only boring people get bored...

I am feeling bored today...hate that feeling. Not sure what is up because I usually don't get bored....I can hear D-lo saying to me "Only boring people get bored Ash"....ahhh. Guess I am just ready for the weekend. One more day - yea.

But, I am still digging on nutrimirror. It rocks! Going to wait and weigh myself for a bit - don't want to get frustrated and I feel like overall I'm making healthier choices, decisions, etc so.... don't want to get frustrated and blow it.

Here is my sammy I had for lunch today - it was super crunchy yums. Love that damn ezekiel bread - had turkey and laughing cow swiss cheese on it - that's it! Grilled it up with some Herbs de Province on there and YUM...



You can also see my carrots and a bit of the Three Spice Hummus there - good stuff. Bebe was diggin on the crunch the carrots made - funny :)

Anyway - I'm off to bootcamp tonight and then coming home to make us din. Then tomorrow is work, clean house a bit and gettin my hair did - will take a pic of it looking purty - usually straight as a board once Natasha flat irons it. OK well - even my rambling is boring today so I'm out.

burn calories burn!

I blew the dust off my Polar HRM yesterday and wore it to boot camp...soooo glad I did! I was totally stoked cuz I burned 489 calories yesterday during my work out!!! WHOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Go me! :-)

I'm really diggin on the Nutrimirror - it's getting easier to track as I get more familiar with the site. And....apparently I eat a LOT of sodium! I'm not going to worry too much about that right now though... I guess i need to keep it at 2400 mg's or below but, right now it's MUCH higher than that. Hmmmph. One battle at a time.

Here is my yummy b'fast I had this morning... whole wheat waffles w/ strawberries and nana's - YUM! Funny too b/c I was talking to my sister Stacy today and she told me she is allergic to both strawberries and banana's...so guess she would not be liking my breakfast too much....



Speaking of allergic - Chad was back in the ER again today! He ran out of benedryl and took something else that did not jive with his system. He is all better now though....again, and is resting up on the couch. I went and bought all hypo-allergenic soap, detergent, dryer sheets, etc to start using today just in case but - now we are thinking he has Poison Oak? Anyway - he should be fine now.....hope hope!

I am about to head to the gym and then meet my girl Julie for drinks/dinner. We are going to Houlihan's as that is right down the street from us and...they have a pretty healthy menu too. Double bonus. Will post pics tomorrow....

total slacker here

Sorry I have not blogged in a bit - been busy! This weekend was great - well aside from the ER Friday night... but, the rest of the weekend was great - Chad made a full recovery from his allergic reaction and is fine. Still not sure what exactly caused his allergic reaction though. We did wings for the 4th and watched the fireworks via TV as the weather was kinda crappy and we thought traffic would suck. Next year we will plan to do something more fireworky/patriotic but....this year it was wings, beer and trivia. Fun times!

Sunday we went with our friends Kristine & Spencer to Blackthorn Pizza and then to The Stable for beer - it was their first time to both places - total fun!! I think we are going to hit the roller derby this weekend with them as well.

But today....after a weekend of excess - I am back on track and trying out a new food tracking site called NutriMirror. Thanks to Sweet Dee for the recommendation!! So far, so good....i get to eat way more calories than I was eating so - hey, that's good news! It seems to focus more on the quality of what you eat versus the quantity - although quantity is still as factor, duh. I am interested to see how it goes. Today I have been pretty full all day and still have 400 calories I can use....WHOO HOO!!! Will keep you posted on how this all plays out.

I'm off to bootcamp tonight and meeting up with my friend Julie tomorrow for a drink and girl talk - she is needing to chat. Anyway - hope everyone is having a decent week - need to get better about pics...did not take ONE over the weekend!!

Fun times in the ER..... and a slight rant on calories

Well - our holiday weekend started off exciting - sat in the ER for a few hours last night! Chad had an allergic reaction to something, we are not sure exactly what! But, after four hours of sitting in the ER waiting room, one huge ass shot of benedryl in his arm and a round of steroids later...he is doing much better! Poor baby...this happened about two years ago when he used my Strawberry Souffle Shower Gel.....which promptly made his face swell up like a souffle. Not sure what caused it this time....thinking something in the yard? Anyway - he is MUCH better this morning and I'm happy we went last night instead of waiting and it getting worse - we nipped it in the bud.

Couple of things though... there were some kids tweaked out on heroin in the ER last night... pretty scary. The one kid looked like he could blow away he was so thin, looked like an old man in a kids body - very sad. I will never understand what makes someone shoot up poison in their veins but, I know everyone has their own demons to dance with. Just makes me sad. The kids Mom was there and I am sure it was not her first rodeo with this kid. Sad...

Moving on.... I was STARVING as I sat there in the ER. We were actually on our way to dinner when we decided we better hit the ER instead as the swelling was getting worse by the minute. So.... confession time - I hit the vending machine while we waited....had a mini bag of Cheezit's (YUMMMM!!), mini bag of Sun Chips (meh..) and a mini bag of Cherry Twizzler Bites (another meh). The choices in the vending machine were actually pretty small and portion friendly so, all that was only about 8 points BUT...then we got a pizza on the way home which I promptly ate half of!! Thank God boot camp was all about the agility sets and cardio yesterday!!

But, as I sat there in the ER, I read an article in a magazine that talked about how many calories you should be consuming.... I tallied mine up and based on the amount of exercise I'm doing, I should be eating around 1700 - 1800 calories a day to lose weight and about 2000-2200 to maintain..... WTF?? I am currently eating around 1200 right now (uhhhh....with the exception of yesterday!) and wondering if this is why I have not seen the scale budge??? I am so confused :-( Any insight out there would be appreciated - I am not sure what calorie range I should be in. GRRRR....

Anyway - this weekend should be fun, not sure what we are getting into today but, thinking maybe Soulard?? We will see, that may be tomorrow. Hope everyone has an awesome 4th or....just an awesome weekend in general!!

Just a Few Random Things.....

1) I am addicted to Dijon Mustard...Grey Poupon specifically! Damn!! I am putting it on everything.... it has a slight hint of horseradish that makes my nose tingle and eyes water and I LOVE it!

2) I had TWO hot dogs, french fries and a brownie today and totally stayed on plan and did not dip into my activity points or my flex points....whoot whoot! OK - it was 98% fat free Hebrew National beef franks, whole wheat buns and Alexia waffle fries - all portioned out and covered in dijon ;) You really cannot tell the difference on these low fat dogs - they rock!

3) I hit the gym this evening and did some serious cardio for 30 mins on the elliptical at TOP SPEED while jammin' to some Santogold - whoo hoo! Burned about 350 calories :)

4) Damn I'm happy tomorrow is Thursday and Chad and I are both off Friday for the holiday weekend - 4th of July!! Will be an awesome weekend - thinking of hitting Soulard and perhaps Black Thorn with friends on Sunday - we will see!

5) Wedding invitations came today and I LURV them except.... the "r" in "pleasure" printed kinda weird on half of them :( I immediately called them and they are reprinting - no cost to me, no questions asked - yahoo!! It really wasn't that noticeable but.... want these to be perfect b/c they are SO COOL! Seeeee for yourself.... I blurred out a couple details - just to be safe :)





I love these because they are very simple but - unique. I love the Black/White theme and I love how they are square and fold up into a nice neat black square! Now time to pick out the stamps.....

20 questions.....give or take!

Work was stressful today so - I'm doing this for fun, to de-stress before my workout. Stealing this from my girl Krista who has a million stalkers and has to move her blog once a week!! Poor girl....this one's for you Krista!

The Rules:
1. Respond and rework; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention & add one more question of your own.
2. Tag eight other people.

What is your current obsession? none actually at the moment...how boring!

What’s for dinner?
Pork tenderloin - grilled and marinated in soy sauce, olive oil, garlic, cilantro & parsley - YUM!

What’s the last thing you bought?
a bottle of capt'n morgan's at the liquor store for our bbq over the weekend!

What are you currently listening to?
Chad watching Glen Beck in the next room and Honeybear snoring...

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Antigua with Chad....swim up bar!!

Which language do you want to learn?
Francais! Nevermind that I've had 3 yrs in high school and 2 yrs in college and still can't speak a lick of it....

What do you love most about where you currently live?
We are close to St Louis which has a lot of fun restaurants/bars....but mostly I like it because it's different from where I used to live!

What is your favorite colour?
Black always!

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
do shoes count? Currently my steve madden flip flops with the fancy straps...
Describe your personal style?
definitely low key and casual now but - love to get dressed up

If you had $300 now, what would you spend it on?
put it in our wedding fund...

What are you going to do after this?
get ready for boot camp

Your favorite smell?
DKNY Delicious and any of the Philosophy shower gels....esp the Red Velvet Cake one! YUM

Do you collect anything?
again.....do shoes count??

What makes you follow a blog?
Inspiration and usually about food, weight loss, exercise, etc.....I have a few that I have stopped reading b/c the blogger was on my nerves but.... I still even check on those once in awhile!

Who do you admire?
All the awesome females in my life - you know who you are!! I am lucky to have so many!

What’s one thing you dream of doing?
being totally fit and doing a 10K or triathlon... or living somewhere exotic

What is your biggest regret?
I have none - life is about choices and things happen for a reason.

What is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?
Nap....do a cross word, read a book, surf Internet....all with Chad by my side on the couch :)

Do you have a tattoo?
No but, I love Chad's

What are your favorite books?
just getting back into reading but - usually like sad stories :(

Are you left handed, right handed, ambidextrous, or a little of both?
Right but sometimes both...

What's your biggest fear?
Failure

Who would you like to have coffee chat with (dead or alive)?
My sister Dawn Marie

What is your worst/best personality trait? My best is my ability to relate to just about anyone and make friends in a paper bag.... my worst is I can be moody and have very little patience.

Not tagging anyone in specific... but feel free to consider yourself tagged if you'd like!

Workouts & Wedding Dresses!!

YEAH for me....I met my workout goal this week of five workouts....whoo-hoo! :) I did three boot camps and two classes at Gold's. The class I took at Gold's yesterday was intense - Body Attack - which is basically high intensity aerobics for an hour....holy shit, it was HARD! But, felt great once I was done!

I also went shopping yesterday and found my wedding dress!! It is gorgeous and I am so excited!! I tried to save the pic of it from the website but can't do it so, if you want to check it out it's here. I got it on sale and i just LOVE it!! Also - got it in Ivory versus the White - that color is more flattering on my skin tone. Big incentive to continue the workouts....it shows some back so, gotta get sexy back going on! The lady that helped me was a bit insane....she kept bringing out strapless gowns although i told her several times I did not want strapless...then she brought out veils even though I told her over and over NO VEIL! I finally had to get snappy with her but - whatever, I found my dress! yahoooo!! I wanted to wait until Tiff's visit in July to get her opinion but... it takes 12-15 weeks to get the dress in so...I just went for it! Tiff can help me accessorize it since she is awesome with that. And let me just say....wedding dresses run RIDICULOUSLY small....and that's all I'm gonna say about that.

As far as the rest of the weekend - Chad and I are going to a wedding in STL tonight - should be a really great time. The wedding is at the Grand Basin in Forrest Park and the reception is at a really cool location - Windows On Washington. Will be an excellent party for sure! Tomorrow we may have a couple over to BBQ it up - we'll see. It is Chad's hair stylist & her husband. I met them last night for the first time and they are a really cool couple.

Anyway - hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and doing FUN stuff!! Cheers and I will take pics of the rest of our weekend to share. Later!

Peaches & Thai

I had the yummiest peach today for my pre-workout snack........take a look



I was in our grocery store last night, chit-chatting with Tiff on the phone and stopped in my tracks from the sweet aroma of these awesome peaches three aisles over! Had to get some and damn I'm glad I did - AMAZING!!!!

Bootcamp was awesome tonight - Vicki always keeps it interesting with different exercises and although it was hot as hell....there was a good breeze. Overall an awesome workout.

I came home, showered really quickly and then Chad and I headed up to a Thai restaurant that is right up the street...I know I've blogged about it before but - for all my local peeps that read this, you HAVE to go to Thip's Thai in O'Fallon. It is so so good! We ordered really healthy and went with the Summer rolls which is basically lettuce, thai basil, & carrots wrapped in rice paper served with a super spicy side sauce - YUM!!! These were so light and tasty - we had never had these before and I am so happy we tried them....delish. We also split the Thai Beef Salad which is always killer and tried the Garlic Pad Thai w/ Chicken.... lots of veggies & ginger with chicken in a broth based sauce. I was so proud of us for ordering lighter and different dishes versus going with our usual coconut/curry based dishes. We rock....we did still have our usual brews at the bar while we waited for our dinner but, we did light beers ;)

So, I'm sitting here typing and feeling totally content with a full belly and a happy heart :) I am off tomorrow....WHOO HOO! The plan is to get up - have coffee and a light b'fast - hit the gym for cardio, mail off my girl Tiff's b'day package (her b'day is Sat but I always send her gift late to stretch out her b'day magic as long as possible!!), then come home and get showered, do some wedding dress shopping, drop some clothes off at good will........holy shit I better make a "to do list" or I will never get all this done!!

Hope everyone has an AWESOME weekend!! Live it to the fullest!

holy hotness...

I was a little nervous about boot camp tonight....given it was smokin' hot outside. In fact, when I got in my car to head over to the park, my car said it was 106 degrees!! Now - this was slightly elevated given my car has black leather interior and was sitting in the sun all day! But, you get the idea - it has been super hot this week and combined with humidity....yikes.

But...I hydrated all day and there was a slight breeze out tonight - we also worked out in the shade so - it was a great work out! whoo-hoo! It really made me curious though if you burn more calories when working out in hot condition and GOOD NEWS! The answer is yes :) Interesting read - check this article out that explains....makes sense! Chad and I talked about this before I left and...he was right ;)

Anyway - came home from boot camp and made a really great salad - grilled chicken, feta, craisins, almonds & balsamic dressing.....YUM! Now it's shower time and off to bed.... night!

countdown to swim-up bar starts NOW!!!!!

nothing will set motivation in motion like booking your honeymoon in Antigua!!

When deciding where we wanted to go for our honeymoon - we had some common "must haves" on our lists... 1) beach 2) bar...preferably the swim-up variety 3) lay around and not do much of anything....translation here is NO STRESS! 4) some place neither of us have been 5) did i mention the swim-up bar?

Sooooooo.... based on the above we picked Antigua! It sounds very beautiful and romantic and there are several swim-up bars at the resort we're booking at so - YAHOOOOO! I am so excited I can hardly stand it! However, reality is starting so sink in that I will be wearing a bikini for 7 days straight and i want to look hot so... Operation Look Hot In Wedding Dress has now paired up with Operation Look Hot In Bikini At Swim-Up Bar!!

I am going to aim for working out 5 days a week (2-3 bootcamps a week and the rest running or classes at Gold's). I figure 5 workouts a week is doable for me...6 is a little daunting....so 5 it is. Wish me luck - I start tonight by hitting Gold's - should be fun.... at least I will keep telling myself this all day ;)

Oh and check out my fancy wedding countdown clock to the right..... time is ticking!!

Bootcamp at Big Daddy's

Last night, Chad and I went to a friend's retirement party - Carol. Somehow I did NOT get any pictures from there but - was so much fun! Carol served 20 years in the Air Force and now she is retiring to just chill! She had a blast and drank her 20 years worth of alcohol last night ;) Was a fun time had by all....

Chad and I then headed over to Big Daddy's in Belleville to meet up with my boot camp girls - total blast! Here are some shots of us....

Raelyn, Lisa & Vicki enjoying "The Recliner"... once you have one, you need to hit the lazy boy and sleep it off!



Here is a close up....eerily similar to the VooDoo drinks from last week :)



Here is a pic of me looking very sweaty and Chad looking very cute ;)



Group hug with Lisa and Vicki...



Lisa & Vicki...CHEERS!



Last one - cute pic of me & Miss Raeray!



Maybe our next bootcamp celebration we will plan for a night when we DON'T have boot camp the next morning.... we were all draggin a little bit this morning! Actually I felt pretty good and I didn't drink that much - shocking I know!

Today Chad and I are just chillaxing at home - about to throw some turkey burgers on the grill and not sure what else we will get into this weekend....hope everyone is having a good one!

back on the health kick.....

I feel like I am back on a healthy eating kick - which is awesome... makes me feel so much better. It is just much easier to do this at home versus when traveling.
Last night we grilled a pork tenderloin - I found the recipe out of a new cookbook I just bought and it was delicious. The recipe is very simple - Rosemary Garlic Pork Tenderloin - here is a pic....



It is very simple - for one 1 lb tenderloin I chopped up about 2 sprigs of rosemary fresh from my herb garden - sweet! and also about 5 cloves of garlic, added 1/2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp sea salt and 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper and mixed that all up to form a rub/paste. I made about 4-5 slits in the tenderloin and put a tsp of the mixture in each slit then rubbed the remaining garlic-rosemary mixture over the top. Let that chill in the fridge for about 2 hours and we grilled it up....YUM! Really healthy too - 154 cals/5.6 fats/.3 fibs/23g protein per 3oz serving = 3 WWP! Really quick, easy and tasty.

Here is my breakfast this morning -



Tiff told me to check out the pure egg whites in the carton and damn was she right....I made an egg white omelet this morning with green onions and cheese and it was killer. I used 1/4 cup of egg whites and it was plenty.... paired that with my beloved Ezekiel bread and some strawberries...which were so good - very sweet! Best part of breakfast was the Dunkin Donuts coffee I picked up at Sam's yesterday. Chad and I had a field day there last night and bought some really great stuff...I heart Sam's!

Anyway - hope everyone is having a great week...I have boot camp tonight and then tomorrow Chad and I are going to a retirement party for one of his co-sergeants. Then I am meeting up with some boot camp girls for drinks afterward....rest of the weekend is chill/sleep time.... ahhhhhh :)

Smoked Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas

When Chad smoked that chicken the other night - obviously we had leftovers since it's just the two of us so - check out what I made on a whim for lunch....



Took me all of about 4 minutes to make - diced up some smoked chicken, chopped green onions (I eat these with EVERYTHING), 2% reduced fat Mexican shredded cheese - put that all into a flour tortilla - and cooked it up with some Pam. I figured this all out to be 5 WWP.

I ate each bite like this (below).... with this totally killer salsa I've discovered when I just don't have time to make my own.... it is called Wholly Salsa and is amazing...not sweet at all b/c I detest sweet salsa and, the ingredients are all natural - hence the "Wholly"....der



Healthy AND used up some leftovers...yes, I know I'm awesome :)

Oh No! We've Been Let Go!!

OK - finally have some time on my lunch to update here with pics... so here we go....

I was in ATL pretty much all last week as I had to say goodbye to some of my employees - long story short, we were aquired by another insurance company and due to location/acquisition issues - some employees were let go. There is no way around it - situation just sucks as these ladies are not only wonderful, talented and smart people but - also dear friends. The good news however is that.... almost all of them have back up plans - future job plans, going back to school plans, staying at home to be mom plans, etc so... I am very hopeful that everyone ends up in better places. Here are some pics from my trip...

Laura, Christina and I at Frontera's.... really miss this place!!



Us at the office.....




Here is the going away cake - it is called a Suzy-Q cake and yep you guessed it....tastes just like a big Suzy-Q!! DIVINE!!! The writing on the cake was Laura's idea and was perfect for the occasion....



We went over to the Arena Tavern for Happy Hour and really blew it out... good times had by all!






It was a very bittersweet trip for me as I am sad that things are changing but, very happy for everyone moving on to new and exciting times. I stayed through the weekend with my friend Mary and was able to hang out with so many of my best friends....was awesome...

I stayed with Tiff for the first two nights - here is a pic of us at our favorite watering hole - Taco Mac. Damn we've had a lot of fun at this place!! She just completed a triathalon and she is super buff - she looks amazing and I am so proud of her!! She is an inspiration....



Here is a pic of my girl Mary.... she is the bomb, in case ya didn't know.... I stayed with her Thursday - Sunday and we partied like rock stars! Mary is the funniest person I've ever known and you always feel like a million bucks when you are with her - nonstop laughter and good conversation! She is the best....check out our beer catalogue pic....



Here we are tearing up the dance floor.... don't ask what dance moves I was busting out....looks like the crunked sprinkler.....good times ;)



Saturday night we were able to hook up with my girls Christy, Mikele and Tracy....LOVE these girls so much! We all went to high school and college together and we have girls weekends whenever we can....they are my heart and I miss them dearly! We went to a really great place in downtown Lawrenceville called McCray's that had excellent rooftop seating...was a total blast!! We were drinking their VooDoo cocktail that has blackberry rum.....YUM!!!




