I'm ba-ack!!!!!....in Utah

I am embarrassed at how long it's been! This past week and a half has been a whirl wind! We drove across the country-we moved across the country in fact and we are now in Utah. Yes, Utah. I'm sooo happy to be near family and friends again but I have to admit I am extremely and totally stressed at being currently unemployed, not having a home, etc. Anyways, I'm just ready to get established here and get back into the swing of normal life.




Breakfast at my parents. Real fancy. I felt like a little kid again sitting in my parents living room in my pajamas eating sugar cereal. It was a good way to wake up.



Lunch was at Sweet Tomatoes. It's this healthy buffet. It's really delicious and I've missed it! I started out with a humongous salad, with a little bit of everything on it.



This cream of chicken soup was YUMMY! Gotta eat it with cornbread.



I splurged on an afternoon dessert. You know, considering it's 4th of July weekend and all that;)



Dinner I cooked up some salmon for my brother and hubbie. I haven't had salmon in awhile and I forget how much I like it. So healthy and so tasty.



Tonight we went to a Salt Lake Real Soccer game. It was a good time. They had David Osmond sing after the game and fireworks to follow.



We ended the night with Red Mango. It felt like I was back in NYC but better because we were there with our best friends:)

Work-out:
-I've got to get credit for my run last night. We ran up a mountain. Seriously just ran up a super steep mountain by my parents house. It was crazy hard and the altitude kicked my butt! Tomorrow my bro, Gabe, and I are running a 10K. I'm nervous, wish me luck!

I've missed you all!!! My goal is to get back to the daily update. Thanks for sticking with me! HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Last weekend living the city life.

Our last weekend in NYC is officially over:( I am trying to just look forward to what we have planned in the future rather then get depressed about leaving. Focusing on the past just makes it harder then it needs to be. We've had a truly amazing time in New York. I am so grateful for the opportunity to experience this city. I have grown up a great deal and I feel like I am leaving a more confident woman. We didn't do anything paramount to celebrate our last weekend, we simply walked around the city and visited The Highline, which is a new park in nyc that used to be train tracks. It's a really cool addition to the city. If you are visiting or live here, you need to check it out!


Me at the Highline on a nasty rainy day:P


Gabe protesting me taking a pic of him. Too bad.


Easy breakfast of toast this morning.


After we cleaned out the fridge we made a smoothie of frozen strawberries and pineapple. Delicious!


Lunch was a Smart Ones ravioli. I am definitely buying Smart Ones from now on. They are cheaper and seem to be more filling then Lean Cuisines.


We walked around the Cobble Hill area in Brooklyn for awhile again today and ate dinner at a no fuss Bar and Grill. My veggie burger and fries was just what I was craving!


My sweet tooth was on fire tonight! I started off trying to satisfy the bugger with some Rocky Road ice cream. But that wasn't enough....


So I moved on to strawberries and chocolate. My sweet tooth kept barking at me even after these two treats,


so I just had to pick up some kettle corn. That did the trick:)

Work-out:
-Deep cleaning the apartment! Scrubbed the oven, refrigerator, stove top, inside all our cupboards and packed a few more boxes. I was curious as to how many calories you actually burn cleaning and this is what I found at Eddie on Everything. Given this info. I burned over 600 calories! Hey-oh! That is fantastic!

Hope you all had glorious weekends and are ready to take on another busy week:)

Friday is my favoritist day!!

So today is our last Friday living in NYC. It still doesn't feel very real that we are going to be leaving next week. This is such a bitter sweet experience. It is sooo hard saying goodbye to my students and to this incredibly lively city but it is comforting to go back to a familiar place where our loving family is. In the end this move is what's best for our marriage, and that is what is most important to me...Thank you for all the motivational ideas, Ellie, Katie, and Isha. It is your ideas that got me to work-out today. Thank you!


Quick and nutritious breakfast-Kashi Honey Puffs cereal.


Since it's my last Friday I thought I would treat myself by going out to lunch-Quiznos. Sooo yummy! I had a turkey, ranch, and swiss sandwich.


I wanted baked bbq chips-I actually like the taste better then traditional potato chips but this was all they had at Quizno's.


We wanted to spend our last Friday night walking around our favorite area of Brooklyn-Cobble Hill. We tried this new BBQ Restaurant that just opened up 2 weeks ago. I again forgot to pay attention to the name-I will try to remember to walk past it this next week because this place is one to remember. These pulled chicken sandwiches were to die for! Holy moly they were delicious. There was coleslaw on the sandwich-which I was a little bit skeptical of b/c coleslaw isn't always the best. But this was by far the best chicken sandwich I've ever eaten!


My sweet tooth was craving some chocolate ice cream tonight. Too bad, Tasti-Delight was neither tasty or delightful. How can an ice cream place screw up ice cream?? Maybe because it's low calorie and low fat or maybe it's because I am now accustomed to the taste of Pinkberry or Red Mango. Either way I don't recommend Tasti-Delight.


We ate dinner pretty early tonight so I got some late night munchies. Cinnamon toast did just the trick! It made up for my not so yummy chocolate cone.

