Stressed to the Max

Ugh! Hi guys!!! I am totally stressed to the max here. Today is one of those days when I feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day. Between both of my jobs and school, I am so busy and stressed about getting things done. I need to remember, “one thing at a time!!!” What do you do when you are stressed and feel like you have no time to get things done? How to you manage? What do you tell yourself?

Breakfast this morning was a Green Monster, the best way to get back on track after my very rich weekend, in my opinion.

ingredients:

• Banana
• Spinach
• fat free organic milk
• chocolate almond milk
• PB2
• Chocolate PB2
• Protein Powder
• ice

I also had some coffee also while I caught you all up on my weekend!

Even though I have a million things on my to-do list, I decorated my cube at work for the Holidays.

I got that wooden tree last year around this time and the Red Sox stocking was given to me by my boss last year. And- I am totally listening to the Christmas station in Pandora! 🙂

Here is today’s outfit:

White Turtle neck Sweater (Express), Plaid Pants (Gap), Red Patent Flats (Nine West).

Well I am off to be productive. See you soon!

 

 

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Thankful for a Busy Weekend Part 2 !!!!

Morning! I am back, bright and early this morning. I slept awful last night. I have a huge paper due tomorrow that is weighing on my mind big time! I have to get it 100% done tonight after working at my part-time job, so I am just a little stressed about it! Wish me luck!!!

Ok, back to the weekend. I last left off at breakfast on Thursday. Around 1pm, I went to my parent’s house and had my first Thanksgiving dinner of the day 🙂

Yummm! The stars of the show were the stuffing

and the mashed sweet potatoes with toasted pecan butter, that I brought. You can see the recipe for those here.

Around 5pm, when Adam got home from work, we headed to his sister’s house. I had a yummy glass of eggnog with rum while chatting about running with Adam’s brother in law Grant.

Around 6pm, I had my second Thanksgiving meal…. mostly veggies.

I only ate about half. My eyes were bigger than my tummy. I just got a little too excited when I saw all the veggies.

The dessert spread was just as impressive as the meal. Oh my Gosh!

My healthier version of dark chocolate pumpkin pie. You can get the recipe for that here.

Peanut Butter pie…my favorite!!!!!!

Brownies and Apple Pie.

Pumpkin Pie…obvi!!

Pastries that Adam brought from a bakery near his station.

Cookies!

I had a cookie:

and a small piece of peanut butter pie!!

Adam’s sister CJ made this pie, but you can get the recipe from this post. If you like peanut butter, you will LLOOOOOOVVVEEEE this, trust!

Grant tired my cheesecake and gave it two thumbs up!!! YAY!

Throughout the evening, I also snacked on some celery and olive cream cheese. Adam’s mom makes this for Thanksgiving and Christmas every year, and I just love it!

On Friday morning, I got up at 5:30, got dressed and headed out for my Annual Black Friday Shopping Trip with my dad. Every year, my dad and I go out there and battle the crowds to get some good deals. We do a lot of shopping for my mom done usually. This year I actually got a lot of shopping done for our nieces and nephews. We have 11, I got 7 of them their gifts! I felt good to get that done and get such good deals. Dad and I were out shopping for 9 hours!!!!! Around 7:30 we went to Sound Bites to have breakfast.

I started off with a pumpkin spice coffee.

For my breakfast, I ordered a Greek egg white omelet (spinach and feta). It came with Sound Bites delicious “No Place Like Homefries”. SO GOOD! They are like mashed potato homefries.

I ate the whole thing. Dad and I also spit a side of whole wheat pancakes.

I had one with a little butter and syrup.

Around 3:30, when we were done shopping, Dad and I stopped and grabbed a late lunch. We split a small cheese pizza.

When I got home from our shopping trip, I had a small slice of peanut butter pie (I took the leftovers home with me… uh-oh!) and then took a nap, I was pooped!

When I woke up, I headed to my bestie May’s house to hang out. I tried the new bud light wheat. I like it a lot!!!!!

it reminded me a lot of a Blue Moon, but was a lot lighter! We spent most of the night playing Rock Band!

Me on base, May on vocals, Colin on drums, Abby on guitar!

Ali and May on vocals= not so great, but really fun!

We got kind of into it 🙂

There was also a few bud lights consumed:

and some gold fish.

After Rock Band, a few of us headed to the Black Rose to meet May’s roomate Gabe’s cousin who was here visiting from VT. I ordered a Sam Winter.

Here is a picture of May’s college roommate Brit and I!!! Love her!

I also had a Blue Moon before heading home.

Saturday morning I got up and headed back to May’s before brunch. I brought Oscar with me, he was excited to play with her boyfriend’s dog Stolki. Although Stolki is huge and Oscar is tiny, they always play so well together!

Rick (May’s BF) made us all eggs and bacon. Turkey bacon and whites for me please 🙂

(ugh my Mac is refusing to rotate this picture!!!!- sorry, to make you strain your neck)

There was also a cup of coffee, but, I forgot to take a picture…sorry. I hung out for a few hours before heading home and working on some laundry. Around 5pm, we headed to Adam’s mother’s house. Every year, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we all get together and put up their Christmas tree. It is really fun seeing all the old decorations that Adam and his siblings made as kids and all the newer ones made by their kids.

Dinner was Adam’s mom’s homemade spaghetti sauce, with some pasta.

I also had two small meatballs, I totally paid for eating that red meat! I haven’t eaten red meat in almost a year, so my tummy felt a little yucky around bedtime!