It was a whirlwind trip and there were still lots of people that I wanted to see that I didn't get a chance too :( but, you can only do so much in 5 days!! I was exhausted when I got home yesterday....really missed Chad and the girls! Chad picked me up and had dinner waiting for me and a 12 pack of cold brew - we had a nice quiet night and dinner was fab. He smoked a chicken and the flavor was amazing! In fact I made a chicken quesadilla for lunch today using leftovers but...more on that later.

Anyway - had an awesome trip but happy to be home...Thanks to all my dear friends that were so hospitable - especaially Miss Mary! You rock girl....xoxo!!! Love Y'all!

ATL!!

I am exhausted but have had a great time here in ATL. Was a bittersweet trip as I had to say goodbye to some awesome people that I've worked with for the past nine years...but, everyone is moving on to exciting new opportunities and I know I will be in touch with those girls for a long time to come.

I have a ton of pics to post - I stayed through the weekend and got to see a lot of my best friends - not all of them but most of them. Lots of drinking, shopping and laughing had by all....good times. I have laughed so much over the past few days my abs are hurting! I really miss all of my friends and it was great seeing evreyone but I am homesick! Just can't wait to see Chad and the Girls. This should be my last trip for a while.... gotta jam as the flight is about to board. More later.

Oh and I think Tiff and I found a 10K to do with my sisters....more on that later!

Beer & Birthday Weekend!

Just seems as if I was excited the weekend was here...and now it's almost over :( Here's the recap... Friday night we went to The Wine Tap for a couple beers and flat bread pizza...YUM! Hard to believe that they've been open one year! It was completely packed out - also the belleville wine & jazz fest was going on - but still, completely packed! We could not find a seat on the patio or the bar but, ended up getting a great table in Cheryl's section. So happy that they've done so well - it really is a great place. I have to say, we are regulars there ;)

Saturday I got up and went to boot camp and then Chad and I headed to the STL Brew Fest - had a total blast! We had the 12-4pm pass and definitely drank our money's worth...sampling some really great local micro brews. Met some interesting people that love beer like us and...I got a nice big fat sunburn...boooo! Here are some pics from the brew fest.....

This is straight up HOPS brew that was under the home brewer's tent - the beer was awesome under this tent and everyone was so very friendly. Brewers rock! Chad was drooling over this hops overload....



Here is a shot of the fest and peeps there....



Chad and I....pre sunburn for me - ugh :(



We got home from the fest, had some Chinese food and crashed at about 7pm! We were both exhausted from drinkin in the sun... drank lots of water and hit the sack. I think we got about 11 hours of sleep last night!

Tomorrow is Chad's birthday - we celebrated it today for the most part. I gave him a nice smoker that he wanted....as you know we grill A LOT so, this is just another option...he did a beef brisket today and it was DELISH! You should see the amount of spices that go on here to create this yummy bark as it it smoked. So damn good....





Here are the girls....hoping for a little bite of brisket! Sorry girls...Honeybear is on a diet per doctor's orders! No scraps....



And for Chad's birthday I decided to make something healthy as we are trying to be good and drop some lb's before the wedding... since it's summer, decided to go with a Margarita Pie I found online.... it was pretty damn good! The crust is made with pretzels, light butter, little bit of limeade, & sugar. The filling has light vanilla ice cream, little bit of tequila & grand marnier, lime zest and frozen limeade - end result was really good and not too rich. Here are some pics and I'll post the recipe below as well in case you're interested....it's a good summer dessert





2 1/3 oz pretzel(s), miniature twists (about 2 cups)
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp light butter, at room temperature
6 oz frozen limeade concentrate, slightly thawed
4 cup(s) light vanilla ice cream
1 1/2 oz tequila, about 3 tbsp
1/2 fl oz orange-flavored liqueur
1 tsp lime zest

Preheat oven to 375°F. In a food processor or blender, process pretzels into crumbs; add sugar and pulse until combined. Add butter and mix well. With machine running, add 2 tablespoons of limeade concentrate; process until well-mixed.


Spoon mixture into an ungreased 9-inch pie plate. With back of a spoon, press mixture firmly into bottom and up sides of pan to form a pie shell. Bake until set, about 5 minutes; place in freezer for 10 minutes to cool.


Meanwhile, in a clean food processor or electric mixer, combine ice cream, remaining limeade concentrate, tequila and liqueur; process or mix until just blended. Spoon ice cream mixture into cooled pie shell and sprinkle with lime zest. Freeze for 2 hours before cutting into 8 pieces. Yields 1 slice per serving. 8 servings - 4 WW Pts :) Pretty damn sweet!

So, tomorrow is Chad's official birthday, he is off tomorrow while I will be working away in my office. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY! Love you! Alright - gotta go rub aloe on my burn :(

Good News!

I forgot to tell everyone that Honey's blood work came back from the vet yesterday...and GREAT NEWS!! She is cancer free! So - no more chemo for our pup...we will follow up with the vet again in 6 months and test again but.... so far so good! She does have this habit though of "fly biting"...snapping at flies every once in awhile that are not there. I mentioned this to the vet because I noticed that she stopped doing this during her chemo when she was on steroids. He said that this could be a symptom of canine epilepsy....and she has had one seizure about a year and a half ago. There is nothing definite and - really would not require treatment unless she started having regular seizures so...hopefully she will just stick to the "fly biting". I swear, if it is not one thing it's another! That Honeybear!!

Here is Miss Honey....



Oh - went to Old Navy yesterday and got a few things - I like getting summer stuff there because it's cheap and pretty basic. Let me just say.... good lord the fatness can creep up on you....before you even realize it! I was wearing 8's there a couple months ago and yesterday....the 10's were SNUG. Nice. So... I am back to tracking my points, etc. I also think my new birth control may be making me retain water but....I've been on it now for about 3 months so, hopefully my body will get used to it and get back to normal. REALLY need to be good and - with my trip to Atlanta next week, that will be hard. My favorite places to hit are of course based around food.... Mellow Mushroom for pizza, Taco Mac for wings/brews, Vortex for burgers... I think I'm going to just have to suck it up and be good next week.... damn - wish they would invent that magic supermodel skinny pill already.

Bootcamp tonight and I am looking forward to it. It really helps to work off the stress of work/wedding planning, etc.

Anyway - that's all for today. Really busy with work - all I have to say is THANK GOD tomorrow is Friday. I am so ready for the weekend!!

Portland & Donuts

Been super busy so, have not blogged in such a long time....sorry Brielle!!! :-)

OK so - trip to Portland....MAN! What an amazing town! I felt kinda guilty being there without Chad because damn...there is a LOT of good beer there. 33 Microbrew Pubs in the city of Portland!! We went to Full Sail Brew Pub, Deschutes Brewery & also a place called Henry's that was YUM. I ate lots of seafood while I was there and everything was delicious. Chad was a sweetie and loaded up his hand-held GPS with lots of good restaurants/bars we've seen on the Food Network or read about - he even mapped my hotel and the airport - what a sweetie! I fell in love with the GPS and will never take another trip without it! Here are some pics from Portland...

This is the outdoor patio at Henry's.... really a cool place! They have a crazy long beer selection and the bar inside has ice slabs on top like as a strip in the middle to keep your brew chilled perfectly - genius!



Taps at Full Sail..... great beer!



My hotel room :) I don't know why I always take a pic but...I do, lol



We also made it into VooDoo Donuts YESSSSS!!! Totally awesome donuts!! Check it out....



YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!! I ate this one above and brought the rest home to Chad :) If you ever want to get attention in an airport - carry around a pink box of donuts. I had a million people stop me and ask what was in there, lol! Donuts make people happy!



Next trip to Portland I will bring Chad - I know he would love it. Just wish it wasn't so far away!

I took the day off today as I was feeling kinda crappy this morning but, starting to feel better so, think I will head out to Old Navy and get some shorts/skirts/capris...starting to get hot here already. AND Chad's birthday is Monday but we are going to celebrate this weekend so, need to pick up his birthday gift :) Will blog more later -

oh damn....

Well
....trip is off on a shakey start...forgot my passport that has my "work name" on it! Long story but I go by my former married name at work. When we were acquired by a larger company I didn't want to change my name & get lost in the shuffle or people say "Ashley Who?" so anyway....it is a hassle and I just forgoe at 4:30 am this morning! Will be nice when I have everything in my new name in November. Ok...bout to get some coffee and wait to board the plane...thankfully the ticket agent and security were nice and let me thru and hopefully the rest of the trip goes smoother!!

Happy Memorial Day Everyone.... off to Portland for me!

First of all, Happy Memorial Day to all the men & women that are active duty military - past and present. Your sacrifices and service is greatly appreciated. Hope everyone had a safe and happy one!

Our weekend has been nice and laid back - we finally made it to Hidden Lake Winery yesterday and had a great time. It was so nice, relaxing and beautiful. We will be back for sure....was a great time and the wine was pretty good too! There was a wedding going on while we were there so, it was nice to see that - made me excited about ours! I somehow did not get any pics though :( booooo!

Our day has been pretty lazy today - mainly chilling at the house. Made some breakfast, had some coffee, did the crossword together and wrestled on the couch - that is pretty much it! Oh wait, did get out and get a pedi - and it was pretty painful actually. She was not the most gentle person let's just say. Anyway - I have finally motivated myself to do some laundry and now I need to start packing - off to Portland, OR tomorrow morning for me! I am really excited - I've been to Seattle a few times but, never Portland so, really excited. The weather is supposed to be great and I will get to meet my new boss and coworkers. Should be a great time. I will be taking lots of pics while I'm there... have a list of places I want to hit that I've seen on the food network :) I'm going to try and bring Chad home some doughnuts from VooDoo Donuts and a pint glass or two from one of the brewpubs there.... totally stoked! Although, I know I will be homesick for Chad and the girls.

Alright....off to pack - have a great week everyone! Wish every Monday was like this one ;)

Cubans & 1905 Salad - our interpretation....

Work has been crazy busy this week so been kinda MIA - sorry! Really quick though - wanted to share our interpretation of the 1905 Salad and Cuban combo from The Columbia - which is my favorite restaurant in Sarasota - DELISH!!!!

First thing first - I marinated a pork tenderloin earlier this week in soy sauce, olive oil, fresh minced garlic, fresh minced ginger, pepper, handful each of fresh chopped cilantro and parsley (thanks to JoAnne for the recipe!) - just marinated this for a few hours and then threw it on the grill...........YUM!!! So damn good, the cilantro really makes it.

Anyway - we had leftovers so, decided to try our hand at recreating the Cubans & best salad in the world from The Columbia...... here is our version...





I must admit - i think our version was pretty damn awesome! The Cuban just rocked!

Now, for a reference point - here is a snapshot of the original 1905 Salad & Cuban combo from The Columbia....



Anyway....once again with work being stressful, hard to keep healthy but - trying! I am so damn happy it is a THREE DAY WEEKEND! A few more hours of work and then freedom...yeah! Although I will likely work a few hours this weekend, ah well. At least it will be from the laptop on the back patio. Also, I have to pack Monday for my biz trip to Portland, Oregon next week! WHOOT WHOOT! So excited! More on that later..... lunch is over & back to work for me!

Sarasota, continuted.... pics galore!!

Wedding plans are rolling along - Chad and i got a LOT done last night. It is amazing how easy it is to book and check out vendors, etc - thanks to the Internet and email! I booked the officiant who will marry us and coordinate the wedding (pretty easy since it is just Chad and I with no attendants), & booked the photographer! Now we just need to book the band, florist, order invites and oh yeah....find a dress :) That will probably end up being the most stressful part for me. We shall see - I will stay positive!

Here are a few more pics from our trip to Sarasota - these are when we went to a really nice Tiki Bar in Casey Key - reminded me a bit of Juana's Pagoda in Navarre but more tucked away and quiet.... very fun place!

Chad and me...


JoAnne & me....



Michael's pup Ali - so sweet! Reminded me of our Honey! We took her to the Tiki Bar with us.....



Me, JoAnne & her friend Marilyn - she lives in Chicago most of the time and she has hung out with us up there as well with Shefali - fun times!



Then we went back to Michael's and had a really great dinner - everything was awesome - especially the salmon!! JoAnne did it on the grill with olive oil, lemon, pepper, & lots of dill - was amazing!!!! YUM! Can't wait to make it at home soon! Here is a pic of the spread although most of it was covered up but wow - amazing dinner!



JoAnne & Marilyn in Michael's kitchen.... beautiful house!



Chad and I hit the wine festival that was at the Ringley Mansion before we hopped on our plane - GREAT wine & food - except I forgot to put sunscreen on so, got a tad bit RED....ugh, I never forget sunscreen so, kicking myself for that one.... but, wine fest was fun and the Ringley mansion is absolutely breathtaking!







I took a million pics of the inside of the Mansion - and the outside rose garden - here are a few....

Wedding Plans & Sarasota....

We are here in Sarasota - having a great time! It feels so nice to be back in warm weather :) It has rained a bit here and there but - clears up and has been beautiful. Best part of the trip - we have gotten a lot accomplished as far as our wedding - we have the place reserved and an official date - November 21st! Yahoooo!

Here are some pics of the location - very beautiful - it is at Lido Beach Resort....

this is the beach where the ceremony will be - water is beautiful and the sand is very white....




The reception will be on the Alcove by the pool - we wanted something nice but laid back and relaxed.... there is also a tiki bar right here to the right of the pool but, not in the pic...



oh wait - here is the Tiki Bar - not open for business during this pic....



ok now you really have to use your imagination here with the ping pong tables and all, lol but - this is where the reception will be - the Alcove - of course the tables will be gone - there will be a buffet, tables, flowers, candles, etc so.... it will be beautiful once it's all put together - and a nice view of the ocean/beach....


Here is a shot of one of the Koi ponds there -



Here is the sun patio area.... love this furniture



Anyway - you can get the idea - I am VERY excited :)

The trip is going by very fast - Friday night we were supposed to go to the Ringley Mansion for a wine tasting but, it was rained out....boo! We will hit the wine festival today before we fly home so, no worries. Friday night we had an awesome dinner with Michael and JoAnne at a place called Libby's - i had the salmon and it was almost exactly like the salmon I grilled at home last week with the mustard & horseradish topping and then grilled on cedar paper - YUMMM! It was a great restaurant with beautiful lights - I loved the chandeliers - very unique....and expensive, of course! ;) Here are some pics from Libby's.....

Chad & me....



Gorgeous chandeliers from Italy - I LOVE these!!



Chad and I went out to the Pier near Anna Maria Island and took a quick pic - Chad used to fish here with his Grandfather when he was little... another shot from there - time for me to get back on the DIET when we get home :-)



After we signed the deal booking our wedding date, Chad and I went over to Hemingway's and celebrated with some Mojitos on their balcony - it faces into and over St Armand's Circle so, you can people watch - great location - last pic of me for today :) - this is me at Hemingway's....



Will post more pics later and blog once we get home! Later Y'all!!

Grilling Night.....again!!

Chad and I grilled out tonight - Chad did an AWESOME job on his chicken and my salmon :) I was kinda nervous on how the salmon would turn out - my first time grilling on a cedar plank but - it turned out AMAZING!! Check it out....

yummy salads - Field Greens, craisins, almond slices, feta & balsamic dressing...





Here is Chad's chicken - he did leg quarters (leg & thigh) on the grill - I don't usually like dark meat and prefer breast meat but - this was good and look how perfect it looks!! My baby is so good on the grill ;)



Now - here is my salmon...I just cannot make the salmon look as good in pics as it tastes cuz let me tell you - this ROCKED! Chad took a bite and he even liked it - which he usually does not eat salmon so, I was impressed with myself :) I adapted the recipe from one of Bobby Flay's and it was super simple - I mixed about a tablespoon of whole grain mustard, about 1/2 tsp of Dijon mustard, and a 1/2 tsp of horseradish and spread that over the salmon. Then I sprinkled about 1 tsp of brown sugar over the top - put the salmon on the cedar plank (sans skin) and grilled on medium high for about 15 mins - DELISH!!! I can't wait to make this again and play around with the recipe a bit.... here is the finished product -



Bootcamp was great tonight and I am tired - getting excited about our trip to Sarasota - we leave on Thursday - will start to get wedding plans finalized - yahoo!! That's all for now - hope everyone's Monday was great! Later!

Happy Mother's Day Weekend!

Happy Mother's Day to all my Mommas...and all Mamma's out there :) Funny that this year - my Mom received food gifts from all her kiddos - I sent her some Christie's Cookies - which are amazing!! My sisters sent her See's chocolate (yu-hum!) and my brother sent her a cake. But, back to the pressie I sent her - Christie's Cookie Company hands down makes the best White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies I have EVER had - an attorney I used to work with would send them to us all the time at work and we would all be SO excited when we saw the tin but - equally devastated because we knew the caloric damage done once the tin was open but - some things are worth it ;) Anyway - D-lo has cookies, candies and cakes from all her kiddos so she can eat up and enjoy! Chad and I sent JoAnne a nice groupings of gourmet cheese from Williams-Sonoma - delish!! So, guess we were passing the food love on to our Mammas this year :)

This weekend has been very nice - lots of grilling out, yard work, chilling and a few brews.... and more of that today. We grilled kabobs Friday night on the grill....



We did chicken breast last night that were amazing - more of that today I think...will take pics. Threw some asparagus and corn on there as well - delish!

Here are some pics of my flowers I planted Saturday...







I also potted a beautiful Apricot Hibiscus plant but - will wait and take pics once it blooms - should be BEAUTIFUL. Apricot Hibiscus are my faveorite :)

Here is a little visitor I had this morning - such a friendly sweet kitty! Honeybear was going nuts inside while I talked to Miss Kitty and patted her head - such a sweetie!



Happy Mother's Day to all and hope everyone is having a beautiful & joyful day - xoxo!

Salmon on the Grill.....yumz

Well - the rest of this week has gone pretty smoothly **knocking on wood** and only one more night after tonight and Chad gets home - YEAH! :-)

Cinco de Mayo was yesterday - I went out for dinner with Julie & Rob - we went to a Mexican restaurant here that had freakin tents set up outside, band playing, beer stand, the whole works. It was pretty amusing to see all the crunked up people on a Tuesday night but hey - that's been me a time or two ;) Was a fun night but no pics, sorry.

Bellydancing was really great tonight - I completed my first cycle of Bellydancing I and now the second cycle starts next week - I am super excited! Lauren is the instructor and she is really such a cool chick - very good aura about her. She just makes you want to live life with more spontaneity, more openness, more freedom. I love the class - very inspiring.

I got home and grilled some salmon on the for real grill versus the GFG - no offense GFG but it's time for outdoor grilling! It was a new recipe I tried - Salmon with Dill Sauce - and was delish! Here are some pics - tasted WAY better than the pics indicate but - it's hard to make dill sauce look yummy in my kitchen lighting :-)



The salmon with the sauce was 238 cals/13 fat/23 protein. Not bad! And, the way I grilled it - just sprinkled fresh dill, pepper and a bit of lemon juice - wrapped it loosely in foil and put in on the grill on high for 12 mins - the way it cooked the skin stuck to the foil and the salmon fillet perfectly lifted out and onto my plate sans skin - yeah! I don't like the skin so - that was a neat-o little trick!

Anyway - getting sleepy and I want to read a bit - almost done with Beautiful Boy - will blog about it once I'm finished - excellent read. Later Taters!

Runaway Bebe

And so....here is how my lovely night went....I finally fall asleep around 10:45pm and drift off to lovely dreams of Philosophy shower gel when I am wakened a few hours later (1AM) to the sound of a loud high pitched "BEEP....BEEP.....BEEP". uuuhhhhhhhh.....WTF? After getting up in a sleepy daze and realize it is the smoke alarm (i think)...I screw around with disconnecting all of the smoke alarms, and in the process set off the house alarm when I disconnected them....I realize it is the low battery annoying ass indicator on the carbon-monoxide alarm (I didn't know we even had one of these but apparently the batteries are LOW). I think - can't this shit go off during the DAY versus 1 friggin AM in the morning??!!?!?! OK so, unplug that shit....beeping stops - YEAH! Except wait - something isn't quite right....

I look around and realize that the dogs are no longer in the house so, I figure they must be outside....I poke my head out the back patio door - look around in the pitch blackness and NOPE....no dogs. Upon further inspection - I see a nice little hole in the fence that is just big enough for them to squeeze through. Fuckity Fuck. I immediately panic - throw some jeans on, grab their leashes and head out into the sleepy dark neighborhood....yelling HONEY!! BEBE!!! Nothing.... I immediately panic and imagine the worst - I just can't believe this is happening when 1)Chad is out of town and 2)it is now 2AM in the frigging morning! I walk all over this damn neighborhood with no sign of the girls - stopping every few steps to yell their names and listen for the slightest hint of the familiar jingle of their tags/collars....nada. Panic now sets in.

