Matinee Movie Day and Great News!

Happy Wednesday y’all!  Sorry for the absense, it’s been such a crazy past couple of weeks I feel like I barely have time to breathe!  Anywayyy…

Tuesday began with some banana filled breakfast!  A bowl of steel cut Trader Joes frozen oatmeal with sliced bananas on top. Side note: have y’all tried this stuff? Heaven in a freezer.  I’m a sucker for steel cut oatmeal and having it ready in 3 minutes is a definite plus!  On the side I also enjoyed a slice of homemade banana bread-can’t go wrong with a banana packed breakfast.

I had the day off and so did my favorite co-worker, Erin so we decided to hit up the luxury theatre for a midday movie matinee!  Same awesomeness as seeing it at nighttime but 5 dollars cheaper! Score!  You’re welcome for that awesome quality iphone photo!

We decided to see Zero Dark Thirty, being a history major I was super intrigued by the whole raid in general and was excited to see the movie!  Have you seen it?  I thought it was good, not great but good!  There were times I found myself covering my ears from the sounds of the blasts! Overall I give it 2 thumbs up!

In other news…

Thank you all so much for your encouragement about my interview!  I have good great news to report, I’m officially an intern at Nordstrom.  I got the call during the movie this afternoon and happily accepted!  I can not wait to see where this journey takes me!  Who knows,- I might be coming to one of y’alls cities!

Lastly, I am sooo sore from body pump! Lordy I’ve never been this sore before.  It’s mostly my lower legs, I’m doing the half penguin half pregnant waddle and it’s super attractive! I’ve slathered my legs with icy hot but nothing seems to be helping ugh!

See ya later alligators!

Reader Questions:

• Have you seen Zero Dark Thirty? What’dya think?
• What do you do when you’re sore?

Could This Really Be My Career?

Breakfast this morning was a Saturday classic:  Pancakes and a cup of joe!  I picked up strawberries this week and decided they’d be a perfect addition to my lovely breakfast!

Sorry for the absense this week, it’s been a pretty busy one!  Last week I talked about a big interview I was going to be having and first I’d like to thank you all for the encouragement, it means the world and secondly I wanted to share with y’all what it means for me and my future, I figured I couldn’t leave y’all hanging with just that little tease.   I’ve shared before that I work for Nordstrom, and if you know anything about the company or you don’t, they like to promote from within which is a great business practice! Well, let me back track a little bit…I’ve worked in the retail world for almost 4 years now but I never considered it much of a career, I mean I was going to college to become a teacher.  But as I’ve been working for Nordstrom over the past half a year I’ve sort of fallen in love with the company and I’ve expressed interest in growing with the company.  Ultimately, my goal is to be a handbag buyer…in Seattle.  Well a couple weeks ago my department manager encouraged me to apply for the Retail Management Internship, basically it’s a program for college students on the verge of graduation who intern with a department manager and learn the “ropes” of the company and ultimately when you graduate from the program you’re placed in an assistant manager position in a department. Fast trackin’ it!  My interview is today and I’m crossing my fingers it goes well!  If you’re still reading this and not bored to death, thank you! Can’t wait to share more of this journey with y’all! See ya later!

 

Turkey and Feta Stuffed Peppers

It took me a little longer than I thought but I finally put one of my Pinterest recipes to use!  Turkey and feta stuffed peppers!  So good!  I’m glad I stumbled across this gem of a recipe.

Turkey and Feta Stuffed Peppers

adapted from Eat, Live, Run

What you’ll need:

• 4 large green bell peppers.  (I only used 2 peppers and have a ton of filling left over.)
• 1.5 pound ground turkey.
• 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes.
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste.
• 1 yellow onion, diced.
• 1 tbsp olive oil.
• 2 stalks celery, diced.
• 2 tsp minced garlic.
• 2 tsp dried oregano.
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes.
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 cup feta cheese.

