Quarter Life Crisis at 28?

It happens. And it's happening to me today. I'm overwhelmingly jealous of the bloggers who have changed careers and followed their dreams to do what they love (Tina, Emily, Jenna) but unfortunately, quitting my job to pursue my passions is not economically feasible for me. A lot of the other bloggers have a great support system.  I have just me, myself, and I. So, I use my creative outlet on this blog, and hope that someday something is going to come along that will help me change my life. But today I realized that nothing is ever going to come along, I have to make it happen. So what's the next step? Well, I did some research this morning on becoming a registered dietician. While that is a great dream, it's not something I would be able to do financially. Scratch that. What's next? I'm thinking becoming a certified fitness instructor a la Gina. I think it is definitely something I would enjoy immensely and is acheivable for me. I haven't done enough in the ways of pursuing happiness in my life, so it's time to start! Wish me luck!

As I told you, I'm in the middle of moving, so breakfast today was a cranberry muffin. Not in the least bit nutritious, but 50 kinds of delicious :) Unfortunately I was running late this morning so I didn't have time to swing by Dunkin Donuts, therefore it was cafeteria time for breakfast.

I didn't photograph my lunch because it's so horrific I can't even face it on the blog :( It's been a really stressful week and the gods of convenience smiled down on me by putting a burger king down the street from my new apartment...enough said.

Have you ever gone through a quarter-life crisis?

The Return of Pumpkin :)

Hey hey hey. I picked up the keys to my new apartment today! So excited! Took a swing by and while it could use a little scrubbing I'm beyond excited to move in. It will be hard not having a dishwasher like I used to, but it will be really easy to love having my own private in-house washer and dryer again! You win some, you lose some. I really do love this place and can't wait to make it my home!

On a heavier note, I came across a post of a girl whose blog I LOVE...Rachel Wilkerson. This post really spoke to me because honestly, we have all been through a bad breakup where we felt like we would NEVER get over that guy, but ultimately you do. I think had I read this about a year ago, maybe I would've felt a little better about my future and meeting Mr. Right. So for all the single ladies, and all the girls who will be single soon...read it!

Today for breakfast I stopped and grabbed an egg and cheese at Dunk's (meals this week will be mostly on the go since my kitchen is all packed, so be forewarned that while it will be mostly good choices, you may see some pizza this week as well). I also grabbed a delicious ice coffee...

Something that excited me was the reappearance of all things pumpkin! I spied a pumpkin muffin at Dunkin Donuts today. You know what that means don't you? The pumpkin spice latte at the Bucks and the pumpkin cheesecake at Olive Garden are just around the corner! Oh how I LOVE pumpkin. I will have to make a trip up to Mann Farm in Methuen to pick up some pumpkin butter.

Lunch today was leftovers from Friday of basil fried rice. Spicy food always burns a hole in belly after I eat it, but I'm a glutton so I go back for more everytime. Dinner tonight will most likely be small and on-the-go as well since I have to swing by the new apartment to do a little cleaning and drop off a load of boxes. Then I'm off for a run. Have a great afternoon!

What is your favorite thing about fall?

Saint Anthony's Feast

Leaves are falling :( On my way home from spin class this morning I drove through a rain shower of falling leaves and while it was really pretty, it made me really sad. I love fall, I really do, but I hate winter, and the approach of fall also means the approach of winter. Yuck. But on the bright side, today was Saint Anthony's Feast! As a foodie, I love this event for all of the vendors that line the streets selling the most heavenly food on earth.

I attended Saint Anthony's Feast with my loves Danielle and Mike, two authentic Italians unlike myself who I knew would appreciate all the food as much, if not more, than me. Plus they are great company :)

Of course it was 95 degrees out and crowded as hell, but well worth the trip! We started out with some chocolate covered oreos which didn't last long enough to take a photo...sorry I was slacking on that one! It was hot and crowded and I was just anxious to start the feasting! Next up was some gnocchi and rice balls. The gnocchi were soft pillows of deliciousness and the rice balls were yummy fried balls of rice and meat slathered with sauce. I will understand if you need to walk away for a minute to keep from drooling on your keyboard...

Next up was the Italian Sausage. How can you go to any Italian event and not get an Italian Sausage? I really only eat these once a year so when I do I want it to be GOOD. Well this one certainly was. I would've actually preferred a little more peppers and a little less onion, but still unbelievable.

