FAIL

So I failed NaBloPoMo. Sorry guys. I drank a little too much Saturday night and should've blogged before I went out because I surely was not in any shape to remember once I got home. So that was a fail. However, Saturday night was so much fun! I went to a yummy yummy yummy (yes it deserves 3 descriptive yummy's) Italian restaurant. It is exactly what I want every Saturday night to be like - good food, good friends, good wine. My jeans may not like every weekend to include that...but that's ok.
I'll try to remember to blog again before next November. Plus there should be some brunch reviews starting back up soon.

Ok nablopomo

Lets keep this one short. I'm tired, just drove back in from PA and am not even really sure what time it is since my phone didn't update itself....probably.
Had a coke tonight. Not because I was craving it but for the caffeine. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Could my body actually be adjusting?!?! Delicious dinner at Italian restaurant tomorrow night then back to paleo.

Things I am thankful for....

1. The always enjoyable Thanksgiving at my Aunt Barbara's house.
2. Getting to know my cousins who I never get to see.
3. Egg custard
4. The fact that I can run however slowly that run may be.
5. Getting to see my sweet sweet puppy dog and knowing she's happy.
6. My family & friends
7. Being off paleo for 5 days.

Lash this!

So I got this new mascara....(sorry if the pics are out of order). I love it!! Look at the before and after! It is amazing stuff! And it even has a handy dandy mirror on the side! Nifty!

Glitter!!

Aw shoot I almost forgot to blog! Got a bit of a headache starting up. Not sure if from the orange Julius cocktail (tasty!!) or the half a giant cupcake or cake. I should've heeded Bryce's warning about going back to regular food.
Made glitter ribbon and gift tags tonight. Both a success and pretty easy although the ribbon was a bit messy. I'll make more when I get home! Look at me being all crafty!

Just in time!!!

I stayed out entirely too late watching the Bears lose miserably. And drinking too much. Water. I'm at 250 oz....hope that was enough to flush all the bad stuff out! Anyways I leave for PA tomorrow and have so so much to get done:
1. Go pick up a surprise for heather & aunt Barbara.
2. Pack
3. Get measured at the gym
4. Pack food that is safe to eat on the road.
4. Th

Perusing

I'm perusing the internet, trying to find pictures of things I want for Christmas. I've learned this is a necessity because I'll ask my mom for a winter hat and I'll get something similiar to this:

 

 

 

when I want something like this: (hint...this is what I want Mother!!)

 

 

 

And in my perusing I am finding the cutest DIY gift tags. They seem so easy. I want to try to make them. So, if you are getting a present from me this year, I might actually make a gift tag instead of scribbling your name on the box in a Sharpie.

 

Other pictures of things I want for Christmas:

 

 

 

Meatzza meatzza

Meat + zza= meatzza

I suppose I should blog

I guess I should so this. I was going to complain. I am in a bad mood. But I'm not going to. Instead I will be excited about my new Sonic Steam Mop. There's steam. There's sonic. There's a mop. I used it today....ill admit its the first I've mopped since I moved in 3 months ago. I know that's gross but get over it. It's mopped now. My floors were pretty dirty! Especially obvious on the new white mop pad...that got tossed straight into the washer! Oh yeah the mop head is washable! That's pretty exciting. Plus you don't need any chemical solution just water which gets turned to steam by an easy pumping mechanism. I'm not sure what's sadder about this post, the fact that I'm excited about a mop or that I spent Friday night mopping.

So sleepy

I'm tired. Therefore I'm going to keep this short. I'm having friends over Saturday night to play Cards Against Humanity. Think apples to apples but really twisted. It's going to be fun but somehow between now and then I need to find the time to mop, prep veggies so I have something to snack on, go to the store for meatzza ingredients, and pick up....again. I just picked up Wednesday. How is my kitchen table covered in junk again???

Oh almost forgot!!

Whoa now. I'm sneaking in here with this blog 30 minutes before my daily deadline!!
Why is it that I can get so sucked into Bath & Body Works? Does anyone else have this problem? I went in there to buy the plugs for wallflowers and ended up buying shower gel and lotion and scrubs. It happens every time! I have to limit my times I can enter that store because I'd go broke. And have way too much soap. I barely ever even put lotion on!! I intend to. But I don't. One bottle should be enough for a year for me. Why do I need four? Oh right, different scents. I mean I need a coconut lime for the summer. I like Dark Kiss for the winter. Vanilla Noel around Christmas. Carried Away is a good spring smell but I don't know if I love it for spring. Maybe the cotton scent? I seriously need to stay out of that store!

