Special days

Looks like I missed out on blogging yesterday, but it was all for a good reason. Of course it was Mother's Day so I spent the day with my wonderful mama shopping our little hearts out.

Let's talk about this GORGEOUS dress garment. First of all, it caught my eye just as we were leaving Macys. There was only ONE dress, and based on how it looked hanging on the hanger, I was convinced there was no way it would be my size, or something I could even fit to. Well, don't you know it, I checked the tag and it was my EXACT size. Now would be a good time to say this happened LAST year when I went shopping for a dress for a wedding and came across my beautiful red dress. Only one, in my size and it was perfect. I couldn't leave without it, so I of course bought it.

Isn't the dress gorgeous? I bought it last July and have worn it only once. And by once, I mean once out in public, I put it on frequently and prance around my house because I love it THAT much (totally 150% serious!) Unfortunately, I could NOT justify the beautiful long dress I found yesterday. First off, the price was a bit ridiculous considering I could probably wear it once (if I'm lucky). I tried to convince my mom I would wear it to work every day, to clean my house and to grocery shop, but she eventually convinced me, it just wasn't a good idea. So long dream dress.. maybe we will meet again one day....

Anyway, after shopping (I bought my mama a new purse for Mother's Day) we came home and made a delicious dinner. My mom absolutely LOVES chicken marsala (and I do as well) but she's never made it before. She decided for Mother's Day, SHE wanted to make it. Crazy, I know!

Being the wonderful daughter I am, I of course helped. First, I took pictures of her beating the meat (hehehe sorry mom!) and then I helped read the recipe to her, and maybe with some other misc. activites. Let me tell you, for having made chicken marsala for the first time, my mom kicked some major butt.

DELICIOUS! To accompany our delicious chicken (which really didn't need any sides), we had broccoli and mashed potatoes. Our potatoes were made with golden yellow and purple fingerling potatoes. Once they were mashed, they remind me of a certain college (Go UW HUSKIES!)

Overall, the meal was delicious and by the end of it, my mother was hiding the chicken from me so I wouldn't eat ever last remaining bite. Yes, it was THAT good!

Today, of course was Monday and not really my favorite day of the week. Work was alright, but I was so happy when 5 o'clock hit and I could come home. My friend Thy has decided to do INSANITY with me (yup, starting over again today) so we can home and did our first workout. It felt SO good to get my heart rate up and get my body moving and of course, dripping with sweat! After the workout, I made myself a little dinner (chicken sandwich on a sandwich flat, with roasted chicken, guacamole and fontina cheese with a side of red bell peppers). It wasn't anything too exciting, but it hit the spot for me. Guacamole is kind of my favorite thing under the sun right now and I could pretty much put it on ANYTHING!

After a quick bite, I ran out to go tanning (need that vitamin D for my body) then I ran home to wish my parents dog (aka MY dog, but he lives at home with them) Buddy a Happy birthday!

He's 13 years old today! I still remember the day he came into our life... I was 12 years old, and was outside playing in a fort I had built with my neighbor. We were minding our own business when this dog wandered into our tent...sniffed around and left. A couple seconds later, our noses smelt a HORRIBLE smell... Poor puppy dog had gas. He ended up being a stray with a hurt leg and our neighbors took him in. We had been on the search for a dog, and Buddy came into our life at the perfect time. Needless to say, we decided to keep him and the rest is history. He is by far the most incredible dog in the world, and makes me SO happy. LOVE YOU BUDDY!!

Anyway, time for me to hit the hay! Going to finish watching Bethenny Ever After (anybody else watch?) then hop into bed! Hoping to get a run in before work tomorrow.

See ya tomorrow afternoon!

Productivity at its finest

I absolutely love and adore Saturdays, but I really hate when they start off with a HORRIBLE nightmare. I'm talking, wake up shaking and crying, call mom and have her sleep over kind of nightmare. Because that is EXACTLY what happened to me last night (or I suppose early this morning). I won't even try to explain the nightmare, but it was me feeling completely alone and abandoned, and it scared the living you know what out of me. Thankfully, I have a wonderful friend (you know who you are) who I was able to call and calm me down a bit, and then of course, I proceeded to call my mom and tell her to get over here NOW! She ended up sleeping over with me (THANK YOU MOM, you're the best!!)

