Brrrrrr!

Check out the wintery scene that I woke up to in our backyard this morning:

Ick.

Snow.

I’m just not a fan.

And I like snow even less when it comes to motivating myself to leave the house to exercise.

The last thing I wanted to do this morning was venture out into the snow and freezing cold. I mean, bundling up, cleaning the snow off of my car, scraping the windows, and dealing with the messy roads requires a lot of effort just to get myself to CrossFit! I honestly thought about skipping it and staying in my nice, warm bed, but, instead, I psyched myself up by doing these three things:

• I immediately put on my workout clothes. I knew if I thought about going to CrossFit too much, I’d change my mind and stay home. So, I counted to three and then forced myself out of bed and immediately walked to my closet to put on my workout gear. Sometimes, simply getting dressed for a workout is half the battle for me.
• I reminded myself how I feel after a workout. Then, I reminded myself how I feel when I skip a workout. I’m not going to lie, it’s usually the later that ultimately motivates me. I hate the “I’m a lazy bum” feeling that I get when I blow off a workout for no good reason.
• I put the hooded sweatshirt that I planned to wear to CrossFit in the dryer for 5 minutes. When I was about to leave the house, I put on my toasty, right-out-the-dryer sweatshirt to keep me warm as I walked from the house to the car and waited for it to warm up. I swear, it makes things so much more bearable!

Breakfast

Before I went to CrossFit, I ate breakfast, which was “Oatmeal” Minus the Oats with a big scoop of peanut butter. I also drank an iced coffee with soy milk.

Workout

Today’s CrossFit workout left my quads screaming for mercy! Holy moly! The combination of Dead Lifts + Burpees was so challenging. My legs got a killer workout today, so I’m definitely going to be sore tomorrow.

WOD:

60 Medicine Ball Slams

Then,

3-6-9-12-15-12-9-6-3

Dead Lifts (185, 105)

Burpees

Then,

60 Medicine Ball Slams

After CrossFit, Mal and I cleaned the house from top to bottom and then I did a few organization projects, which included making use of a few goodies that my friends at Real Simple sent me. 

One of the items that I received was a 3-Piece Trunk Organizer, which is intended to store supplies, groceries, and other goods in the trunk or back seat of your car, but, as soon as I opened it, I discovered a new purpose for it.

Purse storage!

The organizer is fairly large with four compartments to separate and hold up my purses so I can clearly see and access them. My purses have been stored on the floor of my closet in a big, messy pile for as long as I can remember, so this organizer is the perfect solution. Real Simple rules. Thanks for the goodies, Kristen!

Snacks

While I cleaned and organized, I snacked on a hard-boiled egg and a handful of almonds. I also drank a Peanut Butter Wonderful iced coffee from Marylou’s.

Lunch

A little while later, I threw together a quick lunch: canned tuna mixed with avocado, chopped celery, shredded carrot, and truffle salt on a slice of Paleo Bread. Holy yum! It tasted wicked good!

I’m spending the afternoon catching up with work and then Mal and I are going on a date! Yay! I love date night!

Did anyone else think of this episode of the Brady Bunch when you read my post title? “When it’s time to change, you’ve got to rearrange!” Ok, maybe not. I’m a big dork.

Remember my big plans to redo my office? Well, I decided to save the money and give my office a new look by rearranging the furniture and working with what I already own.

First order of business: get rid of this thing!

Mal and I had no luck finding a place for it in our house, so we put it outside in front of our house with a FREE sign on it. We woke up this morning and it was gone. I’m glad someone snagged it because I really didn’t want it to go to the dump—it was still in good condition.

Simply removing that huge piece of furniture from my office instantly made it look bigger—well, at least more open.

The new set-up:

Mal and I brought up a cabinet from the basement for storage and moved the desk to the other side of the room. I swear, it makes the space look a zillion times more open (and less stressful). I’m planning to rearrange the frames on the wall and buy a couple of accessories to spruce it up, so I’ll be sure to post a picture of the final product once it’s done. I absolutely love the new layout!

