Kitchen Tasks and Daily

Since before Marshall was born, I've been excited to get him into the kitchen to help me and cook with me. I've hard a hard time, though, coming up with little tasks I can assign to him. Ideally I'd like stuff that doesn't require tons of immediate supervision so maybe I can be doing some chopping/sauteeing/whatever while he's "working" next to me. I have found a few that work now that he's getting a little older, such as:

- having him sit on the counter with me when I make smoothies, and he pushes the buttons (thankfully, so far, he actually waits until I ask him to push, so no smoothie explosions yet...knock on wood) and also adds the frozen berries into the blender

- showing me where things go (this one is sort of a fun game we play with him where we ask him where things go when we're putting dishes away, and he's actually really observant because he knows most of the places!)

- taking all the Tupperware out of the drawer and putting it into the kitchen island (not helpful, but a good distraction for him)

- a new one this week: taking the potatoes out of the bag and putting them into the colander for me to wash 

Any other suggestions?

Some scenes from today:

Today we had one of my favorite breakfasts: scrambled eggs, salsa, and tortillas. And tea, because mama needs tea.

And today was our last day at My Gym! :-( I'm actually really sad to say goodbye, but we decided to take a break at least for now. I still highly recommend it if you have a little one! It's very serious business, though.

I ate a salad today for lunch. Voluntarily. We had a ton of Romaine lettuce (thanks, Mom!), so I threw some Manchego cheese, sliced red grapes, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar on top and actually really loved it.

And then later we had some smoothies. Marshall's ready for Oktoberfest. Double fisting like a champ.

He's weird.

Squats tonight weren't too bad, and we skipped yoga because it was a long one (35 minutes), so we'll save it for tomorrow. Terry had to work a few hours tonight and I enjoyed a bit of rest.


Bonus: We've been taking things a little slower around here (when Marshall's awake, anyway; when he's asleep I'm like a little turbo robot racing around getting things done), and yesterday we stopped to watch the helicopters overhead. Granted, later I found out they were there for an incident in our neighborhood where a gunman was in an apartment, but still, it was fun to watch Marshall's reactions.

Hope you have a great day!

What I Ate (and Did) Wednesday

Well hello ladies and gents. I scored myself NINE solid hours of sleep last night by going to bed and somehow bribing the baby to sleep through to six o'clock without any wake ups at all! Thank you thank you thank you, Marshall! I woke up feeling one million times better, and I'm well on my way to 100%. 

I started the morning thinking I'd participate in What I Ate Wednesday, but I didn't get photos of everything, so keep that in mind. I also still don't have a huge appetite, which almost never happens, so it's significantly less food than I'd normally eat. Breakfast was a fried egg, a biscuit with jam, and a bite or two of banana that Marshall so sweetly shared with me.

We spent a chunk of the morning playing around the house and my big-eyed boy let me take a photo of his sweet face. He's 14 months tomorrow (today, if you're reading this on Thursday), and I can hardly believe it!

Mid-morning, to fend off that nap a liiiiiittle longer (we're transitioning to the one-nap schedule, but he's not quite ready to make it to 11:30 or noon, so we're moving it back a little at a time), we headed to Target, where they have wide aisles and friendly staff and plenty of room for a toddler to, well, toddle.

And toddle he did! Up and down the aisles. Note to self: The toilet paper/paper towel aisle is perfect for a 14-month-old to practice walking. Nothing breakable or tiny.

Then Marshall crashed hard for an almost-three-hour nap. Yes, when they say "good sleep leads to good sleep," they are not kidding. Sleeping through the night almost always leads to an awesome nap the next day, which then leads to another great night of sleep (knock on wood). If that cycle could just always continue, we'd all feel perfectly rested around here!

I prepped Marshall's lunch while he was sleeping and munched on 3/4 of a peach. It was SO perfectly ripe!

We shared leftover couscous Greek salad for lunch, plus the peach above and some pineapple. Then Marshall had some work to do: moving his toys from one box to the other. 

He's weird.

For some fresh air we headed out for a walk, sunglasses on to protect our eyes. And our identities. 

I whipped up a batch of Fitnessista's latest creation. I quadrupled the recipe (why not?), but not the maple syrup. They were plenty sweet! Oh, and I didn't have almond meal or protein powder, so I just omitted those and they turned out fine.

