My father decided one day that the internet meme-type thing "woot woot" should be "woot wooty wooters"...and we've been using it ever since.
Today is a woot wooty wooters kind of day! Great things at work, nice weather (except a little bit of rain), everyone is healthy and happy, the kitten is less hyperactive than usual, and this weekend will be full of rest and relaxation!
I'm really happy that fall is finally showing itself up here in the northern states. I'm really not a fan of summer heat and autumn has always been my favorite season. There have been a few 30-something degree nights and as a result, the leaves are changing a bit. It makes me think of hot apple cider, pumpkin pie, and curling up with warm blankets and good books. It's such a COZY season, don't you agree?
I have a confession to make: I'm an addict.
A V8 addict.
I drink at least one can of the salty vegetable goodness every day. Some days, I have two cans. Some days, I have two cans and a drinking glass filled from the bottle of "high fiber" stuff I keep in the fridge. The weird thing is that I hate tomatoes. Hate them. With a passion. I don't like fresh tomatoes, baked tomatoes, cooked tomatoes, diced tomatoes, or pureed tomatoes. In fact, pretty much the only thing containing more than 60% tomato that I enjoy is ketchup, and even then - only in small doses. I thought I hated everything with tomatoes. Then I met V8. We'd known about each other for a while: I'd seen the bottle sitting in the fridge after grocery shopping and sometimes I'd catch my Mum with a glass during lunchtime. I studied it. It was thicker than drinks should be, and that weird red color, and obviously made from dreaded tomatoes, and had some ridiculous number of vegetable servings per glass (that can only mean that it tastes gross, right!?). I just knew I'd never try it. Ever.
Then, away at college and without easy access to fresh fruits and vegetables, I started looking for ways to increase my vitamin intake without taking sixteen pills a day. I wanted some sort of drink that I could grab as part of breakfast or a quick lunch addition. At the Giant Eagle (aka "Jynt Iggle") I noticed V8 Fusion. It was in a cute little bottle, and a funky purple-y color, and had pictures of grapes and apples on the front! AND it was two servings of vegetables per glass! Everything I always dreamed of. I bought a bottle, tried it, liked the taste, and drank it constantly from then on. Fast forward three years and I'm in my year-old house with a big kid job and I'm feeling sluggish and tired again. I think, 'Maybe I'm missing vegetable servings?' It's a possibility! So, I go looking at the supermarket - Hannaford - for my lovely V8 Fusion. I find it, buy a bottle, take it home, have a taste and... EW. It's gross. It's sticky sweet and reminds me of those sugary syrup-and-water drinks in the plastic bottles with the faces molded into the material. You know the ones:
yep. there it is.
Blech. I couldn't even finish one glass. What was I to do? I loved drinking my vegetables and although I owned a blender, I preferred using it for milk/frozen strawberry/yogurt smoothies. Deeeelicous. I wanted something that came in a bottle, pre-made, full of vitamins and veggie goodness, and tasted okay. Back to the grocery store I went, hoping that there would be something better out there. Then I saw it - a bottle of "high fiber" V8 juice. The regular kind of V8, tomatoes and all. I was all, 'Hey, why not? I'm an adult now, technically, and if that's what adults drink then maybe that's what I want.' I bought it. I brought it home. I stuck it in the fridge and STARED at it for the next three days...and finally worked up the courage to pour a half glass. First sip? Not exactly fantastic. It was thick, just like I thought. It wasn't grainy, really, but it wasn't smooth. But weirdest of all; although it was faintly tomato-ey, it was in a filling toasted-cheese-and-soup sort of way. I kinda liked it. I wasn't in love, but it would do for now.
After a week or so of my daily V8 regimen I started feeling better. I had been fighting a cold for a few weeks and it finally cleared up. I had been so tired every day, even after 8 or 10 hours of sleep - suddenly I had more energy. I wasn't superwoman, but I felt more human. That was the beginning of the addiction... Now I drink V8 as my everyday normal choice of beverage. I still hate tomatoes in everything else and still refer to them as "poison", but I honestly don't mind them in the V8. So. Moral of the story? Drink V8 juice. It's not so bad.
A competition brazilian jiu jitsu gi, size A2, koral MKM, lightweight, white, and exactly what the boyfriend wanted!! He had been using a raggedy old blue one and I refuse to be seen with him while he's wearing it. It's so old! And sweat-stained! And washed so many times that it's basically BABY BLUE.
ew.
so in honor of his return to The Academy in Portland, I splurged and surprise-bought him a brand spankin new gi. He mentioned that he would love to have a Koral brand gi, but that they were too expensive to justify getting one when he had a 'serviceable' blue one. I heard that and immediately started searching for that exact gi, on sale, that could be here in a reasonable amount of time. I was hoping SO HARD that FedEx would make it here before his gi-required jiu jitsu session on Friday. Laurenworld struck again!! Although he had some stuff to finish tonight before (academic) class tomorrow, it turns out it's barely a page of homework (ok, exaggeration) and I more or less insisted that he go to jiu jitsu class tonight and try out the new gi. He was SO EXCITED about it and put it on immediately and said it was the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for him - I felt so fuzzy and warm that I had gotten the correct type of fightwear from all the options online. I win!
