It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Joe was also off from work on Sunday and so we were going to have time to spend together!  We don't have time off together very often so we're always excited when schedules line up, which will hopefully be happening more often now!  There was a lot on our schedule so I wanted to dress cute but also comfortably.  I went with purple Classic Tall Ugg boots, jean leggings from Express, a grey long sleeve t-shirt from The Gap, topped with a cream fleece vest from Old Navy and a tiny heart shaped necklace from my most recent Premier party.

We had vague plans to get breakfast with Lou, Nicole & Jack and/or Angela & Rob.  But with the time change things got a little behind and we ended up just going by ourselves around 10:30.  I really thought about getting something different but ended up back at my same old ham & swiss omelet with tomato instead of home fries and rye toast = 505 calories.  I was pretty hungry but filled up fast, even Joe was surprised with how much food was left on my plate.

We were determined to figure out a plan for my 30th birthday that day, especially because we need to send out invitations soon.  We had been trying to decide between an activity or a night out at a bar but neither option was really sitting right.  All of a sudden it hit us, brunch!  We love brunch!  We could have my party at a country club with a champagne brunch then invite everyone back to the house for cake, etc.  Joe is going to check with a few of our favorite places for pricing so that we can get the invitations out by next weekend.  I'm so excited, everyone can dress up, it'll be so adult!  Now that we had our biggest hurdle crossed we moved on to the yard.  Joe wants to make sure it looks nice if people are going to being hanging out back there in just over a month, we went to Home Depot to pick up a few things.  We got a peach tree and lots of soil.  Anyone know how long it takes a tree like this to actually product fruit?

Then Joe let me pick out all the different kinds of flowers we're going to plant.  We may have gone a little overboard but I'm excited about all the colors!

Joe had made plans weeks ago to see Battle: LA with a few of his guy friends so I made plans to go shopping with their wives.  Unfortunately there were some issues with getting a babysitter so shopping wasn't going to work.  No worries though, I enlisted Nicole & Jack then off to the park we went.  Tammy wasn't sure she was going to make the 2 mile round trip walk but she was a trooper and managed to get there and home again just fine.  The boys had a great time playing together!

We learned just how obsessed Luke is with basketball.  He was so excited to see these boys playing "b-ball" he barely took his eyes off of them the whole time we were there.

I also made sure to get pictures with my favorite ladies.

When the guys called to say they were leaving the theater we decided to head for home too.  We promised Tammy a treat from Rita's if she could make it home on foot and I think it really was her biggest motivation.  I ordered a sugar-free Mango Peach ice with vanilla custard = 290 calories.

Joe was pretty hungry for dinner and Lou & Nicole were thinking about going to the Library for $15.95 prime rib so it didn't take much to convince us to join them.  The only problem was that Jack hadn't had a nap and was pretty tired after his fun afternoon at the park.  He was starting to melt down on the way to the restaurant.  Luckily, Nicole got him to sleep and he spent most of dinner knocked out in his stroller in the corner behind our table.

Our meal was delicious.  I just wish prime rib wasn't so much work.  For a 12 oz piece of meat I'd be surprised if I ate more then 6 oz after cutting off the bone & fat.

I couldn't possibly pass up my favorite dessert in the world (even though I'd just had ice cream 3 hours earlier).

I totaled the whole meal at 1246 calories.  Wow!  That's more then I eat in an entire day sometimes!  It shouldn't be too surprising that after that huge meal Joe and I were ready for bed when we got home.  We went straight upstairs where he fell asleep and I spent a couple of hours blogging and readying myself for the week ahead.  If I could have picked a perfect weekend it would have been pretty close to this one.  It really was the best welcome back to "me time" I could have had.

How did I do on my March goals?
1. Read 2 books:  no reading done...
2. Burn at least 750 calories a day for at least 25 days: 2290 burned - 2041 eaten = 249 burned, 9 days total
3. 1200 fitness minutes: 40 minutes today, 620 total for month
4. Eat 1 fruit or veggie with each meal for at least 20 days: tomato w/breakfast, no lunch & salad w/dinner, 10 days total
5. 15 spend free days - bought my own Rita's, 3 days total...

