Happy Thoughts

This morning I was up at the crack of dawn to get ready and make a huge breakfast

Why big breakfast on a weekday you ask? Because I had a job interview today! Edit–I had three job interviews in a row for a position within my company. It was at 9A but I usually get in around 845A so I went into work a bit early and needed something to hold me over. I think the interviews went very week and I have a great feeling however all I can is wait it out at this point. I am supposed to hear back within a few weeks and hope that the days don’t go unbearably slow. Soooooo…..any good vibes you could send my way would be appreciated!

I have the funky sinus thing going on that everyone has caught the past two weeks due to the weather changing. I just feel nasty and my throat is swollen. I hate how I never had allergy problems until I moved here but oh well, just gotta suck it up at this point and hope I get better soon. The fact that we had two people out of the office (yeah, we are a team of five) and that I’m training our new guy didn’t help either.

I had my stuffed peppers for lunch and they were tasty!

Thank God I like hot stuff because these had my mouth on fiiiiiiire! I blame it on the chile powder and jalapenos but it was all good.  don’t mess around when it comes to my spice.

I haven’t had stuffed peppers since I was young and think I was scarred by them. My mom used to make them all the time with just rice, ground beef and cabbage doused in tomato sauce. Don’t get me wrong, it was tasty but having that meal one week for weeks on end that turn into years gets a tad redundant. How do you make your stuffed peppers or what do you stuff them with?

I picked up a new book at the library–thanks Amy for the recommendation! After her sending me cookies and recommending books, I just feel like this is the wk of Amy.

I didn’t feel like cooking tonight so I made some ghettolicious nachos for dinner. They were pretty boring but tasty. By boring I mean just jalapenos and shredded cheese on top with salsa on the side. I didn’t even have the energy to open up a can of black beans and drain there, sad huh? Again, blame it on work.

I tried a new product for dinner last night-Trader Joe’s Tokyo Style Soba Noodles Kit.

Even though I’ve never been to Tokyo and have no clue what “Tokyo Style” included, I was psyched to try these. They’ve been sitting in my cupboard for a while and perfect for a lazy night (which is starting to be the norm) when you don’t want to cook.

While I threw the noodles in to cook-I cooked up some red peppers and water chesnuts for some crunch along with chicken seasoned with ginger, red pepper flakes and black pepper

It really did only take 10 minutes like the box states-shocker! I never believe products that say something is done within a certain, unbelievable time frame (eyeing you Miss Rachael Ray) so it was a nice, Monday night surprise.

I tossed the noodles in the sauce from the kit then topped with the dry seasoning (seaweed something or another) that came with the kit. All in all, a quick, delicious meal. It was a bit salty for my taste so I’m not sure I would buy it again but it was something fun to try

I brought back an oldie but goodie for a snack tonight-Fage Greek Yogurt with a diced peach and flax-seed. And wtf—why didn’t anyone tell me that Fage is pronounced “fah-yeh”? I never knew that until I read it on the packaging tonight.

And with that, I am out. I am about to have dreams of unicorns and Burt Reynolds thanks to Benedryl…..ok maybe not unicorns and Burt Reynolds but I once did have a dream about Oscar the Grouch and Jerry Orbach so go figure. As long as I don’t have a dream about three ex boyfriends in one sleep session like I did the other night, it’s all gravy.

Stuffed, soggy and smooth.

Thanks for the compliments on the hair everyone! I am starting to get used to it and loving the style! If yesterday was all about the beauty for me, today was all about pampering for Lincoln.

He was given a nice belly rub this morning then held like a baby (I’m a little too crazy for this dog)

And besos aplenty!

Like me, he got his hair did but no highlights for the Linkster. Turns out one of my friends grooms her own dog and in effort to save $40 I asked her if she would trim Lincoln and she didn’t mind at all. Doesn’t he look like he’s planning something deliciously evil in this picture?

I made stuffed blueberry french toast this morning.  I prepared two slices of bread as normal and while that was cooking, microwaved 1/4 cup frozen blueberries and 2 tbsp cream cheese under warm and soft then spread on one of the pieces of french toast then topped with the other.

With a kiwi, apple and banana fruit bowl on the side

Fantastic, I liked using frozen blueberries a lot more than when I made this for the first time! I didn’t think I was going to be satisfied with just two pieces of bread but this + the fruit bowl really filled this girl up. I wish I could make a big breakfast everyday, sigh 😦

I caught up on some reading at the pool—I am halfway through this book and recommend it so far!

