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A Snack Lover’s Lunch Box

By on May 16, 2011

I am somewhat of a snack lover.  Okay, I’m snack obsessed.  I have a, uh, problem with snacking.  We rarely have snacky foods in our house; for one, because they’re usually not that great for you, and, two, because I will destroy whatever snack that is within days, if not hours.  If there is a box of Cheez-Its around me, watch out, it’s go time.

Because I’m so snacky, I usually don’t make traditional meals – with the exception of dinner.  This is especially true for the work week.

During the work day, I never really break for big meals.  I basically just graze all day (this does wonders for the metabolism, so I guess it works out well for me).

Because of my snacking and grazing habits (why does that make me sound like a cow?), my lunch box is not your average sandwich-chips-apple combo.

Here’s my lunch box for today:

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From left to right:

  • Turkey sausage.  I just discovered this and it’s surprisingly easy to make this microwave-style with some water.
  • Watermelon slices.
  • Crushed TLC Kashi bar + Plain Greek Yogurt.  I hardly ever eat anything but plain because the fruit varieties have so much annoying sugar!  I always mix the crushed bar into the yogurt.
  • Orange.  And a sad-looking one at that. :)
  • Amazeballz!  From Gina at The Fitnessista.  These protein balls are AMAZING and you must try them ASAP.  Close up picture below.
  • Cheese stick.
  • The makings for Chocolate Protein Oatmeal (my original chocolate oatmeal dish that I seriously need to post the recipe for).

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I eat breakfast at work, too.  With the exception of eating the Chocolate Protein Oats for breakfast right when I get to work, I don’t eat anything else at any specific time or order.  I just graze whenever I feel like it!

You might notice that I’m missing veggies here … whoopsies.  I don’t have any in the house since I haven’t been to the store this weekend.  But, veggies are regularly missing from my lunch box.  I LOVE roasted and sautéed veggies for dinner, but I always have trouble figuring out ways to fit them into my day (with the exception of green smoothies).

For someone who doesn’t love cooking, I still always bring a lunch box to work every single day no matter what.  My work is located in an area of Kansas City that is just ridiculously craptastic as far as restaurants/eating out goes (which I always say is a blessing in disguise for my wallet).  No matter what, I always find a way to throw something, anything together to eat throughout the day.

Expect more Snack-Lover’s Lunch Box postings in the future!

What’s in YOUR lunchbox today?

P.S. Can you please help Blonde & Balanced reach 100 fans on Facebook? :)   Like me here!

Categories: Eats, Health, Organization, Planning31 Comments

The Great Closet Makeover & Clean Out

By on March 10, 2011

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It’s spring cleaning time!  And that, my friends, is my closet.  I’ve been in this apartment for 2 years now, and my closet is bursting at the seems.  It has been overtaken by wedding supplies (all the boxes on the floor) and by outdated, old clothing (my high school graduation cap and gown is hidden in there somewhere … time to move on).

 

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I have been itching to fix-up and organize my closet for awhile now.  This is why:

  • It’s unorganized and hinders my morning getting-beautified routine.  I get frustrated when I can’t find things or when things that I thought were clean are not.
  • It’s seriously out of date.  Like many women, I wear maybe 1/3 of my closet.
  • In order to be my most fabulous, most put-together, most organized self, I need to have an efficient, organized closet!
  • I’m definitely not a minimalist, but I like the premise of the movement.  “Stuff” is stressful.  Especially too much stuff.  Only owning and keeping what you need and use seems pretty smart and fabulous to me.  I’d love to be the owner of one fine closet that harbors only what I need and what I use.

GOALS OF THE GREAT CLOSET MAKEOVER & CLEAN OUT:

  1. Donate everything that I don’t want/need/use and that is still in decent condition.
  2. Throw away everything that is old and in bad condition.
  3. Buy an over-the-door hook.
  4. Possibly move my chest of drawers (or some other storage unit) into closet.
  5. Leave only what I need and use.
  6. Become the owner of one awesome, organized closet.

Let’s take a closer look…

closet

Notes:

  • In the upper-right area, you can’t really read the caption, but it says “sweat/lounge clothes”.  This is totally random, but I just have an area of clothes that I change into when I’m lounging around at home.  Depending on the temperature or how I’m feeling, I lounge around in shorts, t-shirts, tank tops, sweat pants, or sweatshirts…this wide variety of lounge clothes usually ends up in a pile up on that shelf.  It’s a totally random system, but that’s how I roll.
  • I usually always have a running bag that I fill with clothes that I need to donate.  As you can see, it’s getting kind of full AND I need to do a major run through on my current clothes and take those clothes to a Catholic Charities store.
  • My wedding is taking over my apartment!  My dining room is filled with all sorts of stuff including invitations, envelopes, bubbles, thank you cards, left-over save-the-dates, a frame to be signed at the reception, etc. etc.  My closet, as you can see, is filled with all my accessories, all my honeymoon garb, and the 40 glass vases that we’ll use for centerpieces.
  • Does anyone else still have their high school memorabilia?  I seriously need to get rid of my cap and gown and my letter jacket.
  • I have some favorite sweaters and jackets (and my robe) that I wear regularly that don’t go in our entryway closet (where we keep our coats), so I think I need to get an over-the-door hook (something like this) to hang these oft-used items on.  Because right now they’re draped over anything and everything: my hanging clothes, my bed, my desk chair, sometimes the floor … whatevs.
  • Okay, this may be unacceptable in the eyes of a home decorator, but I’m seriously thinking of putting my chest of drawers in my closet.  It’s kind of inefficient that half of my clothes are back out in my room and my others are in the closet (and it makes it hard to get dressed in the dark when others are still sleeping).  This may happen.  Prepare yourself for this in the after pictures.
  • Overall, my closet just needs to be thinned out.  A good spring cleaning.  I need to throw out all the crap that I’m not using (college comforter anyone?) and donate the stuff that can be used by others (college comforter anyone?).  Lent is the perfect time to donate to help others that are less fortunate!

