If you like Pina Coladas…

Good morning, friends!

Happy belated Father’s Day to all the dads out there – what a great weekend to celebrate 🙂  I have to say, things have been a little crazy around here and I obviously have not had much time to put together a post to share.  This past Friday, I spent the day with my sister and mom out in the suburbs to celebrate their school year being over and to enjoy the beautiful sunshine.  We spent hours chatting by the pool and enjoying a couple skinny pina coladas.  I found this recipe via Carrots N’ Cake a while back and love drinking it whenever it’s hot out:

Skinny Pina Colada

by: Carrots N’ Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Coconut Run
• 5 oz coconut water
• 2 oz pineapple juice

Directions:

1. Combine ingredient in a cocktail shaker with ice.
2. Shake and strain into a glass filled with ice.
3. Drink and enjoy!

Makes 1 cocktail

Kristan and I headed back into the city shorty after dinner to rest up for the big day on Saturday.  As you all know, I have been participating in a charity flag football league called Blondes vs. Brunettes for the past couple of months and Saturday was our big game day!  To fuel up for the match at 2:00 p.m., Kristan, Brian and myself headed to my favorite Brunch spot in Chicago – Tweet!  Tweet is located in the ‘Uptown/Edgewater’ neighborhood and is one of the first places Brian and I ever went together.

We each ordered one cocktail… just to wet our whistle 😉

And enjoyed a delicious and filling brunch.

Country Benedict sans sauce for me!

We at breakfast around 10:00 a.m., so there was plenty of time to fully digest before running laps and pulling flags on the field.  We ALSO had time to squeeze in a walk with Bailey along the lakeshore path.

Such a beautiful day.

Before I knew it, it was time to get my gear on and head out the door.  This was my third year participating in BvB and each year we luck out on AMAZING weather.

The blondes ended up winning this match, but the brunettes raised the most money which makes us the true winners in the fight against Alzheimer’s 🙂

The fun did not stop on the field, after the match both the blondes and the brunettes headed to Sheffield’s to enjoy a couple of beers in celebration of the hard work everyone put in to the season.  And as if the day was not already jam packed enough, Brian and I had to duck out of the party early to attend a dinner party at my friend Lauren’s apartment!  Lauren and her roommate served a bunch of delicious Mexican eats and included a cocktail hour on their roof that provided some spectacular views.

Needless to say, I woke up Sunday morning both extremely full and sore.  I was very happy to hear that my Father wanted to spend his special day relaxing at home by the pool because that is exactly what the doctor ordered.  It was another awesome weekend in the books!

It’s That Time of Year Again…!

First, let’s just talk about how beautiful my tulips are…

Haven’t they opened up nicely?  Whole foods had a great deal on the bunch this weekend, only $6! Win!

This week has been jam packed thus far.  There has been lots and lots of leftovers eaten.

Workouts have been pushed back indoors – boo.

 

Best friends have come to visit from New York

#selfie

And my BvB practice has commenced!  For those of you who are relatively new to this blog, BVB (Blondes vs. Brunettes) is a charity powderpuff football league I participate in each year.  The charity that we raise money for is The Alzheimer’s Association to help fight for a world without Alzheimer’s.

I was first introduced to this league by a former colleague of mine who was part of the planning committee.  I remember thinking to myself, how tough could it be?  I thought I would show up to practice and it would be more of a social hour of women having fun on the field.  I wasn’t wrong about the social aspect, but I did underestimate how much effort goes into our seasons.  We start practicing two days a week for only ONE game that is played in mid June!  Talk about dedication.

Until that June game, we also throw various fundraising events to try and help us reach our yearly goal of about $35,000.  Each player is set to reach a minimum of $350 in their fundraising goal and this year, my friends and family thus far have been rockstars.  I always love exceeding the goal and having those funds go towards such an awesome cause and this year is no exception.

