What I’m Loving Wednesday 10.24.12

1. I ate at Purée four times this weekend: Friday dinner, Saturday brunch, a juice, and Sunday lunch. What is wrong with me? Nothing.

Friday: I had the Asian Bowl: pan fried tofu in a chili garlic sauce w/ brown rice over a bed of greens, shaved cucumbers, carrots, ginger.

Boding had the Pad Thai: rice noodles with crushed peanuts, red pepper, snap peas, coriander, lime.

Saturday:  Danielle and I split two wraps: Grilled Chimichurri Seitan Wrap (protein marinated in homemade herb cilantro lime dressing then grilled) and Mo Mo’s Homemade Rosemary BBQ Wrap.

2. I’m not the most organized person when it comes to my belongings. My shoes are all over my apartment and my purse is always a mess. I’ve learned to embrace it and work well amidst the chaos. Check out my k-cup madness. What’s your favorite k-cup flavor?

3. On Sunday evening, Boding and I went to Trader Joe’s for dinner stuff. There was one pumpkin Greek yogurt left. Obviously I grabbed it out of principle.

I was just there for the bare essentials: Greek yogurt and wine.

4. I enjoyed said wine in my favorite Pier 1 chalk note wine glass and pajamas. Christmas pajamas…two months early.

5. Speaking of Christmas, the seasonal Clif bars are back! Peppermint Stick is the real winner of this trio. What do you think of them?

6. Now rewind back. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I’m excited for this weekend’s festivities. I went from wanting to be Cat Woman, to a cat, to something very different than either of those animals. Here’s one hint :I will be carrying these around all evening.  (Annabel/Hannah/Amanda --  shhh!)

7. Amanda and I are still on a running kick. We never plan how far we’ll run and kind of just see how we’re feeling at each mile. On Monday’s run, at 7 miles in we felt great so we continued. At 8 we still felt good. Neither of us wanted to stop at 9 because, well, why would you when 10 is right around the corner? ;)

Nope, we’re not training for anything…other than world domination.

Groopdealz Giveaway and Clif Mojo Winners

Hey girlfriends… and maybe a few boyfriends.

A few weeks ago, I read about Groopdealz on Courtney’s blog. I checked it out and signed up right away because they have the cutest deals on clothing, jewelry, accessories, and home goods.

Today, for example, they’re selling statement necklaces for $9.99.

Another fun deal is a menu calendar organizer. I know this would help a lot of my readers!

Within a week of signing up, I bought monogram stickers for $1 each! A steal! Then a couple days ago, I was contacted by Groopdealz asking me to share about a giveaway they’re having.

I have the NikonD3100 – it’s a great camera and would be an awesome win. And don’t we all want a pastel-colored Kitchen Aid mixer? Yes. Go check out their giveaway here! Good luck!

Last but not least, the five winners from the Clif Mojo Giveaway are:

• Raheen
• Emily Smith
• Rtpaige03
• Vwelch21
• Reagan

Please email me your shipping information to christinaorso@gmail.com. Thanks!

CLIF Mojo Bar Giveaway For National Trail Mix Day!

Last week I posted a list of my favorite healthy snacks. Luna bars, in particular, are made by CLIF, the maker of Mojo bars. CLIF Mojo bars are sweet and salty trail mix bars that come in six different flavors:

• Chocolate Almond Coconut
• Honey Roasted Peanut
• Mixed Nuts
• Mountain Mix
• Peanut Butter Pretzel
• White Chocolate Macadamia

Mojo bars are 70% organic and contain 8g of protein with no trans fats or processed sugars. They’re a great on the go snack, and are sweet enough to satisfy your dessert craving!

In celebration of National Trail Mix Day, August 31st, I’m hosting a giveaway! Five of you will each win FIVE Mojo bars!

• Honey roasted Peanut
• Mixed Nut
• Mountain Mix
• Peanut Butter Pretzel
• Chocolate Almond Coconut

To enter, all you have to do is…

Tell me something nice.

Yep, that’s it. Giveaway ends Friday, September 7th, when I’ll randomly pick a winner. Good luck!

What I’m Loving Wednesday

1. Remember last summer when my team at work hired an intern? I blogged about him here and here. Well, Sean came back over winter break and he’s been a delight to work with again. We’ve exchanged cookies (my carrot cake cookies for his (mom’s) dark chocolate biscotti)…

…and one day he even made me a mask for when I wasn’t feeling pretty.

Sean: “You’re pretty every day.”

Me: “Pssh, that’s a lie.”

Sean: “I know.”

Boys and their brutal honesty.

