pedal to the metal

Oi. The past two days have been long with a capital L. I’m making my way back to Florida and the drive has been straight up boring. When I was young and in college, I had no issue driving the 18 hours straight home but now? No way Jose. I make stops often just to stretch and my ideal time span is six to seven hours a day.

I left DC yesterday morning. I gave myself some time to mentally wake up, have breakfast and pack the last of my car. I made one last stop at Trader Joe’s the day before since we don’t have any in Florida. I even checked their website and the closest one will be in Mt. Pleasant, SC when it opens. I love Joe but I don’t think I could do an eight hour trip for him. My sister gave me a gift card for my birthday so this was the ideal time to use it and stock up on non perishable goodies.

I’ll even miss their art

 

I said goodbye to Riley and was on my way to Charlotte

And if anyone in the DC area knows this person, I would love to meet them because I feel the same way!

No matter how I tried to mix it up with cd’s, the drive home dragged on. I got to work on my tan a little at least. This is the most comfortable way for me to drive since my knee often aches after awhile. And the truckers seem to let me pass whenever I’m sitting like this so two birds, one stone!

I stopped at Sheetz in Mebane, NC and took a picture of the gas sign to compare it to last year when I stopped there on my way up to DC

July 20, 2011:

April 8, 2010

Makes me sick.

I got to my friends house and took it easy the rest of the night. And by taking it easy I mean an hour and half trip to Target. I am looking for the dress I wore this weekend but in blue and have now been to three Target’s and can’t find it. I can find it in grey but it’s not flattering at all. I am going to try one or two more Targets then go online and try to find it there. And can someone please tell me why there is this sign in the baby section?

Don’t worry, baby fever is the last kind of fever I will ever have. The reason I was in that section was because my friend who I stayed with is ready to pop any day. Matilda wanted to see how pregnant she was and possibly whisper the baby out of her

She climbed up on her belly and whispered a few nursery rhymes but no luck. I was kinda hoping she would into labor that night and I would deliver the baby. Then it would be turned into a Lifetime movie and Tori Spelling could gain a bunch of weight, get her boobs even and dye her hair brunette to play me in a movie about sorority sisters who deliver each others babies. Homegirl is still preggers, oh well, will just have to keep the faith I will deliver a baby one day.

The drive to FL started off on the wrong foot today. I decided to go back to my lets hit the snooze button again game so I didn’t get on the road until 9am. Once I got through Columbia, SC there was an accident on I 26. I waited there for about 30 minutes having to pee and in desperate need of gas.  Soon enough we were on our way again and I stopped got gas, went to the bathroom and stocked up on some refreshments. I went back to my old college liquid diet of Mountain Dew and coffee for extra energy for the 11 hour drive. Good thing I went to the bathroom because once I merged on to I 95 traffic was at a dead stop.

 

That was at 1145am and at 2pm I was still there.

I was getting restless, Matilda was getting restless and I am so happy my car is in working condition. I got outside and was chatting with the car next to me and their A/C went out and they were traveling with two dogs and a kid. I am bad enough on my own in the A/C so I can’t imagine not having A/C and traveling with child and dog would be like.

By the time I got to the southern part of Georgia, it was around 5pm…..eight hours after I left. It normally takes me four hours to get there but the trip was doubled due to the traffic. I could have powered on, been delirious and drove all the way home but I knew that wouldn’t be safe and didn’t want something bad to happen. I stopped at Starbucks and figured out my next steps and decided to get a hotel room for the night.And this Microtel I’m staying at is total sketch. My parents recommended this place to me and there are some weird, skeevy men in the parking lot. I unloaded everything that was in plain view of my car so that took some time up all in hopes my car won’t get broke into in,

Backtrack, I have bad luck with moving. I often lose or damage things and when I made the cross country drive from Phoenix to Charlotte five years ago, something bad really happened. I was driving through Amarillo and it was a torrential downpour. I’m from FL and used to rain but I had never seen rain like this before in my life. I couldn’t see in front of me and had been driving for 12 hours already so I pulled over to the first hotel I could find off the highway. It looked a little run down however I was only going to shower, nap for two or three hours then get back on the road. So I did and when I went out to my car in the morning, the back windows were bashed in completely. There was some stuff left in my car however they stole my underwear, computer,toiletries, contacts, photos and other random stuff. I was in complete shock that this happened in a three hour timespan and was scared to drive on to Charlotte. The funny thing is is that I had three or four Coach purses sitting in the back of my car which were probably worth more than most of the stuff they stole. It still pisses me off to this day and it’s one of the sole reasons I hate Texas (well, that and GW) So now I am completely paranoid anytime there is stuff in my car and I’m staying in foreign to me area, especially when there are undesirable looking people around.

And back to today. So this skeevy hotel room is full of my stuff now and I am hoping to get a good nights sleep, shower and get home tomorrow afternoon. Seeing that I’m back in Florida, I had to stop at Publix (AKA one of the best grocery stores ever) and pick up a quick dinner of buffalo chicken tenders and cole slaw

And I got the Real Housewives with me

Let’s hope this bed doesn’t have bedbugs

What are your tips for staying safe while traveling solo?

Has anyone seen this commercial for Summer’s Eve? I keep cracking up every single time I see.

 

What I’m Loving

After seeing “What I’m Loving” posts on Soak and Simmer and Big City Baby Carrots, I started to think about what loving this week….

*Color coordinated meals

I took this hummus (which I thought would be spicier,  it was very bland for chipotle pepper but I guess I should have noticed the mild part on the lid?) and mixed with chopped onions and crock pot chicken from Saturday to make a different kind of chicken salad and had sweet potato fries on the side

I loved this protein pack wrap! 

