To love, to be loved, and to be a banker

So yesterday went by quickly whereas today dragged on. And I effed up big time at work. I noticed my mistake I made at the end of the day, had to stay late and discuss with a manager and still have to deal with it tomorrow. Plus I found some more issues with an account after I spoke with a manager and will have to figure that out as well tomorrow. I have a huge knot in my stomach since I will have to face more of this crap tomorrow and am not really looking forward to it. I know it’s not the end of the world but I hate that I don’t know what I’m doing with my role and am not confident of my abilities. The sun will come up tomorrow and the day after but I hate this feeling of dreading going into work.

  Just once, I would like to have a job that I acted liked and was semi passionate about. I hate waking up at 630A each morning, dreading the day and counting down the hours til 5 o’clock. I hate that I feel sick any time I’m about to call a customer with bad news. I hate that I work for a bank yet hate numbers. I hate that I’m too empathetic to do my job whereas other people are fine with practically driving customers to file for bankruptcy. I hate that my job (and former job) mentally exhausts me so much and has made me so bitter that I don’t have the energy to look for a relationship yet maintain one. I hate that I work for a corporation I don’t believe in. I hate that due to most of my experience within the bank, I can’t find anything else, even though I have a degree in journalism. I hate that I’m seriously considering withdrawing some of my 401K to live on for awhile so I can figure out what I want to do to with my life. I would just like to wake up Monday-Friday looking forward to something and not be completely miserable, I don’t think that’s asking for too much right? And huge brownie points for anyone who knows where the title of this post is from.

My package of goodies I ordered last week  from Sephora arriving at my door step didn’t even lift my spirits. Retail therapy, makeup and a surprise package in one?  Nope, didn’t even form a smile while opening so yeah, today wasn’t the best day.

Thank god I had a dinner plan in mind because I couldn’t handle another funky meal like last night. Since I am an emotional eater and all, I really wanted to just order take out and enjoy an insane amount of MSG from the local Chinese takeout joint but I stuck to my original plan–crescent rolls stuffed with onion and chive cream cheese and sandwich steak.

I cooked up the steak on the stovetop and seasoned with Spike seasoning. I didn’t even use oil or butter, the seasoning was the perfect thing to season with.

Then cut into little strips. Of course Lincoln got the leftovers.

I rolled out the crescent rolls to stretch them a little further than normal then spread cream cheese on them

Topped with steak bits

Then rolled up and let bake at 375 for 14 minutes.

I had broccoli on the side with a touch of spray butter and bam–quick, savory meal to end a horrid day.

Anyways, that was my day in a nutshell. Sorry if it was a bit of a downer but nothing wrong with some honesty right?

On a happier note—the winner of the Chobani giveaway is…….

Comment #13—Emily from “A Nutrionalist Eats”

emily (a nutritionist eats) December 16, 2010  “I’m liking chobani on facebook!”

Congratulations Emily! Please email me (simplyshaka @ gmail dot com) your mailing address so Chobani can send those out to you!

Thanks everyone for participating in the giveaway (if anyone knows how I can copy the damn random number generator into a post, it would be much appreciated!)

I’m going to zone out to Family Guy and get some puppy kisses from my little guy.

Hope everyone’s Tuesday was better than mine!

M&M

I am really digging making my own breakfast at home. I love that I can whip up an egg and cheese sandwich within minutes and am no longer spending $6 for a box of some frozen, preservative ridden sandwich pack. Now if I could only get motivates to make some bacon or sausage with it…

I don’t dig bringing a lunch of leftovers that I know isn’t going to be anything special. I brought over the rank chicken from the other night but this time covered in Heinz 57 sauce (because cmon, it makes everything better) with a side of brown rice.

Can we all say “Boooooooring” in unison? Lets! It was decent, it somewhat filled me up but it was more meh than anything. Thank god there were no pineapples in it because I might have thrown up.

I am so happy I stocked up on kiwis the other day at the store. I love kiwis so much (yet hate kiwi flavored stuff) and is a reminder that summer is almost over. Anyone else just take a bit right out of one? Or is it just me? I always heard growing up most the vitamins are in the skin so I just eat like an apple.

Unlike yesterday, it was busy today. Pet peeve of the day-when I am busy with my own work and have the highest volume work load but people still ask me to help them with their stuff. I am doing double what you’re doing and I’m not asking for help, someone please explain this to me? I was in no mood to be messed with, I had at least four people complaining about one person on our team and kept giving out my managers info so they could speak with her directly. I can’t help that some morons are still working on our team (note—it wasn’t Stinkalicious although were some complaints about the stinker today)

Yummy coconut pineapple bread on top of Chobani Vanilla Greek Yogurt. I brought in the rest of the coconut pineapple bread so I wouldn’t eat the entire loaf. We have many a hungry people in my office so they were willing to take it off my hands. I heated up the slices for them and they kept telling me how good it was.  I will admit, I like the compliments, it makes me feel good.

I had a $30 Groupon for the Deck, a local beach themed restaurant in Dilworth offering seafood and summer style foods.

