My Top 10 Kanye West Songs

I've been a fan of Kanye-West-the-rapper since about 2004, though at that point I'd actually been enjoying hits produced by him for years. He performed a concert at UMass back when I was a senior (in 2005), and it was a REALLY good show that mostly showcased his Late Registration album. He even had a full orchestra with him onstage! This was back when he was "Wearing-3-pastel-Polo-shirts-all-with-collars-popped-Louis-Vuitton-Don Kanye," and not yet the "Angry Kanye" that we all know today.

Anyway - for the last few weeks, I've been almost solely listening to Kanye West songs on my iPod at the gym. I start with Black Skinhead for my cardio warm-up, because it's seriously the perfect tempo for doing cardio. (Uh, no seriously. Go listen to it if you're not familz.) Then my iPod will shuffle through all of my Kanye songs for the duration of my workout.

Since all of that workout music has put Kanye on my brain, I wanted to see if I could whittle his discography down to my 10 favorite songs. HERE WE GO.

My Top 10 Kanye West Songs

10. Never Let Me Down (College Dropout)

9. Get Em High (College Dropout)

8. All Falls Down (College Dropout)

7. Monster (My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy)

6. We Don't Care (College Dropout)

5. Gone (Late Registration)

4. So Appalled (MBDTF)

3. All of the Lights (MBDTF)

2. Lost in the World (MBDTF)

1. See Me Now (MBDTF)

Uh... sorry about the graphic artwork on that last one. That's Kanye for you. I'm actually pretty positive that he is a sex addict, if ever there was one.

You might be astute enough to notice that all of my favorite songs only come from 3 of his 6+ albums. Guess it's obvious which are my favorite albums of his! Yeezus is also coming in as a favorite, surprisingly. I say "surprisingly" because that album really did not thrill me at first. It seemed much more abrasive when I first began listening to it. It's grown on me, for sure, but I still don't feel like I've listened to it enough for any of the songs to be on my favorite list.

Other big contenders for this list were:

- We Major
- Drive Slow
- Almost any song on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I seriously love that entire album, straight through. If you haven't seen the 30-minute short film (called Runaway) that coincides with that album, you should check it out here.

I excluded the Jay-Z/Kanye West Watch the Throne collaboration album, because if I included that then there's no way this list could have been narrowed down to 10 songs.

Alright, now tell me the truth:
Are you in the Love Him or Hate Him camp?
If you hate him, you don't have to tell me why. I get it.
If you don't hate him - what are some of your favorite songs? Are you a casual fan, or do you own all of his albums?

FACEBOOK TWITTER PINTEREST INSTAGRAM

Workouts of the Week... and Waffles

Hellllllo and Happy March to you!

This weekend has been a combination of indulgent and productive so far. I finally got my taxes in order, so that's one responsible thing to cross off my list. This will be my first tax season where I've got to deal with the "contractor" income that I made in the past year, so it remains to be seen exactly how much I will owe the US government. Hopefully it's nothing too shocking that I am unprepared for.

I assume you came here to read about my taxes, right? Oh... you didn't? Mmk, well then how about you check out this Instagram picture of a delicious Belgian waffle that I enjoyed on Friday night:

.  mmmmm  .

My friend Rose and I met up for a cappuccino and some waffles at Nero Belgian Waffle Bar on Robson St. in Vancouver. It was a really nice way to unwind after the work week! I ordered their "Heaven" waffle, which was a crispy Belgian waffle served with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. Rose had a fruity waffle covered in kiwi, banana, mixed berries, orange slices, and whipped cream. Nero has a really delicious selection of toppings - even some savory ones! I can't wait to bring Dave there sometime - I think he'll enjoy it.

But don't worry guys, I did go to the gym before the waffle bar (all of my workouts are listed below!), plus had a decently healthy few days worth of eating leading up to that as well. So Friday pre-dinner dessert waffles were most certainly in order. #SawryImNotSawry. #EatinAllTheWaffles.

My Saturday started a bit later than usual - I didn't wake up till about 9:40! Usually I'm awake by 8:30 on the weekends. So I got up, snapped some photos for a few different blogs, mailed out my tax stuff, bought two new Maybelline Color Show nail polishes from Shoppers Drug Mart (this one and this one), scoped out Urban Outfitters (nearly buying these boots), bought a delicious Cookies 'n Cream donut from Lucky's Doughnuts on 4th Ave (which I later shared with David over teatime), and went to the gym. Told you it's been a mix of indulgent and productive!

No idea what today has in store. We were thinking of going somewhere for a hike, but it's not supposed to be that nice outside, so that may deter us. It's been awhile since I've gone hiking, but sometimes it's not as fun when the weather is too crappy for any nice views. So it may be a more low-key day! We'll see. 

