TGIF!

I am so glad this week is over. After being sick all week plus having huge projects going on at work, I'm wiped. Luckily I was able to work from home today so I got some extra sleep which was nice. A 7:00 AM wake-up call is much nicer than a 5:00 AM wake-up call.

We have a couple things going on this weekend but nothing too crazy. Tonight we are just gonna hang out at home and relax. Tomorrow I am hoping to get my weekly manicure and my first pedicure of the season! We are going to break our weekly routine and do our grocery shopping tomorrow instead of on Sunday because we are going to a party on Saturday night to celebrate Ken's birthday! I'm trying to figure out what appetizers to make for the festivities! Sunday we plan on just relaxing. I'm sad that the weather isn't going to be too great this weekend, but at least it's going to be warmer and it will be raining instead of snowing. I am also hoping to get a couple workouts in this weekend since I have been to sick to work out all week long.

Also, don't forget to spring ahead on Saturday night; more daylight here we come! I hope everyone has a great weekend. I'll be back with a full recap on Sunday with pictures!

Sick...

I am currently feeling majorly under the weather. I started feeling it on Sunday and Tuesday it hit me like a ton of bricks during the day. I stayed home from work yesterday and worked from home. I am going in today only because I don't like just sitting on the couch all day. I really hope I feel better by the weekend. I don't want to spend the weekend sick, especially since we have some fun things planned! I also really want to work out. I haven't worked out since Sunday and I don't like that feeling. I am taking such good care of myself, eating right, working out, taking vitamins and it is annoying that I'm sick. I was just sick in January and I rarely get sick. Oh well, I'll stop my whining, at least the weekend is almost here!

Product rave!

  My new laptop desk pillow!

Michael and I sit with our laptops for at least a couple of hours every night. I do all my blogging at night when I get home and most of the time I am working on multiple posts at a time to get them ready and scheduled for the next week, so it can take a while. Like most laptops mine gets really warm and it can be uncomfortable after a while. I would end up grabbing a throw pillow from the couch and putting it under my laptop, but the pillows are too soft. I started looking for a hard topped laptop desk pillow that I could also write on if I am working on my menu or grocery list for the week. I was torn between one from Brookstone and one by Logitech that I found on Amazon. I ended up choosing the Logitech one because it was bigger and I liked the angled design over the squishy pillow.

I just got it last night and already I am in love! It is so comfortable and having the laptop sit at an angle is even better than I expected. If you have a laptop, you need this this laptop desk!

A day in the life of the Dworianyns...

One of the blogs I read does a feature called "Show us your life" and this week it was to map out what your typical day is like. I thought this would be interesting to have on record and compare in a few years to see how our days will change. I predict they will be very different once kids are in the mix!

So here is our typical weekday:

• My alarm goes off at 5:30 every morning
• I get ready and am downstairs ready to go at 6:00
• I grab my lunch and my bag and am out the door
• Michael drives me to the train station and I take the 6:08 train station. (We live really close to the station)
• Michael goes back to sleep
• I am in the office at 7 and have breakfast
• Michael's alarm goes off at 7:45 
• He gets up, showers, gets ready, feeds Porkchop and is at the office by 8:30
• I call my mom every morning around 8 before our days get too busy to talk
• I usually talk to Michael around 9 or 10
• Work, work, work 
• I have lunch around 12 or 12:30
• I talk to Michael again sometime in the afternoon
• Work, work, work
• I usually take the 4:20 or 4:50 train home
• Michael picks me up from the train station at either 5:15 or 5:35
• If it is a Tuesday or Thursday, I workout for 40 minutes
• Michael and I have dinner around 6:30
• We feed Porkchop and do dishes
• We relax on the couch, watch tv, use our laptops
• I make my lunch and breakfast for the next day
• I usually head upstairs and take a shower around 9 or 9:30
• I pick out my clothes and accessories for the next day
• Michael comes upstairs around 10
• We lay in bed and talk or watch tv
• Michael gives me a back rub to help me fall asleep
• I'm usually asleep by 10:30
• Michael usually stays up a little longer after I fall asleep and watches tv
• Get up the next day and do it all over again!

