Not Thinking

As my personal and work lives both continue to be a whirlwind of activity, when I finally am left to myself, it seems I prefer doing things that don’t require any actual brain activity.

Like catching up on my DVR. The long list of unwatched shows gives me serious anxiety.

Or when working out. I’ve been dull. Jillian has guided me along the process once or twice a week, which is greatly appreciated. And after discussing all the joys of running outside, I’ve surrendered to the Chicago weather and have been a zombie on the treadmill/stairs/elliptical all week.

This morning I actively tried to combat boredom with speed intervals, but it’s clear there are no races in my near future. Which is a good thing. My heaving after approximately 4 miles of speedwork is disturbing.

Mental note: add race searches to the list of things to look into next week during Thanksgiving break.

That and cooking.

Wait… what’s that again?

Don’t fret- I’m still eating well. This boy I know keeps acting like he enjoys my company around dinner time. Which reminds me- I think there should always be mirrors in booths of places that serve ribs.

Just sayin’.

And even if I’m still picking dried BBQ sauce out from under my fingernails, it’s good this is happening, other than the immediate benefit of my mood being elevated when he’s around. I mean… if we weren’t going out, every meal I have would look like this:

Which is similar to every other meal I’ve had for the last… uh… two weeks?

I swear even the people working at the grocery store have recognized and are now smirking at either my disgusting “grocery shopping” sweats, or my recent eating habits.

Which I personally find offensive. What’s so wrong with wanting to be comfy while being a responsible consumer and purchasing wine and deli sandwiches… everyday…?

Nevermind. Answered my own question.

Let’s pretend I’m just making room for Thanksgiving.

And just so my mother isn’t nervous I’m spending Thanksgiving in front of the television by myself with a turkey lean cuisine…

Apparently the shindig I’m attending is a big deal. I even have my own customized name plate for the occasion.

Fancy!

And until then… moooooore deli!

Happy Friday, kids. Get silly. And have the pizza delivery number in your phone before heading out to the bars. It’s easier that way.

KBYE!

I Can Totally Do This

Ok guys.

I’m done whimpering.

People far busier than me can do it. And they do. Because they prioritize what they do during the day. And act accordingly.

This morning workout thing can happen. Sure, work is an hour earlier than what I’m used to. And sure, I may have to break it up on days that I can’t QUITE get up right on time.

But this is happening. Like Friday? I got in a little under 3 miles. And that was getting up at the same I had been with my old hours.

And if I get up 15 minutes earlier? A solid trip to the gym can happen. Like on Monday. Or a 4.3-mile run can happen. Like this morning. We’ll just ignore that the rabbits and rats seem to be partying down before 5:00 in the morning.

Seriously. The rabbits can stay. But 3 rats chillin’ on the sidewalk as I run by? Not cool. 

And what if I decide to sleep in 15 minutes later? Well- I can still get a few circuits from my Jillian workouts in. Flexibility is the name of the game.

I can do this.

Totally.

And yes. That phrase will be repeated. Every morning. Until I believe it.

In other news, I found another thing I can totally do.Bake vegetables into things.

Before you judge me, just listen:

I’m not a super big fan of things like carrot cake (but, if we’re being honest, I’ll eat it for the cream cheese frosting). Or things of the nature.Healthy things don’t go into baked goods. It’s just not right.

Usually.

My old roommate from a few years ago made the meanest zucchini bread back in the day. And even sent it to me once after she moved away.Yes. I loved it THAT much.

However, it has never been made in a kitchen of mine since then.

That changed this weekend.My mom not only gifted me with her presence, but also an entire grocery bag of potatoes and a separate entire grocery bag of larger-than-life zucchini.

Don’t believe me when I describe how big it is? Check it out:Yes. The zucchini slices are almost as big as my bagel thin pulled pork sandwich. The pulled pork was the free food from the ‘rents that my roommate scored over the weekend.

Practically a free meal!

We’re living the dream this week, kids.

But anyway… where was I?Oh that’s right- baked deliciousness. The zucchini bread muffins were adapted from this recipe.

