Weight Watchers Continued...

The chicken fingers were delicious. You can obviously decide which sauce you want to dip them in, but be careful to calculate the points correctly for the one you choose. The fries were not awesome, they were average. Trevor didn't like them, he thought they "looked funny". I tried to explain they don't look like McDonalds because 1, they were much larger since I cut up an actual potato, 2, they were deep fried in grease so they don't get that lovely coating and 3, there was nothing on them but a little creole seasoning. So truthfully, next time I will make the Chicken Fingers alone or with another side dish. Try these out though, they are awesome!

The other WW friendly thing I came up with was a snack that just seemed to sound delicious at the time. My problem is that I love fruit, so I am all set with that, but with Veggies, i'm a little more hesitant. I do like several different things; brocoli, cauliflower, carrots, beans, salad, zuchini, squash, potatos, etc. but the problem is with about 90 % of those veggies, I like them either cooked (which adds a different points value), or dipped in some kind of dressing. (Ex. RANCH). So either way I am not taking advantage of the low points value of eating raw vegetables. This "brilliant" idea came to me when I realized we had leftover mushrooms from our Ka Bobs and some baby carrots in the fridge. I wanted to take these as a snack but I didn't want to eat them plain. So i'm weighing out the options and checking the back of the Hidden Valley bottle to see how many points the right amount of dressing would be to satisfy my need. Turns out, it's not worth the 4 points it would be to dip the entire amount of veggies. So I came up with this brilliant plan.

Ranch/Sour Cream & Garlic Veggie Dip

1 cup of mushrooms, cut, uncooked (Insert Fav Vegetable Here) (0 pts)

10 fresh baby carrots, uncooked (Insert Fav Vegetable Here) (0 pts)

2 tablespoons of Hidden Valley Fat Free Ranch Dressing (1 pt)

2 tablespoons of Fat Free Sour Cream (0 pts)

1/4 teaspoon of Mrs. Dash Salt Free Garlic & Herb Seasoning (0 pts)

0+0+1+0+0=1 pt!!

To me that is well worth it, that is a lot of veggies and the dip makes just enough so that you can heavily dip each one. Solution to my 4 o'clock "starvation" without reducing my points for dinner.

On a side note, that Mrs. Dash Salt Free Garlic & Herb Seasoning is great! You also coincidentally use it on the WW Chicken Fingers (that's why I originally bought it), but it tastes delicious and is very low in points (clearly). They have several different kinds and are good on just about anything. Check them out, they are a great addition to the kitchen!

Weight Watchers

On a Weight Watchers note, I started the program last Monday and actually ended up going with the Online Version instead. The problem with the WW @ Work was that it kept getting post-poned. It's hard enough to get back on the wagon without having a couple extra weeks to justify garbage plates and endless amounts of starbucks. The Online Version ended up being $65 for the first 3 months and then $16.95 each month from then on. So it's really not too bad when you think about the impact it will have on my life.

Anyways, for anyone who is thinking of signing up for the program, I HIGHLY reccomend the online version. I love it. I can 'build' recipes by taking ingrediants and adding and subtracting them to figure out what the best points solution can be. It tracks/calculates my points right online and lets me know where i'm at. The chart that tracks your weight loss every week is neat too. It has your starting weight and your *Goal* and then will show you in a line graph where your at. It's cool to watch it go down (I took a look at one of my friend's at work from her site, and it has a significant drop, good girl!). I'm excited to watch mine go down, this week I had a 4lb difference. Hey, you gotta start somewere!

I found a great recipe on the site that I made for Trevor and I Tuesday night before my Cake Decorating class. Here it is;

WW Chicken Fingers w/ Ranch & Seasoned Fries

3 sprays of cooking sprays
1 lb boneless, skin less chicken breast, cut into thin strips
1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
2 and 1/2 packets instant oatmeal (I used one cup of bread crumbs, I didn't have oatmeal.
2 tsp Garlic Herb Seasoning, preferably Salt Free
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 Large Potatos, Russet, Peeled and cut into 1/2 inch thick fries
1 tbsp Creole Seasoning
1/2 cup Fat Free Ranch Salad Dressing

Preheat over to 400 degrees, coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

Coat chicken with mustard, combine oats, garlic herb seasoning, salt and pepper into a bowl, and dip chicken strips into the mixture, coating completely. Arrange potatos on pan around chicken fingers, and coat both lightly with cooking spray, sprinkle potatos with Creole seasoning.

Bake, flipping once until chicken is cooked through and both chicken and potatos are a golden brown, about 30 minutes. Serve chicken and potatos with ranch on the side.

