The Chic Life tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-1544648 2009-11-14T10:50:38-05:00 Finding the "chic" in everyday life. TypePad Oh What a Beautiful Moooorning! tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec728834012875a0d076970c 2009-11-14T10:50:38-05:00 2009-11-14T10:50:38-05:00 Greetings from the Chic house. Not sure about where you live, but the weather today is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Quelle belle ciel?! Pas un nuage. Pas un cumulus. Il fait vraiment beau, n'est-ce pas? (A line from some French videos I... Diana

Greetings from the Chic house. Not sure about where you live, but the weather today is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

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Quelle belle ciel?! Pas un nuage. Pas un cumulus. Il fait vraiment beau, n'est-ce pas? (A line from some French videos I watched in college when I minored in French. For some reason, whenever the sky is really pretty I think of it)

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Whatever that strange plant in the back is, it's really blooming!

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I think one reader guessed Golden Datura? Not sure...could be. I guess I could take a photo of the flowers to a plant store and try to find out.

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I took Bailey out this morning for his morning stroll. The backyard was just starting to become sunlit by the rising sun.

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Sometimes my backyard seems a bit like a secret garden. There is an area in the back that looks completely overrun by weeds and unpruned plants. Check out the fallen metal arch in the tangle of weeds. I think this area used to be quite lovely and maintained, but has succumbed to weeds and other plants. I'd like to dig it back out.

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A single pink flower in a pot of white flowers.

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I checked on my bay laurel plant and she seems to be doing ok still. I hope she makes it through the winter!

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Back in the house, I'm slowly trying to make better choices with the things I bring into my home.

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Exhibit A: Unbleached Beyond Gourmet coffee filters (found at Earthfare). I've chosen unbleached coffee filters over the conventional white ones.

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Saturday breakfast: fried Earthfare brown egg and Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat toast with real organic butter.

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Boy is organic butter tasty! Does anyone else think organic butter tastes better than conventional?

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A wee bit of OJ. I learned a long time ago in skate camp that you should only drink a little orange juice. Once you've had enough to get your 100% vitamin C, you're really just drinking a bunch of sugar. Since then, I've tried to have just a little OJ. I don't need a huge glass to enjoy it anyways.

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Of course, breakfast wouldn't be complete without a delicious mug of coffee - made with fresh-ground Larry's beans and an unbleached coffee filter. ;)

Dan and I have a big day of shopping ahead. We're looking for rugs, curtains, and anything else we can use in our house. We need a lot of stuff! lol Off we go!

What are you doing this weekend?

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/oh-what-a-beautiful-moooorning.html Easy 3-Ingredient Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Cassserole tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cddbe970b 2009-11-13T23:34:37-05:00 2009-11-13T23:41:14-05:00 I actually remembered today that I had an early work meeting and got ready a little early for it. I did make sure to have a nice mug of coffee (freshly ground Larry's beans from Earthfare). These mugs were such... Diana <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>I actually remembered today that I had an early work meeting and got ready a little early for it.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0ba3970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0ba6970c-pi" width="470" height="705" alt="IMG_4664.JPG" /></a></p> <p>I did make sure to have a nice mug of coffee (freshly ground <b>Larry's beans</b> from <b>Earthfare</b>). These mugs were such a good investment. They make me so happy. I love it when simple things can do that.</p> <p>For breakfast, I celebrated <b>Bagel Day Friday</b> with a <b>pumpkin bagel with pumpkin schmear</b>. I don't think I'll be wanting that combo after <b>Thanksgiving</b>, so I have to get it while the getting's good!</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdcce970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0bcf970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4667.JPG" /></a></p> <p>I worked the second half of the day from today, which meant HOT FOOD! So hard to heat things up at work. I think it's a pain to carry a lot of things, i.e. laptops, bottled water, packed lunches, whatever, all day, too.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0c4b970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0c5c970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4673.JPG" /></a></p> <p>I had leftovers from last night's <b><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/rainy-day-organic-chicken-white-wheat-dumplings.html" target="_blank">Organic Chicken and White-Wheat dumplings</a></b>. I don't like the way things taste re-heated in the microwave, so we heated ours on the stove with a tad extra water and covered tightly with a lid.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdd82970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdd88970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4682.JPG" /></a></p> <p>I followed lunch with a mug of hot <b>Celestial Seasonings</b> tea in <b>Lemon Zinger Green Tea</b>. I tried to capture a picture of the lovely steam for you guys. Tough stuff to capture on camera!</p> <p>This work week has been more difficult than normal resulting in a rather exhausted me. I felt like napping on the couch (and you guys know I don't like to nap) - NOT working out. But, I told myself I'd feel better if I went to <b>zumba</b>, and you know what...</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0ca7970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0cad970c-pi" width="470" height="352" alt="IMG_9273.JPG" /></a></p> <p>...I went to <b>zumba</b> and I DID feel better! Here's me right after class with a lovely <b>Aria protein shake</b>. Love that stuff!</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0c42970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdd4b970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4684.JPG" /></a></p> <p>When I got home from class, I poked a <b>spaghetti squash</b> and got it cooking in the microwave while I showered up.</p> <p>Careful when you are poking holes in your squash people! I found my knife often got a bit lodged in and my instinct was to whip the knife back out, which is <i>dangerous</i>. Instead, I patiently and carefully jimmied the knife out with as little pressure as possible. Safety first, please!</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0bbc970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0bc1970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4686.JPG" /></a></p> <p>These guys are MUCH easier to cut into halves after being cooked. They're hot stuff, though, so you have to watch your fingers.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdc9d970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdca2970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4688.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Seeds and pulp - this stuff's gotta go!</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0bf5970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdcf2970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4689.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Half prepped</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdd03970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdd07970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4694.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Ready to make "spaghetti".</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0bea970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0bed970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4698.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Dig in with your fork - gently scrape the sides of the squash to get out your "spaghetti".</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0c8d970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0c93970c-pi" width="230" height="153" alt="IMG_4709.JPG" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0bf8970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdcf7970b-pi" width="230" height="153" alt="IMG_4691.JPG" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0c03970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0c08970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4711.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Mix squash "spaghetti" with marinara sauce.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0b9a970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdcaf970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4718.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Stuff squash with mixture.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdcd8970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0be3970c-pi" width="230" height="153" alt="IMG_4720.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0bad970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdcc3970b-pi" width="230" height="153" alt="IMG_4725.JPG" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdda8970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0cbe970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4722.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Top with fresh mozzarella.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdd0e970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0c1e970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4732.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Broil to brown cheese once melted (I ran mine for about 2 minutes).</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0bd8970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0bdc970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4726.JPG" /></a></p> <p>I also toasted our bread under the broiler since we don't have a toaster yet.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0c2a970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0c2f970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4733.JPG" /></a><br /></p> <p>Dinner is served - easy <b>stuffed spaghetti squash casserole</b> with <b>Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat</b> toast and <b>real <span style="text-decoration: underline;">organic</span> butter.</b><br /></p> <p>It's not the fastest dinner in the world, but it is darn easy and only requires 3 ingredients! Not bad for a simple vegetarian dinner option.</p> <p><b><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdd34970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0c3e970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4735.JPG" /></a></b></p> <p>That's RIGHT - I made the switch from regular butter to organic. Yippee! It was more expensive, but I think it's worth it.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0c60970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0c66970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4741.JPG" /></a></p> <p>I LOVED mine, but hubby didn't care for it. He prefers meat in his meals.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340128759f0c72970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdd75970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4749.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Dessert = Trader Joe's Truffle Brownie.</p> <p><font size="4"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b><font color="#DE1415">Easy Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Casserole</font></b></span></font><br /> by me<br /> Serves 2</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ingredients</span>:</p> <ul> <li>1 medium spaghetti squash</li> <li>1 jar marinara sauce</li> <li>1 ball fresh mozzarella</li> </ul> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Directions</span>:</p> <ol> <li>Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.</li> <li>Cook spaghetti squash. There are many options available online. Tonight, I poked several holes in my squash with a knife and microwaved it for 9 minutes. I let it sit in the microwave for several minutes to cool.</li> <li>Get "spaghetti" out of cooked squash. Half squash and remove seeds and pulp. Use a fork to gently work the spaghetti-like strands out of the squash. I used a spoon to help scoop the squash out. Move "spaghetti" into a separate bowl.</li> <li>Mix enough of the marinara sauce with the "spaghetti" to coat the "spaghetti" to your liking (more if you like it saucy, less if you like it drier).</li> <li>Place "spaghetti" and sauce mixture back into the spaghetti halves.</li> <li>Top squash with thick slices of the fresh mozzarella.</li> <li>Bake squash for 10-12 minutes, till cheese is melted.</li> <li>Optional, turn broiler on for 1-2 minutes to brown the cheese on top. Remove when cheese is cooked to your liking.</li> <li>Serve squash with whole wheat toast.</li> </ol> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdcdd970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69cdce2970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4738.JPG" /></a></p>Enjoy!<br /> In other randomness, I can't get the new <b>Lady Gaga</b> song out of my head...<b>Bad Romance</b> rocks! What do you think? Are you a <b>Lady Gaga</b> fan?<br /> <p><embed src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:uma:video:mtv.com:455472" width="512" height="319" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="configParams=vid%3D455472%26uri%3Dmgid%3Auma%3Avideo%3Amtv.com%3A455472" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" base="." /></p> <div style="margin:0;text-align:center;width:500px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;"> <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/lady_gaga/artist.jhtml" style="color:#439CD8;" target="_blank">Lady Gaga</a> - <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/" style="color:#439CD8;" target="_blank">New Music</a> - <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/video/" style="color:#439CD8;" target="_blank">More Music Videos</a> </div> <div class="posttagsblock"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Dessert" rel="tag">Dessert</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Dinner" rel="tag">Dinner</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipe" rel="tag">Recipe</a></div></div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheChicLife/~4/4xGXVqPDD0o" height="1" width="1"/> http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/easy-3-ingredient-stuffed-spaghetti-squash-cassserole.html Rainy Day Organic Chicken + White Wheat Dumplings tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec72883401287594ac54970c 2009-11-13T00:01:05-05:00 2009-11-13T00:09:08-05:00 Well, this week has been pretty crazy at work with every day full of 6 hours of conference calls and a big deliverable due tomorrow. Oh and I have to present said deliverable in front of 25 of our project's... Diana

Well, this week has been pretty crazy at work with every day full of 6 hours of conference calls and a big deliverable due tomorrow. Oh and I have to present said deliverable in front of 25 of our project's stakeholders. Yippee!

Anywho, I'm currently sipping a nice glass of Orvieto white wine, which I picked up on my way home from work at Trader Joe's. *sip, sip sip* time to blog!

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Due to my blogastrophe last night with my publisher deleting my hours worth of posting last night, I woke up running a bit late. Seems to be the norm lately!

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I toasted up some Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat bread in our broiler (still haven't gotten a new toaster!) and topped it with some Barney Butter. My chia seeds are, unfortunately, packed away soooomewhere, so I couldn't add them as per normal. I also enjoyed the last of our Dunkin Donuts coffee. I liked it ok, but MUCH prefer my fave - Fresh Market coffees. That Larry's coffee stuff is pretty good, too!

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Early morning snack - Trader Joe's Chocolate Soy Milk...oh so good!

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Lunch: toasted turkey sammie and edamame. SOOO GLAD that I made extra edamame yesterday so I had a veggie to take to work.

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Moi sans makeup with an afternoon snack - Raw Organic Food Bar in Chocolate Coconut (won free on Twitter).

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These bars are addicting!

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I FINALLY took a nice re-stocking trip at Trader Joe's. I got all kinds of good stuff:

  • frozen edamame, peas, green beans, mixed soybeans/red pepper/corn
  • mozzarella cheese
  • dark chocolate triangles
  • truffle brownie mix
  • rolled oats
  • yogurt
  • Orvieto white wine
  • free range organic chicken broth
  • organic free range boneless skinless chicken
  • maple syrup
  • organic celery
  • organic baby carrots
  • spaghetti squash
  • gluten free marinara sauce
  • organic butter
  • parsley

So glad to have some veggies and food back in the house! I got almost all the ingredients I needed to cook dinner: Rachael Ray's Chicken & Dumplings - perfect for the icky rainy weather we've been having lately.

Trader Joe's didn't have any biscuit mix, so I swung by Harris Teeter but I couldn't find ANY biscuit mix that didn't have TRANS FATS. wth!

I was going to cave and grab one of the trans-fatty boxes when I decided NO! I will not give in! I will make my OWN biscuits FROM SCRATCH. Take THAT trans fats!

I used this recipe (click) to make from scratch biscuits using the white-wheat flour I had from a previous Trader Joe's trip.

Pictures from cooking:

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I put my recipe on my phone so I wouldnt have to print it out. Go green!

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While my dumplings simmered away, I got started on dessert...

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Trader Joe's Truffle Brownies!

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I made a bit of a mess when the bag of mix EXPLODED all over the counter!

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I placed the brownies in the oven just before sitting down to enjoy dinner.

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You likey my new bowls!? I do!

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Candle lit dinner

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Orvieto - VINO! Yum!

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Up close and personal. Just before my first bite. I think this is my favorite photo from the post!

