Spotty Prep Goes Healthy

Puppy Fever

2010-04-10T06:12:00.000-07:00

My favorite little girly girl came to visit last weekend for Easter! This is my parent's Boxer, Sophie. It was so much fun to have a happy, active dog in the house! (Jack's happy, just neurotic, old and arthritic). Sophie, my parents and I went for lots of long walks and played a ton of tug of war with her favorite little warthog toy.

So it's official. While a lot of my friends are currently experiencing baby fever, I've come down with puppy fever in a bad way.

Realistically, I know a new dog is not the best option right now- Jack goes to the vet about every six weeks, and those visits and his medications are not cheap. We would like to have a decent down payment for a house saved by this time next year, and costs associated with another dog wouldn't exactly help that goal.

Still....I want one! So bad it hurts. I even have names picked out. Can't you just see a little spot named Truman? Or a little girl named Violet? Sigh.

Please tell me housebreaking horror stories and tales of chewed up shoes and handbags to ease my pain a little...

This Saturday last year...

2010-03-27T05:17:00.001-07:00

was my wedding day!! It was a beautiful, albeit windy, spring day. After months of decisions, picky little arguments with my mom ("what do you mean, bowties!" She ended up loving them), and excitement with the events leading up to the "big day," it was finally here!

Some details:

First Look:

The Ceremony:

Isn't my best friend gorgeous!?

The refreshment table set up so guests could get lemonade, water or sweet tea before the ceremony. This was how windy it was right before I walked down the aisle:

We were originally going to have the reception all outside, but we decided during the set up to move inside because of the wind. The room we set up in opened out to the lawn, so we were able to still have access to the outside. Thankfully, the wind died down after the ceremony started and it was comfortable to be outside- guests were able to play badminton and croquet, and we had one food station outside.

I thought I had made it through without crying!

My best friend and I have known each other since we were four. She gave an excellent speech.

I definitely ate at my wedding! I loved the dessert table, which was set up right by the doors leading to the lawn where the ceremony took place. I walked into the reception from the outside with one of my mom's good friends and her husband- I totally stopped in mid-sentence and just stared at it. The Ritz did such a good job and totally blew me away!!

Seriously, it was an amazing day. It's truly awesome to be surrounded by all the people you care about. Not everything went "right," (um, hello, tropical storm force winds...) but it really was altogether perfect. If you made it this far, thanks for indulging me in reliving my wedding! :)

Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah...

2010-03-23T14:33:00.000-07:00

Gator Plate! (That's supposed to be a rip off of my alma mater's football cheer...Gator Bait!)

I was just a little too excited to see these plates in Charleston this weekend. There are matching bowls, too! On the bottom of the bowls, the little gator is saying, "seconds please!" Too cute. Yes, I'm a nerd.

New plate and bowl excitement aside, my husband and I had a great time in Charleston this weekend. It's probably my favoite city of all time, behind my hometown, Tampa. And Tampa's only up there because so many people I love are there, honestly.

We had a great time walking and shopping on Kings Street and the beautiful streets around there, going to see Fort Sumter and driving through Beaufort on the way home.

I even made a Dalmatian friend!

I want to go back already! Such a beautiful place!

What's your favorite road trip destination?

Since you last heard from me...

2010-03-16T14:25:00.000-07:00

I have been promoted at work, chosen to be in charge of putting together a 40 minute educational nutrition program for foster children for Junior League, saw Wicked down in Tampa, saw Alice and Wonderland (both were awesome, I thought!), read The Help (SO good), decorated my new town house, attended a World Cup qualifying cross country equestrian trial (as a spectator) and done an embarrassing amount of shopping and walking (gawking) around my new neighborhood.

Land's End Canvas...can I just say I LOVE it!!? I ordered this dress yesterday:

They were out of my size for a few days but my stalking paid off and I was able to order it when they added more!

As for my new neighborhood, this is the event house that people can rent out for conferences, weddings, etc.

And here's a house for sale around the lake from me:

Before I moved, I lived the same distance from this house to this projects. BIG difference. We pay the same amount in rent. I'm sure you can imagine my relief! :)

The house isn't quite done being arranged yet, but here are pictures of the living room:

Entertainment center that needs some organization:

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day and enjoying the Spring time weather! I'm out to walk the neighborhood!

Moved!

2010-03-03T17:12:00.001-08:00

I'm all in moved into my new home! I can't wait to share pictures, but it will have to wait until I get a new wireless router- our's is apparently done-zo! I'll be back to blogging and commenting as soon as I'm able to get over to Best Buy :) The move was very successful with only minor casualties!

Chicken Wellington

2010-02-22T14:03:00.000-08:00

Crescent rolls, cream cheese and green onions are some of my favorite comfort food ingredients. Which is why I'm kind of surprised I never thought of this chicken wellington recipe myself! It's from the Junior League of Tallahassee cookbook, which I pretty much love.

Basically, you poach chicken breasts, shred them like you're making chicken salad, mix the shredded chicken with cream cheese and green onion, and then fold into canned, unrolled crescent rolls. It's one of those Paula Deen, sounds kinda gross and heart attack inducing, but is freaking amazing recipes.

Here they are out of the oven (minus one I plated!)

And here is my plate:

Why is comfort food the least photogenic?? (The unappetizing picture has nothing to do with my mad photography skills, ha!) Seriously though, pasta and dough-y stuff always looks the worst in pictures. Plus, that yellow-y sauce was not that great and I do not recommend it.

Here's the recipe. Please give it a try- despite my photography butchering the way they look, they really are quite delicious.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
8 oz softened cream cheese
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
2 cans of crescent roll dough (I used Pillsbury)

Preheat the oven to 350. Cover the chicken in a saucepan and cover with water. Boil the chicken until cooked through (20 minutes for bone in, thick breasts, I think the skinless, thin ones I used took maybe 8 minutes, if that). Shred the chicken, and mix with the cream cheese and green onion. Unroll the crescent dough and spread the chicken mixture onto the dough, and bundle. Make sure none of the chicken mixture gets on the outside of the dough. Bake about 30 minutes, until golden in color.

The recipe also called for a sauce (seen in the picture), which I do NOT recommend. It was cream of chicken soup and milk heated together. I regretted putting it on mine. I'm pretty sure cream of chicken soup is actually dog food in disguise. Jack got a little bit of the sauce mixed in with his dry kibble the next day. At least he liked it!!

What's your favorite comfort food?

How to Acclimate Your Neurotic Dog to a Move?

2010-02-18T03:12:00.000-08:00

As I've mentioned on here before, Jack, my sweet little spotty dog, is quite high maintenance. In July 2008 he was stricken with geriatric canine vestibular disorder, and has never fully recovered. Basically, he woke up in the middle of the night having what appeared to be a seizure- my husband and I rushed him to the emergency vet, only to be told there was nothing they could do and to wait it out! He couldn't walk, hold his head straight, and couldn't stop shaking, with massive shudders.

Usually this lasts just a couple of days, but with Jack it lasted two weeks. Luckily, we have a great vet who kept him during the day for observation the whole time this went on. She also researched everything that had to do with old dog vestibular, and did everything to speed up the recovery process. Gradually over the two weeks, he regained the ability to walk, hold his head normally and stopped shaking. However, ever since than he's been beyond neurotic. Before this, he was fairly laid back and well socialized. Now, he's anxious, and can't stand to be left alone or have his routine disturbed.

So in preparation for our move across town, my husband and I have been taking him to our new neighborhood and letting him become familiar with the place before we actually move at the end of the month.

Here he is in his new yard! (Conveniently, no one is currently living in the place we are moving into).

It's hard to get him to explore- he just stands there!

Hopefully, this little acclimation (and his drugs) will help him to not be so scared on moving day. He knows something is up, with all of the boxes in the living room- I have moved with him a total of four times, this will be the fifth! Hopefully all goes well!

Our Wedding Album is Here!

2010-02-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I received a very important package- my wedding album! My goal was to put it together before our one year anniversary on March 28th. With my husband putting most of it together, we got it by Valentine's Day!

Our package from our photographer did not include an album- my husband and I put it together ourselves using blurb.com. To save $1,000, it was definitely worth it. (Yes, my photgrapher was terribly overpriced, and if I could go back in time, I would choose a different one). Overall, I'm pretty happy with the blurb book quality. We chose the 30 page option, 12 inches by 12 inches. It looks a little thin- I might have added more pages, or chosen thicker pages, if I'd realized it wouldn't be very thick at all.

Here are pictures of some of our pictures!

Superbowl Planning

2010-02-03T14:37:00.000-08:00

I love the Superbowl, mainly for half time and the commercials (there's always Dalmatian commercials!).

I can vividly remember my first Superbowl experience- my parents woke me up to watch the Disney half time show on tv when it was in my hometown in 1991. I felt so cool that I got to wake up for it and my little brothers didn't, ha! That year I swore up and down that I saw my aunt when the camera panned the crowd, who was lucky enough to get a ticket and be there in person. No one else had seen her though. Last year, when the Superbowl was in Tampa again, she was in the crowd cheering for Bruce Springsteen- everyone saw her but me and my husband!

Last year, we had about ten people over. My husband cooked chili, and we made Cuban sandwiches along with other appetizers. This year, it's just going to be us, since our living room looks like this:

Packing for our move has taken over our living room! Ugh, looking at that picture makes me nauseous. I never have to go in there, so it was the most logical place to store the packing materials/already packed stuff. Unfortunately, it's the only room big enough to comfortably hold more than two or three people!

Since it's just going to be the two of us, I'm planning a fun New Orleans dinner. I'm going to make this gumbo

I plan on subbing shrimp for the oysters and chicken, and adding okra. Hopefully it turns out well! I'll definitely let ya'll know.

What are you planning for the Superbowl?

Shopaholic

2010-01-31T11:10:00.001-08:00

Work has been INTENSE lately! Without getting into much detail, I'm handling 2 major projects that are getting a ton of attention from the media, and naturally my own bosses. It's nothing I can't handle, but it's stressful. I love being busy, and I thrive on stress and deadlines. So even though I'm happy and wouldn't change anything, I'm definitely seeing my stress manifest in my shopping and eating habits.

I haven't always been this way- when I was a poor college/grad student, with a tiny, ill equipped kitchen, I exercised and worked ahead in my classes to cope (I seriously miss the group ex classes at both of the universities I attended- they were so good!). Now though, I'm totally splurging at Ann Taylor and overdosing on jalepeno cheetos! Seriously, if I'm working all the freaking time, I might as well look good doing it :)

As for the cheetos, there's really no excuse. I wouldn't let myself eat them for so long, that I think I totally over-reacted when they combined my two favorite tastes- spiciness and cheesiness. I've killed two bags this week. Along with about 6 of the cupcakes I made to go with my leftover birthday ganache. I'm officially cut off from junk, now thankyouverymuch. I would like my new clothes to fit, after all.

This is one of my favorite new outfits- I bought the skirt yesterday, and it goes really well with a shirt purchased earlier in the month. I'll probably be wearing this combination with gray tights and a black blazer this week.

This shows the detailing in the skirt better. I love tweed. I bought this shirt to wear with it yesterday:

And a close up of the pearl/velvet detail:

I found this Lilly Pulitzer skirt on sale a couple weeks ago. I can't wait until it gets a little warmer and I can wear it! (The very wrinkled cardigan is from Talbots).

Speaking of cardigans, I have a little bit of a problem....

This is after I gave away a bunch that don't fit anymore in preparation for my move! Keep in mind I live in a climate where I wear long sleeves maybe two months out of the year, ha! I think I need a support group....until I find one, just call me Grandma...

Do you own a disproportionate number of one type of clothing item? I have a close friend that has a RIDICULOUS number of shoes...not that I can talk when I have three drawers full of just cardigans...

26

2010-01-24T08:32:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday I turned the big 2-6! To celebrate, my husband baked me this Williams Sonoma cake Instead of using the glaze recipe on the website, we made a ganache using chopped semi sweet chocolate, butter and heavy cream. It was absolutely delicious!

My parents came up to stay with us this weekend and took us to Shula's Friday night. The service was shockingly bad. Note to restaurants- if you have entrees in the $35 plus range, you shouldn't hire unprofessional, smart ass college students as servers. Seriously. Even more important- to restaurant managers- if a patron complains about the service, don't dismiss it by saying "oh, he's one of my best guys." Just apologize! I don't think he even listened to what the server had done!

