Daily, Photos, Videos

Dragonette & Young Empire’s

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I think I’m jet-lagged. I didn’t think it hit me. That was, until today.

I had a dental appointment at 11:45am this morning. I tweeted all the while I was there. It was just a check up and cleaning. The dental hygienist told me I had, and I quote “great hygiene” yet while she was digging under my gums with that painful needle-like scraper, blood was flying everywhere. An exaggeration of course. But I don’t think I’ve ever had a rough cleaning as I have today. My Boyf went two days prior for his cleaning and he’s always a big o’ baby with the mouth pain. But I definitely felt it with this new lady. Ouch!  I even turned my head away from her for a few times, to get away from it!

Does anyone elses mouth salivate more when they’re at the dentist? I swear mine does, just because I know I’m not allowed to swallow whenever I want. It’s all mind games, I’m tellin ya. Can I hold that suction tube thing for you, Miss Hygienist? I’ll let you know when it needs to be done. Thankyouverymuch.

My point of the blog post got off topic. Even though I didn’t introduce it yet. But I will now. While I was home in Newfoundland I saw Coca Cola tweet something about completing a sentence and winning tickets to see Dragonette in Kitchener, the day after we returned home. I answered correctly, and won two tickets to see them!

I gotta be honest. I had no idea who they were until I googled the song name for the answer on twitter. That was until I recognized some of the songs they sang, thanks to google. She kind of reminds me of my friend Tanya. But the boyf didn’t see it at all… lol Maybe it’s just the eye color.

and some pictures of the sound guy…

The all ages show was last night, and the Boyf & I thoroughly enjoyed it! Some of the songs she sang, I didn’t realize she was the one who sang them on the radio. lol #newbie


I Came To Say Hello — this was my Summer 2012 song. You know those feel-good songs that you just need to blast loud in your car with all the windows and sunroof down with your hair blowing all about? This was it! This song also reminds me of endless CrossFit box jumps. I laughed when she started singing it live! OMGAAGH I LUVE THIS! I immediately passed over my camera taking its video to the Boyf, while I started dancing!


Dragonette — Let It Go.

There were a few bands opening for them, of course before Dragonette played. And what do you know? I recognized these dude’s too! LOL I love it when I know songs. A video that you too might know. Apparently the Boyf had never heard of this song before? Isn’t it on the radio? Her are the Young Empire’s singing their single White Doves (hear the full song on YouTube):

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Daily, Newfoundland, Photos

Newfoundland: Goodbye until Christmas

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It feels, and it has been ages since I blogged last.

I took a much needed break from my website, when I went on vacation back home to Newfoundland. Hope you didn’t miss me too much ;)

I’ve been back on Ontario soil for almost 12 hours. I went to bed last night and woke up at 4am for the 6am flight. Then worked the entire day. Call me a trooper.

I already miss my family, and friends. I didn’t get to hang out with my friends as much as I had hoped. The week just flew by.

I’ll leave you with a few snaps of while I was down home, to tie you me over until my next blog entry ;)

My best friend, Trevor and my Sister-In-Law and I playing around at Sport Chek.

Super fun hand chairs at the Village Mall.

My amazing Daddio and I, out to lunch at Montana’s Cookhouse :)

Alfie and I on a trail walk

Saying good bye to my nephews yesterday. :(

Just look at those faces looking up at me! So hard to say so-long til Christmas.

Until tomorrow… I’ll bombard you with a ton of photos this week. So mark your RSS feed’s as read, if you’re uninterested, haha!

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Guest Post, Health, Photos

Burn at the Barre

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I decided to not blog every day while on vacation because that’s just crazy-ness. So instead I’ve asked a few friends to chime in for me. I’ll make this short and sweet. Jill, blogs over at Bluegrass Belle and I’m excited to have her on my blog today! Please take a visit at her website. She’s one of my daily-reads (or whenever she updates, heh heh!)