Do you want to know what sparked this whole office redesign? A new Keurig machine!!

Foodbuzz selected me to receive the new Starbucks coffee K-Cup Portion Packs along with a Keurig machine. (So cool! Review coming soon!) There was no room on our kitchen counters for it, so Mal suggested putting it in my office. He doesn’t drink hot coffee, so I’d be the only one using it. His idea made perfect sense, but, at the time, there was nowhere to put, so we rearranged the office and added the cabinet.

I love, love, love the new look and feel of my office. It makes me excited to go to work each morning!

Breakfast

I woke up hungry this morning, so I fed Murphy and then immediately cooked breakfast. Mal mentioned cooking eggs and bacon for breakfast this morning, but I couldn’t wait to eat. Plus, I wasn’t really in the mood for a savory breakfast, so I whipped up a bowl of sweet potato oatmeal using leftover sweet potatoes from Thanksgiving dinner. Also in the mix: ground flaxseed meal, mushroom powder, pumpkin pie spice, and a scoop of Teddie peanut butter. (Mal didn’t care that I ate breakfast without him—more bacon for him!)

Weekly Workouts

Here’s this week’s workouts:

• Sunday: Off
• Monday: 4-mile run
• Tuesday: Body Pump
• Wednesday: Off
• Thursday: 3-mile run + strength training
• Friday: Ultimate Conditioning 
• Saturday: Run + Total Body Conditioning

Lots happening today, including possibly getting our Christmas tree!

I spend an obscene number of hours each week in front of my computer in my home office, so you would think I’d try to make it a less stressful and enjoyable place to spend my time. Well, when we first moved into our new home last fall, that was my plan.

But somehow, this idea for my office, turned into this:

Eek! It’s not exactly what you call relaxing. It’s a tad overwhelming, right? It actually hurts my eyes to look at. GAH! Too much going on! 

According to Lifehack, “the biggest key to creating a relaxing workspace is styling it in a way that makes you happy. If it feels right to you, then you’re on the right path.” The look of my current office definitely doesn’t feel right (or relaxing) to me, so I spent this morning on the internet looking for ideas and pricing some new furniture to turn it into a happier place to spend my time.

Here’s my newest inspiration:

Much better, right? I’m planning to start my office update later this week, so I’ll be sure to share my progress as I go along. I’m excited to get going on it!

—

I’m off to celebrate my sister’s 30th birthday with a family lunch. I hope you’re having a wonderful Saturday so far!

Mal and I were en fuego today! We slept in a little bit, ate breakfast (egg + cheese sandwiches), and then hit the ground running!

First stop: Marylou’s for iced coffees. I ordered a Peanut Butter Wonderful with skim milk and no sugar. Per.fect.

Back at home, Mal and I got right to work. He tackled the outdoor projects: mowing, weeding, and removing massive overgrown plants.

Inside the house, I cleaned like a mad woman– I even dusted! Of course, the pug wasn’t too far from the action. I guess you could say he helped? 

Snack

I never really ate a ‘real’ lunch today— just lots of snacks throughout the afternoon.

Snack #1: Greek yogurt with banana slices and chia seeds.

Mid-afternoon, Mal and I took a break from working to take Murphy to the dog park. He totally surprised us by willingly going into the water to cool off.

Usually, we have to push him encourage him to get his feet wet and then he goes all the way in. It’s so funny how Murphy loves the water now— he used to hate it.

Snack

After the dog park, I snacked on a Banana Bread Larabar and then a plum.

Then, Mal and I started our final project of the day: entryway organization.

The project included two pieces: IKEA shoe cabinet + a coat rack from Etsy.

Mal anchored the shoe cabinet to the wall, so it’s not going anywhere now.

Success!

The coat rack was up next. Mal and I obsessed about getting it perfectly level. Eventually, we got it right.

I love the final product! Our entry way has only been like this for a couple of hours now, but I already feel more organized.

