Category Archives: Food for Thought

Bridal Shower Crafting!

Daily Life!, Food for Thought

Hope you all have had a great Friday! My time at work was overly productive for a Friday. I think I can thank the long weekend ahead for putting me in a good mood!

friday-meme-generator-friday-yes-d14d14HA this baby always gets me. He’s the best inspiration.

Anyways, this evening has been a productive one as I finish up all of my Bridal shower crafts for Sunday afternoon!

One of my longtime best friends, Katie, is getting married Sept. 28. I’m a bridesmaid! And as such, I have a few fun obligations to fulfill. One of them is being in charge of the bridal shower favors and games for the shower on Sunday afternoon. Fun times! And thank goodness for Pinterest, because this girl is far from crafty.

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Katie and myself! Circa 2008 🙂

314_21978482923_5864_n These were both taken in 2008, the year we graduated high school together. We were such babies! Oh how the times have changed. Thankfully she is a great friend that I know will always be a part of my life.

Her shower is going to be a Bridal Tea Party, so the favors were easy-peasy to put together! And super cheap. Win-win!

photo(2) photo(4)Tea bags + homemade tags + ribbon = Pretty darn cutesy!

I  found these porcelain tea bag caddies to give to the bridesmaids and to Katie and her family members. Each with their own tea bag favor attached! They’re perfect for a tea party so you have someplace to rest your used tea bag. Genius!

photo(5)I also found these adorable mini tea sets to give away to the game winners at beau-coup.com.

photo(6)The end result of my evening…

photo(3)And now I’m completely pooped! But at least prepared for tomorrow!

On that note, let’s backup to lunchtime.

Lunch

Lunch today was brought to you by….Cafe Fresh Pasta Steamers! I’m not sure why, but this was the first thing to pop out at me when I opened my pantry at noon. So I got it cooking in the microwave and had a handful or two of Chip’ins White Cheddar popcorn chips.

IMG_0845 copyIt was actually super yummy, just not too filling so I had some snap peas on the side.

IMG_8638I may have also had a couple spoonfuls of cottage cheese and a Fiber One 90-cal bar because I was so stinkin’ hungry! Oh well, some days are just ‘hungry days’ I guess!

Dinner

Nick and I decided to go to Qdoba for dinner. I love going here for a quick bite out where I can also eat healthy. I always get the Naked Grilled Chicken Taco Salad with corn salsa and I love it! I also feel extra healthy because I have to order it without the extra sour cream and cheese. Darn lactose-intolerance makin’ me be healthy! haha At least this time my tummy wins. I never give into sour cream. It just hurts too much!

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Qdoba Chicken Salad
Qdoba Chicken Salad

I polished off my entire salad while Nick enjoyed his steak burrito with some chips and verde salsa. It was a nice little end to a busy week!

Have a great evening! I’ll see ya sometime tomorrow after I’ve been pampered at the spa with the bride-to-be!

Hot Mess Friday!

Food for Thought, Workouts

Happy Friday!!!

I’m beyond excited to start this fun-filled Labor Day weekend. I made it to work on time to find a rather empty parking lot. Everyone is on an extra-extended weekend I guess! Oh well, it’ll make for a nice, quiet day for me 🙂

Workout

I woke up at 5 AM this morning and headed to the gym to attempt to get in a good work out before my workday. I hopped on the treadmill with no goals in mind as far as distance. Yes, I’m training for a 5K that’s happening in a few weeks, but I had a double workout yesterday and my legs were shot! I completed the intervals that I did yesterday morning til around the 1.6 mile mark. I was getting really bored and really fatigued. This is when the Hot Mess workout began!

Hot Mess Workout!

  • ~15 minutes on the treadmill doing intervals!
  • 5 minutes of rowing vigorously
  • 2 minutes of spinning (1 min. standing/1 min. sitting)
  • 1 mile on the Elliptical
  • Arm Circuit with 3 sets of 10 reps each, including a chest press, shoulder press, & bicep curls
  • Glute Extensions until you die (or around 50 on each leg at 65 lbs.)
  • Back to the treadmill for .5 miles, speed at 7
  • Finish up on the Elliptical because you have time to spare! (I got in 10 min.)

Yup, this was me this morning. I was sweatin’ like a fool. I had my hair piled on top of my head (it was my best creation at 5 AM). And I can guarantee everyone else in there probably thought I was on crack the way I was running all over the place. I obviously could not make up my mind about what to do.

