I felt bad that I said I would post tonight, but I finished my design project much later than I thought I would [let's say I was a wee bit distracted by the USA/Canada hockey game].

andtheremayhavebeensomebaking. Hmmm? What was that? No no no, did you say baking? I thought you gave up baking? HA! I just don’t think it’s possible!

I obviously need some sleep. I have a case of the sleepy ha-ha’s & that combined with blogging is not a good idea.

Tomorrow there will be a post. Hopefully with pictures if I remember to bring my camera anywhere with me :-/

Goodnight & Good luck with Monday

I just so happen to love Sundays. They used to be my lazy days and I have to say, getting a move on it early really makes the day so much better!

I thought I’d do a little advice post following my confessions. While I have my vices, there are lots of things that I’m quite good at.

On that note, do you ever find yourself wasting hours of time doing virtually nothing? Perhaps browsing the Internet, flipping through tv stations, or just sitting.

Ya, it happens without most people even noticing it. This is a problem I encountered with college. I found myself watching marathons of Grey’s Anatomy, surfing the web, and spending endless amounts of time on Facebook instead of actually doing anything substantial.

So how did I beat it? I started making lists and jotting down notes on post-its all over the place. I’m like the post-it queen and have them scattered all over the place.

These are just a few of the ones I have on my desk. I’m also planning of finding the Post-it labels this week. They just sound so fun!

Here are my tips for you:

• Either before you go to bed, or first thing in the morning, make a list of everything that you want to accomplish today [or tomorrow if you're doing this the night before]
  • [Note: it helps to mark them by priority so you don't overwhelm yourself]
• Make a mental note of everything on the list and try to remind yourself of it often
• Put some of the tasks on post-its or small pieces of paper and place them in places you will see them frequently [I put mine on my mirrors, laptop, and all around my desk]. This way, you have little reminders around when you fall off track.
• Check off or cross out everything as you accomplish it. Trust me, it will feel good to check it off the list.
• At the end of the day go over the list. If there are things you didn’t get to, put them on the next list [this is where prioritizing helps, you want to make sure you do the high priority tasks on time]
• Finally, don’t stress over what you didn’t do, focus on what you did!

Do you make to-do lists regularly? Do they help you? If you don’t, would you try it?

This was just a little random post for the day. I plan on doing another one tonight after my yoga class. So long, enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Look at me…I’m becoming a late night blogger. I guess that’s what you get from me staying in ALL weekend. It’s been nice being in all weekend, and surprisingly I haven’t gotten too bored! I did however do something bad…I baked tonight. I didn’t even take pictures because I want to pretend it didn’t happen. It’s always better to start things on a Sunday anyways…

I made granola bars and they were wayyyy too honey-y. I cut them up and popped them in the freezer for a later date. At least I baked something substantial instead of sweets, right? I mean give a girl a break, I love me some baking!

Anyways, I guess that was a good way to start out Confessions, pt. 2.

My next confession is dumb, but I feel the need to share it…I can’t leave the house without mascara on. EVER.  [even if I'm just going to the gym or on a run] I always kind of knew this but didn’t want to admit it because it makes me feel so materialistic. I’ve come to terms with it though. At least I don’t need to put a whole face on before I leave the house, right?

I’m pretty sad right now because I’m out of my favorite mascara and have been using my drugstore backup…

Confession #3 today, I am full blown addicted to peanut butter. I call myself a “nut butter fanatic,” but I’m pushing it with this peanut butter right now. I stopped using peanut butter for a whole and started buying almond butter which helped me. I think I need to do that again. I’ve been going through a jar a week practically [with the help of my roommate, maybe].

This is the jar I’m working on right now. I have to say, Trader Joes peanut butter is MUCH better than the 365 brand.

I’ve been working on stuff for my art/design class all night. These are the sketches I came up with and I have to make a final design for Monday. I’ll post that when I’m done.

Now I’m off to read up on the vegetarian life and hit the hay.

Goodnight everyone. I will see you in the morning

I have some confessions to make. While I try [and try, and try], I struggle to keep my diet healthy. I try to rationalize this by saying I’m a college student, but let’s face it, that’s a LAME excuse. Here’s the upside- I’m not giving up! No matter how many times I catch myself falling back into unhealthy habits, I’m going to keep trying to squash them.

I wrote about my sugar addiction this week. Well, I’d say I’ve cut back on my desserts, but that’s considering I was consuming wayyyyy too much before and now I’m just consuming too much.

To help this problem I have decided to take a baking hiatus and when I return to my oh so lovely kitchen aid mixer…

I will be taking on a healthy baking challenge, where I will bake with more sustainable ingredients. I think I’ll enjoy this challenge, and hopefully you’ll enjoy the recipes that come out of it!

