“I’ll have the Chocolate Cocoa Smoothie please…”

Today’s Lunch: Peanut Butter Banana-Strawberry Sandwich…

Check out the Greek Orthodox Icon on my nightstand above haha

 

Banana and Strawberry Sandwich (ezekiel bread) and Peanut Butter on top!

Lunch from the weekend:

Garbage Salad, Spinach, Peppers, Black Beans, Grains, Shredded Zucchini, Pinto Beans

More meals from the weekend:

Tuna Sandwich with Munster Cheese and Onions on Multigrain Bread:

The best orzo ever is in that little bowl back there! Whole foods rocks!

Breakfast this morning was amazing!!

Cocoa Chocolate Monster:

• One Container of Fage Yogurt (0%) (90 cals)
• 1/2 a banana (50 cals)
• 1 tablespoon Cocoa Powder (unsweetened) (10 Cals)
• 1/2 teaspoon of Xanthum Gum- Thickener for smoothies (15 cals)
• lots of ICE
• 1/2 cup water

Toppings:

1. Cacao Nibs on top
2. mix in your favorite cereal, I love this cereal:

I used the chocolate filled squares not the french toast squares but I'm sure the French toast squares are great too!

This is truly a delicious smoothie can’t wait to make this Cocoa Chocolate Smoothie again!

I threw together a couple more of my favorite Pizzas this weekend as well:

Kinda looks like a mess but tasted AWESOME!

Thursday I headed out to dinner with a couple of girlfriends. We ended up heading over to a Thai restaurant for our female bonding. I ordered the…

Shrimp and avocado Sushi!

Today I decided to make another one of Ashley’s awesome recipes:

Cocoa Crunch Crackers  AKA Cocoa Cereal!

 

The Bachelor is on tonight! Who do you want to be booted off?? I’ll be running my 7 miles tonight during the show

Hope your Monday is going well!

Blogs you Should Visit and The Ahepa Marrow Social Event!

Since I’ve been reading about this Blog Contest

I wanted to let you know of several sites I believe truly deserve this honor:

SOPHIA

Katy

Rach

Kristina

Laury

Ashley

Maryann

Kate

Naomi

Carrie

Jennifer

Bess

Erika

Lauren

Alyssa

Now on to some good eats:

I ran my 6.25 of the 7 miles I had planned Friday! 6.25 in 61 minutes flat! This is a PERSONAL BEST time for me (since I’ve never ran than long in my life )

Breakfast on Friday before my run was a Pink Monster

Greek yogurt,Blueberry,Cranberry, Xanthan Gum water and Ice... I'm in love with Xanthan Gum it's a great thickener!

Post workout snack:

I chopped up the fruit twist mixed it around in the yogurt and added...

Pom seeds

I had another snack this afternoon after my run (runners just gotta eat all day long, which is why I love running haha)

and another…

<3 this Pizza recipe, so easy and the crust is awesome!

I ended up walking four miles yesterday at a leisurely pace since my legs were tired from the 7 miles on Friday. Today I did a crazy/awesome interval workout that got me 3 miles done in 26:30!

Time	MPH	Incline
1-2	6	1
2-3	6.2	1
3-4	6.4	1
4-5	6.6	1
5-6	6.8	1
6-7	7.2	1
7-8	7.4	1
8-9	7.6	1
9-10	8.0	1

After running 1 mile at a hard pace, I held a plank in between each .25 mile for 1 minute and 30 seconds then hopped back on the treadmill for another .25 mile (repeated from mile 1-3)

Plank Held (Minutes/seconds)	MPH	Mile	INCLINE
	7.0	1.00-1.25	1
Held 1:30
	7.5	1.25-1.50	1
Held 1:30
	7.5	1.50-.1.75	1
Held 1:45
	7.8	1.75-2.00	1

What is your favorite interval workout? Any ones you want to share with me?! I’d love to check them out!

Pete and I headed over to the Ahepa Marrow Social Event at Kanela Restaurant ( New organic/natural restaurant in Chicago) My dad runs a tournament every March to raise awarness for cancer sick patients and find matches for cancer sick patients.

About our Tournament:

The mission of the Ahepa Marrow Donor Registry is to add persons of Mediterranean descent into our database of prospective donors. The best chance for a leukemia patient is from a family member. Secondly, from relatives, and then from their ethnic group.

