Is Summer Really Here!?

Okay I don't wanna jinx it...BUT this weather has been too good to be true! Watch..in like 3 seconds the heavens are gonna open up and Mother Nature is gonna say "eff you Julie it ain't summah yet."

After my Salsa Fest 09 yesterday I snapped out of it and got my bootay to work to see a few clients and give them the rundown on how amazing salsa truly is. During an hour break I had before a few more clients I ran over to the King Kullen across the street and had dinner solo style at a table in their cafe. But not before getting in a battle with the automatic coffee machine that didn't understand I put the LARGE cup underneathe. After the coffee machine finally peed out my large sized cup of joe I found a table fit for one and literally dove into my bed. ...of greens.

spinach, Laughing Cow, Sabra's, peppers, onions, carrots, Smart Dogs x2, tomatoes, salsa duh

rando salad to the extreme.

All I have to say about last night is ED'S BACK!!!!!!! I was like a kid in a candy shop when he was at the door. I won't lie I was slightly sad because she will probably pick him which lessens our chance of ending up together... damn The Bachelorette.

I went to bed beaming with joy and had a wonderful sleep full of LOTS of random dreams, one which may have consisted of me playing darts with Prince Harry & the Queen..

Woke up. had some toast. hit the gym hard. I was feeling like a Benjamin Franklin when I got to the gym and immediately got on the elliptical to a nice warm up sesh. cue Summer Shape Up Day 2 workout.

20 minute elliptical warmup, hills & sprint intervals

Unilateral shoulder press

Assisted pull up

Walk out push up

Cardio blast - i may or may not have hopped on the treadmill for a quick jog for 10 minutes. it honestly felt fine afterwards and I was going to get off immediately if I felt the slightest bit of pain..

double-arm dumbbell raise

incline fly press-out combo

machine ball pullover

20 minutes elliptical, sprint intervals

Double crunch (3 sets of 15)

I felt like I was trying out for the NFL Draft when it came time for the walking pushups. Eli doesn't have shiz on me.

When I came home I knew exactly what I wanted for breakies. and no it wasn't green today..

what the heck is that!?

Well you see, after reading Sarah's post about her delicious banana soft serve that she was inspired to make via Gena I was inspired to play Mr. Softy as well. Let's just say Carvel will NOT be calling me to offer me a job being a professional ice cream maker. Don't get me wrong it was delicious but it was more like banana liquid then soft serve. I made a parfait out of it and my layers were beyond amazing and all together in. cred. i. ble.

Layer 1: banana soft serve. Layer 2: PB2. Layer 3: 1/4c Kashi Crunch. Layer 4: banana soft serve. Layer 5: PB2. Layer 6: Kashi H2H. Layer 7: soft serve. Layer 8: teeensie bit of Naturally more. Top Layer: Few speckles of Special K Cin Pecan. hollllly delicious food. Now the layers didn't necessarily stay in tact because like I said it was pretty liquidy BUT when mixed together it was PB & Banana heaven.

Post banana ram breakfast 09 I ran to work to hang with one client who filled me in on a local excellent fro-yo place (uhh isn't that my job..) and then came back home to creep, creep, & eat. two of my fav things.

luuuunch time!

get a closer look because this wrap was too good to be true.

it's oozing with glory.

inside: Sabra's, fake cheeserie (kraft FF), tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms & Don Sabrosa. melted into pure unadultured food porn.

and if that wasn't enough color for you...

love me some summah sugar

Welp now I'm off to eat me another one of these babies and head back to work!

what's your most random dream? I think mine was when I had a dream series of Godzilla attacking my town! It was a 3 day dream sequence and it carried on for 3 nights in a row! totally weird.

have a fab night! and don't judge all NYers based on those damn NYC Prep kids please!

MUFFIN TOPS! check it out :)

Merry Christmas!

hola amigos!

sorry for the lack of posts Saturday and Sunday but the weather was to die for and a HUGE change from the Seattle like rainfall we've been having. So I took the opportunity to bask in the sun on Saturday at my friends apartment complex pool and then Sunday we celebrating me being an old fart I mean my sister's graduation. yay for her finishing high school :) off to college and to being a nurse she goes! She'll be attending Hunter College in the Fall and simultaneously playing volleyball for their team and attempting to be a nurse. Which will then be leaving me alone, with. my. parents. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh


so the past couple have days have involved a serious amount of salsa eating. just the way I like it. I know you wanna know why..