*New Trader Joe’s finds

I added half a can of tuna to it to give it a little protein umph

This was a huge portion and quite tasty for a frozen meal, I will definitely be buying this again!

I’ve never tried lentils before but read about them all on the time on Ashleigh’s Slice of Life so I was intrigued when I saw this. Add to the fact that I’m trying to add more ethnic cuisine to my line up, I had to try this.

Ok, so it kinda looks like poo but besides that it was very good. I was expecting more flavor but it reminded me of a vegetarian chili. I wish I would’ve had some naan to dip into it with!

*Old school jams

 Thanks Melissa for bringing this song up!

*$1 Taco Tuesdays!

I got to indulge in this yummy goodness from Qdoba for $3.24 plus I got to see my burnout cutie. I think my co-workers could tell I was checking him out while we were in line. I was just staring at him and licking my lips all LL Cool J style but then again, maybe they just thought I was really hungry?

Speaking of LL, he is someone I would buy a workout DVD from—I mean, cmon, DAYUM!

*Random searches they bring people to my blog

• has anyone bought ocean ritz resort unit 401 off craigslist
• fun clothes for the rocker chique girl on a budget
• “tuna the wonderfish” commercial actress

Sorry I couldn’t help any of you there!

*That I don’t read Us Weekly religiously anymore

Ali whateverherfaceis from the Bachelor is one of the Top Transformations by losing 10 lbs. Really?

*Mint.com

As you all know, I am forever on a quest to save money and Mint.com is the perfect tool to do so plus keep my money and budgets in check!  It is similar to Quicken from what I hear and you can import your checking and savings accounts along with credit cards, student loans, car loans, investment accounts, 401K’s etc. You can create budgets for different things such as food, entertainment, healthcare, transportation and they will email you reminders of when your bills are do. I just discovered it this weekend and want to curl up with Mint.com at night because I love it so. Plus it’s free, how could you not dig that?

What are you loving this week?

Gilmores and Kale

Ok, so I don’t know how this day has gone by. I feel like I just woke up and felt like I did alot of stuff but really didn’t do too much. I was thinking about going into work for a few hours to get stuff done without interruption but yeah, that didn’t happen. I slept on the couch last night, falling asleep to Gilmore Girls. I’m really digging sleeping on the couch after this past weekend–I don’t wake up at all around 3A like I do when I sleep in my bed and feel like I’m getting better sleep. On the flip side, I have a mean kink in my neck from sleeping on the throw pillows. Nice little catch 22 I have going on.

And I’m currently addicted to Gilmore Girls-I’m a little bit behind if you can’t see. So many questions….

*Is Sookie’s boyfriend Jackson gay and she later finds out? He is very dramatic yet passionate about his fruit (which I find endearing) just a little confused on that. *

* So Tristan (Chad Michael Murray) left–when he leaves,  is One Tree Hill a spin-off from his character on Gilmore Girls or is that someone else completely?

*When will Rory get bangs?  She has a very big forehead that’s driving me nuts

*Why doesn’t my town have a troubadour?

*What is up this brat Paris’ butt?

*Do Lorelei and Luke ever get together?

*And how the hell do those Gilmores talk so damn fast?

Since I had nothing on my agenda for today, I started the day off with a big breakfast-one egg, egg whites, Trader Joe’s Uncured Turkey Bacon and an english muffin.

I was excited to buy their turkey bacon since Trader Joe’s almost always satisfied me but it sucked. Taking it out of its packaging, none of the pieces were staying together as one and they were stringy. It was still edible but not whole so I could still eat it broken down and all. And typing this out, I am realized I didn’t have a meatless Monday. Oh well!

Lincoln and I went to Freedom Park to get our walk on. It was a dreary day from the start, a complete 180 from yesterday with its sunny weather.

I love Freedom Park but hate how busy it gets at times and today it was dead with the exception of a few runners, families and dog owners. Pet peeve of the day? Dog owners who are rude and won’t let their dog socialize with Lincoln. And I’m not talking big dogs or anything, little dogs like Lincoln size but the owners are too preoccupied with getting their workout in or they are just snobby. All Lincoln wants to do is say hi and maybe sniff a butt-totally normal dog protocol.

When I got back home, I wanted to sit down and relax with Eat Pray Love that I got from Netflix this past week. I’ve hesitated on watching it b/c I’ve heard it’s pretty bad and I hate when Hollywood completely changes the story of a book. But I loved the book and hoped for the best that it wouldn’t be as horrible as everyone has said it was. And you know what? I turned it off before she even got to Indonesia, it was bad. I can’t wait to pop it in the mail box and send it away!

I had a salad and soup combo for lunch–black bean soup and a baby spinach salad with cucumber, tomatoes, corn and  cheese topped with Ken’s Lite Raspberry Vinaigrette

I also started to press my tofu for dinner tonight, I love my crappy fake tofu press.

I also tried a new green tea this afternoon-from my luvah Trader Joe- of course. Trader Joe’s Organic Cranberry Green Tea

Even though clove was pretty far down there on the ingredients list, it was the first thing I smelled when I opened the box. I despise the smell of cloves. It reminds me of college because there would always be one creepy person smoking a clove cigarette and the smell doesn’t sit well with me. I think I would die if I had to smell curry and cloves together-blech!! I liked the mesh-like bag that it came in and tastewise it was ok. I was expecting more cranberry flavor to come out and of course, less clove. I wasn’t overly impressed with it but I won’t be throwing it out either.

