Category Archives: Holidays

Tuesday’s 10 in 2010!

Posted on December 29, 2009 | 14 comments

Happy Tuesday everyone. Ok, it’s about time that I outlined my 2010 goals and/or resolutions. I tend to make half-hearted resolutions, but this year I’ve essentially made my “To-Do List.” The Hubby will tell you how much I love making lists, so here goes:

My 10 To-Do’s in 2010!

1. Stop Biting My Nails: This is a terrible habit I’ve had for years. Just when I think I’ve got the problem kicked, I start biting again. 2010 is the year for it to end.  

2. Become a Real Winter Runner: Usually, my outdoor running days become few and far between from about Dec – March. This year, I want to run continuously throughout the winter. I’ve signed up for a few races to help me with this goal.

3. Eat Cleaner: In 2010, I want to try even harder to eat fewer processed foods. I can certainly tell a difference in how I feel when I eat cleaner foods, but I also think it’s a great way to support greener initiatives and clean food producers.

4. Read More: I go through ups and downs with my reading. When I really love a book, I fly right through it. I need to be more consistent by reading at least 1 book a month. Stay tuned – I’ll be posting more on my long-distance book club idea soon. 😉

5. Be Grateful: The Hubby and I have soo much to be thankful for, but sometimes I forget that. I vow to stop pestering the Hubby about moving upstate and be grateful that we are both healthy, employed and have wonderful families and friends who try to include us in their lives as much as possible even though we’re far away.

6. Shop Less, Save More: This one seems to roll over just about every year, but this year I am going to set a budget for myself for each month.

7. Keep in Touch: We do live kind of far (2.5-4 hours) from most of our family and friends, so you would think I’m on the phone all the time catching up. The truth is – I hate the phone. But I am going to try very hard to get better at returning phone calls and calling friends and family each month (or week) to check-in and see what’s new.

8. Expand My Horizons: Blogging has pushed me to do some pretty fun and different things – attend an interesting book reading, participate in a blogger dinner, try quinoa for the first time, go on a run with this fun lady, and more! In 2010, I want to continue to broaden my mind with new experiences.

9. QT with Hubby: I think I’ve started incorporating more quality time with him already with our movie dates. But in 2010, I want to start an official date night once a month with the Hubby where we go out and do something – not just watching movies together in the apartment.

10. Qualify for Boston! The Hubby is groaning for sure (although he did buy me a Garmin – what did he think I’d be using it for?) as he reads this one. This is a huge goal. My first marathon time was 3:54:57 and I’d need to get down to 3 hours and 40 minutes to qualify for Boston. My Garmin will be put to good use in 2010 – that I’m sure of.

For more on resolutions, check out my latest Examiner.com article on “How to Set Realistic Resolutions.” I am hoping I can follow my own advice (minus the whole “don’t shoot for the moon” one – because I am certainly doing that with my Boston goal)!

And without further ado, here’s my food recap for Monday!

Breakfast yesterday was oatmeal with raisins and agave, and as always a side if light cranberry juice.

I really wanted veggies and didn’t have time to prepare anything this morning, so I grabbed my usual salad: romaine lettuce, cheddar cheese, carrots, walnuts, dried cranberries and chic peas.

For my first afternoon snack, I pulled out my Greek Oikos blueberry yogurt. It seemed like there was an unusual amount of air inside the container. When I opened it up, it looked like this – all bubbly.

I don’t know why I even bothered, but I tried it. It was horrendous! Yuck, yuck, yuck. If you ever get a yogurt looking like this, throw it out immediately! Bleck. I checked and the whole 4-pack is like this. I think I might write Stonyfield about it.

Fear not, I had snack reserves on hand – including two clementines and an apple.

After work I forced myself to go to the gym. Seriously – when is it going to get light out again? This was my workout:

4 miles in 34:14
75 crunches
50 twist crunches (25 on each side)
20 leg lowers

When I got home I threw together this dinner.

