Mission Failed and Happy 31st Hubby

They say "Pictures are worth 1,000 words"... so I'll save my fingers the 5 days worth of typing ;)

Last night, for Mr. Smith's actual bday, we saw the screening for Transformers 3. I'm not even a fan and I actually enjoyed it! No Megan Fox= Much more tolerable. The new T3 hottie has much better acting skills and an impecable talent of keeping her heels on during a human vs. robot war. 2.5 hours is a bit long to watch robots fight, but it was exciting and the fight scenes were fun to watch. 

Hope everyone's week is off to a good start! More fun updates to come later this week :)

Still hanging in there...

3 days strong.

Almost had a nervous breakdown at Boston Market. I ordered a Paleo-friendly whole chicken family meal with three sides so we could have some leftovers for lunch. My favorites sides at Boston Market are macaroni and squash casserole- off limits. The mashed potatoes looked amazing- oh wait- can't eat those either. Cinnamon apples? They have sugar- no. I ordered the three sides that were on the "approved" list- mixed vegetables, spinach, and corn.

They ran out of corn, so I had to wait about 6 minutes for it to cook, and the nice gentleman behind the corner asked me to stand beside the register to wait. That seemed like the longest 6 minutes EVER- because I was staring at this the whole time:

apple pie, cookies, and brownies

But I was a good girl and refrained from the temptation :)

Off to bed, heading to work early tomorrow to get a jump on the day. Sweet dreams!

Paleo Diet: Day 2 & DC Running Date

Today was a little rough. For breakfast I had a Paleo brownie that my co-worker baked- delish! I didn't get to eat lunch until about 1:30, and I ate my leftover 1/8 of the leftover from chicken yesterday and 1/2 of a Chopped salad with hearts of palm, tomatoes, avocado, and lime vinaigrette. I had 2 hand fulls of almonds as a snack around 4:30.

Around 2:00, the Diet Coke Craving hit hard, but I pushed through and drank a sparkling water instead. I got home at 7, changed, and had time to scarf some beef jerky and one boiled egg before Brittany came to pick me up. We had our first running date tonight :)

We did a 3 mile loop- from looking at this map I think we ran from Roosevelt Island across the Memorial Bridge to the National Mall, past the Georgetown Water Front, and then back across the Roosevelt Bridge back to the car. And by "did a loop", I mean I trailed behind and made her wait on me while I dry heaved on the path and tried to keep from passing out. I think it was a mixture of no carbs, the heat & humidity, and fact that I'm still pretty out of shape cardio-wise. A good run for me is 3 miles in 30 minutes without stopping... my new goal is to train to be able to keep up with her!

The highlights from the run:
- I tripped on a curb about 3 minutes into the run, skid across the pavement, and got road rash that's the size of a quarter on my right hand and a little tiny one on my left hand. It bled most of the run, but I wiped it on my black pants and kept going. I was already a slow runner which I'm sure was annoying, so I didn't want to be a total baby and quit. I had to shower with rubber gloves on and can't make a fist with my right hand. I put a gauze on it with neosporin so I'll get a good night's sleep.

Yep, just another day in the life of KMFJS

- I saw lightning bugs for the first time EVER!

- I was opening my mouth going "woooooah look at the lightning bugs!" when a one flew right to the back of my throat. The sad thing is I was so hungry I thought to myself "hmm... protein?!" 

I came home and Mr. Smith had a nice hearty Paleo-friendly meal waiting for me :)  

Gone in 60 seconds

I'm anxious to see how tomorrow goes and to see if I get any weird cravings. Cheers to day three!

Paleo Diet: Day 1

I don't think I've mentioned this quite yet... but I'm embarking on a new mission for the next 30 days. A group of my co-workers are doing a "Paleo Challenge"- and the winner gets a free month of CrossFit and a case of Coconut Water. I'm always up for some friendly competition!