I've never seen my mom so angry over service in any restaurant, let alone a Shula's!! We went elsewhere for dessert and had the sweetest waitress, thankfully. My mom actually gave her the balance of the tip she didn't give to Shula's, which was probably in the 300% range! It pays to be nice. (She did leave about 8 percent for kitchen and host staff at Shula's, which was more generous than I would have been).

Anyway, here's what I got for my birthday from my parents, aunt and husband:

A spotty dog bedding collection from Cuddledown! When I first saw this, I died. I absolutely love them!!

Have you ever had bad service in a nice restaurant?

Oh, The Places You'll Go!

2010-01-17T05:20:00.000-08:00

I just signed up to read one of my favorite books to an elementary school class next week! After seeing all the commercials for the Disney "give a day, get a day" program, I was curious and went to their website. I was thrilled to see that reading Dr. Seuss was an opportunity! Honestly, I'd want to do it even if there wasn't free park admission involved. (An excuse to be theatrical and goofy in the middle of the work day? Yes, please!) I'm excited! I'm going to start practicing today...Jack will be a captive audience, ha!

Movin' On Up and Weirdest Bumper Sticker Ever

2010-01-12T13:57:00.000-08:00

I hope the new year is treating ya'll well so far!

I got some great news today- my husband and I are moving! We are staying in our current town, but moving to a place that fits us much better. The neighborhood is home to a lot of young professionals, has something like 14 miles of jogging trails, and I can WALK to work!!! No more pot head students! No more overflowing dumpsters! No more 30 minute commute! No more weird little kids ringing my doorbell asking if I will pay them to take out my trash (which is not on my porch, unlike some of my neighbors)! The best part- we are paying the same amount of money in rent. Prices have come down so much in the past two years, that now we will get so much more for our money! So in case it wasn't obvious, I'm elated.

One thing I will miss about the commute is the weird things I see along the way. The chronically road enraged driver of a yellow v dub beetle, the SUV covered from hood to hitch in Tinker Bell stickers, and finally today, the bumper sticker to end all bumper stickers.

"Thick" Madam. In hot pink.

And right next to it? A Jesus fish.

In my mind, a madam, especially when predicated by "thick," runs a bordello.

The Jesus fish seems to contradict that impression.

Also, "thick" is in quotes. Was it sarcasm? I couldn't catch a glimpse of the driver, so I'm not sure.

So am I missing something? Does your town/church have a "thick" madams for Jesus group?

Have I sold you on moving to northwest Florida to live amongst the characters?

And finally, what kind of google searches are going to lead to my blog now??

Almond Butter Jelly Time!

2010-01-04T17:49:00.000-08:00

This weekend I was craving peanut butter and jelly. However, as crazy as it sounds, I really don't like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I usually eat the combo on a waffle, or an apple, but I was all out of waffles, apples and peanut butter. I debated running up to the closest grocery store, Wal-Mart, but remembered seeing baked peanut butter and jelly bites on the Oh She Glows blog. (Thank you Angela, for saving me from Wal-Mart Hell...this time).

While I may not always have waffles, peanut butter and apples, I always have plenty of almond butter, brown sugar, butter and flour on hand.

Giving what I had on hand, I modified Angela's recipe as follows:

Crust

•1/4 cup butter
•1/4 cup brown sugar
•1 cup All Purpose flour
•1 t cinnamon

Filling:

•½ t baking powder
•1 t vanilla extract
•¼ cup All Purpose Flour
•¼ cup brown sugar
•½ cup almond butter
•½ cup milk

•Strawbery preserves

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all crust ingredients together in a medium bowl. Line a muffin tin with paper or silicone liners. Press crust mixture into the liners making sure the crust comes up on the sides a bit. Mix together filling, excluding preserves, in the same bowl, then add filling, filling the liners about half only. Top with approximately a tablespoon of preserves. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

This made about 7 regular muffin size tarts. They were delicious! Sweet, without being too dessert-y or healthy tasting. Definitely give them a try :)

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T05:55:00.000-08:00

AHH It's 2010! Crazy!

Last night my husband and I drove an hour north to Georgia to our favorite area restaurant to celebrate. Driving an hour might seem a little crazy, but this place is so worth it. It's located in Thomasville, which is a really cute small town with some really great shops in the downtown area. It's super walkable, and looked at nationwide as an example of successful downtown revitalization/historic preservation. (As part of my former job I got to visit their historic preservation office for a presentation).

Me, in downtown Thomasville last year

In the spirit of holiday adventure-ness, I tried some things I wouldn't typically order. I learned I really dislike eating quail. On a happier note, I discovered a new favorite wheat beer (if I could only remember the name...), and had the best cheddar bread and beef tenderloin I've ever eaten. It's great to indulge in an atypical meal every once in a while :)

After such a big meal, I couldn't stay up until midnight, which I honestly haven't done the past year or two anyway. Jack has to go outside no later than 6:45 regardless of what time I go to bed! And I can never go back to sleep once I'm up.

For the rest of the day, I'll be watching the Noles, the Gators, and maybe doing a little shopping. For the rest of the year, I'll be turning 26, moving to a nicer neighborhood, travelling to Tampa to see Wicked, travelling to Charleston for my first wedding anniversary, attending two weddings in Tampa in May....and who knows what else! What do you have planned?

Correct me if I'm wrong....

2009-12-28T13:47:00.000-08:00

but isn't being a real estate agent about...selling?

Then why, pray tell, would an agent with rental listings treat a potential renter like garbage???

This is how the conversation went.

bzzzz(my cell phone vibrating)

Me: Hello

Agent: This is so and so with real estate company. I'm responding to your request for information on the property at such and such address.

Me: Hi- how are you? Thanks for returning my call so quickly.

Agent: awakward pause. Good How are you?

Me. Good, thanks.

awkward pause.

Me: So my husband and I are looking to move in mid to late February.

awkward pause...with chewing noises

Agent: Well it's available now, but they might hold it for you if you got them a deposit (in the "I'm doing you a favor" tone of voice...)

Me: We could do that.

awkward pause

Me: We have a dog...is that ok?

Agent: What kind of dog? (harsh tone)

Me: a Dalmatian. He's pretty-

Agent: That's not on my breed list. How much does he weigh? (still harsh)

Me: about 60 pounds

Agent: Well this house has beautiful wood floors (accusingly)

Me: Oh. Ok.

Agent: She (meaning the owner I guess) has a weight limit because of the floors. And there's a non-refundable pet deposit.

Me: Oh, yeah. He's 60 pounds. (Repeating myself to avoid another weird pause)

Agent: Well...I can set up a time to show it to you...

The craziest part? I actually did set up an appointment to see the place. If I have to deal with this agent though, that might be a dealbreaker! I mean, seriously?? If it was my house she was renting out, I'd be livid!! I used to think I didn't have the bubbly personality to be in sales, but if this lady can do it, I'd be seller of the year!

Also, I'm assuming the owner is worried about the floors scratching- wouldn't that happen regardless of the size of the dog? I'm confused...

Back to the Real World

2009-12-26T16:35:00.000-08:00

I'm back home after a few days with my family in Tampa. It was a great time, full of spotty dogs, good company and good food. I definitely did not watch my eating (cinnamon rolls, coffee cake, beer biscuits, Italian pizza, sangria...), but it seems like I was on my feet constantly. Hopefully I haven't fallen too far off the healthy wagon and my work clothes still fit!

My aunt visited from Virginia with her two dalmatians, Jebby and Zoe. Jebby and my Jack are both older, calm dogs, while Zoe and my mom's boxer, Sophie, are hyper little pups.

Jebby, chilling on the swing.

Sophie and Zoe, getting their energy out.

On Christmas Eve, my brother and his girlfriend hosted a get together at their new house. My brother's girlfriend and her mother are great cooks, and we all had a fabulous time.

My brothers and I crammed on the couch....Ryan on the right looks less than thrilled, ha!

My husband and I, in our unintentionally matching sweaters.

Since I have to be back to work on Monday, my husband, Jack and I are all relaxing, and mourning the news of Coach Meyer's resignation. Doesn't Jack just look sick over it?

Have a great rest of the holiday season, ya'll!

Our Holiday Cards

2009-12-19T05:33:00.000-08:00

These Martha Stewart for Crane's were our holiday cards this year. My husband's job is beach related, so these were perfect for us! However, I drastically underestimated the number of cards that we needed, and now these are nowhere to be found. I improvised, and sent one of our wedding pictures to Walgreens to put on one of their holiday card designs. It's not letterpressed, or hand signed, but at this point, it will have to do! This is the picture:
At least we have a common beach theme between the two cards! I'll be picking them up in a couple hours, I hope they turned out well!

Weekend Recap

2009-12-13T16:28:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy weekend at Chez Spotty!

Yesterday we celebrated an early Christmas with my husband's family. They drove over for the day, and my husband and I made a big supper for us all- spaghetti with turkey/feta/spinach meatballs, garlic bread and salad. Last year they came this weekend as well. It's quickly becoming one of our favorite traditions! (I went all out last year with a standing rib roast, corn casserole, mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus...we had sooo much leftovers! We did better this year!)

After they left, my husband and I went and saw The Princess and the Frog. I LOVED this movie. It is so refreshing to see a strong, hard working princess. I definitely identified with Tiana better than any other Disney princess! Ray the firefly was also a highlight. His relationship with "his Evangeline" got me teary eyed!

My favorite Disney Resort is Port Orleans (formerly Dixie Landings) and aspects in this movie were styled after the resort!

My only problem is that this seriously made me want to visit New Orleans. My husband was born there, and I've never been. We had been planning to go to Charleston for our anniversary, but we are now reconsidering- we may be going to Nola instead!

Today I finished reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Ordinarily, I stay FAR away from novels that have strong dog characters. I still can't think of Where the Red Fern Grows or Shiloh without getting emotional. I refuse to read Marley and Me. I know my limits. However, something about this book just called to me. I didn't immediately fall in love with this book- I stopped and restarted reading a few times. By the time I got to the 4th Act, though, the story became absolutely fabulous and I was sad when it was over, not just because the ending was sad, but because I miss the beauty of the writing and the world created by the author. Edgar is now one of my favorite literary characters- up there with Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird and Scarlett O herself. I think his motives and the situations he encountered will go around in my mind for months to come. Most importantly, no dogs were physically abused or harmed in the novel. So if you're sensitive like me, this one's safe.

I hope ya'll had great weekends! Did anyone else see The Princess and the Frog? Did you love it? What about Edgar Sawtelle?

Snack Perfection and Cookie Dough Truffles

2009-12-10T15:47:00.000-08:00

So I have discovered snack perfection- Kashi Honey Sesame crackers, dipped in almond butter, dipped in sweet potato butter. Bold statement, but it's ammaaazing. I brought back the sweet potato butter from my trip to Virginia back in October, and just got around to trying it. It was already hard enough to keep to a single serving of Kashi crack(ers), and with this as a new addition it's pretty much impossible!The day I randomly decided to purchase sweet potato butter. It might not have been a great hair day, but it was a fabulous food day. Also, I should pack gloves the next time I decide to visit 30 degree weather...

In other food news, I finally came to a decision on which cookies to make for the Junior League holiday party. I was all set to make my grandmother's recipe for the raspberry pillow cookies, but at the last minute I saw a recipe for cookie dough truffles over at the How Sweet It Is blog. Seriously, make these. They really do taste like cookie dough!

Since I have all the ingredients for the pillow cookies, I'll be making them at some point, and I'll share the recipe then :)

Last, but not least, it's foodie joke Thursday.

What do you get when you put ducks in a box?

A box of quackers!

Totally in honor of my new snack love.

Glee and a Workout Rant

2009-12-03T16:11:00.000-08:00

Did anyone else see last night's Glee? I don't want to spoil anything- but I will say it was really good in a surprisingly intense way. I like Glee when it's funny better, but it's an amazing show regardless.

So in "healthy" going ons, tonight instead of baking a cake like the last time my husband was travelling for work, I did Level 2 of 30 Day Shred and a 30 minute yoga practice from Exercise TV On Demand. Does anyone else have trouble doing the yoga dvds where there's some corny background? This one had a lady on a dock at sunrise or sunset. It was honestly one of the better ones, but I prefer just people in a studio. I would feel kinda ridiculous doing yoga out on my aunt's dock...weirdos might be staring or something....

