Mrs. Varitek

I'm alive.. I swear... I've been all over the place and crazy busy the past few days but have been missing you darlings bunches. And just because I've been too busy to POST doesn't mean I'm too busy to read about all your fab lives and what's been going on! So much exciting news around the blogosphere these days!!!! :)

Natalie closing on her new house...

Kailey getting a fantastic new internship @ Food Arts magazine...

Lo getting a great new job AND possibly another at Lululemon...

Congrats ladies! :)

Hows everyone's Friday going? I can't even explain how happy I am that we've reached the end of another week. Phewww... work + the gym = one sore and exhausted me all week long.

My life since Tuesday has consisted of: working doubles, working lunch shifts that turned into doubles, few drinks here & there... (I enjoy a Chardonnay, what of it??) homemade sushi night with my homies, searching high & low for the missing pieces to my Halloween costume, and getting in major workouts/starting to feel more like myself in the gym :) Although my shins are still bothering me (the right more than the left) I've been trying to rest it when I can, ice as much as possible, and starting today I'm going to wrap it if I'm planning on running. It's tough to give my legs some good R&R when my full-time job requires being on my feet for hours & hours (not to mention RUNNING while on the clock)

I wisely took Friday & Saturday off (woohooooo!) mostly because of Halloween... but now I'm thanking my lucky stars I did so that my legs can get a little break... minus the gym of course, which I'm preparing myself for now...

Just enjoyed some pumpkin oats for breakky...

The only complaint I had this morning with my oats was the fact that there's zero fruit in this house (besides my stash from apple picking, which I'm saving for apple spice muffins!) soI felt as though my breakfast was lacking a little volume.

A sprinkle of whole almonds left me feeling just as full as I do with my regular naner or apple loaded oaties though! Score.

Potential FAIL however is the fact I'm almost out of my beloved Pumpkin Butter *dun dun dunnnn!* What's a girl to do???

I got to try out my new Silk creamer in my coffee this morning though... the French Vanilla's delicious!! I didn't even need any sugar in my java this morning. The creamer adds just enough sweetness...so SMILE I will, Silk carton :)

Currently on giant snowflake cup #2 of the morning...

I'm gonna be a hyper all day today...

Sooo now I suppose it's time to backtrack and catch you lovies up on life para mi :)
I will recap Halloween costume hunting...
And working alongside Simsbury's finest fighters of flames....
And the delicious sue-shaaaay party....


All of which made my extra loooong week a little less slow & painful.


Wednesday morning I woke up needing oats like never before. Pumpkin to be exact... does anyone else see a trend here??

With a sprinkle of brown sugar and dollop of pumpkin butter (& a warm naner mixed in and mashed)


Continued to be the recessionista that I am and packed lunch, per usual....
Gahhhh Iced Gingerbread Clif bar!!! INCREDZ!


Also mixed that Honey Chobani with a spoonful of Teddie PB & packed it alongside some Kashi Warm Cinnamon for a snacky later in the day...
Work was long but eventful, literally. We had an event at work Wednesday night to benefit the volunteer fire department one town over... Simsbury sent us 5 firemen (& one firelady!) to accompany each server for the night when greeting guests, taking orders, and bringing out/clearing food. Good & entertaining times to be had.


They were hilar, first of all... sooo much fun and actually did a very good job. Me and my new bff J.T. the fireman were pure entertainment for our guests... aka J.T. was recognized by all the adults as "the bartender from De Codas (sp? who knows)" but it made for an interesting night hearing stories about his craziness. Ohhh boy.


He was bringing out my food for me, clearing my tables, mackin it on the lady customers, and hanging out with the kids who obvi adored him. Not to mention we were telling each other the whole time: I NEED A BREW PRONTO. The restaurant was packed most of the night because of the benefit so.... firemen = cha-Chinggg$$ in Allio's pocket ;)


We all ended the night with staffer beers (on a Wednesday!!!!! thanks to J.T. sweet talking my manager heyooo) and we lounged with the firemen in the bar.. chatted it up... the majority of us girls inquiring the Gray Fox fireman if he had been told he looks like George Clooney (striking resemblence) ...loved it.


