Silly Spiders, I’m Going to Smash You

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Someone came by the apartment yesterday to fix the oven –> fire alarm dilemma but when we tested that evening we were still treated to screeching.  I shed a few tears of frustration and we ended up staying up way too late.  The lack of sleep wouldn’t have been so bad, but I was still super hungry and I ended up doing a lot of snacking.  Two mini chocolate chip cookies,

a serving of sour cream and onion Goldfish crackers,

and a bowl of cereal.

This morning, awesomely, started with another man coming to deal with the alarms.  Victory!  Nothing’s ever tasted so sweet, except, I suppose, breakfast –

A serving of Van’s Belgian Waffles topped with the fruit topping I made yesterday.

Now our new apartment is practically perfect.  I’ll let my remaining complaint be illustrated by Natalie Dee –

I needed a rest day Monday after our weekend of moving but today I was ready for a workout.  I had to walk to campus to update my mailing address so I decided to check out my new gym.  I have to go back to fill out my registration forms later but they let me work out today anyway.  I realized once I got to the machines that I forgot my water bottle, but I forged ahead and had a pretty good workout anyways.  I decided to do a circuit of sorts with the cardio machines –

  • 10minutes on the elliptical; random, level 6
  • 10minutes on the recumbent bike; random, level 7
  • 10minutes on the treadmill; 5mins of running then 5 of walking
  • 10minutes on the elliptical; same
  • 10minutes on the recumbent bike; same
  • 5minutes on the stair climber; resistance 6
  • 5minutes on the treadmill; walking cool down

I made it through my 60minutes sans h2o but the walk home (15ish minutes) in the sun was brutal.  Rehydration was key.

A serving of Grape G-2 mixed with an equal amount of water.  I think during these summer months I’m going to place Gatorade (and/or coconut water) on our regular grocery list.

I spotted yet another spider!  I took a quick shower – didn’t even wash my hair because it’s so hot I’ll have to shower again before bed anyways, eww – and threw on the saddest outfit on Earth.

That used to be my favorite teaching shirt.  Now it’s the artist formerly known as “button-up” a.k.a “button up to my boobs and then gape awkwardly.”

I walked down to Elmwood to search for some lemon essential oil; I have to try some natural spider deterrents because the husband said I can NOT Raid-bomb our entire apartment.  I’ll let you know if I find something that works.  I’m blogging now because I stopped at The Spot for a large diet soda and free wifi.  I’ve got to hurry home, we’ve got someone coming to set up our internet, yay!

Do you know of any natural spider deterrents that are actually effective?

A Grass Powered Day

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It’s been one of those run-around errands days and I’m not gonna lie – it was nice to have a busy day that didn’t involve carrying things!

I drove the husband to work this morning and then drove to Barnes and Nobel and perused the “For Dummies” selection.  Sadly I didn’t find quite what I was looking for; I’m updating the blog this summer and I’m feeling very overwhelmed.  Does anyone with technical know-how feel like taking on a charity case???

Mid-errands I snacked on a Green SuperFood Chocolate Whole Food Energy Bar.

During vegan month Brandi kindly got us some samples from Amazing Grass.  Disclaimer – any AG products you see on the blog for the next bit will have been free samples.

This was my first time trying the AG bars and I actually quite liked it –

There was a good mix of “green” and sweet that balanced perfectly and I loved all the nuts.  Plus it had 5grams of protein and was loaded with micronutrients.

Next I headed to an out of the way mall to see if this rumor was true –

It was!  It was! It was!

I have been lamenting the lack of froyo in Buffalo for months (ever since I got self-serve froyo in Orlando) so this rocked my socks.  It was no Menchies, but still pretty fantastic.  I got a small serving of tart (plain) with strawberries, mango, kiwi, and oreo.

Smile indeed!

My errands took me to the bank, the drugstore, the co-op and finally to my kitchen table where I laid out the plethora of clippings for the magazine binder.

My goal is to get all of that in before school starts in September.

I pulled out another AG sample for the rest of lunch.

Pomegranate Mango Infusion Amazing Meal.  I smoothied it up with 1/2cup frozen strawberries, 1cup Silk Almond Milk, and 1/2cup water.

I thought I was going to hate it but I totally didn’t!  Be warned though, it was a bit chalky, you definitely needed some extra liquid.

I also spent some time at the stove, whipping up a batch of fruit topping for waffles and yogurt throughout this week.

This batch included a mix of plums, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries; I can’t wait to dig in tomorrow.

I came back to Adam’s school to pick him up and stopped in the computer lab to register for my final course (there was a waiting list that just opened up).  Now that my schedule is complete I’m a bit nervous: 16credits including Organic Chemistry and Anatomy, yikes!

Our final errand of the day was grocery shopping, so you know dinner came a la Wegman’s hot bar.

I was hungry, my plate ended up beyond loaded!

An assortment of Chinese chicken (aka fried and unhealthy),

roasted veggies,

chili garlic eggplant (not fried, I don’t know why it looks like that),

and raw kale salad.

All de-Lish!

I’m actually blogging on Wegman’s wifi, I’ve gotta go get my groceries!

