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Steinfest

Making Ranch dip

The yard is decorated

Dessert tray

Tortilla chips and salsa

Keg of Harpoon Octoberfest

Happy Fall!

Trying another type of pumpkin ale

Foamy beer

Matt threw a BBQ knife into the tree!

How many guys does it take to start a fire?

Drew's Stein

Bratwurst topped with ketchup and homemade sauerkraut

Buffalo wings

Brave enough to try the "Insano" hot sauce

Drinking out of a beer stein

Fire pit at night

The guys invented a new version of beer pong

Party On Wayne

Muffin in a Bowl! I ended up eating this with a fork so it would be neater.

I've been up since 8:15 this morning! Yeahhh, but that's early for ME. I've been doing stuff to get ready for our Oktoberfest themed party Jared nicknamed Steinfest later this afternoon.

Jared downloaded a CD of German drinking songs. We're serving bratwurst and knackwurst. Even though I'm breaking from the true German theme, I downloaded 20 polka hits. I'm 1/2 Polish so I couldn't resist.

I won't photograph everything I eat and drink today, but I'll take pics of the spread and post them later tonight. And I'm taking the day off from exercise!

I'd also like to raise my glass and wish a Happy Saturday to everyone!!!

Chili When Its Chilly

I forgot to reattach my front door key to my key chain after it fell off last night. To kill time while waiting for Jared to get home from work, I walked a few blocks from my rented parking space to Copley for some browsing.

WTF Saks 5th Avenue?!?! Take the Christmas decorations down a notch. It's October 16th.

I showed amazing self-control. I picked up a vest in Banana Republic and various items in Vineyard Vines and Lululemon but I put everything back. My only purchase was from Sephora because I am almost out of a few makeup essentials.

We stopped at Shaws to buy food for the party tomorrow. I snuck a few goodies into the cart, items that I've spotted on other blogs that I really want to try. Shaws was out of canned pumpkin! But word on the street is that they're getting a shipment tonight...so I might jog there in the am.

I heated a can of chili for Jared and me to split as an appetizer. Its topped with shredded Mexican style cheese and a dollop of plain Chobani.

Washed down with some pumpkin beer. Harvest Moon isn't that great. I can hardly taste the pumpkin flavor. Maybe it needs more nutmeg?

I had leftover chicken and spaghetti squash for my at-home entree.

I've been watching episodes of the Rachel Zoe Project on my DVR and cleaning/decorating the apartment for tomorrow's festivities. Jared mentioned exercising tomorrow morning. In my opinion, the walking around and housework I did today combined with the stuff I'm going to do in the morning will burn enough calories to keep me healthy through the weekend.

Loving my philosophy of being healthy and making changes slowly! I am not going to turn my life upside down. Besides, the journey towards a healthy lifestyle is the most fun part!

Lessons Learned

Snacked on some edamame leftover from Wednesday's dinner.

I was so glad I took the time to make a turkey sandwich last night. Loved the turkey from Lionettes! This sandwich featured turkey, lettuce, pickles, and Spinach & Artichoke hummus.

I went to the gym with a plan in mind. I was going to use the foam roller, do some kind of cardio for 20 minutes, and then sit in the sauna. Plans got destroyed when I finished my 20 minute run on the treadmill and decided to use the foam roller for a few more minutes. One of the trainers (Dave) was nice enough to show me how to stretch my glutes using a small ball. It can get deeper into the muscles than the foam roller.

We started talking about my back issues and my background in gymnastics and cheerleading. Dave ended up spending 20 minutes with me, going over different ways to work my abs besides crunches. My rectus abdominals are overworked and everything else is under worked. He also showed me some exercises that target multiple muscle groups. Instead of doing a circuit and working one muscle at a time, I can do one or two different exercises and work more major muscles. My workouts are usually limited to my lunch hour so that was a major score.

(I'd love to share some of the exercises with you guys but he went over so many that I'm have trouble remembering. I'm going to try to write everything down later on tonight)

I'm always afraid to approach trainers, especially since I'm not paying for a session. But he said that if I ever see a trainer hanging around, just ask what his or her favorite core exercise is. Learning a new move or two a week would be great!

~Do any of you know any good core moves? Or websites with exercise demos?~

I had a cup of Gingerbread Spice tea for my afternoon snack. I loved the way it smelled and the first couple of sips were great. But as the tea cooled, it was too sweet and thick for me. Maybe I let the bag steep for too long?

I nibbled on a handful of prunes. These have been sitting in the fridge since Jared has his appendix out at the end of August. I should probably look for an expiration date.

The prunes didn't fill me up, and I didn't want to eat more and OD on fiber. I tried a new Bear flavor: Chocolaty Cherry. I liked the mix of the sweet chocolate bits with the tangy cherries. Chewy texture with bits of crunch.

If You Walked a Mile in My Shoes...

...You'd probably end up with blisters all over your feet!

(I wore Ugg boots to work this morning and then changed into an uncomfortable pair of heels that I keep under my desk. Yay for style and boo for discomfort!)

We had to buy milk for the mac and cheese last night. That worked out nicely because I can have cereal again. I made a bowl of cinnamon Puffins topped with 1/2 of a banana and a sprinkling of blueberry flax seed.

Wearing a brand new sweater today and I am sooo warm and snuggley. I ordered this sweater from Athleta. It looks nice enough to wear to work, but it's made out of nylon so it's super soft. I hate wearing a wool sweater and then spending the day feeling itchy. Plus this sweater has an oversize cocoon neck. I'm wearing it pulled over my shoulders as a shawl. But I also have the options to wear it as a cowl neck or a hood. When I modeled the hood this morning, Jared told me that I looked like an immigrant. Haha, if it's cold enough, I'll still rock it!

Make Hay while the Sun Shines

My mom got to my apartment a few minutes after I had got home. When I went outside to help her carry stuff in, the front door key somehow fell off of my key chain. I buzzed every apartment, but no one was home to open the door. Thankfully Jared was able to leave work early and let us in! (And no worries, the front door key was sitting on my ironing board)

We raked up the mulch that had been spread all over the yard. Then we spread a few bales of hay so that dirt won't get dragged in the house. Plus I think the hay goes really well with the Octoberfest theme of the party.

Miles had a lot of fun playing in his new and improved yard. I worked up an appetite!

Per usual, my mom brought lots of food with her. She brought leftover sandwiches from her staff meeting yesterday. I had 1/2 of a turkey sandwich for an appetizer.

Jared made dinner. Tonight's menu was simply Annie's mac and cheese. I ate mine plain, while Jared topped his with lamb sausage that he bought at Lionettes Market. He also brought some shaved turkey breast from Lionettes, and it's in my sandwich that I'm bringing for lunch tomorrow. Lionettes is known for their local clean sustainable food. Mmm!

When I was cleaning up after making my sandwich, I accidentally spilled pickle juice all over the bottom of my fridge and my kitchen floor. What a mess! I had been avoiding washing the kitchen floor so I guess this was a blessing in disguise!

I was still feeling snackie so I had a freshly baked blueberry muffin, another snack that was provided by Mom! I heated it in the microwave so the butter melted and the muffin tasted like it had just popped out of the oven.

Hopefully I can make it through the rest of the evening without losing any keys or making any messes.