Opening Night

I just got home from the show. After a looooong week of rehearsals, we finally opened to an audience tonight and it was fantastic! I'm beyond exhausted, but so happy to have the show up and running finally.
I am also still recovering from my 11 mile Run of Awesome (it's been a bit slower of a recovery because I've been dancing every night on top of the long run).

Here are some more photos of this kid to entertain you:

 It's called the "Convent Miranda" look.... hahahaha

Taking center stage

This nun likes to invent other nuns... for example, Sister Pocahontas

I do have a serious moment here and there....

 Amen!

Getting ready to dance

We're just too adorable!

So there ya go folks.... yours truly at her best haha

A Nun Walks Into the Gym....

Today was a LOOOOOOOOONG day!

It started at 5:15 this morning when I woke up (WAY before the sun, I'd like to add) and headed to meet my friend Tina at the gym. We both hopped on the Arc trainer for 25 minutes for some rocking cardio. I decided that today would be a great day to up the intensity level on the machine and it most definitely kicked my bum. I don't know if most of you know what an Arc trainer is, so let me explain:
The Arc Trainer, in my humble opinion, is an awesome cross-training machine. It combines low impact movements with high caloric bun and helps with endurance. Also, depending upon how you lower or raise the incline of the machine, depends on how intense your hamstrings, glutes and quads are going to work (lowered incline=more work, higher incline=less work which seems odd but is very true for this machine).

Anyway, since I lowered my incline and raised my intensity today, my body was not very happy with me. Tina and I barely made the 25minutes before we decided to hit the weight machines. We always focus on our abs during our strength training (After all, a strong core is super important for running, right?) but I also try to focus on my back, shoulders and arms. We spent about 30 minutes or so going through our weight routine before we decided that we wanted to end with another 10minutes of cardio. So, we hopped on the treadmill and she walked at an incline while I jogged for 8 minutes and sprinted for 2. It was a good workout, but the sprint at the end had me completely drenched in sweat (seriously, I had little rivers running down my arms- it was gross).  See for yourself

Okay, so maybe I don't look that sweaty, but trust me, it wasn't pretty.

Despite my swampy self, it was an awesome work out. She and I even discussed setting up a more organized routine throughout the week for our weight work. Instead of doing 30 minutes of random machines, we are going to do a separate body part each day. So, for example, Monday would abs, Wednesday arms, etc etc. We think that we have a good base right now but that isolating will help so much more.

I was planning on doing an 11 mile run tomorrow morning, but I realized I have to work at 11am. And standing on my feet for 5 hours after doing that long of a run is not my idea of fun. So, I've decided to push my run to Tuesday (the one day next week when I don't have to work). Granted, I will be in rehearsals for my show (which opens next Friday!!!) but I will have plenty more recovery time between Tuesday morning and Tuesday evening. 

Also, I figured I would give everyone a little chuckle and show y'all my costume for the show. It's called Nunsense, and it's a musical (about nuns... go figure). It's hysterical and I'm so honored to be working with such an amazing cast. I can't believe it's almost time to open the show! It's crazy! And believe me, it's going to be hot dancing around in these costumes:

I am the second from the left (holding the maracas).

Are you laughing? I know I am. Me as a nun?! Priceless!

This is what has been keeping me uber busy the past few weeks- trying to memorize lines and lyrics, practice blocking and dance routines, and learn harmonies and solo numbers. See? I wasn't lying before when I said I had been consumed by rehearsals haha I now have photos to prove it! 

One last note: please don't forget to DONATE to my fundraiser for the National Stroke Association HERE! Remember,  every $1 you donate gets you an entry into my awesome give away!!

A Hurt Ankle, Eggplant and an Award

So much has been going on lately, I feel like an awful blogger. 

I haven't had a chance to update as much as I would like.

Bah!

Anyway, as you may or may not know, I recently started rehearsals for a new show. Yay! However, in this show, we have to tap dance. Boo! I have never tap danced before and so didn't have any tap shoes. One of my cast mates lent me a pair to use for rehearsal the other night (since mine were still being shipped to my house). It was very sweet of her, only problem was they were a bit too small. Needless to say, dancing in them for a few hours was not the smartest idea and I somehow managed to hurt my ankle. I woke up the next day and could barely walk on my right foot. It was even worse trying to go up and down the stairs. I iced it, put heat on it, wrapped it and elevated it. I also did some band exercises to strengthen the muscles a bit. It took 3 days but it's finally feeling a bit better. The only trouble I have is going down the stairs still. I'm just frustrated because I was all intent on doing my 10 mile run yesterday and it didn't happen. Luckily, I have most of my week days free this week so I can get in a ton of runs. YAY! Silver lining wins again.