Minus the walnuts. Because they’re expensive and I didn’t have any.

What I did have was a lot of wheat flour hanging around. So I swapped 2 cups of regular flour for the wheat variety. Just for kicks.

Also, because I lack a loaf pan (it’s so embarrassing), I made bread “muffins”. Which worked out well- easier to grab and go:I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- we’re all about streamlining these days.

Holla’.

Every Little Bit

I’m glad you all enjoyed ”deep thoughts” from the depths of my eclectic brain.

It’s nice to know I am capable of true human emotion when called upon, instead of the awkward joke or two usually busted out, ending in an even more awkward situation for everyone.

Anyhoo.

How are we this morning?

I’m coming off of my fourth morning workout of the week, along with two cups of coffee. Excuse the crazed perkiness. It wears off after the first hour or two.

Somehow, the momentum has continued through the week, and getting up at 5:15 each time has not been an issue. Except once, but I heard my roommate stirring and knew she’d never workout with or even talk to me again if I stood her up at such an early hour. 

Sleep is serious business around here.

This motivation is also possibly because I’m not quite sure how much longer the morning routine will happen. Next week is the start of my new job. New hours, new commute, new everything. My entire life may feel flipped for a little while (insert freaking out here). 

And I just don’t see myself getting all pumped up over a 4:30 wakeup call.

No wait- it’s a certainty that will not happen. It was established long ago that 5:00 is the absolute cut off when it comes to how early Amy will get up to work out.

After working a few kinks out of the system with a sluggish 4.1-mile run on Tuesday morning (stupid Tuesdays…), I was hoping for an improvement on how Wednesday and Thursday would go.

Wednesday included 22 minutes on the stairs and 17 on the elliptical before retiring to the weight room to pretend like I know what I’m doing for a bit. Yes, if I plan to be seen at some point on the beach of Lake Michigan, those 2 odd minutes on each machine do make a difference. Every little bit counts, yes?

And when I say every little bit, I mean it. This morning I didn’t do a neighborhood run or hit the gym. I worked out in front of the television with Jillian Michael’s No More Trouble Zones. To balance out all the cardio I’ve been doing.

My muscles will surely hate me tomorrow.

But, like I said, every little bit counts.

Finally- I broke down and purchased new pans. One of which is an 8-inch and is perfect for omelets! Too bad I still suck at them always ending up overdone…

Just like a little extra protein in the mornings…

Usually, a loaded bowl of oatmeal or something super carbalicious is paired with my morning headlines. But I have the extra 10 minutes- why not do an omelet a few times a week?

Plus my bagel thins were on their last leg. I’m still on a super budget. Waste not, want not.

Same goes for the zuchinni.

I believe I could corporate those bagel thins into every single meal of my day. At 110 calories, I guess there could be worse addictions.

Clearly my meal planning was lacking this week. Because it was also on its last leg. What’s the deal, yo?

So I saved myself from wasting food. And kept myself from spending more $$.

Every little bit counts. My wallet just smiled and winked at me. Weird.

I need more sleep. Maybe just more coffee. My feelings on this are contradicting themselves.

Excuse me before my train of thought derails completely. It’s time to start the last day at my current job.

I expect happy/sad tears.

Oh look! Another contradiction of sorts! I belong in a skittles commercial.

Anyway, it’s most likely going to be a long day. But there’s a promise of lots of food. And very little work left for me to do. So it’ll be a sad day, but things could be worse.

Geez- what is with all this human emotion stuff? UGH. So lame…

Rookie Mistakes

Yesterday’s game was rained out. I was sad.

Didn’t even make it into the stadium- only as far as the bar at the Captain Morgan Club connected to it.

What? It started raining RIGHT away. Seriously. I even took a picture to prove it. But realized my memory card was still in my laptop at home. Rookie mistake.

But it wasn’t a wasted trip by any means. I hung out with good people. And even got in a conversation with Ronnie Woo Woo (another one of Chicago’s people you should know) while waiting for my friend. Between all the people coming up to take pics with him and get autographs, he told me he liked me because I’m blunt and tell it like it is, but will treat a man good one day. And then he asked for me to escort him to the Bulls game tonight. I appreciated the compliment but declined the date.

