Monday… why do you always come so soon?  Perhaps it was my amazing family-packed weekend birthday celebration extravaganza that made Saturday and Sunday fly by?  And the first Monday in August? AUGUST?  Maybe my wishes for fall were heard and the year was sped up? Come to think of it… it does feel a little cooler outside…

Anyways, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I definitely did.  Grandma had a great birthday and I really enjoyed getting to see so much of my family.  Here I am with the birthday girl…

Doesn’t her smile just radiate? I swear she has more energy than I do.  We filled our weekend with playing bridge, spades, jet-ski-ing, playing with the pups, watching the video from Grandma Betty’s 70th birthday (20 years ago!), and, oh yeah… eating… a lot 😉

This, my friends, was a delicious turkey burger filled with apple, chutney and I’m not sure what else (mom… recipe? please?).  We also tried out some home brew that Hubbs brought, which got raving reviews!  On Saturday night, Mother Nature put on an amazing light show for us…

Sunday was a fancy brunch at the clubhouse, but not without setting up a family photo first… because you really wanted to see my wonderful family, right? I thought so 😉

After brunch yesterday, Hubbs and I hit the road so we would have time to swing by Atlanta.  Momma Hubbs was visiting Brother Hubbs and his family and we wanted to say hi.  It was great getting to see them and getting to play with my precious nephews and niece (baby girl (#4) is due any minute now… seriously… she’s 4 days late… bless her heart!)

So Hubbs and I ended up getting home around 10:30 and were ready to crash.  I had my alarm set to get up and run this morning… but my charger wasn’t plugged into the wall, so my phone died.  I guess I wasn’t meant to run this morning 😉  Instead I made myself a piece of cheese toast and coffee (yes, I really need to get to the grocery store).

Now it’s back to the grind… computer and clients today!

Also, for your reading pleasure, I came across this slideshow of natural appetite suppressants, which I found interesting… I’ve tried them all, and agree with them all… except maybe Hoodia.  I don’t know much about that one.  And maybe all you overnight-oats people are on to something… 😉

Appetite Suppressant Slideshow

Have you tried Hoodia?

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Stopping by my favorite wi-fi spot in Charlotte… Panera 🙂  Well, not necessarily my favorite, but the only one I know of that offers free wi-fi!  The cloudy weather and “cool” front (less than 90 degrees), had me craving soup!

I usually am a Greek salad fan, but decided to try out their new poppy seed salad- light and fruitful- Yum!

I got a dose of inspiration today, thanks to one of my morning clients.  She was telling me how she used to get stressed out by thinking about the eating challenges the next weekends and months would bring (parties, dinners out, holidays, etc), but that over the past week “something clicked” and now she is doing a better job staying focused on making healthy choices today.

This was something I needed to hear… sometimes I stress about where my focus should be (professionally and personally) and all the things I need to do, but really I should just be focused on making the most of the day at hand.  There is no sense in worrying about the next step in the process if I haven’t taken care of the first step.  Is this making any sense?

Sorry blog friends, I’m feeling a bit distracted and don’t feel like I am making any sense.  Do you ever have days where you want to sit down and evaluate your to-do list, then prioritize and start fresh with a plan of action? I feel that way today… so instead of continuing to ramble on to you, I’m going take some time to do that… organize my thoughts, prioritize my to-do’s and redirect my focus on what is important.  I guess I could call it a life-reboot 🙂

Do you ever have to do this? Or do you have no problem staying focused?

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I am happy to report that I have uncovered the cure-all to any bad mood… 1 trip to Trader Joes, plus a sweaty wog (I realize that sounds kind of dirty, but it’s my code name for walk/jog intervals) and some jalapeño cilantro hummus.

Oh.Em. Gee. (Yes, I just said that… annoying, right?)…

why did it take me so long to finally try Trader Joe’s Jalapeño Cilantro Hummus?!

This stuff is packed full of flavor, and if you like a little spice (really, it’s not too spicy… no where close to Sabra Supremely Spicy) and a lot of cilantro, you’ll love this.  It was so yummy and a little goes a long way.  I enjoyed it with some Stacy’s pita chips and sliced pepper, but I can’t wait to try it on a wrap.  Seriously. Delicious.

I also had a field day at Trader Joe’s and was nervous about what the bill would amount to… the grand total?

$60.

That was it. I know everyone has different weekly food budgets, but to feed Hubbs and me for a week, it takes a LOT of food.  Seriously, Lord help us if we someday have little boys to feed that have their dad’s appetite.  We’ll go broke.  Considering I should be able to make it almost completely through the week on $60 is worth celebrating.  In fact, I hope Hubbs reads this so I get an extra big hug when he gets home. WAHOO!

PS- sorry random lady for photographing your behind…

Then, to keep my momentum going, I decided to suck it up and do my Couch to 5K training in the afternoon.  I really wanted to write it off and blame the alarm, but I figured it would end up throwing off my whole week, and that’s no fun.  So I sucked it up, put on my shoes and hit the pavement.

A sweaty 30 minutes later, I was walking on sunshine. I feel so much more clear headed!

One thing I’ve noticed though… when I wog, my low back gets really tight.  But not just my low back, my realllly low back, AKA my tail bone.  Is that possible? Does this happen to anyone else?  I stretch after my wogs, but I can’t figure out how to stretch my butt bone.  Any tips?

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I just realized I am dangerously close to the start time of the Bachelorette, so I’ll be making my dinner post short and sweet.  But not without RAVING first about the amazing roasted rosemary red potatoes & onions I had as my side dish tonight. YUM! Better than any french fry.  And that’s saying a lot.

I started off with a simple side salad and attempted a new dressing (sorry Newman, you know I still love you, but I need to branch out and see what else is out there…)

It was a pretty tasty dressing, so I only needed a drizzle.  It was a different sort of flavor than Newman’s, so I can like them both 🙂

I chugged this (like I have been doing a LOT lately) while I waited for dinner to bake

Yup, right out of the bottle. Classy!

Then I heard the timer ‘ding’ and my mouth started salivating (Pavlov much?)

There actually was no basil involved in this dish, but it needed a little color to make it photo-ready 😉

Roasted Rosemary Red Potatoes & Onions

little red pototoes

1/2 sweet onion

rosemary (2 tsp)

paprika (1.5 tsp)

garlic powder (sprinkled on top)

salt (.5 tsp)

pepper (.5 tsp)

olive oil (2 tbsp)

I won’t lie, I guessed on the amounts, and it obviously differs depending on how much your making.  But I diced the potatoes and onions and set them aside.  In a large bowl I poured in some olive oil, and added all the spices (minus that garlic salt… but mostly because I forgot).  Then I added the onions and potatoes in the bowl and tossed until each piece was coated.  Then I stuck them in the oven on a nonstick baking sheet at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes.

Heaven!  And the best part? Totally easy!! I ate them with 1/2 a baked chicken breast (seasoned with the same spice mixture). Easy peasy lemon squeezy.  OK, off to see who Ali chooses! I’m choosing to ignore the rumors that she picks nobody and guessing that she picks Roberto… but either way, I’ll bet it ends up being

‘the most dramatic rose ceremony ever‘ 😉