A 30 Day Challenge

So, I've been feeling a little lack of post material ever since the marathon ended and trying to conceive started.  I have to say that trying to conceive, thinking about trying to conceive, and researching trying to conceive is now kind of taking over my life!  I'm hoping that I'll have good news to report on that front at some point, but in the mean time, I thought I'd do this 30 day blog/picture challenge I've seen around.  I think most people started it at the beginning of March, so I might be a little behind the curve, but oh well, hopefully you guys don't mind ;) 

So here's the 30 day challenge.  Basically, I'll be posting pictures and then a little story/explanation with each picture.

Day 01 - A picture of yourself with ten facts


Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest

Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show

Day 04 - A picture of your night

Day 05 - A picture of your favorite memory

Day 06 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day

Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item

Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh

Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most

Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the most ****** up things with

Day 11 - A picture of something you hate

Day 12 - A picture of something you love

Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist

Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without

Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die

Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you

Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently

Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity

Day 19 - A picture and a letter

Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel

Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget

Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at

Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book

Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change

Day 25 - A picture of your day

Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you

Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member

Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of

Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile

Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss
 
Ok, so today is Day 1.
 



The 10 facts are probably going to be hard for me since I feel like I've been listing facts a bunch lately and I want to give you guys NEW facts.  Let's see...

 

1.  I'll start with the picture itself.  This was taken at a winery in Indiana, while was visiting one of my best friends, Melanie.  Coincidently she now actually works at the winery we were at that day!  I LOVE wineries :)

 

2.  I don't like Gin.  Pretty much everyone else in my family likes it and I keep a full bottle in my pantry for when they visit because they love to make Gin and Tonics, but I can't stand Gin.

 

3.  I do not feel like I'm very good at home decorating.  Seriously, I've lived in my house for about 4 1/2 years and have one room, one half bathroom, and once accent wall painted.  I kind of don't know where to begin with the rest of the house, and it has kind of an open floor plan (rooms flow into one another), which doesn't help.  I probably should hire a decorator if I can ever afford one!

 

4.  I used to collect baseball cards when I was a kid and I think my parents still have the collection in their attic.

 

5.  I have a VHS tape full of videos I taped off of MTV in 7th grade.  It's got Boys II Men, Color Me Badd, Paula Abdul, and all sorts of stuff on it.  It's kind of classic...

 

6.  The summer before my senior year of high school I went to my first "drinking party" and it was broken up by the police.  I hid in the woods and was not caught.  I slept over at my friend's house that night and I didn't think my parents would find out, but my town is so small that my dad read about the party getting busted in the paper the next day and confronted me.  I'm a terrible liar so I pretty much immediately admitted I had been there and got grounded for a week.  It's pretty much the only time I was ever grounded.

 

7.  Speaking of lying, I've taken 3 polygraph tests for my career and passed them all.  Told you I am a bad liar!

 

8.  I've only lived alone once.  I had a studio apartment right after I graduated from college in Dublin, Ohio (right outside Columbus) for about 6 months before I moved to the DC area and moved in with a boyfriend.

 

9.  I'm not good at taking care of plants and am regularly scolded/nagged by my husband to water our plants when he's away.

 

10.  I used to not like water when I was kid, I always drank milk with meals.

 

 

 

Lunches For Dinner

The past two nights have been relatively uneventful.  Greg was still home Monday and we debated going out for dinner and possibly taking a trip to Ikea, but I wasn't really in the mood so we stayed home.  We did go for a walk, then I had to figure out dinner.   I have a fairly full fridge and pantry, but initially nothing jumped out at me.  I finally decided to make salad and soup. 

A few days ago, I had made yet ANOTHER version of Mexican soup (see the others on my recipe page).  I can't get enough of this stuff...  In this one was:

• onions
• peppers (yellow and orange)
• roasted red pepper
• canned diced tomato
• black beans
• veggie stock
• cilantro
• cumin
• chipotle chili powder

I cooked the veggies in a little oil til soft, then added the spices, tomatoes, stock, and black beans and simmered/stirred some more til cooked through.  Then I took my immersion blender and blended it, which ended up going all over the stove.  Good times.

The big difference between this soup and some of my others was that it was more veggie heavy and less beans.  You could taste the peppers more.

 

Topped with avocado.

So that was last week's soup, but I still had about a serving left.  I decided to mix it with a can of Amy's Blackbean soup to stretch it into two servings for Greg and I.

Topped with cheese and plain yogurt.

I also made us each a greek salad.  My fav!

• Green leaf lettuce
• artichoke hearts
• kalamata olives
• roasted red pepper
• cucumber
• feta
• chick peas

Dressing made with red wine vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and oregano whisked together.

