Coupon queen, Nutella Cookies and King Corn

Happy Saturday evening! Trying to post quickly before we watch this movie tonight.

Had a nice weekend day here. Woke up to the sound of meows begging for food and then meditated and ate greek yogurt with chia seeds, wild blueberry preserves and fresh raspberries for breakfast.

Did three loads of laundry before leaving the house to meet my friend Danielle at the mall.

I went to the mall with lots of coupons and deals in my purse. That makes me happy and Danielle was not surprised I came with lots of coupons, as she knows I am the coupon queen like my mom is!

First up was a free $10 Francesca’s gift card just for turning in an e-mail I got from Mayfair Mall’s The Club at Mayfair. Score! Didn’t find anything at Francesca’s yet, but will eventually because they have lots of cute stuff.

I used my mom’s $10 Victoria’s Secret birthday card (she didn’t want it and is a nice mom so she let me have it) to get some lacie underwear.

Then it was time for lunch at Panera. I was very selective with what I chose because Panera helped me out by posting calories on the menu and that helped me decide on healthier choices. I did the “You Pick 2″ and got a greek salad with a ham and swiss sandwich. The bread was so fantastic on the sandwich. I loved the caraway seeds in it. The salad also tasted so refreshing and this meal was what my body was craving. I didn’t eat the apple, but saved it for later. The Panera workers came around with free samples and I snagged a pretty big piece of a pumpkin muffin and a crossaint thing filled with soft cheese. Both were delicious!

After filling up our bellies, we ventured back to shopping. Unfortunately, Danielle is pregnant (well fortunately) and can’t really shop for much because of her ever changing body. She happily escorted me into Banana Republic, Ann Taylor Loft, Gap and then the Aveda store to score this free item. They were out of a free item on a coupon I had and were nice enough to give me a pretty big sized Foot Relief. God only knows my feet need this after the long winter.

We enjoyed coffee at Starbucks to perk us up. I had an iced coffee and it was exactly what I needed.

I also picked up a cute and very me dish towel at Crate and Barrell. I knew I would probably use it as a placemat for the blog more than as a dish towel. I’ll show it later in my post.

A good day at the mall because I only spent about $2.00 and I got a couple nice little items.

Once home, I was in the mood to bake, so I whipped up a batch of Nutella Cookies using this recipe.

Nutella Cookies from Food.com

* 1 1/4 cups flour
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup butter (softened)
* 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 to taste approx. 26 oz nutella (one large jar)
* 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
* 1 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 1 hr

1. In one bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter and the two sugars until all is integrated and fluffy.
3. Mix in the Nutella, followed by the chopped hazelnuts. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla.
4. Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl in three increments, integrating each one before adding the next.
5. Chill dough while oven preheats to 350°F Scoop the dough into balls and bake for about 10 minutes.

They turned out kind of flat and big. I think someone else said the same thing in their review. They still tasted yummy. I only changed the recipe slightly by using less Nutella (didn’t have enough on hand and wanted to make it a little less fattening) and some whole wheat flour mixed in with the white flour. The cookies are very buttery and my husband loved them due to this fact.

Dinner was beer battered tofu (yes, there are still leftovers), grape tomatoes and carrots. Pictured on the new Crate and Barrell dish towel, which looks kind of bad due to our ugly yellowish kitchen lighting.

I am starting to feel better now, but I have noticed that as a result of feeling sick all week, I really did slack off in the fitness department (including today, unless you count walking at the mall as some exercise). I need to get back on track next week and create a plan for my workouts each day including classes, cardio machines and weights. I’ll try to post my plan tomorrow and may do this every week to see if I can stick to the plan and hold myself accountable. I have seen bloggers like Fit Chick in the City do this and I like the idea. Do you write out your workout schedule for the week?

Time to log off and watch King Corn. Have you seen it before and if so, what did you think?

