Don’t let the cold weather and rain get you down. Grab a few of these hits and keep yourself warm by exercising the cold out!
Say Aah– Trey Songz
Today was a Fairytale– Taylor Swift
Breakeven– The Script
Shooting Star– LMAFO, Pitbull, Kevin Rudolf
Knockout– Lil Wayne & Nicki Minaj
Chicken Fried– Zac Brown Band
Young Forever– Jay-Z
Vanilla Twilight– Owl City
Haven’t Met You Yet– Michael Buble
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Finding affordable organic and locally grown fruits and veggies at your local supermarket can be tough. And even if you have access to a local farmers or specialty market, you may not be as psyched as we are to scour the stands in search of the best deals or freshest produce. Enter the frugal foodies new BFF, the CSA.
When you join a CSA or Community Supported Agriculture program, you are essentially purchasing a subscription to a weekly delivery service consisting of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables (usually organic as well). Some CSA’s are made up of a large group of farmers who pool their crops to offer a great variety of produce and some are made up by only one farm. It all depends on where in the country you live and what types of farms are near your home. Each CSA works a little differently but for most you sign-up, choose the size of subscription you want (based on the number of people in your home/how much produce you eat), pay a subscription fee (depending on the program this may be for a month/season/year), and then wait for your weekly delivery (this may be to your house or a designated pick-up point close to your home).
Some CSA’s (like the one I belong to) allow you to choose what produce will be in your box/bag based on what is available that week, while others pride themselves on choosing the best items for you. And since the whole point of the CSA is to support local farmers and encourage the eating of locally grown produce, the only food you will be able to get is what is currently in season (i.e. no strawberries in February). But I promise that this is something you will be happy to get used to. Plus, you will have so many other seasonal options to choose from that you won’t even miss what is out of season. And honestly, once you have had locally grown and seasonal strawberries, there is no going back to those shipped from out of the country.
Added bonus, CSA’s are very green! Since your food is not shipped in from far away lands (i.e. less fuel needed to get it to you) and since it is usually organic (i.e. less pesticides in environment), with each weekly delivery you essentially reduce your carbon footprint.
In addition to all of the above awesome qualities, most CSA’s are also a fantastic fiscal deal. The one I belong to offers 4 different bag sizes, with varying prices for each. The extra-small size, which is enough to feed one person who eats a mostly vegetarian diet or 2 people who eat a moderate amount of produce, is $18/week. This is less than you would spend for the same amount of organic produce at the grocery store (I know because I used to do it) and even works out to be less than most farmers markets.
Ready to sign-up! Check out LocalHarvest.org to find a CSA in your area and join other frugal foodies in their quest to find the most affordable (and delicious) organically grown local produce!
jen
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From age four to about ten I, like many other young girls, took ballet classes. Twice a week I would strut out of the house, slippers in hand, hair knotted up in a tight bun, looking like a little pink explosion. From my earliest memories I loved ballet class, I got to dress up, act dainty and show off my moves for crowds of impressed spectators (my parents and Jen). Well ladies, I’ve got news; the ballet of our childhoods is not the ballet conditioning of today.
These days ballet conditioning involves serious focus, poise, and a rock solid core. Ballet conditioning reminded me of a Pilates class and a body by jake DVD, rolled into one. Our instructor L, a classically trained ballerina, had perfect posture and a way of fluttering around the classroom when instructing us on our movements. The moves were long stretching and holding moves which involved a lot of strenth and concentration. We used elastic ropes and bands to get the most out of our stretching exercises and it was at this point that I realized how not flexible I am. Not only this but while doing certain holding moves my body was shaking so hard I thought I might fall over. Clearly I need to work on strength training!
Overall the class taught me exactly what areas of my body I need to focus on, while my legs are pretty strong, my core can best be described as, wobbly. This isn’t a class I would add to my weekly repitorie, mostly because I don’t like torturing myself but it definitely has its benefits. I walked out feeling very long, lean and realigned and it is a very relaxing form of strength training. Give this class a whirl is you are looking to challenge yourself and strengthen up in the most delicate way possible!
jaclyn
| Duration: 1 hr |
| Cost: offered at some gyms but is usually about $15-$20 for drop-ins at a ballet studio |
| Intensity: moderate to intense |
| Fun Factor (1-10): 7 |
| What to wear: tight fitting workout clothes so the instructor can see your alignment (think back to ballet class) |
| What to bring: water in case you need to take a break |
| Overall score (scale of A-F ): B |
Up next week: Hatha Yoga
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This playlist has some newer hits and some oldies but goodies. I had to pay hommage to 500 Days of Summer because the soundtrack makes us want to dance down the street and we loved the movie. So get up and get moving!
j&j
Imma Be– Black Eyed Peas
Baby– Justin Bieber ft Ludacris
Horchata– Vampire Weekend
Hey, Soul Sister– Train
Blah, Blah, Blah– Ke$ha ft 3OH!3
Mushaboom– Feist
Shut it Down– Pitbull ft Akon
I’m Beamin– Lupe Fiasco
You Make my Dreams– Hall & Oates
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fit·n·pretty 