And this afternoon consisted of just about nothing. I hung out, cleaned, caught up with my best friend Leila on how her first 1/2 marathon went yesterday and soon it was dinner time. I was attempting to do meatless Monday but kinda killed it with my first meal but still kept up with the original plan. I made BBQ tofu and onions over egg noodles with kale chips on the side.

Some of you asked about the kale chips. I rip off the stem then break into bits, throw in a bowl with extra virgin olive oil and spices, toss then spread on a baking sheet and bake at 350-375 for 12-15 minutes (depending on how crispy I want them) and that’s about it. They are very easy to make, loaded with beta-carotene and vitamin C  so why not give kale a chance?

I chopped up 1/4 onion and tossed into a pan to cook while I covered the tofu pieces with bbq sauce

Then added to the onion mix on the stovetop to let cook then I popped the kale chips into the oven to bake

I cooked egg noodles yesterday so I warmed those up then added the tofu mix on top along with pieces of parsley and voila-a big, green meal!

A seriously delicious, green meal….and healthy for the most part. I was completely satisfied after this yet didn’t have a heavy feeling in my stomach which is always nice since I don’t like that heavy feeling at night.

 

Gilmore Girls-Love it, hate it, never seen it?

I’ve pissed off the cupcake gods

Hello friends! How in the hell is already Sunday afternoon–where did this weekend go?

We are supposed to get hit with major snow (read seven inches) tonight and I’m hoping I won’t be able to go into work tomorrow. The south freaks out over any kind of snow, even if it doesn’t stick, but I am interested to see how it pans out tomorrow. So until there, I am actively doing a snow dance every 15 minutes in hopes of a lazy day with a weekend extension tomorrow.

Last night, I made a trip  just to check out Sweetcakes Bakery.  I’ve seen rave reviews about this place on Yelp and had plans to go to that side of town to meet a friend for dinner.  My friend was running late so I went over there to see what the deal was. The store is right off the main road so once I figured out the parking sitch in the back (heeeeeeey) I walked up and saw a sign in the window saying they were sold out of cupcakes. Isn’t this the main product they offer? If it was closing time I could see this but two hours before they closed? Me no likey. If you may remember, I had another cupcakeless occurence this summer when I went to Crave Dessert Bar. Maybe this a higher power trying to tell me that I don’t need cupcakes? From the size of my ass, I know damn straight I don’t need any cupcakes but wanting cupcakes is a totally different ballgame. Somewhere along the line in my cupcake adventures, I’ve  pissed off the cupcake gods. Must fix ASAP.

So what’s a girl to do when she can’t get cupcakes? Shop! Don’t worry, I didn’t break my resolution of not buying any new clothes until March. I saw a Salvation Army I hadn’t been into and figured what else but low prices could fix my negative cupcake experience? I was in and the place was absolutely huge. I like to jam when I shop and they had a mix of hip hop and gospel music to raise my spirits for all the good deals I found. This one is  near the lake where all the rich folk live and apparently, donate all of their stuff.

I found some shoes……

$4.99-ugly but comfortable for the work place.

Aerosoles that are also good for the work place. Chapped by ass to pay $7.99 for these but oh well, they will last me a while.

Ralph Lauren wool pants for only $4! They are a little snug but I will make it work one of these days, I just couldn’t pass them up for $4. And some random label of jeans for $2.

Cute summer-y top (or dress?) for $2.50

Very Bradley head band. Don’t hate me if I tell you I got it for free. The cashier there recognized me from another Salvation Army I frequent and he didn’t feel like calling to see what the price was so he said it would be our little secret (well, not anymore!)

When I got back to my car, my friend called and asked if I still wanted to go to Sweetcakes. I told her the story about them running out of cupcakes and she was a bit disappointed as well. We brainstormed for a few minutes about other cupcake venues in her part of town and we called some places but everything was closed. We did dinner as planned since I had a BOGO coupon. We went to Asiana Fusion Sushi. The menu is huge with separate listings for appetizers, rice dishes , noodles, entrees and sushi. They have sushi rolls that are only $3 to $5 in addition to their regular sushi menu. I wanted sushi so badly after scanning their extensive menu however the cold chill tonight had me looking for something to warm me up. I looked and looked and everything looked delicious so I went with old faithful—shrimp pad thai.

If you mess up pad thai, that’s how I know you’re a bad place. And it was quite tasty!! I like how they put peanuts on the side and it is enough for two or three servings so I could enjoy it there plus take some home for leftovers one day. The pieces of shrimp they threw in there were huge and fresh, score! I am just bummed that I don’t live closer to this place because I won’t be able to hit it up as often as I’d like.

Besides that, this weekend has been low-key. I had plans to go to two yoga classes, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. The one on Saturday was a free class at a local jiujitsu studio but when I got to said location, there was no sign on the door or name written anywhere so that was a fail. Then today, I had planned to go to a $5 good karma class and really wasn’t feeling it. I feel like I have a cold coming on so felt a little heavy in the head and when I got there, they told me it was canceled. I was happy about this because I just wanted to get back home and do nothing. But I made a trip to Trader Joe’s before going home since I needed to pick up some fresh produce and my hair was looking good so if I saw the cashier I went out with, I wouldn’t mind.

I got a nice selection of veggies, fruits and pizza dough

and something new……

Ohhhh lala! Now I can make cold and hot Chai at home, which will most definitely assist in my quest to spend less money on Starbucks. And boy was not there so I didn’t have to worry about stepping into his check out line then having an awkward moment…..even though my hair was kinda hoping for that moment.

