Author Archives: Emily

Nooners

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My alarm clock didn’t go off this morning and Adam and I slept in until noon!  It is clear that we are on summer vacay?  As exciting as our late start was, it pushed the whole day back and made everything rushed (still worth it though, it was a happy mistake!).  Art imitates life, and this post will be a little rushed as well.  [Note – as I reread to proofread this post it actually is pretty long, ya me]

After getting out of bed (at noon!) I made some Buffalo business calls and then hurried to Starbucks to meet a former coworker for a study date.  I did brunch from Starbucks, a reduced fat breakfast sandwich with egg whites and turkey bacon.

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This wasn’t bad (and it wasn’t expensive, less than $4) but it wasn’t as good as the wrap from the other day.  I had it with a grandeunsweetened iced coffee with skim milk.

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Ms. N and I studied from 1:30 – 4:30; she is taking the MCAT soon so she’s doing sciences as well.

After my study date I met the husband for some errands and a walk (2.2miles roundtrip) to Atlantic Center.  We had to spend outside of our budget, pulling out the credit card instead of our weekly $200, but there were some items I’ve needed for forever –

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– bras, underwear, and yoga mats!  I have a very unattractive habit of sticking my hand down the front of my top to pull at my uncomfortable older bras so Adam was more than happy to get me some new ones!  I’ve never owned a yoga mat (I got two b/c the cheap ones were so cheap it made more sense to buy two and layer) before but my floorworkfrom the 10minute strength challenge is killing my knee and back bones!

After we walked home I tucked into a Yoplait Fat Free pineapple upsidedown cake yogurt.

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Then I did my packing for tomorrow, we are not leaving the house until after 1pm tomorrow and I am so proud of myself that I packed today – in college I would have flights home for which the car service would pick me up at 5am and I wouldn’t start packing until 4:50am!  All total we have more than 18hours (via bus and car) on the road this weekend so I had to pack reading materials and snacks for the husband and myself.

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I also half-wrapped my niece’s 4th birthday gift –

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We got her two Raggedy Anne books with a Raggedy Anne doll and some candy hearts (one of the books is about how she gets her candy heart).  My brother-in-law makes a big fuss about how “books are for suckers” so I’ve gotten his daughter a book for every single present we’ve given her!  We always do a book and an accompanying doll and it’s become a good tradition.

We are pretty much out of food so I had the world’s lamest dinner, a cup of CambellsChicken and Egg Noodle soup withsome oyster crackers from when I had soup at a restaurant a month or so ago (I thought of you when I took them Sarah!).

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The soup was pretty terrible, it had a strong, strange herb flavor so I ended up adding Saltines too to help cover the flavor.

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While I ate I worked on some applications for Buffalo things.  After dinner I took a walk with the husband to drop off the mail, I was still a little hungry from my small dinner but the walk helped subdue my stomach.

I couldn’t commit to 10minutes of strength training but I took breaks while writing this post and completed 100reps of arm exercises with my 5lb weights and held one 60second plank.

FYI – This will be my last post until tomorrow evening, we are going on a short vacation!  We are leaving tomorrow to visit Adam’s sister in PA and then traveling with her to VA to meet up with all the rest of the in-laws.  It’s a pretty quick trip, we come home Monday, but it should be fun.  I’ll see you when we get there!

What kind of gifts do you give to youngin’s?  I’ve become a big fan of the book/doll combo, it encourages reading and the doll is more meaningful when connected with a favorite story.  I’ve given our niece The Hungry Caterpillar with a stuffed caterpillar, Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do You See? with a teddy bear, and more.

Sweet, Spicy, Sesame, Tangy

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After the morning my day got pretty crazy; I’m glad I got my work-out in early!  Before my shower I scarfed the other 2/3 of my Cliff Bar.

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This had too much sugar to be a regular choice but it was very tasty.

