Ways not to Spend Less in September: impromptu road trips and buying outfits the night before said road trip. #oops. #somethingsareworthit 

I know that's hard to read, but it says 138.2! Slowly but surely!!!! Down 2.4 lbs in two weeks! Time to pick up the pace, no slacking :) good morning lovelies...I'm off to work!

Such a *slacker*

Ok y'all....serious confession to make. I love having a blog. I love blogging. But, I hate writing!! I don't get to my computer to sit and write a post till 10pm and by that time, I really just don't want to do it. I promise, I'll keep up with the blog, but who knows how often I will post. Le sigh.

What I Wore Wednesday: I was rushing out the door so I didn't take a picture! Luckily, I have an old picture that you can see my top.

You can barely see it (sorry!!) but it is my new favorite shirt. White and black stripes, in three different directions....2 diagonal on the top and horizontal just below the boobs. I love it because it is rushed on the sides and the multi-directional stripes really disguise any flaws. Perfect "fat day" shirt to hide any self-conscious bits. I wore black NY & Co. work pants-woot...I only like 10 pair- and my silver and black Paris Hilton shoes. Like I said, I was running late, so just did makeup and minimal jewelry. Next week I promise better pictures and descriptions.

Shirt: From TJ Maxx
Pants: NY & Co.
Shoes: Paris Hilton via www.Hautelook.com

September Spendless Tip! 

Be mindful with groupon/livingsocial etc. purchases! I love those websites to purchase things at a great savings, but be careful!!! People tend to buy these great deals, but never use them! A great deal ends up becoming a waste. Make sure what you purchase is something you 1) already do aka oil changes or 2) will use right away.

I recommend putting a remind on your phone or schedule your appointment right away so you use the deal. Second tip: USE THEM AFTER THE EXPIRATION!!!! If the deal has expired, the value you paid is still valid!!!! Sometimes indefinitely, sometimes for a year, but don't just throw it away!! Check with the website you purchased it from, but odds are, you will still get your monies worth. Also check with the retailer to see if they will honor the deal value. I've had cases where they honor the full value, especially if I'm just barely outside of the expiration. Don't throw your money down the drain :)

That's all from me today!

Stats for today: 1209+ Calories, 100 Protein, met carb goals, slightly high fat goals. I gave into cheese
Exercise stats: Felt the burn in 1 hour of Bar Method
Spend less: Didn't buy extras from Walgreens when I picked up my subscription! Small bags of nuts, vitamins, and sale makeup meant nothing to me today :)

Goodnight Lovelies!!

Tuesday Tips

Good Evening!

Yes, I am an evening blogger. Sorry :-/ And no, I can't wrap my brain around scheduling a morning post the night before...just doesn't make sense to me!

Before I get into Tuesday Tips, let's give a quick recap on Spend Less September! Today I brought in my own coffee to work! Yes, brewed just how I like it in my reusable travel mug. No more spending money at Starbucks ($2.43 a pop) or McDonalds ($1.08 or whatnot) each day. I just have to buy a big ol' thing of coffee every few weeks and I'm golden! I'm trying to cut back on my sugar free flavorings, so that will save me some money too and help in the health department. I also packed lunch and did not buy a diet coke, even though I was craving it like none other. Again, good for the wallet, good for the health. My boss asked if anyone wanted to go grab lunch today. As much as I love good company for lunch, I declined and ate my packed lunch. Seeing a trend here? Good for wallet, good for health!

Here is my tip of the day: Go to the Grocery store early in the morning or late at night. My new routine is going to Bar Method early on Saturday morning, then heading over to Smith's. Grocery stores will mark down product that will expire in the next day or so, and you can get it for super cheap! I know you might think "eww gross, expired food!" But the thing is, it's not expired!!! I wanted just a bit of milk last week so I could make sugar-free pudding. I didn't want to spend the almost $4 on lowcarb milk, because I don't like drinking milk and it would go bad. Instead, I paid $1.77 for low carb milk I had to use within 4 days. I didn't use it all, but I definitely used $1.77 worth! Winning! Same thing for meat. You can definitely get good cuts of meat for cheap. Same with veggies! I love buying the pre-cut tray of veggies when they have about a day or 2 left. Super cheap, perfectly portioned, and I can just throw them in salads or have something to munch on. That is my tip of the day!

