You don't know how lovely you are

Last night after Gatsby and I went for a walk by the river, the bf and I went on a lovely dinner date. We went to a local diner called Pneumatic Diner. I really like this place and hadn't been in a really long time. They have a lot of vegetarian and vegan options. So what did we order? Well we each ordered a dish and shared.

Well it was sort of like that. 

We got the Vegan Bubba sandwich to devour. This baby had marinated eggplant, shredded carrots, spinach, hummus, and I feel like I'm missing something, but anyway it was divine. The bread was seedy and filling too. Just the way I like it. They also provide a side of tortilla chips and salsa with their sandwichs. 

The other dish we got was the Vegan Nachos. They pile black beans salsa, hummus, cilantro, and onions up on this bad boy. I can't really describe how good this is. They do something to their hummus. It tastes extra lemony and yum. 

The bf and I dominated the meal. Plus afterwards we got a vegan chocolate chip cookie to split, just for good measure.

This morning I had some OIACCC. :)

I know the OIAJ phenomenon has swept the web but This is my version (Oats In A Cottage Cheese Container)

1/2c oats 

1/2 c cottage cheese

1/2 c almond milk

Truvia packet 

Sprinkle of cinnamon (after the photo)

Morning snack....repeat alert!

Mini Whole wheat bagel with 1 tbsp almond butter.

Lunch was something old and something new. Damn I forgot something blue.

Same sandwich that's been filling my tummy all week and a new side of green beans, corn, and peas.

I had an apple before my workout and then a mini protein smoothie upon my arrival home.

My workout today was 4 miles outside by the river, but man was it hot! I hate running in the heat but I really didn't want to hit up the treadmill. So my sister walked Gatsby while I ran/walked 2 miles from the car and then 2 miles back. The last mile was basically all walking though because I ran back into the Beetle (my sister) and Gatsby.

This evening calls for some relaxing, watching 24, and maybe starting on the organization of my closet. Have a lovely evening!

Song of the day: "The Scientist" by Coldplay 

And all I can do is just pour some tea for two

I thought I’d take a post to talk about some upcoming things for me, as well as some blog regulars I’ve decided to incorporate.

1) Ok Let’s start with some interesting fitness plans. As you may have noticed from my daily posts, I have started a strength training plan and am also about to start ½ marathon training. That’s because I will be running the US Half Marathon in San Francisco!!!

Pic

I can hardly wait! Here is the website if you want to check it out. http://www.ushalf.com/. I will get to run over the Golden Gate Bridge and through the presidio. This is especially exciting to me because the bf and I recently visited San Francisco and declared we love the city. My grandmother also took us to the presidio to show us the church where both her and my grandpa, and my mother and father got married. How precious!

2) The strength training plan I’m using is from an old article in a Muscle& Fitness hers. They don’t have the information on their website but I will post pictures of the workouts and let you all know the results at the end of the 8 week challenge. This is the magazine cover though:

3) Taking a cue from Closet365, I will now force all of you to be exposed to the music I love. Every post title will be a song lyric and I will include the title and artist in my post. I think it’s important to keep adding music to my running playlists; it really helps keep me motivated. Maybe ya’ll will like what I’ve presented and it will give you a few ideas to add to yours.

Seriously though check out the Closet365 Blog it is super fun and I love all of her outfit ideas and photos!

For example today’s lyrics are courtesy of Blind Melon “No Rain”

4) I’m going to add a concoction tab. I have been told I make the weirdest food concoctions and yet somehow I think they are delicious! I guess other people can be the judge of that.

(Don’t deny that chicken flavored biscuit crackers is weird. Delicious, but weird.)

I'm trying to think of a name for this post but I can't because my puppy is distracting me with his cuteness

Ok so I don’t know what’s gotten into me but man I branched out a bit with my food combos. You may think that what I’m about to tell you is weird but I promise you will be thanking me later.

So I will call my dinner concoction “PB married Green Beans and Egg and Rice had no objections”. It’s a mouthful I know, but I seriously threw this meal together without any idea of how it was going to turn out and I frankly it rocked my world.

I was comfortably full for hours and the PB kept me from craving something sweet after dinner. In the mix:

½ c egg whites (real eggs would be good too I think)

2 tbsp chunky peanut butter (I would have used almond butter but I left it at work. I think it would be fantastic as well though)

6 oz Green beans

½ c cooked brown rice

So I just microwaved the green beans and rice until they got nice and warm and the green beans lost a little of their crunch. I also threw the egg whites in the bowl and let it all cook together. Sooo easy! Once I stopped and stirred a few times, I plopped the PB in the bowl and microwaved some more and stirred some more. In the end I this great combo of peanut butter infused green beans and rice infused with egg and well I can’t really describe it. The only thing I may do different next time is bake the green beans in the oven; I think that would be super good!