This didn't happen this time, but I get the giggles when the instructor says something corny, like "breathe into the sunset," or anything about a happy place. A spinning instructor once kept going on about "climbing the mountains in your mind." If I had rolled my eyes one more I'm pretty my eyeballs would have gotten stuck in some unflattering way.

On that note, to prove I'm not a total cynic, it's the return of Foodie Joke Thursday:

Why did the student eat his homework?

Because his friend told him it was a piece of cake!

So did you roll your eyes?

Another Christmas blog post- and it's only the 2nd!

2009-12-02T16:06:00.000-08:00

After returning from our trip to the inlaws' this weekend, my husband almost immediately began putting up our Christmas decorations! I feel pretty lucky that I found a husband excited about decorating. (But not too excited...)The piece de resistance of our Christmas decoration repertoire is our Gator Christmas tree. The past couple years we have talked about upgrading to a full size tree, but we are both kinda attached to the lil' guy. Every year that we've set him up in that spot we've won a national championship, after all.

The other highlight of our Christmas decorating may constitute first degree animal abuse.

Nothing says "ho ho ho" like a dalmatian that would clearly rather be riding shot gun unbuckled with Tiger Woods at 2 in the morning.

(If it helps my case, those headbands all belong to my mother in law. They aren't actually Jack's).

Remember me?

2009-11-29T13:30:00.000-08:00

I hope ya'll had lovely Thanksgivings :) Mine was full of good company, great deals, Whole Foods goodness and a championship. Before I get to all that, I feel I should let ya'll know where I've been. I wish there some concrete, simple explanation, but there really isn't. Basically, work is really demanding. I'm doing the job of a much more senior person. The equivalent of the president of my company is paying super close attention to my work, because it's pretty high profile in the media. While I don't feel like the workload is beyond my capabilities, I'm frustrated for a myriad of reasons. (I'm getting a lot of positive feedback, so it's not that I'm doing poorly, or anything like that!)

So when I get home, I haven't been wanting to blog or comment because I've been in such an unpleasant state. While I was at my in-laws for Thanksgiving though, I got some news that put things in perspective- my mother in law's friend who is in my field, and actually wrote a recommendation letter for me for grad school, has lost so much business because of the economy she lost her home to foreclosure. I could definitely be in a worse place, and I need to accept that I need to stay where I am for the time being, because things are scary out there for my field!

Ok, unpleasantness over. I just felt as though I needed to explain!

On Wednesday, my husband and I headed two hours down the road to his parent's house for the weekend. His aunt and grandmother came from out of state, so it was fun to catch up with them. His parents live about 30 minutes from a great outlet mall, so I hit up JCrew and took advantage of their 40% off accessory sale. I got a dressy black headband with a flower for the Junior League Christmas party and a long gold necklace with a pearl pendant for work :) (no pictures online because it's factory, I guess?)

I also went to Whole Foods every day but Wednesday and Thursday. I love that place! Their guava empanadas are out of this world. Since I didn't really eat dessert at my in-law's (they have this cake I don't like as their traditional Thanksgiving dessert). I more than made up for it with guava empanadas :)

On Saturday, however, we made mice!

My husband's aunt wanted to make these, and they turned out super cute! All it is is half an oreo, a hershey kiss, a maraschino cherry dipped in melted chocolate, and almond slivers for the ears. We made the eyes with the little frosting tubes you can buy. I think we started a new holiday tradition!

As for traditions, every year my husband's family has a football pool. Everyone picks their teams starting with the NFL games on Thursday and going through Saturday night. Whoever picks the most winners that cover the spread receives the "turkey cup" to display in his or her home that year. Well, this year, I won!!!!

This guy will be proudly displayed on our entertainment center until next year :)

Happy Belated Thanksgiving, everyone! I will most definitely be posting again this week, because I want to share my Christmas decorations (that the husband is currently putting up, ha!) Thanks for sticking with me.

Ugh

2009-11-23T04:05:00.000-08:00

I'm still here! Everything's ok, I just have been so slammed at work, all I want to do at home is...well, nothing (that is, if trashy tv counts as nothing). I have a ton of stuff to write about, so I'll be back! (Totally not said in a Terminator voice!).

Cookies and Jokes are Better than Mopping

2009-11-12T14:31:00.000-08:00

So today I found out I will be making cookies for the Junior League holiday party. I still have a couple of weeks, but right now looking at my cookbooks for cookie recipes is a lot more fun than mopping my floor or working on a work project.

Here are the top cookie recipe contenders so far:

1. Chocolate-chocolate chip walnut cookies. My husband's absolute all time favorite.

2. Cream cheese cookies- I don't think I've ever had these...and, the recipe calls for sprinkles! Actually, I probably have had them and thought they were sugar cookies, because sprinkles = sugar cookies in my mind.

3. My grandmother's pillow cookies- raspberry jam tucked into shortbread.

And, in honor of foodie joke Thursday:

~So a guy walks into a bar.

Orders a drink.

Bartender gets the drink, and excuses himself and heads into the stock room.

Guy hears a tiny voice say "I like your shirt!"

Guy looks around- he's totally alone.

He focuses back on his drink. A few minutes later, he hears the same tiny voice: "I like your haircut!"

Just then the bartender comes back. Guy tells him about the voices.

Bartender says, "That's the nuts- they're complimentary!"~

Yup, I'm a dork.

So what cookie of the three would you choose? What's your favorite Christmas cookie?

I Heart Target

2009-11-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

This time last year, I was stalking department store housewares sections, putting the finishing touches on my wedding registry. One of the patterns I developed a deep affinity for was the kate spade for Lenox Larabee DotsSadly, my husband does not share my love for anything and everything spotted (except for Jack- he loves Jack. Possibly more than his tv during football season. Possibly more than Jelly Belly jelly beans).

In the scheme of wedding planning, there were very few things we disagreed on. Spending an obscene amount of money for photography was one such thing. I did it anyway...and definitely regret it now. Stupid wedding advice websites and their "spend a lot of money on photography" philosophies. The pictures are awful. In hindsight, I definitely should have went with the Dots and compromised on the photographer! Oh, the Dots I could have bought for the price of our photographer...I could have had Dots place settings for all our guests and had more to spare. (I'm really not exaggerating, ugh).

So I was really excited this weekend to find knock off dotty glasses at Target this weekend- 4 highballs for $9.99! I couldn't afford not to get them! By no means are they exact replicas- the dots aren't etched as they on the kate spade ones. But for $9.99, I'm pretty happy. Sadly, there isn't a picture on Target's website, and there hasn't been any natural light here in days thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Ida. So my pictures are really more of a picture of a flash or a blurry, dark picture of a generic looking glass- not worth sharing.

Have you found a great deal lately?

Making My Dad Proud

2009-11-05T16:20:00.000-08:00

What do you call a phony macaroni??

An im-pasta!

(im-pasta...imposter, get it?)

I'm thinking I should start a "Foodie Joke Thursday" or some such nonsense. Between me, my dad, father in law and boss, I have a treasure trove of material. It could go on for years.

Anyone else love corny jokes? Please share your favorites!

**On an unrelated, more serious note, if you'd like to support a good cause, visit Katie's blog. Not only does she post a bunch of neat recipes (and does she ever decorate amazing cupcakes!), every dollar she raises from page views this month is going to support The Enough Project, which campaigns against genocide and crimes against humanity. **

I'm (normally) a decider....

2009-11-03T14:54:00.000-08:00

The past few months I've been uncharacteristically indecisive about my hair.

It all started when I grew my hair out for my wedding- to achieve the updo I wanted, it needed to fall an inch or so below my shoulders; whereas I've typically kept it right at my shoulders. A couple of months after the wedding, after being sick of long hair, I had it cut into a bob.

So here's my dilemma- I don't know whether to keep it short or grow it out. I like it short, because I wear it down instead of pulling it into a ponytail- which looks more professional and put together (until my hair straightener breaks, or I go on vacation and can only pack 50 pounds worth of stuff, or it's way humid....).

I like it long, because it's easy to hide a bad hair day with a pony tail, and, more importantly, I can go more than 5 weeks not going to the salon.

Here it is at the length I've had the most since undergrad (I'm on the left):

(Last November)

And a little bit longer:
(In April)

I don't have the time or money to get my hair cut every 2 weeks. so 3 weeks out of every 5, I look like I need a haircut. As evidenced here:

(In August or September, I think)

So I'm leaning towards growing it back.

What do you think I should do? Are you the kind of person who obsesses over hair decisions? Normally I'm not, but this time I just don't know!!

Almost the Weekend

2009-10-29T18:15:00.001-07:00

This time tomorrow I'll be relaxing with the sweetest little girl I know.

This is Sophie, my parent's boxer puppy. These are her baby pictures. She's much bigger now, but still a little runt at 40 pounds. It's kind of bittersweet, because while I love spending time with my family, this will be the first time that I miss the Florida Georgia football game since I was a sophomore in college, 6 years ago! My husband and I couldn't get tickets this year, and I despise having to try to scalp. Oh, well. Seeing Sophie beats hanging out with 90,000+ crazy fans, anyway.

Have a great, safe Halloween, everyone!! And Go Gators!!! Beat those 'Dawgs!!

I burned my bundt cake

2009-10-28T16:33:00.000-07:00

My husband is out of town for work, which, for some reason, always puts me in a baking mood. Tonight I decided to utilize one of our yet unused wedding gifts- the bundt pan.

A few weeks ago I bought the ingredients for my grandmother's poppy seed cake recipe. I meant to make it for a work function, but got busy and ended up bringing in store made cookies Laaaame.

This cake is a family favorite. My dad requests it every year for his birthday. My mom gave me the recipe earlier this year under the front of me wanting to make it for (a made up) work function. In reality, I was asking her for the recipe to include it in a cookbook.

For our wedding, my husband and I combined some of our favorite family recipes and compiled them into a blurb book, which we gifted to our parents at our rehearsal dinner. Out of all the creativity and work that went into our wedding, this cookbook is by far the aspect that makes me the most proud. I'm happy to share the recipe with my blog friends, too :)

Poppy Seed Cake

1 yellow cake mix

1 package vanilla instant pudding, 4 serving size

4 eggs (I used 3, and couldn't tell the difference)

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup poppy seeds (see if your Publix carries the Badia brand, by the Spanish food, cheaper) --note from my mom, I love it!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in large bowl, beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour into greased and floured bundt cake pan. Bake at 350 for 50 min. or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes.

Like I mentioned in the title, I burned it leaving it in the oven for 50 minutes, so I recommend checking it at 40-45 minutes. It definitely wasn't inedible, but just a little crispier than I would prefer!

What kind of cake do you always request for your birthday? I don't have a specific request, and neither do my mom or brothers. My dad is the only one in our family, and it's this one!

KomBOOcha (Happy Almost Halloween)!

2009-10-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

I was thrilled recently to win my first ever blog giveaway!! I was honestly feeling a little jaded- I participated in a blog swap and never received my return swap (or even a thank you note). On top of that, my debit card information was stolen somehow, and someone(s) got a little spend happy at gas stations throughout Missouri and Illinois. So I was super excited when Whitney let me know I won two Kombucha coupons from her!

I tried Kombucha once, way back before I knew what it was. I picked it up when it was on sale at one of my favorite little gourmet stores in Alabama. I definitely had that "where is the expiration date, this stuff is waaay spoiled- omg I'm going to be in the hospital with food poisoning" reaction. I ended up throwing it away after about 2 sips.

A few months went by and I had pretty much forgotten about it- when low and behold! Kombucha showed up in my reader :) And apparently it was supposed to taste vinegar-ish. Ohhh.

So yeah. I actually really do like it now. It took me a little bit- I think the smell fades a little after it's been opened for a few minutes. I really like having a fizzy drink that's not full of chemicals.

I tried the Gingerberry today, and the flavor was great. The ginger taste wasn't overwhelming- I'd say it was even more subtle then ginger ale. I have the guava to try tomorrow. I love guava like ridiculous, so hopefully it lives up to my expectations!

Thank you Whitney!!

