Tag Archives: santa barbara

Change of Space

Posted by beautifullystrong in Jen's soap box and tagged with , , ,

Hello loves,

 

I have not written in so long…no excuses, I have just been swamped with work and have had less (unfortunately) time to be writing in this sweet little baby. Not to mention, I have been doing sick for the last two weeks (feels like years), which has pretty much kept me out of the gym, and it’s hard to conjure up some inspiration for a fitness blog when you’re not even walking into a gym!

That all being said, I will be most likely blogging LESS here, and a little more over HERE. This is my husband and I’s business blog where I will pretty much be sharing the same stuff…”me”…but you would also get the added bonus of posts from my husband, zee Doctare :)

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…well sort of

 

Now before you run away, hear me out! :) I’m not saying I won’t EVER blog over here again…I’m hoping to get some internets at our house so that I can make time for this more often. HOWEVER, IF you have been wondering lately, “hey, where is that chick Jen who speaks of nothing but Crossfit and her feelings?”, well then, you can keep up with me once a week at www.santabarbarafamilychiropractic.com. Capeesh? :) Also, while you’re at it, you could check out our facebook page and “like” that little baby…http://www.facebook.com/#!/santabarbarafamilychiropractic.

While you’re at THAT….have you “liked” my Beautifully Strong Page on Facebook? Whhatttt? Why not? I am updating that page MUCH MUCH more frequently with fun stuff everyday…so if you miss me…that would be the place to go :) http://www.facebook.com/crossfitwomen

 

Check out the site, sign up for emails of new posts if you would like. I love and adore you all :)

 

Have a super awesome day!

Jen

Almost Famous :)

Posted by beautifullystrong in Uncategorized and tagged with , , , , ,

I’m taking today’s post to spot light my soul sister, Kelly Kirlin, and her new business Tres Belle Photography (with photographer Rebecca Farmer). Anyone hear of boudoir?? Oh yeah? It’s allllllll the rage right now :-p…but seriously, it seems to be…FYI: Kelly and Rebecca started this up before boudoir was “hot”…just sayin’.

This month they are printing their first ever print ad in C Wedding Magazine, and the “model” in the ad is ME!!! Whoop whoop!! While I will not be putting the ad up in my post (my hubs was a wee bit uncomfortable with it :-p…which I unnnndderrrstand!), I’ve got some teasers for you, to show you the gift of photography that Kelly and Rebecca have going on.

Here are a few teasers:

*If you want to see the ad, it’s in C Wedding magazine this month…on shelves now*

Très Belle is a Santa Barbara based photo studio owned by Kelly Kirlin and Rebecca Farmer. We are creating elegant, vintage inspired and custom tailored boudoir imagery with an emphasis on photographing brides to be (however, not necessary to be a bride-to-be!). We offer photo packages that include beautiful custom designed sets, professional hair and make-up and champagne in a private studio close to the beach. Come play, be pampered, and feel Tres Belle! 

The day of the shoot, I was there with a group of my besties…hanging out, sipping champagne, snacking paleo style, getting our hair and makeup done by a pro and supporting the HELL out of each other! Every outfit someone put on, there was nothing but OOOOHHHHs and AHHHHs…you left that changing room feeling like a rock star GODDESS!! THEN…you get behind the camera, and Kelly and Rebecca are constantly telling you how beautiful and sexy you are…and immediately, all thoughts of shyness or discomfort for being in your underwear in front of a whole room of people…are gone. They are genius at what they do, and I wanted to do this write up today to support my friend, of course…but I truly, 100% believe in their gift, and I wanted to share that with all of you.

So you’ve been working hard for that body of yours…maybe you don’t have a special REASON to get a shoot done right now…but what better reason than to capture your hard work in print? You’ve busted your butt with squats, tightened your calves with all those sprints and double unders, sculpted your abs with those overhead squats and knees to elbows…

…show it off girl!