Although I love getting in a good workout two days a week, and I’m serious practices are awesome and intense, the real reason I keep coming back to play (3rd year in a row!) is because of the awesome women I have met through this organization.  All of the women are smart, driven and hilarious – practices may be tough but I usually cannot go a full night without dying of laughter.

If you feel like donating to this awesome cause, feel free to check out my personal page here!  Or come cheers us on at our big GAME DAY June 14th, 2014 at Hawthorne School Turf Field in Lakeview, Chicago.

Ta Ta for now, friends!

Dinner Booze Dinner

Good Morning, Good Morning!

It’s 48 degrees out right now!  This may be something crazy to be excited over, but it feels like heaven compared to the bitter cold we’ve been experiencing these past few days.

Yesterday after work, I met Brian at our local Binny’s so that we could stock up on some booze for the winter.  If you are a Binny’s fan like me, you should know that they are having some ridiculously awesome sales right now when you use your Binny’s card.  Needless to say, we went a little crazy.

If you can’t tell we are big fans of the Hendricks.  Also, we stocked up on some of our mixers including the various San Pellegrino flavors.  These are so delicious to mix with tequila!

Brian and I are having a couple friends over for dinner this weekend so we wanted to make sure there were good choices for whatever people’s tastes are.  After we put everything away, we went over the menu so that I can prep for a big grocery trip after work today.  What are we making?  I’ll tell yah!

Appetizers:

-Good stinky cheese

-Fresh torn baguette

-Herbed Shrimp

-Salad with arugula and pomegranate arils

Main:

-Coq Au Vin with herbed noodles

-More fresh torn baguette to soak up the delicious juices

Dessert:

-Homemade chocolate mousse with fresh berries

You may or may not have detected a bit of a theme, I was really trying to bring my Paris memories back to life.

This dinner is the first of many festive dinners to come.  Remember that life is all about balance and doing what you love.  I love to eat and I love to drink, so to counter this passion I will definitely be hitting up the gym early in the morning!  I still need to figure out what kind of ‘side’ I will be bringing to my parents Thanksgiving dinner.  Last year, I brought Ina Garten’s Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette and it was a major hit.  Honestly, Thanksgiving is not my favorite meal of the year.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE fresh turkey – especially my dad’s smoked turkey – but the ‘traditional’ sides are kinda unappetizing to me.  Why would someone make a green bean casserole when you can have fresh crisp green beans with drizzled olive oil, lemon juice and crumbled goat cheese one top.  Doesn’t that sound better, or is it just me?

I know, it’s just me.  My stomach doesn’t do well with cream, milk or a lot of butter – which pretty much everything Thanksgiving side dish has… hence why Thanksgiving is not my favorite holiday.  I do, however, enjoy leftover turkey sandwiches, watching massive amounts of football and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade!

Back to my original thought, any suggestions on a delicious fresh side that does not involve lots of cream, milk or butter?!  Yesterday I checked out Kath’s recent post over at Kath Eats Real Food and thought that her Ultimate Fall Wheatberry Salad might be a winner.  Here is the tricky part though… my dad doesn’t like fruit.  Ha!  Back to the drawing board…

Time to chill with Bailey and eat some tacos.

I’m Back!

Guys, I’m back – I know you missed me.

Things have been crazy around here between Open Enrollment with work and holiday festivities, I decided to take a bit of a media cleanse.  Instead of waking up – going to work – gym – dinner – blogging – bed.  My days looked more like waking up – gym – going to work – glass of wine – enjoying time off – bed.

I really needed that extra hour or two I would normally spend blogging each night to just unwind after a crazy day.  I am happy to report that I am back feeling fully rested and excited to share some of my recent happenings and future endeavors.

Food Wise

I’ve been enjoying my usual delicious meals and happened to snag a few photo bites while on my “cleanse”.

