Weigh In Thursday & Stuff

These short weeks really confuse me. All day yesterday it felt like Tuesday & it never occurred to me to do a weigh in post. I lost .4 lbs. this week. I'm ecstatic! I basically had 3 days of parties over the weekend plus a Mexican meal. I was expecting a gain. This week I'll only make it to Yoglates twice since I didn't go Monday. I'm trying to keep on track with my running & I don't like to run & do Yoglates on the same day. That makes for a really long day. I've ran twice & I'll run tomorrow morning if it doesn't rain & I have Yoglates this afternoon. It's getting really hot in there these days. Tuesday it was 94.

We didn't have anything planned for Memorial Day this year. We were just planning to hang out & relax. At Allie's party Saturday we discovered that some of our neighbors weren't doing anything either so we decided to do nothing together at our house in the pool. Dean grilled ribs, The Gillio's brought brisket & baked beans & the Mitchell's brought bread, cole slaw & banana pudding. It was delicious!!! I also made the Vodka punch I had a few weeks ago at a shower. It's the perfect drink to have on a hot day by the pool. It's very refreshing!

The recipe is as follows:

• a fifth of vodka
• (2) 2L 7-Ups
• (1) can of pineapple juice
• (1) jar of cherries
• sugar to taste

Mix everything together including the juice from the jar of cherries. I  made it Sunday night & put it in the freezer overnight. I stored it in Ocean Spray containers that are 64 oz. each. I used 4. Everyone really liked it. 

Yesterday was my yearly mammogram. Blech. It really wasn't bad at all. Make sure y'all get one! Just a friendly public service announcement.

Toodles!

Parties Galore!

Our weekend was crazy busy which means it went by way too fast! Friday night we tried out the new Mexican joint that just opened by our house, Caliente. We went with some of our neighbors. It was good. They brought sopapilla's for the table & they were delicious!

Our neighbor Allie graduated from high school Friday night. We went to her party Saturday. It started at 1:00 & we didn't get home until 9:30. It was a long but fun day. I got Allie a charm for her Pandora bracelet & I wrapped it in a Tervis Tumbler.

The "eye of the tiger" is one of LSU's logos. Allie is going to LSU in the fall.  I bought some gold shimmery stuff at the party store to fill the cup with & then used purple tulle to wrap it all up. She loved it. BTW, the tulle is left over from one of my bridal showers. I knew it would come in handy one day!

Sunday we were up bright & early for 7:00 Mass. Logan's birthday party was Sunday afternoon. It was HOT but it was fun watching Logan & his little friends run wild. Logan had a water slide this year.

 I was shocked when I saw how big it was! Those are Logan's feet sticking up in the air.

He's soooo tan!

Baby Landry & Amira enjoyed the kiddie pool. I love Amira's swimsuit. She had a beach hat that matched too.

Logan had a Mickey Mouse party. Everyone was singing Happy Birthday to him.

It was fun watching him open his presents. He was really into it. A couple of times he pointed at gifts & said "I want that one. It's cute". HAHAHA! 

In this picture he was saying "thank you for coming to my party & thank you for my presents". 

The Superman cape & mask were one of his gifts & it was the hit of the party.

I'm not up on the latest with Superman so I'm not sure if this what he does before he takes off but every time they were still & got ready to "fly" they did this. It was hilarious.

Logan slowed down long enough to take a pic with me. I wish I had just a little of that tan of his. I'm so jealous!

Toodles!

Happy Weekend!

I'm so excited about the long weekend! 3 whole days of not coming to work. We have a graduation party tomorrow & Sunday we'll be partying with this "Little Man"

Today is Logan's 3rd birthday! I don't know where the time's gone & I'm just an aunt. I can't imagine what his parents feel like. I know it's a cliche but it really does feel like yesterday that I got that call in the middle of the night & spent alllllllll daayyyy on Memorial Day at the hospital! Dean always tells Lydia it was the longest day of his life. I'm guessing it was a little longer for her. Happy Birthday Logan!! We love you so much!!! (I stole this pic off of Lydia's FB page - Thanks Lydia!)

