i change shapes just to hide in this place

Serious updates and pictures are in order!

Ok for starters, let’s jump right into some recent eats.

Chips, Fajitas, Scones, Pizza, Waffles, Crackers, O My! Sounds like the plan of an obese person. 

Well I don’t consider myself obese, but I threw in some veggies for good measure.

So my update from yesterday needs some explaining doesn’t it.

The bf (Excuse me, Fiancé. Weird.) was to be surprised with a new vehicle. I was in cahoots with his parents to make a trip to Vegas for the old and new car switcheroo. So we got on the road.

Gatsby enjoyed himself.

And drooled a lot.

There were some interesting sights along the way...

...and then we finally arrived. The fiancé was stoked about his new vehicle and it started the weekend off on a rather joyous note.

We gallivanted around Vegas, enjoyed some eats, as well as a flick…

Not my choice by the way, but it was alright.

To make a long story short, I was proposed to on Friday the 13^th, on a rooftop.

The next day I enjoyed flashing my bling and consuming liquor in the middle of the day. When in Rome…

It’s both exciting and exhausting informing everyone about an engagement. I’m also both stressed and excited. Any tips?

Plus, how could I forget about son #3, Gatsby was love struck by this beauty.

They had a whirlwind romance.

Enjoy: “Animal” by Mike Snow

eliminate the need for water replace it with a safe shell

Holy Moly!

I know the last time I checked in it was Wednesday evening. Can I just say a lot has happened since then. I will continue to update for the next couple of days, but here is a Top 5 List.

1) The bf was surprised with a new car. Hybrid style. Awesome.

2) Gatsby got his first girlfriend. She's a chiuaua. It's long distance relationship though, and I think he's too immature to handle it.

3) I ate my first Hush Puppy.

4) I took a week off of exercise.

5) Oh and I got ENGAGED!

(I'm feeling exhausted and drained though this evening, so I think regualr blogness will continue tomorrow. I unfortunately didn't get too many food photos while in Vegas because we frequently ate with family and new friends. I didn't feel like explaining.)

So with that I leave you with a song that always reminds me of the bf: "Penelope" by Pinback

galaxies pour down my cheeks

So remember I said I had a fun weekend announcement?

Guess where the bf and I are headed?

Speaking of Las Vegas...do you see any resemblance here?

I love the three man wolf pack.

I won't be able to post while gone, but I will be sure and take pics of the blog worthy eats and adventures.

Today was typical in the food department.

Oats.

Bagel, Laughing Cow.

Cauliflower, Laughing Cow, and Marinara Sauce.

Plus a lot of snacking today...like a lot. 

I also found some pretty awesome jeans at Express and a dress on sale at American Eagle.

Mexican Food tonight. awesome.

Hair cut and Vegas road trip tomorrow. More awesome.

What's to come in Vegas. Most awesome.

Listen to: "Galaxies" by Laura Veirs

don't waste your touch, you won't feel anything

Zeppelin wants to be a secret spy so bad!

I'm not breaking the news to him that he can't live out his dream. This must be how a parent feels when their child says they want to be a rockstar or an astronaut. "Sure, sure sweetheart, you can be anything you want." When deep inside you know you wanted to be a ballerina, and look at where that took you. Eh, I like to eat too much, ballerinas have to do too little of it. 

Discipline.

I lack this.

Gatsby made a new friend on his walk last night as well.

He sort of thinks he's a tough guy though. If only he knew Zeppelin outweighed him by 6 pounds. I can't shoot down the dreams of all of my animals though. 

He'll lose his puppy teeth soon. The doggie tooth fairy is real. 

See I can play along.

For dinner I definately had cookies and a slice of pizza. Note to self: don't bake a batch of cookies without a recipient (outside of the home) in mind. I will eat the whole lot. 

Breakfast was another Fall favorite (yes I realize it's August), the pumpkin cinnamon oats.

1/2c oats

1c water

3 tbsp pumpkin puree

sprinkle of cinnamon

Truvia packet

It's pretty isn't it.

Lunch was:

3 tomaotes

parsnip fries w ketchup

Tomato Basil Boca Bruscetta burger in a whole wheat pita w more ketchup

Truth be told, I wasn't really feeling the parsnip fries so I didn't really eat them. But I did school a co-worker on what a parsnip was. I was in the kitchen microwaving these babies when the question "What is a parsnip?" arose. I was like "Are you serious?" She might as well have suggested she had no idea what color the sky was. I promptly googles parsnip, showed her a pic, made her sample the fair, and converted another parsnip fry believer. 

That's a successful day if you ask me.

Hit your eardrums with: "The Leaving Song, Pt. 2" by A.F.I

A little diddy about jack and diane

 Three fun facts about today

1)    Today is the 41^st anniversary of the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland.

2)    In 1854, Henry David Thoreau's "Walden," which described Thoreau's experiences while living near Walden Pond in Massachusetts, was first published.

3)    In 1969, actress Sharon Tate and four other people were found brutally slain at Tate's Los Angeles home; cult leader Charles Mansonand a group of his followers were later convicted of the crime.

