Happy Halloween!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!

Here’s a little blast from the past for ya:

Yes, that really was my middle school cheerleading outfit and yes again, I do have some sort of lasso around my neck???

I think the best part about these pictures is because they were all from the same Halloween weekend of my junior in college. Charleston is NOTORIOUS for being craaaaazy for Halloween and my friends and I had so much fun being something totally new every night! tehe!

The past couple years I haven’t dressed up, only because I’ve either been working or had school. Somehow its all better when you are in college. 🙁 This year I’m having a blast though handing out candy to kiddies for the very first time. They all look so freakin’ adorable in their costumes! I can’t wait to have kids and dress them up and go trick or treating!!!!!!!!!!

Here’s my candy bowl:

I might have to snag some lemon heads in a minute! 😉

But let me back up first and do a daily recap….. today has been soooooo tiring! Last night I went to bed around 9:30, thinking that I was so exhausted and all…….folks, I ended up laying in bed for 3 1/2 HOURS!!!!!!!!!! It was horrible. Just terrible. I kept looking over at the clock and getting really stressed out since I had to wake up at 5:30 for work. I don’t know what got into me…just a bad sleepless night. I called Ryan to say goodnight at 9:30 then called him again to say hi at 10:30 because I couldn’t fall asleep and then I called him AGAIN at midnight because I was still awake. He’s a trooper to put up with me :(. He’s like “why are you still awake???!!!” I felt like crying.
What do yall do in these kinds of situations? I have to admit, I’m horrible at them. Really. I get so anxious and stressed out because, above all else, I despise feeling exhausted at work. I try not to look at the clock, but then I do and just get more and more frustrated, which makes it even harder to fall asleep! So anyways, that has always been a struggle for me ever since I was a little girl. I DID end up falling asleep of course and the alarm went off (of course) at 5:30. Boy, was I ever dragging. And I still had my headache!

However, I made a WONDERFUL breakie bowl that pulled me together. I used 1 cup oikos, 1/2 cup quaker oatmeal squares, 1 banana, 1 spoonful peanut butter and some blackberry preserves:

I took two excedrin migraine pills and felt better within an hour of going to work. No coffee for me today because all those pills are are caffeine! I gulped down water like a mad woman (I felt SO dehydrated for some reason!) and sipped on Tazo Refresh herbal tea (a mint infusion).

For lunch, I packed a hummus & turkey sammie on protein bread with carrots, a pear and a granola bar.

I ate the kashi bar mid-morning and saved the carrots and the pear (probably the juiciest pear I’ve had in a long long long time!) to have with lunch.

After work, I had an appointment and errands to run (aka more candy to buy!) so I snacked on an apple pie larabar in the car.

I really didn’t want to run today. My eyes, my brain….everything is feeling the lack of sleep from last night. But…..I knew I should just do it. I would feel better afterwards and I didn’t exercise yesterday so I felt like I owed it to myself. So, originally I was going to run 4 miles but then when I was out there it ended up only being 3. I’m totally fine with that….whatever the distance, I’m just glad I went!!

After my run, ice and shower I started dinner! I’ve had a major craving for roasted root veggies lately and last time I was at the store I picked up a butternut squash, a sweet potato, parsnips and carrots—all my favies. I rough chopped them all, tossed in some peeled garlic cloves, sprinkled 0n some sea salt and drizzled evoo on the whole thing. I baked them at 400 for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Here they are before going into the oven:

The only problem was that I couldn’t figure out what protein source I wanted with them! I finally decided on a morningstar farms original grillers veggie burger covered in Sabra’s Spicy Hummus (I’m boring, I know). I threw on some kashi crackers for crunch and there ya have it!

Mmmmmmmmm roast veggies!!!! Parsnips are my favorite!!! =)

I’m such a sad case. Today Adam and I made caramel apples and I brought one home to have for dessert but when the time came to dig in, I DIDN’T WANT IT!!!!! Wahhh!!! I don’t know why! I did “sample” a lot of the caramel as I was dipping the apples today though. For dessert what I really really wanted was a mess made with a half cup of whipped cottage cheese, 1/2 cup H2H and a smidge of pb&j. I know, I know….I guess I just crave healthy things!

Today at work I made some delicious (I know, I tasted it) pecan scottie cookie batter:

It had coconut, pecans and oats in it! Yum, yum, yum!

I also made a ton of thick creamy frosting:

It was so light and fluffy I wanted to jump in!

On the healthier side, I sliced melons for a fruit plate:

And………..made caramel apples!

They DO look good, don’t they? I think I might wrap mine up and save it for tomorrow night. I’m just so tired right now that all I want is my bed.

Oh! And I tried my first fresh fig at work today as well!

It was……..interesting! it had a very “meaty” texture to it. Definitely different than the fig newton filling, that’s for sure!

Tomorrow Adam and I are meeting at the club at 7 and then going and checking out this local farmer’s market down the street at 8. Tomorrow marks the first day that the main dining room (the formal one) at the club is open for dinner so we have a ton to do to get ready for it. Here in Vero we operate very seasonally. The snowbirds come in around this time, stay til April, then head back up north for the summer. Winter is our busiest season by far! Can you believe tomorrow is already November 1st???? Woah! Christmas is coming!!!!!!!!!

Phew. It’s taken me almost an hour to type this post because the doorbell keeps ringing! I’m off to alternate reading with answering the door! 🙂

See you tomorrow!