Package to ME from CLIF BAR :)

Why was Friday amazing? Oh, let me count the ways.

1. Because it was Friday and that, friends, is simply enough.

2. I got a very, very, very generous package (& giveaway offer) from Clif Bar, my favorite energy bar & granola bar brand.

3. See #2 because it IS amazing enough to count twice.

4. I got to take a magnificent mini-nap after dinner. I know, I know, don’t SLEEP right after you EAT. Unless it’s Friday evening and you’re pooped, right?

5. Fruit and veggies, free of charge. Keep reading for the deets.

When Clif Bar said they’d send me some samples, I figured a few bars but not in a million years did I expect such a sweet swag package! I was completely thrilled and it made me love Clif that much more!

The Inside of my Clif Goody Box

I got 3-12 bar boxes of Clif Bars and 4-10 bar boxes of Clif Crunch Bars. I can’t wait to crumble one of those Crunch bars up into my yogurt for breakfast tomorrow morning. YUM :) And before you get jealous and roll your eyes at me from behind your computer (you know we all do it), let me tell you what else rules about Clif Bar Company: They are giving 4 boxes of Clif Crunch Bars away to ONE LUCKY SHELBYSTIDHAM.COM READER! Yes! You can’t win this amazing package until my other BONDI BAND GIVEAWAY closes, so be sure to go and enter that! And keep your eyes peeled for the Clif Bar giveaway, because it’s next! Along with a complete product write-up reviewing the Clif Crunch Bars.

Free fruits and veggies. That’s what I got today. I traded my dad (who has a garden that he shares with my grandpa, yet I hardly see my fair share of veggies but I figure my grandpa’s earned them, since he takes care of the garden and all) some chicken for veggies & fruit. Here’s the random assortment of goodness that I scored:

Fruits & Veggies... Home grown!

Among that bunch are some store-bought bell peppers I ripped off from my parents house. They weren’t home and my food-stealing side couldn’t be stopped. I know, I’m a monster. Everything else was MINE FOR THE TAKING, according to my dad, so I took: a monster peach, a couple of white nectarines, some green and yellow squash, red onions, and some apples. A goooooddd trip. And guess what the best thing of the bunch is? Lemon Cucumbers.

Lemon Cucumber

You haven’t had a cold, crisp and refreshing summer salad or sandwich until you’ve had one with a lemon cucumber. Seriously, these little jewels are tasty! They are the size of a medium or small apple, but crunchy like a normal cucumber and they have a lemon-zest flavor! Soo goood.

I hope everyone had a great Friday and a safe and fun Friday night.

Here are some things cookin’ for next week:

• The end of my BONDI BAND GIVEAWAY!
• A post on portion size: how much is too much? Foods that are easy to over-eat and photos of what amount you should actually be eating of them.
• 4-Box Clif Crunch bar GIVEAWAY! Keep your eye out for that one ‘cuz it’s gonna be Suuuwwweeeeeet!
• Ways to Buy Healthy Food & Not Go Broke

Are there any subjects you want me to research or write about? I’m willing to write about almost anything, except Jon Gosselin so please, don’t go there.

Goodnight peeps.. catch ya on the flip side :)

32.

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Bagel Thin (110 Calories)

Bagel Thin with Sugar Free Peach Preserves

It was really good! Normally I get the Sugar Free Strawberry Preserves, or even the SF Apricot, but I decided in the name of my love for peaches, I’d try it! And while it’s delicious, it sadly is not as amazing as the Strawberry or Apricot. BUT I might buy it again because it’s less tempting to go past the 2 tablespoon limit with a flavor that isn’t complete scrumptiousness.

Mid-morning snack was a Cherry Pie Lara Bar:

Cherry Pie Lara Bar

Cherry Pie Lara Bar: Only 3 Ingredients & Completely Amazing!

This was my FIRST Lara Bar and aside from the size being disappointing (the bar was probably from the ‘L’ to the beginning of the ‘A’ in Bar), the bar itself was delicious. I myself am a HUGE fan of unsweetened cherries because I love that bittersweet taste, so I loved it. But if you only like sweet treat bars, this one’s not for you!

It did the trick for a pre-lunch snack. Well, that and two very small peaches :)

Peachy

Then for lunch I had something new. Last night I was at the grocery store and I found these Whole Wheat Pitas that are only 130 calories per pita pocket and had all natural ingredients and lots of fiber! So I said I’d give ‘em a go. I made a Pita Pocket of Turkey, Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese, Horseradish Mustard, Red Onion, and Organic Romaine Lettuce. It was good. Something that would have made it better? Cucumbers and sprouts! But I didn’t have any :( On the side I had a LARGE handful of BBQ flavored Soy Crisps.

