Morning! WOW! Can you believe it is Friday? I cannot, this feels like the fastest week ever! Well, last night my besties May and Colin came over with their roommate Gabe to watch the Jersey Shore finale and reunion. FYI- Adam is such a closet Jersey Shore fan. He totally makes fun of me for watching it when we are in public, but when he is home and it is on he watches it! He watched the finale and reunion with us too!  Do you know any closet Jersey Shore fans? Are you one? Or do you, like me, admit it openly?

Last night I got a special treat. Colin and Gabe made their first batch of cookies ever! They were awesome!!!! Great job, boys! They made oatmeal chocolate chip, I had 1 and a half.

This morning I woke up with cookies on the brain! I decided since it is cookie Friday, I would try Tina’s 3-minute cookie for breakfast. I subbed the raisins for dark chocolate chips since that was what I had and subbed the flour for chocolate protein powder. It came out perfect!

I topped the cookie with Crunchy Barney Butter (!!!). On the side I had a clementine and some coffee with half and half and stevia.

I loved this breakfast, although, I am feeling a little bit hungry now , so I think it was not calorie dense enough for me. Maybe next time I can enjoy it with some scrambled egg whites? It is the perfect snack. If you have not tried this 3-minute cookie yet…I recommend it!

Today’s outfit:

Jeans (Express), Black Tooled Danskos, Black T (H&M) Printed Cardigan (Gift from mom and dad for Christmas).

I love the print on this cardigan, it is so different!

In Other News:

1. The knee is feeling 100% today and I am ITCHING for a HARD workout! So stayed tuned for my after work sweat session!!!  It should be a goody. I got a comment from a reader yesterday that I thought I would share. A lot of you had responded to my knee pain issue on the blog and through e-mail and Rebecca wrote something that I thought was helpful and may help you guys out too (yay for insightful readers!) Fun Fact: Rebecca actually taught at my high school while I was there. I never actually had her as a teacher, but my high school was TINY so we knew each other.

Rebecca wrote:

So I have a really similar knee issue and it is technically runner’s knee (though it doesn’t always hurt when running). The number one way I get it to stop hurting is to wear “smart shoes” for a day or two. I know, I know, I LOVE fancy shoes too, but flats without support, heels and shoes with little to no back cause your knee to shift ever so slightly. Combined with running, it can equal a sore knee. I would never give up my shoes for good, but when my knee hurts I wear Dansko clogs or my favorite pink and purple Pumas for a day or two to give it a rest. Just a thought! Sometimes I wear the “smart shoes” if I know I will be doing body pump or bosu where there will be a lot of squats and lunges. Hope this helps!

So, you will notice today I am wearing the trusty Danskos, I am going to try to wear shoes with support in them for a few days and see how that works out. I will let you know.

2. Self Love Tip of The Day: Get a good night’s sleep: I know, I know, so I am not great about this (I only got about 6 hours last night). But, I am actively working on it! So maybe your very busy like me and your schedule doesn’t allow for 8 hours a night. But when you can, take a mice hot shower, drink a little chamomile tea and get into bed early. Going to bed early is a better option for me because sleeping late makes me feel like I am wasting the day! Whatever works for you, try to get a good solid night’s sleep once a week.

3. This week’s blogger interview is with Jaime from Embracing Balance .

Blogging Related Questions:

1. Why did you start your blog?  I was part of the Weight Watchers online community and all the cool kids were doing it. 
2. What is your favorite blog?  oh my!  I have so many and feel like I should plug all of my buddies…but right now the one I look for first thing every day is Peas and Thank You because Mama Pea cracks me up.

3. How do you keep readers interested in your blog? Especially if your blog is new?  I like to keep things fun and light, and take real pride in my food photos.  Once I added daily photos, my blog became much more popular.  I have a fairly large group of followers that stop by to drool on a daily basis.  Also, get involved!  Talk to other bloggers, leave comments, get active on Twitter.  It really is all about social networking!
4. Have you found blogging difficult to keep up with?  No, but I’m lucky to work at home.
5. Has anything happened that was unexpected or shocked you as a result of having a blog? For example, negative feedbacks, new found blogger friends that live next door? really anything that didn’t expect?  I’ve only had a few negative comments (knock wood) and those are to be expected with life on the internet.  Shocking, unexpected AWESOME thing is that I have made some incredible, supportive lifelong friends.

6. Do you have support of your family?  You bet, my Mom reads every day. 

7. how long have you been blogging?  Four years!!
8. how has your blog changed over the years?  It started just as Weight Watchers points counting, then progressed to whining about being a Navy girlfriend, then eventually I split the healthy living related content out onto it’s own blog…which finally became Embracing Balance earlier this year.
9.What new directions do you see taking it in?  Finally finding my mantra of Embracing Balance really helped give me direction.  I want to continue learning and sharing ideas for how to live a healthy lifestyle without having to give up treats and fun.  People think that healthy and fun can’t coexist and that’s so not true!
10. What is your favorite ‘freebie’ that you’ve ever received?  Eight Weeks of free Booty Camp Fitness

You and Your Healthy Lifestyle:

11. What is your favorite workout?  You know, warm/hot yoga is actually my favorite but I never make time for it!

12. How often do you workout?  4-5 days per week

13. Have you always lived a healthy lifestyle? If not, What made you change you lifestyle?  No.  I’m a typical story.  Got a desk job and after a few years started losing definition and gaining weight.  Sitting at a desk eating fast food 5 days a week can really take it’s toll.  A friend got me to join a rowing team and the fact that I couldn’t breathe after 5 minutes of rowing told me to get myself on a healthier regime!

14. What is you favorite healthy snack?  Red grapes.

15. What is your all time favorite food?  Bacon & tomato sandwich on doughy white bread. Nom!!
16: What is your least favorite food?  green peppers.  Ewwww.

17. What is one kitchen appliance you can’t live without, besides your fridge?  The kickass Kitchen Aid blender I got for Christmas!

18. What is your favorite thing to try? New workouts, new restaurants, bars, beer/wine.  New recipes.  My fiance never knows what to expect because it’s rare I make the same thing twice!

Getting to Know you:
19. What are you wearing today? (Please Provide a Picture)  Girl, you are lucky I’m not sending in a pic of myself in pj’s!  I work at home and generally switch from sleeping pj’s to working pj’s or yoga pants (I could seriously be a walking advertisement for Lululemon…it’s ridiculous).  LOL.  But for this you get me in actual “people can see me” clothes…OK, this is from Christmas, but I am wearing this same outfit to dinner tonight.

Purple short sleeve turtleneck sweater – American Eagle

Dark grey long sleeve tee – American Eagle

Guess Jeans – Winners  (Canada’s answer to TJ Maxx)

Belt – Ricki’s

20. What do you do for a living?  Virtual Office Manager for an online legal news source.

21. What is your favorite movie?  The Princess Bride

22. What are your hobbies?  baking, watching movies, reading, blogging (& reading blogs) and recently I got a DSLR so I’m just starting to learn about photography (yay!)

23. What trends are your fashion favorite this season?  I don’t know if it’s a current trend but mini skirts and tights.

24. what are your plans for 2010?  It’s going to be an odd year.  My fiance is going away for six months so I’m on my own.  I plan to travel to visit family & friends (with a trip to Montreal in there I hope!!), do lots of outdoor activities this Summer, and just keep working on being a fitter, healthier, happier me!!

Well, I have got to run, I have to help out with a class today!!Professot Ali? HAHA not really!

Tags: Almond Butter, Coffee, Cookies