Vacation Anxiety

Fact: This is the first time in my career that I have taken summer vacation. It is also the first time in my career that I have taken 2 weeks off in a row.

This is a big step for me, and I'm actually having a little bit of anxiety about being away from the office for an extended amount of time. I pretty much spoon with my blackberry each and every night. In fact, the first thing I look at when I wake up? My blackberry. 

This is not normal. I know. 

I'm going to make a real effort to take a step back from work over the next 2 weeks. Like I wrote about the other day, I can't do it all.... nor do I have to. The show will go on without me. 

I have a crazy day ahead of me which consists of: tying up loose ends at work, procuring a new suit case at lunch, (mine was damaged last time I traveled and I kind of forgot) a gym/dinner date tonight, cleaning house, and doing laundry. Good thing I work well under tight deadlines eh?

Something kinda cool happened yesterday...

In my ideal summer, full swing = tons of baseball.

This summer is in full swing - pun intended.

This weekend was no different. I played in a tournament, and then after 2 hot and sweaty games I drove out to a small teeny little village near my hometown to spare for my Uncle's (Dad's brother) team.

 He's a great ball player, and a good man. How can he not be - he's a Yankee fan.

Anyways, I arrive a little early and am looking a little lost. I had no idea what color of uniforms to look for or what diamond they were playing on.

This man stopped me to ask who I was looking for, and I told him my uncle's name.

He looked at me and said "You must be Mary's daughter".

I was a little shocked, but I smiled and simply replied "Yes".

Turned out he was a neighbor of my Mom's growing up. I've always been told I look like my Dad's side of the family growing up so I never tire of hearing I look like my Mom.

On Wednesday, I'm heading out to Edmonton for a couple of weeks to hang with my Uncle Bill (Mom's brother) and his family. I'm not overly close with my Mom's side of the family. She was one of 11 kids, and they ummmm, to say it nicely, don't all get along all that well. Uncle Bill though? Great, great man. I haven't seen him since my Gramma died in 2003, so it's a long overdue visit. I'm very much looking forward to it and reuniting with family I haven't seen in a long, long time.

I'm also looking forward to not being at work for 97.5 hours. I need that too.

Happy Monday.

Grilled Peach Salad

I was snooping around on Pinterest the other day, and was lead to discover this recipe for a grilled peach salad. 

I just happened to have some peaches that were perfectly ripe and ready to hit the grill. 

I sliced them in half, tossed them in a little olive oil, honey, salt and pepper.

I also grilled up some chicken breasts. Bob tells me I must eat protein at every meal. I love Bob.

Salad ingredients include: Arugula, Cucumber, Bocconcini cheese, red onion, toasted walnuts and of course grilled peaches and chicken.

 The dressing was a combination of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey, Dijon mustard and a little Greek yogurt. 

 

To say I love this salad is an understatement. I had it two nights in a row - thanks to the fact I grilled enough peaches and chicken for an army!

No carbs after lunch isn't really THAT bad afterall.

Eat a real breakfast

Prior to my initial Weight Watchers days, I never ever ate breakfast. Granted at that time, I was a university student who loathed 8:30 classes, so I was never awake before 11:00am anyways.

In an effort to follow Bob's Skinny Rules, I have ditched my usual 7:00am banana for something a little more substantial over the last 2 weeks.

Usually it's a breakfast cookie, but today it's overnight oats with grilled peaches.

If you're new to the overnight oats concept, there are a kazillion ways to make it.

But my way = oats, greek yogurt, water, chia seeds and a splash of vanilla.

I'm liking eating a bigger breakfast. Bigger meals = less hungry Amy. In fact, I'm rarely hungry for my 10:00am snack. Not rocket science I suppose.

For the most part I'm following 90% of his rules, and feeling great. I haven't had a diet pepsi in 15 days. This my friends is revolutionary!

Clearly I'm not following one rule that applies to both Bob's rule and my own personal budget:

 Don't drink  your calories.

Starbucks iced coffee is crack, yo.

Negative Nelly

I had a baaaaaaaad day yesterday.

It started at the office. 

Continued on the ball diamond. 

Stopped while I watched the Yankees win. 

And the shitty mood resumed when my friend sent me this picture.

I have this idea of how I look, and this isn't quite how it looks in my head.

