I’ve just been going nuts with Chobani for breakfast (Clevelanders who have been asking – I find it at the Marc’s in Kamm’s Plaza!) – and I think it’s because I know I’m not going to able to have it during Vegan Month – which makes me so sad!!!!

I switched things up yesterday and combined these:

To make this!

Kelly brought in the leftover veggie pizza from our Viewing Party, and I felt like it was my DUTY to help finish it off as a morning snack!

I didn’t need to worry about bringing a lunch, since yesterday was the start of our Summer Cookout Season at work!   Free delicious food?  I’m in!

I stuck with salad & super salty pretzels:

Then topped everything off with my own addition from home – AVACADO

(I’m so obsessed with that Lady Gaga song – Alejandro that I just started singing in my, but saying “AVA-CADO” instead. Lord help me.)

For a late afternoon snack I went back to snag more free pretzels (seriously – they are so amazingly salty), and to make “snack time” even better – I remember I had my Sabra in the fridge!  SCORE!

After work, I went straight out to dinner, because I had a hot date with Heather!   Our destination: Rocky River Wine Bar

I simultaneously LOVE and HATE this place.

I’ve gone to Wine Bar many times, and I’m averaging around 90%…

…90% of the time I go, I have terrible (SLOW, SLOW, SLOW, SLOW) service, food takes forever, comes out cooked poorly, server is no where to be found when you need wine (HELLO – I NEED WINE! ) – you get the drift.

Last night – I had high hopes! It was a beautiful night, and even though I had to sit inside (the patio was PACKED) – I got seated, and served a delicious glass of Sauv Blanc right away!

Heather and I decided it would be a lot more fun to order two dishes and split things, so our selections were:

Baked Brie with Roasted Red Grapes, Walnuts, and Sherry-Thyme gastrique crackers

Sweet Potato Fries with Sea Salt

Both were ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!

The brie was such a unique flavor combination that I never would have thought of it – but it all went together so well!! 

As for the fries – I hate when restaurants have sweet potato fries and they try to top them with cinnamon or maple syrup or something sweet.  These were perfectly salty/spicy/savory – the way a sweet potato fry should taste in my opinion

I told Mike I’d be gone for about an hour and a half…but ended up hanging with Heather for 4 HOURS!

She is so totally cool and down to earth, and we have a ton of things in common and totally think alike!  Every time one of us would start a story – the other would say “Ohmygosh – that sounds exactly like when I…” – CRAZY!  

I heart blog turned real life friends!

Do you think it’s harder or easier to make friends as you get older?

I think it’s harder, because you don’t have the opportunity to just hang out (life, jobs, etc. gets in the way) – but I will say having the blog has helped a ton, which is a fabulous “side effect” I never anticipated when I started blogging!

Everyone’s always going on about OIAJ, and I may or may not have jumped on that bandwagon a time or two..

…but yesterday – a new idea crossed my mind, when faced with this:

CIAJ = Chobani In A Jar!!!! With perfectly fresh raspberries!

Raspberries JUST might be the most fantastic fruit ever. Not messy to eat, easy to clean, and ALWAYS delicious.  I just wish they were in season all year round!

CIAJ was TERRIBLE! Obviously!

It’s been ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS here in Cleveland the past few days – so lunch turned in to picnic time – I heart sunshine & summer!

DDP, bright colorful veggies with a little lettuce, & the best two condiments in town: Sabra Supremely Spicy & Bolthouse Ranch!

Right after work I went to a Power class taught by Heather, who I am convinced tried to kill me for 1 straight hour!  She was a BRUTAL teacher, but in a totally kick @$$ sort of way!

I was starving when I came home so I wanted quick and easy!   Artichoke Brie Bruschetta (using Monday night’s leftover bread)? SCORE!

I literally just cut up small pieces of brie, opened a can of marinated artichokes, and threw it all on top of the bread- then baked for 10 minutes.  That’s it!

I was a little torn on what my dipping sauce should be – so I went with a trio: Bertolli Arrabiatta, mustard, & balsamic vinegar.

FYI – Balsamic Vinegar was hands down the winner!

I walked the pups right after dinner, and when I got back home, I decided I was still hungry, and went in for the rest of the cherry tomato container:

Did you notice the brown fur to the left of the corner?

There is NOTHING these dogs won’t eat.  If I’m eating, they are in my face. But they don’t whine, they just watch intently.  They would only be BAD dogs if they were whining, right?

In dorky TV watching news – did you see Evan didn’t win last night??

I know Nicole was better, but I was still said this adorable face didn’t win, I still love you Evan!

Sometimes, I’ll go a few weeks, and forget how much I am in LOVE with Vanilla Chobani!

Yesterday morning, I remembered!

Topped with PB2, Special K Granola and fresh berries?  Does life get any better?

Maybe it does! When your lunch is full of FRESH, COLORFUL vegetables and eaten with obscene amounts of Supremely Spicy Sabra Hummus!

So THIS is why I should go grocery shopping every week?   Or maybe I should keep going every few weeks, because apparently, it makes me EXTREMELY grateful when I finally am stocked up on good stuff!

As I mentioned yesterday – I finally know someone on a reality TV show – so I decided it was only appropriate to throw a viewing party!   So as soon as work was over, I rushed home to prepare for my guests!

Appropriately stocked on wine and food of course!

My dogs really struggle when guests come over – they have trouble making themselves comfortable & get almost no attention – it’s basically animal cruelty.

We were all REALLY excited for the show to start, and every time they introduced a new Bachelor – we would all say “OH THIS IS TYLER, THIS IS TYLER’, but it wasn’t.

We got so antsy, we decided to take a picture with Chris Harrison, who just wouldn’t shut up

THEN FINALLY……

Our own handsome little Tyler!  

Wasn’t he TOTALLY the cutest?!   I mean HELLO?!  Her other choices involve:

• Outdoorsman (read: unemployed)
• Shooter (oh, that poor, poor guy, what was he thinking sharing that?)
• Wack-a-doo making a scrapbook (what man knows the word macramé?)
• Wooden heart weirdo
• Crazy hair dude who looks like a genetics experiment gone wrong (we decided McDreamy & McSteamy from Grey’s)

(yeah, yeah, I know those are all someone’s son, brother, loved one – I’m just playing around…)

By the end of the night, we all looked like this!

I promise you – this is not turning into a reality TV blog – I PROMISE!   Did anyone else watch the Bachelorette premiere last night??  Thoughts??