Tired but happy :)

First things first... Naomi's having her FIRST giveaway!!! So get on over there and check it out! :)

Onto my current state: My legs ache... my feet hurt... my face is numb from smiling so much at customers (comes with the job if you're a waitress).. and I just COULDN'T sleep in as hard as I tried, but I'm a happy girl :)

Yesterday was one of the longest days of my life but I loved it!!

I worked a very long double followed by a very short gym session followed by a very well-deserved 11pm dinner of cereal.. Kashi Honey Almond Flax, to be exact... and skim milk & a ridiculously pleasant night's sleep. *Sigh*

Don't you love how some days that are jam-packed with appointments, meetings, errands, & other to-do's make you feel HAPPY rather than stressed beyond your wildest dreams?? The accomplished feeling you get afterwards just tends to outweight the negative.

This was one of those days where I was more than willing to take on whatever my day threw at me. I got up early and made myself a great breakfast, per usual:

-- FF Stonyfield plain yogurt

-- 1/2 c. PB Puffins (which equals like, FIVE Puffins FYI - these babies are so ginormous)

-- 1/2 c. Kashi Honey Almond Flax

-- Cinnamon

-- Tbsp. Teddie smooth PB (I know - it's prob time to experiment with some different options seeing as how the world of PB is huge & there's so many I want to taste... FLASH FORWARD to my break @ work - I did!!! More on that later...)

Add a coffee to the mix & I'm ready for the first day of October!! And Brrrrrr was it a cold one!

This is what kept a smile on my face alll morning :)

Made a last minute decision to brew my own coffee since I had time before work & hey, who doesn't want to save $2 every once in a while??

I got to work for 11am and was full of energy - I'm talking ready to take tables like nobody's business. I worked hard from 11-2pm when I got a pleasant surprise - a 1-1/2 hour lunch break!

My boss had put an extra person on for the A.M. shift & then realized she didn't need 3 people doing the work that could be done by two so she let me clock out for an extra long break!

So I happily skipped off to breaktime - how quaint - can't you just picture it??? haha

And had myself a yummy solo-lunch @ Cosi (recommended by a friend at work) It's wayy cute inside w/ a similar environment to Panera (that's my shizz) with similar menu items. After being my indecisive psycho self for literally 10 minutes and staring down the menu -

NOTE: Don't go here when starving.... everything sounds too good.


I picked the 1/2 sandwich - 1/2 soup combo (it was still VERY chilly out and I needed a warm option) and got the "Turkey Light" on multigrain flatbread, the tomato-basil soup, & opted for baby carrots instead of chips.

The soup was "Eh" ...simply put. I did love the pieces of tomato in it but the soup overall was too oily for my liking. I had half of it & passed on the rest. Boo!

The sandwich was simple -- turkey, romaine, & homemade spicy mustard but this was the star of lunch! The multigrain flatbread was warm & full of flavor & I absolutely digged the spicy mustard, for serious.

My only complaint on the sandwich was the "1/2" part... the sandwich was pretty tiny and because I didn't like the soup too much, I was craving a little more substance from the sandwich.

Overall.... I'd give Cosi a B... the sandwich was bomb but the soup BOMBED.

I still had time to kill after lunch so I wandered over to Express across the street... saw a few cute things aka Fall cardigans galore :) but besides that, nothing really caught my eye. LAME.

So I spent my money elsewhere...

I tried a free sample of the new instant VIA coffee while I was there & was pretty impressed. It didn't taste like instant to me & I think it's nuts that some guy loved the 'Bucks so much he came up with this.

Today I treated myself to something special too, which I hadn't had in too long:

Dark chocolate covered pretzel rod from Munson's.
I've been craving one for days & you're GD right I nearly caused an accident when I turned to get to them while racing down the road & spotting this glorious chocolate haven!


Just as decadent and delicious as I remember.


STILL had a little more time to kill so I picked up a few things at Shaw's:
- PURE bar because I'm betting all my $$$ this tastes like a blueberry Pop-Tart if Lo knows her breakfast pastries - & I absolutely trust she does!! :)
- New LUNA bar because I've had dreams about the Iced Oatmeal Raisin one I had a mini love affair with a few days ago ;)


- Cantaloupe
- Organic Gala Apples
- Lettuce
- Bananas
- MaraNatha smooth PB!!!!!

Sooo excited to try this!! :)
Don't worry Teddie, you still have a place in my heart...




Went back to work from 4 to 9ish - bustin my behind to stay on top of things - nibbled on a Chocolate Coconut Larabar throughout the night to keep my energy up and left ready for the gym after pocketing $120 in tips total - yayaaaa!!!!


Made it to the gym on the way home @ 930 and got a quick 2.5 mile run in (280 calories SCHOOLED) before my legs decided they were on strike until further notice... I DID work them pretty hard all day.. I'm surprised they could even do that much, not that I blame them. They got me through a long day today and still kept going!


That'll do legs, that'll do.


Cut to 10:45ish and I took a nice hot shower to rid myself of the yummy scent combo of sweat & flatbread pizza, cozied up in the warmest PJ's I could find and put the Big Blue Mug to good use.


Cereal for dinner never fails :)


Then fainted into my ultra heavenly bed afterward - not to awaken until 9:15 this morning (that's "sleeping in" for me) and it felt so great. My legs were definitely craving that rest.


Breakfast was some long overdue oats...
Featuring this pretty thing:
The letdown of the day was finding out I was OUT of my FF Hazelnut creamer....
I used a splash of Pumpkin Pie Spice creamer but blech! As much as I love pumpkin flavored anything... this was not what I wanted this morning.

Perfect Friday fuel...

-- 1 cup water
-- 1/2 cup oats
-- Sprinkle of cinnamon
-- Handful of raisins
-- Chopped Gala apple
-- Sprinkle of almonds
-- Tbsp. Teddie PB!




Now off to be productive on my day off!


On the Agenda:
-- Go to Nationwide to figure out this car insurance thing
-- GYM of course :) I want to get a good run in & now that I rested my abs for a few days I'm ready to get some core strengthening in!
-- Bank trip to deposit some MOOOLAHHHHH ;)
-- CVS for essentials
-- Bake for work tomorrow! I've been promising my co-workers I would bring in one of my concoctions for them for a while... I'm thinking Blueberry Oatmeal Bars ;) (recipe will follow...)
-- Participate in Cookie Friday for sure! :)


....which one am I looking forward to most???
I think you can figure it out.
HINT: Oatmeal Raisin is an addiction.


Happy Friday!!!


Do any of you have anything fun planned for the weekend?


If you participate in Cookie Friday... what is your cookie of choice?