SO!!! Lucky you!! If you call Tres Belle Photography (805-669-7145) and tell them that you heard about them from The Beautifully Strong Project, you will receive 15% off the Princess Package:

Princess Package: $850
Fee includes:

  • Two set-ups and 2 outfit changes at Tres Belle’s private studio in Santa Barbara
  • Hair and make-up done by professional stylists in the photo industry
  • Same day viewing of images
  • Selection of 20 high resolution and fully retouched images (more images can be purchased a la carte if desired)
  • 3 custom designed wallet sized accordion booklets to give as a gift to your man (and of course keep a couple for      yourself)
  • $75 credit towards other prints and/or products
  • A bottle of champagne to lighten the mood!

That is an all around savings of $125!!! Round up a group of girlfriends, and find a reason to go out and buy some “pretty things” :)

Much love,

Jen

 

Save the Mermaids!

Posted by beautifullystrong in Think Well and tagged with , , , , ,

 

For all of you Santa Barbarans…

TODAY is the day the Bag Ban will go in front of the SB City Council. Here’s a reminder of what YOU can do to help!

1. Attend the City Council meeting @ City Hall (735 Anacapa St.) TODAY Tuesday 3/13, 2pm (let’s pack the place to show the importance of this issue!)

2. Send a short email to our city council: (cityclerk@santabarbaraca.gov, FHotchkiss@SantaBarbaraCA.gov, GHouse@SantaBarbaraCA.gov, …DFrancisco@SantaBarbaraCA.gov, HWhite@SantaBarbaraCA.gov, CMurillo@SantaBarbaraCA.gov, RRowse@SantaBarbaraCA.gov, HSchneider@SantaBarbaraCA.gov) like this…

Dear Council Members,
I am a Santa Barbara resident and voter and I would like to address the issue of Santa Barbara banning plastic bags. 16% of the California population now has ban legislation and I find it appalling that Santa Barbara an environmentally forward city has not done so yet! Please change your votes to help create a cleaner and more beautiful community!

 
3. Call and leave a message to any of the city council members (found here): http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/Government/City_Directory/Mayor_and_Council/
 
 
 
Check out Save the Mermaids for more information!
 
 
With love,
 
Jen

Natural Remedy for Seasonal Allergies

Posted by beautifullystrong in Eat Well, recipes and tagged with , , , , , ,

I didn’t get to workout yesterday, even though I should have, because I needed to make a trip to the eye doctor… For the last year, on and off, I’ll have these flare ups in my left eye in which if a contact even THINKS of touching it, it will cease up and close up shop for a few days. Fun. Last Friday, during a meeting with the team, my eye was so pissed off by the sun that it just REFUSED to open, and I had an awesome little battle sesh with it that lasted far too long, and all too distracting; so, yesterday I was able to get in, and that is what I did. I thought I had it all figured out: a good 7 years back, I woke up on my 22nd birthday to a cat standing over me and then *swat*, a nail to the pupil. Not kidding, that was how I started my 22nd birthday. I will not bore you of the details of that day, but a little highlight will be that I spent my 22nd birthday with an eye patch and those big honking granny sunglasses that are often accompanied by track suits and ball caps. To top off this day, I found out that I had “cat scratch fever”…that actually exists? So I thought that it was a reoccurring flare up from that incident all this time. I was wrong. The Doctor went LOOKING for the scratch and did not find it, and all too comfortably handed me a prescription for Claritin D, and a couple other things I don’t know what they are. “Allergies, it’s definitely just allergies!” Allergies? I have not EVER had allergies in all my life, and NOW…NOWWW I get allergies? I would be lying if I didn’t say that since moving to California I have:

- Had a consistently drippy nose

-Lots and lots of headaches, and I prided myself on not getting headaches before this.

-An OBSESSION, seriously obsession, with the little bags that have puffed up underneath my eyes, which showed up almost INSTANTLY after we moved here.

