Stinkin' Hot Hike

This post has taken me two days to post, my blogger thing was messed up I guess! So know this all happened Saturday :)

Today, We went hiking and ended up more lost then..I don't know, lost people I guess.

"All is changed, not taken away".

Let's go this way.

I say this way.

Tree. :)

The trail we were on was not marked and we should have known it wouldn't have ended up a positive experience. I wish we could say we had fun. But at least I burned over a thousand calories between the hike and deep cleaning my Rabbit hair infested house. I'm telling you, I'm close to shaving Einstein. He's all fur, and mean-ness.

After realizing just how lost we had become we hit an open field and then there was this weird building in front of us, I was like WTF, where are we???

Come to find out we had been walking out of not only the trail, but the PARK, for like 20 minutes, and had trespassed onto a botanical garden. oops.

Didn't help that Marc was in such a bad mood. I loved the scenery, but it's kind of hopeless to have fun when his mind's not right. So we turned around and went home.

I've been cleaning ever since. He's been meditating and with Nana now. Guess it's time for me to watch some Netflix and we can have some time apart, everyone needs that now and then! Especially when you live in a rabbit hair infested studio apartment. :)

What do you do when you and your significant other need some time apart? What is something you do to try and mend a loved ones bad mood? ( I clean)

Happy Birthday Rayel!

Today is my sister's birthday!



It is so ironic that Happy Birthday was a song I was already practicing for my piano lesson Saturday! Perfect! I was going to sing to her as well, but I had just woken up! Gravel voice!

So here's to my sister, who I've always looked up to, and looked down to at the same time (hahahaha she's even shorter than me!)

The sister who made me eat dirt, and constantly took the front seat of the car. I LOVE YOU!



So in honor of my sis, Rayel asked me on facebook how my pickles turned out, and can you say DELICIOUS PICKLY PICKLES?!



I was actually really surprised that these pickles taste! It was a bit on the fiery side but had a sweet and smoky curry flavor that mellowed the jalapeño flavor. Garlic and vinegary pepper also took center stage here. Man oh man, I've never tasted a pickle like this before, but it was really nice. A bit more rearranging of flavor and they are ready for the big leagues! Marc and I were fighting over them!



My eats today just weren't cutting it! I left the house this morning without eating breakfast, and ended up famished and weak at the grocery store. I picked up a Kashi GoLean bar



...and it tided me over until I could get home and eat. When I got home I had some fiber cereal and strawberries.

Lunch was a Chicken Taco soup, which was okay. I just am not in love with this kind of soup. It doesn't make me feel like I'm enjoying my food which I really only try to eat when something seems appetizing to me. I made this soup for Marc with toppings of refried beans, cheddar, sour cream, and cilantro but sadly I couldn't have all those toppings (which would have made it tons more palatable).



I had mine with plain yogurt which did help some but the tortilla "chips" seemed to be more of a "okay take two bites of soup, and then you can have a bite of tortilla" LOL.

My dinner was eating the rest of the steak from the horrid Club Charlies with spinach, Neufchatel cheese, and another tortilla. My dessert will be a piece of toast with cinnamon and brown sugar, and a cup of cantaloupe.

Just not exciting and really not fun at all. I actually feel like that tiny bit of soup has put too much sodium in my system and it feels like crap. Tomorrow is my day off and I'm going to take a long rejuvenating bike ride (and maybe a swim!!) and eat only foods that I know I will like!

I love you guys, see you soon!

P.S. Don't forget to take the poll on the right side of this page to let me know what you think about the music!!

Have you eaten anything recently that just didn't live up to your expectations? Or made something in the past that was just terrible? Tell me about it!

LBP's and weight loss goals

I got my first spam comment yesterday, the blog popularity is looking up haha!

So if you are wondering what LBP's are you really must look behind the broccoli at goodness, that usually would be considered a no-no to the diet world....



The Loaded Baked Potato!



Today, with inspiration from Paula Deens Family Cookbook,
I set out to make a LBP that was healthy and tasty! Here is my attempt, and may I add WIN!



