Last Week

quick little post before i have to go to crossfit...

This is my last week of freedom before school starts back up. I am so excited to get back into a normal working routine, but I am really going to miss lounging all day and practicing my cooking skills, hanging with my parents during the day, working out whenever I feel like it, watching reruns, and basically having a lazy summer!

This weekend was a friends bachelorette party! We had so much fun! We stayed in San Antonio for one night and then finished up the weekend at a lakehouse with lots of beer, sun, lingerie, yummy food, and of course fun times :)

beautiful bride-to-be! 

ew. supposedly these cookies were really yummy though! 

my view at the lake! 

I was inspired by this post to do a week in the life in photos! I thought it would be fun to remember what I did on my last week of summer and so I am starting this today! 

wish me luck at crossfit. 

25 things before 25.

It is my birthday! I can't believe this year has gone by so fast! I wanted to recap my 23rd year on this amazing earth!

I...
got a real big girl job, got engaged, started working, planned a wedding, went to New Orleans, ate oysters for the first time, faced fears, loved a lot, went to Vegas, watched my brother win $26,000, found a perfect wedding dress, got professional engagement pictures done, had a bachelorette party, made new friends, prayed, smiled, laughed a lot, cried, gave long hugs, learned to semi-use a DSLR, bought an antique, completely re-did the antique, rented a townhouse, bridal portraits, fought, got annoyed, felt completely loved, went to San Francisco and Napa Valley, celebrated 3 years of being with my best friend, gained a sister, and the best of all was got married to my very best friend in the world.. my sweet, sweet hubby, who I love more than anything! There is so much more I wanted to put on this list, but I would have just been rambling! 


So I wanted to do something before the big 2-5.  I made a list. I have 25 things on my list. Some are silly, some I am nervous I won't be able to do, and some are just purely for me, for my soul. My plan is to document myself accomplishing each to do that I have made for myself. I plan to post pictures to my Pinterest account, update my blog, and keep a list hung up somewhere in my house to remind me that I only have 365 days to reach my goal. So here it is. My list.

25 Things before 25

1. Have a dinner party at my house (Home cook the meal!)
2. Go to an NFL game
3. Run 13.1 miles. (sign up for a half or just on a random Sunday)
4. Get involved in Victory, or some volunteer organization
5. Finish getting my hunter safety license
6. Learn to play the guitar and harmonica 
7. Make a piece of art to hang somewhere in my house (painting, photography series…)
8. Go on a trip with just my mom
9. Go surf with dad
10. Take a cooking class
11. Sew something
12. Take my brothers out to dinner (somewhere that we have never been!)
13. Drive to Austin with no music on!
14. Play 18 holes of golf
15. Do a photo shoot of somebody
16. Make a book (recipe book, photo book… a 25 things book!!)
17. Go to an SMU football game
18. Take a pottery class
19. Go to Vegas with Stuart!
20. Go on a picnic
21. Find a house to live in!
22. Read 1 book a month
23. Visit somewhere in Texas that I have never been
24. Go camping
25. Cook something extravagant 

Well there it is! I am so excited to see what 24 brings to me! Tonight is all about being unhealthy, birthday dinner at my parents with red velvet cake and you know lots and lots of prosecco!

xoxo

Day 10 of Clean Eating

Woah. Crossfit today. HARD. loved it. I am so excited to go back!

Breakfast:
Smoothie (whey, strawberries, blueberries, and bananas)

Snack:
1/2 Apple
2 tsp Sunbutter
Watermelon/Grapes

Lunch:
Fajita Salad w/chicken (tomatoes, salsa, a little bit of black beans, and jalapenos)
Salsa

Dinner:
3 oz. Grilled Chicken
Homemade Salsa
Salad with homemade vinaigrette
Cucumbers with apple cider vinegar

A couple of bites of frozen banana were eaten too :)

Today was a good eating day, and good workout day!

No Excuses.

xoxo

Day 9 Clean Eating

I am feeling so great now that I haven't eaten processed foods in a week and a half! I thought that it was going to be so much harder than it has turned out to be. I do have to plan meals ahead of time, and have been spending more time at the grocery store, but hey it will all be worth it in the end!

I have to tell y'all I had my one cheat meal today. I made Stuart this homemade cheddar jalapeno bread, and I had to have a slice and try it out. Man was it delicious, and so worth a "cheat"meal!

