HALLOWEEN HAPPINESS

Hey Ladies!! Happy Halloween! I love love love this time of year and cannot wait to hand out candy at my house tonight and watch, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (for the third time in like five days)! The hubs might break out that Popeye costume again tonight! haha too funny.  So I worked the past two days and was thankful for the chance to sleep in a little bit this morning. I hit the gym, grocery store, post office and vet. Poor Charlie has issues with his, well how do I put this.. anal glands. Haha We have to start taking him occasionally to the vet to get them, "expressed", otherwise they clog (which has happened twice now) and cause him to get VERY sick. And when the gland gets clogged it then ruptures leaving a, literally, hole near his bottom. Both times it happened he started acting very strange, wouldn't eat anything, moped around acting sad and winds up on antibiotics. So today I decided it was probably time to be proactive and get him checked out. Five minutes and $15 later, I have a happy Charlie. Winston came for the ride and I'm sure he snickered to Charlie in their dog language that he didn't have to go in to the vet but that Charlie did. Ha! Speaking of my dog-children, these are their festive outfits for Halloween:

my little bat!

my little spider!

I snagged some great finds at the grocery store that I am pretty excited about. In fact, I was so excited apparently, that I left my IPhone and wallet in the shopping cart and didn't realize it until I was in my driveway!! I. freaked. out. Luckily I literally live one block from there and was able to go to the shopping cart collector thing and grab my belongings (before someone else did!). PHEW! Here's my finds:

Butternut Squash

Now, I've never cooked with butternut squash before so I am super excited to try it out tonight. I am thinking about just roasting it in the oven with some olive oil, sea salt and maybe a bit of cinnamon or brown sugar. I want to keep intact it's healthy side, so I'm not gonna smother it in butter or anything. I'll share the results and some pics later.

"keen-wa"

Quinoa is another item I have never cooked before, and this one the hubs is a little skeptical about. We shall see! I follow a few blogs and always here about "keen-wa" (still not sure how to pronounce it, ha!) and decided to go for it. I am usually a pretty healthy eater but sometimes I lack variety, so I am trying to branch out. I'll also let you know how this one turns out. And there are a TON of things you can do with Quinoa, so it may take a few experiments to figure out how exactly I will use this item.

mmmm

I bet this looked a little funny in my shopping cart sitting next to my butternut squash, quinoa, greek yogurt, apples, bananas, milk, eggs and deli meat. haha I love to indulge (sometimes a little too much!). I think I am going to save these bad boys for Thanksgiving. We are going to my parent's for Thanksgiving this year and I should probably contribute something. I think these will hit. the. spot.

I raved about the less-healthy version of this before, so I am hoping this healthier version is just as good. Edy's is so delicious! This, too, probably looked funny in my cart and I am also going to save this for another time. It will be awaiting me in the freezer until that eventful day when I decide to crack in to it. My plan is to remain on a healthy path between now and Thanksgiving and it is nice to have some things to look forward to.

My workout today consisted of running three miles, walking on an incline for one mile, squats, abs and free weights. After my recent attack of, "cantstopeatingcandy-itis" it felt oh so good to break a good sweat! I didn't snap a pic on my way OTD so here is a workout pic I took this weekend and forgot to share.

C9 by Champion for Target $19.99
Long-sleeve 1/4 Zip Microlite Top

The 1/4 zip long sleeve top and the below-know crop pants are both from Target by Champion. I love both so much! The pants have seams in strategic places for added comfort and style! So comfy! I can't find them on the website right now but there are many different styles and very affordable. The top also comes in a few different colors so you can spice things up!

After my errands and workout, I decided to wear something other than workout clothes! Figured I would look decent for my trick-or-treaters. Here's my look:

Stella & Dot $49
Fox Ring

The faux leather leggings are the ones I raved about here, and may fabulous boots from Charlotte Russe were mentioned here. SO COMFORTABLE and super cute!! My zip down dress is from Forever21 a few years ago, so sorry, no link! I love it though, and it has hung around for a while. And what can beat this Stella & Dot ring! I die! It reminds me of my doggies and it is too damn cute! It is from the Alice by Temperley for Stella & Dot collection and I am in love. Unfortunately, this collection is limited edition, so it won't be around forever!


What are your plans for Halloween? Whatever they are, have fun and be safe!!!


PS  So growing up my whole life in St. Louis, when we went trick-or-treating we always had to tell a joke to the person who opened the door and it wasn't until after you told your joke that you got candy. Apparently, here in Louisville there is no such thing! How sad! I remember the week leading up to Halloween my friends and I would go through our arsenal of jokes and make sure we were prepared. The jokes were along the lines of this (we were in grade school, mind you), "why did the golfer wear two pairs of pants? In case he got a hole in one". haha too cute. I think it is a great tradition, and although I'm not sure when, how, or why it is that way in St. Louis, I think Louisville should join in on the trend!


Happy Halloween!!


xoxo MaryBeth