{ weekend } Market on 7th & IKEA

My weekend (6/11-13) went a little something like this...

Friday night rock show @ Market on 7th in Ybor City.



I (immediately) adored their vintage walls.



Market on 7th is a pizza/bar/music venue... and it rocks!



Hanging out with Eric and his date Mindy.



And, of course, Josh...



Rocking out to SHADOWSELF!


{ That's my blonde boyfriend on guitar! ♥ }

I devoured a few bowls of these over the weekend...

♥ fruity pebbles ♥

FINALLY got a chance to get lost at Tampa's IKEA!!!



Their cafeteria food was okay. I ate 1/2 that mac n' cheese and the salad... plus a couple of stolen fries.



I l♥ve IKEA!!!
It was so awesome to see the products in person. (I stalk products on their website regularly.)


And yes the parking lot was about full!

Roses from after the rock show...



Someone named Wario is giving you the evil eye!


{ This was our final trip moving out of storage. }

I was craving some olive oily cheesy whole wheat pasta with chicken and broccoli, so that's just what I made. Delish!

That's all for now... on to today's post.

Au revoir!

Updates from the Moving Maven

Well friends... it's been almost 2 weeks since my last post. What can I say? Life has been busy, busy, busy! I got a new apartment in the Water... Clearwater, Florida that is. Have been moving my stuff out of my Dad's (weekend before last) and for the past week been moving out of storage (very slowly). Finished up the last of the moving Sunday evening (um, just last night). I'm exhausted! Now it's all about unpacking, organizing and cleaning once again. The boxes are stacked so high I can't walk into my living room at this point. I have my work cut out for me! I guess you could call me the Moving Maven!

Pluses and ups of the new apartment:

• Tile throughout, except the bedroom
• Huge walk-in closet, linen closet and pantry
• Glass-top self-cleaning oven
• Open kitchen
  
• Free AC filters each month
  
• Dog walk area right outside my door, plus a little dog park on the property
  
• One building away from pool and laundry areas
• Less than 10 minute drive from the office
• Central Pinellas County location (can get to Tampa, St. Pete or Clearwater Beach in 20-30 minutes)
  

Now for the bad things...

• Upper kitchen cabinets are really dirty on the inside and made from nasty toxic fiberboard (lower cabinets are not) so there's a lack of storage in the kitchen. I'm not about to put clean dishes or food in those cabinets! Don't know what to do or if they can be "fixed". Maintenance already came out and apparently sprayed the insides with bleach, but it hasn't done anything to the smell. Even if they were lined they would still give off toxic fumes. It's just not a sanitary place to keep stuff I plan on putting near my face. Very disheartening considering mostly everything else is awesome!
  
• Hot and cold are switched on the kitchen sink so I repeatedly burn myself. Ugh.
• Parking is not great, at all. They're working on getting assigned parking, but for now it's a free for all and can be limiting.
• There's only one way in and one way out of the complex. It's like a big circle with one way drive all the way around.
  

My healthy habits have been seriously lacking. I can't wait to get back into my healthy routine. Feel like I've gained a few inches here and there due to all that's been going on in the past month or so. I'm still kind of eating like I'm on vacation... living on Starbucks and take out due to not having my kitchen supplies (until now). I'm in a 60-Day Challenge and really feel like I should start over. Once I clear some space to exercise I'm planning on doing a 4 to 7 day boot camp with Tempo 2. Should make my back feel better too. I had to get a chiropractic adjustment last Monday and it really took a lot out of me. I went 5 months without an adjustment! I need to get back on track, for real.

My blog has a new look! Blogger just launched a new template designer and I absolutely LOVE it. So easy to use... and cute!

I've taken so many photos! Over 800 images in little less than a month. At this point I'm thinking it would be overkill to go back and do my daily posts for the blog. Seriously, you'd be reading for days. However, I will be posting a vacation recap of the road trip. Oh, I almost forgot... I took a vacation from my vacation two weekends ago. We got a room at a dog-friendly bed and breakfast on Madeira Beach. It was so relaxing and literally a 30 second walk from the beach itself. I got lots of sun and almost have my bronze back.

Will be doing a daily recap of today's eats this evening... stay tuned.

Au revoir!

Time Lapse: May & Mercury's Madness

WARNING: This post is PART 2 of an incredibly long recap
of the past two weeks and what's to come!
{ PART 1 }

Mercury was in retrograde from April 17th until May 11th. Believe me that this time around I really felt the effects of planet Mercury - emotionally and physically. I am SO glad Mercury has gone direct, but it will still be a while before things are totally back to normal because the planet is moving very slow. My mom recommends doing everything slowly... walking, driving, making decisions... just to stay cautious during the month. I think that's great advice!

Saturday, May 1st: Sami's Graduation Day

I missed the actual graduation ceremony and brunch because I was sleeping off the night before.

Eddy, Sami's dog, was a nice snuggle buddy in the morning. We left Roxy with Aunt Lolly, Ava and kittens for the weekend... and I really missed her!

