Then there was Saturdays workout. The Filthy 50 Bootcamp edition. See photo below for details.
(BJ = Box jump, ktb = kettlebell swings)
I finished in 25 mins 50 secs. No one else finished in under 35 mins....Go ME!
About Me
- Melissa
- I am a 28 year old executive account manager living in Atlanta with my wonderful boyfriend Nick. I relocated to Atlanta almost 5 years ago from Buffalo, NY by way of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. And, this is my "Life as I know it".
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Ouch
With the ice and snow *mostly* melted we returned to Crossfit bootcamp Friday and Saturday morning. Friday mornings workout was great, I really liked it. We did 1 minute each of squats, wall ball sit ups, rowing, and 35 lb push press, followed by 2 mins rest; 5 rounds.
Then there was Saturdays workout. The Filthy 50 Bootcamp edition. See photo below for details.
(BJ = Box jump, ktb = kettlebell swings)
I finished in 25 mins 50 secs. No one else finished in under 35 mins....Go ME!
Then there was Saturdays workout. The Filthy 50 Bootcamp edition. See photo below for details.
(BJ = Box jump, ktb = kettlebell swings)
I finished in 25 mins 50 secs. No one else finished in under 35 mins....Go ME!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
This pretty much sums it up. Day 4.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
GOING cRaZzzzzY
Yea, today is day 3 trapped at home with 3" of ice on our street (which is coincidentally at the bottom of a giant hill). Nick and I typically work from home, so its not that we arent used to being in our home a lot. But normally we have the option of taking the dog outside for a while, going to lunch, running to the grocery store, etc. Not so much right now.
Sunday night it started snowing. They were big, fluffy, soft flakes and it was gorgeous. All of the neighbors in our culdasac hung out in the street drinking beer and hot cocoa. The dogs ran around and played, the boys threw a football, and the girls gossiped. We took lots of pictures too. (Probably because we thought it wouldnt last and we should capture the moment....who knew!)
Overnight the snow turned to sleet/freezing rain. By the time we woke up the 6" of snow that had fallen was coated with 2" of SOLID ICE. So Monday the entire city was shut down. All schools, restaurants, businesses, roads/highways/bridges, governments, etc...CLOSED. Once again the neighborhood got together to play. Once we broke down the ice to a managable track on the back hill we took turns sleeding, snowboarding, and skiing in the back yard. Our normal group of neighborhood friends was there, but it was also nice to have some of the other neighbors that we dont see as much come out to play. After a long day of fun we even had a potluck dinner at Kristin and Justins house. Everyone made whatever they could from their pantries and we ended up with a huge feast. Snow day #1 was fabulous.
Sunday night it started snowing. They were big, fluffy, soft flakes and it was gorgeous. All of the neighbors in our culdasac hung out in the street drinking beer and hot cocoa. The dogs ran around and played, the boys threw a football, and the girls gossiped. We took lots of pictures too. (Probably because we thought it wouldnt last and we should capture the moment....who knew!)
Overnight the snow turned to sleet/freezing rain. By the time we woke up the 6" of snow that had fallen was coated with 2" of SOLID ICE. So Monday the entire city was shut down. All schools, restaurants, businesses, roads/highways/bridges, governments, etc...CLOSED. Once again the neighborhood got together to play. Once we broke down the ice to a managable track on the back hill we took turns sleeding, snowboarding, and skiing in the back yard. Our normal group of neighborhood friends was there, but it was also nice to have some of the other neighbors that we dont see as much come out to play. After a long day of fun we even had a potluck dinner at Kristin and Justins house. Everyone made whatever they could from their pantries and we ended up with a huge feast. Snow day #1 was fabulous.
I laid down with Connor to watch Sesame street and Doodle bug snuggled up with us too. It was too precious not to capture.
