my day at fenway!

Welcome to Fenway!

This past weekend, my friend came to visit from Philadelphia. We spent part of the day on Sunday on a tour of Fenway Park. I've been to the Green Monstah for baseball games before, but this was my first time on the tour. 

Initially I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend part of my weekend being a tourist in my own (adopted) town, but it was actually a lot of fun! There is so much history behind the Boston Red Sox team and Fenway Park, and the tour guides share funny anecdotes during the hour-long tour. It's hard not to get swept up into all the Boston sports love! 

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend! Mine was a little too short... at least Monday's over and done with! :) 

The famous red seat!

a trip to the handle bar

My friend Jess recently invited me to go to a spin class with her at a new studio in South Boston. I actually met Jess through Pure Barre (and Twitter)! She has a fantastic fitness/lifestyle blog called Little Miss Runshine. I rather creepily stalked her on Twitter and through her blog before I worked up the nerve to talk to her in person. Yes, I can be very strange and creepy.

She's training for the Pan Mass Challenge - a 192-mile bike ride through Massachusetts over the course of two days! Whew! I was just getting over a pretty nasty summer cold, and was in desperate need of a good, hard workout after being practically bed-ridden for a few days. And that's how I found myself at The Handle Bar for the first time! Our class was led by the super-energetic owner, Jess (not my friend Jess, a different Jess - and yes, it was a little confusing at first)!

Shoes that are not designer shoes... WTF?!

I don't spin (Spin? Is it a proper noun...?) all that often, so this was the first time I experienced real, hardcore spinning shoes. Y'know, the kind that locks into the pedal? And this is how you know I'm a spinning amateur... haha. Initially I felt a little uncomfortable having my feet stuck in place, but the shoes helped keep me on the pedals when we shifted positions. I've had experiences in the past when my foot would slip off, and then I'd completely lose momentum or almost fall off the bike.  

I like working out to up-tempo jaaaaams, and the playlist definitely kept me moving. Some folks said the music was a little too loud, but it didn't bother me at all. Although... I like to run with my iPod blasting at max volume, so that take that as you will. I'm really tempted to buy one of the class packages, so I can go on days I'm supposed to cross-train for my upcoming races. I say "supposed to", because I haven't been running at all, even though I'm registered for a 10K AND a half-marathon at the end of August. Whoops...

Photo from Jess! :) I'm being a complete clown on the far right...

I got so distracted after taking photos of my feet, that I completely forgot to take other photos. Thanks so much to The Handle Bar for a kick-ass time! I'll definitely be coming back! 

the pure barre life

Image source

Is it possible to be in love with (and possibly addicted to) an exercise class?

Because I am.

I started attending Pure Barre classes this past December right when the Pure Barre Boston studio opened, and I've been completely hooked ever since then. And I recently reached one of my major fitness goals for the summer - hitting my 100th Pure Barre class and being officially "inducted" into the 100 Club. And most importantly, getting those special socks!

My official 100 Club photo with the amazing Angela! :)

I LOVE celebrating milestones. It makes each class so much more engaging, and you really feel as though you're part of a tight-knit little community. It's great seeing all of the lovely people at Pure Barre Boston cheering each other on as we reach these goals together! The studio has such a positive, supportive environment, and it makes me look forward to going to class each day. And it also helps that all of the instructors are totally awesome and funny, yet still completely approachable.

Now you're probably thinking, Good grief, Esther, did you drink the Pure Barre Kool-Aid or what...?  and that's okay. I have been singing Pure Barre's praises to anyone who will stop long enough to listen to me. Pure Barre has really helped me overcome some of my own mental barriers. Every class I feel myself getting stronger, and it makes me feel that much more confident. There's something almost therapeutic about going to class. It helps me clear my head. It's an hour I get to spend just to myself, working towards my own goals.

Even my boyfriend remarks on how much more relaxed I am on days I get to class compared to the days I don't go. So obviously, he fully supports anything that means I won't be a grouchy, cranky b*tch to him throughout the entire day. My next goal is to get to 200 classes by the end of the year... I think I'll be able to do it!

OMG SOCKS! BIG ASS PHOTO OF MY SOCKS!

On a tangent: y'know, I always blame "life" on being an inconsistent blogger, but it's mostly just because I'm lazy. And I get distracted very easily. Every time I tell myself I'll blog more often - because I actually do enjoy writing and sharing funny things about my life - I always end up pushing it way way waaay down my list of things to do. So, this time I won't promise to blog 'x' times per week. I'll just post a little more frequently than once every few months. Under-promise, over-deliver... hehe.