Healthy stuff like salads from Noodles & Company after a long day of shopping with friends:

Spicy Chicken bites with a pile of veggies on the side (yes, I will share this delicious recipe with you once I’ve perfected the spice combo – seriously they are so addictive):

Fresh Omelets made to order by one of my best friends:

And of course some unhealthy indulgences like these churros from Xoco where my parents and I grabbed a late night bite:

It was actually my first time dining at Xoco, I have been to Rick Bayless’s Frontera and Topolobampo, but never the smaller more affordable place (makes sense, not..)  I was extremely impressed with the level of service at Xoco even though it was not his flagship restaurant.  I ordered the short rib soup in a red chile broth that came to the table without the short rib the first time around.  The manager of the restaurant immediately came over and apologized and explained that this is not the standard they try to maintain at.  He then offered dessert and coffee on the house and how could we resist?  Along with the churros he delivered sample sizes of their famous Mexican hot chocolate and oh my it was to die for.

Workout Wise

I’ve still been working out everyday – there’s not cleanse from that.  My gym is starting to become more and more crowded as the cold creeps in so my early morning workouts are now a must.

A lot of treadmill runs have been completed and the Nike Training Club App is still a favorite.  I am running a Turkey Trot next week on Thanksgiving Day and checked the weather today to see what is in store – a high of 35 degrees.  Looks like I may need to do a couple outside practice runs so that my lungs can get used to the cold weather.

Fun Wise

I enjoyed watching the Bears beat the Ravens last week

… but not until after the severe weather delay.  As many of you know, there were several severe tornado outbreaks in the central part of Illinois that caused a lot of damage and took a heavy toll on some of the local communities.  The storm was not that bad out where I was in Chicago, in fact, after it had passed we went outside and only a few branches had fallen from the trees.

We were fortunate.  For a while the weatherman predicted that Chicago would end up being in the tornado’s path, but it shifted at the last minute.

On another note, can you guys believe that next week is Thanksgiving?  I’m super pumped mainly because I love to eat, but also because my sister will be in town as well as some of my other relatives, it’s BRIAN’S BIRTHDAY on blackout Wednesday and my best friend, Stacey’s birthday on Black Friday.  So much celebrating ahead of me!

Until tomorrow, friends!

Victory tastes so SWEET

Good Morning!

I trust you all had a good weekend – the weather here in Chicago was AWESOME – perfect for the first weekend of summer.

The happenings: FOOD

Taco Bars and Fresh Pineapple

Mashed Hard Boiled Eggs (am I the only one who mashes them?)

Picnics by the Lake – Turkey Sandwiches and Goat Cheese Salads

Spicy Shrimp and Quinoa

I managed to stay relatively healthy during the weekend except for some over indulgent Mexican food Saturday evening 😉  This was due in part because the BRUNETTES won our charity flag football game!

The happenings: ACTIVITIES

The win was long overdue as the blondes had held the title for the past two years.  Saturday was a great day for football, much better than the 100 degree weather we had to play in last year.  The game consisted of four 15 minute quarters which literally flew by – I honestly can’t remember what the final score was but I know it was really close!

Post game – we all headed over to the Fireplace Inn in Old Town with our family and friends to celebrate.

Victory tastes so good!

Sunday was definitely a recovery day… it took a whole lot of strength to get out of bed before 10:00 a.m.  I had no real desire to do anything too active that day, but the weather was so beautiful I couldn’t waste it inside.  Brian and I decided to head over to the lake and enjoy the sunshine with a picnic!  We made a few stops along the way including – Pastoral – my favorite picnic shop in Lakeview.  I grabbed a delicious Turkey sandwich and salad to go accompanied by some champagne and orange juice to help fuel the recovery 🙂

There were tons of people out by the lake – and lot’s of dogs too!  Bailey made a few friends and was exhausted by the time we left from all of the running around.

The evening ended with a quick 5 mile run that was supposed to be more like 9, but was interrupted by some intense rain.  I personally run with my iPhone and really hate the arm bands because they are not comfortable on me.  Because of this, I was fearful that my phone would get wet and I really don’t have the $$ to go buy a new one 🙂  I guess I didn’t really realize it was supposed to storm, otherwise I would have brought a cover for my phone and it wouldn’t have been an issue.  Oh well.  Lesson learned – and I was still really sore from the game anyways!