-Multiple eye flare ups…

I had a lot of confused thoughts on my way to the car. I’m doing everything I can…why the allergies? Nick was very comforting in that he explained to me that I just moved across the entire continent, not just the country, the CONTINENT. The vegetation that I have grown up with my entire life is nothing like that of the vegetation here, and there are flowering plants year ROUND here. He also explained things in the terms of a race car (hehe, my baby and his analogies…)…if you took our Honda Element and put it in the racing world, would you agree that it wouldn’t function as well as the cars that are MADE to race? I would, yes. Would you agree, however, that you could do as much to that car as possible to ensure that it does the best in that environment? You could soup it up, make sure it gets regular tune ups and repairs, etc etc, but it still wouldn’t function as well as the RACE cars… (I hope I did that justice Nick :-p). The point is, we are not living in a congruent world. We can eat a diet that is as healthy as possible, we can exercise, we can think pure positive thoughts, and get adjusted on the regular, but sometimes, your car’s engine is still going to run in the red a little bit. :-p.

I am not well versed in analogies :-p

So, when you are eating a clean diet, exercising on the regular, getting adjusted, and thinking positive thoughts, what do you do when ALLERGIES still rear their ugly head?

According to Nick and fitsugar (and many other resources while we’re splitting hairs…), supposedly we should eat HONEY!… say WHAT?

Honey bees (the female worker bees) travel from flower to flower, drinking nectar, and storing it in sacs in their little bee bodies. Then they buzz back to their hive and use their “honey stomachs” to regurgitate and ingest the nectar a number of times until it is partially digested. They then store the nectar in the honeycombs, fanning it with their wings to evaporate the water, and turning it into the thick sweet honey we know and love.

The reason it may help with seasonal allergies, is because honey contains a bit of pollen from the plants. So if you eat the sweet treat that is made by bees in your area, the honey will often act as an immune booster, reducing your allergy symptoms to the local flowering plants. It’s a good idea to take 2-3 spoonfuls each day for several months prior to pollen season.

Fit’s Tips: Eating local honey works for some people, and may not for others. It’s a folk remedy, with no scientific research to back it up, but if you suffer from seasonal allergies, it’s worth a try. If it doesn’t help with your sniffles and sneezing, well at least you’re getting vitamins B6, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and minerals like calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. Honey also contains antioxidants and vitamin C. All that and it tastes good too!

Oh boo, poor me, needs to eat some tasty honey… :-p Looks like I’ll be giving this a shot! :)

What are some additional things you have done to ease up the seasonal allergies?

On Getting SUPER “Defined”…

Posted by beautifullystrong in Think Well and tagged with , , , , , , ,

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about finding my “definite purpose”. In that post I touched upon what my “definite purpose” was, what one IS, and how I came to it; what I did not touch on was what it has done for me since.

The other night I got a call from my good friend, Amanda. We chatted about this and that, and after a while she asked me how things with Nick were; my response was “better than ever”, and I meant EVER! I feel like we have improved and grown even more together, figured each other out a little bit better, and learned how to do this all the while being together 24/7 (work and life :-p). While I was listing these reasons to Amanda, I hear Nick from the other room call out:

“And you found your definite purpose, so you’re not in your head so much!”

Me??? In my head?? Say WHAT?! :-P  I keeeed. Yes, for those of you who do NOT know that side of me, I used to tend to get all up in my own head quite frequently, thinking WAY too much about things that were not important to think about, or that would only cause myself harm. What I FOUND is that when I defined my definite purpose, which was: “To introduce and excited as many people as possible to Crossfit, while being a leading authority in the Crossfit Kids community”, I started searching for tools on how to BECOME this person that I want to be, rather than thinking twice about an interaction that took place earlier that day. Combine all of this with a full schedule of working out, eating healthy foods, taking fish oil, and of course being ADJUSTED!, well heck, I’m feeling pretty darn good right now :-p :)

Other side benefits of finding my definite purpose have been:

~More confidence

~More enthusiasm for what I am doing

~More energy

~Improved relationship with everyone I encounter

~More positive

~Did I mention MORE CONFIDENCE?!

