CliffsNotes…

Happy Monday!  Today was crazy, so I didn’t get pictures of everything…here’s the cliffsnotes version:

Woke up.

Much coffee was needed to sustain my energy level today.  Too many cups to take pictures of.

The BEST Americano.  Perfection.  I enjoyed this cup of goodness while people watching people across the street!  This place is located right across from REI.

Speaking of REI, look what I found…

I bought a whole box, just in case…

I also bought Honey Turkey Jerky.

I had a taste while I was re-bagging into snack baggies.  SO good.

I also stumbled upon this…

Yes you read that right, a Buffalo Cranberry Bar.  Weird? Yes.  Tasty?  Not sure, i’ll give you a review after I eat it…

For dinner, sweet potato fries, baked in the oven!

Also, a HUGE pan of roasted veggies.  Brussel sprouts, broccoli, green peppers, onions, cauliflower, artichokes, sweet potato, and celery!

Drizzle with 1/2 C maple syrup and 1 TBS olive oil, bake in 450 degree oven for 30 minutes stirring every 10 minutes, and voila!

Seriously, this dish was huge.  This is the same pan we used to hold the 26 pound turkey for baking!!

Chicken was also involved…

Ew, chicken looks ugly when it’s raw… (insert Steff’s disgusted look here)

Ok, i’m lazy and i’m going to bed now.  We’ll see what happens tomorrow…

Solid Sixteen!

Woke up at 5:45 this morning, to give myself some time to wake up before our 16 miler!  I started off with 2 slices of WW toast with Cinnamon Raisin Swirl PB, banana and honey.  I also had about a 1/2 cup of coffee to get the digestion process moving

I sat on the couch in the dark, watching what little tv there was…mostly news.  Then around 7, I toasted my WW bagel for the drive over to my sister’s place.  I also snacked on a little snickerdoodle cookie…

I packed my water belt for the run, along with a packet of pomegranate flavored Luna Moons.  Not so great for a 30 degree run, since they freeze!

Sports beans are always a solid choice, but they too can get frozen if you run when it’s flippin’ cold outside…

Didn’t end up taking the GU.  Not sure i’ll ever use it, the idea of any GOO is a little weird sounding…

The run went great!  However, it was 30 F-ING degrees outside!  MORE CLOTHING WAS NEEDED…When we first started, it was about 33 degrees outside, so 3/4 length running pants and arm warmers under a long sleeve shirt with gloves seemed fine.  For the first 9 miles.  At the end of our loop around Greenlake we stopped to use the bathroom.  BAD IDEA.  The temperature dropped to about 30 degrees.  How do I know?  I couldn’t feel my nose, neck, lips, armpits, and what skin was bare.  And yes, I can normally feel my armpits

Since we were on the verge of hypothermia (well not really, but you get the idea), we picked up the pace.  Or maybe it was because I was getting dillusional, and thought that the end of every block was where we needed to turn right and head up about 20 flights of stairs…Regardless, look at our pace from miles 11-14!  Negative pacing? Yes please.

Here’s the breakdown of everything, in case you were wondering (STEFF!)

lap 1 – 9:09
lap 2 – 9:11
lap 3 – 9:13
lap 4 – 8:59
lap 5 – 8:59
lap 6 – 9:26 (up stoneway hill)
lap 7 – 8:52
lap 8 – 8:55
lap 9 – 8:55
lap 10 – 9:00
lap 11 – 8:27
lap 12 – 8:33
lap 13 – 8:21
lap 14 – 8:17
(stopped the clock, we were moving vertically…it took about 10 min – .25 mile)
lap 15 – 8:53
lap 16 – 7:10 (.86 mile)

Total distance: 16.11 miles
Total time: 2:20:30

I was wanted to thank my sister for running with me today!  She was super sick (head cold, headache, sore throat), the whole nine yards   I’m so thankful for a trooper of a sister who keeps me motivated!!

As soon as we got home, we both downed an Emergen-C, and I also drank a chocolate milk!  We also made coffee, and I took mine to go, since I really wanted to get home and shower.  I was freezing!!

