Triple Tangent Tuesday

Happy Tuesday blends!!  It's that time of the week where you get to learn 3 useless things about me and love every second of the experience ;)

1)  My food cravings lately haven't gotten the memo that it's a jillion degrees outside because for some reason, I want Thanksgiving food.  I caved over the weekend and had this plate no less than three times.

 Mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, sauteed mushrooms

Don't worry, I sometimes don't even make sense to myself.  I have no idea why I wanted such hot, heavy food in the heat of summer but I did and this hit. the. spot.

2)  My little bro is currently on a trip around the country on a Greyhound bus.  He was just in San Francisco camping with a friend, and is now on his way to East Jesus, Nowhere to be a park ranger or something for a couple of weeks.  I'm super stressed out about this because as you know, we are very close.  And he is going to be out of cell phone range for 3 whole weeks.  He just texted to let me know he made his last transfer and is going to be making it where he is going by 1 am. I responded by asking if he will have access to a gun for the time that he is out of civilization and roaming around with wild animals.  Apparently there is no gun, but there is bear mace.  WTF is bear mace???  You are telling me he is going to fend off some crazy mad 25,000 lb mama bear with some pepper spray?  I'm going to be a wreck for the next three weeks.  The good news is that his next stop after the remote mountain adventure is CARY NC and he will be staying with me for a few days :)  I can't wait!

3)  This morning I went to my first bodypump class in 3 weeks.  It was rough.. I could definitely use a leg massage right about now.  When I sit or lay in a certain position for more than 5 seconds a couple minutes, my legs are getting stuck in that position.  Getting out of bed tomorrow morning should be interesting!

I'm off to bed now, the lil bro is calling me at 1am when he gets to where he needs to be so I can speak to him one more time before he loses cell phone service.  He will need all my bear-escaping advice, plus I need to ask him to find a shower between there and here so that he doesn't stink up my new car when I pick him up :)  Have a great night everyone!

Ahh, To Be In High School Again..

Heyyyy bloggy friends!  Sorry I've been gone so long, I've just been busy living life :)  I hope everyone had a fabulous mini vacation over the weekend.  I had to work Friday and Saturday nights, but I took Friday day off my full time job and spent it laying in the sun.  Actually, I spent all of Friday-Tuesday laying in the sun and swimming in the pool, getting tan and lightening my hair the white trash way... with lemon juice.  Don't judge.

 

 My view for most of the LONG weekend

In other news, during my absence on the internet I made a big decision, followed by a big purchase.  See, the thing is that I loved my Ford Explorer.  I've had it since 2005 and it was my first "real" car.  The Oldsmobile with no heat that I had for 2 Upstate NY winters and the cheap Subaru wagon that I hated from the minute I bought it don't count.  The explorer was the first car I bought that cost more than $3k, the first car that had less than 80k miles on it, and the first car that I bought because I loved it.  Sadly I can't find an exact picture of it right now, but here is the basic idea from google images:

That's actually exactly what it looked like.

Sadly, even though I loved this car and it was PAID OFF, it was developing some major problems so I had to trade it in :''(  Goodbye lovely Ford SUV.  Hello, lovely Nissan Altima.

 Isn't she pretty??  I heart her.

I do miss my explorer.  I prefer SUV's over cars any day but for now I will appreciate the working CD player, the Aux hookup, the working locks, the savings on gas, the lack of issues, and the fact that there are almost exactly 100k LESS miles on this car.  Actually, 105k less.

So that's what I've been up too.  Tooling around in my new ride with the windows down, blaring my music WAYY too loud while my lemon-lightened hair blows in the wind and people wonder if I'm Hispanic because of my lovely tan.  If only I was still in high school and didn't have this little issue of a JOB getting in the way of all my fun :)

Three Things Thursday

I'm back with a functional laptop, admin privileges and all!!  Since I missed Triple Tangent Tuesday, I can just change that into Three Things Thursday, right?  Right. 

1) I am PMSing today and throughout the day my eats have gradually gotten worse and worse.  Breakfast was my usual yogurt mess.. not bad.  Lunch was a Jimmy Johns sub and chips.. not great, but still not too bad.  Dinner on the other hand, well, it was what I wanted at least.

