5370832722895189715_nRentallll!  Funny enough, I wasn’t sure if I was gonna be crazy about this one – the inner part of the dress was just tight enough around my getting-bigger butt, and I wasn’t sure if I would look like the dress was riding up.  But I think it turned out perfectly!

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12109245_10100658853913453_2601969357904391935_nAdele, pictured here, also rented the runway.  She and a friend actually picked this dress out for me when I found myself getting overwhelmed by the options.

Not pictured: this rad cape I got since the ceremony was outside and just a little bit chilly.  But it was awesome. and really high fashion.  If you saw me in it, you might even think I was a fancy classy lady!

So the wedding of Kim and Nate was really fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed the break.  The wine was flowing, and I really enjoyed dancing with friends, as well as this cute little girl we met on the dance floor.

The next day, after I woke up really early and took Aleve and vitamins before the storm hit (praise you Lord for that insight), and prepped to push off and hit brunch with some folks from the wedding, as well as an old friend from Elon.

We were missing part of our crew, and the mystery was solved when Adele told us that they got a text at like 3am from some of the boys, telling us they’d just gotten back and they weren’t going to make it back.  Oh well!

After we gobbled up brunch, I sort of rudely invited myself to join Wayne (Elon bud) on his quest to find his sister’s booth at a local flea market.

Can we talk about this flea market for a second?  K.  Tiny plants.  Vintage clothing.  Someone told me I had a nice voice.  Like speaking wise.  Which is hysterical because when I speak I sound like Hilary Banks, but that’s beside the point.  I find some old silverware, which is like ME THING, and got to walk around drinking alcohol next to the French Broad River.

And then…

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WE MET THIS TINY CAT AND THEN WE PUT IT IN A MUG.

I’m not really in the market for any more pets because we’re psychotic and already have like two too many, but don’t let that fool you. I briefly considered stealing this kitten and raising him as my own.

Enough about me…what did you do this weekend?

Carolina Beach

| cheriarmour

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Me and Austin.  We’re one of those couples who LOVES to do stuff together, but we’re also complete and utter workaholics.  We work tirelessly, go to the gym at some point at the end of the day, and are lucky to catch half an episode of Orange is the New Black before falling into bed, exhausted.  For weeks, we’d been talking about going somewhere, anywhere just the two of us, so that we could enjoy one another.  Finally, after a particularly rough Wednesday, I told Austin to pick between the mountains and the beach, and he picked the beach for us.  Thank…GOD.

Saturday morning, we woke up to cloudy skies here in Raleigh, but we were really determined to get the hell out of dodge and enjoy a little vacay, something we probably haven’t done silly Kelly invited us to Fripp in March of 2014.  (Shame on us, but we got married!).

Once we got to Wilmington, I was starting to get really hungry, so Austin stopped for a salad for me, and then we drove straight to the beach.  I de-robed in the car (thank you kindly to Kia for my tinted back windows), threw on a coverup, and off to the beach went.  As soon  as we sat down, we were pelted by rain, and we both looked at each other nervously, praying that the rain would stop.  And almost as soon as it started, it was gone.

DSC_0281 DSC_0280The weather was perfect, but due to some storms, the sea was really really rough, and going in much further than waist-deep was a little dicey, as the water was really pulling, and hard.  Austin and I alternated between splashing around, and reading books for hours and hours.  I forgot how much I really love the beach, and I didn’t really want to leave on Saturday when we did, but a windstorm picked up and started to make it really hard to do much of anything.  When we left, I’d wrapped a blanket around my head to protect my eyes…

DSC_0290Austin somehow managed to snap a pic as the wind was whipping around…

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I texted Alexa while we were at the beach as she’s the donut specialist, and asked here where we could find a good donut in the area where we were. She pointed me to a place that was literally 500 feet from where we were sitting. Austin and I both ate two of Britt’s Donuts, the freshest and warmest donuts I’ve ever had. Totally worth the trip if you’re in Carolina Beach.

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We ate dinner at Dockside, a seafood place that we visited on the first spring break we went to Wilmington on. I managed to get through dinner without a drink (still sober!) and then we hit a local gated community for a brisk walk before it started storming, which is pretty typical for out there.