Do you prefer ice cream or frozen yogurt?  I’m a froyo girl all the way.

A Birthday Giveaway

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I’ll post eats later tonight but I was itching to show off my new digs!  A lot is the same as our old spot, so I’m just going to show the general rooms and some of my favorite things.  Hope you like!  (skip to the bottom if you’re only interested in the giveaway)

This apartment is much smaller than our last one so there’s lots of “decorative” storage at play.

Our entry way –

I’m not sure if the pictures really show it, but the walls are a fabulous blue-green-gray color that makes me happy 🙂

Under-the-sea bathroom.

The bedroom –

It was a bit of struggle getting both of our closets in here but I think we managed ok.

The office –

The teeny tiny kitchen.

We had to buy two separate shelving units,

and our stuff is still everywhere!

Our living room.

Looooove the fireplace (non-working) and exposed brick!

Finally, the dining area.

The bears were glad to be out of storage again!

What would your dream dining room look like?  Modern, country, beach house, 5th Avenue?

I know it was my birthday this past weekend, but I’ve got a gift for YOU guys!  A $60 gift certificate for any of CSN’s fabulous online stores. 

This offer is only open to my US and Canada readers, and the certificate does not cover shipping (although most of the items have free shipping anyways).  The giveaway runs until midnight, Thursday, July 29th.  All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post letting me know what color you would paint your dream dining room.

For more entries to win you can –

  • link back to this giveaway from your blog and leave me a comment on this post letting me know you’ve done so
  • link back to this giveaway from twitter and leave me a comment on this post letting me know you’ve done so

On the Move

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Thanks for all the birthday wishes guys!  Even though it didn’t feel very celebratory, I ended up having a pretty good 25th birthday; I like things low-key.  We are 99.9% moved but the last two days have been H-A-R-D!  We did everything but the kitchen yesterday, the kitchen today, and our pictures need to be hung sometime this week.

I must have been nervous/excited because I slept maybe 40minutes Friday night.  I actually got out of bed at 3:40am to take a shower.  Our U-Haul pick-up was at 7am so it was an early morning.  Don’t we look excited?

I did manage to have a pretty good breakfast though.

Fage with Strawberry,

and some blueberries (I didn’t eat the whole pint, but I didn’t want to diry a bowl to put them in).

And I even managed some birthday flare – glitter painted nails.

We were 100% focused on moving so breakfast ended up having to hold me over until late evening.  I did grab a few chunks of watermelon mid-morning though.

And I drank this G-2 throughout the day.

Moving was a serious workout and the husband and I were both sweating bullets so we knew we’d need to replenish some electrolytes.

We moved and we moved and then we moved so more.  Then finally (8pm!) it was time for dinner.  It was my birthday so we got a little gussied.

But after some rain, and some raising of fists to the sky and proclaiming that it shouldn’t rain on birthdays, we moved the party to Cheesecake Factory.

There was a 60minute wait (keep in mind that we last ate at 8am) so we found our way to the bar.  I got a passionfruit mojito because it was made with Cruzan rum.

And then I was drunk.  The combo of not sleeping, not eating, busting my butt all day, and then booze was just too much for me, I could barely keep my eyes open at the table!

We finally got seated and Adam and I practically cheered when the bread basket was brought to the table.

He also shared one of his avocado eggrolls with me.

Dinner –

I ordered the buffalo chicken sandwich,

with a green salad on the side.

At that point I was too tired to be very hungry, so I ate all of my salad but only 1/3 of my sandwich.  But what’s a birthday without (cheese)cake?

We got the caramel pecan turtle cheesecake to split.

It was tasty but too much, I took 3 bites and wrapped the rest up for Adam.  Bed never felt so good!

This morning I took a walk in search of breakfast.  The co-op is only .9miles from my new apartment, this could be dangerous!  Sadly the co-op wasn’t exactly bursting with fruit that didn’t require a utensil so I headed to Starbucks.  It might be baby food, but it’s still fruit!

I also got an egg white, spinach, and feta wrap.

Again today we were too busy for lunch, but I did grab some chocolate chip cookies (baked fresh for the husband prior to the move).

The only real snafu in the move so far is that when I turned on my oven to make dinner this evening the fire alarms went off.  Fun fact: the alarms in our apartment are electronic so taking out the battery doesn’t shut them up 😦 We turned it on twice and both times there was no smoke but still deafening noise.  We called to have it taken care of tomorrow and I plopped my “oven roasted” asparagus into a pan to cook on the stove.

I also ate the rest of my buffalo chicken sandwich (with blue cheese dressing).

Not a bad dinner at all.

We don’t have internet set up yet so the husband dropped me off at the Spot so I could blog.  We should be getting it hooked up on Tuesday but I’ll be checking in sporadically until then.  Be on the look out tomorrow for pictures of the new apartment and a giveaway!

What’s the worst moving snafu you’ve encountered?  Last year our BUDGET (hate them) truck leaked and ruined our matress, but other than that we’ve been pretty lucky.

Happy Birthday To Me!

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*This post was prewritten and scheduled last night; today is my big 2-5 but more importantly it’s also moving day, so there is no way I have time to be on the computer!

