Stop telephonin’ me

So this was the anthem of my Monday

I tried to keep a positive outlook with work but it just wasn’t happening. I got into bed around 10P Sunday night but was kept awake by this book.

I love reading and all but sometimes it just sucks when I find a book I can’t put down (especially when I have to work the next day and want nothing more than to read all night). On the flip side, I am half way through it and can’t wait to finish it!

So I went into work with toothpicks keeping my eyelids open. And people kept commenting how tired I looked (i.e. how bad I looked)

 I wasn’t looking to forward to Monday b/c:

A) It’s Monday and Mondays just suck

B) I was still bitter about the fact that we had to work the entire day after Thanksgiving

C) I had to make a bunch of calls to my clients who I’ve never spoken with and while making that initial phone call had to deliver bad news. I always knew I worked for an evil corporation but these calls are further proof to back up my belief.

D) Most of my clients are on the west coast so I had to wait until afternoon to make said phone calls which left me anxious and sick to my stomach all day.

E) Thanks to my post this wknd, I had Ricky Martin in my head and that got really old really quick.

Luncthime came around and I couldn’t eat since I was so nervous. Um, hello, when did that start happening to me? I am an emotional eater and eat for every occasion–including stress. So instead of fretting, I took a 25 minute walk to clear my head then got my lunch and ate at my desk

BIG Salad with baby spinach, cukes, tomatoes, avocado and tuna salad topped with honey mustard. Hit the spot but I couldn’t finish the thing.

So I began my calls….some people were rude, one was nice, one didn’t speak English too well so there was a bit of miscommunication going on and the others I left voice mails or messages. I knocked 75% out-of-the-way but still have to finish the other 25% by Wednesday. Grrrrr. I started talking with other people on my team who felt the same way about these calls we are making and how this is not the job we signed up for. I guess I’m happy to see I’m not the only one with a good conscience but at the same time, it doesn’t really help me. Per our company policy, I have to be in my current role for 6 months before looking for something else so I shall wait until 4.18.11. It’s going to be a long one.

I got home and was greeted by the best pup in the world. No matter how bad of a day I’ve had, he always cheers me up. He’s so happy to see me and practically has an asthma attack when I walk through the door. I laced up my sneaks and we went for a 20 minute walk.

I wasn’t in the mood to cook. I wanted General Tso to be my boyfriend for the night but resisted the urge to invite him and his cousin, crab rangoon, over for dinner.  And didn’t want Mexican since I had it a couple of times this weekend so without direction, I took out a chicken breast I had defrosted, marinated in wing sauce and let sit for 25 minutes then cooked on the stovetop.

When the chicken was cooked thoroughly, I still had no clue what to make. I took two slices of bread, placed the chicken on them, slapped some jalapenos on top then sprinkled with shredded cheese and broiled for 10 minutes.

Apparently I was craving something spicy because I poured tabasco sauce on top  of the chicken then had a side of Buffalo Wing Flavored Pretzel Chips

And I added a side of green beans because this meal wasn’t random enough as is.

Then I laid on the couch because I was mentally drained and was going to face yet another mentally draining day today. So I got off my butt, took a hot shower and did my nails. It’s been ages since I did my nails! They didn’t turn out looking like a five-year old did them either so I felt accomplished.

Then I got some puppy love from this little fella

Puppy kisses make everything better sometimes. As bad of a day I was having, I tried to keep things in perspective and not worry too much about my job function.

I saw some tips on Success Consciousness and thought many of them were helpful, my comments are in bold:

• Reduce the amount of time you read the newspapers or watch the news on TV ( I like to read and like to watch tv and I don’t want to cut things out of my life that I enjoy)
• Stay away from negative conversations and from negative people. (I get paid for having negative conversations so I really can’t avoid that but am working on staying away from negative people, although I can be one at times)
• Don’t hold grudges. Learn to forget and forgive. Nurturing ill feelings and grievances hurts you and causes lack of sleep. ( I am the queen of holding grudges, yet another thing I am working on)
• Don’t be jealous of others. Being jealous means that you have low self-esteem and consider yourself inferior to others. This again, causes lack of inner peace. (Let’s add another one to the ever-growing list I have to work on each day)

• Learn to be more patient and tolerant with people and events. (I’ve gotten more patient with my years, I used to be completely impatient)
• Let bygones be gone. Forget the past and concentrate on the present moment. There is no need to evoke unpleasant memories and immerse yourself in them.   (I try to think about situations in the present the most that I can and try not to dwell on the past)

• Learn to practice meditation. Even a few minutes a day will make a change in your life. (True that buddy, I could not agree more!)

Sorry for this emo-licious post but like I said, it was a bad day. But the sun is going to rise tomorrow and I can try to keep a positive mindset about how I am going to take on the day.

Does anyone else stress like this about their job and if so, what do you do to keep your peace of mind?

Time Flies….

Well, you know the rest of the old saying. Where did this wknd go? I feel like I was just scheming to get out of work early so I could make it to happy hour on Friday.

