Category Archives: Meals

Marvelous Mexico!

Here I am, back after the longest blogging break I have ever taken, and another year older as well! This is my first blog post published since my vacation to Cancun and also my first as a 25 year old. But instead of separate birthday (it was this past Saturday 3/22) and vacation (it ended on my birthday) posts, I’m just going to roll them into one, because vacations and birthdays are BOTH marvelous.

Whether it’s been one week or one day, you can share your marvelous by linking up with Katie.

Marvelous was…waking up in Mexico on my birthday. Though that was the last day of our trip, I’m going to start with it because birthdays are always exciting. I’d planned to wake up before our flight back to CT and work out, but upon waking I decided to instead take advantage of my last moments of warmth and go walk on the beach. That in itself says a lot about my personal growth over the last year. I definitely had time to work out, and had plans to go out to eat that night too, but instead of doing so I really just wanted to soak up a little more sun, sand, and blue skies before boarding a plane to the land where spring will never seemingly come.

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Getting My Marvelous Priorities Straight

I am blogging today from Mexico and seriously planned for the last week to title this post “Marvelous Mexico”. But I have other stuff on my mind today because I woke up the morning of my departure with yet another illness. Seriously, I never used to get sick and this is the second time in two weeks. Has anyone else ever moved from the suburbs to the city and suddenly found themselves getting sick more often? Let’s hope this isn’t a continuing trend.

Thanks Katie for hosting this link-up every week!

Whenever I go on vacation, I like to work out first thing in the morning so I can feel less guilty about the rest of the day just laying out in the sun, going outside my food/drink box a bit more, and being fairly inactive in general. Some people like to spend their vacations exploring their surroundings and doing outdoor activities. That’s fine, but to be honest I like to sit on my butt in the sun and go out to eat.

i just couldn’t not have a drink with the rest of my family to celebrate our arrival at the hotel, but it definitely knocked me out.

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What-I-Ate-Lately Wednesday

Thank you guys so much for your support and understanding in response to Monday’s post! I feel like I’ll put less pressure on myself to blog when I don’t want to, now that I’ve put everything out in the open. And I’m just happy to know how excited everyone is for me as I continue on this new path in life.

I may have switched locations but my eating habits have not drastically changed...something I’m grateful for! It certainly eases the transition. The biggest difference is the fact that I’m making my own at-home food, as opposed to my mom handling it for me. Other than that I’m still packing salad lunches, eating my staples (bananas, plain Chobani, sugar-free chemical-filled Jello pudding cups, etc), and dining out. This seems to be an appropriate What I Ate Wednesday topic.

Share your WIAW post here!

I’ve been having great success with my weekend food prep. The only weeknight I left myself cooking to do I got very stressed out, so I learned a lesson quickly. I have yet to order takeout, which is an accomplishment and one I need to keep up seeing as I still am going out to eat a few nights a week. I’ve learned how quickly different foods cook in my oven, made dishes I’ll repeat and dishes I’m not anxious to eat again, and both followed and created recipes. I’ve also learned that I need to make MORE food each weekend if I’m going to be using it not just for dinners, but lunch salad ingredients as well.

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The Better Chip Crusted Chicken & Buffalo Brussels

The Better Chip provided me with product and/or compensation for this post, however the opinions I shared are my own.


I recently joined The Better Chip Blogger Program and received a kit with samples of many different chip flavors, plus some fun “accessories”.

How awesome is that headband? I already promised Becki the gluten-free button!

How awesome is that headband? I already promised Becki the gluten-free button!

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Thinking Out Loud: First Week

Time to blog is short to come by these days! But all day long I’ve always got blog ideas popping up in my head and I’m always anxious to put them to digital-paper. I may not have time to do a whole post expanding on each of my ideas, but I always have time to think out loud with Amanda!

1. My first day of work went well! I showed up without my laptop because I’m used to working for a job where a PC is provided, but I’d much prefer to use my own laptop and the beauty of living so close to my job is I could easily walk to my apartment to grab it! I had a great time learning our e-commerce system for online wine purchases, brainstorming promotional ideas, and meeting my new co-workers. To be excited for the next day of work is a new feeling for me and one I could easily get used to!

First day of work selfie. I’m still riding high on my braid-making semi-abilities. I also have realized some form of headwear covering the ears is essential in Boston.

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I Live In Marvelous Boston!

It’s official! I LIVE IN BOSTON! I start work on Wednesday (thankfully my new employer gave me a few days after moving to settle in) and the last few days have absolutely flown by – in a good way. They’ve been so marvelous in fact, I can hardly stop smiling.

Share your marvelous in Katie’s link up!

