The HDMI scam

Well I am very angry at Time Warner Cable!! They have finagled me into getting an HD box with no HDMI input!!! I don't really get the whole dilemma all I know is with my new HD TV I needed a new HD box, so I drove to TWC to get the new box and when I set it up at home it was not working! So Sean called TWC and they said that the HDMI cable did not come with the box so we need to BUY one and then it should work. So Sean brought the cable home tonight and the when we looked at the box I picked up doesn't have a hook up for an HDMI cable~ ANYWAYS~ besides the point sorry to vent I am just livid. GRRRR.... but lets move on to the good stuff!

Bfast: Cereal with a small sliced banana and a shot of Craisins with a small orange on the side and hot water: Lunch today was simple; an Almond Butter and jelly sandwich on WW (I pressed it at work, I am obsessed) with a small apple and sugar free 90 calorie rice pudding:
When I got home from work I saw Sean left his dinner leftovers out....at first I was mad cause I hate when he doesn't clean up after himself. But then I decided he left me my afternoon snack! 2 lil slices of TJ's Margarita Pizza!

It was delicious! I haven't had pizza for a while and boy oh boy it was good!

For dinner I was not sure what I wanted to make. I have a lot of choices in the cupboards and fridge, but I ended up making the thing I was most craving....PASTA! I made some WW Angel Hair and then Steam fried some kale with garlic and topped it with Marinara sauce and sauteed onions. For an extra veggie I added a sliced beet! On top is a sprinkle of Parmesan!

It was also delicious and very filling. I love WW pasta! I love how much it sticks to my ribs and how much more texture and flavor it has!

I finished my laundry from yesterday and now Sean is home so I will prepare his plate of Pasta sans the onions, he dislikes them very much unless he can't tell they are there :)

For dessert I made a lil plate of raisins, Craisins and raw Almonds:

Well that's it for me today, no Shred, my cramps are killing me so I think I will cozy up with a tea and my heating pad and call it a night! I will do double Shred to make up for today on Friday. Tomorrow is Friday!!! Anybody have V-Day plans for Saturday? Sean and I are going to a Double Feature of "From Here To Eternity" and Casablanca" YEA! I love old flicks! Then we are going to dinner at a romantic restaurant! More on V-Day plans later. Good night!

C

Hello To Do list

Well another day another dollar I say! I am exhausted!!! Today I conquered my To Do list of cleaning, phone calls, emails, and bills! Not to mention work and a work out! Fewww! I want to start with a recap of last nights eats!

It was Sean and my 1 year anniversary (since we got back together, we broke up for a 6 month period but total it's been 4 years, I will not bore you with details of relationship drama. I'll just say this, no one cheated and no one moved we just had some figuring out to do and we are happy as clams now:) So we celebrated with going to Sushi! We tried a new place in our neighborhood; Beacon. It was a wonderful place! I love when an Asian fusion place serves up good sushi! We started with Edemame, of course! Sorry for some blurry pics the mood lighting doesn't help with my blog pictures:
The plates were so cute!

We shared the Spicy Tuna, no mayo thank goodness, and I had 2 pieces:

I had a Miso soup:

And the Chinese Broccoli with Tofu and Garlic:

I also had the Yellowtail roll with Scallions:

It was so refreshing! Sean had the "Fish and Chips" The fish was a Tempura batter with a side of Yam fries!!! I had one lil guy:

Moving on to bfast this morning I had Blueberry oats with a shot of cereal, a spoon of Fage 0%, a shot of raisins, a small banana and a shot of Bear Naked Granola:

For my mid morning snack I had half this bag of Cheddar Bunnies and Gram Bunnies and 11 Almonds:

I had the other half throughout the day. For lunchies I had half this Almond Butter and Jelly WW sandwich and the orange. I grilled the sandwich again and oh my lordy it was even better this time!!!

When I got home I wasn't too hungry but wanted to have a snack so I wouldn't make a poor choice for dinner. So I had this Blueberry Crisp Cliff bar:

And later this lil apple:

For dinner I wasn't sure what I was in the mood for so I heated up some TJ's Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup and had a 1/2 turkey sandwich and a small salad with beets and red onion. It was quite filling and I am happy it was so colorful!