Fast forward - today is Snow Day #3! I ventured out with Krystal this morning for Starbucks just to get out of the house for a bit, and honestly Im in no hurry to go any further! The roads are still extremely icy and people are still driving like idiots. I really love my life and I really like my car - so Im going to stay close to home in order to preserve both! I took Roscoe out to play for a bit with the other boys but its frustrating for him because he cant really walk on the ice and keeps breaking through. Its funny to watch him but I feel terrible that he is so bored and doesnt understand why he is driving mommy nuts whining all day!
I was supposed to fly to Memphis for work tomorrow, but I cant even imagine getting to the airport and dealing with the choas there. Not to mention whether or not Ill get back home on Friday as planned. Luckily Delta let me change my reservation without a fee (even though my flight is still technically listed as "on time" as of today).
Oh and Bootcamp has been cancelled all week as well, obviously! I feel like we've lost all momentum at this point and whenever we do start again it is going to suck even more than last time. I am really pretty bummed about the timing of this.
Ok, Nick and I are going to attempt to go out for lunch and grab some groceries. If I dont blog again soon...ah, who am I kidding, it wont mean anything, Im a bad blogger! Haha.
Monday, January 3, 2011
I resolve to...
Blog more often! Yeah, so my friend Jenn pointed out that I basically never blog anymore, which is true. There are a few reasons for that, one being that during the month of December I was a total slacker at pretty much everything. That includes Crossfit. I barely went.
But today is Jan 3 and time to make some resolutions (or post them publicly anyway). So one thing I resolve to do is blog more often. Not about anything in particular, but my goal is to post twice a week.
I am also starting Crossfit bootcamp tomorrow morning at 6am. For anyone who knows me, you know how crazy this sounds because I pretty much HATE waking up early. I just know this is the only way I will ever truly make the time to workout. And since the dress I wanted to wear on NYE didnt fit, I would say its time to cut the excuses and drop the 15 lbs that I need to drop!
One of my other resolutions that I am trying really hard at is to stop using the F word so much. I mean, I say it A LOT. But when I shouldnt say it (in front of Nicks parents, at work, in church...) I dont even have to think about it, I just dont say it. But at home and around my friends...holy hell, its all I say.
Today is day 1 of being a better me. I will be more thoughtful of how I react to people and situations. I will consciously remain calm and eliminate drama from my life this year. And, I will keep you posted about it ;)
But today is Jan 3 and time to make some resolutions (or post them publicly anyway). So one thing I resolve to do is blog more often. Not about anything in particular, but my goal is to post twice a week.
I am also starting Crossfit bootcamp tomorrow morning at 6am. For anyone who knows me, you know how crazy this sounds because I pretty much HATE waking up early. I just know this is the only way I will ever truly make the time to workout. And since the dress I wanted to wear on NYE didnt fit, I would say its time to cut the excuses and drop the 15 lbs that I need to drop!
One of my other resolutions that I am trying really hard at is to stop using the F word so much. I mean, I say it A LOT. But when I shouldnt say it (in front of Nicks parents, at work, in church...) I dont even have to think about it, I just dont say it. But at home and around my friends...holy hell, its all I say.
Today is day 1 of being a better me. I will be more thoughtful of how I react to people and situations. I will consciously remain calm and eliminate drama from my life this year. And, I will keep you posted about it ;)
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
ALDO, the WORST customer service experiences of my life.
Beware - this entire post is just a bitch fest about my recent string of ridiculously heinous customer service experiences with Aldo Shoes.
A few weeks ago I decided that I desperately needed new work shoes pronto. I didnt have to time to go to Lenox mall so I ran to Cumberland, or as we all prefer to call it, SCUMberland Mall. I figured that Macys would have a similar selection regardless of the mall and I would start there. When I did not find anything that I even came close to liking I went through a few other stores just to check. I happened to find a pair of shoes at Also that I REALLY liked. I was on a mission for black closed toe high heel shoes. I found these.