Quarter of a century is a big birthday, so waking up at 6am to pick up a moving truck and then spending the day stuffing it full doesn’t seem all that celebratory.  I have had birthday week though so it’s hard to complain.  Plus, I’m a big fan of the fresh start, so starting a new year and moving to a new place all on the same day pretty much rocks my socks 😀

Here are some of my goals for the next year –

  1. Lose 15lbs.  It’s not a race though, more of a revamping of our lifestyle, it did take me a year to gain the weight, it’s not coming off over the weekend.
  2. Actually train for, and run another half marathon.
  3. Slowly move our bedtimes and alarm set times so that I am going to bed and waking up on a more adult schedule.
  4. Update the blog and move to self-hosting.
  5. Read 25 books.
  6. Be able to do 25 push-ups.
  7. Work my butt off and do a job I’m proud of in my first year back at school.

What is your birthday cake request?  I usually go for key lime pie.

Pros and Cons

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Today was the day of my final exam.  My big, important, time-sensitive final exam.  First my computer went all wonky and I had to run a complete security check.  Next our internet inexplicably required me to use our password, and thus spend an hour digging through all of our packed boxes.  Finally, after 10minutes of blissful functionality, POOF, the internet wasn’t working.

Wah, wah, wah!

Those are my “wtf?!” faces.  And yes, I did dress like a watermelon to cheer myself up.

It wasn’t all bad though.  I walked the .62miles to The Spot, bought a diet cola to gain access to their wifi, and then rocked my final.  I’m pretty sure I aced it!  I also got to get a Mike’s Bagel Sandwich for breakfast.

Gooey gorgeous.

And I’m going to get something decadent from Starbucks for my .62mile walk home (birthday week!).  Now that I’m done with school the rest of the day involves baking cookies and doing lots and lots of packing.  I’m hoping the husband will work his boy magic on the internet when he gets home but otherwise I’m not sure when I’ll post next.

I’ve gotten a few questions about the move – which is just across town – so I figured I’ll leave you with the pros and cons of our spot-to-be.  You’ll notice one list is much shorter 😀

cons –

  • the whole apartment, while still a 2bedroom, is a bit smaller than our current place
  • the kitchen is tiny; like laughably tiny – we had to purchase shelving just to have a place to put our plates

pros –

  • the apartment managers don’t seem like evil, irresponsible morons who will let dirty dish water leak through our ceiling for two days in a row (ahem, Clover Management)
  • we live one block away from Elmwood Ave, the “cool” spot in Buffalo with all the bars and restaurants
  • it’s an 8minute walk from our front door to my campus, I’ll never have to drive again
  • the walls are a calming blue green color
  • there is exposed brick in the kitchen and living room = love!
  • we have a fireplace and a mantel
  • it’s a fresh start!

Where do you live?  An apartment, a condo, a house, a houseboat, your parents’ basement?

Greens, Beans, and Time Machines

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I am officially caught up with school and ready to take my final exam tomorrow 🙂 I’ve definitely disliked being blog-neglectful, I can’t wait to get back into a schedule after the move is over.  For now, even though I love you it’s got to be another quickie (TWSS!).

 Breakfast/lunch were sort of spread out in three courses throughout the morning and afternoon.  I managed to get enough to eat, but consume in shifts that allowed me to study.  #1 A big bowl of fresh watermelon chunks.

#2 A serving of Barbara’s Shredded Oats topped with Silk Almond Milk and blueberries.

By the by, I hear a lot of people talking about binging on cereal and if you are one of those folks I highly recommend this stuff.  It is not very tasty dry from the box but fantasmic with some Silk Almond Milk.

#3 A long overdue green monster; 1frozen banana, 1cup frozen spinach, 1cup calcium + vitamin d oj.

When Adam got home this evening we played hookey from moving and instead took a long walk.  Our long walk was supposed to be an hour or so, to the ice cream store and back.  Instead we fell into a pointless fight and spent hours huffing and crying (who me?  I’m not stressed about moving!).  Don’t pointless fights just feel like you accidentally fell into some sort of time machine?  It’s like you can’t even believe how late it is when it’s over.  We did make it to the ice cream store eventually, but they were closed.  So instead we split a slice of melty pizza to hold us over for late dinner.

The husband had chicken to use up and I made myself a Mexican bowl of sorts.

Into the skillet went 2tsp evoo, chopped shallot, a small chopped potato, half of a chopped green pepper, black beans, 1egg and 2egg whites, 2T shredded cheddar, salt and tons of paprika.

I also had some green bean fries on the side.

It is late late late, Futurama–> bed –> goodnight!

Do you ever have pointless fights with your SO or do you bottle up your emotions and save them for times that actually count?

P.S. I also enjoyed a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Lara Bar, yum!

Ugh, Ugh, Ugh

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Today probably could have been better if it had just NOT happened.  Sometimes computers are just so frustrating!!!  The good news is that I got a 100% on my paper, score!

I’m not sure what posting will be like the next week, between final exams; moving; and our new apartment not having internet yet it’s looking a little dicey.  I’ll try to stop by though, after all, it is my birthday week 😉