I call Chad and wake him up - he calms me down b/c I am in tears at this point and he tells me to call the police - which I do. They tell me that there is an officer on duty in our hood and he will look for the girls on his down time tonight - ugh. I decide at this point to continue looking for the girls myself and drive around in the Passat, windows down, yelling the girls names - nothing. Head back home and call Chad to cry - again. Such a helpless feeling!

Now I know - at this point if you are not an animal person you are thinking WTF - big deal - they will come home by morning..go to bed! But, our dogs are like my children - I love them so much so, it would be like your kids running away in the middle of the night...scary! I'm on the phone with Chad and i hear the familiar jingle of a dog tags and there is Honeybear at the front door! YEAH!!! I get her inside put the leash on her and take her back out into the night - thinking she will lead me to Bebe. Now, I think she was trying to help me out here but, she was just as puzzled as I was where Bebe was. UGH - I am really getting worried now - thinking she is hit by a car or something horrible has happened.

I head back home and sit on the couch for a few and then notice a police car pull up outside the house so I go out and there is Officer Karl - he suggested that we ride in his car and shine the search lights around the hood to see if we can find her. This kind man drove me around for about an hour until he finally spots her!!! I jump out and get her on her leash and load her up into the backseat of the police car - UNDER ARREST!!! I then break down crying out of relief. I think Officer Karl just felt sorry for me but - happy we found her.

Anyway....here we sit, back at home - it's now 4:40AM and I'm wide awake....and hungry I might add. Bebe is fast asleep and here I sit...can't fall back asleep after all that adrenalin. I think I need to take a vacation day tomorrow though so I can catch up on my sleep - I know I will be exhausted.

God - PLEASE let the rest of this week go better than tonight did! Although I am thankful that my girls are home safe and sound....little hellions!!!

pouty me

So I took Chad to the airport this morning, we got up at 4ish so he could make his flight - it always makes me so sad to say goodbye to him - even if it is only for a few days. The house is SO empty without him and the girls are always mopey and sad....boo hoo hoooo. I miss hearing him sing in the kitchen or hearing him laugh at whatever or getting a hug and kiss when he gets home from work. I know this week will go by fast though so - will just trudge onward.

Keeping myself busy helps A LOT so, that's the plan. I am making a mental "to do list" in my head - I want to plant some flowers for our back patio and front porch - Orange Hibiscus I'm thinking for the back. I also really want to go through my closet and take a ton of stuff to Goodwill - there is so much in there that I just don't wear. And I need to organize our linen closet and bathroom cabinets. I'm a bit of a product whore so - I have a ton of just WHATEVER under both sides of our bathroom cabinets - poor Chad can't really put much under there. I'm like my Mom that way - I stock pile stuff that I like...for example, right now I have probably 5 bottles of Philosophy shower gel under there. And I would have MORE except I have been trying to restrain myself in that department. But damn....that stuff smells so delicious and gets so bubbly and lathery in the shower - it's my fave. Right now I am using Carmel Apple and I'm almost done with that bottle so - then I have the option of Green Apple, Rootbeer, Snickerdoodle, Oatmeal Cookie or Red Licorice. Hmmmm...notice these are all FOOD related! Big shock there! Seriously if you have not indulged in these, check them out here....the scents are amazing and the scent just lasts in the shower so, it's not like you walk around smelling like Rootbeer all day. Although that would not be a bad thing in my book.... they are DIVINE! And hey - sometimes life is about the small kickass indulgences like yummy shower gel.

So tonight after bootcamp - came home, took a quick shower, made a nice healthy dinner, watched the Tour of Love Reunion (word!! love that damn show!) and now blogging, reading a couple chapters of my book and bed. Exciting stuff. Night!

pork-a-licious patio :)

I have been MIA lately! Just so busy with work, life, etc...

First off - Chad and I have been grilling as of late and it makes me so happy because it makes it feel like summer is getting closer - slowly but surely! Here are some chops we grilled up last weekend....yummmmm



Yesterday was another day of grilling - or smoking actually - Chad threw a pork shoulder on the grill on low and smoked it for about 8 hours - it was SO DELISH - the "bark" is the crispy charred spice & mustard rub on the outside of the pork - and inside the meat was so tender and juicy - just amazing :) We had pulled pork sammies with it and put some vinegar style BBQ Sauce on there and WOW - out of this world good! Take a look-see....



I made a fabulous side dish out of the new WW cookbook - it was an Asian Slaw made with cabbage, carrots, red bell pepper, scallions and had a peanut soy vinaigrette - 1 1/4 cup for 2 points and it was so good....in fact I am snacking on some at this very moment as I blog :-) yummmmm



Have a TON of leftovers so, going to have to get creative on what to do with it...BBQ Burritos maybe?? I dunno, we will see. Chad is flying out tomorrow to GA and will be gone all week again - boooo. Anyway - will have plenty of time to think about what to make with all the leftover pork - healthy suggestions anyone???

OH - I almost forgot, we bought patio furniture this weekend as well! And damn, that stuff is not cheap - we have a pretty small little patio here in our rental house so, we really did not get the one that we want to have eventually but - we both liked this and it fits on our little patio - we have really enjoyed it so far and have been sitting outside with our laptops, chilling etc. Here it is....







In workout news - I ran 3 miles on Thursday on the treadmill! Go me! Have not ran that far in forever - I usually get tired or bored after 2 miles and stop but, I just had so much energy Thursday and pushed myself to do 3 miles! WHOOT WHOOT!!! I was talking to Tiff yesterday and I think we may kick around the idea of training for a 10K together and seeing if my sisters want to join us as well...we will see. Tiff has a triathlon next weekend and I am really hoping she does a fantastic job :) I know she will! OH - I also had boot camp yesterday morning and it was just me and Vicki so, I had my own personal trainer for an hour and let's just say I am feeling it today! Kicked my butt!! We did so much - jump-roped even! I have not done that in forever - it was great!

Alright, that's it for now - more this week..... later!

Mango-licious :-)

So, I bought a mango earlier this week - I don't know why because I didn't have a particular use in my mind for it. It just sounded good so, bought it and have been pondering on what to do with it... this morning i figured it out - MANGO SMOOTHIE!

Here is what I made for my mid-morning snack....

*1/2 cup chopped fresh mango
*1/2 cup quartered fresh strawberry
*6 oz fat free plain 0% greek yogurt
*splash of fresh lemon juice
*packet of splenda
*handful ice cubes

Puree the above in a blender and Viola - 3 point Mango-Strawberry Smoothie

Bootcamp & Mexican't Night....

Bootcamp tonight was AWESOME! We did a lot of fun stuff and it was a great workout. I really wish I had worn my HRM so I could know just how many cals I burned!! We ran steps, did tons of push up, incorporated weights, etc. One thing we did that was awesome - Front,Back,Go! It works like this... When Vicki would yell "FRONT" you do push ups, when she would yell "BACK" you do crunches, when she would yell "GO" you run in place and hike your knees up as far as you can while running. Now Vicki's yelling went something like this:

"FRONT.....................BACK..................GO.................. BACK...............GO............BACK...............FRONT..........." etc etc etc!

By the end we were all exhausted. AWESOME! Oh, we did this other thing called "Dead Bug" which is like a reverse plank. You lay on your back and put your arms up and legs up in the air...hence the "dead bug" name. Vicki would say "left arm, left leg" and you put you arm and leg out at 45 degree angle.....then she would say "right leg, left arm" etc etc, mixing it up. It was a killer core workout! I am really loving the boot camp - lots of fun and a great group of people - and it's fun working-out outside.

Anyway - it was so tough that I was craving a brew and Mexican't food afterwards so....decided to do it healthy style. I used whole wheat tortillas, bell peppers & onions sauteed in olive oil, 2% reduced fat cheese, salsa and plain non-fat greek yogurt in place of sour cream - DELICIOUS!!! I had two of these bad boys for a total of 9 points - very filling and satisfied my craving - go ME! :) And I even had that Mich Ultra as I cooked - whoot whoot! Here are some pics....






Anyway - Chad comes home tomorrow night and I am so excited....I just cannot WAIT to see him! I have really missed him this week and just can't wait to get my hands on him :-) Been cleaning and getting the house all nice so we can just chillax this weekend - later y'all!

Happy Anniversary to D-lo & BTW!!! :-)

Sending happy wishes out to my Mom & Dad today! It is their 54th anniversary!! My mom just called me to tell me all about their nice dinner - they went to this place called Jake's in Tyler TX - they took Chad and I there when they met Chad for the first time :) It is a great restaurant - great food and this amazing white chocolate raspberry bread pudding - which my parents had tonight! Yum! My dad bought her some really nice James Avery jewelry - so sweet, go Dad! Anyway, pretty amazing :)

so so so....today is Wednesday.....Chad comes home Friday - I am missing him so much! I am just ready to pick him up on Friday night and give him a big hug and kiss. He is my rock and always knows what to say to soothe me - I was telling him tonight on the phone about work stress and of course, he says "don't worry, it will work out, you'll get it" and he's right - it just feels so nice to hear him say it with empathy & confidence in his voice - makes me believe in myself, de-stress and know that yes, things will be okay in time, it will click.

Regarding WW and all that - back on track and going strong. I made a really great dinner tonight - Honey & Soy Broiled Salmon with asparagus and wild rice - YUM! Was going to take a pic except I was chatting with my friend Shefali, then talked to D-lo, then Chad so - salmon was gone by the time all that chatting was done. It was delish though. One thing about my salmon- I like it well done - pretty much the opposite of my steaks. Blah blah blah - anyway, if you dig on salmon, try the recipe above - it rocks and is super easy.

Belly dancing was awesome tonight - very relaxing. It is nice to not think about ANYTHING for an hour....other than my form, breathing, moving my hip this way, shoulder this way, abs this way.....very nice.

Anyway - I am rambling tonight b/c I'm tired - not sleeping well without my baby next to me. Hope everyone is having a nice Humpday :) Later!

Wake Up Call & Cucumber Salad

I'm a little sad tonight as Chad is packing for his trip to Langley AFB this week - boo hoo, I will miss him. Or - WE will miss him I should say - the girls already know something is up as the suitcase is out. That is their signal to get antsy and bust out the puppy-dog eyes. He will be home Friday so, not a long trip but makes me sad to think of him not being here - reminds me of his past deployment...and the one that likely looms ahead :( ANYWAY - the week will go by fast for me as I've got work, boot camp and belly dancing to keep me occupied.

Monday and Tues of this week - I will be driving into the office in STL for training - should be interesting. Sucks though b/c Honey and Bebe will be by themselves both days - poor puppies! I always feel guilty leaving them for so long but, i guess most dogs are home alone all day. And, I have a feeling they snooze pretty much all day anyway when I'm not home.

I had a major wake-up call today - I finally made it to a WW meeting today with my friend Julie. I weighed in and although I feel like I've been doing pretty good the past few weeks - especially with upping my exercise and making good (usually) choices regarding food - I still managed to have a pretty hefty GAIN at the scale today - now keep in mind, this is the first time i've weighed in since the end of JANUARY! So, I've made a decision to get back on plan (tracking on eTools, staying OP, etc) and really try and make an effort to lose 10 -15 lbs by Sept/Oct timeframe. I think that is realistic and a healthy range for me. I like how my body looks in the 140's so, that is what I'm aiming for. I know I can do it - just have to re-focus.

Really quick - I want to share this recipe - made this tonight and it's a great side-dish for summer. It's a Wolfgang Puck recipe for cucumber salad and I think I've blogged about it before but didn't post the recipe - try it, it is awesome & low in points:

Spago Cucumber Salad

2 cups thinly sliced Japanese cucumbers*
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons sesame seeds

* English cucumbers may be substituted. The English cucumbers need to be peeled, cut lengthwise, seeded, and sliced into thin half moons.

In a large bowl, combine cucumbers and salt; mix well. Add sugar, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and sesame oil; mix well. Sprinkle with sesame seed and mix. Let marinate for 20 minutes before serving & I usually chill it in the fridge while it's marinating.

Recipe Makes 4 servings

Per Serving - 2.5 Fat Grams, 43.5 calories, .75 WW Points


Here are some pics from our dinner tonight - Chad made one of my favorites - Pork Chops with Garlic, Mushrooms and Red Wine Reduction - YUM!



Here are a couple pics of the cucumber salad - so damn good :)

yummy salad :)

Bootcamp was awesome last night! Great workout and it was really fun - nice to be outdoors and workout with a group - it is really motivating. In fact, I even worked out today at lunch - did my Jillian Michaels Shred DVD and I even wore my Polar HRM - burned 260 calories in about 25 mins! Not bad :)

So, I admit I've gotten into a bit of a "lunch rut" - eating the same old same - cup of soup with a ham & cheese sammy off the GFG - Viola...



As much as I love this lunch - very simple and low in cals/points, etc - i know I need to NOT eat the same thing everyday and try and spice things up. So...today - here is what I made....




I used lettuce leaves from our hydro-garden (tasted so yum - more of a spinach flavor than plain old lettuce), garbanzo beans, diced grilled chicken, beets (YUM!), fresh grated carrots, a tbsp of feta and 2 tbsp of balsamic & basil vinaigrette. Oh and I threw a handful of diced green onions b/c I can eat those on EVERYTHING. It was so delicious!! Had all this for - 340 cals/11g fat/28g protein/7 fibs/7WW pts! I am so proud of myself for throwing this healthy concoction together - go me!

I LOVE beets! My mom used to serve them all the time when i was a kid and damn, I just love them - very nostalgic food for me. I think I turned my nose up at them as a kid but - damn I love them now. Thanks D-lo!

So glad the weekend is here - it's really starting off great already - it's a beautiful day outside (SUNSHINE!!), work was low key today (enjoying those days while they last!), Tiff text me a pic of some HOT Simon Sebbag earrings that I had to buy & she is bringing them to me when she comes in May, already worked out today & have boot camp tomorrow morning....provided there is no rain. And - Chad and I can relax and have some fun together this weekend b/c we really don't have any plans - whoo hoo! Hope everyone has a great weekend as well :-)

scary spice!

LMAO! oh wow - i was messing around with my laptop today and accidentally snapped a picture of myself from my laptop webcam....this picture is too funny not to share...



Yes, this is what i look like about 80% of the time - no makeup, hair unbrushed and up in crazy lady ponytail, rockin the pj's! Working from home has it's pros and cons and well - being lazy on my appearance is a PLUS! Well.... plus for me, minus for Chad b/c this is what I look like when he gets home from work too :-)

Doing good on eating healthy still - yahoo! Even made it to the gym yesterday! Wahoo!!! Tonight is bellydancing YES! and then tomorrow is bootcamp - Aces! I probably will not be able to move by Sat night but, that's ok :) Later!

pizza & presents!

I LOVE pizza - seriously, I could eat it every day i think. Here is the pizza we made last night - Chicken, Roasted Garlic, Mozzarella & Pesto Pizza. We originally set out to make Prosciutto & Gorgonzola but we were limited b/c our local grocery was closed yesterday...anyway, here are some pics of our pie from last night - delish!





i found the recipe online from smittenkitchen (awesome foodie site!) and it is so easy -we've made it several times and it turns out perfect every time. I've made a couple adaptations but, here is the recipe -

Easy Pizza Crust

*3/4 cups Semolina Flour
*3/4 cups White Flour
*1 tsp salt
*1 tsp Simply Tasteful Garlic Garlic (basically dehydrated garlic)
*3/4 tsp active yeast
*1/2 cup room temperature water
*1 tbsp olive oil

Mix your dry ingredients (flour, salt, garlic, yeast) in a bowl, I use a whisk just to make sure it is all mixed up. Then add your water and olive oil to dry ingredients - mix to form a dough ball. I then take the dough ball out of the bowl, spray some Pam Olive Oil into the bowl and put dough back in. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit for 1 - 2 hours. You are then ready to roll it out and cook (Chad does this part as I suck at this and he is much better). I put the oven on the highest temp and then separate the dough in half so they you have two small pizzas you can top with whatever you want. Because the crust is so thin - go light on toppings so it doesn't weigh down the crust. I usually bake it anywhere from 10 - 13 mins, just keep an eye on it. It is really not that bad for you either and much healthier than ordering deep dish from wherever.

I ran the recipe through a recipe calculator and made it into two servings - so, for the crust by itself for the serving size you see in the pic above it is 470 cals, 8g fat, 13.5 proteins and 4 fibers = 9 WW points! Now, you could also be much healthier on your toppings (hello veggies) and really have an awesome pizza for low points!

Anyway - work was stressful again today as I just hate not knowing what I'm doing but, i know it will pass in time as I get everything situated. On a happy note - I received an awesome surprise present in the mail today from JoAnne - it was a beautiful gift basket that had a super soft white robe, one of my favorite candles (same kind I buy at Circa!) and shower bath/lotion/bubble bath, etc. It was awesome! I can't wait to put that robe on!!! Thank You JoAnne!!! :-) My future MIL rocks!

OK - that's all for now - time to fix dinner - later y'all!

this is how we do Easter in our house...

Happy Easter! Chad made us pancakes this morning and they were so good! We also made the Snickerdoodle coffee from the Soulard Farmer's Market in the french press - heaven! Here are some pics...

Chad even made pancakes for the girls....




Now, I was going to make Chad a basket filled with goodies this year but, decided I would probably end up eating a majority of it so - we just going to enjoy the day relaxing instead.

Bootcamp yesterday was great - fun to be outdoors exercising with a group and it was a good workout - Vicki let us know she is going to step it up each workout so...should really help me to get in shape - it is an 8 week session and we meet at the park every Mon, Thurs and Saturday so - that in combination with my belly dancing - hopefully I can shed some lbs and get buff - i am sore today a little - especially from the lunges/squats. I'm sure I will be blogging more about the process as it unfolds... of course.

After bootcamp yesterday morning, i came home and Chad and I did some yard work - and last night we had dinner at Mattingly Brewery - i had the beef kabobs and Chad had the cheese tortellini - both were awesome - their beers were good too. Fun night!

That's all for now - hope everyone is having an awesome Easter - don't eat too much candy ;)

crushin on the greek yogs....

ok - i know i've already posted today and I think I have raved many times on here before about this stuff but...........DAAAAMMMNNNN!!! This stuff is the best tasting yogurt ever! Can you tell??



One benefit to working at home - I can throw manners and proper southern girl etiquette out the window and LICK the yumminess out of the container...I think i actually stuck my finger in container to get all the yums :) Honey and Bebe don't mind my lapse in table manners....or desk manners rather....

So my peeps - if you have NOT had this stuff - you must run out now and buy mass quantities of it - it has such an amazing taste - tart yogurt mixed with the sweet fruit dip stuff on the side - heaven!! The texture is super thick too - doesn't taste like low fat yog at all! And - 10g of protein so, it will tide me over til dinner tonight - LOVE IT!



Mad props to Miss Tiff for recommending greek yogurt to me! OK - that's all i gotta say - done ranting about greek yog for now ;)

rainy friday

so happy the weekend is here - although today is rainy -supposed to be nice the rest of the weekend :-) Chad and I have been working our butts off lately so, will be nice to have a couple days to just hang out with him & the girls....gonna do pancakes at some point, probably Sunday - yeah!

No much going on otherwise besides work and gathering ideas for the wedding....work in progress! I'm really looking forward to our trip to Sarasota in May so we can get things in motion....and also just being in Florida! I love Sarasota so, will be a fun visit as always.

I wanted to update everyone on my Belly Dancing class....i absolutely LOVE it! It is so much fun and the hour seems to fly by... reminds me of when I was little and in dance classes. There is so much technique to it - gotta focus on your "tuck", your breathing, your form.... i know i have a funny look on my face during class b/c i'm concentrating so hard on everything! I've been practicing at home although it is hard because Honey wants to dance with me :) It's an awesome workout for your core, as you can imagine. Can't wait until I get to a more advanced level....

Tomorrow morning I have my first boot camp session at 9am at Longacre Park - hopefully I can hang....

Not much else going on here - I need to take some pics this weekend so the old blog isn't so boring - here is a pic Chad took of me and the girls last weekend - love this one! Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend - cheers!

ouch!

so i finally did the Jillian Michael's Shred DVD and let me say.....OUCH! It was a really great workout (like everyone says!) and seriously kicked my butt!! Her technique is combining short bursts of cardio, strength moves and ab work - with no rest between sets - well, unless you consider 2 seconds a rest... it was AWESOME! I did it Monday night - had that feeling towards the end (while I was huffing and puffing) that I was about to pass out or vomit so - workout was a success ;) I slept so good Monday night - I think my body was exhausted....

Now Tuesday morning, as soon as my eyes opened - i knew right away i was SORE! In fact - I took yesterday off from working out and here it is Wednesday....still sore!! Crazy! I am going to do the video again today and also have belly dancing tonight - can't wait. I LOVED my first class so, really looking forward to tonight's class.