I got back in and took a long shower and then made a quick lunch—turkey and cheese sandwich on wheat with tomato, baby spinach with Tribe Forty Spices Hummus spread on both sides. This was my first time trying this brand of hummus and I loved it! It had a nice kick to it with a smooth pepper flavor. It was the perfect spread to give a boring turkey and cheese sandwich some pizzazz.

And picked up my pottery piece I made this last Sunday–it turned out cute-yay!

Soon, it was the time of day I despise most on Sundays-3P. This is optimal nap time however with my sleep issues, I can’t give into naps that often on Sundays. I was sitting down enjoying some Triscuits and Tribe Forty Spice Hummus.

I had Lincoln by my sat, Glamour in my hands and all was quiet, which it shouldn’t have been since i was doing laundry and should’ve been on spin by that time.  I went over and the water was just sitting there and I tried pulling the plug, starting over again and nothing. I rent by washer and dryer and called the company and left a message for their emergency maintenance but never heard back. I couldn’t let it just sit there right? I didn’t know what to do but get the water out so off to work I went. First, I took the clothes out and rung them out as well as I could. Holy balls, this took forever and was working my arms good!! Then I took two plastic cups and started on getting to work out of the washer. Which resulted in this bucket ……times five. Argh.

I threw the clothes in the dryer and only took about five hours to dry—can’t wait to see my electric bill next month!! Doing all that felt like a workout in a half from digging for water, carrying the bucket to the sink and pouring out then doing it again. Thank God I am moving in three weeks!

I had the last of my Reid’s salads for dinner–grilled chicken caesar with T Marzetti’s Light Ancho Chipotle Ranch….can ya tell I like this dressing?

This was probably the worst of the salads I had from Reid’s. The chicken looked seasoned but really had no flavor and it would’ve been nice if the croutons were packaged separately instead of getting all soggy.

I’ve been in such a rut with working out outside since the warm weather and humid hit but decided to get out after dinner and go for walk. I covered a little over two miles and it was nice to get out for a bit and enjoy the end of the evening as the sun was going down.

I really wanted to get some ice cream afterwards but didn’t have any on hand so I made a smoothie with almond milk, ice and Spirutein Cookies N Cream Protein Mix. I loved this! I could smell the cookies n creaminess when I poured it into the blender and definitely will buy this again—for smoothies or desserts in general!

I’m feeling kinda blah right now and feel like I have a headache coming on.I feel like I did so much today and have been up forever but I’ve only been up 13 hours-ay chihuahua! Sooooo……apologies if this post isn’t so fun or witty. On another note, I kind of feel good about tomorrow. I am not going into work knowing I will be slammed (and not in a good way) from the minute I walk in until the minute I leave. I will get to take a break, a lunch break and be treated like a human! Let’s see if the case of the Mondays makes an appearance or not…..

Morning goodness

 Big breakfast day–yay! I’ve been eyeing this recipe for Low Fat Oatmeal Protein Pancakes for a while and decided to try it out this morning. You only need a few ingredients for these, which I am a huge fan when that happens and they are items most likely in your kitchen. I hate when I see a tasty recipe and I have to go out to the store to find a million things. Before I talk about the pancakes, let’s talk about coffee. In case, you were curious…..paprika does not taste good in a cup of joe. I found that out this morning when I thought I reached for the cinnamon and ruined a perfectly good cup and had to make another batch. Live and learn!

Looks like a vanilla smoothie when you blend the ingredients

I don’t have a griddle so I have to settle for stovetop pancakes for now that never are round. I will take oval though.

While they were cooking, I nuked some frozen blueberries for 2 minutes so when they came out they were very soft and their juices were oozing out  (hehe)

These were absolutely amazing and tasted like a lighter, thinner pancake. I added a bit of cinnamon to mine for some flavor but you can really play around with these and add different things. This will be a new rotation in my breakfast for sure.

