My bags are packed!

Don’t let Sadie fool you. She was much more of a hindrance to my packing than a help. She can always seem to tell when I’m packing up to leave because she gets extra needy, and that’s saying a lot for the world’s neediest dog.

Even with her constant wiggling under my arms, I managed to pack up my suitcase without much trouble.

Carry on bag, baby. No bag check fees for this girl!

Once I was all packed up, I wanted to get on the road. I had a two-hour drive ahead of me because my flight leaves out of Tampa and didn’t want to take any chances with traffic or potential accidents along the way.

I made myself lunch on the go in the form of a smoothie.

Since I’m sure my eating will be all over the place this weekend, I wanted to sneak in some extra nutrition in the form of spinach into my smoothie. Unfortunately I was out of fresh spinach, but I had a pack of frozen spinach on hand and figured I would give it a try.

I wasn’t sure how the frozen spinach would do in the smoothie, but I got some reassurance via Twitter about using frozen spinach in smoothies earlier in the week, so I figured it was worth a go.

I used half the pack of frozen spinach and couldn’t taste it one bit. Success!

Into the blender went:

• 1 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 frozen banana
• 1/2 pack frozen spinach
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder

I slurped it down in the car.

After a two-hour drive, I arrived at my parents’ house in St. Pete. (My car will be staying with them this weekend to save on airport parking fees.)

Naturally I dug into their food within minutes.

Two clementines…

A few spoonfuls of almond butter….

And some trail mix. I usually pick around the raisins and just eat the nuts, but today I was an equal opportunity eater. Raisins are making a comeback for me!

Time to make myself a sandwich and grab some snacks for an airport dinner.

See ya from New York City!

One way to put a little extra pep in your step in the morning is to schedule an evening flight to one of the most exciting and dynamic cities in the world! I’m off to New York City late this evening, but since my flight isn’t until after dinnertime, I have plenty of time to have a somewhat normal work day.

Which also means that I had time to get in a good workout this morning.

Workout

My workout began with 20 minutes on the elliptical beside Ryan. We were both feeling extra chatty this morning which made the time fly by. On some mornings I will grab a magazine and he’ll watch ESPN and we’ll say all of five things to each other because we’re still waking up, but today we had a lot to say… including yet again noticing Adele blaring on the radio two times within the 45 minutes we were at the gym. They’re going to ruin “Set Fire to the Rain” for me soon enough and I absolutely love that song.

After ellipticizing (it’s a word, don’t worry about it), it was time for an upper body workout.

I loosely followed my arms ‘n’ abs workout from Tuesday without quite the same intensity since I have plans to take a new-to-me exercise class in New York tomorrow with my friends and don’t want to be too sore going into it.  

Breakfast

This morning I wasn’t sure what I wanted for breakfast. I was feeling quite indecisive and opted for an egg, cheese and raspberry jelly bagelwich.

Some of you have asked about what kind of bagels I prefer to use. I’m not picky in the least and typically buy whatever is on sale, whether it be bakery bagels from Publix, Alternative Bagels or Thomas’ bagels. I just try to buy whole wheat bagels and am pretty easy to please.

Along with my egg sandwich, I also had a small bowl of cashews for some healthy fats.

Tights or No Tights?

Yesterday I took to Twitter to ask some packing advice. I have a dress to wear on Saturday night in New York City and wasn’t sure whether or not women in New York wore tights underneath dresses or were hardcore and simply braved the cold with bare legs.

I felt like a dork asking such a simple question, but in Florida, tights-free legs are basically acceptable year-round since it never gets that cold.

Just about 90 percent of the responses encouraged me to wear tights unless I want my legs to turn into frozen blocks and fall off within 10 minutes.

My favorite response came from Ashley…

Ha!

I know it sounds completely silly and frivolous, but as a Floridian, it’s kind of hard to decide what to pack to wear in frigid temperatures while still looking semi-dressy for a fun night out.

