Loving Technology: My 3 New Favorite Sites

So I don't know about you, but these are the sites that I've been LOVING lately, outside of your blogs, polyvore, etc.!

1. Pinterest
It's basically a place for you to create virtual inspiration board. You can name them 'books to read,' 'recipes to make,' 'party -planning ideas,' whatever. Then, you can add the button to your toolbar. Now, whenever you're browsing around and see something you like, you just click 'pin it' and choose which of your boards you want it to go to, and add a description like 'this would be cute for a 30th birthday party' or whatever. It's set up to share with facebook friends, you can follow others boards, they can follow yours, etc. Easy to use, fun, and definitely gives you access to tons of great ideas! How did I find it? Through my analytics. I kept seeing pinterest, looked it up, and found my recipes there! Sweet readers like Sharon and Melinda posted some of my recipes! :)

2. Turntable.
This site is the bomb. Basically, you go in to a room and you can DJ (the 5 at the top) by adding songs to your queue (all songs in system - you just run a search). When people 'awesome' it, you get DJ points. The people are the little fellas out on the 'dance floor.' When they 'awesome' it, their little heads bob to the beat. It's great. You can go into a 90's room, Indy room, whatever. You can stick on your headphones and just listen, or awesome/lame things, or chat - whateva. I found my stepsister in there a few weeks ago (links through Facebook to show you which of your friends are in which roms) and we chatted for a while! So fun! It's beta only, so if you want an invite email me at kellyfittingbackin@gmail.com. I'm in there as Kelly Shaw Martin. Original, I know. :) How did I find it? Through my husband - he LOVES it -and it's fun because we can get in a room together when we're not together and kind of hang out/listen to music!

3. Google Plus/Circles. 
Love it. Love the idea, love the possibilities, love the thinking behind it. It's so duh, but yet brilliant. The video above got me going yes, yes, yes. Now i'm just waiting for an app that will migrate all of my Facebook stuff because i'm too lazy to do it myself. True Story. How did I find it? Combo deal - I think Austin got me to do it last month, but now it seems like it's everywhere! Austin also sent me that video above which TOTALLY sold me.

Q: Are you a Pintesrest or Turntable fan?!

Q: Circles or Facebook or neither? I was neither until 2004 when I caved, now I'm on Facebook and don't hate it but do have to go to a lot of trouble to make sure my privacy settings are in tact and sometimes it's less scary to just not post! I think Circles is the future for me, again, once it's easier to migrate!


K - quick update now! Yesterday was a busy one! It started out with a workout: I ran 1 mile, walked 1/4 mile, and did 10 minutes on the stairmill. Then I went to work where I had the yummy Mexican Breakfast Burritos with Avocado.  Then it was just work, working through lunch, more work, before heading home to the pups, an episode of True Blood with Austin and prep for the next day. Pretty standard! And i'm out - happy Tuesday - hope you have a good one!

Monday Two-A-Days, New Product Reviews!

Hello! I hope you're having good Tuesdays! Mine was pretty slammed - got up early, walked 1/4 mile, ran 2 miles, then walked 1/4 mile, then went through an all-day training class. It was a good class, but I hated being cooped up in a room, all day, with no windows and only cookies and pizza. Seriously. I told Austin and he said, "you're kidding, right?" That sounds amazing. LOL It wasn't, but I did see his point, not the end of the world!

Quick backtrack, yesterday I did my double workouts:

• a.m.: 1/4 mile, 1-mile run, 11 minutes on the stairclimber; abs
• Lunchtime: 2 1/4 mile walk; back and chest

Not bad! 3.5 miles, stairclimber and some ST - good day. Other than that I just worked, and tried out a few new products...

Now I'm not a huge fan of frozen meals only because I prefer making meals myself! However, sometimes they're just absolutely handy and necessary. I tried this one and just loved it. Such great sauce (really saucy enchiladas are awesome), and I loved the beans and little tofu bites. It was very filling and a meal I definitely plan to have in the freezer just in case!

