Girl Time, Girlie Food

My husband went out of town this past weekend, to spend some time with the guys and get in touch with his "wild at heart" man.

This meant I had the weekend to myself and I chose to spend it in one of my favorite ways; hanging out with my girlfriends eating girlie food.

Yes. Girlie food.

There are some things guys, my husband in particular, just prefer not to eat. Don't ask me why. It's perfectly respectable food. Still, apparently it's not manly. Therefore, I eat this "girlie" food whenever my husband is out of town, or any other chance I have to enjoy girl time.

Started the day by putting together my favorite quiche. It's chock full of all kinds of goodies.

There's bacon.

And butter. Ah, butter. You make everything right.

We also have onions. Sweet. Softened in butter. Delicious.

And finally mushrooms and artichokes. Oh my.

All this encased in egg, cream, and swiss cheese, and we have a beautiful quiche.

Now, a girl cannot live on quiche alone. 

So we had the quintessential girl food - salad.

But not just any salad. This was my special spinach and fruit salad, topped with delightful chevre cheese crumbles and lightly drizzled with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

With these tasty dishes as our main entrees, I had to find something equally delicious as a starter, but something that could also serve as a snack tray.

I decided on a fruit and cheese tray. Raspberries, apple slices, grapes, and strawberries all complimented the smoked gouda, brie, and creamy chevre decorating this noshing tray.

Of course, girl time is just not girl time without the absolute, must have, girl food - chocolate!

This truffle tray:

and these spicy Mexican chocolate soufflés,

were the perfect finish for an awesome afternoon with my girlfriends.

Ladies, if you don't already have a girl day established in your routine, I highly recommend it, if for no other reason than to have an excuse to partake of these girlie treats among your girlie friends

Here's to the power of girls, and their food!

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Weighing In

To loosely quote my friend April, “The scale is not my friend today.”

Woke up this morning, went about my normal routine and then hopped on that most dreaded device, the scale. I was discouraged, to say the least, by what I saw there. Considering I’d had pizza for dinner yesterday, and some ice cream (about a quarter cup which, I have to tell you, while tasty, did bad things to me that we won’t even discuss here, thereby rendering it so not worth it), I definitely wasn’t surprised.

I know I’m only supposed to weigh myself once a week but I’ve spent so much of my life in denial about my weight that weighing in is now a part of my daily routine. Most days I don’t mind it, as I usually see some form of progress, and if not, at least I’m maintaining.

And, on those rare days when I do see a slight increase, whether it’s water weight or the result of a late night pizza and ice cream binge, I refuse to let that deter me in my efforts. In fact, I find this actually has the opposite effect on me, in that I double my efforts to eat smaller, healthy portions, and my resolve to lose the weight is strengthened.

Yep. The scale may not be my friend today, but sometimes it takes our non-friends telling us a truth we’re unable to tell ourselves to get us off our “assets” (again, quoting April!) and moving again.

Here’s to reality checks!

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The Importance of Girlfriends

Yesterday, in my small piece of the world, was Girlfriend day. I ran the Cowtown 5K with one girlfriend, a great friend from church, and then I had lunch with two other girlfriends, ladies I used to work with and saw daily, but now, see only when our three schedules converge.

To say I had a blast would be an understatement. These ladies enrich my life beyond words. Each of them has a special gift: comedic relief, quiet, refined culture, down to earth reality and pure, unfiltered, no-holds-barred craziness - all of which combine effortlessly to make me realize how much I love my girlfriends.

I admit, I don't have many girlfriends. At least, not many that I'm very close to, or spend much time with. I'm a real homebody, and sometimes downright lazy about working at keeping up my friendships if it means doing more than posting a message on someone's Facebook wall or tweeting them a message. Seriously, it's bad, I know.

But after yesterday, I feel so refreshed and am already looking forward to the next time I can hang out with these incredible women, as well as my other girlfriends.

I've overlooked, for far too long, the importance of one's girlfriends, of quality time with women who share common interests, but bring so much of their own uniqueness to the table that you can't help but walk away a better person.

Reach out to your girlfriends today, and let them know how truly special they are. Then, set aside some time, regularly, to spend face to face time with them. You, and hopefully they too, will be better for it.

Here's to the best girlfriends ever!
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