Lazy By Any Other Name…

…would still be the definition of what I was yesterday.

After running around without a care in the world on Saturday, Sunday was a struggle.  My energy was at a steady low (as it usually seems to be on most Sundays, if we’re going to be completely honest). 

That didn’t bother me so much.  Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, right?  So I took it easy on a few of the things I normally do.

Like my running.

I did an easy 3 miles at an 8:47 pace.  My lingering headache was still there, so this was the pace I found acceptable and didn’t change it at all the entire run.  No pushing at all.  Just… going.

I also didn’t feel like being in the kitchen.

So I made a detour to Subway on my drive home after running some errands.Believe it or not, I still had a gift card to Subway from the Healthy Living Summit in August.  I like Subway- it’s just not visited often.  I rarely go out to eat anyway, and then when I do, I prefer going to local spots.

Or Buffalo Wild Wings.  Because I’m a sucker for some decent wing sauce.  The sandwich was actually the Buffalo Chicken.  It was much better than how dull it looked. Promise.

Although I do not suggest getting jalapenos as part of the mix.  I wanted spicy.  But they didn’t quite go with the rhythm of everything else going on. 

You win some… you lose some.

In other news, I only have three days of work this week!  And hopefully one of those days won’t be a full 8 hours- cross your fingers for me, people!

Thanksgiving baking commences tonight.  Holla’.

And if you’re not ready for Black Friday just yet, make sure to read up Danielle’s guest post, How to Attack Black Friday.  She’ll have you in tip-top shape for the event in no time!

Still not sure if I’ll be doing any shopping on Friday.  Judging from the crowds last night and my reaction to them, I’m just not mentally ready for professional shopping yet.  I have this thing about personal space.  As in, I like having it.  So when 3 or 4 strangers took turns breathing on my neck yesterday during a 20-minute run to Target, I got a little agitated.  Imagine that.

Either way, it’s over now and Monday is here.  Let’s make an attempt at a legendary one, shall we? 

Double Dipping

Hey kids!  Happy Monday!  I’m extremely sleepy after a long weekend at the Healthy Living Summit, but it was totally worth it.  I’m sure some ladies would completely agree with me…

After I got back home and resituated myself, along with feeding my poor empty refrigerator, I made a short drive over to my lovely friend Annie’s.  We had a planned little workout sesh on a trail near her place to celebrate the fact we’re doing an 8k together in September!  If you remember, we did the Run For the Cheetah 5k back in April, and have been looking for another good race to fit into both of our schedules.  Annie found this 8k that looks doable and so we’re planning on signing up (more on it later).

Anyhoo, yes I went for another round of running after my 5k blogger fun run.  Yep, I double dipped into the running pool.  And the weather was AMAZING.  I had no idea the cool down was coming, but running in mid to high 70′s was greatly appreciated!Clearly we were overjoyed.  It’s also clear I should have paid more attention to the blogger photography session I attended at HLS.  Sorry everyone, the sun also wanted to say hello…

We did a solid two miles, walked a mile, then decided to finish strong with running the last mile back to the car.  Because we have very different schedules, we don’t get to workout together much, but I always love when we do because it gives us time to catch up and gossip a bit about what’s going on.

Since we both love cooking, half the fun of working out is the dinner we make afterwards.  This time, Annie was prepared ahead of time, so when we got back to her house, it didn’t take long for her to come up with serious good eats:Isn’t she a sweetheart?  She prepares it beautifully and breaks out the nice plates when I’m around. If anything, nice plates should always make you feel special.  Annie made wild rice with veggies with a honey and almond oil sauce mixed in.  All on a bed of spinach and a side of broccoli and topped with a little feta.  Fabulous.

On a side note, Lindsey over at Goodies Galore asked me over the weekend at the Summit if I was still on my major broccoli kick.  And because I’m sure everyone else is also concerned- yes, it’s still kicking.  Even in the background in meals I don’t post about.  There’s no such thing as too much green.    Can I get an amen?

Anyone else on a serious food kick of some sort?

Finally, if you notice on the side bar, I joined twitter again!  I had a personal account forever ago, but didn’t do much with it.  Now, I’m excited to be tweeting again (so add me if you’d like!), but give me a little time- I’m still very much a newbie.  There’s probably a twitter term for it.  But I wouldn’t know.  Aaaahhhh technology….