Dinner today was just leftover chicken and zucchini. It was super tasty and I love how healthy it felt. I'm glad I'm getting back into eating more lean meats and veggies. Oh wait. I lied. My chicken was dry from it being leftover then over microwaved (whoops) so I decided to add some salsa for moisture. Then I saw the packet of ranch dressing eyeing me in the fridge. Slutty ranch, wants to make me curvier. I caved! The only "brightside" of it was that I only ate about 1.5 oz of the 2oz in there. Sigh....still not good. Ranch is sooooo fatty! Other than that, I enjoyed my healthy dinner. Hey...there is another Spend Less September tip! Don't buy ranch dressing!!! Save yourself the money AND health. BAM. Love it!

Warning! Soapbox: That was the best/worst thing when I went uber healthy last year. (No worries, an "about me" post will explain this all in the near future). I was miffed that I had to spend so much more money on healthy food, but then my health coach (HC) (hahahaha omg Big E I hope you are dying laughing on that reference) err sorry...side tracked...HC made two important points on spending money on healthy food. 1) You aren't buying cheap crap anymore. The amount I spent on cheap crap is going into healthy food. It balances out. 2) Even if I am shelling out slightly more for healthy food, it is much better in the long run. Do I want to be a mom not being able to ride on roller coasters with my kids because I can't sit in the seats? No. (True life experience). I want to be healthy and fit in the long run, so it is worth it to spend a bit more on healthy food than it is on crap. Needless to say, I'm willing to skimp on other things to eat healthy. Now I just have to cut out the crap completely or else....is it really worth it? (YES! Always yes to swap a bit of crap for some health!)

Alright, I am done with the soapbox! No pics today, sorry to disappoint. An update on my lip (did I even mention my skunk lip?) Still burned. But now, it is dark and discolored, instead of white. Joy!

Today I: Ran/Walked for 36 minutes/2.94 miles
Today I: Ate 1226 Calories, 113g Protein, and stayed in my target Carb/Fat range (except I'm craving a salty snack. Let's add another Claussen pickle slice and hopefully avoid mindless munching on mixed nuts)

Goodnight my lovelies!

Spend Less September!

I promised I would post about my new theme for September today, so here it is! I will Spend Less in September. Each post, I'll give a few tips on how to cut back expenses, and give updates on what I have done to spend less in September. I'll include slip-up and successes, and hopefully by the end of the month, I'll have saved a few bucks!

Quick photo dump, then I'm off to bed. I have to be at work at 7am!! It is going to be a MASSIVE challenge for me, since I can barely get to work by 8:45am. Yuck-o.

Veggies with my dinner....sprayed with canola oil (thought I had EVOO) sprinkled with salt & pepper, boiled. Yum!

Burned my lip this morning :( Metal for resting on frying pan then into mouth = BAD idea

Chicken for dinner. Pepper & Hot Salt (YES!) and baked at 350 till done. Sprinkled with shakey cheese.

Since I haven't quite found the M.O. of this blog....food? fashion? recipes? life? weight loss? I'm going to just randomly through in things until I get it right. :)

Today I went to Bar Method Class for 1 hour of exercise

Today I ate approx 1300 Calories, 140g Protein, and within my carb & fat goals.

I forgot to record my weigh-in this morning (even though I'm 99.9% sure I remember) so maybe I'll post that tomorrow. Or at least if I've gained/lost. 

Today I did not drink caffeine or booze. *unless my raspberry tea had caffeine

Overall, a successful day! Goodnight Lovelies!

Time for a Recipe.....sort of

Hello my lovelies!

This will be another quick one today, but I have to brag about my amazing half birthday! I wasn't actually setting out to celebrate my half birthday, but it turned out to be pretty dang amazing anyway! I woke up IN MY BED which was amazing in itself! Sorry airmattress, but I'm over you for a hot minute. Did some online window shopping in bed, then made coffee in my coffee pot!! Oh how the little things make me happy. It has been over 5 weeks since I've slept in my own bed and used my own coffee pot. FIVE. July 19th,was the last time I slept in my bed. CRAZY! While I was window shopping, not buying, K texted me and asked if I wanted to go to brunch and hike with the girls, so of course I said yes.

