>It’s confession time baby

>Like the title? I promise an explanation in a sec…

Today I had the day off. That meant what it usually does: Waking up around 10am, making breakfast and a big ole mug of coffee, catching up on the news and my favorite blogs, then hitting the gym. Today was no different. Is that weird? Do you have a “routine” on your days off?

Breakfast was Raspberry Vanilla Oats

1/3 cup oats

1 cup almond milk

1 t chia seeds

1/2 t flax seeds

stevia, cinnamon, nutmeg

1/4 cup raspberries

1 scoop vanilla protein powder (added after cooking)

pecans to garnish

I didn’t capture any pictures of my coffee but I can estimate for you my caffeine intake was quite high today. It was one of those mornings. I did capture a nice pic of our back deck..

We have SNOW in DC! 

Now onto the R&R of the day…

Confession #1: My sister and I recently reached a milestone. We successfully re-watched all 10 seasons of [the old-school] 90210:

Now let’s do some math: 

10 seasons x 30 episodes/season = 300 episodes
300 episodes x 45 mins = 225 hours or 9.33 days of 90210!

Why am I admitting this again??

———————

For lunch I was in the veggie mood..

Veggies and hummus

And then snacked on yogurt and fruit…

1 cup fat-free Greek yogurt, frozen raspberries, frozen pineapple, stevia

———————

When my eyes were ready to bleed from watching too much Donna Martin, I ventured to the gym for a 30 min spinning class followed by BodyPump. I seriously can’t get enough BodyPump. I love feeling STRONG!

After a muscle-pumping sesh, I refueled with an easy peasy big bowl of thai curry veggies & chickpeas:

Step #1: Boil veggies

Butternut squash, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans

Step #2: Drain. Add spices (curry, turmeric, coriander, S&P)

Step #3: Dress in Thai Curry sauce

This stuff is amazing

Step #4: Savor

——————–

Ok, and now for Confession #2: I’ve been reading a lot of other blogger’s winter skincare routines. It got me thinking: What’s my skin care secret? And then I immediately thought, do I want to share this secret? Not because I want to keep the magic to myself, but because it’s a little embarrassing. If you happen to watch Real Housewives of NJ, you know that Caroline shaves her face because she claims it keeps her face super soft and is the best exfoliant that she’s ever tried. Well I have a problem, I have the worlds most dry nose. No matter what I do, it’s always flaky in the winter months. So I figured, why not shave my nose? I tried it, and viola! I’ve been doing this once per month all winter and no more flaky dry skin on my nose! TMI?? Perhaps! 

Well there you have it!

Do you have any embarrassing beauty secrets?

Do you have a “routine” even on your days off?

>Weekend successsss

>Holaaaaa,

How are you??? Hope you had a splendid weekend! Was the weather bueno??

THANK YOU all SO MUCH for helping out with the SURVEY I posted last night! If you haven’t done it yet I’d greatly appreciate it!

What’s in it for you???



1) Its quick (and from the comments I’ve received) it’s kinda fun!

2) By completing and re-posting (or just commenting if you don’t have a blog), you are automatically entered in my SURPRISE GIVEAWAY!

3) If the label launches, I will be giving away plenty of goodies!

Moving on….



My weekend was pretty fantastic. The weather was nice, I went on a few good runs, did some shopping, and we found our NEW APARTMENT!!! It’s only a couple of blocks from our currently place but it’s SOOOO much bigger and nicer! I can’t wait! We’re moving in June 1st so pics will come 😉

In the spirit of a new apartment, we did some apt shopping. Here are two of my fav purchases:



^Book end

^Theme for bathroom

The weekend was also filled with some good eats. Salads seemed to be the theme (or the theme of the meals I felt like snapping pics of!)

^Whole Foods salad bar (Romaine, kale, organic chicken, egg whites, cherry tomatoes, onions, Cuban garbanzo bean salad, olives, wasabi peas, chili powder, cumin, and chipotle salsa. SO GOOD!

^Manfriend’s meal, and obviously stole a few bites: Shrimp and veggie quesadilla from Surfside (amazing restaruant btw)

^Shrimp salad (Grilled shrimp, corn and bean salsa, romaine, pico de gallo, avocado, cilantro

^Amy’s Tuscan bean and rice soup. A new Amy’s favorite!

^Had a few of these throughout the weekend (1 scoop vanilla protein, frozen nanner, cherries, 1 tsp flax seed oil, handful spinach, almond milk, stevia)

Even better than my food was the MUCH needed R&R…

^Rosemont Shriaz. A personal favorite

^Picked these up cause I haven’t had Jelly Beans in 2349873 years. Crazy how only a few satisfies a sweet tooth. Or maybe that’s cause I’d rather have wine??? 😉

And drum roll please….