The pancakes were perfect for the workout I was going to have:

10 lb Dumbbell

Reverse Fly (12 reps, 2 sets)

Front Lateral Raise (11 reps, 2 sets)

Zottman Curls (11 reps, 2 sets)

Tricep Kickbacks (12 reps, 1 set)

Tricep Extensions (10 reps, 2 sets)

Kettlebell (20 lbs)

Side Bends (20 reps, 2 sets)

Straight Leg Deadlifts (14 reps, 2 sets)

Upright Deltoid Row (12 reps, 1 set)

Windmill (11 reps, 1 set)

Shrugs (12 reps, 1 set)

15 lb dumbbell

Bench press (12 reps, 2 sets)

Weighted Stability Ball Crunches (15 reps, 2 sets)

Shoulder press (12 reps, 2 sets)

Between sets, I did a bunch of jumping, kicking and moving around. Good thing my creepy Russian neighbor who lives across from me wasn’t watching. He will just sit on his patio, have a cigarette and have his binoculars out. It’s a tad off-putting.

Salvation Army finally came to pick up my stuff this morning so I am free of all of this (I did not donate the printer or Magic Bullet!)

Today is a dog morning and it’s all about Lincoln. We are off to go to the vet, Petsmart and to the boarding place he will be staying next month. We may even fit a bath for Stinky Linky in there 🙂

Wknd Recap

Hi all, been totally MIA this wknd but I am back. This was the first wknd in the past three I didn’t have to work so I was super happy about that.

I went to Pet Palooza yesterday with one of my friends and our dogs. It was similar to Bark in The Park with lots of vendors but not as much free stuff-boo.

Breakfast

And a fun graphic tee

I laid by the pool when we got back and got some reading time in. The actual pool isn’t open yet so I only lasted an hour and a half but that was enough time to get some color on me.

I made chicken tacos when I got back

I took a much-needed nap afterwards and got ready for my date so no pics there. And the date wasn’t that much to talk about either so yeah…….I got free beer and free sushi so I guess I’m happy about that. We went to Jade Asian Fusion and it was great–had various rolls and will definitely be going back, sans dude.  I really don’t even have any funny stories or anything interesting about the night.  I got home by 11, watched some SNL, passed out, woke up at 3, took Lincoln out then went back to bed and slept in until 10A—I can’t remember the last time I slept in that late! I felt like a million bucks and was ready to have a day of relaxation.

I made a big breakfast of Nature’s Path Pomegran Waffles and egg scramble with mushrooms and cheese topped with ketchup

I laid out by the pool again then went out to run errands. Nothing big, just the grocery store and Target. And I left Target spending under $50 and not going nuts on the clearance rack-yay!

I made a roast beef and cheese sandwich for late lunch with Kettle Brand Salt N Pepper Chips

It started to rain so Lincoln and I watched a movie then had some nap time action. I hate Sunday afternoons, it’s so hard for me to be at home and NOT nap.

For dinner, I decided to try something new. I butterflied two chicken breasts, spread Trader Joe’s Kalamata Olive Hummus on it and topped with feta cheese. I rubbed evoo on the breast and seasoned with pepper, garlic salt and oregano.

And of course, had a BIG Salad on the side with baby spinach, zucchini, cucumbers, tomato and cheese.

Absolutely delicious!!! I need to make this or a variation of this more. I really never eat chicken breats anymore (if I do, I cut into strips or pieces) do to an overload of it last yr but when dressed up like this, I don’t see how I could get sick of it.

I need to prepare for this wk (I have a Friday off–yay!!!) and off to catch up on blogs. Hope everyone had a fabulous wknd!!!

Cold weather runner

Happy Sunday all! Ok….not so happy, I tried but still despise this day. I feel like this day would never end and got a lot done though so clicks to that. 

I took Lincoln out this morning and of course when I have no bra on and am wearing my glasses, run into a hot new neighbor who also has a dog. I am talking like Channing Tatum hot. 

 

Which I really never thought he was that hot but now looking at him, yeah he’s pretty hot (That’s for you Neyal). We ended up talking for a few minutes while our dogs played and bid our goodbyes. 

I made a big Sunday breakfast with an egg and eggwhite omelet topped with avocado and ketchup with a side of turkey bacon and an english muffin with Trader Joe’s Superfruit Spread and coffee in my favorite mug. 

 

 

 

 

I went to the pool for a few hours and had the place to myself. I got some reading done and listened to my iPod. With it being 85 degrees out, I thought more people would be there but I thought wrong. 

 

When I got back in I was famished and ready to chow. I made a BIG Salad because it’s National Salad Month. 

Seriously, isn’t this salad gorg? It has spinach, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, tomato, feta and carrots topped with T Marzetti’s Honey Balsamic 

 

 

I also had the last two pieces from the pizza I made last night. I reheated in the oven so it wouldn’t get soggy and it smelled like pizzeria pizza by the time it was done. 

