St Patty's Treat!

I know that I've been super MIA...school and work are just taking up all of my time!  But I had to share this wonderful treat for the St. Patty's Holiday!

I love when St Patrick’s day rolls around each year because that means that McDonald’s brings back the shamrock shake!  Delish—of course!  But also packed with calories!  Total in the small?  Over 400!

So Wednesday I decided while craving one of these tasty treats that I could re-make it!  After all it only contains the ice cream, green coloring, and high fructose corn syrup that is spearmint flavored, plus the whipped cream and cherry on top.

So Rene and I made a trip to the grocery store….on the list?

Almond Milk (we already had this but I’ll add it here anyhow)

Sugar Free Vanilla Ice Cream

Spearmint Extract

Green Food coloring

1 cup almond milk (sugar free vanilla) (45 calories)

½ cup of sugar free vanilla ice cream (100 calories)

1t spearmint extract

3 drops of green food coloring

Blend—Pour into a glass and enjoy!  Total calories in one of our healthy Shamrock Shakes?  145  and perfectly delicious! 

New Fave Finds

I usually don't really change up my beauty routine.  I'm a Clean and Clear girl when it comes to my face wash and I've been using it for as long as I can remember.  I've never been a big face routine type of person but as I have rounded into my mid-to-late 20's (eek!) I thought maybe I would try to outrun mother nature and look at an anti-wrinkle type lotion.  There are a million and one different products out there of course but figured that I would give this one a try.

I have really liked the few Philosophy products that I have tried in the past and this one had rave reviews...and let me say they are well worth it!  It's a super easy to use system which consists of 3 parts.  Retinoid solution that is used at night, a moisturizing lotion to be used morning and night and eye cream to be used morning and night.  

Within the first week I will say that I have 100% seen my skin become smoother and more moisturized.  I haven't been using the moisturizer day and night mainly because I tend to get a little oily but the eye cream for sure is an AM/PM for me.  I would highly suggest this to anyone!

My next new find that I love is Baby Lips by Maybelline! 

It's a clinical strength moisturizing lip glass in clear or colored options.  Perfect for the winter weather and come on how cute is the packaging?!

APY60 Day 3

I'll admit this morning it was really hard to get out of bed.  I'm not sure why, even my Fitbit said that I slept better last night than the night before (98% efficiency only woke up 5 times).  So this morning I have to admit that I didn't do the full morning blend of stretches.  I know day 3 and already slacking!  I did about half of the stretches from memory to get the blood pumping...a small setback!

Breakfast this morning I had a healthy porridge from the little recipe book that came along with the DVDs...Yum!

The "porridge" is actually a whole apple and 4 strawberries just quickly blended to a porridge like consistency with a little almond milk (unsweetened) and a dash of cinnamon.  I threw it in the microwave for about 45 seconds (could have heated it up a little more) and then topped with raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, pecans and a little chia seeds for some protein.

It was quick and simple and got me moving and heading out the door for work.

Tonight more power yoga and a tasty smoothie since Rene is working late before I hit the gym for some cardio....Happy Tuesday!

Detox Day 2 Part II

Finished with day 2--not sure if I'm feeling "detoxified" but I am definatly not feeling stuffed after dinner or "blah" mid-way through the day (even without my 3 cups of coffee) so that's a start right?!

Lunch was a nice little mix of veggies (califlower, broccoli, shredded carrots) mixed with sunflower seeds, golden raisins, and currants topped off with just a squeeze of lemon juice--it's really good!

Whole Foods makes a salad similar to this called the Detox Salad and I've had it before and thought, why pay $7.99 a pound I'm sure someone has copied this and listed what all is in it....low and behold Google came through with my answer!

I found the "re-make" of this salad on Oh She Glows though I did take out the parsley (I'm not a huge fan) and also the kelp (because I couldn't find it) and added in some wheat germ and chia seeds for a little extra different texture. The salad is great and crunchy and a little sweet and perfect for mid-day!

And I followed it up with a second glass of my green juice from this morning -- you'd be surprised at the looks you get in the office drinking a green something.

For dinner we went with a simple little stirfry of veggies and quinoa instead of rice (added protein).  The only downfall today was that I know I didn't drink enough water, I only made it one large glass of the way into the cold detox tea (recipe here) and was just bogged down with work throughout the day and kept putting off drinking/refilling my glass.