I drove up to Snowbird, yes *the* Snowbird resort, where I met the lovely ladies for brunch. That place is absolutely huge and awesome. I need to go back! They are having Oktoberfest right now and I would kill for a beer, wienerschnitzel, German potato salad, and hot soft pretzels. Sigh....reminds me of the beer gardens in Germany....but instead we had a nice brunch with coffee. I had an omelette with mushrooms, onions, cheese, and diced ham, and some cottage cheese on the side. Forgot to take blog pics. We then hiked up to Cecret Lake (pronounced Secret). It was a short and simple hike, but not entirely easy. It was the highest altitude I've hiked thus far, so at first I felt all tingly and out of breath. But, only about 1/2 hour each way so totally doable and the view was amazing!!!

We like taking tons of posed photos that look "unplanned"

Not dancing, just trying to get into position!

Me, B & K

Sorry for the mass amounts of photos. Wait, I'm not sorry. You're welcome :)

I got back and had a snickey snack of a bbq bacon wrapped chicken skewer (yes, it is a snack in my book.....could be why I've gained weight...) and took an amazing shower. Talked to a few peeps and went to church. Got home and made the ideal half-birthday dinner, which happens to be almost exactly what I had for my actual birthday this year! Just thought of that! King Crab and Asparagus.

My first blog recipe! ...Ish

This isn't really a recipe, but just letting you know how I cook my crab.

Step One: Buy copious amounts of King Crab when it is on sale. When I lived at the 164 (always pronounced "the one-six-four" never anything else!) HC liked to cook crab a-lot. I enjoyed every second of it. We had King and Snow and Red Royal and I think maybe even Queen once. If King Crab is on sale, then buy the shit out of it. I only bought about .75 lbs, but I should have bought more. It was on sale for $9.99 a pound. I've seen it for upwards of $19.99 a pound so I said yes please! I think the flavor of King Crab is the best, plus the legs are the biggest so you get the most meat out of it. Red Royal is good, as is Snow, but Snow is the most time consuming to eat. If you can get King, I highly suggest it. (I cook HC cooks Snow & Red slightly differently than King, but this way works for all 3).

Step Two: Buy your seasoning. I used Tony C's creole spice mix. You can buy the seasoning of your choice. My suggestion is to buy a container of spice mix, and not the boil bags. I think it flavors the crab better that way.

Step Three: Pour a shit-ton of seasoning into a stock pot of water. Yes, that is a term of measurement in my apt. You want to cough from the smell of spices in the air and the water to turn dark red/brown, then you know you've poured enough.

Step Four: Boil the water.
Step Five: Add crab legs and boil (lid on) till it's done. About 10 min. Don't over cook! How do you know when it's done? I don't know. When you think it is. Seriously.....it doesn't take long to boil. 10 min should be plenty, but if you are cooking more, you might want to do 15. Don't boil longer than that!! 5 minutes min to about 15 max. Just sayin'

Step Six: Dump out boiling water, put crab back in stock pot with lid till you're ready to eat.

Step Seven: The key to crab: Browned [salted, always salted] butter. While my crab was cooking, I boiled some asparagus with a dash of coarse sea salt (no iodine) in the water. I used the same small pot to brown the butter. Get it as hot and brown as possible, but pleeeeeeeeease don't burn it. Just don't. I always use way too much butter, but it is so darn good! I think I had a quarter cup browned for both my asparagus and crab dipping. Oops.

Step Eight: Take crab out of pot, crack open, and dip in browned butter! Enjoy!!

Seriously I was so surprised how amazing it tasted. Usually HC always cooked the crab, so I was sure I was going to screw it up, but I didn't. The best part was every single leg of crab was full of meat. It was so frickin' good. So good. I mean, I can't even describe it accurately without taking this blog into Rated R territory. I'll just post some pics. I enjoyed it way too much and forgot to take good pics, but here are a few. Oh and asparagus (my absolute favorite vegetable no questions asked) is just flash boiled or steamed with some salt so it is al dente. Topped with a dash of salt, pepper (forgot that today) shakey parm cheese, and a bit of browned butter. Easy breezy.

