12/04 What I Ate Wednesday - Phone Fail Edition

Hi friends,

Hope you are all had a better morning than myself.

I mean, I don't really have that much to complain about, but...at the same time...I really do.

I was in a rush this morning, taking pics of my lunch as I prepped it for this blog post, and - without thinking too much about it - put my phone in my back pocket. No big deal, right? WRONG!

[Source]

My iPhone fell into the watery depths of the toilet this morning. 

Literally the saddest end to an iPhone of ALL TIME. I felt like the silliest person ever - I mean, how many stories have you heard of your friends dropping their phone into the toilet?! [Or is this just a girl thing...?] You would think that I would have learned from their sorry tales, but no. I didn't. And now I am phoneless. 

Le sad trombone. 

The worst part is that I only got the silly thing a couple of months ago after resisting the urge to get a smartphone for SO LONG. I was seriously one of the last people on Earth who didn't have a smartphone. For serious. 

I was just starting to get used to the amazingness that they call iPhones - the convenience of being able to talk, text, listen to music, google, instagram, take pictures, email...ALL IN ONE PLACE! Don't even get me started with the hilarity of snapchat...and now it has been washed down the toilet. 

[Source]

Well, almost. 

Anyway, it is now resting in a bag of rice - I am praying to the phone gods that it might just miraculously fix itself - but in the meantime...anyone want to sell me an iPhone for real cheap? Eh? Friends...?

What I Ate Wednesday

Since I have zero photographic evidence of my meals for the day, today's post will be a little bit less exciting than usual.

Breakfast

I woke up to a text from my roommate, who was in a baking frenzy last night, that said "YOU MUST TRY A GINGER COOKIE". So I did. And it was delicious. And, yes, this is what happens when you live in an apartment with 5 ladies ;)

I then made my regular protein pancake with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt and a bit of maple syrup. I needed something to make me feel better after the phone fiasco...

Morning Snack

Since I kind of indulged at breakfast time, and I had an urgent tasking to do this morning at work, I wasn't hungry until about 11:30 and I didn't really feel ready for lunch yet, so I had an apple as a snack. 

 [Source]

An apple a day, amiright?

[Aunt Kim: you will be happy to note that I actually went grocery shopping last night, although I still think that online ordering service you found might come in handy in the near future...]

Lunch

I threw together a salad beast this morning:

Lettuce

Kale

Flaked salmon

Corn (from a can...I know, super lame. But so tasty)

Balsamic vinegar

Afternoon Snack

I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I am a snacking queen during the weekdays. Since I have breakfast so early, I usually can't make it to lunchtime without a little something - this is usually in the form of Greek yogurt, cottage cheese and/or fruit. 

I really have no excuse for my afternoon snacks, but they are a necessary part of my life. I usually go for a mixture of veggies and hummus (which is what I have packed for today), fruit and nuts (almonds, cashews, etc) or a green juice. 

Lately, I have also been indulging in the (almost) daily pastries that my coworker brings in that are made by his wife in her Cordon Bleu baking class. She has a particular gift with dough. I'm serious. 

Today was particularly indulgent: some sort of scrumptious cake with crème fraiche (I only took a little piece) AND someone on the team just got back from traveling in Switzerland, so there was also a mega bag full of Swiss chocolates. How can I say no?! 

The answer: I can't.

The solution: An hour and a half hot yoga class tonight. And lots of water. 

Dinner

I made a big lentil medley with steamed spinach instead of kale last night, with a huge dollop of Sriracha sauce, so I have leftovers waiting for me in the fridge after work :)

 [Source]

On a related note, have you heard about the Sriracha factory closing?! I clearly need to stock-up ASAP. I wonder if this is some sort of strange ploy by the company to increase sales and jack up the price...elaborate, but clearly a little bit genius. Sneaky Sriracha.

So, that's it follks! A full day of eats :)

Hope you all have a great hump day, and I'll (hopefully) be back tomorrow 

with a gift guide for the fitness-babes in your life!!

Tea and Wine

Hi friends, hope your Tuesday is treating you well :)

I am trying to stop whining about all of the travel prep that I have to do, and just git'er done. [Yes, I just said that]. I have officially made myself a to-do list (about 15 pages long), and I've started checking things off - feeling good!

Workout

I did the Tone It Up 'Holiday Hotties' workout that I did on Friday again last night, and my obliques are DEFINITELY feeling it today.

I'm thinking tonight is going to be an arm night, so I'm planning on doing a couple of Blogilates routines. I expect my arms to feel like jelly afterwards - the routines seem ridiculously easy at first, but they definitely catch up with you!

I wish that I could go for a run instead, but work continues to be busy, so I can't really sneak out at lunch AND I don't really feel like running in the dark on slippery sidewalks. Safety first, n'est ce pas?

