Everything around us is built up with science. There are millions of molecules buzzing around us at all times. Our body is made up of molecules, and the biggest element is H2O. Water, for all you folks who don't use the scientific part of your brain. Because of this, it is super important to keep our bodies hydrated. Today I wanted to talk about the benefits of water and why you should be drinking more.

As a society, water is often passed over for sugary and caffeinated drinks. What we don't think about is the drinks we are choosing in place of water can often make us dehydrated and sluggish. Water is needed to help flush the body of toxins, and when it's not present we aren't getting everything moving. During the day we should all be consuming half of our body weight in ounces of water. For example, if you weigh 140 pounds, you should be drinking 70 ounces of water a day or roughly 8.5 cups of water.

This sounds harder then it is. What I have done to maintain my water intake daily, is purchased a fun water bottle that has the ounces marked on it. I drink four 20oz bottles of water a day. It goes a lot quicker then I thought. I drink one 20 ounce bottle before I go to work. I refill 2 more times at work and then drink the last 20 ounces after work once I get home.

I have been doing this now for a few weeks. The changes I have noticed are amazing! I have been having a lot of trouble with acne on my face and back. My face and back are FINALLY clearing up. I notice my skin looking brighter and I look more awake. I am not as hungry so I am not snacking as often in between meals. The bloat I have been feeling is going away. So many benefits come out of drinking water.

Do you drink enough?

Are you new to your area? Looking to meet new people? Tired of the same things day in and day out? Why not try attending local events? What better way to meet people in your community then to attend something local? I wish I would of taken my own advice 2 years ago when I was moping around with nothing to do weekend after weekend. Sure I had my co-workers but sometimes it's nice to spend time with people who don't know what you do day in and day out at work.

Over the past 4 days I have attended 3 fun events. Most of them were free and were a great opportunity to meet new people. I was able to find all of these events on the Facebook Events page. I clicked on "Events Near Me" and it listed everything going on in my city and in cities nearby. Once you find something that interests you, you can "join" so it will be added to your Facebook calendar and will be reminded the day of so you don't miss it.

To give you an idea of some of the fun things you can find, I want to share with you the 3 events I attended and how they are fueling me to attend even  more in the future!

Thursday
I attended a trunk show at a local beauty bar. Avanti Boutique teamed up with Miel Beauty Bar to offer some beautiful spring dresses, jewelry, beauty products, and wine! Who doesn't like a good night of fashion, beauty and wine? Speaking of wine, Redhead Wine was featured and it was created by a local women. It was a wonderful sweet red wine. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to purchase my own bottle! Make sure you check out their sites!

Friday
Red is my new favorite! The Red Event that is. This was a fundraising event put on by the Hangar Aces to raise money for the local arts and especially the Hangar Theater. The Hangar Aces are a group of young professionals (Ages 21-39) who put on events to help raise awareness of the arts as well as offer social and networking events for young professionals. The event was so much fun! Everyone comes dressed in red and there was music, wine, beer, raffles for fabulous gift baskets, and lots of networking! I wore my favorite red wedges (and paid for it later) and had a great time mingling and drinking wine.

Sunday
There's no party like a tea party! A local community center put on an afternoon tea fundraiser. It was fancy! So pretty and such a great time with friends. We may have been the youngest ones there but it was great. The tea sandwiches were great and each round of tea was a new tea to try. Totally going to this again next year cause who can pass up mini everything and tea?


So how was your weekend?

We made it to Friday. It couldn't have come fast enough! Today I want to talk about 5 things from this week that I have been working on. I am so excited about where this blog is headed.

One
I am so exited for my new venture on my blog. If you read my post last Sunday I rambled on about my ideas. I am working on building a relationship with my local community. This is so exciting for me because I live in such a diverse and fun little city. So much to offer and so much inspiration comes out of where I live. Stay tuned for my weekly features on local spots.

Two
Speaking of working with local businesses I decided yesterday to debut my first review post about a local pub and eatery. I think it went well. I was so happy to see the response from the owners on social media as well as the traffic the post created.

Three
Now that I am working on becoming a part of my community I am looking for events to attend, volunteer positions, and classes. I am particularly pysched (does anyone still use this word?) about this because if you recall my February goal was to meet new people, and this is a great way to accomplish that.