Menu Planning Monday

Another week of meals. Last week we only tried one of the two new recipes, the Crispy Sesame Shrimp. It was really good! I would definitely recommend the recipe. We are trying one new recipe this week as well and I'll let you know how it is.

Monday: Baked penne pasta with turkey Italian sausage with salad
Tuesday: Honey Chicken Tenders (these never made it to the table last week) with baked fries for Michael and salad for me.
Wednesday: Pizza Braid (new recipe!) Michael is having a chicken parmesan version, I'm having a canadian bacon and mushroom pizza braid.
Thursday: Pesto parmesan pork tenderloin
Friday: Going out with friends
Saturday: Date Night

Weekend Recap

We had a great weekend, I'm sad it's over! We finally had some warmer temperatures and we took full advantage of it. On Friday I got out of work early which was a nice treat! Michael and I stopped at the store to pick up some things for dinner and headed home. We got Porkchop and went on a walk, the first of the year! Porkchop was so excited.

Harnessed up and ready to go!

Can't you walk any faster Dada?

For dinner we fired up the grill for the first time this year! Michael went to our favorite local butcher and picked up some amazing filet mignons for dinner. I had some asparagus on the side and Michael had a baked potato. It was super yummy! After dinner we just relaxed and watched a movie and called it a night.

The grillmaster!

On Saturday I got up and worked out and then we ran some errands. I also mailed out Arla's bachelorette party invitations which was exciting! It's gonna be here before you know it. Michael and I took Porkchop for a nice long walk in the afternoon. I wanted to get another workout in before we went to Michael's parents house for Pierogi Fest Saturday night!

 

Getting an extra pierogi workout in!

Pierogi Fest was so much fun and so yummy! It's not something we make often so when we do it tastes even better! We all participate in the making of the pierogi in shifts. Grandma cuts the dough sections and then we all roll, stuff and pinch.  It's a lot of work so its a good thing we had a lot of hands to help. If you don't work then you don't eat! The payoff is well worth it. 

 

Michael, Ken and Judy rolling, stuffing and pinching; Grandma cutting dough and supervising!

   

Ken can't wait for the pierogi to be cooked!

Today I got up and worked out and then we did our Sunday routine of breakfast and grocery shopping. I also got some laundry done. We are making a yummy Sunday dinner of baby back ribs with a baked potato for Michael and asparagus for me. Tonight we are going to just curl up, relax and try not to think about the weekend being over. I hope everyone had a great weekend and an easy week ahead!

Yay! It's the weekend!

I am so excited Friday is finally here! This was a pretty rough work week so I am happy I am going to be leaving early today! I am going to get my weekly manicure and go home and work out and then go for a walk with Michael and Porkchop. We're also going to fire up the grill for the first time this year. I mean it's 45 out, that feels like 70 after a long Chicago winter!

Tomorrow we have the Dworianyn annual Pierogi Fest at Michael's parents, which should be really fun and very delicious! Sunday should be a pretty low key day. I'm just so excited the weather is going to be nice. I see lots of walks in our future! I hope everyone has a great weekend and is able to get out and enjoy some sunshine and warmer temps. I'll be back with a full weekend report and pictures on Sunday. Have a great weekend everyone!

Porkchop says, "Only 4 weeks till Easter!"

What I'm reading

It's been awhile since I've done a post on what books I've read lately. I have been reading a bunch of different things. After finishing the Blue Bloods series by Melissa de laCruz, I wanted a break from vampire books. They have dominated my reading material for over a year and I wanted to read something different.

I went from vampires to chick lit. I read "Twenties Girl" by Sophie Kinsella. I love Sophie Kinsella's books. I read the entire "Shopaholic" series and all of her other books. I like her writing style, it's light and many times predictable, but she has a really great sense of humor. I laugh out loud many times with the types of situations she puts her characters in.

