Things

Yo!!!  Missed me?  I hope so

A few things I’ve noticed as of late.

1. Family Time > Blog Time

We traveled to Washington last weekend for my sister Paige’s graduation!

It was the first time my family has been together since January!

 

 

2. There’s a reason I don’t live in Washington

3. Fruit makes champagne that much better.

 

4. Mimosa brunches with friends are that much better with a beautiful view.

It seriously makes you feel like you’re on vacation.

 

5. Guys really like bacon.

 

6. Don’t go down to the beach with “under-the-influence” guys and expect to stay dry.  No matter your protests, they will pick you up and dump in in the ocean.

Even in brand new jeans and shirt, and with straightened hair.  They just don’t understand.

 

7. My 10 year old sister might just be the funniest person I know.  We had a fun photo shoot with her 2 life-size stuffed animals.

   

 

8. I love this one.  Love

 

 

9. It’s a smart thing to put your food pictures on your computer before you take your camera to events such as graduations or mimosa brunches.  Because when you run out of camera space, the food pics are the first to go And then you end up with no food pics from the past 2 weeks.  Seriously.

 

10. I MISSED YOU!!!

 

Tell me the highlight from your past 2 weeks.  Anything exciting!

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Birthday Nights

There are so many great restaurants around here.  So many that I really couldn’t decide and ended up at CPK (California Pizza Kitchen).

I love love love their BBQ chicken pizza, but wanted to try something new.  Their Pear & Gorgonzola pizza always catches my eye.  I decided to try it out tonight!

“Caramelized pears, Gorgonzola, Fontina and Mozzarella cheeses, caramelized sweet onions and chopped hazelnuts. Topped with field greens tossed in our Gorgonzola ranch dressing”

The pizza was delicious.  But there was way way too much dressing/white sauce going on.  I’m not a huge ranch person, and there was just way too much ranch.  It would be good to have 1 or 2 slices as an appetizer or something, but it was lacking that traditional pizza flavor (red sauce or BBQ sauce) that I was craving.  Still deeeelicious though! 

And then there was always dessert

Passed around the table of course, although I ate half of it.

Last year: (desserts rule)

The rest of the night was filled with drinks, friends, and dancing.

(I feel like we’re going to a country concert in this picture)

Hey look I wore the same belt last year on my birthday!

Yes, The Boot (das boot) made an appearance.  But apparently not in pictures.

No worries, it made another appearance the next night when we went out for another birthday celebration!  (With pretty much the same people…haha.  Don’t ask why we didn’t combine birthday parties).

Night#2:

Birthday Buddies!

BOOT!  (Don’t ask why my roommate is doing the head tilt)

I had to work at 6 am the next morning, so I was the driver.  I had 2-3 drinks at around 9:30 before we walked downtown (so I could drive home by 2:00).  And this morning I felt AWFUL.  I mean shaky, sick…I even got sick at work.  That is not normal after only 3 drinks.  Especially because 3 drinks gets me no where near tipsy/drunk.  I really think my body is telling me NO ALCOHOL ENTER ZONE. 

Oh and we also rocked the glow sticks.  I obviously chose pink & orange

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Weight of Baking

Sounds like many of you don’t think you can rock the running skirt I honestly think they’re kind of….strange too.  I just found one on sale and thought I would try it out.  I think we’ve all come to the consensus that Miss Skinny Runner is the queen of rocking a skirt and we should let her continue to hold that crown.

This weekend was full of baking, eating, and good times For Friday night’s potluck, I tried my luck (ha – no pun intended) at dough balls once again.  Instead of Mama Pea’s version, I made these  Cookie Dough Balls this time around (since I had real butter on hand and I also wanted to make chocolate chip ones).  Here’s the story in a nutshell.

The dough tasted rather….just…doughy.  Not sweet at all – that’s where I knew something went wrong. 

That’s when I realized I forgot to double the sugar.  Double the recipe, but only half the sugar?  And the comment section already seemed to say these cookies were under-sweet to begin with.

So I took to rolling my dough in sugar.

Meh.

