Chia Seeds

Are you diggin' the new look? I am just playing around with things. I'm sure I will change it a million times before I make a final decision. I am by no means a professional blogger or anything (yet? hehe!), but I still want my blog to be easy on the eyes.

Last night, I meant to go take a 6:00pm Jazzercise class with my friend Rachel (one of the instructors that is going to the Jazzercise Convention in Vegas with me at the end of this month). However, when I got there, I realized that another instructor was teaching. No biggie, right? Well, not really, but since my main reason for going was to see Racheroo (and I had already worked out for two hours), I decided to sneak out. I'm terrible, I know! And I would be a little peeved if I found out that someone left one of my own classes just because I was teaching, but in all honesty, I didn't leave because of the instructor, if you know what I mean.

Anyways, somehow I ended up at the mall. I went to return a pair of shoes that have been sitting in my trunk, and ended up doing a little shopping. Shocking! I found a pair of comfy and cute black flats that were on sale for $20. Those will come in handy for student teaching and eventually real teaching, so I made the purchase. Next, I decided to look around at Gap with no intentions of buying anything. Yeah right! However, I ended up scoring the skirt below for only $17.

I may or may not have texted this picture to my friend Jen from the dressing room to see if she liked it.

Please disregard the cell phone camera in my face. I got the shirt as well (for $5!), but I don't think I would wear them together. The shirt is actually made for working out in (built-in bra and everything), but it's kind of cute, so I think I could wear it in real-life. It's funny how taking a Jazzercise class turned into buying some new threads. ;)

Speaking of Jazzercise, I taught a class this morning. I've only been teaching at this particular location since the beginning of the year, so the ladies there have never seen the bigger version of me. I was super flattered after class when one of them mentioned that she had seen an old video of me on YouTube and complimented me on how great I look. I have to admit that it's those kind of comments that keep me going. Even though I am totally proud of myself, it's nice to know that others notice that I am looking healthier.

After class (and a shower of course), I stopped at Target to pick up a gift for a baby shower that I am attending tomorrow. I have serious issues with Target ... as in I go in for one thing and leave with one-hundred! This time, in addition to picking up the gift, I snagged a black dress for myself. It's a casual knit one that I figure can be dressed up or down and worn for lots of occasions. I am trying to pick up more classic items like these to build up my wardrobe. I also bought ten Vitamin Water Zero's for $10 which earned me a FREE six-pack of SmartWaters. I'm all about good deals like these, especially on stuff that I will definitely use anyway, like bottled water!

I am helping my bosses out this weekend by working at their other location, so my boss offered to pay for my lunch at Subway down the strip-mall. Never one to turn down Subway (or a free meal!), I ordered a six-inch turkey sub on wheat, with lots of veggies including the avocado spread that they are currently stocking there. Yum! I only remembered to take a picture more than half-way into the sandwich, but you can see how many veggies I'm talking about. They are spilling out of the sandwich ...

One more highlight for today would be stopping to get some healthy goodies that my mom picked up for me last night at Health Hut. She's the best!

We have the same nose!

Healthy goodies

I wanted to try using almond milk and protein powder in the smoothies that I am planning to make in my new blender (also courtesy of my madre), so she surprised me with some. I've also seen chia seeds popping up in a lot of the blogs I've been reading. I'll take Julie's word for it when she says they have an "amazing nutritional profile (omega3s + fiber + protein + antioxidants and more!). Now I have some of those to try. I plan on mixing them in some of my smoothies and yogurt, sprinkling them on top of bagels and salads, and whatever else I can come up with.

By the way, Julie points out in one of her blog posts that these are the same seeds used to grow Chia Pets. I suppose this is kind of a duh! moment, but I don't think I would have put two and two together right away either!

I'm looking forward to trying out all of my new goodies. That's it for now. Less than one hour of work left and then off to watch the boyfrand play softball. -K

Have you tried chia seeds? How do you use them?