New York Part Two: Pizza & Pleasure Things

Whooooooaaaa Nelly.. what the heck am I talking about? Well, you asked. I delivered. A post with actual pictures. I'm sorry to leave you all hanging! Haha.. I meant to do some last night, but I just got carried away at home, doing... nothing. I was resting!!! I am still in recovery from all the excitement, but I'll get there. It's amazing how now that I am older, it takes me twice as long to recover from events than before.. ohhhh the joys!
So.. you want to see a few things.. like the food I ate and what I wore right? Well, we'll start there!

What did I eat?

Saturday:
Dunkin Donuts. Bagel, egg, & cheese. Greasy. And disgustingly good. It was just one part of the grossly good food we had.. No picture! I ate it too quick!

Saturday Afternoon:
I ate half a chicken fajita wrap from some little deli across the street from the hotel. It was ok- the guy didn't warm it up- so blah. I ate chips and dip to make up for it.

Also consumed: A Magnolia cupcake, cupcake. At the Bleeker St fair that we stopped at during the SATC tour. It was delicious!

Later that night- we had pizza! This was the best pizza I've had in a LONG time. Maybe it's because I haven't had pizza in forever either.. and I was starved of pizza-ness..


The pieces were huge! But I still ate two of them. And two more at 3 am when we got home. Let's just say, I was busting out of my dress.. and it wasn't just because my boobies are big!

So my favorite part of the SATC tour was stopping at the Pleasure Chest. So I'm going to warn you, if you have a weak stomach, stop reading now! If you are like me and have the sense of humor as a 15 year old boy... get ready to laugh hysterically.



(we were not allowed to take pictures inside the store- but no matter- you see these and get the idea!)
Some sights that were seen inside the store.. a "c*m rag". It was a "dish towel" labeled as something one would use to clean oneself. We each bought one. LOL

Then there was the man inside the store the with the uber short shorts...................... he had a little something something hanging out...Sarah, Tanya, and I saw him.. we just about died! (Imagine forced whispers and shocked small gasps while elbowing each other and trying not to scream in horror.)

I saw loads of dildos, some that should not go ANYWHERE. One was the size of a NASA rocket. WHERE DOES THAT GO?????????!!!!!

Lots of ladies were buying things and I don't think they realized that they wouldn't be able to be inconspicuous about it either.. Because of the stores no return policy they need to make sure you know what you are buying.... so they take it out of the box, wave it around, tell you how to use it....

So we left, after touching and poking each other with almost everything. What can I say? We are like little boys. Ha!

We headed back to the hotel to get ready for the night.. The following pictures are pics I jacked off my friend. I hope you like!!!


Well those are just two of the pics.. I'll be back more tomorrow or Thursday with some more.. : ) I hope you liked them!!!!

Ups And Downs

Hi guys.. it is Thursday here and I am hunkered down in my house waiting for Hurricane Earl to strike at any moment... Actually I'm not, but that's ok! To all the people down in the Carolinas or anywhere Earl has visited, I hope you are staying safe! We are only supposed to get a lot of rain and a lot of wind. The last time we had a hurricane "strike" up here was Hurricane Bob- August 19th 1992. Please.. someone ask me how that date is so near and dear to my heart :)

So it's been hot. Agonizingly hot again and once again, I am suffering the effects of the air quality- wheezing and coughing- gross! Asthma, I hate you! So yesterday was especially hot and I decided, never mind the heat, I will work out in the gym at work.

Cue the violins...

I thought that I forgot my socks at 11:15 am. Planned to do yoga in the gym..

At 11:25 am, I found my socks and my big ole sweatpants that I grabbed instead of my shorts. Not great, but still ok for some biking..

At 11:35 am, I was in the gym, just about to sit down on the recumbent bike (my favorite place in the gym), when one of the engineers in my building came in. You know the type, skinny, geeky, wears his work shirt, basketball shorts, black socks, and sneakers that looked like they survived Pearl Harbor. (and he did too)

This MF sits right next to me on the other bike in the gym.

Never mind, the treadmill, the elliptical, OR the fact that I KNOW this guy "lifts" weights. He sits right next to me. Did I mention he smells bad????