Yesterday morning was a bit rough for me but some friends called and asked if I wanted to go to lunch and see what the hangover wasn’t fully gone, I gladly accepted. We chose Village Tavern since they have a huge patio and it didn’t seem like it was going to excruciating, sweat falling down your butt crack kinda hot out. We pretty much had the patio to ourselves since it was kinda dead. We had an interesting server guardian angel….yeah…..that’s what our server introduced himself as. I found it weird but cute.  Kinda dead but with slow service, what’s up with that? I got a diet coke since I needed caffeine to jolt my system and I was sucking them down like there was no tomorrow. Shows them for charging $2,50 for a soda—when did that happen?

I got the Miami Burger with fries—burger topped with ham, swiss, Dijon mustard and pickles.

Look at the gooey cheese!

We sat around for a while and chatted but then remembered the new Pinkberry was right around the corner. I’ve never tried Pinkberry but love all things fro yo and if Pinkberry is good enough for Paris Hilton, it should be good enough for me right?

Wrong.

It was insanely packed which I can handle but was expecting more of a selection flavor wise. I got the pomegranate fro yo topped with blackberries, kiwi and fruity pebbles and it was good but I’ve had better. I would rather go elsewhere, mix and match and have it weighed. Also, I’m a pretty happy person however the happy happy joy joy act was a bit too sunshiney happiness up my butt for me personally. But then again, I was hungover so yeah…..

 

And then when we were waiting in line to pay, the power went out for a few seconds so that meant the computers took forever to reload with the cash registers. And then overcharged me by $2 but it was so ridiculously crazy and happy in there I didn’t even feel like going back in.

I felt so overly bloated the rest of the night I went for a 3 mile walk just to move. I felt so stuffed the whole time so seeing that I was wearing a heart rate monitor, was a bit uncomfortable.

I had a BIG salad for dinner with spring mix, tomato, avocado, mushrooms,cucumbers, ground turkey, onion, sweet peppers and cheese with some new dressing.

I loved this dressing, it would be awesome as a chicken or pork marinade as well. And what is it about avocado that makes everything better?

I would love to say I went out again or had an exciting but no dice. I was in bed with this beauty, I am enjoying it immensely but fell asleep a few times while reading since I was exhausted.

I would have loved to gone out but I have been spending way too much money on dining and drinking lately. I love my new little neighborhood but feel like I have been loving it a little too much since everything is so convenient. My wallet and my waistline are not diggin this. I had a resolution to drink less beer this month and that’s not going well at all. I have been working out a few times a wk but really need to get more exercise in more consistently.

I had a sweet potato that was needing to be used so this morning I cut into little rounds, brushed with some extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and let bake for about 20 minutes. Now looking back, the fact that I was handling a knife with no caffeine in my system was not a smart move on my behalf at all. Along with it with an egg and cheese sandwich thin topped with avocado, green onion and ketchup.

Fabulous way to start my morning.

Soon, I was off to go to my friends pool. I’ve been so spoiled with growing up in Florida, living in Arizona and living here and always had a pool. It’s just standard in my world and not having one kinda sucks. I figure this wknd would be the last of the summer I would get some pool time in so off I went. It was a great time until we were people watching and this woman had a panty liner  or some kind of toilet paper attached to her booty—eek! We just kept staring and ate one point I felt mortified for this lady and finally had to look away. It was a persistent pest as well  since it was on her, she went in the pool, got out and still stuck! Someone finally went up to her and told her but that bad boy stayed on for a while. And for the rest of the day, I was wiping my butt all paranoid and stuff.

 I feel like I am all booked for September already, look at how popular I am jk 🙂

Wknd of 4th-Parentals and some sorority sisters in plus going to a new stylist to get my hair done

Wknd of 11th-Greek Fest!

Wknd of 18th–Diana in town

Wknd of 25th-Oktoberfest and a possible guest in town. I can tell you now that wknd is going to be shot with the Oktoberfest b/c it will be the hangover from hell. WVU also plays LSU that night so it’s going to be a crazy one!

Starving by the time I got back, I picked up at a 6 inch meatball sub from Harris Teeter since it was the $2.99 special today. I mixed it up and got chipotle mayo and banana peppers on it and it was messy and tasty!

I lounged around, caught up on Real Housewives of DC and gave myself a manicure and pedicure since Sundays suck and those things make me happy. If I am going to dread going back to work, I may as well enjoy the night before right?

Dinner was random-fried green tomatoes and nachos

I sprinkled some tabasco on them for taste

So the nachos were kinda depressing. I am using to just throwing them in microwave for a minute to melt the cheese but now have to use my oven. I obviously didn’t know how long to do it for since they turned out a tad crispy but still edible. I need to work on that a bit. I miss having a microwave 😦

Hope everyone had a fabulous wknd and let’s hope this one goes by quickly since we have a three day wknd to look forward to next wknd!

That’s What She Said

Thursday breakfast, I ate like a queen! I recently bought these Pops Mix It Strawberries flavored cereal. I am not much of a cereal person and if I do indulge, will have the healthy kind like Kashi Go Lean. Fruity Pebbles will forever be my favorite kind of sugary cereal —mostly because the milk gets a stained glass look afterwards and that’s just fun! But I never buy the Fruity Pebbles and only bought this kind since it was $1 for the bag.

