Easter

Hope you had a Happy Easter weekend!

It went by too fast like every weekend does, but it was one of my favorite Easter's yet. Lots of family time, boyfriend time and of course, yum-o food.

My brother and his fiance came in town on Saturday morning from DC, so it really was a whole weekend of drinking celebrating. On Sunday, we got up early and went to church, then came back to my parents house and feasted until our tummy's were about to burst. I seriously should've put on stretchy pants.

Thennnn, Kenny and I went to his parents house and did it all over again. The eating part, I mean.

I'd be lying if I said I was bummed I had to eat delicious food again.

I was soo excited about my dress (See photo above) I wore on Easter. It was absolutely beautiful, but get this--I haven't worn the dress since I was 13....ummm yea. I'm almost 25.

No, I'm not kidding.

But to my defense, I got several compliments on how gorgeous it was and I seriously think it looked way better on me this time around than when I was a chubby teeny-bopper. One of those classic cut Anne Taylor dresses, ya know?!

I know what you're thinking.
Believe me, I do shop. Probably Way too much, actually.

Switching gears...

Tomorrow is day uno at Victoria's Secret!
I'm sooo excited, even though it's just training and going over the basics.

I'll keep you posted :)

WINNING.

Hello, friends.

Sorry it's been so long. Bare with me as I finish up my last 2 weeks of escuela.

I'll try to be better.

Speaking of school, this week has pretty much been H-E-double hockey sticks on the school front. Just a lot going on and I'm majorly bumming that I won't be graduating until August.

But on a happier not, I GOT THE JOB AT VICTORIA'S SECRET!!!!!!!!

Did I ever tell you about that interview, by the way?!

OMG! I didn't! It was hilarious/sweat-inducing/super awkward all in one.

It was a group interview so there were 4 of us girls who were candidates for the job, being interviewed by one girl. That in itself was awkward because we were all sitting there staring at each other and sizing each other up. The interviewer had never hired people before and it was pretty obvi she had zero clue as to what she was doing because she'd ask us a question and then we'd each have to answer the same question.

One girl alwayssss went last and would say (EVERY TIME) "yea, I pretty much agree with what they all said." (So I counted her one less competitor)

Another girl kept referring to her current internship and how much she loved it there and how she was so excited they offered her a full time position and she just was sooo excited...so every single one of us in the room, including the interviewer were like "sooo, why are you applying here again then?" (I considered her one less competitor)

So now in my head it's between me and this one other girl, right? You look at her and we even look alike. She's tall with a cute top on and a pencil skirt.......guess what I'm wearing? A cute top and a pencil skirt.

Oh yea, and did I mention I'm tall? And we both had nude pumps on? Causeee we did.

And she was super nice.

So I was really starting to feel the pressure and then, get this, the girl CRIED!

Yes, I'm completely serious.

She started crying. The interviewer asked about our greatest achievement and she had some answer about how she really struggled at a time in her life, but overcame it, and she was balling.

Needless to say, I pretty much knew that I got the job, longggg before I got the call.

Hilarious, right?

I actually did feel kind of bad........kind of.

Anyway, I start my training this upcoming Thursday!

I'm super excited about this because:
1. I get to dress up cute for work
2. Employee discount......enough said
3. Money...duhhh


WINNING.

Quit Talking That Blah, Blah, Blah

Guess what!

I officially decided today that I'm definitely going to do that half marathon on May 15th.

YEAAAA BUDDY!!!!!!

You probably thought by my previous posts that I had already decided to do it.......but the truth is, I was kind of on the fence.

I was debating between running the 10K (which I've run before there) or the half. I've done both of these distances before, but I felt like the 10K wouldn't really be a push for me to do and the half may be an all out shove.

I must be a glutton for punishment because it's official...I'm doing the half!

There.

I promise it will be easier said then done.

OH! And more exciting news, because who doesn't crave juicy news?

I crave juicy anything, take that as you will.

But anyways, the big news...

I have an interview to work at Victoria's Secret on Friday...I'm so pumped!!

I want to be an Sales Associate Angel!


I'll be graduating at the end of August, but only have to take one class this summer, so this is the perfect job to make a little money while finishing up and G-R-A-D-U-A-T-I-N-G!!!

I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

One last thing though, as you all know by now, when I'm exercising and dieting to try to lose weight, you all know my diet is where I have issues. Major issues. I can't stay away from sweets or restrict myself whatsoever without going crazy and pigging out later in the day. With that being said, what tips do you have to stick to a diet? What eating plan do you use? Any insight is helpful and appreciated!!

It's Like I Checked Into Rehab...

Hello, friends!

Sorry I've been MIA for a few days....I had the craziest/best weekend ever.

