And so it begins...

Time to get organized and stay organized.  By tomorrow I should have my movers confirmed...and that means...if all goes according to plan... YIKES... I'm outta here in 24 days.  *gulp*

You should see the lists I have on the go.  The goal this week is to get those cleaned up and as simplified (yet detailed) as possible. 

Last night I wrote up this week's plan...so I know what room to sort on which day, which workout I should be doing, and have a good idea what to make to eat.  The food will probably change a bit here and there, but everything else pretty much needs to stay the way it is. 

I will allow myself to skip a workout if needed though...because things will rear their heads but I can't very well give up packing or eating!! 

Today was a nice, easy start...coffeeeeee with soy milk...

A refreshing green smoothie to help clean away the weekend junk.

I picked up some Maca Root Powder at Bulk Barn the other night to give it a try.  It doesn't smell too good, but once blended up I couldn't really tell it was there.  It's considered a superfood powerhouse so it is definitely worth a bit of an odd odor.

From Wikipedia: "The nutritional value of dried maca root is high, similar to cereal grains such as rice and wheat. It contains 60% carbohydrates, 10% protein, 8.5% dietary fiber, and 2.2% fats. Maca is rich in essential minerals, especially selenium, calcium, magnesium, and iron, and includes fatty acids including linolenic acid, palmitic acid, and oleic acids, and 19 amino acids, as well as polysaccharides."

In the KA today:  ice, 1/2 frozen banana, 4 chunks fresh pineapple, 2 big handfuls organic baby spinach, 1 tsp maca, 1 heaping tsp Amazing Meal, 1 tsp flax meal, about 2/3 cup UVAB.

Alongside this bevvie I made some deliciously chewy sprouted grain toast...with natural peanut butter & Supercrack.

It's a quiet work day because of the US Memorial Day holiday so I burned through a fair amount of work this morning...which worked out well because I received a last minute call to meet Cosette and Sarah for afternoon coffee at Two if by Sea.

Who am I to turn down a fabulous cafe au lait?!  Especially since it's Sarah's bday.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH!!!

Sadly (thankfully!!) they were out of chocolate croissants.  I definitely need another one (or ten) of those before I leave town.

When I got home it was way past lunch time so I went straight to the kitchen to whip up my salad...

Romaine, tomatoes, cucumber, celery (totally underrated!), and yellow peppers.

Dressed with Renee's Spring Italian dressing...and topped with 1% cottage cheese.  Did you know that cottage cheese contains a WHOPPING 15 grams of protein per 1/2 cup serving?  Score.

Added even more protein in the form of hummus...

Served with Mary's Gone Crackers!  Nom!!!  Love these addictive seedy little things...

The last few hours have been spent working and scrutinizing my initial road trip plans.  Halifax to Victoria.  Just me and my cat.  It's going to be a loooooong 11 days...totally scary...and totally exciting. 

This once in a lifetime adventure needs a name.... any ideas??

здравствуйте

After a day of fresh air and a sweaty gym workout, Saturday night was spent curled up on the sofa clearing off the DVR and eating a few treaties from Bulk Barn.  :)

On my way home I stopped to check our mail and found what might just be the coolest blog giftie I’ve ever received!

Ex Yo-Yo Dieter Debbie lives in Russia and offered to bring me a Moscow Starbucks Collectors Mug when she ventured over to the US for a family visit recently…

 

How effing cool is that?!  Me lurves it!!  haha, I know it looks just like any other Starbies collector mug, but people…it’s from freaking Russia!  :)

She also threw in some Russian chocolate (from the “Red October” store) and a packet of S’mints, which she says are all the rage in Europe.

Unfortunately Halifax doesn’t rate large enough to have it’s own city mugs so I’m going to have a look around the West Coast for a city mug to send to Debbie in exchange.  That girl gets around, so I can actually send it to her in Newfoundland and she’ll get it the next time she visits.

Thanks Debbie!!

Yesterday morning was spent enjoying a coffee and croissant date with my girlies Angie and Lynn at Two if By Sea. 

Cafe au Lait…

 

See the bear?

And a chocolate croissant the size of my head…

These croissants will be dearly missed when I return to Victoria. :(

We sat there so long I ordered a regular coffee.  We girls sure can chat!  (and by we, I mean me…haha)

Afterwards I hit up the mall to pick out a few Summer basics.  I’m not entirely sure what happened to last year’s Summer wardrobe but I seem to only have one pair of presentable shorts and NO capri pants.  Weird.  I spent over an hour trying on about 16 items at H&M, and while a lot of it fit I just didn’t love any of it and walked out empty handed.  I hate trying to figure out what “my style” is at the beginning of new seasons.  Gah.  Oh well, try and try again right?

Now here is another picture of a lovely flower for you.  :)  This is the one blooming tulip in our front garden…

You get that in lieu of any photos of the FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC dinner Arron treated me to last night.  He suggested we should have a “last supper” and who am I to turn down a lovely meal? :)

He chose CUT Steakhouse…I’ve written about it before…a la carte steaks and sides.  Yummmmm!  The service was a little off last night but the meal was one of the best we’ve had there. 

