PDR, Recovery, & Rest

Happy SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!! Giants for the win, baby :) 

I hope everybody's weekend was filled with some fun times and fantastic food...

mine definitely was. 

if any of you are avid Pinterest/humor section browsers, this was our inspiration: 

We got close, right?

Workout: A PDR

Well, I got the best text a girl could as for: 

"Casey, do you want to tackle a 20 miler with me on Saturday?"

My response?

"HECK YES. Name the time and place!"

In reality, I was beyond nervous -- especially since my furthest distance was 15.5... but what's an extra 5 miles, especially with great company and fun trails? 

Before our epic 20.5 miler

After... still just as excited!!

We kept an easy 9 min/mile pace and ran some hills, some trails, and some road routes to make it to our desired mileage.  It was fun!  We talked about everything from running, to feet, to boys... it was a long run.  And I had a blast.  My legs held up pretty well, they just started feeling tired.

Recovery:
I showered, ate some meatball subs, pb & cookies, and slept for hours.
Also, I had only gotten 3 hours of sleep the night before (don't recommend that...) so I was exhausted.  I felt like my body just shut down... as did my mind!

Oddly enough, I wasn't hungry at all.  I kept forcing myself to eat random things -- apples, pb, luna bars.

Dinner:
I headed over to my girls' apartment and we lounged around - they're reading the Hunger Games series (soooo good and addicting) - I napped, then we headed to a healthy fast food place for dinner.

Healthy fast food?  Does such a place exist?
You bet!  Only in the bay...

Vegan Chili and Cornbread + a Dolphin-Safe Tuna Salad Sandwich on Whole Wheat

Both were delicious!!
We had plans to get frozen yogurt afterwards... but my stomach just wasn't having it -- instead we ended up with a cookie, some chocolate, and some coffee :) perfect night!

Super Bowl Sunday:
No workout. Work from 7-11 am. Sleep. And this happened.

Oh, college life.... 

We had all the best junk food: chicken tenders, buffalo wings, chips and salsa, guac, queso dip, gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, 4 types of m&ms, ritz and pepperjack cheese, apples, pb, bell pepper slices, and another assortment of chocolate bars. 

Sufficiently stuffed.  Like, I had to take tums because my tums was upset. 

I've declared super bowl sunday one of my favorite holidays!  It's an excuse to be a pig - kind of like Thanksgiving :)  gotta love it. 

Anyways, I have tons of school work to catch up on!

Monday, here we come

Meatball Subs and HUMOR

IT'S FRIDAY!!!
I hope we're all ready for the weekend -- but really, is anyone ever not ready for the weekend?
I have a slight confession: my weekend started last night (Thursday) even though I have one baby class today (Arabic from 12-1)... more on that later.

So, I finally went grocery shopping and I came home with an array of random food that I wouldn't typically buy.  BUT, in an effort to add more protein to my diet, I was game to try turkey bacon, meatless meatballs, and turkey breasts.  Get ready for some weird recipes in the near future ;)

Breakfast:
Unsurprisingly, one of my new items made it into my breakfast line up.
I went for a savory breakfast sandwich -- who am I?

Two slices of sprouted flax seed bread, egg beaters, a slice of turkey bacon, and laughing cow light cheese.  This was a flavor masterpiece -- my tastebuds were shocked (they're used to eating sweet things 24/7 starting at 7 am.... it was a big deal)

I'll probably start including more of these savory eats into my morning routine.

Lunch:
Well, since I didn't have my usual oatmeal/yogurt and cereal mess for breakfast, I decided to have one for lunch.  I like to do things backwards and just eat breakfast foods all day... it works.

Greek yogurt, cinnamon, blueberries, banana, multi-grain trader joe's O's and almond milk!
It took me a good 15 minutes to get through this massive bowl...

But of course, I was rushing because all I really wanted was...

So, of course, I decided to buy two tubs of cookies because I'm indecisive and couldn't make up my mind in the 2 hours it took me at trader joe's... I've been keeping these cookies by my bed (along with a jar of crunchy PB) and I swear both tubs are nearly gone.

It's been two days... I'm in trouble.

