My Favorite Things: March

Not sure “favorite” and “March 2020” necessarily belong in the same sentence. First and foremost, I hope you and your families are all safe, healthy, and weathering this craziness as best you can. Posts like this feel a little silly given the state of the world, but focusing on positives—regardless of how small and trivial—is never a bad thing.

Favorite Products

Small Home Fitness Equipment

I made a page linking to all the fitness equipment I use for at-home workouts (resistance bands, dumbbells, sliders, etc.). So if you’re looking for recommendations, check that out. Amazon is selling out of a lot of fitness gear now that we’re all forced to work out from home, but I did my best to only link to products still in stock.

Favorite Workouts

IG Live Workouts

Not only have I loved going live myself, but I’m so grateful for all the fitness instructors hosting classes on Instagram! If you want to join me for a workout, I’m going live on Instagram every Thursday morning at 7:30AM (EST) with an apartment-friendly (no jumping) workout.

I also want to share a couple other instructors whose IG Live classes I’ve been loving:

• @karaduvalpilates – I love Kara’s Pilates classes! She also teaches a class called The Foundation, which is her take on functional bodyweight training. Highly recommend both.
• @bootybybrabants – If you’ve never taken one of Kelly’s classes in Boston, now is your chance! Think dance cardio bootcamp. So fun and her energy is unreal. There’ll be jumping around, so maybe not your best option if you have downstairs neighbors.
• @jppilates – This is for all the parents out there! Jenn does family workouts with different themes on IG Live (Frozen, Greatest Showman, etc.). They look adorable and fun.

Apartment-Friendly “Quiet” Workouts

I’m doing my best to post quiet apartment-friendly workouts for those quarantining with downstairs neighbors. Here are a few, and I’ll continue to make more:

• Quiet At-Home Bodyweight Workout (embedded above)
• Mini Band Workout (No Jumping)
• Bodyweight Workout (No Jumping)

Favorite Eats

Slow Cooker Shredded Mexican Chicken

This is an old recipe from the archives that I recently re-vamped with some new photography. Just three ingredients needed—it’s so easy and delicious! I don’t eat chicken, but Joe does, so I’ll cook it from time to time. 🙂

Favorite Things I …

Read

• The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager – So good! Couldn’t put it down the last 100 pages. It’s a thriller/mystery that’ll keep you guessing. And if my marriage doesn’t survive this quarantine, I may have to pursue Theo (lol).
• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides – I half recommend this book. The story is great—total page turner, will keep you wondering what the truth is right up until the end. The writing, however, is terrible. One cliche, forced simile and metaphor after another. If you want a quick beach read, this could be a good choice. But UGH it had the potential to be SO MUCH BETTER.
• The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty – I actually didn’t like this book, but I wanted to share the reason why I read it. Jackie from The Morning Toast started a podcast book club (Readheads Book Club), and this was the first read. I LOVE the idea of a podcast book club. So while I didn’t enjoy this first choice (cheesy and anticlimactic IMO), it was fun to listen to a group talk about it afterwards. I probably won’t read every book they choose, but when it’s one that’s already on my list, I’m excited to listen to the corresponding episode afterwards. I could talk about books and listen to others talk about books all day!

Watched

• [Netflix] Tiger King – I’m sure we’ve all watched this by now. Joe (my Joe, not Exotic lol) and I binged this series in a single night—we couldn’t stop! It’s incredible. A documentary about the wildest characters imaginable. I spent the next day watching Joe Exotic music videos on YouTube, and I highly suggest you do the same when you finish the series.
• [Instagram] Jessica Yellin News Updates – Former CNN Chief White House Correspondent Jessica Yellin does daily news updates on her Instagram account that I really love. Super informative, no BS.

Listened To

• [PODCAST] Joe Exotic: Tiger King — Yes, I’m obsessed with Joe Exotic. Before the Netflix series, there was this podcast about our favorite lunatic. You can only listen to the first two episodes on normal podcast platforms, and then you have to join Wondery+. It’s annoying, but you can do a 7-day free trial, binge Joe Exotic, and then cancel your Wondery+ membership before being charged.
• [SONG] Roses – Imanbek Remix — Current favorite workout song!

Favorite Moments

Dude Ranch Bachelorette Weekend

Before shit hit the fan with Coronavirus, I celebrated my college roommate’s bachelorette weekend at Tanque Verde Ranch in Arizona. We went horseback riding, hiking, lounged by the pool, and drank at the Ranch’s saloon. So fun! And I’m extra grateful in retrospect that I got to spend that weekend with my girlfriends before social distancing become the norm.

Pickles’ Favorites

Her Dad

Pickles definitely feels safer around women than men (might be due to some trauma before she was rescued). So she’s never let Joe take her on walks without me present, and has always been a little hesitant to warm up to him. Now that Joe is home all the time, we’ve seen such a great improvement here, which warms my heart! Pickles now lets Joe take her for walks while I stay home, which is a huge step. One silver lining to the quarantine. 🙂

If you have any recommendations to share, leave a comment below! I think we could all use every book/podcast/etc recommendation we can get at this point!

xo Nicole