Here are all of my workouts from the past week: 

2/24 (cardio)

20 mins rowing machine

5 mins stair stepper

2/26 (lower body and core)

5 mins elliptical

15 squats holding 25 lbs

30 Russian get ups, holding 5 lbs    

40 calf raises, 12.5 lbs each hand

60 Brazilian crunches

15 deadlifts, 12.5 lbs each hand

20 lying overhead raise + double crunch, holding 5 lbs

40 alternating lunges

30 cobras

60 bridges

40 bridges squeezing knees together

2/28 (upper body and core)

2 mins jumping jacks

12 chest press on exercise ball, 12.5 lbs each hand

20 weighted crunches on exercise ball, holding 12.5 lbs

12 close grip chest press on exercise ball, 12.5 lbs each hand

20 Russian get ups, holding 5 lbs    

12 Arnold press, 10 lbs each hand

20 reverse crunch + leg raise

12 bent over rows each arm, holding 12.5 lbs

20 lying overhead raise + double crunch, holding 5 lbs

12 deltoid flys, 7.5 lbs each hand

40 alternating weighted side bends, 12.5 lbs each hand

12 deltoid raises, 7.5 lbs each hand

30 cobras

15 squats, holding 25 lbs

12 lat pulldowns, 30 lbs

12 lat pulldowns, 40 lbs

12 lat pulldowns, 50 lbs

3/1 (lower body and core)

3 mins jumping jacks

15 squats, 25 lbs

20 Russian get ups, holding 5 lbs

40 calf raises, 15 lbs each hand

60 Brazilian crunches

40 side lunges + plyometric push off (each side)

20 weighted v-sit twists, holding 15 lbs

40 alternating lunges

20 lying overhead raise + double crunch, holding 5 lbs

60 bridges

20 reverse crunch + leg raise

60 bridges squeezing knees together

1:00 plank

15 deadlifts, 15 lbs each hand

30 cobras

12 lat pulldowns, 30 lbs

12 lat pulldowns, 40 lbs

12 lat pulldowns, 50 lbs

5 mins rowing machine

I've enjoyed adding the rowing machine into my gym routine lately. Sometimes the very idea of getting onto the elliptical gives me the Debs. I tried out the stair stepper this week too - and good god is that thing difficult. I sweat more in the 5 minutes spent on the stepper than I did in the 20 minutes spent on the row machine! So that will be something I'll have to ease into. I don't know how some people spend a half hour on the stair stepper. They must be punishing themselves for something.

Random sidebar - if you're going to do a few minutes of jumping jacks, do it while listening to Kanye West's Black Skinhead. It's literally the perfect tempo for jumping jacks... it actually had me smiling while I was jumping.

What have you been up to this weekend? 

Are you watching the Oscars tonight? 

Have you ever been to a waffle bar before??

FACEBOOK TWITTER PINTEREST

INSTAGRAM

Sweat Round Up of the Week + Other Recent Things

Happy lazy, football Sunday! Are you guys watching any games today? I'll be cheering on the Patriots this morning/afternoon while I do some blogging and photo-editing. Also, "Go find Kanye West" is (literally) on my list of things to do this weekend, because he's performing in Vancouver tonight. I didn't get tickets to the show, but perhaps it's not too late to scoop some? That might end up on my Sunday to-do's as well.

I wanted to do another Sweat Round Up, because it's been a few weeks. After another lapse in exercise, due at least in part to me coming down with a 3-day mystery illness the week before last, I stepped things up a little bit again this week. Here's what I've been up to in the gym - and you can click on any of the exercises for a video demo of each one, if you're curious:

10/13 (lower body and core)

5 mins elliptical (1/2 mile)

2x:

  12 deadlifts, 12.5 lbs each hand

  15 lying overhead raise + double crunch, holding 5 lbs

  20 calf raises, 12.5 lbs each hand

  30 weighted crunches on exercise ball, holding 12.5 lbs

  12 squats, holding 25 lbs

  50 plank knee to elbow

10/16 (upper body and core)

10 mins biking, 2.16 miles

12 bent over rows, 12.5 lbs each hand

30 weighted v-sit twist, holding 12.5 lbs

12 overhead press, 12.5 lbs each hand

30 Russian get ups, holding 5 lbs

15 deltoid flys, 5 lbs

15 deltoid raises, 5 lbs

30 weighted crunches on exercise ball, holding 12.5 

12 tricep kickbacks, 5 lbs each hand

30 cobras

12 lat pulldowns, 30 lbs

12 lat pulldowns, 40 lbs

12 lat pulldowns, 50 lbs

10/17 (lower body and core)

10 mins elliptical, 1 mile

- 40 bridges

- 10 single leg hip lifts on each leg

5 Russian get ups, 5 lbs each hand

20 deadlifts, 15 lbs each hand

1:00 plank

15 goblet squats

1:00 plank

30 side lunges + plyometric pushoff (each side)

1:00 plank

30 jump squats, alternating wide and close stance

1:00 plank

I've also been doing a lot of walking around Vancouver lately, admiring the changing fall colors around my neighborhood and the city, as well as ticking things off my Fall To-Do List.

