Hockey guys are hot

This afternoon was full of fun- I got a lot done!

I’m a poet and didn’t even know it-hehe.

I took Lincoln to the dog park and there was the most dogs I have ever seen at one time! I counted 27 little ones at one point and we stayed for about an hour. We were going to stay longer but this Boston Terrier kept nipping at Lincoln’s tail and Lincoln started whimpering 😦 Poor baby.

We came home and I heated up leftover’s from Azteca last night. I had some rice and beans (I could eat this every day!!) and half an enchilada

The day was nearing to an end and I decided to go for a much needed run after GorgeFest 2010 this past wknd. I did about 3.6 miles and ran most of it but had to walk a bit. I don’t know what was up with my lungs today but they were just not wanting to cooperate with me.

I came home and the Men’s Olympic Hockey game between the US and Canada was still on. What. A. Game!!!!

And those men are hot–I have always been attracted to football players but bonjour hockey men, nice to meet ya!

I nourished with a Green Monster (Soy Milk, Spinach, Frozen Banana and Chocolate Whey)

Drinking one out of this cup always makes me smile. I don’t know if it’s because of the dogs or beer but it does 🙂

Does anyone have any good recipes for acorn squash or how to prepare? I have heard about it alot but never cooked with it, so if you do—let a sister know!

  I cannot believe my first 5K is in less than two wks and I am nervous about it! But excited at the same time. I think nervous because I don’t know what to expect and don’t know what the process is. I am expecting someone on a golf cart and a bullhorn to follow me and yell at me if I start walking lol. I hope this isn’t the case!  I am not trying to be gross but when I run, I find that I need to spit. Do I just do it or is there some proper etiquette? I like to think that I am once twice three times a lady but didn’t know if you could forgot about it or let it out?

  After today’s run, I am in complete pain. Please tell me this running thing gets easier and I won’t be aching as much. Or lie to me at least! LOL

Dinner was my take on Spicy Chicken Cakes with Aioli from myrecipes.com that I made a few times

I didn’t have bread so I used breadcrumbs and used red onion and parsley in the mix. I made about six total which is perfect for the work wk since you can nuke them or make a sandwich out of them. I had leftover fries from Five Guys and couldn’t let go to waste.

I topped with Ken’s Lite Honey Mustard and it was delish!

And a measly side of broccoli—I had a small bag with five florets sitting in my freezer and didn’t want to throw them out

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And where the hell did February go? I like to go into each month with a positive attitude and goals.

 So far, these are mine for March

*Complete 5K

*If I like it, sign up for another race or this one

*Attend more networking events

*Pay down my credit card some more

*Try out new recipes

*Find a McDonalds that has a damn Shamrock Shake!!

Let’s make this March the best yet!

Confessions of a Shopaholic

No, not talking about the book

Although it is one of my favorites, this is purely selfish and talking about me. I think I have a problem. I love shopping so much and was good and up to this wknd, hadn’t bought any clothes for myself this year. That’s really really really good for me. Then this wknd happened. Something about me, I love thrift stores. Give me  a Good Will, Salvation Army, etc and I am happy. I refuse to spend a lot of money on clothes (when I am losing weight especially)  and can find good things at thrift stores, so why not.

I am going to go over a list of all things bought from Friday and Saturday…..get comfortable.

First stop was GoodWill in Asheville on Friday

Red Turtleneck Sweater, yellow and black scarf, pink and brown messenger bag (which I know totally looks like a bag for an adolescent girl but I loved it) and various books.

 Total Cost $11.86……Ridiculous. I stoked for all of it especially the mysteries by Joanna Fluke. Food +Mystery together? Yay!

Saturday’s buys

First stop was Steinmart which I visited last Sunday. They were having a great sale Saturday only and when you walked in they handed out scratch off coupons that you presented to the cashier when checking out and worth 10%,20$,$300 or all your items free!

I call this one a J-Lo top and keep singing “Waiting for Tonight” when I look at it

Total Steinmart Cost: $38.01

Next stop was Value Village which is another thrift store. I love it because they have tag of the day sales which yesterday was orange and red–50 and 75% off anything with those color tags plus 50% off sweaters and coats

This coat? $2.50

This adorable polka dot top–$4

Adorable purple sweater-$2

Green sweater-$.80 (yes, you read that right)

Ann Taylor Loft Grey Hoodie–$1.75

TShirt-$.90

Graphic Top $4

Vera Bradley purse

Purple Turtleneck sweater

 Total Spent at ValueVillage $22.55

All of this for under $75. So if anyone else out there who is on a budget thinks they can’t find stylish clothes for cheap, please think again!

