Busy Friday Night

It was a nice day at work, not as busy as I expected, but nice. About 1pm, my boss walked in with bagels. He got my favorite, chocolate chip. With this bagel, I don't toast it or put anything on it. I just eat it plain. The best way! I was still full by the time my lunch came around, so I just took a nap (much needed). I woke up refreshed and ready to work. The rest of my work day went by fast.

By the time I got home, I was pretty hungry (because I didn't have lunch). So, I heated up left overs from last night and made some brown rice. This time, I ate mostly with chop sticks. The rice is always difficult for me. So good, even the next day!

Tomorrow morning, we leave for a camping trip. It's going to be a short one, but much needed one. We're going to Lake Berryessa. This is in the Bay Area of California. I've never been there, but I heard it's privately owned. There is of course, a lake and lots of hiking to be done. I can't wait! Hiking and laying in the sun (if it's warm enough there). This workout will be different from my usual run. We usually hike so much through the day. That's usually all we do until the sun goes down.

I've made us some yummy treats. I made some brownies, and (baked) donut holes and chili. We have oatmeal for breakfast and PB&J for lunch and granola bars, bananas and grapes for snacks. I'll be hiking all this food off, so I'll be pretty hungry.

I've had my little girls following me around the house as I pack and get all our gear out. Here's me and Izzie relaxing. I know it looks like I'm choking her, but she likes the be held like this...very strange.

Good night all and enjoy your weekend. Sunday, I'll be posting my recipes and letting you know how everything turned out. Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Are you a big camper? How many times a year do you try to go? My goal is to climb Mt. Helena (in CA).

6 Miles to Make a Girl Feel Good

Work is getting busier and busier. The busier it is, the happier I am. I love it when my day flies by. It's great! Other than that, my work day was normal. After work, I went to the gym. It was another day on the treadmill. I wasn't really looking forward to it. I hate being on the treadmill, but sometimes that's my only option (today was 98 and too hot to run outside).

My first 2 miles were pretty boring. I wasn't wanting to do this and for some reason I let myself look down at the time. It was gong by so slowly, and I knew I had about 1 hour a running time. The last 4 miles flew by. I couldn't believe how fast it was going by. The next thing I knew, it was 6 miles and time to head home. I finished my 6 miles in 1:05. I'm pretty happy with my time.

I got home and needed to cool off before I could take a shower. I had a beer with the hubs and enjoyed some tv time with him while I cooled off. We had family coming over to take us out to dinner for our birthdays. I was so tired after my run, I just wanted to relax.

I took my shower and felt a little bit more awake. It was nice to see family and go out to eat. We went to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants and enjoyed our food and family. I've been eating so poorly this week, I knew I was only going to eat a portion of my food. I ordered the Avocado chicken with some rice.

It was so good! Yes, I know this isn't really Chinese food, but it's my favorite. If you notice, I am using a fork (we all did). I only use chop sticks in the privacy of my home. I'm not that good with them, and it's kind of embarrassing. I have my own and am still learning. I can get almost everything in my mouth, but not enough for public use.

I think we're going to watch It's Always Sunny and enjoy the last piece of ice cream cake. Don't forget to enter my great giveaway. I have another planned, possibly for my 100th post...it's coming up soon. Have a great night everyone!!

Little Post

This is going to be a very short post. My hubby took a few nights off and we actually get to see each other while we're both awake! Very strange. Today was a normal day at work. I can tell Friday is going to be very busy. I love it!

I went to the gym and ran 4 1/4 miles right before my 55 minute spin class. I worked up such a sweat running, when I went to scratch my arm, I notice a huge line of salt (dried sweat). I really know I worked hard. In a way, I'm feeling like my 4 1/4 miles aren't enough. But, I don't have time to run any more on Monday and Wednesdays. That's ok, because I get in more miles later in the week. My body just wants more now.

