The Awesome Valentine's Weekend Recap!

Friday morning started with a delay at work. Snow all day Wednesday and Thursday made Friday quite difficult to drive through. Thankfully the high was 50, so a lot of it was going to melt. I spent 30 minutes getting snow and ice off of my car then drove to work. My office is only about 2 miles from my apartment, but the drive there was not fun. I arrived around 10:30 and the staff was scarce. Thus it made my work load a little more than normal. Around 12:30 I left the office to go get my weekly B12 injection and weigh. I lost 2.5 pounds last week! Total down: 30.7 pounds since November 25th! That is so exciting. Thankfully the roads were getting better and better.

I ended up working late then had to go to the bank and UPS for my boss. Since I was really tired, worked late, and still so sore from my Hot Mess Express work out at home, I decided to take the evening off from the gym. So while I was out I picked up two Redbox movies and a pizza, and went home to enjoy Valentine's night. Ha! I also made myself a "Skinnytini" cocktail - Mixed Berry Powerade Zero and 1 shot of Smirnoff Raspberry Light vodka. My best friend Kelly did come by for a little while before she went out, so that was sweet.

Saturday, yesterday, was a great day. I had a solid 10 hours of sleep and it felt glorious. I took my time getting out of bed and made breakfast. I then had to go run my usual Saturday morning errands. I usually try to get those finished as quickly as possible, but I had fun looking around for once. I also had some coupons that I was excited to use.

This little cutie always loves to watch me put me up groceries - there are usually new treats for him. Smart!

I was most excited about my deals at GNC! I had to stock up on my Quest Bars, of course. I had a $10 off coupon so I was able to get 13 assorted Quest Bars for only $18 bucks! Then because I have a valid gym membership, I was able to get my Gold card renewed for another year (it is usually $15 dollars) and a free shaker cup. I even got to choose the one I wanted so duh, a pink one! At Ulta I had a coupon and points to use. I needed more body wash and I love the "Vita Bath" brand - it is packed with vitamins and with the cold, dry weather, my skin needs it. I also picked up my eye liner, I have been wearing the same kind for 10 years now. I will probably never cheat on it, ha! Both of those were only $6 together! Diva on a budget!

After I put my groceries up and had lunch, Kelly came over and we went to the gym at 2. It was a great work out in the books - 45 minutes of cardio and an upper body weight circuit. I love how she and I make each other push harder, faster, and longer. That is what best friends are for!

After the gym we came back to my apartment and I made us chocolate, banana, and spinach protein shakes. We then watched "The Place Beyond The Pines" while talking, playing on the computer, showering and getting ready. It felt like a good night for she and I to go out and have a girl's night. What is better?!

She and I went to one of our favorite places in my neighborhood; "Cosmo's". It is an upscale sushi restaurant and around 10:30 every night they move the tables and chairs on the bottom floor, and turn it into a dance floor. They have lots of neon lights, a projector, and everything. I love it when it gets late there. It's seriously a blast. Oh and on Saturday, when we walked in the door we were given a glass of free champs! 

We then split the most delicious sushi - a vegetable roll and my favorite roll in the whole world: "Caley's Comet" (salmon, cream cheese, tempura) and of course a bottle of Pinot.  We stayed out late and the best time. It was the most fun I have had in a while!

Today I slept in until 10:30 AM and I have been super tired ever since. I just could not get with the program. I had breakfast then binged watch Bravo. Kelly came over for a little while (we have been inseparable this weekend) and just hung out with me so that gave me the energy I needed. She left at 3 and I took off to the gym. There is no way I can miss the best work out of the week - legs!

I am a little disappointed in my calorie count. It is normally at least 100 more. However, I'm losing more fat and my heart is getting strong, so I need to make my workouts hard. Next week, I am adding more weight to all of my exercises. It's time to step up the program and keep pushing to get awesome results!

After the gym I went to Panera so I could order my favorite salad - steak and bleu cheese. By the time I got home to eat it, I was shaking I was so hungry. I needed my post workout refuel - yum!