Work-out:
-The motivational ideas worked! I got out there and ran tonight with Gabe. Thank you ladies! I will continue to utilize your ideas to inspire me. I <3 you girls!

Hope everyone has fun plans for the weekend! Enjoy yourselves!

Lacking motivation....

So friends, I am going through a severe streak of being unmotivated. Maybe it's a result of all the stress we are undergoing with the move next week but either way I am having a hard time exercising. I know I will feel better if I just work-out so why isn't that enough to get my butt moving?? Can you please offer me some suggestions about getting motivated when you are just feeling too stressed?? I need some help!


Da, da, da, dahhh....strawberries, granola and fage!


I am loving these Smart Ones microwave meals. They are seriously tasty! I'm liking them quite a bit more then Lean Cuisines.


Perfect afternoon snack:)


I was seriously craving some diner food tonight but we are really trying not to eat out in order to save $$. Eating out can really drain the bank! So we brought the diner home. Gabe cooked me up a fierce grilled cheese.


We even got some steak fries. Not quite the same as diner fries but they did the trick.

So what gets you guys motivated to exercise?? I am seriously struggling!

Schools out for summer!

I didn't have too shabby of a Monday. I hope the same went for all of you! It was our last day of school! Hey-oh!! "Schools out for summa! Schools out foreva!"-My tribute to Dazed and Confused...anywho, graduation isn't till next week because the kids have regents for the next week and a half. NYC schools don't get out till sooo late. They hardly have any summer break! Oh well, they sure as hell have a lot of days off during the school year. I played whiffle ball for like 2 hours and pretty much tore it up. I nearly lost my voice I was screaming so loud, trying to get everyone into it. I have this giddy 13 year old girl immediately under the surface of my skin that comes out whenever anything is whatsoever exciting. Kind of ridiculous. I just about lost my voice playing whiffle ball.


Kashi Honey Puffs. Love this stuff. Kashi should give me a shout out and send me some free goodies I advertise for them so much.


Lunch was a new type of microwave meal I've never tried before, Smart Ones. This was way more filling and cheaper then Lean Cuisine. I am very pleased with this purchase.


School lunch provided pizza and watermelon. I fended off the pizza till about 3:30 and I finally gave into a slice. The watermelon was such a bonus.


Gabe is so sweet. He had a great American meal waiting for me when I got home. If you haven't tried it yet, you have to try rotisserie chicken at the grocery store. Such a steal. They cost about 5 bucks and they provide at least 5 servings of delicious meat. I 'm super fussy about the meat I eat too, and I love this stuff.


Dessert was some Rocky Road ice cream. It's 140 calories per serving, not too bad. Considering I eat at least 2 servings at once.

Work-out:
-Does packing count?? Oh yeah, I played whiffle ball for 2 hours. Didn't even feel like a work-out it was so f-ing fun! Tomorrow I'm running. Seriously.

Life is chaos!...

Please forgive my slacker ways lately. I have been a bit distracted with the move and getting everything wrapped up in nyc. I wish I could just be more calm about it all, but I am so high anxiety about having everything in life "in order". Whatever that means! I am not thrilled about starting the job search in UT. Not one bit. But I am very happy to be close to my family again. I miss them soooo much! Anyhow, we've got a lot going on right now and I am really trying to stay healthy and maintain my exercise schedule. I have to be vigilant about running this next 2 weeks before we move-only 3 more weeks till our 10K! Hold me to it!


Breakfast of champions-granola, strawberries, and fage! I'm getting nervous for the end of strawberry season!

We tried this fabulous Middle Eastern restaurant right here in Brooklyn. I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't pay attention to the name but I am sure we will make it there again before we leave new york. I had falafel and salad. This meal only cost $7. What a steal, huh?!

You can't eat Middle Eastern food without having a little baklava. Yummy!

We are trying to clean out our freezer so we just cooked up a frozen lasagna for dinner. Nothing special.

I promised the winners of a contest I did in my College and Career class home-baked goods. The 2 girls that won wanted chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cupcakes. No complaints here! Some of the chocolate cupcake batter may have fallen into my mouth. Just maybe;) Gabe always makes fun of me because I get batter ALL OVER my face whenever I eat it. Just like a little kid. I didn't let him photograph it, just a little bit too embarrassing:)

I'm excited to frost these bad boys and put some sort of sprinkles on them!
I'll include that pic tomorrow.

I hope you all have absolutely fantastic weekends!

p.s. I lost another 2 pounds! Blogging is really paying off!