Continuing Education

I headed out to N'ville for the night to get some continuing education in. Overall it was a fail/win of a night. Here's why it was a fail of a night: I got VERY lost on the way out there. I followed what my GPS said but I still got lost. It tried to take me a different way than what I would usually go because of traffic. Bad move. I went through the ghetto "west side", under some el tracks and ended up lost. I was 10 minutes late but I didn't seem to miss anything of any importance except some schmoozing with the cute young dentist at my table. Next time CYD, next time. I was all prepared to be strong and to eat things that my diet would allow me to eat...ummmm...do you have any idea how hard that is when it's a catered meal?!?! There are carbs in EVERYTHING. Soup? chicken and rice. I ate the broth and the chicken but I was getting all the rice juices that seeped out into the broth. Salad? Came with dried fruit. I had given up at this point and figured I'd just cheat, it wouldn't be that bad but I would avoid really bad carbs (i.e. bread, rice, pasta, potatoes). I also thought the dried fruit was cheese. I was wrong. I wish it had been cheese. The entree was a filet (cooked a nice medium rare, impressive. I was expecting a hockey puck.), carrots and dirty rice.  I ate the rice. I know, I know, I said I wasn't going to eat rice! But it was on my plate. and at least it wasn't white rice. As though I weren't feeling guilty enough already, dessert came. It was a chocolate mousse pie with a half cookie dipped in whipped cream. I didn't finish the dessert if that counts for anything. I feel really guilty about eating all that. If I come close to winning this gym challenge but miss it by just a hair, I will be SO upset with myself. The food tonight wasn't even that good. But it seemed rude to just leave it on the plate and not eat it. Plus...I was hungry. It was there. I do feel badly.
Ok, enough of all that. On to why it was a win of a night: It was a good continuing ed class. I don't know that I necessarily LEARNED anything new...but it was all stuff that I would like incorparted into a practice I work for. Cutting edge stuff, new technology, new techniques, new materials. I like that stuff. The dentist that was lecturing? Well...I want to look into him because I would like to work for him. He seems to really know his stuff and just from everything he was saying, I know I'd be a good fit in his practice. Unless he's a big jerk when he's working but he seemed to be a really nice, genuine guy. The bad news? He knows my current boss and so would probably not try to poach his hygienist. But...I'm going to start doing my research to see if it's worth looking into.

Face fat

I had my fat points measured today to keep me from getting discouraged and eating ice cream. I can't tell you how good a hot fudge Oreo mcflurry sounds right now. Seriously. I can't. Because if I talk about it too much I'll want it even more.
I'm down 7 pounds and my face fat went down 1 point, my back fat down 8. I don't know what that means but it's in the right direction and the coach guy said that its good. I had him look over my log book and he said I was doing everything right but maybe eat a little more for breakfast. Also not to eat grapes after my workout. I like grapes though. And if that's the worst food I eat....I'm ok with it.
8 more days....I can do this!

Enough said

Papa needs some new shoes!

So I'm heading to the casino tonight. I woke up feeling in my bones like this would be a good move. Last time I felt this way, I won $200. I'm hoping tonight will yield similar results. We'll see. I'll update you later. But, as I'm prepping my energy for the night, "Born Under A Bad Sign" came on. The lyrics: "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all" Eesh. That might be bad. But my bones still say it's a good day to go.

Bond. James Bond

I went to see the new James Bond movie tonight, Skyfall. I was not unexcited about the movie because I had just been thinking to myself that I hadn't been to see a movie in quite some time when the invite came. That being said, I wasn't necessarily excited that the movie was a James Bond movie. I mean, I think I've only seen one other JB movie in my life. But, it was a movie and something lowkey to do on a Friday night.
It was a really good movie! I mean, it was a little ridiculous when they rode a motorcycle up the stairs and on the roof tops of houses. But beside it being silly, it was a good movie. I wonder why I don't watch more JB movies. Maybe that'll be my wintertime project. When it's too cold to go outside and I just want to curl up on the couch, I can have a JB marathon. How many are there? 12? 13?

Halfway point!

