WeeCap: June 25th & 26th

Weekend Recap for June 25th and 26th in which Gracey goes to the best Jazzercise class ever (EVER), gets some sun, goes to a birthday party (Happy Birthday, Cam!), has a slumber party and spends a Sunday doing nothing.  And I should warn you, this post is light on outfit photos (except for the Jazzercise shots), but I promise I did wear clothes.  I just forgot to get proof.

Also, before I tell you about my weekend, I wanted to show you what my sister, Rosey, did for me.  On Friday night after work I went thrifting with Alex and when I came home, Rosey had created this bouquet of red roses and mock orange for me.  Isn't it beautiful?  I'm telling you guys, she's the best sister ever.

Now on to the weecap proper. On Saturday I woke up early to attend Jazzercise class and I wore this:

 

This is not what I usually wear to Jazzercise, but on Saturday we were celebrating 30 years of teaching Jazzercise for one of the instructors, so we were encouraged to dress in 80s clothes.  You all know I love the 80s, so I was super-excited for this class.  So I woke up early, put my hair into a side-pony and put on my off-the-shoulder Jazzercise shirt and my hot pink leg warmers. 

And the class was fabulous.  We walked like Egyptians to The Bangles, let Belinda Carlisle convince us that heaven is a place on earth and had a last dance with Donna Summer.  Jazzercise is always fun, but this class was even more fun that usual filled with 80s songs and old school routines; in fact, my friend Kory and I are going to try to convince our instructor to have these 80s classes on a regular basis.

After Jazzercise I hung out in the sun until it was time to go up to Portland to visit my fabulous friend Jenny and her gorgeous daughter Cameron:

Cameron had her birthday party at a bowling alley with several of her girlfriends and a couple of her guy friends:

After pizza and bowling, all of the girls (yes, all 10 of them) had a slumber party at Jenny's house, and so did I.  I had no idea that thirteen year old girls screamed and squealed so much, but they seemed to be having a good time; I guess they're just super-excitable in large groups?  All I know is that we adults fell asleep long before the girls did and we were up past midnight, so I'm not sure what time they finally fell asleep.  And when we woke up this morning, it looked like a bomb had hit the living room and the shrapnel was made of teenage girls.  There were girls sleeping on or under every available surface; I swear one girl slept with a sweatshirt as a blanket and a pile of magazines as a pillow.  And the food?  We had pizza at the bowling alley, but they still ordered two more pizzas in the middle of the night, finished up the peanut butter Cap'n Crunch and for some reason had the mayo out.

Sunday I hung out with Jen for a bit and then headed back home.  All in all, it was a lovely, relaxing weekend.

I hope everyone else had a lovely weekend as well,

Gracey

FBFF for April 29: Let’s Get Physical

Today’s FBFF questions combine something I love (fashion) with something I am decidedly meh about (fitness).  I mean, I recognize how they’re interrelated, but oh how I wish they weren’t. 

Yes, this is basically what I wear for Jazzercise.

Do you keep some kind of fitness routine? Why?

I do try to keep some sort of fitness routine because I recognize that it does help my clothes fit better.  And, frankly, without some sort of regular exercise, my thighs would have moved into the Balkans and created The People’s Republic of Thighastan.  But, I don’t love exercising.  I’d rather be reading.  Or sleeping.  Or rummaging through a thrift store or two. 

But, thrifting doesn’t keep me fit, so I work out.  Sometimes.  Usually in the form of Jazzercise.  As I’ve said before on here, Jazzercise is hilarious and occasionally embarrassing, but, for me at least, it’s more fun than a trip to the gym.  It combines cardio, weights and stretching so it’s a pretty well rounded workout.  It fits nicely into my schedule (most weeks at least) and, most importantly, no matter how I was feeling before I went to class, I feel fit and trim after I’m done.

I also ride my bike to work everyday, but I don’t do that for the exercise.  It’s only about a 15 minute ride both ways, so I’m probably not getting much from it physically.  But, the morning ride is easily the best 15 minutes of my day.  I love being outside before having to disappear into my office building, even for only 15 minutes.

Has working out, maybe training for a marathon or something of that nature, helped with your own perception of body image?

Oh, goodness, I have to stop laughing at the thought of me training for a marathon.  Seriously, unless I’m being chased, I’m not running anywhere.

