Tag Archives: Spinning

Loving Air Conditioning (or A Bonus To Babysitting And Working)

Posted on May 5, 2014 | Comments Off

So, on Friday I complained about the heat. I know I probably sounded whiney (even in text form), but I was honestly miserable. On Friday night, I got my pjs soaked before going to bed so when my fan blew over them I cooled down (my bedroom was in the high 80s when I went to bed).

Fortunately, this weekend was much better.

First of all, on Saturday I went to spin class. Somehow, the steamy studio still felt cooler than my house. But not only that, I got in a good workout and it really made me feel better. I hadn’t been to spin for about a week, and I really did miss it. It’s feeling more and more like a place I want to be all the time (and yes, I have applied for a job there).

The only thing that frustrated me at spin was after class when I checked out the new shirts that were for sale. Each month, SoulCycle does a new collection of workout clothes. The larges tend to sell out super quickly so I normally can’t find a tank top in my size. I figured since the month had just started, I should be able to find one. But nope, all the larges were sold out in 2 days. I might wait for them to restock in the studio because I’d rather try it on first before buying it, so buying it off their website isn’t really the best option for me.

Then, on Saturday evening, my friend Erin asked me to babysit. I’m always happy to babysit her kids so I was excited to say yes. And when I’m going over there to babysit, I always ask Erin if I can do laundry at her house. It saves me money and I always bring my own detergent so I don’t take too much advantage of her. And this Saturday, besides getting to do free laundry, there was another bonus to babysitting! Erin’s house has central air conditioning!! It was so great being able to relax in a nice cool house.

Babysitting was relatively easy. Erin’s daughter and I get along super great. We watched a movie and she tried multiple hair styles on me. Erin’s daughter recently broke her leg and has a cast from foot to hip, but she’s doing awesome! And Erin’s son isn’t the biggest fan of mine (he knows that usually when I come over that means that his mom and dad are leaving), but he was pretty easy to watch as well. He just chilled and watched his own tv show and went to bed. Easy peasy.

While the weather did finally start to cool down on Sunday, I had another opportunity to enjoy air conditioning yesterday. I worked a 4 hour box office shift. It was a pretty standard box office shift so nothing too stressful. And this might be my last shift there for a while. After the season ends this week, there won’t really be any evening or weekend shifts for me to work. So I might not have too much work until the new season starts in the fall. But I’m not trying to stress out about that (yet).

Overall, even though I technically worked both days this weekend, just the air conditioning alone made it totally worth it!

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Posted in Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff, Work

Tagged air conditioning, babysitting, box office, heat, SoulCycle, Spinning

Gaining Confidence (or How Spin And My New Job Are Going Along The Same Path)

Posted on April 1, 2014 | Comments Off

Things are continuing to go well with the new job. I’m getting more and more work done each day and my work continues to get better. I’m getting more information from each lawyer that I’m speaking to and I’m getting more comfortable talking to them as well.

I’m super excited about this progress. I’m not where I need to be yet, but my boss is extremely happy about how much better I’m getting each day. On our phone call at the end of my shift yesterday, he even told me that I earned my first bonus. I get a bonus if a person I talk to meets the qualifications for the job I’m searching for. I have to get each piece of information to confirm that. And yesterday, I did it! This doesn’t mean the person is going to interview for the job opening. But I found a perfect candidate. In the future, my bonus might be something more like a percentage of the salary if we get someone in a new job. But since that can take up to a year, right now I just get a little bonus for each exact candidate I find. The amount of the bonus hasn’t been decided on yet (I don’t think my boss expected me to earn one already), but it will be something similar to an extra hour of pay.

While I’m making good progress at work, I’m also making good progress in spin class. You may remember that I just tried doing some of the standing on the bike work recently and discovered that I could do it for a portion of a song. I’m still building on that progress, but I took another big step this past weekend.

Not only did I stand on the bike during the hill portion (like I did the past time), I did it multiple times in class and was able to do several of the dance moves on the bike. Even the instructor, Heather, seemed to notice that I was doing more standing than I had before.

The best part about that particular class was in the morning, I didn’t feel like working out (I slept really badly and was dealing with weird hip pain). But since it was too late to cancel the class without being charged for it, I went anyway. And it ended up being such a great thing for me.

I also burned a lot of calories in 45 minutes.

All this good stuff happening to me is really helping me stay more positive and keep looking forward to more progress in my life. The next step is to go back to my old work and work in the box office. That will be on the same days that I do my recruiting work. I’ll just do one in the morning and one in the afternoon/evening.

But that hustle will get me to a point where I’m making enough to pay all my bills again. And I need that because my taxes were just done and I owe a little bit!

