New Year Simple Green Smoothie Challenge

 

 

Does anyone want to join in on this with me??  It's free to sign up and I've done it before.  I actually did about 40 days straight of having a green smoothie each day.

 

Sign up HERE!

 

Each week you will receive a shopping list in your email Inbox.  So yes, you do have to spend money but it's on fruits and vegetables.  I'm pairing this with continuing Couch to 5K.

 

The wedding is 4 months away so I'm really determined to slim down a bit and get rid of this bloat I've been feeling for the last few months!

 

You do NOT need a fancy schmancy $400 Vitamix blender.  I have a Nutribullet but a regular blender will do just fine.

 

Soooo, who's in?!

 

Think GREEN!

 

:)



2013 Recap

Since I'm feeling emotional and overwhelmed with joy, I figured I'd do a 2013 recap.  It's going to be hard to top this year but since we're getting MARRIED, I think 2014 will be the best year!

 

In 2013:

 

-I quit my job and landed a new position at a job I love!  It's 3.3 (almost a 5K LOL) miles from home but the people there are what make it so great.  It's fast paced and I believe there's room for advancement.  What I do miss about the old job is my coworker, Hector.  He literally made me cry tears of laughter every day.

 

-Saro and I trained hard to run a half marathon.  More often than not, it was frustrating.  Mainly because, on top of working 40+ hours, it was hard to fit the training into our schedules.  But we DID IT.  I finished 13.1 miles in 2:43 and Saro finished in 2:17.  It was the best high anyone can ever have.  Frustrating & painful but would I do it again?  ABSOLUTELY.

 



My last long run before the half. 

After this is when my back injury occured.

 

 

-We got engaged! 

My love!!!!!

 

 

 

-I traded in my lil' Civic for a CR-V.  Murphy loves it!  Ha!

 

 

-I turned 30!

 

There were also some not so good things but I'm working on being positive and I don't feel like discussing those today.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

Love,

The Cafeyan's

 

 

Birthday Party at Work!

Birthdays are always fun here at the office!  This morning, I came in to a Happy Birthday banner, balloons, flowers, cards, gifts including an Alex & Ani gift card, breakfast, hugs, kisses and lots of well wishes!

 

Tonight is our Christmas party at a nice venue nearby and then I'm off tomorrow!  Saro has a half day in the morning, probably 6-10 so we will have the whole day off together.  Looking forward to that.

 

Saturday is my actual 30th birthday and we will be celebrating with friends at a Cuban restaurant and then a comedy show :)

 

Enjoy your weekend - see you back here on Monday!

 



Sweet Christmas (or anytime) Treat!

My friend made these last week at our friends annual cookie swap last week.  They were a big hit!  Sweet and salty.  I brought some to work and my coworkers loved them so I made more on Monday night.

 

These are NOT CALORIE FRIENDLY but soooo good and easy.  I was even thinking of variations to make.  Pretzels instead of almonds, or white chocolate, cranberries and pecans.  YUM.  I'll definitely be making another batch or two for our families next week!

 

 

Ingredients

• 13 graham crackers
• 1 bag (8 ounces) toffee bits
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped toasted natural almonds
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup (4 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, chopped, or chocolate chips
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

Directions

1. Step 1

   Preheat oven to 350. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place graham crackers in a single layer on sheet, edges touching. Sprinkle toffee bits and almonds over graham crackers.

2. Step 2

   In a small saucepan, bring sugar and butter to a boil over medium-high. Reduce heat and cook at a rapid simmer, swirling pan occasionally, until mixture is syrupy, 2 minutes. Immediately pour over graham crackers. Bake until sugar topping is bubbling, 12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle chocolate and salt over graham crackers. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into 2-inch squares. Let cool completely on sheet on a wire rack. (Store in an airtight container, up to 1 week.)

Source

Everyday Food, May 2010

This or That: Christmas Link Up!

Only one week until Christmas!  It came so quick, as usual!