During the day Marcel and I did a little shopping and site seeing around Tally. I found my favorite pizza place -- Decent Pizza! So we ate there for lunch.

Then we had a fabulous dinner out at Andrew's 228 (where my step-sister worked in college) with the family as a graduation celebration.

Breakfast: I think I ate a small organic apple, but my memory escapes me.
Lunch: Veggie Pizza

I mean look at this slice!!!

And my leftovers plus a Mt. Dew (gasp!)

Dinner: 2 Blue Moons, Eggplant appetizer, Caesar salad, a few slices of warm fresh bread, Grouper Piccata, a few glasses of wine
Dessert: the best bite of I don't even know what at this point, and a few bites of espresso crème brulée
Drinks: more Yuengling and Blue Moon (not pictured -- hey I did we partied college town style!)

Click the links to view the food photos.

After dinner we headed back to Level 8 at Hotel Duval to hang for a bit before going to the Engine Room to see the band Soular System.

Lighting at Hotel Duval

The elevators frequently got stuck on Level 8, so we took 8 flights of stairs instead.
Great little workout!

Me & Marcel

Lisa (Sami's step-mom), John (Sami's dad) and Sami

Sami & Nicole (her roomie and best friend since grade school)

Soular System @ The Engine Room

Sunday, May 2nd: Home Bound

After sleeping in a bit we packed up the car and headed back to Tampa.

Breakfast: Organic Gala Apple
Latte: Iced Grande Nonfat Vanilla Latte
Lunch: Cracker Barrel Grilled Cheese, Salad with a few fries
Snack: Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies
Dinner: Buffalo Wild Wings Chicken and Celery
Dessert: nothing like enjoying a Klondike Bar while watching America's Next Top Model

Once we got back from our weekend getaway we picked up Roxy from her Aunt Lolly's house and headed home. The next few days were spent slaving away in the apartment preparing for the move on May 4th. I'm in this strange intermittent time right now. We're temporarily staying upstairs at my Dad's house and will get an apartment closer to my office the first week in June. All of my stuff is in storage, except clothes and essentials. My life feels like it's in this huge upheaval right now! I can't wait to get settled in my own apartment again.

The reason for this delay is because tomorrow my boyfriend leaves for a 6-day trip to visit his sister in Atlanta and then on May 23rd I'm going on a 10-day road trip vacation with my boyfriend and puppy, so we didn't see much sense in getting into a new lease for the month of May. I'm so thankful that my Dad and Mary (my step-mom) are allowing us to live under their roof. It gives us time to save a month's rent and figure out what our next step will be. It truly is a blessing to have this time to recoup... but I still feel kind of like a gypsy.


Monday, May 3rd

Breakfast: Green Monster (the last one I've had!!!)
Latte: Iced Grande Nonfat Vanilla Latte
Tea: Iced Venti Passion Tea
Lunch: Kashi Coconut Chicken Entree
Snack: Chobani 0% Plain Yogurt with Kashi GoLean Crunch
Dinner: Kashi Cinnamon Crunch (can't find the actual name of this cereal, but its just like Cinnamon Toast Crunch)


Tuesday, May 4th: Moving Day

I had to take this Tuesday off of work so we could get everything done. I was up until about 2am the night before and woke up early to get started on moving. We worked ALL day long. Then Margie came to help us after 5pm. We didn't finish until almost midnight. I was exhausted, but the apartment was empty, clean and ready for the next tenant.

This move was more emotional than the past few because we've had so many good times in that apartment. I really miss it and will always think fondly of that time in my life.

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs
Latte: Iced Venti Nonfat Vanilla Latte
Snack: Sabra Hummus and Pretzel pack
Lunch: Publix Turkey Sub on Multi-grain
Dinner: I have no idea... all is lost.


Wednesday, May 5th

Breakfast: Kashi cereal with frozen blueberries
Lunch: Publix Turkey Sub on Multi-grain
Dinner: NO idea.


Thursday, May 6th

Breakfast: Kashi cereal with frozen blueberries
Snack: Chobani 2% Pineapple Yogurt
Tea: Iced Venti Unsweet Green Tea
Lunch: Publix Turkey Sub on Multi-grain
Dinner: Amy's Organic Burrito, Organic Edamame, String Cheese, Yuengling
Dessert: Lollipop


{ weekend}

Friday, May 7th

Breakfast: no idea at this point!
Tea: Iced Venti Unsweet Green Tea
Lunch: Eggplant Marino
Drinks: Dunedin Brewery Apricot Beer and another
Dessert: Cookie Cake

We went to The 8th Avenue Pub in Safety Harbor to celebrate Shannon's birthday.

Blurry photo, but you have to check this cake out. It was supposed to be a peace sign and turned out to be a Mercedes logo. Crazy, right?

I really miss that girl, like tons! She's Lauren's little sister who moved to Albuquerque last year. Her boyfriend was so sweet and bought them tickets to Florida to surprise her. I wish she could stay forever.