Mal and I are having friends over for drinks in a little bit. Better boogie!

Last night, Mal and I made a list of what we want to accomplish around the house before he goes back to school on Tuesday, so we’re going to be busy in the next few days.

First project: spray painting the wicker bench on our sun porch. We dug it out of my in-law’s barn, so it’s in pretty rough shape. We figured a coat of spray paint would liven it right up— and it did!

Spray paint is the coolest.

Before: dingy and dusty.

Enter: two cans of white spray paint.

After: clean, crisp, and good as new!

Lunch

Today’s lunch was a mix-and-match of random foods that were on their last leg and about to go bad, so I ate them up.

On the menu: open-face egg white sandwich with buffalo sauce, sliced tomato with sea salt and ground pepper, cherries, and a plum. I concluded lunch with a peanut butter cookie Larabar.

Look who came back to enjoy a tomato on the back porch! The little bugger stole it off of our tomato plant.

Look at that mocking stare!

What a jerk.

Power washing the porch and painting the bathroom are potential projects for the afternoon. Oh, boy!

Mal and Murphy chose to sleep in today, but I started my day bright and early. I slept through the night (without a single trip to the bathroom), so I felt energized and motivated as soon as I woke up. It’s been a long time since I felt like that first thing in the morning! Yay!

First on my agenda: breakfast!

Breakfast

I toasted a gluten-free English muffin from AllCanEat and then added some sunflower butter and banana slices on top. I caught up with my celebrity gossip in US Weekly while I ate. (Today was the first morning in awhile that I actually missed my usual glass of iced coffee, but I guess that’s a good sign, right?)

I spent the rest of the morning catching up with emails and writing my Health post for next week.

Mal woke up a little while later. He ate breakfast and took Murphy for a walk. When he returned, we got started on our big kitchen organization project. It’s been a loonnnng time coming, let me tell you!

We started with the most annoying/cluttered situations first. The dog stuff/vases/Soda Stream cabinet made no sense and stressed me out every time I opened it. In fact, this cabinet was the catalyst for our entire kitchen organization project.

BEFORE: Dog stuff/vases/Soda Stream

AFTER:

The second most annoying/cluttered area was the cabinet where we keep the water bottles and travel mugs. Every time I’d go to get one, I’d end up knocking them all over and making a huge mess. Mal and I went through and picked out a few bottles and mugs to donate, and then stored our least favorite ones in the back of the cabinet and put our favorites up front for easy access.

BEFORE: Water bottles and travel mugs

AFTER:

We also organized our coffee drawer, which is right above where we keep the water bottles and travel mugs, but I forgot to snap a “before” photo. Trust me, it looks a lot better!

The dish situation in our kitchen was also a tad out of control, so we made some adjustments to the shelves to maximize the space and then we weeded out a few grungy dishes from our collection to donate.

AFTER: Mugs and glasses

AFTER: Bowls and plates

Then, it was onto the toughest project of the day: our food cabinets. Yikes!!!

Mal and I started by taking everything out of the cabinets and assessing what we had on hand. We then decided whether to keep or donate certain food items before we placed everything back on the shelves, nice and neat. 

BEFORE:

AFTER: Canned and jarred goods, rice, soup, pasta, nut butter, and snacks

BEFORE:

AFTER: Tea, drink mixes (I still don’t know how we ended up with so much space), vitamins and supplements

BEFORE:

AFTER: Grains, protein powder, lentils, oats, oils, cereal

We even busted out the label maker for our big organization project!

Mal spelled ‘bulgur’ wrong, but we decided not to change it because it cracked us up. (We’re five years old like that.)

BEFORE:

AFTER: Baking goodies

Snack

Once the food cabinets were organized, I stopped to snack on a Chocolate & Coconut Raw Revolution Bar, which was delish. It’s my favorite flavor so far!

We desperately need to go grocery shopping, so cleaning and organizing the refrigerator took no time at all. Going through the ridiculous amount of condiments that we owned was the hardest part.

