Perfect Saturday

Today was a wonderful, beautiful, perfect Saturday.

Actually, it all started last night – we ordered pizza and watched Chocolat, a really, really good movie about a woman who opens up a chocolatier in a little French village during Lent.  Although it came out in 2000 and was nominated for 5 Oscars, we had never seen it before.  Netflix recommended it, probably because of my love for every movie Johnny Depp has ever made. Anyway, the movie made me want to open a quaint little chocolate shop.  Knowing me and my chocolate habit, my shop would not be financially viable and I would weigh 500 pounds.  I may just need to make a trip to Peterbrooke soon. 

Anyway, we went to bed really early for a weekend night – 9 pm – planning for a whole 9 hours of sleep.  We were so tired!

This morning Brent went cycling and I did two walk/jog miles down the sidewalk to the gas station.  My new favorite route!  And it was a beautiful day!

When Brent came back, we left for Birmingham.  We had planned this trip in order to go to Costco for the Vitamix demonstration + sale.  Oh yes we did.  Our stalking of the website has intensified over the past week and when some one told us about this weekend, we knew we had to go. We watched the demonstration for all of 10 minutes before we made the decision.  All it took was one sip of the tortilla soup to seal the deal!  Yay!  We are so excited!

As a side note, we loved Costco much better than Sam’s!  They had a much bigger food selection.  I found a huge jar of almond butter for ~ $6!!!  Brent got a value pack of Nutella, Mt. Olive pickles, vitamins, and ketchup.  All are necessities in the Freeman household, so we were glad to find such good prices.

After Costco………….

Our old favorite restaurant!  We started off with chips + cheese dip and salsa (the green salsa is the best):

And then, the meal….

Brent had the chicken quesadilla + soft taco and I had the Baja Fish Tacos. It came with mango salsa, Mexican rice, black beans, and tartar sauce.

The tacos were really, really good but definitely too much food!  I didn’t eat the rice, beans, or salad, but I did try a few of the mango chunks.  They tasted like summer!!!  Delicious!

There was definitely some Droid love at La Paz:

Next stop was Whole Foods, mostly just to look.  We found a few new items to try, including coconut butter and some chocolate oatmeal!  Whole Foods is dangerous….I’m very glad there is not one closer to us.

The final stop was Yogurt Mountain for “a taste” of dessert.  Yogurt Mountain is a self-serve frozen yogurt bar with over 50 toppings and  just happens to be the BEST IDEA EVER.

A “taste” of vanilla yogurt, Heath bar, Oreo, Reese, cheesecake bites, and caramel.  So good.  This really is dangerous, because we just got a Yogurt Mountain in Tuscaloosa – a mere 2 or so miles from the house!  Yikes!  Although it was such a beautiful day, it was really too cold for yogurt, so I burned Brent up with the car heater.

On the way home we admired the sunset:

Today was interesting because I honestly missed living in Birmingham for so long after we moved to Tuscaloosa.  And although there are definitely things I still miss (specifically the Lakeshore walking trail) I must admit that Tuscaloosa has really grown on me.  I was relieved to come back into town after dealing with the traffic + crowds in Birmingham.  I like being close enough to visit, but I’m just better suited to small-town life, I suppose.

Now that we are back home-sweet-home, we have settled in with the pugs and Nettle tea (recommended by You Are What You Eat), watching the Olympics and looking at Vitamix recipes.  Looking forward to lots of new and yummy cooking experiments!

I am Warehouse Soup?

This is me exercising this morning:

I’m well aware that I am looking very rough in this picture.  It was the best out of the 5 or so that I took, believe it or not. Evidence is necessary, though, because Brent doesn’t believe that I exercise unless he actually watches me.

After shower + makeup:

Well, my stint in jury duty is over, officially. I got dismissed today.  Boo!  However, the case they dismissed today was one that I am definitely glad I did not have to participate in.  I earned a whopping $20.24 for the past two days, which, in my estimation, is a sweet deal. Ha! 

The TuscCo courthouse, where I served my civic duty and had the opportunity to meet a few interesting individuals (one in particular).

The sun came out – it was a pretty day, but cold.  And they’re calling for possible SNOW tonight and tomorrow a.m.  This AL weather is crazy.