I loved these little peanut butter sandwich crackers! You can have 12 for only 150 calories, and I thought that the serving was filling, too. I think my favorite part was that they were bitesize!!

Well these were just ridiculous. The serving size was 2 cookies and I swear they tasted like cookie dough. They melted in your hand and were incredibly soft. Be warned - addictive doesn't even begin to cover it, but so long as you're capable of holding yourself to no more than 2 in a serving (hehe!) you should try them!

Q: Have you tried any of the above? Did you like them?

Q: What's your favorite frozen meal? This is mine. Really - that good. I DO like Amy's stuffed shells too... but this one wins!

Cali Bound, Our First Tomato, Herb Garden Before & After

Before telling you my exciting 'travel' news, I have to share some other local, homegrown, exciting news. Austin grew our first tomato!

isn't it perfect?!

Seriously - the tomato plants are out of control with growth - AWESOME! Can't wait for more!

BEFORE

AFTER - yes, they're taller than me!

Another shot of Austin's bountiful harvest

So what to do with it? Well make a caprese - duh!

I guess i'd never had a fresh tomato. WOW. I never knew how crazy sweet they were. or how RED. I mean really - amazing.

So long story short, Austin's parents invited us to go to Napa Valley with them! Eee! They go each year and know their way around wineries, so i'm SO excited to go on this trip with them - can't WAIT! Well the more we talked to them and got to thinking, it made perfect sense to add in a trip to San Fran since it's right there. So we tacked two days in front of our three-day Napa trip to visit San Fran. Then, yes, it gets BETTER, my leadership program (the one who took me sailing) tells me we're going to LA for an offsite trip. GET THIS - it's 2 days prior to the San Fran/Napa trip! So here's how it works out:

Tuesday: I fly out with my co-workers to LA - we have from 2 p.m. until whenever on Tuesday to visit LA.

Wednesday: We get in a van to go to Irvine for our offsite event; get back at 5 p.m. and have the night in LA.

Thursday: We all go to the airport. My co-workers fly home and I fly down to San Francisco where I meet Austin! So we have all day in San Fran Thursday.

Friday: We have the day in San Fran until his parent pick us up (they're coming from Pebble Beach) and then we go to Napa!

Saturday, Sunday, Monday: Napa with the Martins!

Monday late night/redeye: back to Atlanta - land at 6 a.m., beat traffic home, sleep/rest/get pups/cook!

Talk about a week I couldn't have planned if I had tried! ONLY bad thing - i'm going to miss my fur babies -why oh why are they not flight-friendly? Sad. I know they'll be happy at their boarders who genuinely seem to love them but STILL thinking about it breaks my heart. Must focus on the positive - a great, fun-filled trip to Cali!! Other fun things - my friend Monica is out there for work to so I hope to meet up with her for at least a drink + photo op!

No, I've never been to California! Why? I have no idea - just haven't made it further west than Utah. And don't just the fact that I just googled 'U.S. World map to ensure that Utah was indeed further west than Arizona.

Q: Have you ever been to Cali? Where should I go near LAX and/or in San Fran?!

Quick backtrack - Monday I got up early and went to the gym for another cardio mix up:

• Treadmill: 1/8 mile walk, 1.25-mile run, 1/8 mile walk
• Stair Climber: 1 mile in 11 minutes
• Spin: 4 songs

HRM said: 40 minutes, 310 calories, 10 fat-burning minutes, 30 fitness minutes, Avg HR 149; Max HR 177. Good stuff! After my workout I had a working lunch at Goldfish - I got the grouper. YUM! Then I stopped by the library and found 5 books on my to-read list - yay! So I checked them all out and plan to start with Sheryl Anderson's Killer Heels. Then I just worked more before heading home to my family!

Q: Have you ever had a fresh tomato?

New Shorts, New Asian-Inspired Recipe

Yay! So many of us have gardens - LOVE IT! I can't wait to grow more - and we found a second tomato - woo! Also, thanks for all of the skinny cow recommendations - I will have to continue down this rabbit hole into frozen treats! So Wednesday started out VERY similar to Tuesday, with a 1/2 mile walk, 2-mile run at 6.3 mph and a 10-minute trek on the stair climber. Differences? My iPod worked better, but the run was harder. That's what I get for back-to-backs!Oh, and I got to wear my new Auburn-branded Nike tempo shorts - LOVE!