AFTER:

The last project of the day was the pantry/shelves in our back hall. It’s basically a big catch-all for stuff we don’t know what the heck to do with, including small appliances, serving dishes, reusable bags, Tupperware, etc.

Even after we organized it, it’s still a catch-all for things that we don’t know what to do with, but it’s a lot prettier to look at now.

Lunch

By the time we finished, I was starving for lunch. I whipped up a ham sandwich with Laughing Cow Cheese spread on one side and caramelized onion mustard on the other.

Oh my gosh, delicious sandwich!

(So far the cheese isn’t upsetting my stomach!)

Exciting afternoon ahead: gym and Whole Foods. I know, craaazy day!

Remember when Chandra and Monica came to visit me back in early March? We explored Boston, drank MarTINAs, baked Matt Damon Cookies, and ran a 10-mile race. It was sweet, and I had a lot of fun!

Before their arrival, I spent a lot of time “prettying” our house. Monica and Chandra were our very first overnight guests, so I wanted the place to look fabulous for them. There were a bunch of projects around the house that I started (like my office), but never finished, so I wanted to complete them before they arrived. Even though I finished a few projects, I didn’t get to them all (like my office).

Since early February, a bunch of frames and prints have sat on the floor of my office. I’ve been meaning to hang them, but I just never had a chance… until today! Go me!!

Here’s what I hung up:

Holstee Mainfesto.

Keep Calm and Love Pugs.

I Love You, Blogs and Coffee + Keep Calm and Love Carrots & Cake.

Pug silhouette from Etsy.

And my favorite print of them all (from Etsy): I Love You Like a Fat Pug Loves Cake!

Voila!!!

I wish it wasn’t so dark in my office, but you get the idea, right?

Lunch

Today’s eats weren’t very exciting— more bland food. For lunch, I ate chicken noodle soup, M&Ms, and Popchips. All were delicious and mostly agreed with my stomach.

Dinner

For dinner, I once again ate Ramen noodles, but this time, I added chunks of broiled chicken breast. Last night, I ended up waking up in the middle of the night with a growling stomach, so I knew tonight’s dinner needed some more substance.

Ulcerative Colitis: A Song

It seems like quite a few of you guys struggle with GI issues too, so I thought you might appreciate this video. It’s funny in the beginning, and it pretty much sums up my colitis experience– right down to the insane medical bills that I have to pay!

Thanks, Cynthia for sending this along!

Off to relax! Happy weekend, guys!

Mal and I are working hard to beautify the outdoor spaces at our home, so here’s just a fun post to share our progress so far. (We’re dorks and get excited about the little things in life! ) Here’s what we’ve done so far:

Planted marigolds in the window boxes on the front of the house.

Brightly colored flowers always make me smile!

Loosed the soil and added grass seed to the patches in the backyard.

Mal is obsessed with having the perfect lawn.

And Murphy is obsessed with eating it.

Our dirt backyard has come a long way, huh?

Planted a small vegetable garden in the backyard.

We planted cherry tomatoes, red peppers, broccoli, and lettuce. Let’s hope they grow!

Mal ended up feeling sort of sick on his birthday (poor guy), so we decided to celebrate at home. We ordered take-out from Lime Leaf, drank a couple of beers, and worked on a painting project together. I guess you could say we had a paint party!

It’s taken several months, but our sun porch (<– progress post) is finally coming along. This past weekend, Mal and I finally picked a shade of yellow to paint our side tables. It only took us two months to decide. No big deal.

We only had one paint brush, so Mal and I took turns painting while the pug ‘supervised.’

Murphy really wanted to help us paint, but we thought he’d make a mess, so Mal and I told him he could be the “Project Supervisor.” At first, Murphy seemed okay with this title and responsibility.

But, soon, Murphy realized that we gave him a fake job, so he blew it off and goofed around. Typical pug move.

