Holidaze

As we are all busy, we try to be organized/efficient and do things like use lists.

So here’s a list of things.

They are listed in no particular order.

I just really like lists.

1. I have found this week to be more relaxing than my last weekend. Please don’t get me wrong- the weekend was great. This can sum it up:

Marathon baking on Friday night. With wine. Duh.

Chicago running bloggers meetup. More wine. Don’t worry- it was noon. Almost.

We’re a total party.

Date night! Just us and thousands of strangers…

A bloody mary to kick off Sunday Funday for the Bears/Packers game. I can barely look at this photo… ugh

2. My roommate texted on Saturday night that she was dvring Cinderella for us.  After the Bears/Packers game (please refer to the bloody mary picture above), we fell asleep on the couch watching it. And then she accidentally deleted it. Worst. Thing. Ever.

3. I’m back into the gym routine now that my old woman back is feeling better. At least for this week as I am heading home at the crack of dawn on Saturday (that is, if the world does not end as it originally was supposed to). Run 2 miles and do 20 minutes on the elliptical or stairs seems to be my chillaxed routine at the moment.

4. My work holiday party was Tuesday. Several things to be noted:
- My boss quoted Beevis and Butthead Do America. This seems so wrong, but was sooooo amazing.
- I tried duck pâté for the first time ever and didn’t hate it.
- Snuck out early so I would still have energy for the gym the next morning and wouldn’t smell like liquor at work. More people chose the other option and looked miserable. I may have been a little smug about it.

5. The roommate and I exchanged gifts.
Socks with a cape. This means I am now a super hero. BAM.

The dude and I exchanged gifts, too. But I like to be more discreet about such things. No matter how much I love them.

6. In order to not enter this mentality:

I’ve been doing this for every time I’ve gone out/drank/celebrated the holidays:

We call this “let’s throw all the vegetables in the refrigerator onto some lettuce and see what we end up with”.

It’s a half-win.

7. Convicts escaped the correctional facility in downtown Chicago on Tuesday and only one has been caught. I honestly had no idea my place of employment was so close to a prison, but it has made going out for lunch seem that much more thrilling. I like to live on the edge.

8. So I guess the world is supposed to end at some point today? Isn’t that what all this crazy buzz is about?  Just in case, the roommate and I decided to make a “one last roomie date” by staying in and watching a movie with some drinks last night. She got a sweet bottle of cabernet from a vendor at work and it seemed to be a shame to potentially waste it. So we drank nice wine and watched Home Alone. Naturally.

This list is getting too long. I should end it now. And because this is probably the last day of work before Christmas for a lot of people, I just want to say enjoy your holiday and travel safe! xoxo

Christmas by Numbers

Hey kiddos!

Long time no see, am I right?

This is what I’ve been up to:

Number of family get togethers: 2

Me and my bro. I had to drop the "little bro" because that is clearly not the case anymore. I would say we wish you a Merry Christmas, but you can't even see the tree...

Number of get togethers with friends: 5

Number of hours on the road: approximately 20

Number of times I saw it snow: 0 (Weird, but lucky when you consider that usually at least one leg of my trip is spent in a snow or ice storm.)

Number of times I listened to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas”: also 20 (still not tired of it)

Number of meals eaten from holiday dinner leftovers: 3 (and counting)

I probably also attacked those cookies afterwards. My sweet tooth has no discipline.

Number of pieces of pecan pie consumed: 4 (Yes, I ate 2/3 of the pie over a 3-day period. What? I wait all year for this… BAM)

Number of Paula Deen recipes used: 1 (it’s a good one- get excited)

Number of bottles of water consumed on the road: 10ish (don’t worry, I recycle)

Number of stops at Panera/St. Louis Bread Co: 2 (definitely do not call it Panera in St. Louis- people will get heated)

Number of packages from bloggers I received while at my parent’s house: 1

Kace @ Then Change It sent these and I have been using them to snack on as I road trip back to Chicago. There could not have been better timing for their arrival. Thanks girl- the brownie batter cookies are for sure changing my life! And maybe the number in inches of my waistline. But we're not discussing that now...