To complement an already mouth watering barrage of food, what better way to end then with a cup of gelato? Oh yes I did. I went with the capuccino of course.

After we stuffed ourselves to capacity, we took a little stroll around the block and stumbled upon the parade! I actually thought we had missed it, but we were lucky enough to catch the tail end.

At this point we had all sweated enough so decided to head back to the train and head home to veg out in the AC. Oh AC is the best thing on EARTH when it's hot like this. Thank god I decided to wear shorts! Before we boarded the train, we took one last photo of Danielle and me all sweaty, full, and completely exhausted :)

Big smiles ended immediately after this photo was taken when Danielle realized she had a stowaway on her purse...a cockroach! The sucker was huge and was FAST. Ew ew ew. Yet another reason to avoid public transportation if you can. Aside from the residual creepy crawlies that I'm feeling because of that thing, we had a great time and I can't wait to go again next year!

What is your favorite greasy food from festivals, carnivals, etc.?

Hooray for the Weekend!

Oh Saturday, how I love you! Since working pretty much sucks (you all know it's true) Saturday is typically the highlight of my week. Thank god the rain in Boston finally stopped to give us this gorgeousness...

So, not to let it go to waste, I went for a run this morning. I'm surprised how easy it's been to get back into it. I am still slow and even slower since I took so much time off, but I ran 4 miles today with no walk breaks at all and still felt like I could've kept going at the end. I averaged an 11 min mile pace, but you know what? 4 miles is 4 miles and I'm proud of it :) That brings me to a total of 12 miles this week, and I'm going to try to keep it at that for a month because I really don't want to get injured at all (have had both plantar fascitis and knee problems in the past). Pre run I had a pecan pie lara bar (yum).

For lunch the fuzz and I went to Cheesecake Factory and I ordered the Navajo, which is basically grilled chicken, avocado, tomato, onion (which i asked for without) and a chipotle mayonnaise. Wow oh wow. This sandwich was so awesome. Must get again. Cheesecake Factory is always overpriced but we were in the area running errands and the other options were not really appealing, so we settled on Cheesecake. Not pictured was a side salad with balsamic that was also quite delicious.

I'm off to browse through some cooking magazines to see if I can find a good recipe for bread pudding. What a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon right? Well it was tiring running all those errands, and I actually see a nap in my future as well with this pretty girl...

What does everyone else have going on on this beautiful saturday? Does anyone else think Cheesecake Factory is overrated?

A Work of Art

Isn't it a lovely day? You know what else is lovely? Getting art drawn on your to-go bag!

I ordered basil fried rice (since I didn't end up getting it yesterday) from a Thai place close to my work called Tree Top, and when I went to pick it up, it was in this cute paperbag with a face drawn on it in what appeared to be magic marker. How cool is that? If only the food had lived up to the face on the bag. It was good, but not great like the place I usually get it from. There was actually not a lot of chicken in it, but a lot of onions. The rice itself was spicy, but not TOO spicy, the rice was actually the best part. I would order from here again, but not often. They do give a HUGE portion for the price...I only ended up eating a third of this container...so for $6.95 I could get three meals out of it. Not a bad deal at all!

It was so nice out that I ended up eating outside. Was a tad windy, but I wanted to savor this day because I feel like summer is coming to an end and we don't have that many days like this left :(

How do you savor summer?

Feasting

Good morning! As per my blog title this morning, this weekend is the North End's Saint Anthony's Feast...and even though I don't even have a smidge of Italian in me, I go for the food. I have been the last couple of years and it is a smorgasboard (sp?) of deliciousness. I can hardly contain myself! I also could barely contain myself at dinner last night. I decided to try out this restaurant I spotted while at Whole Foods in Woburn called Masa. There is one in Boston also, but I had never heard of it and it said "southwestern bar and grill" so I immediately decided that it would be next on my lists of restaurants to try. Just a warning, this restaurant is not for the foodies with thin wallets out there if you're going for dinner. However, they do have an excellent tapas menu so I would highly recommend dragging a few of your friends, grab a pitcher of white wine sangria like I did, and go to town! Last night we did go for dinner, but ordered an appetizer that was on both the tapas and dinner menu. First sangria...

Then the appetizer...Arepas (“ROPA VIEJA” BRAISED SHORT RIB STUFFED AREPAS - Slab Bacon and Hot Cherry Pepper Ketchup, Smoked Chile Emulsion)...which was not was I was expecting, but was still pretty good....