I actually liked them so much I also bought them in Nude. They were $75 a pair but I knew I would wear them. Anyway, I bought them on Monday. Tuesday I wore the nude pair to work with a really cute skirt and sweater outfit. I was mostly sitting in meetings all day but when I walked to the bathroom at one point I could feel something poking my foot. I figured it was a stone but when I took the shoe off and looked at it I could see what looked like a nail or something sticking up through the insole. Luckily I had the black pair in my car still, so I changed and called Aldo to tell them.
By the time I had a minute to run to the mall to exchange them it was Friday. I showed the store manager the shoe, explained that I had bought them Monday and worn them for a half day Tuesday. She immediately told me that because I had worn the shoe she could not return or exchange it for me, per their policy. After trying to reason with the woman (named Tata....but whatever) for over 20 minutes I was just about in tears. She told me that there was nothing she could do and at one point even insinuated that perhaps I had put the nail in it myself. She actually attenpted to "fix" the shoe by using the tip of a pair of scissors to push the nail back down into the sole! When I was not satisfied with that (call me crazy), she suggested I put a gel insole into the shoe!!
I tend to think I am a pretty reasonable person. I can understand why a shoe store has a policy against exchanging worn shoes. BUT, its not like Id had them for a month and decided I didnt like the color. These were clearly defective shoes. Finally Tata offered to send them out for repair and try to get an exception made to the policy if they could not be returned. I was so exhasperated at that point that I couldnt wait to leave the store, so I agreed. She promised the shoe would be sent out on Monday and back by Weds. When I hadnt heard back by Friday I called the store to check back, only to find out that the shoe had never even been sent out for repair. The girl I spoke with said she would call me back that afternoon to tell me what was going on. If you can imagine this, I never got a phone call.
On Monday I decided to just go into the store. I figured that if worse came to worse I would take my defective shoe back and take it to another store in hopes of finding a reasonable and dependable staff memeber there. When I arrived and explained who I was, etc the lady at the counter told me that Tata had actually been fired. The new manager agreed to exchange the shoes for me without question. THANK GOD, right!? As it turns out they didnt have my size/color in the store but they offered to order them for me and have them delivered to my house for free. That sounded reasonable to me so I gave the girl my information and left the store, happy that this mess had been resolved.
Well, of course this ordeal just got worse. Why would I think this had been resolved!? I just checked my order at aldoshoes.com and realized that the lady at the store has now sent me a second pair of BLACK shoes!!! Arrrrghhhhhhhh.
I called the customer service line to confirm this and ask that they change my order, but that would be too easy. Since the order was paid in full the only option is to cancel it and wait 5 days for a refund. Since I dont trust anyone even affiliated with Aldo at this point I am letting them just ship me the shoes. I will then take them to the Lenox mall store I guess. I will say that I have been WAY to patient with the entire situation. I should have just returned both pairs and demanded my money back a long time ago. But alas, I like the shoes...
Am I crazy or is this the most unreasonable and ridiculous customer service story you have ever heard? So needless to say I will never ever buy another pair of shoes from Aldo and I would recommend that no one else does either. Unless of course you are a glutton for punishment.
A few weeks ago I decided that I desperately needed new work shoes pronto. I didnt have to time to go to Lenox mall so I ran to Cumberland, or as we all prefer to call it, SCUMberland Mall. I figured that Macys would have a similar selection regardless of the mall and I would start there. When I did not find anything that I even came close to liking I went through a few other stores just to check. I happened to find a pair of shoes at Also that I REALLY liked. I was on a mission for black closed toe high heel shoes. I found these.
I actually liked them so much I also bought them in Nude. They were $75 a pair but I knew I would wear them. Anyway, I bought them on Monday. Tuesday I wore the nude pair to work with a really cute skirt and sweater outfit. I was mostly sitting in meetings all day but when I walked to the bathroom at one point I could feel something poking my foot. I figured it was a stone but when I took the shoe off and looked at it I could see what looked like a nail or something sticking up through the insole. Luckily I had the black pair in my car still, so I changed and called Aldo to tell them.
