Where's The Beef?

Well, well, well... here we are.. on Wednesday (can't believe how fast this week is flying by!) and I've finally found enough time to sit down and enjoy a leisurely breakfast, a cup of steaming hot coffee, reading up on all your recent happenings, and recapping my Halloween weekend...

As I mentioned last time... I had two costumes that I threw together last minute...

Friday I was Mrs. Varitek (obvi)

And Saturday, my friend Sara and I put together a Christmas themed costume...

So simple! And the best part is all of our costume pieces (maybe minus the light-up Santa hats) are reuseable! I loved the sweater dresses we found & got a pair of uber-cute black zip up suede boots to match that I'm actually planning on rocking today in fact ;) Perhaps you'll see them on Miss GC's bloggie on booties in the near future...


Dress: H&M $25
Belt: H&M $7
Boots: Charlotte Russe - they had a special... buy one pair get the other for $15! So Sara & I split the total cost... $54 for TWO pairs of super cute boots :) That's a steal right there...
Hat: The Christmas Tree Shoppes $3


Which brings us to a GRAND TOTAL of......


$62!
Not bad in my opinion seeing as how a costume at the store would cost about this much (maybe even more) and I would have no use for it after the Halloweeny-ing season.


Halloween was SO fun!!! Friday night consisted of a house party at boyfriend's apt at UConn which brought a mob of people their way... about 5 dance parties, one beer ball, 10 games of beruit, and about 3 lbs of Halloween candy later... we all called it a night and honestly, I can't even remember what time it was that that happened. Oops!


Oh and prior to making the trip up to boyfriend's I had a delicious lunch at Panera that just HAS to be shown:
No.. your eyes are not deceiving you... that is another bowl of the Cream of Tomato soup (I'm obsessed... ugh) Luckily, I was smart enough to end my obsession at least for a few weeks because I've gotta get some variety in my life... sheesh~


Alongside a 1/2 Turkey on Honey Wheat sandwich... which I couldn't even finish. Could have been because I had it after the gym and I had just not worked up much of an appetite yet...


Speaking of which, my gym workout was superb!
40 minutes run/walk - treadmill
20 minutes cardio - elliptical


Then headed home quick (not before stopping at Lombardi's for my regular Friday treat - I got a coconut macaroon which was delectable, by the way) packed up all my stuff... overpacking per usual, only to regret it when hauling about 100 lbs. of clothing & shoes to boyfriend's apt from the car... most of which he carried of course, he's sucha sweetheart :) haha...


But jumping back to Saturday... sorry, I'm scatterbrained today ahhh.. hence why I NEEDED this day off from work otherwise I would have gone insane...


But that's neither here nor there....


Saturday morning I woke up thanking my lucky stars that I had purchased this for hangover purposes:
It did wonders...


Once we were all able to handle food we headed off to my absolute favorite breakfast place near my old school *tear*
Nita's is an amazing little Polish breakfast & lunch place just 15 minutes down the road from boyfriend's and seeing as how I hadn't gone since I was still at school, it was a long overdue trip. And satisfied as always!


Sadly.. I left my camera in the car while we were there... (not that I would have had the patience to take pictures.. I was ready to eat a house)


But I started with their fresh fruit salad.. because I opted for this rather than the homefries & instead just snagged one or two from BF's plate :) It was exactly what I needed...


Have you ever tried coffee & fresh fruit for hangovers?
It's my go-to quick breakfast when my stomach isn't feeling well aka I've had too much to drink the night before... I promise you, it'll cure it!


Then I had the veggie omlet. Ummmmmmmm..... YUM; best omlet I've ever had! Chock full of my favs: mushrooms, onions, broccoli, spinach, tomato... it was UH-mazingggg! Finished every little bite...


After breakfast we made a trip to the mall to put the finishing touches on our Halloween attire for night #2... where Sara and I formed our Santa's Helpers idea... came home and had basically a repeat of the first night.


Blech... my stomach does NOT like being abused. I can't even remember the last time I was able to drink a 6-pack of beer... and I still feel like my body is recovering. I'm a Grandma... what can I say????


Soooo Sunday I was supposed to be working at 11 a.m. Thank Goodness my friend Kari texted me Saturday asking if she could still cover the shift for me (she really wanted the hours) Ummmmm yesh please!


So I got to sleep in Sunday a.m. which I was overly happy about when I woke up at 1030 a.m. (this is wayyy late for this chica... I'm an early riser) and the discussion began when BF, his brother John & GF Sara, and I needed to make a plan for "breakfast" or now brunch.... It was decided sushi was the perfect cure.


And I was absolutely craving Lo Mein... I can't even tell you the brat I would have become if I didn't get an order of Lo Mein. When my body wants something, it gets it... so delicious veggie noodles is what I got...
The portion was ginormous to say the least... I barely made a dent after satisfying my craving. So I saved the rest and added some more to dinner that night and it was just as perfect.


Along with the sushi combo that BF & I split....

