Comps are on Wednesday, April 7. Just trying to make it through the next week.
{Unrelated side note: To upload the above picture, I had to pull pictures off our camera which my husband took on a recent company bowling outing. I don’t care how cool you are, NO ONE looks cool when they bowl. No one.}
Miss you guys! Let’s catch up soon?
So, here’s the deal. We love Chipotle. We love their chips, their corn salsa, their burritos. We love everything about Chipotle. We don’t eat it that often, but there are many a Saturday where we’re running errands (or just sitting around) and develop a huge craving for Chipotle. I used to order their chicken tacos, but I’ve been ordering the burrito bowl lately to reduce the guilt.
One good thing about where we live: within a three mile radius of our place, there is a Chipotle, Moe’s, and a Q’doba. The Moe’s and Q’doba are the closest to us, so we’ve been throwing those into the mix to shake things up a bit (I’ve warned you… we’re pretty crazy people). Recently, Moe’s started “Thank You Thursdays” with BOGO entrees, which is great for the wallet, but not great for my I-eat-super-healthy-Monday-Friday rule. [I’ve always had this rule, but only in the post-Christmas months have I buckled down in abiding by it. (I’ve lost 10 pounds since the New Year, have I told you that? I’m not sure I have.)]
So, back to Moe’s. Moe’s has a great food calculator and I recently calculated my typical Chipotle burrito bowl combination and it came out to… 415 calories! For rice, chicken, black beans, salsa, lettuce, and guacamole. Without the guac, it’s only 345 calories. Three hundred and forty-five calories! That’s nearly a Lean Cuisine, people! [I skip the cheese and sour cream—not worth the cals to me, but sometimes will add light sour cream at home.]
There is more salt and fat, so it’s not an eat-every-night kind of thing, but it’s a great, relatively low cal option to have when we’re out running errands and want to grab lunch. Or want a free entree on Thursday nights.
In fairness to Chipotle, I recently calculated the same combination here. For the chicken, rice, black beans, tomato and corn salsas, guacamole combo, it’s 690 calories. Sans guac = 540 cal. As for Q’doba (they have a calculator on their site), the combination is 800 calories! Sans guac = 690 calories.
415 calories vs 690 vs 800? I think we have a clear winner.
So, while we love Chipotle (I can’t tell you how much I heart their chips), my loyalty is currently shifting to Moe’s while I continue to abide by healthier eating practices. AND they yell, “WELCOME TO MOOOOE’S!” every time you walk in the door. [Tyler loves this. He yells it with them. It’s embarrassing.]
So, the next time you’re craving a big burrito lunch option, think Moe’s for a flavorful, low calorie, guilt free chicken/rice/black bean/salsa/lettuce/guac burrito bowl. Consider this my official endorsement.
Now, back to studying…
…is killing me! I wrote a post about my bracket on the way up to NYC last weekend, but never got around to posting it because our hotel didn’t have wireless (Seriously? No wireless? Manhattan?). And by the time I got home everything that had happened in the tournament that weekend made the whole post irrelevant.
But really, guys. My bracket is shot. Kentucky, Duke, and Baylor remain my only hope… The entire left side of my bracket (i.e. Midwest and West regions) is all crossed out at this point. And I cannot. believe. Syracuse. lost.
Even worse, my husband picked half of these crazy upsets and he now thinks he’s some kind of basketball genius (except he picked Kansas to win it all… Waaaa waaaa).
I filled out a bracket with my classmates and Tyler completed one for work, but we decided the G’meyer household condo-hold needed to set some stakes.
My reply: “A Louis Vuitton.”
And the guy actually engaged in a [text message] conversation about it! I didn’t get laughed at, shot down, or told to, “Keep dreaming.” I’m not sure he really understood what he was getting into and I only said it as a joke, so the reality of winning my coveted Louis V was quickly self-terminated.
Instead, we decided that we’ll take a weekend getaway and the winner gets to pick the destination. It has to be something reasonable and generally in our part of the country… Driveable. (But we drive everywhere, so that’s not much of a limiting factor.) I figure it’s a win-win situation. (Says my friend Deb, “Yeah, but what if he wants to go to Gary, Indiana?”)
Our options? New York? Philadelphia? A B&B in Annapolis? Charlottesville? Outerbanks? Providence?
We’ve got a lot of good options. I just need my remaining three teams to stay alive… Do y’all have any crazy stakes on March Madness? Any ideas on what city I should pick?
