The anxiety sets in

I also have anxiety and can’t sleep on Sunday nights….only because I love my job so much and I am so excited to get back to work! Not so much.

I don’t know why but ever since I have been in this position, I have had this issue with Sunday nights. Plus Sundays are my lazy days and I really want to take a nap in the afternoon but can’t because that will interfere with my sleep schedule on Sunday night. I am not sure why I have anxiety. Maybe because I am unhappy? It’s not challenging at all and I have done the same function for three years.

My afternoon snack was liquid eggs nuked for 30 seconds on a toasted Thomas English Muffin, Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb Wedge and a smidge of ketchup along with 1 oz of True North Pecan Almond Peanut Clusters (Addictive!!!)  And diet coke, yummy yummy diet coke which I am trying to get off of. I haven’t had once since Friday (which is good for me)

 Dinner was the crock pot chicken I had cooking today and some butternut squash (forgot to take a pic of the meal) 

 

For two split chicken breasts, I got about four servings out of it so less cooking for me this week.

Now I am just sitting sipping on some hot chocolate (with a splash  of International Delights  Creamer —Sweet Italian Creme)

Awesome mug, I know 🙂

Other than that, I am just trying to figure out my taxes. When I say that, I mean figure out what I am going to do with my money back. I plan on getting a new digital camera, a heart rate monitor then put the rest in my savings (and throw in a little in my vacation savings account!)

I just found out we are getting a Yoforia in my neighborhood! Yay for frozen yogurt. And extra yay’s for it being within walking distance and in the same shopping center as Starbucks and Trader Joe’s.

I must break you

 Hello hello! Yay for Sunday…..not so much. It’s my least favorite day of the wk. Pair that up with no football on today–boooooo Sunday!

Breakfast was

 1/3 cup rolled oats

 1 cup 8th Continent Soy Milk

 1 Banana

 1 Tbsp Flax

 1/2 scoop chocolate protein 

 1  banana all mixed together.

I don’t know why Lincoln is trying to be all saucy and seductive but this made me laugh.

I looked outside and it was still a winter wonderland so I walked over to Trader Joe’s  for something to do. It felt so good to get out. Nothing like some cabin fever! And it was empty—I have never seen Trader Joe’s empty!

 I got a lot of yummies there including Tempeh (which I have never tried so that should be interesting), almond butter with flax, bananas, oranges, harvest blend of veggies, frozen blueberries and pineapple, baking soda and buns.

The thing I love about TJ’s is if you are not satisfied with a product or simply don’t like it, you can bring it back for a full refund or exchange!

I then decided to workout all Rocky IV style! 

Ok maybe not as hardcore as that but still. I took my kettlebell outside and walked up flights of stairs with it (about 200+ steps), then did some swings, snatches and halos outside.

Fun did you know fact from Rocky IV….The training scenes set in Russia were actually filmed in Wyoming; the farm is located in Jackson Hole, and most of the exterior shots were filmed in the Grand Teton National Park. Never knew that!

For lunch, I wanted something warm and hearty. I made sloppy joe’s with ground turkey, Manwhich sauce and diced onions and jalapenos for a little kick! 

 

While that was cooking, I put some split chicken breast in the crockpot with Frank’s Red Hot and Budweiser BBQ Sauce

I added a tbsp of Naturally Fresh Peppercorn Dressing on the final product

 

On the side, I have Campbell’s Select Harvest Chicken Noodle Soup. Not totally impressed with it. I thought it lacked flavor and taste but had a coupon for it so I got it $.55. I wouldn’t buy again.

 

 

 

 

 

Still snowed in

It is 10PM and I havent left my residence today (except to walk Lincoln and get my mail). This city is absolutely ridiculous and behind the times when it comes to snow. Everything is shut down and I keep watching the news which lists all businesses that are closed for today. I then have to remind myself that I am in a major city with an airport, businesses and other things to classify it as a city. Just annoying!

After going out in the snow, I had a feeling Lincoln was a little chilly

I put Lincoln’s turtleneck on and he loved it ….but was still all about the love 🙂

Ever since reading this post, I have been singing Lady Gaga to Lincoln…..this needs to come to an end!!! 😛

Since it was cold, icky, snowy out, I decided on some comfort food for lunch….NACHOS!

