Friday Favorites #2

It's been a few weeks since I did my very first Friday favorites. As I was driving into work today I thought about all the things that are my favorites right at that moment. So here is my second Friday Favorites!

First up, my new Pandora bead from my co-workers for Admin Professionals Day. He's a cute little giraffe. Still trying to come up with a name with him but he just looks so cute on my bracelet.

A few days ago I went to Ulta and picked up some necessities (really wants, but still). As I was at the checkout with my bag of very important, I absolutely had to have them, beauty supplies I noticed the carousel of travel size and sample size items. There is was! The new Benefit Girl Meets Pearl highlighter, and only $12. I threw that right in my bag, and it is definitely going to end up on my beauty necessity list. 

Another favorite...Football season. And what is the beginning of football season? The NFL Draft! Last night I was in heaven, I know the draft is kind of boring, but to me it signifies the beginning of the new season. It's all purple Ravens football from here on out. 

Finally, tonight Lauren V and I are going to go to Main Street Old Ellicott City (the cutest main street ever right by my house), and watch the Lanterns of Hope Walk. This month Howard County is sponsoring all types of events for cancer awareness. I think it will be fun to watch people walk with their hand made lanterns down the hill onto Main Street for such a good cause. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

<3 xoxo <3 

Admin's Rock!

Today is Administrative Professional's Day! As an Admin, I love this day. I can't tell you how nice it is to hear a giant "Thank You!" from all the people I support daily. I am so blessed to work with a really great group of people who always thank me daily. But this year, on Admin Day, they went above and beyond to celebrate me.

Yup. That's right. This girl got spoiled. My group got me balloons as well as beautiful flowers. And in that basket the balloons are tied to....

Coach! Pandora! Tervis! OH MY! I was so shocked and excited when I opened the basket (which is also adorable and decorated with flip flops and sparkle flowers) and saw the Coach box. I have been needing a new wristlet and this one is so soft and the perfect size. I think whoever bought it knew exactly what she was doing (Good Job Debbie & Carlyn). Then I felt around and found the high helled tape dispenser. How cute and perfect for my desk! I should be done right? But sure enough one more thing, the Tervis flip flop cup! inside the cup? A new Pandora charm I was talking about last week. A cute silver giraffe. 

On top of the gifts was the nicest card with such thoughtful things written to me. I am truly lucky to work with such great people. They really made my day. So, to all the Admin's out there HAPPY ADMIN DAY! I hope you were spoiled like me! 

<3 xoxo <3

PS: Look closely at the basket. It was such such a cute idea. Perhaps I will have Debbie write a guest blog and show how she made it. Turned out fantastic! 

Sunday Lunches :)

I find myself making the same thing or a slight variation of the same thing each weekend on Sunday's for lunch, so I thought this week I would share. :)

I usually make a Veggie Burger with Oven Roasted Potato Slices (Weight Watchers friendly!). This week I spiced up the Oven Potatoes by adding some sauteed onions and peppers. So they really turned out more light hash browns.

I use about 3 small Yukon Gold Potatoes and slice them into wedges or slices depending on my mood. This week they turned out to be sort of half moons. I spray them on each side with a little Smart Balance Olive Oil Spray and toss with some Original Mrs. Dash seasoning. Bake for 400 for 7 minutes on each side.

While those were roasting I sauteed some onions and peppers in a skillet with a little salt and pepper and about 2 sprays of the Olive Oil Spray. Also cooking was a Boca Veggie Burger for about 7 to 8 minutes.

I was shocked that this week I seemed to manage to have everything going at once without breaking anything, spilling anything, or dropping something on the floor (5 second rule right?). I was even able to find time and the hands to prep my burger so I would have everything piping hot at the same time. :) 

I used a small hamburger bun and topped it with 2 tsp of low fat mayo and a nice crisp piece of lettuce. I like a little cheese on my burgers so I have found that if you melt just 1 tsp of Velveeta cheese over the top it is just enough to add a little flavor without adding a lot of points. It melts really easy so a little can actually go a long way.

Once the timer on the Oven Potatoes dinged I quickly tossed them with the onions and peppers. The burger finished right about the same time and I added it to my bun. Below is the finished product! 

Yummy right? And guess what, its only about 11 points! The 0 point peppers and onions beef up the Oven Potatoes just enough to make the portion seem really big. The most points here come from the bun (4 points), so if you want to drop it down just remove the bun. 

I think next week I will try spicing up my veggie burger with some cool toppings and removing the bun. I'll let you know how it goes. 

<3 xoxo <3 

I RAN a mile!

I DID IT!
I ran the whole mile. I think my time was somewhere around 11:40. It puts me into the "B" training group. So exciting! I thought for sure I wouldn't be able to run the whole thing.

The Next Step FIT program is so cool! These women are amazing and so motivational. I was smiling for hours after the run. Everyone cheered each other on and it just felt really great. Surrounding myself with strong, determined women really made me feel fantastic.

So now that we know what group I am in the real training begins. I am actually now no longer traumatized and instead I am excited to see what next week brings. I will certainly keep everyone posted.

In other news, I posted a new Weight Watchers blog. Head on over and check it out. Remember, you might need to enter the Blog ID code 1071987.


<3 xoxo <3

Run Auntie Em Run!

First, I want to introduce my new niece Gabriella Marie and say congratulations to first time parents, Carolyn and Steve! I am so excited to be her Aunt Emma and spoil her with love and everything she deserves. 

Second, there is some major drama going on in my life right now. 

I am going to start training to run a 5K. 

