Weekend Adventures

Friday night, Jarid & I had a date night planned.  We try to have one night set aside, per week, just the two of us.

“The Devil Inside” was a movie that we had wanted to see since the preview scared us out of our seats in the theaters.  Scary movies are something we both enjoy, so it was opening weekend and we were definitely not missing out.  The film was pretty eerie, but had a mediocre ending.

Saturday morning, I took the time to make myself a yummy breakfast before I got to work on the elliptical.

I absolutely LOVE having the time on weekends to prepare a cooked breakfast, since most of the time I’m running out the door with a pair of Kashi waffles and a banana in my hand.

No, a simple yogurt parfait or a bowl of oats just wasn’t going to cut it.  I traded in the quick and easy for a simple, yet comforting Pumpkin French Toast recipe that totally hit the spot.

3 egg whites
1/4 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 tsp. baking powder
cinnamon (to taste)
1 splenda packet
3 slices multigrain fiber one bread (50 calories/piece)

Add first 5 ingredients to a bowl & mix thoroughly.  Dip your bread into the mixture until fully coated.  Simply, spray a skillet with non-stick cooking spray and cook on the stovetop!

After breakfast, I allowed time for my food to digest by stopping at the post office to pick up one of Jarid’s Christmas gifts that finally decided to arrive.

 I guess I can’t complain since I only ordered it two days before Christmas and it was coming the whole way from China… Haha.  He loves his Portland Trailblazers!  I bought him his favorite player, Aldridge’s jersey…authentic and everything!

Next up: Insane Abs & Elliptical while catching up on missed episodes of The Bachelor on Hulu.

The workout was pretty good, but the show was pretty lame.  This season, most of the stuff has to have been staged…it’s less realistic than watching a soap opera.  Reality Steve is a little harsh, but he’s not far from the truth.

Lunch made up for the lack of entertainment while sweating, though.

1 Health is Wealth “chicken” patty with Tribe Roasted Garlic hummus + reduced sugar ketchup and a side of greens (swiss chard, spinach, & spring mix) rubbed with 1 tbsp. of Lite Gazebo Room dressing

Ya know that’s not gonna fill me up for lunch, so I roasted some parsnip fries, zucchini, summer squash, mushrooms, and butternut squash (salted & peppered) in the oven, drizzled in some more reduced sugar ketchup.

Boom. Fantabulous lunch.

Afterward, I was off to watch the lil seester play some basketball at my alma mater.

I want to make it to as many games as I possibly can.  She has been there to support me through all my high school and college years, an I can’t wait to watch her progress, too.

After the game, I went to visit Toni, a blogger, a friend, and now, an independant distributer of It Works!  You may have heard of these amazing products recently, as the word is quickly spreading how awesome they are.

When I heard she became a distributor, I was thrilled at the chance to try a wrap and some of the supplements that she would be selling.

I love the fact that it is a detox, rather than one of those phony wraps that promise a “weight loss miracle”.  You know what I’m talking about…those programs that simply wrap you up until you sweat out water weight and claim a “miracle” has occurred.  Not the case with It Works!  Here’s how it goes:

“Our body wraps are a detox. You’ve heard of cleanses where people drink just juice or cayenne water for days? Those cleanse you and your colon from the inside. The Ultimate Body Applicator cleanses from the outside in, targeting your adipose cells, AKA your fat cells. Unless you’ve Lipo-ed your fat cells into oblivion, you’re stuck with the fat cells you have. And beside holding onto fat, they also hold onto toxins, which not only comes from bad eating, but also our environment and even stress. That’s what the Ultimate Body Applicator targets, shrinking your cells back to their normal size. The result is you look tightened and toned. This process takes 72 hours and the results can last 3-5 months!”

ingredients:

Horse chestnut

According to the National Institutes for Health, horse chestnut seed extract is good for treating varicose veins

Green tea

Known to protect the skin from sun damage, caffeine also is showing much promise in fighting wrinkles and sun damage

Bladderwrack

This is a type of seaweed and helps aging skin

Ivy leaf extract

Reports in from Europe say this is good for reducing stretch marks

Horsetail leaf/stem extract

Known to help encourage weight loss

Butcher’s Broom root extract

Combats varicose veins

Guarana seed extract

A shrub rich in caffeine, known as a stimulant, and expected to increase fat burning

Jojoba seed oil

Similar in structure to human skin oils, jojoba is good for unclogging pores

Menthol

Comes from mint, used to treat sun burns and as a topical analgesic

Rosemary leaf oil

Chock full of antioxidants

Eucalyptus leaf oil

Used for acne … Plus, doesn’t it smell wonderful?

These are just some of the wonderful ingredients found in the solution on our Ultimate Body Applicator body wraps. They stimulate and release the toxins and extra fat in your fat cells, then your lymphatic system does the rest of the work. That’s a fancy way of saying you pee it out. THAT’s why we require you drink so much water before, during, and after applying your slimming body wrap. And that, in an organic, botanical nutshell, is what the Ultimate Body Applicator is and how it works.

