Water, Water Everywhere

Hi friends! Happy Tuesday! If you read any other Boston blogger blogs, you already know that we are experiencing some serious rain. Its incredible! The ground is so saturated that there is standing water everywhere! I’ve never seen anything like it. Cross your fingers that tomorrow’s commute is manageable!

I started out this dreary day with a warm bowl of comforting oats. 1/2 cup oats made with water and topped with a nanner, plain greek, cinnamon and some honey. Fantastic.

Lunch was leftover chili (it just keeps getting tastier and tastier!) along with some crackers topped in a laughing cow wedge.

Snack was a multi-grain flat out wrap with naturally nutty spread inside and rolled up. I cut it into multiple pieces to prolong my grazing gratification.

After work, I tried Janetha’s elliptical workout from yesterday. It was brutal! In no way did I cover as many miles as she did – she’s pretty much awesome. :) I was sweating and panting and…yeah, I was beat – in 20 minutes!

I didn’t want to leave the gym yet (strange, no?) and so I hopped on the treadmill and walked some hills for about 20 minutes. I then called it a day and paddled drove home.

Dinner was kind of an experiment. I wanted pasta and sweet potatoes, so I caved into a bowl of carby goodness using a few leftover fresh-frozen eggplant ravioli, a cubed and steamed sweet tater, broccoli, a crap ton of garlic, some mini eggplant meetballs, a splash v8 broccoli soup and red pepper flake. Somehow, it all came together beautifully. I managed to get a few raviolis, sweet tater, protein and veggies in and it was delicious. I even have leftovers for dinner before class tomorrow!! :)

Post dinner, I’ve been doing some work on the computer for school. You guys are wonderful, by the way – thank you for taking my survey! I really appreciate it!

Dessert will be had, and it will look much like yesterdays – some kozy shack rice pudding with strawberries and cinnamon. Divine! :)

Off to chillax and watch Biggest Loser. Have a great night friends!

Em

Optimism & A Request

Hi Friends! Happiest of Mondays to you – of course, its grey, raining and the start of another work week, but optimism never hurt anyone. Right? Right.

Despite the aforementioned knocks against this day, today went pretty smoothly.  I got a lot of work done and got a great workout in after work. Oh yeah, and there was great food to be had as well. :)

Breakfast was a serving of kashi golean berries with almond milk, half a nanner and some strawberries as well as a boiled egg for protein. It was scrumptious and reminded me of a delicious continental breakfast.

Lunch was a yummy salad with spinach, raw tempeh and bell pepper topped with some goddess dressing and honey mustard. I also had a multigrain flat out wrap cut into pieces on the side. It was lovely to make mini roll-ups with the salad fixin’s.

Yum. Honey mustard goes on everything, by the way.

Snack was my new favorite – dates stuffed with naturally nutty cinnamon vanilla sunflower butter. So good.

As mentioned, after work, I got a great workout in. I started by walking hills briskly for 15 minutes on the treadmill and followed it up with the total body weight workout that I did last week. Instead of only doing 2 sets like last time, I did 3 this time and it was intense. I love the feeling afterward. :) Brian still wasn’t finished with his run and so I did 10 minutes on the stairclimber. They were tough, but lovely.

When we got home, we were so glad to have the chili in the fridge. We were both “hungie” and quickly heated up some leftovers. I had a good sized bowl topped with a bit of plain greek and some blue corn chips on the side.

 

I just enjoyed some chocolate – just a couple Hershey's squares. Hit the spot.

 

Now, its request time. As you guys know, I’m currently a part time MBA student. I will be graduating in December and am working on my thesis right now.  As part of my thesis, I’m required to conduct original research – through a survey.  My survey is designed to investigate consumer attitudes towards sustainable products and operations being undertaken at big box stores like Target and Walmart.

So, long story short, I need all the responses to this survey that I can get.  The survey takes no more than 5 minutes and it would be really helpful if you guys could fill it out.  Everything is anonymous and will be kept that way. That said, there is absolutely no obligation and I completely understand if you’d rather not.

Thanks so much! Have a great night my friends.

Em

I’m Spicy!

