Well once again nothing exciting to report 1.4 pounds - the same thing every week, the day before my scale was down about 3 pounds and then on Friday I ate totally on plan went for a hour bike ride, no weights but somehow I "gained" by the time I got to JC at 7am. 

 I went to Pinot Days Sat afternoon I drank most of my calories that day.  It was a lot of fun and really nice wine for $40.  I did go to the gym after Jenny on Sat - worked pretty hard, 30 min of cardio but then lots of reps with the kettlebells.  I was sore yesterday and still today.  

Yesterday no exercise I did a lot of cooking/baking.  I made Lemon White Chocolate mini tea bread - it made 4, froze 2, gave one away and the DH and I ate 1.  I also made a fall veg ragout - yum Squash, onion, garlic, brussel sprouts, apples, and cabbage, barley and chix stock with thyme, bay leaf, basil and a little sage.  I just slow cooked it in a big LeCrueset pan in the oven for about 2 hours.  I also slow cooked some pork in beer in a seperate pot so the DH could add meat to his.  I also made jeruselum artichoke (sunchoke)soup.  You peel them and cut them into cubes and drop them into the warm broth and milk combo then they don't turn brown.  So I started by sauteing onion and celery in a little olive oil then added the broth and peeled the sunchokes and then cooked it until all tender and then puree.  Yum!  So lots of leftovers which I am avoiding today.  I had my oatmeal and yogurt for breakfast and then going to have my Jenny meal for lunch but tonight another soiree - the Food and Wine entertaining showcase at the MCA.  We went last year and it was great.  All the best restaurants in Chicago are there and you get a little sample of their food.  It wasn't over crowded and you did not have to wait in long lines and there is plenty of wine too.  I will report back tomorrow on how it actually is.  I am currently baking the loaf of Mark Bittman bread I mixed up yesterday.  It has been decent but I am trying to get it perfect.  It is only bread flour, salt and yeast so fat free but like all bread lots of carbs.  I usually just eat 1/2 slice for breakfast a couple days a week.  Luckily the DH loves it and eats a lot of sandwiches for lunch.  I also cubed up the the others I made to have for Thanksgiving stuffing.  Watching Martha and Jamie Oliver is on, I have the cookbook he is making recipes from.  They all look so good, I may try an apple salad but modify the dressing - uh no creme fraiche for me and certainly cannot make a dressing with 3 parts olive oil to 1 part vinegar.  Anyway my timer just went off got to take the bread out.   

Well the electrician did show up early - 7am he had said 8 but he got everything done/fixed and I now have light in my living room so I can knit, read, or even just see in general.  Took a day off from exercise today it was warmish too so kind of bummed I did not get the bike ride in but he was here for 4 hours  Then I was cleaning up after his mess and started on a cleaning terror, I spent 1.5 hours scrubbing and cleaning the floor and baseboards in my hall.  That provided some exercise and I did a lot of squating and bending over - I am even a little sore tonight.  Anyway ate all meals at home and no wine - doing so well this week.  Tomorrow is the last day before the wi and no plans to go out - I am actually thinking it could be a good week.  Since the electrician woke me up this morning did not have time to wi at home or even eat breakfast.  I ended up having a half of a box of raisins and like 2 bites of bread until lunch.    That is all I have to report I am off to finish knitting a scarf for my nephew.  

OK  had a couple of new things today that were really good.  Remember I stocked up on SF Torani syrup the other day well new flavor SF gingerbread - OMG it was so good in my tea this morning highly recommend if you like a spicy gingerbread.  Also tonight for dinner the new Green Giant frozen steamers - the one I ate tonight was Asian Medley, mostly broccoli with red pepper and water chesnuts but the sauce was really good, an orangy ginger anyway whole package has about 150 calories,split it with the DH and I added mine to my JC Potsticker dinner.  I was super busy today but the DH and I went for a 13 mile bike ride in the misty rain.  The temp was good for my cold weather gear but my backside was completely soaked when we were done.  I was glad to be able to bike outside though it is so much better then the gym.  Tomorrow my electrician is coming at 8 am - I know again, his wife had a medical emergency the other day.  So it will probably be the gym in the afternoon.  

I also made Tarte Tatin today - it turned out really good, I had about 3 bites, my niece had a piece, the DH had about 1.5 pieces  and I took about a third over to my neighbors.  I made the DH put the rest away and I don't know where it is.  It is a recipe from a French cooking mag I bought when we were there.  It is the DH's favorite dessert.  I was going to take a pic but too lazy to go downstairs to get the camera.  Maybe tomorrow

Just another day trying to exercise and eat right.  Went out for lunch but ate all good stuff, broccoli soup, and 1/2 portion of whole wheat pasta with veg.  I went to the gym and did 50 minutes of cardio no weights today.  I got a couple of nagging errands run today in the rain.  Made it to Fleet Feet to get the special laundry detergent, World Market to get my SF Torani syrup with a 10% off coupon that ended today, also went to Michael's to get some Martha Stewart craft stuff.  I need to work on the Xmas stuff now that I have new glitter.  Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer and Thursday too if the rain can stop I can get a bike ride in with my cold weather gear.  I had my JC salsbury steak  for dinner with a salad and green beans.  

