Hey there. Popping in to say hi and Happy early July 4^th. Maybe you have today off or at least tomorrow off for the 4^th. I am happy to have another day added to my weekend, especially since I worked Saturday due to month end close and working in accounting.

                Luckily Saturday passed by pretty quickly and I came home to Brian ready to make dinner. He tried out a cabbage and beef Asian dish and it turned out delicious. There were not even any leftovers and sadly I don’t have a picture for you either. We then proceeded to make the dish again on Sunday night because it was that good. It’s nice to try new recipes for a little variety.

                After our early dinner Saturday, we spent the evening with some family friends. We took the dogs for a walk and threw a ball in the park for them and they were definitely tired out.  We hung outside, talking and catching up for a while.

                 I also got introduced to a Lush face mask that was AMAZING. I am actually slowly getting into face masks ever since doing a mud bath in New Zealand. I am not someone who needs all the beauty products, but I have been working on more self care (plan to do a post on this soon).

In the evening we learned that the power went out at our house due to a storm. The weather around here is crazy because other than some clouds, it didn’t rain at all where we were and we were only 20 miles from home. We took our time heading back because no power in a house that uses well water means no shower and limited toilet use as well. Luckily we just had to brush our teeth and head to bed. The power did tease us for a minute though in the middle of me taking out my contacts before bed and then suddenly I was in the dark and had to not lose the contact on my finger while I found my phone to use the flashlight. I am so glad the iphone makes the flashlight function easy to find. Also just thankful I don’t have to run around looking for a flashlight if I have my phone.

Sunday morning I tried to sleep in, but failed. I was up around 7am and had something to eat before heading to the gym, Target and Wegmans. I love running all my errands early in the morning and especially with it being Sunday, it wasn’t crowded anywhere. I came home and decided to have a brunch since I didn’t eat much for breakfast.

Then we headed out to the Syracuse mall. It’s an hour drive but I wanted to do some shopping with July 4^th sales. As usual, I walked out of most of the stores empty handed, but I did score some jeans at Lucky Brand Outlet. It was buy 1 get 1 50% off and I decided to get 2 pairs so I don’t wear them out as quickly. I also found some leggings on sale at Dicks Sporting Goods which I believe will be good for winter as they feel warm.

Brian and I split a mini cookie cake from Mrs Fields and enjoyed walking around the mall. It was a great way to hit 10K steps and once I found jeans, I found the trip to be pretty successful. I still need to find new black pants for work, but didn’t really find anything I liked so it will wait.

We returned home and hit a couple mini rain storms along the way. It’s very confusing when it is pouring rain and you see blue skies ahead, but that’s what happened.

We were home in time for dinner which Brian cooked outside in between sporadic rain. Then it was time to relax for the evening.

I am off today so we might do some painting in a bedroom. I know I will go to the gym and hoping to get an oil change on my car. Not too exciting but things that need to be done. It’s always nice to have an extra day at home to clean and catch up on items.

 

Did you shop any July 4^th sales?

                Happy Monday!! Can you believe it’s the last week of June already?! So in New York State, kids just graduated high school this weekend. I can’t imagine graduating so late. I mean my high school literally had the seniors out a month ago…I guess I should feel lucky Illinois State doesn’t have Regents Exams for seniors. I don’t really understand them but they are state tests issued in June in NYS. NYS also starts school after Labor Day, whereas Illinois starts the week before Labor Day. While it wasn’t always fun to start school in August, it was great that we had a few days of school (as sometimes we didn’t even start until Wednesday) and then a 3 day weekend. Forget learning anything that first week of school. All the homework is basically for the parents as I remember all the permission slips and things my parents had to sign that first day or two.

                Anyway, it is officially summer on the calendar, which is awesome. I don’t have any summer trips planned since you don’t really get vacation your first year at a new job, but I do hope to get to some state parks throughout July and August. I feel pretty lucky (again) that I have seen quite a bit of upstate NY, but there is still much more to explore.