When we got back to the hotel, we were like two kids. We explored the hotel for a little while – checked out the pool, the breakfast nook and the fitness center…
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I hopped on the treadmill for a little while in my dress and my flip flops while Austin tested the weight machines.

Sunday morning, we woke up and enjoyed a breakfast at the Best Western, and I treated myself to Frosted Flakes, forgetting that eating cereal ALWAYS makes me feel like shit. Luckily, we walked for over an hour on the beach, and that passed quickly. The best part  of  the walk was the fact that we happened upon a wedding on the beach, and lord KNOWS I love a wedding.

IMG_0335[1]We finished off the day with a trip to the Wilmington Whole Foods.  I was desperately craving a salad for the way home, so I told Austin I’d buy him lunch if he would take us to the Whole Foods.  It worked, and I got the most Caribbean/Indian salad know to mankind, packed with all sorts of curried “meats” and beans.

The weekend was so so great and relaxing, though way too short.

What did you do over the weekend?

Healthy Living Bloggers (HLBs)

| cheriarmour

I consider myself something of a lifestyle/healthy living blogger.  And I am perfectly transparent in what experiences/education that I feel make me at all qualified to dish on all that I dish on.

Here’s what I got real quick so you guys know where I’m coming from.

  • Studied Psychology in undergrad.
  • Studied Social Work, focused heavily on health and weight loss.
  • Worked two full summers at a weight loss camp, spent time, after I got full-time work, at weight loss camp with my kids.
  • Worked for Fleet Feet (running specialty) for…well I never really stopped.  I backed off of full-time when I was employed as a Director at a local nonprofit facility….
  • I am Director of Group Fitness.
  • Been teaching group fitness for over 5 years.  Zumba® Fitness, Toning, Step, Cycling, Body Pump™.  You name it I teach it.
  • Also, I lost some like 35-40ish pounds I put on in college and while in a terribly volatile relationship.

This isn’t to say, like “la la la, I’m so fancy, I know all this stuff,” it’s more to say, I know some of what I’m talking about.  I still have bunches to learn, and I will never claim that candy, wine, and coffee never cross my lips, cause they totally do.  But I’m increasingly troubled by the rise of the “healthy” living blogger, or HLB, especially the sort that doesn’t work out, lost weight on potentially unhealthy and unsustainable methods, and then touts the weird crap they eat as healthy to unsuspecting followers.

Enter…well…let me know say her name, because I’m not here to embarrass anyone, but, she’s sort of what I described above.  Maybe a nice girl, but really in no place to be telling other folks what to be putting in their bodies to lose weight – and not because she hasn’t found success, but because what works for her simply may not work or be healthy for every body.

So the other day, aforementioned blogger posts a picture of a salad with what looked to be about 5 tablespoons of ranch dressing on it.

There’s nothing wrong with a salad, I think salads are amazing and awesome, but not only did she douse the salad in ranch dressing, but she very literally stated…

“The ranch is intentional…it’s a great source of healthy fat!”

And then when a follower questioned her on it, she then stated, ” The oil, eggs and cream found in ranch dressing are all healthy fats.”

Let me break it down for you really quickly.  Ranch gets like a D- from nutritionists.  It’s FULL of fat (and not the good kind), and even fuller of sodium.  There is not a nutritionist on God’s green earth who would EVER list Ranch as a healthy fat.  And FURTHERMORE the serving size is like 1 tbs.  Not 5.  Or whatever’s going on there.

All that to say, please, please, please, when you’re following HLBs, keep a few things in mind.

  • We’re human.  We lose weight, we gain weight.  We run a good race.  We run a bad race.  Some of us have suffered with eating disorders.  Some of us just like to write!  Please don’t look to us as the gospel.
  • Please be discerning.  How does (s)he  know what (s)he is talking about?  Did they do something idiotic like go on diet pills?  Do they look as if they have some sort of eating disorder?  Are they copious drug/alcohol users?  DO THEY WORK OUT?! No?  Probably not someone you need to be looking to for diet advice, and I think it’s important for us to recognize that in ourselves as the blogger.
  • Call us on it.  Do you see something on the blog that doesn’t seem right?  Doesn’t make sense?  Email us, leave a comment, or ask a genuine question.

