It's New Year's Eve, and I'm writing to you today from Northeast Ohio, just outside of Akron. My boyfriend and I haven't decided what we're going to get into this evening, but I'll tell you -- whatever it is, it'd better be warm! It's so strange going from the 70 degree weather we've been experiencing in the DC area to the actual winter weather in this part of Ohio. It snowed this morning! Now, I'm not complaining that it's winter here. It actually wasn't wintery at all when I was here a few weeks ago, so it's refreshing; nonetheless, I am a total sissy when it comes to dealing with the cold, so I just want to make sure I don't turn into an icicle when I go out this evening (if we go out). I have my super warm coat, hat, and gloves that I brought with me from DC yesterday (to much side eye at the airport, by the way), so I'm as prepared as I can be! This year has been an interesting one, including the weather. I have don...

Since one of my biggest goals for 2016 is to lose a significant amount of weight, I know that I will need to make sure I keep myself hydrated. On days where I'm playing volleyball, I don't usually have a problem getting a good amount of water in my system. Unfortunately, it's on days where I'm not playing, or where I'm sitting at my desk all day, when I am not getting enough water. I know that I am motivated by competition, so what better way to challenge myself than to have a water bottle that will tell me when it's time to get my drink on? What's more, these are infusion water bottles, so I can add a little extra somethin' somethin' to my water while I'm at it! I'm getting ready to order an infusion bottle from my friend Diatta over at Femme Fitale Fit Club , so I thought, why not host a giveaway so that one of my wonderful readers will get an opportunity to have one of these awesome water bottles as well? ...

And I couldn't be happier! One of my 2016 blogging goals is to attend my first conference for my blog, and I have now officially registered for one! I am pumped! The 2016 IDEA World Fitness BlogFest is the third annual conference. This year's BlogFest will be held in Los Angeles, California. I was selected to go with Sweat Pink , along with a group of other Sweat Pink Ambassadors. I'm going to be checking out posts from people who attended last year to get a good sense of what to expect, and what I should and shouldn't bring with me. Most importantly, I need to start figuring out my accommodations. I live in Maryland, so it's not like I can drive between my home and the hotel that's hosting Blogfest! If you've attended in the past, please feel free to leave suggestions in the comments down below! If you live in LA, or travel there often, I would love to hear your hotel recommendations! ...

Can you believe it's almost 2016? I don't know about you guys, but this year really flew by for me! I set a lot of goals for myself, and I hit more targets than I missed, so I would say I have had a pretty successful 2015. What I can't say is how I managed to squeeze so much into such a whirlwind of a year! As I've mentioned before, I've set some running resolutions for 2016. I really, really  want to focus on dropping weight this year, and I have a game plan for that goal. Fortunately, I have plenty of tools to help me along the way. One tool that I recently acquired is this really awesome scale that I want to chat with you about today. Let me preface this review by saying that I received this scale from Beets BLU for free in exchange for an honest review. ...

Happy Friday, friends! I'm currently sitting in the Charlotte Douglas Airport, waiting for my connecting flight to Cleveland to pick up my repaired car. Why am I flying from Maryland to North Carolina to fly to Ohio? You can ask American Airlines that one (side eye). I could've flown direct with my trusty domestic carrier Southwest, but it cost way more than the corporate discounted price I was able to get for this flight. It's all good, though. Now I have time to write a post and linkup with the DC Trifecta ( Mar , Courtney , and Cynthia )! This week's Friday Five theme is about your holiday wish list. This one was a little tricky for me, since it's always tough for me to come up with my wish list! My mom put together a gift exchange for my youngest sister, oldest younger brother (I didn't know how else to say it!), my mom, and me. I had to come up with a wish list for my "elf," and it was not easy! Let's get to it, now, shall we? ...

Is it just me, or does this week feel super slow? I was really thinking tomorrow was Thursday, and was a little sad when I learned it wasn't. Dang it! Without my car, I feel like I've been shuffling all over the place, living out of a couple of bags. Some days, I have to bring my volleyball gear; other days, I have to bring my volleyball bag and a bag with a change of clothes; other days, I just have to bring myself. I forgot what it was like to figure out a commute that was not on my own time! (I recognize that this all makes me sound like a big baby, so I apologize!) Speaking of my own time, I really need to sit down over the next two weeks and map out my marathon training plan and schedule. USAV season for volleyball is really going to start taking up more time in January, so I want to get a jump start before that time comes. Training for a marathon is my main running resolution for 2016, so I have to take it seriously! ...

It has been a loooooooooooong time since the last time I linked up with the lovely DC Trifecta ladies  ( Mar , Courtney , and Cynthia ). In fact, the last time I linked up, I probably hadn't met them in real life yet! Fortunately, I had some time this week to get back on the linkup bandwagon! Speaking of this week, it has been a rough one for several of my friends and family members. There have been quite a few surprise losses of wonderful people, which has really put things in perspective for me this week. At the risk of sounding cliché, tomorrow isn't promised. As I've gotten older, I've really tried to keep this in mind as I plan for the future, particularly as it pertains to travel -- a passion of mine. It's tough to stay optimistic about setting and achieving goals when you think you may not ever reach one (depressing, I know), but it's an important part of living, in my humble opinion. Excitement about future plans keeps me going, as opposed to fear an...

Hello, hello! It's almost Friday! YAY! I have had a long and exhausting week, so I am definitely looking forward to the weekend! Being without a car right now is a bit of a bummer, though I acknowledge things could be much worse. I have a linkup post in the works for tomorrow, so I thought I'd just post something short and sweet for you today. After fooling around with the thought for a little bit, I finally decided to sell my first t-shirt design on Flecks of Lex! I love  brunching in DC, so I thought, why not make a shirt to honor my love for brunch? You can check out all of the different color and shirt styles and purchase a shirt here . The shirt is available to purchase for the next 12 days, so act quickly! If you end up picking up a shirt for yourself or for someone else, please let me know! Thanks in advance for your support! If you want to check out where I brunch in the DC area, stay tuned to my Instagram , where I happily overshare pictures from brunch, when I...