Freeze-dried strawberries were new to me, but they are insanely sweet! I don't think I'd eat them on their own. Marshall loved them, so I guess that's something. In this recipe, though, they added a nice sweetness. I crumbled two on a bowl of yogurt with some peanut butter this afternoon, which was delightful.

We spent a good hour reading in the afternoon (Marshall's books, not mine, which is sad because mine is My Life in France by Julia Child and I absolutely love it so far), and then when Terry got home the boys hung out while I made dinner. 

BOOM.

I had a craving for meatballs, and Terry read my mind and said meatball subs, so we put them on the menu this week. When I got sick I worried I wouldn't get to them, because if I had felt as badly as yesterday I would've ordered a pizza instead. But with health back on my side I threw on an apron (too late, as always--must I splatter myself before I remember to wear an apron every time?) and got to work. I have made meatballs before, but I can't remember them being phenomenal, so I tried my own recipe. I looked up a few online to see what they have in common (at least two types of ground meat, breadcrumbs, and salt and pepper were really the only commonalities), and then I turned to my Sicilian friend Jenn who knows all Italian food better than I do and asked what she does. With a few tricks (no breadcrumbs! toast the bread, then dip it in water, squeeze out the excess, and rip it into pieces), I went with:

- 1 sauteed onion and 4 cloves garlic, allowed to cool (I would use half an onion next time)

- 2 hot Italian sausage links

- about 18 ounces ground beef (more or less would've been fine; it was what I had)

- 1 teaspoon each of dried parsley and dried oregano

- salt and pepper

- 3 pieces of bread prepared the way I described above

- 1 egg

All mixed together by hand and rolled into balls, browned 1-2 minutes on each side on the stove (big pan, lots of olive oil, medium-high heat), then set on a baking sheet to cook the rest of the way through at 350 degrees in the oven (about 8-10 minutes). I left some out to cool to freeze for later and threw the rest in a pot of jarred marinara sauce, simmered about 20 minutes, and threw 'em on some rolls with mozzarella and lots of sauce. Delicious and hearty meals, and quite tasty meatballs, if I may say so.

For dessert I had one more strawberry ball and am calling it another semi-early night. Hope you had a lovely Wednesday! 

Best thing you ate today? Mine was for sure that meatball sub. Such great comfort food!

Nonstop Tuesday

Well, did you survive your first Monday of 2015? Hopefully it wasn't too painful. My morning yesterday was a little rough--Marshall's spit up was back (not that it had disappeared, but it was starting to mellow out a bit) with a vengeance, and I can't help but think it's related to the fact that he's making some developmental progress. (No scientific evidence to support that theory, just observation.) He crawled yesterday morning for the first time AND pushed himself up to the sitting position on his own for the first time, so it was a big day. Can't blame the guy for being a bit fussy and overwhelmed.

We took it easy around the house yesterday, but today felt far more productive. First up, I woke up to some exciting news: I wrote an article for my alma mater's Young Alumni newsletter, and it was published yesterday! You can check it out here. I talk about how I gradually improved my health after graduating from college and what I do to maintain it now. I'm super excited to be featured--UCLA makes me proud and I'm glad to give a little something back. I'd love to hear your thoughts if you read it!

Today Marshall and I kept busy with lots of eating and exploring his room. Marshall is up to three meals per day (most of the time), so he joins me for breakfast and lunch and Terry joins us for dinner. So I ate oatmeal today, and Marshall got pureed banana and oats, too.

Mine was topped with peanut butter and coconut.

Then we rolled around and practiced crawling. He's only taking a few "steps" at a time. but I'm having fun watching what he does with his new freedom to explore.

And making notes of what we need to baby proof. And those thighs still kill me.

We met up with Terry for lunch at his office, because they bring in food trucks on Tuesdays now. We shared a turkey burger and a regular burger and both were delicious. Marshall ate peas and really seemed to like them. I, however, am not the biggest fan of peas, so I need to work on that.

After lots of fussing and two not-so-great catnaps, Marshall was ready for some fresh air and a change of scenery, so when Terry got home we all headed to the park to jog a few laps. Total highlight of the day! It was our first time jogging with Marshall in the stroller without the infant car seat, so that's something. We logged two miles, and we also decided that we need to set a running goal for ourselves. We've been pretty unmotivated to run lately, but we always feel great after we do it, so we're aiming to run 20 miles in January. We're starting a little late, but 20 miles in 25 days isn't too terrible. We knocked out two today! 18 to go. I'm hoping it'll get us into a more regular routine for pushing ourselves to get outside together, even though it's dark and cold. Marshall had a BLAST sitting in the stroller "the big boy way" as I call it, kicking his feet and giggling the entire time, so I'd say he's looking forward to this little challenge!

