It’s Been A Busy Week!

June 22, 2013June 21, 201311 Comments

Hey there! Happy Saturday! So, I have a secret to tell you: I wrote all of my posts this week on Sunday. Since I knew I was going to have a super busy week with really no blog time, I spent a few hours on Sunday getting all of the posts set for the week. SUCH a great idea! But, since I didn’t share anything from the week, I figured I’d fill you in now!

On Monday, Jess and I were supposed to get together after work to film “Mommy’s Moves,” but the weather made a big turn for the worse and we were rained out. I had plans with Jess and some other friends to visit Lauren on her shift at Ironside Grill to watch the Bruins, but that wasn’t until 8pm, meaning I had some time to kill after work. I had gotten up and ran a 5K before work, so I figured since I had my gym stuff, I’d head up to the gym at my work and do strength and abs to complete my workout for the day (also, it was pouring rain and thundering and lightening so I needed to wait that out). As I was finishing my workout, Sheila texted and invited me over for dinner prior to the bar- perfect! I showed up and she had an awesome meal all ready to grill!

YUM! Thanks for a delicious and healthy dinner, Sheil! And, on top of a great meal, there was a double rainbow as we were heading to the bar!

I seriously love rainbows. They totally amaze me! Anyone else see it on Monday?

I wasn’t able to stay out very late because I knew I had to get up at 5am on Tuesday to head to NYC. I had to go for the day for a client meeting, which is fine, but it makes for a long day! Especially when your 5pm flight gets cancelled and delayed and you don’t leave until after 9pm. Yuck. Needless to say, I worked from home on Wednesday. I went for another run before I started working and boy was it hot! Nothing like sweaty legs, right?

I’m still amazed every time that happens. It’s so weird! Anyway! I finished up work around 5:30 and walked the 2 miles to get the T at Davis Square since I was meeting work people out in the city when I finished teaching. Tim was up from Florida and Chris was up from Texas, so I promised them that I’d join them for drinks and dinner. We had a blast and I stayed out later than I do on the weekend… I’m getting wild and crazy I tell ya! 😉

We had dinner and drinks at Remy’s and then went to the Cigar/Hooka bar later on. I hate the smell of smoke so it was a little gross at first and my eyes were burning, but I got over that quickly.

(Mom- the boys wanted to take that for you since the glass of wine was SO big. They said it was Momma Gags approved!)

Fun night- thanks guys!

On Thursday, I left work and taught my double and then went BACK into the city to meet up with the whole team for dinner at Smith and Wollensky. Even though I was exhausted, it was nice to have a big group dinner! I had Chris order me salmon, which was just OK. It was too salty!

Tim wanted me to share a picture of his meal. I can only imagine how awful that rich, creamy sauce was for you, but I love sauces and had to at least try a bite!

THAT was a yummy meal. After dinner, it was my job to show them a good time again, but the bars we went to were not that busy! Very strange for a Thursday night. As always, it’s so fun when we all get together!

Friday was another exciting day… I signed the lease papers for my new apartment starting on August 1st!

I am moving to East Boston and I am really excited! The apartment isn’t perfect by any means, but the kitchen and bathroom are recently renovated which is huge for me. Also, the area is really nice! There is a path along the water for walking and running just 5 minutes from the apartment building. I can’t wait to explore!

To celebrate, I made pizza! My stomach has been wacky since Sunday and my appetite has been off, but pizza sounded good so I went for it!

That’s not even an Instagram photo! So, so good. In fact, it smelled so good that Charlie woke up from napping in his new spot to see what was going on

Now THAT is a cat after my own heart! Gotta love the Lulu 😉

Today is another busy day. I am teaching Kickboxing at 10, I have a hair appointment at 12:30, I need to get a pedicure and something for Christy’s bachelorette party in NH that night. We are doing dinner in Kittery and then going out in Portsmouth- I can’t wait!!

Questions for you: Did you have a busy week or relaxing week? Where is your favorite bar to watch sports games? Ever been to a hooka bar? Know of any good restaurants in East Boston?

Have a wonderful Saturday!!!

Easy Dinner Recipe: Teriyaki Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry

June 21, 2013June 16, 20132 Comments

Sorry I teased you yesterday with a photo of the delicious dinner I quickly threw together on Sunday night, but it was worth the wait- promise!

While we were driving back to MA, we brainstormed meals that wouldn’t take a long time to throw together and wouldn’t leave lots of leftovers since neither one of us were really around for dinners this week. Veggie stir fries are always a good idea for a quick and healthy dinner. I was craving a real teriyaki sauce, so I put that on my grocery list, as well as the other ingredients we needed. I had some chicken tender strips in the freezer that we thawed which saved on groceries!

