Sushi + Cupcake =Perfection

Hello readers! Thank you for the emails and messages over the weekend. I decided to take a 2 day blog break to have a little date time with my husband. After getting in the habit of writing daily, a blog free weekend was a little weird but a nice change of pace. However, I am glad to be back and ready to dish all about our fabulous Saturday date day.

The hubs and I were up extra early Saturday to make the hour’s drive up to Roanoke, Va for the day. I was pretty much thrilled that the weather had warmed up enough that I didn’t have to lug a winter coat around all day. We also popped the sunroof for a bit which was an extra bonus.

You might be wondering why we traveled an hour when there are plenty of good places to grab lunch and shop where we live. Well I will tell you in a word…Wasabi’s. Wasabi’s is a small restaurant in downtown Roanoke. A friend of mine took me a few months ago and I have been hooked ever since. It’s a cute little place with very cozy decor. I think its the perfect place for a fun lunch.

They serve what my friends and I affectionately refer to as “the good sushi” and this trip did not disappoint. In order to stay on my weight loss plan I allow myself one planned indulgence every Saturday. I had been craving sushi for weeks and I knew exactly where I wanted to get it. I was all smiles as I waited patiently for my plate of sushi goodness to arrive.

This little joint filled up quickly but I barely noticed anything after my little plate of heaven made it’s way to the table. 😉

I highly recommend making a stop by Wasabi’s should you ever find yourself in the Roanoke area. It was delish! After lunch, the hubs and I did some shopping. I found some really cute things I plan on taking to FL at the end of the month as well as a complete steal on a “Lucky Brand” necklace. I love a good bargain. Once we were all shopped out we moseyed over to the moves to watch “Black Swan” (totally weird btw but I enjoyed it) and decided to round out our day of fun with a cupcake. We headed over to Bubblecake (my most favorite cupcakes on the planet) and nabbed some cupcakes to go.

Did you eat anything fantastic over the weekend? Tell me about it!

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A Salad in Paradise?

In the midst of some Sunday errand running and workouts the hubs and I headed a bit North to catch up with one of my oldest friends Tiffany, her husband Robert, and their little one. They weren’t able to make it down for Saturday night’s Birthday celebration so we took the party to Charlottesville! It was a pretty dreary day here in Virginia but we were excited to make the trip and meet up with our pals.

We decided to meet up at Cheeseburger in Paradise. It has a really fun vibe and reminds me of the super fun rainy day the hubs  and I spent at the beach last summer.

We had a really fun afternoon catching up, chatting, and making some plans for future get togethers. I was also super entertained by their little boy who has some sweet dance moves!

Then came the moment of truth, time to order lunch. As tempting as a cheeseburger was (I mean it is Cheeseburger in Paradise after all) I decided to make sure I remained on plan and ordered the “Calypso” salad. This salad was mixed field greens with roasted chicken, pineapple, apples, oranges, strawberries, and almonds. I got a balsamic vinaigrette on the side that I used sparingly because it was very thick. It felt good to stay on plan and I will tell you a secret….spending time with pals is just as much fun whether you have a burger or a salad!

After lunch we posed for some more photos with our pals and headed home. The hubs and I still had stops at Target, Best Buy, and Kroger to make. Luckily, I got Season 3 of Gossip Girl out of the errand running so I cant complain too much!

Later that evening the hubs whipped up his killer Chicken Tacos. I do LOVE a man in the kitchen! These tacos are amazing and very low calorie. They are also extra super spicy and smoky which I LOVE!

How do you handle dining out on a diet?

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Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

This is a tricky time of year for those on a weight loss or eating plan. You want to be social and attend holiday gatherings yet it is these very gatherings that are full of high calorie nightmares for a dieter. Today I had not one, not two, but THREE office holiday parties to attend. This blog is a little low on photos due to not wanting to photograph my workplace for safety and privacy issues but can still serve as a “how I am surviving the holidays on a diet”.

This morning my office had our annual breakfast where the supervisors bring and serve breakfast to the staff. I think this is a really cute tradition and I always enjoy attending. However, as with most holiday gatherings, it was a carbohydrate overload. There was table after table filled with donuts, breads, pies, bagels, mini donuts, strudels, etc (you get the idea). After a quick survey of the tables I knew there was nothing I could safely eat other than fruit so that is what I did. I had strawberries, pineapple, grapes, and apple slices. I still had fun visiting with everyone and even grabbed a sugar free non-fat vanilla latte on my way back to the office. (Party One: Survived!)