A Lovely Day for a Wedding

Seems like lots of bloggers were as excited as I was to wake up and watch the royal wedding early this morning! The first thing I did when I got out of the shower was turn on the TV. Of course, it took 2 minutes for them to show the dress and I was flipping out saying to myself, “stop showing these choir boys and show Kate.” Gorgeous dress and beautiful bride!

source

I wish William and Kate a lifetime of happiness and love. I know this is sappy, but I teared up watching it. The emotion came from thinking about my own wedding day. The wedding was definitely the super bowl for women, wouldn’t you agree?

No fun British food today, just my normal eats. I had a cup of tea during a meeting, does that count?

Breakfast was honey nut cheerios and coffee.

I actually got out of the office for lunch today and ventured out into the beautiful sunny weather (at last). I had to go to the Metro Market downtown again because they mischarged me for something the other day and I didn’t realize it until I got home. Yes, I am one of those people who goes back to customer service. In my defense, it was a $4.99 Amy’s veggie lasagna meal that was supposed to be 50% off. I actually didn’t expect this, but I got $5 cash back because of their mistake. Sweet!

So, I spent more money there anyway and got a salad at the salad bar.

I loaded my container with spinach, romaine lettuce, dried cranberries, tofu, sesame crackers (yum, need to add these to salads more often), blue cheese, baby corn, grape tomatoes, cucumbers and artichokes. I topped it with balsamic dressing.

This tasted so good and different! Just what I wanted!

Later in the afternoon, I pulled out an Apple Pie Larabar.

Craig received a package tonight, opened it up, and said the following to trick me, “aahh, they sent the wrong thing.” He brought the package over to me, told me to take a look at it, and I opened up my mouth in shock because it was a beautiful little Amazon Kindle! He ordered the special offers $114 Kindle that features advertising and deals such as a $20 amazon gift card for $10, etc. I have been wanting a Kindle for a while, so I was super excited for this surprise. We are going to share the device and I am fine with that! Down the road, we’ll hopefully be able to check out books for free through the Overdrive site.

Do you have a Kindle or an e-reader? If so, do you find yourself reading more now that you have one?

Dinner was Chobani greek vanilla yogurt with Bonne Maman wild blueberry preserves and beer battered tofu. I didn’t take a picture because you’ve seen those meals before!

After playing with the Kindle for a while and downloading some free books, it was already getting late. I decided to do my 10k training run outside because it was somewhat nice out still. I ran around our neighborhood and completed only 15 minutes, when I was supposed to do 20-25, but I figured it was better than nothing!

All in all, a lovely day. What more can a girl ask for–a Royal wedding and a surprise Kindle ordered by my sweet Prince.

Have a wonderful Friday night! I just have a couple of plans this weekend. I am meeting my friend Danielle for shopping and lunch tomorrow. We wanted to have Indian food, but because of my tummy, I need to be safe with my food choices. On Sunday, I am going to my parents’ house to celebrate my mom’s b-day with her a day early.

3 years

I have been at my current job for three years as of today. Can’t believe I have worked somewhere that long, but then again, my husband has been at his company 11 years now and that’s amazing for a 30 year old!

Breakfast was Chobani vanilla greek yogurt, fresh strawberries and chia seeds. I was so full after this meal!

Snack at work was an almond latte, grape tomatoes and string cheese.

Lunch was beer battered tofu, a raspberry Stonyfield yogurt with fresh raspberries on top, and an unpictured piece of birthday cake (it was my co-worker’s birthday today).

I still haven’t been feeling good and contemplated leaving work early this afternoon. I stuck it out though. I may end up calling in sick tomorrow if this stomach stuff keeps up.

And that’s all folks. It’s a short post for today. I have to go rest and read a book. I started A Homemade Life and I really like it so far. Oh and I might get a bit distracted by the royal wedding excitement currently on TV. I am excited to see what Kate wears!

Beer Battered Tofu using New Belgium Beer

Hooray for a good day at work! I was able to get away from my desk for a little while and work with the public, which I’ll admit can either be really fulfilling for me or really frustrating. Luckily, it was fulfilling. It was nice to get away from my desk too.

