Life Becoming a Blurr

At the beginning of this school semester I thought that there was no way I would ever feel busier and more bogged down with assignments and things on my agenda than I did, I stand corrected. This present time has literally been non-stop, pedal to the medal, and any other cliche term that refers to fast times with no rest, that I have ever experienced. Trying to prepare for graduation, dealing with my job, schoolwork, Monkey, my boyfriend, a whole house to clean, plus getting exercise in six days a week has worn me down. 

With that being said, these last couple weeks have been far from my best eating ones. However, these things used to make me resent myself for the indulgences and/or just plain necessities I needed at that moment, I don't beat myself up over them anymore. Sometimes, stress just gets the best of us and instead of breaking down and crumbling, a lemon bar or two here, a margarita there, are easy remedies that keep me from pulling my hair out. One thing I am proud of myself for, is sticking with my workouts everyday. Even if it has to come in the evening after a six hour shift and my feet are aching, I know my mood will drastically be improved if I just do an hour of heart pumping exercise. I just tell my self "Make it through your 5 minute warm-up, and stretch, and if you still don't have any want or motivation to continue, we will call it a day and just go home." Most of the time, after I do my warmup, something kicks in that helps me make it through the hour. I use mantras all the time though. Simple sayings like "Don't think, just do," or one that I read recently, "You're one workout away from a great mood," inspire me to continue on.

I did manage to make my way to Chipotle the other night for my favorite Burrito Bowl to quell some anxiety though. 

I couldn't wait to dig in!

Mike and I had both had a long work week and after a 'no meat' Friday, due to Lent, I needed some MEAT!!! Barbacoa to be exact. I thinks it's cute how, when Mike and I go there together, they write 'his' and 'hers' on our bowls. :)

My awesome dinner with a side of homemade guacamole.

Before heading home, we recently got a "Yogurt Mountain" right next to our Chipotle. I have been hearing great things about this Fro-Yo chain, so I had to try it. I was thinking it would be mainly like all the rest of the shops around town but not at all. They had some amazing, unique flavors like German Chocolate, and Blue Cotton Candy just to name a few. Mike and I grabbed a cup and began filling up. I do wish they gave out smaller cups though, with all that room, it is so easy to get carried away in your creation, like I do. So many choices of delicious sounding yogurt, left me to make a combo of flavors and onto their delicious toppings.

The old me would have dove right into the crushed up Pop-Tarts they displayed next to the other numerous crazy concoctions in the bins. I now since have vowed off this caloric bomb in every possible way, even if I am not creating the most nutritious dessert. I added some chocolate waffle cone, marshmallow, and cookie dough, looking like something out of a five year old's fantasy dream...I couldn't wait to have mine after dinner. I was able to make it through half of my Chipotle, and a little more than half of my Yogurt Mountain till my stomach hit the breaks. After watching a movie with Mike, we both fell into a food coma and dozed off. 

Sunday

Nothing mind-boggleing happened Sunday except the dinner I made, not tooting my own horn or anything but...toot toot (just kidding!) While flying home from North Carolina a couple of weeks ago I ran across this awesome looking pork loin recipe in an issue of Cosmopolitan. It had a tomato-sage Gin sauce that was so yummy I wish the recipe would have made more.

Before the sauce...

Along with the pork I roasted some potatoes and cauliflower in the over. I had never had cauliflower before but it was nice.

With the sauce!

After dinner, Mike and I finished our Yogurt Mountain, and were able to relax to another movie. Monday would be a new week, and with a new week, new chances to start over.

Monday

I decided to plan out everything I would be eating this week on a menu that I could stick to even with my busy schedule. Hopefully, this will come in handy when all I want to do is reach for an extra snack or an unhealthy addition to my already healthy meals. Also, I won't have to think about what I need to fix, it will already be planned and prepared. I did a ramp workout that kicked mine and Mike's butt today and plan to have a night to myself (and Monkey) getting the house back in order. Hopefully, I will make it to my blog more often this week than last. I don't like when I don't write about what I am going through because then I have all this pent up stuff I need to release into the universe. Tomorrow I get to go to Melissa's Kickboxing class for the first time in two weeks! I can't wait, so until then...goodnight and good eats!

 

Life Lessons from my Kitty...

A lot of other bloggers I read, have recently been doing these posts about how their pets teach them lessons about life that truly should stick with you. I thought this was an adorable idea and never need an excuse to show off picture of my fluff monster, monkey, so I decided to do one as well. Here's to Monkey and all the things he does on a regular basis that I should be trying to stick to more often...

Snore, snore, fishy, snore, snore...treats...