                This weekend went by pretty quickly, but it was a good one. Friday after work I headed to yoga again. I am really loving getting back into what I know and the vinyasa flow class with some challenges with ab work. I got home around 7:30pm and warmed up some dinner. I learned the previous week that cereal for dinner does not work and so I had actual protein with a turkey burger. Brian’s parents came to town on Thursday and his mom left Friday morning to go to her nephew’s graduation down on Long Island. Around 9pm, Brian’s dad stumbled upon a show about New Zealand and I actually stayed up to watch it until 10pm. I was wide awake! This surprised me as we had 3 dogs stay with us (Brian’s parents 2 dogs and his aunt’s puppy) Thursday night so I didn’t sleep great. The show was really interesting though and it’s awesome to watch a show and be like I’ve been there. For 3 weeks in New Zealand, we covered a lot and there were only a few places mentioned that I know we didn’t see.

                Finally at 10 I headed to bed since I had to be up semi early for yoga. Of course I don’t know why I bothered to set an alarm when we had 2 dogs in the house. Greta was first to come into my room, check to see I was still there and then walk out at 5am. Then Lucy was in and out, hopping on the bed and would only stay while I pet her until 6:30am when I finally was like, well I might as well get up.

                If every day (minus the 5am dog wake up) could be like Saturday, that would be amazing! My day started with yoga then I had an early lunch and headed out to a massage. I have been looking for a massage place for a few weeks and yesterday while at work my shoulders and neck were so tight and I was like, I really just need a massage. I found a place that had intro massages for $49 and was surprised when they offered me an appointment for Saturday.

The woman that did my massage was amazing!! She spent a lot of time on my neck and shoulders and did some stretches and then really dug into my legs, glutes and hips. I relaxed and even when my mind tried to go elsewhere, it was kind of that hurt so good pain that forced me to focus on breathing through it and enjoying the massage. My head was definitely lighter afterwards. The place has a monthly massage membership after your first massage and I think I will be signing up. July is quite busy for me though so I will probably start in August. The great thing though is if you don’t use a massage one month, it just rolls over so you could get 2 in one month as you have already paid. I think that is a nice benefit.

                After my massage, I stopped at Wegmans. I was kind of glad I went in the afternoon as they were quite busy with catering with all the graduation parties happening this weekend. The afternoon was busy, but not bad. I came home and started some meal prep since it was just me at home with Lucy. Lucy likes to sleep most of the day so it was easy with her home. I cooked some chicken on the smoker, roasted some sweet potatoes and even made peanut butter cookies. All this, while also doing my laundry, vacuuming in between, listening to podcasts and taking Lucy out. It’s no wonder 5pm rolled around so quickly. I was snacking so much I decided it was dinner time and ate up some leftovers in the fridge.

                When I finished eating, I had the urge to write for a while. I hadn’t spent much time at my computer and it was nice to take a writing break. From yoga, massage, cooking, beautiful weather, it was the perfect day. Brian finally returned home in the evening as well. We were going to get ice cream but it was late so I decided on making drinks instead. We had fresh mint growing in the backyard so I pulled some leaves off and then muddled them with blueberries and a bit of sugar. I mixed that with some iced tea and some sort of alcohol Brian had on hand. I make mine super light and even though I made Brian’s stronger, he said he barely tasted the alcohol too and liked it. I hadn’t had a drink since Barcelona back in April so it was a nice treat to enjoy the evening with Brian.

                Sunday morning, everyone was pretty much up around 6am. I tried to sleep in a bit, but got up at 6:45. Brian’s mom brought bagels back from Long Island, so I toasted one up and put butter and cinnamon on one half and then peanut butter on the other half for breakfast. I figured it was OK to have a bit more carbs than I usually do since I was heading to the gym anyway. Plus it’s Long Island bagels!

                Eventually everyone bugged Brian enough to pull him out of bed around 8:30am. I headed to the gym at 9 and enjoyed my squat workout. I actually increased my squat weight and squats felt AMAZING the day after my massage. I seriously feel so good and much looser.

                After my workout I came home and made a smoothie. Then I decided to treat myself a bit more and not only wash my face but also use some of my New Zealand mud for a face mask.