On the eating front - been back to my old healthy ways - it is amazing how great my body feels when I eat right...and just how crappy I feel when I don't. My body seems to react instantly to food - either feeling great or yuck. I'm sure a lot of it is psychological.

I started reading my Fit From Within Book and want to hurry and finish that so I can get to Beautiful Boy - my sister Myk was reading it while she was here and it sounded really great - I tend to favor depressing books, just like my music :) I just can't stand all that Twilight, chick lit crap....sorry y'all! I know there is a cult following for the Twilight series and yes I know it is aimed to appeal to teens or tweens or whatever their called so I should not be so judgemental but - I just hated the first book. Ugh....give me some old fashioned Anne Rice if you're talking vampires....

Chad and I have been working our asses off this week - normal boring work stuff I won't get into here - i'm looking forward to this weekend. Think some yard work and planting some flowers will be on our agenda - hopefully weather will cooperate.

Anyway - off I go to Shred again....hopefully I won't be as sore tomorrow!! Later

new ear candy :-)

ok - guess i'm behind the curve here but - i just realized today that Sirius radio charges now to listen to music via laptop - even though we already pay for it for cars and the house - BOO! Oh well - so, I just listened to it at the house today - background music while I work :)

I listen to a lot of channels depending on my mood but today landed on XMU which is their kool kid station - i heard a lovely band and think I'm going to download them to my iPod - Asobi Seksu. It reminds me of Cocteau Twins, Lush, and some other good stuff - all rolled into one :-) Nice ear candy! Been listening to it all day and it's making me smile...

Doing really well being back on plan - ha, 8 hours in! I'm feeling better already though - and much more in control. Going to hit the gym later today so I won't be TOO bad this Saturday at bootcamp - no vomiting! My friend Vicki is doing a bootcamp on Saturdays so, figured I would just go for it. That, my belly dancing class and a few workouts a week thrown in should show some results in moving the scale in the right direction...

I have my salt lamp on my desk here in my office and it is helping me to feel calm and focus on work and not stress out - here is a pic from my blackberry, sorry for the fuzzy factor!



Ah - one other really great thing about XMU is that they throw in an Interpol song here and there - like right now.... oooo le sigh!

sisters :-)

wow wow wow - so much to blog about!! Here I go....

Had the best birthday ever this year! Hanging out with my sisters was a blast - as always. We just laugh so much and truly enjoy each other's company - I am so very thankful to have such a deep and strong relationship with both of them. After our beautiful sister Dawn Marie lost her battle with cancer, we became so very close - I know it is Dawn Marie that puts her arms around us to draw us closer, strengthen our bond and become the best of friends. It was a perfect weekend and I felt that Dawn was with us in spirit.....and spirits :-)






The weekend went by so fast! We did a lot of fun stuff - Thursday night we went to Schlafly's Tap Room and had a great dinner and some brews. Friday we went shopping all day at The Galleria in STL, had my birthday lunch at California Pizza Kitchen and then went out that night to The Wine Tap in Belleville for pizza flatbreads and wine. Then Saturday we chilled out around the house - mainly due to hangovers - then we went to Llywelyn's Pub in Soulard for lunch. Also checked out the Soulard Farmers Market and scored some yummm Snickerdoodle flavored fresh ground coffee, found a really cool hip scarf for my belly dancing class for $20 - black with silver coins for bootie shaking noise :) then we headed over to the casino Lumiere for some poker and drinks - Chad won some money and we watched the basketball game THEN headed over to Black Thorn Pub for their famous deep dish pizza -- damn, no wonder I am exhausted today - was a busy weekend!

So, tomorrow is back to diet land - gotta get my ass looking good for a wedding dress by November so..... here I go... more on that this week...

Last thing - wanted to share this recipe - made this dip this weekend and it was fab....

Walnut Red Pepper Dip

2 cups shelled walnuts
1/2 tsp each ground cumin, sugar and salt
1 jar 12 oz roasted red peppers, drained
1 clove garlic minced (i used 2 cloves b/c Chad and I LURV garlic)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice

*put walnuts, cumin, sugar, & salt in food processor until walnuts are finely grained. Add peppers, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. Whirl until smooth and then chill so the consistency is like that of hummus. Serve with pita chips.

Happy April Fools ;)

man - i have some serious PMS munchies going on - just can't stop eating the past few days! And it's not because i'm hungry...it's just mindless grazing and lots of BAD choices!! I won't even go into the peanut butter reese egg incident - Ugh...this too shall pass....hopefully sooner versus later!

My first belly dancing class is tonight!! I'm really hoping to NOT make an ass out of myself - hopefully it will be fun and send the message to my body to STOP EATING LIKE CRAP!! :-) I am going back to WW - i've been bad lately and have not been to a meeting in about 6 weeks or so - bad girl I know! Fresh start on Monday....

In happy news - my sisters will be here tomorrow night! yahoo!!! They are flying in for my birthday on Friday and I am so excited I can hardly stand it! We always have so much fun so - really looking forward to their visit.

I also got a package in the mail from Tiff today! She is such a thoughtful person - I wish I could be more like her in that regard....she always sends me the most perfect and fun gift boxes - totally awesome! She knows me so well too...I wanted to rip into the box today but - she put on the box in big pink letters NO PEEKING UNTIL FRIDAY!!!!! Ha ha - made smile and put the box down - guess i will wait til Friday!!

I will report tomorrow on my belly dancing extravaganza.....hope it goes okay!! I made a lame-o attempt to pull an April Fools joke on Chad by telling him that I also signed him up for the class....his reply was "HA HA..... Whatever!" :-)

Oooo! Booked our tix for Sarasota to hopefully make a decision on when/where the wedding will be - JoAnne sent me a couple links to places that look really nice - I'm so excited to get planning! I booked our trip for mid-May as that was the soonest we could get there - but SUPER excited!!

ugh - why did i have to even mention those damn reese peanut butter eggs....now i'm sitting here craving one......HELP!

go ahead, punch me in the head....

was too busy to blog this week! Man, I hate to whine about stuff like this because I know people want to punch me in the head BUT... I had to wake up early on Thursday and Friday, shower, get fancy and drive over an hour in traffic to sit in training all day - YUCK! I realized how spoiled and lucky I am to have a 10 step commute to work each day and that showering, make-up and clothing are optional....well, i do actually wear clothes - ha ha, just usually pj's or jeans & t'shirt combo. I will really try and NOT take that for granted b/c it truly rocks.

So, that is why i've been MIA this week from my blog.... been consumed with training and just wiped out!

I was able to go to Downtown Belleville Diva Night on Thursday night - fun event where you meet up with a ton of chicks at one bar and get a list of all the shops/bars/boutiques downtown that are offering special sales or deals for the event - they have prizes, etc. Mainly though for me - it was just fun to see my friends, make new ones, have some brews, & shop at Circa - my favorite little shop here!! I bought two super cool rings, a yummy candle and a cool box of matches...
Anyway - fun night!

Not much going on - plan this weekend is to RELAX! It is suppossed to rain/snow here today and tonight - yuck...slush snow....I am ready for Spring already! I need to get started on making the wedding guest list, etc so we have an idea of how many people we will have, etc. Chad is making breakfast burritos for us this morning - smells heavenly! I have been pretty unhealthy in the food department this week - I'll blame it on work stress and PMS - lovely combo! That's all for this morning kiddos :-)

randomness....

ok - couple of things today....

1 - I signed up for belly dancing classes!! ok, before you laugh.... a yoga studio here is offering classes and i figured hey, i need to tone my core/beer belly so...why not try something fun and something new? First class is next Wednesday...appropriately on April Fools Day! I will keep ya posted....the instructor emailed me and told me to wear a tight shirt and yoga pants so she could see how my ribcage moves....oh lord! Should be interesting!!

2 - I don't think I blogged about this but, a few weeks ago, I had a funny spot come up on my chest - about two inches below my collar bone, center of my chest. It was red, raised and itchy and would NOT go away. Me, being the Paranoid Polly that I am, made a mad dash to the dermatologist office to get it checked out. Initially when the doctor looked at it, he thought it could be early signs of skin cancer (yikes!!!) but, I got the biopsy results today and good news - it is nothing to be concerned about - just a weird spot....PHEW! Thank god... I mean, I am super preventive about skin cancer....I wear sunscreen every day, I have NEVER not even ONCE been in a tanning bed - mainly b/c I am white as hell and my skin just can't tolerate it. Plus, I am all about fighting wrinkles/aging so, always try and take super good care of my skin. Anyway - great news and such a relief.

3 - Good food find....I had Fage 2% Strawberry Greek Yogurt today as an afternoon snack...YUMM! I think you are supposed to put the strawberry sauce over into the yogurt and mix together but, I instead dipped each spoonful of yogurt into the strawberry sauce and holy hell - it was awesome! The consistency is so good...very thick and much more filling that regular low fat yogurt - it has 11 grams of protein!

4 - OMG - 10 more days until my sisters are here....yahooo!!! Chad walked in the door this afternoon from work with a 12 pack of 7-Up and a bottle of Seagram's - Stacy's favorite drink 7&7's! whoo hoo!! Can you tell I'm excited to see my sisters.... FUN!

That's all I got for today - hope everyone has a great day - later!

Salt Lamps Galore....

ok so, i got my dates wrong about roller derby! We are going NEXT Saturday night.... :) Will be fun! So, last night we just had a low key night - went to the Wine Tap for pizza and wine - was a great night as always - Chad was happy as they have Bells beer now which is super hoppy - and I had my usual Pinot Grigio - we had the Garlic Chicken pizza which has spinach and feta on it - can't go wrong with that - super tasty! Later today we are headed to the casino to have a drink and see if we can win a few bucks! Come on Lady Luck!!

I made a trip to TJMaxx yesterday - had been forever since I've had a TJM shopping spree - (forever for me in TJMaxx time is about a month - ha ha). I was so excited - they had Himalayan Salt Lamps! JoAnne gave me one for Christmas two years ago after I fell in love with hers! TJMaxx had a great deal on them so I picked up another one and I am debating going back to get another one! These things really warm up a room and just give a very peaceful feeling - here is a picture of JoAnne's -




I just love it! I have one just like this one and the one I picked up yesterday is a more natural shaped one - I put it in my office - hopefully this will give me incentive to clean my office now :-) It is just a tad bit messy....

Anyway - it has been a very low key weekend - we are just chilling out and enjoying life - starting to make plans about the wedding - I need to get organized!!

I also HAVE to finish the book I'm reading so I can move on to the next one.....gotta get going on that.

My sisters are going to be here in a couple weeks for my birthday and I am beyond excited! Just really missing them and looking forward to laughing, talking, drinking, shopping, etc... will be a perfect birthday present for me!

Here is a pic I took yesterday of me - just being goofy with the camera - I did my eyes smokey for the heck of it and tried to get a pic of it - Cheese!!!



Anyway - hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday - cheers to an awesome week!!

Chicken & Waffles....and Wedding...

wow, i have been uber busy lately with work and stuff so, not able to blog as much as i normally do!! Sorry - will try and get better....

Well, Chad and I have decided that we will get married this year so, wow holy cow - gotta get planning. I debated on this as we are thinking there is a good chance he will deploy in Dec or early '09 for another 6 months so - the question was do it now or do it later. We've decided to just go for it and do it this year - maybe in November. I want a beach wedding at sunset - i think that is pretty reflective of both of our personalities and will be beautiful - so, need to book a flight soon to head down to Sarasota and get crackin on ideas (booking soon JoAnne!!!! will check dates w/ ya first though!).

One thing is for certain - we both want things nice but simple and low key - very simple beach ceremony and on to a nice dinner with an open bar....of course. We are thinking on the small side - which is very hard to do with my HUGE family so, trying to decided if we want kiddos there or not - we will see. Need to sit down and make lists out.....ahhhh! yikes.... i was debating on doing this in '08 as well b/c i know with a new job I will be stressed and then add a wedding to that and could be lethally stressful but.... i know Chad will help to keep me in check ;) The point that I can't lose sight of is - I am marrying the love of my life and I am very happy about that - yahoo!

So, this officially means I have to get for real about working out and eating healthy....8 months to look hot in a white dress...well, off white anyway ;)

ok - gotta get back to work but wanted to share a few foodie shots! This is our staple dinner around here - seasoned chicken breast, wild rice (i have finally perfected it!) and asparagus....yummmms! In this pic - it's kinda hard to tell where the chicken ends and the rice begins....but it is all tasty... that is a sprinkle of feta on the asparagus btw....



And here is a shot of my latest breakfast addiction - whole-wheat blueberry Kashi waffles with fresh strawberries and a wee bit of light syrup - YUMMM!! Really really good...


Also..about to finish up the book I've been reading The Reader - yep, the Kate Winslet movie that was out recently....and going to start Fit from Within - i read about it on one of the blogs I stalk and it sounded interesting...

Cheers y'all - Everyone enjoy the first day of Spring and have an awesome weekend!! I am hoping that Chad and I make it out tomorrow night to watch some ARCH Rival Girls Rollerderby.....hells yes!!! We will see.... later!

Anti-Fatness Apparatus Activate!! Form of.... lazy ass!!!

quickie post... although i am armed with lots of supercool fancy pants anti-fatness apparatus....I have been quite lazy as of late and pigging down it seems :( Really need to get focused...

Seriously - I have my new Polar F7 HRM collecting dust in my office....boo me! It is a really cool - tells me exactly how many cals I am burning during work-outs...precisely. It also tells me how many cals I am burning when my arse is sitting on the couch drinking beer...ugh.

I ordered Jillian's Shred CD and yep...it's still sitting on my desk too! All wrapped up in plastic like Laura Palmer. Sigh....I need to get motivated asap....usually warmer weather does the trick. Come on Spring!!

Other than that... I had some interesting mail today....my credit card company sent me a "Spending Summary 2008" which listed exactly what I have spent - and broke everything out by how much on food, how much on "merchandise", how much on blah blah blah. Like complete with pie charts and everything!! Talk about an eye-opener!! Now, I am proud to say that I have zero debt and carry a very low balance (if a balance at all) on my credit card. I pay my bills every month like a good girl - no interest, late fees, etc - however, when I saw the grand total of what I charged over the year I was pretty shocked. Let's just say I like to shop, as you most likely know! It also broke down which months I spent the most moolah and big surprise - I shopped the most the first three months after Chad deployed....can we say retail-therapy?? Quite an eye-opener and reminded me to slow my spending roll. I mean, great that I'm not in debt and have a zero balance but...that could have been $$$ in my bank account!!

Anyway - other than that....nada going on. I have a couple things to blog about that we've done lately but, have been busy with work (shocking!!) and also just lazy. I am still on Cloud 9 about me and Chad and anxiously awaiting my b-day - my sisters are coming to visit....whoo hoo!!!!!! Can't wait!

ok - i'm pretty tired tonight so, going to head to bed, read a few chapters from my book and hit the rack as Tiff says :-) Later Y'all!!!

Diamonds & Mimosas....

I have so much to blog about but, this takes precedence over everything! Chad asked me to be his wife this morning over mimosas and of course I said YES!!! I am so very excited as Chad is my best friend and nothing in the world could make me happier than to be his wife..... awwww. Really - he gets me and understands what makes me tick. He is my rock. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world! And....he gave me a nice rock too!



We have not set a date and probably won't right away - just enjoying the moment! Yahoooooo!!! :-)

Rubber Band Alfredo anyone?

Let me preface this by saying I am NOT a picky eater - I will pretty much try anything as far as food goes. In fact, there are very few foods I can think of that I just won't eat. Oh ok - had beef intestine dim sum in San Francisco once that I will NEVER eat again but, other than that..... I'm sure there is something however...right now nothing comes to mind. Until today's lunch...

I ventured out on a limb today and tried these - Tofu Shirataki Noodles - for lunch. I'm not sure if I did not dry these suckers enough or what but - yuck puke nasty blahhhh! They were really nasty. I should have listened to Chad when he spied these in the fridge and made puking noises but oh no, had to learn for myself....

I tried for a chicken broccoli alfredo thing - healthy of course ;) - and everything tasted great....even the soy noodles tasted good - it was the texture that I could not get past.... kinda like a cross between rubber bands and calamari (which I actually love..calamari, not rubber bands). Seriously, like chewing rubber bands...and now - three hours later, I still feel like i have a big wad of rubber bands in my stomach. I think I need to throw up now. Here are pics I took -



Now - one of my m.o.'s in life is "I'll try anything three times" so, I would be willing to try these again if anyone has any tips or knowledge of how to make the consistency of these things NOT taste like rubber bands. I really want to like them because they are really healthy and good for you. But, going forward, I think I will stick to my whole wheat pasta thank you very much. Seriously...I feel like rubber glue is churning in my stomach as I type this.....puke!

Oh well - at least I tried something new, right :)

awesome chicken salad...

Here is a quick chicken salad I whipped up for lunch - freaking delicious!! And of course I used my handy dandy GFG to grill the chicken breast up nice and quickly....the love affair with the GFG continues! It made about three servings - and the version I made today has roughly 240 cals, 10g fat, 2g fiber - not bad compared to most chicken salads...lots of good stuff in here too. I usually use Granny Smith apples to give it some tartness but had Fugi on hand so went with those - i also omitted celery b/c I was out and added some almonds for crunch- here is the original recipe in case you're interested.... and as you can see below, this recipe is from my favorite Cooking Light... sigh, I LOVE my Cooking Light!!

Chicken-Apple Crunch Salad
Serves 4 @ 4 points ea.

Inspired by the classic Waldorf salad, this version features chunks of white-meat chicken and sweet-tangy Granny Smith apples. The mayonnaise and sour cream dressing is spiked with lemon juice and cinnamon.

2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
1 cup diced Granny Smith apple
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup raisins (I use Craisins)
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
1/3 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon reduced-fat sour cream
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
(I also add a small amt of curry powder, but it doesn't need it)

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Combine mayonnaise and remaining ingredients, stirring well with a whisk. Add mayonnaise mixture to chicken mixture, tossing well to coat.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

CALORIES 207(19% from fat); FAT 4.4g (sat 1.2g,mono 1.2g,poly 1.4g); PROTEIN 22.4g; CHOLESTEROL 61mg; CALCIUM 32mg; SODIUM 402mg; FIBER 1.1g; IRON 1.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 18.4g
Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2002

Brave Bebe

Our Bebe girl makes me laugh...she is TERRIFIED of storms - I'm not sure if it is the sound of the rain hitting our skylights or if it is the barometric pressure dropping that hurts her ears but - she will whine and pace back and forth when it rains. But - she has started this new thing where she goes outside when it starts to rain and will just sit there....let the rain pour down on her and just soak it up.... it is the funniest thing! I wish I snapped a pic of her doing it - she looks so cute out there - facing her fears dead on head first! We should all be so brave....here is our Bebe....

sugar glazed sweetness...and underground caverns

Look what is sitting on my kitchen counter this morning....compliments of Chad...



They were still HOT when he brought them home this morning and well...I just can't say no to a Krispy Kreme donut that is hot off the press....some times you just have to say Hell Yes! It was yummy... they have a completely different taste when they are hot - they just melt in your mouth - AWESOME! We actually gave the girls each a half of one donut...we never give them sweet stuff like that but decided to make an exception today - they are now hooked on the sugary crack donuts :)

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day here - an unusual glimpse of spring for the midwest! 80 degrees and sunny! Chad and I headed over to Growler's - an excellent brew pup with a good patio. It is near my old office building in STL and we met up with one of my coworkers and his wife - had a few beers and Chad and I split a schnitzel sandwich - which ended up being pretty small! It was yummy and I didn't feel bad eating it - as we went halfsies with it. Next we hit the casino and DAMN if I didn't win $200! ya-f'in-hoo!!! Luck has been on my side with the poker these days - I was happy!

Today is overcast but still warm so, happy about that - now we are chilling at home, watching some Flight of the Conchords - damn funny show. I really wish Mary would watch it b/c I know she would dig it. Anyway - thinking of making a pizza for us to nosh on today - chicken, roasted garlic, feta and basil - hells yes! Later tonight we are meeting up with Julie and Rob at the WineTap - should be fun - will take some pics.

Oh - and one awesome thing i did this week that was LONG overdue is a pedi - damn, i'm embarrassed to say how long it had been since i got one but - it was time. Was going to go with a gunmetal gray but, felt like i needed something happy and bright so - went with classic OPI Red - viola!



OH! Check out the super cool surprise Chad gave me - he knows me so well :) He gave me THIS book - which is the history of the Lemp family - I've blogged about this before but, since moving to STL, I've become mildly obsessed with this family and their history - they were a large brewing family in this area in the 1800 - 1900's that had a lot of crazy in the family which was ultimately their demise. Fascinating! I'm about to crack it open and I'm sure I won't be sleeping well for the next few weeks as I read it! Chad also gave me a book on secret underground caverns in STL - the city is full of them - pretty much anywhere you stand in the city, you can bet there is a cavern beneath you - the temperature is perfect for beer/food storage back in the days before refrigeration - this is another idea that fascinates me....underground caverns not refrigeration.... anyway, enough blabbering for today - later!