^Season 9 has arrived!!!! Whooo! Let’s see if we can stretch this out longer than a week! haha

And some much needed cuddle time with my favorite puppy:

Aaaaand what weekend wouldn’t be perfect without some gorgeous runs in the city?? (that sounds a little nast, ha)

Saturday: 7 mi; L2 Shred

Sunday: 5 mi; L3 Shred

Monday: 5 mi (no shred, ma booty hurts!)

And I still stopped to smell the roses:



^Well not really roses…but still perdy.



And some other pleasant things along the way:

^White House (view from Pennsylvania Ave)

^Potomac River

^LOVE this window (Caribou Coffe3 @ Pennsylvania and 17th St). Reminds me of my BFF Alyson (who I miss like crazy and needs to get her act together and move to DC asap!)

Alight I’ve gotta tend to my experiment, I leave you with this hot stud I stalker-ishly captured the other day:

^This style seriously exists in DC (and pretty much only found in Georgetown). Plaid pants (often Seersuckers), pressed and/or popped-collar polo, blue sports jacket with gold buttons, brown leather loafers with NO socks, and these Ray Bans (I also like them better on Jessica Alba).

There are soooo many of them!! Clones I tell ya! haha

And CONGRATULATIONS to all BOSTON MARATHONERS!!!!

I ran my first Boston Marathon six years ago, and my life was never the same…

Have a good evening and fantastic Tuesday!!! ❤

>My therapy

>Heyyy,

How’s your weekend going?? DC is snowed in today! So that means I’ve been able watch the What Not To Wear marathon- guilt free! Note: I love the term Cost Per Wear (aka CPW), brilliant!

The bad news….I still don’t have my computer back (booo) so I’m on the roomie’s for the next couple of days…Thanks again Jess! 😉

So in the last week or so I’ve been thinking a lot about new things I can find/do to relax. Usually, I always look to running. However, it wasn’t until I tore a muscle running a marathon a few years ago that I learned firsthand how dangerous it can be to only have one stress outlet, because if it’s takeaway what do you turn to???

Right now I’m (knock on wood) injury-free so the running thing is working, but I am still working on incorporating new ideas into my life. When I moved to this apartment I decided to decorate my room in soothing/peaceful colors and items. I have a few particular items that I turn to in times of distress:

Favorite teen classics:

Favorite childhood movie. Also, random fact: anyone who really knows me, I was a whale/dolphin in another lifetime. I am completely fascinated by them.

Therapeutic aromas (my favorites are jasmine and eucalyptus.):

Pictures of really important people in my life that I don’t see everyday:

And the image I wake up to every morning:

^^To me it says, today is a new day and a new chance to follow your dreams. Cheeseball maybe but it works for me 🙂

What do you do??? Have you ever turned to something but couldn’t depend on it (i.e. me not being able to run)? If so, what did you do???

Have a great rest of your weekend!

Lauren

>Snowday in the District!

>Hey Hey!

It’s a BLIZZARD in the District! We already have about s 10 inches now, and are expected to get another 10 more! This would be nuthin’ back home in NH, but there are literally NO plow companies here! It’s up to the city so residental streets in the DC/MD/Northern VA area are expected to be snowed in for days!

Despite the lack of travel opportunities today, I’ve been enjoying the snow day! I woke up bright eyed at 12:15pm (Aaaaah, love Saturdays). Made myself a Power Smoothie:

(I SWEAR it’s delish!)

….And parked it on the couch for some DVR‘d reality TV and a couple episodes of 90210 🙂

Unfortunately as a nurse, Kels (sista) didn’t have a snow-day. All buses are stopped and the roads aren’t plowed, so she layered up and trecked her way to the hospital.

Kels in my Under Armour Cold Gear spandex (AMAZING line if you’re a winter runner):

And leaving the apt:

Nuts!

I made a delish/healthy dinner so figured I’d share 🙂 I was craving seafood!

Sauteed 2 chopped garlic cloves (in 1.5 Tbsp EVOO), then added fresh scallops + dash of salt and pepper.

To accompany the seafood, I roasted an Acorn Squash in the oven until crispy. AMAZING!!!

Boiled whole squash for 15 mins (to make cutting easier). Then cut, sprayed with EVOO spray and added a dash of salt + pepper. Prior to serving, I drizzed a teeeensy bit of organic maple syrup over it. Fan-freakin-tastic.