When I hear that it’s going to be 30 degrees in Florida, I am completely bundled up in everything I own, but I’d look like some kind of a bag lady if I dressed that way in New York among the people who are used to the cold.

That’s cute downtown attire, no? (Let’s not forget that I was wearing that ridiculous outfit when I was unexpectedly interviewed on the news. Awesome.)

My bag is 80 percent packed, so I only have a few last-minute things to add before heading out!

Those of you who guessed that this afternoon’s sneak peak picture was a flashback look at Ryan’s hair get 10 points!

When Ryan and I first started dating he had long, shaggy, blonde hair.

I typically gravitate toward brunette guys, so I was actually surprised to find myself very attracted to a blonde boy! Apparently my brunette preference held true, because under that mop of blonde was a brunette just dying to get out!

When Ryan had his blonde hair, people would tell us that we looked alike all the time. Because that’s not a creepy thing to hear…

Ryan’s grandmother had an ongoing offer to pay Ryan $100 if he chopped off his long hair. One day he surprised all of us and showed up at my parents’ house with a buzzed head without telling anyone what he was doing!

I loved it!

Apparently he wasn’t yet ready to part with his long, wavy locks, because before we knew it he had a head full of thick, brown hair.

Now he keeps his hair nice and short and simple.

I find it oddly amusing that Ryan’s hair has seen more changes than mine. I’ve never dyed my hair and it’s been long and super thin my whole life.

Dinner

Dinner tonight was quite simple thanks to freezer food.

I have a lot of packing to do tonight because I leave for New York tomorrow, so I wanted a quick and easy dinner.

A few weeks ago I received a package of Crazy Cuisine authentic Asian dishes. I immediately put them into the freezer and forgot about them until tonight when I had an intense craving for Chinese food.

I followed the package directions and heated the General Tso’s chicken in a bit of canola oil on the stove top before adding fresh broccoli and the zesty ginger sauce packet to the hot chicken.

It was so, so good. Ryan and I couldn’t get over how much it tasted like takeout Chinese food. By nature General Tso’s chicken isn’t exactly healthy, but at least this dish was high in protein and free of preservatives and trans-fats.

I also ended up cutting up an apple to eat on the side because I wanted something sweet, nutritious and crunchy. Great meal!

Question of the Evening

• Have you ever sported any horrific hairstyles? Please share!

Oh my word, you guys all need to become professional party planners.

Your ideas for a theme for the formal night of our cruise were fantastic. I am about to send an email to the cruise group with a summary of your ideas and I’ll be sure to keep you posted as to which theme comes out on top.

In case you’re in the market for some party theme ideas, here are some of my favorites taken straight from the comments section of this morning’s post:

• Prom (I envision Dumb and Dumber tuxedos for the guys and big sleeves or lots of sequins for the girls)
• Canadian tuxedos (A denim on denim extravaganza)
• Disney princes and princesses
• Royal wedding (Imagine the crazy hats!)
• Safari/Animal print (A perfect clashing of tackiness and class)
• Jersey Shore
• Pick a decade: ‘20s, ‘50s, ‘60s, etc.
• Ken and Barbie
• Famous couples
• Toddlers and Tiaras/Pageant wear
• America themed – a vision in red, white and blue (This idea cracks me up!)
• Kentucky Derby/Old South (Big hats, dresses and monocles)
• Color theme (Everyone is completely color coordinated)
• Neon formal

Unreal, right?

I feel like I need to be back in college planning sorority socials or something with all of these amazing ideas.

Camo, baby! The most overdone theme in the history of sorority socials.

Lunch

After working through the morning, I met up with my friend Lindsey for an early afternoon hike with Sadie. It was a great “lunch break” in my day and Sadie got some much-needed exercise since I worked through her usual walk time this morning.

Lindsey and I had a great time talking about anything and everything and our hike went by so fast!

