Happy Valentine's Day!

 

 (Images via 1 // 2 // 3 )

Happy Valentine's Day to one and all! I celebrated the day by taking a math exam after work...romantic.

Whether you go big or small on this day of love, I hope everyone had a lovely day and at least enjoyed some festive treats! My favorite are the cinnamon hearts with the sugar crystal coating and chocolate covered strawberries. Delicious!

Xoxo,

Meagan :)

Bangs or No Bangs: That is the Question

(Images via 1 // 2 // 3 )

I'm getting the hair itch again - no, not because it's dirty (Okay maybe it is a little bit dirty) but because I want to change it up. My hair has been blah and underwhelming to me as of late and bangs seem like a fast and easy solution. When I started my desk job I picked up this bad habit of pulling at my hair while working and in doing so broke most of the hairs surrounding my face, so by getting bangs it would help mask the frizzy short bangs as I painfully and slowly let them grow back.

Now the only problem: what style of bangs? Side swept? Blunt? Long and flowing or short and dense? Maybe bangs aren't such an easy solution after all!

Fit Thursday: Total Body Workout

Image via SELF

This past weekend I spent both days carrying and moving furniture for my grandma that by the time Monday rolled around it felt like I missed the weekend entirely! I took the first few days of the work week to recover with some adequate sleep. This meant I missed out on my Fitness Tuesday series, so I guess Thursday will have to do. Lucky for me there are two days in the week beginning with the letter T ;)

The class of choice this week was Total Body. I arrived 15 minutes early to class and there was already a group of 10 or so people waiting to go in to the exercise studio. The instructor showed up 5 minutes later and greeted most of the people by name. It was obvious by their conversations and interactions that there was a strong following for this course with this instructor. By the time the class began, we had exceeded the studio capacity by 2 or 3 people!

Within the first 5 minutes of class I could tell I was really going to enjoy the workout. My heart was already starting to beat fast and I had a good burn going. What made everything even greater was how helpful the instructor was to me and other newbies. Since there were a lot of regulars, us newbies stuck out quite obviously since we didn't know the usual order of exercises. Each time we started a new exercise, the instructor would come around and tell us if we were doing the exercise correctly and if we weren't he would work with us individually until we mastered the move.

Total Body class worked literally the total body as you would guess by its name. The description from the gym's site read: "Upper body, core, and lower limb workout using dumbbells, resistance bars, stability balls, steps, and bands. Arms, chest, and shoulders get a thorough workout here and your entire body will get the benefits of greater strength and flexibility." I think what I worked the most in this class was my core/abs, since many exercises for legs and arms you need to engage your core for proper technique. That's not to say the other parts of my body didn't get worked out. I felt like Jello by the time I was done! 360 degree squat jumps followed by spider push-ups are no joke!

Verdict: out of the classes I've taken thus far, this one definitely takes the cake. The personal attention from the instructor combined with the toughness of the workout took this class to another level. Plus it was really fun! This class is definitely a repeat, especially with Instructor Bob!

The Neutral Zone

From left to right:

Jackets: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

Shirts/Cardigans: 1 // 2 // 3 (need this t-shirt!) // 4 // 5

Jeans: J Brand

Shoes: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

From left to right: As soon as I purchased my plane ticket to Europe, I immediately began searching on Pinterest to see what sort of fashion and clothing Europeans wear. I'm one of those people who does not want to stick out like a sore thumb in places unfamiliar to me, so serious the clothes I pack for my trip. 

The first thing I noticed right away was the color choices in clothing, or lack thereof is more like it. Nearly every picture I found featured a tall, leggy girl dressed in layers of neutral colors and a scarf or statement necklace to complete their look. If they were wearing a more playful color it usually was used as an accent, like with the scarf or their shoes or purse.

I've always been more drawn to wearing brights (which is probably why I'm drawn to J.Crew...I'm like a moth attracted to the light in that sense), but there is something about wearing all neutrals that feels cool, edgy, classy, and glamorous all at once. After looking through those pictures, I felt inspired to come up with my own ideas on how to pull together a neutral ensemble. *p.s. Can you tell I'm obsessed with moto jackets as of late? ;)*

Jetsetter

( Via )

It's finally official: I will be joining my best friend over in Europe for a crazy adventure this summer! We will both fly into and reunite in Frankfurt and fly home from London. Now the question is...where do we go in between?! We both agree Italy will be a stop on our trip (The shopping! I am drooling over the thought already), either Geneva or Zurich in Switzerland, and places in Spain and France.

I also have started researching travel tips, such as how to smartly pack for a large trip and how to not look like a tourist (this is really important to me, for appearance and safety sakes!). It's pretty overwhelming and daunting right now with all the planning there still is to do, but this is the sort of planning that I'm not upset about tackling :)

What are some European destinations that are absolute must see's in your books? And what travel tips have you learned that you absolutely swear by?

Fit Tuesdays: Spinning

 (Images via 1 // 2 // 3 )

After a brief hiatus from the gym last week, I made it over to the fitness center to try out their intermediate spin class. I walked into that room with the mentality that the class would be a breeze and I would be a natural....and an hour later walked out shaky, nauseous, exhausted, and humbled. Spinning is no joke!

The class was fun but intense, powered with a good music playlist and the constant shouts of encouragement from the instructor. The workout for the day was 4x10 minute hills that always had different intervals and positions which I liked so it mixed things up. The instructor would shout out the commands like "30 seconds seated sprint" or "off your seat in position 3!" and you wouldn't know the interval time length until she began counting down the last five seconds. Good torture if there is such a thing!

My downfall in the spin class was my competitive nature with the other people in the class. Instead of focusing more on how I felt, I focused too much on how much faster and harder I was going than the other people around me. Because of that, I pushed myself wayyy too hard and paid for it at the end of class when I had to lean on my bike to avoid losing my lunch or fainting while everyone else cooled down and stretched. I also think I had my resistance too high for a majority of the ride...sometimes I would only realize that we were supposed to have been going easy when the instructor told the class to crank up their resistance again (it was hard to understand her over her microphone with the music playing). I'm not too upset about it though because I haven't felt that competitive really in anything in the last 3 or 4 years I'd say, so it felt amazing to have that fire start up in me again! :) Next time I'll focus more on how I feel though and finding my best level of intensity.

In conclusion: this is another class to add to my list of future repeats! 2 for 2 so far :)

Cold Weather Essentials

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I had a rude awakening this morning when I walked out the door to head to work and was met with blustery winds and a temperature of -8 degrees! The second part of the rude awakening is when I realized how ill prepared my wardrobe is for the bitter cold.

Luckily for my poor planning self, most stores are having major sales right now on all of their winter items. While the majority of us may be in the heart of winter battling to stay warm, clothing retailers have their sights on spring and making room for their next collection's inventory. Go check out your favorite stores and see what sort of steals you can grab! You know I have my eyes on that J.Crew sale ;) I mean, an extra 40% off sale items?! I think I'm in heaven! *cue Hallelujah music*