For dinner we reheated leftovers from last night--sauteed ground turkey and hot Italian sausage plus roasted zucchini and butternut squash. YUM. We also threw an egg on top for good measure.

Snacks today were half an apple, a piece of homemade cinnamon bread, a muffin that my friend brought me the other day, and hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream for dessert. I also baked some lemon-blueberry muffins today and am betting they'll be gone by Friday.

After Marshall went to bed and I finished dishes, tidying up, etc., I did my 15 minutes of stretching (so far I've only missed one day!) and then did some work before writing this post. Today was nonstop, but I love the feeling of accomplishment at the end of a busy day!

What was the highlight of your day?

Have you decided on/stuck to your resolutions so far? I know it's only day 6, but it's hard for some people. No judgment. I'm still working on getting to bed by 10 pm, but it's definitely been better than the usual 11, 11:30 routine of late.

Best thing you ate today? I have to go with dinner! It's SO simple, but I love the combo of spicy (sausage) and sweet (squash). The egg was an excellent addition.

Happy Wednesday! We're halfway through the week! (Oh, and fun fact: Despite writing this entire post about Tuesday and titling it "Nonstop Tuesday" and clearly knowing that it's Tuesday, I still got to the end and thought it was Wednesday and that I should have been linking to WIAW. What is wrong with me?)

Successes and Failures Part II

Why is it even a possibility in my life to write this type of post again? Why am I such a mess? Should we not ask these questions?

Oh, well. Here are some successes and failures lately.

Success. Starting positively...Jenn and I met for a workout today! AND--bonus--Terry came but took Marshall for a stroll so Jenn and I could work out just the two of us like old times. It was SO fun! I really haven't done much of anything without Marshall--aside from a trip to the store here and there, plus one massage--since May, so it was such a treat to get to spend some time with my pal. Here's what we did:

Warm up: Jog 1 minute, walk 2 minutes--3 rounds (9 minutes)
10 minute park workout: 30 seconds of work, then 30 seconds calf raises before moving on to the next exercise

• Squat to Hip Abduction (right side)
• 180 Squat Jumps
• Squat to Hip Abduction (left side)
• Tuck Jumps
• Stationary Lunge Pulses (right side)
• Plie Squats
• Stationary Lunge Pulses (left side)
• Star Jumps
• One-Leg Glute Raises* (right side)
• One-Leg Glute Raises* (left side)

*Since the grass was wet, we did one-leg deadlifts instead.

Then, to wrap up: Jog 1 minute, Walk 1 minute for a total of 10 minutes

It was perfect; I definitely think we'll be feeling it tomorrow, but we were able to keep up a conversation throughout the workout. Bonus: No equipment required!

Failure: Virtually no pictures for WIAW, with one exception (below). I have no excuses. But you should look at other people's food pictures, because that's always fun.

Success: I have made it a goal in my life to have friends who think of me when they see funny things and then send me those funny things. Here's what Jenn sent me tonight.

Failure: Today I thought up what I hoped would be an incredible lunch: whole wheat toast with melted brie and crushed blackberries (I toasted the bread, then topped it with the cheese and berries and put everything in the oven for 15 minutes to get the berries to burst). And really, it was quite tasty--except I managed to flip one of my pieces onto the counter (upside down, obviously). Bye, berries. I didn't even take a photo of my disaster because I was so upset.

Pre-fail.

Success: Marshall is starting to learn how to get into a crawling position! I get to take credit for his successes, right?

(I haven't gotten a photo of the crawling position yet, but you know what it looks like.)

Failure: I keep wearing the wrong workout clothes. Usually I am pretty chilly in our apartment, and I figure (despite experience continuing to prove me wrong) that in December it should be nice and crisp outside, so I continue to try to wear pants and long sleeves to work out. And then I get outside and it's 75 degrees and I'm dying a slow, hot death. This evening I got smart and wore shorts to work out with Jenn, and of course it got dark and cold before we even started. 