Yields about 3 oz of chicken, 1/2 a potato and 2 tbsp of dressing per serving.

POINTS VALUE=6

Hunter 3 Month Pictures

It’s been a couple days since my last post and I apologize. I had a very busy weekend, and an even busier first half of the week! Saturday morning we had Hunter’s 3 Month pictures taken by our personal photographer Heather! They turned out awesome of course, not that we expected any less from her!

He was being a good boy for the most part, but not quite as smiley as he is sometimes in the evening. She still got some great smiles from him though, and they came out great. Here is my favorite one, I’m not sure what it is but it just puts me in the best mood when I see him smile like that. I think Trevor agrees also, we could b.e having the worst day ever and if he smiles at us later that night all is forgotten! We are in so much trouble lol.

Sunday was a fairly quiet day. We did some housework, and my mom convinced us to come over for dinner. We had steak, salad, corn on the cob and onion rings/French fries. Correction; I had a tiny piece of steak, corn on the cob w/ no butter, salad w/ no dressing and a cup of FF Cottage Cheese. Doesn’t sound too appealing right? Well, I don’t the small portion of steak, it’s not my absolute favorite anyways. The corn was fine without butter believe it or not, and I LOVE cottage cheese so that was no biggie. The hardest part for me was eating my salad without dressing. I am a HUGE ranch fan, but my mom had 0 dressings that were FF or even LIGHT. Bummer. Oh well though, I went home and had a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich, yum. I think I even may have gotten Trevor hooked on them.

Tuesday night was my first cake decorating class at Michaels! It was a lot of fun, I got some great tips that I never would have thought of within the first hour. I mentioned the classes to my friend Jen at work a week or so ago, and she loved the idea and ended up signing up for the same class. So it was definitely nice to have a friend there to chat with. Turns out I have to buy even more supplies than my kit had, so that’s always fun! Looove shopping at Michaels. I get so excited walking in there it’s crazy! I know every time I go in that I’m in trouble. The great thing about Michaels is that they have amazing coupons, and always have sales, so it’s not as bad as you’d think. ;).
Anyways, while I was shopping after class I noticed the most adorable thing over in the decal aisle. (What was I doing there you ask? I got “lost” of course, HeHe). It was a little iron on screen print of a little skunk and th. Above it was a 3 pack of plain white cotton bibs. Hmmmm. What would a forest-animal-loving freak do in this situation? Buy it of course. And pick up a new hobby lol. Well, let’s not push it and say it’s a new hobby, I just really wanted Hunter to have a bib that has that print on it.

It was really really easy to do, and cost about $6.00 in total (after coupon of course), so it was well worth it. I don’t think I need to go into detail explaining instructions because if you decide to do this yourself, refer to the back of the iron on for complete directions!

It turned out cute I think, and as a bonus it came with a little Fox that said Foxy. Now, generally I would think that saying is totally lame. But picture a cute little chubby cheeked dragon wearing it around the ladies and then tell me you wouldn’t put it on him. I did have an extra white bib in the pack, so I saved it in my craft “box” in case I find another cute iron on that I can’t live without!

If you give a dragon a cookie....

He will smash it all over his face.

Well, I can't exactly say we gave our 3-month old a cookie (hang up the phones, we aren't THAT clueless), but we did start him on cereal. By orders of Dr. Tuite (hehe) Hunter's pediatrician, our little dragon is starting to eat very-watered down cereal by the spoon!

*Moment off topic* Can you believe that his Doctor's name is Dr. Tuite?? Yes it's pronounced just like it's spelled, like TOOT. Lol. Maybe it's just me, but I get a kick out of it every single time I say it, although, I am also very immature. But on a sidenote, he is a great guy. He was Trevor, Tyler and I believe even Heather's pediatrician when they were kids, so he obviously did a good job considering they are all alive and very healthy!

Back on topic though, apparently the reason he recomended the cereal is because I mentioned that he was just eating and eating and still wanting more. He said that if we gave him a little cereal in his bottle that it would fill him up so he would be happy and be able to go to sleep. That worked for a couple weeks but eventually he started acting all "dragony" when he couldn't get the rice out of the bottle quick enough so we put an end to that.

Now we are adding water to a couple tablespoons of rice cereal and feeding him sitting up. He is doing well...Just a little messy.


Have I mentioned that I love him.

Look who's Cookin...