Workout: Ran 3 miles, it was incredibly hot today, but I am getting back into my running groove. I did this run in 27:43 minutes, averaging a 9:26 pace, pretty good for me, I was just happy to be doing a sub 10 minute mile :) 

What I ate: 

Breakfast: 

1 scoop Whey Protein ( I got the OK from the trainer who we do crossfit with that this is a good source of protein for me as long as the powder has <3g sugar and >15 g protein!) 

Frozen Bananas, Strawberries, and Blueberries 

Snack: 

Freshly cut Watermelon 

Some Grapes
a small Turkey burger (2.5 oz.) with mustard 

Lunch: 

Grilled Chicken breast 

1/2 Peach 

1/4 Avocado 

(some grapes and watermelon too! ..I can't resist them!)
1 Piece of Jalapeno Cheddar bread (at least it was homemade right!?) 

Dinner: 

Grilled Chicken
Homemade Salsa
Salad with homemade mustard vinaigrette
Wine

.. I aslo had a couple of bites of Stuarts meat dish that I made for him (that had butter in it. argh) and some sweet potato fries. I guess today was cheat day numero uno. I was doing great earlier in the day, I don't know what happened... I think after I had that one bite of bread I just kept eating and eating and since I stayed home all day I was bored and I usually just sit and snack when I'm bored... it was no good and now I feel super bloated. This is what carbs does to me, I immediately get bloated. Back on track tomorrow. No Excuses. I think that is going to be my new motto.

No Excuses.
xoxo 

It's All About The Wine

I love wine. I mean obviously, since we went to Napa for our honeymoon....

hubby and I at Cakebread Cellars (one of my most favorite wines/vineyards that we went to!)

So since I am sad that my honeymoon is over and I want to hop on a plane right now and go back to Napa to sip wine with my hubby I thought I would give a list of my favorite wines (that are a reasonable price of course!)

Sparkling Wine:
Can't really call this a category because I only really drink one type...

Zardetto Prosecco: $12.99

This is my favorite sparkling wine. It is not too sweet, not too dry, and best of all it doesn't give me a headache in the morning! (champagne always makes my head hurt!)

White Wine:
I never really drink white wine unless its a Pinot Grigio 


Kris: $12.99 

It is kind of fruity tasting, but in a good way, for the price I think it is a really good choice if you are into Pinot Grigios! 

Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio: I can find it anywhere from $18.99-$21.99 

By far my most favorite white wine. It is so good, very light and refreshing on a hot Houston summer night. yum, yum, yum! Although this is pricey for me... I would rather have a red wine that cost the same! I always drink this with my Dad! 

Red Wines:

These are my weakness, I look forward to a quiet dinner with Stuart and a nice, cool glass of red wine, or a fun night out with friends having wine over a margherita pizza . When we were in Napa we really learned how to actually "drink" the wine, swirling it in our glasses, smelling for flavors. Drinking wine is so much more enjoyable when you know the flavors that you are actually tasting. If you are pairing wine with food, the food can bring out so many flavors in the wine, just as the wine can bring out the flavors of food. I know that I am not sommelier (although I do wish that I knew as much as they did!) these are my recommendations! 

Top 3 reasonably priced wines: 

Peter Lehman Clancy: $13.99... This is our go to wine when we don't know what we feel like drinking, reasonably priced and it is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (my 2 favorite types of wine) 

Tait Ball Buster (gotta love that name!): $18.99 I know this might be a little pricey, but it is really good wine if you are looking to splurge a teeny bit! I actually haven't been able to find it recently, I need to become Detective Madi and go search for this! 

Masi Campofiorin: $17.99 this is a blend, really good, I only usually buy it when I find it on sale at the HEB! It was on sale for like a month for $13.99 and we drank it all.the.time. Pairs well with all types of foods! 

Top 3 Splurge Wines 

... This should be noted that we only drink these wines if we are 1. At my parents house, 2. It is a special occasion, 3. Stuart/I got a bonus at work and want to do a little fancy celebration! 

Jordan, Cabernet Sauvignon: $40.00, definitely one of our favorites, it's smooth and pairs very well with red meats! 

Provenance, Cabernet Sauvignon: $40.00 again another very smooth, earthy wine, we have this at Thanksgiving at my parents house every.single.year, it is actually what I most look forward too! 

