Happy Birthday Mum

Today I wish the happiest of birthdays to my beautiful mama. We celebrated with dinner at Bertuccis, followed by her favorite Carvel ice cream cake at home. She got some great gifts, like new Alex and Ani bracelets, slippers and a Sephora gift card. The best gift of all, though, was my sister announcing that she is officially licensed as a Registered Nurse in the state of Massachusetts!!! Happy Day all around!

Meal Planning

Meal planning is something that I am hot and cold with.  I have times when I am really good about picking out dishes, buying all the ingredients and sticking to the plan, then there are times when laziness wins and the plan goes out the window.  This past week, I made a plan and we stuck to it, so I thought I would share with you.  Do you have a meal plan this week?

One thing to note on our meal plans - breakfasts are usually grab and go; whatever we have time for is what we eat.  We stay fully stocked with yogurts, cereals and frozen fruits for smoothies.  Snacks are fresh fruits, nuts, and/or popcorn.

Monday:
Lunch - can of Progresso Soup
Dinner - Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup by Skinnytaste - Left out the chicken and put in some extra veggies instead.

Image from skinnytaste.com

Tuesday:

Lunch:  Leftover enchilada soup

Dinner:  Chicken, Asparagus and Potatoes (prepped on Monday to pop in the oven on Tuesday when I got home.  Used a drizzle of olive oil instead of all that butter, and asparagus instead of green beans.)

Photo from Julie's Eats & Treats

Wednesday:

Lunch: Salad with leftover chicken, asparagus and potatoes

Dinner: I had to stay out for work, so hub had leftovers or something out of the freezer (we have frozen soups, meatballs, grilled chicken tenders, etc)

Thursday:

Lunch:  I had free lunch at work due to a client visit, Jake bought lunch

Dinner:  Oven baked chicken fajitas

Image from Real Mom Kitchen

Friday:

Lunch:  Fajita salads

Dinner:  Orzo Soup

Photo from 101 Cookbooks

Spring Fashion Covet

I know, I know it's February.   Even so, I can't help but love the new Alfa Top by Lilly Pulitzer, and I am dreaming of buying it for spring/summer in white.  It showed up on my Facebook feed and it was love at first sight.  That is all. 

Sweetheart Spin!

So, Elise at Healthworks is the best.  She has the most energy, plays the best music, gives the best workout, we love Elise. 

Elise decided to share the love during Healthwork's open house week (which coincided with Valentine's Week) by hosting a Sweetheart Spin on Saturday morning.  Sweetheart Spin meant that members could bring a guest- including men- to join in on the fun!  My poor husband has to listen to me rave about spin class every time I get home, so I was pumped to have an opportunity to share my favorite workout with him.

Jake pumped up, waiting for Spin to start

In typical fashion of classes by Elise, this one booked up almost instantaneously.  I checked the website multiple times a day hoping to get my name on the list, but no luck..

No luck until Saturday morning was snowy and window and generally gross out!  Jake and I bundled up, made the trek down to the gym and were happy to learn that a number of people wimped out, letting us get into the class!

"Before" shot - bikes set up and ready to go!

We got my favorite bikes in the back of the room near the windows and sweated for 45 minutes to Elise's playlist of love-themed songs.  It.  Was.  Awesome.  The highlight for me was hearing Jake say "yessssss" when he liked the song that came on, and watching him rock out for tap backs and jumps.  Elise had us matching up our pace with our partner at one point, which had Jake and I so pumped that we high-fived.  It was goofy and fun and a perfect way to start our day, and now Jake finally understands and appreciates why I come home from the gym looking like a drowned rat on Monday nights.  Have I mentioned how much I love Ride at Healthworks?!?!

"After" - sweaty and strong -rocked Sweetheart Spin together!

Weekend Recap

Hope everyone had a fun weekend!  It was a long one for me here due to President's Day, and I am lucky to say that the hubs and I enjoyed every minute! What did you do last weekend?!

Saturday AM:  Sweetheart Spin at Healthworks with my hubby!  I'll give the full recap on the blog tomorrow!  We followed this with haircuts by the awesome Debbie at Zani Salon in Melrose (sorry no pics of those!)

Saturday PM:  Our friend Dustin's surprise 30th birthday party out at the Luxury Box in Leominster.  How come Boston doesn't have a hockey bar?!?!  We need one!

Sunday AM:  Brunch at Trident with friends visiting from Vermont, followed by really big Starbucks coffees for the snowy, windy walk home on Newbury!

Sunday PM:  North End adventure with two of our best friends, Jon and Jamie!  We had dinner at Antico Forno, got take-home sweets from Bova's, and sat down for coffee and desserts at Cafe Paradisio.  I got the Afocato with coffee gelato and Bailey's Irish Cream.

Monday AM:  To-do-list-writing with greek yogurt for breakfast.  Nothing beats a productive day!