My Favorite Things: September

Happy Friday! No teaching for me today but I still got up and headed to Btone for a workout to start my day off on a positive note. With teaching I only make it to two (three if I’m lucky) of my own megaformer workouts a week so I really look forward to each one–worth the early wake up even if it’s one of the few days I can sleep in! The rest of my day is going to be dedicated to a little recipe testing and workout planning for the blog. Any workout requests? Let me know in the comments! Don’t worry, I’m going to chill on the ab routines for a while following that plank series. 😉

Favorite Products + Services

My New Simplehuman Trashcan

If loving a trashcan is wrong, I don’t want to be right…

You know you’re getting old when …

Settling into our new apartment has gotten me excited about the lamest shit ever, but I’m embracing it. I’ve been lusting after simplehuman trashcans and was about to order one off Amazon when the stars aligned and I FOUND ONE AT TJ MAXX!!! For almost half the regular price. I told you, high levels of excitement over menial things is my MO lately. Theses trashcans are just so sleek and quiet and user-friendly and the custom liners fit perfectly ohmygodiamsoold.

RD Syle Sweater via Stitch Fix

I got a Stitch Fix delivery in the mail a couple weeks ago and THIS SWEATER. I never want to take it off. If you want to request it for your next fix, it’s the Chara Open Cardigan by RD Style and was $74 (before the keep-all discount).

New Breather Rooms

As I’ve mentioned on the blog before, I absolutely love Breather room rentals for shooting workouts for the blog. They’ve recently added a few spaces and I found my new go-to Downtown. How cute is this room? Sunny, hardwood floors, white wall and it’s one of their cheap(er) room options. Score!

They’re not just in Boston, so check out the options in your city! It’s great if you need a meeting space, some quiet for a conference call or are a weirdo like me and videotape yourself planking on the reg. If you use the code PUMPIRON you can get a $45 credit towards your first booking. I’d also get $45 in credit so you’d be helping me create more at-home workouts for you! 😉

Lululemon Wunder Under Leggings with Stirrups

Anyone else an obsessed Amazon Prime member?? Sure I live a stone’s throw from a CVS but why on earth would I walk across the street for toilet paper WHEN I CAN GET IT SHIPPED FOR FREE WITH AMAZON?? Kidding, I’m not that lazy, but I do abuse Prime and was pumped when I found the Lululemon leggings I’d been eyeing on there. I mean that’s gotta be a sign right? *Adds To Cart*

Favorite Workouts

CorePower Yoga at Fenway

Lululemon tank (old) / Calvin Klein bra / Sweaty Betty leggings (old)

Early in the month I got to attend a media preview of FenwaYoga–an outdoor CorePower yoga class IN FENWAY PARK benefiting The Red Sox Foundation. So much fun!

Kick It at NBGNO

I finally got to try a Kick It by Eliza class last week at New Balance’s Girls’ Night Out event–so fun! Eliza’s energy is awesome and the class flew by. Think cardio kickboxing meets Zumba. We did it outside on this rolling lawn and then were treated to cocktails and healthy snacks inside New Balance HQ.

5-Minute Warm Up for At-Home Workouts

I posted this late in the day on Tuesday so I just want to make sure you all saw it! Taking the time to warm up before a workout (especially a high-intensity one!!) is important for injury prevention. This is a five-minute mix of bodyweight cardio moves and dynamic stretching to prepare you for an at-home workout like the ones I post to Pumps. Bookmark it!

Favorite Eats

Mint Chocolate Cashew Milk from Nutty Life

Wow. WOW. Mint Chocolate Cashew milk from Nutty Life may just be the best thing I’ve drank all year. Basically like drinking ice cream. I’m super excited because Btone’s North End studio is going to start carrying their cashew milk soon!

Chef V Green Juice

I was sent a care package of green juice from Chef V at the start of the month (clearly on moving day–look at that empty ‘fridge!) and I’d recommend the company if you’re looking for a low-sugar bottled green juice option. It’s mostly vegetables with just a touch of fruit so there’s very little sweetness. Super refreshing way to start the day!

Taco Party Food Truck at SoWa

Can you believe I’ve lived in Boston for six years and had never been to SoWa until this month?? Shame on me. Joe and I went the other Sunday to look for art for our apartment but ended up just eating 500 tacos from this food truck and going home empty handed. Still a successful trip if you ask me. 😉 Pictured are the plantain tacos (ummmm yes please).

Favorites from around the Web

• My Number One Piece of Business Advice via The Healthy Maven | Davida talks about knowing your value and learning to say “no”–two points that are so important, not just in business but in life. There’s all this emphasis on the power of “yes” but “no” is seriously my favorite word in the dictionary (“fleek” would be a close second of course).
• Confessions of a Yoga Teacher: I’ll Wear What I Want via Yoga by Candace | A big YES to Candace for this response. We should all dress in a way that makes us feel comfortable, empowered and good. If you feel fabulous in a long top and pants, wear that! If you feel like a goddess in a crop top and shorts, wear that! Telling someone to cover up because it may make someone else feel insecure is totally missing the real issue. I remember in college I would avoid pool parties and beach trips because seeing other girls in bikinis with lean bodies made me feel cripplingly insecure about my own body (that I perceived to be “fat” at the time even though it definitely wasn’t). The issue there wasn’t that those girls who felt comfortable in their own skin needed to cover up; it was that I needed to do a lot of work in the self love department and work on fixing MY self esteem.
• Walk Off The Earth Covers | I found this group on Facebook and am obsessed with their covers of popular songs. Check out Closer, Teenage Dirtbag (soooo good), Somebody That I Used to Know and Royals.
• REGISTER TO VOTE | Normally I’d never suggest how you vote, but this isn’t a “normal” election and I’d just like to remind everyone that Donald Trump is like some horrifying mutation of Patrick Bateman, Dog the Bounty Hunter and Kayne West’s ego.

Favorite Moments

Most weekends this month were spent moving into our new apartment, out of one storage unit, into another one, furniture shopping and eating takeout on the living room floor so I don’t have too much excitement to share in this section from September. It was actually the little things that made for my favorite moving moments:

• The satisfaction of assembling an Ikea dresser all by myself *fist bump*
• Finally owning a couch #adulting
• Unpacking the box with our silverware in it (happened like two weeks after the move–I was literally eating oatmeal with plastic knives)

Revitalize

If you missed my recap of the weekend I spent in Arizona with mindbodygreen, check it out HERE.

Favorite Sales & Deals

• This dress I wore to a wedding last summer (loved it) is now on sale for only $90 (down from $230!)
• Sweaty Betty is having a mid-season sale through the weekend
• Free People is having a 25% off sale on some seriously cute shoes – my faves are these boots and these peep toe booties and I know it’s fall but OMG these sandals
• If you’re in decorating mode like me, you can get 15% off any regularly priced Pier 1 purchase with code 15OFF

What made your highlight reel in September?