Looooooong weekend

I started out my long weekend on a positive note. Body Attack + coffee.

Arrived home, got clean and made a mini cheese plate for myself for brunch.

Grapes, apple slices, baguette, triscuits paired with fontina, brie and my beloved etorki.

  

You can’t have cheese without Red Pepper Jelly!

Its an absolutely beautiful day in Ottawa.

I’ve got this face staring at me begging for a trip to the p-a-r-k, so I’m going to cut this short and get outside to enjoy this gorgeous day.

Isn’t that the most pathetic face in the world? She’s got me wrapped around her little finger paw for sure!

Operation Beautiful comes to Ottawa

Operation Beautiful is not a new concept, but when the book launched I was on my blogging hiatus, hence the long overdue mention.

When it launched in Canada, I started seeing tweets that my note made the book:

I raced out and bought the book that very second.

I was so proud and honoured to see my note in the book in among some pretty outstanding notes.

I read the book from cover to cover, and loved seeing all of the notes and stories that went along with them.

This wasn’t my first Operation Beautiful note.

I posted this where I wrote “I have continued to be moved by all the notes posted on Operation Beautiful. I was reading Oh She Glows today, and Angela wrote about her insecurities about sweating. I too, am very insecure about my sweat glands. I sweat like a madwoman, and often make a bee line to the changeroom after my workout to avoid too many people seeing my soaked t-shirt and flushed face. Today I decided to embrace my beautiful, sweaty self.”

I’ve also left countless notes all over Ottawa, and even tweeted this note to the creator of Operation Beautiful, Caitlin, who once tweeted that she should send an OB note to herself!

 

Its been quite a while since I’ve posted a note, but I think I will make it my priority this weekend to leave a few reminders of just how incredible you are… YES YOU!

To Caitlin, congratulations on all your success with Operation Beautiful. Its amazing how amazing a simple little post it can make you feel. Kudos to you my friend.

Dogs + kids

Last night, I was out with my pootchie.

I was rocking to some excellent music, therefore, not as alert as I could have been.

Jersey stopped to do her business at the side of a school yard that was filled children playing. I stopped to pick up her poop, and when I turn around (again, I maybe should have turned off my music) Jersey is being mauled by a little girl, who looked to be around 2 or 3. The parents were sitting on a bench, drinking coffees not really paying attention to their child at all.

Now, I know Jersey is well behaved and loves children.... I mean look at that face.

But what if she DIDN'T love kids? What if she was not friendly?

I politely told the parents they should ask before letting their child pet my dog. And they looked at me like I was crazy.

Maybe its because I'm a dog owner, but I always ask before I pet someone elses' dog. Despite appearing friendly, you just never know whats going on in a dog's head.

I will admit, I was slightly annoyed, mainly due to the fact that this little girl managed to get Jersey all crazy and excited and got her out of 'well behaved mode'. I always make her sit/stay, wait for me to pick up her poo, and then we continue on our merry way.

I'm not sure what the point of this post is. I guess the lesson learned is that I shouldn't take my well behaved dog for granted when I turn my back, but also to point out to the non dog-owning people that you just never know!

Thankful for Music

Today I am thankful for my music.

More specifically my little Ipod alarm clock that I use to listen to music at work.

I used to listen to music at work with Grooveshark, that is, until the internet police got a little grumpy with me for streaming.

I was crushed, and that very night I went out an procured myself my little alarm clock. My work days have been lovely ever since.

Actually thats a complete lie. But, I can confidently say that having music in the background totally brings me back to earth when I'm having a particularly angry day. Of late, my job has been challenging my patience and grace each and every day. In fact, I actually had my first "screaming match" of my career yesterday. Looking back, it was kind of a surreal experience. I got so fed up, I kind of just lost it. The end result was my boss having to come and 'break it up' but despite losing my cool, I think I was still professional despite the loud voice.

...getting back to the music...

I like to listen to all sorts of music, but at work, I like to keep it mellow with the odd 2pm dance party.

Some of my favorites of late:

Lover Lay Down - DMB
Such Great Heights - Wine
The Luckiest - Ben Folds
Cannonball - Damien Rice
Say Hello, Wave Goodbye - David Gray
Making Memories of Us - Keith Urban
If its Love - Train

And my favorite 2pm dance party song:

Dynamite - Taio Cruise

What can I say, sometimes I just want to put my hands in the air!