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet on the stove. Once hot, add the onion and celery, and saute for 5 minutes until soft. Add the minced garlic and continue sauteing for another minute. Turn the heat to high. Add the tomato paste to the skillet and mash the onions, celery and garlic together with the paste. Cook for three minutes, stirring continuously. Add the ground turkey and brown with the veggies. This should take about six minutes. Then, add the diced tomatoes, salt, basil, oregano and red pepper flakes. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook for about 15-20 minutes, until sauce reduces and isn’t as runny. Remove pan from heat and stir in the feta cheese. Place the green bell peppers on a tin foil-lined sheet tray. Fill each pepper with turkey and feta mixture. Once all peppers have been filled, cover peppers with a large piece of tin foil and seal. Bake peppers for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

See ya tomorrow!

Friday Five!

I’ve seen this trend pop up on a bunch of blogs I follow and I decided to use it as inspiration for today’s post!

1. If you watched The Grammys please tell me that you thought Justin Timberlake looked absolutely freaking adrorable! Not only did the eleven year old self in my squeal with excitement that he was indeed back, but I was also loving his new music. And he released his new song/video today.  It was totally my jam during my morning workout.

2.  It’s warming up over here on the west coast! It was almost 85 degrees today!  And if I didn’t have to work at 5 I would have totally would have spent the day at the beach!  I love cold weather from October to mid February and then after that I’m all about the summer weather!

3. Big changes are hopefully coming to me at work.  I have a big, no HUUUGE interview next Saturday and I’m hoping I nail it!  I don’t have many details but as soon as everything gets figured out I’ll obviously be sharing it!

4. Tonights dinner was bomb.com! You know those nights when you don’t really know what you’re going to make for dinner and then you just throw something together and it turns out amazing. Tonight was one of those nights. I had some shrimp in the freezer and I decided to make them scampi-ish style.  In a skillet I browned some garlic. After tossing in the shrimp I gave it a generous pour of white wine, added a mixture of spices including cayenne powder for a kick and some lemon and let it all cook till the shrimp were nice and brown. Served with some rice and a salad. Amazing.

5.  Cheers to having the entire weekend off.  It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to actually enjoy a true weekend.  I’m excited to lounge around, bake and get some laundry done!

Happy Friday y’all!

 

Reader Questions:

• What’s a highlight from your week?
• What are your weekend plans?

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!  That basically sums up my day! Hah! I did receive two Valentines Day cards today…from my Mom and Grandma but hey a card is a card.

Sorry for the sporadic blogging the past couple days, I’ve been out of my mind crazy busy! So busy I haven’t worked out in 3 days. And you know what, I’m seriously missing the gym!  We’ve got a bunch to cover including a tasty pasta recipe so lets get right to it!

 

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Turkey Pasta Fake Bake

I had some ground turkey that was about to go bad in the refrigerator and I thought tonight would be a perfect opportunity to make a pasta dish out of!  I started off by browning the pound of ground turkey and seasoning it. (I like my meat flavorful in pasta sauces.)  I seasoned it with salt, pepper, cayenne powder, garlic salt, and some season all salt. Yum.  After browning the meat I dumped a jar of marinara and some mushrooms into the pan with the meat.  On the side I boiled some rigatoni.  After the pasta and sauce were done I combined both topped with cheese and popped it under the broiler for about 10 minutes.  Quick and easy!  After spooning myself some I topped with more cheese because well, who doesn’t love cheese?

To make:

• 1 box rigatoni pasta
• 1 pound ground turkey (beef would work too)
• 1 jar of your favorite past sauce
• 1 cup mushrooms (or any veggie you prefer)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.

In skillet brown ground turkey and season to desired taste.  Add sauce and mushrooms once the meat is brown.  In another pot boil water and cook pasta.  Once the pasta is al dente and the sauce is heated throw combine the sauce and noodles in the skillet.  Top with mozzarella cheese. Place under the preheated broiler for approximately 10 minutes.  Serve with more cheese if desired.

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(SPOILER ALERT!!)

And in Bachelor news…Tierra is outa here! I was so glad that Sean finally saw what all of us have been seeing and sent that girl packing!  His sister is right…if a girl can not get along with other girls there is something wrong!  After AshLee’s one-on-one with Sean I was really warming up to her! I was sooo surprised when he gave Lindsay the rose on the group date, I feel like we saw no interaction between them and the Desi should have gotten the rose.  It’s also hard to believe Lindsay is the homegirl who rocked the wedding dress on the first night! I’m still rooting for Lesley!  And also starting to really like Catherine.  We’re in the final stretch, bring on the hometowns!

