LIFE AS YOU LIVE IT: March 2015

St. Patty's Day and Other Happenings

31 March 2015

This really should have gone up two weeks ago, however I refuse to go into April without a St. Patricks Day recap, and I thought it was due time to get some pictures up here to keep you in the loop! We did nothing mind blowing this year. Nope, nada, zilch. In fact, we kept it so simple that Landon didn't even wear green! Can you believe it? You can bet your bottom dollar I pinched him crazy and harassed the poor guy all day! 
I did make these delicious cinnamon chips out of tortillas, and they were indeed quite the hit! I wanted to make sugar cookies so bad so I could use my shamrock cookie cutter, but since I am in the middle of the 21 Day Fix I opted for a much healthier way to play with my cookie cutter. 
These are so easy, you can make them in your sleep! Cut out your favorite shape using a cookie cutter, scissors or a knife, lay them on a cookie sheet, spray them down with PAM (or if you're fancy, lightly brush them with melted butter), and toss your cinnamon sugar all about. Bake at 400 for about 7 minutes or until the edges start to turn light brown. Serve with fruit, chocolate syrup, caramel... anything really!
In other news, eating clean has been going very, very well. It's amazing what a huge difference it makes, and how much more energy you have! Here's a little snapshot into my weekly meal planning. I'm obsessed with these containers. They are 8 ounces, which is perfect for the nutrition plan that I'm following. Basically, I measure out my portions way at the beginning of the week, and all throughout the week all I have to do is grab what I want and it's all set to go! 

I've also found my new favorite snack. These no bake protein balls. When I start to get the munchies at night, need some protein in the morning, or want something sweet after dinner these little guys are the perfect remedy. One or two of these will fill me right up!
The hard drive on my macbook took a turn for the worse the other day. Out of nowhere my fairly new Macbook froze so I turned it off in an attempt to restart it and was disappointed to find a grey screen with a file folder and a blinking question mark in the middle. No matter what I did, I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I even took the backpack off, unscrewed things and took the hard drive out myself. It was definitely a gone-er. Everything was gone. EVERYTHING. Every last document, picture, bookmark.... so moral of the story, save all of your documents in google drive, save all of your bookmarks with google chrome, and back everything up on an external hard drive. I was reduced to tears.
Luckily, my brother does IT, so I shipped it out to him, where he was able to install a whole new hard drive and ribbon, as well as update everything and recover all of my information for a fraction of the price I'm sure Apple would have tried to swindle me for. What happened, and what was the problem? It was a manufacturing issue that apparently happens all the time to people unexpectedly... so if this isn't making you rethink where all of your docs are saved, I don't know what will!? Coming from someone who is plugged in way too much that I should be, I was lost for a week without my documents, and was on the struggle bus trying to make ends meet in terms of work and other assignments. 
post signature

Mountains and Snow

10 March 2015

North Conway is one my favorite places to reset when looking for a nearby weekend (or week) getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city. I recently wrote about our AMAZING ski day on Wildcat back in December, and I'm sure that I've mentioned it here and there as well on the blog. We usually head to North Conway to ski the handful of mountains there, and in the summer it's a great place to float down the Saco River or hike! 

 
We stayed at the North Conway Grand which is equipped with two pools and hot tubs (inside and outside), it's located a stones throw from the Settlers Green Outlets, AND they serve hot cocoa and cookies everyday from 4-6 in the front lobby. Heck to the yes.

The first day we had hopes of getting a lot of good skiing in, however the mountain was a little too congested for me and I didn't think it was worth the ticket. SO! Dad and I traded in our lift tickets for vouchers, and packed up our gear for the next adventure. Luckily, Pinkham Notch is 10 steps down the road so we parked it there and decided to hike it up Tuckerman's Ravine! Amateur Hour! We did not have appropriate gear with us to hike the side of Mount Washington, at all.. in fact I went up in loosely tied bean boots. No spikes, no cleats, ice picks... nothing. We were cruisin' though and made okay time to the caretakers house. We were about halfway to the bowl which is where the extreme adventurist hike up with skis and ski down. Afterwards we ran, and I mean RAN down the mountain like idiots because it was fun. Our knees will thank us later. Next time, we're springing sleds!! Do you want to do what the truley depressing part was? When we got back to the hotel, all of the cookies and hot cocoa has been eaten :( Saturdays are just too busy for me.
 



The second day we skied Attitash in the AM and Wildcat in the PM, and were extremely happy with the conditions! It was less busy, and there was good snow coverage! Afterwards, we DID get to treat ourselves to cookies and hot cocoa! And then of course we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Delaney's Hole in the Wall
 
 
Monday was kind of random, nothing crazy. We invested some time and money in at the Outlets and I'm proud to say I only bought what I needed and nothing more! Except for a pair of shorts from J. Crew (They were so cute!), and I cashed in a gift card at L.L. Bean for a boat and tote. My new weekend bag!

We had aspirations of hiking Diane's Bath, however with all of the ice and snow there was a decent chance we might fall through and hurt ourselves so we decided not to. We did however hop on a little nature trail right outside of L.L. Bean which took us for a little spin around a pond of some sort. Pretty, pretty!

We wrapped the day up on York Beach in Maine where we snow walked shoed around the Nubble lighthouse area and checked everything out. We may or may not have popped our heads into a beautiful ocean side house that they were building. We ate dinner in Portsmouth and then walked it off around Downtown Portsmouth. What a day! What a weekend!



 
 
 Back to the grind tomorrow!

post signature

Traffic Kills Me

06 March 2015

Gah I need to vent... so here I go. 

Long story short.... I'm going up North, had plans of taking a train at 5, the train overbooked, so I took a FOURTY FIVE minute 2 mile Uber ride to the bus station (It should take 10 min, dang traffic!),  sprinted out of the car mid traffic the second I saw South Station in sight, and now I'm on a bus and we're stuck in traffic again... and I sit here typing this to you all. So it's not THAT bad at all... I'm just frustrated.

In other news, our beloved fur child took it upon herself to knock down our "I love you because...." frame in the middle of the night, shattering it and sending glass chards everywhere. I guess she doesn't love us, or maybe she feels unloved? Maybe she didn't think L would look sexy with a man bun? I don't know. Instigator.


My bean boots arrived after being on back order for three months. I was overjoyed when I walked in our building and saw that beautiful L.L Bean box sitting there. Not to mention, just in time for my ski trip this weekend. They know me too well. I went all out with the gortex and thinsulate... these babies are going to be with me for at least 20 years ;)


In terms of my P90X3 workout/21 Day Fix Nutrition I have been doing great, 34 days down! I did two workouts yesterday and today because I don't know if I'll be able to get them in at the hotel, and am feeling so SO sore. My arms may or may not fall off. My chocolate Shakeology arrived the other day and I instantly started concocting. I made Shakeology balls and haven't quite decided if they're going to be my breakfast, or dessert. Yum yum! Healthy either way!



I went a little crazy last night and created a wall for my nutrition plan. I have it all figured out in terms of days of the week, what meal, and where/what all of my carbs/veggies/fruits/proteins, etc. are going to be. I love it!


I bought new sheets and 4 euro pillows the other day, and now I'm on the hunt to find a new duvet and shams for the Euro pillows. I'm starting to love these ones from West Elm... maybe I'll pull the trigger, maybe I won't... we'll see!

Have a glorious weekend!! 
post signature
 
site design by designer blogs