12. S'mores "brownies" and a Solid Workout

This post is so contradictory it hurts. Maybe it's the fact that I have to be in a bathing suit in a few weeks or maybe it's that I ate my body weight in s'mores "brownies" (recipe to follow) last night/this morning (yes, before I got to work. So sue me.), but I had a KILLER work out this morning.

Let me start by saying that I wouldn't be motivated to workout with my workout partner, Elise. Elise and I have been the best of friends since our sophomore year in high school. We were debate partners - do you understand how that bonds two people!?

Here's a little picture of us back in our high school glory days... 

...and this is us now! 

I got lucky last year when Elise left a job in Chicago to start a new career here in DC. I got even luckier when she moved about 6 blocks from my house and right down the street from our gym. 

On the night of the super bowl, I had a bunch of people over at my house and between myself and my roommates we made the best bad-for-you food you can imagine. Half way to my cardiac arrest, I declared that the following day I was starting a new work out program, and Elise jumped on board. We send each other texts in the morning at 5:30am making sure we're up. This is something we need to get better at, but it still helps to have someone remind you that you ate like a man trying to increase his weight class last weekend and could use an hour of spin class. 

Anyway, that's  Elise. My workout partner. 

This morning Elise was sick so I was a lone wolf at the gym, but I did a HARD 30 minutes (2 miles on the treadmill and 15 minutes on the stair machine at max speed) and did my normal ab routine TWICE. I also did some lunges but I lost steam near the end. I walked out of the gym at 7:15 absolutely dripping in sweat. There's no better way to start the day!

And LORD, did I need it. 

Last night I made an insane amount of THESE:

Golden grahams s'mores "brownies".

Super simple. Super amazing. A guy who works in my building just tried one and he called them "nectar from the Gods". I usually reserve this term for bloody marys with extra mary...but these are well deserving. 

RECIPE:

10.5 ounce bag of mini marshmellows (plus 2 cups!)

1 standard box of Golden Graham cereal

1/4 cup of butter

1 standard package of milk chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Melt butter in a large pot on the stove at a low heat

2. Add 1 bag of marshmellows and mix until melted

3. Once melted, remove from heat and add cereal

4. Once this is stirred up, put back on a low heat and mix in chocolate chips until they are half-way melted

5. Add two more cups of marshellows

6. Stir until you feel like you just did a 3 hour upper body workout

7. Place into a large baking pan of your choice, let cool

8. Wait 20 minutes, cut into squares, serve, enjoy, die of happiness.

Happy Tuesday!

-axoxo,

A

7. Why I Love Intervals

I don't know about you, but I am incredibly ADD at the gym. I cannot handle doing one task for a long time and I end up getting frustrated and bored and then usually leave the gym before I finish my intended workout. But last week, my favorite spin instructor told our class that interval training is not only one of the best things you can do for your body, but also one of the best ways to lose weight. 

After she mentioned this to us, I spent some time reading different bloggers and other information that I could find and everything supported this notion. Intervals burn more fat and are great for your body. 

Here is my favorite interval workout:

AG Interval FUN

Time: 40 minutes

Machine: Treadmill

Minutes 1-3: Walk at 3.5mph, taking long strides to stretch legs

Minutes 3-5: Run at 6.5mph for to get heart rate up

Minutes 5-5:45: SPRINT at 8.2mph*

Minutes 5:45-7: Walk fast at 4mph

Minutes 5-15: REPEAT INTERVAL!

Minutes 15-16: Walk at 3.5mph

Minutes 16-21: Walk at 4mph on 15% incline

Minutes 21-23: Walk at 4mph without an incline

Minutes 23-30: REPEAT INTERVAL!

Minutes 30-32: Walk at 4mph

Minutes 32-34: Run at 6mph at 9% incline

Minutes 34-36: Walk at 4mph

Minutes 36-38: Run at 6mph at 9% incline

Minutes 38-40: Walk at 3.5 and COOL DOWN

I have this printed out and keep it on the treadmill with me. It is the perfect workout if you're looking to shed some pounds and speed up a workout. This is 10x LESS painless than running at a constant pace for 40 minutes. 

Quick note: Go at your own pace. When I started committing a lot of time toward my health this past January, I was doing this much slower. My warm up run was around 5.7mph depending on the day and my sprint was 7mph. Do what feels right and watch yourself get stronger and faster. 

Time to hit the gym!

axoxo,

-A

5. Hump Day Heart List

People call it "Hump Day" because after Wednesday the rest of the week is downhill. Here are some pretty (and otherwise bizarre,funny or completely strange) things I am loving right now that'll help you over that hump. 

1. Cat on Two Legs

This video is undeniably hilarious/creepy as hell. One of my co-workers sent it to me yesterday morning and I caught her watching it on repeat several hours later. 

2. Essie Fiji

Kevo and I went to Boston a few weekends ago and I got myself all pampered up before. I had been relying on Essie Ballet Slippers as my go-to spring color, but they were at when I got my last manicure so I tried Fiji (somehow for the first time). UHM HELLO?! Fiji>Ballet Slippers. It covered my nails in 2 coats (I use FOUR with Ballet Slippers) and was the perfect light pink shade. You can't really see it that well in this picture, but trust me - it's pretty. 

