espresso time!

I found this is my favorite way to start the day…I am improving on my barista skills. My newest thing is making an iced mocha with the espresso. Very yummy.


blueberry muffins!




espresso!

 It doesn’t seem like it should be Monday already. I guess that is because I worked most of the weekend. I’m thankful to have a job, so I’m not complaining.

As you probably know, I am a wine drinker. Do you have one of these handy tools? John is demonstrating. This is a wonderful thing! And we bought it at a liquidation store for $5.00. Awesome deal.

Opening the Chardonnay with an automatic corkscrew

removing the cork from the machine

I love tools that make my life easier. Do you have any neat tools that you use often?

What are you doing to make your life better today? Have a Happy Monday!

Friday-Eve

It’s Friday-eve. It’s my last day of my workweek and I always look forward to that. I have announced that tomorrow will be Gina-day! Every once in a while I treat myself to a day just for ME! Of course, it probably won’t last all day, but I’ll take what I can get.

Tonight, after work, I cycled on the stationary bike while watching a few Dr. Oz episodes I had recorded. It was a good workout. I’m scheduled to run tomorrow, so I wanted to do a light workout. I’m so proud of myself for fitting in a few workouts on my workdays! Go Gina!

Here’s what I had for dinner tonight:

Chicken Florentine with an applesauce cup and green tea

Don’t think for a minute that I’m a gourmet cook or anything. This was actually one of those skillet dinners. Very easy to make and very tasty also. I love pasta recipes with spinach.

I recently subscribed to Runners World magazine. I thought this is a good idea since I’m trying to run more and I need all the help I can get. I got my Runners World free gift in the mail today. So, while eating dinner I scanned over the tips it provided for beginning runners. I was very interested to read a tip that beginners should focus more on minutes than on miles. Maybe that’s what I need to do.

After dinner, I plan on relaxing and enjoying a glass of chardonnay!

Do you have any tips for beginning runners? I’d love to hear from you.

I love long weekends!

I worked half a day on Friday and now I’m off work until Tuesday since Monday is MLK Day. I love long weekends! It’s so nice to be off work for several days. I am planning on doing some thinking about ways to incorporate more time in my schedule for working out. It looks like the only time I have will be early in the morning from Monday – Thursday. And since I’m not a morning person, this will be a huge challenge! Or if I workout more on the weekends will that be enough?

My husband took me out on a date last night to Puleos Grille. It is one of our favorite places. It didn’t start off very good, but ended up being a good night. When we got there we had to wait for a table, which is normal and expected. But I started getting a little upset when others that came in after us got seated before us. After 25 minutes, I proceeded to go back to the hostess stand to investigate. We were seated 30 seconds later. The service was good except we were given the wrong salads at first. I pointed that out of course. I ordered a chef salad with avocado ranch dressing. That is my favorite dressing and I can’t find it anywhere else. My entree was a combo platter of lasagna and penne pasta with spinach and alfredo sauce. It was very yummy. This may not sound like a very healthy dinner. But in my defense, I exercised portion control and only ate about half of the entree. I had unsweet tea as my beverage with one pack of Splenda. We stopped on the way home for some wine to enjoy. It was a lovely night.

Today is Saturday and I’m looking forward to my monthly massage today. I bought a spa package to Massage Envy last year around Mother’s Day. I have been loving it! It’s the one thing I do for myself and after a stressful week at work, it is exactly what I need. Looking forward to relaxation!

Have a wonderful weekend!