HUMOR:
1. My sister is amazing and bought us these shirts for our marathon.  I will run for bacon... or donuts... or carrot cake... or chocolate chip cookies (I really don't discriminate).

2. I had a few good laughs in class when I stumbled upon my new motto: dance like your v-jay's on fire.  Is there any other way?? I mean really....

3. I'm kind of a big dill. It's kind of obvious at this point...

I literally take screen shots of these ridiculous things and send them to random people on my phone list... sometimes our humor doesn't match up and I'm left with an awkward "oh.. haha that's cute" reply instead of the expected "OMG CASEY HAHAHAHAH THAT'S HILARIOUS OMG YOU'RE SO FUNNY"... you know?

Workout:
I was a lazy bum all day.
I sat in bed (between classes), took a 12 minute nap, and ate cookies & pb instead of going running. So, by the time I finished for the day, around 5, I was itching to run.

I had plans to go out with friends around 8:30, so I had to make it a quickie.  7.3 miles, tempo - it was getting dark and I started to get nervous!  If that isn't motivation to run faster, I don't know what is.

Dinner:
Another purchase made it into my eats for dinnnnaaa!
I've been craving meatball subs ever since a new hot sandwich place opened up near my apartment... Of course, I had to have one.

Open-Faced Meatless Meatball Sub:

I used two slices of my Sprouted Flax Seed bread, a serving of meatless meat balls, 1/2 a cup of marinara, a cup of spinach, a laughing cow wedge, parmesan cheese, and garlic salt.  IT WAS AMAZING!

Guess what I'm having for lunch today?!?!?!

Random, but I had this on my phone.  I had to get approval from sister before I headed out for the night.  I hate the unwritten rule that girls can't wear sweats and parkas to clubs... I was freezing.

My night included dancing, listening to my friend DJ, and late night pizza :) hot, melty cheese and pepperoni to be exact.

Yay for the weekend!

I Win...

The award for creepiest person everrrrr! 

Thank you, it really is an honor.  I've worked hard to get to where I am today... It takes years to reach this level of creepiness and I'm proud to represent you and all my fellow creepers out there. 

Just wait... It'll all make sense soon. 

Breakfast: 

I've become completely addicted to Trader Joe's Multigrain O's - basically cheerios - with a scoop of fat-free greek yogurt, some jam, berries, and almond milk.  Yogurt and almond milk?  weird.

I couldn't sleep at all last night because I kept getting up to pee & take random trips to the peanut butter jar for some banana and cinnamon rice cake dippage... 

I'm actually not kidding.  I'm that person who sleep walks to the kitchen for late night snacks and it's getting kind of ridiculous. Peanut butter just haunts my dreams. 

I headed to class - my first of the semester - and then rushed home for some food. 

My hunger was out of control yesterday!

Lunch:

This is one of those meals that looks totally weird but tastes delicious.

My full-fiber flax bread made an appearance!  Topped with guacamoles, tomato slices, feta cheese, and spicy brown mustard. Open-Face Guacamole Sandwiches are my thing.

Alright, back to my award for creepiest person...
Check out my Arabic teacher's butt.

I'm not even sure this is legal... but I had to snap a picture because it's amazing.
Like world's 9th wonder status.

He's actually not a good teacher - but I might stay in the class just to stare at that for an hour every day.

Dinner:
As previously mention, my hunger was OUT OF CONTROL yesterday!
Like I was legitimately hungry the entire day - even after handfuls of nuts, protein bars, apples, sandwiches... you name it, I ate it.

Lisa was feeling the same way, so maybe it was the run that revved our metabolisms?
Anyways, come 5 o'clock, I decided to eat dinner before heading to the gym because I seriously couldn't wait until after my workout.

Dinner was courtesy of Trader Joe's - Shepherd's Pie

It was a quick 9 minutes in the microwave and it was fantastic!

Of course, I have this weird thing for shepherd's pie.  My stepmom used to make it for us for special occasions and it always reminds me of home and comfort food! YUM.
I paired 1/2 of the pie with some salad and then proceeded to snack on some dark chocolate and more peanut butter before heading to the gym for a little weight training

Workout:
I decided to, once again, listen to my coach and incorporate some weight training into my workout plans.  I took at Pure Strength class, which is a full-body weight lifting class.  Eh.. it's not body pump.
We barely did any leg work, and we focused on random abs and arm sets.