Another technology issue?  I left my phone charger at the hotel.  I notice this when my phone is giving me the dead battery angry blinking sign.  You don’t even want to know how much anxiety this gives me.  Blah!  I feel like a part of my life is missing.  Looks like I’m running errands at lunch today…

Ok everyone, it’s time to get to work.  I hope everyone had a great weekend (tell me about it!) and that the week won’t be TOO painful…

Healthy Living Summit 2010

Can I just say how much fun this weekend was?  (I’m not rubbing it in, I swear!)

But it was so great to be in such good company of so many intelligent and strong women that all share a general common goal in how they lead their lives.

Like I’ve said before, it would probably seem a little redundant for me to go into great detail with everything that happened over the course of the weekend, so I’ll just talk about a few highlights that I would like to mention…

1. The food was fantastic.  Seriously.  I was well fed the last couple of days.

2. A few of the sessions were greatly informative.  Here’s where the shout-out to Morgan at Life After Bagels comes in.  I’ve been following her and her crazy weeks leading up to the Summit, so her presentation on time management/organization couldn’t have been better!

3. The girls are awesome.  The weirdest thing for me was walking into the cocktail party on Friday night, spotting someone across the room, and giving them a big hug.  “Um… I don’t know you, but I sorta do, so we’re almost friends, and I’m excited to see you, so I’m going to hug you now.  Deal with it.” Clearly this happened with Jen.And some of the girls here like Courtney and Andrea.

4. Fun fact about our hotel that we stayed in- I was googling directions on how to get their from work on Friday and what popped up in the search?  Only a website for the top 10 most haunted places in Chicago.  Guess what was number 6?

Yeah that’s right- The Congress Hotel.  I blame the fact that Al Capone owned it for a while.  Such a menace.  At least I had some good roomies around to fight off any possible spirits lurking about:Candice and Paige were fantastic!  Heeeeeeyyyyy girls! 

5. After talking to some kids, we’ve decided that the food-loving/fitness-crazed bloggers of Chicago need to be a bit more organized.  Don’t you kids agree?  So if you’re interested in getting in on a mailing list for possible meet-ups or doing races together (or really whatever your heart desires), please email me and let me know.  So far, it seems like we’re all pretty cool.  So let’s do this!  I’m going to try to get an email list together and would love for all you Chicagoland bloggers/readers to come out to play with us!  So drop me a line!!!  (secondcityrandomness@gmail.com)

6. We’re all good about our morning exercise!  At 8:00 sharp, we were all in the lobby rearing to go.  There were a couple different distances being ran- I decided to do a 5k fun run with a few of the girls because the heat was already a bit of an issue by then and I have workout plans with my girl Annie later tonight.  Sweaty chicks in the city.  This eventually lead to a good breakfast:Whoever at Arnold’s came up with the idea of a “make your own cream cheese” station- you’re my hero.  There were sweet and savory options- I of course went with sweat by having them throw in some honey and almonds.  Simple.  Classic.  Delicious.

We hung out at breakfast until they started to politely kick us out of the meeting room.  I was sad to see these girls go:My good “blend” Beth.  Say that ten times fast.Oh Katie… why does every picture we take turn out blurry?  Fail…This is the group of degenerates that eventually got kicked out of the meeting room.  If it were facebook, I was say “tag yourself please!”.  But it’s not.  And currently I only have Andrea and Megan’s contact info…

I feel like I’m namedropping alot on today’s post.  Either way, you should probably check out some of these girls.  They’re all pretty much hilarious and awesome.  At the same time.  A difficult combo to perfect…

And now here I am.  Back home, living the dream in Arlington Heights once again (can I get a what what?).  This is of course after I made the journey from the hotel to the train to my car to my house.  All while balancing luggage and the swag I acquired.  Me dragging four bags around the city seemed a bit excessive, but at least I got my strength training in for the day, right? 

I’m cutting myself off now.  One because this is getting a bit long.  Two because I have things to take care of (even the dust bunnies are starting to complain of the mess I’ve got going on in my apartment). 

So in summary, the Healthy Living Summit was a great time. 

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!

Busy Bloggers

I’m sure many of you have seen all the things we’ve been up to at the Healthy Living Summit in downtown Chicago this year…

Whereas other girls have been good about updating, I’ve honestly just been enjoying the time off and spending my time in the presence of some fantastic ladies!

And not to mention some fantastic food…

So I’ll be back to give a proper recap tomorrow… but until then- Have a fantastic Saturday!

Dinner for Food Geeks

It’s Friday!  Thank goodness.  After being on vacation in Washington DC for the better part of last week, this five-day stretch really seemed to creep by!