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Seconds.

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Hubby brought me a brownie while I was catching up on last week's Flash Forward on my computer. What a DOWNER last week's episode was! So sad! He didn't have to do that! (FF watchers, you know what I'm talking about - the Celia episode). This show is really getting good...I think I'm addicted! Oh and that last scene! Wow. I can't wait to see this week's episode!

Randomness

In other randomness, I got an email saying a friend had tagged a photo of me on Facebook. I went to check it out and was pretty shocked by what I saw. It was a photo from when I was in college and I barely recognized myself. This is me back when I still had my Freshman-20...or was it 30? I can't remember, but here it is:

Then (college):

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Now (Flaunting it for Flaunt It Week):

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Thank goodness for zumba! So weird to see old pictures of yourself sometimes, no?

Flaunt It Week

Speaking of Flaunt It Week, we had some more most-awesome submissions on Twitter (use #flauntitwk):

  • @serendipity85 Today for #flauntitwk, I taught my girls at work the importence of self-esteem. In a sense, girl power!
  • @FlyinRedMermaid #flauntitwk dark dreary coldwindy day, countered with purple jacket, bitch boots, bright red and blue silk scarf, gold glitter eyeshadow.
  • @JJsVinBlanc @FlyinRedMermaid #flauntitwk dreary day countered by stopping to enjoy the sound of my wind chimes & warm pizza for lunch.
  • @JJsVinBlanc #flauntitwk scheduled apts for myself - yoga, massage, acupuncture, and hair cut next week!
  • @serendipity85 For #flauntitwk, today I wil be working on my criminal justice homework. We need more strong females to kick criminal butt!

G'night!

(Please, ecto, I beg you...please don't delete my post tonight!)

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/rainy-day-organic-chicken-white-wheat-dumplings.html Jason's Deli Dinner - Turkey Reuben + Healthy Sauerkraut tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a685d0c4970b 2009-11-12T00:24:49-05:00 2009-11-12T00:24:49-05:00 Since we didn't get done window shopping until nearly 9pm, we had to do another dinner out. We hit up Made fried eggs for me and hubs for bfast. I had mine candlelit with some GReat Harvest Honey Whole Wheat... Diana

Since we didn't get done window shopping until nearly 9pm, we had to do another dinner out.

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We hit up IMG_4533.JPG

Made fried eggs for me and hubs for bfast.

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I had mine candlelit with some GReat Harvest Honey Whole Wheat toast with Earthfare organic pomegranate jelly and coffee.

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Post breakfast, I worked on my other bathroom to give it a mini makeover.

I washed out the cabinets and applied more of that pretty decorate paper.

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Bailey inspected my work and gave me the A-ok. Not sure what to do about that stain in the back of the cabinet, though. I couldn't scrub it away!

With my cabinets ready to use, I decided to organize my beauty products.

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I got all my beauty products out and was SHOCKED at how much I have. Granted some were free samples from when I wrote reviews for a popular online review web site, but still!

I'd really like to work on simplifying my life overall and I see a lot of room for improvement here.

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I sorted out products that were expired or almost empty and tossed them.

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I grouped what was left, organized them into caddies and placed them in my newly made over cabinets.

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AFter the bathroom/beauty product prjoect, I broke for lunch: toasted turkey sammie and edamame with water and OJ.

I met our new neighbors during lunch:

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Mr. and Mrs. Squirrel! Aren't they cute?

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Not as cute as this guy, though!

Since I had today off, I wanted to spend the ENTIRE day cleaning and organizing but hubby had other plans, so after lunch, hubby and I headed out for some more shopping for the house.

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On the way to the stores, we stopped by a local bakery to pick up a snack - I had 6 donut holes and a bite of hubby's cinnamon swirl roll. They were delish, but didn't sit quite well on my stomach.

We hit up the Habitat ReStore, but didn't find anything. :( While we shopped around, I started feeling dizzy and icky, so decided hot tea sounded good. Luckily there was a coffee shop next door.

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Check out their mug chandelier.

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I got some lovely Moroccan Mint with honey. yum!

Next up, we hit up Bed Bath and Beyond.

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We liked these curtains but weren't ready to buy them.

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I thought this candle had a great message: "Everyday holds the possibility of a miracle."

Hubby and I found some stuff we liked but decided to get them when we were ready to make a big trip of it (we have a 20% off our entire purchase coupon - not easy to find).

Since it was almost 9 pm by the time we were done shopping, we had to do another dinner out. Man, all this shopping is taking all my organizing and cooking time away! Grr...

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We went to Jason's Deli for dinner and I got a turkey reuben, French onion soup, and steamed veggies.

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I liked how the soup was served in a real bowl.

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http://www.jasonsdeli.com" target="_blank">Jason's Deli and I got the turkey reuben, French onion soup, and steamed veggies.

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I liked how they served the soup in a real bowl.

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I was really impressed with our dinner. The soup was awesome, the veggies were not overcooked, and the turkey reuben was really tasty (oh the tangy sauerkraut!). Not as good as this one I had in MN, but things you love are never as good as the original version you fell in love with, no?

Did you know sauerkraut is good for you? According to this web site, sauerkraut is:

  • an immune booster
  • a cancer fighter
  • a digestive aid
  • and a flu fighter (need this this time of year!)

Who knew! Check out this article for details.

I've been craving dark chocolate - just a tiny piece - every night this week. I MUST get some next time I hit up the grocery store.

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Since my sweet tooth was calling, I had some of hubby's Frosted Flakes with skim milk. Not as good as the whole grain cereal I normally top with honey and chia seeds, but that's what I get for not re-stocking our pantry yet.

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Well, we're pretty tired over here, so we're off to bed.

Today's Tidbits

G'night!

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/jasons-deli-dinner---turkey-reuben-healthy-sauerkraut.html More Window Shopping, Less Buying tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a685ba51970b 2009-11-11T23:43:00-05:00 2009-11-12T00:09:57-05:00 So, I kind of want to cry right now because I'm EXTREMELY sleepy and just want to go to bed and just poured an HOUR into a fabulous blog post, only to have this stupid publishing tool delete the WHOLE... Diana

So, I kind of want to cry right now because I'm EXTREMELY sleepy and just want to go to bed and just poured an HOUR into a fabulous blog post, only to have this stupid publishing tool delete the WHOLE THING! Waah...ok, I'll try to re-create...ugh!

This may be an abbreviated version of what was an awesome post.

Woke up at 1am to nausea and had to yak. Not sure why, but hoping it was just something not sitting right on my tummy. Woke up again at 9a to dog walking all over me trying to wake me up without being loud. Silly guy.

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Made fried eggs for me and hubs for bfast.

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I had mine candlelit with some GReat Harvest Honey Whole Wheat toast with Earthfare organic pomegranate jelly and coffee.

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Post breakfast, I worked on my other bathroom to give it a mini makeover.

I washed out the cabinets and applied more of that pretty decorate paper.

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Bailey inspected my work and gave me the A-ok. Not sure what to do about that stain in the back of the cabinet, though. I couldn't scrub it away!

With my cabinets ready to use, I decided to organize my beauty products.

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I got all my beauty products out and was SHOCKED at how much I have. Granted some were free samples from when I wrote reviews for a popular online review web site, but still!

I'd really like to work on simplifying my life overall and I see a lot of room for improvement here.

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I sorted out products that were expired or almost empty and tossed them.

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I grouped what was left, organized them into caddies and placed them in my newly made over cabinets.

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AFter the bathroom/beauty product prjoect, I broke for lunch: toasted turkey sammie and edamame with water and OJ.

I met our new neighbors during lunch:

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Mr. and Mrs. Squirrel! Aren't they cute?

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Not as cute as this guy, though!

Since I had today off, I wanted to spend the ENTIRE day cleaning and organizing but hubby had other plans, so after lunch, hubby and I headed out for some more shopping for the house.

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On the way to the stores, we stopped by a local bakery to pick up a snack - I had 6 donut holes and a bite of hubby's cinnamon swirl roll. They were delish, but didn't sit quite well on my stomach.

We hit up the Habitat ReStore, but didn't find anything. :( While we shopped around, I started feeling dizzy and icky, so decided hot tea sounded good. Luckily there was a coffee shop next door.

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Check out their mug chandelier.

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I got some lovely Moroccan Mint with honey. yum!

Next up, we hit up Bed Bath and Beyond.

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We liked these curtains but weren't ready to buy them.

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I thought this candle had a great message: "Everyday holds the possibility of a miracle."

Hubby and I found some stuff we liked but decided to get them when we were ready to make a big trip of it (we have a 20% off our entire purchase coupon - not easy to find).

Since it was almost 9 pm by the time we were done shopping, we had to do another dinner out. Man, all this shopping is taking all my organizing and cooking time away! Grr...

It seems we're doing more window shopping and less buying, but I'm starting to get tired of all the window shopping! lol

Ok, guys, ecto is really not playing nice with me tonight, so I'm going to complete this post with a separate post momentarily. Hopefully, my posts don't get deleted this time!

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/more-window-shopping-less-buying.html Flaunt It Week Continues tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a67708ed970b 2009-11-10T23:58:19-05:00 2009-11-10T23:58:19-05:00 What a day it's been today! Things seemed to start out ok - yummy breakfast: coffee, oatmeal, Morningstar "sausage" Oatmeal pre-cooking ingredients: 1/4 cup oatmeal 1/2 cup skim milk pinch flaxseed Microwaved 1 minute, stir, 1 minute Post-cooking: 1 sliced... Diana

What a day it's been today!

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Things seemed to start out ok - yummy breakfast: coffee, oatmeal, Morningstar "sausage"

Oatmeal pre-cooking ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup oatmeal
  • 1/2 cup skim milk
  • pinch flaxseed

Microwaved 1 minute, stir, 1 minute

Post-cooking:

  • 1 sliced organic banana (stirred in)
  • sliced almonds, on top
  • sprinkling of unsweetened organic coconut flakes

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Check out Bailey's ears floating around in the background like shark fins! lol

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I was thoroughly enjoying my breakfast when I realized that I was running late!

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I threw the rest of my oatmeal in a plastic cup and downed it on the way to work (carefully, of course!)

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I had 6 hours of meetings today. Only 1 of them was an in-person meeting and luckily, we managed to turn our meeting into a working lunch (since we didn't need computers) so we could both eat. Good thing we did that or I may not have eaten at ALL!

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I had a 1/2 chicken salad sammie on pumpernickel with lettuce and tomato.

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I also picked up this Oatmeal Chocolate bar thing as an impulse buy when they told me I had to charge a minimum of $5 (and my half sandwich was well under). Guess that's what I get for not keeping cash on me!

I ate about 1/2 of this over lunch and another 1/4 as an afternoon snack. The last piece I gave to hubby.

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Kashi crackers for an afternoon snack.

After work, I looked at cabinets with hubby...yes...AGAIN. One day we'll actually order some.

After cabinet shopping, we got Mexican for dinner!

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Tortilla Chips and 2 salsas. Hubby and I have decided to not get refills on our chips because every time we do, we overeat. We declined a refill tonight and I think it was a wise decision (even though I kind of wanted more). I knew we'd have plenty of food coming later.

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The cheese dip made that decision hard, but we stuck with it.

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Hubby and I split a chicken chimichanga, chicken enchilada, and beef burrito.

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My portion - it was just the right size!

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I stayed up too late blogging last night and I am feeling pretty exhausted right now. I burned a candle tonight to help relax.

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Bailey looks like how I feel. Sleep...that's what I need right now!

Flaunt It Week Continues

But first...let's take a look at our ladies who are helping spread the positive word with Flaunt It Week!

Flaunt It Week participants today:

Thank you ladies for participating and inspiring others!

Remember, Flaunt It Week (click for details) is not about arrogance - rather it's everything to do with allowing yourself to feel confident. So, instead of finding something to nitpick about yourself, find something to love and flaunt it!

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/flaunt-it-week-continues.html Flaunt It Week Kick Off! tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a66cde57970b 2009-11-10T00:38:34-05:00 2009-11-10T00:38:34-05:00 I woke up wanting a great breakfast, and oatmeal was calling my name. I had pumpkin oatmeal with a Morningstar "sausage" and Dunkin Donuts (home-brewed) coffee with vanilla sugar and skim milk. In my oats - organic canned pumpkin, pepitas,... Diana

I woke up wanting a great breakfast, and oatmeal was calling my name.

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I had pumpkin oatmeal with a Morningstar "sausage" and Dunkin Donuts (home-brewed) coffee with vanilla sugar and skim milk.

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In my oats - organic canned pumpkin, pepitas, vanilla sugar, organic unsweetened coconut, skim milk. Delish!

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Sun-splashed coffee. Sunlit things make me happy.

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I decided to do a couple things for Flaunt It Week (#flauntitwk in twitter), starting with my hair. When I was a kid, my hair was stick straight. When I was a teenager, my straight car started to get really frizzy. I had no clue what was going on, until I let my hair air dry without brushing after a trip to the pool. To my surprise, it started to curl. I didn't know what to do with it. I had only ever styled it "straight" up to that point.