He’s a little out of my age range.

After the official postponing of the game, I made my way out of the stadium in attempts to beat rush hour.

That’s a laugh. Rush hour never ends. Which is unfortunate on so many levels. But I was particularly edgy because I had been craving some stadium nachos. And if you recall, the game didn’t last long enough for me to make it into the stadium to acquire them. Sooooo…. my arm was looking PRETTY appetizing…

As did my Whole Foods Food Bar purchase.

Again, no pics. I know you’re sad, too.

And I need to kick this Whole Foods habit I’ve gotten into (maybe twice in one week isn’t necessarily a habit, but you know what I mean). I make salad at home every other day. Why am I spending close to $10 for one at a grocery store? Rookie mistake.

By the time I actually got home, there was an inner debate of whether or not a trip to the gym should happen.

I went. Not for long, though- that was the compromise. 15 minutes on the stairmill and a 20-minute inclined walk. And then weights during commercial breaks at home.

Multi-tasking is important. 

By the way, check out what Halley over at Blunder Construction sent me:She hosted a giveaway and painted these just for me! Aren’t they awesome? They would go so well against the blue wall in my apartment, but I’m going to practice patience and wait until the move in another month or so to hang them.

Thanks Halley!

I think I messed up the way they’re supposed to go. And plan to spend close to 2 hours staring at them before they actually go up on the wall. Because I’m not smart when it comes to such things.

One more thing before I go… 

I have a confession to make.

Pretty sure I’m gonna be one of the crazies who wake up a little early to watch the Royal Wedding.

Hear me out! I have to be up at 5:15 all this week anyway. What’s another hour?

And it wasn’t me, but one friend of mine who shall not be named (fine, it was Mon) suggested since we had considered getting up early to watch it anyway, we might as well do it at the gym.

Yeah. She said that. Not me.

I”m as surprised as you are.

And then agreed to it. Oy.

This better be one hell of a wedding dress we’re getting up for.

Not Fair

Glad to hear I’m not the only one who thought snow in April was a little obnoxious. And uncalled for.

Granted, it all melted by the time lunch rolled around- but it’s the principle of the matter. It’s just not fair.

But many things in life aren’t fair.

Sort of like the monopoly the cafeteria in my building has on prices.

I forgot my salad dressing. So I had to buy a packet from the cafeteria.Ranch was one of few options. Oh darn.

I had no qualms with it. Me and my vinaigrettes get along fabulously most days. But that ranch dressing is goooooood. As is my latest read- When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. He has a quirky humor that I can appreciate. Not laugh out loud funny, but I have found myself smirking throughout my entire lunch hour.

Where was I? Oh yes- life’s not fair. I know this because I paid 55 cents for that stupid packet when I had a perfectly good bottle of dressing sitting at home waiting to be taken to work. That 55 cents is roughly 1/3 of how much I paid for that entire bottle of salad dressing last weekend (thanks to a dangerous combo of a sale and a coupon- I’m so savvy).

Pricey mistake if you do this on a regular basis. That shiz adds up. And yes, I watch my lunch budget that closely.

One thing I should be watching more carefully is my morning routine. I turned off the alarm to get me up and do The Shred. Then I turned off the alarm to get me up at my normal time. I finally got up right before the line of “Amy will look and smell clean” and “Amy will look like a wreck and forget half her makeup”.

Guys have it so easy. It’s really not fair.

Sleeping in has become a nasty little habit as of late (if you hadn’t noticed). Maybe my downstairs neighbors will be thankful that I’m pushing my 20-minute workout to 6:30 at night instead of 5:30 in the morning? You’re welcome. I don’t know who you are because you are terribly anti-social, but you’re welcome.

Today I’m blaming part of my sleep in on the Royal Wedding. And Lifetime. Neither of which I am overly obsessed with, but when you combine the two and get a cheesy movie about William and Kate’s love story?