Chips and guac, and a medium DQ blizzard.  I usually get a small when I get a blizzard but I thought I might save half for tomorrow.  Fail.  That would be an empty container.  Oops.  Oh, and there was also an unpictured plate of pasta consumed.  The food baby is definitely going on right now!

2)  I mentioned in my last post that I don't own a computer.  Horrors, right?  My job gives me a laptop, so I use that for blogging, YouTubing, and all the other important things that I do in my free time.  But now that I will no longer be at this job in August I need to buy my own laptop.  As much as I don't want to spend a ton of money, I'm leaning towards a Mac Book.  It will last longer, and after that virus that I just dealt with on my work laptop, it sounds pretty nice to know that Mac's don't tend to get viruses.  If anyone has an opinion about this, let me know!  I'm still considering a PC.. basically, I have no idea what I want yet :)

 

3)  I have really been getting into makeup over the past couple of years, and I just realized a few months ago that you can learn how to do makeup by watching YouTube videos.  I know, I'm sure I'm the last to figure this one out but I've subscribed to a few channels and love getting new tips and tricks from them.  This one is my favorite.. http://www.youtube.com/user/SWalkerMakeup.  She is super talented and breaks things down into easy steps to accomplish a look.  She wears a LOT more makeup than I do, but I think that's a good thing in case I ever get into foundations and stuff like that.  If you want tips on products, makeup, haircare, etc.. I highly suggest checking her out.  Plus she has this super cute English accent and you instantly want to be best friends :)

Well there you have it.  3 totally random things you probably wish you didn't know about me.  Have a great night everyone, tomorrow is FRIDAY!!

Viruses

Happy Wednesday everyone!!  Last night I had planned to do a Triple Tangent Tuesday post, but before I did that I wanted to get my resume out into cyberspace.  There I was, innocently creating a Monster profile when it happened:  The blue screen of death.  The blue error message that means your computer might be on the fritz.  I shut it down, powered back up, and everything went black.  I got a message telling me that hard drive clusters had been damaged.  The whole time I'm thinking ohcrap thisismyworkcomputer.  (Further proof that I need to just deal with it and buy my own.)  When I brought it to tech support today, there was nothing they could do so now I have a new computer.  There are some kinks that need working out and I can't post pictures, so sorry for the picture-less post!  Hopefully things will be totally worked out tomorrow.

PS  I had NO computer until about 1:00 today and it was torture not checking blogs.  I think I may have an addiction.

A Good Monday?

Heyyy everyone!  It's been almost a week since I posted.  I'm sorry, that was not intentional.  I have had a headache every.single.day. since last Saturday, and I think it got bad in the middle of last week.  I'm taking a more drastic step towards helping these headaches though.. I decided, after 11 years, to go off birth control.  I feel like my body perhaps needs a break from the hormones, plus I know these migraines started when I began this particular form of birth control.  Fingers crossed that it helps and doesn't end up throwing my whole system into a mess!

Anyway.. onward.. My day started of fabulous-ly.  I have decided to switch up my spin workouts for HIIT workouts instead.  After talking with people and searching the h*ll out of the internet, it seems that maybe these workouts could be the answer to my weight loss issues.  Whereas spin class holds my heart rate consistently high and steady for an hour, the interval workouts will cause it to go more up and down, causing the breakdown of fat somehow.  (I don't know what I'm talking about really, this is what I got out of my research and reading a ton of blogs that I know promote HIIT.)  So after googling "HIIT workouts for beginners," this morning I trekked to the gym and stared at this.

I don't really run.  Let's be honest.  I tried it, it wasn't really for me.  But while I know that HIIT workouts can be done with bikes, ellipticals, etc.. the other options seemed like cheating to me.  I knew running would be challenging, so I went for it.  30 seconds fast running, 90 seconds walking, repeat till I hit 20 minutes.  And you know what?  It didn't suck.  I was dripping sweat and was fighting to breathe so I think this will work for me 3 times a week.  I finished up the workout with an easy 20 minutes on the elliptical and called it a day :)

Work work work, and I came home to a kitchen challenge.  Lately I have been obsessed with portobella mushroom sandwiches.  I even went to the same restaurant last week two days in a row just to get one.  I wanted to try to recreate it at home and I knew I wanted mushroom, red pepper and cheese, so I googled around, (apparently what I do for everything,) and made dinner loosely based on this recipe. 

