Let there be light!

I'm not even sure I can express how excited I am about daylight savings time beginning on Sunday!  Tuesday could have been the last day I had to run afer dark!  Soon we'll be able to start playing tennis again!  For some reason I'm just crazy excited about it, lol. 

However, there's something about this OOTD that's not as exciting.  I thought the necklace worked really well & I even got a few compliments on it at work but I think it makes me look boxy on top or something.  The stats are: sweater from Ann Taylor Loft, cami from NY & Co, pants from The Limited, shoes from Naturalizer and necklace from a Premier party (it's called First Lady, makes me giggle).

We had about 4 bananas left that were fading fast so I decided to make some protein shakes for breakfast = 392 calories.

I was really busy at work.  I'm not someone that stresses easily but I've had a lot of projects that look big on paper happening lately.  They're not really hard once I start working on them but I let them overwhelm me first and just when I'm about to crack I start working on them and knock them out in no time.  Anyway, one of them took the majority of my morning.  I even had my lunch at my desk = 277 calories.

I finally ran out of M&Ms on my desk but luckily I had this box of Whoppers left over from a vendor gift.  I snacked on them all afternoon, I think I had about 9 = 95 calories.

I spent some money without asking Joe.  I felt bad about it but I feel pretty strongly about what I bought.  I read a blog post about preparing for marriage & it contained a review of a sort of pre-cana/therapy session you can do on your own called Saving Your Marriage Before it Starts.  Now, I know that Joe and I aren't engaged yet but I truely feel like we will be married one day and when that happens we probably won't have a church wedding so there will be no pre-cana.  Also, Joe's not a big sharer so I didn't see him wanting to see someone for premarital counseling.  Seemed to me this could be a really eye opening experience.  Plus if we learn something unsettling about each other isn't it better that we do it now?  It comes with a DVD & workbooks, I'll have to let you know how it goes when we actually do it.  You may also be wondering if Joe's into it, I started by telling him I bought something without asking, he asked what so I told him.  He didn't respond for a while so I asked if he was mad at me, he responded "I'll let you know after we read the book."  My feeling is that he can't be that mad if he's willing to give it a shot...

I met Angela at the gym to run 4 miles after work.  We had been planning to run outside but it was a little cooler then I had hoped when I left work so we switched to inside.  I had a pretty good run other then having to run to the bathroom half way through...  I think it added up to about 45 minutes of actual running.

Joe and I got home at pretty much the same time which is always nice.  I made dinner for the first time in a while, Whole Grain Helper Lemon & Herb Chicken with a side of broccoli = 324 calories.  I thought it was ok but it was too sweet for Joe's palette so he added some hot sauce.  I'm guessing we won't be getting that one again...

I had a lot of calories left so I had some ice cream with pulots = 260 calories.  Joe doubled my portion, partially to get rid of the pulots before they went bad and partially because I had a LOT of calories left.

We spent the rest of the evening watching tv and messing around on the computer, nothing too exciting.  It was really nice to be home together though.  It's so rare we get home at the same time and get to hang out all night.

How did I do on my March goals?
1. Read 2 books:  read some more Unbearable Lightness while I waited for Angela at the gym
2. Burn at least 750 calories a day for at least 25 days: 2433 burned - 1348 eaten = 1085 burned, 6 days total
3. 1200 fitness minutes: 50 minutes today, 400 total for month
4. Eat 1 fruit or veggie with each meal for at least 20 days: banana  w/breakfast, orange w/lunch & broccoi w/dinner,76 days total
5. 15 spend free days - ordered the book, 2 days total...

MORE water?!?!

Well, things weren't much better in the morning.  I was trying to be my normal happy self but Joe was either really tired or ignoring me.  It also didn't help matters that I woke up with a migraine; I know I was dehydrated after my run and hadn't really caught up so I was trying not to take an imitrex.  But after fighting all day Sunday I gave up and took a pill when I got out of the shower.  I know that I sweat a lot on Saturday during that run but seriously how much water do I need to replace it?!?  

I got ready for work but didn't give a lot of thought to my outfit.  I ended up with pink ruffled flats from Payless with tan pants from The Limited.  I happened to have a tank from New York & Company that matched the flats almost perfectly, I can't decided if it's too matchy matchy or not though.  Finally a navy sweater from the Nautica outlet in Atlantic City.

For breakfast I poured myself a bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch and sliced a banana into it before realizing we were out of milk.  I called Nicole to make sure she was up then ran next door to borrow some.  Breakfast = 328 calories.