I got some good news on Friday night—I am going to be joining the YMCA. There is some bad blood between me and the Y. I refuse to pay $65 for a membership of my own but my friend told me her and her other friend are wanting to go splitsies with someone else on their membership so my cut will only be $26/month. I can’t wait to get back to something consistent and eek, going on an elliptical again! It’s been over a year since I’ve been on one–I wonder if it will be like riding a bike??

Do you go to a gym or workout at home? If you do go to a gym, do you spend an insane amount for membership or do you think it’s reasonable?

Loaf. hummus. wine

I was in a baking mood last night. On a never-ending quest to have my co-workers adore me, I planned on making Peppermint Puffs. I love anything that involves peppermint and white chocolate but had a feeling these would be dangerous so would bring the majority of the batch into work. Sadly, I bought the wrong kind of candy canes. I don’t know how I picked up fruity candy canes, which by the way, just sounds disgusting . They look like normal candy canes and would’ve thought the fruity ones would’ve had different tropical colored stripes but I thought wrong. I wanted to bake something though and decided to tweak this Pineapple Coconut Loaf Cake recipe by Martha Stewart I made before.

Substitutions I made

*Added mini chocolate morsels (about 1/4 of the bag) and chopped walnuts (1 cup) to the mix (instead of pineapples)

*Subbed apple sauce (1 cup) for the sour cream

*Used 3/4 sugar instead of the called for one cup

*Used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour instead of the 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

The mix

With that Chocolate Walnut Coconut Loaf Cake…..

It was delicious, the apple sauce gave it a moist texture but it still held together and it was sweet but not overly sweet. Speaking of not overly sweet, I forgot to mention an interesting remark towards me at Autozone yesterday. I went there before going to Value Village to pick up an air filter and an elderly papi chulo named Pedro was helping me. When I scanned my credit card, I grabbed a pen to sign the receipt but he told me that I had to sign on the machine. I would usually due that but I wasn’t quite awake yet and jokingly said “Oh sorry, I can’t function yet because I didn’t have my coffee” Then Mr. Pedro patted my hand and said “Maybe you don’t need coffee, maybe you need some love in your life.

W

T

F????

I’m sorry but how does that come into play? Is it that apparent that I am single or high-strung? Right there, I wanted to give him my mother’s phone number so they could discuss my love life. On a related note, I’ve been singing Bieber’s “Somebody to Love” all day long. I think Lincoln is starting to tire of it though since I’ve been singing to him and giving him kisses. Maybe Mr. Pedro was right? Sigh.

Going back to work today was rough. There was no traffic going in and I got to work in record time. There really wasn’t much to do today so we sat around schmoozing for a few hours and did some busy work in between. We decided to go out for lunch instead of dining in the break room and went to The King’s Kitchen. This is a newer restaurant in Uptown Charlotte  that’s a not for profit restaurant serving up southern cuisine. Their employees are people who are formerly homeless trying to get back on their feet, people in recovery and at risk teens. Plus they do a lot of giving back to the community so I feel warm and fuzzy about patronizing The Kings Kitchen. Their Country Fried Steak was the special of the day and nothing else was really singing to me.

Another thing I like about it is that although it is heavy, comfort food they don’t give you an insane amount of food. When I worked at Cracker Barrel (you can stop laughing, I worked there for four years), the country fried steak portion was absolutely ridiculous and easily two times the size of this one. It was just enough and I got mashed sweet potatoes, cole slaw and wilted spinach on the side and I received my card to the clean plate club in turn. The sweet potato mash was some of the best I’ve ever had and wish I would have gotten double of it. Needless to say, I was in a food coma afterwards and didn’t want to work the rest of the afternoon.

I went on another shopping spree after work….to Trader Joe’s! I don’t visit the location closest to me that much because I hate the parking scheme. It has a parking garage only and with having watching too many thrillers in my day, parking garages freak me out. Apparently, my inner wino was telling me to buy some wine so that I did

And my wine rack no longer looks pathetic with one bottle of wine sitting in it

I also remembered to pick up some hummus when I was there, it’s been waaaaay too long since I’ve been without

Which then turned into dinner out of pure laziness. I was going to have leftovers and cook up a side dish but I just wanted to put on my fleece pj pants and sit down. And I’m fine with that, I’m an adult so I can eat whatever I would like for dinner.

I was a huge fan of TJ’s Three Layer Dip when I tried it earlier this year, especially the cilantro hummus portion. But this time around, I really wasn’t feeling the cilantro. I think it was a bit too much for me so I stuck to noshing on the original and red pepper portion instead.

And with that, I want to go to bed. Just being back at work for one has left me mentally exhausted. Is it sad if it’s 7P and I want to go to bed?

I’m happy to see that you all approved of my ugly sweater. I think I am going to doll it up with lights and possibly jingle bells. I can’t wait to see everyone elses! Be sure to check out The Fitness Dish for my Friday 5 Websites I Visit When I Need a Laugh!

Literally

Soooooo……lots of Jersey Shore fans out there huh? I think I am going to have to suck it up and watch it. I let ya’ll know if I regret it or not.I woke up this morning and was out of eggs. Boo to that. The only thing that would’ve been worse was being out of eggs and cheese.  That being said, I had a different breakfast.

Having a different breakfast apparently threw me way off of my A game coffee wise, I didn’t even hit up the Bucks today! And you know what, I lived to tell you all about so maybe going a day without the Buckies is possible?