This was even better than the restaurant version.  I found some frozen Artisan rolls in the frozen bread section of the store, and the addition of jarred roasted peppers was a better idea than roasting it myself.  So much flavor!  I just eyeballed portions since I was only making one mushroom and mixed the oil, balsamic and seasoning together and rolled the mushroom around in it. You can't see it, but under the mushroom are a few strips of basil that I chopped and mixed with a tiny bit of olive oil.  After roasting the mushroom for about 20 minutes, I topped it with the cheese and pepper and made my sandwich. 

Added a handful of sweet potato fries and a small Greek salad and dinner was served.  After I was done eating it, I was ready to eat it again.  Everything was so, SO good.  Don't be surprised if this is my new food obsession and you see it 84,000 more times on the blog. 

I'm off to bed now to rest up for a 'pump class in the morning.  Have a great night everyone :)

What workout are you currently loving?

Bodypump and now HIIT.  I still love spin, but I will see how the interval training goes for now before I return to it.

Any food obsessions that you just have to eat a lot?Right now I have this mad obsession with the portobella sandwiches.. and let's be honest, you all know my love for my vanilla Chobani messes for breakfast.  They NEVER get old!

Triple Tangent Tuesday

I decided for this week to join the ranks of the beautiful Janae and the adorable Katelyn and do a triple tangent Tuesday.  You all were just DYING for some random information about me, don't act like you weren't :)

1)  I prefer to eat dinner while watching reruns of Gilmore Girls.  They eat SO MUCH FOOD all the time that no matter what I'm eating, it's healthier than what they are eating and I feel good about myself.  Another reason is because I really love the show and I'm so sad they took it off the air :(

2)  I dislike root beer and vanilla ice cream.  Someone please tell me why I am averaging 76,000 root beer floats per week if this is true.  I can't stop.  WHY ARE THEY SOO GOOD???

Yes, I have posted this picture 3 times now.

3)  I have anxiety if I don't talk to my brother at least 4 times per week.  I feel like I'm missing out on some sort of crucial information or home gossip or something.  I took it personally when he deleted his facebook account and got rid of his cell phone.  Secretly, I think he was sick of me bothering him and texting and calling and posting all the time. 

I legit scared the crap out of him in that picture.  That is not posed.  He is really trying to run for his life because I snuck up behind him and yelled "SMILE!!!"  And yes, that is slept-in makeup on my face.  I am almost definitely hungover in that picture.  You are welcome.

Anyone want to share a random fact?

Exhausted..

It's a sleepy evening up in here tonight.  Lexi is passed out on the dining room floor, Molly is passed out on the bedroom floor, and I'm hoping to be passed out in the next hour.  Waitressing again is killin' me.. I forgot how draining it can be!  I feel like all weekend if I wasn't working, I was sleeping.  It's all good though because I am hoping to be able to save some money for August when I no longer have a full time job, and September when it's finally time to move out of this apartment I share with J.  I do need to get used to the hours though, and all the walking around for hours at a time.  Maybe I'm losing some weight? :) 

Right now I'm waiting for some pasta and hardboiled eggs to cool so I can make tuna salad for the rest of the week's lunches and then I'm (hopefully) going to get a good night's sleep.  Sorry for the lame post.. blogger won't let me upload pictures right now, and my brain won't let me think of of anything else to say.  Have a good night and I hope for a better post tomorrow!

It Finally Happened..

Hey y'all.  I hope everyone is ready for the weekend, it's almost FRIDAY!!  I know I am, even though I have to work at my new part time job.  I got some difficult news at the full time job today.  I was laid off.  Not immediately, my last day will be August 5th, but it's official and I have a severance packet and everything.  It wasn't just me, it was actually almost my entire department, another entire department, and other people here and there from other departments as well.  I believe the number I heard was 40 people altogether.  I guess outsourcing people's jobs is the new trend in this bad economy.  I'm not super upset, we all knew this day was coming sooner or later.  My company isn't doing well and to be honest, I don't see it surviving for many more years without some sort of miracle.  I know I will be ok because I have this second job now that can become full time if/when I need it too, but I'm not going to lie.. I got a little teary this afternoon thinking about all the people I've become accustomed to seeing and working with every day, and knowing that in a couple short months I will no longer speak with them.  I will miss my boss because if there is one thing I can say about my company, it's that I have been truly blessed with my managers while there.  I worked for my first manager for a little over 2 years and I was devastated when that department was eliminated and he was no longer my boss.  I was weary of working for someone new, but that manager, (my current one,) turned out to be just as great.  I'm worried that I'm not going to hit the jackpot again in that area.  I also have 2 close friends that I am used to eating lunch with every day, IM'ing and emailing all day long, etc, and I know that even if I score a great job in the future, I will miss working with them and seeing them every day.  I hope that the friendships I have made there don't suffer.