The usual suspects

Add a bowl of Chobani Greek Yogurt and salsa mixed with that—bon appetit!

We would for a nice walk in the snow after that and then it was nap time. I love being able to justify a three hour nap on a Saturday.

I woke up refreshed and cleaned my kitchen and watched some tv. It was once again, meal time.

The day of comfort food continues with homemade pizza (yet again using Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat Pizza Dough)

 Spinach, artichokes and mushrooms with some evoo, garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes cooking

 

One would think since I am part Italian, I would be able to round into a nice circle. No can do. I did think it kinda looked like a state though but couldn’t find any states it looked like. West Virginia would be a fun one to make some time though!

 The result—HUMUNGEOUS Pizza!!!

I sliced and added some nice marina dipping sauce

 For dessert, I had some Big Love

And every time I see Law and Order (the regular one not one of them million of spin offs) and Jeremy Sisto comes on, I can’t help but singing “Rolling with My Homies” in my head. From one of my most favorite movies eva, Clueless.

However my favorite quote from that movie is “Ummmm I can’t do any activities where balls fly in front of my face?” “There goes your social life!” Love it 🙂

Kinda bummed, I was supposed to see “When In Rome” with a girlfriend tomorrow afternoon but looks like it won’t be happenening due to snow. Hopefully next wknd!

At least tomorrow, I will be able to use the gym here and walk over to Trader Joe’s and Starbucks….something to look forward to!

Y’all know how much I love Chobani Greek Yogurt (seeing that I post about it every day) if you would like the chance to win an entire CASE of Chobani, click here to Stephanie’s site to enter!

Let it snow

I had such a wonderful sleep last night and woke up to this—yay! First snow of the year, I am so excited!

It maybe snows once or twice a year here so when we do, it’s an excuse for me not to do anything a big deal. I had to take Lincoln out and I was interested to see if he was going to like it.

Operation Snow 2010 a success! I tried to keep him out for as long as possible since I love the snow but was jonesing for some coffee and big weekend breakfast! I decided to make french toast with bananas and of course, coffee.

The toppings (with my favorite magnet in the background hehe 🙂 )

 

I have never tried pumpkin butter atop french toast but knew it could not be a bad thing plus with syrup and banana? Yes please!

The final product

 

Delicious! I really have no clue what I am going to do today since the roads are bad here. I could clean (meh), set up my printer (meh but still a better option than cleaning), organize stuff to sell on ebay (cha chang) or just sit on my butt drinking coffee watching Turbo Dogs (yes a real show). I think I will do that for now.

On another note, whatever happened to Snow who rapped sang “Informer”?

 

SNOW GOT HOT!!!! That’s what’s up? When did that happen? Look at his swagger, hello. A licky boom boom down indeed. YUM. Ok focus…..I always thought it would be cute if he met a girl rapper named Flake and then they had a baby girl and named her Snowflake and they would be a traveling rapping family. But screw Flake, Snow is hot now and YUM! Enough of that though…..

If you read my rant the other day, you will remember my issue with work. How I want to leave but they keep giving me raises (waaa waaaa I know poor me) But seriously, I found out yesterday I got yet another raise. A substantial one too. I just got one back in November, they must really not want me to leave.  But I do want to leave and move somewhere where my friends are so it’s a catch 22. Especially when unemployment is so high. Mo money, mo problems I tell you.

Happy Friday!

The sky Is falling? Who knows? All I know is that there was a bunch of websites I used to never be able to access at work that I can now access today. Including one of my favorites—Food Network Humor!  This site is hilarious, they pretty much make fun of the personalities on there (they are especially cruel to Rachel and Guy) 

 My co-worker came over and he ordered  Nylabone Nutri Dent  Mini Chews online for they didn’t like them so he gave them to me to give to Lincoln –score! These are Filet Mignon flavored, made in America and Gluten Free, we shall see if Linx will like them. 

 Eek horrible picture quality. Thanks Blackberry!

I had leftover spaghetti again but it didn’t hold me over.

 I walked to the supermarket and got a side salad from the salad bar with

*green olives

 *red onions

 *carrots

 *tomatoes

 *mushrooms

 *broccoli

 *spoonful of chicken salad

 *honey mustard and red vinegar

It was great! I have really been on a salad kick lately.