 

Reader Questions:

• How did you spend Valentines Day?
• If you watch The Bachelor, what did you think of this weeks episode?

Grammy Glamour

Sunday morning started off with a breakfast date with my mom!  O-hop (Original Pancake House)  is one of my favorite breakfast places and I was excited that we’d be going there!  I ordered the western omelet with: onions, peppers, ham and cheese.  I went with their world famous pancakes on the side and some fried potatoes!

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Raise your hand if you watched The Grammys! I honestly don’t think about them any other day of the year but on Grammy Sunday I’m all about them!  I love the red carpet and seeing everyones gowns!  Some of my favorites were: Carrie Underwood

and Taylor Swift.

I thought Carries gown looked gorgeous on her!  The detailing was out of this world!  Taylor is always one of my favorites on the red carpet!  She always picks the most gorgeous gowns and this white one is fabulous!  For the men I thought Justin Timberlake looked so handsome, I mean come on who doesn’t love some 30’s style glamorAdorable.

What’d y’all think of Beyonce rockin’ the black and white jumper?  I know they had a dress code but this is kinda of conservative for Beyonce.  I have to say if anyone could pull it off it was Beyonce!

I loved all the diversity in performances but I have to say Ed Sheeran and Elton John was my favorite!  Love me some Elton John.  The Bob Marley tribute was also top notch!  I don’t usually use my blog as my soap box but I’m going to right now; I was extremely extreeeemelyyy disappointed that Rhianna attended and cuddled with Chris Brown.  It was four years ago that Chris Brown was arrested for domestic violence for beating her.  Believe me I’m all for forgiveness and moving on but being such a public figure I think you need to be careful.  The message it sent to her fans was that domestic violence is okay, and she has a lot of young fans who are very impressionable. Sorry for that rant but I felt it was necessary!

The rest of my night will be spent watching The Bachelor and giving myself a pedicure.  Enjoy your night!

Reader Questions:

• What did you think of The Grammys?
• How do you feel ab0ut the Rhianna/Chris Brown situation?

Saw It, Pinned It, Did It

Happy Friday everyone! 

I love Fridays, even though I work retail and there isn’t really a concept of weekends Fridays are still my favorite! This morning I woke up to the sound of pouring rain and hail, yes hail. In Southern California. Global Warming at it’s finest. Due to the cold weather I really didn’t want to get out of bed but the thought of warm pancakes encouraged me a little.  Thanks to my awesome thinking self yesterday, breakfast came together in a flash because of some frozen pancakes and the microwave. Yay! My cup of coffee was extra awesome today thanks to my new caramel macchiato creamer I picked up at tarjay last night! 🙂 Win.

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I’m going to assume everyone knows what Pinterest is unless you live under a rock you are way to busy to spend time perusing the web.  Anyway, as I was pinning my life away last night I was thinking about all the things I pin; food, weddings, baked goods, crafts, and cat pictures and I realized I don’t actually do anything I pin. And it got me thinking, I spend all this time pinning things and they are things I’d either eat or do so why not actually put the recipes to use in real life. and then lightbulb I decided to give myself a little Pinterest challenge, and then I thought Hey! I wonder if my blends would like to get in on this challenge. Soo I propose to you, a pinterest challenge. Yay or nay?  I’m thinking the “rules” are from February 9 (Tomorrow) to March 9 (that would be one month) you should challenge yourself to making 5 recipes or doing 5 workouts you pinned on Pinterest. On March 10 we can all link up and do a re-cap.  What do you say? You in?  (Please feel free to share this challenge with your readers as I think it would be super super fun for everyone.)

Some recipes I’m interested in trying are:

Creamy Tortellini Soup

source

Zucchini Lasagna

source

Turkey and Feta Stuffed Peppers

source

Reader Questions:

• Are you up for the Pinterest Challenge?
• What is something you want to make?

