Tag Archives: menu

goals + meal plan for the week of 8/4

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Happy weekend, friends! Hope yours is going splendidly! What have you been up to these first days of August? {Wow, can you believe how fast summer is galloping by??}

My weekend has been lovely and relaxing, filled with the usual weekend stuff: grocery shopping with Mom, cooking and baking, visiting Gramps, long walks with Mr. Mur-dog, church this morning. Also Friday night happy hour margaritas with the fam, fro-yo with extra Reeses toppings, jeans shopping at the mall {something I have been dreading and putting off for weeks, but I reeeaaally needed new jeans, and I emerged victorious with two new pairs of Levis, yippee!} And today we are driving down to USC to visit Greg for an early dinner! I am SO excited to see my brother and give him a ginormous hug! I miss this guy LOADS.

me and gb july 2013

Here’s how I did on my goals from this past week:
– finish YA manuscript first draft {I’m counting this one half-done; I still have to go back through the manuscript and make rough edits}
– complete the #yearofkindness challenge
– transfer all my jotted-down writing notes to the computer
– volunteer at the Food Pantry
– finish craft project that I’m making for Greg {post coming soon!}
– work-out/do yoga at least three times

And here are my goals for this upcoming week:
– finish rough edits on first half of YA manuscript draft
– complete the #yearofkindness challenge
– promote my College & Scholarship Application Prep Seminar & teach a successful class on Saturday
– volunteer at the Food Pantry
– work-out/do yoga at least three times {including my Weds. zumba date with Emily!}

Finally, here are some recipes I’m looking forward to trying out this week:
– date-night chicken via PB Fingers
– mediterranean feta dip via The Pajama Chef
– pasta with pancetta & leeks via The Pioneer Woman
– zucchini paleo brownies via Fast Paleo
– cilantro-honey salmon

What are your goals and menu plans for this week?

MPM-Spring
This post is linked up with Menu-Plan Monday.

goals + meal-plan for the week of 7/28

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Happy Sunday, friends! How is your weekend going so far? Fun and relaxing, I hope! Mine has been full of sunshine and battery-recharging after a busy week! We moved my wonderful brother down to Los Angeles on Thursday; he is starting business school at USC. I’m so proud of him, but I miss him so much already. The house is quiet without him — not that he’s a really noisy person, it just feels emptier when it’s just me and my parents at home. I’m definitely planning to visit him a couple times before I leave for the Bay Area in August!

Before he left, we went out for brunch at our favorite local spot, Allison’s Country Cafe, per our tradition. I love my little bro!

me and gb summer 13

Another highlight of the week was going to a local hot air balloon festival with my parents. It was a beautiful warm evening with good food, music, wine, and great company. Here’s a photo my dad snapped of me and my mama in front of one of the balloons:

me and mom balloon festival

Fun times!

Moving on to goals, here’s how I did on mine from last week:
– finish YA manuscript first draft {this got delayed again … I’m SO close, yet I don’t want to rush through the final couple chapters I have left … hopefully this week!}
– complete the #yearofkindness challenge
– help Greg move into his new apartment
– volunteer at the Food Pantry {got de-railed this week because of helping to move Greg to Los Angeles}
– read & respond to all submissions in my queue for Sycamore Review
– get in touch with 3 friends and make plans to get together

And here are my goals for this upcoming week:
– finish YA manuscript first draft
– complete the #yearofkindness challenge
– transfer all my jotted-down writing notes to the computer
– volunteer at the Food Pantry
– finish craft project that I’m making for Greg {& post about it on here!}
– work-out/do yoga at least three times

Here are some meals I’m looking forward to making this week:
– blueberry buckle via The Pajama Chef
– zucchini bread oatmeal via Oh She Glows
– honey avocado mango salad via Chew Out Loud
– spinach artichoke lasagna via Two Peas & Their Pod
– bbq pulled pork in the crock pot

What are your goals and meal plans for the week? I’d love to hear in the comments below!