 

After that, I ventured out to go shopping. I went to Ross and got a cute skirt, tank top, underwear and cutting boards. I love how ghetto fabulous Ross has become and actually prefer it over Marshalls or TJ Maxx. I think those two have become more expensive in the past few years and the only reason I go to those stores is to save money so it kinda defeats the purpose. 

Then I went to Old Navy where the entire store (yes including clearance items) was 30% off and got a number of things–gaucho pants, a skirt, numerous tank tops, earrings and a necklace all for $60. And all within my budget too! 

By the time I got home, the clouds were starting to set it and it was around 4P…..my least favorite part of Sunday. I struggle with Sunday afternoons because I want to do nothing but don’t want to nap. I popped in a Netflix movie I have—The Invention of Lying. 

 

I fell asleep mid way through the movie because it was so bad so that sucks. I woke up right at the end and yeah, still sucked. I so need to revamp my Netflix queue. 

Soon enough it was dinner time and I had something new….an orange meal. I’ve had a green meal before but never one of Oompa Loompa standards. 

I baked chicken wings then tossed in wing sauce with a sweet potato on the side along with a shredded carrot and cilantro salad. 

 

 

Random meal but delicious! Maybe I should start doing themes of colors for my meals? 

Then I decided to go out for a run because I had nothing better to do. I really didn’t want to go because it was still hot and muggy out but I figured why not?  I hydrated before I left and ended up only doing 1.75 miles. I started running in cold weather and like it that way, I am not digging running in hot weather at all. I was sweating like a whore in church, felt like I was going to pass out and just wasn’t feeling it. But then again, at least I was out there doing something but just disappointed I couldn’t push myself anymore because of how crappy I felt. I love running in cold weather, love the chill in the air, how the cold air enters my lungs but this hot stuff I cannot do. 

 How can I enjoy it more—wear lightweight clothes, hydrate more, etc? Any tips would be appreciated! 

And I am not a pretty sweater by any means–I turn insanely red, am completely drenched and just nasty. 

Meh

 I put together my goals for the month of May (evaluation of April goals to come soon!) 

*Keep on running  

*Think outside the running box in regards to workouts and mix it up with other things (kettlebell, yoga, etc.) 

*Be more aware of my sugar intake . There’s no Recommended Daily Allowance of sugar that I could find but the Department of Agriculture (USDA) advises adults who eat a 2,000-calorie diet to limit consumption of sugar to about 40 grams (10 teaspoons) so I will follow those guidelines. 

*Track my food and exercise on a daily basis 

So that’s it, I will rock these.

Oh–click here to win some Justin’s Nut Butter! And has anyone seen Justin? He’s pretty damn hot.

Hope everyone is having a terrific evening!

All the time in the world

Happy day light savings everyone! This hour difference is seriously messing me up so I will be happy once I get used to it but until then, I feel like I have too much time on my hands.

I woke up at 730A this morning and started the day off with my new Trader Joe’s Diner Blend Coffee

Delicious as always! I don’t want to think about what I’m gonna do when I move and won’t be able to just walk over to Trader Joe’s. Sadness 😦

And I despise Sundays, they are my least favorite day of the week. But one thing that always makes it a little bit better is a big breakfast!

I made scrambled eggs and added milk to them, I can’t believe how fluffy they were! I rarely have regular milk on hand so use a little butter or just the cook up the eggs alone with some spices but wow-it made a world of difference!

I topped them with half an avocado and toasted some Earth Grains whole wheat bread and topped with Trader Joe’s Superfruit Spread. Yummy!

I also had leftover potatoes I made the other night

That killed a good half hour of my time so I made a batch of granola bars that I made a couple of weeks ago. This time I added raisins and more coconut.

And that took about 45 minutes.

All there is on tv on Sunday in the morning is churchie stuff or political shows so I was quickly going crazy. It was sunny and a little chilly out and needed to get out. I decided to pack up, grab Lincoln and go to Freedom Park. Freedom Park is a huge park in Charlotte with great walkways, trails, tennis courts, etc. It’s more near the Uptown area so I don’t go that much but wanted to move a little and I am sure that Lincoln wanted to socialize.

He was a little tired at first

But finally woke up and was ready to go to the park!

 

It was a perfect day to get outside!