Hi Friends! Happy Sunday evening. I hope that you had a wonderful, refreshing, rejuvenating weekend.  I had a blast! 

After a great dinner at Johnny D’s in Davis Square, Melissa and I made our way to Mojitos for salsa dancing.  We got there around 9 and let me tell you – we were both buzzing with nerves! The place was nearly empty except for a few employees.  We quickly were met with our dance teacher Moses – they provide free salsa lessons before the true dance party starts (around 10-10:15). 

Melissa and I pretty much had a private lesson with Moses and we enjoyed every bit of it. Salsa is so fun! Its also fairly simple which is definitely a plus for me. It is much more work than I thought it would be! We had to ask for a break to get some ice water to cool down the spice about a half hour in.

When people started filing it the place really lit up! I guess my only complaint would be the volume level of the music, but it was really fun to watch the talented salsa dancers and attempt to hold your own. Melissa and I were partners and we had a blast. I think I will definitely be going back. :)

I didn’t get home until late (well, for me) and piled into bed around 1AM. Fast forward a bit, and it was 10 AM this morning! I couldn’t believe that I slept that long. It was glorious.

We rolled out of bed, threw on some jeans, and made our way to the North Ave Diner right down the street. We were surprised by its size and wonderful diner menu.  It was a tough decision, but I ended up with an egg beater omelet with mushrooms and spinach. It came with potatoes (amazing) and dry wheat toast. I ate about 3/4 of the omelet, a slice of toast, and all of the taters. Mmm…

I don’t think we’ll be waiting as long to go out to breakfast again. It had been forever and I forgot how nice it was. I love mornings!

After a big trip to the grocery store, we made our way home and I got to work on some homework.  I snacked on a couple of delicious dates stuffed with pb.

After much productivity (overstatement), it was time for a run. Brian and I made our way to the lake and I managed to run all the way around! Its about 4.2 miles and we finished in 35 minutes. I was pretty happy with myself. I’m really excited to be truly enjoying running again! :)

I was starving when we got back and so made myself a yogurt bowl with plain greek, kashi golean with berries, half a nanner and some cinnamon.  Hit the spot.

A shower, some yoga, and a bunch of veggie chopping later, we had a bowl of spicy chili on the stove.  I think all my salsa talk had Brian in the mood for it and suggested making a huge pot o’ chili to last us a while.  I turned on my Gypsy Kings station on Pandora and we may or may not have had our own salsa dancing going on.

 
The chili came out great. We had it over some brown rice with cheese on top. I’m excited to get several meals out of it.

Now its Celtics and chill time. Thanks for reading this monster post! If any of you local ladies (or gents) want to go salsa dancing, let me know! I’d totally be in to it. :)

Have a great night!!

Em

Saturday Shenanigans

Hi friends! Happy Saturday. Its a super sunny one here but its pretty chilly.  Ah well, I’ll take the sun over rain any day!

Last night’s Celtics watching was really fun.  There were a group of lovely ladies there and we ended up being very chatty for most of the game.  We also enjoyed homemade pizza and a beautiful salad. Oh yeah, and the Celtics won.  :)

This morning, I woke up after a very sound sleep and got started on a delicious breakfast. Stovetop oats remain my favorite weekend breakfast even though I always contemplate something more extravagant like pancakes or waffles. Today’s version was made (for two) with a cup of oats, cup of water, cup of milk, one nanner and lots of cinnamon. We topped our bowls (the new ones from Target!) with some blueberries and raspberries and pb. Delish!

After digesting and getting my butt in gear, I headed out for a run on the reservoir in Cleveland Circle with Melissa and Lauren.  It was super fun and the conversation did not cease – Melissa said it when she mentioned the cardio benefits of talking while running – phew!

By the time I got home I was starving! I quickly made a spinach salad with bell pepper, mini eggplant “meatballs,” hummus, salsa and bbq sauce.  Of course I had some blue corn chips on the side for crunch. Yum.

This afternoon I read for school and sipped on some green tea.  I can’t knock this chill I have. I may need to go do some jumping jacks. Hehe.

My tummy was getting rumbly so I just had a pineapple chobani with Kashi honey puffs. Yum. Hit the spot.