Guess I’m back to the grind in more ways than one.

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Work

Tagged busy, job, SoulCycle, spin class, Spinning, work

Trying A New Spin (or Knowing When A Place Does Feel Like Home)

Posted on February 19, 2014 | Comments Off

On my last day at my parents’ house, my dad and I decided to go to a spin class. We actually wanted to try a spin class when I was home at Christmas, but other things ended up happening.

The spin class was at the Courtside Club, the gym that my parents have belonged to for forever. And I do mean forever. My mom has been a member there for 34 years and my dad joined when he and my mom were dating. In fact, their wedding reception was held at the Club (back then it was more of a hotel and tennis club than a gym).

While home at Christmas, my dad and I did a little investigating into the spin classes. We found out that most classes were an hour (compared to 45 minutes at SoulCycle) and that the bikes had both clips and cages so you could either wear bike shoes or sneakers. My dad had found out between my trips home that the clips for spin class were different than what I have on my fancy bike shoes, so I had to use the cages and my sneakers.

When my dad and I got to the class, we managed to find bikes off to the side (almost in a similar place to where I ride at SoulCycle). I tried to set up my bike on my own based on the guidelines that I’ve learned at SoulCycle, but my dad still called the instructor over to help us. He was actually pretty impressed with how well I set up my bike. The instructor (whose name I can’t remember, sorry!) was very friendly and asked if my dad and I had ever been to spin before. We both said that we had, just not at Courtside. He told us to take things at our own pace and to try our best.

Right before the class started, the instructor announced that I was joining the class for the first time and everyone gave me a round of applause (I have no idea why my dad wasn’t acknowledged too). Then the class started.

It was totally different to what I’m used to. There was a little computer on each bike and you were supposed to get to a certain RPM at different points in the class. I’m not used to that at all. At SoulCycle, we ride to the beat. That’s what I’ve focused on. The RPMs weren’t too hard, but I still found myself riding to the beat even though it was the wrong speed.

There were also some technical difficulties with the stereo and microphone so I know that the instructor was a bit flustered and the class was affected a bit by that. But I survived the class.

Even though I had an ok time (if I do that class next time I’m visiting my parents, I’m buying the proper clips because using the cages sucked), I still got in a good workout. And it has reassured me once again that being at SoulCycle is the place for me and that that is the perfect workout for what I’m looking for.

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Posted in Family, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Travel

Tagged bike, SoulCycle, spin class, Spinning, workout

Finally Spinning Again (or It’s Been A Long Time To Be Sick)

Posted on February 10, 2014 | Comments Off

That nasty cold that I had right before the end of my job did quite a number on me. I haven’t felt sick in a while, but I’ve been horribly congested. So congested that until a few days ago, I still couldn’t completely breathe through my nose.

And I know that if I can’t breathe through my nose, there’s no way I can do a crazy workout. So I’ve been taking a break from spinning (which sucked).

But finally, at the end of last week, my nose cleared up. So I looked at the schedule at who was teaching over the next few days. Now that I don’t have my job anymore, I can go to classes when I used to work.

And I found out that Heather was teaching on Saturday around noon. And my favorite bike (pretty much the only one I like to ride on) was available. So of course I signed up and got ready for my return to spin.

I wasn’t too nervous because I knew that I wasn’t going to do as well as I did 3 weeks ago before I was sick. But I was going back and that’s what’s important to me. I also made myself get the heavier weights for the arms workout.

The class went pretty well. When Heather saw me in class, she got pretty excited that I was there. And she gave lots of encouragement to me throughout the class (I’m so grateful that she knows how to push me even though I still am unable to do the standing up moves on the bike).

While I did get more tired than usual in class, I finished and worked hard, and I’m proud of myself for not getting frustrated giving up when it got tough for me.

While leaving the studio, I noticed some of the new cute tops that they had for sale. And one top in particular caught my eye.

I’ve never purchased anything from SoulCycle in the past because I figured nothing was in my size. The largest size they have is a large, and I don’t wear large shirts (in straight size clothing, like Old Navy, I’m wearing either a XXL or XL top). But I decided to try it anyway.

And guess what? It fits!

Of course, I bought it. It’s a nice comfortable sweater. It’s designed to be pretty high cut (almost a crop top) in front so I’m definitely wearing a tank top underneath. But now I can go out and about sharing my love for SoulCycle with the world.