Then it was off to have homemade sushi (say whaat!?) Yes. It was amazing. I went and met some chooches from work... after grabbing both a 6-pack of my beloved Shocktops & a bottle of Chardonnay (I just couldn't make up my mind... & the employees thought I was an alcoholic as I hauled booze to the counter, dropped it off, then went back for more a few times.. ummmm?)


Watched the Yanks LOSE! Hahaaaaaahaha.... and Jeremy proceeded to bring out the first homemade rolll (I WISH I had gotten some pictures because these were perfectly done! My roll was slightly sloppy. FAIL)


I ate my weight in homemade sushi with tuna, lots and lots of avocado of course, crab, cucumber, and a tiny bit of wasabi. I'm such a baby when it comes to spice... blech... I hate spicy things! Watched the game and chatted with the boy-o's while enjoying my brewnana and then midnight rolled around and it was time to hightail it home so I could be up for work again the next morning. Jeeeezum....


Began the morning with a long lost friend...


I can't even remember the last time I had a yogurt mess with cereal & PB for breakfast! I haven't been able to kick my oatmeal addiction in the morning. But this was definitely what I was craving and it was yummyyy as ever!

--1/2 cup Nature's Promise FF Vanilla yogurt

--1/2 cup Kashi Warm Cinnamon

--1/2 cup Kashi Wild Blueberry cereal

--Sprinkle of Cinnamon

--Dollop of Teddie PB

Packed a lunch, per usual...

Giant Honeycrisp...

With a tuna wrap on WW wrap with carrots, dijon mustard, a light spread of Garlic & Herb laughing cow, lots of baby spinach....

I did end up buying a cup of Cream of Tomato soup from Panera to go with my wrap which made for a lovely lunch and kept me full all day.

Work was loooong because of my lack of sleep (my own fault... boo) but it began rather normal. Got in at 11... opened up the restaurant... and things were pretty dead so me and the other two servers Kari & Nicki just enjoyed our morning coffee until the lunchtime rush began.

Once we thought it had "ended" my manager sent both of them on break (at 1:30 mind you) until 4pm! Yes... so I was told I would be the only server on from 1:30-4pm that day. OH not to mention the fact that my manager had very serious business to conduct at the Farmer's Market buying apples. You serious?

Not even ten minutes after everyone left, I got a rush of about seven tables all at once and had to seat them all, greet them within 2 minutes (it's called J&J treatment at FBread... and it's whatever when you're the only server on), get drinks, take orders, bring out food, CHECK said food after 2 minutes of eating, clear tables, clean tables, RESET TABLES, play bartender at the same time.. ummmmm is anyone else realizing the insanity that was my day yesterday????

About two seconds from a panic attack I luckily got help from friend Jeremy the cook (what a doll) otherwise I think I would have had a breakdown. I'm a GOOD SERVER, just FYI... I can usually handle a good amount of craziness all at once but this just happened to be the day that one table wanted our blueberry martinis (which I've made once... about 2 months ago) and a guy who was obvi over 40 ordered a drink but didn't have an I.D.... FAIL... and another table wanted to know if they could buy a bottle of the Amigo hot sauce we serve with our pizza (Ummm, nay?) yes, all of this had to occur the one day I have little to no help and may or may not have been ready to call it quits. HA!

All in all... I look at the postive. I made at least $40-$50 more than the other two that day JUST based on my little solo lunchtime rush. Cha-chingggggg once again!!

Sooo moral of the story? When the going gets tough, the tough get paid ;)

So I got stuck there about 2 hours later than originally planned but once 4pm hit I said PEACE, got dressed, and dragged my ridiculously tired ace to the gym....

