Memorial Day Weekend

Hello Hello!!

I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day weekend!! I know I did it!!! We spent the weekend at Whitt’s parents lake house on Lake Kentucky in Paris, Tennessee!

We drove up Saturday morning as I got in to Nashville late on Friday night!

The weekend was full of everything that makes a good Memorial Day weekend! We had tons of food, from 7 layer dip made by Whitt’s Aunt Christie, his cousin’s awesome homemade cheese dip, grilled dogs and burgers on Whitt’s dad’s infrared grill, and lots of pie! There was also a lot of beer.. and mixed drinks from Whitt’s cousin Brad who is a excellent cocktail creator, however I stuck to the brewskis!

Aside from the food and drink, was all the fun lake stuff! As someone who has always been a water baby, I was really excited to get on their boat and try new fun activities such as water skiing, tubing and jet skiing! It took about 8-10 tries but  I made it up eventually! I am now extremely sore from all of my activities… who would of thought a weekend without traditional workouts would be so physically exhausting?

Saturday night, we had a crazy game of Pictionary, it turns out I am quite good at guessing drawings… I owe it all to DrawSomething… if you haven’t downloaded this game… do it.. its so fun!!!

Yesterday, we stayed at the lake until just after 3, after a day spent with in ally getting up on water skis, an hour swimming in the lake with Whitt, and learning how to drive the boat! We hung out at Whitt’s apartment for a bit in order to relax/shower etc before going to Jack’s BBQ in downtown Nashville for dinner! I had the Texas Beef Brisket with a cucumber and tomato salad, green beans, and a side of corn bread! The veggies were ok, the Brisket was GREAT, and the corn bread was a little stale.

After dinner we went and got ice cream! I figured I had done enough this weekend to warrant some ice cream, and also kinda dropped the clean eating ball this weekend soooo there was nothing to lose! And I do not regret my choice! This ice-cream was fantastic! I got peanut butter cup, chocolate pb ice-cream with swirls of peanut butter and mini pb cups! It reminded me of my favorite ice cream place in the hamptons who had a frozen yogurt version of the same thing!! We ate it while looking out at the river that separates downtown and the Titans stadium! quite a beautiful setting!

We then went back to Whitt’s to watch Iron Man 2! I flew back this morning and am now getting my life back together after being gone all weekend! I have finished all my course work and now just have two more classes and then I am done!!! Graduation next Friday!! wooo!!!!

What did you do this weekend?!

xxoo

Peace, Love, and be Sperry!

Graduation Part 1!

Omg HIIIII… long time not chat! Life over here as been crazier than normal these past couple of weeks as I have 2 papers and 2 presentations due in the next two days, and had an exam Monday but after that I am DONE! well technically we have class next thursday and friday but they will be more of he kumbaya lets say bye bye and process the END of our masters degree!!! WOO HOOO I cannot wait to be done with school and become a real human being! Speaking of being done with school… my brother Billy graduated from Chapman University this weekend!!! I am so proud of him!! Isn’t he the cutest?! I got into Orange County late last Thursday night to start festivities! PMul and I then got up early Friday in order to hit up Bloomies to shop for my grad dress.. that I ended up getting at Vineyard Vines and it is the cutest ever.. and a dress for her! She got the prettiest Lilly P dress and now she is hooked… it’s only taken how many years of my obsession to rub off on her?! After the shopping we hit the pool for a few hours before Bill’s awards ceremony! His senior thesis film was nominated for four awards including best director and best picture!!!! His first red carpet!! He was not happy about me and my mom being paparazzi but what can ya do? Sadly he didn’t win but it is still a huge accomplishment and his film was amazing! On Saturday we went for a late lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp, his choice! I haven’t been there in awhile and forgot how good it was! I got grilled salmon with veggies and rice! Everyone else’s food looked pretty great too! After lunch, my dad wanted Ice Cream so we headed over to golden spoon for fro-yo before going to Chapman! while we were eating fro-yo outside there was a little kid in the barbershop next door screaming bloody murder.. it was sad… but also a little but funny Finally we got to Chapman where Bill’s grad was being held on their football field!!!

yes.. that is a segway cop

After Grad, we all went over to B’s best friend Lexi’s grad party that was held at her bosses house. Omg this was the cutest party ever, and I basically anted to put it on interest but sadly my pictures aren’t interest quality :( . They had a wine tasting with homemade pretzel rolls and fondue as well as the cutest tarts! Afterwards we dropped Bill at another friends house and went back to the hotel! It was a short, but great weekend and I am so excited for my little Bro!!!!

Now I have another exciting weekend ahead of me in Tennessee!! Yay!