Tea and Wine

I met up with two of my besties last night for dinner at Saigon in the Byward market [I know, I just went there the other day] - its one of my current favs. It is the last time that I am going to see my travel buddy before we meet in Thailand...so crazy to think about!!

Us at the MoMA in NYC, being awesome.

We couldn't make up our minds, so we decided to get green tea and red wine. Antioxidants for days.

I got the sweet and sour soup to start. It is seriously the best thing ever - it is sweet (I even had a few pieces of pineapple in mine, so good!), it is 'sour' (à la hot & sour soup) AND it is deliciously spicy. I would def recommend it ;)

I also got the vermicelli plate, but I was so full from the soup that I got most of it to go. 

 

I added some extra lettuce and spinach to it this morning et voilà - lunch is ready!

Gotta love leftovers. 

Also, I got two of the same , clearly a lot of honour coming my way soon...?

Anywho, hope you all have an awesome day, and I will [hopefully] be back tomorrow with a full day of eats for What I Ate Wednesday! [And, yes, I realize that I promised to do this last week, but things kind of got away with me...]

A demain :)

12/02 Pics from the Weekend & Fitness for the Week

Hi friends!

Hope you all had a wunderbar weekend!

I had a great time with my loverly ladies in Kingston on Saturday night. My friend was house-sitting, so we decided to stay in and drink vino and have a dance party. Got my cardio in for the day ;)

Most delicious salad.

 

Breakfast of champions

 

Snowball fights mandatory

 

My knight in shining armour

Smoothie time

Such a great event - my little brosef was the M.C. for the Casco charity event last night, 

and did an amazing job!

I did not get very good pics from the event, I was too distracted by the amazing dancing and singing number that they did! 

There was even syncronized skipping routines. Amazing.

 

Me with the brosef, his grandma, my little sis and my popster (kinda in the dark...)

Me and two of my fabulous siblings

We even won something from the raffle - 'the student package'

We tried another group shot of the fam, but all the rest were blurry (our photog tried his best, but using smartphones is clearly not his forté). A great night out :)

Fitness for the Week

Monday - HIIT (full body)

Tuesday - Run

Wednesday - Bikram Yoga (I'm addicted...)

Thursday - HIIT (arms)

Friday - OFF

Saturday - Run

Sunday - Yoga

Have a great day!

Friendsgiving

Hi friends!

Hope you are all having a wunderbar weekend so far :)

I had a great time at the Art of Giving soiree last night - I did my due volunteering at the drink ticket table for a couple of hours, and then had a fun time mingling about with my coworkers. The space at the Museum of Civilization is beautiful for this kind of event, all lit up and whatnot.

There was over a thousand people from our new amalgamated department that came last night. It was a perfect space for it - it never felt too crowded.

Me and my CIDA ladies :)

Friendsgiving

I don't actually celebrate American thanksgiving, but me and my girlfriends decided to have a little pre-Christmas get-together in Kingston tonight to celebrate the season since we will all be crazy busy around the holidays this year. 

One of my friends is house sitting at a place with a hot tub. So excited to hang out with ma ladies with some vino and love life together.

I'm just about to head out, but decided to make some juice for the road. This one had:

2 carrots

broccoli

red pepper

spinach

Oops - got my foot in that shot..

Hope you all have a wunderbar night :)

The Art of Giving: A Soirée

Hi friends!

It's been a while - hope you are all doing splendidly :)

I want to start by giving a hug shout-out to all who were able to make it out last night for Mathare in Focus - it was a huge success! It was a great turn-out, the slam poet ArRay-of WoRds was amazing, my fellow volunteer Jimena did an amazing job of introducing CME Trust to everyone...all around a really inspiring and dedicated group of people - I am so honoured to be able to work alongside you all to raise money for such an important cause, to increase access to education for children who live in the Mathare slum in Nairobi, Kenya.

[Shameless plug: I will be selling calendars, which include the pictures from last night's vernissage - contact me if you are interested in purchasing one or more! $20 each :)]

Bikram Yoga & Workout

I'm probably starting to sound like a bit of a broken record, but I've been a busy beaver lately(!!). What with work, life, and prepping for my upcoming travels - 3 weeks and counting(!!!!!) - my head has been spinning a wee bit.

I actually took a little time out and went to a bikram yoga class the other night and it was exactly what I needed. I forgot how much of a cardio workout it is - it got my heart pumping on top of a full body sweat. I know, it sounds gross, but it is pretty much the most satisfying thing EVER to come out of a hot yoga class. Plus, its good for the pores - a quick way to radiant-looking skin (minus the Covergirl ;)

I am planning on squeezing this Tone It Up workout in tonight after work - let me know if you try it out!