Tonight for supper we made Warehouse Soup + cornbread per E-mealz.  This was super, super easy and tasty!  Total comfort food.  The soup contained kielbasa, diced tomatoes, canned split pea + ham soup, and cream of potato soup.  The cornbread was from a mix, but called for 1/2 can of whole kernel corn.  I don’t like cornbread, but I loved this with the kernels of corn in it!  So good!

The book in the picture is a book Brent brought home for us to read.  It is by Gillian McKeith, a holistic nutritionist that I have never heard of but apparently is well-known in the UK. She even has her own TV show. The book is about how food affects our health – not only in context of weight, but all kinds of health issues/symptoms.  I keep trying to read it, but he keeps snatching it away from me.  He has gone into full-blown “teacher mode” and is reading long portions of it aloud -apparently the portions he thinks especially apply to me.  FYI: painful bumps on the tongue (which I sometimes have and have actually been to the doctor for) are caused by an emotional episode/upheaval.   Go figure.

 

So apparently, if you are what you eat, then tonight I am warehouse soup + cornbread.

Speaking of food, yesterday at lunch I had the BEST pizza of my entire life at Jason’s Deli.  It is the Pizza Fresco – basil pesto with pine nuts, provolone cheese, roma tomatoes, and mixed veggies (including artichoke hearts + spinach) on foccacia bread.  It was great.  All other pizzas pale in comparison.  Must have this again soon!  I may be able to replicate it at home.  We’ll see.

And we went to Manna, where we found two new staples for the Freeman household.

First, Big Sky Bread:

This bread is SO GOOD.  It is whole wheat + all natural ingredients and has a very good flavor.  It is chewy, thick and substantial.  I had two slices for breakfast and it was filling and lasted for hours.

And then……

Best. Cookie. Ever.  I mean, ever.

The brand is Liz Lovely and the flavor is chocolate fudge. It is gluten free and vegan, believe it or not.  Not that I care about either one of those things, but just cannot believe something all-natural and wholesome tastes SO GOOD.    This is definitely a serious cookie.  1/2 has 170 calories and 7 grams of fat, but the 1/2 is enough.  Plus, you have to make these last as long as possible because they are $$$$$$.  Definitely a special occasion cookie.

Now, cuddling + American Idol, then zzzzzzzzzzzz.

P.S.  I’m due for a hair appointment and I’m thinking of one of two changes:

1.  A good cut that would enable me to wear my hair curly again (too long now)

2.  Dying it brown again (cool instead of warm – in other words, no reddish tinge)

Fat Tuesday

Marathon Makeover training this afternoon at the VA!  2 laps around the track in ~ 1 hour (my time, not Brent’s)!  It was a pretty day, but cold.

  Then back home for some QT with the pugs:

These are from the other night:

Obviously these pugs lead a hard life.

Big Orange

It’s National Signing Day!

From Go Vols Xtra:

“Led by Dooley, the Vols finished the day with 25 signees, ranking ninth, 11th and 15th nationally by Rivals.com, ESPN and Scout.com, respectively.”

Sounds like good news!

When I saw the sky this morning I just knew it would be a good day.

And it was!  Later, when I got home, I had a surprise waiting on me:

My Marathon Makeover kit came today!  I received a duffel bag, water bottle, t-shirt, some sort of head covering/hair band, bumper sticker, workout DVD, and the participant’s guide.  So, it’s official!  I’m excited! Hey, maybe this is the “small lucky package” that the fortune cookie said was on its way….?

Training was at the VA tonight.  We were planning on going to the gym, but changed our minds at the last minute.  The weather was very nice…invigoratingly cool, but not cold.  Even though I was kind of looking forward to the circuit, I love exercising outside.  The VA campus is so nice and scenic!

 

When I got home, I was STARVING!  We decided to just use up leftovers/extras tonight.  Actually I decided to do that because I needed something fast!  I just made nachos with ground beef + shredded cheese (mozzarella – all we had!) + sour cream.  I had an big Publix orange on the side.  Oscar supervised, as usual.

And then, since I was still a little hungry, I made a little dessert: Breyer’s All Natural vanilla + chocolate sauce.  I found the chocolate at Pier One on clearance and this is the first time I have tried it.  It is delicious – more of a dark chocolately taste.  It has the consistency of fudge – would be really good melted!

Tonight: shower + tea + American Idol, then zzzzzzzz!  I’m sleepy!