Muffins for my baby....

Quickie post for today.... here is a shot of my breakfast. I am in love with this peanut butter, banana & bible bread combo! So damn good....and the blackberries from Trader Joes on the cheaps are awesome. Bought a huge case for $3.99... i love me some blackberries too!



I made some Cinnamon Walnut Craisin Muffins this afternoon too....hoping Chad will like these and he can grab one in the morning while he's walking out the door for work. He hasn't been eating breakfast lately so...hoping he likes them. I made them with Southaven Farms Cinnamon Baking Mix and....pretty good! I think so anyway - I may have baked them a smidge too long but - I think they taste great. Good for you too as there is only 175 cals, 4.5 fats, 5 fibs and 6.5 protein - not bad for a little breakfast or snack. They don't look so hot in these pics but....I like them! Think they'll taste great with a cup of coffee....




I think I will freeze some of them so we don't feel like we have to hog them down before they go bad.... Anyway - that's it for today really - going to the gym later for a BodyPump class. This weekend is going to be busy - meeting some coworkers for brews Friday and meeting Julie & Rob up at the Winebar on Saturday night - should be fun! That's all for now - sorry this post is so damn boring ~ later!

back at it...where's my sparkle peeps? :-)

back on plan today - whoo hoo :) feels good!

Well...after reading a lot about sparkpeople.com on other peeps blogs and hearing awesome things about it...I decided to check it out today and....verdict is still out as it is all new to me and I'm fumbling around on there BUT...so far I think I really like it! I tracked all my food today on there and - it is really cool as it shows you ALL of the nutritional info on what you are eating - calories, fiber, fat, sugar, carbs, sodium, sugars, protein, etc, etc etc.... very informative. I'm supposed to eat around 1200 - 1500 cals a day to lose weight so....it will be a work in progress. Come find me if you are on there - I'm here.

I also made it to the gym today - yahoo! 30 mins on the elliptical and it wore me out - I know I'm going to sleep great tonight. Gym was totally packed b/c I went at 4:30 this afternoon so - ton of people in there, yuck. I think I will try and hit the gym earlier tomorrow to avoid all that.

AWESOME news - my sisters are coming to visit me for my birthday weekend....yahoooo! I can't wait - I am really missing them. Already thinking of cool things we can do and where I want to take them while they're here. Can't wait!! They will be here the first weekend in April as my b-day is April 3rd...... turning 34 this year and damn I still feel like I'm 24 - guess that is a good thing!!

Let's see what else - oh, made an awesome dinner tonight for us - Chad really liked it. Almond Stuffed Chicken from where else.....cooking light! Basically chicken breast stuffed with a light garlic and herb cheese with parsley and toasted almonds. Damn damn damn...just love my cooking light!! I also was able to use fresh parsley in the recipe from my Aerogarden so - super cool!! Here is a pic of dinner...



Our lettuce/hydroponic project is really coming along....we should be able to harvest in a few weeks and I can't wait. Chad and I steal bites here and there just to sample it and....tastes so fresh! Took these pics yesterday...





ok...starting to get sleepy and I want to read some of my book tonight so...later!

lazy bones

wow - not only have i fallen off the wagon as far as eating healthy/working out...also fallen off the blogging wagon too. damn! I am so happy the month of February is behind me - almost anyway! It really sucked from a work perspective - but, some positive things are brewing for my team members so, hoping that it all works out in the end for the best. Sorry to talk about it with such vague & cliche terms but - don't want to go into details about other people's business.

My new position in the company starts in early April and the next year will be a huge learning curve - i'm excited and scared at the same time - i really need to get back on track with my health over the next month so that by April I will be back into the swing of good habits.... can you tell i'm writing this to convince myself??? lol

Both of my sisters and one of my best friends are in training right now for half marathons or triathlons and i feel like a lazy bump on a log as I have not hit the gym in at least a couple weeks. I mean, my sister Myk is waking up at 5 am to run - AWESOME! Tiff is swimming a mile and working out with her trainer BEFORE she hits happy hour - SUPER COOL! Stacy is running after work and buzzing around town - WORD! I am sitting here lazy bones on the couch whining about sitting here lazy bones on the couch....

So - my goal for this week is to hit the gym at least 3 times - and whoo hoo to me if I make it 4 times..... small baby steps :)

Moving on.... i love love love this month's Cooking Light! It has a ton of awesome recipes in it. I have fresh herbs like crazy in the house and really need to use them so - I found two recipes I'm going to try and also thinking of making some fresh basil pesto and some bruschetta for this weekend - we'll see.

One very positive thing that happened this past week - Honeybear completed her chemo treatment! No more Vet Wednesdays! And - we will be weaning her off the steroids over the next week so - her appetite should subside and she will also be on the Cruise to Lose with me :-) With the warmer weather around the corner (hope hope) - I should be able to start walking the girls daily again - which is good news for all of us. Here is our Honey....

MIA - but I'm back!

I have been MIA for the past week as I had to travel to Atlanta for business kinda last minute. It was a really sucky trip and one of the most difficult weeks ever for me from a professional standpoint - I won't get into it on here but, I had to deliver some bad news to the majority of my team and - it just blows. No way to sugar coat it. I am hoping that everything works out for the best for everyone....totally blows and that's all I want to say about it for now. SUCKS!

I am back home and damn it feels great. Just happy to be back with Chad and the girls. From a eating healthy/working out perspective, I fell WAY off the wagon but - tomorrow will be a new day and clean slate so, not going to beat myself up over it - it happens.....and damn that Mellow Mushroom pizza was good. And so was the Sticky Toffee Pudding French Toast I had at Schlafly's with Chad yesterday. I shoulda coulda woulda taken a pic for y'all but - I inhaled it in about 3 seconds.

More later this week....

happy valentines to everyone!

I just had to post this lovely CAKE i found on this blog - bakerella. Check out the blog but i warn you....it is dangerous! Everything on this blog looks heavenly and will make you want to consume mass quantities of icing and chocolate - with a big smile on your face of course! Look at this cake she made.....



Exquisite! It is almost too pretty to eat.....almost ;) There are directions on her site on how to make this yourself but....something tells me mine would not be nearly as beautiful as hers - not by a long shot.

Happy Valentine's to Everyone....I'm off to wipe the drool off my laptop after staring at this cake for an hour....YUMMMMM

Feta Heaven

Last night I made our Valentine's dinner - I made one of my FAVORITE meals - my Mom's Shrimp Feta Linguine. It is SO yummy - it has a lot of feta in it too which i love love love! And it is really super easy to make...here are pics





I used whole wheat pasta and the ingredients are very simple - my Mom makes it the best and we have all made our own adaptations - I go a little extra on the feta for mine :) But it is so so so damn good!! I ran the recipe through the WW points finder and estimated it to be around 7 pts per serving...although i didn't finish mine but DID throw some extra feta on top (as you can see!) so think that 7 points is about right for this.

I also bought us some chocolate covered strawberries that I have blogged about before ....believe it or not, we didn't touch those last night b/c this dinner was so filling. Maybe tonight.

Chad got me a very sweet valentines gift - a basket filled with lots of my favorite stuff - my favorite Pinot Grigio, lotion, candles, creme brule mix, etc etc....very sweet :) It was a great Valentine's.

And here is the delish breakfast I made for us this morning - Waffles with Strawberries - YUM! These waffles look pretty sexy in this shot ;)



I even made two extra (sans strawberries) and gave them to the girls - what a good doggie momma i am!

We were going to check out the Taste of Soulard today but.....not so sure now - the weather is looking sketchy...chilly and rainy - which is not conducive to hanging outside and drinking beer - we'll see....

busy with work stress...

with work stress continuing....not much to say so, thought I would post some pics. Here is the progress on our lettuce garden....




It really is taking off! We should be able to harvest in about 6 weeks and have our first home-grown salad :)

Here is our SLOW work in progress.....Miss Rosemary...



I did some research online and apparently, Miss Rosemary likes warm temps and is a s l o w grower so.... I think I will transplant her outside once the temps warm up here. Cilantro/Coriander seems to be a better option to grow hydroponically so, that will be next. I can eat the hell out of some cilantro! I love it! And Chad can use the Coriander seeds in his beer recipes so - quite resourceful :)

Here is my lunch for today - it is a lean cuisine but, I always add frozen veggies to mine to make it more filling and healthier - today was broccoli. All this for 5 WWP :-) Not too shabby...and I was super full. I am really trying to keep eating healthy while dealing with this work stress - so far so good! Hoping that will continue...



Chad and i are doing our Valentine's tonight so, I am making a kickass dinner for us tonight - more to come on that..... back to work for me - later y'all!

ACES!!!

yesterday was a crappy day as far as work goes - don't want to get into it right now but - it just sucks. SO - I was very happy when i lost 2 lbs at my WI yesterday :) YAHOOO! Was a nice feeling so, hoping that it continues.

After I got home from my meeting and we ate a quick dinner - I just got this feeling of 'i need to get out of the house' so.... I suggested we hit the casino! I am so damn happy we did because check this out...



ACES!!!!!!! WHOO-HOOOOO!! That's right - I hit 4 ACES on the video poker slot machine and won $370! Unbelieveable because I never win big - I usually break even or lose a little. I was so excited!! We then moved up to the bar and had a drink - there was another video poker machine up there so, I figured what the hell - go for it. So....I won ANOTHER $200!!! I guess it was just my night last night....we jammed out of there and I was one happy girl - I think I fell asleep smiling...

Can I get a WHOOP WHOOP!!!!!!!! :-)

hearts!

So, i am making a little afternoon snacky for myself and decide upon fresh strawberries mixed with some Greek yogurt....look at the cuteness that turned up in my spoon....strawberry heart = CUTE!!!



awww...i'm feeling all mushy and romantic now...le sigh!

My little snack was pretty damn good too....I love this Chobani Greek Yogurt ever since Tiff turned me onto it- today i mixed with a few cut up strawberries. I love it because it is really creamy and doesn't taste like it is 'no-fat' at all. And it is much tarter than normal yogurt which i like - this stuff is a little more pricey but totally worth it - i even use the plain variety as a sub for sour cream or mayo sometimes - totally passable. It is super good for you too - stats are for one 6oz container: 100 cals, 0 fat, 0 cholesterol, 70 mg of sodium, 18 g of protein, 20% calcium - only downside here is the 7 g of sugar but in comparison to some yogs, not bad at all. But, the main reason i like it is due to the protein in it - will keep me fuller longer. In fact, i ate my little snack about an hour ago and i am still really full. And with fresh fruit mixed in, I really don't need the flavored variety.

I didn't intend to blab on about this but hey.....my original point was how freaking cute that strawberry heart is!! :-)

Fun Saturday - Waffles, Beer & Kabobs - oh my!

Yesterday was a fun day - day started out with an awesome breakfast - I made Waffles with fresh strawberries for us using the FiberOne Pancake Mix and my hot lover GFG! Damn I love that thing!! Then we took the pups for a little walk and then decided to venture out of the house - we drove all the way over to the other side of the city to go to Cabellas - it's like a bigger nicer Bass Pro Shop - Chad wanted to look at some hunting stuff and some cool Merrell boots like mine :) No dice on cool boots for Chad...

Then we headed out to that new bar i think i blogged about already called iTap - International Tap House. Oh how I wish this place was closer to home! Really awesome bar - they have about 460 different beers in the bottle and 40 on tap - from all over the world. I had two Ephemere Apple beers - damn I love those! A friend of ours that lives near there met up with us and it was cool seeing him and catching up. The bar was pretty damn crowded and the crowd was just a random mix of people - old, young etc. I think the staff is still trying to get their flow down and they seemed a bit overwhelmed so - the wait to get a drink was somewhat long but - no big deal. I think they are just trying to work the kinks out of everything. Overall - great place and we will be back soon...here is a pic i snapped from my beloved blackberry of the beer cases...



These are just random peeps in the pic - i didn't get any of me or Chad :(

From there - we decided to try out a restaurant that we've been talking about since we've been here - Cafe Natasha's Kabob International Oh wow! I am so happy we did - it was really yummy. It is a Persian/Iranian restaurant here in STL and so damn good - it is family owned and everyone there was so nice. We ordered a few things but....the best was the Garlic Chicken Kabob Wrap - it was so damn good! Very light with light yogurt sauce with fresh cucumber and peppers....so freaking good! Oh, and the basmati rice was amazing....the texture is like none other - very light, almost a grated texture? Was amazing! Here is a pic I snapped from the bar and once again....this was the ONLY pic I took - none of us or the food! I need to start taking more pics when we're out and about....



Anyway - today i woke up and made us b'fast - red pepper & mozzarella egg white omelet for me and two eggs over easy for C-had. Now we are just sitting here on a lazy Sunday drinking coffee and keep reminding each other what errands we need to run today and what we need to pick up at the store....but neither of us is writing it down so we keep forgetting :-) Another peaceful lazy Sunday morning :)

Proposition "Hate"

I saw this video this morning on facebook and wanted to share this - it really touched my heart. One thing I have never understood is why some people are so threathened by same sex marriages, or gay people in general. I just don't get why some individuals feel it is their right to tell people who they can and can't choose to love and marry. It is sad, ignorant and just shameful in my opinion, that Prop 8 even exists...anyway, i don't post political stuff on here but this is an issue that I feel strongly about. Great video - check it out and sign the petition if you choose to:


"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

some snacky reviews for ya.....one good, one yucks

So i was craving something sweet and not so good for me this afternoon so, I'm searching through our pantry when I see these things i bought last week at the store and forgot about -





Ugh.....these were yuck. Such a waste of 100 calories :( I wish I had waited for some good chocolate or had some greek yogurt & fruit. Very sugary fakey tasting....no $hit Sherlock, right? I mean it's pink strawberry cupcakes, what was i expecting? I guess my taste has just changed since eating healthier....but really, all i could taste was sugar....like strawberry marshmallows or something. Big surprise, the first ingredient on the label.....ding ding ding....SUGAR! I will not get these again and now I have a sugar headache....booo!

Now a little chocolate snack that I love are these:



A bag of these and a glass of milk is perfect yumminess....they are very chocolaty and not fakey tasting at all. I am a sucker for dark chocolate so, not surprising i heart these! These are 2 points per bag - I've read other reviews of them where people say the serving size is too small but, it works for me.

All the same, I think I'm going to pick up some quality Belgium dark chocolate to just keep on hand for when i get chocolate cravings and just have one piece of that.

Anyway....just wanted to share my opinions on the above.....just say no to the Strawberry Sugar Puffs!

Not much going on this weekend really - Chad wants to teach me to snowboard....which I am mildly dreading as I have very little coordination and even less grace. So, I'm envisioning my first broken bone here....we'll see. Anyway - it is too warm this weekend but next weekend more snow is forecasted so, think we will try then. We are going to check out this new bar in STL called iTap - they apparently have 500 exotic beers (no bud light here peeps) so should be a fun time - Chad will be in heaven. Anyway - I'm just glad the weekend is here and I can sleep in tomorrow....yeah for Saturdays!

Also, don't know if you guys listen to Pandora Radio but WOW, it is so awesome...you can just enter a band/song/artist and it finds a "station" on their site that plays that artist and others similar to that artist - I love it! It's free too :) I've been listening to "Lush" radio... I love that band and it's cool to hear them and other bands similar....anyway, check it out - it rocks....har har.

this one is a keeper...

I tried out a new recipe last night from cookinglight.com, of course, and it was awesome....Herbed Chicken Parmesan. I was afraid the breading for the chicken would be bland but, it was great! Used some fresh parsley from my lovely little Aerogarden & the balsamic vinegar in the red sauce was really great.....LOVED this! Super easy and fast too....just had one oopsie - my chicken breast was still slightly frozen so, when i went to hammer it out a bit to make it cook more evenly and tenderize it....it kinda EXPLODED. So....while Chad's was nice and pretty....mine was not so pretty but, tasted delish....here is the pretty version:





Notice I also had some awesome looking asparagus - oh asparagus, how i love thee - it was so good!! I made it just how this fabulous chicky suggested - EVOO, sea salt & fresh cracked pepper slammed on the hot lover GFG and bam - super yum. Chad even ate the asparagus which he usually dislikes.....well, he ate the tips anyway, which is better than nothing. Trust me, this is the way to go if you like asparagus - DIVINE! Thank you for the awesome tip!! :)

Really quick - here is a pic of my loverly b'fast this morning....



Had to eat quick as i had an appointment on the other side of St Louis this morning. I feel like I've been rush rush rushing around all day so, I'm hoping Chad will want to go out and grad dinner tonight and a glass of wine. We'll see...it's cold as hell out. I just checked the forecast and more snow on the way for Valentine's Day - whoo hoo. Good thing I HATE going out on Valentine's and am planning a nice dinner for us at home instead! More on that laters....

Hope everyone is having an awesome day...tomorrow is Friday....yahoo!

yummy sammy

just wanted to share a pic of my lunch today.....grilled chicken and cheese sammy.....have I mentioned i'm crushing on my GFG lately?????



damn this was a good lunch :)

crushin' on the GFG!

i have to admit....I am seriously crushing on my new GFG!!! I love it! We grilled chicken breasts on it last night and they rocked!! Just sprinkled with lemon pepper and grilled them in 6 mins...perfect! Today, I toasted my sammy for lunch and it was delish....one slice of Ezekiel Sesame bread, 1 oz of roast beef, 1 slice low fat cheese and dijon mustard.....throw that on the GFG for 3 mins and damn skippy...that is a tasty 3 pt sammy :) Add a cup of Minestrone soup and I am happy as can be!

I also made it to the gym today and did the elliptical for 30 mins so, I'm feeling great!

Tonight I'm going to throw some more chicken on the GFG for din and then we are going to head to the casino for a bit to have a drink and play the slots....I will have to record Biggest Loser but, that's what tivo is meant for so, no big deal. I will try and take some pics because I need some color on my blog....

I just want to give myself a pat on the back a little here too....last night about 2 hours after dinner I was STARVING....like seriously hungry......so I drank some water to make sure it wasn't dehydration.....nope, still hungry....so, instead of eating whatever, I sliced up some strawberries and ate those w/ a tablespoon of fat free cool whip...YUM! Of course 2 hours later while I'm trying to fall asleep I'm hungry again..... but, thankfully I fell asleep! I made a point to eat more protein today so I will stay fuller longer.....hoping that does the trick. Anyway...kudos to me for choosing something healthy versus something else lurking in the house....like the cheesecake bars on the counter!

lazy daze

this morning started out really productive....i woke up and headed to the bank to make a deposit, dropped my red coat off at the alterations shop, hit the grocery and YEP - all productivity stopped there. Once I got home - I have done zilcho today....nada, nothin. In fact, i'm not exactly sure just what the hell i have done today (since getting home) now that i think of it!

But, I did stay on plan today and right at my 21 ww pts so - good for me :) I made it to my WW meeting Thursday night also and YAHOO I'm down 1.2 lbs! At first I was disappointed but ya know....it is a step in the right direction and it's a healthy amount to lose. Also considering I got little to no exercise so, overall it is a positive thing (can you tell i'm trying to convince myself STILL)! One of my major faults is that I have very little patience - I expect things to happen like NOW.....which includes dropping the lbs. I can hear D-lo telling me "you didn't put on weight overnight missy may so, it's not going to come off overnight either" and that is exactly right. Patience is a virtue....just not one of mine. But I am trying to improve that...

I ran yesterday and damn, my body is sore as hell today....I tried to really push myself and run at a fast speed and damn....i am paying for it today buddy. I need to run tomorrow too - my goal this week is to work out 4 times so....one down and three to go.

Last night was fun - we took a private tour of the Schlafly Bottleworks and then had dinner afterwards. Our tour guide was a cool chick from Portland OR and she gave us some cool schwag in the form of pint glasses - whoo hoo!! We had a really great dinner and great beer. I had butternut squash ravioli and it was really tasty...i tracked my points and everything, although I did blow through most of my 35 flex points but, well spent!

On a sad note, I found out some bad news today - a family that i knew a long time ago lost one of their sons in a very tragic way. The funeral was today and it just breaks my heart. He was in his late 20's and had so much life ahead of him. The family is so very big-hearted, kind & loving and it just made me cry when i heard the news - so horribly sad. My heart goes out to them.

That's all for tonight.....watching a movie and then off to bed to snuggle with my baby. Later y'all!

