Allow me to introduce..

Hi guys!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Valentine’s day, no matter what you’re doing!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have started a new blog: The Balanced Bride.

There, I will be documenting the next few months with the wedding planning, while trying to balance everything with a healthy lifestyle!

I hope that you will all join me over there – I really value each of you and your input.  I appreciate your continued support!

Hope to see you there!

xoxo,

Dani

Who Dat?

Good Morning Blog Friends!

I hope everyone had a blast watching the Superbowl last night, even if just for the commercials Congrats to the Saints on their win!

How can you not smile at that picture?

To be honest, I didn’t think the commercials were as great as they usually are, but there were definitely some good ones.  The Herald Sun posted a list of their top ten Superbowl ads here.  I think my favorites were the google commercial, since it was pretty creative (and I am a compulsive googler) and the Budweiser ad with T-Pain.

Well, I apologize for the disappearing act (again), but I think I am back? Everything has been a whirlwind and I apologize, but I think we are good to get back on track

I have been exercising a good bit and doing a lot of wedding planning! Umm… this is stressful! We have looked at a lot of venues, but haven’t settled on one yet… yes, I know, this is no time to be indecisive.  But I know that ours is out there, and we will find it soon

Lots of delicious food in honor of the Superbowl anoche.

Started off with chips and salsa + celery and ranch. Mmmm.

Plus a beverage of choice:

If you have never had one of these Tuscan Orange Grapefruit Mich Ultra’s.. I highly suggest you do.  They are so good!

For dinner, we decided to do a little grilling and went with Brats for Blake, and some turkey dogs for me. Also grilled some asparagus and potatoes for the sides!

Turkey dogs on the left, Brats on the right

For the asparagus, I washed them (obv), sprinkled with some salt and fresh cracked pepper, and cut 2 garlic cloves into slices and dispersed throughout.  Once off the grill, I drizzled some balsamic vinegar on top, and let the flavors marry for a few minutes… delicious!

My plate:

Turkey dog with peppers, onions and spicy mustard + grilled potatoes + asparagus.

For the peppers and onions, I simply sliced them up, put them in a pan on medium heat, let cook for 2-3 minutes to soften up, and added about 1/2 – 3/4 of a beer and let simmer for about 15 minutes.

Aerial view:

Mmm… I can say I was wonderfully full and happy after this meal!

Tonight is Bodyworks at the gym, super excited for that one! I love how it works every muscle group.

I hope everyone has a great (and quick) Monday!

Did you watch the Superbowl? Do you watch for the game, the commercials, or both? What was your favorite commercial?

Spicy Lentils with Chicken

Good evening dears!

How is everyone doing? It has been a little while, I know… busy does not even begin to describe work for the past 2 weeks! Anyways, I finally have some down time and couldn’t wait to get a post up!  Blake went to one of his friends’ apartments to watch the SEC Championship, so I have had the place to myself!

Earlier this evening I went to the gym for a treadmill run… the weather here is terrible! It has been raining all day and the temperature is dropping… not good running weather!  Here’s the recap:

• One minute jog to the gym
• 3 minute brisk warm up walk at speed 3.8
• 90 seconds of running at speed 5.1, 90 seconds of walking at speed 4.0
• 3 minutes of running at speed 5.1, 3 minutes of walking at speed 4.0
• Repeat 90 seconds running/walking
• 3 minutes running at speed 5.1
• 4 minutes cool down walk
• Total time = 22 minutes
• Total Distance = 1.6 Miles

Since I was already hungry before I left for the gym, I was starving when I got home! I looked in our pantry and remembered last week at the store I came across a product I had never seen before, Tasty Bite Bengal Lentils.  The description on the box stated “Whole lentils in a savory, spiced tomato sauce”… sounded pretty good to me!

The box also advertised that it was all natural, vegetarian, gluten free, no MSG, no preservatives and kosher… pretty impressive!  The nutrition facts weren’t too bad either… the sodium was a little high, though.

However, this was ridiculously simple to make.  You can either microwave or stove top it… I chose to stove top.  All you have to do is boil water in a pot, drop the pouch in and boil for 5 minutes! I also had a chicken breast I needed to use up, so I decided to boil and shred that and would add it to the lentils once they were done cooking.

When the lentils were done, I added a little salt, pepper and a few red pepper flakes for a little extra kick!  I stirred in the shredded chicken and bulked it up with a side of sweet potato fries

The verdict?

DELICIOUS!!! The lentils were spicy but still quite flavorful… the tomato sauce they were in was absolutely scrumptious!! I would definitely buy this again or try the other flavors they offer as well.  I should also add the price was quite reasonable, I can’t remember exactly, but it was very affordable.

Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful night   We are going to the Dolphins/Patriots game tomorrow.. hopefully the weather is nicer!