I grabbed a piece of garlic bread too, I only ate half it was a little greasy. Adam graciously took the other half off my hands 🙂

For dessert, there were tons pies, cookies and brownies left over from Thanksgiving. But, I opted for the mini ice cream sundae Adam’s mom was making for the kids 🙂 I know, I am a 26 year old child!

I requested mine with maple walnut!!! YUMMMM!!!

After dessert, we made gingerbread Christmas trees!!! and by WE I mean all of the children under 10 and myself. Yes, I am a child!!!

Look at little Ben with his shirt tucked into his diaper!!!! Isn’t he adorable!

Here is our niece Emily decorating her tree!

Here is my tree, Can you tell I watch Ace of Cakes?

Our nephew David took one look at mine and exclaimed, “Uncle Ali’s is the best!!!!” I think he is a little confused when it comes to the difference between “uncle” and “aunt”. He is so adorable!!!!

While I was decorating my tree Adam, his brother-in-laws and oldest nephew Justin went up to look at our new house (can you believe our oldest nephew is 19?! Justin was a little tiny guy when I first met him!!!!) Grant took this awesome picture.

My grandparents wrote that in the cement on one of the walls the year they bought the house. Hunna and Zonk were their nicknames for each other. It’s that adorable! They all agreed it is a cool house, but will be a lot of work!!!

At around 9pm, we headed home and went to bed…we had a busy weekend, so bed early on Saturday night was surely called for.

Yesterday morning, I got up and worked on more laundry, I still have laundry from my NYC trip that had to be done…I know, I know slacker!!! Around noon, I met Wicked Bride and her mom for Brunch at Max and Dylans.

I started with coffee and water.

I ordered and egg white omelet for my meal.

It was filled with spinach, tomato, asparagus and feta.

I ate the whole thing and even had room for a piece of carrot cake!!!

After brunch, we took a ride to the new house so they could see it. I actually ended up locking my keys in the house and had to call my dad to come and let me back in! Daddy to the rescue, story of my life!!! After I retrieved my keys, we I drove around town to show them the church we are getting married it and my reception site. Showing them where our wedding will be got me so excited about it 🙂 I hope it is a beautiful as I imagine!!! I am sure it will be!!!! I know I have posted this before, but here is our wedding website if you want to check out the details.

The rest of the afternoon was spent getting our apt. and my life back in order (including more laundry) and blogging. Dinner was some homemade pizza. My side had spinach, artichoke hearts and olives.

Well, this weekend has been full of rich foods and a little too much alcohol. I think I will be working this week to get in a few more workouts, and get back to my normal eating. Do I feel guilty at all? No way, I always splurge a little bit during the Holidays. I don’t normally eat heavy and rich foods so when I do every once in a while, I enjoy it- guilt-free and get right back on track.

Oh, look at this comic strip Adam ripped out of the paper yesterday!!!! Cute right?! I hung it up on the wall above my desk at home!!!

HAHAH! Love the little blogging comic! Well, I will be back a little later with a breakfast post. I just haven’t made it or eaten it yet. See you guys a little but later!!!

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Thankful for a Busy Weekend Part 1!

Hey everyone! Well, I have been gone for a while, sorry. I have been sooooo busy I have literally not had the time to blog. So let me back all the way up to the last time I blogged, which was Wednesday afternoon!! WOW!!!

After blogging, Adam, May and I headed to Paolo’s to grab some dinner. I started off with a Stella

and a small piece of bread.

For an appetizer, we split the Caprese salad and some eggplant rollettini!

The salad was stacked tomato and mozzarella with an olive oil and pesto dressing and fresh basil. It was so yummy and fresh tasting. May and I ended up splitting it in half.

The eggplant was pan fried and stuffed with ricotta cheese and topped with marinara sauce. SO GOOD! Adam, May and I each had a small piece. OH MY GOSH, I love Italian food, it is my absolute favorite!!!!!

For our meal we got a pizza that was half grilled chicken (for Adam) and half Melanzana (for May and I).

Our side had eggplant, ricotta, mozzarella, basil and oil. I loved it for two reasons: the eggplant was grilled and not fried, and the crust was thin and light. YUMMMMMM!

After dinner we headed out to the Tavern to meet up with some friends. There were a few of these consumed by this girl!!!

That was a Blue Moon!!! I had so much fun with all my friends!!! I really love the night before Thanksgiving!!!!! Here are a few pictures from the night.

Adam and I.

Myself, Casey and May.

My friend John and I .

Molly and I.

As you can tell there was a good amount of drinking going on. When we got home, I was a little hungry. I think it was the combo of running almost 10 miles and a few beers. So, I made an envelope of Annie’s instant mac and cheese.

On Thursday morning, Adam and I got up to make breakfast before he headed to work for the day. I had an egg white omelet with cheddar cheese, salsa, a Morningstar veggie sausage and a mini whole wheat bagel with blueberry jam.

We enjoyed breakfast while watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which I thought was really good this year! Did you watch it? If so, what did you think?

Since this post was planned to take place on Thanksgiving, I had to post my final Things I am Thankful for post (to read the other things I posted being thankful for you can click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here ). Of course I planned to end it with Adam. So, even though this post isn’t actually going up on Thanksgiving,I would like to do my last Thanksgiving post.

I am Thankful for ADAM!!!!

