Save the Dates = DONE!

Who doesn’t like startin’ their day with a little chocolate?

Cocoa Powder

I’m in the mood for chocolate morning, noon and night. 5 a.m.? Yes! 11 p.m.? Yes!

This morning chocolate popped up in my breakfast in a chocolate chip cheesecake breakfast bowl.

The base of my breakfast bowl was a mixture of ricotta cheese and cottage cheese, which I blended together with a pinch of xanthan gum, almond extract and sweetener.

Ricotta + Cottage Cheese

I topped the creamy, cheesecake-like mixture with chocolate chips, cocoa powder and freshly sliced strawberries.

Cocoa Powdaaa

Fresh Berries

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Breakfast Bowl

This bowl contained:

• 1/2 c. cottage cheese
• 1/2 c. ricotta cheese
• 1 pinch xanthan gum (for thickness)
• 1 splash almond extract
• 1 pinch sweetener
• Sprinkling of chocolate chips
• Sprinkling of Nestlé cocoa powder
• Sliced strawberries

I blended the first five ingredients together with my immersion blender before topping the cheesecake-like mixture with the remaining goods.

This breakfast was really tasty and hit the spot after a hot run with Sadie this morning.

Workout

This morning I decided to change up my normal running route and took Sadie on a five-mile run around a different lake.

"Stop Taking My Picture and Go Get Me Some Chicken."

We stopped for a couple potty breaks (as usual) and had to pause for more cars than our typical running route, but I enjoyed the change of scenery.

Here are our stats (including potty breaks, waiting for cars to pass and talking to a couple about vizslas 😉 ):

Breakdown

(Woohoo for my first ever Garmin stats picture on the blog! Oh and yes I do wear my watch turned in rather than facing out. Not sure why…)

Save the Date Success

Wedding update!

Our save the dates are printed and ready for mailing!

Smiling for Save the Dates

After picking them up from Staples last night, Ryan and I got to work stamping the cards and licking lots of envelopes.

Please excuse me while I sing the praises of Staples!

With help from my sister and a guy from my work, our save the date images were formatted and ready for printing yesterday. I worked with a guy at Staples and explained what I was looking for and he went above and beyond to make our save the dates look amazing.

Then, on top of it all, he cut everything to fit into the envelopes I purchased, and only charged us for black and white printing when really it was color since the image of me and Ryan on the card is sepia.

Save the Date

October 30th, Baby!

I was determined to create our save the dates myself because I love being crafty and wanted to save money.When I found a wonderful (free!) template for these save the dates on WeddingChicks.com, I knew we had a winner.

We are so pleased with how they turned out and are even more excited about how inexpensive they were to make. The guy at Staples really helped us save a ton of money on printing costs.

Here is our save the date cost break down:

• Envelopes: $54
• Printing/ Cutting at Staples: $11
• Heart stamp: $4
• Happily ever after stamp: $7
• 2 stamp pads: $8

Total cost: $84

Not to shabby for 80 save the dates!

Now I just have to purchase a billion stamps and get these bad boys in the mail…

Dinner Guests

Tonight we had guests for dinner… my parents!  

Me and my Parents (and Sadie)

Ryan, Me & the Pup

They stopped by our apartment en route to St. Pete from Jacksonville and we enjoyed a tasty dinner of slow cooker chicken tacos.

Taco Toppers

My Taco Plate

I inhaled these tacos and went back for another plate full of taco salad.

Do you prefer hard shell or soft shell tacos?

I’m a hard shell girl… but I feel like I’m in the minority on that one. 😉 I stand by my hard shells!

After hanging out and catching up, my parents left and Ryan and I took Sadie on a short one mile walk around the neighborhood.

After our walk I enjoyed a tasty dessert of banana soft serve with chocolate chips.

Chocolate Chip Banana Soft Serve

Ryan and I are enjoying the rest of the night being homebodies. I honestly love Friday nights at home with Ryan and Sadie. They’re my favorite.

See ya in the morning!

Cinnamon Toast Chocolate Chip Yogurt Bowl

Good morning!

My breakfast today was a cinnamon toast pretzel chocolate chip yogurt bowl, and booooy was it tasty!

My most recent order from Netrition.com arrived last night and I couldn’t wait to try the bag of Kay’s Naturals Better Balance cinnamon toast pretzel sticks.

Cinnamon Toast Pretzels

I ate about half the bag before stirring the remaining sticks into my Chobani Greek yogurt and topping the mix with chocolate chips.

Sweet, Salty, Creamy

I had a hot mug of sugar cookie tea on the side.

Friday's Breakfast

It’s probably a good thing that I got an individual portion of those pretzel sticks because I could see myself downing an entire bag very easily.

