Extra hands

Good Morning! Did any of you play the half billion dollar MegaMillion lotto? We don’t have it in Florida and we never play the lottery anyways so no dreams were crushed over here. But TONS of people woke up this morning with their Lamborghini & Ferrari dreams crushed. I think I heard on the news this morning that there are 3 confirmed winners so far to split the jackpot. Must be nice!

Last night was a change up in our house. Angelo cooked dinner! Other than grilling,  I don’t remember the last time he used the stove. I was busy doing an online course for a license for the new business so he stepped up to the plate and cooked us some delicious pasta. If Angelo is cooking dinner, it means we’re having pasta.  

This morning we woke up and had pancakes again…still need to make a trip to the grocery store. Today! We've been lounging around the house in our pjs, but Angelo wants to go running again so we will most likely bust out another 6 miler this afternoon. This evening Ohio State plays in the Final Four!

Gotta represent in the neighborhood! ;) 

With Angelo being gone for almost 2 weeks, it made me realize how much he helps me out with Sophia. I just about had a mental breakdown once or twice while he was gone. It probably would of have a lot easier to just stay home, but I’m a scarty cat and didn’t feel comfortable being alone in the house.

Even though Angelo works almost every day, he really helps me out in the mornings and evenings with Sophia; changing her diaper or just entertaining her.  I didn’t really recognize that until he wasn’t here! My mom & dad were big help in the evenings, but they both work early mornings.

It was also challenging without having all of Sophia’s stuff at my parents house like her jumpers, activity mats, lounger, etc.  My mom has bought quite a few toys for her to keep at her house so I thought those would be enough for the short time we were staying there. I did bring over the Boppy & Bumbo chair since I use those a lot, but everything else stayed at our house.  I came home a lot during the day to take showers & such, as I tried to not be at their house during the day while my dad worked. He works out of his home office. All the back and forth was starting to get on my nerves. I’m so glad he’s back, as life is back to normal.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! It’s beautiful (hot) weather in Tampa today. Looks like we might have to make tomorrow a pool day ;)

Love,

Alex

He's Back!

For the past 11 days Angelo has been in Venezuela, and what a LONG 11 days it has been. We picked him up from the air port last night & bombarded him with hugs & kisses. Sophia wasn’t really sure exactly who he was at first but warmed up to him pretty fast. He makes her giggle more than anyone else and my heart exploded (again) when she was laughing and playing with him at the airport.

 Angelo went over to Venezuela to start up the other end of his new export business. He is originally from Venezuela and his entire extended family still lives there.  He hadn’t been back there in about 8 years so they were all ecstatic to see him and spoiled him like crazy; cooking him breakfast, lunch, & dinner, ironing his clothes, sewing up holes in his underwear (not kidding), and even shining his shoes! I told him that I hope he didn’t get used to that ;)

After we picked him up, we went to eat at Bahama Breeze where we ordered a couple drinks to celebrate his safe return. We both ordered burgers; he ordered a burger topped with portabellas, and I ordered the avocado, goat cheese burger…YUM! Sometimes all you want is a nice big burger, right?! After dinner we picked up the doggies from my parents (if you hadn’t noticed, I had been staying at my parents house while Angelo was gone) and came home & crashed. HOME SWEET HOME!

This morning I cooked up a whole wheat pancake breakfast (the fridge is scary empty) and we are getting ready to go for a nice run. Angelo didn’t get ANY exercise since he was too busy being spoiled with grandma’s cookin’ in Venezuela, so all he wants to do this morning is go for a long run. Afterwards, we have a lot of errands to run for the business then meeting Angelo's mom for lunch.
TGIF! This may be the best Friday ever! I’m so happy Angelo is back.

Love, Alex

Amazing Feats

Look who’s starting to crawl over here!! 

Sophia is quickly learning to crawl, Watch out!

Sophia’s “steps” to crawling

1.     -  Holding her head and upper body up with her arms straight during tummy time

2.    -  Rolling over from her back to tummy.

3.    -   Sliding backwards. She would lie on her tummy and push herself backwards with her arms.

4.    -   Getting up on hands & knees

5.    -  Rocking back & forth on all fours.

6.    -  Lunging her body forward while on all fours

7.    -  Slowly starting to put one hand and knee forward!

It’s so amazing to watch them learn all these magnificent feats step by step.