And then, the main course, a delicious 16oz New York Strip (which I only ate half of, which was still a lot for me), accompanied by baby corn and onion rings the side of my head that were out of this world! The steak was a little overcooked for me (I like my beef medium rare to medium) but was still quite good!

And dessert, a banana caramel bread pudding, which for some reason I could not manage to get a good photo of (maybe it was all that sangria, hah!) so eventually I gave up so I could enjoy my bread pudding ;).

When I finally came out of my food coma this morning I realized it was my favorite day of the week, bagel friday! Today I went with my usual of everything with plain cream cheese (they only have the garden veggie cream cheese once in a while and I guess today wasn't my lucky day). On the side of this went a glass of orange juice.

Off to do some work, I will holla at ya lata!

What is your favorite kind of bagel and cream cheese? Anyone else attending Saint Anthony's Feast this weekend?.

Photoless :(

Hi friends! I must apologize for my lack of pictures. I've mostly been taking photos with my phone due to my cramped living situation...but the move is next week and I'm back to having my own space (and desk) again so I fully intend to up the amount and quality of my picture taking for you guys!

So my workout plan for last night flew out the window first because of the rain. I switched my planned track workout to a power yoga class (which truthfully I needed because my legs were sore and could really have used a good stretching session) but then it stopped raining (FINALLY) and I decided to revive the track idea...however, as I was driving by the track on my way home to change I saw that there was some sort of practice going on at the track :( Luckily, Jimmy agreed to repeat my 4 mile run from the night before, so I got another 4 mile run in! I know I know, I'm going from 0 to 60 here with the running thing, but it just feels so good to be back into it that I couldn't help myself. Last night's run was a little slower than the night before just because I had Jimmy with me and he is not a runner, so we took a total of 4 walk breaks instead of the 2 I took the night before. We still finished well under an hour though so I was happy with that :)

Breakfast today was the usual (I promise I will be getting more creative with breakfast too) of oatmeal with protein powder and a scoop of nutella. Lunch today is a favorite of mine courtesy of my friend Steve...basil fried chicken! Yum! Not the healthiest, but still not too bad as it is made with brown rice and the chicken is not breaded. It's spicy and delicious and I'm salivating already thinking about it. Rumor has it I may or may not also have a surprise coming from Konditormeister (local and most delicious bakery on EARTH) so I'm excited :) See you after lunch!

Lunch on the Go

Blah. This rain needs to stop, it's cold and depressing. It also doesn't help that it is freezing in my office today. And walking in wet from lunch just makes it that much colder. Lunch today was on the go, so I had to hit up the drive-thru at Dunkin Donuts. I ordered an egg and cheese sandwich on an English Muffin, which hit the spot today. My stomach is typically very resistant to eggs but I happen to know firsthand that the eggs at Dunkin's are not "real" eggs so my stomach tolerates them very well. I also had a handful of baked lays that I have kicking around my car (I keep snacks in my car for situations such as today when it's raining and I don't want to venture outside my car).

This picture makes me look like I have giant hands, but I promise I don't! Tonight's workout will be some Power Yoga followed by either some ab & arm work or some high intensity interval training on the elliptical, it all depends on how much energy I have left in the tank after yoga. For those of you who make the rounds of the food blogs, Emily over at The Front Burner had a good post yesterday on yoga for beginners, so be sure to check it out if you are thinking about taking up yoga!

Also, if  you're a fellow blogger or just someone who loves reading food blogs, check out Healthy Living Blogs. It lists a bunch of blogs and can be broken down by geographical area if you are only interested in reading blogs written by people who live in your 'hood. I am personally a member and highly recommend you check it out! From the creator of Healthy Living Blogs:

Healthy Living Blogs is a new resource for the health blogging community. Created by Lindsey of Sound Eats, HLB is a site designed to enhance the positive community of the healthy living blog world. Bloggers and readers can explore the site and find more blogs to love, bloggers in their area, and forums to deepen healthy discussion and support. If you're interested in having your site listed on HLB, simply send the following information to healthylivingblogs@gmail.com and check the site out for yourself!



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Wet and Dirty

Get your minds out of the gutter! I just got back from an amazing run in the rain :) As I told all of you earlier today, I have joined a running group and this evening was my first run...a 4 mile rain on the Waltham Bike Trail (which is a mixture of pavement, wood, and sand) and I came back wet and dirty!