I've been struggling a lot with all things-Amy of late. Lots of negativity. Negativity gets me no where.  
This has to change. I know what I need to do, I just need to get serious about it and apply myself.

Most importantly - I need to stop being so frickin' hard on myself.

I'm only one person - I can't do everything. 

I can't please everyone.

Delegating is ok.

I'm not in the major league - if I pop out, not a big deal.

If my house is a little messy that's ok too.

I must remind myself, there are only 24 hours in the day. Just take it one day at a time.

Hot, hot, hot!

It was a hot and steamy 35 degrees on Saturday.

What did I choose to do? Play in a ladies softball tournament. Makes sense right?

Fortunately, there is no photographic evidence of the actual baseball (we were hammered - we should have been in the rec division instead of the competitive) but I had a ton of fun. 

Luckily one of my team mates lived close to the diamond AND had a pool so we were able to hang there between games.  

Fortunately there's no photographic evidence of me in a swim suit, but one of my team mates sent me this shot of my clothes that I strategically placed on the lawn to dry. I always get teased for wearing a kazillion layers... but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do to keep everything "secure". Even if that means 2 sports bras, 2 pair of compression shorts and another pair of shorts on top!

Unfortunately there IS photographic evidence of the most delicious poutine ever. If you're gonna eat poutine, you might as well eat it on a day that you sweat your nuts off playing ball right?

Interesting aside - you know its hot when you drink 4 bottles of Gatorade and 5L of water and you only pee once all day.

I'm quite confident that I broke every single on of Bob's skinny rules this weekend - but I didn't have a diet pepsi so I'm quite proud of that.

Healthy living to resume today.

Horizontal

I have spent the last 3 evenings looking like this:

Horizontal, with a bag of frozen peas on my neck.

The good news? Mr. Chiro tells me my shoulder is doing awesome.
The bad news? Mr. Chiro tells me my neck is in spasm. And that its going to get worse before it gets better.

I'm starting to lose my shit a little due to the lack of working out. However, I woke up this morning and I can actually turn my head to the left side. Woo! I'm seeing Mr. Chiro again tonight, so here's hoping he gets me back in tip-top shape.

I've never been an 'injured' kinda person. I've had the odd IT band issues, but fortunately that has been it.

Ever since I took my little tumble, I've had a plethora of problems. Shoulder, neck, back, jaw clicking, and tightness in my hip.

I think it's time I admit that I'm getting old. It's all downhill after 30.

Girls night out

Last night I took a much needed night off.

I skipped the gym. I got my nails done. I ate popcorn for supper while watching THE WORST movie I have ever seen. It was really terrible.

Source

...but I kind of wished I was eating my popcorn off Alcide's  Joe Manganiello's rippled abs. 

I was about to ask if that's wrong. But it's not. How could it be wrong to want to eat popcorn off of a character named Big Dick Richie? 

Cross border loot

 My little shopping adventure in Syracuse was very successful.

I'm suffering from buyers remorse as a result of all the $$ I dropped, but hey, you can't take it to the grave with you so you might as well spend it... right?!

I love the store New York and Company. I dropped the majority of my $$ there.

I went way out of my "colour comfort zone" and picked up some different pieces.

A coral cardigan -

 to be paired with this cute ruffle-y tank.

 A pair of "slim ankle" khakis

 A pair of straight leg capris

 This cute top.... looks better than on the hanger.

 A fun necklace

 another top in the coral family

 A cute pencil skirt with fun button details.

My shoe purchases were on the minimal side this time. 2 pairs of flats, a pair of nude pumps from Nine West, and another pair of unpictured flip flops.

 My favorite purchase of the day was this hat. Why? It's just a plain black hat right?

WRONG!

 Theeeeeeeeee Yankees Win!

Happy Monday!

The Bob Bandwagon

There's always some kind of bandwagon to jump on in the land of blogs.

The current bandwagon? Bob Harper's Skinny Rules. 

Image Source

One of my biggest pet peeves is people that jump on a particular teams bandwagon during the playoffs, but you know what? I think this bandwagon might be worth jumping on.

For the most part, I follow most of Bob's rules.

But there are a few that are verrrrrrry challenging for me.

Rule 2: Don't Drink Your Calories

I'm guilty of this every morning in the form of iced coffee. 