Guess who also slept WITHOUT her swaddle last night?!

If you guessed Sophia…smarty pants!

The swaddle has also been a step by step process.

1.   - Swaddle with regular baby blanket – ALWAYS found her way out of them & woke up.

2.   -  Bought “Miracle Blanket” – Truly a miracle in the house started sleeping through the night (except 1 feeding usually at 1am) at 2 weeks old.

3.   -  Stopped swaddling legs at about 4 months old. Took her a week or 2 to get used to having her legs free.

4.   -  Started to swaddle her loosely 1 month ago & she would usually escape by the morning time but slept mostly through the night.

5.    - Last night I decided to do without the swaddle. She WOULD NOT go to sleep so I just wrapped a blanket around her chest and arms very loosely.

She escaped the loose wrap in about an hour and woke up. BUT she woke up, looked at me, rolled over onto her tummy and fell back asleep! She slept like that for the rest of the night. I didn’t get much sleep just because I kept waking up to make sure she didn’t bury her face into the mattress. I think it was a success! We will do the same thing tonight.

There is very exciting stuff going on around here in Sophia world. She is learning new things every single day and it’s pretty amazing to witness it all.

Today we are basically planless. YAY! Just need to take a trip to the grocery store at some point. Right now we are going to hit the pavement for a morning jog, then just hang out, and probably do some cleaning around the house here & there.  Hope everyone has a tip-top Thursday!

Love,

Alex

Old School eats

Good afternoon! WorkItOut Wednesday almost quickly turned into Work Wednesday this morning with a 8am phone call telling me I needed to meet an inspector out at the new business property. Boo. So I skipped my Power Plate workout. but took a 4 mile jog with Sophia in her stroller once I got back home. It was a little later than I usually go so it was HOT, but with a little cool breeze for Sophia. 
It's really weird how you get in a habit of doing some form of activity everyday that it becomes addicting. I guess that's a good addiction. 


When we got home I was starving. I chopped up an apple, looked in the fridge to see a big jar of peanut butter, and decided to take it OLD SCHOOL. 

Ants on a Log! Remember these?! I substituted chocolate chips instead of raisins because I didn't have any. Only craisins which didn't sound as good as chocolate. 

This afternoon we're going to take a trip over to the disney of house stuff, Ikea. We usually find some cute house accessories so I'm hoping to find some stuff for the office!


Hope everyone has an awesome hump day! It's all easy sailing down hill to Friday.


Love, 
Alex

GNC (not the store)

Hey it’s Tuesday already ;)

Last night we had our usual Monday night girl’s dinner. We went to a place in South Tampa called The Lime. Amazing tacos & margaritas! We got there in time for happy hour, so of course we had to have some margaritas! To eat, I ordered the 3 taco special with 2 Gigantas & 1 Carne Enchilada.

Taco descriptions:
Carne Enchilada- habanero shredded beef, red onions, cilantro, jalapeños & pineapple relish
Gigante - avocado glazed buffalo chicken, crispy onions, julienne jalapeños & celery with bleu cheese crumbles & lime Caesar dressing

I was already kinda already stuffed from the chips & guacamole app so my friend who “just came to have a drink” gladly took it off my plate.    

A little back story to Girl’s Night, originally Girl’s Night Club (GNC)

GN started when I had just got married 4 years ago and moved into our new house. It was originally 7 of us (all friends from high school) who came to my house every Monday night while Angelo went to play soccer. We would cook dinner together and work out by either doing a DVD or go for a walk. The working out part only lasted a few weeks and ended when one of the girls bought the entire series of Sex & the City to watch. That too only lasted a few weeks, then it changed to cooking dinner & watching a movie or just sitting around the table and chatting. One friend “dropped out” and sadly got replaced by another friend from high school (boyfriend troubles, didn’t want to hear the truth, got mad at us for telling her the truth…blah blah blah).  

For GN today we go out to a different restaurant every week and spends a couple hours just talking & laughing. Not all the girls make it every week, and we have had to cancel some weeks but we always pick up where we left off. I love having that one night a week where I catch up with all my close friends.  We are all at totally different stages in our lives but still have so much in common. Three of us are married, I’m the only one with a child, one has a longtime boyfriend, and the rest are single. I live vicariously through all the single ones. Haha I love to hear their stories and they pick on me when I try to give them advice because I haven’t been on a date with a new man in about 10 years! Lol

This morning I woke up and had breakfast. I through some chocolate chips in my steel cut oats because it’s just that kind of morning.

