Nightime Napping

It’s 9P as I’m starting to write this and I just woke up an hour ago from a nap. Was I planning on napping? Hell no. Did it feel good? Hell yes. Will I have trouble going to bed tonight? Another hell yes. But I just feel gooooood right now so bring it on. And there’s only one more day to go! I stayed late at work today due to a problem that should have been fixed a month ago but never was and now that it’s month end, needed to be resolved.

I had greek yogurt soup for breakfast. I put in extra frozen berries and it’s juice along with the greek yogurt and it just got a little too liquidy so I added granola on top for a cereal like effect. I didn’t like it at all and will need to watch my juice next time.

I spent the morning training an associate on our process and had time to go to the library to see if there were any books or movies I wanted to get but found nothing. The library is now closed on Fridays due to budget cuts within the county which just sucks. I used to enjoy walking over there on Friday afternoons when it was slower at work. I didn’t enjoy sketchy homeless man following me around the library with his hands down his pants (I so wish I was making that up).I did get a chance to get on the reserve list for two books I’m looking forward to reading.

Quizno’s was for lunch today b/c I had a coupon for free chips and drink with the purchase of a regular sub. I got the Ranch Turkey and Swiss and had a bag of Baked Lay’s Barbeque Chips. When is someone going to make Baked Salt N Vinegar Chips?? Waiting…..

I walked over to Harris Teeter this afternoon and picked up some spinach, bananas, oranges, kiwis, carrots and Kashi Bars.

Afternoon snack

I didn’t have too busy of a day but was just beat by the time I got home. I took Lincoln for a 20 minute walk and then dinner was served. I had a BIG salad with spinach, red onions, mushrooms, carrots with Ken’s Lite Honey Mustard (which is amazing, it doesn’t taste “lite” at all)

But I had no tomatoes and a salad isn’t a salad in my book if it doesn’t include tomatoes.

I had leftover enchiladas that I made earlier this wk and a serving of Baked Tortilla Scoops

I swear, these get better the longer they sit. Thanks Aztecs for starting the trend. I love how the history says “There does not seem to be any reference to the term “enchilada” that dates back to the Aztecs.” Can you imagine a bunch of archaeologists finding ancient Aztec scripts and they mentioned enchiladas? That thought just amused me.

I got my Fitness magazine in the mail so I have something to read on the bus tomorrow!

And thank you Lord —Pay day is tomorrow! This is a pretty sweet paycheck for me since I had a lot of OT pay and am taking a $100 of that to spend on myself and get some new clothes. Since I have money readily available, I am sure I will find nothing. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.

***Giveaway alert—click here for a chance to a win an assortment of Honest Tea Drinks!

I found out my friend Shalon who moved away from Charlotte back in February is going to be in town this wknd and that just made my day!! I was supposed to go see her this wknd but have to go into work on Saturday for hopefully a few hours to test a new system that’s launching. Sucks that I have to go in on a Saturday but I am just trying to see $$$$ and remind myself it’s time and a half pay. We are going to have dinner and drinks tomorrow and can’t wait!

Ok so all in all, pretty lame day. Nothing really interesting happened, no fun sightings, funny quips, etc. so apologies. I leave you with the random song of the day stuck in my head.

Country Grammar

I started today out with some would say a non traditional breakfast…..a whole wheat wrap with Trader Joe’s Organic Hummus, lettuce, half a tomato and mushrooms.

Surprisingly good and filling. May need to try this again. Nothing remarkable about this morning it was pretty quiet. I’ve been in a better mood lately at work and I think my co-workers think I’m getting some loving on the regular or something. Even I think I’m extra preppy for my normal demeanor so who knows. But keeping a positive attitude while at work was one of my goals for this month so I’m definitely on that!