When Sadie and I returned from our hike, it was lunchtime. I made myself a plate of food to eat in front of the computer as I worked away.

My meal included a cheddar cheese and turkey bagelwich, served with string cheese, carrots and a cup of passion fruit Greek yogurt, a new flavor recently introduced by Chobani that the company sent me to try.

Oh my gosh, this Greek yogurt is easily one of the best flavors of Greek yogurt I’ve ever tried. I think it’s a combination of the fact that the yogurt is 2 percent (extra creamy), has a little bit of crunch from the passion fruit seeds and the perfect amount of sweetness. It may even replace my beloved strawberry banana!

And now it’s back to work!

Stay tuned this evening because I came across something awfully entertaining that I just have to share with you guys as I was digging through old stuff this morning for an upcoming post about Valentine’s Day ideas.

Here’s a little clue…

It’s only January and I’m already pumped for my birthday… which is at the end of April.

Why? Because I’m going crusin’ with a bunch of friends!

About a month before I started blogging in 2009, a big group of my friends and I went on a cruise for Ryan’s cousin’s birthday. (Daniel was also the best man in our wedding and is one of the most hysterical people I know.)

If you’ve ever been on a cruise before, you know that the cruise designates one night of the cruise as “formal night,” and guests get all gussied up in dressy attire.

Well, Daniel had the idea to have our group dress up in formal wear… ‘80s style.

Ryan and I had the best time scouring local thrift shops to find our outfits.

That little gem of a dress was only $12! It was a velvet and gold dream come true.

This year we’re hoping to do something fun for formal night again, but don’t have any amazing ideas so far.

The best idea thrown out there as of right now is “flannel formal” which I think could be pretty amazing if our entire group of 10 is decked out in head-to-toe flannel, but it’s also not quite dressy enough to really pass as formalwear.

I figured that you guys are super creative and might have some awesome ideas out there to share, so if anything pops into your head, please share! We’re all ears!

Workout

Back to the usual business…

Today’s workout was tough. It started with 20 minutes on the elliptical. I’ve come to realize that my 20-minute cardio warm up is rather crucial to a quality strength workout for me.

I find that I really wake up during a 20-minute cardio warm up and by the time my warm up is complete, I’m ready to pour more effort into my strength training.

And put forth lots of effort I did!

I completed the following leg workout:

Today I brought back the 100 squats challenge and it had my legs shakin’! I’ve been doing three minutes of non-stop squats (inspired by BodyPump!) at 50 pounds for a few weeks now, but upping my weight to 75 pounds and focusing on pounding out 100 squats with minimal resting breaks (taken when necessary) was tough.

I’ll be sore tomorrow!

The 100 squat challenge was inspired by our friend Ben Saperia who is an amazing personal trainer in Orlando. (He’s the same guy who taught the Blogger Boot Camp class I organized a year ago.) He had Ryan doing the 100 squat challenge a while ago and I would always hear Ryan talk about how hard it was and he was right. It’s no joke!

Breakfast

Breakfast today came in a cup!

A thick ‘n’ delicious smoothie!

Into the blender went:

• 3/4 cup 2 percent milk
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1 1/2 frozen banana
• 1 1/2 tablespoon peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Peanut butter cup smoothies are the best!

Questions of the Morning

• What is the best theme you’ve ever heard of for a party?
• Any ideas for themed formal attire for our upcoming cruise?

This morning, as I worked, I boiled a bunch of eggs so I would have hard boiled eggs on hand for egg salad at lunchtime.

I ended up eating a bunch of them as a morning snack along with some peanut butter fingers (not together, obviously), but still wanted egg salad for lunch when noon rolled around.

I made the egg salad by combining the following:

• 2 hard boiled eggs + 1 hard boiled egg white, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 tablespoons Light Miracle Whip (mayo may also be used)
• 1 tablespoon spicy mustard
• 2 tablespoons sweet relish

Clearly it made more egg salad than could fit on my whole wheat hot dog bun, so I ate the rest on the side along with a Babybel light cheese wheel and sliced red pepper.