                In the afternoon, I decided to head out for a walk as it was a beautiful day. Even though I got drizzled on in the beginning, the clouds parted and the blue skies and fluffy white clouds came out.

                I wrapped up the day watching Moana on Netflix. FINALLY!! It was really good. Then we had dinner and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Thanks Katie for the link up.

 

What’s your favorite way to treat yourself?

Happy Monday!! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine wasn’t too busy, mostly filled with the usual yoga, workouts and running errands. I did enjoy some much needed sleeping in on Sunday as well. Starting off the MIMM with Friday evening.

Friday

After work on Friday, I drove straight to a yoga studio. I decided to try out a vinyasa class. We did a plank series that totally kicked my butt. Plank, such a simple, yet challenging move. Add to plank, some downdog crunches and holding 3 legged dog for multiple breathes…yeah it was a workout. I’ve been doing lots of slow and restorative yoga lately, so I was craving the workout and a vinyasa flow class.

I came home and munched on snacks for dinner. I didn’t really have anything left that was prepped. Soon it was 9pm and I headed to bed. I felt tired and a little sick. I think I overdid it on the cereal for dinner eating. Eventually, though I fell asleep and I woke up in the morning feeling better, though I still felt like my head wasn’t screwed on right.

Saturday

I headed to yoga in the morning, hoping it would help me feel better. It did help a bit. Afterwards, I headed to DSW to look for some new shoes for work. Then I noticed a Banana Republic Factory store in the same plaza, so I stopped there as well. Always, when I am not looking for something, I find something. The good news is that both shirts I left Banana Republic with were on clearance and already had been further discounted. Two shirts for under $20 when one of them used to be $40 full price. Score! I have to say that was the highlight of my day. Sometimes you just need a little retail therapy.

Then I headed to DSW and within 15 minutes, I found a pair of comfy shoes. I paced the aisle in the store a few times with them on and they were comfy. Hopefully they are comfy wearing them in the office. I do know they are at least better than my current pair because they have a wedge and aren’t totally flat. I just really hate flat flat shoes. I would rather walk barefoot.

After that, it was time to go to Wegmans because as I mentioned, I was running low on food. That stop didn’t take too long and then I was home to relax. I had some soup for lunch and drank tons of water. I knew I was dehydrated in the morning when I nearly got a Charlie horse in my leg. I felt my muscle start to spasm and stopped myself from stretching further. Funny cause I was literally just talking to my coworkers over lunch the other day about how painful Charlie horses can be and how they can stem from dehydration. I should probably learn to take my own advice.

Brian was supposed to be home Saturday but plans changed and that was fine so I was able to lay low. I worked on some meal prep, laundry, reading and playing with a puppy (belongs to Brian’s brother’s girlfriend).

Sunday

Sunday was my sleep in day and even though I was mostly awake at 6am, I stayed in bed until 8:15am and you know what, it felt wonderful. By the time I got up, I felt more refreshed and definitely felt better than Friday night and Saturday. I decided to make some protein pancakes, but instead of using banana, I subbed apple sauce. Let me tell you, DON’T do this! They turned out gross and I could only manage to eat a few bites before grabbing a protein bar and just eating that for my breakfast.

After breakfast, I got ready for the gym. It was squat day and I got some knee sleeves last week to try out. Even though I still need to work on getting the knee sleeves a bit higher on my leg, I feel they really helped with my squatting, protecting my left knee from caving in too much.

Honestly the rest of my Sunday wasn’t too exciting so I won’t bore you. But I do want to say Happy Father’s Day!! Dug out this photo from 1993 with my dad.

 

What did you do this weekend?

 

Happy Monday!! I missed you all on Friday. I am heading into my second week of work. I think this week will involve more work as last week was orientation, meeting everyone and shadowing people to see what they do. So far I love all my coworkers and I am already thinking of ways to make things more efficient. All of my jobs post college have been in such different environments and so far I have been continuing the trend of moving into larger companies. Someday I will have to write a post on my experiences. For now, let’s get to the weekend.

                It was finally a beautiful weekend. Friday started out foggy, but by lunch, it was so warm and bright outside. I was even able to get in a short walk after work. I took a few more rest days this week as my knee has been bugging me a bit and it was nice to just stretch my legs and get some walking in the sunshine.