Wish me luck on my presentations and papers.. goodness knows I am not the greatest public speaker! xxoo

Peace, Love, and be Sperry! 

D-DAY

It’s game day folks…. the day me and my classmates have been prepping for all year… DEFENSE DAY… where we will be explaining/defending all our hard work….

LET’S DO IT… #herewego #wishmeluck

Got my game face on and I’m ready to go ahhaha

See ya on the flip side

xxoo

Peace, Love, and be Sperry!

May by the Numbers

today is the first day of May! this means that numbers are quite poignant at the moment… as my time in grad school is dwindling!

One more month of school!!!!

Four days until Cinco de Mayo!!!

Seven days until my Thesis Defense!

Nineteen Days until my brother graduates from college!

Twenty-four days until Memorial Day Weekend.. and fun lake festivities!!!

yes I will be playing/singing this on repeat… your welcome in advanced McWhitt

We all know how much I love boats!

Thirty-two days until BEER OLYMPICS!!!!!!!!!

hopefully it will be as fun as last year!!

Thirty-eight days until Graduation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know.. one why have I counted all these events out… one because I am bored right now… and two so I know exactly how long I have left!

More fun numbers for May?

A goal of five small meals a day, every day!

Trying for zero processed foods most days of the week!

At least one day  a week where I can work out twice a day! Like today- did 45 minutes of a hill work out on the elliptical, and after I consult I am going to start mad muscle may!!!!

Ok now to go read outside at starbucks as it is nice out!

xxoo 

Peace, Love, and be Sperry!

What I have been doing with my life lately

There it is…. my Masters Project poster…. it basically summarizes my project/life up to this point hahaha! I figured I have mentioned it so often that I might as well share it with you…

What is all of this you ask? Well it is a study that focuses on the coping mechanisms used in injury rehabilitation and how certain coping skills effect adherence, mood, and stress! Findings? Maladaptive coping skills ( behavioral disengagement, substance use, denial, and self-blame )got used the most at the beginning and no surprise maladaptive coping mechanisms lead to higher stress and worse mood! And less adherence to the rehabilitation program. At the end of rehabilitation problem focused coping (making a plan, being proactive) was used more! What does all of this mean? Well it means that at the beginning of rehabilitation there is a lot of stress as you are unable to be at the same physical activity level, make certain life changes etc. However being able to work through this initial stress of injury with adaptive emotion focused coping ( emotional support, self-distraction, venting, humor, and religion) and problem focused coping will allow you to deal with stress and have a batter mood state! You are also more likely to adhere to your rehab!

I hope you all have found this little tutorial interesting… feel free to follow up with any questions… I need to practice talking about it before my defense!!! If you are interested in injury and rehab as well as the psych stuff behind it I have a myriad of sources that I can share with you!

xxoo 

Peace, Love, and be Sperry!

New Fitness Challenge

I love Pinterest.. I really do.. especially in the workout department! Today as I was perusing the fitness boards, I found this month of exercises by The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans!!

Here my friends is my new May challenge… I dare you to join me!

If this interests you join me! And tweet about it using #madmusclemay!!

I will also try and combine it with the March challenge which was 6-pack abs

march-sixpack-01

I am all about the new challenges especially because running still hurts!!! I tried to run yesterday and my legs were NOT having it :/…. unfortunately I am itching to run now soooo we will see how this plays out!

On the bright side.. we got cleared to defend our masters project!!!!! now to finish editing it! Defense is in two weeks wooooo!

Now off to finish laundry/spin/zumba/ and go to a swim meet!

Have a good Saturday!

xxoo

Peace, Love, and be Sperry!

Tangential Thursday

Holla Holla Back yo

So I am feeling all over the place today.. maybe its because I forced my brain to function earlier than it wanted to today, or because I have energy and the will to be alive again (overdramatic much) post masters project submission, or because the weekend starts tomorrow? Who knows anyways I am going to fill you with tangents today!

1. I am baking again… I haven’t baked in like over a month… actually probably longer than that.. maybe two months… in fact since like February… thats ridiculous.. but I have been so busy/stressed/not feeling myself/traveling/visitors the list goes on but I am back… I am me again and I WANT/NEED to bake…. too bad I can’t decide what to make… any suggestions?!

2. I booked my trip for memorial day weekend!!! Yay! I am traveling so much more this year than last year… Since Feb I have been to Houston, NOLA, Delaware, DC, Vegas, and Nashville! In May I will be going to California for my brother Billy’s graduation from college (ahhh I feel so old!) and the next weekend which is Memorial Day Weekend I will be joining Whitt at his family’s lake house in Tennessee!!! Meaning I get to relax on a BOAT (we all know how much this excites me) and ya know hangout with Whitt! The only downside that I just realized typing this post up is that I will be gone two weekends in a row during my last few weeks of school… which is sad however the next weekend is Beer Olympics which I am pretty sure makes up for missing two weekends!