Tonight, I’m going to be celebrating a friend’s birthday in the city with a nice dinner and…salsa dancing! I’m so not a dancer (rhythm is not one of my gifts) but it should be a blast.

I hope you guys have a great night! Enjoy your Saturday!

Em

Wa Wa Wa Weekend

Heyyyooo! Happy Weekend! Woo hoo! We made it. La la la. Can you tell I’m pumped? I’m just really excited to have some down time. I need to do a lot of school work this weekend, but its still going to be nice to chillax. I’m also meeting up with some lovely bloggers tomorrow AM for a fun run of sorts. Yay! What are your plans?

Today started out quite solidly with a bowl of oats.  I cooked them with some almond milk and half a nanner and then topped them with pb and raspberry jam. Mmm….

At lunch time, I decided to take the yoga class that is offered by a registered teacher who works at our company.  It was a hatha session and it was really nice. Our practice was about an hour long and was the perfect mix of long poses (hello shaky sweatiness!) and glorious twists and stretches.

Lunch was devoured after yoga – a slice of whole grain bread toasted with spinach and provolone and topped with honey mustard.  I also had some bell pepper with sabra hummus. Yummers.

Snack was quite delicious also – a plain oikos with chocolate protein powder and the other half of nanner. Hit the spot.

 
I just got back from Target where I went kinda crazy. I got two dresses, a bunch of white shirts/tanks to wear under things, a really cute pair of shoes, coffee, cereal, two really cute bowls, a couple of gifts for my bestie’s birthday… Phew. :)

Tonight we’re going to a friend’s house to watch the Celtics game and munch on a delicious din. I’m not sure what’s on the menu, but its always amazing.

Have a great night friends! Welcome to the weekend.

Em

Indian Food Followed by Lemon, Liz Lemon

Hi there! Happy Emilyday. You guys are quite flattering. You have to enjoy those good hair days when you can! Today I'm back to the status quo. :) Thank you also for your good luck wishes for class. We ended up getting out at 8:30 which was a very nice surprise!

The day has gone by pretty quickly which is great because I'm really looking forward to post-work activities. I'm thinking about a nice run outside and then we are making our way to a great little Indian restaurant called Rang Bistro. It was absolutely delicious the first time we went and I'm excited to go back. Thennn, of course, after dinner, we will be enjoying NBC tv. Yee-ha!

Breakfast today was quite tasty thanks to my naturally nutty vanilla cinnamon sunflower (and flax) butter. I had some on a slice of toasted whole grain bread topped with half a nanner and some plain oikos with the other nanner half.

Lunch was pret-ty amazing. Last night I baked a sweet tater long and slow along with some tofu and bell pepper mixed in bbq sauce. Today, I split the tater in half and topped it with spinach, some tofu and bell pepper mixture and then added a bit of salsa and hummus. Mmmm. So goood.

And snack was a treat from the work salad bar - cottage cheese with mixed fresh fruit and some dried cranberries. Hit the spot.

Are you guys having a good day? What are your plans for the evening?

Finding the Me Time

Hey guys! Happy Wednesday! I'm sneaking in an ellusive Wednesday post before Logistics and Ops class tonight (snore!). I hope that you're having a great day. Mine has been pretty great, in fact.

Despite wanting to snooze a bit more when my alarm went off this morning, I decided that I wouldn't regret getting up and getting some activity in first thing. I did a 40 minute power/hill walk on the treadmill at the work gym while reading my David Sedaris's When You Are Engulfed in Flames (its a good thing no one else was there because I was most definitely laughing out loud). I realized somewhere between chuckles that this morning's "workout" was so much more than a workout to me. On my busiest day of the week, this workout was really the only 40 minutes of the day (aside from the time when I get home after class around 10) that were all mine. It was quite a glorious revelation and I'm so happy that I got up. AND, it goes right along with Evan's post about how finding time for yourself is important to your overall health! Glorious.

I was more than ready for breakfast when I arrived at my desk. I quickly whipped up a bowl of oats with half a nanner, some plain greek and a spoon of pb. Delicious. I'm way into the greek yogurt on my oats these days, if ya haven't noticed. :)

Lunch was just as delicious. While I was making dinner last night, I sauteed some extra bell pepper and onion with some tofu cubes and then placed them on a bed of spinach. Today, I added some hummus and a few crackers. Yum.

