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Thinking Out Loud: Why So Blue??

Posted on January 22, 2015 by kissmybroccoli

I don’t always think of myself as a writer.

Heck, if you told High School Heather…or even College Heather that she would one day start a blog and spend a big percentage of her life writing…for FUN…she’d have slapped you silly. Still, most days, I consider myself more of an artist. An artist who cleverly arranges and REarranges words until her little perfectionist eye is content. I’m sure there are a lot of bloggers out there who can just sit down and pump (I seriously just started to type pumpkin) out paragraph upon paragraph of enlightenment, and there are very odd occasions that I get a moment of clarity like that, but I confess that most of my ideas are sparked by my visual senses.

Whether it be a recipe post (what are THOSE??) or a random update post, I like to look through my photos for a bit until all of a sudden…

EUREKAAAAA!*

*Please tell me I’m not the only one with the theme to Eureka’s Castle stuck in my head. Please tell me at least ONE of you know what I’m even talking about!

Obligatory sassy selfie after registering for Blend 2015 on Sunday Night. I may or may not have been on the clock when I did it. I may or may not have illegally worn my Blend 2012 t-shirt instead of a scrub top. I may or may not give a shit about any of that because…

I’M GOING TO BLENNNNNNND!!!

Who’s coming with me…to the land of mountains, microbreweries, and minor changes in your ability to taken in oxygen which I could swear make you get drunk faster…even though it’s all just a myth (ie, high altitude)???

My faithful Camelbak. Ya know, I wouldn’t be surprised if one day I wake up with it permanently affixed to my hand. I’m more than a little proud of myself for upping my water intake in recent weeks…I’ve been averaging FOUR of these a day! 😯

The AMAZING sunset that I got to witness after a fantastic walk at the park in SIXTY FOUR DEGREE (that would be ~18ºC) weather! Oh if only every week could start out this way. I woke up a bit earlier than planned on Monday afternoon (remember, I go to bed around 8am), but after seeing how beautiful it was outside, I had my SHORTS on and sneakers laced within minutes.

Book - Park Reading

And hey, I finally…excuse me… I FINALLY finished my book! Yep, and I only had to check it out THREE times…the last time selecting the large print copy to help boost my slow reader self-esteem a bit. I swear I flew through the last half of the book. Hmm, maybe I’m onto something here… 😉

A moment of awe. Yep, I’m talking about that moment when you unwrap a Quest bar and are face-to-face with some mouth-watering #chunkporn and there is no one around to help you appreciate it. No way you’re not sharing that! The moment…not the bar…
get cho own, beeeeetches! 😛

A simple dinner at home after a lonnnnng day of errand running. May not look like much, but I’m telling you, I’ve been craving this scrambled egg (with lettuce and mayo…yes, you read that right) sandwich for over a WEEK! There’s just something so mentally and physically satisfying about squashing a craving after that long. Amiright?

The fruit of my labor. Hey, just because I said I had a lot of errand-running to do, doesn’t mean I can’t get a little something out of it. GNC must’ve known when they lured me in with they buy three get one free sale. Yeah, I know…I really needed more bars. And those Quest chips. And that cute little PINK pill box! But hey, I gave myself props for getting out there under $40! 😀

Now be sure to hop on over to Spoons, give my girl Amanda (who is going to Blend!) a shout, and see who else is indulging in a bit of randomness this week! Maybe it will be Purple Yellow Red AND BLUE! 😉

If you could assign ONE color to this week, what would it be and why?

Who’s coming to Blend with me?!

Posted in Thinking Out Loud | Tagged bars, Blend, eggs, hospital, park, Quest bar, reading, sandwich, selfie, shopping, walking | 27 Comments

All Sauced Up with Nowhere to Go!

Posted on January 19, 2015 by kissmybroccoli

Hiya, kids!

I hope you all had a great weekend! Mine was BIZ-ZEE to say the least, but since the last thing I want to do is talk about all the super fun hospital shenanigans that went down over the last three days, how about we talk MY weekend? Last Thursday started with some grand plans. There was a road trip involved…and family, and food, and fun! But then, halfway through our trip, this happened…

Damn you, Mother Nature!

Being the fact that our little excursion would bring us back around to this spot eight hours later with even COLDER temperatures, we decided it best to head back and not chance getting stuck on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.

Back at la casa later that day, the cabin fever started to set in. After cleaning the fridge, sweeping and mopping, rearranging the spice cabinet, bookcase, AND dvd racks, I figured it was about time I called in some reinforcements.

Reinforcements who happen to have VERY good taste. 😉

Since my last trip to The Flying Saucer in Nashville, as I love Nashville food, I’ve been dying to go back and grab another slice of that mouth-watering pizza. After realizing during this visit, that they have a rotating menu of over 250 beers, I started carving my name under one of their leather couches.

I started the evening with “my beer”. Man, did it hit the SPOT!

Although I thought I was in for some pizza that night, once we finally got there, I was STARRRR-VING and basically wanted to eat every goddamn thing on the menu. Luckily, I have reinforcements who know how to handle me during my Hangry Heather moments…

‘Cause I mean, HOW could you go wrong with chips, cheese, and soft doughy perfectly salted pretzels the size of your HEAD…served with FOUR different dips (spicy mustard, honey mustard, cream cheese and chives, and guess what…MORE CHEESE!)

Obviously with that smorgasbord of carby deliciousness, I needed a little something to wash it all down…since ya know, my Fresca, I mean BEER, was long gone by then.

