The calm before the storm

I actually had an appetite this morning - that's more like it! Some cherries and pineapple and coffee, of course.



Another note on the French press ***I couldn't find the 3-cup in any local Macy's store, so I had to buy my new tiny French press online. I just got an email that it has been shipped! Let's hope this one makes it in one piece!***

Lunch was totally uneventful and boring, but remarkably filling. We have (or had...) absolutely nothing in our fridge. Not a vegetable to be found. So my lunch consisted of a whole wheat wrap with 2 oz. of leftover steak, a piece of cheese and some spicy mustard. It was tasty, but I didn't think it was going to fill me up. I waited for about 15 minutes after I finished & low and behold, I was actually full. I was ready to sneak some cheese crackers, but I honestly didn't need them. So, I went along with my afternoon.

So boring :)

Dinner was just the opposite. The fiancee and I finished off the leftover pasta. I had a side of hummus and a few olives. He made a fabulous garlic bread with 2 rolls we had floating around. Twas delish.

I finally made it to the grocery store and packed our fridge with vegetables. My mom is coming into town tomorrow & she has a reputation of cooking (fabulous) not-so-good-for-you meals. I'm hoping she takes my cues to make lots of veggies. I don't want to counteract all the good I've done! We're going out to eat tomorrow night, but then she will want to cook for the rest of her stay, that's just how she rolls. And she rolls with a large knowledge of delicious food. Can't wait!

Crabby Sunday

I was in bed early on Saturday night after our long night at the concert and I was up and at it early Sunday morning. I went to the gym for a short elliptical sesh and came home only to get ready to go to the in-laws for a crabby Sunday, literally.


I snacked on this peachy Chobani after the gym.

My fiancee loves to eat blue crabs. Before I met him, I had never been up close and personal with a blue crab. Snow crab legs, yes, but blue craps are a different world...



First, some garlic, olive oil and lemon juice.


Sizzle sizzle.

Hello blue crabs. You will be mine.

Wine and beer are essential for the crab sauce, so why not have a glass? Or two...

Into the pot you go!

Shake shake shake!

Some parsley, garlic and a lid are all they need.

Oh man, these were good! I can usually eat 4 crabs, Sunday I ate 2! They were really big! Of course there was pasta with the sauce from the crabs and clams.

Mmmmmm, it was quite a feast! I also snacked on some cheese and fruit. And some more wine :)

Monday morning came too quickly! Where does the weekend go? I did not have an appetite AT ALL on Monday. I usually get hungry at least for some fruit in the AM, but not today. I had a cup of coffee and wasn't hungry for lunch until 1230pm. That's late for me. I ate a serving of leftover pasta with homemade tomato sauce. So good the next day!

Upside down pasta for lunch!

After work, I headed to Spa Toccare at The Borgata in Atlantic City. I've stayed at the Borgata several times, but I never went to the spa. I didn't realize how much I was missing out! It was very relaxing and much needed. I got some things waxed :) and soaked my feet in the hot tub while I read a magazine and then lounged around with cucumbers on my eyes for about 30 minutes. It was a glorious afternoon of relaxation.

I'm getting ready to sip on some tea and get into bed to read for a little while. My alarm will go off early to hit the gym. Guess what? My mom is coming into town on Wednesday! She's coming to town for my wedding shower! I'm excited!

Now for my long weekend

Most people had Monday off since Independence Day was Sunday, but I worked to earn a comp day to use for my honeymoon. However, I did take off Friday July 9th to go to Hershey Park to see Zac Brown Band (my fav) open for the Dave Matthews Band (fiancee's fav). The best of both world's!!

Thursday came and went pretty quickly - actually - I finished up my caramelized onions on a turkey wrap with some carrots and hummus. The onions were really good and added just enough bulk to keep me full. I also brought a serving of baked beans, but I didn't eat them because I was full from the wrap.

Thursday evening was a pretty exciting event in our lives....I have been with T-Mobile forever....the fiancee has been with Verizon forever....neither of us were currently in a contract, so we decided to make the switch to AT&T and get iPhones!!!!! We ordered them Thursday night, we should have them in our hands by next week. I seriously can't wait - so excited to blog from my phone one day!

After the iPhones, we went to dinner at our local sushi place. We ordered spicy tuna and a yellowtail and scallion roll that was to die for..

We went to see "Eclipse" after dinner (yes, I know that I saw it Wednesday night, but it's just THAT good). It was better the second time around. :)

I got up Friday morning and headed to the gym for a quick workout since we were driving to Hershey, it's probably a 2 hour drive...

The Hershey towers! The sweetest place on Earth!

All the street lights are Hershey Kisses!

I'm a BIG fan of the opening band - Zac Brown - they are actually from Atlanta (as am I...) and I went to elementary and high school with Clay Cook in the band - he plays all kinds of different instruments. And they rock! We have tickets to see them in August in Philadelphia. They are awesome! It was quite a treat to be so close to the stage!

