Friday, January 29, 2016

TGIF

Happy Friday, everyone!  I hope everyone had a great week!  I'm very happy to greet the weekend today!  Here's how my week played out.

The high of my week was getting together with a friend I used to work with for lunch. I saw her at a wedding in December but I hadn't had one-on-one time with her in many months. It was so great to catch up!

The low of my week was ... nothing really stands out which is great because January has not been my best month due to the health issues I've had.

A book I am reading is The Known World by Edward P. Jones. This Pulitzer-prize winning novel is mostly about a freed slave who goes on to own slaves (I had no idea that actually happened!). There are many other stories woven in along the way, so at times I've had a hard time keeping track of who is who but overall it's been an interesting read. I've owned this book for 5+ years and am glad I'm finally getting around to reading it! It will also count toward the read harder challenge for the book set before 1900 category.

A recipe I am making this week is this enchilada casserole that I saw on Huffington post last week which I am making tonight.  I had leftover tortillas and enchilada sauce from the enchiladas I made last week so it's a good way to use up the leftover ingredients!

For my workouts I went to power yoga on Monday, did a strength training workout on Tuesday, went to yoga sculpt on Wednesday, ran with a friend on Thursday, and today is a rest day. Tomorrow I will run with my club and then on Sunday I'll go to a power yoga class. This is my first week of normal workouts since early January.  I'm being careful about how much I am working out and the intensity of those workouts as I know my body is still in a bit of a fragile state due to my RA flare. Normally I'd like to do 2-3 sculpt classes a week and 1 power yoga class (in addition to other workouts) but right now I am switching it around to 2-3 power yoga classes and 1 sculpt class until I feel more confident that my body has fully healed.

The best money I spent was on some bare minerals foundation and eye shadow. Gone are the days of getting cheap make-up from Target as I now realize that some things, like facial products and make-up, are worth spending a bit more money on.

My plans this weekend include staying in tonight and making dinner for Phil. Tomorrow I am going to run with my club in the morning and then in the evening, Phil is taking me to the recording of A Prairie Home Companion as an early birthday present!  I am sooo excited for this as two of my favorite artists, Ben Folds and Brandi Carlile, are guests on the show!  Afterwards we'll go out for dinner somewhere in St. Paul. On Sunday I'm going over to Phil's mom's as I am going to make dinner for her and Phil.  When I made dinner for her last fall she was so excited that she told pretty much everyone in the neighborhood, which I thought was so cute.  Since it meant so much to her, I am going to try to make dinner for her once a quarter.  Last time I made something that was way too spicy so this time around I'm making my favorite chicken pasta dish.

What was the high of your week?  What are your plans for the weekend?

17 comments:

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

It's sweet that Phil's mom loved having you come over and cook for her. That is something that is such a nice gift, the gift of your time and the memories that you guys will have because of it. I feel a bit guilty because I should be doing the same thing with my grandma, but I am such a bad granddaughter! I really need to make a point to spend more time with her while I have the chance.

This week was a bit crazy at work so really all I have done is work, grocery shop, work out and sleep. My back is finally not too painful so I also finally got around to doing a couple of house chores that I could not do last week, like laundry and putting away the dishes etc! I am also TRYING to start packing healthier lunches and snacking less, so I have spent a lot of time chopping veggies and assembling things.

Jeanie said...

I just love that Phil's mom was excited to have you cook for her. Really a treat and probably extra nice since you are the "girl she never had." And you will LOVE PHC -- I'll be listening! Great guests, too!

I had a low level week but the best part was having a friend from the time we were 12 come by for awhile. I loved it - like no time had passed, easily falling into comfortable rhythm. This weekend I have an art class on Saturday and who knows? Maybe going to see the "Sing Along Sound of Music." I did it once before and it was great fun but I'm not sure I can convince Rick to go again!

Marlys said...

That is really sweet of you to cook for Phil's Mom! I wish I lived closer! Eating a home-cooked meal made by someone else is a royal treat for women!
Sounds like a great weekend and I know you will enjoy the event tomorrow evening.
We have no plans so I am going to work on taxes - how fun! But it has to be done so best get at it!
I hope you continue to feel stronger and that healing is 100%!
I saw a new soup recipe that I am going to try this weekend - a vegetarian black bean soup.

Marisa A. said...

Gah, so jealous you're going to Prairie Home Companion! I wanted to go soooo bad but alas, I will be in Des Moines. We should meet up before the Ben Folds concert in March, I cannot wait!

Charbelle said...

Your weekend sounds amazing! I'm glad you are listening to your body! I've been out of commission this week because my back is funky. I think it happened because of the ice last week. I kept jerking to keep myself from falling and I'm pretty sure one of those times I hurt my lower back. I have to do a long run tomorrow and I'm hopeful that if I take ibuprofen before I'll be able to complete it.

Linda said...

What a sweet birthday present! Happy early birthday!

What's this favorite chicken pasta dish? What a sweet thing for you to do!

Nora said...

Fun Fact? I grew up listening to Prairie Home on the radio. I love Garrison's voice and the show and what it reminds me of. I hope you have a great time tomorrow; you deserve it :)

And yes to the facial/make-up products costing more now that we know better, so to speak.

Kelly (She Wears a Red Sox Cap) said...

I'm glad you are easing back into normal workouts. I hope that means you are feeling a little better!
I'm curious about that book you are reading- mainly because I tend to hate award winning books and super old books ha ha... so I'm guessing it's not for me, but I always appreciate your opinion about books!

Carolina John said...

That's a solid week and a lot of yoga! Very good.

Leigh said...

That recipe sounds yummy! Might have to try making it. Hope you have a wonderful weekend :)

megabrooke said...

I had never heard of this Prairie Home Companion, but it sounds really cool! That's awesome! Hope you have a great time tonight! Glad to hear you're feeling better and got some good workouts in this week! Good luck on your run today! My high of the week was...ha, as lame as it sounds, finding out a date our carpeting is being installed (next Thursday!). Low of the week was feeling a little uncmomfy a couple days, but that wasn't a huge deal.

Cherry Blossoms said...

Sounds like a fun date night. Can't wait to hear all about it.

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

You are always welcome to come and cook me dinner!!! ;) My week was super lazy. My whole January, but I have been really trying to take it easy on my feet with my excerises and starting fresh in February so I don't relapse into go hard and then die in pain for days. We had a super busy night life this week so I may just leave the house Sunday for groceries. Today we had a lazy morning and then did about an hour clean up job and then spent time reading and playing games.

Stephany said...

The high of my week was probably watching 9 episodes of Gilmore Girls while I was sick. It sucks to be ill, but Lorelai and Rory made the time feel a little less sucky. :)

I don't have much going on this weekend! Book club last night and staying in tonight. Tomorrow, I want to try a new church in my area, run some errands, and try to have a low-key day. Still getting over being sick, blah!

Raquelita said...

Envy burns my soul that you get to hear Brandi Carlile and Ben Folds! I can't wait to hear more about it! Today I had a team run and then went to a student appreciation and MLK commemoration brunch, which was awesome. This evening I'm playing in a fundraising Scrabble tournament with some friends. Tomorrow is brunch with Mark and class prep and proposal writing for the rest of the day.

I'm glad to hear you had a week with no real negatives! That is a blessing after the flare up and having been sick.

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

That's so nice of you to make dinner for Phil's mom :-) I bet she just loves you!

Amber said...

I'm glad you had such a great week last week! Sounds kind of perfect with a good mix of workouts, social time, down time and Phil time :) So so sweet about his mom telling all the neighbours!!