For dessert I had a lil Marzipan but no pic cause the thought to take the pic happened after it entered my mouth! I am off to finish the laundry and watch BIG LOVE on Netflix with the boy!

Love and sweet dreams

C

Mel's interview

I got this lovely email from Mel at http://bitesoflife.wordpress.com. Here it goes:


1.As a set decorator, which shoot was the most fun to work on?

I would have to say they are all fun. The most known movie I worked on was Zombie Strippers. Yes you read right! I know it is not the most intelligent nor appropriate movie but it is always fun to do horror films and this one was one of my first gigs as a Set Dresser so I was in the mix a ton! Check it out if you have a strong stomach and are ok with nudity-hehe.

2. What is your favorite drink to make at the coffee shop you work at?

I will answer this two ways. My favorite drink to drink myself is a small nonfat sugar free vanilla latte!!! But the most fun to make are the caramel vanilla frappe; which is milk, ice, a vanilla Caramel powder and Caramel all blended up topped with whipped cream and Caramel! Or the Boba drinks are fun too!

3. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I would go to Japan first because I am half Japanese and am not very familiar with my own culture. Then Ireland, Sean's homeland and then the Greek Isles!!!

4.If you had unlimited cash, which store would you be most likely to blow the most money?

Barney's, then Whole Foods then Ace 16 a camping and sports store!

5. What has been your biggest accomplishment in the last year?

Recovery, and the decision to go back to school!

Thanks Mel for the fun questionnaire! I will pass this along!
C

When my computer gets the flu...

Well yes sadly my computer obtained some viruses this weekend and I had to send it to my "geek squad" if you will to fix her up and get back to my blogging friends!! I was planning on doing a post via Sean's computer but it never panned out. So I am here and sorry to have left ya'll hanging for 3 days! I am going to do a recap of Saturday's dinner, Sunday and Monday's highlights and today's eats in this post so bear with me!

For lunch today I had a HUGE salad with chicken, tofu, beets, spinach, mixed greens, Annie's Woodstock, and a WW English muffin:

For my snack today I had this bar:

For bfast this morning I had a bowl of blueberry oats with all the fixings!

For dinner Monday I had this lovely new product; microwaved brown rice with seaweed and toasted sesame seeds: Yummy stuff, perfectly fluffy and the seasoning is divine! It is similar to a Japanese seasoning you can buy in the spice section of the supermarket's Asian foods section. I used to dowse my rice an tofu with this stuff as a kid!

This is the package:

Along with the rice I had this lovely salad with water chestnuts!

Monday's lunch I had this lovely Almond butter and jelly sandwich on WW bread with grapes and Annie's Cheddar bunnies! At work we have an industrial Panini Press so I pressed my sandwich and let me just say YUMMMMMM! The bread got all toasty and the Almond butter was melty and the jelly soaked thru one side and was caramelized...heaven you will see this again for sure!

For dessert Saturday I had this bowl:

At some point this weekend I also had this:

Sunday night dinner with the Rents we went to an all time old family fave Il Foraio!! We used to come here when me and my sis were kids and we called it the PINK Italian because in the '80's and early '90's it had florescent pink lights inside! I had the appetizer plate of White Beans, Shrimp, Scallops with parsley olive oil!

For lunch on Sunday Sean and I went to Grub and I had the Veggalicious and a side salad:

I had a lovely bowl of cereal Saturday and repeated Sunday:

For dinner at Hugo's Saturday night I had a Turkey Burger a la carte, duh it's my fave, and a side of Broccolini and garlic!

I also had this lovely cocktail with my dinner; a white wine Spritzer which had white wine, Campari, and club soda! Well that's my eats for ya! I hope you all love them as much as I did! On my exercise routine: I have been doing the Shred for 4 days now and plan to keep it up! More results on that next time!