GFG!!!

well....thanks to this lovely lady, I am the proud owner of a new George Foreman Grill!! :) Thanks Phoenix - you had me at chicken, EVOO & sea salt!! After reading her post on her crush on the GFG....I started reminiscing. I used to have one of these a few years ago that a friend gave to me and used it all the time. I left it at my sisters when I moved up here and promptly bought a kickin outdoor grill.... BUT, when it is freezin' ass cold a good portion of the year...doesn't do me much good. Sure I could bundle up and brave the cold but honestly....I am a big whimp when it comes to the coldness....and so, we go without grilled food for a good solid 4-5 months out of the year. I am so very excited and can't wait to get it and get crackin' on healthy quick grilled yums :) Yahoooo!

*Side note...I have decided to curtail my spending and ONLY purchase things that contribute towards improving my health or our health (me & Chad)....uh, does that include cute workout clothes for me? Well yes...yes it does! If that helps me to get my butt to the gym. And, therefore - my new GFG is also a purchase that contributes towards the greater good of my healthtitude :-) More to come on that note....

I am actually going to miss my WW meeting tonight due to weather...I'm actually disappointed b/c I have done really good this week - staying on plan, tracking, etc and I really want to see if it shows on the scale. I'm thinking the roads will be clear by tomorrow evening though and I will get to go to WW then.

Anyway - here are some pics of our snow! Chad is home again today as base is closed for most of the military peeps..... we had some fun in the snow this morning with the girls and took the Jeep for a spin too....

Let It Snow!!

Sitting here watching Conan O'Brien on In The Actor's Studio....i freakin' love him. He is so damn funny!! Always makes me laugh...like big belly laugh until your sides hurt and you snort and kinda think maybe you just might piss your pants laugh...ya know, the good kind. I love on his show when he used to do the Extreme Walker Texas Ranger clips....AWESOME!!

It is snowing again tonight - looks like we may get up to 6" of the white stuff between now and tomorrow evening...I am excited! The snow falling is the best part...it's when it starts to melt and you have to get out & drive in it and it starts to get dirty and yucky....well, that's the sucky part. Right now is the good part...watching big white flakes come down, Bebe coming in from outside and her jet black fur being speckled with white melty snowflakes, sitting here in front of the fire drinking wine hoping that Chad gets the day off tomorrow so we can have the day together with the girls...hope hope hope! he just got a call that he gets to report a few hours late so, that is nice!

Anyway for this snowy night decided to make some White Turkey Chili which is super kickin! And also made some Beer Cheese Bread which was really yummy...here is a pic of my yummy little 7 point dinner....



And a shot of the loaf of beer bread...



Was really easy to make and only 3pts per slice - very filling....i like this bread better than the Cheddar Scones I made last time i made this chili....the bread has more kick to it.

Anyway - enjoying a glass of wine in front of the fire with my sweetie...look at the beautiful fire he made for us....beautiful! Later y'all - I will take pics of the snow tomorrow....hope it is a LOT!

Sunday Snow :)

Omelets for breakfast :) One regular egg, one egg white, splash of FF milk for the fluff factor, bell pepper, green onion, mushrooms, turkey, reduced fat feta = yumminess. I need to work on my omelet flipping abilities because this was all messy and kinda looks more like a scramble versus an omelet but.....tasted awesome nonetheless for 3 WWP. Also made biscuits for a Sunday treat but, ended up eating only half of mine because the omelet was so filling. Two lucky puppies got the other half ;) so, that was 2 WWP for half the biscuit. And here it is 1pm and I am still feeling full - right on! Here is a pic....



And, I really need to start watching the weather more.....I did not realize it was going to snow today! Started snowing as I was making breakfast this morning...here are some pics....





It is still snowing as i sit here and type :) I guess we may get some more tomorrow night and into Tuesday so, this could be our first big snow this year.... i think i need to suck it up and get on my treadmill here at the house to get some exercise in b/c it's too cold to venture out for me...treadmill is in the garage which is freaking cold considering it is 16 degrees out....yikes.

Pizza & 'Ponics...

Today we worked on our lettuce/hydroponic system - I'm going to have to give this thing a nickname b/c that is too technical sounding - maybe Sally or something? I dunno...anyway, it is coming along and looks really great! It is going to require work as far as checking the ph balance of the water and nutrients every 2 weeks but, i think the end product will be well worth it....here it is so far....

This is the view from above....the lettuce seedlings are starting to grow roots, tomorrow we will transplant them from the tray here to the top of the tupperware box into the baskets - we are picking the best six......the space to the right is where the rosemary will go...and eventually cilantro....

Here is a close up of the seedlings - amazing how fast they grew!!

even better close up....looks like i somehow skipped one in the middle! Rosemary is to the right and still germinating....can't wait for that to get going.....

Here is what the whole piece looks like....right now it is in our spare bedroom as this is the only space we have right now! I can't wait until we decide where we are settling so we can buy our own house....renting sucks! Would be nice to have a complete room for indoor gardening... I am so proud of Chad for building this for me - no way I could have done it on my own. And he has so much patience.... my baby :)



Here is a pic of the Aerogarden....it is really coming along too! :)



I am so excited to soon have fresh herbs to cook with, etc :) yahooo!

Anyway...tonight I experimented with a new recipe i found online for whole wheat pizza crust - not bad! It was MUCH easier to work with compared to my first attempt at homemade dough a few weeks ago....still not Mellow Mushroom but....a step closer :) Anyway, with whole-wheat crust, skim mozzarella, pizza sauce, turkey pepperoni, fresh basil, green pepper and mushrooms - I calculated it to be about 9 WW points for two slices. Not bad! It was tasty and i felt like i was eating something healthy. I need to work on making the crust more even but overall - success! I was thinking while i was making it that for families and peeps with kids, this would be inexpensive, healthy and fun for the kiddos. I can remember my sister making pizza with me as a kid and how much fun it was. Here are some pics....

Honeydo vs. Honeydew

just a quick post this morning as I have a busy day ahead! I am off today but have a million and one things to do it seems...pardon the list but I need to do this for my sanity and can't find a piece of paper nearby - here is my own Honey Do list:

*first on the list is CLEAN! This includes laundry :)

*I need to buy a card for Jerry, our friend in Navarre FL, he is having surgery today - I also need to order a Janie's cake for him and his girlfriend to snack on while he recovers....Jerry introduced me to Chad :)

*go to Lowe's with Chad. Buy paint for the hydrophonic frame - the cement primer is bright purple and dried all drippy on the PVC which will drive me a little nuts so, need to paint it....and that is the most OCD i have ever been in my life!

*take red coat to alteration shop! ok, my coats came yesterday and OMG, the chocolate brown Via Spiga is heavenly!! Plus, the lining has little orange and pink flowers inside - added bonus!! The red one however, is super cute but...way too big....better too big than too small i know. I am hoping the lady can help me out and tailor it to my liking. I got a size 12 thinking that i would need it larger given the bulky sweaters i wear this time of year, etc.... plus, in case you don't know me or haven't noticed from my pics - i am blessed in the tata department and according to the online size chart it said i would need a size 16 due to my tatas! Thank god i scaled down to the 12 - a 16 would have been rediculous. Anyway....off I go with my red coat and tatas to the alteration lady...

*pedicure - i am in desperate need of one, i used to get one every 2 weeks and it has been AGES....so getting one this weekend at some point, hopefully today! Metro Chic (awesome lavender slate shade Tiff gave me) here we go!

*this goes more up with the first item "CLEAN" but...i need to organize the house a bit - go through magazines, get my shoes organized, under the bathroom cabinets, etc...that will certainly be a work in progress.

*how could i forget...GYM! I need to hit the gym desperately...really bad!

ok - i need to get moving! BTW - i finally made it back to a WW meeting - holy reality check. I love the new Momentum program - focus on eating healthier less processed foods is awesome - so far so good but...lol, it's been all of 2 days!

Sorry this post is so boring and self serving but, hey - whatever. I will try and take pics this weekend to liven things up a bit....Happy Friday to everyone!

snow and root canal....damn!

ya know, last night i woke up in the middle of the night and thought to myself...."Self...it is awfully bright out there....must be a full moon....hmm" and back to sleep I went. Fast forward to 4:45am and Chad's cell is ringing....it is work telling him it's ok to come in 2 hours late due to snow....snow? SNOW! Ahhh! Just a baby snow but, still neat-o to wake up to white stuff...here is just a little pic I took this morning out the front door....



Unfortunately, it did not delay the fact that I had to go to the dentist this morning for a dreaded root canal. I detest the dentist....passionately! Don't get me wrong, this guy is a great dentist, nice and all that....i just hate the concept of someone drilling my teeth, poking needles in my gums, ripping teeth roots OUT....etc. I used to really work myself up, hyperventilate and almost pass out at the dentist...i would hold my breath and the dentist would have to stop everything to make sure i was still alive. And I'm not talking about when I was 7 people...I mean like at the ripe mature age of 31! Horrible, horrible.

Anyway...I have gotten a little better and today was not so bad - as far as root canals go. He has a fancy laser and it helps reduce the pain a lot. Just goes to show that flossing twice a day gets you NOWHERE....except in the chair getting a damn root canal....curses! So, when I am old and people ask what/where I was when Obama was inaugurated I can say "GETTING A DAMN ROOT CANAL!"

Moving on....I made a nice comfort food for us last night - Meatloaf!! It was Italian Style Meat Loaf and I was pretty damn impressed! Plus, we should have leftovers for at least a night or two and that is damn fine with me.....what does this say about me and where I am in my life when I am HAPPY about having leftover meatloaf for dinner?? Hmmmm....I will ponder that one.

Here is a pic of it and although it looks a little wonky here - it was damn good...and healthy too (per serving 263 cals, 12 g fats, 1.6 fibs = 6 WWP). Not bad! Cooking Light just damn rocks.



In other news - I am going to run in a 5K in April! My sisters are both avid runners and Tiff is training for a triathlon as I've mentioned so, I have been peer pressured into this completely. Ha ha, not really - but, i feel like i need a goal to get my ass more consistent with exercise. I can run 2 miles right now comfortably so, I know a 5K will not be much of a challenge but, gotta start somewhere.... plus, I hope that if I complete a 5K, I will become inspired to move on to bigger and greater challenges. I will never run a marathon b/c I just think the concept of running for 26 miles straight is hell and quite honestly I'd rather get another root canal. But...I would certainly like to one day do a 10K or if I'm crazy - perhaps a half marathon. But.... baby steps....5K in April it is. More on that to come...

French Toast yumminess

ok now people....keep an open mind here... these babies were made with pure LOVE...and tasted a helluva lot better than these pictures indicate! Since Chad is off today - i made us a special little breakfast versus the normal eggs/cereal routine. Behold the Fruit & Cheese Stuffed French Toast!



Basically French Toast made with Ezekiel Bread with low sugar Strawberry Preserves and 1/3 less fat cream cheese inside...It was so yum - now I just have to work on making them prettier next time.

Not much else shaking here - I need to hit the gym today and was thinking of making meatloaf for dinner?? Need to hit the cookinlight website and see what i can conjure up. More on that laters - and I think ATL is expecting some snow tonight? I'm sure everyone is in freakout mode there - rush out to get your bread & milk now people!!

sunday at the Woods/DeVries house...

Some people go to church on Sundays.... I channel my inner Lara Croft...



I have a long way to go but...still feeling pretty badass! :-)
and yes, i am a leftie when i shoot....goes back to the whole one good eye thing...

I didn't even realize Chad was taking this video - next time I will video him b/c he looks pretty damn sexy shooting a gun ;)

and the shopping continues....

I need these pretties like i need a hole in my head but....they are SO sexy! I want them.....swoooon!

I Like:

Madison
by Dolce Vita

I really need to put the brakes on my spending though...I just bought not one but TWO new winter coats at bloomies website but, I couldn't resist...I got TWO super cute super nice coats for $169! That includes shipping, tax...everything for both! And I couldn't decide which i wanted more and....they were both such good deals...I got them both! I think it was the cold weather here that made me do it AND....I hate my coat now. It is a Cheapy McCheaperson and not the warmest... Here are my new ones:

Got this one in Chocolate....Via Spiga, whoo-hoo!




and this one I bought just as shown below....RED! whoo-hoo!



So....aside from a cheapy sweater here or there...or maybe some workout gear.....that should be ALL the clothing shopping for the next few months...of course, unless I find those hot shoes above on sale...ha ha!

Oh almost forgot....check out the yum yum b'fast from this morning...blackberry citrus salad was killer :) I am in love with this breakfast....had it pretty much all week!



OK - we are going out to dindin tonight and i need to actually shower today ;) Happy Friday!!

BANGS!

DAMN...it is cold outside! This morning when Chad got up it was 1 degree outside but with windchill was -18! I snuggled back in bed with the dogs and slept a few more hours....too cold! Sorry baby that you have to get out so early in that coldness. The schools were even cancelled today & tomorrow b/c it is so freakin' cold! But....at least there is no ice or snow. We were planning on checking out the Winter Beer Festival at Schlafly's Bottleworks on Saturday but....if it is this cold I think we will NOT be doing that.

Anyway - here is a pic of that Dijon Chicken I made the other night w/ the herbs and panko...made it again tonight....it is really tasty and a quick dinner!



I also went and had my hair done today by little Natasha and i just decided to cut bangs...i've been needing something different so this is it. Whenever I used to get bored with my hair I would chop it all off or dye it red but last time I did that...I vowed to never go red again because it looked so ronald mcdonald.

The air is SO dry with all the coldness so, my hair is super staticy but I snapped a few pics - it will look better when i have time to mess with it but...ya get the idea...



Here is all the static.....



Side shot, please excuse the dirty socks on the floor....they're mine!



goofy shot....CHEESE!

drinkin' vino to keep warm.....

just a quick post summarizing a few points:

*Made it to the gym today (GO Team Me and a big F-U to Team Fat Smacky!) I also had a damn good lunch - whole wheat pasta w/ pesto sauce, broccoli, asparagus, grilled chicken, etc...here is a pic....



*Hydroponic gear came in today and to my nice surprise, my baby had it all 'assembled' when i got home from the gym..... here are pics thus far:





*Chad and i are on the vino tonight and he is singing SocialD and now we have moved on to Rod Stewart.....ah the range :) We love to go through all our music, sing and talk about what it brings up, our favorite parts, lyrics etc. I love that Chad loves all kinds of music and understands that yes...even Rod Stewart has a time and place :)

*it is f'ing A cold outside...eleven degrees as i type....i'm trying not to bitch b/c i know justin, tenae & shef are freezing ass up in chi-town....sorry guys! keep warm!

*oh and George Clooney is in town for the next 4 months filming a movie....and i just saw his arse on TV....?

that's all for now.....too cold to think, type, etc! back to the vino....

Garlic Lemon Hummus Recipe

Here is the recipe for the hummus Chad made over the weekend.... superb and so lemony! I used to buy Lemon hummus at Publix in ATL (ahhh...miss you dear Publix!) but our grocery here does not carry Lemon hummus :( Well, that is a lie, I did spy some today actually but it had a hella ton of fat in it. Now when I eat hummus, i usually just have about 2 tbsp so - i figured this out to be about 2 pts per serving. enought babbling...here's the recipe:

1 12-oz can garbanzo beans
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2-3 tbsp tahini sauce (sesame paste)
juice of 1 small lemon
½ tsp salt

Drain 1/3 of the water from the can of garbanzo beans into a small bowl. Set aside for later use.
In a blender, mix together the garbanzo beans with the remaining can water and the rest of the ingredients.

Blend for 1-2 minutes until a smooth, slightly fluid paste is formed.

If desired, add small amount of the saved can water and blend to create a more fluid consistency.

They really were tasty.....promise :)

alright alright so....the picture did not turn out so hot but....let me tell you - I made Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde and they were oh so good....if you like green salsa which...I do! I got the recipe from my fave site cookinglight.com and damn, it was good! I made a few modifications - used Ezekiel Tortillas versus corn tortilla b/c well damn, they are just good and good for ya. When it was all said and done - these came oout to be 7 points each. Also made some black beans mixed with chopped tomatoes and some fat free feta sprinkled on top and a dash of Adobo seasoning - YUM! Overall a healthy good dinner for us.... don't judge Mr. Enchilada by his looks...he really was tasty!



Something else going on that I have not really blogged about is a new hobby I am venturing into....well WE are venturing into I should say. I love love love my Aerogarden that Chad gave me for Christmas. I love fresh veggies, herbs, etc. I love the idea of a garden the end product. I hate the idea of dirt, bugs, spiders, worms etc....in case you haven't picked up on this yet - i'm an indoor kind of girl, lol. So...that being said, I have decided to try and grow some lettuce indoors via hydroponics! We'll see how that goes and perhaps I will venture into growing additional stuff like peppers, tomatoes, berries, etc...but for now baby steps = lettuce :) We ordered all my stuff and should be setting it all up this weekend hopefully. I couldn't do all this without Chad and we are both excited about it so, super cool.

Anyway - that's all for now. Gotta finish watching Biggest Loser.

chicks, frogs & chicken fingers...

yahoo yahoo! another successful day of hitting the gym - that's three days in a row...Score is 3 points for Team Fine In 09 and 0 points for Team Fat Smacky....whoo hoo!! Also made a pretty yum din - it was simple, actually got the recipe out of this months WW magazine and adapted it to my likings - it was Easy Chicken Dijon - basically took 1 tbsp of whole grain Dijon mustard & 1 tbsp of plain Dijon mustard - mixed that together and coated two boneless/skinless chicken breasts. Then dredged the chicken in 1/3 cup panko crumbs, 1/2 tsp each of dried tarragon, oregano, garlic powder & thyme...plus 1/8 tsp of salt & pepper. Cooked that in the oven on 350 for 45 mins and YUMM it was quick, easy and healthy. I will have to run it thru the WW point finder for exact points but, i'm thinking about 5? Anyway - that with some steamed broccoli and brown rice - BAM healthy din.

Now tomorrow will be a different story....going to Sundeckers with Chad for lunch with his coworkers and this place has THE BEST chicken fingers on the planet so...i must indulge. We talked about it and Chad agreed to split the deep fried devil fingers with me and I will get a side salad so there ya have it - at least that is cutting the fat and cals in half! And since it is in the middle of the day - no booze will be had so - damage should be minimal.

AH! One awesome thing that happened today is I had a nice surprise package in the mail from my girl Tiff - she is the most thoughtful person and always sends me little surprises here and there. She seems to really time them perfectly and they arrive when I need a pick-me-up. Funny thing is that when I ripped off the brown paper wrapping, she has put the pressies in a Janie's Cake box! So, my first thought was.....why the hell would Tiff send me a satan cake when she knows I'm trying to drop the lb's??....then der, once I opened it, I realized she just used it as the box to mail everything....but it was a nice touch ;) She sent me that perfect shade of OPI lavender/gray nail polish I was looking for called Metro Chic. She had to arm wrestle a chick for the last bottle at Sephora in ATL! And also sent a few other goodies and this awesome card....



The card read "Anastasia was through making out with Ian. He was never going to change." Too funny :) I googled it (damn i heart google) and apparently this is taken from a book Bitter With Baggage Seeks Same: The Life and Times of Some Chickens. I think I need to get this book - the little chicken is so cute! I'm working on sending a package back to Tiff with some schwag to motivate her on during her triathlon training so, that is a work in progress...

That's about it for now - i'm tired, it's been a draining day. Sorry this post is totally boring and lame-o....I will try and take some pics tomorrow. I'm off to shower and hit the hay.

visions of sugarplums..... or something like that

what's the first thing you think about when your eye's open in the morning? Well for me...this morning i woke up and had visions of all the fruit in our kitchen - blackberries, bananas, oranges, apples, strawberries - and how I really need to use these up before they go south. SO...fruit salad it is Viola!



Now, I am not usually a fruit salad kind of gal but damn....i think I have changed my ways because this was delish! I just chopped it all up and threw it in a bowl with some freshly squeezed lemon juice and YUM - instant brecky. Speaking of lemon juice....if you do not have a citrus juicer, you must run out and get one asap. I picked mine up at TJ Maxx (practically everything I own is from there) for like $4 and I use it daily it seems! i LOVE it....although Chad and I have an ongoing debate about the proper way to use this thing - which way the lemon goes in. I'm sure I am doing it backwards as it seems that is how i do most things but....both end in the same results so, we agree to disagree ;)

Chad also made some homemade Garlic Lemon Hummus yesterday that is yummm....can't wait to have some later! and yes, we used the citrus juicer for that recipe as well...

Anyway - made it to the gym yesterday whoo-hoo! 30 mins on elliptical and 20 mins on the treadmill w/ 2% incline. I felt great and always have the same thought in my head while I'm working out - "why don't I do this every day???" - so, off to the gym i go again today. Got some good tunes on the Pod and I'm a happy camper.....laters!

whoo hoo Saturday.....even if it's 31 freaking degrees....

Yahoo for Saturday!! Even though it is overcast, dreary and cold....it's still Saturday! We slept in this morning until 9:30 which was super nice....I LOVE sleep. I still have this headache I can't shake...went to bed with it so, took some more Advil and trying to hydrate....go away headache!