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Shopping

Tagged clothes, exercise, plus size, SoulCycle, Spinning

A Smile In Spin Class (or Sometimes The Little Things Are Big)

Posted on October 17, 2013 | 1 comment

Since I’m not working right now, I’m trying spin classes at times other than those that I usually go to. When I’m working, I’m pretty limited in when I can go. And I see the same instructors each time (who I love so that’s ok). So I wanted to check out some new instructors to see who else I like. Hopefully one day I’ll have a day job that allows me to go to other classes and I like knowing which instructors I want to go to.

When I’m working, on Tuesdays and Thursdays I go to the 8:30am class with Laura. This class is early enough so I can go home to shower and change before work. While there are showers at spin class, I prefer going home so I don’t have sweaty clothes in my car all day (and then I don’t have to lug a bunch of stuff with me). But this week on Tuesday, I tried the 10:30 class with Charlee. I’ve never had a class with her before, so I was a little nervous (I still can’t do all the standing up stuff and I don’t like to be called out for it).

I got my usual bike in the corner that I like so I was out-of-the-way but still had a good view of the instructor bike. And it wasn’t a fully packed class which was nice too. When Charlee came in, she started greeting people, and I assumed that those were people who had taken her class before.

We started class with a run on the bike (pedaling as fast as you can go while standing up). I did it sitting, but going really fast. And then Charlee shouted out “Way to go, Jen!” while looking right at me.

I hadn’t introduced myself to her before class so I was a bit confused. Then I realized that she knew everyone’s name in the room. Even people who were at their very first class ever. Charlee must had looked at the sign up list and had learned the names of everyone in class!

That’s so amazing! It made this class feel much more like one of my regular ones instead of a new instructor. And I have to say that I loved Charlee’s class (I’m hoping to make it to her class again today). Sadly, once I’m back at work next week I don’t know when I can be in her class unless I have a random day off (or shower there and race to work). But it’s nice to have another instructor who’s class I really enjoy.

1 Comment

Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff

Tagged SoulCycle, spin class, Spinning

Sharing Some Soul (or Another Day Another Friend At Spin Class)

Posted on September 5, 2013 | 1 comment

Over the weekend, I also got to go to spin class (technically, this day happened before the badass spin class). I’ve been trying to bring more friends with me to spin class, and this time founder of Ms. In The Biz, Helenna Santos-Levy, joined me!

We had been trying to go to a spin class together for a while. I usually go early in the morning, but since Helenna works late nights, that wouldn’t work. Fortunately, we were able to meet up on a day that I didn’t have to work.

Helenna had been to a spin class before, but never at SoulCycle. I had warned her it would be tough, and I’m pretty sure she believed me ahead of time. We took class with Jenny C., who led the beauty ride that I did a few months ago. This was my first class with her since that ride and it reminded me how great her classes are and that I need to find a way to fit her class into my schedule (it will be easier when I’m unemployed again).

The class was wonderful. It was exactly what I needed that day, and I’m pretty sure Helenna had fun too.

It was great having another friend share in my favorite workout. I know that Helenna and I are going to try to meet up for another spin class in the future.

Something I realized in this class was how I’ve been treating having friends in class with me. A lot of the time, I feel like I want them there so I can prove to them that I do a tough workout (I went through the same thing when I used to work out with Richard Simmons). I know for a fact that some people don’t believe that it is a tough workout because I am able to do it multiple times a week.

But after having a super supportive friend in class with me, I realized that I need to stop feeling that way. People are going to believe what they want about me, and if they want to think that spin class is a super easy workout then let them think it. I just want to have friends with me to enjoy something that I love and maybe to have more buddies to go to class with.

I think this new thought process does have something to do with trying to be more positive. Feeling like I’m always trying to prove something to someone isn’t healthy for me. And honestly, I probably won’t change their minds no matter what anyway. So I just need to focus on having an awesome time with my awesome friends.

1 Comment

Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health

Tagged friends, SoulCycle, Spinning, tough, workout

Working On My Inner Badass (or How Spinning Fit In Perfectly With My Life Yesterday)

Posted on September 3, 2013 | 1 comment

My plan was originally to share my fun plans I had this past weekend on here today, but that’s being pushed back by what happened in spin class yesterday.

I had the day off of work (thank you Labor Day!), so I went to SoulCycle for a mid-morning workout (a rare treat). The instructor for this particular class was Patrick. I’ve taken his class before and have really enjoyed it.

First of all, this was the toughest spin class I’ve ever gone to (even tougher than the very first class). There were moments that I questioned if I could complete the workout. But I took it slow and took some more breaks than I usually would take in class. And after class, I chatted with a couple of other riders who agreed that this class was the toughest that they’ve even taken (which made me proud that I was able to do it).

