Oh yeah, this past week

I got all wrapped up in my posts about my birthday trip, Chobani giveaway and Frugal Friday, I really haven’t mentioned what’s been going on this week.

Sadly, not alot’s been going on. Just getting back into the swing of things at work, eating, going out and relaxing with my pup.

I did get to take a picture of something very random, that I am sure Amy will appreciate

I saw a picture of a computer chair in a parking garage that Amy snapped in her post on Wednesday. I commented saying how it reminds me of the extra chair in the handicap stall of our bathroom at work. Why an extra chair in there? No one knows why it’s there and I find it a bit odd. I like to think that some high-powered VP put it in there and makes her assistant sit in there with her while she does her business and spats out things that need to be done ASAP to her assistant. I drink a lot of water hence I run to the bathroom a number of times during the day but never heard anyone talking from that stall. Regardless, I want to get to the bottom of this because it makes me scratch my head each day.

Just ate some quick meals

I did a little bit of cooking since I had no frozen meals or anything on hand. I can do a frozen meal here and there but not every day. I made whole wheat spaghetti with a ground pork, spinach and onion sauce.

I browned the ground pork then carried over to a different pan where the spinach and onion were cooking with garlic, red pepper flakes and  extra virgin olive oil

Added the sauce to the mix to warm it up

And voila–dinner is served–topped with grated parmesan of course. Everything is better with grated parm!

I received some Christmas goodies from business partners I used to work with on Wednesday. I thought it was an adapter I needed for my second monitor but it turned out to be a huge basket full of chocolate. I automatically put a majority of the contents of the basket in the middle of the room for all to enjoy but had to take the non pareils and Coffee Go!

I went to Dolce Vita Winebar on Thursday night. They have sushi on Thursdays and Saturdays and it’s some of the best I’ve had in town. However, I don’t think a lot of people know about it which is totally fine with me–less time I have to wait for my fishy fish! I ran into Jessie after parking my car as her and her husband were just leaving from there and said the Avant Garde roll with spicy tuna was excellent (they put regular tuna on the roll) so I went in with an idea of what to order. I tried the Hawaiian Tropic roll last time I went but am always looking to try something new. Seeing it was Friday Eve and all, wine was definitely in order. I have two glasses of their Merlot. Umm, I seriously just typed it out as Merlow. Wow.

Hit. The. Spot. The thing I like about Dolce Vita is even though they are a wine bar, the selection isn’t overwhelming. They tend to carry one brand or each wine which is perfectly alright with me since I tend to spend a long time deciding on one thing.

I went with Jessie’s suggestion and ordered the Avant Garde Roll with spicy tuna on top along with a Salmon Avocado Roll.

Both were absolutely delicious and very fresh. You could tell it was good because pre-sushi the conversation was flowing and our table chatting up a storm. The food came and we all went silent except for a few “Oh my Gods” thrown in there.

On Friday, I met up with one of my old co-workers for lunch since I have a BOGO coupon for Qdoba.

I am trying to be more aware of what I take in as of late since the last few months have done nothing for my physique. I don’t even want to talk about how much weight I’ve gained but point is….I’m not happy about it. Looking at recent pictures of myself brings me down a lot and I am starting to see the girl I don’t like.  So, no more nachos, beer and other bad stuff that I’ve been indulging in lately and I am going to start tracking my food again on Livestrong.com so I can get a better picture of what my intake is each day. When I did this, I lost weight. I stopped because I thought I could handle it but my gut (literally my gut, not a gut feeling) says otherwise.

I ordered a taco salad with grilled chicken, black beans and guacamole. So I know I just said I am going to be more aware but I laid off the sour cream and cheese and avocados have the good fats right??

With another week under my belt, I was excited to do absolutely nothing on Friday night but relax with Linky. But I has a super surprise waiting for me at my door–my secret santa gift from Tina’s Blogger Gift Exchange!!

My secret santa was Anna from Active Fingers! I was excited to see this b/c I’ve never read her blog before and love finding new ones!

I wanted to rip  through everything to see what kind of goodies I got but I read her notecard of course where she told me what everything was and get this—all home made—love it!!

The first item was a gorgeous green scarf that she crocheted herself. I love love love scarves and green is one of my favorite colors (if you can’t tell by the shirt I am wearing or the background of this blog)

I’m not afraid to admit it ….I’ve worn it since last night with the exception of showering. It is that comfortable.

Then I saw a jar of homemade salsa—maybe she saw I make Mexican all the time? I am so happy to have some new salsa with me and love that it is fresh.

Next item was chocolate granola. I imagine this being gone very soon!

Then I saw some gifts for my little man! This makes me happy because he is the apple of my eye.

He scarfed that bad boy down in less than two minutes.

He also got a tiny ball to play with that jingles. Yay for distractions!

We love our gifts—thank you sooooo much Anna for putting together such a kind, home-made gift basket for us!

The rest of Friday night was pretty blah. I have some funky sinus thing going on right now so one side of my nose is stuffed while the other is runny along with a scratchy throat and watery eyes. It’s hot. I turned to instant gratification for dinner and went with an easy meal of soup and crescent rolls.

Such a fabulous combination and took no time to make. Yay for easy meals!

