what's that sound?

Silence. Complete, absolute silence.

This might be the best birthday present ever - the kiddos (my niece and nephew if you're new around here) are off at the neighbor's playing, and I get to relax. Absolutely perfect.

This post is going to be short and quick, because I am going to take advantage of this afternoon and get some things done.

I had a date this morning with Kelsey - we were both supposed to make brownie batter pancakes. Mine, however, did not work out so well. They just would not set! Thanks for the birthday shot out girl!

i know, this looks gross. i may or may not have eaten half the batter before throwing it out :)

When in doubt, I go to oats! Whipped oats a la Kath to be exact. I didn't have any more almond milk, so I just used all water for the liquid. Definitely not as creamy, but delicious nonetheless.

topped with coconut, blueberries, cinnamon, flax, and pb

After this bowl, I didn't even mind that my brownie batter pancakes went bad (okay, I still did, but not as much) - you can never steer wrong with oatmeal!

My mom gave me my birthday presents this morning at, oh... 5:45 am. I cannot sleep lately. I think I'm getting super anxious about the week ahead (yay wedding!). Mom got me a few new reads:

I am so excited to read these two books. I'm going to try to save them for laying on the beach in Mexico on my honeymoon! Mommasita is also buying me my first stash of food for the house as a birthday present. What can I say? I love food - does anyone agree? Question: Do you find it odd I requested groceries for my birthday? :)

As I was cleaning today, I found this in my purse....

Yes, a zucchini.. things just keep getting weirder! Actually my FMIL gave me this yesterday and I forgot to take it out of the purse - haha!

For lunch, I whipped up some quick asparagus with olive oil and pepper:

And a huuuge salad that I really only ate about 1/3 of:

romaine, mushrooms, tomatoes, onion, chickpeas, 1/2 avocado, salsa, mustard

For some reason, I really wasn't feeling the salsa/mustard combo today. I'm not sure why, but I kind of ate the "goods" out of there: the chickpeas/avocado!

To finish up lunch, I ate some more healthy fats and protein!

date shmeared with sunbutter - yum!

raisins and cashews

Tonight for dinner we are going to Cooper's Hawk. They have an excellent gluten free menu - the funny thing is whenever I go somewhere that has a gluten free sandwich, I will totally get it even if it's a super fancy shmancy place. Portabello mushroom sandwich anyone? That is what I'm getting! Do you figure out what you are getting before you go out to eat?

After dinner, we are all heading to our new house for some cake! I probably won't do a follow up post until tomorrow. Have a great day!

nice to beet you!

There's a secret I've been meaning to share with you all for some time now. For the past 8 months, I have been dreading and also counting down the days until I could check out the 10 day forecast for the day of my wedding. The verdict is in:

84 degrees, sunny, 0% chance of precipitation, 61% humidity

I must tell you right now, I am not ashamed of the happy dance I did this morning!!!!! Now, I know this is subject to change over the course of the next ten days. Everyone start praying it doesn't change! I AM SO HAPPY!!!!

I ended last night by reading a little bit of this...

I got this book from the library on Monday, and I will finish it tonight. It is so good. I'm not sure what drew me into it, and what is keeping me entertained, but it is so well written. It is a story about 2 awkward teenagers that don't fit in and the in's and out's of their friendship/relationship. The main character (Alice) has anorexia and that is the cause of much turmoil in her life.

I told you this morning I would eat something different for breakfast. Blueberry Oatmeal Flax Pancakes, anyone?

The last time I ate these, I was sad to inform you they defeated me - meaning, I couldn't eat them all.

Today however, the hunger beast kicked in and I was able to finish these babies off.

you are so beautiful.

After I piddled around for a while (aka: danced like a crazy fool when I found out the weather and called everyone and anyone who would actually care about it) I decided to go out for my 35 minute tempo run. This "tempo run" turned into a "run until your lungs can't make it anymore then walk until you can breathe" kind of a run. Whatever, all in all, it was ridiculously hot outside, and I just can't take this humidity!!

When I got home, I ate another one of these.

individually wrapped and ready for snackage!

i see you specks of zucchini - you can't hide behind the chocolate. i know you're there!

For lunch, I stumbled upon some beets which needed to be used ASAP! I really like pickled beets, so why wouldn't I enjoy the fresh ones? I had these atop a ginormous salad.

no seriously - it's huge... romaine, tomato, cucumber, onion, chickpeas, avocado, beets

Conversation with my niece about my salad...

Me: Look, isn't my salad beautiful?

Niece: It is beautiful Auntie Chelsey! You should take a picture of it!

Me: Oh, don't you worry... I already did.

Niece: You're not weird, you're just... different.

Thi was followed up by an unpictured amount of cashews, almonds, and a fig (I originally was going to use the picture from yesterday, but then got lazy and forgot).

We had some fun in the sun today (which is probably why my eyes keep trying to close) - including sprinkler time and some play time over at the neighbor's inflatable water slide.

I had to dash to my house today to meet the Comcast Cable guy (who was an hour early - when has the cable guy EVER been early?), and was frustrated immediately upon arrival because our paint was not touched up yet. Now, I understand it will not be the end of the world if my house is not finished by the time the wedding arrives. It's liveable, and that's fine. However, I REEEEAAALLLLY just want to come home from our honeymoon to an unpacked, clean, stress free zone. Come on, just tell me it will happen - humor me, will you?

On the way over, I ate an apple - and forgot to take a picture until I was done eating.

it was a gala - and yes, that cup has been in my car for a few days. don't judge me.

When it's all said and done, at least I have cable and internet. I also got a beautiful present from my nephew - BIL and kids came over to see the current progress.

a rose, pour moi? merci monsieur!

Yes, the rose is set upon my new kitchen table - which is AWESOME and you will not see for a couple of days :)

I wanted a FEAST when I got home, so I called in the sweet potato and tofu troops. It was more than delicious - it was DEEELLLIIIICCCIOOOUUUSSS!! The cauliflower was also amazing. Mad props to mommasita for chopping it up for me! :)

Sometimes I wish my house wasn't already 90 degrees so I could withstand the heat of the oven every night.

i know you feel nice in my belly.

Emily sure knows how to make a mean slab of tofu

i'm sorry you couldn't be the star of the show today, cauliflower. there's always next time...

I'm off to go do some wedding escort cards, eat a snack (btw, i only have one blueberry muffin left!!! ::gasp:: what's a girl to do when they're gone?) , read and rest my eyes. I'm mucho sleepy today.

Question: How do you handle stress? Do you tend to freak out, stay cool, or melt under pressure? For me, I think I handle it well until I cry at the drop of a hat about silly things...