Coconut Shrimp

New Year's Eve Baked Coconut Shrimp with Spicy Pineapple Dipping Sauce

Recipe found here.

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a Happy and Safe New Year's Eve. Here's to a fresh start! "Because that's what New Year's is all about: getting another chance. A chance to FORGIVE, to do better, to do MORE, to give more, to LOVE more. And stop worrying about 'what if' and start embracing what would be. So when that ball drops at midnight - and it will drop - let's remember to be NICE to each other, kind to each other. And not just tonight but all year long."

- Claire Morgan (Hilary Swank). New Year’s Eve Movie 2011

  

Picture Source

Pinterest

Click on the link below to follow me on Pinterest! It's a work in progress, but I'm seriously addicted.

http://pinterest.com/mandylouwho88/

 

Christmas In Review - Christmas Day

Sunday - Christmas Day

Christmas this year was super relaxed and this lazy girl is not complaining one bit. However, due to not going to church Christmas Eve I was obligated to go Christmas day, but my heathen self showed up 10 minutes late. I was that person opening the squeaky doors in the middle of the service and of course my parents decided to sit practically in the front row. Oh well. Awkward moments do tend to define my life.

I then spent the rest of the day with J and opened gifts with his family. And all I can say is whoa I was feeling the love that day. I won't go into everything I received for Christmas because I feel that is super obnoxious but I will tell you my favorite three: balance ball chair (except the ball it came with is smaller than I'd like, so I need to find a replacement), a framed picture of J and I at his cousin's wedding this past summer, and of course these reindeer antlers for Annie the Golden Doodle.

Wanderlust

This post is not what I thought I was going to write about tonight. An intense feeling of wanderlust has set over me today. Perhaps it is because I have 5 days off from work and school (!) which is, unfortunately, a very rare occurrence for me. Perhaps it is because of the 11 degree windchill drafting through my living room windows. Or perhaps it's the complete and utter lack of sunshine we've been dealing with here in Upstate NY for oh, the past month now. I don't know exactly what it is, but I have that intense tingle in my feet and lump in my throat desire to experience something so completely new and foreign that it almost hurts.

Hello blog. Miss me? Because I miss you very much, but I only have about 5 more hours and 43 minutes of torture, uhh I mean work, and I will have a glorious five day weekend filled wondrous and fun things, or I might just do nothing at all. That sounds good too.

Ever have one of those days where the hours seem to fly by and you get nothing done? Yeah.

Christmas in Review - Christmas Eve

Saturday - Christmas Eve

I was honestly totally out of it by the time I arrived home from C's house.

You: You were hung over Amanda.
Me: Psh, no I wasn't. I blame the lack of sleep and passing out under a tree I'm allergic to. The alcohol, a mere detail.

Ok, I hope you really didn't buy that. I had one of 2 choices: 1. go back to bed or  2. make my famous double layer mousse chocolate cake. The later won. If you've never had the pleasure of trying my mousse cake, I honestly feel bad for you. It's pure heaven with a Oreo cookie crumb crust, a bottom layer of a dense dark chocolate mousse, and then a top layer of light chocolate mousse. To.Die.For. But also probably a 2394739 calories (Shhhh.) I only make this cake on special occasions because it takes about 2 hours to make (no joke, this shit is all homemade) and I am the only person in my house that can actually eat it. My mom is allergic to chocolate and my dad is allergic to raw eggs. Therefore I am the only person that can actually eat it, so I like to make it on very special occasions and then give most of it away.

Once I was done rolling around in chocolate and egg whites, I helped clean and then took a delicious 2 hour nap. We were suppose to go to church for Christmas Eve mass to celebrate baby Jesus' birth, but that didn't happen. I was in too much of a zombie-like state from the Festivus activities, and my mom was just plain tired. Unfortunately I wasn't able to relay this information to J in time and he arrived at my house in his Sunday finest. Meanwhile I looked like a total scrub (cue TLC song now). Which always makes me feel strange. There are still moments when I am in complete awe of J, and that happened to be one of them. He's just so damn handsome...mkay I will stop gushing right now. But it's true.

We then ate and exchanged presents. Noticing a theme here? Then I had to go to bed early because Santa was coming!!

