Tag Archives: sick

Five Things FriYAY

Man oh MAN I’m so glad it’s Friday. The week felt ridiculously long, probably because I didn’t have Monday off for MLK Day, and I was well aware that many people did (due to the silence that descended over GChat). But now F-day, the day known today as FriYAY, is here. Let’s get to the fun part of it!

Link up with Clare and share your five on Friday!

1. It’s time to announce the winner of my Balance Bar giveawayYou guys seemed so into it and I appreciate all the entries. The randomly selected winner is Jess W…I will be contacting you to get you your prize!

2. Has anyone else fallen in LOVE with the new Fox show Empire? I can’t be the only one, especially since ratings have been climbing with each episode, which is nearly unheard of. I’m digging all of the actors, and the music isn’t bad either. I’m especially liking this song!

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Rest Up, Party Up

I’ve spoken previously about experiencing guilt over not putting the gym first when my schedule gets packed. This past weekend was yet another example of how much I have changed in terms of my priorities. Except this time my schedule was not packed – it was my nose. OK wait, that’s gross, but let me explain.

Firstly, a spontaneous Thursday night dinner at a spot I really enjoy, The Merchant, turned into a Thursday night out at Highball Lounge. Not a huge deal – I took the T home (I only took one Uber this entire weekend and it was just $8 – hooray!) and did not overdo it on food or drink.

Highball is a super cool spot. I would go back in a second, and once again order sparkling rose with a garnish of RUBBER DUCKY.

However I woke up on Friday morning with a stuffy nose and by the time noon hit, it was a full-on cold. I had already decided it was a rest day, since I hadn’t taken a 100% rest day since Christmas (oops…). So missing the gym on Friday wasn’t such a big deal to me. I still went out for a low key dinner and then had a couple of glasses of wine after at one of my favorite bars, Oak Long Bar + Kitchen in the Fairmont Copley Plaza hotel. Jen was kind enough to join me and it was a great quiet Friday. And also involved lots of bread, which I crave when I have a cold. And in the moment, quenching my craving to make myself feel better was more important to me than counting carbs.

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Trade Em Up Tuesday: Slowing Down

Another longer-than-a-week gap between posts – ugh! I honestly had time this past Sunday night to blog, but opted to sit in bed and color (something I haven’t done in awhile) while listening to NPR instead. I’m getting ahead of myself though. Let’s get rolling with a Trade Em Up Tuesday that’ll tell you what’s been up with me in the last week-ish.

Oreos and beer were involved.

Oreos and beer were involved.

I would trade…FOMO. I’ve had a serious case of it lately and it’s resulted in me wearing myself out. I need to take a step back and slow down. Is there an event coming up? I feel like I have to go to make sure I don’t miss anything. Someone’s having  a party? Well I can’t possibly miss it, it’ll be so much fun! The thing is, a lot of the time it’s not even worth it, so I need to take a step back and put on the brakes. I was sick this past weekend and spent all day Saturday contemplating whether or not I should still go to my co-worker’s party. In reality it should have been a no-brainer – NO. Stay home and REST.

NO. That's not resting.

NO. That’s not resting.

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Getting My Marvelous Priorities Straight

I am blogging today from Mexico and seriously planned for the last week to title this post “Marvelous Mexico”. But I have other stuff on my mind today because I woke up the morning of my departure with yet another illness. Seriously, I never used to get sick and this is the second time in two weeks. Has anyone else ever moved from the suburbs to the city and suddenly found themselves getting sick more often? Let’s hope this isn’t a continuing trend.

Thanks Katie for hosting this link-up every week!

Whenever I go on vacation, I like to work out first thing in the morning so I can feel less guilty about the rest of the day just laying out in the sun, going outside my food/drink box a bit more, and being fairly inactive in general. Some people like to spend their vacations exploring their surroundings and doing outdoor activities. That’s fine, but to be honest I like to sit on my butt in the sun and go out to eat.

i just couldn’t not have a drink with the rest of my family to celebrate our arrival at the hotel, but it definitely knocked me out.

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Marvelous (But Sick) Monday

Marvelous In My Monday (MIMM) is coming in handy for me this week because I need a good kick in the pants. Around lunchtime on Friday I was hit out of nowhere with a full-on cold. Being sick sucks for me not just because I feel sick, but also because I don’t know how to just step back and allow myself to get the rest I need to get better faster. I get very stuck in thinking in the short-term: What workouts am I missing? What comfort foods am I craving that I “shouldn’t” be eating? And of course feeling gross from an illness does zero favors for my body image. Missing a couple of workouts and relaxing is going to get me back to the gym and back in full working-order sooner in the long-term, but when that’s way out in the future and sitting on my butt resting is what’s staring me in the face right then and there, I can get pretty down.