Build your own flight? I think I MIGHT! 😀

I’m not much of a have-a-big-ol’-glass-of-beer kinda gal. No, since my college days of drinking trailer park beer (no judging, I used to live in a trailer park) are behind me, my tastes are much more refined and my attention span much too short. Which is why beer flights are absolutely perfect! A little taste to see if I like and then a couple more to savor before moving on to the next best thing!

I ordered the Terrapin Liquid Bliss (a chocolate peanut butter stout that was sadly just “ok”), Sweetwater Blue (a light bodied ale that I swear tastes straight up like a blueberry muffin), RJ Rockers Son of a Peach (a lambic with a hint of peach flavor that kinda left me wanting more), Blackhorse Vanilla Cream Ale (best damn ale ever…though I may be a little locally biased), and the Jackalope Snowman Stout (whose “mocha” flavor translated into “oh why don’t you just throw some old coffee grounds in my beer?!”…unfortunately, this one was unbearable for all three of us.

Since I was to be the driver that evening, I switched to water after I was done “flying” through my sampler of beers, but the night was still young! We were having a great time…talking music, memories, and whatnot when our waitress came up and asked how we wanted our check. We were a bit confused. It was still at least an hour till closing time. Then our red-haired little pixie informed us that they have a cap of six beers a person each night. Umm, excuse me?

Even after informing her that I was driving that evening, she said she could not serve my friends any more drinks. She did of course offer ME more drinks. Because, you know, we should just let three people walk out of the bar drunk instead of two with a designated driver. Yeah, that makes a TON of sense! Needless to say, I don’t think we’ll be signing up for their VIP drinking club anytime soon.

So I guess it’s a good thing I found a six-pack of my blueberry muffins at Publix the next morning! Who’s coming over for breakfast? Don’t forget the bacon!! 😉

Are you a beer drinker? What’s your favorite?

What are your favorite pub snacks?

Posted in Restaurant Review | Tagged beer, cheese, Flying Saucer, Nashville | 7 Comments

Thinking Out Loud: Up Up Up!

Posted on January 15, 2015 by kissmybroccoli

What’s uhhhhhhp?!

Happy Thursday, kittens! I hope you’ve all been having a great week. Things have been pretty freaking fantastic over here in Broccoliland…especially since the weather has been looking up a bit. Get this…we’ve officially made it ABOVE FREEZING! Ok, so maybe it’s only a few digits but couple that with the fact that I’ve seen the sun more than not in the last seven days and yeah, I’m a happy girl!

Thanks to the vitamin D motivation AND the momentum I built up last week, I’ve been hitting the gym pretty regularly and may or may not have over a dozen selfies to prove it. I’ll save you guys from all my goofy faces and the “I’m sorry but WHERE did dat ass come from?” revelation pic, but you’re gonna have to see my proud mug at least once! 😉

How awesome is it that I’ve only been I’ve times in the last two weeks but I can already see an improvement in my stamina? Oh and I FINALLY got back to the yoga studio! It was so so nice to walk in and see my favorite instructor, David, and receive his warm welcome. It was almost like I never left…well, until we got to crow and yeah, that was just NOT happening. But instead of getting bummed out, I just did my best to listen to my body (and my knee a couple of times when it lamented) and did the best I could. The best part was at the end of the class, right before shavasana where I learned a few new hip opening poses that felt amazing!

After class, I was one relaxed mama…one relaxed mama with a plan to put herself in a coma for at LEAST eight hours. After not having much luck sleeping through Monday’s storm, I was starting to get a little whiney/whimpery/annoying and needed sleep in the worst way so yoga was only number one in a series of steps that I had mapped out…

A stress free dinner, two glasses of wine and one soak in the tub later and I was niiiiiiiiice and hazy. And? Well, it took a couple of tries but I was finally off to La La Land around 5am and then slept for eight.solid.uninterrupted.hours. Victory at last! Oh and FYI, that wine is AWESOME…and only $12 at my local liquor store! 🙂

But the excitement didn’t end there. When I woke up the next ~~morning~~ afternoon, I had a little something waiting for me. Remember those retail therapy purchases last week?

Sephora Makeup

Ta-daaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Is it bad that I get THIS EXCITED about trying new makeup-y things? I’ve been looking into a new cleansing/moisturizing regime (especially since turning the big 3-0) so I was so excited to see these two box sets. I hear that Sephora Favorite collections rarely disappoint so I’m figuring the hardest part is going to be picking ONE favorite to purchase after I make my way through all of these.

And to help me feel better about my little splurge? How about I got Elvira a FULL tank of gas yesterday for only $25?! I haven’t seen prices this low in YEARS!

Gas Station Pump

Hell yeah? HELLS YEAH!!

Now, while I did have a little minor setback earlier this week (that really shouldn’t have been anything but a blip in the radar (remember, whiney/whimpery/annoying), I have since looked past the fact that I had a momentary lapse of judgment halfway through making dinner and made these beautiful white wine simmer mushrooms…

Into a curdled mess! 🙁

In case any of you guys don’t know about tempering your sauces before adding sour cream/yogurt, have a little look at this article and learn a little something from me! Also? Whenever you fuck something up, dry your tears, walk away…do what you gotta do but DON’T throw it away! Just toss it in a crock pot with half your kitchen and…

Feed your entire neighborhood for a WEEK!

Or you know, have dinner then separate and freeze the rest. Right, Meghan?

This week’s song choice is not really a choice at all…with that title, I just HAD to (and couldn’t help but jump up and down in my seat a bit when I remembered it. What can I say? This song by the Givers is one of my old favorites and always peps me up!