Christmas in Review - Friday

Good morning lovlies!
How was everyone's Christmas?! Here's mine in review:
Friday
Sent home early from work (yay!) and braved Wegman's to buy the makings of my famous double layer mousse chocolate cake. Then once I survived that en devour, I had to prepare for the 2nd annual Festivus celebration at my friend C's house. Our group of high school friends get together to exchange secret santa gifts and eat and talk and dance and get very very drunk. This year we added some ugly sweaters to the mix. I borrowed a sweet red snowman turtle neck and Christmas sweater vest combo from my mom.

My goal for this year was to not vomit schlomit. And I did not! This means I am officially celebrating my 1-year anniversary of being puke free! (I'm pretty classy, haven't you heard?) But I did end up buying a $37 bottle of the ol' Captain, which was 1. unnecessary because we already had a lot of alcohol and 2. not good for my waist nor bank account. Then around 1 am, it all became very tiresome and I needed to go to bed, like immediately. My almost-24 year old body just can't do it like it use to. So I rolled out my sleeping bag on the hardwood floor of my friend's living room, crawled in Christmas-sweater and all, and proceeded to take a 5 hour nap. So yeah, I woke up sometime after 6 am and discovered my head was underneath the Christmas tree. How appropriate for the season. But I happen to be allergic to real Christmas trees, and was very very stuffy. So I gathered my wits about me, cracked my neck, knees, hips, fingers, toes, and elbows (must bring an air mattress next year) and schlepped my slightly hung-over butt home. All in all, it was a successful Festivus.

This is one of my Christmas presents! I am going to bring this little baby to work and sit on it and get amazing abs at a desk job. Go me!

Dear Santa

Dear Santa, please bring me a skinny body and a fat bank account. And don't screw the two up like you did last year. Love, me.


Hahaha I can't take credit for the above but it's hilarious! Merry Christmas everyone!!

Hello blog,

Christmas is here and now nearly gone. It's amazing how long you prepare for this day and then in a mere 24 hours it's done. So yeah, weight loss/healthy eating and living has not been going very well right now. I blame the holidays, when it's more likely my bad habits, but it's so damn hard to try and change during this time of the year, so I am going to end up being another cliche at the gym at the beginning of the new year.

Yet I'm starting to realize this isn't so much about the big picture. Not about the big picture? Say whaaaat? It's really about the teeny tiny pictures that add up to the big picture. A Monet if you will. Each little brush stroke of paint, when up close looks like a blob of color and insignificant; but each and every brush stroke matters. Once the paint drys, you step back and have a beautiful picture. And yes I did just borrow this analogy from Clueless.

So this past month the brush strokes have been kinda ugly, but I've come to a realization in the past week. I need to be a little more forgiving towards myself. I need to realize that every single choice I make will not be perfect, but to realize that every choice does matter. I'm tired of putting off healthy decisions for tomorrow. So my new year's resolution is not to lose weight, but to be kinder to myself. And being kinder to my body is to make every brush stroke matter.

Rather than aiming for being perfect, just aim to be a little bit better today than you were yesterday

Cue watery-eyed inspiration.

Food Porn Staring Madeline's

Last night J and I had a fancy shmancy dinner at Madeline's in the Ithaca Commons and it was delish!

Le menu

Le Bar

 First Course

Rosemary & Sea Salt Foccia Bread dipped in Olive Oil

Second Course

Sesame Encrusted Tuna Carpaccio with Wakame and a Caramel Soy Reduction

 Third Course

I had the Chili-Coconut Shrimp with Yogurt Raita, Green Papaya Salad, Mango Chutney, Soybeans, and Pandan rice. I'm actually really not a huge fan of mango, but this chutney was super spicy and it was honestly my favorite part of the entree. J had the16 oz Black Angus New York Strip with a Chianti reduction, seasonal vegetables, balsamic tomatoes, and kale mashed potatoes (pictured in the background). 

 Dessert!

I had the Molten Chocolate Cake and J had the Chocolate Burbon Pecan Cake.

Oh nom nom nom. I need to go work out now....

Seriously what was I thinking starting my "healthy lifestyle" right around the Holidays? I can do this, I can do this, I can do this....

Sorry for the lack of posts this past weekend, it went by way too fast and left me little to no time, to do what I needed to do on my end.