Love and sweet dreams

C

Not Much

Hello everyone!
Saturday's are usually my down day, but today I had some more returns to do. Sean was a good bf and came along with me to carry the heavy stuff!! I woke around 8am craving this breakfast: WW English muffin with reduced fat PB, a banana, a dash of cinnamon, a small apple and a small orange:
It was heavenly! I puttered around until Sean woke and then before we left I had a lil snack:

These grapes were on sale at Whole Foods so I couldn't resist! And they were delish! Super crunchy and sweet!

For lunch we were mostly doing returns in Burbank so we stopped at Sharkey's Mexican Grill for a yummy lunch. I love Sharkey's because they have a healthy version of most dishes and the food is organic and has no lard, no hormones and all natural ingredients! Here is their mado; "Our mission comes down to three things: eating great healthy food; using fresh, natural and organic ingredients; …and having fun doing it!"

I had the Tostada Salad- Grilled veggies, romaine lettuce, organic rice and beans, tomatoes, guacamole, pico de gallo and tofu. I had it “naked” which means its lower fat and calories, non-fat sour cream, non-fat cheese; it comes with a low fat whole wheat tortilla and brown rice!!

I ate about half and nibbled on the edge of the tortilla. It was super filling and super tasty!

When we got home I was tired and the rain came back but instead of being a couch potato I decided to do DAY 2 of the Shred!!! I did level 1 again, I have a pilates class tomorrow at 9am and don't want to be too sore to get my monies worth! I love this DVD! I wore my HR monitor and I burned 150 calories in 20 min! I love it, and next time will try to do 2 in a row! After my workout I made a smoothie with 1/2 cup skim, ice, 2 leaves of Kale, a small banana, 1/3 scoop of Whey protein, a handful of frozen blueberries, 3 chunks of frozen mango and zapped it in my Magic Bullet. This poor old guy was struggling to get the kale all mixed up and I had to stop it every few seconds to clean the blades, kind of a pain! But the end result was great!

Ok it's officially shower time! Sean and I are going to one of our fave restaurants for dinner tonight Hugo's! http://www.hugosrestaurant.com/ They have the most amazing brunch and breakfast! They have a huge vegan selection and great teas and cocktails too! After din din I am dragging Sean to see the latest rom-com He's Just Not That into You!! I can't wait!

See you later tonight or tomorrow! Enjoy your weekend!

C

Rainy Friday

Yes it is raining cats and dogs here in LaLa Land. I am loving it up too! I love curling up by the TV and watching Gilmore Girl re-runs with Ella and my slippers!!! But before I could do all that I had a full day to fulfill!
This morning I had a wonderful bfast that held me for ever it felt like! I had a WW Light Thomas English Muffin with a spoon of Almond Butter and a small banana sliced on top. On the side I had a small orange and a small apple:
Yummy yummy! For my mid morning snack I had 2 servings of Annie's Honey Bunnies and 14 raw almonds. This snack was a great change from my usual bar or similar type "fast" snack. I counted and bagged my little treats the night before and to my surprise they held me better than a bar ever does!

For lunch I brought tofu, veggies and a beet:

I was satisfied all day long! When I got home from job #1 I wanted a lil something to keep me going for job #2 (today I did returns for both gigs I've been working) so I grabbed this new product:

Hello this stuff is sooooo good! Not too sweet and very good texture! I love Rice Pudding and Tapioca and this lil container has only 90 calories! I paired it with about 15 almonds and it made for a wonderful compliment!

Even Ella wanted to get in on the action:

She followed me the whole time I was eating this so I let her lick the container:

I know it's not good for her but I NEVER give her human food, except the occasional bite of salmon, so I thought she should get a treat too!

I did as I said and got down to business with my work out!!!!! I did the Level 1 of Jillian's 30 day shred. This was great, I probably could have done a higher level or done it twice but I am taking it slow so I don't get too sore to do round 2 on day 2 tomorrow! I love work out DVD's, especially on a rainy day like this! My living room is my own personal gym with Jillian as my own personal trainer! Man Anita on the DVD has some killer Abs!!!