I got up off the bike and went outside, muttering to myself about what a jerk he was.. Doesn't he realize he stinks and looks like a nerd crossed with a homeless man?

It was HOT. BIG MISTAKE. I should have sucked it up inside. But I was craving cardio and cardio I got. I almost fainted it was so hot. (A trivia side note, a major football team in the area stays at the hotel next door to my building) I really thought I was going to die. A couple of players drove past me in their tricked out Land Rovers and Escalades. I swear, if I were any less of a woman I would have collapsed crossing my fingers some burly football player would give me mouth to mouth. Then I remembered I am engaged and I don't think Charlie would like it if I got smooched by some hot big guy... Damn you conscience!!!

But I survived (duh) and was left with a major headache for the rest of the day. Oh God it was a rough afternoon. I drank so much water I could have floated home and somehow mustered up enough energy to make myself some really awesome shrimp.

The potatoes were these:

They were NOT as good as I make them! But they sufficed for a nice easy carb serving. (I could have had a bowl of cereal you know..)

Oh and one more FUNNY thing. My grandmother turned 830 today (just kidding, 83) and she went ahead and bought herself a birthday cake two days early on Monday. She had them put her name on it.
Her name is PALMA. But with her heavy Boston accent, she calls herself PALMER. OH GRAM!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well all my cousins thought it was hysterical.. and my mom made me take a picture of it. I feel bad for laughing about it, but she's a tough old lady, she'll probably out-live me.. I think she can take it!

I hope everyone has a great weekend ahead of them! With all the rain scheduled for tomorrow night, it's a good night to stay home and watch CAMP ROCK 2. Yes, I am 28 years old and yes, I LOVE the Disney Channel! No shame ladies!!!
And thank you for all your comments on my last post- STRONG STRONG STRONG.. :)

I'm Over It

Holy crap.. I am totally over this rain! It's been raining since Sunday here in RI and I'm getting SO tired of it! Today I am off from work, so it was nice to sleep in a little bit- you know.. till 7! That's sleeping in for me now :)

Just to let you guys know.. that Abs and Arms DVD is a killer workout! I've done it a few times since then, and it's incredible. I'm definitely going to have to post up some pictures for you all. I always hesitate to do that because I don't want to look like I'm showing off, but shoot- if I have killer arms, you better believe I'm showing those babies off!

Alright.. so another confession- I'm over SALAD. Over it. Done. Done. Don't wanna eat it anymore! If you've been reading you know that I was on a salad kick there for a little bit, but I think I have lettuced myself out. Maybe it's the gloomy weather but when I look at those lettuce leaves I just feel blah! And that's ok by me!

I'm not sure what else to tell you about for food... but... I did forget to tell you what I got for my birthday! A new hair straightener!! So awesome! I love it.. My hair is naturally kinky-wavy and I usually straighten it every other day. I have been using a hair straightener that I bought in HIGH SCHOOL. It would be un-remarkable if I had graduated 2 years ago.. but I graduated 10 years ago.. Therefore.. amazing! But it's been on the fritz and when Peanut asked me what I wanted for my b-day I hinted that my hair was on the fritz too. LOL She got it!


This past weekend Peanut was in a play at church. She played David in David and Goliath! So adorable! It was really cute.. the kids did a good job. The tallest guy who goes to my church was Goliath.. he's 6'7" compared to Peanut's 4'1".. so it was pretty funny watching her sling a "rock" at his head!

Anyway, like I said, I am off today and it's pouring, so we'll see what happens for the day!
The plan is to go to Borders later for some hot chocolate and books.. : )

Whats your plan for this dreary Wednesday??

Friday Night

Happy Friday everyone! Oh goodness, I can't believe how fast the week flew by- seriously! I woke up today and realized it was almost the weekend and I got sooo excited! Not like I have HUGE plans, but I just get excited when I remember that I don't have to go into work. :)

Thanks for the congrats on the award! Ameena, you would not really want to come and see me at work! We don't sell anything that anyone would want, except every single manufacturing plant in the US. We sell parts that run plants, and I just spoke to someone today who told me that our parts help run the MBTA in Boston! So the next time my Boston readers get on the T you can think of me! Please don't curse me if something bad happens though!

