Celebrating My Last Year As a 20-something

On Saturday I turned 29 years old. I planned a day of things that I love including fitness, food, and friends. I was invited to attend a blogger Barre class at C2 Pilates in South Boston at noon. I had heard of C2 Pilates and their Barre class but had not had the chance to try it out yet so I was excited to experience another version of the trendy workout. 

They had 2 different sized balls, one large like Bar Method and one small like Pure Barre. They also has bands like Pure Barre but we did not use them. We were given the suggestion to use 2 lb dumbbells but given that the light weights I use at Bar Method are 3 pounders, I opted to grab those instead. Like Bar and Barre, the class is structured by songs. Each song has it’s own body part and choreography. C2 has 9 different routines. We did one that was designed for women undergoing breast cancer treatment or who are recovering from the disease. The first song was dedicated to focusing on our breathe and posture. The second was a moderate yet challenging warm up that had sweat trickling down my back. This to date was the best warm up I’ve had in a bar class. 

We moved on to arms where I was good with the 3 lbs. The first song was dedicated to the front of our arms and the second on the triceps, backs of the shoulders and back. Yes, we did back exercises in barre class! The legs were next. We did leg lifts to the side with lunges and squats. It reminded me of Barre Burn at Equinox with Lauren Hefez. It was hard! 

My friend and fellow Junior Leaguer, Jen Dorman who blogs at Boston Bachelorette took the class as well. Overall, this is the most I have ever sweat during a barre class. I did not wear my heart rate monitor so I have no idea about calories but would assume about 400-450. There was no portion of class where we sat on the floor and pressed our arms up into the bar (I liked this). The standing abs sequence was a new and fun change. The warm up was also very unique. My legs definitely were burning during the entire class but the shaking actually only came in the second song during the warm up. It was very different from the franchise barre studios and I really enjoyed the unpredictability.

The owners CC and Carolyn were both present for our class. CC explained to us that C2 is the official training studio in Connecticut for Stott Pilates certifications. They worked with Stott to create this Barre class and to be certified in Barre through Stott (or the Merrithew corp) you are taught the C2 Barre methods or as they call it, Stability Barre. For this reason, the class has a lot of Pilates influence which is great if you have experienced an injury while taking a class at a barre studio. They are having a special event April 6th if you live in Boston to benefit the Susan G Komen Foundation featuring 3 classes at the Dedham and Boston C2 studios. Get more info here. 

After class, I stopped by my sisters to say a quick hi. When I arrived, she couldn’t stop laughing because of what she had just posted to Facebook, a collage with pictures from growing up. I loved it! The real question is, why did our parents dress me up as the Easter bunny for Halloween? 

I got so many wonderful gifts from my friends and family. I was sent the most cards in the mail in a long time. I have a few college friends send me a card every year and are always on time. Snail mail cards always amaze me at how much a simple piece of cardboard can mean so much. I aspire every year to be like my friends who do this successfully! 

After visiting my sister, Roomie and I went to my favorite vegan/vegetarian restaurant Life Alive. It was his first experience and he actually liked it! He had a chicken sandwich before we went but enjoyed his Adventurer so much, he wanted it again Sunday night. The only hitch is that he wanted it as a side dish and not his meal. He missed his meat. Starving, I got the green goddess and mystic mountain salad as demi portions. 

On the way home, I spotted Veggie Galaxy, a vegan bakery. I said that if there was a parking space, I would go in because it was a sign from god that I was meant to have something from there. Sure enough, there was a car leaving right in front as we pulled up. This is extremely rare and lucky to find a space so quickly in Cambridge on Mass Ave. I grabbed a slice of Vegan Sweet Potato Carrot Cake. 

The website says, “Everything we bake is 100% vegan! No Butter, Eggs, Cream, Milk, Honey, Cream Cheese or anything animal derived, but with100% of the flavor and 120% of the love!” The frosting had a strong lemon flavor but other than that it was so good! I could not tell it was vegan and was pretty excited about my choice slice of birthday cake.

For dinner, I reserved a table at Granary Tavern for myself and 6 friends. We watched football, enjoyed appetizers, flatbreads and of course the obligatory restaurant Happy Birthday candle. The waiters did not sing or maybe it was that my table didn’t sing along so he stopped but regardless, it was funny. Right before we got mine, I saw 3 others go by. Must be a popular spot for celebrating. We ordered the grilled calamari, mussels, flatbread, beet salad and lobster roll. All were really good but my favorite was the Ginger Rogers I was drinking all night. 

After dinner, we stopped by a friends birthday party which happened to be 80’s themed! We of course we not dressed up but enjoyed dancing to our favorite Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson jams. I had an 80’s prom themed birthday party for my 24th which was one of favorite birthdays except that a friend smashed a window and it ended early. I wanted to go to a bar with dancing but hate all the Boston clubs that typically have this atmosphere so the private party was perfect.  

Emily and Jess (above) are two of my best friends from high school and it was fun to celebrate the evening with them for the 10+ times that we have over the years. We were sweaty by the night’s end and I was a little too tipsy for my own good. To attempt at preventing a hangover, I made Ezekial toast with peanut butter and jam when I got home at 2:30 am #DrunkFoodofaFitnessBlogger.  

I signed up for Remix Ride, 30 minutes of spin and 30 of yoga, Sunday evening at 5:30 pm at Recycle on Boston Common with Aly. I was glad I had until 5:30 pm to feel adequate for working out. The 30 minutes of cardio was intense. Aly is an amazing instructor. When we got on our yoga mats, I was drenched and felt a little nauseous. The 30 minutes of yoga was not too intense and felt amazing. I miss doing more yoga. On my way out, I saw a bottle of The Ripe Stuff in the fridge and had to grab it. I knew it would be my cure to feeling normal again and it was. 

All in all, it was a great birthday filled with the people, food and activities that I love. What is your idea of the perfect birthday?