hashtag 30 by 30.

so i was walking home from a workout class last week and managed to get caught up in thinking about my mortality. totally normal, right?

i guess it's started this summer. i started realizing how much faster time has started to go by (minus winter) and it kind of freaked me out. because let's be honest, this is really how i've really been prepping for 30:

so, i did some math and realized that i have just about 35 weeks until i hit the big three-o. i then did the incredibly trite thing of making a list of 30 things/activities i want to do to make the most of the last 6+ months of my twenties. my hashtag 30x30.

thus i am sharing the list below with a complimentary gif to add a little zest to your day. 

1. lose 30 pounds

2. learn 30 new gluten-free recipes 

3. workout at least 3 times a week every week until my next birthday

4. try a different kind of workout at least once a month

5. get back online dating and actually try (calm yourself, mother).

6. make a video of the nyc highlights for my grandpa who has never visited here.

7. visit new nyc neighborhoods that I never venture to

but probably not brooklyn.

8. re-read catcher in the rye

9. learn to do at least 5 real push-ups

10. take a random personal day to just do something that makes me happy

11. write real mail to relatives/friends that will appreciate it.

12. actually hang up artwork i own and make my apartment look more grownup

13. try and enjoy downward dog position.

14. save an extra $30 a month to use to splurge on my bday

15. complete a 30 day squat challenge

16. take a cooking/wine tasting/pairing course just for the fun of it

17. do a random act of kindness when people really need it

18. be irresponsible on a school night and enjoy every minute of it.

19. try surfing because it looks cool (spoiler alert - already doing this on saturday!)

20. give away/toss at least 30 items of clothing

21. spend at least an hour a week cleaning/decluttering my apartment

22. treat myself to a spa treatment just because

23. find a signature cocktail

24. spend way too much money on a cocktail just for the view

25. learn how to cook with dates (the fruit, not men, mother)

not going to lie, my fave gif so far.

26. see all the oscar nominated movies for 2015

27. watch the wire and see if it lives up to the hype

if only i knew what this meant.

28. learn how to put on liquid liner

29. get a tarot card/palm reading

30. blog about my adventures

not quite, other queen b. not quite.

i feel like i have a good balance of measurable general life improvements with some frivolous fun that should make the next 7 months one hell of a ride. i can't wait to tell you all about it.

it's time to call it quits

no, no no, i'm not quitting my intermittent blogging. don't you worry your pretty little face over that. i will continue to randomly update you on my quest to be a better betsy for a while to come.

what i AM quitting is my monthly membership at the gym. in fact, i already did. today. not that they made it easy.

now, i'm sure you're all thinking, "wait, i thought half of the point of this was for her to get fit and rock at life." which is fairly accurate. it's also accurate to say that the other half of the blog is dedicated to photos of buddy. 

hello, handsome

back to the larger issue at hand: quitting the gym, yet still being focused on a healthier life. it's actually not going to be that big of a change for me.

i've been consistently working out for the past few months - spare my birthweek - but i've probably only stepped foot in my gym about twice. i've noticed that i really enjoy classes that aren't offered at my gym and have started going to them at least once a week. on top of that, the weather is finally changing around, allowing me to spend time outdoors to make the most of it, including in active ways.

dancing is a workout too, guys.

yes, specialty classes are expensive. but the workouts are better than any class i've ever been to at my "regular gym." so my theory was, i'm already paying for these extra classes, might as well take the money i'm spending on a membership i rarely use and put it towards those classes. plus, i get about a million daily deals emails, and there's usually some sort of package of workout classes available at a discount, so i can expand my horizons while getting an awesome workout.

the biggest takeaway i have from this hellacious winter (and spring, given that it SNOWED last night) is that i truly enjoy being outdoors when i can. not only do i live within walking distance to central park - the premier outdoor workout landscape - but i also live along a beautiful outdoor walking/running/fitness path that i have not taken nearly enough advantage of over the past few years.

taken on a commute home on a spring day. hashtag gorgeous

i own simple things like a yoga mat, hand weights, a jump rope and a resistance band, so i could take the things i've learned in these crazy classes and do them outside. and get my vitamin d requirement, which is especially important since i found out i'm severely deficient in it. (too much sunscreen and zero red meat will do that to a girl).

so bring on the bad tan lines and the neon workout clothes to blend in at these special gyms. needless to say, it's not me, large gym system in nyc, it's you. and we're never, ever, ever, getting back together.*

