Latests

Not too many things to share this week- trying to cut back on spending until I’m back in the States in a couple weeks (where I can get more bang for my buck!) But things to share of late are:

The Starbucks App

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Yeah,  I know I’m super late on this one. I was totally aware of the app, but never really had the desire to pre-pay for my black coffee. But then I was made aware of all the rewards that can result from pre-paying for black coffee and I got myself signed up right away. In fact, tomorrow I’m indulging in my once annual skinny peppermint mocha. Kinda really excited.

Hot Yoga

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I got a 10 class pass to Hot Yoga on Crowfoot. It’s been a couple months since I went last and my hips really needed the stretch, plus I want to get in some sweaty stretch sessions before Vegas.

Lady Gaga

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Dang it, you guys. I am a serious Gaga fan and this latest album is no bueno. I listened to the whole CD during my workout last night, and my booty did not throw in any extra shakes due to non-booty-shaking-beats. Le sigh.

Wine.

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Cono Ser Viognier. It’s a sweet white wine. That’s all I have to say about that. Well, that and I only drank about 1/4 of a glass of it when I bought it. So lucky me I have most of a bottle to play around with this weekend.

The Body Shop stuff

1. Moringa  Beautifying Oil. To help with the crazy dry weather and for sexy times! You are welcome for the TMI.

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2. Seaweed Clarifying Toner for post- Hot Yoga and other super sweaty workouts. Helps get all the gunky makeup off that I usually miss when I wash my face.

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3. White Musk Voluptuous Velvet Body Creme. I already have the perfume of this, so I thought I’d add the body creme to my collection. Yet another thing to lather on and keep my skin from being so dry. I swear, I am itchy practically 24/7 during the winter!

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Double Chocolate Chunk Quest Bars

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Yup, this new flavor is the best. I still have to be super careful not to eat the whole bar in one sitting otherwise I turn into a blowfish. But with this flavor it’s so hard to restrain myself because it’s like a delicious and decadent candy bar.

And I realized maybe I did spend a bit. Woof.

Tell me: what are some of your latest finds?!!

Latests

Some more latests for you!

Nuts To You Nut Butters Organic Sunflower Seed Butter. I picked up a jar of this stuff at Community Naturals yesterday as a snack to keep handy at my desk. I ate some with an apple and it was over the moon delicious. Not quite sure if it tops my favorite Sunbutter from Trader Joe’s though (and yes, I know Sunbutter is available elsewhere, but I’m just professing my love and loyalty to good ol TJs).

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I picked up this snazzy Belkin Easefit for iPod earlier this week, too. My last one had half the velcro come off that was totally past repair. And yes, I realized this problem right before leaving for a workout and attempted to have Tyler electrical-tape it to my arm so I could still have a good workout. Ended up swinging by a Future Shop and finding this bad boy on clearance..only $10! I’ve used it a few times already and really love it- it’s snug and soft on my arm. The end.

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I also loaded it with my most recent music downloads (yes, I know not all these songs are brand new!!)

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I just started reading The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (she wrote Eat, Pray, Love) So far it’s really good, but I’m not too far in it.

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Tyler picked up a new flavor of Quest Bars…White Chocolate Raspberry! I had a bite of one tonight before heading to the gym and it tasted like dessert. This could be very dangerous. But then I remember if I eat too much of a Quest Bar I get all bloaty. You’re welcome for that extra bit of information.

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A couple weeks back, I went with a friend to get our hair and makeup done (she won two tickets for the complimentary service and asked me to join her). The girl who did my hair used one of those wand things and I LOVED how it put some really awesome waves in my long-ass hair. I’ve been on the hunt for a wand ever since and managed to find one at Winners on the cheap- hopefully it’s not cheap in performance just because it was cheap in price! Oh wait, I just googled it and the original retail price for the Le Angelique Ultimate Curling Iron was $149…..and I paid $34.99! Sweet. 

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With the cold weather so brutally seeping in, I managed to find a pair of Anne Klein sweater knit tights. My main concern before purchasing them was that they wouldn’t be long enough since my last tights purchase was an epic fail. Turns out they WERE long enough, only they didn’t have adequate elastic in the waist and would sag every time I walked a bit. Totally annoying when I try to get in about 2 miles of walking during my lunch break.

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At the Rocky Mountain Wine and Food Fest this past weekend, Oil & Vinegar had a booth that I managed to swing by. I only tried one of their samples and HOLY CRAP it was phenomenal. I tried their Fig Vinegar. As soon as I tasted it with a small piece of bread, I could immediately imagine sitting down with a nice loaf of crusty fresh baked bread and sopping up the goodness mixed with oil. Mmmm my mouth is watering now.

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Last thing to quickly share are some of my latest favorite moves in the gym:

  • Kettlebell Jerks (link to video demo here)
  • Barbell Front Squat (link to video demo here)

That’s all from this end! Any latests you’ve discovered lately and want to share!?? I love knowing about new-to-me things!

Life as of Late

Well shit. I had this whole post written out, and my computer went and deleted it. I want to scream, but then the puppies would come and rub their wet noses into my sides and that would be gross and uncomfortable. I really don’t think I can re-create the post, either, because that first one was pretty awesome. DANG IT. Let’s try this again.

I figured since my posts as of late have been pretty day-specific, and generally about exercise or food or stuff I found on the internet or booze, I would revert back to my old ways and catch up on some life stuff. (See: that’s not funny. The first draft’s intro paragraph was way better.)

Here we go.

1. I won a photo contest from Quest Nutrition Bars that I didn’t even know I entered. The prize was a whole box of their protein goodness, so I obviously went with chocolate chip cookies dough. Want to see what pic got me free stuff?