A Little History:

Adam and I met through mutual friends when we were 15 years old. For about a few months we hung out a lot and became really close friends. After a while I started to get a little crush on him. I decided that I needed to tell him. I remember being so nervous! When I told him, he told me he liked me back and I the rest is history.

Adam and I have been together for almost 11 years and I am still head over heels in love with him! He is the most loving, support and caring person I know. He is also really hilarious, a great listener, so easy to talk to, and really easy on the eyes too!!!!!

I am so grateful for his love and support every single day. I would not have the courage to do half of things I have taken chances on without knowing he is behind me 100%. When I think about how happy I am to have Ad in my life, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world!!!! I cannot wait to call him my husband (which will happen 7/10/10)!

Some random facts about Adam:

• He is the youngest of 6 kids

• He is an uncle to 11 nieces and nephews

• He is a Boston Police Officer

• He played 3 different sports in High School (swimming, football, lacrosse)

• I was his first (any only) kiss 🙂

• He and my dad are obsessed with BC Football and have season tickets

• He is a fantastic running partner

• He donates money to numerous cancer research charities and is on the board of the Anthony’s Dream Foundation (read my post about Anthony’s Dream here).
• He couches an basketball team of 8-9 year olds in the neighborhood of Boston where he works.

Well, I am going to go to bed. I will be up early tomorrow to fill you guys in on the rest of my weekend, including my Thanksgiving Meals…YUP I ate twice!!!! Look For I am Thankful for a Busy Weekend Part 2 bright and early!!!

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Going The Distance!

Hi everyone!!! I had a very busy day so far! I got up at 7:00am had a quick pre-run snack before heading out for a long run.

I had 8 oz. of Pacific iced coffee and one slice of Ezekiel cinnamon raisin bread with Earth Balance.

I started out my run and decided I would challenge myself a little bit. The plan was to run 8 miles – which would be my longest distance yet, but instead I ran 9.53 miles in 1:27:06!!!! I felt really good, so I just kept running!!! After my run I felt great, it made me very confident that I will be able to complete my half marathon that I want to run 🙂

Splits:

• Mile 1- 8:51

• Mile 2- 8:53

• Mile 3- 8:45

• Mile 4- 9:10

• Mile 5 – 9:18

• Mile 6 – 9:13

• Mile 7 – 9:16

• Mile 8 – 9:08

• Mile 9 – 9:33

• Last .53 – 4:56

I was very pleased with my stats 🙂 After my run, I refueled with a Green Monster!!!!

Ingredients:

• Spinach

• Chocolate Almond Milk

• PB2

• Chocolate PB2

• Bee Pollen

• Protein Powder

• Ice

I realized after it was blended that I forgot to add banana!!! So, I ate it separately…

I showered, got dressed and headed to Zumes to have coffee with my friend Casey who is home from Colorado for Thanksgiving. It was great to catch up with her, she is actually coming it with us tonight too!!! I have been friends with Case since I was 12 (I think ). I just love spending time with old friends!!!!

Here is a picture of us from a few years ago!!!

I got a medium, medium roast coffee with vanilla syrup with half and half. After coffee, I headed home and reheated a small bowl of my Pasta Fagioli from last night.

I actually ended up having two small bowls, I was HUNGRY…I guess that is normal when you burn close to 1,000 calories first thing in the morning! The soup was so good, I think it was every better than it was last night. I feel like every time I make any kind of homemade soup it tastes so much better the next day. Does anyone else notice that?

After lunch, my bestie May came over and we made a healthier version of pumpkin cheesecake, one for me to take to Adam’s sister’s tomorrow, and one for May to take to her sister’s. They are still in the oven, I will let you know how it comes out!! This is the recipe we used, if you are interested. It was pretty easy, and smells really yummy!!!

While cooking, I started feeling hungry again (today will be a bottomless pit day for sure). So I snacked on a serving of these crackers!

In other news:

1. As you all know, in Honor of Thanksgiving being right around the corner, I will be posting something I am thankful for in every post.PLEASE feel free to join in in the comments section! So for this post:

I AM THANKFUL FOR: Our Thanksgiving Eve Tradition!!!

Every year on Thanksgiving Eve, everyone is my neighborhood heads out to our local tavern and spends the night catching up and having drinks! It is always great to see people you haven’t seen in a while and hang out with good friends.

Here is a picture of my bestie May, her boyfriend Rick and myself from last years Thanksgiving Eve bash!!

Does anyone else have a Thanksgiving Eve Ritual?????

Well, I got to get ready for my night…see you guys in the am 🙂

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WINNERS!!!!!

Hey everyone!!! I hope you have had a great day! While packing up to leave work at 5pm, I grabbed a dark chocolate chip pumpkin cookie from my snack draw. YUMMMMM!

After work, I headed to the grocery store to get some much needed groceries. With all the talk about soup today, I decided to make one of my favorite soups ever!!!! Pasta Fagioli!!!!!

Here are all the ingredients :

• Olive Oil (1 TBSP)

• Cannellini beans (1 Can)- drained and rinsed

• 1 onion – chopped

• 2 medium sized tomatoes- chopped

• Dried Parsley (2 tsp.)

• 1 can of veggie broth

• 3 ribs of celery- cut into 1/2 inch slices

• 1 (8 oz.) can of tomato sauce

• 1.5 tsp of dry Italian Dressing Mix

• 1/2 a cup of raw spinach

• 2 tsp. of cracked red pepper

• 4 cloves of garlic- minced

• 1 cup of whole wheat pasta

Step 1: Add the onion, celery, garlic, olive oil, red pepper and Italian Dressing Mix to a large pot over high heat.