Lunch was protein packed: PB + Raspberry preserves + Greek Yogurt!  Did I mention that this is my new favorite food combo?

I also had a Morningstar Tomato and Basil Veggie burger w/ hummus, but I ate it too fast to get a picture…

I also baked some cranberry walnut muffins!  Super yummy.

I snagged one for tasting.

I pretty much did nothing all day, just napped while watching food network and other mindless tv.  Perfect way to spend a Sunday.

Dinner was pretty simple.  My mom and I went to QFC this afternoon to get some fruit, and I picked up a container of mango salsa!  So I pan fried some chicken tenders and put them on a bed of arugula, and topped it with the salsa.  PERFECTION.

Another snickerdoodle cookie was eaten as dessert, along with a Korean pear.

It’s 9, I just finished eating a piece of chicken with hummus and a scoop of cottage cheese, and now i’m ready to sleep for a hundred years.  Or until I need to wake up tomorrow…

PB and J + Yogurt = my new favorite snack

Today I slept in until 7:30!  It was glorious…I then made myself the usual breakfast.  Since I was in the kitchen, I also prepped my lunch for this afternoon, since I was going to be in class most of the day.

Veggie burger, black beans and hummus.

I also packed one of these for a snack.

Class today was good!  We started off with a kick-boxing class, taught by one of my fellow classmates.  It was AWESOME!  What a great way to beat out all the frustration one might be caring along with themselves

By noon I was starving, so the black bean/veggie mix was perfect.  I also brought a huge bag of the cookies I made from last night, since I get nervous if they just sit in the kitchen at home…they make perfect targets for “mindless” eating!!!  Yikes.

This is random, but does anyone know where the Iced Gingerbread Cliff Bars went?  I can’t find them!!!!  I was hoping they were being sold until Christmas, but maybe they’re just a Thanksgiving thing?  Today I went to Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods to look (after searching through Safeway and QFC yesterday), but no cigar!  Bummer

Anyway, when I came home from class and my Cliff Bar search, I was in the mood for something new.  So, I put together a new mix.

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl PB, raspberry preserves, and Oikos Greek Yogurt!  OMG, you have to try it…

Look at the little bits of raspberry seeds…HOLY YUMMO.Nothing could compare to that treat I had, however that didn’t stop me from trying eating something else.  For my actual dinner, I had a couple cups of my leftover spaghetti squash topped with some garlic and basil sauce, and some arugula and goat cheese salad!

The perfect dessert?  Mango Tangerine Sorbet!!!

That was followed by a cookie (the m&m’s and PB) and a garlic flavored crescent roll (from thanksgiving!).  Yeah, I just really wanted to eat a roll…excuse = carbo loading for tomorrow?

Speaking of tomorrow…16 miler on the agenda!  I’ve actually come pretty close to 16 before, I think my sister and I only did about 15.5 miles, but I called it 16.  Yes, i’m a liar   Tomorrow is the official 16 miles, and possibly a little bit longer!  Did I mention it’s supposed to be 30 degrees tomorrow morning?  Bring on the gloves, and many many layers of clothing!  And possibly pictures…

Tis the season

Woke up in a wonderful mood today!  I must have gotten a great sleep, even though it was a grand total of 6 hours…breakfast was the usual eggs and sausage.  I packed a banana and a Kashi Go Lean Crunchy bar for the road.  Hopefully the bar is better that the roll

In celebration of Friday, I stopped by Essential Bakery and got a raspberry muffin along with my coffee.  I only ate the top of the muffin (that’s my favorite part) and saved the rest for later.

I left work around noon and headed over to my sister’s place for an afternoon run.  I munched on a piece of toast with almond butter right before we headed out the door.

Did I mention it was like 35 degrees today?  Good thing I brought gloves with me!  I actually warmed up a lot after the first mile or so, but before that, the wind chill was NOT cool…Our run was what i like to call a “completion” run.  We were just trying to actually complete the 6.2 miles since we’re doing a 16 mile run on Sunday!  My Garmin wasn’t able to get satellite until about .5 miles into our run, so it proved a little useless this time around.