Frogs Leap, Cabernet Sauvignon: $31.99 ..This one is so good, like so good I am going to say it is one of my most favorite wines ever, and the vineyard was ah-mazing, they let you walk around the whole property by yourselves (which was nice to explore the vineyard with the hubs and not have someone explain every little detail about the barrel...) they also have  incredibly beautiful views and they had cornhole (if you don't know what that is...please look it up now, such a fun game) The price actually isn't that bad compared to other wines that I could have listed :)  So since I have been tooting (ha. ok stop being 12) Frogs Leap horn I thought I needed to share Honeymoon/Winery pictures from FL 

the "house" on the vineyard where you do all the tastings... gorgeous 

all of the wines, so pretty! 

beautiful view 

ching-ching

cornhole!!! 

they had amazing gardens everywhere 

the big red barn where the barrels of wine were! 

Frogs Leaps symbol! 

barrels inside the red barn 

view from the top of the barn, so gorgeous. 

"perhaps the surest sign of a wine of character is that it has the ability to transport you, captivate you and ultimately draw you back to the source of its distinctiveness" so, so true. 

Are you a wine girl? beer girl? vodka tonic kind of girl!? Let me know if you have any good vino recommendations!

Day 8 Clean Eating

I know that no one cares to read these things, but this is what is keeping me accountable!

Todat I woke up with a terrible, terrible headache, so I decided that I wasn't going to run but I did walk for 40 mins. something is better than nothing right!? Stuart and I also started crossfit tonight and oh man... it is h-a-r-d hard! I LOVED it and I loved working out with Stuart, it was really fun getting to do something together!

Breakfast:
Turkey Burger (small, maybe 2.5 oz.) with Guacamole and homemade salsa (so delish!)
Fresh fruit (watermelon, cantaloupe, and pineapple, with some frozen blueberries and bananas)

Lunch:
Salad with tomato, onion, egg whites, green bell peppers, red wine vinegar
Spinach with hot sauce
Broccoli with lemon and hot sauce
Watermelon

Snack:
Turkey burger with mustard
Fresh fruit and a frozen banana
Some grilled vegetables

...side note: go freeze a banana right now. They are so delicious when they are frozen. I am obsessed!

Dinner:
Grilled Chicken with homemade salsa
1/4 Avocado
1/4 Apple
1/4 Cucumber with Apple Cider Vinegar and spices!

I just found out that I can have whey protein in a shake in the morning for breakfast! I am vey excited :)

xoxo

First weekend of clean eating..

Well the weekend is officially over and I am very pleased with how my eating went! Friday night we baked cod and had guacamole, pico de gallo, and everyone else had them on tortillas with chips/queso, but I held out and just had the fish and sides :)

hubby! 

cute in-laws! 

sibling love :) 

Although I did drink... I didn't drink any beer! We had so much fun playing cards, being goofy, and doing a lot of laughing!

Saturday was such a fun day! Stuart and I were so bored and so of course that led us our favorite, Wal-Mart grocery store, and bought stuff to make homemade salsa, even moreee guacamole, beer butt chicken, and lots of fresh vegetables to grill! We had fun cooking, and experimenting with our first salsa, playing cards, drinking screwdrivers (at least the OJ was simply orange so no added sugar!), and then ending the night with some nice wine :) ... I really wish I would have been on my game and taken some pictures, but I am getting a new point and shoot camera tomorrow so hopefully I will have more photos soon!! 

Sunday we always have a Sunday Funday, usually filled with bad foods... and although I did use a "cheat meal" it only consisted of eating 1 hushpuppy, and a couple of grilled chicken wings! I had grilled chicken and fish, homemade salsa, pico de gallo, and 1 boiled shrimp! yum yum yum! Mimosa were also drunk... I mean duh, how can you have a Sunday Funday and not have a little OJ and Prosecco! 

How do you motivate yourself to eat healthy on the weekends!?

Day 5 Clean Eating

Well, yesterday was Friday. I have only had 1 cheat meal this week and I actually did not use my cheat meal yesterday. I am going to try and hold out and not use another one, but if I do use the other I bet it will be sometime today.

Workout: Walk/Run 4 miles

Breakfast:

Steel Cut Oats, with banana/peach mixture
Sliced turkey and guacamole

Snacks: 

No morning Snack 

Afternoon Snack: 

Lunch: 

Turkey Breast with some mustard 

Apple 

Guacamole 

Dinner: 

Baked cod 

Pico de Gallo 

Guacamole 

lots an lots of prosecco! 

have an awesome weekend friends!

Day 4 Clean Eating

I have almost made it a week with clean eating! I am actually starting to feel a lot better, last night I fell asleep with no problems, and my "carb cravings" are certainly getting lower and lower!

I have wanted something sweet lately. I read online about how to make "ice cream" out of frozen bananas! So last night after Stuart and I went on a walk I came home and made "ice cream!" 