I’m going to do a full-review in the upcoming week so you can see my crazyyyy results, but for now, I’ll just recap the rest of the weekend.  Sorry for the tease!  I can promise, however, that there’s an opportunity of a giveaway for a WRAP!  Trust me, you want to try it! Both Toni and I didn’t know if we’d see extreme results, since I eat clean & workout all the time, but seriously… Let me just say, I’m completely dumbfounded by my results.  Stay tuned!!

On my way home, I had this delicious muffin for a snack.

Black Forest Light Touch muffin.  Just 135 calories (1.5g fat, 6g protein), made with wheat flour, and wholesome ingredients.

The rest of the night was spent with the surrogates, Jarid, & the family!  Jarid & I made turkey bacon wrapped jalapenos with fat free cream cheese stuffed in the middle.  SOOO yummy! It was a fantastic way to spend Saturday night.

 XOXO.

The Blink Of An Eye.

This weekend seemed to have come and gone in a split second.  It feels like just moments ago that I was leaving work on Friday, stopping by the Farmer’s Market for some produce, and heading home to start the weekend.

(Red leaf lettuce, romaine, bananas, broccoli, cucumber, red pepper, orange pepper, blueberries, apples, squash, avocado, and tomatoes)

I always try to support the local farmers by getting as much as I can at the market.  It’s usually much cheaper than the grocery store, too! 

After Insanity and some brief cardio on the elliptical, I got a quick shower, sat down for dinner with the family.

Pops had picked up Chinese, since no one felt like cooking, and chose to branch out from my normal steamed shrimp & chinese vegetables.

I opted for the steamed chicken instead.  It wasn’t bad, but I definitely missed the seafood and will probably never make that mistake again.

After dinner, I went to visit the best friend & baby Bowman.  He is getting so big!  My phone died, or I would’ve taken some photos.

Saturday morning, I did have breakfast, but somehow let it manage to escape my camera.  I’m pretty sure it was something basic like peanut flour ontop of Kashi waffles

All I found was this shot of my coffee with sugar-free vanilla bean frozen yogurt plopped inside.  If you’ve never tried this, it’s a great alternative to “cream” in coffee.  It tastes like dessert! 

 Next up, my Speech Communications class from 9-11:50AM.

 

The expository demonstrations were still going on this week, but since I had already done mine, the only work I had to do was “toastmastering” the other speeches, aka writing commendations and recommendations.

 

Some of the interesting topics this week, was one all about black women’s hair (weaves, braids, wigs), palm reading, and how the internet works.

And then there was lunch, of course.  I wanted to try out a “new-to-me” product that I found in the freezer aisle of the grocery store.

 Garden Lites are little souffles that come in a few different varieties, but I chose the roasted vegetable version.  They’ve got butternut squash, too, which I think would be awesome!

Good stats, great ingredients!

1 Garden Lites souffle, canned green beans, and a slice of toast with fat-free refried beans and sugar-free maple syrup

 The souffle was good, but nothing mind-blowing.  It was also rather pricey for the taste, so I would probably make my own from now on.  Can’t beat the convenience, though!  All I had to do was pop it in the microwave.

After lunch, I checked facebook and got to chat with D for the first time since he’s been over there.  All of our correspondence until this point had been messaging.

Then, it was time to get sweaty.

Insane abs workout & then some cardio on the bike & elliptical.   I get tired of typing those words…I can’t wait until it’s warm out, so I can get outside!

I rocked til I dropped…or actually, until my episode of “What Would You Do?” was over.  Ever watch it? 

It’s a reality show, that puts people in uncomfortable situations where they are forced to either speak up about an injustice that they’re witnessing, or ignore it.  For example, in this particular episode, they place two, role-playing soldiers in a diner that had just reunited.  They made it obvious that the two were a homosexual couple, and they publicly showed affection in front of all the people at the diner.  I thought it was interesting how many different types of reactions were caught on tape, and even some of the word exchanges that occurred!

After getting cleaned up, I finished an English Comp. paper and made some dinner.  Green monsters are perfect for tiding me over until my veggies are finished roasting. 

They’re refreshing, too, which is perfect for post workout eating.  This one was 1/3 C. canned pumpkin, 1/8 C. peanut flour, 3/4 C. unsweet almond breeze, sugar free syrup, ice, and spinach.

Soon the buzzer sounded on the stove, which meant my feast was ready to consume.

I remembered to photograph about 1/2 way through my plate.  I can assure you, this plate was piled high with zucchini, squash, broccoli, parsnips, and mushrooms with sea salt and pepper.  The sauce is a combo of light ragu and garlic lovers hummus <3  I had some toast with the meal, too, for whole grains, but it was camera shy

That night, a friend of mine was playing at the Hardware Bar with his band, Faded Fortune!

Stay tuned for an exciting Sunday recap!

XO

Weekend Perks.

Although I was a little disappointed that our game was cancelled for Saturday, since the other team didn’t have enough players, I soothed my sorrows with a breakfast that I’d been wanting to try since I saw it on Caitlin’s blog forever ago…that’s right, a grilled banana sandwich. 