So anyway, moving onto more important things in life.. My Strong is the New Skinny campaign.. I have been working my butt off all week long for it and with ANOTHER award I got at work (yesssssssss.. I've been feeling so special all week long!) a $50 gift card to Amazon.com, I got 3 new workout DVDs. Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and two Core Fusion DVDs. I can't wait to try them and focus on getting STRONGER.

That way I can whoop y'alls butts someday! Hopefully next week things will calm down a little bit at work so I can post more often!

OK- my food! Just two meals I had, not ALL of them.


This was so awesome. I loved it.. too good. The salmon cake was a little bit on the spicy side and the pilaf was a bit chewy.. but- overall a big YUM from me!

And this is what my mom made for dinner tonight. MY GOYA RICE. And MY SHRIMP. Glad to be giving food to my moms! Ha!


Other than that.. the weekend will be spent sunning, sleeping, and (window) shopping. My favorite things to do! I'll probably finish reading a couple of books!
What are YOU doing this weekend??

Strong Is The New Skinny

Good evening fine people! How are you all? I'm doing ok.. for a Monday! I wish I could say I had the Monday blues, but I didn't feel too bad.. went to work, got some good news this morning, and was on cloud 9 all day! It was great! Usually work doesn't equal good news, so it was fine by me!
I just wanted to go over some food stuffs that I got over the weekend when Peanut and I went to Whole Foods! I love Whole Foods.. I've heard it likened to a religious experience.. and I almost agree with that!


Look they even have a cow across the way from Whole Foods where you can get fresh milk!

Nah, I'm just playing- that's the JP Licks cow. JP Licks is possible the best local ice cream place in the Boston area. Peanut and I got some ice cream ;) The only dairy I just can't possibly resist!


At Whole Foods I picked up a delectable new yogurt- I tried this with a little sprinkle of granola. OMG.. It's not dairy free but it is lactose free- which is really what messes up my stomach. This was seriously soooooo good! I was mad that I didn't buy more of them after I ate this! And look at the nutrional facts! So good!



For dinner yesterday while I was bored at home.. meatless meatballs with gluten- free pasta, pasta sauce, "cheese" in the form of Rice Mozerella sprinkle cheese & nutritional yeast.. simple and delish!


So I've been seeing around blog world that "strong is the new skinny". Ladies.. we need to embrace this!! Seriously! Look at this video below:

This is a little kid trained by gymnast Damien Walters- check out my FB page for a video of Damien Walters. Email me, if you need my info for FB :)
Could we do that if we are running on empty? Struggling to be as skinny as can be? I mean, I don't think I could do any of that ANYWAY.. But that's not the point. The point is.. we need to fuel ourselves ladies!!! Don't be afraid to work your butt off and then eat a full meal! I know I have a hard time with this sometimes.. but I'm gonna be changing my tune up. I need to get stronger, not skinnier. I want a six pack, not rib bones poking out everywhere!..

I hope you can join me in my new mission!

So hey, my work news? I won an award for my excellent customer service :) The sales guy who gave me the big bottle of tequila nominated me for it. I was so happy and proud of myself. I'm the first one on my team to get one so far with our new employee regognition.. It goes on my yearly review, plus the award is worth $25. The more I get, the more money I get. Yay! All my hard work is finally starting to pay off a little bit!
Well, hope your Monday went well! I hope to be catching up on blogs tomorrow, work was just too busy today.. Goodnight!!!!

They Call Me Psycho

Holaaaaa... I'm back for some more fun! Yesterday I spent the day aching and paining. I've been feeling a bit better, I know nothing is broken and nothing is sprained- just badly bruised. I think my pride is my hurt than anything! But I'm glad I survived! I seriously can't wait until I'm feeling 100% and I can tape that yoga sequence for you guys!! I worked out yesterday and today (yep, I'm crazy) but I seriously can't go a day without workin' it!

Thanks for the belated birthday wishes for Peanut! She did have a blast! She's definitely a superstar!! She had so much fun at her party.. Biz I love how fast you type and that was a GREAT idea for a birthday party! I told my mom about it, and she said she went to one once when she was 15 - and had a FACE MASK on. Ha!

So I did find a picture of those sweet and sour meatballs I made for her party!

