Now that I'm out of school and going in to work in the morning I'm trying to be better about what I'm eating. I used to bring a salad to work for lunch every day. That idea was much less appetizing when I started school and had to carry the salad around in my back pack until noon. But my pants are pretty tight these days, so I decided it was time to try and pay attention to what I'm eating again. This week has really been the first and the biggest weapon in my arsenal seems to be fruit. Breakfast this week has included oatmeal, greek yogurt, bananas, and a variety of berries. I made a fruit salad of kiwi, pineapple, and mandarin oranges that I keep in the fridge and snack on in the afternoon. I'm also loving pretzel crisps and red pepper hummus together at lunch. I also brought some zucchini sticks to go along with that. And I made a salsa-type bean salad that I had with tortilla chips for lunch Monday and Tuesday. Dinner hasn't been as tip-top, but it could be worse. Monday we had shrimp tacos with Mexican rice. I also made cookies that night, but as cookies go they weren't too bad since the recipe included some whole wheat flour, mashed banana, and oats. Last night we had whole grain linguine w/ alfredo sauce, peas, and roasted broccoli. I've greatly reduced the amount of coffee I'm drinking, having cut back to only a cup on weekend mornings, and I'm now brewing sun tea with one of my favorite varieties of green tea. We'll see how long I'm really able to stick with this. I'd like to do a weekend juice/smoothie cleanse at some point too. Now if I could just find the energy and willpower to add exercise back into my life, I might actually get somewhere with all of this.

Outside, In the Shade

I spent, oh I'd say, 90% of this past Saturday on a patio of some sort. And it was wonderful. I'm determined that I'm going to have a summer this year. It doesn't have to be fancy, it just needs to be fun. And frugal. Saturday I had my morning coffee on the lounger on the deck while flipping through the latest issue of Traditional Home.

After a lazy afternoon of painting my toenails and such, Josh picked me up and we met the Calhoun boys up at The Boiled Owl, where I spent several hours sipping several beers with our musical pals. Holly eventually met up with us over there too.

We abandoned our patio roost when it was time to check out the new Live Oak Music Hall & Lounge, where Calhoun was playing the soft opening. Free beer and a free show = two thumbs up.

We quickly made our way back outdoors afterward, when we headed over to Shaw's for burgers on their patio. Service was poor, food was very slow in coming, and I had to sort several things out with the bill, but the pleasant company made it tolerable for all of us.

To cap the evening off we went back to our friends' house for more beers on their beautiful back patio. There was lots of laughing late into the night. We finally packed up and headed home, happy to crash into our comfy bed.

If I can keep this up it will be a lovely summer indeed.