Room for Improvement

I have to come to realize that I NEED to drink more water. I am really prone to headaches, and hot weather does not help. 

Last night, I got a really bad headache (hence no blog post), and I couldn't even recall if I drank more than 1 cup of water that day. So I have a new goal: I'm going to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day a and hopefully more. I have a feeling I'm going to start using my new tumblr a bit more frequently (yay!).

Some foodie highlights from today and yesterday:

Yesterday's lunch was an egg salad sandwich with a bagel thin and peach. The egg salad was made using 4 hardboiled eggs (I took out one yolk), 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, and 2 tbs Trader Joe's light mayo, and capers. This was a super last minute meal, and if I had a choice I would have subbed in some greek yogurt or something to reduce the mayo. It made about 3 sandwiches worth, so I shared.

Today's lunch was my attempt to recreate black bean soup, whole wheat toast (with Smart Balance), and another peach. The soup was good, but I'm sad to say that it was no where close to the original. I made this with one onion and red bell pepper sauteed in olive oil, garlic, chicken broth, and pureed black beans. I also added chicken into the soup to make it more filling.
It really was good, and I'm not giving up on it. I want to try adding different spices to it to make it more flavorful.

For dinner, I went out to Chinese with my family and my Grandparents at a local restaurant called Fu Yuan Lo. While this picture does not do the meal justice at all, it was delicious and I had a great time. PS the plate is not as big as it looks. We ordered family style and got fried rice, chow mein, mongolian beef, cashew chicken, and shrimp with baby snap peas.

Pictures I don't like get demoted to small size.

We all got dessert at Yogurtland after, and guess what? They have a new flavor! I died a little bit with happiness. It's carmel almond bar and it is delicious. I also got cinnamon graham cracker and cheesecake flavors topped with cheesecake bites, graham cracker crumbs (I originally almost typed graham cracker dust...like fairy dust) and reeses. Nom.

 

It's almost the fourth of July weekend! I'm getting excited!

Causing a Commotion

I was a bad blogger and didn't take any pictures today. So you know what that means...

My food intake today consisted of a lot of Thomas Everything Bagel Thins. Tessa's recently posted (her blog is really great by the way) about foods she can't have in the house.

I've come to realize that my beloved bagel thins are probably going to have to go. I easily ate three of them today, and had to stop myself from more, a lot more. I don't feel guilty about it (all together it was 330 calories so not too bad), but I just cannot help myself around them.

Look up the world's guiltiest dog and thank me later

So that was my breakfast and part of my lunch. Oh and somewhere along there I had another lemonade popsicle.

My meals today were pretty average with one exception. Being the awesome older sister that I am, I decided to spontaneously take my siblings to BJ's to try a pizookie. I had to pick them up from the beach for their Junior Lifeguards summer program, and they started begging me to take them there. I agreed and drove all the way over only to discover that Jessica and Johnny didn't have shoes. Long story short: Johnny refused to go in but stood in the window staring, Jessica got kicked out of the restaurant, and James (who was wearing shoes) decided this was the perfect time to start spinning in the revolving door. I got so many judgmental looks (which I probably deserved...not having shoes should have just marked the end of the trip), and it was super embarrassing.

I decided this was a more appropriate representation of my siblings and I then the Sex and the City picture I originally picked out. 

Buttt--cause I know you guys are on the edge of you seats--we ended up getting our pizookies through their take out service and out them outside in the sun. All's well that ends well :) We actually had a really fun time.

I know I can't be the only one with an embarrassing family story. Feel free to make me feel better share!


On another note, I went for a run today! It was just a quick (under 2 miles quick) one around the neighborhood with Roxy, but I'm just happy I went. I ran to a park at the halfway point and stopped to let Roxy enjoy her free time (she gets so sad and confused if she doesn't get to play) and to stretch. I also did some squats, sit ups, and push ups before running back.

It's been awhile and I can already feel myself getting sore. Tomorrow I hope to workout earlier in the day and maybe even run a little farther. Go a little crazy, you know?

That's it for me tonight! I'm going to go back to watching my dad switch back from Star Wars and a Western on TV. Ridiculous combos are the best.