The Deck is a somewhat newer place and in a location that one would think would be good but businesses never seem to last there. I was itching to use the Groupon and in the mojito so my friend and I walked over there to see what it was all about. We wanted to enjoy the rooftop deck (hence the name of the restaurant) and there was a little wait. We wasted no time and headed straight for the bar. $5 Mojito’s and $6 Martini’s on Wednesday nights? Don’t mind if I do……

I started off with a French Martini. I had a few sips of my friends for the first time when I was in Phoenix this past weekend. When I heard $6 martinis I knew I needed to try this! It was absolutely fabulous.

Martini and Mojito love

A table finally opened up and up we went! They had an awesome singer outside playing great music like DMB, Jack Johnson, Pink Floyd, Sublime and The Beastie Boys. I was in heaven! I could just sit there drinking mojitos and listening to Mr. Magic Hands sing songs of others. Oh yeah, I can’t do that. I have a little thing called work getting in the way of my schedule. Boo.

Next drink on the agenda was the Mora Negra Mojito-muddled blackberry, lime, sugar with mango juice and Bacardi Superior. Do I ever have to tell y’all that it was delicious?

I chowed on some chips and salsa while my friend had the She Crab Soup and dinner came shortly.

I got the Honey Wasabi Tuna Burrito-honey marinated yellowtail tuna with rice and pico de gallo in grilled flour tortilla. Look at how gorg that tuna is!! It was late by time my friend got off of work and I was starving but I guess my eyes were bigger than my tummy. Our server was peculiar, he came up to us asking if we were mad at him because we weren’t eating. He kinda sounded serious maybe he is buddy buddy with the cook? It was great but I just wasnt in the mood for scarfing down the plate of food (What has happened to me?? Did I just type that!?) It was a nice Mexican alternative to the usual fried, cheese ridden Mexican food I find in many restaurants.  As I am a Florida girl, I love anything beach themed and everything on the menu was looking mighty fine.  I was happy with the food but the drinks were the highlight for me.

Has anyone ever tried shrimp and grits? Supposedly, theirs is the best in Charlotte but the idea of it kinda skeeves me out. I like shrimp and I like grits. But together in unison? No thank you.

So I’m watching LA Ink right now and this is my first time watching it. Has Cat Von Dee always sounded so……gruff? I am sure homegirl slice could kick my ass but she sounds a little man-ly. And who says we don’t learn something new every day?

And how did I not know about M&M’s Premiums?  When did they come out with all of these? They have Mint Chocolate, Raspberry Almond, Triple Chocolate and more! I don’t know if I should thank or curse Christina for sharing this link with me but I will say thank for now (untul I go up another dress size at least) I wonder if they will ever make a chocolate espresso flavor or gahhhhhh…..cookies and cream! I will be in M&M heaven. I must find a Costco soon so I can go buy a feedbag of it and be in M&M heaven! Or perhaps I should just walk over to The Deck and be in another M&M kind of heaven. Ohhhh……M&M flavored Martini……now we are talking.

Happy humping 🙂

Leaving on A Jet Plane

Greetings all from the Charlotte Douglas airport! I’m heading out to Phoenix today and had to get some use out of their free Wi Fi.

Yesterday’s eats weren’t anything too amazing

Chobani Greek Yogurt with Kashi Go Lean Crunch!

I love Caribou Coffee’s cups. I kept singing “Sip It, Sip It Good” to the tune of “Whip It” yesterday…..it was starting to get annoying after a while (even if it was me doing it)

Lunch was a fail—tuna and egg salad on whole wheat toast with sliced apples. I didn’t realize that parts of the bread was starting to mold so tuna and egg salad alone it was. It was good but it didn’t fill me up at all.

 Last night was date #2 with dude from the other night. He came over to my place and we walked around deciding where to go. He was at work and there a bit later than expected so by the time he got to my place it was 9P. I was a tad hungry and moody by that point since my appetizer of beer and baked Lays didn’t exactly fill me up. We decided on dinner at Big Daddy’s Burger Bar. It was trivia night so the place was packed but we got a table inside and had some beers and unofficially played trivia. I had the Emilio’s Burger with jalapeno bacon, guacamole, onion, tomatoes, lettuce, mozzarella and poblano pepper mayo.

No picture….again…..awkwardness with going out with a new guy and whipping out my camera. I can honestly say that it was one of the best burgers I’ve had in my life. On the menu it’s a chicken sandwich but I subbed a burger in its place and wow, good times. I  was even thinking of it this morning!! lol I had a great time with him though and have plans to do something when I get back in town so we will see where this goes.

This morning, I packed last minute stuff and got Lincoln ready for his stay at the boarding place. Go me for fitting everything in a carry on! When I go somewhere, I have to pack option after option but figure if I am going to be there not even two days I really don’t need that much stuff. It’s my friends 30th birthday party tonight and she doesn’t know I am coming in. Word on the street is that she is kinda pissed at me so I can’t wait to see her reaction when I roll into the party. I can’t wait to see old friends for the wknd and kick back in the 110 degree weather. Yay Valley of The Sun!

I stopped at Dunkin Donuts and got their egg white sandwich with turkey sausage and a medium coconut coffee (my favorite thing there)

I was a little bummed when I got the sandwich b/c it used to be in a triangle shape when I was all about. Not that the shape of a sandwich should affect the taste but I wasn’t too excited about the round sandwich. Turned out I was wrong b/c this was a great sandwich and kept me full!

With that, it’s time to go. I need to get some water, find my gate and get everything. Hope everyone has a fabulous wknd!!