The chances of finding an unrelated (allogeneic) match are 20,000 to 1. We must add to our database so that any Greek patient has a realistic chance of finding a match.

Since April 2006, we’ve added 3,000 donors to the Registry. And we’re already doing good things. More than 4000 patients around the world have searched our database since then, and three of our donors have been asked to “be at the ready” for a donation (cancer patients have to be “healthy” enough to receive the transplant).

But we still have significant challenges before us. The truth is that we are at a very critical point for the Registry. Awareness is building, but some members of our Greek American community are hesitant to get tested. They don’t know that tremendous strides have been made in marrow transplants and that, today, it is much easier to be a donor. You don’t necessarily have to go under anesthesia and have marrow extracted from your hip; now, blood stem cells can easily be removed from your blood with minimal risk. It’s an outpatient procedure, most often. Mothers-to-be can also choose to donate the umbilical cord blood that is otherwise discarded as medical waste when their babies are born.

So how can you, our AHEPA family, help? There are a number of things you can do:

Educate others. Understand the need that exists to enhance the number of prospective marrow donors of Greek descent. Make it a mission to build awareness among your contacts and to recruit people to come out and get tested during the ongoing blood-testing drives we host for patients around the country.

Get tested. It’s not enough to spread the word. We also must test ourselves as potential marrow donors. Any one of us might hold the cure for cancer—not in the form of a vaccine or pill, but in the blood-forming cells inside our bodies. A simple mouth swab is all it takes to find out. Each person is tested at a cost of $50 to the AHEPA Marrow Donor Registry. Last summer, we incurred more than $180,000 in expenses to test prospective marrow donors during drives for Steve Pappas and other patients around the country. That’s why we host a competitive Canister Drive among the various AHEPA chapters and districts. We ask that you distribute our canisters to retail channels and restaurants in your hometown to help raise funds – a few coins at a time!

Greeks, particularly of the Diaspora, have a tremendous legacy of philanthropy. The good works of AHEPA are outstanding examples of that. So we’re just asking that you make us a more significant part of your already-noble mission. Help us help Greek patients with terminal cancers, blood disorders and auto-immune conditions during what is the most difficult part of their personal journeys. At the Registry, we look at our mission of philanthropy as a very individual thing: if we each give of ourselves—and that means getting tested as a potential marrow donor—we can offer someone the most charitable of all donations: a second chance at life.

(Before the event) lookin pretty professional

Are you a part of an organization you’re proud of?

Are you interested in seeing if you could be a match? contact me by posting below your e-mail address if you want additional information about this!

Greek Yogurt Chocolate Monster

Breakfast: I made myself a new kind of Monster today:

• 1 Container Greek yogurt
• 1 TBSP Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 Tablespoon Xanthan Gum
• 1/4 cup water,
• 4 ice cubes
• 1/2 TBSP Cacao Powder

Add ins: Cacao Nibs and 1 TBSP Honey!

So choclatey and delicious!

I also went bathing suit shopping yesterday with my mom since my morning meeting was cancelled

bathing Suits for Arizona: 2 options… Which do you like better?

Close up of the top

or….

Time for class, running a 7 miler today! Wish me luck

Which Bathing suit do you think I should keep? Which should I return?

Any new smoothie recipes you would like to share?

Greasy food and Greece-y Pics

Calamari oh so greasy and delicious!

Salmon glazed in sweet sauce

Cocnut Crusted Tilapia

Spinach Salad

Middle Eastern Pita with Veggies

Cranberry smoothie

Falafel Plate

Sweet and spicy Bean dip

Spinach, corn/red pepper salsa and sauteed spinach

Lunch: Ezekiel bread, sauteed spinach, blackbeans, hummus, veggies and falafel!

These were a few of the meals I’ve been eating in the last two or three days and they’ve been fueling my up for my runs! I beat my BEST 6 mile time yesterday! I ran 6 miles in 58 mins which doesn’t seem to great but for me, having a mile under 10 mins for 6 long miles is a HUGE accomplishment! Can’t wait for my next long run on Friday

• Mile 1.0-3.0: 6.0 MPH
• Mile 3.0-3.5: 6.1 MPH
• Mile 3.5-4.0: 6.3MPH
• Mile 4.0-5.0: 6.7
• Miles 5.0-6.0: I Alternated between 6-7 throughout this last mile trying to push myself to the limit!