15 Best Foods For Runners

I'm going to try something new every week, reviewing fitness and health articles. I've recently started training for a 10K for the 4th of July and as I've been building my mileage I have been wondering if I am replenishing my body correctly. With that, today's article comes from Runner's World, The Best Food For Runners. One thing they mention, I totally agree with, "Most supermarkets stock more than 30,000 items, yet every time we race up and down the aisles of the grocery store, we toss into our carts the same 10 to 15 foods." Is this not totally true? Which isn't bad if you are getting the right items, but I think in my case I could use some diversifying of the diet. Here are the 15 Foods that they listed as must haves for runners: almonds, eggs, sweet potatoes, whole grain cereal with protein, oranges, canned black beans, mixed salad greens, salmon, whole grain bread, frozen stir-fry vegetables, whole grain pasta, chicken, frozen mixed berries, dark chocolate, low fat yogurt. Almonds: Almonds offer good source of Vitamin E, that most people supposedly do not get enough of. Eggs: Egg protein is the most complete food protein short of human breast milk! Wow, I certainly didn't know that. Sweet potatoes: Just a single 100-calorie sweet potato has over 250% of daily value of Vitamin A. They are also a good source of vitamin C. Whole grain cereal with protein: Look for cereals that offer at least 5 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein. Great balance of carbs and proteins for work-outs. Oranges: Oranges supply over 100 percent of the daily value for the antioxidant vitamin C, and a recent study from the University of North Carolina Greensboro showed that taking vitamin C supplements for two weeks prior to challenging arm exercises helped alleviate muscle soreness. Canned black beans: One cup of these provides 30 percent of the daily value for protein, almost 60 percent of the daily value for fiber, and 60 percent of the daily value for folate, a B vitamin that plays a key role in heart health and circulation. Mixed Salad Greens: Each variety offers a unique blend of phytonutrients that research suggests may fend off age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer's, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Salmon: Besides being an excellent source of high-quality protein (you get about 30 grams in a four-ounce serving), salmon is one of the best food sources of omega 3-fats. Whole grain bread: Runners need at least three to six one-ounce servings of whole grains per day, and eating 100 percent whole-grain bread (as opposed to just whole-grain bread, which may contain some refined grains and flours) is an easy way to meet this requirement since one slice equals one serving. Frozen stir-fry vegetables: Most ready-to-use stir-fry veggie combos offer a potent mix of antioxidants by including red and yellow peppers, onions, bok choy, and soy beans. And frozen vegetable mixes save lots of prepping time but still provide the same nutrition as their fresh counterparts. Whole grain pasta: Pasta has long been a runner's best friend because it contains easily digestible carbs that help you restock spent glycogen (energy) stores. Whole-grain versions are a must over refined pastas because they contain more fiber to fill you up, additional B vitamins that are crucial to energy metabolism. Chicken: Just one four-ounce serving of chicken can supply about half a runner's daily protein needs. Frozen mixed berries: The colorful compounds that make blueberries blue, blackberries deep purple, and raspberries a rich shade of red are called anthocyanins--a powerful group of antioxidants that may help stave off Alzheimer's disease and some cancers. Anthocyanins may also assist with post run recovery and muscle repair. Dark chocolate: Dark chocolate contains potent antioxidants called flavonols that can boost heart health. Wa-hoo! Low fat yogurt: Besides being a good source of protein and calcium (one cup provides 13 grams of protein and 40 percent of the daily value for calcium), low-fat yogurt with live cultures provides the healthy bacteria your digestive tract needs to function optimally.

I hope you enjoy this Review!!

Woke up to a simple piece of toast.
There's something about a small glass of orange juice in the morning that just feels right.
Just got some new cereal Kashi Honey Puffs.
After an afternoon nap I woke up to some crackers and Pellegrino.
Dinner was easy, breezy, beautiful; it was a Green Giant frozen meal. You stick in the skillet and it's done in about ten minutes. Do you see all those veggies? Can't go wrong with the Green Giant!
Dessert: my very own speciality;)

Work-out:
-Ran 4 miles with Gabe
I felt so strong today. It was exhilarating. Next run we are going to tack on another mile!

I hope my review was helpful. Let me know what you think. I'm afraid it was too long. Just trying to mix it up a bit!

When is summer break???

Is it just me or does it feel like it should be Thursday today? Every day lately has felt like at least the equivalent of 4 regular days all packed in one. I need a vacation! Please tell me, do you ever get over that feeling that you deserve the summer off??? I'm nervous that I will never overcome that feeling of, "it's summer so now work should be over!" Please, please tell me that it gets easier with time!!??

Off to a much better start today! Such a power house of a smoothie-banana, raspberries, mango, and a few peaches with some ice and almond milk. Absolute heaven. Gotta try it.
Doesn't this just look amazingly delicious??....It was:)
Left over spaghetti for lunch. I think I'm one of few out in the world that doesn't like my leftovers reheated. In my opinion reheating food just changes it and messes it all up. Much rather have it cold!
Dinner at what other then Chipotles!! Today I subtracted the medium salsa, it's been a bit too spicy for me lately. Tonight's mix was fab like always.
Rainbow Sherbet for dessert. This just makes me feel like a kid. It brings back good memories:)


Thought I'd add some more pictures of the casa for you all. Sorry if these pictures are way random. I just figure I share a lot of my life with my readers, might as well share my home! Check out the pictures of my puppy Reggie on our wall. Ridiculous, huh? We blew a picture of our dog up and we have it framed in our dining room. Out of control!