My next course of action was to do some planning for my classes next year – I am attending a university in Buffalo as a non-degree seeking student so that I can complete some prerequisite courses for PA and RD programs.  The plan is to work part-time, volunteer (which I still need to figure out), and take classes.  As a non-degree I can’t officially register for classes until August 1st.  Well, when I went to look at the course offerings today to make a rough schedule I found out that almost every class I need is already full; by August 1st I doubt I will be able to enroll in anything!  I wigged out and cried for a good 10minutes before the husband convinced me that I just had to suck it up.  If I can’t take classes in the fall it will suck and I’ll be sad but I don’t have any control over that situation.  If I can’t take any courses I will have to work full-time, which will help us save money, and get my nutritionist certification, which I am interested in and excited about.  I’m scared that this could push back my loooooong journey towards a new career but I’ve got to roll with the punches.

After I pulled myself together I ate 1/2 of this (small) container of stir fry leftovers.

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Then we packed up our cart and headed to the post office.  The postal service in this (expensive!) neighborhood is shockingly bad, I’ve never been in when there wasn’t a line out the door.  Whether rain, snow, sleet, or long waits, nothing could stop our errands so we prevailed.

During the trip I drank this My Smoothie juice box.

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I knocked out two servings of fruit with this, woot!

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Finally, it was time to head to *bucks to get my study on.  I went with economics to choose my snack –

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an iced coffee (I added my own skim milk) and a rice-crispie bar were my cheapest choice at $4 and 300calories.  I studied from 3 – 7 straight, another woot!

My husband is the nicest man on earth so he did my laundry for me while I was studying, when I got home all I had to do was fold and hang 🙂  Post-laundry I started watching a riveting episode of Bones, I am so hooked on that show!  I paused during a commercial to eat a Yoplait Light and Fit strawberry shortcake yogurt.

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I’m not going to be able to afford Fage and Oikos as much next year (Greek yogurt doesn’t really fit into a budget unless you find a sale) but I think I’ll be a-ok with all these Yoplait Light varieties.

During a later commercial I ate my green veggie from dinner as an appetizer – Spicy Sesame Beans.

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I had a bag of mixed beans and carrots in my freezer that I heated in a skillet with a little evoo.  I topped my portion with a dab more evoo, some wasabi sesame seeds, and some red pepper flakes.

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Spicy spicy!

After my socks were fully rocked off by Bones we got started on dinner.  I received a package from Nakano with coupons and recipes yesterday so I used that for inspiration.

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I will say though, my chicken recipe was clearly all mine own – Apple Pretzel Chicken, 3servings

  • 1/2C Stonewall Kitchen caramel apple butter
  • 3T Nanako rice vinegar
  • 1C Newman’s Own Mighty Mini Pretzels, crushed
  • 1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into tenders
  1. Preheat oven to 375* and prep a baking sheet with foil and spray.
  2. Mix apple butter and vinegar in a low bowl and pour pretzel crumbs into another low bowl.
  3. Drudge chicken through wet and then dry bowls.
  4. Cook for 30minutes.

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I took a pretty small portion but it was delish, the perfect mix of salty and sweet!

For my side dish I tried to follow a recipe a little bit,

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but still but a pretty big twist on it.  Not only was I missing several ingredients, the original recipe called for (regular) potatoes with the skins peeled off.  I never follow that step in any recipe, why would I spend cooking time making something less healthy by peeling away fiber?  What I ended up with was Tangy Stovetop Sweet Potatoes, 2servings

  • 1large sweet potato, cubed  [note, I think I actually used a yam but that didn’t fit with my title alliteration]
  • 1/3C Nanako rice vinegar
  • 3T water
  1. Heat 2T evoo over medium heat in a skillet.
  2. Add potato cubes to the pan and cook for 5-7minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping up and brown bits.
  3. Season with salt and paprika.
  4. Pour vinegar and water into the pan and cook until all the liquid is gone.

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Yums!  Here was my plate:

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Before you get all judgey about the expanse of brown, remember that I ate my greens as an appetizer 🙂

My internet is ridiculous so this post took forever but there are still some to-dos left on the list for the night – 1) brush my teeth asap so I can put my retainers in to get some of the intense pain out of the way before sleep time (my braces experience was so ridiculous I can’t even get into it, but suffice to say I stopped sleeping in my retainers in college and now my perfect teeth are going crooked).  2) tuck into my stack of magazines……I didn’t say they weren’t fun to dos!  Sweet dreams all.

