Back On Track

Hey kiddos. I apologize for my sporadic blogging and pictures! It’s been a crazy weekend at home and I have been thrown off of my regular routine. I plan to be back on track today!

So I will backtrack to yesterday (since I passed out on the couch at 8:30 last night and did not blog…..so sorrry).

I had a nice flight home where I watched most of the Ugly Truth. I actually was quite enjoying the movie, but sadly the flight was too short to finish it! I engaged in the free wifi that Virgin America was offering and also got a FREE SNACK!!! I did not realize that I got a free snack until I went on the touch screen and looked at the food and noticed everything said “free.” So of course I had to indulge. I got the “Food Cube.”

It came loaded with salted cashews, apple chips, Late July crackers (AKA Ritz), organic applesauce, jam, Sweet Riot dark chocolate and Justin’s MAPLE ALMOND BUTTER!!!!! I am saving this almond butter for a special occasion. I couldn’t believe I got this for free! This would normally cost an arm and a leg. Another reason why I fell in love with Virgin America this weekend.

I was so graciously greeted by ERIC, who I hadn’t seen in over a week! I was a happy, happy girl!!! We then went and ran some errands where we picked up some necessary items.

Indeed, Christmas lights are necessary. I am going to pick up a few more because these for on sale for $2.50 at Target!

I then was bombarded with gifts from his European getaway! So Eric was in a little town called Heidelberg, Germany. This place is dear to my heart because I spent 2 semesters studying and living there while I was in college. He took a trip there with his mom to visit his younger brother who is currently doing the same program that I did! So Eric knew what a special place Heidelberg has in my heart. It was also around the time we first started dating! Long distance and all. So he was so kind to get me some things from my favorite city!

Probably the cutest, most appropriate shirt for me!

Gummy bears from the BEST gummy bear shop in all of Germany. A whole store dedicated to gummy bears!!

A Starbucks Heidelberg mug and another Heidelberg Christmas Market mug!

A beautiful, rustic coaster from Prague (Praha).

I am so spoiled

We took a walk to Whole Foods and back, just to get out and moving. But the rest of the night was low key as I unpacked and schlepped around. Eric made a plate of “hors d’œuvres” including zucchini, celery, mushrooms (ew) and carrots with mustard, BBQ sauce, and hot sauce (ew). I usually forget to picture this, but we pretty much eat this same plate every night as a “pre dinner.”

And it’s always quite ugly indeed.

For my real dinner I had a salad with spinach, black beans, kidney beans, turkey breast, and baby heirloom tomatoes topped with blue cheese crumbles and Annie’s Lite Honey Mustard Dressing. And sweet potatoes on the side. Yum yum.

And finally for breakfast this morning I was planning on having oatmeal, but I realized I bought steel cut oats from Trader Joe’s, and did not have nearly enough time to make them! I tried to make them in the microwave, but it was just a big fat goopy mess. So I resorted to Plan B. Which was quite amazing as well.

 

Oroweat sandwich thing with almond butter and pumpkin butter with sliced bananas on top, paired with some grapes. And of course pumpkin spice coffee in my new Christmas mug sitting on my new Prague coaster!

Alright, I promise I will resort to regular blogging activity!

Upcoming events:

Today 11/30: An attempt at the elliptical (stay tuned…..)
Thurs. 12/3: BLOGHER CHRISTMAS PARTY!!!

Fri. 12/4: Dinner at Eric’s mom’s house (margarita time)!

Sat. 12/5: Hopefully a run outside!

Fri. 12/11: Home to visit, AGAIN!

Picture Post!

So this has been an absolutely incredible long weekend! So much has happened and I can’t even begin to write about it all! Here are some highlights filled with food, friends, family and love!

Some eats.