Breakfast this morning was Eggo fiber plus calcium frozen waffles and a coffee. My coffee tasted excellent and I think the trick is sticking to Starbucks coffee when I make it at home. I really have only found a few other brands that even come close in flavor. I know some people don’t like Starbucks and think it tastes burnt. I also like Peet’s coffee, which is based in California, but you can find their beans at the Fresh Market. That’s the strong coffee that got me through grad school!

At work, I snacked on a banana because I had wanted to eat it for breakfast, but knew it wouldn’t fit in my little tummy so I chose to eat it around 10 a.m. with some raw almonds.

Lunch was a Bruschetta Boca burger on an Arnold’s Thin, an apple and two peanut butter girl scout cookies.

After work, I went straight to the Metro Market grocery store in downtown Milwaukee and picked up some ingredients for my dinner.

I made beer battered tofu for dinner using New Belgium Mothership Wit beer and Bob’s Mill cornmeal.

I literally came up with the idea for beer battered tofu as I laid in bed the other night, thinking of what I could make for another New Belgium beer recipe. This recipe is one that I didn’t create on my own, but had to adapt from here. Like the person who posted this recipe, I don’t like fish, so that is why I wanted to make beer battered tofu.

* 1 (16 ounce) package of drained firm tofu (firm works well, but extra firm will make it easier to handle) or 1 (16 ounce) package extra firm tofu (firm works well, but extra firm will make it easier to handle)
* 1 (12 ounce) can cheap beer
* 1 1/2 cups flour (I used whole wheat, but regular white works too)
* 1 cup cornmeal
* 1 tablespoon paprika
* 1 tablespoon garlic pepper seasoning
* 1 tablespoon parsley
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 3/4 cup canola oil
* tartar sauce or sweet chili sauce

Directions:
Prep Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 30 mins

1. Mix beer and flour in a bowl until you have a thin batter. Sometimes this uses more or less flour. Just adjust until it looks like a thin pancake batter.
2. In a second bowl, mix remaining 6 ingredients.
3. Cut tofu into 1/4 inch thick slices. I got about 10 or 12. Place slices on 1 piece of paper towel then place a couple of paper towels on top of the slices and pat to dry a little.
4. Heat oil in heavy skillet or cast iron pan until one drop of water splashed in spits around the pan.
5. Carefully dip slices of tofu in beer batter shaking off the excess. Place in cornmeal mixture and tap each side to get coating to stick.
6. Place in hot oil and fry until golden about 3 minutes each side. Remove from pan and place on paper towels to drain.

7. Serve with tartar sauce or sweet chili sauce.

It tasted yummy and was oh so appropriate for this week’s British fever with the royal wedding. I seriously LOVE tartar sauce and it’s such a shame I don’t eat fish to enjoy it more often. I even dip french fries into it when Craig gets fish and chips at a restaurant.

Since my stomach has still been acting up, I felt really full after eating tonight, but dragged myself to the gym. I was excited to workout, but my body didn’t feel the same way. I was bloated and my legs felt so heavy when running on the treadmill. I cranked out 2.0 miles exactly and walked for a warmup and cool down, so I did a total of 24 minutes. I also lifted a few weights, including free.

Once I got home from the gym, I had to meditate right away and here I am blogging late tonight, around 9, so it’s off to relax a bit and then get ready for bed.

If you use WordPress–be aware that they must have changed something because I just noticed that my “allow comments” button wasn’t checked like it usually is automatically. Ever since they adding this “writing helper” widget at the bottom of my post, it must have changed something.

HRA and a haircut

Wow, can’t believe Tuesday is over! Now I just need to get over the hump tomorrow and the week should fly by. My day really went fast because I only worked about 5 hours and then had to leave to go to my husband’s workplace.