MPM-Spring
This post is linked up with Menu-Plan Monday!

goals for the week of 7/21

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This past week was go-go-go! I didn’t cross off every goal on my list, but I made progress on all of them. And the week was busy with fun social events: my brother and I took my Gramps to see a museum exhibit about Lincoln & the Civil War; I went with my family to a fundraiser and movie screening of the amazing Academy-Award-winning short film Inocente; and last night we all went to the local Art Walk downtown.

with inocente

I also taught another session of my summer writing camp during the weekend. Such a great group of young writers!

Here’s how I did on my goals last week:
– finish YA manuscript first draft {!!!}
– complete the #yearofkindness challenge
– volunteer at the Food Pantry
– read & respond to all submissions in my queue for Sycamore Review
– take donations to Goodwill
– have a “sibling date”: go out to brunch with Greg

Here are my goals for this upcoming week:
– finish YA manuscript first draft {!!!}
– complete the #yearofkindness challenge
– help Greg move into his new apartment
– volunteer at the Food Pantry
– read & respond to all submissions in my queue for Sycamore Review
– get in touch with 3 friends and make plans to get together

And here are some recipes I’m hoping to make this week:
– kale pesto pasta via The Pajama Chef
– creamy quinoa salad via A Happy Lass
– coconut ginger curry brown rice bowl via Peanut Butter Fingers
– chocolate spice zucchini muffins
– baked mango with brown sugar & cinnamon

What are your goals & menu plans for this week?

MPM-Spring
This post is linked up with Menu-Plan Monday.

meal plan & goals for the week of 7/7

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Happy Sunday, friends! How has your weekend been?

We’ve been enjoying beautiful sunshine and I’ve been soaking up time with my family. We went out for Happy Hour margaritas, rented some movies, grabbed fro yo, and went out to dinner to celebrate my dad’s “streakiversary”: 10 years of running at least 3 miles every.single.day! {You can read more about it on his website — so proud of you, Pops!} I also ran errands with my mom, organized a pile of random papers that has been chillin’ in my room for weeks, and read read read a ton! Lazy weekend reading is my favorite way to relax! 🙂

On Saturday morning we were thrilled to watch on TV as Mike & Bob Bryan won the Wimbledon Mens Doubles Title! If that isn’t exciting enough, the win also means they’ve secured a historic “Gold Slam”: all in a row they won the Gold Medal at the Olympics, the U.S. Open, the Australian Open, the French Open, and now Wimbledon. The Bryan Bros grew up in Camarillo and are dear friends of our family, and we could not be prouder of them! Not only are they world-class athletes, they are also amazingly kind and generous people. Congrats, Bros!!

bros wimbledon

I decided that I want to bring back my Sunday posts about goals + meal plans for the week … I kind of got away from doing them with the craziness of my thesis deadline, graduating from my Master’s program, and moving back home, and I was just thinking about how I miss doing these weekly goal posts. It’s a great way to gear up for the week and keep myself motivated.

So here are my goals for the week of 7/7:
– write 2 chapters of my YA manuscript
– complete the #yearofkindness challenge
– prepare for my Summer Writing Camp
– read first 100 pages of 1984
– volunteer at the Food Pantry
– update my website

And here are some recipes I’m planning to make this week:
– veggie pasta bake with spinach basil pesto
– turkey enchiladas
– gluten-free oatmeal cookies {recipe coming soon!}
– lemon bars for my Gramps

What are you goals for this week? What’s on your menu plan?

MPM-Spring
This post is linked up with Menu-Plan Monday!

goals & menu plan for the week of 3/17

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Happy St. Patty’s Day!

Here’s how I did on my goals last week:

  • revise up to page 180 of my thesis novel
  • blog about Week 10 Act of Kindness Challenge & complete it myself this week
  • finish reading Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
  • finish grading papers for both classes
  • finish the baby blanket I’m knitting

And here are my goals for this upcoming week:

  • turn in my thesis manuscript to my committee! {this is a big one!}
  • blog about Week 11 Act of Kindness Challenge & complete it myself this week
  • read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
  • finish grading reports for my freshman class
  • start a new knitting project
  • clean out papers in the back room

Finally, here are some recipes I’m looking forward to trying this week:

– twice-baked potato soup
– quinoa salad with apples, chickpeas + feta
– curried carrot soup with cornbread
– peanut-butter breakfast cookies
– cupcakes with chocolate fudge frosting

What are your goals and meal plans for the week?

goals & meal-plan for the week of 3/10

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First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dear friend Erica! I love you so much, sweets! Wish I was there to celebrate with you, but you are in my thoughts!

