Saturday, July 30, 2011

Smoothie Queen

This morning I woke up still sore from the 30 Day Shred DVD I did on Thursday, but kept the flow going and did Jillian Michaels Shred It With Weights DVD.


I'm trying to get into the habit of doing strength training more regularly. I love feeling my muscles respond and getting stronger! I really like most of this DVD. There is one move where you swing the kettle bell from between your legs to up over your head, but when I do this move my shoulders hurt. They hurt in a "might come out of the socket" sort of way. (I realize they most likely will not, but who wants to tempt it?!?) Plus when you get to the top of the swing you are supposed to flip the kettle bell over so that it's leaning on the back of your hand, and I also feel like this could cause wrist injuries.

Other than that move I really like this work out. I've yet to try level 2. One day!

I was starving after this workout and decided to make yet another summer smoothie. I wasn't in the mood for the usual chocolate one. I'm actually not a huge fan of chocolate. I much prefer vanilla but currently don't have any vanilla protein powder.

While I browsed the fridge & freezer, I decided to make something tropically.
 I LOVE frozen 'naners and always have a few on hand. I know some people who are smarter than me peel the banana and THEN freeze it, but I keep forgetting to do this. I find it simple enough to open though. I simply cut the banana in half, and then make vertical slits into the skin. It pops right off!


Do you like my blue, white & yellow theme? I felt brilliant when I added the pineapple Chobani instead of a plain one. It's the little things!!



ZOMG this smoothie was awesome! All it needed was some rum and it'd be perfect! ;)

I enjoyed this with another iced coffee that I made all by myself.


Did you notice the tiny spoon?

Tiny spoon!

How cute is it?! I also bought it in red. I love that this one matches my smoothie bowl!
Last night I dragged Pete to Crate & Barrel and nearly bought everything in the tabletop section. I should really design my own dishes, mugs and kitchen utensils! Pete always laughs at me because he thinks I love anything that is smaller than average. I immediately protested until I realized he's so right.  Anytime we're in a store and I see a small plate, mini sized colander or tiny spoons I get super excited. I don't normally buy the pieces, but I couldn't resist the cute spoons!*

*I did not wind up eating the smoothie bowl with this spoon as it would've taken 2 hours*

I plan on using the spoons for things like ice cream & pudding.

Lastly, I want to send out a Happy Happy Birthday wish to Ms. Emily!


You are the best and I love you to bits and can't wait to celebrate tonight 80s style!! :D xoxo<3

Friday, July 29, 2011

Thai Lunch Catch Up

Yesterday I went to lunch with my friend Emily! We met during an internship back in college and have been friends ever since. We even lived together for three years!

Since our pics at lunch were a bit dreadful, here are some nice photos of us for you to look at.


Dress me, woman!


We're getting together this weekend for her birthday times but haven't seen each other one on one in a while, so we decided to hit up one of our favorite thai places, Spice.


We keep meaning to go to other places, but we really love the lunch special where you get an appetizer and choice of meal.

For my appetizer, I got "Duck Wrapped". It was so good! It was lil duck pieces, carrot, celery, peanut, sweet radish, soy hoisin sauce. I ate it like a lettuce wrap, which made it refreshing!


And for my meal I got Wok HOLY Basil (which I like to say like some crazy preacher man.) This dish is always a winner!


I ate every last bit! Have been craving Thai for a while and this was worth the wait!

As we were leaving the restaurant, I dropped my shitty $7 sunglasses. The lense on the one side always pops out and I pop it back in, declaring that I will soon buy new sunglasses, but never do. Today both lenses fell out. How trendy do I look?
Sexay!
I guess it's really time for some new sunglasses! I'm off to the mall!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Broadway in the Park

Hiya! I always love Thursdays. I'm not sure why. I think it has something to do with back in the day when Friends was on. "Must See TV"! haha. I was born on a Thursday. Lots of happy hours occur on Thursdays. It's the day before the day before the weekend - I don't know, but I'm into it.


One of my favorite things about Thursdays during the summer is the free Broadway series in Bryant Park. Each week a number of open Broadway & off Broadway shows perform a few songs for free during lunch hour.


No one came.

I stopped by on my lunch break a few weeks ago and saw a few songs performed from Million Dollar Quartet, about one random, snowy night where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins & Jerry Lee Lewis all stopped by the studio and created this gem of a record. (Yea, I just said gem.)

Jem?
 I got to see this show while it was on Broadway and really enjoyed it! I didn't quite know what to expect since I didn't know the back story, but was pleasantly surprised. They played a ton of hits that I was familiar with, but what was most intriguing about this show was the actors. They all played their own instruments and played them well. They really brought the characters to life. I've seen a ton of Broadway shows and this is one that blew me away! What
was even better was the fact that if you bought seats in the last 2 rows, tickets were only $40 each! It was nice to see a few songs from the show again for free in the park.