Lemonade Popsicles

Why today was amazing:

1) The weather was incredible--80 degrees and super sunny. Which meant that when I drove around in my car, my windows were done and I was singing way too loud to the radio. Best part is that even at stop signs with my window done I still believe no one can hear me pretending to be Rhianna. 

2) I felt super healthy when I made myself salad for lunch. Not so much about some of my some of my snacking. 

Salad with leftover teriyaki chicken, bbqed onion, cheese, and wild rice with Italian dressing

3) Since I got a bit of a headache today (which usually happens on hot days when I'm not careful about water), I decided to take it easy. I took the dog I'm babysitting/housesitting for a 25 minute walk, and my dog later for a 35 minute walk around the neighborhood which was really nice.

4) I decided that hot weather called for something cold and decided to make popsicles. My backyard has a lemon tree that we rarely take advantage of, so my sister and I decided to make lemonade. I know you guys don't need a recipe for that (lemon, sugar, water with how much you want of each), but the process actually called for a little more work than we had expected.

Ends up we don't have a juicer anymore or really anything of that nature. So my sister and I cut them in half and literally squeezed them ourselves. It doesn't get quite more homemade than that. 

If you want to be really cool like me, you'll make your lemonade popsicles using rocket ship popsicle molds.

You can also pretend that this picture of the popsicles in the freezer is facing the right way. PS my freezer is sad and lonely and empty at the moment.

I'm actually a 2 year old in an 18 year old body.

It was delicious and still a little bit sour which is perfect. (When I was little, I used to grab a lemon from the tree, cut it in half, and eat it with a spoon until my mom told me it was bad for my teeth.) Best part is tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful and hot out again, and I have another popsicle waiting for me in the freezer. Score!

5) Watching more Sex and the City episodes. I'm obsessed. 

I have a super busy, and hopefully productive day tomorrow that will finally include a run! So it's good night for me unless I want to watch just one more episode of Sex and the City.

I'm a Sloth Wannabe

Today I had my first full day at home in 2 weeks, and I took advantage of it by doing absolutely nothing. Not one productive thing happened (except my trip to feed and walk the dog for my housesitting job), and it was nice to just be lazy.

This was pretty much me today.

Especially since tomorrow, I am committed to get back onto the working out bandwagon. I haven't actually been too bad in the past few weeks, and went to the gym a few times while I was in Hawaii--something I know I would not have done a few months ago--but I still haven't worked out since Tuesday.
One of my workouts included going on a stationary bike that offered a video cycling class. It was one of the more ridiculous things I've done. I felt so dumb listening to some guy who was enjoying cycling a little too much tell me "You got it, athlete" and "Great job, athlete" over and over again.


I have a feeling I'm going to have a few hard runs this week trying to get back into shape. Fun, fun, fun.

Anyway, today I stayed away from crazy decadent food, and just had very simple meals. For breakfast, I had an unpictured bowl of cereal (and I actually only had one bowl...it was shocking).

Lunch turned more into a brunch themed event, and I made myself a bowl of oatmeal, 2 scrambled eggs with bell peppers, and one piece of toast.

Cinnamon and spice oatmeal with a little bit of peanut butter

I also had some Panda Express mushroom chicken a few hours later. Not super healthy, but it's under 250 calories so it's not too bad (hopefully).

Dinner was teriyaki chicken, wild rice with BBQed red peppers and onions, salad with Italian dressing, and watermelon. 

As I'm editing my post, I've realized that I need to improve the pictures of my food. Maybe I'll start forcing myself to wait a few seconds to beautify my food before I attack it. What an interesting thought. 

While I am looking forward to a more productive day tomorrow, I am thoroughly enjoying the Sex and the City Season 1 marathon I've started. It's my first time watching, and I'm loving the huge 90's cell phones and lap tops....and everything about the show. 

Time for bed! Night!

Celebrating San Diego Style

The past two weeks have been absolutely amazing. Ending my vacation with a trip to San Diego was the perfect way to celebrate Scott and I's anniversary (let's move past the sketchy grammar).

All dressed up :) I'm a very lucky girl.

