Crisis Averted

Camera to Computer adapter FOUND!

I almost lost it. Within the black hole that is our couch.

_TUESDAY_

Mornings before early-ish work= me not waking up until I have to. I truly hate being late and rushed, so I give myself a lot of time to prep for the day. But I'm not going to be waking up at the crack of dawn to have an hour-long sweat session. Ain't going to happen.


Voila- 15 minute strength/resistance session brought to you by my beloved BOSU ball, ball, and medium-resistance band. If I could, I would purchase so many more exercise goodies. But until I strike millions, I'm sticking with these babies. And a gym membership.

THRILLED the boys went to Costco the day before to obtain fresh vegetables that I have been craving for months. Well, not really. But it sure as hell seemed like it!


Lunch

• Celery stalks (I ended up having two)
• 1/2 roma tomato
• 1/4 avocado
• Yellow + red bell pepper
• CARROTS thicker than a thumb!
• Cucumber quarter slices
  
• Salt for the avo + freshly ground pepper
• Pita bread
  

Oh, and the boys got BLUEBERRIES!!!!! Now, you don't know me well right now, but if you want to know one thing, I am insane for fruit. But most of all, for berries. I cannot get enough. Naturally I put a handful of them into my morning cereal. Plus some pom seeds for added color + antioxidants.


It was gorgeous outside- I can see Spring trying to peak around the corner already. But I know it's going to rain still (AHEM today--err---Friday). The changes in weather throughout the year and their often extreme differences make life all the more entertaining. Even the subtle altering of wind speed can put a smile on my face. I know. Weird.

Bored before my shift at work. Also thought I'd introduce you all to my funky facial expressions. I have often been told how expressive my face, and truly, all of me is.


I like to show Vince these kinds of pictures every once in a while to remind him of the strange creature he is dating.

Freaky event of the morning was: water. I had a feeling I should fill my Sigg bottle this morning and not take up the water at work. Well, came in for work- fine out that the thing is BUSTED.

Eerie, I know

DINNER

I was lazy. Came home, was exhausted, and felt like having a meal with all one's dietary and nutritional needs wrapped in a blanket. That's right. Burrito fest.

Chaleteco's is right across from where we live, so we just take a brisk walk across traffic and grab some tasties. I prefer veggie burritos. And this one is one of the best I have ever had.

SO SO SO FRESH!! And a wonderful spicy cilantro green salsa that I wish I knew how to make. I guess I can wing it one day. Maybe.

On to _WEDNESDAY_

Sigh.. today was an emotionally-packed day. Testy customers and one of my favorite co-workers was fired (after he had worked there for 11 years). The whole crew felt like there was a heavy, emotional cloud over the whole day.Needless to say, when my lunch break came around, I took once glance at my pre-prepared salad, and knew that I needed something else.

Enter in: La Baguette!

Hello, camera string!

It's an itty bitty bit evil that this place is right by my work. I have self-control most of the time, but not today. Plus I have a sandwich punch card thing so I'll eventually get a free sammie. That's OK by me.

They didn't have my usual order, so I went with the Tuscan:

• Sun-dried tomato
• Chicken
• Mozzarella
• Some sort of vinaigrette
  
• uh...I don't know what kind of roll. I just ate it.
  

It was pretty tasty but I feel like the one I usually order, the Mediterranean, has a healthier feel to it. Maybe that's because...wait...I'll describe that beauty when I end up ordering one in the future. On the edge of your seat? Yeah.. thought so

Told the boy to whip out a bottle of wine. I needed it. And while he did that, I went to Whole Foods to get a few things. Also an early birthday present for me!

Can't wait to use my new Sigg bottle! Beautious..

Food stuffs:

• My heart cereal
• Organic onions
• Organic cheapo strawberries
• Cottage Cheese.. which I have been craving as of late

Ok... so I'm not a big meal/snack replacement fan. Mostly it's because of varieties I have had in the past that didn't sit well with me. But I want to give them another try because they are so helpful when you're in a rush or really need that bit of densely-packed burst of protein in your mouth. And I've heard so many good things about Luna Bars..

3 for $3 Annie's mac and cheese!