A Pom Kind Of Day

The friendly people at POM Wonderful contacted me a couple of weeks ago in regards to trying their pomegranate juice. I was so excited because I love all things pomegranate but have only tried the actual juice a couple of times before (I prefer to get my pomegranate from pom flavored beer thank you very much! 🙂 )

A little about POM Wonderful from their site

contain no added sugars, preservatives or colors

are a good source of potassium

are gluten-free

are flash pasteurized to retain both flavor and nutrients

are certified kosher

Plus they have different flavors of Pom juice that I never knew about-such as mango, kiwi, blueberry, cherry and nectarine with a myriad of different products like tea, bars, iced coffee (say whaaaaa??!!?!), shots, pills and more.

I got their package on Friday and have been brainstorming what I could make with it. Yes, I could make a cocktail or green monster but I wanted to try cooking with it.

With that, I decided to make Feta, Walnut and Parsley stuffed pork chops with a creamy pomegranate sauce and a side salad with pomegranate balsamic dressing

I finally bit the bullet and bought some xanthan gum. I’ve been wanting to get these to use in my green monsters since they turn out soupy a lot of the time and to use in sauced instead of corn starch. Most recipes only call for one to two tablespoons of cornstarch so this bag is going to last me awhile!

For the stuffing, I threw in 1/3 cup walnuts, 3 tbsp of feta and a few tbsp of parsley in the food processor and pulsed on low for about 10 seconds.

I butterflied two pork chips and stuffed with the filling then secured with toothpicks. I rubbed a little extra virgin olive oil and black pepper on them and then cooked at 350 for 25-30 minutes

For the creamy sauce, I threw  1/4 cup half and half with 3/4 of a POM Wonderful bottle on the stovetop with one tbsp xanthan gum and let cook on a low setting for 10 minutes until thick and bubbly. I know it kinda looks like the River of Slime from Ghostbusters 2 but don’t fear, it was tasty!

Side salad with carrots, tomato, extra stuffing mix, quinoa topped with homemade  pomegranate balsamic vinegar. I liked the dressing a lot and never knew how easy it was to make your own dressing!

 This was such a fabulous, filling meal. It was nice to experiment with the POM Wonderful for a different flavor for my meals and I cannot wait to try it with more stuff—thanks POM Wonderful for sending me and giving me the opportunity to try your juice, I am loving it!

I also found the mythical Chobani Pomegrante Greek Yogurt I’ve been seeing all over the blogs lately. I’ve never seen this flavor in the store before so when I saw it this past week, I practically screamed and started doing my happy dance right in the middle of Harris Teeter!

And I got to use the free Chobani coupons I won over at Nutrition Nut on The Run so free Chobani is always nice. It was terrific! I am a bit skeptical with new flavors ever since trying Chobani’s Pineapple flavor but this did not disappoint. Thus being said, I may just turn into a pomegranate by end of day.

 Fail to plan, plan to fail….yep that’s what I would say about my lunch today

Microwave popcorn-yum! I love the stuff but it is not filling at all. Oh, I didn’t mention I had this at work did I? Yeah. Another so busy week that I went in for five hours today just to catch up on my emails so I could get some peace of mind. I was annoyed by having to go in to do that but I kept repeating to myself “time and a half-pay, time and a half-pay, time and a half-pay” to make it bearable.

Oh and I know how I was singing praises to Jackie Warner and her workout dvd yesterday but today? I curse the day she was born. My everything hurts and each time I step up or sit down today, I whimper a bit. It’s sad. No pain no gain right??

I made a yummy plate of eggs topped with avocado and tabasco for breakfast.

Hey healthy fats!! Just wanted to say that I heart you.

I got a Magic Bullet for my birthday this past December and finally opened the box today to try it out with a green monster with blueberries, almond milk, baby spinach, Spiru-Tein Blueberries & Cream protein powder (half a packet), one Splenda and 1/2 tbsp of xanthan gum

Holy crap-why did I wait so long to use this? I absolutely loved how easy it was to use, quick it was and way more quiet than my blender. And xanthan gum, I just love it. It came out like sludge (which is a good thing!) this was more like an ice cream treat than a smoothie.

Happy August to everyone as well, I completely forgot its first of the month!

Things to work on for this month

*Drink less beer. I was out of control the month of July. Ok, not alcoholic out of control but drinking way more beer than I normally do due to the ridiculously hot weather out.

*Have a more consistent workout schedule each week. With moving and going on vacation twice in July, I didn’t get much workout time in. Again, add the nasty weather and it was a recipe for laziness on my part.

*Cook more at home, eat out less. Now that my kitchen is all squared away and I am somewhat getting used to cooking in a smaller kitchen, I need to get back into the swing of things.

All in all, today was a great day with work, new recipes, etc. Hope everyones August is off to an equally fabulous start!

PS—Check out Eat, Move, Love for a fun giveaway!

PPS-Anyone else have Blogger issues? I keep trying to comment on Blogger blogs and can’t, it’s a tad frustrating!

Gonna Make You Sweat

So….I believe it’s day 14 of the ridiculously hot weather (or sultry as the weatherman would say) we’ve been having here. This needs to stop, like now. I am sweating wherever I go, whether it be walking to get my mail or waiting for the bus…..at 7A or 11P. Gross. It’s only June too so I dread to see what the next few months are gonna look like. And it’s day 14 of having “Gonna Make You Sweat” by C&C Music Factory in my head and it’s getting a tad annoying. Whatever happened to them?