Do you ever peel fruits or veggies?  Why or why not?  Other than kiwis – which many bloggers actually down fur and all – I enjoy the tasty fiber whenever it’s available.

Round is a Shape

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The plan this morning was to go for a run with Adam.  We slept in a little later than planned and didn’t get out the door until 9:30 so I ate a bite of this Cliff Mojo Dipped Bar just to have something in my stomach.

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The bite of bar was fantastic, the run?  Not so much.  My sports bra was bugging me and my shorts were falling down so I couldn’t get into a rythm.  It was brutal anyway though.  We did 2.7miles through Prospect Park and it was slow and painful, even with several walk breaks.

After I dragged myself home I did my 10minutes of strength training.  I decided to forgo legwork today and instead focused on arms, abs, and stretching.  All total I did 50reps of arms (with my 5lb weights) and 100reps of abs.

Today will be full of errands and studying but I’ll be back later.  Have a good day 🙂

What was the last activity that kicked your butt?

Verdict? Amazing

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Who guessed that my exciting package was from Amazing Grass?  You would be correct!

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We decided not to open the huge jar we bought until after the move to Buffalo.

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For now I have to be excited with the sample packets that they sent.

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I did some work on the computer before dinner and I snacked on this Yoplait Light Thick and Creamy in cinnamon roll.

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Yums, I saw this flavor floating around blog world a few months ago and was so jealous.  It lived up to my expectations.

For dinner we decided to go with stir fry to help use up some ingredients from the pantry, mainly –

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I very loosly followed a recipe from a magazine, but mainly was directed by the ingredients on hand.  We started by draining, pressing, and cubing a block of extra firm tofu.  Then we shook the cubes with some cornstarch.

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Next we added some sesame seeds (the last of the seeds + some wasabi sesame seeds) to the bag.

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We used the wok to brown the tofu in a little bit of evoo.  Then we removed the tofu from the pan and replaced it with 16oz of frozen veggies.  After the veggies cooked up we poured in some stir fry sauce, about 2/3 of a cup.

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I had combined our two sauces (with a smidgeof soy sauce) before I realized that the veggie bag actually came with a sauce packet, whoops!

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Finally we added the tofu back to the pan, stirred to combine, and voila.

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My serving, topped with a little red pepper.

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After dinner I hung out in front of the tv, has anyone else gotten into Make It or Break It?  I know it’s for teenagers but I get very easily pulled in to anything with gymnastics.  Growing up on an islands it wasn’t an interest I really got to pursue but I did go to gymnastics camp the summer before 6th grade.

I made myself a super impressive plate of cookies and chocolate milk while I watched.

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The cookies were a serving each of 2 varieties of Newman’s Own Organics.

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Verdict?  Rocked my socks!  The pb cookies had a great roasted flavor to them and the chocolate chip ones were nice and crumbly.

The chocoaltemilk was skim milk with an Amazing Grass Kidz packet.

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Verdict?  Impressive, although I don’t know what the difference between regular and “kidz” will be.  It was a little grassy but I actually liked that part of the flavor.

After my snack Adam and I took a quick stroll around the ‘hood for funsies and now it’s time for bed.  Sweet dreams!

P.S.  Everyone has seen the constantcoverage of MJ’s death, but who else has seen this?!  No matter what you think of Jackson as an artist (and I 100% believe that personal failings do not take away from professional talent), I have been disgusted by the nonstop media coverage of his death.  1) He was 1 person, do we seriously not have anything more important to talk about?  2) Even if it wasn’t weird to focus on a story like this Jackson was accused of being a pedophile.  What is wrong with our country that we would glorify a man with this reputation?  What message are we sending to young viewers, let alone viewers who have suffered abuse?

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

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Hi again, Merry Monday everyone!  Post-post (that prefix use made me smile) I spent the morning helping Adam fill out some scholarship applications.  I also took care of some general business around the house room.  The thing I am most looking forward to in the move is having more than one room; sleeping, eating, and working in the same place end up making the work space feel hard to work in and the sleep space hard to sleep in.