I deal with a lot of nasty people in my industry(I guess dealing with millions of dollars on a daily basis makes some people that way?) And dealing with a particularly rude one this morning I sent him a quick “Thank you” for finally emailing me documents that I’ve been requesting for almost a month now. He responded back with “Your welcome” ummm its you’re. It took everything in me (and the fact I don’t want to be fired) not to respond with “Its you’re biznatch!” You can be nasty to me for no reason but at least I know how to use your as opposed to you’re!

I had leftover pork enchiladas for lunch.

I’ve made enchiladas before but never with pork and this was hands down the best batch yet. I don’t know if it was the succulent (how do you like that big word!) pork or the full fat cream cheese but I was in a fatty lactose heaven!

We had three people out this afternoon (yeah I work on a team of six) so things were a bit hectic after lunch. Most of it involved cleaning up  other peoples problems which is annoying but unfortunately part of the job. But its all good since I already have a few hours overtime this wk. Which means extra time and a half money so bring it on! Anyone else get paid OT?

 

I then decided to go for a run. I don’t like daytime running at all but figured it was going to be light out for a while go and get that done with. There weren’t too many people out on the trail and the sun was shining and things were perfect. I love how the light was shining on me and it was silent except for my footsteps. What I didn’t like was looking at my shadow and seeing my big booty shadow. But then again, it was kinda encouraging. I haven’t ran in a while so it was tough me. I would run two or three minutes then walk one and repeat. My ankle was killing me sporadically (thank you Clueless for giving me that word), I couldn’t breathe and my heart rate was getting into the 190’s/200’s so I had to slow it down a bit. Regardless, a good workout. I covered about 4 miles in 50 minutes and had a nice calorie burn!

Yeah, 169 was my average hr. EEEK!

I have no fresh veggies on hand and no meat so dinner tonight was easy to decide on. When in doubt I BFD! I went with egg in a hole which I’ve seen but never made. I took two pieces of bread, made a hole in each with a glass then put on the stove top with 1 tbsp melted butter. I whisked two eggs with salt, paprika and shredded cheese then poured it into the hole.

I laid out a dab of ketchup for each piece of bread and spread Trader Joe’s Superfruit Spread on the cut out pieces of bread

Carbs, eggs and cheese? Count me in. I loved it!

These are officially the devil’s work

And their packaging lies. It says one serving is 50 pieces (40g). I measured this out and this did not look like 50 pieces to me but then again, I could just want more but want have more and am bitter about that.

Has anyone heard of the show Sunset Daze? It’s a new reality show on WE about a retirement community in Arizona. Some are saying it’s Golden Girls meets Jersey Shore. I cannot wait to watch it! I am just hoping there is no hot tub scenes or making out at the bridge club.

And check out Missy Maintains for a chance to win a Seventh Generation Cleaning Kit! Ends on Friday so hurry over there 🙂

Another one that ends on Friday is for a nice Wiseman Tea Package including a pot and samples of tea–check out the contest over at Danica’s Daily!

A day without a hippie.

I love not being busy at work. I had time to meet one of my old co-workers for coffee this morning and wasn’t stressed about time at all. We went to Caribou Coffee since I had two $1 off coupons that are expiring this wk. I got a large coffee for $1.08—score!

I just love this cup from Caribou it just made me smile. I really need to follow these especially
“Hold Hands Not Grudges”. I don’t like Caribou drip coffee as much but their specialty drinks beat Starbucks hands down in my book. But then again, I think Starbucks laces their coffee with a little something extra to get you addicted. I used to love Dunkin Donuts but had it recently and it tasted like coffee flavor water….ick. I’m progressing with weaning myself off the Diet Coke but don’t know if I could get off the Bucks.

I had a Kashi Go Lean Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookie bar as breakfast

The 13g of protein I loved. The 280 calories for that little bar, not so much.

Today was a relatively slow day again. I wish it would just even out with a steady pace instead of being super crazed one day then dead the next.

