back from NJ

I'm back from my weekend in New Jersey...sadly there were no Housewives sightings. Maybe next time.

Either way it was still a good trip. On Thursday night K and I had a hotel reservation near his brother's college so we ended up just ordering room service and watching "Shutter Island," which was really good. The room service food was good too...but over priced!

The graduation was Friday morning and we went to lunch afterwards with K's brother, mom and grandfather. Then we spent the rest of the weekend with K's dad and his parents (the other grandparents.)

I had never spent much time with that side of the family so I liked getting to know them better, especially his grandma who is really sweet. They have a very male dominated family so I think she liked having a girl to hang out with!

Now I am back at work for only three more days...a little scary but overall, exciting.

random thoughts on Thursday morning

So my comforter on my bed has been completely destroyed by Hanna, it just looks gross now and there was a tiny hole which she zeroed in on and keeps trying to make larger. However, we had a Pottery Barn gift card left over from Christmas so last night I ordered this:

I love it! K is such a sweetie to let me have free reign over most of the decorating choices. I'm really trying to find my own style, when we first moved in together I was very concerned about keeping things semi-masculine so we have a lot of black and dark colors. Hopefully I can slowly redecorate!

Since almost my whole department at work has either left, leaving soon or new we are having a celebration potluck today. Then I am leaving at 2:30...so it should be a sweet day.

K and I are driving to New Jersey tonight, his brother's college graduation is tomorrow and then we are spending the weekend visiting various members of his family. I'll let you know how it goes, I don't know his family very well, strange considering how long we have been together...but what can you do?

Is anyone else feeling a little disappointed with the new episodes of Glee? A lot of them seem a little lacking to me. Don't get me wrong, I still love the show but the newer episodes don't have the same sparkle or fun plot lines as the earlier ones. All they ever talk about is self esteem. More Sue Sylvester and power ballads please...less after school special.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! I let you know if I run into any Real Housewives in NJ this weekend!

Weight Watchers Wednesday: need a quick, summery dinner?

Grilled Cuban Chicken with Black Bean and Mango Salsa

{picture from weightwatchers.com}

POINTS® Value:5
Servings: 4

What you will need:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup cilantro, fresh, chopped
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1 1/4 pounds uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, four 5-oz pieces
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup mango, fresh, cubed
2 Tbsp red onion, chopped
cooking spray

How to make it:

The night before you are going to eat this:

In a small bowl, combine orange juice, cilantro, lime juice, oil, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper; remove 1/2 cup and place in a large zip-close plastic bag. Add chicken to bag and turn to coat; seal bag and refrigerate.

Then, to make the salsa, add beans, mango and onion to bowl with orange juice mixture; toss, cover and refrigerate.

The night you are going to eat this:
When ready to cook, coat grill or grill pan (we used the George Foreman) with cooking spray; preheat over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade.

Grill chicken, turning as needed, until cooked through. Transfer chicken to serving plates and spoon salsa over chicken; pour any liquid left in bottom of bowl over top. Yields 1 piece of chicken and about 1/2 cup of salsa per serving.

K and I had this last night with some Saffron rice on the side, it was great! Plus it only took about 20 minutes to get dinner ready since I had done all the prep the night before.

ode to the anonymous commenter

Over the past couple years I've seen a lot of the blogs I read (and enjoy) plagued by a mysterious ailment.

The anonymous, mean spirited, critical commenter.

You know the one. You have probably been visited by them.

But until tonight, I hadn't been. Probably because not many people read this blog.

Now I don't claim to always write about wonderful, profound things. In fact a lot of my posts are about nothing. I just write this blog for me to get out whatever is in my head. I try and stay true to myself and I'm not always nice or perfectly politically correct. I'm just Courtney.

So if any of you, and by you I mean the people who read and comment of my blog and I have come to consider friends, were offended by this post on Friday...I'm sorry. I was having a bad day and not in the best mood. Maybe I should have thought about some of my choices of words...maybe I shouldn't have. Who knows. Who cares really?

I have a point here about these anonymous comments.