Four
Speaking of goals, I wrapped up March goals but never talked about my April goals. My plans changed a little with my move and such so that changed my goals. I have decided to make April all about finding a hobby that makes me happy. What that lead me to was this new page (pun intended lol) on my blog. I have not been this excited for a new project in a long time. I am finally taking the steps I need to make this blog my happy place. I am so excited for it and what you will all think!

Five
Tonight I am volunteering at my first event! It is to support local theater, which I love. It is called the Red Event and I will be helping out with my new friend Nikki. So excited for this because it gets me out on a Friday night and the group I am volunteering with is a young professional group so I can meet some new peeps my age! I look forward to writing all about it next week. I really hope you all have a fantastic weekend ahead! Spring has sprung ya'll!

Hey all. I mentioned on Sunday that I was going to start bringing some local posts to my blog each week. I want to connect with my community and to give potential visitors a taste of what they can expect if they visit the Finger Lake region in New York. I wanted to go ahead and get that started this week as I visited a new to me restaurant over the weekend that was AH-MAZ-ING.

Red's Place, a unique dining pub has it all. A bar. Great menu. Great help. Me and R decided to catch a late lunch when we were shopping on the Commons on Sunday. It was 2pm and the weather was perfect so we were not able to get a table outside, but the interior was enough to make us forget all about the tables outside. The light fixtures are made of mason jars, and the wood on the bar from an old barn. There is a mural of NYC on the wall and the table tops were beautiful.


Being it was a warm day, we both decided to go with one of the many beers they had on tap. They have a nice beer list, including seasonal and local beers. We were brought our beers and 2 mason jars of water. I don't know about you, but mason jars are the way to my heart. They are so versatile and you can dress them up or down.


After a few minutes of deciding on a meal, we decided to try a few items and share them. We ended up with 3 Rosebuds (chinese five spiced bbq pulled short rib sliders with coleslaw), A Wild Thing Flatbread (wild mushrooms, rosemary, prosciutto and fontina) and a basket of steak fries. We mostly wanted fries because of the cute little basket they came in.



The food came really quickly and I have to admit it was gone just as fast. Everything was really good. The pulled bbq was tender with flavor and the flatbread was soft and crunchy in all the right places. The french fries were what any french fry tastes like to me. Nothing fancy, but hit the spot!

While R paid the bill I hit the bathroom. I have to say it is one of the nicest restaurant bathrooms I have been in a long time. Very clean and a full on changing table for mothers who need to tend to an infant. That gets a gold star in my book!

Overall we enjoyed out experience. The food was good. The place was clean. The staff were great. For both of us to eat our bill was just under $40. I would say that is just above average for Ithaca. 

If you would like to visit Red's Place they are located at:
107 N. Aurora Street ("Restaurant Row")
Ithaca, NY 14850

You can check out their menu here -----> Red's Place Menu

Stay tuned for more local posts! If you are in central NY and would like to work with me, please send me an email! I would love to work with you!

Did you all think I was going to forget about my 10 minute challenge posts? Not a chance! Today I want to give you 5 more exercises and stretches you can do in 10 minutes. Not only are these quick, they can be done anywhere and they bring quite a punch! If you missed the last one you can check it out here ----> 10 Minute Fitness Challenge


Today we are focusing mainly on legs. Make sure to make adjustments to any of these exercises if they do not feel comfortable to you. Never do something if it hurts. I am not a certified trainer, these are all moves I perform myself. If you have any doubts please consult your doctor.


2 Minutes-Warm up doing jumping jacks. Do them in intervals. No need to do 2 minutes straight!

2 Minutes- Do 2 sets of wall sits. Lean up against a wall and slide down until you are in a comfortable "chair" pose. Hold this for 30 seconds then rest for 30 seconds. Repeat 1 more time.

2 Minutes - Calf raises!  30 minutes of raises, 30 minutes of rest. Repeat 1 time.

2 Minutes- Desk Leg Raises. Sit at your desk with good posture. Lift both legs up until they are straight and hold for 5 seconds. Bring feet back to he ground. Continue this movement for 2 minutes for a great  leg workout.

2 Minutes - Squats! Do 3 sets up 10. Rest in between as needed. 

There you have it folks. Easy peasy and you got leg day crossed off you list! Come back next week for more easy office workouts!