Tuna roll, salmon roll, and California roll = happy belly :)

John & Sara got some yummy looking salads along with a couple delish rolls too... minus the avocado because Sara is allergic... not to be a downer, but I would probably be the saddest person ever if I couldn't eat avocado..... I don't even want to think about it. haha

So the rest of the day was spent recovering, watching football aka the Giants lose... this meant a not-so-happy BF, and consuming lots & lots of both tea & apple cider.

Then BF remained the angel that he is and asked me what I wanted for dinner because he wanted to cook that night. yayyyyy :) We went to Big Y and headed straight for the seafood, of course, and settled on the Coconut Panko haddock. Holyyyy Bajesus was this good!!!!!

Don't mind the rather dark picture... I used my phone because it was on my lap and I didn't want to search for my camera!

This definitely doesnt do it justice.. the fish was delicious and I paired it with another scoop of my lo mein from lunch.. I could have eaten this times 3 probably. I love me some good seafood!! :)

We took it easy the rest of the night, relaxed, and got to bed early because BF had class the next day and I had work the next afternoon...

Made a quick breakky in the a.m. before leaving...

WW english muffin with a spread of smooth PB (I couldn't wait to get home to my Teddie...) and an apple on the side...

Stopped at the gym on the way home to get in a quick workout...

20 minutes treadmill - 10 min walk warmup - 10 min run

30 minutes elliptical

My shins were NOT cooperating with me Monday morning which was a real downer for me because I had such false hope that they were getting better because of my awesome run a few days before this...

I figure I just need to keep icing my shins after workouts, resting when I can, and maybe start wrapping my right ankle pre-workout... *sigh* let's hope that makes a difference.

Work was work....

Came home exhausted & sleep deprived and went to bed.

Just to get up yesterday morning and do it again, only this time I had a double! Blech...

Packed some snackies quick... I didn't have enough time to make lunch so I had to use my noggin when it came to time to eat...

I packed my pumpkin oats in a travel mug because I was running late.. lovely between the legs shot here bahaha.

It ended up being wayyyy too ridiculously busy yesterday during lunch to even finish my oats. FAIL. Plus the fact our regional manager was at the restaurant all day today meeting with my bosses sooo it was kinda looked down upon to be snacking in the corner. Honestly... I was too busy to even think about eating until 4pm when I finally had a break! I made $105 at lunch (unheard of!) which made the rush veryy worth it...

Apparently it was a local voting day?? So alot of the kids had the day off from school... therefore lots of families were wandering in and there were only 3 servers on, including me-self.

Dinner was slightly less eventful.. It wasn't too busy and I was exhausted from lunch and my lack of sleep still so after getting cut I had a nice glass of Chardonnay (much needed - I promise) with two co-workers and chatted for a bit then headed home to fall into a coma in my mem foam.

Are you still here???

Haha... finally coming up to today....

Woke up this morning rested, ever so comfortable... pretty much "Don't ever want to move from this bed" type comfy, and felt ten times better :) I took my time getting up and when I finally did I wanted oats in my belly after so much non-Allio style food this weekend because I was up at UConn, meals like this are sooo needed.

Apple Cinnamon Raisin oats to be exact...

Shown in the morning light.

What a beaaaautiful image.. it makes me smile :)

1 cup water, 1/2 cup oats, 3/4 chopped Gala apple, lots & lots of cinnamon, small handful of raisins, melted Teddie PB...mmmmmmm

Great start to my day that's for sure!

The agenda for today is:
~Gym (after icing my ankle for a bit & LOTS of stretching)

~Errands (Bank, grocery store - we have a lack of fruit in this house and it won't do for a second + ingredients for dinner)

~Baking (I need to use my apples from the apple picking so I'm throwing together an Apple Spice Cake for dessert tonight)

~Cooking (Wednesday nights are "Date Night' for my parents and before I started working at the restaurant, I was always home for it and we would make a big, delicious dinner... drink wine... chat & catch up which I loved doing... Now I'm usually working doubles on Weds but luckily this week they had switched me to working a double Tues so for the first time in a looong time I'll be home for Date Night.... that calls for my parents' fav recipe of mine: Veggie Chili!)

I originally began making the chili a looong time ago with beef (back when I still kinda enjoyed it...ehhh) and they were infatuated with it, but over time I've weened off of most meat & began replacing the beef with turkey and then most recently opted to leave out the meat completely and see if anyone noticed the difference.

All three versions were family approved so I'm sticking with the veggie version... I will post the recipe once it's done tonight, along with the Apple Spice cake! :) I'm pretty excited for dinner, I wont lie... chili is SUCH a comfort food for me. It's warm, filling, hearty, and full of great nutrient rich ingredients... not to mention it always reminds me of Fall & Winter when it's soo cold outside but a bowl of chili by the fire keeps me nice & toasty.

What's your favorite warm meal on cold days???

Well I'm off!

Happy Wednesday Darlings :)