A good birthday

I had a very nice birthday! I spent the majority of it alone, but have great memories of the people I met while out running errands and such.

Thank you for the sweet comments you readers left today. They made my day and were so nice to read throughout the day.

My massage this morning was awesome-one of the better ones I have ever had. It was only a half hour long, but that was the perfect amount of time to relax, get the stress out of my lower back and neck, and a great way to start my day. The massage therapist I had was really nice too.

After the massage, I went to World Market to use my $10 off b-day coupon. I picked up a cooling rack and a pretty place mat that was on clearance.

I also headed to the mall to use up some coupons. I got $20 off a $50 or more purchase at Boston Store, so I found some perfect black trousers for work.

I got the Clinique bonus and because I am an old lady today, purchased some “all about eyes rich” eye cream. It’s never too late to prevent wrinkles!

When I was done perusing Boston Store, I went to Mayfair to use my $15 off Banana Republic b-day postcard. I popped in there on Sunday and couldn’t find anything. Today, I walked out of there with two perfumes and didn’t pay a cent for them! Hooray!

And the best part of my shopping trip was that the Apple store had my printer in stock! It took a little while to get it added onto my old order, but I walked out of there with it and was so happy I don’t have to go back to get it. It will only cost about $5 after the rebate. Score! We finally have a scanner and a wireless printer! They seem to be including these printers with any new purchase whether you are a student or not.

The funniest part about the Apple trip was the funky guy I worked with had me raise my right hand and pledge to buy Apple care within the next year. Not sure I will, but it was pretty funny. He also told me that I seemed so laid back, unlike other women. Maybe he was having a bad week with his wife or girlfriend.

Once home, I made myself lunch–a whole wheat tortilla shell with provolone cheese, tofu, spinach, and tomatoes. I also had some strawberries and watermelon juice on the side.

I spoke to a few friends and family in the afternoon and it was so sweet of them to call and wish me a happy birthday!

Then the UPS man came and SPREAD THE LOVE today by delivering a package from Love Grown granola! Hooray! What a great birthday surprise.

I am most excited to try it for breakfast tomorrow. It’ll just be hard to decide which flavor to open first.

I went to the gym and when the guy behind the counter scanned it in, he said, “Happy Birthday!” and then he went over to the speakers to turn up the music. Their computer automatically plays “they say it’s your birthday” when a guest with a b-day comes in on that day. I started dancing around at the front desk and it was fun. Then the guy just kept chatting to me–he was nice.

After not getting much cardio in during belly dancing last night, I was happy to hop on the elliptical for 35 minutes and then to lift some machine and free weights.

Once I was home and showered, we went to Red Robin for dinner. Yet another freebie to use up–a gourmet burger or chicken sandwich is free during your birthday month when you sign up for their rewards card. We don’t go to Red Robin that often, but we were impressed with our meals tonight.

We both eyed up the Chicken Bruschetta sandwich and were glad we went with it. The flavors all blended together deliciously! When I ordered, I pronounced bruschetta the Italian way and it confused our waitress. She thought I wanted a certain salad, so I corrected her and pointed to the sandwich we wanted and then she said bruschetta the American way and it all made sense to her.

And I’ll end with the funny picture Craig sent to me “from the cats.”

31 is off to a good start! Lots of funny memories from today. Oh yeah and besides lots of people telling me I looked 21, not 31, I also got hit on during my drive to the gym. I hope I look youthful for a while and that my new eye cream helps.

From bird poop to a lucky Friday

My morning started out kind of bad, well shitty (literally).

As I went out to my car, I noticed lots of bird poop and then a bunch of flies on the bird poop on my door handle. Lovely, huh? I had to go back inside to get a paper towel and clean it all off so I could even get in my car. As I left, Craig mentioned something about that being a bad omen for the day. Boy was he wrong because my day ended up being a great one (thankfully).

Before discovering the mess that was my car, I had cereal, which is all I am craving for breakfast lately. Last night, I set out the thin bagels, a banana, pb, and chia seeds to make a nice little breakfast with, but I didn’t feel like those items, so I went with Raisin Bran instead.

While taking a break to eat lunch before leaving work, I was reading my personal e-mail and saw that I won a giveaway on Anne’s blog for cloth napkins! Except for the crap incident, my day had been going good up until this point, but this made it even better.

I chose these cute “Make Every Day Earth Day” ones!

source

Lunch was the other half of the Subway footlong I got yesterday and a vanilla activia yogurt.

I left work early after getting good 5 hours in. I headed north of downtown Milwaukee and went to Performance Running Outfitters in Shorewood to pick up my 10k race packet. I still plan on walk/running it and I hope I can make the requirements for the timing with that plan.

As I drove there, I fantasized about living in one of these gorgeous mansions on Lake Drive. See, the stupid bird poop even got in my picture!