Tomorrow marks the halfway point to my gym's lifestyle challenge. Here's my progress so far:
I've been getting between 7 - 9 hours of sleep each night. I've eaten what I'm supposed to. Here's a sample day of what I eat.  Breakfast - 1-2 eggs. Lunch - london broil & spinach. Snack - pumpkin seeds. Dinner - sauteed veggies with ground beef in an all purpose latin seasoning. I try to take in at least 100 oz of water each day which was annoying at first but now it's like a challenge if I can drink more water than the day before. It does leave me running to the bathroom way more frequently than ever before but it means my pee is clear. I also aim to workout. That's probably been the hardest part for me. I am good at making it in to do Crossfit but I can only do that 3 times each week. It's those other days that get to me. I'd like to do some sort of cardio at least 2 of the other days and I always intend to...but then I get home from work and it just doesn't happen for one reason or another. I have lost 5 pounds already which is a good motivator to keep me from straying from my healthy path. My skin has started to clear up, which I was beginning to think would never happen. I have more energy. I wake up pretty easily. I go to bed easily. Aside from getting up to pee 3-4 times a night, I sleep soundly through the night. I don't know why I haven't been eating this way for years. Nor do I know why I won't stick with it once this is over...

Literacy!!

Well I finally decided to bite the bullet. I'm going to be here for the next year so I went and got myself a library card today. Now I was a little hesitant. I grew up in Fayetteville, NC where there was this really good library system. I thought all library systems were amazing! But then I got down to Charleston and...well...the library was pretty bad. There were NO books. Well, ok there were books. But old ones. And not good old ones.
One of my patients told me about this library up near me called the Selzer Regional Library so I got together my identification and went over there. The building is older but really pretty. They have all these really cool photographs on the wall of old timey Chicago. I could have spent all day in there. And I really could have because their fiction selection was actually good! I got some books that came out within the past year, as well as "A is for Alibi" by Sue Grafton. I've been wanting to try that series for a while but couldn't find a copy to start. This library had it. Am I weird to be like a kid in a candy store in the library? There is just something so soothing about the smell of the books, the quietness, the look of all those books. Well, I'm done blogging for today because I want to go read!

Cat Lady

So I'm quickly becoming a cat lady. Well, not an actual cat lady because I'm mildly allergic to cats so I won't have a real cat. But I should probably pick up some kitty food and bottles of wine when I'm at the grocery store because I'm going to be single forever.
Why would I ever say such a thing? Because it's true. My mom even tried to set me up with someone. Now I may not have had the most heartwarming response to this. I think I even groaned. I mean, it's my mom. Setting me up. Gross. But, as I was informed, when you hit 30 and can't keep a boyfriend, your mom starts to worry and has to take things into her own hands. Well. I guess I'm there. But then she didn't even set me up! I don't know whether to be relieved that I didn't have to go through with that or humiliated that even my mom has decided I'm going to be alone forever and therefore there was no need to try and set me up. Eesh. Either way...sad.
Now since May, after the demise of my last relationship, I decided I wouldn't date again for the rest of the year. I've stuck to that but now that the year is coming to a close, I'll admit I'm getting a little curious as to what's out there and if I'm missing out on anything. I signed up for match.com. I've tried internet dating before and had...ok...results. I mean, I ended up dating a guy for 2 years that I met off there. That didn't end well since I'm not as cool as pot. I dated a couple other guys for a couple months here, a couple months there. All ending in break-ups but I didn't get murdered. Figure I might as well give it another try. I'll either find the love of my life or get murdered. 50/50 chance right?
So. Here I go on Match. I've been on there for about a month. I've sent about 25 emails. Responses? None. I've winked. Responses? None. I've gotten emails. From 60 year old black men who don't want "a hood rat." I mean, I'm not a hood rat. But I'm also not interested.
I don't know. Is dating even worth it? I'm so on the fence if dating would be a good thing or not. To me, it seems like it just ends in heartache. Why do I want to put myself through that? Maybe I'm not actually ready to date since just thinking about it makes me want to bury my face in mashed potatoes. (for comfort...not for any other reason)

Football pool

I'm participating in the annual Wascak Football Pool this year. It's my first year and I was hoping to blow everyone away with my innate ability to pick the winning team. That is not happening. This week? 14 games. I picked 8 correctly. True that's more than half....but since when do the Bears win multiple games in a row?!? And the Giants? Well they won't be Superbowl champs this year if they keep it up. I need the teams that I think have the talent to win to do just that. Because I know what I'm talking about. So quit gabbing about your hair & nails and go play some football!

IMPORTANT THINGS

I wish I had important things to say. But I don't. I did have a pretty productive day - 3 hours at the gym, washed my makeup brushes, got my underarms waxed (they were super gross!) and made a tasty dinner. What did I make for dinner you ask? I had seen a Rick Bayless recipe that I decided to modify to make it easier and paleo friendly. It called for full live lobsters but 1)they are hard to come by and 2) I don't want to cut a live lobster in half. So I opted for lobster tails which happened to be on sale anyways! I also got some scallops and shrimp. Those all got cooked in a mess-load of butter (yum!) and combined with tomatoes, onions and poblano peppers which were also cooked in a mess-load of butter (double yum!). It was so good but I wish I had some bread to sop up the leftover buttery goodness. I thought about just drinking it but that seemed excessive.

