Superbowl Food!

Well it's Thursday, it's almost 5:00, and tomorrow is Friday.  I think I hear angels singing!  There's no reason to be unhappy right now, even if it is freezing cold in Chicago.

This Sunday is the Superbowl so I decided to share some sweet Superbowl treats that sound delicious and that I would totally make if I was having a Superbowl party.  Me?  I don't even have plans to watch the game yet, although I'm sure I will.  Beer, food, sports, and going out in public with sweatpants on and it being socially acceptable?  Count me in!

Football Food Ideas:

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And if all else fails all you need is some beer (duh), chips and salsa, bagel bites, pizza rolls, and maybe some hamburgers or hotdogs and you're all set.  I plan on making chili so I can at least contribute something to the Superbowl food madness.

Happy Thursday!  Wish me luck in my freezing cold walk to my car after work!

XO. Tarah
 

Ew!

Happy Hump Day!

XO. Tarah

In my Brain

Happy Tuesday!  We're one day closer to Friday! Whoopee!

Here's an explosion of shit going on in my brain today:

Found on Pinterest

There are all kinds of love in this world but never the same love twice.
  -- F Scott Fitzgerald

Found via Pinterest

Last week my mom sent me this e-mail that I appreciated very much:

To realize
The value of a sister/brother
Ask someone
Who doesn't have one.

To realize
The value of ten years:
Ask a newly
Divorced couple.

To realize
The value of four years:
Ask a graduate.

To realize
The value of one year:
Ask a student who
Has failed a final exam.

To realize
The value of nine months:
Ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn.

To realize
The value of one month:
Ask a mother
Who has given birth to
A premature baby.

To realize
The value of one week:
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize
The value of one minute:
Ask a person
Who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realize
The value of one second:
Ask a person
Who has survived an accident.

Time waits for no one.

Treasure every moment you have.

You will treasure it even more when
You can share it with someone special.

To realize the value of a friend or family member:

LOSE ONE.

The origin of this letter is unknown,
But it brings good luck to everyone who passes it on.

Remember....

Hold on tight to the ones you love!
 

Found on Pinterest

I've been loving this song lately.  "Feel Again" by One Republic.  It makes me think of Vinnie and that makes me smile.

In other news, I have to show you what the weather is going to be like this week here in Chicago.

WTF?  A high of 59 today and a high of 19 on Thursday...how is that possible?  I curse you mother nature!  

I want my cake and I wanna eat it too.  I wanna have fun and be in love with you.
  -- Lana Del Rey

XO. Tarah

P.S. today I have messy hair...and I don't care.

 

Weekend Update: Lots of Puppy Pics

It's Monday again!  I'm ready to get this week over with because my parents are coming to visit this weekend!

Vinnie worked all weekend and the weather was super gross so, needless to say, I spent a lot of time inside with Marley (but that's what I do every weekend).

Friday night I worked (per usual).  Saturday morning Vinnie got up and made breakfast :)

Can I have some eggs pleeease???

And then Marley and I snoozed for a little while longer before I got up and went to the gym.  I wish I would make myself go to the gym more often because I felt great after getting a morning workout in.

I then came home, had some granola with strawberries, and hung out with Marley before heading into work.

Sunday morning I work up with good intentions of going to the gym again but the weather was super nasty and I decided that days like that were meant to be spent inside.  So I had a little housewife day and did laundry, dishes, cleaned up around the apt, and baked cookies.

I took advantage of my 'weekend only' drinking rule by having a beer while waiting for Vinnie to come home.
 

There was lots of lightning and thunder Sunday night so I had to comfort an extremely distraught dog.  He was an outside, country dog for almost 5 years so you think he would be used to a little bad weather.  Nope, he whines like a little sissy dog.  But before long he was fast asleep on my lap with his favorite rope toy.
 

When Vinnie got home that night we watched a movie we found on Netflix called 'Fire with Fire'.  Netflix has let me down a lot in the past but this movie was surprisingly pretty good.  Touche Netflix.

My weekend came and went pretty quick so I'm hoping this week also comes and goes pretty quick because I can't wait for my parents to visit!  Now I better start making some plans for what we're going to do!

Here's to a fast week!