I was pretty busy this morning bit it left me time for surfing the web and catching up on news. I found two interesting articles about rivals Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods:
 
*Trader Joe’s how they are the store on the rise and changing shopping in our culture:
 
 
I love how they say “It’s an offbeat, fun discovery zone that elevates food shopping from a chore to a cultural experience.” Because I couldn’t agree more
 
*Whole Foods on how they are an affordable necessity 
 
 
When asked about the nickname “Whole Paycheck” Co-Founder John Mackey says “On like items, Whole Foods is very competitive. … We have 30,000 items, and you can probably find 30 on which we’re more expensive”  Really? Are we talking about the same Whole Foods because when I go there I only buy a few items since the prices are so inflated compared to my beloved, Trader Joe’s. I found it really interesting that he says their best-selling item are bananas out of everything in the store.
 
Today is Tuesday which means it’s Hippie Day. I got another batch of great produce including red pepper, sweet potato, apple, cucumber, zucchini. 

 
I had leftover taco casserole for lunch today with a side of chips, I keep it healthy what can I say?
 
 
I got out of work a bit early so I could go to zumba class. The class was at 615P , I didn’t have time to make dinner but snuck a snack in before I headed out for it.

Can we say kicked my butt? I haven’t been in a few weeks and it was great to be back but tonight was a tough one.

Dinner was General Tso’s Chicken with quinoa and veggies

Red pepper, zucchini, red onion and string beans cooked in fish sauce and soy sauce with red pepper flakes, garlic and pepper

I was drying my bra in the kitchen since there is a hook right above the oven…..I never said I was classy. And now I have to re-wash my bra.

I used Trader Joe’s Mandarin Orange Chicken (frozen) but didn’t have any sauce leftover and used Kikoman General Tso’s sauce. I love making take out Chinese at home, tastes just like the real thing!

See, there is actually quinoa under there!

I walked over to Harris Teeter afterwards to fix this whole no egg business in my house. I always have eggs or egg whites so I’m confused how this happened. I found a beautiful deal while perusing the aisles at the Teet though.

Laughing Cow for only $2.50!!! I started chanting “Ahhhhh aaaaaahhhhhh ahhhhhhh” like a Benedictine monk but then switched it up to “Holllllllllllaaaaaaaaa” since it was a frickin sweet deal. I was only going to get one but I had to be a smart consumer and stock up.

Along the line of articles, did anyone see this article about the girl who lost 118 lbs and credits that to Weight Watchers, applied for a job with them and was told her her body mass index was too high? According to the article, her interview was going great and she had tons of experience teaching but then a question regarding her BMI came into play. She provided her weight and height and then the interviewer told her she  couldn’t complete the interview process any further. Anywho, I saw the article and thought that it was  absolutely ridiculous and hypocritical. Thoughts?

This day has left me exhausted, both mentally and physically. I think I am going to follow this boys lead …..except I won’t be passed out in front of my wine rack…..I will be in front of the wine cooler.

Muffins In Your Bag

Happy Hump Day! I am in a great mood because it feels like a Monday for me so excuse me if I am so happy. I took a new bus line to work and I was a little nervous. 1) Because it’s the local line as opposed to the express line. On the express line, we had cushioned seats, A/C and heat and looked like a charter bus. The local line? Well, it isn’t a charter bus, I can tell you that! Plastic cold seats with some sketchy characters on it so it gets an A+ for people watching. And the driver looked like this guy!

I love celebrity lookalikes. I almost wanted to start singing to him”Where would I be without youuuuuuu?” Well, I know the answer—the bus stop! Hahahahahah!

 When I got into work today our systems were down so that definitely was NOT the way to start the day for me. And I hate when people send out an email saying our systems aren’t working then when you walk in and haven’t even had a chance to set your stuff down, they come over to tell you it’s not working and they sent an email letting you and others know. WTF. Really? So you’re coming over to tell me what you emailed me about already? And after I am coming back to work after being off for four days so I probably have hundreds of emails to answer before looking at yours? Hello frustration, it’s nice to see you again.

At least I had Animal with me

Apparently, I had Animal sitting around in my old apartment and I threw him in my purse so that’s his new home. I think he is going to start going with me everywhere so look for him in pics. He may even become little a hidden Mickey and you will have to try to spot him in pics!

Lunch was leftover Pad Thai from the other night

One of my older co-workers came over to my desk and just said “I put some muffins in your bag” and I looked at her very perplexed as to what she was talking about it. I thought she was doing a little drug deal or something and got the wrong person and that was the code phrase. Little did I know she was talking about my lunch bag in the break room and muffins she made this wknd. She’s so sweet—she knows by the size of my butt I love the baked goods and made some lemon cream cheese muffins this wknd. 

 Inspired by Ja Rule earlier this morning, I got up and started breaking it down and rapping it “I put the muffins in your bag, put the the the the muffins in your bag” and even dropped it like its hot. She laughed at me and I love her for that b/c she is what I strive to be like when I am older. She’s in her mid fifties but has a garden, loves cold beer and wine, wears her funky jewelry and cusses. I always tell her I want to be like her when I am older and she almost smacks me each time I say that.

Oh yeah, guess I should show pics of the lovely muffins

 Another celebrity lookalike on the way home! This chick looked like a younger Frances Conroy (the mom from Six Feet Under)

Dinner was Black Bean, Mushroom and Pork Tacos topped with Avocado and Tomato

I broke into my Goya Recaito Cilantro Sauce. I saw this on Bikini By 30 last month ago and was intrigued since I love the ethnic dishes and love sauces.

I cooked both the black beans and mushrooms in it along with some chili powder and garlic and cooked the pork in Recaito sauce alone

Topped with Trader Joe’s Salsa Authentica…..love this stuff! I prefer their pineapple or mango salsa but seeing that I can down a jar of it in one sitting, I try not to buy it too often.