I also did 10minutes of strength training.  I’ve decided to do Caitlin and Kath‘s 10minute challenge, so I’ll be doing (at minimum) 10minutes of strength training every day.  The fact that this 10minute set (click the link to their sites to see it) made me sweat is all the more incentive to turn it into a routine.

After my shower we rounded up some coupons and headed to the grocery store.

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Between keeping the coupons Key Foods prints at the register, getting offers through the blog, and tearing coupons from magazines, we have saved some good $ this year.  One of the hardest things about next year will be working part time (and right now I don’t even know where I will be able to find a job) and living on Adam’s med school loans, there will be a big lack of cash flow.  We have already begun to budget though, we made a list of all of our monthly expenses, though right now we can only estimate some of them.  For now, the plan is to have $200 a week (that’s $100 a piece) for food and fun.  Monthly expenses like rent, internet, etc will be paid by credit card (we always pay on time and I like the miles) and things like textbooks and prescription drugs will not be taken out of our weekly cash.  But everything else – groceries, movies, magazines – will have to come out of that $200.  Parts of it sound rough but I am looking forward to the challenge.  I will acknowledge that both of our families have very generously offered to help us with some expenses, I’m not going to begin to pretend that I know what it’s like to be a family that actually struggles.  What does your family do to budget?

After the grocery I went all fancy and utilized my Easy Mac for lunch.

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I went *extra fancy* and added 2 chopped hotdogs to it.

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Check out the impressive nutritional stats on these TJ’s Spicy Jalopeno Chicken Sausages:

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Together they made a tasty treat.

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I was feeling snazzy with my classy lunch so I used a pretty bowl.

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And I way spiced it up; it addition to jalopeno sausages I added red pepper flakes and Chipotle Tabasco, look  at that spice!

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I kept the hot party in my mouth to a dull roar by drinking milk on the side.

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It’s pink because I used my last CIB (sugar free strawberry) packet it it, who-woo I can finally open my fun package 🙂

After that husband and I went up to the city for my doctor’s appointment.  After a long waiting room visit and a quick office visit we took a long walk around Times Square.  The thing I’m most sad about with the move will be walking away from how much we get to walk here in nyc.

I have a very low-key evening planned but it does include making dinner, I’ll be back with that lata!

Back to Business

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First things first, in numerical order:

  1. I hope everyone had a fabulous July 4th!  I did not post because I spent the entire weekend in bed; as excited as I am about the big move, it is possible that the stress of having no idea what I will be doing next year is getting to me.
  2. As promised, I chose a winner for my Flogg giveaway at noon on Saturday.  I used a random integer generator to get –

The new blog looks/sounds great!

I don’t reeeeally keep an organized journal, but occassionally i tally my food and/or exercise in the margins of my notebooks. Especially when i am bored at work during meetings. I think it is helpful for really ascertaining my daily intake/outgo (outtake?).

So, Joanna, please e-mail me your address so I can send you your prize!

Now today, per usual, I am behind schedule.  Right now I am so stressed that I end up falling behind schedule, and then I’m stressed that I am behind schedule, and then that additional stress causes me to make more mistakes, and so on and so on.  I’m like the tippler from The Little Prince!  My goal for today is to remain calm.  So I’m posting the following to-do list as more of a “hope” than a “plan.”

Goals for the day

  • quickie workout
  • 3+ hours of chemistry studying
  • doctor’s appointment at 4:30 (I guess this one is just straight scheduled)
  • load of laundry
  • set up my boxes for the post-office tomorrow
  • make a nutritious dinner

I’ll let you know how it goes!

Lazy Hazy Days of Summer

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Hi there folks!  Was anyone else feeling lazy in the heat today?  I just couldn’t seem to get going, ever!  In my defense, originally, my alarm clock didn’t go off so I got a late start.  I pushed myself out the door and headed to Starbucks for a study session.

I did breakfast there since I felt bad bringing in my own food, a low fat spinach feta wrap,

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and a small Naked Green Machine juice.