Actually, I later decided that I’d settle for a cute house in Shorewood. I just love the walkability of that area of town. I wish our current neighborhood had decent restaurants, coffee shops, and a grocery store to walk to. You know you are a food blogger/foodie when you drool at every adorable cafe you pass and mentally note the location so you can go back there someday.

Back to the 10k packet–the race swag was pretty nice. Here is some of what I got!

Is it wrong that I am so excited about the free massage that I already booked it for the morning of my birthday at the end of August?!

I originally had plans to go to Whole Foods this afternoon, but decided that I can go there in a couple of weeks after a dermatologist appointment that is right near there. So, I went to Sendik’s for some produce.

While there, I saw this sign and knew I had to take a picture of it for Karis.

Pretty cool that High Cross Farm is selling to Sendik’s and the grocery store advertises farmer Steve and his farm.

I even spoke to a lady that was nearby and explained why I was taking pictures (Karis, I used you as an excuse instead of the blog). I am sure most bloggers can relate that I sometimes feel like I have to justify why I am whipping out my camera to take pictures of somewhat odd things like vegetables in a grocery store. Unfortunately, I didn’t really need any of the veggies they had featured, so I left without anything from farmer Steve.

I had a good workout session this afternoon. It was empty at the Y and I had lots of energy. I went on the Cybex Arc Trainer for 15 minutes, ran on the track for 10 and walked some too, lifted a full circuit of weights, lifted free weights, and did squats on the bosu. I added more weight to most of my arm exercises and had no problem doing them. I am glad to see some progress in my strength.

Another thing that made my day was that I found out I will be trying out some new products and hosting two giveaways in the next couple of weeks. Not sure when exactly, but stay tuned and keep reading! They are good ones too!

Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend! We’re just hanging around the house and relaxing, which is fine by me.

Gardening class, massage, and work

Sometimes it’s just more difficult to post on the weekend, so here’s my recap of the last two days.

On Saturday morning, Craig and I went to a “Grow Your Own Groceries” workshop at the Zablocki library.

It was totally free and a really good class. I definitely feel like I’ll be more passionate and ready for gardening season to begin. We learned about pests, composting, when to start planting in our area, soil composition and other tips about gardening. We are going to container garden again this year because it worked well for us last year. Someday, it would be nice to have a raised bed.

We even picked out a bunch of seeds at the end of class!

Saturday’s breakfast was a mini bagel with egg whites, provolone, and Frank’s Red Hot. I also had some Chobani plain yogurt with blueberry preserves.

On the way back from our class, I snacked on a Larabar because it was nearing 12:30 and I was hungry!

Lunch was a ham, cheddar, spinach, tomato, and oregano panini and strawberries.

After lunch, I went to the Aveda Institute of Beauty and Wellness for an hour long massage. They just moved to a new location and it was really hip, yet relaxing inside.

Unfortunately, they were running late and I didn’t get into my appointment until about an hour after it was scheduled for. The masseuse I had made up for it because she did a fantastic job. I asked for deeper pressure and I got it. The interesting thing was when she told me I had crystals in my feet. That could mean many things, but it could have to do with reflexology. I guess I should rub my feet more and get the crystals out. She also said she could tell I work out a lot. My body wasn’t really that tight in areas though.

We had dinner late and I was in the mood for pasta, so I made some rotini that has servings of vegetables contained in it. This was for my husband’s sake more than my own.

I made some Nature’s Pride toast, cut it in half, and covered it with earth balance and garlic powder.

We watched part of the movie “The Town” last night and finished the other half tonight. It was better than we both expected.

This morning’s breakfast was plain old Cheerios with some coffee. It’s going to be hard, but I may stop using half and half in my coffee when it runs out. I think it will be better for me, but I also just have to get used to the taste of black coffee.

I also had a bite of a cashew cookie Larabar before going to the YMCA.

I had a really good workout. I stayed for an hour and a half and felt like I could have done more, had I had the time.

I biked for 15 minutes while reading Health; lifted weights and can tell I am getting stronger because my old settings seem too light; ran on the treadmill and felt really good doing that; rowed for 6 minutes and then stretched.

After stretching, I looked outside and thought it was snowing. Then I saw the huge chunks falling from the sky and realized it was hail. We got a really bad hail storm today. It was not fun to drive home on and felt like a fresh coat of snow and ice.

I was hungry when I got home! I had an egg white with cheddar on a mini bagel and made an awesome chocolate banana protein smoothie.

I was still hungry before going to work this afternoon, so I had a raspberry chobani yogurt. It was my first time trying raspberry and it didn’t disappoint!

I worked an event for almost three hours and then got of there because I was itching to be home.

We made pizza for dinner–boboli with mozzarella, pepperoni, and I added spinach and broccoli to my half.

Only two pieces for me so I can save the rest for my work lunch tomorrow!

Well, it’s getting late and I need to clean the house a bit before going to bed early. If I learned anything from last Sunday night, it’s that I need to get to bed earlier on a Sunday so I don’t feel tired and cranky on a Monday.

Hope you all had a great weekend!