Here's a recap in list form of everything I did Friday-Sunday:
Friday:
1) Worked downtown Cleveland promoting Coors Light for the Cleveland Indian's home opener...it's was ridiculous....and by ridiculous, I obvi mean AWESOME!
2) Raced home and went to one of my workout buddy's art show with my man...ironically both of my workout buddies are fabulous artists. Her show was beautiful and she's so talented.
3) Hung out with my man for a few hours
4) Met up at a local bar to say goodbye to one of my closest friends...he's off to Army basic training for 8 months......I was sooo glad I went, despite being exhausted by this point, because a lot of my other friends were there and it meant a lot to my friend.

Saturday:
1) Went out to a Hibachi Japanese steakhouse for dinner with my amazing boyf......I got a fruity drink and a delicious chicken/rice/veggie dish.........and even caught a shrimp in my mouth!
2) From dinner, we met up with one of the boyf's coworkers to celebrate her birthday at a local bar.......and then we took a party bus out for the whole night, hopping from bar to bar with 20 people or so......SOOO much fun! (If you haven't been on a party bus, ps, you really must round up your friends and get one!)
3) To top the night off, we stayed at a really nice Marriott Hotel, right by the last bar we went to.....HELLOOOO Perfect night!

Sunday:
1) Went to early morning church with the fam......."white in the gills," as my oldest brother pointed out...aka hungover as hell/trying to not throw up my guts in the middle of mass
2) Came home and had a tasty homemade brunch with the fam
3) Went to the Indians game with my oldest brother, his wife and my youngest brother....the fresh air made all the difference in my hangover and I had an amazing time, despite running on like 6 hours of sleep TOTAL for the weekend!


Something else to add into my GREAT weekend: I didn't stick to my diet one bit!

It was wonderful...minus the part where I probably didn't lose any weight/probably gained back my 2 pounds that I lost last week.

But I can't be certain, as I haven't weighed myself yet. That's on tomorrows checklist.

I wanted to get a few workouts in before I weighed so hopefully I don't hate myself toooo much.

Feeling slightly guilty this morning, I got up and made myself run/walk a 3 mile trail near my house. Andddd today I'm back on my diet.

This is my rehab.

This is me getting back on track, and I'm excited! Hang in there with me!

On a completely different note, if you're wondering why I haven't posted any photos on here in eons, it's because I broke my camera.....when I was in Nashville,night one. Boo that!

Buttttt there's good news!  I just got my tax refund back and I'm contemplating purchasing a new camera. I'll keep you posted on that.

Ass Get to Jigglin'

Good news! Good news!

Since my last weigh-in on Monday, I'm down exactly 2 pounds!

That was just the motivation I needed to keep working out hard and eating right.

Quick recap of my day:

Ran 5.1 miles on the treadmill this morning on an incline of 1.0 for exactly 60 minutes....according to the treadmill, that was 683 calories,which I'll take! (I'm in no position not to...)

As well as I've been doing with my running, I mentally struggled a little bit this morning and ended up walking more than I wanted...........you win some, you lose some, right?!

I think tomorrow morning I'm gonna give myself (and my blistered-up, poor feet) a break and do the early morning spin class for a change of pace. 

As far as diet goes, once again, I was really proud of myself and stuck to my plan. This is really hard for me.

But I did it again today and honestly it was a little easier. This is the longest I've lasted on a "diet" in awhile....I usually just get hungry and eat whatever I want or is convenient.

TOTAL CALORIES for the day were 1185...and I'm thrilled with that.

Tomorrow I have a cooking class in school where we always make delicious food, so I'm gonna try to stick to my guns and not give in to too many unhealthy foods. I'll letcha know how that goes...

On another note, here's one of my all time favorite songs to workout to....it's got a good beat anddd it's about your ass! Doesn't that make you want to work it harder?

No? Just me?

Ok.

Ying Yang Twins, "Jigglin"....if you don't already own it, you should!

What have you done today to make you feel proud?

Hey-o!
I'm sitting here watching Biggest Loser, my all time favorite show, and I'm super proud of my healthy and productive day today!

Today started out a little rough when I woke up sooo incredibly sore. My butt, calves and thighs are just really tight (I'm not complaining).

It's been a long time since I've felt that good kind of sore....or tight....anywhere.

Anyway, I didn't want to push it, so I decided to do a brisk 3.0 mile hilly walk on a nearby trail. My blackberry app chalked that up to 301 calories since it took about 45 minutes. I don't know how accurate the exercise portion of this app is, but I can't really afford a polar heart rate monitor/watch/calorie counter/coolness/kick-ass device at this point sooooo I'll take my apps word for it. The food portion is dead on though, as I check the calories on everything I'm grabbing to eat  and then find it in the program.