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All together:

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Way to go Starbucks, I couldn’t believe how good this was!  I will certainly be going back to order this wrap again, it had great flavor and chew.  Plus I hit every food group and got a tasty meal for just 410 calories.

My study efforts were not as successful.  The table next to me (after intense eavesdropping I think it was a girl and her landlord who was also her boss) had the longest, loudest conversation!  But even after they left I couldn’t focus.  I ended up working from 10:30 – 12:00, staring into space for another half an hour, and then calling it quits.  I came how to veg out and was very happy about it 🙂

Plus I had a great lunch.

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I’ll be honest though, I started with dessert.

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After my row of Riter Sport I had roasted yellow squash,

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roasted cauliflower, and

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carrot salad (the recipe is posted here).

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Also a serving of Asiago cheese.

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I spent some serious time enjoying Bones, and I enjoyed a few too many of these salt water taffies my parents brought us from Hilton Head (they went to a wedding before visiting us) too.

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I’d like to say it stopped there, but I ended up eating a bunch of other random crap throughout the afternoon.  First I stole some of A’s chicken nuggets,

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yes they are dino shaped, and yes he is 23.  And then I ate 1/4C of peanuts.

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Finally I realized I wasn’t getting full so I made myself stop and just wait for dinner.  I think part of the problem was boredom and part was being tired.

Dinner was easy peasy:  quinoa, topped with canned seasoned mustard greens, and baked tofu.  Plus a sprinkle of goat cheese.

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The tofu I drained, pressed, thinly sliced, rubbed with rice vinegar, rubbed with maple syrup, sprinkled with jerk seasoning, and cooked at 475 for 20minutes.

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I made another cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk and no sugar added CIB (this time in vanilla) to drink with dinner.

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I got a very very exciting package in the mail the other day (can you guess what it is?) and I refuse to open it until my CIB is gone.

Husband and I are planning on going out for dessert later but I’ll post about that in the morning.  This summer is not going to be successful until I start following a bedtime!  Peace.

Don’t forget about my Flogg giveaway!  It ends tomorrow at noon and you can enter by commenting at this post.

Good News

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We got some good news this morning which means I am finally ready to share my news with you guys – we got accepted for an apartment in Buffalo, New York.  We are moving to Buffalo (to an actual apartment, not a studio, yays!) on August 1st.  Adam is going to be attending medical school at Buffalo University.  I am going to be taking science prereqs, hopefully, and looking into RD and PA programs for fall of 2010.  I am still not sure what my work situation will be, but I am trying not to stress.  We are so excited.

Anyways, I will be spending July doing lots and lots of studying to prepare.  After breakfast this morning I headed down to Starbucks to get my study on.

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I drank a grande nonfat ice caramel machiatto while I worked.  P.S. I always order these (although I don’t order them often) with 1/2 the pumps of vanilla so they aren’t sooooo sweet. 

I worked from 10:30 – 2:30 when it was time to go to the doctor’s office.  I had a yearly check up but I ended up having to wait for 1.5hours in the waiting room!!!  It was ok though, I got to do more reading in my Chemistry for Dummies book.

When I got home it was after 5 and I quickly got sucked in to 3hours of Bones.  I know it’s bad, but I am obsessed.  I was doing some random snacking, including 2 unphotograhed servings of Newman’s Own Organics Spelt Pretzels, so I knew I needed my make myself an actual plate.

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Green grapes, 1serving of TJ’s sliced Asiago, and some baby carrot butts from a salad I made for tomorrow.

Around 8:30 the husband and I set out for a quick run.  We did two miles again (sticking with my training schedule).  I had to walk the last three blocks because my right ankle hurt but I think that was because it was slippery from rain so I’m not too worried.

When I got home I wasn’t feeling all that hungry, I guess my snack plate became dinner, so I made this.

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Unsweetened vanilla almond milk with chocolate no sugar added CIB was a much better mix,

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I gulped this down.

I have to shower and then I’m going to snuggle up with Adam in bed to continue to discuss some move logistics.  Nighty night.

Where all have you lived?  Buffalo will be my 4th city, I was born in St. Thomas, went to college in Miami, and worked in NYC for the last two years.