 

It tasted good but didn’t keep me full at all.  When I got to work, I had plans to meet up with an old co-worker of mine for coffee. We went to Einsteins and when I got there I remembered that a coupon for free hash browns and free coffee when buying an order of Chicken Mini’s at Chick Fil A. If you don’t get their calendar and love the Chick Fil A, you need to get on that around Christmas time. It’s become tradition that my parents get me that every year and that’s fine with me b/c I am easy like that (that’s what she said). Tip—if you buy a $25 gift card, you get the calendar for free. The Chick Fil A near me takes expired coupons as well so I am still using some from last years calendar.

 

Chick Fil A was also the highlight of my lunch on Thursday with their fat free honey mustard dressing.

I love you Chick Fil A..

Has anyone out there heard about the Denny’s Fried Cheese Melt?

 source

I know this is a heart attack waiting to happen but I am going to try it. One of my sorority sisters will be in next wknd and she is crashing with me and we have made plans to make a late night trip to Denny’s (sober unfortunately) and have a go at it. We talked about splitting it but who knows if that will happen. All I know is I am so excited!!! And I am going to enjoy every last bite of it since I love all things cheese. The fact that it’s only $4 doesn’t hurt either.

Thursday night I made a Taco Casserole for dinner with macaroni, ground turkey, black beans, mushrooms, jalapenos, shredded cheddar, onions and sour cream. Wow, that’s a mouth full right there (that’s what she said). I’ve never made this before but it seemed like a really good recipe to try since I had all the items on hand and could mix everything all together and save for later.

I added some cayenne pepper, garlic and Tabasco to it for a little kick and kept me full for hours.

 

Pretty 

Dirty

 I made the mistake of watching Dexter Season 4 Thursday night. I was sleep deprived since the sugar from my adult drinks kept me the night before but needed to watch it.  I always tell myself I am going to only watch one or two episodes but five episodes later I was on the season finale and wow. That’s all I can say. Such an amazing show, I love the story lines, the dark humor and the character development.

I got up at 530A on Friday only to find I was out of coffee. No bueno. I need to jump on that asap b.c me in a house with no caffeine is just not right. At least was up with me…….well, kind of.

I made yet another egg and cheese sandwich topped with ketchup and green onions but got a little creative with the presentation

 

I am so happy I am a 30 yr old woman with the mentality of a 14 year old boy

I missed my bus but had Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang to keep me company. I just love her so, she is just so crass. My dream lunch (or happy hour) would be with her and Kathy Griffin, I just know we would be besties!!

Friday was unbearably slow. By 945A I was done with all my catch up work and had nothing to do. Thankfully, I remembered the hippies were outside and took a break to go read some more Chelsea and get some hippie loving.

 

All of this for $8. I love hippies long time. I got green tomatoes and of course am going to make fried green tomatoes. I’ve had them before and they were delish and can’t wait to make them this wknd! I asked how long they are going to be out this year because they usually go away in September but she said they are going to be there as long as they can with their winter produce available. That made me happy.

 

Lunch was leftover enchiladas, just as good the second time around!!

 

Then one of my co-workers brought me over a piece of her carrot cake she had from the night before. It was so yummy, I thought it was Cheesecake Factory quality but turns out it was Food Lion, go figure.

Does anyone remember the Pizzeria potato chips from the 90’s? They looked like Doritos and has different flavors like Pepperoni, Supreme, etc. These Wheat Thins taste so much like them its freaky!! I wish I could find Pizzeria’s on-line but don’t think they exists anyone, sadness.

I was itching to get out of work since I had happy hour plans after work and had a little overtime this week so I got to leave a little earlier than normal. I got out a little early and was waiting at the Charlotte Transportation Center (AKA Blvd of Broken Dreams) and I feel uneasy whenever I’m there. Someone is always smoking something, I get eyed like I’m a fried pork chop and I feel like a riot is about to break out. I was just sitting there with my ipod and big sunglasses not making eye contact with anyone and waiting for the bus to get there. The bus never showed up and I thought I was going crazy but turns out it was 15 minutes late which was cutting into my happy hour prep time. I don’t like that.

I started with some Abita Light. I never tried this beer before but love their Purple Haze so thought I would give it a go. It was a decent beer and kind of had a nutty flavor to it.

Then we went to Piccaso’s Sports Bar for drinks and grub. They claim to have the best wings in Charlotte so I had to give them a go. I got the Hot BBQ wings

Mmmmm, look how messy they look! I devoured these babies and they definitely lived up to the claim. I was still hungry afterwards and may have had some of my friends onion rings. Good times had by all.

Again, I woke up this morning with no coffee. But I did have food so I made a slammin cheese and green onion omelet topped with avocado and tomato

Hope everyones weekend is off to a great start!

A Tale of Two Pineapples

Happy to see so many people like roller skating! I used to love it as a kid and it was my first time roller skating since i was 14 so it was fun to try again as an adult. Not gonna lie, I was terrified at first b/c I was thinking I would break my neck but it was just like riding a bike. Soon after, I was skating my way round and round. But no backwards skating though, that’s too gangsta for me. I was amazed by the young kids and their skating skills. There were even groups of skaters who were synchronized skating. It was awesome and I kept joking around how I wanted to see skating gangs like West Side Story but no such luck. Skating was so big back in the day but I kept wondering how does one get into roller skating these days? Do they come from a line of skaters? Do the young boys who skate tell the girls this and it makes them go crazy? So many questions. 

