My First Pure Barre Platform Class

So last night I tried my first Pure Barre Platform class at Pure Barre - Buckhead... 

and I think I almost died.

Honestly though I enjoyed it more than I thought and, more than anything I was really proud of myself for making it the whole class. I knew to pace myself, which I definitely did, but I was glad I tried it. I really want to plan to try to go to 1 or 2 platform classes a week now.

Valerie was my teacher, and she's fantastic! It also helped that 80% of our class were also first-timers like me so I felt more comfortable knowing that. Before class, Valerie told me how different Platform is from regular Pure Barre classes, everything in Platform is meant to be big, huge movements instead of small, concentrated moves. 

Have any of you tried PB's Platform class? What did you think? 

If you haven't tried it yet, I'd encourage you to try it! Here's a little video to give you a little preview. 

Next weekend the Pure Barre - Westside location is doing something neat called 

Tuck, Torq and Tacos. The first half will be Pure Barre, then we'll do spinning at Torq then grab some yummy tacos and margaritas at Bartaco. Learn more here. 

Enjoy this beautiful spring weather this weekend! 

xx, A

Pure Barre... Here we go!

Several of the Atlanta Pure Barre studios have the same owner, so they're letting customers use several locations with your package - which is a huge win for me. There are two near our house and one near my office so I have several studios to choose from.

This week they sent out an email for a great deal if you committed to a year of monthly unlimited packages. With being healthier in my workouts and what I eat as one of my goals for 2016, I decided to go for it. I signed up for my first month with the new client special and then the 12 months package for the heavy discount. This morning was my first class to kick off my 13 months of Pure Barre!

Here's a picture from my PB class this morning at the Druid Hills location. Any other #LiftToneBurn lovers out there??

Happy Saturday!

xx. A

My Favorite Classes in Atlanta for ClassPass

I'm just finishing my first month of ClassPass. One of my goals for 2016 is to get back into fitness and eating healthier (whose isn't right?) so my first step toward that goal was to join ClassPass.

ClassPass is a gym membership that gives you access to several studios and gyms in your area for $99 a month. It's available in a ton of cities, including Atlanta, Orlando, Chicago, Tampa, New York, Boston, Miami, and several others. I've really enjoyed getting to try several different gyms and workouts this month (for much less than a monthly membership to just one of these gyms) the "catch" is that you can only go to one particular gym up to 3 times a month and you don't have access to all of their classes, but I didn't have a problem getting into classes.

Image from ClassPass

For you chicas in Atlanta, here are a few of my favorites so far:

1. Forme Studios

Forme Studios was by far my favorite barre studio I tried. First of all, it's the most convenient location for me and I was able to try a few of their 6 AM "Booty Barre" classes which was nice to knock out my workout in the morning before work. I have a love/hate relationship with the instructor Donna who is also the owner. I really enjoyed her class but man, her classes kicked my booty. I was so sore after!

I loved this studio because it has a very neighborhood and community feel to it. They even have running club on Thursdays after work which I'd be interested in trying. I feel like barre classes sometimes miss the cardio piece to my workout so I love that she offers running together and I got an email about a barre class followed by wine tasting they had this month... my kind of gym ;)

2. Pink Barre - Buckhead

I had tried Pink Barre before so I knew I'd like this one. They had definitely changed a few things since the last time I had been, I found it more challenging this time around. In college I went to Pure Barre which I loved, I find Pink Barre to be pretty similar. Pink Barre has a wood floor instead of carpet and they replace Pure Barre's flat back series with what they call Barre Connect. It's a little more ballet-focused and is used to get your heart rate up between the thighs and seat series. I don't necessarily like one more than the other, those are just the biggest differences I've noticed.

Pink Barre was the most similar to what I did in college, when I first fell in love with barre classes. They have several Atlanta locations - Buckhead, Emory Point, Virginia Highlands, Sandy Springs and Lake Lanier.