Erin Go Braugh

Saturday was the day...the day I was going to quit my second job!  Joe and I had thoroughly discussed the pros & cons and decided it wasn't necessary that I keep killing myself working 7 days a week.  I'm hoping to start classes for my MBA in the fall, we'll probably get engaged sometime soon and life will just catch up to us.  I really just wanted to take this spring/summer to enjoy myself before things get busier.  I was planning to talk to Mike on Saturday about giving up my shifts no matter what but when I got the call to take the weekend off again I didn't have anymore doubts.  I always have trouble sleeping when something big is happening and Friday night/Saturday morning was no different.  I tossed and turned all night and woke up for good around 6am.  I entertained myself on the computer for a little while then brushed my teeth, got a pep talk from Joe and headed across the street at 7:15.  I let Mike know that things weren't working for me anymore and I'd prefer to stop working regular shifts.  I let him know I consider him a friend and I would be happy to pick up shifts if they're ever in a jam.  He totally understood and I think he knew it was coming, we talked for a little while about the future then he told me to hold on to my key and to have a good day.  I went home and let Joe know how it had gone; I felt like a huge weight had been lifted.  We hung out for a little while then went back over to have breakfast.  I had a short stack of whole wheat banana pancakes with turkey bacon = 509 calories.

Angela and I were planning on doing a 9 mile run but I had scheduled things a little too tightly and we could only fit in 5 miles.  We decided to run around Somers Point since that part of the bike path is less intimidating during the day.  The weather was beautiful, over 50 degrees and sunny, the only way it would have been better was if it wasn't so windy.  At one point we ran through a condo complex on the bay and the view was so pretty we had to stop and take a picture.

And since we were holding still we decided to take a picture of ourselves as well (note my hair blowing in the wind).

Here's the stats from our run, we thought that map might look a little crazier because of the neighborhoods but we must have gone straighter then we thought.

We literally ran straight to Starbucks.  I wasn't sure what I wanted so I asked for something cold and low calorie.  I ended up with a tall skinny vanilla latter, iced = 90 calories.

Like I said, my schedule was tight, that may sound strange since I had planned on working up until 2pm the previous day; but I had a feeling I might get another surprise weekend off so I made a lot of tentative plans.  The St Patrick's Day parade was happening in Atlantic City and Shana & Bill had invited me over to there house for the merriment.  The parade had been rained out in 2010 and I had to work on the new date so I had some fun props to donate to the cause...I'm always prepared!

By the time I got to Brigantine it was almost noon and I was starving.  They had some snacks out so I had a few pieces of soft pretzel from a tray from the Philly Pretzel Factory.  I was sure I was making a half way healthy choice until I looked the nutrition information up online, 145 calories per piece!  Crazy!  My little snack had cost me more calories then a normal meal!  I won't make that mistake again.

We got to the parade just in time, minutes after we walked onto the boardwalk the grand marshal starting come towards us.

They had decided to bring the new puppy with us.  He was extremely well behaved and got a lot of attention from passers by.  We learned an important bit of information though, Shaggy is not a fan of bagpipes.  Anytime any starting playing nearby he freaked out and tried to hide behind everyone.  Here's a shot of our whole crew.  It also needs to serve as my OOTD picture because I forgot to take one on the way out.  I wore a long sleeve white t-shirt from The Gap with a while Hanes tank underneath and a light green fringed scarf I got as a gift from Edra.  I paired it with jeans from Express, my puffy brown best from The Gap and brown New Balance sneakers.  I got those awesome gloves from one of the floats, they have a Bud Light logo on them.

When we got back to the house after the parade Bill had corned beef & cabbage with potato all ready for us in a crock pot.  I wasn't sure about the cabbage but decided to give it a try since everything Bill makes is usually delicious.  Turns out I'm a fan.  I made sure to eat a small portion though because of all those damn pretzels = 349 calories.

We all hung out for a while watching comedy shows on tv and joking around.  I decided to head out around 5, I was planning to drop off a few jewelry orders and wanted to clean the house up a little before Joe got home from work.  I stopped at my mom's first but she hasn't been feeling well so I didn't stick around too long.  Next was Mark & Kate's, we visited for about an hour.  We really don't see them often enough so there's always a lot to catch up on.  

I spent close to 40 minutes straightening up when I got home.  I had been feeling like I needed to take better care of the house now that I'm not working.  Like my day isn't worth anything unless I've done some constructive at home.  Mission accomplished.  Nicole & Jack came over to visit for a little while, we talked about our days and watched Jack play with the cats.  Joe stopped home but only for a minute.  He had made plans to do some night fishing with his friend Sean.  He packed up his gear and was back out the door in no time.  I was hungry but it was too late for anything substantial so I hoped a bag of popcorn would do the job = 100 calories.

