Meet Chef Lara & Chef Amy

The usual Sunday-Monday dilemma occurred: stayed up all nite (well, close to 2) on Sunday, slept through gym time Monday.

I also slept through breakfast. Lara did the honors instead.



Yum.

Work was...work. It's a little hard to get motivated lately, but once I'm on a roll stuff gets DONE.

I ate a baggie of veggie sticks. Weird how spinach is my favorite vegetable, but my least fave chip flavor. Too strong! But I ate them all anyway.



I also had another turkey lavash wrap, this time with spinach (the good kind!), dijon, and garlic & herb laughing cow. I'm officially over that bread. Burnt out, I guess. And it makes me feel crappy. Not sure if it's the yeast or gluten, but back to brown rice toast love for awhile.



I was supposed to leave work early (4) to get my bridesmaid dress hemmed & taken in, but things ran a little behind and I didn't feel like being rushed. Tomorrow. I had a chiro appointment at 6 anyway, so stayed at work 'til just after 5:30 instead.

Things looked good for the first time in awhile as far as my adjustment went, so that's promising. My neck was still bad off, but that's no surprise. It always hurts. But the shoulder is holding up better than it has thus far *fingers crossed* We set a tentative next appointment for Saturday, September 10, so we'll see if I can make it last that long.

I meant to "run" in Kohl's to grab a strapless slip to wear under the bridesmaid dress, but nearly 30 minutes of trying things on later and they didn't have any small enough. Ha, if only that meant I was small. Nah, the problem was the band size at the top. What do small girls with big chests do??? Everything started at 36, I needed 34. I tried every 36 they had on the tightest setting, but I don't need a wardrobe malfunction, even if it's not my big day. There are still pictures to be had! What about people with 32 bands, etc? It's really not that uncommon! Back to the drawing board...sigh. Not sure where to look now! I'll figure it out..I hope. Ugh, and it didn't help that I wore my Hunter rain boots today. Cute as can be, but not very conducive to taking off & putting back on a million times!

So all that time and no slip, however, I did find shoes. I know, I bought some yesterday. But these were 70% off!! Only $16.49, holla. I'll take the other ones back and pocket the change. Not too shabby.



I think they look better in person. I can't decide if I like these or the other ones better, but for a $40 difference, if I can't decide, why not go for the cheapies, right?

I planned to make an awesome dinner of spicy, crunchy chicken tacos, but between having to go to Walmart to pick up food, medicine, and other miscellaneous items (including the highly coveted September Vogue), it was already 8:30, PLUS more crap occurred that made me feel too bad about myself to be useful, so Amy helped me out with her lasagna, while I put together a quick salad. A couple mini pb cups & a lemon girl scout cookie may have snuck in as well.




On a fun note (kinda?), I just got my Dad, brother, and I reservations for next week's Chick-Fil-A free breakfast. We went to the unveiling of the spicy chicken biscuit last time, so obvi had to continue the trend. Want your own? Click Here. Yay. My Dad and I picked the chicken, egg, & cheese bagel, while my brother went for the bacon, egg, & cheese biscuit. Bacon? At Chick-fil-a? Weird. Happy cows, not happy pigs, I guess!

Back to numbing myself with tv time. Is it weird that I still watch Degrassi? Come to think of it, ALL the shows I plan to watch tonite are about high school. Eh, like I care! They're good.

xo,
Amanda

Off on a Tangent

I'm still sad. Really sad. But I pulled myself together as best as I could and made the most out of the weekend.

Friday, plans changed left and right, but ended up with a sushi dinner, followed by the smallest self-serve frozen yogurt I've made to date. To be fair, the cup was still half-full, but let's get real. I consider myself frugal when the cup isn't overflowing, usually.

It was probably my first real, solid meal in maybe 9 days? No joke, I weighed myself the next morning and I had put back on maybe 4.5 of the 7 or 8 lbs I had lost last week. I realize both times it was a false weight (water weight, excess sodium, and so on), but damn! I guess one can't live on soup and protein shakes long-term, huh?

Saturday, I planned to document for the blog, but when I looked back on all of the photos they were not worth sharing. In a nutshell, I had an eye appointment to get new contacts where they charged about 4 x what would have been considered reasonable, re-realized how downhill the breakfast at Mimi's Cafe has become, ate free italian ice's (sugar-free, splenda-chemical-filled) at the new Rita's, ran a couple errands, did shoulders and abs at the new gym, & had a family dinner at a pub.

Today would have been Little Girl's birthday. Miss you, sweet, sweet love. We still talk about you every day and wish you could be back with us. It's still so surreal that you're gone. I find myself repeatedly asking out loud if you're really not coming back.