We went to the San Diego fair for a few hours, and looked around at all the different booths that were selling everything people don't need. Which makes it all the more fun, to examine the interesting things that were out there. Apparently there is a workout machine that just vibrates you, so all you do is stand there and burn calories...which seems a little bit like cheating/missing the whole point but to each their own.
For our dinner date that night, Scott surprised me by taking me to the Gas lamp district in downtown San Diego--a place I've been wanting to see forever. We got all dressed up and went out to dinner the Italian restaurant Chianti.

View of the gas lamp district from the car

We actually had a coupon that gave us $50 off if we spent $100. I love coupons. So while the hungry foodie part of me died with happiness at the prospect of a TON of delicious food, the blogger part of me is dying a little bit right now as I realize how many pictures my camera and google images lacks of the food. To top it off, a lot of what we ordered were the specials of the night and I don't know the actual names of them.

We ended up ordering a special appetizer (which included lobster, scallops, mango, cucumber, and avocado), small Caesar salad, our entree--I got the lobster ravioli, Scott got the Fettachine Mare e Terra which was shrimp,scallops, and mushroom-- and ended the meal with dessert. Scott got a chocolate lava cake, and I got a fruit dessert that was delicious and semi sweet. I'm super sad I didn't get a picture of the desserts because they were very pretty. 

The amazing appetizer we shared

An unflattering picture of a delicious lobster ravioli dish.

We had enough food to last us a lifetime, so we actually stayed at the restaurant for about 2 and half hours. It was really fun to just talk and enjoy being out in such a pretty place. I was a very happy Julia.


The next day was spent at Sea World. I haven't been since my 10th birthday, and I was really excited to see it again. I might have been a little too excited...especially when I saw the big, fat walrus waddle towards us.

Hug me?

I also went crazy when two dolphins came up to get pets, and splashed us. (Don't worry we were allowed to touch if they approached us)

My visit was incredible, and I'm so lucky to have someone who planned such a great trip. And someone who asks if our anniversary can have it's own post. Definitely blog worthy.

Happy Anniversary!

One last thing..

These past two weeks have been anything but normal (in the best way possible), so I know my blog posts have been a little all over the place. I'm excited to go back to normal, nightly posts tomorrow that actually have to do with working out and healthy food material (well as much as I usually do!). 

Night! 

Home For Now

I'm officially home from Hawaii. I'm so sad to leave the beautiful beaches, cute condo, and amazing weather, but luckily my vacation days are not quite over yet.

Take me back? Pleaseeeee

Tomorrow, I'm heading down to San Diego to visit Scott and celebrate our anniversary! Our plans have been kept secret from me, but I know part of it includes Sea World ;).

I have a million things to do tomorrow morning and I'm going to try to get up early (even though 8am here will be 5am Hawaii time) to get it all done before I leave. So I'm going to head to bed (words cannot describe how excited I am for my bed...while I loved where we stayed, but that bed was AWFUL), and sadly will not write up a full blog post tonight.

I've missed blogging so much over my trip, and I am truly excited for when I can get back to my regular schedule...and catch up on all the blogs I've neglected.

I can't wait to see this guy tomorrow!

Luau Recap!

My Saturday morning was spent exploring the neighboring hotels. The Kaanapali Alii, which is where we are staying, is actually a huge building full of condos. So while it absolutely beautiful and has great amenities (like the gym, pool, BBQ, and clay tennis courts that I want to try), it is pretty laid back in relation to some of the other Maui hotels. The Kaanapali hotels are all laid out on the beach next to each other so my family did a little exploring. 

Our afternoon was spent looking for a beach to go snorkeling. We ended up not finding the exact one we were looking for, but instead ended in a secluded, amazing Napili beach. 

While there were no huge turtles I did see a lot of colorful fish and a lone angelfish. 

That night we went to the Late Lahaina Luau. I’ll admit that when I first heard we were going to a luau, I wasn’t that excited. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to have a luau in Hawaii experience but I just wasn’t expecting it to be fantastic.

It. Was. Incredible.

We were instantly given leis and flowers and a drink (fruit punch for me…dislike being under 21) that smelled and looked super pretty. 

Sneaky Jessica

We had a little down time before dinner was served, so we walked around the area. It was right on the beach and so so pretty.