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Hey there, Spiffykerms readers! I’m Jill, from Lexington, Kentucky, and I blog over at Bluegrass Belle. While I wish I could tell you I have a certain topic or “focus,” you’d quickly figure out that isn’t the case, ha! (I intentionally chose this picture of myself because a friend told me I looked skinny…ha!)

Anyway – I’ve been reading Nancy’s blog for quite a few years now and one of the things I’ve always admired is how active she is! Well, now I understand why that is easy for her – it’s because she does something she likes! Last January, I too started doing something I liked…Barre Amped!

Never heard of Barre Amped? Well neither had I, really, until I started doing it! From the website: “BarreAmped is an intensive body shaping experience designed to produce reliable results, no matter the client. The method is influenced by classical and modern dance (though it is not a dance class) and utilizes a barre to achieve optimal positioning. The precision-oriented technique focuses mainly on small, isolated movements within deeply held and challenging postures. BarreAmped is proven to increase metabolism, burn fat, and lengthen tight muscles. With commitment to the technique, you get recognizable results exactly where you want them.”

Okay, well, that sounds great and all, but does it work? Honestly, before I did it I had a hard time thinking that it would. You never use more than a 3 lb. weight and it’s not like you’re running miles or anything. The first time I took a class, I didn’t even take a bottle of water!!!! (It was an accident, but oh, how quickly I learned…)

(This hottie is Leigh-Ann, one of my BarreAmped instructors and the studio owner. Not too shabby!)

I’ll say this – when I started doing Barre Amped, my size 6 pants were starting to become snug. That has definitely changed! My stomach is flatter and more toned, I have muscle definition in my legs that wasn’t there before, and I feel tremendously better.

BarreAmped has also allowed me to feel comfortable in LEGGINGS. People, I hadn’t worn leggings since elementary school! And skinny jeans? I actually LIKE them now.

In addition to being a total body workout, BarreAmped allows me to zone out for an hour and focus on me. Usually, at the gym, I’d be on the treadmill or elliptical…and the whole time my mind would be racing. Honest to Pete, I would often wish I had a notepad to make notes to myself of all the things I would think about that I needed to do (at work, at home, etc.) That is enough to make you dread working out right there! At BarreAmped, not the case. The entire 60 minutes, I’m focused on the instruction and cues from the teacher, as well as my body and position.

So, you may be wondering about the title of the post, Burn at the Barre. Well, if you don’t feel the burn and your muscles aren’t shaking, you’re not doing it right. Or else you are tremendously in shape and I hate you. But let’s assume that isn’t the case ;) A huge goal in BarreAmped is to make your muscles shake and burn. I can handle the shaking a lot better than the burning. Let’s take a look at one of the positions that burns the crap out of my legs AND makes me shake…Leigh-Ann is below in seated chair, with heels in releve (rell-uh-vay).

(Can I just add that Leigh-Ann taught BarreAmped classes all the way up to 40 weeks pregnant?! I’m not kidding when I say I took a class with her one night and she had her baby girl THE NEXT DAY. She is amazing.)

The other HUGE burn for me comes when we do what is known as the “Waterski.” Check out the picture and you’ll easily see why. I hate waterski, but I love it. It burns like the dickens, but I know it is working. I can feel it!

If you don’t have Barre Amped in your area (check this link for locations), there are a number of other barre classes you can try. I can’t speak to what they’re like because I’ve never done them, however, those I know of are: Pure Barre, Bar Method, and Physique57.

Still none of those available? Check out this at-home workout, compliments of Shape magazine: Embrace Your Inner Ballerina

Or, you can visit My Barre 3 and try out some online classes. My friend Emily did this for awhile, when she was faced with a really hectic schedule and couldn’t make it to class! She enjoyed it!

Hopefully, I’ve convinced you to give barre a try! If nothing else – you heard this from someone who has actually tried it and seen results…not just some super fit instructor! I always wanted to hear from someone firsthand but a) never knew anyone who did it and b) never had the courage to ask many questions. I’m about 10 lbs. lighter than when I started, and loving every minute of class. Just don’t forget your towel and water bottle ;)

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