Things got better after that.  Joe had been outside putting a new filter in my car and saw me walk next door.  When he finished he came in and asked what I was doing.  For some reason that broke the ice and we fell back into our regular rhythm.  Everything seemed back to normal when I left for work about 15 minutes later.

I wasn't hungry as noon approached so I held off eating lunch until around 1pm = 277 calories.

After work I was planning to take group power.  Angela & I had rearranged our running schedule for the week just a little so I had the option of taking off Monday or Wednesday.  I was so close to bailing because Joe was off but decided to meet my girls and relax on Wednesday instead.  Who knows, I'll probably end up doing something on Wednesday too...  It was nice to see everyone, it had been weeks since I'd seen Amanda.  Her work schedule had been changing a lot so we weren't in contact much the last week or so.  The class was just as tough as usual except this time I tried to really take note of what hurt after class on Friday and adjust accordingly.

Joe was trying out a new recipe for dinner, shrimp tacos.  It was another one he's been watching on the tv at work.  They were very tasty and only 210 calories each.  There weren't a lot of ingredients and it seemed like something was missing so we spent some time discussing what we could add next time to make them better.  I vote for tomato & cheese but I'm not sure cheese works with shrimp.  Nicole & Jack stopped by to try them and hung out for a little while.  It was too cute watching Joe crawl around on the floor after Jack, I should have taken a picture.

I was still nice and low on calories after dinner so we had our favorite healthy dessert, no sugar added vanilla ice cream with pulots & cinnamon = 130 calories.

We made sure to watch last week's American Idol, for some reason the DVR only taped the results show on Thursday and not the performance episodes on Tuesday & Wednesday.  Luckily the results show is always overkill so we got to see most of what we missed on the performance days.  I was freezing for some reason so Joe made me a cup of Tastefully Simple Butterscotch hot chocolate = 150 calories.  It warmed me right up!  We finished watching tv and headed to bed a little later then usual but I was out the minute my head hit the pillow.

How did I do on my March goals?
1. Read 2 books:  started Unbearable Lightness
2. Burn at least 750 calories a day for at least 25 days: 2256 burned - 1305 eaten = 951 burned, 5 days total
3. 1200 fitness minutes: 60 minutes today, 350 total for month
4. Eat 1 fruit or veggie with each meal for at least 20 days: banana  w/breakfast, orange w/lunch & cabbage w/dinner, 6 days total
5. 15 spend free days - kept my money in my wallet!, 2 days total...

Thanksgiving, in March?!?

Sunday morning was just a relaxing as Saturday; a girl could get used to this!  Mike better be careful throwing around these weekends off, I may never want to come back!  Joe had to go in to work early so we finished off the bagels & cream cheese for breakfast, this time I had a whole wheat everything with plain low fat cream cheese = 418 calories.

I didn't have any solid plans for the day other then meeting Lorie for lunch and going next door for Thanksgiving dinner.  I knew I needed to do some kind of workout, without the walking I normally do at the restaurant my butt would be staying pretty stationary all day.  My legs were still tired from my run the day before and my knee was a little sore plus my arms & chest were sore from group power on Friday.  I figured it only made sense to do an ab workout since that was the only part of me still feeling ok.  Once Joe left for work I checked on demand for something appropriate.  I found Jillian Michael's 6 week six-pack level 1 was available.  I read a good review on the dvd a week or so ago so I decided to give it a shot.  I was pleasantly surprised, I was pretty sweaty by the time I finished!

I went upstairs to shower and get ready for my lunch date.  When I started to make the bed I noticed something on my laptop.  I'm not sure if you can read it but it says "For My Vanna White _ <3 _ _ U" with a $100 bill taped below.  I say this a lot but Joe really is the greatest boyfriend, he totally messed with me the night before and then shared the winnings.

Once I was fresh & clean I hopped online to play on Facebook & whatnot.  I got an email from Mike letting me know I could definitely have off the last weekend of the month (I had requested it because Joe is off and Shana & Bill are moving).  I texted Shana to let her know we would be able to help them move and she said they were moving some of their wedding presents from my dad's house later that afternoon if I was looking for something to do.  I was free until dinner so I let her know I'd meet them after lunch.  I decided to wear something comfortable because I knew I'd be getting messy with all the rain coming down outside.  I went with jeans from Express & pink Puma sneakers I got on RueLaLa a year or so ago (if you want an invite let me know).  A Hanes white tank, grey long sleeve t-shirt from The Gap and a bright blue scarf from Old Navy.

