New & Improved

Hey there lovelies! What do you think of the new layout? I just wasn't feeling the old one--honestly, I just looked at it as the best of the unfortunate choices that Blogger offered. I'm not really that website savvy, so it's not like I could take matters into my own hands. And once, I asked if my tech-nerd brother would help and he just blew me off. Oh well!

I'm at Day 3 of living in Virginia Beach now, and while it's not what I hoped for, I'm making the best of it by forcing my mom to eat healthy. I'm not going to lie, I'm one of those people that can eat crap food if it's in the house...which is precisely why I do not buy it. It's not necessarily that it tastes good, it's just there and practically taunting you. These past 3 days, I've been super healthy though, packing a lunch to bring with me to work and cooking dinner (or crossing my fingers that my mother cooked the food that I defrosted/prepped/etc) upon getting home. So far, so good!

Last night, I may have gotten a bit peeved though when I got home from grocery shopping at Trader Joe's after a full day of work and started to cook the swordfish I had defrosted. Upon taking it out of the fridge, my mom claimed, "I'm not hungry," which irked me since there were telltale signs that she had not eaten healthy during the day. And had probably recently eaten. I can't fully blame her, because she's recovering from a total knee replacement and has to have her leg elevated for 6 hours a day. If that was me, I would get bored too--and would probably eat a bit more than usual. But we had chatted before I left for work that day and agreed on a dinner menu. Not to mention, I texted her as I was checking out at TJs letting her know I was on my way home. Perhaps I should not have assumed she would start prepping dinner... Regardless, I made the swordfish with some new (to me) coconut oil, lemon juice, and seafood seasoning. Umm, it was delicious!

With a side of vegetable medley, please!

What's not pictured is the glass (and a half) of wine that accompanied this. Perfection!

Then last night, I was surprised with the fact that my best friend, who recently moved to Philly, was in town! Commence the planning for our hang out today, which happened to be my day off! We decided on a puppy walk with her german shepherd mix, Delilah, and my two pups, Archie and Murdoch. Technically Murdoch is my mother's dog, but for the sake of not getting too confusing...

Our plans were thwarted a little bit after deciding that we would take the dogs to the local dog park at Red Wing. There was a bit of confusion over whether or not Archie and Murdoch were actually licensed in Virginia Beach, which is required of all dogs that use the dog park. Eh, well, we broke several of the park rules by taking them through the Japanese garden...and then letting them loose on the tennis courts with the gates closed. Luckily, it was pretty dead, so we didn't get caught!

What do you get when you introduce two (male) miniature schnauzers to a larger (female) dog? This:

They got along so well! Maybe too well, in fact! Lilah was definitely interested in sniffing some butts, but her tail was wagging the entire time! I've never let the dogs loose with another dog before, but everyone was on their best play date behavior! My favorite of those picture is the 2nd on the left in the top row--Archie and Lilah locked eyes and it was just too adorable!


After the dogs were thoroughly tired out, I dropped off the pups at home and headed to Katie's and chilled out by her pool while Delilah continued to be her precious self.

Don't get me wrong, I love my dogs, but german shepherds have a special place in my heart!


The rest of the day was spent relaxing, cleaning my car--vacuum & wash (it was about time!), and heading out for a 5ish mile run around the neighborhood. Good news is that I've dropped all the weight I gained while I was force fed saying my goodbyes (at various restaurants) last week. Oh, and did I mention that my mom fixed the licensing problem while she was out today? Looks like the pups will get to frolic in the dog park after all!