I think gaining more confidence has been the most exciting “side benefit” for me. When I go next door to Innate Fitness to help Andrew teach on Thursday nights, I feel MUCH more comfortable in front of people, I co-taught a WORKSHOP with Nick, I was one of the coaches for the group workout a couple Saturday’s ago, I feel like I’m speaking up more in meetings, and volunteering to take on more and more. I feel like myself again. When I was in Beverly I felt like I ate, breathed, and slept all things CROSSFIT…when we moved here I lost it a little…more than a little actually (but it wasn’t completely gone!). I feel since defining my definite purpose I am back to the girl who wakes up thinking about kipping pull-ups or this morning it was a book idea/seminar tour that I would love to do in the future that means a lot to me (but I’m going to keep that one on the DL for a bit :-p).

How to find your Definite Purpose:

Sit down with a pen and paper and start writing! Write down what gets you excited to get out of bed in the morning, what skills you think that you excel at, where you think your gifts are. Then pick the things that are HIGHEST on your list of values (if you do not pick things within your values, they will not be sustainable. Anything that is not honest, true or good is, by law (of the universe, and maybe the government as well, haha) not sustainable…it WILL break down over time. So, pick only that which is HIGH on your list of values.

Once you have shortened your Definite Purpose down to one POWERFUL sentence, its important to map out a plan of action for reaching that purpose: How are you going to do it? What do you need to learn to become that person? Who do you need to become to reach this goal?

Once you have it mapped out, you want to visualize the person you become who is able to achieve this definite purpose. The Laws of Success by Napolean Hill recommends meditating and visualizing that person in the life that you want for 30 minutes a day! Yes, that is a huge commitment, but ‘the dominating thoughts of your mind eventually reproduce themselves in outward bodily action and gradually transform themselves into physical reality’.

Success demands singleness of purpose.

~Vince Lombardi

Have a wonderful day :) xoxo

Jen

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by beautifullystrong in Crossfit Workouts, Move Well and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Yesterday was one of those days in the gym that, regardless of what “place” I came in, I won in my mind :) Yesterday’s WOD:

“The Chief”

5 rounds

3 min AMRAP

3 power cleans (135/95 – I used 75)

6 pushups

9 squats

1 min rest

 

Now, I went into this KNOWING that I may not have as many rounds as everyone else, because I presently struggle with pushups; HOWEVER, I COMMITTED myself to doing the whole workout on my toes for the pushups(and I don’t mean halfsie pushups, I’m talking kissing the freakin’ floor pushups), and by golly, I did just that!

13 total rounds + 1 power clean =

40 {75#} power cleans

78 (TOE) pushups!

117 squats

If that is not exciting enough, (I can TELL that you’re freaking out with excitement :-p) I reached a goal that I have had for a year and a half (at least a year and a half that lululemon’s goal tender had been reminding me that I hadn’t reached my goal anyway…)!!!…

…::to string together 10 UNASSISTED kipping pull-ups::…

I FINALLY did it!!! Not once, maybe twice or three times…to the point where Nick told me I need to rest for the day :-p Doesn’t he know that when you get a new toy alllll you want to do is it play with that new toy?! :)

I’ve come a long way since my first ever pull-up in CENTRAL PARK on January 6, 2011…and no, I don’t have any actually pictures to PROVE my first pull-up…but it did happen there, after all these failed attempts

 

::and look at me now, 10 unassisted, consecutive kippers!! :-D ::

Great day in the gym followed by a great date night with my love…which will be followed by a GREAT weekend…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**::Weekend Ketchup::**

I know that I haven’t talked much about the wedding in the last, ohhhh, year and a half since we’ve been engaged, but with the practice, the move, making buddies and trying to feel like I LIVE here, it hasn’t been the forefront of our world. Now that it is two months away (as of a week from today) things are definitely starting to pick up! This weekend alone we:

