Happy Weekend All! Thanks for all the Congrats on my Open Sky Shop. I am super excited to get it up and going and to be able to share more about the things I LOVE with you all. I really like that there is a place to say why I like each product and then another spot where I can share my personal experience with the product. In my opinion that is so much better than just saying here is a link to what I am using. Plus, of course, if you want to try it out, you can do that too. It’s just another way part of my blog and I LOVE that you all are and excited about it as me 🙂
We have been NON-STOP going for the past two days, so now it’s time to slow down and catch up and show you all some love 🙂
BACK TRACK TO FRIDAY…..
Breakfast was simple and AWESOME! I LOVE the combination of coconut, banana, agave nectar and crunchy almond butter on old fashioned oats ~ YUM!
1/2 c Quaker Old Fashioned Oats (2 pts)
1 Tbsp ground flax seed
1 c water
1 small banana, sliced and added after my oats were cooked (1 pt)
Sprinkle of unsweetened organic coconut
Drizzle of Agave Nectar
1 Tbsp Crunchy Almond Butter deliciousness! (2 pts)
I like keeping my almond butter separate so you can have a little bit of goodness in every bite.
Since it was Friday, I also stopped by “Bucks” and had a tall ff latte for 2 pts.
I wasn’t really planning a morning snack, but, my co-worker baked a Lemon Iced Bundt cake just for my birthday ~ YUM!!!! I heart just about lemon anything, but, did good at limiting myself to a super small slice.
I honestly do not celebrate my birthday THIS much usually, but, I can’t say I am complaining at all :) I went to TR2 for some FANTASTIC Mexican food with my girlfriends for lunch. I LOVE this place because the food is always FRESH and DELICIOUS and the service is AMAZING!
We started off with chips and salsa which I completely inhaled especially when they brought out…..
Homemade FRESH guacamole! The only thing missing was the margaritas 😀 Too bad we had to go back to work after lunch.
I finally broke away from my usual Chicken Tacos (sort of) to try something NEW for lunch. They had SPINACH TACOS on special that sounded interesting. HOLY YUM! Sautéed spinach with caramelized onions, bell pepper, zucchini and garlic.
I ordered one Spinach and one Chicken Taco. The Spinach was so good, I wished I had TWO of them…..but, the chicken was fabulous as usual.
It was so great chatting it up. I ate all my tacos and a little rice, but, did not have any room left for the beans.
When I got home The Husband surprised me by asking me out on a date ~ FUN! :) We went to the movies and watched Youth In Revolt. It was eh, ok ~ the previews make it sound and look so much better. There are parts of it that are HILARIOUS, but, I definitely think it is a DVD rental vs movie flick.
My Movie snacks were a little unbuttered popcorn that I poured from The Husband’s tub and some Annie’s Bunnies.
We had planned on going out to dinner but we were not too hungry after the movie and the leftover BUBBLE UP PIZZA casserole totally called our name. It’s even better the next day!
FAST FORWARD TO SATURDAY…
I woke up bright and early for my “LONG RUN”. I rocked SIX MILES today and it felt AMAZING!!! I ran 1/4 of a marathon and am now halfway to my halfway point 😀
I struggled a little mentally because I had to do it on the treadmill, but, my lungs were good and my legs did not fatigue at all. Woohoo! It felt great to run off all that good food I had yesterday.
I wasn’t super hungry surprisingly, but, knew I needed a little fuel. I had 1/2 a banana before and the other half after my run. (Not pictured ~ 1 pt)
We got an impromptu call from my parents to meet them for lunch today. On the way up, we stopped at “Bucks” again and I ordered a DIRTY LATTE (tall ff, decaf latte with 1 pump of mocha)….SO GOOD!
We were originally planning on going to my FAVORITE salad place ever, Jack’s Urban Eats, but, they started new weekend hours and are only open at dinner on Saturday & Sunday ~ BOOOO!
We ended up at another place my Mom loves, called Suzie’s Burger.
FUN Wall Paper & decor!
I totally LOVED their shirts.
BURGER GIRL ~ Too funny!!!!
Then, I saw the MENU ~ Hmmm, what’s a girl todo with a menu like this!
I asked them if they had any NON-Beef options like a veggie burger or turkey burger. She said you can have any sandwich made with only veggies or chicken or I could get a grilled cheese sandwich.