My perception of my body image changes a lot, but not always as the result of more or less exercise.  I usually do feel more fit after an exercise class but that’s not the only time my perception of my body image is improved.  For example, I feel thin today.  I am, of course, no more thin than I was yesterday, but today I feel like I am.  It’s just how I am.  I rarely feel really negatively about my body; I’m usually comfortable with it and some days I’m more comfortable than others.

When you are hitting the gym or just going out for a long walk what do you wear? Is it about functionality or fashion?

Functionality, 100%.  I do not understand gym fashion at all.  I sweat.  A lot.  And I don’t see spending a lot of money on something I’m going to sweat in.  I actually get most of my workout clothes from Wal-Mart because they are super-cheap and I don’t feel bad about sweating in them.

Do you feel there is a cultural perception of what you ‘should’ be doing for your own physical fitness?

Maybe a little bit.  Especially on the West Coast, where “healthy living” is extolled, there is some pressure to get out and get moving.  Run, bike, hike, ski, surf, snowboard, you name it, Oregonians do it.  But, I don’t really care what society thinks I should be doing.  The fact of the matter is that I’m comfortable with my level of fitness.  I work out when I want to and I guess I’m pretty lucky in that I want to work out at least a couple of times a week.  And that I want to ride my bike to work and sometimes even to Jazzercise.  I do it because I like doing it, not because society thinks I should be doing it (or more).

Dream big… what would be your ultimate fitness goal.

I don’t have any.  Really, I’m just happy to maintain.  I’d like to get up to three times a week for Jazzercise, so I guess that’s something.  But, I’m mostly just happy with my exercise routine.  No, I’m not training for anything or trying to lose a lot of weight but I think that’s okay.

If you’d like to read more on exercise and fashion, perhaps from people who actually exercise, visit Katy at Modly Chic.  She’s got a whole list of bloggers who participated in today’s FBFF fun.

Gracey

The Perfect Foil

Daily Outfit, 2/24/11

Oregon was supposed to be hit by a late-winter storm sometime this week, and finally, this morning, we had snow on the ground.  Not much, but it’s the perfect foil for my black and red outfit. 

I layered a sleeveless wool dress (Liberty House, thrifted), over my cap-sleeve red dress (Banana Republic, also seen here), which I in turn layered over a black turtleneck (Old Navy) and black tights (Spanx Tight End Tights via Nordstrom).  I paired the outfit with my brown studded belt (Michael Michael Kors via Nordstrom) and brown riding boots (Born Crown “Sosie” via Nordstrom). 

 
I wasn’t sure how this would turn out (you know I didn’t try it before-hand), but I really like it. And, as an added bonus, from the side, I look as though I'm dressed like a ninja - it's hilarious, I'm sorry we didn't get a picture.

Enough about the clothes though.  Last night I went to Jazzercise and was utterly mortified by my teacher.  Let me give you a little background first.  One, and I’ve mentioned this before on my blog, a few years ago I took a pole-dancing class for a year or two.  And I loved it – best exercise ever.  Two, my friend Kory is one of the friendliest people I know, but as such, she tells everybody everything.  When she first began doing Jazzercise, she told everyone in our class everything about her and that I was taking a pole-dancing class. 

Fast-forward to last night’s Jazzercise class.  We’re doing this corny move that involved pelvic thrusts and making motorcycle-revving motions with your hands while waving them above your head.  It’s not a sexy move.  It’s a move that one might see Kevin James doing in “Hitch.”  But, my instructor, God love her, apparently thinks it’s sexy and something a stripper might do (it’s not) because she yells into the microphone “Gracey, you should love this move because you used to be a pole dancer!” 

More than a few people turned and stared at me and all I could think was, “Wow.  I took a pole-dancing EXERCISE class, I didn’t moonlight at Starz.”    But, it’s the middle of class and I can’t defend myself.  So, I’m pretty sure that everyone in my Jazzercise class thinks I’m an ex-stripper. They might not, however, as my instructor is always yelling awesomely random things into the mic.  I'm not sure anyone was paying attention and if they were, there is always the hope that people were suffering from oxygen deprivation and won’t remember.  Fingers crossed!

Happy Thursday, All!

Gracey

P.S. Today's pictures were taken by the lovely Phyllisa Applebum (she and Kathy gave me a ride to spare me from having to ride my bike in the snow.  I don't bike well in the snow).  Thanks, Phyllisa!