Skip to main content

Productively Lazy & Chicago Recap

First Day Home = Weight Day
After about a 45 minute flight delay (with all of us on the plane mind you), we finally landed at just after 9 pm and home a little before 10 pm. To say that we were worn out is an understatement. But, I poured myself a glass of wine (in a real glass thank you very much), did 2 loads of laundry, and sat on a comfortable couch and watched one episode of Big Brother before going to bed and crashing.

I would love to say I bounced out of bed at 6 am to get in a fantastic long run. Instead, I slept until 8:30, by which time it was already 85 degrees. So, I hit the gym instead of the pavement. I've been missing my weight workouts anyway, so this really worked out for me I suppose.

I started with 15 minutes on the elliptical browsing last month's Oxygen magazine. This worked in my favor as well because I found a great shoulder workout that I tried out. I was going to do shoulders and legs anyway. I did a giant set for shoulders then supersets for leg.

GS -3x8
Dumbbell upright rows
Incline rear delt dumbbell flyes
Overhead barbell press

SS#1 3x8
Squats
Stiff-legged deadlifts

SS#2 3x8
Alternating rear lunge
Plie squats

SS#3
Step ups 3x8
Calf raises 3x15 (turned out, turned in, turned out)

I did some ab work after the legs as well. It was a pretty good workout. I was worried that a week and a half of no weights was going to make today feel really hard, but it was good.


Productively Lazy
Jason went to the grocery store while I was at the gym since the fridge was bare. I had some time after the gym, before he got back to get more laundry done. And by done I really did fold and put away most of it for a change. I also dusted. It's amazing how dusty the house can get when you're not even there.

I was really hoping my sis was going to come up and stay the night (and bring the pupsters of course), but she had other plans. But, she was kind enough to meet us halfway so we didn't have to drive a full hour there then an other hour back to get the pups. I thought they might be way more over the top excited than they were. Maybe they were just as worn out and ready to be home as we were feeling yesterday. It was a long time away for all of us apparently.

After we got back, I promptly got in the pool and just relaxed on my floaty. You know it's hot though when you're in the pool and still sweating. But it was nice to just do nothing for a while. Clouds rolled in along with thunder, so I got out after about 2 hours and cleaned up. Promptly putting on PJs by 3:45.

Dinner tonight is going to be homemade pizza. Nothing terrible exciting. You'd think after 10 days of not cooking I'd be all over some crazy new recipe. But I just want comfort food right now to be honest. So pizza it is. Tomorrow, however, there are plans for something far more creative.


Chicago Recap
As I was floating around in the pool being utterly lazy, I was going over the time in Chicago. I admitted to homesickness, to being tired of eating out, listed out creature comforts I won't take for granted, and even admitted that I got really grumpy and ugly at some points. However, the positives of the trip far outweigh any of the negatives.

I feel so incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to visit Chicago in such detail (with my husband at my side). I was able to get out of my comfort zone of daily routines and explore, try new things, soak in the opportunities at hand, roll with it basically, and meet new people. Meeting new people is a biggy for me.

I know you all probably don't believe me when I say this, but I really am a shy person. My blog is my way of being that hidden extrovert. It's part of why this trip did have some downs - it's hard for me to get out of that shell, to really seek out new things, to just be surprised.

But, no matter how I was feeling at any given point, I remembered the positives and my to-enjoy list was lengthy. So, I thought I would just list out some of what I enjoyed as a reminder to myself of this incredible trip:

Absolutely amazing vegan meals (Karyn's Cooked (x2), Chicago Diner)
 
 
 
 
 
A Cubs game in unbelievable seats at a "real" baseball stadium

The opportunity to meet 2 incredible people (bloggers Sarah and Kathi)
 

A chance to hang out with coworkers (a rarity) and meet one coworker's wife (I think we'll be friends!)

The chance to enjoy the lake (you know how I like my beaches after all)
The opportunity to see some fantastic architecture

Trying new food (Indian from Reza's)
Some Plan B dinners (Stocks & Blondes and 6 Corners Bar)
 
Exploring the city like (like trip over to Lincoln Park)
And then there were the incredible views from Hancock Tower (Signature Lounge to be exact) and some awesome drinks
 
 

I could go on and on I do believe. So, sometimes it's really good to get way (way) out of your comfort zone. Otherwise, you might miss out on some amazing things.

Daily To-Enjoy List
  • Doing laundry (never thought I'd say that)
  • Homemade pizza
  • Lifting weights
  • Pool time
  • Staying home
  • Petting the pups

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Love in Photos

In honor of Valentine's Day - Love in Photos Husband Family and Furbabies Friends Even if you're not a fan of Valentine's Day - I hope you have a wonderful day and remember the loves in your life.

Hump Day and More Pineapples

Full-Body Workout  I'll readily admit that getting up this morning was quite painful and almost didn't happen. I forced myself out of bed though not exactly excited about tackling a full-body Pyramid workout. Sort of daunting at 5 am really. I did the warm up from Shock Cardio Cardio Core Circuit (cardio only premix) then hit the weights. It was a pyramid up only so I increased my starting weight. I topped it all off with the first 2 1/2 drills from the cardio workout. I ran short on time and was basically spent. Squats into Plie Squats Step Ups (seriously hate these especially at 5:30 am) Incline Chest Flyes into Chest Press Pullovers into DB Underhand Rows Step Ups (freaking again) Static Lunges Overhead DB Press into Lateral Raises Deadlifts Kickbacks into Overhead Extensions Hammer Curls into Alternating Curls Calf Raises I am so excited to report that my new cross-trainers and running shoes arrived today. Can't wait to test both of them out. I waited way way way too

Hitting the Gym and Lazy Means Creative Tex-Mex Creation

Sunday, Gym Day Why do vacations and min-vacations go by so quickly? Just doesn't seem quite right. Anyway, we left Branson around 9:30 am to head back home. It was a pretty uneventful drive back, which is usually a good thing. We got home and unpacked, then I headed up to the gym. I started with a 10-minute treadmill run to warm up before hitting the weights for back and light legs then abs. I went with a giant set for back then supersets for legs. GS - 4x8 Underhand barbell rows Pullovers Double-arm rows SS#1 Rear-leg elevated lunges (Bulgarian Split Squats) - 3x8 Calf raises - 3x20 SS#2 - 2x8 Walking lunges Plie squats with low-end pulse Single-leg deadlifts - 2x8 I did some ab exercises, stretched, and called it quits. Lazy = Crazy Dinner I may have made it to the gym and washed a few loads of laundry, but I never made it to the grocery store - lounging in the pool trumped grocery shopping. This meant getting creative with dinner. We had another package