Weekend Happenings: Labor Day Edition

So I had this long list of plans to “tackle” during my long weekend and at the end of the day I simply went with the flow and while some things did get done others were postponed to be completed sometime this week (or next) and I’m perfectly okay with that. YOLO.

I spent a lot of time at my mom’s house just hanging out with my parents and my sister. Although I do love the time I spent by myself and with friends; quality time with the family was in order and that’s what happened. I don’t know if its because they miss me terribly when I’m not around (lets hope that’s the case) but my mom seriously spoils me when I spent time with them. Funny thing is, I live about 20 minutes away! But I am usually so busy with work, school, life in general that I rarely see them during the week and some weekends. So, basically, I was spoiled with great food, as it is the norm in Spanish families (well, probably every family). Good thing is that my mom is well aware of my eating preferences so she rarely preps anything overly unhealthy or “greasy” for lack of a better word. They are also trying to ear healthier, wholefoods so I enjoy her new found enthusiasm for health very much.

Not to say that when she preps traditional dishes I don’t indulge. Because I do.  And I enjoy every bite. Still working on this “guilt free” eating strategy so, im trying that with my mom’s “traditional” foods as well.

On Saturday I went shopping with mom which is something I hadn’t done in a while.  We tacked our favorite stores: Home Goods, TJMaxx and Marshalls. As usual, we found some amazing deals. I bought a work-out shirt, a mug for my mug collection (yeah I have one of those), a beautiful rug set for my bathroom and my absolute favorite piece, this gorgeous “Paris-themed” painting:

 

We found that at Home Goods.  My mom actually found it and she knows I am completely obsessed with everything from Paris. And I mean everything. I cant tell you how many frames, candles, throw pillows, mugs, etc.  I have in my apartment with the “Paris” name on it or pics of the Eiffel tower, etc. I actually went to Paris in 2011 during a week long Euro-trip and turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life to date. I actually never got around to posting the "Paris" post not sure why. Maybe I'll put some pics together for a belated post (like 2 years belated).

By the way, while browsing the clearance section at TJ Maxx I found this disgusting item:

So, basically a chicken patty from NutriSystem just sitting in clearance. Is it just me or does this sound disgusting?! Made me wonder--- is this real chicken or some chemical-based concoction. According to the ingredient list, it is chicken:

 

Disgusting anyways.

Moving on; Monday morning I drove back to my apartment to complete a training run (there are no running areas/tracks around my parent’s neighborhood). I think I ran about 3 miles (or 2.5) but not entirely sure as I realized my Nike+ app had disappeared from my phone. I actually finally  updated my IPhone to the latest operating system this past weekend (another labor day weekend “task” completed). So basically, random apps disappeared while some stayed. Not sure how apple picks and chooses what stays. In addition to no Nike App my Pandora (and general music apps) were not working. Either way, I managed to run with zero entertainment. Just listening to my heart beat and of course my rambling mind which I was trying to ignore/silence during the entire run.

Clue numero 1 that you have learned to enjoy running: You can run more than a mile with zero entertainment.

After my run, I had some breakfast and then tackled my DVR  for some Suze Orman shows I had missed during he past few weeks (yes I am a huge fan of her show!):

*Clarification: @teachmetoinvest is my twitter account which is geared to investment/personal finance tips and tricks. I also blog over at teachmetoinvest.blogspot.com on that same topic. The Dance, Love, Dine twitter name is @dolcemabelle.

I then took a trip to the hair salon to get my hair ‘did as I am in the process of renewing my passport and I am looking forward to taking some decent-looking passport photos. Scratch that: I wanna’ look good. Lets just say that my current pic was taken when I was about 13 or 14 years old and its pretty horrible. There’s no sugar coating it. So, my goal for this week is to take some nice pics and get my passport renewed. Cant wait for future travels! I think another Euro-trip is in order.

 When I got home that evening I had the urge for some banana muffins and that’s what went down in my kitchen.

 

I got inspired by a post on a blog I recently found and which I added to my blog-roll list: The Real Life RD. This blog really hit home on a personal level but I’ll explain more why on a future post. In the meantime, click here for the blog/recipe.

Confession: Although I wasn’t planning on it I ate about half a dozen (or maybe more) of those mini-muffins. I know that besides the fact they came out damn good, my triggers were also boredom, loneliness, something in my personal life that was bothering me and dreading going back to work the next day. Not to mention the fact that I was flipping channels of mindless Monday-night television. As I previously mentioned, I am not allowing guilt to affect me and I am just moving on and accepting those muffins came out good and I did enjoy my indulgence. However, I figured I shared this with you guys and not pretend like I simply ate one muffin and put away the rest because that’s not what happened.  Guilt-free eating is a work in progress. So, I figured I share every step of the way with you guys!