I spot someone's piggy toes! :)

Today’s agenda:

-         - 4 mile run

-         - Bank

-         - Ikea

-         - Target

Hope you all have a terrific Tuesday!

Love,
Alex

Fur Babies

Happy Monday! This morning was so busy, but what an awesome workout!  We did a lot of different exercises off the power plate, including box jumps & ball ground slams. I love that kind of stuff.  Afterwards, I had to stop by the post office, Michaels, Staples, and our new business property location. Once home & after a few phone calls, I hit up the overflowing laundry room. Joyful.

Lately I feel like I’ve been running around like a crazy person and neglecting my 2 fur babies. Over the weekend when I was in Fort Myers I really started to miss them and texted my dad to see how they were doing. His reply: “Wonderful, but think they miss you.”  

When I was pregnant, some people told me that Angelo & I would “forget” about our 2 dogs, Bella & Rome, because all of our attention would go to Sophia.  Never would I “forget” about my 2 fur babies, but of course our attention has shifted to Sophia.

 When I was pregnant I would take Bella & Rome on a walk every single day, now it’s almost impossible to walk them while pushing Sophia in her stroller. They still get walked if both Angelo & I go in the evening but sadly they aren’t included on the morning jogs me & Sophia take a couple times a week. 

Honestly, I think our 2 dogs are spoiled. I’m not talking “GiGi on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” spoiled because that’s just nuts.  They eat All natural food which we buy at a specialty pet food supply store, I top their food with any good left overs we might have, they get spoiled at Grandma & Grandpa’s house whenever we go out of town, etc etc.  

When we got back from Fort Myers we played on the floor with them for an hour or so just snuggling and giving them belly rubs. Sophia really loves her 2 puppies and always wants to watch them and play with their ears or tails. ;) 

Love, 

Alex

Weekend Away

Hey! Long time, no see. Sorry about that, but Sophia, my mom, & I took a trip 2 hours south to Fort Myers to visit family for the weekend. Almost all of my mom’s side of the family live there (rest of them live in Ohio), so we caught up with my grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We forgot to pack our laptop along with a few other things , but it probably wouldn’t have fit in our packed car anyways. And to speak the truth, I didn’t miss it. 

When I last saw you guys it was Thursday. We went on a 4 mile run on this lovely path.

I like it because a lot of the way is shaded by these gigantic trees.  Later on we went to happy hour at Bonefish Grill for drinks & apps. We had ceviche with tortilla chips to start then I had the Bang Bang Shrimp tacos. That bang bang sauce is incredible!

Friday morning we woke up and went to a Power Plate workout, then Sophia & I picked up my mom to head to Ft.Myers. With me driving we made it in record time, probably because I was starving. Once in town, we ended up at a little Mediterranean café where we split a gyro and hummus appetizer. Then, in the hot beaming sun, we were spectators at my cousin’s tennis tournament.

Saturday, Sophia & I spent most of the day with my mom & aunt running around shopping at various different stores. At night, a lot of the fam met up at a waterfront bar to watch OhioState beat Syracuse! Go Bucks! My family is that loud obnoxious group taking up half the bar all dressed in red. Gotta love em.

Sunday, we went to a late breakfast/brunch with a group of 8 to a little mom-n-pop breakfast place called Annie’s. I had the Protein Banana pancakes (called Banana Whammies) and Sophia had a mashed up banana. After the 2 hr drive back home I felt kind of crumby & had the urge to hit the pavement. I had planned to get a run in on Saturday morning, but after a not-so-good night’s rest I wasn’t up for it. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and hanging out watching some basketball games. Looks like Ohio State will face Kansas in the FINAL FOUR!  Dinner was an easy peasy gigantic salad, which we munched on while watching 60 minutes. 

Today! We are going to our power plate workout then running lots of errands, trying to get some more stuff done to our office (almost finished!) and other odds & ends for Angelo’s new business. Hope you all had a marvelous weekend! Sorry we neglected, but sometimes you just need a good break from the computer.