Delicioso!

Before I end this, I forgot about a perturbing part of my day. I have really funky dreams sometimes which I am used to by now. But last night was a really weird one involving another blogger, Mari.

Looks sweet and wouldn’t hurt a fly right? In my dream—big WRONG! I dreamed she was a serial killer but it was more like a Dexter-esque situation where she was taking out the bad guys. I remember that and how I was talking with her in a parking garage (which I hate parking garages because they are creepy and someone always gets murdered in them in the movies) and she was telling me how she wanted to stop but couldn’t. So thanks for not killing me in my dream, Mari! When I told her this morning that she was a serial killer in my dream, she asked if she had a theme song! I was like “WTF?” when I read this but she said that if she were ever to be a serial killer (not that she would ever choose to be one nor do I believe it’s in her genes if that’s your school of thought) her theme song would be “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and that just made me laugh because I never really thought what  my serial killer theme song would be. And a question that I have never asked in my life—–What would your serial killer theme song be?

Tonight was pretty quiet. Lincoln and I headed out for a walk and I wasn’t expecting us to go too far but we ended up going on a two-mile walk and getting our cardio in. Poor little guy was lagging on the way back but he was a trooper and kept prancing. I just love my new neighborhood, they were so many people out running, walking their dogs, cycling, etc. We even got a few honks and I will be nice and say they were for Lincoln haha.

Refueled with some M&M’s, damn you Valentine’s Day clearance candy! I don’t know what’s up with M&M kick lately but it needs to stop. These are a comfort food for me and take me back to childhood and having BOGO coupons for them is not helping me….or my booty.

Sidenote-why does fake ex con Leonardo DiCaprio look so good but normal Leo doesn’t do anything for me?

Do you have weird dreams?

 I used to have weird dreams alot but then I stopped drinking diet coke before bed and it stopped but still have some weird ones from time to time

 

The Garden State

I would love to say that I was really productive today but then I would be lying. I’ve been sitting here watching Real Housewives of NJ for the past 5 hours-ugh. This right here is why I had basic cable, I get so sucked into these marathons and then *poof* there goes my day. I did fit in two 1-mile walk sessions with Lincoln so I did something and was a bit active but yeah, the afternoon was spent yelling at these ladies

Caroline just annoys the living hell out of me. All she talks about is respect, family and honor. Right on to all three however I don’t need to the tough talking Jersey act going on 24.7, act stupid like the other girls…..try it Caroline….it’s fun! And Danielle, well, we won’t even touch that one.

Then there was the childish drama with Danielle and Ashley via Facebook and such. It seems like every scene Ashley is wearing some kind of beret so I was happy I found a picture of her without one.

Teresa and Gia—-Just kidding! I love Teresa-I think she is hilarious and love all her things that are leopard print. Ok, homegirl slice has a bit of a temper but I still think she is great. I have no desire at all to be a mom but Gia makes me second guess that notion, she is just too adorable.

Some pictures of the new pad:

A midgie dishwasher!

Speaking of midgies-I am loving this commercial!! I get so happy when it comes on!

But back to my new home, I am totally loving it just wish I had more storage and counter space in the kitchen

But I am willing to deal with it for now due to the location and all that it offers.

I was feeling some pasta for dinner, I cooked mushrooms, spinach and artichoke hearts with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes on the stovetop while the capellini was boiling

New product to try!! Sweet Basil Pesto Chicken +Turkey Sausage from Trader Joe’s

When I opened the package up, all I could smell was basil and it was fresh and fabulous!

You got that right, Lincoln. It was a fabulous meal, I didn’t use any sauce but just sprinkled extra virgin olive oil on the noodles and let sit while the sausage was finishing up cooking. I went for a mile walk afterwards so I didn’t feel disgusting from the pasta. I am not a huge pasta person but will get a craving every now and then  for it but feel gross afterwards since it’s so heavy. It was still humid as all hell outside so it was a short session but at least I moved a little. While walking, there was some construction going on and I saw the sign “Men Working”. When did this happen? Whatever happened to Men at Work? Each time I see one of those signs, I always got this song in my head and if those signs are no longer when will I ever sing Men At Works songs?

I popped open my bag of Pretzel M&M’s that have been sitting around for the past few wks

These were really good, I’ve heard mixed reviews so I wasn’t sure if I would like them or not but anything that is both sweet and salty I can be down with. I think I would buy yogurt covered pretzels next time around instead of these.

I’ve been wanting to try Chai Tea but don’t want to waste money on it at the Bucks if I don’t like it. One of my friends gave me a Dove Chocolate At Home Chocolate Chai Tea

Yummmmmy! I really liked this but don’t know if it’s really Chai flavor or not so I need to compare it to the real thing. Looks like I’m going to Starbucks tomorrow! Any pointers or recommendations for Chai other than Starbucks? Can I get it iced or hot? And most importantly, does it have caffeine?

One more episode and I am out like this boy

Love and light!

Movin’ On Up

So exhausted! Thanks all for your warm wishes on a good move. I am settled in but still moving some stuff around and figuring out where things are so I think by tomorrow I should be all set. I have today and Tuesday off as well so that will be some extra time for me to clean, unpack, go find a pool to play in and such 🙂 On Saturday, I woke up at 630A to start moving stuff and really didn’t get a chance to sit down the whole day but I did fit in an hour nap in the late afternoon once my friends who helped me left and the Time Warner guy stopped by. Speaking of which, I’ve had basic cable for the past year but now I have TBS, Bravo, VH-1, Food Network, Comedy Central and many others. Thanks Time Warner dude? I didn’t look cute at all and was in a crabby mood but apparently that’s what the men like. I have so many shows to catch up on, it’s not even funny. I need to just sit down and enjoy it because I keep thinking one day they are going to discover this snafu and then it will go bye-bye.

