Friday, September 30, 2011

Babble babble

Hey y'all! Are you ready for the weekend? I feel like this week flew by. I found it sort of unremarkable, and didn't have much to blog about. Did you miss me? ;)

I spent my week doing yoga twice and eating pretty well. I caught up with an old friend on Tuesday and caught up with the season finale of Drop Dead Diva  yesterday. (Seriously, this is an awesome show!! I'm so exicted it'll be back for a fourth season!)

Have you tried Extra's flavored gum?

I've tried Mint Chocolate Chip which is ok and Strawberry Short Cake which is awesome!! (Unless you leave it in your hot car for a few days during the high temperatures of August. Then, it is not so good.)

Orange creamsicle is soooo goood. It makes me want an Orange Julius and a Good Humor creamsicle at the same time. AT THE SAME TIME.

In other news, at some point last week I got trapped in the Oprah website. Man, that sight is like crack.  I started with The Top 20 Things Oprah Knows for Sure ... and at the end of the article, or on the side, or in a pop up, is always another article that I  just KNOW will change my life and I simply must read it. Here are my faves:
  1. What Oprah Knows For Sure - surprisingly does NOT mention anything about The Color Purple 
  2. How To Spark A Breakthrough - like the Kool Aid guy.  Oh Yeaaa!
  3. Where my passion at? - ok, that's not the title.. thats my ghetto title.
  4. Then I Got Lost In The Book Section - even though I don't care what books made a difference to Maria Bello... and if I have to see her stupid new show's commercial at the movies one more time.....stop drinking milk in a murder scene!
  5. How To Stop Babbling on a Blog - jk.
Anyway, I hope you all have a great weekend!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Newsies!

Last week I used my Living Social deal to Whole Foods and snagged a bunch of stuff! My voucher was get $20 for $10, plus I had $4 in coupons! I spent $19.92 :D Its the little things people, the little things.

I scored some delicious granola, Oikos yogurt with caramel (OMG GOOD), Van's waffles and almond butter packets.
banana is the best!!


I'm really glad I decided to try the almond butter packets before committing to an entire jar. I learned that I don't really like almond butter! It's too grainy for me.  And almondy. .. I know.

Saturday morning I tried the Van's 97% fat free waffles and were surprised how good they were! I topped them with a 'naner, cinnamon, blueberries and syrup.



NEWSIES

Saturday night, Emily and I saw Newsies at the Papermill Playhouse in New Jersey. We were surprised how cute the town & theater was!
Probably a sewage system...but a pretty one!




We had excellent seats and as soon as the overture started, the 10 year old in me squealed with delight!!  I realize not everyone has seen this 90s Disney movie, but it really was a cult classic. It had great songs and dancing.

Well, let me tell you. The stage version is amazing!! The story is better and moves along well. All your favorite songs from the movie are part of the show including, 'Seize the Day', 'Carrying the Banner', & 'Santa Fe'.

There were a ton of great dance numbers and Jeremy Jordan who plays the lead Jack Kelly was charismatic and had a powerful voice. I'm hoping this show winds up on Broadway next  year. I think it's ready to go and translates well from the movie. If you're in the tri state area, I would recommend you see this before it closes October 15th!


Sunday Pete & I made a routine trip to Target. Do you like my outfit? ;)

Happy Monday everyone!

Friday, September 23, 2011

This & That

In keeping up with the autumn theme, I've proudly displayed my new purply mums on the kitchen table along with some fresh from the tree apples... and store bought 'naners. MmM.

Aren't they pretty!? I heart them.




This morning's breakfast was awesome! I finally remembered to place the ingredients all pretty for you too look at :)


In the mix:
  • 1 black berry Chobani
  • blueberries
  • strawberries
  • 2 handfuls of granola
  • 1 teaspoon chia seeds
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

In other news, today is the last day All My Children is on the air. I haven't watched it in years, but have watched on and off in college and my entire life, really. Some of my earliest memories are of sitting in the living room while my mom was doing her ironing with All My Children on in the background. Actually, that, One Life to Live & General Hospital were all on in the background.

My personal favorite is One Life To Live which I watched a bit of growing up but have now been watching consistently for a solid three years. I love the show! I am saddened that it will be going off the air in January, and can relate to all those All My Children fans and what they are feeling today. Thank you for 40 great years of television and may your cast & crew be able to find jobs quickly.

