More pool, please.

Since it was nasty hot out this evening and I wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of running on the treadmill, Jamie and I decided to go to the pool for some good old floating and what we fondly call the 'old lady breaststroke'. You know what it is. It's that leisurely breaststroke-ish thing that older ladies will do at the pool. There's nothing wrong with it. Nothing wrong at all. In fact, 20-30 minutes of that makes my chicken arms feel shaky. Dang. Not quite 4 miles of running, but let me tell you, that water was exactly what I wanted in this weather!

Unfortunately, I got a little rowdy in the shallow end and ended up scraping off some of my brownness:
I had a minor freak out when I looked at my hands in the water and saw WHITE. Oww.

While we were OLB-ing, my precious little shrimpies were marinating in a delicious bath of coconut milk, lime, garlic powder and chili powder. Why? To be included in tonight's Shrimp Tacos, of course!
I had this weird urge to make some shrimp tacos this weekend and a fruity salsa seemed like the perfect accompaniment! I loved the colors on this plate :)

Shrimp Tacos
12 large shrimp, shelled
1/4 c lite coconut milk
1/4 tsp garlic powder
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp chili powder
Mango & Tomato Salsa (see below)
4 corn tortillas
handful arugula

Combine coconut milk, garlic powder, lime juice and chili powder in a bowl. Add shrimp and let marinate for 30 minutes. Grill until shrimp is pink. Assemble tacos by placing some arugula on a tortilla, followed by 3 shrimp and topped with the salsa.
Mango & Tomato Salsa
1 mango, diced
1/3 c grape tomatoes, quartered
1/4 c pineapple, diced
1/2 avocado, diced
4 radishes, sliced into matchsticks
handful chopped cilantro
sprinkle cumin
juice of 1 lime
2 tsp pineapple juice
pinch salt

Stir all ingredients together in a bowl, let sit for 10 minutes.

I'm definitely making this shrimp again! Who knew leftover coconut milk would come in so handy?? I think the tacos were missing something...they were really yummy and light, but I kept thinking they needed a little something extra. Not a clue what though!

Before I rush off to read more of Julie & Julia (already halfway through!), I'm going to leave you with a list of some of my favorite summer reads. These are quick reads that are pretty easy to get lost in. I think you should check these out :)

A Cook's Tour - Anthony Bourdain
I've already mentioned how much I enjoy this book, but I thought I'd bring it up again ;) It combines travel and food - two of my favorite things. Plus, it reads almost like you're watching No Reservations...what more could you ask for?

Untangling My Chopsticks: A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto - Victoria Abbott Riccardi
This book made me SO hungry. I was craving Japanese food the ENTIRE time I was reading! The author shares her adventures in Kyoto as she studies the art of kaiseki, including recipes scattered throughout the book. Well written and delicious.

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise - Ruth Reichl
I actually chuckled to myself several times as I read this book. I loved her writing style so much that I immediately purchased another one of her books.

The Painted Veil - W. Somerset Maugham
I bought this book immediately after watching the movie. Don't laugh. It was during one of my super sappy phases and it just so happened to star Edward Norton and I may or may not have a weird thing for him. ANYWAY, I enjoyed the book...which wasn't as sappy as the movie, but still good.

Happy reading :)

Ahhh Sunday!

Hihi! Hope everyone enjoyed their weekends! I had a long overdue relaxing weekend :)

That 3 mile run I considered doing this morning didn't happen. For some reason, I woke up really sore...which had me a little shocked. I don't even get this sore when I go all out for a half marathon...and this was totally a leisurely/slow run. Could the extra time (3 hours) and not the distance (14.45 mi) be the possible culprit?? Bizarre. Definitely had me scratching my head.

I did want to get out and moving to loosen up my legs (I'm also thinking my lack of stretching could have done it too. Oops.) so I convinced Jamie to metro with me to Dupont Circle, walk to the Borders in Farragut North and back up to Dupont Circle to wander around the Farmers Market before metroing home. It wasn't more than a mile of walking, but boy was I sweaty. It was hot and pretty humid out at 10:30 am so I was glad I didn't go on that run.