Monday night in honor of the first day of WW, I decided to make a new recipe that I found. It's called WW Chicken Noodle Casserole. I know, I know, you will find that I make a lot of recipes that include chicken. Well reason being, Trevor will pretty much try anything I make as long as it contains chicken, and also because it's a pretty cheap meat of choice :). Anyways, while Trevor went for his run, Hunter and I started dinner...

Hunter is a great cook for a 3-month old believe it or not. His specialties include heating up the oven, drooling on the pan and hitting himself in the face wooden spoons. As shown above he is really got a grasp on that spoon! He's getting so big too quickly for me! Anyways, back to the recipe.




Weight Watchers Chicken Noodle Casserole

4 cups egg noodles (cooked & drained)
2 cans condenced reduced fat cream of mushroom soup (campbells healthy choice)
1/4 cup skim milk
6 oz cooked chicken, cut into pieces
1 can tomatos (I didn't add this)
10 oz frozen mixed vegetables (I used peas and corn)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Place into a 9" x 12 " pan. Bake for 30 minutes.

Weight Watchers=4 points if serving 8, 5.5 if serving 6

It was pretty good, but it wasn't the best thing I have ever tasted. Generally when I make "fat free" meals, they don't taste like they are fat free. This recipe though, tasted like it was healthy. It was kind of bland, but all in all, for the points value being so low it's worth making!

With Weight Watchers, I am trying every thing at least once, that way I can keep a broad range of foods to eat. If you ever have any recipes or tips, feel free to post them!

Today at work we all met at Hong Wah for lunch in honor of Julia's visit home! Julia is one of my old fellow co-workers at Paychex that left us for the great city of Philidolphia in May. I miss her smiling face at work so it was great to be able to see her. The problem for me was that with Weight Watchers haunting me as I walked in the door, I actually had to eat something healthy. I know, healthy at a chinese restaurant is not exaclty possible. However, Hong Wah did win an award for being the top 100 healthiest Chinese food restaurants in the country. Not bad. Plus I ordered the Steamed Chicken and Mixed Vegetables with a Spring Roll. Could be worse.

Happy it's Wednesday, I need it to be the weekend though... :)

Dum da dum dum dummmmmmmm.

Weight Watchers began Monday so Hunter and I had to "redo" the cupboards. Luckily for us, we were out of food anyways so the transition wasn't too difficult. I did my research beforehand, and made a list that consisted of some great WW friendly foods (aside from the things that are actually labeled WW). In addition, being the crazy bargain shopper I am, I signed up for a bunch of coupons because we all know that DIET food is never cheap. So I am all set with coupons in hand and my list ready to go!

My store of choice this time was WalMart. Normally i'm 100% a Wegmans lover, but in this case i've found that Walmart tends to carry the "brands" I need to get for cheaper. I chose the Macedon one because I find it's far less crowded than Henrietta... (Can't wait until they finish building the Walmart in Victor, Yay!). I got a lot stuff for the amount I ended up paying... Some great snacks i'd reccomend for "cutting" or "counting" calories are;

Skinny Cow Ice Cream Products (YUM)
Smart Ones (Have the WW points right on them)
Special K-Pretty much anything they make, I love the cereal bars
Low Fat Cottage Cheese (K maybe not for everyone but I love it!)
100 Calorie packs (Tried 'em all, love 'em all)
String Cheese (Pretty much any brand will do)
Arnold's Pita Bread
Thomas Whole Wheat Tortillas (Lovely wraps...)

Beer of choice while on WW, Miller Genuine Draft Light 64 (1 point a piece!) You could drink 22 in one day, yay!

Wine Idea of the day (given to me by my co-worker)- Mix 1/2 a glass of your favorite white wine w/ half a cup of diet sprite and voila! A wine spritzer with half the calories.

Groceries are bought, program paid for... WEIGHED IN. Ready, Set, GO!

Love the Weekends

This past weekend was a pretty busy one. Friday night we went over to Cindy’s (Trevor’s Mom) house and had a big dinner. I got to meet Trevor’s cousin Kelly who was in town for a visit (considering the party was in honor of her arrival!). That was fun, it’s always nice to get together and see everyone. Soooo much delicious food and for dessert, cookie sandwiches that were AWESOME, made by our very own Martha Stewart (Heather). Of course add into the mix a “couple” glasses of wine, an adorable 2 year old whose favorite activity is BONKING people on the nose, and one happy dragon and you’ve got a great Friday Night!

