Day TWENTY-TWO - Viva la Viva

Alternate Title: Hell hath no fury like a 3-year old scorned...

Day 22 was largely spent dealing with the backlash from cutting my daughter Violet’s bangs.  It’s almost like she knew I posted pictures of her online, and as payback, she decided to take naughtiness to a whole new level.

How mad can a 3-year old be? Pretty mad. I don't know why. I think it's already starting to grow out really nicely...

How does a 3-year old take her revenge?

Well, pretty much everything I did.... she undid.  From unfolding my folded laundry, to uncleaning my clean kitchen.  In record time she untidied up the living room I had just spent 45-minutes tidying.  She’s THREE - and after just ten minutes it looked like Def Leppard had spent the night partying and trashing my living room.

Right now as I type this, my right eye still has an uncontrollably twitch.

But here’s one thing that was good about today:  My Workouts.

Sadie challenged me to “up my game” this past week, so in the morning I began the day with Candace’s, “40-minute ballet sculpt.”  After nearly three weeks of barre3 it is still one of my favorite workouts.  

Before dinner, I decided since we were in the theme of upping our game, that I would sneak in Regan’s 10-minute, “Ski workout.”

Right before bedtime I wanted something soothing (YES, I said before bedtime!) so I did Viva’s 10-minute, “Yoga Stretch.”

I knew Viva was a barre3 trainer, but up until this point I wasn’t aware that she had a video. She was actually one of the first people I met through this blog and is by far one of my favorites.  She is SO encouraging and I have a feeling that everyone who knows her feels this way.

Like, if my facebook status says, “I’m thinking about running away to join the circus!” Viva’s always the first one to “like” it.  In fact, I’d even be willing to bet that she’s one of those people where if you killed someone she’d be the first to tell you it was totally the right thing to do, regardless, and then would help you hide the body (I love you Viva!).

Viva’s 10-minute workout was a good reflection of all of this.  With my two prior workouts that day, Viva’s yoga stretch was the perfect closing to a seemingly imperfect day.  It felt so good and her instruction was clear and soothing.

As far as my meals go, I am determined to try at least one new Barre3 recipe each day for this final week.  

-I started with the usual coffee at 7am.

-For breakfast, I had Greek yogurt with blueberries and almonds around 10:00am.

-For lunch, I made the Italian Chickpea Salad. It was, in one-word: YUM. But it would be fair to warn your significant other that they are going to want to eat some garlic if they don’t want to be offended by you.

The recipe makes quite a bit, which is a bonus for me as my husband worked late, so I just had it again for dinner and it was just as good the second time, if not, better.

ITALIAN CHICKPEA SALAD (4 servings)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 8.5 ounce jar sun dried tomatoes in olive oil (keep the tomatoes and the olive oil)
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, sliced
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

PREPARATION:
1. Stir vinegar, herbs, garlic, and olive oil (from tomato jar) together in a large bowl.
2. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, onion, and olives, and toss well. Add salt and pepper and let marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3. Serve plain or with some mixed greens and/or a grain like quinoa or millet.

SIX more days people.

Are any of you doing anything different this last week?