Bottom line I engulfed the bowl. Clearly.

I also realized last night while I was blogging that puppies and kittens handle my computer time in different manners.

Exhibit A: Oliver

Exhibit B: Gatsby

This dog is growing on me more and more.

This morning I had some more Cottage Cheese Overnight Oats (CCOO).

½c oats

1/2c fat free cottage cheese

1/2 c almond milk

Truvia packet

Drizzle of sugar free syrup

Sprinkle of cinnamon on top before consumption

I also had some coffee in the Ariel mug.

Morning snack was a Whole Wheat mini bagel with a tbsp of almond butter.

Afternoon snack was this other dandy concoction. I will call this “Tuna and Slaw topped with Hummus”. In the mix:

3oz. Broccoli Slaw

2 tbsp Eggplant Hummus

½ can of Tuna

I know this seems weird too, but man was it good!

In between all of that was lunch of course. I had another sandwich with a medium apple on the side. My sandwich was 1/2 c egg whites, laughing cow, drizzle of sugar free syrup, between 2 slices of Double Fiber bread.

Gym time today was some cardio and this strength training routine (I forgot to take a picture of the routine, I'll post it next week when I do it)

I have been a little stressed at the gym because I feel like I need to get home to the puppy! I don’t want him to be cooped up in his kennel for more than a few hours.

Beta Carotene

My new puppy kept me up last night. Not because he was annoying (he spent the night in a crate in the living room) but because I must have had subconscious anxiety about him. I swear I couldn’t sleep at all!

So naturally today is a little difficult to get through. I had 2 cups of Ariel cup coffee today. Seriously, that never happens. I know I can drink Venti coffees like nobody’s business but double dipping on the coffee cup experience, never. I’d like to say it helped but I’m not really sure it did. I’m still a little drowsy.

Last night’s dinner was interesting. And by interesting, I mean epic.

2 c green beans

1 serving lite tofu

1 chickpea burger

2 tbsp eggplant hummus

Today’s eats were some overnight oats (½ c oats, ½ c fat free cottage cheese, ½ c almond milk, Stevia packet, drizzle of sugar free syrup). However I thought I’d show them in a different light, i.e. the container I pack them in. Convenient and portable.

This combination is really hitting the spot lately.

Morning snack was a whole wheat mini bagel from Trader Joe’s dipped in half a container of egg white salad with chives from Trader Joe’s.

Oh and here are some precious photos I shot of Gatsby (the new puppy) this morning, when I should have been sleeping.

He clearly loves his new friend, Mr. Beta Carotene.

Lunch was equally yum as all other meals. I had about 2-3 c of zucchini and an egg white and laughing cow cheese sandwich.

Afternoon snack was a Green Monster. But I failed in taking a picture of it!

Even though I was exhausted I still went to the gym today and did this strength routine...

 ...and 35 minutes of cardio. I was going to run but I think I might stick with the elliptical. Running when my head hurts due to lack of sleep only furthers my headache I’ve found.

Then some running of errands with the puppy, and perhaps a park jaunt while we’re out.

Do you still work out when you’re tired or do you succumb to the much needed R and R?

Name: Gatsby

Someone referred to me as Dr. Doolittle today.

Is that bad?

Ok, so what if I’ve taken in a kitten and a puppy within the same month. You would too!

Here’s the story, and I’m stickin’ to it.

Yesterday afternoon, while at work, the bf calls me and says, “I’m coming to your work, I’ll be there in 40 minutes.” Flabergasted, I responded with “Um ok, is everthing ok?”. “We’ll talk when I get there”. So naturally I was freaking out. I hung up the phone and a million things ran through my head: Did someone die? Did he get fired? Are we going on a surprise trip?

I’m aware I was all over the place.

Fifteen minutes later I get a text message reading: Can you go straight home after work?

This furthered my confusion. Sure if you need me to, I replied.

I sat panicked and with butterflies in my stomach, trying to concentrate at work, but unable to think about anything besides what could possibly be going on!

Finally he arrives and I get the call, “Come outside and meet me.” “Ok” I say.

He’s going to break up with me I think to myself. Oh my god, what did I do? I don’t even remember?

