Going the Distance

It's Ok....

It's ALMOST the weekend....I'm itching for it! Although, this week has gone by pretty quickly, I'm always ready for a relaxing couple of days!

But, for today, I'm linking up with Amber at Brunch with Amber for It's OK Thursday...

It's OK....

....to stop your workout when your DVD player, in the middle of your workout, returns to the title menu. If that's not a sign from up above to stop, I dunno what is!

...to already have my morning made because I walked into a classroom to borrow glue, and I hear one of my 6th graders who has Autism explaining what book he wants to read. What did he say? "Diarrhea of a Wimpy Kid"...I laughed like a little kid!

....to really wish there was some slick way of letting MG know of a necklace that I have had my eye on for forever (that I have yet to just buy for myself), that would be perfect for Valentine's Day, without actually telling him..

Anyone wanna tell him for me?? haha

Or, this would be ok with me, too:

But...I'm not picky...haha

....to spend a little bit of time at work finishing up part of MG's Valentine's gift (hence why I was in the classroom asking for glue!). I'll probably post about it later! :)

....to already be adding clothes to online shopping carts for my trip to Jamaica even though it's more than a month away!

....to have discovered foodgawker.com and sit in front of my computer salivating and wishing I was cooking (and eating) instead of working....

.....to seriously wish that my hairdresser was available every morning (and some nights) to make my hair look spectacular....if only I was rich...lol

....to know that laughing at this makes me incredibly immature....but to ~~giggle like a little kid~~ laugh anyway:

....to hope that no one judges me for laughing at the above image....

.....to be VERY excited for The Vow to come out this weekend, and even more excited that MG is obligated to see it with me! (Revenge for making me go to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy!) Muahahaha!

That's it for me, for now!

Catch you chicas (and dudes) laters!

WILW and Oh How Pinteresting!

It's the middle of the week and this week is going by pretty quickly for me....might have something to do with me taking off work on Monday buuuuuuut, details! :)
Wednesday means I'm linking up with two of my fav's Jamie at this kind of love and Michelle at The Vintage Apple. So, let's get to it!

I'm loving that MG took the Love Languages test (with only one request) and I think we understand one another's needs a bit more than we did before.

I'm loving my brand new tv for my bedroom. Upgrade from 19" to 32" makes a HUGE difference! I'm also loving MG's new tv for his living room which we tried out last night. The 3D movies are pretty sick on that thing!

I'm loving that I think I'm finally starting to get my mind mentally back into work out mode. Although, I suppose we'll see if this is true when the end of the day rolls around today...hehe...

I'm loving that I have been finding some delish recipes on pinterest. And, when I can't find something on Pinterest, that I have you all to ask ideas of! LOVE the blogging world!

I'm loving that I am almost one week away from my blog-iversary! I can't believe it's been a whole year, and how many awesome people I've met! Woooohooo!

I'm loving that Cooper was such a hit at school on Friday when I brought him. I think this picture says it all in terms of what a ton of kids, excitement, petting and wiggles does to a doggy after a long day:

My poor, tuckered out puppy...haha

And, as always, I'm loving Pinterest and Michelle's Pinteresting link-up on Wednesdays!

This week I've been pinning....

I want to be wearing this outfit. Right. NOW! :)

Spicy Parmesan Shrimp Skillet....yes please!

In honor of the "snow" we are supposed to get....
cuteness all ready for the cold!

"Healthy, Guilt-free chocolate mousse" Sign me up!

tee hee

Absolutely terrible. But, hilarious!

What have you been pinning this week?? Go over to Michelle's and link up so I can see....and steal ideas from you! :)

Tasty Tuesday (appetizer and meal)

I'm excited to share with you guys two amazing recipes! One appetizer and one meal idea, so let's get started!

First off, I have to send out a HUGE thank you to Shari @ The Daily Dish for sharing this really yummy, crowd-pleasing appetizer recipe with me! I mentioned yesterday that on Friday MG and I went to a dinner party that his friends were hosting. MG's friends are a tight knit group--they've known each other since early on in college. They are all really nice but it's kind of hard to get "in" with the girls of the group because they have been friends for so long. So, upon getting this invite, I wanted to make something that would impress, and Shari totally came through for me with her Grape, Goat Cheese and Pistachio Truffles. I was in such a rush when making these that I didn't take a picture but here is the picture from Shari's blog so you get an idea of what they look like:

{via}

MG's and mine looked a bit different because when he used the processor to grind up the nuts, it turned it into more of a powder than the nice chunks from Shari's original post that you see above. We also did not roast the nuts beforehand. BUT, it turned out fab. People were talking to me about it two days later!

BIG shout outs to Shari!

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Now, the meal that I'm going to share with you is healthy and yummy, and not hard to make, at all! I was looking for a healthy recipe that I could have for dinner last night (and bring for lunch a few days this week) and went to my go-to website for yummy-ness: A Year of Slow Cooking. I went to the 'Light and Healthy" section and saw "General Tso's Chicken" listed. I LOVE General Tso's, but I never would classify it as "healthy"...or light for that matter.