3. Roc House Fitness Spa

I tried Roc House because my best friend is a member there already, so it was definitely nice to have a workout partner when I went. I did a barre and yoga class at Roc House together and I liked both. Not your "typical barre" class, but I was really impressed with the amenities they had. A really nice bathroom with showers and lockers, a full gym, cycling bikes for classes and studio for lots of different types of classes. This would be a great gym because they have everything you need - equipment if I wanted to workout on my own, classes if I want someone to tell me what to do/motive me and complete with showers to use if I'm going straight to work in the mornings or have plans with friends or Houston after my workout, which I thought was a huge plus!

4. Red Hot Yoga

I had only done 1 or 2 yoga classes before and I had never tried hot yoga, so this was a first for me. I didn't think I would like Red Hot Yoga, but I actually did! They have 2 studios there, I did the Power 1 class which apparently isn't as HOT as their Hot 1 class so I'm glad I did that one. I'm not sure I could have handled a studio much hotter but I did like it. Definitely felt like I sweat out my fair share of toxins for the day. It was a particularly cold day when I went, so I didn't mind the heat. Not sure if I could handle this in the summer! But I liked it and would definitely go back. Our class was packed so it's clearly popular with a mix of both guys and girls, which surprised me.

I mostly tried barre classes but was proud of myself for trying hot yoga and cycling for the first time this month. Have you tried ClassPass? If you've tried it in Atlanta, I'd love to hear some recommendations of what to try next time around!

If you want to try ClassPass for the first time, I'd love for you to use my link. You'll get $20 off your month and so will I! :)

xox,
A

New Year, New Goals - 2016

I can't believe it's already 2016 (I know it's February but better late than never, right?!) ! I feel like 2015 just flew by and I'm so excited for what's ahead. We had a lot of major milestones this year, here are a few highlights:

1. We bought our first home!

In February, we closed on our first home. We feel so blessed to have gotten this beautiful home that we can see ourselves in for many, many years to come. I can't believe it's almost been a year since we moved into our little Hough Home. (Anyone notice the blog name-change?!)

2. New jobs for both of us

After 2 year at a great PR/Marketing agency, I decided it was time for a change! I wanted to switch from an agency to corporate setting and completely change what field of marketing. I've been in a marketing role at the Home Depot corporate office for just over 7 months and am absolutely loving it! I miss some great friends from my old job, but knew this was the right career move for me and am so thankful I took this new job.

I work with some really awesome people and am passionate about going to work each day!

Houston also took a new role last year in June. He's been working extremely hard and I'm so proud of him!!

3. Betsy's wedding

My sister Betsy married the love of her life Michael in November! It was absolutely stunning and I wish we could do it all over again!! Here are a few special pictures from their unbelievable photographer Kristen Weaver.

Don't they just look like models?! (insert emoji heart eyes)

4. Trips

We took some really awesome trips this year including Salt Lake City to celebrate our 1st anniversary, Highlands (twice!) to have an Engagement Weekend for Betsy and Michael and then again with Juliann and Daniel for a fun couples weekend, Boston to visit Houston's brother and sister-in-law. Charleston for Betsy's Bachelorette, Louisville for our friends' engagement party, Destin (our favorite place to go to the beach!), Naples to visit grandparents and see one of my best friends get married, Birmingham for another best friend's wedding and St. Simons to celebrate my mom's special birthday.

Here's a few pictures from our trips:

Goals for 2016:
1. More Reading

I feel like I say this every year, but I really am going to try to read more this year and minimize my time on social media. I'm off to a pretty good start! I started reading How To Win at the Sport of Business, a compiling of some of Mark Cuban's blog posts. It's an easy read and really interesting to hear how he became so successful. I'm also re-reading Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life. This book has made such a wonderful impact on my spiritual life. Houston and I actually read this together when we first started dating and it's amazing how you can re-read something and God can speak to you in a completely different way each time.

Any other suggestions of books I should add to my list?!