Sure they turned out doughy on the inside.  But tasted bland and rubbery.  I know it’s my fault, and I’m sure the original recipe is delicious!  I just need to make it right.

Cookie dough ball fail #3.

Fail #1?  Doubled the oil.

Fail #2?  They turned out delicious, but very crunchy.

Maybe I should just leave ball-making to the pros.

At least we had delicious brownies and ice cream to bring to the get-together!

And I whipped together a batch of boxed sugar cookies I had stored away in the cabinet.  Boxed or not, they were still a hit

And we bowled!!  (excuse the dark, flashless photos)

Saturday was spent – get this – sleeping in!!!!  Have I mentioned yet how I now get Saturday’s off work??  Rather than working Saturday-Wednesday, I now work Sunday-Thursday (at the hospital.  I still nanny other days as well).  I lose 3 hours a week, but honestly this will do SO MUCH for my sanity, well-being, and social life.  I’m excited. 

I hit up my friend’s birthday BBQ for a bit and delivered her some cake

And baby cupcakes!

My mom is super into birthday cakes, and she passed down the tradition when she gave us our own bear cake pans this Christmas!  I was excited to try it out myself for my first time.

The frosting was definitely hard to do – I’m awful at the star tip thing, and it wasn’t sticking to the bears!  But it all tastes the same in the end, right?

Baby cupcakes are dangerous!!  I popped 3 in my mouth just while frosting. 

 

I also used my new yoga mat (review and giveaway coming soon!!) to complete Jillian Michael’s six-pack abs DVD.  This DVD is hard!  I honestly barely feel it working my abs (my abs weren’t exhausted afterwards or sore the next day), but it was tired from the squats and lunges she has you do!  Sad that I found this DVD more of a lower body workout than abdominal workout? 

I also competed some upper-body weights.  It feels really good to get back into weights/dumbbells.

Speaking of weights, remember this post?  Yeah, it might’ve been in July.  But I’ve been hitting obstacles for months – injuries, moving, a new job/routine to get used to, too insanely busy to exercise, more injuries, drinking, holidays….the excuses could go on.  But according to my resolution goal I made a couple weeks ago, I’m really buckling down on the weight-loss/toning up plan.

I want to include you guys and update you on my progress.  This is a life-blog about myself, anyways.  But I don’t want to overwhelm you all with weight-loss talk.  I know some blog readers out there can be sensitive towards that type of thing, and I don’t want to lose dear readers because they’re tired of typical weight-related issues! 

So I’m asking you guys – do you want me to post about my weight-loss journey?  Do you want me to post my weekly weigh-ins, progress, some daily food/meals (obviously I still won’t post everything), workout talk, etc?  Or is that too much?  Please, let me know your opinions!

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Resolution check-up

I’ve been doing pretty good with those New Year’s resolutions goals – how about you?

Listen to my body? Check.  Seeing as how I’ve ran probably twice in 2 weeks.  That might be because I’ve had no time, or it might be because I’ve been listening to my ankle/inner shin pain.

 

Intuitive eating? How about delicious intuitive eating at work?

Such as homemade Black Bean & Turkey chili one day:

And an amazing salad the next?

Mixed greens, mustard apricot dressing, feta, grilled chicken, and a bit of Mediterranean pasta.

Froyo while shopping:

And yogurt messes for breakfast:

I’m not a big chips and salsa person, but lately I’ve been loving it.  I wouldn’t recommend these chips, however.  I love Food Should Taste Good chips, but they have much better flavors out there (such as multigrain, olive & sweet potato!)

Strength training? I started to strength train a couple weeks ago, hurt my writs, and had to take a break.  Seriously.  Injuries never cease to surround me.  It’s feeling better now though, so I should be able to start up again!

 

Happy-Weight plan?  Yes, I’ve started it.  But good times with friends (which may or may not involve drinking) have gotten slightly in the way this past week.  So this one kind of conflicts with…

Do something social once per week?  Yes, yes!  I went to Chipotle last week with some friends (yes, that counted as my something social).  Then went out on Thursday with some friends.