I had to stop and walk for a few minutes twice but all in all it felt awesome to be running in the rain on a beautiful trail with some nice company :) I had a carrot cake lara bar right before the run and it didn't sit well in my tummy half way through the run so I have to be sure not to do that again. Back to my old standby of a banana with nut butter as my pre-run fuel. I am very happy to be back in the running spirit, I really did miss running.

On another note, one of the girls I ran with tonight was wearing Vibrams! How exciting is that? I have been so curious about them and would love to try them out but am afraid of them. I am a heel striker and have heard they take a lot of getting used to if you're a heel striker. I may take the plunge though, we will see. I will have to think about that some more. Would any of you ever try Vibrams?

Raging Craving

Howdy folks! So I have a confession to make...I had pizza for lunch. A slice of pepperoni to be exact. And it was delicious. I was craving pizza last night but managed to hold off and stick to just one slice from the pizza shop next door to my work. It was worth the wait. I haven't had pizza in a really long time and knew once the craving hit, there would be no stopping me until I had some. Sorry I forgot to take a picture of it as I was too busy gulping it down :)

In other news, I'm not sure if I have mentioned it lately or not but I really want to get more serious about my running, but it's hard because none of my friends are runners and I'm the kind of person who needs support and motivation. So I joined a running group. I have my first group run tonight and I'm very excited!!! Not so excited about the weather, but what can you do? I will be sure to let you all know how it goes. Oh and dinner tonight will be a lara bar pre-run followed by a big romaine, tomato, and olive salad after (I know I should have some protein as well but I haven't been shopping in over a week, oops!) Later gators!

I'm Only Happy When It Rains

Just kidding - that was just the first song played in my spin class this morning :) The usual Monday instructor was not there this morning so we got a replacement named Jesse...and I have to say, his music was awesome and there was one point where I felt like I might actually throw up (which is my cue that it was a really good class) and I wish he taught there regularly. Oh well.

As promised, I did try the chocolate chip cookie dough lara bar yesterday. I give it 2 out of 5 stars. It smelled better than it tasted. Actually it tasted pretty good, just not like chocolate chip cookie dough. The chocolate chips are actually overwhelming in it I think. There is just too many chips and not enough dough, in my opinion. On the other hand, I also tried the Ginger Snap flavor (see how I've been going on a lara bar kick? Yes, this is the exact reason I don't buy dessert flavored bars because I think of them as dessert and have to eat one after every meal) and I was pleasantly surprised. The ginger definitely comes through in both scent and taste. I give it a 4 out of 5. Apple pie is still the reigning favorite though ;)

Onto breakfast...the usual...you folks know how this goes, oatmeal again! I still have yet to find anything that holds me over like oatmeal does. In the mix today is the usual protein powder, the very last of my dried cranberries, cinnamon, and agave. Yum!

On the menu for lunch today is the last of my precooked chicken and the last of the caprese. Tonight I have a nice dinner date with the Fuzz...we haven't seen each other in a couple of weeks due to our successive vacations so I'm excited :) I'm going to leave you with an excellent post floating around the blog universe this morning that I found very interesting...Making the Switch to 2% Milk?

Lara Bar Mission: Epic Win!

Happy Saturday! I know I haven't blogged on the weekends at all due to my computer up and dying on me, but yesterday I went out and bought myself a new computer! Yes friends, I decided to join the cult known as the apple family. I bought a macbook. I must be 100% honest. I'm in love with this machine. There really is nothing else like it. I have never loved a computer this much. As Jay calls them, I am now officially an apple fangirl ;) Here is my new baby, along with my pretty new pink case :)

So now I get to blog on the weekends again, YAY! So back to what this blog is really supposed to be about...cookies! This morning I went to Target early to get some things and decided I was hungry so grabbed an Apple Pie Lara Bar...now it has been a while since I've had a Lara Bar and forgot how good they were. Which sent me on a mission when I got bored an hour ago. Off to Whole Foods to locate the new flavors that the blog universe has been aflame about. Mission accomplished! The Whole Foods in Winchester had both...and of course being the easily excitable type, I got seduced by the wide selection of Lara Bars that you can only find at Whole Foods and went a little crazy, including buying a BOX of the Apple Pie flavor because it happens to be my favorite of the ones I've tried. This picture is evidence of my overindulgence in Lara Bars...