I went immediately from this breakfast to a smaller holiday party in my building. It was just a coincidence that they fell on the same day.
This party would be a little more tricky since in addition to the carbohydrate fest there were also other foods that I knew I would want to sample. As I walked in I spied pepperoni rolls, cheeses (a weakness for me), dips, cookies, and tons of other goodies. Since I knew I had a third party coming up, I simply avoided the food table. After I found my spot I sat, socialized, and did not take a bite of the food. It was only an hour until lunch and I knew we were going to one of my favorite places. Luckily I have some pretty understanding co-workers so no one was weird about it or asked why I was not eating.  I drank a ton of water and had a good time (Party Two: Survived!).

Lastly, I attended an unofficial retirement celebration for one of my favorite people in my department. Here is a picture of the team (minus myself) at Isabellas Italian Restaurant In Lynchburg. Aren’t they an adorable bunch?

As I have mentioned before Isabellas is one of my favorite spots. Since I had been so mindful of my caloric intake for the day I was ready for a full lunch. I ordered today’s special -A mixed green salad with strawberries, feta, sliced almonds, and a balsamic vinaigrette with sliced grilled chicken on top. I coupled that with a small side of pasta salad for a perfect lunch! This was such a pretty salad (and it tasted amazing as well!) (Party 3- Survived).

Through planning, mindfulness, and a little good old fashioned self-control you can avoid packing on those holiday pounds. I am not saying avoid all holiday indulgences, but rather choose wisely. Making smart choices will ultimately be easier than re-losing those extra pounds after the holidays! I figure I have enough to lose as it is and shouldn’t add to it if at all possible! Here is to a happy and healthy holiday!

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The Work Lunch and Family Traditions

If you work in an office or even just with a group of people the time will inevitably come for a “work lunch” with coworkers. Personally, I love the work lunch. It gives you time to bond with coworkers outside of the office, relieve some stress, and get a little break from the workday. Unless you are a complete control freak you will not always have control over where said, work lunches take place. That is why, when on a weight loss plan, it is important to have a general idea of foods to avoid and foods to order. Today some fabulous ladies from the office and I headed to Roly Poly in Lynchburg for some lunch. PS: Kudos to Roly Poly for listing calorie information right on the menu. It certainly takes out the guess work!!

I ordered a cup of Green Chilies and Corn Bisque along with a whole grain wrap stuffed with grilled chickens and lots of warm veggies. It was very tasty and certainly got me over the mid-day slump! I also have to say it was fun to sit and talk with a co-worker I don’t know very well (though it is always awkward to take photos of my food in front of people I don’t know). Luckily she was cool about it and the group of us girls had a nice relaxing lunch.

The hubs had the day off and was waiting for me when I got home. We decided today would be as good of a day as any to take some shots of my favorite holiday ornaments. We got the idea for the photos from our pal Jason at Star City Photo. While this was a simple tip it made for some adorable photos. (For some super fabulous photography check out Star City Photo HERE. ) Anyway, the hubs and I are short on our own holiday traditions. The Christmas brunch was passed down from my mother, the fancy Christmas Eve from my Grandmother, the Christmas pajamas from my parents, and you get the idea. I wanted something that was all our own. So, the hubs and I started picking up an ornament to commemorate special occasions, vacations, etc. I love this tradition and hope to one day have a tree full of special memories.

We snagged this Alice In Wonderland at Downtown Disney after the Princess ½ Marathon last year. Isn’t she sweet?

We also pick up ornaments on vacations. This one is from an early Spring weekend in the Outer Banks two years ago..

Here is an ornament given to us as a housewarming gift when we bought our home..

And Finally, another Alice because I heart all things Alice In Wonderland..

We had a lot of fun reminiscing about all of the ornaments origins. Well I reminisced and the hubs sort of just listened. It was actually pretty cute to watch the hubs in action. We had quite the set up for photos of such tiny things. 🙂

All in all, it was a sweet little way to spend an afternoon with my family. Do you have any holiday traditions that are all your own??

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Welcome To Texas

It was a super early morning or super late night (depending on how you look at it) in the Running in Pink Project household.  The hubs and I were up at the unseemly hour of 3:00am to catch our flight to Charlotte, NC. Even though getting up this early sort of feels like a punch in the face I think we were looking pretty stylish for 3:30am!

 We made it to Charlotte with a short smooth flight. I slept the whole way and probably snored the whole way too. Sorry everyone else on board. *edit* The hubs assured me there was no snoring on the flight to NC! J After a quick layover it was time to board the flight for our final destination Dallas Texas!

 

I can honestly say the Charlotte airport is one of my favorites and I would have much rather spent an extra 30 minutes in there rather than crammed on the plane. It felt like we sat on the runway for eons. Maybe that’s just my impatience talking.

