Rocket Man

I started off my day with Amanda Russell's 4-minute morning workout - 1 day down, 20 days to go of the challenge!  I rolled out of bed and did it right away, PJs and all.  It was kind of funny to hear my joints cracking and popping - I think I'm creakier than the average 24-year-old because one time I got off the couch and my grandma asked if I was the one making all of those noises, haha.  Despite my protesting joints, I got through the workout and even did the headstand!  Up against a wall, but still, I was surprised I could do that.  Mayyyybe I'll work up to doing one without the wall.  Maybe.  I hate being upside down and get a little panicky, though, so maybe not :)

I think starting the day out with a little exercise is great for many reasons - it sets a precedent for making healthy choices the rest of the day, and it can spur you to work out more later (today I hit the gym for some cardio on the elliptical, rowing machine, and stair master), or if you don't get a full workout in later, at least you did something!  Even if it's only 4 minutes, it's better than nothing.

I'm also trying to do Angela's salad-a-day challenge.  I decided to use a LivingSocial my parents got me for Easter and checked out Tropical Smoothie Cafe.  I got the "Smoothie and a Half" deal (a smoothie and half a salad) - I chose the Triple Berry Oat smoothie (strawberries, blueberries, cranberry, multi-vitamin, ground flax seed, whole grain oats, whey protein - and I asked for it without Splenda) and a Southwest Chicken salad (romaine, field greens, chicken, southwestern rice with corn, black beans, and asparagus, tomatoes, onions, salsa, and guacamole - I asked for it without the ranch dressing).

The smoothie was HUGE and very good, and I was excited that they had ground flax seed.  The salad was really good, too, although I don't think it actually had an asparagus in it.  It definitely didn't need the dressing since it already had guacamole and salsa on it.

So I saw something very strange when I was driving today.

The license plate said something to the effect of "A Rocket."

I was really shocked when I saw this thing drive up next to me.  Is that even allowed to be on the road??

I can't decide what it looks like.  Kind of like a plane without wings/ a ride at the fair?  And I'm pretty sure that guy should be wearing a helmet.

It might have even been stranger than the time I saw a gigantic pair of legs being transported on a semi.

I have no idea what that was for, but I really hope it was some wealthy man commissioning a statue of his wife, haha.

And then when I pulled into my parents' driveway, I was greeted by this guy:

AHHH!  I hate snakes.  I drove past it and then realized what it was, so I stopped to be sure, but kept my distance.  Between the deer and snapping turtle, and now a snake, I'm having lots of wildlife encounters lately.

I'm off to meet my friend for dinner and a movie tonight - enjoy the rest of your Saturday!

Song of the day:

"California" by Delta Spirit.  I just started listening to this band and I'm really liking their music so far.

Hay is for Horses

Hey everyone!  How's your weekend going?  It felt good to slow down a bit and take things easy today.

Breakfast this morning was a classic bowl of oats - 1/2 cup 1-minute oats mixed with 1 cup boiling water, lots o' cinnamon, a sliced banana, and a spoonful of peanut butter:

Coffee with almond milk and cinnamon on the side, plus some delicious gummy vitamins.  And the 3rd book of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series.  I was so excited to pick it up from the library yesterday!

You know that saying "my eyes were bigger than my stomach"?  Well I think it applies to me in terms of getting new books to read and my ability/ time to actually read them.  And I have more on my Kindle!  Summer reading time.

I had a great lunch today - a big salad with grapes on the sides.

I finished off my huge bag of spinach and added some yellow bell pepper and a leftover chicken breast with apricot sauce from my dinner at Olive Garden earlier in the week, topped with homemade Italian dressing (and some unpictured sliced almonds).

It was delicious and very filling, which was good because I needed the energy to help out with some yard work.

My dad is planting some new grass around the yard and my job was to spread hay over the seeds.  It sounded pretty simple to me, but handling a couple big bales of hay helped me work up a sweat, and left me covered in hay.

**Update:  I was informed at dinner that I was actually spreading straw, not hay.  Very different, apparently!**

I shouldn't have worn my gym clothes for that.  But I figured since I had them on, I might as well go for a jog while I was already dirty.  People probably thought I looked like an escaped farm girl or something.  It was a really nice day so I was happy to be outside instead of in the gym.  I might try to do a few bodyweight strength moves like push-ups and some ab work this evening to round out my workout, though.

As promised, here are my purchases from yesterday.  I got this navy blue shirt from Aeropostale.  I haven't been in that store forever but the girl I was baby-sitting wanted to go in, and I thought this shirt was really cute (and fortunately not obnoxiously emblazoned with the brand name), and when I saw that it was half off, I couldn't resist.  No surprise there!

And I got this maxi dress from J. Crew.  I really didn't think I could pull off a maxi dress (still not sure I can) but I do love the look, so I figured I would try this on.  The girl I was with said that the dress was pretty and convinced me to get it.  Twist my arm, why dontcha?  :)  AND it was a great deal - originally $98, I got it for $32.04 after the sale price and my student discount!  Bargain hunting is just so satisfying.

Time for dinner with my family and then I'll probably get sucked into The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.  Have a great night!