We walked around for an hour and hung out. I haven’t been to Freedom Park in awhile but was quickly reminded why I used to go all the time. Fun little fact, a few scenes from the movie Shallow Hal were filmed at Freedom Park and most of the movie was filmed in Charlotte.

We were driving back and saw a Rita’s Ice and immediately pulled over—I love Rita’s and didn’t know they have them here.

I got a Cherry and Vanilla Gelati which was fantastic!

Is it wrong that I love that my normally hyper dog completely passes out after we go in the car?

And now at home –look at his little tongue sticking out, hehe! I’m such a sucker for this dog.

I have nothing to do and it’s only 2:30P so I think I will follow Lincoln’s lead and nap it up.

Just call me Ferris Bueller

Because it’s my day off!

 Unfortunately no joy riding in a Ferrari while wearing a beret (more like a Toyota sans hat)

Or singing on a float in a St Patricks Day Parade (more like singing to the Killers while driving in said Toyota a week before St Patricks Day)

But a day off nonetheless!

Speaking of 80’s movies, there is a Karate Kid remake coming out??

WTF? Sorry Jaden and Jackie, you are no Ralph and Pat and never will be.

Some things should just not me remade. And don’t get me started on the Footloose remake…….

Anyways, I called into work since I am in serious need of a mental health day 🙂 I slept in until 9A, took a nice shower (before they turned the water off) and made a big breakfast. I wish I could lounge around with my Turby Twist, pajamas and robe on every morning and take my time eating and drinking my coffee.

Breakfast was egg scramble with two eggs, Morningstar Veggie crumbles and shredded cheese with a side of toast with Trader Joe’s Superfruit spread.

And of course, coffee (from one of my favorite mugs)

Wonderful way to start the day!

If you like Dunkin Donuts coffee, click here for a free sample of their Dunkin Turbo—don’t know what it is but any caffeinated product with “Turbo” in it is good in my book!!

Also, click here to win a fun package of goodies such as tea, dates, udon and other fun stuff!

I had this while watching Kelly and Regis with Ludacris hosting andperforming and I thought of this song–which I completely forgot about it.

This was my jam in college! Must download today, great workout song!

Then I got a text from one of my friends telling me Corey Haim passed away 😦

RIP Corey-Lucas will always be one of my favorite movies.

I ran some errands, first stop was the Verizon Store to see if they could fix my blackberry. Whenever I get a text, the person’s contact information isn’t coming up which is getting really annoying. Instead of fixing that, they decided to clear out my ENTIRE contact list. Grrrrrr. So I am going through all my texts and calls to see if I can figure out who those contacts were but it just sucks since I have contacts from college, living in Arizona and here on my phone. Thankfully I keep in touch with a majority of people on Facebook but still-annoying.

While I was waiting for my phone to be “fixed”, I decided to check out a new frozen yogurt place in my neighborhood—Tasty Yo.

Their stuff is all natural, they take many green initiatives and  the stats aren’t bad at all 4 oz=

*90 Calories

*20 g Carbs

*3 g Protein

*13 g Sugar

*60 mg sodium

I got the flavor of the day-Peach Mango with shredded coconut and kiwi drzzled with honey and got a complimentary green tea wafer stick

They have a cute sitting area with couches and magazines so I decided to stay and catch up on some reading

 I’m so happy I checked this place out–it was fantastic! The yogurt didn’t leave a bad aftertaste in my mouth how some places do. And they offer a punch card which I am all about! I will definitely be visiting Tasty-Yo again 🙂

I stopped by Trader Joe’s to pick up a few things yet oddly enough ended up with more than a few things. I was amazed at how many people who were there at 1P on a Wednesday afternoon. Who are all these people and why aren’t they working?? But then again, they may be asking that about me lol

I don’t know what I’m more excited about:

New Product—Greek Style Feta Dressing

Or the bag of avocados for $2.99

Who cares–I’m excited for both!!

I stopped by the library and they had a good sales on old books and magazines–I got this Cooking Light from this past December for $.25—score!

I’ve been craving greasy chinese take out lately so I finally gave in to it.

I got Spicy Beef and Broccoli from the local chinese take out place–they have killer lunch specials.

Hello lover………….

I was a good girl and put half of it in a container to save for another time because I could seriously down this whole meal but didn’t need that much food.

Just what I needed—talking about the chinese food and this day. I heart not working!!