What I’m Loving Wednesday 10.3.12

1. I’m loving that it’s October, but Charleston’s weather is still in the 80s.  I’m not ready for Fall clothes. I hate Fall/Winter clothes. They make me feel dark, boring, and frumpy. Thank goodness I can still wear shorts and dresses for a few more weeks.

2. Danielle and I didn’t plan on both wearing colored jeans on Saturday; she appeared at my apartment glowing in these orange jeans right after I had just “painted” on my electric blue.

Let’s just say they did not go unnoticed and we are both convinced we should wear colored jeans every weekend.

3. Because it’s October, my brain wants me to eat Fall-ish breakfasts. Check out this sugar bomb of a breakfast combo. It’s pretty much dessert.

4. Speaking of sweets, Amanda and I have been trying to cut back on our sugar intake during the week. We were craving something sweet after our salty dinner (of course), so I dug into my stash. I asked her, “Who ran 5 miles today?” She looked at me and said “Um, we did…” And then I gave her five pretzel M&Ms.  One M&M per mile seems logical, right?

That picture makes me laugh; it just looks so pathetic.

5. I found this prayer in The Hadassah Everyday Cookbook and made it pretty with instagram (@christinaorso). I just love it!

6. Random purchase of the week: Scentportables from Bath & Body Works. They were buy 3 get 1 free, so I left with Marshmallow Fireplace, Mahogany Leather, Apple Crumble, and Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin.

My car currently smells like mahogany leather. I’ve got cloth seats, but trust me, I’m tricking everyone.

7. I ordered an Iphone cover on Etsy last week and I’m really excited for its arrival. Here is the proof. Cute. Cute. Cute. I can’t wait to see it in person and slap it on my phone. Gently slap.

Check out the store PrintsandPapiere. They have a ton of styles.

Have you jumped on the colored jean bandwagon? What’s your favorite color to wear?

What does your car smell like? Don’t tell me garbage or french fries!

What I’m Loving Wednesday

1. We’ve brought Uncrustables out on the boat a couple times and they’ve been quite a hit. Did you know they just came out with a new flavor? PB & Raspberry on Whole Wheat. Raspberry is my favorite jelly, so this really excites me.

But what’s more exciting is that I found (and won!) a “Press ‘N Seal” ebay! Yep, Pampered Chef makes this nifty tool. Imagine all the possibilities! I’m going to be eating homemade Uncrustables all Summer!

2. Last Friday I told you I had purchased an exercise ball to sit on at work. Rachel, my friend who sits next to me, also bought one! We’ve been bouncing nonstop. I swear, with good music, it really increases our productivity.

Our backs and bums thank us!

3. Bored in traffic on the way to/from work? Channel your inner Boding and read my blog on e-reader!

4. Danielle discovered this candy bar at Trader Joe’s. Who’s tried it?

5. Big Girls Small Kitchen’s post on how to streamline halving cherry tomatoes:

6.

What I’m Loving Wednesday

1. Did you know if you soak gummy bears in rum, you get rummy bears?! I’m way too excited about this.

Imagine all the possibilities: gummy bears, worms, sharks! Trader Joe’s sells gummy penguins and I plan soaking those in some vodka this Summer.

2. Chuckles.

3. On Friday Amanda and I found out that we won the Bacardi Photo Contest!! In case you missed it, here’s the pic we entered, titled “Bacardi Babies.”

We won a 3-night stay at a house on IOP. We’re so excited to plan a fun girls weekend. Thanks to those of you who voted!

4. We also won tickets to go to the Bacardi Classic event but gave them to my friend Melissa who also entered the contest. She’s an awesome gal and totally deserved them. Before she left, she sent me this tweet:

That made me so proud. I hope the Chick-fil-A helped soak up all the Bacardi. ;)

5. This ice cream is the reason why I’m going to work out extensively this Summer. This is a combination of 2 of the best ice cream flavors. Damn you, Breyer’s. You are good.

6. The intern left me this note on my second monitor at work.

Can anyone honestly tell me they don’t like that song?

7. I love Danielle for this tweet, reminding us to be so grateful for everything we have.

Look at everything around you right now. Feel blessed.

Don’t forget to enter the very yummy Protein Bakery giveaway!