After my snack I went upstairs and did some laundry while watching Off The Map on the DVR.  I hopped in bed and uploaded pictures from the parade, it was so nice to not have to worry about getting to sleep early so that I wouldn't be tired the next day!  Joe came home soon thereafter and we fell asleep pretty quick.  It was definitely a great first day off, lol.


How did I do on my March goals?
1. Read 2 books:  no reading done...
2. Burn at least 750 calories a day for at least 25 days: 2707 burned - 1588 eaten = 1119 burned, 9 days total
3. 1200 fitness minutes: 60 minutes today, 580 total for month
4. Eat 1 fruit or veggie with each meal for at least 20 days: banana w/breakfast, cabbage w/lunch & nothing for dinner, 9 days total
5. 15 spend free days - didn't buy anything!, 3 days total...

change is a coming...

I was in a crazy good mood on Friday morning.  Joe & I talked about something the night before and there are exciting changes on the horizon for me.  I'll talk more about it once it's all finalized though.  I had some issues with what to wear and I'm not sure I made the right decision in the end; but I was out of time.  I started my morning in the outfit on the left but after taking the picture I decided I didn't like the look; sweater from Old Navy, long sleeve t-shirt from The Gap, necklace from Macy's, jeans from Express & boots from Macy's.  I went upstairs with about 15 minutes before I had to walk out the door for work and came back down in the outfit on the right; sweater from Ann Taylor Loft, cami from H&M, necklace from Macy's, pants from The Limited (at least 2 sizes too big), belt from Target & boots from Naturalizer outlet in AC.

I was super low on time because of my wardrobe change so I didn't get a chance to eat breakfast.  Luckily, I had two different lunch options in the fridge at work.  I decided to eat some yogurt and a mandarin orange at my desk.  Unfortunately, I dropped the orange on the floor when I was trying to cut and peel it so I only really ate the yogurt = 140 calories.

That left me with the other half of my turkey and brie sandwich for lunch = 386 calories.

Work went really well, I got a lot done and prepped for my meetings on Monday.  Around 2pm I got a text message from one of the waitresses at the restaurant letting me know I had another weekend off.  I asked her to let the boss know I'd be in to talk to him on Saturday.  All these last minute schedules changes really weren't working for me.  I got hungry just before the end of my shift so I had a 100 calorie bar to hold me over until after the gym.

I really did not want to work out but I told Christina & Joanne I would meet them at group power.  It really helps to let people know I'm planning on working out, this way even when I really want to bail I won't because they're expecting me.  The class went well, my upper body was beat down as usual but the room was cool again so I wasn't too gross.

I stopped to visit with Nicole & Jack when I got home and Joe walked in a few minutes later.  We were all debating what to have for dinner.  We finally landed on ordering subs from Primo Pizza.  I really like their BBQ Chicken Wrap (Chopped Grilled Chicken, Melted American Cheese with Zesty BBQ Sauce) and hadn't eaten one in probably a year = 530 calories.  It's also great because it's not huge like most restaurant portions, I was finished eating before everyone else had started their 2nd halves.

We spent a little while hanging out and catching up before heading home.  I was stressed about my conversation at the restaurant and just needed some quiet time.  Joe and I went over what I wanted to say a few times before calling it a night.

How did I do on my March goals?
1. Read 2 books:  read some more of Unbearable Lightness, about 20% done now
2. Burn at least 750 calories a day for at least 25 days: 2256 burned - 1156 eaten = 1100 burned, 8 days total
3. 1200 fitness minutes: 60 minutes today, 520 total for month
4. Eat 1 fruit or veggie with each meal for at least 20 days: blueberries w/breakfast, nothing w/lunch & nothing w/dinner, 8 days total
5. 15 spend free days - I registered for the GMAT!, 2 days total...

rain rain go away

I was on my own Thursday morning, Joe had to be at a meeting by 7am so I had the house to myself.  It didn't take too long to get ready and I didn't second guess my outfit once, pretty impressive right?  Since the weather was supposed to be flooding rains I didn't want to wear anything too fancy.  I chose a green sweater from Old Navy with a cream cami from NY & Co.  Then navy dress pants from The Limited with an older pair of booties from Naturalizer that look more rugged.  The lighting is pretty terrible in the this picture, you can't even make out my shoes...