Festivals (and Polenta) for the Rest of Us

2009-10-25T16:01:00.000-07:00

It was festival weekend here in North Florida! The weather was gorgeous, so my husband and I took advantage of any excuse to be outside. Yesterday we headed to the local Greek Orthodox Church's food festival for lunch. It was completely packed (and we were parked illegally) so we just stayed long enough to split a gyro.

Then we drove down to the Gulf for the annual butterfly festival. Every year monarch butterflies migrate and stop at the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge. There were thousands of them! It was pretty neat :)
Not a cloud in the sky.

For dinner tonight I was feeling adventurous, and left the safety of a recipe. I kind of loosely based this on the Black Eyed Peas and Polenta recipe from my Junior League cookbook that I'm sure ya'll are getting tired of reading about; and also incorporated my mom's way of making it.

Here's my quick and easy polenta recipe:

1 roll of store bought polenta

1 bunch of green onions, sliced

1 tomato, sliced

1 can of black eyed peas, rinsed

2/3 cup colby jack cheese

crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

garlic powder, to taste

Directions:

Slice the polenta into rings.

Heat a non stick saute pan over medium heat, and add polenta. Heat until darker yellow, flipping half way through. Meanwhile, add the black eyed peas, tomato, green onion and seasonings to a sauce pan and heat over low. Once the polenta is almost done, add the cheese to the black eyed pea mixture. Once the cheese is melted, plate the polenta, and cover with the black eyed pea mixture.

It was great with asparagus on the side!

This was the husband's first time ever having polenta. Have you tried it? What do you think?

It's Alright By Me

2009-10-24T05:05:00.000-07:00

Forgive me blog friends, for I have sinned, it's been 47 days since my last run-fession.

(Is run-fession a Run DMC thing?? Google turns up nothing...but for some reason I'm thinking it is, and therefore, I may be the only person that has quoted Darius Rucker and Run DMC all in the same post...)

It's been well over a week since I last ran. I've done some yoga and gone for a few walks, but nothing intensive.

I've come to the conclusion that I'm not the kind of person that wants to be a runner bad enough to wake up at 5 in the morning and go into work later than I do now. I don't want to go on vacation and have, in this case, my aunties, waiting on me while I'm doing my thing in the hotel gym. (Not to mention, traveling with my smelly running clothes for the duration of the trip- that's just gross to me).

So I'm not hardcore.

And that's ok. I'm about to head out now to do an easy 2 miles run/walk, to ease myself back into my routine. And that's enough.

For my lifestyle now, that's enough. It's all about wanting it, and I only want to be a strong runner a little bit. I want vacations, quality time with my husband and dog in the evenings, and the quiet time at work in the early mornings more.

And that's ok.

Fashion Advice, Please!

2009-10-22T12:20:00.001-07:00

As a life long Floridian, I need some serious help.

I have no idea what to wear when it comes to cold(er) weather. I've lived in North Florida for three years now, and up until now I've been able to get away with basic black pants, khakis and cardigans for work, and jeans and hoodies for weekends. Basic and boring. Fine with me.

However.

I've joined a social organization, and also now have more social commitments through my husband's job. I don't exactly want to go to happy hour with after dinners and wine and cheese parties in my business casual or college student attire. For 8 or 9 months out of the year, I wear skirts and sundresses to these get togethers, but now, I just don't know. Tights are terribly uncomfortable to me, and don't seem warm at all.

So what do I do? Wear black pants and trouser jeans for 3 months? Get over my tights anxiety? What do you all do? Help me, please!

I Missed Ya'll!!

2009-10-21T14:53:00.000-07:00

I am back from my mountain get away! It was a fun time- the weather didn't cooperate, but there was enough sun to walk around Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's house) and go to an apple orchard.If I have to be stuck with a rainy vacation, my aunties are great people to be stuck with. They know all the celebrity gossip, and we have fascinating, enlightening discussions such as: how cold does it have to be to snow?* Where does the expression Cloud 9 come from?** And what exactly does Miley say she is rocking in the party in the USA song??*** (Seriously, how did people find out anything before the Internet)?

Other than looking up the answers to these vexing questions, I took a total break from the Internet for the first time since college. It was nice, but I did miss reading the news and everybody's blogs! I definitely needed the break from work, though. I should be back to commenting like normal now :)

While I was in the airport without my computer, I began reading Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. I'm only about half way through- so far it's excellent. I'm honestly kind of surprised it's taking me this long to get through it! After The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons I expected this book to be formulaic, but so far I've been pleasantly surprised. So reading and watching Glee is on my agenda for tonight!

*I still want to stand by 32 degrees, but my Floridian self knows nothing about snow. Snow may occur when the air temperature is warmer than freezing.

**From some old cloud classification system where the 9 clouds were the big, pretty puffy ones.

*** Kicks....not something that rhymes and starts with a d, as previously suspected by moi. I guess the whole pole controversy just made my mind go inadvertently into the gutter?

Out Like a Trout

2009-10-14T04:06:00.001-07:00

It looks like Vera Bradley threw up in the trunk of my car right now...which means vacation time!! I'll be back into town late Sunday night.

Hopefully the weather will be pleasant in Virginia and the weatherman is wrong...

Decadent Dinner

2009-10-11T17:35:00.000-07:00

I think I can feel my arteries hardening as I'm typing. Tonight's dinner was over the top- it involved pasta, shrimp, cream cheese, blue cheese crumbles, and a whole stick of butter. Definitely an every once in a while treat.(It is really hard to take an attractive picture of pasta. It tasted a lot better than it looks, promise).

It was my first entree experiment from the latest addition to my cookbook collection, which I posted about here. If tonight's recipe is any indication, I'll be turning to it quite a bit!

Also, I just want to thank my friend, Emily for the blog help- I now have an "about me" and "pictures" link. I feel like a real blogger now, ha!

Hope ya'll had a great weekend and that all your teams pulled it out (like mine did, as nerve wracking as it was...go Gators!) :)

The "discussing personal finance" Taboo

2009-10-10T04:56:00.000-07:00

"Been singin' for my rent and singin' for my supper

I'm above the below and below the upper

I'm stuck in the middle where money gets tight

But I guess I'm doin' alright

I'm all I'm all I'm alright

It's a beautiful day not a cloud in sight so I guess I'm doin' alright"

Personal finance is well, really personal. It's something that's been on my mind a lot lately, as I've seen friends and other bloggers leaving their jobs and moving on to less lucrative, but more fulfilling occupations. In this post, I alluded to my frustration with where I am currently. To combat some of that frustration, I'd thought I would make a mini financial plan.

Goal (Savings, Short Term):
1. Establish six months worth of spending in an savings account (Spending is not just rent- it's for car and student loan payments, gas, food, and utilities).

Objective:
1. At the end of every month (pay period) set aside what is left in a savings account.

Policy: Maximize what is left at the end of every month by reducing unneccessary spending. This includes not buying any more black heels or cardigans (tear), not eating out for lunch so much, being better about seeking out coupons and sales, and reducing the amount of food I throw away because it's gone bad.

Policy: Research other housing options. (Right now, we live in a townhouse, which we moved into two years ago this month. In two years, rents have reduced somewhat due to the economic climate. We could save about $200 money in rent each month, but the upfront cost of moving is high, and we don't want to be stuck in this city if another opportunity comes up. Our lease is month to month now. Would reducing my savings to move now be worth the savings in the long run- especially if we have to factor in possibly breaking a lease)?

Policy: Pursue every viable opportunity for promotion at work in order to increase earnings.

Ultimate Goal (Long Term- Stay at Home):
1. Stay at home full time when we eventually have a baby

Objective:
1. Pay down my student loan in hyper speed.

Policy: Once the six month savings account is established, begin paying more than the minimum monthly payments on my student loans. Dedicate the left over money in my account every pay period to the next month's payment. Once I pay down my loans enough so that the balance is on par with my annual salary, research refinancing to reduce the monthly minimum payments, to make staying at home more feasible.

Policy: Once the payments are smaller, and my husband has achived his down payment saving goal, live on just the husband's income to make sure we can make it work.

So where am I with this plan? Right now, I have about a month and a half worth of rent saved. I need to pay down about $12,000 in student loans before I look into refinancing....which may or may not be worth it, depending on the interest rate.

I know it sounds daunting (I probably just made a lot of you thankful at your absence of student loans, right??). But in a year and a half, my husband and I saved enough to pay for our wedding and Alaska honeymoon, debt free.

The past six months we have made some big purchases that we had put off until after the wedding, but now it's time to get back into frugal mode. (Anyone else hate that word, frugal? It sounds like some kind of monster, or something...gross). So as long as we keep our jobs and nothing major happens, we can definitely make this happen by the time I'm in my late 20s/early 30s.

Do you have a financial plan to help you achieve your goals?

Cupcake Review

2009-10-07T17:04:00.000-07:00

September 28 marked mine and my husband's six month wedding anniversary. We celebrated by taking advantage of the discount Williams-Sonoma offers on registry items up to six months after your big day. We managed to use the rest of our gift cards on all kinds of good kitchen items, including, Sprinkles cupcake mix! (And the cooling racks pictured). :) We chose the Spice cake flavor.

My verdict? Not the best I've ever had. I found the texture to be a little dense for my liking. In interest of full disclosure, I didn't use the flat stand mixer attachment that the recipe called for. I only have the kneading and beater attachments so that may have affected the texture. Other than that, I followed the directions completely.

On the positive side, this mix smelled amazing! It came in the mail packaged up with our other purchases, and the shipping box smelled sooo good. Unfortunately, it smelled better than it tasted!! The spice flavor was good, I just wish the texture wasn't so off.

Overall, $14 is a lot to spend on cupcake mix. Maybe I got my hopes up too high? Have you tried these cupcakes, or any other mixes from Williams-Sonoma? What do you think?

A Signature Husband Dinner

2009-10-06T16:44:00.000-07:00

After spending yesterday napping and watching quality programs like Handy Manny, parts of the movies Hook and The Incredibles, I'm feeling much better today, and was back to work. (As an aside, have you seen the Disney channel's Handy Manny? I LOVE that show...because inside I'm really like 3 years old or something...I mean, the tools are adorable, and I always loved that guy from That 70s show).

Tonight, I was lucky and the husband cooked us dinner. He made one of his specialties, enchiladas. He's been making these for us since we started dating, back when he was a law student and I was an undergrad back in Gainesville. Those were the days. Florida Georgia tickets were easy to come by and I had time to work out most everyday, sigh. (Anyone have any FL/GA tickets to sell to me? Please?)

For our wedding, we compiled a cookbook to give to our parents as a gift. (Seriously, what do you get for, not two, but four people who have everything?) We included all of our favorite family recipes, from my grandmother's poppyseed (benne) cake to his grandaddy's ribs. (I'm full of asides tonight- benne, pronounced Benny, is South Carolina talk for poppyseeds. I'm named for the Ashley River! I have never lived in South Carolina though, my mom came to Florida when she was a kid).

These enchiladas were one of the first recipes that came to mind when I came up with the cookbook idea. It was a four star, must include, for sure. Here it is:

2 chicken breasts, diced (for chicken in half of the enchiladas, adjust accordingly if you're putting chicken in all of them- in the above picture there is steak in the right half, the other half is vegetarian. The husband did NOT like the steak in them- he much prefers the chicken)

1 cup rice, cooked

8 tortillas

1 jar Paul Newman's salsa (we like peach)

1 jar taco (or enchilada) sauce

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 bell pepper

1 small can green chilis

shredded Mexican cheese, to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Cook the chicken with about 1/2 of the salsa over medium heat. Heat tortillas in pan or microwave (if in microwave cover with a damp paper towel), this makes the tortillas more workable. Heat the beans, chilis and bell pepper in the microwave or sauce pan. Place cooked chicken and salsa, rice, beans, pepper, chilis, taco sauce, and sprinkle in some of the cheese into the warm tortillas. Wrap all the tortillas into rolls. Place rolls on an ungreased cookie sheet. Cover the rolls with the remaining salsa and taco sauce. Cover that with remaining cheese. Bake in oven until cheese is melted and a little brown.

I hope you try it! It's a really good, quick weeknight dinner :)

Back to Nike

2009-10-05T06:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a lot of fun! My friend C got into town Friday night. We spent the evening catching up over wine, then woke up Saturday and headed to downtown Tallahassee for the farmers market and Asian festival. I had Pad Thai from my favorite local restaurant, and my husband was sooo excited to get bubble tea! We used to always stop into a local place when we lived in Gainesville, but nowhere convenient to our house now has it.