I did a side by side with a co-worker today who does a different job function so that killed a good hour of my day. Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement about the manager position role I mentioned yesterday (and the taking down of Stinky!). I got more questions from coworkers today if I’m going to apply for the manager position or not. I’m going to think long and hard about this because I KNOW I would do an awesome job but its Stinkalicious that’s getting in my way. And it would be more money and cmon who doesn’t like that? But then again in the words of Biggie…..mo money month problems.

Sigh, decisions decisions.

For lunch I had a Cedarlane Chile Relleno. I’m not a big fan of frozen meals but it was a) Cheap and b) Mexican so I was game.

 It was good…except that I had to re-nuke it three tops. Originally I cut into it after heating for the recommended time and kept getting icy bits. I would have loved to have tortilla chips to dip in the sauce but didn’t have any there. I think if I would’ve had a reliable microwave I would liked it more but I would try again.

I saw Scott Stapp lookalike again and didn’t recognize him b.c he has a beard. Not. A. Fan. I am anti facial hair—what about yall? He just looks a little too hippie for me. And speaking of hippies, my hippies (yes I now own them) weren’t out today….sadness.

 

I was hoping to get some veggies but they don’t come out when it rains. Which confuses me b.c aren’t hippies supposed to be one with nature? BS I tell you.

I had half a container of Chobani peach greek yogurt with blueberries for a snack since that was going to my brekkie.

Didn’t keep me full too long though b.c I remembered I had these mini size candies hidden in a drawer.

I had some Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat Pizza Dough leftover and decided to make a pizza with a side salad for dinner.

Salad with red onions, half a tomato and Ken’s Lite Honey Mustard Dressing, Boring I know. If the hippies would have been out, it could have been prettier.

And look at this—I made an almost round pizza—no Richard Nixon looking or California shaped pizza! Go me 🙂

I love the combination of mushrooms and artichokes with garlic and red pepper flakes–yum!

Even though the hippies weren’t out today, I had my own hippie–Lincoln! He got into a bush when I took him out and turned into a flower child.

And I’m sorry but I think Lincoln is just one of the cutest dogs ever. And he is so much cuter in person since he doesn’t photograph well. But seriously, how could you look at him and not be happy?

I spent a good 10 minutes getting the mess out of his hair and it obviously exhausted him. Poor baby.

And I forgot—I signed up for another 5K today! I am going the Great Harvest Bread 5K on May 22nd.

 I have been slacking on running lately and this will push me to get out on the road again. And I was all set to go tonight and course the rain is coming down. Maybe the hippies did a rain dance?

Durst Dunst

Happy Monday all! First things first—thanks for the nice wishes on my new pad. I can’t wait to move in and am soooo excited! Unfortunately, I am renting it because if I wanted to buy a house in that neighborhood it would cost a pretty penny but I am fine with that for now. I drove by yesterday to drop off my check and there is a bus stop right in front of there. And have I mentioned it is in walking distance to bars, restaurants and three coffee places? 🙂 So yes, very excited!!! 

Today was a great day. I wasn’t covering anyone for the first day in over a week. I didn’t have any chest pains due to stress. And I got my camera back since I left it at my desk at work so let the food porn commence! 

This morning for breakfast I had strawberry Chobani greek yogurt, blueberries, blueberry flax and coconut granola. 

 

I always mix together in the break room and people tell me how good it looks. Funny since I am always staring at their bacon egg and cheese croissandwiches.  And I am not apologizing for thinking this looks good: 

 

Regardless it nice having people salivate over me something I made.
 

I had a big salad with orange and red peppers zucchini red onions shredded cheese topped with tuna and Trader Joes Feta Dressing for lunch. 

 

 

I love that fresh veggies are so cheap right now. I owe it all the hippies….which I was singing that to the tune of ” I did it all for the nookey” before b.c I’m a dork like that. Whatever happened to Fred Durst by the way? 

Always classy

 And does anyone ever get confused with his name and Kirstin Dunst? 

Sobriety is a beautiful thing.

