Top Five Friday #87

This week has been a doozie.   It was rough, it felt longer than normal, and I'm exhausted!  I have to work this weekend (UGH) but I'm still hoping to fit in some fun and relaxation.  To cheer myself up, let's talk about some happy things from the week with my Friday favorites!  Tell me something good in the comments below, and have a great weekend :)

 

DWTS Cast Announcement


The new cast for the upcoming season of Dancing With The Stars was finally released, and I have some thoughts on the pairings!  Here we go, in no particular order:


Simone Biles + Sasha = match made in heaven, definitely in the finals.
Charo + Keo = going to be a lot of fun to watch, the token "sassy and sexy older lady" who can still dance.
Nancy Kerrigan + Artem = really excited for this! I loved the 30 for 30 documentary on the Nancy vs Tonya drama, and she'll have a great "most memorable year" dance.
Heather Morris + Maksim = not a fair grouping..if your professional background includes being a backup dancer for BEYONCE and a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance, you should be required to be a pro on the show, not the star.  On a side note, I love Heather in Glee so I'm excited to watch her!
Nick Viall + Peta = NOOOOOOOO!  I love Peta and so excited for her to be back, but she's with NICK!?

My early predictions are Simone, Rashad Jennings (token football player), Normani from Fifth Harmony, and Heather in the finals.  I could also see the bull rider Bonner Bolton making it far (never heard of him, but he seems to have that southern charm that will make him a fan favorite and could have some moves!  You have to have good hip action to ride a bull I'm guessing.)  This season is definitely going to be won by a woman and I'm betting on Simone!


Missing Richard Simmons

This is my most recent podcast favorite (apparently I'm going to give podcast suggestions every week now).  I remember hearing about the strange disappearance of Richard Simmons a few years ago, and love a good mystery.  This podcast tries to figure out what happened to Simmons and why he went from being an over-the-top, super friendly and outgoing guy to complete recluse out of the blue.  The host is hilarious and interviews so many different people with crazy connections to Richard, and I'm really a fan!  (side note- how amazing would Richard be on DWTS?!?)


Motivational Quotes

I love hearing motivational quotes, and when I hear a good one, I write it down.  I wrote down this quote from Shalane Flanagan while she was on a podcast - "If you're achieving all of your goals, you're probably not setting a high enough standard for yourself."  That quote has been motivating me during marathon training so much, and I look at it every day. I would love to know what your favorite quote is so I can add some more to my fridge!


Beauty and the Beast Soundtrack

A new song was released from the upcoming Beauty and the Beast movie, and it's magical!  Ariana Grande and John Legend singing Disney songs..does it get any better than this!?  I don't think so, but I'll be eagerly awaiting the rest of the soundtrack to see if anyone can top it.


Thug Kitchen 101 Cookbook

I've already talked about my love of the original Thug Kitchen cookbook (I'm quickly making my way through the entire book and have loved every single recipe that I've tried), so I was excited to try out another one.  I borrowed this cookbook to the library to see if it was worth buying, and I'm definitely going to order it.  There are so many new recipes in this book and it doesn't duplicate anything from the original.  I love how all the recipes are vegan and are packed with flavor and keep me filled up.  Most of the recipes are also really affordable and don't call for weird ingredients.  If you're looking for some meat-free recipes I would check out these cookbooks!



linking up with Erika, Heather, and Friday Five 

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 3, 2017 at 3:45 AM

    I don't give a hoot about DWTS but Kerrigan v Biles will be interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  2. deborah @ Confessions of a mother runnerMarch 3, 2017 at 4:27 AM

    I did not know there was a new Thug Kitchen book. They are hilarious! Interesting story about Richard Simmons huh?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Heather @ Polyglot JotMarch 3, 2017 at 4:55 AM

    That cookbook looks awesome! Is it weird that I didn't realize this about Richard Simmons? Do they currently know where he is?!
    I only know like two maybe three of those "Stars" in DWTS but it sounds like quite a mash-up. I will say, as a former dancer, ice skaters and gymnasts are great with rhythm and movement but lack a lot of the technique needed specifically for dance. I'm sure those two will be the final two though!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fairytales and FitnessMarch 3, 2017 at 5:02 AM

    I can say I am totally not impressed with the DWTS line up. But i'll probably watch anyway!