Which was tons of fun.  But left me feeling like this the next day at work:

Feelin’ swell as you can tell.

And then mimosas, breakfast, and spending time downtown on Sunday:

Sourdough french toast.  I got fresh fruit on the side instead of bacon or sausage.  Which was just a cut up green apple.  Disappointing since I dislike green apples!

It was BEAUTIFUL weather. 

 

Hot chocolate once per week? You betcha!!  Okay, I might have had it twice the first week.  But it’s a huge step from every single night like usual.

 

Organization? Ummmm working on it.  I cleaned a little today!!

 

How are your resolutions (or goals) coming along as we enter the third week of January 2011?

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Golden Trip

What’s up my dear readers?

Today I sent off my Florida State dietetic internship application.  One thing I can check off my list!

1. Complete and send off Florida State application.

2. Complete and send off my other 9 applications.

Yes, 9.  I realized that is beyond excessive and I should really really narrow it down.  But I’m having a hard time doing so.  Oy!

Last week might have been stressful and difficult, but Saturday afternoon I hit the road home!  My sister and brother were still home from school this weekend, and my family had plans to go to the Walt Disney museum in San Francisco.  While it wasn’t a huge deal to drive 3 1/2 hours for, I want to cherish all the family time I can get

The museum was interesting, but my family of course loved the Disneyland portion best.  We’re a huge Disneyland family.  The vacations are such a special memory.

From 2005

to 2008

to my first trip with friends only in 2009:

I love Disneyland!!!

Anyways, afterwards we drove a mile or so closer to the water and froze to death admired the view. 

Grant – don’t throw her in!!

 

 

 

Sure, my sister (who lives in Washington) and brother (who lives in Pennsylvania) gave me crap when I complained how cold it was.  But I was in a tank and hoodie – so used to 60/70 degree weather!!

We then went to pizza, and came home for cookies and pumpkin pie.  Please tell me why being at home seems to give me the excuse to eat everything in sight?  Because I’m not sure why.

This morning I had an orthotics appointment (praying this alteration will fix the problem and help my pain!), hit up the mall for returns, Target for necessities, and Panera for some caffeine and lunch.

I guess saying “To-Go” means “don’t cream cheese my bagel and let me do it myself.”  Disappointment.  I love bagels from bagel shops just because I love when they cream cheese it for you.  I swear it tastes different.

This happened.  But when I ran out of cream cheese, I didn’t finish the bagel.  It’s just not as good as pre-cream cheesed in the paper wrapping.  You know?

I also tried this bar on the drive up and thought I’d quickly tell you guys I liked it:

I’m not a big fan of cherry flavored things.  Okay that’s a lie – I love cherry candy and cherry sodas.  But cherry desserts/chocolates?  No thanks.  But this just tasted like a sweeter protein bar.  So good in my book.

Cookies & Cream is still my favorite.  And I don’t remember if I liked the Peanut Butter because I scarfed it down after my half-marathon.  But they are all tasty, and one of my favorite “protein bars” out there.

 

Sooooooo who’s watching the Bachelor this season? 

I’ve started to, but not sure if I’m super into it this year.  Especially because the past seasons I’d watch with my roommates and gossip/laugh about it.  Now I’m by myself…and it’s not as fun to make fun of it all alone. Hmmm.

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Silver Lining

Happy Halloween!! 

My whiteboard creation – that would be a witch, mummy, bat, pumpkin, ghost, grave (with hands sticking out from the ground), vampire, and warewolf.  Talent right there.

I’m currently running on 5 hours of sleep…5 hours for the past two nights combined. 

Friday we watched a movie and I didn’t get into bed until 2 am.

Last night we went out to the bars, and I didn’t get into bed until 3 am.

Don’t ask how I got up at 5 this morning.  I’m just thankful that I did.

The past few days have been full of tons of treats.  Such as obligatory candy

Splurge cookies that I’ve had my eye on

You know you secretly like those frosted sugar cookies.

Now imagine them in pumpkin!

Fun drinks (+ wayyyy too many other drinks last night )

(Source)

I wanted to make these Candy Corn Martinis last year, but everywhere was sold out of candy corn!  They were okay.  I’m not a vodka person, and they were a bit strong.  But interesting to make!