3. This video about being 24 pretty much sums up my life… and made me laugh hysterically.. thank you Alyssa for bringing this into my life

I'm 24 – watch more funny videos

4. The NFL Draft starts today… which is awesome… and I will probably watch it if I can get out of class early enough… I know I am too school for cool ;)

5. I have senioritis… super bad… yesterday I stayed in my bed until like 1:30… granted I was being productive from my bed.. however really… I need to actually stop being such a bum…

6. I really want to see the 5 year engagement soooo if you wanna be my bff and go with me this weekend I would love you forever ahhaha

7. I have recently started doing Zumba with Collen…. it is hilarious…. and obviously we are fantastic at it…..Next Saturday akak Cinco de Mayo… we are doing a 2 hour rumba party…. there will be drinks served… I will be video taping as I can only imagine the fantasticalness that will occur… because I am a really good dancer.

8. I am totally obsessed with Big Bang Theory… its the best show ever… other than ya know Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Grey’s, and Gossip Girl… but ya know who’s counting

9. I have found the secret ingredient to make any and all salads fantastic…. Goat Cheese… seriously.. it’s a game changer.. totally into it.. also I know I am really late to this party… its fine

10. OBSESSED with this commercial… I love the Cubs… and despise the white sox…but overall I really don’t care about Baseball… but games are relatively fun to  go to

ok off to be productive…ish

xxoo

Peace, Love, and be Sperry

Weekend in Nashville!

Howdy! After this post I will be all caught up and actually start doing real posts again.. maybe I will even start cooking again and post REAL recipes… hmm lets not get too ahead of ourselves shall we?

Also exciting news…. MASTERS PROJECT HAS BEEN SUBMITTED!!! In the words of Sheldon Cooper

Anywho this weekend I had the pleasure of spending the weekend with several new and old favorite people in NASHVILLE! Why Nashville you ask? Well my friend Whitt lives in Nashville so I went to visit him as well as my friend Dave from HS and my friend Kristen who I have known since I was 6! My friends Bryan and Marvin from HS came too, as well as two of Whitt and Bryan’s friends from college Jack and Marni (who is my new bffl)! Needless to say it was super fun, kind of a disaster, and the best weekend!

Foodie highlights included Local Taco in West Nashville (OMG.. coolest/best tacos ever) brunch at Fido’s, and of course the Surf and Turf Whitt and I made on thursday night… that was super delicious.. pan seared scallops, steak, asparagus, tomatoes, and yummy rosemary garlic bread!

Instead of highlighting each moment/activity I am just going to share pictures… fun facts tho…experienced a paint party/rave minus the paint as we were too late (hence the neon), went to a frat house for the first time since college, went to the prettiest park ever, and ran around getting people to kiss a toy armadillo… if that doesn’t say win… I don’t know what does

It was a fantastic weekend… a little obsessed with Nashville.. its so pretty and green and southern and awesome! However its like 90 here today and sunshiny so DENCO isn’t too bad of a place to be either!!!

now off to get ma sweat on… I have been lazy over my vacay….

xxoo 

Peace, Love, and be Sperry!

 

Catching Up

Lots and lots of recaps as the last two weekends have been filled with much activity!

First I will catch you up on Last weekend before filling in on Nashville!

Last weekend my friends Erica, Cara and Cara’s bf Michael all came to Denver!!!!
Pretty much this was another weekend of eating/drinking our way through Colorado, marred only by the AASP Southwestern Student conference that I was presenting at/on the planning committee for. Yea never a great idea to combine guests, conferences, and school work…. it was a ton of fun but also a super stress-y me!

On Thursday I picked Er-bear up and we went straight to my fave place.. the Cherry Creek Grill! I know you guys have seen his restaurant get posted about pretty much 8 million times so I will spare you the play by play as I got my usual Macho Salad, we split the cornbread, each had a yummy Malbec, and Erica got the seasonal vegetable plate!

Because she is such a wonderful friend and knows me so well.. she surprised me with a Magnolia Red Velvet cupcake! I am a spoiled, spoiled girl!
On  Friday after my class, we went bike riding around Cherry Creek and Downtown Denver, to give Erica a feel for the city and throw in some exercise!!! We made a pit stop at Illegal Petes for burritos… ps if you live in Denver this place has surpassed Chipotle in my eyes… so darn good! I got a chicken fajita burrito smothered in green chili as if you smother your burrito this month a dollar gets donated to Autism!

we biked back to Cherry Creek for some Bonnie Brae Home Made Ice Cream!!! Erica got the Oatmeal Cookie, and I had the Mint Chocolate Chip!