Then we went to a sports bar, and well....We will not discuss the 'Noles Boston College game. I want to be a 'Noles fan (I've lived here for three years now). They just make it so darn hard.

On Sunday, I finally got new running shoes! I was overdue to the point of being dumb, haha. I think my New Balances were 2 years old! But in all fairness I was pretty inactive for at least a year and a half of that...After a three year New Balance and Saucony hiatus, I'm back to Nikes. I'm pretty excited to try out the whole Nike+ thing! Right now I just rely on Map My Run and the Parks and Rec website to know my running distance. It will be nice to actually have my distance in my ear and on my computer!

So now I'm taking today off of work just to relax. I haven't been feeling so great- not the all out flu, just tired and ache-y. I didn't have any scheduled meetings or calls today at work, so this was my best bet for a rest day! Hopefully it does the trick- I have airborne, orange juice, and I've been careful about taking my multivitamin since this started. Hopefully I'm back to normal tomorrow!

Running Inspiration!

2009-10-02T14:37:00.000-07:00

She's my height, almost double my age, and has two kids. This afternoon I read an article in my hometown newspaper about Leslie Stallings, who ran three marathons in three days!! She was the woman who finished with the fastest overall time. AMAZING.

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/running/article1040716.ece

Another inspiring story to mentally file for when I just don't feel like it. (It being eating right, exercising or pushing myself when I know I can take it).

House Guest Prep

2009-10-01T14:48:00.000-07:00

The humidity is greatly reduced, my hair isn’t frizzy, I wore a long sleeved sweater outside without being terribly uncomfortable, and I didn’t have to wait out the heat until quarter ‘til 7 to take Jack to the park last night. Autumn is here!

To celebrate, I’m cooking up some of Happy Herbivore’s chili. http://happyherbivore.com/2009/09/chickpea-and-corn-chili/

I’m prepping it tonight to reheat quickly tomorrow, jalapeño cornbread on the side. I’m really excited for tomorrow because I have a guest arriving!

My friend C is coming up for the weekend. She’s one of my good friends from grad school. Together, we survived what may honestly be the most boring class ever to be taught in a university setting - Analysis of Policy Planning. Thankfully C subscribed to many fine academic publications, such as US Weekly, and the Crate and Barrel catalogue, which fit nicely inside a portfolio notepad, so we were able to get a lot of “studying” done during lecture. (Seriously, not even the most academically motivated, passionate student could focus in this class, promise. I do not typically advocate fun reading in class, honest).

So the guest bedroom is made up with fresh linens, all of my paperwork and wedding stuff that I haven’t organized into a permanent place yet is somewhat hidden away, and a bottle of wine (or two) is chilling in the fridge :) I love visitors!

Do you like to entertain? It seems like football season brings a bunch of visitors to my house this time every year! I love it!

Wicked, Honeycrisp and Volunteering

2009-09-28T17:18:00.001-07:00

I'm going to see it in Tampa this spring!! I'm very excited. The last production I saw was Thoroughly Modern Milly, over a year ago! My aunt and I used to have season tickets to the Tampa Performing Arts Center before I moved. It was great fun!

In food news, I had my first Honeycrisp apple of the season today :) It was delicious! Unfortunately it was not enough of a snack to hold me over through my hair cut after work, and I ended up eating half a loaf of bread for dinner. I don't remember the last time I was that hungry!

Oh well, I'll do better managing my hunger tomorrow. I'm volunteering with the Junior League to sell cookbooks tomorrow evening at a local restaurant that contributed a recipe. I'm looking forward to it! I'm working the shift with two women I haven't met yet...I hope they're nice!

Retail and Baking Therapy

2009-09-26T14:33:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, work has been exhausting lately.

For example, I was in a meeting when an analysis/spreadsheet I prepared was being discussed. A woman, who I am 99.9% sure makes at least triple what I make, stated that the analysis was over her head "and above her pay grade." Classic, right? (She doesn't work where I do, the meeting included external players- I'm making assumptions regarding her paygrade because she is a partner in a law firm).

To reward myself for maintaining a professional demeanor despite that statement and others like it, I turned to Lilly Pulitzer.

Nothing can brighten my day in quite the same way a darling patchwork print can :) I do not care that it is technically autumn, it is still 90 degrees here. I haven't decided if I'll wear it out in public this weekend, but prancing about the house wearing it has definitely brightened my mood!

Plus, check out how well it matches my guest bedroom comforter and favorite painting! I should check to see if I could get throw pillows in that pattern...

On Friday, my work stress was further counterbalanced with the arrival of the brand new Junior League of Tallahassee cookbook!!I've marked about ten recipes I'm going to be trying in the coming weeks! I can't wait to share them :)

How do you cope with school or work stress? Exercise? Shopping? Cooking? A combination?

Quick Update

2009-09-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

Jack's been back to the vet and his infections are all cleared up! If that wasn't good news enough, his new muscle relaxer (methocarbamol) is working splendidly. Most evenings I can give the meth (heehee) to him alone, without his other 3 drugs and he is fine. Such a relief!

It's a hard life being a dalmatian...

In other news, work is crazy!!! The head of my place of employ is paying very close attention to a project I'm working on, driving my boss's boss crazy. The crazy is definitely trickling down! I like being busy; I like feeling like what I'm doing is important, but good gracious I'm ready to wrap it all up. Next month I'll have been working on this particular project for an entire year! C'est la vie...

Opa! Yogurt! by: Guest Blogger "the Husband"

2009-09-22T16:56:00.000-07:00

First, I guess introductions are in order. I am "the Husband" referred by Mrs. Spotty Prep. (note: I noticed proper nouns are not often used in these blogs, so I'll try to stay true to form.) I practice environmental law in Florida. Unlike most other law school grads I know, I generally enjoy my job because I do something I really care about and it also affords me the time do the other things I enjoy. These distractions include playing league softball, watching SEC football, riding my mountain bike in the beautiful hills that surround this city, and of course spending time with my lovely bride.

Out of all the things listed above, "the Wife" asked me to guest blog about a different subject. A rising snack trend, Greek Yogurt. I can't say I am an expert, but do love the combination of sweet and thick. First off this stuff is delicious. I view it as a healthy substitute to ice cream. If this is not healthy, please do not burst my euphoric bubble of yogurt love. Greek yogurt calms my snack cravings each time. Further, all the brands I've seen are organic. So it must be good for you, right?

Now, I know what half of you are thinking, this yogurt is for people in their ivory towers, eating their yogurt with their dainty spoons, pinkies up, stroking their beards, and asking what are we to do about this young upstart, Elvis Presley. While the other half of you are thinking, this yogurt is for smelly hippies, eating their granola and demanding you stop taking hot showers, man.

Well I gotta tell ya, this is a yogurt of the people. Greek people. A generally industrious group who gave us things like democracy, fancy white sculptures, geometry, and a great excuse to smash plates on the ground.

So lets start at the beginning, because that is a good place to begin.

What you get when you buy:

Greek yogurt generally comes in small plastic snack size containers with a foil lid. Inside lies a thicker version of yogurt. Kind of the thickness of cottage cheese, but not curdled. (Does that make sense?) It is generally white and on the top or the bottom is a fruit or honey layer.

What you do with it:

Of course, pull back the foil. Stick you spoon in and mix the white yogurt with the fruit or honey. This turns the little plastic bowl into a brightly colored pool of delicious. Stir to desired combination. Greek yogurt is not the kind of yogurt you dive straight into. Like all good things, Greek yogurt is worth working for to get the perfect blend. Lastly, start mouwing down.

I've tried 3 brands and here are some general description with pros and cons:

Chobani:

Definitely the one I would suggest for the uninitiated.

Medium consistency.

Very sweet fruit add ins. Peach is the personal favorite.

From what I have observed, generally the lowest price.

Easy to find in most grocery stores.

Oikos (tried free, courtesy of Stonyfield coupons):

Thickest of the three.

It has that interesting, sour yogurt taste. However, when combined with the fruit or honey, that goes away.

Love the honey flavor.

Medium price range of the three.

Less easy to find in grocery stores.

Fage:

This is the hardest for me to pronounce. "The Wife" always corrects me because my pronunciation comes out sounding politically incorrect.

Great tasting yogurt.

Fruit mix ins leave something to be desired, but the honey is quite tasty.

It is a little hard to mix in the fruit and honey because they are in a separate compartment. I probably need to invest into smaller spoons to dig out all the sweet goodness. My guess is the separate compartment keeps the yogurt tasting so fresh.

Most expensive of the three.

Hard to find in the grocery store.

Well, I hope this has been a good education in the yogurt of the people. Greek people that is. Let us know what you think or if you come across other brands you like.

In Defense of Cubicles*

2009-09-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

I work an office job. Some aspects of my job are incredibly frustrating and mind numbing. Other aspects are interesting and challenging. When I chose the area I wanted to study in school, this is not what I thought I would be doing.

I left graduate school in December 2007. By that point, the world in my field as I knew it from my internships had tilted sharply, and was soon to be turned upside down by the economic climate.

I luckily had a job offer before graduation, and accepted. Today I still work at the same place, just at a higher level. I’m not doing exactly what I set out to do, but at least what I’m doing correlates. I have a steady paycheck and great boss. I am very, very thankful and don’t complain.

That being said, inspirational- live- your- dream talk can really bother me. I’m not living my dream, and it’s a sore spot. The person who irritated me today is in a different field than me. She quit her job to live her dream, which is fantastic.

Lately, I’m starting to feel like this person looks down on anyone in my situation. Her message is that working in an office environment could be the worst thing that could ever happen to her. How could anyone possibly choose such a thing? To her, taking the risk and quitting her job was a matter of shopping at Publix instead of Whole Foods. For me, quitting would mean shopping at the food bank instead of Publix. If I told my parents I was quitting, moving back in with them and consulting on my own until the market picked back up, I think they would laugh, then (rightfully) have me committed.

My big point is: there’s respect in sticking with a job you might not love or toughing out a situation. Even though I may let this person make me feel like it, I’m not working this job because I’m unintelligent, cowardly or uncreative enough to see my way out. I’m doing it because I’m proud to be financially responsible, self-sufficient and, most importantly, good at it!

Here’s to not comparing ourselves to others and doing what we have to do.

*My apologies to Mr. Pollan. :)

Happy Birthday!

2009-09-20T05:01:00.001-07:00

On September 20, 1985, my little life was changed forever when my mom gave birth to twins!

They did a great job as ushers at my wedding earlier this year :) Today my little brothers turn 24! Happy birthday to two of the hardest working, funniest and sweetest people I know!

Road Trip!

2009-09-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

This time next month I'll be tourist-ing around in the mountains of Virginia and/or North Carolina! Next month can't come soon enough...I haven't been to the mountains in the fall since I was in high school! (It's been 7 years since high school, yikes!) I'm so looking forward to a road trip with my favorite aunties :) These pictures are from our last road trip, to Asheville, in summer 2006! It's been way too long.
I can't wait for apple orchards, wineries and great fall scenery!

What's the best road trip you've taken? I think this trip to Asheville/Hendersonville, Tennessee and the husband's and my trip to Savannah are tied for my favorites :)

I know I'm supposed to be going healthy, but...

2009-09-15T14:51:00.000-07:00

The cookbook Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar is coming out soon!! If it contains even half the amazing recipes as Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, I will be one very happy camper (cookie monster?).

I bought the Cupcakes edition about a year ago, after seeing rave reviews in the blog world. Since then, the husband and I have brought cupcakes to almost every occasion to which we have been invited. Some of our favorites are the pistachio rosewater (serious unique yum) and my most recent baking endeavor, the almond and apricot preserves cupcake. (I substituted raspberry preserves and cut the amount of sugar to make it more muffin like).

My husband made the s’mores variety for a work function a while back; and we happily attended a party where one of the guests baked the margarita variety. She bought the cookbook after my rave reviews and tasting the s’mores.

Veganomicon, by the same authors, contains one cookie recipe that the husband and I are absolutely crazy for. It’s been featured on the blog before...

Yup, I am most definitely looking forward to the release of this cookbook in November.

