June 01, 2015

Weekend Sunshine XXXIII

June 01, 2015/ sherri d'alessandro

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend! I had Friday off and spent the day celebrating my mom's Mother's Day gift: a visit to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and G Cafe. On Saturday, I worked and then headed straight to my niece Ella's 9th birthday party (NINE?!). My sister and brother-in-law did a great job planning the party - we had a lot of fun and it was quite relaxing. Ella had a blast and loved all of her gifts... she's so awesome. I simply adore her. On Sunday, more work and I got to some cleaning. All in all, the weekend was pretty great and I was actually happy to be working because I have a huge event on Wednesday so it allowed me to get very organized for it. I was pretty good about taking pictures on Friday, butttt, not so much for the rest of the weekend. Here's what I got!

The courtyard at the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum. Soooo pretty.

Not the most flattering selfie and weird lighting, but, we'll take it!

If we're being honest, my mom and I were most excited about eating at the cafe. Most of the food is very locally sourced so the menu changes often. Plus, nasturtiums are in season and were added to many of the dishes. The plating at this place was really beautiful.

See that champagne? That's not any champagne, it's ginger-infused champagne and tasted, as advertised, like "adult gingerale". We are going to re-create it at home. It was amazing!

This tartine appetizer was so simple yet delicious. Iggy's bread, goat cheese, marinated artichokes, thinly sliced radishes, celery, and aioli. Superb.

We forgot to take photos of our meals. My mom got the quiche and I went with the chicken salad. Both were deeelish. Above is a photo of the dessert: pistachio cake with rhubarb and nasturtiums. How pretty?

Later that day, I went for a walk. There was SO MUCH FOG. That is a photo of the beach across from the Castle Island bridge which was completely invisible. It was SO odd.

I hope you all have an excellent week ahead! xo

May 30, 2015

BFX Studio Review (and a class giveaway!)

May 30, 2015/ sherri d'alessandro

Hey guys! Happppy Saturdayyyy! The girls and I had another fitness date on Thursday night and this one was NO JOKE! BFX Studio stands for "Boutique Fitness Studio", they have 3 locations in NYC and this is their first location in Back Bay. Kim, Rachael, Rebecca and I were pretty pumped to check it out because we all had a feeling it was going to be pretty intense. As you can probably tell, I'm excited to tell you guys about this studio because I thought it was AWESOME!

First things first, this lobby. Do I even need to say anything? It's so nice. Also, the staff is just as nice. I had Uber service issues getting to the studio and ending up being 7 minutes late. They had already closed the "Fusion" Class that I was supposed to be in, but, they let me in anyway. (Again, thank you guys so much!)

I snuck into this dark "Ride Republic" Room. I couldn't even see the girls and was immediately assigned to a TRX band, 22lb sand bag, and 17lb flat grip bag. I jumped right in. Half hour of a series of AMRAPs that included the following: Deep squats with overhead sandbag press, push ups, chest press on TRX, walking squats, flat grip bag slams, skaters, sand bag rows, etc. Intense as F and definitely my kind of workout. The four of us were dripping in sweat and we still had a half hour on the spin bike left. Honestly, the bike felt amazing after such a hard workout on the floor.

Don't get me wrong, the spin session was still really tough. We had hills to conquer and RPMs to keep up with - again, pouring sweat.

Rob W was our instructor and he was freaking GREAT! Melissa was our instructional coach and she was super attentive and helpful. Both were intense, but, also really nice. I felt terrible that I was late to class and they were both so kind and still provided the attention and motivation that was needed. I was really impressed!

After class, we stayed and chatted with Rob and Melissa for a little while to learn more about future classes. Then, we headed into the new, pristine locker room to clean up. Guys, do you see the sweat on our shirts? It was ridiculous. The locker rooms were beautiful and loaded with really nice product and necessities.

The above photo is their training room. I really wanted to go play in there! The below is a quick overview of what they have to offer.

BFX occupies 10,000-square-foot featuring floor-to-ceiling windows and sleek details with three studios under one roof: indoor cycling, group exercise, and personal training with top trainers. BFX's Ride Republic Studio is split in two with stadium-style spin platform and the other half as a high-intensity training floor with equipment such as TRX and sandbags (that's the room we were in). I can't wait to see what the other rooms are like. We absolutely LOVED this class. LOVED IT!

So, I have some exciting news. Next week, BFX has their official grand opening on June 3rd. It's an exclusive opening with classes, blended cocktails, light bites, and a DJ!.
I have 6 passes to give away and will pick 3 winners by 9pm on Monday. Each winner will receive two passes to the main event (you know how much I love promoting fitness friend dates!) Simply comment below and tell me which class you'd like to try and the friend you'd like to try it with. Winners will be chosen at random! Anndd Go!

Have a great weekend! xo

May 29, 2015

Friday Favs_5.29.15

May 29, 2015/ sherri d'alessandro

Whoo it's Friday! Is it just me or did that short week FLY? I actually have today off because I am working all weekend so the week was extra short for me. Last night, Rae, Rebecca, Kim, and I checked out the new BFX Studio in Back Bay... it was so freaking hard... we loved it! More on that later (plus, a giveaway!!)

My mom and I are going to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum this morning. It was her Mom's Day gift from me and I'm pretty excited to go - I've never been! I am most excited to walk through all of the gardens - it's supposed to be beautiful! I'll be sure to take lots of photos. Now, it's time for Friday Favs! I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!