Czesia's LBP serves 1

100 grams baked potato (about half of a medium sized spud- get a food scale!)
2 slices of Center Cut bacon
1/4 cup low fat cheese (I splurged my fat grams on real bacon)
3 ounces of shrimp
2 TBSP of plain nonfat yogurt
chives for topping

Calories 276! With 1.5 cups of steamed broccoli 313!!!!

It was DELICIOUS! I just wanted to say that I had a big breakthrough on the scale today. Since The beginning of this month I've lost 7 more pounds and I am only 1 pound away from the goal I set for this months weight loss.



When I first set out to try and lose weight I had a number in mind that I wished to be and I've hit that weight today. I'm going to keep on the journey until it feels right to stop. At first I felt so down about myself and the journey that was ahead of me. Now I can't see myself ever going back, sure I love pizza and beer and garlic bread, but I love myself more and I still get to have these things in moderation too!!!

So I achieved two weight loss goals this month and have gotten my nails done to show the first goal I hit. I showed a picture to my sis yesterday and thought I'd share. I will always get the gel lacquer from now on if I get a mani!



So here's to continued strength and the ability to focus on ourselves and our needs. We have others in our lives but we must focus on our needs in order to function and love the ones around us to the best of our abilities! Cheers! Na Zdrowie!!!

Club Charlies

Marc and I get a 25 dollar coupon every month as a part of restaurant.com's dinner of the month club. If you haven't used restaurant.com it simply lists what restaurants are in your neighborhood (or where you are going to be) that are offering the discount, which can be 10,25,50,75,100 off the tab.

Our deal is usually spend 35 dollars worth of food and then get 25 dollars off. Add 18% gratuity (I 99% of the time tip 20% even if everything sucks). So our bill usually get us to pay about 10 to 20 dollars with the coupon. A good deal most of the time!

After our bike ride this morning, Marc and I decided to use our coupon for a place called Club Charlie's, in the Third Ward. I had mixed feeling going in because it's had quite mixed reviews online. I should have trusted my instincts. Crap.

Let's start off with the good things okie doke? The weather was beautiful, and the neighborhood is quaint. It's a little hippy dippy and that's really my thing. If I could pull of the hipster clothes and not feel like a dummy I probably would.

We had our orders taken, and enjoyed some time relaxing on the patio. It was cool because you can see into the restaurant, which I thought was done beautifully! Marc and I ordered iced teas ($5 something for freaking iced teas, black lipton tea bags and water!).

Marc decided on the Senor Charlies Melt, which is a burger topped with cream cheese, and jalapeno poppers, with a side of Charlie Fries which is baked potatoes cut and deep fried.


Can we say BROWN..lol! He asked for his burger to be medium rare, and it was well done. Sad but not the straw that broke the camels back. He didn't tell me it wasn't what he wanted until after I had an issue with my meal!

I got the Filet Mignon with Charlie Fries, and a side of Broccoli, and a side salad.



The side salad was just shaved iceburg lettuce, some carrots, broccoli, and mushrooms. Which I thought wasn't too bad, but the plate they used was for desserts and much too small! At this point I wasn't upset who cares it's a salad.



I tried one bite of the Filet and it was shoe leather. So SAD!!! I HATE sending things back but at 18.99 a plate I couldn't just not be happy with it right? the waitress even seemed to know what was going to happen since she was right there immediately. I did end up apologizing for asking to send the meal back which I have no idea why I was the one apologizing, however.

She took the Filet back to the kitchen and told me she'd be back out with another one asap.
.....
......
By the time we got another Filet, Marc and I had finished the rest of our food and had been sitting and waiting for the steak for more than 10 minutes. Marc ate half of my Charlies Fries, which wasn't too bad but were really lacking any type of flavor. They give you some type of white dipping sauce but my calories weren't THAT free today. The broccoli was okay, definitely frozen. I ate them, and I ate half of my salad.I had two bites of steak and asked for a box. Great lunch.

Today is Tuesday. It was not even lunch time. It was not even dinner time. Sad. I really wanted to like this place.

I can give sympathy when sympathy is due but there was no reason for this at all.

Don't go to Club Charlies, I know I wont be back. Two thumbs down.



(I did not receive any money or bribes, or chocolate for this review and mention of restaurant.com...but I probably should have HA!)