XO. Tarah

Snowy Chicago = Angry Tarah

Happy Freeeezing Friday!

 

It snowed over an inch last night in Chicago, so of course that means the commute to work this morning was a total bitch.  I forgot how when the weather changes a little bit people forgot how to drive and become completely incompetent (and I just spelled incompetent wrong so maybe I should shut up now).  But seriously, it took me over an hour and a half to get to work where it normally takes me a little over 30 minutes.  Needless to say, I was late.  I hate being late.  Also, I don't care how pretty snow looks I still hate it.  I wouldn't hate it if I worked from home and got to stare out my window while sitting in sweats and drinking warm coffee.  I hate it because I have to drive in it.  And because it's cold.  Grrr.

This is Vinnie trying to consume his whole cup of yogurt in 3 bites.  3 large bites later and he still had yogurt left in his cup.  It took 5 bites...and it wasn't attractive.  I love him.

I'm not very healthy and I really want to be.  I eat too much garbage, I can't help myself around chocolate, and I don't go to the gym enough.  This needs to change, fast! I found this website that gives you steps to take in order to get your eating on a healthier track.

1. Stock your kitchen with healthy foods

2. Make a meal plan

3. Eat vegetables and fruit at every meal

4. Pack a lunch (this isn't a problem since I'm on a budget I pack my lunch everyday anways)

5. Hide tempting foods

6. Schedule your exercise

7. Try a new activity

In addition to this list I have decided to limit my alcohol consumption.  Don't get me wrong, I don't drink an excessive amount and I don't even drink every night.  My problem is that I am an extreme light weight (don't know when it happened but it did).  I will honestly have 3 beers in one night and the next morning I wake up not wanting to get out of bed (ok this is every morning regardless if I drink or not), feeling groggy and tired all day, having a headache that won't go away, and overall just feeling gross.  I've decided to not let myself drink during the week.  I'll save the weekends for drinking and since I work almost every Friday and Saturday night that pretty much just leaves Sunday to drink, or on special occasions when I don't have to work Friday and Saturday.  Even when I do drink I am going to limit the amount and I have ended my relationship with shots.  That's right, the college days are over and there is no excuse to be taking shots anymore.

If I can eat better, work out more, and drink alcohol less, I think we will be seeing a much happier and energetic Tarah before too long!

XO. Tarah

 

MLK

Happy MLK Jr. Day!

If you have today off from work, I hate you because I not only have to work 1, but 2 jobs today.  Boo hoo :(

So, as for my weekend, I could pretty much copy and paste the post I wrote about my weekend last week on here.  I feel like it was almost exactly the same as last weekend with a few minor changes.  I worked Friday night, was a lazy bum on Saturday until I went to work that night, and then was lazy pretty much all day Sunday with the exception of doing some laundry, organizing our 3rd bedroom, and cooking something delicious in my crockpot.  We watched the Blackhawks (high five for NHL hockey being back!) win their second game in a row last night while enjoying a couple of beers and my wonderful crockpot dinner that I will surely tell you about later in the week.

Hello, handsome!

My mom sent this picture of Marley when I first got him back in 2006.  Awww :)

Finally organizing

Sneak peek of what I was cooking up in my crockpot.

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!  Don't forget to take a minute today to think about Martin Luther King Jr. and what an amazing human he was!

XO. Tarah

 

The Night We Wore Matching Blue Hoodies

Happy Friday!

I personally don't like today because I will be working from 8:30 am until 2:30 am...which is not fun.  But for everyone else, Friday is a day to celebrate (hence the happy friday).

Last night I made a pit stop at Target on my way home from work.  I was proud of myself for not spending $1,000.00 there.  Did I buy a few unnecessary items?  Of course!  Who goes to Target without buying a few things they don't really need (like Valentine's day decorations)?!  I can't help it, I'm a sucker for love!

$7 from Target!

When I finally got home Vinnie and I ate grilled cheese sandwiches, changed into comfy clothes, had a laugh when we realized we put on matching blue hoodies without meaning to, and sat down to watch a little quality television.  At one point we had the urge to take a shot (maybe to prove that we're not really 'that' lame couple that sits at home watching t.v. in matching hoodies) so we did.

Shots? Why not?

Hey...can I have one too?!?

