Hi from Dallas

I had forgotten how much it totally sucks to have to travel for work all the time because I haven't had to do it in a few months. Also, our Christmas party is Friday, and we got word last night that there's a whole sketchy booze situation so we can't even get drunk. It's like management has decided to forge a battle against fun. And the economy is so bad that we all have to deal with it, because right now public accounting is one of the only reasonably secure jobs in the financial world. Awesome.

Anyway, after my shopping victory Friday, Dan and Leeann came to town so we got some dinner and then I picked up Blake from the airport. Saturday morning I went to yoga and then baked some focaccia before the football game. I've decided to avoid early morning yoga at all costs in the future. It's hard because I can't really eat first because I'll feel like I'm going to vomit. So I just have a protein shake to fill me up during class. But I still felt awful. It was similar on Thursday morning. I think I'll be avoiding all classes before noon from now on. I need something real in my belly before working out.

The football game was horrible...it was freezing cold and raining the whole time. The students were all home for Thanksgiving and most "fans" only come when we're winning, so it was almost empty, which was sad. At least we won. If we hadn't, we might have all killed ourselves. Worst conditions ever. Now we just wait to see which bowl game we'll wind up going to. But I probably won't be going to it unless it's in Charlotte because I don't want to throw down a bunch of cash to go to a sub-par bowl. And we deserve only a sub-par bowl this year.

Other than my Saturday yoga, I haven't done much working out. I didn't have time to do anything Sunday between the cleaning and laundry and packing, and we got in too late last night for me to run this morning. I did do about 20 minutes of pilates mat exercises when I got up though. I get my fat butt back to the gym tomorrow morning. I eat way too much when I'm out of town to not be working out at least once a day.

That's about it. There probably won't be much updating this week because nothing exciting really happens when I'm out of town. In fact, it's 9pm right now and I'm thinking about going to bed. I'm pretty lame on the road. But I have to get up early to get a solid workout in, so that's what happens. Hopefully between work and dinner tomorrow night, I can also get a lifting session in because I skipped that on Sunday. Good times.

Have a good week everyone.

Big day

Today, after I lifted, I knew I was supposed to go to the gym. But it was so pretty outside, that I decided to go for a walk instead because this 'unseasonably warm' thing was a one-day event. So I walked down to Target and didn't see anything great by way of sales, so I went across the street to Best Buy...and while I was there, I started and completed my Christmas shopping. All of it. And it was awesome. A little annoying to walk the mile and a half home with all of my purchases, but totally worth it (and a little resistance during a cardio workout never hurt anyone).

I must say, the economy certainly is hurting...because Best Buy didn't look any different than it would on a normal Saturday afternoon. And there was zero line to pay. Probably not great for business. But if it makes prices drop on fancy TVs before we buy one, I'm at one with it.

And now I'm making some focaccia dough and then I'm off to dinner with Tim, Dan, and Leeann. Blake gets in around 9 tonight. And then we may hit some bars. Big tailgate tomorrow after my yoga class. Yay.

Oh, and my yoga class yesterday was RIDICULOUS. The teacher apparently thought that because we'd all be eating so much that day, it was appropriate to leave the space heaters on for the ENTIRE CLASS. OH MY GOD I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HOT. But it was good. And I did the tripod headstand I've been working on, so that was awesome. And sidenote: I did eat so much yesterday that I'm still full today. I feel like some kind of beached whale.

Happy Black Friday everyone. I hope your shopping experiences were as fruitfu as mine. :)

Hi from home!

It's a good time when I am given a wireless broadband card from work for the purpose of travel. Because I have to travel on Sunday, and now I have internet in my house all weekend!

I did not go to work today. I did, however, bring some work home with me. I haven't done it yet, but I will before the weekend is over. It's not too much.

I did all sorts of stuff today. I work up and lifted and then hit up Target for a few things. I then stopped at Blockbuster with the plan to rent a movie for the weekend but, as always, I got sucked in by the 3 for $20 previously viewed videos and got three of those instead. I've seen two of them before, but they were good, so no complaints. I got Baby Mama, Waitress, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It should be some good weekend watching.