I ended up getting to Juliano's a little early so I took some time to finally finish my book & play a little WORDS with friends.

I ordered a 12" white pizza with spinach and tomato.  They weren't messing around with the toppings, I've never seen that much spinach on a pizza before!  I ate 2 slices and had the rest packed up = 300 calories.  Lorie and I hung out for about an hour catching up, we don't see each other nearly enough so we barely stop to breathe during out "dates."

I went straight to my dad's when we were finished and Shana & Bill were already sorting through their loot.  They wanted to bring over the everyday items now and save the fancier stuff for another trip when things are set up in the new house.

Shana registered for a box of Reese's Pieces and one of her coworkers got them for her.  She was happy to find them amongst the other goodies.

We packed almost everything into my car and headed over to the new house to unload.  Luckily the garage was empty so I could back right in, it was raining cats & dogs outside and the job would have been way less fun if we were all soaking wet.

Shana & Bill stopped at their apartment to pick up the puppy.  It was my first time meeting him and he's got a lot of energy!  He's also a little skittish about being left alone so we had to keep reassuring him we weren't leaving as we ran back and forth to the car unloading all the kitchen goodies. 

The newlyweds got to use their washer/dryer and dishwasher for the first time while I was there as well.  Shana decided to bring their comforter over because it doesn't fit in the stackable they have in the apartment.  Here they are lovingly gazing into it while watching it fill with water.

Once everything was out of my car and they were starting to just wash & dry all the new stuff I decided to head home.  I talked to Joe on the way and he mentioned we were bringing dessert for the dinner party.  I called Nicole and asked if she had any requests, we decided it would be easiest to just make a couple Tastefully Simple items.  It only took about an hour to make everything then I headed next door.  It was still pouring and I looked like a drowned rat by the time I got to the door! 

Art & Marlene made a salad and we had all the basic Thanksgiving dishes.  It was all delicious!  I love that Nicole buys turkey on sale every so often so we get Thanksgiving dinner a few times a year!  My whole dinner = 535 calories.

Jack and I sat next to each other for dinner.  I think he enjoyed himself...

For dessert I made Nana's Apple Cake & Truffle Fudge Brownies, both of which were pretty darn good!  I had to try a little bit to make sure they weren't poison, obviously.  I chose to share a piece of apple cake & ice cream with Joe = 235 calories.

We hung out for a little while after dinner watching tv and chatting in small groups.  We were talking about having kids while watching Jack run around and I let a couple of Lou's comments get under my skin.  I also said something about how I'm getting older and since I'm not married who knows what will happen with my future.  I know I should have kept my mouth shut but sometimes it's hard.  Joe was quiet and sort of distant when we got home and I'm sure it's because I shouldv'e kept my mouth shut.  I really didn't want to get into anything so I just watched Parenthood on the couch in silence then went to bed hoping things would be better in the morning.  I had been doing so well lately, I don't know why I feel the need to press the issue sometimes.

How did I do on my March goals?
1. Read 2 books:  YAY, finally finished one!  Even though it doesn't count since I started it months ago.
2. Burn at least 750 calories a day for at least 25 days: 2248 burned - 1488 eaten = 760 burned, 4 days total
3. 1200 fitness minutes: 30 minutes today, 290 total for month
4. Eat 1 fruit or veggie with each meal for at least 20 days: oj w/breakfast, spinach/tomato w/ lunch & salad w/dinner, 5 days total
5. 15 spend free days - bought lunch, 1 day total...

Spin the wheel!

I know I did some bitching about having the weekend off from the restaurant, and I'm still not thrilled with that surprise, but boy was it nice to not have an alarm go off on Saturday morning!  I didn't sleep extremely late or anything but it was great to be able to lounge in bed, chat with Joe and take my time getting up.  We debated going out to breakfast but ending up deciding to get bagels and eat at home.  I had a whole wheat bagel with low fat lox cream cheese & a glass of Trop 50 = 440 calories.  Bagels are one of my favorite foods but normally I stay far away from them because the calories can add up quick.  I figured I was safe though because I had an 8 mile run scheduled for the afternoon and I'd need those carbs to power through.