We hung out at Borders for a bit, having a little too much fun in the travel writing section. I ended up with these two books:
I took note of a couple others I was interested in, but not quite ready to commit to buying just yet. I'm already about 100 pages into Julie & Julia and am loving it so far. Part of me wants to also read My Life in France, which is Julia Child's autobiography and the other book the movie is adapted from. However, I don't see myself zooming through the autobiography in the next week, so I guess I'll read that another time ;)

After pulling ourselves away from Borders, we walked back up to Dupont Circle and braved the crowds at the Farmers Market. This time I definitely had enough cash on hand and we came home with a few goodies.
AMAZING golden donut peaches. I grabbed a donut peach awhile back from the Giant and let me tell you, these put that one to shame. The description for these golden ones said it had a mango/apricot flavor to it and the woman at the stand let me sample one...I was hooked. It was pleasantly tart and juicy. I only wish they were a smidge bigger ;)

Grape tomatoes in a wide variety of colors! I did a walk by sampling of these and decided I needed a box :)

On our way out of the market, we found a stand with empanadas so we decided to sample two...because everyone needs a snack while walking ;) I got a Spinach Empanada (which kinda had a kick to it)
Jamie went with the Smoked Salmon Empanada that tasted like a salmon cake with something smokey/sweet in it.
Once we got back to the apartment it was pool time since running buddy #2 was waiting in our lobby (thank you, metro for your constant delays). Ahh pool time, how I've missed you. This is where most of my reading was done today...along with some napping and floating :)

A few hours later it was time to start cooking the paella and once again Jamie stepped up and took charge. Woo! He was working from the recipe that came with the paella kit his dad got from La Tienda, a company based in Williamsburg, Virginia that we frequently get catalouges from. The kit came with everything needed to make a small pan of paella, minus the chicken and shrimp and any other meat/seafood you want to throw in. Jamie decided on following the exact recipe and used boneless, skinless chicken thighs and shrimp.
Here's Chef Jamie hard at work sauteing some onions, garlic and parsley in the super cute mini paella pan that came with the kit.
The final product...YUUUUM.
Chef Jamie wanted me to show y'all the WHOLE pan...since I made him hold it in front of the window while I took a bunch of pictures hehe.

For dessert I scooped out some of the fruit salad I made while Jamie was cooking away.
I'd like to say that these fruits were picked up at the market, but no. They are courtesy of the Giant :\ Fruit salad was on our list for the week so I made a HUGE bowl to scoop from for lunches. In the salad: kiwi, grapes, strawberries, blackberries and pineapple. Since dinner was kinda fancy looking, I decided dessert had to be a little more dressed up than a bowl full of fruit so I topped fruit with a scoop of greek yogurt and drizzled it with honey and ta daaa
Dessert was born. Not quite the same as my breakfast yogurt parfait, but it was pretty yummy!

I'm off to close out my fantastic and relaxing Sunday with some more reading. Maybe you should pick up a copy of Julie & Julia too ;p What's your favorite way to spend a Sunday?

Review and BSI time!

But first I must say that first time marathoner friend ROCKED her first 14 mile run this morning! Wooo!! Thanks to my slick mapping skills she actually ran 14.45 miles! Hey, at least I'm not short changing us! Hehe.

This morning's 14ish miler took us longer than I'm used to but I'm totally fine with that. I'm pretty sure this was my first 14 miler ALL year and I set out with only two goals: 1) make sure first time marathon friend was able to run the whole thing and 2) that we finished in time for me to get to work.

I decided to take the Watermelon Luna Moons on this run and let me tell you, DELICIOUS! Just the right amount of sweetness! I took them a little before the 7 mile mark and felt good the rest of the way back. Tummy started bothering me a little around mile 11 or 12 so we made a quick pit stop and then I was good to go! MUCH better than my Shot Bloks experience. I may grab another pack of these!

My new Amphipod water bottle - LOVE IT! Just the right size. I didn't refill it and ran out of water when we were just half a mile from the end. Granted, I wasn't drinking as much as I should have (probably because it was GORGEOUS out). It was so comfy and I switched hands every so often to keep things balanced.

When we got back - just shy of 3 hours later, Jamie was ready with a bottle of Nuun and a container of watermelon! Yay! Perfect end to a leisurely morning run :)

Unfortunately, we had to bolt so I could get home, shower, change and eat before heading to work. Fastest I've ever done those things ever! Haha. I barely had time to stretch and my right butt/lower back is angry at me because of that! I nuked some lentils, chugged some water and made myself a Tri-Berry Nuun to go. I didn't realize how dehydrated I was until I was a few hours into my shift. I guess the cooler weather threw me off and I didn't drink enough. Actually, I KNOW I didn't drink enough as evidenced by my no-refilling of my 20-oz bottle! Shame on me!

