Waiting…..

Ok, can I just say that this is my last week of work? Time has flown since I’ve given my notice to my employer, even with me giving away my whole portfolio. I am not going to miss the work one bit but I am really going to miss my coworkers. They are the best crew as a whole that I’ve worked with in a long time and none of them smell like my old co-worker who smelled like bleu cheese and ass.

As for the weekend, well, you guessed it. It went by too fast as usual. We didn’t get to leave early on Good Friday like everyone else I know but I ended up scooting out of there at 4:15pm. I’m sorry but if I have no accounts to work, am falling asleep at my desk in between reading cooking magazines, my time can definitely be spent better elsewhere. Plus, what are they going to do-fire me? I think not. I hope not at least.

I went to the gym right after work and it was a dead zone which was a nice change of pace. Nothing irritates me more than having to wait for a machine. Edit, nothing irritates me more than others who are waiting for machines and hover around you while you work out, as if that’s going to help time pass quicker. Why don’t they just go find something else to do instead of just standing there? They are there for a workout, yes?

Regardless, I don’t even remember what I did besides the Precor AMT but I must have had a rockin workout

I wasn’t in the mood to cook afterwards so I just whipped up a quick meal of asian cole slaw.

Always does the trick.

I also came home to a package from my sister—my Vera Bradley Puccini bag she picked up for me at the Vera Bradley sale in Indiana.

The theme for Saturday’s lunch was let’s-see-how-much-produce-I-can-fit-into-one-meal. It started with Athenos Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Spread on a tortilla to make a quick wrap with red peppers, cucumbers and carrots

 

Complete with a side of apples and nectarines

Shortly after, I attended the Yelp Charlotte Elite  Cajun Invasion at Cajun Queen. I visited this restaurant only once before and was let down by it since it’s supposed to be the best Cajun restaurant in Charlotte. But feed this girl free food and drink and my vote may be swayed.

Wine was provided by Three Girls Wine

I didn’t try any but my friend said it was wonderful. I am temped to buy a bottle since I am one of three girls. However, I am always skeptical of any company or product that doesn’t have a website. It’s 2011, get with it.

The reason I didn’t try any was all because of Mother Earth Brewing.  This was my first time hearing of this beer but found out there are a North Carolina brewery in the eastern part of the state. Hooray for local brews!

The Weeping Willow Wit was my favorite-very comparable to Blue Moon. By the end of the event, I switched over to Sisters of The Moon, which is an IPA. I’ve never been a huge fan of IPA’s but starting to grow an appreciation for them as of late. Plus, the hippie names make me smile. I couldn’t remember the name of Sisters of the Moon  but kept calling it obscure names like Brothers of Jupiter or Fathers of Saturn. The beer rep seemed amused and that’s what I was aiming for. What can I say, my need to make people laugh is part of my charm.

We started with appetizers of shrimp and fried oysters.

Then they told us that the buffet line of entrée items was being served so we grabbed some more grub. I didn’t even need any more since the fried oysters and shrimp had my heart but I wanted to see if the Cajun Queen could wow me this time around.

 

Enter in jambalaya, etouffee with crawfidh, grilled chicken and peach bread pudding. All of it was absolutely delectable and I could have gone for seconds but didn’t want to seem like a complete pig.

You win Cajun Queen.

All in all, it was a fun event to attend. They open at 5pm daily so it was pretty baller to have the restaurant to ourselves and the house band that has been performing there for 24 years even came in to play for us.

Thank god, I had all that beer in my system because it helped me out with falling asleep right after. I needed the energy since it was one of my co-workers birthdays and didn’t want to bring the lame sauce by only staying out for a few hours.

Carrying on the cajun theme from that afternoon, we started at Bourdreaux’s in NoDa for hurricanes.

 

I love their hurricane menu because they are categorized by Category 1-5 Hurricanes-1 being the weakest, 5 being the most hooch filled hurricane you can get. I settled on a category 4 since I had to drive that night and wanted to enjoy the drink instead of wincing every time I took a sip.

