Weekend - Football is Depressing

Overall it was a good weekend even though the football watching was awful!

Friday night we had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Dallas, Salum.  I actually had earned enough points on OpenTable for a $50 gift certificate.  I received it months ago and realized that if I didn't use it by this past Friday it was going to expire.  No more excuse needed for a dinner out with the hubs.

Dinner out outfit 

Saturday was sleeping in, grocery store run and then setting up to watch football in the backyard with our outdoory TV, electric smoker and beer.  

Poor choice of shirts last weekend

We watched the Alabama-Texas A&M game first.  Started off great fro A&M and then they lost their momentum and Alabama ended up with the win.  Then, we watched the UT-Ole Miss game.  I didn't have high hopes, to be honest.  Steve and I Both went to UT so we bleed orange but UT is just terrible this year.  I'm afraid it's time for Mack Brown to hang it up and to overhaul the coaching staff.

Oh well.  At least the food was good!  We had BBQ smoked jerk chicken, coleslaw and red beans and rice.  Yum.

Beer and TV

Smoked Jerk Chicken (pre-smoking)

Sunday was another sleeping in day, laundry, and cooking a lighter meal at home.  We then watched the first two shows of the First Season of Treme, which is my favorite HBO series right now.  Unfortunately, it's the last season and they are wrapping up with only four more episodes starting December 1.  I missed most of the first season, though so I am playing catch up on those.

Monday comes too fast.

Five on Friday

I'll admit that I have been in a bad mood this week.  Mostly work-related but I have also had trouble sleeping thanks to Steve's snoring so lack of a good night's sleep always makes me testy.  I'm trying to be positive, though, so here are my Five on Fridays.

1. Re-landscaping.  I finally bit the bullet and called a landscaper so we can get our front yard redone.  It looks awful!  We had a beautiful old Dogwood tree that used to bloom wonderfully in the spring and had gorgeous red leaves in the fall.  About 2 years, it started blooming less and less and finally died from old age so we had it removed two months ago and have not replaced it.  Also, it's hard to keep anything alive in TX during the summer months so everything looks dead and wilted and I pretty much gave up in July.  Our old landscaping was bad to begin with so I now ready for some professional help.Love these succulents as edging:




2.  Smoked jerk chicken.  Summer is drawing to a close so we plan to break out the electric smoker and do a Caribbean themed BBQ this weekend and watch some football.  Making some smoked jerk chicken with pineapple or mango salsa and some blue cheese coleslaw.

3.  Getting my Spain pictures developed and working on my photo albums.  I am finally getting my pictures from Spain developed this weekend from our trip this past July to see the Running of the Bulls and will work up my scrapbook/photo album. I have been such a procrastinator!!

4.  UT Football.  Let us pray that they play better than they did last weekend, which was just embarrassing.

Please don't fail me again like last week

5.  Planning my mom's Xmas gift.  My mom doesn't read this blog (I'm not sure she even knows the internet exists) so I can safely post this here.  My sister and I have agreed to give her a surprise trip to San Diego next year as her Christmas gift.  My mom's half sister and our aunt lives in San Diego and had a baby last year so we thought it would be nice to have a girl's trip out there to see her and spend some time at the beach over Memorial Day weekend.

Ahhhhh......

Have a great weekend!

Fashion Trends I Don't Understand

Yes, we know, fashion bloggers.  You are in New York and it is Fashion Week....again.  Don't get me wrong, I peruse the fashion blogger sites each week to see what's new and what's trending and just to get some outfit ideas.  I hate having to see them transition into fall with scarves, boots, jeans and sweaters when it's still 98 degrees here in Texas in November.  I also hate seeing how thin some of them are.  Yes, I am jealous.  That being said, I actually love fashion and shopping and checking out new trends.

However, there are some fashion trends that should have never seen the light of day and should stop.  Seriously, why do people wear these things?  Here is my list of fashion don'ts:

1. Wedge Tennis Shoes.   They're running shoes!  No, wait, they're wedges!  No, wait, they're platform wedge running shoes that you can't run in!  Stupid.  That's what they are.

Dumb

Nope, still dumb.

2.  UGG Boots.  I know these are still popular but I just hate them.  I think the UGG is short for UGGly.  In my opinion, unless you are a sherpa and are ascending Mount Everest, then you have no business wearing these.

Still ugly, even in pink

3.  Gaucho Pants.  Unfathomable why anyone would wear these.  Growing up, I believe these were called culottes and they were hideous then.

