Photo Blogging Challenge – Two

The March Photo Blogging Theme is “Two” in honor of the 2nd anniversary of the challenge.

I’ve had fun with the theme this month!

I like the mixed-messages (2) from this sign on a door in my condo basement.

(One side was worried about pipes freezing in the cold & the other about adhering to fire code.)

2 frog statues buried in the snow – Boston tadpole playground – very close to the frog pond ice skating rink

Here are my 2 badges for PAX East 2015

A delicious Panera Bread “You Pick 2” dinner

Motivation & hydration from the Essentia Fitness event!

This monthly photo blogging challenge is facilitated by PJ of the Northeast Bloggers Network.

Thanks for inspiring me to take more photos!

SBS Soccer 3/29

Indoor Soccer

We faced a team last night that should have been in the intermediate, not novice league, but they joined the novice league because there was space in it when intermediate filled. (Bad form other team!)

We were crushed, 13- 4, but at least it wasn’t a shut out.

I actually did my job playing defense. I felt good out there and wasn’t afraid to go after the ball (like I normally am).

When I got home, I found my teammate Jess had messaged me “I just wanted to tell you how amazing you were out there today!!! You made great contact with the ball on multiple occasions, and player fantastic defense! Way to go!!!”

Now, I definitely wasn’t “amazing” but it felt good to contribute to the team instead of fearing I’ll be a liability that does something to mess us up.

Next week there’s no soccer, since it’s Easter. I’ll be back playing 4/12, for our 2nd to last game of the season.

It feels like the season flew by.

Thanks to my awesome teammates for making me feel so welcome & encouraging my improvement.

Meanwhile, in MA…

Winter just will not leave!

This is a photo from the slushy snow storm on Saturday (that lasted most of the day):

The one good thing about the storm is it scared people away from going out, so my husband & I were able to get a seat at our favorite breakfast place, Craig’s Cafe.

I took the picture from inside.

Social Boston Sports Soccer

Indoor Soccer

The SBS soccer team I’m on has changed it’s name to “Uno Mas”.

We had a late game Sunday night, starting at 9 PM.

We lost, 3-6, but were much more competitive this time.

My teammates & I definitely had fun!

I’m looking forward to earlier soccer games the next few Sundays.

Bloggers at the Barre

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of joining a group of bloggers at Simply Barre for my 1st ever barre class at a barre studio.

Since this is the winter that just doesn’t end, it was snowing when I drove to and from class (even though it’s technically spring).

My goal for the class was just to not hurt anyone if I fell. (I didn’t fall or hurt myself any other way. Victory!)

Empty studio before class begins

Blurry selfie

I had a great time & enjoyed the workout. The movements may be small, but you definitely feel the muscles working. I’m very glad I withheld judgement on Barre as a workout until I could try it in a studio.

After class, we had a delicious lunch from Paleo Life!

Thank you to Simply Barre for hosting us!

We’ve officially set a snow record

Essentia & Awake Boston Fitness Event

I had a wonderful workout on Saturday morning at Brooklyn Boulders thanks to Essentia Water & Awake Boston!

I arrived bright & early (7:30 AM) at Brooklyn Boulders in Somerville. I was looking to a fun day & different workouts.

As soon as I arrived, I saw my friend Erica, blogger of Boston Rookie, which was a very nice surprise.

Here’s a picture of the 2 of us from the day:

The workout was structured to begin with a bootcamp high intensity style workout lead by Sarah Fit. Sarah recognized me from taking her High Intensity Workout class in January at Urban Outfitters. That made me smile. (I’m an avid reader of her blog too.) Her workout was intense but over within 30 minutes.

Painted on the wall of Brooklyn Boulders

I love that Brooklyn Boulders was the space chosen to host this event. (It’s a rock climbing gym in Somerville.) I’ve been to Brooklyn Boulders before as part of a Social Boston Sports Fit League, Yelp Boston learn to climb event, and even a party with Yelp Boston. As you can see from the mural above, it’s a very fun & motivating space.

Next, we were asked to flip our mats around & the front of the room became the back of the room. I was a bit disappointed with this change because it swapped me to the back of the workout room & I had difficulty hearing the last 2 instructors.

