back at it.

This week I've really gotten back into my routine of clean, healthy meals and daily workouts (I've really been slacking the past couple of weeks....). In turn, I've also gotten Tony and the kids back into healthy eating :) This week I tried two new recipes - one from a blog I follow and another from Bon Appetit magazine online. The first was inspired by a recipe I found on "Everyday Meg", a blog by the beautiful and creative Meg, with great recipes including what I made, the Grapefruit Avocado Balsamic Salmon Salad. The one thing I changed was, instead of a grapefruit/lemon balsamic dressing, I used a raspberry walnut vinaigrette. This was mainly because I was out of balsamic, but it turns out I think I liked the vinaigrette better! It really brought out the flavor of the toasted walnuts and kept the flavor of grapefruit from overpowering the other ingredients. Below is the recipe, including my own tweaks (and my mom's, we made this salad together), as well as some pictures of our process and the delicious, final result:

 

You'll need:

-3 cups fresh, de-stemmed baby spinach

-1 peeled, pitted and chopped ripe avocado

-1 sliced, red grapefruit

-2 salmon filets

-2 tbsp toasted walnuts

-2 tbsp goat cheese, crumbled

-3 tbsp Newman's Own Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette

"Cooking" instructions:

-Broil salmon for 8-10 minutes, flipping each filet halfway through

-Peel and chop avocado, and take out pit, and set aside

-Peel grapefruit and slice (we cut each slice in half to make smaller pieces, and snacked on some along the way....)

-In medium saucepan, toast walnuts on low-medium heat for about 3-4 minutes

-Pour dressing in bowl first, then top with spinach and avocado and mix well

-Add flaked salmon and grapefruit, and again, mix well

-Finally, top with crumbled goat cheese and toasted walnuts

Pour a nice glass of white wine (Pinot Grigio, perhaps?) and ENJOY!!

 

AND PART TWO OF THIS BLOG POST.....

Last night I made Scrambled Eggs, Avocado and Salmon toasts from Bon Appetit magazine. Here's the original recipe below:

Tweaks I made:

• I had a leftover salmon filet from the salad I had made the night before, so I used flaked salmon instead of thinly-sliced smoked salmon
• I opted out of the creme fraiche
• Three eggs instead of six (loser, table for one!)
• Two slices of Italian bread

I followed the instructions exactly the way the magazine said, and topped the finishing result with crumbled goat cheese (clearly I'm on a salmon and goat cheese kick this week)

No wine this time, just some guava-flavored coconut water and a magazine :)

What new "clean-eating" recipes have you tried lately? I've been feeling very adventurous, and have been cooking up a storm, so I'd love to hear all about them!

Happy Wednesday :)

 

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fourth fun.

Aaaaaaand again, I'm BACK! Sorry for the delay, lots of changes and happenings these past few months. But I'm happy to say that thankfully things have calmed down and I can finally get back to doing one of the things I love....bombarding you all with my photos and pictures under the disguise of "blogging". I really have missed it, and I can't wait to dive back in! That being said I'll get things things started with a few pics from our fun Fourth of July! We spent the day at Rend Lake over in Illinois (beautiful. if you haven't been...go.) swimming, snacking, soaking up the sun, and attempting back flips, cheerleader poses and splash wars all throughout. As I basked (and sun-bathed) in the glory of my freedom, I took a few minutes to thank all of us those who serve and risk their lives daily for that freedom I was enjoying that very moment. I feel so lucky to live in such a great country full of brave men and women who continuously fight so I can do the little things like wear a bikini in public and swim with my family at our leisure. And the big things like vote, work, earn a living, get married and feel safe raising my children here. What a great country, huh? God Bless America!!

ahoy, there!

my loves :)

 

me and the kiddos :)

 

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a snow day.

Well, after a bit of a hiatus, we have returned to "our old, familiar place"! Oh, how I've missed you all so. Long story short, due to two job transitions and Tony and I deciding to co-habitate (WOOP), I have been quite preoccupied and therefore did not have a lot of time to blog :( but now that things have finally calmed down (not ever completely, though, of course) and I am starting to feel settled again, I couldn't wait to get back to blogging!! And what a perfect post to plunge myself back into it: chronicling our beautiful, yet slightly scary, snow/ice day! Luckily we were expecting it and were therefore prepared with all of the essentials: cookie dough, popcorn, movies, fire and breakfast for dinner (with champagne to accompany). Even though it was super windy and cold I was able to make it outside to snap a few street shots, in between the baking, dressing up the pugs, and general couch-potatoing, of course. There's nothing I love more than candid pictures of snowfall :) Were you snowed in today?? How did you preoccupy yourselves on this beautifully snowy/lazy day??

 

 

 

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a parade.

A few Sundays ago The Hill had its annual Columbus Day Parade where several local business ride around in trucks, floats and old, classic cars throwing out candy and cheering in honor of Christopher Columbus. The kids collected candy and ran around with friends until we met my family at the park where the parade ended - let the eating of delicious food and live music commence! Despite some gale force winds and a short downpour we had an amazing day of family fun, as we do every year :)

What about you, been to any good parades lately??