Close up

Here’s what it is:

2 free-range organic chicken breasts pounded thin (only 1 shown, but hubby ate the same), stuffed with spinach (frozen – thawed and pressed), cheddar cheese, roasted red pepper and onion. Rolled up and pinned with two wood toothpicks – salt, pepper and spices on top. Baked for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. And a side salad with romaine lettuce, cheese, carrots and then topped with Newman’s Light Balsamic vinaigrette (not shown).

It got the Hubby seal of approval. Nuff said.

And dessert was:

Lastly, some interesting health stuff in the news…

Resolution: Get a Deal on a Gym Membership

Omega-3s Help Stave Off Age-related Vision Loss

Stay tuned for my Reflections on 2009 post coming tomorrow! 🙂 Have a great Tuesday!

14 Comments

Posted in Holidays, Uncategorized

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Party, Pizza Dip and Peanut Butter Balls

Posted on December 28, 2009 | 14 comments

Good morning blog world. It’s Monday again and I’m heading back to work [groan]. I know that a ton of people took off from Christmas through New Years and I’m very jealous. I’m headed back to work and dreading it.

So I was a bad blogger and was MIA on Sunday. The party on Saturday night was a ton of fun and Sunday was mostly spent lounging around, doing laundry and packing for the trip back to NYC. The Hubby convinced me to relax instead of going for a run and testing out my Garmin – darn him! But it was nice to just hang for a bit.

So here’s a quick recap of Saturday. I pretty much took no photos on Sunday – so it will be considered a lost day. But here goes Saturday.

Breakfast was an English muffin with peanut butter and topped with a banana. Side of cranberry juice.

My mother and I got out during the day to run some errands and brave the shopping crowds. It was a quick trip, but on the way home I had a Gingerbread Latte craving. It was only my second of the season – they are so darn expensive.

I snacked on a few other things during the day, but this was the only thing I managed to capture: Greek yogurt with Kashi cereal.

We headed to the party around 7:00 p.m., so I didn’t really eat a “full dinner” beforehand. I had some cheese and crackers, leftover from our Christmas day appetizers. But the party had plenty of food! I also made my pizza dip to bring along.

The party was a blast – thanks go out to Jenny and Kevin for hosting. I love their house and they are such great hosts. Here are a few pics from the night.

A few apps on the pretty table.

All the girls gathering for a group photo. I thought the stairs would be a perfect spot, but turns out we had a lot of girls and things got a bit squished.

I still think it’s super cute, even though a little tight. There were also lots of yummy desserts. And you know I can’t say “no” to desserts.

My favorite were the peanut butter balls.

Sorry for the terrible pic! I mainly snacked on veggies, taco dip, and a few desserts. I had one scoop of my pizza dip and then went back for more and it was gone. I guess that is a good thing. I had two glasses of wine and one beer throughout the night as well.

Toward the end of the party some meatballs came out and I couldn’t resist them!

They were goood! Hubby and I had such a great time. Before we knew it, everyone had left and it was time to go. Here we are together at the very end of the night.

Wow – I need a haircut!

And now I will leave you with a photo of Mr. Murphy sporting a bow-tie that I bought him from Target after the sweater didn’t fit. Doesn’t he look regal?

Mr. Murph didn’t travel so well in the car on the way up (he got sick), so we had to give him half a Benadryl for the trip back. My mom got that tip from someone who works at Petsmart, but the Benadryl should only be 25 milligrams and then cut in half. Mr. Murphy seemed a bit groggy on the trip back, but we made it home with no sickness, so I consider it a success.

Does your pet(s) travel? Do they like it? Any traveling tips?

I’m planning to hit the gym today after work to burn off some of those holiday calories and get back into the swing of things. It’s time for me to start thinking about my 2010 goals. I’ve seen them posted all over the blogosphere, so I suppose I should give it a whirl.

What’s your biggest 2010 goal?

Have a great Monday everyone!

