It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Yes, I am aware that it is not yet Thanksgiving. No, that has not stopped me from spending a very hefty chunk of my funemployment getting SUPER excited for Christmas. 

Ladies and gentlemen, Christmas is what we like to call a Very Big Deal here at MinneapoLiz World Headquarters. I adore everything about the season. For me, it always seems like everyone is a little happier, a little quicker to forgive, a little more open to the infinite good things in life. On a more superficial level, of course, it's a season that's all about yummy smells/delicious food and drinks, pretty lights/sparkles/decoration, fancy shop windows, festive parties, and celebration. Let's be real. It gets me through an entire month of Minnesota winters feeling excited about tons of snow…because what's more festive than snow-covered pine trees or twinkle lights on a street shining through snow falling?

This, by the number, is what has been done so far at Holiday Headquarters (aka my one-bedroom apartment) to prep for the season: 

Vanilla and peppermint with a hint of pine. Sounds weird, but it's my faaaavorite. 

--4.5: Number of holiday candles that have been strategically spaced through the place to generate maximized holiday scentedness. (The .5 is finishing up one that was almost gone from Christmaspalooza 2012, of course.)

Presents in process. 

--9: Number of presents wrapped so far with 3 different patterns of red-and-silver wrapping paper and 2 different rolls of metallic tinsel twine (the cuuuutest and most high-maintenance addition to any package I've ever wrapped EVER). 

--5: Bottles of Prosecco (LaMarca, of course) purchased to bring to various holiday parties as a hostess gift.

--18: Hours of Christmas music in my "ho ho ho" Spotify playlist.

I wasn't kidding…and highly recommend the Pentatonix version. 

--11: Different versions of "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" in the aforementioned playlist. It's my favorite Christmas carol. No shame here, folks. 

--2: Flavors of Angie's Holidrizzle popcorn we've taste-tested (and OBSESSED over) this season. I highly recommend the peppermint white chocolate. YUM. 

Oh my god, you guys, James and Ava from the Pottery Barn catalog have the same stockings as we do. This is so embarrassing. 

--1: Number of times I've knocked one of our monogrammed Christmas stockings off their perches on top of our bookshelves. Oh to have an actual fireplace and mantel…maybe next year ;) 

--3: Days spent perfecting the Christmas tree and ornaments. It's a process, you guys. A process. 

--200+: Pins on my holiday Pinterest board. Ah, Pinspiration. It's cyber-crack, I tell ya. 

--32: Days until the holiday itself. Sooo much more time for FESTIVITIES!!!

O Christmas tree!!

Have a holly jolly weekend, loves. I'm off to continue my affair with double-stick tape. That damn tinsel twine...

Liz Gets Healthy, Volume II: The 30-Day Shred

Remember "Mulan?" The Disney movie? One of my favorite songs from that movie is the Donny Osmond "Make a Man Out of You," which starts off with a bang: 

"LET'S get DOWN to BUSiness…"

Striking enough terror into my heart to elevate the heart rate without cardio, folks. 

Time to do the same on Liz Gets Healthy…and unleash my secret fitness weapon: my favorite workout DVD. I guarantee I'm not the only proponent and devotee of Jillian Michaels in my friend circles, but you guys, I am obsessed.

I had heard of Jillian via "The Biggest Loser," but really didn't think much either way about her. My bff Kaitlin and I actually "discovered" her courtesy of a friend in our dorm senior year, and I will forever remember the momentous day. I had been actively working out like a fiend for about a month and a half using our dorm's tiny gym…we're talking one elliptical, one treadmill, one bike and some mismatched free weights…and I was ready to add something to the endless drone of cardio day in and day out to see if I could improve the results I was getting. Michele, the friend in the dorm, had the "30-Day Shred" DVD in her collection, and loaned it to Kaitlin and me one evening after a chat about getting fit. 

The next morning, the most unsuspecting pair of idiots in the world set up in our section lounge, expecting a brisk but manageable half-hour of (basically) the routine Jazzercize/free weights stuff we'd both come to expect from workout videos. Less than ten minutes later, we were both gasping for air and cursing (loudly) at the TV in our (very) public workout space of choice. 

Inspires mild trauma to this day. 

Guys. The Shred. I kid you not…if you want a workout tape to put you through its paces, this (and Jillian's other "30 Day" offerings) should be your go-to. It's a great system for combining cardio and strength moves…a "3-2-1" interval workout that legit never fails to get me sweating (and swearing). The routine goes as follows: 3 minutes of strength featuring two different moves, 2 minutes of 2 different cardio moves, and 1 minute of ab-toning; repeat the cycle three times with a warm-up and cool-down stretch sequence, and you're done. 