All that shopping left my mom and I starving so we headed to Five Guys Burgers since she had a gift card

We each got the little cheeseburger (which is still huge) and split an order of heaven….their fries

After that, we headed home. All that shopping and eating exhausted me and I took a three hour nap while my mom read. I finally found Lincoln’s WVU fleece that he got for Christmas last year and put it on him to see if it still fit

Success!

God I love this dog

We had some errands to run so we went to do those then went to dinner at Azteca, a local Mexican restaurant. We noshed on chips and salsa and I have a couple of beers and then I had the combo platter with an enchilada, chile relleno and tamale

Ummm yeah, couldn’t finish even half of it so I doggie bagged it but it was fabulous! I love going there because at the end they give you these complimentary sweet crisps with whipped cream and strawberry sauce

We then went to Ulta  and Borders and hung out, very exciting Saturday night!! lol My mom is low key like me and I don’t need to be entertained 24.7 or running around the whole time. We spent a good hour at Borders just reading magazines and sipping on coffee.

This morning, we went to Steak and Shake for breakfast and I had coffee and the sourdough melt breakfast sandwich

It was greasy, fatty and delicious. I am sad to see my mom go back to Florida but happy since I can get back into my normal eating and exercise routine. Being around my family is always food based which I love but at the same time, gained weight because of that.

I dropped my mom off at the airport earlier and now just hanging here.

Click here for a chance to win “The Perfect Night In” giveaway—ends tonight at 11PM EST!!

Or if you are looking to add a new cookbook to your collection click here for a chance to win a Moosewood cookbook!

Asheville (Part 2)

 

It was freezing and windy as hell but a beautiful sight to see!

Afterwards we went to Goodwill (pics of the goods found will be up later) then went to downtown Asheville and grabbed some lunch at Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria

Since it’s Friday, I opted for a black bean burger with jalapeno’s aplenty, potato salad and a pickle

This was delish! I ate all of the potato salad and only have of the burger so threw that in a box with some of my mom’s pizza.

We walked back to the car and saw this in the window of a clothing store

I absolutely love that Asheville is so dog friendly! It is a small artsy, liberal city with dogs everywhere.

I picked up some goodies on the way back

I never indulge in this anymore but absolutely love it and it isn’t too bad for you (in my opinion at least!)

 Peanut butter moon pie??!! I have never had a regular Moon Pie but seeing that I do live in the South, I felt like I needed to support the local economy and try one.

The drive was smooth until we got back into the Charlotte area and then hell broke loose. There is usually some traffic on the interstate near my place but today was absolutely out of control. And there was no accident so didn’t know what was up.

By the time we got home, took Lincoln out and tried to decompressed, we were wiped. We were planning on going out to dinner but did the next best thing-went to Harris Teeter. The HT near me has a sushi bar, fresh pizza by the slice, gelato bar and a Chinese/Thai place so the options are endless.

I went with sushi and shrimp dumplings

And with that, I am going to take a bubble and pass out. We have our water again–yay!!! Hope everyone’s wknd is starting out great!

Asheville (Part 1)

What  a day!! My mom and I had a fun day roadtripping to Asheville.

On the way there, we stopped at Love’s Travel Center for gas and was so close to buying this travel mug

Hehe, it was cute. Plus, it was ceramic like a normal coffee mug but with a handle and cover. I need to get one these.

This was another cute one

  We got to the Biltmore property, drove up three miles and caught the shuttle to the house to catch the tour.

Here are some fun facts about the Biltmore

*175,000 Square Feet
*America’s Largest Home

*Houses a 70,000 gallon indoor pool

*Has appeared in numerous movies such as Richie Rich, Forrest Gump, The Witches of Eastwick, Hannibal, Trading Places and more

 There a bunch of pictures so this post will be in parts since WordPress is being mean to me so here we go……..