First of all, sleep is very important to make priority in your life. Without ample sleep in your life, things are harder to do, concentrate on, and not as enjoyable to experience. Monkey sleeps later that Mike and I almost every day of the week with the exception of the days we get to sleep in, then he becomes an early riser of course. He also only likes sleeping on my side of the bed so I have to conform my legs around his body as not to disturb the angle, haha.

Squeaky Clean!

Next, personal hygiene is a must! Let's face it, I don't like smelly people, they don't like smelly people, so personal upkeep is important to you and your peers around you. Monkey gets a bath whenever his fur is looking greasy and he hates it! But I would rather deal with his struggles and have him smell like baby shampoo than litter, ewwww. I always feel terrible on Tuesdays and Thursdays because I normally squeeze in an hour workout between my two classes and don't have time to run home and shower, so I bring a change of clothes and just try and sit by myself. Good looking out.

Do you like my Poncho?

Always dress to impress! I have to admit, I am an offender of never doing this. I mostly live in gym clothes and my work uniform, but when I  have the time, I love getting dolled up. When my hair is nice, makeup is done, and I have a sweet new outfit to debut, nothing puts me in a better mood. However, I do enjoy a great pair of elastic waist 'boy' pants and a football jersey too! Don't worry, I never dress my cat up, but this was right after monkey had surgery and had to have this little poncho on. He looked so cute.

Streeeeeetch....

Before and after workouts, stretching is essential to prevent injuries. I have terrible shin splints and can tell if I have been slacking on the stretching when they hurt more than normal. Recently, my trainer introduced me to PVC pipe rollers. They are kind of like the foam ones, but that's not 'hard core' enough for Chris so the hard, unforgiving plastic it is! My mom also bought me this thing called "The Stick" that has a bunch of tiny rollers on a stick you roll over sore muscles and it feels great! Lactic Acid build-up is the worst enemy of workout-a-holics. Monkey just does it because he knows he looks cute and might score some tuna treats.

(**I hope this video works, I've never added a video before. It it doesn't, its monkey running around in a circle trying to catch his tale.)

Running around in circles, never gets you anywhere. My cat does this everyday, at the same time in the afternoon, and I crack up watching him. But seriously, when I feel like I am spinning my wheels faster than where they are taking me, I have to relax a little bit, regroup, and think about the priorities in my life, and what truly needs accomplishing. I stress out easily, so if I feel it starting to creep up, I try and go for a run, or talk to someone close to me, to iron things out. I love exercising because it clears my head space and is my "ME TIME." I rarely take my cell phone to the gym, because distractions can wait for an hour at least. I'll get to them after I have a good outlook on the day. 

Where did the Mouse Go??

Go after what you want! Monkey has this little toy with a mouse that goes around and around and he will roll around with it for hours. Me, on the other hand, asks myself, "Does this make me happy?" If the answer is "no," then I take a different path. Recently, I decided to take another direction in my career path than what I am majoring in, Business Hospitality. There is nothing wrong with the hospitality business, I just need a break from some aspects that are not making me happy right now. I do have a wonderful business venture that I will hopefully put in motion one day, but for now, fitness and wellness are what works for me and makes me happy every day.

Mine mine mine mine...

Lastly, make the best out of any situation. Monkey jumped right in this box when we got it home from Costco one day, and ever since, he has made it his permanent kitty cave. I can't say I am always able to see the silver lining in everything, but living with a very positive boyfriend and weird cat helps me to look on the bright side more often than not. I also am very lucky to have a wonderful family who gives great advice and comfort as well. I know no matter what my future hold, something good will happen, I am CONFIDENT! :)

I hope you enjoyed my post revolving around my cat. Two years ago, when Mike surprised me on Christmas with him it was one of the happiest days of my life, and still to this day he brightens even the worst days. Even my crazy treadmill day on Tuesday. The rest of this week is looking busy, but hopefully Mike and I can squeeze in some good food and fun so Monkey won't be lonely at home.

Oh yeah, last point, "Mama knows best!!"

Rare Occurrence...

This normally doesn't happen to me too often but on those not so appropriate occasions I have a 'Bad Day.' We all get them from time to time, but I hate when they rear their ugly heads on a Monday, the start of the week, because it always leaves me wondering what the rest of the week hold.

It all started off this morning. On Mondays, and Wednesdays I have an early class at 9, and usually wake up about 8 to get ready, make myself a shake, and find a parking spot on campus that isn't located a marathon walk away. My alarm must have been set for a different day because it didn't go off at the right time, which in turn, made us about 15 minutes late out the door. Mike and I made it to class just in time, however, we had the most boring speaker talk to us today about nothing...he even seemed bored talking to us. On top of being boring, my stomach felt like it had daggers in it from the not-so-healthy nachos and margarita I ate the night before (hey, don't judge, it was a skinnygirl Margarita, aaand FSU dominated Notre Dame last night in basketball, celebration? I think so!) but I was regretting it during the two hour long lecture on...um, I couldn't tell you honestly, that's how boring it was. 