And proceeded to pound out a run that felt like the OLD me :) I can't even tell you how happy my workout made me last night... I got in an hour of cardio:

45 minutes on the treadmill / 3.8 miles / 446 calories

15 minutes on the treadmill / 140 calories

Although my right leg was still causing some problems, I was able to spend more than 15 minutes on the tready and that hasn't happened comfortably ONCE this week... :) I'm hoping I can get in a workout similar, if not better, today so I can feel better about the amount of wine I am to consume this weekend whilest playing Mrs. Varitek...

Oh.... didnt I mention I've thrown together my HWeen costume?? ;) Because my Girl Scout idea fell through (estimated date of arrival was Oct. 30th... sorry that won't do) I frantically had to come up with a last minute (& easy) idea for a costume.

Enter my 2nd love next to Anthony: Baseball.

I went to Bob's and got a kid's size Varitek shirt... a new pair of Soffe white shorts... AND bought another pair of Soffe's on clearance ($5!) for running purposes.. and that's it!

I already have my Red Sox hat to match, white & red socks, and matching sneaks... and I'll be sure to sport the badass black streaks on my face. It felt good to have all this Halloween biz-nas completed. Phewww... I was beginning to get nervous there!

When I came home from the gym I was beyond starving and craved oatmeal (luckily finding out afterward that it was National Oatmeal Day!) So happy I celebrated.. ;) and it's very rare that I crave oats for dindin so this was fate I'm convinced.

Did you all celebrate the oat-lovers holiday??

After my dinner of naner-oatmeal with PB I wanted a snacky later on:

Deep Chocolate Vitatop warm and mixed with crushed graham crackers....

It may look horrendous but it was perfect! :)

Crashed shortly after and slept in this morning...ahhh, what a great feeling. Today is jam packed with things to do though!

The plan is....

~Go to the gym

~Finish up laundry/fold/put away

~Thinking of a Whole Foods trip!! (I won a gift certificate at our Breast Cancer benefit @ work about a month ago and have yet to use it!) maybe for lunch??? :)

~Play dress-up, get in my Varitek gear, and get toasty with my lovelies because tonight IS the first night of Halloween celebrating, let's be serious...

What do you all have planned for Halloween?

What are you dressing up as??

Andddd I'm OFF!

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Shin Splints, Anyone??

Good evening, lovemuffins :) How are we tonight?

I'm fab.. minus some minor crampage (TMI? Prob. Sorry.) But it's not too fun and resulted in a wardrobe change at around 4pm into Anthony's lacrosse sweatpants (aka pants two sizes too big for me), big warm socks, & zero makeup. Moral of the story? I'm a beaut right now, let me tell ya... a real catch.

Prior to the downturn of the day, I "slept in" until 9ish which was perfection. I woke up to Bella-Cat sleeping on my toes (equally perfect & adorable) AND nothing but rain outside (yuck!)... I began my morning with some of the regular breakfast... scrumptious banana-coconut oats:

Oats always seem to be the perfect solution to the rainy day blues :)

Had a cup or two of coffee & lazed around a little more to catch up on blog reading, make a to-do list for the day, AND plan out the rest of my meals for the day (part of my attempt to get more protein and LESS carbs in my diet)

Saddled up to brave the rain and go out to the gym...

I did 50 minutes of cardio - 20 minutes on the treadmill & 30 minutes on the elliptical

449 calories and a major leg workout later, I stopped at the grocery store for a few essentials for the rest of my planned meals of the day...

Where these caught my eye!!!

Seasonal Clif Bars!!!!! I've seen these around the old blog-o-sphere lately but they haven't shown up at any of the grocery stores I go to until now.... Cannot wait to try them :)

Have any of you been able to get your hands on these flavors?

What did you think of them??

I've still only been able to find S'mores Z-bars at one of those grocery stores too! Ughhhh...driving me nuts.