I also did a Jillian Michaels DVD on Sunday which was a great workout. She seriously rocks and I recommend her DVDs to everyone.

Here are some answers to a couple more QUESTIONS that you all asked me! love hearing these I’ll be answer more tomorrow!

How do your parents feel about you dating somone 7 years older than you?

Well, my parents have never been strict about dating. I’ve been allowed to date ever since I had an interest to do so and they never thought age was a huge deal as long as the guy is treating me right. I dated a man who was 33 when I was 19… Yea, I’m sure it sounds strange to most to you but we did connect someone despite the age difference. That relationship worked for a while until I realized how age DOES NOT equal maturity. It was a good lesson learned.

What is your perfect date?

Honestly, I don’t think that I have a clear image of what my perfect date would be. I’ve tried to plan fun dates for Pete and I like going to nice dinners but I feel like the most fun I have is when I’m watching Pete play ball and then hang out with him after. I’m not sure if he notices but he always seems a lot happier after he finishes games (probably all those endorphins.) We usually good around the gym for a bit after his park district games near my house which I always find to be fun. That old fashion flirting doesn’t really get old. Plus, I’m used to being in gyms, I grew up with basketball in my life CONSTANTLY and I’m really comfortable in that atmosphere. (I’m next to my dad below)

I’ve Been hit!

Here are the rules for this award:

• Write a post like this: Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to their blog
• Tell your readers seven facts about you
• Award recently discovered bloggers with the prize.
• Contact the winners.

My Seven Facts:

• I got to Greece every summer and own a condo there:

I was a little heavier here.... but blogging has helped me drop 15 lbs since this past summer (when this photo was taken!)

 

 

• I LOVE Chicago Sports teams:

• I’m obsessed with dressing up and wearing OBNOXIOUS colors

• I’m newly 21 years old:

 

Me on my 21st!

Sophia and I rented a Party bus for our 21st and 22nd birthdays

I think that’s enough about me for now even though I didn’t list 7.

What’s your favorite place to vacation? I just found out I’m going to be heading over to Arizona in April for 4 days with my mom sisters and aunts! So excited for this! Time for bathing suit shopping!

 

I was recently asked by a blogger this question, “What relationship drama have you and Pete had to deal with? if any?”  I’ve debating on doing a personal post about some of the relationship downfalls I’ve had to go through lately. Let me know if you all are interested in hearing about it! Or would you rather see more food porn? HAHA

 

now off to the gym!

 

Let’s talk Cereal…

It’s time to answer some of the questions I was asked by all of you fabulous ladies the other day:

1. How often do Pete and I call/ text each other?

Pete and I text pretty often. It’s hard because he lives in Indiana and I like to keep in touch with him while I’m in class or taking transportation to and from school. Pete prefers talking on the phone rather than texting me and he says the reasons I like to text are:

1. Because I like to drag out a 5 minute conversation into a 1 hour conversation
2. Because I’m a lot younger than him so texting was popular for me during my teenage years.

Pete’s 27 years old and I’m 21, texting didn’t even exist when he was in high school! LOL…

How long have you been a Christian?

Ever Since I was born I was raised  a Greek Orthodox Christian! Pete is also Greek Orthodox. His baptismal name is Panagioti and mine is Aggeliki, I think those two names are going to look pretty sexy in cursive  on our wedding invitations

What profession are you going into?

I am an elementary education major at Loyola University and loving every second of it! I will be finishing  with student teaching in the fall of 2012 and can’t wait to get out into the real world and begin teaching 4th or 5th grade! I love kiddies!

What made you start a blog?

Sophia from Raven Waves influenced me to start my blog and I’m so happy she did because I would have never gotten into as good of shape as I’m in without this blog. Blogging led me to a true lifestyle change and I’m so happy with it!

Any dream wedding thoughts? The ideal dress? Venue you’ve always wanted to be married at? The cake you want? Anything?