After class I was a little happier though because my next class got cancelled and Mike and I could go to the gym together today! I don't know why I love when we go together so much more, we don't even use the same machines or workout together, I just love knowing he is there. Also, I was going to try out this treadmill set I printed out today and listen to some awesome new GLEE songs I had downloaded...or so I thought. We got to the gym and I made my way over to the treadmills, of course everyone was taken and the rest were broken and had "out of order" signs on them. Finally, a guy got off of one, 10 minutes later and wouldn't you know, it stops working as I get on it, just completely shuts down. So I waited another 10 minutes until someone else got off of the next treadmill, that one breaks as well, the second I get on it. I couldn't believe my luck, what am I? CURSED? 

So one guy finally gets off the treadmill I always use and I am ready to start this sucker and burn some nachos off when I go to turn on my IPOD and....IT'S DEEEEAD!!!

Great, so no music to run to is about as exciting as good old "What's his face" earlier lecturing. However, I had a magazine that I was going to skim over, so desperate times call for desperate measures. I began my set and was really starting to get into it. I was almost at the last three intervals (8 minutes left) when my screen went blank. At this point I asked, "Is this a joke??" What bad fitness karma have I put out into the universe lately? Maybe poking fun of those barbies who wear their makeup to the gym a couple posts ago? I don't know but I almost lost it on the repair guy who accidentally pulled the chord to my machine out of the wall instead of the treadmill next to me. I finished up and just had to get out of there. 

Mike and I came home, showered up and then I got to deal with our messed up Comcast DVR box in our room. I think this is the 9th time I've had to switch it out. They should give me free movie channels or something, haha. But I finished all of that nonsense and now hopefully work later will not follow suit to the previous part of my day. Time to eat a chicken sandwich and watch some Real Housewives of OC talk about each other behind their friends backs, ahhh relaxing.

Another round of suicide (workout) Saturdays

I was so happy to be back this week for my favorite workout of the week, Suicide Saturdays! I was a little groggy rolling out of bed, but got going quickly by making myself my green smoothie and slurping that down with my morning vitamins. I laced up my sneaks and headed to the local high school, because we were going to have a fun track workout like some of the previous weeks. Since I had missed last week when they were at Dead Game gym I felt like running outside and stretching my legs a little. It was such a beautiful day too, maybe I could lose some of the farmer’s tans I am beginning to develop.

When I got there, my trainer Chris, had us warm up with some easy laps and then explained to us our doom. We would start with a jog around the track to the middle where this concrete slab lay in the grass. After completing 10 pushups, run around the curve to the bleachers and do the 6 sets of zig zagged stairs till you reached the other side of the bleachers. Once that’s done we hopped back down to the track and did five wind sprints back and forth (about 25 yards each) and made our way to the BIG stairs. The BIG stairs are three sets of stairs that are just laid up this massive hill on the side of the track. We had to run them five times, but each time you made it to the top you did 10 squats with a jump. Once you finished that you ran around the track back to the concrete slab to repeat four times.

Whew….it was a toughie but I needed it considering those Guinness Cupcakes I made the night before. They didn’t last long in a house with a lonely, cupcake crazy fiend, yes, that would be me. After this crazy workout I sadly had to go into work and work a volume shift, which basically meant they could keep me until they saw fit. They saw fit at 10pm last night and my legs were aching. Thankfully, nothing a little fro-yo can’t fix though. Really took the sting and burn off, and just made me happy J. Now. It’s Sunday and time to do laundry, clean the house, and maybe make some lemon bars! Mike gets home tonight from North Carolina and I am picking him up from the airport, can’t wait to see him!

A little Guinness anyone?

I can't believe how long it has been since I have written my last post. Since I have returned home from Spring Break, Mike and I have been moving a mile a minute. Waking up, working out, eating, work, and then bed has been my routine for the last couple of days. I haven't even had time to have an OCD cleaning day! You would think today being St. Patrick's Day, my schedule would unwind a little bit, not in the least.

