Life Lately {Winter 2015 Edition}
I miiiiiight not have been kidding when I said that 2015 was going to be the busiest year of all time.
In fact, this perfectly depicts how I’m handling life right now:
Between work, family, friends, tending to my husband-to-be, wedding planning, MOH duties, upcoming wedding festivities for a few other friends, the 21 Day Fix and the usual insanity of life, approximately 140% of my time is booked through the end of 2015.
Waaaaait a second. Have I failed to mention this fun fact?! Yup, you read it correctly, friends: wedding planning. Peter & I are getting married this year! Yes, THIS year. You know, 2015… six months from TODAY, to be exact! In upstate New York, with the Shawangunk Mountains in the not-so-far distance. Our vision goes something like this: rolling hills, NY in the fall, down & dirty pig roast crossed with upscale barbecue, tons of friends & family, and just super laid back and lots of fun. It’s going to be awesome, to say the least! andddd complete insanity for the next six months. I mean, we’ve allowed ourselves a grand total of nine months to plan this shindig (because FYI – the decision was made back in January. I’ve been sitting on this fun fact for awhile!) – so naturally we’d wait until the last six months to do anything, right?
and to answer your next question: yes, we’ve both officially lost our minds. But never fear! I think we’re both relatively used to having a constant overload of work, crazy fast deadlines and weeks on end of minimal sleep. So this planning process won’t be too far removed from our typical lifestyle! YAY consistency!
As if my borderline insanity weren’t already clear, just gimme another month and you’ll be sending the nice men in the white coats to take me away to the loony bin. Mark my words (sorry, Peter!).
Anywho, more on that later! Moving on to slightly less exciting things: this 21 Day Fix. It’s taking over my life, I kid you not. Between the weekly meal planning and the daily meal prep and the constant cleaning (because I can’t cook a single thing without destroying the entire kitchen immediately) and the workouts… oy vey. Thank goodness it’s over soon; I need a teensy tiny bit of my free time back before I lose my mind completely.
However, I must say, I’m not haaaating the effects of this nutrition/fitness plan. And I’m pretty shocked at how much I actually enjoy – even look forward to – my daily shake! I’m totally a smoothie girl, but protein shakes have always skeeved me out a little. I mean, who knows what chemicals they hide in that crap to make it protein-y (pro-teeny?)?! But Shakeology is pretty legit, you guys; check it out for yourself! It’s full of vitamins and super foods and gives me tons of energy – which is FABULOUS because otherwise I’d be a total zombie. Which I basically was before and still kind of am.. soooo, yea.
Moral of the story is that I’m impressed. As frustrating and time-consuming as it has been, the 21 Day Fix has been a fantastic jump-start back into eating healthy and getting my fitness on. After my birthday (eek! I’m almost old) and Easter, I may do another week or two of the Fix every so often – before big events (like my wedding, whaaaat) orrrrr after I’ve had an exceptionally gluttonous week. Which happens sometimes. You know, like when you stop at the grocery store on the way home from work and end up with two bags of m&m’s, two bags of dark chocolate cadbury mini eggs and a gallon of birthday cake ice cream in your shopping cart. and you get SUCH a great deal on them that you go out the next day and buy two MORE bags of dark chocolate cadbury mini eggs. and thennn you stash them away in a cabinet with a note that states “NO TOUCHIE” in big, bold, black letters. It’s not like you’re going to eat them all in one sitting, but you’re definitely going to eat them all, and then you’ll need a 42 Day Fix. Because, moo.
#thepatheticworldoftalia
But really, my fatness not withstanding, I’ve saved the most exciting news of all for the end…. drumroll please.
I HAVE A NEW NIECE!!! Nitalia Nicole Carroll, born January 21, 7 lbs, 9 oz.
Seriously, guys – how flippin’ adorable is she!?
I finally got to meet her last weekend! She is healthy and beautiful and has quite possibly the two best moms & three best brothers on the planet (plus a couple of pups that make sure she gets lots of attention). Nitalia is one lucky little lady, that’s for sure.
I probably took 800 photos of her. I couldn’t help myself! Also, I couldn’t get over her St. Patty’s Day outfit (tutu not pictured):
Just stop it. I literally can’t even.
So now that I’ve bored you half to tears with over a thousand words of nonsense, I’m going to leave you with one of my favorite things ever: a list. These are a few recipes that I’ve been drooling over lately. You should probably make them and let me know what you think. Or better yet, make them and bring them to my house – I’ll let you know what I think!
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I’m probably a little late to board the overnight oats train, but what else is new. All I know is that I can’t. stop. making. this. I want to try every variation of overnight oats that I can find on pinterest, ASAP. This coming from the girl who hates oatmeal. Go figure.
Not that I give a damn about celebrating St. Patty’s Day (#sorrynotsorry), but I am a little disappointed to be missing out on some of the delicious treats that come with the holiday, like these Guinness cupcakes with Bailey’s frosting that I’ve been dyingggg to bake and devour immediately. Unfortunately, I have a hunch that it’s not going to fit into my 21 Day Fix meal plan…
That said, in order to distract myself from all delicious St. Patty’s treats that I currently can’t enjoy, I’m focusing my attention on the next holiday coming up: Easter! For which I will make these oatmeal chocolate chip carrot cake cookies. droooooool.
Although, to be honest, I really want to make this instead. CADBURY FO LIFE.
Banana and hazelnut and…. more banana, oh my! But really, oh my.
Because, s’mores.
Oh, and my obsession with almond butter.
Soooo I sorta effed these up the first time I tried to make them, but only because I’m terrible at following directions (as you know). Irregahdless. I’m determined to make them correctly. and they WILL be delicious, dammit!
I tried this recipe as part of my 21 Day Fix and OHMYGOSH I LITERALLY CAN’T EVEN. I will be making this once a week, every week, from now until forever. Starting tonight.
Speaking of salads, let’s end this on a healthy note (21 Day Fix, what’s uppppp). This salad is TO DIE FOR. I’m being SO serious, you guys. This is the salad for people who don’t even like salads. Or, for people who like their salads loaded to the hilt (because lettuce + tomatoes does NOT constitute a salad, people). But mostly, it’s for people who like to get weird looks from their coworkers every time they bring it in for lunch – because WHO puts pretzels on their salad?!
I do, dammit. and it’s delicious.
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You should probably enjoy a laaaaarge glass of wine for me this week, mmk? I’m going all out on this last week of my 21 Day Fix and will probably be dreaming of wine (and cupcakes and cookies). That, and I have roughly 1297489257 wedding/MOH tasks to finish before Peter & I head off to NY this weekend, and a large glass of wine would certainly help.
Oh, and wish us luck (I’m awfully needy today, I’m sorry)! We need to make some MAJOR wedding decisions this weekend and will likely be schmoozing a few hotel employees in hopes that they’ll give us unreasonably awesome deals on hotel blocks. More updates later!