Rule 7: No carbs after lunch

I eat carbs. I love carbs.

Rule 10: No more added sweeteners, including artificial ones

I'm Diet Pepsi's bitch.

Rule 14: Eat a real breakfast

My breakfast consists of a banana and a coffee

I've decided I'm not going to go all balls to the wall on this. But, I have decided to make a few changes and  see how I do. It's going to look a little something like this:

Rule 2: Don't Drink Your Calories

Non negotiable. I'm having that damned iced coffee. I love you Bob, but this isn't going to happen. One iced coffee a day with 1 pump of simple syrup and skim milk is not going to kill me.

Rule 7: No carbs after lunch

I'm going to give this one a  try.  It scares me to death, and not because I'm a carb whore (well maybe I am?) but because of the limited flexibility for meals. Pasta is a quick "go-to" meal, but so are a lot of other things. 

Rule 10: No more added sweeteners, including artificial ones

I haven't had a Diet Pepsi since 12:00 on Wednesday and I haven't killed anyone... yet. 

Rule 14: Eat a real breakfast

Enter the breakfast cookie. I used to eat these all the time. 

 Rule 6: Eat apples and berries every single day.
My snacks today: An apple and a Babybel Gouda and

berries and yogurt. This also helps out with incorporating more protein.

For the most part, I'm a pretty healthy eater... but I do love my convenience foods, and my diet pepsi.

Small changes go a long way and I'm seeing a lot of great results out there with regards to Bob's rules.

...and let's be honest. Look at him.

Clearly he's doing something right. Me-friggin'-ow.

Minty Arugula Watermelon Salad

In an effort to be less carbalicious during the evening, I decided to whip up one of my favorite salads last night.

Minty arugula watermelon salad.

Ingredients: Arugula, cucumbers, tomatoes, cubed watermelon, feta, chopped mint and a drizzle of balsamic.

I love it served with shrimp, sautéed in a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Simple. Filling. Delicious.

I woke up this morning to a red flashing light on my blackberry. Much to my surprise, it was an email from my God-Husband (god father of my god son) with a pic from the weekend that made me heart melt a little.

I love that little guy to bits.

One simple goal

Getting back on track after a long weekend is always a little difficult to do.

While I didn't go hog wild, I still ate over my daily calorie allowance.

I kinda did yesterday too. I was a hungry hippo all day.

Today I have one simple goal: Stay within my calorie allowance. Just gotta go one day at a time.

I can do it.

Long Weekend Shenanigans

Another long weekend has come and gone, but I must say, this long weekend in particular? It was awesome.

A visit from my brother and his lady friend.

Rocking my first (albeit indoors) brick workout - 50 mins on the spin bike, followed by a 3k run.

Spending 2 days on the lake with my family and friends. 

...and a little bit of indulgence. 

Back on the straight and narrow today, although I'm proud to say this weekend wasn't a gong show with regards to the healthy living department.

My little zoo

Yesterday was a day all about my little zoo.

It started with a trip to the vet. My poor little Samuel is a very sick little cat right now. He had a steroid injection which will take about 24 hours to kick in. Here’s hoping.

             

After the vet shenanigans, a trip to the dog part was in order.

Someone wanted to go diving for rocks.

She was extra happy because her favourite Uncle was in town. 

Photo Ops ensued. 

As did a mockery of childhood photo shoots.

Jersey wanted in on the action too.

Love that dog. 

Meanwhile, Lewis was left at home, starved for attention. He was happy to reunite with his canine sister.

I think he was sad to see that Sam came home from vet. I think he was hoping it would be a one way trip. Sam and Lewis tolerate each other, and sometimes like each other. But if the household was to go from two felines to one, I’m not sure there would be any complaints.

Has has a terrible life.

Then he gave me judgey-eyes. I deserve them. I tell him all the time that Sam is my favourite.

These judgey eyes are nothing compared to the look I got when Lewis came downstairs and I had Sam wrapped up in a blanket on my lap. Sick Sam = cuddly Sam. I’ve gotta take whatever I can get.

I’m off to the gym for a spin-run workout. Seeing the pics of my arms up there? Puuuuuuuuuuuke. I’ve been Tracky McTrackerton of late, and making great food choices. Must focus on the good instead of my fatty mcbutterpants chubby arms the bad.

Happy Canada Day!