Speaking of food, I was really proud of my low calorie and overall healthy eating day. I've mentioned before that watching what I eat is super difficult for me, but it's crazy how focused I am right now and how it's been more managable than it has been in the past when motivation hasn't come so easy.

Without furthur ado, here's what I ate today:

Breakfast (7:30am)

• Banana = 105 calories
• Fiber One Oats & Chocolate bar = 140 calories 

Snack (9:45am)

• Hard Boiled egg = 60 calories

Lunch (1:45pm)

• 1 packet Quaker Instant Oats Maple and Brown Sugar made with water = 157 calories
• 3/4 cup Dole Mixed frozen fruit = 70 calories

Snack (3:30pm)

• Frigo natural string cheese = 80 calories
• 1/2 medium bell pepper = 15 calories
• 1 wedge laughing cow light creamy swiss = 35 calories

Dinner (5pm)

• Lean Cuisine Angel Hair Pomodoro =250 calories
• 1 Navel Orange = 69 calories
• Swiss Miss Milk Chocolate No Sugar Added Hot Cocoa Mix made with water = 60 calories

TOTAL CALORIES for the day: 1041

Tomorrow I weigh in! I last weighed in yesterday morning, so I'm anxious to see if I've made any progress yet.

Stay tuned for details, friends.

Going the Distance

Guess what!

I decided just last week that I'm going to run the in the Cleveland half-marathon!

.......And it's on May 15th!

I absolutely can not wait. I realize that at this point it's going to be a stretch miracle to pull it off, but I'm just looking for an excuse to make myself run everyday, if I'm being honest.

I need that.

It's almost summertime, people! Don't you know what that means?
Vacations!
Bikinis!
Hot bods!
Skirts/Shorts/Dresses!
My brothers wedding/seeing all of my relatives and family friends I haven't seen in forever!

What I'm trying to say is, that since summer is coming up and I've basically been slacking on my diet anddd exercise for the past ummm.... like year and have gained like 15 pounds, I need to get this weight off. And now's the time! (The above photo was pre-15 lbs, fyi....what a skinny bitch)

For the first time in a long time, I'm feeling really motivated to do something about my weight and am excited to push myself when I run. I plan on tracking my runs and diet on here as often as I can, to hold me accountable and to track my progress.

Sooo with that being said, yesterday I ran outside and did roughly 4 miles. It was a reallyyyy hilly 4 miles so I was proud of that, right out of the gate. Because it was Sunday, I had the traditional oh-so-delicious family dinner which was awesome, yet also left me mad that I worked so hard and ate my calories. I vowed that today would be healthier.

And it was!

I'm proud of myself because I went to the gym without my workout buddy (that's hard for me to do..seriously) and knocked out 5.2 miles and 700 calories in 60 minutes flat. Also, I was especially conscious about what I put in my body today and used my food tracker app on my blackberry. If you're trying to watch your weight, I would totally recommend it! It's free, yo!

I love food, I really do.........so the diet part of weight loss is always where I struggle. I'll keep you updated on how that goes for me during my training.

On that note, I'm off to stretch, catch the end of Dancing with the Stars, and get some shut-eye!

Night :)

Nashville

I wish I was still there!

There's no way I can even begin to describe what a wonderful time I had...but I'll try to do my best!

Although it was a quick trip, I absolutely fell in love with this city and even more in love with my man. On our way home I even declared I'd move there in a heartbeat. It's that cool.

Trust me.

Or better yet, go there yourself!

Soo we flew out of Cleveland early Wednesday and into Chicago Midway for what was supposed to be a quick layover, but ended up being delayed for an additional 4 hours. Although it was a bummer that we weren't in Nashville like we planned, we made the best of it and continued our vacation, but in the airport.

There was a lot of this...

...but that was fine by me!




Finally, after a long day, we made it to warm Nashville and to our GORGEOUS Hilton hotel, right downtown. We were anxious to see what the city had to offer, so we cleaned up walked right around the corner to some really cool little country bars.

We literally hung out all night listening to the awesome live bands play song after song as we drank and relaxed. Hellooooooo Vacay!

After wayyyy too many drinks and some fabulous music, we crashed for the night.

The next morning we were excited to explore the city and did lots of walking around. We ate at a local brewery in downtown for lunch and then went from shop to shop and checked out what Nashville had to offer!

We decided against the touristy type things like Grand Ol Opry just because neither of us really had an interest and because it wasn't really close to where we were. Instead, we continued our plight of going in and out of different bars listening to music. I feel like we got really lucky and saw some awesome talent!