Recipe: 

2 Bananas 

1 Peach 

(yep thats ALL that I used!) 

First freeze the peeled bananas for a couple of hours, or overnight. Next get out your food processor and throw the frozen bananas in there. They might get stuck on the sides, but just keep pushing it down, and it will eventually turn into a creamy ice cream like mixture! I cut up a fresh peach and threw it in the mixture and let the food processor chop and mix it all up. 

not mine...but it actually looks just like this! 

I love the taste of the just banana ice cream, but the addition of the peach gives it an extra sweetness! So yum. Please go make this right now. I swear you will not regret it! and you don't have to feel bad when you are eating it! 

Workout: Ran 3 miles 

Breakfast: 

Steel Cut Oats, with some of the peach/banana mixture 

Turkey with roasted vegetables 

Snacks: 

no morning snack today :( 

Afternoon: 

1/4 cucumber with apple cider vinegar 

Lunch: 

Salad with carrots, tomatoes, onions, and olives with lemon and vinegar 

Broccoli with louisiana hot sauce 

Pico de gallo (random I know...) 

couple of shreds of turkey meat 

Dinner: 

Sliced turkey breast 

roasted vegetables

Salad with guacamole on top 

Wine and of course the banana/peach mixture for dessert!

My new goal is to take picture of what I eat. I really need a good camera though! I guess for now the iPhone is going to have to do!

The Rehearsal!

After Stuart and I exchanged gifts we headed down to the Lakeway Inn Bar (ha I swear we are not alcoholics!) to meet all of our wedding party!!

almost all of my beautiful girls! 

everyone saying hi and getting cocktails! 

pretty MIL and friends! 

hello friends :) 

We all had a cocktail and then went to the ballroom to practice for the BIG DAY!!!

Everyone waiting for instructions!

Dad and Me! 

The whole gang 

So happy... and look at that view :) 

We practiced twice, and it went perfect! All of our wedding party did an awesome job and we had so much fun practicing for the big day. Although the boys did goof off (a lot) it made it fun and we all got to go back to the bar for one more cocktail before the party bus picked everyone up and took us to Steiner Ranch for rehearsal dinner! I remember thinking when we were all at the bar to remember this moment. I was so happy to have so many people around Stuart and me that loved us and were there to support us. I could never thank everyone who was a part of our wedding enough. My heart was and still is so full of love for all of these people. I am a lucky girl and I hope that all of our friends know how much their love, friendship, and support mean to Stuart and I. 

Next wedding post will be on Rehearsal Dinner at Steiner Ranch Steakhouse (such a beautiful venue, and the food was amazing!) 

Day Three Clean Eating...

Today was day 3 of clean eating....

Workout: Walk/Run 3.76 miles

I talked to my old trainer at the gym that I used to go to about the clean diet, since she is doing it too...
She told me that because I am running/exercising I definitely need some good carbs. No processed carbs. I know not to eat carbs at dinner and so I figured that I would add them into my breakfast meal and she said to have some at lunch too, but not after 4:00 pm!

So I went and bought ...

so yummy. 

The only ingredient listed on the package is 100% Steel Cut Oats. How awesome is that! 

1/4 of a cup (which is plenty by the way!) packs in 150 calories, 2.5 g fat, 27 g carbos, 3 grams of fiber, <1 g sugar, and 4 g protein! 

I mix mine with 1/2 banana, 10 blueberries, and some cinnamon and it is so good and so filling! 

I also had 2 egg whites with red/green bell peppers and some spinach! 

Snacks: 

Morning: 

10 Red Grapes and 1/2 an Orange

Afternoon: 

1/2 Banana and some cucumber with apple cider vinegar 

Lunch: 

Grilled chicken breast 

Steamed spinach 

Grilled vegetables 

Dinner: Oh it was super delish tonight! 

4 oz. turkey breast 

Roasted Squash, red/green bell peppers, onions, and portobello mushrooms (so, so good!) 

Salad with tomato, onion, r/g bell peppers, avocado, and a mustard vinaigrette 

I am drinking wine tonight, I have decided that wine is too good to pass up, and I don't want to give up something I enjoy so much :) 

I was definitely slacking in the picture department today! 

Any good suggestions on healthy eating blogs that I need to be reading!? 

Day Two of Clean Eating

Well, today was day two of my "clean" eating lifestyle change!

Workout: Ran 3 miles...it was so hot.