We had our Health Risk Assessment appointments this afternoon. My stats were really good. Kind of bummed to hear that even though my cholesterol is excellent, because my mom has high cholesterol, I could be predisposed to have it someday. The cute lady that was my nurse today asked, “now how is your diet” and then proceeded to say things like, “what percentage of milk do you drink?” (Skim). She even drew me a little picture of a plate and said that half of my plate should be filled with veggies and they should be two different colored veggies. Has anyone else heard that fact about the colors? I guess I often get two different colors in throughout the day, but not in the same meal.

Breakfast was cheerios and almond milk with a cup of coffee. I kept my breakfast kind of light because I knew I would need to eat again soon.

I had to eat a snack around 9:45 a.m. because I had to fast for four hours today. I could only eat half of the cantaloupe pictured here, the whole wheat bagel thin with strawberry cream cheese, and the yogurt. The clementine and rest of the cantaloupe will be part of my lunch tomorrow.

On my way to my husband’s work, I grabbed our lunch because I knew that by 2:30, we would be starving after a four hour fast! Lunch was a ham and cheese Subway sandwich.

Also a Fanta & a cashew cookie larabar because I was still hungry.

After leaving my husband’s work, I went right to get my haircut and a partial foil done. I have to say that my husband is too cute when he said this before I left, “thanks for coming out here, wish we could have lunch like this at least once a week.” It would put me in a really good mood if I could see him in the middle of a work day. Love that I married such a sweet man who I enjoy spending time with and he feels the same way about me.

Pre-haircut/highlight/lowlight (in my opinion, needed a good cut with layers thrown back in and was too blond from the last highlight I had in January).

After (layers bumped up, hair thinned and highlight/lowlights for a more chunky effect–this is more visible on the other side of my head).

Feels good to have light hair again! My hair was never what I considered thick until recently and I really do need to get it cut more often to thin it out.

Dinner was the Greek Gods yogurt with raspberries and wild blueberry preserves. I wasn’t that hungry because we ate lunch so late.

I was so bummed because I thought Food Revolution would be on tonight and then it wasn’t. Boo. Can’t wait for the new one next week though!

Greek yogurt comparison: Chobani vanilla vs. The Greek Gods

I tried a new brand of Greek yogurt for breakfast today. My sister-in-law works close to a Woodman’s and she offered to pick me up anything I needed. I got excited because I had just run out of Chobani last week and needed a big tub again desperately. Unfortunately, Woodman’s was out of the plain, so she got me a vanilla. She also mentioned the Greek gods brand over the phone and I figured I would just try their plain. When she brought the yogurts over yesterday, I did a quick comparion of the nutritional stats and saw why the Greek gods yogurt was cheaper.

The protein was only 4g per 4 oz serving compared to Chobani’s whopping 22 grams per 8 oz serving. I may pay extra for the Chobani, but it’s worth it to me, especially because I eat a mostly vegetarian diet. Also check out the fat content in each. 0 for Chobani’s 8 ounces, 11 grams per serving in the Greek Gods’ 4 ounce serving. Sure the sugar is higher in the Chobani, but that is because it is the vanilla flavored kind.

Chobani, non fat vanilla

The Greek Gods Greek Yogurt

So, I piled strabwerries, raspberries and Bonne Maman wild blueberry preserves on top. Because I am feeling sick lately, I couldn’t eat the whole bowl. Boo. I don’t think it was the protein filling me up or anything.

The verdict? The Greek gods was just ok. I still prefer the consistency and flavor of the Chobani greek yogurt. Can plain yogurt have a “flavor?” I guess so in my opinion!

Lunch was a salad with grape tomatoes, cucumber, feta cheese and lots of tofu on top. I also had a string cheese. I couldn’t eat the clementine so I saved it for my afternoon snack.

While I was meditating tonight, the UPS truck delivered my new running shoes from runningwarehouse!

I got 10% off of them because Kelly from Beneath It All just picked up the same shoes and got her discount through Runblogger. They were only $71.95 and I get free return shipping if I am not satisfied!