14 Comments

Posted in Dessert, Holidays, Recipes, Travel, Uncategorized

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Guess Who Got a Garmin?!!

Posted on December 26, 2009 | 6 comments

Happy Day After Christmas! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas yesterday. I completely logged off and just focused on spending time with my family.

We were up by about 8 a.m. yesterday and opening presents. We’ve tried to scale back Christmas, since the Hubby and I are older and we really don’t need or want lots of gifts. But I have to say that I did get a few cools things, including:

A GARMIN!! Woohoo. My mom had asked a while back what I wanted and I said that was really the only thing I could think of. The funny thing was that the hubby got me one as well! (Love you Hubby!) He didn’t know I had told my mom about wanting one and he read on my blog about my Garmin dreams and bought me one too! So I technically got two Garmins this Christmas!

Then my parents also got me a water bottle for work. I’ve been needing one desperately.

Kleen Kanteen is all stainless steel – so BPA-free (no inner liner that could potentially be problematic) and it’s dishwasher safe. Mine is 40 oz. – I’ll probably drink 2-3 of these a day. 🙂

After we opened our presents, my mom whipped up a quick breakfast of mini cheese, egg and spinach baby Quiche, with sides of bacon and English muffins.

My  plate:

After breakfast the Hubby and I headed to the 11:30 a.m. mass. We took a quick photo before we left.

The 11:30 a.m. mass is the way to go. It wasn’t crowded at all!

After mass, we headed back home and relaxed a bit before some more family came over for dinner. My mom made Murphy a nice little red sweater for Christmas, but I think she underestimated how big he is. It ended up being pretty tight and Murph didn’t like it.

See how he bulges at the bottom? Poor Mr. Murph.

Our family came over around 3:00 p.m. and we ate dinner around 4-4:30. It was delicious, this was my plate.

Two pieces of beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, green beans, cabbage salad (which is like coleslaw), and broccoli and cauliflower casserole. It was all yummy.

After dinner we played a few games: LCR and Screw Your Neighbor.

Has anyone else played these games?

They are a ton of fun. I lost badly at LCR, but won twice at Screw Your Neighbor. They are really easy for everyone to learn and quick to play.

I also snacked on some Christmas cookies and had some banana cream pie, but completely forgot to take any photos. I sipped on red wine throughout the night as well. It was so much fun and such a wonderful holiday.

This was a pretty short post, but I have to run some errands today with my mom, start laundry and get some stuff together for the party tonight. I really wanted to take my Garmin for a run, but it’s pretty gross here. Snow, sleet and freezing rain would make for a very dangerous run. Maybe tomorrow it will be cleared up a bit and I can go for a quick run before we head back to the city.

But, I’m soo excited to see a bunch of our friends tonight! One of my best friends (Lauren) will be there. I ran the marathon with her and my mom framed one of our “finish” photos for both of us. I’ll have to give her hers tonight.

How cute were we? We held hands as we crossed the finish and we were both pretty much about ready to cry.

So that was my Christmas upstate. I hope everyone else had a wonderful day yesterday!

6 Comments

Posted in Holidays, Travel, Uncategorized

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Ghost Town

Posted on December 24, 2009 | 10 comments

Happy Christmas Eve!! I can’t believe it’s already here. Furthermore, I can’t believe I’m working today. It seems that everyone either has the day off or took it off. We get out at 3:00 p.m. and since all we have planned for tonight is an 8 p.m. Christmas Eve mass in Upstate NY and then relaxing with my parents, I didn’t see the point in taking a whole day off and using up my time.

Hence, I’m at work and the place is a ghost town. As was the bus and the subway down here. It’s an eery kind of quiet.

Do you have fun Christmas Eve plans?

I know people whose friends throw Christmas Eve parties, but my group has never really done that – Christmas Eve and Day are pretty much family-time for us. I am looking forward to a party on the 26th though! 🙂

So here’s a quick recap of yesterday’s eats:

Breakfast was a multi-grain English muffin with half peanut butter and banana and half cranberry relish I made the other night. And the remainder of the banana on the side, with a glass of light cranberry juice.