DINNER

• Robert Mondavi wine (Vince's Uncle works there so he gave us a couple of cases- it's a good wine if you let it breathe for about 15-20 minutes. Otherwise it's a bit sharp and a slap in the face
• Annie's White Cheddar Mac N Cheese + TJ's Aged sharp white cheddar + Pepper
• My salad that was meant for consumption about... 5 hours prior

I recommend adding some cheddar to the Mac and Cheese to give it a richer taste without adding butter.


Can anyone see what we are watching in the background? Yet another beloved nerd alert :)

_THURSDAY_

**Heavy workout in the morning with the roomie. From what I can remember (since I do sets of reps that switch between muscle groups often):

• 20 mins interval elliptical
• Side lunges + back and forth lunges
  
• 3 types of squats
• + squat with the back leg up on bench
  
• Step-ups
• Lat Pull downs
• What I fondly call the "breast lifter" machine ;P
• Tricep dips
• Jumping Jacks

Got back home to receive a FREE goodie! ...love those. Mariani Pitted Dried Plums. I'll be sure to tell you my take on that when I feel like eating it.


Sipped back a smoothie and an hour later tried out one of those new Luna Bars- Chocolate Raspberry. Verdict: Not too shabby! Reminded me of a wafer with the crispies, but my roommate and I both felt that there was a bit too much raspberry flavor. He said he could do without it, but I think it could have been toned down a bit and that's it.

Then I was aching for my go-to snack besides yogurt:

• TJ's Organic PB (UNsalted and CRUNCHY)
• Oregon Growers + Shippers Vanilla Pear Butter
• Whole wheat bread end

1) I found that Oregon jam company while in college. I went to Southern Oregon University, a small liberal arts college, and was infatuated with a place called The Market of Choice. It's a bit like Whole Foods but smaller + more local (obviously). Whole Foods doesn't carry my favorite flavor right now, so I decided to pick up another fav. It's subtle in flavor but delicious. Go get some! Also: pumpkin butter= win.

2) I weened myself off of PBs like Skippy while in college and ended up giving up the salt as well. I don't eat a huge ton of PB (until lately... mmm), so this jar does me just fine.


It was an amazing day outside, warm yet not too hot with a cool breeze. So while Vince was taking a nap, our roommie- Pete- and I went to do a few errands and ended up taking a leisurely walk around downtown Mountain View. Sans camera... the shame, I know. I found a used book store though, which excites me to no end. Used books have so much character to them and a history to boot.

We walked by a lot of restaurants and got an aching for.. CHINESE FOOD! Haha yeah, I know. I've ordered a lot of food in these few beginning posts, but they pretty much have all been cravings I've had for a good chunk of time. I must have it!

Chef Chu's

• Curried Prawns
• Brown Rice
• Chicken Chow Mein
• Broccoli Beef (a must have)
• Baby Bok Choi + shitake mushies in Oyster sauce (all miiiine.. of course I shared)
• Pot Stickers (at the boy's request...er...plead)
  

FREE RE-USABLE BAG! I love free swag, and this made my heart sing.



Seriously... the freshest, less greasy-est (poor word-meshing alert) Chinese place I have ever gone too. And good portion sizes as well! The (yellow) curried prawns were amazing with the bell pepper/onion, and the mushies were vegetable dish was. SO GLAD the boys assuaged my request for brown rice. They are absorbing my good food sense.


I have these babies for left-overs + the most of the brown rice. YUM-O!

Lerve!!
TSS

Celebrate the Femes

Happy International Women's Day!

Gettin' ready to go to work at 11:30

I had the usual cereal breakfast with the lovely pomegranate seeds...mm... Packed my SNACK and LUNCH

Snack for my 15 minute break

• Wee Apple
• Homemade trail-mix- includes walnuts, almonds, raisins, dried mango and pineapple shreds, peanuts, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, organic raw cacao bits, dried cranberries, sliced prunes/apricots, pumpkin seeds.. basically everything nutty and dried that's ridiculously tasty.
• My Sigg water bottle. Think of how much $$ it saves me in water bottles + and it's good for the environment. Oh snap.