I was sucked in. And am pretty sure that if anyone had called after it was over, I would have answered with a British accent. It’s so much more elegant than my own- a weird combination of subtle country drawl (or as my friend once told me, my “closet hick accent”) and random “Chicagoan” words/phrases.

Sometimes life just isn’t fair.

So yes, to get back to the subject, I’m blaming the Royal Wedding for me missing my appointment with Jillian Michaels this morning.

That or maybe the fact that it’s Tuesday? And I’d much rather stay in bed…

Stupid Tuesdays.

Crazy Town

A conversation was initiated with an 11:00 pm text Sunday night. Because I’m clearly an old woman and can’t stay up past 10:30 anymore, I didn’t respond until after I returned from my early morning trip to the gym yesterday morning.

A (from the night before): UGH…

Me (the next morning): ahahahaa… well good morning sunshine!

A: A friend and I crushed 5 lbs of wings in like 8 minutes last night while we were out.

Me: So clearly you’re hurting in more ways than one.

A: Uhhhh yeah, actually not too hungover from watching the games, just suffering from overeating

Me: Nonsense.

A: I didn’t mention the two large bowls of ice cream I took down when I got home, maybe an hour after eating those wings.

Me: So you drank too much, ate too much, took down a massive amount of sugar, smoked too much, and slept too little? Your body hates you. There’s no reason why you should feel good this morning. None at all. You should apologize. Because it’s angry. And will act out accordingly.

A: All very true.

Me: You need advil, water, coffee and salad. It’s called detox.

He didn’t respond, but I’m pretty sure he also agreed.

No need to feel bad for him. The kid has a metabolism of a hummingbird. If I know him at all, he was taking down his super-sized value meal for lunch by 11:00. Then having a second lunch by 2:00.

It’s amazing.

I was feeling rough when I woke up yesterday morning, too. From fatigue only, so it turns out the saying is true- it could always be worse.

Speaking of waking up early, crazy town has officially been entered.

My alarm was set at 4:45. AM. What have I become???

I wanted to make sure and give myself enough time to get in 5 miles during my morning workout. But my muscles were pretty tight, so I decided to warm up on the elliptical. Then just decided to stay there for no good reason other than I was totally content where I was. For 35 minutes.

The workout was finished with some free weights and a 10-minute cooldown on the treadmill. It worked. Although I completely defeated the point of getting up before 5:00 AM. Ridiculous.

What also worked out (not as planned) was my random idea for dinner.I mentioned last week my less-than-satisfactory tortilla shells. They fell apart every.single.time. So I took a chance on the last one. Split it in two and stuffed the pieces in a cupcake tin.My cupcake tin is a mess. Sorry.

They were thrown in the oven for a few minutes to get started “crisping” up. Then, I added the black beans (warmed up a little beforehand), salsa, jalapenos and 4-cheese mix.

After a few more minutes of them all getting acquainted, I pulled them out of the oven to see what would happen.Success! Sort of? Had I thought it through a little more, I would have waited to add the salsa at the end. It liquified a little in the oven and leaked out of the bottom when I pulled the tortilla shell out of the tin.

Not that it affected the taste at all. Mexican food is, after all, mexican food. Which means it was delicious.

I’m off to go enjoy my rain-soaked Tuesday.

Because really… what else do you expect? 

Trying a New Routine

Fact:  Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.

Fact:  I’m usually hungry pretty much as soon as I get up.

Fact:  The time I go in to work alternates from week to week.

Fact:  The alternating of what time I wake up/eat really throws me off for the rest of the day if I’m not careful. (i.e. watch your fingers at either lunch or about 3:30 in the afternoon)

Anyhoo… rewind to my trip to Madison with Megan. Being as how we seemed to form a friendship that stemmed from our love of discussing food on our blogs, it’s not much of a stretch for us to discuss it on a regular basis. Yesterday we discussed croissants. And fudge.

Anyhoo again… Megan suggested I try eating breakfast at work. At first I pooh poohed the idea. Not eat within 20 minutes of getting up?  Are you crazy??? Do you want heads to roll?