Success: I finally went to a Stroller Strides class! (Fun fact: I last wrote about my inability to attend during my last successes and failures post. I love when life comes full circle like that.) I thought the workout part was pretty light, very manageable for new moms, anyone getting back in shape, even pregnant ladies (two moms who attended are pregnant with their second kids!). The tough part is that kids are so unpredictable, so at any given moment at least one kid was upset about being in the stroller. Still, I got to see a few moms I've seen before, we all got outside, I tried something new, and Marshall got to interact with some of the other babies at the end of class. 

Failure: Yesterday I went to the store for eggs and milk (and only those two items), and then I got distracted by candy canes and chocolate chips (what?). Guess what I didn't buy? So then today we had to make an emergency stop on our way home from the park to grab milk because we couldn't go another day without hot chocolate. 

Success: Dinner was a winner! Roasted spaghetti squash with homemade sauce (onion, carrot, celery, garlic, canned tomatoes, wine, tomato paste, some dried herbs, lots of simmering...), plus some greens thrown in for good measure. Delicious.

You decide: Success or failure? My family and I have been texting back and forth the last few days on a variety of topics. Tonight included the "storm of the century" that's about to hit Northern California (they have closed most schools for tomorrow--what?!). My dad and brother are both Eagle Scouts, so I got these texts:

Should I feel proud that he's so ready? (My brother later texted a similar photo...despite his original sarcastic response.) Should I feel worried that Marshall will be inheriting at least some of these nerdy genes? Should I feel fear for the residents of Northern California? Or should I just call it a night and have another glass of wine? 

I choose the wine. Goodnight, friends.

Any successes or failures lately? Come on...make me feel better.

Rainy Day WIAW

It's been a while since I've joined in the WIAW fun. Before I get to that, though, let's catch up.

On Monday, when it was still dry enough, Marshall and I ran a few errands and then took a little walk. He knows how to time it so that he falls asleep during the last lap I had planned, so then I end up walking another lap or two to give him a good nap. I told my friend Jenn that I think he's plotting to make me exercise more.

Speaking of which, it's been raining for two days, and I have really struggled to find the motivation to work out all week. Coincidence? No. Between the sun setting earlier and the cooler and rainier weather, it's hard to find time and energy to work out. But alas, we must, huh? Plus, it feels so much better to cozy up in PJs and comfy clothes at the end of the day if I've gotten some sort of exercise in earlier. So Monday (in addition to that 45-minute walk with my sidekick), we busted out a 12-minute workout after Marshall went to bed, and then today I did a super quick upper body thing while Terry worked. I'll share both with you tomorrow!

Anyway, I'm thrilled that this week is moving right along because I can't wait for the weekend. We have big plans to meet Santa and get our Christmas tree. Any time spent with my favorite guys is okay by me.

Oh, and this guy, too.

I've heard that cats will sit in a circle on the ground, but I've never gotten Scout to do it, and then yesterday I found him just hanging out on the Q on Marshall's play puzzle. So there you go.

Other adventures around here have been pretty mellow, because of the weather and because I'm trying to be sure we're home for Marshall to nap in his crib. Today we went to HomeGoods to buy some Christmas decorations for our mantle (success!), and we've gone to the grocery store more times this week than I care to discuss.

And now for that WIAW:

Breakfast: Sourdough toast with peanut butter and banana plus some pumpkin spice tea in a Christmas mug, which makes me so happy.

For lunch, leftover veggie fajitas (sweet potatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, onion, and refried black beans) on a tortilla with some Greek yogurt as sour cream. Plus an apple and a cookie. :-) 

Since lunch was on the early side, I had a quick snack later. I made this frittata--I roasted the butternut squash and broccoli and then sauteed some greens on Monday, and threw it all in the cast iron pan with some eggs for a super quick breakfast on Tuesday. Now we have breakfasts for the rest of the week. Or, in this case, a snack. 

For dinner I made one of our new favorites: Kath's Nutty Noodles. I doubled the recipe so we'll have enough for tomorrow and maybe even a little extra for a lunch over the weekend.

I also sipped on some wine while these guys hung out together. Will my heart ever stop fluttering seeing them together? It just makes me melt to see Marshall look at his daddy.

And now it's 8:30. I have big plans for the night: a shower, some cookies, more wine, and While You Were Sleeping. I hope you're finding some time to relax, too!

Here are more WIAW posts from around the interwebs. :-) 

What was the best thing you ate today? I think mine was dinner. I love peanut sauce. 

What do you do to stay motivated to work out when it's dark early and/or rainy? 

Lately

It's really been a nice week around here so far. Yesterday Marshall and I met up with Terry for lunch. 

