Lex and Learn

The past few weeks have been flying by at a frightening pace…but none more so than this past one. A week ago today we left for San Francisco to celebrate the wedding of our good friends Dave and Leigh. They have been together for 15 years!!

The wedding was spectacular, and very much deserved for such a special couple. During the ceremony kids from Leigh’s first grade class sang a song in front of all 250 guests. It was so genuine, and so very Leigh and Dave. They were with us in Boulder on our big day and Mike and I are so honored to have been able to celebrate with them as well.

We ended the weekend with a quick few hours in Sonoma. It was lovely, and I’ll share those pictures soon, along with reviews of the wines we will be receiving from our new wine club membership! Thanks to my amazing BFF Jenn and her fiance Austin for such a great wedding present!

Here are a few pictures to enjoy…

Up until two weeks ago I had long hair. Really long hair. I’ve worn it long for most of my life with a few cuts just above the shoulders for good measure. But for months leading up to the wedding I decided that post-nuptials, I needed a change.

That change came in the form of the shortest chop I’ve ever done. Yes, I cried after…but not until I was in the privacy of my own home. I also paced between mirrors for at least an hour, wondering what I had done.

Yet in just two weeks, I’ve come to love this change. I really do feel lighter and less hot. Also, with my 29th birthday just weeks away, I feel like I’ve found a new, more polished look from the long locks I have kept pretty much through high school and college.

The only drawback so far is the extra time I have to spend on it each morning. I’ve never been the girl who takes more than about five – 10 minutes to do my hair, so even 15 or 20 feels insanely long. My new “can’t live without” hair products now include Number Four shampoo, conditioner and texture cream. Glass 01 Smoothing Serum by Redken is a must for frizz, as is a great hair dryer with a diffuser and a big barrel curling iron.

Change is good, and hair grows back. What change have you made lately that has made you feel great?

Lululemon has become a staple in my workout wardrobe. The prices make it quite the indulgence for stuff that you sweat in, but it fits beautifully and somehow motivates you (or at least me) to keep going back for more. Also, I want to be able to fit into everything since it costs so damn much!

My pre-wedding workout craziness mainly took place in winter and spring, so I invested in two pairs of legging-style crop pants. However, now that it is summer and quite warm here in Denver, my leggings are not cutting it in class. So, this “Covet” blog post is about the $50 (yep, I told you Lululemon is an indulgence) yoga shorts that I really want to treat myself to for yoga and yoga sculpt classes.

Worth it?

Lululemon.com

Lululemon.com

“Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.” ~ Anne Geddes

…and boy did I get lucky in having one of the most wonderful dads on this planet.

I am grateful that when I was growing up, he didn’t tell me all the answers to my questions, he made it possible for me to learn, discover and grow on my own. With my mom, he nurtured my independence but was always there when I needed anything. He taught me the value and importance of hard work (by making me work Saturdays during tax season at about age 14) but saw to it that I always got to stay a kid–even when I went off to school and joined “a gang,” (his definition of Delta Gamma).

He jokingly calls me “queenie,” yet we can blame and trace back my high-end taste mostly to him (Dad — you should have never let me start shopping at The Limited 2). He is still the first to jump in when he thinks I am not standing up for myself and I rely heavily on his opinions and advice when I’m not quite on the right path. He is the husband to my mom by which the bar has been set…honest, loving, endlessly supportive and always dedicated to his family.

Just a few weeks ago my dad stepped into his father of the bride role with so much pride. I have never been more excited to share a moment with him as I was when we started to walk down the aisle. We laughed, joked and cried our way down…with us it could never be any other way. He and my mom gave us the wedding of our dreams, and I was so thrilled when my dad said to me at the end of the night that he would not change a thing.

Before I close this post I would be remiss to not also reflect on the other “dads” in my life who also shaped who I am today. I was blessed to be very close to my Uncle Bob growing up…a man who taught me how to be strong from a very young age and always celebrated when I went out and made things happen on my own. Also, my grandpas love/loved me – along with all of their grandchildren – in a way that words can’t describe. Their chests swell with pride when you mention any one of their grandchildren no matter how big or how small the accomplishment.

My family overall is made up of very strong women, but the husbands, dads, uncles and grandpas who love us are what keeps us all together — and thankfully it is no different in the family I have just joined by marrying Mike. Jay, his dad, is such a wonderful father and I am grateful for our relationship, which will only continue to grow stronger.

I am so blessed this Father’s Day.

Mike and my parents got me a brand new bike as an early birthday present (mark your calendars for July 25th if you care about the real thing). I have an old beach cruiser but I’ve been wanting a bike with gears since the ride home to our Highlands neighborhood is just that — higher than downtown with long, slow hills to get back home.

I also work only 1.88 miles from our house so on days I do not have client meetings, I think it is silly to drive — especially when the weather is so beautiful. So yesterday I set out around 7:45 a.m. for my first bike-to-work experience. In the “Friday Five” spirit, here are a few things I learned!

1.) Skinny jeans are not a good bike riding choice! While cute, skinny jeans are hot and seriously restrict movement when you are trying to pedal uphill.

2.) The route you drive may not be the best bike route. Also, research cross walks and intersections ahead of time to avoid getting stuck between an on/off freeway ramp.

3.) Cars are scary. I should be more tolerant of people riding in the street from now on…especially if they look petrified as I likely did.

4.) Gears are helpful, but long, slow hills are still long, slow hills…especially in skinny jeans. In my defense it was pretty hot out and I had a ton in my backpack, but I’ll need to up my weekly spin classes by one or two in order to get in better cardio shape for 32nd Street!

5.) There is no such thing as a cute helmet. Helmets are necessary but don’t even try to find a “cute” way to rock it.

So there you have it! Any advice from other avid bikers out there?

Telluride is breathtaking. Our honeymoon was perfection. I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking!

As you may or may not know, I was logging an average of four solid workouts at Qi a week leading up to the wedding. Yoga/sculpt, spin/barre, spin/yoga, regular running and lifting…I was on a role and seeing/feeling a major difference.

Come wedding week I had never felt stronger or more proud of myself for sticking to my fitness goals. I managed to squeeze in three good sessions that week despite being super busy and took a week off for our honeymoon. Although, we went on two great hikes while in Telluride that were about two hours each.

What am I getting at? Well, last week was my first week “back to reality” and I was only able to make it to two Qi classes. But that is not what I am frustrated about. After about a week and a half off total, I was nearly on the floor in both classes. In spin/barre my legs felt like they were ready to give out and I kept having to substitute for lighter weights in Friday’s yoga/sculpt. And tonight at yoga/sculpt was no different!

I can’t tell if this is in my head because my entire motivation for working out is now over (and I need a new one fast!), or if any sort of break beyond few days results in three steps back on previous progress made. I’m committed to maintaining my pre-wedding motivation but it is super frustrating!

So, any advice or insight on how time away from the gym impact progress? Does a week off really set you back that far? Help!

It has been hard to get back into the full swing of things as we dig out from the honeymoon and wedding, but one part of our daily routine that I am so glad is back to normal is cooking most meals at home. Aside from the expense of eating out, I feel like we eat so much healthier when I am researching recipes and purchasing the ingredients myself.

A recent exception to the healthier-at-home rule came when I chose a recipe to try from of one of our new (and awesome) Williams-Sonoma cookbook…Lime Shrimp with Coconut. I am never one to cook with real butter, nor can I remember the last time I bought white rice instead of brown. But we had shrimp to use up and this looked divine.

And it was worth every single calorie….made even more wonderful by the fact that this was our first meal on our gorgeous new plates from Williams-Sonoma as well!

What have you been cooking lately?