Lunch was leftover quinoa! It tasted even better the next day, I think because it was marinating in soy sauce all night.

My afternoon snacks were blueberry Greek yogurt with granola.

And a few chocolates. The first chocolate I chose had a cherry filling that I just didn’t like. I’m not a big chocolate and fruit person – are you? So I had to go back in for a different one…and then I may have had one more (unphotographed).

I had a bit of headache toward the end of the day, so I didn’t end up hitting the gym after work. Instead, I came home, made dinner and we watched a movie and then I sort of packed.

Dinner was grilled cheese with apple and a glass of wine. I was jealous that so many other people were already on vacay and I wanted to feel like I was too – hence the wine.

Close up:

Can ya see the apple? It was a wonderful addition to this traditional sammy.

What do you like to add to your grilled cheese (if you eat it)? I’m also a fan of adding tomatoes, not with apple though.

After dinner, Hubby and I watched Revolutionary Road and had mixed reactions. I didn’t love it, but didn’t hate it either. I thought it was an interesting view of suburban married life and I thought Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio gave wonderful performances. It was a little dark at times, but that didn’t bother me. Hubby thought it was very slow and boring. We agreed to disagree on it. 🙂

Then I read my book for a bit and went to bed. This book, Ahab’s Wife, really has me hooked. Every few chapters I keep being utterly surprised by what happens in the main character’s (Una) life and how she copes with it. There have been a few moments that have caught me off guard with the amount of crudeness discussed or displayed, but the way it’s written allows me to digest it, accept it and move on. In this respect, the book reminds me a bit of John Irving’s style of writing where the absurd is never shocking and the shocking is never absurd.

I also think it’s got to be hard for writers to convey the “shock factor” in a novel. In movies, the visual aspect is key in getting this across, but in books, less is sometimes almost more, as it allows the reader’s mind to fill in the gaps.

Anyway – enough book rambling.  I’m really excited to head upstate tonight after work and see my family. The Murph is coming with us in the car – that’s always interesting. When he was a kitten he loved the car, but as he’s gotten older he seems to have developed car/motion sickness. So we have to keep him in his little carrier and not let him look out the window.

Happy Christmas Eve all!! Safe travels and maybe I’ll post tomorrow – maybe not. We shall see.

10 Comments

Posted in Books, Holidays, Travel, Uncategorized

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Potluck Lunch and Mile Reps

Posted on December 22, 2009 | 5 comments

Good morning! I don’t know about you, but I had a really tough time getting out of bed today. I was so warm and cozy. Not to mention, I went to bed pretty early last night and enjoyed a good night’s sleep. I never want to leave a really good night of sleep.

But the day goes on right. So I forced myself up and out of the house.

Let me do a quick recap of yesterday’s eats and activities.

Breakfast was lazy – Kashi Heart to Heart cereal with almond milk and light cranberry juice.

I had my usual unphotographed mid-morning snack of a granola bar and then waited ever so patiently for our department potluck lunch…which didn’t actually happen until 2:00! Eeks. Hence, when we finally got to the food, my plate ended up looking like this:

Lots of food: green beans, roasted potatoes, eggplant parm, pasta salad, rice and low mein. It was a lot, but I was ravenous. I managed to steer clear of most of the fried things, but I’m pretty sure the rice was fried. Oh well.

After the main meal, I put together this dessert plate filled with a sugar cookie (I made), a carrot cake cupcake (love carrot cake with cream cheese frosting), and a chocolate chip butterscotch cookie.

I feel it’s important to note that I only ate half of my sugar cookie.

I didn’t snack for the rest of the day after that enormous lunch (I might have had seconds of the pasta salad and eggplant parm – shhh). By the time the potluck lunch was over, it was 3:00 p.m. anyway!

Around 4:00 p.m. the tempting ideas of skipping the gym and potential excuses I could use started popping into my head. But, I brushed them away and forced myself to go.