My last day at work on Friday was surreal. I honestly don’t think it’s hit me yet that I’ve left that job. Actually, it did hit me a bit, but only as I was leaving our post-work happy hour shenanigans that extended well past happy hour. And they would have extended later had I not had the discipline to leave in time to get home and get enough sleep before my early moving wake-up call. Spending that time with my co-workers was marvelous though. I’m SO glad I got the chance to have a last hurrah with all of them. As I mentioned on Friday, it was the last day for three employees, so the whole evening was very emotional. And fun!

Tom, I, and Steve cut our goodbye cake at work!

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Thinking Out Loud: 2DAYZZZZ

Two days. Said to the “tune” of “2 Chainzzzzz”. As in two days until I move to Boston. Now I will use the 2 Chainz reference to plug my current favorite song.


I’m short on time today so let’s dive right in and think out loud. Thanks as always to Amanda for giving me an excuse to ramble and feel like there’s purpose behind said rambling.

1. I’m really totally kinda dreading the whole actual act of moving. The movers are arriving Saturday morning around 7:30AM and the day before (aka tomorrow) is my last day of work followed by happy hour co-worker shenanigans. I’m expecting I’ll be feeling the shenanigans the next morning and an early wake up call followed by a drive to Boston won’t be at the top of my list of things to experience. Gotta power through! And drink ALL the water.

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Starting My Marvelous Move

Thank you so so much for your well wishes in response to my big announcement! As I mentioned, I’ve already begun making moves toward beginning the transition from Connecticut to Boston and that has eased the anxiety I am feeling about the big changes coming my way. Plus those big changes are all pretty marvelous so how could I not also be feeling freaking excited?!

Link up with Katie if you want to join the marvelous party!

My current employer was nice enough to let me take Friday to head to Boston for my new employer’s annual sales meeting. It just so happens I was hired just in time to attend, which is a good thing because I got a comprehensive view of a lot of the goals and initiatives I’ll be working toward/on! The meeting concluded with a moment that made me want to pinch myself and say, “WAIT, this is my job?! MARVELOUS!”

2-7-14-party1

Testing out some potential vinos…

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Trade Em Up Tuesday: An Excuse to Ramble

Totally digging this Trade Em Up Tuesday thing, so thanks very much to Miss Alex for cluing me into that. Much like Thinking Out Loud Thursdays, it’s just a great way to blog on a day when I don’t feel like sticking to one topic.

I would trade…ALL THE SNOW. Snow snow go away, you ruin my plans so many days. Last night’s Group Power class was cancelled due to weather so I had to say goodbye to my Monday lifting party and am hoping I can make it to Thursday or Saturday’s class.

I would not trade…getting out of work early due to snow. OK so that’s a positive! I was able to leave work, hit the gym for a workout, and get home to shower and get cozy by the fire. I had extra time to clear out the mindless-TV hanging around on my DVR (#RichKids, Toned Up) and draft tomorrow’s blog post. At the gym I did my go-to cardio machine the StepMill (30 minutes of speed intervals) followed by two rounds of this arm routine by Rebecca.

I did two rounds instead of three because I started to get hangry!

I would trade…the waiting game. I’m still playing it and I don’t know if I’m going to see a win or a loss. I’ll know by the end of the day tomorrow whether or not I’ve landed a big opportunity. Sorry that I have to continue being cryptic…wish I knew for sure what was going on so that I didn’t have to be!

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MIMM: I Did It!

I don’t exactly feel quite as cheery as this title and its exclamation point make it seem, but I still feel a hell of a lot better than I did yesterday. I can’t remember the last time I blogged on a weekend but I did yesterday, just a quick rant, because I was sitting at my laptop feeling sorry for and doubtful of myself. I set out to prove to my all-or-nothing mind that I could enjoy last night’s Super Bowl eats without going overboard, without getting too full, and also without restricting. Well I proved to myself just that, so that’s pretty marvelous.

Link up with Katie today and share your marvelous.

In terms of beverages, I decided to start with a beer I purchased a long time ago and was saving for a beer-esque evening such as Super Bowl Sunday. Plus I thought it’d be easy to sip slowly. John Henry 3-Lick Spiker Ale was recommended to me at Yankee Spirits because I shared with the sales associate that I am a bourbon lover. This beer is aged in bourbon oak chips and I adored it! I want to try some more John Henry beers now. After the beer I switched to another special something that I was motivated to sip slowly – the last of some Johnnie Walker Blue my dad had! What a marvelous guy (my dad, not Johnnie). The evening later ended with champagne…Andres, not so marvelous, but it’ll do.

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