Then I thought about it. On my weeks where I’m in the office SUPER early (7:30), maybe I could try it. Sadly, this means my options for breakfast are a bit more limited. But hot damn, Megan is a smart chick. Even if my peanut butter bread got way too stuck together. *shrug*

Sure, I felt odd skipping breakfast in the middle of my morning routine at home. But my “I’m so hungry” feeling seems to be more of a habit than actual hunger.  Because it subsided.

And I wasn’t ready to eat my arm off by the time lunch came around.  Good thing, too- a catering rep dropped off some free lunch for us kids that she works with on a regular basis. And I would have been embarrassed if I just dug in face first.

Does anyone else eat in the office?  Or do you eat as soon as you get up?

Or do you not eat breakfast at all?  And if you don’t eat breakfast, how do you not go through the morning in a serious rage?  I don’t understand…

So that worked out. Or at least “Day 1″ did. We’ll see how the rest of the week goes. 

Another new thing in my Monday routine? A longer run than the usual 4-milers I had been pulling. First the extra mile on my Wednesday workouts and now this?  Was I drinking when coming up with my half marathon training plan?

The answer to that is “no”, by the way. I remember what was going through my head- the need to be more aggressive in my training.

And that’s fine. But it seems I forgot that mindset when I looked at my plan this morning and said “oh geez- 5 miles? What have I done?!?!”

It wasn’t bad. I had no issue securing a treadmill and spent the last couple miles of my run being amused by the boyfriend who was clearly dragged to the gym by his girlfriend who was doing her thing on the elliptical. He was bored and wandering aimlessly. Homeboy even tried to jump rope.

Homeboy can’t jump rope.

Either way, the run was less of an ordeal than I originally anticipated. 5 miles at an 8:36 pace.

That deserved wine in my opinion. And since my opinion is what matters, I had wine.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go pretend like it’s not the crappiest day of the week and enjoy my coffee.

Ciao!

A Rainbow in my Coffee!

I know what you guys are probably thinking.  “That Amy… she always hated Tuesdays.  Maybe this week it finally did her in.”

You’d be wrong.  Not this Tuesday. 

But there’s always next week, I guess.

Until then, I’ll just keep minding my own business with the norm.

You know, like working out.  Which I’ve done pretty well on considering all I want to do at 5:15 in the morning is stay put in my comfortable spot in bed.  It’s that time of the season where you jump into bed, freeze your butt off for 5-10 minutes under the covers, finally get warm, and DO NOT MOVE.  The thought of flinging the covers off to go do anything else is unheard of.  Stay put if you know what’s good for you.  Have a second thought about getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Because your warm spot isn’t going to be there when you get back.  Oh no it’s not.  You’ll be starting all over.

So wait… what?  Something shiny?

Oh yeah… the workouts.  They’ve been pretty routine.  I’ve been doing the shred in the mornings this week and then hitting up cardio after work.  Mostly because I don’t want to venture outside the apartment in the AM (see above explanation).  Also, it’s not as big of a deal to rush to the gym after work.  No one else wants to make the trip to the gym in cold weather, either.  So the machines have been pretty open.

I’m thinking it will stay that way until approximately January 2nd (I give people a day to sober up and then realize their drunken resolutions). 

Another norm I’ve been sticking to is attempting new dishes in the kitchen (is that a contradiction?).  Because I had such good luck on the stuffed acorn squash, I figured I’d try my hand at stuffed peppers.

Maybe I got a little overexcited.

Everything seemed like it would work.  I had an orange pepper and mixed up black beans and corn that had been seasoned with paprika and some red chili peppers.See?  Looks good so far, right?

Then I topped it with cornbread and cheese (seriously- still fantastic sounding, right?).It just isn’t my thing.  No idea why. I heart peppers.  Maybe just not that much.  I ended up actually saving half of one of the peppers to throw into a salad because I was that done with it.  Boo!

Oh well.