Gaucho Pants

Culottes - there is no difference

4.  High-waisted shorts.  Okay, I will admit that I have seen one or two girls that can almost pull off this look and I am quite certain they were both anorexic.  So, for the rest of us, why would you wear something that is the shorts equivalent of "mom jeans"?

This girl is thin and they still look bad

They even look bad on celebrities (using the term celebrity loosely here)

5.  The ubiquitous cuban style hat.  I am so over these stupid hats.  Everyone and their dog has one.  As Bill Hader said, "You look like one of those guys accused of killing Kennedy."   Move on, people.

Here it is - don't lie, you know this is in your closet.  Wear it with your reflection aviators only, please.

Only he can get away with this look

That's my list of fashion hates.  Sorry if I offended you and your gaucho pants.

Diet - Day Two...What are your secrets for dropping lbs?

Day Two of the diet.  I really hate calling it a "diet" because I know it's supposed to be a "lifestyle change" and "diets don't work."  I know, I get it.  The fact is that this time three years ago I was about 155 lbs (I'm 5'2), a size 12 and couldn't run a 1/4 mile to save my life.  I am now right around 130 lbs, a size 6 and run 15 to 20 miles a week.  At my "best" I was down to about 120 lbs and I find that I am happiest with my weight and how I look and feel when I am between 120 and 125 lbs.  I have made the "lifestyle change" already and have stuck with it for three years but every now and again, I start indulging a little too much in sweets, wine and cheesy tex-mex and get a little sloppy with my workouts and as soon as I do that...BOOM!....I have gained 5 or 6 lbs.  So, I am working to take those off.

I think this thought may have crossed my mind before

I have found that there is no real secret to losing weight.  I am a believer in calories in-calories out and nothing more.  I will say that losing weight is hard, regardless of whether it is 5 lbs or 50 lbs.  My technique(s) for losing weight is the following:

1.  Plan your meals and prepared them in advance.  This is critical for me.  I try to take two days a week to plan and prep food in advance, especially breakfast, snacks and lunches.  When I forget my lunch is when I go out to eat and either make bad choices or simply eat too much because portion sizes are always way too large at restaurants.  It also helps to prep a few things in advance for dinner as I am usually tired when I get in and the thought of spending 20+ minutes chopping vegetables is enough to make me say "screw it, let's order a pizza."  So, I chop up all my veggies in advance and throw them in containers.  Some of my favorite, easy to prepare in advance foods are:

All over pinterest - the no bake energy bites.  They really are easy.

These are the best for breakfast!

Black Bean Cakes

2.  Plan your workouts and try to stick to it.  I usually work out 4 to 5 days a week anyway but when I need to drop lbs, I will up that to 6 days a week and sometimes even 7 but my 7th day workout is usually an easy one like a nice walk to the lake or yoga.  It's easy for me to say "I'll get up at 5am and workout" and then hit snooze until it's too late.  You really have to motivate yourself to get up and go - I always think of it as I have a plane to catch and I have never missed a flight.  That being said, if 5am is not your thing, then plan to work out over lunch or in the afternoon.  Then just go do it.



3.  Drink lots of green tea and water.  These help fill you up somewhat and a little caffeine before a workout is a good boost.  When I am eating on a diet, I try to limit my calories to less than 1500 a day.  When I do that, I typically go to bed hungry and wake up ravenous.  That's where the water and green tea help.  If you get desperate, make sure you have low calorie, healthy snacks on hand.

My go-to green tea.  Dandelion root is great for helping in digestion
and flushes out bloat.

4.  Allow yourself a few treats along the way - it's not Survivor.   Losing weight in a healthy way takes time.  For me to drop 6 or 7 lbs will mean sacrificing a lot for at least 3 to 4 weeks.  That also means no alcohol for 99% of the time.  Total deprivation is where people breakdown and I am as susceptible to that as anyone.  What helps me is having something to look forward to after a week or two of "being good."  That may mean a nice massage and pedi at the spa, a new pair of earrings or shoes or allowing myself a glass or two of wine with a dinner at a restaurant.

5.  Be patient and don't weigh yourself everyday.  I have been guilty of doing the weigh every day and then getting pissed off when I don't see immediate progress or when I see the scale tip up a pound or two.  The fact is that our weights can fluctuate up to 4 or even 5 lbs a day depending on what you eat and water retention.  So you may weigh 126 this morning and if you weigh again at 5pm, it may say 129.  The scale is just a number anyway - I really try to go by how my clothes fit and how comfortable do I feel (i.e, am I tugging at my shirt to make it looser b/c I am afraid you can see my stomach fat roll?).  The scale does help put some things in perspective so I try to use it as a gauge and only weigh myself once a week, maximum.