Our family is easily entertained.

Dinner was beyond delicious. It had so many foods that I’ve never had before (what’s up octopus?) and everything was incredible. Sadly, it did not look as pretty as it tasted (food can definitely taste pretty in case you were wondering) so you’ll just have to take my word on it. #bloggerproblems.

On my plate is steak, terayki chicken, pulled pork (cooked in the ground), ono fish, some kind of clear noodles, fried rice, steamed veggies, crab salad, pork wrapped in some kind of spinach, salad with taro bread croutons, and a little piece of banana bread. We were also given a bread basket with taro rolls and guava butter.

I’m usually the type of person to finish everything on my plate (not a good habit), but I came no where close to finishing this. I had at least two bites of everything to try it (including my sister’s octopus salad), but was too full at the end to even look at the remaining food.

We were also given another drink called the Melodramatic that tasted a little bit like Shirley Temple.

Dessert came right when our plates were collected and consisted of 4 sample desserts: coconut pudding, coconut dusted brownie, macadamia nut pie, and a chocolate cup with banana filling. I was still full so I had one bite of each (they were tiny), and only ate the little cup.

The show was really fun to watch too. I’ve decided I want my workout of choice to be hula dancing.

Finally, Happy Father's Day to my Dad! 

I love you!

By the Sea Heart

Thursday my brother, sister, Mom, and I went zip lining for the first time. The course we went on was in the woods and consisted of 5 zip lines and a wooden bridge. The zip lines started off really easy and built up to the last one that was apparently the fastest one in Maui. It was really fun, and actually not that scary. My littlest brother and Dad ended up not going because they are both not a fan of heights.

Whee!

The last huge zip line. It went to the clearing on the other side.

 After zip lining, we drove to a nearby town to go shopping and look around for a little bit (my brothers were not happy campers…for the last hour they stayed in the car and whined). I ended up picking up a really cute jar of Strawberry-Guava jam for a gift, and had a lot of fun window shopping (most of the stuff was CRAZY expensive) with my sister and Mom. I did end up getting one thing…a seriously adorable notebook.  It says “It’s all for you and your other-worldy, by-the-sea, magnificent heart” on the front and “It is hear where she must begin to tell her story”.

Of course I would spend an abnormal amount of my post talking about my notebook. I am obsessed.

I have a huge weakness for pretty notebooks. Even though I never write in them (and have a blog which is kind of counterintuitive for notebooks), I love looking at how cute they are. I promise I’m really going to try to write at least something in this one though!

Yesterday was spent frolicking in the water (hehe), sitting on the sand, window shopping, finally running those three miles (YESSS), and getting ready to BBQ. I actually finished one of my books on the beach today and it was SO, SO GOOD. I highly recommend it. It’s a bunch of short stories so it is perfect for traveling. “The King and Queen of the Universe” was by far one of the best ones.

A better view of  Black rock beach (and where I jumped off!)

My 3 (3.1 actually) mile run felt amazing! Maybe all I needed was just to enjoy the past few days of my vacation by going easy/not going at all on my workouts because this run felt great! I ran on the treadmill and actually did not spend my whole time watching the miles go up by every .01 mile. I paced myself, and kept increasing my speed throughout the workout. After my run, I felt great and realized that runs like these were why some people love running so much.

My food highlights include a mountain of Hawaiian shaved ice

Lime, mango, and pineapple flavors

and lots of summer BBQ food.

We actually haven’t been to any restaurants lately because having 10 people (my family and my grandparents) makes already high prices even higher, so we’ve been BBQing all of our dinners.

It usually consists of salad with oil and vinegar, garlic bread made with sourdough bread, butter and garlic toast along with a little steak or tri tip.

Pretty view from the table

I posted this picture only because of the mini salt and pepper containers. They are so cute.

Hawaii has been incredible, and I can't believe we just passed the half way mark. It's been so much fun, and I am so lucky to be able to experience this (Thanks, Nana!).

Off to the ultimate tourist dinner... a (buffet...nommm) luau! I'll take lots of pictures ;) 

Operation Beautiful Project

Thanks for awarding me with the Operation Beautiful Project, Hannah!