I was STARVING around 3:30 so I decided some Yogiberry was necessary. It had to be done - I was willing to take my chances. I went with a small Original with Reese's Pieces and Toffee Bits. I had asked for the Chocolate but after seeing them fumble with the machine and the chocolate coming out weird I was like uhh, I can just go with the plain? It was like a sign. Haha!

Got home and needed salt and something substantial so I threw some salsa and cheese on leftover potato cubes and called it a snack. My belly called it just what the doctor ordered. ;p Do you like my random post-run food consumption? This is totally normal for me. haha.

While I waited for Jamie to get home, I prepped part of tonight's dinner and my BSI entry - Cilantro Lime Quinoa.
Cilantro Lime Quinoa
1 c quinoa, rinsed
2 c water
pinch salt

1/4 c lime juice
1 tsp chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tbsp coconut milk
1/3 c cilantro, coarsely chopped
pinch salt
pepper
1/2 avocado, diced
1 c black beans
1 small tomato, diced

Bring 2 cups water to a boil, add quinoa, lower heat and cook covered for 13 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine lime juice, chipotle pepper, olive oil, honey, coconut milk, cilantro, salt and pepper.
Wisk together and add avocado, black beans, tomato.
Add quinoa, mix well and let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

This complemented Jamie's burger perfectly :)
Remember the burger Jamie made awhile ago when he made his own ground beef? These two patties were frozen that day and they were FANTASTIC the second time around. We didn't have any buns so I decided to eat it as if it were a fun steak patty :)
I topped mine with some avocado and salsa and can I just say that Jamie will have to make his own ground beef more often hehe ;p

Here's an up close and personal shot of my limey quinoa:
Anyone looking for a fast, easy and delicious quinoa dish (Paige I think this has your name written all over it ;) ) should definitely check this out!

I'm off to stretch and sleep...seriously contemplating a quick 3 mile recovery run tomorrow. Not because it's on my schedule, but because I don't want to deal with the metro just to pick up a book. YES, I'm running just to pick up a copy of Julie & Julia at Borders since I have a coupon. Then I plan on doing real recovery and reading poolside (FINALLY!). Stay tuned for pool and paella fun tomorrow!

Quickie

Because we have a super early wake up tomorrow.

I did some shopping at job number two this afternoon...so much for saving the extra money! I managed to walk out with quite the bag of goodies haha.

Since I'm starting to loathe my fuel belt (I don't know what's going on, but it's been hiking my shorts up a lot lately and bruising my hip bone), I've been browsing hand held bottle options. I really wanted this one:
And meant to take a trip to City Sports between DCCK and work today, but it just didn't happen. So I stared down the new hand helds we got at the store. After much thought, and walking around with it on my hand, I went with this one:
Allow me to introduce you to my Amphipod Hydraform Handheld Pocket. I shall call him Kermie. He's coming with me on my 14 mile run tomorrow morning so I'll be sure to report back :)

I also walked away with some nutritional items:
I'm giving solids another shot. I've heard a ton of great things about the Luna Moons, so here we go! I took a sample of each flavor when I got home and yeah...not a fan of the Sport Beans. I think it's the saltiness combined with the sweetness and candy shell that just doesn't do it for me. The Moons on the other hand, YUUUM. The texture was a little better than the Shot Bloks and the flavor was freaking awesome. Watermelon was great - the PERFECT amount of sweetness. Blueberry was good too, but I'm a little concerned that it'll be too sweet for me while running. Since I'm weird about textures, I'm leaving these a little open overnight so they're not so smooshy/goopy. Again, I'll be sure to report back on these post-run!

We had a change of plans for dinner this evening since I wasn't feeling the whole cooking thing. I decided to push the BSI entry to tomorrow night and went with last night's leftovers from Naan & Beyond. You like that? Indian food the evening before a 14 miler? Introducing new energy products? New water bottle? haha. I can't wait to see how this goes. I will absolutely die if everything goes smoothly!