I am torn about this whole hiatus because I am so in LOVE with baking. I think as long as I keep reminding myself that I will return it will be okay. [No, I'm not crazy, I do realize it sounds like I am talking about a relationship with a human]

Now I faced another sad reminder tonight. With my new challenge of being a vegetarian, I am saying goodbye to my favorite comfort foods- pot roast and sloppy joes. I will be creating an equally delicious version of veg sloppy joes ASAP. But until then, I will say goodbye to this…

So long my friend…you will be missed!

Now it’s time for me to go to bed. As the title of the post alludes, there will be a confessions pt. 2. Aren’t you excited?!

Are there any vegetarians out there who struggled with letting go of some of their favorite meals? How did you deal with it?

Growing up I used to visit my cousins in Kentucky a lot and I’d always come home with a little accent and would say “ya’ll”. Yup, I was pretty awesome like that.

Anyways, I’m here to announce that I am going vegetarian. My trial is going to be giving up meat for Lent, and I’m going to see where it goes from there. I’ve been reading up on vegetarianism and I think it’s a great thing. Giving up meat seems like the right place to start for me, but I’m still undecided where I’m standing on fish. I’ll decide after I read more. I picked this up today (excuse the bad picture, I took it on my phone)…

I’m also checking out different resources online for some info. My mom is worried about the idea, so I am getting as educated as possible to ensure her that it will be a good thing.

I had to stick around downtown all day to meet with a professor and go to a Career Week event. Between the two I grabbed a delicious lunch at Whole Foods

It’s vegetarian chili and cornbread with a small side salad that I ended up saving for dinner. The chili and cornbread were AWESOME  and totally hit the spot.

Then a had a great meeting with a professor. We discussed an assignment and some of my future aspirations. He gave me some great advice for “selling myself” to potential employers.

After that I wandered around Borders for a while and then sat in the cafe working on some homework for a while. Then I walked back to campus and attended an Journalism Expert Panel that the school was hosting for career week. It was pretty great. I learned a lot and it totally pumped me up to get my booty moving on my career.

As for now, I’m sleeeepy. I’m heading to the gym in the morning (I ended up getting home too late to make it there today) and then to the library for a while. I’ll also show you the goodies I got in the mail today

Anyone have advice for new vegetarians? How about some good reading?

I have a problem. I am completely addicted to sugar and sweets. I simply cannot turn down a yummy cookie, piece of cake, cupcake, etc…the list goes on AND ON. I think it’s silly to try and cut sugar out of a diet, because our body needs it and most foods come with sugar in nature.

It is especially difficult for me because I do love to bake so much, and there is almost always a form of baked goods [or multiple forms] in my kitchen. When I’m bored I bake [or eat] and sometimes I do both. It simply is not healthy.

What I am going to attempt to do in the next few weeks is manage and control/constrict my sugar and sweets intake to curb the craving. I’ve done this before and sometimes all it takes is a week to slow or even stop the cravings all together.

I refuse to cut desserts out of my diet. I love them and they make me happy [to make them and eat them], so they’re here to stay. All I need is a little control

Exhibit A:

This is a fresh from the oven cookie that I am eating as I write all of this.

I also got these awesome mini cupcakes from my Mom for Valentine’s Day and have been enjoying them. Since they’re so rich, it is much easier to keep from overdoing it with them. Just one little one is enough.

Moving on…

I’ve been feeling quite guilty since I’ve been eating so unhealthily. I also was practically a sloth this weekend and skipped my long run and yoga [boooooo!]. At the gym yesterday I totally overworked myself since I felt so bad about the combination of sweet overload and little exercise. I ended up being there for 3 hours and today my knees and hips/back hate me for it.

Unfortunately there is no resting today and I’m meeting a friend to do a little running soon. I plan on taking it easy on this run though–the last thing I want is to injure myself anymore.

I’m lacing up my shoes to head to my friend’s apartment and then to the library for the night. [My real running shoes are in my locker at the gym so I’m wearing these old ones]

And the title of this post totally had me singing this song…

You remember this? It will forever remind me of Now & Then.

I have a new plan for my blog! I am going to try to post in the morning before I go to class, because I tend to be gone all day on Monday and Wednesday and have trouble blogging from school. Hopefully this will get me in to the habit- I’ve been wanting to have a “real” blog for so long but I just forgot to post sometimes!

Right now I’m sipping on a cup of coffee and considering getting dressed for class

I am notorious for hitting the snooze button for a looong time in the morning, so I always set my alarm wayy early. Today I snoozed from 8:15 to 9:00…oops! But then I jumped right out of bed, started the coffee pot, and made my bed.