Showering with Baby Wipes

Yep, that’s what I am doing since a water main broke at my apartment complex. …yesterday morning. Yeah. No water, can’t use the toilet, no shower. I officially feel disgusting. My mom and I rolled down to Starbucks this morning (because I don’t have water), got some coffee a Reduced Fat Very Berry Coffee Cake and hung out. We used the bathroom twice each and then went to CVS to get water. As we were pulling up, we saw the guys starting to work on the pipes again. They said it will be up and running again.

Thank God!

We won’t be here today but it’s nice to know that we will be able to shower tonight.

My mom and I are heading to Ashville in an hour to go to The Biltmore

They have a tour of the house, wineries (YAY!), restaurants and shopping. It’s only two hours away from Charlotte and will be a fun trip.

Happy Friday party people!

Public Restrooms

Hello all! It felt soooooo nice to sleep in today. I woke up around 8AM (unfortunately not feeling like P Diddy) and took my time getting ready and by the time I was rolling out to work, Kelly and Regis were coming on.

There wasn’t a lot going on at work when I went in thankfully. I got to take my time getting settled in and it just felt good. I had no pressure, no deadlines (that I knew of yet), had my coffee in hand and was ready to go.

Well, after some Oikos greek yogurt with frozen blueberries of course.

I wonder why people at work choose the stall next to me when there are so many other options? If you really think about it, you are just separated by a panel, which is just gross. Imagine if there weren’t any, you would be sitting side by side doing your thing, ICK! Then I got to thinking whoever invented the disposable seat cover was a smart person. And how did someone not think about it ages ago?? And why haven’t I bought stock in it?

I saw this in relation to my rant and had to laugh

I just don’t see why people don’t like their space when there are other stalls available

Did you know that the first toilet was seen on tv was on the pilot episode of Leave it to Beaver in 1957?

Just some random bathroom knowledge for you.

Hehe

I think the US should adapt that in our restrooms. Or something fun at least. Looking at the same mauve tile gets boring, don’t you agree?
Lunch was a naked burrito with chicken, black beans, jalapenos, onion, cheese, brown rice and tomatoes

Snacks were a cutie and a Gala apple

You know who I was thinking about today? Bronson Pinchot aka  Balki from Perfect Strangers.


I miss that show and the whole TGIF lineup from the early 90’s. He was the only man who could rock a vest and one of the few who could sport suspenders successfully —say that three times fast!!!

I hung out at work until it was time to go to the airport to pick up my momma who was flying in from Ft Lauderdale. Her flight was delayed but she flew in on JetBlue and couldn’t stop talking about how great they were and the tv’s they have at each seat. I am flying on them in July when I go to NYC so I am looking forward to see if they are as great as everyone says they are.

We drove to my place to drop her stuff off and take Lincoln out. He was so excited to see her that he was hyperventilating for a good five minutes. Poor pups!

We needed some nourishment so went to Buffalo’s Southwest Cafe, I’ve been wanting to check this place out and I had a $10 off of $25 coupon so we headed there. She had some wine and I had some Blue Moon and we feasted on spinach and artichoke dip ( loved that the dip was in a mini tortilla bowl!)

Then the entrees came-my mom had chicken quesadillas and I had the Apache Chicken Sandwich (grilled chicken breast topped with pepper-jack cheese, chipotle ranch, and onion straws, in a tortilla wrap with lettuce and tomato)

Holy yum!!! After the beer and spin dip, I could only finish half and some of the fries but my mom didn’t finish her quesadillas either so I have a fun to go box sitting in my fridge.

When I say nut you say butter!

Nut…butter….nut….butter

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Dear California-I like you. I have been to numerous cities in your state and had a great time.  Nice people, good food, progressive thinking. Thumbs up to all. But this? Absolutely ridiculous. You got bigger fish to fry than cussing.

Now, my mom is already asleep and I am bundled on my couch under my comforter. It is so cold out but I love this weather and snuggling up, layering clothes and drinking hot chocolate. I have tomorrow off and planning what things my mom and I will do.

I leave you with  Lincoln love

Till I collapse

 Thanks all for the sweet comments on baby got back post 🙂 I almost want to break out into my rendition of Buttermilk Biscuits now

 

And you thought Baby Got Back was old school!!

I work up this morning absolutely starving and grabbed a Clif Z Bar for the bus ride.