For a long time, I hated my curly hair. I didn't know how to style curly hair so I just ended up with frizzy "straight" hair I was constantly trying to make stick straight (and not doing such a hot job at it either!). Over the years, I took tips from hair stylists and fashion/beauty mags and I've learned how to style my hair both curly and straight. I've learned to work whichever look works best for a particular event or day or type of weather. Over the years, I've learned...dare I say it...to LOVE my hair!

So, today, for Flaunt It Week, I rocked my curly hair out! I didn't spend 10 hours styling my hair and I'm sure it won't be making any magazines any time soon, but it's my hair and today I owned it.

Do you have something like this that you want to flaunt this week?

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Lunch - turkey sammie on rye with leftover steamed broccolini and kashi crackers.

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Pre-zumba snack - more kashi crackers and almonds (along with an unphotographed Raw Organic Food Bar - won for free on twitter).

I headed to zumba after work.

Before my injury, I was doing zumba 3 to 5 times a week. Post injury, I go once or twice a week. As a result, I've gained a couple of those pounds back that I lost earlier in the year, but I'm not stressing it too much since I feel like I'm at a pretty good weight/size regardless.

Nonetheless, whether or not you're considered "skinny" doesn't mean that you don't feel self-conscious about stuff. For example, I LOVE to dance in my sports bra at zumba. Firstly, it's freakin hot in zumba and secondly, it's pretty comfy and free-feeling. However, there are days when I want to dance in my sports bra but I leave my tank top on because I start to feel self-conscious about myself when I think about dancing in my sports bra, especially when you've just gained a couple pounds. But you know what, no one will remember that girl who danced in her sports bra at zumba in 10 years and besides that, life is too short to worry about what a room full of people you don't know think about you!

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(not sure what kind of look that is...I think Kat was asking me about my flash or something...lol)

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So, my second thing I did this week for Flaunt It Week was unapologetically dance in my sports bra tonight.

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I had a blast! It's an awesome feeling to free your mind of worry and just LIVE. Thanks to Kat for the action shots and to Kat and Megan being my photographers!

At the end of class, I showed our main head instructor the choreography I did to Britney's I'm a Slave 4 U. I wasn't sure what she'd think, but she liked it! Yay yay yay! We did end up modifying a couple moves with some of the other instructors, but overall I'm thrilled because the core of my choreography is still there. So pumped! We may even get to do the dance in class soon!

I was so busy working on choreography that I totally forgot to stretch (beyond what we do in our cool-down song). I hope I don't feel that tomorrow!

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Post zumba, I went with the girls to get sushi. Check out the fancy straw-wrapping on Stacy's drink!

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Celebratory drink for my successful choreography - pomegranate sakitini.

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Dinner starter - miso soup and salad w/ ginger dressing. Yum and yum.

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Sushi dinner - california roll with masago, tempura asparagus roll, and one ebi. I ended up taking 4 pieces of the asparagus roll home to hubby who promptly downed my leftovers.

Flaunt It Week

I want to make sure people understand where I'm coming from on Flaunt It Week. Like I've said before, this isn't about being arrogant but about allowing yourself to be confident.

We are so hard on ourselves all the time (at least I am and a lot of my friends are, so I'm guessing we're not the only ones). I think we deserve to allow ourselves to be happy with ourselves. This week, I challenge you to free yourself from worry and to focus on the good in you and the things you love about yourself and own it!

If you've got it, flaunt It!

What/how will you flaunt this week?

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/flaunt-it-week-kick-off.html Pizza Dinner + Flaunt-It Week tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a664988d970b 2009-11-09T00:24:59-05:00 2009-11-09T00:24:59-05:00 Pizza Dinner Hubby was itching for pizza and I was thinking it sounded pretty good for dinner, too. After shopping, we swung by a friend's place to catch the first half of a football game and then stopped by our... Diana

Pizza Dinner

Hubby was itching for pizza and I was thinking it sounded pretty good for dinner, too. After shopping, we swung by a friend's place to catch the first half of a football game and then stopped by our fave local pizza joint during halftime to grab dinner.

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We took our dinner home to enjoy, starting with a salad with a feta vinaigrette dressing.

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I started with a slice of pepperoni....

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...and then moved on to cheese. Two slices and I was DONZO!

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I noticed a new gelato flavor on the restaurant's sign on the way in and managed to snag a sample - pistachio gelato = yum-O! I downed half on the way home and saved the second half for dessert tonight. It was pretty awesome!

Flaunt-It Week

When I was in college, a friend of mine got an interesting quote in the bottlecap of her drink. It read: "If you've got it, flaunt it." She gave me the bottlecap as a gift and amazingly, I still have it somewhere. I like to keep it as a reminder. Not a reminder to be arrogant but a reminder to be confident. For me, I don't always feel like I've "got it." I'm not the type of person to walk around thinking I have fabulous hair or great arms. I tend to lean the other way wondering if my hair looks bad or frizzy or whatever. I'm more like the person who doesn't want to lift weights at the gym because what if people think I'm doing it wrong or I look silly. More and more I remind myself to pull away from this thinking and to be positive!

More and more, I think...you know what...in 30 years, no one is going to remember that girl at the gym who lifted weights. In 20 years, no one will remember that girl's hairstyle. In 10 years, no one will remember the tiny details and silly things you worry about doing or not doing or the way you look.

More and more, I remind myself that this is my life and I only get to live it once. The only person I need to worry about is myself. It was this positive thinking that got me through my first couple zumba classes and now I'm a certified instructor! Seriously, I almost didn't try zumba for fear of what people would think of me not knowing what I was doing in class and not doing the moves right, but I forced myself to get over my fears and go and had a blast. The more I went, the more I learned to let loose and not worry so much what people thought of me. Life takes you on amazing journeys when you let it.

So, my challenge to you for the next week is to find something you love about yourself that you want to flaunt. Find something you've always wanted to do but have held back for fear of what others would think. This isn't about being arrogant, it's about being confident in yourself and your abilities and loving yourself for who you are. Think about something you thought about doing but decided not to because you didn't want to embarrass yourself in front of others. Next time you worry about what other people will think, ask yourself, "Will any one really remember in 10 years that I was that new girl in zumba class who didn't know what she was doing?" The answer is probably no, so why worry about it so much? Just go for it! Or, find something you love about yourself or would like to love about yourself and find a way to really play it up and flaunt it this week, whether it's spending some extra time styling your gorgeous hair or wearing a top that accentuates a favorite feature of your body.

Who's with me? If you've got it, then this week, flaunt it! :) If you're up for it, leave me a comment telling me what you did for Flaunt-It Week...I'd love to hear your story!

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/pizza-dinner-flaunt-it-week.html Project Bathroom Cabinet Mini-Makeover tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec728834012875655511970c 2009-11-08T23:55:33-05:00 2009-11-08T23:55:33-05:00 We bought an old house. I think our bathrooms may be original from the 50's. Just guessing. The cabinets and tile sure look to be old enough. As a result, our bathrooms are kind of...dingy-looking. Clean as I may, I... Diana

We bought an old house. I think our bathrooms may be original from the 50's. Just guessing. The cabinets and tile sure look to be old enough.

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As a result, our bathrooms are kind of...dingy-looking.

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Clean as I may, I think there are some stains inside the cabinets that won't come out after so many years. I decided I needed to do something about fixing the stains inside the bathroom cabinets.

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I spent Friday night cleaning the cabinets with warm soapy water, a sponge, and my hot pink rubber gloves.

After giving them proper time to dry over the weekend, I was ready to give my guest bathroom cabinets a mini-makeover today.

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I found some cute cabinet lining with an adhesive backing at Target.

I like this adhesive-backed version (as compared to the cushion-y but non-adhesive version) because you get a pretty good amount of the lining and the back has a grid printed on it to help you cut straight lines.

After dinner tonight, I decided to tackle the rest of my bathroom cabinet mini makeover project so I can start using our guest bathroom for storage.

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I started with the cabinet drawers, but didn't use the adhesive on them since the directions said to put a coating of varnish down first if you're using raw wood. Not sure why that's necessary, but the interior of my cabinet drawers definitely appears to be raw wood. I may try to pick up some varnish later this week or I may just stick the contact paper down without it (such a rebel, I know!).

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The cabinets were pretty easy to line.

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Once I had one side done, I basically had a template to use to do the others.

Though the paper was definitely adhesive on the back, it wasn't quite as sticky as I expected. I thought the cabinets may be nearly impossible to line properly since it was hard to maneuver in the cabinets and I was worried that once the paper hit the cabinets it would be permanent, but I had some flexibility. Not sure if just happens to be related to the finish inside my cabinets, but I was able to stick down my paper and pick it back up and adjust fairly easily. Thank goodness, too!

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I have to say, I'm LOVING the finished product - such an improvement!

Now, I need to tackle the bathroom tiles...Oi!

 http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/project-bathroom-cabinet-mini-makeover.html Sunday House-Stuff Shopping tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6647e6f970b 2009-11-08T23:32:07-05:00 2009-11-08T23:32:07-05:00 I woke up today suuuuper achy from all the exercise yesterday. Although I tried to drink a lot of water since I basically exercised for a few hours yesterday, I don't think I quite had enough. I decided to immediately... Diana

I woke up today suuuuper achy from all the exercise yesterday. Although I tried to drink a lot of water since I basically exercised for a few hours yesterday, I don't think I quite had enough. I decided to immediately down a small glass of water before moving on to breakfast.

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I also woke up rather ravenous and wanting to eat...a LOT! Luckily for me, I had just picked up some Cage-free brown eggs from Earthfare the day before.

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I am getting sooooooo much better at making fried eggs! Bout time! I used non-stick spray in my non-stick pan and lightly seasoned the eggs with salt and pepper.

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I served the fried egg with more water, coffee, and TWO pieces of Great Harvest Tara's Dark Rye bread toasted under the broiler and topped with real butter. Hubby donated our toaster (we needed a new one anyways), but luckily I remembered I could use the broiler to make toast.

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Mmm...cooooffffffeeeee.

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I decided Bailey needed another turn with the FURminator and got another mini-doggie off of him. He almost looks embarrassed in this photo...lol.

After breakfast, furminating, and blogging, hubby and I headed out to Lowes to do some shopping for stuff for our house.

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The weather outside was just perfect! Blue skies and lots of sun and warm temps, but not too hot. As we were getting into our car, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful our backyard looked all sunlit. I know it may not look like much to most people, and I certainly haven't put any work into it myself, but I LOVE it!

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I brought a coconut water in hopes it would help re-hydrate me.

We got a TON of stuff at Lowes, including a new efficient toilet, some light switch covers, a new doormat, and some other randomness.

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We also got a new shower head by Moen - Nurture - it's supposed to conserve 30% water. Not sure how you measure that, but I'll have to hope it's true.

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Oddly enough, one of the things I was most excited to find at Lowes was this car freshener - elemental organic & earth friendly fragrance jar in crisp apple. I first discovered these when my friend had one of these in her car and I noticed that it smelled sooo gooood! I had to have one! I couldn't find one, so she bought me one a couple years ago, but I've had a hard time finding them since. I was so happy to find another today and I love that this product is organic & earth friendly.

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After Lowes shopping, we came home to drop off our purchases and make a quick lunch. I made sandwiches using Earthfare Basil turkey and co-jack cheese on Great Harvest Tara's Dark Rye toasted under the broiler.

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I served my sammie with Kashi TLC crackers in Toasted Asiago with the rest of the Earthfare Live Green s alad that I didn't finish at the zumba workshop yesterday.

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Nom...

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...nom...

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...NOM! Great lunch!

I even got to watch some figure skating while I was noshing on lunch. I watched Brian Joubert win the gold medal - he had a great performance!

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After our late lunch, hubby and I headed to the mall to do some more house-stuff shopping. I was still feeling pretty groggy, so hubby got me a pumpkin spice latte to help me wake up.

We found some interesting things, including some curtains (finally!) we are thinking are a good possibility, but didn't buy anything major.

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I did manage to get myself a little something-something I've been waiting for a house to buy.

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Measuring spoons a la Giada DeLaurentis from Anthropologie. They are so cute! I've loved seeing them on Giada's cooking shows and now I will love using them when I am doing my own cooking! Now I just need to find some prettier measuring cups. Any suggestions on measuring cups (guess I should check out the options at Anthropologie, huh)?

Next up: Project Bathroom Cabinet Mini-Makeover

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/sunday-house-stuff-shopping.html All Natural Chicken with a Pomegranate Reduction and Steamed Broccolini tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a66458a1970b 2009-11-08T22:26:11-05:00 2009-11-08T22:26:11-05:00 After an EXTREMELY looooooooong day having a blast at the Zumba Basic 1 Workshop with Koh, the last thing I felt like doing was cook. We had already purchased groceries the day before, but I was totally not in the... Diana

After an EXTREMELY looooooooong day having a blast at the Zumba Basic 1 Workshop with Koh, the last thing I felt like doing was cook. We had already purchased groceries the day before, but I was totally not in the mood to actually cook the meal I had planned. Hubby suggested pizza but had just taken a tylenol PM and I didn't feel like driving anywhere and I knew he shouldn't be driving, so I decided to tackle a cooking project.