We danced and sang and drank big beers and it was a great night! I fell into bed when we got back to the hotel and slept straight until 10AM Saturday morning! We showered and hoped in the car to drive home. We stopped at Funk's Restaurant for some lunch. I had a roast pork open face sandwich with brown gravy and french fries. Totally random, but good! By the time we got home and relaxed for a while the fiancee went to the grocery store and got all the fixin's for linguine and shrimp. Sorry no pictures, but you will see the leftovers this week, for sure!

Today I'm about to head to the gym and then head to the in-laws for crabs and soccer! Go Nederland!! We also have to start setting up for my wedding shower, my mother in law is hosting (so nice of her!), so we need to set up the tables for seating and food. It will be a great party. I didn't want it to be a surprise, I'm not that kind of a bride. I also don't want any presents wrapped! I'm not the kind of person to sit in front of 60 people and open just as many presents for hours...boring! So, I asked that if you bring a present, don't wrap it. I will be greeting guests as they come in and take their present and thank them and then display all of the gifts. That way everyone feels special, but nobody has to sit for hours and watch me open....Weird?? Oh well, I think it will be great!

I hope so, at least!

Enjoy your Sunday! It's been such a nice long weekend, I'm not ready to go back to work.....

Weddings are hard work

Sometimes I wish we would have eloped. Sometimes I wish we would have just organized a beef and beer. Sometimes I wish we would have planned a destination wedding..





But we are planning a large shore wedding. Don't get me wrong, it will be a fabulous party and I'm very thankful to be able to have such a nice wedding, but....




It's a lot of work! And I'm doing pretty much everything by myself. Some days I feel really really really overwhelmed. This has been one of those weeks.....



Thanks for letting me vent a little :)


Breakfast Tuesday consisted of some grapes and coffee. There is a small kiwifruit sliced up in the bottom of that container, yum.

Lunch was an epic salad with the usual, but I subbed steak for grilled chicken. I like the chicken with the goat cheese better than the steak, but it was a nice change of pace.

Tuesday night I had my first fitting of my wedding dress with the seamstress. The dress fits SO well! It was a little snug the last time I had it on, but last night it fit like a glove! I guess that's what 8 pounds less feels like!! I was so happy! The seamstress was going to have to let it out a little, but not anymore! It looked beautiful!

After the alterations, I headed to the in-laws for dinner. I didn't take a picture, but I had homemade minestrone soup with a tilapia sandwich. We snacked on some homemade salami and cheese, too. After a glass of wine, I was ready to crawl into my bed. Did I mention that I made it to the gym Tuesday morning?? Well, I did, I was proud.

I slept like a rock and got up Wednesday morning and made it to the gym again! And guess what????

I'm down another 1/2 pound!!! YES! No wonder my wedding dress fit so well!

Celebration breakfast was grapes, kiwi and more local blueberries. And coffee of course. **Note on the French press - I have my gift card from Macy's (for the French press that was sent to me that was broken) and I'm headed to the mall tonight! I might be "pressing" my coffee in the AM!!!**

I wasn't feeling a big entree salad for lunch today, so I wrapped up some turkey, cheese and hummus with a small side salad.

Simple and delish. I'm headed to see Eclipse tonight with some girlfriend's! Can't wait! I'm also on the hunt for a dress to wear to my wedding shower! It's soon! Omg, I'll be married soon!

A good friend of mine suggested that I start taking a shot of apple cider vinegar in the morning to help with the stress of planning a wedding. Evidently, the vinegar helps to balance all your insides out.... Have you ever heard of that? Would you ever do it?

Beans and onions

This holiday (well the 5th actually) I had to work for a few hours, but I came home to an empty house and lots of groceries! I had a plan to attack my house by cleaning it from top to bottom as well as make some fabulous eats...



On to the eats -


www.iowagirleats.com had a wonderful sounding recipe for baked beans that I thought I would try - I figured I could put them in the oven and then attack my dirty house! Plan worked well -


Ingredients -

All together now -

Ketchup and bacon really make everything better -

Side project - I decided to caramelize some onions for a quesadilla I was working on for dinner. In between washing windows and checking on the oh-so-good-smelling beans baking away, I sliced 2 large Vidalla onions and sauteed them in a little olive oil until soft. I then turned down the heat and let them do their thing for an hour. I would stir them every few minutes. They came out very dark and caramel-y.

Beans, post bake. And after several spoonfuls....

You can find the recipe here.

After sweating all afternoon in my house while cleaning - the house looks beautiful, btw.... I was ready for dinner! I had some leftover bbq brisket, so I made a quesadilla!

First - whole wheat wrap in hot pan, cheese on top. I used reduced fat cheddar.

Then I layered on some pulled beef brisket, caramelized onions and bbq sauce.

I topped with another sprinkle of cheese and flipped it on top of the other wrap already in the pan.

Brown both sides and make sure the cheese is melty and delish.

Enjoy with a scoop of baked beans! Yummo!

