no post yesterday

yesterday was sort of productive. it was my three month workaversary so i now i have benefits - good ones too! at lunch i went to "no frills" to purchase food for my birthday party on saturday ... $105 later! what did i get?

pop bottles (diet coke, club soda, diet grapefruit, diet ginger ale)
water bottles (for drunkards)
chips (regular ruffles, ketchup, roasted chicken, smoky bbq, honey mustard party mix)
crackers (three different kinds)
cheese (cheddar and marble)
hummus dip
roasted red pepper dip
asiago cheese and artichoke dip
carrots
celery (bleh)
baby tomatoes
cucumber
cauliflower
white bread for sandwiches
summer sausage meat
lean deli chicken
marble cheese sandwich slices
miracle whip light
eggs
green onions (for egg salad sandwiches)
pc memories of kobe meatballs
reisen chocolate caramels

that is a lot of party food, considering i already have a lot of candy at home. i also bought:

strawberries for me
blueberries for me
chipotle chicken burgers (only 120 calories - pc blue menu) for me
toilet paper (i guess that's for everyone)

it certainly adds up! when i got home from work i brought all that food upstairs and set out on a run. i was feeling kind of porky and i had lots of energy so i ran for 6 miles, all around the town. it's so easy to run downtown because there are so many people and stores to look at. the first part of my run is a little ghetto, then it's all good. i ran past the citytv building where workers were busy setting up the stages for the muchmusic awards this sunday. i'm glad i don't live in that area - it would be a madhouse of screaming jonas brothers fans.

after my run, i boiled fifteen eggs and eighteen mini potatoes. the potatoes and nine of the eggs are for the potato salad i'm bringing to my boyfriend's staff party tonight (i am remaking the clean eating potato salad from the upcoming cookbook that i made a few weeks ago for the work potluck) and the rest of the eggs are for egg salad sandwiches for the party. last year they were the first sandwiches to get eaten which surprised me. i put a bit of curry in the mix so they are special. actually my sister has mentioned them to me about fifty times over the last year so i think she ate them all. this year i am making more so there is enough for all.

after cooking, i cleaned my den. it's kind of a den/storage room, but that doesn't work for party time. i have giant items from costco in there just hanging around - like twenty rolls of bounty paper towels and a value pack of feminine products. yah ... let's hide those items!

today is also busy. at lunch i am going to my mom's office to pick up her famous chocolate chip cookies for the party. isn't she nice to make them for me. she thinks i tell everyone i made them and take all the credit but i swear i don't. i don't want people begging me to make cookies! that happens to my mom ... the neighbours come over and ask. really people! i also have to hit up the LCBO - i don't want to look at that receipt! i'll just read the brail on the interac pinpad and shut my eyes.

after work i have to rush home, quickly put together the potato salad, and jump on the bus to my bf's house. the party starts "right after school." tomorrow will be a day of baking cake, mad cleaning, chopping, assembling, distributing, blowing (balloons people!) decorating, etc. my actual birthday was pretty awesome. my boyfriend gave me roses, wine, made me pad thai (my favorite), gave me ice cream cone cake that his mom made, and gave me a beautiful shirt and an awesome necklace. (see photo below.) he also got me one more awesome gift but i'll tell you about it next week because it deserves it's own post. suspense! anyway, time for work. i am writing this post in advance and the clock is tick tocking! thanks for your birthday wishes everyone. the birthday week continues bwa ha ha.

happy birthday to me

man, i feel like an old goat today. what do goats say? braaayyyy brraayyyy! oops that's a donkey. now i am in my "late" twenties. JOY! it's okay ... except i actually feel older. i don't feel older than yesterday, but in general. now when i stay out late or party too hard my body reacts in a very negative way. like today for example - i really could have used a couple more hours of sleep.

last night was the no doubt concert and it was amazing! when i got home from work i went for a quick swim. i made dinner for my boyfriend and best buddy - the chicken meatballs and whole wheat macaronis. my friend brought over fresh greens from her community garden and they were very tasty and delightful. we didn't go to the show until 9pm because we did not care to see any of the opening acts (paramore or bedouin soundclash - i went to university with the second group and have had my fill). the show was great! i love no doubt and gwen stefani so much. i am such a die hard fan that i knew every word to every song.

i gave my boyfriend his picture and he really liked it. this is it below - a little warped from the way i was holding it up to the computer screen. and you can see the reflection of the screen and the picture in the screen and the screen in the reflection and so on and so on. they told two friends and they told two friends and they told ... ha ha wayne's world, party time, excellent. the second picture makes the girl's face a bit better, but her bottom is cut off.