What’s your favorite type of cookie? I have to go with classic chocolate chip…

Finally Friday!

2009-09-11T15:00:00.001-07:00

I am so excited for this weekend- I'm going to see my favorite team play some football! Last season I only made one game, and I'm hoping to do better this year :) Let's go Gators!!!

A few weeks ago one of my coworkers brought in tomato plants to give away. I'm really happy (and a bit surprised) I haven't killed mine yet. It looks like it's time to find a more permanent home for it, though! Since the husband and I rent a townhouse, I'd prefer not to plant it in the ground outside. I like the idea of a portable plant :)

I really like these galvanized planters...but they are slightly out of budget. And by slightly I mean hundreds of dollars out of budget. Also, there's a good chance that once I see them without the delightful topiaries, they might lose some of their appeal.

I also like the idea of getting a plain white planter and painting it to suit my favorite color of the day. This is the most realistic option.

So football and planter shopping/painting/plating, that about sums up my activities for the weekend! What are you up to?

...My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by the attacks eight years ago today.

Poor Jack

2009-09-08T16:55:00.000-07:00

My poor sweet spotty pup has both a bladder infection and an ear infection. He's on antibiotics and has an appointment scheduled for next week to make sure they clear up! I feel so bad for him- I knew his ear was bothering him the past few days, but I had no idea about the other infection!

Have any of you other doggy moms out there heard of a plug in dog pheromone generator? It's supposed to be a tool for anti-anxiety. The vet told me about it- she's had a good experience with her anxious dog. Anyone tried it? I'm somewhat skeptical, but Jack's anxiety is terrible. He's been on a veritable drug cocktail, but the separation anxiety persists. I'd love a more natural solution...

My First Race, Epilogue

2009-09-07T08:35:00.000-07:00

I did it! I finished a 6k (3.7 miles) in 41 minutes. I wasn't last, so I achieved my goal! (I'm on the right, sprinting towards the finish!)

Highlights:

For breakfast, I fueled up with a http://fitnessista.com/ inspired breakfast cookie. I mixed Bob's Red Mill Muesli (oats, trictacale, barley and raisins) with almond milk, cinnamon and peanut butter and refrigerated overnight. It was delicious! I ate about an hour and a half before the start of the race and wasn't too full. Perfect!

I am not sore now, and don't expect to be. I've never had sore muscles during or after a run. I think my muscles are in good shape, but my breathing capacity stinks. That's where I need to improve. Anyone have any tips, besides just running three to four times a week?

After the race, I was excited to find TCBY yogurt :) I actually got it to give to my husband, but he didn't want it. I ended up eating on the ride home and loved it! It's not something I'd want again any time soon, but it was perfect in that moment.

My husband is awesome. He's been helping me wrap the blister on my ankle all week. (Note to self: don't wear new shoes to Ikea). He played photographer and cheerleader today; and I'm so immensely grateful.

I met up with my coworker and friend, Emily, http://thebigbluedog.blogspot.com/, before the race. I love how we were numbers 401 and 104, haha. She did a great job, and I can't wait until I can keep up with her/beat her time ;)

I'm spending the rest of the holiday re-reading The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy. I read it when I was in high school, and I think it's one of those books that mean something else when you're older. To Kill a Mockingbird meant so much more to me at 24 than at 14, and I think this will be the same way!! The husband and I don't have tickets to the Miami FSU game tonight, so we will be watching that tonight from the comfort of our living room. Have a great rest of the weekend!!

Oh, and my pink running skirt I mentioned in my last post was still a little damp from washing, so I just wore a boring ol' outfit. I'll be rocking it in my next race for sure, though!

My First Race, Prologue

2009-09-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning I'm participating in my first 5k. I'm pretty nervous- major butterflies!

I did a test run last night- I can't quite run the entire route, so my game plan is to run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes the whole way. I know I'm not going to place very well, but hopefully there will be people walking so I'm not last :) Even if I am, my sweet husband and dear friend Emily over at http://thebigbluedog.blogspot.com/ will be waiting for me at the finish line; and I'll be wearing my favorite little pink and white running skirt! How could I possibly feel down under those circumstances?

This whole running experience has been so humbling. I don't quite know why I thought I could take up running mid summer and be kicking booty and taking names by Labor Day. To me, the reality is that if it was easy, everyone would be doing it and there wouldn't be an obesity problem here and now. I just need to keep reminding myself that!

Here goes nothing, ya'll. Be back tomorrow with a recap :)

I'm Just Sayin'

2009-09-03T15:19:00.000-07:00

My goodness it's been a crazy week here in Chez Spotty! Since I've last updated, I've made the 8 hour trip to South Florida and back. I attended a baby shower, toured both of my brother's newly purchased houses, ran/walked quite a few miles, swam, fished (catch and release!), and went on Ikea and Greenwise shopping sprees. Factor in staying late at work a few evenings since I've returned, and I've been quite busy! I have no idea how some bloggers manage to post multiple times a day!

A few observations I've made over the past few days:

September in Florida is a terrible, terrible time to break one's hair straightener.

The email list titled "things people aged 25-35 think about" is mostly true. The mapquest directions to get out of my parent's neighborhood extend all the way to direction number 7. It's not that big of a neighborhood.

Ikea is a much more enjoyable place to shop on a Monday than on a Saturday.

For a place that promotes a young, hip, cost effective image, there are an awful lot of senior citizens shopping at Ikea. Both on Saturdays and Mondays. Especially on Mondays.

My brother's 3 month old kitten and one year old chihuahua play together and it's absolutely adorable. However, after seeing the kitten jump from the back of the couch to the bar stool about 2 feet away, the chihuahua will attempt and FAIL. I need to work on my chihuahua catching reflexes.

Eating Sabra Supremely Spicy Hummus for breakfast with crackers will give me heartburn. It's happened 3 times, you'd think I'd have learned that by now. It's just so delicious.

Have a great long weekend everyone!

Go Gators and Noles!! (I graduated from both schools. Except for one game a year, I cheer for both schools!)

You’ve heard about my faux-jitas, how about faux-reos?

2009-08-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

I just tried Back to Nature’s classic crème cookies- holy cow, run, don’t walk, to the store and get these. I’m pretty sure they taste better than Oreos, with no trans fats or artificial ingredients.

They are buy one, get one free at Publix this week, along with Ben and Jerry’s ice cream! Dangerous, dangerous week for the waistlines of Publix shoppers, ya’ll. I predict that Think Thin bars and Slim Fast will be on sale next week.

(Shameless disclaimer- I bought these cookies myself and have not been, or will be, in anyway compensated for my glowing endorsement).

Now I’m off to get ready for dinner with a friend who is passing through town tonight! While I’m in the habit of predicting things, I see a glass of sangria in my near future…

So So Shopping Day and Sweet Little Pups

2009-08-23T09:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the husband and I ventured out to find a baby shower present for my dear friend from graduate school who is expecting in November. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a gift, but I found some pretty good deals for myself! Target's excellent summer shoe clearance continues- these were $6.24! I think they will go great with a white skirt and a navy or green top. I only have until Labor Day to wear them this year, but for the price I couldn't pass them up! I'm sure I will still love them next year :)I also got these cute cocktail napkins that coordinate quite well with our living room. The husband was born in New Orleans, so we love anything with a crawdaddy motif! They were half price.

Additionally, Jack has been playing the part of a gracious host while we entertain a house guest this weekend.

What this picture doesn't show is Jack scarfing up Lincoln's dinner not a minute before I took this! It's been fun watching Lincoln while his people are out of town. Jack has mostly enjoyed the company!

Stuffed with Leftovers Peppers

2009-08-20T17:48:00.000-07:00

This is a dinner I had been looking forward to all week. My local Publix is running a special sale on bell peppers, and they have looked absolutely divine! This is one of my favorite quick, versatile weeknight dinners.

4 bell peppers
1 cup (dry) cooked quinoa
Half yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

Approximately 1 cup of button mushrooms
Tablespoon or so of olive oil
Half a tomato, diced (just what I had, use more if you’d like)
Marinara, to taste
Goat cheese, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice the bell peppers length wide and dispose of the seeds.

Sauté onion in olive oil until tender, add garlic and heat until fragrant. Add mushrooms. Remove from heat and stir in quinoa, marinara and tomato. Spoon mixture into peppers. Crumble goat cheese over filled peppers. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes, uncover and roast for another 5-10 minutes to taste. Serve with rustic bread along side!

This recipe can be modified to have a Mexican theme, with salsa, jalapenos and black or re-fried beans. Veganomicon, my favorite go to cookbook, has a recipe for Creole stuffed peppers. The possibilities are endless! I picked an Italian theme because I made homemade pizza earlier in the week and wanted to use the resulting leftovers.

Health, Wealth and Happiness

2009-08-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

Last night was a great night- I participated in my first Junior League philanthropic event!

The League provided funds for back to school shopping for underprivileged elementary school aged children in the community. Each volunteer escorted a child around Kohl’s, where they were able to select clothing for the upcoming school year. After the children checked out, backpacks loaded with school supplies were waiting for them. I helped a 9 year old boy find shoes, jeans, t shirts and polos. I think his favorite part was the backpack at the end, though!

I don’t really know what role this experience played in the life of the children and parents involved with this event. I know for me, it makes me take a second look at the hardworking people in my community. I don’t know what it’s like to support a family while making $10 an hour at one of the big box stores. I can’t imagine supporting a child while working late shifts at one of the many restaurants open late in this college town.

But by the grace of God go I.

The next time I’m trying to decide between buying organic or regular produce I know I’m going to take a step back and be especially grateful for the choice. The next time I really don’t feel like running, I’m going to be grateful that I have the time and energy to exercise, if I so choose.

The name of this blog is Spotty Prep Goes Healthy. More than just physical fitness and nutrition, health, for me, is having a giving heart and a positive outlook. This event was an amazing uplift to those aspects of health for me.

What does health mean to you?

FAIL, Continued

2009-08-16T11:54:00.001-07:00

A tropical storm with upwards of 40 mph wind gusts is blowing towards my city. What do my neighbors do today? Bring in their patio furniture? Stock up on water and canned food at the Publix? Nope, they stack up their old mattresses and box springs by the dumpster not 15 feet from where I have to park my car.

I'm not sure how much damage a 40 mph wind born box spring can do to a compact car, and hope I don't find out.

Best.Book.Ever.

2009-08-12T16:08:00.001-07:00

I read a lot. I was travelling for 8 days back in June. I brought ten books, and while still managing to be a thorough tourist, I read all but one.

Just this past weekend I got around to that one book I didn't read on that trip. It's called Sarah's Key, and was written by Tatiana de Rosnay. It is the story of young Jewish girl living in Paris in 1942, during the German occupation. The tragedies she endured capture the attention of a journalist in 2002. Their stories intertwine into one of the most beautiful stories I've encountered in a long time.

It's been a few days since I finished the book, and it's been on my mind constantly. I love it when a book runs through my mind long after I find a place for it on one of my increasingly crowded bookshelves.

This isn't light reading- I wouldn't neccessarily recommend it for a beach weekend (learned that the hard way, haha!). It was a pretty quick read, though. I think I was only able to put it down twice!

What are some of your all time favorite books that have a way of staying on your mind?

Age Old Debate...

2009-08-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

I believe it has been lamented time and time again over the course of history- gentility and civility are dead. I never really believed this, and still really don’t. However, I saw something last night that earned a point for the “gentility is dead” camp.

Jack woke me up in the middle of the night, which is not uncommon. I had a hard time going back to sleep, so I turned on Mad Men. (Mad Men is a tv show that takes place in the early 1960s- the main character is a Cary Grant type character who is an advertising executive. The costumes and set design are amazing). I watched the episode where First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s tour of the White House is shown on televisions in the show’s background.

I think the show does a good job of not idealizing that time in American history. It depicts racism, alcoholism, adultery, shows women as unequal, both in the home and in the office, and smoking everywhere, yuck. I would never want to transform today’s society back into that. The particular episode I watched last night even had characters pointing out “Camelot” wasn’t perfect, in reference to the First Lady’s White House Tour.

That being said, I turned Mad Men off and “Lady” Ga*ga’s video for the song Love Game was on. If you haven’t seen it, it’s basically a woman in a bad wig and drag queen makeup jumping around and doing squats in a leotard. She is singing about a guy with his hand on his….well….