Those of us who blog put ourselves out there for the world to see and judge. That's our choice and there are going to be those who don't always agree or like what we have to say. But why hide behind anonymous? We are all just being ourselves here...why don't you do that too?

potty mouths

I've always been a firm believer that public bathrooms are not a hang out spot. You should get in and get out as quickly and as quietly as possible. Maybe this is why I am extremely bothered by a recent trend in my office bathroom.

Let me preface this by saying my department shares the floor with a glorified mail room. I'm not trying to be rude, I'm sure these people work hard at their jobs, but most of them are either very ghetto, very trashy or just...weird. It's an interesting combination. To give you an idea of the type of people working there...eight of them got fired this year for dealing prescription drugs and soliciting their business using their work emails. I've also seen Micky Mouse and Elroy from the Jetsons tattooed on two different people's necks. So yea.

However, the bathroom on their side is further away from my desk...so I can waste some time walking over and back.

In the past week the following has all occurred in that bathroom:

1) A woman having a conversation with someone (loudly) on her cell phone while sitting on the toilet.

2) A woman having a conversation with herself (mumbling) while sitting on the toilet.

3) Two women having a very involved, loud, conversation about drama with other people at work while they were each sitting on (different) toilets.

4) Two women having a very involved, loud conversation about drama with other people at work while blocking the entrances to all of the stalls (and they looked at me like I was being rude when I had to squeeze through them to go in and pee.)

5) A woman straightening her hair. She wasn't on the toilet but she did spread out all her makeup and hair supplies across the sink area.

I just threw that last one in...but what I am really trying to say is...what is with all the talking? Peeing is not the time for conversations...and the one who was mumbling to herself actually scared me. Creepy.

Is it just me that finds this strange? Are public bathrooms the new hot spot for conversations?

Weight Watchers Wednesday: Quick Breakfast

I've seen that a lot of bloggers do Weight Watchers or Weight Loss Wednesday so I decided to play along and use Wednesday as a day to share WW tips or recipes...so here we go!

Since starting WW in February I am always looking for quick things I can have for breakfast. Usually I eat in my car on the way to work or once I get to work at my desk so it's important that whatever I have is portable and will keep me full until lunch.

Here are some of my favorites:

Smart Ones English Muffin Breakfast Sandwich---4 POINTS

I try not to go crazy with Smart Ones or Lean Cuisines because of the sodium but these are really good and simple.

The Alternative Bagel---1 POINT

These can actually be ordered online here. I really like the Roasted Onion flavor with a Laughing Cow wedge spread on it (which brings the total to only 2 POINTS.)

Fage Total 2% with Honey---4 POINTS

For some people 4 POINTS might seem like a lot to spend on just yogurt but this is really filling and yummy. I will normally have a piece of fruit with it or as a snack later in the morning.

Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal---3 POINTS

The Banana Bread flavor is my personal fav.

What do you eat for breakfast? Any healthy suggestions for me to try next?

lots of thoughts

Lately my mind kind of feels like a hamster running in a wheel. Lots of activity without any real results.

This is my attempt to get some thoughts down...so I'm sorry if it doesn't make much sense. It's stream of consciousness. Or the taming of the hamster if you will.

Work is boring me. Not that it wasn't boring for the past 2 years or so, but now it is really boring. Everyone knows I am leaving, but I still have enough time here that I'm not doing any of the getting ready to leave stuff yet (packing up my desk etc...) Basically business as usual. It's kind of like limbo. At least this is my last full week, I have Friday off next week then I am only working three days the week after.

Student loans make me both happy and anxious. I always have known we were going to be paying off K's law school loans for all eternity, but now we will be adding mine to the mix as well. I am thrilled that we are both going to have the education to pursue the careers we really want and that government funding is available to help us. But it is scary to think about the number and I worry we won't be able to do other things (like buy a house) because of what we will be paying back. Is being happy in your career worth it? I think yes. Will we make it work? I think yes too. But like I said...it's still scary.

My bangs really need a trim. I've been putting it off.

K and I hit up the Home Depot over the weekend and got 9 different herbs and a jalapeno pepper plant. Our porch looks much more Spring-ish, I should take pictures. Hopefully we don't kill the plants...

Our apartment complex pool is filled with water but not open yet. It's been hot and muggy so it is taunting me.

That's all for now...