SLOANE AND RUSTY ....AND BOURBON

Let me dispense this piece of tried and true advice: If you are feeling crummy, go get yoself some sweaty exercise!. I think everyone must know this, but for some reason I still surprise myself over and over again about how effective exercise is about taking me out of the slumps.   It doesn't actually solve your problems, but usually it gives me a much needed attitude adjustment. The combination of endorphins and focus does a mental and physical body soo good. 

 Yeah, things like wanting to improve the way I look can be a motivation, but honestly that doesn't give me the extra push to get up and go to it in the moment when I'm not feeling like doing anything.  When the last thing I want to do is strap on a sports bra and go work out, the thing that motivates me is knowing that I will feel great after the workout. It all too often looks like this, especially if it’s on a weekday and more especially if it’s been a rough day: I hobble home from a long work day and even though the only thing I want to do is sit upon the couch with a bottle of wine and a piece of chocolate cake, zoning out to some TV,  I remind myself that I will feel awesome if I exercise, drag myself to the gym, sweat and push my body, and get back home feeling like a million bucks. It's usually miles away from how I was feeling pre-workout. I'm flooded by gratitude about the gift that is to be in my body and present in the moment. 

Don’t get me wrong, I also enjoy and endorse the activity of sitting upon the couch with red wine and chocolate. And I don’t exercise every day. But I have gotten into a rhythm now where I am getting in these sweaty work outs 3-4 times a week and my mental, emotional and physical health is grateful for it.  I get in these dark modes sometimes that is hard to shake, but a round of heart pumping cardio will usually take me right out of it. I also love how I am getting stronger and learning what my body is capable of, but that is another post entirely and we'll go there someday. This all is actually not what I was going to write about at all, but it's my reflection of how this week kind of rattled my brain and how I tried to stifle all my whining and complaining with sweaty bouts of exercise.

 

Last weekend reminded me of those goody bags that we used to get from birthday parties when we were younger. Like a really good one, stuffed with the best kind of candy and bursting at the seams.  Breakfast with some of my favorite people, a wedding at the gardens, dinner with my MIL, church, moving friends into their new Church Hill spot, grocery shopping and cooking for the week with Ken,  working out in the garage with morale support from Sloane, an episode of ‘The Americans’ in bed with Ken. (Side note: you guys, the Americans, I’m into it! We are only on episode three, the progress is super slow, but I’m officially interested).  These photos are from that golden hour around 4 or 5, right after I had done a fun heart-pumping work out in the garage. It is so funny to have Sloane in there with us, watching my moves, giving me occasional hugs, trying to copy what we’re doing, taking swigs of water from our cups as she marches back and forth through the garage. Rusty is back, to Sloane’s great delight, and he hung out with us in the garage too. Sloane spent most of the time holding his leash, which she loves doing, and trying to boss him around.  Once I was done with my workout, we took a walk around the backyard- Sloane happily holding on to the leash and Rusty being terribly gracious about it all. I know Rusty is not actually my baby, but seeing these two together sometimes makes my heart flutter in that way I imagine a mom with two babes might feel. 

 

In other news... I am committing to making bourbon cocktails all summer long. It's a thing I'm doing, just bear with me. I started with pineapple mint juleps and last weekend I made this really delicious 'brown derby', which is honey, fresh grapefruit juice and bourbon. I'll most likely keep you posted, Next up, ice tea & lemonade bourbon shot bites!