Sunday, March 1, 2015

For the Love of Eggs!



My sister came into town this week for a few days to help out since my mom has been having some major health issues that required hospitalization and rehab.  Talk about a stressful few weeks!  Agh!  :-/

While my sister was here, we ate breakfast out twice.  Our Thursday morning breakfast was at the always wonderful local Cracker Barrel (hellooooooooooooooo eggs in a basket).  We've had a lot of snow in SW Virginia in February so it was nice to relax by the fire and take our time eating a yummy meal.  The challenge was where to go on Saturday morning.  We decided to check out a restaurant that's only been open for a few months called Scrambled.  For starters, it is located in the heart of downtown, across the street from the Farmer's Market.  Cannot get a better location.  The menu on-line looked good but I wasn't sure if the food would live up to my expectations.  It did!

The restaurant is small but clean and nicely decorated with lots of windows and a mostly white interior.  I ordered a bacon, egg, tomato, and cheese sandwich on Texas Toast.  My husband and sister both had eggs, b'fast potatoes, and bacon.  My sister had a side of vanilla French  (the best thing on the table!) and my husband had one pancake.   Ohhhh, the sweet tea and coffee were good too but the food was delicious and our server was great.  I highly recommend Scrambled!

Aside from eating a lot, I've been trying to make a go of it for the Whole Life Challenge.  Fell off the wagon for a while during the past two weeks just from all of the health emergencies going on but still giving it a try for these final three weeks.  :-)

Saw Harry Connick Jr. this past week when he was touring in Roanoke.  What an amazing show he puts on!  He and his band played Mardi Gras tunes, some romantic classic love songs, jazz, and two gospel songs.  Harry interspersed some dancing, jokes, and stories to make it a really entertaining evening for the more than 1,700 people in the audience.  I'm not a big jazz fan but I do appreciate good live music and he's truly amazing and has a much better voice than most.  Next up is 'Piano Man' at the end of the month.



Friday, January 23, 2015

No Carbs and Strep Throat

Fruit tarts....yum...

Happy Friday!!!!!!!!!!  I'm home sick with strep throat today.  Blah!  What's worse is that I had taken today off as a vacation day not knowing how this infection would knock me over mid-week.  Boo! Thank goodness for nice nurse practitioners and antibiotics.  :-)

Hope you all have a good weekend full of fun things to do.  The weather here is iffy today and will be tomorrow too so that plus my feeling like _____ will probably prevent me from doing much.  It's raining and snowing here but the snow isn't sticking yet.  Worried more about ice.  Hopefully, spring will decide to show up early.  Like in February.

It's Day 7 of The Whole Life Challenge for me and so far so good!  I've pretty much eliminated all their no-no foods from my diet.  I have to say, I don't miss the carbs as much as I thought I would.  I crave them less now.  So, that's a small victory!  I'm also doing my best to go to the gym more (averaging twice a week instead of never) and do a bit of yoga daily.  Haven't managed to get in my 50 oz of water a day but I'm almosttttttttttttttt there.  I'm hopeful I'll get that done soon.  A friend at work introduced me to the My Water app for the iPhone.  I think that'll help me stay on track better and not realize at the end of the day that I'm way behind.  I do miss fruit tarts and dessert.  I still crave a Milano cookie from time to time.  Like during the latest Downton Abbey episode (not sure why).

A good buddy of mine runs a Air BnB place in Pulaski called 132 Guesthouse that my husband and I visited during Christmas break.  It's gorgeous inside!  I wish I had taken pictures of her living room when it was decorated for Christmas because it was so beautifully done.  The giant fir tree made the house smell wonderful and she had a little train set circled around the tree that we could play with.  She has 4 rooms available and a nice multi-story back porch.  She's hosted European tourists, a Washington Post reporter, and people driving through SW VA on their way to Tennessee and West Virginia, among others.  So, if you ever find yourself driving on I-81 and need a place to rest your head, check it out!

Friday, January 9, 2015

Movies



I love that during this time of year when you don't feel like doing much outside that you can at least count on there being some good movies to see.  Back in December, a friend and I went to see Into the Woods and I didn't realize that it would be SUCH a musical.  It was fantastic and I'd see it again!  Totally recommend it...  My husband and I had a hard time deciding between seeing Wild or The Imitation Game this past Saturday night but we chose The Imitation Game and we were glad we did.  Another amazing movie.  Looking forward to January 16th when American Sniper and Foxcatcher are on wide release, finally!

Seen any good ones lately?

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Happy 2015, Everyone!

My homemade Black & White cookies (yum)
Helloooooooooooooooooooooo everyone!  I hope you are all doing well and are keeping warm and healthy.  The flu is going around (ack!) so I'm washing my hands like crazy hoping to avoid the germs.  Back in the day, my 11th grade high school history teacher was a germaphobe (is that a real word?) and used to spray all of our tests and homework assignments with Lysol, always wore gloves inside, and made any sick kids sit in the back of the room.  We all used to make fun of her but I don't anymore.  LOL

So, in the past two years I've gained about 25 pounds ~ can you believe that?!  I went from a size 6 to a 12.  *sigh*  Of course, it doesn't help when I bake yummy cookies and snack all year long.  I've been back on Weight Watchers for the past twelve months but have only gained weight.  So, not sticking to my point allowance, obviously.  I'm sick of not fitting into my pants and boots and just, in general, being irritated with my appearance.  So, I signed up for the Whole Life Challenge which will help me kick start my goal of losing 2 pounds per week.  I start January 17th.  A shout out to the blogger from Attempts at Domestication for mentioning this program or else I'd never have heard about it.  I'm excited!  What's even better is a friend of mine joined with me.  I think I'll have more success with a buddy.

Since I last blogged, my husband and I were able to finally paint and decorate our dining room.  Thank goodness!  We painted the ceiling, chair rail, and trim bright white.  The top 2/3 of the wall is Behr Manhattan Mist gray and the bottom third of the wall is Behr Dark Pewter gray.  Looks great with our marble tile floor.  Target had great curtains and J.C. Penney had a faux Mercury glass curtain rod that is perfect.  Here's a photo.  Ignore the beige line above the chair rail.  We touched that up after this photo was taken...


Besides losing weight, my goals for 2015 include painting and renovating the half bath on the main level and our kitchen.  We may wait to do the kitchen next year but a trip to IKEA this spring will help make that decision for us.

I am back in school for a second master's degree.  This time around, I'm working towards a master's in library science.  So far, two classes completed and I'm loving it!  Takes up a lot of my time, though.  Plus, tuition is expensive.  I think in the long run it will be worth the investment.

A good buddy of mine just told me she's going to Iceland on vacation in February.  How exciting!!  She'll go dog sledding, try out the hot springs, go horseback riding, and visit a black sand beach,  glaciers, waterfalls, and geysers!  That's something truly fabulous to look forward to.  Makes me dream of taking a vacation sometime soon!

Hope your week goes well ~