(2 slices 12 grain pepperidge farm bread, 1/2 c. egg whites mixed with vanilla extract + cinnamon, 1 banana sliced, and some fat-free ricotta cheese + sugar free syrup ontop)

Sure, mine wasn’t as pretty as hers was, but it was completely delicious.  It kinda made up for the fact that I didn’t have a game to look forward to that day

Super filling, too!  I had speech communications class from 9AM to 11:50 and then practice from 12 until 2, so I packed a lunch to eat in transition.

(2 slices pepperidge farm whole grain bread, 1 with fat free strawberry cream cheese & one with Oscar Meyer chicken lunchmeat + forty spices hummus & baby spinach)

Plus, some icy pineapple.

Practice went pretty well, but there are a few girls who just started playing with us, so we had to go over allll of the play with them.  Since we already knew them, it got a bit tedious, but at least we got to play.

872 calories, 204 max hr(!!)

When I got home, I these busy bees were getting to work in the kitchen because we were having some friends over for a dinner party around 5.

On the menu was faux chicken parmesan, salad, steamed broccoli, and garlic crab stuffed mushrooms + crab dip for appetizers.

I was on shroom duty.  Mainly because I offered up my culinary skills (or Janetha’s, actually) and volunteered to make the recipe I saw on J’s page when she received the Chobani mitt!

Except, I had this secret ingredient from MarDona –> SWEET & HOT GARLIC CLOVES!  They sent me a whole bunch of goodies to try out and were super generous…another of which you’ll hear about later in the post…Phenomonal, I’m telling you. 

They turned out wonderfully and were a hit! 

Here’s my plate!  Roasted chicken breast with light ragu, steamed broccoli and a salad with 2 garlic crab stuffed mushrooms.

It was a fun Saturday night that ended with a viewing of “The Dark Knight“, which is in my opinion an awesome movie!

 The next morning,  I worked out before church.  Insane abs, biking, and the elliptical were my choices.  While I used the elliptical, I watched Extreme Makeover Home Edition on hulu.com.  Paula Deen was the celebrity volunteer for this episode and she cracked me up the entire time.  Food knowledge does not equal construction knowledge.

(1/3 C. oats, calorie free walden farms chocolate syrup, 1 egg white; icing = greek yogurt + sugar free vanilla syrup)

I made an oatcake for fueling, but this time before I mixed everything together, I blended the oats first.  It was much more cakelike this way!  I think it will continue to be the method I choose.  I had some frozen pineapple, too.

518 calories burned, avg HR 109

I jumped in the shower, got ready for church, and whipped up a pumpkiny green monster to sip on while I was rushing around doing my makeup and hair.

(3/4 C. unsweet vanilla almond breeze, 1/2 C. canned pumpkin, 3 ice cubes, handful spinach, 1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein + cinnamon)

YUM.  Refreshing and smooth.  It was the perfect addition to my oatcake for breakfast after a cardio workout.  Church this week was really cool.  As you may remember, Christian Life is doing a series on Living Well, and this week the message was all about physical health.

They’ve got a whole page dedicated to healthy recipes and lots of great sources for those that aren’t quite as educated in nutrition and wellness as they could be.

Church was finished around 12:30 and by the time I got to my car, I was glad that I had something packed!  I knew I would be running errands, so I threw together some leftovers from dinner the night before.

(A bed of greens (lettuce & spinach), carrots, tomato, cukes, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, and 1 chicken breast with a slice of 10 grain pepperidge farm bread with 1 tbsp. fat free strawberry cream cheese & some pineapple)

I couldn’t finish this all at once, but I knocked out the huge salad first.

You’re probably wondering what the mouth-watering glaze is that the entire salad was topped with…the truth is, a dressing MAKES a salad, but they get a bad reputation for having lots of calories and fat.  MarDona, as I said sent me some things from their product line to try out, including this amazing Cherry Balsamic Glaze.

oh.my.heavens.

 I had a hard time believing that this stuff was only 10 calories per serving.   SO flavorful and the perfect compliment to my veggies and chicken. 

 I got a few things at Target like notebooks to start my Spring semester, some NewTree Chocolate, and two cute shirts.

We had a STEELERS football party to go to Sunday night, so just had another green monster before we left.  My Dad actually was AT the game!

Hope you all had wonderful weekends!

Let me know some hilights!

XO.

Three R’s

I don’t know about you, but for me, weekends are the perfect time to regroup, recoop, and relax.  In that order, actually.  During the week, I sometimes feel like my schedule gets the best of me and I don’t take nearly enough time to stop and enjoy what’s actually going on around me.  OUT of my own little world.

Friday night, my teammate Eryn and I went to the campus cafeteria where the school was hosting a battle of the bands after basketball practice.  It was cheap (only $3 admittance with a student ID), but beforehand, we went to the closest grocery store and got some eats.

I grabbed a container from the salad bar and got to fixing my dinner.  Spinach, cukes, shredded carrots, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, imitation crab, strawberries, cantaloupe, chickpeas, and some fat free Vidalia Onion dressing with a strawberry Oikos on the side.