It’s almost like anything out of a big bag or box makes me want to keep eating and eating. I think that’s why I cannot be trusted around a half-gallon of ice cream or a box of Cheez-its. The remaining portions taunt me until they’re gone.

Gym Gripes

Since Ryan has the day off work and wasn’t getting up at 5:30 a.m. with me this morning, I opted to skip my typical 5:45 a.m. Friday BodyPump class and save strength training for tomorrow.

Instead, I slept in until 6:30 a.m. and went to the gym for a cardio-only workout consisting of:

• 15 min. adaptive motion trainer
• 10 min. running stairs in the gym’s stairwell
• 10 min. running
• 15 min. elliptical

I got so irritated during my 10 minute run because I ran on a treadmill controlled by a touch screens. If I so much as grazed the screen, the whole workout changed and it would slow down my pace dramatically and hurt my running rhythm. Bleh.

I intended to keep running, but was so fed up when the treadmill reset my entire workout after 10 minutes that I opted to finish my workout on the elliptical. Oooh the headaches of working out.

What bothers you at the gym?

At the risk of sounding like a total brat, I am the most bothered when someone takes “my spot” in BodyPump. It’s my spot, and they should know that. 😉

Toasty, Nutty Breakfast

Yesterday’s adventure to the dog park was lots of fun.

"Play with Me!"

The weather was perfect and Sadie had a blast!

Ryan and I met our friend Dru at the park.

Dru and Ryan

Dru brought his roommate’s dog Khari along to play. Khari is such a sweetheart. Her energy level is the exact opposite of Sadie’s. Sadie is a non-stop kind of dog. Khari… not so much. Dru had to chase after her to get her to run.

Run Khari, Run!

If you have a pet, are they lazy or a go-go-go kinda animal?

I think you know which category Sadie falls into. 😉

Both dogs enjoyed lots of trail walking and play time in the lake.

Walkin' the Trails

Water Dog

Shake Your Booty!

After saying goodbye to Dru and Khari, Ryan and I were hungry, but didn’t feel like going to the grocery store. Since the food at our apartment was not sounding good (nor was there much of it), we decided to stop at Subway for dinner.

I ordered a black forest ham salad with lots of veggies.

Subway Salad

For dessert I blended two pretty large bananas in the food processor to make myself a big ol’ bowl of banana soft serve.

Banana Soft Serve

This stuff is so dang delicious!

Ryan and I hit the sack early last night. We were both really sleepy and got nine solid hours of sleep. Sch-weet!

Today

This morning we woke up and went to the gym. I did BodyPump, but skipped my normal cardio routine to go on a long walk with Ryan and Sadie. It was a little chilly outside, but no where near as cold as last week. Thank goodness!

Breakfast this morning included almonds that I toasted yesterday. I bought a big bag of raw almonds a while ago, but I really do prefer toasted nuts. Yesterday I toasted pecans and almonds to enjoy throughout the week.

Toasty Nuts

This morning I sprinkled toasted almonds on top of my Greek yogurt, along with a gingersnap cookie and chocolate chips.

All Topped Off

Creamy 'n' Crunchy

The gingersnap cookie was the highlight of this yogurt concoction.

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

Flax Hot Cereal and a Family Fun Run

Today began with a family fun run! Ryan and I leashed up the pup for a 5 mile run at 5:45 this morning.

Ready to Run!

Sadie was awfully chipper and kicked our sleepy lil’ butts. I think she could have easily run double the distance. What a champ.

Kisses for Our Star Runner

The run was great and I loved having Ryan along to keep me company (and make sure I was okay when I fell on my butt… stupid bumpy brick streets!). Though it was dark when we set out, the sun was up by the time we were done. I am loving the time change!

Sweaty Smiles

Running always revs up my appetite for the rest of the day, so I prepared a bowl of hot cereal. I ordered butter pecan Flax Z Snax cereal from Netrition.com and was anxious to try it!

Butter Pecan Hot Cereal

To make the cereal, I just added hot water and let it sit for approximately 2 minutes. Of course I added a scoop of peanut butter for some creaminess and a few chocolate chips for sweetness.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chips!

This was a winning combination! I expected it to taste like oatmeal but it didn’t quite have the same consistency or flavor. It was thick and creamy, but smoother than oats. Very tasty!

The Proposal

After our yummy lobster ravioli dinner last night, Ryan and I watched The Proposal. Great movie! We both really like Ryan Reynolds (Ryan has a man-crush on him & I just have a plain old crush) and think Sandra Bullock is hilarious. The movie was very funny and also very sweet. Great recommendation, Mama!