And then I stopped to get my dress altered...I was a bit panicked about it because really no one but my mom and grandmother has ever altered anything for me, but the place was awesome and they're going to fix my Christmas party dress exactly like I want it. So yay. It might be pricey but I don't care. As long as the dress fits as it was intended to.

And then I stopped at the mall. I needed to get a sheet pan for my focaccia that I'm making on Friday at Crate & Barrel. And then this morning, I got an email $15 off a $35 purchase coupon for Sephora, but apparently I read it wrong and it doesn't go into effect until Friday. And I am NOT going to the mall on Friday. But it works online, so I went into the store today and picked out what I wanted so I'd be prepared for online ordering. I also stopped at PetSmart because we needed more filters for the boys' water bowl. And of course while I was there I got them some new toys that they LOVE.

You'd think that was it, but it was only 2pm when I got home. I made lunch, watched Baby Mama and made a pear pie for tomorrow. And now I think I'm going to watch another movie and make the caramelized onions for my focaccia. Good times. Tomorrow will be filled with morning yoga, cooking, and TV watching. I'm making some spinach and artichoke dip for during the Wake basketball game, and then a turkey and vegetable casserole with a side salad and some bread for dinner for me and Tim. We will probably also play Rock Band. Just like the pilgrims did.

I'll update again on Friday, aka my Day of Baking. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Ugh...

Yesterday I was SO BORED at work. SO BORED. And I left early. But I have to be here all day today (Susan and I are going directly to yoga at 5) and although I did save myself a little bit of real work to do, I still know I'm going to be bored out of my mind. All of the higher-ups and half of the other people are out this week for Thanksgiving...but since I'm not heading home and I'm trying to hoard vacation time so I can go to Italy next year, I swore that I would be here through Wednesday. I am now seriously reconsidering Wednesday.

Also yesterday, I cleaned out my gym locker because I had an extra bag with me. And when I brought my clothes home, I realized that it's going to be hard to have to throw together 4-5 gym clothes outfits for the few weeks that I have to attend a gym that doesn't do my laundry daily for me. I'm going to look ridiculous and un-matchy a lot. Oh well. I always look cute for yoga and pilates.

So I've been wrestling with this since I watched the AMA's Sunday night...I feel like I hate Miley Cyrus just because of who she is, but the song she sang on there was really catchy. Really catchy and probably good for working out to. And now I'm considering buying her Breakout album (on iTunes, obviously, so I don't have to actually pay for it at a store in front of people). My main concern? That when I'm on iTunes at work, my coworkers can see my music. And they'll probably make fun of me. I'm also considering the Leona Lewis album, and the new Christina Aguliera, however what angers me about Christina is that it is sold only at Target and you can't get 30 second previews of the songs on Target.com. So that is lame, and I may not buy it purely because of that. If I can't buy it on iTunes, it's hardly worth it.

Bad news - the dress I ordered from Jessica McClintock for the Christmas party? Yeah, the bigger size zips up, but it is ABSOLUTELY HUGE everywhere else. And Jessica McClintock won't take it as a return because it was on sale. So my options now are to get it seriously altered (pro: it will look exactly like I want it to; con: it will cost more money) or try to return it to Belk's or something (pro: not spending more money; con: losing some of the money I already spent). What to do? I'm going to try it on again tonight and decide if the alterations I would want are doable. Lame. Good thing I got another dress.

Blake left for home this morning...he had a 6:30 flight, and while he did not make me drive him to the airport (thank god for the bus station one block from our house), he still woke me up at 4. And I was fully awake until he left at 5. And then when my alarm went off at 6:30, I wanted to scream. This is going to cause me to go to bed around 9 tonight I'm sure.

Oh my god, it's only 9am. KILL ME.