And let’s talk movies! I’m happy to know I’m not the only one out there who hasn’t seen some popular flicks and looks like most of you love the Princess Bride (b/c how can you not??) and never seen either Lord of The Rings and Star Wars. I really have no desire to see Sean Astin as a dward/wizard/elf whatever they are. He will always be Rudy to me.  So yay for others out there! I had a green purple monster for a morning pick me up with baby spinach, Chobani 0% Greek Yogurt, Flax Seed and Blueberries.

As big as a fan I am on these drinks, I am sad to say that I was not a fan. It lacked flavor and of course, the seeds were an issue. But then again, at 6A in the morning I really can’t be held accountable for good decision-making. Especially on a Friday! For the obvious reasons, I love Friday. But then again, Friday is usually busy for me at work….even though it seems like everyone is out of the office so who is sending me work and why are there always so many issues?? Hmmmm….

My co-worker had a scrambled egg and sausage wrap from Just Fresh yesterday and didn’t finish it off and handed it to me. Seeing I will eat anything that’s in front of me (and free!) I gladly accepted! I cut up a granny smith apple to wake me up. I remember hearing somewhere they are a great food to help you wake up. Anyone else know about this?

So I totally forgot that it is quarter end which means no work will be coming my way until next week. I had nothing to do—so fabulous! It’s pay-day as well so I got to do a little budgeting around my trip to NYC, pay bills, etc and it was nice to not have to worry about deadlines and a ridiculous volume.

Lunch was purchased at Reid’s @ their deli yesterday–chicken tenders and greek pasta salad.

Hello lovely plate of comfort. And hello artichokes! This was about 3/4 of the container, I made myself throw out the rest because I would have been licking the container clean!

I still had half of cupcake from yesterday but I couldn’t bring myself to throw that away. That would be wrong, right??

And then after pigging out, three words hit me—New York City—in one week! No one was at the office so I was doing my happy dance, jumping up and down, shaking my booty and shrieking. I think a large part of this was due to the sugar in the cupcake and excitement about my trip. Then this song came on Pandora—very freaky!

I’m so pumped up for this trip but I really think I am going to be depressed when I get back. I always get sad when I get back from vaca’s because I have to come back to real life and usually go to more exciting places than where I live and it’s just a bummer.  NYC has three of my favorite things in life—food, hot men and shopping. Why would I want to come back here?

I caught the early bus home and greeted by Lincoln in no time. I love how excited he is when I get home but then my mind get to thinking, he would love a little brother. They could have so much fun during the day and play but I think that would break his heart. And let’s not talk about the money factor as well! This is why I can’t go to Petsmart or any of those places on the wknd….I’m afraid I’m going to come back with a little brother for Lincoln (I’ve never had a girl and don’t like the attention stolen from me)

Dinner was shrimp sautéed in butter, lemon juice, paprika and pepper with a side of baked okra and onions with extra virgin olive oil, garlic and pepper. Guess I was wanting my breath to reek huh?

I can’t remember the last time I made shrimp b/c it’s so expensive but I caught a great deal (get it…..caught….seafood?? I crack myself up) at Reid’s since their fresh seafood and meat were also 40% off.  It was so easy to make and just a few ingredients, can’t beat that it.

I was really wanting a nap afterwards but put on my workout clothes right before cooking so I would have no excuse not to work out. Plus, I kinda ate a lot today……and not much healthy stuff either. I had an awesome sweat session though and rocked it out!

Kettlebell-20 lbs

Side Bends (20 reps, 2 sets)

Halos (13 reps, 2 sets)

Step Ups (25 reps, 2 set each leg)

Dumbbell-15 lbs

Close Grip Dumbbell Bench Press (13 reps, 2 sets)

Dumbbell Bench Press  (13 reps, 2 sets)

Dumbbell 10 lbs

Tricep Dumbbell Kickbacks  (13 reps, 3 sets)

Zottman Curls (13 reps, 2 sets)

Reverse Fly (12 reps, 2 sets)

Front Lateral Raise (13 reps, 2 sets)

Misc.

Squats (15 reps, 4 sets)

Tricep dips (12 reps, 2 sets)

I did 25 to 50 jumping jacks in between some sets and that really got my heart rate up there. I was sweating my booty off and so happy I wasn’t going to be seeing anyone soon. I so need a Bondi Band b/c my bandana is just not cutting it…..as cute as it is. It’s black and grey with dog bones and “Woof” on it. I originally bought it for Lincoln but I think it may be bigger than him!

Not too shabby at all.  Some people go out on Friday nights—I cook, workout and hang with my dog. Oh the exciting life of a simple girl!

Green monster part deux was next, I used Vita Coco Coconut Water since it’s been sitting in my fridge for months. I have no clue why I never opened it up. Love coconut. Love beverages. Am a risk taker. Still can’t figure it out but it turned out to be a nice addition and full of flavor! Also made with baby spinach, Chobani 2% Plain Greek Yogurt and a banana

Other than that, I think it’s going to be a pretty boring weekend. I am trying to save as much as possible for my big trip next week  and am dog sitting until Thursday so there will be two crazy pups here (and yes, there will be pictures). Pool time will definitely be fit in and I may hit up a Good Will or two. One of my co-workers with a truck agreed to go with me to Ikea on Sunday night to help with stuff. I had an SUV but did the whole Cash for Clunkers thing last summer and got a smaller, more gas efficient car, which I love but not a lot of room. I saved up a bunch of money this past year for newer stuff and think I am going to pick up some rugs because new place is hard wood floors and Lincoln doesn’t really dig that. But I pay the rent so he will have to suck it up! lol Besides that, a bed frame, bed storage and a kitchen cart are on the list.