Cheers to a productive work week!!

Bru Cru Team Party

Hey Y’all!

I’m in such a great and happy mood!! Why? Because my Blondes vs. Brunettes game is TOMORROW!  3 months of practice has lead to this day and I hope that my team is able to come out victorious.

Last night was our annual Brunette aka “Bru Cru” team party.  One of my teammates hosted it in the backyard of her condo and it was such a perfect evening for it.  The party was potluck themed and we all always bring way too much food to finish.  Burgers, brats and hot dogs are thrown on the grill, but the shining stars are always the desserts – of course!  I brought a delicious salad to the party that had arugula, feta, pomegranates and a lemon vinaigrette.  I got the recipe from one of my closest family friends who I think adapted it from a Giada recipe.

It’s always a crowd pleaser and so simple to throw together!  I buy the pomegranate seeds that are pre-seeded from Trader Joe’s so there is not messy prep.

Another tradition at the Bru Cru party is giving out coaches “Thank You” gifts.  This year we got them sweet flat rim hats that had the word “Bru” stitched in the middle.

Plus, their favorite bottle of alcohol.  Pretty sweet deal!

After the gifts were given and our bellies were full, the team made a poster for game day that we are going to run through when we step onto the field.  I really hope that the poster rips and we don’t look like fools try to run through it 🙂

And last, but certainly not least, the good ol’ tradition of the blonde piñata.

I think you can understand where this goes 🙂

If any of you are in the Chicago area and have nothing to do Saturday during the day – stop by our game!  Here are the deets:

What: Blondes vs. Brunettes (BvB) Flag Football game for the Alzheimer’s Association

When: Saturday, June 22nd – 1:00 p.m.

Where: North Ave. Turf Field between Stockton and LaSalle

Why: Because it’s for a good cause and I said so!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Short and Sweet Runs

Good Morning, Friends!

It’s a beautiful day in Chicago, which was the perfect way to motivate me to wake up at 5:00 a.m. and go on a run.

As I mentioned yesterday, this past week/weekend was active, but not in the running sense.  In fact, the last time I went on a real run (not football practice) was a week ago! Yikes.  It was time to kick my butt back into my training plan.  Since it had been a little while since I had ran, I decided to do a quick and easy 3.5 mile loop around the neighborhood.

I love 3 mile runs.  Although they don’t rack up to many miles in the training plan, they are so short and sweet that I find myself always enjoying them and being extra happy!   My loop ended by the lake just as the sun was rising – I loved it.

On my run, I thought about many of the activities that occurred yesterday… Including the end of the SHRM Conference.  It was a little bittersweet to leave McCormick for the last time, but it ended on a high note after a great ending keynote from Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly.  Both of their stories were so inspirational and uplifting – it’s amazing how well Mrs. Giffords is recovering!

The last session ended around 12:45 p.m. so my coworker and I grabbed a quick salad from Protein Bar before heading back to the office.  Being back at my desk was a little overwhelming with all of the backlog of emails/projects.  I’m glad I have these next two days to get through them all… and the weekend… ha.

After work, I headed home before my FINAL BvB practice.  Before walking over to the field, I made a batch of quinoa so that we would have it when we returned late at night.

I cannot believe the big game is this SATURDAY!  It feels like yesterday that I was meeting the new players and getting back into the rhythm.  To say I’m excited is an understatement!

Practice ended close to 9:00 p.m. so Brian and I got back just in time to watch the 3rd period of the Blackhawks/Bruins game.  I whipped together a guacamole quinoa salad with the quinoa I prepped, while Brian grilled some jalapeño chicken sausage.

We ate in front of the t.v. and watched the game unfold – it was a little nerve wrecking to say the least and I’m not even a hawks or bruins fan!