Finally, we were up in the air and headed to Dallas.

 I love love love that there were so many Dallas Cowboys fans on board (and Jacksonville fans). It makes me feel a little less crazy for flying across the country for a football game. It was fun to listen in on all of the football talk. It was also on the flight that my first fail for the trip took place. I never eat before flights because it makes me sick. However, I usually bring a snack or two *just in case*. I meant to grab a banana and some Annie’s organic bunny grahams for the flight but completely forgot. Cut to me starving on a plane to Dallas with 2 hours to go! I decided to pass some time by starting a blog post.

 The flight was smooth and painless (other than those pesky hunger pains) and we arrived in Dallas Texas. I am beyond excited to be here. This is my first trip to Texas and I cannot wait to take it all in.

 Since I was beyond starving upon landing the hubs and I found a place close by to grab a quick breakfast.  Dining out so much on vacation can get tricky when dieting or on a specific eating plan but there are options out there. This morning I lucked out as we arrived during our hotel’s morning breakfast. I was able to get an oatmeal mix which included raisins, granola, blueberries, and strawberries. Add on a side of pineapple and some skim milk and it was heaven in a bowl!

 

Now we are off to explore our hotel and suite.  I can’t wait! I am ready to take on Texas (after a super quick nap that is!!)

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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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A (Semi) Working Brunch

Bright and early today I met up with my friend Kristen at Panera Bread in order to start planning our Christmas trip to New York. Kristen and I, along with our longtime besties Nichole and Tiffany, will all be traveling together for what I am sure will be the busiest weekend ever! We had to go over those pesky details like train tickets, finding a hotel, deciding what to see on Broadway and looking up fantastic food and shopping. We figured in order to divide and concur we would just meet for some brunch and get the task done as a two-some. We found a corner, unloaded all of our gear and got right to work!

After having a long debate over plan versus train (the train won out) we decided to grab some early lunch/brunch. Today I went with my favorite combination at Panera: The Low Fat Vegetarian Black Bean Soup and 1/2 Cuban Chicken Panini. The Spicy chicken and pickles on the panini are the perfect compliment for the rich bean soup. Also, this combo is a pretty healthful choice with all things considered. YUM!

After about an hour of travel site checking, one mango smoothie, and 20 side tracked conversations later, we decided to take a break from Panera (IE: We were booted off the internet) and mosey across the street to Kohls for some shopping.

Can I just say the Simply Vera Collection by Vera Wang for Kohls is rocking my socks right now? I just adore her pieces and the price points are pretty great too. We will not however get into the fact that a certain someone in my life is considering jacket from Kohls by a Miss Lauren Conrad. Ahem. Personally, I loved The Hills (I know I should be ashamed) so I kind of enjoy LC’s collection at Kohls but said pal mercilessly mocked my Hills fascination so I am kind of loving her love for this jacket. Teehee.  I am on a tight tight budget right now so I only picked up one thing on our shopping adventure today, this awesome slouch hat. Katherine Heigl wore a couple of these in Life As We Know It and I decided I needed one. Very cute and stylish for fall!

We finished up our working brunch at my house. How super serious do we look in that photo? Luckily everything is planned and now its all over but the waiting! Countdown to Christmas in NYC if officially on!

 

PS: In honor of my pals little sweetie dressing as “the cutest bee ever” for Halloween I have added a handmade bee hat to my Open Sky Store. Check it out HERE

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Disney Trip Re-Cap Final Day

The hubs and I were up reasonably early (10ish) despite not making it to bed until after 4:00a.m the night before. I was incredibly sore and incredibly hungry so the hubs and I headed to Downtown Disney so I could stretch out my legs some, and we could grab lunch. We decided on Earl of Sandwich (yup again) where we both got hot clubs. This was almost as good as my favorite sandwich- The All American…almost

After lunch the hubs and I did some shopping. I picked up a Minnie Mouse case for my sunglasses, a hounds-tooth print Mickey Mouse (who now sits in my living room), some Mickey Halloween votives and of course our piece of glass. This time I chose Belle and Beast. We also got silly at World of Disney and tried on hats. I am pretty sure it is time for me to upgrade to sparkly ears!

After some shopping we decided to head over to Ghiradelli. We split a hot-fudge Sunday even though I am sure I could have eaten a whole one on my own. This is one of those moments where I am proud “could” did not equal “would” and I was able to indulge without having a total calorie fest!

After snapping some photos we went back to the hotel to rest a little before our night out.

The hubs and I have several pals in Orlando and we made a date to meet up with Mark and Mandi at Universal Studios City Walk. The hubs and I arrived early and looked in a couple of stores before heading over to Margaritaville to meet up with our friends.