Song of the day:

"East Harlem" by Beirut.

Workin' at the Car Wash

Hey everyone, how's your day going?  I've had a pretty relaxed first day of summer break.  I got up and ate breakfast while watching Live! with Kelly (breaking my rule that I can only watch it at the gym).  But that's okay, because then I did an at-home workout.  I started with a jump rope routine that I originally posted about here.

New jump rope, old school boombox.  I got that boombox in 4th grade, I think, and passed it on to my dad for his work bench in the basement (hence all the dirt/ dust).  But today I took a trip down memory lane and used it to blast some tunes while I did the jump rope workout.  Should have rustled up a Hanson CD to make it more authentic.

Then I did this 10 minute arms workout video:

I used 4 lb weights which I thought might be too light at first, but some of the moves - especially the one-minute isometric hold - were pretty tough.  Phew, I was shaking.  Then I went on a short jog, followed by stretching and foam rolling.  I did the whole workout in 4 different places, and I think switching up the location so much helped it to fly by.  Except for the jump roping parts... those were killer.

I continued my workout (kind of) by washing my car after that.

So stylish, right?  Ha.  I was actually hoping it would start raining while I was washing the car because then I wouldn't have to dry it... that's my least favorite part.  No such luck, but at least my car looks better for it.

Lunch today:

A salad and a taster plate of carrots, hummus, snap peas, and 1/2 an apple.

The salad had spinach, grape tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, sliced almonds, and homemade Italian dressing. Tasty!

This afternoon I baked a loaf of beer bread to take to my grandparents' house for dinner tonight.  It has just a few ingredients (all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, a bottle of beer - I used pumpkin ale, and butter) and it's really easy and quick because you don't have to let it rise.  Plus it's delicious.

Off to dinner with the fam.  Have a good night!

Forget-me-nots at my parents' house.  I transplanted one clump into this area  in high school and they've really spread!  Love them.

Song of the day:

"Psycho" by Imelda May.

The Truth About Shia LaBeouf

Hey friends, how's everyone doing?  I'm basking in some glorious 80* weather.  It feels wonderful!  (Even though I'm stuck inside studying, I've got all the windows open and a fan going.)

Sadly, I ate the last of my baked oatmeal earlier this week.  I found another delicious way to enjoy it before it was all gone:

Warmed up with a little almond milk, then topped with a fresh peach - SO delicious.  I think I could eat this every day for at least a month.

Today I had an equally delicious salad beast for lunch:

I started out with spinach, kidney beans (rinsed), grape tomatoes, kalamata olives, edamame, a hard-boiled egg, raw sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds.  

And topped it off with garlic hummus, balsamic vinegar, and cooked bulgur.  Strawberries and iced tea on the side.  Amazing.

This past weekend my grandma invited me to her house for a big family dinner, which was a lot of fun and filled with tons of great food.  And I got a wonderful surprise:

My grandma gave me the Pioneer Woman's newest cookbook!!!!!!!  My good friend Laura gave me her first cookbook for my birthday last fall, which I absolutely love, and Ree just came out with a new cookbook in March.  

I am a huge fan of Ree and actually just want to read this cover to cover like a novel.  Even though it's a cookbook, it's filled with funny lines and gorgeous pictures.  I think my favorite part is the step-by-step pictures - so, so helpful.  

I can't wait to try out some of the recipes!

Today I went to the gym for some cardio but didn't feel like doing the elliptical, so I tried out an incline walking treadmill workout from Julie at Peanut Butter Fingers.  Phew, it was tough.  Even though it's mostly walking, with just 5 minutes of running in the middle, walking at a speed of 4.0 and an incline of 15.0 is seriously challenging.  I followed that with 3000m on the rowing machine and feel like I got a great workout in.  

Post-workout protein smoothie:

1 cup almond milk, 1 T ground flax seeds, 1 T natural peanut butter, 1 scoop vanilla Sun Warrior protein powder, spinach, frozen banana, heaping 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries, and 2 ice cubes.  (The pink mixture on the side of the blender is leftover from a batch of popsicles I made prior to blending up my smoothie - recipe will be up soon!)

Another ugly color, but it hit the spot, especially with the summery weather today. 

Well I had one final on Monday (it was difficult, to say the least), and I'm working on a take-home now.  I have one more next Monday and then it's off to Florida!  I need a beach!  And a martini!  Stat!  I think only my BFF knows that reference :)

Hope you're getting warmer weather, too, and enjoying some refreshing beverages (whether they're of the adult or smoothie variety - or both!).

Song of the day:

I think this song has pretty much already gone viral, but in case you haven't heard it yet:  "Shia LaBeouf" by Rob Cantor (of the band Tally Hall).  It's very weird, but hilarious.  Enjoy!

Gettin' Sloppy

Friday night I took a break from studying and made a real dinner - it had been awhile!  I was excited to try out a new recipe:  Snobby Joe's.

In keeping with my effort to be thrifty, this recipe calls for fairly inexpensive ingredients, many of which I already had on hand.