I walk outside and what do I see….the bf holding this

And so it began.

Let me go back a second and reiterate the fact that I am a planner. (Remember when I bought my new, neat, crisp planner earlier this week, and how it brought me so much joy?) This experience was not written in there. If I had known a puppy would be coming into my life I would have bought “Puppies for Dummies” or some other equally lame book, read up on what to do, what not to do, and then agonized over my puppy raising philosophy.

After writing that I’m realizing maybe the spontaneity was needed.

Anyway, how could I pass up a face like that?! Then the bf’s story was the icing on my newly smashed cupcake.

“Erin I just found him in the desert. I was out at work and he was just walking around this shed. I walked in there and saw him, and was like, ‘Cute puppy, who’s is it?’ Then the natives who live on the reservation let me know I could have him and that he had no home. Apparently there are always stray dogs on the reservation and nobody claims them and people shoot them so they don’t procreate. So I took him.”

Ok you had me at “found him in the desert.”

So now with that we have a new addition to the family. Yes, we just adopted a kitten from the Humane Society 3 weeks ago; yes that makes 2 baby animals in the same month. I’m aware at how this sounds. But really if the bf wouldn’t have brought him home I would be worried about what kind of man he was. He’s got too big of a heart. That’s why we’re pals.

So we went to the vet, got puppy shots, went for a puppy walk, and traveled in the car to get soft serve. This kids all right!

Any tips for raising this precious guy? I have never owned let alone raised a dog before, HELP!

p.s. Don't worry, more phots to come!

New Edition

The chickpea burgers turned out quite stupendous. For a recap of how I make them go to my previous post "Chickpea Madness!.

I just love that the bf requests them.

Dinner was a repeat of last night, sort of. I had the same wrap but I threw in a green monster instead of carrots and almond butter on the side.

Wrap:

whole wheat tortilla

2 tbsp eggplant hummus

5 oz of lite tofu

3 oz of broccoli slaw

Green monster was the same ingredients as yesterday.

I can't understand why my plants die either. WTF?! I water them and feed them plant food and sing them lullabies.

Whatever.

Onto the today's eats…nothing too exciting because I’m pretty much a repeat food offender today. What can I say? I find a combo that I like and then I eat it a lot. I also do this because I hate to waste food. 

I will however have something a little different for dinner tonight! Chickpea Burger concoction coming at ya! Since you remember I made a batch of them yesterday for the bf…I must partake in their awesomeness as well.

Two songs I’ve been really into lately:

Katy Perry – Teenage Dream

And

Lady Antebellum – American Honey

I told Oliver the other day that I downloaded the song for him because he’s honey colored. So I sing it to him sometimes. (Yeah I talk to my cat, so what).

Gym time today was supposed to be epic. However, a little phone call and emergency vet visit prevented this. I'll post more about this tomorrow but here's a sneak peek...

(Can I say I'm exhausted already? Is that allowed?)

Oh and just in case you hadn’t gotten your fill of entertainment for the day, The Jersey Shore cast hit up the NYSE today.

GTL Baby

A dalmation plantation

Today’s weather has been weird to say the least. We’ve been issued a thunder storm warning. Weird. 

Weather like this makes me want to stay inside all day, bake cookies, and watch Disney Classics. I think I need some Pongo and Perdita in my life.

Anywho, this morning’s breakfast was deliciousness:

½ c oats

½ c fat free cottage cheese

½ c vanilla almond milk

1 Truvia packet

Plus some coffee

Lunch consisted of:

2 slices of Double Fiber bread

Laughing Cow cheese

roasted green bell peppers

1/2 c egg whites

2 medium carrots

1 tbsp almond butter

Snacks throughout the day were grapefruit, roasted veggies, and egg white/whole wheat mini bagel (it hid from the camera) combo pre-gym.

Gym time = Pure awesomeness today. However, a week off sure makes me feel winded!
I started off with a mile run, then shoulders, then 30 minutes on the stairclimber, then abs.

Strength was this:

That I found in here:

I’m stoked to start this 8 week program. It promises loss of body fat and gain of muscle tone. Awesome-nova. Zenon style.

I also bought a new daily planner today. For some this may be weird, but for those of you out there who understand the thrill of planning out a day, celebrate with me.

It’s small, yet sturdy. Plus it’s turquoise. I also like how the days get their own page, sometimes I like to write quite a bit.

I’m off to make some more Chickpea burgers at the bf’s request.

That’s right.

He likes something I made.

Booyah.