And believe it or not I was actually able to go to the gym tonight and NOT have to wait in a huge line for a machine--this may be the first time ever that I've gone to the gym after the new year and not seen 500 people wanting to "start the year off right", but this made me think....what does that say for today's world?  Does the resolution of getting into better shape no longer top the list? And if not, what does that say about how our society has changed....something to ponder!

2012-Resolution/Goal List

It's that time of the year again and I've started thinking about the New Year and things I want to accomplish/change for 2012. Somewhat a list of must do or to-do items rather than resolutions because lets be honest resolutions last about a month for most people before they give up.  Setting a to-do list or list of goals makes it easy to check back and check things off the list throughout the next 365 days!

  Here's "the list" 

Read 52 books - that's right 1 per week!

Finish the wedding scrapbook that I’ve been saying I’ll finish every year (before our 3^rd anniversary)

Take a cooking class

Pay off debt (at least 2 of my credit cards)

Start learning another language (Rosetta Stone here I come! French or Italian)

APY60! Program – 60 days of American Power Yoga - already ordered now just waiting to actually start it!

1 week a month eat like a vegetarian- all veggies no meat doctors say its a good "break" for your GI track

What are your goals or resolutions for 2012?

Re-Invent Thanksgiving Leftovers

Lets be honest you can only have so many turkey sandwiches after turkey day...so I always try to come up with some easy ideas to re-invent and re-use those turkey leftovers!

This year we did a whole lot of reinventing! I must apologize though I forgot to snap pictures of a couple of the items.

First off here was our Thanksgiving Dinner--lots of food = lots of leftovers!Re-invention #1 - Sausage Egg and Cheese "muffins"
First take a muffin pan and put a little of the stuffing in the bottom (we used our apple and sausage stuffing) next pour a little egg white or whole egg onto the top and bake approx. 12 minutes at 350 degrees-top with a little cheese and melt. Quick and easy breakfast/brunch!

Next up? #2 - Turkey and Noodles (no picture sorry)
Take turkey bones, sage, and thyme and create a delish stock-simmer at least 2 hours!
Add in some veggies we used carrots, onion, peas, and corn
Next add in your shredded turkey (light and dark meat)
Simmer and then add in your noodles. The longer you cook the noodles the thicker everything becomes rather than a soup it's like a little turkey and "dumplings"

Re-invention #3- Turkey Nachos!
For anyone who has ever been to an Ale House this is a play on their Chicken Nachos

Super simple! Layer tortilla chips, then cheese, turkey, more cheese, jaleponos (optional) and bake!
Serve with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole!

#4 --Cranberry Almond and White Chocolate Chip Pancakes!
(sorry no picture)
Make a basic pancake mix, add in cranberry almond sauce and some white chocolate chips! Delish!

#5-Spicy Pumpkin Soup
See the pumpkins in the mail photo? We baked our stuffing inside the little pie pumpkins then used them in our soup!
First start with a little chicken stock (about 3 cups) add in onion, and pumpkin flesh. Allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes.
Next add in cayenne pepper, salt, curry, and red pepper flakes to your own taste--continue to simmer another 10 minutes until the pumpkin has started to fall apart.
Next in small batches or large depending on size of your food processor, blend until nice and smooth
Return to stove and add 1 cup of heavy cream, and 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, stir until combined.
Our soup is in the freezer for a nice cold day this winter!

And last but certainly not least! #6 - Turkey and Winter Greens Eggrolls!
We used what remained our our winter greens and mixed them with some shredded light meat turkey and reheated it in a saute pan. Next we then took egg rolls and wrapped the mixture up and brushed with a little melted butter and baked at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes!
Served with a little gravy it was a nice crunchy treat to end out the weekend!


And thankfully we used up almost all of the left overs!

Coming up on 2 years...

Rene and I are getting close to our second anniversary coming up in less than a month, and it does not feel like it's been almost 2 years at all!

So as of today I've started looking for gifts that I could get for him. There are 2 options for the second year of marriage.

Traditional Gift: Cotton Modern Gift: China

Rene and I decided that we are sticking with the "traditional" gift this year...now I just need to figure out what to get him. It might just me but while I love the idea of specific gifts for each year of marriage it's actually tough to find something.

Last year with "paper" we each just wrote out a really nice card, mainly because we took a little trip to Orlando at the start of December and called our tickets (flight and park) our "paper" item....ok so we stretched the terms a bit....but honestly who uses actual stationary anymore?