Turkey on a Whole Wheat Pita with BBQ Soy Crisps

Pita Goodness

Green Goodness

Since I had a Dr’s appointment this afternoon, I knew I’d probably be non-stop and not have time for my 3′o’clock snack. Instead of being starving when I came home to cook dinner, I decided to eat my normal afternoon snack about and hour after lunch. It was Voskos Greek Yogurt, 1/2 cup Fiber One Raisin cereal, and 1 small peach, all cut up. It was SUCH A GOOD SNACK! The best yogurt-add in combo yet! Very filling, too.

Voskos Nonfat Greek Yogurt, Lonesome!

<3

After lunch I worked for a few more hours then headed over to my Dr’s appointment to see what the heck is going on with my stoopit knee! Verdict? Don’t know yet. I have to get an MRI because the tendon behind the meniscus is perhaps twisted. So basically, my knee has its panties in a bunch. BUMMER!

When I got home I had a Chocolate Brownie Z Bar by Clif while I made dinner. I threw dinner in the oven, did the dishes, walked the dog, took out the garbage, and started uploading my photos from the day. While they were loading, Matt and I had dinner and talked about the day. What did I make? Turkey Meat Loaf with Steamed Cauliflower, Broccoli and Green Beans.

Turkey Loaf & Veggies

Turkey Loaf & Ketchup

It was REALLY good. Tonight I tried a mix of two recipes and it was better than my original! Here’s how I made it:

Turkey Meat Loaf:

-1 pound lean ground turkey meat

-1/4 teaspoon black pepper

-1/4 teaspoon Parsley

-2 eggs

-1/2 cup oats

-1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs

-1/4 cup (slightly less) ketchup

Mix all ingredients together (with clean hands!) and place in PAM sprayed cooking dish. Put the mix in the dish and mash it down, like a loaf. Cut a slit down the middle of the loaf and pour two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce in the middle and then over the slit. Top with some ketchup and breadcrumbs, cook at 350 degrees for one hour. Crispy goodness!

That’s what I ate today… what did YOU eat today??

P.S. GO ENTER THE EMILY GIFFIN BOOK GIVEAWAY IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY!

P.P.S. BONDI BAND GIVEAWAY starts tomorrow at 8pm SO GET READY FOR IT! And….

If you link to my giveaway on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc you get AN EXTRA ENTRY! Woot, woot :) Just show me some love with a super shout out and get a 4th chance to enter and win! … As always, comment and include the link with your shout out! Until then, have a happy Tuesday night my peeps!

29

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Bondi Bands Galore :)

It’s that time again! GIVEAWAY WEDNESDAY!

This time I am giving ONE TWO THREE LUCKY READERS the Bondi Band of her choice! You can choose from

• Black & White Hounds-tooth printed Lycra Bondi Band, which provides light sweat wicking
• Multi-colored Paisley printed Lycra Bondi Band, which provides light sweat wicking
• “RUN <3” Bondi Band made of dry-tech cool max material to provide heavy sweat wicking
• “13.1” Bondi Band made of dry-tech cool max material to provide heavy sweat wicking
• Multi-colored Peace & Love printed Lycra Bondi Band, which provides light sweat wicking

One of these awesome Bondi Bands could be yours! These are completely amazing and I promise you won’t be disappointed! Here’s some up close shots so you guys can see which one’s you want to try and win:

Swirly Funky Paisley Mutli-Colored Bondi Band

Run <3 Bondi Band

Peace & Love Bondi Band

Hounds-tooth Bondi Band

13.1 Bondi Band, for those Half Marathoners!

Before I get to the good stuff (details on how you can win one of these little beauties), first let me say a few things about Bondi Band as a company!

I wanted to purchase 5 bands so I picked them all out, entered my credit card info, and clicked order. Well something was wrong and my order wouldn’t go through. My card declined? It couldn’t be. So I e-mailed Rebecca at Bondi Band and told her my dilemma. She said she’d send me my order on good faith that I’d call her and leave her my credit card information, so she could manually place the order. If that isn’t trust AND customer service, I don’t know what is! It turns out, my bank changed from MasterCard to Visa, I had a new card sent to me but hadn’t read the letter they sent or activated the card. It was completely my fault and I felt so bad afterwards! I placed the order and let Rebecca know I’d be sharing her helpfulness with you guys! It was really great customer service and she was very understanding about the idiotic mistake I had made. I haven’t worn the bands yet (I got a 13.1 pink band of my own, thank you very much!) but I will definitely be telling my friends and fellow bloggers about Bondi Band’s commitment to their customer’s happiness!