Soon after, we headed to Solstice Tavern then to Sin City for karaoke.

Sin City was not what I thought it was going to be. When I think Sin City, I think of bright lights, a huge area and sketchy people. Well, sketchy people it did have. I’m talking more men with neck tattoos than I’ve ever seen in my life, bad hair pieces, worse karaoke singing and vampires.

Yeah, I said vampires. This guy was standing next to us and he had his vampire teeth in. As soon as I saw this, I was on a mission to relocate to another area of the already-small karaoke area.

I heart when randoms get in the background of pictures. And why do I still throw deuces? So three years ago.

Good times had by all. And I even hung until 1am or so with only having a couple of drinks. I am really going to miss these people.

And now it’s Easter afternoon. My Easter hasn’t been the greatest……I woke up early and went to the park with Lincoln where I killed two birds with one stone by listening to a church service that was going on. Then I came home to lay outside before going to a friends for lunch. All was right with the world, the sun was out, it was hot out but not so hot I sweating my balls off and I had Bitter is The New Black in hand since I can read Jen Lancaster over and over again. I made my way inside to freshen up and my door was locked. I started to panic—I never lock my back door if I am hanging out in my yard but for some reason the second lock was locked….not by my doing. I suspect by my landlord when he showed my house a few days ago. I went to the front door and it was locked and thank God I had my phone on me because I had to get in touch with my landlord stat. I called him up and he told me he was three hours away. Of course he was. He told me his wife was in town and could come by and let me in but she would be an hour or so. So I waited…..in the sun which only got hotter and the minutes were going by so slowly. Soon, she showed up and let me in but by that time I was in no mood to be social with anyone (I’m a bit moody for those who do not know me) and just wanted to cool off at home. He called me to make sure I got in and then sprung it on me that he was showing my house. Today. From 4pm to 6pm. On Easter Sunday, in case you didn’t catch that part. Who the hell shows a  house on Easter afternoon, can’t they wait one day? What if I had plans or people coming over? I charged up my computer and went to one coffee house but this random creeper kept following me around. I would get up and move because he smelled like trash and was singing “Amazing Grace” but once I found a new location, there he was. I drove home since it was around 530pm to check the status of if he was done or not and he said he had one more set of people that he was waiting on. So I sit here at Starbucks, blogging my little heart out.

Please tell me your Easter was better??! I just want to go home.

Say hola to my little friend

For as crappy as Tuesdays usually are, today wasn’t bad at all.

I had an Earnest Eats Cran Lemon Zest bar and Dannon Greek honey yogurt for breakfast.

 I was a bit reluctant to try the Earnest bar since it’s vegan and I may have a misconception about vegan products being bland or tasteless. When I took it out of the wrapped, the small of cran and yes, zest overcame me. I bit into it and was in shock—it was scrumptious! It was moist but not too moist and bland would be the last word to describe it. My main gripe was that it was a small bar so it was gone within a few bites and a higher fat content that I would have liked. 

As for the greek yogurt, honey greek yogurt is my obsession as of late. How did I never try this flavor before? So freakin yummy.

I had the final leftovers from Sunday night. Instead of adding pasta to the stir fry like yesterday, I heated the leftovers then laid upon a pile of plain cole slaw mix to make a quick, Asian salad!

I’m going to start using cole slaw mix as the base more. I will buy a bag and go through only half of it not knowing what to do with the other half and this is a perfect way to incorporate it.

I had a consultation for my tattoo removal in the afternoon so I got to leave work earl. Plus, it was another gorgeous spring day so getting out of the depressing gray cube  is always a nice thing. I talked to the doctor and it turns out I don’t need any more sessions of laser tattoo removal however they want to wait a few months before doing any procedures to remove the scarring.