Snack today was kind of predictable, but satisfying. I had the other half of my morning nanner with a raspberry dark chocolate granola bar. I dig this bar.

Here we are! I have an egg sammich (one egg with laughing cow and some jam on a sandwich thin) to eat before class and I'm sure I'll be having a snack when I get home. I'm always starving after class!

Anywho, I hope you guys have a great evening. I'll leave you local readers with a word to the wise: If you're wearing a dress or skirt, you should most definitely hold on to it outside. Its WINDY! Yikes.

Gratuitous picture of an unexplainable good hair day! :)

Stickin’ with the Sunshine

Hi Friends! Happy Tuesday! I hope that you are well.  We’re still having lots o’ rain around here but the sunny weekend is still sticking with me and it hasn’t gotten me down.  The day was pretty productive and went by quickly. I started out with a delicious bowl of plain oats topped with blueberries, some greek yogurt, pb and a bit of honey.  So good.

Lunch was my leftovers from last night – tempeh and broccoli in chili sauce over some white rice.

 

Snack was delicious. I love the crisp of wasa crackers.  I find that I crave it after a while! I toped a few of them with some laughing cow and some raspberry jam.

 

After work, I hit up the gym armed with a “total body intermediate workout” printed out.  I warmed up with 15 minutes on the stairclimber and then got to work. It took be about 25 minutes to get through and I was sweating the entire time. I felt shaky and satisfied after.

After a quick trip to the grocery store, I got started on din din. I sautéed some bell pepper and onion, added some broccoli and spinach and boiled some delicious eggplant ravioli.  My idea for the veggies was to fill up on them and have the ravioli be like the cherry on top.  It worked out great! I should have taken a picture pre-sauce, but here ya have it!

Now, its Biggest Loser time! I’ll probably be breaking into some pineapple chobani (the perfect dessert!) soon. :)

Before you go, check out this song – so good. I could listen to it all day.

Have a great night, friends!

Em

Back to Our Regularly Scheduled…

Hey guys! Happy Monday! I hope that you are well. We’re back to the rainy, chilly weather here in New England and it feels like such a stark contrast to this weekend when I spent so much time outside in the beautiful weather.  Seems like I was on vacation or something! Ah well, hopefully more nice weather is not too far away.

This morning I started the day out with a toasted sammy stuffed with pb, raspberry jam and half a nanner.  It was delish and a good change from the norm.

 
Lunch was leftovers from last night’s dinner – some black beans, sweet potato, pepper, onion, salsa and a couple pieces of tofu over spinach.  There wasn’t much left so I had some blue corn chips on the side. Delish.

Snack this afternoon was the other half of my nanner from this morning and a pumpkin spice granola bar.  The pumpkin spice version is decidedly better than the chocolate raspberry, in my opinion! :)

After work, I went to the gym and did 50 tough minutes on the elliptical.  I had a lot of reading to do for school and so got a lot done while sweating away.  I love mixing up going forwards and backwards and increasing and decreasing the incline.  Makes things go faster, for sure!

When I got home, I got started on dinner lickity split – tempeh and broccoli with chile sauce, some white rice and an over easy egg.  It was so good. I have leftovers (minus the egg) for lunch tomorrow. :)

  
After dinner, I spent the evening working on school work. This class is going to be extremely difficult for me – a lot of very confusing formulas and math. Meh. We will see how it goes, I suppose.

I think I’m going to relax now and probably have a light dessert. I’m craving something sweet.  I hope you guys have a great night and an even better day tomorrow!

Em

Long Day, New Moon

Hey guys! Happy Sunday! This is going to be brief – Brian ran the New Bedford Half Marathon today (killed it 1:25:30) and it was a long day of walking around, yelling, jumping up and down, etc. My camera also died! Blargh! Finally, in his exhausted delirium, Brian agreed to watch New Moon with me so I best run before he comes to. :)

I hope that you had wonderful weekends! I know a bunch of bloggers participated in races today – I hope they went awesomely and can’t wait to read about them.  I’m also excited to read all the Fitbloggin’ recaps. Lots of fun on this the first weekend of spring!