Thankful Thursday

Because this girl didn’t get to celebrate with pancakes on National Pancake Day I decided today would be the perfect day for a celebration!  I love pancakes!  I made sure to make an extra large batch of batter so I’d be able to make extra pancakes and freeze them for other mornings. Win. I love cream cheese.  I love it so much I could put it on everything.  We had an extra block of it leftover from a recipe on Super Bowl Sunday and I decided to smear a little between the cakes.  Topped with some fake syrup…yumm!

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Thankful Thursday

Taking a cue from around the blog work I decided to participate in Thankful Thursday.  I’m thankful for amazing friends who support me always.   

 

Things are a little tense in Southern California today.  In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, which I’m guessing is most of you, So Cal is on a massive man hunt for a suspect who has shot and killed two civilians Sunday night, shot and wounded two officers and killed a third last night after being named a suspect.  You can not drive anywhere without noticing the extra police presence, and you know it’s serious when motorcycle cops are not on duty.  My thoughts and prayers are with the victims families and law enforcement who are working to apprehend the suspect as soon as possible so we can all feel safe again.

 

Reader Question:

• What are you thankful for?

Oatmeal and The Bachelor.

One heck of a creative title there, huh?  After a chilly early morning workout on the treadmill, thank you to everyone who agrees that the elliptical is a torture device, I came home looking for a warm breakfast. Bring on the oatmeal, I have class and work today so the oatmeal is doing double duty…keeping me warm and keeping me full till lunch! I used Quaker quick oats? (I think thats what they’re called) and stirred in some brown sugar! Mid class today I sensed a strong craving for an egg salad sandwich and I knew I’d need to get one before I went to work.  Luckily I planned on typing this blog post at Starbucks and they fulfilled my egg salad craving. Love those guys!

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BACHELOR TIME!

Raise your hand if you love The Bachelor.  I’ve proudly seen every episode of The Bachelor and Bachelorette! So lets talk this two-parter.  I’m a big fan of Leslee, Lindsay, Desiree, and Catherine. I’m not a big fan of Tierra, that girl brings a whole new kind of cray to The Bachelor.  I honestly thought the two episodes were “eh” the biggest excitement was laughing at there stupidity for jumping into glacier water and then having Tierra get hypothermia (that wasn’t funny) but duh, what did y’all expect?  I did however find myself tearing up when Sean sent Sara home early, that girl was such a sweetheart and really put herself out there and watching her cry on tv just made me want to cuddle her. So I cried. Not much of a re-cap but nothing really memorable happened. oops. But i’ll leave you with this…source

That gem came courtesy of my fave ex-Bachelor contestant, Ashley Spivey!

Reader Questions:

• Do you get random cravings in random places like class?

• Who are your favorites on The Bachelor?
• Share your thoughts on the season with me! 🙂

Oh, and one more thing…What if I told you I know who wins this season? 😉

My Hate Relationship With The Elliptical

Does anyone else hate the elliptical? No okay so it’s just me then.  Before I get to this situation let me tell you about the most amazing Chinese chicken salad I’ve ever had.  No this salad wasn’t from some 5 star gourmet restaurant it was from Nordstrom cafe and it was out of this world good!  The base of the salad was your standard mixed greens mix, the dressing was a sweet Asian balsamic vinaigrette, on top of the salad was baby mandarin oranges, slivered almonds, carrots slices and sliced red bell pepper and plenty of those crunchy things that come standard on Chinese chicken salad.  AMAZING. Oh, and chicken of course!

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I haven’t always hated the elliptical.  This is a relatively new thing…well new as in the past year-ish.  In highschool I was all about the elliptical, I’d get on that thing and go for an hour and I’d be content with the workout but lately any time I get on the elliptical I get bored within 3 minutes and end up switching to the treadmill.  I’m not sure if it’s the runner in me, as this is also a new thing, but I just am not content with a elliptical workout?  Do any of y’all have that problem?  I’d really really love your suggestions!

Happy National Pancake Day!  I didn’t celebrate with free pancakes at IHOP, actually I didn’t even have pancakes today so I hope you got to enjoy them for me 🙂

Be back tomorrow with a 2-parter Bachelor re-cap.

Reader Questions:

• How do you fight elliptical boredom?
• Do you know of any fantastic break a sweat elliptical workouts?