If it ain't gourmet don't eat it right? Well while I was away soaking up the sun at my friends, the UPS man decided to deliver me a heavy box of joy straight from Cincinnati. Don Sabrosa is my kinda man. He comes in 3 different flavors and 2 different temperatures. some like it hot! some like it not!

Don Sabrosa's Natural Gourmet Salsa is one of a kind. There's WAY too many benefits from this salsa for your body that if you eat it you might explode...

Immediately when this box was opened the graduate (my sis) goes "let's have a taste testing"....Okay!

first up.black bean & corn.

most certainly is corny! haha

survey says? oh. my. lord. flavorific. click here. you won't regret purchasing. it's like a mexican fiesta in your mouth! there is a RIDIC amount of black beans and corn in each bite and for the mild flavor it even has a good amount of kick! I'm feenin to try the hot version.

check it in my spaghetti squash. pasta sauce no mas!
let's play a where's waldo game with Don Sabrosa..

can you find it??

you got it!
in my wraaaaaaaaap!

Our taste tasting party got cancelled when Deej came in the kitchen and had her "don't open more then one jar at a time" fit. SO the party was put on hold...until today. Deej is at work so I decided to be a salsa badass and I tried out the next flavor...

blueberries, peaches & honey say that 3x fast...

were you nervous it was gonna be too sweet? I was at first! But it was not. It's delicious! The perfect of perfectest blend of blueberries and peaches with a little sweet taste of honey but not too overwhelming! Even for a mild salsa it still has a nice kick! love spicy fooood.

shroomies & salsa

oh so sweet! I love me some Natural Gourmet salsa :) The BEST part about this salsa is that it is CHOCK FULL of antioxidants, LOW sodium, NO preservatives, & gluten free! Don Sabrosa contains no water or fillers and is perfect for anyone trying to manage their sugar and calorie intake. problems? nope!

So now you're wondering what I've eaten this past weekend that does NOT contain salsa...

Yep. it's been a Christmas party in my mouth. between the salsa and the green monsters I think that the inside of my tummy is now tie-dyed green and red. merry christmas.
what can I say! it's smoothie and salsa season!

alright well I'm off to enjoy the sun :) while it lasts...
what's your favorite brand of salsa??

cooler then ice cold

I'm 23. It's a friday night and I'm watching 16 and Pregnant on MTV. don't judge me.

the prego girl just painted her belly a jackolantern for halloween..

food talk!

after a nice long sweaty gym sesh this morning I knew what I wanted.

hey I'm a woman who knows what she wants.

i like it greeeeeen.

-1c USVAM

-1 packet Jay Robb Egg White protein powder (you can still get the discount people!)

-3/4 frozen banana

-1/4 pear

-spin spin

-ICE baby ICE

On the side I took two slices of Arnold's 40 calorie bread and spread 2 tablespoons of PB2 on top with the rest of my frozen banana and some cinnamon. holy flavor.

pause for drool

After breakfast I wasted no time and ran out to run mucho errands. neeed something to wear to sister's graduation! shopping fail. After running early errands due to my 9AM client cancellation I ran to work to see my later clients. I snacked on some almonds on the way to work and by the time I had finished I think I was pretty ready for lunch.

In honor of my 9AM Friday client who claims every friday is pizza friday. I assembled my own pizza.

- Roll Up wrap

- Lightlife Smart Dog

- Deej's homemade sauce mmmm :)

- 2 slices FF fake cheese (Kraft's finest cheese)

- mushrooms & green peppers

- spinach

it was by far one of the STRANGEST combos but it was oh-so-good! I think I could be making fun pizzas for a long time now. anyone wanna go into the pizza biz?

The pizza was accompanied by some roasted broccoli with some bbq sauce on the side for dippage purposes

It was the perfect lunch!

After lunch one of my friends called and said they were coming to pick me up to run some errands with them. okay! I was practically kidnapped. When I got home I was not too hungry but I still wanted something. I assembled my Magic Bullet and threw an Amazing Grass Chocolate Meal and 1 cup of Almond Milk. blend blend blend chooocolate slurpee. Amazing Grass is going to put 7-11 out of the slurpee biz this summer!