The bands were all pretty good!   We didn’t stay the entire time, but it only because we were beat.  I walked away with a cute little bowl from one of the vendors at the show!

I’m a sucker for handmade ceramics…but seriously who could pass it up for just $5?  If you could’ve, more power to you.

It’s even dishwasher and microwave safe: WIN!

I crashed pretty hard when I got home that night, but knew the weekend would continue on.  Saturday morning I began with a random, yet mouth-watering breakfast.

It’s so funny that during the week, I read about how bloggers come up with these intricate, delicious breakfasts that I excuse, claiming that I just don’t have enough time in the morning (aka, I don’t want to get up any earlier than I already do).  Truth is, I’m just as content with a waning apple butter jar filled with raw tofu for breakfast.  Weird and random? You betcha.  Delicious and nutritious?  Check & check.

This was absolutely wonderful.  The tofu seriously soaked up all the flavors in the apple butter and cinnamon only infused the flavor even more. Don’t ask me where I came up with this, because I have no idea.  It did, however fuel me through a pretty nice workout on Saturday morning.

Insanity is the second best workout I could get, I think.  First being basketball, of course.  But Shaun T gets my heart rate up in more ways than one if you know what I mean HA.  Plus, biking and ellipticalling while I caught up on my One Tree Hill episode.  Anyway, 813 calories later, I made some lunch.

Roasted Garlic hummus with black beans, alfalfa sprouts, and baby spinach on a flat out light wrap. 

I just LOVE natural lighting   After I demolished my wrap, I made some okra fries in the oven and polished them off as well without thinking twice.

With obligatory reduced sugar ketchup, of course.  It was a big day, and that required big fuel.  We were going together as a family down to Lancaster for my Aunt’s 50th Surprise Birthday party! 

The party started around 6PM and we got there right around that time.  My Aunt didn’t get there until about 6:30 and we all totally caught her off guard.  Her friends, co-workers, and family all celebrated and I think she really had a great time.

I think it’s safe to say, I get a LOT of my features from Poppa FF’s side of the family.  Freckles, auburn hair, button nose, green eyes…I wish this were a clearer photo, so you could really see the depiction.

I packed some goodies since I figured the selection would be limited.  I ate them on the car ride down for dinner!  Sweet potato slices, cucumber and red pepper spears, snap peas, and a wrap in the aluminum foil made with a Flat Out light, a sonoma jacks cheese wedge and sugar free apricot jam.

It was neat to check out all the old pictures that were displayed in the house!  I love stuff like that.  See the black and white of the two kids in the bottom left hand corner of this collage?  The little guy in the bowtie is Poppa FF   What a cutie!  Haha.

Sooooo that was my Friday and Saturday…Sunday’s post still to come! 

ALSO a reminder to enter my Oh!Nuts giveaway!

Welcome To The World, Baby Bo!

Verse of the Day:

“Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”

- 2 Corinthians 7:1

I’m apologizing now for not telling you all right away…but there are some things that I just can’t share on the blog right away…As many of you may know, I announced awhile ago that my best friend and cousin, Brandi was pregnant!

We were all a little worried about her because of all the health trials she’s already been through.  Pregnancy is DEFINITELY a miraculous thing that the body handles.  She and the hubs were headed to a wedding in Philly this weekend, when she started bleeding.  Jare (hubs) rushed her to the closest hospital, and there, Baby Bowman was born at 1 pound 10.1 ounces. 

Needless to say, we were all praying for Bran and Baby Bo the entire time.  I hated that I couldn’t be there for her!  The weekend was JAM packed, but I HAD to see her.

Saturday morning, FF Seester’s birthday, I woke up & ate a lil’ bitta breakfast.

1 Whole Grain, High Fiber Thomas English Muffin with frozen berries heated in the microwave and drizzled with Calorie Free Walden Farms chocolate syrup

Then I headed downstairs to bike for about an hour before the day got started.  After showering, we spent sometime together and gave the birthday girl her gifts aorund 10AM. 

I got her a cute hoodie from Abercrombie,

some Pink body splash from Vicky’s Secret, and some random earring and other jewelry from Claire’s (mostly earrings since she just got another hole!)

And then there was singing…

…and Carvel cake.  Carvel cakes in my family are like Pepperidge Farm Cakes in Kristin’s family.  After the birthday celebration, the rest of the family headed out to a baby shower, and I got ready to make a road trip to Philly with the boy.

Before I left, I whipped up some lunchhhh.

Egg white omelette with spinach, broccoli, red pepper, and onion topped with a dollop of Cedar’s Garlic Lover’s Hommos.

Mmmm.  I also had a green moster on the side made with 1/2 scoop Vanilla Chai AM (I’m trying to make this stuff last as long as possible!!!), 1/2 C. Unsweet Almond Breeze, and 3/4 frozen banana.

I also ate the rest of my shrimpies from the night at Arooga’s.

When we finally got to the hospital, no one was allowed to see baby Bo except the six people selected to be on the list (parents, grandparents, and siblings). 

We arrived around 3PM, and basically waited in the room outside the NICU the entire time so we could see the bestie.  She was in with the baby most of the time while we were there, and I was just happy to be there for her.