Yesterday I did appreciate the long “executive” lunch a few of us staffers got at work…  Usually, we all get out of the office over lunch.  But the building management held a Tenant Appreciation BBQ.  Last year it was held in front of our building.  Being as how spending more than 10 minutes in the sun will make you shrivel and possibly die, they moved it to the parking garage.  So a few of us went, grabbed our food, and retreated to our conference room for the lunch hour two hour time frame.  he he he…I went with the Garden Burger and a couple salad varieties.  But please, focus your attention on the cheesecake.  It was fabulous.  They actually called it “cheesecake on a stick” and it came with a skewer in it.  I have no idea why they thought that was a good idea.  Clearly with all the chocolate and just the weight of the cheesecake, that would only end badly.  But I stopped questioning and just ate it.

I love free food.  Especially when it happens to be delicious.

But not all good food will be free…

Enter Whole Foods Salad Bar.  Mon and I decided before we went to see Dinner for Schmucks that we’d go by heaven Whole Foods to grab a bite.  This was especially exciting for me since I attempted to do this on Sunday and failed when the salad bar was closed.  Whole Foods- you have redeemed yourself.Mon calls Whole Foods the Nordstroms of Grocery Stores.  I agreed.  Because there’s just something about the big open store with clean, long aisles of fresh/healthy/organic food.  It’s refreshing. 

Or maybe they have one crazy amazing lighting scheme going on.  Who knows?I totally had a garbage can salad- an assortment of everything.  Tofu, artichoke hearts, peas, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, feta, cabbage, onions, chick peas… am I missing something?  Oh  yeah… lettuce…  I also don’t want to forget hitting up their candy bin afterwards for movie treats to sneak in.  Because I have no shame. 

Dinner for Schmucks wasn’t that bad.  It wasn’t that great, but it wasn’t that bad.  It was very much stupid humor.  Just ridiculous and a bit over the top.  There were funny parts- and I laughed through a lot of it.  Zack Galifianakis kept it from sort of sucking. But some of it just made me go, “really?  REALLY?”  I think it may have been about worth the $5 we paid at the cheap theater.  $10 at our usual, nicer theater would have been overkill.

I know some of you said you’ve seen it- what did you think?  About the same?

Oh and check out how awesome my friend Jaime is:Yep.  I never had business cards made for my blog until now.  And I may have had a last minute freak out that maybe I should have some for this coming weekend at the Healthy Living Summit.  Give her an hour and some cardstock, and this is what she came up with!  Love it.  Thank  you, Jaime!!!!

And with that, I shall leave you.  I have a FULL day of work and then a quick ride via the lovely CTA down to the city to meet up with some of you crazy kids…  Holla’!

A Little Resistance

So I think I’m in the majority when it comes to exercise- a general game plan is necessary.  I’m glad I’m not the only one who can get a weeee bit ocd about it…

But mixing it up is ok, too.  That’s what I did last night.  The blogger meetup had to be postponed- it involved a poor little puppy of hers who just recently had surgery and pulled a stitch!  Poor thing!  So we had to reschedule.  Which is totally cool- things happen! 

That meant all the sudden I had some free time on my hands.  And because I had done some 30-Day Shred in the morning, I decided to keep on with the theme of strength training.

*On a quick note, I’ve decided to do The Shred as a morning workout whenever it fits in.  So I’ll be doing less of it, but I’m ok with it because I plan to incorporate other forms of strength training that is a little more intense in the strength/weights and doesn’t include as much cardio.  Because seriously, I do get my share of cardio as-is.  A little more focus on the free weights wouldn’t kill me.  And on top of everything, I like The Shred in the morning.  It really is a good wakeup call!

Back to my original story- another reason why I’m backing off of The Shred a bit is because I now am the proud owner of a resistance band and a dvd workout that goes along with it thanks to my dear friend Annie!  It was part of my spectacular runner/fitness-geared birthday present!Won’t lie- I got a little nervous doing this in my house.  I am what you would like to consider semi-accident-prone (ok, you probably are either accident-prone or not, but I like to think I have not caused any major harm, so I’ve lessened the charge to “semi”).  A resistance band accidently getting flung through my glass sliding door would not be surprising.

The dvd that came with the band has three different short workouts all working on something different.  Me being the overacheiver that I am, I chose the combo of all three.  It wasn’t really that bad- probably about 40 minutes after all was said and done.  I liked the workout.  It was easy to follow and you knew when you were doing a move right- it burned right when the instructor said it would.  And I was happy to find that she wasn’t too over the top cheery.  Being as how I’m used to following Jillian and her tough love, I was a little weary that anything less harsh would drive me nuts.  Whew!

Definitely going to use it as a form of cross training- not only does it work the core, it helps you stretch (which is just what I need).  Thanks Annie! 