This isn't really General Tso's. It's more a chinese chicken with veggies and yummy sauce recipe. The full recipe is here. This is how mine turned out:

What you need:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken, cut into small chunks

4 garlic cloves, minced (I just bought the jar and used about 3 tsp)

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon dried ginger (make sure you use a TSP...I grabbed the TBSP by accident at first--luckily I realized that mistake before I added it into the mix)

2 tablespoons soy sauce (I used the Lite Soy Sauce to avoid over salting myself)

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (add more to taste at the table if you'd prefer more heat)

1 (16-ounce) package frozen stir-fry vegetables (to add later)

All you do is cut up the chicken into the small chunks and add them into the crock pot (a 4 quart crock is a good size). Then add in all of the other ingredients (garlic, brown sugar, ginger, soy sauce and red pepper flakes), except the frozen veggies. Stir it up to make sure the chicken gets an even coat. Turn the Crock pot on LOW for 5-6 hours (I did 5). At this point, add in the frozen stir fry veggies, stir it up some, and turn the crock pot up to HIGH for another hour.

Right before it was done, I made some of Uncle Ben's Minute brown rice. I did add a little bit more soy sauce to my dish after it was done just for a bit more flavor (since I had the rice, and there wasn't a lot of sauce at the bottom of the crock pot). Overall, it was yummy and felt like I was eating stuff that was good for me, without sacrificing on taste.

The website says this serves 4. I would say it's more like 3 servings (or 2 adult and 2 child portions). So, now I have lunch for today and tomorrow that's really healthy and delish!

Superbowl Weekend

Hey all, Happy Monday!

I am a total lame-o lazy butt today because I took the day off of work after our Superbowl Sunday activities. BUT, I'll explain more as to why this is slightly acceptable, later on in the post!

This weekend was actually quite full of activities. On Friday MG's couple friend invited us over to their aunt's house who they were house sitting for in DC. You guys, this house was SICK....soooo nice. We had a little dinner party there, and got to spend some time just chatting it up, eating yummy food, drinking yummy wine and relaxing. Totally perfect Friday!

Saturday was kind of overcast and gloomy here, so MG and I decided to go see Chronicle:

It was only an hour and 24 minutes, and I think that was good enough. The movie itself was entertaining but both MG and I thought that they could have done more with the story line. It felt as if, all of a sudden things just got coo-coo. I'd recommend the movie, but maybe better as a rental or netflix. Not sure I'd spend $10+ to see this.

After we went to the movie, we stopped by Best Buy because I have been searching endlessly for a new tv for my room. I had a 19" DVD/TV combo and it served my purposes just fine. However, any guy who I have dated, has disagreed with it, and all of them have told me how small my tv is. So, after I upgraded our DVR's to HD boxes, I decided to bite the bullet and upgrade to a 32". After a bunch of research I found this Dynex model for $229...right in my price range! And the reviews on it were really good, so that put to rest my fears about buying an "off-brand" tv. I'm totally happy with it! Look at the old versus new tv in terms of size:

It has a really good picture and the sound is good too! If you're looking for a basic tv, this is totally a good buy! Highly recommend!

Yes, I am watching the Today show--one of my guilty pleasures on days home from work!

MG apparently caught the tv bug also, and somehow ended up getting a 51" 3D Samsung tv that came with a DVD player (I'll get his old one--woohoo!) and 4 pairs of 3D glasses, along with a whole bunch of other guy-stuff for like $1500. Luckily Best Buy has the 0% financing for 36 months (insane!) so he got suckered it. It arrive tomorrow and I'm excited to watch movies and tv over there.

I made sure to let him know that he totally stole my thunder when buying my new tv. Nothing puts your 32" tv to shame like a sick 51" tv...lol. I'm still happy with mine--esp the pricetag!

Sunday was a SUPER busy day for me. I had made plans to get mani/pedi's done with MG's friend's wife. His friend is out of town at training for a few months so I thought it'd be nice to go out and do some girly stuff. We found this place that does manis and pedis AND you get bottomless mimosas while you are there. Amazing, right??? Guess how much mani/peni cost? $39....total! We were shocked. And they did a great job, see?

I cant believe I'm posting a pic of my foot...if the pedi wasn't
so good, I wouldn't have, I promise

They did an awesome job and the mimosas were yummy! What a great business idea! Totally going back there in the future :)

Then it was off to hang with the girls before the Superbowl and then we met up with the guys right before the game started. I made this yummy Skinny Taco Dip that I saw on Pinterest here, and this is how mine turned out:

This is the recipe, taken from the website:

Skinny Taco Dip
Servings: 24 • Serving Size: 1/24th of dip • Old Points: 1.5 pts • Points+: 2 pts
Calories: 59.2 • Fat: 3.6 g • Protein: 2.2 g • Carb: 4.7 g • Fiber: 0.6 g

8 oz 1/3 less fat Philadelphia cream cheese
8 oz reduced fat sour cream
16 oz jar mild salsa
1 packet taco seasoning
2 cups iceberg lettuce, shredded
2 large tomatoes, diced (the tomatoes at the store looked nasty so I went with 1 3/4 cans of rotel instead which added a nice kick)
1 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
2.25 oz black olives

In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sour cream, salsa and taco seasoning andmix well with an electric mixer. Spread on the bottom of a large shallow glass dish.Top with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese and black olives. Serve with baked tortilla chips.