The Art of Giving: A Soirée

I'm heading to the Art of Giving: A Soirée tonight, which is an annual gala hosted by previously-known-as-CIDA-now-DFATD, which is always a fun time to get all fancied up and drink vino with my colleagues. I somehow got suckered into volunteering at the event - I know, volunteering two nights in a row - so you will see me at the drink ticket stand ;)

Here's a group shot from last year, just after the song 'Gangnam Style' played. Turns out government workers LOVE that song.

Hope you all have a wonderful night!

Let It Snow

Morning friends!

Hope you all had a fibbity fab evening :)

After doing a HIIT workout last night, I made some dinner and decided to take it easy and hang out with one of my roomies. I tried a new vino that I found - I'm trying to go with the organic wines lately. Its a bit on the fruity side, but I would def have it again.

Frisky Zebras from South Africa

Let It Snow

If you live in or around Ottawa, I'm sure your fbook, instagram, and/or twitter (maybe even snapchat?) slash social media in general has already exploded with pictures of the recent dump of snow that we got overnight.

Not going to lie, I can't help but love the first big snowfall - especially when I have these bad boys to help me slog through the uncleared sidewalks.

 I'm a big advocate of Sorel boots ;)

I had to be at work earlier than usual for the early shift - we have been doing early and late shifts just in case anything crazy happens in terms of our response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, so I was on duty this morning. Made for a bit of a dark walk into work, but a beautiful one nonetheless.

If you're not working today, or have a snow day (which would be SO AWESOME), go out and make some snow angels for me ;)

I'll be back this afternoon with a 'What I Ate Wednesday' post. Because, I mean, it's Wednesday after all!

Lentil Medley with Kale

Hi all, 

Hope your Tuesday is going swimmingly :)

Workout

I just busted through a Bodyrock workout tonight (see workout breakdown here):

Bodyrock Rep Workout

Do each workout set for a total of 10 reps (what counts as one repetition is written below) before moving on to the next exercise

1. 2 Push-ups and 10 mountain climbers

2. Jump squat and 2 forward lunges – alternate legs

3. Elevated bridge – I used a stability ball under my feet

4. Plank rows – alternate arms

5. Crunch and v-abs

I did 5 rounds for a total of 32 minutes - the push-up and mountain climbers were a deadly combo, and those v-abs...brutal, but effective ;)

I was informed that my coworker - who was gone on mission in the Middle East for a few weeks - has resumed the almost daily delivery of freshly-baked bread and baked goods by the printer area for my unit. The email was titled: Bread is BACK!

Oh dear. 

Will def have to try to fit in a few runs at work this week now that a) the ice has disappeared; b) I have been slacking on my after-work workouts since I've been staying late at the office; and, c) the homemade pastries from my coworkers wife, who is taking a Cordon Bleu baking course, have returned on a daily basis. Gotta get myself prepped for bikini weather soon enough ;)

Lentil Medley with Kale

I seriously have no other way of describing the deliciousness that is this recipe other than 'lentil medley' with kale :)

This is the first recipe that I can say is completely my own - I don't have to give credit to nobody. That's right. Han-Solo. Yep, that's a Zoolander reference. No big deal.

I used to make this ALL THE TIME in university - my ex-roomies can definitely vouch for this. It is quick, easy, satisfying and good for you. What more could you ever want in life?!

I used to just cut up peppers and tomatoes and toss it in with the lentils, but I recently tried it with kale - steamed in with the lentils with a pot lid over the pan - and it is by far my fav. Add a little bit of Sriracha and you're good to go :)

Let me know if you try it out! The perfect 'I have no idea what to make and want to eat in about 15 minutes' kind of meal :)

[Bonus points to whoever is able to give me a better name for this]

Lentil Medley with Kale

Makes 3 servings

Ingredients

2 tbsp avocado oil

½ large onion

2 cloves garlic

½ - 1 cup cut veggies (Optional)

1 can lentils

2 cups cut kale

Salt’n’pepper

Sriracha to taste

Directions

Fry onions in a pan with avocado oil (can use your oil of choice) until translucent. Add garlic for a few minutes until flavourful.

Option: can also add in ½ - 1 cup of cut veggies of your choice. I have used a mixture of the following:  red, yellow or green pepper; tomatoes; zucchini; spinach; mushrooms, etc. The possibilities are endless :)

Once garlic is flavourful and any extra veggies are warm, add strained and washed lentils (Note: you can also use dried lentils that have been soaked overnight if you are feeling extra adventurous – I never have very good luck with this technique so I just rinse canned lentils to minimize the sodium). Let cook for about 5 minutes.

Add kale and cover pan and let steam for another 5 minutes or until kale is wilted (sounds gross, but is extra delicious – it also minimizes the taste of the kale for all of those who are hesitant about using kale).

Can eat as it is or over a bowl of rice. Add salt, pepper and Sriracha or Mike’s Red Hot Sauce as desired.

Enjoy!