Nothing New

I don't really have anything uber important to say, so this post will just be a bunch of random crap. Sound good?  OK.

I rented another Jillian Michael's video from Netflix.  I ordered this one as I thought it would be a great arm workout instead of cardio like the one I posted about in my last post.  This one is called Shred It with Weights.  This video consists of two segments, one is considered level one and one is level two.  I did level one once with Kurt.  The next night, I did level two.  Oh this video is used with a kettle bell (or handweight if you dont have a kettle bell). I bought a Kettle Bell recently, so I used that and kurt used a weight.  Anyway, weirdly, this video really killed my legs, mostly my quads.  Which was perplexing as while doing the workout, my arms hurt.  It also worked abs really well.  Overall, I really like the video.  Not as much as the first one I posted about, but it is def a great workout.

So, the weather here has been so freaking cold.  It really seems like the coldest winter we have had in many years.  Not fun.  to prove how cold it has been, I did not wear a skirt or dress all last week and only wore pants suits, which is insanity for me!  That is how cold it was, I needed all the extra heat I could get.

I recently got a $20 gift card from Opentable, and we decided to use it this weekend.  Last night, we went to Real Seafood Company in Toledo, and then headed to the new casino in Toledo, Hollywood Casino, to check it out.  Dinner was awesome, service was perfect.  I had clam chowder as an app, and crab cakes with rice as my meal.  Kurt had clam chowder, then a salmon ceasar salad.  The casino was OK.  It was very nice, and it was fun to walk around, but the table games had really high minimum bets, which made me not want to play.  I think the lowest we saw on Blackjack was $20 per hand, which is insane.  We can play in Vegas for like $3.  We did play some slots and checked the whole place out.

I had two Groupons for a new Better Health that opened in Southgate, so I made Kurt go with me to use them this weekend.  There used to be one in Taylor that closed and this new one is WAY better!  They have an entire grocery store, as well as the nutritional supplement section.  Kurt got some protein shots, and I got some salmon burgers and an energy drink.

I ordered two new bathing suits on ASOS (a new site I have been using that has great discount prices), and love them both, which is crazy since I am so picky about bathing suits.  Here are the two I got:

I went to Kohl's a last weekend and got some amazing deals.  I only spent $12 after coupons, etc., and got a ton of stuff for that!  I got this shirt, which is so super cute for under suits:

 As well as this necklace, which I have already worn twice

and this ring, which matches everything!

have not worn these shoes yet, but found them on a clearance rack and love them, so different!

 and I got these off the clearance shelf too, except mine are red.

Oh, how I love the clearance racks and coupons at Kohl's!  I also had some cash on gift cards from some gifts I had returned, and some gift cards from points I turned in with one of my credit cards.  Yay for deals.

Kurt has been wearing glasses all weekend (me too) in prep for an eye doctor appointment we have on Monday.  We are both hoping to get LASIK on our eyes, and in order to do the appointment, you have to not wear your contacts for a few days.  Fingers crossed we both qualify.  I wish insurance covered stuff like this.

I have been researching some trip possibilities for this year.  Pros and cons to everything.  I was looking at Alaskan cruises.  We both hate the cruise thing, but for certain trips, it is the way to see everything (like our Galapagos trip).  I am also looking at more African safaris.  Who knows what we will actually end up doing, probably something entirely different, LOL.

Anyway, that's about all that's new and exciting.  Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

New Workout

I work out almost every day.  I decided about a week ago to order a video from Netflix to try and put some spin on my workouts.  After doing the workout below, I am def going to start ordering more videos.  Using them insures I push myself and don't half ass my workouts.  I can actually from the short time doing this feel improvements to my abs, legs and arms.  What's great about the ab stuff is that you don't do ANY crunches.

I ordered Jillian Michael's Banish Fat Boost Metabolism.  Anyway, I first tried to do this on Saturday, when I was sick.  Could only do about half before I had to stop as I could not breathe and kept coughing.  Felt better on Sunday and have done it every day Sunday-Thursday.  AWESOME workout.  Kurt tried to do it with me on Monday and had to stop half way through because he was exhausted!  It was funny because he was SURE it would be insanely easy for him. It's a totally different workout then running and biking and other cardio I do.  The entire video is circuit training, and non-stop.  Click here for an online review of the video and what is on it.  Basically, I really like Jillan's style and attitude, and the fact that the video is not all girly and dance-like.  Great workout, but def not for beginners.  The whole video with warmup and stretch at the end is 50 minutes, so I usually do something else afterwards as a cooldown, like biking and watching Veronica Mars.  :).

Monday downtown was reallllllly annoying.  The auto show is going on, which it has the past 7 years I have been working downtown.  However, this time, my parking lot was closed (I park about 2 blocks from the court).  Ford Media has bought it for two days, and the general public could not park there.  I ended up having to park about 0.7 miles away from the court, which does not sound bad, but it is when you have almost no change for the meter, are wearing 4 inch heels and it's 28 degrees outside.  Trying to be positive, I was happy to get 1.4 miles of cardio done for the day!  Heh!  Court went really well, and I got to meet one of the new Judges, so the morning was not a total loss.  I was so thrilled to see my parking lot open again on Wednesday, let me tell you.  I actually have started carrying flats though, because of this incident, and now wear them to walk from my car to the court and then switch to heels when I get there.  My flats easily slide into my briefcase.

