Well, I have been slammed the past few days and still am. Tomorrow evening I will be done for the semester, but until then I have to stay focused on these last two finals.  I had a busy/fun weekend and I will try to quickly fill you guys in on that.

After my last post, we headed to Adam’s sister’s house  for a Holiday Party for the kids (nieces and nephews).  We ordered Chinese food, of course I brought my own brown rice to have a healthier option.

I had a little taste of everything that looked good. I only ate about 3/4 of the plate though. My eyes are always bigger than my tummy.

Dessert was a cupcake and a hoddsie, just like the kids!

The whole idea behind the party was for the kids to do some Holiday-ish activities and to give each other their Secret Santa gifts.

There they are waiting patiently for their gifts! Oscar was in the Secret Santa Grab of course, what?! He is my child!

Here is is opening up his toy from our nephew Ben!

He loved it! It was a duck that squeaked. If it is fluffy and squeaks, Oscar is a fan! Oscar had Ben in the grab and Ben really liked the Star Wars toys Oscar bough him.

Oscar also made an ornament for Auntie Cole, she loved it!! What a good pup

Adam wanted to show you guys the ginger bread man he made with his nieces and nephews.  Good Job, Adam!

After we left Linda’s he had plans to go to a few other parties, but it was 11pm and we were exhausted. So , instead we just came home and crashed out.

Saturday morning we got up and had a nice breakfast while watching a little TV.

Whole wheat bagel with a lite laughing cow and tomato.

with some coffee! Since we slept in a little and I knew dinner was going to be big, I just had a snack in the afternoon. I had a low fat string cheese.

and two small glasses of organic tomato juice.

At about 7pm, mom, dad, Adam and myself all headed out to dinner at Maggiano’s to celebrate my mom’s birthday!

Maggiano’s is hands down my favorite restaurant! We always do the family style dinner there which includes:

• 2 appetizers
• 2 salads
• 2 pastsa
• 2 entrees
• 2 desserts
• and we got two bottles of wine, one red and one white!

I choose red, obvi!

You will notice the lighting is not too great, so the pictures are a little iffy, sorry.

For my appetizer, I had two stuffed mushrooms and a little bit of chop salad that I picked the bacon out of.

I also had a small bite of the fried mozzarella, DIVINE!!!

For dinner, I had a small piece of chicken and spinach mannicotti

followed by a little spaghetti and chicken parm.

Dessert was a chocolate martini for mom and I:

and a few bites of creme brulee!

After dinner, we stopped at a local bar and I had another glass of wine before calling it a night.

Sunday I got up at 9am, and guzzled down a mixture of 1/2 coconut water and half regular water while snacking on a banana.

I got suited up and headed out to pick up my number for the Jingle Bell 5k run. This race was super fun!!! Most people (not including me…party pooper) were dressed up for the race. Most people wore red and green, but some were dressed up as snowmen, elves, presents and there was even all of the reindeer tied up together with Santa behind them. I am assuming it is difficult to run like that. It was a super fun race, everyone wore jingle bells on their shoes so you could hear us coming for sure!I ended up finishing in 27:31, I am pleased with that time. I took into consideration that it was freezing and I had a few drinks the night before, that is an excellent time for me Over 5,000 people ran the race, so the first mile was a little tight. I had a hard time going around people that I needed to pass, but once we hit the 1 mile mark, it was a little easier to maneuver.

Splits:

Mile 1: 9:01

Mile 2: 8:45

Mile 3: 8:43

last .1 miles: 0:57

Don’t you love that the race numbers are green and red?!

After the race, Adam, myself and a family friend Nicole headed to Johnny D’s for some brunch! I ordered the Today’s Benedict.

Of course I opted for the oatmeal (and organic coffee)  as my side and it was AWESOME!!!

I cleaned my plate…yum yum! Adam wanted me to take a picture of his breakfast too.

Yup that’s a Guinness in the background!

After the race I headed home showered, took a glorious hour nap and spent the rest of the day/night studying! I had a little snack in the afternoon since “breakfast” was eaten at noon.

String cheese, organic tomato juice, two clementines.

Around 6pm, I broke for dinner. I decided to make a dish that was inspired by Anne’s Veggie and Kidney Bean Quinoa.  I basically followed the directions, but instead of using veggie broth and tomato sauce I used diced tomatoes.

For my veggies I used baby carrots, red pepper (sliced) and some dried mushrooms I has in out pantry.

I topped it with a little bit if vegan “parm cheese” and enjoyed!!!

It was super easy and so delicious!!!!!!! Thanks Anne!!!

For dessert I had a mini slow churned chocolate ice cream. I love these little single servings!

After dinner it was back to studying until 9:30, then bed. A good nights sleep is very important when taking a test!!!

This morning I got up feeling rested! Breakfast was vanilla chobani, kashi golean crunch and some blueberries! Yummy and filling mix.

With coffee:

Today’s outfit:

Black pumps (Marshall’s), Black pants (Express), White top (H&M), Leopard Cardigan (H&M).

Well, I am off to meet with my classmate for a few study groups! I have a final in about 2 hours and another tomorrow! I am super stressed about both. I really hope I do well, but am very nervous for some reason and feel a little under-prepared.  Please send good thought my way!!!

See you guys a little later! Thanks for baring with me. Trust me once these finals are over, my blogging schedule will be back to normal and I will make it all up to you