peace out february

the month of february is never fun for anyone in the midwest. the cold temperatures have lost their luster and your need for sunshine aches deep in your winter wounds. tomorrow, despite being monday, i will gladly welcome march. march means spring. march means birthdays. march means hope. and best of all, march means i'm headed on a vacation in just 18 days.

so what did i do with my last week of february? new things!

taking full advantage of my weekday off, a few of us ventured up 103 floors to the top of the sears willis tower. in all my years living here, i'd never been to the top and now with the glass skydecks installed, it seemed like a good time to get a lil touristy. we got some cool pics and i'm definitely glad i did it, but once was plenty.

saturday a group of us took full advantage of one of the awesome little treasures of our city - the half acre brewery's tour. located just south of darling lincoln square, the tours are every saturday at 1pm. totally free (includes pitchers of beer they urge you to drink throughout) you get to walk through the warehouse and learn brewing process details straight from the owner. definitely a fun way to start your saturday afternoon.

after that, it was an inevitable few hours posted up at a local bar and lots of laughs with friends. an impromptu dinner and hangs with the pup followed. though low key, my morning was welcomed with a 'stop-mixing-booze-headache' and several necessary naps.

have you done any thing new lately?

let's...

{via here, sorta}

today is just a day

we all have bad shit days. our hair refuses to lay right, our to-do list never ends and that damn girl on the bus shoves you with her massive bag and you fall on your ass. or maybe you have a bit of break down and you are all OMGwhatamidoingwithmylife!? and find yourself crying in the bathroom at 2pm on a tuesday?

on those kinds of days, its important to remember its just a day. and in a few days (maybe even tomorrow) the clouds will part and you'll see the sun again.

till then, maybe you need a reminder that there are happier days ahead?

tonight i watched a mindless movie and made a paper chain counting down the days to my two sun-filled vacations. its hanging in my bedroom much like a 5th grader and for the next 105 days, will remind me to keep my head up. a reward awaits!

besides, life will figure itself out. it always does.

how was your weekend?

mine was fantastic.

oh the things you overhear...

woman 1: "so we've been looking for a bed...i finally found the one we want, but its only sold in NYC and its $900. that doesn't include a mattress or anything!"

woman 2: "yeahhhhh things are expensive..."

woman 1: "but then i found it on craigslist for only $500. so i called the lady. her first question was 'are you a christian?' i said yes, even though i probably shouldn't of, but i was totally caught off guard. she asked my name and she said, do you know that means messenger from god? you are the one who came to me in my prayers. i want to give you this bed free of charge. its god's will."
--

true story.

a laugh from lu

ever have one of those weeks when OMG YOUR PUP WON'T EFFING SETTLE DOWN!? its all look at me! pet me! throw the ball for me! i never get tired and if you talk on the phone or try to go to sleep or try to do anything remotely productive i will bark at you until you give me your undivided attention? yeah well, that's been my week. princess lu has successfully made me insane this week. but all this energy has to equate to something remotely entertaining, right? right.

earlier this week i'm pumping some jams and gathering my laundry. exciting tuesday stuff over in boystown. whenever i do this, lu always watches me with confusion in her eyes. momma whaaat are you doing? where are you going? i don't have to go in my crate!? can i come run down the hall? is there someone here i can jump on? no lu. you stay put. i gather my things, close the door behind me and head downstairs to get this laundry party started.

when i come back upstairs i see something scurrying towards the end of the hallway. a rat? a cat? a ferret? oooh no, that's just MY DOG running free through the hallway while her owner is now where to be found. lovely.

once she sees me she knows she's in trouble and darts back inside the door. i guess i didn't close it all the way? or maybe someone was trying to sabtagoge me and let her out? she does bark a LOT. whatever the case, i firmly explain to her that she can't just go off running around the building unsupervised. i'm fairly certain she was rolling her eyes at me.

hours later, i come home from the gym. i'm walking down to my apartment, leafing through my mail, minding my own business - then BAM i nearly step in a pile of dog shit in my hallway. yes, the very hallway little lu was running through earlier. ahhhh yes, it looks as someone else was not a fortunate as me and actually did step in it earlier.

when i realize its MY dog's poo i gasp - look around to see if anyone has noticed we're responsible - and immediately grab the #2 with some junk mail. thank goodness for weekly ads from walmart i'm never going to use.

well, at least she keeps things interesting.

fun finds

i haven't done one of these in a while and with a pile of magazine clipping laying on my coffee table, what's a better time than now to share some of these fun finds.

• looking for a new book? enter bookseer. just type in the title and author of a book you liked to see suggestions for other titles you may be into.

• see the connections between your habits and your health by tracking daily patterns with the carrot. you can monitor your workouts, diet, mood and sleep patterns (plus lots more) and run detailed trend reports. all for free – and no surprise, there's an app for that.

• ever wonder what color matches your personality? well here's a quiz to help. if you don't goog share with me, then this may be new to you. i was black -- "nothing can stand between you and your demand for a calm environment. to be free of conflict and disagreement is the only way to live...your ability to focus is undisputed, and while you enjoy attention, you still have problems understanding how to handle it. no other color lives by the golden rule as much as you do." -- but so were most of my friends. are you?

• the next book deal in the making -- hipsterpuppies.

• pretty things: fabrics, wallpapers and twitter backgrounds.

• one of the coolest uses of space ever. watch the video. i assure you its worth your 4 minutes.