Honestly,  I haven’t thought about my wedding in detail at all. Sure I’ve browsed the pretty dresses and rings online with some of my girlfriends but never took an in depth look at anything. Since I’m Greek two things are certain:

1. My husband will have to convert to Greek Orthodox if he wishes to marry me (Pete’s already Greek Orthodox CHECK!)
2. We will have to get married in the Greek Orthodox Church I grew up in. The Greek Orthodox church I attend has been a huge part of my life ever since I can remember so I’d like to get married there. Plus, the isle is super super long and what bride doesn’t want a long isle to walk down with a gorgeous dress on?!

When did Pete tell you he loves you?

The first time Pete told me he loved me he didn’t really know what or how to say it. We had been dating for only about a month or so before he said it. He basically said something like, “What if I told you I felt stronger about you then just enjoying your company?” I kind of understood what he meant by that but played along anyway, “What do you mean?” I asked. He continued,”well I mean I think I love you” and I said, “Wow I can’t believe you said that it all came so quick haha.” He proceeded to explain to me that I don’t have to tell him that I love him back and he wanted me to wait until I was ready to do that when I truly felt that way. I already knew I loved him and told him that right then and there but he refused to believe me and said the only reason I said it back was because he said it first. Totally untrue, sorry Pete.

Have you ever kissed in the rain?

Oh man oh man, this one is a GREAT/PAINFUL (physically painful) memory… Pete and I were on our first date in March of 2010 and it was pouring rain outside we ended up mingling at the bar for quite sometime and then walked back to our car that was parked SUPER far from the bar. Neither one of us could remember the street that we parked on so were basically wandering lost in the rain. I was complaining the entire time (what else is new) and was so sick of getting wet that I started frantically running and looking for the car. I slid face first and skinned my knees and palms on the freezing concrete. Pete saw me fall-I was mortified (my first date was ruined – or so I thought)… He helped me up and said something about how I looked really beautiful with my hair up like that…. Then he kissed me.

I really appreciated these questions from you guys! Keep them coming because I love reminiscing about the past!

Breakfast yesterday really helped fueled me up for my Jillian Michaels Shred workout with Sophia!

Panda Puff Cereal With Siggi's Probiotic Yogurt (cream) and splash of milk

I recommend buying these! Only 45 calories and so delicious with cereal I used about a half a cup milk and one of these small containers for my cereal above.

My late night snack yesterday consisted of more of my favorite new cereal:

Strawberry Banana Smoothie with my new favorite cereal....

Peanut Butter Panda Puffs!

I also tossed a few of these into the smoothie mix:

I actually bought the chocolate filled squares not the french toast ones. I wasn't too impressed with this cereal and enjoyed the Panda Puffs much more.

I also snacked on some of my favorite granola for lunch today after my 5 mile run… I’m on a total cereal kick… HELP

YOU ALL MUST TRY THIS!

I made myself a nice portion of “cereal trailmix” for lunch using….

Custom made Cereal just for this Fitness Apple!

and an assortment of the others I mentioned above.

So now the QUESTIONS:

What’s your favorite cereal? Do you make your own granola cereal?

I’ve noticed everyones a huge fan of making unique oatmeals but have any of you tried to make your own cereal combo?

Do you mix cereals together like me?

Do you eat your cereal in something other than milk? Orange juice (I knew someone who did this!)

Any more questions you have for me about my relationship with Pete or anything else? I really loved hearing these!!!

Time for the Bachelor!

<3 Angie

What’s your Mantra?

The real key for constructing a good Mantra for yourself is to think, “Ok, what’s my purpose?”

• Are you trying to get in shape?
• Stay focused at work?

It’s good for the phrase to be RESULTS ORIENTED but not too myopic either.

The best Mantras address LONG TERM GOALS:

Studys have shown that by repeating a positive phrase over and over again it becomes your REALITY. I totally believe that we can trick ourselves into believing anything if we repeatedly repeat positive phrases. To be honest, Pete tells me this all the time: “Perception is reality” and each and every day I agree with this phrase more.