I came home, showered, and met my friend Hannah for a late lunch.  We went to Sonrisa, this amazing mexican restaurant in the University Village.  I LOVE their chips and salsa…

Hannah ordered the Black Bean Soup.  I snagged a few scoops using a couple chips!

I ordered the chicken salad with roasted corn, red peppers, and red onion!  It came with a side of chipotle ranch dressing, which I used for dipping.

After lunch we were super full, so we decided to walk around.  Then we did some serious credit card damage.  And by we, I mean me…there were stops at Fireworks, H&M, Victoria’s Secret.  Need I say more?

After I got home, it was about 5 or so, and I decided that I didn’t want to eat a huge dinner or anything, so I settled on an Oikos Greek Yogurt with some PB chips.  I also grabbed a baggie Chex Mix and munched on that, before I could snap a pic!

Then, I got into the baking mood.  I was going to make this pretzel salad recipe that I got from my classmate Amy, but i didn’t have half of the ingredients and I was too lazy to go out and get it, so I went into the pantry and found sugar cookie mix!  I made two different kinds.  First, a sugar cookie w/ Pb chips and M&Ms.

Hello ShAkY hands…Right before baking…

Cooling…

And now the snickerdoodle cookies!  Before…

And after.

Now i’m sitting here waiting for them to cool, so I can put them away before I eat one!  I’ve resisted thus far, so we’ll see what happens in the next hour

Tomorrow is class and apparently we’re having 2 student taught classes on top of our other practical client-trainer simulations.  Man, I hope I don’t get too sore, I have to run a ton on Sunday, yikes!  Ok, time to stretch and get a good night’s rest…

Day off?

Not so much of a “day off” for me, but we’ll get to that.  Twas the usual breakfast for me, but presently differently!  Since I only had one egg, I had 3 veggie sausage patties.  Mmm…look at that steam…

So, since i’ve been having the same breakfast lately, when I talk about breakfast from now on, let’s just assume i’m having this…

Work = BORING.  I snaked on a banana around 10, and brought those preztels as a snack to hold me over until I got home around 2.  I met my clarinetist around 12:30 for her performance today at 1.  It went really well (good job SAMANTHA)!  I’m proud of her for making it so musical.  It was so much fun to perform again.  Oh how I love being on stage and having people stare at me…wait, did I just say that out loud

On my way home I stopped by QFC to get some yogurt.  I’ve really been craving Oikos Gree Yogurt lately, so I went to stock up.  I got vanilla as well as a honey flavored kind!  SO good, I topped it with a scoop of vanilla almond granola, and enjoyed that with what walnut bread i hadn’t yet inhaled..  SLAM.

Sorry for the blurry pics, must stop being lazy and go back to using the better camera!

Our container for the chex mix I made yesterday was looking empty sad, so I decided to make another batch!

But first, the other half of my lunch = chicken with hummus

I made the second batch, and left it out to cool.  When everything was all dry, I pre-packed them into snack bags which was the perfect size baggie for a single serving!  So I also went a little OCD and organized them on the island…

While I was in the organizing mood, I went ahead and made dinner for class tonight.  I packed a Kashi Go Lean Roll (Chocolate Turtle)…

Let me just say, the Kashi Roll was HORRIBLE.  I should have seen the word roll and known it was going to be bad, but jeez.  I don’t have a picture of it, but it’s a chocolate tube covered in caramel and then some chopped nuts.  Sounds good right?  Well, I bit into the roll and couldn’t get past caramel!  The middle was SO hard, I actually was never able to get to the center.  There was also so much caramel that it just took away from the flavor of the nuts, and it was SOO sticky!  Note to self roll = bad.  Unless it’s sushi or an actual bread roll

…and the last of my chicken with the last of the cranberry sauce!

I can always trust chicken and cranberry sauce…I got hungry during class since I didn’t eat all of the Kashi roll, so my classmate Annette gave me a Vanilla flavored Nu-Go bar!  YUM.