Step 2: Cook and stir until the onions and celery are tender and the onions are a little see through.

Step 3: add tomato, tomato sauce and veggie broth and simmer for 20 minutes.

Step 4: Bring the soup back to a boil and add pasta, cook until pasta is tender.

Step 5: Reduce heat to medium and add beans, spinach and parsley. Cook until spinach is wilted, a few minutes.

Step 5: Enjoy!!!!!

I enjoyed my soup with a handful of these sweet potato chips!

YUMMMM. This meal was awesome!!! Nothing like a nice filling soup on a cold day!!! It made tons of leftovers too, so expect to see it again!!!!

In other news:

1. As you all know, in Honor of Thanksgiving being right around the corner, I will be posting something I am thankful for in every post.PLEASE feel free to join in in the comments section! So for this post:

I AM THANKFUL FOR: Coffee!!!!!!

I like it hot!!!

and I like it cold!!!

I really love the taste of coffee and how it wakes me up in the morning every morning! Sometimes when I am struggling through a morning run, the idea that coffee is waiting at home for my carries me through. I like plain old coffee with just half and half and I like fancy lattes (especially pumpkin spice). Thank Goodness for Coffee!!! yummmmmm!

2. WINNERS WINNERS WINNERS!!!! I used Random Integer.org to generate 3 random winners. Annnnnnddddddd…..The winners for my Souper Giveaway are (cue drumroll):

1. Courtney!!!! She wrote:” Ever since I saw your original post Ive been looking for the curried red lentil soup and cant find it and want it bad!!! I am very greatful/thankful for my parents they are amazing!
2. Ibelis!!!! She wrote: “The creamy butternut squash sounds yummy!! With the cold approaching theres nothing like warm and yummy soup and I love butternut squash!! And anything coffee is a plus!!! My 16 hr days would love these simple soups and coffees! I am thankful for my wonderful boyfriend Dan. Without all the things he does, nursing school would be so much more difficult than it already is. I am thankful for his patience when I’m snippy before exams, all the dinners he cooks everyday (and he packs my lunch for the following day), the laundry he does, and the cleaning. And of course all the cuddles he gives me when I am stressed (which is all the time!) He truly is the love of my life and I fall in love with him more and more everyday…”
3. Julia!!!! She wrote: ” Yay! Amazing giveaway. I am loving the winter update on what to wear, by the way. So helpful! Onto the giveaway.
   1. Would LOVE to try the Cashew Carrot Giner soup. I heart carrot soups and the cashew is a great twist on an old classic.
   2. I am thankful for you as my new running buddy! It’s been so helpful to make sure I get that AM run in once a week!”

Ladies: shoot me an e-mail (foodfitnessfashion@gmail.com) with your mails addresses and I will try to get those packages out to you think weekend!!

Night everyone! See you in the am!

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Looking Hot in the Cold Weather!!!

Hey everyone!!! Well, I am pretty much done for the day and I will be off from work for 5 whole days!!!! WOO HOO!!! Do you guys get a lot of time off for Thanksgiving too?

I feel like a bottomless pit today for reals!!! Around 10:30 I had a handful of trail  mix as a morning snack:

It had walnuts, raisins, dried cranberries, almonds and yogurt covered raisins.

Lunch was whatever I could through together this morning since we are in dyer need of a trip to the grocery store! I ended up making a buffalo tuna wrap.

• 1 can of tuna
• 1 glob of veggie sandwich spread
• 1 little bit of buffalo sauce

I mixed it all together and put it on a whole wheat wrap.

I ate it with a side of steamed baby brussel sprouts to get some veggies in. I really love buffalo sauce, and buffalo tuna is a great way to get the buffalo taste without all the fat and grease (and belly ache) of buffalo chicken wings!

I had an afternoon snack around 3pm of a Kashi dark chocolate coconut bar. YUM YUM, I really love these bars!!!

I have gotten a few e-mails from readers recently about how to stay fashionable in the cold weather. This is a great question, it gets really cold here in the winter and sometimes it is hard to look cute when you have to add tons of layers. I thought this would be a good topic to address here.

Here are my tips for looking hot in the cold weather:

1. Get a fun and stylish coat. My favorite is my black wool trench that has a flowy bottom. It makes me feel like I am wearing a little skirt!!! Get something that stands out, try a fun style or a bright color that makes it different and exciting!!!
2. It’s all in your head. You can loose most of your body heat through your head. Get a fun hat that is versatile, I have one that is winter white with pearls on it that I loooove. Oh, and make sure it covers your ear, nothing worse than chapped ears…ouch!!!
3. Wrap that neck! We all know I love scarfs, they keep you warm and can add so much to an outfit! Also, since they are fairly inexpensive, you and really buy a variety to change things up to match your outfit or mood 🙂 Scarfs are “so in” right now so you will be able to find them literally EVERYWHERE!!!
4. No glove, no love! Want to know something not cute?! Chapped, dry winter hands. Protect those hands with some cute gloves or mittens. I love the ones that are insulated with Thinsulate, they keep your hands super toasty.
5. Layer it up! Layers are key! Often times it is freezing out and then you die sweating when you get inside, right?!. Try layering a cami, with a thin long sleeved shirt under a sweater.
6. Give em’ the boot!!! Don’t you just love boots!!! I love love love them!!!! I love the look flat of tall boots paired with leggings, dresses or skinny jeans. Not only is jeans tucked into boots adorable, but super warm too. It keeps the wind from blowing up your pant leg.
7. All Dressed Up! Just because it is cold, doesn’t mean you need to ditch your dresses! Pair them with a warm cardigan and a thick opaque tight for a warm winter look.