How do you squash those excuses and avoidance techniques and force yourself to hit the gym?

I felt much, much better after going to the gym. My body thanked me for it. Here was my workout:

.5 miles at 6.3
1 mile at 7.5
.5 miles at 6.3
1 mile at 7.6
.5 mile at 6.3
.5 mile at 7.7
Total: 4 miles in 34.25 minutes

That was my version of mile reps! Oh I remember my cross-country days and how much I hated mile rep practices. I would dread them all week. That’s probably why most of the time our coach wouldn’t tell us what kind of practice we were doing until we got there. Now I’m willingly doing them – ha!

Have you ever tried running mile repetitions? It’s great for your speed. (But much better when run outside)

After my quick run I did some ab stuff as well:

75 crunches
30 alternating leg crunches

I was kind of an ab slacker. Oh well.

I got home from the gym and wanted an easy and quick dinner. I remembered I had a pilaf package in the cabinet that I wanted to try.

I also threw in some sautéed green peppers and onions, and  some grape tomatoes. Clearing out the fridge.

I added some chicken to Bill’s version of the dinner (no photo). I wasn’t in the mood for meat – especially chicken. The pilaf had a bit of a kick. I enjoyed the addition of soybeans to the mix though. I’d buy it again. Bill ate it, but I’m not sure how he felt about the soybeans. 🙂

After dinner, I finished up the remaining half of my grapefruit with a packet of Truvia sprinkled on top.

It was yummy, but my weekend sugar kick left me wanting more sweets. Second dessert was a teaspoon of peanut butter with some semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Finally my sweets-craving was satiated.

Some interesting health headlines:

REGIMENS: Click Off the TV, and Burn More Calories

Hangover impairs judgment in young adults – funny because of my recent terrible hangover. Good thing I wasn’t making big decisions that day or operating dangerous equipment.

Fake sugar may alter how the body handles real sugar – this one doesn’t say much other than further studies need to be conducted to determine more conclusive results. I’ve started using Truvia and Stevia, so I’ll be keeping my eye on this one.  What kind of sweeteners do you use?

Have a great Tuesday everyone – we’re inching closer to a nice holiday break – hang in there!

5 Comments

Posted in Holidays, Running, Uncategorized

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Callahan Christmas Weekend Recap

Posted on December 21, 2009 | 6 comments

Happy Monday everyone – happy short week! I’m super excited to have some time off coming up. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I hope all the fellow NYC bloggers/readers managed okay in the almost foot of snow. How crazy. We came back last night around 6:15 and things were looking pretty decent. We managed to find a parking spot right out front and we climbed our way across the huge mounds of snow.

How did you like the snow this weekend?

Coming from upstate New York, snow has never really bothered me all that much. Upstate I used to have to drive in it, but down here I don’t have to worry about that. So I throw on my tall boots and stomp out in the slush without a problem.

So this weekend up in Utica was a ton of fun! We drove up on Friday night after work and I was exhausted and still recovering from my Thursday night debauchery, so I slept for a lot of the ride. We got to Bill’s parent’s house pretty late and I went right to bed.

Saturday morning I got up and had breakfast with Bill’s mom – a bowl of raisin bran, which was camera shy. Much of my food this weekend was shy and I was lazy. Then I set to wrapping the nieces and nephews’ Christmas presents. The party started around 3:00 and this was the food spread:

Lots of yumminess. I had some pasta, meatballs, shrimp, crackers and cheese, and fruit salad. It was a perfect mixture of all good things.

But dessert was my very favorite:

Bill’s sister Christine made a Hazelnut Chocolate Cake and a Cranberry Cobbler Cake (I made up the names – that’s what I called them). I loved them both. The hazelnut was my favorite at Thanksgiving, but I think the cranberry won my heart this time around. Bill’s mom and I devoured it. YUM! Plus, when there’s fruit, I don’t feel too bad.

What is one of your favorite holiday desserts?