Class today was really cool, we talked about the use of supplements and their effects on the body.  SO many supplements AREN’T approved/tested by the FDA!  Scary, I thought the FDA was supposed to protect the people, not react and cover up…

The last hour or so of class was practical time, and since Annette and I were paired up, we went to the treadmills for interval training!!  Our workout looked something like this:

1 minute run

1 minute walk

2 minutes run

1 minute walk

3 minutes run

1 minute walk

4 minutes run

1 minute walk

5 minutes run

1 minute walk

4 minutes run

1 minute walk

3 minutes run

1 minute walk

2 minutes run

1 minute walk

1 minute SPRINT

1 minute walk

Whew!  I was able to do about 4 miles in 43 minutes.  Not bad, eh?

Ok, must get to sleep, tomorrow’s a busy day!

GOODNIGHT NEVER NEVER LAND…

Early riser!!

This morning I woke up at 6:15 for no reason!  Normally, I get up at 6:45, but if getting up earlier means that i’ll be fully awake today, then so be it!

Breakfast was the ususal:

On my way to work, I stopped for some coffee, and saw the prettiest looking pumpkin muffin, so I HAD to get it.  And it tasted just as pretty as it looked

I actually ate it on the way to work!  Apparently I wasn’t full enough from breakfast, weird…

Work today was a little less busy, so I actually had time to breathe

I decided to go running outside again today, it was FREEZING!  Good thing I brought gloves.  I downed my pre-run snack right before…

I brought running gear with me so I could change at the park.   I also brought my water belt with me, along with some sports beans, but my run ended up being shorter than anticipated, so I didn’t really need it…

I started at Gasworks Park, and did a loop around Lake Union.  I started off with a 1.5 mile warm up, followed by about 2.5 miles of threshold running (as fast as I could keep a pace without DYING!).  I followed that with about 2 miles of cool down.  All in all, it was a great run!  My stats: 6 miles  – 51:55

As soon as I got back to the car, I ate my Snicker’s Marathon Bar ASAP.  It was gone before I could take a picture, so…

After stretching and a hot shower, I fixed some chicken for lunch.  I pan fried the chicken in about 1 TBS of olive oil, along with some seasoning…

I enjoyed a piece with some spaghetti sauce and a 1/2 C of black beans!

I was very productive this afternoon, thanks to my good friend Diet Dr. Pepper, who helped me chug along…I did some homework and read ahead for class, but I didn’t finish my resume.  That will definitely be done this weekend at the latest!

I finally fixed my template for my workout sheets.  We had a class assignment a couple weeks ago to create a template in excel that we could print out and use for clients.  I completed the assignment, but not to my liking.  Since i’m a perfectionist, I re-created the template and came up with a much more efficient template.  See?

Dinner was kind of late, since I got invited to play in a soccer game this evening!  I baked some spaghetti squash in a 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes, and enjoyed half with spaghetti sauce and another piece of chicken.

After dinner I need to runs errands and get some shampoo, deodorant and food, so my mom came with me!  We first went to Rite Aid for the bathroom essentials, then went across the street to QFC, to get some food.  My mom was feeling in the holiday mood, so she asked if I would make some Chex Mix.  I jumped at the opportunity!!  We got all our ingredients and headed home.

Here’s the layout:

The directions were super easy!  Just get all the dry stuff together.

Then bring out the butter and seasonings.

Mix it all together!

Put into microwave for 5 minutes, mixing every 1 1/2 minutes or so.  Then, spread onto a baking sheet lined with paper towels to dry!

There were definitely many “taste tests” along the way   By the time the mix was actually cool enough to put into a ziploc, there was about half left…!

My sister picked me up around 8:15 and we left for the game, which was held in Shoreline.  It was the last game of their season!!!