2. Health

I'm trying to get back into eating healthy and working out consistently. Now that it's officially cold in Atlanta with the snow we had this past weekend my option of running in the neighborhood isn't an option. I joined something called ClassPass and am really enjoying it so far. It lets you go to classes at several different gyms (barre, yoga, kickboxing, etc.) or in different cities if you travel for work. Some cities are Atlanta, Orlando, Chicago, Boston, Nashville, New York, D.C., and many others. Check out if your city offers ClassPass to give it a try! Use this link and you'll get $20 off your first month and I'll get $20 bucks off too, win-win!

I'll write soon on some of my favorites after the first few weeks. It's nice to try new classes and workouts a try that I wouldn't normally try.

3. Opening our home more

Something else we want to do this year is open our home more to have friends over. I grew up with a love for hosting from my momma, who is the hostess with the mostest! We're going to try and make an effort to have people over more often this year.

4. Get a puppy!

So this may not necessarily be a "goal" but I really want to get a puppy this year!!! Houston and I are still working on a breed we can agree on. One day it's big, then small, then a Goldendoodle then a King Charles Spaniel. Also, I still don't think we're fully ready for the responsibility just yet... but we're close :)

So those are my goals for the year! Come on 2016, can't wait to see everything you have in store for our Hough Home! What are some of your goals for this year?!

xox, A

Step Sing Results [A little delayed]

My apologies for the delay but life has been a little crazy the last two weeks with recovering from Step Sing and visiting Atlanta this past weekend for a PRSA Real World Conference and got to celebrate Valentine's Day with Houston! But I did not want to overlook Chi Omega's Step Sing show that I am so very proud to have been able to participate in! Our theme was "Deliver Us" and we were prisoners. Below are two different angles of the show we performed two weekends ago:

Samford provided a live stream of Saturday night's performance online, I like this one because you can see everyone's faces up close.

Here is a balcony view which lets you get to see all of our formations and the feel of the whole show.

A huge thank you to our amazing directors Grace Kimrey and Augusta Clark, as well as our choreographer Mary Claire Fuqua and music director Lauren Barry. Thank you for putting together such a remarkable show and unforgettable senior performance for me, personally.

 Chi O brunch at Brio with Houston

 My parents, Michael, Betsy, Houston and his parents joined me for the Chi O brunch! It was so special to all get to be together in Birmingham.

Oh Marie, and Destiny's Child was born!

 

Seniors

Best friends since 5th West: Me, Jenna, Lauren, Tatum & Jessie

Just getting in character:) A prisoner, 3 orphans and a bride!

It is certainly weird that this was my last Step Sing as an undergrad, hope I get to come back in the years to come! You can see our shows from the last 3 years here. Congratulations to the top 3 finishers: 1. Pi Kappa Phi, 2. Dudes-A-Plenty and 3. IGnite

I'll be back soon,

A

Fitness Update:

Been able to go to Pure Barre about 3 days a week, trying to add in some cardio this week too!

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Valentine's Day means a lot of different things to different people - some people like to call it Single Awareness Day, some people in relationships don't even like the holiday, and others like myself are hopeless romantics and love holidays in general so single or taken I've always loved this day! (But I've gotta admit, having the most wonderful guy as your Valentine has made these past three so wonderful and I look forward to many more together!)

From growing up, Mom used to dye all our breakfast food pink! (I will totally do this as a wife and mom one day!) Complete with pink milk, cinnamon rolls with pink icing and strawberries! She has given me a love for holidays because she has always made them so special for us!

Valentine's Day in the Boyd household circa 1996. 

(You can see the pink milk in Betsy's cup!)

So here are a few Valentine's Day suggestions for you, for either a girl's night or date night!

-Girl's Night - One of my favorite blogs, The Everygirl posted these cute ideas for a fun girl's night Valentine party! Including ideas for decor, drinks, food and don't forget about dessert!