I was raised right, so I picked UK to go all the way. Go Wildcats!
1. I’m still alive. With Christie’s visit and my trip to NYC last weekend (we had a great time, btw—more on that later), all of my spare time is currently being devoted to studying for my upcoming comps exam (2 weeks- yowza!).
2. I forgot to mention that we went to see “Crazy Heart” when Christie was in town the other weekend. SO GOOD. Go see it immediately. I have had a crush on Jeff Bridges since “White Squall” (circa 1996) and this movie did nothing to change my feelings. He definitely earned his Oscar. Worth noting: if you have a close friend or family that struggles with alcoholism, there may some scenes that are hard to watch. But it was SO GOOD. So good. Really good. (And so was the music.)
3. Speaking of hard to watch… Kate G. (the other Kate G) was terrible on “Dancing With the Stars” last night, no?
4. Ashley over at Happy Healthier Bear is doing a fab giveaway on a swag bag of beauty items. Don’t go enter though! Otherwise, my chances of winning are decreased… I just have to tell you about it to get credit. [I’m kidding, you can go enter…. If you really want to…]
5. My niece is still adorable.
Hey folks! I know you’ve been dyyyying to hear all about the fun things that we did with Christie this weekend, so here are some highlights…
Christie is still recovering from jaw surgery and has been on a liquid diet for too many weeks, but was finally cleared for some solid foods, so we ate our way through the weekend: Cap City Brewery, brunch at Tunnicliff’s (a Grassy fave), dinner at Busboys & Poets, pizza from Lost Dog, lunch at Bittersweet, custard from the Dairy God Mother, and homemade Cadbury Egg milkshakes. (Delicious, right?) You name it, we had it. I don’t think Christie’s taste buds knew what to do with themselves.
Second most important activity: Christie helped me clean out my closet (exciting, right?). No better time than when I’m ready to box up my winter stuff for spring and will have long forgotten about what was in that Goodwill pile by next fall. And I just needed another girl to be judge & jury on some clothes that probably should have never been purchased in the first place. I’m pretty good at cleaning out my clothes, but I found some ridiculous items shoved in the back. Think plaid. Think shoulder pads. We couldn’t just chunk it without a little fun, though…
Can we talk about these pants for a minute? These pants are not a joke. They were not purchased at Goodwill for Decade Day. These are legit pants that I bought from Abercrombie (mistake numero uno) in high school. And I wore these for real. And I was not in high school in 1976. I’m almost sad to give them away… Someone is about to find a treasure at their local Goodwill. (Unless someone’s got a bar golf date coming up. Any takers?)
Other highlights: we hit up the American History museum on Sunday, which I hadn’t been in years. We saw the Woolworth’s counter from the Civil Rights sit-in, Dorothy’s ruby red slippers, Julia Child’s kitchen, and the collection of the First Lady’s inaugural gowns, including Michelle Obama’s which was just donated last week. There’s so much cool stuff in DC that I forget about and rarely do… And it’s all free, which is fab. There was good amount of just driving around and visiting some of our favorite parts of town, sprinkled in with some great conversations and catching up, and even a little Scene-It action going on (But Christie wasn’t much competition… Sorry, Lehr. You weren’t.)
There was also a ridiculous amount of YouTube searching and a lot ‘o laughing. This might be THE. funniest thing I’ve. ever. seen:
(Watch the entire thing. You’re missing out if you don’t.)
What wasn’t the funniest thing I’ve ever seen? “Funny People.” We watched it on Saturday night—I have no idea how that move got made. Even cooler, it was two and half hours long.
Anyway, we had a great weekend and it was so much fun to finally spend real time together. Thanks for coming up, Christie!
Up next: a quick trip to NYC with Jess this weekend… Stay tuned.
Thanks for all of your phone calls, gchats, emails, and comments checking in on li’l ol’ us. Everything’s good—Tyler and I spent a nice night at home eating Trader Joe’s frozen goods (we. are. addicted.), drinking wine, and watching “Up in the Air.” So. Good! (I’m a little peeved by the ending though… But all those Nebraska jokes made up for it. I heart movies that make fun of Nebraska, by the way, because they make me laugh and get Tyler all exasperated (Sorry Nebraska readers—nothing but love for the Corn Husker state.).
ANYWAY, I digress. Everything’s good here. Better than good. Because….
Christie’s coming today! Man, oh, man.
