GPOYW

me and the pup by the lake trying to take a decent photo version:

there are about 15 more out takes where these came from. little wanted nothing to do with the camera. but the sun was fantastic and just being by the lakefront again made me smile. ahhhhh summer will be here before we know it!

spring training - round 1

in light of the birthday and getting back in town madness, i completely forgot to report on my long weekend in arizona for spring training with friends and family. i got to see the cubs and sox play with my friends and the very next day caught an indians game with the fam. one game was a bit more beer soaked than the other. i'll let you use your imagination. other highlights, winning $418 on the penny slots, spending a entire day in the sun, CVS tailgating, in-and-out burger and coming back from a trip *actually* relaxed! ehhhh perhaps any more details are stale at this point two weeks out. so pictures will have to suffice.



you better believe i'll be going back next year. its such a perfectly timed break from chicago's cold. not to mention, a BLAST!

sleep, bikes and anticipation!

ever have one of those weekends where you get plenty of sleep, ample bursts of exercise and make 90% smart food choices - but you are STILL exhausted come the start of the work week? that is my life and i don't quite get it. maybe i'm getting too much sleep? or maybe i need to make myself stick to that to-do list instead of curling up with my book and nodding off hours before my "usual" bedtime? seems backwards. i'm sure its just a little funk. or maybe i'm fighting off a cold? either way, i'm over it. there are things to be done!

this weekend was productive and low key and completely necessary. friday was zumba, errands and whole foods sushi for dinner. pretty sure lu and i were tucked away in bed before midnight. not sure she appreciated her ball-throwing being cut short a couple hours, but that's what happens when you're the DOG.

saturday am i logged some solid treadmill hours and then headed out to meet stef to begin our day of bike-shopping! we visited just about every shop on the northside and were at it for a good 4 hours before we found our dream bikes. yes, they happen to be the same ones. we knew we were both searching for the same SORT of thing, but never did i think we'd end up with twin bikes. of course, they had to order my XS small frame from the factory, but stef got to ride her beauty home. i cannot wait to tear up the neighborhood this summer. life is just soooo much easier on two wheels.

sunday was that crave party i mentioned last week. a few ladies joined me and i will speak for the crowd when i say we were all relatively disappointed. it just had such potential and instead it was disorganized and lack luster. sure i got a free vitamin water, but that was about the extent of the perks. sorry, but "lululemon sponsored bags" should really mean more than the ACTUAL bag. but it the venue was stunning and at least my camera got a good workout!

how was your weekend?
i'm already itching for the next one. our annual easter egg hunt is saturday. without a doubt, this is my favorite tradition.
and this year, josh and i may have a little something special up our sleeves...

wellness is the word

i've always loved a good sweat. whether its a competitive match of tennis or just logging some treadmill time - getting those feel good workout endorphins going have always been part of my life. however, maintaining a routine and sticking with it has not. life gets busy. you work long hours. you travel. you have dinners. you have happy hours. you have hangovers. before you know it, a week can go by and you have done nothing good for your waistline – besides burning a few calories giggling over wine and cheese-laden appetizers.

these past few months, i've worked hard to get back on track and make fitness a priority. i started a biggest loser competition among friends (as many of you know), i've become a regular at my gym and i'm cooking calorie-conscious dishes more than ever. along with those habits i've tried to instill in my daily life, i have been trying to find other ways i can stay excited about fitness when facing the standard gym routine seems daunting.

enter: CRAVE Bloom & Tone party - a wellness event taking place this sunday in the chicagoland area. the party is from 1 to 6 in ravenswood (just a block from the montrose brown line stop). registration is $25 and when you sign up you'll get an email asking you to choose four 30 minute class sessions to participate in that day. additionally, there will be mini-spa services, a pop-up lululemon store and healthy snacks available to you (along with lots more) throughout the day.

best of all, there are goody bags stuffed with lululemon loot. woohoo!

hope to see you there on sunday ladies :)
not in chicago? check their site...CRAVE parties are all over!

the final countdown

did i do it? are those classic lyrics swirling in your head? yeahhhh it was pretty inevitable and good luck getting that tune outta your head. but i'm not here to talk about jams from the 80s.

i'm here to talk about MY final countdown to warmth, relaxation, friends and family. there's only three rings left on that paper chain of mine and i couldn't be more excited for thursday to get here.

