Love it, Like it, Hate it

Hello, everyone! What are you doing to celebrate Monday night? Zach had a client meeting, so me and the dogs are having a girls' night in. We are eating salmon, quinoa, vegetables, wine, and watching the Bachelor. Toby and Flynn seemed more interested in the salmon than the Bachelor, though. I can't imagine why.

Source

Anyway, I thought I would share a few things with you guys. One thing I am loving lately, one thing I am liking lately, and one thing I am hating lately: thus the title "Love it, Like it, Hate it". 

Love it:

One thing I have been obsessed with lately is Stitch Fix. The clothes are a little pricey, but I seriously love not having to go to the store and get all ADD and walk out frustrated because I couldn't find anything. My Stitch Fix stylist has done a great job of finding things for me that challenge what I would normally pick out for myself but still look great! The cardigan and scarf below are two of my favorites:

Like it:

Anna Kendrick's dress at the Oscars. Probably my favorite of the night, if you don't count Adam Levine. He is not a dress, but he was probably the best looking thing there. Haha! Maybe this should go in the "Love it" section...

Hate it:

Wedding planning. Y'all, this is for the birds. I am so excited to get married, but I am so burned out on trying to plan all this crap by myself. I need a hired wedding planner, a bottle of wine, and about 72 hours of sleep before I will feel better about it. Unfortunately, however, the only one of those things that has happened is the bottle of wine, so I will just have to make due. 

Source

Source

I guess if I ignore it for long enough, it will all fall into place, right?

What are you guys loving, liking, or hating lately?

Ice Ice Baby

The great southern metropolis of Charlotte got its first winter event of the year this week, which mostly included ice. I had an adventuresome drive into work on Tuesday... okay, full disclosure- I made Zach drive me in. In the three years that my blog has been dead, I had a particularly nasty wreck involving me trying to drive on ice, so I have been a chicken ever since. Zach, however, would drive up Mount Everest and not think twice.

Anyway, the one thing that I learned from this experience is that dachshunds hate going outside to pee in ice even more than they hate doing it in rain/snow. Also, people from Charlotte can't drive. But I knew that already. 

Before all of the winter weather, my dad and I took the dogs for a walk, although I should actually say that Flynn took him for a walk because that would be more accurate. Then, I posted this picture on Facebook and about 100 women commented on it:

Clearly, my dad needs to borrow the dogs so that he can pick up more ladies. Flynn is an expert with the ladies. Toby, not so much... he lacks charisma. And he wears his harness on the outside of his sweater...who does that? 

I have recently been trying Quest bars because they seem to be all the rage, especially if you heat them up. People say they taste like cookies, but to me they mostly taste like warm protein bars. They are okay, though, considering they have 20g of protein and are relatively low calorie (and gluten-free, so I can't complain). I am not really sure where I was going with that, but if you were wondering about those, you're welcome. Try the chocolate flavor- it's the best. 

In other nutritional news, tonight we made this awesome and easy recipe- bacon wrapped chicken! I loosely followed some recipe that I found online (this one?), but basically what you do is this:

Ingredients:

-3lbs chicken tenderloins

-pack of bacon

-garlic powder

-salt

-pepper

-other seasoning to taste (but don't taste the raw chicken)

-1/2 cup brown sugar

Coat the chicken tenderloins with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and whatever other spices you like. Wrap the chicken tenderloins with one piece of bacon each, then roll the whole thing in brown sugar. Bake at 400F for about 30-40 minutes. You can't go wrong with bacon. 

Told you guys I was a grade-A food photographer. That was about half the chicken. It makes a lot of food, it is quick and easy (for lazy people like me), and it is sooo good. Go make it! 

Back in Business

Well hello there, everybody. It's been a while... like what, three years? THREE YEARS. That is crazy. I can't believe I let my blog die for three years. I am officially the worst blogger ever.

So what has inspired me to resurrect my three-year-dead blog, you ask? Well, not much really. I was just sitting here waiting on some ribs to bake in the oven, watching HGTV (because let's be honest- best channel ever), while there is some unusual winter weather going on outside. And then I suddenly thought- hey, why not blog? I still read other people's blogs, but for whatever reason, I just dropped the ball myself.

So what has changed in three years? In a few words: a lot. When we last spoke, I was a fresh college graduate, nervous to find my first job and get my life started. So here's the basic story: I got a job in the mountains where I worked while Zach finished school. Then, he got a job offer in the great metropolis of Charlotte (my hometown), and so we moved. I found a beaker-y job as well that I love.

Then, (drum roll) we got engaged!!! And the last year has been one big whirlwind of wedding planning logistical nightmares. But happy logistical nightmares. Sort of. Anyway, we are due to wed in May, so get ready for some wedding talk!

Also, we got another chocolate dachshund. I know what you are thinking- wasn't one enough? Do we really need to see more pictures of chocolate dachshunds on this blog? Well, may I introduce you to Toby (hint: he is the one in the back):

He is very sweet (although very annoying), and he is about a year and a half old now. As you can see, it is hard to be a dog at our house. PS: look at how fat Flynn got! The vet put him on a diet, but that is not going so well, aka Zach still sneaks them food.

In not-so-new news, I am still an active person (or try to be). I never really got my knees 100% fixed, so they are still duds, but I do what I can. I have really been into pilates and taking classes like kickbox cardio, zumba, etc. at our gym. I have actually recently been thinking of getting my personal trainer certification so that I can torture people in the way my fitness instructors torture me. Also to help people, but mostly to torture. I have gone so far as to get my CPR/AED certification, which is a pre-requisite. Did you know that CPR is shockingly difficult? I had no idea how much was involved or how hard it is to do. Everyone should take a class just in case, because that is some valuable knowledge. Anyway. Moving on.

I am also still allergic to gluten (shockingly) and have to lead a very hipster lifestyle in that regard. Which is fine because about a million people jumped on the gluten-free bandwagon and so now I have a lot of choices and options that I would have never dreamed I would have three years ago. It's fantastic. So keep on with the fad gluten-free dieting, people. I love it.

SO. What can you expect to see in this new-and-improved blog? Well, I will probably occasionally post workouts, especially as I dip my feet into the world of personal training. And you might see some killer recipes that I find and just have to share. But be warned- I am not one of those super ultra-healthy food bloggers. You won't see professional photographs of kale-quinoa-kombucha whatever. I try to live healthy and eat healthy, but I am not that strict with my diet. I can still down too much wine and chocolate with the best of them (gotta live a little). You also won't see a schedule of my work-outs because this isn't my personal exercise journal. I like exercise, but I think that everyone has their own limits for what they can do. I can't work out 6 days a week. It is not practical for me. I can't run 50 miles a week or bike 100 or do Crossfit every day. I think it is fantastic that some people can, but I also recognize the importance of knowing what you, your body, and your lifestyle can handle and not to compare yourself to other people (because there are a lot of "perfect" people in the blog world, and it is easy to fall into that trap). But what you definitely will see are gratuitous amounts of dachshund pictures, my boring life events, and some other general eclectic nonsense. Now that I have typed that out, it sounds like the most lame blog ever. But stick with me, okay?

Okay.