The other night, we also went to dinner for a friend’s birthday where we literally devoured 3 bowls of chips amongst the 3 of us at our table.  Fast.  Plus a huge soda cup.

I got a massive and amazingly delicious fajita chicken taco salad.  This picture actually makes it look small.  But it was huge.  I only managed half after all those chips Leftovers!

 

Last night was tons of fun.  I ended up dressing up as….

The Tin Man!!  Unfortunately I didn’t get a single full body shot of my costume I’m saddened.  Here’s the only front view (and I’m oddly sitting, so my tutu is sticking out at a weird angle).

I was standing in the background of one picture, so it’s blurry and an odd picture, but you get the idea

My sister made the tutu, and then I made the hat.  Although the hat ended up falling off halfway through the night, and I also lost my heart.  So by the end of the night I was just a silver ballerina.  Haha.

 

What were you for Halloween?  What did you do this weekend to celebrate?

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Blurbs

I rrrrreally want to catch you up on the past few days of my life. But I just have so much mumbo jumbo to talk about, that I’m worried I’ll bore you.

Meh. Deal. But I am quite tired so I’ll split it up and make it quick.

Wednesday’s bad-quality oats in a jar.

Road-trip yumminess.

Road-trip nastiness.

Concert fun.

Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker, Justin Moore, Easton Corbin, Steel Magnolia…

Amaze.

Concert eats.

Ooozing cranberry sauce.

Morning eats.

Mommy knows I love fruit 🙂

Pumpkin pie yogurt at Yogurtland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pre-long run fuel.

Adorable cake made by sister.

Best peanut butter ever in the entire world infinity and beyond.

1/2 the jar gone in 1 day? Yes it’s possible.

10.25 miles in 1:36:33.

Not a great run. Hard.

Sign of being lazy? Or just color blind?

Post-run lunch.

Shredded BBQ chicken & whole wheat wrap.

Hungry 2 hours later.  More PB duh.

Pre-drive snack.

Favorite part.

Traffic + 10 mile run = must stop for food.

$5 dolla footlong (I really hope you sang it in that tone).

Veggies galore. But no guac apparently.

Still starving. No food in the car…except…..

It happens.

Roommates making gordita crunch quesadillas at 8:30. Me likey.

It’s pumpkin season!

Well that covered Wednesday-Friday.

I’ll catch you up on my whirlwind of a weekend tomorrow 😉

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Some Giant Fun

Note: I wrote this post last Friday but took off at the last minute for a cabin mini-vacay! Therefore, I’m just catching up on posting and blog reading – especially all about the HLS!!

Being unemployed definitely has it’s perks 😉

For example, I’ve gone to 3 Giants games in less than 2 weeks! I have to say AT&T park (the Giant’s stadium) hands down has the best stadium food. Okay, I might be biased…it has the normal hamburgers and hot dogs but also…

Bread bowls,
Carvary stand
Excellend Mexican stands,
Caribbean food,
Veggie burgers,
Veggie dogs,
Cheesesteaks,
Sushi,
Wine bars,
Ghiradelli hot fudge sundaes,
Portabello mushroom burgers,
Seafood stands….

You get the point 😉

I got excellend shredded chicken nachos a couple weeks ago:

A Cha-Cha bowl on Tuesday – rice, black beans, jerk chicken, pineapple salsa & BBQ sauce:

And a turkey burger on Thursday.

(Source)

Um Yum?

Best of all I got to go to the games with people I love and enjoy spending time with!

(Sorry for the dark and bad quality of that last one. I tried to lighten it up so you could see our beautiful faces :-/)

And yes – so I may wear the same hat and jersey to every game. Once upon a time I had a small obsession with JT Snow. I spent a small fortune on a Giants jersey because I wanted to be him for Halloween. That was one dang expensive Halloween costume, so you betcha I’ll be getting use out of it every chance I get.

Back in 2002…

Luckily my brother’s head-issue wasn’t permanent.

