Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Wear. And. Fare. Wednesday.

Aaah yes! Clearly I'm back in the swing of things! Imagine that...a Wednesday post on Wednesday!! 
I have a lovely little dish for you guys today and a cute little new outfit I put together! Enjoy!

WEAR

I had all of these pieces for this outfit, minus the shirt which I just picked up on my first day of vacation. It caught my eye when I was also in search for some biking shorts for a yoga class.  Love this top!


Hey look! I grew wings! 

Top: Target
Jeans: Old Navy - (Sweethearts mid-rise)
Locket: Gift from mommy!


FARE

During vacation, I can't promise that I was the best model of clean eating. I gave myself room to slack off during vacation but now I'm back on track. During my fantastic time out with my friend, Sarah, we went to brunch in the morning. We stopped at this restaurant that neither of us had been to and I ordered an egg scramble breakfast. Oh my gosh, was it good! It had potatoes and peppers and it just had this nice little kick to it. I was hooked! After that day, I was still craving it again! I decided to try and make my own clean version of this so I can enjoy it time and time again.  




How I did it!

I took one clove of garlic and minced it finely. Then, I chopped up onions and red peppers. I began to saute these all in a pan with some olive oil. Meanwhile, in the microwave I cooked at sweet potato. When it was finished, I diced it up into square pieces (skins on). I then added the chunks of potato into the pan with the vegetables. I added several spices to give this a kick - 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/4 cumin, 1/2 tsp paprika and chili powder to taste. I thought I put maybe too much chili powder in but when I ate it, I thought it could use more, it didn't have the kick that I expected but it was still SOOOO good! I sauteed the veggies, spices and potatoes together till the potatoes had a bit of a crunch. I took out the vegetables then in the same pan cooked 3 egg whites with one whole egg. I also think in the future I will try just scrambling the egg into the mixture. I still have some experimentation to do with this but it still was just what the doctor ordered! Hope you all enjoy it too!

Have a happy Wednesday!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Mission. Vacation. Accomplished.

I'm back everyone - a full week of vacation and no work! So great! I had a wonderful time during my staycation and I am feeling more charged and ready to take on life again! I met with the wonderful Mary during my staycation and we talked about how sometimes when you've been SO busy, the simplest of tasks seems SO difficult! Even just sending an email! We both agreed that it was great that we aren't the ONLY ones who get burnt out and feel that way. I thought I would update you all on how my wonderful staycation went! Here's the recap:

The first day of my break I had a wonderful time celebrating with family! We celebrated my grandfather's 92nd birthday with a small party and then we had a surprise baby shower for my cousin! Super fun and I was so happy to be able to catch up with my family!

Me and Gramps!

The following day I spoiled myself to death!
In the AM I went to a Bikram yoga class! It was so cool! I have a few more classes left that I am for sure going to hit up! It's the 105 degree heated room yoga and you sweat like crazy - but it feels so good! I was so tired after though that I slept like a baby for 2 hours!

Next I hit up the local nail shop for a pedicure! The tootsies felt so good!


                                   Before                                                         After

The following day I pampered myself even more! A spa day! So worth it! I didn't even have to pay for it as I used my credit card points to purchase a certificate! Yea!

In my lovely spa getup! 

Now that I was pampered it was time to get down and dirty! Yes, my inner-adventurer was broken out again (with some encouragement from friends) and I was taken on an urban exploring adventure. 
Sometimes I'm a rebel and I do rebellious things (whispers: I could have gotten caught!!) ;)

At top of building.

One of my fave pics I took.

To top the night off, nothing could have been better than a night out with my friend since 3rd grade, Sarah! (Note: About this time, Sarah also left me stranded on the playground with a broken ankle. Just sayin', Sarah!) 

We also rented a hotel room for a change of scenery. We got out and about and also played in the snow!

Testing the bed.

Sarah and I.

We also visited Foshay Tower in Minneapolis!

At the top of the Foshay!

The next couple of days were filled with fun stuff! Rock climbing, coffee dates with friends I've been meaning to catch up with and just chilling out. I got out to dinner with my family and Saturday I caught up with a new friend for brunch and a fun local event!

Finally, Sunday I sat down and picked up a book I've been trying to read for over a year! Yes - I said over a year! I started reading and got so into it I couldn't put it down! It was so great to feel sucked in again and relaxed enough to just to sit down and read! I finished it too! Soon I'll trade it in for some credit at the local bookstore! Yea!

Finally, I finished off my vacation with a great dodgeball game night were we took all 3 games!

THEN?!

A no brainer! A DAMY Health Quinoa Brownie with  Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frosting. YUM!

Check out the blog for the recipe!


I'm sure there was much more that I didn't talk about here, but overall, I just wanted to say I had a great rest and I'm ready to get back at things with my full effort! 

Woohoo!























Friday, February 17, 2012

Wrenching. Time.