I woke up this morning and was excited to rock out a new workout dvd I have been dying to try since it came out. It's a DVD by BeachBody called TurboFire and it feels just like it sounds, like your body is on fire. I opted for the 45 minute round today because I got a bit of a late start this morning, and wanted to take a shower, so I could jet off to class not smelling like a sweaty gym rat. From the first combo, it was love. I love high energy videos like these with silly moves that make me want to master them and look as cool as the people in the video. I can't wait to try it again later in the week. A nice 700 calorie burn, I'll take it! Plus I learned some cool new moves I can bust out if I need to embarrass Mike in public :)

On a less fun note, at the beginning of this week, I found out I had two exams schedules for tonight, on this oh so glorious green beer filled day. On top of the tests, I was scheduled to work tonight and tomorrow morning (get to serve the drunk crowd and the hungover ones, I wonder who would tip better...) so I had some dilemmas that needed solving. Luckily, I was able to get sympathy from my boss who even thought a teacher scheduling two exams tonight was a little messed up, and let me off so I could take my tests. I did well, thank goodness, and after a long day of turbo-firing, classes and quizzes, I thought I deserved a well earned "Kitchen Sink Salad" from Ruby Tuesdays. I love their salad bar more than any other place that even offers salad. So many choices of my kind of veggies (I am not a fan of peppers of mushrooms), and a few fun toppings. I call it the kitchen sink because I basically throw everything in there except a kitchen sink, obviously.

Don't be alarmed...there is a lot of Spinach!

I throw in Spinach, carrots, hard boiled egg, crasins, edamame, more carrots, zucchini, and a few (quite a few, because they have the best) croutons. Now, I know all the health magazines in the world advise against croutons, but listen, if I'm gonna have a salad for dinner, it's gonna have something that keeps it fun, but I do opt out of adding cheese to it, so tit for tat. Also, since Mike has work and doesn't get to celebrate St. Patty's Day either, I picked up some Guinness at the liquor store next door. I thought it would be a nice little surprise later. 

Okay back to my salad...once I got it home, I added some chicken I had, had in the refrigerator and plowed in. Don't judge me, I was hungry and ate the whole thing. My massive salad was so good though. This reminded me of when I was in a sorority my Freshman year and the older girls put on a sketch to impersonate another sorority, where one girl is appalled she ate an entire apple. I felt silly saying "I can't believe I ate that entire salad," but what the hey, I needed some comforting in green form, it just so happened it wasn't watered down green beer, which I can't complain about.

Yeh, that's what I call "WINNING"

So my plans are now to paint my nails, watch some Celebrity Apprentice, and maybe use one of those bottles of Guinness to try a "Guinness Cupcake" that I have been wanting to make for a while now. I'll send some with Mike on his trip to North Carolina tomorrow and push the rest off on my work buddies. Off to explore the unknown and untasted!

Date Night...the end to a wonderful Spring Break.

Since Mike didn't get to have a 'Spring Break' this year, and only got to put in hard man hours at the restaurant he works at, we decided to have a big finale night and get creative with food. Mike has been having a hankering for some gourmet cuisine lately, so who to do it better than us?!? With this is mind we made our way to a new grocery store we recently got, "Earth Fare." I have been looking forward to going here for months now, Mike went last week without me and couldn't say enough good things about it. 

It's like my DisneyWorld...

Upon stepping into this place, I could tell it was going to be a special. All the produce looked so fresh and amazing! They had varieties of things I had never even heard of. We mainly came for the cheese and meat selection they had in the back, however, to get there we had to do some other shopping as well. It's what God would have wanted :) After loading up on some delicious eats, I heard a voice say something behind me and turned around to see my adorably bubbly kickboxing instructor, Melissa! She is so cute and was shopping with her husband and the newest little addition to her family. This makes me sad to write but I won't be able to attend any classes this week due to my lame work schedule, errr! After saying our goodbyes and good lucks, we made our way to the butcher counter and ordered some ground sirloin, ground buffalo, (I love combining the two, mixing in caramelized onions, and pre-shaping/freezing patties for me to eat throughout the week) and for dinner tonight, a leg of lamb! 

As satisfyingly exciting as that was, I love and was looking forward to the cheese section more than anything. We decided to go with a "truffle tremor," "Shropshire Yellow Blue," and a "Tomme du Sovil" along with some salami and crackers. Good thing there is plastic wrap on all the cheeses or else it might not have made it home it looked so good!

Once we got home, Mike got to work prepping the food, and I got to work putting the cheese plate together. Mine didn't take much skill or time so I poured my self a glass of my favorite wine (McMannis Petit Syrah) and plopped on the couch to have some bonding time with my kitty, Monkey.

Oh yeah...cheese please!

Ready for my close-up...

After having a good amount of cheese in my belly, Mike joined me and we watched our DVRed SNL episode which had us rolling in laughter. An hour later, dinner was ready and the house smelled wonderful. On the menu was Peppercorn and fennel encrusted lamb with a parsnip and potato puree, and a pomegranate reduction glaze. If your think that sounds good, it was ten times better! When we do date night, we go hard!

