Back to the 80s

How y'all doin'? Why do I suddenly type like Paula Deen?

Saturday night was spent celebrating Ms Emily's birthday. Me & Pete got into the city a bit earlier and had some drinks beforehand. We stopped at a cute place called Walker's (RIP Brother's & Sisters) and sat outside to enjoy the beautiful afternoon.

I've been craving wine lately and ordered a German Riesling. It was crisp and refreshing!

I had to make sure to order water since I was thirsty from walking around. Note to self: Do not quench thirst with wine.

Then we headed over to a place called Bubby's to enjoy dinner!

Can you see where this nite is headed?

This place uses mostly organic & local ingredients. I love exploring downtown NYC. Even though I'm a native, I'm rarely in this neighborhood.

After dinner we walked down by the water which was 2 blocks away from to check out the sunset.

Velcome to the America!

After dinner, a stop at a bar and a walk by a Delorian (sufficiently 80s themed!) we headed over to Canal Room for an 80s band called Rubix Cube.

It was a fun night of  80s music and dancing!

The next day it was back to the 2010s (what are we calling this decade?) and nurse a hangover relax at home. We finally said goodbye to Duke.

I was wondering if I would be sad or miss his cute face, but 20 minutes before he left he took a dump on my carpet. Time to go!! Sticking with kitties! :)

Smoothie Overload

Last night I came home, once again, to a lovely meal created by the hubs. It was a simple & comforting type of meal - spaghetti and meatballs. The meatballs were a mix of ground beef, ground lamb and something else....I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess ground turkey. ground veal & ground pork. 

They were delicious! The meatballs & sauce were fragrant & flavorful. I don't really mind Pete's use of different meats, although he usually uses ground turkey, but I am trying to get him to switch to whole wheat pasta. It's better for you and more filling! C'mon guys! Comment and tell him you agree! ;)

This morning I was up early again to walk this little guy.

I don't know what I'll blog about once the dog leaves next Monday!  I sorta hate the fact that he is crated all day when I'm at work but I shouldn't break the habits of his owners. Plus his only long days in the crate are today and tomorrow. Every other day me or Pete are home, or our work hours only overlap a few hours. It's really just my issue... I can't stand the whimpering and whining! I constantly feel bad for animals. If it were up to me we'd have 15 cats and 3 dogs. I always tell Pete I'm one trauma away from becoming a hoarder cat lady.



Nom nom nom


For breakfast I had another smoothie! I love making smoothies but hate washing the blender. I keep shredding my sponges. (Extra fiber?)

Doesn't it look like dessert?

I've been itchin' to switch up my smoothie contents. This morning I was craving something chocolatey which is actually very unlike me (I much prefer salty snacks.)
In the blender:

• 1 frozen 'naner
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries (they were buy 1 get 1 at the store this week! Score!)
• 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
• 1/2 cup Chobani plain Greek yogurt (loving this option)
• 3/4 cup of chocolate almond milk (ZOMG)
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• extra large handful of spinach

I took my first sip of chocolate almond milk and let me tell you - this is not like the unsweetened vanilla variety, oh no! I quickly wondered to myself how bad I would feel if I drank the entire carton. IT'S SO TASTY!

I love moments of temporary insanity before 8am.

IIIII didn't do it! I only had the 3/4 of a cup and I was proud of me since that is one step of 9,000 that I need to take to meet my goals.

This smoothie was filling, chocolatey and thick.

TWSS

It was a great start for the day! I also did Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, Level 2 again, and walked the pup for about 20 minutes. Oh, and lost .8lb! LOL slow and steady right? Down 9 - only 20 more for the 29 x 29!

29 x 29

I started this blog for a number of reasons. One being to have a creative outlet, hobby and place to dust off my writing skills. Another was to keep myself on track towards some goals I want to hit before I turn 30. Thirty is a definitive number & deadline, but really I'm just looking to work towards the person I want to be - fit & healthy, out of debt, and happy! (I'm pretty happy, but it's good to keep working at it, no?)