Giveaway!! *New* LUNA Fiber Bars

I am so excited you guys. LUNA has come out with a new line of fiber bars! Each bar is a delicious, nutritious, and convenient high fiber snack that is sure to satiate you.

Nutritional benefits:

• 7g of fiber
• 110-120 calories each
• contains the Core 4 vitamins and minerals -- calcium, iron, folic acid and vitamin D
• 70% organic

The new bars come in 3 flavors: Peanut Butter Strawberry, Chocolate Raspberry, and Vanilla Blueberry. LUNA Fiber will be available in stores nationwide in May, or you can purchase them online here.

Don’t even tell me you’re not drooling.

I’m equally excited to be able to share these bars with YOU! I have three boxes to give away to three winners (one box/person).

For a chance to win:

• leave me a comment telling me which flavor you’re most excited to try (mandatory)
• follow me on twitter - @christinaorso (optional)
• tweet about this giveaway and tag me (optional)
• become a fan of my facebook page (optional)

*Leave a separate comment for each entry!*

Giveaway ends Monday, April 30th, at noon EST.

GOOD LUCK!

The Friday Five: Fifty Shades, Bieber, i5K!

1. What I’m Reading: As I said last week, I’ve started Fifty Shades Darker. The second book is much more eventful.  I didn’t think it could be more dramatic.

Who’s started book #2? I’d love to hear what you think.

2. What I’m Listening to: Much later than most hormonal teenagers, I caught the Bieber fever. This song is catchy! Rachel described it perfectly: that Summer song that you want to listen to in the car with your windows rolled down.

3. What I’m Pinning:

4. Where I’m Running: Thursday evening, Steve and I ran the i5K downtown. Night runs are my favorite because it’s much cooler outside. Though it rained the entire race, I was happy with my time. My timer said 25:27 and the official race time said 25:35.  The speed demon to my right finished in 22:44!

Before the race:

I think the Twitpic sticker somebody slapped on me made me speedy.

Oh, and then there was a squirrel at the after party.

I also met two blog readers! Hi to Sarah and Moffett – thanks for introducing yourselves!

5. What I’m Eating: After the race, we went to La Pizzeria. Who doesn’t crave pizza and beer after a run? That crazy boy doesn’t eat crust! I, on the other hand, eat crust first and always request extra red sauce to dip it in. When the server asked if I wanted my leftovers in a box, Steve jokingly told him I loved crust and I might want to save his leftover crust too. The server took him seriously…

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

What I’m Loving Wednesday

1. My friend Steven and I went back to Boone Hall Farms for more strawberry picking. It was kind of funny to see how differently we picked. He stayed in a small area, exhausting his resources, while I walked up and down many different rows. I wonder if this has to do with being male vs. female or being focused vs. unfocused. What do you think? Either way, I caught a ladybug while picking. They’re good luck!

2. Since its opening two weeks ago, I’ve been to Sesame twice. I’m in love! I went with Annabel last weekend, and we split a few different things. The Southwestern Salad  was really fresh, but the dressing made it.

Romaine, chargrilled chicken, roasted corn, black beans, tomato,  and grated cheddar with a chipotle vinaigrette:

We also shared sliders.

• Italian – blue cheese and fresh basil
• Southwestern – guacamole, chipotle sour cream
• Memphis – housemade peanut butter, bacon & banana slices

The Italian was my favorite. The Southwestern was okay. The Memphis was a dessert burger. Different, very different. So far, the Napa Valley (fig & bacon jam, blue cheese, red wine reduction) is my favorite.

3. Pure Barre is kicking my behind and I love it. Since April 1, I’ve completed 15 classes. But I have a confession. Before PB, I never worked on my abs. In each class, we do at least 7 minutes of ab work. 7 minutes x 6 classes per week = 42 minutes of abs that I wasn’t doing before. I see a change!! It’s awesome. PB LOVE!

4. I was laughing hysterically alone in my kitchen while making this.

Yes, that is Zac Efron. Yes, it appears that we are about to kiss. I LOVE IT. Not only is it my new desktop background, but it’s also my facebook profile picture. I just wish I could send it to him so he could see how cute we are together. Crazy?

5. My favorite tweet today:

Who knew this existed? I did not.

Runner up:

Every girl on planet earth can relate to this.

What are your favorite burger toppings?

What body part is your least favorite to work on?