 I met up with some girlfriends at Nikko’s, an awesome sushi restaurant in South End area of Charlotte. I absolutely love this place—the atmosphere is more clubby than restaurant with modern decor, lighting and fist pumping music. I only frequent Nikko’s every now and then since it can be pricey (or suggest it when I have a date  and am confident the guy will be paying, I’m a brat I know :)) but when I do go, I enjoy it immensely.  I had the Tuna Crunchy Roll and Rainbow Roll along with a Sake Bomb and Sapporo Light

After that, we headed Uptown to go to the Dandelion Market but once we were a block away we heard it was dead so we ventured into The Attic. I pass by that bar every day since it’s right near work but never been there…..and now I know why. It was full of 23 and 24 yr olds who were just so happy to be out–which is cool, really it is. I was loving their enthusiasm mostly because I was like that—six or seven years ago. I have to be in a “Let’s go out and get wasted” kind of mood to enjoy scenes like that and truth be told, that’s just not me anymore. I would rather go out, be able to hear people I’m with, not have some youngin dry hump me multiple times (not making that up), have a few drinks and go home at a decent hour. Plus, with the fact I had been up so early doing manual labor and such, I was ready to go home.

Yesterday morning, I walked over to Dilworth Coffee and got a large cup and stopped at Harris Teeter for some random items

I feasted on a blueberry bagel with light cream cheese and sliced banana pieces

Let’s not even talk about the mess I had to conquer…..oi vey. I don’t have a lot of storage so that was the main issue. I did make a lot of it work though and only have a little bit to get to still but I ended up going through my stuff once again and putting some away to donate to the Salvation Army.

While I was getting through that monstrosity, Lincoln was pulling out his ninja moves and exploring his new pad

Lunch was a Mardi Gras Salad from Harris Teeter. The name intrigued me, I think it would be cute if they added beads for decoration but nothing nipple related please.

Oh, have I mentioned that I don’t have gas until Monday so I can’t make anything hot?

I went back to my old place in the afternoon and got the most of everything out of there but I keep forgetting about all of my cutting boards, pans and sheets under the oven so I need to make a mental note to pick those up next time. Besides that, I just need to clean the place out which I’m dreading.

I’ve been craving Thai and ordered takeout from Thai Thai because I’ve heard good things about it. One of these days I’m going to try someone other than Pad Thai but today was not that day. I got Chicken Pad Thai with a Medium Spicy sauce.

The portion size was ridiculous—I think it could be three servings which isn’t bad at all for $9 but I wasn’t too impressed. It had a hint of spice but the spice overtook the peanut flavor so it was good but not the taste I was expecting. Maybe that’s my sign to try something different next time?

Lincoln and I went for a walk last night and when we made it to Freedom Park (the halfway point), it started downpouring. 20 minutes later with littler coverage, we were still there but found a commercial building near and waited it out. It was still sprinkling by the time we started walking again and we were completely drenched. Poor Lincoln, he looked like a drowned rat 😦

Sigh, my little homeless looking dog.

Today has been pretty boring—got some laundry done, unpacked some more, gas turned on so I can start cooking again and found the Trader Joe’s in my area. I was so out of sorts when I was there but the TJ’s employees were super nice….unlike the ones at the other location. Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t rude but they would never chat me up when I checked out like they do with everyone else. Seeing that I think I’m pretty effin personable, it kinda annoyed me. I talked to some nice ones at my location and chatted with a cutie for a few minutes and he asked if I moved here from Caliornia…..maybe b/c I talk like a valley girl? Who knows. Anyways, I love my new one and got the lowdown on when their not so busy hours are. I stopped at Target and Harris Teeter afterwards and yet again, it started downpouring. I am really over this rain but it’s perfect whether to sit at home in and catch up with these ladies

I have so much to catch up on. I was never really a Real Housewives fan b/c the other cities have been pretty boring with no drama but NJ I totally love.

Lunch was a turkey, cheese, spinach and spicy hummus wrap with Grandma Gibble’s Popcorn 

I feel like I should go do something or clean but screw it, I’m sitting here on my butt watching trash tv! Hope everyone is having a great start to the wk!

I’m not dead

Hi all-Happy Frickin Friday! So I’m up and running again and so happy. My settings were set to private when I looked yesterday morning (don’t recall changing this though?) and throughout yesterday and today, I would try to change it and nothing. Frustration. Thanks to everyone who checked up on me though, I would never block y’all for my blog 🙂

Speed Street is going on in Uptown Charlotte now-it’s a three day street festival dedicated to Nascar since there is some race during Memorial Wknd. They have vendors, live music, cars ……lots of them and endlessly roaring their engines. Normally, I wouldn’t care. But when all of this is four floors below me, it’s annoying. The bass from the music was so loud my windows were rattling and I thought there was a bomb going off or something. And we had two people out of the office yesterday so I was covering my work plus someone else’s, trying to keep my sanity with that and my blog not working while avoiding a headache, so yeah, unhappy day.

I had a Venti Skim Carmel Macchiato yesterday because hey, I needed it (ok and had a free drink coupon to the Bucks)

OMG, I haven’t had an iced one since I lived in Phoenix four years ago and it was just as good as a I remembered it! Moderation though is key, I do not need this every day and don’t need to be taking in 300 calories from something I can drink.