I ate all of this!

Needless to say, my bottomless pit of a stomach finally had a full feeling and Mike and I became lethargic blobs on the couch. 

I feel that even though I eat healthy and maintain the healthiest lifestyle I can, an indulgence is a necessity everyone in a while. It was nice to be able to let loose for a couple of days in New York and the two days I've been back in Tallahassee. Having days like these help me to keep on track every other day that is not vacation. I weighed myself this morning, just to see how much I had actually taken in from vacation and to my surprise I didn't gain any weight, however, I think I lost a little muscle and made up for it in fat. That is okay though because I have finally decided what I want to dedicate myself to for lent, loosing those five pounds I put on in place of muscle. This should be fun. I look at this as an adventure rather than a chore and the journey teaches your things rather than punishes you for what you wanted in the first place. Guilt never helps anything, but action does, so get ready polar watch, you're going to get a lot of use in these next couple of weeks!

I'm BACK baby!

I am already missing North Carolina, my parents, and the nice people that shop the isles of the local 'Harris Teeter' (that's the name of their grocery store, I know, kinda funny.) I got back to Tallahassee yesterday afternoon, where Mike picked me up from the airport, being the wonderful boyfriend he is, and got the great news he didn't have to go back to work!  I quickly took advantage of this by chatting his ear off about my trip and everything in between. I think his head was reeling a little bit.

I couldn't wait to get home and squeeze the love out of my fluffy, ginger kitty, monkey. He was waiting in the window and unsuspecting of the love I was about to bestow on him. After he wiggled his way free of my grasp, I unpacked, and Mike and I got ready to go grab some lunch and an FSU baseball game.

The game was great, but it got so cold out, we had to leave and warm ourselves up with a great glass of wine and some pretty good Italian food at Carraba's. After prying myself off of the rest of my baked ziti, we headed home for some catching up on our DVRed shows and some much needed sleep. It feels nice to be home with Mike and Monkey, I really missed them while I was away, but I definitely needed the vacation. Now back to the real life that is slowly inching it's way to graduation...did I mention slooowly?

It's good to be back...in North Carolina that is!

Taking a trip to New York definitely makes you appreciate the suburban-ness that is Charlotte, NC. I can say I am no city girl, I appreciate having adjoining parking lots to stores and restaurants, and a way to get to and from without a $20 taxi ride. I surely loved the everyday walking workouts that mom and I got, however, I truly missed the feeling of GLEE blaring in my ear as I run my heart out. With this being said, the first thing on my agenda this morning was to shake, rattle, and roll.

Shake, referring to a yummy chocolate and banana protein shake I drank before my run, rattle, meaning how 'rattled' I felt after not being in a gym for a couple of days, but  got 'rollin' (I know, cheesy) within the first couple of minutes. After a nice 30 minute treadmill set, a couple of one-minute stations around the gym, and then 30 more minutes on this cool elliptical/stair-stepper thingy I was 1100 calories down, and feeling exhilarated. Off to take a refreshing shower, and maybe hit the outlet mall?!!

Since mom and me got so overwhelmed by everything New York sized, the people, places, and prices of things, we didn't do much spring shopping while in the city, so we decided to hit up the nearby outlet mall, Concord Mills, or as I like to refer to it...Heaven! I'm not going to go into details (because my dad reads my blog) but, we had a great day! And pistachio gellati didn't hurt the end of the trip either. There might have been a scoop of dulce de leche too, it's vacation!

We made our way home, and since it is lent, our family tradition has always been to have thin-crust, cheese pizza on 'no meat' Fridays. Sounded good to me :) I did a load of wash and now to unpack myself from my broken suitcase, which broke on the trip to North Carolina, and into a new one, for my plane trip home to Tallahassee and my two loves, Mike and Monkey. I am going to miss this place and how laid back and stress free it is in comparison to Tallahassee. Also, it is always nice to spend time with my family, I don't know what I would do without their love and support in everything I do. Well, I have a lot of jammin' and crammin' to do...

Wonderfully "Wicked" Way to end New York...

Finally just sat down in elastic waisted pants and a t-shirt for the first time in days. I feel like our New York vacation flew by so fast, yet it tuckered us out, just to keep up with all the people, that we are happy to be in our quiet living room once again. Last time I wrote was before Monday night, so I'll just summarize the rest of the night. We were not entirely hungry and wanted some munchie appetizers, so we decided to go and check out "Serendipity III." Famous for their Frozen Hot Chocolate, and many other dessert monstrosities that only occupy my wildest dreams (yes, I do dream of dessert) we figured they would have some light food as well. We put our name in for about a 45 minute wait and headed over to Dylan's Candy Bar to kill some time, and who am I kidding, buy some candy!