There were tons of nieces and nephews at the party – do you know that I’m a Great Aunt!?! Isn’t that funny? Bill’s sister’s first son has a little girl that’s about 2 1/2 and a 1-month old. I went from having no nieces and nephews (I’m an only child) to have about a zillion when I married Bill. It’s great! Here are a bunch of the kids attacking Bill’s brother-in-law Kevin.

And Bill had fun playing with his best friend Dino and his wife Jen’s son Nathan. How cute is he?

Later on Saturday night we watched “The Hangover” and I laughed until I almost cried. Thank goodness my hangover was nothing like that.

The Hubby and I started heading back to NYC on Sunday afternoon around 2:30. I had a bunch of stuff that I needed to do that evening in preparation for our department’s holiday lunch today.

After we managed to find parking and lug everything over the giant snowbanks and upstairs I had some dinner. Leftovers from the party – pasta with meatballs.

I then set to work frosting some sugar cookies I had previously made for today’s lunch.  

I also wrapped my secret santa gift (lotions from Sephora) and put together little gifts for my immediate co-workers (homemade fudge, homemade cookies, a candy cane and scratch-off ticket).

By the time I was done with all that, it was time for bed! I read for a little before I fell asleep. I’m about 200 pages into Ahab’s Wife and I’m really enjoying it so far. Just when I think I know what’s going to happen, something completely different happens. It’s keeping me on my toes.

Ok – that’s all for today. I have our work holiday lunch today, so I will definitely be taking photos there and trying to stay as healthy as possible (which may be difficult). And I’m going to try to hit the gym after work today, but I’m feeling pretty exhausted. The holidays are tiring!

6 Comments

Posted in Dessert, Holidays, Travel, Uncategorized

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Quick Post from Utica

Posted on December 19, 2009 | 2 comments

Hi all,

I’m writing from Whitesboro, N.Y., just outside of Utica. We’re here this weekend for the annual Callahan Christmas Party! I’m feeling much better today, thank you for all the advice and sympathy. It really took me all day yesterday to get back to normal. We drove up to Utica last night after work and left around 7 p.m. It’s a four-hour drive and I probably slept three of the four hours. Ugh – I hate hangovers.

I’ll probably be MIA from now until Sunday evening. I’ll try to write a decent recap either Sunday night or Monday morning. I’m expecting to have a ton of yummy desserts and goodies to choose from this weekend, so I’m going to try to practice some self-control, but it will be hard.

Oh and I’m also excited to watch “The Hangover” tonight after all the kiddies go to bed. Bill bought it the day it came out and it seems only appropriate given my condition yesterday to have a viewing. I loved it in the theaters.

So have a wonderful weekend everyone! To my fellow bloggers in NYC – I hear the city is expected to get 6-8 inches of snow! Yowza! I hope it’s all cleared up by the time we head back! 🙂

2 Comments

Posted in Holidays, Travel, Uncategorized

So Hungover it Hurts

Posted on December 18, 2009 | 7 comments

Happy Friday! That was such a fake exclamation point by the way. I want to feel that happy, but I am so hungover I can’t think. I made it to work – okay maybe I was a half hour late and maybe I do sort of look inhuman, but hey, I’m here in body, if not totally in mind.

So this post is going to be really quick and to the point. Starting with yesterday’s eats:

Breakfast was Kashi Heart to Heart and light cranberry juice.

Lunch was not well thought-out, I’ve been too frazzled this week. I grabbed a salad.

Later on I had a Larabar for a snack and was not too impressed with this flavor.

Ginger Snap goes on my “do not buy again” list. Bleck.

So here’s where the trouble begins. Yesterday was really busy and so I didn’t snack very much. That’s literally all I had to eat. And then we went to our company holiday party. However, before we went to the party we stopped and had a drink.

Ok – one drink no problem. Then we headed to the party and had some food (thank goodness).

That’s my co-worker Tiffany and I.

This work holiday party was crazy. Just look at the dance floor – doesn’t it remind you of a high school dance?

