i want to stop using my pants as pillows, and start using them as...pants.

I currently have 3 pairs of jeans at the head of my bed, being used as pillows because I have no other use for them. Like wearing them. Which I suppose is what you're supposed to do with jeans, I guess. Problem is, they're all too small. I keep them around just in case I become deathly ill and lose a lot of weight decide to get my act together and lose all this weight just hanging around. While they make good pillows, it's sad that I can't wear them. Because they're all really cute. I want to be one of those girls with a bajillion pairs of jeans, because that would be awesome. But I have like, 2. I keep talking myself out of buying new pairs because ya know, I'm losing weight and whatnot. But I'm still the same size. Here's what I'm thinking (and I'm going to use bullet points even though they may or may not be entirely appropriate. It's how this thought shows up in my mind):

• My WI day has been Friday for as long as I can remember. I did it that way because I was out most weekends in London, with little (interest in the) control(ing) of my food choices. I would use most weeklies the first day of my week. Eventually, I started spreading them out over Friday and Saturday. but I never used all of them. Then I started using some of them on Sundays. Then I started using all of them. Then I stopped tracking, thinking I had a handle on how many points things were. Problem is, I stopped really paying attention, just telling myself I would start tracking the next day and exercise the next day. Tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow. If you look at my tracker for the last few months, you'll see sporadic meals and days tracked. Finding an entire week in there may take you back over a year. I thought the new PointsPlus plan would be the spark I needed, but that only lasted a few days.

• My Proposal: I know some people change up their meals or exercise routine if they've been doing the same thing for a while, to get their system going again. I don't eat the same thing every day, and while the vast majority of my exercise is running, it's not consistent enough to be the issue. I mean, the inconsistency is the issue. But not the boringness (yes) of the repetition and redundancy. The only thing that has stayed the same (besides my weight, har har har) has been my WI day. SO I've decided I'm going to switch to Monday. I'm more likely to stick to my points the few days before my WI day, and maybe what I need is for those few days to fall on the weekend so I can get back into a good pattern. Maybe I'll feel less inclined to use so many weekly points at the beginning of my week when it's on a Monday. Maybe this is the jump start my body needs and I'll actually start losing weight again.

Just maybe.

so. it's snowing.

I ♥ snow.

However, I have a dinner reservation tonight with two friends and I'll be damned if the snow keeps us from trying this restaurant!

Call me obsessive, but I like to think of it as being a super committed foodie.

Review to come!

ugh. *sniffle sniffle*

Do you know how frustrating it is to be battling a cold, barely able to go two minutes without having to blow your nose, and want nothing more than to lace up and hit the pavement?

Really, super, ridiculously frustrating.

I'm trying to get better quickly, but apparently my immune system doesn't appreciate my constant berating and is trying to spite me by not kicking this cold. We're not speaking at the moment.

I'm going to find a rest day somewhere in this schedule of mine, and only then will I claim victory! (This is the point where I jump on my high horse and ride off into the sunset. I'm probably wearing a flowy dress that billows in my wake.)

santa shuffle 5k

Look at me, I'm so awesome!

So. Santa Shuffle 5k. Very cold, lots of hills, slightly odd. First, we met at one place and were walked to the starting line a few minutes from the meeting place, 15 minutes before the race. In 30ish degree weather. With no bathrooms. We start running and it's a pretty peaceful course. We ran straight down one street for most of the race. This street ran through a nice, quiet residential neighborhood. For the most part it was fine, but towards the end, once people started waking up, we had some issues. People wanted to go out and do errands! The audacity of them! So we had a couple cars who participated in the race. Fun times.

My final chip time was 40.59, 15sec faster than the Rockville 5k a month ago. I'm not sure that my pace really picked up, so much as there was this one monster hill which I took advantage of and picked up some speed and time on the way down. I walked most of the way back up, because it just seemed silly to run a steep hill and lose all energy for the last mile. I'm going to continue running the hills in my neighborhood so one day I can do the hill AND the last mile! Fancy that.

Maybe, if you're lucky, I'll tell you about what I did after the race! I've got pictures but my camera is all the way across the house. Not happenin'.

oh hai, i'm running a 5k tomorrow.