 

 

 

 

 

 

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oops! forgot something.....

soooo i totally goofed, i apologize for the lack of a "Motivation Monday" post this week!  if you couldn't tell from last Thursday's post i was not having the best week, and although i was able to enjoy my weekend, the stress sort of carried over into this week  :-/  however, it all ended up being great because the stress i was feeling was attributed to the fact that, after much consideration, i have decided to leave the job (and job family) that i have loved for the past three years to embark on an exciting new career journey.  i will be sharing more news about that at a later date, as we are still getting all of the logistics and details worked out for my transition, so i would like to take this time to focus on the wonderful ladies that i will be leaving once i begin my new job at the end of the month.

i began working at the university three years ago and over that time i have managed to make some of the most amazing friends!  when i started at this job i was so nervous, and a little intimidated, as well.  the gals had already been here for a decent amount of time and, as anyone can remember from high school, it's not always easy to insert yourself into a group of people women that have already been friends/co-workers/etc. together for a while.  but much to my pleasant, pleasant surprise, these ladies were so sweet and welcoming, and could not have been more wonderful towards the new girl. 

since then they have gone from co-workers, to new friends, to actual friends, to sisters, to one, big, happy, dysfunctional (haha) family.  i love them all dearly and will miss them more than they know. 

if you're lucky enough to have a group of ladies in your lives everyday like i am/was, be sure to cherish those friendships, for you can never have enough positive, sweet people in your life  : )

At Courtney's (bottom right) wedding - July 2010

anyone else's boss come to hear them sing with their band??  mine did.  : )

co-worker run-in at Mizzou for homecoming!

dancin' at Court's wedding!

MARGE!  (you'll see more of this lady when i'm in her wedding in the spring!)





LOVE TO MY ELLs! 

one year.

One year. One glorious year of being lucky enough to fall in love with the most amazing man in the whole world.  It truly has been the best year of my life and I can't think of anyone I would rather spend the next 100 (yes, we will live forever) years with.  For those who are new to the blog you can get to know my honey here, here and here. 

Today, Tony personally delivered the most beautiful Fall bouquet to me at work which included the best card I may have ever gotten in my life.  Along with the shmoopie "i love you"'s and "best year ever"'s, he included a list of things he's learned from me throughout our one year relationship.....oh-em-gee.  Laughed.  Cried.  Loved.  It was absolutely perfect.  Since I am notorious for forgetting to pick up cards (uhh....) I thought I would do the same for him, right here.  So Tony, my darling, I shall now list all of the things I have learned from you (and will NEVER forget...) in the past year:

1.)  Pinotage is a red wine made up of pinot noir and cinsault.

2.)  Rocky V was supposed to be the last in the Rocky saga but Stallone didn't think the ending was quite the way he wanted, so he decided to bring the boxer man back for one more installment - Rocky Balboa in 2006.

3.)  Tutelage IS in fact a word.

4.)  No matter how many times I tell you I hate it, you will never stop attempting to physically pick me up.

5.)  You will try and try, but you will never be funnier than I am.

6.)  Charlie Chaplin was exiled from the US for suspicion of being a Communist.

ALSO....

7.)  Charlie Chaplin's corpse was stolen out of his grave, so upon catching the men who stole it and getting his body back, his widow had him buried under six feet of cement.

8.)  You will always love me no matter how many times I correct your grammar and try to dress you in weather-transitional clothing.

9.)  You have a man-crush on Lionel Richie.

10.)  The only celebrity woman you claim to have a crush on is Minka Kelly, but only because you think she looks like me in certain lights....(bless you).

And last but not least, I've learned what it means to be a loving, giving, FOR-giving, less stubborn, and truly happy person.  Thank you for loving me so much, I can't wait to see what those next "100 years" bring us  : )

red october.

Cardinals clinched last night - woooohooooo!!!  One more (stress-free) game against the Cinci Reds (bleh) tonight then it's off to Atlanta to play the Braves on Friday for the first Wildcard playoff game.  Last year it was 11 in '11 (made our 11th world series win in 2011).  Can we make it 12 in '12??  I think so!

In other exciting news, one hot-hunky boyfriend and I will celebrate our 1-year anniversary tomorrow!  It truly has been the best year of my life and I feel so lucky to have found him.  Our first date was dinner in downtown St. Louis at a restaurant whose rooftop patio overlooks right into Busch Stadium, and our second date was an actual Cardinals game at Busch the next night, so it's only fitting that the Birds are headed in that same direction as Tony and I celebrate our one year.  I'm sure I'll have another sappy, girly anniversary post dedicated to him tomorrow, so stay tuned for that (I know you all are on pins and needles waiting for that one...).

Hope you're all having a happy hump day - GO CARDS!!!!!!!!!

the sister and i toasting a Cards' victory (2011)

a sea of red.  and celebratory confetti. (2011 world series ceremony)

isn't she a beauty??

birds on the bat, birds on the bat.



here comes Freese.... (infamous game 6 - 2011 world series)



a well-deserved disrobing of david freese.  it's not everyday, ladies...soak it in.

the man i want to go to all of my future Cardinal games with  : )  lover youuuu!