To my dismay, we got the futuristic bus today which sounds awesome but it sucks. Charlotte Area Transportation put a few new buses out this past year and they are horrible. They have fewer seats, florescent lights and when you sit down (if you can find a seat) you can barely see out the window since the seats are low.

Yummy Starbucks iced coffee with non fat milk and one pump sugar free cinnamon dulce

My produce for the day

I spent the morning training an associate on our floor so that made the morning fly by-which we like 🙂

I finally had my breakfast around 11A which was greek yogurt, blueberries, flax and granola

I met up with a co-worker and we went to Brixx Wood Fired Pizza since I had a BOGO coupon

It was starting to rain out and the tail end of the lunch hour so we got in quick and didn’t have to wait. Since I work Uptown, there tends to be a small wait for lunch which is one of the reasons I never go

I got the Roasted Chicken Caprese Pizza with sun-dried tomato pesto, shredded basil, wood-roasted chicken, roma tomatoes and fresh house-made mozzarella.

My friend got the Chicke Florentine Pizza with wood-roasted chicken, crumbled bacon,
roma tomatoes, fresh spinach, and feta and mozzarella cheeses . I tried to get a picture before she grabbed a slice!

Mine was good but nothing to write home about. The flavor really didn’t pop out to me and I’ve had better there. I do not like how their tables look exactly like my work desk!

The rest of the afternoon went by quickly—I think I worked a little, read some blogs, socialized, etc. A good day!

I came home and made chicken and black bean tacos

I long for the days of summer when avocados are aplenty and cheap!

Nom nom nom!!

Raining and nasty outside but I sadly got out of my fleece pajama pants and sweatshirt and suited up for my run. I was NOT feeling this run at first. Then Eminem’s Till I Collapse came on and it was on! I ran the furthest I have done to date–3.2 miles and am feeling it now! I finally found my happy pace….which is super slow…..but one where I am not having any problems breathing and can run further and not have to stop every few minutes. I know this doesn’t sound like an accomplishment but it is for me 🙂

I came home and made a smoothie. Sad, I have no baby spinach and barely any soy milk so it turned out real chunky. I made it with soy milk, ice cubes, Barney Butter and chocolate whey protein

Lincoln was intrigued 🙂

I am so beat tired but need to clean for my mom is coming in town tomorrow night for a long wknd. I am sleeping in though so I can roll into work later and then head to the airport from work and pick her up.

And I leave you all with a beautiful vision post workout

Holla if ya nasty

L.A. Face with an Oakland Booty

 I got two compliments about my weight loss from co-workers today—which was totally unexpected! I have been feeling somewhat discouraged lately and trying not to go by the numbers on the scale and more of how my clothes fit, which have been getting looser and looser. However a good portion of my life has gone with the idea of paying attention to the scale and not to inches, how clothes fit, how I feel etc. it is a bit difficult to get used to.

Anyways, it was a nice way to start my morning and a reminder to myself to keep moving forward and not get stuck on the notion that I have to be a certain number. I will state this now-I am a big booty gal

Enter in one of my most favorite Nike ads

 I am happy to be living a healthier life style, incorporating healthy foods, habits and workouts in my life but sometimes wonder what would happen if my butt keeps shrinking? It’s the bane of my existence….yet the thing that defines me. I am little in the middle but got much back, cursed with an Italian butt, etc. I don’t want to be some normal girl with a normal figure but at the same time sometimes hate my booty and the attention it brings.

 Oh Sir Mix A lot-you sing to my heart. 

 I am a true LA Face with an Oakland booty but what happens if I keep losing weight and my booty goes bye bye? Fortunately, I don’t think it will ever go away not be a flat a**sed girl, it’s just not in my DNA.  In my perfect world, we would be able to decide where on our bodies we wanted fat to dissolve from (along with me donating my fat to the starving kids in Africa) Sigh.

On a random note– I totally want to buy this shirt!

 

Now onto protein I’ve noticed ever since giving up a majority of meats I have been light headed and had zero energy. I was looking at my food diary from the past wks and I can see a significant drop in my protein intake. Before Ash Wednesday, it ranged from 85 to 140 grams a day and this past wk most days have been in the 40’s and 50’s range. As much as I don’t want to, I am going to try meat again for a few days and see if I feel back to normal. It is important for me to stick with what I gave up for Lent however it is most important for me to feel healthy and normal

That being said, I made nachos with ground turkey and black beans for dinner.