On tap for the next several days?  Cleaning and organizing this disaster.  If my closet looks somewhat better after that, I’ll probably post the results. ;)

    P.S. My shoes live in an entirely different closet.  My shoes take up one entire closet.  Granted, it’s not as big as this one (it’s technically a linen closet), but let’s just say that little nook may be the next victim of the great closet clean out.
    What are your best tips for maintaining an organized closet?

Categories: Balance, Organization15 Comments

Schedule It Up

By on August 18, 2010

For years, I’ve used an untraditional calendar and to-do list format: my brain. 

I’ve never scheduled out my week in writing and it’s starting to catch up to me.  I’m lining up more and more freelance jobs and setting up a new self-hosted Website.  I’m also planning a wedding and I usually always have a pretty full fitness calendar.

Let me just preface by saying:  I LOVE doing all of those things.  I cannot believe people actually like my writing enough to hire me.  It’s super flattering and very exciting!  And, of course, I love workin’ on my fitness and am so stoked that I have more time to fit that into my schedule now that I’m not studying.   And, as confusing as it may be, I’m having so much fun setting up my new site (P.S. almost ready!).  Oh yeah…and planning my wedding isn’t so bad either. ;)

So, my life is going in so many new directions that I’ve got to get organized.

The End Of The Brain To-Do List

Starting yesterday, I’m going to start putting my weekly to-dos and schedule on paper so it’s not floating around in my head all day.  I have used my brain as a to-do list and a personal calendar for wayy too long.  It’s tough to get everything straight when it’s unorganized in my mind.  Here are some things I need to schedule:

  • Workouts
  • Friends/Family Events
  • Church Functions
  • Wedding Meetings/Planning
  • Freelance Writing
  • Blog Writing/Site Maintenance
  • Food Prep
  • Errands

Workouts

The main task I want to start scheduling are my workouts.  Although I write down every workout on a calendar on my fridge, I always do that after the fact.  I always go to the gym with a plan, but I’d like to take my plans to the next level.  I’ve got some scheduled lifting and training plans that I want to try (more on that in a later post) and with that, I’ll need some sort of an organized schedule.

Type of Calendar

For work, I always use my Microsoft Outlook calendar.  That works for me because I have Outlook open every second of the day in the office, so all my work events are constantly popping up for me.

However, I don’t want to use Outlook for my personal calendar.  I also don’t want to use any online calendar.  I’m not always connected to the Internet so I don’t want to be dependant on it.  Some people probably love online calendars, but that’s just not how I roll.

I actually did have some success using calendars templates in Excel for my CPA studying.  So, I decided I’d try to do a weekly calendar in Excel. 

So far, I’m loving it!  Here’s a sneak peak of one I started for this week:

Weekly Planner

Cool, huh?  Like, I said, I’m already loving it.  Plus, now that I’m bringing my netbook with me to work, I can have access to my calendar all the time.

Priorities

I read an awesome post the other day about prioritizing your life as a means to build your schedules.  Of course, there are only 168 hours in a week and 56 of those hours should be spent sleeping (or trying to) and another 40 should be spent at work (or trying to…he he).  You get to choose how to spend the other 72 hours (which actually doesn’t sound like much if you put it that way).  Obviously, most of us want to spend those hours on the things that matter most to us, but sometimes that list gets a little disorganized (or distracted…facebook, anyone?).  Here’s how my time priorities would go (not including work/sleep):

  • spending time with my husband-elect
  • working out
  • shopping for and preparing healthy meals
  • spending time with friends and family
  • church
  • maintaining a clean house/car/life
  • blogging/writing/reading
  • watching E!!!!! :)
  • relaxing
  • mind/body exercise/yoga stuff (wish I had more time for this)

Special Note: You’ll notice that facebook is nowhere to be found on that list.  Facebook is obsessed with me and is always trying to get me to log on.  Our relationship is complicated.

The post went on to say to look at where you’re really spending your time and see if it’s on the list.  If not, work to replace a list item with a non-list item.  Also, see which things in your list you want to spend more time on and less time on and make changes accordingly.

It’s interesting to put your priorities and schedule out on paper and see where your time is really going.  I don’t like to delve too deep into trying to make the most out of my 24 hours per day because you obviously can’t go, go, go every waking minute and everyone needs down time.  It’s all about balance.

Do you schedule and/or prioritize your life?  What tools do you use to schedule your days with?

Categories: Balance, Excel, Life, Organization9 Comments