Yo!
There are currently tornadoes on the ground here in South Dakota. The weather is absolutely psycho, but I’ll get to that in a bit.
Let me just say that I love summer salads.
Summer Salad
For dinner this evening, I fixed myself a simple summer salad with romaine lettuce, strawberries, blueberries, grilled chicken, chopped pecans, feta cheese and acai raspberry vinaigrette. YUM! I know a lot of people are anti fruit in salads, but I am not one of them. Bring on the berries.
In other news, I met Tom Brokaw last week!
With Tom Brokaw
This was such a great experience. I had the chance to interview him one-on-one for about 15 minutes. He was a great speaker and truly loves his home state of South Dakota!
Moving on.
This past weekend was nuts. I drove home through pouring rain and tornado warnings on Saturday night. Luckily, Mike was kind enough to take me to Applebee’s for nachos and beer when I arrived in Minneapolis around 10:00. Nachos make everything better.
Sunday morning I was off to one of my favorite places in the world to celebrate Father’s Day.
Lake Vermilion
I’ve been going to Lake Vermilion in northern Minnesota since I can remember. My dad’s side of my family has had a cabin on the lake since the 1960s. I rarely get up there anymore since I live so far away. Every time I get the chance to go there even just for a day I love it. Too bad the weather was absolute crap this time.
I also got to see this little baby while I was there.
Marshy
I love my dad’s cat, Marshy. What a beauty. And she likes to sit in the sink?
Anyway, my trip north was short. I was back in Minneapolis Monday morning, and had planned to drive back to Sioux Falls that evening until all hell broke loose. Like I said, the weather here is psycho. A majority of the towns around Sioux Falls are under water thanks to extreme rain, and tornadoes have been sweeping across the area all week.
South Dakota Flooding
What’s scary is this isn’t even the worst of it. South Dakota and the neighboring states have been getting hit by strong storms since the weekend. The weather is all we have been covering at work, and I am totally enthralled.
One of the downsides of losing myself in my job a little too much is I lose sight of other things that are important to me, like working out! I hate to say that I haven’t hit the gym once since Saturday. I know four days isn’t the end of the world, but I just feel off when I go too long without a workout. I’m really hoping this lack of motivation to get to the gym will end once the weather starts to settle down.
I’m telling myself I am going to workout tomorrow morning, but tornadoes are expected to hit Sioux Falls late, late tonight, and I want to stay up and watch like a 5-year-old.
Good morning!
I’m slowly recovering from the disappointment of yesterday’s half marathon cancellation. Still pretty upset, though. As you can probably guess from the title of this post, it really felt like my dreams of half marathon victory were crushed. At least I get to hang out with this giant pup today:
King Alfie
This is my last day home in Minneapolis before I have to head back to good old Sioux Falls tomorrow morning. Despite the race debacle it’s been a great long weekend and I wish I could stay forever!
Part of the reason it’s been a great weekend is because I got to celebrate Mike’s 24th birthday with him all day on Saturday. He’s officially in his mid-twenties. Crazy! To celebrate, I took him out to lunch at Rooster’s BBQ; a little place in St. Paul he told me about a few weeks ago. We’re both big fans of bbq, and Rooster’s did not diappoint.
Ready for ribs!
Birthday ribs
Mike ordered the ribs while I went for a slightly healthier (kind of) option with the bbq chicken.
BBQ Chicken
All the meals come with a side of fries, a dinner roll, and coleslaw. The fries were seasoned really well and I had to work very hard not to overdo it on them.
Friiiies
Here’s the review: Mike’s ribs were insanely tender. Even more tender than I was expecting for a BBQ place that had great reviews. My chicken was also super moist and juicy. I’d like to try out some of their pulled pork sandwiches next time I’m in town. We saw a couple people ordering them while we were there and they looked amazing!
After lunch, we headed to the bowling alley with Mike’s family. After a couple games, one in which I beat Mike for the first time ever, we headed back to his parents’ house for a birthday dinner of hotdogs, burgers, watermelon and salad.
Yes, I put chips on my hotdog. If you live in an area where there are 7-Elevens, you need to check out hotdog chips.
They sound gross but taste delicious. Mike picked some up while he was in Chicago last weekend since we don’t have 7-Eleven in Minnesota. They were equally as good on an actual hotdog. Who would have known!
And of course, dinner was followed by the famous Oreo cake.
Lots of carbs for the race that never happened! Overall, it was a great birthday celebration and I’m so glad I got to be there for it!
Good Morning!
It’s the first day of my work week and I’m felling good despite being pretty drained after my drive back from Minneapolis last night.
Here’s the weekend recap.