Pickles and Rennies

Hello!

We had our first cucumber today! It was squat and round almost like a ball! I was so excited, so I chopped it up before taking it's picture :( boo.



It was really yummy, and then I decided to make refrigerator pickles with the leftovers! I have never made refrigerator pickles before, but thought what the heck I could try! So I put garlic, curry powder, cayenne, jalapeno, salt, pepper, lemon pepper, vinegar and dill pickle juice (lol) in a container and I'm going to try it tomorrow! Oh boy! I told Alice (my MIL) what I put in it and she was like "for that little cucumber??!!" so it'll be interesting to see if it's been "overdressed" so to speak. I just was thinking what I thought would taste pretty good as a pickle! Who knows maybe it'll be the best flavor of pickle ever invented?!



I rode my bike this morning and had a great time, it's nice to have some alone time to just destress and be "healthfully selfish". I also burned 440 calories in 44 minutes, booyah! Marc traded his bike with a neighbor across the street and so we're going to ride together tomorrow. It'll be good to get him exercising a little bit too. Sometimes it's hard because you don't want to be acting like your significant other's mama, but he (thankfully) knows that it's important to get healthy! His bike looks like this:



Except it's completely painted black, and doesn't have the fenders. Plus it's bigger, so it fits his frame better. He's happy, and that makes ME happy! Plus not having to spend money on another bike makes me EXTREMELY happy!

Most of my readers are friends with me on Facebook so you've probably seen my pictures from going to the Renaissance Faire Saturday! Marc and I look forward to going every year and this time was no exception. I was so excited to show off my costume and just enjoy the fantasy a little bit.

It's kinda funny how you put on a costume and it changes you're confidence a bit. I think you can tell I was feeling pretty confident ;)


I love this picture maybe the most. The fairies are so sweet, they act like Mimes but not in that "look I'm trapped in a box" kinda way. She was smiling at me and playing with the gold coins in my hair :)


Yeah he's tall, but there's more to him than that! lol!


This lady and her partner (also on stilts, but in a different area at the time of this picture) do a fire act that we unfortunately missed she was also REALLY nice! I think the most friendly and interesting people go to the Faire. I mean, yeah you get obnoxious people, like this woman who asked to see my t!ts and told Marc some ugly things too. She asked to take a picture with us, which we did before she started saying all those things..yuck. But mostly it's very positive and a great experience! If you ever come to the Chicago or Milwaukee area (the fair is located halfway between Chi-town and Milwaukee) you should make a point to go! Not everyone dresses up and you wont feel out of place if you do or don't!

Okay this is really long winded I better be quiet! Goodnight! Don't forget to vote in the poll on the right side of you screen, and also it would be lovely if you clicked on the share button for Twitter or Facebook! LOVE YOU!

What kind of pickles do you like? Have you ever tried to make some?

Would (or have) you gone to a Renaissance, or fantasy Faire?

New Videos!

Some old some new! Check them out!

CAMERA'S FIXED!

You're not going to believe this...I was playing with the rabbits in the kitchen today, no I wasn't going to make rabbit stew, it's just the easiest and safest place for the fluffy ones to hop around and not chew all of my cords up! SO...I was bunny proofing and my BATTERY CHARGER for my camera was behind the side table next to my freakin couch, in PLAIN sight! To make a story short, I was sooo happy I could barely stop laughing and cheering, and dancing to Nicky Minaj's super bass and then glad I didn't have the battery charged for that part because knowing me, I might have started filming :) scary sight.

Without further ado, I thought I would show you what I made for lunch today! It was great, perfect for summer. I call it grilled chicken with pineapple salsa and green beans. <--- catchy title right?



Pineapple salsa (or really any fruit salsa **try peach or mango mmmm**) is just as easy as regular pico de gallo. Just add equal parts pineapple and tomato with chopped chives, jalapeño, and cilantro. I buy the dried cilantro because I can never keep cilantro alive in my house (eww wet moldy green stuff in a bag). Plus dried cilantro has a much milder flavor, which I need because cilantro is a little bit strong for my taste buds. The chives, and jalapeño were from our garden! p.s. I like those little ñ's with the squiggle on top, looks like the n just went to the hair stylist and asked for "the Elvis".