So you can get an idea of how much color has been removed, here is a pic of me five years ago

And this is what it looks like today

You can barely see it anymore however there is a bit of it that has been raised from scarring and I would like to get it back to an even level. I hate to say this and will never admit it to her face but I wish I would’ve listened to my mother. Of course green is the hardest color to remove and this has cost me a good $1,000 more than getting the tattoo when I was 16. And I got my tattoo by a guy named Mr. Happy, how effin creepy is that?? I hate spending that much money because I am a frugal gal but it was a mistake I made when I was young and dumb. I felt like I couldn’t wear a lot of things I wanted to especially in the work place so getting it removed was the option that seemed best.

They were also concerned about my right arm.

I hate when I can’t get my self tanner all blended it. My left arm looks normal while the right arm looks like I have a funky skin condition going on. I assured them I was fine and it was all Hawaiian Tropics part. I was so self-conscious about it at work and whenever someone would come into my cube, I would hide my right hand.

Then dinner happened. I had no clue what I was going to make except that it was going to be chicken since I had a piece defrosting in the fridge. So I went to old faithful-stuffed chicken. Instead of making a hummus or spinach stuffed chicken like I have in the past, I put a south of the border spin on it and stuffed it with refried black beans, garlic and jalapeno spices.

I pounded the chicken (hehe) and then spread the refried beans on it along with the spices

Then I realized I was out of toothpicks, which means I will have to make a trip to Chipotle soon. I remembered that I bought some interesting toothpicks during my trip to NYC this winter.

I love ranch. Even ranch flavored toothpicks but sadly these didn’t taste too ranchlike so this was perfect to hold the chicken together.

I heated two tbsp of oil then placed the chicken in the pan to cook

I let cook while turning every two or three minutes so it could cook thoroughly, it took about 20 minutes

I turned the heat down and added salsa and cheese to the chicken and let cook for another five minutes

I had mini nachos on the side topped with jalapenos, green onions and cheese for a perfect Mexican meal done in less than 30 mins!

So, how was it? ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Yes, I realize that’s all caps but that’s how good it was. My only regret is that I didn’t make another piece of chicken for leftovers but this will definitely be another addition to the stuffed chicken collection.

I had an admirer sitting watching me while I ate.  Even Lincoln could tell it was some good grub.

Afterwards, I made myself go to the gym. I was supposed to go last night but didn’t for no reason whatsoever other than laziness. I did 35 minutes on the Precor Crossramp on the interval workout with a resistance ranging from 8 to 10

All in all a good workout, I was just happy I got off my butt and did something. I was such a sweaty mess afterwards, all I want was a hot shower and then a cold smoothie.

Blackberries, coconut milk and chia seeds

The smoothie was good but as soon as I finished it, I wanted a po boy, what’s up with that?

Do you have any tattoos or gotten any removed?
Do you make stuffed chicken?

Distracted

So a little late for a weekend recap post but better late that never right? Yet another unexciting weekend and I am fine with that. Sometimes, I just want to do nothing social and get stuff done around the house.

  I think by the end of the weekend, Lincoln was ready for me to go back to work. Maybe because I  made him partake in a photo shoot?  Since he is a part Poodle, I figured he should sport a beret to show off his heritage!

Ok, I could see how he hates me doing stuff like this but it’s just too adorable to pass up. And this is what I do when I’m bored. I really do need to pick up a hobby.

Saturday night was spent in, which worked out perfectly since it was raining cats and dogs. When it’s raining, there is no way you can get me to go out, I am completely fine with staying in.

I had a dinner of leftover pizza along with a salad and some vino

Two glasses deep, I had the grand idea to make 3 Ingredient Muffins.

I used Spice Cake instead of the Devil’s Food Cake it calls for and used 1/4 bag of chocolate chips.

I love the Spice Cake addition and will use it again!

On Sunday I got alot of errands done in the morning then went to the gym and had a killer workout! I did 35 minutes on the Crossramp, doing weight loss interval with a resistance of 7, 10 minutes rowing then did an upper body workout including:

shoulder press (15 lbs 13 reps x3 sets)

bicep curls (15 lbs 13 reps x3 sets)

side bends (25 lbs 25 reps x 2 sets)

tricep extension (15 lbs 13 reps x3 sets)

concentration curls (15 lbs 13 reps x3 sets)

I felt great after this workout! I came home and replenished with a smoothie made with almond milk, ground flax-seed, fresh strawberries, frozen strawberries and Spiru-Tein Blueberries & Cream protein powder

Holy yum, this smoothie was fantastic! I love the combination of fresh and frozen strawberries and slurped this down! Oddly enough, I didn’t even get a brain freeze so that was a bonus.