When I got home, hubby was there!! Yay!! I made us dinner and we relaxed watching Sons of Anarchy. I love that show. The dinner was a huge combination of left overs and new things. We had left over mashed potatoes and green beans. I also made a different kind of pasta salad. I cooked whole wheat corkscrew past as normal, drained (reserved about 1/2 cup of the water). I place the pasta in a bowl and added 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, 1 can black beans, 2 T oregano, 1 T garlic powder, about 1 cooked turkey sausage, added the water and lastly a few pinches of Parmesan cheese. I mixed everything very well while the past was still hot. Everything melted nicely and was covered in yummy goodness.

I am finally showered and cleaned up (no more salt stuck tome)! Don't forget to enter my awesome giveaway. It's something everybody needs. Keep answering my poll question. I love seeing the results. And most importantly, have a great night!!

Happy Birthday Hubby & Another Giveaway

Today was an ordinary day at work, I ate the same things. I left work early (as planned) to spend some extra time with the hubs since it was his birthday and he had the day (actually night) off. We just sat around and talked, and he opened some birthday presents (which he still has one more to open).

He got to choose if he wanted me to make a special dinner or if we went out. Since we never go out, he decided that we would. He got to choose where we went. He chose our favorite hamburger place, the Habit. We had our usual, hamburger and fries. I must have been hungry, because I am never able to finish the entire thing, and I did. I feel like a pig, but it was so good!!


On Sunday, I made the hubs an ice cream cake. I usually buy it, but decided to make it myself. I made 2 chocolate cakes with his favorite cream (baskin robins PB & chocolate) with home made PB frosting. Can you tell what his favorite combination is?

Here it is with one cake and the ice cream. I left the ice cream out too long and it was too runny. I will learn for next year!

Finished product straight from the freezer. Yes, it turned out pretty tasty (that's why it's half way gone). Yummy, yummy!

We're too full from the burgers, so I don't think we're going to have any dessert tonight. We're going to watch a movie (Hot Tub Time Machine), something he's been wanting to watch and I've been trying to put off.

Please keep answering my poll question. Love all the responses. Thanks so much for the advice on the shoes. Very appreciated. If anyone else has more advice, feel free to leave comments.

As promised...the reason why you're reading my blog...the giveaway. ROAD ID (if you couldn't get that from my poll).

Mandatory (leave a comment for each):

-Become a follower

-Become a fan on Facebook

-Visit Road ID's website and tell me which color you would choose

-Tell me the "saying" you would engrave

You have until October 8th to reply to this post (only) and one winner will be chosen to win the code for a free Road ID. Good luck everyone!!

Very Unstable

This morning was the same type of day. Nothing special. I got to the gym and hopped on the treadmill for my Monday night 4.25 miles. Judge Judy was so funny today. They had someone on that was suing about a haunted house. It was pretty entertaining.

Spin class was another ass kicker. 55 minutes of shear pain. It's so difficult after running over 4 miles. I know it's worth it. All this training will get me where I want. Yoga class felt odd today. I didn't have any balance what so ever. I was falling over every time I tried. I usually am pretty good and can hold any pose as instructed. I think I spent more time falling than holding any pose. I was entertaining many people in class with my un-stable-ness.

When I got home, I was starving (as usual on Mondays). I finished up the chicken from last week (this was the last day for the chicken). I made some mashed potatoes (another weakness). The potatoes were:

5 potatoes, peeled, chopped, cooked and mashed. I mixed in 1/3 cup of mascarpone cheese, 1/2 cup of butter (or as much as desired), 1/2 cup non fat milk and any seasoning you like. I had some garlic salt, oregano, parsley and thyme. I mixed everything together and enjoyed warm along with some green beans.

Mashing the potatoes (I release some anger while doing so).

Final product:

My cooking/baking buddy.

On my poll, 23% of you guys have Asics shoes, 15% Nike, 15% New Balance and 46% have "other". The people that have "other", could you leave a comment letting me know what type of shoes you have and how you like them.

Fill out my new poll I have posted. Tomorrow is my hubby's birthday, you may be getting something special for the occasion. The poll may give you hint to what the giveaway may be.