Yes, I know I am being dramatic, but I am working for the sympathy vote here. My friend Lauren has convinced me to join a program called Females in Training (F.I.T.). Each Thursday for 12 weeks we will get together with other women of all skill levels and run. At the end of the 12 weeks, we will run a 5K. The reason for my dramatic approach is that I have to run a time trial mile tomorrow night. I can't tell you the last time I ran a mile. Middle school maybe? In high school when we ran for Cheerleading I always cheated and skipped one of the circles. :) 

So I figured I would let you all know ahead of time that this could be a disaster. Be ready for some blog posts about me passing out in the middle of the run, or tripping and falling on my face, or breaking a leg. I can assure you it will be humorous. 

<3 xoxo <3

Aunt Emma 

What's wrong with my pink polo?

Apparently today I am being made fun of around the office for sporting an adorable Ralph Lauren polo shirt and jeans. I've been told I look like I am in high school. Clearly it isn't an issue of it being a polo, because people wear them to work all the time (I'm talking about you Carlyn), but an issue of the light pink color.

Now, full disclosure- this shirt was from back in my college years, but  it is basically new because I gained my freshman 30 (or 40, who knows!) and then could never wear it. But now, I am getting back to a more manageable weight and can wear it again! So I was all excited when I put it on this morning with a pair of jeans and flip flops. Hair up in a ponytail and some light pink makeup.

But apparently, my excitement with all this pink was a little much, and maybe a little young looking. I do have to say that I contemplated putting a white cheer ribbon in my hair and decided against it. I guess that was a good thing!

Happy Friday!

<3 xoxo <3

Easter Basket Cupcakes

I know I am a little late on posting this blog, but I am so proud of these I just had to share even though Easter was 3 days ago. On Friday night Lauren came over to help me make Easter Basket Cupcakes from Betty Crocker. They are supposed to look like cute little baskets. But in true Emma fashion, I couldn't find the sour apple candy to make the handles so I thought that Twizzlers would work. They didn't, so Lauren and I just went on a free-for-all with the cupcakes and decorations. What ended up coming out was WAY better than any Betty Crocker could have imagined. Check out our awesome decorated Easter Cupcakes!

Didn't they turn out adorable? I heard that they tasted great too (of course my Weight Watchers brain knew I couldn't actually EAT any of them). I think i will make these again next year, but now that I know we won't be making the baskets I am sure I can find some really cool candies we can use for decorations. 

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!

<3 xoxo <3 

Opening Day and Friday Favorites #1

Since I am new to the blog world , I have been looking around at my favorite blogs (Iowa Girl Eats, The Small Things Blog, Something Simple)  and taking some hints and tips from some of the things that they do that I really enjoy. I sure hope they don't mind, take a peek at their sites, they are pretty great! 

I have found that a lot of my favorite blogs do a weekly roundup of the bloggers current favorite things. So I thought maybe I would do the same.  Welcome to the first of my Friday Favorites! 

First up....the Baltimore Orioles! It's Opening Day here in Baltimore and the baseball excitement is in the air. Every year I get excited for the Orioles and hope they are good (they often let me down, but I keep on cheering). Opening Day is one of my favorite days to see a baseball game. Unfortunately I can't attend the game this year, but that doesn't stop me from sporting some O's pride at work. 

The second thing I am loving right now are Hint Mint's. My Mom gave me some in my stocking this year and the Black Current Petit Mints are perfect for on the go. Plus, they are sugar free (0 Points), and taste delicious. 

I am also rocking my favorite lip gloss today by Mac Cosmetics. I use Perfect Patience Pro Longwear Lipgloss and top it with Instant Gold Lusterglass. The Longwear Lipgloss is pretty sticky, but once you top it with the smooth Lusterglass it feels great. It's a pretty light color, but I love it for spring and summer. I have to give credit here to my friend Sandy who introduced me to this color after she wore it for her wedding...Thanks Sandy!

Finally, my friend Debbie let me borrow one of her favorite OPI Nail Polishes. It is called Route Beer Float. Unfortunately it is going to be discontinued, so luckily she ran out and bought 4 bottles of it. It's an awesome color with just enough shimmer. 

Picture from The Nail Network Blog.

Hope you enjoyed my First Friday Favorites! Happy Opening Day, and Happy Easter!

<3 xoxo <3 

Adventures in Pinterest Cooking #1

I finally got around to cooking that Healthified Asparagus Linguine last night. Let me start by saying that I am truly glad no one was home to watch me cook. I was a disaster. I seem to have mastered cooking Appetizers, Sides, and Desserts (well mastered in my mind, I'm sure Gordon Ramsey would disagree), but Entrees are a work in progress. I get all frazzled with more than one thing going at a time. But practice makes perfect and I was determined to make this pasta so I got started. 

The recipe is pretty easy. Took about 15 minutes of prep time and about another 15 of cook time. A seasoned chef, or even a normal person, probably could have done it in about 20 total. I won't go through the entire recipe and preparing it, because frankly is so easy I would be setting myself to be made fun of. But here is a pic of my asparagus and mushrooms sauteing in the white wine garlic sauce. (By the way, if you make this, it has 4 cloves of garlic in it....don't plan on kissing anyone until you brush your teeth about 10 times).

The aroma was fantastic and honesty I would consider making just the asparagus and mushrooms as a side dish one night. That way I only have to cook one thing at a time and don't have to worry about the pot of linguine that as the above picture was taken was boiling over. :) 

So here is the finished product! Note- it makes 4 servings, but to me it still seemed like a large amount of pasta. So I cut it down a bit to make sure I stayed at around 9 PointsPlus. I also added about a tablespoon of finely shredded Parmesan cheese. 

I think I did pretty good on my very first Pinterest inspired recipe. I think I might try another one this weekend. But it might be something I bake...since I am much better at that! 

<3 xoxo <3