Lovely

The past two days have been absolutely lovely.

I haven’t been sleeping in or taking naps like I thought I would. Quite the contrary, I’ve been really productive!

On Tuesday morning, I went to FABO (Fabulous Art Buying Opportunity) for a cup of coffee after seeing they were giving away 12 oz coffees all day on Tuesday.

I love FABO because not only is it a coffee house, it’s also an art gallery! They have art displayed all throughout the place—paintings, jewelry, furniture, edible art and more.

Their Wi-Fi wasn’t working which bummed me out a bit so I came home and one of my friends called to see if I wanted to do an impromptu lunch at Savor Café. Savor is a newer restaurant and is very funky, lovely and eclectic. When I walked in, I should have been overwhelmed by the abundance of colors, exposed brick walls and cute art but I felt totally at home!

I’ve heard only good things about Savor so I was excited to see if it would live up to it’s hype or not.

I had the Pesto Chicken Salad Sandwich with a side of fruit—look at me being all good with not getting fries!

I am in love with their pesto chicken salad sandwich! It wasn’t drenched in mayo which was a welcome change and the pesto flavor wasn’t too overpowering. It was just perfect. The fruit is cut fresh each morning and I wanted another bowl of it. Even though, I got the fruit what did we have after?

Thank you savor for the artwork that was out dessert. We split a piece of Betty Lou’s Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake. I’m not a huge chocolate cake girl but if it has Cocoa Cola in the name, I must try it!

Looks amazing right? Not so much, it tasted very processed and was too rich for me. We couldn’t even finish the second piece and neither of us wanted to take it home.

I went to the gym shortly after and did 35 minutes on the elliptical then worked on my upper body. I hung out in the sauna for 20 minutes afterward. It was so nice to take my time with everything and unwind. Plus no fighting or waiting for a machine, woo hoo!

I went to a BBQ on Tuesday night for one of my sorority sisters birthdays. She is a nurse and works the night shift so Tuesday was really the only day where her and her fiancée would both be there to celebrate with everything.Totally ok with me since I have nothing else to do! I got to see two other of my sorority sisters as well. We all live in Charlotte but I rarely get to see them since they have kids and their schedules are way busier than mine. It was a lovely evening and great to see them before I leave Charlotte for good!

I’ve also been getting some major quality time in with Lincoln. He is such a cuddle bug and happy that I’ve been waking up around the same time I used to wake up. We’ve been going for 20 minute walks in the morning then I will do some work on my laptop after breakfast and he is so snuggly!

Can someone tell me why he likes to sleep under the pillow? Such a wacky dog.

Today hasn’t been too exciting but it was lovely to go to the gym for two hours, enjoying all of the amenities. I did 17 minutes on the treadmill walking at an incline ranging from 4 to 7 and was rockin it out! My heart rate was up, music was jammin and sweating out everything in my body! Then, I swung my arm and pulled the string to the stop button and halt, I was done. Why is that stupid stop button right there in the front? I always have to watch my arms with not touching it and the second I don’t think about it, I hit it. I was annoyed by that point so I went over to the Precor crossramp and did 17 minutes. I had some lovely entertainment: Millionaire Matchmaker and big daddy in front of me.

OMG, this man? Gorgeous but not in a pretty boy way. He had piercing and tats out the wazoo and I just sat there licking my lips watching him on the AMT. He was just too hot, even if he was covered in freckles (I’ve never been attracted to freckle covered men)

Anyways, back to the workout: I did lower body strength training afterwards :

*leg press (240 lbs 13 reps x 3 sets)

*hamstring curls (65 lbs 13 reps x 3 sets)

*leg extensions (80 lbs 13 reps x 4 sets)

*calf press (120 lbs 13 reps x 3 sets)

*hip adductors ( 95 lbx 15 reps x 2 sets)

*hip abductors (115 lbx 15 reps x 2 sets)

Killer workout!

Afterwards, I rested in the sauna then the jacuzzi. It felt so good to soak my knee since I no longer have a bathtub at home. I will definitely be using the jacuzzi more often.

I went to DD after the gym to get some java in my system

There’s nothing in the world an iced coconut coffee can’t cure.

But while I was paying, I saw something magical.

A picture of their ice cream cake bites.

I stared it at with my mouth agape and asked the cashier if they were amazing. He said they were pretty great and asked if I wanted one. I told him no but then came around and said one can’t hurt so and I quote…..”bring it on, badboy” I got one mint chocolate ice cream cake bite.

I now present……the cake bite!

I let it thaw for 10 minutes and it was still a bit rough to cut into but I finally sawed off a piece.

A little messy as you can see. But worth the mess…..it was absolutely lovely!!! Mint chocolate chip is my favorite flavor of ice cream so this was such a wonderful treat. I sliced off a little piece and saved the rest for later.

Who am I kidding?

The cake bite is gone!

What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?

Are there hotties at your gym?

How to kill a jar of Nutella in an hour

So, there is something sitting in my kitchen that I’ve bee trying to come to terms with:  Nutella.

My sister sent me a jar of Nutella back in February with a note that said “Trust me, you’ll thank me for this” and I just scoffed at the note thinking how crazy she was (and wondering what her ulterior motive was for sending me a jar) How would hazelnut spread change my life? I’ve seen it many times in the blog world about how people are ga-ga for Nutella and how it’s the best thing since sliced bread but I was skeptical since I am not a huge peanut butter fan. On the flip side though, huge fan of the chocolate and hazelnuts.

So, what’s an emotional eating girl who is trying to lose weight do with a full jar of Nutella? Bake brownies with it of course! I had a bbq to go to and instead of bringing my stand by of a six pack of beer, I would do a 180 and bring dessert.  I stumbled upon this recipe for Nutella brownies that I saw on Hungry Meets Healthy originally from Chocolate &  Carrots  featuring only three ingredients : Nutella, eggs and flour.

One last picture with Nutella before we part ways

Now I’ve tried Nutella once or twice before but I don’t remember when exactly. So I took a little spoonful before I got to cooking to see if it was indeed, all that and a bag of chips

The verdict?

Love, indeed. Good thing this jar of Nutella was going to be destroyed in an hour.

I stuck to the original recipe however I also added 1/4 cup chocolate chips (they are like Nutella-something I do not need sitting around in my kitchen) and 1 tbsp cinnamon

I let bake for 20 minutes and attempted to clean my kitchen in the meantime

Sadly, the after picture isn’t much different. Oh, how I long for a bigger kitchen. Who am I kidding, I just want a kitchen with some counter space. I would take just one full countertop at this point.

Shortly after, my little furry friend made an appearance. I guess he smelled the wonderful aroma of Nutella making it’s way through the house?

They were finally done!

Naturally I had to try one or two to make sure they were acceptable, I didn’t want to bring bunk brownies to the bbq. They turned out pretty great….this coming from the girl who cannot make a decent batch of brownies to save her life, of course! They were rich and I like the hint of cinnamon in them but I think I would only be able to down two at the most since they are so rich. They were perfect on their own and would be fabulous crumbled over Greek yogurt or served with ice cream!

What are your favorite ways to use Nutella? For all you Nutella lovers out there, you can enter to win a case of Nutella!

Is there a food that you’re unable to resist and can’t keep in your kitchen?