A little something I've been cooking up in my head - a recipe using those pretty pomegranate arils and only 5 key ingredients! I don't know about you, but I love recipes that don't require 10,000 ingredients!

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I got my main ingredients out: thin cut chicken, pomegranate juice, and pomegranate arils (previously opened).

Fresh Market sells chicken already thin cut, but I didn't see any when we went grocery shopping at Earthfare. Lucky for me, upon inquiring, the nice man behind the counter offered to slice some some chicken breasts for me. Yay!

I also found this Lakewood Organic Pomegranate juice at Earthfare to use in my reduction.

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I chose broccolini for our veggie side.

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Reducing the pomegranate juice.

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I served the chicken and broccolini with a side of toasted Great Harvest Tara's Dark Rye bread with real butter for my carb.

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Dinner is served! Nom nom nom! I love the savory-sweet combo in the flavors of this dish. The pomegranate arils make the dish soooo pretty! I think this would be a great entree to serve at a dinner party for the looks alone!

All Natural Chicken with a Pomegranate Reduction and Steamed Broccolini
by me
Serves 2

NOTE: Hey! This meal only requires 4 ingredients (besides olive oil, butter, salt and pepper)

Ingredients:

  • 2 all natural chicken breasts, sliced thin into 4 pieces (or pound thin instead of cutting)
  • 1 cup pomegranate juice
  • broccolini for 2 - about 1 1/2 - 2 cups, rinsed and trimmed
  • 1 tbsp real butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • pomegranate arils, for garnish

Directions:

  1. Heat a medium saute pan over medium heat and put the oven on warm (or 200 degrees F). Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Fill a pot with water till the level reaches about 1-2" up the sides and cover - place over medium high heat and bring water to a boil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
  2. When pan is ready, add the olive oil, spread, then add the chicken.
  3. Cook chicken until browned on each side, about 2-3 minutes per side.
  4. When chicken is done, add chicken to the baking sheet and place in oven to stay warm.
  5. Remove the pan from the heat and add the pomegranate juice (careful, it may splatter juice, which may easily stain). Once all juice added, return pan to heat. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer. Cook until juice is reduced by half (may still be a bit liquidy).
  6. Meanwhile, when you think there's a few minutes left for the sauce to cook, add the broccolini to a steamer basket and then to the pot of water. Re-cover. Steam for 3-5 minutes. While broccoli cooks, melt butter (I put mine in a mug and zap in the microwave for about 45 seconds).
  7. Assemble! Place the broccolini on a plate, drizzle butter over broccolini, top with the cooked chicken, drizzle reduction over the chicken and garnish with the pomegranate arils.
  8. Serve with good hearty toast and enjoy!

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Pretty to look at - delicious to eat! Five key ingredients or less!

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/all-natural-chicken-with-a-pomegranate-reduction-and-steamed-broccolini.html Zumba Basic 1 Workshop - Official Zumba Instructor tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec728834012875639fb7970c 2009-11-08T11:38:28-05:00 2009-11-08T11:38:28-05:00 My Saturday secret project is revealed! I spent all day Saturday doing my Zumba Basic 1 Workshop, which means that I'm now an official zumba instructor! So here's how my "secret (zumba) project" went... On Friday, I made sure to... Diana

My Saturday secret project is revealed! I spent all day Saturday doing my Zumba Basic 1 Workshop, which means that I'm now an official zumba instructor!

So here's how my "secret (zumba) project" went...

On Friday, I made sure to have a nice, healthy meal in preparation for my all-day certification.

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I also laid out everything I thought I'd need for Saturday on Friday night so I'd be ready to go Saturday morning.

I packed:

  • an extra pair of Zumba pants
  • a couple extra sports bras
  • a tank top
  • a T-shirt
  • a sweatshirt
  • a long-sleeve T-shirt
  • my Zumba bracelet
  • and of course my Zumba shoes

I had plans to wake up extra early and have a leisurely breakfast and possibly do some warming up, but who are we kidding...leisurely doesn't usually happen with me when it comes to mornings.

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I made coffee and banana oatmeal for breakfast. I used 1/3 cup of dry oatmeal, which is more than I normally eat and turned out to be too much to down before the workshop. I didn't quite get to finish it, but I did enjoy it! I think oatmeal is a great pre-workout meal.

I ended up eating breakfast while I was doing my make-up and then prepped my lunch and snacks for the day. Though I didn't leave as early as I wanted to, I still left about when I hoped to.

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I got to the YMCA plenty early and signed in at the AFAA table where my friend Kat was helping out.

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The Y had reserved an aerobics room for us.

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There was zumbawear for sale (but with all the new house expenses, I held back on buying anything).

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For attire, I wore my zumba pants, a sports bra, and one of my fave workout tops - a Margarita sportwear top in hot pink. Oh yea!

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Booty shaking!

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The day started with a welcome and then a 1 hour Master Class led by Koh Herlong, our training instructor. I made sure to get a spot in the front so I could see the instructor. It's SOO much easier to do zumba classes when you can actually see the instructor.

Koh had a couple of her regulars and fellow instructors stand in the front to help us all see what was going on, which was really helpful since the room was so wiiiiiiiiiide.

Kat helped me out by taking some pictures with my camera - Thanks Kat for being my photographer! ;)

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My friend Kat led one song, which meant I knew one of the dances! Woot-woot!

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I actually knew one of the other workshop participants: Cara, Kat, moi. It was so neat to know someone else there - I was glad to have a friend at the workshop. Kat had to go after the master class.

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As soon as the Master Class was over, I downed an Aria protein shake...

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...and a Greens+ Chocolate Energy Bar. Both snacks were AWESOME and just what I needed to help get me through this long, but extremely fun day.

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After a short break, we got started with our lectures and dug into our training material: agenda, manual, ZIN pamphlet, and DVD/CD set. Mostly we used the agenda and manual.

We alternated lectures and information sessions with hands-on sessions where we learned and practiced the four rhythms of Basic 1: merengue, salsa, cumbia, and reggaeton. I thought both the lectures and hands-on sections were helpful - it was good to have a mix of the two. We learned a lot of useful information during the lectures and in the hands-on parts, we learned how to do the basic moves of each rhythm along with some variations for arms, legs, and how to make each move more fitness-y. We also got to share our own takes on the different moves and variations in small broken out groups and then with the whole group. There 58 of us there!

We got through merengue and salsa before breaking for lunch.

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I packed a LOT of food, but didn't end up needing all of it. I was glad to have more food than less, though, for sure!

I brought plenty of eats:

  • a turkey/co-jack cheese sammie on Great Harvest Tara's Dark Rye
  • some Earthfare Live Green salad
  • Kashi crackers
  • a banana
  • a Raw Organic Food Bar
  • and 2 containers of Smart Water (need those electrolytes for long workouts!)

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I downed the sandwich and most of the salad and the banana but not the crackers or the bar - I saved those in case I needed a snack later.

We finished the day with cumbia and reggaeton and some additional lectures and by the end, I was TOTALLY ZONKED! My body was aching, but I was so excited and happy to have participated in the workshop - it rocked my world!

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Me and Koh! I thought Koh did a GREAT job with the workshop. I totally loved her fun, upbeat, and positive energy - she really made the workshop a party!

I decided a celebratory trip to Barnes & Nobles was in order, but first I stopped by Earthfare to pick up stuff for dinner and a little treat for myself:

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I Whole Wheat Chocolate Oatmeal Walnut cookie. I wanted a WW Chocolate Chip cookie, but they didn't have any, so I figured this was the next best thing.

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I took my snack to Barnes & Noble where I tried to order a Pumpkin Spice Latte, but they told me they discontinued that flavor for the year already! As if! I got a decaf Gingerbread Latte instead. I associate the Gingerbread, Egg Nog, and Peppermint Mocha flavors with Christmas, so the flavor didn't quite seem right for the time of year, but I enjoyed it nonetheless! Especially with my treat!

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I found a slew of magazines to browse - a little bit of everything for my many interests: home mags, health mags, and fashion mags. I was in heaven with my yummy treats and fun magazines!

After my QT at Barnes & Nobles, I headed home to relax with hubby and make dinner. More on dinner next time, but for now, check out my official certification.

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I'm an official zumba instructor! Now I just have to find somewhere to teach!

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I'm so glad I did the zumba workshop today! I thought the workshop was really informative and very encouraging. I met some cool zumba-holics and learned a LOT. I feel like there's so much positive energy flowing through me from my zumba experiences and I can't wait to see where my love of zumba takes me. Here we go!

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/zumba-basic-1-workshop---official-zumba-instructor.html Pre-Secret-Project-Eats tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6629b00970b 2009-11-08T10:21:17-05:00 2009-11-08T10:21:17-05:00 Friday was the day before my super "top secret" project, and I enjoyed some good eats. I FINALLY got a lunch break at work and met up with a friend who works in my building (but I never see) to... Diana

Friday was the day before my super "top secret" project, and I enjoyed some good eats.

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I FINALLY got a lunch break at work and met up with a friend who works in my building (but I never see) to grab some food. I got a turkey reuben with fresh-cut fries and a sweet tea. The food was good, but I was mostly glad to be able to catch up with my friend. It's been a couple months since we've gotten lunch together and we only sit 1 floor apart!

For dinner, I had a yummy home-cooked meal planned, but hubby wanted to do some shopping for the house, so we decided to eat while we were out. We hit up Crate + Barrel just before heading to Earthfare for groceries and dinner.

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I got my usual Earthfare eats - soup + salad.

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I got the veggie 3 bean chili...

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...and a big mess of a salad:

  • baby spinach
  • mixed baby greens
  • romaine
  • purple cabbage
  • carrots
  • celery
  • sprouts
  • feta
  • wheatberry salad (I liked it mixed in so much last time, I just sprinkled the top of my salad with the stuff this time)
  • sunflower seeds
  • balsamic dressing

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Hubby got the Earthfare bacon burger with 1/3 pound grass-fed beef burger.

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We were both really impressed with the burger and t he fries. I may have to try this next time we do an Earthfare dinner.

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I couldn't quite finish my chili, but luckily, hubby was happy to help me out. That stuff started out pretty mild but got more and more spicy as I ate it!

Anywho, I was just glad to get a nice, nutritious meal in before my big project. I would need all the good food I could get to prepare for the next day's events!

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/pre-secret-project-eats.html How To Open a Pomegranate + Pomegranate-Oats tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec728834012875601410970c 2009-11-06T23:54:27-05:00 2009-11-06T23:54:27-05:00 Did you know November is National Pomegranate month? I didn't until I read about it at pomwonderful.com My friend Megan recently requested I help her figure out how to open a pomegranate. Since I'm a big fan of the pomegranate,... Diana

Did you know November is National Pomegranate month? I didn't until I read about it at pomwonderful.com

My friend Megan recently requested I help her figure out how to open a pomegranate. Since I'm a big fan of the pomegranate, I was happy to help.

It turns out that pomegranates are quite easy to open! Not quick, but easy - yes!

I purchased a nice, organic pomegranate at Earthfare with some help from one of their employees. The nice man explained that although the organic version was much smaller, it had the same amount of seeds (the edible part), so I opted for the organic option.

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The nice man also suggested I open my pomegranate over 2 paper bags since the pomegranate juice stains easily. I took his advice by using two Trader Joe's paper bags.

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I found a nice How-To Guide from the most-awesome POM Wonderful peeps. I'll share their how-to (in italics) along with some of my photos from my morning adventure.

1 - Cut

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With a sharp paring knife, cut off the top about a 1/2 inch below the crown.

2 - Score

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Once the top is off, you'll see four to six sections. WIth your knife point, score the skin at each section. (Here's where things get juicy!)

3 - Open

Separate the pomegranate at each score, so that you have individual sections.

4 - Loosen

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Over a bowl of water, use your fingers to loose the "arils" (the flesh-covered seeds) and drop them into the bowl. The arils will sink to the bottom. (Go slowly here or you'll flick pomegranate juice all over your countertop, walls, and possibly yourself! Note - I totally forgot to put water in my bowl. Doh! I just added some water to the bowl when I was done to get to the next step.)

5 - Scoop

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Use a spoon to scoop out the pieces of white membrane that have floated to the top.

6 - Strain

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Pour the remaining liquid through a strainer. Place the arils in your favorite dish and enjoy!

Thanks to POM Wonderful for the tutorial!

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Pomegranates may not be the fastest thing to prepare, but they are easy and delicious.

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I decided to put my pomegranate arils in my breakfast this morning. But not until after sipping on some Dunkin Donuts home-brewed coffee with vanilla-sugar.

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I used some Earthfare Organic Pomegranate jelly to make my oatmeal extra pomegranate-y. I wanted to use some POM juice, but I forgot all week to pick some up! I'm hoping to make some this weekend.

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All together on my new placemat from Pier One!

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Coffee + Vanilla Sugar = Delicious

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Pomegranate Oatmeal

Pre-cooking ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup water (use Pomegranate or POM juice if you have it)
  • 1/4 cup skim milk
  • 1 tsp pomegranate jelly (if not using Pom-y juice above)
  • pinch flaxseed

Microwave for 1 minute, stir, 1 more minute

On top:

  • sliced almonds
  • organic pomegranate arils

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So pretty...and tasty!