Lazy Girl Commandments for Family Holiday Parties

I have a family Christmas party to attend to with J's family and here are the commandments I am giving myself, and anyone else in a similar situation.

• Thous shall dress nicely for said Christmas party to 1) make a nice impression and 2) no stretchy pants! There shall be no opportunity in thy garments for a food baby.
• Thou shall eat a well and balanced breakfast before the day's festivities begin.
• Thou shall have a healthy snack on the car ride there to avoid feeling the buzz that accompanies the first glances of delicious calorie laden food.
• Thou shall carefully, but not so obviously that 15 cousins start heaping family favorites onto thy plate for you. survey the tables laden with food. Then zone in on one thing that you really really want to eat and eat some of that. Some not all.
• Now here is the crucial point for the above commandment. Do not eat what only half appeals to you, is it really worth the food hang over later?
• Savor thy morsels you have given the honor of eating. Thy stomach needs approximately 20 minutes for thy brain to feel full. 
• Thou shall eat lots and lots of salad and lean protein where one can find it.
• Thou shall not get ridiculously drunk for obvious reasons, 1) t'would be terrible to mistake a look alike cousin under the mistletoe as your boyfriend and 2) all of those damn calories. Eat your calories, do not drink them. Sip some Bacardi 0 with diet coke or a vodka tonic or nurse a glass of wine. Again savor it. 
• Lastly, thou shall relax and enjoy the company and all of their quirkiness whether it's your own family or someone else's.

Happy Partying from the Lazy Girl!

Last night J and I were planning what to eat for dinner tonight...if I could only summon this type of self control at 9 PM on a school night.

Happy Friday

May you all feel as fabulous and sexy as this song makes me feel. PS-Big things to come on this blog this weekend!

Word. I truly believe this.
Photo Credit.

Blog Crush

I have a serious blog crush on One-Twenty-Five. She's over on the Tumblr but I'll forgiver her for that. The woman has lost over 50 lbs and has ran 3 marathons all in just 2 years! Whenever I'm lacking inspiration or need a kindred spirit in this whole crazy let's-get-skinnyhealthy-and-tell-the-whole-world-the-good-the-bad-and-the-jiggly in the blogosphere (that may not be a real word but I don't care).

Is it totally weird that I want to meet her someday and be bff's? Probably.

I'm kinda ticked at myself for having such a low calorie and delicious dinner yesterday, see last night's post, and then I just go ruin it all. Seriously WTF Amanda. I come home and proceed to eat the following: left over popcorn with garlic salt and butter, hummus with carrots, triscuts with slices of cheese, and to top it all off a weight watchers ice cream bar. I think we can file all that under "Eating Your Emotions." I wasn't truly upset or stressed about anything, but it's a safe bet to say I wasn't exactly conscious or caring of what I was stuffing my face with. One of the hardest times for me to not eat is after class late at night. I'm usually hungry because I've eaten dinner earlier in the evening, either in my car or during class, and then once I get to my car I'm starving. Plus I'm usually tired and have an hour and 20 minute drive home in front of me. It's just way too easy to pull up to one of the 293432098 drive-thrus or pop into Wok With Me for some take out, and it's a battle that is usually won by my stomach and not my desire for less cellulite on my ass. So, when it's all said and done, there is nothing I can do about what I ate last night, it's done. But I can plan for it next time. I can arm myself with an apple and carrot sticks and slices of bell peppers and a handful of almonds. I know I can do this.

Hello dear readers,
If you are not currently aware, I am in grad school and have class this quarter on Tuesday and Wednesday nights from 6 to 9:20 or 9:50 PM (bleh). Obviously tonight's class is super engaging because I'm typing this as my professor drones lectures away. My university has a quarter system (think trimesters), so we have 10 weeks of class and then a finals week. Everyone else I know taking some sort of higher education class has just finished or is finishing up this semester's classes as I type this, whereas I am actually in the third week of new classes.

Anyway, my wacky class schedule is not the topic at hand, what I nom nom nom on school nights is. I typically leave work at 4, drive home to pick up my lap top and books, and then have to forage for food.  Needless to say I've gotten really good at eating in my car, but it's not something I like to do, so I try to get something and bring it to class. I've tried all sorts of different things.... sushi, soup, take-out pad thai, but my favorite (and less stinky, no one wants to sit next to sushi-breath-girl) has to be Panera. But Panera can be kind of tricky, you have to really pay attention to the ingredients to make sure you're not piling on the calories and sodium.