 The supermarket was mad busy though because it’s supposed to snow in Charlotte tonight (insert freak out music). Seriously, the people here freak out when they hear it is going to snow. I really don’t think it’s a big deal (oh yeah, I’m originally from Florida and can drive fine in the snow) but apparently others don’t feel the same way.

 I did see something amusing while waiting in line though—twins dressed the same. Over the age of six. And they both were Pat-like!

 I couldn’t tell if they were men or women. Very funky indeed. God, that was such a horrible movie (aren’t all SNL skits they make into movies?) but I think I am going to NetFlix that mother out!

When I left work, it was finally snowing…..but not sticking, bummer 😦 I decided to see if Lincoln liked his new treats.

Yep, these are a winner. And if they get rid of his bad breath, even better,

Dinner was a butterflied pork chop baked with Shake and Bake Parmesan Garlic mix and a baked potato with Chobani Greek Yogurt, Spray Butter and some shredded cheese.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Besides that, I really did nothing tonight. I don’t know if it is the weather or what but I am so achey and tired as of late. I took a bubble bath tonight and nodded off a few times! I need my energy back….ASAP. I have cut down on soda but that is really the only change I can think of lately.

And buzzkill, I just took Lincoln outside and was all bundled up because of said snow and none. BOOOOOO! 😦 They said it may freeze over tonight but none on the ground as of now.

 

Click here for an opportunity to win a Perfect Food Bar! YUM 🙂

why I don’t trust men with a lot of hair

John Edwards is just a dirty dog! So he cheats on his cancer stricken wife, fathers another woman’s baby and now there is a sex tape coming out?  Meh. This guy just sickens me. Poor Elizabeth Edwards. Maybe this is why I go for bald men?

 Mr. Clean could totally kick John Edwards  a** any day of the wk….and leave with a clean kitchen!  

 I am happy to say I did NOT have Greek Yogurt for breakfast! Every year my parents get me a Chick Fil A calendar, which has coupons for each month. Since this month is almost over (don’t even get me started on that topic!) I decided to stop there before work this AM and get my free Chicken Biscuit. It was so wonderful! However check out these stats……1,310 mg sodium!!!! Good lord, that’s about half of what I have one day. How did I used to eat this stuff all the time? It rang in 450 calories however the only bright point (besides being delicious) was the 19g of protein it has. I wanted to switch up breakfast for once but not that much!

 

I have no work to do at all. This morning I did my taxes (nice refund, cha ching!!), looked online for a new digital camera, flipped through recipes for meals next wk and such. At one point, I was about to fall asleep as my desk. I hate days like this, I just can’t sit here and be bored. I have told my boss this several times and one of the many reasons I want a new job. Yes I am good at my desk but a trained monkey could do it and I am not challenged at all. Plus my degree is in Journalism-Public Relations and I work in Debt Finance so yeah……surprise that I am not interested in my work. The problem is they keep giving me raises ( I know this doesn’t sound like a problem but when you are trying to think of reasons why you are unhappy with your job and want to leave, this is a HUGE roadblock). So really with that, there is nothing keeping me in Charlotte and I am miserable here. I don’t like the people, haven’t made friends that will be lasting relationships, hate my job, the guys here suck and the list goes on. Definitely time to start moving on. Sorry for the rant, it’s just been something that’s been heavily weighing on my mind. I need to get out of here, that’s all I know.

 I bring my lunch almost every day to work and today was one of those. But then one of my coworkers (Mr. Sighs A lot) walked by with something fried from Showmars . The girl who sits across from me looked over at me because we complain to each other about what he has for lunch because it smells so good and we always bring something from home. We then decided we needed to walk over to Showmars and today was my favorite special—Chicken Salad Pita with fries

 

 

This just made my day a little better!

 

The afternoon turned out to be a little more exciting than this morning. I took a nice 30 min walk around Uptown (absolutely gorgeous today-60 degrees and sunny!) and just passed time until 445P

Sleepwalking

This is how I felt all day. And I had my coffee. Two cups and a diet coke (which I haven’t had since the wknd) and still felt like I was going to strangle someone.