I opted for a Chicken #3 combo…..
Plus EVERY FREE TOPPING they had ~ loading up as many veggies as they can.
They don’t mess around! Luckily all those peppers were not blazing hot.
My sandwich wasn’t bad, but, I felt like it needed a sauce(BBQ?) or something then it would’ve been awesome!
It came with a huge PILE-O-FRIES! I had a small handful and handed them all over to The Husband because I could’ve probably made a meal off of them 🙂
My Parents spoiled The Husband by giving him a super old Poker Chip to add to his collection. It’s the little things that make him happy 🙂
My Super Cute Niece was there with my parents.
Awwww! ~ LOVE!!!
Plus MY FAVORITE picture! She was totally downing a chocolate covered chocolate ice cream cone in this pic 😀
In addition to his awesome photography, My Dad also makes organic soaps, lotions, oils, candles. He is trying out something new this year, Organic VEGAN lip balm. He brought a sample of peppermint for me to review. I LOVE it! It reminds me of candy canes and it has SHEA butter in it so my lips were super soft.
After lunch, we all headed over to the Sacramento Co-Op where I think My Dad and I could’ve spent hours walking around. He scored some organic peppermint oils and leaves while I picked out some butternut squash and two vegan cookies.
To make things fair, we had to do a little shopping for The Husband :) We went Antiquing ALL afternoon before heading back home.
We stopped for a quick dinner at MS Tasty (the DINER I always tell you all about) where I ordered my usual non-menu dinner. I think they are getting used to me because they knew my order before I said it 🙂
All the veggies they have in the kitchen (plus sprouts this time – LOVED that), cooked with pepper and garlic….
Teriyaki Chicken
All together with steamed rice. I think I could’ve been happy with all veggies and rice :) I shared with The Husband.
After dinner, we headed over to Barnes & Noble where I picked up a few more magazines (Runner’s World, The Food Network Mag and BHG Diet 2010). I read a super cool article on Jillian Michaels while I was there ~ LOVE her!
Yeah ~ all caught up now! I am hoping to get caught up on a few blog things tomorrow and will definitely be doing all my cooking 🙂 so I will see you all then!
Nite all!
Can you tell me who did your layout? I’ve been looking for one kind of like yours. Thank you.
HI Rick,
It is a standard wordpress layout, but, ZestyCook.com modified it for me.
Thanks,
Danica
Belated Congrats on your Open Sky! I can’t wait to check it out! Great job on your run today as well! I can’t believe you were in Sac today – love it!
Have a great rest of your weekend!
Bubble up pizza casserole?! Hello!
Happy Birthday…It looks like you had a rockin’ good time! I hope someone makes me lemon bundt cake on my birthday…or tomorrow! 😉
Oh and I didn’t get to congratulate you before, but your Open Sky Shop sounds like it will be awesome!
Congrats on Open Sky! How did you start that? Also, in regards to the running CONGRATS! Are you using the run walk method? Also, would you be interested in a healthy blogger Valentine’s Day swap!? I’m trying to drum up some excitement!
Yay for a great run!!!
Those spinach tacos looked amazing!
Great run! And I am all over the free toppings, too
Great eats!!
dang, that mexican looks way better than the place i had to go last night! too bad i wasn’t with you! photo of your niece and jay is super cute. hope your sunday is going great!
I need to get in on this oatmeal situation..looks YUM.
HI Ashley,
Thanks! If you are interested in joining Open Sky, you can go to their site and submit an application to have your blog reviewed. Someone will contact you and let you know if you have been accepted or not. They may or may not have an interview with you as well.
Yes, i am using Jeff Galloway’s run/walk method. I LOVE it and they say it helps with injury prevention. I hurt my knee last time on my last 14 mile long run so I am trying to be extra cautious this round.
I am already doing the Secret Valentine Bloggie, but, you could always tell me more about your Healthy Valentine swap. Did you post it on your site? I will have to check it out 🙂
Danica
i love coconut banana oats – the coconut is one of the best oatmeal toppings!
burger places are one of the most challenging places to find something healthy-ish. there are places near me that have an option to get the burger wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun, and i thought thats kind of a great low-card option. I also LOVE all the free veggies toppings, grilled mushrooms is something most places charge for.