Pretty huh, gotta toot my own horn for this one. Nana had chicken soup which she deemed too sour and poured sugar in it. Gotta love her. At least she ate some cookies with coffee, and the crackers I put on the side. Nana loves her sugar that's for sure.

It is sooo hot today, so we all stayed inside with the blinds drawn and watched Jimmy Fallon on hulu.


Beanka loves Jimmy Fallon, or maybe Justin Timberlake, who was rapping with Jimmy (hilarious!)

That furball is just too cute! Im talking about the one in the foreground people, stop starring at my sheep husband LOL!


I'm ONE pound away from my goal weight!! whooohoooo! Once I get it done I'm getting a manicure, and since I've lost 3 pounds to get to my goal I get to download three new songs on my mp3 player! I'm thinkin about super bass (of course) and maybe ET or Friday Night by Katy Perry and that Shake that song...do you know what I am talking about? Mainly because I want to learn this dance! Check it!


Yeah that would take me like forever to learn, but it would be fun to try!

Catch ya lata!

100th post!

I'm seriously debating getting a new camera, I wanted my 100th post to be special and full of pictures but I guess I'll have to save that for the 500th post! You'll have to keep tuning in!

anyway, I've been thinking about the future since everything seems to be leading up to what Marc and I wish to have and are working so hard for and I came across this post about where will you be in 5/10/20 years, play along and leave a comment about where you hope to be!

In Five Years…

What will be your favorite hobby?

Decorating my home, and enjoy a relaxed time with Marc before having children.

What’s in your refrigerator?

Hopefully very healthy foods, like veggies, fruits, lean meats, and dairy!

What will your fashion look like?

Lots of sundresses, and the relaxed look, oh and "power" clothing since I will be entering my career!

In Ten Years…

Will you still be blogging?

Maybe now and then, if people showed interest. They probably will because I will be having little babies and tots all over the place!

What will your work day look like?

I will be working from home, or in my own business with a flexible schedule to be with my children as much as possible.

What kind of car will you drive?

Whatever kind I want, because I'll be financially stable!

In twenty years...

How old will you be?

42 :)

Will you still be working?

Oh of course!

Okay. You’re turn…

Ready for the weekend

I'm so ready for a break, but it's only TUESDAY! At least I can pretend it is Wednesday though since Fridays are my Saturdays.

The blog has been suckage lately, if I don't figure out this camera battery problem soon I'm going to punch someone in the face.

When I lose two more pounds I'll be at my goal weight and will be getting a manicure, i can't wait! I'm going to get the kind of manicure that lasts for 3 weeks without chipping. I can't remember what it's called.

Then my next goal is 12 pounds from now and I'm going to get my hair cut, not length but more volume and layers. I'm not good at having my hair so flat! I've straightened it today for the first time in a while and can't believe how long it is now oh my! If my camera wasn't broken I'd show you! Then for my final goal, when I hit 22 pounds from now, I'm getting new Nikes! My sneaks have really been taking a toll! I'm also thinking about adding music to my itunes, maybe one song per pound? That seems like a good deal lol!

this is about the length I'm at now, but just pretty much straight.

and this is how I'd like it to look

except longer in length. I love those texture layers!

weird that I would pick a valerie bertinelli look instead of reese witherspoon, am I really that old?

Ugh sorry I'm just laying low and enjoying life and trying to keep my head in the clouds and not in the ditch!

inspiration

I lost 3 pounds this week! WOOHOO!

I'm really enjoying reading other blogs for inspiration and recently came across www.runsforcookies.com, seriously so motivating! Katie lost 125 pounds in 16 months! We both use sparkpeople.com and I really couldn't be more proud to know that she lost sooo much by doing the exact same thing that I am doing! YAY! Check out her site!

I have been loving my Polar HRM, it's been helping me keep in check and I've been burning at a minimum 500 calories per day. Today was a two mile bike ride (200 calories) and 35 minute swim at my mother in laws for 300 calories. I'm happy and proud to see my plateau might be OVER!

I hope to get my camera fixed soon so I can share new pictures and videos! Love you guys!

-Chet