Erica bday

Erica and I have been friends since seventh grade, more than half our lives. She is thoughtful, witty, brilliant, kind, and an amazing listener. Whenever I am home, we meet up for epic 3-hour chai latte dates at our favorite local cafe, Simone’s. Everyone should be so lucky to have a friend they can talk and talk and talk for hours with, laughing so much their cheeks hurt. I feel so blessed to have her as my friend!

Here’s how I did on my goals this past week:

  • revise up to page 120 of my thesis novel {I feel like I should be able to cross this off, but technically not sure if I’m up to page 120… I’ve started revising from the beginning forward AND from the end backwards, because when I make changes in the beginning I go ahead and revise the later chapters they correlate with so I don’t miss anything … eventually, I guess I’ll meet in the middle!}
  • blog about Week 9 Act of Kindness Challenge & complete it myself this week
  • finish reading Vanishing by Deborah Willis
  • finish grading papers for both classes
  • send cards to my Gramps and Aunt Shirley
  • knit 25 rows of the baby blanket I’m working on

And here are my goals for the upcoming week:

  • revise up to page 180 of my thesis novel
  • blog about Week 10 Act of Kindness Challenge & complete it myself this week
  • finish reading Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
  • finish grading papers for both classes
  • finish the baby blanket I’m knitting

What are your goals and menu plans for the week?

MPM-Winter

This post is linked up at Menu Plan Monday!

goals & meal-plan for the week of 2/24

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How is it the end of February already?? Gah, this month always flies by SO fast … you’d think I’d be prepared for it by now! Alas, I am not. Every year, I pretty much stand on the sidelines and watch February race by while I call feebly after it, “Hey, wait for me!”

Anyone else feel the same way?

Here’s how I did on my goals this past week:

  • revise up to page 90 of my thesis novel {not quite to page 90 but am feeling really happy about the new pages I wrote this week!}
  • blog about Week 7 Act of Kindness Challenge & complete it myself this week
  • publish blog post about 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess {read my review here!}
  • finish grading papers for both classes
  • take old financial/health documents to the bank to be shredded
  • knit 25 rows of the scarf I’m working on
  • prepare for my presentation at The Louisville Conference on Saturday

I realized that last week I forgot to show you pictures of my newly purged and organized file box, cleaned out of all the old bank statements/health invoices/other expired documents which have now been shredded at the bank! WOO! Here is a belated picture, for no other reason than I was proud of myself for crossing this task off my list and wanted to share with you:

files collage

Here are my goals for this upcoming week:

  • revise up to page 100 of my thesis novel
  • blog about Week 8 Act of Kindness Challenge & complete it myself this week
  • finish reading Blackberry Winter for the PBF February Book Club
  • finish grading papers for both classes {yes, this is almost always one of my weekly goals because the papers just.keep.coming!} 🙂
  • go through & purge/organize giant box of office supplies in our closet
  • knit 25 rows of the baby blanket I’m working on

And here are a few recipes I am excited to try out:
– crock-pot lentil sweet-potato soup
– coconut-crusted chicken
– asian peanut veggie dip
– baked mango with brown sugar & cinnamon
– whole wheat pumpkin scones with vanilla bean glaze

What are some of your goals and menu plans for the week?

goals & meal-plan for the week of 2/17

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Hi everyone! How is your weekend going? Mine has been fantastic — filled with lots of wonderful Mr. Jude time! Yesterday we did lots of puzzles, had a jam session on the piano, and spent an afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese. And Jude was my little helper at the grocery store, helping me pick out ingredients for my white-chicken chili, which I made last night for Mike’s family. Here he is having fun in the kitchen:

cutie kitchen helper

And the weekend would not be complete without some quality cuddle time on the couch!

jude dallas cuddles

It breaks my heart to have to say goodbye to this little guy. He is such a sweetheart. I am already looking forward to our next long visit over spring break!