What are you tips for dressing cute in the cold weather?

In other news:

1. As you all know, in Honor of Thanksgiving being right around the corner, I will be posting something I am thankful for in every post. PLEASE feel free to join in in the comments section! So for this post:

I AM THANKFUL FOR: My Strong Healthy Body !!!!

Call me conceded, but I looooove my body!!! You can read more about my journey of self-love in this post.  My body may be far from that of the supermodels that grace the pages of the Victoria’s Secret catalog. But, it is healthy, strong and works like a well oiled machine!

(for some reason this picture will not re-size to something less huge…sorry!)

I feed it healthy food, get plenty of sleep and work it hard, and it turn it treats me well. I may not be the ideal in most people’s eyes, but I truly love every part of me.  I love my strong runners legs carry me through long distances, and TOUGH Body Pump Squat and Lunge tracks and look super hot in high heels.  I love my birthmark on my toe and my strong abs that have improved my posture. I have a hard working brain that allows me to do a million things as once, remember phone numbers for years back and has gotten me though college and will get me through grad school. I have a sturdy heart that never stops working and even gets itself up to 190 during really hard runs! I have strong arms that help when carrying heavy suitcases and groceries. I am also super thankful for for my new and improved rock-sold immune system (thanks Green Monsters!!!) I barely every get sick anymore!!!!!

Well, I am off to go home, change, go for a run, then head to the grocery store. Have a good night I will see you guys later 🙂

PS Don’t forget my Souper Giveaway, you have until 10pm tonight to enter!!!!

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Souper Giveaway!

Morning! It is rainy dreary day in Boston today!!!!

After work last night, I headed to class. It was actually really interesting, we watched a special Diane Sawyer did on cyber bullying. It was pretty eye opening. It made me thankful all of this technology wasn’t around when I was in middle school for sure! Ugh, imagine how awful that would have been? I was bullied enough by “mean girls” face to face and on the phone, I can’t imagine what it is like for kids now with the technology involved.  Here are some additional statistics I looked up about cyber bullying (because I am a big ol’ nerd).

• 42% of kids have been bullied while online. 1 in 4 have had it happen more than once.
• 35% of kids have been threatened online. Nearly 1 in 5 have had it happen more than once.
• 21% of kids have received mean or threatening e-mail or other messages.
• 58% of kids admit someone has said mean or hurtful things to them online. More than 4 out of 10 say it has happened more than once.
• 53% of kids admit having said something mean or hurtful to another person online. More than 1 in 3 have done it more than once.
• 58% have not told their parents or an adult about something mean or hurtful that happened to them online.

Pretty crazy, right? Were you bullied in Middle School or High School? Which did you think was worse: Middle School or High School?

I was bullied and made fun of in Middle School, but not High School. High School was actually pretty smooth, but in Middle School I had some “friends” that were really mean. My mom used to tell me it was because they felt badly about themselves and said and did hurtful things to me to make themselves feel better. At the time, of course, I thought she was making that up, but now I look back and see how right she was. Oh moms, they really are always right!

While in class, I sipped a coffee that I got from the work coffee maker.

Dinner was eaten while working at my part-time job.

PB&J on whole wheat with an apple. It looks a little bit like a first graders lunch, but it did the trick…MUST GO TO THE GROCERY STORE TONIGHT!!!!!

After working, I headed to the Warren Tavern to play Trivia (which was actually more like  watching my others play trivia)and have a few beers with friends. The Tavern got two new beers on tap, so of course I had to try the new Hazelnut Porter !!!!

Clearly, it was a VERY dark beer. It was really good, it had a very nutty and coffee flavor to it. I liked it a lot 🙂  I also had a Blue Moon (or two).

Trivia got pretty intense too!!!!

That’s my bestie May’s dad trying to think of an answer to a tough question!!!! Their team came in third, Good Job Guys!!!!

As I was going to bed last night, I developed an awful migraine!!! I had to e-mail my running partner Julia and cancel for this morning because I knew I needed to extra sleep. Ugh, I was so bummed to have to do that. But, I am feeling a whole lot better today, so it was worth it. I plan on getting in a run tonight after work.

Breakfast this morning was scrambled egg whites with salsa and a little bit of shredded mozzarella and two pieces of cinnamon raisin toast with Earth Balance.

Here is today’s outfit!

Black Flats (Anne Klein), White Ruffle Blouse (Target), Black Sweater (Gap), Black and White Houndstooth pants (GAP).

I love classic black and white, simple and elegant!!! 🙂

In other news:

1. As you all know, in Honor of Thanksgiving being right around the corner, I will be posting something I am thankful for in every post. PLEASE feel free to join in in the comments section! So for this post:

I AM THANKFUL FOR: My Papa!!!

My Papa was born in 1927 here in Boston! He served our country in the US Navy during WWII. Soon after the war, he met and married my grandmother. They had three children my uncle Wayne (who died shortly after birth), my mom and my aunt Denise. My grandfather worked very hard his whole life as a master electrician and was also a boxer (pretty badass, right?). As a kid, my Papa was always playing practical jokes on us and playing with us. We always had fun when we were with him. My brother and I would sleep over my grandparent’s house almost every weekend!