Lunch for my 1/2 hour break

• Veggie salad with cucumber, red + yellow bell pepper, half a roma tomato, a gorgeously ripe avocado and salt and freshly ground pepper.
  
• Pita bread that I'll toast later
• Supplements + 2 brazil nuts
  

I don't really use salad dressings for my salads. And I avoid lettuce for the most part- just feels like filler to me and doesn't taste as good as all the other stuff I could put in my salad. Plus the avocado feels like a dressing. Also- pepper is SO much better when it's freshly ground. Holy geez.

SIDENOTE: Everyone at works think I'm a vegetarian. But I am perfectly content munching on my goodness while they consume Micky D's. The fries are tempting though..


Look at the tiny blob of tomato left- who leaves such a small portion behind? Oh.. wait... that would be the boyfriend. He does that.

On to earn that dough!

So at work we have these walkie talkies. They are huge bricks attacked to your hip. Complete with ear piece! Damn thing competes with my earrings ALL the time. But lookit how cute those earrings are!

And I wear clunky, cozy man-boots. Not really the high-class retail staple, but ballet flats= highly uncomfortable and my collection of super sexy high-heeled boots don't really work for 8 hour shifts. Those are for baby shifts.

And I'm going to have something called the SPECIAL CUSTOMER OF THE DAY. Because if you've ever worked in customer service/retail, we have TONS of stories. Most involving stupidity/irritability (on our part or, for the most part, theirs).

Today's installment: Quite guy comes up with a bunch of clothing equaling a tad less than $600 smackers. I can barely hear what the dude is saying to me. He leaves and tells me to put them on hold.
A COUPLE HOURS LATER he comes back with some well-dressed woman with legs for days. Turns out, he works in a store nearby and that's his manager. The manager is going to buy him 600 bucks of clothing for work.

.....

I WANT $600 WORTH OF WORK CLOTHES FOR FREE! ..holy crap me = jealous up the wa-zoo

ALSO: Check out the shindig we have going on for opening store cards


I'm a cashier. And before you go on thinking that we have the unfair advantage of ringing up/talking to every person who buys something, there are 4 or 5 more sellers than cashiers. Done and done. LOSER has to cook a pot-luck for the winners.

I do NOT want to cook for other people. Especially when I can't eat it haha.

Dinah Time

• 2 bundles of Whole Wheat Soba noodles (curtesy of Japanese Market- 99 cents!!!)
• Terryaki Chicken from Costco
• Bag of mixed stir-fry vegetables, also from Costco
• Red, green, + yellow bell pepper
• 1/2 onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• Smidgen of Canola Oil

Sauce for Veggies

• Soy sauce from Trader Joe's!
• Hot chili sauce courtesy said Japanese market
• Fish sauce
• Salt + Pepper
• Chili powder

Uhh... Sideways chicken anyone? haha
Put the chicken in oven on baking sheet + aluminum foil (zero clean up!) for about 15 minutes and put a little of the packet of sauce on top.


Soba cooked for about 5 minutes then drained.

Chopped up garlic/onion- tossed in oil. Threw the frozen veggies in and then about 7 minutes later put in the bell pepper. Let steam and season. Only put a DAB of that fish sauce in for that oriental-ly taste. Probably a tsp of the chile sauce gave it a good kick. I just wing a lot of food that I make- measurements don't really suit me unless it's a new + picky recipe or baking... until I make it and I usually put in a few changes for taste + added healthiness.


VERDICT: Soba + veggies were damn tasty. The chicken... not so much. We wanted to try having a substitute for Mandarin Orange Chicken from TJ's that's pricey for a little bag. But eh.. it's easier just to thaw out a chicken breast and marinate it. Also will taste a bitch load better ... Seriously.


Next up: No Pudge Fudge Brownies! (Yes, that's my fabulous red microwave in the back). I have always wanted to try this stuff- and it sure as heck passed my taste test. And the boys'. I call that a win-win.


Added in 2/3 c Trader Joe's Fat-Free Vanilla Greek Yogurt. AMAZING stuff.


Mixed in with pink spatula for Nation Women's Day- courtesy of Vince's mum. This sucker required a lot of elbow grease! So frackin' THICK I needed some help spreading it into the 8 by 8 pan.