-Date Night - Last year for Valentine's Day, my parents had a progressive dinner around the house for Valentine's Day and I thought this was such a precious and fun idea! It was such a hit, they did it again this year! My parents have been married for 32 1/2 years and I admire them so much. They have such a biblically-based marriage filled with love, fun, and 3 (pretty cool, if you ask me!) kids. They had appetizers out on the dock, then dinner at the kitchen table, and my mom's famous chocolate cake, heart-shaped of course, at the high-top counter in the kitchen. So cute:) Dad brought mom beautiful flowers and they exchanged their Valentine's Day cards. Sounds like a pretty awesome date if you ask me!

Last year, Houston drove all the way from Atlanta on a Wednesday night and surprised me at my apartment by knocking on the door! I could NOT believe it! We picked up dinner and had a candlelight dinner together and just relaxed and watched a movie - one of our very favorite things to do!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Houston and I these past 2 1/2 years! The bottom, center one is from when he surprised me last year on Valentine's Day! You can still tell my eyes are puffy from tears of joy and surprise!!

And I just got a phone call that I have a "Valentine's present waiting for me at the apartment office!" Eeeek he's just the sweetest! Can't wait to see what it is:) My family, Houston, and his parents are all coming in town this weekend for Samford's infamous Step Sing weekend and I can't wait to all be together!

No matter your opinion of Valentine's Day, I hope it's special! Let me know if you have any other great ideas for this fun holiday!

xoxo,
A

Fitness Update:
Went to pure barre 3 times last week and 3 times this week so far! Woohoo! Just gotta start working on my food habits a little better!

Trust.

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Psalm 28:7

I'm sitting on the couch and just read today's devotional in one of my favorite devotional books Jesus Calling and came across this verse.

I love that part "my heart trusts in Him," like most college seniors I am constantly thinking about what will I be doing in this next stage of life? (You know the one after I graduate...) Thankfully I've got a city nailed down, Atlanta, which I am SO excited about because it means I can be closer to Houston (EEEK!), but I can't stop thinking about finding a job.

I've spent the last few months working on my resume on and off and having people look it over for me, and make more corrections, and I've finally started sending it to a few people the past week or two which is SO EXCITING to me, but also just makes me anxious. What happens now? Will anyone ever call me for an interview? Will I ever find a job? 

And I've realized that this is the devil creating all these anxious thoughts in my head. Worry and anxiousness is something I've struggled with, especially in college. I'm such a planner and I like to have my days scheduled and with a To Do list carefully in my planner. So as you would imagine, graduating in May is a little terrifying for me to think about since I'm not sure where I'll be working or living yet... but I'm learning to trust God in everything and know He has it figured out - and it just isn't my time to find out what that is quite yet.

For those of you that worry like I do, here are a few other great verses from the devotional today.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. Genesis 28:15

I think this is something I will have to continue to work on - but for now I'm trying my best to enjoy my last semester and being proactive to find a job, while not letting it stress me out and trusting God to lead to me to where He wants me to be after college (yeah, that sounds like a good plan!)

-A

Fitness Update:

Went to pure barre 3 times this week so far and attempting to get to the gym sometime today for some cardio, but not sure if that'll happen with all the reading I have for homework and Step Sing practice. And super excited because last night was my first pure barre class I actually enjoyed because I can already tell I'm getting stronger and was able to do a lot more of the exercises! Woohoo:)

Step Sing Season begins...

In honor of Step Sing season beginning this weekend I thought I'd reflect on Chi Omega's shows the last three years while I've been at Samford. I was able to participate my freshman and sophomore years and now my final Step Sing memories (sentimental, I know!) will begin this weekend, and I could not be more excited!!!

For those of you who don't know what Step Sing is, let me explain the biggest production and show Samford puts on every year. You could say spring semester doesn't really begin until after President's Weekend. Nearly everyone participates in Step Sing and so on top of our busy school schedules and social calendars we manage to spare three hours almost every night for three weeks for Step Sing practices, tech rehearsals and three amazing performances to compete for the very coveted 

1st Place Sweepstakes!