    Now I am interested in the Richard Simmons thing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. KookyRunnerMarch 3, 2017 at 5:46 AM

    I own the first Thug Kitchen cookbook and I love it! I might check out the 101 cookbook as well!

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownMarch 3, 2017 at 6:30 AM

    Those cookbooks look the best! I was actually alive for the whole Nancy vs Tonya thing. That's how old I am. Wouldn't it be hilarious if Tonya came back and danced in the show against Nancy? Ha ha ha!

    ReplyDelete
  7. RachelMarch 3, 2017 at 12:26 PM

    I've heard the podcast about Richard Simmons was hilarious. I need to get on that!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sara @ Oats & RowsMarch 3, 2017 at 12:28 PM

    I need to get my hands on both of the Thug Kitchen cookbooks. I've been eyeing the first one for forever!

    ReplyDelete
  9. SokphalMarch 3, 2017 at 1:02 PM

    Ooohh...I saw that the Richard Simmons book was top of the charts and wasn't sure about it. Good to know! I love "You are stronger than you think you are" and "No growth happens in your comfort zone." This just applies to life in general! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. BojanaMarch 4, 2017 at 11:54 AM

    I hope you are feeling better over the weekend. Love the quote and how you have the inspirational background that you stick it on. Okay, my girls and I are SOOOO excited for the beauty and the beast movie that we have our tickets already purchased. Thanks for sharing the song, we all enjoyed it and have played it several times already.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Kristy Sayer-Jones @ Southern In LawMarch 6, 2017 at 1:26 AM

    I have heard so many good things about those cookbooks! I really need to get them as we're always looking to experiment with vegan/meat free meals!

    ReplyDelete
  12. CarlyMarch 6, 2017 at 8:25 AM

    I keep hearing about that podcast and am growing more and more intrigued! I've never watched DWTS, but love Simone!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Relationship Rules I Broke (and WEDDING PHOTOS!)

Image
Happy Thursday everyone! Today I have a different type of post to share today.  I don't talk about relationships or my dating life much on the blog, but I'm switching it up today!  I got married last Friday, and I thought it would be fun to share some relationship rules that I broke while Dan and I dated. I'll also be sharing some wedding pictures!  We got married at the Butterfly Falls at the Hidden Valley Inn in Belize (more on the Inn in upcoming posts!), and the pictures turned out absolutely amazing.  Since we had a "just the two of us" ceremony, there's not much to talk about the actual wedding.  In lieu of a full post on that, I'll be sharing some background information on our relationship, along with wedding photos and some #ThrowbackThursday pictures.  I hope you enjoy (and I promise- back to running stuff next week!) Guys are immature, so date someone older I've always read in magazines (which, by the way, have the worst datin
Read more

Towpath Half Marathon Recap

Image
Hi everyone and Happy Tuesday!  Today I'll be recapping my race this weekend, the Towpath Half Marathon.  Overall, I had a great experience at the race and would definitely recommend it!  Before I dive into the mile-by-mile recap, I just wanted to give some overall thoughts and reviews of the race as a whole. The Towpath Marathon features three races- a full marathon, half marathon and 10k.  All three races are in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, but all run different courses.  The half and 10k start at the Brandywine Ski Resort, while the full starts at the Boston Mills Ski Resort (where the expo is held). The course is mostly on a narrow crushed limestone trail that is relatively flat.  There are a few sections that were paved and a few small walking bridges that provided the only real inclines.  It's really hard to pass people (particularly near the turn where it's two-way traffic) since the trail is so narrow. There are a lot of water stations, and each o
Read more

Review- Group Power

Image
Happy Weekend everyone!  Today, I'll be doing a review of another group exercise I do at my gym called Group Power !  Let's get right into it. First off, the description in our program guide is "This 60-minute barbell program strengthens all your major muscles in an inspiring, motivating group environment with simple, athletic movements such as squats, lunges, presses and curls." I don't exactly look like this when I'm curling..but you get the idea! Let me tell you, this is one intense workout!  For the entire 60 minutes, we're constantly moving and lifting and by the end I'm a pool of sweat!  We work out all the major muscle groups - Legs, Chest, Triceps, Biceps, Glutes, Shoulders, and Core with light to moderate weights.  We also use a step to do exercises like chest presses and split squats. For each song, we focus on one muscle group, and do a variety of exercises with lots of repetitions, set to the beat of the music.  The tempo of the
Read more