After my workout I got ready for work, worked all a.m., and took my lunch to go to some of my happy places Trader Joe's (for a few items i'm out of), the library (for hardbacks Sophie Kinsella's Mini Shopaholic and Jennifer Weiner's Fly Away home; and audio books, including the one i'm now listening to Anita Shreve's Testimony, as I finished the other during my errands!), Aveda (for hang straight, my favorite product, which has been altered/upgraded/renamed.. not sure how I feel about this) and Bare Escentuals (needed some more soft focus eye shadow). Then it was back to work before going home to my family and this new recipe.... (I'll post my book review tomorrow!).

Asian Meatball Pasta with Lime Sauce
Adapted from a Gina's Weight Watcher Recipe
Makes 4 Servings

Nutritional Information: 451 calories, 46 carbs, 12 fat grams and 37 protein grams.

So the meatballs were awesome! Gina (original recipe) used them as apps and dipped in the sauce, but I liked the idea of using that sauce to coat pasta and making it a main dish rather than app. The sauce had a great flavor - next time I may even add some lime zest to give it even more of a kick, or maybe some red pepper flakes. I LOVE that i've found another Asian-inspired keeper! Check out the recipe here on Healthified Kitchen!

Q: Meatballs: yay or nay? I'm a fan! I usually use them in Italian-inspired dishes - fun to have in this Asian-inspired one! They were REALLY good!

Q: Favorite brand for hair products? I'm a big Aveda girl! I love the hang straight and thermal styling cream!

Stairmill, 2-Miler, Klondike Bar?

Austin sent me this the other day and I just died laughing! Tis the season for frozen treats, and lately we've been LOVING some Klondike 'slim-a-bears.' Not the 'ice cream sandwichy' ones, but the 100-calorie ones that actually bare a striking resemblance to the real thing, but they only have 100 calories, 6 fat grams, 11 carbs and 1 protein gram. Not awesome and whole or anything, but better than having a regular Klondike bar (250 calories, 14 fat grams, 29 carbs and 3 protein grams). The only bad thing about the 100-calorie bars is the name, 'Slim-a-bear.' It's so lame, and hard to sell a guy on a slim-a-bear you know? One more bad thing - the song. Total earworm. I mean really - "What would you do-oo-oo for a Klondike bar?!" K - moving on! (and apologizing in case I got this dreadful tagline in your head).

Tuesday I woke up WAY late for spin - but decided to hit the gym anyway! I got to the gym around 6:45 and walked a 1/2-mile, then ran 2 miles straight at 6.3 mph. Yessss. This is getting SO much easier. Yet again, I felt like I could go on for at least another 1/2 or mile but no, I'm being safe on these feet! So I hopped off and got straight on the machine of death and did 10 minutes straight on the stair climber. That thing is evil. For reals. I find it gross but strangely satisfying when my sweat is pouring onto the machine. Sorry, disgusting, but accurate! :) HRM said: 36 minutes, 305 calories; 4 fat-burning minutes and 32 fitness minutes; 157 HR and max HR of 182. Afterwards I just showered and headed into work, had a working lunch, then headed home to my family! I do have a fun picture Austin took to share - our first tomato!

Q: Do you have a home garden? What's your favorite thing to grow? Mine is basil - I swear it saves us SO much money!

Q: Stairmill: yay or nay? I used to use it a lot, but when I started counting miles I stopped. But now that i'm mixing it up I think i'm going to take advantage of this guy in the morning (when the gym is empty). I burned MAD calories this a.m. in just 10 minutes on it (like 80). Note, this was following a 2-mile run so my HR was already up but STILL pretty sweet if you ask me.

Q: Have you had the slim-a-bears? If so, are you a fan? I love them - again, great for the summertime. Nice treat without going overboard.