I then prepped my food for the week, cleaned, and took a hot shower. I'm ready for my Atlanta Housewives and Kardashian's, then bed early. My soreness is already setting in. After work tomorrow, I am getting my hair done! I cannot tell you guys how excited I am. I need a hair trim something crazy, my red steaks have faded a lot, and I need my roots done. Your girl needs some help! I hope you guys had a great weekend!

Don't forget to link-up today with these awesome ladies to share your weekend! 

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A friend and fun filled beautiful weekend recap!

Friday was a busy, busy day. It always seems to be! But I felt great. I woke up at 5:30 AM and hit the gym before work. I never do that, but I knew I was going out directly after work, so it needed to be done. I was proud of myself. As a lot of you guys know, on Friday's I go to my doctor to get a B12 injection and I always have them weigh me. I love being accountable and I work very well under stress. So that moment of getting on the scale on Friday's is like my war, ha. I was excited for my weigh in. I had a great week, I ate clean and trained hard. My body was feeling good and I was wearing clothes that I have not been able to wear in a while. I get to the doctor, get my injection, then have my weigh in. I lost one proud.

One pound? Are you freaking kidding me? I know one pound is better than staying the same or gaining, but I felt so much more than that. My doctor came in and he could tell that I felt down. I explained to him why. He told me that my fat mass was a lot lower than last week and that the only reason the scale is not showing the results the fat mass is because my water levels were so elevated. Which is a good point. I was "very bloated" if you know what I mean and I could definitely tell I was holding water. He told me that next Friday when the water weight is gone, I will see a good difference. I can't wait to kick butt this week and hopefully have a great weight loss at the end of the week. Thus far, my total down since November 25th: 26.1 pounds! 

When I left work on Friday, I met my best friend Kelly and my friends Jeannie and Holly at this fun place called "Duckworth's". It was half price wine and it is always fun to unwind with your girlfriends.

I did not stay out too late, because well, priorities. I enjoy getting "tipsy" but not drunk. However it was such a good time though!

Saturday I woke up pretty early. I was lazy around the apartment and hit the gym at noon for 45 minutes of cardio and an upper body weight circuit. It was an awesome workout. When I was leaving the gym, I had a coupon for "Rack Room Shoes" emailed to me so I had to rush over to the mall and pick out a new pair of gym shoes. I LOVE "Nike Air" for the gym. They are so comfortable and good quality. I love the style!

I also picked up a new charm for my necklace. I love this choker type necklace that I have and enjoy buying new charms for it. I bought a 3-star charm for it. 

When I came home from the gym and mall, I took and shower got ready. I met one of my good friends Alexis at one of my favorite restaurants in my neighborhood; Cantina 1511. We were there for over 3 hours. She and I go out every couple of weeks and never have a shortage of anything to talk about. I love that girl!

We both had the same thing for dinner. A mushroom, spinach, and goat cheese quesadilla with a side of avocado. This quesadilla was not only absolutely delicious but super filling too. I could only eat two pieces of it and I have a big appetite, ha!

Today has been Sunday Funday. Ha! My day has been filled with errands, cleaning, and the gym. I don't really care about the Superbowl so... whatever. Ha! It has been such a beautiful day though and not too cold. I'm cherishing it. My errands never end. I grocery shop at 3 different places. I just realized how ridiculous it is!

Since it was such a beautiful day, I made the best of it. I live super duper close to my gym, so I took advantage of it and walked. A little pre-cardio to get my prepped for my cardio and leg work out!

A little vitamin D does the body good because I had an awesome workout! I love leg day!

Now the Superbowl has just started so I am going to cook some dinner and since HBO has updated their movie list, I am going to watch "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer". How was your weekend? Don't forget to join the link up's going on tomorrow!

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Weekend Shannies with Mom!

Well ladies, the holidays are over. Tomorrow it is back to a 5-day work week with no holidays off until Memorial Day. No more family gatherings, yummy food, Christmas decorations, carols... anything. What a bummer.