When I got back Sunday night, I needed a drink…..badly. I stopped at Dilworth Neighborhood Grille to get some grub and a beer. I ended up befriending some of the wait and bar staff who were off that day and the day drinking began! We sat outside, had beers and talked, it was a bunch of fun. Yay for Sunday Funday drinking! After three hours there, I finally ordered some food to go and got the Chicken Spiedie Pizza (even though I originally went for wings). I don’t know what their Spiedie sauce is but this was the bomb!!!! 

 

 

I had Monday off as well to get stuff done which was all done by 10A. I decided to take myself out on a picnic date to Freedom Park since it was a gorgeous day. You can really tell fall is right around the corner with the cooler mornings and not so sweltering days. I love it. 

 

 

 

 

 

It felt so good to be out, enjoy some fresh food, read and just be. Now if I could only swim in the water……. 

A Cherry Misty Float was in order after that 

 

For some reason, I was in a baking mood the other night. I’ve had this recipe for Coconut Pineapple Loaf Cake from Martha Stewart Everyday saved for a while now and finally decided to try it out. I didn’t have any butter on hand but subbed extra virgin olive oil  instead (thanks for the tip Mo!) 

Toasted coconut

 

After smelling the yummy goodness of coconut and pineapple for an hour, it was done—success! 

 

 

I think this will be really good warmed up over some greek yogurt. 

And then the fail of the night-Pineapple Stuffed Jerk Chicken also from Martha Stewart Everyday (can you tell I had a surplus of pineapple on hand?) Sounds like a great idea and looks gorgeous on the website right? Well mine could have turned out great but apparently I don’t like to read directions. Instead of having two different mixture bowls of stuffing and spices to coat the chicken, I added them together. In theory it should have been ok since they all would be going to the same spot but it was horrible. I finished half of my chicken and had some leftover pizza instead. 

 

Looks appetizing right? 

 

Good lord, this was rank. Maybe it was the all spice I didn’t like or just the ugly appearance of it but I wasn’t a fan. Thankfully, I salvaged some of the chicken to use in salads throughout the wk.

Fit in a nice walk afterwards 

 

Breakfast this morning was an egg and cheese sandwich on a whole wheat sandwich thin 

 

Cheese on the inside, sneaky sneaky

Lunch was a BIG Salad with spring mix, chicken, turkey pepperoni, shredded cheese, mushrooms, onion and tomatoes with Chick Fil A Fat Free Honey Mustard 

 

 

I fit in another walk this afternoon and covered about 1.2 miles. It felt so good to get out and come back to my desk knowing that I won’t have a ton of emails that I need to rush to answer. 

Influenced by my trip to Phoenix, I made mushroom and black bean enchiladas for dinner 

 

 

 

 

Fabulous! I hate how when I am looking to make something vegetarian, I can’t think of anything but when I’m not even trying, whip something delicious up 

I had an ok kettlebell session afterwards. I really wasn’t in the mood to work out but am happy I got off my butt for a half hour 

Kettlebell-20 lbs 

Swings (13 reps, 4 sets) 

Shrugs (12 reps, 2 sets) 

Upright Deltoid Row (13 sets, 3 sets) 

Side Bends (20 reps, 2 sets) 

Dumbbell-15 lbs 

Curls (13 reps, 2 sets) 

Concentration Curls (13 reps, 2 sets) 

Shoulder Press (13 reps, 2 sets) 

Front Lateral Raise (13 reps, 2 sets) 

Dumbbell -10 lbs 

Deltoid Lateral Raises (13 reps, 2 sets) 

Tricep Kickbacks (13 reps, 2 sets) 

Tricep Extension (13 reps, 2 sets) 

PS—Click here to enter to win a $40 CSN gift card at Ashleigh’s Slice of Life

Chicken Head

Thanks all for your warm wishes for Lincoln (ok ok and props onmy zebra print dress!), he is doing a lot better but that situation is just frustrating. It did not feel good to go back to work today. I was a tad hung over, didn’t have time to prepare my coffee and the bus was 20 minutes late which brought me into work just as our meeting was starting. I hate when we do early morning meetings and I don’t have time to start my computer or have my coffee. I was a brat and pretty much sat there with a scowl on my face the entire time b/c that’s how I stick it to the man. However I got an email when I got back to my desk saying there was free Starbucks coffee a few rows down from me. So maybe I shouldn’t try to stick it to the man anymore.

Breakfast was good though-simple eggs with ketchup and a side of toast with cranberry preserve

I officially put the candy bowl away today and locked it in an overhead bin at my desk that I need a special key to unlock with.

 This has been the bane of my existence the past two weeks.

I got a new read for my flight to Phoenix this wk

But I’ll also be bringing my laptop since I got Dexter Season 4 Disc 1 and 2 today-booyah!

So I decided to pimp myself out today for some Chick Fil A Fat Free Honey Mustard. Anyone who reads this knows I sing the praises of their crack-laced fat-free honey mustard. The fact that is fat-free just makes it even better. I went to Chick Fil A for lunch since I had a free coupon for a drink when you buy a sandwich and I asked if I could possibly get a packet of the FF honey mustard. I went on to tell the cashier how much I love the stuff and how they should sell it in stores. I may have leaned over a little to show some skin in high hopes he would give me more than one packet of the stuff and it worked! I waited for a few seconds and he flashed his smile with six teeth and told me he threw in some extras —–four total—holla!! I guess showing a little cleavage at a Christian backed fast food place doesn’t hurt huh?

