Leftover Week

A conversation via google chat:

Lauren: I have exciting news!
Me: ?
Lauren: I get double Thanksgiving leftovers this year.

At this point, I thought she was just rubbing it in that she was getting even MORE turkey to my none. I did my best to not call her a jerk right away.

Me: That’s awesome! Leftovers from grandma are the best!
Lauren: Yes. So that’s why I’m getting double. Because she said to “give some to your poor friend Amy who doesn’t get Thanksgiving at home this year.”

My friends are not jerks. I take that back. They’re the cutest things ever.

Thanks to a fondness of running, eating, wine, gossiping about boys, and book club, Lauren and I have been hanging out on the regular.

Because really… what else is there in life?

We decided to do a swap. I, of course, graciously accepted the Thanksgiving food made with love and packed by Lauren’s g’ma and mom.

They even sent individual packets of butter… everyone go “awwww”

And, in turn, I invited Lauren over for a mini friendsgiving to close out Thanksgiving weekend.

Seemed like a fair trade. Or close. Being as how my cooking skills are limited, I may have come out ahead. But who’s really counting?

All I know is…

…I have good friends. And they have families who know how to throw down in the kitchen.

This is why I haven’t had to cook pretty much all week.

And this is why I’ve been busy running over 4 miles every morning this week.

Worth it.

The end of the leftovers are being consumed for lunch today.

Who wants to cook for me next?

Leftovers Worth Mentioning

1. Today is my birthday. Just wanted to throw that out there. Birthdays that fall on Wednesday aren’t really that exciting, so I am choosing to celebrate it at a later date. Because it’s my birthday week and I do what I want.

 

2. On Sunday, I decided to take it up a notch with Level 2 of Jillian’s 6 Week 6 Pack. I’ve had this dvd for quite some time and this was the first attempt at stepping up the intensity. My abs aren’t as sore as I expected. But it may just be because this level seems to really focus on stabilization to strengthen your core. And since balance is something I’m ridiculously bad at, it’s going to take at least 2 or 3 more attempts to master the moves and not just stare in disbelief at the television. Maybe it’ll start to “work” at that point.

 

3. Leftovers rock my world.

And because I had a particularly long Sunday Funday, they’ve been accompanied with a vegetable or straight salad.

Used leftover ground beef (from the lasagna) as a topper one night. It was weird, but worked.

Every time. Salad detox. Works like a charm.

 

4. There’s a competition of sorts going on over at ZOOMA.

 

 

If you guess their next race location correctly, you get a fabulous prize! So click HERE to go and throw one in there! I went with Fort Lauderdale. They really need a Florida race. Mostly because I could really use a beach trip.

 

And it’s obviously all about me, right?

 

Also, if you decide to register for the Great Lakes Half Marathon, make sure to use my discount code “GLAMB1″ to save some $$$! Like I’ve said before- they’re giving away wine and jewelry. And really- that’s all you need to know, right? 

 

5. My Tuesday morning was a particularly interesting one when my windows (which were shut and locked, mind you) started to leak and water began STREAMING into my living room onto the floor during a heavy rain storm. As a renter, I could care less about my landlord’s floors. As an owner of a microsuede couch and a flat screen television that plugs in under the windows, I’m a little annoyed by the issue. As anyone reasonably would be. After standing there for about 5 minutes, trying to and failing at pinpointing where the leak was, I gave up and pulled out all of my towels and prayed it wouldn’t last long. It stopped leaking before I left for work, but there were a few moments in the day where I had flashes of wondering if I’d be coming home to my own personal pool.

 

6. The Summer Olympics start this weekend. I’m very excited. Mostly because this time around, I don’t have to watch it on the floor of my furnitureless apartment like I did 4 years ago when the heaviest and oldest television of all time was sitting on the floor in a corner. Now I have a television stand and HD (or at least I do until the flooding makes it short out). Things are looking up. Beyond that, I enjoy watching the summer games. They make me want to be a better person. Is that weird?

 

Alright, I’m off to conquer the day and pretend I’m not an entire year older than I was less than 24 hours ago. Laters!

Positive Thinking

Well my head is still in place and I didn’t die in a freak elliptical accident.

All is right with the world.

Well. Close enough. It’s Friday and we’ll leave it at that.

I’ve been MIA for a couple of days, sorry, but really I’ve just been continuing to do my thing (or a.k.a “I’ve been boring”). Which includes:

I know a lot of people may disagree, but I consider chili as a healthy food. Well. Until you put the cheese on it...