I thought at first that crunchy pomegranate seeds may be odd with creamy, tender oatmeal, but then I figured that the arils would be as crunchy as the nuts I usually put on top. I thought the pomegranate arils on my oats were pretty darn tasty and i even liked the texture combo of the soft + crunchy.

I have some dinner plans with the rest of my arils (you'll see!), not to mention, I'd LOVE to toss some of the arils in salads and on top of yogurt.

Foodbuzz Festival

I'm so bummed that I'm not going to make it for the first ever Foodbuzz festival in San Francisco! A#1, I totally meant to apply to their recipe contests. I'm not saying I thought I was going to win, but it would have been nice to have submitted something. I suppose there's always next year?

I hope all the festival participants have a fun time and safe travels!

Top Secret Saturday Project

Although I'm sad I won't make the Foodbuzz festival, I do have something pretty big in the works for tomorrow. I actually had my "project" already scheduled, so I would have had to do a lot of re-scheduling had I decided to go to Foodbuzz last minute. I'm pretty excited about tomorrow...it's gonna be AWESOME!

I have more to post for tonight, but not enough time! I gotta go get ready for tomorrow.

Any guesses as to what I'll be doing tomorrow? ;)

 http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/how-to-open-a-pomegranate-pomegranate-oats.html Work Meeting Eats + FURminator tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a65a83a3970b 2009-11-05T23:44:18-05:00 2009-11-05T23:44:18-05:00 Today was my last day of on-site meetings. The good part was twofold since everyone visited my hometown, I didn't have to worry about catching a plane home I was in charge of food again today! I wanted to get... Diana

Today was my last day of on-site meetings. The good part was twofold

  1. since everyone visited my hometown, I didn't have to worry about catching a plane home
  2. I was in charge of food again today!

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I wanted to get an oatmeal bar, but as much as I think everyone likes oatmeal, thanks to all the health food blogs I read, I think the oatmeal lovers are more scarce than I would like.

Instead, I stuck with my business client's recommendation of bagels and sweets from Einstein. We also got fruit salad, coffee, and OJ.

THey actually arrived to the office 10 minutes before me (I was running a tad late), but they were able to just drop our order off and come back for the receipt later. Phew!

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I had some coffee and 1/2 grain bagel with cream cheese, 1/2 cinnamon-pastry-thing, and 1/2 pumpkin muffin. I was glad I got a sampling - they were all so good!

I braved some iPhone photos during my meeting to sneakily capture lunch:

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I ordered catered sandwich and salad boxes from Dean & Deluca. The boxes were so cute! They had everything we needed - napkins, fork/knife, mint, cookie, and main event.

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I got a spinach salad with feta vinaigrette and bacon, chicken, red onion, croutons and mushrooms. I didn't eat the croutons and only tried a couple bites of mushroom, but the salad overall was really tasty - especially that dressing!

After work, I ran some errands at Target and then hubby and I hit up Rooms To Go - The Outlet to furniture shop. I hardly found anything I liked. We tried negotiating on a buffet, but they didn't want to come down a BIT! As if! So, we decided to take off.

I made hubby stop by Pier 1 and they actually had some cute stuff. I found some pretty red bowls that I may have to go back and get and I found some nice dining room tables, a pretty headboard and an AWESOME winged chair (the style I'm going for in my formal living room). We didn't find any curtains unfortunately, but I did buy two new placemats!

After shopping, hubby made a surprising recommendation - a Vietnamese restaurant I've been asking him to go to for the last month or so. He finally caved! haha

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We started with some steamed dumplings. I guess they make these from scratch here because when I asked what the filling was, he mentioned being able to customize it. That's a first!

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For our entree, we split the Lemongrass Chicken with added tendergreens.

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My plate. It was awesome! I added a couple more bites of chicken and veggies. The chef came out to ask how we liked our food and mentioned that it was "home-cooked" and "healthy." Good thing since I've been a bit indulgent over the last couple days!

After dinner, I decided to show Bailey his new "toy".

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He knew it was something for him, but I don't think he was sure just what.

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Besides a couple other things, I picked up a new Yankee Candle in "Santa's Treats" and the "FURminator".

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My house is not smelling "home-like" enough for me with the wimpy candles we've gotten so far, so tonight, I decided to bring in the "big guns" - Yankee Candle. I'm enjoying the smell of fresh-baked cookies as I type!

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Bailey was very curious about the FURminator. So was I! I couldn't wait to open it and experiment. A friend told me recently that the brush worked really, really well, so I wanted to see just how good it was.

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It turns out the FURminator really does work well. The brush really seemed to pull a lot of Bailey's under-hair. I'm hoping this brush will help us keep our house clean by preventing his hair from getting everywhere.

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The brush wasn't cheap, so I'm hoping it's a worthwhile investment. So far, so good! I think I pulled a mini-Bailey off him tonight in hair alone!

Does any one have fun plans for the weekend?

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/work-meeting-eats-furminator.html In Charge of the Team's Food tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6552f01970b 2009-11-04T23:16:01-05:00 2009-11-04T23:16:01-05:00 My co-workers were still in town for more meetings, so I saved my appetite for a working breakfast and just had coffee at the house. I had a 1/2 cinnamon roll and 1/2 whole wheat bagel with cream cheese. Since... Diana

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My co-workers were still in town for more meetings, so I saved my appetite for a working breakfast and just had coffee at the house. I had a 1/2 cinnamon roll and 1/2 whole wheat bagel with cream cheese.

Since most of my co-workers know I'm a foodie and even that I take pictures of my food, they let me be in charge of the food for our meetings this week. Today, I ordered some fun pizzas from local pizza place Brixx. I wanted to take photos of everything because the catering was really nice, but I didn't want to bust out my camera at the office. Not with our big boss there at least. We got a handful of fun pizza in different flavors and also got some nice baby green salad mix with goat cheese, toasted pine nuts and some balsamic dressing.

I had a couple servings of salad and 1 slice of BBQ Chicken pizza, 1 slice of the chicken florentine, and 1 slice of the quattro formaggio. It was awesome!

Of course, we had to have dessert! I'm lucky that some of my business clients have as big a sweet tooth as me and always ask for dessert at their team meetings. Today, we had a mixed plate of cookies and brownies. I had an awesome cookie/brrownie like thing - it had a cookie-like base with a fudge-y top, nuts, and chocolate drizzle. Oh my, was it decadent!

I was so happy they let me pick out the food...I got some good stuff! Everyone seemed really happy with lunch, too!

I actually got to help plan a group dinner, as well! Since so many of my co-workers were in town, my company wanted to treat them to a dinner at local restaurant, Mez.

I did manage to sneak my camera out a couple times at dinner. I noshed on a sampling of appetizers before the main course.

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For my entree, I got the Seafood Risotto, which was delish and a bit of an adventure for me. I'm not big on seafood, but they had me at "risotto!" Surprisingly, I LOVED it! The risotto was nice and cheesy and had a tomato-saffron sauce with shrimp, mussels, scallop, and fish. The sauce really made the dish!

I tried to eat a bunch, but I think I barely made a dent in the plate. Luckily, I took the leftovers home to a happy hubby. I did save room for dessert, though!

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Excuse the bad photos, but I was really trying to be quick and not draw a lot of attention. I split a couple desserts with two other co-workers, including one co-worker who is my fellow sweet-tooth! We ordered an ice cream cookie sandwich and chocolate bomb.

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I had a little bit of everything, including some of the ice cream that came with one of the dishes. GREAT way to end a wonderful group outing...

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...topped off with a nice, hot decaf Cafe Au Lait. Yum!

Our waiter did a great job, the food was excellent, and everyone seemed to have a blast! I was so glad everyone liked the food...I like recommending food/restaurants to people, but you always worry that they may hate it and think you stink at food recommendations. I was happy to not disappoint tonight!

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After a long day of meetings and group outing, I was ready to unwind back home with some QT with Bails on the couch. I got cozy with socks and PJs.

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Bailey got pretty comfy, too.

Speaking of comfy and cozy, I'm pretty tired, so I think I'm going to hit the sack.

If you got to order food for your team meetings, what would you get (if you had a reasonable budget)?

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/in-charge-of-the-teams-food.html QT With My Co-Workers tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6a6f053970c 2009-11-03T23:33:21-05:00 2009-11-03T23:33:21-05:00 Ahh...another delicious breakfast in this morning offfff...OATMEAL...encore! I guess you start to take things like healthy, home-cooked breakfasts for granted sometimes until you don't have them any more. Enjoying my oatmeal breakfasts this week has reminded me how much I... Diana

Ahh...another delicious breakfast in this morning offfff...OATMEAL...encore!

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I guess you start to take things like healthy, home-cooked breakfasts for granted sometimes until you don't have them any more. Enjoying my oatmeal breakfasts this week has reminded me how much I LOVE them!

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Especially around this time of year...when the weather outside and sometimes the air inside is cooler, I like hot coffee and warm bowls of oatmeal to help warm up in the morning.

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Today's breakfast was really nice...

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Coco-Pumpkin Oats

Pre-cooking ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup skim milk
  • extra-large tablespoon scoop of organic canned pumpkin
  • sprinkle of flaxseed

Zapped in microwave - 1 minute, stir, 1 minute again

On-top:

  • 1 tsp sugar
  • sprinkle of chopped pecans
  • sprinkle of organic coconut flakes (looks like snow!)

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Several of my co-workers have flown from all across the country for some meetings in town this week. Whenever they're in town, I like to try to spend some time with them outside of work. I think it helps build teamwork and create good working relationships. Plus, it's nice to see a different side of people outside of the office.

We were going to go to a local pub, but it had a shocking 1 1/2 hour wait!

We went to another local favorite Southern restaurant of mine - Mert's - upon my recommendation.

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I started with a Yuengling. The funny thing was a lady at our table was crazy for Yuenglings and totally looking forward to being able to order them in the South. Apparently, they are hard to find (maybe impossible?) where she's from in AZ. I was glad that the restaurant I recommended had some! She looked so happy to find a place to serve them.

I'm normally a light-brew drinker, but I was surprised at how smooth the Yuengling was. I really enjoyed it, though I did milk it over the course of dinner (I'm a slow drinker). Hey, I enjoyed every sip!

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Dinner started with delicious cornbread. I ate one mini loaf with some whipped butter...it was AWESOME!

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For my entree, I got the 1/4 fried chicken (breast) with macaroni and cheese and collard greens. I LOVE these two sides at this place and though I'm sure the other sides they offer are equally delicious, I can't bring myself to try something different. Mmm...

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I ate most of my plate...well, maybe a little more than 1/2 ish, but I had to save room for dessert! I split a slice of red velvet cake with a co-worker. I've had better, but that cake sure hit the spot with my sweet tooth...yum!

Reader Question: What's something you look forward to getting, food-wise, when you visit particular states/regions? For me, I love the coffee, baked goods, cheese, and pastries in France; pralines, Kickin Chicken, and High Cotton in Charleston, SC; and probably LOTS of other places that I'm momentarily forgetting.

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/qt-with-my-co-workers.html Back in the Swing of Things tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a64d6b42970b 2009-11-02T23:51:12-05:00 2009-11-02T23:51:12-05:00 Today felt like the first day of getting back into the swing of things for me. Food Stuff I enjoyed my first home-cooked breakfast - something I've been craving with this colder weather - OATMEAL! Thanks to the sale over... Diana

Today felt like the first day of getting back into the swing of things for me.

Food Stuff

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I enjoyed my first home-cooked breakfast - something I've been craving with this colder weather - OATMEAL!

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Thanks to the sale over at Earthfare on organic canned pumpkin (3 for $5!), I had plenty in my pantry to cook up a nice bowl of Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal.

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Pre-cooking ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup skim milk
  • 1 heaping tbsp canned organic pumpkin (probably more like 1/4 cups worth)
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon (yea, it came out kind of fast...I didn't mean to put so much in)

Microwaved 1 minute, stirred, 1 minute again

On top:

  • flaxseed (because I forgot this was easily accessible in my freezer)
  • pepitas (pumpkin seeds - also in the freezer)

The oatmeal was very enjoyable and welcomed after eating out so much day after day. It's amazing how much you missed home-cooked food when you can't have it!

I had a lovely lunch packed for work today, but realized when I checked my work calendar that I had a one-on-one lunch with my co-worker. Doh! I decided to enjoy my "lunch" for "dinner" so I wouldn't waste the food.

We had a lovely Thai lunch, but I didn't want to take a photo of my food in front of him, so no food photos...sorry! I got the Pud See-Ew with chicken and it was awesome! I also couldn't resist a Thai tea...LOVE that stuff!

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I carbed up for my workout with some Kashi Toasted Asiago TLC crackers and also had some hot green tea with sugar (I need to get some honey to keep at work!)

An hour later, I had an Organic Food Bar (won on Twitter) in Chocolate Coconut...they are SO-SO GOOD! I will be sad when my box is gone, but at least I know where to get more!