Shortly after my Nana passed away very suddenly in March for 2007, he moved in with my parents. I get to see him everyday now, which makes me really happy. Every morning he is up and ready to greet Oscar when I drop him off before work. Papa and Oscar spend most of the day watching TV and playing 🙂 I know a lot of people my age don’t have grandparents that are living anymore and I know I am very fortunate to my Pa.

I have so many great memories as a child and an adult with my Papa, Adam and I actually just purchased his house so we can raise our family where all those great memories were made (to read more about that check out this post).

2. Ok, you guys I have a SUPER EXCITING GIVEAWAY!!! After trying a number of Pacific products and loving them, (read my reviews here, here, here and here) the AMAZING people at Pacific have agreed to give three VERY lucky FFF readers a soup pack!!!!!!

This includes one of each of the following flavors: Black Bean, Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato, Creamy Butternut Squash, Cashew Carrot Ginger, Creamy Tomato and Curried Red Lentil.

But, that’s not all!!!!!!!! You will also get three of their fantastic iced coffees!!!!!

You will get one of each of the following:  Latte, Mocha Latte, and Vanilla Latte!!!

WOW!!!!! So here is how you enter:

1. Go to Pacific’s site and look around, then comment on this post one item you would love to try from them and (In Honor of Thanksgiving) 1 things you are grateful for today.

2. To get another entry, Tweet or Make a Facebook status about this giveaway and shoot me an e-mail to let me know you did that or link this giveaway to your blog and shoot me an e-mail with the link (if you do all three you get three additional entries).

Got it? Ok, go!!!!! You Have until 10pm tonight, then I will announce the winners!!! 🙂

Have a great day!!!!

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Nothing Like Girlfriends!!!!!

Hey everyone! My Monday is going by (too) fast! Let me begin by saying I got tons of e-mails and a few comments regarding the SATC Tour, it was super fun and if you are a fan I recommend it! I am a little but of a fan (sarcasm).

This is actually a picture of me on Christmas a few years ago when my mom and dad bought me the complete SATC series! Like I said, mildly obsessed 😉

Today during “lunch”, I pumped!!! That’s right, I went to Body Pump. This time I went up in all my weight! YAY!!! This class has made me seriously strong. The more I do it the more I love it!!! I was lifting weight that I could barely pick up when I first took the class with Tina (you can read about my first time trying BP here). Oh Body Pump how I love thee!!!

Before I pumped, I had a small morning snack of 1/2 of a green superfood bar and the other half of my banana from this morning.

After pumping, I headed back to work and worked while eating lunch. Since we have very little food, I haven’t grocery shopped in over a week (but plan on going tonight), I had to pull out old faithful! Pacific sent me so much soup last month I still have a whole bunch of it! Today, I pulled this guy from the cabinet!

I enjoyed about half of the container (2 cups) of the spicy black bean soup with some crackers, laughing cow and the last of the baby carrots in our fridge (we are running dangerously low on produce).

This soup was good! I liked that it had a spicy kick to it. It was not my favorite black bean soup, (I like Amy’s better because it is a little chunky, which is how I like my soups) but I liked it a lot. So far, I have not been disappointed with ANY Pacific product I have received! GO PACIFIC!!!

In other news:

As you all know, in Honor of Thanksgiving being right around the corner, I will be posting something I am thankful for in every post. PLEASE feel free to join in in the comments section! So for this post:

I AM THANKFUL FOR: My fantastic (and gorgeous) Bridesmaids/best girl friends!!!!!

Here I am with all but one (Kara, who lives in TX) and my mom at the Running of the Brides! This is the day I bought my wedding dress!!!! All 7 of these ladies got there butts out of bed at 4am and headed to the ROB to wait for hours in the freezing cold (it was Febuary in BOSTON..bbrrrrrrrrrr!!!) with me to run, fight, and claw our way to the perfect dress!!!!

I have 8 Bridesmaids in total you can learn more about all of them and how I met them on our Wedding website.

These ladies are seriously the best BM’s and a girl could ask for!!!

My MOH, May actually made all of these hoodies for us for that day!!!! Mine had a veil!

I choose these girls because they are the best friends a girl could ask for and I can’t imagine standing at the alter on my Wedding Day without them beside me. They are all funny, incredibly smart, supportive and  caring; not to mention gorgeous…am I wrong?! . I know that I can always count on them when I need them and I would truly do anything for these ladies. I am so blessed to have such a great group of girl friends!!! I LOVE YOU GIRLS ALL SO VERY MUCH!!!!

Me and my MOH and bestie May!

Jill and I 4th of July 2008.

Kristie and I on my 25th Birthday!

Me and Lauren Spring 2007

Me and Melissa Fall 2009

Myself, Ibelis and Crystal, Summer 2009.

May, Kristie, Yours Truely, Kara Summer 2006.

Jill, Kristie, Me, Melissa at My “Year Til'” Party July 2009 (one year until our wedding!!!)

 

 

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NYC Recap Part 2!

Morning! Well I am back with the last portion of my NYC recap, if you missed the first portion of my NYC recap, click here !!!! Mom and I woke up at 9am Saturday morning got showered and dressed and headed down to Greenhouse 36 for breakfast. When we saw steel cut oats on the menu, we knew that was exactly what we wanted.