Me & Shannon


Good times with awesome peeps!

Saturday, May 8th: Yard Sale Day!

Breakfast: Chick-fil-a Egg and Cheese (no photo because I devoured that sandwich) and a Iced Venti Nonfat Vanilla Latte (also not pictured)
Lunch: Greek Salad and a slice of Pizza
Drinks: a few Bud Lights and a Bud Light Lime

I know I ate more than that, but I really can't remember what.

We spent the morning selling off as many items as we could at the garage sale. We ended up making almost $400!

Marcel played cover songs for Bronson's 10th birthday. Bronson is my step-mom's ex-husband's new wife's sister's son... if that makes any sense!!! They are all awesome and everyone hangs out together and has a great time.

Lucky, the dog Lisa just rescued, was guarding the pizza boxes

We hung out in the shade most of the afternoon, but it was still very hot out so we all kept drinking beer after beer to stay cool. Fun party to say the least!

Sunday, May 9th: Mother's Day

I miss my mom! She's living out of state and I can't wait to see her again. Gave her a call, a spa gift certificate and mailed off that glamorous sun catcher mobile I made with a card.

I really have no clue what I ate on this day, but...

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs (not pictured)
Drinks: Enjoyed a glass of Pinot Noir at the film
Dinner: Pizza!

After dropping off the rest of our unwanted belongings (some very cool stuff, btw) at the Last Chance Thrift Store we ended up driving to St. Pete to see an animation film hosted by Jodie Mack. Jodie is a long-time friend from waaaay back. She's an animator and also a teacher. The films she showed were Helen Hill's Animated Wonderland as a fund-raising event.

The films were super cool, all handmade and entertaining. Helen Hill was killed several years ago and her husband is continuing her dream by making the films as she intended. It happened to be Helen's birthday, so Jodie brought a cake and sparklers to celebrate. She's such a sweetie!

Monday, May 10th

Breakfast: Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal and Iced Grande Nonfat Vanilla Latte (not pictured)
Lunch: Jimmy Johns Turkey Lettuce Wrap (holy yum!)
Snack: Organic Gala Apple and Almond Butter
Dinner: Mac & Cheese and salad from The Ozona Pig (not pictured)


OMG!!! I'm done!!! Sorry that was really, really long but I just had to complete this time lapse in my blog entries.

Au revoir!

Dear Blog

{ road in Tallahassee this past weekend }

Dear Blog,

Although it may seem like I've been neglecting you, that's really not the case. My life is very stressful right now due to moving for the most part. Life inside and outside of work has been super busy as well.

I have SO much catching up to do on the blog! You can expect to see posts for April 25-May 1 Weekly Review: Healthy Habits and April 2010 Workout Summary. I also still have to post Wednesday evening's eats and workout, plus my weekend post about our fun trip to Tallahassee for my step-sister's graduation at FSU. Had to drive about 4 hours up there, so most Friday and Sunday were spent in the car.

Just so you know, I'm counting on NOT having the time to post for a few more days.

My lease is up tomorrow and there's a TON of stuff to be packed and moved out... not to mention cleaning the entire apartment! I tried to get an extension, but the apartment has already been rented. So sad. It really would have saved me a lot of stress.

Wish me luck for the move. I'll be a gypsy until I find a new place.

Au revoir!

Preparing for the Move

Tuesday Recap...

Spent the entire evening/night preparing for the move on Tuesday. I can't believe how fast the moving date is approaching! Seriously did not get to bed until almost 2am.


Exercise

Tempo 2 + body brushing.


Eats

Brekkie

Blueberry Green Monster.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen organic blueberries
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 2 cups fresh organic spinach
• 1 cup Original Almond Breeze
• 1/2 cup Chobani 0% Plain yogurt
  
• 1 Tbsp organic flax
• 1/4 tsp bee pollen
  

Lunch

Rotisserie Chicken Salad with 2 Tbsp Hummus (added later).

Plus a Venti Iced Green Tea (unsweet).

Snack

String cheese!

Dinner

Beef Stroganoff... Marcel had this cooking when I got home and it smelled SO good I could not resist!

Snack

Organic Gala Apple with a few Organic Pecans.

Dessert

3 cookies and some milk.

Late Night Snack... around midnight.

Kashi Go Lean Crunch with Original Almond Breeze.

Supplements

Alfalfa: 6 caps
B-12 Plus: 8 sprays
Pyruvyl Glycine: 8 sprays
Vitamin D3: 4 sprays

Water today: 2 liters

Veggies today: 4
Fruits today: 2

Au revoir!

It's MOVING time!

Today is the day I pick up the keys to the new apartment in Tampa. I can't wait to get relocated and settled in this time. Got a fabulous deal on an upscale apartment close to everything! It has tons of amenities.

I aways seem to move in the summer on what seems like the hottest day. This time I have almost a month to get all my stuff settled in and the old place cleaned up. Good times.