In my eyes, the benefits of the Shred are two-fold:

One: it's quick. Literally a 30-minute loop from start to finish; that can be pared down to 25-ish if you fast-forward through the commentary at the beginning and cut the stretches at the end short. For me, this is clutch. As a public accountant, my limited free time was precious, and getting a super solid workout in in under 30 minutes was huge. 

Two: It's TOUGH. Like I said above, this isn't Jazzercize or something where you bounce around feeling like a moron for half an hour and then call it done. The Shred is challenging! The three levels progressively get harder, so it never felt to me like I was doing the same old, same old forever (although I spent an embarrassingly long time on Level 1, and still feel like that's plenty of workout for me!!). When I first started the Shred back in college, the first few days I was so sore I could hardly lift my arms over my head to shampoo my hair, and climbing into my lofted bed was a challenge. Seriously strenuous, folks. 

Action shots. Gotta love it. 

The other thing I hate-love about the Shred is the commentary…and Jillian's workout flunkies, Anita and Natalie. Jillian keeps up a steady stream of passive aggressive, kinda bitchy encouragement throughout that both scares and motivates me. Some choice quotes: 

"I want you panting, I want you screaming by the end of this workout!" (Well, she succeeded with this one…screaming obscenities at the TV!!)

"I have 400 lb people who can do jumping jacks. So can you." ( know, I know…..)

"If you feel like you're gonna die…keep going with Anita." (SERIOUSLY? If I feel like I'm going to DIE…I'm taking a water break, beeyotch!!)

Um…yeah. "Fear her" would be the correct response here. 

It's inspiring and terrifying at the same time. When Kaitlin and I were doing it every day, it got to the point where I could recite along with Jillian…and snark right back at the DVD at the same time. Ugh. Honestly though, the power-bitch commentary definitely kept me motivated and trying hard. Do I fear her because I love her, or love her because I fear her?

To wrap up: results. When I used the Shred for 35-40 consecutive days (mostly Level 1 with some Level 2 thrown in), combining it with cardio on the elliptical most days, I lost around 20 pounds, compared to the 10 pounds I lost doing straight cardio. Factor in, however, that I also put on muscle from the strength moves, and I'm not sure what the actual fat-weight loss was. Still--pretty solid testimony to the power of the Jill. 

I think the Shred is perfect for the holiday season! Fast enough to fit in before work in the mornings, powerful enough to combat cocktail-party carbo-loading, and so easy even a beginner could do it. Happy Shredding, campers! See you soon for more fitness updates!

On the wisdom of Children's Novels.

We've been having a heck of a few days in the MinneapoLiz family home, campers, and it's been a heck of a ride. Without going into too many gory details, the health of my grandpa is failing pretty quickly, and everything has spiraled downhill faster than the second half of the Pitt-Notre Dame game a few weeks ago. I've been fortunate to have the time off work I have right now between the old job and the new, and have been able to spend some time with my parents and the extended family who have come into town for the foreseeable future. 

All of this family togetherness (read: heightened emotional states, intense life-and-death conversations, and contemplation of the future) has gotten me thinking about mortality and wisdom and patience and all sorts of very abstract ideals and concepts. Further, because I am a hopeless, relentless, insatiable and irredeemable bookslut, I tend to link the experiences and thought-trails of my everyday life with literature I've read, loved, and learned from in the past, which has turned out to be a bit profound over the past few days. 

Before I delve too far into this, let's step back a bit for some context. On the 12-hour road trip to Ohio this past Wednesday, my mom asked me, kind of out of the blue, what my favorite children's book is. Guys, what a tough question that turned out to be. Think about it. I was fortunate enough to come from a family that read extensively to me as a young child, and with me as a medium-child, and continued to foster that love of reading as a grown-up child, adolescent, and young adult. The sheer number of books we read is staggering, and my mom and I had a wonderful time recalling old favorites; we ended up creating quite the list in the car of classics we adored. 

This whole "Grandpa is dying" thing has been hard on everyone, and there has been a specific children's book mantra running through my head for the past couple days. The quote comes from "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse:" 

My heroine. Nobody has rocked cowboy boots and a crown with such panache since.

"Today was a difficult day. Tomorrow will be better." 

I feel like that is just about the summation of how I've gotten through a lot of tough things in adulthood. I mean, think about it. What a great way to take something that seems so huge, so insurmountable, so all-encompassing, and distill it down…two little sentences. So simple. So manageable. So concise. It takes the very worst, and turns it into something that fits so easily on the tongue. In the palm of the hand. In the back of the mind.