Last nite, plans were made to tackle cardio and stretching at the old gym, followed by breakfast at Einsteins. Instead, my Dad woke up not feeling so hot and he's NEVER sick, so I just kinda putzed around and continuously checked in on him. He worked through it and felt better, but wasn't up for leaving the casa, especially for food or exertion.

I couldn't bring myself to reheat my awful Mimi's egg white omelet, so I just finished the leftover wheat toast with pb, honey, & apple butter + Bella and I shared a bunch of fruit. Plus, strawberry coffee with vanilla stevia and vanilla soy milk.


The watermelon was too mealy to eat, but everything else went bye-bye

My Mom & I made tentative plans to do a double-header at the movies, but I had a feeling we'd only last for one...which we did. We saw Our Idiot Brother. I love Zooey Deschanel, so it was a must. I didn't really know what to expect. I enjoyed it. The first half I liked and all, but was kinda meh about it. The second half picked up a little more. Great cast, good story. Made me a little sad, but what doesn't these days? :-P

Didn't have time to get a real meal in my system for lunch. We checked both Nordstrom Cafe and Starbucks, but they had slim pickings left in the food department. Ultimately, Mom and I split a chicken and tarragon sandwich from Starbucks (last one) + I dipped into her popcorn a couple times. The tarragon in the sandwich was a little overpowering, but it got the job done. The bread was surprisingly tasty.

Before AND after the movie we went on a mission: operation find bridesmaid shoes. I had found a pair at DSW I liked the evening before, but passed up because I'm a shoe weirdo. I either like to spend $20 on shoes, max, or go all-out crazy money designer. The shoes I found were $60 and that just seemed ridiculous to me. I told my Dad and he acted like that was a steal....& he's a cheapskate. What does that say about me? Ha. Though I suppose I could ask myself the same question, for the opposite spectrum, what does it say about me that I spent $900 on Louboutins? That I kind of regret, by the way, though they are beautiful. But I digress.

After trying on pair after pair at the mall, none felt just right, and my choices were a little limited. Even though our car registered 109 degrees, since September is just around the corner, stores feel the need to bust out the Fall trends. Knee high leather boots, anyone? Who needs strappy, shiny silver sandals now? Besides me, obv. Back to DSW it was. I had a coupon if you spent x amount you'd get x amount off, but the lowest "x" was $69 AND I noticed it expired the day before, so I tucked it back in my purse. I guess it was sticking out though, 'cause the cashier grabbed for it. I explained to her that it was expired, but she didn't care, so I left out the whole $9 off sitch. She ended up taking off $10. Score. Still $54 when all was said and done.


The final 2 contenders. I bought the pair on the left. Now I kind of like the right better lol. But from the side they were kinda odd.

My bangs are so long if I try to wear them straight across I'd be blind, but Toni & Guy told me to come back in 40 minutes to try again for a bang trim. Blah. Maybe I'll go someplace later this week. I love bangs, but they really are a PITA. I conveniently forgot about that part. (Not really, I just chose to ignore it).


No makeup pic, good thing half my face is covered ;)

While out I also tried to pick up a purse-sized body spray at Victoria's Secret or B&BW, but they all smelled like cheap chemicals. Bummer, but probably better off. I do have probably 20+ sprays and perfumes already.

Anyway, so when I came home I was starving. I made salads topped with kale chips, quorn "chicken" nuggets with special sauce (vegenaise & organic ketchup mixed together), & roasted broccoli. I also stole a bunch of my brother's leftover fries and ate them cold while the other food heated through. I also sipped a grapefruit zevia. I was pumped for the new flavors (new-to-me? not sure if they're new to the line or just moi), but they're pretty terrible. And this is coming from a Zevia fangirl. Grapefruit isn't bad, it just isn't tart enough or special. But the one I was most looking forward to, the Mountain Dew-clone (so cleverly named Mountain Zevia) is horrid. Just don't.




I go through periods where clutter overwhelms me and I MUST clean and purge as much as possible. Now is one of those periods. The problem is, a lot of stuff I have I want to keep. I want, want, want. But I also crave minimalism. What's a girl to do? My current plan is to work through what I have and not replace things unless absolutely necesary (i.e. if I run out of face makeup, replace that, OK, but if I run out of lipstick, use another one I already have). Probably good I didn't buy that body spray then, huh? Learning curve. It's pretty gross how much stuff I have, though. Or, how much I have and don't use. Ugh.

Well, none of those paragraphs really went together transitionally, but they are what they are.

I'm back, bitches.

xo,
Amanda

Heads Up

Har, har, heads up. New header (well, not really, but altered). Get it? Get it?

Yeah.

Figured it was way past due to incorporate the blog name into it. :-x.