I wanted to post a pic of my awesome friend Heather! Here we are at Blackthorn Pub...WHICH by the way....if you are ever in STL you must go there. Great hole in the wall place with awesome pizza and cheap brews. One day Chad and I were bellied up to the bar in there waiting on our pizza and the cooks were singing 'Night Man' from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia and well, I've been head over hills for the place ever since. Not the healthiest but, for a splurge here and there, it rocks.

Anyway....short story long - we decided to take Miss Heather there as I knew she would love it....




It was so amazing to see Heather again - she looks fabulous and is rad and that's that.... and, her skin is amazing! Beautiful!

So...today I am **hanging head in shame** taking down the Christmas tree....i know i know, my mother would be ashamed....it should have been done at least a week ago but hey, shit happens. And it's so pretty! i would keep it up year round except that would qualify me as crazy and kinda take away from the whole holiday excitement therefore....today is the day to dismantle. Boooo.....

Also going to the gym today and I'm back on freaking track as far as eating healthy...jesus...the muffin top explosion stops here! Loaded up some hip hop on my 'Pod and I'm going to be besties with the elliptical today. Tiff is training for a triathlon and I will cheer her on and admire from afar...not quite up to that yet but, super cool for her....who knows, maybe one day I will get to that level.

Also going to try and get a pedi today....I'm looking for a deep violet gray shade for my toes which sounds disgusting but, will look cool if I ever find the shade. OK - I'm rambling about boring girly crap now so, that is my que to exit stage right....laters!

kickin it in my new kicks.....

trudging through this new year....been stressed with work lately so feeling blah....or maybe more BLEH! You get the pic..... making better food choices but i'm in PMS mode so had some slip ups here and there.....hitting gym this weekend....

*note to self HIT THE GYM THIS WEEKEND DAMMIT*

in exciting news....one of my best friends from a former life is in town this week....YEAH! I got to hang with her Monday night and we had lovely dinner and lots of fun catching up, reminiscing about life, etc....she is a very talented musician and is actually on tour with Lil Wayne right now, playing bass! I am so proud of her.....exciting times! She looks fabulous! Meeting her again for dinner tonight and she gets to meet Chad....I will try and remember to take some pics if I can remember to put down the booze and pick up the camera! We have a shared passion for Makers Mark and Ginger Ale with a twist of lemon...which always makes for interesting times!

Let's see what else.....OH I ordered these gorgeous kicks today.....YEOW....got a sweet deal at this site and damn, I can't wait to wear these with my PJ's! Here is a pic....

One more random thought and then I need to get back to works.... i feel like I'm a day late and a dollar short once again but I am just loving that song Creator by Santogold....she is BADA$$! On Repeat on my 'pod :-) Also digging the Crystal Stilts...they remind me of Joy Division....

OK --- enough randomness for one day....hoping I get more focused over the next few days.

p.s. - OH, and our "family" video that I shot when Chad came home from the desert....the one of Bebe & Honey seeing him for the first time when he walked in the door....it was voted #1 viral video by Bill O'Reilly and it was on CNN......again....and yep, we missed it.....AGAIN! Geez!! But still pretty cool!

Back in The Saddle again....yippie kia yay!

well today is the day....back in the saddle again....the WW Saddle that is. Chad and I are headed off to the grocery to pick up fresh fruit & veggies, chicken, brown rice, etc, etc, etc....gotta stock up on the good stuff! Also going to try and get to the gym 4x this week - that is my goal anyway.

Our NYE was a fun night! We went to the Wine Tap to ring in 2009 and aside from the nasty hangover I had the next day...was a good time! Another goal for me for 2009 is to cut back on the booze....my thinking is less booze = less cals = less hangovers = happy me. Yeah! So far so good on that goal....of course thinking of Pinot Grigio right now still makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit so, perhaps that is helping me presently achieve that goal ;)

Here are some pics from our NYE....

Always a good sign when you walk into your local watering hole and you have reserved seats front and center...



Here is a festive pic of the bar - I love the frozen cobra taps they have now...beautiful!



Here is a pic of me and Chad....



Just a wee bit drunkity mcdrunkerson here, took a taxi ride home!....



Hope everyone had an awesome New Year's Eve.....back to reality now, holidays are over. Taking down the tree later tonight, stocking healthy nosh in the house for us, back to the gym this week.... this is going to be fun....right? ;)

Damn it to hell...it must be said!

So I know this is a really goofy thing to blog about but I feel like I just have to say this…..Peeps, Give Jennifer Anniston a BREAK!!!!

I opened my snail-mail mailbox mid-morning (say that 3x fast!) to find a nice complimentary copy of OK magazine waiting for me….yeah! As of late, I save trash mags for the beach or airplane trips but since it was free…figured I would give it a flip through. Mindless “reading” that will keep me entertained for at least 20 mins while I flip through and look at all the pics of who’s wearing what, who’s going where, who’s doing who’s hoo-hoo, etc….. I usually just look at the pics and check out the make-up and clothes….but one “article” (not really an article but more of a glossy pic with bullet points but HEY) caught my attention so I had to read it and it left me feeling exasperated so, must blog about it….I will try and be brief and concise ;)

Jennifer Anniston – I am so freaking sick of reading all this crap about how she is hung up on Brad and obsessed with Angelina, etc…. so the girl wears a black dress that is supposedly similar to a black dress Angelina wore a few months ago….HELLO! Every girl has at least one if not two cute black dresses in her wardrobe….is it NOT a staple? Is Angelina the owner of the simple black dress look now???

Apparently there are claims that Jennifer is trying to show off her body to Brad Pitt by posing nude on the recent cover of GQ…..Peeps, if I had her body I would never wear clothes….EVER! The woman has an amazing bod….what is wrong with her showing it off a little and why do people assume it is all about Brangelina?? It wasn’t raunchy and she looked amazing, who cares? Am I the only person failing to see the parallels here? What is that expression - making mountains out of mole hills? or is it more in line with a famous D-lo quote "sounds like some high school bullshit story to me!"...lol

Actually the tabloids make me nauseous lately….if I see one more celebrity baby pic I’m going to PUKE….makes me pine for the days of Britney & K-Fed’s train wreck stories!!!! Anyway – I am already bored with this post so I will shut up….also it is apparent I need to get a life since this irked me to the point of blogging about it….

**Backs away from the keyboard…throws OK trash mag in recycling bin….vexs on getting a life that is less like that of a 13 year old…..pronto!!**

just call me Betty...

quickie post! I feel like Betty Freakin Crocker today - made more iced Gingerbread cookies, cooked a pretty good din-din for us (Tarragon Mushroom Chicken, Fresh Sesame Green Beans, Caesar Salad), then also made some Lemon Poppyseed Scones from scratch for Chad for his b'fast the next few days - grated the lemon zest & everything! They are pretty good! All that on top of laundry, cleaning the house, etc - I am exhausted and not used to all this domestic crap! WTF? lol...

Anyway - looking forward to ringing in 2009 at the Wine Bar tomorrow night with my baby - I will bring my cam and take some pics. Safe to say we will take a taxi ride home! Hope everyone has a safe, healthy and happy night of fun tomorrow night! YAHOOO!!

F YOU FP!!!!!

ok - certain things are off limits for me to blog about because they are just too personal so I try to stay away from them but I have to get this off my back - I DETEST FAT PETE!!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! If you ever want to see my head spin around in circles and fire shoot out of my nostrils - ask me about him.

Fat Pete or FP is my sister's soon to be ex and I just can't tell you how f*cking happy I will be when he is out of all of our lives for good. F YOU FP!

Damn - nuff said and I feel better getting that out of my system.... a little anyway.

Too mad to blog about anything else so I'm going to drink a white russian, take a shower and go to bed. Hmph!!

Merry Christmas!!

Wow - I have been so busy lately - not much time to blog! Let me start out by saying this Christmas was the best ever! Chad and I just relaxed and stayed at home - I wish we could have all of our families close to us so we could see everyone but, my fam is spread out all over TX/VA/GA, JoAnne is in FL, Justin is in Chicago working - etc so it makes it hard. So, we made it our Christmas this year and just chilled at home - very relaxing and fun....

Let me backtrack a little bit... went to DC a few weekends ago to surprise my niece for her 21st birthday! Got to see my sisters, more nieces/nephews, bro-in-laws and Tiff! So, was a total blast! Weekend went by very fast but, was jam packed with family, fun, drinking and shopping so was great! Also got to reunite with a childhood BFF Brandi! Was amazing as she looked so very much the same - same mannerisms and beautiful smile! She would laugh and it would bring me right back to 2nd grade - amazing! She was preggers and all a-glow with happiness :) Thanks for facebook/myspace for that mini-reunion!! Here we are:



Here are some pics from my trip to DC - once again I was busy eating/drinking so took very few pics....hoping my sisters will email me some!

Here we are at Bonefish drinking White Christmas Martinis--



We went over to Bob's house for a beer and I got to meet Tory and my niece's pup Rocky...First pic is Bob & Rocky, Second pic is Tory! She was the best dog! -






Great trip and was a total blast! Already missing my sisters and wanting to see them all again - somehow Mykla did not make it in the few pics I took - or Dawn Marie! Ah well...next time.

Back to Christmas - it was perfect and go so many pretties! Chad gave me my Aerogarden that I've been eyeballing for the past 9 months...



A beautiful necklace by my fave designer Simon Sebbag - he makes the sexiest jewelry on the planet! Baby did good ;) Here it is -



I also got a beautiful book from Honey and Bebe - 'Art & Soul of Baking' - which is a perfect gift for me, as we've been baking & cooking up a storm lately - made some homemade linguine from scratch that was excellent for our first try -



We made some homemade Spicy Iced Gingerbread Cookies on Christmas Eve that are freaking YUMMMM - here are some pics:







With all the good food flowing around the house these days - our motto has become "Too Late For 08 But We'll Be Lookin' Fine In 09!!" Healthier days ahead for sure....but for now, let me get back to this Christmas Mimosa I'm sippin' on!! Merry Christmas to Everyone!! xoxoxo

holy fat smacky.......

I am back from spending five days at my parents house in Texas and I think I gained like 12 lbs in five days! Here is what my parents house is like..... wake up, drink mimosa and/or bloody mary (depending on your poison of preference), eat a kick ass breakfast that consists of sausage bread (lots of cheese and duh sausage) or eggs/biscuits/gravy/bacon, drink a few more mimosas post breakfast to help food settle (yeah right), snack throughout the day on the various cakes/pies or cheese trays or candy or dips or.....by this time mimosas have turned into wine or beer and mom is making something scrumptious for dinner such as ribs or beef tenderloin, then more dessert (cinnamon Janie's cake - YUM) and then more wine or beer or even better - white russians! You get my drift... lots of damn good food and drinks are flowing - my jeans are tight and major muffin top action....hot!

And - it's not like my mom is shoving this food in my face - nope - don't need help in that department - I am doing the shoving! Seriously, as soon as we walked in, I spied THIS and it was downhill from there..... but deep breath - it is in the past - let it go and move on - back on track tomorrow. And damn that was some good eats.

Moving on and more importantly - I got to visit with my family! Got to see my beautiful nieces and nephew and their babies, my niece's hubby, two of my bro-in-laws and of course my parents. It was a total blast - my family rocks! Chad had a great time too - I will post some pics tomorrow although...I took very few pics! Guess I was too busy shoving food in my face.

Tonight is a great night - good to be home and back with the girls - I missed my babies! - We are sitting here, catching up on our email/blogs/RSS feeds (yeah!), christmas tree is on and looking festive, and we are waiting for the storm to come in tonight - some ice and snow and being the true southerner that I am - i am excited to see the white stuff :)

OH and here is something totally random, saw Pauly Shore at the airport in Dallas tonight. He walked right by us and I was checking him out because he had this funky hat on and then I notice "hey, that's Pauly Shore" and later he walked by us again. Weird thing is that I saw him about five years ago in Hawaii - shared an elevator ride with him. I mean, if I'm going to see someone relatively famous, I would hope I would see someone I haven't ALREADY seen before! How weird is that - anyway - that's it for tonight - later!

rock on Dior....and x-mas corn

ok - couple of quick things....as i eat my lean cuisine lunch lasagna!

The Dior thing was fun last night, Julie loaded me up with a ton of free samps and I picked up some nice waterproof black eyeliner, lip gloss & liner, and a nice eyeshadow pack with 5 smokey blue shades - whoo hoo! Also scored some glittery lip gloss... here is my loot to add to my ever growing, ridiculously huge make-up collection - what can I say, I have a serious habit here....



oooo - there I am all fuzzy in the mirror, behind the loot - thank god i didn't get my morning hair in that pic, lookin rough today!

Here is a pic of the eyeshadow pack....



and the final result... you have to look past the greasy forehead action...ongoing battle for me and, Dior does not have a lot of oil-free options for bad skin peeps like myself - ah well....good eye stuff though, especially the mascara! va va voom on the eyes - meh on the rest of the look (can't see in the pic)....i think the huge zit that decided to greet me yesterday was the main reason the rest of the look was not so hot....eyes are a little heavy but overall, fun....



and finally....looky see one of the lovely gifts JoAnne brought me when she was here....does she know me or what??? YUM!



ok - this post is completely random and self indulgent but again....it's all about me so there you have it. We are headed to my parents house on Wed in TX and will be there through Sunday - looking forward to seeing my parents and a lot of my family - crazy times will be had I'm sure. More on that later...

Christmas Tree....not the bath towel variety either (if you get that - we will be friends forever)

ok, apparently I just needed to be more patient. Not one of my strong suits - ah well - HERE is our beautiful Christmas tree!!!



Three strands of lights (gotta use the outdoor ones on the indoor tree cuz that is how i like it) and 250 ornaments later....viola! I love love love it! We didn't do a tree last year since we were out of town for the holidays so, this is our first real tree together and it is just perfect (to me!). It was nice to see my old ornaments again - first time I've looked at them since my divorce. My first Christmas post divorce was at me and my sister's apartment with a plug in tree from Big Lots that was silver with fiber optic lights that turned varying shades of pink and green - mass quantities of alcohol was consumed that Christmas and we got a kick out of that damn tree. Last Christmas we were at JoAnne's so, we didn't have our own tree - this year OUR TREE! So Cheers to that!

OK....off to bed for me. Out.

grrrr.....

i was going to post pics of our pretty pretty Christmas tree but blogger is not letting me upload my pics right now and i am mad so, finishing this beer and going to bed. boooooo. bad blogger site. boooooo.

this sh*t is bananas b-a-n-a-n-a-s.....ha...not really, but they are damn cute

I don't know what it is about this time of year but I find it very hard to stay true to course on eating healthy - it is SO freaking hard to do! I started to consciously eat healthier today and did a pretty good job but damn - I just keep thinking how close the new year is and how that is such a symbolic day to begin again and start fresh and how I could just eat like shit the next few weeks and just worry about it or "fix it" then. It is an old habit of eating everything in sight the entire month of December knowing that January is right around the corner and we all know that old habits are bitches to break. So, that being said- back to my original point (i think there was one) - It is super hard for me to eat healthy right now - duh - but I am trying dammit, I'm trying!

So, last night, I bought the cutest little things! Teeny tiny baby bananas....LOOK:



This entire bunch fit in my hand! So freakin cute I had to get them and, I thought one would be perfect for breakfast on some bible bread with some peanut butter - viola...



And...here is my delish lunch - made a big old salad and used a ton of the left over veggies we had from our Thanksgiving recipes (carrots, green/yellow/red peppers, celery, etc) and zapped a frozen low fat pizza (also threw some green peps on there too) - bam, instant lunch:



For dinner I decided to cook and went to my fave site and made the Walnut-Crusted Pork Chops with Autumn Vegetable Wild Rice. It was really damn good! And...I have never cooked with Swiss Chard but was intrigued by the pretty red and yellow stalks - it was YUM. Chad thought the rice was bland but, I thought it was good. I used brown vs wild rice b/c that is what I had on hand but ah well -next time.

Other than all that...Chad brought home our Christmas tree that he got for FREE from work - WORD UP! It is freaking huge and I had plans on decorating it tonight but I want to enjoy doing it so...will do it tomorrow night as I'm damn tired tonight. Drinking a glass of wine and going to veg. later

Thanksgiving pics - yummmmmm

Thanksgiving was so awesome this year - food was delish and company was such a blast! It was so much fun to cook with Chad....ha ha, although he did most of the cooking! I did the cranberry sauce (fresh cranberries & oranges, chopped pecans, orange juice and chopped pecans) and the green bean casserole and the rest was Chad's doing - the turkey ROCKED - we brined it which always makes it super juicy and tasty. Check out the pics...





Everyone loved the corn souffle and also the Roasted Chestnut Sausage Dressing - got that recipe from the Food Network :)

Such a fun holiday weekend! I needed a weekend to NOT think about work and just chill out and appreciate the greater things in life like family. Was the perfect Thanksgiving! I also received awesome news about my job today. I was offered a position that I am really excited about within my present company - lots of opportunity for growth, lots of new things to learn and I get to continue to work from home as my team will likely be scattered across the states. This is AWESOME news and I am so very excited. I have a few friends that are still waiting to hear but - they are all brilliant and I know will be offered jobs - the sooner the better! Career limbo totally blows so I am so thankful that mine is over and hope my friends get great news fast.

Aside from that - tomorrow is Wednesday so - have to take Honey to chemo...HATE that but, that will be one round closer to DONE.

Back to healthy eating to reverse the turkey damage so....more on that later...all for now!

Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone :) This has to be my favorite holiday - no coincidence that it is centered around FOOD! lol - We will not actually have our Turkey Dinner until Sat when Chad's Mom and brother will be here. I will take pics of all the yummy dishes we will have - and NONE of it will be points friendly but hey, it's one day out of the year and i'm going to enjoy it!

I have a BIG family so, my family is celebrating in several places today - none of which I will attend - too far, boo hoo. But, both of my brothers are at my parent's house in Texas today with all their kiddos and my Mom is having the traditional Turkey, Cornbread Stuffing, Coconut Cream Pie, Iced Tea, Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows, etc - typical holiday dinner. My sister's are up in Virginia (or over in Virgina I suppose) - they crack me up to no end - decided that they don't really like turkey so screw it they are going to have LOBSTER. Too damn funny. Both of my sister's are going through divorces right now so, they live together with all their kiddos and yes, I know it sounds like an 80's sitcom, but hey that's how we roll. I love love love my family and our craziness, our perfections and our imperfections - we rock.

So today - besides being glued to the telly - I can't get enough of the Food Network - I freaking LOVE that channel, especially now that we have it in HD - everything looks SO GOOD! - We are cleaning the house and getting our grocery list together. Should be a pretty great day! I am just so happy and thankful to have my little family here and we are all together - Chad and the girls. Life is good :)

Candy Corn Suit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh boy....had to share this lovely example of yet another Candy Corn Cake I found online...





Actually I am not 100% certain that is actually a cake...it could be some sort of Star Trek symbol? Pretty lame-o decorating skills here but....who am I kidding....icing - check.....sugar cookie crust -check.....stressful week at work - check.....I would shove my face in this cake right now if i had it in front of me. SIGH.

Here is another example of a Candy Corn errr Suit.... or something like that....



come on - is it just me or does this suit not SCREAM "Candy Corn Beyotches!!!"

Anyway...back to the grind, I just had to take a few minutes away from work...and away from the chocolate chip cookies that Chad and I made last night in our new mixer. Note to self - PLEASE find healthy recipes for the new mixer that does not include chocolate or sugar! I totally just consumed my points for the decade.... grrr!

Delineate...please come back!

I hate it when i fall in love with a shade of eyeshadow, lipstick, liner, mascara - wahtever and come to find out it is LIMITED EDITION and becomes distinct! One of my most coveted items is a particular burgandy shade of eyeliner that MAC made eons ago called Delineate. I was a limited shade for Nordy's and I have never seen anything that comes close to this color - and trust me - I have looked! I can't tell you how many ho-hum shades of eggplant or magenta I have tried hoping that it would compare to my lovely Delineate - no luck thus far :( I am down to my last little bit and about to run out. I've searched high and low, checked MAC's goodbye site to check for any straglers, emailed MAC plenty of times to beg and plead to no avail. Sigh. I took some pics of it so I have lasting memories of it since apparently MAC has no plans to bring it back anytime soon...boo hoo! Although in my opinion - it is a perfect shade for their Holiday Collection!

OK now - it's not quite as vivid as it looks in these pics but, it really is a nice fun change of pace - check it out ---

B-I-N-G-O!!!! uhhh, i mean J-I-M-B-O!!!!

Chad and I went to the Rev. Horton Heat show last night - always a great time! First of all, it was at this bar in STL called Pops - this joint is open 24-7, is set smack in between two pretty seedy strip bars and sells the coldest PBR in town so....mix that all together and add a little Rev Horton Heat and - you have a superfun Friday night! I forgot my camera at home :( so no pics but, here is my fave song by RHH.....