 No? Ok my weirdness again.
One of the teams had leftover pizza today and very rarely do I meet a piece of pizza I don’t like, so I decided to help them out by taking a slice off their hands. And I was a semi good girl by choosing veggie and not the sausage slice. 

 

And then we had a organization wide mtng to announce the new manager that was hired to replace one who left. Yeah….my mngr took the role. Which sucks….hard. I’m happy for him but not happy about this since good mngrs are few and far between. His position is now open and they are taking applications. When I got back to my desk I got bombarded with ims asking me if I am going to apply for it and people urging me to do it. 

Do I want it? Career and money wise it would be a good move but I really cannot work with Stinkalicious yet manage them. I dislike Stinky so much that I am willing to take a hit on my career. And yall know how unhappy I am in my role so yeah…much dislike. I don’t wish them ill will or anything. I just don’t dig people with a bad work ethic. Example….one of my coworkers was drowning in work this afternoon. I stayed an hour past my normal time to help while Stinky left at normal time. Another example….very rarely do I take a full lunch break. Stinky takes a lunch break plus five smoke breaks (yes I count them and I can tell you what time they are taken) and then complains about not having enough time. I know this is petty crap but when I’ve had friends laid off b.c they don’t have seniority yet are hard workers but this slacker still has a job it gets my blood boiling.

For dinner I had split chicken breast and baked okra and mushrooms tossed in extra virgin olive oil, garlic salt and pepper

 

I also made pork enchiladas since I don’t eat enough Mexican food throughout the week.

I likes it spicy

Pork seasoned with garlic and paprika cooking

Pork, cream cheese, enchilada sauce, onion and jalapeno resting together

 

I can’t wait to dig into these! 

I maybe got four hours of sleep last night. I was absolutely exhausted but kept tossing and turning so I would like to make it an early evening but don’t think that’s going to happen. 

I am enjoying a Skinny Cow sandwich as we speak….or as I type 

 I have been on yet another Arrested Development kick. And I am doing the Gob Chicken Dance because I am crazy and trying to scare Lincoln (he is NOT a fan)

 Hope it’s a magnificent Monday for all 🙂

OH! And click here to win a lovely package of random goodies 🙂

And click here to win a Cabot cheese gift box, hello dairy. I love you.

And this isn’t a giveaway but I absolutely love this idea on Fit Chick In The City, click here to submit one of your favorite workout songs and on Friday she is going to post a new playlist of everyone’s songs. Yay for getting new jams to workout, dance, sing or just have fun to!

Got it!

I got the place I was looking at today! I met up with the owner this afternoon and he showed me the place and I instantly fell in love. It reminds me of a rowhome whereas when you walk in the front door, it’s a small storage room/office then the living room and then the bedroom with the kitchen in the back along with another entrance. It has hardwood floors (which I will have to train Lincoln to like since I love them), lots of windows and natural light and a side yard and backyard for Lincoln (and for me to grow veggies and herbs…..really herbs not the ghanja). And it has private parking and my neighbors are all doctors and surgeons….woot woot! There is a hospital two blocks away and it’s a convenient location for them. It may be convenient for me if one of them is single, straight and without mommy issues.

And it’s within walking distance to a number of things…..Starbucks, Caribou, Harris Teeter, Bank of America, a number of restaurants and bars and a beautiful park to take Lincoln and where I can go running. I am most excited about the convenience since I can walk to everything and there is a bus line across the street that takes me two to work. Hello convenience, it’s nice to meet you. My commute will be 15 mins top each day and it is in a younger, more alive area with easy accessibility to much more things that I have now.

On the porch of my new home 🙂

 I don’t move in until July but it’s all good and I am happy to not have to look anymore. I just have to fill out the application and drop off tomorrow along with a security deposit. YAY for a new home 🙂

I started my day off with a bowl of Chobani Greek Yogurt, a smashed banana and Kashi Go Lean Cereal.