I know this is what it wants to say to me

Any other tips or secrets out there?

Weekend and New Goals

Dallas Cowboys v. NY Giants

Our weekend was pretty busy as we had a wedding party to attend on Saturday evening and Sunday we were invited to attend the home opener Dallas Cowboys game at Texas Stadium.  I also managed to squeeze in some time to make low-fat pumpkin muffins, which turned out pretty well, actually.  They're definitely not as tasty or as fluffy as the ones you might get from Starbucks but they also have only 160 calories per muffin.

I also decided that starting today, I am cutting back on my eating out, calorie intake and wine/beer intake.  Unfortunately, between the trip to New York city and being too lazy to cook healthy meals at home, I can tell that my weight has ballooned up a bit - not a ton but enough that my clothes are getting uncomfortable.  It's also hard for me because it's currently 100 degrees here in Texas EVERYDAY and I am not an outdoor runner in this kind of heat, which means going to the gym.  I don't really mind the gym per se but the gym I use by my office has gotten really annoying b/c they are building a new parking garage so more than half the parking lot is under construction so finding a parking spot is almost impossible.  So, I've gotten lazy about some of my workouts lately as well b/c of the inconvenience factor.

At any rate, I tried on a pair of old shorts yesterday and there was no way I could wear them - waaaaay too tight.  So, I am on a diet to get rid of a few lbs for the next weeks.  My main goal is too be feeling good wearing a bikini again by Thanksgiving.  I also plan to run a few 5Ks after it cools down some.

As for the Cowboys game against the NY Giants.  Wow.  This was my first time to the new stadium and it is crazy huge and LOUD.  It was a really exciting game and checking out the stadium was a lot of fun.  We had great seats on the 40 yard line.  I think one thing that surprised me was the amount of drunk people there.  There is no last call like they have at baseball games and there are a lot more bars and they serve every kind of alcohol, mixed drink or shot you could want.  Seems like a lot of people get there early to start tailgating and drinking and we saw tons of people drinking heavily.  It made for a loud, crazy event. I actually didn't drink anything at the game as I was kind of tired but it ended up being a great game and the Cowboys came through with a victory!

The field and the jumbotron which is ridiculously big.  I found it kind of distracting.

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders doing their signature high kicks.

Cowboys take the field - look, Tony Romo is right in front of me.

Outside view of Jerry World

In other sad news, my beloved Longhorns lost to BYU and played absolutely terrible.  So bad that the defensive coordinator was fired the very next day.  This does not bode well for the rest of the season.  Grrrr.

The Big Apple - Part III

Sunday we slept in nice and late and then walked to the subway and rode up to the Bronx for a game at Yankee Stadium.  We decided to walk around the Bronx a little bit as I had heard there were some good Jamaican and Dominican restaurants in the neighborhood around the stadium.  I'll admit it's not the nicest neighborhood but we never felt unsafe (might feel differently if it was an evening game but broad daylight was fine).  We managed to find a Jamaican place I had read about called The Feeding Tree.

It was nothing fancy - order at the counter, get your food in a disposable aluminum tray and eat it at a green linoleum counter top with plastic utensils.  However, it was the best jerk chicken I have had since visiting Jamaica.  It was super spicy, tender, smoky and plain delicious.  Not to mention that it looked a lot healthier than the food we saw later at the ballpark.

Jerk Chicken at The Feeding Tree in the Bronx

After lunch, we walked back over to Yankee Stadium to watch them play the Baltimore Orioles.  I am not a Yankees fan - let's just get that on the table.  However, they do have an amazing stadium and I will give their fans credit for being passionate about their team.  There is definitely a lot of energy in that stadium coming from the fans.  Also, everyone we were seated near was incredibly nice and friendly.  The beer guy made sure to let everyone in a 3 to 4 row radius know that we were from Texas (you have to show your I.D. no matter how old you are to get a beer and he whooped it up when he saw Steve's Texas I.D.).  Everyone gave us a good ribbing about our Texas Rangers but in a good and harmless way.