Anyone else out there use resistance bands often?  Any favorite moves you do with them?

I finally picked up some more whole wheat tortilla wraps at Trader Joe’s (in love), and made a mushroom quesadilla and sweet potatoes for dinner.Serious sweet potato phase if anyone hasn’t already noticed.  I find something I like and will continue to have it until I find a new love to replace it.  Sounds like my life motto…. ha.

Gotta get moving.  I hope that I can avoid dwelling on the fact that it’s another yucky Tuesday by keeping busy.  I’ve got a plan to get some miles in tonight on the treadmill.  Cross your fingers that the non-noisy one is open when I get there… I probably could have avoided this issue had I gotten up early like I originally contemplated.  But another hour of sleep seemed much more important when the alarm went off this morning.  Drat.  I’m not one to think clearly at 5:00 in the morning.  Ever.

Who else is excited about the Healthy Living Summit this weekend?  I’m seriously looking forward to meeting everyone!

Take it eeeeaaaaasssssyyyyy….

Ok, so I got my ticket for the Healthy Living Summit!  Hooray!  I’m really excited about going!  Drop me an email if you think you’ll be in attendance- I look forward to meeting you. 

Today is awesome (and yeah, it’s a little early to say that).  But that’s because it’s a day off for me.  Sometimes a mental health day is necessary, you know?  Plus, I have hours of baking ahead of me… so it’s an excuse to get started on that…

No baking can be possible without a healthy breakfast, right?  Otherwise, I’ll be spooning that cake badder into my mouth like it’s a smoothie.  Not pretty.  And kind of disgusting.My attempt at baked oatmeal that I adapted from The Running Rabbit.  It’s topped with unsweetened coconut, peanut butter, and a little honey.  Quite a few of you were surprised with my thing I have against most fruit (of course I like the less traditional ones, such as avocado and coconut)- I wish I understood it, but I don’t.  So my adaption naturally didn’t include the mashed up banana.  It was good- but I didn’t find it that much different than my regular stuff.  Maybe a little more creamy?

Gotta love the throwback 70′s ramekins, right?  Not pretty, but they do the job.

Today is a rest day, so I’ll be taking it easy.  I’m probably going to do a walking loop on the trail just to get a little movement into my day.  And let’s not lie- it’s a last effort to get some color before the wedding I’m attending this weekend.  I’d been hitting up the Jergen’s Natural Glo, but then realized I should chill out a little when I noticed some streaks on my hands and elbows.  I should have known better.  I can’t paint between the lines, what makes me think I can tan myself evenly?  I need a helmet…

Last night, however, was not a rest day and I got in a quick 3.1 after work at an 8:23 pace.  I may have done more of a cool down if I hadn’t of been in a rush to make sure I’d get a spot at the Summit.  Running after work on my later days (when I don’t leave the office until after 6:00) is going to be rough.  Hence the reason I’m considering switching to morning runs on these days.  But until then, I’ve been at least enjoying the nice weather we’re having.  Sure it’s a little cooler than it  usually is this time of year, but whatevs.

Oh and because I don’t get out on the trail until that perfect time where the sun is setting, and the bugs are starting to stir, I had the pleasure of inhaling a few bugs.  Through my nose and my mouth.  So that leads me to the ask the question- which is worse?  A bug up the nose or in the mouth?  I believe the nose thing is a pretty gruesome experience.  The one I swallowed quickly went…uh… down.  I’ve also had one fly into my eye before- which is why I almost always try to wear sunglasses.  Sure, I didn’t need them last night and ran in a lot of shade.  But I’m not taking any chances when it’s that hour within sunset and it’s bug city… blah!

Genesis tagged me for a blogger award yesterday and I just wanted to say thank you, my dear!

So you’re supposed to list some random things about yourself.  Let’s see if I can…

1. My favorite tv show is Big Bang Theory.  Mostly due to Sheldon.  He’s my nerd crush.  (What’s  yours?  This could be fun…)

2. I snuck into the Justified/Stripped tour when I was on a school trip in high school when we traveled to Dallas.  Two friends and I found ourselves in a suite for the entire Justin Timberlake performance!  Our supervisors probably should have been mad, but they just laughed because they couldn’t believe we successfully got in.  And found our way there.  In Dallas.  All by ourselves.  What were we thinking???

3. My dream job would have something to do with event promotions for either the city of Chicago or a sports club.  So you can imagine my disappointment when Chicago didn’t get the 2016 Olympics.  Seriously.

4. I know how to knit.  And have a blanket that has been in the works for over four years still in my closet.  I should finish that…

I’m horrible about tagging people for these things, so consider yourselves tagged! 