While I did some laundry (oh crap I have to change my laundry!) I played around with some sqaush. hahahahah sorry I just laughed out loud at myself. I played with some spaghetti squash and some kombucha squash with cinnamon in the baker. mmmm dessert!

soon even though I wasn't too hungry it was time to assemble dinner.

cue GINORMOUS salad

- mix of romaine & spinach

- red and green peppers

- carrots

- spaghetti squash

- Boca Veggie burger

- LC Swiss

- honey dijon & apple cider vinger

yes I went back and made MORE broccoli and ate it with bbq sauce. I just can't help myself!

I gave birth to a 9month old fiber baby when I was done with dinner & my bowl(s) of popcorn. She's beautiful and green. just like her daddy..

you're sick julie..

I'm off to go indulge my trashtv fix with some real world cancuuun. does anyone else feel REALLY old watching this?

enjoyy your friday night party animals!

p.s. my friend and I are planning a weekend trip to Chicago for the end of August, anyone been or from Chicago have any great recommendations that we should either eat, or do or something fill me in! We only have 2 days and we wanna pack as much as we can in to our trip! thanks :)

Amazing.

Things That Are Amazing:

1. seaweed salad. incorporated in my 10 star dinner tonight ala sushi on the water.

2. how old I am. it was my younger sister's prom tonight :) doesn't she look gorgeous!? I was super excited for her because it reminded me of my prom and how much fun it was dressing up! It also reminded me of how old I am. age fail.

3. apple pie larabars. enough said.

4. naturally more peanut butter. incorporated in my oh-so-creative-and-delicious sammie for lunch. can you say carrots, naturally more & spinach...

5. jay robb protein powdskie! chocolat! mmm made a green monster this morning and the flavor of this Jay Robb Brown Rice protein in chocolate flavor was a-may-zang.

6. amazing grass products! I've had the pleasure over the past couple of weeks to sample out Amazing Grass products. Let me just say that I'm officially addicted.

5 am wakeup gym sesh? no problemo

need your antioxidants? in the bag. or cup..

breakfast on the run? done!

hershey's say whaaaat.

I heart these products BIG TIME. My favorite is most definitely the Chocolate Drink Powder & as soon as I run out and make it to WF I will be picking myself up a tub of this. It's the perfect pre gym food to get you going early in the morning. supahhhhfood = supaaah powers.

If you haven't already checked these products out, you bettah now. I now understand how Superman, Spiderman, Wonderwoman, X-Men..how they all got their superpowers. they had a contract with Amazing Grass...

7. operation beautiful. & loving our flaws!

i LOVED hearing about all of your flaws that you adore about yourselves! keep em coming!

8. 10PM volleyball games. noooot so much! welp that's where I'm off to. heading out to play some vampire volleyball!

have a fab night :)

what things do you find amazing?

No Diggity No Dog

I really really really enjoyed reading about how all of you met/got proposed to by your partners in crime! EVERY story made me cheese BIG time. keep em coming! I don't have any good stories like that because I'm ridin solo right now BUT I love love love hearing yours! You guys are just true stud status.

check out my new summah reading material...

beach reads? actually with this weather it's more like sit inside your house and watch the rain make puddles in your back yard reads.

I'll let you guys know what I think of this cookbook. As for the Trader Joes Summer Guide. you know it's a New York Times Bestseller.

It's day 1.5 of can't get my hair wet series. I gotta tell you it's hard! Espesh when Mother Nature is doing everything in her power to challenge me to a keep-your-hair-dry-duel. After I hit up spin & lifted some legs this morning I made a mad dash to get home and park myself under the hair dryer. Some of you asked for a pic of my new do. Here's one. It's straight! Even straighter then it really looks! If you have crazy hair you would understand how amazing this is.

good news! I made an appointment with an orthopedist for next Friday to get my leg checked out! The actual doctor wasn't going to be available until the end of July so I opted to see the physician's assistant. I figured seeing him/her was better then nothing! And I don't think I can afford to wait ALL the way until the end of July! good or bad decision?

after the gym I came home and had a quickie..

dirty minds. a quick breakfast! silly rabbits..

-Stonyfield Plain Nonfat yogurt

-cinnamon

-banana

-1 TBSP Naturally More Peanut Butter

-2/3c Kashi H2H

-1/4c TJs Fiber Sticks

Then I ran to work, saw some clients, played therapist & got stood up. yep that's the life of a baller.

baller's mid morning snack

PB2 & apple

shower. check! creep on blogs. check! explain to Deej that the front door opened twice at 5:30AM today because as I was going to the gym, my younger brother was coming home. Deej jaw drop. check!

lunchtime!

amazingly amazing wrap. with carrots, mushies & red pepps on the side.

go ahead get a closer look. wanna know what's inside?!

spinach, LC swiss, Deej's homemade sauce yum, mushrooms and the main event:

Lightlife Veggie Dog

gray's papaya whaaatup?