Well, off to get a quick workout in (get my a$$ kicked by Jillian). Then trecking a few blocks to Shehla’s for a movie night!

Have a great night!

L

*Random ques: What are your favorite activities to do while snowed/rained in????

>Say it ain’t so

>
RIP

In sad celebrity news, it seems my favorite couple has confirmed they have broken up.

Is there really hope for the rest of us now?

On a happier note, my talk is D-O-N-E! I don’t know why I get so nervous before public speaking. I used to love it in high school/college but something about presenting my data to a room full of PhDs/MDs is kinda intimidating…

So tonight, scienceland is not invited to the party, but I shall see you:

Aaaaah.

And maybe you:

Have a great rest of your day!!

Lauren

>Wicked great weekend (I’m from NH okay…)

>Hey Hey Hey,

How was your weekend? Mine was glorious. As I told ya before, the manfriend was visiting. He flew in Thursday night and stayed until this morning. For some reason neither of us looked at his flight time and assumed it was today at 1:45pm…however, we soon found out we were 40mins off. But after a morning of rushing (more on his part) he made it to his flight and arrived safely home 🙂 I’m so used to seeing him every 2-3 months (ugh, I know) that this last month of TWICE in one month has been fantastic!

Well the weekend started off great, spent Thursday night catching up/enjoying some vino on the couch with Seth and the roomies. Friday night was my program’s holiday party. Let me just say there are few things more entertaining than seeing your professors, dean, chair of the department (more than) tipsy. How I love holiday parties…

After my program’s party we (manfriend, me, and sis) headed to another holiday party, this one for the Georgetown MBA program, at a swanky bar (en route pic of Setho)..

We met up some a few other friends and danced the night away..

LOVE this pic! Me (on the right) and my friend Ally gettin our dance on.

Saturday was quite lazy as the weather wasn’t helping. Spent most of the day on the couch 🙂 Seth got a little antsy so went to get some work done, but me and Kels (sis/roomie) happily watched a couple (ok more like 4) re-runs of 90210 😉 Aaah, love that show.

In the evening, Seth had the pleasure of accompanying me to lab for a couple of hours. Scienceland can be great but one area where it falls short is timing. If drug X needs to be added exactly 36 hours after drug Y then there is little room for flexibility and it will be added exactly 36 hours later. So yep, we were in lab til 9pm on a Saturday night. Cool, I know 😛
(I was testing how efficently 4 new kill leukemic cells)

After lab we made a quick trip to Heaven (aka Whole Foods), blasted Holiday music, and cooked up a fiesta! Seth made clams in a garlic/lemon/butter sauce (vegan Earth Balance butter…was actually very similar to butter. I highly recommend it):

I spiralized 2 raw zucchinis (as the “pasta”) then made a pesto sauce (inspired by Fitnessista) made of handful of fresh basil, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 tbsp pine nuts, dollop of Greek yogurt (I’m allergic to Parmesan. Sad, I know):

Both were delish! We paired this with a spring mix salad topped with balsamic. And obviously great wine alongside.

Anddd then some dessert (dark chocolate covered strawberries, also from Heaven):

Ah, such a great date night 🙂

On Sunday morning I was in the cooking mood again. Kels had worked the night shift (she’s an RN) so her bfast was delivered in bed. Yes, I know I’m quite the sister. Wink Wink Kels..

I made these protein pancakes adapted from Tosca’s Reno’s Clean Eat Cookbook. As much as I love to cook, cookbooks have never been my thing. However, this books is AMAZING. Everything is 100% Natural (hence the name ‘clean’), made with minimal ingredients (aka college student friendly) and of items that you’ve probably heard of. I highly recommend it!

The recipe called for 1 tbsp. canola oil (I substituted this with unsweetened apple sauce) and wheat germ (which I didn’t have, so also gluten-free..aka roomie-friendly)

Pancakes were made of rolled oats, whipped egg whites, apple sauce, vanilla whey protein powder, cottage cheese, cinnamon, stevia (an all-natural, zero calorie sweetener), and flax seeds. I made a fruit topping by microwaving some frozen fruit (Trader Joe’s berry blend) and adding some stevia. Delish!

And yes, I sometimes drink OJ out of a wine/champagne glass..

Well I’ve gotta run back to this experiment…Happy Monday! Have a great week!!!

-Lauren

Note: Check out my brother’s new blog. He was trained as a division one college athlete and is studying exercise physiology. Anything questions fitness-related, he’s a pro!