Great show and I always love to see all the rock-a-billy kids and the aspiring Vargas girls. I was going to dress up cute but ya know what...it's just too damn cold...bad excuse i know!

Anyway - today....i think, if we can get our arses off this couch, we are going to Cabela's and making our list for Turkey Day....yahoo! I'm getting excited :)

bad = good ???

The human body is so bizarre....makes NO sense to me....after a week of eating like complete crap, I go to my WI tonight and have lost a pound. Which I know, I know - one pound - big f'ing deal but...point IS - given the colossal amounts of M&M's, booze, cheesecake and red meat I consumed over the past week - the scale should have reflected a gain, not a loss. I don't get it. Maybe it's going to hit next week?? Don't get me wrong, not complaining here, I just wish that my good behavior would be rewarded by good results and not the other way around - bad behaviour equals good results .... wow, did I just really say that? Moving on before I have another "moment of maturity"- ewwww!

Today was HoneyB's first chemo appointment. I dropped her off at the vet at 7:30 this morning and was able to finally pick her up at 3. It was pretty much a wrecked day for me. I could not focus all day and just kept thinking of her and wondering how she was doing. Did not help that she looked back at me as the vet tech took her back to the chemo room - her eyes were so sad and it just broke my heart. I worry that she thinks I am going to leave her there forever. But, she did well and she is home and sleeping next to me right now. I am dreading that this will be my routine every Wednesday for the next two months. I just hate it. I just keep thinking - I lost a sister to cancer and I'll be goddamned if I lose my dog to cancer too.... F You Cancer!

Other than that - not much going on - work is still stressing me out - just the unknown of what the future holds - I really don't want to have to drive back into an office - I LOVE working from home - but, if that is what happens, I will roll with it. OH and I've totally gotten addicted to Facebook - so cool reconnecting with peeps that I haven't seen in forever - I've found a couple of people that I think of often but have lost touch with so, it's nice to find them again.

OK that's all for now - Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK! Holy lord, Chad and I have to sit down this weekend and get our menu, shopping list, etc together! AHHHHH! I am so so so excited about the holidays this year....I just can't wait to get our Christmas tree up, etc. Just knowing that Chad will be here in the New Year instead of deploying to the desert makes it that much more exciting! Later :)

back on the wagon....again!

Alright…a couple things….first of all, not only have I fallen completely OFF the WW Wagon the past few days but….the damn Wagon has backed up over me a good three or four times….leaving me crushed, wounded and weak under a heap of mini quiches, bud light, Harry’s cheesecake, chicken & mozarella paninnis, pinot noir, almond M&M’s and NY Strips…. There is more to the heap but, it’s all a blur of bad choices now….tasty bad choices – yes……healthy choices - NO. Moderation is something I’ve never been too good with….one day I’ll get it – I hope!

Anyway….back on the frickin frackin WW Wagon I go…. Again I have to ponder why I can’t be blessed with a super model’s metabolism….or the willpower to just smoke ciggys and drink coffee all day. Ah well – that harsh reality is… I don’t, won’t, never will so, may as well get back on that damn wagon o’ health. I mean it is important to stay focused on the true task at hand here – look good naked….or look better naked….or look my best naked. Something like that. Nothing like setting a self-centric goal as motivation!

I haven’t blogged in forever it seems so couple of things – I got a shiny new KitchenAid Mixer!!! I think this means I am officially grown up when I am excited about a purchase of this sort….it also means that my boyfriend is stuck with me forever. I mean, a KitchenAid Mixer is a sign of true commitment! I am searching the internet for healthy recipes – I may have to forcefeed Chad my butternut squash & rosemary whole-wheat raviolis but, I am toying around with making something along these lines this weekend – we shall see.

Let’s see what else…. OH! Chad and I went to the shooting range in Belleville last night and – what a blast (har har – could not resist that little lame joke)! OK, here is the deal with me and guns – my Mom is not really fond of guns – although my Dad has several hunting rifles – point being, guns were not really a part of my upbringing. Fast forward to my 20’s where I would occasionally shoot beer cans with a bebe gun with my ex-MIL (I know - totally redneck and totally FUN). Usually this activity would result after multiple beers and multiple jokes about my “bad right eye” – I have to shoot lefty b/c I’m legally blind in my right eye. Anyway, I have always wanted to shoot guns but wanted to feel safe and know the person teaching me knew what the hell they were doing – here is where Chad comes in! Chad and I went shooting a few times in Florida before we moved here and it was awesome – such a rush and it is quite empowering to shoot – in a safe, controlled and educated manner. I tend to be very liberal in my political thinking so, you would assume I would be anti-gun but – actually it’s quite the opposite. It’s all about having the choice to bear arms for me and also… being educated on how to properly shoot a gun….goes back to the whole education = empowerment thing. ANYWAY…long story long (sorry) – we went to the range to shoot last night and – it was a total stress reliever. Here I am shooting Chad’s AR-15 – which is a very scary looking gun but, actually quite easy to shoot and not as intimidating to me once Chad showed me the hows and whys. Here I am...





More later – we are going to the Rev. Horton Heat concert Friday and I am super excited about that and already trying to think of what the heck I’m going to wear. I love going to his shows – very interesting crowd and a good time always  Later!

thai donuts = yumminess

So... due to extreme PMS, I decided to skip my WW meeting last night and go out for Thai food instead - bad me, I know... I was afraid if I got on the scale and it showed a PMS related gain I would get discouraged and have bad things happen....like eating a reese piece sandwich with a side of chocolate covered strawberries.... excuses, excuses, I know.

So instead we go to Thip's - which is the AWESOME Thai joint up the street from us. I love to go there cuz the food rocks - probably some of the best Thai I've ever had and we usually sip a beer while we wait for our to go order. There is usually something goofy on their bar TV and last night was no exception - "Busted in the Buff" was on.....noooo, not that kind of movie, lol but, it was pretty hilarious video clips of people doing dumb stuff naked like....wheelies on a motorcycle, diving down a trash shoot, buying a case of beer at the local QT, etc. Chad and I were amused. Anyway - while we are sitting there waiting for our food and drinking our brews, the chef brings out Thai donuts that he made for us just to be nice (fried biscuits with powdered sugar...ok not traditional Thai but whatever) so of course, had to EAT them - holy hell they were awesome....reminded me of these things my sister used to make when i was little - basically biscuits fried in butter...yummmmm. We then had our usual Tom Ka Gai soup - which is a killer coconut milk soup and not low fat at all, spring rolls and we split one dinner - which was basically chicken and rice. Not the best night from a points perspective but, a good meal and fun night overall :) And now that i think about it - not that bad after all probably..... much healthier than a reese pieces sandwich.

Not much going on otherwise - just normal stuff...drove into STL yesterday to pick up my new, nice and shiny laptop for work - super cool! Hopefully I won't be handing it back over in a few months....lol.

Anyway, that's all for now and,oh ....HI SHEFALI!!! ;)

Cake Batter Smoothie - yum!

ooooo yum - i have been apprehensive about trying the WW Smoothies that they sell at meetings - mainly b/c I think they are overpriced! But.... I broke down and bought the Vanilla Chai one b/c it sounded intriguing to me. I just mixed one packet of it in the blender with 1/2 cup of fat free milk, half a cup of water and some ice and HOLY COW - yum!!! Tastes like a cross between cake batter and eggnog --- in the form of a smoothie! Pretty damn good for 2 pts and a nice treat after my 2 mile run on the treadmill - yeah me! And I'm assuming here that most people think raw cake batter tastes amazing? or maybe that's just another weird Ashley thing.... or wait, maybe I'm still subconsciously craving cake icing???

crying over cake

i am not sure if it's PMS or this website but, I am totally craving FROSTING right now..... curses! I laughed til I cried last night looking at this cake mishap site...I am certain Chad thought I had lost my mind but.... i was laughing my ass off all the same, with big huge tears running down my cheeks....

freezing and shopping :)

All I have to say about today is BRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! This southern girl is STILL not used to the cold ass weather here in the midwest....in fact, the sad part is that today's low temp of 38 degrees is nothing...just wait, oh yes - it will get colder! That White Turkey Chili i made yesterday was fanfreakintastic for this weekend btw....perfect weekend for that sort of thing.

First off this morning - I made the Fiber One Pancakes using the Fiber One mix (der) and they were damn good!! Slammed some light pancake syrup on there and a yum and healthy b'fast for only 4 pts....yahoo!

Another item i found recently that i love is greek yogurt - Tiff told me about this first but, I've seen it on other blogs and in some cooking mags and damn - this stuff is super low in fat but still has this rich creamy consistency - it's killer and so versatile! I used it on my lunch tacos the other day and then today, whipped some up for Chad and I with a teaspoon of powdered ranch dressing and made a nice little veggie dip for a sunday snack for us - got that idea from a WW leader's blog that read (listed to the right).

I feel like I'm sixteen years late to the prom here but...Chad showed me how to subscribe to RSS feeds for all the million and one blogs I lurk.... uh I mean read....so now, when someone posts, it sends a nice little message to my RSS folder! I know, this is common sense/old news to most peeps but, exciting news to me - anyway, I am very happy with my new RSS discovery!

Lastly, went shopping today and bought some cute sweaters and one pair of skinny jeans to wear with my boots (skinny as in fitted on my calf...not skinny as in smallest pair of jeans i have ever gotten my ass into) - I would have bought a few more pairs of pants but.... kinda in between sizes right now so, hopping to wait a few and get the smaller size - whoo hoo!

Back to the grind tomorrow....hopefully this week will be productive, painless and
fast!

Soup & Scones kind of night...

Today was COLD so, decided it would be a good night for soup so.....after consulting my dear friend Cooking Light - (i love this magazine and their site so much!) - I settled on the White Turkey Chili - mainly because the reviews all made it sound so good! Also decided to try out the Chipotle-Cheddar Scones and they were damn good too! This was really the first time I've made bread from scratch and it was very simple and a fairly quick recipe.

Here's a pic of a bowl of the White Turkey Chili....



and one of the Chipotle Cheddar Scones - one tip that I picked up from Alton Brown on the Food Network in this recipe is putting the butter in the freezer for a few minutes and then grating it like cheese....it helps to make the consistency of the dough come together quicker and worked like a charm ;)



We will be noshing on this meal for a few days as there are plenty of leftovers....one cup of the soup is about 4 pts and the scones are 3 and it was a really satisfying, filling, healthy yum meal for 7 pts....not bad! That's all for now...I will try and post some non-foodie pics up soon.

And that damn other chocolate covered strawberry is still skulking around....I wish Chad would eat it already....so freaking good!! :)

Orgasmicly Delicious.... not talkin bout lucky charms either ;)

Today was a stressful day workwise which i won't go into cuz it's Friday dammit and i'm over it....SO! Snapped a few pics of my b'fast and lunch today - sorry if this is boring the shit out of anyone but, I'm having fun with it and it's keeping me motivated to try new things and...this blog is all about me so there.

This is a staple WW breakfast for me using my beloved Bible Bread that I am way crushing on! Three point b'fast - egg whites, reduced fat super melty american cheese and canadian bacon on Bible Bread - super quick, super yum and all that protein keeps me full. I've been eating the hell out of those strawberries this week too...before they go bad!



Then, for lunch I was craving tacos (probably due to mass alcohol consumption from last night....more on that below!) but wanted to make healthy tacos and not the taco bell variety - not that I don't dig on some good old fashioned Taco Bell grub now and again, just like Fergie... Anyway, I used Boca Soy crumbles for the taco meat with taco seasoning, put this in a yellow corn taco shell, topped it with some salsa, green onions and a dollop of fat free plain Greek Yogurt as a replacement for sour cream and about 1/8 cup of reduced fat cheddar cheese - All that for a 3 point taco and it was DELISH....also made a huge salad to go with. I LURV Boca products... I just turned Tiff onto the faux chicken aka "Chik'n" patties and holy cow they are so freaking good! Not sure what the hell is in there but hey, tastes like chicken to me. And....the bonesless buf-faux-lo wings are just as damn tasty....and the veggie corn dogs too... shutting up now. Moral of story is Boca = GOOD! Here's a pic of my fabo taco....



OK few things really quickly.....last night! We went to a killer tapas restaurant in STL for dinner called Mosaic. Food was VERY beautiful and tasty - plating and presentation was impressive. We were celebrating Chad's promotion so good conversation over tapas and a bottle of wine - perfect Thursday night! We then went to the casino and had a couple drinks and played a bit of our poker game - great night! Drank a bit too much vino but.... i'm being good tonight to make up for that ;)

Other thing is that I had a KILLER chocolate covered strawberry for dessert tonight - Chad will laugh when I say this but...it really was "so decadent".....orgasmicly delicious....there is another one in the fridge and it will take every shred of willpower I have to not eat that sucker for breakfast.....

More to blog about - Chad got a new gun that he built that looks intimidating and a bit scary to me but strangely alluring and I can't wait to shoot it. Think we are going to hit the range tomorrow - I will take pics.

LAST THOUGHT for the night and then I'm headed to bed - I am oddly excited that Chad and I are going to join Sam's Club tomorrow.... what the f does that say about me?? LOL! More on that tomorrow..... Laters!

awesome day! so proud of my baby :)

Today has been such a great day! Chad found out today that he was promoted to Master Sergeant which means another stripe and more money so yahoo! I knew he would make it but he was a little nervous - I am so very proud of him! We are going to go out to dinner tonight to celebrate and have a party next weekend as well - COOL!!

Still no news for me on the work front - I am happily working away at home and managing my people through the transition of our acquisition (how corporate mumbo jumbo does that sound?!) and I have basically come to the conclusion that The Suits have no clue what the hell is going on and it will be some time before I know what the hell is going on and that much longer for my unit to know what the hell is going on....molasses chain reaction. Anyway - I am content with that for now....and just staying focused as I sit and wait...wait....and wait some more. Either way, I am not sweating it...for now ;)

Moving on - remembered to take my multivitamin today *YEAH ME* and made a damn good salad for lunch. I also had a Living Right Mini Pepperoni Pizza with it and..... verdict is still out on this one. It is very healthy - all organic, whole wheat crust, etc. It also has Omega 3 in it and call me crazy but every time I eat something that totes having Omega 3's in it....I swear I can taste a slightly fishy taste.....appetizing huh? Yeah well - it was ok but, I kept thinking of all the good stuff in there and how healthy it was and it seemed to make it taste better - mind over matter, lol. Anyway, there are 3 more left in the box so, once I finish the box I will then know if this is a buy again product or never buy again product. For the sake of health and convenience, it is not bad. Here are pics....don't ask me why I have started taking pics of my food - i'm a weirdo like that I guess.... obsess lately?

Damn, let's take another look at this salad.....YUM! And I counted this as a 0 points salad - it was all fat free dressing and healthy veggies. So damn good!



OK - back to work for me - I will try to post pics later - I'm going to wear this lovely new INC dress that I bought a few months ago - perfect fall dress to wear out to dinner!

Focus on the Positive!

So, this past week, I feel as if I was really on the path to enLIGHTenment. I tracked my foods, made healthy choices, drank more H2O, got lotsa sleep, didn't drink as much vino as usual and even steered clear of the Reese Cups! I stepped on the scale tonight at WI and gained .4 lbs!! Grrrrrr.......

OK, so, right now - I can't change the number the scale spit back at me this week - that's done. But, I can react to this negatively or positively. I'm going to choose the positive route because I'm gd PollyAnna. So...just bear with me as I talk myself out of a foot stomping hissy fit about a gain....

1) it's only .4 lbs - could be worse...way worse

2) i feel better eating healthier and that's what this is all about right? well, it's also about looking good naked but, that's another story for another blog...

3) i notice one MAJOR thing missing from my list of "goods" i did this week....EXERCISE!! must get more exercise this week!

4) oh and another thing missing from the list of "goods" - damn multivitamin! I don't know why I cannot remember to take this sucker. Note to self - TAKE VITAMIN!

Alright - I will trudge onward and upward, keep going and try try try again. The scale has got to be my friend next week!

Other than a downer of a WI, on good news, I took HoneyBear to the vet today for her ultrasound and good news - her blood work is clear - no signs of cancer and the ultrasound showed NO signs of tumors anywhere - YEAH! My sweetie pie is healthy.... here she is looking happy.... chilling on the couch with Jules and her PIMP pillow!

Green Soup and Paper Plates.....

Super Yum lunch today - I tried the V8 Broccoli Garden soup and WOW, stuff is super good. Now, I would say this soup is NOT for you if A) you don't like broccoli, Chad .... or B) you have flashbacks to the movie The Exorcist when you eat green soup. If neither of those apply to you....try it, you will LOVE it. I had mine today with a little sprinkle of cheddar cheese and it was so good - much better than I anticipated. Here is a pic of my cute little 4 point lunch (note the bible bread and ultra chic paper plate!!)...

Promise that the soup was WAY better than it looks in the pic above - the green factor makes it a bit ewww but, really tasty - promise.

Other than that....not much else shakin today. I am going to hit the gym later and have already 'rocked the vote' today so I have fulfilled my patriotic duty :) Will b interesting to see what the outcome is of this election - I personally will be glad when it is said and done. I'm over it.

Anyway - that's all for now

Bible Bread

One of the great food finds I've discovered this go around with WW is Ezekiel 4:9 bread. Not only is the stuff yummy, it's good for you too! It is organic, flourless and actually has FOUR grams of protein per slice so you stay full a looooong time. I love the kind with sesame seeds and at 1 pt per slice (80 cals, 0.1 g fat, 3 fibs) -this stuff rocks! Like this morning - I was craving some French Toast and dipped a slice of Ezekiel into some egg whites w/ reduced fat buttermilk - fried it up in a skillet with Pam - patted on some ICBINB fat free "butter", added 1/8 cup of low fat syrup and Viola - 3 point French Toast! Plus - it is almost 10:30am and I am still full. Rockin good breakfast!





These pics make it look like there is a ton of syrup on there but, promise it is only 1/8 cup! I am a portion control freak and measure everything :)

Anyway - try the bread, it is really good and does not taste funky - I actually prefer it over normal bread now!

Goin' to Hell in a Reeses Pieces Handbasket....

Very chill weekend! Chad and I passed out candy Friday night, while we sat on the front porch and had a couple beers. Chad was in charge of buying the candy this year and he did pretty good - Crunch bars, Snicker Almonds, Reese Pieces, Hot Tamales, Skittle Sours. I can pretty much contain my inner binge demon around all of these candies and have done pretty good so far - just had one Snickers Almonds (hey, almonds are good for you right?) a couple of the Hot Tamales and one of the Reeses Pieces mini-bags. Pretty decent right? I've come a long way baby... my sister called me to tell me about our niece eating a TON of her Halloween candy - to the point of puking and it made me giggle - not AT her mind you...I can just remember doing that so often as a kid at Halloween, Easter, etc... especially at Easter....ugh, moving on!

The only kind that Chad bought that I could totally shove my face into is a bag of miniature Reese cups but, that bag is still closed and I think I'm good. But damn..... those suckers are freakin good!!!

OK - MOVING ON, seriously.... made a healthy dinner tonight that was pretty good - Oven Fried Chicken Strips - basically dredged them in flour, low-fat buttermilk and then coated them with crushed up Corn Flakes - they were pretty good and only 4 pts for two strips (they were big). Also had mashed potatoes, salad and broccoli all for a grand total of 8 points. Go me!

One more thing (sorry this is all over the place tonight!) but - it dawned on me Friday night after I had my third MGD64 and zippo buzz - "gee, i wonder if these have lower alcohol or something??" Of course - I googled it and YEP! sure enough, the damn beer has only 1 point but 50% less alcohol than my usual Mich Ultra! So, yes I am saving a point by drinking the MGD64 but, will eventually end up drinking 50% MORE of these damn things to get my happy beer buzz. Call me crazy but, this girl likes to get a slight buzz when drinking a couple beers so, out with the MGD64's and Hello Lover to the old Mich U's! I knew something was up!!

And, last thing for the night - this Daylights Saving crap is killing me - Chad too. We keep thinking it is like 9:00 and we're ready to hop in bed except, oh shit wait....it's only 5:30. Humphh.

OK - that's it for now - I leave you with a pic of our pumpkin that we spent at least five hours carving to perfection....ok, not really....it's one of those pre-fabricated plastic one's that you plug into the socket and Viola! - instant jack-o-lantern. I will do better next year and carve a 'for real' pumpkin and promise to make up for my slacker suck-ass pumpkin this year by blinging out our Christmas Tree ten fold in a month!



Side Note - we are watching Gangland on the History Channel right now and damn, who would have thought Salt Lake City has a gang problem? Mormon Crips??? for real? are you serious? oh jesus....this world is surely going to hell in a Reese Pieces Handbasket.