Lightlife Smart Dogs

Nutrition Facts

Per Single Serving

Serving Size (1)

Nutrition:	Amount per Serving	Percentage Daily Value
Calories	45
Fat, g	0
Saturated Fat, g	0
Trans Fatty Acids, g	0
Cholesterol, mg	0
Sodium, mg	320	12%
Potassium, mg*	250	7%
Carbohydrate, g	2	1%
Fiber, g	1	2%
Sugars, g	1
Protein, g	9	16%
Soy Protein, g	7

Ingredients

Water, soy protein isolate, wheat gluten, evaporated cane juice, salt, yeast extract, soy sauce (water, soybeans, wheat, salt), granulated garlic, carrageenan, spice extract, natural flavors (from vegetable sources), vegetable gum, natural smoke flavor, potassium chloride, tomato pulp.

Contains: Wheat and Soy

survey says? GOOD! I actually REALLY liked this hotdog! I sliced it up and grilled it in my wrap and with the Laughing Cow, homemade spaghetti sauce and mushroom flavors all incorporated into the perfect bite it was magnifique! Normally I don't like hotdogs just because of the random stuff that always gets thrown in there so I stay clear of them. But knowing that these hotdogs are made with NO mysterious ingredients it made me feel great about eating it! I especially loved that one dog was 45 calories with 9 grams of protein and no fat! yay for Lightlife!

after lunchies I ran a bunch of errands with the sis. I may or may not have helped supply after prom activities..don't judge me. Also hit up TJs for some more oats and almond milk and then came home to make some ice cream...

i mean cottage cheese whipped in the bullet with vanilla extract frozen banana & strabreezies

holy heaven in a bowl.

welp I'm off to get a good meal in my tummy and watch SYTYCD.

TGIAF!!

oh! for those of you that love the operation beautiful movement, check out this fun website called loveyourflawz.com It's Caitlin Crosby spreading the you know you're gorgeous and fabulous movement. SO now tell ME what's your favorite flaw about yourself?!

Breakfast Date!

sawwwy for the lack of Monday night post but do you ever have those days where you feel like someone just took a baseball bat and beat you across the face with it since the second you got up...? haha well yeah it was one of those days. SO by the time I got home from work I needed to watch the dvred Bachelorette and watch Jillian continue to be a butthole and keep around the guy who's clearly there for publicity purposes, ask me how I feel about her choices. I'm just waiting for the day she sends Jesse home and I can stalk him out.

ANYWAYS. it's Tuesday and I'm back in action. I've continued to refrain from running even and cringe with jealousy when I watch all the gym goes hop on the treadmill and I'm just tooling around on the elliptical BUT I know it's for the best. After the gym I came home and had arranged a hot date with a hot dude.

meet my friend Jay Robb

green monster amazingness included:

1c USVAB

1 packet Jay Robb Whey Vanilla protein powder

1/2 frozen banana (amazing this way)

1 cup spinach

ughhhhh this was the BEST smoothie ever.

Jay Robb protein powder was incredibly smooth and delicious. I never wanted my drink to end. It actually made me really upset that I had just bought a GIANT tub of Trader Joe's protein powder the other day. If I had met Jay before that, your girl would be spending her weekly allowance on this man.

It truly is "the best tasting protein on the planet" the only downfall is that it's expensive! BUT that it why you can still take advantage of this coupon! hurry up! because you can get 20% off your ENTIRE order just by entering the code BLOGJGL at checkout! july 1st is creeping so get your orders in!

lesson is: jay robb is a stud.

after my breakfast date I had to get ready for the day and to spend 4 bagillion hours in the hair salon. why you ask? well to summah proof my hur. I have ENORMOUS out of control hair so I have currently taken advantage of the Keratin treatment otherwise know as the Brazilian hair straightning. it's incredible. seriously life changing and I'm not even being sarcastic. SO this was my second time getting it done and I had to prepare myself for 4 hours of chair sitting. I munched on this before and prayed it would keep the hunger pangs away for the duration of my groooming sesh.

success! hair went good but hunger went bad.

The ONLY problem with the hair thang is that it's a requirement to NOT get it wet for 3 days. holy fail I'm not good at that part!