Christie and I met on a trip to China my junior year of college and I’m pretty sure she’s responsible for 90% of the fun I had senior year. We haven’t truly hung out since college, save for quick trips for coffee in Atlanta or a few brief meetings when we were both in Colorado this summer (I in Colorado Springs, she in Fort Collins.).
It’s supposed to be rainy all weekend here in DC, but that won’t stop us. I am ex.ci.ted.
Here’s to a trip down memory lane…
[This is mostly for Christie and Julia’s benefit… I know—it’s way too many pictures and way too many inside jokes to explain….]
Atlanta airport getting ready to leave for China. I kept calling Christie “Christine.”
Little did we know we would arrive without luggage. For three days. No luggage. China.
Chinese food in China.
This ridiculous cab ride…or hopping a ride a random hatchback.
I have no idea. But we are in Tiananmen Square.
No Christie in this one, but c’mon. I’m standing on the Great Wall of China.
Downtown ‘Du. (Not sure I can reveal the city. We were on a mission trip.)
This is a synopsis of CJL.
And this is our typical pose. I have 1,000 pictures of us like this. (She and her roommates hosted a Pink & White party every spring… Thus the pink. And white.)
Classic.
Braves games in the spring. Tha. best.
My apartment was broken into once, so we snapped some pictures with the officer’s hat while he was investigating to make a crappy situation more fun. (If you lived with me in college, you would laugh out loud at the “WE NEED STAMPS” on the chalkboard.)
Georgia/Florida. SO. FUN. Say it with me, Lehren, “FISH BOWLS!”
More Bravos games.
That is my roommate Julia. And this picture will haunt her until the day she dies.
Six Flags every spring.
Random, I know. But special memories. This picture epitomizes my college experience.
My bachelorette party. Typical.
Karaoke the night before my wedding. Bad idea, but so much fun.
Me and Lehren…
This post and finding all of these pictures literally made me heartsick for college. Good times, friend. Good times.
Okay, Happy Saturday! Thanks for reading, readers.
It’s a bad day in Grassmeyer world, ladies and gentlemen. About an hour ago, Congress announced a “sweeping earmark ban” for the remainder of this year. I know the average American doesn’t pay a ton of attention to politics of this sort, or even understand it, but in our world this is HUGE and this is BAD.
For those of you who don’t know, Tyler works in “appropriations” for non-profit and/or faith-based clients. Essentially, he gets federal funding for hospitals, homeless shelters, boys’ homes, small Christian universities, etc… And he has been in the midst of his “busy season,” which comes every year like clockwork. Every January through March, I barely see him—he is constantly working, constantly stressed, and never home. It’s been like this for the past four years he’s worked there; I’ve come to know and accept it, but it is always hard on me and hard on our marriage. [I come home every night and sing “I’m rone-ry, so rone-ry…” Name that movie.]
He is so insanely busy because the deadlines to submit requests for money (“earmarks”) are all between February and March. This means a TON of paperwork and TON of meetings on the Hill between Tyler’s clients and the Congressmen/women who represent their district.
So, what happened today was that all of Tyler’s clients (and all of his company’s clients) will get no funding this year and even worse (for me, emotionally) is that all of Tyler’s hard work for the last 3 months has been for nothing. The last eight weekends he’s missed church, the mornings he got up and went to work at 3:30am, the nights he didn’t come home until 11pm, the hours upon hours he’s spent with his clients, in his office, on his computer, and the hours and hours and hours I’ve been hanging out solo…were all for nothing.
This was done by the Republicans because it’s an election year and the Rs and the Ds are trying to out-do one another on ethical issues. Many applaud this because they think it’s downsizing the budget, but earmarks are already IN the budget, they’ve already been designated or “appropriated” for groups to vie for. When that money isn’t spent, it’s just divvied up and sent to different groups within the government (aka- The Executive branch).
[Full disclosure: we are Republicans, so I am criticizing our own “people.”]
So essentially, Tyler has worked so hard to get funding for organizations that do great things for people in need… They won’t get funding, his work is down the drain, and the federal budget doesn’t change a dime. It’s just a political move to make people who don’t understand the process think they’ve done something fiscally responsible for our country.
Sorry for the civics lesson and the not-so-interesting-but-maybe-educational-(??) political topic. It’s just too big in our world and I’m too frustrated not to mention it. And I’m sad for my husband and how defeated he must feel today…
:(
Update: Final result today is that only the Rs in the House voted to ban earmarks. This means all of Tyler’s clients who are in D districts or have R Senators still have hope for funding and not all work was in vain, just some. This is muy bueno compared to what was initially thought. If so, Tyler would probably be in a bar right now, not eating Moe’s on the couch avec moi. (Yes, I’m trilingual—are you impressed?). :)
Soooo…. I’m pretty sure I might be stripped of my Southern card for this post. And I will preface my next statements by saying that I have never, ever in my entire life eaten at a Red Lobster.