Nonetheless, we are trying to stick with the ideas for each other

What do you think are the traditional/modern wedding year gifts outdated? Or do you still like the idea of tradition?

It's Fall

And isn't it fun how a little bit of food coloring, some green candy and a box of rice krispy's can celebrate fall so well? Yum!
Happy Sunday!

Happy Monday!

Well ladies and gentlemen we've officially started October!! Can you believe it? That means that next month is Thanksgiving and then Christmas?! WOW the year is just flying by.

My desk is ready for the fall season though as I brought little pumpkin for all of my little recruiters for a festive touch to the area.

And what made my Monday even better? I walked in to a little present from Bethany our office manager~apparently she just couldn't pass this up when she saw it this weekend and she knew I needed to have it :)

This little beauty will be joining me in my weekly manager's meeting (professional aren't I?)

I love a week that starts out with a little something to make you smile! Happy Monday!

Cold Outside--but not "really"

There’s a little chill in the air today in Dallas. I walked outside today planning on throwing on a sundress since it had been in the 90’s still but was surprised to see that it was only about 65 degrees outside—that means fall clothes!!

So I changed out my ballet flats for boots and threw on a belt and cardigan and was ready to go!

**Not having Rene at home to help with pictures is no fun! I have to rely on the self portrait in the mirror-also bathroom lighting is not very flattering at all!**

Everyone should have at least one pair of riding boots or flat boots for the fall! They give your summer dresses a second life!

Here’s hoping this weekend is cooler too since Rene and I plan to go over to Grapevine for Grapefest on Saturday. We haven’t been there for 2 years but the first year it was super hot and still a ton of fun! I am praying for a little bit cooler weather for sure for a relaxing afternoon-we could sure use it!

Today We Remember

Today marks the 10th Anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center. Today we remember those who lost their lives that tragic day.

Where were you on 9-11-01?
I sat in my sophomore physics class on September 11, 2001
I remember the teacher always leaving on CNN without the sound while he taught-because what sophomore really watches CNN anyhow right? Just as he was getting ready to start the lesson you saw the photos of the first tower. As we stopped and turned on the sound we watched as the second tower was hit...
I remember going home and watching and learning of Flight 93 crashing in Shanksville just 2 hours and 45 minutes from Grove City, PA. I remember hearing of the attach on the Pentagon.

Today we remember the 10 years following Flight 11 crashing into the North tower at approximately 8:46amEST
Never Forget.

Getting Closer to Fab!

As of this morning I got all the front portion of my cube covered in pink and white....

I like having a bit of color now all I need it to get a couple frames rather than having the wedding pictures pinned to the wall...and also change out my calendar and other pieces of the "regular office supplies".

Add to that....today there was some revenge in the office my recruiter David arrived today to a desk covered with glitter

And then next to him Dustin's cube was toilet papered overnight.....

You've gotta love holiday weekends and short work days in our office....I'm thinking though that the cleaning crew might hate us tonight.

Drab to Fab!

So yesterday for some reason the tan/cream color of my little cube here at work was starting to get to me....It was drab and really not "me".

Now yes there are articles out there in every business magazine and publication saying that putting personal touches on your work space is a big No-No...however I see my office as not one of those typical business offices.

The boys have a basketball hoop, at any given time there are stress balls being thrown across the room, and we have a Dallas Mavericks flag still proudly displayed after their victory (that or it's just been forgotten to be taken home).

So this morning I started on my "Cube Re-Vamp" and plan to take my work area from Drab to Fab over the next week or two.

Clutter and papers gone! I'm going for the green feel and going all electronic (or at least trying to) and hopefully adding some light pink hues and green to my little area. Here's my progress thus far....

I'll be sure to post updates as I go. Step one will be just finishing the pink and white draping around the front of my cube and then I plan to get some "girly" (pink and green) trays to keep papers rather than the ugly black plastic stacking thing that I have now.

Rene might laugh at my spending of $12 to change things up but I figure I spend the majority of my time here and have had the same surroundings for 3+ years why not change it up right?

Pinterest Problem?

I must admit that as we get into the fall months I have started thinking about decorating the apartment for Halloween and Christmas-I know they are months away but I like to think about these things early to make sure I am ready!