I don't know if I've ever mentioned but at times I'm a procrastinator. Like it's been several weeks since the kitchen's been done & I still don't have my "stuff" back on top of the cabinets. I also didn't have any of the glasses in the "bar" cabinets. I put back all the stuff that we need but these glasses aren't used everyday & they were currently in the guest bedroom & we aren't expecting any guests so they're fine. When I got home yesterday this is what I saw.

He did a better job than me!

WOW!!! I have the best hubs ever! He did all this when he got home from work.  I promise I had every intention of doing it this weekend. He claimed that there was no way that would happen because I was going to be worn out after 2 days of parties & something about not being able to hang like I used to. Whatevs dude! One more thing to check off my to do list!

Have a wonderful & safe Memorial Day weekend!!!

Toodles!

Weigh In Wednesday

After Saturday's food tour I surely didn't expect to be posting this. In fact we joked that I may end up doing Weigh in Friday this week BUT I'm down 1.2 lbs. YIPPEE!!! I haven't mentioned this but I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that not long after I went to sleep Saturday night I woke up deathly ill. I really hate to puke but I did feel better. TMI, I know. I didn't sleep good either. I'm guessing the 2 back to back cups of coffee at 7:00 didn't help. Needless to say aside from Mass & grocery shopping I was pretty useless Sunday. I felt a little queasy every time I ate & I ate stuff like oatmeal. I hope this isn't a sign that I'm too old to hang.

Later in the day Sunday my sinuses started acting up. Lovely. Of course as soon as I laid down to go to sleep the coughing fits started. I didn't get much sleep Sunday night either. When the alarm went off at 4:45 for my run I did NOT get up. I did run this morning & it was rough. Although, it wasn't my slowest. It was hot & muggy & every step I took was just hard. I think it has something to do with not running since Friday. Apparently, my muscle memory sucks.

I wasn't able to leave work early Monday to go to Yoglates. Every other Monday my co-worker has a hair appointment & she leaves early. Considering I had self medicated myself with Mucinex & I was still feeling queasy every time I ate something, I didn't want to go anyway. I did go yesterday. Summer is officially here to stay. It was 92 when class started & 94 when it was finished. If it's possible to sweat germs out of your system I shouldn't have any left. It took a lot out of me. I'm very much looking forward to going straight home after work today.

I have some questions for my peeps that work out. What do you do to tone? I thought after over a year of Yoglates I'd have a little definition in my thighs. It hasn't happened. Is it because of how I'm eating? If I flex my arms or legs I have muscles. We do a ton of squats too. My arms look better than they used to but I'd like more definition in those as well. I have either 3 or 5 lb weights that I can use on my arms. I don't remember which. We do a ton of push ups in class too so that's helped the arms. I'm also planning to make myself swim laps this summer. Any thoughts or suggestions would be great!

Toodles!

NOLA Part Deux

After having a drink at The Carousel Bar we headed to Mr. B's Bistro. It's owned by the Brennan family which has a ton of restaurants in NOLA.

Allison & I wanted to try the Champagne Royale ("Champs" Royale for all you RHOOC fans!).

It's sparkling wine with a splash of Chambord. It was really good! We completely forgot to take pics of our food. We ended up ordering off of the appetizer menu & shared everything. We had a bowl of seafood gumbo, catfish fingers, crab cake & fried oysters. The gumbo was a dark roux. It was ok. I prefer a light roux. The oysters were good & the crab cake was really good & had a great sauce with it. However, $14 for 1 small crab cake was a bit much. The catfish to me was just ok. I think Dean's is a lot better. We weren't planning on dessert but they are known for their bread pudding so we sucked it up & ordered one to share. It had raisins which I don't like but I just didn't eat them. The bread pudding was sooooo good!

Our next stop was  Lafitte's Blacksmith. They're famous for a "purple drank". Basically, it's a grape daiquiri that has Everclear in it. Allison & I were the only one's that wanted to try it so we just got one & shared.

It was good. Wendy & Vicki wanted normal flavored daiquiri's that didn't have Everclear so we made another stop on Bourbon.