Hope everyone is having a happy and not so hot Friday!

Jammin’

I just wasn’t feeling the coffee this morning but craving something cold with this crazy, hot weather and opted for a Mango Green Monster. Look at how green it was! This was one of the best ever! I made with baby spinach, Chobani Plain Greek Yogurt, Frozen Mango’s, flax-seed and one packet of Splenda

I had a diet coke on the bus so got some caffeine in my system but this green monster? Yum.

We had a Just Fresh open today and they were offering free coffee for a month to the first 100 customers. I completely forgot about this but one of my coworkers who doesn’t drink coffee went and got a breakfast pastry and had the coupon. He asked if I wanted it and I responded with “Is the pope Catholic?” Free coffee for a month?!? That’s like a dream come true! I fear that I will become like Kramer on Seinfeld when he gets free coffee for a lifetime and starts getting all jittery, has the shakes, etc.

Beautiful. I will be there every day instead of Starbucks now. I have no loyalty whatsoever when it comes to free stuff.

My coffee buddy came in late and I told him about the free coffee deal but by at that point they stopped giving out the free cards. I lent him mine to go get some free coffee since I am nice like that. He came back to my desk sans card. I asked him where it was and he just shrugged his shoulders. I had a knife at my desk for cutting my fruit (I’m all about the love) and pulled it out and was like “I don’t mess around when it comes to free or coffee, give it up!” and then I continued to recite lines from the Princess Bride such as “My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!” accent and all and he looked at me like I was from outer space.

“Hello? Princess Bride?” and again, he shrugged his shoulders and said “Never seen it” What? How has someone never seen that movie? It’s a cult classic and personally, I’ve probably seen it over 50 times since I used to love it so as a kid. He then told me he has never see Forrest Gump, Star Wars, Shawshank Redemption, etc. I haven’t seen the latter two of the three so I can relate there.

For breakfast, I kept it simple: Half of a sweet potato and egg whites with a packet of ketchup

For lunch, I had leftover Chicken Fried Rice.

A fresh, sliced peach. I love how it looks all psychedelic with the swirls.

I walked to Reid’s in the afternoon despite it being 93 degrees out. When I am out for a good deal, nothing stands in my way. I am all about the saying “Neither rain, nor sleet nor snow….will keep me from a sale!” I ended up getting goodies there, they are closing this Saturday and the entire store is still 40% off. All of this for $15!

Goya Recaito Cilantro Sauce—I cannot wait to cook with this!

Grandma Gibble’s Old Fashioned Homestyle Popcorn

A variety of Hearth Strings Foods granola bars—Blueberry Muffin, Gingersnap Cookie, Cherry Vanilla

Baby spinach and bananas

A Coconut Crème cupcake

I wanted to dive right into this beauty of yummy, sugary goodness but was good and only had half 🙂

After work, it was time for RiverJam @ the National Whitewater Center. During the summer, the center has a free concert series every Thursday and Saturday night. It’s a beautiful venue with great live music, dog friendly and beautiful sights

They have the River’s Edge Bar and Grill and we got a table right in the sun, which was killer, but thankfully had an umbrella-ella-ella so that helped a bit. But when it is 7P on a summer night in North Carolina, it doesn’t help that much! We kept fanning ourselves off and waiting for the sun to go down. There was a funk band playing but we were there for a little over two hours but they may have played four or five songs. It seemed like they were taking a break more than they were playing.

Blue Moon made a much-needed appearance (not only because I had a rough day at work but because it’s summertime!)

Appetizer of fried pickles with ranch dipping sauce

It did not disappoint, as fried pickles usually don’t. I never tried fried pickles until I moved to NC and wish I would have never tried them because they are slices of heaven

I had the Apple Walnut Chicken Salad –Marinated grilled chicken atop spring mix with apples, crumbled bleu cheese and candied walnuts with Balsamic Vinegarette

Fantastic salad! It was very refreshing and the candied walnuts added a nice sweet touch to contrast the apples. And I am all for any kind of crumbled cheese! I was looking at the hummus plate but needed something cool and refreshing and this hit the spot!

Seriously, why has Lincoln been glaring at me lately? Dislike.

I’m curious now—what’s a popular movie that everyone has seen but you haven’t?

 I’ll be announcing the winner of my giveaway in tomorrow’s post, you still got a few more hours to enter if you haven’t!

The Longest Day and a Giveaway!

Happy Longest Day of the Year! I got schooled on the summer solstice today, click here for some fun information and facts! My fondest memory of this day was back in college. It’s one of my best friends birthdays today and we went out for her 21st birthday. Your truly got completely wrecked and she ended up being DD on her own birthday while I decided to get rid of the liquor consumed that night via mouth with the window rolled down on the way home. She drove to the gas station right after that and was hosing off the car……at 2A….on her birthday (not my greatest moment in friend history) and whole doing so I was laughing, pointing at different “spots” she missed and letting her know so. She’s forgiven me but doesn’t let me forget about this night.