11 Lara Bars pictured...minus a Cinnamon Roll that I devoured minutes before this photo was taken. The Cinnamon Roll was good, but really the smell was better than the actual bar. It really did smell like a Cinnamon Roll and while it was tasty, I still prefer the Apple Pie. I will be breaking into the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough tomorrow morning and will let you know what I think.

While I was at Target also, of course I was seduced by a box of cookies. This particular box was Archer Farms Mint Chocolate Covered Wafer cookies. I looked at the nutritionals and was excited by 140 calories for 10 cookies. Score! But alas, when I opened the box, the "cookies" were roughly the size of a quarter. Fail :( And they weren't that great. I hate it when I'm really looking forward to a cookie and I get disappointed. Oh well. There is always tomorrow ;)

For the rest of today's eats, I had a bunch of cold chicken breast and a banana for lunch. For dinner I had some of the leftover caprese I made the other day that actually gets better every day that it sits due to the mingling of flavors and the absorption of the oil and spices into the pasta. Yum. And of course the cinnamon roll lara bar for dessert. I'm off to bed soon as I have to be up early tomorrow for a hike. Goodnight everyone!

Back in the Saddle!

Howdy bloggies! Sorry for the long hiatus while I was living the life in the Dominican :( But the good news is I'm back in the saddle and back into my routine. That is, until I have to move again in two weeks, ugh! I come home from vacation and had to immediately start packing. No rest for the weary! Anyway, breakfast this morning was oatmeal with protein powder and a scoop of nutella (you're shocked, I know)...and then lunch was my own special creation. A modified caprese salad of sorts...

In this bowl of deliciousness went:

1/2 box of whole wheat rotini
1/2 quart of cherry tomatoes
about 20 kalamata olives, chopped in half
1/2 ball of mozzarella (I would guess about 6 ounces)
6 tbsp of pesto
3 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of minced garlic
salt & pepper to taste

These ingredients will make about 4 servings. Or 3 if you're a hungry girl like me. I got the idea for this coming back from the DR on tuesday. During my layover in JFK, I went for the salad bar at the Cibo restaurant and they had the caprese (tomatoes and mozzarella) next to some pasta salad. I put both in my container and they got a little mixed together, which ended up being quite delicious, so I thought, why not make the two together at home? And this is what I came up with. I went a little heavy on the pesto and olive oil because when I only did 2 tbsps of each, it didn't look like enough to coat the 1/2lb of pasta, so I added more. In hindsight, I could have used a little less. Next go around I'm going to add a splash of lemon juice and more salt.

Dinner tonight will be some cold chicken (I bought a whole cooked chicken at the supermarket on a whim yesterday and I have to say I will be doing it again because it's really tasty and moist and convenient to have in the fridge for picking) and carrots. No starches in the evenings anymore. They are too heavy in my stomach lately.

I suppose I should do some work since that's what I get paid for. Until later!

Where Did My Weekend Go???

Happy Monday friends! Actually no, there is nothing happy about Mondays. But on the bright side, I only have to work two days this week before I am off to the Dominican!!! I haven't even started packing yet and still have yet to find a good bathing suit...but at this point who cares? I'm going away and I'm going to have fun :)

So for the weekend...Friday night was spent doing a little shopping. Saturday I drove up to my lovely hometown of Wolfeboro to see little Felix...such a cutie. Well worth the six hour drive round trip since Briar forgot to tell me it was the street fair this past weekend.  Sunday was a little bit more shopping and then the Ke$ha/Rihanna concert at the Comcast Center. Ke$ha was surprisingly good and Rihanna was excellen t even though she was late and there was 90 minutes between sets...but she made up for it by going over even though they fine you for that so good for her! Way to please your fans. Very few artists would have done that.

As for eats so far today, I had my new staple of oatmeal with nutella mixed in and for lunch I had leftover pizza from Bertuccis (last night's dinner with the fuzz). Dinner tonight will be on the go, most likely a smoothie, as I am headed back to the mall for my last ditch effort at finding a good bathing suit. Wish me luck!

I'm sorry bloggies, I didn't get any pictures from last night's festivities :( But I will try to recreate it for you verbally. First up was of course, a beer...Bud Light for me (several more of these may or may not have been consumed over the course of the evening). Appetizers being passed around included fried mac n cheese (I had three just because I was so hungry but really am not a huge fan of it), mini cheeseburgers (I had only one, these were even less appetizing to me), and beef kebobs (I had one and they were delicious, but there were no trash barrels around so I was stuck holding the skewer for a while). Dinner was a southern BBQ buffet...which immediately when I heard this thought, CORNBREAD. And yes, there was cornbread. And it was oh so awesome. I also had some roasted veggies and a small rack of ribs that I didn't finish. I was saving room for the chocolate fountain. Heaven on earth I swear to you. I dipped a rice krispie treat, two marshmallows, and 2 wafer sticks. There should be chocolate fountains everywhere I feel. All in all I had a wonderful night and am certainly in rough shape this morning.