and now today. i can't really be bothered to make special foods for myself but i am going to eat exactly what i like the most - carby carb carbs.

for breakfast i packed a ziplock bag of cereal. some multigrain cheerios, some krispix and some fiber one worms. yippee. my mid-morning snack is a triple chocolate vitatop. i have some pb2 in my desk so maybe i will put some on but probably not. for lunch i have a peanut butter and jam sandwich on that amazing cape seed bread. and an apple. see? not exciting. but peanut butter is delicious. talking about food is making me hungry.

my boyfriend is coming over later to celebrate. i think we are just hanging out and ordering in since we are both pooped from last night and he is feeling sick. we can watch top model too. i think i am going to go to ikea on the way home from work. i need some new hand towels for my bathroom since the ones i have are white and looking old and dirty. how embarrassing! no exercise today. i was thinking about swimming but am feeling lazy. if you can't be lazy on your birthday, when can you be!?

HOORAY

i had such a fun time at the blogger saturday dinner meet-up last weekend! it was "so fab" to meet you all - i have to say, everyone was so good looking in person (more so than pictures i mean) ... such awesome clothes, shiny hair, nice jewelry, smiling faces, etc. i have a pic or two to post but haven't uploaded anything yet ... busy weekend!

on friday night i made a terrible-for-your-health, excellent-for-your-taste buds hockey dinner. lackluster chicken wings from a frozen pack (which were too spicy even though they were medium - i am over chicken wings ... bleh ... would not purchase at home again), veggies and pc blue menu pretzel waffles with fat free sour cream french onion dip (made from a powder pack plus 1 cup of the sour cream), and the star of the show, steak quesadillas. i seasoned some flat steak-like beef with a bit of italian seasoning and salt/pepper, quickly pan fried it (no oil, just PAM), then cut it up into little strips. meanwhile i chopped some red onion and grated some monterey jack cheese. i used big tomato basil flavoured tortilla shells, brushed one side with olive oil (oil side down), layered cheese, onions, steak, a bit more cheese and then another tortilla on top (with more brushed oil). i let my bf brush the oil on so he could feel "helpful" ha! i made two and they were SO GOOD - better than any quesadilla i've had in a restaurant. i ate too much but the penguins won so it's all good. the best thing about the whole experience is that now i can spell quesadilla without doing a google search.

on saturday i went for a 6-mile run, and then my bf and i rode our bikes to his house, stopping in a park to play catch with this velcro ball game i have. instead of a baseball glove you have this velcro circle attached to your hand. easy catching! it was so beautiful outside and there was a big street/rummage sale in the park. so much fun!

on sunday there was a street festival right outside my bf's apartment so we walked up and down the street a few times. i didn't buy anything from the vendors but there was the usual corn on the cob, yams, bbq'd meat, ice creams,etc. i did, however, go to cobs bread bakery to buy a fresh loaf of bread. i got the cape seed bread which according to the salesgirl (who was so nice, helpful and informative) is their healthiest loaf. it is made with: Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Sesame Seeds, Whole Flaxseed, Sunflower Seeds, Poppy Seed, Country Grain Mix: [Sesame Seed, Sunflower Seed, Oat Flakes, Flax Seed, Millet, Barley Flakes, Rye Flakes], Wheat Gluten, Yeast, Salt, Malt Flour, Wheat Flour, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Enzymes (Amylase), Calcium Carbonate, L-cysteine. some of those things at the end sound questionable but what can you do - better than a kick in the pants. the bread has seeds on the inside and out, is high fibre and low GI, and is made with NO OIL and NO SUGAR. score. it's so good too. yummy yum yum

this week is going to be CRAZY! here is my schedule:

monday: 2.5 year a versary (not doing anything though because it's monday and we both need time to take care of our own business)
tuesday: no doubt concert
wednesday: photo shoot all day, my actual birthday
thursday: nothing
friday: bf's end of year staff party (have to bring a food dish)
saturday: birthday party
sunday: father's day

now, i tend to get stressed about planning. everything must be perfect. perfect dammit! today i am going to dollarama (party supplies) and i will clean/declutter my abode after work. i want to go for a run as well.

blah blah blah

last night was my book club. you can see the book in the posting below. this book was awesome! it was about this young man in the 1920s (i think) who joins the circus. it is very exciting and descriptive... the idea of a traveling circus is really interesting to me. our next book is the 1966 classic "valley of the dolls" and i'm really looking forward to reading it.