And did you know this Friday is Take Your Dog To Work Day? I think if people are allowed to take their kids to work, dog owners like me should be able to their dogs to work on this day. I am sure my company wouldn’t be too keen on the idea but Lincoln would absolutely love it. I could even put up one of those baby gates at my desk and let Lincoln ply in my space. If not, he is very lovable, he would probably go up to people in their cubes and sit in their laps. He would spread joy to everyone!

Speaking of……one of my co-workers came in today with his baby. Edit….his sick baby. I was petting the baby (b/c I don’t know how to interact with them so I pet them like a dog) and he was like “Yeah, I brought him in because he’s running a fever”. Naturally, I jumped back and reached for the sanitizer but doesn’t anyone see something  wrong with this picture? He was only there for an hour but bringing your sick baby into work? Not cool at all. When I get sick, I get really sick. I surpass over a cold, I get bronchitis or a sinus infection and I don’t get a stomach bug, I get a full on flu. Plus with me going to NYC next wk (I can’t believe it’s almost here!!!), the last thing I need is getting sick. So here’s to sanitizing my hands every hour and filling up on my vitamins. On a happier note, I rocked my cute dress I bought a few months ago. This was my first time wearing it and it was so comfy. I think I looked pretty cute as well, everyone kept asking me if I had an interview and what the special occasion was though. But I looked like a lady….oh how looks can be deceiving.

I’m going to pair up with my red heels next time I wear it. I hate being on a limited closet right now with all my stuff, packed and ready to go!

Blueberry was yet again the theme for my breakfast—I had Chobani Blueberry Greek Yogurt with Kashi Go Lean Crunch and a grande Pike from Starbucks.

I had a big salad for lunch with baby spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions and turkey topped with T Marzetti’s Light Ancho Chipotle Ranch with half a packet of Sea Salt Somersaults

Did anyone watch True Blood last night? I have been catching mine online since my cable company finally caught onto the fact I was getting the HBO for free and desperately miss True Blood and Entourage. I am hoping to watch it tonight or sometime this week so I can catch up on its juiciness! I read five of the Charlaine Harris books (which the series is based on of and I highly recommend and was always Team Bill but after seeing the show I’ve converted—Team Eric all the way. Rawr.

For dinner, I made Chicken Fried Rice.

I am not a fan of frozen veggies at all but I am trying to clean out my freezer and used half a bag of stir fry vegetables

 

In lieu of me moving, I have a lot to pack up and get rid of at the same time. What does this mean for those reading? A giveaway!

I’m giving away some random stuff but it’s all fun and I am sure someone will enjoy it  🙂

Package O’ Love includes:

*Brothers All Natural Fruit Crisp Variety Box

*Chocolate Cheerios Single Serving Box

*Giuseppe’s Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake Mix

*Peach Crystal Light (almost full box, I wasn’t a huge fan of the flavor but know a lot of other people like it)

*Kashi Chewy Cookies N Cream Bar

*Coke Zero Pedometer

*Raw Revolution Cashew and Agave Nectar Bar

*Blue Diamond Almonds 100 Calorie Pack

*Two Packs Justin’s Honey Peanut Butter Squeeze Packs

Multiple ways to win:

1) Leave a Comment telling me your favorite book

2) Favorite new song

2) Link this contest back to your blog and let me know

Contest runs up until midnight EST on Thursday and I will announce a randomly selected winner  (via random.org) on Friday (Residents of US and Canada please) good luck all!

Just Say No To Evening Coffee

Happy Friday all……well Happy Saturday if we want to get technical. But since I haven’t really gone to bed for the night, it’s still Friday in my world. I took a three-hour nap (yeah, hi) after dinner tonight and then had the genius idea to brew some coffee at 10P so I am going to be up for a while. I have been so tired lately that I thought it wouldn’t affect me so much but I can’t stop tapping my fingers, getting up to pick up little pieces of lint I spot on the floor and am so wired, feel like I am going to see this creepy baby any minute now.

And maybe from watching Trainspotting  too many times in my high school days, stems my whole no babies school of thought for me. Hmmmmm, not the right time to think that deeply though. Anyways, I will not be doing nighttime java again any time soon. And yes, I could buy decaf though but I just don’t believe in the D word.

I did have a yummy iced Mocha with Non Fat Milk (but extra whip it looks like) from McDonalds this morning. We have one near work and I really never go to it but I had a BOGO coupon so met up with a former co-worker of mine and got two to go.

It was delicious but a total dessert drink. I was annoying girl sitting in a quiet office slurping it down to the last drop. No one talks or anything and the only noise you really hear is either the phones or my Pandora (which today my cube totally sounded like a gay men’s nightclub going on as my co-worker eloquently pointed out) so why not bring some noise to the table?

I had Peach Chobani Greek Yogurt with blueberries, unsweetened coconut and Kashi Crunch for breakfast after that and was in a sweet, lactose heaven.

Lunch was eel sushi and spring rolls that I picked up at Reid’s yesterday. Did you all know today (well yesterday-June 18th) was International Sushi Day? I needed to celebrate it!