.  dem colors doe  . 

This past Friday night I went into Vancouver's Yaletown neighborhood for dinner at the Cactus Club Cafe with two of my new blogging buddies, Rose and Lauren. [Technically, Lauren is a YouTuber, but it sounded weird for me to refer to them as my "new internet friends" (right?) (#catfish), so "blogging buddies" has both alliteration and non-weirdness in its favor.] It was a nice opportunity to dress up in some heels, have some girly drinks (I had the Cohiba - vodka and soda mixed with muddled blackberries, lemon, and spearmint), and get to know each other some more.

Before dinner, Rose and I had fun snapping some pictures in an alley across the street from the restaurant. Rose keeps a style blog with lots of outfit pics, so I played photographer and took a bunch of pictures of the adorably classy dress she was wearing. She had some fun directing me in a few pictures too:

.  my dad would definitely have a sassy comment to make about the big rips in these jeans  .
.  come to think of it, so would my boyfriend  .

.  love these bewties  .

What have you guys been up to this weekend? Get in any workouts or spontaneous alley-way photo shoots? TELL ME EVERYTHING!

And on a final (awesome) note, today is my sister Mallory's 30th birthday!!! It hurts my heart a bit that I can't be in Massachusetts celebrating with her for this big birthday, but I sent her something special that hopefully will help bridge the distance - if only in spirit. Happy birthday Schmal, I love yoooou!!!!

{Linking up with Some Things I'm Loving} 

Sweat Round Up of the Week

This weekend has been a productive one! I went to a Vancouver blogger event (#blogvancity) yesterday in Burnaby, and I spent Friday night (and Saturday morning!) crafting my own aka Bailey "business cards" for the occasion. The event was incredibly beneficial for me - it was informative, allowed me to meet a ton of awesome ladies who are also blogging in Vancouver, and - as a fun bonus - I was showered with swag. I'll write a separate post about the event, where I'll show you my swag and my homemade biznassss cards.

On to my recent workouts, which are few. I only worked out twice this past week - eek! It was kind of a busy week but I know that's not really a great excuse. Shame on me.

Anyway, here's what I did manage to do at the gym:

9/8 (legs and core)

10 mins elliptical

20 deadlifts, 15 lbs each hand

20 lying overhead raise + double crunch, holding 5 lbs

20 squats, holding 30 lbs

- 10 Russian get ups, 5 lbs each hand

- 10 Russian get ups, holding 5 lbs

30 calf raises, 15 lbs each hand

30 weighted crunches on exercise ball, holding 15 lbs

30 side lunges + plyometric pushoff (each side)

30 cobras

30 heel presses on each leg

30 reverse crunch + leg raise

9/11 (upper body and core)

15 chest press on exercise ball, 12.5 lbs

15 weighted v-sit twist, holding 12.5 lbs

15 close grip chest press on exercise ball, 12.5 lbs

40 reverse crunch + leg raise

30 alternating shoulder raises on exercise ball, 5 lbs each hand

50 Brazilian crunches

30 alternating medicine ball flys w/ 8 lb medicine ball

30 lying overhead raise + double crunch, holding 5 lbs

15 overhead press, 12.5 lbs each hand

40 weighted side bends, 12.5 lbs each hand

12 lat pulldowns, 30 lbs

12 lat pulldowns, 40 lbs

12 lat pulldowns, 50 lbs

1:20 plank

10 mins biking

For workout music, I've been loving Jay-Z's new album, Magna Carta Holy Grail. I love when I can just put on an album and let it play all the way through while I'm working out. When my iPod is just on shuffle at the gym, sometimes a totally un-workout-like song can come on and throw off my groove. Adele is great and all, but when Don't You Remember comes on in the middle of my bicep curl, it doesn't exactly make me want to push harder. It makes me want to curl up with ice cream and some sweatpants.

Here are some other albums that I can listen to all the way through at the gym:

• BlackRoc - BlakRoc
• Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
• Jay-Z - The Black Album

What is your current favorite workout song? Do you have an entire album that you like to listen to at the gym?