Now it's time for all of us to hit the weights hard - keep it dirty in the gym and clean in the kitchen. I lost 5 pounds the week of Christmas; 20.6 pounds since November 25th. I will go to the doctor on Thursday for my B12 shot and have them weigh me to see what I lost last week. I am not looking forward to that. I have been fighting off a cold and my mom stayed all week with me. I definitely ate more than usual. Ugh...

This weekend was a lot of fun, but way more relaxing than what I usually have. And I loved it. My mom came down on Tuesday; New Years Eve and left this morning. I normally cry like a baby when she leaves, but I kept myself busy so for once I didn't. Yep, I am 24 and still cry. What can I say? I am a total "mama's girl".

Friday, my mom came up to my office so she could meet my boss; the President of my company. We then went out to lunch. I wanted to try a new place so what better time than with my mom? The place was called "Terrace Cafe" and it was amazing. We had our favorite appetizer that we get anywhere we go; "Tomato and Mozzarella". 

I then went back to work and she went to her favorite boutique called "The Cubby Hole". Any time she comes to stay with me, she has to go there. It is a cute place. Once I got off of work, I hit the gym for cardio and weights. I had lunch to work out and it was an awesome work out.

When I got back to my apartment, mom had a gift for me on the counter!

How cute right? 

She picked up a purse for me while she was at "The Cubby Hole". Thanks Mom!

We then took off to pick up a salad for me and McAlisters (I am addicted to the Savannah chopped salad) then picked up Chinese for her and Marquis. I wanted Chinese as well, but I resisted. It was not easy though. Since Marquis has been sick with the flu, we took him dinner and hung out for a while.

Yesterday mom woke up not feeling well. She has MS and it was taking over. She did great all week; we were really busy and on the go. But Saturday it was time for her to just rest. We had plans to go out to dinner and see a movie, but it was time to improvise.I went to the grocery store and bought all kinds of fun stuff to make finger foods for her. I then invited my girlfriend Crystal to come eat with us too. I absolutely love cooking but this took all day! It was well worth it though.

I made bacon wrapped water chestnuts, Parmesan and rosemary whole wheat bread bites, a whole wheat pepperoni and cheese pizza, and chocolate covered fruit! 

Since Crystal was coming over, I had all of my candles and lights going. I love candles and fun lights, and I do not turn them on unless I have company. 

This is my favorite section, it's my small bookcase. I of course filled it Marilyn and zebra print, duh!

This was my set up for dinner, I loved it!

We had a great time eating and talking.

Crystal left around 10, then I got busy on Mario Cart. When my mom came down on Tuesday, she brought me my brother's Wii. And I have been addicted ever since. I get my family's used electronics and I am so grateful I do!

And I am so proud to announce that I unlocked the Star and Leaf Cup's on there! Anyone have any advice or codes to get more things? I still have two more cups to unlock. 

This morning mom and I woke up around 9:30 and she left half an hour later. I knew I needed to be out and about after she left, especially because it is so rainy, gloomy, and cold today. So I met Marquis at a delicious Mexican restaurant called "Cantina 1511" and we had an early lunch. Afterwards we saw "Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones". It was so freaking good! I am a horror junkie, and this movie did not disappoint. It was hilarious and really scary and the ending was super cool. Now I am excited for "Devils Due" in a few weeks!

The best part - I received a free popcorn since I gained enough points on my Regal card. I love having that card. 

Now I am back home and I am going to make the best of this gloomy Sunday. Tomorrow it's back on the grind. I am going to beat more levels on Mario Cart (hopefully) and play with my new Kindle. My mom gave me her Kindle Fire!

I think I am going to buy "Divergent". It looks really cool.

And if you are addicted to Revenge like I am, it comes back on at 9 PM tonight! I can't wait to see what is going on with Emily!

PS: My blog hop starts back this WEDNESDAY! Do not forget. Come add your link (no specific entry is required) so you can advertise your blog and network with other Blogger's. I have to tell you, I have some of the best Blogging friends around. Co-hosting opportunities are here. 

See ya then!

*Lots of great Monday link-up's going on! Check them out here!

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A sister/sister, busy, kind of sick weekend wrap!

Before I begin my weekend wrap blog entry, I would just like to say "thank God for Zicam and Emergen-C". Ha!

