Bigger In Texas?

The word on the street is everything is bigger in Texas. However,during this upcoming trip I am hoping my waistline will not be one of them. Ahem.  Actually, hoping is not the right word. It is more like actively planning to combat this. I plan to leave Texas just as healthy (if not more so) than when I got there.

My first task is to plan. By planning I do not mean make a packing list plan, (which I have already done of course) but rather make a meal/workout plan. Since we are going to be in Texas for 5 days I have broken it down like this:

The Workouts:
Our hotel features a full gym. (Score!).  Even if there is not a full gym most hotels feature fitness rooms of some sort. Even the smallest of facilities work fine.  If I get bored with the fitness center I can go for a run or walk and see the scenery. Working out somewhere new is a lot of fun. Also, a final option is using a local Gold’s Gym since I get 7 passes to other Gold’s Gyms per year. If you use a chain like Gold’s ask your front desk about passes. Also, you will be surprised how many gyms in the cities you visit will give you a 1-week pass for free (or for a small fee). My motto- It never hurts to ask!! There is no excuse for skipping workouts while on vacation. I have learned this slowly but surely.

The Food:
This is all about priorities. When I asked myself what foods MUST I try while I am in Texas my first thoughts were a steak dinner and Mexican food. This equates to two meals out of five days worth of eating. I think I can plan well and certainly fit those in. Remember that amazing pizza I had in Chicago? It is ok to indulge a little on vacation as long as overall you are sticking to your plan and making smart choices. There is so much to be said for balance.

The Fun:
It is vacation so having fun is your biggest priority. Run 3 miles instead of 5 if you like, make a lap or four around the outlets for some extra cardio, find a park, do a walking tour of the city, etc. There are so many ways to work in healthy choices on your vacation. I plan to burn some calories jumping up and down and cheering on The Dallas Cowboys on Sunday!!

I will have my little blogging in pink netbook along for the trip so I can get my real time Texas blogging on ya’ll! I hope Dallas is ready for me!!

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Sandy Toes and Salty Kisses

After a little confusion (IE: the hubs giving me the wrong dates for our trip to the beach) it turns out we are leaving tomorrow morning rather than Sunday. The good news is we have an extra day at the beach. The bad news, well there really isn’t any. I managed to get everything done today (and lived to blog about it!)

I started my day with some peanut butter toast and skim milk. (not pictured). I had to go do my long run today since tomorrow I will be in the car from 5:00am on. Since I was pressed for time I just dashed over to my gym to get in a fast 5 miles. I went a little faster than normal which made my stomach ache. This was the first time this has ever happened to me. I am blaming the skim milk and will likely skip that in favor of a banana and water next time.

After my run I showered and left my house sans make-up (gasp!) to make my appointment at Ageless Organic Spa in Lynchburg, VA. The spa was “no frills” in terms of its decor but the services were great. The girls there use organic products for manicures, pedicures, massages, facials, waxing and hair services. I got a manicure and pedicure for $25.00 (a steal right??). They were also nice enough to give me a couple of products to review (more on those later).

My very first organic manicure (even the polish was organic!)

I heart my pedicure in "For Audrey" blue.

After getting pampered I raced over to meet the hubs for lunch. He was working today so I just happened to finish up right in time. We decided to have lunch at Hickory Farms. And, no we didn’t just have beef stick samples and crackers! (Ha!). It turns out you can get wraps in there and they are really good. I chose turkey, cheese, and loads of veggies. I also grabbed a bag of chips and a diet black cherry soda. I ❤ Black Cherry anything so I was pretty excited to find this.

The rest of my afternoon and evening were less than exciting. I paid bills, ran errands, paid more bills, ran more errands and bought all of those random last minute “oh yeah we do need one of those before we leave” items.  The hubs joined me and we finished up the night spending WAY too much at Target. While we were there I decided to get Loreal foundation instead of buying department store foundation for like the one month I am tan (tan is relative in my world. We shall just say I am not see-through at the moment. hehehe.)  I will switch back to Mac in the fall. What is your favorite non-make-up-counter makeup?

After the errand running we stopped for a quick dinner. I picked up 1/2 sammie and chicken tortilla soup. I am just trying to maintain my 35 lb loss while on vacation so I am not stressing too much about food. My plan is to pick whole grains, veggies, and proteins, get in some workouts this week,  and only have a couple of indulgences while at the beach. When I get back I hope to be will be in the mindset to resume my weight loss journey. The mental aspect is more than 1/2 the journey. It’s taken me a while to accept that.

I hope to get in a little beach blogging this week and I will miss you all bunches! You can keep up with my vacation happenings through my twitter feed on the right of this page! Sandy Toes and Salty Kisses are coming my way!

Have A Happy and Healthy Week!

PS: You should totally enter my Delicate Soles giveaway. I am picking a winner when I return from the beach. Extra entry if you post the giveaway on your blog or facebook page!! xoxo

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Paninis and Theft on a Friday

Isn’t there just something about a Friday? Even when I have a full day at the office like I did today there is still just something magical in the air when Friday comes around. It is like some collective consciousness of freedom and fun is just all around you. This Friday, like so many before it, definitely did not disappoint (well for the most part).

I started off my Friday super excited with my newly cut and colored hair. I saw my hair guru Caleb Thursday night at Anthony and Company in Lynchburg and he did a great job touching up my “Killers” hair cut. I also decided to wear the cute Elle cream t-shirt I picked up at Kohls a few weeks ago. I paired it with black pants, gold Jessica Simpson flats, and a lavender COACH bag. I also grabbed my second biggest pair of gold sunglasses to complete the look.

