A little bit of this and a little bit of that!

Hi There!

So,when I logged into my wordpress account to work on a new post, I realized that I had a partially finished post from two weeks ago that I never published! I thought about posting it anyways, but unfortunately the information in the post seemed irrelevant now that weeks have gone by. Womp, Womp. O well, I guess that means  that in the future I should try to finish a blog post the day I start writing it! Something to work towards, right?  Things around here have been busy to say the least. We were away in Vermont for a long ski weekend, my birthday and Valentine' day were last week, and PJ's birthday is this coming weekend! An expensive month you might say? My birthday was VERY low key, which was exactly what I wanted. I worked, and then headed out for a wonderful dinner at Maritime Parc with PJ, his Dad, and his Dad's girlfriend. The meal was superb as always, and we had lots-o-laughs, which in my opinion is the mark of a great dining experience dining! Since I have been on a blog hiatus so to speak, I'm going to share a few pics from the past couple of weeks to keep you all up to speed!

 



 

Two weeks ago, I spent the weekend in Vermont skiing with 22 of my friends. Yes, 22. I'm the one in the cherry bomb helmut!

 I went to the local market and was overjoyed to find Vermont Maple Candies!!! I LOVED these as a child, and I could have probably housed all three sugary little nuggets in one sitting. Now, just one makes my teeth ache, but it's so worth it! Anyone else love these?

 

Hard pic to see, but PJ and I enjoyed a lovely Valentine's day dinner at one of our fave local spots, Park and Sixth.

My Valentines day gift from my love. A chocolate and raspberry cupcake, and a handmade card from a local artisan. The card is gorgeous! My mom suggested framing it and using it as "art". I might just do that!

Even the back of the card had beautiful detail.

The absolutely PERFECT Valentines day card that I spent quite a while selecting for PJ.

Too bad it was an anniversary card.

Birthday present! What girl doesn't love a big ol' box from Bloomies?

So there you have the highlights of the past couple weeks. I have been pretty bad about snapping photos of meals etc., but I did happen to whip up a yummy dinner last night that I remembered to photograph!

Not that my photography skills were ever particularly notable, but judging by the photo above, they have further declined over the past couple of weeks! Ok, back to dinner. I didn't plan my meals this week as I usually do, so last night I was stuck with a bunch of ingredients and no set plan of what to make. I channeled my inner chef, and threw together a quinoa chicken beet salad. It was AWESOME. I'm going to include a "recipe" so to speak, but you can really add anything that tickles your fancy to this rice bowl variation.

Quinoa Chicken Beet Rice Bowl

Ingredients

(serves 2)

- Quinoa (cook according to package- I used 1 cup water and 1 cup veggie broth!)

- 1 can of canned beets, chopped

-chopped red onion

- 1 chopped green pepper

-chopped fresh spinach

-toasted pinenuts

-2 broiled chicken breast, chopped or shredded

Dressing

(Note* I don't use measurements- just keep adjusting until flavor is to your liking.)

-Extra Virgin Olive Oil

-Balsamic Vinegar

-lemon juice (1/2 lemon)

-dash of agave nectar ( maple syrup would work, too)

-salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients, pour in dressing, mix well, Manga!

Alright, time to get crackin'. Per usual, I've added today's "things to think about" below.

xo

Sarah

                         

Tears and Triumphs

Yipee! It's my favorite day of the week!

How is everyone doing today? I have a pretty good weekend on tap, so I'm looking forward to five o'clock when I can unplug and relax! This week has been uneventful, but good. My schedule has pretty much been work, yoga, make dinner, clean up from dinner, make lunch for following day, sleep, and repeat. I snuck in some much needed girl time on Wednesday night with my friend Katie. She came over after work, and we walked on the treadmills in my gym and yapped for 45 min. Then we made dinner and yapped some more while we feasted. Lucky for PJ he had alternate plans; two girls chatting away is probably not his idea of a relaxing evening!

I wanted to share with you all a salad that I have been enjoying for lunch lately! I actually snagged the "recipe" a while back from the fitnessista, but I continuously forget to make it. Well now that I've pulled the trigger, I've had the salad 3 times since last week! So, without further adieu, I present: Sushi Salad.

Ah-Maz-Ing!

Sushi Salad

(adapted from fitnessista)

To make salad:

-1 cup greens ( spinach, romaine, arugula)

- 1/2 cup -1 cup of brown rice (I use quinoa!)

- 2-3 oz smoke salmon

- chopped avocado

-chopped cucumber

- 1 sheet of Nori (broken up)

To make dressing:

- I dont use exact measurements! Combine soy sauce (or tamari), rice vinegar, 1/2 garlic clove minced (I use a microplane so it isn't too potent), sesame oil (regular oil would do), small dash of agave if you need added sweetnesss. Drizzle dressing over salad, toss, and enjoy!

So yesterday, this was pretty much me.

I was having one of those days where from the moment I stepped out of bed,  it seemed as though I was receiving a continuous stream stressful news. I assure you, there is nothing going on in my life that is unmanageable , but it sure felt that way as of yesterday. Just when I thought I had heard  it all, something else would come up! BAHHHH!!! I know you've all been there. I was like a ticking time bomb, ready to explode. Well I finally did. I'm not a consistent crier (PJ would disagree!), so when I start crying, it's a BIG cry. As I've said before, I'm an ugly crier, so the cry is not only big but UGLY! With all that said, after 30 minutes of sobbing, I felt like a new woman. The lesson I learned is that sometimes I just need to cry my face off even if the situation really isn't that "big". Holding it all in just leaves me grumpy (I was biting EVERYONE's head off yesterday!), anxious, and alone. I'm happy to report that after my cry, I was able to sort through the clutter, which was mostly in my mind, and look at thing much more objectively. Score.

Even though I felt better than I had during the day, when I returned home last night I was in NO mood to make dinner. The only thing that sounded good to me was a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich on sourdough bread with a side of soup. Well, that's just what I had. The best part? PJ made it :)

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend. Be good to yourself, and cry a little (or a lot)  if you want :)

xo

Sarah