Side note: I love Jerry O'Connell and thought this clip was adorable.

Happy Tuesday to all.

Cheesy Take Out

I hit up Body Combat after work for a sweat filled punching/kicking session.

I was supposed to play ball at 8pm, but the offer was reneged at the last second.

I was a little disappointed, so I opted to get a manicure instead.

By the time all was said and done it was 8:30 so the last thing I felt like doing was cooking.

Enter: Cheesy take-out.

One of my favourite “healthy” take out options is chili and a baked potato from Wendy’s. 

I added some shredded old cheddar to the chili and some etorki to the ‘tater. Cheese makes everything taste better!

My other favourite thing about take-out: FOUNTAIN diet pepsi.

For some odd reason, I love fountain diet pepsi. Out of the bottle its too fizzy, out of the can its too “tinny” but the fountain version is jussssst right!

I’ve decided to finally accept the fact that summer is long gone and fall has arrived. I painted my nails a shade called Russian Navy by OPI, and turned on the furnace. I will say though, I still haven’t embraced the fact that it gets dark at 7pm. As much as I welcome the fun fall fashion and cooler weather, I’m a little sad to see the summer go.

Ciao!

Amy the runner: Back in the saddle

Check out this post by one of my bestest blogging buddies, Lynn.

I read it, and I got to thinking.

I have a million of the same pictures.

    .

Running was a huge part of my life, and over the last few months I’ve been neglecting it.

I could blame it on long hours, I could blame it on injury, but when it comes right down to it I was lacking the motivation.

After a while, I kept telling myself “Ok Amy, this is it… get out there” but then the lack of motivation became FEAR. The fear that I would suck, the fear that I would hate it, but most of all, the fear of failing.

So today, I woke up and I ran. I didn’t set a distance. I didn’t bring any technology. I just ran until I was tired.

I’d be lying if I said it was the best run I’d ever had. It was actually kind of horrid. I kept glancing down at my shadow and feeling ashamed of the reflection.

But after a while, when I found my stride and started to feel comfortable I got to thinking:

I thought about Lynn’s post. I thought about Jersey, and how I should have brought her with me. I thought about what a perfect fall day it was. I thought about Angela’s mantra “You are stronger than you think”. I started salivating at the thoughts of a pumpkin spice latte. And then I thought about Krissie’s thankful blog and it hit me.

I am thankful that I conquered my fear of failure.

I am thankful that I am a runner.

I am thankful I have found health.

I am thankful I am happy.

It feels good to be back!

From bad, to worse.

I had a really bad day yesterday.

When 4:00pm rolled around, I decided I had had enough. Actually, at 3:30 pm I decided ‘Frig this, I’m leaving early today” but then that never happened.

I came home and immediately changed into my favorite (read: ugly as sign) cozy lounging pants, and began to prepare my snack.

  

Initially I had planned on drowning my sorrows in cheese. But then thought to myself “You know that's not going to make you feel better” and whipped up a bowl of plain yogurt, a peach, and some granola.

Delicious, filling and the perfect accompaniment for my hot date with this stud:

Side note: Victor Newman really reminds me of my Dad. Not sure why, I think its the facial expressions. Oh, and when Victor gets realllllly mad too!

I wish I could tell you that was the end of my horrible day.

After the granola, I was still thinking about the cheese. So I had some cheese and crackers.

After the cheese and crackers, I had 2 pieces of toast.

That should have been PLENTY to tide me over until today, but I had a bowl of pasta and some chocolate fro-yo for dessert.

My first binge in years.

I ended up going to bed at 8:00pm to avoid eating the entire house.

Worst part: I didn’t wake up with rainbows and kittens this morning. Hello migraine.

I went to work for 10 mins, only to turn around and come back home. After bonding with the porcelain god, sitting in a hot bad with a hot compress on my eyes/temples, taking my weight in advil and sleeping for a few hours I’m feeling a little more human, but the headache is still lingering a bit.

My stomach is rumbling, but the thoughts of eating make me a little gaggy. I might start with some soup,

I’ve been a sufferer of migraines since I was a child. I did a brief “tracking” exercise with my doctor once to determine the cause. I’m a firm believer that this one was a combination of dietary (cheese and sugar) and stress induced. Boo!

Back to the couch for me. Ta-ta for now.