I completely forgot my breakfast this morning and I was stuck at the office all morning with no way to run out and grab a meal/snack. I thought that eating something was better than nothing so after inspecting my options (cookies, chips, Doritos..you get the idea) I settled on a bag of Sun Chips. Not the best breakfast obviously. But, there was some whole grain and fiber involved and only 3 grams of sugar. So I counted my 210 calories (or 4 points) and went on with my day.

The office was really quiet today. I think a lot of people are using flextime or vacation days to get a head start on the weekend. (Smart move!) But a quiet day also means a day of getting things done. I have to earn my keep after all!! 😉

I did manage to sneak in some hubs time during my lunch break. We headed over to The Depot Grill for an early (and quick) lunch. I decided on an awesome grilled summer veggie sandwich. There was a spinach and artichoke base topped with grilled onoins, squash, carrots and peppers, then topped with havarti dill cheese and sprouts. YUM! I made it about 1/2 way through my plate but it was so good.  We also sat outside which was SO incredibly nice in this weather.

After wrapping up my day at the office I headed over to the groomer to drop off my first “born” Carrie for a cut and bath. She needed it. BADLY! Isn’t she cute so fresh and so clean sporting her most prissy puppy pose??

The hubs and I decided on a quiet date night since things have been so hectic lately. The most recent annoyance being someone opening our fenced in yard, breaking into our shed, and stealing the hub’s custom mountain bike. We live in a good area so we are pretty upset about this.  After calling the police and our insurance company we went to Panera to grab a quick dinner. I had a ½ size serving of soup and a 1/2 size bacon turkey bravo.

I am extra excited for a girls’ day out tomorrow! Stop by to see the adventures of two grown women drooling over Eclipse (and some food and shopping fabulousness too!) It is Running In Pink Project Eclipse Additon!

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The Yin and The Yang

I was SO looking forward to my full day on Sunday and I am happy to say it did not disappoint. I was meeting a friend really early so I grabbed a super quick breakfast of a Whole Grain English muffin with organic peanut butter and some V8 fusion. I decided my fabulous day warranted a fabulous glass for juice drinking!

After breakfast I got all packed up in the Wonderbug to head to Roanoke, VA to meet my friend Kristen for a girly day of fabulousness.

Our “main event” for the day was seeing Sex and The City 2 but we figured it would be almost against the law to see this movie without some shopping first. Now let me just say on the days that Kristen and I go shopping with no plan we end up just buying a little bit of everything. That is why normally we pick a store or a mission like shoes or dresses but Saturday was a super fantastic day of shopping bliss! Do you prefer to shop with pals or alone? I definitely prefer shopping with friends! Here are some of my favorite finds:

new gray shades

love the side detail

We moved on from sunglasses shopping to housewares and I got some fantastic coffee mugs and a matching serving plate.

Next we moved on to my personal favorite.. Shoe Shopping! I had some Macy’s dollars from an unfortunate run in with a rude sales person a few weeks back so I was looking for some fabulous finds.

Lucky Brand "Birna" flats in dusky citron. I have been stalking these all Spring!

Love the detail!

I also got these vintage collection 9 west flats for 1/2 price. I cant wait to wear these this fall with a fabulous gray dress and some tights!

I also picked up an embellished cardigan…

Finally, I picked up a couple of  dresses. The dark pink is very casual and I have plans to pair it with a black cropped cardigan, some chunky jewelry and some random flats or wedges in a totally different fun color. The second dress is my husband’s fave. I have big plans to wear it with some Steve Madden stilettos that I am currently stalking. I was also stoked that the second dress had 86.00 on the tag but came home with me for 9.99!! It was marked down twice and half off. Its one of my favorite styles. So classic and I ❤ the color combination!

After shopping the rain came. Fast and furious and out of nowhere. Thankfully Kristen had a huge golf umbrella and the only casualties were her soaked jeans and our hair. We managed to fight the storm and made it over to Panera for a quick lunch. The storm made me want something cozy so I got some potato soup and 1/2 chicken panini.

We loaded up the car and headed over to see Carrie and the gang in Sex and The City 2!!

Having always loved the show I of course loved the movie. I thought it was really fun. Some of my favorite parts without giving anything away….

• The “take a sip” conversation
• The gold sparkly shoes
• The “Single Ladies”
• The Dior T-shirt outfit
• Aiden (helloooo the hotness)
• A dog in a top hat
• The “Jude Law”

What was your favorite part?

After the movie it was back to the house for an absolute flip-flop for a night of urban camping.The hubs wanted to have the guys over for some camp fire/drinking/smores kind of night. I of course did not want hot dogs cooked on a stick so I had sushi and martinis.  I thought the sitting in nature thing warranted a martini!

Our make shift camp site

Carrie was jazzed for camping!

The hubs making a fire

My kind of camping dinner!

Harlow keeping us all safe!

smores -yum!

NIght Night! (No we didnt sleep outside after all but I gave it a good try)

Weight Watchers was closed today so next Monday will have to be the May wrap up. I think after the weekend of slightly overeating, having too much salt and too much alcohol this is probably a good thing. I have been drinking water today like it’s my job.  It’s funny how things have changed. I am actually looking forward to getting back to working out and clean eating tomorrow. I can tell a HUGE difference in my body when I overindulge. I like the person Im becoming. 🙂 I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!!

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