Well due to the fact that I spend about 10 hours of my day in front of a computer at work, I read blogs and also of course as mentioned yesterday check out Pinterest to see what others are "pinning"....these are just some of the favorites that I have found...aren't they cute?

What I'm Loving Wednesday.....

A college sorority sister inspired me from her "What I'm Loving Wednesday" blog posts at Forever88 and decided that I would start joining in on the "what I'm loving" conversation!

Starbucks Drive-Thru

Early on a Wednesday morning to get through the day a grande-skinny-vanilla latte is just what I need....without dealing with the crowd in the store!

Restaurant Week in Dallas! After our delish dinner last Saturday we have another reservation for a Friday night "date" at 560 by Wolfgang Puck. I've been wanting to eat in reunion tower (photo below) since we moved here and this is the perfect change without breaking the bank!

yep, 560 is in the "ball" and it rotates slowly so diners get a great view of downtown Dallas!

It's officially football season and I get to root on my fave teams!

Having a wonderful puppy that wakes me up every morning!

And of course my wonderful hubby!

Date Night

I love date night! Especially when it means a delicious dinner and finding a super cute dress marked down from $195 to $30 on clearance!!

Got to love Nordstrom's Rack for amazing finds like this! The dress even had a cute little train off the back, super fun and I can hopefully wear it into the fall season too!

Hope that you are having a wonderful weekend too!

Big Friday Night Plans

After this brutal week my big plans include....




Enjoying a glass of wine, a dinner of cheese/crackers and salami and doing nothing and waiting for Rene to come home from the airport.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Does the universe have it in for me?

OK so this week is only 2 day in and it has been just pretty much a bad one to say the least!

(I apologize in advance for lack of punctuation, and run on sentences in the below rant)

Monday started off with a million and one things that I needed to get done at work where I spent the majority of the day "putting out fires" then came home realized that the cleaning lady didn't come clean the apartment as scheduled, so I feel like the apartment is a wreck....I go to the gym which is completely packed and I was only able to get in 25 minutes of cardio before my lecture, which was a total waste of 2 hours. Then I wanted to do some yoga but the on demand wasn't working so I gave up and went to the store to get a bottle of wine (the one highlight of the night)....then took a shower somehow broke 2 of my nails and of course since Rene is out of town the cat had puked on the carpet so I got to clean that up after a shower.

So here I was hoping today would be better....I was wrong. My body didn't want to get up this morning, then my coffee filter got messed up and coffee grinds ended up all through my tropical toasted coconut kona coffee (which is amazingly good) so was hoping to get some Starbucks. I hit every red light on the way to work so couldn't stop at Starbucks and had to deal with office coffee Yuck! Then the Internet was down at the office and I got to play catch up with emails on my phone for the first 30 minutes of my day. This was all before 8am.

So then I meet with my team and listen to the recruiters go on and on about wanting more training an insisting on me spending 2 hours to go over our standard contract which they could just read on their own. My director then tells me I'm spending too much time giving them piece by piece info and they can learn on their own, yet at the same time wants me to be more supportive and have an open door policy to allow them to express their needs....wow I am completely lost as to what I should be doing....dead end there!

Put more fires out all afternoon because a doctor just backed out of working confirmed shifts for the next four weeks and we have no backup, then chase down time cards, follow up on contracts and a million and one other things before heading home getting frustrated that the gym is packed and come home....

Thank the lord the on demand worked and I got a nice hour long yoga practice in to try to relax. I am starting to think the universe has something out for me there is no doubt!

When I have days/weeks like this I take a look at my zodiac it will usually allow me to at least pretend that yes the universe is out to get me but it'll look up....today I am not feeling that way, here are a few of the reasons my my past few days turmoil per the stars...

Compliments of www.horoscope.com

August 8, 2011

“Your normal steady pace usually wins the race, Capricorn, but today you might need to take some shortcuts. Jump on opportunities that seem to come out of nowhere, but don't feel like you need to commit to anything now. Take your chances and see where luck takes you”

August 9, 2011

“You're ready for dramatic change in your life, Capricorn. It isn't that you're dissatisfied with your career or personal life. Rather, you feel like you're missing out on something great, if you only knew what. Be receptive to whatever opportunities arise and explore them all. You may find the answers you seek through travel or more education. Bring a friend if you’re afraid to explore on your own”

www.huffingtonpost.com

August 8^th

“You may be tempted by an unrealistic fantasy about a relationship now. However, your idealistic dreams can actually stand between you and happier days. Acknowledging your attachment to one particular outcome is a good start if you're willing to make it less important. There's no need to go to extremes and deny your preferences if you can maintain a healthy perspective”

August 9

“You like to lean on conservative tactics when your life gets too crazy. Mechanically going through the motions is one way to buy time while things settle down. Unfortunately, reverting back to your old routine won't work now because something must change for you to feel satisfied. You may be tempted toward extreme solutions like turning everything upside down all at once. However, taking lots of tiny steps is a much better strategy than attempting one gigantic leap before you're ready.”