A few Rules When creating your Mantra:

• Avoid the use of the word “Not” You don’t want to use langauge that can be interpreted subconsciously in a negative fashion. (rather than repeating “I am not weak” rephrase your mantra to “I am Strong.”
• Secondly, assume the BEST of yourself. Instead of “I will try to eat healthy” rephrase the mantra to “I will be a healthy eater” (once again tricking yourself into believing that you are currently the way you want to be helps maintain positive outcomes)
• Finally, pick a phrase that has a nice rhythm to it. Something that can create a, “hypnotic drumbeat” if you will lol.

I believe that at this point in my life there are 4 areas where mantras are necessary:

1. Interpersonal Relationships
2. Working Out
3. Anxiety and stress
4. Not being good enough

The  Mantras I’ve decided to start using are:

“Kindness is the Key to happiness” - I made this one for myself simply because I forget how beneficial acting sweet to your family and friends can be. It’s so easy to reap positive benefits from simply being kind to the world around you and it’s something I OFTEN forget. (This is my interpersonal relationship mantra)

” Big picture, big picture.:
Stop sweating the small stuff and go back to sleep… This mantra is one that I use when I’m feeling some anxiety in life. I’m sure you all can relate.  If something goes wrong I need to take a step back and think of the big picture and how something so minuscule (anxiety/stress Mantra)

“I am strong”- I know that the only way to believe this mantra is by maintaining my working-out lifestyle, which I have come to love. I believe I am strong from working out and I love repeating this daily! (working out mantra)

“I am already a success”- This mantra is the MOST important one to me. Sure everyone feels insecure at times but for me insecurity is not my biggest battle. Instead, the battle I’m faced with is having a sense of not being good enough for those around me. I look around me at this point in my life realizing somethings I have accomplished: A 3.8 college GPA, a basketball competitor, true running athlete, a good daughter, a caring sister and a giving partner. I am successful in exactly what I want to be successful in at this point in my life so this feeling of not being good enough is an image I’ve created for myself that just isn’t true because I’m “already a success.”

Jesus taught us to love God, and love others as yourself. But we often forget about the part as yourself. Some think this has something to do with selfishness. This is a huge misunderstanding. Going out, trying to help others to cure your feelings of unworthiness is not a healthy path because it itself is based in selfishness, trying to only help others with hopes that it will somehow get rid of that terrible feeling. It also doesn’t work.

Through changing your false beliefs of yourself not being good enough, you begin to not care about others being not good enough either. You accept them just the way they are and experience a lot less drama in your relationships because you are no longer dependent on them, no longer trying to control them, and no longer needing them to be anything else than just what they are.

No matter how bad life gets, you will always experience contentment if you just accept it just the way it is. Because just the way it is, is actually very beautiful. It is your judgment that takes away that beauty, takes away your beauty. If you learn to accept yourself and your life just the way it is you’ve dissolved the feeling of not being good enough.  You will regain the energy and power to make changes in your life not because you think you need to, but because you want to, because now your actions are based out of your love for yourself, not obligation or fear of not being good enough.

What’s your Mantra? Share below!

<3 Angie Hope your Sunday is relaxing!

The BEST Homemade Pizza and a Thank You

I finally decided to make the pizza that I’ve been eyeing since Ashley posted it about it on her blog. I changed the recipe up a bit but I give full credit to Ashley for this amazing pizza recipe!

Millet Buckwheat Pizza Crust

• 1/2c raw buckwheat flour [ground from raw buckwheat groats)
• 3/4c millet flour ( I couldn't find Millet flour so I ground up 3/4 cup Hulled millet, I recommend grinding up 1 full cup of Hulled millet instead of 3/4 cups)
• 1c water
• 1T olive oil
• 1T unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2t garlic powder
• 2t oregano
• 1t rosemary (omitted)
• 1.5t basil
• 1t thyme
• 1/4t sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375*
2. Whisk all ingredients together until well combined.
3. Grease an 8-9” round pan.
4. Pour batter into pan.
5. Bake on middle rack for  40 minutes.  Edges should be slightly brown and pulled away from the pan.  The top will be cracked.
6. Take out of oven and slide a knife around the edge of the pan.
7. Put a large plate upside down over top of the pan.  Hold the pan and plate together + flip, so the crust falls to the pan.  Flip over with your hands so the top of the crust is now facing up.
8. Top with toppings + bake on your oven rack/baking sheet/etc until ingredients are heated through.