Cue bagel friday! Every Friday at my work there is fresh bagels and cream cheese. Well I hit the bagel and cream cheese lottery this morning because they had chunky garden vegetable cream cheese, which is my absolute favorite. I put that on an everything bagel. It's cool, I'm not kissing anyone today ;)

Today for lunch is TBD again. I have to go home for lunch so maybe I will get lucky and Carol will be there to make me one of her delicious sandwiches :) Later!

Cruisin'

No check :(

But on a high note, Carol (my roomie) was home when I went home for lunch and she offered to make me some iced coffee and a sandwich. Score! The sandwich was organic tofu with avocado and spicy mustard on Trader Joe's multigrain bread toasted. Yum! I apologize for the blurry picture...I realized when I was almost finished that I should take a picture and only had my phone handy...and the picture was taken left handed so all things considered, it came out pretty good I think!

Tonight I am going on a Harbor Cruise for work and I'm not really excited for it at all because I hate water and boats...so we will see how it goes. Rumor has it there is a chocolate fountain though and you know at these functions they typically have dessert trays with cookies on them ;) I will try to take some pictures for you guys, but none of my work people know I write a blog so I will have to be all James Bond-ish with my picture taking. Til tomorrow!

EEK! Bathing Suit Shopping

I went bathing suit shopping last night. Now I know what all you ladies out there are thinking right now...there is nothing worse for a girl's self esteem than going bathing suit shopping. Well surprisingly it really wasn't THAT bad. I've gotten a lot more realistic about my body over the years and have accepted that because I have a large chest, that I am never going to be able to wear most bathing suits, and that finding a bathing suit is going to be extremely difficult for me. I know that they make a lot of bathing suits for large chested women, however, those suits are also for people who are older and fat (no offense to those of you who wear those types of suits) but I am neither old nor fat, I just need a lot of support up top, otherwise I fall out of most suits. I ended up trying on a whole bunch, but only found one that was reasonable attractive. I bought it with the thought that if I don't find anything when I go this weekend, at least I will have one that I feel ok in.

On another note, I signed the lease to my new apartment last night! Very exciting! I can't wait to move! I'm also very excited to be able to paint. I have painted before, but it was a disastrous experience and I realized painting is definitely not my calling, so I'm just going to hire people this time and save myself the agony. I've decided to paint both the livingroom and diningroom a mustard color (think Gluden's, not French's) and maybe paint the livingroom and kitchen at a later date.

Now on to the food ;) Last night's supper was a smoothie from eBar at Nordstrom since I was on the go. I ordered a Tropical Mango with a protein shot and MY was it delicious! I drank that sucker down like it was water! Usually when I drink smoothies that big, I get a little belly bloat after but didn't this time and was very pleased. Typically I don't go to eBar because their coffee is extremely weak, but was randomly craving a smoothie. Intuitive Eating. I went for it.

This morning's breakfast was an egg and cheese on an english muffin from Dunkin's because I realized this morning I had no clean bowls and yes I am that lazy that I would rather drive to Dunkin Donuts, wait in line for a sandwich, and eat in the car on the way to work then spend the 2 minutes it would take to clean a bowl. Don't judge me.

Lunch today is TBD. I'm going home at lunch to check the mail and see if my check from John Hancock has FINALLY arrived. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Woe Is Me

They lost my check. Ugh. I got a letter saying the check was enclosed, but no check was enclosed. Therefore, I partook in some emotional eating after my leftover sandwich from yesterday:

Enough said.

Movin On Up!

Good news! I have procured myself a new apartment about 5 minutes from my work right next to delicious Moody Street (I say delicious because there are about a million restaurants on that street, including my fav, Margarita's). I am very excited to say the least. Not to say that my current living situation is bad, it's just not ideal. When you're used to living alone, it's hard to have a roommate. Especially when you're roommate is trying to sell her/your place. So needless to say I am very much looking forward to having my own space again...and so are my little brats...I mean cats. They don't get along with her cat and it's sort of a huge issue. Not to switch over to a pet blog but here is a picture of one of my little princesses:

Now on to food. I had sort of a rough night last night and only had cheese and crackers for dinner :( Not a very balanced meal, but I of course was dealing with John Hancock (again) and was super stressed.