Love,

Alex

Snapped

Good Morning! Sorry I missed you guys on WorkOut Wednesday, but BOY did I have a workout yesterday.  My power plate session was pretty hard and included a good amount of tabata burpees, mountain climbers, high knees, and lunge jumps. When I thought I was done, I was handed another 4 min tabata drill with arm workouts. Brutal but I smiled because I love it!

After working out, we stopped by Tropical Smoothie to get a Peanut Paradise smoothie (the ultimate best!) before Sophia’s Gymboree class. Last night we went over to a friend's house for her birthday, where we enjoyed a nice big fresh salad, rice & beans, and chicken. We washed all that down with a slice of ice cream birthday cake. (I think it's rude not to eat a piece of cake at a birthday party or wedding, unless you have allergies or whatnot, ya know?!)

Well, it finally happened! My diaper bag broke. One of the straps has been holding on by a string for the past week and I was waiting for it to snap. I’m now on the prowl for a new one.

I’ve been scoping out the Nordstrom site and these have catch my eye. 

Storksak "Isabella"

Marc by Marc Jacobs Eliz-a-Baby

I really like the nylon diaper bags because they're so easy to clean and wipe off. And I also want a more neutral color since my last diaper bag was purple. Angelo might appreciate carrying a black or tan one. ;) 

They also have a ton at the BuyBuyBaby here in town so I’m going to make a stop there today. Since I’m going, I started making a list of various things I also need to get, and it got me thinking about all the crap I’ve bought from there that didn’t get any use. Money down the drain.

25 different types of bottles – I guess I really wouldn’t have known Sophia hated ALL bottles until I tried them, but still, I have an enire cabinet in the kitchen filled with bottles we will never use at least until baby #2.
Walker - I’ve read that they actually hinder children from walking and may mess up their hip placement.
Mamaroo Rocker – I was so much in a hurry to buy this when Sophia was first born and I think we got about 5 uses out of it.  The seat isn’t comfortable at all.
Breastfriend – When Sophia was first born I used it for maybe a week or so, then just switch over to the boppy because it felt better.  I tried using it again a month or 2 ago and it’s so stiff compared to the boppy.

There's only 1 more day until the weekend! But who's counting?! 

On today's to-do list:

-4 mile run

-Doc appt

-BuyBuyBaby

-Maybe Nordstrom

Love,

Alex

Pool days

This week is a big blur already, it's Tuesday and I feel like such a cluster...I keep thinking it's Wednesday or Thursday for some reason. Maybe because we've been on vacation mode today and hanging out by the pool! It was a little on the cloudy side today but still nice!


Last night we went to Girl's Night at Tijuana Flats. FYI: I think they sprinkle crack on their tortilla chips. Addicting.com! After dinner we walked over to YouSayWhen Yogurt Shop to stuff ourselves a little more.Sophia loves girl's night.

This morning we had our coffee with coconut milk again and this "energy bar" made with oatmeal, craisins, almonds, coconut, and a few other dried fruit & nuts. We went on a 4 mile run about an hour after breakfast so Sophia could take a nice little nap. 

We made a stop at my parent's house where my mom had pureed some Plums for Sophia to try. This was her reaction when I gave her some pre-puree. She liked them a lot better once they were pureed.  She had the same reaction to apples. She didn't like them to be the texture of applesauce so I had to almost liquefy them for her to eat. 

Then we finally made our way to the neighborhood pool with a friend! The water was a bit chilly, but Sophia didn't mind. Isn't it weird how kids like to swim in water that feels freezing to us adults? There were about 5 other kids playing in the pool, while all the adults were out basking in the sun. 

I really need to find something for Sophia to play in by the pool, like a portable pack-n-play. (Those pack-n-plays are not so portable, I don't care what anyone else says)  I'll have to take a look on Amazon tonight to see what they have because I see a lot of pool days in our future! Right now we have a little cabana type thing but it's for kids over 1 yr old. Any suggestions? 


Hope everyone has a terrific Tuesday, what's left of it. Dinner is up in the air tonight, I'm pooped after the pool ;)


Love, 
Alex

Coconut liquids

It's Monday already?! Ugh. ;)

Sunday started with plans to clean the house and chill out, but ended up being full of fun in the sun at a friend's house. 

Since pool = sun = pina colada (right?!) I brought one of these to sip on by the pool.