So I'm setting an official bloggy goal of 29 x 29: To lose 29 pounds by the time I turn 29 on September 16th. I'm already down 8.9 pounds so I'm nearly a third there, however, I've often gotten to this place and stopped. I've been riding a HUGE  motivation wave lately and am loving it! I need a solid goal to look forwards to - not something so broad as "I wanna be healthy n stuff" LOL. So that is my first goal! I have about 9 weeks to get there and will be doing it the healthy way with lots of exercise, fresh fruits & veggies & lean proteins. (And probably a bunch of Sugar Free Jell-o.)

This morning I started out with an awesome smoothie!

In the mix:

• 1 frozen 'naner
• 1/2 cup frozen strawberry
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 1/2 a container of plain Greek yogurt
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• handful of spinach

This smoothie was tasty and filling. I don't normally add Greek yogurt in the mix but it made it really creamy and added an extra flavor I don't usually have in my morning smoothies. It was a win! I need to experiment with different combinations and mix it up a bit. Any suggestions?

Ya know what's a great motivator to get some exercise? A whiny dog!!  LOL Like I mentioned before, I've never had a dog in my life until Friday when we agreed to watch Pete's sister's dog Duke. GOD HE IS SO CUTE.

I don't know if you're supposed to let them tough it out to train them to hold their pee or what (he's only a puppy and not really trained - his sister has a yard that they just let him out in). I wound up taking him out once early in the morning, then again mid morning (both for 30 minute walks) and again in the early afternoon for a quick walk around the block. I had already walked an hour by noon! After the 800 walks, I came home and did Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred, Level 2. That is no joke, but I was able to complete the whole thing! 29 x 29 baby!!

On a final random note- look at Peach's rediculous forepaws.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Three Day Weekend!

Hey y'all! I took the day off from work yesterday and went to the beach!!  I haven't been to the beach in so long, and was super excited about it. I went with my friends Mike, Brandon & Patrick.

Picture these people in swim trunks.

Oh wait! Brandon just sent me the pictures :D

It was such a relaxing fun day! Brandon was an awesome class mom dad and brought SO many yummy snacks ranging from healthy fruit & veggies to home made rice krispy treats and gourmet popcorn. If it were left to me, I'd just bring 8 different kinds of chips and be proud of the variety. Patrick & Mike brought an assortment of spiked beverages. And me? I brought 1 type of chip & some nuts. OH and Fiber One bars. LOL It was the only snack I had in the house and the chocolate & oat ones are tasty! 

 I need to get back to the beach a few more times this summer. (And use way more sunscreen!!) I'm a bit lobstery.

In the evening, Pete came home with Duke, a lil puppy we're watching for the week! I'm a bit nervous how he'll interact with our baby girl Peach. Have you met her? She's not usually shy...

No pictures!



Old Long Paw

We adopted her about a year and a half ago and she is the sweetest cat ever! She follows us around the house, plays fetch, and doesn't mind other people at all. We love our little girl!

So far, good enough! Peach is a bit thrown off by Duke but he has left her alone. At one point Pete was bringing them close together so they could sniff one another or whatever it is animals do to get acquainted with each other and she hissed. Duke came foward again and she hissed again. Third strike and Duke innocently sniffed again and ol' giant long paw came and WHACKED poor puppy in the face! Our girl is defending her territory.  Oh my, I'm lost in a pet saga story.

Anywhack, I walked over to my parents house today to show them the dog we're watching and wound up hanging out with them in their ginormous yard for 4 hours. My parents loved him! And loved my impromtu visit as well.

This is the first real dog experience I've ever had! I've never played fetch before today or anything! I'm liking it, but have grown up with cats and have never fully appreciated their ability to poo in a box and leave me out of it until this morning when, at 6:50am, I took Duke for a walk because he was whining. He didn't go have to pee, came back in the house and promptly peed on the carpet. (We have one fricken carpet in a 4 room apt)! Whatever, he's a still a puppy and not fully trained and besides, who can resist this face?

It was a pet filled day! Now I'm relaxing with the hubby watching Just Go With it and enjoying a Brooklyn Lager Summer Ale

And with the dog safely crated for the night, Ms. Peach is fully free to relax! G'nite!

zzz