I also added sliced jalapenos on top which was also really delish! Overall, the dip was a hit, and I didnt feel AS bad eating a ton of it haha.

And then we come to why Im home today. All game I was not feeling like going to work today, and then the end of the game came, and my decision was solidified. MG had cabbed to the friend's house for the game and my friend had driven us. But, she had planned on leaving her car there since we had been drinking. MG apparently thought that it wouldnt be hard to get a cab (I thought otherwise, but went along with it). No cabs were coming for a while....and it was already 11. So, eventually we got a ride home from our friend who was sober (and we were all fine, not anywhere close to drunk, but did not want to risk driving since we HAD been drinking). We did not get home until almost 12. And at that point I said, screw it....I'm staying home. There's no point starting off the week in the hole sleep-wise, especially since I really didnt wanna go anyway haha.

So, today is errand day for me. Groceries, UPS store for a drop-off, setting up my tv (which is already done), and working out. I'll be productive today even tho I'm not at work. And I actually do have some work to get done anyway.

So, that was my weekend. Did you guys do anything fun this weekend or for the superbowl?

Hope you have a great Monday!!

Cooper Goes to School

Happy Friday!!!!

I don't have a ton of time to post, and the main reason for that is that Cooper is running around inside of my office at the moment, excitedly awaiting the arrival of kiddos!

My principal let me bring him to school last year, mainly to be with our kids in the "resource room" (kids who have more challenges, etc) and it was a HUGE success. The kids were motivated, got more work done, and taught Cooper all kinds of things like math, and reading.

So, we are doing it again. I can't wait! When Cooper realized the morning routine was different (aka, his travel kennel came out), he got VERY excited. As soon as we went outside he was running around, cuz he knew something different was happening. And now, he is ready for learning:

I'll try and take more snapshots through the day and post what I can at some point!

Hope you have a great Friday and a tail-wiggling weekend!

My "One Day" Wedding...blog challenge

Hey party people! It's Thursday, which means ONE more day til the weekend. Can you taste it???

I saw the topic for the Fabulous Valentine Challenge on Amber's page at Brunch with Amber and I couldn't help but resist to link up for this one. Today's theme is: Love Weddings - Share your wedding photos, your friends or families, or your pinterest inspiration!

I'm obviously not married, but that has not stopped my from having some ideas about what I'd like that day to look and be like. And it also hasn't stopped me from putting some cute ideas onto a wedding board on pinterest as I stumble across them on my daily pinning expeditions! So I'll share those little finds with you today!

I would love a dress like this...simple but classy and a little romantic

I think a hairstyle similar to this would be cute...maybe not the rose

I love both of these cakes (the colors on this one would
HAVE to include purple tho haha)

I basically love the purple and the cool gold-ish tint to the cake!

This is something I saw the other day and thought would be super cute if MG and I ever get married. It's a wedding cake topper, and since he's from Philly, it would be totally appropriate! (Or could even be used as decoration elsewhere, like on the sign-in table)

The feel of this is so romantic and pretty

I would have guests sign on this or do the fingerprint tree to frame later...

Add some fun things to take ...

And get some good advice from friends and loved ones!

There would obviously be some purple going on in my wedding, but not entirely sure what I would like my bridesmaids to wear. Luckily, I still have time...and will, one day, have someone else by my side to help me make these decisions :) In the meantime, I can continue to dream...and pin! :)

WILW and Oh How Pinteresting!

I love Wednesdays because you can say that half of the work week is over, and you feel a lot closer to the weekend than you did on Monday or Tuesday! Also, because two of my fav link ups are today, WILW with Jamie at this kind of love and Oh How Pinteresting with Michelle at The Vintage Apple!

Let's get started with some things that I am loving!

I'm loving that it feels like Spring right now (and yesterday) and it's January/February. Mother nature must be on vacay in the Caribbean and sending that warmth our way!

I'm loving that MG and I finally settled on, and booked, our spring break trip to Jamaica! Wooohoo warmth and sunshine!!!

I'm loving that there are only 4 1/2 more months of school left!

I'm loving that Cooper is coming to school with my on Friday to spend the day with me and my kiddos at work. He came last year (and the years before at my old school) and it was a big success! Can't wait!!

I'm loving that I have been finding some really awesome recipes on Pinterest and have been trying more of them recently! Last night MG and I made the Cayenne Rubbed Chicken with Avocado/Lime Salsa for the second time last night and it was DELISH (and actually healthy!)

And speaking of Pinterest, I LOVE it! Huge hearts!!! And I love Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday.

This week I've been pinning...