The whole crew
Picture from Heather

Saturday was Garage Sale day! All week at work, (in my free time of course), I searched for sales in the area and then figured out the best route via map quest so I could get the most out of my Saturday morning. Yes, I am a complete geek, but there’s something about looking through other people’s leftovers that puts a smile on my face. Of course, I enlisted Hunter’s help as a cute decoy to distract the old ladies from stealing all the good stuff. We started out our morning surprisingly right on schedule. Hunter with a bottle, me with 3 cups of coffee.

Trevor left for a day of golf with Kansas and my brother Kyle, and Hunter and I took off. Our first destination was Fairport, so we went to a couple there, found some clothes for Paige and a couple cute books for Hunter. Then we stopped at another sale and I bought a nice poker set for Trevor & a book of beer drinking games and an adorable wooden standing pumpkin decoration. (Talk about random, this is why I get so excited!). After that, my mom calls and says she is at my apartment stopping into say hello. So I go pick her up and enlist her help as well.

All in all, I’d say it was a pretty good Saturday morning. I got a lot of fun stuff, and only spent $30!

Then we went to the mall in Victor “to eat lunch” and I of course went overboard buying 6 Month clothes at JC Penny’s. I can’t help it, the little boys clothes are so cute! There is nothing better than a little shirt that says “Rascally Racoon” on it.

Later that night, Trevor, Hunter and I went to Applebees with our other son “Kansas/aka Mike”. It was fun, I had the WW Garlic Herb Chicken which was awesome and of course Trevor, being predictable as always got the same thing he’s been getting since we started dating over 2 years ago…The chicken fajita rollup. I really should give that a shot to see what the big deal is, it must have something special about it since he orders it EVERY single time. Hehe. Later that night we just hung out and watched “Miss March”, which was your typical high school boys go on crazy-sex filled-road trip to get a girl. It did have some funny parts to it though, I’ll admit, it was worth the whole dollar I spent on it. Ah, gotta love Redbox.

Sunday afternoon we went to my Aunt Chris & Uncle Jeff’s house (Dad’s side) in Fairport for dinner. It was fun, I got to see my Grandparents (who live in Florida half the year), and my twin cousins –Ryan and Jennifer who are going into 8th grade this year!! I can’t even believe how fast time flies. We had steak (YUM), corn and potato salad that my Grandma made, awesome. It was a good time. After that, we came home and it was pretty much time for bed.

Oh Monday. You’ve come too soon.

Don't go Braggin' about the Dragon'

Because he will do anything he can to prove you wrong...

I’m not quite sure what got into my little buddy this past week, but his wonderful “sleep schedule”, was switched around. I think it comes from me telling everyone that will listen in a 3 mile radius that Hunter is FINALLY sleeping all the way through the night. He has been awesome the past month in going to sleep around 10:30 and waking up at 6:30 or 7.

Of course, as soon as I start telling people this, that very night he wakes up at 4. Then the next night he wakes up at 4:30. Lol, I guess that’s what I get for opening my big mouth.


Honestly though, I never get even remotely upset when he wakes up in the middle of the night, because that’s extra “snuggle” time that no one else gets. Also, as soon as he drinks a bottle he is passed right out again and ready to sleep. So really, it’s not too bad at all.


Getting very sleeping...





Passed out baby...

Guess Who Came Out of the Woodwork?

Who is back in my life? Kirk, the guy who built our coffee table & end table for us! A little background on Kirk, he is a guy who specializes in woodwork of all kinds that I found on Craigslist around Thanksgiving last year. I was in the market for a new coffee table, and an end table for our new apartment. I was having a lot of trouble though, anything I found just did not fit the “theme” I was going for. I looked everywhere from Walmart to Pier One, in hopes of finding exactly what I wanted. No such luck. My theme consists of Adirondack/Lodge type decorations, which naturally would just not go with many of the modern styled furniture that is out there today. I searched a couple “Adirondack-themed” websites that I had purchased some of my decorations on, but those tables went for around $3,000.00. Yes, I said three thousand dollars. For a coffee table. Do I look like Bill Gates? (Don’t answer that). So basically I almost gave up, until…

One day I was looking around on Craigslist with the hopes of finding someone like myself, who enjoys decorating, and perhaps switched themes and already had a set of Adirondack like furniture that they needed to get rid of. (Kind of a stretch right?). Well, I did not find that, but I did find Kirk’s Ad, which stated that he could make anything out of wood with reasonable prices and quality that showed from years of experience in the field. So I gave Kirk a call on my way home from work that day.