I probably should have had more food, but I really didn’t think I’d be out drinking much or late. I did have some yummy desserts though.

After the holiday party a few people went out for more drinks and I went with them. Not smart. I’m a lightweight as is and it was just way too much for me.

I think I got home a little after midnight and getting up this morning was horrendous. I have an important project I need to work on and I feel really terrible. Dear God, please make this day go by fast and help me feel better soon.

Note to self: Never drinking during the week again.

7 Comments

Posted in Dessert, Holidays, Uncategorized

It’s Beginning to Look a Bit Like Christmas

Posted on December 9, 2009 | 4 comments

Hello Wednesday. I must say, after last week’s all-over-the-place schedule, this week’s “normal” routine is feeling sluggish. I’m ready for Friday already. Although I did just get a ton of work, which is sure to make the rest of the week fly by – I hope!

BTW – check out my latest Examiner article, inspired by my great run at the gym yesterday morning:

Taking it to the treadmill and thriving

So who watched The Biggest Loser finale last night?! I did, I did! It was amazing. Everyone looked soo different. I have to say that Danny, Rudy, Tracey and Rebecca all blew me out of the water. I’m almost inclined to say that Tracey and Rebecca might have gone a bit too far. I hope they reached that weight in a completely healthy and appropriate way.

Spoiler Alert: Stop reading if you don’t want to know who won.

I am THRILLED that Danny won! I was almost certain that Rudy was going to take the crown, but I’m really glad Danny walked away with it. For some reason, Rudy bothered me. He was always preaching the “anyone can do this, I want to inspire others” rhetoric. What I really wanted to hear was: “I am doing this for me, for my health and for what I’m going to gain from this experience.” It’s great to be a role model, but come on, we know why you’re there.

What was your reaction to the finale?

So onto yesterday’s food.

Breakfast after yesterday’s run at the gym was sort of pathetic: a banana and coffee. As well as a bottle of water (not shown).

It was the best I could do in my scramble to get out the door in the morning. Miraculously, it held me over until my 11:00 a.m. granola bar snack.

Lunch was a bit later than normal and consisted of a salad with romaine lettuce, cheddar cheese, carrots, chic peas, walnuts and dried cranberries. Yum!!

My snack later in the afternoon was Greek yogurt (honey flavored) with granola and an apple.

As the day came to a close, I began to look forward to dinner and the chance to prove myself after yesterday’s crock pot disaster. I chose to make this simple recipe, adapted from one I found on allrecipes.com

Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

  • 1/2 (16 ounce) package uncooked penne pasta
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 clove of chopped garlic
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • 1/8 cup of frozen spinach
  • 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
  • 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 chopped roasted red pepper

 Directions

  1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place penne pasta in the pot, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain.
  2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook the garlic until lightly browned. Mix in lemon juice, stir in the pine nuts and sun-dried tomatoes. Defrost spinach, drain, add and cook for 1 minute. Toss in the cooked pasta and feta cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

It was really good and light. The hubby seemed to like it as well.

My mini dessert:

And then after dinner – we decorated!! I feel bad, the Hubby had to do some digging in the basement to get out our big holiday container and he was none too pleased. But I think it was well worth it (although he may not). Here is our mini tree! Our apt is too small for a full-sized tree. I managed it our first year in the city, but quickly gave up the large tree idea the following year.

And here is our fireplace with our stockings! And Murphy’s!

And here is Murphy biting the tree. I’m sure I’ll find stuff on the floor when I get home this evening.

I was very satisfied with my minor decorations once everything was complete. I need to have a little something up. I then sat back and watched the end of the Biggest Loser while sipping on this tea.

And with that, my night was complete. I failed to mention that I was doing laundry will cooking and eating as well. So a night filled with laundry, delicious dinner, decorating and Danny winning The Biggest Loser. Awesome!

Until tomorrow – Happy Hump Day!