Nibbled on some dried Pinneapple while the brownies were cooking.

Unsweetened VS Sugared-To-All-Hell

Clearly unsweetened wins. Taste, look, and nutrition-wise. But I am pretty biased. I don't really get sweetened dry fruit... it's FRUIT. That denotes it has sugar in it as-is. Why ruin it with refined sugar? What's your guys' take on dried fruit? Which do you prefer?

SO to explain why I got the sweetened- In a moment of weakness and dire craving, I purchased the sugared crap version of the dried pineapple when I couldn't find the other stuff.

But 1 month later I found GOLD!!!! Thank you TJ's! So now I'm stuck with the hunks of raped so-called pineapple. Slowly eating it.. I'm man-ing up lol.

Oh and it hailed like a mo-fo at around 4 while I was working at the store. I work at an outdoor mall so we deal with lovely weather all the time. (I wouldn't even know where to START if it snowed here). But it sounded like APPLES were being thrown from the sky onto the roof.

End of story: it was awesome. Renee loves her rain!


Lerve!

TSS

V & R Garden on a Blustery Day

Phew!
We are lacking energy up the hoo-ha.

Sidenote: What the frack happened to the time it said I posted for yesterday? It says I posted at 2- something. Oh well.

Soooo it all started bright and early. Well, early for us lol
Woke up at 8:30 to get all showered up and ate my go-to breakfast for most mornings: high-fiber cereal with fruit and soymilk. Since I am relishing the last of the pomegranate season, I have been using their seeds to decorate my cereal with antioxidants!


mmmm.... LOVE LOVE LOOOVE my Nature's Path Organic Flax Plus Cereal.


Enter blurry bite of deliciousness.



Also my man woke up and decided to shave off his goatee. Now he's all cute and baby-faced ahaha. If only he would let me take a photo.
But check out my cool pants. Clearly a violation of fashion, but I could care less when I'm going to be immersed in dirt and bugs all day. Full of the worn-and torn burnished look...the fake white paint drops truly complete this pair, no?



Also mysterious tie-dye-esk ends. And this from the girl who works in retail. Hey.. them was for cheap moneys. Cleary


STOKED to work in the garden! Lookit how loose those pants are. Sheeesh. Belt time. Also decked out in SJ Sharks Hockey shirt



Arrived at 10 to do some dirty work. While Vince tussled with the lawn mower, I attacked the weeds.


...They didn't have a chance. Eat my... shovel?

Enter in Super neato gardening knee pads! Tacky but awesome. I felt like if I bend down that the back of my knees hurt because of the two straps holding the pads on. A little uncomfy but I got used to it.


STORMY!!


Australian shepherd sweet heart that I was able to snap a picture of. She's the eldest and best behaved out of all. More pictures of the pups when the boy and I spend two weeks next month dog-sitting. Looking forward to a little vacation just the two of us. It helps that work is closer too.

Took a break and witnessed the native San Franciscan struggle with the awkwardness that is the lawnmower. He was drenched with sweat after three hours in three layers of clothing. Strip baby STRIP!


Lookit him go!

Around 1:30 we ate lunch- a mixing of sandwhich fixins, chips, BERRIES... and choco pretzels. The DEVIL that they be. No pictures but it was delish, even though there was a lack of whole grains at the table and I would have been happier with way more veggies.

It was a bit windy and there was a chill in the air! Much better than if it was sun shining with buckets of sweat and odd burn marks a-plenty. Last part of gardening went by fast and this is what I conquered:


Woo!
The rest of the day consisted of re-heating leftovers and gobbling up a couple of big chunks of bell pepper. Also water. You'll see that I really don't drink too much else- alcohol doesn't do much for me anymore and juice is good for smoothies but.. I'd rather have the fruit itself with all that happy fiber.

Also: The boy's car was completely splattered with cherry blossom droppings. I found it hilarious.


eerrg. SUPER CRAVING for carrots and there are none for my salad tomorrow at work :(

Let's hope my sanity will be saved by the crazies not coming into the store tomorrow.. cross those fingers!
Oh.. and watching Serenity before bed is fantastic!

Ants and dirt,
TSS