Even though this Margaritaville was not quite as much fun as the one at Myrtle Beach it was still a really nice time and cool atmosphere. I had a couple mango margaritas (frozen-the best!!) with my dinner and was feeling pretty fabulous by the time we left.

We spent the rest of the evening talking, laughing, snapping photos and catching up. Seeing old friends is the best, It’s just hard to always be saying good-bye.

The next morning the hubs and I headed to the airport to get on standby for earlier flights home. We made it on the second flight out and before I knew it my Disney weekend was over. I cannot wait to get back to FL in February. It’s been almost a year since I have actually been to a park (besides running through them or the Epcot after party) so I am ready for some Magic Kingdom fun! (and some Islands of Adventure/Harry Potter and Animal Kingdom fun and Hollywood Studios fun..just saying)

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Love

This Tuesday will mark the hubs and I making it to 3 years of marriage (6 years together total). Since Tuesday is pretty much terrible, and my least favorite day of the week we decided to celebrate yesterday. With schedules as packed as ours I could think of no sweeter gift than to spend a day together in town. So, we loaded up in the hub’s SUV and took off to celebrate our fantastic three years together.

Our first stop was for lunch at Isabella’s Italian Trattoria. You may recognize it from my “Twilight Day Out” a few month’s ago with Kristen. Isabella’s has amazing food and I never know what to choose. After some thought I ended up trying the Grilled Chicken Panini which consisted of grilled chicken salad, asiago, fresh spinach & roasted red pepper aioli, grilled on a Bakery de France ciabatta roll. With a small spinach salad dressed in balsamic vinegar and a side of Greek pasta salad this turned out to be one amazing lunch (and dinner since 1/2 of it ended up coming home with me).

I finished up lunch with a perfect (true story) cup of vanilla coffee and some conversation with my most fantastic date! I love that after three years of marriage we still date (each other of course) and have the best time together.

After lunch we decided to head to Barnes and Noble. This might seem like a weird choice for a “date” stop but it has some special meaning to us. When the hubs and I first met 6 years ago I was still in graduate school, not working, and pretty much living the college lifestyle. Since he had not taken big strides in his career at that point we were financially strapped in the beginning as so many couples are.  After a nice breakfast or dinner out, we would often go to Barnes and Noble to hang out, look at books, and talk.  After we both established careers, going to the bookstore became nostalgic for us;  sort of a symbol of having nothing but still being happy because we had each other. So, we went the day after our wedding to buy books for one another and we go now to sort of reflect on the past. It was a lot of fun. We spent some time laughing at all of the new “Vampire” fiction and looking for scary books and movies for Halloween.

Being the gentleman he is the hubs let me pick the movie for our night out. I chose Life As We Know It. You all know I am obsessed with Katherine Heigl as I have mentioned her several times on the blog. I loved the movie and even the hubs enjoyed it. Is there an actor or actress you can’t resist going to see?

After the movie we grabbed a quick dessert (not pictured since I ate it like it was my job) and headed home for left-overs and a night in. I can truly say this was pretty much the perfect way to spend a low key anniversary and I am so thankful to have found my love in this world! Happy Anniversary to the hubs!! *Disclaimer: Normal non-mushy blogging will resume today. 🙂

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So We Never Made It To The Movie….

Ahhh you know what they say about the best laid plans…. One of my best girlfriends Kristen and I had planned a “do-over” of our Twilight day out a couple of months ago.  However, after some early morning issues and a late start we decided to nix our plans and go a different route. Kristen arrived in town just in time for us to head over to Magnolia Foods for a perfect Saturday lunch.  I chose to get my favorite: a Turkey, Swiss, Apples, and Spicy Honey Mustard on whole grain. (a number 3 should you want to order it yourself. ) 😉 Since Saturday is my flex day I also ordered a cupcake. Magnolia’s cupcakes are amazing and something about the vanilla reminds me of my Grandmother’s cakes so I love them!

After some talking and lunching Kris and I headed out for some shopping..Five hours of shopping to be exact. There were shoes (80.00 9 West flats for 15.00! – thank you Macys), sweaters (50 off 100 coupon and NY and Co) and even leather jackets (well at least for her. Not that I wouldn’t love one!). We got some killer deals and I am pretty certain we are all stocked up for a fashionable fall! It was a good thing we ran out of time because my little bug ran out of space to put everything!

It was a great day and the start to a great weekend. I took a little blog break over this labor day weekend but I am back tomorrow with blogs on the regular! Have a Happy and Healthy Week!

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