Hello mint chocolate bar that I will soon eat...

This place was absolutely, off the wall cool. Any candy creation, or thing you could think of, lined the wall, hung off shelves, sat in candy jars, all for the taking, and buying of course. 

Mom's every step is sweet!

Um...yes please! How long can I stay?

I opted for some dark, belgium chocolate bars and some fluer de sal caramel popcorn. That will make for some great snacking on the plane ride home. Once we pried ourselves out of the candy superstore we headed back to Serendipity III to check in on our reservations.

Unfortunately ,once we got sat and looked at the menu, nothing really sounded up our alley so we decided to meet up with my mom's friend instead. Besides, we had to get up early for "Carlo's Bake Shop" in the morning.

Hooray! Found it...

Chocolate covered cannoli shells...yum!

Just a few pictures to recap how my morning looked, nice and sweet. The rest of the day we shopped and decided to go to "Little Italy" for dinner. We found a hole in my wall place called "Rocky's" and had some wonderful Italian fare that made me feel like I had a "food baby" afterwards.

Gorgonzola Cheese Dip with garlic toast

Veal Parmesan, I ate the entire plate.

After this meal, I had a very good night sleep and couldn't wait for the following day to come to go see Wicked on broadway.

 

The next day we got a late start and just moseyed around the city shopping for nothing specific. It was very cold and windy so we went back to the hotel early, with some warm, toasty, Starbuck's drinks in hand, in order to look nice for dinner and the show. I was super excited for dinner at "Kraft Bar," Tom Colicchio's restaurant, a chef who I love and look up to. Dinner was to die for!

We started with Parmesan Risotto Balls, I ate one too soon, there were three. Oops.

Then came our entrees...

I had sweet potato agnolotti (small ravioli) with salt cured bacon bits, walnuts, and brussel sprouts.

My mom had seared skate wing with kale, fried garlic, and a chickpea sauce...so good. And for dessert we had maple doughnuts with salted caramel and banana ice cream.

Needless to say, I was full and happy for the show. And what a show it was, I recommend it highly for anyone. I love musical theatre and am proud of myself for not singing out loud the songs that I know and love so much. The best part is when you are so captivated by the show that everything/one else in the room seems to disappear and it is a private show only for you. I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats (I don't really know, I have never seen CATS, even thoughI wish I had) I just loved the entire night. However, I am now exhausted after a full day of plane traveling next to some less than desirable people. I need a vacation from vacation travel now, haha. I'm ready for some couch time with my kitties!

I won't leave New York fat!

After just walking 30+ blocks I can honestly say my feet want to detach themselves from my body and be back in Florida. Today has been a busy filled one from start to finish, which won't be until after dinner tonight!

Mom and I slept in till 8:30 this morning. We had planned on waking up early to make it to "Carlo's Bake Shop" before the crowd came, but nothing is better than a warm fluffy bed when it is 30F outside. After we woke up and got situated, we made our way to the concierge at our hotel so he could help us not get lost on our way to Hoboken New Jersey. This ultimately didn't matter because between my mom and me, getting lost is just a thing to expect.

Two subway trains, and many blocks later, we came upon the TLC's famous bakery. At first, it looked as if it was closed because the windows were dark and no one was standing outside in the line we had head about, that normally wraps around the building. Luckily, we had made it there just in time to not have to stand out in the cold for their famous pastries. The smell you got when entering this place was astounding. Sweet cookies, and cakes, brownies, and flaky pastries filled the display cases, I couldn't wait. After standing in line for an hour we got the goods and made our way back to the city. They did not disappoint, everything I have tasted so far has been scrumptious!

We spent most of the day getting lost in the HUMUNGO Macy's in midtown and the other stores that were close by. Around 5:00, mom and me needed a break and some time off of our feet before heading out to dinner. We plan on going to Little Italy to get some authentic, comforting, Italian food. Needless to say, we will be taking a cab there and back. My feet have had enough for today. It's time to take a nap...

First Day in New York City!

I can without a doubt say I was a lazy girl last night and opted for BRAVO's premiere of "Real Housewives of OC" over writing a blog post. To my credit I didn't do much once I got home except repack into a smaller suitcase because having to pay $25 to check a bag is a little silly if you ask me.

Early this morning, Mom and I woke up around 6:30 and got ready to head to the airport for our adventurous day to begin. After all the hustle and bustle that was "Monday" heading to New York we arrived in one piece and very hungry. I had planned on eating one of Starbuck's "Perfect Oatmeals" which I absolutely love, however, none of the Starbucks in the North Carolina Airport had any. I was heartbroken and so dissapointed. Get it together NC, big clunky muffins and pastries are soooo 1999 :) So I had to settle for a strawberry smoothie and a "Be Kind" blueberry and cashew bar. It was pretty good though.