For dinner I made just what I was craving; a turkey sandwich on WW double fiber bread. I put inside; spinach, red cabbage, turkey, red onion and spicy Dijon mustard. On the side I had some broccoli with Woodstock dressing, baby carrots, grape tomatoes and cucumber:

I loved the sandwich, but it was a bit dry. Any tips on condiments for sandwiches???? I sometimes use hummus and love that but I am looking for a Mayo replacement!!! Please let me know what you like!

For dessert I had a 1/3serving of Honey Bunnies and a few dried apricots. I also had a couple pieces of chocolate but gulped those down too fast to snap a pic.

I later went back for more sweets; a Coconut date roll!!!!

Ok I am now going back to the couch with my Ella and some rainy day movie. Maybe Singing in the Rain, or Breakfast at Tiffany's or Knocked Up, can't decide yet:)

Happy Friday and see you tomorrow or Sunday!!

C

Monkey Business

Hello Bloggers!
I am sorry for no post last night but man was I beat! I will start by saying I LOVE CHIMPS!!!! I had so much fun! We worked with a 3 year old girl chimp named Suzie and an 8 year old boy named Jake. Suzie was the most adorable and I only have pics of her to show you for now. The trainers were a "bit off", as animal wranglers usually are to us who do not spend their whole lives around animals, but very sweet to the animals. They were more strict with us humans, in ways to behave around the chimps. So I do not have a ton to photos, just a few.

Second-Let's catch up with my eats from yesterday:
Breakies- Cereal and green tea

The usual cereal mix of 1.5 grains, 1.5 skim, shot of almonds, blueberries and a dash of cinnamon. I also tried a sprinkle of Cayenne, which was a nice kick.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....Suzie:

Yes Su Su is sporting a very chic diaper courtesy Sesame Street! Here we are just having a cuddle:

Here she is swinging on her trainer:

And again:

For lunch we had catering and I chose the Smoked Chipotle Tofu with an assortment of veggies and salad:

It was very tasty! And for dessert I split a brownie with my co-worker Mark

When I got home and told my BF all about my day by the time we looked at the clock it was 8:30pm! Way later than I would usually eat dinner but we were hungry and my afternoon snacks of nuts and fruit (no pic) was long worn off so we went to Thai BBQ and had soup and Chicken Satay (no pic). When I got home I wanted to try a new treat I bought; Skinny Cow Ice cream Sandwiches!!!!!! Omg these are the best!!! Only 140 Calories and 1.5 grams of fat! They are not the healthiest ingredients and not natural but very tasty for not a lot of guilt! And one every once and a while is not bad. http://www.skinnycow.com/myproducts/sandwiches.php?myflavor=vanilla_chocolate
My review: Sweet taste, soft texture, creamy, so much like the Ice Cream Truck type sandwich I would never know it was low fat!

Okay, enough monkey-ing around, lol. Let's move onto today's eats!!! For breakies I had a bowl of cereal with dried apricots and a small banana:

For my mid morning snack I had this lovely bar, excuse the hair on the place mat I didn't notice it on my camera:)

For lunch I brought Sean's left over Pad Thai with shrimp, brussels, and a piece of satay chicken:

When I got home today I had a killer headache! My goodness was it BAD! So I thought :0 I must not have had enough to eat!!! My first thought if I have a headache is always that I must be hungry. So I made myself a snack; honey roasted peanuts, dried tamarind, prunes, dried apricot, chocolate yummmm:

Not satisfied and still with a headache I had the last of my Fage and some more dried fruit and nuts:

Hello???? Not satisfied and spoiling my dinner I had some more....

I had to go to Target to do some returns for the shoot and I picked up a few things after roaming the aisles for 2 hours!!!! Love the Target!

My most exciting purchase: Jillians 30 Day Shed!!! I have heard blog buzz on this DVD and finally bought it! I will start tomorrow! For dinner I made myself a plate of assorted veggies and tofu with a beer. Why? Cause why not! (in the back you see a new tea container I got on sale, I also got a flour container but sadly I dropped the bag in my driveway in the rain:(

The beer was fabulous and thick and sweet! A nice contrast to my light and fresh meal!

Ok folks I am off to take a bath, hopefully my headache will be long gone after that! And then watch Top Chef!

Goodnight!

C