Weekend and whatnot

This was kind of a lame weekend actually. I took my half day on Friday, lifted, and did some baking. As it turns out, I grossly overestimated the amount of people that were coming to a really cold tailgate prior to a really cold game, so I had all sorts of extra cookies to bring to the office today. The dinner and Rock Band party were fun, and Tim's new condo was very nice. Someday, when he becomes a real adult and gets matching furniture, it's going to be very homey. ;)

Saturday morning I did not feel bad about going to pilates because it meant that I only spent two hours at the tailgate instead of like 5. Again, it was cold at the tailgate. And then Wake completely blew their lead in the fourth quarter and as a result they pretty much crapped on their entire season. Because the ACC is full of sub-par teams, more of them are bowl eligible than there are ACC bowls to go to, so Wake probably won't even get a bowl bid, even if they win next week and go 7-5. So that sucks. We had such high hopes. The only way I'm spending money to watch us botch a bowl game is if we wind up in Charlotte again this year. Because that one only costs me the price of a ticket.

Sunday I got up and lifted, went to church, did errands, and went to yoga. It was a successful day. Except that we went to lunch with Tim and Dan and I ate too much pizza...to the point where I felt like I might vomit at yoga. I wasn't even hungry for dinner so I didn't eat any. I need to stop this whole overeating thing. I have problems.

I ordered a few new yoga shirts online. I like the Underarmor Heat Gear T's and tanks because they completely absorb my sweat during the hot yoga classes. So I ordered a few new ones last week. And then I ordered and received this new yoga bag. It's from Gaiam and it's huge and awesome for when I have to bring all of my gear to work with me. I have my mat in the bottom, my brick, strap, and yogitoes towel on the inside, and I've also added some make-up remover pads for before class and blotting cloths for after. Because seriously, I am really sweaty up in there. But once I leave I feel awesome. So it's worth it.

Anyway, just a regular Monday now, except that I have like nothing to do at work this week. I'm heading to the gym at lunch and then my pilates lesson after work. This will be my only stop at the pilates studio this week because they're closed from Wednesday - Sunday for Thanksgiving. Sad. I'm going to have to do my mat class videos once or twice to make up for it. I'm making some pasta with rotisserie turkey in it tonight so that should be tasty. Have a good Monday everyone!

Yay for Friday

I'm in the office again on a Friday, but not to worry, I'm leaving at noon. Yay. I'm going to visit Kristin and the baby and then I'm going to be making some tailgating cookies. I'm excusing myself from my scheduled cardio workout today because I've already done cardio 4 times this week and I successfully completed another 90 minute hot yoga class last night (and with minimal soreness today). And I dragged Susan into it with me. So now she is also hooked.

We're having our first Rock Band party in quite some time at Tim's new condo tonight, so that will be lovely. He moved in over a month ago and we haven't even seen it yet. It's crazy.

We have the football game tomorrow, but I'm going up there a bit late so that I can go to pilates in the morning. It's going to be really cold tomorrow (high is 47 degrees), so I'm not in a huge rush to get there and sit outside for 6 hours. Especially once the sun goes down. But Dan's in town for the game, so it should be fun.

Sunday, in addition to the normal cleaning and errands, I'm going to add in lifting, church, and yoga just like last week. I shouldn't have too many errands to run since Blake's leaving town Tuesday morning. I just have to buy food for the Thanksgiving feast I am going to be cooking for myself and Tim. And I'm planning to do some advanced baking for the tailgate on the 29th, so I'll have to prepare for that (I'm thinking about replicating the delicious focaccia bread that we learned how to make in cooking class last weekend. And also cookies and brownies and the like). I also want to make a batch of chicken soup to freeze because it's awesome to come home from work and defrost some real quick when I don't feel like cooking. :)

I hope you all have good weekends and stay warm!

I have problems.

Last night when I went home from work, my arms were still really sore in the tricep and shoulder regions. But I couldn't let myself not lift. So I did a bunch of squats and lunges and worked on my back and biceps as much as possible without being in too much pain. And you know what? Afterwards, my arms did hurt less. But I think this proves that I have a serious working out addiction. Also, yesterday, I did some research on yoga and pilates studios near my mom's house so that I could keep up with my classes while I'm home for Christmas.

Hi, my name is Jen, and I'm an exercise-aholic?