I am off to grab Marlee and force her to cuddle with me on the couch, haha

Have a good one!

xoxo,

Dani

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I want to wish everyone a VERY Happy Thanksgiving!!!

[Image Source]

Just a short post as we are about to head out to Blake’s family for Turkey Day.  I am so thankful for my amazing friends, family and fiance

Please have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!

xoxo,

Dani

Quick-sticks

Good Afternoon my dears!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!! Mine was great – too short like usual

Well, unfortunately I have to make this quick because I am getting on the road shortly to head back up to Orlando for work this week.  I was not supposed to leave until tomorrow morning, but there is an important meeting at 10 a.m. tomorrow so my boss asked if I could head up this afternoon, and I agreed

Let’s see… on Saturday Blake and I went to our niece Olivia’s first birthday party!!

She is adorable:

Here Livi is with her mom, Michelle (Blake’s sister), aren’t they both beautiful?

The theme was cupcakes! Mmm.. cupcakes

They were amaaaazing !

Smashing her first cake!

Here we are with the little munchkin:

She is so sweet… We really miss her since we are a little further away now, so it was very special for us to be able to make it up for her big day!!

Oh, I forgot to include what we got for her in my last post:

Where the Wild Things Are (fav childhood book), Shake it up baby book, and sweater

Sunday we had two of our good friends in town that also happen to be Bucs fans… fittingly, we attended the Dolphins/Bucs game

It was a close game, but in the end, the Dolphins won!!

Since the weather has been so gorgeous outside, we have been keeping our windows and doors open. Marlee really likes the wind, so this is where I found her sleeping today:

Too funny…

Do your animals enjoy the cooler weather? Do you ever find them sleeping in odd places; where?

I hope everyone has a great Monday!

I will try to post while in Orlando, but no sure of my schedule yet!

xoxo,

Dani

Grilled Cheese & Soup

Evening lovelies!

I hope everyone had a great Thursday! Mine was good, productive work wise which always makes the day go by faster

It was pretty gloomy outside all day today and the temperature has been dropping steadily. It is supposed to be in the low 50′s tonight! Brrr… yes, that is cold for South Florida!!

For breakfast, I had two slices of toast with apricot jam and a big mug of peach green tea.

For lunch, I made a little pizza with last nights leftovers, and it was goooood! It was super easy – I just used a tortilla for the base, spread the veggie sauce over it and the covered with mozzarella. I put the pizza into the toaster oven on broil and cooked it until the cheese was melted and the edges browned up a bit. So good!!

When I was done with work, I really needed some good stretching! I did about 15 minutes of this yoga podcast.  It is just the basic one, but I enjoyed it!

Afterward, I began to Whittle My Middle. Angela posted the Whittle My Middle challenge yesterday. The goal is to do 6 – 10 minutes of ab work 5 days a week on top of your normal workout routine. I know my middle could use a little whittling and I certainly need to work on my core strength, so I am very excited to do the challenge! Check out Angela’s page for the ab exercises included (but not limited to) for the challenge and an instructional video. This is going to be fun!!

For my first bit of whittling I did two 30 second sets of plank, and side plank on both my left and right side. I only did 3 minutes total and already my core was burning!

Dinner was an oldie but goodie. Grilled cheese and black bean soup. It was exactly what I had been craving all day! The warm soup was perfect for a chilly evening! And the deliciously gooey grilled cheese..mmm… I could eat a lot of grilled cheeses,

After dinner, we made a quick trip to Target to get our niece Olivia a birthday gift. It is her first birthday on Saturday, so we will be heading up to Orlando for the party!! I may or may not have gotten a coffee on the Target trip…..

I cannot turn down a cup of coffee with a few pumps of pumpkin… so weak!

Well, I am off to cuddle up with the fiance and finish up the 3rd of the CSI trilogies this week. Has anyone else been watching them? I really like the concept.

What is your favorite cold weather food?

Have a great night!

Back In The Groove

Yesterday evening after work I decided I needed to get off my lazy but and get back into the groove of my workouts. I haven’t done anything since the 5k! Of course there was all of the excitement with the engagement, going to Orlando to work, finishing up my job here, my birthday, and then going to Captiva Island for my birthday, but I knew it was time to get back into the groove!

I headed to the gym and had a fabulous 1.30 Mile run on the treadmill. This included both the warm up and cool down and I think it was about 15 minutes. Not too much, but it helped me see just how much I missed being active. I know I feel much better when I have physical activity in my day, and I am really excited to get back into it!

Dinner was deliciousssss.

Fresh veggie pasta – super easy & wonderful.

I cut up whatever we had on hand – asparagus, red pepper, mushrooms, zucchini & spinach.

I tossed everything, except the spinach, into a large pan with some olive oil, salt & pepper and sauteed over a medium heat until veggies were tender but still a little crisp (we like a little crunch ).