I made chicken stir fry for dinner in an attempt to use up some of my quinoa that I bought last summer. I swear, I feel like I’m never going to go through this four pound feedbag but I have definitely put a dent in it. I wanted to use the quinoa for two reasons 1) obviously to use it up 2) to add some more protein to my meal since it packs an average of 14g of protein per cup.

I cooked two chicken breasts then set aside while the veggies were cooking. In the mix-snap peas, broccoli, bean sprouts and mushrooms. I whipped up a quick marinade of soy sauce, garlic, red pepper, black pepper and ginger and poured on the veggies while cooking. When near done, I added the chicken back in to simmer with the soy sauce mixture and soon enough it was done.

I laid the veggies and the chicken mixture over the quinoa. This tasted just like take out and filled me up for the rest of the evening–success!

Also, I’m distracted as of late.

Why you ask? Here we go……

*Work

I am getting ready to give my portfolio  away at work (about 150 accounts) so I am trying to make sure everything that needs to be done is done. I went into work for three hours on Sunday to play catch up and still didn’t get everything done so I am going to try my best to get it done within the next few weeks. And I have a few people that I am supposed to screw over tomorrow and not looking forward to it.  So, if you have seen an increase of drinking on my behalf, the job is why.

However on a brighter note, only 13 days left!  Along with that, I have an internship that I am starting so that’s starting to take up some more time in my schedule. It’s unpaid but it will give me some experience and will be able to put it in my resume. So, if I don’t post as much as I normally do, that is why.

*Family

I talked to my parents on Sunday and they told me that my dad was in the hospital last week since he was feeling dizzy so they wanted to check his blood and his heart. I love how they didn’t tell me this until four days after the fact.  I didn’t catch the whole story from him but they want to run an ekg on him to check on his heart and there is a chance he may need a pacemaker. He had a heart attack three years ago so this worries me and to top that off, my parents don’t have health insurance so that is just one more thing to worry about. 

*Boy drama

An ex boyfriend of mine may be coming into town next month. He says he is going to but I have a feeling he is going to bail given his track record

*Location location location

My lease is up in July and I still have no clue where I am going to end up. Originally I thought I wanted to move north but now that spring is coming around, I’m not so sure about that. I definitely don’t want to stay in Charlotte but want to get out of the South and move somewhere reasonably priced. Unfortunately, the areas I would really love to move to on this coast cost an arm and a leg (Chicago and DC) If only I could afford to live in San Diego!

*Myself

I’m going through some personal issues with myself right now and doing a lot of self-reflection of who I am and where I am in life. Bottom line is, as much as I love myself and think I am bomb.com, I’m not 100% happy with the person I’ve become-inside and out. I have a lot to work on in that aspect. I choose not to talk about it on here because it would be Debbie Downer  and I really don’t want to get into details but that’s what’s up for me.

*Oral hygiene

Part of my molar fell out the other day, I don’t know how or more importantly, where it went?. WTF?

So that’s whats going on with me, what’s distracting you lately?

Occupying the night

Happy Friday Eve! Glad to see you all liked the post about Cecil’s stay in Charlotte. We had some great times and even though Cecil drank alot, he wasn’t hungover not one bit….strange. I’m happy to say that Cecil’s next stop will be in Boston, he is so excited for it since he is a huge history buff (ok, ok and Sad Adams fan!)

So this week has been a long one, which is weird since this weekend went by so quickly. Days have been dragging on at work and I am getting everything finalized there. They haven’t announced my last day yet but my whole work crew knows so I’m just counting down the days at this point (16 more days if you’re curious). I’ve been absolutely exhausted when I get home so my nights have consisted of:

*Quick meals

I love to cook but this entire week have just felt unmotivated to do so or have been mentally exhausted. I wanted to order in a couple of times but I stuck to my guns (and wallet) and decided to dine at home.

