Small Joys

Its the little things in life that bring me joy.  One of those things I thought I lost was Starbucks coffee.  When you're on a tight budget, Starbucks is one of the first things to go. 

I found out last week that the cafe across the street sells pour-yourself Starbucks coffee, complete with flavored syrups!  I splurged a $1.69 and got one. YUM.  (PS The coffee they make here at work is like black water - weak!)  Then a co-worker gave me a coupon for a free coffee YAY!  So the next day I went back for FREE yummy coffee and when I checked out the cashier handed me ANOTHER coupon.

WHAT?

So now, every morning I go and get free starbucks: half-caff, 3-pumps hazelnut, 2 creams, 2 sugars coffee. And the cashier hands me a coupon for the next day.

Yay!

And My Day Was Going So Well...

It goes without mentioning that it's Friday - so 100 bonus points for that.

Second, I went to bed before 10 last night so i could wake up a few minutes early to eat breakfast. I actually did get up early and got ready quickly enough to make myself a YUMMY Egg & Cheddar grilled sammie for breakfast. and I still got to work on time!

Third, we got our first Virtual Branch customer! As most of you know, I am the Virtual Branch Office Manager at my bank, among other things. And since going live on August 8th, every application has failed (rightly so, but still). Then, as I was checking my reports this morning, I didn't see my typical 'denied'. It says "In Progress" Wha-what?! YESSS!!! So what if it's our CFO's father. He's 4 hours away, and if a 94 year old man can open an account online - anyone can do it!

Also, I've got awesome leftovers from barry's yummy porkchop dinner last night. As soon as I'm done w/ this post i'm gonna chow down.

Then why, oh why, after having such a great morning, must I get this:

This makes me so sad. Now I can only enjoy people of walmart at home. *sigh*

The Joys of Makeup

I've never really been one of those girly girls. I am horrible at shoe shopping and only wear makeup when I feel like it. BUT, my foundation had been on empty for over a month and I felt it was time to 'take the plunge' and go makeup shopping.

Who would have thought that Sephora could bring me so much joy! Nichole and I spent probably an hour in the store. I got my foundation fairly quickly, but not before having a pretty lady test them to be SURE i got the right shade, and then give me a little foundation make-over. Then I realized that my mascara was getting dry, so it was off to the mascara section. I love that you can try everything before you buy it. Black or Brown? I went with the Sephora brand Brown plumping mascara.

Then, I decided to splurge and get a lip gloss, too. Oh, the fun to be had trying on lip gloss! Who knew? I ended up getting the first one I tried on, but not without MAKING SURE by trying at least 5 others. :) I REALLY wanted to get something by Kat Von D (LA Ink) because she had color names like "Stripper" and "Sexer". Plus I think she's just super hot.

So ANYWAY, instead of doing the work that needs to be done before my 3:00 meeting, I'm telling you how pretty I feel right now, just 'cause I'm sporting some shiny, purple-tinted lips. :)

PS This was the first make up i've purchased since before my wedding, so spending 60 bucks every 2 1/2 years isn't so bad... :)

Friday Night

After Thursday and Friday's roller coaster, I decided on Friday night that I needed beer. What I really wanted to do was go smoke hookah, but i couldn't find anyone to go with me, so i came home without plans. Barry was hanging out with the guys, and my roommate came home with nothing to do as well, so I pulled out Tyler's Ultimate Book and went straight to the dessert section. Nothing like baking desserts to unwind after a stressful week. I settled on Chocolate Cracked Earth, so we trekked to Winn Dixie for some ingredients (and beer!). Well, lo and behold! Edy's ice cream was on sale. We get to the check out counter, each with a 6 pack of beer and a 1/2 pint of ice cream in our hands. I know the sweet cashier must have seen the desperation of a woman on a mission to de-stress on my face, because she carded me! WOOT! I thanked her and proudly showed her my ID.

After we got home, we made the cake together while drinking and enjoying conversation and listening to music. (It reminded me of my college days with Angelle and Laurie -awww). It was the perfect solution to a stressful week: beer, baking, conversation, beer, music, then delicious chocolate cake, beer, and ice cream.

The End.

Butternut Squash and Macaroni Goodness

I'm renaming it.

This is what I made for dinner tonight:

Butternut Squash and Macaroni Casserole

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 (15-ounce) can coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped sage
¾ pound dried elbow macaroni
½ cup chopped toasted walnuts
½ cup bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a 9- x 13-inch casserole dish; set aside. Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add squash, coconut milk, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer until squash is tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in sage and simmer 1 minute more. (This part can be made ahead, up to 1 day in advance.)
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add macaroni and cook until tender but still firm, about 8 minutes. Rinse in cold water, drain well and transfer to a large bowl. Transfer squash mixture to bowl with macaroni. Add walnuts, salt and pepper and toss to combine. Transfer to prepared dish and top with bread crumbs. Bake until just golden brown and hot throughout, about 30 minutes.