I was planning on having the sandwich and my salad for lunch but I wasn’t too hungry so I had the original chicken sandwich with buffalo sauce and a nectarine.

Today wasn’t that busy at all, I took a relaxing 20 minute break in the afternoon and just sat outside and looked around. I breathed in the air, looked at the flowers and just was. It was so nice and peaceful. Then I saw Lisa’s post on taking pleasure in the simple things in life and I just smiled.

Some observations from sitting outside

*It should be illegal to be blaring Savage Garden from your radio while you’re cruising. Savage Garden—really?!?!

*Why do men think if they grunt at you, you will talk to them? Baffles me every day

*I love old couples who hold hands, it’s just cute and it makes me smile.

*It smelled like patchouli outside yet there were no hippies in sight. Funky.

I had a BIG salad with the same ingredients as yesterday with my beloved Fat Free Honey Mustard. I thawed some Trader Joe’s Chili Lime Chicken Burgers and cooked them up on the stovetop

Thumbs down on the chicken burgers-they were straight up nasty. If I still had the box, I would return them but I gave the rest to Lincoln and he thoroughly enjoyed! I guess I was all about the chicken today. I don’t have too much fresh produce on hand since I’m going out-of-town so I can’t make anything. I could’ve made a bowl of oats but wasn’t feeling it and was in the between stage of hungry and satisfied.  And that just sucked.

With that, I tried Breyer’s Smooth and Dreamy Chocolate Caramel Brownie Sandwich.

This was a perfect portion for what I was looking for-a light snack that would satisfy my sweet tooth.

And ladies —Happy 19th Amendment Day! Today is the the 90th anniversary of when the 19th amendment passed and gave us the right to vote.

Thought I’d share the love– click here to get 16 free tracks from Spin’s September Issue (this is legit, I downloaded it to my iTunes)

She’s Quirky

I tried to do it. I got up, had my coffee and breakfast

I took Lincoln for a nice walk, showered and spent extra time in the shower trying to perk up but nothing. I have the tension headache from hell going on and was ready for it to go away. I hate calling in sick to work but when I feel like this, I really don’t want to deal with anyone or anything work related.

One thing that contributed to this headache was that……sigh……Lincoln kinda got attacked last night when we were out walking. We were  two blocks from my house on a residential side street where this older man was sitting out in his front yard with his dog sitting in front of him. We were about to pass in front and I said hello and his dog (who you would think would be on a leash?) lunged toward Lincoln and starting growling and biting him. Lincoln was whimpering and I was yelling at the dog while the guy was trying to get him and me trying to Lincoln in my arms. His paw looks swollen and he keeps licking it but besides that he seems to be ok. It’s just a little off-putting when we were just taking a walk and his dog comes at him out of nowhere. Then about five minutes later, I saw another guy with his dog not on a leash-wtf? If we lived in a rural area, that would be fine but we are in a city and there are busy streets around us. Lincoln now seems to be ok now but he is skiddish in the first place. If you’re a new person who he’s never seen, he is apprehensive when you pet or approach him. I don’t know if this has something to do with his previous owners and if there was an incident but that’s how he is.

Dinner last night was pizza quesadillas with turkey pepperoni and mushrooms. I threw some oregano and red pepper flakes on them while they were cooking for a little punch.

Apparently, I like mine really burnt. They were still tasty anyways 🙂

Today has been a completely relaxing day. I took some Excedrin Migraine this morning and it seemed to help a bit. I caught up on some reading and did some laundry. And Lincoln was right by my side as always.

Ok maybe not by my side so much as thinking that my body was his bed.

I had a BIG Salad for lunch with everything under the sun in it. Ok I am exaggerating a little but I will see if I can name everything that was in it:

Romaine

Mushrooms

Tomato

Hardboiled egg

Gorgonzola Cheese

Purple Pepper

Mushrooms

Zucchini

Cucumber

Tuna Salad made with carrots and red onion

pomegranate vinaigrette

 I would be lying if I said I didn’t have some more retail therapy today. I got two cute dresses for my trip to Phoenix this weekend. My friend’s birthday  party is friday night and it’s a theme party—Playboy Bunny. Yay. I don’t want to see myself in bunny wear and I’m sure that means nobody else does (and I have very high self-esteem so yeeeeeah). I bought a cute dress at Ross with little fuzzies around the collar and figure it could be cute for that party since it is similar to a nightie. Pair it up with some cute heels and get drunk with friends, I can do that!

Afterwards I stopped for some fro yo. I contemplated getting peanut butter fro yo but I figured that would be a little too much for me since I am trying to get back to loving the nut……butters. I got mango and blueberry fro yo with kiwi, blueberries and strawberries topped with crushed graham crackers and coconut

Aww yeah.

I wanted to get off my butt and planned on having a 15 minute weight training session that turned into a 40 minute one. Nothing wrong with that. I enjoy those ones the most where I don’t think I am going to work out for long than go longer than expected.

I tried out my new Nike Dry Fit top but wore them with Reebok pants so I’m not sure if I am breaking any rules by that? It feels good to rebel sometimes. Who am I kidding? ALL the time!