Studs too good to look at the camera.

Marshall and I have been to Buy Buy Baby no fewer than four times in the last week or so, which is exhausting. That store is awesome and overwhelming. We needed some cozier sleepwear for Marshall, though, so I grabbed a fleece sleep sack but also almost bought this adorable Christmas onesie with a tie:

Luckily Marshall is growing too quickly for BBB, because they only had 9 month sizes and Marshall will for sure be out of that by Christmas!

This morning I met up with my new mom friends for a walk. We have six moms now! We walked near Terranea for about an hour and then let the babies (ranging five weeks to five months) roll around on blankets while we all chatted. It's lovely to meet new people, let Marshall interact with other babies, and get out of the house to do new things! Plus, despite the hot weather (yeah, that's back), it was a beautiful day! I didn't take any photos, but here's another one of Terry and Marshall from the other day.

Scout has been loving this cooler weather lately. He's super snuggly at night and really enjoys curling up with us anytime he gets a chance. Sadly, he often tries to cuddle while Marshall is eating, so I have to get up to burp the kid within a few minutes, but we're all finding our rhythm.

Tonight Terry and I agreed to squeeze in a quick workout while hanging out with Marshall in his room. We did another every-minute-on-the-minute workout: 5 push ups + 10 squats every minute for 15 minutes. It was super quick, not too sweaty, and Marshall thought it was funny that Terry tickled his feet every time he did a squat. Marshall also got to join for the last set of squats!

Last night Marshall slept through the night. He woke up twice (midnight and 3:30), but put himself back to sleep without needing anything from me. At 6 am Terry's alarm went off and I made him go check on Marshall, who was awake and hanging out in his crib. I fed him and he went back to sleep for more than two hours! I'm proud, but I'm also chalking a lot of his sleepiness up to a little cold. Hopefully he'll feel better soon, but I'm still impressed that he slept so well!


And here's a little WIAW action for you:

Breakfast: oatmeal with raisins, a touch of maple syrup, some granola, and unsweetened coconut. My oatmeal toppings went a little overboard today, if that's possible, but it was delicious.

Lunch: leftover vegetarian fajitas (bell peppers, zucchini, black beans, Greek yogurt) on a tortilla

Snack: graham crackers with peanut butter and chocolate chips, plus a cup of tea.

Dinner: We actually enjoyed a two-course meal tonight! Leftover tomato bisque and leftover shrimp pasta.

For the pasta, I made a recipe we usually make but with a little flair. It's super simple; I just tossed together:

• 1 pound whole wheat pasta
• 1/2 large bag of medium cooked shrimp (I pulled all the tails off while they defrosted)
• 1 container cherry tomatoes, roasted with minced garlic and olive oil at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes
• pesto (I used store-bought, but homemade would have been even better)--about 3/4 of a TJ's jar
• pine nuts, to garnish
• chopped basil, because I was feeling fancy

Delicious meal. Marshall even joined us at the table! He's not eating solids yet, but he'll start soon, so we're getting him used to the idea of sitting with us. It's so fun to have him hang out with us for dinner now!

(We gave him a persimmon to play with. He ignored it in favor of his hands.)

For dessert: graham crackers, homemade whipped cream, and chocolate chips. SO GOOD.

And that's a wrap! In case you missed it, you can check out some pretty ridiculously adorable photos of Marshall's first Halloween here. He was such a cute Harold!

WIAW

Happy birthday to Heidi, one of my best friends! I'm so glad we have experienced so much of life together, from cheering on the Bruins on the sidelines to living together in college to celebrating our weddings together, being pregnant together, and now sharing the joys of motherhood together! I hope you had a wonderful day!

Happy Thursday to you all! Hope the week has been treating you well. Today was an especially productive day, so I'm looking forward to a solid night of sleep before starting over again tomorrow. I can't believe Halloween is this Friday! There are actually a lot of local events around our area--a carnival, a "Halloween walk," and a festival of sorts. Terry and I are hoping to bring Marshall to one event for a little bit just so we can enjoy the festivities and get a picture of all three of us on Marshall's first Halloween.