BUT, a workout is a workout.  And I'm sore today... go figure.

Anyways, I'm off for a run before class!
I'll catch ya later!!

If You Could Hear What I've Been Thinking...

You would probably jump off of a cliff. 
I've actually lost the ability to form proper sentences.... finals have used up all my available cognitive capacity and I am now reverting back kindergarten (back when things made sense).

Anyways!
Tuesday: Political Psych final from 3-6 pm.
My Thoughts:
- "Why would they plan a final right before dinner time... I'm going to confuse schema-based processing with spaghetti and meatballs"
- "Casey... you're like 3 pages ahead of the person next to you.  Either you're a genius and your kicking ass, or your actually getting all the wrong answers and you should probably start over.  OR you're sitting next to a complete moron...."
- "Why are there more than 3 pages on a test in the first place?"
- "I hope my grader has a sense of humor... I'm not sure how well sarcasm is interpreted on final exams.  They should really provide snacks to curb the slightly critical comments...."

My meal after the test: Indian feast!

I met up with Annie and Lisa who had a 3-6 pm final too... and we were famished.  Annie is a plant biology and something with microscopes major so I asked her why people get super hungry during tests -- apparently brains account for 20% of your metabolic rate.

Roti!! A whole-wheat, oven-baked Indian flat bread.  Really similar to Naan.  
 

Aloo Gobi: curried cauliflower and potato dish -- extra spicy!
 

My thoughts after our Indian feast:
- "I hope the curry sits well during my 11 am final tomorrow, otherwise that lecture hall will have to be fumigated and I'll have a lot of explaining to do"
- "I should probably start studying Arabic... I wish I knew how to say f. my life"

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If it ain't broke don't fix it!

Blueberry whole wheat pancakes have been my breakfast before every final this semester. I'm hoping it's good luck or something, but I guess I'll find out in a few weeks.  Until then I'm sticking with it -- something about wishful thinking?

Arabic final: 11:30 to 2:30
My thoughts during the test:
- "Say whaaaaat?"
- "I wish they would have at least put the friggin' directions in English... assholes"
- "I hope my teacher is cool with the fact that I wrote my entire composition about how I'm only friends with this girl to date her brother.... truth is, I couldn't remember any other useful vocabulary so I had to get creative"
- "It takes me 5 minutes to switch my brain from English to three dots and a squiggle. I'm wasting some valuable time... "

My meal after the final: SUBWAY!! 

Foot long veggie delight on honey oat with every veggie you could possibly imagine, grow, and/or genetically modify!!!!!

My thoughts the rest of the day:
- "I should probably skip my workout and be more productive.  Productive is now code word for study with friends, watch Elf, and eat an entire box of honey bunches of oats"
- "Honey bunches of oats should be added to the Illegal Narcotics FDA list.... shits addicting"

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I'll spare you the picture of my blueberry pancakes.
Mostly because it was raining and dark outside when I was eating them.  Thank you, 6:45 am wake-up call.  Thank you, 8 am final.

Today's final: Empirical Methods and Quantitative Reasoning 8-11 am.
Yeah, I should have known by the title not to take the class.

My thoughts during the test:
- "Bivariate regression would be the first question... they're trying to weed out the losers so they don't have to grade as many exams"
- "YOU MOTHER ******** Why don't you take the regression line and shove it up your _ _ _ "
- "I guess I'm not a morning person on exam days.... sorry"
- "Should peed before I left this morning.  Probably shouldn't have had 3 1/2 cups of coffee"

What I did after the test:

9 miles before meeting up with Lisa to do 5 more miles to Indian Rock!!!
8:30 pace.

Sometimes your butt just needs to be kicked to take the pain away from your brain.

What I ate for dinner:
Soy noodle bowl with way too many veggies to count. Sweet potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, mushrooms, onions, broccoli, soy noodles with marinara sauce!
 