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I always cut up my own veggies, but I was so tired on Sunday night and knew I wouldn’t start cooking until 7 so I decided to take the easy route and buy a bag of frozen veggies. They aren’t my favorite, but man did they save time! I also usually make my sauces, but again, I was lazy and tired and bought that, too. It was interesting to read the labels on the thousand different marinades out there. After comparing many different brands, I settled on La Choy- good decision on my part! I forgot to buy rice so I used a quinoa harvest blend that I had in my cabinet and it ended up being fine.

Teriyaki Chicken & Veggie Stir Fry

Ingredients

Chicken- I had about 1/2 a pound. Cut it into small cubes
Veggies- you can cut up your own or buy a frozen bag like I did!
Teriyaki Sauce- I used about 1/2 of the bottle.
Sesame Seeds- about 1 tbsp.
Quinoa- 1/2 cup

Directions

1. Cook the quinoa according to the directions on the back of the box. While that is cooking, toast your sesame seeds over medium heat until they brown up.

2. While the sesame seeds are toasting, cut up your chicken. When the seeds finish, move them to a small bowl and place the chicken in the pan. Cook chicken until it’s no longer pink. Remove from the pan and place in a bowl.

3. Place the veggies into the pan and cook until they have thawed and heated through. Add the teriyaki sauce and the chicken once the veggies are cooked.

Once everything is warmed, place some quinoa at the bottom of the bowl, top with the teriyaki chicken and veggies and sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds on top. This whole meal, even with photography breaks, took about 30 minutes to cook, so it’s a perfect weeknight meal!

I think it would be even better served over udon noodles, but I clearly wasn’t thinking straight when I was at the grocery store. Next time!

Questions for you: How long do you like to take on meals during the week? Do you do most of your cooking on the weekends? What’s your favorite store-bought teriyaki sauce?

Baby Tucker and Father’s Day Recap

June 20, 2013June 16, 20136 Comments

Even though the weekend was a bit hectic and busy (literally nonstop the whole time!), it was so much fun. Last week, my friend, Caitlin, had her little baby boy, Tucker and I was dying to go visit the two of them (and Matt! Don’t want to leave the hubby out!). Luckily, our schedules aligned on Sunday morning so I headed over after I finished up some blog work.

Look at that hair! Tuck was 8lbs 2oz, 20 inches long (right Cait?)

(Sorry this one is blurry!)

I was so happy that Tucker was awake the whole time I was there. His blue eyes literally melted my heard and listening to him coo and watching him squirm around was so fun. He totally stared at me, too… love at first sight! 😉

Caitlin said she, Matt and Tucker are having a great time so far, which is always good to hear from new parents. She and Sara are going to get together since Zeke and Tucker are just about a week apart! Maybe they’ll be besties 🙂

I let them get to giving him a bath and I headed home to spend time with papa bear on Father’s Day. He cooked a rotisserie chicken (aka, Rostis Chick in our house- we love abbrevs!) on the grill and WOW did it come out great.

Before we ate, dad decided he was ready to open his presents. I got him a pressure canner that he asked for. He and my mom like to can their veggies from the garden, but have never had a pressure canner so I am excited to see how much better and easier it will be to can now that they have one!

“Now let me read all that this pressure canner can do, ok? And then I’ll open it”

Needless to say, dad LOVED his gift and that made me so happy! Granted, it’s not hard to buy the right gift when you receive an email stating exactly what to buy (love that about you, Dad!). On top of the pressure canner, mom got him a funny little garden turtle because, well, dad has had some serious issues with snapping turtles this year.

For some reason, they love the gardens and I swear one has it out for him. He literally drove it 2 miles down the road near other water and somehow it made it back to our house 2 days later. Needless to say, dad has been having nightmares about snapping turtles coming after him, so hopefully this little bugger will keep them away!

After presents, we served lunch and even ate in the dining room- a shocker!

This is probably one of my favorite meals, except we were missing the stuffing 😦 Chicken, tomato-zucchini casserole, garlic smashed potatoes and asparagus. Yum! It was nice to sit down and have a nice meal together. But, what was even better than lunch was looking out the window and seeing a little deer!

Maine living. There is really nothing like it!

On our way back down to MA, we made a quick pit-stop at Sara’s mom’s to see little Zeke one last time. We won’t see him until the 4th of July and that makes me so sad:( He’s going to be so big by then!

We hit a little traffic, but got home with enough time for me to go grocery shopping and cook dinner. Here’s a teaser… I’ll post the recipe later 😉

Looks good, huh?

Questions for you: Would you rather someone tell you exactly what they want for a present or would you prefer to do it on your own? Have you had an issues with animals destroying your garden? What was the best part of your weekend?

