First and Foremost

Thanks to my sweet friend Laura for this survey! PS: Go check out her blog – she’s an amazing graphic designer and incredible girl!

1. First thing you do when you wake up in the morning.
I hate admitting this, but I check my phone. I check text messages, read emails, and if I have enough time, scroll through my instagram and facebook feeds. The first thing I do once I’m out of bed is brush my teeth. I’m obsessed with brushing my teeth.

2. First thing you reach for when you open the fridge.
Lately? Eggs.

3. First things you do when you go to the gym.
Say “Heeeeeeeey boys” to the front desk attendants, laugh when they say “Heeeeeey Orso” and then go downstairs for my workout.

4. First thing you do you when you get home from work?
After I throw my purse on the counter and kick off my shoes, I read the mail. I’m always excited if I’ve gotten a new magazine.

5. First car.
A 1995 Honda Civic. I named it “fluffy sheep.” Does that make any sense? No. But it was a manual and I liked it.

6. First car accident / traffic violation.
I got pulled for speeding but got out of it. That was the only time I cried and got out of it. Now I’m like ugh, here we go, let me just hand you my wallet.

7. First thing you wanted to be when you grew up.
I kid you not, I wanted to be a brain surgeon.

8. First choice beverage.
Water.

Then wine.

9. First choice breakfast.
Is this a serious question? I said eggs earlier, but if nutrition didn’t matter, I’d eat COOKIES.

10. First choice dessert.
I just answered that.

11. First song that comes to mind…
Right now I’m obsessed with Rihanna’s “Diamonds.”

12. First major purchase?
Hmm, does my tuition count? My student loans never end.

13. First job:
Besides babysitting, I worked at Sonic as a carhop with Nikki and Megan. For 16 year olds, we made so much $ in tips.

14. First time you flew on a plane.
When I was 3 we moved to Hawaii for a few months. The first plane ride I remember was to Disney World when I was 6.

Answer one of these questions in the comment section below! I’d love to hear your responses!

Hipster Cuisine Part I

When you think of the word “hipster”, what do you think?

Lens-less glasses?

Boys in skinny jeans? (Ew.)

Music your friends “probably haven’t heard of yet”? (Thanks, Logan.)

Girls who think wearing mustaches is cute? (AWFUL.)

Jef from The Bachelorette? (Swoon.)

You don’t think of food, do you? Well apparently New York magazine does. More specifically, they think of Asian cuisine. As I flipped through this week’s issue of New York, I came across an article titled “Asian Hipster Cuisine.” Until then, I’d never even seen the word “Asian” next to the word “hipster.” But, hey, NYC is way ahead of SC – let’s be honest.

The article basically claims that Asian cuisine is trending. That 2012 “has been the year of ramen and buns, Sichuan and Shaanxi.” They interview several chefs (not all of whom are Asian) who describe this “hipster” cuisine:

“A noodle bar in a dive bar.” “Asian-American.” “Street food.” “Weird Chinese food.”

I thought back to this year’s restaurant openings in Charleston and it hit me. Holy pho, a bunch of them were Asian!

• Co – Vietnamese
• Izakaya Hiro – Sushi/Modern Japanese
• Xiao Bao Biscuit – opening Fall 2012

Why do you think Asian food is suddenly a trend? I always thought it was cool, so I’m pretty pumped that there’s a rise in Asian restaurant openings. Bring on the steamed pork buns, noodles, and kimchee. I love it all.

Have you noticed more Asian restaurants/food trucks/pop-up dinners in your area?

What other trend do you consider hipster? Any foods? Let’s not forget men in scarves, coffee shops, rolled-up jeans, PBR, suspenders, and Skrillex’s hair.

My Top 10 Must Haves for Healthy Living

This girl loves writing in list format. They’re fun for me to write, easy for you to read, and they look more organized. Sorry if this blog turns into a list  blog. With that said, here are the top 10 things I find necessary for me to live a healthy lifestyle.

1. A schedule/plan. I actually despise making plans, but when it comes to fitting workouts into my life, a schedule is necessary. I typically have a good idea of what my week looks like as far as when I’ll run, which classes I’ll go to, what part of the body I’m strength training, and when my rest days are. I don’t always stick to the schedule, but having an idea of what I want to do prevents me from slacking off.

2. Cute workout clothes. Yes, this motivates me. They don’t even have to be expensive. I haven’t jumped on the Lululemon bandwagon yet. I’m fine with the following.

Favorite top from Target:

Favorite jacket from Gap:

These shorts are necessary in the SC heat.

And these pants? I could wear them every single day.

3. Workouts I really love. Some people love yoga. I hate it. Some people like team sports. I’m too distracted and clumsy. What works for me? Running, kickboxing, and Pure Barre.

4. Stocking my pantry with fruits and vegetables. When grocery shopping, I make sure my basket is full of mostly produce. Always having fresh produce on hand makes me less apt to reach for the packaged crap.

5. My water bottle. It’s rare that I go anywhere without a giant bottle. I’m a huge fan of the Camelbak water bottle. Sometimes biting the nipple hurts my teeth and I’d really like to chug. I just bought this Nalgene bottle from Pure Barre and am loving it.