Anyway.. my legs were still sore after leaving the gym and it's starting to cause concern for me... I've had shin splints since high school when I first starting getting extreme pain and tightness during field hockey season. I've been able to keep it under control rather well through icing and wrapping during games over the years but lately the pain has come back full force. What is discouraging is the fact that it has been continually effecting my runs. The duration of my runs have become shorter & shorter due to the pain and even after excessive stretching (and icing) I haven't seen an improvement. IN FACT... it's only gotten worse :(

My concern now is that I won't be able to run the Turkey Trot I have signed up for that takes place in mid-November. It will be here sooner than I think and at the rate I'm going, I feel I'll have trouble even running the first mile!!!

The only positive point in this is the fact that the pain hasn't completely effected my workouts. I'm still able to bust out a good workout on the elliptical to make up for the missed time on the treadmill but, in all honesty, I'm more of a runner at the gym & would like to get my butt back on the treadmill (& kick its' butt!) I miss pounding out a great run and a long workout on the elliptical just doesn't give me the same accomplished feeling :(

Have any of you ever dealt with shin splints or some kind of injury/pain that has caused a drop in your productivity during a workout???

What did you do to solve the problem?

I'm desperate here! I'm not sure what to do next!!! Any advice you darlings could give me would be greatly appreciated!

The rest of the days eats look like so....

Snagged the idea for lunch from Therese for her easy-squeezy frittata... I used mushrooms (a whooole lot of them) rather than broccoli... Pre-poppin into the oven!

Made with 1 egg, 3 egg whites, 1 oz. FF cheddar cheese, BIG handful of chopped mushrooms, sprinkle of parsley, and salt & pepper....

All thrown into a pie plate coated with PAM....

Baked at 500 for 15 minutes & this browned beauty is what came out:

Sooo very good & so simple! Filled me up for quite a while & will definitely be making it again asap!

Just had to have another little sliver ;)

Doing good on the Meal Menu so far!
Oh..and P.S. that Sweet-Potato & Corn Chowder is on the menu for making tomorrow night (if I dont get stuck at work all night *fingers crossed*)

My afternoon snack was a long overdue yogurt...

Vanilla Chobani with 2 crushed graham cracker boards & a spoonful of Teddie PB

Did about 10 loads of laundry... Oyyyy! Very long overdue... and then plopped myself down to watch a Halloween favorite... ITS THE GREAT PUMPKIN CHARLIE BROWN.

Seriously... if C.Brown was a real person, he would be one sad little boy...

"I got a rock...."

Good God, poor child hahaha.

Then came dinnatime once the rumbling in mah bellay began...

Started with a pan of roasted veggies because when am I not craving those?

Roasted up some:

Yellow squash.. Carrots.. Mushrooms.. Eggplant... Onion

Along with a tilapia fillet I seasned with Season-All (a delicious combo of onion, garlic, blah blah) cooked it up in a pan for about 3-4 mins on each side...

Holy Yum... Hence why I could never give up seafood :)

My snack-fiend alterego presented herself tonight and I was craving chocolate like no other... luckily I stuck with this baby rather than picking out some tasties from our Halloween stash:

I'm a newbie to the Deeeep Chocolateeee although I do LOVE me that chocolate... I don't discriminate. If you are of the Chocolate Family, I adore you so.

Uhhhh....no brainer what was required to add to this bitty:

Light spread of smooth Teddie PB on top of a warm Vita-top? Yowzaaaah!!! PB & Chocolate at its best bebe...


And that combo, of course, requires a cold glass of this...

Time to devour.... Going....

Going......

Ended too soon if you ask me...

Thank you Sir may I have another?????

The rest of the night will consist of ME. SLEEPING. FOREVER.

I have a double at work tomorrow & want to make sure I get a full night's sleep... doubles have been killing me lately! I'm pretty sure I can blame lack of sleep and being on my feet for 9+ hours straight for this... then I'll be heading to the gym to (hopefully) get in a hard workout.... we'll see if my shins allow that :-/

Looking forward to:

1. The Volunteer Fire Department Benefit tomorrow @ work.... aka glorious firemen will be present at Flatbread and will be assisting the servers (aka yours truly) in serving dinner to customers.... Does anyone else see this as a potentially amaaaazing night? ;) Haha...come on girls. Can I hear a AMEN to FIREMEN.