One of the things that I loved about SoulCycle from the beginning was the positivity and motivation from the instructions. It’s part spinning part meditation/affirmation time for me.

I was having a bit of a rough morning. Even though I’m not crying all the time about my mom’s cancer anymore, writing yesterday’s blog post really got to me. It was extremely difficult to write the post, and I cried pretty much the entire time writing it. The whole time I thought about how tough my mom is being through all of this. She is totally the rock in the family. And I’m not doing as well as I’d like to about being tough and a true badass like her.

Anyway, back to what happened in spin class. Patrick was having us work like crazy during this one song. We were pedaling super fast and did what felt like a million pushups on the handlebars. My shoulders and arms were killing me and sweat was pouring off my face. When we were getting toward the end of the song, Patrick talked about being tough and pedaling through the very last note of the song. He talked about how we all have a badass inside of us and we just need to bring it out.

That seriously hit home for me. Somewhere inside me, I am a badass. I’m sure I inherited my badassness from my mom (sorry Dad). I’m working really hard to find my inner bombshell, but at the same time, I need to find my inner badass. It’s there somewhere, I just needed to know to go and look for it.

I really felt like being in that class, with that instructor, at that time, and hearing those words really was a sign. I joke on my twitter profile that I’m a girl with Southern charm and Jersey moxie (my mom is originally from Louisiana and my dad is from New Jersey). So why can’t I work on having both an inner bombshell and inner badass?

I’m not going to change the name of this blog (that is far too much work), but I am going to focus on finding my inner badass now too.

1 Comment

Posted in Family, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff

Tagged breast cancer, cancer, SoulCycle, Spinning

Happy Birthday to Me! (or Part 1)

Posted on August 12, 2013 | 2 comments

A lot of things (and a lot of pictures) happened over my birthday, so I’m splitting this into 2 posts. This is pretty much what happened before 4pm on my birthday.

The day started off with happy birthday phone calls from various family members. One of my favorite phone calls to get is from my cousin Stephanie. Her oldest son, Dalton, sings happy birthday to me each year. It’s a tradition that I totally look forward to. This year, we FaceTimed so it was extra special.

The call started with a lovely video chat with my cousin’s youngest son, Hudson (who I will get to meet in real life for the first time at Thanksgiving).

Then a very sleepy Dalton and his sister Annabelle came to the phone to sing to me.

(I love being able to take screenshots of video chat!!!)

After those festivities, it was time for me to head over to SoulCycle for a spin class! This class was with Ben B., who taught the very first class that I went to. I actually hadn’t been to his class since that first one (he doesn’t teach with I can normally go), and it was really fun! He’s so high energy and upbeat.

When I was putting on my heart rate monitor for class, I noticed that even that was celebrating my birthday with me!

During the stretch part at the end of class, one of the front desk people came into the room with a brownie with a candle in it. The entire spin class sang happy birthday to me! It was awesome!

Something else awesome about the class was a group that was in there. Remember last week when I was talking about how “The Biggest Loser” is one of my guilty pleasure but their workouts are a bit unrealistic? Well, it turns out that some of the contestants in the upcoming season of “The Biggest Loser” were in that spin class! I didn’t see any cameras so I have no idea if they will show it on tv. But I did get to see who some of the new contestants are (and no, I didn’t see Ruben Studdard). I didn’t take any pictures of the contestants since there were production people nearby and I didn’t want to get in trouble, but as soon as the new contestants are announced, I’m excited to see who it was that I saw in class! I guess that some of the workouts that they do are realistic since it’s something that I do pretty much every week!

After spin class, I got home and saw these flowers from my parents on my doorstep.

After showering and getting dressed, I headed out to the one pampering thing I decided to do on my birthday. I got a blowout from DryBar. I had never been before, but I figured why not try it out.

It’s super nice inside. I loved the pop of yellow throughout the salon.

They have a menu of styles that you can choose from. I chose the Cosmo-Tai since it seemed pretty fun (and not something I could do on my own).

It also reminded me a bunch of this headshot of mine that I love!

The stylist I got was very nice. She and I chatted a bit and then she got to work.

While she was working on my hair, it didn’t really look at all like the style that I wanted. But I didn’t say anything because I’ve learned that you can’t judge a hairstyle by the process, you have to wait for it to be done.

Once it was done, it looked nothing like the picture in the menu. I asked her to fix it a couple of times, but I realized that it wasn’t going to be what I thought. It was a cute style, but I really wanted what I saw in the photo.

With my cute hairstyle, I headed home and started to get ready for my birthday party. But those photos will have to wait for part 2 coming tomorrow!