QOTD

On a more positive note, who are some of your favorite HLBs?

Pho Pho Pho

| cheriarmour

Hi lovers!  I know it has been a few days, but it was a few well-needed days of rest that I spent with my dad between DC and New Jersey.  More on that later.

But I wanted to touch base about something I talked about after last weekend, when my quest to find pho, a Vietnamese soup, was finally somewhat resolved.  Also ramen.

So about two years ago, when I was training for my first marathon, I swear (and barely anyone remembers this, so it’s almost unbelievable), that Whole Foods, in their sushi section, had bowls of real ramen, with an egg and everything in it.  I ate it religiously as “second lunch” as I was ridiculously hungry during the training cycle, and seemed to do well with the sodium.

Soon after, WF set up a pho station, complete with fresh jalapenos, and I went on the quest to find a bowl of pho and real ramen somewhere in the Triangle.

Saturday morning, after we’d worked at the expo, some of the folks posted some pics from a spot called Pho Pho Pho on Facebook, and the decision was made then, especially after one of the folks there told me that the Sake Sangria was on point.  I mean, duh.

So after a short convincing period, Austin and I headed out to Pho Pho Pho on Glenwood, that was so new (about 4 weeks old), that it didn’t really have a sign out front, and I had to rely on an old episode of bar rescue to find it. Totally not joking about that, but that place was a total creepy dump before.

Anyhoo, so we got there, immediately ordered a few drinks, and got to ordering on the menu from this adorable server who had a smile permanently on!

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This is what I ended up with – a pho ramen mashup that only cost about $10, but came out in a bowl that was without a doubt large enough for two meals. I ate as much as I could, then poured the rest away for lunch the next day.

My verdict after waiting for like a year or two for some legit pho is that this place is legit. Good soup, good noodles, and great drinks, and I can’t wait to go again. (Seriously, I asked Austin to take me again tomorrow.)

Now, since pho is such an awesome sore throat/replenish your sodium food….what’s your favorite sick food?

V-Day Weekend

| cheriarmour

I have an admission to make.

After last week, I was completely overwhelmed, and I was a mess to deal with this weekend.  Between a really big week at work, trying to deal with my car issues, I’m sort of dealing with these feelings that I absolutely suck at life.  As I sit here, I’m looking around at my couch covered in pet hair, and dealing with the fact that the beagle managed to act up enough so that the woman who adopted her is bringing her back (not kidding) I’m wondering how people with kids do this, and have cleaner houses and seem to have their shit together better than I do.

But I digress.

Here are a few snaps from the weekend.

Friday, I hosted a Zumba/Dance Fitness Party at my Y, and we actually had a really really good turnout, which had me nervous all week.  It can be really really tricky to get folks to commit to anything on a Friday night, and I was terrified that no one would show, and I would look like a butt in front of my bosses.

Three hours before the party, I was testing the playlist out on my iPod, when every single solitary song on my device disappeared, and I watched my life flash before my eyes.

“I’m the boss. I’m in charge of this party.  And I just screwed up all the music.”

I raced home, managed to update the software on my husband’s laptop, and load the entire playlist onto Austin’s iPad, literally with 15 minutes to spare before the party.  The party went off without a hitch, our attendance was huge, and I was so proud of my team!

Zumba Party
Zumba Party

Immediately following, I raced-raced to Ruthschris to meet my husband, and I ate everything in sight, including this little cheesecake for dessert that I told the server I would only take a bite of.  Then I ate the whole thing.

Then this girl…

Alyssa Edwards via imgkid.com
Alyssa Edwards via imgkid.com

I met my girls, and hit Legends in Raleigh to see Alyssa Edwards, a contestant/favorite from RuPaul’s Drag Race from a few seasons ago. When I say that she was fantastic, I mean FANTASTIC. Her makeup was on point, her wig was on point, and she had a better body than most people.  She actually was inspiring – I think a lot of times we see drag queens as funny, but in reality, it really can be an art, and what she did was an art.