2. Halloween festivities this weekend with Anthony & some of my college bebes who I've missed sooo very much! Still need to figure out a few minor pieces to my costume though (Ahhhh!) it's coming up fast!!

What are you lovelies looking forward to in the upcoming days???

Invasion of the Ladybugs

First things first... Gina's having an awesome giveaway!! So why wait? Get on over and take a shot at winning all those goodies! :)

Other than that, my house is overrun with ladybugs as we speak... ahhh!

ONE "warm" day (it was maybe 62 today) and they come out of the woodwork and take over the windows!! They're adorable but in masses like that, no thanks.

Anyway... time to play catch-up, per usual...

Going back to yesterday's lunch... I tried these out for the first time because I've had them in my freezer & loved the MorningStar mushroom burgers... AND needed a quickie on the run lunch since I was racing up to UConn:

Delicious! The MorningStar burgers are, to me, a littttle bit greasy, but not so much that they're unappetizing.. they have great taste, they're juicy, and don't need much of an addition.

I added only baby spinach and put the burger on a toasted Arnold's Thin

Then headed up to UConn to see boyfriend :)

I haven't been able to see him for over TWO WEEKS which is much too long for us!

We spent the night just relaxing and enjoying each other's company since we haven't been able to as much as we would prefer...

Let me just say, I'm one lucky girl to have the boyfriend that I do :)

He asked me what I wanted for dinner because he insisted on "spoiling me" while I was visiting... I simply said "seafood" (surprise, surprise) so he whipped up a an incredible dinner, invested in a big bottle of wine, and turned on Monday night football/Yankees v. Angels... Me Likeyyyyy :)

Orange-glazed broiled salmon (marinated for an hour w. orange marmalade, OJ, dijon mustard, & ginger) & a warm pasta salad with WW rotini, chopped tomatoes, Feta, salt & pepper, & a drizzle of EVOO... sooo simple but SO ridiculously good!

I seriously had this ^^^^ times two...

Enjoyed two or three glasses of Chardonnay (hey, it was a special occasion!) and got to get in high-quality snuggle time with my bebe *sigh* Everytime I'm there I never want to leave!!! :(

I brought a quick & portable breakfast to eat before I left boyfriend...

Stonyfield Banilla yogurt with Kashi Honey Almond Flax cereal & cinnamon

...with a delish Gala apple on the side

I got up at 9 AM, got dressed for the gym, and ate my breakky before bidding my beau goodbye (sadddd) and making the 1-1/2 hour drive back home...

My workout was PAINFUL to say the least... my shins were tight, achey, and no matter how much I stretched they didn't seem to get any better.

I first attempted my usual warm-up on the treadmill doing a power walk at a 0.0 incline... after about 10 minutes my ankles still felt a little tight but I pumped up the speed and started running... 5 minutes later I was massaging my shins like never before and sitting my butt down on the floor. The pain was extreme and I made the wise choice to NOT keep attempting a run today...

Instead, I hopped on the elliptical....

30 minutes / 3.0 miles / 260 calories

Better than nothing, right? :-/

I got into the Halloweeeeny spirit and snacked on this after leaving...

Delishhhh!!! Loved the pieces of chocolate and the itty bitty marshmallow bites... I love ALL Z-bars so I knew Clif couldn't go wrong with this but I am thinking I need to stock up on these bars before the season's over!!

Lunch brought a new product for reviewing also!

I'm a big fan of Amy's soups so far and this was a new one...

Veryyy yummy! Even though the pic doesn't do it justice...

I had the soup alongside another MorningStar Spicy Black Bean Burger
Then it was time to whip up a birthday cake for my sistah's b-day celebration tonight...