Sun always wears me out, so come 7pm I was almost dead to the world. We managed to keep our eyes open a few more hours to eat some penne pasta topped with grilled chicken and a scrumptious salad. 

This morning I woke up and had some Bobs Red Mill Steel cut oats topped with walnuts & a dash of stevia. I made my coffee with coconut milk instead of the almond milk norm. What's up with all these coconut drinks? It was a nice change up but after I finish this carton, I'll stick with my almond milk. We were meant to be ;) The coconut milk tastes a little too "watered down" to me. 

On today's agenda: Power plate workout, pick up dog food, lunch with a friend, back home to catch up on laundry & Desperate Housewives, then dinner with the girls (Monday night tradition). Not a bad Monday! But what Monday is...i mean REALLY?!

Love, 

Alex

I'll take a beer, hold the green

Hey! Is everyone hung over from a night of pounding green beer?! ;) 
We stuck with this green beverage yesterday..

so we woke up refreshed & enjoyed a snuggle session!

Yesterday we went on a 6 mile run (Saturday's six!) down Bayshore Blvd. The sidewalk is claimed to be the longest continuous sidewalk in the world at 4.5 mile. We go about 3.1 miles one way and back. The weather couldn't have been more perfect with not a cloud in the sky. The temperature wasn't too bad either, but it did get a lot hotter as the day went on. Good thing we got the run out of the way before the sun started blazing!

After our run, we walked around Hyde Park Village, where a Sidewalk Chalk Festival was happening, and grabbed lunch at a little cafe called Nature's Table. Angelo had a Grilled Chicken Cesear wrap, I munched on a Taco salad (romaine lettuce topped with vegetarian chili), and Sophia had sweet potatoes (once again). 
Giving our legs & feet a break, we came home, napped, and hopped in the car to have dinner at Mellow Mushroom where we finally had a beer (even though they weren't green) to celebrate St. Patrick's Day! Angelo stuck with a Yuengling and I ventured out of the norm and had a Sea Dog Blueberry Ale. YUM.


Today we are just hanging around the house and doing some cleaning. We will see you guys again tomorrow, the the most dreaded day of the week...Monday ;)


Love, 
Alex

Being Green

Happy Saturday & St. Patrick's Day!

There are so many events going on in the Tampa area today. We might hit up the St. Patty’s Day festival in downtown; I heard the mayor is going to dye the river green! (With environmentally friendly dye) We’re going for a 6 mile run to kick off the day so we will already be in the area. 

FYI: Wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day is considered bad luck in Ireland. But we’re not in Ireland so here’s some fun green stuff we can wear! 

Nordstrom

H&M

Foever21

FinishLine

Victoria'sSecret

Have a green beer...and don’t forget to eat some greens too! (Something that’s naturally green…not dyed!) 

Have a safe & fun St. Patrick's Day!

Love, 

Alex

Stay at or Get out of - the house - Mom

Yesterday after taking a 4 mile jog, we baked these delicious creations:

Almond biscotti dipped in chocolate & BACON!  I’m on a biscotti frenzy! I love having a biscotti or 2, or 3 with my morning latte. ;) After eating the left-over chocolate covered bacon (SO GOOD), we went to visit our friend Angela who had her 2 little nephews over. Sophia loves to sit back and watch the boys run around performing their wrestling moves. Pure entertainment.

Last night we were all super lazy. Angelo came home tired after work, so I baked a pizza with whole wheat crust topped with turkey pepperoni & onions. I also had a spinach salad with Annie’s dressing. 

YUM!

After devouring the pizza, we sat on the couch where both Angelo & Sophia passed out. I watched The Office & Up All Night, then called it a night and put everyone to bed :)

Before Sophia was born I worked at a doctor-supervised weight loss clinic as an Administrative Assistant and Nutritional Counselor.  I had some majorly fun times in there with my co-workers. If I was up for writing out all the comical situations that went down in that clinic, I think I would have a pretty funny best-seller. If you would have seen the break-room at that weight loss clinic, you would have died. While our patients were losing weight, my coworkers and I were slowly gaining. I actually gained a good 5 lbs in the 2 years that I worked there. 

Side note:  It baffles me that so many people think there is a magic pill or short cut to losing weight. There’s not. It’s calories in vs calories out. (Through exercise, not throw up) LOL.