The spring rolls were absolutely terrific. Very fresh, crisp veggies inside and I loved the dipping sauce. The eel sushi, not so much. The rice was hard, didn’t taste too fresh and the eel didn’t have the normal eel taste nor the sauce.

I had a Suzy’s Skinny Cakes Carrot Cake Muffin afterwards (another buy from Reid’s–$.79!)

It was tasty but a bit moist for me. And I do not like too moist of muffins! On another note, if I ever open up a brothel, Moist Muffins will be the name. It’s a cute name and right to the point right? Right.  The muffin was tasty however Suzy needs to work on her packaging a little, since all the frosting came off when I took it out of the envelope

It was a slow afternoon so the new girl on our team walked over to Reid’s yet again to stock up. I am officially cutting myself off from hereon out since I think I am good on food for now and the entire month of July. I am really loving this whole taking a lunch break, taking breaks, having a co-worker who talks thing going on, it’s fabulous.

 The goods:

For dinner, I combined two of my favorite loves—–nachos and pizza. I saw this recipe for Nacho Pizza on Morgan’s site and have been meaning to try it.

I baked the crust for a few minutes to get it crispy then spread refried beans on the dough as the base.

Then topped with leftover grilled chicken, red peppers, onions, tomatoes and cheese

 Had some beer while that was cooking

Baked at 375 for 15 minutes b/c I like it crispy and soon enough it was done!

I had a little ramekin of Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch for dipping purposes and this was an excellent recipe! I would have never thought to put refried beans as the base and always have leftover refried beans once I pop open the can so now I have something to do with it. Thanks Morgan for posting this recipe!

So, it’s now 1A. I need to find something to do. I packed some boxes tonight for the move, cleaned already and nothing’s on tv. It would really help if stuff stayed open later here b/c I could totally go out right now!

PS–Click here to win a super cute t shirt 🙂

Random Thought Tuesday

This morning started off right with a green monster with vanilla protein powder, milk, cold coffee, 2 splendas and a dash of cinnamon and a bowl of Chobani Peach Greek Yogurt with mixed berries and Kashi Crunch

For lunch i had Sun Dried Tomato and Feta Meatloaf and a side salad with baby spinach, mushrooms,zucchini, avocado with Light Three Cheese Ranch

I got some food from my hippies—all of this for only $6! The red peppers were only $.89 each, at the supermarket they range from $1.49 to $1.99–each, not even per pound. Absolutely ridiculous.

Speaking of absolutely ridiculous, my volume is out of control this week at work. I am closing over 100+ trades a day, other people 20 to 30. Yesterday, I closed more than my entire team combined–that’s the work of four people that I am doing and then some. Another girl on my team is also busy and no one is offering to help however we always help the people with lower volume. We were chatting on IM and we are going to put down a list of concerns and go to our new manager. This is absolutely unfair that we have all this work to do, never take a break or lunch but the people on my team who have no work to do, do nothing all day.

For dinner, I made one serving of Annie’s Shells & White Cheddar since I have milk on hand. I always have half and half and almond milk but never the real stuff so when I do, I try to use it as much as possible so I don’t have to waste it. My green monsters have been tasting so yummy lately due to this.

I snacked on some turkey pepperoni while that was cooking

And guess who magically showed up?

I don’t know why but I took a picture of my fridge. I really need to clean this bad boy out soon before I move.

 How’s your look-fuller, emptier, more organized?

I served the shells and cheese with a Chick Fil A Chicken Sandwich (no bun) topped with their honey mustard….although I did make a mini pickle sandwich with a little piece of the bun. And it was fabulous, who knew? When I worked at Cracker Barrel in high school (three stars thank you very much) I would make sour dough, mustard and onion sandwiches b/c it was free and surprisingly good. What was I sayin? Oh, I served with a the chicken and cooked zucchini, mushrooms and onions in extra virgin olive oil, garlic and oregano

I threw some crushed red pepper flakes into the shells for a little umph!

Ok so I suck at math (pretty ironic since I work with numbers all day and rock at my job) and really didn’t calculate how much milk I should’ve used to mix with the cheese when making a single portion so the sauce was runny but still flavorful. I like thicker, creamier sauces (hence, the cellulite on my ass) so it wasn’t superb but think it would have turned out better if I made the entire package at once.

And what do you know, a little poodle-chihuahua was watching me like a hawk while I was trying to enjoy a nice dinner after I worked a long, hard day so I can pay the bills and provide a nice place for him to rest every day.

Random Thoughts

*There’s a dude who rides my bus who looks like Cooper from Centerstage!

* I wish breakfast sushi existed. I would be all over it and they could so so much—salmon, eggs, green onions, avocado, cucumbers—bacon!!! The possibilities are endless and I want to make it happen….like now.

*Speaking of bacon, I really want to try Bacon Vodka

*Speaking of vodka, I really want a sake bomb. I was talking with a co-worker today about sake (then proceeded to say Sake It To Me for an hour afterwards) and she didn’t know what a sake bomb was, which made me sad. But then again, she has two kids so I guess her main focus is her family and other boring stuff like that 🙂

*Speaking of sake, I really want sushi. And now y’all have an inside look into my thought process, I can keep going on and on like the Energizer Bunny, but I digress

* I just overheard a preview for the Cameron Diaz/Tom Cruise movie “Knight and Day” I kinda want to see this movie despite Tom being a total whack job. Anywho, they just said on the preview “Nothing brings strangers together like….” I completed the phrase with “Bacon Vodka” I think they should use it. That or “Pork The One Your With”

*My new tactic for keeping people away from me on the bus is to drink my green monster on the bus. People look at my in disgust while I am happily enjoying it on the ride in and no one wants to sit near me, I love it. I like to think of public transportation as my own personal limo service since I am paying taxes for it and all.