Brian sported some interesting nervous mannerisms:

The gum chew

The head scratch

The lip bite

I’m more of a head turned – cover your eyes kind of girl.

By the time the game went into overtime I was exhausted!  These NHL/NBA games have been keeping me up way past my bedtime!  Let’s get it together boys and quit with this overtime or double overtime business on “school nights” 🙂

What is your nervous mannerism while watching a game?

A Dash of This, A Splash of That and a Great Morning Run

Hola! Did you know that there is less than two weeks until summer?  Crazy.  Hope everyone has been motivated to stay on track to reach your summer fit goals! There is still time to get into a routine 🙂 Here are some helpful tips to get on track:

• Map out your workouts for the week -Things pop up unexpectedly everyday, but if you have a plan in mind before you start the day you are more likely to want to achieve your goal.
• Track your food – This really helped me in the beginning of my weight loss/fitness journey.  When you hold yourself accountable for what you put in your body throughout the day, you are guaranteed to see results 🙂
• Buy less snacks/desserts at the grocery store – Out of sight, out of mind.  When I’m really craving a dessert I try to opt for a healthy alternative like yogurt, honey and cinnamon or fresh fruit with a drizzle of almond butter!
• Tell your friends and family about your goals – If they are true friends, they will encourage your positive and healthy lifestyle and help you resist fatty or sugary indulgences.  Plus, if they are looking to get fit too, it is always great to have a workout buddy!

This morning I completed 4.5 miles as a part of my half-marathon training plan.  It was a beautiful run and I was so happy to see so many other runners out hitting the pavement with me.

I decided to run my route through the neighborhood instead of the lakeshore path because I had just run it on Sunday and wanted some scenic variety.  Plus, all of the turns and different streets keep things interesting so I’m less inclined to look down at my watch and see how far I’ve gone.

Once I got home, I whipped up some Greek yogurt with a scoop of protein powder, 1 tbsp. of organic honey and 1/2 tbsp. of almond butter.  I stirred it all together and added some fresh sliced up strawberries.

So delicious.  A perfect recovery treat.

Yesterday started with a big bowl of strawberries at work as well.  The day flew by in part because we had so many new hires start recently that it is definitely keeping the HR department busy. Fine by me considering its a four day week!

After work, I headed home to meet Brian so we could go to BvB practice together.  Since our game is NEXT WEEKEND, we have been bringing some male players to practice so we can get some good scrimmaging in.

Our walk over was very interesting.  One minute it was a clear day and then the next thing we knew, thick fog clouds were rolling in.

Yah, no joke.  You could barely see the field.

Despite the crazy fog, we had a really great practice and stayed out on the field until 8:30 p.m.!

By that time my stomach was growling loudly and I didn’t want to make something that would take a long time to cook.  After a few minutes of brainstorming Brian decided that he would grill up some chicken and I would throw together a big ol’ salad.

Into the bowl went chopped romaine lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, sweet bell peppers, avocado and some shredded mozzarella cheese.  Plus the chopped chicken, of course!  We topped the salad with a balsamic Dijon dressing that complimented the grilled chicken so well!

I could have eaten 3 of these!

For dessert: 1 brown rice, rice cake – a spread of plain Greek yogurt, a drizzle of honey and almond butter, a dash of cinnamon and a sprinkle of dark chocolate chips.

Ohhhh yahhhhhh.

Well, there is lots to do these next 3 days to prep for work and our wedding road trip.  Until tomorrow, friends!

Late Night Tacos

Hello, hello!

It’s a beautiful day in Chicago and I hope it stays like this over the weekend so my pale skin can catch some rays at this magical place…

Yesterday flew by… After my run I showered, got ready and grabbed an Almond Cookie Larabar to tie me over until I got to the office.

This is not my favorite flavor — I much prefer the Cherry or Apple Pie ones.