After we got the news this morning, my boss told us we could take the rest of the day off to let the news sink in.  I grabbed a Jinny John's sub, came home and took a nap.

I've had a headache all day but the nap helped a little.  I did not have any energy for the gym this afternoon but that's ok since I went to bodypump this morning.  I took Molly on a short walk, then went to Wendy's and grabbed a root beer float for dinner because it was HOT and I needed some comfort food.

That will only be my desk for 9 more weeks.. sad..

I am trying very hard to stay positive with all that is going on but honestly I'm a little overwhelmed.  I have to update my resume, search for jobs, pray for interviews and if I don't get something before August 5th, then I will have to accept being a full time waitress again like I was in college.  There is nothing wrong with that for sure, but I'm truly praying that it doesn't come to that.  For now I think I am going to curl up in bed and watch some TV, and hope that tomorrow isn't too awful at work. Come on weekend!!!!

Ocean Love

Hey peeps!!  I didn't mean to be gone for so long but I've been busy busy.  In my spare time, I've been sleeping :)  First things first, the girls beach weekend was FABULOUS.  It was the perfect relaxing weekend that I hoped it would be.  There are a ton of pictures, so lets get right to them:

The view from the balcony

The owners left us wine!!

NY friends <3

Jenny!! 

I went out one morning at 7am.. that chair was my happy place on the quiet beach for a couple of hours

Shells found on a beach walk

Check out that tan line :)

Honestly, if I could live anywhere on earth, it would be on the ocean.  It's one of the only places where I ever feel truly relaxed.  I can appreciate the beauty of mountains and deserts but I am definitely most at peace near the water.  Someday..

My other major news is that I got a new job!!  Not a new full time job, but a part time job to supplement the full time job.  I am waitressing with one of my best friends at a sports bar in Raleigh.  I spent last weekend training and this weekend will be my first on my own.  I waitressed for 5 years in college so I know what I'm getting into, but I know it will be a transition.  I'm not used to being on my feet for 5-7 hours at a time anymore.  Not to mention that this place gets PACKED and I will have to get good, fast.  I'm hoping the extra money will be worth the lack of weekends from now on.

It's been so hot here lately.  I think that's the story of the whole country right now, but honestly I was not expecting 90-100 degree weather this early in the summer.  It's taken away my appetite.. my eats lately have looked a lot like this for breakfast, lunch and dinner:

Fruit.. yogurt.. cereal.. toast.  It was difficult to go shopping because I just had no idea what I even wanted to eat.  I don't usually buy cereal because I rarely want it, but the past week it's been the perfect dinner.  (That is Frosted Mini Wheats by the way.)  I hate feeling heavy in the heat so I have to make sure I'm eating enough sometimes or else I will get a migraine.  If I could, I think I could live on water and fruit alone in the summertime.  Does anyone else lose their appetite in the heat?

That's all for now.  I've gone about 10 minutes without water and I need to get up and get more.  Have a good night everyone :)

 

Some Of My Favorite Things

Ahhh, I love today.  Today is my Friday because tomorrow I go to the BEACH for the weekend with some of my best friends and I'm so excited.  2 of those friends are flying down from NY as we speak I type.  I actually just got a text from one of them telling me some drunk guy breached security and ran under the plane??? Not sure how that happened but they are a little delayed.  No problem, I have nothing to do tomorrow except sleep and be ready to leave by 1:00, so they can come anytime!