Saturday:
I arrived in Minneapolis around 10:30 Saturday night and picked up my friend Carly before heading over to Mike’s sister’s apartment. After changing and hanging out for about an hour we headed over to a nearby bar. It was a pretty relaxed night that ended in a Domino’s pizza that I unfortunately do not have a picture of. But I promise it was amazing.
Sunday:
Sundays are always crazy busy when I’m home. Mike and I had tickets to the Timberwolves game and had plans to grab lunch at Mason’s Restaurant before the game.
The best thing about Mason’s is every beverage comes in a mason jar. I know mason jars are a little overdone these days, but I still love them.
After starting out with some bloody mary’s, I ordered a giant salad with arugula, goat cheese, beets, chicken, toasted nuts, and a balsamic vinaigrette.
That thing was massive. Then it was off to the game! They lost, but we still had a blast.
I was pretty bummed because if they win and get over 100 points, everyone gets free frozen yogurt. No frozen yogurt for us.
The rest of the day was spent visiting Mike’s family then dinner at my family’s house. My mom made some awesome baked rigatoni that I forgot to snap a picture of. whoops!
Sunday:
Sunday was spent lounging and having lunch with my mom. Oh, and a terrible run. It was snowing yesterday in Minneapolis. The 6 mile run I had planned sounded pretty unappealing once I looked outside, so I decided to give it a go on the treadmill. Big mistake. There are no words for how much I truly dislike running more than 3 miles on a treadmill. I have zero motivation and feel 10x worse than I would outside. I finished the run in just under 54 minutes, but it felt like a lifetime.
Next time, I won’t be such a little baby and will brave the elements!
I am beyond exhausted.
The past four days have been absolutely draining. Partly for good reasons, and partly for not so good reasons. Let’s start with the good, shall we?
I went home to Minneapolis late Saturday night after work. I ended up staying up very late with friends due to the time change. Like 3:00 a.m. late. The next day was jam-packed with seeing family and spending time with Mike. Our night concluded with a nice dinner of steak fajita bowls that hit the spot.
Cookin’
Sizzlin’
ready for eatin’
We didn’t follow much of a recipe for these. Just followed our cooking instincts. They were delish! Perfect fuel for my first half marathon training run the following morning!
Running in Minneapolis is usually such a treat, but the heatwave (40 degree warm up) that hit this past weekend caused puddles galore along all the trails, sidewalks, and even streets.
I spent the entire run dodging puddles, but by the end my socks and shoes were drenched.
I managed to finish my 3 mile run in about 27 minutes. Pretty decent time for dealing with the surprise obstacle course.
Now for the not so good. I am exhausted because I returned to Sioux Falls around 9:00 last night, and learned I had to be up to drive to Pierre, SD by 5:15 in the morning for work. I showered quick, ate a crappy dinner and hit the hay around 11:00. I haven’t felt fully awake all day. I had plans to squeeze a workout in once I got home from work, but my body is telling me to just be a bump on a log tonight, and I’m listening to it!
It’s been a while! A lot has happened since my last post. I celebrated my 22nd birthday last weekend, finished my last fall quarter of college EVER, and am now home in Minneapolis, enjoying a nice four-day Thanksgiving break.
The Thanksgiving festivities started off with the Turkey Day 5k in Minneapolis yesterday. My goal was to finish in 23:00 minutes, which did not happen. I wasn’t far off and ended up at 23:34. There’s always next time! After I crossed the finish line I waited for Mike who came in shortly after with a frighteningly red face, as you can see in the picture.
Turkey Trotters
My Mom came down to the race to cheer us on, accompanied by the doggies!
Alfie and Poppy
Note my Christmas socks. I might’ve suffered a little holiday confusion yesterday.
After the run, we dropped Mike off at his parents’ house before diving into the Thanksgiving cooking. The menu consisted of:
- Turkey (duh)
- Classic mashed potatoes
- Glazed sweet potatoes with pecans
- Rutabaga
- Asparagus
- Corn
- Wild rice stuffing (personal fav)
- Cranberry sauce
- Deviled eggs
- pumpkin pie, apple pie, and the new addition of apple cake!
Needless to say there was no shortage of food.
A fraction of the food.
Ready to dig in!
After stuffing my face with my own family, I headed over to Mike’s to top it off with some more dessert. It was one of the best Thanksgivings I’ve had in recent memory. To top it all off, we got about an inch of snow overnight, creating that perfect winter wonderland feel for Christmas! Let the Christmas spirit begin!
let it snow!
Last week Mike got tickets for us to see Daniel Tosh at the State Theatre tonight for my birthday! Should be a riot. As soon as I get the details from my mom, I plan on posting the recipes for the stuffing, sweet potatoes, and rutabaga on here. Stay tuned!
