Bites of My Life

Goodbye holidays hello long haul until our next break... The week between Christmas and New Years is a little draggy and sluggish. It's an awkward in between stage where you aren't quite ready to jump back in to reality and also an excuse not to. The past week I went to see La La Land (obsessed), cooked dinner for my parents, freshened up my house, hosted a New Years Eve party and bid farewell to 2016. 

Now with a new year and a new week it's time to shift gears back into productivity and accomplishing. I've written out my new year goals, made plans to keep the winter months exciting, and organized my calendar, closet, house and bathroom. I'm giddy for 2017 and feeling energized with the arrival of a new year! I'm kicking off the week with the start of #januarywhole30, crossing my fingers for an OU win in the Sugar Bowl tonight and flipping back and forth between it and The Bachelor. Cheers to 2k17.

-Little make up applied and a leggings only wardrobe last week. Jazzed about my new Outdoor Voices leggings. You need some in your life if you don't have any. 
-I'm typically make a smoothie or some kind of fruit with AB during the week, but I have been all about the eggs recently. I'm priding myself on mastering the best fluffy scrambled eggs and I just can't quit it!
-First whack at my spiralizer! Zoodles with mom's meat sauce and crispy brussels! Get ready for spiralized recipes to come!
-Thanks santa (mom) for hooking up this matcha loving girl!
-A bowl of cereal and a glass (plus some) of wine followed by more junk food to really end the year with a bang. I love being an adult and making my own choices. 
-Some balloon bubbly for a festive new years eve. 
-Coming for you January Whole 30.
-I love food traditions, including my mom's Hoppin' John she makes every year on New Years Day.
-Whole 30 day 1 involved all kinds of meal prepping. My favorite butternut squash soup is going to be lunch for the week. Crispy prosciutto instead of granola made it whole 30 compliant.

Annie

February Failure

I always thought I was against the odds when it came to things. For example, I'm usually pretty good at sticking to goals I have, i.e. New Years Resolutions. Jokes on me. I was committed to my resolutions in January, but shoved them all to the bottom of my priority list during February. 

Today I'm doing a little check up on myself. It's now March, spring is upon us, and it's time I reevaluated what I said I would resolve back in January. I'm hoping by saying my failures out loud it will help me to acknowledge that I need to fix them. I'm not getting down on myself, I'm just realizing there is still time to change. It's only the third month of the year by golly!

Now let's take a look at what I said I would do in 2015:

1. Cooking more from my cookbooks. I said I would cook at least two recipes a month from one of my cookbooks. January was a success, this soup was a winner! The main idea behind this was to take more pauses during the day. Take time to stop, prepare, and cook a meal instead of shoving a bowl full of whatever I could throw together from the fridge. I stole a few cookbooks from mom this weekend to hopefully help me achieve my goal!

2. Texting and driving. This has been my biggest failure and I'm embarrassed to admit it. I have to crack this horrible habit. 

3. Eating more whole foods. I've done pretty well with this one. I eat mainly whole foods anyway but there is the occasional tortilla chip binge that really isn't necessary. I think I'll counteract my chip binge with this Whole-Food Protein Berry smoothie.

4. Revisiting calligraphy. Yup this hasn't happened at all. I paid good money to learn the basics of the skill and I have just been letting it sit on the shelf ever since. I'm about to go pull out all my gear the second I finish this post. 

5. Reading a book. This is a new goal I'm adding with the influence from a friend. It's sad to say but I don't read at all. I've never been a reader. I recently purchased this book per Molly's review and I'm so excited about it. I thought this could be the book to get me reading again. It came in the mail and I've only read five pages. I know what I'll be doing before bed tonight. 

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Okay I've said it out loud now, just keeping things real here on Take a Bite. February was a bit of a failure in the resolution category, but I have high hopes that March will get me back on track. How have your resolutions been going? Anyone else fall off the bandwagon a bit? Let's jump back on in March!

Annie

Resolutions

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New Year's resolutions may be a little cliche, but they have purpose. I was never much of a "resolver" growing up, but I kind of like the idea of having a few set goals to work on all year long. 

I had a list of about 3 or 4 New Year's resolutions written in a note on my phone, but they somehow got erased and now I can't remember them. Maybe one of my New Year's resolutions should be to work on my memory... 

Anyway, there are two resolutions that stuck in my mind I am going to work on resolving. 

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1. Don't text and drive. This seems simple, but I am terribly guilty of it and have to stop. I'm not the best driver to begin with and when the phone is in my hand it gets worse. We all hear horror stories of texting and driving accidents that do not end well. 2014 I'm pledging to not text and drive. 

2. Carpe diem. Life's short and I want to fill it with more happiness and joy. Anytime I feel myself getting upset or in a bad mood, I'm going to stop whatever is causing it and either listen to a feel-good song, eat a yummy treat or watch a favorite movie. Just simply do or think of something that turns my mood around. I don't want to spend my time in a bad mood missing out on time when I could be in a good mood!

I'm keeping it simple this year with only a couple resolutions. I'm going to focus on just these two so I can really put in effort to make them happen. 

Here's to a 2014 filled with no texting and driving and seizing the day!

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Annie