*well, maybe we will when it gets cold again. taylor's always wrong about everything.

pump, pump the jams, pump it up, a little louder

 first and foremost, please take in all that the amazingness is from the above.

second, what's up party people! i know that i said i would be back more often, but then i wasn't. and that made me a tease.

guess what? deal with it.

anyway, i am back and on the path to enlightenment or whatever and i figured i would start with something super trivial and fun to make it super easy to draw you back into my web of lies and despair. and what's the best way to do that? by telling you about the awesome work out songs that i jam out to at the gym.

so i've been to the gym TWICE in a week - which sadly is a big deal for me these days as my life has been bonkers - and i realized that i'm not your normal cardio enthusiast. one reason is because i hate being at the gym. the second is that i find myself getting lost in the groove way too easily. i sing along silently (i think), have hand movements that come dangerously close to the people next to me and an ass shake that frankly, just won't quit. so what i'm saying is that i'm a fucking gem. and i also have some awesome music spinning to keep me motivated when i don't want to be there.

willow understands what i'm talking about.

since i am nothing if not a giver (lies!), i figured i'd share some of my go-tos to get the blood pumping. and note, this is just a few, as my gym playlist is over 80 songs long. just in case i decide that i want to stay longer. not that i ever do.

1. Beyonce.  obvi. so this is not as much of a song suggestion, but merely a genre in itself that makes you want to run walk faster because the beat is so damn good. plus, her body is slammin, so that's got to be a sign she's doing something right with the music, right?
spin this shit: crazy in love, run the world (girls), get me bodied

this is also what i say when asked why i don't go to the gym as much as i should.

2. angry music. i like to consider myself an upbeat person most of the time. but there is nothing more motivating for me than the idea that i'm getting back at someone who wrong me. just like my girl mindy kaling (she doesn't know she's my girl. yet.), i have revenge fantasies and they come to full life when i'm at the gym. and if i'm to believe pinterest, the best revenge is living well, so i better start jogging on that treadmill to make the haters pay.
spin this shit: you oughta know by alanis morrissette, since you've been gone by kelly clarkson, fighter by christina aguilera, survivor by destiny's child (more bey!), i don't need a man by the pussycat dolls (whatever, it's fine).

fat amy is my spirit animal.

3. guilty pleasures. there's nothing like your secret shame songs to get you going. the people around you may judge your choices, but damn you have a smile on your face as you up the incline.
spin this shit: spice up your life by the spice girls, we got the beat glee version, independent women by destiny's child (bey FOREVER), let's be bad from SMASH, whipped into shape from legally blonde the musical (if they can jumprope to this on stage, i can jog for this bad boy).




4. unexpected songs. when i think of the black keys, i think of laid back tunes that i can listen to all day. not of sports bras and gatorade. yet, some of their stuff is lovely on a workout playlist, especially if it helps you change your pace and make your body adjust. break up the monotony of the routine with some stuff that's different from the usual bumping bass to make things interesting.
spin this shit: gold on the ceiling by the black keys, lover of the light by mumford and sons, black sheep by gin wigmore, stone cold sober by paloma faith

built in squat workout!

5. your favorite songs. i mean, this is a duh, obvi. if you love a song, you'll want to move to it, sing to it, everything to it. plus, it should make you happy to hear it that you'll forget about the pain you're currently in from doing 40 squats in a row.
spin this shit: move along by all american rejects, dog days are over by florence + the machine, dammit by blink 182, mr. brightside by the killers, i hate myself for loving you by joan jett


finally, i will leave you with my two ALL TIME workout songs that are guaranteed to make you just fucking GO for a few minutes:

monkey wrench by the foo fighters. dave growl is my ugly sexy and he can really do no wrong in my eyes. at the end of this song when you hear about "one last thing before i quit," you can't quit. i once sprinted at an 8 (a huge deal guys) to this because i HAD to.




BoB (bombs over baghdad) by outkast. this song kicks you in the face from the start and never stops. it's particularly good for cycling or running or generally losing your breath because you want to try and keep up with them - which you can't - while trying to remember all the words - which you also can't do.  it's the song that doesn't give you any other choice than hustle.




and that, my friends, is it. i'm heading to the gym now with my playlist geared up for a tough night sweating it out, but if i missed one of your favorites, send it my way so that i can add it to my list.

also so that i can sing it loudly. off-key.