Wind at my Face

I’ve got the crockpot cooking,

the laundry going and my suitcase partially unpacked. I guess I’m trying to redeem myself from this morning. Speaking of, let’s pick up right where we left off.

WORKOUT

I was hungry again mid-morning and scrambled some egg whites topped with ketchup.

Not the most beautiful photo, but it always does the trick.

WORKOUT

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do on the workout front today. But the sun was shining, it was a balmy 32 degrees, and I needed some fresh air, so I headed out for a 60-minute power walk.

I listened to the first episode of Serial. As a major fan of murder mysteries, I highly recommend the podcast. It made me want to listen to #2 and walk another hour! But I didn’t because the wind was whipping at my face.

If I didn’t tell you this picture was taken today, you might think it was from the summer. Chicago still has some of the most beautiful views year round.

Also to note, the lakeshore path is swarming with people, dogs, bikes and rollerbladers from June through September. Today, I saw about five people. Chicago really is a different city in the summer.

LUNCH

I knew I wanted a big a** salad for lunch, so I chopped romaine + swiss cheese + mixed nuts + 1/2 green apple + 1 large carrot + apple maple chicken sausage + 1/2 salmon filet (leftover from Sunday) + Marzetti yogurt ranch.

I’m am the least picky person when it comes to salad. I literally throw in anything I can find that resembles a potential topping. I might not serve this weirdness to anyone else, but it works for moi 🙂

After plugging through some school work, I enjoyed a snack of sweet ‘n salty popcorn + 2 cuties on the side.

We don’t have anything special planned for tonight. I’m headed to a yoga class in the morning, followed by a day of babysitting and a graduation cocktail reception at my school. Really looking forward to it!

***

Questions for you:

• Are you a Serial fan?
• What’s your favorite salad topping?

xo,

Lizzie

Household “Chores” Take a Back Seat + Cyber Monday Buys

If you’re ever naive enough to think I’m one of those people that has it together, please take a look at this photo:

Everything is exactly where I left it when we arrived home on Saturday night. I call that talent. In reality, I have been in finals mode for three days now. All my regular “chores” have been lowest on my priority list. Hence, this note that I found in the kitchen this morning:

(Please don’t think Bobby is some demanding “man of the house.” We’ve discussed multiple times that I prefer to do all the laundry because I’m picky about how things are washed and dried!). I always, always get our laundry done on Sundays. It’s just part of the schedule I’ve set for myself. Welp, not this week, and apparently he has no clothes.

Just get me through Thursday and life will be a little less crazy 🙂

BREAKFAST

A cold, creamy smoothie was calling my name this morning.

I threw the following into the blender: 1/2 frozen banana, frozen strawberries, unsweetened almond milk, About Time vanilla protein powder. So tasty! Also enjoyed a cup of joe on the side. I’m still on the Pumpkin train and want to use up my Dunkin before I buy a holiday flavor.

I’m trying to work on another paper through the morning, while also incessantly tracking my Cyber Monday purchases. I ended up ordering a couple pieces of jewelry from Gilt <–affiliate link (for gifts, so not posting links!), some random Amazon items including a scratching post, a computer sleeve and Smarty Pants multi-vitamins. I’ve also recently been checking out Talbots sales on the reg and ended up buying this belt for $12. My parents will find it hilarious that I shop at Talbots now. When I was a pre-teen, my dad thought I was dressing too old for my age (I probably was), so he bought me a pair of long, khaki shorts from Talbots. I promised I’d wear them, but they sat unworn at the bottom of my drawer for years! Sorry Dad

I’m most excited about this dress I ordered from Bluefly that I plan to wear to Bobby’s company holiday party next week and my friend’s wedding at the end of the month.

I rented a Black Halo cocktail dress from Rent the Runway a few months ago, and loved it so much that I tried to buy it. After realizing that it was from a past season and literally doesn’t exist on the interwebs, I’ve been hunting for a similar style ever since. I hope I love this one just as much.

Off to try and be productive. Also, who else is excited for the VS Fashion Show?

XO,

Lizzie