Friday night was the beginning of the conference, and I was in charge of the social that night! We had it at a local bar Jordan’s where I had a surprisingly delicious chopped chicken salad!

Saturday was spent at the conference all day, getting a ZPizza delivery for dinner, and then going over to Ted’s with Liza and Erica! It was a chill night as we were all pretty exhausted by the conference!

Sunday morning was spent of course at my favorite Snooze with Erica, Twink and Collen, and Ben, a prospective DU student! I branched out and got the lump crab eggs benedict on a corn bread cake… OMG.. new favorite meal… omg

We also got a free pancake for waitings o long… it was their sweet potato pancake and is probably my favorite pancake ever… I would like it everyday… thanks

Erica and I then spent the afternoon shopping, and trying  out Phat Thai.. a Thai restaurant by the mall I have been meaning to try for ages! We split edamame and pineapple fried rice…. sooo good! The restaurant was a little pricey but definitely worth it!

Monday Morning we finally saw Cara and Michael again, we met them in Boulder for a hike around Chatauqua Park, lunch at the Walnut Brewery (tried a Buffalo burger… YUM), and exploring Pearl Street!

On Wednesday, I was able to see Cara and Michael before their flight back to Boston by joining them at an English Pub on Colfax for lunch and to watch the Chelsea-Barca game!!! Yay for college friends… perfect prep for my weekend in Nashville with some high school friends!!

xxoo

Peace, Love and be Sperry!

Easter Recap

Yes I know.. EAster was like a year ago.. sorry its been kind of a disaster around here….. but my masters project is basically done HALLELUIAH …. and so I can have ya know more of  a life/not living on campus working on it like I was last week and yesterday!

Anywayssss my friend/little sister Bridget was in town with her family for easter weekend and lucky me I got to have two meals with her!!! I haven’t seen her since last year and it was so nice to have so much bonding time!!

On friday night we went to my favorite sushi place in Denver, Hapa Sushi… since we couldn’t eat meat on Good Friday and after fasting all day I just really wanted sushi! I started with Sauvignon Blanc, and Bridget got a G-Spot cocktail

For sushi we got salmon rolls, california rolls, and this delicious crab roll with tempura in it… i usually don’t eat tempura but it was amazing

I also forgot to take a pic until we had devoured most of it… ooops!

AFter dinner we went to yogurt land… YUM because I decided Good Friday meant I could have it… yea its a stretch I KNOW

Bridget got a monster cup with topped with the most peanut butter sauce I have ever seen… she’s some what of a pb/froyo connoisseur if you will… however my computer hates me and won’t import the photo sooooooo c’est la vie

The next morning we went to my favorite brunch place Snooze which is basically where I take any one and everyone who visits me… and sometimes  drag my friends here too…. its really the best.. come visit me and ill take you!

I started out with my favorite mimosa there- the Hi-C which is sparkling wine, pomegranate liquor, grape fruit juice and something else I forget!

For our meal, I got my usual which is the Snooze Spuds deluxe… basically a huge pile of their famous hash browns with cheddar and jack cheeses and I got spinach and chicken sausage in it as well!

Bridget got an omelette and a peanut butter chocolate pancake…. this pancake is TDF… seriously it was melted chocolate and peanut butter cream on top… yum times a million

Afetr brunch, I went on my merry way to consulting, getting my extensions out, a drink with Liza and her BF Greg and his friends outside on the Tavern roof deck for his bday before meeting Collen, Twink, their friends Lauren, Erin, Erin’s husband and sister, and Lana for the AVs game! This was my first Avalanche game and it was fun. They played the nashville predators and Nashvile won! (if you know me super well you know that this is highly ironic)

On Easter Sunday I went to Boulder to pick Kev up so we could go to family brunch at my dad’s cousins house!! Again   was to caught up in conversation to take pictures but it was great!!!

On Sunday night, I met Con and his mom Renee who was in town for dinner at my have place the Cherry Creek Grill!

Renee and I both bot the grilled salmon (YUM) with asparagus, and Con got the rotisserie chicken. This salmon really is the best it is perfectly seasoned with salt and pepper and melts in your mouth… I could probably eat it every day…

yea… we are super normal I am aware hahaha…. 20 years of friendship and counting bud…

Afterwards we went to little man ice cream in the highlands… OMG if you live in Denevr please take yourself there…. it is SO good! I had the salted caramel pretzel.. the pretzel bits in it were meh because they were soggy but the overall flavor was incredible!!! I literally had to roll myself to my car after this meal ahhaha

MMMMkkkk time to go to ze gym… but man does it feel good to post again!!

xxoo

Peace, Love, and be Sperry!!

 

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