Besides the boy and I, the bestie’s sister & her hubs + kids were down along with my Aunt (bestie’s Momma). 

Between us and the kids, we stayed entertained.

We wanted to take the new parents out to dinner somewhere, but we could see that they were exhausted.  We weren’t ready for our time with them to be over quite yet, so we grabbed some dinner at about 6:30PM in the cafeteria at the hospital.  They had quite the selection, and I was pleasantly surprised!

I hit the salad bar and filled my plate with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, broccoli, peppers, carrots, sliced turkey, and a little bit of three bean salad on the top.  I used balsamic vinegar for dressing.

For dessert, I grabbed a cup of Light N’ Fit  blueberry yogurt (which is by NO means Chobani competition, but it was the only option) and a baby pear.

From there, we said our goodbyes and left for home.  I was sad to leave and it felt like the time with them flew by.  I can’t believe they’re going to have to be there until the due date!  (Nov. 16) But at least I know the baby will be in good hands, which is the most important thing. 

I’m thinking I’ll definitely take at least one more trip down to visit!  We even made it back in time to see a movie with some friends!  I’ll tell you what, I was ZONKED by the time I got home at about midnight!

How did you spend YOUR Saturday?

 

XO.

Adventures From The Weekend Part II

Saturday morning, I was feeling really ambitious at the gym.  I ran 11 miles on the elliptical and did extra sets of each of my floor work exercises.  Must’ve been the CHOCOLATE I ate for breakfast   These awesome Chocolate Cashews fueled me through an AWESOME workout. 

Chocolate YumNuts.

I had about 1.5 servings and a handful of Not Sweet Galaxy Granola before I left. 

Instead of 3 sets of each, I did 4  

• 1-minute “Supermans”
• 30 in-and-outs
• 1 minute planks
• 30 mountain climbers
• 12 sit ups to each side on the incline bench (totaled 144)

Afterward, I headed home to shower & get ready for the day. 

By the time I was finished tidying up, I was starvin’ marvin.  I threw together this delish bowl of veggies, because I was craving something crisp & fresh.

crunch, crunch.

How gorgeous are the colors?  Yeah, I think my new camera can stay   Along with my salad, I chowed down on a light string cheese.   It didn’t last long, as you can see.

cheesy.

I also wanted to make sure I ate some protein & whole grains with my meal, so I blended up a delish protein shake to make an SOC.

SOC.

This held me over for a longgggg time.  I went to get some goods with the Momma in the city that we needed for a birthday party for my cousin on Sunday.  We did a little shopping at The Children’s Place because that’s where he gets alll his clothes.   We found this outfit for him, which we thought would be perfect for the beach trip we take together as a hugeeeee family.

How shmexy is this outfit for a little man?!

And then Momma FF & I hit NY&C because she wanted some sunglasses and, well, I can shop ANYTIME, anywhere She found some chic shades and I came to the register with a nice summer maxi dress, which is gold/mustard colored with embellishment on the scoop neckline.  Unfortunately I was too dumb to snap a photo, but I will if ya’ll wanna see it!

We had to get back pretty quickly because we were headed to a friend’s house for dinner!  The rest of the night was spent catching up with old friends from church, drinking coffee, laughing, and just enjoying one another’s company.

 

I Had A Ball-Saturday

I knew it would be an early morning since I wanted to get a workout in before I left for Messiah, to watch my sister play softball.  I also had yet to find a dress for the dance afterward, so I wanted to stop on the way down to find one.

Before leaving for the gym, I ate some chocolate

Vitatop style, of course!

An hour & five on the elliptical for some nice easy cardio, burnin’ up 700 calories, and then doing some plyometrics afterward. 

• 3 sets of 30 in-and-outs
• 3 sets of 1 min. full planks
• 3 sets of 20 bicycles
• 3 sets of 20 each hip adductors/abductors each with about 100 lbs.

I had some packing to do when I got home, so I cut it a tad short.

I made this glass of creamy protein when I got home as well

thick & dreamy.

I was amazed at the difference between shakes made with xanthan gum (from Janetha!) & the ones without.  No more watered down taste!  This was just like a strawberry milkshake!

bubbly.

1 scoop Optimum Nutrition cake batter whey protein + 4 strawberries + 4 ice cubes + 1/2 tbsp. xanthan gum + water.

After the shake, I showered and packed up for the weekend.

I knew I’d need provisions because they were having a cook out after their double-header.  The game started at 1PM, so usually they get finished around 4:30PM and they have everything grilled up and ready to go around 5-5:30PM.

all the goods.

Into the cooler went some homemade honey mustard for dipping these:

Veggies!

Sugar snap peas with cherry tomatoes on the bottom, celery & sliced yellow pepper (left),  and broccoli & cauliflower (right).

 

Along with Fiber One & greek yogurt (breakfast Sunday), 2 light whole wheat english muffins for lunch/dinner, 2 fat free hot dogs and 1 Gardenburger in a baggie with some reduced sugar Heinz, for proteins of the day, and 2 gala apples.

