Fashion-Show Friday!

As I mentioned on Monday, my fashionable friend and bartender maestro Anna asked me to model in a sports luxe fashion show held at Fleet Feet in West Hartford Center. The event took place last night as part of West Hartford’s Fashion Night Out; stores throughout the center offered deals, their own fashion shows, and beverages.

But ours were provided by Barcelona…so that’s a win.

Not only did the models rock trendy sports apparel, we also paired each outfit with eye-wear provided by SIGHT.

I brought Kat backstage to try on some shades with me!

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Let the Sunshine (Award) In

Thank you to those who entered my Bishop’s Corner Marshall’s giveaway! The two winners are Rebecca and Megan. Please email me with your addresses to claim your prize and remember whoever emails first gets to choose which prize she wants – mason jars or wine glasses!

Both Arman and Kelly nominated me for the Sunshine Award, so I figured I better get crackin’ on getting my post up! Since I was nominated by two people I have a total of 20 questions to answer, so I’ll try to be brief…well, Caitlin-brief.

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Rules:

  1. Include award logo in a post or on your blog.
  2. Link to the person(s) who nominated you.
  3. Answer 10 questions about yourself
  4. Nominate 10 bloggers to receive the award (I nominate NO ONE but encourage EVERYONE to do this :-P)

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From Left to Write Book Club: Raising My Rainbow

I received a copy of “Raising My Rainbow” free of charge for my participation in this book club. The book link below is an affiliate link.

It’s time for another From Left to Write book club post (though I’m getting this one up a bit late – oops!) and I’m excited this time to be writing alongside some blends! For those who missed my last post, From Left to Write encourages blogging not a review of each book, but a post on anything the book inspired. Yes, anything! I’m here today to write about gender stereotypes and kids, an obvious choice given the description of Lori Duron’s Raising My Rainbow:

“Parenting is not an easy job, but what happens when your son loves to wear dresses and plays with toys marketed for girls? Lori Duron encounters this and much more with her youngest son, CJ. In Raising My Rainbow: Adventures in Raising a Fabulous, Gender Creative Son, Duron shares her discovery about CJ’s gender non-conformity and how her family accepts him for who he is.”

Lori (before this book, she had and still has her blog of the same name) and her husband, Matt, do a great job of not pushing CJ to continue in typical “boy sports” he tries and quickly loses interest in. She mentions that if he asks her to take dance or art classes, she will enroll him and not try to change his mind. That’s great, but it also got me thinking about the amount of “gender-conforming” activities young boys (versus young girls) have available to them.

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MIMM: Summer’s Wine-ding Down

Remember to enter my Marshall’s Bishop’s Corner giveaway – you have until tomorrow night to do so!

Another Monday, another marvelous weekend behind me, and a low-key one at that! Well, low-key in the sense that no drives longer than 40 minutes occurred. That’s really all I can ask for, especially since this coming weekend I’ll be off to Boston (and will see this marvelous lady). I over-use this word but it’s all about balance…balancing my weekends away with weekends at home has been key to making it through this marvelous summer (I can literally feel in the air that it’s ending, ugh!) and focusing on how grateful I should be to have so much marvelous to even FEEL stressed over.

Inspired by Katie, a blogger who is SO good at seeing the marvelous!

Marvelous is…my beloved StepMill #39 getting fixed at my gym. Long story, but that machine is the only one of my gym’s four StepMills that I like to/can use. My solo cardio sessions have been nothing without it (running and elliptical are not for me). Friday night I REALLY needed kickass cardio before a dinner out and StepMill #39 was good as new and definitely kicked my ass.

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Fashion Friday: Bishop’s Corner Giveaway!

The experiences detailed in this post were provided to me free of charge (with the exception of my overzealous purchasing at 2 out of 3 stops). The opinions are my own.

A couple Sundays ago I had my second-ever experience at West Hartford’s Bishop’s Corner shopping center. My first was eons ago at the plaza’s Sakura Garden, but on this visit I hit three different spots and got to do so with blends. Winning! And you guys can do some winning too, just stay tuned til the end of the post…

The ladies in attendance – Julie, Latanya, Alana (of Eden’s, the company who put on the event), me, and Maria! Source.

I showed up in workout clothes (obviously) fresh out of a gym session and ready for lunch. To be honest I was super-wary when I found out the dining destination would be Noodles & Company. I’m not big into pasta or rice or any kind of noodle! A scroll through the menu had me calling this place “Panera for Pasta”.

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2013 A Taste in Simsbury

I received complimentary entry into this event to cover it for this blog. All opinions of my experience are my own!