When I was done with work today, I went shopping for some more summery, beach-appropriate clothing.  I only really have jeans at the moment since I've gained weight and a lot of my clothes don't fit.  Shopping brought about the ineviteable slight depression over not fitting into my regular size, but I've done some thinking and I'm moving on from that thought.  I've had an idea for a post for a while now concentrating on the things that I actually LOVE about my body, and after Janae posted it yesterday, I decided now was a good time for me to do it as well.  I think I spend a lot of time criticizing myself about the things I dislike about my body, and I don't think I'm alone in this.  Women get judged very harshly as it is, and I want to take a minute and be positive about myself for once.  So, here goes.  This is my list of the things that I love about myself/my body.

First, even though it may seem cliched, I truly love my eyes.  They are a pretty green color and have long black eyelashes around them.  When I use makeup, I always play up my eyes.  They are definitely my best feature.

My friend Lindsay and I.. she also has gorgeous eyes.

The two best pictures I could find where I didn't have red-eye and you can actually see them.

You will also notice my tan and my nose in the above pictures.  These would be features 2 and 3 that I like about myself.  I really only tend to burn on my face.. the rest of my skin gets a nice, dark tan and I love that about me.  I like being tan, and I have a few very pale friends who can't ever tan.  They have embraced it and look beautiful with their pale skin, but I don't like it on me.  I'm really happy to not be super pale, and not be a person who burns.

My nose is something that I never thought about one way or the other till one day in high school.  A friend of mine was complaining about her nose and was talking about saving up for a nose job.  I told her I didn't think she needed one, and she looked at me and said, "That's easy for you to say, you have the perfect nose."  I remember being like, I do?  I went and checked it out, and she was right.  My nose is pretty great, and another thing that I'm glad I don't have an issue with.

The last thing I'll talk about is my butt.  Yes, I tried to take a picture of it but mostly all you can see is a bright light and my messy bathroom counter.  It's there though, my butt.  I really like it.  I'm ok with needing to go up a size in pants as long as I don't lose it.  It's a little on the big side, but it's perky and makes me feel feminine.  (By the way, I don't exactly love my chest, but I am happy that it's perky like my butt, especially since I'm double-lettering in that department.)  Boys don't seem to hate those assets of mine either.. ;)

So, there you have it.  While I'm on the beach this weekend with my gorgeous skinny friends, I'm going to try not to be jealous of the fact that their bikini's look better than mine does, and I'm going to not stress that I can't and won't wear the skimpy clothes out to the bar like I used too.  Instead, I'm going to try to focus on these things.. especially the tanning thing, since it just occured to me that I may be the only person on this trip who doesn't have super pale skin.  

I'm not taking my laptop to the beach, so I hope you all have a great weekend and I'll be back on Monday!  Leave me a comment and tell me what YOU like best about youself :)

I Promise I Know Something About Nutrition

Hey peeps!  I hope you all are having a good week.  I didn't post last night because well, I wasn't in the mood.  I didn't open my laptop or phone all night actually.  I was going to go to the gym for a second workout of the day and decided about midway through the afternoon that all I really wanted was some unplugged relaxing time.  So that's exactly what I did and it was fabulous.  The reason for this laziness...

Carbs for lunch.  So delicious, but so make me lazy for the rest of the day.  Note to self: Save the pasta for dinner.  Sleeping at the desk at work is not as acceptable as sleeping at home in bed.  It was delicious though, and since I had been to the gym in the morning for bodypump, I wasn't too guilty about skipping the cardio session after work.

Random picture of Jenny at lunch.  I'm sure she will appreciate this :) Go check out her barefoot running experience, this girl is a badass!

Dinner last night was simple.. reheated homemade pizza that I reheated for a little too long.  It's ok though, I like burnt cheese :)

Like I said, last night was perfect.  My mood was great and everything was going well.. till this morning.  I got to work and pulled into a parking space and suddenly could not put my car in park.  It would NOT go.  I called my boss and asked him to have one of the managers come out and help.  (He is a previous mechanic.)  First thing he said.. "Rachel, you can put the e-brake on and get out of the car now.. you don't have to keep your foot on the brake."  Oh yeah.  Duh.  He checked it out and didn't know what to think.  I called the tow truck to come get it and nearly $300 later, the car will park again.  LAME day.  Although I was panicked all day long that it was going to cost like a grand and I would need a new transmission and all kinds of crazy things, so I am thankful that even though I didn't want to spend that on my car, at least I was able to pay it.  I came home and drowned my sorrows in these:

Bang bang shrimp followed by sliced banana and strawberries covered in nutella and whipped cream.  I promise, I will be back on the healthy eating wagon soon but I was not in a salad mood after the car nonsense.  I'm currently in a nutella coma and feelin' fabulous.

