>Thunderstorms yield great wine

>I have a confession: I still sleep with the teddy bear I was giving when I was born.

His name is Berry. AKA Strawberry Jones (sick name, right?). But I call him Berry for short. Hopefully I am not alone on this one like my Manfriend and sister lead me to believe…

Yesterday was quite the day. I started it out with PB + Chocolate + Chia Overnight Oats:

– 1/4 cup oats

– 2 tbsp PB Flour

– 1/2 scoop Chocolate protein powder (I use SunWarrior)

-1/2 cup FF Greek yogurt

– 1 tbsp chia seeds

– H20

– stevia

– dash sea salt

Hit.the.spot

I also delivered the Manfriend Breakfast IN BED:

Everything bagel with 2 over-easy eggs, grilled ham, and Laughing Cow cheese. Nice girlfriend I am, eh? heheh

[Insert 4 hours of thesis work (MS thesis in Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology) while listening to the massive thunderstorms outside]

I love (being inside during) storms. So cozy.

During a brief storm intermission, I snuck out for a fabulous light-rain 5-mile run. Do you run in the rain. It is SO THERAPEUTIC. Seriously try it.

Feeling amazing and recharged for more thesis work, I came home to NO POWER. Bored and unsure what to do, I threw in p90x Arms and Shoulders on the Mac and got ma lift on in the dining room (our brightest room). Eh, if it works?

After 45 mins of lifting, the power was STILL not on. Then another FOUR hours went by of reading by limited candlelight. DCers: WHY does the power always go out in the SUMMER? I am from NH/Boston and the power has gone out more times HERE than when I lived in NEW ENGLAND!!!!!

So what’s a girl to do? 1) I showered in the dark. Interesting to say the least. Then 2) made dinner by candle light. Kelsey (sister) and I made one quick sweep into the fridge as to lose the least amount of cold air and whipped up dinnah.

*Sorry for the poor-quality pics. I was in the dark… 😉

Summer salad:

Romaine, tofu (medium), red grapes, diced watermelon, cucumbers served with Goddess Dressing + Nutritional yeast. Fab.

Hard-boiled eggs (fortunately we have a gas stove):

PB + Chocolate mousse for dessert:

1/2 cup FF Greek yogurt, 2 tbsp PB Flour, stevia, dash sea salt, drizzle organic chocolate syrup, drizzle Better N’ Peanut Butter

STILL without power, I threw in the Thesis-Towel, put my face on by candle (and flash) light..

..and met the Manfriend and his cousin Dan for drinks at this awesome place. <— If you live in the area, this bar is fantastic. TONS of beer, great vino selection, and FANTASTIC ambiance. Seth informed me this morning the AMAZING Cabernet I was drinking was $15/glass. Whoops 🙂 BUTTTT…we did come home to POWER!

And that brings us to today. I woke craving something TROPICAL. Perhaps it’s due to the SUN that’s finally out?? I went for a Green-a-Colada Protein Smoothie (inspired by Gina’s):

– 1 scoop vanilla protein (Used SunWarrior)

– 1/2 cup FF Greek yogurt

– 1/4 cup frozen pineapple

– 1/2 cup frozen mango

– 1 frozen banana

– 2 tbsp red. fat unsweetened coconut

– 2 hand fulls fresh spinach

– stevia

– 1/2 tsp xanthan gum (optional; to thicken)

– teeny dash sea salt (brings out sweetness)

– Ice + H20 (or almond milk)

Perfection.

So what’s up for the rest of the day???

– Thesisss
– Lunch
– Workout (Run or TurboFiyyyah)
– Pack for tomorrow’s Road trip (hint: clue in 4th picture)
– Clean apt
– Dinnah
– RHDC and Jersey Shore (hehehe)

Have a fantastic day Y’ALLLLLLL (hint #2)

-Laur

QUESTIONS:

Do you still sleep with a stuffed animal?

Have you taken any road trips lately???

>Roadtrip!

>Heyyyy!!!

How was your V-day weekend??! Mine was GREAT. The manfriend and I met my parents in Myrtle Beach, SC to run a half marathon and squeeze in some beach time. It was a bittersweet debauchery of a weekend for several reasons:

1) Our train to the airport (and all trains that day) was cancelled
2) Our flight was cancelled (and all fights to SC that day)
3) Our half marathon was cancelled because of “snow”

Seriously, wtf???

Sooo not to let this ruin our weekend we:

1) Took a roadtrip to SC instead
2) Ran our own half marathon on the beach

The roadtrip was actually a lot of fun. Seth and I are such goofballs and the time flew by (at least for me! ha). Aaaaand I always love roadtrip snacking 😉

7-Eleven Coffee. I love it. All of the flavors. Don’t judge.

Fruit plate (also from 7-11). Seriously freakin amazing:

^Watermelon, mango, pineapple

And check out the price!

Valentine chocolates:

Subway salad:

^Note to those lacto-intolerant: Kraft Italian dressing has Parmesan cheese (!) Ruined that one for me (I’m allergic)

MickyD’s apple dippers:

Oh, and I snapped this picture of a gigantic cigarette. I can’t believe how many Billboards, advertisements, etc. we saw promoting smoking!!! So sad!

After arriving, Seth and I went out to dinner for a carb-loaded pasta feast (I had seafood fra diablo, amazing!) with my adorable parents:

Then shortly after finishing dinner we found out the race was cancelled to due “snow”. Essentially, SC got 1.5 inches overnight and although it melted in time for the marathon, the city was scared it would be dangerous to have runners and cars on the road together. Ahhhh, you Southerners are crazy 😉

So, what did we do instead? Had a post-dinner drink (since we weren’t waking up at 5:30am):

^This stuff tastes like strawberry milk. Nuts.

Slept in until 11am, ate breakfast, and ran 13.1 miles on the beach!

Mama dukes and pops just before the run:

Me trying to look tough. Mental preparation, y’all. ha.

The manfriend was so sweet! He ran 6 miles with me in the only extra pair of shoes that would fit him: My dad’s friend’s 80’s-style Wal-mart working kicks. Love you Seth!

And I obviously snapped some pics along the way (because you know I love pics on the run!)

The dangerous snow 😉

13.1 miles of this. Aaaah, I miss it already:

After the run I made everyone a post-race snack (carbs, protein for recovery):

^FF strawberry greek yogurt, 1/2 banana, PB

Later that night the manfriend and I made dinner for the parentals, parental’s friends, and my aunt/uncle. We made sweet potato chili, quinoa, and skinny margaritas (of course).

Madre and I after (a couple) margaritas:

Despite all of the chaos and cancellation it was a great weekend!
How was your weekend??! Fill me in! I feel like I’ve been away for ages

-Lauren

Question:

For all the Single Ladies, does Valentine’s day annoy you??? Or do you plan single gals’ nights/bar crawls like I used to????

For the “taken ladies”, what do you miss most about being single?? I promise I won’t spill your secrets 😉