A Dog’s Life

I had a rather odd thought this morning as I took Sadie on her morning walk.

Sometimes I think Sadie has it made. She has no real stresses in life. No responsibilities. She is fed, housed and exercised daily and her biggest disappointment of the day occurs when we don’t give her every bite of food off of our dinner plates.

Other days, I think it would be awful to be a dog. You have absolutely no say in what you do everyday. You eat the same thing over and over again while those around you dig into food that smells intoxicatingly delicious. People are constantly telling you “no” and leaving you behind.

This morning I realized that how I feel about Sadie’s life – whether I envy it or pity it – totally depends on how I’m feeling about my own life.

I think her life is unbelievably amazing when I am stressed and upset and I feel like her life would be completely dull and uneventful when I’m feeling happy and joyful about my own life.

Thankfully Sadie seems to love her life! A stress-free and uneventful life seems to suit her perfectly.

That is honestly one of the things that has surprised me about dog ownership: Noticing the joy within a dog every day.

Every day I notice Sadie’s zest for life. She seems to absolutely love her life every single day.

She knows that little things are worth getting excited over…

And that being around loved ones is the best thing in the world…

Every kiss she gives out is a passionate (albeit wet) one. She forgives quickly and doesn’t let little disappointments get her down.

It’s kind of crazy how animals living such simple lives can teach us something.

She’s so darn wise.

Today I condensed the workout into a quick 20-minute version.

I completed the workout after 20 minutes on the elliptical and 10 minutes on the stair master, though it would make a great at-home workout and can be done back-to-back for those of you who are crazy hardcore and in the mood for a 40-minute jump rope circuit.

Here it is, in all its glory:

Pin It

And since some of you asked about a few of the exercises last time, below are pictures and links to video demos of some of the more confusing exercises.

Skaters:

(Source) Click here for a video demo.

Mountain Climbers:

(Source) Click here for a video demo.

Breakfast

Today’s breakfast tasted like Christmas on a plate.

I used the last of the Stonewall Kitchen gingerbread pancake mix to prepare a plate of tasty pancakes that I topped with a bit of syrup and chia seeds.

Delish!

Freelance Writing Invoice

The other day when I posted about my lack of follow through when it comes to sending invoices to my freelance clients, a few of you piped up in the comments section asking me about the invoices.

Do I use a special software for billing? Do the companies provide a form?

When I first broke into the freelance writing world, one of the things that surprised me the most was I was responsible for typing up and sending out my own invoices. I guess I figured it would be a lot more formal with lots of professional documentation!

In many cases, there is a lot of paperwork to fill out along with W9 forms for new clients, but as far as the actual invoice is concerned, I was surprised to find that it was rather informal and often left up to the freelance writer to create.

Since some of you asked, here is an example of the basic invoice I send out to companies, filled with all made up information to keep me safe from the crazies and protect my clients’ privacy:

Totally basic, huh?

And now I’m off to do that freelance thang!

Today’s lunch was a long-lost noodle bowl!

It has been a while since I had one of my favorite veggie-packed noodle bowls for lunch and today I got a craving.

My craving actually wasn’t for pasta, but for more marinara sauce. Apparently last night’s dinner left me wanting more marinara.

Craving satisfied!

National Peanut Butter Day

Thank you to a bunch of you for letting me know that today is a holiday!

Happy National Peanut Butter Day!

You know we have to celebrate this special day on the blog.

For my fellow peanut butter fanatics, here are some of my all-time favorite peanut butter recipes:

• Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies (These can be easily shaped! Perfect for Valentine’s Day!)

• Peanut Butter Granola (Healthy and so, so simple!)

