Summer Date Night Ideas

Happy Weekend!

I love summer so much. I wish it could be this temperature and this beautiful out all year round. Today is a perfect day! The sun is shining, there is a nice warm breeze and no rain in the forecast.

It's a wonderful day for a trip to a farmer's market or a picnic in the park, not to mention a swim at the local pool. A great date afternoon! What do you and your significant other do in the summer for date days/afternoons/nights?

Dennis and I don't get many dates since we are both so busy and probably will get even fewer once the little guy arrives soon but when we do they are pretty simple in the summer.

Here are just a few:

Go swimming.

Grill dinner.
We made chicken and potatoes this week on the grill. So much better than cooking or eating inside!

Garden.

 

(Pictures from our urban gardening adventures two years ago. Looks pretty similar this year, except we only did sunflowers and veggies to freeze and puree for baby food.)

Attend a Pirate game.

(Picture from a game last year. We made it to two already this year and were hoping for a third but those seats are not comfortable when you are in your third trimester!)

Get ice cream.
Dennis introduced me to Glen's Custard in Springdale this summer. Amazing! It's probably my new favorite ice cream place. There is miniature golf there too but we haven't tried that yet; although that is another typical summer date for us.

Play disc golf.

Play golf or go to the driving range.

Watch Apollo 13 or The West Wing.
I'm not gonna lie this is basically all we watch if there we are both home (which is rare) and there isn't a Pirate game on (which is also rare). We watched West Wing this week and Apollo 13 last week.

So, why not enjoy the beautiful weather and have a date this weekend!

Happy Summer!! Enjoy it!

Happy New Year!

Today I'm looking forward to a fresh start in 2016. 2015 revolved around my knee surgery and recovery. Nothing much else happened, so I'm excited for more travel, time with friends and family and hopefully a house!

These are some great quotes and inspiration I found on Pinterest that I hope to live by in the New Year.

I've said this before but Pinterest is one of the best and worst things in the world. There are so many wonderful things to try, make and do but definitely not enough time. This is a round-up of  a few pins I'd love to try this year.

Reading Lists

I used this pin to make my reading list for 2016. I've already started reading. It's great to be reading again after a long absence. I know that sounds crazy but I started 2015 off reading a lot but after my surgery I kept falling asleep when I read. Then I read a lot in the summer but got really busy in the fall and during the holidays, so I'm back at it.

Organization

The paper trail in our life has gotten out of control. I need a new system. Hence why I'm pinning so many paperwork organization ideas. This is a must for 2016.

Travel

I have a conference in Denver in April, so we are making a vacation out of it. Neither Dennis or I have ever been to Denver, so I'm pretty excited to see as much as I can in a short amount of time while not in conference sessions. Pinterest is a great resource for travel suggestions.

Healthy Lifestyle

2015 was all about walking again and finding workouts that fit my knee restrictions. I'm excited to spend more time in the pool and on the spin bike. I have enough swimming workouts pinned to last me a while.

That's just a few pins I'm trying. What are you hoping to accomplish in 2016 from your Pinterest pins?

Getting in Shape...Again

A year ago almost exactly my fitness world was knocked completely out of the ballpark when my kneecap came out of place during a run. It was all down hill from there and I'm not getting into all of that again but needless to say I spent the last year not being very fitness minded. Granted, I did join a gym to workout, spin and swim when I wasn't in and out of physical therapy. After the surgery, I literally sat in the recliner for months. Needless to say my muscle mass is pitiful now except for my upper arms from two months of crutches. Physical therapy went until the end of June and so finally in July I could rethink my workouts and decide how I was going to get back in shape and stay in shape without running.

This is my plan, which I have to adapt weekly as to my schedule. I'm two weeks in and its going pretty well. What's nice is that I'm not going to the gym right now because its so nice outside but everything I'm doing can be moved inside when the weather gets colder.

Monday

I do my core workout on Monday. In a few weeks I will add some short cardio on as well and then later some short bursts of HIIT. For now, Monday is a day that if I need to miss a workout I can and just add it on to another day.

Tuesday

I do between 30-60 minutes of cardio and since I'm not running, I walk on Tuesdays. I've found the best calorie burn walking is to do hills. So if you are familiar with Pittsburgh and where we live, I walk Stanton from our apartment through Stanton Heights and down to Lawrenceville and back. It's only a little more than a four mile walk but it takes approximately an hour because the incline is so steep part of the way up from Lawrenceville and on the other side from Morningside/Highland Park.

Wednesday

I do an upper body workout on Wednesday focusing on my arms, shoulders and back. Eventually as with Monday, I will add light cardio and HIIT.

Thursday

Thursday is a repeat of Tuesday with cardio and the time amount. The only thing I change is that I bike (or try to) on Thursdays. Right now, I'm riding Dennis' bike since I don't have one but I'm not sure how long I can do that because it sucks. I might even go rent one of those ones that are all over the city.

Friday

I do a total body strength workout on Friday.

Saturday

Same as Tuesday and Thursday, although on Saturday I swim! My favorite cardio day! 

Sunday

Sunday is supposed to be a rest day but I think I'm going to start doing yoga again at the gym. I need to improve my flexibility again and hopefully it will help me relax.

I'm not perfect. So believe me, there is rarely a week that goes by  that I get some sort of a workout in everyday. Sometimes I do more than on on the weekends to make up for a lousy week. I'm happy with getting a workout in five days a week.

Alright, let me know if you want to work out sometime together!

Returning to My Roots

I love swimming. It's my favorite. If it weren't for my eczema, I'd like to think that swimming would have been my sport and not tennis.

Well, after my running set back this summer, swimming seemed my only workout option besides slow walking that wouldn't do any more damage to my busted knee.  I went to North Park and Highland Park Pools a handful of times and then last weekend we joined LA Fitness. I'm addicted to the pool.

Even swimming isn't easy with my knee. I won't lie. I can't kick as hard. I do flip turns one legged. Yesterday was a breakthrough for me and feeling bad for myself with my knee problems. I met a woman in the pool who had a knee problem that would never get better. Mine will. She encouraged me.

Then after weeks of trying to do the breast stroke kick. I finally mastered it! That might seem like nothing but for someone who is used to being incredibly active and swim like a fish this is a setback because my knee wouldn't move that way but with perseverance it did! I was so happy!

So, I'm enjoying being back in the pool. The Great Race might not happen but I'm OK with that if I can run at least one race a year and get back to my active lifestyle.