Tonight's selection is: The You-Pick-Two half Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich and half portion Classic Salad.

 

Seriously yummy and pretty nutritionally balanced but a little high in sodium. I had water as my drink because I'm trying to be more conscious of eating my calories and not drinking them. 

Story Of My Life

The Lazy Girl's Guide to Getting Ready in a Hurry

Today was definitely a crazy Monday. I had a really hard time staying asleep last night and in my delirium I set my alarm for 8:30 AM. Why I did this, is not entirely clear to myself, but to my sleep-deprived self it seemed like a good idea at 4 AM. I woke up to my mom knocking on my door (yes I live with my parents, I'm that cool) asking if I was going to work. Oh. Shit. So I bound out of bed at 8:38 and had to be at work by 9 AM. I somehow managed to arrive at 9:07 -I live quite close to where I work luckily. So here are some of my go to tips for when you find yourself running late.

• It's helpful if you've showered the night before and you really don't have to worry about greasy hair, but if you haven't and have literally no time to shower, the old baby powder trick works in a pinch. Sprinkle some on your hair brush and brush through your roots and going down. Hair spray, because it contains alcohol also works and it's also worth it to invest in  a dry shampoo. Suave makes a super cheap one but just as effective as the Bumble and Bumble ones. 
• There is no need to get fancy with make-up for work. You want to look fresh and pulled together in no more than 5 minutes. Seriously all you need is a tinted moisturizer, concealer for imperfections such as out breaks and under eye circles, a dark brown eye liner (black can be a little harsh for office settings), mascara and a tinted lip balm such as one of the new Revlon Lip Butters.  It's a make-up wham, bam, thank you ma'am.
• Have a handful of coordinating separates that can work with each other and is office appropriate. After entering the real world after college I resisted buying work clothes. I just find them so stuffy and boring, but it is possible to find cute seperates from Express, The Limited, and a slightly cheaper alternative with Lauren Conrad's Collection for Kohl's. I find it easier to just pull a few pieces that I know go together on the fly, add some stud earrings, a bangle, a scarf and you're good to go. 
• I don't care how rushed you are, you have to eat something. I personally can never skip breakfast because it literally ruins my the rest of my day with the hangries (hungry + angry = hangry). If you seriously cannot stop to quickly make something, grab a Kind Bar or a Kashi bar, both are pretty good for you and get a non-fat latte.

After that little side adventure, we went to Ithaca for some Taste of Thai and came across some sweet ice sculptures in the Commons. My go-to dish at Taste of Thai is hands down the Pad Thai. I've had Pad Thai many other places, but whatever it is they do to it at Taste of Thai makes it (in my opinion obvi) the absolute best. J likes to refer to it as "hamster bedding" whatever, I don't care if they put crack in it, I keep coming back for more. But I ventured out of my little Pad Thai routine and had the Thai Spicy Noodles with chicken (Level 3 spiciness, just in case you were wondering).

 

I also had a Thai Ice Tea (the orange drink in the right corner). I ate every single bite of that dish. Not the best move because afterwards I was stuffed. So yeah need to work on eating until satisfied, not stuffed, but I refuse to feel guilty about it right now. Today is a new day right? One filled with salad.

J had the Taste of Thai Chicken, a thai curry sort of dish with chicken, cashews, veggies, and a side of rice and noodles. Again, delish, but a little rich for my own palate. 

After all of that nom nom noming we decided to check out the ice sculptures in the Commons, and happened to catch the end of the big contest. Here are some of my favorites:

So apparently they make the sculptures super shiny by torching them, cool no?

Sometimes you just need to pull over on the side of the road and take a picture.

This was taken yesterday by moi at approximately 4:00 PM on 79 enroute to Ithaca. After a drive from Watkins Glen to Ithaca back in September I came across the most breath taking view right meow:

Ok so it doesn't really look like much from this picture but 1) the lighting wasn't ideal, the sun needed to be a little higher in the sky to really illuminate the horizon, and 2) my camera just does not do it justice. I need to come back in the spring time when the landscape is greener and a little earlier before sunset, to really try to grasp it, along with (Dear Santa) a better camera? ;) This view has been stuck in my mind since the first time I saw it in early September, and you could see for miles.