Wednesday Workout: My Favorite “At Home” Workouts

June 19, 2013June 18, 2013Leave a comment

Hi! As the nicer weather and summer season approaches, so doesn’t a busier schedule, right? I doubt I am the only one who feels like I am always on the road in the summer months, so I figured that it would be a good idea to post some of my favorite “at home” workouts or hotel room workouts so they could be easily accessible if you’re looking for something quick and effective to do in the comforts of your own home, hotel room, or anywhere else that’s not a gym. Most of these are “equipment free,” but if you have weights, feel free to incorporate them for a more intense workout.

Got 20 Minutes?

V-Sits and Leg Lifts and Planks, Oh My!”

Weekly Workouts and a WFH Workout

Easter Recap

Jump Rope & Strength Circuit Workout

Wednesday Workout: Discussion time! Compound vs. Isolation Exercises?

NYC in a Flash

My key for making an at-home workout effective is to do timed intervals, mixing in Plyo HIIT cardio and body weight exercises (squats, lunges, push-ups, planks, triceps dips, etc.). If you pick 10, do them for 60 seconds each and then repeat 3 times, you’ve got yourself a nice 30 minute workout! Or, if I am looking for just a core workout and some cardio, I will do alternating intervals- 60 seconds core, 60 seconds cardio. They don’t have to be fancy, they just need to incorporate moves to get your heart rate up!

Did I miss any? What is your favorite workout to do at home if you’re short on time?

Pampered Chef Party in NH, Apartment Hunting, Poolside, Lakeside

June 18, 2013June 18, 20136 Comments

Hey there! I am currently en route to NYC for a quick work trip (I’ll be back tonight). How is your Tuesday looking?

Last Friday night, I got together with most of my St. Michael’s girls at our friend Nikia’s new house in New Hampshire. She and her boyfriend recently bought a brand new home in the country and WOW was it beautiful. Seriously, I couldn’t even believe it! I am so proud of all that they have done to make it “theirs”.

We got together both to see the house and to attend a Pampered Chef party. Has anyone been to one of those parties? I love Pampered Chef kitchen stuff SO much. You’ve seen the stones on my blog quite often.

The host created these delicious, healthy pepper strips that were a huge hit. They were so easy, too. She combined some ingredients, mixed them with a Pampered Chef seasoning, placed a scoop on each pepper strip and baked for 7 minutes.

I ordered a few things, but told the host to get in contact with me in Sept/Oct so I could host a party at my new place!

It’s always a fun time getting together with my SMC girls, but we missed you Kelly and Jessi! These girls are my rock- seriously we all just “get” each other, even though we are all pretty different. That’s what makes it so fun, though!

Thanks for an awesome party, Kia!

On Saturday, I woke up, packed up and headed out to see an apartment at 9 before teaching my 10am kickboxing class. Even though the apartment is a basement level, I really liked it! The ground goes at an angle so the back of the apartment is not underground at all and there is a door from the bedroom that leads out to a back patio. Everything has been recently renovated and the landlord is awesome. I have a few questions, but I think I might take it- eeek!!

After my class, I headed north and met mom and Danielle at the Mahoney’s pool. Pure bliss, if you ask me!

Mom had a whole cooler full of goodies, which I quickly dug into when I got there since I was starving!

Shortly after we finished, the other Jean and Colleen and Emma showed up! Look how stinkin’ cute she is in her little bathing suit!

We even brought her in the pool. She was loving the water and splashing her hands around!

We left there around 4 so we could head over to Sara’s house on the lake to get some Zeke snuggle time. Boy are we lucky to have so many friends with access to water!

Zeke gets cuter and cuter every time I see him!!! And he is so GOOD. Literally just sleeps and eats… barely ever cries.

Sara looks phenomenal. Seriously. A beaming mom for sure! I got my mommy multitasking practice in

Haha. It’s easier than you may think 😉

We took the boat out for a nice stroll before heading home.

Dad had hamburgers, hot dogs and corn on the cob ready for us upon our arrival. How’s that for fantastic service? Per usual, we had a blast laughing and joking and drinking wine!

Questions for you: Ever been to a Pampered Chef party? What’s your favorite kitchen tool? Do you prefer a pool or the lake?

Burpees to Bubbly

Because good workouts deserve bubbly rewards!

Month: June 2013

It’s Been A Busy Week!

Easy Dinner Recipe: Teriyaki Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry

Baby Tucker and Father’s Day Recap

Wednesday Workout: My Favorite “At Home” Workouts

Pampered Chef Party in NH, Apartment Hunting, Poolside, Lakeside

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