I’d call this past Thursday’s A Taste in Simsbury the best value tasting event I have ever encountered! For just $50, attendees got to taste food, beer, wine, and cocktails from at least 25 restaurants and vendors. Sponsored by Simsbury Bank, the Simsbury Main Street Partnership fundraiser pulled in money to help them continue to support downtown Simsbury’s social environment.

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I arrived right at 5:30PM, and already a line of people had formed.

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I snagged a wine glass and embarked on a tasting adventure that would end up lasting almost three hours. Thankfully tables and high-tops were set up throughout The Riverview‘s ballroom so that attendees would have spots to stop, take a seat, and have a place to rest plates and glasses.

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New Haven: A Labor Day Tradition

Every Labor Day my parents do the huge New Haven Road Race, and the last several years I have been joining them to stay overnight at the Omni the night before. We feast and drink in Downtown New Haven (knowing we don’t have to drive anywhere), and the ‘rents do the race in the morning while I hit the gym (which is pretty darn nice for a hotel). Then I find an interesting cafe for coffee, followed by a unique spot for lunch, while my parents wait in huge post-race-beer lines.

This year my dad was away so my mom and I decided to still visit New Haven for a night, but she joined me in the hotel gym, because we stayed Saturday to Sunday (as opposed to the usual Sunday to Monday) this year. Our getaway couldn’t have come at a better time; I had a lot of anxiety and such going on after last Thursday night’s A Taste in Simsbury event, and I needed nothing more than a special weekend with my amazing mother.

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Accelerated Fitness – Cromwell

I briefly mentioned in my last post that over the weekend I took my first trip to Accelerated Fitness, at the Cromwell location (also located in Glastonbury and Tolland). My friend Maria brought me as her guest to join a session with one of Cromwell’s two personal trainers, Kevin Carlson (or as she calls him…Oh Sadistic One). This place is more than a gym; the primary line of business is personal training and programs tailored to each client’s fitness history and goals. Maria has her own program, but on Saturday when I was her guest, Kevin just decided to have some “fun” with us.

Kevin’s sick idea of fun!

I hadn’t been to a personal trainer in awhile so i was very excited! The setup was very Crossfit-box-like…plenty of toys of fitness torture were set up along the walls with an open space in the middle. The session lasted about 50 minutes and consisted of various circuits of 2-3 moves each, the whole circuit repeated three times. Here are some examples of moves Kevin had Maria and I doing:

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MIMM: All the Friends!

Welcome to the work week, folks. Remember that many of you may have a three-day (Labor Day) weekend on the horizon, so keep your chin up, you can make it through!

Make sure you join the marvelous party!

This was a weekend of friends of all sources. High school, Twitter, blogs, you name it. Not only did they give me the best of times, they also gave me the support I needed to give myself permission to enjoy the marvelous.

Marvelous is…Friday night in West Hartford Center.

My foodie partner in crime, Rachel!

My foodie partner in crime, Rachel!

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Kona Kase: Take Two

I received a complimentary Kona Kase to review as a participant in a Fitfluential campaign. All opinions are my own. This is not a compensated post.

You may recall from my first Kona Kase review that while I liked some of the products in my June Kase, I did not feel overall that the $15 price provide me a good value. I noticed a lack of variety (four bars!) and also felt the contents were geared toward endurance athletes (and I am surely not one). One of the founders, Taylor, sent out an email to the Fitfluential Ambassadors who participated in the campaign, asking if we wanted another Kase (July) to review. Of course my answer was yes – why not?!

As always the product-listing card that comes with each Kase is appreciated!

Though I still didn’t find a use for every product (some were still geared towards endurance athletes, so I gave those to a co-worker who loves biking), I certainly was more satisfied this time around with the amount of products I COULD actually see myself using, along with the variety.

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Meet Caitlin

I’m a 28 year old full-time working girl living in Boston (previously lived in Connecticut). I’m passionate about food/drink, restaurants, self-love, fitness, and the ever-present search for balance. I write about that journey on this blog – I hope you enjoy!

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Design Credit

My header was originally designed by Mai Le and later tweaked by Chris Roggi to match this theme, which he helped me customize. He also moved me over to self-hosting! Both can be contacted through their sites for design & development work!

Disclaimer

I am not an RD and do not have any official training, certifications, or degrees in nutrition or fitness. This blog is a way to write about my life. Any views I express are mine alone, based on what works for me, and should never be taken as medical advice. Always talk to your doctor or a trained professional before starting a new diet or fitness plan. In addition, this blog and its content are in no way affiliated with Kate Gosselin, “Kate Plus 8”, TLC, or any related affiliates.

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