6. Phone apps. I use IMapMyRun,

I <3 Veggies,

and Pandora because there’s no way I’d exercise without tunes.

7. SLEEP! Although getting enough hours is difficult for me, sleep is necessary for my sanity. Plus, who wants to work out when they’re tired? Not me.

8. Reading materials. The Eat This, Not That series is my favorite to recommend. After years of owning them, I still occasionally use them as reference.

I also love magazines.

9. Blogs for healthy recipe ideas. My favorites are:

• Eat, Live, Run
• 101 Cookbooks
• Fit Sugar

10. Rewards! This is my favorite must-have item. I would go absolutely insane if I didn’t treat myself for all the hard work. Whether it’s a giant glass of wine or a handful of chocolate, I’m indulging. Everything in moderation!

What are YOUR healthy living must haves?

Saturday Survey

1. Are you more of a morning, afternoon, or night person?
I’m definitely a night person and always have been. Since I was a child, I loved staying up late. Going to sleep is such a chore to me…but sleeping in? Oh, I love that.

2. What is your favorite book / magazine?
Favorite books:

• any and all cookbooks
• The Secret Garden
• Speak
• The Lost Wife
• The Twilight Saga

Magazines:

3. What is your favorite thing in your closet?
All of my dresses. I may or may not have 59 dresses in my closet and 1 en route from Piperlime. Yeah. If anyone needs to borrow one, come over.

4. What are your top 5 favorite music artists?

1. Jem
2. Mute Math
3. Radiohead
4. Sia
5. Coldplay

5. What are your top 5 favorite movies?

1. American Beauty
2. Grandma’s Boy
3. Love Actually
4. The Little Mermaid
5. Man on Fire

6. What is your favorite holiday and why?
Halloween! For sure! I also love Easter for the overload of pastels and candy.

7. Do you have any weird phobias?
Nah. I don’t like random people touching me or standing too close to me, but that’s it.

8. What is your most embarrassing moment?
I have embarrassing moments daily. Nothing really fazes me anymore.

 9. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
Hawaii, probably. But for some reason, I see myself ending up in Texas. Random.

10. What is your favorite food?
Chocolate chip cookies.

And pickles.

11. What is your weirdest injury?
Weirdest? Um, here’s a story. Before one of my best friend’s bachelorette parties, a bunch of girls and I were getting ready in a small room. While I was flat ironing my hair, one of the girls needed me to move over. I quickly grabbed the flat iron, but instead of putting the flat iron down  (there was no room), I quickly put it in between my legs, forgetting that it was ON. On both of my inner thighs I have a 2 inch scar from where the flat iron burned me. It was awful.

 12. What is your favorite store to shop at?
Target!! I could spend hours in that playground. 

 13. If someone visited your city/town, where would you take them?

• The Battery
• Upper King all the way to lower King, then Broad St.
• Rainbow Row
• Marion Square
• Old City Market
• Arthur Ravenel Bridge
• College of Charleston campus

Don’t you want to visit me now?!

14. What would your ideal day look like?
Sleep in (obviously), go for an outdoor/bridge run, go pick up coffee, lunch with friends, shopping downtown, wine tasting outside, dinner downtown, bar hop later…then TRIO!

15. Where do you want to be and what do you want to be doing in 5 years?
I WILL BE 32, but hopefully still acting like this.

(No, I’ll never answer that question seriously.) What else would you expect from me?

XO!

What I’m Loving Wednesday

1. The responses to the 2012 Valentine’s Day Blogger Swap. So far, 34 of you have signed up, including 3 guys!  (Good ones, I promise.) I’m even more excited about all the new readers I’m hearing from. Please don’t be shy  --  comment more! It’s very appreciated.

2. New (to me) classes at ESAC.  Since my knee injury last week, I’ve been forced into low intensity workouts. This kills me a little inside, but has forced me into trying different classes. I went to another yoga class and actually enjoyed it for once. I still laugh when everyone says ohmmmmm though. I mean what is that!? I feel like everyone is competing to see who can go the longest. I also went to a different teacher’s pilates class and loved it. Tracy @ ESAC is hilarious and offers a challenging class.

I also found a good article on Fit Sugar on how to keep knee pain away. Perfect timing. My best friend:

3. As if I needed another magazine subscription, I received my first issue of Prevention. This smaller-sized magazine is packed with information on health, nutrition, fitness, and more. I really like it. My first issue contained a fun recipe for Parsnip Beet Sauce With Ravioli. DESTINY.

4. This Kashi bar is delicious. They weren't kidding when they named it a Crunchy Bar.

Speaking of bars, the Luna Peanut Honey Pretzel has been added to my top Luna Bars. If only it had chocolate was an ingredient…

5. I tried this hat on as a joke. A week later I went back to Target and bought it. $3 to look like a nut? Sure, why not. At least my brain won’t freeze in NYC next month.

TELL ME WHAT YOU LOVE!

You can say me, I won’t be mad.