oh yes, thursday afternoon i'll be jet setting to arizona for some baseball games and good ol fashioned 82 degree weather fun. a vacation is long overdue and with chicago's bipolar spring tendencies, it could not be more perfectly timed.

i'm just just three days of work and a big to-do list away from bliss.
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what are you looking forward to?

its always been chicken

growing up there were a few things you could always count on. coors light in the fridge, mom asleep on the couch by 10pm and chicken for dinner. i would really love to know the number of chicken breasts i consumed living under that roof. even just in high school, i'm sure it was easily over 500. of course, i'm not complaining. you throw it on the grill and 7 minutes later you have dinner. with our family always running in a million different directions, its just about the only thing that made sense. granted, we had pasta on sundays and the occasional tuna noodle casserole here and there - but chicken was the staple.

fast forward to being out of the house for nearly a decade and what meat is the only one i consistently cook? you guessed it - chicken. however, i tend to get a little fancier than mom thanks to food blogs, dining out and foodie friends.

tonight's cooking adventure comes from closet cooking, easily one of my favorite food blogs. from the well lit photography to the ease of the recipes, weekly (if not daily) there's something i'm looking forward to trying in my own kitchen.

this time is was the roasted red pepper, pistachio and feta stuffed chicken caught my eye. of course, mine didn't turn out quite as pretty as his stuffed spirals, but the hell with how it looks, it tasted a-mazing!
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what ya need:
• 1/2 cup feta (mashed)
• 1/2 cup pistachios (coarsely ground)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 chicken breasts (butterflied and pounded thin)
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika (i would have used normal paprika, but i actually forgot this part entirely)
• 4 roasted red peppers (i just used the ones in the can)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 cloves garlic (grated)
• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon thyme (chopped)

how to:
(these are basically just copied right from CC - why fix what isn't broke?)
1. Mix half the feta, pistachios and olive oil until they form a thick paste.
2. Lay the chicken breasts out and season them with the smoked paprika and top them with the roasted red peppers followed by the pistachio mixture. Roll up the chicken around the filling and secure it with toothpicks.
3. Season the chicken with season with salt and pepper.
4. Heat the oil in a pan.
5. Add the chicken, brown on all sides, about 2-4 minutes per side.
6. Place the chicken in a baking dish and bake in a 350F, about 30 minutes.
7. Add the wine to the pan that you browned the chicken in and deglaze it.
8. Add the chicken stock and garlic and bring to a boil.
9. Simmer to reduce by half.
10. Add the yogurt, feta, lemon zest, thyme and season with salt and pepper.
11. Simmer for a few minutes and remove from heat.
12. Plate on bed of spinach (or rice) and enjoy!

serves 2: about 400 calories/serving
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i will be making this again. but perhaps not a night i am at the gym till 8:30pm. it takes at least an hour start to finish, which isn't exactly conducive to my growling feed-me-now stomach at that hour.

give it a try! this one's a keeper.

wine on wednesdays

hey chicago foodies:

do you love wine? do you love when its perfectly pared with small plates in a stunning, trendy river north restaurant with incredible service? thought so.

i present to you - wine on wednesdays, brought to you by mk.

i've been wanting to try this for months, but it can be hard to carve out time in the middle of the week when you're trying to get your butt in shape and have a pup at home you need to get home to. alas, we finally made it work and holy hell was i impressed.

here is the menu for yesterday's experience.
but do note, this changes weekly and you can get on an email list to make sure you are taunted weekly. additionally they have 'beer on tuesdays.'
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california's take on classic french favorites

2008 sauvignon blanc, cade, napa (loire valley)
red snapper, caramelized cauliflower, preserved lemon relish

2007 cabernet franc, lang & reed, north coast (chinon)
grilled breast of squab, hen of the wood mushrooms, braised red cabbage

2004 meritage, bernardus, marinus, caramel valley (bordeaux)
28 hours sous vide short ribs, glazed parsnips, cippolini onion rings <--- soooo good!
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all for $25!

of course, we couldn't stop there. the last wine was so tasty we choose to have another glass and call it dessert. well, until they read us the desserts and we ended up with a trio of amazingness in front of us – as well as that said glass of vino.

but could you pass this up?
two bananas walk into a bar banana soufflé cake, toasted marshmallow fluff macadamia nut crumble, dark chocolate sauce malted banana ice cream

mad props mk. i'll be back.

smart series

loving this project from paul octavious, a chicago based photographer who specializes in series work.

this set is titled same hill different day.
"For the past 2 years I have visited a beautiful mound of earth that I have come to call "the hill." Each time I have come to the hill a new story is told to me as if the hill is my stage and the locals are the actors in this daily play." - paul


pretty cool.
perhaps, especially cause i'm familiar with that very location...

this series The Things I Saw from JFK ✈ SFO has some stunning shots from the sky...


and his puffin clouds shots are just fun...



some of these would make great wall art huh? well, don't worry...he's thought of that.

there's lots to look at. go explore!