Nothing else major going on this week.  Hope everyone is staying warm!  I know I will be happy to be in warm weather again.

Fun With Food--BBQ "Chicken" Salad

I made an amazing lunch today! Here is what i used, nothing fancy, but it was super yum and only like 165 calories. weirdly filling for being so low cal too.

Trader Joe's Butter Lettuce 67 Grams (basically, iceberg lettuce, you could sub any kind of lettuce here)
Kroger's Baby Carrots cut up 18 grams (again any carrots will work)
Wishbone low fat Italian dressing 1 serving (2 TBSP) (any dressing will work, but this is one of a few we keep at home because of the low fat content)
Trader Joe's Chicken-Less Pulled chicken in BBQ sauce 1 serving (bought in the refrigerated section of TJs)
***obvi, you could add any other veggies, etc. to this recipe, I was just starving and did not feel like cutting anything else up.

I had never tried the last item until today and I just aimlessly bought it at TJ's. Anyway, incredible! This low cal salad packed 17 grams of protein and only 4 grams of fat. Whoot.

So, super easy take on a chicken salad, for those of you who do not eat meat, or who like to have days with no meat consumption.  :).  I will be making this again soon.  Maybe tonight for dinner.  :).

Sick and 2012 Netflix Review

Just as I was saying I almost never get sick, yep, I get sick.  I even knocked on wood, but it did not help, boo.  Bad sinus infection.  Everyone at the office has been sick on and off so it as bound to happen.  I was sick Thursday, almost had no voice.  Friday, i woke up and said to Kurt, "I think I am going to stay in bed and come into work later."  I woke up at 2:00 p.m. and could have slept more.  Got up, checked my voice mail, called the office to answer some questions, and laid back down on the couch for the rest of the day.  Luckily, I felt a ton better when I got up today.  Hopefully, the excessive amount of Airborne I took will help me kick it.

So, I usually post this each year, what I watched on Netflix the previous year, so here ya go!  Such educational stuff I watch while working out, let me tell ya.  Really, this is the only time I have complete control over a TV, as I almost never watch TV unless I am working out and let Kurt watch whatever he wants.  I could not even start to tell you what is good on normal TV as much of the stuff I watch is from years past........I am currently watching Veronica Mars, which I love.  Prob my fav movie of the year I watched was The Help (loved the book as well) and my fav TV show of the year was prob Veronica Mars, although I am not yet done with the Series.  

Veronica Mars: Season 2: Disc 1 Veronica Mars: Season 1: Disc 1-6

The Campaign

Down to the Bone

Gigolos: Season 1

What Not to Wear: Mom Makeovers: Disc 1-2

Glee: The Concert

Gossip Girl: Season 5: Disc 1-5

90210: Season 4: Disc 1-6

Valley Girl

Moneyball

SherryBaby

Less Than Zero

Chimpanzee

What to Expect When You're Expecting

Slums of Beverly Hills

Take the Lead

Failure to Launch

Dog Whisperer: Season 1: Disc 1

Most Intense Investigations: Disc 1-2

Fired Up!

American Reunion

Night Court: Season 3: Disc 1-3

The Secret Life of...: Vol. 6: Disc 1-3

Sleeper Cell: Season 1: Disc 1

Pretty Little Liars: Season 2: Disc 1-5

Drop Dead Diva: Season 3: Disc 1-3

The '70s

Pretty Little Liars: Season 1: Disc 1-2

Six Feet Under: Season 1: Disc 1

Requiem for a Dream

Newlyweds: The Final Season: Disc 1-2

Night Court: Season 2: Disc 1-3

For Keeps

The Help

Newlyweds: Seasons 2 & 3: Disc 1

30 Days: Season 1: Disc 1-2

Newlyweds: Season 1: Disc 1-2

Taxicab Confessions: New York, New York

Footloose

Keeping Up with the Kardashians: Ssn 3...

Keeping Up with the Kardashians: Season 2

Africa: The Serengeti: IMAX

Freaks & Geeks: Disc 1

Keeping Up with the Kardashians: Season 1

Jersey Shore: Season 4: Disc 1-4

Sex Drive

Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous

Bad Teacher

Bridget's Sexiest Beaches: Disc 1

Horrible Bosses

Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2

Kendra: Season 1: Disc 1-2

Big Love: Season 5: Disc 1-4

The Girls Next Door: Season 6: Disc 1-2

Underwear Bomber Video

Anyone who has not seen stuff on the past on our experience with Flight 253, this is a great video that really goes over everything that happened.

Holiday Dinner

Had a really nice time tonight at the Haskell Law Firm holiday dinner.  We celebrated late since Kurt and I were out of town for the actual holiday.  We went to Benihana's in Dearborn and had a great time, with awesome good.

