"I'm sittin' here in the boring room..."

It's just another windy summer evening moon...

Yeah that's where I stop trying to rewrite lyrics to songs. Do you remember Fool's Garden's song, Lemon Tree? Here it is if you don't recall or know it.

Food Stuffs

'Twas another lonely Friday eve at our house, and because of the mild weather we've been having, I was laying under the covers in bed. I was contemplating all that has happened this year. I arrived at the fact that I have been mighty slack the last four months and haven't lost  much or achieved a great deal in terms of weight loss (finally I hit this realisation...but that didn't stop me from having a few more little bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk - the fun size ones, or some chips at A's work tonight). One last hurrah.

Anyway, finally admitting to myself that I have been slack is just what I needed to kick-start again. I went to my favourite recipe sites - Taste, Pinterest Food and Drink, and my Pinterest Food Boards (there are multiple, so pick which meal/food type you are after accordingly) - after perusing the freezer contents, and started from there. Admittedly, it was a little difficult to get started but I now have meals planned for every dinner slot for the next two weeks! Hurrah. Breakfast for the next week is planned, but now I just need to do the lunch planning. I always find lunch planning hardest, even when I'm home.

So, from 31 December to 13 January, here's what our dinner plan looks like (links provided where possible):

31 Dec: Homemade pizza (at our friends' place for NYE celebrations) 
1 Jan: Paprika chicken with quinoa tabbouleh

2 Jan: Tomato and cheese baked veal

3 Jan: Frozen meal or leftovers as A is at work

4 Jan: Frozen meal or leftovers as A is at work

5 Jan: Wedding!! Our friends having the homemade pizza NYE celebrations get married on this day!

6 Jan: Thai prawn and avocado salad (I'm also going to mix some quinoa through for a bit of extra texture) 

7 Jan: Homemade hamburgers with salads

8 Jan: Crispy pesto gnocchi

9 Jan: Stirfry (with enough for leftovers)

10 Jan: Crumbed fish fillets with salad or veges

11 Jan: Five spice meatballs with plum sauce and Asian geens

12 Jan: Homemade pizza

13 Jan: Roast and veges

It's possible that leftovers will be had on any of those nights, it really just depends how tired we both are. I now work til 1900 Monday - Thursday so A is home first usually...but might be too tired to cook. That said, maybe if I prepare everything beforehand with our new Global knives purchased on our outing today (pictures to come), things might not be so difficult.

Fashion...shopping...outings...

So, today's outing! Rather excited really. Without our wonderful family, today's shopping trip would not have been possible. We received cash and vouchers as Christmas gifts from our family (well, my folks, my brother and his girlfriend, and my pa and his partner...but still our family). We knew we wanted to update our wardrobes so today was the day we did so. 
Note: Global Knives did not come from said cash and vouchers.

Poor A has been a bit ill this week, but once he was better, he had to get back to work. Today was his day off, and as we had plans for Monday evening, I had an inkling he wouldn't really want to go to the shops on Monday. So, being the sport that he is, off we trundled to DFO Moorabbin and Southland. Neither of us are really fans of crowds, but I'd held off as long as I could to go shopping. I've never taken the 'opportunity' to go to the Boxing Day Sales, I tend to wait a few days after. Three days after isn't too bad, I'd say. Parking was pretty bleurgh at both destinations, however we didn't have to cut laps around the car parks thankfully. We had one aim at DFO: the Dangerfield outlet. However our first port of call was General Trader Outlet. Just went for a look, and walked out $249 lighter, but saved $351. Here are said awesome knives.

Here is a happy Mr. A opening and playing with said awesome knives (apologies for shitty grainy Samsung Galaxy S pictures...upgrade is a few months away).

We made it to Dangerfield, scoured the racks and found a few things to try on, but both walked out with only one thing (apologies for stock images, my camera is quite grainy in this poor light). A got a really lovely grey and white striped Jack London casual/business shirt (of which I cannot find an image for), and I got this lovely lace top.

St. Lenny 'My Lenny Cares About Me' 

Talk about terrible service though at ClearIt DFO (Dangerfield's clearance outlet). Got to the register. One attendant was serving, which was fine. The other? Standing there texting, looks up at us, continues texting, then turns away and sorts out coat hangers. Ahem. Then the attendant who was serving served us. He was a bit ho-hum with his manners, but I let it slide. That was until he just shoved the two items into the plastic bag all messy-like (and I mean shoved). We walked outside and I folded them properly so as to not have them crumpled and require ironing when we arrived home.

We continued on our merry way around DFO, stopping at a few shops here and there. Our next success story was found at Forever New. My mission for the day was to find some really nice tops to be worn for casual or business. Guess what? The only top I found that I liked was the one above. The Forever New success story was a beautiful dress that may make an appearance at one or both of the January weddings we will be attending.

Alexia Textured Ponte Dress 
Forever New on Polyvore

Click the link. This picture is way too small and I couldn't copy the image URL from Polyvore, so got stuck with the shitty Google images one. 

DFO continued to disappoint. Last time we both were there, and I'm sure it was there last time I went, Country Road was there. This time, not the case. Also the case for Ojay which I am really disappointed with. Good thing there is currently a pop-up clearance shop near my work, and the South Yarra HQ/Clearance Centre is close by. We were over and done with DFO in about an hour. Thank goodness Southland wasn't too far away. First port of call: Country Road.

