Wednesday, October 6, 2010

A Few Fails Won’t Stop Me!

I had DS at the mall the other day because he was in serious need of new pants.  Poor kid had to try on 4 pairs from his drawer the other day before he found a pair that fit the length of his leg.  He grew a lot over the summer!  Anyways, while we were there I was on the hunt for a cute pair of black flats for work.  I put him to work helping me search the store to keep him amused and didn’t he find the cutest pair…in deep red!  And half price to boot!  I abandoned my search for black and bought his choice which made his day!  Check’em out:IMG_3624 IMG_3622
They’re Jessica brand from Sears and SO comfortable!  I wore them all day, even on our walks at break with no issues.  No chafing, blisters or discomfort.  I felt like I was wearing my slippers all day.  Just awesome!  I also scored on a great, warm sweater at Old Navy; $50 for $20!!  IMG_3625
This photo doesn’t do it justice.  I felt like I was wrapped in a blanket all day.  That makes me happy!
I took a few hours off work Tuesday afternoon to go watch my kids run in the city wide cross country meet.  DD has been doing this for 4 years and this was the first for DS (they can’t start until they’re in grade 3).  Although I made it and the kids did awesome, getting there and back was STRESSFUL!  First I realized on my way out that my cell phone was dead.  Fail #1.  Then I got in the Jeep and was halfway there when the gas light dinged that it was empty and I had zero time to stop.  Fail #2.  I managed to find a half decent parking spot, get out, find the kids, turn the camera on to take a gazillion  pictures and the battery is flashing that it’s almost dead.  Fail #4.  Fortunately I managed to get some great photos of both of them! IMG_3641
IMG_3643IMG_3652 IMG_3646
DS placed 11th out of about 75 kids and was the first to cross the finish line for the school.  DD place 44th out of 100 girls and was fourth to cross the finish line for the school.  She was bummed because she wanted to place top 20, but I reminded her that every year she improves and finishing the 2km run strong means so much more than just winning.  I’m not so sure that she bought it, but she did cheer up a wee bit.  Here they are crossing the finish line:  IMG_3654 IMG_3647 
So, I don’t think that I mentioned that it poured buckets for part of the time we were there.  UGH!  DS finished first so we ate lunch in the (dry) Jeep then went back to watch DD (who had found shelter with some friends while it rained).  I offered to bring her back to the school (I pass it on my way back to work) but she opted to stay and bus it back with her friends.  DS however, was all too happy to leave with me.IMG_3649   He must’ve been freezing if school sounded more appealing than hanging out with the team!  LOL  My first train of thought was “gotta get gas…FAST!”.  Too bad I was blocked in by 4 school buses waiting to load kids. Fail #5. Oh, yes!  And it gets better because when I finally manoeuvred around said buses and got to the closest gas stations wouldn’t you know that the pumps were in the process of being ripped out?  Fail #6.  I prayed as DS watched with a very concerned look on his face as we managed to make it 10 more minutes down the road to the next station.  Holy Moly!  Seeing as my nerves were frazzled and DS was cold and Starbucks was right there, there was no choice but to make a pit stop.  I had my heart set on a grande NF pumpkin spice misto, but guess what?  They RAN OUT OF PUMPKIN SPICE.  WTF???  Fail #7.  I settled for a grande NF vanilla rooibos latte.IMG_3657
DS warmed up with a hot chocolate, whip, please.  And I finally got him back to school and myself back to work.  What a fiasco!
I have spent a few pleasurable, stress free evenings this week making a few recipes that I’ve read about on blogs.  Namely Erica’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chocolate Chip bars:IMG_3618
And Averie’s Caramelized Cinnamon Sugar Roasted Chickpea “Peanuts”;IMG_3636
Holy yum to both recipes and kudos to the girls for creating such delights!  A word of warning if you try the chickpea one; be prepared to eat the whole batch!!!  :) I even busted out one of my own fall recipes; Banana Cranberry Pumpkin Cake!IMG_3669   IMG_3671
I baked it in a 9x13 pan for 45 minutes as opposed to 60 minutes in a Bundt pan.  I then cut it into 16 bars.  Delish!  Here’s some other tasty eats that I’ve been noshing on:IMG_3660 IMG_3620 IMG_3662 IMG_3621 IMG_3640 IMG_3663 IMG_3650 Dinners have by far been the best meals of the past 2 days.  First was a pork roast dinner with carrots, parsnips, onions and brown rice:IMG_3619 Next was a stir fry with coconut curry tempeh, tomatoes, raisins, a bit of tomato sauce and quinoa;IMG_3630 Then there was the pita pizza with salsa, mushrooms, ham and cassata cheese…IMG_3659 And finally tonight was chicken, quinoa and steamed veggies:IMG_3667 Just a few more random shots!IMG_3666 IMG_3629 IMG_3638 IMG_3658 I’ll leave you tonight with 2 pictures of the sunset that I took Monday night as I was leaving the store…IMG_3632 IMG_3631 Just gorgeous.  Looking at these makes all the “fails” at the beginning of this post A-OK!  ;)
Bye for now!!