Whether you’re feeling marvelous or not, you can join Katie’s link-up today.

Debbie Downer may call this post Miserable In My Monday, but my life overall is still marvelous so let’s cut to the chase. I could use some cheering up. Especially since my morning began with spilling my entire cup of just-purchased coffee all over my desk and its surrounding area. I ma have been totally cliche and cried over the spilled coffee. Just a little though.

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MIA…So Here’s a Wild Harvest Giveaway!

Like that rhyming title? You know you do.

I felt well again yesterday but today am back to feeling blah. So frustrating and I am beginning to think this is more than a stomach virus! I don’t think it’s typical for virus to flare down then back up so frequently. That makes me worried because I do not want to be dealing with something more chronic – I always think of poor Tina and her colitis and get freaked out! And the stress is certainly not good for my stomach so I’m trying to Leaf Negativity Behind and smile. After all my symptoms are not nearly as bad as what Tina went through and I am thankful that I was able to get into another doctor’s appointment this afternoon. My employer is nice enough to let me leave early without hesitation.

But leaving work early means I’m slammed (I’ve been slammed all week) and have little time to blog. Therefore no Fashion Friday 🙁 didn’t want to leave you hanging though so I do have a quick giveaway for you all from Wild Harvest, the top sponsor of the Healthy Living Summit in Boston this past summer!

Before HLS ’12 I received a box of Wild Harvest goodies to sample, and they are offering one lucky Cait Plus Ate winner the same box! It includes:

  • Animal Crackers
  • Peach Mango Salsa – This stuff was away awesome! It went so well on seafood.
  • Applesauce
  • Black Beans – OMG you know I was all over these.
  • Raisins
  • Creamy Peanut Butter
  • Cherry Vanilla Granola
  • Ginger – Now that’s something I could use a lot of right now!
  • Cayenne Pepper – Kick those recipes up a notch 😉
  • Coupon for eggs – One of my favorite forms of protein!

This giveaway will end Sunday evening at 11:59PM EST. One winner will be selected – continental US only please. Here’s how to enter (leave a separate comment for each please or multiple entries won’t count):

  1. Comment here and tell me how you’d use one item from the box (mandatory).
  2. Follow @CaitPlusAte on Twitter and comment saying you did.
  3. Follow @Wild_Harvest on Twitter and comment saying you did.
  4. Tweet “I entered to win a box of @Wild_Harvest products from @CaitPlusAte! http://wp.me/p1SfTW-1xY” and comment here with the link to the tweet.

That’s four easy ways to enter – good luck to all who do so!

General Giveaway Rules: No Purchase Necessary. The email addresses that are collected for this giveaway will only be used for the purpose of contacting the winner and will never be given out to anyone nor sold. The winner will be randomly chosen and contacted via email. The winner will have 72 hours to respond. Only one winner per household. Please make sure you check your junk mail folder.

Macy’s Rwanda Path to Peace

In case you missed it, my recap of the Mohegan Sun BrewFest was published yesterday! A new restaurant review too!

Good day, folks. Or at least I’m trying to make it one. I have been having on-and-off lingering tummy issues since Wednesday and it’s really gotten old. (Actually, hearing about it has probably gotten old for you all too, but I digress.)

I fluctuate between feelings of nausea and feeling pretty-OK-but-something-is-still-off. Obviously I am grateful that I felt well enough to go to the BrewFest on Saturday night and have a good workout Sunday morning, and even a pleasant Sunday doing errands, blog work, and homework. But I woke up yesterday (Monday) ill again and I’m getting sick of being afraid to eat my favorite things like salad beasts, cottage cheese, and peanut butter! Today has just been more straight-up nausea.

I missssss you salad 🙁

I know that there are many folks out there who have GI issues ALL the time. So I feel bad complaining. And also feel much more aware of how lucky I am to have the healthy body I have! 99% of the time I am a healthy and happy camper. I didn’t even get a cold last fall/winter (and I hope I’m not jinxing myself, but it doesn’t matter because I’ve already said this a few times this year). The body is an amazing thing and when I am feeling ill, no matter how so, I am more driven than ever to take care of my body.

Heated mashed banana mixed with plain Chobani. Completely safe and oddly comforting.