Saturday, I hit class early, and taught an 8:30 toning, and ran over to our branch to teach an 11:15 Zumba to a packed house.

Sunday, I went to work, caught up on some work, and then hit drag brunch, benefiting a foundation here that hat encourages and promotes the development of services for persons living with AIDS and/or HIV infection. I got brunch and got champagne, AND managed to benefit a sweet nonprofit?  I’ll take it.

This week, we are gearing up for some sort of winter event here in Raleigh and my goal, my only goal, is to keep my head on straight despite life’s…things.

How was your weekend?  What did you do?

What are your goals this week?

LucetteGrace

| cheriarmour

I like sweet things.  A lot.  I adopted a pretty wicked sweet tooth from my mother, made only worst by my copious consumption of artificial sugar.  Which blah blah, I know it’s not good for me, but my dad is diabetic, and I got into a Splenda and Stevia habit sorta early.  One thing I don’t do – aspartame.  That’s a teeny bit before my time, and to me, it kinda taste like shit.

^^

All this to say, that my copious consumption of artificial sweeteners in the past, especially during the summers at camp when I’d road trip a lot (diet sodas) has increased my sweet tooth by a ton (the crap in artificial sweeteners tends to do that), and I’m pretty discerning in my sweets.

Enter LucetteGrace.

So, about a week ago (cue Bobby Schmurda dance) a friend mentioned offhand that she’d gone to this bakery/pastry shop.  She didn’t understand how serious I was about the shop, and as soon as I left her, I hunted around downtown Raleigh to find the shop.  I found it, pulled in, and started to ogle everything behind the glass case, but sadly, I’d forgotten my camera.

The owner came out (his name is Daniel and he has a beard, btws), and saw that I was drooling, and was kind enough to chat with me and help me pick a few treats, and even slipped a few extra in the bag for me to take up and nosh on later.  So I grabbed a friend, and headed back just a few days later for a coffee date.

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Lucette 3

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Lucette 2

Lucette Grace

Lucette 6To me, there is almost nothing more therapeutic than coffee, a sweet, and some time with a friend.  I left feeling like I had filled up my belly (for one), and filled up my love tank for two.  Sweets, words, coffee, and a very golden afternoon with a good friend was so healing.

So technically, LucetteGrace, named for the owner’s daughters, is a patisserie, which a bakery that exclusively serves french cakes and pastries. Located at 235 S Salisbury St, the sweets are sweet, but in a different way than American sweet. You have to try it to understand, but the treats go perfectly with a locally-brewed cup of Larry’s Beans (919 better stand up!), and an afternoon with friends.  What’s really cool about the patisserie, in addition to the taste, is the ambiance and decor of LucetteGrace – the space is clean and decked out in yellows and grays and seems like a good space to sit for an afternoon with your laptop for a productive dessert sesh.  It’s a nice alternative to a Starbucks; no shade to them of course, I’ve been hanging out there and have gotten a lot of work done at these places for years.  Bottom line – it’s difficult to mass-produce shit that tastes good, and Daniel at LucetteGrace has captured something special here.

Where’s your favorite place to get work done? 

Parking Ticket

| cheriarmour

Once again, I’m writing from somewhere over Texas.  I’ll set the scene for you.  I’m sitting…in a plane….legs are really squished…and I’m kind of hoping that my husband remembers to let my poodle out.

Speaking of poodles, this dog is not a morning dog…I found her like this, head buried, when I got up pretty early a few mornings ago to get some laundry done before work.  I called her to come get her food, and this was her response.  Kind of ignoring me, and kind of trying to preserve heat with what little body fat she has going on.

Coco

Moving right along…

So I’m actually so blind.  Thanks to some excellent eyeball genes from my mother, I’ve been rocking the spectacles since about fourth grade.  It’s a little inconvenient, since I’m so active, to ever really wear glasses, but a lot of times in the spring and in the fall, when my allergies are really acting up, I don’t have a lot of choice.  It’s always really fun, when I wear my glasses to work and stuff, and people are like “You wear glasses?” they think they’re fakes, until they do that annoying thing where they make you take your glasses off and guess how many fingers you’re holding up.  Spoiler alert: I never know, because I can’t see anything more than like, six inches in front of my face.

