Today has been one of those days where everything has gone right. I feel like I have to hang on for dear life to this moment because I have a tendency to blow up the bad days so that they are bigger than they really are. I need something to put everything into perspective, and this is it!
Here’s a little list of things that make me happy right now. Feel free to skip down to the food pictures if you’d like. This list just helps me remember to smile when the going gets tough.
1) I have been thinking about the ballroom dance class all day long! It was so much fun last night. We learned how to do the basic fox trot and at the end we started to try turns. Bobby and I are starting to get a rhythm going. It’s not perfect yet, but we really had fun with it. My friend and her boyfriend had a great time, too. I can’t wait for next week!
2) I just received word (aka at 3:30 pm) that my newscast has moved into the Blue Ribbon round for the student Emmy awards! You may recall that my roomie and I entered our show into the contest last month. This is the final round, so we’ll see what happens! It’d be nice to receive confirmation that all of our hard work paid off in a big way!
3) I’ve eaten some delicious food. Always something to smile about, right?! Since that is the focus of the blog, I’ll get to that now 🙂
Before the ballroom dance class last night, Bobby came over for dinner. We just went the simple and easy route.
We made black beans + brown rice to have together (I had 3/4 cup beans and 1/2 cup of rice) and then I heated up a Quorn cutlet and topped it with (what else?) Annie’s BBQ Sauce.
Then we pretended that we were on Dancing with the Stars 😉 So fun!
This morning I woke up early and did my usual P90X thang. I promise I will get the workout summaries up on the blog this weekend! After the session, I was on the toast kick again, but I did something new with my Greek yogurt. I’ve seen bloggers such as the lovelies Erin and Gina add protein powder to many things (oatmeal is my personal fave), and have always been intrigued by the thought of it in yogurt.
I added 1/2 scoop of vanilla protein powder, 1 tbsp. ground flax and 1/2 sliced banana to the yogurt. I stirred it all up and…it was so tasty! I like the way the powder is a little bit chunky in the yogurt. I didn’t even need to add maple syrup, which is very rare for me! Thanks, ladies!
I also had the “usual” 2 slices of toast with Promise and strawberry jam.
And you KNOW that there was some Coffee Cocoa goin’ on…
I spent the morning catching up on a couple of things around my place and then it was time for my day o’ class. I grabbed a Chocolate Peanut Butter protein bar. This is definitely the best of all the Pure Protein flavors. It’s the least fake tasting, anyway!
Classes went well and were interesting, as usual. Now I just have to actually start thinking about the three papers I have to write this weekend (one for each class). I’ll just take it one day at a time. I came back to my apartment and made myself a “second lunch” to complement the bar. I wasn’t too hungry since I had just eaten it an hour before.
But I managed to get a filling lunch in anyway! I heated up a sweet potato in the microwave and topped it with 1/2 cup cottage cheese and some organic ketchup. Yum!!
I also made myself another Coffee Cocoa. I think I’m starting to drink too much coffee. My tum wasn’t right this afternoon 🙁 But it’s just so hard not to in the winter because it’s FREEZING! I wish that I could learn to like tea. Any tips for liking tea when you have a gigantic sweet tooth?
Then the roomie and I got the EMMY NEWS!! I can’t even tell you how happy it makes us. There aren’t enough words to articulate it. We had so many ups and downs (mostly ups, thankfully) with our shows last year and it means so much. I better stop now before I start tearing up 😉 I’m emotional!
We decided to celebrate by going to one of our favorite eateries: Mr. Panera!! I had the You Pick Two with chicken tortilla soup (love this new one!), the Fuji Apple Chicken salad and a whole grain baguette. Ahh Panera, you are so wonderful.
Then the roomie and I were off to the newsroom to crew the sports show. We also got our DVDs together to ship off to the Emmy council. We will hear the final results in just a couple of weeks! Keep your fingers crossed for us, please!
When I got back, I decided to treat myself to one of the food blogger favorite desserts: a VITAMUFFIN!! I’ve never tried one before and couldn’t wait to have my first experience. I also decided it was absolutely necessary to top it with 1 tbsp. Barney Butter!
All I have to say is…wow. This was such a treat! It really feels like you are eating peanut butter chocolate cake! I would never guess that it was even remotely “healthy” as far as desserts go. I can’t wait to try the other Vita flavors! To all the lovely blogs who have featured this delicious dessert at some point…THANK YOU! It’s the start of a beautiful relationship, methinks.