But randomly on the side of the road, on the other side of the railing was a bunch of garbage; some tin cans, shampoo bottles, a ton of toilet paper rolls and grossly the packaging for something called a "Hooch & Cooch" and pages from a porn magazine fluttering in the wind, along with junk mail for a "Candice," from Lansing, NY, listing what is presumably her home address. Ok Candice the next time you decided to go on a little joy ride, try to at least throw the stuff in a garbage can and not out your car window. You can't make this shit up. But besides that, the views were gorgeous.

 

Sweet action pic of an airplane flying into the sunset:

Excuses, excuses....

Energized. Focused. Stress-free. These three things I currently am not. I often have many excuses for not choosing the apple over the bag of chips and for not doing that hour of cardio. But for me to change I need to just lay it all out and really call it what it is, creative bullshit and procrastination. I am an expert bullshitter (and it happens to get me really good grades in school -- yay for liberal arts degrees!) but when it comes to my health and weight, the only person I am kidding is myself. So let's lay it all out there shall we? Here are the things I often talk myself (and sometimes others) into making bad choices.

• "I'm not a morning person." Some people seem to have no issue with getting up at the ass-crack-of-dawn to go work out. Please tell me your secret! How on earth do you do it?! Whenever I try to get into a new exercise routine, I become super determined to wake up early, but I can guarantee you that when the alarm goes off at 6 AM I hit the snooze button until 7:30. Staying in-between the warm and cozy sheets wins every. damn. time.
• "I work hard and I deserve this treat." I do work hard, that is true, but how exactly does that entitle me to stuff my face? This, dear readers, is called cognitive dissonance. My subconscious and jiggly arms will be saying, "No! Don't do it!" but in that moment, the most primal part of my brain is thinking -as I'm drooling Homer Simpson style, "Mmmmmm carb taste good."
• "I don't have the time." Oh my goodness, this is my most favorite and well-used one of them all, plus it can be adjusted to fit almost any scenario. I am busy, but so is everyone else, yet many other people seem to be able to manage their time in a way that allows them to exercise.
• "I need to get into shape before I can actually go to the gym to work out." This one is rarely said out loud, but often thought. Those of you have have extra jiggle here and there, you know what I mean! You feel like you need to be in shape before you can even go to the gym! You know people check each other out at the gym, and for someone not as familiar with the treadmill as she use to be, the fear of judgement often results in inaction.
• "I'm too out of shape to try that." This is often applied as an avoidance technique to prevent feeling uncomfortable/out of breath.
• "Gym memberships cost too much." Who said a gym membership is a prerequisite for exercise?
• "It's too cold/hot out." I actually am the proud owner of some very nice snowboarding gear, and I have used it a total of 1 times over the past three years. That's just shameful.
• "I just showered." Who wants to get all sweaty again after they've just gotten clean?
• "I'm too tired." This is again another favorite. I and the rest of working-America is tired. We're overworked (often underpaid), have babies/children (I personally do not and cannot blame it on the offspring), and we take on 3643654 more responsibilities than we can honestly handle. No wonder we're all tired and cranky.

This is not an exhaustive list, but the most common ones I like to throw around. Are there any that I missed? These are just bullshit excuses, so it's about time I start being a little more honest with myself. I am incredibly hard working but so lazy at the same time! So yeah, this is me sheepishly walking away now...

On a much happier note. It snowed today! But now it's all melted away. Trust me I won't be this happy about it come March, but I've had such a hard time getting into the Holiday spirit this year, and I am blaming the lack of festive christmas snow on the ground. This is upstate NY people! So weird. Plus I want to go snowboarding, and dust off said snowboard. Grass should not be this green in December in the North East US.

A Few Words From a Lazy Girl

This blog is meant to start the beginning a new journey for me. For now the main purpose of this blog is to document and motivate getting healthy again while having no time to waste. I'm busy. As in I-rarely-see-my-friends-and-dog busy, and yet I somehow manage to be extremely lazy at the same time. I seem to be constantly stressed out and feel rather helpless about it all. Well this is me taking a stand and taking back control over what I can. There is so much self-help advice out there it makes you dizzy. My purpose and goal is to make sense out of it what I can and discover what really works and what doesn't.