Comments (26)

By kilax, October 31, 2012 6:28 am

Steven and I really love leftovers. So much that we usually make 6-8 servings* at each meal, so that we have leftovers for the next few days. Then we can use them for lunch, dinner, or a quick bite…

There is a small problem though. As the leftovers diminish, and one person is at home, alone with them, who gets the last bite? What happens if one person has been craving them all day the gets home and they are GONE?

Yes, this has happened.

So we came up with the Leftovers Rule – if you’re gonna finish off something, you have to text the other person and let them know. Ideally, the other person would acknowledge and respond to the text… but right now, it seems to be more of a warning – “this item may or may not exist when you get home.”

Somehow, the rule has been transferred over to store bought items too – I got a text during my Monday night run with Anne that Steven was eating the last of a bag of chips.

There has been some debate about whether the rule need apply to store bought items. I am of the opinion it need not, as we can simply buy and replenish those items, whereas leftovers are not as easily replaced. Steven said to this, “So if I ate the last of a chocolate bar of yours, you wouldn’t want any warning, and wouldn’t be upset?” Of course, this started a discussion about how a man should never touch a woman’s chocolate, and how that question didn’t even make sense, so we didn’t get very far in our discussion.

Either way, I think I have the good end of the deal since Steven does the majority of the cooking anyway!

Does anyone else care about leftovers as much as we do? Or are you in the “Eww! Leftovers are gross!” camp?

*I realize this does not help me lose weight.

Comments (66)

By kilax, October 30, 2012 11:46 am

It seems like the majority response to last Thursday’s post was that the gift of jewelry does not get old. Ha ha ha. So! I have a jewelry giveaway for you. It is not the bird necklace from Thursday’s post (I will save that for a later giveaway) – but rather, something sparkly from Anjolee!

Erin at Loop Looks sported a pair of their earrings yesterday and clued me in that they were hosting reviews/giveaways! I hadn’t heard of their site before – which is probably a good thing, as I was spending time on it, drooling over the diamond pendants, some multi-colored gemstone bracelets and diamond hoop earrings. And since every piece is custom made, you can choose your metal type, diamond size, quality and length.

The winner of the giveaway will get to pick one of the five options in silver with cubic zirconias below!

From L to R: 1 Three Stone Hoop Earrings, 2 Bezel Set Round Stud Earrings, 3 Offset 3 Stone Pendant, 4 Surrounded by Sparkle Pendant, and 5 Classic Three Prong Studs (click on links to see larger).

Anjolee Jewelry Giveaway Rules

1. One reader will win their choice of item 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. Each item can be customized, as mentioned above, but I am not sure of the limitations and will work out the details with the winner.
2. Required to enter the giveaway: vist the Anjolee site and tell me your favorite item! 
3. For a second entry: like the Anjolee Facebook page and leave me a comment letting me know you did.  
4. For a third entry: tell me your birthday and birthstone… and if you like your birthstone.
5. This giveaway is open until 5:00 PM CST on Friday, November 2.  I will announce the winner on Saturday, November 3.
6. This giveaway is open to US residents.  

Comments (27)

By kilax, October 30, 2012 6:26 am

I think a few of you had a clue to our Halloween costumes after my Wordless Wednesday picture last week… right?

From L to R: Me, Steven, Aunt Sue, Mom, Dad

A gorilla and a bunch of bananas!

Bar crawling on Halloween with my family has turned in to somewhat of a tradition. In 2010, all the siblings and significant others went out, with my mom and a family friend (CJ). Steven and I were lacking costumes:

In 2011, we were prepared with costumes, and drug* my dad and Aunt Sue out with us:

This year, my older brother and sister couldn’t make it! So it was a smaller group, but we still had a blast. And hopefully, the entire group will be together next year.

The first person who can name CJ’s costume (far left) and was NOT there on Saturday (or Anne, who I told) will get a prize in the mail from me.

I really dig group costumes. Have you ever been part of a group costume? What was it?

People were really in to our group of bananas and gorilla. Almost every bar we went to had someone yelling “Bananas!” when we entered. Well, except the first bar, where they opened the door and joked “your kind is not welcome here.” And then there were the people who thought we were a white supremacist group… umm… no.

We picked up a few stray bananas:

And had an encounter with a (sick?!) monkey:

and apparently, a can of beer…:

We also ran in to another family member:

I used certain parts of my banana to aid me in dancing to “Sexy and I Know It.”

And was relieved when I saw people dancing Gangnam style in the third bar (they weren’t in the first – I was doing it all by myself!**).

We had such a good time. It’s just so fun to go out and see everyone’s costumes! And to act goofy and not be judged for it. Okay, be judged for it, but pretend to blame it on Halloween – even though I am pretty wild on my own. Ha!

Continue reading 'Halloween 2012'»

Comments (27)

By kilax, October 29, 2012 6:26 am

Do you ever feel like you have to do a race because you’ve done it for a few years and want to keep the streak going?

I have several races that I continue to do each year, and it looks like the Run Walk and Roll for a Drug Free Community 5K is making its way on to that list! I ran it with my older brother in 2010 and 2011, and this year, I ran it and my Aunt Sue ran/walked it. It was her first 5K and she finished in just over 41 minutes! I am so proud of her! Congrats Sue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me and Sue after the race – posing with our door prizes. This race is only $18 (CHEAP!!!) and I have received a door prize every year. This year, it was a gift certificate to my uncle’s bar. What are the odds?