My race is in 10hrs. I'm currently sitting in my kitchen, already dressed. When I told my dad I was 'practicing my outfit', he gave me a look like for serious? Yes. For serious. The race is called the Santa Shuffle, and costumes are welcome. I don't do costumes, so I've settled for a pair of red shorts (over my running leggings, of course. I'm not that crazy), and the shirt for the race under my (black) running jacket. Not superly, overly festive, but I've got the color scheme down. Kind of.

Also, I had a super fabulous meetup with some of the ladies on the 20's board yesterday! It was fantastic, and you should be jealous that you weren't there.

proof! (Photo courtesy of Bebe)

Ok, I'm tired. I need my beauty rest. Be on the lookout for a race recap in the next day or two! Provided I like you. Which I do. I promise. pinky swear.

comfort food of infinite fabulosity

Today, it's raining. I would pout, but I've heard I have a terrible pout. Seriously. I try, and my mom wonders how I could possibly be her child. Y'all should see her pout. It's freaking fantastic. You really feel her pain.

Anyway. It's a really gross day today, which would be really horrible if I had to go to work, but fortunately I have the day off. So I can pout at the rain and stay inside all day sipping on my homemade mocha. Delicious.

Gross days are perfect for comfort food. You know, those few items that just make you feel...happy. If you're having a sad day or a cold day or a lazy day (or really any kind of day), these foods comfort you. They're different for every person. Maybe not every person. I'm sure some people have the same comfort foods. In my family, homemade popcorn is definitely a comfort food. It reminds me of rainy afternoons at the house when my mom would randomly make popcorn. She doesn't cook a ton of things, but she certainly makes a mean bowl of popcorn. I'm talking, pot on the stove, kernels in oil, melted butter on top, fresh twist of salt, bowl of popcorn. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Today is totally a popcorn day. Popcorn goes really well with hot chocolate. So of course, we have to have both (well, hot chocolate in the form of a mug of half hot chocolate, half coffee). Who doesn't want popcorn and hot chocolate for lunch?

mom's popcorn
(I may or may not be making up these measurements. You have been warned):

a few tbsp popcorn kernels (2T makes roughly 4-5c popped)
a few tsp butter (depending on how buttery you like it)
1-2tsp oil (I like to use canola because it's low in flavor)
salt (real, coarse, grinder salt. Not table salt. Table salt is frowned upon unless you're baking)

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat (preferably one that has 2 handles) (we set the gas stove to just shy of medium, actually)- our popcorn pot (yes we have a pot specifically for popcorn) is about 9-10" (measured very accurately by comparing it to a sheet of paper with labels for holiday cards). ((((((a few extra parentheses for good measure))))))
Throw a couple kernels at the start to measure the heat of the oil. Once small bubbles start to appear around the kernels, the oil is ready! To fill the pot with popped popcorn, dump in enough kernels to cover the bottom. If you're good with self control, measure out a couple tbsp (I believe one WW serving is 3c popped). I'm not, so I prefer the dump-a-bunch-in-and-see-what-happens method.
Cover the pot! If you don't you'll have popcorn everywhere.
Once the popcorn really gets going (after a couple minutes), shake the pot (this is where the 2 handles comes in handy). Make sure to wear oven mitts as the lid will be hot. Shaking just moves everything around and reduces the likelihood of burning your popcorn.
Let it go for a few more minutes until there's about 3 seconds between each pop (just like in the microwave).
Turn off the burner and let the pot sit for a minute to reduce the chance of rogue kernels popping at you while you dump out the popcorn into your bowl.
Pour popcorn into an appropriately-sized bowl.
Put pot back on the stove and turn on. Maybe medium-low to medium heat.
Put butter into pot and melt. I like to leave it in a little extra to brown the butter, but that's personal preference. (when you tip the pot the foam in the butter will be brown. And it smells different).
Pour butter over popcorn.
Pour a little popcorn back into the pot to get up any remaining butter. Oh, the gluttony!
Grind salt over popcorn and give it a good stir. A lot of salt will go straight to the bottom so you may need a little more than you usually use. Tip: less salt will fall to the bottom if you butter the popcorn first!
enjoy.

mr hippo loves popcorn!