It's been making a slow, steady cycle on repeat for me…when I hear the newest drama, update, issue; when my mom is upset, I find myself thinking that to myself. Today was a difficult day. Tomorrow will be better. Even if it turns out not to be, the beautiful thing about that very quote is that it keeps one focused on the future, instead of dwelling in the ugliness of the present/immediate past. Perfect, am I right?!

The very best thing about children's novels, at least in my eyes, is that they can be such a poignant and honest reminder of the very best things in life. Optimism, hope, inventiveness, curiosity. Faith in other people…and, more importantly, faith in oneself. The fact that it's okay to simultaneously rock cowboy boots, a crown, a cape, and a purple plastic purse (thank God). To be fair, Lilly's "today was difficult" was a day of misbehaving at school…not quite the same thing as dealing with death. But authors don't write children's books that detail in excruciatingly mature verbiage the sheer idiocy, mindlessness and grief of the process of losing a parent. They take those sorrows and put them on a child's level. And some days, when things get to be too much, taking those bitter pills at a first-grade reading level isn't the worst thing ever. 

Am I alone in thinking this about children's books? Off to dig into other childhood classics…and maybe write that list of my favorites down somewhere. Til next time, sweet dreams and lots of love. 

Warning: Major Life Changes Ahead.

Yikes. Radio silence on the blog for a week. That was totally planned, guys. (I'm totally lying, guys.) The thing is, the past week has been hugely loaded with activity and change and Major Life Events--the caps are merited. 

I've mentioned a couple times that I work for a Big 4 accounting firm as an audit senior, and gone into brief detail on what that job has entailed. What I've failed to mention thus far is that one of the major reasons I started this blog is that I was planning to quit my job at said Big 4 accounting firm…and I did so, officially, last Wednesday. 

I've accepted a great position as a senior financial consultant for a well-known national/international insurance company, based in the Twin Cities, and I could not be more excited about the change--which is really saying something, given my feelings towards accounting/my career thus far. For the sake of preserving my professional anonymity, I'll forbear from sharing too many details, but it's sufficient to say it is a hugely positive move and a major step in the right direction toward finding work-life balance and career satisfaction in my chosen field. 

Since I put my two-weeks' notice in (on Halloween…talk about scary, haha!), it's been a wild ride of colleague drama, racing to wrap up as much as possible, fighting apathy, and saying bittersweet goodbyes. Thankfully, last Wednesday (my last official day with the Firm) was short, sweet, and drama-free. I turned in my laptop and personal effects, and my parents and I immediately hopped in the car for a fantastic road trip to see my siblings in Ohio! The weekend was amazing--more to follow shortly, but it's really early and I haven't had my coffee yet. 

As for the present, I have two more weeks of "funemployment" to enjoy before starting with my new company. The plan is to work out like a fiend, decorate for Christmas, get organized, and spend lots of quality time with friends, family, and my nearest shopping mall ;) Tis the season, after all! 

Stay tuned for updates, campers--I promise it'll be good. Happy Tuesday!

Love Thee, Notre Dame: Campus Visit!

As I mentioned in my Sunday Brunch review of The Mark, I made my annual pilgrimage to my beloved alma mater for a home football game last weekend. In case it hasn't been made clear enough yet, I adore Notre Dame and had a life-changing, unparalleled college experience. In my time at Notre Dame, I spent four football seasons as a member of the Band of the Fighting Irish, which dominated my falls then and my sweetest memories of college life now. Due in large part to its association with the band, I take Notre Dame football very seriously. 

This year, our game of choice was the Navy game, a rivalry that, for my graduating class, has historically been fraught with peril. Prior to my freshman season (2007), Notre Dame had beaten Navy for 43 years straight--the longest streak in the history of college football against any one team. Of my four years on campus, however, three heralded extremely painful losses…including one after a triple overtime, and two victories (2007 and 2009) by less than 3 points. Needless to say, Notre Dame fans no longer look upon Navy as a cream-puff, easy win, which proved the case again this year. 

I was lucky enough to have four of my very favorite people on the trip with me this year--Jon and I planned this for his second-ever game, and his former roommate Michael, a long-time ND fan, rode down with us. On the way, we stopped at O'Hare to make a very important pick-up--my best friend and senior year "roommate-soulmate," Kaitlin. The fourth member of our weekend crew was Life Coach Laura, a South Bend resident and ND employee who was gracious enough to host us.  

Mike Brey takes Halloween (and Irish basketball) very seriously. 

