Self Secrets

Are there little things you do that make you smile to yourself?

I feel like I do the most random little things that are like little “self secrets” that no one else knows about, but they make me smile.

Today my “self secret” is that I am wearing festive Valentine’s Day heart socks under my professional work attire.

Silly and stupid, I know, but it makes me smile! 🙂

Workout + Breakfast

Today when the alarm went off at 5:30 a.m., Ryan rolled over and said “Wanna sleep ’til 6:30?” Yes, please!

Since it was raining outside today, I knew I’d have time to spare in the morning since Sadie is a princess and doesn’t like to walk for too long in the rain, so I jumped at the chance to enjoy an extra hour of sleep.

My workout today was a lazy lady’s workout… I hopped from machine to machine:

• 15 min. stair master
• 25 min. adaptive motion trainer
• 15 min. elliptical

I followed my cardio session with five minutes of lying on the gym mats stretching.

Breakfast came together quickly and hit the spot. I was in the mood for cereal!

Fage Greek yogurt + Kay’s Naturals honey almond protein cereal = yummy!

AMA Round Nine

Phew! NINE rounds of Ask Me Anything questions… holy guacamole. 🙂

As I said before, I will be ending Ask Me Anything tomorrow, so if there’s somethin’ on your mind that you’d like to ask, please click here to submit an anonymous question.

What kind of camera do you use to take pictures for your blog?  Do you have two different cameras; one for blog pictures and one for every day things?

I do have two different cameras, but I greatly prefer my “big” camera. I use my Nikon D3000 whenever I can, which is typically at dinner, on the weekends and during trips to the dog park. This camera is awesome and I still have so much to learn about how to use it to its full potential.

I use my little crapper Canon PowerShot SD630 for pictures I take at work, which are often my breakfast and lunch pictures during the week. I also use this camera in social settings or when we go out to eat because it’s much more portable. I am not a huge fan of this camera, but it does the job. 🙂

How do co-workers and strangers react when they see you taking pictures of food? I’m sure you’ve gotten a lot of interesting reactions!

I usually have to follow any food photographs up with an explanation that I have a blog and post pictures of my meals. Most people are pretty intrigued by it and have a lot of questions. Ryan calls me his little tourist when we go out to eat because I snap pictures of everything and we definitely get some strange looks (especially at The Capital Grille on Valentine’s Day when my flash kept going off in the middle of the dimly-lit restaurant).

What is your typical day like during the week?  You seem to get so much accomplished in your days.  How do you find time for Ryan and friends?

I actually did a post about my morning routine, which you may find here. After that, I am at work until around 5:15 p.m. When I arrive home, Ryan and I always do something active with Sadie for about and hour, whether it be taking her on a long walk or to the dog park. We typically make dinner around 6:30 and eat a little before 7 p.m. After dinner, I blog while Ryan reads ESPN.com. The rest of the night is dedicated to checking random things off our “to do” lists or “couple time,” and we try to be in bed by 9:15 p.m. so we’re asleep by 10 p.m. every night. This is just a typical week day, and obviously plans come up frequently so we’ll adjust accordingly.

How did you get your job?  I’m looking for a career change and would love to be involved with writing in some way, but am not sure how to go about it.

I love my job and if you have even the slightest interest in writing, I definitely encourage you to pursue a career in the field because it’s challenging, rewarding and you learn something new every single day. Before I had this job, I worked as the marking manager for UCF’s dining program and hated it. I was truly miserable and was desperate for a different job. I spent a lot of time on the typical job posting Web sites and ended up finding my job on craigslist.com. This is shocking since craigslist is filled with scams and illegitimate jobs, but fortunately I found a good one! Phew!

What is your favorite meal of the day?

Breakfast! I think that’s why I eat breakfast for dinner at least one night a week. 🙂 (If dessert counts as a meal, I’d like to change my answer.)

Who was your favorite character on Friends?

Ross, without a doubt. I think he is hysterical and so adorable. Plus, I have a soft spot for smart, nerdy guys. (Don’t worry, Ryan, you’re not a nerd, but I think we can both agree we’re pretty big dorks together!)

How many calories on average do you eat?

I answered the calorie and weight question here.

How did you feel when your body started changing at puberty? I’m having a hard time dealing with gaining weight (especially my hips and thighs)!

You are not alone!!! I think that gaining weight and having hips all of the sudden is definitely something women struggle with, but it is an important part of becoming a woman. When you’re not a little girl anymore it’s unrealistic to think we’ll always have the body we had when we were a freshman in high school. I still struggle with embracing my hips, but I’m sure you will find that there are a lot of people out there who love the look of a curvaceous body (It’s just hard to convince yourself to be one of them!). I only wish my chest would’ve decided to “gain some weight” when I hit puberty as well… 😉

I notice none of your meals have cottage cheese(unless I just missed it)… Which is a staple for me—Is it that you just don’t like it or is there something bad about cottage cheese? I know the sodium can be a minus, but I thought I’d ask.

I actually love cottage cheese! I guess I just haven’t been using it a lot lately! (Click here, here, here, and here for some past cottage cheese posts.) As far as the sodium in cottage cheese, I try to buy cottage cheese with no salt added if I am using it as a mix in with other foods (Warning: Alone this stuff tastes terrible!).

Did you know Vienna from The Bachelor? I heard she was a KD at UCF!

That she was! 🙂 I did not know her though. I believe she came through rush two years after I graduated, though we’re only a year apart in age.