Kettlebell-20 lbs

Shrugs (12 reps, 2 sets)

Snatches (13 reps, 1 set)

Side Bends (20 reps, 2 sets)

Dumbbell-15 lbs

Curls (13 reps, 2 sets)

Reverse Fly (13 reps, 2 sets)

Shoulder Press (13 reps, 2 sets)

Front Lateral Raise (13 reps, 2 sets)

Dumbbell -10 lbs

Deltoid Lateral Raises (13 reps, 2 sets)

Zottman Curls (13 reps, 2 sets)

Tricep Kickbacks (13 reps, 2 sets)

Tricep Extension (13 reps, 2 sets)

Misc.

Donkey Kicks (15 reps, 2 sets)

Scissor Kicks (30 sec.each, 2 sets)

Jumping Jacks (50 reps, 4 sets)

I really liked this top. It kept the girls in place and I felt less sweaty and wet than working out in my normal workout gear. Two thumbs up Nike. My post workout snack was a smoothie in a bowl–almond milk, banana, vanilla whey, mint chocolate syrup

No picture of dinner tonight since I had a date and that would been a little odd to whip out my camera. We went to Tavern On The Tracks and had an appetizer of hot peppers and I had the meatball sub with french fries. Had some beers after that and the atmosphere was great. Good times had by all 🙂

I think I looked slammin. I wore my zebra print dress that proved successful on another date last week. I say screw pants until it gets cold out

Some cool things I’ve seen

*Julie Go Lean’s Giveaway for 10 Cedar’s Mediterranean Cuisine Products

*She-Fit’s Giveaway for 7 free Chocolite Bars

*Jess at Fit Chick In the City posted a link to Marie Claire’s Virtual Weight Loss Tool. This was a fun thing to play with. You can upload a photo of yourself, input your height and weight then adjust it to see what you would look like if you gained 5 lbs, lost 20 lbs, etc. Check it out–very interesting

*This post on loving your quirks

Some of my food quirks are (and I’ve been singing She’s Quirky to the tune of She’s Crafty ever since I saw this post)

*I love tomatoes and can eat them like apples but despise hot tomatoes

*Curry scares me

*You don’t want to see me without coffee. Whenever someone mentions Starbucks, Caribou, Dunkin Donuts, etc. my ears perk up and if you offer to buy me coffee, I do a happy dance

*If I order a meal that has french fries, I always eat the french fries first then whatever is left on the plate.

*I didn’t realize that ranch dressing  could be more than just a salad dressing until freshman year in college. I remember the night clearly, we went to Hardee’s and my friends asked for ranch dressing. This perplexed me a little  since no one had ordered a salad (although Hardee’s does have world-class salads) and they told me they were going to put it on their french fries. I attribute this event to my massive weight gain.

*I have something to drink around me at all times

What has two thumbs and is exhausted? This girl. Time to go back to work tomorrow and back to the real world.

What are your food quirks?

Senor Mumbles

The eats today were as planned

First, a banana with almond milk and Kashi Go Lean with a cup of coffee

And lunch was a BIG salad with baby romaine, cucumbers, red onion, sweet pepper, carrots, gorgonzola, a turkey burger and Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch with lemon juice.

Now that I look and think about it, there was a lot going on in the salad. A party in my mouth if you will!

It was a cooler (well cooler being low 90’s as opposed to high 90’s) and  overcast day in Charlotte. The hippies usually get spooked by the rain and don’t show but I looked out the window and there they were!

 A white eggplant! I am so excited to cook with this and see how the taste compares against a regular eggplant. Anyone try this before?

I am loving how it looks like Mother Nature’s idea of a bowling pin.

HUGE bag of fresh basil for only $2! I see a lot of pesto in my future.

And then I got home. I was planning on having a quiet night at home with my Netflix. But I was having a craving for Mexican food in a serious way and posted something on facebook just saying that. I really wasnt looking to o get Mexican food but one of my friends texted me and said she would go. Screw dinner at home! I haven’t had full on Mexican food since I went to San Antonio’s and got sick and have been wanting to delve into it again

We went to Monterrey in Matthews and got in right away. When I got out of the car, the smell of good food hit me full on but I couldn’t decide what it was since there was an Outback, Chinese place and Monterrey all in the same strip. Add a pizza parlor into the mix and I would be in aroma heaven!

Our waiter was…..umm….interesting? I am trying to be nice. Who am I kidding??! He was senor mumbles!! He kept coming up to our table and I would smile and try to answer whatever he was saying then he would walk away and I would say to my friend “I don’t like him”. It was like he was struggling to speak the espanol but was having issues with him.   Where I would normally say he was Creeps McGee, we shall call him Creepers Rodriguez just to be festive!  Not sure if he was drunk or on something but at one he asked me something and I just handed over my stuff and smiled, I hope he was asking for my plate. Hmm, guess we’ll never know.

My friend had a coupon for free queso–ole!!

I got the chicken and beef flautas with guacamole salad–I found it interesting that they called it that as opposed to just guacamole, sour cream and lettuce. But now that I think about it, I guess guacamole salad makes sense. It felt so good to have a full belly full of Mexican yummy goodness again. I wish I was a person who didn’t like the Mexican food so much but I can seriously be down for it anytime of day no matter how full I am.