*End rant* :)

Thursday, September 22, 2011

A is for Apple, Autumn & Anniversary

This year my birthday fell on a Friday and my first wedding anniversary fell on a Monday. As soon as I glanced at my calendar some time in July, I knew I'd be taking a four day weekend. SWEET!

Pete also had Monday off and planned our day. We He decided we should go apple picking up in New Paltz! New Paltz is 2 hours north of  NYC. Neither of us had ever been there and were looking forward to some autumn activities.




It was a gorgeous day out (a bit chillier than the year before) and all day long I pointed out things we were doing at that specific time in 2010. "Oh... now I was getting my hair done!" "Now we had our reveal!"  "Now we said I Do!"

We went to a place called Wrights Farm where they had 500 acres of apples. (That's a lot of apples.) We drove up the lane and around to the parking area by the trees and saw only 4 other cars. We brought a picnic lunch and by the time we finished eating, the other 3 cars had finished......

WE WERE ALONE!

As a New Yorker who deals with billions of people a day on the subway and in Times Square by my office and treasures her personal space, it was surreal to be the only ones apple picking. It was like our own little apple sanctuary!

Sidenote: Right as we got out of the car, we looked up and saw people sky diving!
You can't really tell by this photo but you could see it in person!

The little dots on the top
 Last year we went apple picking on the absolute last day and there was NOTHING left. We made sure to not make the same mistake again! This time every single tree was bursting with fruit. It was impossible to choose which lil apple guys we'd take home. Times 70. I think we have 70 apples at home.

Like my apple pickin' shirt?

When you enter the farm, each person gets a "peck" bag each. You can get a larger size if you want, but 2 pecks was more than enough for us. We filled our bags to the top! All the while Pete rambled off things he would be baking with the apples - bread, muffins, pies, bakes with strusel & other things. And I rambled off all the ways I would eat my apples - on sandwich thins, ... whole. LOL I ran out of ideas. Good thing Pete is around :)


Apples!

 Seriously, you have no idea how happy the above picture made me. Look at all the choices!! :D 

It's always great to get out of the city and get some fresh air! I often forget that it gets rural and natury quite quickly.


Afterwards we wandered around the market they have there and bought some pumpkins, a spaghetti squash, mums and apple cider donuts. I had to control myself from not leaving there with 80 pounds of pumpkins and squash, 15 mum plants and all of the jarred jams.


Later that night we took the top tier of our wedding cake out of the freezer and had a slice. (Well, actually we defrosted it the day before.) Isn't it pretty?


See where our wedding topper was?


Um, it sorta tasted how it looked LOL! We each had our traditional bite and got rid of it. I am now greatful for the freezer space. ;)

And just so you know, we plan to go to a different apple picking place in October with my sister and nephew! Hopefully we'll need more apples by then. It'll be fun to go with a kid :D

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Getting Back Into It

Hey everybody! I apologize for the long break. It was my birthday & anniversary week! There was a ton of celebrating, meals out with friends & family and drinks :) I feel like I have a lot to cover!

29x29

So back in July I wrote a post about a goal I set for myself - to lose 29lbs by the time I turned 29 (last Friday). Well folks... the verdict is in and I am down 13 pounds. It's not 29 but it is about half way there. I am refocusing and getting back into healthy eating & exercising. You only get one body and one life and I need to take care of me!

I literally woke up on Friday in pain LOL. I mean, my lower back has been aching, I had that weird pain in my side from Thursday, & I've felt out of shape this week after not really doing much to keep fit. I really FELT 29! GOD I'm getting old!! But I know I can turn it around and am ready.

I started yesterday by enjoying a Thomas' Bagel Thin with peanut butter, apple, Craisins and a sprinkling of cinnamon. It was wonderfully fally :)


Pete & I recently joined BJ's Wholesale Club and I could not resist a 4 pound bag of Craisins. I love to put them into salads and thought, "We'll fly through these!" and then laughed out loud in my kitchen since I wound up using like 15 craisins (AND FORGOT TO PUT THEM IN MY LUNCH SALAD FOR TODAY) #fail. hahaha. At least I'm entertaining myself :)


First Anniversary

Pete and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary on Monday, September 19th. I cant believe it's been a whole year already!!

Our wedding day was amazing and intimate, filled with friends and family.  We had an amazing day.