The steel cut oats were served with dried cherries and brown sugar…yum yum!!! I also had a water and a coffee (not pictured). After breakfast we headed to the ground zero by subway. It was very strange to see the wide open space where the twin towers used to stand. They have already started construction on the new tower, so the whole area was fenced in. After looked around that are for a little while, we headed to Century 21. Century 21 is a department store that sells designer stuff at a discounted price. We looked around for about an hour and a half. I didn’t end up finding anything I loved, but it was a cool store. We met up with May and Ellen and then headed to Central Park where we were to meet to depart for the Sex and the City Tour. While waiting for the tour to depart, mom and I split a soft pretzel.

I was super excited about the Sex and the City Tour, because I am mildly Sex and the City obsessed!!!!! We got to see whole bunch of spots that were in both the series and the movie. They played clips from the movie and the show while we were driving by certain places which was great because it helped you to remember all the episodes. There were four stops on the tour as well. The first was at the Pleasure Chest where Charlotte buys the rabbit. Remember that episode!!! The second was Buudakan where Carrie and Big have their Rehearsal Dinner in the movie and where Anthony and Standford share their New Year’s kiss during the show.  Here is a picture of Mom, May and I in front of I giant vase in Buudakan.

Oh! that’s my outfit! Black flats (Steve Madden), Dark Skinny Jeans (Forever 21), Red Plaid Shirt (Walmart), Black Cardigan (TJ MAXX).

Our next stop was Magnolia Bakery where Carrie and Miranda always get cupcakes. You see them eating them in the scene where Carrie tells Miranda about meeting and having a crush on Aiden!We each got a free cupcake there!!!!

These cupcakes were soooooo good!! I loved the frosting it was super creamy! YUM! There was actually a line around the block when we got there, these cupcakes are VERY popular! After cupcakes, we headed to O’Neill’s bar, which is the bar that was used as “Scout” the bar that Steve and Aiden owned together. When we stopped in there we got…Cosmos  (OBVI!!!).

Here we are with out drinks!!!

The tour was really fun!!! After the tour we headed back to May’s hotel and hung out for a bit before heading out for Thai food. I sipped on 2 Mai Thai’s thought dinner!

My meal started with a hot a sour soup.

and a small spring roll:

For the Main Event, mom and I split a Pad Thai, and myself, May, Ellen and Mom split a chicken fried Rice. I had small potions of each.

about twice the amount of Pad Thai shown. Dessert was a fortune cookie:

My fortune said something about unexpected money coming my way! Gosh I hope it is right!!!!!

After the meal we headed to a pub down the street for a drink before calling it a night. I had a Brooklyn Winter ale. It was very flavorful and really reminded me of across between Sam Adams Octoberfest and Winter Ale.

Yesterday morning, mom and I got up, got dressed and headed down for one last breakfast at Greenhouse 36. I has a spinach, tomato, mushroom and cheddar egg white omelet.

I also had a small bowl of fruit (not pictured) and a carrot spice mini muffin.

I didn’t eat those grilled veggies you see to the right they were super greasy…yuck! After breakfast we packed up and headed to the airport. While waiting to board mom and I split  bag of pop chips (I ate ate majority).

When I got home, I was snacky again, so I snacked some Trader Joe’s Salsa and Chips.

and a Kashi Dark Chocolate Oatmeal cookie!

The rest of the afternoon was spent getting my apartment in order: unpacking suitcase, doing laundry, unloading dishes, cleaning ect. For dinner, since we had no food, Adam and I ordered takeout from Cafe Antolia. I odered the MIT special which is portabella mushrooms, roasted red peppers and goat cheese on focaccia bread. My favorite!!!

This morning I got up and got ready to be back in my routine! I had a great weekend, but it feels good to have life “back to normal”. Although, one thing was not normal, I was not hungry at all this morning. I knew I needed to eat, so I made 1/2 a normal serving of pumpkin oats.

Oats:

• 1/4 of a cup of oats
• 1/2 a cup of water
• 1/2 of a banana

Toppings

• a spoonful of pumpkin
• cinnamon
• maple syrup

I also had coffee with half and half, but my camera eat the picture!

Here is today’s outfit:

Light Gray Pants (Express), Black Suede Pumps (Michael Kors), White Tank Top ( H&M), Purple Cardigan ( I forget where I got it).

In other news:

As you all know, in Honor of Thanksgiving being right around the corner, I will be posting something I am thankful for in every post. PLEASE feel free to join in in the comments section! So for this post:

I AM THANKFUL FOR: My Mom and Dad!!!!

I am lucky enough to have the best parents in the whole wide world. They both grew up in a small neighborhood of Boston called Charlestown, where we all live now! My dad is one of 5 and my mom is the oldest of two.  They actually met for the first time at 6 years old in first grade, but didn’t like each other at all. My mom thought dad was a jerk!!!! They met again at a New Year’s Eve party at 16 years old and have been in love ever since. They were married in 1976 and had my brother Nick in 1979 and me in 1983!

Through watching my parents, I learned a lot about what a loving relationship is all about!

My parents have always pushed me to be my best, and supported me in all my decisions.

They never miss an opportunity to tell me how much they are proud of me and love me, which means a lot! Plus, we always have a great time together! My parents are very, very funny!!!

(that is mine and Adam’s first Christmas living together 🙂 )

Anytime I need help or advice, I always know they will be there to help and guide me. I honestly don’t know where I would be without my mom and dad! LOVE YOU GUYS FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!