And some Love Lessons

Damn you, Lifetime Movie Network.

My friend and I went to Bark in the Park this morning and it was great. It started at 10A but we arrived at 945A and thinks were rocking. I got so much free stuff it’s sick!!! Four bottles of dog shampoo, over 20 kinds of treats and food samples, dog bowls, key chains and more! Plus Food Lion was sponsoring and got some reusable shopping bags-yay for green!

I came back home and had a quick bite to eat before heading out to see the house. I drove back just in time because it started downpouring and hasn’t stopped yet. I wanted to go out and celebrate but I just didn’t want to mess with the rain tonight. Besides I have a date with George Clooney.

And made an awesome dinner of split chicken breast, okra and a sweet potato.

A great end to a great day!

I’m so happy I could cry

Why you ask? Because it’s Friday. Yes, I am that happy. Can we say “Week from Hell” ??? Grrrr, every single day this wk at work, I was covering my work load and someone else’s. I even had a crying fit at work yesterday…..and made the mistake of answering my phone when that happened and it was my mom. Of course I tried to keep it together but talking to her just made it worse but I was crying, snotting, hyperventilating….oh yeah, did I mention this was at work? I am just so stressed at work and my mom things I am suicidal now!!! I am not kidding but I kind of find it funny because I would NEVER commit suicide I am just stressed with all the work I am having to do plus train our new associate. ***Sidenote, I don’t think suicide is funny in any way shape or form but the fact that my mom said that to me was amusing because when I’m not at work, I’m happy and pretty lighthearted if you can’t tell.

I went to Starbucks yesterday after my crying fit and one of the guy baristas noticed something was wrong so I vented to him as well (poor guy, so sorry!) and then when I went in today to get my drink he told me it was on the house 🙂 So sweet. Of course I got a venti raspberry skim latte again because they always cheer me up! I would post a picture but I forgot my camera at work…..so yeah, ghetto blackberry pics all wknd. Yay. More like grrrrr.

Today was busy but a little better because I had the light at the end of my tunnel in near distance. I got some awesome produce from the hippies today so that cheered me up a bit.

I love they set up Tuesday and Friday, perfect days to stock up on produce for the rest of the wk!

I was doing my happy dance on the bus ride home since I was just happy to get home although I have absolutely no plans tonight except rest, decompress and take a nice bubble.

I made pierogies and turkey sausage for dinner

Nothing like a plate of comfort to cheer me up. Speaking of comfort—click here to win a Chobani Care Package. I totally want this!!

And click here for another giveaway-this time for a Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender!

And three times the charm, click here to win a Furochic Reusable Fabric Gift Wrap. I’ve never heard of these before but love the idea!!

And I was flipping through the channels on my tv tonight and realized I have the Lifetime Movie Network. I hate Lifetime. I just think it is all about deception, murder and men who lead double lives. But I am currently sucked into Crowned and Dangerous with the yummy George Eads.

Seriously, is this man NOT perfection? I wanna sop him up with a biscuit.

 

Tomorrow is Bark in The Park! It’s a huge dog fest they have each spring where you can bring your four legged friends, get free goodies and just have a woofing good time.

They have a radio station there each year and each year I secretly wish they would play “Atomic Dog” but no dice. I think it would be cute!

And I am checking out a possible new home tomorrow! My lease is up in July and I am wanting to move closer to downtown and this ia a perfect location duplex with not too bad of a price and a 10 minute commute to work as opposed to a 50 minute one.It looks super cute from what I see on Craigslist, has a washer and dryer so I wouldn’t have to rent mine out anymore and near a bunch of local restaurants, parks and of course, Starbucks.  It would be about $100 more a month but I am willing to pay more for it for that convenience. Wish me luck 🙂

Down by the river

Super psyched to see the Matt Foley lookalike on the bus today—to and from work!

 He has the hair, glasses, built but not the clothes thank God.