We, as a country, as a society, have come such a long way in almost 50 years. I realize that this music video can be viewed as extremely progressive and liberating for women. Watching it in such close juxtaposition with Mad Men however, it seemed like regression.

Misogyny, racism, alcoholism, adultery still exist today. And now for news we have talking heads yelling at each other and rarely getting to the heart of a story. We have infomercials selling videos of women “going wild.” Funny movies where certain language is used so casually that high schoolers and middle schoolers will be sure to pick it up and be surprised when it offends. And scantily clad women dancing around singing vulgar lyrics in my opinion, on VH-1. (Yes, I realize this is the network that brought us Rock of Love, I love New York, Flava of Love,etc…this video probably isn’t the worst thing that has been on this network).

Can’t we have civil rights, smoke free buildings, Title IX and some gentility? I know a lot has been written on the erosion of decency standards; and I don’t feel like it’s all been a bad thing. Free speech is nothing to take for granted. Maybe I’m getting old here at 25, but there’s a fuzzy decency line somewhere for me and this particular performer crossed it.

This just seems like a whole world away from Madonna and Elvis being controversial. But I guess people thought that then, too?

…Oh, and by the way, yes, I did change the channel. I saw approximately 2.1 seconds of the video, and formed this opinion based on those seconds.

Salad Confession

2009-08-10T17:16:00.001-07:00

I am not crazy about salads. Shocking I know, considering I eat a mostly vegetarian, and largely vegan diet. So many are just...boring, bland. Maybe I had too many iceberg- cucumber abominations as a kid. I'm not sure. However, in my quest to ease my reliance on processed lunch food, I prepared one last night for lunch today.

I absolutely loved it. It was a perfect salad symphony. Some of my favorite meals have been invented on accident, and this is one. I just threw together what I had left in my pantry and fridge after being out of town for the weekend. I understand that it's not particularly novel, but if anyone is stuck in a salad rut, I highly recommend trying this.

About 2/3 of a bag of romaine lettuce

2 or 3 handfuls of blueberries

2 or 3 handfuls of dried cranberries

crumbled goat cheese- I get mine from a beautiful local dairy (dairy? goatery?)

a small handful of cashews

Bolthouse Farms yogurt honey mustard dressing, to taste (I fork dip it)

salt and pepper

Toss all together, and enjoy.

Anyone else find salads boring? Any tried and true favorites?

Sun and Fun, Done!

2009-08-09T16:55:00.001-07:00

I am back from my mini vacation! The husband and I had a great time visiting with his parents. We arrived to somewhat stormy skies, but thankfully the weather held up and we were able to get sun, and see a fabulous sunset. Jack was very happy to see us when we picked him up from the kennel! This time, he had a room with a doggy door to his own private patio. Unfortunately, at one point he was stuck out there and couldn't figure out how to get back in! He has been recovering from the trauma on the couch ever since we returned home.

In couch to 5k news, I finished my last workout of Week 3 this evening. I've heard that it takes 21 days to fully take on a new habit; I feel as though in this 3 weeks running has definitely become an ingrained habit! I'm looking forward to taking on Week 4.

Have a great start to the week,everyone!

Wasting Away in Margaritaville (Soon Enough)

2009-08-06T16:49:00.000-07:00

This is where I'm heading this weekend!

I'm so ready for sun, sand and quality time with my inlaws :)Unfortunately, the spot has to miss out. Ever since last July, Jack hasn't been enjoying traveling so much. He experienced a nasty bout of geriatric canine vestibular syndrome, and ever since then he has been pretty anxious, especially in new situations. His back legs have never fully recovered, either. Stairs and slick floors now pose as daunting obstacles for the little guy.

Earlier this year, the husband and I had to attend a wedding out of state. My parents live four hours away, and work pretty unconventional hours, so they weren't able to grand-dog sit that weekend. The husband and I made the difficult decsion to kennel Jack. I did a lot of research, and found a place that has toddler beds for the dogs to sleep on, is completely inside with air conditioning, and the dogs receive loads of attention from the employees. The employees are there all weekend; the dogs are never left alone, which is a pretty big deal for Jack's separation anxiety. While leaving my pup with strangers is a hard thing for me to do, it's best for Jack. He's pretty high maintenance, so having friends casually stop in for feedings and bathroom breaks isn't the greatest option. This is him last May, at the inlaws beach house.

Have you made the choice to kennel your dog? Was it a tough decision?

Faux-jitas and Flowers

2009-08-05T17:12:00.001-07:00

I had two wonderful surprises waiting for me when I got home today! My sweet husband brought me flowers today! He did an excellent job matching the flowers to the living room :)Also, my new Lilly Pulitzer magnet board came! I ordered it on Saturday from the Preppy Princess and it came rather quickly! It was packaged beautifully; thank you, tp. (Please ignore my lack of drawer pulls on the entertainment center in the background, I'm working on that!)

Onto dinner. I made my (really my mom's) version of fajitas! They are in no way authentic, but we love them anyway :)

The ingredients (assembled above in a lovely mise en place, if I do say so myself) are:

2 bell peppers, I used a yellow and red here

1 onion, I used a vidalia, but I also really like red onions in this

1 whole jar of Paul Newman's Peach or Mango Salsa for a little sweetness

A spicier salsa for heat, to taste

Tortillas

1 can of black beans, rinsedSaute the peppers and onion in a pan over medium heat for about one minute. Add the black beans and the salsa. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes. When the peppers and onion are softened to taste, heat the tortillas one at a time over the pan to soften. I only heat as many as I'm going to eat.

It's a great, cheap, quick weeknight dinner! Maybe one of these days I'll fancy it up and attempt homemade tortillas!

What are some of your go to easy week night dinners?

New Food Find!

2009-08-04T16:28:00.000-07:00

Since joining the world of the full- time gainfully employed a year and a half ago, I have unfortunately come to rely on frozen boxed dinners to fulfill too many of my midday eating requirements. Kashi makes some pretty good options; and I'm a Amy's brand frozen burrito connoisseur. I know exactly how long those burritos take to heat properly, by variety, and by microwave. (There are two microwaves in my office).

Today I expanded my horizons and tried a new (to me) Amy's frozen dinner, the Black Bean Tamale Verde with Spanish Rice. I bought this a few weeks when they were on sale at the health food store. HOLY COW I had no idea what I have been missing. I wish I had stocked up while they were on sale!

The description, taken from the Amy's website:

"Corn masa tamale filled with tender organic black beans, tomatoes, onions, zucchini and blended with a tomato salsa. Topped with an authentic verde sauce of organic tomatillos. Served with a side of Spanish rice made with organic brown rice. Gluten free/Non-dairy. "

The corn masa was really delicious- kinda puffy :) I'm trying to decrease my reliance on these kind of packaged foods, but finding this makes it kinda hard! I think my goal for the next couple of weeks is to try to cut down on packaged foods for lunch by two lunches a week. I plan on cooking more for dinner and bringing in leftovers. For being a bread fanatic, I'm really not a fan of sandwiches or wraps, which makes those obvious lunch items not good options for me.

What fresh healthy items do you pack in your lunches? I'd love to know!

*Disclaimer: I have not been compensated by this or any food company, and don't expect to be. I would not mind free food from the above named brands, but have not received any at this point.

FAIL

2009-08-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

I know moving is a lot of work; I've done it. Many times. Three times in the past two years, in fact. It can be difficult to estimate how much stuff will fit in your truck. I get it.

However, in my moving experience, it has never occurred to me to not bag my trash. To leave the stuff I didn't want piled up next to a dumpster in front of other people's homes, in the rain, deeming it noncollectable to the trash pickers.

There is a Goodwill on every corner in this college town (there's one less than a mile from here!). Craigslist has allowed many a broke college student or new graduate to sell items for much needed cash. There's even a free large item pick up offered through the City's contracted waste management company. So pray tell, why is this outside my door?

I guess maybe the life class on "trash common sense" coincided with "how to improvise a flip cup table out of a bunch of coolers."

So here are my notes: Trash goes in a trash can, people. I can't emphasize this enough. Rats and roaches are bad. You do not want your patient, kind young professional neighbors to get them.

Seriously, if I see a rat, I'm tracking you down, pinky swear.

Couch to 5k Update

2009-08-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

I finished my last Week 2 run this afternoon and I'm looking forward to starting Week 3 this week!

Unfortunately, tomorrow is going to be a long work day (I'm presenting to my boss's boss's boss's boss, yay bureaucracy) and Tuesday is a Junior League event, so my next day running will be Wednesday! I'm realllly needing the weather to cooperate this week! I still want to meet my goal of running a mile and a half without walking by August 22nd.

In other news, I had a blast this weekend catching up with my grad school bff, N, who was in town. N is expecting her first baby this November! Her baby shower is coming up at the end of this month and I need to find a gift :) It's my first time baby shower shopping! Tres exciting. If you have any suggestions for cute presents, I'd love to read them! (It's a boy!)

Have a great start to the week everyone!

Proved Me Wrong!

2009-08-01T05:16:00.000-07:00

To say that I was highly skeptical of the two minute microwave chocolate cake is an extreme understatement. When I first read about it on a blog a few months ago, then received a spam work email about it, I rolled my eyes and laughed at those poor suckers who thought that was a good chocolate cake. "They must have never had the Williams-Sonoma chocolate sour cream pound cake," my pretentious little self snickered. (The WS chocolate sour cream pound cake will always be my standard for absolute epicurean perfection).

Fast forward to last night. The husband and I met friends for Japanese, and I just wanted something sweet when we got home. I must have been feeling a little slum-y, because I "lowered" my oh so high culinary standards (shut up! Fun-yuns ARE good) and tried the two minute microwave chocolate cake. While no Williams-Sonoma masterpiece, it was pretty darn good! I recommend trying it when you're in the mood for a little dessert without a lot of fuss.

What I made most closely mimics the Veggie Delight's blog recipe (found here: http://veggout.blogspot.com/2008/02/sweet-treat-on-valentines.html) but with a few substitutions and additions:

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp cocoa
small handful of chocolate chips
splash vanilla extract
splash almond extract (or just use all vanilla)
2 Tbsp vanilla hemp milk (just what I had- use any milk)
1/3 cup maple syrup (spray the measuring cup with non-stick spray before measuring!)
2 Tbsp canola oil

Mix everything together in a microwaveable bowl and microwave for 2 minutes.

It turned out a little dry (I didn't use an egg or egg replacer), but the still gooey parts in the center were amazing! This made enough for me and the husband, with about 1/3 of the bowl still left over this morning.

I love Thursdays...

2009-07-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

because 30 Rock is on! I resisted watching it for years, thinking I hated sitcoms. I'm still pretty sure I strongly dislike most sitcoms, (I mean, what is the deal with Two and a Half Men?? Yuck!), but Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin are hilarious together.

So because I know some of ya'll need a good giggle right now, (it's pouring here...you know you live in a swamp when it's been raining for the past 2 days and it's still 90 degrees outside) here are some of my favorite classic lines:

"If the whole world moved to their favorite vacation spots, then the whole world would live in Hawaii and Italy and Cleveland."

Jenna: "That guy wanted to buy you a drink!"

Liz: "Really? But I already have a drink. Do you think he'd buy me mozzarella sticks?"

"Okay, I’m going to jury duty, but I will be right back. I’ve got my Princess Leia outfit and some Playgirl magazines from the early 1980s."

Jack: “Imagine, a dessert for two, consisting of a Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream in a pool of cognac, drizzled in the world’s most expensive chocolate, Amadei Porcelana, covered in shaved white, black and clear truffles, topped with edible 25-carat gold leaf. Can you imagine anything better?”
Liz: “I don’t know, ever put a doughnut in the microwave?”

"…more than jazz or musical theatre or morbid obesity, television is the true American art form. Think of all the shared experiences television has provided for us; from the moon landing to the Golden Girls finale; from Walter Cronkite denouncing Vietnam to Oprah putting that trash bag of fat in the wagon…"

Staying Positive

2009-07-29T16:28:00.000-07:00

Today was a rough running day. It was rainy, cold and thundering. I had not run since Saturday, so I felt compelled to brave the dark skies. I did 0.7 miles in 9 minutes. On the drive home, during a downpour, I was irritated at myself for not pushing through. Then I realized, SERIOUSLY? Why am I giving myself a hard time? Running in lightening on a slippery path is not safe! So I got home, lit some candles and got in the bathtub, and feel much better now. I put myself out there and the weather didn't cooperate. Nothing to beat myself up about.

