Page 4 of 4

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to all the ghosts and goblins in the blogosphere!  I hope you had a delightfully ghoulish day and an equally fantastic night.  I love the fun of Halloween.  At work, there are several people that go all out with amazing costumes and creations.  Unquestionably, I admire their creativity and bravery.  Not only do they dress up, but these guys go into character.  I mean, I can wear a costume, but it is tough to get into character.

IMG_3579

One of my co-workers, our marketing guru, goes hog wild for Halloween. Every year he pulls off a wildly different and authentic costume.  Last year, he was John Lennon.  This year, he was the Godfather.  As is the case every year, he absolutely nailed it!  His officer was awesomely decorate with all the accouterments one would expect from the Don on the day of his daughter’s wedding.  Twinkies, poker chips, beverages, music, playing cards and framed music.  Everything about the execution, pun intended, of his character and his office was absolutely pitch perfect.  Undoubtedly, he has inspired me and my leadership team to up our game next Halloween.

At Zumba, Halloween is always a fun week as I breakout Michael Jackon’s Thriller.  The girls and I love dancing to a little MJ.  It’s a nice change of pace from the usual Zumba music.  Not to mention, its a bit nostalgic.  I think we all remember when the Thriller video debuted.  It was incredible.  There’s nothing like it on MTV today, which is a shame.

12186456_10206696856213982_3579641326948138726_o

Meanwhile on the home front, Jake’s spending his Halloween at work.  Goalielocks went to a friend’s house for a party and trick or treating.  Lastly, the Mayor reluctantly went trick or treating.  I couldn’t believe he didn’t want to go!  I remember growing up we’d go as far as we could to get as much candy as possible.  It wasn’t always easy because the weather in Minnesota was bitterly cold and snowy.  Nevertheless, we’d make my mom take us miles and miles.  Halloween was all about getting the biggest candy hull possible.  Apparently, that isn’t the case with today’s kids.  If I were a kid now, I’d go to every house in my neighborhood not just our loop.

374256_10150371975573213_1514554026_n

Lastly, as the trick or treaters wind down, we’ll start binge watching the second season of Stranger Things.  Can I tell you how excited I am to be current on the “hot show?”  I mean, we just finished “Big Love” like a year ago and that’s been off the air for over six years.  Amazingly, the entire family is into this show.  The hubby and I love it because it reminds us of the movies of our youth.  It’s like the awesomeness of ET, Goonies, Stand By Me all in one.  Not to mention the soundtrack is amazing.  Moreover, the girl that plays Eleven is simply incredible.  It is some of the best acting you’ll see bar none.  She’s amazing!  I won’t post spoilers here because that will ruin the fun for others.  Meanwhile, I’m happy to be starting season 2 tonight.

Was there ever as doubt as to tonight’s music video?  I thought not… Enjoy MJ’s epic Thriller

Winter Fluff

Winter fluff.  I’m not talking about the white stuff, but rather the extra pounds one tends to gain during the winter season.  Of course, this was normal living in Minnesota.  Activity waned for me as the weather got colder outdoor.   Fortunately, over-sized sweaters were the perfect way to cover up any extra weight.

download (1).jpg

Unfortunately, living in South Florida our winter consists of dips into the 40s.  Most of the winter is comfortably warm and bikini season in unending.  There’s rarely sweater weather here, so there’s no covering up any extra winter fluff.  On the flip side, the weather here is perfect.  Consequently, we can enjoy the great outdoors year round.   Not surprisingly, running is a lot more pleasant when the temperatures are in the 70s not the high 90s.  Running in triple digit heat indices, as you can imagine, is not nearly as much fun as it sounds.

11r4c4

The only the combination of lack of sweater weather and winter fluff are troublesome is around the holidays. Who wants to behave and eat well with all the holiday parties and dinners?  Thanks, but no thanks!  So how does on survive the holidays without putting on the fluff?  I’m glad you asked.  The key is moderation and exercise.  Sadly, diet is 80% of the equation with exercises only making up 20%.   This means you cannot completely correct all your food indiscretions with exercise.

Where does this leave you?  Comprising.  If you’re at a party, enjoy the food, but skip seconds.  If you’re drinking, opt for a drink (like a vodka soda) that is low in calories.  My drink of choice is a peach pear LaCroix with a shot of Peach Ciroc on the ice.  Its refreshing, its light and its low calorie.  Plus, Circoc is very smooth.  In addition, add in some extra workouts as this will help mitigate some of the extra calories.

In honor of the start of the holiday season, let’s kick it back to 2001 with Pink’s Get the Party Started