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I changed into my workout clothes for Zumba when I was done with work. I changed in the restrooms at the office just before taking off for class. I totally forgot I had my neon green pants packed in my zumba tote. As I changed, I realized I probably should have planned to change into them somewhere else. The black ones are not nearly as noticeable and one doesn't really want to be seen in GREEN NEON PANTS at the office! I was there sort of late so I figured chances were good I wouldn't see too many people.

As I left the restroom, I hoped if I walked fast enough that no one at all would see me. Guess who happened to walk by just as I walked down the hall? Yeaaaaa...the main big boss who manages the program I work under. I was mortified! I didn't want to see anyone and of course it would be our client-boss that I ran into! He said he liked my pants and asked if I was a skier. Said they looked like ski pants. I looked down at the embroidery and meekly explained that they were "zumba" pants before scurrying away. I'm not sure he knows what zumba. Either way, I hope my flashy green pants were too much for the office...even after "work hours" and off the clock.

I did two back to back workout classes tonight. I even got some flourescent bracelets to wear during class from one of the class participants daughters (the daughter is also a participant and oh-so-cute). They matched my outfit - neon pink and green...oh yea!

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Once I got home from zumba, I downed an Aria mini-protein shake (a half serving - just one scoop mixed with water) and did some stretching.

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After a quick shower, it was time for "dinner" (the "lunch" I packed but couldn't eat because of a previously scheduled lunch meeting).

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I had some Earthfare rotisserie chicken salad on extra fiber Arnold's bread...

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...and some Live Green Salad also from Earthfare.

The sammie was pretty good, though I did miss my Great Harvest bread this week. I thought this Arnold's bread was a pretty good substitute though. The chicken salad was definitely tasty and the chicken was nice and tender.

I was really impressed with the Live Green salad. I didn't know what to expect, but the flavors were nice and simple yet tasty and the ingredients seemed nice and healthy.

Dinner overall seemed pretty healthy, which is good because I feel like I need a cleansing after the last couple days straight of eating out.

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I did manage to make some room for dessert - the last third of my Earthfare Ginger Molasses cookie and some skim milk.

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The cookie was good...I still like my Earthfare whole wheat chocolate chip cookies the best, though!

House Stuff

Oh and check out my Glade candle in the background. Yep, that's Glah-day! Hubby and I picked up a couple of their seasonal candles to try to get rid of the new paint and refinished hardwoods smell floating around the house.

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We're trying a couple things to try to get rid of the new paint/polyurethane smell in the house:

  • opening the windows, weather permitting (and the windows that aren't shut, that is)
  • turning the fan on the AC/heat system
  • burning candles
  • and lastly, I read about this online - putting mugs of vinegar out in some of the rooms.

I'm trying the vinegar trick in 3 rooms to start, so we'll see how this works. I'm thinking the windows and fan will be the most effective solutions, but we'll see.

We still have TONS of work to do in the house, but we're just taking things one day and one project at a time. As the saying goes: "Life's a journey, not a destination." Right? :)

Quote Time!

I do have an inspirational quote (make that a couple) for you guys today. I found this shared on a blog post in my Google Reader. Do you ever have days when you feel like for all the hard work you're putting into something, you're not seeing the results you want? Then, you watch as others seem to have success fall into their laps or at least come to fruition? You're happy for them but sometimes their success can make you feel like somewhat of a...failure. I'm here to say that you're not a failure.

You're just on a different path and you will have your own successes on your own journey...

"Never compare your journey with someone else’s. It’s a marathon with no finish line. Someone else may start out faster than you, may seem to progress more quickly than you, but every runner has his own pace. Your journey is your journey, not a competition. You will never “arrive”. No one ever does." ~PhotoDino

Afterall...

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." ~Thomas Alva Edison

Remember... (this is one of my faves)

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." ~Henry David Thoreau

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/back-in-the-swing-of-things.html House Update #3 - First Home-Cooked Meal tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a64d42fd970b 2009-11-02T22:56:33-05:00 2009-11-02T22:56:33-05:00 *Just realized that the following was supposed to post last night and did not...oops!* I spent another busy day in and around the house and got lots of good stuff done: Cleaned the master bathroom top to bottom Did a... Diana

*Just realized that the following was supposed to post last night and did not...oops!*

I spent another busy day in and around the house and got lots of good stuff done:

  • Cleaned the master bathroom top to bottom
  • Did a load of laundry
  • Washed our throws
  • Ran a couple loads of plates/dishes (they're pretty much all dirty since we used those free *read dirty* boxes)
  • Emptied a few boxes of stuff (emptying boxes makes me feel productive)
  • Got groceries

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We had another breakfast out - Hubby picked up Starbucks. I got a pumpkin spice latte...

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...and a spinach feta wrap. I'm starting to become pretty impressed with the breakfast options at Starbucks. Where else can you get oatmeal and a latte as easily as Starbucks? Not to mention, they have such yummy sandwich treats. My fave is pretty healthy too, made with egg whites and a whole wheat tortilla.

The breakfast fueled me up for a long cleaning session in the master bathroom, as well as a couple other housework tasks.

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Hubby and I swung by Earthfare for some...yay, finally...REAL FOOD!

We got:

  • organic bananas
  • organic whole wheat and regular spaghetti
  • local grass-fed ground beef
  • 3 cans of pumpkin
  • parmigiano reggiano cheese (gonna have a pasta week!)
  • or organic pomegranate
  • coconut water
  • 2 jars of Earthfare pasta sauce
  • chicken salad
  • raw greens salad
  • mixed salad (for dinner)
  • Earthfare cookie (made with local eggs!)

After grocery shopping, hubby and I escaped to a local bar where we noshed on some nachos. We had to sit in an outdoor area that was covered with fabric and had heaters but was just too cold for me to last long. I left hubby at the bar and went home to do some more stuff around the house before picking him up shortly later.

Then, it was time for our first HOME COOKED MEAL! With only half our pots and pans clean, I decided to keep things simple with spaghetti.

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I used a mix of whole wheat and normal pasta. I like the health factor of whole wheat pasta but the taste/bite of regular pasta, too, so a mix seemed like the easiest way to get the best of both worlds.

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I also used local grass fed ground beef.

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Organic Roasted Garlic pasta sauce.

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Sipping on Trentadue wine amid the chaos of boxes and what-not.

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I got my sauce going and simmering and while my pasta cooked, I downed my Earthfare salad. Once home, I added some pepitas and my own salad dressing before chowing down.

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Round #1 - soooo good! So nice to be able to cook and eat at home finally. We still have a lot of work to do before the kitchen is completely ready, but any cook-ability works for me.

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Round #2...mmm! Topped with lots of fresh parm!

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Dessert #1 - fresh apple, spilt with hubby

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Dessert #2 - a mini Snickers with almonds

Dessert #3 - half my ginger molasses cookie...the whole wheat chocolate chip is still my fave, but this is great for the season.

What was the first home-cooked meal you made when you last moved?

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/11/house-update-3---first-home-cooked-meal.html Halloween In tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a64608ea970b 2009-10-31T23:27:43-04:00 2009-10-31T23:27:43-04:00 Like I said in my previous post, this year's Halloween was a bit of a let down for me. But, we'll do better next year! Hubby and I spent most of the evening working on Project Cabinet Clean-Up so we... Diana

Like I said in my previous post, this year's Halloween was a bit of a let down for me. But, we'll do better next year!

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Hubby and I spent most of the evening working on Project Cabinet Clean-Up so we can start enjoying home cooked meals again. Since we had to eat and our plates hadn't been unpacked or cleaned, hubby picked up Chinese take-out.

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We started by splitting an egg drop soup.

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Hubby and I ate off of one of our side tables since our coffee table is still broken.

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I split this egg roll with hubby.

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Hubby ordered veggie lo mein. I was surprised he ordered veggie, but kind of happy, too. I'm not missing meat from my meals like I used to.

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I had two of these Snickers Almond candies in funsize for dessert.

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After our long day of shopping and then long night of cleaning, hubby and I decided to crack open one of the bottles of Trentadue wine I brought back from my Cali trip earlier this year.

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We opened the Trentadue Sangiovese and it was perhaps better than I remembered! Nice and smooth...delish!

Well, I'm pooped, so I'm going to enjoy a lil more vino, my fortune cookie, and perhaps a lil more Halloween candy.

G'night!

 http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/10/halloween-in.html House Update #2 - Project Cabinet Clean-Up tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69b7b2a970c 2009-10-31T23:08:36-04:00 2009-10-31T23:08:36-04:00 Hubby and I decided to sleep in a bit but try to hit up some garage sales. We found a couple random things to buy, but no furniture. We broke around 11am for a late lunch. I had a Bruegger's... Diana

Hubby and I decided to sleep in a bit but try to hit up some garage sales. We found a couple random things to buy, but no furniture.

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We broke around 11am for a late lunch. I had a Bruegger's spinach omelet on rosemary olive oil and a pumpkin spice coffee.

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I used to always order either a bagel and cream cheese or a bacon, egg, and cheese at bagel places, but the bacon has been weirding me out lately if it's not crispy enough. I far more enjoyed my spinach omelet sans meat and may be making a switch to a new savory bagel favorite.

After brunch, we hit up a couple furniture stores. We found little in the furniture department, but we did like a couple rugs.

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I thought this one would look great in the formal living room.

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And I liked this one for the sunroom.

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It's the Sealy sheep!

We ended up hitting a couple furniture stores, one rug shop, a couple appliance stores, and Target.

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After shopping, hubby and I had a light-ish lunch. We started by sharing a PLT Bruschetta with mozzarella, tomato, lettuce, and crispy pancetta with a balsamic glaze. It was DIVINE!

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Next, we shared a Caesar salad.

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Hubby and I split the Braised Beef fettucini for our lunch. I had about half of this, so 1/4 portion. I wish restaurants would offer smaller sizes...the "regular" portions are always HUGE!

Lunch was awesome, but afterwards, we were ready to be home.

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We made sure to pick up Halloween candy while we were at Target and we got the good stuff - Snickers and M&Ms.

Project Cabinet Clean-Up

Almost as soon as we got home, I was ready to kick-off Project Cabinet Clean-Up. Our kitchen got quite dusty during all the renovations, so it needed quite the cleaning.

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I pulled on my pretty pink rubber gloves and got to work. I used a mix of Castille soap and water to clean my cabinets.

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Once the cabinets were clean, I started lining them with some non-adhesive lining (from Target).

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I ran out of the lining material pretty quickly even though I had 3 rolls. I guess I forget how short they are!

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I think the end result looks pretty darn good though.

We worked on the cabinets while the trick or treaters stopped by. We only had TWO groups swing by! Maybe they thought we didn't have candy since we didn't have decorations? I think less people went out this year also because it was raining...poor kiddos!

Speaking of Halloween, how bummed am I at missing out on the festivities this year! We were too busy with the house to do any Halloween decorations or go to any parties (and we got invited to TWO!) or even buy/make costumes. The worst part was not being able to do my annual Halloween-themed party. This would have been our third year, but we just couldn't pull things together between Wednesday and Saturday. So sad!

Click here to see photos from last year's Halloween party dessert. I'll make up for this year with next year's party!

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/10/house-update-2---project-cabinet-clean-up.html House Update #1-Bails and the Yard tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a645d282970b 2009-10-31T21:40:15-04:00 2009-10-31T21:40:15-04:00 We've been in the house for under a week and I've come to realize a couple things: We have NO nice furniture. I thought our living room set was pretty nice till the leg broke off our coffee table. Doh!... Diana

We've been in the house for under a week and I've come to realize a couple things:

  1. We have NO nice furniture. I thought our living room set was pretty nice till the leg broke off our coffee table. Doh! We basically need to start from scratch in the furniture department, save a handful of pieces.
  2. Having no curtains or blinds stinks!
  3. Trying to wait (to a later phase of a kitchen reno) to unpack your kitchen is a bad idea (or at least expensive and unhealthy since you end up eating out so much).
  4. Packing select items (deodorant, soap, and other essentials) in an easy-to-find place is a good idea. I will do that next time.
  5. Yards are AWESOME!
  6. New paint stinks.
  7. Bailey NEEDS some rugs - his poor paws don't agree with the hardwoods.

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Welcome to my changing room. Since we have ZERO curtains or blinds, I have to change in the hallway - the only place I can shut out the world and have privacy. Sad, no? Curtains for at least one room are very high on our buy list right now.

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Hubby's been playing with Bailey in our new yard.

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Bailey LOVES playing in our yard.

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He likes frisbees...a lot.

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Cutie pie!

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I found this interesting hanging flower in our backyard. I have no idea what it is, but it looks pretty neat.

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Hubby and I haven't had time to unpack our kitchen at all, so we've only ventured out to get select essentials: candles (to try to rid the house of the stinky paint smell, including a soy candle by Method), lighters (for the candles), soap (I like to stay clean...plus this Method line is pretty cool), and coffee...because we couldn't find the bag we packed...lol.

More house fun to come. Till then...

Cheers!

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/10/house-update-1-bails-and-the-yard.html Scarowinds 2009 tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69aeb37970c 2009-10-31T19:05:46-04:00 2009-10-31T19:05:46-04:00 A nearby theme park, Carowinds, converts their park every October into SCarowinds - a ghoulishly-themed attraction. They have freaky mazes, scare zones, and even several of their normal rides open. I coordinated a small group to hit up the park... Diana

A nearby theme park, Carowinds, converts their park every October into SCarowinds - a ghoulishly-themed attraction. They have freaky mazes, scare zones, and even several of their normal rides open. I coordinated a small group to hit up the park on Friday with hubby and friends Kayte, Tracy, Matt and Ashley.