 Leftover enchiladas and salad

Seriously, how is Mexican food even better leftover?

-Easy, half assed chicken parmesan

I used whole wheat flour, chopped parsley, garlic and red pepper flakes, coated the chicken in it then cooked on the stovetop

I think this was the first time I didn’t have any shredded mozzarella on hand so I just topped with grated parmesan cheese. I also had cooked spaghetti sitting in the freezer so I microwaved that for about six minutes. That definitely helped me time wise since I didn’t have to wait for the water to boil, cook, drain, etc. And  there you have it-a quick, easy meal that I could also eat for lunch!

*Vino

*New restaurants

On Wednesday night, I went to the Crepe Cellar in NoDa. I’ve heard fabulous things about the Crepe Cellar from friends and reviews for both brunch and dinner. I love crepes any time of the time-whether it be sweet or savory so I was excited to finally check it out. This is a very small place with only nine tables in the entire restaurant with a small bar area so you have to be sure to get there at the right time or be prepared to wait since they don’t take reservations.

I started off with a much-needed beer-Belhaven Twisted Thistle

Ok, so everything on the menu looked good. They had po boys, french baguette pizzas, pastas and more but I couldn’t go to the Crepe Cellar without order some yummy, warm crepes so  I got the Queen City crepes-roasted chicken, bacon, cheddar topped with oven roasted tomato dressing.

Check out that lovely purple slaw!

The crepes were good but nothing out of this world. Perhaps I had my heart set on some crepes that would make me want to re-enact the deli scene from “When Harry Met Sally”  but sadly this wasn’t the case. They tasted like a hot wrap I could’ve ordered at an Applebee’s or elsewhere and was missing the magic touch.  Also, they didn’t have that much of a selection of crepes-about five or six entrees and the same number of dessert crepes. I would expect a place with the name Crepe Cellar to have more of a variety of crepes but I guess that’s not what they are going for.

*Workouts

Some lackluster….

When I went on Tuesday night, I just could not get into it. I did 30 minutes on the Precor elliptical and then just left-no cool down, strength training, nothing. I wasn’t in the mood to work out so I’m glad I got a little movement in but it was definitely a meh workout.

On the other hand, tonight was a kick ass workout!

It was a complete 180 from my workout the other night, I did 35 minutes on the Precor AMT then various upper body strength training such as chest press (40 lbs 13 reps x 3 sets), row (80 lbs 13 reps x 3 sets), lateral pull down (60 lbs 13 reps x 3 sets) and shoulder press (20 lbs 13 reps x 2 sets). When I walked out of there, I felt rejuvenated and ready to take on the world! Even if the dude on the AMT next to me smelled of sweat and sweet man juice and the other dude next to me was hacking up a lung. Hello, if you’re hacking up a lung, maybe you shouldn’t be working out? That’s why there is a thing called rest.

Speaking of fitness, for those of you who blog about fitness, have you joined FitFluential yet? FitFluential is a new company founded by Kelly Olexa and Jennifer Edwards  and it’s a wonderful way to put your blog out there while connecting  with some of the best brands around. I highly suggest you all check it out, you can sign up here ! You can also find FitFluential on Facebook and Twitter.

What’s been occupying your nights?

Crouching tweaker, hidden weirdo

So, I think I have a sign that is invisible to me but reads loud and clear to freaks to come talk to me or be near me.

Example 2,484–the gym on Tuesday night.

I got on one of the few Precor ellipticals that were open and was on my merry, ellipticaling way. I was taking it easy because my knee was still hurting quite a bit so I did a lower speed with a higher resistance. Don’t know if that’s a good system or not but it was the least pressure and pain on my knee. The elliptical next to me was soon free and enter the weirdo.