This morning was a repeat of yesterdays to die for breakfast (seriously, if you haven't tried nutella in your oatmeal...do.it.now.) I am now enjoying a cup of coffee and will be eating the other half of my sandwich from panera for lunch today, along with some baked lays and a can of diet pepsi. I have gotten back into soda drinking unfortunately, but no where near the 2 liters a day I used to drink. A can or a bottle a day is my limit and I figure one a day really isn't THAT bad. See you after lunch friends!

Lunch Derailed

My lunch plans were derailed by my insatiable appetite for a good sandwich. The turkey meatballs and pasta were just not sounding appetizing to me so I decided to head over to Panera instead for a delicious tomato & mozzarella panini. I get up to the counter and the cashier asks me what I would like as my side (fully intending to say apple) I say chips...then she asks if I want to add a cookie to my meal for only 99 cents. Is this a serious question? Clearly this lady doesn't know me. Of course I would like a cookie. So much for my original lunch plans and then so much for my backup plan of ordering a panini with just an apple. On goes the battle friends...score another for the cookie monster...

Zumba Gets A Thumbs Down

Good morning!!!! Excellent news this morning. My bestie just had a beautiful little baby boy :) I'm going to see them this weekend and I cannot WAIT. Love you B :)

So as you all know I was heading to Zumba last night for the first time. I had high hopes, after all, The Fitnessista loves it. Well let's just say I will never be taking Zumba again. Cardio for sissies. I felt like I needed to go for a run after just to get a real sweat going. I had no idea what I was doing and told the instructor that I was a newbie, yet she didn't explain anything she was doing, just expected us to sort of follow along. And seriously, what is with all the spinning? That's not dance. That's just spinning. I will not be taking Zumba again. I would rather spend an hour doing actual cardio.

For breakfast this morning I had to do a little improvising with my oatmeal. I am out of walnuts and dried cranberries and really no other nut or dried fruit really cuts it for me in oatmeal so I scoured my cupboard this morning to see what I could come up with. And there it was. With a beacon of light shining on it. Nutella. Oh. My. God. Why have I not thought of this before? Chocolate nut butter oatmeal? Delicious. I practically inhaled it and I am sitting here now very satisfied. Everyone loves dessert for breakfast, right?

On the menu for lunch today is turkey meatballs and wheat pasta. Then off to spin tonight! I did not make it to BodyPump this morning due to my overwhelming morning laziness lately. I will do a little abs and arms work tonight after spin class to make up for it. Off to work now!

Zumba Here I Come!

Good day all! So based on a conversation I had last night with my dear friend Carol, I have decided to go back raw when I move again. I feel the best about myself and have the most energy when I eat raw. I have also decided to go ahead and make the investment and get a vitamix since I've killed two blenders recently :( I have been eating clean as much as I can but everything has been so crazy lately that it's been difficult.

On another note, I am very excited to attend my first Zumba class tonight. Gina over at fitnessista.com talks it up constantly so I'm amped to finally give it a try tonight! I will report back later. So far this new gym that I've joined (Boston Sports Club) is by far and away the best gym I have ever been to. I highly recommend it for anyone in the Boston area. It is pretty pricey, but well worth every penny, especially if you are the kind of person that likes to take yoga and pay the $15 drop in rate that they charge at most studios.

So far today I had oatmeal for breakfast (I know you're surprised) with my usual add-ins of protein powder, agave, cinnamon, and I went with dried cranberries today again since I haven't replenished my chopped walnut stock and I ate the pumpkin butter so much that I got sick of it. For lunch was my thrown-together dinner from a couple of months back that I froze of brown rice, kidney beans, turkey sausage, and various spices (don't recall exactly what went in it but remembered after I started eating it that it needed more salt and possibly a dash of chili powder). I also went in to the convenience store and bought a package of Reese's Pieces. Now I know what you're thinking here...what, no cookie? Well, I needed something sweet to console myself after the anxiety that John Hancock has caused me with my pension and 401k distributions but didn't want to get another so-so 300 calorie Sarah Lee cookie so I went with my favorite candy standby with a calorie bargain of only 210. And a diet coke. Hey, I've told you guys before that I'm weak, right?