Recently and Thinking out Loud #15

Happy Thursday! At times this week has felt like it's flying by but other times its felt like it's dragging by, plus I keep getting the days mixed up. I blame lack of sleep and the utter craziness of the past two weeks for having me totally confused. The hecticness (is that is a word🤔) is also to blame for me being MIA from the blog basically since Thanksgiving, but I do have some new recipes lined up to test and share so I'm excited about that. This weeks thinking out loud is going to serve as a TOL and recently life update all mashed into one. Basically it's still a ton of randomness so on that note, let's jump right in! 

1. Last week was total chaos because my dad was in the hospital all week. The hospital isn't close so when I went to visit it was a 30 minute drive in good traffic, in rush hour it was closer to 45 or 50 minutes. Making that trip multiple times a day for a week was exhausting. I'm happy to share that my dad was discharged Saturday and went home to finally get some sleep, because if you've ever been in the hospital you know that it's near impossible to sleep while you're there. Despite the long drive to and from the hospital I have no complaints, everyone from the nurses to the doctors were incredible and I'm so thankful for the wonderful care my dad received. 

2. In the midst of all the craziness last week I took some time out to meal prep to make life easier. I made roasted sweet potatoes and my one pan oven fajitas but I forgot it at home🙈 I was bummed, but luckily there was a Panera right next to the hospital so I was able to run there and get a quick bite to eat. I ate my meal prep when I got home for dinner because I was way too tired to even think about cooking. Meal prep saves the day once again.

3. Saturday night my boyfriend and I had date night and the down time was much needed after a very long week. We got food and then went and saw Office Christmas Party with Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman. Let me just say if you want or need a good laugh then go see this movie! We laughed so hard, the movie really is hilarious and I definitely recommend going to see it. It was the perfect way to end a chaotic week, not to mention the company wasn't half bad😜

4. I know it's really late, but we finally got the Christmas tree up. With everything going on we just hadn't had time to get it up and decorated, so we got it up and decorated Sunday night. I've been sharing some pictures of my favorite ornaments over on my instagram story. This year I really want to get or make an ornament that I can have Cora's paw print on. I've seen people make salt dough, get the print and then bake it but I'm not sure how that would hold up. If you have an recommendations comment and let me know! 

5. A big thank you to the team at SaladPower for sending be a box of their new and improved drinks! I'm super pumped to test out the newly perfected recipes especially the fruity ones😋 I will do a blog post with my thoughts on the new recipe. 

6. This meme had me literally laughing out loud because this is seriously how I am when I'm waiting for a package. Anyone else guilty of constantly looking for the mail/UPS/FedEx truck when you know your package is supposed to arrive?! I may be in my 20's but I still enjoy getting mail- as long as it's not bills, no one likes getting those.

7. Shoutout to Panera for saving me from being seriously hangry more times than I can count in the past week. Between forgetting to pack food going back and forth to the hospital and being super hangry when I left the doctor on Monday Panera has saved me and fellow drivers from potential the danger of driving while hangry. My go to is always the Thai Chicken salad but I get it without the wonton strips and no vinaigrette dressing. Every Panera I've ever been to has been so accommodating of food allergies that it makes life so much easier. 

8. I have to share this because I was super pumped (no pun intended) to get gas for $1.25/gallon!!!!!! I had a ton of Kroger points and was able to use them to get a dollar off per gallon. Nothing beat the feeling of filling up my tank for only $22. Fellow Midwesterners know how awesome Kroger points are. 

I'll end things there this week. Have a terrific Thursday and be on the lookout for some new recipes (FINALLY) next week!! 

How do you like to unwind after a long week?
What is your favorite place to grab a quick bite to eat on the go?

Thinking Out Loud #14

Happy Thursday!! I apologize for being MIA this week, but my dad has been in the hospital all week so things have been a little crazy with going back and forth to the hospital multiple times a day. I still wanted to get a quick thinking out loud post up this week so here goes nothing!

1. Despite everything going on I have been hitting the gym for quick lifts and runs. I have been lengthening out my runs and despite being sleep deprived with everything going on my runs have been feeling really good. The post run high has been a nice energy boost too.

2. Last Friday I finished the series finale of The Newsroom and I'm very sad it's over. The finale was definitely good but I have nothing to watch now so if you have any recommendations for good shows that are available on Amazon let me know! If you haven't watched The Newsroom definitely check it out, I know I have praised it but it is seriously so well written and shot. Aaron Sorkin is a genius🙌

3. I read this in a Christmas card and literally laughed out loud😂 even Santa gets hangry!

4. Monday I got stuck at the Apple Store getting my mom's phone repaired so I had a lot of time to kill. I walked around the mall and of course had to go into Sir La Table, which is an awesome store if you've never been to one. They had the cutest foodie ornaments ever! There were cupcakes, pancakes, chocolate covered strawberries, avocado toast with chia seeds and so many others. Of course I had to snap a pic of the avocado toast because it was so dang cute. 