Yes, I grew up eating shrimp and grits in my baby food {not really}, living in a place where fresh seafood oozes from every eatery, and 80% of socializing takes place over oyster roasts and low country boils. And now I live in a place where Maryland crab cakes are king.
But those Red Lobster ‘Lobsterfest’ commercials look so, so, SO good. And those cheddar biscuits? Man. I know it’s all the work of some great food artist, but it just looks SO delicious. I salivate every time I see that commercial.
That’s all. I won’t give in to the temptation. Don’t judge me.
Speaking of celebrities… Tyler and I were driving around running errands the other day and we entered into one of those “dangerous conversations.” (I admit, I started it.) But since neither one of use are jealous people and since we were talking about people we have no chance in helicopter with, it wasn’t so dangerous.
[Helicopter: that’s “Ruby” language—do y’all watch Ruby? I heart her.]
So, I asked, “If you could set me up with any celebrity who would it be? Like, who do you think is a nice, normal person you’d let me date?”
And Tyler’s response (followed by my response…)
1. Ryan Seacrest
Me: “Hahahahaha. Well, I’m used to short guys.”
2. A Jonas Brother
Me: “Hahahaha. They’re, like, twelve years old. No.”
3. Collin Hanks
Me: “Whaaa? Collin Hanks? Where did that come from? Are you just looking for cool in-laws?”
4. Ashton Kutcher
Me: “I’m totally down with that.”
5. Zachary Levi (I think I helped with this one. I’m a “Chuck” lover and I hear he’s a Christian…)
[Unfortunately, he made no mention of Ryan Reynolds, who, did you noticed, was Scarlett Johansen-less at the Oscars? Should I move in for the kill?]
And my picks for TGrass. (He had no funny reactions…Because mine were all great picks, naturally.)
1. Jennifer Garner (Seriously, how cute is she? Ben, you better be nice to her.)
2. Reese Witherspoon (Love. Love. Love. Normal. Normal. Normal.)
3. Carrie Underwood (Beautiful. Grew up on a farm. Super talented. Normal. What more could you want?)
4. Rachel McAdams? (So, she is Tyler’s absolute favorite actress (Pretty sure it’s the only reason he agreed to see “The Time Traveler’s Wife” with me). I hope she’s as nice as I think she is…)
5. Anne Hathaway (I struggled to think of a fifth, but I think Anne’s a good pick. Don’t know what T thinks of her, but doesn’t she seem cute and normal? I’m a big fan of normal.)
SO. Those are our celeb picks for each other. Your thoughts? Who would you send your guy out on a date with?
[Or, feel free to chime in and tell TGrass how off that Collin Hanks pick was.]
Happy Monday readers! And yes, it is a happy Monday because I don’t go back to school (big kid school) until tomorrow.
So, did y’all watch the Oscars last night?? The Oscars are usually a big hype and then the ceremony’s a snore, but Hugh Jackman changed that last year and I was wondering if Steve (I.love.Steve.Martin, btw… Everything pre-Pink Panther is gold.) and Alec could measure up this year. I thought they were great!
Tyler and I watched it while cooking dinner (I finally made my butternut squash soup—SO EASY and so good) and also watched the Big Love finale (“Holy Big Love!” was my FB status after that crazy show) in between so we could fast forward through all of the commercials…
Anywho, here are my talking points…
- The John Hughes tribute: I LOVE John Hughes. After that montage, I paused the TV and went on a rant to Tyler about how we should just watch JH movies over and over as we get older so we don’t become crotchity old adults who get so caught up in paying bills and worrying about “important” things that we minimize the experiences and emotions of our teenagers… [Tyler’s response: “Okay.”]
- And another John Hughes tribute comment: Was something wrong with Molly Ringwald? And is Judd Nelson sick?? Dude did not look like that a few years ago…
- And the crazy lady in leather pants and purple dress who won for Prudence and got to the stage late and interrupted the guy giving a real speech and looked like she was pulling a Kanye and then didn’t make a lick of sense… She was crazy.
- Does Kristin Stewart EVER smile? Look happy? Not look bored out of her mind? Anyone?