Other than that, I've already delved slightly into a bottle of Barefoot Moscato as a reward for making it through this week (and for being the best girlfriend ever).
so good.
And yes, I know that it is technically "dessert wine" and that I'm not technically enjoying any "dessert" at the moment but I did have a scoop of grasshopper pie ice cream when I got home a little while ago so that counts, right? Right? I was allowed that scoop of ice cream, okay!? I've already lost more than 60% of the weight that I'm looking to lose and I'm really, really, really happy about it! So far I've been able to steadily decrease that number on the scale just by drinking far less beer and eating far more vegetables than starches. Hurrah healthy living!! I finally realized that my mumma was right the whole time by portioning dinner as mostly vegetable, part protein, and a little starch. Who knew moms were so smart?
And because I'm on a Pandora kick and it's giving me adorable songs, here's the one stuck in my head currently:
first, a poll: how do you feel about my lack of capital letters? i started blogging a long time ago on a "private" blog (like a personal journal) and i figured i could write however i wanted - sans capital letters, please!! but...evidently there are folks out there in my group of three readers that are against the lowercase-only rule. i'm thinking about changing my style just a tad for the masses, so, what do you think? add in some appropriate capital letters or stick with what i've been doing?
comment below with your vote :)
ok on to the main body of the post. so since gregory is out learning how to kill people with his bare hands (yaaay brazilian jiu jitsu!?) i've been catching up on some crafty/homebody type things that i'd been wanting to do when i had a free moment. first, of course, i hooked up my nintendo 64 through my cable box (thanks daddy!) and did a little old school video gaming - of COURSE starting with the legend of zelda: ocarina of time. duh. then i did a little scrapbooking in the adorable 8"x8" book i started to fill with memories from november 2010 to now! then i started looking at new cupcake blogs and realized that some of my traffic to this site is from cupcake suppliers and cupcake websites! and that maybe, the people whom i know read this (mumma, *ahem*, mumma) might want to know what i use when i bake cupcakes! my baking posts have been seriously lacking in the past weeks and i've got to tell you, there's a reason. i'll show you a proof:
more cupcakes bakes = more cupcakes eaten.
more cupcakes eaten = pounds gained
pounds gained = sad lauren
sad lauren = lauren who weighs too much
Q.E.D.
so you see, between greg trying to get down to competition lightweight (hooray mixed martial arts!) and me trying to get down to everyday 'cuteweight', cupcakes aren't such a welcome guest in the oven anymore. so, unfortunately, i'm stuck daydreaming about recipes and cupcake tactics.
one of my favorite ways to bake cupcakes is in these little "nut and party" cups:
i get mine from the local craft store, but they are made by Wilton
they come out so adorable and contained. the paper doesn't stick to the cake like regular cupcakes papers do, and you don't need a cupcake tin to make them. just arrange the papers on a cookie sheets and pop them in the oven! when i'm not using paper nut and party cups (or the larger "dip" versions), i use silicone baking cups. i love them because they are reusable and really clean. just get a little cooking spray in them and dump the batter inside - bake for the normal amount of time and when you take them out of the oven, they slide right out as perfect little cakes. really handy when you want to decorate the sides of the cakes or when you don't want messy paper everywhere after people are done enjoying your baked treats!
i can't find the exact ones that i use, but these are very similar. i'll probably try baking some "heathy" type cakes in the near future. i assume they'll end up like muffins - full of dried fruit or nuts or whole wheat flour with no frosting. maybe they'll end up delicious and i'm unfairly judging them, but maybe not :) time will tell!
that adventure won't be this weekend, however! after a particularly stressful and exhausting week (and monday was a holiday!), greg and i agreed to take this weekend off from travel and parties and just stay in, make homemade spinach pizza, and play all sorts of nintendo 64 games. i've already been challenged in a mariokart 64 duel and not gonna lie, i might possibly lose. it's been quite a while since i've tried my hand at the old school (at least for me!) consoles!! i've never seen the man play video games but judging by his extreme proficiency in everything else we've done together, i doubt he'll be a pushover. that's why i'm secretly practicing after work every day while he's in class!! (i guess it's not so secret any more though, hm??) win or lose, it will be a fun weekend of relaxing times and i really honestly can't wait for it!!!
for my grand finale, i'll leave you with the cutest new song discovery of the day -
all credit to greg for showing me! he says when he heard it, he immediately thought of me. awwwwww :)
enjoy the ends of your weeks and your weekends, too! do you have any fun plans to relax like me?
since i've been sick and miserable for the past few days, i decided to cheer myself up by buying two 'prizes' (aka presents) for one of my favorite people :) they won't be here for a little while - shipping and all that - but hopefully by the end of september i'll be able to give him the things i found online today!
also, yes, mother: you have a prize in the mail but i didn't get it today. :P