 

Buckwheat Oat Groats and Hulled Millet

pre-baking

 

I love how easily this pizza cut into fourths! No breakage!

Overall, this is one of the best homemade pizzas I have made from scratch. I should have cooked it a little bit longer to make it a little more crunchy but it was really good all the flavors from the spices combined perfectly! I only have a slice left and I made this last night. I had some for lunch before my 5.7 mile run in 60 minutes! Can you believe it? I finally did it! One hour without stopping!

After my run I was pretty exhausted but I cooled down with a slow 1 mile walk. Total miles today 7 big ones!

Post workout Smoothie

• 1/5 silken tofu
• 1 Container of Chobani yogurt –(I just got my Chobani yogurt in the mail today. I can’t wait to try all the flavors they sent me! So far I’ve tried two of them. I had the blueberry flavor yesterday, which I’ve had before, It was very good but I did enjoy the flavor I used today better. Today, I used the Vanilla flavor Chobani yogurt for this smoothie)
• lots of blueberries and blackberries 2 large handfuls
• 7 Ice cubes
• 1 tablespoon Vega Shake-n-go Vanilla protein powder

My smoothie was once again too big for a cup….

The silken tofu  helped make my smoothie less watery. I had never tried this before but now I will for sure be using this in my morning monsters.

Last night, after making my homemade pizza, I headed out to celebrate my friend’s 21st birthday!

Tonight Pete’s coming by after his practice and we may head out to continue celebrating my friend’s 21st. I’m thinking about whipping up another one of those pizzas before leaving so I’ll talk to you all later….

What is one question you want to ask me about my personal life? I’d really love to hear your questions! I love to reflect on things I can improve on in my own life and I believe answering your questions would be a great way for me to start. I want you all to know I really really really appreciate and thank you for how often you guys visit my blog! It’s truly inspired me to do things I never thought possible, like running for 60 minutes straight without stopping (5.7 miles!! ) I’m starting to have some visitors that come by my blog and leave comments on a regular basis which makes me smile from ear to ear. I really hope that I can some how enrich your lives in some small way. Whether it be to motivate you to eat healthier or to workout on a regular basis I hope you gain a positive experience from reading The Fitness Apple!

<3 Angie

Communication, the Building Block of True Happiness

First of all, I really appreciate all the wonderful comments on the last couple posts that I wrote. You guys are all such wonderful ladies and I really enjoy reading each and every one of your blogs to get to know all of you better!

Anyways, the time has come…  The winner of my Trail Mix/Larabar /Nut Butter giveaway is….

KATE

From What Kate is Cooking

I used the random number generator for this giveaway no favoritism here! I hope you enjoy the goodies, please contact me with your address asap!

I enjoyed a couple of pretty delicious snacks after school: Apples covered in Cinnamon and Coconut covered Dates

Greek Yogurt, Pumpkin and Goji and Me cereal, a splash of vanilla and lots of cinnamon

Last night Pete came over after my 3.5 mile run… I ran 2 miles in 17:30 which, for me, isn’t a great time considering my best personal time is 16:40 for two miles. Oh well, I was expecting to go a little bit slower for two reasons:

1. I haven’t given my legs much of a rest since Saturday
2. The the deep dish stuffed shrimp and garlic pizza I had for lunch from Calo Ristorante was weighing me down LOL

I love pizza from restaurants but they always overdo the cheese.  I’d much rather make my own:

What’s your favorite homemade pizza dough recipe? I’m kind of loving this one I found from Ashley.

I also came across a post by Kate today that has an amazing Sun Warrior Smoothie recipe that I’d really like to try! Kate also has some amazing Nourish Bars that she is making that I can’t wait to get my hands on! Carrie from Moves N’ Munchies is going to be sending me some UK healthy goodies  I can’t wait to try those either! Also Chobani informed me that they will be delivery me some of their products to review in the near future! Cannot wait for that!

Overall, my run yesterday did go well, my legs weren’t as achy as usual so I was really happy about that. I managed to walk at 4.2 mph pace for 20 mins before classes started yesterday which really helped to wake me up before class (I even broke a tiny sweat). Afterward, Pete came by because he had a game near my local fitness center.