Number of loads of laundry I did at my parent’s house: 2 (it was conveniently awesome)

Number of lackluster workouts: 3 (The Shred – holla’)

Number of days I still have off before going back to work: 6

Number of days I will hopefully be productive when it comes to cleaning/working out/running errands: 2 (let’s be honest)

Number of salads I will be consuming this week to counteract the crazy amounts of holiday food: 7,000 (give or take)

Set plans for New Years: 0 (I should probably work on that in one of the 2 productive days I should be having, huh?)

Number of calls from the roommate about the carbon monoxide detector going off when she got back: 1 (don’t worry, it was checked and was just a dying battery- I promise I won’t die in my sleep any time soon.)

Alright, time to leave you once again. I’m in St. Louis and am getting ready for that 5th meeting with friends and the last 5 hours of my trip. Next time you see me, I’ll be back  home in good ol’ Chicago!

Off To St. Louis…

Whew.

It’s been a whirlwind of family, friends and food.  After yesterday being a long day of running around and visiting family, I pulled an old school move and invited some of the kids over the ‘rents’ house.Yes- this time even a baby was involved!   

M is a pretty awesome little kid.  And got even more awesome when she decided it was time to celebrate No Pants Saturday.

Who can blame her?  I don’t like pants much, either.

The last two mornings, I got smart and did my workout when everyone was sleeping.  Jillian Michaels and her dvd “No More Trouble Zones” were waiting for me under the tree this year, so I broke that one out first.

It’s a much longer dvd than The Shred.  Yikes.  But I loved it because I now have some new circuit training to add into my life.

She’s a fan of squats.  I am not.  But I feel like this is going to benefit me. 

Actually, I know it will- my butt is crazy sore.

Jillian wasn’t my only awesome gift.  My family really knows me way too well.You can never go wrong with baking or running gear.  Fact.

My aunt even said when I opened the bag with the mixing bowl, “well I saw on your blog that you had to use a pot to mix something in and figured I should help you out”.

Thanks RB. 

And yes, those were 8-pound weights.  No, I haven’t tried them with my dvds yet.  I’ve been talking big game.  But now that they’re actually in my possession, I’m a wee bit scared.

When putting my new Jillian dvd in to get started yesterday, I noticed the copy of P90X my brother had sitting there.

I’ve heard horror stories about how difficult it can be. Even my bro warned me about it.

Naturally, I wanted to dominate.

The abs section.  Or, what it’s so unassumingly called “Ab Ripper”.

15 minutes.  It was a solid workout.  People weren’t kidding.  I’m nervous as to how I’ll feel tomorrow.

Hurts so good… riiiight?  Yikes.

My last meal in Mid-MO was a mixture of new and leftover.Can’t beat soup and salad. 

And I told you that wasn’t the last of my overnight salad fixation.  If I only get it once or twice a year, I totally make it count…

Time to sneak in a cat nap before I head off to my next adventure on my Mid-MO Holiday Road Trip- St. Louis!

Are you done with the holiday travel?  Get anything good?  What are your general thoughts on pants? 

Enjoy your Sunday!

Eatin’ Pants

Merry Christmas everyone!

I’m up early today. Probably even up earlier than most kids. For two reasons.  One is because the Christmas lights on our house shine through my window, whereas I’m used to total darkness (black suede curtains make my apartment bedroom a cave even in the middle of the afternoon).  And the other reason would be is I’m trying to secure the downstairs television for a workout before others are up and moving.

I live by myself and I’m not used to sharing.

Oh and I was totally right about my mom making a whole new batch of sugar cookies for the family to ice once we were all there:She had barely set the cookies and was off and running trying to make sure she could ice as many green trees as possible.

The family tradition (on my dad’s side) is to always to go mass and have dinner afterwards.

So here we are looking nice:These pictures are taken after church and you’ve gotta be quick.  Because there are about 5 minutes before people change into more comfortable clothes.

Otherwise known as puttin’ on your eatin’ pants. We keep Christmas dinner pretty casual around here.My obsession with “overnight salad” is very real.  I think people also call it 7-layer salad?  Either way.  I’ve had it twice already since I’ve been home and will most likely have it two more times before I leave tomorrow.