Breakfast

Another rushed breakfast this morning, but it was surprisingly delicious and satisfying!

Oatmeal & Raspberries!
Oatmeal & Raspberries!

I whipped up some oats in the breakroom at work as soon as I arrived. It was classy since I prepared them in a styrofoam cup! I then tossed in some fresh raspberries, added a splash more of soymilk, and stirred it all up. The super hot oats warmed the berries through and it was the perfect consistency. I was very pleased with my breakroom breakfast!

IMG_5311I had the remainder of the raspberries and a cup of Greek yogurt on the side. Btw, if you are a Greek yogurt fan, this flavor from Kroger was amazing! Plus, I’m pretty much obsessed with the Kroger Greek Lite yogurt because it’s only 90 calories, 0 g fat, and 16 g of protein! It’s some powerful stuff and holds over my hungry tummy on most days.

I hope your Friday is off to a good start! If you’re one of those lucky people who took an extra day off and are reading this from the comfort of your couch, I hate you! Ok, not really. I wish I were right there with ya though.

See you after lunch!

How Many Days til Fall Begins?

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, Jazzercise

It’s 24 to be exact. Or I guess I should say, how many days until it feels like Fall? It has been a scorcher (highs in the mid-90s) all week, and this chick is just about done with it. I just want it to be cool for a few hours in the morning and evenings! That’s all I ask.. Oh, Missouri, how I loathe you sometimes.

What’s made it even worse is that my beloved Pumpkin Spice Latte has already returned to Starbucks (I found out this morning), and I just can’t bring myself to go get one when it’s 92 degrees outside.

Made with soymilk, of course!
Made with soymilk, of course!

Maybe this weekend when it’s only 89 degrees outside, I’ll be more in the mood to give the Pumpkin Spice a go (*sigh*)… Although, if I can hold off, I can guarantee it will be 10x more amazing and delicious on a cool morning while wearing a sweater and boots! But ya know, this is Missouri. It could happen sooner than I’m thinking. Fingers crossed!

Lunch

Lunch today was a good one! I was super hungry before I left my office and cravin’ eggs! Breakfast for lunch sounded amazing, so I grabbed the carton of eggs out of the fridge right as I walked in the door and got a hot skillet sizzling.

I’m a big fan of the Pam Olive Oil spray for scrambling eggs, so a quick coating of that was all I used to cook my lunch today. Then I whipped 2 eggs with a splash of soymilk and some salt & pepper. While these started cooking, I found a can of mixed veggies in the pantry and decided to toss them into the mix. It was comprised of diced potatoes, carrots, celery, corn, and peas. I let these stay on the heat long enough to heat through and then topped the scramble mix with a touch more pepper.

IMG_1818Having a hot lunch was a great change of pace, and it was delicious! I had a whole wheat Bagelthin on the side with some apple butter smeared on top.

IMG_8076Mmmm APPPPPLE BUTTTER. Yes, I love the stuff! If it was socially acceptable, I would eat the stuff with a spoon out of the jar. Ok, I maybe snuck one spoonful…or two.

After lunch, the day flew by and I arrived home to a needy dog. So I leashed Mac up for his normal 1 mile post-work walk before I headed to Jazzercise.

photoI was so sweaty and hot from our walk, that it took me a good 5 minutes to get into these snug workout clothes. Which the struggle, in turn, made me hotter. So I was roasting today! But I was happy to be headed to my favorite place anyways.

Jazzercise

I love me some mid-week Jazzercise lovin’! My classes always put me in a great mood plus give me an awesome work out. Tonight’s class was fairly low-key with only 2 students. I think everyone else has started their Labor Day weekend early! One of my very devout students brought me some of her garden fresh veggies. I have some of the best students!

photo(1)I’m so excited that tomorrow starts the long weekend, and I’ll have time to cook up these beautiful squash! The cucumbers will be made into a yummy salad and also just sliced up to eat on their own. I can’t get enough! And I’m definitely eating one right now along with my dinner. At least it’s a healthy addiction!

So any healthy recipe suggestions for the spaghetti squash? I typically bake it and then eat it with a little marinara sauce or by itself with some seasonings. I would love to try something new this time!

Time for a little more bridal shower crafting. Here’s the peek into what I have been doing. My fingers are slightly sore from tying so many tiny bows! Hint: The shower theme may or may not be a Bridal Tea Party!

photo(2)See you all in the morning! Get excited for Friday!