Another PR!!

I got up nice and early this morning to get ready to head out to my long run. I ate the last 1/2 of my Power Bar and got dressed. I wore my Bondi Band and my Road ID, along with my usual stuff (MP3, and Garmin). The Road ID didn't bother me at all. I didn't even notice it. It was like I wasn't wearing anything.

I drove to the local park and started my 5 1/2 mile run. I really wanted to beat my last time of 1:04. I just tried to keep a steady pace. I succeeded. I sprinted the last 3/4 mile. I beat my best time (ever)! I finished in 57:16. Such a kick ass time (for me)! I'm so happy with myself.

When I got home, I showered and started the coffee and on went the compression socks. I enjoyed my left over quiche while I caught up on my dvr. A few hours later, I was once again hungry. I munched on some grapes while we finished Repo Men (we fell asleep last night, that much food will do that to you).

For lunch I had PB&J with home made french fries. I just peeled and cut up 2 potatoes, tossed them in olive oil with some salt and baked for about 20 minutes (tossing about every 10 minutes). They are so good. Some came out crispy (the thinner ones) and the thicker ones came out nice and fluffy.

I had a couple of cookies for a snack later in the afternoon. Tonight's dinner was left over chicken with fennel cream sauce. Hubby loved the meal. He thought it was better than anything we tried last night. I know I'm a good cook (lol). Time to clean up the kitchen and get ready for tomorrow. Man, I don't want to go to work tomorrow. I say everyone takes a long weekend (I wish)!!!

Too Much Food & Not Enough Burn

This morning, I woke up early and ate a banana and headed out the door to the gym. I ran 1 1/2 miles and did the 50 minute spin class. I knew I needed to push myself as hard as I could because I was going to inhale a bunch of food tonight. I had the worst instructor for spin (very un-motivational), so that didn't help. I pushed myself as hard as I could.

When I got home, I made quiche. It was crust less and delicious. I got the recipe from my boss:

4 eggs
1 cup of cottage cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
4T flour
1 t garlic powder
1/4 t salt
2 cup shredded cheese (which ever flavor, I used Mexican blend)

Mix everything (except for cheese) and pour into 8" dish and mix in cheese. Bake in 350 oven for about 45 minutes.

I added about 2 links of turkey sausage (diced up), 2 small tomatoes, 1 cup spinach, and about 3-4 button mushrooms. Stir in before adding to the dish.

I enjoyed this yummy quiche with some grapes and coffee.

I had a snack of toast & PB with some water. I knew I needed to saved my appetite for tonight.

Tonight I (and my hubby) was invited to go to the annual Lincoln Showcase. It's basically a bunch of restaurants, breweries, and wineries handing out samples. There is so much food and beverages there. It's crazy. So many different types of food, too. We went a few years ago and my hubby got sick from so many different type of foods. We know that we can't move afterwards, so we usually come home and watch a movie or something relaxing.

I took pictures of some of the foods we had, we ate so much, it would fill this blog for weeks (exaggeration). I love small things, so all these foods were so cute. I had some wine from all the wineries (about 4-5 different wineries), some Sierra Nevada, and 2 small glasses of margaritas. They were all so tasty!!

Here's a picture of some small cupcakes (blueberry, raspberry, and chocolate). The blueberry and chocolate were my favorite!

I also had a slider from Thunder Valley (a local Indian casino). They have a very good restaurant inside. It was so good!! I could had eaten 10 of these.

I also had some pizza, a taco, pasta, cheesecake, more muffins (from someone else), and too much else to mention without feeling too fat. It was so much fun. There was a band and we got to see a bunch of people dance funny and swing their arms around. I wanted to keep eating, so we had to go before we exploded. No more food. I am thirsty, but if I drink any water, I may still explode.

Well, we're off to watch The Repo Men. I love Jared Leto! I need to rest up for my 5 1/2 miles run in the morning.

Do you prefer to run with someone or solo? I think I prefer to run solo. I can collect my thoughts and enjoy the scenery. It's my my time.