I ate a banana and 2 mini york mints (on top of eating many handfuls of chex mix…) right before we walked out the door…

The game went AWESOME.  We won 4-2!!  What a great way to end the fall season, but that was probably the last game for me for quite some time   Maybe they play rec-soccer in China?  Hmm…

Ok, busy day tomorrow:

-work

-performance in the afternoon

- short run/yoga (maybe)

- finish paper

- meet a student to tutor

- class!

Sleep tight!

Thanksgiving challenge update

I totally forgot to do my challenge yesterday, so i completed it throughout the day today!  This morning I started off with 8 sets of 10 push-ups.  I wanted to get as much out of the way this morning as possible!  I quickly recovered from my morning “boot camp” and had an awesome breakfast to get me going.

Eggs and sausage!

Work today was just as crazy as yesterday.  Although I have to say, it definitely makes the day go by faster and I feel like i’ve gotten so much accomplished before noon!  I was able to sneak in a banana between meetings, filing, data entry, and more filing.

Today’s weather was absolutely perfect running weather, so of course I HAD to go out for a run! But first, PB and bread.  And Sports Beans for the run, just in case I got low energy.

I managed to squeeze in a 6.75 mile run before I had to go accompany a clarinetist!  Oh yeah, and I ALSO managed to squeeze in 10 sets of 10 push-ups before my super quick shower.  (So far we’re at 180 push-ups!)

For lunch: spinach salad with goat cheese + chopped pork loin and raspberry/walnut vinaigrette

And the last of my Amy’s Organic Split Pea soup!

I had just enough time to make my dinner for class tonight, so i prepped some more leftover roasted veggies with chopped up pork loin!  I also added some more herbed goat cheese, since I was feeling sassy

I grabbed a bag of my PB filled Pretzels on my way out the door, just in case I got hungry between all the running around town.

On the way, I made a quick stop at Essential Bakery to load up on coffee before my clarinetist’s lesson!  Our “recital” is on Thursday.  I’m so excited to perform

Before I left for class, I had just enough time to squeeze in the last of my 80 push-ups.  So I did 8 sets of 10 and was FINALLY finished!!

Class today was really interesting, however i was just feeling tired from all my running around this afternoon.  We talked a lot about different kinds of  movement assessments to help our clients (and ourselves!) become more familiar with imbalances and asymmetries within the body.  The main focus of tonight’s lecture (or at least what i took from it): DO NOT DIAGNOSE!  It’s very important to not become the doctor.  Since we are not physical therapists or doctors, it’s important to refer your client to someone more qualified to make decisions about a diagnosis.  PLUS, we could get sued if we diagnose and then something should happen to our client as a result!  Scared the pants right off me

After class my tummy was growling, so I was ready to feed it some leftover pear crumble with ice cream.  However, SOMEONE ate all of the crumble AND all of the ice cream!   It was a double blow to my tummy.  I figured I wasn’t meant to have anything sweet tonight, so I opted for some dried apricots instead.  Definitely not as awesome as ice cream and crumble, but just as satisfying.  Kind of… Time to get some sleep, I can feel the soreness from today’s push-ups coming…yikes!

Tomorrow’s list:

- work

- finish resume

- write last paper for class

- do make-up work for hours missed in class (so I can graduate on Dec. 17th.  Woot woot!!)

- study for NSCA exam (still haven’t signed up to take it, must do that…)

All of which could be done in the library (except work!), so we’ll see if I decide to make the walk there, or be lazy and stay at home.  Hmm…g’night!

The day after

I felt pretty darn good this morning, considering I ran a half marathon yesterday   My official time is 1:55:27!  I’m so proud of myself for doing it in under 2 hours!

Breakfast made that accomplishment seem even better: 2 whole eggs + green onion and 2 sausage patties (Morningstar Farms)!  I also had 2 tablespoons of a vitamin D drink courtesy of the Seattle Marathon Recovery Area.  Did you know that from the months of November – April about 90% of Seattlites are vitamin D deficient?  That’s crazy…

Work today went by really fast, because we were so busy!  After a long holiday weekend, there was a lot of catching up to do.  Closing jobs for the month of November (can you believe we’re already getting into December???), entering time cards for the past 4 days, my head was still spinning when I left!  Good thing I brought a banana to eat mid-running around the office.