It was a gorgeous day out and is one of those random events that make NY special.

I love the backdrop of the Empire State Building peaking through the trees. I love summer!

When I got home I worked it out! I did Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. I did Level 1 because I like a lot of the strength moves. I used my 5lb weights as opposed to my usual 3lb weights weakling and now my arms are shaking! Like, an hour after I've finished! Woot!

I rewarded myself with this delicioso iced coffee.

I'm so proud of making this! It's my first iced coffee with the Keurig! Lol. It's the little things people! :) With each sip I couldn't help thinking about the $4.50 I saved from Starbucks.

I also snacked on some of these.

Another proud moment - I actually counted out a serving size!! There are 27 here. (Actually I had 28... for my age. Does this count as OCD?)

Now I'm sitting, catching up on One Life To Live and playing with this nut.

BALL!!

She will be glad to see him go - 3 more days!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Clearing the Fog

My brain feels foggy. I'm not sure where exactly my motivation has gone the last few days and need to explore why I feel this way.  Tuesdays are my "Mondays" if you will as far as eating and even though I've felt lazy and sleepy the last few days, I'm proud to report I was able to lose 2.2lbs this week!! That means I only have 16.8 lbs to go in my 29 x 29 goal! I have 7.5 weeks to get there and this week's accomplishment does help motivate me a bit. I need to focus on the longterm goals of becomming healthy & fit!



This weekend was an uber lazy one. We finally had time to watch Harry Potter 7, Part 1 (bad fan!). It was sorta underwhelming actually, but I think Part 2 will be where all the action is!

We had a quick easy meal of fish tacos. Really, it was just fish sticks from Target in a tortilla with shredded cheese, lettuce and a homemade salsa mixed with a little mayo. These were so easy to make and SO yummy!




I haven't had a fish stick since 1993, so the aroma in the apartment transported me straight back to a time that included roller skating, Tetris & Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Watching HP7P1 on Saturday put me in the mood for some of the older movies and luckily there was a marathon on all day Sunday. I really like this picture because Peach was shoving her face in my cup and as I was trying to catch it with my camera, I really was only able to get Peach & Ron Weasley.


You're a witch Peach.
 Last night Pete made this yummy brown rice mixture meal. It was a lot of chopping but so worth it. I wanted to start sharing some of the recipies for things on here so it is posted below.


Brown Rice & Corn Salad (Mexican Style)

Ingredients
For rice:
1 1/2 cups brown rice
2 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp butter
1 t salt

For Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tbsp Frank's red hot sauce

3 cups sweet corn kernels
1 cup of radishes, diced
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup scallions, finely chopped
1 cup kidney beans (from can, rinsed)
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup zucchini, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1 avocado, sliced

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Place the rice into a baking dish (8" x 8").
Bring the water to a boil and combine with the oil & salt. Pour over the rice and cover baking idsh with aluminum foil. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour or until rice has absorbed all the water. Fluff with a fork and let cool. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, oil, hot sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix the corn, radishes, tomatoes, scallions, kidney beans, and half of the cilantro. Mix well. Add the vinaigrette and toss. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add the cooled rice and toss again until all ingredients are well coated with the vinaigrette.
Finish the rice by adding the rest of the cilantro & sliced avocado. Serve cool or room temperature.

The rice does take a bit to cook, but I'm sure you have loads of other things you could do for an hour. (Like chop all the veggies, pay a bill, read Unchartered 20s)

Being a new week led me to a healthy breakfast.


Above: Arnold's Sandwich thin, chunky peanut butter, 1 plum. mmm

So now I'm gonna head to the gym and try to break this mental fog!

*um, weird blogging thing - i cannot delete this last sentence- WTF??*
Did you enjoy my mental pep talk to myself? 

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Drink My Rum

Having people over is the best excuse to keep your apartment tidy, isn't it?? ;)

Friday night I invited my friends Patrick & Mike over for some at home drink times. I was actually calling it a "Help Me Clean Out My Liquor Cabinet" party lol.
 
Can you spot the giant slug?



I bought a bunch of fresh veggies, hummus, sea salt Bagel Chips, Jalepeno Cheddar Sun Chips (new! And tasty!) and Chocolate Chex Mix.

 We had a blast just hanging out, playing with the dog and chatting. Pete made a brief appearance as well!




Peach attended the party, and then Duke would attend the party. The two would switch off haha. 

But look at the PROGRESS we're making!!

I mean, Peach is still hissing at the dog, but still! Much better than before!