- The Best Make-Up category always gets the best intro. And Ben Stiller did not disappoint. (So. funny.)
- Aaaaaand Rachel McAdams remains Tyler’s fave. (She is beautiful.)
- No Farrah Fawcett in the “In Memorium???”
- Thank you, Charlize. We know where your boobs are.
(In case you missed it.)
- I’m happy for Sandra. I wasn’t 100% sure she’d win, but I’m happy she did. Great speech. One question: I live in Arlington, where’s she’s from. And she has a house in Savannah, where I’m from. Do you think maybe I could win an Oscar one day too?
- Shocked that The Hurt Locker stomped Avatar like it did. Not that I saw either of them. But surprised. Good for Kathryn B.
- Lastly, here’s my must-see movie list now: Precious, Up in the Air, Sherlock Holmes, It’s Complicated, The Last Station, Invictus, The Hurt Locker, A Single Man, Nine, An Education, Up, and Crazy Heart. (That’s right, all I’ve seen is The Blind Side. Oh, and Coco Before Chanel. That was fab.)
Alrighty… Happy new week y’all! I promise to be a better blogger this week. :)
Not too much to blog about this week… Maybe I should publish one of my go-to, written ahead of time blogs tomorrow?
I wrapped up my second clinical rotation yesterday in the public school system. Overall, I loved it but have mixed feelings about working there straight out of school. Those kiddos though… A few them I was like, “Check ya later!” but others I had to try really, really hard to hide my sadness.
My favorite one was a little boy in kindergarten (we’ll call him Moses because of his very Biblical name) who was just the cutest thing you’ve ever seen. He has mild CP but is cognitively intact, so we had great talks on our walks to and from the PT room. This kid LOVES sports so he would always tell me about what games he watched that weekend (except he ALWAYS got the scores and which teams won wrong…). And he’d give the biggest, cheesiest grins whenever I came to get him out of class. He also loved to give me hugs as an excuse to smell my hair… He was funny little guy.
Another little boy (also with CP) was more severely affected, but was so smart and funny. He LOVES, loves, loves Bruce Springsteen (and I mean LOVES), so we’d play “Brucey” for him to motivate him to work. His favorite songs are “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” and “Dancing in the Dark.” (He’s 5, by the way…)
It’s technically my spring break this week, but I went in to work to make up some of those snow days, so spring break officially started last night. I’ve got crazy plans like…cleaning my house and sleeping late (I’ve also got a SERIOUS Jonesin’ to make Butternut Square soup this weekend…). Watch out world!
I head back into school next week for six weeks of electives and review courses and then GRADUATION. Wahoo. One step closer…
So, that’s it! Sorry for the snoozer, but thanks for reading still! I’ll think of something more interesting for manana.
WHAAAAA?
I watched The Bach by myself tonight and have waaaay too many opinions to keep to myself. So, these are them…
As you know, I’m not much of a Monday lover but thanks to Jakey Boy and this season’s Bachelor, I now have a reason to wake up on Mondays! Okay, so that’s a gross exaggeration, but… It gives me something to look forward to. :)
I cannot WAIT until tonight’s finale. Even though I’ve read all of the magazines and know who the rumored “winner” is, I’m still holding out hope for my preferred ending. Oh, I will squeal and giggle if Jake doesn’t make the BIGGEST MISTAKE OF HIS LIFE in the MOST DRAMATIC ROSE CEREMONY YET. It boggles my mind that two such drastically different girls are the final two…
[Insert Reader Question: If Ali hadn’t gone home, who do you think the final two would be?]
So you know where I’ll be tonight at eight o’clock! By the way, I haven’t seen any commercials for an “After the Rose” show… Anyone know anything about that?
[Insert Reader Poll: What outcome would you like most to see at 10 o’clock tonight?
A. Vienna goes back home to work at the local Hooter’s, accurately representing the Florida Gator community.
B. Tinley voices the next Disney movie character... And develops a new fitness product, “So you too can have these amazing calves!”
C. Jake pulls a Jason and dumps Fiancé during The After the Rose show and picks Ali, thus spoiling ABC’s plans for the next Bachelorette (which I WILL be watching if this does not happen…)
D. Jakey Boy dumps both and cries over the railing really, really, REALLY hard. And then goes home and finds a normal girl in Dallas.]
Don’t forget to go read I Hate Green Beans tomorrow—that girl writes a funny recap. Even if you’re not a fan of The Bach.
Happy March!!