On my way home, I decided I was fresh enough to do a short run.  I was going to run outside, until I heard on the news about the “suspect” who killed 4 police officers, had been seen around the UW campus!  That’s less than 2 miles from my house!  Granted the chances of anything happening to me on my run was slim to none, I didn’t want to take any chances!  So, I went downstairs to run on the treadmill.  I geared myself up with a piece of toast with some Cinnamon Raisin Swirl PB!

As soon as I starting running, I knew this run was going to be a mental one.  I was physically feeling fresh, but my brain was NOT ready to be stuck on that machine like a hamster!  So, I played a trick on myself.  Just get to 1 mile. (after that) Just get to mile 2. (after I got there)  just to mile 3, mile 3! After I reached mile 3, I told myself just take it by half miles now.  You’ve already run farther than you thought you would!!!  I stopped myself at mile 4.  Yay for tricking myself…

Lunch was a bunch of leftovers.  I didn’t even shower before eating, I was hungry!!  Salad with herbed goat cheese + raspberry walnut dressing and leftover roasted veggies and a piece of pork.

I spent the rest of my day working on my “musical” resume.  This resume is definitely different from your standard resume, because you have to put in all the past performances, competitions, and awards you’ve received!  Since I will mostly likely be living in China within the next year, I want to be ready to teach lots of children piano along with personal training.  I had to do a lot of digging to remember past awards and such, but I got through a good chunk of the resume this afternoon.

Thanks in a large part to Diet 7UP and PB filled pretzels!!  And my awesome NASA cup

About an hour before dinner, I decided that I wanted to make a peach crumble.  But when I looked in the pantry, there were no canned peaches.  PLAN B: I got my mom to swing by PCC on her way home and pick up some canned pears instead

Here’s the recipe:

• 4 cans of Pears (15 oz.)
• 1/2 cup(s) packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup(s) old-fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon(s) ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoon(s) margarine or butter, cut up

---

Directions

 

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.  Prepare a baking dish (8X8, 9X9, or any other size dish is good)
2. In mixing bowl, toss peaches, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon flour until evenly coated. Spread mixture in an even layer in baking dish.
3. In medium bowl, mix oats, cinnamon, remaining flour, and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar. Add butter. With fingertips, mix until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Then, sprinkle over fruit.
4. Bake crumble 30 to 35 minutes or until fruit is bubbly at edges and topping is browned. Cover loosely with foil after 25 minutes if top is browning too quickly. Cool slightly on wire rack to serve warm, or serve at room temperature.

Here’s a before and after.

Look at that crunchy goodness…I was so excited to eat dessert, that I ate something that would only take 3 minutes or less to prepare.  Thank you Amy’s Organic Soup!  Split Pea to be exact.

I paired that with the wonderful walnut bread that I bought yesterday.  YUM….

Finally to dessert!  I added a scoop of Breyer’s French Vanilla Ice Cream.  Is there anything better?  I think not…

Now it’s time to get to bed.  My computer’s acting weird, so let’s hope it doesn’t crash or anything soon!!  Also, I TOTALLY forgot about my Thanksgiving Challenge of 260 push-ups, so those will be done tomorrow.  Good luck to my arms

Night!

High-speed half marathon!

So last night I set out my running gear, just to make things easier in the morning.

I woke up at 4:45am and was already SUPER excited to run the half!  I started my breakfast with a piece of toast, Smooth Operator PB, banana and maple syrup, plus a little bit of coffee to get me going.

Then, I prepped a bagel with PB to eat on the drive to my sister’s place.

Here I am all ready to go!

Here the three of us are at my sister’s place, ready to leave!!

The half went PERFECT!  Although I still haven’t gotten my official time (They may not have it at all, grr…), I am going off my sister’s time of 1:55 and adding a minute (since I finished a minute after her), so my time is 1:56!!  Totally SMASHED my previous PR of 2:20.  This is just my second half, but that’s a pretty darn huge improvement, don’t you think?