It needs more salt than you think, but it is delicious! AND it's only 430 calories for a hearty serving (it serves 8). Did you notice it was *gasp!* vegan? Go me and my healthy eating (just ignore the burger stain on my sweater from lunch).

Also, lately I've been on a fruit kick. All my snacks have been fruit related recently(yes, chocolate counts). I'm assuming that this, paired with my new active lifestyle allowed me to take my size 16 pants and put them away. They have gotten to the point where i just look frumpy in them. Last week I had to shop for some new pants. I was getting sick of washing the 3-4 pair I own and thought I'd "splurge" with a $12.74 clearance pair of slacks from Belk. I grabbed a few 14's, knowing that I had to have gotten a little slimmer, but not really noticing it in my current wardrobe. I tried them on and they were too big. Wha-what! Oh yeah! I bought me a size 12!! It felt so good. (Que: "How good was it?") It was soo good, I rewarded myself with a nice top to go with them! WOOT!

Crossing My Legs

~Today I happened to cross my legs.

Now, for you skinny people, you may not comprehend what I'm about to tell you: Large Legged People have a hard time crossing their legs. It's quite annoying, especially in a skirt, when you are attempting to be ladylike but the only thing you can do is cross your ankles. And I don't know where I was in ankle-crossing class, but i just never learned how to do it comfortably. So, to avoid such awkward moments, I stay behind my desk or just wear pants where I can sit with both legs on the floor, allow my thigh fat to spread across the chair and be quasi-comfortable with my knees a shoulder length apart.

Back to today. Today, as I was sitting at my desk, I nonchalantly crossed my legs. I realized shortly there after that the task had been completed without aide. I had accomplished a 'little thing'.

Honestly, since that moment, I've been afraid to do it again in fear it was a fluke.

A Not-So-Little Thing

With the news of Uncle Howie, and Uncle David just a few months ago - both of heart attacks - and with Barry's Dad's heart issues (he had a quintuple bypass 5 years ago), I am soooo greatful to be doing this triathlon with Barry. His family is just crawling with cholesterol and bad hearts. I hope that with this new sport we can stick with it and keep Barry's heart young. I don't want to be a widow before 65.

Training, Day 9

Well, yesterday did not go as planned at all. The plan was to get to the bike shop at 4:15 and be out by 7 (when they close.), then go over to the gym to swim and walk. I ended up getting to the shop at 4:30 and not leaving until after 8. I hadn't eaten anything since 12:00 or so and i was soooo hungry. I had asked Barry to bring me a chicken sandwich or something, but of course he "forgot". We ended up getting home at 8:30 and i decided that instead of going to the gym last nighti was going to eat dinner and use my day off today to do yesterday's workout. He kept saying i was making excuses and that this is how it starts and that we probably just wasted all that money, blah blah blah...

...that brings me to another "little thing":

• proving Barry wrong.

I know this isn't very positive, but damn it, i don't think he believes me when i tell him that I'm in a different mind set. He always talks about how we need to loose weight. Now I'm doing it.

So, that being said, today, Training: Day 10, will include swimming and jogging, and then we're going to go do some climbing, which i haven't done in for frickin' ever.

Take that, Barry.

Little Things - 2

More things I'm excited about:

• Less chafing between my fat thighs! I'm not a fan of walking like an old cowboy when my legs chafe.
• Not being nervous about biking.
• Buying new lingerie.
• passing Lane Bryant without blinking.
• walking into The Body Shop/5-7-9/Charlotte Rousse without having heart palpitations.
• being a better climber
• seeing the smile on Dr. Raspa's face when he sees me in January.

The Little Things

I think it's going to be the little things that will make a difference, once i start seeing changes in my body. I thought I'd list a few that i am looking forward to. Give me a comment, or post your own "little things blog" if you can think of some of your "little things"! Hopefully they'll inspire us, or at least make us giggle. :)

• Getting rid of the 'front roll'. It's the phenomena that occurs when I wear pants and the front rolls down to make room for my fat belly.
• Buying tops that have buttons down the front! Or at least wearing them w/o an undershirt, just so i don't flash everyone to my left with the gaping hold between buttons.
• Not feeling tired all the time.
• Having regular periods (TMI? Too bad, it's my blog.)
• Not shopping in the fat girl section (I'm right on the border - 14s are too small, 16s are too big, but 16s are more comfy, so i wear those.)
• getting second looks from strangers. i used to get them much more frequently than i do now.
• Adding "Triathlete" on my list of accomplishments. That'll be sweet.

As I think of more, I'll post more...