My Brooks Defyance shoes were over a year old and granted I didn’t do that much running in them over the last year, I did wear them to the gym, wore them on walks and probably while biking and playing tennis last summer.

I decided to go back to my old favorite from when I worked at a running shoe store in California! I got the Asics Cumulus 12. Since I have knee pain occasionally when running, I thought the extra cushioning would help me out. I wore them on the carpet and then for a bit on our kitchen tile and they felt so supportive and cushiony (is that a word?). I know that the feeling of the new cushion does wear out pretty quickly, but I remember that feeling lasting a while in my old pair of Asics.

I thought I would go to the gym tonight, but then it was getting late and I was hungry. Craig was making a burrito, so I also decided to do the same and used chicken, rice, greek gods yogurt instead of sour cream, cheese, Penzey’s Arizona Dreaming spice, and Frank’s Red Hot.

After eating too much food and with my stomach still giving me problems today, I decided to skip the gym and get out in nature with my husband. We went on a 25 minute walk around the neighborhood and covered a little over a mile. It felt so good to be outside, even though I missed doing my routine at the gym.

It’s time to go read blogs and some magazines! I am trying to power through my magazine pile and I managed to clear three from my huge stack over the weekend.

Tomorrow, I only have a half day of work because I have to go to Craig’s work for our annual Health Risk Assessment appointments. We get a discount on our insurance as a result, so it’s a must! After, I’m getting my haircut and a partial foil done! Can’t wait because my hair is at that nasty feeling stage–thick and the ends feel dry.

Easter brunch, a nap, baking, and a good run

Hi everyone! Happy Easter to everyone celebrating (well it’s almost over, but better late than never). I didn’t even indulge in any Easter chocolate today because if I buy it, I’ll be in trouble. The only thing I want to scope out tomorrow is if Cadbury mini eggs are still available because that is my fav Easter candy.

Rewind to the rest of Saturday evening. After I got back from the gym (biked 17 minutes; did a full circuit of weights), we made pizza on a Boboli whole wheat crust. Craig is sick of making these pizzas but I was so sick of frozen pizzas that were full of junk. I filled my half with mushrooms, red peppers, and kalamata olives. I had plans to add some broccoli, but that didn’t happen because I tend to overdo it with the veggies.

I enjoyed my pizza with a New Belgium Mothership Wit beer while watching Eat Pray Love.

I had already seen it in the theaters, but I wanted to watch it again. I loved the book and thought the movie was ok. I want to reread the book again, so I’ll have to add it to my list of many books I want to read this year! When I read the book, I was living in California and was pretty depressed. I had just come off of canceling my wedding, another boyfriend breaking up with me and Elizabeth Gilbert’s story certainly inspired me to see that there is more in life than relationship after relationship that doesn’t work out.

This morning, we prepared a small Easter brunch and had my sister-in-law over.

To fill my tummy until 11 a.m., I had Kashi Summer Berry granola with almond milk and some coffee.

I made a Berry Good Oatmeal Cookie Cake from this cookbook.

The crust wasn’t complicated, but for some reason, it didn’t turn out perfectly. I had to cut the recipe in half but I followed the directions perfectly. The crush didn’t stay together well and broke apart when we cut the pizza.

It looks as yummy as it tasted though. I have had better fruit pizzas, but I’ll experiment and do better next time or find a different recipe to try.

I also made scrambled eggs and Craig made some bacon. Sis-in-law Lisa brought fresh squeezed orange juice that was delicious.

Here was my plate, minus the few piece of bacon I ate.

After chatting for a bit, we went on a 20 minute walk around our neighborhood. It was nice to walk after eating all of that food.

Then I did what is becoming all too regular for me on the weekends–I napped with Karma on the couch while Craig and his sister played Mario Kart. I was out and didn’t hear a thing.

