Back to buisness...

Morning, ALL!  Happy September to you guys!  I'm SO SORRY I dropped off the face of the earth for a minute thereJ  Scott had a vacation week last week and I don't think we stopped moving (or eating) the entire timeJ  We had PLENTY of trips to the beach...

...outdoor lunches...

...Katie's first bites of boardwalk funnel cake...

...and various OTHER boardwalk treatsJ...

...celebrating Nona's LAST DAY OF WORK!...

...rooting for Michigan on their first game of the season (to success!):...

...another gal's night painting  (also a success, since I liked this pic INFINITELY more than the last oneJ)...

...and a RIDICULOUSLY fun day with my family, who gathered at my Aunt's house to welcome my visiting cousin from Rhode Island...

OH YEAH...and EATING EVERYTHING KNOWN TO MAN, starting with a MEAT TASTING PLATTER for Scott's (belated) birthday celebration at Bitter Bob's in New Hope...

...and, my God, you don't even want to KNOW how much else besides!  So much so, that by the end of the week/weekend, "junk food" was no longer that much of a treat or terribly appealing.  The funny thing was, after thinking about it this week, EVERY year I think summer is going to be SUCH an easy/lean time from the excessive amount of fresh fruits & vegetables laying around and yet I think I have 'weight issues' EVERY summer.  Probably a lot of it has to do with us being 'on the go/wanting to go out' more than the rest of the year.  And if I'm being honest with myself AND you, EVERY meal I had out COULD have been on the healthier end of the scale, but I get lazy and just tend to have what I want WITHOUT much thought, which is CERTAIN DEATH of my healthy eating mindset.  I'm wondering if I go into summer KNOWING it's a trouble spot NEXT year, if I can avoid the weight gain and start FALL off on a better foot.  (Just ackowledging this HAS seemed to work well around Christmas time, which I know is another trouble trap for me)  We'll see...but it was CERTAINLY an interesting and eye-opening observation.  

And all that said, I'm BEYOND RIDICULOUSLY READY (I was BEYOND ready over a MONTH ago and could just never get my footing back completely), to get back to business...one that DOES NOT involve Chinese food, pizza, ice cream & cheeseburgers...ALL of which were consumed in EXCESSIVE quantities the last few weeks.  The thing that drives me COMPLETELY crazy is that I KNOW I can still have ALL of those things, as long as I'm MINDFUL of portions and more often than not, pick the healthier option of those choices.  It's only when I get mentally lazy (at least I've still been on my same workout routine, so I haven't gotten PHYSICALLY lazy...hallelujah for small favors), that it causes me problems that seem to snowball (mostly around my waistJ)  So now it's time to get back to picking the healthier option 85+% of the time and REALLY cutting back on those treats...like, A LOT.  Like, I don't even want to LOOK at ice cream at the moment...and hopefully that moment lasts me a good 6 monthsJ  Hahahhahhahhaa

Well, all that chatter as I'm sure EVERY ONE'S ready to get back to SOME type of business as this FALL season approaches....

...oh, and in case you're wondering, NJ had an absolutely BLISSFUL summer and I REALLY enjoyed all of it and all of the beach & family fun it brought this year.  That was until SUNDAY, where the temperature SKYROCKETED from a MONTH of mid-80's to mid-90's.  This has sent me to hibernate in my air conditioner, hoping it passes SOON.  It took me being outside for all of 2 minutes yesterday to remember the parts of summer I am NOT a fan of, how much I didn't miss them and how I'm SOOOO ready for the hot days to be a distant memory, as it is now SEPTEMBER and I can't even decorate properly!  NOT in this heat, at leastJ  Hopefully next week will usher in some niceeeeeee mid-70's, and with that, ALL of my pumpkins & orange accents  (please, please???)

OK...that is BEYOND enough from me!  Do you still miss me yet?? JJ

Have a wonderful, BACK TO BUSINESS, Tuesday!J

Yoga fun...

Morning, all!  Hope you guys had a great weekend!  I actually don't have too much to show you on the food front from the weekend, but should be back up & running with recaps tomorrow.  The only 'food related' pic I managed to get from the weekend was from a 'Girls & Moms night' weekend out at Mafalda's...including our 'newest' girl memberJ

My BFF and our Mom's spent too much time talking about what we were going to do during the Christmas season to worry about taking pictures of our excellent dinner.  

(I don't even need to preface that I'm not kidding here, huh??)

Annnyyywaaayyyy, in the meantime I thought I'd show you a couple of my yoga videos I've taken the last couple weeks (and my apologies to my peeps who have already seen these 965 timesJ)  Thought you might like to see some work/progress of late...

Gotta keep it fun & fancy, right?