I really enjoyed reading this fun story about Lara the main character and her Great-Aunt Sadie who lived to be 105 but Lara never really knew when she was alive. The story was well written and had lots of fun little twists that took Lara off in different directions all the time. Throughout the story Lara gets to know her Great-Aunt Sadie who appears at the age of 23 as a ghost. Lara gets to see and expirence who her Aunt was and how she viewed the world around her. There were some teaching type moments such as, we need to follow our instincts and that the ederly were once young just like us and there was also friendship, family, values and some new love along the way. I have recommended this book to others and would tell anyone considering reading this to do it.

From chick lit to sports. I read "The Blind Side" by Michael Lewis. This book is the inspiration for the movie of the same name that came out this year and has several Oscar nominations. This book is not the text version of the Sandra Bullock movie, it is a book about football first and foremost, with the story of Michael Oher interwoven.

The author provides a history of the economy for specific types of NFL players using anecdotes and data about changing trends in football. This is all done so that we can understand how Michael Oher's arrival on the football scene became such a sensation, and also quite possibly for the love of the game as well. I found these parts of the book incredibly educational and enlightening. It was a really interesting read. Michael Lewis also has a book out called "Moneyball" which is a similar book but about baseball. I might have to read that one as well.

And now for something totally different, Jackie Collins. I just finished reading "Poor Little Bitch Girl" by Jackie Collins. I saw Jackie Collins on a talk show and she was talking about how she watches what goes on around her in Hollywood at Beverly Hills cocktail parties and awards shows. While at these events she is like a sponge taking everything in and eventually a lot of what she witnesses is put to paper as stories and characters, albeit with different names.

I had never read any of her previous books, but she's been around a long time and is immensely popular. I saw that the book was getting great reviews so I thought I would try it. It was a really fun read. It intertwines several different plot lines that are all connected in some way. It grabbed me from the very beginning. The story is fast paced and written in a way that you cannot wait for the next chapter. I would definitely recommend it and I think I'll be downloading some vintage Jackie Collins books to my Kindle in the future!
 

So that's what I've been reading lately. I might also be diligently reading this as well! I need to find my next book. I think I might read the new Lauren Conrad (yes the girl from MTV's The Hills) book. I read her first book, "LA Candy," and it was actually really good. Her new book is called "Sweet Little Lies". I'll let you know how it is if I get it.

Our very own cookbook

Everyone knows that I love to cook. My sister and I were very lucky to grow up with a Mom who cooked everyday and has passed on some of the best family recipes! Michael and I really have fun cooking together and we spend every Sunday morning at breakfast planning our weekly menu. We definitely have our favorite go-to recipes and then I love to try new recipes especially from all the blogs I read. I use to keep a binder with all the recipe print outs that I found online or from the blogs that I read and it got really unmanageable. I wanted a better way to keep all our favorite family recipes, our go-to recipes as well as some of our new favorites all in one place.

Enter Blurb. They make every kind of digital book you can imagine. When I found out they also had cookbook templates, I thought it was perfect! Michael and I picked out our favorite recipes new and old and put together our first cookbook, Dworianyn Family Cookbook. I thought it would be great to add new volumes every year or so when we have a new collection of recipes to create a new book.

Our first cookbook - the cover!

This edition covers recipes new and old. We have some of our family favorites like Michael's moms blueberry muffins and my mom's pasta salad We also added some of our new favorites like chicken pesto pasta, honey chicken tenders and reuben egg rolls.

 

Here's a look inside at one of the recipe pages

I'm looking forward to creating our second volume of recipes at the end of the year. I need to stick to my goal of trying new recipes every month though so I have enough recipes to add!

I would definitely recommend using Blurb to create your own cookbook or any digital book, the software is really easy to use and the books are very reasonably priced. You can usually find an online coupon code as well for money off or free shipping.

Chicks and ducks and bunnies, oh my!

Since Easter is a little bit on the early side this year, I wanted to get the Easter decorations up so we can actually have them up for a few weeks before they have to come down. It is just another sign that spring is getting closer!

Here's some snapshots of our Easter decorations around the house; there are a lot of pictures!

 

The dining room table with my freshly sewn table runner!

The china cabinet. I looked everywhere for cute Easter plates to display but had no luck. Luckily we have these pretty pastel accent plates from our China!