As I'm typing this, I got a gchat message from a friend of mine asking if I wanted to go to a house party. Is it weird that I now have no problems/don't feel bad or awkward saying no to a social activity on a Friday night? I'll admit that when I first got into running, I felt really lame saying no to a happy hour or party on a Friday night, but now I'm like eff that. I make very rare exceptions and sometimes I think my friends think I'm crazy. But that's ok. They stick around ;p

Again, sorry for all the running posts one after another! I'm planning on getting back on the fun food track starting tomorrow! For inspiration I might just have to pick up a copy of...
This has been on my Amazon wishlist for a long time and now that the movie is out, I feel compelled to rush out to buy it! Has anyone read it? Seen the movie yet? Thoughts on either?

90th post!

I'm surprised I've blogged that much! Wooo! Yay, me :)

This is gonna be a quickie...long day at work followed by a run followed by MORE WORK. Yep, had more to do once I got back to the office.

I needed a break from the computer yesterday so here's a brief recap of last night's dinner:

Turkey and Spinach Casserole

3 c whole wheat egg noodles, cooked and drained
3/4 lb ground turkey

1 9oz package frozen creamed spinach, defrosted

1/3 c frozen peas, defrosted

2 tbsp sherry

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1/2 c mushrooms, diced

1 tbsp tarragon

1/2 c brie, chopped
pepper

Heat olive oil in a pan and saute onions until softened. Add ground turkey and brown. Add mushrooms and cook until soft before adding sherry.

Add tarragon, pepper and spinach and stir to combine. Add brie and stir over low heat making sure that the cheese has melted.

Pour mixture into an 8x8 baking pan, cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

So my dinner experiment wasn't bad, but it wasn't exactly what I envisioned. I wanted it to be chunkier...so maybe I should have used chunks of chicken instead of ground turkey. Ah well. On to tonight!

Once again it was just Jamie and me on this downtown adventure. This time we took a break from Hains Point and did a portion of my 2nd favorite 10 mile route. This route took us through Georgetown, across the Key Bridge, along the Mount Vernon Trail, across the Memorial Bridge, along the Reflecting Pool, around the Washington Monument and the Mall. It ended up being a 7.19 mile route and despite a bunch of things going wrong (fuel belt kept hitching shorts up, shoes untied, tense shoulders, AGH!), we managed to run it at 10 min pace. Woo :)

During this crazy not right run I realized a few things. First of all, I must replace all my socks. I ran out of my trusty Balegas and had to run in my regular socks. My feet were sad. So sad, my pinky toe sprung a blister! Think I'm exaggerating? You should test these socks out...trust me, you'll never go back.

Second of all, I think I may have developed a love for my Nike Elites. Remember when I first got them and was so excited and then I decided they were giving me pains, well I've been switching back and forth between them and the Inspires. I'm sorry dear Inspires, you will not be my MCM sneaker, not if I can feel all the pebbles on the sidewalk when I try to adjust my form :(

I just purchased a pair of new Elites online because our store doesn't have them in my size. Hi, my name is Karena and I'm a running sneaker addict. I also purchased my other 'must have during training' item - a box of Mocha Clif Shot gels. Hell yes.

What is your 'must have' workout item (clothing/shoe/food)?

Since I was STARVING mid run last week, I paid a visit to the Daily Market around 4 and picked up some Sabra To Go Roasted Red Pepper Hummus with Pretzel Crisps for my pre-run snack. Just enough food to keep my belly happy :)

Post run, Jamie helped me assemble some proposals that needed to go out first thing tomorrow and then we decided that some Naan and Beyond was in order! Um yes, apparently we like some Indian food post 7 mile weekday run...I believe this is the 2nd week in a row? I originally asked for some Chicken Biryani, and the guy scooped it and was like yeah, no. I can't serve this to you. I appreciate that. A lot. If you can be honest with me and tell me that there's something wrong with one of your dishes, you get a gold star in my book.

I went with the Veggie Combo Plate which was rice, saag, chickpeas, veggies and a side of naan.

That's a whole lotta food! I'm not quite sure what to do with all the leftovers since I plan on making my BSI entry tomorrow night. Ah well. My dinner was deeeeeeeeeeelicious, especially with a side of mango chutney. MMM.

I'm off to bed now that I'm all digested. Just some evening foam roller action and then it's off to wonderful WONDERFUL sleepyland. I think I might venture to the gym tomorrow night for some much needed strength training. Julia over at Chocolate Shoestrings had an awesome and motivating post about strength training the other day that made me remember that it is an absolute must...even though I always seem to forget about it. You should check it out!