Random Presentation
The very generous Allison from Green Dog Wine was kind enough to send me an email this morning in response to my dilemma with the PowerPoint yesterday. She helped me out big time by actually taking the screen shots for me, and I now have some pictures to show you! Thanks, Allison! You are too kind 🙂 First of all, I wanted to show you the title slide. I took my name off for obvious reasons, but perhaps you can see what it’s meant to resemble.
I cut and pasted the Whole Foods logo and various pieces of their grocery bags and decided to incorporate the grocery bag theme throughout the presentation. I figured it helped demonstrate environmental consciousness 😉 And here now are some of my favorite content slides. I won’t bore you with everything – these are just the most relevant!
I also had a “whole” theme going on in the title of the slides.
There were about 7 slides between the previous picture and the next one that discussed their marketing objective, the typical Whole Foods consumer, etc. I’ll skip to the end of the presentation now! Here is my idea of their “positioning” within the market. The left side shows where they are currently and the right side shows where they need to be in order to meet their objective in the very center.
And finally, how they could/should go about achieving their goals!
I had a lot of fun creating this presentation. I hope I didn’t bore you all too much 😉 I really think that the marketing, PR and/or media communications fields are where I feel most at home. Now I just need a job and I’ll be set.
I hope everyone has a Fantastic Friday!! There may be a slight posting delay for me this weekend, but it’s for a REALLY good reason, which you’ll find out about soon!
P.S. Per my newest obsession with white chocolate macadamia nut EVERYTHING, check out this post from ZestyCook yesterday. Mmmmm 
WOW What a post Jenn! Great pictures, food looks amazing. You eat so well – I am somewhat envious as I had a bologna sandwich for lunch today… I know crazy! Thanks for the shout out on my cookies.
zesty
Congratulations on making to the next Emmy round!!! That is so great! And I’m so glad you enjoyed your dance class 🙂
That presentation was AWESOME. Even the background of the slides fit the mood, and all of the content is great!
Have a wonderful Friday!
what great news!!! Congrats on your dancing success AND the EMMYS you superstar!
Your WW presentation looks fantastic…I hate boring Powerpoints, I would have loved to hear yours =]
Congrats on the Emmy news! And your WF presentation. I chuckled a bit at the “positioning” slide. I work in advertising and clients really do use the “To…is the…that…because” stuff!
Also, this is random, but I couldn’t help but notice how you spread your jelly on your toast. It doesn’t make it to the edges! So funny, b/c I always make sure my toppings are evenly distributed. 🙂
Congrats on making it to the final round for your Emmys 😀 Very cool. I love that plate that your sweet potato is on!
congrats on your newscast making it to the blue ribbon round! ballroom dancing? thats so cute! thats such a good idea with the sweet potato (and pretty too!) – I think I am going to have that sometime this weekend.
wonderful job on the Whole Foods presentation! you really have so many great things going for you =)
WOw such amazing news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂 🙂 SUPER congrats to you!!! 🙂 🙂
The WF presentation looks awesome!
Yummy eats for sure! and ballroom dancing??? FUN!!!:D
You have so many reasons to SMILE! Congrats! I am so happy for you!
Love all your eats. Sure wish I could still eat cottage cheese. I bet it tastes great on sweet potatoes.
Forgot to tell you that your presentation is awesome!
Fabulous presentation! I love it.
CONGRATULATIONS on the Emmy News 🙂 Sounds like so much fun.
And don’t even get me started on those eats, my belly’s starting to growl now!
yay Jenn! congrats on the emmy news!! you are SUCH a hardworker….seriously make me feel like a lazy poo butt because you are SO DEDICATED to your school work, which is SO admirable!…and you totally deserve it all!!! wuv you!!! 🙂
and how gorgeous are your pictures today?!!? esp the cottage cheese sweet potato!! love it!!!
and i really enjoyed your WF power point! so cool to learn about our favorite store!!!
TGIF! HAVE A WONDERFUL ONE !!! 🙂
My goodness – you really did have quite the good day! 🙂 Congrats on the Emmy stuff – that’s HUGE!
Thanks for the shout out – happy to help!! 🙂
It looks like you did indeed have quite the awesome day. So many good eats too!! I’ve been seeing the vitamuffin and peanut dessert on some blogs and have been thinking I need to try it too!!
So glad you had a good day! That’s quite the list of good things 🙂
And I have one more to add to the list:
Us meeting up in Chicago!
Haha, can you tell I’m excited???
Congrats on ALL you have to be happy for Jenn!! I’m so happy that you had a great day!
AND that’s sooo exciting about the dance class, I can’t wait to hear more, what funnn!!