Another thing I’ve been up to the last couple of days is tracking down malted milk powder.  Yeah.  It’s a main ingredient used during my Thanksgiving baking extravaganza next week (get excited for that).  But it’s tough to find.  I’m not sure if I was just looking in the wrong place or the stores don’t carry it or what. Desperation started to set in.  I was one step away from calling Potbelly’s and begging them to let me buy some off of them.  They’re known for their malts- surely they have a little to spare?

But then my friend Mon said she’d “fire up the Google” and see what she could find.  Turns out I was completely missing they “hey duh” answer.  WalMart.  I grew up with the firm belief that they carry everything.  Why not malted milk?  So because Mon is a superstar and because there’s a store right next to her office, she swung by and picked some up for me. 

That’s not all she came back with.That’s weird Mon, I didn’t know there was an Anthropologie in WalMart.

Did I mention my friends are the coolest?

I love what’s in the bag.  And can’t wait to show you.  But I was a hot sweaty mess when I got home from the gym, so you’ll have to wait for me to break it out at a later time. 

Ahhh…. the suspense.

Let’s just say I owe her a few home cooked meals.  For reals.

Ok.  We’re on to hump day, ya’ll.  Grab your coffee.  Let’s do this thing.

Weeeee!

Breakfast All Day

Thanks for letting me know I’m not the only crazy one who travels in large packs of boys.    For some reason or another, I’m just so comfortable with them all- and I love my boys!  But just so we’re clear- I’ve seen almost as much drama between these guys as I have any group of girls.  Just a different kind of drama.  And boys deal with it in different ways.  Which I just sit back and watch and take no part in.  And I may or may not find it slightly amusing.  But that’s another story for another time…

Since I switched up my days, last night was my day of cross training.  Good thing I did it, too.  As soon as I got home, it started to POUR.  I would have been an unhappy camper if I knew I would have been doomed to spend an entire run on the treadmill.  Of course, I did 1.5 miles as part of my cross training, but that’s not so bad.  I can handle staring at the muted tv commercials for that long.  I also did 25 minutes on the elliptical.  And arm weights.  I really need to work on my strength training, so I did my best to focus a little more on that.  I also did Level 3 of The Shred for good measure.  It’s my favorite circuit for the moves that focus on the arms as well, so we’re just going to pretend I was making it an arm day…

Tonight Mon and I are doing pizza and a movie.  With Trader Joe’s pizza dough, of course.  Basically because I’m using it as an excuse to get rid of some frozen ground sausage that my parents sent from the farm that I haven’t found a reason to use yet.  I cooked the sausage last night.  I know there’d be waaay too much for the pizza, so I made another breakfast for dinner wrap. Sausage, spinach, and eggs.  Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts breakfast sandwiches have got nothin’ on me!

Anyhoo… we’re still undecided about the movie.  We have it down to two choices.  It’s Complicated or Dear John.  Why these two?  Well.  We like doing fantastically cliche girls nights it seems.  Which I find just fabulous.  So a girly movie is necessary.  And Red Box is limited.  It’s Complicated would probably make us laugh because it sounds like it’s a movie full of situations we could relate to in some way or another.  And then there’s Dear John.  And we all know the only reason this movie is to be rented… and it’s not because of the multiple Oscar-worthy performances…  

It’s solely for the fact that Channing Tatum’s just so pretty.  Yes sir…

Plus, I haven’t read the book and don’t ruin the movie for me, but I’m sure someone’s gonna die.  And I’m curious as to who it is.  You’d assume Channing would be the one to hit the dust, but you know how movies go- anyone is fair game.  I really don’t think it’ll be that ”moving” or an “epic” movie of sorts.  But like I said.  I’m curious.  DON’T ruin it for me.  Let me possibly enjoy my lame movie in peace.

Thank you.

