Avatar & Family Fun

It’s been a pretty good weekend. I didn’t do anything too crazy, but it was one of those weekends where I had a loooong to-do list. Amazingly enough I got everything done! Wow, huh? It’s a nice feeling to be productive. So yesterday I had my alarm set for 7:30am (Saturday, I know). I had myself a big bowl of oats, stuffed my laptop into my tote and headed up to Starbucks for some solid studying.

1/2 cup oats
3/4 cup water
apple slices
cinnamon
1T pumpkin butter

Just workin’ away on my next blog post, “ The Real Cost of Plumping Chicken”.. stay tuned.

And getting a little people watching done too. This local is a great spot for Saturday mornings. There’s always a lot of action. Queen Anne is like little Europe.. people walking dogs, pushing strollers, reading the paper outside cafés until noon as if they have nowhere important to be. I love it. Someday when I’m walking a dog and pushing a stroller I hope I’m still living here. But for now I’m sitting in front of the fireplace with my computer propped up on my lap, earbuds in, playing what else, Michale Bublé. It’s a nice visual isn’t it!?

I got a 6 mile run in just as fast as I could, because of course it had been dry all morning and then as soon as I lace my sneaks the sky opened up and just let me have it. Then it was off to see the fam!!

I had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with my grandparents, 2 uncles, cousin Josh and his buddy Chris. Grandma and I were outnumbered so most of evening was spent talking about Navy stuff, boy stuff, flying stuff. Then we had cheesecake, yum!!

Dinner first, I had a side salad drizzled with olive oil, then grandma and I split a lemon chicken with angel hair pasta entrée. Oh and the bread basket.. why yes I did enjoy that! One slice of the honey wheat, no butter. I had a hard time deciding on what to eat. I was so hungry. I meant to have a veggie snack before they picked me up, but I was running late. So I unintentionally arrived at the restaurant famished. But you know when you’re not really craving anything in particular? I hate chowing down high cal meals when I’m really not in the mood for it. Splitting dinner was a good call, and the chicken pasta was pretty fabulous. I just might whip up my own concoction of this lemon chicken later in the week!

Then the cheesecake round, because everybody knows that you don’t go to a place called Cheesecake Factory for dinner.. It was a tough call with the 20 plus options of rich, creamy dessert. They have a low-carb cheesecake. I just have one thing to say about that, who are you kidding? If you’re going to have dessert, have dessert. Once again, my food philosophy is indulge, but do it mindfully. Since nobody wanted to share a slice with me I ordered Snicker’s cheesecake and asked the waitress to bring half on a plate and box the other half, also omitting the 2 gigantic dollops of whip cream. There were also a round of espressos with dessert.

Doesn’t it look like you could get in a lot of trouble in a place like this? Ha!

Well, after dinner we scooted across the street to see Avatar. What an awesome movie! If you haven’t seen it you’re missing out, and I definitely recommend the IMAX. A few fun, family photos to follow. Watch out for this first one, I’m doing a really dorky pucker, and kinda look like Heidi Montag after plastic surgery. Plus I’m not really sure what the hand gesture is all about.. it just felt cool!

Me & the Cuz

Grandma & Grandpa

I have a few more comical pics. Grandma was trying to figure out how to take a picture on my Blackberry, she couldn’t see anything in the window and kept putting her thumb over the lens! I love you mema.

Today was a bit more chippin’ away at that to-do list. Yes, I ate in front of my computer, but I was not multi tasking. Promise, I was good.

 


1/2 cup oats
3/4 cup water
banana slices
chopped walnuts
1T honey

Today’s work was more fun. I had to write about a dream in italiano to share with my Italian class on Tuesday. Naturally it was all about food!! I dreamt about being on Iron Chef, and wooing them with all my favorite food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup. :) Maybe I’ll share it with you later on.. se sento coraggioso.

Tonight I’m just relaxing with a bottle glass of vino, watching Gerard Butler P.S. I Love You. It’s glorious. Me and Beth having girl time. Just the kind of relaxation I need before facing another brutle week.

One more thing, from what I gathered over the weekend nobody eats Cream of Wheat. Haha.. I thought that was funny. I’m throwing my box out. Next time I’m out of oats I’ll just have to eat a Luna bar or something. And for the other question about drying out soggy shoes, I got great feedback! Most suggestions involved a heater whether it be in front of a wall vent or buying a special shoe heater/dryer. I’ll start with the wall heater.. and stuffing my shoes with newspaper as recommended by my running friend Lance. Thanks Lancer!

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy what’s left of your weekend!