By the time I had a minute to run to the mall to exchange them it was Friday. I showed the store manager the shoe, explained that I had bought them Monday and worn them for a half day Tuesday. She immediately told me that because I had worn the shoe she could not return or exchange it for me, per their policy. After trying to reason with the woman (named Tata....but whatever) for over 20 minutes I was just about in tears. She told me that there was nothing she could do and at one point even insinuated that perhaps I had put the nail in it myself. She actually attenpted to "fix" the shoe by using the tip of a pair of scissors to push the nail back down into the sole! When I was not satisfied with that (call me crazy), she suggested I put a gel insole into the shoe!!
I tend to think I am a pretty reasonable person. I can understand why a shoe store has a policy against exchanging worn shoes. BUT, its not like Id had them for a month and decided I didnt like the color. These were clearly defective shoes. Finally Tata offered to send them out for repair and try to get an exception made to the policy if they could not be returned. I was so exhasperated at that point that I couldnt wait to leave the store, so I agreed. She promised the shoe would be sent out on Monday and back by Weds. When I hadnt heard back by Friday I called the store to check back, only to find out that the shoe had never even been sent out for repair. The girl I spoke with said she would call me back that afternoon to tell me what was going on. If you can imagine this, I never got a phone call.
On Monday I decided to just go into the store. I figured that if worse came to worse I would take my defective shoe back and take it to another store in hopes of finding a reasonable and dependable staff memeber there. When I arrived and explained who I was, etc the lady at the counter told me that Tata had actually been fired. The new manager agreed to exchange the shoes for me without question. THANK GOD, right!? As it turns out they didnt have my size/color in the store but they offered to order them for me and have them delivered to my house for free. That sounded reasonable to me so I gave the girl my information and left the store, happy that this mess had been resolved.
Well, of course this ordeal just got worse. Why would I think this had been resolved!? I just checked my order at aldoshoes.com and realized that the lady at the store has now sent me a second pair of BLACK shoes!!! Arrrrghhhhhhhh.
I called the customer service line to confirm this and ask that they change my order, but that would be too easy. Since the order was paid in full the only option is to cancel it and wait 5 days for a refund. Since I dont trust anyone even affiliated with Aldo at this point I am letting them just ship me the shoes. I will then take them to the Lenox mall store I guess. I will say that I have been WAY to patient with the entire situation. I should have just returned both pairs and demanded my money back a long time ago. But alas, I like the shoes...
Am I crazy or is this the most unreasonable and ridiculous customer service story you have ever heard? So needless to say I will never ever buy another pair of shoes from Aldo and I would recommend that no one else does either. Unless of course you are a glutton for punishment.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
50 Free Holiday Cards from Shutterfly!
Bloggers can get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly.com. Its easy to enter, just click here and submit your completed form.
Now I just need to convince Nick to take a picture with Roscoe and I for the card :)
Now I just need to convince Nick to take a picture with Roscoe and I for the card :)
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Well, Hello There!
Holy smokes, I cant believe it has been almost two weeks since I have blogged! I have so much to catch up on.
Ok, lets start with my lack luster attendance at Crossfit over the previously mentioned two weeks. I had a week of work meetings last week that basically went from 7am to past dinner every night. So needless to say, there was no working out happening that week. My meeting ended Thursday night and Friday Nick and I left for a weekend in Asheville. More on that later. I was able to make it to Crossfit on Mon and Tues of this week before leaving Weds am for a three day trip to Texas. (Here I am, in Rockwall, TX now.) I am definitely looking forward to being in town for a while so I can get back to Crossfit full time. I need it so bad!