That Vitamuffin dessert is my FAVORITE thing, I need to pick me up some more of those…
So much good news. First off, congrats on making the final rounds for the student Emmy awards. Jenn, that is so exciting! Also, I loved your Whole Food Power Point presentation. Very creative use of the brown paper bag, and it sounds like you had a lot of fun putting it together.
I’m glad you and Bobby enjoyed the dance class, and I look forward to reading more about it over the next few weeks. So cute.
One last thing…toast…yum! Love it. 🙂
Congrats on making it to the next round! I am so happy for you!
I haven’t done legit ballroom dancing since, oh, 6th grade. I need a refresher course!
All your Quorn dishes make me want to go pick up another box–do you use the “naked cutlets?” Unfortunately my WF here doesn’t carry them–add another item to the list of foods to enjoy over spring break:)
Congratulations! I’m totally a lurker, but I just had to say one thing:
GIRL YOU HAVE GOT TO EAT SOME MORE VEGGIES!
keiko ~ Haha, I definitely eat my veggies, girl! Sweet potato for lunch, salad for dinner. I don’t like eating them with breakfast that often 🙂 But there’s always room for more, right?
Congrats rock star!
Aww that sounds like a terrific day! Congrats on making the final round of the Emmys.
Your presentation looks so professional. The paper bag effect really works well. 🙂
omg your custom ppt is SO badass! ha i bet you blew all the other ppl outta the water who just used the ol’ generic ones!! I hope you win your emmy 😀 AND no worries i cannot choke down tea for the life of me….coffeeee and/or cocoa yes please!!
Holy heckengolly girl! I am SOOO impressed by your presentation, your emmy blue ribbon contention, your mad dance skillz and of course, your yummy food!
I am one of THOSE people that use splenda, and I add it to my tea with milk. It of course isn’t good with every tea, but in a Chai or an English Toffee, it definitely takes care of that sweet tooth. There’s always decaf coffee too.
Have a great weekend and I can’t wait to here what your little surprise is!!!
Holy heckengolly girl! I am SOOO impressed by your presentation, your emmy blue ribbon contention, your mad dance skillz and of course, your yummy food!
I am one of THOSE people that use splenda, and I add it to my tea with milk. It of course isn’t good with every tea, but in a Chai or an English Toffee, it definitely takes care of that sweet tooth. There’s always decaf coffee too.
Have a great weekend and I can’t wait to hear what your little surprise is!!!
I dunno what happened…sorry for the double post!!!!!!!!
omgod CONGRATULATIONS GORGEOUS!
So glad you had such a wonderful day! Ballroom dancing sounds like an absolute blast. CONGRATS on the EMMY! Great eats. Love the beans and rice- such a classic yummy meal! I put protein powder in yogurt yesterday and loved it!
Congrats on the next round of Emmies!
ANd you have some powerpoint talent! These look great and so professional!
Glad to hear you had such a wonderful time ball room dancing! I am so jealous…way cute.
Congrats on the Emmy as well! Glad to hear you had such a wonderful day =)
YAY CONGRATS!!!
For tea: brew your tea in heated milk and sweeten… its amazing! My favorites are chai and peppermint.
HOLY. FABULOUSNESS. Call me when you can so that I can give you a proper congratulations, girl!! 🙂
How awesome was that day! Hooray!! And am totally jealous of the Panera whole grain baguette! We just get offered sourdough and I don’t even like sourdough (ew!).
Congratulations on the good news about your newscast! Yay for that!
As for tea – I really enjoy Celestial Seasonings tea, there are some sweet flavors out there which are great. I’m still enjoying sugar cookie and ginger bread from the holidays. Give them a try! 🙂
Congrats on making it to the final round for the emmys! How exciting, I hope you and your roommate are very proud of yourselves.
Loved the slides, very intereting, and very creative with the bag background.
:D!!! Congratulations! That is SO cool! I am the same way if I have a good day-you never know when that amazing feeling might leave! That is so exciting. I know that Panera order from a mile away;) delish
ballroom dancing how fun! LOVE THE SLIDES!
That powerpoint turned out great!!!
Hmm….I love coffee but I love tea, too.
Find some that taste a little sweet on their own and then you won’t have to add much.
Any fruit flavors taste sweet to me, plus peppermint anything! I love mint teas, fruit ones (especially orange), and there’s actually one of those holiday teas (if they’re still out) that is called “Nutcracker Sweet” by Celestial Seasonings(?) that is so good on its own.
I must echo the congratulations to you! That is amazing and something you should rightly be proud of 😀
My hubby & I tried dancing lessons before we were married and it did NOT go well! Hehe…glad you guys are enjoying yourselves!
wow jenn this post made me smile too! I love all the great things that you’ve been loving lately. I have so much to say!