The theory behind the Paleo Diet is this: People lived without McDonalds and Diet Coke for thousands of years. They were also taller, leaner, had a longer life expectancy, and were cancer-free. Processed foods are the number one cause of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and are linked to more weird and random illnesses than I care to or have the ability to list. The idea is that if you revert back to 4 basic food groups, you will have more energy, a cleaner digestive system, will get sick less often, and will look something like this:

The 4 food groups are:
1. Meat
2. Vegetables
3. Fruit
4. Nuts

Which means no dairy, grains, or anything processed. This even means that potatoes, pasta, cheese, coffee, pita bread and (ghasp) wine are off limits.

Now let's be real: I'm drinking a glass while I'm typing this entry. I will cut out everything except my occasional glass or five- depends on how my work day goes. I'm not THAT competitive. But I'm going to try my best to adhere to the plan as best as I can... I'm curious to see how I feel (and look) after a month.

Today was my first day on the diet. Here is my entry from the survey we fill out daily that tracks our progress:

What is today's date? *

June 20, 2011

Please list what you had to breakfast: *

a banana

Did your meal include?

•  Source of protein
•  Vegetable
•  Fruit

Please list what you had to lunch: *

1/4 garlic and herb chicken and peas from Nando's

Did your meal include?

•  Source of protein
•  Vegetable
•  Fruit

Please list what you had to dinner: *

a bottle of red wine and a can of tuna. classy.

Did your meal include?

•  Source of protein
•  Vegetable
•  Fruit

Please list your snacks throughout the day: *

None

Did you have coffee today? *

•  yes
•  no
•  i'm afraid to tell you

Workout today? If yes, please say what: *

No

How are you feeling? Are you enjoying the paleo challenge? Is there any type of food you miss so far? *(are you feeling more energetic, tired, angry...etc)

I have a headache and feel drained. And angry. I think it's a combination of work and my lack of time to eat a proper meal today. I had one espresso at work because I totally needed a pick-me-up, but I'm going to cut back on the coffee and see how it goes this week.

At least I was honest!

While the goal is to look like the girl in the picture at the top of the page, I actually feel more like this:

I did cheat and have one espresso, but a) it was Monday morning and b) one espresso is better than my usual cup at home plus double iced espresso or Venti Soy Latte from Starbucks every day. I drank water all day, didn't have my customary Diet Coke at lunch, and didn't eat ANY sour skittles from the jar on my desk. That in its self is an accomplishment.

Zeke and I are supposed to go to the grocery store, but i really just want to sit on my couch, force myself to watch The Bachelorette, and finish my wine and can of tuna fish. We can go grocery shopping tomorrow.

I think I'm going to pick out my recipes tonight and will (of course) keep you updated on cooking like a cavewoman. I'm sure there's SOMETHING I can make using the stand mixer ;)

Have a great night, and please enjoy a fat juicy burger or big bowl of fettucini for me :- /

I'll be here... eating my can of tuna...

Is it November yet?

I must admit, I have a new crush. It's on a neighborhood in DC- Capitol Hill. It's like a mixture of Austin (Congress area) and San Francisco. Cute coffee shops, bars, quirky retail stores... I could have spent all afternoon and my entire paycheck in that area. Don't get me wrong... I love our apartment in Arlington now, and the area is great, but I do have the itch to live in the district while we are here. I'm a nerd and took pictures from my car of my favorite street.

Just for the heck of it, I looked up a few listings on Craig's List thing evening to see how it compares to our rent here. Our lease isn't up until November 2011, but it's not always a bad idea to be proactive. Or is it?

I found a few places I'm in love with that are the same price as we pay now! Makes me prematurely excited. This 3br/3ba was my favorite:

LOVE 

Dream kitchen

Living/Dining- love the natural light

Master bedroom windows

And if money grew on trees, I would move in to this 3br/2ba in Logan Circle asap. Two bedrooms have balconies, all designer finishes. For the modest price of $3975/mo, this could be yours, too!

