best present ever

thanks everybody for your nice birthday wishes yesterday. i didn't stay on plan but i'm fine with it. and i said i wasn't going to eat cake but i did anyway. it had a sparkler on top, how could i resist?

i can't believe that i actually thought my boyfriend forgot my birthday. he really is very sweet and thoughtful and it would be very unlike him. he made me dinner and we had fast fry steaks, sweetened cooked carrots, and this rice that was flavoured like chicken. then he brought out this little round cake (like the size of a baseball) with a sparkler on top. it was chocolate but had orange mousse inside... yummy. we didn't finish the whole thing but i still ate a pretty decent portion.

and he gave me the best present ever. wrapped in paper was a rice a roni box (that's when i realized we had rice a roni for dinner.) and i said, "ah, rice a roni, the san francisco treat." and then i opened the box, and inside was a card that said he is taking me...

on a roadtrip vacation...

down the coast of california...

from san francisco to LA. AMAZING! i'm soooooooo lucky!

california! the land of dreams haha. see? best present ever. we'll be at the corner of haight and ashbury soon enough!


i drank WAY too much wine last night and am feeling the effects today. but i still got up and did 30 minutes of fast running on the treadmill. why? because i am back on the plan today... and it includes exercising everyday. i didn't think it was strange to exercise on my birthday. i really love exercising, especially in the morning. it makes my body feel charged up and puts me in a great mood (most of the time anyway).

i got this email this morning about why exercising in the morning is tops. here are the reasons:

1) Exercising early in the morning "jump starts" your metabolism, keeping it elevated for hours, sometimes for up to 24 hours! As a result, you'll be burning more calories all day long--just because you exercised in the morning.

2) Exercising in the morning energizes you for the day--not to mention that gratifying feeling of virtue you have knowing you've done something disciplined and good for you. (Much better than a worm!)

3) Studies have shown that exercise significantly increases mental acuity--a benefit that lasts four to ten hours after your workout ends. Exercising in the a.m. means you get to harness that brainpower, instead of wasting it while you're snoozing.

4) Assuming you make exercise a true priority, it shouldn't be a major problem to get up 30 to 60 minutes earlier--especially since regular exercise generally means a higher quality of sleep, which in turn means you'll probably require less sleep. (If getting up 30 to 60 minutes earlier each day seems too daunting, you can ease into it with 10 to 20 minutes at first.)

5) When you exercise at about the same time every morning--especially if you wake up regularly at about the same time--you're regulating your body's endocrine system and circadian rhythms. Your body learns that you do the same thing just about every day, and it begins to prepare for waking and exercise several hours before you actually open your eyes.

and 6) Exercise Extra: More than 90% of those who exercise consistently have a morning fitness routine. If you want to exercise on a regular basis, the odds are in your favor if you squeeze your workout into the a.m.

so there you have it. i have my first dress sewing class tonight until 9 so i had to bring all my food to work, which is kind of annoying but alright. for breakfast i am trying something new: pumpkin carrot oatmeal. i'm mixing 1 packet of quaker regular instant oatmeal, with 1/3 cup shredded carrots, 1/4 cup pure pumpkin, splenda and cinnamon. hopefully this will be a good combo!