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Daily Rebecca

dishing up a little bit of everything

DSO

This weekend Andy and I went to a free Detroit Symphony Orchestra concert at Metro Beach. It was a lovely warm, breezy evening and definitely the perfect setting for the event. We packed a picnic and a bottle of wine and found the perfect spot to lay our blanket.
We had about an hour or so to eat and rest before the music began and we slowly relaxed and cheered up after a very stressful day. We feasted on a smorgasbord of middle eastern foods: hummus, tabouli, baba gounoush, stuffed grape leaves, cheese, pita and kabobs. Everything was delicious!
My boss bought me a lovely bottle of red wine for Administrative Professionals day and I had been waiting for the right moment to enjoy it — since for me a “nice” bottle of wine is anything that costs more than $9…and this certainly did!
The weather, food, music, wine and atmosphere were perfect. I’d highly recommend anyone check out one of the free concerts next summer. The event is sponsored by Target and is probably also advertised on the DSO website.

Step, Kick, Pain!

A couple of months ago I started attending a cardio tease class at a local dance studio.  It ended up being so much fun that I hardly noticed that I was working out.  I’d look forward to Tuesday evenings each week and I got a workout too!

That class has been on break and will resume on July 2 when it changes to an advanced class.  I have really missed the energy and intensity of working out in a class setting, so I decided to check out the free classes at the gym I belong to. 
The first class I tried was a step class on Monday night.  I figured it would be a low to medium intensity workout, but I was ready to just have fun with it!  
It turns out that step classes are really challenging!  There are so many different moves and you have to start with the right foot and know how to transition from one move to the next and just as you start to get the hang of a move, it will change!  The instructor knew it was my first time, so she encouraged me not to leave.  I am pretty tough and definitely determined, so I didn’t even think it would occur to me to leave in the middle of the class….but I have to admit that I was tempted to!  On more than one occasion I was so lost that I had to just watch and try to get back into the swing of things.  I was soaked from head to toe, and a little frustrated, but I’m going to go back next week and give it another try.  A girl that I met at the beginning of the class told me that she went home after her first class and watched a bunch of YouTube videos to help her learn the moves, so I’m gonna give that a try.
Tuesday night I raced home from work just in time to make it to the evening Kickboxing class at the gym.  After the step class, I was a little bit intimidated, but I decided to give it a try.  We started out with some basic punches and kicks, ended up running around the room squatted down punching to right and then punching to the left.  We did jumping jacks and simulated jump roping, we kicked high and low and to the front and the back and then we ended with a crazy series of ab moves.  Again, I left the gym soaked from head to toe and worn out.  I think the kickboxing class was definitely a harder workout, but at least I could do the moves!
Yesterday I could hardly walk and I discovered that I have muscles that I didn’t even know existed!  My calves are sore and so are my shoulders and my back.  I actually like the post workout pain though, it makes me feel like I accomplished something.
Tonight I took another kickboxing class with a different instructor.  He did some different moves and spent the second half of the class doing strength training.  It was a nice change of pace from my normal biking or elliptical workouts.  
I think I’m officially hooked on these classes! They are alot of fun and they really push me to work out longer and harder than if I was on my own.  Maybe they’ll help me get down to my goal weight (and the weight that I put on my drivers license renewal form!).
I found this picture of Jane Fonda’s workout and it reminded me of the aerobics classes that I used to go to at the Hunt Club with my mom when I was little.  She sweated it out to Jane Fonda while I sat behind the bar in the back of the room sucking on ice cubes covered in SweetnLow!

Sultry Female Jazz

Tonight on my way home from work I visited my friend Mary and her sweet 9 day old little boy. She’s my book buddy and last Saturday she gave birth to a healthy baby boy with a unique and exotic name — Kroi Matthew Abram.  Both mom and baby are doing great and it was really nice to see her.
After that, I came home, put on some new jazz music that I stumbled upon recently and started cooking dinner.  Andy started school today, so he wasn’t home, but I had some chicken and veggies in the fridge that needed to be put to use.  As I listened to the smooth, velvety voices of Melody Gardot and Madeleine Peyroux I sautéed onions, garlic and red peppers in olive oil.  Then I lightly coated chicken in flour, coarse salt and cayenne pepper and cooked it until sunny, golden brown.  I added fresh mushrooms, diced tomatoes and topped it with fresh mozzarella cheese.  I covered the fragrant feast and let it simmer until the cheese was melted and bubbly on top and then ate it over whole wheat penne rigate…yum!  
I really relished the moment.  I didn’t hurry just to get the meal onto the table or into my mouth.  I soaked up the music and enjoyed the process.  It was so satisfying and peaceful to create a meal at an easy pace with a glass of red wine in hand.  
After everything was ready, I sat down to enjoy the fruits of my labor while watching an episode of my favorite show. Although I didn’t get out in my garden to weed like I had planned, it was a really peaceful and enjoyable evening.
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