Last week, we celebrated our first Thanksgiving as a family of 3. We spent the first part of our long weekend up in Maine and then came back to Boston on Friday.
For the first time since I was probably in 8th grade, I did not go out the night before Thanksgiving. It’s usually my favorite night to party but Tommy sleeps terrible in his travel crib and I didn’t want to be up all night if I had been drinking. I guess being a mom is good enough excuse for staying in.
We had a delicious lunch instead on Wednesday in Portland at Honey Paw. Honey Paw is a family friendly must-try next time you visit Portland. Duck Fat had a stupidly long line and I think HP is just as good but no wait.
As usual, I forgot to take pictures at the start of our meal. I think it’s called being a parent and paying more attention to my squirmy child. Then, I go and take photos of the the least pretty dish. I promise the food is so good.
After splitting too many appetizers, I ordered a “salad” with tofu and pickled vegetables. I would order it again for sure and loved the variety of flavors and textures.
Afterwards, I ran over to Holy Donut for a Thanksgiving morning treat. These potato donuts are probably my favorite donuts around. The sweet potato and salted chocolate are the best in my opinion. I also got a coconut and maple.
But of course, I’m Sarah “Fit”… I exercise to earn my treats! I took advantage of having lots of babysitters on hand and went for a run both on Thursday and Friday morning. Nothing over the top, just 4 mile runs around Peaks Island.
I love being able to just run and not having any races to train for. If I wanna walk and take a picture, I don’t feel like I’m hurting my training. It was ideal running weather and I enjoyed every mile. It’s hard not to when your view is as scenic as this.
For Thanksgiving, Tommy enjoyed turkey, roasted sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and then of course his dad gave him some stuffing, mashed potatoes and coconut cream pie. I’m not a crazy mom but you are supposed to limit an infant’s sodium intake. I didn’t know how much was in the stuffing or mashed potatoes so that is why he only got a taste. As for the coconut cream pie, I was weak.
He’s just too cute to say no to and he always wants what we are having, especially if it’s in a can or bottle. Tommy loves a good beer bottle.
Burning Off Turkey Day…
On Saturday, I took BFX Build with Ike. It focused on strength and I really liked it. I appreciated the thought gone into the moves and ability for each one to be tailored to different fitness abilities. We used the TRX, weights, gliders, a medicine ball and kettle bell. It was time based and featured 10 moves essentially not including a warm up and final challenge. We did 3 sets of the first five moves, took a short break and then did 3 sets of the next 5 moves.
The rest of the day was spent shopping and meeting up with friends. We had friends visit and went to dinner at Kava in the South End. It was my sooooooo good and my favorite new restaurant by far. It’s Greek and everything we got was flavorful, fresh, unique and worth ordering again. I think my favorite was the imam (an eggplant appetizer) or the zucchini chips.
The next morning, I tried the new Turnstyle in the South End at Ink Block. It was my first time taking a class there and I was a little surprised that the class was packed. I guess I live in a spin bubble and never think to venture elsewhere because I love where I go. Heather was our instructor and I left feeling sweaty and accomplished. Her style reminded me of SoulCycle, fast beats out of the saddle, lots of choreography some songs but zero on others. 
My friend who came with me (and used to teach at FlyWheel in Raleigh) enjoys less jumps/arm work. I prefer jumps and choreography so this class actually had a little something for each of us. It’s a personal preference and not a criticism on the instructor. Heather mentioned that her class last week was more of a hill class so I think her style may change week to week but I’m not positive being my only class.
The biggest positive for me was that the acoustics were great in the studio. I’ve been to three studios recently (EBF, Title Back Bay and Handle Bar Southie) and I have had the hardest time hearing the instructors over the music. This is a total pet peeve of mine so I really appreciated the money the studio must have put into having good sound.
I love reviewing new studios and it’s something I haven’t been able to do because none of them have childcare during the week. I’m left to explore on the weekends where good classes fill up fast. I still use ClassPass. There is nothing worse than taking a mediocre class and wasting an hour I can’t get back these days. This is why I always go to my go to’s like Recycle Studio, Btone, Burn, etc…
Celeste at BFX teaches fusion (30 min spin and 25 min boot camp) on Tuesday morning at 6 AM and it is consistently fun and challenging! You should check it out 🙂
6 am is early! I couldn’t totally go to one I just have never signed up ????
I’ve taken 3 classes at Turnstyle in Kendall and have been pretty disappointed. I feel like the spin classes aren’t as good of a work out as the more old-fashioned style spin class that I take at my gym. I also had issues with hearing / understanding the instructor, so I feel you on it being super annoying for a whole class. Still waiting to try BFX!
I feel like spin is 100% based on a teacher. It’s up to the studio to make sure each one is up to their own standards. I haven’t been to the Kendall location.
I love Turnstyle! There’s this instructor named Deepak (Dr. D) that just makes me smile while taking us on a wonderful and challenging ride. South End is way nicer than Kendall or Back Bay but the dude is hilarious money! I bet you’d like him, too.