Personal Goals for 2010

I still need to check how I did on my 2009 goals and make an update, but of course I've already started my list for 2010 and what I plan to accomplish. Here's what I've got so far:

• Make a blog post everyday in January
• Pass French 101 (starts 1/25)
• Lose these last 5 lbs and maintain
• Be kidney stone free for the year
• Book and Pay for our first trip to Europe (in July!)
• Be credit card debt free
• Have 3 months salary in savings

2 personal, 2 health-related, 3 financial. What are your goals/hopes/dreams/determinations?

Restaurant in Pasadena, CA

So today I'm in Pasadena for work (all day meeting tomorrow, bleh) and a girls gotta eat, right?! Check into the hotel, dump my stuff all over my room, then BossLady and I start to wander around Old Town. In about 5 minutes flat we decide to give the green light to the first place we see since we're both starving. Turns out to be a place called Russell's on N Fair Oaks Ave.

I see that they serve red wine so I figure it'll work. Surprisingly, I chose to be a good girl and ordered the salmon with veggies (I know right, I can't believe it myself!). What's really surprising to me is how gooood it was. Seriously, I couldn't shut up about the salmon. So yummy. The malbec from Argentina was decent and BossLady loved her steak and fries.

If you're in the area, this would be a recommendation, for sure.

TAG: Getting to Know You...

"...getting to know all about you." haha, i couldn't resist. I saw this quiz from Ondine here and decided to steal for myself.

1. Mood: indifferent...i think??
2. Left or Right Handed: Right, but when I was a kid I remember trying to teach myself to be both b/c 'all the artsy types are Lefties' and man I didn't want to be the square who used her right!
3. Where do you consider home: Our new condo in San Diego, definitely. But sometimes I do tell people that I was actually born in San Luis Obispo and graduated High School in Galt (near Sacramento, in NorCal). Because technically I'm not 'from' San Diego even though I've lived here 8+ years.
4. 3 things you're grateful for: My boyfriend, my health, not really being affected by the economy...yet
5. Today's Eyes/Lips/Cheeks: Eyes=MAC paint pot in Painterly and MAC Technakohl liner in black; thats it, so sad. Lips=a whole lot of dry skin. Cheeks=MAC marble skinfinish cheeker in a bronzy color.
6. Have you ever studied abroad: Umm, no. I had the chance but didn't...bad decision
7. Do you collect anything: uhh, what? like dust?
8. Last text you sent: To my hairdresser/friend Candice "Can't wait 2 c u tonight!" (b/c I have a hair appt!)
9. Today's Outfit: ballet flats, my old reuhl jeans, a white tshirt, & my new Reuhl poncho
10. This Week's goals: drink all my water, pack all breakfasts and lunches for work, dont get in an accident while driving my boss up to Pasadena for work, make it to at least 1 workout class 
    

Now I tag YOU - I'd love to see you answers. xoxo

In Need of Fitspiration

The last two weeks I have been pretty diligent about my food intake - back to my healthy ways. But for some reason I can't get back into the habit of exercising. For me, this is the hardest part; starting up your gym regime after some time off. I can't figure out why its so damn difficult though!
And I'll be honest here...I have only done a type of phisical exertment ONE time since before my cousins wedding in October. WHAT the...yes, one time I went jogging/walking/hiking for an hour and a half with 2 of my friends. And that's it. And I've only got 5 pounds left to go to be at my goal weight. Five pounds, thats it. I just want to dump it already!
I need some help here girls. What gets you motivated to get back into an exercise routine? How do you make that first step into the gym?

Laundromat now open

Our laundry room was too small to fit any normal size washer/dryer, so we moved the wall back 8 inches, rewired the electrical, reworked the plumbing, & put new flooring in over the existing concrete (used as a sound barrier for the neighbors below).

Here's what it looked like before:

Here's some pix during the work:

 

 

 

And of course I forgot to take a picture after everything was finished, but take my word that it looked really good and we couldn't have done it without our friend Cheyenne, who flew out from Virginia to help us.   

Here's the new washer/dryer set, in the room! Super snug fit, but it does fit. We bought front loaders from LG, with their stacking kit, all from Home Depot.

 

The last 2 months of having to go to the laundromat have been exhausting, but now we're up and running in our own home. Huge sigh of satisfaction.

First Day of 2010

Yesterday boyfriend and I had the best day. A little laziness, a little productivity, and lots of kisses. It's so easy to make me happy haha. Here's what we did:

• Slept in a bit
• Made coffee - Starbucks French Roast (my fav)
  
• Good breakfast of hard boiled egg and fruit
• Played some Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (boyfriend's brothers bought him a PS3 for Christmas & he bought this game for me-I love racing cars)
• Ordered a new couch - We've had our eye on this one for a year or so, but since the futon recently broke, we went to replace it asap
• Got more Starbucks :^)
  
• Bought a couple things at Ruehl - they're closing our store, actually all the stores (going out of business), so everything is super on sale
• Chipotle for lunch!
• Watched a movie on Xbox/Netflix - Romancing the Stone (I loved this movie when I was a kid & haven't seen it in forever - now its a bit cheesy)
• I took an hour nap
• Watched an episode of Friday Night Lights on Xbox/Netflix
• Finished our bottle of wine from Jessup Cellars in Napa Valley (there wasn't much left)
• Had a snack of bbq popchips & i had a cup of strawberries
  
• Found an extra power cord for my bro to have & made plans for him to come over Sunday
• In bed by 1030pm

Here's a picture of our couch, from the website. We ordered the color 'cream' in a twill material and plan on buying a slipcover to keep it safe and fresh. And actually, when we put the new flooring in our condo, it will be a similar shade to what's shown here.

 Super simple day & so relaxing. Those are my best days. What about you, what did you do yesterday?

Recipe - Black Bean Chili

I'm slowly getting used to my crockpot & my new kitchen (and just cooking in general) and I like finding new recipes that I would actually repeat. This is one of them. Its simple, its yummy, and its good for you. And it actually comes from my FitOrbit trainer, Charlanne, so thank you to her!

Makes 6 servings: Serving size about 1 cup (about 285 calories)


Ingredients:
1 tbspn canola oil
1 3/4 cups finely chopped onion (about 1 large)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbspn chili powder
2 tspn ground cumin
3 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed & drained
1 cup water
1 tbspn sugar
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained


Instructions:
Heat canola oil in a big regular pot over medium heat
Add onion & garlic; saute for 6 minutes or just until onion mixture begins to brown
Add chili powder & cumin (or substitute with taco mix); cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly
Add beans, water, sugar, tomatoes; stirring to combine
Bring to a boil; reduce heat, & simmer for 30 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring occasionally. (Lid off)
Ta da!


Then I bust out 6 plastic containers and divide the goods evenly, so that its all ready for my lunches/dinners.