One of Mal’s birthday presents from me was a six-pack of Full Sail IPA:

It has a full, malty body and there’s even a hint of fresh citrus to it. Perfect after your favorite water sport. Even if that happens to be the grueling drag-the-poolside-lounge-chair-into-the-sun event. ABV 6% IBU 60

I was initially drawn to this beer because Mal’s favorite type of brew is an IPA, but what got me to buy it was the text on the front of the bottle: “12 fluid ounces of ridiculously tasty India Pale Ale concocted by our massive brewforce of 47. Specialists in the Liquid Refreshment Arts since 1987.” It seemed like the brewers have a really good sense of humor! I love that! Plus, Full Sail is brewed in Oregon so that sealed the deal for me.

I’m generally not a huge IPA fan. I like some of them, but, usually, they’re too hoppy and bitter for me. The Full Sail IPA only has 60 IBUs (International Bitter Units), so it wasn’t super bitter. It also had big aromas of grapefruit and other citrusy notes, and a sort of a malty flavor to it, so I enjoyed it.

After a couple of beers, things got a little crazy (for the pug) at the paint party.

Murphy asked us to call him “Left Eye” for the right of the evening. He did look pretty badass. (I still have no idea how he got paint under his eye like that.)

For dinner, I enjoyed an order of Lime Leaf Noodles, which tasted amazing (as expected).

I’ve probably been to Lime Leaf a half a dozen times by now, but I’ve never ordered anything else beside their Lime Leaf Noodles, which is totally unlike me. I rarely order the same thing twice from a restaurant, but I just love this dish so much, I don’t think a different one would live up to is awesomeness.

Breakfast

For breakfast this morning, I made an egg white sandwich on a Sandwich Thin with Laughing Cow Cheese (blue cheese flavor <—wicked good) spread on one side. I also had cherries and a glass of iced coffee on the side.

CNC Book Giveaway

Thank you to everyone who wished Mal a happy birthday and entered my giveaway to win a signed copy of my book. Mal was psyched to see all of your nice b-day wishes!

Here’s your winner: Heather!

Happy Birthday Mal!

I rule because if something isn’t going well in my life I work to make changes and turn the situation around. I no longer sit on my butt waiting for stuff to happen.

P.S. The roasted cauliflower looks divine, I think I may try with broccoli too!

Congrats, Heather! Please email me at tina@carrotsncake.com with your full name and mailing address to claim your prize.

CNC T-shirt Shop

I added a few new t-shirts to my CNC T-Shirt Shop! If you have something that you want to see on a shirt, please let me know. I’m open to ideas!

Question of the Day

What’s the most hilarious t-shirt you’ve ever seen?

P.S. Pug lovers: Over the weekend, the most important event in the world took place: Oregon’s 11th Annual “PUGLANDIA!” Pug Crawl. Here are pictures of the 25 coolest pugs there. Favorites?

Pretty fancy lamp, huh?

Well, it didn’t always look this way. Mal and I found a pair of them in his parents’ barn and they were a total mess.

The lamps were covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs.

And completely not working.

They even had bird poop on them.

Yes, bird poop.

But, despite their initial appearance, I saw the potential.

With a little tender loving care and a special Portfolio Bottle Lamp Kit from Lowes, I transformed these ugly barn lamps into sophisticated master bedroom lamps.

Each lamp repair kit cost just $10 and included everything that I needed (parts, directions, etc.) to rewire and repair the lamp. It was actually fairly easy to do– and I didn’t electrocute myself!

I ended up buying new lamp shades from Kmart, but, even still, the lamps were very affordable in the end. Let’s just say they were definitely cheaper than buying new lamps, which are weirdly expensive.

Now, one of the lamps is on Mal’s bedside table and the other one is on my dresser. You can see more photos here.

So, if you have a lamp (or two) that needs to be repaired or you stumble upon a broken one with lots of potential at a yard sale or flee market, you now know there’s a way to fix it! Happy DIY-ing!