She's a huuuge coconut fan so the second I saw this recipe a few months ago, I knew it was being saved for this very occasion. It's a pain-in-the-ayyyy cake, for serious, but it was worth the hard work!





The final product!!


After baking away I was starving...


Enter PB stuffed naner ;) Heyoooo


With a cup or two of this...

The fam and I went to 99 for sistah's bday dinner... I could have thought of plenty of other better place for dinner, but she's a big fan of their popcorn bowls (weird?) Instead of bread, they bring out bowls of buttered popcorn... I can safely say I steered clear of it.

The parents ordered two appetizers for the table:

Potato skins & Buffalo Wings

Steak Spring Rolls & Onion Ring tower

I tried a bite of one of the spring rolls but it was wayyy greasy so I passed it off to Stepdad, who gobbled it up happily. What can I say? I'm a giver :) haha...

The crab cake & shrimp skewer combo option caught my eye... mostly because it was one of the only options where you could choose two sides instead of having french fries & coleslaw. Blech!

My sides of choice? Rice pilaf & steamed carrots...yummmyyy! Sorry for the sub-par picture... I didn't bring my camera so I had to resort to my camera phone.

The veggies & rice actually ended up being my favorite part of the entire dinner!

The crab cake was definitely nothing to rave about. I've had some really good crabcakes and this one just didn't compare... The shrimp was pretty good. I liked the seasonings but I almost knocked my Blue Moon off the table trying to pry them off the skewer. That would have been a major FAIL right there...

Sistah had a Blueberry Mojito for her first legal drink (yayyy!) but didn't really like it... she's not much of a drinker anyway. But she was psyched for cake when we got home!

I had a sliver of heaven....

This MAY or may not have been followed by another tiny sliver ;) Ummmm, what??? Haha... the cake was perfect for a coconut lover... there's coconut milk, chopped coconut, & coconut extract just in the cake layer... not to mention shredded coconut around the perimeter. Its possible a coconut coma may occur soon after eating... but I'll take it.

Now I'm enjoying a cup of Vanilla Caramel tea and hoping these ladybugs magically disappear by tomorrow morning... gahhh!

What would your dream birthday cake be???

Mine would have to be espresso/coffee themed for sure...yum!!!

Coffee x 10 and an EXCITING E-mail!! :)

Good morning!!

Hope you all had a fab weekend!!

Mine consisted of some very good eats, great wine, work, and yes, football - along with EVERY other blogging friend out there it seems... that's what I like to see! :)

Although baseball season is still in full-swing in my opinion. Therefore, I got to watch my team get sweeped in a 3-game series against one of my least favorite of teams. *Thumbs DOWN*

Overall, it was a nice relaxing weekend & I ended it with a dinner shift at work last night -- Ran around like a crazy person, tried a bite (or three) of our new Graham Cracker all-natural ice cream... Holy, it was stupid good!!!! and had a table of four 20-year olds ask for my number (no thank you, children) Ya know, the usual fun packed night.

5-1/2 hours later, $175 richer: CHA-Ching!!$$$$ and a sprint 1/2 way across the parking lot in pouring rain (& I mean monsoon style with my Uggs, non-waterproof mascara, and leather purse -- all wise choices for the weather of course) and I made it home finally!

Can I just tell you... how amazing it felt to come home to my favorite sweatpants from college field hockey?? Ugh... oversized and perfect.

Which brings me to my exciting e-mail!!!!!!

A former teammate of mine from college sent out an e-mail to all FH alumni letting us know that our coach was putting together an Alumni game! And wanted to know if any of us would be interested in playing.

Ummmmmmm.... YES YES YES YES YES!!

Soooo soo so excited!!!! :)

Details on that will follow & I'm way beyond ecstatic that I will get to play again... I've done endless searching for adult leagues all over CT and have come up with nothing so this was a nice little treat ! :)

Better bust out my gear and start practicing my stickwork (TWSS...Ha!)

Anywayyyys.... onto what you're probably actually here for: some GOOD EATS...