My thoughts right now:
- "Good thing you haven't written a word on that document titled Peace and Conflict Final Paper that's floating in the background of your screen... due tomorrow"
- "My roommate bought me a bag of dark chocolate kisses for my birthday and I think I love her!!!!!!!!!"

Off to write that paper!! Then home!!!!!! Catch yaaaa soon :)
I'll try to keep my thoughts in order until then

Maintaining My Sanity

Well, if you had to guess where I've been recently.... 

a) library
b) cafe
c) beating my head against a wall
d) all of the above

Seriously, that would probably be the only question I got right if I were forced to take a final this very second.  If I got any question that starts with calculate the bivariate regression model.... I would probably drop the f-bomb and draw a smiley face.

Anyways, I apogolize.
'tis the season -- for finals week craziness.

What have I been eating/doing/preoccupying myself with?
PEANUT BUTTER GALORE

OKAY -- when I was all into calorie counting (aka the dark ages), I gave up peanut butter because I considered it to be both too dangerous (addicting) and too high in calories to keep in my room.  HOWEVER, it has some major health benefits and it's kind of delicious.

I recently re-discovered my love for peanut butter (thanks, Annie and Lisa...) and I've taken to making endless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on whole wheat english muffins that are all warm and melty from the convection oven.  I've also started dipping everything that isn't bolted down into that peanut butter jar (rice cakes, cookies, pretzels, peanuts... almonds... crackers).

Also, my favorite food that never fails to comfort me and make me happy:

Good old fashioned bowl of oats, made on the stove top, of course.  I'm kind of elitist about my oatmeal.... it's stove or bust.  Maple oats topped with almond milk, bananas, and fiber one honey graham cereal.

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Yesterday, I texted Annie to meet up at a nearby cafe for a study session.

Obviously, after 3 hours of talking/eating macaroons/and mindlessly plowing through lecture slides and sample questions... our minds turned to dinner.

We had time to kill before our date with LISA at House of Curries so we popped into a vegan bakery along the way....

Best thing ever invented?  Desserts that double as your appetizer.

Annie is gluten-intolerent, so she opted for the ooey gooey brownie (gluten free and vegan) and an oatmeal raisin cookie (wheat-free and vegan). Ummmm probably one of the best brownies I've ever had!! And of course, leave it to Annie to pick out the healthiest desserts in the cafe. 

I, on the other hand, am NOT gluten-intolerant... so I rolled with something a little different:
Vegan snickerdoodle and a "Tollhouse" chocolate chip and walnut cookie. HOLY CRAP.  BOTH COOKIES WERE AMAZING.  I kept telling myself the vegan cookie was healthy because it was, well, vegan... yeah, just go with it. 
 

Oh, did I mention they were freakishly large?  Like two would have satisfied my sweet tooth... that's how big they were :)  Of course, we only nibbled and packed up the rest for after dinner -- and to share with Lisa because she couldn't miss out on the pastry action.

We ran down to House of Curries because it was freezing.  Nothing like some hot curry to warm your body and soul, right??

I went with the Aloo Gobi & a side of Roti (whole-wheat, lighter version of naan).

There is something about Indian food that seriously cures anything yaaa got.
Stress?  Sore throat?  Frozen fingers? 
yep.

I'm going to stop paying for medical insurance and sign up for the "Indian buffet" medical plan instead.  I hope it covers car accident injuries and mushy-brain syndrome....

I'll leave you with the two thoughts that keep popping into my mind:

STORY OF MY LIFE.

Happy Friday everybody :) Go enjoy the weekend for me!

SIDE NOTE -- killer 9 mile run with Michelle this morning!! Nothing like banging out a sweet, hilly run before 9 am!!! Lace up your shoes and try it.

Ugly Food Excuses

So, be warned, you are about to see some pretty ugggllyy eats.

BUT - before you get all "Casey, you're blind and you have no taste buds - I have a really good excuse... ALL THE POWER WENT OUT IN MY APARTMENT!