I can’t even begin to explain what a stress-free and convenient process it was to get what I wanted. He was quick to respond, detailed & right on target with what I was thinking! It was like he knew exactly what I wanted, even from my ridiculously detailed explanation of “I want them to be Adirondacky, you know, like…Woodsy”. The tables were done within a week of me sending him a deposit, and were gorgeous! He even delivered them to our apartment. I was shocked at how well they turned out and how sturdy they were. All we needed to do was put a finishing seal on them and they were good to go. These tables will be in the family for many years! :)



The reason I say Kirk is back in my life though, is because I sent him an E-Mail the other day asking him to research the cost/details of adding another piece of furniture to our collection…A toy box for Hunter to match our coffee table and end table! This brilliant idea came from yours truly when I noticed that Hunter’s toy were already piling up in the living room. Oh no, he’s only 3 months old and doesn’t even play with toys and they are already causing clutter. Now listen, before you judge. I am very easy going and am not OCD when it comes to having stuff around the house, but I thought to myself…

1.) He is only going to get more toys as he keeps growing, and they need a place to live besides in his room.

2.) I am going to have to purchase a toy box for the living room to hold these toys.

3.) I JUST re-decorated the place & it all coordinates (yes, I’m proud, it took a lot of planning).

So why would I add a bright tacky toy box with cartoon pictures plastered on it when I could have my new friend Kirk make me one that matches my furniture.

Yay! So I get it priced out and it’s very reasonable considering the amount of use Hunter (and maybe other kids someday) will get from it. I am very excited to start a new project with Kirk because as I said before, he is a joy to work with. Not to mention, I can’t wait to see what he comes up with for the toy box! It’s going to be great. I’ll keep you posted, I’m thinking of doing it around Christmas time.

You Kill the Joe, You make some Mo

Ah that saying brings tears to my eyes as I recall how much I have laughed about it. I guess truthfully, in order to get the full extent of what happened to me in the break room today, you have to watch this video first.

Terry Tate-Office Linebacker

Now you can imagine why I started laughing to myself like a fool, and why I actually had to turn away to look out the window after I started brewing another pot of coffee. Let me recreate the scenario for you…

It’s 9:35 am, in Paychex world it already feels like 3:00 in the afternoon, but NO, I’ve only been at work for 35 minutes so far. My coffee cup is empty, and I decide it’s time to refill. Now, at the Linden Hills office where I work, there are two break rooms. Each one contains a coffee-maker, that can technically hold 3 pots. Normally one is decaf, and the other two are regular. It is part of my colleagues and myself’s duties to make more coffee when it’s empty or getting low. I do my fair share in replacing what I take due to the fact I drink about 5 cups a day while I’m at work.

On this particular morning though, I am very eager to refill. I have a conference call coming up that I’m not looking forward to, so my coffee is like my pick-me-up for the morning. PLUS, I just bought a new creamer that sounded delicious, so basically I’m practically “running” to the break room.(Running is in quotations because to me that means walking steadily, as I am wearing heels and do not want to wipe out in front of the entire office).

As I’m entering the break room I pass by a colleague of mine who shall remain nameless, but is carrying his Paychex Monogrammed Travel Mug (GO GREEN), much like myself. He smiles and says Good Morning, and I return his greeting with a hello and big smile (I am about 10 feet from my destination at this point), and continue on my way.

Much to my surprise, the pot is empty. Now, if you were watching the video closely, you will see that this is not office protocol. So I think to myself, “WWTTD?” (What would Terry Tate do)? That’s when the visions began…

All I could picture was my coffee-loving fellow Paychex co-worker pouring the last cup into his stupid blue mug (I chose yellow), and then envisioned myself charging at him Terry Tate style, while saying “You kill the joe, you make some mo”. Funny, as I start another pot and stand there waiting, I start laughing to myself at the thought. Mostly because I outweighed the guy by like 30 lbs, and also because he was so unsuspecting. Then of course, in walks another colleague and sees me laughing to myself. I’m surprised I have friends at all, taking into consideration my “Creep-Factor”.

Basic lesson of this story; RE-FILL THE COFFEE! It’s the right thing to do.

Cats in College?

House Cat Gets GED


I came across this link on MSN.com. I think this is the funniest thing i've seen in a while. It's unbelievable the types of scams people can get away with on the internet these days. I just thought this one was funny because I happen to love LOL CATZ, and that's what it reminds me of. If your not familiar with LOL CATZ, they are stupid/funny little pictures of cats with sayings on them, written in very bad english. Sounds kinda dumb I know, but you may get a good laugh on some.

This one is my personal favorite so far.


See what I mean? Totally ridiculous but somehow still kind of amusing... The funny thing is, I really don't even like cats that much. Haha. I'm way more of a dog person. Just a funny little pick me up for those of you who sometimes feel like conquering the impossible. If a cat can do it... so can YOU!