Have a great night, my lovely friends!!

Em

Hello Spring!

Hi Friends! Happy Saturday! I hope that you are enjoying your weekend. We’re experiencing some amazingly beautiful weather around here – its sunny and about 70 degrees! Ahhh.

This morning, we woke up slowly and then enjoyed a lovely breakfast. Brian made french toast while I stuck with oats. I tried to fancy/thicken them up by adding an egg white but I’m not sure that I’m a fan. It seemed as if I had just added little bits of egg white to my oats. Maybe I didn’t stir quickly enough? Oh well, they were still delicious with half a nanner cooked in them and topped with some pb and a bit of maple syrup.

During breakfast we caught up on some old Chopped episodes on the DVR. We both really love the show – have you seen it? Its probably one of the best cooking shows on tv; in my opinion, of course. :)

After Chopped, we got to our spring cleaning. We pretty much dominated the apartment and it looks sparkling and lovely. Its so nice to have a clean place (and let some fresh air and sunlight in through the windows!).

Post cleaning, I went out for a run. It was amazing to be outside and actually be a bit hot! I ran for about a half hour and felt great. I find it so hard to pace myself when there are a lot of people out and about, as if they are watching me kick butt. :)

Some stretching and a shower later, it was time for a lovely lunch in the back yard. I made myself a spinach salad with raw tempeh, bell pepper, carrots, a drizzle of bbq sauce, some salsa, and chipotle hummus – and blue corn chips, of course! This salad was delicious. The bbq was a perfect addition.

After lunch, we headed out to the lake/park in town to lounge about and read. I got through a chapter of my Operations Management textbook (its sooo dry) and people watched. It seems like it was yesterday that we were buried in snow. Its amazing that its so nice so soon.

We got back just a little while ago and I was a starvin marvin. I had a mug of kashi honey puffs topped with a few pb puffins and some defrosted blueberries and raspberries. Yum. Hit the spot.

We’re meeting a few friends for dinner tonight at 8 and I think a nap is calling my name. Its been an exciting day.

Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions for helping me to fall asleep. I think a lot of you hit the nail on the head with developing a routine and/or focusing on relaxing and taking my mind off the need to sleep. I think a lot of my trouble has to do with attempting to sleep when my brain is still going 100 mph from work, working out, cooking, blogging, etc. I'm going to work on adding in some wind-down time before bed and hopefully that will help! :) Thanks again!

Em

Saving the Best for Last

Hi Friends! Happy Emilyday! I'm so excited that its here. I hope that you had a nice St. Patrick's Day. Mine was very low key. I had class from 6-10 after work yesterday so there was no celebrating for me. I'm ok with it though! I'm too large a lightweight to "celebrate" on a weeknight. :)

I've been quite tired as of late because I've been having some trouble falling asleep. Its weird and a bit frustrating. Last night was a bit better so let's hope its a trend! I attempted to invigorate my morning with a different type of breakfast - Brian's mom made some delicious roasted veggies (mushrooms, onions, bell pepper, eggplant and tomato) with a bit of cheese and Italian seasoning and she sent Brian home with some yesterday. I couldn't resist not having some right away so I packed it for breakfast with an egg and a piece of toast. It was really good and a nice change from my usual nanner and nut butter oats or yogurt or toast. :)

Lunch was a delicious salad from the caf. This had mixed greens, bell pepper, carrot, cuc, red onion, chick peas, kidney beans, dried fruit, croutons, vinegar, olive oil, hot sauce and hummus.

I was eating and realized that I somehow manage to scarf all of the greens first in order to leave the best (the toppings) for last. Does anyone else do this? Check it.

Snack today was a plain Oikos with a blob of pb and half a nanner. Delish.

After work, Brian and I are planning on getting our weekly Tabata sesh in - hopefully outside - and then are heading to our favorite Indian restaurant before settling back at home for Thursday night tv. I'm really looking forward to it!

I leave you with two questions:

What do you do when you can't fall asleep? What are you looking forward to right about now?