 

The mantle

Mantle close-up

 

Mantle close-up. The carved basket was a Lake Geneva find!

 

Bookcase display. The "Easter Greetings" sign is from the same woman who made my Valentine's sign

 

Easter pillows and hanging eggs in the window

Close-up of hanging eggs

 

Pastel metal bow candlesticks for the coffee table...these were a great find I picked up at Home Goods last week!

 

My Saraboo Creek sign I made last year

There's even bunnies in the bathroom!

 

Easter sign hanging from a door knob

A mosaic egg and a bunny candy dish filled with dark chocolate Dove eggs..yum!

 

Entry table 

  

Even the front door area is festive with a Happy Easter sign and metal carrots.

A close-up of the metal carrots. We found these in Lake Geneva a few weeks ago.

So that's a look at our Easter decorations. After Easter is over I'll get rid of the chicks, ducks and bunnies and add lots of bright colors and flowers for spring. I'll be sure to post pictures when I make the change!

Menu Planning Monday

 

I'm excited for this week's menu because we are trying 2 new recipes! Let's hope they're good, I'll let you know!

Monday: Crispy sesame shrimp with baked potato for Michael and salad for me (new recipe!)

Tuesday: Asian turkey meatballs with fried rice (new recipe!)

Wednesday: Cheese ravioli with turkey Italian sausage

Thursday: Honey chicken tenders with fries for Michael and salad for me

Friday: Date night

Saturday: Pierogi fest at the Dworianyn's!

Weekend Recap

Well, the last weekend of February is in the books. Hello, March! Please bring warmer weather, we cannot take much more of this whole winter thing. I see 40's in the forecast towards the end of the week, so let's hope we are moving in the right direction.

We had a great weekend, it was nice and low key On Friday, I went to Home Goods in the afternoon and found a few great Easter finds. For dinner we decided to stay in instead of going out so we just relaxed and watched the Olympics. On Saturday, I got up and worked out and put up the Easter decorations. I'm going to be doing a post on all the decorations this week, but here's a sneak peek!

After putting up the decorations we showered and got ready and headed down to the Bolingbrook Promenade to meet my parents, Arla and Teddy and Teddy's parents for lunch and tuxedo fittings for Arla and Teddy's wedding! We had lunch at Bass Pro's restaurant, Islamorada Fish Company Restaurant. It was really good. I had a 1/2 chicken with rosemary and lemon and Michael had the grouper fish sandwich. We had a really nice time at lunch and then headed to Men's Warehouse for the tuxedo fittings. Michael, Teddy, my Dad and Teddy's Dad all got fitted for the big day. We had fun teasing of all the guys and their ill fitting pants and jackets. We saw a lot of ankle!

 

My Dad showed us what he thought of our teasing! Check out the brown boat shoe with the black dressy shoe, stay classy!

   

Michael getting measured...feeling like deja vu?

After going to Mens Warehouse we went to a cute boutique in the Promenade called, Just Ducky. It was a really cute store and I picked up a cute decoration for Spring and a sign for my kitchen. We headed home and relaxed for a few hours and then we went out to dinner with Michael's parents. We tried a new restaurant by us called Jade. It was a Japanese fusion restaurant and it was really good. We had sushi for an appetizer and it was excellent. For dinner I had bulgogi and Michael had a Waygu beef burger. My bulgogi was ok; we all decided that the bulgogi that Michael's parents make is way better. Michael's parents even told our waiter the restaurant needed their recipe! It was a fun night out.

This morning I got up and worked out and then we headed out to breakfast and grocery shopping. We also hit up Costco to stock up on everything from detergent, spices and Michael's favorite, ketchup! We spent most the rest of the day relaxing and cooking. We made chicken parmesan paninis for lunch and Michael made himself some homemade Chex mix as a snack for the week. We watched the final Olympic event, the big hockey game between the USA and Canada. The Canucks edged us out but the USA played so well this Olympics. They finished 8th in Turino, so a silver medal is definitely an upgrade! For dinner we made homemade Chinese take out, sesame chicken and fried rice. It was delicious, it really is better than take out. Doesn't it look yummy?!!