At least I didn’t have too many plans this past weekend with the exception of dinner out with my mom on Friday night and the BrewFest Saturday night. Plenty of time to rest during the day. I just am hoping my body will decide whether or not it wants to get better soon because I’m not a fan of the flip-flopping. And I also hope my body flips to the get-better side and stays there. Right now it seems to be staying nauseous. Wrong way, body!

Nope that’s not coffee – it’s a ginger herbal tea called Evening Comfort Tea! Mom brought it home for me from Daybreak. I miss my coffee but have had an off-and-on appetite for it.

On Sunday afternoon while I was at home being productive, I took some photographs of  a beautiful bowl I received from Macy’s via the Everywhere Network. The bowl was sent to me to review as part of an effort to spread the word about the Path to Peace Collection.

It reminds me of the sun!

Macy’s first started selling these handmade baskets, exported from Rwanda, in 2005. Since then, they have contributed to Rwanda’s exports a great deal. The program is part of a mission to help the country via “trade instead of aid”. The idea is the support of Rwanda via increased awareness among US citizens of the beautiful products that can come from that country and its people, so that they can remain self-sufficient. You can check the collection out here – some of the bowls are breathtaking.

I do enjoy when a product is sent to me with a handwritten note!

Macy’s purchases the baskets from the weavers, who not only gain a source of income, but also pride.

Each basket comes with this tag of authenticity.

Anyone who purchases a Rwanda Path to Peace basket can be confident that he or she is directly promoting the well-being of that basket’s weaver. This practice reminds me of Fair Trade products – making sure that someone producing a product is getting a fair amount of income from it, and a place to sell that product too.

I don’t usually do these kinds of posts, but I wanted to take the time to do so because it’s a great cause and if I am able to write a blog post about this and spread the word, why not? Even if only one person ends up buying a basket because he or she sees a retweet from another tweet from a Facebook status from this post, at least I will have somehow helped that basket’s weaver – I don’t even need to know that I did.

My favorite photo, saved it for last 🙂

The detail in these baskets is pretty incredible and I love how malleable they are. Completely easy to store when not in use, and easy to transport too if needed. Check out the entire collection – you might like what you see!

I received a basket from the Everywhere Network to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Have you ever used your blog to support a charitable cause?

Did you see any baskets on the website that you liked?

Have you ever had an illness that seemed to linger? How did you handle it?

Getting Better

In case you missed my Twitter announcement yesterday: I have been published on CT Food & Wine, a great online magazine about all things local! My article is a restaurant review of Hidden Vine Wine Bar in Newington, and even if you aren’t from the area, I think you will enjoy the post for the yummy eats and drinks I share, so check it out!

Boo. Being sick stinks! Especially when that sickness is of the stomach variety. Glad you guys still enjoyed yesterday’s Wordless Wednesday – I think the food and drinks spoke for themselves! I was certainly envious of my own adventures as I munched on popcorn, a banana, half an English muffin, white pototo…yeah, I’m falling asleep so I’ll spare you the details. I DID manage to eat a bite of chicken at dinner! PROGRESS!

I was supposed to meet up with some friends/former co-workers last night at a Happy Hour benefit event, put on by Whole Foods, at It’s Only Natural, one of the only vegetarian restaurants in CT. We rescheduled for dinner there next week, but we each paid $15 for tickets we didn’t use – bummer! At least the money benefited a good cause, the Whole Planet Foundation.

But the good news is I’m feeling quite good today – the day of rest at home was what I needed, along with last night’s sleep, in which I slept straight through the night (not even getting up to pee) for 10 hours. I felt pretty glorious this morning actually, and woke up 20 minutes before my alarm well-rested!

I’ve got fun stuff going on this weekend – dinner and margaritas with Kelly at Plaza Azteca to use a SaveNowCT deal on Friday, dinner at Grant’s in West Hartford with my mom to use a gift certificate she’s had since forever, quality time studying and blogging at my favorite cafe, getting back to my usual cardio group fitness classes, and hopefully seeing “The Vow” at some point. So even though I’m still feeling a bit blah, I’m trying to stay positive and look ahead! Soon when I’m feeling 100% I can get back to the things I love.

Like this amazing $11 bottle of wine that I tried a few weeks back and never got to share! BUY IT NOW.

Or surf n' turf to pair with that wine!

Above photos were taken a few week’s back at Joe’s brother’s house – never got a chance to post them 🙂

How amazing is their newly renovated living room?

Hope you all have a good Thursday. I’ve got catching up to do at work today after being out sick yesterday, Innovation Management class tonight, then home to rest up for the weekend.

Are you able to try to stay positive and look ahead when sick, or is it hard to see anywhere beyond the crappiness you are currently feeling?