I saved this picture a while back, and look at it when I need a lift. Something about it reminds me there are deeper things at work in this world than wherever I am in that moment. I saved it before I blogged, so I can't give credit to whoever created this image. (If you know, leave a comment and I will gladly edit the post!)

Happy 4 Months!

2009-07-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

Today the husband and I have been married four months! (Hey, you have to celebrate the little things!) Our wedding was a whole lot of fun- I know I'm committing bridal heresy here, but the planning process was not all that stressful for me. Our families are both laid back so everything was planned by us. I knew from the beginning that I did not want a huge wedding. It was important to me to share the day with the people who care about us the most, and not distant relatives we wouldn't recognize on the street. We aren't big dancers, so we decided on a brunch reception with badminton and croquet for entertainment.

Food was a huge priority, so I designed a custom menu featuring southern favorites: pulled pork, fried chicken, cedar plank salmon (not so southern), cole slaw, onion rings, potato salad, grilled spring veggies, waffles with a variety of toppings, quiches, and the coup de gras, a grits bar! We served lemonade and sweet tea in mason jars, along with beer and wine. For dessert, we had cupcakes, key lime tarts, coconut macaroons, biscotti, raspberry cheesecake tarts, and some other things I can't even remember!

It was a great day! I can't imagine doing anything differently. What was the best part of your wedding day, or what aspect of a wedding is your favorite? The best part of our day for me was having all our family and friends together. We are pretty spread out all over the country! It may sound cliche, but I was really surprised at how much having everyone there meant to me on that day.

*All pictures were taken by our photographer, Kara Pennington, karapennington.com

Scallops!

2009-07-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday our dear friends, A and B, invited us out on their boat for a day of sun and scalloping. Before I moved to Northwest Florida, I had only the vaguest notion of what scalloping entailed! Basically, you boat out to seagrass beds and put on a snorkel and mask and look for the little blue eyes! It's a ton of fun!

After scalloping, A and B came over for dinner. We started out with the scallops as an appetizer- unfortunately we didn't collect enough for them to be the main entree! Here's A's simple (and apparently delicious) recipe for scallops:

A few swirls of olive oil

A few generous shakes of red pepper flakes

A clove of garlic or two, minced

About 30 tiny bay scallops (the ones we collect are really small- maybe 1/2 an inch in diameter?)

A splash of dry white wine

Heat up the oil in a saute pan, add the garlic and heat until fragrant. Add the scallops and red pepper flakes, then wine and saute until the scallops are no longer translucent. If you're serving as an entree, toss with angel hair. If you're serving as an appetizer, serve plain or over romaine. Enjoy!

*Photo courtesy of Wild Florida

Cupcakes and Coral

2009-07-25T06:50:00.000-07:00

Last night the husband and I met up with friends at the new cupcake bakery for its grand opening. The bakery was featuring a happy hour, with drink themed cupcakes. The husband was a big fan of his margarita cupcake (from left to right, margarita, red velvet and banana cake with peanut butter frosting, with a chocolate dipped dried banana chip on top).

The bakery featured this light feature which looked liked an industrial take on coral. I've adored coral since I found a piece washed up on a beach when I was little. While my style isn't so industrial, or, um, hip, it did re-enforce my desire to have more (artificial) coral in my own home. I love this piece from Michael Aram:

And on a more affordable note, these table linens from Dillards:

How precious is this little girl's dress from Lilly Pulitzer? I think it would make a great flower girl dress!

Cupcakes Make Me Run Better

2009-07-23T16:18:00.000-07:00

I've finished my 3rd workout of the Couch to 5k Program!( http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml ) The next workout increases the running time from 60 seconds to 90 seconds, alternating with 2 minutes of walking in between for 20 minutes. I feel ready! Tonight went by so fast and seemed really easy- I don't know that I was quite at couch level starting out, thanks to my good buddy Jillian Michaels, ha. I'm planning to do workout 4 on Saturday morning. Tomorrow evening I'm going to a cupcake happy hour at a new bakery here in town (Tally is getting less lame, hooray!). They make vegan cupcakes, and for happy hour they have drink themed cupcakes! I could not be more thrilled. I'll be back with a full review tomorrow night. In the mean time, what's your favorite happy hour cocktail? Mine's a classic gin and tonic, or a mojito!

Ruffly and Flowery

2009-07-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been going absolutely crazy for the feminine ruffly and flowery tops and dresses gracing the racks at my favorite stores. Fortunately, it seems like the trend is here to stay for fall! These lovelies are on my fall (who am I kidding?) My right now must- have list.
J Crew:

Ann Taylor:Ann Taylor Loft:

I have this shirt in off white and I think people are getting tired of seeing me in it, I wear it so much!

Anyone else all about this trend?

Everyone has to start (again) somewhere...

2009-07-21T16:40:00.001-07:00

I've been reading food blogs for over two years now. When I first found them, I was in graduate school, working an internship back in my hometown. While I was in school, I was attending group fitness classes 5-6 times a week, sometimes multiple classes in a day. When I found the blogs, I felt like I had found a great community, where I fit in. I did not understand how people could live sedentary, junk food filled lifestyles. I thought about starting a blog, but I had a lot going on- I was planning a wedding, completing graduate school and working. I was pretty content just to read along and participate every now again when a post particularly touched me.

Well, fast forward two years and here I am. The wedding was a blast, I graduated with my masters, and work in the field I studied. And that's it. The gym membership went away when I graduated, and the closest gyms to me are house are, frankly, pretty gross.

I knew I was getting out of shape, and my healthy habits were slipping. I wasn't sure what I could do about it. Seeing my wedding pictures was a wake up call- I have to do something.

So today was Day 2 of working towards my goal of running in a 5k. I'm doing the Couch to 5k program. There's a great new walking trail near my house, that is 0.7 miles in length. By this time next month, I want to sit where I am now typing how I just ran two laps around that trail without stopping. It's kind of embarassing to type that, knowing how far you all are able to run. It's hard to admit I am not good at something; and that something a lot of people do everyday is hard for me.

So that's where I'm at. Here I am, looking a little goofy, after completing Day 2.

Chocolate Overload

2009-07-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

Chocolate- Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies from Veganomicon. The best part? My husband baked them.

Random Giggling Fit #1

2009-07-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else ever get the giggles? I saw this today and laughed on and off for approximately 5 minutes:

It's my husband's bag of baked cheetos- apparently they go great with yoga. I just imagined someone with cheeto hands going into downward dog and then cursing themselves for getting cheeto residue on the mat. Or pausing during a flow to grab a handful of cheetos.

Are you giggling? That's ok, I've accepted that it's just me a lot of times :)

Anyway, it was a great day at the beach.

This picture conveys why I'll never move out of Florida. I was born and raised on the west central coast, and now live in the panhandle, so I'm not quite used to the beach being almost empty on a Sunday afternoon in July! But hey, I'll definitely take it :)

The husband and I ate lunch at a cute little restaurant in the "bustling" town of Apalachicola (almost everything closes on Sunday)! I just got a pretty standard salad, so no picture, but there were vases of hydrangea and bells of Ireland (I think) on all the tables. So charming.

So I would like to know, have you had a giggle fit lately? What caused it??

Lazy Saturday...

2009-07-18T17:14:00.001-07:00

It's another rainy and thunderous day here in Tallasassy (Tallahassee to the uninitiated). Unfortunately our plans to go to the beach were put on hold, hopefully just until tomorrow! We did manage to spend sometime outside today between storms. The husband and I walked Jack around the greenway, which is one of Jack's favorite things. The grass was higher than he was! I think he liked it!

I tried two new food variations today! The first was a Raw Revolution bar- the coconut agave nectar flavor- holy moly this was greasy! I've tried some of the other flavors, and this is the first one I've had to blot! I'm glad I wasn't eating this in the car, that could have been messy.

I also tried unsweetened vanilla almond breeze in my green smoothie today. I had been using the sweetened kind. I like the unsweet better! It wasn't a huge difference, but I think the fruit flavors became more pronounced. All the ingredients are pictured below- a generous handful of spinach, the almond breeze, a banana and a small handful of frozen blueberries (Plus, Jack begging for some, haha). In the 2 weeks I've been drinking these, my acne prone skin has started looking better. I haven't replaced any other veggies or fruits in my diet with this, so in my completely unscientific opinion the extra nutrient boost is doing wonders!

Dream House Finds

2009-07-18T05:29:00.000-07:00

I just found these fabulous duvet covers at gracioushome.com and I'm in love. If I wouldn't feel bad for my husband if I decorated our master bedroom in pink and green, they would be making their way to my house right now.
I just love the pink damask on this one! Light green damask was sort of theme of our wedding. A design was featured on our invitations and I used the green galvanized buckets from target's spring collection to hold bottles of water and cokes. It just screams spring and happy to me :) Sigh, if only I had a guest room that needed decorating...

2009-07-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Ashley (or Spotty, or A to the P.O., but I digress) and I'm a bread-aholic.

For as long as I can remember, there was no better treat than freshly baked rolls, biscuits or cinnamon buns. My mom is a great baker, and I grew up as her taste tester and messed up decorated cake taker care-er of-er. I've been known to kill an entire bread basket at dinner with my non- bread obsessed husband, and eat half a box of Kashi crackers in a single sitting.

All of this was all fine and good up until a year and a half ago, when I became a full time office worker. I went from working out 4-5 days a week to working out 2-3 times a week, and then as I was promoted and became busier, 1-2 times a week.

I'm sure you've figured out where this is going by now. My clothes don't fit and I feel sluggish. Now is the time to stop making excuses and start getting real (haha, yay mtv!). In this economy, my circumstances aren't going to change anytime soon, so it's time to stop waiting until I make more money to join a nicer gym, move back to my more walkable hometown, and all the other excuses I've found myself repeating over the past year. I have the tools (a kitchen full of new wedding gift goodies, and some awesome cookbooks). Bread and bread accessories are not my enemies, but shouldn't comprise all my snacks and all 3 meals a day. So how am I changing? For one, cooking more meals at home like last night's fabulous dinner.

I made Pineapple Cashew Quinoa Stirfry last night, and it is amazing! I can't rave enough about this recipe.

Unfortunately I can't post the recipe because of copyright issues. It's from Veganomicon, my go to cookbook. Just don't ask me to pronounce it. Seriously, if you aren't a big meat eater (as the name suggests, it is vegan), this book is a must buy. My meat eater husband even loves it. His take on this particular stirfry? "I like the grain-y stuff." Winner!

So all in all, this blog will chronicle my great recipe finds and whatever else comes to mind. I have a lot of interests besides food, so expect some random-ness.

So what do you think? Any other recovering bread addicts out there?

Jumping Off...

2009-07-16T14:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I've done it! After two years of "lurking" (ugh, hate that word) I have started a blog!

I'm in my mid 20s, a newlywed obsessed with weddings, food, fitness, and my spotted dog Jack! I'm starting this blog to share my love of home decor, event planning, cooking nutrionally sound and delicious meals and exercise!

I hope to use this blog to keep me sane working my dull office job. Expect snarky (yet tasteful) commentary, recipes and tons of spotted pictures. I'm excited!

2009-01-19T17:17:00.000-08:00

My wedding day: My husband and me with our Maid of Honor and Best Man

The ceremony

My niece playing croquet during the reception Me, enjoying dessert

My dog Jack, the inspiration for the nickname Spotty: My husband and me:

Yup, we were peanut butter and jelly for Halloween.

2009-01-08T17:02:00.000-08:00

Hi! My name is Ashley. I'm 26 years old. I work in an office, volunteer with the Junior League, run, cook, bake and take care of my dog Jack.

Jack is the inspiration for the blog name- back in college a friend nicknamed me Spotty, in honor of Jack's spots, and it's stuck. The other inspiration for the "healthy" part of the blog name is my desire to live as healthy as possible. To me, that means exercising, eating well, and contributing to my community through philanthropy.

Thank you for stopping by- I love visitors!

If you have any questions, please email me: spottyprep@gmail.com.