After my sister-in-law left, I made beer bread by following this recipe and it was so delicious! The only change I made was not putting the butter on top at the end because I am ashamed to say that we don’t have a brush I could have used! I also added flax seed to the recipe.

For the beer, I used a New Belgium Fat Tire bottle that I was able to purchase and use in a recipe as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program.

I actually don’t think I have ever baked a bread in my life. I know it sounds weird, but I guess this was my first time. Also, I am still relatively new to the whole cooking and baking world. I didn’t always love doing both like I do now.

The recipe was super easy and the bread turned out delicious. My husband had a couple of pieces and loved it too.

And I just got back from a 2.09 mile run outside not too long ago. I felt strong on it. Guess the beer bread I ate before helped! Glad my 10k training has been going well so far and I feel stronger with each run I do.

Back to the grind tomorrow. Hoping for a more positive week than last week!

Babysitting blues

I didn’t have the best experience babysitting my nephews last night.

Let’s just say they were awfully naughty and one of them even ended up in time out twice. I am glad my brother and sister-in-law got out of the house and were able to go to dinner with friends.

Us in happier times, a.k.a. the beginning of my time babysitting them.

I lost at Jenga.

We also played Sorry, which I was sorry we did because the 5 year old didn’t want to follow the rules.

I guess my attitude wasn’t helped by the fact that I was very sick with tummy troubles.

I had a banana to eat there. I traded my usual placemat for eating at my nephew’s.

I also had a Dannon vanilla yogurt and a peanut butter sandwich later on at night when the 5 year old wanted to eat at 9 p.m.

This morning, my stomach still hurt, so breakfast was somewhat simple. Just Honey Nut Cheerios and coffee.

Then I hit the stores for some food. I went to a very busy Sam’s Club and ended up with some good deals. I picked up Chobani yogurt, Bolthouse Farms Strawberry Banana juice, chicken and beef fajita strips for Craig, feta cheese, Stacy’s pita chips, tortilla chips, strawberries and raspberries.

I was really disappointed because I went to a Pick N’ Save (grocery store) that didn’t carry any organic yogurt. I asked a store person if I was just missing the separate section and she said they didn’t carry any. How weird that most Pick N’ Saves separate organic dairy from the rest anyway. I told her “probably this market, huh” and she agreed. Guess West Allis isn’t an organic market yet! I had some Stonyfield coupons from an Earth Day e-mail I got yesterday and I went to the store all excited to buy some yogurt. Oh well! Guess I won’t be going to that location too often.

Whenever my colitis acts up, I am super hungry for days. I was ready to have lunch right away when I got home, so I made a salad with cucumber, red pepper, tomatoes, & feta cheese. I also had a strawberry Chobani and added fresh strawberries, Bonne Maman wild blueberry preserves, and Kashi Summer Berry granola to it.

Time to get something done here. Or I should really force myself to read a magazine and relax! I have been going non-stop the past two days. I plan to go to the gym later and then to watch Eat Pray Love tonight.

Have a great Saturday!

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day everyone! Did you know that Earth Day was started by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson!?

What are you doing today or this year to improve the environment? I will keep using my reusable grocery bags at the grocery store/Target and I’ll continue to refuse a bag when I don’t need one from other stores. I also plan on buying some reusable bags for produce soon.

Craig and I woke up somewhat late this morning and it felt so good to sleep in, per usual. We finally got out of the house and went straight to Starbucks because I needed my coffee fix. I got my free earth day coffee by bringing in a reusable mug. I ordered perfect oatmeal and Craig didn’t get anything because he had his heart set on a breakfast sandwich and they didn’t serve them at that location we went to.

We also went to Barnes and Noble to look around. I paged through a Whole Living magazine and read articles like this, which basically told me to look for a new career when I took the quiz!

The good thing is that blogging as a hobby outside of my work is a healthy thing according to this article. They were just talking about having hobbies in general and I consider blogging a fun hobby that I have learned a lot from and it’s been great to connect with others who share the same interests as me.