I went to a small resort about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta called Costa Azul two years ago for a week. They had an awesome deal throughout September with $100 a night including room, food, beer and activities. I had enough frequent flier miles to get a free first class flight roundtrip and was an enjoyable, relaxing week.

Showing my enthusiasm before trying tequila at a local tequila distillery in Puerto Vallarta

Sadly, my enthusiasm didn’t take me too far

Who doesn’t love a swim up bar where they also bring you food? Immersed in water while drinking Corona, eating nachos and getting tan? I think I found out what my heaven would consist of.

 The best part was the all-inclusive part on the food so we could order whatever we wanted when we felt like it. If it was 3P and you were hungry, order up some ceviche or nachos. The coconut shrimp was always the first thing to go at dinner so you had to go early but when I got back home, I was still wanting Mexican food. It is something I will never tire of.

Did anyone watch Swingtown while it was on (or if it still is?)

 I got the first disc of the first season from Netflix today and am a bit intrigued. A show about swingers in the 70’s intrigues me enough  since it is one of my favorite decade (I only lived 18 days in the 70’s but like to think I rollerskated my fat baby body into the 80’s) and anything with Grant Show will reel me in as well-rawr!

 Even if he does have a handlebar moustache on the show 🙂

Got some interesting stuff going on tomorrow (which you all will hear about soon!) so I got to rest up. Hope everyone is enjoying their Friday!

Skills That Pay The Bills?

Happy Humpday all! Today was yet another good day of great eats! I am so happy I am back to meal planning and making larger quantities of items so I have things on hand. This is going to be a quick one (you will see why at the end of this post)

Breakfast was Kashi Go Lean Crunch! with almond milk and blueberries.

Note, this is the second time this week that I’ve had cereal in the twice week. I don’t think I’ve had that much since back in my high school days.

Lunch was a leftover pork chop with quinoa with grilled eggplant, parsley and green onions.

When I got home, it was hot as balls out. I took Lincoln out and then got into my comfy clothes. I was kinda hungry but not ready for dinner and I wanted something cold.

What to do in that predicament? GREEN MONSTER! I made one with Spirutein Cookies N Cream Protein Powder, Almond Milk, handful of spinach, xanthan gum and a special addition…….

Santa Cruz Organic Mint Chocolate Syrup. I bought this a few months ago on a whim and have been waiting for the perfect moment to crack it open. I figure cookies n cream plus mint chocolate? I might as well die and go to heaven!!

Look at how beautiful it is? I wish I could put into words how great it was. I know Monique will appreciate this piece of art and I will be having this again (although I will have to have some self-control with that mint chocolate syrup). Thank God for the Magic Bullet

Oh! And I ordered a Bondi Bond on Sunday and got it in the mail today-I love a great deal and fast shipping!

Dinner was another fabulous BIG salad with baby romaine, red onion, mushrooms, hardboiled eggs, cucumbers, quinoa, gorgonzola, chicken bites and ranch dressing.

Ummm, I promise there is lettuce under there!

Good God, this was yummy. I haven’t had gorgonzola in a looooong time and forgot how creamy and rich it was. “You’re dreaming of gorgonzola when it’s clearly brie time baby!”  If you can name what movie that’s from you officially rock in my book.

I went to Marshalls and found a couple of good buys

Bigger Loser Sculpt and Burn set for $5 I am a sucker for anything on clearance and figure it would fun to have on hand

Black Dress for $15.

Ok so it actually looks way cute on and not frumpy at all.

Why a black dress you ask? No, someone didn’t die but……I have an interview tomorrow!! Anyone who knows me or reads this blog knows I am absolutely miserable at work and want out. I am super nervous and just found out about it this afternoon so I spent the last part of my day worrying about what I will wear. It’s for another position at the bank and would definitely be a step up (not to be confused with Step Up 3D) and a great career move for me. There is no way in hell I am wearing a suit in this weather nor do I have one since all my suits I are from before I lost weight. I figure a simple black dress is a good bet and I know the person interviewing me. I work with this team every day and think I am a good fit for the position but know there are other people applying who have more experience for me so I have my doubts I will get it but I am sure going to try my best!

 Please send some good vibes my way and we’ll see if I have the skills that pay the bills!

Fresh

As much as I love the eggs, I really need to start buying egg-whites again. I think my heart will thank me after the fat fest I had for breakfast yesterday morning: Two Scrambled Eggs with Muenster Cheese, Avocado and Tomato

 

Lunch was a BIG salad with carrots, tomato, feta cheese, quinoa, green onions topped with pulled pork and pomegranate balsamic vinegar. Holy balls. I don’t like the idea of hot and cold together most times (with the exception of greek yogurt and oatmeal) but I nuked the pulled pork up for about a minute and the combination was terrific. I also liked how the pomegranate balsamic vinegar tasted with it. I didn’t want to ever end 😦

One of my co-workers came over to my desk and told me she had a treat for me. I love treats. And I love treats in the name of fresh produce even more. I thought she was just being sweet but she had an ulterior motive but it worked out fine because I can be persuaded just to do about anything if you put some good food in front of me.