My snacks this afternoon were a kiwi and a tangelo

Lunch was the same as yesterday–Morningstar veggie sausage link, broccoli with whole wheat thin spaghetti

Breakfast-Oatmeal, flax and frozen berries

Onto the good stuff—-The Bachelor!

That whole thing with Roslyn was ridiculous. I will her that she is a really good actress with all the acting she did last night with the she said vs. she said when it came to her fling with the producer

 

And then with the low blow she hit Chris Harrison with saying that he was hitting on the producers wife? Wow. I am looking forward to the finale and seeing the girls (love on the commercials they have “Will Jake choose sugar or spice?”) meet his parents. From what they are showing, it looks like his family loves Tenley and not showing so much for love for Vienna. At least the finale is set in Hawaii—so no more turtlenecks for Jakey Pooh.

Riff Raff

I got to try out my new rainboots today! It was raining non stop this morning…..not a good way to kick off a new wk. I went into work early so I could catch up on anything that I may have missed by leaving early on Friday. When I got in, it was nice and quiet except Stinkalicious was giggling and very excited about the thunder today. This person is 50 something and they are making a remark every time we hear thunder. I appreciate the little things in life but cmon! Each time thunder hit, they made a remark about it “Ohhhhh….scary” (in a serious tone not a playful tone), “Haven’t heard that in awhile”…blahblah blah.
I go into work each day trying to be nice but mornings like this make it so hard.

Breakfast was Oikos Greek Yogurt with frozen berries, coconut granola and flax

Did anyone ever watch From G’s to Gents (Season 2)? Such a good show—not. It was on this time last year and when I first saw it, I thought it was a joke. It is probably one of the worst reality shoes ever but I was addicted to it…..until Riff Raff was kicked off.

Don’t know about Riff Raff? Well you’re about to get schooled.

From MTV:
1. Age: 26
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Occupation: Unemployed

– A freestyle rapper under the name “Texas Tornado,” Riff Raff has the MTV logo tattooed on his neck.
– Riff Raff says that he cheated his way through 11th grade and once started a fight in school because he was bored.
– Lives in an apartment decorated like a nightclub, complete with turntables, blacklights and a “Riff Raff” banner.

This cat was crazy yet so loveable.

And I guess he came out with his own cd? I am sad they airbrushed the Bart Simpson tattoo on his chest off……that just spells out gangsta to me.

Oh Riff Raff, you will always hold a special place in my heart.

I didn’t have too much time to work on meals last night so I made spaghetti with steamed broccoli and Morningstar Italian Sausage Link. I mixed with some evoo, garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes.

The snacks were an apple, banana, kiwi and honeydew…..wow, I was all about the fruit today.

I came home and indulged in some Baked Ruffles -Sour Cream and Cheddar

 RIP Marshall Fields

I’ve had a horrible headache all day and about to attempt a nap.

Fiesta Fiesta

Per my previous post title, I thought I would keep it in the spirit of R Kelly

I decided to get spicy for dinner.

I picked these up at Trader Joe’s the other day and wanted to see how they were

Not a huge fan of the flour but moderation is key.

In a bowl, I mashed up 1/2 cup of black beans, chopped onion, garlic and chile powder.

I went with quesadillas with a side of Trader Joe’s Reduced Guilt Tortilla Chips, salsa, guacamole, tomatoes

Habanero Lime flour Tortillas?

FABULOUS! Just enough spice and hint of lime to give it a nice flavor but not overpowering.

And the color is that of sweet potatoes!

Or an Oompa Loompa

Hmmmm. I can honestly say if they had a Oompa Loompa shaped cutter for sweet potatoes, I would buy it. How cool would that be??

I don’t know if I mentioned this or not but I got a call from my apartment complex office yesterday and someone found my work id badge that I lost the other day. I stopped by to pick it up and everything was in there—bus pass, Starbucks card (that I already canceled) and photo id. That just restored my faith in the kindness of strangers

It’s 945P and I am trying to make myself tired. I never sleep well on Sunday nights and have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day. However, it is supposed to be rain so that means sporting my new boots–woo hoo!

And who knows, depending on tomorrow my next post may be another R Kelly song!