Yes, that is an entire lobster. Yes, I ate the entire thing. No regrets.

Better picture here: 

3. Red Wine Sangria

I singlehandedly decided that my boyfriend is having a party at his group house this weekend. I plan on making lots of this stuff, sitting outside on a blanket with one of my best friends and playing yard games with Kevo and his roommates. 

4. This AMAZINGLY Adorable Ring

I've been looking for a dainty rose gold ring for a while. This ring is so cute and subtle and it will go with everything. Did I mention it's only $8?

5. This Blonde Girl

That's my best friend in the whole world, Sarah. Today his her 23rd birthday. This girl has been with me through EVERYTHING. Hap BD, Sar.

We're nearing the weekend, gang!

axoxo

-A

3. Easter Sunday, Easter and Sunday

Happy Easter, everyone! I hope everyone got a chance to spend time with the people they love today.  I spent the day with friends playing games outside and eating far too much pimento cheese. Now I'm back home doing my Sunday routine. 

In an attempt to keep myself eating better and save some cash, I've become really big on meal planning lately. I spend almost 3 hours every Sunday buying groceries and obsessively preparing all of my meals for the week. 

Here's my standard weekly haul of groceries. 

This is basically what I get every week. Lots of veggies including 3 bags of spinach (I throw nearly a half bag into most meals I make), 2 cartons of mushrooms (cross apply previous half bag statement), quinoa (superfood), apples and bananas, yogurt, and then something that doesn't take any effort to make. This week it was brown rice pre-made sushi. I used to buy the Trader Joe's microwavable salmon packages, but they are packed full of calories and the portions are huge, plus I'm trying to eat fewer microwaveable foods. 

Not pictured is the enormous bag of lemon's I buy religiously once a week. Gotta have that hot lemon water. 

This week I decided that I need to shake my lunch routine up a little bit and decided to make a huge carton of quinoa that I could just section into portions. 

To start, I took all of the left over veggies from last week. This included a few cherry tomatos, some onion, zucchini and a hand full of brussel sprouts. 

I cut those up and sauteed them while I was boiling the quinoa and about 20 minutes later my veggies turned into this:

Yum. 

I topped it off with a little bit of lemon, olive oil and soy sauce (for extra flavor), threw in the quinoa and packed it all together in a big container for easy access throughout the week. 

I cannot put into words how much I love taking the time to prepare food for the week on the weekends. It's seriously relaxing. 

Welp, it's about time to get back to my work computer and get a jump start on this weeks craziness! By that I mean I need to finish up 3 memos because Kevo is getting back into town and I miss him ;-)

Have a great Sunday night!

axoxo,

-A

2. Island in the City

I suppose I should say that I'm a DC transplant. I moved here from Michigan about a week after graduating college to fulfill a semi-life long dream of working in politics. Here I am, almost two years later and I have a great job and for the most part, really love the city.

But every once in a while, a girl has to get out. This week I had Friday off for Good Friday and the boyfriend and I decided to take a trip to Roosevelt Island. If I'm being honest, I didn't even know this place existed. Roosevelt Island is a little island in between VA and DC with a huge monument for President Teddy Roosevelt in the center and about 4 miles of walking trails around it.

The plan was to get Whole Foods salad and have a picnic on the Island, but it was a little cold and windy for that, so we sat in a park near the apartment before we headed out.

Every time one of these I get a half scoop of...well...everything. Whoops. 

I could have eaten 11 of them.

Once we got over to the Island we quickly found a big slab of rock that was suitable for laying on. We sat for about 20 minutes and enjoyed the sun and the view to Rosslyn. 

My mountain man, after a little tutorial on how to pose for pictures. 

Before we left I had put together a super cute outfit, curled my hair, etc. Then we got outside and it was freezing - t-shirt, zip-up and ponytail it is!

Hah. I took this right before we left. Tell me this does not look like the fence at District 12!?

This is the only good picture I got of the monument. Unfortunately it doesn't even show a fraction of the actual thing. I thought this little boy was just precious. 

That was the start of the weekend. Today I saw Kevo off before he headed home for Easter and am having trouble tearing myself away from Khloe and Lamar and my large pot of coffee. 

axoxo,

-A

1. I'm Paul, Let's Begin

This blog has been a long time coming, but I'm glad to say it's finally here. 

Let's start with the name. When I started dating my boyfriend last summer, he told me once that he had to leave my house because he was "tiredroni". Since then, the addition of "roni" to emphasis words has worked it's way into my daily vocabulary. 

Very mature, I know. 

But when you find something that works, you stick with it. 

I read a lot of different blogs. I want this one to be a combination of all of the things I read about. I want it to be a blog that i'd love to discover. I'm going to talk about fashion, food, fitness, friends and failure (ohhh so many F's). Those, to me, are the pretty things. Prettyroni. I'll loosely document my work life and my love life. Finally, I'm going to write about the every day stuff that happens in the life of a 20-something and how much red wine I have to drink in order to get through it. 

So, here's a toast. To you, to me, to this blog. I hope that you'll join me. 

Here's to you, here's to me.

Friends forever we shall be.

If we ever disagree, then f$*% you...and here's to me. 

;-)

axoxo,

-A

P.S. My name is not PAUL. It's a line from RENT and I just couldn't shake it. Just run with it.