  • BOOKED OUR HONEYMOON!!!!…TOOOOO MEXICO!!!!!!  I am BEYOND excited to be on vacation for a whole week, in the hot Mexican air, in an all inclusive resort where we won’t need to think about anything, besides, “do we want to lay on the beach or snorkel??” Trust me, I’m counting down the days :-p
  • I had my first DRESS FITTING/ALTERATIONS!!!! I was sooooo lucky to have some of my SB ladies there with me, you all made me feel like the most beautiful person on the planet!! I love you ladies!!!!
  • Finalized our CATERING MENU!!!! I am sooooooooooooo excited to eat that food again at the wedding :) hahaha.
  • My bridesmaid’s have their dresses!!
  • I am ALMOST finished addressing all 200 invites :-p

Great productive weekend with a little game of ‘Nick chases Jen up a mountain for ¾ of a mile’ to top it off (no joke, it was intense, I thought my lungs were bleeding when I got to the top) :-p We have fun ‘round here :-p

 

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Much love,

 

Jen

Lessons from the Universe

Posted by beautifullystrong in Crossfit Workouts, Move Well and tagged with , , , , ,

Nick training in Nevada :)

“Success is doing ordinary things, extraordinarily well”-Jim Rohn

 
As Mr. Rohn mentioned, being extraordinary is not what necessarily makes us successful at life, it’s doing those little day in and day out tasks extraordinarily well.

My goal is to be an AMAZING coach…not just an adequate enough coach, or even a GOOD coach…I want to be f$@*ing AMAZING. In order for that to be the case, I have a lot of work ahead of me. While I KNOW I have the heart to be an amazing coach, the passion, the enthusiasm; I have a whole lot of skills I need to tuck in my back pocket in addition to those gifts.

One of those skills will be checked off the list next weekend at the Level 1 Crossift certification. I am so excited to be around a whole room full of like-minded individuals who are all pursuing the opportunity to change people’s lives, just like I will be.

While I used to chase dreams for a whole hot second, and bail as soon as it looked difficult, or I looked inadequate…I feel like my mind set has changed dramatically in the last month! I am feeling a huge shift in my perspective as far as looking at that same difficult situation (let’s say I needed a particular degree for a career that I wanted to pursue), and while in the past I would have run if it looked like too large of a hurdle, I now am looking at it as one more tool I need to obtain to be a bad-ass TRAINER…an INCREDIBLE trainer. I have had the pleasure of having one particular challenge look me in the eye over and over again in the last week; that challenge comes in the form anatomy. ”Wait, you’re going to be a trainer and you’re not super sure on anatomy??? Say WHAT?” Now hold up…I never had any interest in this subject of movement AT ALL in my former years (up until two years ago) so I never did what I needed to obtain that information. Luckily, I’m still a vibrant young lass, and have the functional capabilities to learn new tricks! So rather than beating myself up and running the other direction yelling, “I am not worthy!!!” I will chalk this up as an OBVIOUS presentation from the universe of the next tool I need in my tool box in order to be the best trainer I can possibly be! :)  

Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em “Certainly I can!” then get busy and find out how to do it!

-Theodore Roosevelt

 

EXHAUSTO!

Posted by beautifullystrong in Crossfit Workouts, Move Well and tagged with , , , ,

The last few weeks I have been CONSISTENTLY working out 5 days a week, and HARD! Based on the title of this post, I’m sure you can figure out where this going…

Since upping my workouts, I have been….EXHAUSTED!!! I mean…EXHAAAAUUUUUSSSTTTEDDDD!! Going to bed at 8:30, taking naps in the middle of the day, incapable of waking up for ANYTHING in the morning…exhausted. Poor Nick has had to deal with me saying “Why am I so tired?!?!” pretty much every hour of the day for the last few weeks…he doesn’t seem to understand why I’m STILL asking this after he has already answered me about 50 times.

"I'm just going to lay here for one little second..."