Smile

No makeup needed in Hawaii :)

3 Things You Like About Your Looks

My eyes… according to my sister they’re almond shaped green eye like Lily Potter (best compliment ever)

My butt... hehe I like my bootay.  

My hair- I have natural highlights without ever dying my hair. It’s really long and healthy, and I’ve had multiple people say I look like Amanda Seyfreid (which I attribute to the hair)

3 Things You Appreciate About Your Personality

Loyal- I consider myself a good sister, girlfriend, and friend. I always try to look out for people who are close to me, and do my best to try to be there whenever they need me.

Optimistic- I always try (most of the time) to look on the bright side of things and enjoy all the good things in my life with gratitude 

Sense of humor- I love that I can make myself laugh and be weird at times (a lot), and that I can see the humor in situations. I like that I know how to enjoy myself.

Something You Find Beautiful In Other People

Someone who doesn’t take themselves too seriously. I think its beautiful when someone can just find the beauty in the little things, and know how to enjoy themselves. There are times to be serious, but when someone is just happy with themselves and their surroundings they always look beautiful and happy.

Award As Many People As You Like and Let Them Know! 

Connie

Paige

Meghann

I'll hopefully post another Hawaii update sometime tomorrow! Hint: it includes ziplining!

Sea turtles and Waterfalls (and tons of other stuff)

Highlights of the past few days:

-       Going snorkeling and swimming with sea turtles. Our family walked over to Black Rock Beach, a popular snorkeling beach. By the rocks, not only were there lots of fish, but two huge sea turtles that over 4 feet long and were eating the plants off the rocks. It was an incredible sight and the best part was they were completely undisturbed by all the snorkeling gawkers. They were so huge that they would actually swim at you and make you move (some kids actually got hit with it’s fin because they didn’t get out of the way). I swam and touched the shell of the turtle…which I later found out is not allowed. 

jkjJumping off the black rock. The rock (which the beach is named after) is 15 feet high and a ledge where you can jump off into the water. While I would not say I’m scared of heights, I could definitely feel my heart pumping. I went first (between Jessica and I), and ended up doing it twice. Haha I was very proud of myself after.

-       Swimming in the waterfalls in/on the way too Hana. We drove to the tropical side of Maui in search for waterfalls and various other sights like the Black sand beach.

-       Our first waterfall we went to visit was beautiful, but we had heard there was an even bigger one just a short hike away. We trekked through the muddiest path ever, but came to a dead end. My family and I went back to the first waterfall to go swimming... my parents actually demanded that we did because we (especially me I fell on my butt at one point) were too dirty for the car.

Practice for my mud run

Not a great picture of me, but everything else is pretty :)

The second one we swam in was one of the 7 sacred pools of Hana. It was amazing because while you

were swimming in the waterfall, you also had a close up view of the beach.

Workout news: ran 2 miles on the treadmill, did a few minutes of weights with 7.5 dumbbells while

waiting for a treadmill to open up and spent a large part of the day in the water

Ran 1 mile on the treadmill but didn’t feel great so I just took it easy and did easy weights with 5 pound

dumbbells.

I’m a little stressed because I’m scared that after working up to running 3 miles with no breaks before I

left, I’m going to loose all my progress through this trip. I am definitely staying active, but I have not

gone for a long run yet.

Food Highlights:

-       breakfast was bagel thins, scrambled eggs, and a slice of bacon with papaya

-       Lunch was a turkey sandwich with Hawaiian bread and cheddar cheese, veggie straws, and mango

-       A cheeseburger at Cheeseburger in paradise (I forgot to take a picture but it was delicious)

-       Banana bread from a small random stand on the way to Hana. It was warm and amazing

-       Gelato

Cheesecake and sandy beach (coconut, peanut butter, graham cracker and sea salt) flavors

-       Unpictured fish taco that was so good. I want another one!

OiI was awarded the Operation Beautiful Award from Hannah! If you haven't seen her blog you should definitely check it out because she has the best recipes (they always are healthy and make me drool) with great photos, and always has such cheery posts. 

SaSadly, my wifi time is almost used up for this session, but my next post will be for Operation Beautiful!