I wasn’t very prepared for this race. I knew I would be in my hometown when it was happening, but I didn’t know if I would run it or not, and was too lazy to do speed work… oops. I did know though, when I woke up Saturday morning, that I would regret not doing it, and breaking the race streak. And I figured, heh, the field is small and that I had a good chance to place in my age group, or even win the race. 

Well, the field used to be small. When we arrived to register, there was a huge line and they even ran out of the t-shirt size we wanted. It’s great to see the race grow and have more money raised for the Substance Abuse/Mental Counseling Clinic that puts on the race. But I would be lying if I said I was not thinking about the fact that more runners meant less of a chance of placing in this small race! Heh heh heh. 

So, let’s make this brief. The course is tough – down a hill/up a hill with a little bit of cross country. I didn’t warm up (major NO NO), didn’t have my crutch (my music*) and was mentally not in to it. I ran positive splits and finished in 26:18. And the course is only 3 miles long! Ha! But, I didn’t walk at all, or think “I am never racing again.” I often have that thought during 5Ks, so that is huge for me. And this is a course record for this “5K.”

And… I did finish 6th or 7th woman overall, and 1st in my age group (20-29). 

But the best part of it all was watching Sue finish the race with my parents!

I was cheering pretty loudly when she crossed the finish line!

Second best part of the race – assortment of homemade goodies and a bucket full of Halloween treats and games…

and this year they added massages! Thanks for the pic, Mom. 

I know if I am in town next year, I’ll be back!

*Was my own decision not to have it. 

Comments (14)

By kilax, October 28, 2012 8:40 pm

Highlight of the Week: Some good workouts intermixed with some not so good ones… to remind me to be grateful for what I can do!

Monday | October 22, 2012: 3 m run
Loc: neighborhood, Temp: 60°/59°, Time: 28:44, Pace: 9:34 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: moody
Tuesday | October 23, 2012: strength
Strength: plates Difficulty: hard, Felt: creaky and old
Wednesday | October 24, 2012: strength class
Strength: Spartan circuit & core, Difficulty: hard, Felt: even more creaky and old
Thursday | October 25, 2012: 4.2 m run (w/Erin)
Loc: Chicago West Loop, Temp: 75°/75°, Time: 36:36, Pace: 8:43 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: way too hot
Friday | October 26, 2012: 20 m fun run (w/Bobbi)
Loc: Millennium Trail, Temp: 36°/46°, Time: 3:33:27, Pace: 10:40, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: mostly good
Saturday | October 27, 2012: Run Walk and Roll 5K
Loc: Cedar Falls, IA, Temp: 32°/34°, Time: 26:18, Pace: 8:46 avg, Difficulty: hard, Felt: like poo poo
Sunday | October 28, 2012: rest

Thoughts:

• I felt very frustrated when I went on my Monday night run, and the run did not fix it. Disappointing. 
• I got a free massage after my 5K on Saturday. My “hips need some work.” And I need to stretch more… guess foam rolling is not cutting it!
• I am thinking about taking a week off from running this December. But I love running in the cold so that may be hard.  
• Quite a few of my workouts this week (but not all!) made me feel defeated (hence the “highlight of the week”). I hope next week is better!

Comments (17)

By kilax, October 26, 2012 3:31 pm

What candy did you most hope to get while trick-or-treating as a kid? Do you still love that candy?

(and how awesome is it that we can just buy what we want, now?!)

Mine was definitely Dots, and still is. 

We would go trick-or-treating in my mom’s mom’s hood, and get a ton of candy. Afterward  my three siblings and I would lay it all out by type of candy and do some trading. My candy lasted me two or three days at best. Yes. I’ve had compulsion/delayed satisfaction issues since childhood.

Comments (34)

By kilax, October 25, 2012 10:25 pm

For women, anyway?

Please answer no.

Erin and I hit up the JF&A Jewelry, Fashion and Accessories show today. You pay a very small amount ($5 pre-registered, $10 at the door) and get in to a a huge trade show with jewelry, scarves, purses, perfume, etc. galore. And the prices are decent. 

I’ve gone to this event the past three years! My fave coworker told me about it, so I went with blogger friends Tori and Diane the first year. Then last year with Erin and again with my mom and her mom later in the year. 

Surely, I wouldn’t see anything I “needed” to buy this year, right?

Sigh. 

At first I was like, “Meh, I don’t see anything I like… what a waste.” Then I got to a booth and spent forever there trying tons of things on and loading up a little basket. Oopsie. So really, I do hope my female family members and girlfriends don’t mind receiving jewelry from me… yet again.

I picked up the necklace in the photo above at that booth and threw it on for dinner. It’s so fun! I may or may have not picked up two of these necklaces. Hmm, should I put one on the blog for a giveaway?

Comments (45)

By kilax, October 23, 2012 6:43 am

So. 

My new passport photo. 

Sigh. 

My passport officially expired earlier this year. But it had my maiden name on it anyway. So I would have had to lie to get out of the country?! Who knows. I wasn’t using it. But it really bugged me that I did not have a current passport. I feel like I need to be ready to flee the country on a whim, if necessary (<– half joking). 

So we got our passport pictures taken last December. Yeah. A long time ago. And they don’t let you smile for them anymore… hence… this:

Come on, please let me smile! My smile is my best feature! I think it might as well look like this:

Ha ha. Really, I don’t care that the picture is so awful, but… it really, really, really looks like a not so happy photo of me. I hope none of you have to see me like that in person. And Steven, since you do see me like that nearly every day, I am sorry. Maybe using the passports would fix that face? Ha!

Is your Driver’s License/Passport/Student ID/Work ID/whatever photo flattering? 

My work ID is bad too. But I like my Driver’s License picture.