The guy who got on seemed normal. Around my age with heart rate monitor and iPod in tow. He started his workout slow and soon he was moving right along quicker than me, which was fine. But then he starting leaning towards my machine, overlooking to see how fast I was going and when he saw that, he started going quicker. Then he grabbed the elliptical handles (we were on the ellipticals with moveable arms) and started to crouch down and whooshing like he was skiing….all the meanwhile he kept peering over at my machine and how fast I was going. I don’t go to the gym to race, I go to the gym to get a workout and mind my own business. Then I looked over to see what he was doing and he was still crouching down and ellipticaling his little heart out and scratching himself profusely. His neck, his arms, his legs, you name. Tweaker, weirdo or someone with a strange medical condition? I have no clue but when my 30 minutes were up, I was happy to hop off and do some upper body strength training.

I made the purplest of purple green monsters afterwards with coconut milk, strawberries and Spirutein Blueberries N Cream protein powder

Not only was it purple and delicious, it was Lincoln approved!

Speaking of Lincoln, he had a relaxing day at the spa today and got pretty!

When I picked him up, I barely recognized him! Maybe because once again he looks like Mr. Bigglesworth?

For dinner, I enjoyed a taco salad, second one in the past two days. I love taco salad since they are so easy to make and I generally have all the ingredients on hand.

Oh, I love the irony of having Mexican food on St. Patrick’s Day. And I will probably have corned beef and has on Cinco de Mayo because I’m spicy like that. At least I read up a bit on why we celebrate St. Patrick, get I got a holla for history!

Instead of going out tonight, I went to the gym. My 21-year-old self would be looking at me like I was a nutcase for going to the gym on one of the party nights of the year but I got up early today, was tired and didn’t feel like drinking much less dealing with the cops that are going to be on the prowl tonight. And of course, I picked an elliptical with another weirdo…..one who was singing Rod Stewart….the entire time I was on mine. I cannot stand Rod Stewart. I respect his music and all but my dad used to listen to his music all the time and a girl can only handle so much Rod Stewart in a lifetime. Along with that, I had uncomfortable underwear on. I hate when I don’t switch from work underwear to comfy underwear when I go to the gym. Um, does anyone else do this or am I the only person with work underwear….besides a hooker?

All in all, it was a good workout, I was shocked to see that the gym was packed! I thought everyone would be boozing it up or getting their last Shamrock Shake of the season but I had it all wrong.

Gym freaks-how do you handle them? Can you ignore them or do they drive you crazy?

Also, I’m looking for people to guest post for a few days next week when Lincoln and I go up to Pittsburgh. If you want to guest post, please let me know, it’s a great way to get exposure for your blog 🙂

Comfort me, hold me

A few things gave me great comfort today after a horrible day at work

* Pringles coated fried chicken bit dinner

I remember seeing this recipe in the Hungry Girl cookbook and was too lazy to look the recipe (much less find where the cookbook is in my house) but it turned out fantastic. I coated them in BBQ Pringles, fried those bad boys up and paired with Steamfresh veggies for a simple dinner

The best part was the cheese sauce seeped over to the chicken–cheese covered fried chicken? Can we say bring it??

*New additions to the workout playlist

(this is my favorite Strokes song of all time-why was it not on my playlist?)

*A great workout

I did 40 minutes on the Precor elliptical doing an interval session. What didn’t comfort me? While watching Sex and The City on E! the very young girl on the machine next to me asked if I was watching Gossip Girl. I shit you not, a little piece of my heart died when she asked me that. Afterwards I did the leg press (240 lbs), hip abduction (110 lbs), hip adduction (140 lbs) and leg extensions (80 lbs)

*Beautiful green monster with kale, coconut milk and Spirutein Blueberries N Cream protein powder

*Lincoln

Seriously, how could someone NOT love this dog?

*You guys

Yeah you. Thanks for everyone on the props on yesterday’s post regarding my goals. I can’t say how much I appreciate the kind words and support. Checking my email every day and  seeing supportive and funny comments is one of the highlights of my day– you all rock!

What gave you comfort  today?