Tuesday

Pics from Dallas

Background notes: I became friends with Denise in the 6th grade. We lived in the same neighborhood, rode the same bus to school and bonded when a mutual friend moved away. At some point, we also befriended Kate. For about two years, the three of us were inseparable. Then Kate went to a private high school and it was never really the same. Somehow we all stayed friends attending three different colleges and now we are all grown up and living in three different states. This picture is circa 1995 while we were in 8th grade (I'm guessing here. I think Kate had braces in 8th grade.) I will probably get yelled at for sharing this very flattering image with the internets.


While I've heard a DD is coming to the metro area, I have not heard of one being opened remotely near my home or office, so I'm not excited. While in Dallas, Kate and I were adamant that we go at least once to get some DD coffee. I tried the chocolate flavor and it was pretty darn tasty.




It's crazy how much the three of us have changed since we became friends in middle school, but I'm glad we finally spent some time together and hung out like we used too. This time there were no ouiji boards or cooking s'mores on the gas stovetop at our parent's house like we used to on early dismissal days.



Sunday

To Dallas and back

I had a whirlwind weekend in Dallas, spending time with two of my good buds from middle school. We kept talking about how much we don't get to see each other, but that when we do manage to hang out we all know each other so well that it's always a good time.

We went to IKEA (my first time) and Allen Outlet mall. We had Dunkin Donuts and spent a large amount of time at Ann Taylor. I was thisclose to buying a new Coach purse, but the thought of telling the hubs about my purchase deterred me. We went out for awesome mexican (I could not eat salsa or guac at this place, but my chicken fajitas were awesome. The tortillas were hand made) and grilled kabobs at Denise's cute house.

It was a great weekend and I am already thinking about the next time I visit. I want to bring the hubs down with me so Denise's hubs can hang without so much estrogen and shopping.

Wednesday

the shred continues

I've been doing Jillian's 30-day shred for a week and a half. I thought it was pretty easy last night on level 1, so tonight I decided to up the ante a bit.

Wow.

That was a challenge. Even though I'm not a "huge" or "obese" person anymore, I'm not "small" either and holding myself up in a plank position for most of the workout was definitely much harder than the stuff we do on level 1.

The bad news is, after 1 week of doing the shred AND weight watchers, I gained a pound. To stay sane, I've told myself it's muscle. I hope it's muscle. I told the hubs that I would give Jillian 2 more weeks of shredding, and if I gain more lbs, we have to try something else.

Sunday

Chicken Pot Pie


My first attempt at Chicken Pot Pie was a pretty good success. We had my parents over for dinner and I had the recipe from a work friend who says her kids love it. Last night I was telling my mom the plan for dinner and she said she had not had a pot pie since her childhood, but that she ate them often. I asked her why she never made pot pie for us as kids and she said it was because she was burnt out from her own childhood.

Overall, it was pretty easy to make and I think the hubs and I will have this again fairly soon. Especially if the temperature stays so cold.

Saturday

Veggie Soup


The hubs and I are working on perfecting our version of what we call Veggie Soup. It's really veggie soup with ground turkey in it, or if we are feeling skinny, we will put some beef from the cow my FIL gave us in there instead.

We've been eating more and more fresh or frozen veggies instead of canned. So this soup has lean ground turkey, frozen corn, fresh carrots, frozen peas and green beans and tomato juice. That's it. Pretty healthy stuff.

Thursday

London, March 2004


The other day, I read how one of my buddies was actually in London the same week I was. Because of that, I went to look at my photos of London and thought you might be interested in seeing some of them.

I went to London with one of my best friends in high school, even though we didn't go to the same school. We remained friends throughout college and still keep in touch, even though we don't see each other much anymore (oh facebook, you keep everyone connected).

Below is my favorite photo of the modern art museum. All those people down there are real. They are laying in the sun.

At Hyde Park I think.
View from the bus tour of Big Ben:

Shakespeare's play house. We went on the tour of this too, which I thought was very cool even though I wasn't that excited to do it.

Harrods.



New breakfast

I've been wanting to make a Hungry Girl recipe for a while now, but just went to the store a few days ago and stocked up on the necessary items. I made the classic egg scramble. It's basically egg beaters and a wedge of laughing cow cheese. The Hungry Girl has been creating all sorts of variations with those two ingredients as the base. I'm a simple eater in the morning and that was all I needed. The best part is it was only 2 points!!

Monday

Le Shred

I've busted out my trusty Jillian 30-day shred DVD again. I managed to motivate myself to do it twice over the holidays. Today was day 1 for the shred, as well as day 1 for honestly counting my points. I usually "count" them as I eat them, but don't keep track of them throughout the day and certainly don't bother to stop when I should. We are approximately 60 days from the beach here people. Time to get our butts in gear.

Sunday

Back to work

After five consecutive days off work, I was just starting to get the hang of it. Tomorrow is back to the grind though. Luckily, I love my job so it's not hard to go back to work. I've actually missed talking to my coworkers.

The good news about going back to work is going back to normal eating habits. I can drink my required amount of water and not snack all day. The fudge my mom shared with me from Christmas will also be going with me to the office because I certainly do not need to eat it.

The hubs and I are going to the grocery store in a few minutes to stock up for the week on veggies and lean meats. I have two recipes planned for the week, both of which are made up by one of my favorite bloggers: Roni's Weigh.

Tonight we are making Turkey Stromboli and later this week we will make Pasta Pie. I've made the pasta pie before with Katie, but I did not have the proper equipment. We improvised and used a square glass pan instead of the cheesecake pan, and it turned out okay. I asked for a cheesecake pan for Christmas so now I can make it properly.

Saturday

A grammar lesson

In the last few weeks someone I hoped had more intelligence said to me, on numerous occasions, "oh-ten." As in "next year in 'oh-ten' we will..." Let's discuss that amongst ourselves for a moment. When the 2000s began, people said two-thousand one, two-thousand and one, and oh-one. No problem there. Last year it was the same: two-thousand nine, two-thousand and nine, and oh-nine. All of those are just fine. What is not fine is saying oh-ten. Twenty-ten is cool. Two-thousand ten is fine. I guess two-thousand and ten is doable. So, let's all sound a little smarter in 2010 and stay away from the term OH-TEN.