• if you just want to kill some time and make yourself hungry in the process – make your own donuts here. while you're clicking, enter the contest. you could win 12K! i only expect a third of your winnings for the tip.

did you find anything fun lately?

fried chicken friday

when you're in the process of essentially repositioning your life, you need to be clever. yes you are changing your eating patterns, but you can't completely deprive yourself of life's tasty treats – or before you know it, you're falling off the wagon covered in dirt and mcdonald's wrappers.

so when a cravings for fried food sets in, it's time to get those creative juices flowing. or more accurately, consult my starred google reader posts and/or pile of magazine clippings. last night's help came from good ol' women's health. faux-fried chicken? don't mind if i do...

i basically followed their easy instructions, minus the blender and plus a little horseradish in my dijon. i just put the cornflakes and spices in a baggie and smashed it all together with my fist. next time i'll cut back on the sage and maybe add a little fresh parsley? or some red pepper flakes to take it up a notch? bam.

--
faux-fried chicken
3 chicken tenders or boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips
3 tbsp dijon mustard (with horseradish to taste)
2 1/2 c cornflakes
2 tsp minced fresh sage (maybe just 1 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp BBQ for dipping (optional - but totally recommended)

1) preheat over to 400°F. line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray. coat each piece of chicken with dijon mustard.

2. in a food processor or blender (or don't), combine the cornflakes, sage, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. pulse to a coarse meal and transfer to a shallow dish. dredge each chicken strip in the cornflake mixture until evenly coated. Place on baking sheet and bake until cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. serve with dipping sauce, if desired.

250 calories / Makes 2 servings
--

easy dinner and warms up nicely for leftovers. mmmm leftovers...

GPOYW

so excited to be going to home bistro for dinner edition.

happy accidents

some people are known for their good luck. oooh look at me, the perfect job just fell into my lap. what's that? a $100 bill on the ground. woohooo blackjack!

i am not one of these people.
i'm much more the type to be assaulted by a facialist, wake up to puppy shit in my bed or have a freak lip-swelling situation. so when happy accidents come my way, it's important to note – even if its just a cooking experiment.

thanks to the grocery store being completely out of lentils, i had to adapt my previous dinner plans. those jumbo shrimp certainly could not go to waste atop a salad or in something equally as mundane when i had such delicious plans in my head. so when i got home, i looked at my inventory and got creative.

friends, i bring you jumbo shrimp with a kick!
its super easy and crazy tasty. i couldn't quite believe little ol' me threw it together in just a matter of 10 minutes.


the fixings:
• 3 jumbo shrimp (i just used the cooked ones from the grocery store that were on sale - spent a whopping $2)
• 1 instant brown rice cup (i swear by these things)
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 shallot
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped
• 1/2 lemon
• flavorful salsa (i used santa barbara's roasted red pepper, corn and black bean)
• crumbled feta (just a little)

how to:
1) get a little oil olive warming in your frying pan, add garlic and chopped onion. cook until shallots are almost see through (2-3 minutes)
2) add chopped parsley, brown rice and a little balsamic vinegar - mix all together.
3) slide rice mixture to edge of pan to make room for shrimp and cook them for about 90 seconds on each side. (they are already cooked, just warming and infusing some flavor)
4) squeeze half of lemon juice on top of shrimp and rice.
5) plate food! lay rice down first, then stack shrimp and add salsa to top and sides of rice. garnish with feta and another squeeze of lemon.

enjoy.

like dog, like owner?

apparently. lives in city, check. accident prone, double check. likes little miss sunshine, checkmate. at least i don't have a big nose.

this study is pretty funny to read. i'm sure you can find correlations to more than one person in your life.

gotta love the pups...
{thanks for the goog share billy}

Biggest Loser: Month 1 Recap!

its hard to believe its been an entire month. 31 days of counting calories, making health conscious decisions and routinely getting my ass in gear. i've done more squats, lunges, push-ups and jumping jacks than i can even begin to count. i've logged miles on the treadmill, danced my butt off in classes and pushed myself when i didn't think i could. i did this 25 days out of those last 31. if i stopped tomorrow, i'd still be impressed with myself.

but i won't be stopping. ooooh helllll no. this is a competition after all! there is money on the line. but more importantly, there's weight to be lost and goals to be reached.

1) watch what you eat. write it down. plan.
2) get 7 hours of exercise in per week. seemed daunting at first, but i promise its totally do-able.
3) lose 6 to 7 pounds

this month i kept the goals relatively simple:and guess what?! because of 1 & 2...
i lost 7 pounds this month!

i feel stronger, lighter and more energized than ever. best of all, i know its only going to get better from here.

next month the focus is working on toning my arms. by the time summer comes, i'm going to be proud to show off these guns. they haven't been sculpted since my younger tennis days. its time.

so one month down, 5 to go! its gonna be a journey, a very sweaty journey - and i'm sure i'll need a little help along the way. a girl is bound to get burned out, plateau or completely fall off the wagon and stuff her face with late night pizza. when that happens, someone please remind me of this post and how good it feels to take care of yourself.

genius

this would change my life...


i must throw the tennis ball no less than 200 times a day. if you've played with lu for more than a few minutes you know i'm not exaggerating. yes, if i had this puppy's energy i could do major world-changing things. i'll get back to you on what those might be but i totally could. also, i don't think there's a market for women in their late 20s who 'have mad hops' jumpping three times their height...but i could totally do that too. wait, do people still join the circus?

anyways, anyone know where i can pick one up!?
it'd make for a much more productive mommy.