The weekend started off with a fizzle as we arrived and raced right to the pep rally in Compton Arena, the brand new hockey facility. I had spent ages hyping up the pep rallies to Michael, who had never attended one--largely because I remember them being great when I was a student. This rally, however, was an unutterable let-down. No students attended, Brian Kelly barely strung three words together, and the highlight of the rally was Mike Brey, men's basketball coach, dressed up as Jackie Moon for Halloween. We ditched that rally like a bad habit and soothed our wounded Irish pride with a trip to the bookstore, followed by CJ's burgers for dinner and a chill night in at Laura's enjoying wine and "Ridiculousness" on MTV. 

Our crew woke up on Saturday to iffy weather and immediately jumped into action. Laura, Jon and I ran to Studebagels for breakfast fortification for the day ahead, then Jon and Mike made a Meijer run to get adequate rain gear for us (best decision ever). We popped champagne and made mimosas, the girls got ready, and the guys threw a football around the backyard with Laura's precious pup, Fiona. After polishing off a few champagne bottles' worth of my favorite breakfast beverage, we headed to campus to get our Irish tailgate on.  

Worth every penny of the $10, don'tcha think?

Tailgating is still a novelty for me--as a band member, tailgates in uniform were expressly forbidden, and our football days were jam-packed with practice, brunch, and performing. I love hitting up the parking lots south of the stadium and checking out what everyone's grilling, listening to the music of choice (always an interesting blend of Top 40 and Irish reels), and of course taste-testing any libation passed my way. Laura has insane hookups due to her employment and many friends in the area, so we did some tailgate-hopping…visited some of her boyfriend's friends, and her college roommate's uncle's tailgate, where we were "offered" (conned into buying for $10) some sweet ND bracelets. 

I believe the phrase you're looking for is "om nom nom."

We rolled onto campus after spending several hours wandering the Joyce parking lot tailgates, and headed to Kaitlin's Mecca of football food traditions: the Knights of Columbus Steak Sandwich Tent. Look at the deliciousness right there. As if it wasn't already perfection on a hot hoagie bun, the proceeds all go to charity. Sign us up for one apiece. Of course, to offset the delicious barbecue-y goodness of our sandwiches, the skies chose the moment we got in line to open up, drenching all of us. Thank God for Jon and Mike's wise purchase of raincoats that morning…saved us all a miserably wet and cold football game! 

The view from our seats. Hi Touchdown Jesus!

Following our sandwiches, it was march out time. Kaitlin and Jon patiently endured watching me jump up and down with glee, tear up, and yell obnoxious hello's to every piccolo I could spot in the ranks. Literally one of my favorite parts of game day is watching the band march in and perform pre-game, and this week, it was made even more special by the spectacular fly-over by the Blue Angels. Unbelievable. Kaitlin and I were seated in the very top row of the stadium in the end zone, so our view was flawless…we could literally feel the heat off the planes as they flew overhead. 

I got my kicks on the halftime "Route 66." 

The game got off to a rapid start, and ND and Navy traded touchdowns and field goals through the entire first half. Halftime was a bit of a letdown for me--an homage to ACE, Notre Dame's answer to Teach For America, featuring a lot of vocalists and fire extinguishers as "smoke" and "exhaust" from cars. Thankfully, we had Ben's Pretzels and hot chocolate to ease the blow, and after halftime, Jon and Mike snuck over to our section to join us for the second half. We watched Notre Dame eke out a win, celebrated during the band's post-game show, and made our way home to Laura, who was waiting with Rocco's Pizza (oh my god, deliciousness in every way).  

My weekend warriors, pre-Backer (a.k.a. still looking respectable!)

The party was far from over for these Irish faithful, however--in fact, I know some die-hards who would say the highlight of the weekend was still before us. If you have experienced it, it needs no explanation…and if you haven't, it defies all explanation. Campers, I'm talking about everyone's favorite shitty college dive bar…The Backer. Let's not even get into the number of memories I made (and/or failed to make, thanks Long Islands!) there over my college career. A weekend at ND wouldn't be complete without a trip. We prepped and pre-gamed at Laura's and rolled over around 11:30 for three hours of dance jam-fueled, Long Island-soaked, sludge-coated insanity of my favorite form. I saw so many alums and friends, including this year's crop of seniors, who were my freshmen when I graduated (and should NOT be old enough to go to bars!!). I loved every sweaty, exuberant minute of it. 

We all rolled home, chowed on leftover Cambodia Thai (second dinner, mmmm), and stumbled to bed. The next morning, we dined at The Mark and braced ourselves for the long drive home to Minnesota. It's always so hard to see the Golden Dome in my rearview mirror, but this trip was so great with friends that truly feel like my campus family. I cannot WAIT to get back--in the meantime, I'll keep watching games on TV and loving those beautiful campus panoramas.  

Love thee, Notre Dame. Thanks for a great weekend.  

For more photos of the spirit and debauchery, check out the slideshow below. Go Irish!