 

I got to Kohl’s around 12:30 when I broke into my packed lunch in the parking lot.  After consumed, I went in looking for a semi-formal dress and came out with this cute thing.  I didn’t waste much time and practically came out with the only thing I tried on.  I wanted to get to the game!

it works.

 

Their softball team pretty much rocks and were the National Champs last year!

champs banner!

I got to watch the sister run the bases!  She was a pinch runner.

numba 19.

They won the first game, but lost the 2nd one.  In between, I somehow managed to get my flip flops stolen.  We went down to the creek to cool off,

Yellow Breeches.

dipping our feet in and naturally slipped off our shoes.  After all, it was about 90º!  Everyone was roasting and getting burnt.  I don’t think the heist was on purpose, seeing as how the theif left a pair of similar looking white flip flops in their place, however, it was definitely an upgrade for them since mine were nearly brand new and bright white! 

The cookout was fun and lots of food was eaten.  I happily ate out of my cooler with everyone else. 

We had a DANCE to get ready for, so after the cook out we went up to the dorms, showered, and prettied up.

sorry for the blurr!

The sister took the rest of the photos from the dance with her camera, so I’ve gotta wait until she emails them to me to share with ya’ll, but it was an absolute blast.  I learned to swing dance and was approached by a cute Messiah senior, who I ended up hanging out with the rest of the night.  Literally, I did not sit down ONCE.  Dancing the night away has a new meaning to this gal

We took a 3am trip to Sheetz after showering from the dance, and I picked out the infamous sugar-free jello bites that I always get and some watermelon with Diet Green Tea [no photo, sorrry!]

I slept like a rocK!

 

SnackTAXI Winner & Weekend Hilights!

Verse of the Day:

“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”

- Hebrews 7:25

I know you’re all super psyched to find out who won an adorable snackTAXI, so I gueeeeeeeeeessss I won’t keep you in suspense for any longer

Orrrr maybe I will. 

My weekend didn’t exactly go as planned, but it was fabulous none-the-less.

Plans:

Friday: Movie with a friend ended up being a chill night

after I snacked on these: 

Chococonut Granola Bar from Nature's Path

 +

 

Pitted date = nature's candy.

for fuel and hitting the gym. 

Saturday: Softball tournament with the fam ended up being a trip to Lancaster with my girl, Mandy for some shopping.

Abercrombie is seriously dangerous for my wallet.

 We spent most of our time at the Park City Mall, but we also hit some adorable vintage stores beforehand and I used the bathroom in a Health Foods store, where I couldn’t resist buying some of these bars:

SCORE.

Two of the very same dress, because they were on a GREAT sale & I couldn't decide between colors.

Gnu Bars!

I also got to pick up my painted cereal bowl from Jen’s Potery Den,

The crackle paint is my fave.

which I’m pretty pumped about.  It turned out pretty cute, don’t you agree?

move over, Anthropologie

 

Sunday: Rest day ended up at the gym, then finishing up work on the house,

Little sister Freckled Foodie messing with the drill!

& then a movie night with Ry. 

Epic.

We saw “Date Night“, which I thought was hysterical.  Tina Fey + Steve Carell is a winning combination. 

Eats were sporadic, yet delectable and for the most part, well-balanced.

I took part in some chocolate eating, naturally :

Banana Fudge Vitatop = 100 calories.

Diana's Banana Babies = 130 calories.

Some GREAT salads with some produce I picked up at the Farmer’s Market on Friday during my lunch break:

Alfalfa sprouts, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, cauliflower, & broccoli with Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar.

Broccoli, carrots, alfalfa sprouts, snap peas, tomato, & homemade honey mustard.

andddddd a NOT SO GREAT $10 salad from the Saladworks at the Food Court in the mall.

Skimpy on the toppings! Green beans, baby spinach, carrots, chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, and cucumber with balsamic light on the side.

The crusty wheat roll that came with it was pretty yummy though.  It came out all warm and soft on the inside with a flaky crust.  Washed down with Diet Green Tea.

Guess it’s just proof that if you want something done right, you’ve gotta do it yourself! ;)

Some other random eats from the weekend included:

Fiber Gourmet Rotini + Green Beans & Light Ragu.

Strawberry protein shake poured over 1 C. of Fiber Select for breakfast.

Simple breakfasts are what I crave.  I <3 cereal, what can I say?!

Loupe eaten 1/2 at at time

Scooped out with a spoon!

Gala apple.

Sweet, crunchy and juicy!

And nowwwwww the snackTAXI winner.  Since you’ve been so patient

CONGRATS, TAYDOR TOTT Please email me your address so I can ship you your own snackTAXI!

I hope all of your weekends were as sweet as mine!  Even if everything didn’t quite go “as planned”

Happy Monday!

My Weekend With Zorro & Giveaway Winner!

First, let me just start by saying, I got to spend most of my weekend staying with my Aunt, spending time with this handsome little devil.

Zorro!

 But I’ll start at the beginning and keep you in suspense until the end of the post when I’ll anounce the Oxygenfit winner!