I enjoyed one glass of an Australian Cab Arron picked out…can’t have a fabulous steak without a glass of red, but I was driving so no overindulging for me. 

As always, my steak of choice was the 6oz local petite filet…medium-rare.  It’s the only cut on their menu that is just my size!  We shared side dishes of their Caesar Salad (the big chunks of pork belly and parmesan are deeeeelish), Pomme de Terre (who doesn’t love potatoes wrapped in potatoes?), and their newest side dish…Mac & Cheeeeese! 

In an odd turn of events, Arron actually suggested we order dessert!  People, this rarely happens.  And he didn’t want to share his freakishly fudgey chocolate tort so I got to have my own dessert.  hehe.  Creme Brulee all the way!  Not sure how I fit that in, but it was sooooo worth it. 

Once home, we commented that this may have been our best date ever…even though it wasn’t technically a date.  :)

I will however be making a date with some cardio today to burn of 1/100th of that decadent meal.

Sleepover

Last night I packed up my jammies and headed over to my friend Cosette’s house for a girlie sleepover with her and Sarah.  Her hubby was over here for a boy’s night of F1 and video games so I was happy to vacate the testosterone zone.  :)

I spared you the photos of my flannel PJ’s.  LOL.

Healthy snackies for the girlies… 

Including a dish of the crack hummus…

I brought along some Trader Joe’s treats from Elizabeth…

Dark Chocolate Edamame!!

So good!  Crunchy and delicious.  I’ve been saving these forever because I knew I would love them and then be sad when they run out.  Thankfully they are the kind of snack that entails just a handful so they should last a while now that they are open! (Let’s hope!)

And indulged in a few gummy bears after we’d had our fill of toasted pitas and veggies…

We watched The Blindside.  Such a great movie!!  Sandra Bullock like you’ve never seen her…she totally deserved her Oscar.  And the boy that plays the son was absolutely hilarious!

Have you seen it?  What did you think?

It was a really late night and once my head hit the pillow of her daughter’s bed I was OUT. 

This morning we were treated to the uber-fabulous croissants the size of our heads!  Cosette stopped at Two if By Sea yesterday and picked up these delicious baked treats for us.  So amazing.

I ate almost an entire almond one.  Kept me full all day!!

With a bit of fruit for a healthy side.  :)

The rest of the day was just puttering around the house and enjoying the end of my favorite movie The Princess Bride.  For dinner I whipped up a quick piece of pre-marinated baked salmon and plunked it on top of a simple salad with goat cheese.

nom nom nom!!!

This weekend zooooomed by.  Didn’t accomplish much of anything but sometimes that’s just what is needed.  I’m a little afraid of the scale for the first time in months…I feel a whole lotta cardio in this week’s plan!

How was your weekend?

Sugar Powered Saturday

The plan for today was shop, shop, shop.  For this I needed to ensure a good caffeine intake and long lasting breakfast.  Conveniently I had a coffee date planned with a couple of girlfriends this morning!

We’ve been hearing about a gem of a cafe over in Dartmouth so I suggested we try it out today.  Two if by Sea Cafe did not disappoint!

I ordered a Cafe Mocha.  No non-fat, or half-sweet, or anything different…just straight up.  The way it really should be sometimes.

I adore coffee art!!!

And a homemade pain au chocolat…which I knew would be huge because croissants are the cafe’s specialty…but this was literally half the size of my head.

 

Crisp, buttery, still warm.  OMG.  People, seriously heaven in a pastry!!!  Completely and totally worth the indulgence. 

Sarah ordered Earl Grey tea, which was loose-leaf and served in this super cute individual press pot…

And the almond croissant which was possibly larger than mine…

I totally missed getting a pic of Cosette’s soy chai latte…but I think that is because I was busy ooohing and aaahing over Camille’s fancy-schmancy hot chocolate…

And marvelling that her cookie was indeed the size of her whole head!

Monthly cafe date?  I think it’s a must!!

Cosette also brought me a belated birthday prezzie!!!  The reFresh cookbook.  Drooooool.  You should see the list of juices, smoothies, salads, noodle bowls, and other fun recipes in here!!

After our coffee chat I headed off to the mall.  I really wanted to power-shop the day away and tackle as many gifts as possible.  I did OK but I have a couple of family members that are brutal to shop for!!  I accomplished about half of what I wanted, but such is life.

I did follow my own shopping rules though.  My breakfast held me over for HOURS (eliminating the need for lunch), I avoided the chocolate shops, I brought a bottle of water and a snack in my purse…

I avoided stopping for food court or take-out and instead made a quick trip to the grocery store for fresh eats for dinner.  After all of the chocolate and pastry I was seriously craving veggies and protein!! 

White wine & herb salmon from Superstore, baked zucchini slices with olive oil, steamed broccoli & carrots…

My body is thanking me!!

I did miss my rule about planning in some activity though.  Once I got into the house from the crazy cold wind I had no intention of heading back out to the gym. 

My evening entails The Christmas Shoes, a few household chores, painting my toenails, and some Candy Cane Lane tea…

I’ll sleep well tonight.  :)