The year flew by and I am happier than ever. I can't believe I am lucky enough to have someone like Pete. I am thankful every single day!


Goal Check In


I'm not gonna lie... last week was spent mainly spending time with family and friends and going out and celebrating! It went a little like this: two family dinners, a dinner with Pete, Brandon & Patrick, drinks, & another family lunch, my brother Michael coming to visit from Boston with his two children on Saturday, and a mild at home Emmy party with the only guest being Emily. This included dinner & snacks as well. So I was hella busy & super tired at the end of it.

too much partyin'

  1. Mop. If I don't put it on a list, I will not do it.
  2. Blog 4x! I did this three times....
  3. Yoga 3x!  I did this once...
  4. Utilize gym membership!  I went once...
  5. Stop using so many parenthesis and !!!! in blog!!!!!!!! (Meh)
  6. Reconnect with someone. Either an old friend, or family member I haven't spoken to in a while. This I did! I reconnected with my friend James who is currently living in England (Hi James!) and my sister Dianna.
So there you have my week! It was not a normal week. Here's my goals for this week!
  1. Gym 3x. One time should include strength training
  2. Yoga 2x.
  3. Create a budget and stick with it.
  4. Eat healthfully consistently.
  5. Pick wedding photos for album. (JK 1 year later!)

Friday, September 16, 2011

On the Eve of my Birth

I hardly believe I can write this in 8 minutes, but I'll try... (actually I have until 5:08am..)

SOME THOUGHTS:

  • I am turning 29 today tomorrow.
  • I want to sit and think and create some sort of list of what I wish to achieve before I turn 30. .. (Hence this blog..but really, something cohesive [and not to drink more])
  • I woke up this morning with a strange pain under my right arm by my rib cage. I could literally feel my cells oxidizing and aging.*
  • *I was taken to Ruby Tuesday's for lunch w/ my work department and subsequently ordered zucchini & spaghetti squash to ward off oxidation.
  • The bottle of wine vegetables I ordered helped me feel better.
  • *I don't drink at work. I try my best to drink at home.
  • I had a wonderful 90 minute conversation with my older sister. Deep, old familiy secrets were told that I had never known. Very interesting. Especially since my mother was around my age when said secrets* were happening.
  • It's not a great secret. Like i had some secret twin and found her at the mall.
  • My sister is a new reader here!! Hopefully.
  • The cat is eating something she shouldn't be. Sounds more like plastic than chicken flavored cat food.
  • I'm babbling. So far 29 is no different than 28 is no different than 26 is no different than... oh, I've only been babbling to myself for 3 or so years now ;)
  • z.
  • TAKE A BREATHER. WHOOOOO

  • I've recently joined All You. Which is a website that is dedicated to finding the best free samples on the best and bringing it to your inbox!
Apparently I am old as I have dry skin and a back up in my digestive system.

JK I LOVE free samples! I love Fiber Choice (once in a while) and who doesn't love lotion (especiallly in winter??). Also I have a bunch of other free stuff coming to me like perfume, snacks and tea. I love tea... I own about 25 mugs. I love tea.


  • This is being published way later than intended but I'm 'going with my babble anyway :D
Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

German Birthdays!

Umm, this is the most important development in musicals since 1992: NEWSIES!
Something from childhood is fiercely excited about this show! I loved the movie as a kid and then me & Emily would watch it in our apartment (along with High School Musical - don't judge).

Ugh- upon further investigation, this show is playing in the middle of Jersey. sigh. But I am willing to make the trek! haha Me & Emily got tickets for 9/24! Squee!


Anynewsies - Last night my parents took me out for an early birthday dinner (9/16) and me & Pete for an early anniversary dinner (9/19).  I suggested a great local German restaurant called Zum Stammtisch.

Cute placemats!

The place has a great old tymey time feel to it. The food was wonderful! Being 1/2 German, I love tapping into my heritage and getting some authentic and tasty German food now and then. I wish I spoke the language!


The food amounts here are insane. I took home more than half of my plate. Yay leftovers!

Afterwards we went back to my parents house for some cake. Have you met "The Birthday Man"?


He has been in our family since the early 70s. Every time there is a birthday, he makes an appearance!

It was a really great evening! :)



Ice cream cake is the best cake


It's birthday week kickoff! PS Did I tell you I met Justin Bieber at Macy's? ;)

FYI- I am NOT 5'3"....