Breakfast:
Pre-Run:
a couple of pieces of shredded grilled chicken
Post-Run:
Shredded grilled chicken
1/2 banana, 5 strawberries, a couple of blueberries, and water (smoothie)
homegrown tomato from my garden with pepper! (It was delish)

Lunch: 

Lunch today was harrrdd.... It is my Dads birthday and so we went out for Mexican food, everyone had a margarita and chips, but I held strong and didn't have either! 

I split portobello and grilled chicken fajitas with my mom 

Guacamole, about 2 tbsp 

Pico de gallo and Salsa 

Snacks: 

Morning: 

1/2 Apple 

Afternoon: 

Other 1/2 of the Apple 

Cucumber 

Dinner: Cheat meal #1 (only because it was my Dads b-day!) 

...although this was one of my "cheat" meals, it really wasn't that bad.... 

Salad: Romaine lettuce, tomato, avocado with a mustard, sugar free raspberry preserves, and vinegar dressing

Beef Tenderloin stuffed with spinach 

Roasted Squash 

1 glass of Prosecco 

2 glasses of red wine 

Stuart and I shared a piece of homemade carrot cake, which by the way was the most delish dessert I have ever eaten! 

So all in all today was not too bad on the clean eating scale. I mean not including the cake, I think I did pretty well! 

I made a big turkey breast in the crockpot while Stu and I were at my parents tonight so I can eat off of that for the rest of the week! It basically has no fat (I trimmed the fat off before cooking, and then all the fat pretty much melted off in the crock pot!) and it is such a good source of protein!

So tell me...what is your favorite dessert!? 

The Exchanging of Gifts

Wedding weekend all started out with our families meeting in the Lakeway Bar so that Stuart and I could exchange wedding gifts. I was very excited to give Stuart his gift and really wanted to see his face when he opened his present, so instead of having his Best Man come on Saturday and give gifts, we did gifts Friday night, and exchanged letters on Saturday.

Stuart did such a good job (always does, it is SO wonderful to have a hubby that has great taste in jewelry!)...he got me diamond hoop earrings and a topaz and diamond charm that goes on the earrings. They were my something new and something blue! I seriously have not taken them off since I got them! I mean would you!??

beautiful. 

after I had opened my earrings! 

very excited to watch him open his present! 

 I got Stuart a watch. I knew, right when we got engaged that I wanted to buy him the watch that he has always wanted. Yes, it was extravagant, but I saved from the time I started working for this watch, and it was so worth it to see his face when he opened it and saw the box!

it looks ah-mazing on his wrist!

putting the watch on his wrist!

Cute story: 

He unwrapped the paper, and the box with the watch was in a box. So he took off the top of the box and peeled back the tissue paper. He saw the Rolex sign on the box and immediately freaked out! He had the biggest smile on his face and kept say NO, NO I can't believe it... After that last picture he gave me the longest hug and buried his head in my neck and I seriously thought he was about to cry (he is so not a crier) I had to ask him if he was OK and he said "ya, just give me a minute" It was so cute and I am so happy that he loves his present! 

I am going to do a wedding post every couple of day... next up Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner! 

What is your favorite piece of jewelry!? Does your man have good taste in jewelry?

Day One of Clean Eating

Yesterday was day one of clean eating!

Workout: Ran 3 miles- I haven't run since before the wedding, this was going on 3 weeks! So needless to say this was a hard 3 miles.ugh. I can't wait for some cooler weather! 

Breakfast: 

Pre-run: 

1/2 Banana (not doing this again...made me feel sick)

Post-run: 

1/2 Banana, 7 Strawberries blended with water 

4 Avocado slices 

yummy. 

Lunch: 

Spinach salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms with vinegar and lemon juice! 

Snacks: 

Morning:

3 Cantaloupe slices...so juicy and delicious!

Afternoon snack: 

Crisp Fiji Apple 

Red/Green Bell Peppers with some grilled chicken and 1/2 of a banana (no pictures of this one!) 

Dinner: 

Grilled Chicken with cabbage, green/red bell peppers, mustard sauce...maybe looks a little weird in the picture, but trust me it was delish! 

Interestingly enough mustard has nothing not "clean" in it. I was so surprised...no sugar, no calories, nothing, nada! woohoo! 

Overall today went a LOT better than I expected! I think I need more protein though to keep me fuller longer. I have also been doing a lot of reading and it looks like oatmeal (a small portion made with water) and quinoa are good carbohydrate choices, but only in the morning and afternoon, no carbs at dinner. I am thinking about adding these two things into the mix to give me some grains (I need something to give me energy on my runs!) 

Do you have a favorite healthy recipe! If so please share.... :)