not a granola head just yet

so i've been here 3 years (in 20 days) and everyone tells me that's how long it takes to like la. tho my friend elizabeth has been here 13 years and still says she doesn't like it, but it's where the work is. i'm liking it better. getting out of the silna family routine was a sharp change but, i'm getting back to doing the things i like to do, like going outside to run rather than the gym.

i never thought i'd see the day when i was looking forward to daylight savings, losing that hour is so painful. on the bright side (get it?) it will finally be light enough for me to go running after work. this is good news for my lazy self since i absolutely cannot get up early enough to run before work. i've tried and failed, there's no getting around it. the past week i've been on a pinterest binge trying to motivate myself to get healthy after my lady doctor visit resulted in me needing to stock up on some vitamins. oh 31 25, how i loath what you're doing to me. in addition to vitamins and probiotics (thanks leigh), i decided i'd try making some healthy treats at home, smoothies, energy bars, pasta alternatives. if i'm going to start doing this on the regular, i should prob see where the stuff is the cheapest right?

this weekend i did a grocery crawl to see where the least expensive groceries were. the plan was to hit target, trader joe's, whole foods, ralphs (kroger) and alberstons (lowes) then compare with anything i could auto order thru amazon.

the grocery list

spinach

bananas

kiwi

almond milk

chia seeds

maca powder

goji berries

dried cranberries

walnuts

whole dates

quinoa

lentils

laziness + $4/gallon gas + reality = i only hit target, trader joe's and amazon. my reasoning being, i really only go to a standard grocery store if i see a sale on something i need and whole foods always costs more. i decided i'd only do whole foods if i absolutely couldn't find an item at tj's or target. i was pretty surprised by what i found out. on the average, trader joe's had the best deals, and they never even put anything on sale! the bonus, i can walk to trader joe's (usually on sundays while talking to mom). while everything is basically within a 0.05 difference, i was shocked that at both target and amazon, almond milk was twice as much per ounce. what?!

anyone who's read a celebrity health interview knows they're addicted to green drinks. wether it's the pressed cleanse or something whipped up at the gym, everyone's walking around with a green drink. i'm more on board with selena on these drinks.

that being said, my green smoothie this morning was amaze!!! last year, the same day unc kicks dooks ass at home, i bought this little mixer in green. it was def on sale. it's been nearly a year to the day and i still hadn't used it. inspired by leigh's juice post on facebook, this weekend i preped for a few smoothies: 1 banana sliced in a freezer bag, 1 kiwi cut up in a bag in the fridge, 1 cup spinach in a bag in the fridge, 1.5 cups almond milk in the fridge, 1 tbsp chia seeds in the pantry. this morning i just had to dump and blend.

voila!

it was super tastey! so these chia seeds are kind of a new craze. i read about them a while ago, but now they're popping up all over the place. they've got fiber, omega 3 and supposedly boost energy. i can't speak to the energy, altho i'm a little higher off my coffee than usual, but the fiber is def working. it's nearly lunch time and i'm not hungry at all, i'm usually starving by now.

this weekend i'll try out the energy bars and post on my blog. i'm thinking dates, cranberries and walnuts. we'll see how the first week back to running goes.

i'm gonna toss in this little gem of a video b/c it's so true. and b/c every time i think "goji berries" i can only hear it like this girl.

xoxo!