                I arrived home and was greeted by Holly, Brian’s aunt’s dog, whom we were watching for the weekend. My night was split between playing with her and watching Netflix. By 10, I was ready to sleep as I had a rough night sleep the night before.

                Saturday morning I headed to yoga and ran some errands before returning home and seeing that Brian was home. We had the afternoon to spend together. Brian wanted to nap for a bit and gave me instructions for working the smoker. I cooked up some sausage patties for lunch and then we decided to walk Holly to tire her out. She is still a puppy, not a year old yet, so we need to tire her out so she isn’t all hyper. Brian decided we would walk through the woods and park area, except not on a trail. While I was OK with the clothes I was wearing and didn’t mind getting a bit muddy, I wish I had worn bug spray and my hiking boots. Anyway, I survived and Holly learned to jump over tree logs on the ground and enjoyed the water in the creek.

                That was a good workout for the afternoon and since we were mostly in the shade, it didn’t feel as hot. After that, I felt we deserved some ice cream. I don’t know why, but I was actually craving some and knew the ice cream place down the road had almond milk ice cream. We headed out and the flavor was orange.

               

                 I swear it tasted like orange soda ice cream. It was sooo good. Also sprinkles are always necessary. I ate it so fast and was like, wow that was the best probably since the coconut soft serve with cookie dough bits I had in Melbourne Australia which still ranks #1 best dairy free ice cream I have had and this orange almond milk one would be #2 now. I think they rotate the flavors weekly and this might be a place I have to make multiple trips to this summer. I honestly haven’t craved ice cream much since realizing I was lactose intolerant and suffering in pain after eating it, but it is a nice treat once in a while on a hot day. I am glad more places are offering a dairy free option.

                By the time we got back, it was time for Brian to head back to work. Ice cream kinda took away my appetite for dinner (totally worth it) so I snacked my way through dinner. The evening was relaxing which was nice since I don’t have as much down time during the week now.

                Sunday morning I was up earlier than Saturday and I didn’t even set an alarm. Don’t you hate how you want to sleep in on the days you have an alarm set but can’t and then the day you can sleep in, you just can’t…

                Anyway I made some breakfast and watched Netflix and did some stretching for a bit and then decided to go to the gym. I wasn’t sure if I would go or not based on how my knee was doing, but I decided to go and work up a sweat. I did my box squats but went back to the 18 inch box instead of the 12 inch plus 2 pads. I have been working on deepening my squats and have definitely built a lot of strength my legs didn’t have before. However with my knee aching a bit, I decided to just go back to the 18 inch box that I started with about 6 weeks ago. I have to say, the box felt so EASY!! My first training session in the beginning of May, it was even a challenge for me to get my butt to that box but now it was like, oh the box is there, time to stand up. I am so happy to see these results in my workouts and have it feel a bit easier or increase the weights. I am definitely less sore than I was in the first two weeks as well. I hope to get a new workout routine soon to continue to challenge my body.

                Overall the workout went well and my knee was good. I then headed to Wegmans for weekly groceries. Yes I go to Wegmans straight from my workout in my leggings and sweaty because I don’t feel like stopping at home in between when I am already out.

                   One thing on my list was applesauce. I want to experiment with it in a recipe but I don’t buy it often. I think I spent 15 minutes or so going down every aisle and was about to ask someone when I found it with the canned fruit. I guess that makes sense for location. I am used to the fruit and applesauce to be in the baking aisle at other stores.

                After getting all my groceries, I came home and poured myself a bowl of cereal. I bought some of the Love Grown Honey O’s cereal as one of my impulse buys this time around. I was just craving a bowl of cereal. So that was my after workout/pre lunch snack.

                The rest of the afternoon wasn’t too exciting. I went back to studying some anatomy for a while, caught up on blogs and played with Holly in between. I then did a bit of meal prep for the week, cooking lentils for the first time. I think they turned out pretty good. I had some dinner and then ended the night with a lavender salt bath and some reading.

Thanks Katie for the link up.

 

What’s your favorite ice cream?