I love seeing lookalikes on the bus it makes my mundane ride a little more interesting.

I got into work and Stinkalicious wasn’t there after so yay to that! Not yay to having to cover their work plus mine. Oh and the fact my computer decided to stop working around 930A. And then our my manager was running late as well as another dude on our team. Not a good way to start the day at all. Another thing that didn’t help was me being in a rush this morning and grabbing hardboiled eggs instead of honeydew which I planned on mixing with my yogurt.

And I didn’t want to be stinkalicious so I decided to toss them in the fridge for now and luckily had a container of Trader Joe’s Very Cherry Blend in the fridge to use in my greek yogurt.

We got absolutely slammed at work and I felt chained to my desk all day. I didn’t even drink that much water ( I drink from 120 to 160 oz a day of just water alone) which just sucked. I hate not being properly hydrated and my body doesn’t dig it as well.

We had a spirit celebration for the first quarter successes this afternoon. I enjoyed a fruit plate and the icing off the cake. I love supermarket frosting so much but the cake not so much. I would rather just have my icing and toss the cake. We got put into groups and had a fun game of trivia. I love that kinda stuff since I am super-duper competitive but we sadly lost. However I kinda won since my team was stationed near the fruit trays so I took an extra bowl of fruit for the afternoon. Thank you corporate America bank, that’s how I’m sticking it to the man!

And then I worked.

And worked.

And worked.

Oh yeah…..and worked.

No whistling though. I don’t even know how to whistle.

I know what you’re thinking, “Hey Tiffany you forgot pictures of your lunch!” Oh no I didn’t…..because LUNCH was at 4:30P due to an out of control volume.

Finally…food!! I had a salad with hardboiled eggs, tomato, red onion and carrots with Ken’s Lite Honey Mustard.

I finally tried a Kind Bar–Almond and Coconut style on the bus ride home. Why haven’t I been eating these? It was absolutely wonderful and coconut-licious.

Dinner was baked veggies–zucchini, red peppers, mushrooms, squash and red onions tossed in extra virgin olive oil, pepper and garlic salt

And popped my Amy’s Kitchen cherry!

This was just great. I am not big on frozen meals but I couldn’t tell this was frozen at all. Plus it had good stats like 20g protein and 430 cals but the sodium is my biggest concern with 640 mg, eek!

I got my Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown DVD from Netflix the other day and been curious since it seems like everyone is talking about it. Or maybe just talking about it on the blogs.

I got comfy, put Lincoln in the bedroom and got to the yoga-Jillian style. I did about half the workout because I was bored and wasn’t feeling it. I was looking for something more yoga-esque but it had more strength training than I cared for. I had a great workout and it worked me well but I was looking for a soothing yoga workout after today. And why is that all workout dvd music sucks? It’s like the music from The Max in Saved By The Bell. Straight up cheesy. I grabbed Lincoln and we went on a 25 minute walk but again, wasn’t feeling it. I had a headache come on and wanted to just get in the bubble asap.

After I got out of the bubble,  I saw Lincoln trying to do some yoga

I was kinda hoping he would do downward facing dog!

Besides that, I have a nasty headache and looking forward to bed…..and I’m out. Have a great night everyone!

Props to the hippies

Today was an interesting day. It was sunny in the first part then slowly became cloudy….outside and inside.

I started the day off right though because I had a free drink coupon for Starbucks. I decided to go big or go home and got a Venti Iced Raspberry Soy Latte. Look at that color! It’s one of the prettiest color of coffees I’ve ever seen!

My Starbucks baristas looked at me like I was crazy though since I always get drip coffee or iced coffee. I told them the only reason I got this was because it’s free because I refuse to spend $4 ot $5 on a coffee drink. Seriously, how do people afford that every day? On the other hand, under two bucks and free refills I can totally roll with.