It is a little after 8P and I finally feel like I am starting to wake up. I have been so beat today which is weird since I got a good amount of sleep last night. But the night before, I got maybe three hours of sleep and was bouncing off the walls. I guess I finally hit the wall! Maybe it is because of the weather and it being cold out. All I know is when it gets like this, I want to come home from work, get in my fleece pajama pants and do nothing!

I finally for in touch with Toyota today to ask about the recall and they said I don’t need to bring in my car just yet which is good. However, I heard that they don’t even have a fix for the accelerator pad problem! So I guess keep driving and cross my fingers that the pad doesn’t get stuck? Good plan of attack!

Breakfast was Chobani Strawberry yogurt, strawberries, flax and coconut granola. I need to get some Chia seeds, I keep seeing them everyone and am curious about them.

Work was steady enough today but I was still bored and trying to find stuff to do. When this happens, I start discovering annoying habits of my co-workers. One of them is a project manager and on conference calls all day. Any time the call ends or he is walking past my desk, he always sighs……and when I say sigh, I mean siiiiiiiiiiiiiiighhhh. For a man, he is very dramatic. You would think he just got done doing manual labor. But no, on a conference call about a new system we are going to be incorporating into our work place. Weird. And annoying.

Lunch was the last of the slow cooked beef brisket (YAY!) and Uncle Ben’s Rice Pilaf with sautéed onions and mushrooms. And that would be collard greens in the corner ( my co-worker was waiting for me to heat my lunch up and had some extra).

I walked over to the library for something to do (and they had The Lizzie McGuire CD waiting for me……I am 30 mind you. There is one song on there I discovered on Pandora that I wanted to get. But it evens out because they also had Vampire Weekend waiting for me!) and found this awesome book

I am not a vegan by any standards but it is always fun to try new things and if they are standard recipes but healthier,great! I flipped through this on my way home and it has a lot of good stuff! And she put in random facts about the ingredients she uses in her recipes and I just love that kinda stuff 🙂

I came home to a happy dog and we took a nice walk outside before it got dark. I fixed myself a bowl of spaghetti using Barilla Plus Whole Wheat Thin Spaghetti and topped with the spinach, artichoke and mushroom mix I cooked last night and some Parmesan cheese-yum!

I wish I had a salad on the side or something. I was still hungry afterwards so decided to have a little desert. I have a bunch of Betty Crocker Warm Delights (the mini ones) so I nuked that for 30 seconds that scooped out and put then over some Chobani 2% Plain Greek Yogurt. Delish!

I have decided that when I die, I would like to be buried with my Blackberry, Fleece Pants and Chobani because I love it so.

I finally had a full belly after that-yay! I took a nap and woke up to a fur baby on me 🙂

Life is good. I cannot believe Lost starts in less than a wk, that just makes me so happy! And my trip to NYC won’t be the only trip I have this yr…planning a trip to DC in April. And I can bring Linky with me so he can finally meet his new BFF Riley (my friends dog). I am anxious to see what kind of shenanigans they get to while we enjoy the Cherry Blossom Festival! I am also looking to move from Charlotte and DC may be one of the possible areas I am looking into. The fact that I don’t have a sugar daddy to help pay the bills or a job set up there isn’t working in my favor though. Or the fact that it is one of the highest cost of living areas in the country either. Meh!

Bucks and Bucks and Bucks and Bucks…..with a little bit of a Toyota Recall

Was so groggy today! I woke up at 330A and couldn’t fall back asleep until 5A. When I have to wake up at 6A that is just not right.

Started my day off right with some Chobani Greek Yogurt (strawberry flavored), frozen strawberries and flax seed. I got into work at 745A and had to wait until 9A for my coffee buddy to roll in.

 

We have a Starbucks in our building which is wonderful and evil at the same time. I love it because I am there every day .Yay for Starbucks Rewards–check it out here you haven’t.

Basically a Rewards program for crack  coffee addicts….like me 🙂 When you register your Starbucks card, you get a free drink on your birthday (we are talking ANY size, ANY flavor, numbers shots of espresso!) and Free Wi Fi (up to 2 hours a day).