I had to laugh when I saw these tiny little daiquiri's. I didn't think they had something that size in New Orleans. Wendy said when she ordered a small the guy asked "are you sure you want a small?". Haha! We stopped at Fleurty Girl to do a little shopping. I bought a really cute bracelet.

Allison & I wanted to try a Mint Julep. Notice a trend here? Me & Allison are the ones that want to try all the drinks!! HAHA! We went to the Davenport Lounge that's inside The Ritz-Carlton.

We decided to sit on the patio since it was so pretty. The patio is actually part of the M Bistro.

I could've sat here all day. There was a nice breeze.

Allison decided instead of a Mint Julep she'd try a drink called an Audubon Tea.

It's Vodka, Ice Tea & Lemonade. It was really good! I

I broke out the wedding cake fudge for a snack! Sooo good!!

It's a good thing the weather was nice because it took forever for my Mint Julep to arrive. Vicki made the comment that the bartender must be picking the mint. The waitress came by & said that she was sorry for the delay but the bartender was "replenishing her mint supply". HAHA! It was ok.  A little strong but I loved the crushed ice! The Audubon Tea was better. We had to make another bathroom stop. It was very nice. Just as you would expect a bathroom at The Ritz to be.

Not a good pic but you get the idea.

Our last stop (supposedly) was Cafe Du Monde for beignets.

How good does that look?? We ordered frozen cafe au lait's but there was something wrong with the machine. I swear frozen drink machines gone awry is the story of my life. We ended up with iced coffee. It wasn't good. Not awful but really not good.  The beignets on the other hand were AMAZING! We all decided that we must have good coffee to make up for the bad stuff. Lucky for us I'd spotted a Starbucks right across from the parking lot we were in.

Yay for a caramel light frappuccino. It wasn't supposed to have the whip, just caramel drizzle but that's ok. It was delightful.

We had a wonderful day with a LOT of laughs & some good food. I enjoyed it all but I don't think anything was any better than what we can get in Baton  Rouge.

Toodles!

NOLA

Y'all may not know but that's the common abbreviation for New Orleans, LA. I went with my friends, Vicki, Allison & Wendy to spend the day in NOLA Saturday. We were on a self guided "Taste of New Orleans" as we called it. We just wanted to go around to some of the places that are well known for certain foods & try them. Allison did this with her aunts & sisters & since they had so much fun we decided to do it.  I'll divide this up into 2 post because there are so many pictures! Wendy & I had to grab a drink for the road.  Starbucks was perfect.

Caramel Light Frappuccino! Then we hit the road. Our first stop was Central Grocery "Home of the original Muffuletta! This place is a little grocery store that has a counter that sells muffuletta's with a couple of counters in the back of the store to sit & eat. We got there around 11:15 so there was no line & we were able to snag 4 stools.

We only got a half & we split it 4 ways. We had a lot of tasting to do.

It was DELICIOUS!!! My only real issue here was the fact that you could buy bottled Barq's Root Beer or there was a Coke machine. I don't drink out of cans or bottles. I need (yes need) a cup with ice & a straw then I'm happy to pour my drink from the can over the ice. I ended up with a Dr. Pepper & a straw. Not ideal but better than drinking directly from the can.

Wendy & Vicki. Vicki was the muffuletta slicer.

All of those people were in line outside when we left. Next up was Johnny's Po-boys.

At this stop we were trying their shrimp po-boy & their roast beef po-boy.

This is a deli/restaurant. There was a line here but we only had to wait about 10 minutes.

We were hoping to only buy half of each po-boy but they don't sell half's at Johnny's. I don't normally eat roast beef po-boys. Not that I don't like them, I just never eat them. This one was really good but it had gravy & that makes the bread get soggy fast & I don't like soggy bread. The shrimp po-boy was good but not as good as the "best shrimp po-boy ever" at Roberto's which is just a few miles away from my house!

Vicki & Allison ready for a taste.

Me & Wendy. Incidentally, do you see that door behind Wendy? That's the bathroom. The only problem with eating & drinking around the city is that at some point you'll need a potty. This is New Orleans, you know they're not known for their cleanliness. This bathroom wasn't awful, but I've certainly seen better.