See the fuzz on the end of the crab claw?? Creeped me out to the MAX but I didn't let it bother me, some how. I could not let fuzz stand in my way of food orgasms. Oops. Just took it to Rated R. Apologies.

Asparagus as soon as I remembered I wanted to take pics. YUM

Ok ok I'm still working on my photog skillz.

And that is the story of my half birthday. 27.5! Can't wait for the next half :)

Here are some pics from Friday that I was able to upload today....

Ladies at dinner. Couldn't fix the red creepy eyes :(

Sadly, this is instagramed. K doesn't look as much as if she's photo-bombing. Still have creepy eyes tho :(

Again, instagramed. Creepy eyes. Pre-edit, K totally looked like she was bombing a pic of S & I, but she wasn't. 

Good night lovelies! Get ready, tomorrow I'm announcing September's theme!!

So much to write!!!

WOW I feel like this could be a marathon post, but since I hate running, I won't let it get that long...I hope. ;)

Next week blog goals:

Figure out a theme for Monday and stick with it. Not sure what...........suggestions? This Monday will be Moving Monday, where I post all about my ridiculous move, but after that, I'm not sure!

What I Wore Wednesday. I'm not quite ready to put it all out there for "What I Ate Wednesday," but I can totally do What I Wore. (whoops typo just put "whore." Definitely NOT "What I Whore." EEKS)

Friday Faves! I know lots of people that do link ups for Friday Faves, so I'm all in!

So let's see where to begin...I don't even really remember what I did the rest of last week. Apparently nothing that exciting! OH duh....Wednesday I stayed up till 1am baking for the tailgate! I was highly disappointed in my box mix red velvet attempt at whoopie pies, so those were scratched. I made a batch from scratch on Wednesday....yes, I actually bought measuring cups and a mixer. They actually turned out pretty amazing. Still don't have the high altitude baking down yet because the second pan was super gooey and not cooked all the way through in the middle. Don't get it twisted, I ate the shit out of the gooey stuff because it was so amazingly yummy, but I didn't think my coworkers would appreciate the possibility of uncooked eggs. So I was left bringing about 15 whoopie pies and cake balls -which I think are still in my coworkers car...ooops- that they ate. And liked! Sad part was that I grabbed red icing, not food coloring. They were not red velvet, just brown velvet!

Thursday we worked a bit in the morning then went to the tailgate. I ate wayyyy too much. And drank more than I needed to, carb and calorie wise. No, I was not inappropriate around my new coworkers thank you very much! I sat with K & B (surprise!) which was tons of fun, even though B hardly knows anything about football.

The game was fun but we left at the start of the 3rd quarter when it started raining, and ended up at the bar. I had another beer there, because I was not about to mix my booze! Note to self: Beer is not good for the waistline or for the feet. I'm having severe puffiness up here and I can't figure it out!!! Anyone know why I would be super puffy in high altitude? Doesn't make sense to me, but I guess I should see a doctor.

Anyhoo...Friday at work was quite slow. I got in late (still beat the boys)  around 9:15am and left around 2pm. I got my nails done....shellac French mani... for half price. I somehow always luck into that! I love them this time!!! So super cute and looks like they will last a while. The owner told me to come back again next time and they will do them again for half price. Love it!! I had plans Friday evening to meet up with K & B for K's bday, but I realized I had nothing cute in my closet that fit me. Plus, they were all wearing white pants. I did *not* want to stand out in the wrong way! I ended up buying a whole new outfit (ughhhhhhh not good saving money) for the night. The pieces are super cute and I could totally remix with other pieces I own. The good part was that I bought it from a consignment shop! Apparently my pants should've cost $150, but I got them for $45, tags still on! K, B & R (the three bffs) loved them and wanted to know where I got them! I was so embarrassed to tell them it was from a consignment shop, so I waited until everyone had a few drinks in them before I shared. I also bought a cute black/gold shirt that conveniently hid my tummy pooch -score!- for $17. I shouldn't have bought that, but it was super cute and perfect for the outfit. I will definitely be re-wearing that. I bought a gold bangle for $6 to make the outfit complete -again....completely unnecessary- but I felt really put together and "adult," not broke college kid. That was a huge self-esteem booster, considering I'm the youngest one of the group by about 7 years. Finally, I bought a black Armani Exchange jacket for $11.50! Score!! I didn't wear it because it was too warm and I didn't need it, but I love it! I always admire people's clothing who look "put together," and it recently clicked with me that layering with a jacket really adds to that "put together" look. I'm not sure how much the jacket originally cost, but it is in amazing condition and for $11.50, I couldn't pass up an Armani Exchange jacket that will make me feel "adult" and "put together." In the end, although I feel like I spent entirely too much hard earned money on one outfit, I will definitely get a lot of use out of the items and it will be worth it in the end.