*Insert word here* dipped in Ranch

Today was a rough paleo day. It started out ok enough. I ate a hot sausage (bad, nitrates, better than hash browns!) and an egg for breakfast. Lunch was a leftover porkchop with Bojangles seasoning (yum!! Thanks Heather for the seasoning) with some broccoli. This is where things went downhill. I had a long neverending day at work. I was hungry and tired by the time I was on the way home. I managed to drive past the McDonalds and resist the hot fudge oreo McFlurry that I've become addicted to. I got home and was ready to fall into bed but was oh so hungry! I had another sausage. I was going to go out and watch a football game with some friends but I had this overwhelming urge to dip everything in ranch. Seriously. Everything. Wings. Pizza. French Fries. Fingers. They didn't even have to be my fingers. I wasn't sure if going out was going to be the best idea. Me & Willpower are not exactly best friends. So I took a nap. Then I slept for four hours.  I know...some people get that much sleep overnight. Just a slightly longer than normal nap for me. I feel better now that I've awakened. Ranch would still be good but if there were a bottle of ranch in front of me, I think I could control myself and not drink the entire thing.

In other news, I had a patient in today who I have a mini crush on. He's clearly not interested in me. It's nothing to do with me. I'm about 99% sure he likes boys. But he's this really friendly, well-dressed, cute, little guy with the brightest smile. The girl who works the front desk said he wears this amazing cologne that makes her want to jump him but he didn't have it on today. I was glad he was the last patient of the day because he brightened up the last bit for me !

Bongo Room

Ok, I'm finally getting around to this. It only took me 2 weeks. Let's see what I can remember. There was a long wait, although they told us at least an hour and it was only 45 minutes. They were cash only because the credit card machine was down. I can't really knock them for that. It was a slight inconvience that resulted in my eating a couple Butterfingers in an attempt to get cash. But I did get to eat Butterfingers. So maybe that should work in their favor.
It's a cute little place though much smaller than I expected. Everyone raved so much about this place that I was expecting this massive room full of people. There was a room. It was full of people. It wasn't massive. I think it sat MAYBE 75 people. That would explain the long wait.
Our server was good. Not great. But good. He may or may not have had a beard. That's the extent of the impact he had on me.
On to the food: The pancakes? Really good! I got the blueberries and cream single pancake. I really like that you can order just one of any of their pancakes. That's a nice touch BR. My pancake had blueberries in it, blueberry syrup on it and - get this - creme anglaise! Uh huh. It really was that good. I love creme anglaise. I would eat it by the jug if I could. Gene got a salted caramel/pretzel/white chocolate type pancake that was good...but not as good as mine. Greg got a red velvet that he loved but I wasn't a big fan of it. We each thought we got the best pancake but I think everyone knows that I did. That's the extent of my good comments on the food. They had some potatoes (I think?) that were good but flavored with dill which is not my favorite seasoning. I can see why other people liked them though. It was just a little too dilly for me. And my omelet? I got a beef tenderloin omelet - which was clearly made with the beef tenderloin that was borderline rotten so they cooked the crap out of it and stuck it in an omelet. I shouldn't be surprised. It's brunch. That's what you do - use up your leftovers and throw them in some eggs. But I guess I forgot. I could've lived without eating that omelet.
Pricewise, I thought it wasn't bad for being in the South Loop (right in the downtown area). A little more than I'd like to pay for brunch but considering the amount of food & location, I don't think $20 is unreasonable. They didn't serve alcohol, which was ok by me, but I think $20 on brunch food with no alcohol is just a teensy bit high.
I gave this place an 8. Gene and Greg gave it a 10. or a 9.5. I don't remember because I overruled them. I might stretch it out to an 8.5 because the pancakes really were that good. But I'm still holding out for better.

(Note: with the Paleo challenge there may or may not be a slight hold on the brunch outings. Stay tuned for further reviews.)

Hey hey hey

Nablopomo is finally here again! I had a lot planned to say today but since I refuse to pay for Internet right now and my neighbors aren't being very generous I'm having to type on my phone. So I'm going to keep this short.
Started my gyms nutrition challenge today. If I win I could win almost $1500!! The likelihood of my winning is pretty slim but that doesn't mean I can't try! If I won $1500 I'd get the Internet. Just sayin.
Tomorrow: I'll finally get around to reviewing the bongo room. Finally!