 

 

Celebrity Christmas carol remakes, Chipmunk carol remakes?  Neither?  Lol.  My favorite Christmas movies to watch each year are Christmas Vacation, It's a Wonderful Life, Elf.

Gift cards, gift baskets?  I like personalized gift baskets or ones you can create your own on a website.  A lot of the premade ones I don't end up buying because I know the person might not like a couple of the items in there.  Decisions, decisions!  Recently, I made a Bloody Mary basket for my Uncle for his birthday.  He loved it!

Naughty or Nice? Nicey nice!  ;)

Getting everything on your wish list, Giving someone everything on their wish list?  Definitely giving.  I probably can't get them everything, though!  I also like to see what people choose to give me.  Exchanging gifts is fun :)

Present on Christmas Eve, Presents on Christmas morning?  As I got older, my Mom and I would exchange on Christmas Eve and then on Christmas day with the rest of the family.  With Saro, we've done both.  Usually we get bored on Christmas Eve and decide to open them - ha!

 

 

Have a good day!  It's snowing again here in NJ!

Window Treatments

Funny, the things you get excited about as a homeowner!

 

After almost 3 years in our house, we bit the bullet and got custom shades for our kitchen, living room and dining room.  We held off because they can cost an arm & a leg be very expensive and we have 20 windows between both rooms!

 

We debated about which type to get - cellular, wood, roman shades, etc. but went with cellular/honeycomb.   They're easy to clean with the brush attachment on the vacuum.

 

We had two companies come for quotes over the last 2 years and it ranged between $3,500-$7,000.  No WAY could/would we spend that.  The windows are not an even number so we couldn't just buy them from a store; they had to be custom sized.

 

It took us almost 2 hours just to measure everything ourselves and place the order.  We even have to return a couple of them because they're too wide.  By about 1/8 of an inch - ugh!  So that's the downside to not paying thousands for labor, lol.  Oh well!  We got most of them up over the weekend and they look great - more privacy, and it opens the room up so much more. 

 

We live on a fairly busy corner so we decided to get top down/bottom up cellular shades.  That way, we can pull them down from the top or up from the bottom.

 

Here a couple pictures:

 

 

If you're looking to get new shades/blinds, I recommend Blind Saver.  We saved a ton of money although we did shop on Cyber Monday so we saved 50% off Levolor plus got $50 back from shopping through Ebates.  Free shipping and perfect fit guarantee so in case you measure off (which we did), they'll ship you new ones at no additional cost (I just have to find out about returning the others).  After placing the order on 12/2, they arrived on 12/13.

 

We still have to order for the bedrooms.  Our bedroom has a bay window.  The other bedroom has a bay and a regular window.   Oof, so many windows but that's one of the reasons why we love the house.

 

The little things in life!!!

 

Here's to a short work week and my birthday weekend coming up :)

C25K, Day 1 (again)

Sometimes I'm erratic.  Not in a bad way.  When I come up with an idea, I usually have to do it right away.  My mom always told me this growing up, and would often get frustrated with me.

 

Anyway, yesterday I downloaded the Couch to 5K app again.  I had deleted it a while ago when I was throwing a fit frustrated.

 

Although I ran 13.1 miles 7 months ago, I figured I should start from the bottom and work my way up again.  If possible.  Rather than just going out there and pushing myself too much.  Week 1 is 3 days of 5 minute brisk walk and then alternating 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking.  You alternate this for 20 minutes and then cool down with a 7 minute brisk walk.  It was easier than the first time I did this, which is a good sign.  This morning I'm feeling good - no major aches or pains, just my hip a little bit but that's been there for months.

 

I'm planning on doing it 3x a week, depending how I'm feeling.  I don't want to push myself and become injured again.  I'm most likely signing up for Cupid's Chase 5K which is in a town nearby on February 8th.  Saro and I did it last year and it was COLD but fun.  See that recap here.

 

Last night's results were:

2.06 miles

30 minutes