Believe me, I was throwing that excuse around all day yesterday.. specifically when people questioned my outfit (sorry, the power was out, I got dressed in the dark) andd maybe when they asked why my eyeliner looked like something out of a maxim magazine. Think thick, heavy, and all over the top half of my face...  (sorry, the power was out, I couldn't see what I was doing.... )

The power has been going out all around the bay area thanks to some epic wind storms!  I think it's similar to the SoCal phenomenon, Santa Ana winds!

Anyways, I came back from the gym at around 11 and my roommate informed me that the power was out :( that meant to warm leftovers for lunch.  It also meant that I could only open the fridge for .4 seconds before having to close it again...

The first thing I managed to grab? pork roast leftovers & guacamole.

Yeahhhh, you know where this is going:
Pork roast and guacamole on top of multi-grain bread.
 

Yes, I know it looks disgusting... but it tasted pretty good.
You know how I love my weird sandwich combos. 

AND you can't go wrong with guacamole, right?
Anyways, off to class I went. I had to squeeze in a lot of work to get ready for this weekend!!! I'm going home (to San Diego!) so I had to get through some meetings and some office hours.

After my last lecture, I came home to find my power fully on and my microwave functioning. On the menu? Leftover pork roast, sweet potatoes, carrots, and golden yams topped with tomato basil marinara and parmesan cheese.  Yum!

I'm still amazed at this whole crock pot thing -- the pork literally falls apart!
And I'm a fan of mushy and over-cooked veggies.  They're kind of my thing.

I also made some chocolate pudding with coconut almond milk for dessert - I'm trying to get my froyo addiction under control... pudding just doesn't cut it.

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Guess who has work at 5:45 in the morning!?!
This girl.

Guess who refuses to eat a granola bar instead of a delicious (and nutritious) breakfast?
This girl.

When my alarm went off at 5:16, I got up and flew to the kitchen... okay, I brushed my teeth and put on some real peoples clothes first, don't worry.  I refused to brush my hair and put on makeup, though.

On the menu?
Healthy French Toast.

Ingredients:
- Slices of your favorite multi-grain bread (I used Sara Lee's 45 calorie multi-grain)
- 1/3 cup of egg-beaters
- a dash of vanilla almond milk
- a packet of splenda
- cinnamon

To make: Beat your eggs, almond milk, sweetener, and cinnamon together in a small bowl and then pour your egg-wash on top of your bread slices.  Make sure the bread soaks up all your eggy stuff and then throw them on the skillet for about 2 minutes on each side.  Drench in french toast and enjoy!

I packed up my tupperware and took this to work, which caused some massssive fits of jealous from my hungry coworkers.  Guess who didn't share....

Anyways, I'm at work.  It's still dark outside.  Its 7:06.  weird.

Humor for the morning:

damn straight.

This is what I look like at work:

HAPPY THURSDAY!

Omelettes and a Sense of Humor

Two things I love waking up to.

1. I ran out of oatmeal. I KNOW, you don't need to say it, we're all thinking it: "thank God, I'm sick of the million pictures of oatmeal, cereal, and almond milk.... there are only so many ways one can photograph mushy oats and make them look appealing and you've passed your quota"

2.  I was craving something SALTY.

3.  I love eggs. Usually, I prefer them in the form of a cupcake or french toast, but I guess an omelette will do...

4. I realize omelette and omelet are the same thing.  I'm sticking with the one that keeps showing up as a spelling error -- omelette, omelette, omelette. (do you know how much red is on my screen right now??!?!?)

Cinnamon & butter! on toasted multigrain bread.  
 

A massive omelette that only I could eat....
Lies, America has trained us all to handle situations when confronted with larger-than-life portions.

Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Feta cheese with a cup of Egg-Beaters, salt and pepper. 
 

Soo... remember when I was writing about human right and halloween candy for my midterm paper?  I thought it was a cool way to kick off a serious topic. Right?

Wrong.  b- for being "cheesy and insensitive"...

I moped around and called my mom, who said all the right things.  Most importantly, she said "you are you." damn straight.  I'm cheesy and, often times, insensitive due to my horrible sense of humor.  So, I'll keep being me (mostly because it keeps me entertained throughout the day)!  It's just a grade and I'm glad I stayed true to myself.

True.

Also, true. I TURNED MY SWAG ON FOR THE DAY!

Time to go run :)