Find me on Facebook! ~ Holla @ me on Twitter ~

{Linking up with Some Things I'm Loving}

Workouts, Cooking Shit + Dr. Dre

Terrible consistency this week with the gym - just Monday and Thursday workouts under my belt so far. I meant to go on Wednesday but I've been trying to be better about cooking dinners (instead of making Dave do most of them) and an epic meal I began preparing on Wednesday afternoon proved to be more epic than I thought, derailing my plan to go to the gym that afternoon. The good news is that the meal turned out well, which you should keep reading to hear more about.

First, here's what I did at the gym so far this week:

11/12

22 mins elliptical

on exercise ball, 15 lbs each hand:

   - 12 chest press

   - 12 close grip chest press

80 weighted v-sit twists, holding 15 lbs

.  brazilian crunches  .
.  screenshot from diethealth  .

12 overhead press, 15 lbs each hand

50 reverse crunch w/ leg lifts

15 deltoid raises, 7.5 lbs each hand

60 Brazilian crunches

chest on exercise ball, kneeling on floor:

   - 12 M, 10 lbs each hand (wide double bent over row)

   - 12 Y, 7.5 lbs each hand (wide deltoid raises)

30 weighted crunches on exercise ball, holding 15 lbs

12 bicep curls, 12.5 lbs each hand

60 double leg lifts, legs at 90 degrees

12 tricep extensions on exercise ball, 10 lbs each hand

40 dynamic side planks, 20 each side

12 bent over row each arm, holding 10 lbs

1:00 plank

20 plank glute kick backs, 10 each leg

11/15 

10 mins elliptical

Did the following circuit workout 2x, with as little rest as possible:
50 alternating lunges, 10 lbs each hand

60 Brazilian crunches

- 30 bridges

- 20 bridges w/ leg adduction, 10 each leg

- 20 alternating core kicks from bridge position

50 reverse crunch w/ leg lifts

20 squats, 15 lbs each hand

30 weighted crunches on exercise ball, holding 15 lbs

Last night while I was cranking through the 2 rounds of that circuit I put together, I decided to listen to Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album on my iPod instead of just letting the music shuffle through my huge workout playlist. MBDTF (yeah I just did that) is one of those albums that I find is best listened to straight through, rather than skipping around. There are definitely one-off songs I like to throw on as well though - some of my very favorites including See Me Now and Lost in the World. Do you own the album? You should!

As I mentioned, I've been trying to be a bit better about cooking dinners lately. On Monday I made tacos, on Tuesday I made those delicious grilled cheeses I keep mentioning, and on Wednesday I went for a Parmesan-breaded chicken with roasted veggies. Last night we went out to dinner at what has become our favorite neighborhood restaurant - a Japanese eatery called Kibune. I don't know why I haven't blogged about Kibune yet because I think we've gone there about five times now, in the 7 or so weeks we've been here. I'm sure I'll get around to writing a full blog about the place sometime - the food is spectacular and it's never busy. It must be a hidden gem!

Anyway, here's what I made on Wednesday night - the meal that took me so long I had to forgo the gym just to make sure we weren't eating dinner at bedtime.

Baked Parmesan-Crusted Chicken with Roasted Vegetables

Chicken:
Mix shredded Parm, chopped fresh thyme, fresh bread crumbs, salt and pepper in a bowl. Melt butter in a frying pan, add chopped fresh garlic, heat till butter is bubbling then remove from heat and let cool slightly. Coat chicken breast in the butter/garlic, then coat thoroughly in breading mixture. Place chicken in a baking dish or sheet. Pack top of chicken breasts with what remains of breading mixture, drizzle what's left of butter/garlic in pan on top of chicken. Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes. SO EFFING GOOD. Drizzling the butter on top before you put it in the oven makes it extra crispy, which is probably not news to you because you probably know much more about cooking than I do.

Roasted veggies:
Cut up an onion, 1 sweet potato, 2 small red potatoes, 2 small white potatoes, 1 broccoli crown, 3 carrots - toss in olive oil and spread out on a baking sheet. Bake that shit for about 35-40 mins at 450-475, making sure to give them a turn every once in awhile.

This meal took a long freaking time, but it wasn't difficult to do. Now I know that it's a meal to make on a day I don't plan on going to the gym.

In other news, it was brought to my attention that today is the 13th anniversary of the release of Dr. Dre's INCREDIBLE and #DAREISAY timeless Chronic 2001 album. That's right Y'ALL it's been thirteen long, excruciating, hydraulics-less, Nothin' But NO G THANGS WHATSOEVER years since that gem came out on November 16, 1999 (or "95 plus 4 pennies... add that shit up" as your boy Snoop said). Well it's been 95 plus 17 pennies at this point and zee people are getting restless for a follow up. UGH, Dre. Just ugh.

Here are a few things to reflect upon, in closing:





I said good day.