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First up, we hit up Wild Wings for dinner. I got the chicken finger platter with honey mustard and a coke. The platter was HUGE, and I had a hard time finishing my portion, but hubby helped out.

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Directly after dinner, we headed to the park to try to make the 7pm opening for SCarowinds. We got there a bit later than expected and ended up missing a couple (Matt & Ashley) we were meeting there, but we were still there plenty early to enjoy the festivities.

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The park had scary decor and smoke/fog blowing everywhere. We hit up two of the Scare Zones - Feeding Frenzy and The Cemetery before looking for some rides.

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First up, we rode the Vortex - a standing coaster. It was super fun! I snuck a quick photo just after the ride ended but before we had to get out of our seats.

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Then, we went on a wooden coaster called Goldrusher. It wasn't nearly as thrilling, but did have a good finish. We snapped these photos after the ride was over, as we waited to pull into the gate.

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Next, we eyed the Carolina Cobra.

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This ride featured two loops and some twists and went forwards one way and then sent you back through the ride BACKWARDS!

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About to have a thrill

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The ride was AWESOME! I've never done a roller coaster backwards and it was so fun and worth the wait.

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After the Carolina Cobra, we decided to take a break from the rides and stick to the Halloween-themed attractions. But first, we needed some good theme-park-food.

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FUNNEL CAKES! Hubby insisted we try chocolate syrup on ours. I didn't care for it. I like my funnel cakes just with powdered sugar, but I still helped him out a little bit.

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As the night went on, the lines seemed to get longer and longer. We hit up Cornstalkers (a scary maze)...

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...then Dead Inn (another maze).

After that, we decided to call it a night and head out of the park.

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But not before getting one final theme park snack - a giant pretzel. I helped my friend Kayte snack on one of these guys.

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Oh, and we had to get a photo with one of the scary people wandering around the park. They do such a GREAT job with their makeup! Doesn't this guy look freaky?!

SCarowinds seems to get better and better every year. Though we were pretty tired, we managed to stay out most of the night but didn't get to see nearly half of the attractions. We still had a great time, though, so that's all that matters. Plus, there's always next year.

If you celebrate it, what are you doing for Halloween?

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/10/scarowinds-2009.html Longest Moving Day tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6910a7f970c 2009-10-29T23:26:36-04:00 2009-10-29T23:26:36-04:00 For all the pre-packing and pre-moving hubby and I did, moving day was one of the longest I remember. The day seemed to go on for eternity and we did end up spending a lot more of the day doing... Diana <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>For all the pre-packing and pre-moving hubby and I did, moving day was one of the longest I remember. The day seemed to go on for eternity and we did end up spending a lot more of the day doing moving related tasks than I ever expected.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63be3d5970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69108d9970c-pi" width="470" height="626" alt="IMG_8866.JPG" /></a></p> <p>In a perfect world, we would have moved on or just next to a weekend, but when renovation projects ran over, we ended up just trying to push our move back as little as possible to save money on apartment rent.</p> <p>On moving day, our little apartment was stuffed with boxes and packing materials.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63be40a970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63be413970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4088.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Hubby picked up breakfast. I made coffee at home. With the coffee, I had a half bacon egg and cheese bagel and half blueberry bagel with strawberry cream cheese. I didn't think I ate that much, but the food really held me over during the day.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69109c9970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63be4b0970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4089.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Once the movers got to our place, we had to lock Bailey up in his cage. I don't think he cared being stuck in there.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6910942970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63be442970b-pi" width="470" height="705" alt="IMG_4091.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Check out one of the <i>wonky</i> boxes hubby picked up from the grocery store. To be cost-effective and green, we got all our boxes for free from our local grocery store and from my office.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6910892970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63be3a0970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4093.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Oh, and did I mention it was supposed to rain all day? Magically, around lunchtime, the skies cleared and the sky turned bright blue! The weather was nearly <i>perfect</i>, which made me extra happy.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a691099f970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63be485970b-pi" width="470" height="705" alt="IMG_4102_2.JPG" /></a></p> <p>You like my moving outfit? Oh yea...that's <i>hot</i>, I know! I just threw stuff on...whatever I could find that wasn't packed and was easy to move in. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63be4ec970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6910a10970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4105.JPG" /></a></p> <p>I wanted to move our stuff a la <b><a href="http://www.pinqueblog.com/" target="_blank">Pinque</a></b>, but hubby insisted on movers. Luckily movers come with plenty of furniture padding.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69109e6970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63be4d2970b-pi" width="470" height="352" alt="IMG_8869.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Around 3pm-ish...I realized I hadn't eaten lunch. Hubby picked up some marinated kale for me...</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63be48f970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69109ba970c-pi" width="470" height="352" alt="IMG_8872.JPG" /></a></p> <p>...and a sweet treat - some donut holes from a local bakery to share.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6910a1f970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63be4fb970b-pi" width="470" height="352" alt="IMG_8874.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Yum-O!</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6910a60970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63be516970b-pi" width="470" height="352" alt="IMG_8878.JPG" /></a></p> <p>After the movers were done, we still had TONS of work to do. I went ahead and cleaned the fridge in the new house to make way for our food. Then, we were back to the apartment to pack the last of our stuff (which there was a TON left in the kitche...where did it come from!?) and clean.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63be3fe970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6910902970c-pi" width="470" height="352" alt="IMG_8882.JPG" /></a></p> <p>I picked up Moe's for dinner around 9pm - the Joey combo with queso and chicken...</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6910a31970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6910a3a970c-pi" width="470" height="352" alt="IMG_8885.JPG" /></a></p> <p>...and tortilla chips. The combo had way too much food, so I split about half of it with hubby. I had sweet tea for some caffeine to get me through the night.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69108e5970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69108ee970c-pi" width="470" height="352" alt="IMG_8888.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Hubby and I also split a chocolate chip cookie for a morale boost.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63be521970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6910a79970c-pi" width="470" height="352" alt="IMG_8894.JPG" /></a></p> <p>After lots of hard work, we FINALLY finished!</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63be4da970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6910a02970c-pi" width="470" height="352" alt="IMG_8890.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Here's me and hubby after we finally finished. This photo was taken around 2am. That's right...we stayed up till about 2 am finishing our packing and cleaning. Ugh! It was a LONG day but we are done-zo!</p> <p>After this, we headed to our new home to unload our last trip of stuff from the apartment.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63be3ac970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a69108a7970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4111.JPG" /></a></p> <p>We only had 1 piece that really broke on the trip - our coffee table (the leg was already wobbly when it was in the apartment). Unfortunately, this was one of the "nice" pieces of furniture we have. This move has made me realize that we really don't have ANY nice furniture. We've been using hand-me-down and mish-mashed furniture for the last several years. I can't wait to start finding furniture for our new home!</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6910960970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63be451970b-pi" width="470" height="352" alt="IMG_8898.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Here's all the food had on us after the move...our fridge looks so sad and empty! I can't wait to hit up the grocery store so we have food at home. I'm ready for a home-cooked meal!</p> <p>Anywho, I gotta get to bed...I'm zonked! More house fun to come! :)</p> <div class="posttagsblock"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Dessert" rel="tag">Dessert</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Dinner" rel="tag">Dinner</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Doggie" rel="tag">Doggie</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Life" rel="tag">Life</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Snack" rel="tag">Snack</a></div></div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheChicLife/~4/q9bev9WHIYo" height="1" width="1"/> http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/10/longest-moving-day.html Pre-Moving Day Eats tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a63bd570970b 2009-10-29T23:01:03-04:00 2009-10-29T23:01:03-04:00 It's been a long last couple days, but hubby and I are finally in the house and 100% out of the apartment. But, before we get to the move, let's talk about the day before eats. Actually, why don't I... Diana

It's been a long last couple days, but hubby and I are finally in the house and 100% out of the apartment.

But, before we get to the move, let's talk about the day before eats. Actually, why don't I just show you with photos?

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I had toasted turkey sammies with more sweet potato salad from Earthfare and Odwalla Pink Poetry.

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I was down to the ends of my bread, so I turned the tiny pieces into 2 small open-face-toasted sammies. Yum!

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Hubby and I found out about a great deal at a local fave (which is actually a chain but feels like a local spot) Village Tavern - Dinner for Two for $39.95.

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I got the homemade sangria. It was delicioso!

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Hubby and I talked about photos and how he thought it would be better with flash. I said I could take good photos by just holding the camera reeeeeeeeeeally still.

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After seeing the photo with flash, hubby agreed it looked pretty washed out.

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Too bad the non-flash photos all came out blurry when he was behind the camera.

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Hubby and I started by splitting the crab dip with toasted garlic bread. We weren't sure if we'd like the lemon squeezed on top so we tried half the dip with and half without. Turns out we preferred with.

Next course...

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Hubby got the clam chowder

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I got the french onion soup which was DIVINE! I could have made a meal out of just this soup.

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So deliciously cheesy...yum!

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Delicious onions (don't look Kath!)

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Oh yea!

Entree round...

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Hubby got the pork chops.

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I got the sirloin.

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The baked potato was for hubby. I just had a bite. I actually traded the potato for some of hubby's garlic mashed potatoes and mixed veggies. Kind of weird but you know how those pre-selected menus can be.

We ended up taking a lot of our entrees home...we were stuffed we didn't have any room for dessert! So sad!

Dinner was fab and I needed some good eats for extra energy for the next couple days of moving madness!

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/10/pre-moving-day-eats.html Yummy Earthfare Sides + Forest of Boxes tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a67a1098970c 2009-10-26T23:10:09-04:00 2009-10-26T23:10:09-04:00 I'm still recovering from my long weekend and this morning was a slow-moving one for sure. Luckily, I started with a big, healthy breakfast to give me plenty of energy. I'm loving the Larry's Beans coffee I picked up yesterday... Diana

I'm still recovering from my long weekend and this morning was a slow-moving one for sure.

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Luckily, I started with a big, healthy breakfast to give me plenty of energy.

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I'm loving the Larry's Beans coffee I picked up yesterday at Earthfare.

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The main attraction: cinna-choco-oats. I'm loving chocolate-cinnamon combos lately.

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Monday wouldn't be complete without a pumpkin spice soy latte for Starbucks Monday. The coffee and my Patagonia helped keep my warm in the frigid office.

See the boxes stacked in the background? The upside of working in an office - leftover boxes, which = free moving boxes. Cost-effective and green!

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Lunch was pretty fab. I had a toasted turkey sammie and adora. Also, this past weekend, I picked up a couple sides at Earthfare so I didn't have to fill my fridge full of veggies I'd just have to move in a day or so anyways: Sweet Potato Salad and Raw Asian Slaw. I think I'm becoming addicted to Earthfare's sides - they're so tasty and they have so many healthy options.

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The Asian Slaw was SO GOOD I couldn't stop eating it! Literally...I intended to eat half of each over the next two days but downed the ENTIRE slaw! I only had room for a few bites of the Sweet Potato Salad.

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I had a Raw Organic Bar in Chocolate Coconut at the end of the day to give me energy for a late afternoon meeting.

After a longer than normal day, I got to return to more packing. Luckily, hubby picked up some yummy take-out.

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Miso soup

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I had some of hubby's crispy calamari

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Hubby and I split some Chicken Teriyaki. I jazzed mine up with some sesame seeds from the pantry.

I enjoyed dinner while breaking to catch SYTYCD - this season is going to be a GREAT one!

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For dessert I had a Mott's plus with pomegranate. It was quite tasty...like an amped up applesauce.

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After eating, it was time to get packing again. I got to multi-task it and pack up while catching up on Gossip Girl. There were some great outfits on the show tonight!

Poor Bailey looks like he's lost in the forest of boxes. This place is a WRECK! I can't wait for this whole moving process to be OVER! I'm ready to be settled in already. We have one more day in the apartment and then...it's MOVING TIME!

Happy Birthday to Kath!!!