As we were on a mission, and were reaching our limits with crowds, a map was needed. If we had the GAF to stroll, we would have. We found Country Road, and made a bee-line there. That was, until Jeanswest distracted us. I'm a big fan of Jeanswest, having bought three gorgeous dresses there earlier this year, and many things over the years, but my intent for this visit was for one person only: A. 

I'm really lucky when it comes to clothes shopping - both A and I trust each other enough to pick clothing out for the other to try/wear. A was also on a mission: shorts and casual shirts appropriate for summer. 

Walking in to Jeanswest, the first thing I notice were shorts. Bingo. His size. We both like. First thing to try on. Next, shirts. There were a myriad of shirts to go into the change room. Here's what we walked out with.

Gabriel Stripe Shirt
Jeanswest

Castelreagh Check Shirt
Jeanswest

Apollo Walk Short
Jeanswest

A: Mission accomplished!

The sleeve ends on the check shirt actually fold down - thank goodness, neither of us were keen on the denim/chambray look at the end.

I managed to find some lovely items too, and wish it wasn't poor etiquette to wear white dresses to weddings, because this dress would be awesome. It's also available in coral. I tried that one on too but this was better. That said, I might go back and get the coral one too.

Dina Lace Dress in Eggnog
Jeanswest

Shay Cardigan in Coral
Jeanswest

Unfortunately, the link provided for the Shay cardigan is out of stock in the coral, but has the black. Let me tell you, this cardi is SUPER soft and super cute. There's button detailing on the cuffs (damnit, that's the word! I'm not going back to change 'sleeve ends' to cuffs. Having serious brain fail tonight) and it's that perfect cardi to keep your shoulders and arms warm on those brisk Melbourne summer nights.

We persevered and looked at a few more stores, including Country Road, without success. On the outward journey to the car, I stopped at the OPI nail polish stand at Petra. The last few days, the OPI shade I'm Not Really a Waitress has popped across my screen more than once. I took it as a sign that I was meant to buy it. I'd been meaning to buy myself OPI polishes for a little while, however always balked at the price. Today though, I decided to treat myself to not one, but SIX bottles, and then I got three free. Free for free, you say? Yay!

My Instant OPI Collection

Now, for the closeups (again, apologies for terribly poor images).

Free Shatter Polishes (L-R) - Shatter the Scales (Spiderman Collection), Black Shatter (Shatter Collection),
Super Bass Shatter (Nicki Minaj Collection)

Limited Collections (L-R): Moonraker (Skyfall 007 Collection), Care To Danse? (New York City Ballet Collection)

Everyday Collection (L-R): Cosmo-Not Tonight, Honey!, I'm Not Really A Waitress, My Private Jet, Blue My Mind
View interactive colours here

I didn't get the base or top coats as I have one already that does a good enough job. So, that's my little shopping splurge for the day. A got his knives, I got my polishes!

Now, back to the weighty stuff

A very dear friend of mine had a wardrobe clearout because she's been doing the Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation and has lost a heap of weight (well done, K, so proud of you!). K has very generously given me a rather hefty bag filled with stuff that no longer fits her. I was so chuffed, I came home and tried the stuff on straight away. However, I found that I'm still a bit pudgy around the edges and that not everything fits me nicely. Nothing like a wake-up call that, although I'm happy at 82kg because I have some beautiful clothing again and it fits me, it's not going to stay that way. I know this, but I just didn't really have anything to work towards (yeah, I had that goal to be 78kg at the end of the year but I didn't have the motivation to get there). This bag of stuff from K is my motivation! Hurrah!

Today was the first time in months I logged what I ate. I felt like I ate lots, but apparently I only just hit the 1200 mark, and that was including chocolate and pfeffernusse! MFP is telling me I need to consume 1370 cals per day. Maybe my trouble of late is that I'm not eating enough for my metabolism to work. 1200 calories per day is the minimum intake required for a sedentary adult. Obviously the more active you are, the more calories your body requires. As we were shopping today, we spent about 3 hours walking at a very leisurely pace. According to MFP, I burned 738 calories, meaning my total caloric intake for today is 1370 + 738 = 2,108 (and yes, I did that without a calculator!). Like I said though, I struggled to hit 1200, I'm sitting at 1294 at 22:45. I don't like to eat before bed, and I've just brushed my teeth, so there won't be any more eating for me tonight. Going to bed hungry isn't a bad thing though.

We've run out of bran for breakfast tomorrow, so it will either be plain old Weet Bix and milk (usually we mix bran in with the WB), or will be toast and some sort of condiment.

Tomorrow I am in two minds as to whether or not I go shopping for some nice shoes to wear to the weddings we have in January, or if I go for a big walk and perhaps a swim. I really miss walking, so perhaps I might give that a go tomorrow. My Kris Kringle at work gave me some wonderful in-ear headphones for the iPod, so I should use them wisely, as well as the alone time.

So, there you have it. Shopping and food and weight and stuff. Long post. Probably the last one for the year. I hope 2012 progressed in some way for you, because, let's face it, it's not all roses and perfume all year round. Here's to a better 2013, and what do you know!? I've just realised that this blog is 6 months old! Here's to making it through another 6 months and adiosing more kilograms!

From XciteFun