And on that note, what movie do you love that you’re embarrassed to admit?  I can’t really narrow it down, but I will say I’ve watched more ABC Family movies that I care to admit… (Insert me hanging my head in shame here)

For some reason or another, I’ve been having some free time in the mornings.  I’m just sure I’m forgetting something.  Possibly shaving my legs.  Lemme check…. yep, definitely forgetting to do that…  Anyways, I’ve just recently started Cocktails for Three by Madeline Wickham.It’s too early to tell what I think of it.  I’m going off of a recommendation from the lovely Jill.  Remember when you recommended it to me forever and a day ago?  I do… and made sure to add it to the list!  I’m trusting you!  ha ha

Well kids, it’s Thursday.  We’re so close to the long weekend I can almost taste it.  I should probably start chillin’ the alcohol now… Being as how this weekend is being dominated by my guy friends, it’s no surprise the plans are still somewhat of a question mark.  But I’m just going with the flow… or at least try to (my inner ocd planner is screaming, but I’m keeping her as quiet as possible). 

Happy Thursday!

Let’s talk about hair.

As my disclaimer, let me just say I’m awful with hair and makeup.  I’m no artist.  But you guys are so sweet and keep asking about how I do my hair in the mornings.  So I’ll show you- even though I still can’t believe I’m posting these pics.  What I do for you guys… 

I’ve been doing the same thing for a while now- I find something that works and stick with it.  It’s not trendy, I was just looking for volume.  And this actually takes me less time than when I do the whole straightening thing (because my hair’s so thick and has some wave/pretend curls/kink to it).  And because I’ve been doing it for so long, I’ve got it down to a science at under 10 minutes… woo hoo!

Here we go.  All frizzed out (don’t judge- I really need a haircut).So basically, you take whatever size curling iron barrel you’ve got (I’ve got a 1 1/2-inch and a 1-inch that both work awesome, it just depends on how curly you want it).  Grab a large section of hair (I usually divide it into eight or nine sections) and shoot it with a little hairspray on the underneath.  Then you just wind it under all the way up and hold it for a few seconds.  Just like you normally do… Turns out you need three hands to take pics of yourself and do this.  Notice the upside-down camera.  At least I still got the shot before I burned a chunk of hair off of my head.

But the tricky part is this… Slowly release the curling iron but DON’T release the curl.  Just wiggle the iron from out of the curl and keep the loop of hair intact with bobbypins.  And then you’re gonna end up looking like this:Again, my personal photographer is out today, so the crap shots will just have to do… Now quick!  Bobby pin that!  And repeat!!!I look so old school, right?  ha ha…   But yeah, I just let the curls set for at least five minutes or so while I’m finishing getting ready.  Then take out the bobby pins and voila!  Throw your fingers through it and go!    Easy, right?Back to more important things…I started a new book recently.  This one’s called We Thought You’d Be Prettier by Laurie Notaro.  So far it’s ok.  I’m having a harder time getting into this one compared to I Was Told  There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley (which I finished last week). Both are just a collection of essays of random moments.  Sloane was just a really fun writer- she had a really dry humor (which I loved) with a slight tone of self-deprecation.  Laurie definitely has the self-deprecation down, but I still haven’t enjoyed her stories as much. It’s still early, though.  I’ll give it more time.

I got home to a very unpleasant surprise and am so pissed!  Yoga Meltdown is no longer on Exercise TV!!!!  I got home and did some shred and was all ready to stretch myself out, but I couldn’t find it!  I’m actually somewhat devastated.  This may mean I’ll have to breakdown and just buy it.  I’m curious about Level 2 anyways… sort of.  I know I’m not ready for it, but I guess it’ll be nice to have when I am.  Grrr…. And I checked Fitness Fusion yoga is no longer on Exercise TV, either.  What are you trying to do to me, Comcast?!?!  WTF????

This had me down and  out for about a minute.  Then I stopped pouting, threw on my shoes, and ran to the work out room to do some elliptical work.  That sort of made up for it.  And I guess it’ll do… until I hit up Target in search of Jillian’s intimidating face on dvd boxes.

Here’s dinner:Told you I’d be using those wraps often!  I pulled a breakfast for dinner move again with a veggie scramble… burrito… thing.  And cottage cheese.  Just go with it…

My Hump Day was less than stellar.  Sometimes work just doesn’t go well.  Not that anything was bad, but not that anything was good either.  It was just “blah”.  Hopefully today will be an improvement!