We then fell asleep (at least I did) laying in bed watching 'Rookie of the Year' while googling Henry (main character duh!) to see whatever became of this star child actor (he was in American Pie...that's about it).

This morning I broke one of the straps of the shirt I decided to wear.  Being the lazy gal that I am I decided to break the other strap and tie it to make it into a halter top and avoid having to change shirts.  I'm just now realizing how pathetic that sounds.  It's not like I don't own 37 other black shirts that I could have put on instead.  Oh well.

Hope everyone has an eventful weekend!  You can count on seeing pictures of me laying on the couch with Marley on this little blog next week when I update you on my weekend adventures!

Matching Blue Hoodies.

XO. Tarah

17 days later...

Howdy ho!  Hope your neck of the woods is a little bit warmer than it is here in Chicago!  Some of my co-workers and I took the bus to go eat some lunch and then had to walk back.  Terrible idea.  I'm just now regaining feeling in my fingers (which were gloved) and ears.  Brrr!  We took an hour and a half lunch break and I'm stuffed like a turkey though, so I can't say a little frost bite on the finger tips wasn't worth it.

So I just realized that it is January 17th and I have not done a post about what I did for New Year's Eve, and since I actually did something worth talking about that is surprising.  Introducing...the 'What I did for New Year's Even' post.  Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride (and prepare to be disappointed because I just hyped this up waaaay too much).

Let me preface this by saying that I have worked in a restaurant or bar ever since I was 16 years old.  Since New Year's is a big 'going out' holiday, whether it be out for dinner or out to get shit-faced, I have pretty much always had to work.  Last year I was working at a bar.  The bar I worked at was not really the type of bar you go to to bring in the New Year, it was the type of bar you go to to watch any type of sports game.  Needless to say it was dead.  I ended up getting off at 11:55 pm and racing home (luckily I lived close) where Vinnie met me at midnight on the dot so that we could have an official New Year's kiss.  We then drank cheap champagne and fell asleep by 12:30.  Exciting, I know.  This year I requested it off and we made some plans.

First, we had a semi-early dinner at a French Restaurant called Aquitaine in Lincoln Park.  I made the reservations kind of late (considering it was New Year's Eve) so the latest time available was 5:45 pm.  Since we normally don't go out to eat until around 8, this was kind of early for us, but it was a really nice start to our night and I'm glad we ended up going early. 

The restaurant itself was extremely small.  That first picture above literally shows you half of the restaurant.  I loved it though.  It was a romantic, quaint restaurant that gave off a comfortable vibe.  We choose from a pre-fixed menu that included 3 courses and a champagne toast.  The food was excellent and we were stuffed by the end of the meal.

Eeek our eyes!

After dinner we headed to the Palmer House at the Hilton where we met 3 friends (all boys, woo hoo).  The Palmer House was having a huge New Year's soiree that Vinnie's best friend Travis had purchased tickets to.  Our tickets included a VIP table with 2 bottles of Belvedere vodka and all the mixers you can imagine.  There were 6 different ballrooms with dance floors and dj's.  I have never done anything like that for New Year's so I was completely out of my element.  I must admit, I had so much fun!  

The Palmer House

Before we went into the Soiree

Waiting to go into the party!

Our VIP table

Boys will be boys

Me and Vinnie at our table

My New Year's kiss for 2 years in a row :)

We partied out little booties off until 2 am and then grabbed a cab and passed out at home, still in our dress clothes.  Since there are no good pictures of my dress, I have to include a picture of it.

The Olivia Dress

The Olivia Dress from Kiki La Rue.  It was super comfortable and (in my opinion) a super great party dress.  I wish I would have taken a picture of my whole ensemble.  Whoops!

Anyways, that was my New Year's Eve.  I can't say if I'll ever 'do it big' again for New Year's Eve but I am glad that I did this year so I can at least say I went to a huge New Year's Eve party in downtown Chicago once in my life!  New Year's Day was spent mostly in bed, recovering from our crazy night out on the town! 

So...Happy New Year's (17 days late)!

 XO. Tarah

Random Wednesday: Foods to cut from your Diet

Happy Wednesday Folks!