I liked these journals–the one is appropriate for Earth Day and the other is appropriate for a food blogger!

Then we went to Panera for a free low fat wild berry smoothie. I had earned it on my panera card. Boy was it yummy! I saw the guy was using Stonyfield vanilla yogurt to make it–sweet! The consistency was not thick at all, but it still was a great smoothie.

Lunch was a bagel thin sandwich–like I had last night for dinner. Ham and swiss cheese, salad greens, mayo, hot sauce, oregano and sea salt. I had grapes on the side and a small chocolate bar for dessert.

This afternoon, we just got stuff done around the house. Laundry, dishes and general picking up for me (I know it’s earth day and I should have abstained from these two things, but I used natural laundry soap). I wasn’t feeling very good, so I skipped the gym. I also didn’t have a lot of time to build it into my schedule since I have to meditate and eat dinner before heading out of the house again.

Later on tonight, I am going to babysit my two nephews. Should be fun since they’re always entertaining to be around!

Oh and finally, in case you want to enter a fantastic giveaway–head over to Anne from fANNEtastic food’s site.

Yoga before running = success!

Happy Thursday everyone! Hope you all have fun plans for Easter weekend. I took off of work tomorrow because my husband has off and I just needed a mental health day.

My breakfast-I didn’t feel like making stovetop oats today, we didn’t have much in terms of cereal selection, so I improvised. I made an egg white, cut up some grape tomatoes, and had a peach chobani yogurt. I used almond milk in my coffee today and it tasted good, so that might be my new replacement for half and half.

Couldn’t resist taking a picture of this. I received it in a free sample I received in the mail from International Delight (well from Vocalpoint). My happy time was obviously 5 p.m. for the day because I would be home from work by then and today is my Friday!

I was really craving a coffee at work, but I resisted and had a peppermint tea instead. My snack was a Cran Bran Vita top. I started eating and then decided to warm it up in the microwave. Smart move because this improved the flavor immensely! I am going to warm up or toast the vita tops from now on. Loved the Cran Bran flavor.

Lunch was a Morningstar black bean veggie burger on an Arnold’s Thin, string cheese and some applesauce. Dessert was a hershey’s chocolate bunny from a co-worker.

After work, I went to Target and was so excited to check out the expanded grocery section of the Target I pass on my way home from work. I know, I am a total Target and foodie dork. At least I know this and can admit it. The new sections of the store were laid out and lit so beautifully. They had a lot of (cheap) produce and their prices on Chobani weren’t bad either. I was only disappointed at the fact that they didn’t have the big Chobanis. Oh and I found Bonne Maman wild blueberry preserves at a good price too. Score!

While there, I used a free coupon for Bagel Thins that I received from the company and got a package of whole wheat flavor.

Loved the flavor of the bagel thin and the fact that it was only 110 calories.

Dinner was a bagel thin with ham, swiss cheese and a side of strawberries.

Then it was off to yoga for an hour! It was a good class, per usual. I felt strong and flexible today, but my back did ache during the class and the stretching helped a lot.

After class, I wanted to go on the bike and read a magazine. Both of the bikes I prefer were taken, so I improvised and threw the biking idea out the window. Instead, I did what I was supposed to do in my 10k training schedule and I ran for 25 minutes on the treadmill and walked for two minutes. I covered 2.18 miles and I felt so strong and great. Like the subject of this post says, maybe yoga before running equals success!? If that’s the case, I better do yoga the morning of my race to stretch everything out!

At the gym, someone was watching Sex and the City on TV and I instantly wanted to watch a couple of episodes. I knew what I was going to do when I got home! I couldn’t wait to pop in the second season.

And now I better go catch up with Miranda and Steve and watch their first encounter! Were you ever obsessed with Sex and the City like I was? I have all of the seasons on DVD except season five I think. It’s fun watching the episodes this evening because I haven’t seen the show in a while and it’s like they are all new to me now.