Last night was kind of a repeat of the night before, minus Greg :(

I walked Clyde, then decided on a grilled wrap for dinner.  Inspired by my lunch with Kelly, I made my Flat-out wrap with spinach and artichoke Sabra hummus, goat cheese (the hummus/goat cheese combo was Kelly's idea), artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, and spinach.

With a cuc on the side.  Looks like a pickle, right?

I also had some popcorn with Clyde later while we got caught up on Glee, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers and Sisters. 

Oh, and I also watched the end of The Bachelor, Women Tell All, since I fell asleep watching it Monday night.  What did you guys (who watch) think about Michelle?  I can't decide if I think she's totally manipulative or completely misunderstood.  All season I thought she was psycho and manipulative, but Monday night I wondered if I had misunderstood her humor/sarcasm and she was just being silly.  That's one weird sense of humor if that is really just humor...  Thoughts??

Raining On Sunday

It was a very rainy Sunday in Charlotte...

And I loved it.  I was totally in the mood for a cozy, stay inside kind of day.

I made myself a fried egg and some rye toast when I first got up.

Later in the morning I got into my jar of granola from Erin and ate some with milk poured over, cereal style.  Yum!

It was actually a productive rainy day for me.  I decided it was about time I cleaned my closet, and since the coldest days of winter appear to be over, that meant putting all my heavy sweaters/clothing away.  I decided to be really selective too and actually get rid of a bunch of stuff.

Later on I broke for lunch, which consisted of eggplant parm leftover from dinner with friends on Friday night, and a side of steamed broccoli.

After a brief lunch, I headed back up stairs and finished cleaning my closet.  Much better...

I actually have FOUR huge trash bags of clothing that I weeded out to donate!

Later in the day the rain started to clear and I was finally stir crazy enough to want to get out of the house and go to yoga.  I went to a nice hour long power class at OM.

I heard from Greg in the afternoon and he said he'd be home for dinnner!  Yay!  We weren't sure if he'd be home Sunday night or Monday morning, so I was happy to get an extra night with him.

I brain stormed dinner ideas and decided to make BBQ tempeh.

I used a cheese grater to shred my tempeh, then mixed it with about a cup of BBQ sauce and put it in the fridge to marinate.

Later, I sauteed some yellow/orange peppers with onion til soft, then mixed in my BBQ tempeh.  Very easy.

I served it on a bun, with a side of vegetarian baked beans and steamed broccoli.

Good stuff!  The BBQ tempeh was kind of like a sloppy joe.  It was kind of impossible to keep the filling in the bun!  Greg liked it a lot though.  I usually make tempeh Asian style, so this was a nice change up.

Do you like tempeh?  How do you usually cook it?

Lunches With Friends

Twice this week I had the pleasure of meeting bloggy friends for lunch!

Friday I met up with Jessie.  It had been far too long since we've seen each other!  Both of us had work on Friday, but we kind of met in the middle for our lunch break (well, Jessie drove further than me) and went to Mattie's Diner on the north side of Charlotte.   I actually had a little trouble finding it, because I was relying on my GPS and ended up near some train tracks at a dead end, so Jessie had to talk me through getting there.  It's right near the newish NC Music Factory, which I had not seen before, but houses a bunch of bars and venues.  Now I know where that is if I ever need to find it again!

The diner is cute and just what you expect a diner to be.  It has that old school feeling with juke boxes at each booth, and the open galley style kitchen.  I thought about getting a wrap, but then decided when in Rome (or a diner) you get diner type food, so I found myself ordering the meatball sub and then opted for the side salad so I wouldn't feel too overloaded with greasy stuff. 

I honestly can't remember the last time I had a meatball sub, and it was so good :)  I ate half and my side salad, before declaring defeat and asking for a box.

The side salad was actually better than I expected, not bad for a diner!

We didn't have a ton of time to eat since we were on our lunch breaks, but Jessie and I managed to catch up and enjoy lunch a new place.

Taking home half the sub worked out well for Clyde because he was able to have his first taste of meatball.

It was love at first bite ;)

My second lunch with friends happened today. 

I met Kelly, Erin, and Danielle for lunch at Luna's Living Kitchen, a really good vegan restaurant in Charlotte.

This was the first time I had met Erin and Danielle, but have been reading their blogs and felt like I knew a lot about them already.  It was really fun to meet them and talk in person though.  I had a lot in common with both of them.

Erin brought us homemade granola!  Yummmmmmmmmmmm :)

For lunch I ended up ordering a soup and salad combo.  After yesterday's "meat fest" I was definitely craving something healthy and light and Luna's definitely delivered.

This was my second time eating at Luna's and last time I had the veggie burger, which was awesome, but was in the mood for something lighter today.  Luna's food presentation is breath taking...

Let's see them again...