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2. I have a new sister wife.

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Tyler got a brand new 2013 Mustang (followed by a bunch more fancy words that makes the car sound super awesome. whatever). We’ve only really taken her out once, and it was pretty awesome. I can’t drive her, though. Not because of any Man-Ego-Bursting reasons, but simply because I don’t know how to drive standard. Nor do I really want to because the last thing I want is for anything to happen to my sister wife while I’m out with her. Yaknowwhatimsayin.

3. About a week or so ago, I made a batch of cake batter blondies. Solely for the purpose of eating sprinkles. And I needed something to put them in. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for ordering an extra cup of sprinkles with my soft serve (EVERYONE should be doing that), but I didn’t want to run the risk of having Tyler come home to me on the floor in a sugar coma with empty sprinkles jars. Although, similar things have happened (namely with brownie batter and Nutella).

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I pretty much followed the recipe you’ll find online. Honestly, if you just google it, there will be about 2305972039 search results, all posting pretty much the same recipe. Only difference with mine was that I added extra almond milk AND I threw in some pb2 powder. Um yeah, that was the best decision ever because those suckers were the bomb dot com. But then I wasn’t craving them the next day so I threw them out. This would be different if I HAD A JOB in which case I would bring excess treats into work to share. BUT NO….Sigh, I’m not going there today. I will probably cry. I go plop my mug into that big ass tub of nutella I recently purchased. No, can’t do that. I have a wedding dress to fit into. Sidenote: It is a TERRIBLE idea to have the final fitting for your dress SIX months before the actual wedding. And it doesn’t help that it is sitting in the bridal shop 3000 miles away so I can’t even visit it and make sure I don’t look like a sausage in it!

4. The three of us (Me, Tyler and the Sister Wife) drove out to Canmore on Saturday. 1.) So Tyler could break in the new gal 2.) To enjoy the friggin FIRST nice day of the year, and 3.) To go test out some beers and enjoy a nice lunch on the patio. We went to The Grizzly Paw for our first stop and enjoyed some beers. (The first draft had a really good joke about getting sun burns, but now I totally forget it, so your loss)

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Maybe it was something about how it was so nice to sit outside and enjoy a great afternoon of drinks and food even though we each only got burnt on one side of our bodies? I don’t know, I think there was some mention of altitude in that joke as well.

The beers were really good! The only one I didn’t care for was the IPA. (Canadian joke: IP-eh! hahaha I’m so silly)

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And we both got Bison burgers. My side HOUSE salad had beets and egg and a whole bunch of other delicious things that I immediately shovelled into my mouth.

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5. Beer + Lemonade= Shandy

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This stuff was WAY TOO EASY to drink. That is all I will say about that.

6. Tyler is SO good on the grill. We had filet mignon with caesar salads and grilled corn the other night. The dogs were going nuts because we kept ‘mmmmm-ing’.

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Also, the corn was from the US so of course it was good. 

7. Now that the sun has made its appearance for 2013, I have to take what I can get and say VAMOOS to tank top tan lines. Those don’t make for good wedding pictures..or so I hear.

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I was not intending for that picture to look scandalous, but I guess that’s what happens when you unhook the straps of a bathing suit. (for no tan lines people!)

Other tidbits as of late:

  • I made these and these and loved them both! I can’t wait for Sally to come out with her cookbook!!!
  • Target opened in Calgary today. I was bummed they didn’t have a larger grocery section, but HELLS YES I stocked up on Double Stuf Oreos. THEY WERE $1.88!!! 
  • I finally got my first Iced Coffee of the year from Starbucks. Crazy nees: Did you know they don’t offer iced coffee in the winter months? I suppose it’s not in high demand when the weather is -20, but I STILL WANT IT!

Now you tell me something!!! 

PROTEIN!

Protein. I can’t seem to get enough of it lately. So what are my favorite ways to get it? I’ll tell you.

ALMOND BUTTER

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Ok, any nut butter really, but I just so happened to buy a ton of almonds the other day, so this is what I currently have on stash.

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The flavor is great and can be enjoyed on it’s own or mixed in baked goods and smoothies.

GREEK YOGURT

I used to be OBSESSED with Chobani when I was living in Boston- I would have it everyday either in smoothies or mixed with fruits/grains/etc. But sadly, Chobani isn’t available here so I have resorted to Oikos.

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It doesn’t disappoint. I use it in baking recipes, dips, as a topping, etc. I used it for my Dill Dip the other day, and almost every recipe for pancakes.

Raspberry Mocha Pancakes (with almond butter and coconut butter topping)

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Berry Infused Pancakes

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EGGS

Fried or Hard Boiled are my choices. With sriracha. MMMMMmmmmmm.

PROTEIN BARS 

Just recently, I was able to FINALLY get my hands on a box of Quest Bars. If you’re a blog reader, you might have seen these a lot lately- they have great stats (In my opinion)

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Tons of fiber, tons of protein, no added sugar or artificial sweeteners, gluten free…

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Yeah, I highly recommend trying these puppies (check out their website linked above to see the variety of flavors they offer)

In fact, I just had one…and it curbed my craving for sweets! SHOCKING.

MEAT

Chicken, turkey, beef, pork…all protein (obviously I wouldn’t rely on bacon being a source of protein, but ya know..) I have loved being able to incorporate lean meats in our weekly meals. They are filling AND I have found they give me the oomph I need to get to my nighttime cardio sessions (Is it weird that I get the best cardio workouts late at night?!)

PROTEIN POWDERS

Here are the protein powders I have been using as of late:

  • Click (the coffee lovers protein powder)

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What’s your favorite way to get protein?