Promise I'll have more fun stuff tomorrow! :)

Ahhh city life...

...with it comes fun things like seeing a RAT STUCK IN CONCRETE while cruising through Woodley Park! SIIIICK!

Sorry, it was too freaky of a sight not to share! I wonder how long it will take for someone to take it out! *shudder* Anyway...

Tonight we did a trusty 4 mile out and back route from the apartment to Dupont North. It's not one of my faves, but it's a good standby route - well lit and full of shops for when I do have to run alone, it incorporates a wee hill, and most importantly, I know exactly where the 2 mile/turnaround mark is!

The weather was sticky- 89 degrees with 42% humidity! Blech. Definitely water bottle worthy. Also Body Glide worthy! Unfortunately, I made the mistake of wearing shorts that were just a tad too loose and got chafed...not even the layers upon layers of Body Glide could protect me :( Lesson learned!

41 minutes later, we're back at the apartment and Jamie's making rice and nuking some of the Claypot Chicken Curry:
We just made a few changes to the original recipe - 2 tbsp curry paste, 1 tbsp fish sauce, some bamboo shoots and frozen corn! MUUUCH better this time...check out those red flecks of hotness! MMM Good!

Today's run marked the transition to 4 mile short runs in my training. Wooo! This is kind of a big deal since I've never really stuck to my weekly runs before (not that I am now, but 2 out of 3 weekday runs is a HUGE improvement for me!), meaning I've never really gone beyond a 3 or 4 mile weekday run.

I'll admit that I've kinda gotten used to the one long-ish run a week thing. In fact, I look forward to that long-ish run every week. It's just knowing that sometime soon, I will have to commit at least an hour to running 2-3 days a week that freaks me out. That's a whole lot of time for a weekday! I'm one of those people that feels like there's never enough time in the day! Gah!

Not going to lie - I have no qualms about skipping a 3 mile run. It's short...I hate short runs. With 4 mile runs, I feel kinda bad skipping them and when it comes to 5 miles and more, I start to feel guilty. I NEED to do them. Why is this such an issue you ask? You see, these runs require either getting up early or finding the motivation after 8pm...and I love my sleep. I NEED it. I probably get more sleep than necessary, but I cherish it and it keeps me from being cranky in public. Plus, I think I might be just a tad bit over my head with all I've taken on lately. Sleep is my ME time. *sigh* perhaps it's time for a summer sacrifice...
SO, in an effort to maximize post-work time, I'm doing dinners a little differently this week. First of all, we splurged on takeout last night while Jamie took control of the kitchen and made tonight's dinner in advance. Tonight, while blogging and eating, I'm making a casserole of sorts that will keep our bellies full for the next two days. AND on Thursday, I'm going to prep my BSI entry/Friday dinner...how's that for multi-tasking?? :)

What are some small changes you've made in your daily routine to accommodate running/working out?

Weekend Recap

Heellooo blog buddies! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekends :)

Mine started off with a nice and easy 10 mile run. I ended up running it at 10:25 pace which is faster than I was aiming for, but my legs seemed to be ok with it. Again, I think I need someone to keep me on track! Anyway, when we got home, I had just enough time to give myself a pedicure and eat half a can of corn mixed with some chopped avocado and rice wine vinegar - random, I know but let's not forget what the fridge looked like.

Showered, packed and rushed out the door to begin our Baltimore adventure. We arrived at the hotel just as the bridal party was making its way out for some pre-ceremony photos and the bride was absolutely stunning! No joke - she looked like she belonged on the cover of a bridal magazine!

Since we got a primo parking spot right outside the hotel, Jamie, NY buddy and I decided to grab a cab to the ceremony. Unfortunately we forgot this wasn't the land o' frequent cabs and were left standing post-ceremony confused and lost. We wandered a bit and eventually found a busy street and sure enough a cab came by!

The reception was held at the George Peabody Library (conveniently located 2 blocks from the hotel) and was an amazing place for a reception. We started off in the Exhibition Gallery for the cocktail hour (with lots of yummy apps - crabcakes, mini raviolis, chicken skewers) and then the doors opened to the spectacular Reading Room/Stack Room for dinner.
My pictures don't do the space justice so here's a shot from the website:
It was such an awesome sight in person...and just the right size!