Stay positive folks.

Brad Paisley & A Bachelorette

Very eventful weekend as you can tell by the title. Friday night we had tickets for the Brad Paisley/Dierks Bentley and Jimmy Wayne concert at Darien Lake. It was awesome! Trevor and I went to Brad last year for my birthday and he was great then. This year though, even better! I think it had something to do with the concert as a whole. Direks and Jimmy Wayne are both awesome, whereas last year we had to listen to Jewel yoddel for like 15 minutes straight. Also, this year we went with a group of friends which always makes for a good time. We didn’t get a full picture of the “crew”, but here is a pic before the concert,“pre-gaming” if you will.


Here is Trevor and I before the concert. All in all the concert was great, not too fond of the $10 beer or the $8 “shot” of wine that they provide, but that seems to be a trend with any type of concert you attend. The only real downfall was me dropping my brand new blackberry curve into a puddle of “water” in the bathrooms. YUCK! For my peace of mind I’m going to assume that it was water and not something more disgusting than that. Needless to say, it stopped working, so I spent the rest of the night with no phone. Not very convenient when you are trying to find the people you came with. Haha, but either way I eventually found my way back to the crowd and I took it to Verizon the next day and there was no sign of water damage, so they assumed it had a manufacturing malfunction and ordered me a new one free of charge. Woo hoo! Luckily I still had my chocolate 3, so i'm using that, but I can’t wait to get my new phone in the mail. Yay!

Meanwhile Hunter was in Canandaigua spending some long over-do time with Grandma (my mom). I went to pick him up Saturday morning (very excited because I can’t seem to leave him for ONE night without missing him), and we went a couple garage sales near my mom’s house. Then we came home and unfortunately I had to pick right up and leave again for Liz’s bachelorette party. I’m the maid-of-honor so it’s my duty to be there or be square! So as I was rushing to get ready I picked up the diaper bag and out flew the $25 bride-to-be wine glass I had bought at Wegman’s for Liz. Of course it broke right in half, and I picked it up to put the pieces on the table and it broke again! Great, so at this point we are already rushing around but we HAD to stop at Wegman’s because I was not going to let that go to waste (yeah I’m cheap, so be it). Luckily they were great about switching it out for us, and even better luck that they actually had another one there! So after the chaos, Amanda and I take off for Buffalo.

We were meeting at Liz’s new house in Clarence, which is about 20 minutes from the restaurant so we pile into the back of Liz’s SUV, and Liz’s fiancé Mike drops us off on Chippewa Street which is where Bacchus Wine Bar and Restaurant is. The food was really good, we ate Tappas style which was a lot of fun. Also, the wine I had was awesome, something called Moscato. I ordered the B.L.T Salad for my “dish to pass”, and that was great also. All in all, it didn’t really end up being what everyone said it was in the reviews I read, but it was fun and everything was delicious so that’s all that matters.

Onward to Chippewa. For those of you who are not from the area, and do not understand what Chippewa is, it is a college-friendly bar hopping street located in Downtown Buffalo. Our first stop was The Chocolate Bar, which is an adorable little Bar/Restaurant where they serve anything CHOCOLATE! One of the bridesmaids Lindsay, bought us all a shot of espresso vodka in an edible chocolate shot glass. Can you say YUM? Then we of course had to use the bathrooms, and what is playing in each stall? None other than the I Love Lucy Chocolate Factory episode! For those of you who are not aware, I am a huge I Love Lucy fan, in fact, I’ve been to the festival twice and the museum 3 times. Anyways, I basically just wanted to stay in there for the rest of the night, but apparently that wasn’t allowed.

After that, we went to “Badda Bing”, which is a pretty chill sports bar. Tim (a bridesmaid-groomsmen) bought us all a beer and we just chilled for a little bit. Then, because of a small inside joke that it was “Tim’s Birthday” we were celebrating, he bought us all what he called a Birthday Cake shot. I honestly do not know what was in it, but it ended with a lick of a sugar covered lime, and it really did taste like cake. YUM again! At this point we are all hanging around by the bar, and because it’s a sports bar the place is surrounded by TV’s showing various sporting events taking place that night. So naturally, my attention is drawn to the Bills game. For once, they are winning, yay! But, being the clumsy fool I am, I knock over a shot glass and it falls behind the bar and breaks. Oops. Soon after that we figure it’s time to move on, and end up at another bar (I don’t remember the name).