Recipe as follows- (makes about 40 full size meatballs plus sauce)

2 bags of pre-made meatballs (I used turkey)
2 cans of tomato sauce
2 cans pineapple chunks plus juice
vineagar to taste
tamari to taste (or soy sauce)
S & P to taste
1/2 cup of brown sugar

heat sauce and simmer for a few minutes, then add frozen meatballs and simmer for an additional 25 minutes..

YUM!
I also found the elusive Chocolate Chip Cookie dough Larabars at Whole Foods!!!!!! YUMMMMMMMMMM!!! They are SO GOOD! I also tried the Peanut Butter Choco Chip Dough too- just as yummy!

Today I receieved this email from a customer:
"Sorry I didn't mean to isolate you I just feel safer addressing a person
verses an ip address . Plus you have been professional, prompt, gracious
and dependable to work with, so I figured we would try to claim you as *****'s rep."

I guess my years of drama class have finally started to pay off! HAHAHA!

I'll be back sooooooooonnnnnn! It's almost my bedtime! I have decided to cut out caffeine and I can't stay up past 9:30 anymore.. too sleepy!

For The Very First Time

Hey guys! Am I coming back to no one?? Comment if you read, just so I know everyone is alive and well. I am! Well, barely hanging on by a thread anyway..

This week is my week before you know what, so I've been extra groggy and grumpy. The two G's are never a good thing! So I stayed away from the computer so I wouldn't sound like a whiny annoying sap. All things my dad called me this week... but that's not the point! The point is... it was the Peanut's birthday last weekend! I took a few days off from work to help her celebrate.. and we did, by throwing a party and having a fun day in the city!

Pics are as follows!
It was hot in the big ole city and we melted pretty much the whole day. We drank a lot of water and had a fun time navigating the subway and streets of Boston. Sorry for the lack of pics of me and her.. try to keep somethings sacred. (In other words, all my pics are of me; I look hot and sweaty.... I'm sending those to Charlie.. lol)


But we went to the Children's Museum and walked the Freedom Trail. We are history buffs and learning dorks for sure!

Later on in the week was her PAR-TAY! If you weren't invited you must not be cool- cuz all the cool kids were there! Actually, it was a small party, but we played in the pool, ate, danced, and ate to our little hearts desire. It was a good party- plus she got lots of presents... what can beat that??

For food we had typical Luau food- fruit, pigs in a blanket and sweet and sour meatballs. Here is a picture of the fruit, the only thing I managed to snag a pic of before it was devoured. YUM!

But here is a dish I made at some point last week in a brief moment where I remembered I had a blog.Shrimp and green bean stirfry. This was totally simple to make dears- saute fresh green beans in a little olive oil, onion, pepper, and a sprinkle of garlic powder. Add wheat free tamari sauce (or soy sauce...) and gluten free teriyaki sauce (to taste).. then add shrimp (I use cooked shrimp, tail removed). Shake it around in the pan a few times, then cover and let it simmer and steam. After about 5 minutes, uncover and EAT.

It was easy, a little spicy, and totally worth the 10 minutes it took to make it.

So, tonight, for the very first time, I was injured while practicing yoga. Yep. And not in a glorious way, where I was practicing pigeon pose and I dislocated my hip.

Look back in my yoga post... the one where I was standing on my head with my legs spread open wide like a stripper? I was in the kitchen (mistake) when I shifted my head about 1/2 centimeter to the right (mistake) and I tried to tuck and roll when I fell (mistake) but instead I crashed into the table. OUCH. Not even an ouch. There's probably no word to describe the pain I felt. I thought I cracked my neck, back, legs, arms, everything. I think I stayed on the floor for a good ten minutes before I moved, just to make sure I was still alive. The cat came over to check it out as I was splayed out under the table. I swear, she must have thought I was dead. I think she tried to start to eat me.
So far, the backs of my legs are bruised and my elbows are puffy and hard to straighten and turning suspiciously blue. I have a 1600 dollar deductible for insurance- so in case anyone asks.. unless you are sending me the cash, I will settle for bathing in ice for the next couple of days. It hurts to type, and is getting worse now. Ice bath here I come!