I wanted to finish off the bananas so I made protein shakes = 392 calories.  I hoped Joe would be excited to see his in the fridge when he got home.  update: he didn't notice it until dinner time, lol.  Apparently Ian was really interested in my shake...

I was all set to eat my leftover lunch from Wednesday but then Dee had to go and offer up Formica Bros for lunch!  Serisouly, the place is a bakery that makes the best sandwichs on fresh bread.  I caved and had the Turkey and Brie (turkey and brie served on crusty French bread with fresh herbs and dijon mustard vinaigrette).  I only ate half because I mean, look at the size of that sandwich = 386 calories.

After work I had planned to meet the girls at kick boxing but Amanda had a little accident in the parking garage at work and broke 2 of her toes.  She was hoping to feel better by Thursday's class but didn't.  We had a small showing again, only about 5 people.  The room was very cold which is weird since yoga runs the heaters in the class before; we didn't even have to turn on the fans.

Joe had the day off from work and was trying another new recipe for dinner, easy chicken enchiladas = 588 calories.  It was tasty but we both felt like something was missing, we're thinking about maybe adding tomato & rice next time.

I was still super low on calories after dinner so I indulged in an ice cream treat Joe had picked up on his last trip to the store.  It was delicious but still at 160 calories I could have had something better...

We spent the evening discussing things to come & watching American Idol.  I know I've been saying this a lot lately but I feel like we're in a great place right now, really appreciating each other and trying to stay open.

How did I do on my March goals?
1. Read 2 books:  knocked out about a half hour reading in the car before the gym.  This book is really fantastic, makes me think twice about all this food/exercise obsession and what's too far.
2. Burn at least 750 calories a day for at least 25 days: 2674 burned - 1525 eaten = 1149 burned, 7 days total
3. 1200 fitness minutes: 60 minutes today, 460 total for month
4. Eat 1 fruit or veggie with each meal for at least 20 days: banana w/breakfast, nothing w/lunch & corn w/dinner, 8 days total
5. 15 spend free days - finished my taxes!  but had to pay the turbo tax fee, 2 days total...

Five for Friday - 3/11/11

1. You support me in my decisions, even the hard ones.

2. You're willing to work on us...even though us is already pretty damn good.

3. You don't NEED beer.

4. You put pressure on my temples when I have a migraine.

5. You barely mentioned the Flyers game was on while we watched American Idol.

Lorie's Rehearsal Dinner - November 2009

23 BAGS IN 38 DAYS

I am going to attempt to clean out my crap, and boy do I have a lot of it.  I was reading this post about a sort of twist on giving something up for lent.  They basically start on Ash Wednesday and declutterize over the next forty days.  The hope is to motivate yourself to clean our their homes 1 bag/day at a time.  I'm hoping to attack the following areas of my home, one each day.  Now I know I won't be able to knock something out everyday, I'm kinda busy, so I'm giving myself 38 days to accomplish 23 tasks.  I plan to use a system like this:

1) Keep it - Organize what I chose to hold on to & clean the area around it.
2) Trash it - Straight to the outside trash so I don't change my mind.
3) Donate it - Well, first I'll try to sell it at a yard sale in the spring/summer but then into my donate pile that will be taken to Goodwill.

The problem is that I hate cleaning.  I mean really hate it, I love when my house is clean but getting it there is just too much work unless we're having people over or there's some other kind of motivation.  I obviously don't have forty rooms in my house so my list is of smaller areas or projects in each room in the house.   Here is my list of tasks, they cover pretty much every area of my house.

1. Hallway - linen closet

2. Master Bathroom – vanity

3. Master Bathroom – shelves over toilet

4. Master Bedroom – closet

5. Master Bedroom – ikea cabinet

6. Master Bedroom – bedside table

7. Green Bedroom – shoes

8. Green Bedroom – purses

9. Hall Bathroom – linen closet

10. Hall Bathroom – vanity

11. Grey Bedroom – clothes

12. Grey Bedroom – closet

13. Living Room – credenza

14. Living Room – small closet

15. Dining Room – china cabinet

16. Kitchen – drawers

17. Kitchen – Pot & Pan cabinet

18. Kitchen – desk drawer

19. Living Room - Understair Closet

20. Master Bedroom - Jewelry boxes

21. Vacuum Upstairs

22. Vacuum Stairs

23. Vacuum Downstairs

So there's my list, let me know if you decide to give it a try.  I'll keep you updated in my daily recaps with what I cleaned & how it went, maybe before & after pictures?  I think I also made a few of my coworker's happy when I announced I'd figured our lent, lol.