On my new goal board this year, (which I have yet to post up here), one of the things that I wanted to push myself to learn was more bike mechanics. It will be useful during tours in case something happens that I know more about the actual bike and how to fix it. I already knew, of course, how to change a tire and some basic things, but I think this will be a nice added boost.

I've been spending some time at Recovery Bike Shop (who also supplies me all of my equipment - check them out - they are in Northeast) and doing some volunteer wrenching. I mainly just watch the bike mechanics and learn from them but sometimes I get to help and change tires, etc. I've really been enjoying it because I get to learn and practice. I've missed the last couple weekends but I hope this weekend I can get back and put in some more time.

Me with bike tire I changed. 
This is Joram, on of the bike mechanics. We pretty much just spend our time picking on him all day. :)

A bike being built.
This is Janneke. She lets me help out and really shows me the ropes!
On this front, I know that I've mentioned that I have vacation coming up next week. However, after vacation I'm going to get into high gear with my business-related stuff. I am using this week to recharge my batteries, have a little enjoyment and then I will be back in business! I can't wait for this vacation! Today is my last work day for a week! Woo hoo!

I'll be off on vacation now and I hope to bring a big update on everything I did! :)

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Blogger. Burnout.

I told you all I would be making a new post about my blog. I know that I haven't been posting a lot lately, but to be honest, I'm just burnt out! I'm not burnt out on accomplishing my goals and working on the things that I would like to achieve, however I am burnt out on blogging about it.

I was thinking the other day about how over this past year, I haven't really had any vacations. I had one small vacation to visit my sister and her family. During that time of vacation, I was also spent a lot of time working on my business. Thus, leaving me with the feeling that I haven't actually had a REAL vacation and taken any time for myself.

While I'm not very into comparing myself with others - that really gets you nowhere, generally I'd like to think I'm only in competition with myself - I have made notice of many of my awesomely accomplished friends and that they have at least taken a couple, if not a few, vacations to recharge. I have most definitely lacked that this year.


I recently had this conversation with my friend, Pierre, who was back visiting from Germany where he is currently living, but is originally from France. We were talking about vacations and I was discussing my present lack of the financial ability to go on a vacation because much of my money is spent on bills (for my business and schooling). I was talking about how I banked 13 hours of vacation and carried over 2 weeks of vacation into this year. Pierre expressed that he didn't understand why Americans didn't take vacation. I stated that I just didn't have the money to go anywhere, so I figured why take it off? Pierre said that even if you go nowhere, you have that time, why not take it off? I admit, Pierre has a point. Now with the feeling of being completely burnt out, I'm taking your advice, Pierre...I'm taking some time off! Not only am I going to take some time off, but I'm going to try and do the things that I've been wanting to do here but just can't seem to find the time. I also have one goal for this vacation: no work! That's right, none! Just pure enjoyment and relaxation. My very own STAYcation!



I recently ran into THIS blog online. It really resonated with me and I'm really happy that I've made the choices in life that I have and am pursuing my passions. I am happy that I AM living a life that is true to myself. However as I scroll down these items, one item stands out to me, "I wish I hadn't worked so hard." I don't think that this statement COMPLETELY applies to me because yes, I do work hard...but I'm happy about my work because it fulfills me and it's working on my passions, not just a job that I am complacent at. However, it is a reminder that I sometimes need to slow down and just take a breather and enjoy life.


The reason that I write this is that I wanted to firstly, apologize that I haven't been more diligent in blogging. I really enjoy blogging and it keeps me on track and I hope that you all enjoy it as well! I also wanted to explain my lack of recent blogging and let you all know that I'm STILL working diligently on my goals, I just need a mini-break from writing about them. I hope, however, after my vacation the week of the 20th, I can come back fully renewed and refreshed and I'll be back to my old diligently blogging self!

Who else has had burn out? 
How did you recharge?


Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Wear. And. Fare. DAY!

Since I haven't been able to get my Wednesday posts up regularly, I can't really call this Wear and Fare Wednesday anymore. It's official. Until I can get back to a regular schedule, it's just Wear and Fare Day!


WEAR



Today for work I tried to put together somethig a little bit different. I know you all have seen this skirt before. I love it. I put it together with an all gray base (gray tights and long sleeved tee) and then added a pop of color on top. Put this together quick. I think I did a great job for no planning and it being a quick morning decision!

Long-sleeved tee: Old Navy
Sweater: Express

FARE

Another great treat from DAMY Health! It seems lately this is where all of my new ones are coming from! Probably because DAMY keeps posting fantastic recipes all week! Here are some new treats by DAMY Health. These are the "Clean Peanut Butter Eatmore Bars". Go to this link HERE and click on the blog. This is where you will find the recipe for these bars. They are SO good! I have a box in my freezer right now. A great treat for the week!



Hope you all have had an excellent week thus far!
Look for an important post from me this week! I'll be updating you guys on a little bit about my life! :)