2 Comments

Posted in Beauty, Celebrations, Family, Fitness, Fun Stuff

Tagged birthday, DryBar, hair, SoulCycle, Spinning

A Moment Of Self-Consciousness (or Did I Look Like A Newbie?)

Posted on July 3, 2013 | 2 comments

Yesterday I went to my spin class. I hadn’t been to this particular class time in about a week or two (I’ve had a bit of a crazy schedule).

The class was great and I really felt the workout this time. I pushed myself a lot harder than I’m comfortable doing (that’s the point of class) and I know that I was sweating like crazy.

I felt amazing after class. I knew I worked really hard and I’m feeling a lot stronger (I still have to do the entire class sitting down due to my hip, but I’m working on it).

I was sitting on a bench outside of class changing out of my bike shoes into my flip-flops when a guy who was in class with me came up to me. He congratulated me on getting through class. I said thank you and continued to get ready to head home. Then two more people came up to me and said that I did a good job in class.

It was kind of weird. Did they think that I was having a tough time in class and needed the encouragement? Did they think that this was my first class? Did I look like I didn’t belong?

I hate having these doubting thoughts in my head, but I can’t help it. I’ve had a tough time finding a place where I’m comfortable working out and not feeling like a freak. Even though I’m probably the heaviest person in the spin class, the employees there make me feel incredibly welcome (even giving me ideas of restaurants near my work that does take-out). And most of the time, I feel like everyone else there.

But with all those people coming up to me after class, I felt like an outsider. I know that there is a chance that they were just being polite and friendly to me, but it almost felt patronizing.

I’m not going to let this get to me. It’s taken me a long time to find a workout that I actually love (and not just tolerate). Maybe next time that someone comes up to me and says something like that, I’ll try to engage them in a conversation and not just say thank you. I should congratulate them for kicking butt in class too. It is an accomplishment that not everybody can do.

And I really should be proud of myself for doing it no matter how hard it is or how much of the class I have to do sitting down.

2 Comments

Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff

Tagged class, SoulCycle, Spinning, tough, workout

Fitting It All In (or Getting Better At Time Management)

Posted on May 17, 2013 | Comments Off

I’m settling back into my work routine. The next few weeks are a bit odd because I’m working weird hours due to a show at my work, but I’d say about 80% of my schedule is what it should be.

I’m still not great at managing all my time (including my one day off), but I’m getting better. And I’ve finally figured out a plan that allows me to work and fit in my SoulCycle classes.

Right now, my days for spinning classes are Tuesdays and Thursdays. On those days, I don’t start work until noon (it might be pushed back to 12:30 soon which works in my favor). On those days, I get up at 7am, as I do every day. I leave my house for spin class by 7:50, take an 8:30 class, and get home by 10. Then I have enough time to shower, get dressed, and eat some late breakfast before heading out to work.

On those days, I’m at work until 8:30pm (and have to be back at work by 9am the next morning), so working out at nighttime is not an option. Also, there aren’t any spin classes that late at the studio.

I’d like to try to add in a class on the weekend as well, but the classes on Saturday don’t exactly work well with my work schedule. The class that’s closest to the time I leave work is 2 hours after my shift. I wouldn’t drive home, but I’d need to find something to do (and make sure I eat a light meal before class). And on Sundays, I’m so busy doing everything else that needs to get done that I’m not sure where to fit in spin class.

I’m glad that I figured out how to still do the workout I love while I’m working 6 days a week. It’s not the easiest thing to do, but honestly, nothing in my life is easy. It would probably freak me out if it was easy.

And knowing that I’m working at doing something that I love does make me happy. It can be a little overwhelming and depressing knowing that I’m working at a job 6 days a week (that isn’t my career). I’m glad I’ve found something good for me that makes me so happy.

Comments Off on Fitting It All In (or Getting Better At Time Management)

Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff, Work

Tagged job, scheduling, SoulCycle, Spinning, time management, work, workout

Tag Archives: Spinning

Loving Air Conditioning (or A Bonus To Babysitting And Working)

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Gaining Confidence (or How Spin And My New Job Are Going Along The Same Path)

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Trying A New Spin (or Knowing When A Place Does Feel Like Home)

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Finally Spinning Again (or It’s Been A Long Time To Be Sick)

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A Smile In Spin Class (or Sometimes The Little Things Are Big)

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Sharing Some Soul (or Another Day Another Friend At Spin Class)

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Working On My Inner Badass (or How Spinning Fit In Perfectly With My Life Yesterday)

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Happy Birthday to Me! (or Part 1)

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A Moment Of Self-Consciousness (or Did I Look Like A Newbie?)

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Fitting It All In (or Getting Better At Time Management)

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