Two Sundays ago Nick and I went to North Georgia Canopy Tours to do the Adventure Tour. I bought this a deal on Living Social months ago and it was about to expire, hence having to go on a Sunday (which is typically dedicated solely to watching football and drinking beer). Driving to the location we felt as if we were extras in the movie Deliverance. Dirt roads, double wides, rusty old cars on the side of the road...the only thing missing was the sound of a banjo. But, when we finally arrived we could hardly contain our excitement. Our tour guides were Chip and Jenna, both goofy and over the top. So naturally, we loved them. Here are a few pictures.
Ok, lets start with my lack luster attendance at Crossfit over the previously mentioned two weeks. I had a week of work meetings last week that basically went from 7am to past dinner every night. So needless to say, there was no working out happening that week. My meeting ended Thursday night and Friday Nick and I left for a weekend in Asheville. More on that later. I was able to make it to Crossfit on Mon and Tues of this week before leaving Weds am for a three day trip to Texas. (Here I am, in Rockwall, TX now.) I am definitely looking forward to being in town for a while so I can get back to Crossfit full time. I need it so bad!
Two Sundays ago Nick and I went to North Georgia Canopy Tours to do the Adventure Tour. I bought this a deal on Living Social months ago and it was about to expire, hence having to go on a Sunday (which is typically dedicated solely to watching football and drinking beer). Driving to the location we felt as if we were extras in the movie Deliverance. Dirt roads, double wides, rusty old cars on the side of the road...the only thing missing was the sound of a banjo. But, when we finally arrived we could hardly contain our excitement. Our tour guides were Chip and Jenna, both goofy and over the top. So naturally, we loved them. Here are a few pictures.
This past weekend was our one year anniversary together (awww) and since we have never taken a trip or gone away "just because" we booked a weekend in Asheville, NC. I have been dying to go there since I moved to Atlanta because Ive heard that in mid November its the perfect combination of fall leaves and early Christmas lights at the Biltmore. With a little convincing Nick was on board. I LOVED Asheville. It has a very hippie, free spirit, local pride feeling that I doubt can be matched. Nick was less impressed with the barefoot dancing and guitar playing in the streets than I was, but nonetheless we had a fabulous weekend. We listened to live music at a local bar, toured the Biltmore and winery, had breakfast two days in a row at Tupelo Honey Cafe (some of the most incredible food I have EVER had, seriously we went there two days in a row)
, and our anniversary dinner at Bouchon. We also got chocolate truffles from Chocolate Fetish, which were possibly the most amazing things I have ever tasted. They will ship them anywhere in the US, which might be my diet downfall.
Again, here are a few pictures.
At the Biltmore House, what an amazing view.
My bounty from the Biltmore Winery. 5 "souvenier" bottles :)
At Bouchon for our anniversary dinner!
It was really nice to have a weekend away by ourselves without a schedule, anywhere to be, anyone to meet up with, etc! Nick and I have been through a lot together in the year that we have been dating and nothing was more welcomed this weekend that being able to move at our own pace.
One somewhat funny thing that did happen was also one of the most romantic. Nick had arranged for two dozen roses to be in the room waiting for us when we arrived. When they werent there upon our arrival he scrambled to find them without me knowing. He called 1-800-Flowers, Fed Ex, talked to the front desk manager...all with no luck. Finally he just told me about it and while he felt terrible and was really upset about it, I very much appreciated the thought he had put into it. The next morning at about 8 am (read: waaay to early) there was a knock on our door. When I politely yelled "come back later" the poor manager asked if he should just leave the flowers at the door. HA! Ooops! Later that day we asked the front desk where they found them and it turned out that they had been delivered to the wrong hotel room. This brings up two points for me. 1. Wouldnt you riase a red flag if you had two dozen red roses unexpectedly in your hotel room that you KNEW didnt belong to you? 2. How akward would it be to ask someone for the roses that dont belong to them? So yea, that was funny to me.
I think for now Im pretty well caught up on my life. Im sure there is more, but Im too tired to think about right now, much less write it. I *promise* it wont be so long before my next post!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)