My email box wasn’t completely flooded when I turned on my computer so I felt somewhat at ease. Also, Stinkalicious called in sick today which automatically put me in a good mood 🙂

I had a nutty breakfast of Trader Joe’s 0% Greek Yogurt, Very Cherry Frozen Fruit and their Blueberry Flax Seed topped with coconut granola.

Won’t stay too pretty for long!

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, I would marry Trader Joe’s if I could.

It’s Tuesday so that means the hippies were out and got some mad deals on produce for the wk…..

Yes—sweet potatoes, tomatoes, apple, pear, onion, zucchini, squash and okra for only $7, not too shabby at all. I love that they are here twice a week and that I’m buying locally grown stuff. When it gets nicer out, the square they are in has other vendors out and music, it’s quite fun. But then again, it makes me not want to work…..but when does one ever feel like working? I also love that the head hippie lady has the nicest arms. I am talking Jackie Warner league. I want to make a shirt for her that says “Hippies Have Guns” with her posing, I think it would be cute 🙂

Quiznos had people out on the corner handing out free stuff so naturally I wondered over there to see what the fuss was about and scored a free lunch bag (with coupons inside, thanks Quiznos!)

The rest of the morning flew by while I helped with other people’s stuff, my own and various projects. I had an orange for my pre-lunch snack.

And lunch was served! I had a burrito bowl with black beans, diced jalapenos and onions, tomatoes and shredded cheese over brown rice with salsa/greek yogurt sauce.

 I’m not even a huge rice person but think I could eat this every day and be happy.

This afternoon was a blur. I was on a couple hour long calls, taking care of my own stuff but then helping other people on my team (I love no matter how busy I am I offer to help if people are drowning in work but when I ask no one helps me? Detect snark? I hope so.) It started to darken outside and made me want to just curl under my cubicle and take a nice, long nap.

I walked over to Harris Teeter to get out for a few and pick up some bananas and Kashi Go Lean bars since this was the last day of their $1/bar sale.

I caught up on some reading on the bus ride home so I wouldn’t fall asleep. I’m currently reading Spin by Robert Rave. Think Devil Wears Prada meets the celebrity gossip world. It’s great 🙂

I had a bunch of pork in the freezer and decided to try this recipe I saw on myrecipes.com…..Pork Chops with Maple Mustard Glaze. Come to think of it, apples would have been really good with this as well.

Browning the pork, I kept saying “Browning the pork, browning the pork” ala Beavis and Buttheads “Breaking the Law”

I cut up some fresh okra that I bought from the hippies and sprinkled with extra virgin olive oil, pepper and garlic salt and baked at 375 for 17 mins. I’ve only had fried okra before and was anxious to try it! I had one more serving of cheesy/onion mashed taters on hand so nuked those while everything was finishing up.

Lovely plate of goodness

This was a random but great dinner! I really liked the pork recipe-it was sweet with a bit of tang to it. And okra, omg. This will be a new go to for me, it’s so easy to make and nutritious, you can’t go wrong!

Lincoln and I spent some quality time together afterwards. By quality time, I mean me rubbing his belly

My night-time snack was a pear from the hippies

I think I am going to turn off the tv for the rest of the night and zone out to Pandora. And probably some reggae due to my hippie-licious day. Thanks hippies for all the goodies today that I incorporated into my meals and snacks. I can’t wait to use the rest of my produce throughout the week until you are back on Friday.

Happy anniversary to me

Totally forgot but yesterday was my fifth year anniversary with my bank. It seems like so much longer than five years, more like twenty five! My boss brought in Panera bagels for our team and the team next to us. Only coffee would have made things better 🙂

I had a whole wheat bagel with honey almond cream cheese.

And cut up an apple to wake me up a little

Yeah, all of that was from one steroid ridden apple….delicious!

I got presented with this nice 5 Year anniversary…..thing? Paperweight? Weapon? I guess I really have no clue what it is but it could hurt someone big time.