Right after the run, we heading straight to the recovery area for some food!  I immediately downed a chocolate milk (got to get those glycogen levels back up!) and a banana.  I also took another banana for later, a water, 2 snicker’s marathon bars, 2 Erin Baker’s cookies, and a Vitamin D drink.

Here we are post-run, with all our yummy food from the recovery area and our finisher’s medal!!

After I was all showered up I unloaded the food I had from the race….

then I made myself some egg whites with green onion, and a couple sausage patties and the rest of my coffee from this morning.

After my meal, I got into the baking mood, so I looked to some fellow blogger’s to help!  I stumbled on Meghann’s recipe for Pumpkin Scones!  Check out the website for the complete recipe: Vegan Pumpkin Raisin Scones

I got started and combined the dry ingredients.

After that was combined I realized that I didn’t have any pumpkin puree!  So I made a quick run to the store and picked up a few other things while I was there: Amy’s Split Pea Soup, Sugar, and Goat cheese.

Here’s the mix with pumpkin and raisins added!

I dumped it onto my cutting board, which was pre-coated with flour, then kneaded it about 6 times, before hand rolling into a circle!

Then I cut it into 8 HUGE pieces, and placed it on my baking sheet and put it in the oven!

Tah-dah!!  I split one with my mom, and spread some apple butter over it, mmm…

I also snacked on some dried apricots.

Later this afternoon I met with a clarinetist to rehearse for her “recital” on Thursday.  Have I mentioned how much I like to accompany people?  It’s just so gratifying!

On my way home, I picked up a few things for dinner, including a Kombucha!

Dinner was a mix of yummy things.  First, kale and bacon!

Roasted vegetables!  Cauliflower, Broccoli, Sweet Potato, and onion drizzled with 2 TBS olive oil and 1/4 C maple syrup!

I had a wonderful loaf of walnut bread from Essential Bakery, but I forgot to serve it for dinner!

Anyway, I also served some pork loin with spices!

Here’s the whole spread.

My plate: roasted veggies, kale + bacon, pork loin, and leftover salad with goat cheese!

And now i’m sitting here digesting dinner, and getting ready for bed.  Tomorrow i’m get a massage.  A friend from NPTI class offered to give me a free massage if I come to her place, so I said DEAL!

So g’night to you all and let’s hope i’m not HELLA sore tomorrow morning!!

9 productive things (possibly 10?)

Productive thing #1: breakfast of eggs and toast and another plate filled with banana and maple syrup; around 6 this morning since I was practicing getting up early!

Productive thing #2: breakfast number 2 (around 9:30), made up of more eggs, sausage patties and a chocolate soymilk.

Productive thing #3: Going to the library for 3 1/2 hours, to finish a take-home test, papers, homework, and study biomechanics…see my coffee hiding?  I like that I took of picture of my highlighters and CALENDAR.  That’s not the book that I was studying out of…I swear!

Productive thing #4:  Cinnamon raisin bagel from Grateful Bread topped with crunchy PB.  I know i’m not supposed to eat in the library, but really

Productive thing #5: Coming home and slamming on some Thanksgiving leftovers.  Yam + Marshmallows, Cranberry Sauce, fruit salad, sandwich thin!

Productive thing #6: Going to a new location to study even more (at STARBUCKS of course) and indulging in an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie from Erin’s Bakery along with another cup of coffee (coffee not pictured because i’m lame)

Productive thing #7: tutoring a classmate at 4pm (at Starbucks) for about 2 MORE hours.

Productive thing #8: 30 minutes of ROCKSTAR stretching, to prepare for tomorrow’s half marathon!

Productive thing #9: Getting to bed by 8, so I can wake up at 4:45am and at least be somewhat coherent…

[Possible productive thing #10: Running the half marathon in under 2 hours?  That would be AWESOME, but I want to at LEAST beat my first (and only) half marathon time of 2:20...!]  Wish me luck!

GOOD NIGHT!