Blogging Burnout?

I have been having a really hard time blogging lately.  I think I may just be getting bored with my own life, if that makes sense.  I write about what happens to me and for the most part the same things happen to me every day.  The only somewhat exciting thing happening for me right now is that I'm debating leaving my second job.  I've come to a point where the work is just not worth the money; but it's such easy money.  I have a plan but it depends on what happens this weekend so I guess we'll see.

But back to Wednesday.  Joe and I had to go into work at about the same time so we were both up and around which is always nice.  I chose to wear a pair of skinny black pants from The Gap for the first time, they were a little tight in the waist so I made sure to wear this heavy sweater from Ann Taylor Loft; a cami from NY & Co and Naturalizer silver flats.  I really feel like it looked better on then it does in this picture, oh well.

You can see Beans in the bottom left of the picture.  She was having a stare down with a squirrel on the deck.  It was pretty funny, she refused to be distracted from her "prey."  You can see the squirrel up on the top railing in this picture.

Joe was excited to make me a new recipe for breakfast.  He found it in his Women's Day magazine, lol.  He made 2 slices of whole wheat oatmeal toast with sunny side up eggs cooked in a hole the middle.  He also broiled some tomato with parmesan cheese, salt & pepper, they were delicious!  He loaded my plate up but I didn't eat all of it.  = 415 calories.

When I got to work I found out that there was an opening to round at our Atlantic City hospital so I offered to go with the ladies.  Unfortunately, the shoes I chose to wear were really comfortable but I didn't wear socks or tights because I don't normally do a lot of walking.  After wandering the hospital for 3 hours I had numerous blisters to take care of.

We stopped to have lunch in the cafeteria before visiting various departments.  I had a turkey & swiss sandwich on rye bread with mustard, lettuce & tomato.  It was tasty but I wasn't super hungry so I only ate half = 195 calories.  Our rounding went extremely well.  It seemed like everyone was happy to see us and we came back with valuable information about how to help make processes run more smoothly.

Because I had the evening off from the gym and Joe was supposed to be out of work early we decided to have a date night and use some gift certificates at Angeloni's in Atlantic City.

I'm excited to report that I learned about the night setting on my phone so the food pictures are a little brighter then usual, but a teeny bit blurry because I have to keep my hands really still.  We decided to share a bottle of Pinot Noir, I thought it was really neat how the waiter made the foil top into a cork holder.  The bread was mediocre, just regular italian bread, I don't think it was even warmed up but I was starving.

We ordered 2 appetizers, the shrimp cakes & scallops wrapped in bacon.  Both came with a honey horseradish sauce.  They were definitely my favorite part of the meal.

My dinner came with a side salad and homemade blue cheese dressing.  I made sure to dip my fork in the dressing instead of pouring it all over the salad though.  It was tough to restrain myself because it was excellent blue cheese, not too blue cheesy if you know what I mean.

For an entree I ordered the Tri Color Ravioli (2 Cheese, 2 Lobster, 2 Shrimp with Crab Rosé Sauce) on my hair stylist's recommendation.  The pasta was good but not so fantastic that I'm raving about it.  In fact I felt that way about pretty much everything...

Dessert is where our night went downhill.  I'm not sure if they were short staffed or what because our waiter seemed to be everywhere but at our table.  We waited probably 15 minutes between the time our table was cleared by the bus boy and when we ordered dessert/coffee.  Then once we had the dessert we waited another 1/2 an hour for him to come back so we could ask for a check.  It was ridiculous!

I'm sure we'll go back again, after all we still have two more gift certificates to use, but I'm hoping the service will improve.  I totaled my meal at 1228 calories.  Even though the service was terrible we had a really nice evening.  We really had a good time together; we laughed a lot and we talked our jobs, the future and our home.  We were exhausted by the time we got home though and went straight upstairs to bed.  I can't handle 2 glasses of wine like I used to...

How did I do on my March goals?
1. Read 2 books:  didn't read at all
2. Burn at least 750 calories a day for at least 25 days: 2003 burned - 1838 eaten = 165 burned, 6 days total
3. 1200 fitness minutes: 0 minutes today, 400 total for month
4. Eat 1 fruit or veggie with each meal for at least 20 days: tomato w/breakfast, lettuce & tomato w/lunch & salad w/dinner, 8 days total
5. 15 spend free days - bought my lunch, 2 days total...