My aunt always goes for a turkey leg:I have no idea how she does it.  When eating, I don’t have the time or patience for such things.  :p

This is also the reason I don’t do boneless wing, buy nuts still in the shell, or seldomly bother with lobster.

My contribution to the table this year:Because someone had to.

Anyways, like I said, I need to actually go claim the tv for myself so I can secure a proper workout before we do the present thing and the brunch thing and the family thing and the more food thing and the friends thing…  whew.

Plus the little piece of pecan pie I may or may not have had with breakfast needs to be burned off.

Not that I’m concerned about it.  But I’d like to try and make room for more if at all possible.

Enjoy your family time!

Made it by Midnight!

Can I just say I find your answers to the elevator question hilarious?

My favorite would have to be Oprah.  Oliepants has her head on straight- because not only would you get out right away, she’d probably give you a car just because.

And we all like cars, right?

Speaking of cars and driving (do you like how I did that?  ha ha), I made it to Mid-Missouri by midnight.  And didn’t hit any snow- so it was in much better time than expected!

A little over 8 hours is still quite the drive.  Before you take a road trip such as this, you should probably ask yourself some questions like I did.

Such as, what’s the proper way to fuel yourself for a drive? Before I left, Mon took the time to stop by work with lunch and she brought Buffalo Wings! Specifically, the Buffalo Ranch Chicken Wrap. And I had them give me the Caribbean Jerk sauce instead of just the medium.

I needed the spice. We had been going back and forth the other day on email and I expressed my desire to have the “most opposite of sweet I could find”.  Smart girl, that Mon.As soon as I say that, she pulls out a “common sense” ticket she received from the rent-a-cop in our apartment complex.  Nice work on forgetting to lock your door, Mon. And Happy Holidays, rent-a-cop! 

After that, it was a matter of waiting for the signal from the boss and I was off…

When driving, you should ask yourself, “I wonder what songs I’ll get sick of on this trip?”

Definitely not this one:

I’ve had a recent obsession with “Spaceman” by The Killers for months.  It won’t get out of my head!  For future reference, you can sing it 4 times in a row before moving on.  But you can go back to it every 2-3 hours and still be fine.

On another note, how many Rihanna songs can I listen to before she gets boring?

That would be zero. Zilch. Nada.  Sorry Rihanna. You were everywhere and you drove me nuts.  I can’t talk to you right now.

How many times will I have to stop?

Three.  In all honesty, I could have done it in two, but the second place didn’t have any coffee except for some being made by a questionable looking gentleman who was missing teeth.  That was the stop where I was the only non-trucker.  Oopsies.  Should have slowly backed out of that station as soon as I realized what was up.

A stop elsewhere was necessary.Which was fine.  I mean come on- can you see what’s in the corner of this pic? I even had a machine in the bathroom that guesses my accurate weight and tells my fortune all at the same time.  Can you believe it?!?!

And yes, I’m bringing Rod Tuffcurls and the Bench Press love to Missouri.  Sort of.  My “And The” came off in the wash.  So now people just think I’m advertising some sort of fancy pants bench press.  Sigh.

And if you’re wondering, gas station coffee isn’t that bad.  Sure, this is coming from the girl who won’t go out of her way for Starbucks.  But still. The mixture of gas station english toffee cappuccino and gas station coffee is quite lovely.  Try it…

Ok ya’ll, I’m outtie.  Be safe out there and have a good holiday!

Not Until December

That’s what I said over and over.

I refuse to put up my Christmas tree before December.  Not sure why.  Maybe because when I was little, we didn’t put the tree up until two weeks before?  Who knows…

So anyways, here I was swearing against it.  Over and over.

What did I do last Saturday?

I put up my tree.

My thought process was this…  Clearly, I have time.  I am not going out tonight.  There’s nothing else to do while I watch this movie.  I’d rather not throw it up in a rush if for some reason I’m crazy busy the next week (doubtful, but anything’s possible).

So I put it up while watching the movie Grown Ups.  Errr… tis the season?

Sad tree:Yeah, I have to straighten it with a magazine… shhhhh!