Alright, no time to mess around. I’m going to go ahead and let the photos do the talking for the food I experienced at the Minnesota State Fair this year.
Started off strong with a turkey sandwich from the Turkey-To-Go booth.
Pulled Turkey Sandwich + BBQ Sauce & Cajun Seasoning
Topped off with some $1.00 chocolate milk.
Sweet Martha’s Cookies
om nom nom
Took a good long break before hitting up the cheese curds.
cheesy goodness
Walleye “fries” (my personal fav)
And finally dessert!
Strawberry Fro-Yo + Oreo Crumbs & Blueberries
And then I died.
Okay, enough food porn.
New Workout Plan
This past summer has been so frustrating in terms of my workout regimen. A few weeks ago, I completed Jamie Eason’s LiveFit 12-Week Program. It was an awesome program and definitely challenged me. However, I saw minimal results. Even more to my disappointment, I wasn’t excited about the workouts. I’m sure this program has worked wonders for many people. I’m just not one of them.
This has left me wandering through my workouts for the past few weeks, with no real sense of direction. I’ve been searching for a new workout plan with minimal results. I’m definitely a lifting weights and cardio kind of girl, but I can only be at the gym for so long. Most of the workouts I stumble upon that seem up my alley require at least an hour and a half of hard work at the gym. I just don’t have that kind of time with school, work, dance, and my new internship at NBC Chicago. An hour and a half is my maximum, not my minimum.
I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to make a list of all the types of exercises that I enjoy, and incorporate them into a workout plan. When you feel confident and excited about your workout, it changes everything. For example, I love planks. I could do planks all day every day. I absolutely hate hanging leg raises. I know they work for some people, but they do absolutely nothing for me.
I often try to push myself into workout plans that seem challenging, due to the fact that they involve things such as hanging leg raises or other exercises that I am uncomfortable with. I ultimately end up losing interest in the plan and half-assing it. This will never work.
I guess the point I’m trying to make here is do what feels good to you. Don’t worry about what works for fitness models or that super buff chick (or guy) at the gym. If it doesn’t feel right for you, then it probably isn’t. It’s important to choose a workout plan that excites you and that you can see yourself sticking with for the long haul.
Also, be sure to mix up your workout routine every 6-12 weeks. Not only will this assist in muscle confusion, but it will also keep you interested in working out. On that note, I’m off to do more workout searching! Hopefully I will have one pinned down before my first day of my Senior year of college on Thursday!
Welcome to my first blogging milestone! According to WordPress, 5 posts was my first goal. After today, I will officially be moving onto bigger and better things by completing my fifth post. Go me!
I’m home in Minneapolis for this Labor Day weekend. This is most likely the last time I will get to visit home before Thanksgiving, so I’m trying to make every minute count. I kicked off the weekend in a good way last night. My good friend from high school, Carly, is leaving for Spain tomorrow. Naturally, we had to hit up half-priced appetizers at Applebee’s to give her a proper farewell! Half-priced apps have always been a staple in our friendship. My boyfriend, Mike also joined us. I indulged in some traditional hot wings, which were right on the money.
From Applebee’s Website
Applebee’s has the best wings in the neighborhood. What can I say? I’m easy to please. We also split an order of nachos, which were a little disappointing if I do say so, myself. For some bizarre reason Applebee’s has made the decision to change their perfect classic nachos to chili cheese nachos.
From Applebee’s Website
Despite my disappointment in the unnecessary change, I ate about half the plate.
Breakfast
Since I “treated” myself to straight junk food last night, I needed a healthy, but satisfying meal this morning.
Yummy Breakfast Pocket
One of the best things about coming home is the change in food selection! I decided to whip up a breakfast pocket. My pocket consisted of the following:
- Brownberry 8 Grain Pocket Thin
- 4 egg whites
- 3 slices black forest ham
- 2 slices Kraft Singles fat free cheddar
- 1 Tbls sugar free blackberry jelly
I enjoyed some sliced zucchini from my Mom’s vegetable garden on the side. My Mom and Stepdad, Tom are not coffee drinkers, so I had to settle for a hot cup of green tea with my breakfast.
This is probably a good thing, since I’ve been drinking about 4 cups of coffee per day lately. I really need to cut back.
I’m really looking forward to this weekend. There are numerous fun-filled things on the agenda, including a haircut, camera shopping (so I can stop taking the crappy phone pictures), back-to-school shopping (yes, I am 5-years-old), visiting the Minnesota State Fair, and just spending some time with my Mom, Tom, and the DOGS!
Alfie & Poppy = World’s Cutest Dogs
These dogs eat everything. Seriously, they’ve eaten glass. They’re NUTS, but I love them.
Alright, off for a quick run before the festivities begin!
biggest food junkie 