My new view – during the nutrition talk

We heard nutritionist, Lauren Mayer, speak about nutrition & hydration. (We were all set with the 2nd thanks to Essentia!)

Then, Jennifer Phelan lead a pilates class. I’ve never taken a class lead by Jennifer before but she’s well known in the fitness community & I’d heard great things! Other than a mic problem making hard for me to hear her instruction, I enjoyed the class.

Finally, we had a yoga session lead by Cara Gilman. Again, the mic was tough to hear, but I decided to just go with the spirit of yoga and relax.

I thought about how lucky I am to live in a state with such an active fitness community. Across the room that morning you could see people working out in November Project shirts. Awake Boston hosts a morning fitness rave with yoga & dancing every few months! We have an extremely active running community – with many training for the Boston Marathon. Then there’s Sweetgreen’s Passport program bringing free fitness classes every month! And finally the blogger community hosting fitness based meet ups! I think that environment of love for being healthy & fit is vital to being able to write this blog. Thank you MA for welcoming me into your amazing fitness community!

Thank you Essentia Water, Awake Boston, Brooklyn Boulders, and all the instructors for a wonderful morning!

PAX East 2015

I got in a lot of walking at PAX East this weekend!

PAX stands for Penny Arcade Expo and it’s a huge event for fans of video games that takes over the Boston Convention Center.

I joined my husband at PAX East on Saturday & Sunday. (We’ve attended in past years & it’s always a good time!)

On Saturday, I walked 11,345 steps which was 4.74 miles, according to my Fitbit.

On Sunday, I walked 7,772 steps which was 3.25 miles, according to my Fitbit.

It was great to get in some walking, see friends, attend interesting panels, and get lots of fun photos.

My husband attended all 3 days of the event and you can see his posts for each day:

PAX East Day 1

PAX East Day 2

PAX East Day 3

Here are some of the photos:

Dave checking the PAX East schedule and map

While waiting in line for a panel to start, this PAX East attendee juggles to pass the time

Monster Hunter camp on the expo floor

PAX East Game Show Night

Funny sign for the food court

Walkadoo

My husband recently asked me how I enjoy my Fitbit verses the Weight Watchers Active Link that I used to use.

I like Fitbit offering a leaderboard so I can see how my activity compares to my friends, but I don’t like that there is no way to change your daily goal from 10,000 steps (5 miles).

Active Link set your daily activity goal based on your past activity levels and your current weight.

The way I’ve gotten around this is I sync my Fitbit to the (free) app Walkadoo.

Walkadoo sets step goals for me based on my previous activity level and sends me a text with the goals each day.

Here’s an example, what my goal for today looks like:

There are also occasionally unlimited points and all or nothing points challenges.

I’m a fan of using this app to get the personal goals I was missing using Fitbit alone.

Do any of you use apps and/or activity monitors to track your activity?

Work Has Been Keeping Me Busy

I’ve mentioned before on this blog that my job is fundraising for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

That definitely keeps me busy.

If you watch my instagram feed, you may have noticed that the CFF MA/RI Chapter Annual Dinner event was last Thursday night.

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A post shared by Danielle Kempe (@danielle.j.kempe)

I staffed the Great Strides (walk) table.

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A post shared by Danielle Kempe (@danielle.j.kempe)

By the end of the night, my Fitbit had counted 7,681 steps which equals 3.21 miles of walking!

Here’s another fun picture of me from that night:

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A post shared by Danielle Kempe (@danielle.j.kempe)

Sadly, my car broke down on the way home. AAA towed me & the car back to Quincy but I didn’t get home till about 12:30 AM. (I’d started my work day at 8:30 AM at our Natick office.)

My car’s been repaired and I used it Saturday night to drive to Lawrence, MA to staff a comedy night fundraiser for one of my Great Strides Wakefield teams. I took my husband with me, because he was afraid of a repeat of me being stranded in a broken down car, late at night.

I’m looking forward to getting a lot of walking in this weekend, when I visit the PAX East (video game expo) with my husband.