I know it's WIAW, and I didn't eat this meal today, but I thought I'd share that I'm slowly finding fun ways to get out of my meal planning slump. Yesterday I thought all day about what to make for dinner. The challenge: I had a TON of greens about to go bad, so I knew we would need to cook them down for part of the meal. Usually I'll throw sauteed greens into a bowl of pasta and call it a day, but we ate pasta the night before. So I came up with the idea to make breakfast for dinner, and this happened:

First, I baked up some fresh biscuits using Lisa's recipe. I didn't have nearly enough milk, so I used about 1/4 cup milk and 3/4 cup Greek yogurt. They turned out great! Then I sauteed those greens in a little butter, sliced and heated up some sausage, and fried some eggs. I really wanted to try crispy eggs, but I got the pan hot and added butter and suddenly our apartment was filled with smoke. Terry and I rushed around turning on fans and opening doors to prevent the smoke alarm from beeping (success! Although with that amount of smoke, I kind of wish it had gone off because now I'm convinced it doesn't work), and I settled on regular ol' fried eggs instead. Still tasty. Oh, and we added some avocado, which was a great idea.

So here's what I actually ate today:

Breakfast: two pumpkin pancakes topped with maple syrup (devoured while running around getting Marshall and myself ready to meet up with a few other moms and babies). I used this recipe for the pancakes and added half a can of pumpkin instead of the bananas.

Our walk with the other moms was so fun! These are the ladies I met while walking on the Strand a few weeks back. Four of us met up today (the other three babies are two months old, so Marshall is ancient, but it's so fun to get to know some new people!). We met at Point Vicente and walked along the beautiful cliffs.

For lunch I assembled a turkey and cheese "toaster quesadilla" which is just a regular quesadilla but with no dishes. I topped it with the other half of the avocado from last night's dinner and had an apple on the side.

Later in the day I got to enjoy a little break. Marshall stayed home with family while I grabbed an almond croissant at a local bakery and ran a few errands.

I forgot to take a photo of dinner, but it was delicious! And best of all--I didn't make it. (Much as I love cooking, I also love getting a few other things done, sitting down to a homemade meal, and not even having to do dishes. I was totally spoiled today.) I had a salad with bell peppers and cucumbers, limoncello pasta (<--link to the recipe), toast with Parmesan on top, and Brussels sprouts. Delicious meal.

For dessert I ate a brownie with new-to-me coconut ice cream. I've been craving ice cream in a bad way lately, but I'm still avoiding it at night because it bothers Marshall's tummy. I've read good things about So Delicious ice cream, and then yesterday I saw that the brand is strongly anti-GMO, so I decided to support them and bought some tonight. It was pretty good. It's not ice cream, but it'll get me through. I topped it with some granola.

I'm really ready for the weekend over here. I hope you have a great day! Check out the other WIAWs!

WIAW Hold the Cheese

Okay, guys, I confirmed that it was only one squirrel. Still weird, though, right?

As of right now (2:00 pm on Wednesday afternoon), my child has been asleep in his crib for THREE hours and ten minutes. WHAT?! Normally he wakes up after 35 minutes or so and might go back to sleep with lots of rocking, maybe some nursing, but not in his crib. So naturally I have no idea what to do with myself.

Okay now it's 9:09 pm (where did the day go?), and Marshall ended up sleeping for a total of three hours and fifty minutes. Unheard of. I of course worried all day that he might be sick or something, but I'm trying not to stress about it. Babies are weird and unpredictable, so I'm just going to assume he's fine.

After the Epic Nap, we did make one quick outing to Costco and Trader Joe's. Well, it was supposed to be quick; I forgot to write a list for Costco and wandered around aimlessly, checking each aisle for whatever I might need.



I left with a bag of greens (we get one every week so I can make big side salads with each dinner), maple syrup, and Honest Company shampoo. I wonder if the employees keep a record of the most random purchases, because I feel like I might win sometimes.

Terry and I arrived home around the same time, so we took the little guy for a walk in the Ergo and chatted about our respective days. I am so thankful that, while it is still quite hot here, the evenings and mornings are relatively cool and make for nice walking weather. Tomorrow I hope to go for a long walk with Marshall, and I really do prefer cool weather because I feel bad when he's all sweaty in his car seat or the Ergo. When will it be fall?

And now I shall provide a quick account of today's meals, which I actually photographed! You can find more fun blogs sharing what they ate at Peas and Crayons.

Breakfast: I'm back on the two-scrambled-eggs-tortilla-and-salsa train for breakfast. I could eat this little burrito every day if it didn't mean missing out on my other breakfast favorites (a toss-up among all other breakfast foods). Terry and I are borderline addicted to this Whole Foods salsa.