Breakfast was an AMAZING wrap—eggwhites, feta, roasted zucchini, potatoes and mushrooms topped with ketchup

This was tasty and it kept me full for a loooong time. Which was good since I didn’t have lunch to 2P–thanks work. Lunch was leftover-baked chicken with hummus and feta with roasted zucchini, squash, potato and mushrooms.

I love having plates at work now. I don’t feel like an animal just eating my lunch from a plastic container. And pink is so happy 🙂

I came home, blog still not working, which made me even more frustrated than the day left me. I picked up a box of Trader Joe’s Three Grain Blend the other night because I was out of rice and wanted to make risotto since I’ve never made it before.

I was happy and excited—I started grilled up some mushrooms in the meantime (can you tell I like the shroomies?) and took it out of the box and found this.

I didn’t expect it to be all in one block, I just thought it would be normal rice so I was kinda bummed since I didn’t want to make the whole thing because I am one girl who can only eat so much of one thing (greek yogurt,avocados and Mexican food excluded). Plus I wasn’t sure if risotto would freeze well, anyone know?

Since the shrooms were already grilling and I had black beans in the fridge, I decided to go with my old stand by of tacos.

Delicious! Last night was nothing special, I hung out, took a bubble, tried to comment on blogs but that wasn’t even happening and ended up going to bed early so I could get a good night’s sleep. I wasn’t sure if my teammate would be back in the office so I didn’t know what kind of day to expect.

This morning, I had Yoplait Greek Yogurt, Trader Joe’s Very Cherry Blend and Blueberry Flax for breakfast

Today wasn’t bad at all. My teammate was back in so I didn’t have to cover his work, my desk was slow (due to a bunch of people being out on Friday so not alot of work coming my way) and it was just relaxing for once. Very rarely do I get to say that about work. The hippies were out but not in their normal spot due to Speed Street so I had a Hippie Search going on and picked up some peaches, apples, zucchini, onion, avocado and red peppers.

I got to take my first real lunch break and went with a co-worker to explore Speed Street. The two things iI do like about it is the

 A) Fair food! They have nachos, fries, turkey legs, gyros, philly cheese steaks, crab cakes, hot dogs, etc.

B) Freebies–a bunch of different companies set up booths and give away free stuff. Being the frugal girl I am, it’s my favorite part of the madness

I’ve been talking about the gyros all week-long to everyone at work and how excited I was to have one.

Looks good right?

No. Worst Gyro EVER. It wasn’t lamb meat, it was steak like the kind in a philly cheesesteak with no flavor yet lots of grease. The tzatsiki sauce had no flavor either, it was just sour cream or yogurt and it was so greasy it fell apart. I am pissed about my aspirations for the gyro and the $8 I spent when I could have walked across the street to Showmar’s and get one plus fries for $6.

I did however, get a lot of swag.

There was a sausage stand which I may have stopped at a few times. They were giving out free sausage samples and pork roast samples and it was absolutely delicious. I think it was Smithfield’s? Anyways, I decided if I ever decided to open up a male brothel, it shall be named “The Sausage Stand” . The rest of the afternoon was slow and I got a bunch of stuff done. I was counting down the minutes until I could catch the first bus out of there. I worked 8 hours OT this wk so I had no problem whatsoever with leaving early.

I made a HUGE dinner tonight because I was famished from the half-eaten gyro. I started off with a cucumber and tomato salad with oil and vinegar topped with feta

Ever since I saw Mo’s Pretzel Coated Chicken recipe, I’ve been dreaming of it all week.

I used Ken’s Lite Honey Mustard to coat the chicken since I was feeling something creamy (that’s what she said) and crushed up some Snyder’s pretzels and served with, what else…zucchini, squash, potato and mushrooms!

This was fabulous. It was like comfort food but so easy to make and not too bad for you. I get so bored with chicken breasts that I love any recipe that will mix it up a bit.

I had an awesome strength training session tonight.

Kettlebell

• Upright Deltoid Row (13 reps, 3 sets)
• Shrug (13 reps, 2 sets)
• Side Bends (13 reps, 3 sets)
• Straight Leg Deadlifts (13 reps, 3 sets)
• Bentover Row (13 reps, 2 sets)

Dumbbell -10 lb

• Shoulder Press (13 reps, 3 sets)
• Lateral Raise (13 reps, 2 sets)
• Bench Press (13 reps, 2 sets)
• Concentration Curls (13 reps, 2 sets)

Misc

• 30 pushups
• Three sets of planks
• Jumping side to side in between workouts

Like I said, awesome workout and nice burn!

I felt really energized after and started to think that I used to go to the gym and mindlessly hop on the elliptical and not even burn that much nor feel challenged at all. I am so happy not going to a gym anymore because I feel like I’m not wasting money on it and have found new ways to work out and challenge myself.

I went to Goodwill afterwards in search of a backpack. Weather permitting, I am going on a four-hour hike on Sunday and wanted something to keep all my stuff in and I haven’t had a backpack since high school so it was time to shop for one. No way was I going to spend $30 on one so Goodwill it was! Not only did I get a backpack for $3, I got two fun plates I can bring to work (you will be seeing these in the future!) AND a new oversized red microfiber chair and matching rolling ottoman—-for $70!! I forgot my camera and didn’t have my phone in the store but the chair is gorgeous and super comfy. I didn’t have room to take it home in my car so I called a friend and she is going to help me with it in the morning since she has an SUV. So happy—pics to come!

I stopped at McD’s on the way home since I was dragging on got a Medium Iced Coffee with Cream and Two Splendas. And now I am going to be wired!!

Hope everyone is having a fabulous start to the long wknd 🙂