Wednesday was a hot mess over here in GDW world – from breakfast til bedtime! 

After a good whoppin’ at “bootcamp” in the morning (the instructors were upset about the Cavs recent loss – they took their aggression out on my hip flexors and triceps!)… 

It was off to to work with the best breakfast ever – Spicy Oats!Sorry for the picture ya’ll – this really is a hot mess.  It doesn’t look appetizing at all – but sometimes “portability” comes with a price – that price being presentation!  To see a MUCH PRETTIER, more appetizing version – check out my guest post on Kath’s blog today!

All mixed up!Still doesn’t look any better,  I know.  At least I tried!  

Because of the brutal morning workout – I was ready to gnaw my arm off by 11 – so I snuck into my snack drawer, and had the 2nd cookie from this pack:Honestly – when I tried these out the first time, I didn’t think it could get any better.  But Erin suggested I microwave the cookie next time…Result?  EVEN BETTER!  I need to look into buying these by the case!

Remember that Wine Bar Party I mentioned Sunday?  The leftovers keep following me (hey – I’M NOT COMPLAINING!) – I just can’t shake it!   I had packed this for lunch:Salad with:

• banana pepps
• black olives
• chickpeas
• carrots and red peppers for dipping in this:

But ended up eating a ton of the leftover veggies from the party – with this fabulous dip that Kristin brought in:This stuff is seriously addicting!  It’s got a fairly sweet taste, right as you take a bite of it, but then it has a bit of a kick at the end at well!  It would be a great bruschetta spread, or even pasta sauce base!  We used it as dip for pita chips and veggies!

Since Mike’s officially on summer break from law school now, he’s been working like crazy to get a ton of things done around the house.  I came home yesterday to find he had sanded down the entire bathroom – and it was ready for priming!  It was a small room, so it only took us about 35 minutes – but it has been SUPER MUGGY AND HUMID here the past two days – and painting in air that feels like it could be “cut with a knife” makes for a big hot mess!

For dinner we need quick and easy – so I went with TJ’s whole wheat pizza dough, and made a quick pizza for the two of us:Look at that melty veggie goodness:Okay – off to put a few more coats on that bathroom, so we can finally get it finished – and finally have somewhere to shower!

Has your yardwork become burdensome?  Do you just wish someone would help you out?   Well rest assured – help is on the way!

I didn’t even know I needed (or wanted for that matter) yardwork done.  Here’s Lando’s judgmental glare:Apparently Lando has her own big plans for the GDW backyard:“What?  I was helping out!  Your weeds look nicer, I got to dig, and make a new outside chew toy.”Yeah – Thanks.  I’ll rent destructo-doggie out for $20 an hour – any takers?

Oh well – our yards a disaster anyways – so I actually don’t care, just think it’s funny           There are more important things in life!

Lately, for some reason – on the first day of the work week, I just can’t bring myself to eat spicy oats (I know!  THE HORROR!)

Instead, Tuesday morning I channeled my inner Rose, and came up with this:Steel cut oats, with apple and chocolate PB.  It was a nice change, although I didn’t want to finish it at the end.  It was a little bland, and f there isn’t roughly 20 oz. of Frank’s in my oats – something tastes off 

I had broke into my lunch earlier – and started off with watermelon!  Aldi finally had it – and I’ve been dying for some lately!  We get one every week of “watermelon season”:Delicious, refreshing, amazing – I don’t know if you could find a better fruit. 

I had packed my own lunch – but Jen and Kristin were nice enough to bring the leftovers from the Wine Bar Party into work for us to munch on!   They didn’t need  to twist my arm to jump right in!

Veggie sandwich:Flatbread:Going along with the watermelon obsession – I forgot how much I adore sun-dried tomatoes.  I must have said that about 25 times while eating this piece! 

Since I didn’t eat my “lunch” at lunch – I came home and ate it for dinner!  I spiced it up with some Mornign Star Buffalo Wings and Frank’s Buffalo sauce:Hot Sauce Heaven, as usual! 

After taking Pupper-Brains on a quick, rainy walk – I decided I was STARVING again, so I made some 100 calorie pack popcorn that’s been in our cupboard forever!And topped it with this shaker full of crack:This stuff is amazing! I stumbled upon it at Walmart (I think??- we’ve actually had it for a while), and the label read “All Natural – NO MSG” so I was sold.  Hey, I do whatever packaged marketing tells me to! 

Off to the rest of my day – a BIG WOOOHOO since it’s already Wednesday! 

You may have heard me talk about this fabulous restaurant HERE, and HERE. 

While Wine Bar is absolutely fabulous, it can get kind of pricey, if you are having a night out on the town.  So, Kristin and Jen had the great idea to throw a “Wine Bar Party” this weekend – where they re-created all our favorite dishes on the menu.  Not only did they re-create them, but they made them better! 

The girls took all the cooking on themselves, so all I had to do was get myself dressed, and show up with a bottle of wine.  How easy is that?

Here’s the two bottles I brought – a Sauv Blanc (my very most favorite wine), and this pretty bottle of sparkling white (Kelsey inspired me, she’s been lovin’ on this bottle a lot the past few weeks!)  I tried to get as many pictures of the food as I could, but there was just so much amazing stuff – I didn’t do that great of a job!  Or at least – I didn’t do the fabulous food justice!

We had this bowl of fruit – which was beautiful and vibrant in color, and equally delicious in taste!!To go along with the fruit, the girls also made Ali’s fruit dip:Honestly, this stuff was amazing!  Everyone loved it, and the every time someone took a bite, we thought of another use for it!  (I was thinking – it would make great frosting on my low cal cupcakes!)

My wine glass had obviously never met me – my charm said “Wallflower“  You know me, quiet and shy!

Here’s all the wine:Little Penguin Cabernet Sauv, TJ’s Moscato, Zarafa Sauv Blanc, Albero Sparkling White:Blue Fin Pinot Noir, Mirassou Pinot Noir, Monkey Bay Rose:Hi Kristin!  The wine was great, we really had a nice, diverse selection!  I tried almost all of them, and I officially have a new love – that’s competing with Sauv Blanc for my affection:I’ve never tried Rose before!  I was silly, and assumed it was like White Zinfandel, because it was the same color!   It tastes NOTHING like White Zin!!  I was VERY VERY PLEASANTLY surprised by the taste of this!!  Delish!

More 5 star food – these little mozzarella, basil, tomato stacks:The perfect finger food, so delicious!

Homemade hummus and veggies:Avocado Brie Bruschetta:And that’s just barely half of the food!! I had trouble snagging pictures of the other half of the table – so here’s an overall shot:I missed individual pictures of the:

• Buffalo Chicken Dip (I thought about trying to sneak the container out in my purse it was THAT good) 
• Homemade pita chips with an awesome KICK
• Roasted Red Pepper/Eggplant spread from TJ’s
• Flatbread pizzas (made from scratch) with feta and sun dried tomatoes

I was having such a great time, I ended up staying out too late, and skipped Bootcamp (at 7am on the holiday!?!?!?!?!) Monday morning. 

But you know what?  I didn’t beat myself up over it – you only live once, you might as well enjoy ever second you’ve got right?