Leftovers for lunch/dinner because I’m slowly cleaning out the ridiculous amount of frozen things in our freezer. All the Slowcook Sundays were starting to make us look like either nutritionally aware hoarders or crazy cult people building up reserves for the end of the world.

Neither classifications are particularly flattering.

Plus, we’ll soon need room for whatever new thing creation comes out of the crockpot. Probably sooner than later.

Ah the vicious cycle continues…

Anyway, when I’m not chipping away at the frozen food that could feed an army, I’m running to Trader Joe’s to completely contradict the surplus issue.

A warm salad that includes, but is never limited to, roasted cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, green peas, shredded carrots, garbanzo beans and sautéed brussels sprouts. Yeah. Your digestive organs will say “thank you”.

Seriously. I have hoarding tendencies.

Or I’m a shopaholic. The asparagus was on sale and couldn’t be passed up!

If it's any consolation, the biscuit was a frozen leftover from a few weeks ago... still counts as slimming down my food stash, right?

Hoarding and a shopping addict. Give me a bottle of vodka and I am THE next trophy wife. Start forming the line, fellas.

“My thing” also includes hitting the gym. So at least I’ll be a physically fit hoarding shopaholic wife who enjoys the sauce. Positive thinking.

The last couple of nights have been similar- 20 minutes on the stairmill and 22 on the elliptical (again- look at me Ma! No accidents!). I walked outta there last night with the excitement that spring really is coming full force and more runs will be happening outside. Because it’s too hot in that gym to be stuck between two people with butt sweat and deodorant from what seems to be the day before that is clearly failing them. So… yay spring!

Look at that! More positive thinking!

Fantastic! Everything is so lovely! Sunshine and rainbows!

In all reality, if you’re not picking up on the sarcasm, I’ve been a bit of a debbie downer all week and today finally being Friday makes everything much more bearable.

The red box is already in my purse and the wine in my refrigerator. My ultimate Friday night is only hours away. Which means my ultimate night of sleep is only hours and 20ish minutes away.

If that’s not positive thinking, I don’t know what is.

Things I Probably Get Way Too Excited About

I’ve really enjoyed posts in list form as of late. It’s organized. It’s efficient. It’s perfect for my OCD self.

So enjoy…

Things I Probably Get Way Too Excited About

1. Noticing how Jason Segel spent his Valentine’s Day:

Granted, I was with my roommate, but we both feasted on pizza, watched a movie, and celebrated how awesomely single we were (or me- she has a BF)! Obviously Jason and I are so alike. Like two peas in a pod.

DUDE. Get at me.

No, seriously. What are you waiting for? Let’s have our people talk.

2. Leftovers from work meetings I don’t even have to attend. Sometimes… just sometimes… we really hit the jackpot.Artichoke and mozzerella-stuffed chicken, anyone? With lemon roasted broccoli? Secondhand fine dining. For FREE.

3. Cereal sales at Target. If it’s less than $2, it’s probably going in my cart. Which is why I all of the sudden find myself with 4 boxes of Kashi that do not fit in the already overflowing pantry… Why do I keep doing this to myself?!?!

4. New kitchen creations:

Yes. It involves cheeeeeese....

This is what happens when you can’t decide between a breakfast burrito and grilled cheese for dinner. A weird combo of both. But somehow works.

Saute the green pepper and mushrooms before throwing them into a lil' ramekin with the egg until they all bake together beautifully. Then put pepperjack on top to get all melty. And yes, "melty" is a technical term.

I don’t question such things.

Instead, I just add broccoli for good measure and call it a day as I consume it and wait for Modern Family to start (this was Wednesday- obviously).

5. Good hair days. More specifically, good bang days. My bangs are very temperamental. And we only get along MAYBE once a week. Today is a good day. Hopefully they’ll be good to me in a few days for a rescheduled date I have…

6. Presents of all shapes and sizes.My coworker Jaime brought my new friend to me yesterday. Her name is Lolita. And she now is the gatekeeper of my computer screen.

7. I ran again!

This really shouldn’t be that exciting, but hey- that’s why the name of the list is what it is. I ran 2 miles before retiring to the elliptical for another 20 minutes. No issues. Tomorrow I’m going to have another go at a long run of 7-8 miles.

And even though I like to live dangerously (MUAHAHAA), this run will happen with caution. Promise.

8. The glass of wine I’m SO having immediately after getting home from work now.

I can almost taste the chardonnay now. Maybe that’s because I’m already drinking it.

Just kidding- it’s 8:00 in the morning. I snuck the bottle in for lunch.

Just kidding again. You’re so gullible. I put it in a travel mug so no one would get any ideas…

Happy Friday, folks.