After that I watched some tv and then got motivated around 9P to clean out closet with stuff that I am donating to Good Will or Salvation Army.  I donated alot this summer when I moved but apparently, I have more crap that I don’t use. I wound up with this beauty of a pile:

Along with a vacuum and a shoe rack that aren’t pictured. Now to itemize everything and pack it up, ugh!

Do you make donations to thrift stores? If so, do you write it off on your taxes or don’t bother?

And remember, Monday night is the deadline for my Chobani giveaway–if you haven’t entered–what are you waiting for?? Unless you’re lactose intolerant of course or don’t like yogurt.

Access denied on the egg white bagel thin panini

Oh Wednesday. It felt like Thursday to me since I planned on having Friday off because one of my friends from college was coming into town. But then I found out my friend won’t be able to make it here this weekend so I am contemplating taking Friday off or saving the day off for another day. Decisions, decisions……

Glad to see you all like the diner I went to the other night! I had so much fun and looking forward to my next visit. I won’t lie, I’m looking forward to the food more than the ambiance but oh well, the food is the appeal of a diner right? Give me bacon wrapped hot dogs and peanut butter french toast any day!

Tuesday night, I made Lo Mein Noodles with chicken, broccoli, bamboo shoots and water chesnuts. I’m trying to go this week without buying groceries and used all of this from stuff that’s been either sitting in my cupboard or freezer for a while. While shroomies and onions would have made this even better, it was a great meal. I packed a separate portion for lunch later this week and can’t wait for my co-workers to have food envy. They always ohh and ahh all over my food since I have a home cooked meal while most of them nosh on sandwiches or measly looking salads. And knowing they want my food makes me happy 🙂

After that settled in my tummy, I knocked out a 30 minute kettlebell session

Kettlebell-20 lbs

Side Bends (20 reps, 2 sets)

Halos (13 reps, 3 sets)

Shrugs (13 reps, 3 sets)

Lateral Bench Press (13 reps, 3 sets)

Swings (13 reps, 3 sets)

Squats (13 reps, 3 sets)

Upright Deltoid Rows (13 reps, 2 sets)

Straight Leg Deadlifts (20 reps, 2 sets)

One Legged Deadlifts (10 reps, 2 sets)

I did sets of  jumping jacks, crunches and leg lifts in between sets. I’ve never done one-legged deadlifts before and boy, I am aching today! They really worked my hamstrings good and I can definitely feel it today. I will definitely be adding more of these to my kettlebell routine.

This morning, I walked over to Einstein’s to get breakfast since I got some coupons in the mail yesterday. One of the coupons was for a $1.99 Eggwhite Bagel Thin Panini and I was stoked to try it. The wait was long, the cashier unfriendly and then I had to wait some more for my food. So I waited….and waited….and waited some more. About 10 minutes later, they finally called my name and I skipped back to my office since I was a little late for a call. I got to my desk and opened up my bag and saw this

Ummm, that does not look like an eggwhite bagel thin panini. That looks like some apple bagel of sorts and if they messed up my order, couldn’t they have had the courtesy to at least give me some schmear?

My cashier, Orio, can go suck it. I know I should have looked at my bag before I left but then again, they should have gotten my order right. I think the thing I am most pissed off about is that I no longer have the $1.99 coupon to use. I wrote Einstein’s today to see if I could get it back, let’s cross our fingers because I don’t think it’s gonna happen.

I met up with one of my girlfriends for lunch and we went to Picasso’s Uptown. Our server mentioned they had a lunch special-fried chicken sandwich topped with bacon and cheese with fries for only $6.99. Being a girl on a budget and really wanting some fried, fatty goodness, I sprung for this. Chicky topped with not only cheese but bacon also? Go big or go home bitches!

I got a bucket of the hot wing sauce on the side and it had my sweating….loves it! Speaking of sweating, has anyone ever experienced meat sweats? Some of the guys on my team were talking about it today and I’ve never heard of meat sweats (sweats that you get from eating too much meat) so I wasn’t sure if it’s just me? And another note, there are 10 people on my team and 7 of them are dudes. I’m starting to notice that the dudes talk more throughout the day, ignoring their work while  us girls are actually at our desks working. I always thought it was the opposite? I had an issue with one of the deals in my portfolio so I had to stay a little late and by the time everything was done, I was ready to go home. Basically, I have to make a call to a customer I’m not wanting to make at all and it is going to be difficult.  I am very personable and outgoing with customers but this time I have to be hard-core and no holds barred which is not me at all so this is going to be an interesting experience.Ugh.

When I got home, I remembered I put the last of my Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat pizza dough in the fridge to defrost along with a link and a half of spicy Italian sausage so pizza it was! Pizza was the perfect meal since I was mentally spent and it was cold and nasty out.

Mmmmm, I love pizza porn. I topped with oregano and parmesan cheese and it was a perfect end to the day. Feeling all warm and fuzzy from the pizza, I decided to do a good deed. For the past three years, I’ve made a donation to a non-profit organization whether it be a food bank, Salvation Army, etc. My company matches all donations and I knew that if I didn’t do it now, I would forget. I made a donation to Toys For Tots tonight and feel like I can rest a little easier knowing that my donation plus the banks donation will help a few kids get a gift for Christmas.

Does your company match charitable donations?

More importantly, after watching Modern Family tonight, does anyone else want to partake in a flash mob dance??