The Unedible & Edible

I have no idea if I spelled that word correctly or not..Ha! I sometimes think of myself as a pretty decent writer, but there are some words in the English language I CAN'T PRONOUNCE. OR SPELL for the LIFE of me!
Some examples: Preliminary. Specific. Receiving. Niche. Yeaaaaaaaaa... anyone else feel like English is like a second language??

Well nothing too much as been up lately for us.. we have just been hanging out! I did get a pretty decent tan laying outside by the pool! It was nice! I know, I shouldn't be in the sun, but something about the lawn just calls to me..

Tonight I spent some time on the yoga mat and in the kitchen! Shocking, I know! But I have been practicing my hard yoga poses which are getting REALLY easy with all the Pilates I've been doing, so it's pretty cool! Here's what I made in the kitchen-

Mexican Casserole! It was a mix I bought a while back - and I've been wanting to try it, now here's my chance! It was pretty cool! I'll let the pics do the talking!




As you can see it was pretty simple to make! And it was a little bit on the spicy side which I loved! I packed up the rest of it for leftovers for the week too. Yay! No more wondering what to eat for lunch or dinner : )

I also made something that WASN'T tasty at all! I wanted to whip up Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter cookies. What I ended up with was lumps of clumpy sticky burnt balls of crap. Look!


These ended up in the trash. So sad! I won't share what I did with the recipe, just so you guys don't end up trying to make them :(

Well- I also did my hard yoga right? Yea! Here are a couple of the poses I did- I know you all want to see pictures of me in my sweatpants on my yoga mat... even better that I am in the TV room. Which is completely ghetto! Haha! You'll even see that hanging on the wall is my little sister throughout the years. My mom did that for all of our high school graduations- and even though she graduated 5 years ago... it's STILL hanging on the wall. Go figure!



Interesting no??? Not too shabby I think! I have to admit, I do really like my shoulders in that last picture! I LIKE my shoulders! They look pretty strong!

Well, I'm off to bed now! I'm wiped!

What do you like about yourself?? And what words do you not know how to spell/ pronounce??

Get Your Green On

Yes, it is official. I have had a salad every day this week. Wow! To those who have followed my blog or know me personally, this is an acheivement! I have one packed for lunch for tomorrow too. I rarely eat salad, and here I am getting my green on for lunch every day. I'm patting myself on the back right now! I used the Newman's Own dressing today, but yesterday I made my own dressing using my nutrional yeast, lemon juice, and olive oil. It was pretty darn good! I'll have to tweak that!!

Anyway, workouts have been MUCH better because of the weather and I'm doing my yoga and my Hip Hop Abs. I have a Pilates workout penciled in for tomorrow morning and a walk planned for SURE at lunch time. I have my workout bag packed and everything!

Thanks for all the warm thoughts about my job too- I'm really hoping that something comes out of it.. I have to convince my managers there is room for me in that area. I found my niche, something they've been harassing me to find. So to keep me from going someplace else, they better hook me up!

Now onto the food for the day! This is what I brought for lunch, today and tomorrow. Yep. I'm predictable!


That is my famouso salad- a spring mix salad with green peppers on top. I ran out of tomatoes!
Also, carrots, waffles, and tuna for protein. And no, I didn't eat them all together! The waffles are breakfast! Haha.


My dinner for the night was soup and sweet potato fries. So good- although the soup was a little lacking- it did have enough substance for me.. but was still tasty. I'll take it!

I just had a piece of dark chocolate, so I am spent, tired, full, and satisfied. I am totally ready for bed now, even though it's only 9 p.m. I feel like I need to get to bed earlier and earlier every night to wake up at a decent hour. Anyone else feeling old lady-ish??

I hope you all have an awesome night! Good luck to my lady Katie on her big move today!! Stay safe doll!

When I Grow Up..

I wanna repair panel boards for manufacturing plants through out the United States.

Huh? Did I just say that?? What am I talking about?? Well, today I was speaking with the leader of the repair department in my company- and we were discussing how he was retiring in a few years. We figured that his position needed a replacement and it should be me! Ha! We'll see what happens, I still have to discuss with my boss how a move to another state might affect my team here. They can't survive without me, and I might not make it to the age of 50 here. So I'll be thinking about it hard.. it's an interesting proposition, would be a lot more moolah. And you all know I need that!

