Birthday Girl

Hi everyone! Happy Thursday!

Guess who’s birthday it is?!

I’ll give you a hint:

Yasha is 7 years old today! My little girl is growing up!! I can’t believe I’ve had her for so long! I kept calling her “birthday girl” today, and she looked at me like, “Who are you talking to??” Ha ha. Guess I’m the crazy dog lady!

What did we do to celebrate? Well, first of all, she got lots of baby carrots. Her favorite snack! I pretty much bribed her so I could get her on our counter for a haircut:

She HATES being on the counter! (she wasn’t thrilled about me taking her picture, either!) She’s terrified of the buzzer, and she knows it’s coming when she’s on that counter! However, it still beats being dropped off at the groomer– which she hated more! And once we moved to Los Angeles, professional grooming was no longer in the budget!

But before long, she was a buzzed beauty:

See how happy she is that it’s OVER?! I love that little face.

She got lots more carrots for being such a good girl! She loves her raw veggies!

It’s been a high-raw day for me, too. I had a beet-filled juice this morning for breakfast:

Romaine, red kale, 1 stalk celery, 1 large beet, 1/2 apple, and a small lemon. Despite it’s deep, dark color, this juice was delicious!! I felt so good after drinking it, too! Ahhhh….

When lunch time rolled around, I was craving a similar salad to the one I had yesterday:

This was a monster! I eat out of big mixing bowls, because they’re the only bowls that will hold all the veggies I want to stuff in there! Today it was an entire bag of mixed greens, crunchy red bell pepper, roasted beets, and an ounce of shredded raw goat cheddar. All topped off with my new favorite dressing. I can’t get enough of this salad! Roasted beets + Goat cheese = pure heaven.

After work, I met my friend Heidi at the gym for a strength workout. We decided to try the Fitnessista’s Winter Shape Up Workout! It was a nice change of pace– we usually use Jillian Michaels’s Hot Bod in a Box workout cards, so changing up our routine got our muscles guessing again! I can already feel my arms and abs getting sore! YESSSSSS! Thanks, Gina!

We worked up quite an appetite, so I snacked on some un-pictured baby carrots while preparing my dinner. (Yasha wasn’t thrilled about sharing, though!)

I started with a small salad:

Then I got out of my “food rut” with some vegan nachos:

Blue corn chips, vegetarian refried beans, fresh chopped red pepper, and jalapeno peppers. Served with plenty of fresh guacamole! I pretty much eat nachos as a vehicle for guacamole.

To be honest, I wasn’t very happy with this dinner. I have really grown to love eating sweet potatoes and winter squash lately! Here I was, trying to change things up, and I just missed my “usual” dinner! I find that I get really attached to the same foods for a while, then I finally get sick of them and move onto the next food obsession. That ever happen to anyone else?

I’m really trying hard to stay awake, but I don’t know if I’m going to make it for Project Runway tonight… I really hate how it doesn’t start until 10pm out here! If TV-scheduling were up to me, everyone would be on “central time.” I miss all my prime-time shows starting at 7pm! I hate waiting until 8:00! I’m such a grandma.

Alright, this old lady needs some sleep– see you all tomorrow!

Reader Feedback: Do you ever get into a food rut? What foods are you loving lately? (Obviously, I need some new ideas!!)