Wow… this post is kind of a hodge-podge of sorts.  But really- what’s new?  That’s just how I do things.  Well I’m off.  I have a quick trip to the grocery store to get some last minute things before Baking Bonanza 2010 happens in my little bitty kitchen.  Wish me luck.  More so that I don’t pass out in a sugar coma and let the cakes burn than anything else.  If we’re being completely truthful about it- that’s my only real concern.    So yeah… my goal is to get the shopping done and be back to my place in time for Regis and Kelly.  Think I can?  Annnnnnnd…. go!

(Oh and the title is a clear reference to the Eagles.  They kinda rock.  That is all.)

Love me some chowder!!!

Yes I do.

A twenty-something girl with low finances, such as myself, will never pass up a free meal.  Except for respectfully declining a dinner date with the random creeper, ex-boyfriend, or guy who dresses up like Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story, I say yes to food.  Always.

Yesterday, the cafeteria in our building through a little luncheon focus group for a couple people from each company in the building.  Of course I sacrificed myself as one of the three to go.  I went in it telling my friend that I hope they serve some of their awesome cookies they always sell.  Dessert better happen- or heads will roll.

We got something extremely unexpected- a somewhat fancy catered lunch!  They made everything look so nice.  Which confused me- because I really thought they were supposed to get our opinion on things they were serving.  So I was expecting a panini or club sandwich.  Not a “spinning salad” with shalots and shrimp.  Or the kick-ass stir fry.  And the chowder… oooohhhhh the chowder.It was a turkey chowder topped with bacon and corn and a balsamic reduction.  This was to blame for my afternoon coma.

Either way, we were all curious as to what dessert would be.  I was still hoping for a cookie.    So you have no idea how disappointed I was when they brought out this huge plate with a pastry puff topped with ice cream and FRUIT.  And a chocolate covered strawberry on the side.

Gag me.  I’m just not a fan of fruit.  And it has no place in my dessert.  Sadness.  I sadly declined the plate- and yeah, the waiter couldn’t figure out why in the world I would do that.  They did bring me a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  I was ok with that- but it was no cookie! 

Beggers can’t be choosers.  I’ll stop whining now.  And I had a little peanut butter and chocolate chips for dessert after dinner.  So whatever.  I guess it’s ok.  Heads didn’t roll.

The sun never came out (contrary to the forecast), but I went on the trail anyways.  It was during this run I realized how much more I enjoy mid-morning runs or early evening runs (when I work the earlier shifts).  Not hitting the trail until almost 7:00 is rough.  I’m planning on making the switch to morning runs before it gets super hot- but that may happen sooner than later.  When is your preferred time of day for running?  I love getting out around 9:30 or 10:00- so I love it on the weekends.  Not so much possible during the week…  

The first half mile was an argument and struggle with the legs.  I even wondered if I should just stop and turn around. And then I actually yawned a few times during the run.  What???  I blame the chowda’.  But I kept going- 3.1 miles at an 8:24 pace.  So even though it was a rough start, it’s still a slow improvement.  Long way to go, though.  If I want to win this bet, I really need to plan a few speed workouts.  As much as I despise them.  They’re the one thing that does not make me enjoy running.  But I expect no less than to kick my friend’s ass.  Losing is not an option.

Today is my last day of work before a much needed (and desired) mental health day!  Well- don’t think I won’t be busy.  It’s been strategically placed.  I will be baking like a crazy mad woman for Jaime’s wedding reception that is this weekend.  Yep.  I’ll be making three cakes that look like this.  I predict it will be a project that spans through tomorrow all the way to Saturday morning.  Whew!  But whatevs… I love baking.  And getting to sleep in, of course.  And I might even get to catch some daytime drama!  Any Days of Our Lives fans out there?  Or soap opera fans in general?  Only me??? 

This morning I tried “mocha oats” again.  Last time I was unimpressed.  This time?Vince wasn’t really a fan either.  This time, I used actual brewed coffee instead of the instant coffee.  It was an improvement.  Less bitter for sure.  But it’s just not a taste I’m a fan of.  Although the coconut and chocolate that I added helped.  Just not enough.

This also means I made coffee this morning instead of my usual green tea.  Expect me to be wired for the next few hours.  This may or may not be a bad thing for productivity.

Oh and remember the Healthy Living Summit registration is tonight.  I’ve kept thinking about it and am ALMOST positive I’ll be in front of my laptop when registration happens- crossing my fingers that I’ll be able to get a ticket…

Happy Hump Day!