Days 307 & 308: My Birthday, Recipe Fail, New Gym Bag and an HRM!

Monday was a pretty blah day – and very ‘snacky.’ I will say traffic was a breeze as apparently luckier ones than me were not required to go to the office. Sigh. It was super quiet all day… not the setting for motivation at all. Double sigh. Me and Stacy got out for lunch and walked 3.5 miles, then I just worked until 5 and headed out to go straight home – no more gym for this one! I was so excited to make a new recipe, Cooking Light’s Santa Fe Soup. Austin liked it and I just couldn’t put my finger on what I didn’t like about it. It made 4 servings so I’m going to try it reheated after it's 'settled' and hope that helps, or I’ll alter the recipe. Either way, here’s a pic but I don’t want to post the recipe until I’m a fan! :) After dinner I put on pajamas and got in bed – the weekend was seriously wearing on me and I wanted to get rested up for the celebration of my birth. Yes, I was turning 27 the very next day. I ended my last day of 26 at 1,561 calories, 210 carbs, 44 fat grams and 74 protein grams. Had tons of random foods all day – which added up to something decent – but it was definitely the day of random eats.

Fail... :(

Tuesday, AKA 7/7, AKA my 27^th Birthday, I woke up late. My alarm did not go off. Shit! I got up at 7:22… I normally leave the house at 7:30. I had to shower, wash my hair, get gas, etc. Shiiiiittttt. I called in and they were like OMG it’s your birthday, you’re never late, take your time. So I did. I rolled in… in the RAIN… around 9 (after horrendous traffic – 400 South traffic is def worse at 8:30 a.m. than 7:30 a.m.). I got to work and was like blah. I was late to work, it’s raining, it’s Tuesday and I’m at el trabajo on my birthday – I’m so lame! For a millisecond I regretted coming in, but then it got fun because my fabulous co-workers gave me great gifts (sweet cards, a sweet, generous Crate & Barrel gift certificate, a cake/brownies/cookies/etc.), I got phone calls, texts, emails, and FB messages from my besties, and the day seriously FLEW by.

I mean seriously... we hit this pretty hard for a 9-person team - eek!

This cake was fab - I mean seriously - added M&Ms? Heart.

I did go walking 3 miles during lunch with Stacy & Sue, then after work I did another 3.5 alone (well not really alone – with Karin Slaughter’s Blindsighted – so addicted). Then I headed home to my sweet husband and pupper who got me a basil plant (yessss) and an HRM (went with the F7 – it will be delivered next week!) and awesome cards. I cleaned, up, changed, cooked lunch for tomorrow with Austin, then headed out to Top Spice for Thai with my sister/her husband/my mom/Andy/Monica! The GPS led us a bit astray (stupid iPhone), but we got there in time (kinda) and had a blast catching up with everyone and of course, eating curry until I could eat curry no more. I got the panang shrimp and it was fabulous. I even had a spring roll. And my sweet mom/sis brought a Tres Leches Cake and I gave it a whirl but it’s just not for me!

Yum.......

Cute cake! Everyone loved it!

My beautiful mom!

My sis, Devie & Mon-bon! (sorry for the quality of this photo - bad lighting!)

Me - making my own plate of panang - I mean really - that sauce packs a lot of flavor without drowning in it! And sadly, it was tail-on. Grrrrr.

My sister gave me a fab present too – an adorable new gym bag!! (I must photograph the old one…. a sad, partially faded red L.L. Bean backpack circa 2000 that my sister got me for gradulation... from high school) She also got me a cute work-out top and these Asics socks that are my absolute favorites (but that are very hard to find – boo!). Here’s a pic of the bag during my morning commute. I was at a red light. I swear.

Time flew by yet again and before I knew it we were getting home at 10:45 – eek! I threw the Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti into the oven for tomorrow’s lunch, then divided it out, went upstairs and passed out! I tried to track calories as best I could and this is what I figured: 2,118 calories, 235 carbs, 81 fat grams and 102 protein grams. It’s tough with the cookie because I had a couple of slices but I don’t know what the serving was – and then with dinner I didn’t come close to eating all of the curry/shrimp, but had more rice so I’m VERY MUCH estimating. Here’s what I ate.

Now it's Wednesday, post-birthday, still bad weather and allergy sufferers (me included) are suffering. Gah - i'm such a Downer (with a capital D for emphasis)! I am honestly VERY excited that it's Wednesday and that I have a fun weekend coming up: Friday - dinner with 2 of our favorite couples; Saturday day - lunch with a bestie and her boy driving through town on their way to the beach + possible pool shenanigans with mom & sis; Saturday night - big bash for our buddy Linc's 30th birthday + definite shanigans at the bar; Sunday - recovery... potentially pool time... definite Reuben time. WOO! What are your weekend plans?!