I want this dogs life

A girlfriend and I had plans to go to dinner so she came over to my place and we walked over to Lebowski’s Neighborhood Grill, a semi-new place here. Can I say how happy I am that I moved? I love the convenience of being able to walk to restaurants, shops, bars, etc.  I know I keep talking about it but that right there is something I am willing to pay more money for. I can tell a difference in my energy level and attitude from not having to wake up at the butt crack of down and having a long commute.  Love it.

I got the Jerk style Gardenburger with garlic fries (I’ve heard people raving about them so had to see if they lived up to the hype)

There was jerk sauce and pineapples under the beautiful layer of melted cheese.

And the fries? They totally lived up to my expectations, it was a fair amount of garlic but nothing that would keep a vampire away. We had quick service, enjoyed the patio area and had reasonable prices, I would definitely go back.

Today was another day full of fruits and veggies. I needed to take a little break from the eggs for breakfast and had a green monster in a bowl instead. I made it with blueberries, spinach, almond milk, xanthan gum and half a packet of Spiru-Tein Blueberries and Cream Protein Powder topped with Kashi Go Lean Crunch

Yeah…..and there was about 1/3 still left in my magic bullet.  Again, if you haven’t tried xanthan gum, what are you waiting for?? It’s awesome!

Lunch was yet again a BIG Salad with romaine, tomato, quinoa, carrots, cucumber, onion, ham, hardboiled eggs, Laughing Cow french onion wedge and sunflower seeds topped with Ken’s Fat Free Raspberry Vinaigrette. Add another salad to the list that I didn’t want to end.

I was heading to zumba class after work and tried my Boomi Bar that’s been sitting around

I really liked this, it was a simple almond bar and it wasn’t too sweet or moist (I feel so dirty when I say that word)

Zumba was great but I didn’t rock it as much as last week since I am still a tad achey from Jackie Warner’s One on One Training DVD I did the other day. I didn’t jump around as much but I still got a good workout in with a nice calorie burn of 677 and average heart rate of 166—yes!

I was ready for a big dinner when I got home! I made turkey burgers (with parsley, green onions, Heinz 57, garlic and panko breadcrumb) 

Laughing  Cow makes everything better

I served with a cold quinoa salad with lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper with carrots, cucumbers, tomato and red onion thrown in.

I loved the meals I’ve had the past two days and can honestly say that all this fresh produce is my favorite part of summer. I am going to miss having access to different farmers markets in the area once fall comes around but I think it’s a fair trade-off for football, sweaters and cold weather. There are so many veggies to look forward to as well which means new stuff-yay!

Do you want the real answer or the fake one?

Today was yet another hellacious day at work. We had three people off and it’s month end, which is always the busiest day of the month for us. My phone was ringing non stop, my email box was never empty and I was just struggling to stay on top of everything all day along with helping others on my team. People would call me and ask how I was doing since they knew about our understaffed team for the day and I would just reply “Do you want the real answer or the fake one?” Of course everyone wanted both answers

Fake answer- “I’m super fabulous!”

Real answer- “I want to crawl into a fetal position with a bottle of wine”

But it’s all over with (for now) and I can go in this wknd and catch up on things. Okay and get some time and a half-pay in the meantime (which will be going towards Lincoln’s boarding in a few wks when I go to Phoenix or some snazzy digs for me!)

The day started off questionable, I slept in late (yay!) but woke up to a text from my ex boyfriend from college (boo!)

I found my “Keep Austin Weird” mug that I got four years ago when I visited for a weekend. I loved Austin so much and would love to go back. Sso if any of you ever want to me to stay with you, let me know, will be over ASAP and I will bring Trader Joe’s goodies since you have the Whole Foods mothership!

I think I was going for overeasy eggs but it was kind of a fail in that aspect but still tasty.

I mixed it up (pun intended) with a Venti shaken Iced Green Tea.Lemonade with two splendas—tasty as well! I didn’t know refills of these were only $.55, when did that happen??

As busy as it as this morning (understatement of the year), I forced myself to take a short lunch break and visit my hippies and stop by Chick Fil A to buy a pakcet of their Fat Free Honey Mustard. This stuff is laced with southern goodness crack. I wish they would start selling it in stores because I will walk to Chick Fil A and offer to buy a few packets but they give it to me for free. Then I feel bad about it since they are always so nice about it and say “My pleasure”, which is what I totally to say to people at work when I am super busy and it’s more in a facetious tone

All that produce for $6, I love my hippies!

With that, I had a BIG salad for lunch with romaine, mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, ham, onion and tuna salad with my beloved fat free honey mustard. Seriously, if you haven’t tried their FF honey mustard, please do-it’s out of this world!

Anyone remember that tv show? I used to love watching it and dearly miss the fashion of the late 80’s

A late afternoon sugar rush is always necessary on a bad day. Swedish fish are the bane of my existence.

By the time I got off work, I had zero mental energy. I just wanted to get home, change into my comfy clothes and zone out. After reading Monique’s post about having home-made take out the other night, I knew that was going to be the meal plan for the night!

My favorite Trader Joe’s product of ALL time—Mandarin Orange Chicken. If you haven’t tried this, it really does taste like something you would get when eating out (if not better)

While that was baking, I cooked up some quinoa and red pepper, onion and zucchini…..and voila—home made take out!

Hope everyone’s weekend is off to a great start! I took a huge nap after dinner so I am all out of whack time wise right now.