A little paint and a bright rug would do wonders for this room

Master bedroom and hallway 

Living room. Curtains would hopefully leave with the current tenant.
Our furniture found fit right in :)

And since I'm already over budget, this gem is equally as fabulous, in the heart of Capitol Hill, blocks from Eastern Market. For only $225 more than the previous house, it comes fully furnished this summer. Sounds like a bargain to me.

Nighty night folks... off to dream about how I'm going to arrange my furniture in my make-believe DC condo ;)

Beer, Bourbon, BBQ

Mr. Smith made a whirlwind trip to Houston yesterday to surprise one of his best friends for his 30th birthday. He also stopped by both of our parent's house to drop off Father's Day gifts in person- you can imagine their surprise! We gave my dad a polo from the US Open on Friday, and his dad got a new boat cover. He had a great time, successfully snuck in town without (almost) anyone knowing, and is now curled up on the couch recovering ;)

Since Mr. Smith was gone, Mrs. Smith treated herself to a fun little girl's day. My friend Corie was in town to visit two of her best friends from high school that recently got engaged, one lives in DC and one in NYC. They let me tag along for some wedding dress shopping in Old Town Alexandria and got a little nostalgic. I haven't been able to go with my besties as they pick their dresses, so it was fun to get to play again.   

After dress shopping, we headed down to the National Harbor for the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ festival. There were 60 beers, 40 bourbons, and tent after tent of delicious BBQ and fixins' for us to sample. I felt like I was back in Texas!

Our $35 ticket bought us a 4 oz tasting glass that housed our multiple samples of the good stuff. 4 oz is a dangerous size for a tasting glass though, it was essentially a large shot glass. It didn't discourage us from drinking as much... it actually made me feel pressure to finish my samples in 2-3 sips so I could try the next one.

The lines weren't near as long as I expected, we only waited 2-3 minutes max for samples.

Of course I forgot the name of my favorite beer, it was an IPA from a local brewer. My 2nd favorite was Woodpecker Cider.

 My favorite bourbon was (ri), pronounced "rye".

Very smooth, didn't give me the "I just drank a shot of bourbon" face

My LEAST favorite was Shiner Ruby Redbird. To me, it tasted like I took a huge bite of ginger root and washed it down with a glass of grape fruit juice, then swished my mouth out with Shiner Bock beer. Fail.

After a few samples, we decided it would probably be wise to eat, so we decided to give The Little Red Pig a try.

This pig was not little.
Or red.

But he was delicious!

With full bellies and a pretty solid buzz, we headed over to the main stage where the band was playing everything from Barenaked Ladies to Pearl Jam. We spent the next hour enjoying some fabulous people watching, dodging pick up lines from sweaty bourbon drunk frat boys, and enjoying the music.

Non-stop interpretive dance couple

Corie telling the drunk creeper that wouldn't leave us alone "Look- we are all married. Please leave us alone and go find another group of girls to harass"

Fighting over the beach ball.
Girl in the top left corner was the "dance sexy by myself and stare at the bass player" person

6:00 rolled around, and the festival ended :( We stocked up on kettle corn and beef jerky, then headed back to Clarendon for round two.

 My friend Mattie actually crossed the Potomac and left DC to come meet us in Clarendon. We did a mini bar-crawl and went to Whitlow's, 11th Street, Liberty Tavern, and Spider Kelly's.

We ended the night with a grub session at Bob and Edith's- my favorite 24 hr diner down the street. Milkshakes, steak & eggs, home fries, and onion rings. Perfect ending to a perfect day!

I picked Mr. Smith up at noon from his 24 hour Houston trip and have been nursing him back to health all day. Nothing that a Papa John's pizza and some sprite can't fix :) He literally left the party and went straight to the airport for his 5am flight. Trooper.

Speaking of special occasions, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful mom, and HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to my dad! I'm so sad I can't be there today. Mama J, Papa J and and my brother are coming up to visit us in August. Can't wait :)

If you're fortunate enough to spend father's day with your dad, know that you're lucky.

Hope everyone had a great weekend :)