Friday night, I went straight to the gym after work.  I packed a granola bar to fuel me through it.  Running on the elliptical for about 8 miles (650 calories) at levels 7 &9.  After the gym, I headed home for a shower and prep before the high school spring musical that my cousin had a role in. 

Once Upon A Mattress: The REAL Story of the Princess and the Pea.

It started at 7:30PM, so I had to hustle a bit, causing me to forget about my life as a food blogger and eat a bowl of cereal & protein milk that was not only boring, but also went unpictured, along with my sweet veggie soup, apple, & light cheese.

The play was fantastic.  The kids really did a nice job.  Very cute!  I have a video I’m hoping to upload tonight!

Saturday morning, I woke up around 7AM and went to the gym after I ate 1/2 granola bar.  I did the typical hour on the elliptical,  then came home starving.  I made a cake batter Optimum Nutrition protein shake & got a shower.  The camera was charging up for my trip to Lancaster, so I don’t have any photos because I’m a slacker.   Right before I left, I had a green monster with frozen spinach, 1/2 C. frozen berries, & 8oz. diet V8.

Good thing I did, because I didn’t end up eating anything until about 2 PM after I got to my aunts, was greeted by these cuties:

Coleman.

+

Jack.

 settled in, and went to destroy the local Giant’s salad bar.

Baby spinach, cucumber, peas, onion, beets, chickpeas, imitation crab, cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew, cauliflower, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, & mushrooms.

I was famished after the cardio that morning and it was catching up to me!

My Uncle Ed’s parents were also coming to visit them, and we all went to dinner together after relaxing & catching up  for most of the day, around 5:30PM. 

I highly recommend if you’re ever in the Lancaster area that you try this restaurant.  At Scooter’s, our waiter was sooo accomodating and patient with us.  He even managed to get me EXACTLY what I was craving for dinner!  Not to mention, the place had quote decor all over the walls to keep us entertained.

 

The table got some appetizers to share which included these three things.  I wasn’t really into them, and didn’t partake, but they didn’t look bad!

Philly Cheesesteak Egg Rolls

Mozzarella Sticks

For my entree, I ordered 1 lb. of steamed shrimp from the appetizer menu

I could only eat about 1/2 of this plate and saved the rest for the next day at lunch!

 and asked our waiter to hook me up with a salad, not on the menu.  One with just a boatload of veggies on it served with balsamic vinegar on the side. 

Baby spinach, cauliflower, carrots, onion, steamed green beans, mushrooms, broccoli, cucumber, & tomato!

 Twas EPIC.  He did a PERFECT job.  Sorry for the blurriness.  The quality of produce in Lancaster county is absolutely awesome.  Seriously, they’ve got tons of options for groceries, too.  Lots of organic/wholesome markets!  Oregon Dairy, Stauffer’s, etc.

Cherry, cream cheese, and chocolate chip cookies.

For dessert for the gang, we stopped at Giant and picked up some pastries to eat with coffee when we got back to the house.  I’m not a fan of them, but Uncle Ed’s parents seemed to like them!

Coffee set up!

Instead of pastries, for my dessert I ate a little cup of SF, ff vanilla ice cream with my coffee.  Probaby 1.5 servings for 105 calories.

dessert!

I also had a Deep Chocolate Vitatop since I was lacking in the whole grains department!

Sunday morning, I went to church at The Worship Center with an old friend.  An ex-boyfriend, actually.  Ha.  Oh how things have changed…Before I went, I ate this yummy bowl of Fiber One + Muscle Milk light from the 100 calorie packs I got from the Easter Bunny.

Simplicity.

Anyway, I really, really enjoyed the service.  The church was very contemporary and friendly.  The praise portion was AWESOME.  I loved the songs we sang, and the energy was consuming.  They had a guest speaker, RT Kendall, who preached on forgiveness and used the story of Joseph & his brothers as his example in the Bible.  It helped me realized that there are some people in life that I guess I haven’t TRULY forgiven yet.  Even though I said, “I forgive you”, my heart wasn’t completely submissive to the idea.  There were several steps in the process that I missed.

Check out the podcast!

After church, we went to the grocery store, I ate this baby apple before we left.

gala.

We made lunch upon our arrival home.  I had my leftover shrimp & a big ole’ salad.  I had to take advantage of all the awesome Lancaster county veggies while I still could!

YUM-O!

I topped this with 1 calorie per spray honey mustard & ate a Deep Chocolate Vitatop for lunch dessert

After lunch, we took another adventure to Jenn’s Pottery Den!  Cole had been itching to go there, and I was pretty excited too! I love these paint your own pottery places.  After much consideration of what to paint, thinking about all the different options that I would be able to use on the blog, I decided on a giant bowl.  Figuring I’d use it for many concoctions in the future.

My stuff.

I painted the base layer lilac and on the outside used a black crackle paint so the purple underneath would show through.  On the inside, I did deep purple & black polka dots with a rim around the top of sponged black & deep purple.  I can’t wait to see what it’ll look like!  We should have  them back in about a week. 

Jen’s also had the option of throwing your own pottery on the wheel and creating glass or gem mosaics.  I can’t wait to go back!  I’m DEFINITELY going to try my luck at the pottery wheel.  The last time I got the opportunity to do that was in college!  I LOVED art class.