Bedazzled tree:It looks pretty much the same as last year, just in a new spot due to the acquirement of bigger furniture.  With a few extra ornaments.  And lights.  Because I live on the belief that the more glitter there is, the better.  This applies to every aspect of my life but my hair.  In my opinion, glitter does not go in one’s hair unless you’re on the way to prom.  Or if your place of employment involves a curb. 

There are exceptions to every rule.

Speaking of Christmas, this is an example of the goods that have been coming in:I considered sharing it.  But then I took a bite. 

No. I’m not sharing this one.

I had a permanent smile for the rest of work.  And even when I entered the gym later on.

The sugar was most likely the fuel for my decent 2 miles at an 8:20 pace.  And then the 25 minutes on the elliptical. And ab work. 

Maybe I should have cookies like that every day.  Even if it cancels out the time spent at the gym.  Worth it?  Very likely.

I’m so happy it’s Thursday.  It feels like last weekend was AGES ago, but at the same time, this week of work has flown.  How is that possible?  Let’s hope it continues.

When do you start getting into the “holiday spirit”?  I feel weird saying that it really doesn’t affect me much until the week before.  Most likely because I celebrate Christmas in Missouri and so I don’t feel like it’s really here until I’m planning my trip…

Home Sweet Home!

I made that fourth and final eight-hour drive.  And I have to say, I’m getting really good at timing out gas/potty/food breaks.  Yes, I am 24 and I just used the term “potty”.  Deal with it.  And finally, I’m at home, lounging, and watching a rerun of How I Met Your Mother with a full tummy from a mushroom pita sandwich…  yummmmm….  It would have had feta cheese on it, too (which I had been daydreaming about because my mom doesn’t seem to believe in feta).  I had gone to Dominick’s pretty much as soon as I got back because I had an unnerving empty refrigerator staring me in the face.  I usually buy the feta at Trader Joe’s, but i thought what the hell- I’ll get it while I’m here.  I brought it home, started cooking, broke out the feta, and wtf?!?!  Moldy?!?!  EEEEEWWWWW.  According to the label, it’s supposed to be good until April.  Yeah….  So now I have to go back to Dominick’s.  Which is fine, they’re having a sale on Kashi- and I have coupons that expire soon!  Very sneaky, Dominick’s.  Very sneaky…

Good news from my work out buddy- the apartment complex is renovating the workout room.  Hooray!  I hope this means they are getting rid of the noisy god-awful treadmill.  And adding, like, five.  And maybe add a few more free weights- like more than just one set.  And I hope this happens before I’m ready to start piling on the miles…  That’s not asking too much, is it?

Day two and three of No Sweets Week went fantastically!  I found myself eyeing candy in one of the gas stations, but resisted.  And cursed a little under my breath.  Yea!  Laura and I checked in with each other- we’re both still on track to dominate this thing!!  I’m away from my mom’s kitchen now, which is good.  BUT, I’m going to work again tomorrow and I’m well aware of the ridiculously good tin of Trader Joe’s peppermint bark Christy donated to the cause…  eek.  I just hope there’s a piece left for me after this week is over!

I dropped by my friend’s house to visit my godson before I left the state.  He got a Wii for Christmas.  He kicked my ass at Wii bowling.  Shame…  This was the first time I played Wii (yes, I know- again- shame….) and I have to say it can be quite addicting.  I told my little buddy he better keep practicing.  Because I’m going to make friends with someone who has a Wii and do the same…  And I am not afraid of beating a six-year-old…

All in all, I had a good holiday back home.  It was fun to spend so much time with the fam.  But damn… I’m exhausted.

Crossing the Mississippi back into Illinois! Goodbye, Missouri! See you again for Mardi Gras!

No Sweets Week- Day One

Yes sir- it’s that time!  I got a text from Laura yesterday that said, “t-minus 12 hours left of christmas cookies!”  I was relieved because I thought she might have forgotten.  But no- my support system is in place!

Last night I may have gone a little crazy with the Christmas goodies- had to have one more of everything!  I brought out a box of Godiva for the family- mmmm sooo good!

