Health, Photos

Blogger meetup #2

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Bright and early Saturday morning I hopped on the Greyhound bus to head to Toronto. I arrived in the big city a little before 10am, and ended up doing some shopping (and maybe have some ideas for upcoming blog posts involving romantic valentines gifts). But that wasn’t the real reason I ended up going to Toronto ala solo.

Yes, I did some shopping and will be doing a video perhaps this week on it. BUT! There was a Toronto’s Blogger Meetup!! I knew Susan was going, and since we’re both from the east coast, I knew it was finally time to meet her. Yay for blog-friends becoming real-friends!

I was a bit skeptical at first going to a vegetarian restaurant before, since I’m not one – but it was a buffet style and had an enormous selection of foods for me to choose from. Note, I did choose pizza for the first thing to go on my plate. It was the only thing I recognized ha!

Here’s my plate. I ate everything except the thing on the right that I thought was a potato, but it wasn’t very tasty in my mouth. Commensal was an interesting concept. You pay by the weight of your food, not by what is served for you = less wastage.

All in all I think there was about 18 or 19 people who showed up. Megan ended up leaving early since had to probably back for St. Lucia! Jealous.

So here’s our ‘group’ that met up. (I stole this image from Lily’s site. She’s so sweet and friendly in person, I have to admit – I only knew a handful of girls from their blogs, the other girls — like Lily I had no idea who they were. But that’s always fun too. Lily just started blogging this month! Go say hello :)

I also wanted to thank Morgan for planning the meet up and for the tea, also Lisa for the tasty treats!

Here’s a list of the bloggers that ended up going to the meet up, new blog reads for everyone to check out:

Anyway, it was a barrel of fun. I loved it so much, I can’t wait for more!

Question time: Have you ever been to a blogger-meet up before?

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Guest Post, Health, In the Kitchen, Photos

Runner Kelly is back!

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Since Kelly stopped blogging, I have missed her dearly. Kelly comments often on my blog and we e-mail each other to catch up, from time to time. Randomly one day I asked Kelly if she was interested in writing a guest post / blog entry here on spiffykerms. She accepted so here she is! SO EXCITING! Miss her face!

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Remember Me? I’m Kelly and I used to blog at Healthy Living With Kelly. (http://www.myhealthypassion.wordpress.com) The link is still active with all my recipes and info if you ever want to go check it out. Last August I had to stop blogging because I had an unfortunate knife accident in the kitchen that required surgery. I chopped my pinky finger 95% off.

I had surgery, was in a cast for about 2 months and spent close to 3 months in physical therapy relearning how to use my left hand again. It was probably the hardest thing I have ever gone through. Ever.  I was severely depressed and spent most every day waking up just to count down the hours until I could go back to sleep. I had gone from a very independent person to someone who couldn’t blow dry her hair, get dressed, make a sandwich, or even put on deodorant without help. It was awful. I was never more ready for a new year as 2010 was not my favorite. After about 3 straight weeks of complete moping around I picked myself up and slowly starting to get my old spunk back. I had ended my blog because I couldn’t type one handed but I never came back to update anyone so when Nancy asked me to write this post I jumped at the chance.

I guess the natural place to start is the hand. My left pinky works about 75%. It doesn’t bend naturally or look 100% normal but I am just thankful that I still have it. Once I “graduated” from physical therapy and no longer had any restrictions placed on me, my fabulous husband (and best support system ever) took me on a 10 day trip to Arizona and the Grand Canyon. We hiked our little hearts out!

It was a very refreshing trip that cleared my mind and really let me appreciate everything we had been through together over the last 3 months. 2010 was such a hard year. It was a wonderful trip and I came away even more in love with Keith. Insert awwwww! I mean who wouldn’t love a guy who “tags” rocks with chalk everywhere we went?

When we got home I felt renewed and ready to start something new. So, I opened my own catering business. I started making ready-made meals for people who were too busy to go home and cook and didn’t want to eat fast food. I started offering a limited menu and before I knew it, it took off! The plan in 2011 is to actually open up my own shop versus cooking out of my house. I am currently working on my business plan so I can go to the bank and prove to them that I am a good investment! Ha! I also started a weekly newsletter to keep giving out my healthy tips without the blog. If you want to be added on just send me an email: Kelly0412@hotmail.com and I will get you added on! It is just a weekly listserv with health tips and recipes.

I still am an avid blog reader just not an avid blogger. But thanks to Nancy for sharing her space with me today and letting me pop in with a recap. I have missed it. J But wait, I couldn’t leave without giving you a recipe, could I? Of course not!

While in Arizona, Keith fell in love with this divvy Chinese food place called Kyoto Bowl. He ate it 3 times while we were there and each time he ordered a teriyaki chicken rice bowl. When I got back I knew I could recreate it for him only it would be better and healthier. Did I? I did! ENJOY!

ARIZONA RICE BOWL

  • 8oz. Boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked (can also use tempeh or tofu for a vegetarian vesion)
  • 2 cups cooked brown rice
  • 2 small zucchini, chopped
  • 2 tsp. Minced ginger
  • 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
  • 4 Tbsp. low sugar teriyaki sauce
  • 1 egg, scrambled
  • Cayenne pepper, to taste

Heat Sesame oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and ginger into skillet and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes.  Add rice and chicken and sauté for 8-10 minutes, or until hot and heated throughout. Stir in Teriyaki sauce stir in scrambled egg. Serves 4

260 Calories; 7g Fat (1.5g saturated fat); 86mg Cholesterol; 665mg Sodium; 29g Carbohydrates; 3g Fiber; 4g Sugar; 18g Protein

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Fashion, Health, OOTD, Photos

OOTWW

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I’ve been so tired these past few days and I don’t know what the cause of it may be. Since I’m super low in iron I always take supplements every 2 days since I find it too harsh on my body to take them every day.  I notice they give me energy but maybe I’m just so excited that I’m going home next week? I don’t really know, but thankfully it’s the weekend and tomorrow I can possibly sleep in a bit. Last night I even went to bed at 8:00pm and had 12 hours of sleep. This weekend my boyfriend has to get some Christmas shopping done and of course I’ll be helping him pick them out, but we won’t be on the go at 9am at least. Ugh, sleep is the best.

I’ve also been slacking on getting together outfits on Sunday nights for the week. But here we are with another OOTWW (Outfit of the work week).


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