Biggest Loser: Month 2 Recap!

today marks two months into my biggest loser challenge. the first month went incredible. i worked out and counted my calories and BAM - the weight fell off. i reached my 7 pound goal and went into february with high hopes of losing 7 more.

well, i didn't.

i amped up my workouts and continued to watch what i ate, but much to my dismay - the steady loss i had gotten used to seeing on the scale slowed.

this month i lost 3.5 pounds, half of my goal. when you're sweating your butt off 5-6 days a week and being mindful of your calories this is a hard fact to face.

what had i changed? where did i go wrong? am i setting my expectations too high? do i need to battle the vicious "plateau" already? probably not.

what is more likely/realistic/less OMGdramatic is that my body is adjusting and not as shocked by my workout intensity as it was the first month. i'm building muscle and maybe those two weeks where the scale barely moved i had a few too many martinis or was a bit too liberal with my calorie-counting?

i'm down 10.5 pounds after 8 weeks. while i'm not where i ideally wanted to be...the loss is certainly nothing to turn my nose up at. it's working...just a little slower than i wanted. i'm leaner and stronger and tuesday i got the nicest compliment from a stranger. a girl at my gym i had met 6 months ago and hadn't seen since stopped me in the locker room just to tell me "you look great!" that, despite the non-budging scale, made me smile. my body IS changing and hell, someone who could give two shits about me noticed!

the month of march is all about cracking down and getting this losing cycle back on track. maybe its time to change up the treadmill routine? add a couple more miles onto my week? add more intervals? try a new class? we are still 4 months from the finish line and i plan on needing a whole new wardrobe come summertime. better yet, i'm 2 weeks away from a long weekend poolside. time to focus!

do you (or did you) struggle with your weight? have you learned any tricks through the years to fend off the scary (perhaps inevitable) plateau? and what happens when you do everything right (food, change up workouts, no booze) and you still aren't budging the scale? i would LOVE your advice dear readers.

fun (food) finds - v2

some people dread the grocery store. however, i happen to find wandering down the aisles a rather calming part of my week. i have my list and i know where the tiny cans of green chilis are tucked away. but i like to keep my eyes pealed for new products.

here are few things i've picked up lately:

• special k low-fat granola -- an easy breakfast or quick snack and relatively low in calories for granola. of course, its 'better for you' if you make your own, but sometimes there just isn't time for that. and when the box is on sale for $2, why not grab one?

• santa barbara roasted red pepper, corn & black bean salsa -- i found this jar of deliciousness a few weeks back. you may remember it complimenting my shrimp dish rather perfectly. the rest was scooped up by tostitos rather rapidly. if you can find it, i definitely recommend tossing it in your cart.

• vita coco -- all natural coconut water. its tasty and low in calories, though not the easiest to find in just any store. luckily, treasure island is just down the street and their shelves are always stocked. the one with pineapple is my fave. do try.

• special k crisps -- these may be the best damn thing i've found in months. they come two per pack and they taste like an adult version of a pop tart. and at only 100 calories, these have quickly become a staple of my cupboard. my afternoon sweet tooth doesn't stand a chance.

• smart & delicious low carb, high fiber tortillas -- not that i'm particularally watching my carbs, but when you can get a flavorful tortilla for 50 calories - i'm ready to give them a try. i picked up the green onion variety to complete my chicken tacos and they did not disappoint. i see several wraps and quesadillas in their future. olé!

• dreyer's slow churned light ice cream cups -- when it comes to treats, i think many of the experts can agree its all about your portion size. oh yes, moderation is key. then again, when is it not? so what better than single sized ice cream servings? don't be fooled by the "light" in their name. they will trick you into thinking you're being naughty. but when the carton is empty, you can go on with your life - instead of holding on to that spoon and finding yourself standing in the kitchen cradling a 2 gallon tub ten minutes later. these are not a new addition to my home, but one i strongly stand by. they only average about a dollar each - so pick some up, you'll thank me.