This is where things start to go bad for our Bride to Be. Fortunatly but unfortunatly Lindsay is good friends with the bartenders at this bar, and pays close to nothing for her tab. So..........50 beers and 10 million shots later it’s 11:00 pm and time to call Mike to pick us up. We had a pretty good time, Liz probably has quite the headache, but I woke up feeling just fine. I didn’t drink beyond Badda Bing because I still had to drive myself home to snuggle with my dragon.

When I got home, I was surprised to find Hunter sound asleep in his crib, complete with PJ’s, and all 10 fingers and toes! Trevor, Daddy of the Year, was just hanging out on the couch with his two friends Al and Kansas, just getting done playing some XBOX. I’m very proud of Mr. Mom for doing such a great job, I guess sometimes I forget to give him credit because you hear all these “I left my child home with their father and they gave themselves a hair cut, etc” stories. It looks like I picked a good one though. Trevor also gets extra points this weekend for suprising me with a bunch of sunflowers after the concert, my fav!

AWWWW.

Weight Watchers Macaroni & Cheese

Trevor and I could not figure out what we wanted for dinner last night to go with our ribs. I thought to myself, so basically ribs are bad enough on their own...What do I eat with them to not overload us on calories? So I google Weight Watchers Mac and Cheese, and Voila! This recipe. Normally I look on Allrecipes.com (I just happen to be a member), but they don't necessarily filter by healthiness. So here goes...It was delicious by the way, you would never be able to tell it was reduced in fat. Here is the recipe.

POINTS® Value: 5
Servings: 8
Preparation Time: 18 min
Cooking Time: 40 min (although we got impatient and took it out after 25 mins)

8 oz low-fat cheddar or colby cheese, shredded (I used low-fat extra sharp)
1/2 cup(s) fat-free sour cream
12 oz fat-free evaporated milk
1 tbsp Dijon mustard (Did not use)
1/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg (Forgot to put in, oops!)
2 tbsp dried bread crumbs
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
12 oz uncooked macaroni, elbow-type

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Cook pasta according to package directions without added fat or salt; drain and transfer to a large bowl. While pasta is still hot, stir in sour cream; set aside.

Heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until tiny bubbles appear just around the edges (known as scalding). Reduce heat to low, add cheese and simmer until cheese melts, stirring constantly with a wire whisk, about 2 minutes; remove from heat and stir in mustard, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Add cheese mixture to pasta; mix well. Transfer to a 3-quart casserole dish.
Combine bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese; sprinkle over pasta.
Bake until top is golden, about 30 minutes. Yields about 1 cup per serving

Weight Watchers & Wilton Cake Classes

Wow that’s a conflicting title, but yes I am going to be starting both very soon.

I did Weight Watchers about a year and a half ago, and I did great! Problem is, for whatever reason, I stopped. I don’t know if it was lack of dedication (Trevor was in San Antonio for training), or if it was cost of food (My best friend Amanda and I were in the process of moving to Buffalo) but whatever the reason may be, I fell off the wagon.

Now I’m getting back on! I decided I am extremely unhappy with my post-baby body, and come to think of it wasn’t too fond of my pre-baby body. Realistically I am not ever going to be a size 2. So let’s make some realistic goals. In high school I weighed around 140 (OMG I thought I was big then….). Let’s see if I can at least get back to that. I’ll keep track of my results here and offer recipes, tips, etc. that I find out along the way!

Paychex does a Weight Watchers at work program that starts on Tuesday, August 25th. It is 17 weeks of sessions for a great discounted price. So I am signing up. I’m used to the encouragement of “eating what I want”, and I have done exactly that for the past 11 months. No more Garbage plates. No more Hong Wah, I’m sad. But…Looking on the bright side, WW is a great program because it doesn’t completely take away enjoyable food, it just limits how much of it you can eat. It will be worth it right J?

Now for the practicing self control part.

In September I am also going to be starting my cake-decorating classes at Michael’s. The beginner course is a 4 week session and will start September 1st. I have always wanted to take classes like these and was happy to find out that Wilton’s offers them right at local craft supply stores. www.michaels.com. Yay! So anyways, they teach you awesome tricks to make really advanced looking cakes. I figured that this could always be a good hobby to pick up, not to mention my stronger point right now is Cooking. Baking has never been one of my talents. Generally with baking you need a finished product that is appealing to the eye… and I just don’t take my time to make it look great! Can’t wait to start these classes! The bad part is, obviously during the baking/decorating process I will be surrounded (literally) by temptation. Don’t lick the spoon. Don’t eat the raw cake batter. Try not to pick at the cake while it’s cooling, etc.