Going out with the girls was so much fun! One thing I was lacking in Houston were female friends which makes me appreciate the fact that I've become one of the gang so quickly. There were 6 of us that went to this cute little local (yes, semi-hippie) restaurant cafe for dinner. I had a steak salad which was amazing. You could definitely tell the veggies were local and fresh. I subbed out potatoes for extra asparagus -obsessed. Best decision of the night! We split tapas (I only had a shrimp stuffed mushroom and a bit of the hummus) and dessert- tiramisu and blueberry/lemon bread pudding. I did really good and only had a nibble of each dessert! And no drinks at dinner! Happy Birthday K!

We then went to K's favorite bar, Dick & Dixie's. Honestly, it's not my favorite. Not bad, but just not my scene. I'd much rather have a hole in the wall sports bar type bar, instead of a whole in the wall hippie/emo/occasionally lesbian bar. But hey, fun company and cheap drinks so I can't complain!

Ok I got rid of the red-eye on my phone, don't know why they still look creepy here!

We left D&D probably around midnight-ish because one of our coworkers, S, was having a graduation party. In the hierarchy of our office, K is the boss, then me, and S is below me. I don't like to say I'm his boss, but yes, technically he does have to listen to me. We're more like a team, which is amazing. Anyways, that is boring. S was celebrating his MBA graduation. Yay S! S made a point of introducing me to a lot of his friends, since we are both the same age. His friends were tons of fun and I really hope they invite me out again. I could see us being good friends. We'll see. I'm already becoming good friends with K, but it would be fun to have 2 groups of good friends. K & B and the girls, S and the boys. Plus K & S have been friends for a while, so we could even all be friends and it not be awkward. I hope. Haha I sound like a little kid talking about friends. Fast forward to age 27 please :) K has a cute pic of the three of us that I hope she sends me soon. Def will post! I ended up driving....don't know why I volunteered, but I don't mind at all.....and the gang wanted to stop for 24 hour breakfast burritos. Gotta love drunk food cravings! K had a California Burrito-steak, potatoes, cheese? guac? and B & R had egg & cheese breakfast burritos. I opted for the smaller Carne Asada taco. No potato and I hardly ate much of the tortilla. Yay late night snacking. The cute pic is us waiting for our burritos.

Love ya ladies! Oh it rained. See the back window? K loved it.

S & I (and N) bought K a cake for her birthday that we brought to the tailgate. And by "we" I mean S. He picked out the perfect cake. Chocolate with chocolate mousse and ganache or some incredibly amazing combination of chocolate. Totally pigged out on that when we got back too. Whoops. Hey, it's a bday.....you can't *not* have cake. Glad it wasn't mine because I would eat the entire thing. Without sharing. In one sitting. OMG ILoveChocolate. haha

Now today. Today was crazy and will be part of my moving post. What I will tell you, is that I went to Bar  Method class this morning and went on a 5.75 walk/run this afternoon. It felt sooooooooooo goood!!!!! I think I overate today though. That is my problem. Just because I exercise I think that it gives me free reign to eat a ton. It does not. I've now been sitting on my new rocking cushy office chair for the past 2 hours. It's called "Moving Karma" and will be part of my moving post.....stay tuned ;)

And with that, I am hot, sweaty, and dirty, so it is bath time for me! Good night lovelies.

WAIT!!!

Happy Labor Day weekend!!! What are your exciting Labor Day plans?? Tomorrow I'll be going to church and either going to brunch and mountain hiking with the girls (K, B & R) or I will be cooking breakfast and going for a walk in the park, similar to today. Who knows what Monday will bring! Maybe shopping both days!

Ok good night for reals yo :)