Once you’ve earned 5 Stars, the deal starts getting sweeter! All of the above plus Free Beverage Customization ( syrup–their Sugar Free Cinnamon Dulce is to die for—and milk options such as Soy), Free Refills on Brewed Coffee, A Free Beverage with Whole Bean Coffee Purchase and free trial offers to you!

30 Stars is where you want to be –all of the above PLUS free drink every 15 Stars, Personalized Cold Card(Holla!) and Personalized Offers and Coupons

Enough of Starbucks though! This morning was steady but not too busy which means time to surf the web-yay! I could up on what’s going on in the world and checked our Livestrong.com which I frequent the boards on.

I still had leftovers of my slow cooked beef brisket but Tuesday is $2.99 any sub day at Harris Teeter so I took a nice walk over there and got a whole wheat tortilla wrap with turkey, pickles, onions, tomatoes and banana peppers. I didn’t get any cheese on it because I am trying to ween myself off the cheese and it was great regardless!

I also had a kiwi with a cool RIPE stick on it which I wore for the rest of the day 🙂

The snacks were the RIPE kiwi and a Gala apple

And then hell broke loose. The entire banks email server went down. And I work for a BIG bank! It was down from 1P to 4P and when a majority of work is via email and I normally leave at 430P, thumbs down.

I rode back on the bus ride home and it was a quick ride for once. And it didn’t smell like fried chicken (like the morning bus does, very funky). Stopped at Trader Joe’s and picked up  some whole wheat pizza dough and roasted red peppers. I decided since the email debacle, I was going to need homemade pizza!

Some spinach, mushrooms and roasted red peppers were cooking (Morningstar Veggie Crumbles were cooking on the side)

Fresh out of the oven!

Time to munch

Getting ready to move to the living room to watch Role Models (Thank you Netflix!) and chow down, my dad called me to tell me about the Toyota recall for my car that came out today. Oi–another thing to worry about 😦 I am trying to have an up beat attitude abut it though. At least I have a car to get recalled and it can always be worse. Oh well, things will work themselves out.

For a fun giveaway click here to Holly’s site—I’m thinking of my favorite combination as I type 🙂

Feeling Olympic? Click here to win a pair of rad Vancouver Olympic mittens—so cute!!

Free Soft Serve—The Lite Choice!

Go to Missy’s site to enter to win a coupon for free soft serve at The Lite Choice!

The Bachelor

 I swear I wasn’t going to watch this show but I just love reality drama! I have never watched the Bachelor before this season because who wants to see a bunch of chicks vying for one guy—I want the complete opposite! And seeing that I don’t have a remove and am cuddled up on couch with dog and a bowl of popcorn, yeah not getting up to change it.

Today was a day and a half! I was out of the office on Friday and rolled in a little early to catch up on stuff that I missed. Which would have been productive……if our systems weren’t down….until 1PM…..leaving me to do all my work manually instead of on my trusted computer-MEH!

Started the day off with some Brown Cow Greek Yogurt with blueberries on the bottom, frozen strawberries and flax seed. I added the juice from the strawberries (which I never do) and it made it really soupy which turns out, I loved!

Lunch was some more of my Slow Cooker Beef Brisket with Beer (secretly I was hoping to get a buzz since my day was going so bad but no dice).

This is the first recipe where I have used parsnips and really diggin them!

On the side—-steamed broccoli with Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb wedge mixed in

Our systems were finally up and running normally around 315P so in between lunch and then I snuck in a nice mile walk with one of my co-workers. When we were walking, it was so windy we almost got knocked over! A windy day in Charlotte, I tell you.

For dinner, I made a stir fry with chicken, onions, mushrooms and udon noodles. It’s been uber long since I whipped out my wok so here is that bad boy with the protein and veggies

The final product (everything tastes better with chopsticks!)

I tried this Crystal Light Red Tea Natural Mandarin single packet (on sale for $1.79 a box!) I was a little sketched out by it when I was making it but pleasantly surprised and I would definitely try again!

After that I watched some Family Guy and did a Kettlebell workout for 30 mins. When I was showering after, my arms were aching a bit. Good workout indeed 🙂

The snack was Act II Kettle Corn PopCorn (AKA The Devil. I could eat about two bags a day and  be content).

Oh Bachelor, why do you suck me in with your siren song? I do not like this Vienna chick!!