Thanks for raising me to be the woman I am today, I owe so much of my success to you!!! 🙂

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NYC Recap Part 1!

Hey everyone! I was so busy this weekend, I had no time to blog, or workout for that matter, but I got in a lot of walking around the city!!!! My mom and dad picked me up from work on Thursday at 4pm and we headed to the airport. We said goodbye to dad and headed to our terminal. Inside the gate, mom and I found out that our flight was delayed due to the air traffic control computers being down. So decided to get something to eat since we weren’t going to be able to eat until about 9pm when we got yo NYC. We deiced to go to UFood Grill and get tofuision bowls.

It was tofu, brown rice and steamed veggies with a spicy orange flavored sauce. I was relieved to see something healthy and yummy in the food court. I feel like lately in Boston, healthy options have been popping up everywhere, which is a good thing. I loved this meal it was tasty, spicy and filling. After we ate, I headed to Starbucks to get up some coffee. I ordered a short nonfat ginger bread latte, but they told me they could no do a short and I had to get a tall. It is bigger than the one I usually get but, we had about an hour and a half until we boarded (our flight got even more delayed)so, I sipped this coffee while reading the new Woman’s Health, Cooking Light and Rachel Rae.

The flight was smooth, but we waited for about an hour for a cab to get to our hotel because there was an accident right by the airport entrance. We got to our hotel at 11pm and just went to our room and crashed. I got up at 5:35 to meet Jesse for a run. While getting dressed, I ate 1/2 of a green superfood bar.

We were supposed to meet in front of my hotel at 5:45am, but the elevators were slow and I didn’t get down there until 5:50. The man at the front desk told me she left and I ran a few blocks down to see if I could catch up, but it was dark and I didn’t know where I was, so I ran back to my hotel and jumped back into bed. I hadn’t had a great night sleep, so a few extra hours of sleep was helpful.

Mom and I got up at 8am and got showered and dressed and headed down to Greenhouse 36 for breakfast. Here is my outfit for the day:

Stripped sweater (H&M), dark skinny jeans (Paper Cloth Denim), Black flat knee high boots ( Aerosoles).

Greenhouse 36 was the restaurant in our hotel. All their food is made out of 100% organic products. The restaurant looked just like a greenhouse, it was adorable!

For my drinks I ordered coffee and water.

For my meal I ordered the egg white omelet. It was filled with fresh basil and tomatoes. It came with potato pancakes and grilled tomatoes.

It also came with whole wheat toast and a side of fresh fruit.

I ate the whole omelet, 1/2 of a potato pancake, all the fresh fruit and the 1 slice of whole wheat toast with strawberry jam.

After breakfast mom and I walked around Times Square.

The New Year’s Ball will be changing years soon!

We went into the Hershey’s store and I got a free Reese’s sample 😉

We met my bestie May, her mom and sister Ellen at Macy’s on 34th street to look around! This Macy’s was HUGE and was nicely decorated for the Holidays! I think it had 8 floors!!!! We decided to look around to get some ideas for my Bridal Registry, which I need to create soon!!! I feel IN LOVE with a China pattern!!!!

It is by Kate Spade and it called the Gardner Street Platinum.

Isn’t it gorgeous?!?!?!!

We did a little more shopping and then headed back to our hotel for relax a little before our big night out! While watching Oprah, I had a snack of fat free blueberry yogurt and a banana.

Did you guys see Oprah’s big announcement ?! What did you think??? I was surprised for sure. I am a huge Oprah fan, so I was a little sad f. But, I can understand that her show is so much work and after 25 years she must be absolutely exhausted, right?!

After Oprah, we got dressed to go to dinner and a show. Here is my outfit for the night:

Black Turtle Neck (GAP), Blue Leather Skirt (Buffalo Exchange, circa 1980’s), black tights (Target), Black Suede Pumps ( Jessica Simpson).

We had dinner at The Rock Center Cafe. This restaurant was really nice and it had a big picture window that over looked the Rockerfeller Center skating rink. We actually saw a proposal happen on the skating rink. So cute!!! I started off with a glass of Shiraz.

I also had a roll that had flax and pumpkin seeds in it…so yummy!

For my meal, I ordered the salmon. It came with some white bean and some kalmata olive puree. It was delicious!

For dessert, we all had a Warm Pumpkin Pie Martini!!!!

It had whiskey, spices and pumpkin and was topped with whipped cream and a cinnamon stick.

May, Ann, Ellen, Mom and I!

After dinner, we headed to see the Rockette Christmas Show. The show was amazing! It is so unbelievable how they are all able to stay in time with each other! I couldn’t even believe it!!!! I used to want to be a Rockette when I was a little girl. I tap danced for over 10 years, I bet you guys didn’t know that, huh? I am full of surprises!!! The inside of Radio City Music Hall was all decorated for the Holidays!!!!

After the show we walked around the city a little bit. This is the star that will go on top of the tree at Rockerfeller Center.

Here I am with the Statue of Liberty!

I loved all the little snowflakes on the side of this building! The whole city seemed to be preparing for the Holidays!!!

After walking for a little bit, we stopped in at a lounge and got a drink. I got a blueberry lemonade.

It was really yummy, I loved the lemonade and blueberry flavors together! After the drink we went back to the hotel and crashed!!! Which is what I am going to do right now. I will be up early tomorrow to work on part two and and head to Body Pump. I actually have not worked out since Wednesday, although I did a TON of walking this weekend!!!!

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