I'm So Excited...

Saved by the Bell was my fave growing up. My Saturday morning just wasn't complete without a little Zach Morris. And truth be told, I still get a happy feeling when I catch an old episode on daytime TV. Mr. R was also a fan growing up. And for this reason Bayside High enters our conversation at least once a week.

As in... Did you see that guy's dinosaur phone? It makes Zach Morris' look small!
Or... Did you hear that kid's voice change? It was worse than Screech.
Or my all time favorite... "I'm so excited... I'm so excited... I'm just so scared..."

The last one comes from the episode where Jessie Spano took caffeine pills and acted like she was on heroine. Whenever I have a public speaking engagement, (which in truth scares the mess out of me), I run around the house saying that quote... it will eventually make me and Mr. R laugh hysterically and then my nerves settle and I am ready to face the world.

The point of this post is found below.Nathaniel James actually made a time chart of my favorite Jessie Spano freakout episode.
I spotted this in you are my fave.

An honesty post for Danielle

Today at work I was standing pretty high on my soapbox.
Why? Because I have worked out consecutively for 21 days. Today would have been day 22.

Once the kids had gone, I was chatting in Danielle's room about life (the usual) when she complemented me on my new found desire to exercise daily. I left her room at 3:30 with plans to go the gym for a spin class and some ab work. (I want to be able to do planks like That Pink Girl).

I called Mr. R on my way home and he too was excited for the gym, that is until I offered Door #2. See door #2 is always a pretty awesome door. It's always a surprise and it is always way better than the gym.

Tonight's door #2 consisted of a movie & the best dinner in the whole wide world. (an impromptu date night of sorts). We left the house @ 5:00 bought our movie tickets for When in Rome. (cute, but you could wait for the DVD) and then feasted on movie popcorn and diet coke. (a five star dinner if you ask me).
And the best part, we were the only people in the theatre. We could heckle the previews, talk during the boring parts, laugh really really loud, and even make out...(sorry if that was an over share).

On the way home Mr. R asked to stop @ Papa's for a gyro. And really, who can say no to Papa's.
I managed to make room in the old estómago for the whole thing. (It's never as good the next day).
And so Danielle, I did not make it to the gym. I am back to day 1 in my day 21 plan. But I think it was worth it. Actually I know it was.

Yum! Glorious Yum!

I love carbs.

I love cake.

I love breakfast.

AND I pink puffy heart LOVE Pioneer Woman.

Yesterday she made pancakes, but not just any pancakes.

These lovelies are titled cinnamon bun pancakes and they are topped with maple syrup icing.

*Photo courtesy of the tasty kitchen blog. (This is where P-Dub debuts her new recipes)*

And they are super easy to make. And I may or may not have eaten 4 of them with a side of bacon. (Two slices to be exact).

So glad I went to the gym today.

The recipe can be found here.

What do Republicans eat for dinner?

Well, in casa de Republican we are cooking up some jalapeno corn pudding in the crock. This recipe comes from the lovely Stephanie O'Dea. We have made this before to go with BBQ, but I was hoping it would pair with a simple green salad for our lunches this week. The recipe can be found here. (I know it doesn't look so hot in the crock, but trust me its GOOD!)

photo: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

For dinner tonight I am on my own. Mr. R is attending a fund raising dinner and I opted out. In truth when it comes to How I Met Your Mother & Big Bang Theory vs. Republican chit-chat, the TV always wins.

I have been craving quiche for a few weeks now, but its not a fave for Mr. R. I would like to say that Costco inspired this quiche. I went on Saturday to do our bimonthly shop and walked away with giant asparagus (see picture below), Roma tomatoes, Gruyere cheese, and enough eggs for an army (the smallest package contains 36).

We didn't have any pie crust so I figured I would do a cross between a fritatta and a quiche.

To begin I roasted asparagus with the usual suspects. (olive oil, salt, and pepper), for 15 mins @ 450 degrees.

Then I whipped 5 eggs and added that to 2.5 cups of cheese and a small sauteed red onion.

I poured that into a pie plate, added the asparagus, and finally slice up some Roma tomatoes for the topping.

Bake @ 350 for 30 minutes until it looks like this.

Tonight I am eating this with a romaine salad with strawberries.

Day off!

I am usually queen of lists, productivity and schedules.
But Mr. R feels we are over scheduled and has asked me to give the lists a break and just go with the flow. (I will admit to being over scheduled, but I am highly type A and to be honest, letting go of the lists just might kills me.) But, I'm trying.

So today:
I slept in.
Went to zumba class.
Made lunch.
Read magazines on my porch in the sunshine.
Took the pups on a long walk by the lake.
Shopped.
Ordered new stencils for the media room.
Did tae-bo.
Drank Coke. (Oh, how I have missed you!)
Napped
Watched TV (Real Housewives of NJ is a train wreck I can't stop watching!)
And did laundry.

Happy President's Day! Hope yours was relaxing too :)

Old Navy is stealing my money.

So I have a bit of a love hate relationship with Old Navy. Seasons will go by when I cannot find a single thing in the store I would wear and then summer/spring rolls around and I fall back in love the cheap wardrobe staples they offer. I don't know about your t-shirts but mine seem to fall apart in the 9 months between summers. And of course who doesn't love camis with ruffles and cute tanks with ruffle sleeves. (I think J.Crew made something similar last season).

And look at the salior pants. I have a thing for sailor pants, it's something about all those buttons... Anyway I think I need both colors in my closet. And look at the floral skirts. I had a few from Forever 21 a few years back and they are in need of replacing. I am so glad knee length florals are back. I especially love the grey one. My plan is to convince Mr. R that I need everything on this list...

I do have a birthday coming up after all.

And if you also think Old Navy might be stealing some of your money in the near future use this CODE: ONSAVE20 It will save you 20%!

February 14

I have always loved Valentine's Day. My parents were very big on holidays growing up, so in truth I love all of them, but Valentine's is one of my faves.

I didn't have huge plans for today: church, nap, a little shopping and homemade dinner.

On the menu:
Apricot topped brie made in the crockpot

with apples, pears, and crackers Spring mix salad with blue cheese, crasins, pears, and candied walnuts (I made the candy walnuts from scratch!) Bear wine(This is my favorite wine and its now sold at Costco. In my world this is double amazing. )

And red velvet cake!We did exchange gifts this year.

I was super excited to recieve my copy of Night @ the museum II. I know the reviews weren't great, but I totally feel its better than the 1st. Mr. R got a copy of the Hangover! (Stop rolling your eyes. It's a very funny movie). And since we are trying to be more economical this year, I will tell you we both got the DVDs from Target on the $9.00 rack.

Happy Valentine's Day 2010!