I didn't do much of anything the rest of the morning.  Joe went off to work and I plopped down on the couch to clean out the DVR.  When I had successfully watched most of my shows I went upstairs to get to work on the other DVR.  I heard from Angela around noon, we were both concerned about the weather because there was some serious wind blowing, we debated if, when & where we should run.  I knew I needed to get some kind of workout in, I'd only walked 300 steps by this point.  We decided to meet up at the gym and do whatever we could on the treadmills.  I told myself I was either doing 4 miles or all 8, no stopping in between.  I was still feeling pretty good at the 4 mile mark so I decided to push on to 8 and I did it!  I managed to not only run 8 miles but to do them on a treadmill!

I spent most of the run chatting with Angela or watching Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood on tv.  I was pretty bummed because sometime during the last mile I realized there was an Ugly Betty marathon on!  That would be a perfect show to run to, I used to watch it religiously, so funny & upbeat.  Look at those calories burned!

Angela came prepared with GU energy gel (100 calories) & I bought a Gatorade (50 calories) to refresh our electrolytes after the first 4 miles.  She realized we hadn't been taking care of ourselves mid run like we should be and wanted to test out some flavors.  The GU was chocolate flavored & tasted just like brownie batter, it was a little strange to be sucking well, gu, out of a packet but it worked.  I felt much better on the 2nd half of the run, less cramping and more energetic, we'll definitely be using that again!  I tried the low calorie Gatorade when I finished my bottle of water and it tasted like a grape ice pop, delicious!  I asked Joe to pick me up a case at BJs the next time he works.

I went straight home from the gym and hopped in the shower.  We had our rescheduled dinner with Carol & Chris at 7pm.  Unfortunately Joe was stuck a little late at work so we were just a smidge late for our reservation.  I asked him to take this OOTD picture for me while we were waiting for the elevator in the parking garage.  I had to wear flats because my legs were so tired from the run, I chose my slouchy Steve Madden boots from Macy's with Express jean leggings.  On top I went with a black cami from New York & Company and a ballet sweater from The Gap with a necklace from a Premier jewelry party.  I also used a black sequin bag I got at TJ Maxx a few years back, it's the perfect size to hold everything you need but not as gigantic as my everyday purse.

We decided to try Red Square because of their restaurant week menu options.  We were confused when we sat down because they didn't provide a copy of the menu we had seen online.  I asked the server about it and he said they weren't running the special because it's the weekend.  It seemed odd to me because I had made the reservation through the restaurant week site but I wasn't about to start a fight with the man in the middle of a fancy restaurant so we just ordered from the regular (expensive) menu.  I was famished and a dehydrated from my run so I made sure to drink some water before trying my martini (149 calories) and diving into my dinner roll (84 calories) face first.  Sorry about the pictures they're a little dark & red tinted from the lighting.

I ordered the Goat Cheese Salad (goat cheese fritter, organic baby greens, raspberry vinaigrette) as an appetizer = 290 calories.  I love goat cheese and this salad was awesome.  Not too fancy but the flavors worked nicely together.

For my entree I chose Penne Vodka with Grilled Chicken (three cheese tomato cream sauce, vegetable infused vodka).  It was good, nothing to write home about but tasty, I only ate 2/3 of what I was served then Joe finished off the rest = 495 calories.

We were all pretty full and passed on dessert.  Carol & Chris had to get home to his daughter but Joe and I decided to stay a little while and maybe gamble.  Joe's a big fan of black jack but I'd rather play a $0.05 slot machine and leave it all to chance.  The tables usually have really high minimums on the weekends and it's not really fun for me to just stand there and watch him play so we compromised and decided to play the big wheel.

We started by putting in $50.  Once we played that down to nothing Joe put in another $10.  We hit a couple of decent size payouts when I was pushing the button so I took over as the "lucky" one.  At one point Joe weaseled around me and hit "max bet."  I about had a heart attack because that's a decent amount of money being risked, well, we hit big and it paid out 3750 nickels.  We went from putting in $60 to having a bank of $220!  I was ready to cash out immediately, I mean that's more money then I would have made waitressing all weekend!  Joe wanted to try a few more times and we ended up cashing out with $202, still a decent win, especially for a nickel slot.

We stopped for Starbucks on the way to the car.  I had my favorite Tall Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latter = 90 calories and joked a little bit about my share of the winnings.  Joe didn't seem eager to give me any money so I tried not to be bitter and headed to the car.

We got home around 10pm and watched a little tv before going to bed.  I mentioned I may need a little of our winnings because I had lunch plans with Lorie the next day and Joe just kind of smirked and let my comment roll by.  We went to bed a little while later, I was exhausted after a pretty great day.