For breakfast, I had a bit of a struggle with myself...you see..there is ice cream in the freezer.  Ice cream does not live long in this house! But I resisted and made myself a smoothie instead! Yay more progress! LOL

In this cup:
  • 1 frozen 'naner
  • 1 cup strawberries
  • 1 Chobani plain Green yogurt
  • big ass handful of spinach
  • 3/4 cup of chocolate almond milk
  • 3 ice cubes
This was good - it was actually very strawberry banana flavored (I know, I know, that's what's IN it...) which I'm not a big fan of. I guess the protein powder I normally add makes a huge difference flavor-wise. It's fine though- a much much better choice than ice cream!

Later I took the pup for a walk. It's hot out- but not as bad as earlier in the week. A few times Duke and I would be walking, and then he'd find some grass and sit down. What does this mean? I wasn't sure if he was hot, tired or something else.

Along the way we found some pigeons to chase. Can you see them in this pic?

I love the action shot! Our walk was only about 20 minutes though as NY is still in an awful heat wave. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Friday, July 22, 2011

Summer Vacays

I didn't take any pictures of my meals today/yesterday. I don't really want to create a full food blog and document every single thing I eat, plus I eat a lot of the same stuff each day. For example, this recycled picture works for this mornings awesome chocolatey smoothie.


It was even more delicious than the previous one. I love summer smoothies!  

I will still be blogging a ton of my food though I guess as one of my goals before I hit 30 (and earlier i hope!) is to become healthy & live a healthy & fit lifestyle. Thanks for bearing with me as I blog a bit randomly! Let's see where it takes us. :)

Today is even hotter than yesterday in NYC! When I left my house this morning, the heat felt oppressive and made it hard to breathe. I was SO glad hubby offered to drive me to the train station which is a 10 minute walk away.


Can you see the "feels like"?? 111. 111!!

The heat and summer make me want to go on vacation. Last month, me & Pete went to Washington D.C. It was a great trip! I hadn't been in over a decade and Pete had never been.

We checked out all the major attractions that we could since we were only there for three days.

I am actually wearing this exact outfit today!! LOL






We saw:



    The Bunker chairs!! Love this show.
  • Arlington Cemetery (feel weird linking to a cemetery! It was extremely humbling & fascinating though. I recommend taking the 3 stop tour for around $12 per person. The trolley takes you to the Kennedy grave site, the changing of the guard area/Tomb of the Unknown Soldier & the Curtis-Lee Mansion which I found very interesting. The entire cemetery it too large to just wander around yourself.


  • Georgetown
  • The White House
  •  The Capitol Building



Werk!!
I forget who this statue is but he is gonna POSE until his policy  gets voted on!!

Overall our trip was great. It was a ton of walking (and slllloooooowwww museum walking which sorta kills me) but otherwise it was nice to explore a new city. We stayed in the Dupont Circle area and fell in love with it. The subways were super easy to use & we ate at some great places along the way.

I am currently researching January vacations to Miami!! Anyone have any suggestions as to where to stay? (We're thinking Miami Beach area)

Stay cool everyone!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Holy Peach!

It is HOT out there New York!! Ick!

Last night's dinner was a hodge podge of leftovers. Pete had those yummy meatballs from earlier this week, and I enjoyed a black bean veggie burger on an Arnold's sandwich thin (LOVE these!) along with a potato/bean thing Pete made.


The potato salad thing had red potatoes, cannellini beans, cherry tomatoes, red onions, zucchini & corn and was dressed in some sort of honey mustard sauce. It was yummy!! I can't get my head around this being a meal alone though, as Pete intended it to be. I mean, it does have a protein & veggies but there's something about it! I enjoyed it very much as a side dish.


Peach also ate dinner at this time and then took a little bath in the kitchen.


 After dinner I talked Pete into going on a froyo run! (It wasn't hard.)


I enjoyed black cherry with coconut (SO GOOD!) with sprinkles, strawberries & yogurt chips and Pete had just coconut with raspberries.

It was super refreshing for a hot summer night! Pete wondered aloud if any blog readers would mistake his hands for mine. ... um, for the record, I do not have giant man hands.

We brought home our yogurt and made an attempt at watching a movie. We've been trying to watch Harry Potter 7 Part 1 for weeks! We never got around to seeing it in the theater. We tried ordering if from our shitty cable on Monday but the movie didn't play.  Then I was FINALLY able to rent it from Redbox on Tuesday, but we haven't had time to watch it still! Last night we watched about 30 minutes of it until I was too tired to keep my eyes open. Sheesh! We won't have time to watch it until Saturday lol! I read all the books in college and have seen every movie in the theater so far. This lack of movie 7 is making me feel like a bad HP fan!

Lastly, I caught Ms. Peach relaxing in her morning spot in the kitchen today. I love this divine looking pic!

St. Peachus of Brooklyn