Duct tape because it was like an extra $30 to get his name engraved. Rip.

Yeah I’m ghetto like that.

Do you have a favorite sports team or is your family extremely into sporting games?

My dad will Tivo the games so he can watch them without commercial breaks. Plus he can rewind it 3 times during crazy calls and pause it so he can yell at the umps.

Now excuse me while I go catch up on the 130895739 HLS posts.  I can now imagine I was there eating Sandwich thins and running along Chicago’s waters!

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August Birthdays

Unfortunately this side pain has not gone away. It definitely feels like a pulled oblique muscle, I just don’t know how on earth I pulled it randomly while running. Praying it goes away soon, but it hasn’t improved at all in a week. And I know it’s awful, but at the moment being in between school and jobs, I have no health insurance.

I know from past experience (ahem knee I’m talkin ’bout you) to REST asap. But I’m just so frustrated at this – I’m finally getting back into the groove of running and weights and this comes along!

Moving on to my busy weekend!

Friday we hit up our summer concert numero 4. Toby Keith and Trace Adkins!

One of my best friends from high school also went 😀 So fun!

I’m not sure what Toby’s hiding…

Saturday was my sister’s gymnastics meet where she did awesome. Love you Brookie!

And Sunday we headed to my grandparents’ house to celebrate my sister and grandma’s birthday.

Fun fact: My brother and grandma both have the same birthday. And my sister and other grandma share the same birthday. What lucky grandparents! 😉

(She looks weird in this pic?)

My cousin brought his new baby girl!

It was my first time meeting little Kylee 🙂

We all took turns holding her. Except my brother shied away!

My grandparents are goof balls. Love you Sissie & Papa!

(Partial) family portrait take 1.

Take 2!

Third times a charm!

Happy Birthday Brookie & Nana!

HA Grant – we gotcha!

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Giant Snuggie

Again, thank you all for your honest opinions and thoughts on the job situation. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the weight loss clinic job that pays well at home. And I decided to take the job at the hospital back at school.

It was a very stressful decision. Stressful day. And I had anxiety for days straight about it. But the decision is made, and it’s too late to turn back now.

I wrote out a complete budget and I will literally be living off of pennies. I’ve always been tight with money and on a budget, but this will be much different! Let’s just say food-wise, things will be different on the blog. You may be seeing A LOT of boring pasta, PB&J (with no fancy nut butters!) and cheap cereal 😉

It’s crazy that I just packed up my entire life, filled up 4-5 carloads, and moved home a month ago. And now I have to do it all again to go back. Oh well! It happens. 😉

The other day I got to go see the Giants win (GO GIANTS!) with my youngest sister 🙂

That would be a Panda hat on her head in honor of the player “Panda.”

We walked to the game from BART along The Embarcadero. It was a gorgeous day!

Yes, she would be wrapped in a Giants snuggie.

That’s one Giant snuggie! 😉

We also enjoyed some delicious food. Think cotton candy. And I was going to get tacos. But when I saw the person in front of me get nachos, I saw visions of my future. And it included nachos.

I ate all the chicken (tons of it), pico de gallo, light on the cheese sauce, and probably about 7-10 chips. I gave the rest of the chips to my sister. We devoured that beast.

Running/Training news:

I think the reason my runs haven’t been feeling any easier may be due to the fact that I’m still not running much mileage per week. Sure I’ve been slightly increasing the length of my long runs, but I’ve only been doing 2-3 runs per week, about 12-17 mpw. For the time being, I’ve decided to try focusing on increasing the length of my shorter runs, and try possibly doing 4 runs per week.

Previously, my schedule looked similar to:

1 run – 3 miles
1 run – 3-5 miles
1 long run – the highest I got to was 10 miles

For now, I’m going to try:

1 run – 3ish miles
2 runs – 5-7 miles
1 run? – 2-4 miles (if my body feels up to it)

I have 11 weeks until my half marathon, so I feel ahead of schedule on my long runs (I was up to 10 miles a couple weeks ago). And want to work on building up my base for now!

Since it’s Sunday and all, I must ask the obligatory question – how was your weekend?

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