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/10/yummy-earthfare-sides-forest-of-boxes.html Pumpkin-Spiced French Toast + House Update tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f2ab5970b 2009-10-25T23:42:22-04:00 2009-10-25T23:53:51-04:00 After the suuuuper long Saturday I had yesterday, I definitely slept in again. By the time I woke up, I was needing coffee and something good to eat for breakfast. Hubby brewed this bag of Starbucks Africa Kitamu coffee he... Diana <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>After the suuuuper long Saturday I had yesterday, I definitely slept in again.</p> <p>By the time I woke up, I was needing coffee and something good to eat for breakfast.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a67686d7970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a67686df970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_3998.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Hubby brewed this bag of Starbucks Africa Kitamu coffee he brought home from his trip to DC.</p> <p>For breakfast, I decided to do <b>French Toast with a TWIST</b>!</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f2a7d970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f2a81970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_3999.JPG" /></a></p> <p>I used some cage-free eggs to make my custard.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a676860c970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f2955970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4001.JPG" /></a></p> <p>I used some <b><a href="http://www.greatharvest.com/" target="_blank">Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat</a></b> bread that we've had around for a few days.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f29d0970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a676866b970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4005.JPG" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6768746970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f2a95970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4002.JPG" /></a></p> <p>I sipped on coffee and browsed my new Crate and Barrel catalog whilst cooking up breakfast.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f29b9970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f29c3970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4006.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Got a little crazy with the cinnamon.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6768640970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6768643970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4007.JPG" /></a></p> <p>My secret ingredient - <b>Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter</b> - this plus the cinnamon gave the French Toast a really great <b>fall flavor</b>.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6768704970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f2a60970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4009.JPG" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f2a2d970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f2a36970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4011.JPG" /></a></p> <p>French toast is MESSY!</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a676867b970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f29f8970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4013.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Since I still only have my tiny non-stick pans (hope to remedy this once we're in the house), I could only cook 2 pieces of French Toast at a time. I kept the cooked pieces warm in the oven on 250 degrees F.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6768763970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f2ab2970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4017.JPG" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f2992970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a676864f970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4018.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Breakfast is served! With the <b>Pumpkin-Spiced French Toast,</b> I also had some more <b>Canadian bacon</b> and some <b>maple syrup</b> warmed up with some <b>real butter</b>.<br /></p> <p>After brunch, I did some serious packing. We loaded up 1 1/2 cars worth of boxes and stuff and headed over to the house to check out our newly refinished hardwoods. We can't walk on them till Wednesday so until then...we wait.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f2a13970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f2a19970b-pi" width="470" height="352" alt="IMG_8788.JPG" /></a></p> <p>I think they look GREAT, though!</p> <p>After checking out the house, I headed over to my new favorite grocery store - Earthfare! I was hungry for a snack and lucked out by filling up on samples in the prepared food section. I really was picking out stuff to eat for the week, so I wasn't just eating their samples for nothing.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f29e0970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a676866f970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4028.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Earthfare had their organic pumpkin on sale - 3 for $5! I normally try to get rid of stuff in my pantry when I'm getting ready to move, but I couldn't pass on this deal. I got 3 cans. I'll just have to move them...it will be worth it.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6768625970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f2978970b-pi" width="470" height="352" alt="IMG_8792.JPG" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a67686bd970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a67686cf970c-pi" width="470" height="352" alt="IMG_8793.JPG" /></a><br /></p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a67686eb970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a67686f8970c-pi" width="470" height="705" alt="IMG_4029.JPG" /></a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>We are also out of coffee. I didn't want to pick up a big bag only to turn around and have to move it, so I just filled a bag up with enough to get us through a couple days. I decided to try a fair trade coffee by <b><a href="http://www.larrysbeans.com/" target="_blank">Larry's Beans</a></b> in <b>Costa Little Ricky blend</b>, which comes from <b>Raleigh, NC</b>. I wonder if they do tours? I'd love to check them out next time I'm visiting my MIL.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6768672970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f29e8970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4032.JPG" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6768693970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6768699970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4035.JPG" /></a></p> <p>I tried a new Odwalla flavor - Pink Poetry - Earthfare had $1 off coupons in the refrigerated section. Looks like it's got some good stuff in it.</p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6768619970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a676861d970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4023.JPG" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a67686b4970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f2a41970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4026.JPG" /></a></p> <p>Hubby brought home some pizza from our fave local pizza place - I had some <b>bruschetta, 1 slice of pepperoni and 1 slice of cheese with a wee bit of coke.</b></p> <p><b><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f2e3f970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f2e43970b-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4039.JPG" /></a></b></p> <p><b><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a61f2e5b970b-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6768b5a970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4040.JPG" /></a></b></p> <p><b><a href="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6768b45970c-pi"><img src="http://thechiclife.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6768b4c970c-pi" width="470" height="313" alt="IMG_4044.JPG" /></a></b></p> <p>I picked up a couple treats for hubby and myself: 1 peanut butter chocolate chip cookie (for him) and a whole wheat chocolate chip cookie (for me). Look at that close-up!</p> <p>Delish!</p> <p>Phew, this has been a whirlwind weekend, but a GREAT one! Guess I need to rest up for the big MOVE! G'night!</p> <div class="posttagsblock"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Breakfast" rel="tag">Breakfast</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Dessert" rel="tag">Dessert</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Dinner" rel="tag">Dinner</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Groceries" rel="tag">Groceries</a></div></div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheChicLife/~4/Ees6IwfEEi4" height="1" width="1"/> http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/10/pumpkin-spiced-french-toast-house-update.html Two Weddings, Two Cities tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a6765402970c 2009-10-25T21:57:18-04:00 2009-10-25T21:57:18-04:00 Saturday morning started a bit on the late side after staying out late having fun with my zumba friends and hubby's friends. Knowing I had another long day ahead of me, I fueled up with a healthy breakfast of Canadian... Diana

Saturday morning started a bit on the late side after staying out late having fun with my zumba friends and hubby's friends.

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Knowing I had another long day ahead of me, I fueled up with a healthy breakfast of Canadian bacon, 1 fried cage-free egg, and a piece of Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat toast 1/2 with butter and 1/2 with TJ's pumpkin butter...plus, a nice mug of hot coffee.

After breakfast, I packed, got gussied up and hit the road for a wedding about 2 hours away. I had to be at two places at one time - one of my best friend's wedding and one of hubby's best friend's wedding. The plan was to go to my friend's ceremony and then drive back home for hubby's friend's reception.

My friend is Diana (yes, another Diana) and one of my best friends I grew up figure skating with. We've known each other for soooo long, so it was really touching to be there for her special day.

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The day started gloomy but the sky cleared up in the afternoon.

I got to my friend's wedding with 20 minutes to spare, which was nice because I hate being late for things.

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Just married! They look so happy!

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The wedding mansion was decorated so nicely.

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Wedding cake!

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After the ceremony, we were directed inside to enjoy hors d'oeuvres. They had a neat drink fountain - not sure what was in it. I chatted it up with some old friends - one of our other best skating friend's parents, another fellow figure skater, and 3 of my old figure skating coaches. It was so nice seeing them and everyone looked just great - so healthy! It was so nice to see everyone doing so well...especially the beautiful bride and her glowing family!

While everyone waited for the bridal group to do their photos, I snuck over (while they were wrapping up their photos - only after the dad waved me over) to say goodbye to the bride and her parents...and to meet the groom. I had already told Diana ahead of time that I wouldn't be able to stay for the ceremony. Diana's parents asked me if I wanted to stay, but I said I had to be going. I took a couple quick photos with her (on the professional photographer's camera), and hugged her a few times before telling her I was leaving.

I headed back inside to hit up the restroom before hitting the road. Diana's mom passed me while I was waiting for the restroom and asked if I wanted to stay to eat. I thanked her but said I had to get on the road. I felt honored that it seemed she really wanted me to stay. Shortly afterwards, I realized 1. I really wanted to stay for some of my dear friend's reception and 2. that I hadn't timed things well because by the time I got to the other reception, it would be 8pm and they'd probably be done eating. I think I really just wanted to stay for my friend's reception more than my rational self would realize.

I left the mansion and would you know it...I ran into the bride's parents and her sister (the maid of honor) on my way out. They persuaded me to stay one last time and I decided to take them up on their offer. I knew the other figure skater who had been at the ceremony had to leave for another wedding, so I found the table of skaters (where she would have been sitting) and happily joined them.

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They set the reception up in a tent connected to the mansion. Inside, it was soooo BEAUTIFUL! I loved the shapes on the top of the tent walls.

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The bride and groom started out with a traditional first dance, which ended up becoming a mix of many fun songs. Their slow dance turned into a latin dance and moved all the way to Jump On It. It was so neat. They were very creative.

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Dinner was an awesome display of yummy foods.

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There was even a chocolate fountain.

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I had a little bit of everything: BBQ chicken, beef, lots of veggies, squash casserole, potatoes, and roll with butter. The food was AWESOME.

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I grabbed the bride (who was surprised by happy to see me still there) for some quick photos in the photo booth.

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The photo booth came with props - it was super fun.

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Cutting the cake.

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There were 3 cake flavors - I went with the Grand Marnier Godiva.

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The cake was superb!

After the cake and some hot coffee for the road, I said a real goodbye to the bride and groom and hit the road to go home for the second reception. I was so glad to have been able to stay for some of Diana's reception because I could tell it meant a lot to her and her family for me to be there while I was just honored to be there, myself.

I caught up with a sorority sister via cell phone on the ride home, and it was nice to talk to her. We have a sorority event coming up in a few months and we brainstormed some ideas for the committee she's chairing.

Two hours later and I was back in town and quickly made my way to the other reception. It was about 10 till 10pm when I got there.

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I made it just in time to catch the last dance with hubby. Doh! I didn't think the reception would end at 10pm! I did get a chance to hug the bride and groom and wish them Congrats.

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Before I knew it, they were off.

We ended up meeting them and some other friends from the reception at a local hotel lobby/bar area to hang out some more. We stayed for a bit, but after my long day, I wasn't able to stay up super late.

After some QT with hubby's friends, we headed home to call it a night. Phew! Long but most-AWESOME Saturday! :)

Congrats to the newlyweds: Diana + Jimmy and Vicki + Tim!

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http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/10/two-weddings-two-cities.html Things I Can't Wait To Do Once We're Moved In tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a674fadf970c 2009-10-25T11:19:32-04:00 2009-10-25T11:19:32-04:00 There have been so many things I've been dying to do/get over the last couple years that our little apartment hasn't allowed me to. We have ways to go since we're still doing renovations and trying to update the place,... Diana

There have been so many things I've been dying to do/get over the last couple years that our little apartment hasn't allowed me to. We have ways to go since we're still doing renovations and trying to update the place, but I'm hoping to work on my wish list as soon as possible.

Things I Can't Wait To Do Once We're Moved In:

  • Decorate
  • Start my veggie and cutting gardens
  • Have dinner parties (I think we're going to miss our annual Halloween one this year unfortunately)
  • Pick out furniture (and hopefully find some new and old pieces to mix - hope to update the old ones a la HGTV)
  • Have people over to watch the games, movies, TV Show marathons
  • Buy fun mugs, plates, bowls, and placemats for my blog photos
  • Get back into crafting (so many cozy yarn-y projects to work on this winter)
  • Have friends over to practice zumba (now that we have some open space)
  • Have houseguests (now that we have an extra bedroom)
  • Have knit/crochet get-togethers (Stitch and B anyone? haha)
  • Play bocce ball in our yard
  • Have cook-outs in our yard
  • Get a big screen TV (hubby has been waiting on the house to buy one)
  • Set-up a jewelry-making space in the basement (preferably with a fused glass kiln)
  • and of course, have a big, fun house-warming party

I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff, but I'm excited either way!

 http://thechiclife.typepad.com/the_chic_life/2009/10/things-i-cant-wait-to-do-once-were-moved-in.html Quarterly and Zumba Charity Event tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fdaec7288340120a67258ed970c 2009-10-24T11:57:26-04:00 2009-10-24T11:57:26-04:00 Friday was one of the busiest I've had in awhile. I woke up Friday in a bit of a rush (shocking, I know!), so I made a quick breakfast: Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Toast - 1/2 with Barney Butter... Diana

Friday was one of the busiest I've had in awhile.

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I woke up Friday in a bit of a rush (shocking, I know!), so I made a quick breakfast: Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Toast - 1/2 with Barney Butter and 1/2 with Dark Chocolate Dreams. I topped both slices with a sprinkling of chia seeds. Coffee was a must.

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Lunch was a toasty turkey sammie with muenster cheese. Have you tried toasting your sandwiches? I think they taste so much better that way...it's an easy way to jazz up the every day sandwich.

I ate light to save room for snacking later...

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I left work in the afternoon to head to my company's quarterly meeting at...oh yes...a bowling alley!

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We had a banquet table of snacks, which ended up becoming my dinner...and dessert! Check out that ice cream bar!

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Food close-ups.

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Round #1

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Round #2

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Drink of choice: Firefly + Lemonade

I actually ended up not being able to bowl. I tried for a couple of my turns, but my wrist was really bothering me. So much so I couldn't hardly hold on to the ball. It was pretty embarrassing to watch nearly all of my tosses winding up in the gutter, especially since I went bowling a couple months ago and did really well. Stupid hurt wrist!

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For dessert, I made a chocolate-y bowl of ice cream: chocolate ice cream, chocolate sprinkles, mini M&Ms, cookie crumbles, chocolate syrup and candy corn added since it's October and close to Halloween.

After my company's quarterly meeting, I headed out to a charity event my zumba girls were putting on.

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We took over a local club and danced the night away!

I got up on the stage for a good 8-ish songs...it was so much fun! I had a blast dancing with my zumba girls and being on the stage was pretty neat, too.

After the charity event ended, we went out to a local bar to meet up with some of hubby's friends. We didn't stay long, but late-night munchies ensued!

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I shared this spicy chicken wrap with hubby...

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...and we each got our own french fries.

Oi! What a long, but fun night!

Ok, I'm off to get ready for Saturday...it's gonna be a doozy, too! A good one, though, hopefully. :)

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