So, I went for my annual eye appointment, and since the place I go is downtown, I had to pay to park.  I fed the meter, did the whole shebang, and once I was all done with my appointment, I went outside, to find that I’d gotten myself a parking ticket for my meter being 7 minutes expired.

Now, I take full responsibility for this ticket.  I’m not one to sit here and curse out the guy doing his job when I was clearly parked somewhere I shouldn’t have been, but this got me thinking – how could cities make parking tickets more fun?  Like, is there a way to make me less irritated that I have to spend $20 because of my own stupidity?

So here are a few suggestions to make a parking ticket fun:

  • Include some coupons in the envelope with the ticket. Now, this one can be tricky, because not everyone likes everything, but I bet you if you included a coupon for a free coffee at McDonald’s a lot of people would take the ticket thing a little better.  Or a frozen lemonade.  Those are fun!
  • Include a nudie of the guy writing the ticket in the envelope. Nudies always make me laugh. And life’s a party, rock your body.  Amirite, Marcel? (10 points to whoever gets that one.)
  • Maybe the attendant can write his or her name and a little smiley near the bill, like they do at restaurants when they want a big tip. I’m not tipping you, but I may admire your artistry, especially if your smiley face is a particularly good one.
  • Maybe the envelope can shoot confetti at you. On second thought, maybe not though.  Because someone from the city might have to clean it up.
  • And finally, if Lil’ Jon could come over a loud speaker to the tune of “Turn Down for What,” kinda like the horns in the Hunger Games, signifying that another ticket has been written, I think I’d get down with that.

Just a few suggestion to brighten that ticket up!  What’s the last ticket you got? 

My baby brother graduated yesterday + healthy nachos.

| cheriarmour

As you’re reading this, my ass has been out on the trail, to work, and is currently dashing to Charlotte to see my little brother graduate.

I’m not sure what to say, cause I remember when he was born and now he’s graduating high school, and I cannot even.

I drove down to Charlotte on Thursday, but not after first noticing that I was sunburnet from a trail run early this week.

photo 1If you ever have awkwardly asked a black person why they wear sunblock, or if they can tan, here is your answer.  A resounding hell yes!

So I made it down to Charlotte just in the nick of time,  but not before my dad sent me this to take us down memory lane..

photo 2This, folks, would be my brother on his first day of kindergarten.  I can barely stand it!

photo 3This is the bro, getting ready to graduate!

photo 4And this is us, after the ceremony.

He did great, and we were all so proud of him.  And we followed the big day with a visit to the local Ihop to celebrate his big achievement.  My brother’s favorite spot is Ihop, and he we had to give the man what he wants.

After such a huge accomplishment, once we got back to my parent’s house, we were all in a very nostalgic mood, and it all summed up to us looking at a bunch of old family pictures.  For your viewing pleasure, I will share with you this…

photo 5No idea.  No idea.  Thank you god for my adult face coming in.

Let’s switch gears for a minute.

Who likes nachos?

So a food that I’ve sort of struggled with is nachos.  I love nachos like a ton, but they’re not particularly easy to fit into your plan, especially when you’ve suffered from gastritis.  Nachos + an inflamed stomach lining don’t get along particularly well.

So, The Hungry Runner Girl posted a recipe for healthier nachos, and they weren’t particularly terrible.  Actually, they were pretty good, so I’m gonna share with you!  If you’re looking for a better way to do nachos….

photo 1 (2)Start with two baked potatoes.  Slice em up, and layer a teensy bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper on top.  Stick them in the oven for 30 minutes (my oven was a little overzelous, so make sure you keep tabs on how the potatoes are smelling).  Pull them out, and add 1/4th of a cup of low-fat mexican cheese blend, and pop the potatoes back into the oven.

Melt them for about 4 minutes at the same temp.  Once they’re done, add avocado, some beans and some corn, and a few jalapenos.  You’ll end up with these…

photo 2 (2)It’s kinda like nachos, but less fried.  A solid, solid recipe, without the terrible stomachache after.

What are your plans for this weekend?