Pete and I relaxed for about an hour before we headed over to his championship game. My dad coaches Pete and Sophia’s (From Raven Waves) boyfriend, Paul in this league. The league isn’t the most competitive one out there but Pete loves to play so he pretty much joins any league he can get his hands on. Both Peter and Sophia‘s man, Paul played really well and pretty much controlled the tempo of the game the entire time. Their team played better than I had seen them play all year. It was nice to see them work together and win as a team.

Before Pete and I left for his game we had the left over Falafel and Hummus from Tuesday which was so delicious but nothing beats Hot and fresh Falafel, Naan and Hummus.

Pete and I after the Championship win:

Pete won’t shave the beard he’s  been growing out, it’s his new “look”. I told him yesterday that he’s really starting to look like a hobo:

Do you agree? haha

My vote is to get that fresh, clean-shaven, look back:

Do you like the scruffy look on guys? George Clooney always has a sexy scruffy look going on.

How did you grow, improve, and expand yourself this week?? I feel like we all should  try to recognize the ways in which we’re improving. For me personally, I decided to bring up a small issue with Pete that bothering me earlier during the evening on Tuesday instead of letting it boil in my blood until later in the evening like I usually do. This is a huge step for me! By bringing up an issue that was bothering me right from the get-go  we were able to resolve the issue immediately (and it saved us from ending the night on a bad note).  Also bringing the issue up from the get-go helped us to avoid  arguing  pretty much at all (phewww). I’m very glad I decided to take some of my own advice on how to conduct myself with Pete. I’m finally starting to see that communication between couples truly is key (which Pete has preached to me since day one of our relationship). Now I believe that if something is truly bothering you the best time to bring it up to your significant other is ASAP in order to avoid unnecessary arguments, it really works.

Pete’s taught me to always come to him with any issue I may be having  and he’s really good about accommodating to meet my needs in our relationship. We often find ways to make sure we are both happy with the outcome of the compromise we decide to make. Compromise to us isn’t giving up our ways of life. Instead, it’s about recognizing that our ways of life are not always going to mesh wonderfully, which is perfectly ok as long as we make sure we both feel like our needs are being met.

We are still a pretty fresh couple (dating about 1 year) so there are still a lot that needs to be learned on both of our parts regarding the differences in the ways we choose to live our daily lives. I often feel like Pete finds a way to make sure that my needs are being met and I’m not being slighted in any way. I think he revels in the fact that he can accommodate my needs; It makes him feel like he’s doing his job as my partner.

It makes me smile to think about how important it his to him that he makes me happy in all capacities. It’s as if he is thrilled knowing he can make me smile.Pete’s taught me to live for the here and now and that simply enjoying your day-to-day life is the real definition of success.

“If you are not happy here and now, you never will be.”  ~Taisen Deshimaru

God Bless! <3 Angie

Calo Ristorante

Pete and I decided to head into the city for some Italiano for our Valentine’s day dinner. You can’t go wrong with Italian right?

 

Heres a look at one of the awesome gifts I got for Valentine's day! I love the color!

 

My dad also bought me these:

 

 

Gotta love Fanny May!

I decided to wear one of my favorite shirts out to dinner tonight…

• Shirt: Express
• Leggings: Bebe
• Earrings: Bebe

 

I'm not to good at these mirror shots LOL

 

I had my dad snap a few photos of Pete and I before dinner:

Then we were off to…

This place was brand new to the both of us. We were lucky that we found a restaurant that closes at 12:30 at night for dinner because we headed out around 10:00 P.M.

I think we found one of our newest favorite late night spots in chicago! The food was very, very tasty! and the service was great. Our waitress was really sweet and told us exactly what she recommended we should get .

She recommended the largest appetizer on the menu, the Frutti Di Mare Alla Griglia… which serves 4 to 6 people! Needless to say we have plenty of left overs for tonight (we’re having a movie night tonight). We split this appetizer and had our Stuffed Garlic and Shrimp Pizza boxed to go.. We both  had no room left in our belly’s after the monstrous seafood plate came to our table!

The Frutti Di Mare Alla Griglia included Grilled shrimp, scallops, octopus and calamari served over sautéed spinach!