*Sometimes when I’m on the bus, I think about what would happen if we all were stranded on a desert island like Lost. I know it’s a bus and know clue how we would wind up on an island but I have a good idea who the Jack and Hurley roles go to. Still waiting for a Sawyer. And I don’t even know who I would be but I picture Jack ( I believe he’s really a financial analyst) saying “We got to live together….or die alone.

 Ummm, think that’s it for now. 3 weeks until I move—woo hoo!

Inspire, Perspire?

 Yesterday was a day of meh eats.  Nothing really screamed at me and I just was not feeling my meals. I shall do pictures only because meh is the only word to describe.

Ok so I shall speak about dinner because it was BFD—always a bomb ass meal in my book. I made egg white and egg scramble with cooked mushrooms and onions topped with avocado and ketchup with a side of spray buttered bread

Today started off better at least. I made a green monster that was actually green instead of brown with almond milk, 1 handful baby spinach and Spiru-Tein Strawberry Protein Powder—yum!

I felt inspired to eat something pineapple after reading Mo’s post about pineapples last night. I bought a Pineapple Chobani Greek Yogurt the other week but have been nervous to try it out. For breakfast today I mixed the pineapple greek yogurt with Kashi Crunch!, mixed berries and unsweetened coconut.

My thought on this?

Absolutely disgusting. It was too artificially sweet for me and just did not taste good. Sigh, I hate when I have bad Chobani experiences. I love the Chobani so much but when I try a flavor I don’t like (the only other one I didn’t like was the Chobani Champions Chocolate) it’s just a huge let down. Don’t worry Chobani, I won’t quit you. On another note, don’t judge by my desk, I work better in an organized chaos kind of atmosphere.

We had a temp on our team start today and she sat with me all day. She has a background in finance and is talkative so that was a nice change for me. I pretty much showed her our entire job function and what we do throughout the day and it was enjoyable. I love training people and showing them our process, how our line of business works, etc. For lunch, I had chicken stir fry with snap peas, mushrooms and zucchini

Dinner starred a new ingredient: Eggplant. The hippies have gorgeous eggplants and I always pass them by but never buy them. I decided to take a chance and buy one and make a grilled eggplant sandwich. I sliced the eggplant and grilled with extra virgin olive oil, paprika, garlic and pepper.

 While dinner was cooking, I had an appetizer of Trader Joe’s Tomato & Basil Hummus with sliced cucumbers

Verdict? I was not impressed. The flavor didn’t pop at all and I didn’t taste a hint of basil at all. Thumbs down, TJ, thumbs down. Two of my favorite things letting me down in one day is just no bueno in my world.

I had the eggplant on a kaiser roll with tomato slices and baby spinach with a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar and parmesan cheese along with roasted red potatoes

And some Patriotic Pretzels for dessert…..God Bless America

I’ve been a lazy ass as of late. I will admit that right now. I come home from work, do nothing but cook and hang out then suffer from insomnia some nights. This doesn’t make me a happy camper and definitely does not leave me wanting to work out. After I had dinner, I was sitting on the couch watching Family Guy and catching up on some blogs. I was contemplating working out and again, made the excuse that I will just do it tomorrow (as I did yesterday, the night before that and so on) and then I read this post on Kelly’s blog. That post and what she said motivated me to get off my butt and do some strength training.

Workout:

Kettlebell 20 lbs

*Halos (2 sets, 12 reps)

*Shrugs (2 sets,14reps, each side)

*Swings (3 sets, 13 reps)

*Squats (1 set, 14 reps)

*Upright Deltoid Row (1 set, 13 reps)

*Straight Leg Deadlift (2 sets, 13 reps)

*Bentover Row (2 sets, 13 reps)

*Side Bends (2 sets, 15 reps, each side)

Dumbbell

*Concentration Curls (15 lbs. 1 sets, 13 reps each side)

*Tricep Kickback (10 lbs 1 set, 13 reps each side)

*Shoulder Press (15 lbs. 2 sets, 13 reps each side)

*Bench Press (10 lbs. 2 sets, 13 reps each side)

It was only a 25 minute workout but I was happy I did something and had a nice calorie burn and average heart rate of 148 and max of 182

Thanks Kelly for giving me some inspirational words pushing me to work out today. I am all about the tough love!

I had an apple post workout

Right when I was about to chomp away, I saw little Lincoln curled up on the ottoman

I hate how depressed he looks at times then to make it even worse, he will pick his head up, look at me then drop his head down with a big sigh. Yeah, we went for a nice 20 minute walk after that to lift his spirits. And wtf is up with dog owners with little dogs that are Lincolns size not wanting to be social? Lincoln will pull me over there (he is eight lbs and I am not a skinny girl) and then the owners will pull their dogs away from Lincoln and wont let them play. He just wants to sniff some butt, throw my dog a bone!

PS–Click here to enter April’s giveaway-you got til the 14th!