• Pumpkin Peanut Butter French Toast

• Apple, Peanut Butter and Granola Sandwich
• Peanut Butter-Stuffed French Toast
• High Protein Peanut Butter Bars (PBF’s most popular recipe of 2011!)

• Cinnamon Peanut Butter Roasted Chickpeas
• Peanut Butter Energy Bites 

Thankfully I assembled the bottom portion of this blog post after lunch, otherwise I’m fairly certain I would’ve found myself eating peanut butter cookies as my midday meal.

And on that note, I’m off to eat a spoonful of peanut butter and keep on truckin’ through the rest of my work day.

Of Possible Interest

• Jillian Michaels’ Go-To Snacks (FitSugar.com)
• 10 Weight Loss Myths (MSN.com)
• DailyBuzz Healthy Living (A new website I’ve been helping with, HealthyLiving.DailyBuzz.com)
• FitFluential Ambassador Spotlight (Featuring yours truly, FitFluential.com)

Marinara chicken melts!

To make the melts, I combined about two cups of shredded chicken that we had leftover from a chicken we roasted over the weekend. I then poured marinara sauce over the meat until it was saturated in tomato sauce.

After toasting two pieces of whole wheat bread, I topped the bread with the chicken and some shredded cheese and microwaved it until the cheese melted a bit.

Roasted green beans added a pop of green to the plate.

Not too shabby for a Monday night!

After dinner and a walk with Sadie, we watched The Bachelor (and the Bulls game during the commercials… plus Ryan DVRed it). Courtney had me swirling further and further in to a world of irritation with each lip bite and “winning” comment. Ah.

I capped off the night with a little bit of reading and am about halfway through The Night Circus. I’m entertained, but not enthralled.

Workout

Today’s workout was good. I started with a 20-minute cardio warm up split between the stair master and the elliptical, which I completed while reading a 2009 issue of Shape magazine. I take what I can get!

Then it was time for an upper body and abdominal workout. I kept things movin’ pretty quickly today and my arms and abs were feeling the burn.

Pin It

I really liked alternating abdominal exercises with upper body strength exercises. It was a nice change of pace and kept me entertained and working hard.

Breakfast

Breakfast this morning looked like donkey doodoo, but tasted great.

I made myself a bowl of chocolate protein oats by stirring up the following before microwaving it for two minutes (stirring every 30 seconds to prevent overflow):

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 scoop Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Extreme Milk Chocolate protein powder
• 1 spoonful peanut butter
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• Enough almond milk to make everything moist

A cup of peppermint crème coffee brought a punch of caffeine to the table.

The caffeine buzz is getting to me today in a good way. I’m feeling productive and am off to make the most of it!

Good afternoon!

I’ve spent the day catching up on neglected work from the weekend, including sending out some invoices for freelance projects. I always make sure to send out freelance articles on time but am terrible about sending out the corresponding invoices to ensure I am paid for my work. You’d think I want to work for free or something. (Not true.)

It reminds me of this picture that my sister sent to me that she found on Pinterest:

(Source)

Wooord.

I also had a lunchtime meeting at the local college to work on the website and social media outlets for the Taste of Ocala. I think I’m going to be the one manning the Taste of Ocala social media accounts, so if you’re a local Okie Dokie (<—what Ryan and I call Ocala residents), I’ll be sure to post links to everything when they’re up. Then we can all eat and drink the night away on May 5!

Lunch

I ended up eating my morning snack a little later than usual, so I didn’t eat lunch before my meeting and by the time it was over my stomach was growling and I needed something fast. (I need to start keeping emergency snacks in my purse.)

I booked it home and made myself a veggie burger on a toasted whole wheat bagel with tomato,cucumber, spinach and spicy mustard.

I ate the burger with two Babybel light cheese wedges and a cup of Oikos key lime Greek yogurt.

Ryan and I are convinced that if you crumbled up graham cracker crust pieces on top of the key lime pie Greek yogurt, you’d have a legitimate dessert.

Great lunch!