last night after my book club i came home and ate leftover birthday cake. why? i don't know. i should just throw it out. i didn't get home until 11:30 (late!) and i hadn't been home all day long, because i had to finish the book in time for the meeting. i had two glasses of wine at the restaurant and maybe that's why i thought the cake was such a good idea. 1) it didn't even taste that good (but i can recall it tasting amazing at the party) and 2) it make me feel too full and like a giant tub of blob which is not a good feeling either. i am going to commit this feeling to memory and the next time i want something like leftover cake, try and remember how it didn't really do it for me.

today is another long day because it's my sewing class after work until 9pm. when will the madness end? just kidding. i don't mind but my apartment is très sale. thankfully i do not care (yet) because i am not having any parties this weekend :). and i can clean tomorrow. or friday. or whenever. who cares? not me.

today i got up and went for a quick 4-mile run. i didn't wear my hrm, but when i do wear it, i assume it's accurate. i mean, why wouldn't it be? the heart rate goes up when i go up hills or work harder, so i assume it's giving me the correct calorie burn (p.o.m.) but maybe it isn't. i guess it's not a bad thing to be burning more calories than i think i am, right? i've heard that people burn roughly 100 calories per mile, but i do have really low blood pressure. does that matter? and you know, to assume makes an "ass" out of "u" and "me." i know, i'm so funny...

i think my body hates extreme amounts of sugar! blah blah blah...

late post today

i didn't exercise this morning because i am all partied out. i'm going to do something tonight... probably a few 10 minute runs on the treadmill with weights and sit-ups in between. i can hear thunder out the window right now so an outside run is probably out of the question.

my party on saturday was a great success. probably the best party i've ever had. i woke up around ten thirty on saturday and cleaned up for a bit, then went on an awesome 5-mile run while my boyfriend made us breakfast. i spent the whole day cooking and cleaning and he went shopping for last-minute additions. we ran out to pick up the cake from one of my good friends who so nicely made it, and stopped at mcdonald's for dinner. i know... you are thinking... mcdonald's? seriously. i have nothing against fast food really. it's ok every once in a while if you usually avoid it. i had a hamburger with no mayo and small fries. yummy.

i made so much food for the party: crackers and cheese, chips, popcorn, cookies, egg salad sandwiches, deli chicken sandwiches, pb and j sandwiches, a veggie platter, bowls of nuts, hershey kisses, mike and ike's, m & m's, fuzzy peaches, meatballs with honey garlic sauce, jello shooters, a vodka punch, fortune cookies... the list goes on and on. surprisingly people ate 90% of all the food which makes me happy.

here is a photo of one spread:


here is a photo of the cake... the fire alarm just went off!


and here is a photo of my orange and black outfit... check the shoes :)


i think you can click on the photos to make them bigger. this morning after i left school i stopped at this cute coffee shop and tried a vegan chocolate chip cookie. i have never had vegan baking before (that i was aware of) and it was really delicious....

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!

birthday willpower

good morning everyone. today is my birthday. i am now 27 years old. whoo-pa-dee-do!

i didn't do any HIIT last night. i was too pooped and had too much to do. i painted my old desk pink, did blue paint touch-ups in the bathroom, dyed my hair (it is medium brown naturally and i dye it dark brown but it always fades... nothing too exciting), and washed and dried the fabric i bought for my summer-dress sewing class, which starts tomorrow.

this morning i did 3 x 10 minute running on the treadmill, with arm weights in between, and then some stretches and sit-ups after. i am still following my plan (see yesterday) even though it's my birthday. i am not doing anything anyway so there is no point eating cake and other fatty stuff alone. already the plan is working and i'm excited to see what will happen after two days... then three... then four! (then stopping... )

the protein powder really helped to keep me full yesterday. i mixed it with some unsweetened almond breeze, ice, and banana. you don't have to worry about gaining weight from drinking it because it's an isolate which means it's the purest form of protein they can make into powder (or at least i think that's what that means...), and because it's only 110 calories and 1g of fat per serving. also, it doesn't really have a texture. it is not grainy or anything like that. i mixed mine with my blender on a stick and it just tasted creamy and yummy.

i am having a party on saturday and made a giant to-do list of all the things i have to get done. seriously it's very very long. tonight i have to do some cleaning, and maybe make a trip to the dollar store for party supplies (like plastic cups and forks, and tablecloths). that's really all i have to say today.

EDIT: all that talk about staying on plan probably won't happen... i thought my bf "forgot" about my birthday but he didn't (he was joking... hahaha... funny... hmmmm) and now we have plans tonight. i will keep in check though... and i don't need cake because there will be some at the party on saturday.