1) I’m glad dance class was great—that’s such a fun and different activity that you an Bobby get to share!
2) LOVE your sweet potato/cc lunch! obvi
3) the chicken tortilla soup is my favorite!
4) CONGRATS on the emmy progress–I hope you win!
5) There are some really great dessert teas out there. I really like sugar cookie sleigh ride (which i don’t know if they’re still selling), Trader Joe’s Peppermint, STASH chocolate hazelnut, Celestial Seasonings vanilla almond. Add some sugar (or splenda, whatevs) and some vanilla almond breeze and you’re all set!
6) I LOVE VITAMUFFINS. Get yourself some dark chocolate dreams on there and you’ll be in heaven.
7) Your presentation looks really good! V. professional!
Whew, ok, I think that’s enough for now. Have a great weekend!
SO much excitement 😀 It’s contagious! Can’t wait for your little announcement!
CONGRATULATIONS on your video – that’s fabulous 🙂 Glad to hear dancing was a blasty!
Okay the eats – that is like a day of heaven in my world! PP, CC and a SP (like all the abbreviations haha), PANERA!, greek yogurt (i’ll have to try this tip)
That is a fabulous PowerPoint! I give it an A+!
Jenn, Congrats on the Emmy news! You are so talented.
I think the ballroom dancing is just too cute. You two will be great when you dance at your wedding. 😀
As for coffee, maybe you could try decaf? Or, my brother got me this bag of herbal coffee, Vanilla Nut Herbal Coffee to be exact. I haven’t tried it, yet, but I will this weekend and let you know how it is. It’s decaf.
What a great post! Ballroom dancing and good Emmy news, great presentaion, Vita muffin! WOW…you are a machine! 🙂
Awesome job with the presentation! I remember when my husband and I used to walk into Whole Foods in northern California in the mid-90’s, and walk out. It was soooo expensive we must have walked in and looked around a dozen times, but never bought a thing. It is still expensive, but these days we always manage to come out with a few well-priced items 🙂
Yay for GREAT days! Your presentation is fantastic. I have a degree in telecommunications and I love all things media related.
glad you had a great day! your positive energy is contagious! and your presentation is great…
Great post! I really want toast!
There are sooo many teas I’m sure there is one you’d like, but it can be hard to find!
Yerba Matte is the most “coffee-like” I think, and is yummy.
I like herbal teas like Vanilla Chammomile. It has sweetness that could definitely be played up.
Good luck! Too much coffee hurts my tummy too, which is why I’ve cut back myself.
I am so excited about the Emmy News! I have my fingers crossed for you.
I loved loved loved your a power point slides. Great idea with the paper bag. Your a girl after my own heart- marketing, pr, and food!
We should both get a job at the same company – 😉
Great idea to add the protein powder to your yogurt! Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the ballroom dancing!
Don’t you just LOVE good days? Your presentation looks great, I think the grocery bag theme was a smart idea. I t definitely adds to the environmental-conscious feel. The only thing is, I’ve never been to a whole foods. 🙁 After hearing so much about them from all the great blogs like yours though, I feel I might have to take a road trip and check one out!
I love this post! so positive that it makes me smile too. I hope the rest of your weekend will be this nice Jenn!
Also, for naturally sweet tea recommendations. I love Yogi – Bedtime Tea. The Aveda comforting tea is also naturally sweet- flavored with licorice.
Coffee hurts my tum too!
I love greek yogurt with chocolate protein powder and berries!! If you make it the night before you want to eat it, frozen berries are the best in it, and I add a tbsp of ground flax. So yummy!!
Yay! I’m so glad to hear you liked your class. 🙂 AND how exciting is it to make it into the final round of a big competition?????? What’s the prize?? And what was the film about? Maybe you should post it on your site for us to see!!! I am also VERY impressed with your Whole Foods presentation. Was this a group project? (I kinda took a class like that…it was in Soc 302 I think and I did the Cheesecake Factory and had to bring in 4 cakes for the class).
Btw I think it’s really cute how you only put your jam in the middle of your toast. hahaha I’m your complete opposite because I have to make sure the jam covers my ENTIRE toast or I get grumpy. Sorry, random comment. 😛
oh you made me smile 🙂 the presentation looks great, and congrats on the blue ribbon round!
i’ve always been interested in trying vitamuffins. with your good review, i’ll have to now!
Your presentation looks awesome! Ballroom dancing sounds so awesome as well! I can’t wait to hear more about that. I’ve always wanted to do ballroom dancing but I have been too nervous to go to a class since I don’t have a partner. It looks like so much fun.