Today wasn’t too busy yet not too slow, a perfect pace for once! I am caught up on all my stuff from last week and it felt so nice not having to stress every minute about something that wasn’t taken care of.

For lunch, I had a BIG salad with a hardboiled egg, tomato, onions and cucumbers with T Marzetti’s Honey Vinegar dressing.

Yay for spring being here and fresh produce all over the place!

 I also had a turkey burger that I made last week topped with Trader Joe’s Chipotle Pepper Hummus

A protein packed lunch!

Anyone ever bought anything from Lululemon? One of the girls at dinner last night was raving about their pants and how amazing they make her butt look. They are super duper expensive but could possibly be persuaded into buying a pair if they are that good and the calibur of quality I hear they are.

I took a nice nap on the bus ride home and thankfully woke up about five minutes before my stop. I made tuna steak bits, steamed  broccoli and cheesy/onion mashed potatoes that I had leftover from making pierogies with yesterday for dinner.

I brushed extra virgin olive oil, lemon pepper salt, garlic and lemon juice on the tuna and broiled for 13 minutes at 350 degrees.

Very filling! I didn’t even finish all of the tuna but cleaned house on the broccoli and potatoes.

I did a 35 minute workout of kettlebell and random exercises and felt so energized afterwards. Mondays are one of the toughest days for me to find motivation to work out on (except Friday of course!)

Had a decent calorie burn there.

I refueled with a Kashi Roll bar–holy yum. I’ve never had this before and it was just like a candy bar. This could be addicting.

So dude who I went on a date with on Saturday is texting me and talking about random stuff and I don’t like that. I like the fact he is texting me, yes but are we going to do something again? I am very liberal and all but old-fashioned when it comes to asking a guy out so I feel like I am just sitting here waiting to see if he is or isn’t going to . I don’t like this part.

And one last thing…..love the Gaga or not so much?

I’ve been anti-Gaga for the past year and a half but am finding myself listening to her all the time…..and even downloading her songs!! Curse you, Telephone, you have made me love the Gaga!!!

 

***Click here for a chance to win a fun green package on Fashion Meets Food!!

Crave and Lost DC pics

 I went to Crave Dessert Bar tonight with my women’s networking group tonight and it was great! Sorry no pics, I forgot my camera in the car 😦 I had a Blueverry Bellini, Hummus Platter and two cupcakes—Coconut Dream and Cocoa Cocoa (yay for cupcakes being half off on Sunday!)

I do have a pic of the Kashi Go Lean Cookies N Cream bar I had on the way there though 🙂

13g of protein? Yes please!

And now for the last of the DC pictures that I got after I got my camera back yesterday (thanks again Monique if you’re reading this!)

Riley living the ruff life.

I was stoked to stop at 7-11 and get a slurpee! We don’t have 7-11 here in Charlotte and occasionally crave a slurpee.

We went to Bethesdaon Sunday morning and walked around that area. It was so cute with a bunch of restaurants, shops, etc.

We ate at Cosi for lunch, which is Panera-esque.

I had the Tuscan Steak Salad with whole wheat flatbread.

We then ventured to my coveted destination of Georgetown Cupcake. I’ve been hearing about this place for the past two years and was super psyched to try it. They just opened up in Bethesda recently which worked out perfectly.

 I got the Cherry Blossom cupcake and the Chocolate Mint cupcake plus a free Cookies N Cream cupcake.

 We walked around after that and went through this cute square with shops and restaurants.

We went to La Sandia at Tyson’s Corner for dinner.

I don’t know what this dish is that my friend got but it looked so good not to take a picture.

I had the fish tacos with refriend black beans and yellow rice.

I almost forgot about the gift my friend who I was staying with gave me…..

AND recipes of hers that she wrote out for me since she knows I love to cook 🙂

I absolutely love it!!! Thanks again friend for taking the time to write out all of those recipes, I will definitely be using 🙂

On a final note, where the eff did this wknd go? I feel like I didn’t even have a wknd, oi.