CHECK THIS THING OUT:

Now if you’re a seafood lover your mouth is probably watering! Pete LOVED this! He really liked the scallops a lot I’m more of a shrimp and calamari type of girl… I didn’t touch the octopus and had a bite of a scallop for the first time. The texture of the scallop was pretty much what I expected it to be…It kind of reminded me of calamari only not as chewy as calamari is sometimes served.

My overall rating of this place was 4.5/5 … But we did only order two things (this ENORMOUS appetizer and a stuffed pizza) so I’m not sure how other options on the menu taste. I had a piece of the stuffed pizza for lunch today and it was REALLY good too. I think I enjoy eating pizza the day after its cooked because the cheese isn’t all gooey and gross. I hate when pizza cheese is super stringy!

Are you a fan of eating pizza cold? Do you enjoy eating foods that are normally served hot cold? I Love cold pizza and cold potatoes au gratin (strange I know)

 

Tonight I’ll be heading over to Petes basketball game than probably catching a movie with him after or renting a red box…

Pete’s Professional League for The Gary Splash will be starting up during the spring time. I can’t wait to go watch more of his games! One of the main things that I love about Pete is that he is really passionate about continuing to do what he loves, play basketball. I know that it takes up a lot of his time but I also know that he does have a future in basketball overseas. I hope, for his sake, that the opportunity presents itself. Pete’s an amazing athlete, he was an All American Athlete while in college for basketball and we met through basketball as well. I love going to see his games because it reminds me of the first time we met (especially at this Wednesday night league because this was the league where things between us started December of 2009).

What is one thing that you are passionate about that you continue to do everyday? Its always nice to take a look at what our passions are! My passion is working out and running I can’t get enough of that euphoric feeling!

What’s your take on Scallops? yay or nay?

What’s your favorite Italian Appetizer? I love Bruchetta!

Poppin’ Bottles Tonight and Giveaway Details

I kind of LOVE Falafel

Hummus is another one of my favorite Middle Eastern foods! (authentic middle eastern hummus!)

My plate for lunch

Yes I really love that mickey fork!

Today’s workout was pretty tough considering I was sore as heck from the Jillian Michaels Shred DVD (level 2 guys)! I guess that means I’m not doing Shred as often as I need to be…So, tomorrow will be a Jillian Day for sure. Have you tried Jillian Michaels 30 day “Shred” Dvd? What do you think of it?

Workout Number 1 for today: 2 miles in 17 mins flat

0-1	6	1
1-2	6.5	1
2-3	7.0	1
3-4	7.5	1
4-5	8.0	1
5-6	8.5	1
6-7	3.5	1
7-8	6.5	1
8-9	7.0	1
9-10	7.5	1
10-11	8.0	1
11-12	8.5	1
12-13	4	1
13-14	6.7	1
14-15	7.0	1
15-16	7.5	1
16-16:30	8.0	1
16:30-17	7	1
17-20	3.0	1

Loved this one

Afterward, I finished up my Forty Five Fitness February goal with 25 minutes on the treadmill that looked like this:

20-25	6.0	1
25-30	7.0	1
30-32	3.5	1
32-40	6.0	1
40-45	3.0	7

Tonight, I’ll be heading out to the city with Pete for our Valentine‘s day Dinner! Last night Pete had some work he had to do and I didn’t wanna make him come super late all the way from Indiana so we’re just going to make up for it DOUBLE tonight

I’m not exactly sure where I’m feeling like going for dinner yet, Pete and I always decide where to eat last minute. I don’t really see the point in making a reservation for a restaurant a day in advance if you don’t know if your going to be cravin’ or “feelin” that type of food for the night. So tonight were just gonna wing it like we usually do. I bought Pete and I a bottle of

Korbel Chardonnay… Poppin Bottles!

Questions:

Any questions for me or for Pete? I’d love to see what you guys want to ask us!

What’s your favorite chain restaurant? Any healthy restaurant you know of that is a chain? I absolutely LOVE Uncommon Ground, it’s a healthy chain we have here in Chicago but I’m not sure if they have it anywhere else.

What’s your favorite motivational quote? This is one of mine:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore,
is not an act but a habit.“
Aristotle

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

So, I’ve postponed the giveaway announcement until Friday because I want to upload a couple of pictures of all the amazing goodies I have for you guys tomorrow afternoon! Hope that’s alright with everyone!

<3 Angie