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Posted in Holidays, Recipes, Uncategorized

I Sound Like the Grinch

Posted on December 7, 2009 | 4 comments

Happy Monday? Yes, it’s a question. I’m having a rough day. I slept terribly last night (probably because my body’s schedule is all mixed up) and am dragging at work.

But, I think tonight the hubby and I are going to decorate the apartment for Christmas. Usually, I’m soo on top of this – I start decorating as soon as Thanksgiving ends. With my recent crazy schedule, our holiday decorating has been pushed to the wayside.

And in the spirit of the season, my company department is hosting a potluck holiday gathering later in the month. That’s all fine and good, but they are also asking requiring that everyone who attends participates in a secret santa! What?! Mandatory Secret Santa?!!

Not only that, but it’s not just the get a generic gift and throw it in a bag and we all pick deal, we actually get assigned a person. I’ve only been with the company for about 6 months and am nowhere close to knowing everyone in my department. I know that sounds weird, but it’s a large organization and we have multiple locations. So I’m kind of freaked out about having to buy a gift for a specific person. Worse yet, what if I get a guy?! Girls can be fairly simple: a nice candle, some lotion, a pretty decoration. But I have a hard enough time buying gifts for my husband and father, there’s no need to throw in a complete male stranger too! I hope I draw a girl.

Does your office do Secret Santa? What is the best Secret Santa gift you’ve received or given? Help I need some ideas!

So that’s my dilemma of the day. I know, I sound like the Grinch, but I like getting gifts for people who mean something to me and are a part of my life and getting a gift for someone I don’t know just feels fake and forced. Furthermore, I really don’t want a gift from someone I don’t know. Awkward.

Enough grinch-talk for today. Now on to yesterday’s eats!

I started breakfast out right. Katie and Kate stayed at my apartment and Kate’s husband Eli headed up our way for breakfast on Sunday morning. I took them to the Yorkville Creperie, right around the corner. This place is pretty new and I hope it sticks around. I made my own crepe and it included: banana, strawberry, nutella and granola!

Lunch in the afternoon was light because of my deliciously filling crepe. I just had an apple with peanut butter and some tea.

I spent my Sunday doing laundry and cleaning the apartment. I really wanted to meet my friend at the Craftacular event downtown, but I was just spent after my L.A. trip and night out with friends. Instead, I listened to the Holiday Sounds station on the t.v. while I did my housework. It put me in the holiday mood and I decided we need to get our decorations up asap. Tonight for sure!

EDIT: I have to edit this post because of the comment my friend Jess made about the t.v. in my photo, pointing out that the “fun fact” on top says that Barbie’s measurements in real life would be: 39 – 18 – 33. So funny that I snapped a pic of the t.v. with that on there. I agree with Jess – little girls should not be aspiring to be Barbie’s size. In real life, according to research by the University Central Hospital in Helsinki, Finland, Barbie “would lack the 17 to 22 percent body fat required for a woman to menstruate.” Many claim Barbie wouldn’t even be able to stand up in real life.

Here are some Barbie-related news stories and sites that I found after thinking about and researching Barbie a bit:

Ruth Handler, Whose Barbie Gave Dolls Curves, Dies at 85 
What Would a Real Life Barbie Look Like?
Editorial Observer; The Evolution of Women’s Roles, Chronicled in the Life of a Doll
Barbie – Wikipedia
Schoolgirl becomes unlikely feminist icon in Russia

Researching some of the Barbie details and arguments was interesting – I may have to look into it a little further later!

If you have a little girl, does she play with Barbie? I did.

For dinner, I was lazy tired yet again, and made some Campbell’s Homestyle soup and had two pickles.

My little dessert afterwards hit the spot:

I tried to go to bed early, but it was not happening. Before I went to bed, I threw some food into the crock pot which I finally brought up from the basement. It should be cooking all day today, so hopefully I’ll have a nice meal all ready later tonight.

What’s your favorite crock pot dish?

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Posted in Holidays, Restaurants, Uncategorized