I am having some difficulties trying to figure out how these relate to my past 2 days….any thoughts?

I was half scared to look at my Wednesday outlook….but I did it anyhow…

www.huffingtonpost.com

Tomorrow:

“You may be tempted by an unrealistic fantasy about a relationship now. However, your idealistic dreams can actually stand between you and happier days. Acknowledging your attachment to one particular outcome is a good start if you're willing to make it less important. There's no need to go to extremes and deny your preferences if you can maintain a healthy perspective.

Horoscope by Rick Levine, Tarot.com

You like to lean on conservative tactics when your life gets too crazy. Mechanically going through the motions is one way to buy time while things settle down. Unfortunately, reverting back to your old routine won't work now because something must change for you to feel satisfied. You may be tempted toward extreme solutions like turning everything upside down all at once. However, taking lots of tiny steps is a much better strategy than attempting one gigantic leap before you're ready.

Horoscope by Rick Levine, Tarot.com

A relationship may be a major source of stress now as battle lines are drawn, making it harder to remain civil. You might prefer sorting out your differences through cool and calm communication, yet you can easily slip back into engaging in the needless drama. Instead of being forthright and expressing all your feelings today, act judiciously. A little bit of discretion goes a long way to settle everyone's frazzled nerves.”

www.horoscope.com

“The warrior within may be stirred today. You might also have some self-doubt about your actions, Capricorn. Stay confident that you're on the right path at all times. There may be a bit of tension in your world, but try not to get too worked up over it. This is just a passing phase”

At least there is a little light at the end of the tunnel per tomorrow’s outlook from Horoscope.com….This is just a passing phase, let’s hope so! Still so confused on the relationship stress and battle lines though—Rene’s not even in the same time zone this week…..

Do you ever look for a “reason” for how you day is going if it feels out of control?? Or am I just a complete crazy person? LOL

Tuesday Morning Fail

Sometimes no matter how motivated you are your body will tell you no. That's what happened to me this morning. I had every intention of getting up at 5am today, doing some yoga to get balanced for the day, and then taking Stitch on his walk before making breakfast and getting ready for work.

I was even wide awake at 4am! However, I should have taken that and gotten up at 4 rather than trying to go back to sleep....because when 5am rolled around, I just could not make myself get up. It was a bit of a Tuesday morning fail on my part....

Needless to say tonight now I'll have to make time for the typical gym work out and yoga and then hopefully as the sun goes down it won't be too hot around 9pm to take the little man on a walk.

I think sometimes that I should go without a morning plan, maybe then when my body wakes me up I'll take the hint rather than waiting around for the alarm clock...

1 more day til Friday

I don't know why but today I was exhausted! I rolled over hit the snooze and didn't get up until I heard the coffee pot beep this morning. Little Stitch didn't get a walk this morning so I'll have to try to take him out this evening if it's not too hot around 8:30 or 9pm.

I am looking forward to Friday and wrapping up the week to say the very least!
Why you might ask?

1. Because it's the last work week of July and truth be told I like when the month closes out.

2. Because Friday is the start to the weekend!

3. Because it marks the half way point for this summer semester which has been brutal!

4. Because Saturday we get to go to Cirque du Solei Dralion!

5. Because Sunday is Harry Potter's Birthday (if he was real) Barnes and Noble by our apartment is having a "birthday party" with ButterBeer and all! *Yes I told Rene we are stopping by if nothing else for the butterbeer, we'll have to compare it to the one at Wizarding World of Harry Potter*

6. Because Friday night Rene comes home from being out of town. *just to leave again next week but oh well*

7. Because I get to sleep in until 7am rather than 5am!

8. Because I am getting ready to start a new book and that's always exciting!

What are you looking forward to as we wrap up the work week?