I also called the Dog Dental place today - oy I love love love my dog but this is getting ridiculous.  The appt the other day was $230 with the blood work, the dental place is $500-$700 for a cleaning that is without an Xray or extractions so probably closer to $1500 and then they want us to take him to the dog cardiologist before they do anything since he has a murmur, he is 12 and a Beagle pretty common.  BTW the blood work came back that everything is great .  I want to say the cardiologist would run $500-$750 OK that is over $2000 for the dog's teeth I think I really cannot see why this should be sooo pricey.  Do you ever just feel like you are getting taken, what about the crappy economy do they really think I should pay that much.  It is more than my health care costs for a year and I cannot even deduct his on my taxes.  OK enough Vet venting, hope everyone is having a good day!!

Well I did not go to the gym this morning because the electrician was coming early to fix all my little issues - it is almost 9 is he here??  No of course not, I am going to call but I have to find his number.  I am going to go make some tea in the meantime.  I did make it to the gym both Sat and Sun it has gotten really cold here - 36 this morning.  I am bound and determined to use my new biking gloves at least a couple times but it needs to be in the upper 40's or 50's I think.  Anyway did good with the working out and just OK with eating but of course on Sunday morning my scale was down 2 pounds from my official WI on Sat.  Next Saturday we are going to Pinot Days - obviously a chance for me to drink wine.  Pinot is the DH's favorite grape so we are really going because he wants to I keep telling myself that.  I have a ton of errands to do today but I am going to get them done, I have to make it to the sport store because I am out of the laundry detergent to wash my workout clothes in.  I am going to buy 2 this time and look online to see if it doens't come in a larger size.  I also need cinnamon and need to start doing some holiday baking to put in the freezer.  You can make cookie dough and roll it into the logs and freeze it.  It is great when I want to have the kids come over to bake.  Then I have swap outs so they can mix the dough but we don't have to wait 3 hours for it to chill.  Here is a pic from the Monaco harbor, it helps to warm me up today

 Quick note, worked out every day this week - Yeah.  Too cold today for a bike ride outside so went to the gym and did 35 min of cardio and kettle ball stuff.  They are starting a new class next week, have to decide if I am going to sign up.  Went shopping and lunch this afternoon - shared an app of raw tuna, cooked shrimp, avocado, and mango and then had a salad, used my own 50 cal dressing and took most of the nuts off - go me!!  Going out for dinner and no wine for me wi tomorrow morning.  Had tea at lunch.  Going to the gym tomorrow too!!  No plans tomorrow night maybe movie night.  Got a great new coat - I will try to take a picture - Diane VonFurstenburg.  40% off at NM - It is beyond words and a size 12.  So psyched, fits great and really flattering too.  Gotta run to change for dinner.

OK I have some time and am in front of the right computer so you get more photos

This is some of the bling that was for sale in Monaco - not a lot of fun shopping there tres $$$

The day befroe we were in Ezes this old walled city on the top of the mountain/cliff.  This is what it looks like walking through

The entrance to the restaurant we ate at for lunch

The first amuse, this was smoked duck breast on the stick- I skipped that and foie gras on the toast - gobbled that one up

The view from the terrace of the restaurant

Having a drink in the afternoon at Cafe de Paris in Monaco

Well my official wi on Saturday I was down 1 pound - that is all.  If you can gain 9 pounds in 10 days why can't you lose it the same way?  Anyway TOM also arrived but I have been really working out and I had better loose at least 2 or 3 pounds this week.  So psyched about the election results, Obama is from Chicago and I have actually known about him even when he was just in the State House.  Anyway changed my background to the R,W,& B for a few days before we transition to Thanksgiving mode.  It has been really warm here since Monday and I have taken a bike ride for the lst 5 days.  The DH actually ran into me and knocked me off my bike last Friday - thanks a lot.  Huge swollen knee with a lovely bruise and scab but it is getting better.  From now on, I will ride behind him since he doesn't seem to know how to pay attention to when someone is braking.  Food alert, I tired the Rachel's yogurt from Whole Foods, had a coupon and it was on sale.  Wow really good stuff, it has 150-170 calories so it is a splurge for me and not my regular breakfast yogurt plus it is sweetend with regular sugar and not Splenda, hence the additional calories but they have these great flavors anyway totally reccomend it if you like exotic fruit.  I have been eating about 50% of my meals on Jenny and 50% my own, we went to a little Election bash last night and had turkey burgers, salad, and some mini eclairs.  I made the salad so it ws really healthy.  Today Iw as out at lunch so went to a bakery and had a veggie and hummus sandwich and a cup of apple celery soup.  Yum, all homemade and I passed on dessert.  I am going to post some more pics, these are from Monaco.  It was really beautiful there, super clean.  A great day trip, you really only need one day not a ton to do there unless you are incredibly wealthy.  We toured the palace and the Napolean Museum, went to the casino and then had a gret lunch at the Cafe de Paris.  later we meet up with our friends back at the cafe for a drink.

This was a hilarious sign basically telling you in about 6 languges that don't think you can trek up from the beach to the Royal Palace in your "swim costume"

These are some of the many step you climbed to get up to the palace, it was a great workout.

more stairs

Just a lovely view of the town/country