After all these decadent eats, I definitely need to be hitting up the gym in the AM, so it's off to bed for me now.  Gotta make that 6am 'pump class!  Tomorrow is my Friday as I am headed to the beach for the weekend with some of my best girls.. can't wait!!

A Great Harvest Experience

Hi!  How was everyone's Monday?  And WEEKEND?  Both of mine were great.  I was in a good mood all day today and even though work was kinda boring, I managed to keep my mood high.  I just got back from a walk with Molly and she is worn out.

The weather here is so beautiful, it's about 73 degrees and breezy.  A walk was perfect.

Guess where I went after work today??

Look familiar??

Kath has been talking about her experience opening her own Great Harvest with her husband and all the pictures of bread have made me really want to try it.  I googled and found one in my area right down the street and decided to try it.  The nicest girl helped me out and gave me about a million samples to help me decide what was right for me.  I tried a cinnamon bread, a rosemary and garlic flavor, high protein, and a NC spelt.  Although all of them were delicious, (I could have died over that cinnamon bread,) I went with the spelt since I felt it would go best as toast.  I came home and made eggs and toast for dinner and it was soo good.  I took a picture but for some reason didn't have my memory card in the camera, so it's gone :(  I highly recommend looking to see if there is a GH in your area.. the bread is on the pricey side but it's delicious and the employees are really passionate about what they do and really want to help you find what you need.

I'm off to get things ready for tomorrow and watch the Real Housewives of NJ.  They are my favorite and the premiere is an hour and a half!!  See you all tomorrow!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!!!  This post would have been up sooner if Blogger hadn't been PMSing since last night.  Seriously, I didn't realize how many times a day I checked it and read a blog post here and there till it was gone.. and I had to actually WORK all day long!  (Kidding, I don't check it THAT much at work, but sometimes here and there I need a small break..)  But last night and this morning I was definitely disappointed.  Thank God it's back up for the weekend!

I've decided to join the Friday Favorites ritual because there are a ton of things I'm liking right now.  The first is the best.. look what I found yesterday!!!!! 

I'm not sure if my local grocery store is dealing in the black market yogurt trade because it's seriously nowhere else to be found and then suddenly it was there, on the shelf.  I only left one.  And I ate this for breakfast AND dinner.  It makes the Greek yogurt I've been eating even more pathetic than I thought it was.  Hopefully I can keep on getting it because it makes breakfast 100% better.

This was a mid afternoon snack one day this week.  It was hot out and I was hungry/wanted something sweet, so a co-worker and I walked to Wendy's for a float for me, twisted frosty for him.  I haven't had a float since high school.  It's one of those weird things because I hate soda, and I'm not a fan of vanilla ice cream, but somehow they make magic together. 

It's kind of pathetic how addicted I've gotten to this stuff in such a short amount of time.  The small bottle on the right is clearly empty and I just bought it last weekend.  Yesterday I decided to splurge and spend $7 on the left bottle.  Let's hope it lasts longer than a week, but I'm not promising anything.  It goes so much better on this dessert than melted chocolate chips.  Speaking of which...

I've had the nutella-version of this for dinner every night this week.  Send help.

Finally, I am loving Crest Whitestrips.  I looked in the mirror a couple of weeks ago and realized that all the tea I drink has been making my teeth look, well, less than white.  I used to use the original version of these in college all the time and they worked really well.  They have changed though.. I remember the strips sliding around and coming off really easily after a half hour.  These become practically cemented on.  It's crazy.  It takes a lot of effort to get them off but the good news is that I feel like my teeth are back to being nice and white.  At least till I stain them again with my daily tea addiction.

There is lots more, but I gotta save something for next Friday.  Right now I have to excuse myself and read the 110 blog posts that I've been unable to read all day, and try to forgive blogger and fight the urge to switch to wordpress.  Have a great night everyone!