Many greek yogurt messes

apple, fiberful, and MANY iced coffees

tart yogurt with mango, pineapple, strawberries, granola and carob chips

leftover turkey, gravy and cranberry panini with butternut squash gratin

pumpkin with pumpkin pie yogurt

gorgonzola and apple smoked cheese and cracker platters

with honey….

and cool whip (not together, obvi)

and a slice or two of bbq chicken/chicken alfredo pizza

saturday morning breakfast: egg white omelet with chicken, bell peppers, onion, spinach and tomatoes with fruit and half an english muffin with blackberry jam

saturday lunch: chips and salsa, raw veggies (no ranch) and 2 carnita tacos

This weekend also involved a hair cut and color.

me at my best. obvi.

Good times with old friends.

And new running shoes….

Christmas came early… in the form of asics kayano 15′s.

I am beyond excited to break these babies in! Speaking of, I think my knee is FINALLY healing (knock on wood), and hopefully I will be up and running this week!

I leave tomorrow morning and finally get back to Eric!! But this weekend was SO fun, and exactly what I needed. Friends, family and good food.

I hope you all had wonderful Thanksgivings and were able to spend time with people you love!

Thanksgiving Day Feast!

Oh my goodness I am BEYOND stuffed. I just stepped on the scale, just for kicks, and I weigh 3.5 more than I did this morning. Ha ha. Oh Thanksgiving, what you do to a girl.

Alright, lets rewind to last night. I officially am obsessed with Virgin America.

I got on board and quickly took action with my own little TV set and media library.

I ended up watching a few episodes of Friends while I sipped on my FREE beverage. Yes, free.

And then I became super distracted by the interactive map! It showed where the plane was, and the altitude, ground speed, temp, how for to go, etc. I am a total dork.

Anyway, I love Virgin America. They are laid back, funny and basically I did not feel like I was on an airplane, which is always a plus. I was welcomed by my family and had a nice relaxing evening catching up with them.

I woke up this morning with the intention of going to urgent care to tend to my knee. I got there and it was closed. Yes, one might think “it’s Thanksgiving, of course it’s closed.” Well I called them the other day and they said they were open on holidays! Apparently they did not mean Thanksgiving. So I ended up going to CVS and getting a little knee brace in hopes of making my pain a little less comfortable.

Meanwhile, all my friends were racing in the local Turkey Trot!! I was supposed to be racing with them, and I was so bummed that I couldn’t make it out! They had fun and enjoyed it, so that makes me happy!! Plus I am going to hang out with them tomorrow night!

So anyway, I came home and had a nice little breakfast that involved this star:

Trader Joe’s Crunchy Almond Butter!! I have never had this, but my dad was nice enough to buy it for me! It was FABULOUS. I will definitely get a jar of this when I get home! So I had a piece of toast with almond butter and a side of greek yogurt with peanut butter puffins, granola and blackberries.

Perfect amount of food that I needed! Or so I thought…two hours later I was hungry for lunch! I guess it was okay since it was 11:30 or so. I was still craving almond butter, so I made some more toast but added some bananas and a sliced apple.

And then my sister and I headed to Whole Foods to pick up some last minute stuff for dinner!

Aviators ROCK!

Well we came back and helped my mom prep for a fabulous little Thanksgiving feast! I made my Butternut Squash Gratin with Blue Cheese and Sage and a special Hungry Girl stuffing, which actually was not that good. Once the guests (my grandparents) started arrive, I dug into some cheese and crackers!!

Then I helped my mother prepare our FREE RANGE TURKEY!!! OMG it was one of the best turkey’s I have ever had! It was so moist and perfect!

I then LOADED my plate.

I had a little bit of everything. Corn, green beans with garlic and almonds, mashed potatoes, turkey (x3), gravy, cranberry sauce, butternut squash gratin, stuffing, a pickle and a roll with butter. OHHHHHH everything was SO good. I was stuffed by the end of this! But not stuffed enough to eat a little pie! And a lot of cool whip.

I had a sliver of pumpkin pie, which I actually did not like so I didn’t eat what was pictured, but I did have oreo pie times 3. This pie is a tradition with my sister and I, and it is one of my ultimate weaknesses. Oh it is fabulous and totally worth it.

We ended the night with a few photo shoots.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!