Wedding Dress Shopping, Winery, White Chocolate Peanut Butter, & Weekend Recap [10/14]

October 14, 2013 -
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Hi all! Happy Monday – hope you had a great weekend! Before I forget, the TANKS ARE IN!!! WOO!

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I am shipping them out tomorrow so if you ordered one keep an eye out later this week! You will get a confirmation e-mail once I ship them! At the beginning of every month I will do Pre-Orders for the tanks, order them a week later, then get them to you (hopefully) a week or so after that. So keep an eye out for the next Pre-Order!!

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My weekend was brought to you by the letter ‘W’ if you couldn’t tell by my obnoxiously long title Winking smile. The reason why I sometimes go MIA on the weekends is due to the fact that my computer only really works if it’s plugged in…therefore, it’s really not easy to travel with. I usually borrow Corey’s if I’m visiting him but this weekend we were both on the go!

As I mentioned on this post, one of my best friends from College, Courtney, is getting married next October! When she asked me to be in the wedding party I was so excited! I think it really means a lot to be asked to be in someone’s wedding.

We all met on Saturday afternoon to go wedding dress shopping! And guess what? She said yes to the dress in less then 90 minutes! We got there early, and the swooped her away to go look at different dresses. Every single time she came out in a dress we all were like “oh my goshhhhhh” because she honestly looked beautiful in every single one. It’s ironic because right when we walked in, there was a dress that they had just put on the manikin. She looked over at it & was like – can I try that one on?

After 3 beautiful dresses, she put on the one that first caught her eye. She walked out & we all knew it was the one. We kept making her walk in circles so we could just keep staring at it. It is SO beautiful & she is going to be such a gorgeous bride! It’s exciting because she’s my first friend to be getting married (other than my brother) and I know this is just the beginning!

I don’t think her fiancé reads my blog daily, BUT STILL I am under oath to not share any pictures, even though the one that we really need to worry about is Courtney herself! She even said, “it’s going to be so hard not to show Ry the pictures!” So we are keeping tabs on that girl Winking smile

After a whole afternoon of shopping less than 90 minutes of shopping, we were all starving & ready for lunch! We went to a local Italian place Niccolini’s. I was so excited to see that they had gluten free pasta options! This girl loves me some pasta & this place did not disappoint.

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[Gluten Free Pasta with roasted veggies & shrimp]

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On the ride home, I remember seeing the sun shine through the clouds & snagging a picture while we were at a stop sign. I love when you can see the sun beams.

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We went straight to a local winery that was having their last night open before the season was over. We all enjoyed some wine to celebrate Courtney’s dress success!

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Red heart Bridesmaids Red heart

Nicole, Myself, Lindsey, Courtney [Bride], her cousin Brittney, & Cheryl [Mother of the Bride].

The rest of the night we hung out by a fire to enjoy the nice crisp weather. Wasn’t too cold/wasn’t too warm out – just right for a night outside.

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The next morning I whipped up some Zucchini Bread Powercakes for Corey & I. Because a Sunday morning isn’t complete without them! It’s a tradition over here.

I honestly didn’t measure perfectly but in the bowl was abouttttt 2.5 cups oats (half pulsed into flour), a few eggs, shredded 1/2 of a large & in charge zucchini, a few spoonful’s of flax, 1/2 cup pumpkin purée, 1/4 cup peanut flour, cinnamon, liquid stevia, & baking powder.

All mixed together with a splash of liquid & let sit for a bit to thicken up then topped with peanut fluff spread [I get the peanut flour on iherb.com coupon code XUG228] & raspberries!

Side of coffeeeeee & it was a happy Sunday. We were all fueled up & headed to the gym a little while later to hit those shoulders.

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I really liked this quote because with each day I am finding that I am creating more positive thoughts instead of negative ones. I am listening to my body, giving it nutrients it needs, but also having a balance with all foods in moderation. Things I used to beat myself up over. I am eating more now, especially those “fear foods” of carbs & fats that I used to restrict. I’ve realized food is fuel so the quality of our workouts can depend a lot on how much fuel we give ourselves.

Many other factors go into it such as getting enough rest, mental health, & less stress (which is something I am really working on).

[Insert long DEEEEEEP BREATH here]

If you want to read a little bit about my story with that you can read this “Check yourself before wrecking yourself.”

Each day we can wake up & start the day with new strength. The strength comes from inside ourselves in order to thrive throughout the day. I am challenging myself to starting each morning with a positive thought to propel me into my day with new strength.

Ok, now that honest hour happened let’s get back to the workout! Winking smile We did a mix of:

We used the front of a back row machine. Put a plate of your choice on the front & squeeze the bar up using one of your traps (in between your shoulder & neck area). You don’t need to go super heavy – just make sure to control the movement & squeeze at the top to contract.

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Rear Delt Raises – I only use 10’s or 5lbs for these because it is not as easy as it looks. I try and control each movement without using the momentum of my core. Really focusing on the rear delt (back of the shoulder) to pull each movement & hold at the top of each one.

Also wore my Harbinger Palm Grips! If you haven’t entered that Giveaway feel free to check out [this post] to enter!

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After the workout, we grabbed some salad from the food court (benefits of Corey going to Grad School on campus), & I added some additions from our fridge back at the apartment.

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The Powerbowl turned into a #PowerPlate (we need to buy some bigger bowls in his apartment) greens, kale, tomatoes, onion, black olives, & cucumbers diced them up then tossed in a bowl with minced garlic, apple cider vinegar, nooch (iherb.com – coupon code XUG228), Dijon mustard, liquid stevia, & garlic hummus with dill & lemon pepper seasoning.

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Put onto a plate & topped with these new onion crunchies that Heather got me hooked on while she was in last weekend. Also on the plate was tempeh, more olives, hummus, & a nice serving (with multiple trips back to the fridge for more) of Corey’s grandma’s homemade sweet pickles for the win! I love love love pickles on a salad….or anything for that matter.

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These are the onion crunchies that I am lovingggg lately thanks to Heather!

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And to bring it all together, I am currently running for the best girlfriend ever award and this is my submission.

This morning, Corey was getting ready for work and I was making myself some powercakes. He came out and I asked him what he wanted and he said, “I’m really craving a PB&J!” So I said, hmmmm let me think of something. (powercakes wheels start turning).

We had some White Chocolate Wonderful in the fridge (SO GOOD) so I put that on two pieces of bread with strawberry preserves & banana. Put it onto a medium heat grill pan (that was already warm from my powercakes), & BOOM!

Who doesn’t love a grilled pb & j ? I totally would’ve swapped my powercakes for this sandwich, but we didn’t have any gluten free bread to put it on. I did take a bite and it was heavenly. (I can handle gluten in small amounts –I just can’t over do it or my stomach gets mad at me).

After all, the way to a mans heart is through his stomach, right? Winking smile

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My weekend was full of friends, family, fuel, fitness, & love. You can’t go too wrong with that powerful combo.

I hope you had a good one too!

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Red heart Kasey

What is your challenge for yourself for the week?

What is your favorite PB & J combo?

I personally love peanut butter & apricot chia jam together.