So I better run and get started on prepping for a little celebration tonightJ  Someone in this house is turning the big 4-0!  Weeeeeeee!  Katie & I better get to bakingJ

Have a great Tuesday!J

True American Summer...

Hey, ya'll!  Hope you guys had a GREAT 4th of July weekend!  Do I even need to say it FLEW by???  I'm sure you're all feeling the effects of "Hurricane TIMEFLYIN" as much as meJ

We had not one picnic with good eats...

...um, what says AMERICA like FRITO CORN SALAD??...

...but TWO picnics with lots of good laughsJ

All capped off with Katie's FIRST fireworks show!  

She's STILL talking about how they were noisy, but LOTS of "pretty colors"J

I also did the damn thing of a TRUE American summer and hit the Jersey shore again on Sunday.  By my estimation, I don't think I've skipped a week since Memorial Day.  WHOAMI???

...THIS WEEK'S Asbury Park exceptionally good boardwalk eats included 1/2 a cheesesteak from Tony's...

...and a good ole root beer float from "Just Another Day's Ice Cream"....

GOD BLESS AMERICA!J

And after WAY too many Fritos (among a zillion other things!) this weekend, it was time to just get back on the wagon and FAST this morning!  My 'eating day' wasn't as balanced as I'd like, but the fact that I woke up sore from head to toe from killer workout sessions makes me feel a little more OK about that factJ

Monday Recap:

9:30am:  Almond & Coconut KIND bar

Morning Workout:  Cardio Kickboxing

I had absolutely ZERO interest in getting to this class yesterday.  So much so that I sat, FULLY DECKED IN GYM CLOTHES, in my car and was trying to think of ANYTHING ELSE that I 'should' be doing besides getting through this class.  I was dreading it alllllll the way up until I put my hand on the door and then, before I knew it, I was going 120% and giving it my all.  In the end, I felt like I KILLED it and totally forgot how much I was dreading it.  How would I have felt if I had skipped?  Lazy & defeated...and I knew it.  And that was the ONLY reason I wasn't able to convince myself to skip.  Definitely a good example of when I knew I was just being lazy rather than REALLY needing a break.  The result will always clue you in...but it's ALWAYS better to get that workout under your belt before you figure it outJ

2:00pm:  Lunch- Banana with peanut butter, granola & honey on multigrain wrap

5:30pm:  Dinner- Crispy Gnocchi with Zucchini, sweet corn & basil 

Mmmmmmm...I know dinners are supremely healthy and fresh when THIS is what happens to my cutting board ...

But after all that chip-chopping, this dinner came together soooo quick.  It was one pan of gnocchi, crisped up until golden on the outside and soft on the inside (about 8+ minutes, or so.) 

And pan #2 with a quick saute of zucchini, fresh corn, diced onion, minced garlic & fresh basil (+ a little evaporated milk & grated cheese).  I usually OVER-saute my veggies and made sure to only let these fire up for about 4 minutes or so and LOVEEEDDD the texture and taste of all the FRESH veggies. 

Top the gnocchi with the veggie mix and dinner is SERVED!  Again, we LOVED all of the fresh flavors from these veggies that are at the PEAK of summer-fabulousness.  And the crisp gnocchi were a nice bed to hold all of these flavors together.  Scott FLIPPED over this one.  Me thinks it'll be making LOTS 'O appearances at our summer dinner table. 

Evening Workout:  Beginner's Power + Yin Yoga

An hour+ of power yoga followed by an hour+ of stretching moves.  Yin may look ABSURDLY easy from a 'viewers' perspective, but I STILL think it's the toughest form of yoga.  I usually end up walking out of there about 900000 degrees slower than when I walked in, but there's no better way to get all those muscles stretched & lengthened.  

Well, I should have some FUN eats to share with you tomorrow!  Hope you guys had a great weekend and have a good Tuesday!

All in one weekend...

Morning, all!  Hope you guys had a great weekend!  I had a crazybusyfun one that included a trip to Asbury Park beach on Friday with this little watermelon...

...and not 1...

...but TWO trips to Tuckerton, NJ for my family's annual "Cousin's Weekend" at my cousin's beautiful shore house.

It's such a fun time that I didn't mind the 2 days worth of crazy running around and traversing what felt like the entire state of NJJ  Ya can't beat it for moments like this...

There was also a girl's night painting class at Dragonfly Farms in Hamilton with ma ladies...

And our annual Film Screening from Beyond Expectations at the local AMC theater..

...and again-not 1, but TWO (theme of the weekend??) trips to the beloved Delorenzo's pizza, including Katie's 1st ever trip!  (well, unless you count that one when I was 8 months pregnantJ)

#sacredJ

And somehow there weren't too many food pictures, even though we ALL manage to always eat like KINGS at Cousin's weekendJ  The only picture I managed to capture was one of Katie eating rice for 1 of the .2 seconds she sat still and actually ateJ... 