Funny happening of the day...I was filing some stuff at the clerk's office, and one of the clerk's said "Lori, I almost did not recognize you, you look so short!"  I wore flats today, one of the first time's ever to court.  Apparently, being 5'9 is short.  LOL.

Cold

It has been so freaking cold here.  It almost makes you not want to do anything that requires leaving the house.  Ugh.  I asked Kurt if he was working out with me tonight (which requires walking to the basement of our house) and he said "no, I am too cold to change".  And  our house is not even cold, LOL.

Had a nice weekend of NOT working.  We ran some errands on Saturday (had to pick up a package from FedEx, stopped at the office to pick up my phone charger & sunglasses I forgot and get the weekend deposit, picked up my car from the shop), and then I went on to finish family holiday shopping.  While shopping, I found the perfect pearl ring on clearance that I had to buy.  I have been looking for a pearl ring forEVER and any ring I find I like is way high priced, until this weekend!  Here is what I got:

Also, while at the office, I found my new point and shoot had arrived.  So, I got that out tonight and started programming it and figuring it out.  it seems really nice.  I got it on eBay in a package that came with memory, a case, and a cleaning kit.  Really good deal.  Glad to have one again.  I don't like carting my DSLR around everywhere.

That night, we headed to my aunt Karen's for a late holiday party with my Dad's side of the family.  It was nice to see everyone.

Today, I had lunch with my friend, Mel, and then stopped at Target, Kohl's to return a couple items, and Kroger for grocery shopping.

I made an awesome recipe tonight from zucchini.

Click here to see the recipe.  I used 1/2 cup too much zucchini (read the recipe wrong) but it still came out awesome.  Also, I deleted the nuts as I did not have anything but pine nuts on hand.

Anyway, hope everyone else had a nice weekend too!  :)

Happy New Year!!!!!

Happy New Year, friends!  :).

I had an absolutely fabulous New Year's Eve.  We were supposed to go to a friends' house for drinks and hanging out, but her daughter got the flu and they did not want to infect everyone, so they cancelled and we decided to stay in, which is our fav thing to do on NYE anyway.  Our night consisted of a competitive game of Sequence, a bottle of champagne I bought for the night from Whole Foods, and some mixed drinks, as well as football bowl games.  It was awesome, and we were in bed by 1201 AM.  Loved every second.  Also, the champagne we had was really good.  It was on sale at Whole Foods.  Anyone have any suggestions on champagnes they really like?  We rarely drink, but like champagne to celebrate once in a while.

Decided to go shopping today, as Dillard's has their one day sale of the year on New Year's Day.  Boy, that place was crazy.  And had some amazing deals.  I don't really need anything, so I was just going to wander.  I was kinda on a mission to find some new shirts for work to wear under suit coats (i.e. tanks).  I ended up finding some awesome deals.  I found my Dad two pairs of jeans for Christmas (which is on his list), and got two shirts (one Calvin Klein, one Kensie) for work, and another Ralph Lauren blue long sleeve shirt for casual.  I also really scored in lingerie, where I got really pricey bars for $5-7 each.  I then walked around the mall, and ended up buying a tank on clearance at Banana Republic, three tanks at NY and Co on clearance, and a pair of earrings on clearance at The Limited.  I bought two new suit coats by CABI in a trunk sale over the holidays, and am looking forward to wearing those this week to work with the new tanks.

Here is the stuff I got, some links online and some pics I took cuz I could not find links:

CABI stuff.  This stuff is never marked down, and since it is the end of the CABI season, I got it for half off, whoot.  The lady who sells it to me delivered it to the office on Monday.

Stuff from today

First shirt, Calvin Klein.  I loved the little gold bar across the front.

Black tank from NY and Co.

Kensie, black tank, I loved the lace at the bottom.

nonwork shirt.  Super comfy.  mostly I liked the color.  :).

Banana Republic Clearance.  Find of the day, only $6.

Also, got the following, click links.

The Limited Earrings: http://www.thelimited.com/Bezel-Set-Stud-Earrings/1532614,default,pd.html

tank in black: http://www.nyandcompany.com/nyco/prod/Sale/Sale-Tanks-Tees-Tops/Ribbon-Jewel-BodyShaper-Tank

tank in purple: http://www.nyandcompany.com/nyco/prod/Sale/Sale-Tanks-Tees-Tops/Square-Bead-Trimmed-BodyShaper-Tank

The really kewl part of today was I spent $0!  I got a gift card from one of my credit cards for turning in points, and I still have $$ left on the card.  Whoot.  I love NOT spending $$ and getting things.

I booked our Costa Rica flights for Kurt's bday this weekend as well.  We are going for a week in February.  We will be looking at some houses, as well as really looking at the area, i.e. grocery stores, fish markets, where to buy a car, where you bank, etc.  Really talking to people about the complexity of getting things set up for a move there.  We are going to stay at least two nights in Jaco, and then play the rest by ear.  Can't wait.  I booked our rental SUV, and our first night at the airport since we fly in really late, and our two nights in Jaco.  The rest is up in the air at this point, but we will figure it out.  Stuff never really sells out totally in Costa Rica.

Hope everyone had an awesome holiday, welcome to 2013!  :)