For lunch, I packed leftover succotash, toast and a string cheese.  I also brought a lemon to work so that I could put some in my water every once and a while.  My coworkers and I were talking the other day about how one of the hardest things to do during the day is to stay hydrated.  You can do a really good job one day, but once you go to bed and wake up… The challenge starts all over again.  I’m a big fan of water, but have found that adding sliced fruit can really help me slurp it down!  I’m not just talking about lemons, fresh cut strawberries, raspberries and pretty much any other type of berry tastes really good too.  Sparkling water like LaCroix also adds good variety to your hydration goal and we get it free in the office. Hydration win!

After work, I rushed home and got ready for BvB practice.  We haven’t had practice in a couple weeks due to all the rain we’ve been getting so the practice went extra late into the evening.

It was so nice out that no one really seemed to mind 🙂

Since practice ran till 8:30 ish and I had a couple things to get done at home, dinner was thrown together in 20 minutes.  Ground Turkey tacos with lettuce, tomato, avocado and black bean and corn salsa.

Yummmmm.

The night ended how most others do… Bailey getting really needy and insisting to sit on my lap while watching reruns of Castle.  I love that show.

On another note, Brian and I are meeting my family and some friends up at Ravinia on Friday.  For those of you who have never been, Ravinia is a concert venue that had a giant lawn where people set up some pretty impressive picnics.  My mother has put me in charge of dessert … Anyone have any good dessert ideas that are fit for a picnic!?

Have a wonderful day!

Guacamole Quinoa Salad

Great news!  Bailey is feeling much better, so whatever bug was in her stomach has passed.

Yesterday felt like a very long day.  I ended up going home during my lunch hour to check on Bailey and make sure she was comfortable.  I didn’t have much time to make lunch so I whipped up a quick egg wrap.  This wrap consisted of 1 whole wheat tortilla, 1 egg + 1 egg white scrambled, 1 tbs. shredded low fat mozzarella cheese and 1 tbs. of pico de gallo.  Although I inhaled this due to time constraints, it did manage to keep me full throughout the rest of the day.

After work, I was supposed to attend my first Blondes vs. Brunettes Tackling Alzheimer’s Disease (BvB) flag football practice, but it was cancelled due to the rain!  BvB is a charity league I got involved in last year where women put their game faces on for a flag football fundraiser which benefits the Alzheimer’s Association.  We have practice about twice a week starting now until our big game day in June.  If you want to find out more about BvB and how you can get involved feel free to visit our webpage!  It is a great event for a great cause and it adds good cross-training to my workout schedule each week.

I am obviously on the Brunettes team and we are looking to revenge our loss last year!  There are no tryouts, so if you would like to join either team you can email our co-chairs using the contact information from the webpage.  Not only do I get a great workout from practices and the games, but I have met a lot of great women through the organization and we host a lot of fun happy hours and events!

Team photo from last year – can you spot me?

Since practice was cancelled, I decided that Tuesday would be my “rest” day… but made sure to stretch a lot so that my muscles could keep recovering from my previous workout.

On the menu for dinner was Jalapeno Chicken Sausage with Guacamole Quinoa Salad.

Guacamole Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 Limes
• 1 heaping cup of halved cherry tomatoes (some quartered depending on size)
• 1 chopped bell pepper
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 cup dry quinoa – rinsed
• 1 tsp. Cayenne pepper – more if you like yours hot 🙂
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa according to package – I usually cook 1 cup dry quinoa to 2 cups water
2. While quinoa is cooking, chop bell pepper, garlic, cherry tomatoes and avocado
3. Halve each lime and squeeze 1/2 lime over diced avocado pieces
4. Add chopped garlic to quinoa once halfway cooked and stir well
5. Once quinoa is full cooked, fluff with a fork – add the bell pepper, tomatoes, juice of the remaining lime halves, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper and stir.
6. Gently fold in avocado pieces
7. Top with protein of your choosing and enjoy! (We chose Jalapeno Chicken Sausage for extra spice!)

We ended our evening with a cool and refreshing coconut water Popsicle.  So delicious!

Time for work – Bon Appetit!