Thinking about a whole new look, but I don't know if I'm ready to let go of the damask yet. TBD. Another thing I've been putting off, but NEED to add is an official About Me page.

Blog maintenance is much needed around these parts. Slowly, but surely.

Not much else to say, so I'll leave you with this.





xo,
Amanda

RIP, Beautiful (Little) Girl. I love you always.

My beautiful dog, Little Girl, passed away last nite.



She would have been 16 next week. I had an eerie feeling she may not make that milestone. Unfortunately, I was right. I didn't want to be right. I'd even whisper to her almost daily, you can do it. Just x # of days. You're almost there. But it was too much. One week.

Little Girl lived a long, happy life, despite being mostly deaf and having impaired vision for the past couple of years. She was barely 6 lbs, but she had a lot of life in her. She was never a very energetic dog, even as a puppy, but she did her little "Genie Dance" (Genie was her most used nickname, though she had many) that always cheered us up. She was so small it was hard for her to get up and down the stairs, especially in her old age, but we made up songs for her ("free rides," we called them, when carrying her around) and made a game out of it. I already miss singing to her.

Even though she was by no means our most social pet, the others sure loved being with her.










We actually used to sortof breed dogs when I was younger. Not officially, but her mom and dad, our old shitzu's, were pure bred, and we weren't exactly responsible pet owners at the time. I was with her when she was born and (sortof) with her when she passed. She was the last of her family to go. I hope they're all together now. Bonsai (dad), Buttons (mom), Sammy (sister), and Little Girl. And, of course, their best friend, Blizzard, who you may remember left us last labor day. All such special, loving dogs. We've really been lucky that way.



Genie lived over a decade past her estimated life span. She was the runt of the litter. In fact, we first named her "Pinky," as she was born with no visible fur. Underdeveloped, maybe, but that didn't mean she wasn't strong. We took her to the vet and upon feeling the squishy part of her head where the brain is supposed to harden, and hers hadn't, we were told she'd be lucky to live past 5. Water on the brain, they said. No cure. I was 10 when she was born. I would have been 15 then. I'm 26 now. Genie had other plans. She was going to stick around awhile.




She had a bark to her, but otherwise was the sweetest, most gentle dog you'd ever know. You couldn't meet her and not love her.



She was always nervous and she was always cold, so she shook a lot. We often called her our little chihuahua, and like I said, despite being purebred shitzu, when she was groomed, she looked a lot like a chihuahua, too.

She's our only pet who truly needed clothes, but she hated them. The other dogs jump up and down and even lift their arms when they see a new outfit, but Little Girl ran like a bat out of hell! We made her wear them to keep her warm (and sorry, but because she looked SO cute in them), but she fought the process every step of the way.












Most recently, she had a little quirk where she would hang out on the bed with just the tip of her little tongue sticking out. We called it the Genie Salute. She could lay like that for hours.





My dogs are just like their mama, they love their fruits and vegetables above all else. Little Girl would eat those too, no doubt, but her true love was spaghetti. You could always tell when it was spaghetti nite, because she'd con at least one person into letting her lick their bowl....and it would end up all over her face. We called it her spaghetti head.



We love you, Little Girl. I'm so, so sorry. I wish I could have hugged you and kissed your little head just one last time. I hope you knew how much everyone loved you. Most of our pets we attribute to belonging to a specific family member, but not you. You were the family dog. The family pet. Because of that, maybe it was too hard for you to live anymore given the current circumstances. I don't know. But even at (almost) 16, we weren't ready to say goodbye. You'll always be with us.




She may have been named Little Girl, but she was the definition of a true lady.



xo,
Amanda

Hola

Long time no see, I know. I've mentally written this 100 times, but there's no positive spin to put on it.

My personal life is pretty terrible currently, therefore I deleted all of my evidence (photos, previously half-written posts, etc.) of the last week or so. Trust me, you'd have no interest in reading over and over how everything is crap. Right? Right.

It was a relief to delete some of the crap-quality pics I probably shouldn't post anyway, but it's hard to delete prettified plates of prettified food, lemme tell ya. I guess I could have compiled a pics-only post, but woulda, coulda, shoulda. (BTW, is prettified really a word? Spell check isn't correcting it??? Odd).

I'm still in the process of figuring out WHAT to write about to keep things going. I don't want to abandon the blog anymore, but I don't want to be all woe-is-me either, so writing about daily life is out for a bit, at least as I knew it.

I'll figure it out.

For now, cute puppies always make everything worthwhile, yes?


(yes, she broke the blinds so she can peek out. Forget shitmykidsruined...where's shitmydogsruined.com? LOL)


It's so hard not to squeeze the crap out of their faces!

xo,
Amanda

Better Than Nutella

Monday

-overnite blueberry banana yoats
-strawberry iced coffee with vanilla soy milk & vanilla stevia



Ate in the car on the way to work. Got a stomachache. Wahh. Didn't even finish 'em.