11 comments:

  1. I totally had a very similar almost running out of gas experience the other day! Glad we both made it safe and sound :) The kids look great at the run. I think they ROCKED it. Improving each year is so important. Thanks for the shout out whoop whoop. I have those chickpeas on my to make list too. And I want to make your pumpkin loaf of deliciousness- I just used the only can of pumpkin I have in the house though :( I will have to get more this weekend! Have a good night

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  2. That just goes to show you there's always sunshine through the rain. :) Or..a sunset through the fails, whichever ;)

    Congrats on DD and DS on their races! DD definitely shouldn't be upset about her place..she still beat over HALF the other girls!! That's awesome! :D

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  3. :) I love that DS enjoyed helping you shop for shoes. What a little munchkin'. That banana cranberry pumpkin cake looks perfect for Thanksgiving---which is this weekend for you!!

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  4. oh, i hate it when that happens with gas; i had that once but i was in the middle of no where texas and terrified I was never going to find a town with gas!

    and that pumpkin bread looks great! along with all your meals

    but most of all congrats to DD and DS on their races! Tell DD she did an awesome job and will continue to get faster every single year! women are awesome runners!

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  5. Ugh, I hate days like that where it seems like everything is going wrong! But check out those flats. I so want a pair of cute flats, but never find any that fit my feet. Le sigh.

    I think I'm gonna have to check out that chickpea recipe.

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  6. Krista!

    Those are such CUTE shoes! You get my fashion desingner stamp of approval! :)

    So glad to see you are well! Thanks so much for your sweet comments on my blog. I'm so glad you are one of my faithful readers!!!

    Xo!
    Erin

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  7. it was fun reading those "fails" but I bet while you were in it, it was fun at all.
    It's so good that your kids are participating a lot of sports and it's so true what you told to DS. She didn't bought it 100% but at least she was cheered up a little bit! ;)
    you've been eating a lot of yummy food!!! everything looks delicious! :D

    oh.... nice shoes. I think I bought a similar pair to my mom last year, she loved it! ;)

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  8. Congrats to the kiddos, they both did awesome! LOVE the shoes, Krista, they really are adorable...really cute sweater too! :)

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  9. love your shoes and your outfit. That pizza looks absolutely divine and I definitely need to make it. Gorgeous sunset.

    xo

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  10. thanks for making and posting about the recipe!!

    "A word of warning if you try the chickpea one; be prepared to eat the whole batch"--omg so true!!

    Another bloggie friend make them last nite and she told me the SAME thing. She ate a half can of chickpeas just pretty much immediately. We did the same thing here :)

    Love the $20 sweater find!! that's awesome!

    and out of pumpkin spice?! Wtf! That sucks! Well at least you had chickpeas and other nummy eats to hold you over :)

    xo

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  11. I haven't read in a long time, but very fitting that it's a shoe post! LOVE them!

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