Afterward, it was about 5:00PM and we headed to the store because I was telling my Aunt about how awesome Skinny Water is, and she really wanted to try some flavors!  Full review here

When we got home, my Aunt cooked up some chicken for on top of salad for dinner:

Isn't she adorable!? I love her so much!

while Cole & I conquered the world.

Two peas in a pod.

Guess we worked up an appetite!

Chicken, sauteed shroomies & onions, cukes, carrots, baby spinach, yellow pepper, & tomatoes.

glorrrrrious.

Dessert? yes please!

Cantaloupe, honeydew, & watermelon.

This redefines fruit cup

Plus a chocolate Vitatop agaaaaaain.  Is it possible for chocolate to NOT taste good? I think not.

After a fun filled weekend, it was time to head back to good old Halifax.

I got home, unpacked, packed my lunch:

L to R: honey mustard, greek yogurt + sf syrup & cinnamon, veggies, + Fiber Select.

Veggies included:

Baby carrots, baby zucchini!!!, cauliflower, cucumber, & yellow pepper.

ANNNNNNNND now.  For the moment you’ve all been waiting for. The winner of the Oxygenfit Toning system issssssssss………………….

ELISE!  Congratulations!  Please email me your mailing address so I can get you your Oxygenfit prize!!!

Have a great Monday, everyone!  Hope your weekends were as fun-filled as mine was!

Weekender Recap II

Saturday

Chocolate Brownie Granola Gourmet Bar for breakfast!

It was finally the day of my massage with the best friend!   The day started off on a good foot, with my 8:30AM yoga class, followed by a brief 2 mile run, a lil’ bit of  ab work, and some cycling for good measure!  Then, I showered up & made some lunch:

Egg whites & hot sauce.

Taking advantage of the plethora of eggs in the house, I used some as protein power! Then, I also made another Strawberry Cheesecake smoothie with spinach, fat free cottage cheese, & SF strawberry syrup!

A new twist on the Green Monster!

I also steamed a bag of veggies in the microwave and ate them in my Progresso cup with salt & pepper.

Broccoli, carrots, water chesnuts, & sugar snap peas medley!

Check out the beautiful sunshine on my veggies!  It was a gorgeous morning, but VERRRRY cold.  I did not pack enough layers to go on a long run!

It was time to leave for my 2:30PM massage appt at Warm Springs Day Spa in Chambersburg!

The inside was nicely, and minimally decorated with soft, relaxing music playing in the background.

I love the color on these walls!

We were each given complimentary water bottles and the rooms were set up really neat.  Seperate rooms, but an opening in the middle so we could see each other and talk during the experience!  Not that we talked at ALL as soon as the massage started.  We were too relaxed (if there is such a thing!)  Haha.

All kinds of oils, lotions & potions.

Best friends.

Bran!

Me!

It was a heavenly experience.  If I had the money I would be going for one of these babies once a week.  Afterward, we hit a few shopping stops because I needed gifts for my Mom & sisters’ birthdays,  BOTH in April!  Can’t tell what I got because they are both readers of the blog, even though they probably both know what they’re getting anyway since they only gave me a few ideas.

I did pick up a dress to wear for Easter at Target:

Easter dress.

Then, we met up with her Hubs for dinner at this family restaurant, the Greenvillage Drive-In Family Restaurant.

I was pretty impressed with the lengthy menu at this joint!  I finally settled a veggie burger (Gardenburger brand) on wheat toast with lettuce, tomato, & onion with a side salad of greens, carrots, & tomatoes with Fat Free Raspberry Vinaigrette.

Dinner is served!

The sandwich came with a dill pickle that I also ate!

Wasn't much to look at, but it was fresh and it did the trick

Bran ordered the grilled chicken & shrimp with french fries.

And Jare ordered the roasted turkey platter with mashed potatoes.

Looked like home cookin’!

We went back to their apt. for a little while and hung out together before I left around 7:30 for Nic’s place.

I did NOT take any pictures, but I will fill you in on all the juicy details

When I got there, to my surprise, my cousin Renee and her guy, Adam, who actually introduced Nic and I, were at Nic’s place.  They had gone to a mutual friend’s birthday party and were hanging out for awhile.  We started a movie all together, Couple’s Retreat, to be exact, but Adam & Renee left soon after it started.  Nic asked me if I wanted to change into something more comfortable because i was in semi-dressy clothes, while he was in shorts & a t-shirt.  I said sure, and he grabbed me a hoodie & athletic pants to change into.  When I came out of the bathroom, I was surprised to find the lights off, wine glasses filled and on the coffee table in front of his couch, a big blanket, and strawberry cheesecake waiting for us   He was so sweet! I was still stuffed from dinner, so I didn’t have any cheesecake, but I did take him up on the wine!  It was a good choice, too.  Slightly sweet.  White Zinfandel, I think?

It was a relaxing night and I left in plenty of time to be home & in bed so that I wasn’t groggy for church in the morning!    The perfect Saturday, if you ask me!