Friday at 4:30 PM, my weekend started as usual. I felt strong and hit the gym for cardio and weights. I had a great work out. When I finished, I had to run a lot of errands. I went to Target, Ulta, and GNC. Then finally I picked up a salad at Panera for dinner. 

Ugh, it never ends.

I finally put all of my stuff up, took a shower, ate, and got my sister's Christmas gift together. I thought it looked cute!

By the time I finished all of that it was about 9 PM and ho-ly crap. I started to feel horrible. Body aches and a sore throat. Thankfully, I did not have a fever, but I felt really bad. I knew I needed to take preventive measures and get into bed.

I drank my Emergen-C and took Zicam and slept for 12 hours. I hoped to wake up feeling brand new. I never get sick (knock on wood, thank God) and it's been well over a year since I have even had so much as a cold. 

I woke up Saturday morning feeling like crap. But I don't like to take a lot of medicine. I barely take Tylenol or even Midol. I just do not like it. I like to take a more homeopathic approach. I do not really have a solid reason as to why, I just do. Basically I just think the pharmaceutical industry is a bunch of shit. :)

I forced myself to go do a few things and clean my apartment so when my sister arrived she would not get sick. She was driving three hours from Raleigh. She pulled in around 1:30 PM. We chatted for a while then took off to the gym. I live right across the parking lot from my gym (so awesome) and she had a 3-day pass so we decided to make the best of it.

I felt OK to do cardio but I did not have enough strength to lift weights like we initially planned. I did 45 minutes of cardio and was pretty proud of myself, I pushed hard. My heartrate was up the whole time and I burned a bunch of calories!

I felt so much better afterwards. I felt like the medicine combined with some sweaty cardio totally helped. We went across the street to Earthfare (another awesme thing about where I live, ha!) and got a hummus and vegetable wrap. It was delicious and huge! It was only 300 calories for the whole thing. Double score!

Oh and thank you to my sister who brought me another Polar band so I can use my monitor again. Captain Grace (me) over here lost the damn band a month after I got my monitor so I have not been able to use it!

We then took showers, watched some of "Country Song", and got glam!

I'm ready!

We went Uptown to a place called "Blue Restaurant and Bar" for dinner and a martini. The crusine is Mediterranean; our favorite! I had this delicious spinach, mushroom, and ricotta pasta dish. It was amazing. And the restaurant is absolutely beautiful. The below image I found was on Google, but just to show you how gorgeous the place was!

I had an "Under The Sunset" Martini. It was SO strong and so much cinnamon flavor. I could not finish it, but it felt good against a sore throat because it was so strong.

By the time we finished dinner it was 10:30 and we had to drive back to south Charlotte, where I live. We were gong to go to a local bar to watch the UFC fights. I was so excited, last night the fighter line up was incredible. But I was done, I just wanted to go home. I pushed myself to the limit.

We came home and got warm on the couch and watched a movie on HBO called "Stoker" and what a weird ass movie. That movie was just... I don't even know. I literally had this look of confusion and disgust on my face the whole time, but like I could not turn away. I kept wanting to know what was next. So if you have HBO on demand, the movie is free, so it is worth a watch. Just be prepared that it is really freaking weird. Oh and Nicole Kidman is in it. We finally went to bed around 1 AM and slept today until 10. It was glorious. I love my black out curtains, ha. 

We got ourselves dressed, grabbed a hot tea and spinach and egg white wrap at Starbucks then drove up to Ikea. Every time she comes down to stay with me, we have to make a trip to Ikea. After spending two hours in there walking around, I left with this kick-ass picture for my living room. I love it! It was only 10 bucks too!

My sister left about an hour ago and I think I am down for the count. It is so cold and rainy here and my throat is still kind of sore, super tired too. I think the rest of the afternoon spent inside warm and resting will make me brand new tomorrow. I have a busy week ahead so I have absolutely zero time to be sick. Maybe I am wishful thinking, but so far Emergen-C and Zicam have done a great job. 

How was your post-Christmas weekend?!

*Link up's are going on today, check out my link up page and join the fun! 

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