...and this (swoooon) blueberry cheese danish I had picked up for Sunday morning breakfast from Emery's Blueberry farm in New Egypt, NJ on the way home from the shore... 

...and that all swoops us back to Monday for the start of my weekly recap.  Albeit with 'healthier choices', all with visions of multiple slices of rum cake from the weekend still swirling in my headJ

9:00am:  Breakfast-  Peanut Butter Ezekiel Toast

+ Watermelon

Morning Workout:  Cardio Kickboxing

Week 3 and still going strong with this one.  It's CRAZY intense, but feels REALLY GREAT...when you're doneJ hahahahhaha

1:00pm:  Lunch- "Happy Salad"

3:00pm:  Snack- Chocolate Sugar Free Carnation Instant Breakfast

I try to space these out and not have them too often, but on a day where something COOL & CHOCOLATY seemed divine, I dubbed it appropriate for the day.

5:30pm:  Dinner- Taco Salad 

And since I mentioned I don't know why we don't have this weekly LAST week, I have since filled my weekely quota THIS weekJ  In the mix:

• Taco-seasoned ground turkey
• Kidney Beans
• Roasted Corn
• Peppers & onions
• Lettuce
• Carrots
•  1/2 stick of cheddar cheese

Evening Workout:  Beginner's Power Yoga

Which included about 8 gazillion vinyasa flows....wooooosh!  I had some EXHAUSTED arms by savasanah.

8:30pm:  Dessert- Pretzel Smore

Not necessary in the SLIGHTEST, but very hard to pass up.  At some point I'm just gonna start eating melted marshmallow & chocolate mixed together, since that's the part I CRAVE the mostJ

Alright, I better get started on this Tuesday!  Hope you guys have a good oneJ

Conspiring for health...

Monday Recap:

8:30am:  Breakfast- Dark Chocolate Chunk KIND bar

Morning Workout:  Advanced Pilates

And we made it to class ON TIME!  Miracle of miracles, especially for a 9:30 classJ  I guess it helped then that Katie was up before 6:30amJ

11:00am:  Snack- Date Cinnamon Smoothie

Got done class and realized I was STARRRRVVVIIINNNGGGG.  And after traversing 2 parking lots while lugging Katie in "Pilates exhausted" arms and buckling her into the car seat did we realize she had left her beloved CAT in the day care and we had to walk allllllllllllllllllll the way back into the gym and then alllllll the way back to the carJ  I actually was so hungry by that point that I toyed with going to the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru JUST to get some semblance of a snack...only to be met with the drive-thru entrance covered in orange cones.  It was as if the gods had conspired with me to JUST GO HOMEJ  At least this smoothie came together as quickly as a trip through a drive-thruJ

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• Cinnamon
• 2 dates
• 1 scoop protein powder
• 3-4 pieces of ice

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!   Filled 'the tank' right back upJ  I actually can't wait to have another one of these todayJ

1:30pm:  Lunch- 2 slices Federici's pizza & their famous salad

Met up with a friend & her little cutie for lunch...but the main star of the afternoon was letting the two of them just ROAM FREE at the park and burn off some energy...while we burned off the pizzaJ

And, of course, awwwww at the cutenessJ

 6:00pm:  Dinner- "Mexican Chicken" over spinach

I was amazed that after eating a 'heavier lunch,' I was still pretty REALLY HUNGRY by the time dinner rolled around.  Thankfully, it was a quick grill of the flattened chicken breast and then topped with:

• Salsa
• 2 sliced diced avocado
• Reduced fat Mexican cheese

Pop in the toaster oven until the cheese melts and serve over spinach.  Couldn't be easier or 'leaner'...esp after garlic pizzaJ

Evening Workout:  Beginner's Power Yoga

8:00pm:  Dessert- 2 Ritz S'mores 

I had been SOEXCITED to try this sweet & salty variation since I spied it on Pinterest...and since I was DYING for some chocolate last night, I knew the time had come to give 'em a whirl.  I actually think I walked straight from the car from the gym into the kitchen to make themJ

4 Ritz, 1 mini Hershey bar and a flambe'd marshmallow... 

...and VOILA! 

To be quite honest, I don't even think I can give you a fair assessment since I inhaled them so fast that I barely remember them as I'm sitting here typing thisJ  Maybe next time I'll enjoy them slowly enough that an analysis can be conductedJ Hahahahahaha

Well, the thermometer is supposed to make an incline in Jersey today which means I'm breaking out all of Katie's summer clothes...which are BEYOND adorable (as usual)  Why can't adults have a wardrobe of bold colors and light cotton dresses for all the warmer months ahead too??J  

#ponderments.

Have a great Tuesday!