Ok well, that’s all folks! All in all I enjoyed my weekend. Looking forward to tackling some more stuff this week. Thank god is a short work- week!

Tell me, how did you spend your time this past weekend? Do you have a favorite blog or new-found blog that you feel is great?! Share below.

Dinner and Someone needs to ban me from TJMaxx

Hello!

Figured I passed by for a quick post and to share a few things. I managed to get home "early" enough today (by early meaning 9pm!) and prepped some dinner. I had some pre-seasoned wild salmon in my freezer. Thankfully fish seems to cook fairly quickly so I paired it up with my fave: sweet potatoes!  I added some cinnamon on top. Pic might not look very "attractive" but I can assure you it was GOOD! (I also had some unsweetened almond milk with my meal):

So, this is why I need to get banned from TJMaxx. Long story short, yesterday I had an AMAZING chopped salad by a place around my job (think: feta, avocado, grilled chicken, fresh lettuce/spinach/carrots/cucumbers). The salad was so well "chopped" that I didnt even need to add dressing! Sooo good.

So, the above noted salad inspired me to go by one of my retail addictions today: TJMaxx--on the search for a salad chopper. And long and behold, my wishes came true:

(only $4.99!!)

I had no business continuing to walk around the store and should have gone straight to pay for my chopper and left the store. Instead I walked over to their stationary section where I found this lovely number:

(Also $4.99!!!)

I am ashamed to say I could not help myself. It was the ONLY one there and I am obsessed with cute notebooks like that. I had to get it. The cover is leader, by the way. Super nice! I do a lot of journaling so, it will definitely be put to use!

They had so many cute notebooks. Here's another one:

I managed not to buy it but I loved the message: "When Your Heart Speaks, Take Good Notes".

So cute, right?! :)

Ok just wanted to share! Oh! and Ive been running more this week by the way! so happy about that. But, will elaborate more on my end of week wrap up!.

QUESTION: Are you obsessed with any store in particular?

Fortunate Friday + Week Recap, blended in 1 :)

Another Friday has arrived and no Friday would be complete without my summation of things that I felt fortunate for this week. And here you have it-à

1. The little things in life that bring us joy.  Needed a new mug for work and found the beauty pictured below at my local TJMaxx. The phrases literally put a smile on my face. My very first use of the mug was paired up with one of my favorite Luna bar flavors:

2. The people that find my blog and send me messages letting me know how much they like it. I know I’ve said this before but it means a lot to me. One of the individuals that reached out to me this week was a representative of an organization called “Happify”. The concept behind their idea is amazing and I cant wait to take part in their activities. I will share more about this soon!!

 

 

3. Random acts of kindness!--Was running late for work one day this week and the bus driver actually waited for me to get to the stop. He could have very well taken off but he waited and that was a really nice gesture!

4. Recycling my books from undergrad! This may not be what you think so let me explain. One of my professors this semester is using an old version of a business book that looked very familiar to me (at least the title did). He said the core concepts in education do not change much from year to year so he didn’t want us expending crazy money on a new version of the book. Nonetheless, cheap or not, the book still had to be purchased and that’s something I did not feel like doing.

Well, while browsing through my old business books from undergrad guess what I found---the book required for this semester! Crazy huh?! I have to admit that at first I was mad and thought to myself that I would be wasting money on a course I’ve already taken. But then I had to remind myself that there were MANY chapters that were not covered back when I was in undergrad and realized that those chapters are the ones I’ll be covering this semester. Isn’t that great?! Must have saved around $80+ just on that alone, plus I get to cover stuff I didn’t cover before!

5. My team member for one of my classes this semester—he’s super smart and thank god seems to know what he’s doing! Looks like we’ll both do great in this course and we complement each other quite well regarding knowledge.  (sorry if theres a lot of school stuff on here but my life has been bombarded by work and school lol).

6. Bonus Fortunate—Getting to know my sister’s cool friends and spending quality time with them! This past weekend my sister did an actual celebration for her bday (actual= clubbing). I got to meet more of her friends and realized I need to hang out with them more often. Such an amazing group of upbeat and positive people. Loved every second of the party! Below are some pics:

 

So, hopefully this post somewhat makes up for being  M.I.A this week. I’ve tried to blend in a wrap up of my week and what I feel fortunate for—hope I did a good job with that :). Thank God Is Friday!

What do you feel fortunate for this week? What was the best part of your week?