Once we landed, we made our way to catch the shuttle around 12:50. We had reservations at "Loeb's Boathouse" in Central Park at 2:15 so we figured we had plenty of time. From the time we left the airport, to the beautiful Hilton 57 where we are staying it took nearly and hour and a half. New York drivers are unlike anything else on the planet. I would have gotten into 28 accidents and maybe killed a dozen people if it had been me driving. I'm sure all of New York's population is happy it wasn't.

Luckily, we made it to our hotel in one piece and checked into a beautifully, modernly decorated suite at Hilton 57.

Our gorgeous room!

I wish I could have captured more of it in the photo.

Not ones to lolli-gag, we high tailed it over to central park so we could make our 2:15 lunch reservations. After getting a little lost in the 10 minutes we walked around central park we found The Boathouse and excitedly made our way inside. It was such a beautiful and classic restaurant.

Mommy and me at our lake side table.

We started lunch with a bowl or Lobster Bisque and a Tomato and Mozzarella salad. The flavors these simple components left us with were unspeakable. Such delicate flavors not overwhelmed by harsh sauces or ridiculous presentations. Very impressive, and that was just appetizers!

Buffalo Mozzarella with tomato and olive oil...yuuummm

Lobster Bisque...extra yum!

Once we finished these we ordered lunch and couldn't wait for it to arrive. While we waited we chatted and took in the scenery that is New York. It is so interesting to just watch people and their mannerisms. I think I could go to the city and just watch people all day like a creeper and not get anything accomplished. My debit card might appreciate this...Lunch arrived!

Turkey, avocado, tomato, chipotle mayo on french bread with homemade chips and frise salad.

Mine, and my mom got an awesome pair of mini cheeseburgers with homemade tater tots...everything tasted wonderful!

You know I had to have some of this!

After lunch we were ready to explore the city! Get lost, get found, find stores, find homeless people, and everything in between. A couple of highlights to the rest of the day definitely were going to the Lululemon store, going to Momofuku milk bar, and spending it all with my mom! I am beat though, so here are the photos. Momofuku's famous "CRACK PIE" is putting me into a blissful food coma....drifting off to sleep so we can do it all again, and more tomorrow. 

Hooray, workout clothes!

I feel like most people were not as excited as I was to see this store..hmmmm.

We heard we should go in and check out the bathrooms, but we got sidetracked and went to NikeTown instead.

After watching "Celebrity Apprentice" last night we had to do some checking up on the "Trumpster."

After passing this place THREE times we found out the Milk bar is inside Ma Peche.

Goodnight Blog World...and Mike and Monkey, Love you!

I love Saturday's w/ TC Fitness!

So I meant to write this post yesterday but was absolutely too bogged down with packing and work to do anything but plug this bad boy into it's charger for today's trip. Just a quick refresher, every Saturday morning I meet my trainers and a couple other hard core work-out-a-holics at our local MMA gym (DeadGame) to get our butts handed to us in a rigorous "varietal" workout. This week Chris (one of my trainers) decided it was time for some heavy duty Kickboxing and bag work. However, he also got a new toy which I like to refer to as "The Rope of Death." Am I being dramatic? Maybe. Well named? I think yes!

Sorry for the poor picture quality, I only had my phone yesterday and wanted to show what this actually looked like. If I could only show what they felt like also... You had to take each rope in one hand and whip it up and down creating ripples, alternating small and large, back and forth, squatting and standing. I wanted to pass out. My abs were on fire.  We incorporated this station along with some planks on the TRX, front kicks on the bag, knee thrusts on the bags, and jump rope. We would do five rounds of 3 minutes and every round pause to do ten pushups, for good measure, of course. We also did five rounds boxing on a heavy bag, and five rounds with Chris holding pads and calling out combinations until basically you fall on the floor and won't get back up. The answer is "Yes" I pay for this :)

Cool Graffiti on the wall

I feel like this is starting to look American Gladiator-esque"

After burning 1000 calories and feeling as though I could eat a human I headed home to start the daunting task of packing.

I am now sitting in the lush Tallahassee airport waiting to board my flight. I'll write later tonight once I've landed and am settled in North Carolina. Thank goodness my Spring Break is starting, It is much needed!

New York, here we come...