I've been lagging a little bit on the good 'ol art of blogging lately.  My apologies, I just haven't really been up to it (aka I haven't had anything to talk about because my life is kinda boring).

My weekend was, once again, pretty lame.  I worked Friday and Saturday night.  I did get my hair cut on Saturday morning though, so that was kind of productive.  The rest of Saturday was spent on the couch with Marley until I had to go to work.

Sleepy boy

I went to the hair dresser looking like this...yikes!

 Sunday was, as it always is, a lazy day.  My roomie Erin, Vinnie, and I went to brunch at Glenn's Diner in Lincoln Square.  I've heard about this amazing place but we had never ventured over there to try it out.  Wow, I am sooo glad we did.  It was awesome.  One bloody mary and some pigs in a blanket later (yes I did order pigs in a blanket, yes I am still 6 years old) and I was ready to fall into a food coma.  Now I really want to go back for lunch or dinner sometime.  They are a seafood house and they're lunch and dinner menu looked very scrumptious. 

Glenn's Diner

Vinnie and I went grocery shopping and I remembered why I usually go grocery shopping without him.  He tends to sneak random ass food into the cart while I'm not looking so we end up spending $200 plus at the end of our trip and we're stuck with a bunch of pizza rolls, spaghetti o's, and other random college kid junk food that my boy still insists on eating against my wishes.  I am glad we have a full fridge again though.  I made chicken fettuccine alfredo per the boy's request and we had a couple of captain/cokes and watched MIB 3, which was surprisingly good.  Good Sunday overall.

So today I found an article on Yahoo talking about the 14 foods that you should cut from your diet.  It was pretty interesting to me because I wouldn't have expected some of the foods on this list.  You can read the full article here.  Since I am trying to eat healthier with the start of the new year, I am glad that I found this article now so that I can keep it in mind when I'm shopping for healthy foods.  Here are some of the foods that I was most surprised about being on the list:

Swordfish:  I don't often eat swordfish (who does) but at the restaurant I worked in throughout college, swordfish was often a featured dish so I have tried it a few times.  This article states that " Swordfish is notoriously high in the heavy metal, a potent neurotoxin that can damage developing children and even trigger heart attacks in adults. Aside from obvious health concerns, swordfish is often overfished and some of the gear commonly used to wrangle in swordfish often kills turtles, seabirds, and sharks".  It's safe to say I won't be consuming swordfish ever again.  The article goes on to suggest "For a healthy omega-3 brain boost, look for fish that are low in contaminants and have stable populations, such as wild-caught Alaskan salmon".

Strawberries: Of course I just bought a big container of strawberries before I read this.  Farmers apply tons of dangerous pesticides to their strawberry fields.  Stay away from chemically grown strawberries and opt for organic strawberries instead.

Canned Tomatoes:  "The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, or BPA, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity."  Eek, canned tomatoes could cause some harmful impacts to people.  The article suggests choosing tomatoes in glass bottles or tetra pak boxes instead.

 Bread: This made me sad to hear because I do love me some sandwiches (which is why I probably won't give up bread).  Bread has gone through some extensive genetic manipulations in the 1960's and 70's to increase yields.  This changed it's effects on humans who consume it.  "Modern-day wheat is triggering all sorts of health problems, everything from digestive diseases like celiac and inflammatory bowel disease to acid reflux, obesity, asthma, and skin disorders."  Bread is apparently a food that yields unexpected benefits when avoided.  This article suggest staying away from bread all together and consuming grains like quinoa, buckwheat, millet, and wild rice, but in smaller quantities (less than a half cup).

Sprouts: Now I don't like sprouts so this is not a problem for me, but it is still pretty shocking.  According to this article, "sprouts have been at the center of at least 40 significant outbreaks of foodborne illness over the past 20 years".  To get the crunch of sprouts without the bacteria, consume shredded cabbage or carrots.  I guess now I'm glad I always order my Turkey Tom from Jimmy John's without sprouts!

*all information and pictures were taken from this article by Leah Zerbe And Emily Main on Yahoo Health. 

Alright since this post is so random, today I am linking up with Shanna over at Because Shanna Said So... for Random Wednesday!

 
P.S. I already love you Shanna because you share the same name as my favorite (and only) older sister :)

XO. Tarah