Another fun thing I did was make a new eggplant recipe with my mom last night. It's a sort of stuffed eggplant parm. My mom got the recipe from WeightWatchers and we decided to try it out.

Voila!

Doesn't it look so yummy?!

It is supposed to be a sauceless meal (for those of us who can't eat tomatoes) but both my parents put sauce on theirs anyway and said it tasted just fine. If you want the recipe, feel free to email me for it. I'd be happy to share! (my email can be found in the sidebar of my blog page  <-----)

And now, I've been nominated by Meg O @Watch Me Go Run for the Butterfly Blogger Award !

So now I get to answer some more questions and you can get to know me a little bit better :)

1. Favorite Color: As if most of you don't know already, my favorite color is PINK!! I used to actually hate the color but it grew on me and now I can't get enough. Currently I am sporting neon pink painted toes, pink glittery fingernails, a pink watch, 2 pink bracelets, a pink purse and pink sunglasses.

2. Favorite Song: That's a tough one, I have a bunch of favorite songs. But, to narrow it down, I'd have to go with Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Every time I hear it, I can't help but sing a long! And I ALWAYS do the Wayne's World head bang with it! However, I will admit, Bohemian Rhapsody is not a good karaoke choice.

3. Favorite Dessert: Hmmm. I'm not generally into sweets but I do love key lime pie. Even better? Key Lime Pie ice cream. YUMMM.

4. What Wizzes You Off? Wizzes me off? Not sure what that means, but I guess it is asking what makes me angry. People who treat other people unfairly and people who mess with my friends and family. Those are my biggest pet peeves.

5.When You're Upset You: Usually listen to angry music and sing at the top of my lungs. It helps me release the tension. If that doesn't help, I usually will go to the gym.

6. You're Favorite Pet: Dogs are my all-time favorite pets. Especially my adorable dog Princess. She is a 13 year old, black and white shih-tzu. She is not a fan of the camera though so I don't have any photos.

7. Black or White: Like MJ once said, "It don't matter if you're black or white..."

8. Biggest Fear: Being a disappointment to my friends and family.

9. Everyday Attitude: Usually I'm pretty cheery and silly. Which is SO much better than the Negative Nancy I used to be.

10. What is Perfection? I think that perfection is contentment- and it's different for eveyone. When you can just sit back and be happy/content with yourself and everything that you are doing, that is when you have found your own perfection.

11. Guilty Pleasure: I love shopping. I'm quite a shop-a-holic. I especially buy tons of body care items (lotions, shower stuff, shampoo, make up), nail polish, scarves, purses, etc etc. I have a bad habit of sometimes spending money I definitely do not have. Oy.

Ok, so there you go!. Now, I get to tag some people:

Vanessa @ Gourmet Runner

Kristin @ Hollywood Runs
Fruit Fly @ Little Fruit Fly in Rainbow Colored Socks

Amy @ Pumpkin to Princess

Kurt @ Becoming an Ironman

And They're Off!

Alright folks, as promised, here is the daily update for Dec. 6th. :)

Today was kind of a slow day. I woke up and it was snowing out, which was pretty exciting. I decided to go out and run a few errands, so I did some shopping for about an hour. Then, I had rehearsal for Chicago. I'd say I danced for about 2 hours (there were some parts where I wasn't dancing because it was a men's only song, etc, etc.).

After rehearsal tonight, I went to the gym and ran for 40min. I managed to do 2.5 miles, which isn't half bad considering I haven't run in 2 weeks.

To tally everything up, calorie wise, I burned:

Walking for 60min = 200 calories
Dancing for 120min = 1208 calories
Running 15min/mile for 40min = 240 calories

A grand total of (insert drum roll here): 1648 calories burned!!!

Today I ate a half serving of lobster ravioli, a roast beef sandwich on whole wheat bread, and a half serving of pollo a la crema. Not a very healthy day food wise, but it happens. That just means I will have to be more careful over the next few weeks.

Lobster Ravioli is about 600 calories, but a half serving is around 300 calories.
Pollo a la Crema is about 400 calories, but I only ate half which is 200 calories.
A roast beef sandwich on whole wheat runs about 310 calories.
I had 2 glasses of 1% milk, so that adds 220 calories.
And 7 glasses of water, which is 0 calories. (YAY!)
My grand total for today is : close to 1030 calories.

Although I ate some high calorie foods, I didn't eat the entire portions (thankfully) otherwise, I would have been WAY over my 1400 calories a day. As it is, I'm actually pretty under my calories, which also isn't good. I need to work on balancing out my calories so that I'm eating the right amount my body needs in order to keep my metabolism from slowing down. I also need to eat fewer carbs and more protein rich foods (plus fruits and veggies, which were severely lacking from today's menu).

It looks like I burned off more calories than I consumed today. Interesting.