 

We had a great weekend and I'm already looking forward to next weekend! We are going to the annual Pierogi fest at Michael's parents house next Saturday. My mouth is already watering! I am definitely going to have to put an extra workout in this week because I am not missing out on pierogi. I hope everyone had a great weekend and has a speedy week!

TGIF!

I'm so excited the weekend is here! Work wasn't too crazy this week which was a nice break. We don't have too much going on this weekend which will be nice. I'm looking forward to a relaxing one!

I want to get the Easter decorations up and I need to bring all of the clothes I got rid of last weekend to Goodwill or one of the those drop off bins. We also are going to get Michael's tux ordered for Arla and Teddy's wedding. It's coming up fast, only 3 and a half months left! We are going to have a date night on Saturday but haven't picked a place yet. We might go see a movie on Sunday, but we're not too sure; we're just gonna play the weekend by ear. I'm also going to start my photo a day project on Saturday!

Let's hope the weekend doesn't fly by. Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Ahh...Porkchop loves weekends!!!

New photo project!

I love taking pictures, being a scrapbooker I've always taken a lot of them. But ever since Michael bought me my professional camera (a Nikon D80) for a wedding present, I've really tried to become a better photographer. I'm looking into a bunch of different classes to take this summer but in the meantime I've read some books and tips online. The best way to learn though is to just play with the camera and shoot, shoot, shoot.

I try to shoot on the weekends, all the holidays and special events but I think to get even more practice shooting everyday at different times and in different lighting would give me even better experience. I saw a really cool idea on one of the blogs I just found, Tales of the Trees, called Project 365. You are supposed to take a picture everyday for a year. I'm a little late to the party since it's almost March, but I still think it would be fun to do. I think it would be interesting to see our life in pictures week by week. I'm sure some weeks would be pretty uneventful and others more action packed, which is how life is. It's another way to capture and catalog our life. We'll see if I'll be able to keep up with it, but I am definitely going to try. I start shooting this weekend!

February and March Goals

Well, we made it through February, just a few days left. With March comes the return of Daylight Savings Time and hopefully warmer temperatures; I'm really looking forward to it! Here's a recap of my February goals and new ones for March.

February Goals:

1. Continue my weight loss. I am hoping to be down more than 60lbs by the end of February. Goal Met! I am down 62lbs!
2. Continue to workout at least 3 times a week. Goal Met - all but one week I worked out 4 times
3. Have a fabulous weekend getaway with my husband for Valentines Day! Goal Met - it wasn't too hard!
4. Try 3 new recipes this month - As Michael would say, "Epic Fail!" Not even 1 new recipe.
5. Blog at least 20 times this month - Goal Met! I blogged 24 times this month with a couple more to come!
6. Learn to sew! (It's actually going to happen this month!) - Goal Met! I can finally scratch something off the baby bucket list too!

March Goals:

1. Continue my weight loss. I am hoping to be down 68lbs by the end of March so I can hit my goal of 75 lbs by May 1st.
2. Workout at least 4 times a week.
3. Try 5 new recipes this month
4. Have my Easter decorations up by the first weekend in March
5. Blog at least 24 times this month

I don't have anything to wear!

It's no secret that I love clothes. I love shopping for the latest trends and adding new pieces to my wardrobe. I don't spend a lot of money per item on my clothes. Most of my clothes are from Old Navy or TJ Maxx or Marshalls. I spend the most on my nice trousers for work. I typically shop at least once a month (not so much right now since I'm losing weight) for some new items which is probably why the closet was as full as it was!

We have a pretty large walk in closet and I was talking up all but about 15% of it. I do actually let Michael put some clothes in there! The problem is that I was wearing only about 30-40% of what I had and now that I've lost weight, I can probably only wear 15% of what I have in there. It was time for a massive clean out.   

Here is the before - clothes everywhere!