Since June, I’ve been a stay-at-home-wife & mom. I do some side-work for my brother on the computer but that’s only about 5 hrs a week and I can get it done pretty fast while Sophia naps.  I am VERY blessed to be able to stay home with Sophia and I plan to stay home and raise all my children. I’ve thought about getting a job here and there but if I don’t have to then why? I will be forever grateful to even have the choice. I know not everyone has this choice and there are those who do have a choice and choose to work. They need that “adult interaction”.

The key to being a stay-at-home-mom is not to stay at home. Of course you need adult interaction when raising kids.  I get out of the house every day even if it’s just for a jog, but there are also days that I feel like staying at home cuddling with Sophia in my pjs until 3p.m.

Today we had our workout at the Power Plate Studio, went downtown to the market, which was taken over by a high school thespian convention, so we ended up going to have lunch at a place called First Watch. We stopped by Angelo’s work for some business stuff then came home and crashed on the couch to watch Marley & Me. Love the movie, hate the ending….So sad :( The dogs love it too!

Hope you all had a Fantastic Friday! What Friday isn't fantastic?! Is anyone running a Shamrock run this weekend for St.Patty's day? We didn't sign up for one but will create our own! 

Love, 

Alex

Let's do that!...Someday

Good morning! I know it isn't technically “Spring” until next week, BUT it’s friggin hot over here and feels more like summer already.  I was itching to go for a run yesterday before dinner but decided it was just too hot for Sophia. Instead I did an Insanity DVD for the first time in a couple of weeks. It felt good…in a bad good way. ;) Insanity is a beast of a workout and it will probably always make me call ‘mercy!’.  

Last night I went on a baking adventure and made these:

Carrot Cake Biscotti dipped in white chocolate! 

UH-mazing!  I had 2 of them for breakfast this morning with a latte. My Italian husband & I love biscotti (naturally to him) and love to play around with different flavors.  Angelo took some to work this morning and said all his employees also loved them. I think I will eat just about anything Carrot Cake flavored. Today I’m making another biscotti creation, which I’ll post tomorrow with the results.

This morning Sophia tried apples for breakfast and hated them. She started to gag and make funny disgusted faces.  I think it is the texture of them and might need to puree them a little longer because they’re a little chunkier than what she’s used to.

Topic of the Day: Things we put off because we are now parents. 

Movies – Watching TV we see all these previews of movies and say “I wanna see that!” followed by “Wonder when it’ll come out on RedBox?”  I REAALLLYY want to go see The Hunger Games because I absolutely LOVED the books so I’ll probably go to the movies sometime this month for the first time since I was preg!

Races – We did a “stroller 5k” a couple weeks ago and loved the feeling of being fit together as a family. I looked up other races that allow strollers and it turns out not so many do. A lot of the smaller, local races allow them so we’ll stick to the local 5k and 10k until a little later when I get the itch to run a ½ marathon again.

Nights on the town – This just doesn’t sound appealing to me right now. I’m not talking about just dinner. A “night out on the town” to me means going out to the bars and having drinks with friends until late in the morning hours like good ol’ times. Now, I’d much rather just go to a nice dinner & dessert, and then come home to Sophia.  Call me old… ;)

Big vacations – We took a mini-vacation to Miami (4 hrs away from home) a couple weekends ago for my birthday with Sophia. And we will most likely take other mini vacations throughout the year. We REALLY want to take trip to California, Italy, and a cruise,  but want to wait until Sophia is a little older so she’ll remember some of it.  

Beach days – After our trip to South Beach we realized the beach just isn’t for us right now. Sophia was scared of the ocean and didn’t like the sand too much either. I think it’ll be much more enjoyable when she’s able to walk. We’ll stick to the pool until then. 

Today we have lots of odds-n-ends to do and a friend to go visit! But first, we are about to head out the door to take a morning run since it's a little bit cooler right now. Hope you guys have a terrific Thursday!

Love, 

Alex

Burnt the Kale

Hey! It's Work It Out Wednesday! Did you participate or was it more a Hump day for you? I got my Power Plate groove on this morning with a pretty hard workout (mostly arms today) followed by playtime at Gymboree (another arm workout with Sophia).