Ahhhh the weekend...not a long one though :(

The weekend really started for me on Saturday because I came home from work on Friday at 4:30pm....I was asleep on the couch by 5pm and woke up at 10pm. Only to crawl to my bed and sleep until 8am Saturday morning. And it felt wonderful, I was a little worn out by all the concerts!

I got up feeling refreshed and rested, so I got some things done around the house and headed to the gym for a looong workout. Remember last weekend when I spent 45 minutes on the elliptical???? Well, I topped that on Saturday!! 50 long minutes on the elliptical AND 20 minutes of shoulder exercises with some nice stretching at the end. And it felt SO good. Especially after my indulgences over the end of the week....

Saturday afternoon continued at a small pool party with some good friends. Then we were off to meet some of the fiancee's friends at a bar crawl that they were doing all day Saturday!! They had been out since 1pm that afternoon, we met up with them around 9:30pm.....needless to say, they were pretty buzzed! But they were all walking - safety is always important! We had a few drinks and ended up driving right into a great fireworks show! So lucky!!

Happy birthday America!

Oh I forgot about my lunch on Saturday! It was epic - how could I forget???? Obviously, I was HANGRY by the time I got home from the gym, so I devoured the quickest thing I could find....a huge salad with grilled chicken, dried cranberries, goat cheese and light lime dressing. It was gone in mere minutes. Delish!

We woke Sunday morning (after sleeping in a little bit :) and started getting ready to head to the in-laws for an afternoon bbq. The fiancee was making filets and bacon wrapped scallops. I made us some cheese toasts to get our metabolisms going. (and so I didn't eat all the bacon....)

My mother in law (well, soon to be in-law!) ALWAYS MAKES TOO MUCH FOOD! Which is wonderfully hospitable, but not so nice for my hips. I always want to eat everything in sight and end up feeling sick by the end of the day. I made a conscious decision that I wasn't going to do that on Sunday.

I still ended up enjoying this fabulous plate of food!

A small piece of filet, cucumber and tomato salad, broccoli rabe, grilled zucchini and ziti. I went back for 3 bacon wrapped scallops and another scoop of ziti. Not bad at all! I was proud of myself! And it was all so good! I love it that my new family can cook so well...

And, that brings me to today, Monday. I had to work today, but that's not too bad because I get a comp day later on for my honeymoon! And nobody is in the building on holidays and it's actually kind of nice!

Breakfast was the last of my pineapple with some more local blueberries. Perfect thing to eat when it's 89 degrees at 10:30am.....

Lunch was another epic salad with grilled chicken, goat cheese, cranberries, red peppers and carrots. Total heaven in a big bowl. I topped it all with Newman's Own Light Lime dressing. Near perfection.

I might round out my Monday with a dip in the sister in law's pool. However I need to clean my house and do some wedding stuff, so we'll see where my afternoon will take me! Tata for now!

Let's rewind....shall we?

Rewind to Wednesday of last week - that's the last time I actually had a chance to breath and relax! Started with a quick run on the elliptical on Wednesday morning, headed to work and had a delicious turkey sammy (of course, on my new love - Wonder Smart Bread) with red pepper strips and carrots sticks for lunch.


Along with some fruit - sweet pineapple and local blueberries - go Hammonton, the blueberry capital of the world....

Wednesday night was night one of two Dave Matthews concerts that the fiancee and I were attending. We go to both shows in Camden each year, we also go to Hershey Park to see them perform later in the summer. We're fans, as if you couldn't tell. So..... Wednesday evening came and went with a turkey club wrap from Heritages (a local deli/convenience store) and some cheesy poofs. I haven't disclosed my love of cheesy poofs here before, but they are a once in a while treat that I enjoy without guilt. I enjoyed an entire $.99 bag of them and loved every processed cheesy and chemically tasting poof. Yum.

After staying out late Wednesday night at the concert, there was NO way I was getting up to go to the gym, so Thursday morning came and went without a workout. But that's ok. I will make it up. No worries.

Lunch was the last of my leftover pasta and sauce I made earlier in the week with a small piece of my olive foccacia. I was in desperate need of carbs on Thursday...

Thursday evening we headed back to the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden for night #2 of Dave Matthews. Wednesday night's concert was good, but Thursday's concert may have been the best show! (out of all the live music that I have ever seen....) WOW! Just awesome!

I decided to have a few drinks at the show on Thursday night, so I was not feeling 100% on Friday! I still had to get up early and make it to work, after very little sleep and a slight hangover.....blah. All I wanted was fried food that would satisfy me! So what happened?

The pictures say it all.....

That would be mozzarella sticks and a buffalo chicken cheesesteak. Oh my. Oh my. Oh my. My only saving grace is that I didn't devour the whole thing! I saved 3 (of 6) cheese sticks and I only ate half of the cheesesteak. I could have eaten everything. Thank goodness my brain kicked in and saved me from destruction. All in all, it wasn't that bad! Definitely a splurge, but I made up for it on Saturday.... More on that in my next post....