That night we went to a delicious restaurant called Demos and ate until we were stuffed. The man had a steak with spaghetti on the side and I had mozzarella chicken with spaghetti on the side. DE-LISH.

The next morning it was time to head to the airport and before we knew it, we were back in C-land.

If you haven't been to Nashville, you have to go!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I'm sooo excited to be going to Nashville tomorrow for a fun little getaway with the boyf! I've been there once when I was in like 7th grade and I had just got my braces on and it was an absolutely awful experience...so I'm thinking this time can only be better, right?!

I'm most excited to explore the city with my man, go to delish dinners, drink fancy drinks, listen to live country music and check out the Nashville night life.

You know what else I'm excited for? The flights!

Yea, I'm serious...especially if we have this cool of a flight attendant...

How awesome is this guy?

Have a fabulous couple of days, I'll be sure to recap our trip on here when we get back!

Tight End

So I came across this video on youtube today because I was watching one of this girls other videos. You should check her out, she's seriously BOSS. So funny.

Anyway, I totally can relate to what she's saying....and if you've spent more than 10 minutes at the gym, you probably can too....

After all, " I wanna wear those scrunchy up-ass bikini bottoms...and then people will be like uhhh-huhhh"

White Chip Island Cookies

Happy weekend!

Today I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t be eating any candy or really any delicious sweets after yesterday when I was snowed inside (literally) all day and ate bottomless amounts of candy. Welllllll I found that bottom, so today I’ve decided to sort of “detox” from all the sugar and really focus in on fruits and veggies again.

With that being said, I was faced with a challenge.

It’s tradition in our family that every Sunday afternoon we have a delicious (read: unhealthy) meal after church with the whole family. Every weekend I get the task to make some sort of delectable dessert. I’m not complaining. I’ve actually been offended before when mom has just made a dessert and not asked me to do it. It’s my favorite part of every meal and everyone in my family knows that baking is “my thing.”

And that’s where my challenge comes in. I just wasn’t in the mood today to be eating sweets and with baking, I’m constantly test tasting.

I. can’t. help. myself.

So what does one do to deter oneself from eating batches of cookies while making them, you ask?

Put on a Proactive facemask, obviouslyyyyyyy.

You do that too, right? It’s completely normal.

Anyway, every week I try to come up with a different dessert to keep everyone on their toes. And because I like all desserts. Duh.

These cookies taste like a tropical vacation….in cookie form. Something about coconut gets me every time.

And if you’re anywhere even remotely cold right now, you probably could use a vacay….and should probably make these….stat!

White Chip Island Cookies (adopted from Nestle)

¾ c (1 ½ sticks butter) softened

¾ c packed brown sugar

1/3 c granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 2/3 c all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 c (12 oz pkg) White morsels

1 c flaked coconut

1 c macadamia nuts, walnuts, or pecans

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in egg.

Add in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into butter mixture. Stir in morsels, coconut and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto lightly greased baking sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are golden and lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to foil or wire racks.

Enjoy!

Everybody's Gonna Love Today

Becauseeee we just got hit with the biggest snowstorm of the year and I'm stuck inside all day today, I'm not really feeling motivated to do anything but wrap up in a blankie, hang out in my jammies and cook up something delicious.


I'm not complaining.



I should really get outside and do this....

 ....and I'm not referring to the crack or throwing up.

Welcome to my Nutshell!

Hi everyone and welcome to NutMeg!

If you’re wondering why there’s nothing else on this site yet, you’re onto me……this is my first post! Andddddd  maybe definitely  you’re my first reader…..ok, definitely my first/only reader. I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a blog for awhile and just now have finally worked up the courage to do it…..because anyone that knows me, knows I have a lot to say.

But I don’t want to just say stuff, I want to do stuff.

And that’s where this blog comes in.

It’s here that I hope to document my musings in regards to what I’m eating, cooking and how I’m moving. I’m a firm believer that balance is important in all areas of our lives, whether it’s relationships with family and friends, or it’s exercise and food.

With that being said, I love me some good food. There’s not a pizza I won’t try or a dessert I won’t make. I absolutely love cooking and I hope to share my favorites on this site.

As far as the exercise goes, I work out pretty regularly (4-5 days per week), and love the way it makes me feel strong and healthy. Some days it’s a struggle to make myself work out, other days I can’t wait to sweat out my stress.

Soooo, if you’re still with me, I would love for you to follow my journey...and help motivate me! I have a few goals that I’m hoping this blog will help hold me accountable to….and you, because you’re probably my only reader, remember?

Primarily my goals are going to be weight-loss based, with an overall focus on a healthy lifestyle...but I'll get to those as I progressively write more.

Thanks for stopping by!