For dinner we had an Herbed Salad (oven roasted tomatoes, basil, arugula and micro-greens topped with toasted goat cheese and a basil chive vinaigrette)
and Chicken Chesapeake (chicken breast topped with fresh crabmeat and champagne shallot sauce) with a side of Roasted Asparagus and Potato Hash (cubes of sweet potatoes and yukon gold sauteed with caramelized onions).
Maryland doesn't mess around when it comes to crab. There were huge chunks of moist crab on top of my chicken...so huge that I was full after eating just the crab and a couple bites of chicken! Yum!

The vegetarian option was a Tomato Rice with Bok Choy and a Spinach Puff Pastry (like how I'm recruiting friends to photograph their dishes? hehe)
I didn't sample it, but the puff pastry thing looked pretty freaking tasty.

We did some dancing, took some girly (aww college neighbors/roomies!) photos
ate some cake
drank some wine and took some artsy photos
drank some more wine and took some silly photos (that will not be posted here haha) and a fabulous time was had by all! :)

As expected, the next morning wasn't so much fun :( In fact, I don't think any of us wanted to wake up to a bottle of this:
Though, it was a super cute and generous welcoming gift for guests :)

We were all hurting a bit from our late night antics and it took us a LONG while to get moving out of the hotel room and to a brunch place. After some Googling, we settled on City Cafe a restaurant recommended by the hotel just a few blocks away.

It was a fun looking restaurant and everything on the menu looked delicious AND reasonably priced. I was a little overwhelmed with all the options so I went with the Breakfast Burrito (scrambled eggs, chopped tomatoes, pepperjack cheese, flour tortilla, guacamole and salsa on the side) with sausage.
When I ordered my burrito, I expected the sausage to be all chopped up and mixed in with the egg (because doesn't that make sense??), but it just arrived on the side. A big fat, flat hunk o sausage. After chopping it up and shoving it in my burrito and making my usual ketchup/hot sauce mixture (yes, I'm like a 5 year old playing with my food), I jumped right into my meal and 10 minutes later, I feel ill...after half a burrito. Way too much egg. Way too much food too fast. Hungover belly wasn't happy so I happily sipped on my beverages:
Yes, all three of them (coffee, Pepsi w/grenadine since they didn't have Cherry Coke, and agua)!

Jamie drove us home and I kept switching off between zoning out and napping. At one point I remember thinking 'hm, I wonder what it would be like to not live in or immediately outside of a city?' I don't know why though...just one of those random thoughts I guess?

Strangely enough, I didn't nap when we got home. Instead, I finished my book (awesome, btw) and when Jamie woke up from his nap, we walked over to the Giant to restock our barren fridge. For some reason, I really wanted tomato soup with veggies so for dinner we had...
You guessed it! Tomato Soup with Veggies

Now, I wasn't about to make a soup from scratch in my state of blah so I had a little help from my friends, box soup
and beef stock...plus a few other helpers.

Super Lazy Tomato Soup
1 1/2 c tomato soup
1/2 c beef stock
3 tbsp cocktail sauce
1 tsp ketchup
1 c frozen mixed vegetables
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil

In a saucepan, heat olive oil and cook onion for 3 minutes. Add tomato and cook for another 3 minutes. Add frozen mixed vegetables and stir for 2 minutes.
Add soup, stock, cocktail sauce and ketchup, stir and simmer for 10 minutes.

I know you're thinking 'wait, did she REALLY use cocktail sauce and ketchup??' Yes, I did. I tasted my soup and it didn't have the all the tomatoey taste I wanted it to have so I worked with what I had...and we know I have a ton of condiments! I reached for the cocktail sauce because a) I like cocktail sauce and b) I thought the tomato and horseradishy thing would be a good addition. I tasted again and it was missing something else...something tart. AH HAA! Ketchup! So I went with a little squirt. It didn't hurt ;p

Since I'm home at a decent hour this evening (and I still feel like poop from Saturday) we ordered some sushi for dinner instead of going with our planned Claypot Chicken Curry. Jamie's cooking up a storm in the kitchen as we speak, preparing the curry for lunch/dinner tomorrow :)

Sorry for the long post! I'm off to think about what to submit for this week's BSI (lime!!) while snacking on some Reese's Pieces. Happy August :)