Well...not quite yet, but the official countdown has begun. I can see the shining light at the end of the tunnel. All my projects are finished, tests taken, and the only obstacles standing in my way are packing and the two nights of work waiting for me. However, in the midst of all this, Mike got some amazing news today. He got his first offer from a very prestigious restaurant to go and manage in Jacksonville Florida. I am so proud of him and all the effort he has put into finding a job. He still has a couple of other jobs to hear back from but it is exciting knowing there are jobs out there.

So back to the packing part. I am one of those people who has to be in a certain mood to start even pulling my suitcase out. I am extremely OCD and put everything in their proper bags and compartments and I am just not ready to do that yet so I am going to take baby steps and do laundry. This will at least give me an array of clean clothes to choose from later. I am super excited for Mom and my trip to New York, I keep daydreaming about all we are going to do.

The first night we fly into New York we are going straight to see the musical "Wicked." Let me explain my crazy obsession with anything and everything Broadway related. As my former roommates, friends, and Mike can vouch, I LOVE THEM! If life could be one big musical where no matter what emotion or event people are going through, they could just burst out into a cleverly written song and well choreographed dance, I feel this world would be rid of most of it's problems. (I think you just got an inside to how I would run the world if given the chance.) Hopefully I won't embarrass myself or my mom too much by mouthing every word and bobbing my head to all the songs.

I wish I could say the things I am looking forward to seeing most are the statues and monumental landmarks like The Statue of Liberty or The Empire State Building but my main goal is to eat as much as as I possibly can in the time frame allotted. New York has some of the most famous restaurants to offer anywhere. I would try and list them all but I would end up writing a novel. Let's just say I am bringing my running shoes and plan to do some morning miles in that hotel gym! Other than that I just want to get lost in everything New York culture and have a wonderful week with my amazing mom! She truly is my best friend and what better way to spend a spring break than with your best friend in the world's mecca for fun? Here's to New York!

If you look close you can see all the food I will be eating... haha.

Playing Hookie Never Tasted Sooo Good!

Normally I don't just blow off my classes to stuff my face full of amazing breakfast foods, however, this morning was going to have to be an exception. Let me preface this story by telling you it all started yesterday when numerous Facebook status updates of my friends bragged about the abundance of free pancakes they were enjoying compliments of "IHOP's Free Pancake Day." I complained to Mike how much I loved pancakes and that I thought we should participate in this "once a year treat" because we never do our traditionally Sunday morning breakfasts anymore due to him cooking mass quantities of brunch food for the rest of Tallahassee at the restaurant he works at. Unfortunately, we both had to decline because our schedules just wouldn't allow for such a thing. Sad as I was, I knew it wasn't either of our faults, it just wasn't in the cards for the busy lives we live.

To my delightful surprise though, when Mike got off work last night he made the very thoughtful suggestion of having our very own "Pancake Day" this morning and just missing our first class which we have attended everyday of since the start of the semester, so we didn't feel too bad about it. You don't have to pull my arm...I was in and totally stoked for the morning. Sure beats waking up at 8 am to learn about Lodging, can you say snore fest?

This morning we snoozed until 9 am (I know, we slept in, but if your gonna be bad might as well do it right) and when we got up Mike began the batter. A couple of years ago I had picked up a "Health Magazine" in Publix because of the interesting recipes it promised on the cover. One of them being "The Healthiest Pancake in the World". This was intriguing to me so I tried the recipe and it has been love ever since. These pancakes are so amazing, they make you want to cry, okay maybe not thaaaat awesome, but they are pretty tasty.

Here is the original recipe, but the link above should be clearer.

Pancake batter before adding the oatty goodness.

Mike is such a great boyfriend and knew how much this meant to me so he did the whole thing by himself while I watched "Teen Mom 2" on the couch and had a lazy morning. He makes a mean pancake though, I don't think I could have done them better.

We like to make dollar sized ones to feel like you can have more.

Mike wouldn't let me take his picture so this is how much I could snap of him...photogenic no??

I was so excited, and they smelled so good that I filled my plate before Mike was even done flipping all the Oatty Pancakes. 

I remembered to snap a photo before shoveling these down. 

I have always been weird when it comes to syrup though, or dressings for that matter. I don't like soggy things ie. salads and pancakes so I always put dressings, and in this case syrup, on the side. I also found this awesome "Brummel and Brown Yogurt Butter" that takes the place of high fatty butter and has only 40 calories per 2 tablespoons. It tastes just like butter, but is yogurt, and works in place of many things that calls for butter. It can also be melted down if need be. 

After eating an undisclosed amount (it was a lot) I laced up my sneakers and headed to campus to run all this off. Luckily, the oats gave me plenty of energy to clock some strong miles. It is such a beautiful day out, I guess I'll start coming around to this Spring stuff. Here's to some awesome farmer and sunglasses tans!