I always have a better day when I make my bed before I leave the apartment. I think it’s because I like coming home it.

Do you make your bed everyday?

My Grandma got me started on this…if she doesn’t make it in the morning she makes it before climbing in at night. She’s passed on a lot of great habits to me

Now I really need to get moving. I have class until 3:30 and then I’m going straight to the gym for an abs class and a run! Have a good one!

I have always LOVED Valentine’s Day. While I tend to be a bit cynical when it comes to relationships (I just can’t help it) Valentine’s Day has always been one of my favorite holidays- I think it’s the decorations and goodies that come with it

I made these treats to give out to my friends-

They’re chocolate covered rice krispy treats cut out in to hearts! I was going to make sugar cookies to decorate too but decided this was enough (I guess I’ll have to make/decorate cookies for St. Patrick’s day!)

I was pretty much out of commission yesterday after a little too much fun Friday night- hey, I’m a college student! I haven’t been going out much lately and definitely have not been drinking much, so the combination threw a curve ball at me.

So last night I enjoyed a relaxing night in. Enjoyed some tea and started in on a new book…

My friend just finished this book and passed it on to me to read. We like to share the books that we like so we can talk about them with each other.

That’s my new mug from Crate & Barrel. I could live in this store and be perfectly happy!

It one of those Bodum glasses that are hand blown and have the double glass for insulation. I was totally bummed when I found it at the bottom of our drying rack cracked in the morning! My roommate had piled up the dishes and didn’t know this was a fragile glass. I’m going to see if I can work some magic and exchange it

I have a run and yoga planned for tonight, so I need to get my work for the next couple days finished. Have a very happy valentine’s day!

Check out my new Lululemon headband that I LOVE:

I’m thinking about getting another one in a different color- because I’m one of those girls who tries to look as cute as possible when I’m a sweaty mess

The last two weeks were pretty nuts. Classes have been kicking my butt big time. I’m a Journalism major and a Visual Communications minor, so I’m used to most of my work being projects and very writing intensive but this semester is soo different. It is taking major getting used to. I think I’m finally adjusted but my midterm week looks quite frightening on my calendar!

I also got some kind of virus last week and was pretty wiped out from that. It was the strangest illness and basically changed on a daily basis. It started in my throat, then spread into my lungs and finally moved up to my head. It was pretty brutal, but I took good care of myself and I am all better!

I was constantly filling my Camelbak water bottle (another item that I’m in love with) and took some Vitamin C everyday

Needless to say, I was out of commission for the weekend. I rested three days in a row and it feels so weird being back in my training. My body adjusted to the rest wayyy too quickly.

On Saturday I have my longest run yet planned- 3.5 miles! Pretty sad but you’ve gotta start somewhere!

Now I’m off to work on some homework and hit the hay. I want to get an early work out in tomorrow so I can run errands all day.

I’m trying to think of good ways to motivate myself to complete my workouts. So far I have this:

• Get help from friends- sometimes they’re the best motivation I have and I love them for it!
• Motivational Post-its (EVERYWHERE)

• Reminding myself of my race coming up (and the time I want to run it in)

So far these have been pretty helpful. I have to say again that I am lucky to have friends joining me in my training that push me when I need them to. Also, I’m a huge post-it fan. They are all over my room and the little reminders really do work.

Before I head to the gym I’ll share my cookie adventure of the day with you!

I saw my Martha Stewart Cookbook sitting in my kitchen today and realized I’ve never read the recipes in this book (yes I read my cookbooks). I think this was the first cookbook that was my own. I’ve been a huge fan of Martha Stewart since I was in 4th grade (yes, I asked my mom for a subscription to Martha Stewart Living in 4th grade and had one up until I moved away for college).

Anyways, my roommate hinted that she’d love some chocolate chip cookies- and who wouldn’t?! So I checked out the recipe in this cookbook. It was the most unhealthy sounding recipe I’ve read in a loooooong time.

No, cookies are not supposed to be healthy, but they sure don’t have to clog your arteries! Instead I turned to my new Cooking Light Way to Cook cookbook for a lighter recipe and found a good one.  I proceeded to make cookies that turned out like this…

((My camera won’t upload pictures to my computer so I’m going to leave this post boring and picture-less…hopefully I can fix this problem tonight)) Problem Solved!

I actually didn’t tell my roommate which recipe I decided to use and she told me these were the best chocolate chip cookies she’s had in a while. SUCCESS!

Now I’m off to the gym to do some cross training- I’ll write about my training plan later or add a page on it soon.

Can you tell the difference between “healthy” or “light” recipes and the original ones? Do you prefer one or the other?