It was a fun game, albeit really humid that day so we felt pretty gross and sticky by the 7th inning.  I enjoyed a fresh squeezed lemonade and Steve had a few ice cold beers. The vendors there are great.  The frozen daiquiri lady was particularly hilarious as she encouraged everyone to "get your drink on" and informed us that her daiquiris would "mess you up."

The Great Hall in Yankee Stadium

The Field

Yankee Stadium - v. Baltimore

We left at the end of the 7th inning and headed back on the subway to Manhattan.  I have to say that being able to take the train to and from the game was so easy and convenient.  In Texas, we have to drive 30+ minutes to the Ballpark in Arlington, pay $10 or more to park, trek from parking to the stadium, etc... Such a pain so we only go to a few games a year.  New York has us beat on that one!

We changed clothes back at our hotel and then hopped the subway again for Little Italy.  It was packed down there!  We headed to my favorite Italian restaurant on Mulberry Street called Pellegrino's.  By this time, the sun had set behind the buildings so it didn't feel nearly as muggy as it did earlier in the day so we opted to sit outside on the patio,  which had great people watching.  We enjoyed some calamari and a salad, veal marsala and chicken breasts stuffed with crab and cheese...and a bottle of chianti.  

Dinner in Little Italy

We decided to walk off some of our dinner and we hoofed it all the way from Little Italy through Nolita to Greenwich Village and even over to the West Village.  We finally made our way back over to Broadway and took a cab back to our hotel.  We then decided to walk around midtown and spotted an Irish pub where we had a few beers on our last night in NYC. We chatted with some locals and stayed up a little too late that night!

Little Italy al fresco dinner - Steve

Me - it was SO humid so I just gave up and pulled my hair back into a tight bun.

The next day I woke up feeling tired and, frankly, hung over.  Too much food, walking and wine/cocktails finally caught up with me!  I spent the day drinking water.  We headed out for lunch.  I wanted to try either the Carnegie Deli or the "secret" burger joint in the lobby of the Parker Meridian Hotel in midtown, which is hidden behind a curtain and supposedly has the best burger (or one of the best burgers) in the city.  We walked the four or five blocks to the Carnegie Deli.  Well, there was a line outside the Carnegie Deli so Steve said he didn't want to wait and he didn't want a sandwich anyway.  Okay, so we walked a few more blocks to the Parker Meridian and found the secret burger place.

Secret burger joint in Parker Meridian Hotel, NYC (Google images)

It really is hidden in that hotel.  You have to walk behind the reception area and go around a huge red velvet curtain and it's a teeny-tiny little hole-in-the-wall burger joint that smells amazing. I got in line, which wasn't long (only about 4 people in front of us) and was ready to get my burger on.  I could immediately tell Steve was not on board.  He stood back and was hesitant to get in line.  Then he joined me and said about 3 or 4 times in a row, "There's no place to sit" or "We'll never find a seat."  Of course, in just the 3 minutes we were in line, I saw two tables clear and pointed this out to him.  He then complained that it was cash only.  He then started asking "I guess they don't serve anything but burgers?"  He was acting like a giant man-baby so I knew that meant he didn't want to eat there so I turned around and walked out.  I was a little (okay, a lot) huffy b/c he is always such an infant about things like this!  He refuses to wait in any lines, no matter how short, and he gets annoyed if he doesn't immediately see available seating. Ugh.  Makes. Me. Nuts.

We ended up grabbing lunch at a small French bistro we saw the day before.  Meh.  The food wasn't very good so I made sure to let Steve know that I wasn't too happy about his hissy fit at the burger place that I had been talking about all weekend and the fact that my meal at the place he picked was overpriced and my food was overcooked and dry.  I was pretty annoyed by that point (and my headache and general crankiness didn't help matters....).

We then walked down to Times Square. The humidity was unbearable this day - far worse than the previous days - and then it started to rain.  By the time we got back to our hotel to arrange for a cab to the airport, I was absolutely soaked through.  I was pouring sweat, my new blouse was wet all over, I could wring sweat out of my pony tail and I wasn't happy about lunch.  Not a great end to what had been so far an amazing trip but by that time I was ready to go home.  Fortunately, our flight was on time, we arrived early and I was glad to be at home in my own bed again!  

Times Square - right before it started to pour rain

I love NYC but I think next time we'll schedule a trip in the fall when it's cooler and less humid!  I'll also make sure I get my burger next time and won't be denied!  Seriously, though, it was an amazing trip and I highly recommend the St. Regis Hotel and Blue Hill restaurant.  It truly is one the world's greatest cities on earth!