So why didn’t anybody tell me last week was Shark Week? I planned on wearing my “live every week like its shark week” shirt, but now I’d just look like I missed the memo. Lame. 

Fun fact: It's a shark-eat-shark world ... sometimes even before the sharks are born. When some species' embryos begin to develop teeth, they eat their unborn brothers and sisters until one shark remains, an act known as intrauterine cannibalism.

That’s hard-core.

Ok so I suppose you want to read about food considering this is a food blog. Ok, I’ll oblige.

Last night for dinner the bf and I headed out to a local pizza place with one of his long lost friends and his wife. The joint is called Blind Onion. I didn’t take any pics though because I didn’t want to look like a weirdo, but we ordered a pitcher of Shock Top and a Large Carnivore. It was divine. The pizza had pepperoni, Italian sausage, Canadian bacon, linguisa, and salami. I had 1 slice and about 1 ½ beers. I was still pretty full from all of my cookie tasting and sushi gorging, but a sane woman doesn’t pass up pizza I don’t care how full you are.

This morning I enjoyed some much needed coffee with grapefruit and a chocolate almond milk infused oat creation.

Lunch was heavy on the veggies, just the way I like it. I’ve still been trying to work my way through the bags and bags of fresh tomatoes my parents gave me, so every meal seems to include them.

This one was no exception. In the mix: tomatoes, bell pepper, laughing cow, whole wheat pita, ¾ c egg white, squirt of ketchup.

Snacks were a mini whole wheat bagel with a laughing cow (unpictured), and some of this:

Let me start by saying that I was in the work kitchen area minding my own beeswax, when suddenly this beauty was unveiled. So I’m like many women, a straight up lover of all things chocolate and cake.

A co-worker inquired “Aren’t you going to have some?”

To which I replied, “No, no.”

“Why is that?” I was asked.

“O because I’m not a big fan of Pillsbury frosting.”

“I think it’s homemade, how can you tell it’s Pillsbury?”

“I can smell it.”

This is legitimately how the conversation went.  I mean I didn’t lie. I have an excellent sense of smell and I don’t like certain frostings.

But in the end, Swan Lake ate her cake.

Every. Last. Crumb.

On another note, today is the official official start to half-marathon training. Whoo Hoo! I’m scheduled to do some cross training so by golly that’s what I’m doing. Then some weights, then some Gatsby walking, then some more cookie eating.

I also have an exciting weekend planned that I’ll talk more about later this week, so stay tuned.

I can’t be the only one who has a heightened sense of smell! Anyone else? If so what can you sniff out from a mile away?

Listen to this: “Jack and Diane” by John Mellencamp

i tremble, they're gunna eat me alive

Let me just start by saying that today's food choices have been epic.

But forst we must revisit last nights dinner. It was delicious as well. I mean who couldn't love tomatoes with sea salt and another concoction. I'll call this one "Pizzafied Cauliflower". It consisted of about 3 cups of cauliflower, 1/2 c organic marinara sauce and a laughing cow. They melded together in the microwave...end result: perfection. I suppose you could use other cheeses too if you'd like. I just so happen to love laughing cow on pretty much anything.

I woke up craving some "out of the house breakfast". That's what I call the "I don't want anything in my fridge" excuse. So I met the Beetle at a local cafe, Emerald City. The Beetle's latte has a design, I love it!

It makes my straight up coffee look a little sad. Whatev.

Sorry for the blurry pic, but I ordered a fruit salad and a breakfast cookie. The fruit salad had cantaloupe, pineapple, green apples, strawberries, honeydew, almonds, and a yogurt sauce. 

The breakfast cookies are a force to be reckoned with. I'm not sure of exactly what makes up this heaven on earth delicacy, but I do know I ate it slow.

The bf and I decided to try a new joint for lunch. It was called Wasabi. I can't even explain how fresh this food was. I swear they had a portal to the ocean in their kitchen. Needless to say I ate a little too much, but it was soooo worth it. I was starving after my workout and wanted rice and fish to fill my tummy. So then it was full. Then things were good.

The bf was quite impressed with their dinner menu.

Then I got home and decided baking cookies was a must. You see the weather felt like Fall to me. When it feels like Fall I want to bake pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. So I did. It's as simple as that.

Here's the recipe and instructions, straight from my recipe book. The only changes I made were 1) I used egg white instead of a whole egg because it's what I had, and 2) I had no vanilla extract so it was missing in action. I also used white chocolate chips because the bf loves

You will need the following. (As you can see this is really no where near a health food.) Life happens.

See...not a health food. Just roll with it.

Dry Ingredients.

Mixer action.

Am I weird if I think this is oddly beautiful? Yeah I like the smell of gasoline too. I'm that girl.

Just a quick taste test.

Approved. Now add the chips o' chocolate.

Yeah my first batch was a little burnt.

But I had a lovely taste tester present. He told me all was good in the hood.

Second batch was much better!

Of course I tasted quite a few as well, then took Gatsby for a walk for good measure.

This clearly wiped him out. Good thing we bought him a fancy dog bed. Money well spent.

Ear Candy: "Help I'm Alive" by Metric