Congrats on your show, girl!
so many things to comment on..
congrats on your show! I HOPE YOU WIN! i know you will 😉
thank you for the lovely shout out <3 so glad you liked the protein in your yogurt– it makes it taste sooo good, and you’re right- there’s no need to add any sweetener
that’s awesome you and bobby had fun dancing it up!!
and PANERA!! how i looooove panera 😀 that salad looks incredible
hope you have a wonderful weekend!
<3
Aww congrats on the Blue Ribbon round, that’s so exciting! I hope you win!
So glad you loved the ballroom dancing too. Maybe I’ll have to consider it in the future after all. Who knows, maybe I’ve got some hidden fancy schmancy dancing skills in me?!
I LOVE mixing protein powder into yogurt, it’s da bomb, and the texture is unbeatable. I want some right now!
Funny, I JUST said to myself today as I poured a giant cup of coffee, that I should be making myself some tea instead. I DO like tea but not nearly as much as coffee. You could always try sweetening it up coffee cocoa style anyway… you know, throw some hot chocolate and creamer in it… some teas are really good with honey too. I need to try to drink it more often! I don’t want to get tooooo caffeine hooked, eek.
Okay my fingers are now crossed for you and the BIG WIN!
GREAT NEWS!!!
and I adore that first sentence.
I kinda got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning (coffee wasnt ready. catastrophic in my world :)) and shall adopt that sentence as my mantra today.
Miz.
I’m jealous of your wonderful day! I wish I could make powerpoints that looked even halfway near as good as yours! 🙂
Hey E.B.! First off, I am super pumped that u like the choco vita muffins 🙂 yayyyyyy!!
Secondly, congratulations on all that you have accomplished recently…i certainly agree with you in that it looks like you’ve got a strong hold on things, girl!!!
Way to go!
I gotta say-PB&CO’S White Chocolate Wonderful is *divine* on a choco vita–have you tried it?
Yay for you and your dance class! DANCE IS MY LIFE so keep up with it and I promise it will only get better!
Woohoo! Congrats on getting into the Emmy round… that is so exciting!
I love all the different flavors you’ve combined for each of your meals. Delish!
Have a great weekend!
That peanut butter chocolate cake looks freaking AMAZING!! I want it!
WHAT AN AMAZING PRESENTATION! I LOVE IT JENN!
You were great on getting your protein needs met! Isn’t powder in yogurt good? Gina calls it protein pudding. 🙂
Yay for feeling so good and congrats on making it to the blue ribbon round! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!
I recommend trying black tea. Sweeten it with honey and put a little milk or soy milk in there. Yum!
Hey Jenn! I LOVE your presentation! I have a huge interest in graphic design and do some freelance work here and there so that presentation made my eyes very happy! Loved it!
As for the tea, I think plain tea is an acquired taste, but definitely adding your Silk Creamer and some honey or Truvia would sweeten it right up!
Your ballroom dancing class sounds so fun! I actually mentioned to my boyfriend recently an interest in doing something like that together (though we might opt for a yoga series class instead). It’s so great to do things like that together though!
Congrats on your newscast news! That’s great! GOOD LUCK!
Feel free to use the signature idea! I got the idea from Mrs. LC. Mine’s on an angle so it looks more like handwriting but there are so many different options!
Okay, long comment, haha! Can’t wait to hear what you’ve been up to this weekend 😀
Congrats on the show, and yay for so much happy news!
I also have the tan place with brown leaves! You’ve got good taste! Love Target clearance! Have a great day!
first of all…CONGRATS on making the next round! I hope you win! second, I am so jealous of your ballroom dancing classes! sounds incredibly fun! and third, love your eats as always!!! sweet potato with cc and ketchup? YUM!
first of all…CONGRATS on making the next round! I hope you win! second, I am so jealous of your ballroom dancing classes! sounds incredibly fun! and third, love your eats as always!!! sweet potato with cc and ketchup? YUM!
Caroline ~ I do indeed use the naked cutlets! They are the best!
All ~ Thank you so much for your sweet comments on the Emmy submission and PowerPoint presentation. You made me smile and I just love how supportive this community is! For those who asked, the submission was a student newscast and the prize is cash that goes to our broadcast journalism program at school, plus a cool trophy and pure happiness 🙂
[…] and a late credit to Miss Eating Bender for the cottage cheese + sweet potato pairing! I read so many fantastic blogs that I sometimes lose track of all the meal ideas, […]
[…] potato the size of my foot topped with cottage cheese and ketchup (thanks Jenn!), grilled zucchini, and avocado and tomato on a WW english muffin. Dinner of confused tastebud […]