Why am I only giving away 3 if I bought 5, you ask? The other two are going into my big save box, which will be combined with who knows what else (heh.. heh..) to make a uber-good gift package for one lucky reader at a later date. So if you don’t win one this time, who knows, they might make an appearance later on with some other cool friends :)

Now, onto the good stuff!

To Enter:

*Leave a comment on this post telling me WHICH Bondi Band you’d like to have and WHY you’d choose that one

*For an EXTRA entry, SUBSCRIBE to my RSS feed (big orange button on the top right hand side of the page) and leave a comment telling me you’ve subscribed.

*For an EXTRA EXTRA entry, go to the Bondi Band website, search around, and tell me WHICH item off of their site you would choose and WHY.

The GIVEAWAY officially begins Wednesday August 11, 2010 at 8:00am, Pacific Standard Time. Comments posted before that time will not be considered! The GIVEAWAY officially ends one week later on Wednesday August 18, 2010 at 8:00am, Pacific Standard Time. I will use a RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR to choose the winners and post them the next day. GOOD LUCK & please, TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO ENTER, TOO!

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my other GIVEAWAY, Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin, by 8:00pm PST tomorrow! Time is running out! GOOD LUCK :)

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28/365 in my NEW workout top!

After a lonnggg Monday, I was thrilled to come home and see TWO PACKAGES waiting for me in my mailbox. Yep, that’s right ladies, my Champion work out wear finally arrived! I ordered it almost two weeks ago and for a site boasting 4-6 day shipment, I was getting antsy!

I love getting packages!

As you know, this weekend I received my Bondi Band order, too:

Beautiful Bondi Bands

I was beyond excited to receive those… and I was super ecstatic to receive my new work out clothes! AND tonight Matty and I going out and buying our FIRST elliptical! It’s an uber-exciting Monday!

AND GUESS WHAT ELSE THAT ROCKS?

I had my first Recovery Run since I hurt my knee last week and it was AMAZING. My knee got a little sore around the 3 minute mark and it was slightly stiff when I finished but I DID IT! I did a short run (1.10 miles) setting a PR for a one mile mark: 8:40! I know, slow for some of you speed demons out there, but fast for me :) Overall the run was around 9:25. It felt SO good. :) I was just happy to run pain-free. And I will be EVEN happier if I can pull off a LONG run within the next few days.

Anyway, we have to go run some post-work errands. Until I can post pictures, check this out:

-ENTER my GIVEAWAY to win a copy of Emily Giffin’s book Something Borrowed! It ends this Wednesday at 8:00pm, when comments will be closed!

-Stay tuned for my BONDI BAND GIVEAWAY that’s happening later this week!

UPDATE: Here’s the work out gear that I bought from Champion USA:

Pink Running Skirt from Champion USA

Running Skirt with Stripes

Hot Pink Empire Work out Tank

From Afar

Black tank... just like the pink one!

Check that ribbing and boob support!

Tempo Knock Off's!

Just like the Tempos!

I’ll review the fit & sizing once I’ve worn them all!

UPDATE#2: My knee hurts like a mother! COMPLETE bummerfest 2010 :(

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I tried to go on a recovery run this evening (my knee was feelin’ better) but I got down the street and felt like it was a bad idea. Literally, my knee felt bad. So crap on that.

Breakfast:

Black Coffee & Splenda

Kashi Heart to Heart and Almond Milk

Lunch:

Chicken & Veggie Salad from Chipotle

Thanks to my husband for picking up lunch! :)

One of two snacks:

Pink Lady pre-Murder

Pink Lady got Cut!

The other un-pictured snack was half of a whole wheat dinner roll and half of a nectarine. Weird combo but I was craving both of those items something fierce.

Dinner was some Tostitos and beans (left over from last night’s left overs, haha) and a Reducded Fat PB & Sugar Free Strawberry Jam sandwich on an Orowheat 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich thin. Very weird combo but it was spot-hitting, indeed.

I had an uneventful, tiring day and I was so utterly bummed to find my knee acting up acting when I tried to RR it. Crap :’(

The happiest part of everything? It’s FRIDAY. So even if I do nothing tonight I still don’t have to go to work tomorrow and I can just enjoy time with my husband at my house relaxing :)  I’d be happier if I was training but whatev!

25/365

Hope everyone has a HAPPY FRIDAY night.

And hey, if you want something good to happen to you next week, GO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY!

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