Here’s how I did on my goals from this past week. I feel a lot better about the progress I am making on my thesis novel now that I have scaled back my goals and given myself a little more room to breathe:

  • revise up to page 60 of my thesis novel
  • blog about Week 6 Act of Kindness Challenge & complete it myself this week
  • blog about 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess {post is scheduled to be published this week!}
  • clean out and organize filing cabinet
  • knit 25 rows of the new scarf I’m working on
  • make 3 changes/updates as part of the #28DBC

Here are my goals for this upcoming week:

  • revise up to page 90 of my thesis novel
  • blog about Week 7 Act of Kindness Challenge & complete it myself this week
  • publish blog post about 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess
  • finish grading papers for both classes
  • take old financial/health documents to the bank to be shredded
  • knit 25 rows of the scarf I’m working on
  • prepare for my presentation at The Louisville Conference on Saturday

And here’s some recipes I’m planning to make this week:
– baked fish cakes
– edamame hummus
– cilantro-lime quinoa with chicken
– chopped brussel sprouts with cranberries, pecans & feta cheese
– chocolate turtle cookies

What are your goals + meal plans for this week?

MPM-Winter

This post is linked up with Menu-Plan Monday!

goals & meal-plan for the week of 2/3

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Here’s how I did on my goals from last week:

  • write 10 more pages of my YA novel {wasn’t able to write as much as I hoped on this project this week, but planning to make it more of a priority in the upcoming week!}
  • revise first 3 chapters of my thesis novel
  • blog about Week 4 Act of Kindness Challenge & complete it myself this week
  • finish grading the next assignment for both classes
  • submit at least 3 pieces to journals or theater companies
  • finish reading Best American Short Stories 2012
  • knit 25 more rows of the scarf I’m working on
  • clean out & organize filing cabinet

And here are my goals for the upcoming week:

  • write 10 more pages of my YA novel
  • revise next 4 chapters of my thesis novel
  • blog about Week 5 Act of Kindness Challenge & complete it myself this week
  • finish reading & blog about 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess 
  • finish reading & blog about The Secret Keeper
  • finish the scarf I’m working on
  • clean out & organize filing cabinet
  • mail out my Valentines

Finally, here are some recipes I’m planning to make this week:

– honey-mustard pretzel chicken
– some sort of fish dish — perhaps tilapia or salmon?
– homemade chicken salad
– blackberry muffins
– peanut-butter blossom cookies

What are your goals & menu plans for this upcoming week?

goals and meal plan for the week of 1/20

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What an unbelievable week! I had an absolutely fantastic time soaking up the sunshine, creative energy and literary brillance at the Key West Literary Seminar, and even got to meet my icon Judy Blume!! She could not have been more kind, warm or generous. What an amazing writer AND person! Here’s a picture of my writing workshop with her {you can see me peeking out from the second row; Judy is front and center}:

key west workshop w:judy

Here’s how I did on my goals for the past week:

  • finish the new one-act play I’ve been working on
  • write 10 pages of my YA novel
  • blog about Week 2 Act of Kindness Challenge & complete it myself this week
  • read Best American Short Stories 2012 that Mike got me for Christmas {got about halfway through!}
  • grade first assignment for both classes {Professional Email assignment}
  • knit 25 rows of the scarf I’m working on
  • go through stack of old magazines and purge!

And here’s my goals for this upcoming week:

  • write 10 more pages of my YA novel
  • blog about Week 3 Act of Kindness Challenge & complete it myself this week
  • finish reading Best American Short Stories 2012
  • finish grading first assignment for both classes {Professional Email assignment}
  • knit 25 rows of the scarf I’m working on
  • go through stack of old magazines and purge!
  • send thank-you notes to the lovely people I met at the Key West Literary Seminar

Julie at PB Fingers is hosting a blogger crock-pot challenge and I am planning to try out a new crock-pot recipe, as well as some of the following recipes:

– chicken tetrazzini
– slow-cooker honey-sesame chicken
– my california white chicken chili
– apple cinnamon steel-cut oatmeal

What are your plans for this week? I’d love to hear your menu plans & goals!