Who is your celebrity crush?

The Friday Five

1. What I’m Listening to: I really like this song. The video might make you gag, but it’s worth a watch. Just be careful if you’re at work – a couple parts are kind of racy. Meow.

And speaking of racy…

2. What I’m Reading: I finished Fifty Shades of Grey. It’s good, but doesn’t have any depth to it.  And I thought I’d throw the book if I had to read about Anastasia biting her lip one more time. Other than the randomly placed “SAT words,” it was a very easy read. Regardless of my mixed feelings, I couldn’t help but immediately start the second book, Fifty Shades Darker.

3. What I’m Downloading: I finally downloaded Instagram. Add me: christinaorso

4. Tweets I’m loving:

I find the Men’s Humor tweets much funnier than those from Women’s Humor. Anyone with me, or am I secretly a boy?

5. Memes I’m Bookmarking:

WHEN SOMEONE ASKS IF I’M HUNGRY:

WHEN A GUY FLIRTS WITH ME AT THE GYM:

WHEN I GET HOME FROM THE GYM:

Hope those made you laugh!

Have a wonderful Friday and please enjoy your weekend!

Get outside and DO SOMETHING!! xo

Impromptu 4 Course Dinner at Crave

Usually when I’m at the gym, I’m daydreaming about what I’ll be having for dinner that night. Sometimes this makes me work harder and sometimes it’s the only thing getting through my workout. Let’s be real.

During my sprint intervals, I received a tweet from Alysa that the chef at the restaurant where she works was now on twitter. Alysa works at Crave Kitchen & Cocktails and their chef, Landen Ganstrom, is a member of my gym. I had met Landen before when we worked out at Eco. As a fellow fitness junkie, he has implemented many healthy menu options onto Crave’s menu: gluten free, vegetarian, paleo, and even vegan.

When I received this tweet, my plans of nuking another spicy black bean burger with some veggies flew out the window. To Crave I would go.

I immediately texted Sarah, who had just finished a Pure Barre class. Sarah is a vegetarian of 8 years, so she was also quick to jump on a healthy meal.

Once at the restaurant, Alysa and our server, Carmela, informed us that Landen would be surprising us with different dishes. Carmela asked if we had any allergies and what our nutritional needs were and then reported back to Landen. For the record, both Sarah and I have no allergies and eat no meat or poultry. To say we were excited to see what we’d receive was an understatement.

Course 1: As soon as this came out, I knew we were in good hands. When I’m presented with beets, my trust is immediately handed over. Friends, this is a beet and carrot salad in a peanut sauce with candied peanuts. Have you ever seen beets in shoestring form? I haven’t, and I loved it.

Course 2: Wild Alaskan salmon with fennel pollen, black caraway seed,and poppy seed over sliced apples and jumbo lump crab sprinkled in some heirloom tomatoes. It was finished with imported Italian mustard. The lump crab meat was hidden underneath the sliced apple and was quite a happy ending.

Course 3: What we initially thought was pasta was actually local zucchini, summer squash and red bell peppers sautéed in oven roasted garlic paste topped with tomato basil chow chow. The peppers were unbelievably sweet, as if they had been plucked from the garden that day. The flower on top was also edible, but it was too cute to consume. I contemplated putting it in my hair and doing a hula dance but I resisted.

Course 4: Dessert. This was our most emotional course. Yup, even more emotional than beets. What you see here are pears and blueberries in a caramel sauce with walnuts and Humboldt Fog cheese. Sarah said this is her favorite cheese and it may just be mine too. The combination of flavors in this dessert was incredible. Get to your store and buy this cheese as fast as you can.

After dinner, Landen came out to chat and see if we enjoyed our dishes. We couldn’t thank him enough for such a delicious, yet healthy meal. If there’s one thing I can get you guys to understand, it’s that healthy food IS tasty. Especially when you have someone like Chef Ganstrom serving you. Carmela, our server, was a delight. She was friendly, attentive, and did an excellent job at explaining our dishes. I highly encourage you to check out Crave – it’s located in the shopping center with Target (The Shoppes at Seaside Farms.) Tell them I sent you!

For more information, check out these links:

• Crave’s website
• Crave on Twitter
• Crave on Facebook
• Chef Ganstrom on Twitter

Are you drooling yet? I am all over again. :)