I added in the spinach for the last minute or two.

When the veggies are cooked how you like them, add your favorite jar of sauce, turn the heat down to low and let heat through.

While the veggies were sauteeing, we cooked up some pasta and when they were all finished, served it up with a slice of garlic bread and some salad, annnnddddd perfection.

Love.

Thank You!

Today, in the U.S., we’re celebrating Veteran’s Day.  I would just like to take this moment to say thank you.

Thank you to all of our heroes, past, present and future, for serving our country and keeping us safe.

Thank you!

News, News, News!

Well HELLO!!

Sorry for the disappearing act, but to say that past week and a half of my life has been insane is an understatement!!

Hmm… where shall I start?? Let’s start with a week from this past Friday, October 23.

Well….

WE’RE ENGAGED!!!!!!!

It was completely unexpected! Tears and kissing were involved

A little while afterwards, we headed up to Orlando since we were running the Tower of Terror 5k Saturday evening. We didn’t get in until pretty late, about 1:30 am, we were staying with Blake’s sister, her husband and our niece, Olivia (who is ridiculously cute, by the way), so we crashed pretty quickly upon arrival

We spent Saturday hanging out with the family and just relaxing. We made a quick trip to pick up our race packets but had a nice leisurely Saturday. Saturday evening around 7 we headed over to the park so that we could get a parking spot, get ready, stretch and get in line! I was getting so excited at this point!! Although I knew I wasn’t as prepared as I would have liked to have been, I couldn’t wait to run my little heart out!! haha

The race pretty much started on time – 10:15 p.m. (so late for an old lady like me! ) and I was able to run the whole first mile!!! (With Blake’s encouragement of course ) Our official time was 39:09! My goal was to be under 45 minutes so I was extremely happy to see my official time!! I am very proud of myself to be able to say, ‘I HAVE FINISHED MY FIRST RACE!!’. It was so much fun – I can’t wait to sign up for the next one!

We came home Sunday evening, I unpacked our suitcase & repacked it for me to head back to Orlando early Monday morning!!  So, another piece of news… I am now working from home! Well, for the most part anyways, haha. I got a fantastic offer from my old boss (in Orlando) to work from home and go into the office for a few days every month or so. After carefully considering the pro’s and con’s and A LOT of thinking, I decided to take it! Unfortunately, that meant having to be in the office that Monday – Wednesday. So, off I drove back to Orlando

The Orlando work days were very long and yet very fast and before I knew it I was on my way back to South FL. Thursday and Friday were spent finishing up my job here.

And thenn…. it was Halloweennnnnnn! We knew we had to come up with something quick and relatively easy, so we somehow decided on Juno & Bleeker! We picked up some supplies from Sports Authority, Target & Michael’s for Blake’s costume and then stopped at a thrift store for mine. Isn’t it weird how thrift stores always have an abundance of stripped shirts and plaid skirts?? I think so. Although, quite a plus for me this time! When we got home, I painted Blake’s headband and armbands yellow, painted the shirt with the circle and ‘Dancing Elk Condors’ lettering, threw my thriftings in the washing machine and called it a day! Here’s how they turned out:

Note: Blankets make fantastic fake baby bumps.

Hahah… ohhh, good times!   We went to our friend Sean’s party and had a really great time.

What was your costume for Halloween? What were your Halloween plans?

I love Halloween, tell me about your costumes, I am dying to hear! Post a link if you have them up

Have a wonderful afternoon!!

xo,

Dani

Spicy Veggie Stir Fry

Evening!

Hope everyone is having a good day.. tomorrow is FRIDAY!!!!

No exercise tonight, trying to rest my knee for the 5k on Saturday!! I am a little nervous though, I must admit. I’m sure I’ll have fun no matter what

Dinner tonight was a spicy veggie stir fry served over wild rice. Delicious!

We used portabella mushrooms, squash, zucchini, red onion & asparagus with a hot chile pineapple sauce (which is fantastic and available at Target. If you like spicy, I highly suggest this!!).

I just chopped up all the veggies I was going to throw in, sprayed the wok with a tiny bit of olive oil and let the veggies cook over medium heat, covered, for about 3 – 5 minutes until slightly cooked. When softened just a bit, I added in some hot chile sauce and let simmer for probably about 15 or so minutes, until the veggies cooked down and softened up. (Isn’t is crazy just how much the veggies cook down!)

While the veggies were cooking, we prepared the rice according to the directions on the package

Once both are done, make a big plate and enjoy!!!

Well, I am off to bed! After work tomorrow we will be heading up to Orlando since the 5k is at the Tower of Terror Saturday evening. We are staying with Blake’s sister, brother-in-law and niece, and I can’t wait to see them! Livi (niece) is adorable!

Have a fantastic Friday!!

xo,

Dani