So to answer a couple of questions I got. And to comment on a couple of comments. Sophia- go to a matinee! We went at 2:20 and the movie only cost $8.00 for each of us, plus we went to a gas station near the theatre and spent four dollars on candy :)
But hey, you just got back from a 6 week adventure in Asia, so, that beats the movies any day! Haha!
Biz- nutritional yeast TASTES like a powdered version of nuts and cheese. No seriously, it's a wacky way to describe it but it really does. It's not bad and it has a ton of vitamins in it- some I am seriously lacking in, so I try to sprinkle it on a few things a week to get that in there. Why did I put it on my salad though??? After choking it down, I asked myself the same thing!! *shudder*

Well today's eats and actions weren't too bad! I got up early and did yoga, that was nice and stretchy! It felt really good to do that! I'm definitely doing it tomorrow morning too.
My eats for the day mirrored the usual all the way up until lunch time.

Salad! WHAT NOW??? You guys must be thinking I'm sick! No, I just don't want my salad mix to go to waste.

I topped it with some of the above dressing. Lauren suggested that I needed some decent dressing. I must be the only person out there who doesn't really love salad dressing, hence the reason it's hard to eat salad. Too much vinegar, too much garlic, too creamy. I'm not picky about most food, but I am picky about salad dressing! This wasn't too bad, I liked it, but not loved it. So I'll be on the hunt for some decent dressing this weekend for sure!

I had some rice on the side for some extra carbonation. It was leftover from my lunch on Sunday. I love leftovers!
For my dinner though?? I tried something totally different, and I LOVED IT. Seriously!
This is an Organic Bistro frozen meal. It was new and looked really interesting in the grocery store - so I picked one up to try. This meal is gluten-free and contains no milk ingredients in it, so I felt safe knowning it would end up bothering my stomach later.
I heated this baby up and went to town. The rice had a nice light flavor to it, with mangoes and a little spice. The green beans were a bit bland, but I think it's really hard to make frozen green beans taste delish. The crab cake? OMFG.. This was SO GOOD! The flavor had a bite to it, some parts of it were really spicy- but there were hunks of real crab meat in there. It was totally unexpected, it tasted homemade. For real. The whole meal did. I was blown away.


I had a meeting at church tonight so I had to eat it quick and go there! The meeting went well and I came home and chatted with my lil baby and my other big baby. Now I'm up here, trying to get tired enough to fall asleep. I worked out at 8:30- not a wise idea on my part. I am still working on my dance for a video for you all. It was WAY too hot last week to work on it! So I'm putting everything I can into it now..
But I'm off to brush my teeth and try to fall asleep! Good night all!

Despicable Me

Happy Sunday! This weekend has been another whirlwind one... and I can't believe it's Sunday already!
Well, I'm hoping that this week goes by slow. Peanut and Maria's birthday is coming up faster than I can handle... I can't believe how old they are getting!

So in short. I finally made something to eat that required more than heating and serving...

This is my favorite easy dish to make, shrimp- simply spray a non-stick skillet with olive oil spray- and cook up the shrimp! Serve on top of GOYA RICE! I love Goya rice with a passion.. and I believe you should too.. haha.
That was Saturday's lunch- Peanut and I went on a little adventure on Saturday too. It rained like crazy for about an hour and caused chaos everywhere! Route One in Mass was flooded from one end to the other- and Peanut and I were DRIVING in it. Not fun! But, we made the best of it.. It still took almost 2 hours to go 10 miles, but who's keeping track???
Today is Sunday. DUH. We had church, then went and scooped up Maria for the afternoon. We were going to the movies! Yayyy! We came home and I had a salad. Please no one fall out of their chairs, I did have a salad! It was green. With lettuce. And other kinds of greens. I literally eat salads once every six months.. I sprinkled nutrional yeast on it.
This was better looking than tasting! But I ate anyway..

We saw Despicable Me at the movies- please if you have a sense of humor go see this movie!!!! It was sooooo funny! We loved it!

Well, right now we are watching the season premiere of Hannah Montana.. thank goodness this is the last season! I'm kinda tired of Hannah Montana! I think my dislike for HM & Miley is getting stronger and stronger. I don't understand the desire to show how "grown-up" you are by acting like a skank. Oh well, I'll save that for another time!
Good night y'all!!!!