While I am definitely noticing some differences in my strength, AND my body compisition…I’m super excited that I have a rest day today, to be perfectly honest with you. I’ve posted the last two days of my workouts…

Tuesday’s WOD

max pullups (15 kipped with orange band…I think I could have done more on a day when my hand was completely healed from the LAST time we did a lot of pull-ups :-p)

5k run (24:32) it was more like 3 miles, rather than 3.2 but I SCHOOLED my last 5k even still! :) (my 5k time was 30 minutes and some change the last time I did it :-p)

There was a lot of realization of growth in this one for me. While  I was no where near first done, which I didn’t expect anyway, I was able to run the entire 3 miles without stopping AND my time was significantly lower than any other time I’ve run 3 miles. To refresh you all on where I USED to be with running, essentially if I saw 200m on the board I would a) feel like crying, b) actually cry, or c) get SUPER grumpy and feel like leaving… So, I think it goes without saying that being able to run the whole time is definitely a spurt of growth, actually ENFORCING that we DO the 5k (because I don’t think anyone else wanted to do it either…) is a whole other level of growth in itself! :) Oh, and thank you to Andrew for running the last half of it with me :) Best brother-in-law-to-be ever :)

Wednesday’s WOD

6 min amrap:

10 deadlifts (#95)

15 pushups (knees)

20 sit-ups 

3 full rounds + 1 dead lift

I’m taking my rest day today and running with it :) I’m going to soak up every little morsel of my lunch break and fill it to the brim with food, sunshine and naps :)

 

Mucho love-o :)

Jen

 

365 Days

Posted by beautifullystrong in Think Well and tagged with , , ,

Dear Santa Barbara,

Today marks the one year anniversary of when Nick and I drove across the city limit line. It is BEYOND hard for me to believe that I have already been here 365 days…you’ve taught me so much.

I’ve learned that no matter how hard things seemed when we first got here, a year later, I can’t even remember them…Nick’s experience is not the same supposedly :-p

I’ve learned that it IS possible to laugh THAT much… I have met the most incredible group of ladies here, that pretty much keep me in constant roaring laughter for the entirety of the time we spend together. Kelly, Lauren, Kristen, Sammy, Jessica, Bri, Cris, thank you ladies…thanks to all of you, I feel lighter, funnier, younger and even more full of love and gratitude than ever!

I’ve learned that I am definitely marrying the right person. Let me explain this one…hehe. Over the last year Nick and I have driven across the country, with everything we owned in the back of the Suburban and drove together for two weeks straight….in a car… THEN, we moved to a new town, away from all our friends (and for me, family) and opened a business together (which I’ve heard is like raising a newborn)…To top it all off, we have pretty much spent the last 365 days together, non-stop. The best part is that at the end of the day, I STILL love hanging out with Nick, so much. So, this last year has definitely been a testament to our relationship, and I DEFINITELY feel even more sure that I’m marrying the right person :)

I’ve learned just how much Crossfit means to me. When we first moved here, and I was the first time (since KNOWING about Crossfit) without it, I actually got kind of depressed at times. I missed the community (and I wasn’t quite IN with the Innate Community just yet), the accountability, the movements, the workouts, the coaches, the intensity, etc. I had a SUPER hard time transitioning at first. This has really solidified HOW much Crossfit means to me, which definitely played a huge part in what led me on the path toward becoming a trainer :) Hooray for that!

I’ve learned that I am just as wussy about the cold here in California as I was in New England. I’m just more pathetic in my friends and family’s eyes as far that goes :-p

Celebrity sightings are not as a’ plenty as I thought they would be. For as many celebrities that live within 10 miles of me, I have seen SOOOO few…W. T. H! Who have I seen so far? Kathy Ireland, Tony Danza, Sawyer from “Lost” and Jason Statham (or the back of his head, Nick got a better glimpse). If I sound like a silly little girl from Maine who gets excited about celebrities…it’s because I am! :-P  Forgive me :-p

Amongst all of these things, I have learned that I am SO grateful for everything in my life; great weather, farmers markets everyday year round, a kick ass job!, an adorable little tree house home, family here, the Pacific, Swednesday mornings, having the gym on the other side of the wall, etc etc etc.

Life is good, count your blessings.

What are you grateful for today?