How did I do on my March goals?
1. Read 2 books:  even with all my down time I didn't pick up a book...
2. Burn at least 750 calories a day for at least 25 days: 2465 burned - 1698 eaten = 767 burned, 3 days total
3. 1200 fitness minutes: 100 minutes today, 260 total for month
4. Eat 1 fruit or veggie with each meal for at least 20 days: oj w/breakfast, salad w/dinner, 4 days total
5. 15 spend free days - bought Gatorade at the gym, 1 day total...

Pour Some Sugar on Me

We're going to see Def Leppard with special guest Heart!  I got an email Friday morning from Live Nation about tickets going on sale, I forwarded it to Joe because he's a big Heart fan.  I got a response about 20 minutes later that we should go, so I bought tickets!  We debated getting a 4 ticket lawn seat package for $100 and finding another couple to come with us but then we remembered we're old and don't enjoy the debauchery of lawn seats anymore.  Plus the concert is on a Sunday night so it might have been hard to convince people to join us.  AND I took the day after the concert off from work so hopefully the weather's nice, BEACH DAY!

Also, YAY it's Friday!  I was a little bit whiny about having to go to work all weekend but still it's the weekend!  I weighed myself and was up just a smidge at 147 but with all the eating out that's not surprising.  I'm not extremely worried about it though because 2 of the pairs of pants I tried to wear were too big!  Who cares about 1 measly pound when your pants are too big?  

At first I was trying to base my outfit around a pair of shoes but it just wasn't working because of the pants so I gave in and put on my black jean leggings from Express.  I already had on this thin white cable knit sweater from Old Navy & white cami from New York & Company so I chose black Naturalizer boots.  I almost went with the slouchy Steve Madden pair but decided they might be getting too much wear time lately.  I also grabbed the pink necklace before running downstairs, I've had it for years and don't even remember where I got it, but I love it even though it's hard to find things to wear it with.

Joe was feeling much better after a good night's rest & offered to make me breakfast before going to the gym.  I had a 2 egg, bacon & laughing cow omelet with sliced tomato and Trop 50 = 342 calories.

My morning at work went really well.  Seemed like everyone was in a good mood because it's the end of the week.  One of my coworkers had a meeting over at the hospital & offered to bring Saladworks back for lunch!  There aren't many stores in our area anymore so it's always a special treat.  She got me a Bentley salad with green goddess dressing and a whole wheat roll = 575 calories.

I got an email a little later in the afternoon from the owner of the restaurant.  He let me know I would have the weekend off.  I wasn't exactly thrilled, I had been counting on the money made this weekend for miscellaneous spending during the week.  I guess I'll definitely be having spend free days now...  I just find it really irritating to be given less then 24 hours notice that I'm free for the weekend, I would have made plans...  


I went to the gym for group power after work.  I wasn't really in the mood, I just wanted it to be over with.  The new release is really tough, it beats the crap out of your upper body.  But that's better then beating up my lower body since I had an 8 mile run scheduled for Saturday. 

I stopped in to see Nicole & Jack when I got home.  Joe showed up pretty soon thereafter and we discussed what to do for dinner.  We had pretty much decided to cook some pork chops until Lou called and said he was stopping at Wendy's.  He swung by and picked up Joe then the two of them headed over to get dinner.  I decided on a class single with everything = 470 calories. 

My meal came came with fries but they were way to salty so Jack worked on them for me.  It was pretty funny, when he was done he let us know by launching everything onto the floor then smiling up sweetly.

I finished up my meal with the most perfect dessert of all time.  A Jr Frosty = 150 calories. 

We visited for a while then finally decided to call it a night.  We hadn't really been home since the morning so we unpacked from work and watched a little tv before going to bed.  I will admit it was nice not to have to worry about getting to bed super early since I didn't have to get up for work in the morning.

How did I do on my March goals?
1. Read 2 books:  I got all but 4 pages of "Sleeping Naked is Green" read before power...maybe I can finish it Saturday and star a new one...
2. Burn at least 750 calories a day for at least 25 days: 2343 burned - 1537 eaten = 806 burned, 1 days total
3. 1200 fitness minutes: 60 minutes today, 160 total for month
4. Eat 1 fruit or veggie with each meal for at least 20 days: tomato w/breakfast, salad for lunch, lettuce & tomato w/dinner, 3 days total
5. 15 spend free days - didn't buy anything, 2 days total...