(hello, lens cap...)

I really enjoying lunching with these girls and hope to see them again soon.  Erin and I have discovered our husbands have a mutual geeky love of RC things, so I see a double date involving toy comparison in our future!

If You Haven't Already...

Go to Katie's blog, where she's having a fantastic bake sale today for a good cause!

You can even bid on my delicious Pinwheel Cookies...

You know you want to!

Things I Found At Costco

I've mentioned before that Greg and I tend to take these epic trips to Costco about once a month or so (assuming he's around!).  Escaping from Costco without spending at least $100 is usually not an option, but on the flip side, we find some great things there.  Long before Larabars were ever a trend, we bought a giant box of cherry, apple, and lemon ones to try and were hooked.  I actually think Costco is kind of ahead of the curve on some of the healthy brands and items and always peruse the isles looking for a new find. 

On our trip on Sunday, we got a bunch of good stuff.

Crunchmaster Multi-grain crackers.
I LOVE sesame rice crackers, and my mom actually showed me these when I was in Hilton Head a couple weeks ago because they sell them at Sam's Club too (where my mom does her bulk shopping).

These crackers contain brown rice flour, sesame seeds, quinoa seeds, flax, chia seeds, tamari, and salt, so they are kind of a health-ified version of the originals.  I'm not one to not be able to put down a bag of chips or crackers, but these are SO GOOD and seriously addicting...

Mini Cucumbers. 
Sometimes it's just more fun to eat the mini version of foods...  The other day I brought three of these in my lunch to work and it was a fun change :)

Mini!

Cascadian Farm Granola Bars.

I've actually seen other bloggers eating this brand, but Costco has had them for a while now and Greg and I love them.  The Harvest Spice granola bars taste like pumpkin spice and have that great crunchy texture.  I feel like most of the bars I eat now are softer, so this is fun change.

Sabra Hummus- the BIG tub.

I usually make my own hummus now, but I thought I would change things up and buy some for a change.  I brought a small container of some of this for lunch the other day with the mini cucs and had fun dipping them in it for lunch.  Also great with carrots, which is how I ate it last night.

Food Should Taste Good chips.  

Again, I think Costco was ahead of the curve on this brand.  I know Kath and several other bloggers love these, as do I!  They're a great base for nachos, great with dips, soups, or just plain. 

Giant Jar of Artichoke Hearts.  

You can probably tell if you look at my pizza, salads, or hummus, that I LOVE artichoke hearts!  I buy this giant jar of them and eat them on everything I can.  MMMM, so good :)

Good Food Made Simple steel cut oats.

I just found these last weekend.  They are in the freezer section.  They are individually portioned steel cut oats!  I love steel cut oats, but only make them on weekends when I have more time in the mornings because they take so long to cook.  I need quick options on a weekday, and rolled oats are a staple for me, but I figured I'd give these a try...

In light of the recent controversy over McDonald's oatmeal, I checked the ingredients.  Pretty much looked the same as how I would make my oats... 

Let's give it a whirl.  Take the prepacked portion out of the freezer...

Place in microwave safe bowl.

Microwave for 2 1/2-3 minutes.  Stir and eat.

Verdict?  Not bad.  Kind of perfect for a weekday breakfast.  I ate these straight up, but you could still sprinkle coconut, nut butter, or whatever else floats your boat on them...  Some people might complain that they are sweetened with brown sugar/maple syrup, but that's the way I like mine anyway, so I'm not complaining.  I will call them a win.

Last, but not least, we got this book called "Inside of A Dog" by Alexandra Horowitz, so we can understand our dog ;)  I really want to know what's going on in that head of his!

I'll let you know how it is.

Have you found anything great at Costco lately?

A FoodieFresh Lunch

Today I was lucky enough to have my good buddy Kelly invite me over for lunch.  I often spend lunch sitting at my desk fielding phone calls or emails while trying to get down some food (that's always fun!) or going to the same local eateries near my office over and over, so going to Kelly's is always a special treat! 

She out did herself and made us soup, sandwiches, AND salad! 
Yum!  (recognize Kel's pretty place mats??)

Ok, I'm probably going to mess this up, but the soup was a thick tomato soup, with spices, peppers, and carrots.  She warned me it was a little spicey, but I loved it.  Totally delicious!

Kelly also made panini sandwiches with homemade rosemary hummus with goat cheese in the middle.  This wasn't a combination I would have thought of, but I loved it!  We also had a simple mixed green salad, lightly dressed with homemade dressing. 

Perfect!

And my lovely host, fresh from a workout:

We had a great lunch catching up on life.  I'm so happy for Kelly that she recently got a new job!  It was an awesome mid-day break before I had to go back to the grind! 

What do you usually do for lunch on work days?