5. With my dad being in the hospital I have had zero time to food prep so a lot of my meals have been on the go. Luckily there is a lot of healthy options near the hospital including a Whole Foods. I made this delicious salad at the salad bar and took it over to eat with my dad. I finally got to try some of the Whole Foods roasted sweet potatoes and they are so good😍 I am definitely going to try to recreate this recipe because it was so good! 

6. One of my friends shared this picture with me and I got a good laugh out of it. It's totally disgusting but sometimes in nasty situations you have to have a sense of humor to get through. After everything going on this week this picture provided a much needed laugh. 

I'm going to stop at six this week and keep things short and sweet. I hope to be back with some recipes next week but in the mean time have a great Thursday!!

Thinking Out Loud #13

Happy Thursday! I can't believe it's already been a week since Thanksgiving, time is really flying by which means I really need to get going on Christmas shopping😳 I am so not about Black Friday shopping, having worked Black Friday at a retail store I saw firsthand how horrible it is for employees, plus I'd rather stay at home and shop online anyway. Anywho I hope you had a terrific Thanksgiving with family, friends, or whoever you celebrated with. On that note let's get to this weeks thinking out loud!

1. Thanksgiving did not turn out as expected in my family. Holidays rarely go according to plan, but my dad wound up in the hospital the day before Thanksgiving complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath. Come to find out he has AFIB so he was forced to spend Thanksgiving in the hospital. The day before Thanksgiving was an incredibly long day with him going to the hospital and then my boyfriend came to see me before leaving to visit his family for Thanksgiving. I got to bed around 3 and was wide awake a little after 6. I hate coffee but I was in desperate need of caffeine so the amazing nurse on my dad's floor brought me some coffee. It tasted like dirt but it got the job done. Thankfully my dad is ok and his heart went back into rhythm.

2. People always make fun of me for keeping a protein bar in my coat pocket but you never know when you're going to need a snack! Keeping an rxbar in my pocket came in handy while I was visiting my dad in the hospital. Everything in the hospital was closed for Thanksgiving so unless I left the hospital I couldn't get lunch. Luckily I had the bar with me so I munched on that and then got some more food when I got home. 

3. Despite all the craziness with my dad being in the hospital I still managed to get to the gym every morning. I took a few days off lifting over Thanksgiving weekend and just ran but my workouts have been feeling awesome! My runs are getting longer and I've been shaving time off my miles which makes me really happy🙌 even though I only took a few days off from lifting I have been feeling my lifts this week. My entire body is sore😳

4. Over the long weekend I did get some much needed downtime with my boyfriend. His phone had been having problems so we got up bright and early to get to the Apple store on Saturday to see the genius bar. He was able to get his phone replaced but his backup got corrupted somehow so he had to go with an earlier back up from September so he lost two months worth of stuff on his phone🙈 Needless to say he was not a happy camper, but at least he didn't lose everything on his phone. 

5. I'm almost done with the HBO series The Newsroom and I'm so sad! By far it is one of my favorite shows of all time👌 I only have three episodes left in the final season and I'm trying to stretch them out so I don't blow through them all at once. If you ever need a show to watch I highly recommend The Newsroom, I really can't praise it enough. It's written and shot so well. It's free if you have Amazon prime.

6. While most people were out Black Friday shopping or getting back from shopping my boyfriend and I met up with some friends at Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the Red Wings hockey game. I'm not a big drinker and I don't drink often but I like to have a drink when I'm out with friends. I got the Buffalo zoo and it was so good😋 it was definitely strong but I only had one and then had plenty of water, plus I wasn't the one driving home. If you ever go to Bdubs I definitely recommend trying out the Buffalo zoo, it's delicious.

7. I have not been on social media a lot over the past week due to everything going on, but I was on instagram yesterday and got tagged in a post. The lovely @veggiefiles made my flourless chocolate peanut butter muffins. Seeing you guys make my recipes totally makes my day and I love seeing those posts! Please tag me and use the hashtag #thesimplelife so I can see your creations💜

I'll end things on seven this week. Have a great Thursday and stay warm outside (it's freezing here)☃

What did you do for Thanksgiving? Do you have any fun family traditions for the holidays?