After about 6 hours of trying on hundreds of items, I finally sorted through everything. Michael was in there with me the whole time to help me decide what I should keep or toss. He helped keep me honest because I probably would not have tossed as much as I did if he wasn't there. There were items I literally haven't worn in 5 years. I got rid of so much stuff and the best part was that most of it was way too big! It felt good.

 

The giant pile of clothes in the "donate" pile

8 bags of clothes ready to be donated!

Ta da! The after shot! 

We have so many extra hangers now, probably a good 200 of them. I went from taking 2 whole sides of the closet to only 3/4 of one side. This is both seasons of clothes too! I feel like I don't have anything to wear the closet is so barren. I am definitely going to reward myself once I hit my 75 pound mark with some new clothes for spring and summer; I've earned it. Plus, the closet looks so sad only being half full! At least one thing can be marked off the spring cleaning list, so I'm already ahead of the game.

Menu Planning Monday

 

We did really well cooking from home last week. We cooked every week night except Friday. I need to go through some of my cookbooks next weekend. I am running out of meal ideas. I need it to be grilling season!

So here's our plan for the week.

Monday: Crunchy garlic chicken

Tuesday: "Big Salad" night

Wednesday: Michael - burger, Me - pad thai noodles

Thursday - Chicken pesto pasta

Friday - Take out

Saturday - Date night

Sunday - Sesame chicken and fried rice

Weekend Recap

These weekends really need to slow down a bit; before you know it they are over. All I can say is that at least this is the last week of February and I'm hoping March brings some warmer weather. I can't even express how over winter I am. As soon as the snow starts to melt, we get more. I just want to be able to take Porkchop for some walks. At least we spring the clocks forward in a few weeks, more daylight should help the spring fever some!

So anyways, on Friday we went out to dinner to Ted's Montana Grill. We wanted to go somewhere new since we tend to go to the same few places a lot of the time. We have driven past it a bunch of times and always wondered how it was. It was really good, I would definitely go back. After dinner we came home and made some rice krispie treats for dessert and just relaxed the rest of the night.

On Saturday, I got up and worked out and then I had my annual eye doctor appointment. I ordered my contacts for another year and then headed home. I then took on quite the project...cleaning our master closet. It took almost 6 hours to do! I am going to do a post on the project later this week but as a teaser, here is a before shot of the closet, yikes! Every inch of available space is jammed with clothes.

After spending most of the day sweating and trying on clothes we took a little cat nap and then showered and got ready for dinner. For dinner we headed to our favorite sushi place, Sushi Kushi Toyo. It was delicious; it is seriously the best sushi we have ever had. After our yummy dinner we headed home to relax. We watched a Harry Potter movie and I took down the Valentine's decorations before we crashed.

Today, I got up and worked out and we did our Sunday tradition of breakfast and grocery shopping. We hung out for a little while and then we got ready to head to Michael's aunt and uncle's to celebrate his cousin Paul's 30th birthday. We had a great time seeing everyone. We even got to see Michael's cousin Anthony via Skype. He is a Marine and is currently in North Carolina. We had dinner over there and then headed home before the snow hit. It is starting to come down pretty heavy now. We are supposed to get 8-12 inches overnight. I hope this is the last big storm, I am so sick of winter! We are just going to relax the rest of the night and pretend that tomorrow isn't Monday! I hope all of you had a great weekend!

Ready for the weekend!

I am so excited the weekend is here! For a short week, it sure seemed long! We don't have a ton planned this weekend, which I am happy about. I'm hoping its going to be a little warmer this weekend so I can take my workouts outside.

I need to get the Valentine's decorations down and do a few other things around the house. I might start tackling cleaning out our master bedroom closet to get ready for spring and summer clothes. I need to get rid of probably 60% (Michael would say 90%) of the clothes I have in there since they are either way too big or I just don't wear them. We are going to have a date night tonight and probably tomorrow night too! On Sunday we are going to be celebrating Michael's cousin Paul's 30th birthday. I will have a full weekend recap and hopefully some pictures on Sunday! Have a great weekend everyone!

Since I don't like to post without a picture, here is a funny picture of Porkchop that I took on Monday. He was sitting like the little prince that he is on the couch watching me workout.