Worked and then got the good news that lunch would be...

-indian buffet!




Yay finally. I always miss it when we don't go!

We left work early (4ish), because my Mom has pneumonia :(. I felt bad for not taking the whole day off. She was stuck all alone at the er doctor center all day, since our primary care dr was on vacation :(.

I was SO hot when I got home, like every day lately, so after I talked to Mom, I made a cold snack.

-chocolate/peanut flour/banana protein shake/smoothie

That's the stuff.

My Dad & brother went to see the Planet of the Apes prequel & my Mom wasn't hungry, so I didn't bother whipping up a gourmet dinner :-P.

-leftover pei wei (meh. threw away almost all of the rice & extra sauce)

The one bad thing about food-filled items that you want to dip, like the rice paper chicken salad rolls, are once you take the first bite, if you want to dip again and be a double dipper-face, the filling all spills out. Life is tough.

-leftover Kombucha

Decided to finally finish up the meh Chai Spice one.

I knew I shouldn't have eaten a late nite snack, but I was hungry and I hate sleeping when hungry OR full.

-reduced fat ruffles & gluten free crackers with red pepper hummus, red pepper edamame dip, & tzikiki

Edamame dip < hummus, but it was still good. Glad I bought it to try. They also had a lentil dip that sounds amaze, but it had weird fillings and spices, so hopefully they'll make more varieties.

Outfit of the Day:

Haven't done one of these in awhile.

Yay for bad lighting and bathroom shots!

I got that dress from Anthropologie awhile ago, but never wore it. If fits perfectly, but next time I need to remember to wear a same color tank underneath. The chest buttons kept ever so slightly gapping, despite not being too small AND also having reinforcement snaps. Makes no sense. It was on sale, so perhaps a slight design flaw? Sure, we'll go with that. Plus, it was a little lower than I originally thought. I don't know if I should apologize or collect tips from our patients for the free show they may or may not have received.

Tuesday

Today I almost got up to workout, but wa..wa..wa....I didn't. It's the thought that counts? *shifty eyes*

-leftover spinach/cream cheese/egg white omelet
-potatoes with ketchup
-iced strawberry coffee with vanilla soy milk & vanilla stevia




I'm always claustrophobic at my work station because it's a huge dumping ground for everybody's crap. It's where paper and boxes go to die before they make it to the storage room or trash can/recycling bin, basically. NO MORE. I wore another cute dress, which I probably got all dusty, but it was well worth it to dive in and go to town on clutter. It's still a work in progress, but check this out. Are you sitting? Just warning you, it's preeeeetty impressive, not gonna lie.

Before:

To be fair, it's usually not THAT bad, but it just goes to show that it happens.

During:



After:




There is nothing like order, folks. Sweet, sweet order. I just want to bathe in it.

Wait, what?

Awkward.

My co-worker rearranged her office this week as well and got rid of one of our wooden cabinets and left it in the storage room, so I snagged it.

Now my work Buddha has a nice spot to chill :).

Lunch was simple, but always a winner in my book.

-turkey sandwich on brown rice toast with organic mixed greens, white american cheese, & mustard
-blackberry hibiscus Mamma Chia



Perfect!

Shortly after lunch, a package arrived. A-HA. We've been waiting on a shipment of toner for the printer that came with a free Kindle! The toner is still a no-show, (luckily we have enough in reserve to last awhile), but the Kindle magically appeared.



Frustration free? Noooot quite. I've had a few fights with that box over the last two days. I don't know if that makes me dumb or whoever felt the need to include that stamp.

While cooking dinner snack:

-half of an apple cinnamon Kind bar

First time trying this flavah. Not as appley or as cinnamony as one would expect considering the name, but not bad. I've met very few Kind bars I didn't like. Actually just one. But since they have 284494 flavors I'd call that a win.

-tilapia with greek seasoning & a lemon/butter/white wine/kalamata olive sauce & sprinkled with a lil herby goat cheese
-orzo with the same sauce as the fish
-roasted broccoli dipped in tzikiki
-salad
-ginger root beer Zevia


LOL, longing for some fishie faces!

I had wanted to add a lil shrimp to the mix, but clearly I made plenty of food as is.

I got my tv on, which stimulate the old appetite again. Silly thing.

-graham cracker squares topped with an organic chocolate-hazelnut spread
-organic braeburn apple slices drizzled with the spread
-candy cane lane peppermint-vanilla decaf green tea with vanilla stevia

Even better than nutella. I'll show you the label next time. It's a must try.

xo,
Amanda