I woke up this morning to more of my mom’s baking.  Apparently for her, Christmas is not over.  Along with the baking, I think she’s also going to have a hard time letting go of all the Christmas movies on the Lifetime and Oxygen channels.  But either way- I feel like my efforts are already being sabotaged!  Blah!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!  I woke up super early this morning (yeah, the sleeping is still not going so well- I still blame the inactivity of the last couple of weeks) to a fabulous combo of snow and ice.  Last night it poured rain on the way to Christmas Eve Mass- but my brother was a perfect gentleman and dropped me off at the door while he parked the car.  Someone taught him well! 

My aunt didn’t make it out this year due to a massive snow storm in Kansas City.  So it was just the immediate fam that sat down to dinner after church was done.  We still had a good time.  As I predicted, mom was not a fan of the name of the wine I brought.  Although she was a fan of how it tasted… So was I.I’m a big fan of Christmas dinner in general.  I wait for a lot of delicious things- such as the turkey, my mom’s overnight salad and povitica.  All things that should be eaten in moderation.  Poviticia is a Croatian bread, which is sweet and more like a pastry, that my uncle used to bring out for us.  I like it so much, he started bringing a loaf just for me.  Not until very recently is when I found out how unfortunately fattening it is- before I never really thought about it.  We didn’t have it for dinner (alas, he is with his other family today), but he had brought some out for me over Marty’s graduation weekend.  I’ve already dug into it- but froze a good majority of it for breaking out at some other time.  Yummm……  Here’s me with my mouth watering over the salad- the bacon mixed in really puts it over the top! After dinner we decided to change up the Christmas traditions and just open everything on Christmas Eve.  Here are two of my favorite gifts! The cutest cupcake stand ever!  This is one thing my mom picked out on her own and, I have to say, it is AWESOME!  It’s been a baking Christmas for me- the mechanical piping bag from Cathryn, two cupcake cookbooks from Jaime, and now this from my mom.  Oh boy… the next couple rounds of cupcakes are going to be DELISH!

And this is one thing I requested!  The Nike Sports Band so I can start keeping better track of my mileage and pace on those longer runs- once I work my way up to them again.  It’s not a Garmin, but I’m hoping it will do the trick!    Now I get at least a couple more weeks to figure it out before I start to use it.  When I first learned about the stress reaction, my mom still asked if I wanted it.  I said heck yes I did- this is only a minor setback in my goal to become a crazed and obsessed runner…

Our traditional Christmas brunch is over and we’re getting ready to head to my Aunt and Uncle’s (on my mom’s side) for the massive family Christmas.  Which, for me, means relaxing and sitting around with the cousins in my general age group, and digesting food from earlier.  I may have had two sugar cookies when I first got up while having tea with my mom.  Hey- if No Sweets Week starts tomorrow, I guess I’m gonna have to enjoy them today!    So I better start getting ready- my dad is infamous for setting a leave time and then sitting in the car with it started and honking the horn 15 minutes before said time.  I blame him for my always getting seriously anxious and stressed when I realize I’m late for something when I had planned to be early.  Thanks Dad for making me neurotic.

Happy Holidays!

The Challenge and an Ugly Sweater

 I said I’d do it. I’m not backing down! The Sugar Challenge. But I think I am going to alter the name- The No Sweets Week! My friend Laura said she might join in on the fun. I’m encouraging it. I could use some positive reinforcement… err- person to bitch to and ask, “why are we doing this?!?! AAAAHHHH I need some chocolate!” Yeah- I need that.

Although I know how rough it’s going to be- I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be a test for sure… maybe more for the people around me than for me personally.  We shall see.

Rocked out my ugly Christmas sweater at work today.  We started an office competition last year, and the response has been pretty favorable.  This is my mom’s:

This was our conversation:

“Mom, can I raid your closet for something to wear next week?”

“For ugly sweater day?  Amy, I have a Christmas sweater or two you can borrow.  But I don’t own any ugly ones…”

“Well… can I borrow one?”

“Yes, I even have a nice one from CJ Banks with a snowman.”

“I think we found a winner….”

“There’s a matching Christmas pin I have to go with it, would you like that as well?”

Yeah buddy….

Of course,  mine was not the ugliest of the ugly.  My mom totally still wears it.  But I stand by the statement that no 24-year-old should be wearing oversized CJ Banks.