After finally calming down 100% and falling back asleep, I woke up and felt fairly refreshed (might be a bit of a lie, but let's go with it). I slept in until almost 11 and felt like I had wasted the day and there was no way I would get anything done. BOY OH BOY, was I wrong! I managed to enjoy some relaxation time in bed with my kitties, while reading a book, before dragging myself into the shower. I had made lunch plans with a girlfriend who planned on picking me up around 1pm. I had been craving sushi and was really looking forward to that, but at the last minute, my friend decided we should go to Cactus(healthy Mexican food).

We started the meal with chips and salsa and some delicious drinks. I have NO idea what the drinks were called, or what was in them for that matter, but they were yummy and were perfect for the day we were having (the sun actually made a quick appearance...Thank you mother nature!!)

After indulging in the chips and salsa, we both enjoyed our separate meals. I decided to try the Butternut Squash Enchiladas. Let me tell you....DELICIOUS! For one, the portion size was perfect (it left me enough to take home in a doggie bag!) and left me feeling quite satisfied and not over stuffed. I also ADORED how we were given black beans rather than refried. I have a MAJOR love going on for black beans, so having that scored some major brownie points in my book. The meal was an absolute success and I look forward to going back more this summer for some more lunches (or maybe dinner!)

After eating, my friend took me back home while she ran off to a hair appointment. I really wanted to be productive, so I crawled into bed and decided to take a 'cat nap'

I was hoping my little babes would snuggle with me, but the decided to snuggle at the end of the bed with each other. Oh well. Thank goodness for lots of pillows and stuffed animals :)

After my snooze, which was about 45 minutes (which ISN'T normal for me), I felt completely refreshed and ready to tackle my to do list. I decided I would start with grocery shopping. I swear I always make a list that seems short, but by the time I get to the register, my cart is always filled with some things that always happen to 'fall' in my cart by accident. Oh well, a girl needs to eat right ;) Once I got home, the REAL productivity began. I cleaned out my fridge of all the old stuff and some party food left over from Thursday....[Quick note on that: Had a Cinco de Drinko party with a bunch of my co-workers Thursday night which involved way too much tequila, beer, margaritas, Fireball (how did that get in there?),chips, pico de gallo, guacamole and some AMAZING creamcheese chili sauce. The party was overall a success but left me with 3 bags of UNOPENED chips, two bottles of tequila, a bunch of random beers and a LOT of coors light.] Back to the story though, I cleaned out my fridge in order to make room for all my food I bought (almost all of it which is healthy..back on the horse I go!). After completing this, I went downstairs and tackled the mini fridge in one of my spare rooms. Yes, I literally have a bedroom that contains a lamp and mini fridge. That is all. It's currently my 'mini fridge room' but will hopefully be my work out room in the near future :) The mini fridge was kinda dirty, so i went to work cleaning it up, top to bottom. Once it was sparkly clean, and not smelling like funk anymore, I stocked it up with all the extra beer and booze that were laying around my house. Let's just say the fridge is COMPLETELY stocked, and I will probably need to have another party very soon to get rid of all the alcohol.

Anyway, once I cleaned the fridge, I cleaned my garage (aka cleaned off the beer pong table) and attempted to make it look more classy. I might put a vase or plant in the center of the table. I think that will give a better impression :) I also managed to sweep my floors (which were DISGUSTING) and I did a quick mop job (emphasis on QUICK)on the really sticky nasty parts of the floor. After completing ALL of this, I cleaned my kitchen and decided to attack a watermelon I bought while at the store. I chopped it up and put it in the fridge to be snacked on throughout the week. Of course, the watermelon made me hungry and I decided I would make myself a giant salad for dinner.

Into the mix went:
Baby Greens
Red Pepper
Cherry tomatoes
carrots
Chicken
Croutons (LOVE the crunch)
Goat cheese (my new FAVORITE thing that happened to 'fall into my cart' while shopping)
Pepper
Balsamic Vinegar

My original plan was to eat the salad while I typed this, but I'm pretty sure I inhaled the whole thing before I even got a sentence typed. Oh well :)

I plan on getting together with a girl friend tonight to go out for some drinks at the local bar and just see where the night takes us. I will try to take some pictures so I can post them tomorrow. Might I also add, it feels SO good to be back at blogging, and special shout to Danielle for her sweet blog comment yesterday which totally made my day! You guys should go check out her blog! I absolutely love it and I'm sure you will too!

P.S.
Sorry for the bad picture quality, I forgot my camera and all was done on the good old ghetto piece o crap iPhone of mine :)
ALSO! I'm sure there are spelling and grammatical errors all up in this. My mom typically reads for me and sends me the feedback about how half my sentences don't make sense. I guess if I slowed down a bit, it might help. Hopefully whatever main point I am trying to make sense comes across