I came home hungry like a wolf. And assembled a plate o joy

crack wrap a licious: Sabra's Original, fake cheese, spinach and tomates

along with a LC and salsa on the side for dippage purposes

potatoe chips I mean green peppers, mushies & carrots :)

I also may or may not have just had an apple with PB2 that was unpictured because hey like I said I was hungry like a wolfffff.

it's off to work I go and then home later for the viewing of NYC Prep. hoping those spoiled brats represent us New Yorkers well. because everyone from NY acts like that, fyi. sike!

Question of the day: IF you have a hubs or boyfriend share how you met! or how he proposed OR IF you don't tell me what your idea of a romantic date would be!

tellll! I want to learn about you guys!

Shelter Izzland

So Saturday after work I trekked my butt out East to compete in the Shelter Island 10k run/5k walk with Deej. After spending what seemed like forever in US Open traffic I finally got out there. With a few minutes to spare Deej stressed about what her "race outfit" should be. Smacking her silly was an option of mine but I knew what it felt like to have your race v card and so I let her stress slide. After all it was raining but so what else is new. We decided the best option would be to park our car in downtown Greenport and hop on the ferry by foot instead of taking the car over.

ferry shot of the two race studs

Deej melts in the rain can't you tell..

We rode on the school bus all the way to the high school where the race started and the whole way I had runners envy. All these cool people had their running gear on and were getting all amped for it and I just felt like a walker. blah blah blah cry cry cry haha don't feel sorry for me at all. Deej was super excited for it and I was glad to be able to be with her for her first official race. We got to the high school, picked up our race packets and t's, I handed in my original race number which was going to be #808 for the 10K and got upgraded to 3309. woop woop. It was the best to watch Deej be all worried about the timer on her sneaker and where to put her number. She treated herself to a 10K hat to sport during the race due to the inclamet weather condition but really just to look as cool as her daughter.

Eventually we headed to the start line and watched all the runners line up. They had the 10K start 15 minutes before the 5K walk so it was cool to watch all of these skilled and professionals warm up and get ready for the race. I may or may not have stole some warmup and stretching techniques from the pros.

cue gunshot the runners were off and I was left chillin with Deej, a group of oldies and a man and his golden retriever who ran the entire way...I'm mad the man didn't give his dog his race number! enter runners envy.

It was then our time to line up for the 5K part. We lined up and I couldn't help but love how excited Deej was. There's still a little adrenaline rush when they say GO. Annnnd we were off!

pre race shot of the star athletes

me attacking the papparazi

walk walk walk, talk talk talk, church bells ringing, people clapping, dogs beating me, etc etc. At the last mile is when we met up with the runners. I was so happy for them and they looked like they were struggling but it was so beautiful to see them finish. People of ALL shapes, sizes, ages. I just loved it and felt so proud for them.

We finished our 5K in about 45 minutes and Deej even got her name announced over the loud speaker as we crossed the finish line. She felt great! And I was really happy to finish with her. I even convinced her that with the right training she'll be able to run it next year and she will.

When the race was over my leg was killing me. It felt numb up and down even into my toes. not good. It was definitely a good choice that I decided to walk the 5K because the pain in my leg was so crazy after walking that I couldn't even imagine what it would have been like running the 10K. I must get it better PRONTO. I'm going to call and make an appointment with the doctor and rehab rehab rehab. I need another race soon especially after seeing all of the runners cross the finish line at Shelter Iz.

thank you for all of your support :) Deej and I will be hitting up Shelter Iz 2011 no doubt. Any takers!?

Operation Beautiful

Good Morning guyss :)

yesterday was a busy busy day and I didn't have time to post and today I'm crazy on the run from work to out east. After ALL of your much needed support I decided it was best that I just walk the 5k Fun Walk with Deej because she had already signed up for it. it's fine! You are all right about how there will be many more races to come in the future!

If you don't already know about operation beautiful head over to Caitlin's blog and check it out! It's a HUGE movement that is bound to make millions of girls and people in general feel better about themselves!

sneaky and crafty in my gym ladies lockeroom

oh yes I did. target dressing room!

it's an amazing feeling knowing you're making someone feel gorgeous for even a split second! make it happen! it's 5 seconds of your time just post it up and smile peeps!

leave comments telling me the time you felt MOST beautiful and why!

alright I'm off to work and then out East for the weekend! Be back Sunday nightt!