You'll need dry lentils, water, olive, oil, an onion (the recipe calls for a medium yellow onion, but I used 1/2 a white onion because I already had one), a green bell pepper, garlic cloves, chili powder, oregano, salt, tomato sauce, tomato paste, maple syrup, and prepared yellow mustard (which I omitted).

First, you cook the lentils.

While the lentils were cooking, I prepped some of the other ingredients by dicing the onion and green pepper, and mincing the garlic.

Then it was time to saute the onion, pepper, and garlic in some olive oil.

Once those have softened, you just add the rest of the ingredients.

Let that cook for a few minutes, and you're done!  Pretty simple, and it looks a lot like real Sloppy Joe's.

I was definitely a big fan of this recipe.  While it doesn't taste exactly like traditional Sloppy Joe's, the texture is spot-on.  The lentils are a perfect substitute for ground meat - it was a hearty and comforting meal.

And the best part (in my opinion):

Lots o' leftovers!!  This should get me through finals.

It was nice to take some time away from studying and relax in the kitchen.  I listened to a podcast of This American Life while I made my dinner.  I am really loving podcasts these days.  I've had the NPR app on my phone for awhile, and I absolutely love listening to Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me (this actually makes me laugh out loud to myself), Car Talk (also elicits a few chuckles), and Weekends on All Things Considered.  I usually bribe myself to wash dishes or do other chores with the promise of being able to listen to a podcast <-- nerd alert :)

I enjoyed my Snobby Joe's with a bowl of amazing fruit - strawberries and a perfect peach.

Yesterday morning I went to the gym and did my circuit workout, followed by some speed and incline intervals on the treadmill.  And then it was time for a protein smooooothie.

Into the blender went:  1 cup almond milk, 1 T ground flax seeds, 1 T natural peanut butter, 1 scoop vanilla Sun Warrior protein powder, lots of spinach, 1 frozen banana, and 1/2 cup frozen blueberries.

I might have been thinking about this smoothie while pushing myself through my workout.  I'm all about the self-incentives, can ya tell?

I've got my first final tomorrow - it'll be my first completely closed book, handwritten exam in law school.  Wish me luck!

Song of the day:

"Janglin" by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.  I got to see them perform at a music festival a couple of years ago, and they were really fun to see.  I imagine this is what the 1970s were like, free love and all.

Hooked on Pancakes

(Do you remember those commercials for Hooked on Phonics?  I wonder if that still exists...)

I've really been loving making brunch on Sundays recently.  This past Sunday I decided to make these strawberry shortcake pancakes.  I was a little impatient and didn't let them cook quite long enough, but other than that they were delicious!  Coffee on the side.  Buzzzzz.

I topped the pancakes with some sunflower seed butter, seared banana slices, and fresh strawberries.  I don't think I can ever go back to syrup.

I enjoyed the pancakes while reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  Have you read it yet?  It took me a little while to get into it, but when it got good, I really couldn't stop reading.  I had tried to finish it the previous night, but couldn't keep my eyes open when I had about 60 pages left, so I finished it while eating brunch.  So.  Good.  And very disturbing, too.  I can't wait to read the next book in the trilogy!  Probably after finals... :(  But maybe in Florida :)

In an effort to save some money, I decided not to do a big grocery store trip last week and instead just picked up some fresh food from GFS.

I got that huge bag of spinach, 13 bananas (some to eat fresh, some to freeze), a huge container of grape tomatoes (which are really flavorful!), and a big bag of carrots for $14.65 - not too bad!

In the spirit of being economical and not having time to cook much, this is what a lot of my meals are looking like lately.  Basically, I just pull out whatever is in the fridge/ freezer and put it together.  I had a plate of strawberries, grapes, and grape tomatoes with hummus for dipping.

And a bowl of cooked couscous, cooked bulgur, rinsed black beans, frozen edamame, frozen corn, and fresh spinach - all stirred together and heated up in the microwave.

After my classes today, I went to the gym and tried out the circuit workout I put together over the weekend.  I'd definitely call it a success - it challenged me, but I got through it and felt great afterwards.  I'll type it up in a chart or something and put it on here soon.  And my gym friend did some push-ups with me today - so cool!  I felt like I had way more energy with her rocking them out beside me.  I warmed up with 7 minutes on the elliptical and then did this treadmill workout after the circuit routine, followed by stretching.  Left me sweaty and exhilarated.  Going to the gym feels even better when school is stressing me out!

Post workout protein smoothie:

That lovely sludge had 1 cup almond milk, 1 T ground flax seeds, 1 T natural peanut butter, 1 scoop vanilla Sun Warrior protein powder, lots of spinach, a frozen banana, and 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, plus two ice cubes.  Not much to look at, but it tasted good!

Time for a shower, dishes, dinner, and paper writing :/  I might have to sneak New Girl in there, though - it's only half an hour, so it will make a perfect study break.  'Til next time!

Awesome sunset last night:

Song of the day:

"Take Me Home to Marlyebone" by Patch William.  My BFF Maryam told me about this band, and she found out about them because she met the drummer at a party while we were in college!  I can't get enough of their music - their lyrics are great, the songs are catchy, and I kind of love that you can actually hear their British accents.