Speaking of which.... Alton's gotta put some good old pancakes on his next episode.. so he can show me the trick to making a good first batch of these bebes...

What is your secret Mistah Brown???

Whipped up some whole-wheat pancakes for breaky yesterday morning...

I mean... whats Sunday without pancakes right??

I used an easy-as-pie recipe with WW flour, 1 egg, baking powder & soda, dash of salt, pumpkin pie spice & skim milk...

Then added sliced bananas to each pancake, plus more on top and a smear of pumpkin buttah... yummmmm :)

Followed by a delayed cup of morning coffee... (the first one)

Lazed around... read blogs, checked & sent e-mails, watched some Will & Grace and then finally had lunch...

I came up with the sheer genious idea of toasting my wrap so the cheese would melt a bit...

All wrapped up:
1/2 can white albacore tuna
chopped celery
shredded carrots
baby spinach
drizzle of Annie's HM Dressing
1 slice Reduced-Fat American cheese
--side of carrots w/ hummus & red grapes


Lazed around more because I didn't want to face the fact that I had work in an hour or so, watched the beginning of the Red Sox game & got super-cute for work (sarcasm at its' best people)& headed off to worky... NOT before investing in the second coffee... a Grande sugar-free vanilla coffee @ Starbucks. Gotta keep that caffeine pumping on rainy days or I'm just useless..


I snacked on this a few hours into work:
Absolutely, without a doubt my FAVORITE Clif flavor so far!!! Loved the giant roasted almond pieces and the blueberry flavor was out of this world. I'm definitely getting this one again.


I also had a salad chock-full of veggies while there.. just a few goodies: sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, kalamata olives, mushrooms, red onions, & goat cheese. Gahhh, sooo good!!!!


After trudging through the rainforest weather I was beyond happy to have this when I got home:

Comfort food at it's finest....

My brother the Chef recreated the cheddar bay biscuits from Red Lobster. His were alot less cheesy, salty, & greasy which I liked alot. Served with Basmati rice & calamari. YUM! Made me one warm & comforted girl.

What are your favorite comfort foods on cold, rainy days??

Hot Chocolate or heart soups are usually my cold day "pick me up" remedies. Both work like a charm.

I tossed and turned alot last night which was really frustrating because my body was so exhausted and my eyes felt so heavy but I just couldn't keep my mind from wandering... I woke up once at 3:30am to my kitten scratching at the door because she ALWAYS needs to sleep with her madre at night... then again at 4:15ish for no reason what so ever... then again at 7:30ish which seemed early enough to get up but I was still so physically tired that I tried to nod back off, and did, for about 45 mins...

So the coffee kick continues....

In the most ferocious mug I own *RAWR babyy*

It was too early for my mind to function + a lack of sleep in the first place.. so I waited until my stomach decided what sounded good for breakfast...

Surprise, surprise... a yogurt mess. Who woulda guessed it!?

With a side of juicy fruit.... just the way I likeeee ittt

1/2 cup plain Stonyfield yogy-o

3/4 cup Kashi Honey Sunshine (I have to get more of this.. I've raced through almost a whole box in less than a week and a half!)

1/4 cup Special K

Tbsp smooth Teddie PB

Sprinkle of cinnamon

Splash of skim milk... the mess was a little dry today


Breakfast on the floor is MUCH more exciting....

Now blogging away, going for another cup of java, and then off to the GYM!!!

After taking yesterday off I can't wait to get a good sweat session going :)

And the rest of the day consists of:

1. fun errands -- finding a dress for my brother's birthday extravaganza in a few weeks & a little grocery shopping (foodage ALWAYS brings a smile to this chica's face)

2. not so fun errands -- bank trip (and the closest BOA is NOT close what-so-ever) & laundry! woohoooo !!

3. inhaling more coffee by the minute -- I just can't seem to function normally today

What do you all have planned for your last Monday of September???

Alright... time to get moooovin!!!

Check ya lataaa :)