This morning I woke up and walked in the kitchen to the smell of bacon vegetables. Angelo had juiced for us. Whata guy! He made a lovely green juice with kale, cucumber, celery, apples, and carrots. I saved mine for lunch because I was more in the "Where's my coffee" mood. Sophia decided that 5am was party time this morning...stupid time change messing everyone's sleep schedule up!

We have so much produce in our fridge right now, so I decided to clean it out a bit and make some baby food for Sophia. I steamed 3 apples to make applesauce and  baked 2 sweet potatoes, tossed in the MagicBullet, and jarred them up for the week. I usually put some water in with the veggies when I puree them to get the consistency that I want. 

Apples are a new food for Sophia so we'll see how she likes them tomorrow morning when I put them in her cereal. 

After seeing many articles and tweets on twitter about Kale Chips and since I was already slicin' n dicin' up veggies, I made Kale Chips to see what the fuss is all about. I used THIS recipe.

Verdict: I cooked them too long so they were ultra crispy and just crumbled into tiny pieces when I ate them. Not really good. Next time I'll watch them closely while cooking and put more salt on them. I ate a few and threw the rest away. 

Tonight Angelo has a soccer game so dinner is just Sophia & I. I  have chicken marinating in BBQ sauce to go with baked beans and a spinach salad. 

Hope you all have a great Wednesday! 

Love, 

Alex

Scales: take em or leave em

Good late afternoon and happy Tuesday!

Yesterday was a celebration day since SOMEONE turned 7 months old! 

Crazy how fast time flies. I mean, REALLY flies!  

 We finally bought office furniture on Sunday so we spent last night (in sushi coma) trying to turn this…

…into a functional office. Right now I do all my work and computer stuff either on the couch or dining table. My workload will be increasing in the next couple of weeks so I needed an actual office with filing cabinets and drawers! I see a trip to HomeGoods in my future!

Earlier this afternoon I had an uh-mazing massage at a local spa while Angelo & Sophia went on a daddy-daughter lunch date. Afterwards, feeling relaxed and noodley, I munched on this Chic-fila salad on our way to other appointments.

 Now back at home, I just caught up with Desperate Housewives on the DVR (OMG!) and Sophia is napping. I'm trying to figure out what to cook for dinner. I'm thinking some baked chicken on top of whole wheat spaghetti. In the pasta mood...

Topic of the day: Weighing yourself

I’ve seen so many different opinions about weighing yourself. Some say DON’T weigh yourself, and others say DO. On twitter yesterday I saw this:

Do you own a personal scale at home? If you do, how often do you weigh yourself?  I know people who weigh themselves every day and others who don’t even own a scale. We have one here at the house, but Angelo says it’s not very accurate. Who really knows… I weigh myself probably once every 2 weeks. Depending on the time of day, the scale tends to vary about 2-3 lbs for me. Sometimes less, sometimes more. 

I personally think weighing yourself every now and then is a good way to keep yourself in check and it is good to know your weight for various reasons. I don’t believe in stepping on the scale every day especially if trying to lose weight. You will eventually drive yourself crazy. So, if you are trying to lose weight, throw the scale away and go to your doctor or a friend’s house to weigh yourself once or twice a month. At the Weight Loss Clinic we told our patients not to weigh themselves at home since they came in to weigh once a week or every 2 weeks. We had some patients who didn't ever want to know their weight, but to only tell them every time they hit the -10 lb mark. If you’re on maintenance mode, scales aren’t so bad.  To keep yourself in check without a scale, pay attention to how your clothes are fitting. 

Hope everyone's Tuesday has been productive and/or relaxing! 

Love, 

Alex

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday to you! How was the weekend? 
Ours was wonderful, filled with:

 A 6 mile run around the Tampa Bay

Half way point rest. Sophia is waving!

Gasparilla Music Festival. It was KID-CENTRAL when we went and hot as hell! 

The event was 11am- 11pm. We were there at the beginning and left when all the people started showing up.

Pork Nachos from the 3Suns Organic Food Truck

Acropolis Salad from Acropolis Greek Grill

 Sweet Potatoes for Sophia

Which she LOVED!

Today we already had our workout on the Power Plate and went to the grocery store to load up the fridge for the week! We came home to unload the car, write some blog posts, let the dogs out, and now we are off to go take a long walk with our friend who is preg! Then we will finally be able to come home and rest a little before a Sushi date with our friend, Ang!

Hope you all have a wonderful Monday! 

Love, 

Alex