When we left the line was out the door. How lovely for those people to have to stand in line for lunch alongside the trash cans. The next stop was dessert.

We tasted pralines & they were really good.

See that layer of orangey stuff? Well, the little pink slab that's next to it is Wedding Cake Fudge. O.M.G. Sooo good!!! It tasted like butter cream icing. I loved it!

I thought these were adorable. We bought a few things to nibble on later. We decided it was time for a drink. We went to The Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone.

 It's so pretty! I loved the outside of the building.

I had a pomegranate martini & those are some "fun snacks" as our waitress called them. It was party mix which I love! I also had a little treat with my martini.

We bought a couple at Southern Candymakers. It totally puts Reeses to shame.

Look at the bar behind Vicki & Wendy. It looks like a carousel & the when you're sitting at the bar it moves in a circle just like one! BTW, the potty here was great!

Toodles!

I LOVE Friday!

I would love it more if I didn't have to work! In keeping with my love theme I thought I'd share some stuff that I'm loving right now.

First up is my new guacamole bowl.

Well, that's what I call it. Apparently, the correct name is a Mortar & Pestle. We've been wanting one since our cruise when we went to the guacamole & salsa making class. Notice I said "we". It's for the kitchen so Dean's interested in it. I saw this one on Open Sky last week. Do y'all know about Open Sky? It's one of those discounted shopping sites & this one has stuff that all sorts of people (stars, etc.) recommend. Some stuff is priced really well & there are some ridiculous things like $350 shirts. This was recommended by Guy Fieri. You know the Diners, Dives & Drive thru guy? It was $44 but Open Sky is always sending credits out. Normally, the credit is off of a $40 purchase. I had a $20 credit so I thought it was a deal. I'd shopped around & there were some less expensive but they didn't look that great.  I was so excited when it was delivered. It's SOOOO heavy. It probably weighs 10-15 lbs. I know that's not that heavy but for something like this it is. I love it so much I think I'm going to leave it out on the bar area. If you want to see what Open sky is about you can follow this link. I'll get credit for referrals.

Next up?

My Keurig. I still love this thing so much. When it eventually breaks I'll be RUNNING to the store for a new one. Dean asked me the other day if I was addicted to coffee now. I'm not. I don't have to have it. Some mornings I drink Chocolate milk or green tea. I just love the convenience of this thing.

Speaking of green tea, it's next on the list.

I was thrilled when I saw Tazo green tea K-cups. I'd bought another brand but Tazo is my fave! It's what they sell at Starbucks. When I walked in Starbucks & saw the iced green tea bags I didn't think I'd be able to contain myself! I know I'll be drinking more of it this summer because it's so refreshing. I can use these tea bags in my ice tea maker. So good. I've also discovered that apparently, this is one of those things that everyone doesn't like. My mom freaked out when she tasted it & talked about how awful it was. Sunday, Lydia had some & she didn't like it all either & she likes green tea. She likes the kind that is more citrusy. The Tazo has a spearmint flavor & that's what I love about it.

Next on the list are these.

I LOVE these socks! The fit my narrow feet perfectly. They don't move when I run. I don't have an extra wad of sock by my pinky toes either. I can't describe the greatness of these socks. I have 3 pair & I'm about to search the Internet to see if I can find them cheaper than $9.00 a pair.

Last but not least,

I LOVE chocolate milk. Always have. I'm not a fan of plain "white milk". Everyone used to laugh at me that I was having a little milk with my chocolate. I put HEAPING spoonfuls of Nesquik in the milk. It looked more like a shake than milk.  I stopped drinking it for a long time because of the calories. Well, then I read an article about how chocolate milk is wonderful for muscle recovery & lots of runners drink it after a run. Then they talked about "no sugar added nesquik". HUH??? I had no idea there was such a thing. They have in other flavors too. 2 tablespoons is only 35 calories. Believe it or not, 2 tbls is enough for me. Sometimes at night when I want a snack I have a glass.

What's everyone loving these days??

Toodles!