2. The weather in Charleston and the views from my 10-miler:

3. There’s a new Luna bar and a new Clif Kid Z Bar!

I just picked up the Z Bar from Trader Joe’s, but haven’t found the Luna bar yet. When I find it,  I’ll probably eat it in the store as soon as I get my fingers on it. And then pay for the wrapper in line.

In case you were curious, my top 3 Luna Bar flavors are: Iced Oatmeal Raisin, Blueberry Bliss, and Chocolate Peppermint Stick.

4. Tweets from Men’s Humor. They are sarcastic and often crude, but hilarious and worth following.

5. I’m going back to NYC!! Yes, I went last March and August, but when my best friend Lucy moved there in September, I was determined to visit her as soon as she settled in. I booked my ticket for President’s Day weekend and I’m so excited to go back. 37 days!

Have you tried the new Luna or Clif Kid Z Bar yet?

Whose twitter feed is your favorite to follow?

Favorite place in NYC? Meet-up anyone?

What I’m Loving Wednesday

1. I found my article in Mount Pleasant Magazine at my gym today!! The trainers loved it too.

2. I love this new beer that Eric introduced me to last week. Weihenstephan (which I can barely pronounce) is the oldest existing brewery in the world. I had the Hefe Weisssbier – a wheat beer with aromas of banana and clove and hints of citrus. Loved it.

Eric also introduced me to a social networking app for beer enthusiasts.

Untappd lets you keep track of which beers you’ve tried (and where), see which beers/bars are trending, and also find out what your friends have been sipping on. It offers recommendations based on what you’ve had, encouraging you to try new beers. I think this is a great app for social media lovers who are interesting in learning about beer. (ME)

3. This steal at Target: 7 Clif bars for 5 bucks!! Mary Legare and I stocked up on seasonal flavors! She loves the Gingerbread most, while I’m a fan of the Peppermint Stick.

4. This song. In the 11 years that it has been out, I  have never once gotten sick of this song. Anytime it comes on the radio, I pretty much have a dance-off with my car and almost rear end people. Look at his pants! Juvy is so gangster!

5. Trader Joe’s horseradish hummus. Where else, but Trader Joe’s, can you find such unique hummus flavors? 

Of course this is really good on carrots, but it’s even better on sautéed spinach! Trust me on that one.

6. Nichole from Live for the Run won my Betty Crocker brownie giveaway! She has been a reader for quite a while and I’m so glad she won! :)

7. Breaking Dawn!!! Amanda, Annabel, and I, along with a few other friends are going to the midnight showing at Cinebarre tomorrow. We’re flipping out about the movie mostly, but also about the pre-showing festivities:

Nerd alert! #notashamed

XO!

What I’m Loving Wednesday Version 10

1. I’ve made a bunch of clothing purchases lately, mostly at Ann Taylor Loft. I’m obsessed with that store bc everything in their petite section fits me like a glove. 

Honest to God, I would wear these black jeans every single day if I didn’t think they would fade. I wore them the Friday I got them, the next Saturday, and last Friday. Obsessed. Besides washing them inside out and in cold water, does anyone have any tips on preserving the color?

I also picked up this top from the regular Ann Taylor – they’ve stepped up their game and have some great items right now.

2. On Sunday, I was admiring a rose gold watch that one of the bartenders at The Macintosh was wearing. She told me she had just bought it from TJ Maxx for $49. It retails for $95. Within, oh, say 30 minutes, I left to get one.

While there, I picked up another one. This one was more expensive at $99, but still, that’s so much cheaper than the original price of $195. I typically wear my Michael Kors silver watch, but these will both be such a fun alternative! It’s hard to tell, but this one is black with rose gold.

3. In the mail today, I received a free Peppermint Stick bar from Clif. Then later at the gym, Erica gave me another one! She had been saving one for me from the samples she received. She’s so sweet!

While I thought this bar was really good, I do prefer the Chocolate peppermint Stick by Luna. Thank goodness that bar is available year round!

4. And speaking of the gym, tonight was the launch of Body Attack 74, which Erica taught. Highlights of the class included:

• lunges/squats combos
• walking burpees
• sprinting
• snowboarding drills and side-to-side skiing moves (my favorite part!)
• a million tricep pushups
• side planks and crunches

The new release was intense! My thighs were burning at the end but I loved every minute of it. I highly recommend this class if you really want to push yourself for a full hour.

5. Back when Lucy lived with me, she always bought papayas.  I bought my own for the first time last night. They’re such a funky looking fruit, but pretty inside!

And check out the awesome nutritionals:

(via)

Also on that site, I found a recipe idea:

That sounds sooooooo good. Miss you, Lucy!!

1. Where do you buy the majority of your clothes from?

2. What are you favorite Clif and Luna Bar flavors?

3. Favorite exotic fruit?