Mid-morning snack: apple with peanut butter (yes, on the carpet) while Marshall practiced sitting up. He can't sit up at all yet, but I think it's fun to sit him up in front of the mirror so he can see the cute baby in the mirror.

Lunch: leftover chili on top of half of a sweet potato. My husband makes a mean chili, you guys. I barely missed the cheese and sour cream, which I'm avoiding for the most part while Marshall is nursing.

Unpictured: two muffins (pumpkin and banana chocolate chip). Also a handful of chips.

Dinner: Aforementioned greens (tossed with olive oil, balsamic, salt, and pepper) and pizza. The pizza was inspired by our recent trip to Pieology, because I wanted pizza but had to skip the cheese. So I copied my order from the make-your-own-pizza place and ended up with: marinara sauce (I bought it from TJ's), onion, bell pepper, pepperoni, and pesto drizzled on top. Tons of flavor--I didn't even miss the cheese!

And for dessert, another muffin with chocolate chips. I need to make some real desserts around here.

Hope you made it through the beginning of the week!

Is there a food you eat every day? I wish I could say "vegetables!" but alas, my answer is chocolate. Without even trying I am fairly certain I eat chocolate every day.

What store is most dangerous for you? I have my impulse shopping pretty well under control, but Costco and Target tend to tempt me.

My Favorite Travel Photos + WIAW

Paris, France, 2011. We took this photo while wandering the grounds of Versailles. The morning was freezing, and we loved how the sun stayed low, even at 11 am.

Paris, France, 2011. This photo of the Paris Metro late at night is now blown up and framed in our house. I love the fancy lamps and how empty the station is.

Munich, Germany, 2013. We took this photo from above Oktoberfest in Munich last year. The scene was pure chaos--rowdy groups of drunk young men, children running around, tourists buying souvenirs, delicious snacks everywhere. I was about two weeks pregnant and had a huge aversion to candied nuts, so I remember feeling revolted whenever we walked by stands selling the stuff. The beer tents were a blast but crazy crowded. I'm so glad we got to experience that chaos together!

Somewhere between Switzerland and Austria, 2013. This photo isn't particularly artistic, but I took it on the train from Luzern to Salzburg. I was so excited for the train rides around Bavaria, and they certainly delivered! I've never seen such gorgeous hillsides, and the greens and blues were breathtaking.

Alpnachstad, Switzerland, 2013. There's so much I love about this photo! Terry bought that hat on a cruise for fun and brought it along on our trip. It was so European of him. Plus, check out those mountains! We hiked the Emmentaler Alps with my parents and had a wonderful time taking in all the views.

London, England, 2011. On the first day of our honeymoon, Terry and I strolled through Green Park and absolutely fell in love (with the park; we were already in love with each other). It was such a peaceful respite from the busy city. I think we just meant to take a photo of the lovely tree-lined path, but we realized later we caught this sweet moment of a couple holding hands. I have this one in black and white on our bulletin board. 

Boulder, Colorado, 2012. I absolutely loved Boulder. The hikes, the views, the people. Terry and I have said that if we were to live outside of California, we could seriously consider Colorado. This photo captures some of that awe-inspiring beauty.

Train to Salzburg, 2013. Funny story about this photo. That little mouse is one of Scout's toys. We apparently accidentally left the mouse at my parents' house once, and they chose to bring it all the way to Europe to return it to us! A well-traveled little mouse, for sure.

I could find hundreds more, but that'll do for now. Looking up photos from our travels makes me all nostalgic. I'm glad we traveled so much before Marshall came along, but I look forward to traveling with him, too!

So here's what I ate today, a day that continued this ridiculous heat wave we're experiencing in Southern California.

Breakfast: two eggs atop a piece of toast with some jam

Lunch. I don't want to talk about it, but I will. I bought an acai bowl after a nice little workout at the beach. I made it all the way home and then Marshall kicked the bowl while eating. It could have been worse, I suppose.

Unpictured snacks: apple, tons of water, and a handful of raisins.

Afternoon snack: almond croissant. Marshall and I needed a break from the heat, so we walked around the mall for an hour and then stopped in the bakery on the way home. 

Dinner: chicken sausage, greens, and eggs, topped with salsa, plus a piece of sourdough bread. We each had a beer and some brownies, too. 

I'm going to hang out in the bedroom now, because that's where our portable air conditioner is. I hope it's cooler where you are! Check out the other WIAWs, too!