I have will-power, right? Yeah right… That’s why I’m known BY NAME at many of the surrounding Chinese Restaurants. ;).

Much Needed Caffine Overload at Work

Let me tell you a little bit about my job. I am an HR Online Advisor for Paychex (A payroll company in Rochester, NY).

I have around 100 clients that I work with daily. Basically, I train them on how to use the site, build benefits, etc. and then serve as their go-to person for as long as they have the application. You may be thinking… Wow, awful redundant. Believe it or not, going over the same exact website everyday is not as boring as you’d think. I have met a lot of awesome clients & get to plan my day however I want. Not a bad thing.

Today however, I am absolutely exhausted.
Hunter a.k.a the Dragon, did not sleep well last night. He has been awesome lately and slept for 7-8 hours at a time. For a 2 ½ month old, pretty impressive right? Well something was clearly bothering him last night because he woke up in the middle of the night appearing to be hungry.

Mommy to the rescue.

So we sit on the couch, he eats, then falls asleep (typical Hunter). TV is on, and I’m so out of it at this point I actually think I ended up watching Making the Band (a show I despise), and ended up falling asleep on the couch with him still laying on my chest. When I woke up I realized it was 4:30 am, Hunter was still sleeping on me, and it was time to put him back in his crib, so I turned off the TV and put the bottle in the fridge. Or so I thought.

When I wake up this morning around 7:15 am, Hunter is fussing, clearly he is hungry again. I walk into the kitchen (fairly exhausted after waking up a couple times last night), and start to make a bottle. Then I remembered his unfinished bottle from last night & decide to be resourceful. I open up the fridge and much to my surprise, there is the TV remote right where I normally put his bottles J. The half full bottle is on the coffee table, next to the other remotes. Oh, what a sleep deprived state of mind can do to you.

(Actual Photo!)

Welcome Back, Welcome Back, Welcome Baaaaaack....

Hmm. What was I doing 3 years ago at this very moment? Ah yes, I was unpacking boxes and setting up my very first apartment. A lovely little studio on Oxford Street in Rochester NY. Let me take a nostalgic moment here and create a description, for old times sakes. Picture a very large old house, divided into different little studios. Mauve walls & hardwood floors. Living Room/Kitchen/Bedroom in one! First escape, which was often used as a "patio". Many memories in that apartment, in some ways, I kind of miss it from time to time. I mean, at what point since then have I been able to do my dishes and fix dinner while sitting on the couch, with my feet propped up on my bed? Come on.

Well fast forward 3 years, college, bills, and one child later and you will find me in Penfield, NY, where I have lived for the past year and a half. Obviously a lot has happened since my last Blog, but let's not revisit too much of the past. ;)

Actually, let's start over for those of you who are just tuning in. My name is Kara. I am 22 years old, I work for Paychex Inc. located in Penfield, NY. I actually like my job... Funny right? I am a Bills fan, an even bigger Yankees fan, and a die-hard Sabres Fan. In fact, i'm still holding out on marriage until Ryan Miller realizes what he's missing. J/k of course.. Maybe. I enjoy cooking, scrapbooking, reading, reality shows (yeah yeah judge me if you must), all kinds of wine, and spending time with my family. Let's start with introductions.



Trevor. My boyfriend, and often times the one I consider my best friend. Amazingly enough, we get along great & I look forward to coming home to him everyday. (Even if he's almost predictably sitting in the same exact spot on the couch every weekday when I get home from work.) He is in the National Guard (yeah that's right, I landed myself a real live army guy!), and just started his career in HVAC.



Now for my other favorite man.

On May 25th 2009 (Yes, Memorial Day), a little dragon decided to join us in this big world. That's right, my first child Hunter Charles was born after 12 tumultuous hours of labor.


Here is Hunter at one week old. This (and many of the photos you will probably see on here), was taken by his Aunt Heather (Trevor's Sister), who is very talented with her photography. (More to come on that subject later!)

Okay let's step back... You probably think i'm crazy, calling my son "dragon". It is a nickname that we came up for him one day when he started "growling" at us while we were feeding him. From that point on, everyone began calling him that as well and now he is stuck with it.

He is the love of my life now, I love spending every extra minute I have with him. Like now for example, he is sleeping on my lap. Finally...Well, on that note, I suppose I should get to sleep considering the fact that he may wake up at any moment wanting more food. Some kids just always depend on their parents for EVERYTHING, geez...

More to come soon, just wanted to say hello again and can't wait to get started back up!