I cannot wait to perform with my Chi Omega sisters for my final time next month! Well tonight is Banner Drop! Where all the participants meet in the gym to "reveal" our banners that reflect our theme. The key is to describe the name of your show without giving away the theme of it! 

Here are our shows the past three years!!

2010 - A Knight's Tale (Batman)

2011 - Imagine That (Toys)

2013 - Deliver Us Can't wait to show you our video in a few weeks!! Stay tuned:)

Fitness Update:

I joined Pure Barre yesterday and attended class yesterday and today with Juliann and Jaime! Pretty tough getting back into, but I know it'll be worth it! And Friday I went to the gym just do the elliptical for 20 minutes and some abs because I was so sore from Thursday! I'd say a pretty good start to my fitness goals!

Happy Step Sing season everyone!

-A

P.S. Oh yea, and my last semester of college starts tomorrow!! CRAZY! But so very excited for it to begin!

[POST UPDATE - 2013 Video posted]

Gettin' Ready for Spring Break!

I know what you're thinking... 2 posts in 1 day?? Don't worry this probably won't happen very often.

I was just talking to Houston earlier today and told him that I really wanted to be more dedicated to healthier eating habits and workouts this semester. I want to have a healthier lifestyle and be more comfortable in my skin. He is amazing and tells me everyday that I am beautiful and is always so incredibly encouraging in my efforts to be healthy (when I try), but I am not thrilled with how I look and he is the BEST person to help me because he is so knowledgeable about health and fitness! So he told me that if I wanted him to, he would help me come up with a plan for my diet and fitness schedule! If you can't tell... I'm one very lucky gal:)

So after that great talk with Houston, my sweet friend Jaime had some of us girls over tonight to catch up now that we are all back in town (we start our final semester of college this Monday! Where has the time gone??) We were talking about how we all want to be in good shape for our Spring Break cruise, and decided we are all going to join our local Pure Barre, at least until Spring Break in March!!

Above is a video to help explain what a PB class looks like.


I am so excited because I love PB! It's so much fun and I love the workout, and I am also much more likely to go if I have a friend with me (social butterfly, right here).

PB really helps me to tone up, but I get faster results for my stomach if I'm running. So what I've decided to do is do my cardio on Tuesdays and Thursdays (I don't have class on TTh this semester - hallelujah!) and then I can go to PB classes with my girlfriends whenever they're free!

Now I'm posting about this so I can have a little more accountability. I'm not sure how many people actually read this (besides my sweet family and supportive friends), but this way I feel like I'm posting it out there for the world to see and I (hopefully) will be more diligent with my healthy living!

We (Juliann, Jaime, Courtney, Kristin and myself) are going to start our memberships this weekend at PB and I am so excited to get back! I haven't been in "Pure Barre shape," as I like to call it, in awhile so it might take me a few weeks! But here we go:)

Last thing --- Have y'all heard of this phone app called GroupMe?? I'm obsessed. My friends just showed it to me tonight and it operates how text messaging should on the iPhone (sorry Apple)! It's similar to WhatsApp if you've had that, but you can turn on a setting where you can receive them as text messages if you want, and you can also turn notifications off and/or take yourself out of the group message if you want to stop getting buzzed every 5 seconds... GENIUS! I love group texting, but sometimes it can drive me crazy if I'm out of town and can't hang out with my friends trying to make plans in the group text or my family loves to group message but sometimes I'm in the middle of things and can't respond, so this gives you the option to turn on the notifications! A highly recommend it!

Okay, sleep time! I have a business meeting in the morning! Eek:) I'll keep you posted on my newest entrepreneurship idea as it evolves!

-A

Fitness Update:
Juliann and I went to the gym at school today and I did:
10 minutes on the elliptical
10 mins sprint/walking on the treadmill
4 planks 30 seconds each
each side plank 30 seconds each
2 sets of 10 squats
2 sets of 10 lunges
3 sets of 30 rep "back dancing" (as PB calls it)
and 20 reps captain's chair leg raises