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 :)

Halloweenies

Hiiiii lovahs!!!

I'm beyond exhausted right now... I'm pretty sure I can blame the following for that:

Lack of sleep, too many brewnanas this weekend, rocking some giant heels all night Saturday, excessive Halloween candy consumption... followed by kick-ass workouts to counteract the prior, working looong crazy hours at the restaurant, and OH, did I say lack of sleeep? My goodness, I feel like I could sleep forever.... SO, that's what I'm gonna do :)

But I'll leave you with a few pics from my Halloween filled weekend...

Night One I was Mrs. Varitek (obvi) & Night Two I was Santa's Little Helper...

I'll be back (hopefully) tomorrow to recap the whole weekend.. along with some good eats! But for right now, I've gotta catch up on some ZZZZ's so I'm prepared for my double at work tomorrow gahhh!

Love you buttonssss :)

What did you all dress up as for Halloween!?

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???

Positive Thinking

This is going to have to be a somewhat quickieee post...because I've had a long night at work giving candy to little kids in costume and playing early Halloween dress-up (I was a black cat, very original, I know... but I found out just yesterday we were dressing up at work. Yikessss!) and it was the first thing I came up with... The little kids who were also dressed as kitties LOVED it though so, thanks children...

I started off my day with this delectable breakfast...

I know... NO oats present. Shocking, isn't it???

I was really craving a savory breakfast this morning.. specifically an egg over easy. I knew right away it was the only thing that was going to make me happy so I had one!

With a side of 9-grain toast with a light spread of Teddie PB!

And a Gala with cinnamon...

OH and Vanilla Caramel tea... abso-fruitleyyyy ;)


I somehow squeezed in a gym session before worktime...
45 mins on the elliptical / 4.85 miles / 390 calories burned


Then came home and made lunch... I had a can of soup via Amy that I hadn't tried yet and have been meaning to because the combo looks amazing. As I mentioned in my post Saturday, the Carb Monster has been present on a daily basis and I'm trying to make an attempt to fix that. Baby steps, of course... because I can't just cut out things I love like cereal, oatmeal, toast, sandwiches... blah blah BUT I know I can effectively lower my carbs and increase my proteins quite easily if I actually pay attention to each meal and balance it off of the one before it...

So I had the soup (beans for protein!)


And 1/4 of a sweet potato warmed in the microwave with a sprinkle of cinnamon..

I added some shrimp to the soup too for some added "oomph" hahah... not that that's a legit word, but you get what I'm saying

Delicious!

Rushed off to work, put some eyeliner whiskers on along with a pair of cat ears, carved a cat into a pumpkin, ate my weight in pumpkin seeds (and had 2 mini Heath bars from our ginormous candy collection... could NOT resist) and came home absolutelyyyy exhausted and ready to eat my dinner...

Which came from worky..

Organic salad with Goat cheese, free-range chicken, roasted red peppers, mushrooms, carrots, celery, seaweed, sesame seeds, & ginger tamari dressing....

Yeah..it tastes as phenom as it looks.

Now it's time to get to the REAL purpose of today's post: positive thinking.

I've seen sooo many inspiring posts from you bloggies lately that have just put a smile on my face over and over again.. You're all SO positive and continue to keep that mindset when things get tough and that is incredible. It's harder than it seems, at times, to "look on the bright side" when it appears that just about everything's going wrong. But I can assure you, there's always something to be thankful for and something to put a smile on your face.

So it got me thinking... what are the positive things in my life that I can look to in my mind or in person in order to keep me in a "good place" at all times? There are so many things that make me smile on a daily basis and I'm usually a cheery, motivated, and appreciative person just for the ability to do what I do. I work hard, love like crazy, have fun, and kick my own ass when exercising. I'm giving and would do just about anything asked of me for those I love.

When it came to making a mental list in my head of those things that I am thankful for & smile about in order to stay positive... these were just a few that came into my head:

Being an Aunt :)

My nephew, Jacob, was born in February and he is a bundle of happiness & is always smiling, laughing, and playing... he's made me realize all over again what is important. FAMILY! And because ours has now expanded, it's even more exciting.

Witnessing the seasons changing (especially the change to Fall) is a constant reminder of the beauty of nature... I'm an outdoor girl and especially during the Spring & Autumn I love nothing more than just taking in the sights & smells of these beautiful times of the year...

My little bitty baby Bella-Cat :)

She can always be counted on to sleep on my feet when I go to bed... wake me up with a light meow in my face... play with catnip.. and curl up with me when I'm not feeling my greatest. She's like a best friend who never has to say a word in order to brighten my day. Her fuzzy little face does enough :)


Coffee...enough said.

Haha... it gets me up in the morning, keeps me going going going throughout the day, is a great excuse to meet with an old friend and catch up, it's a comfort for me... wrapping my hands around a warm cup of coffee at any time of day just soothes my soul & puts me at ease. Not to mention the flavors are heaven to me.

My beautiful, amazing, hilarious, dedicated, and wonderful friends.....

Inside jokes....

Always laughing...

Vacationing...

Staying up late just to have good talks...

Since elementary school....

Most recently.... I've become thankful for the man at my gym who is WITHOUT A DOUBT, Matthew Fox's twin. *Hubba-Hubba* I can't believe I just uttered that....ew. I dont know if you watch LOST, but Matthew Fox makes it much more beautiful and causes more drooling, also... and thank you, beautiful M.Fox twin at the gym, you are at times the reason my 45 min workout turns into an hour when I'm distracted by your gorgeousness....HA

Now, DONT GET ME WRONG, I'm not a bad person here... because I'm absolutely head over heels in love, thankful, for my wonderful boyfriend Anthony :) He's the sweetest person I could have ever asked for and makes everyday a little bit better. He is my best friend and can always be counted on to help me see the bright side of any situation and make me smile even when I'm already in tears. I don't know how he deals with my sometimes bratty personality and my extreme indecisiveness about every little thing but he does it so well and I know for sure, I've found a good one...

I kept these things in my mind today as reminders for why I should always be a happy, positive person. Everyone has "off" days and I won't be irrational and believe I will always be 100% my best, but I will damn well try and with the help of my "positive things" it makes it just a little bit easier :)

What are some positive things in your life???

What made you smile today?