Goodbye Summer?

The first thing I did when I got to the office yesterday was flip the calendar. Hello September!

but it sure felt like summer!

The weather in Baltimore yesterday was hot, hot, hot. The high was 97 degrees but it felt like it was over 100. It's looking like it's going to be another hot one today. I added a Weather Channel gadget to my sidebar so that you can see just how hot it is in this town. I know that Fall doesn't officially begin until September 22, 2010 at 11:09 pm EDT but since Fall classes have started, it's Fall for me. This means cracking the whip, setting a schedule, and possibly setting some new goals. I have a few in mind and the blog was one of them but I'll post a more organized list soon.

Breakfast in the office was the normal coffee (I think it's Dunkin Donuts), Stonyfield Farm Organic Mango Honey yogurt topped with Blueberry Almond Granola from Whole Foods, a banana, and a large cup of water to stay hydrated in the heat. I usually stick with the vanilla flavor but I loved the Mango and it's only a Limited Edition so try it now if you haven't done so yet. It's a little sweet but worth a try.

Lunch was the same as yesterday so I didn't feel the desire to take pictures. After work I had a Chocolate Coffee Larabar for a pre-gym snack while driving in traffic. I've never had the flavor before but Larabar didn't fail me. It was as delicious as I hoped it would be. I got my chocolate and java fix in one.

The gym workout was simple and sweet because it was my first day of Organic Chemistry lab and I still needed to go home to walk the pup and make dinner. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes on the stationary bike and then bolted out of the door. I thought abut skipping it all together because of all of the things I still needed to do before lab, but even a little bit of exercise helps and I felt better afterwards that I went.

Rae was anxiously awaiting some park time with her mama.

I love this park. Who needs a backyard in the city? Welllll it would be nice but this is a great alternative.

Then a quick dinner before running out of the door for lab. I still needed to stay lean and green for the bf's Medifast plan so I made chicken and broccoli per his request. I opted for the Free Range, Organic Chicken...from Wegmans of course ;)

2 cloves of garlic and a few drops of olive oil

I cut up the chicken into bite sized pieces

and added some rosemary (also per the bf's request). Raw chicken just doesn't look very appealing.

While the chicken was cooking I rinsed the broccoli and dropped them in the steamer basket for a light steam. I put them in the steamer basket to cut down on nutrient loss in the water and only cooked them for a couple of minutes until they turned bright green. There is nothing worse than mushy broccoli. Bleck!

Garnished with a lemon and some fresh ground pepper

I have to admit that this meal was lacking a little in the flavor department due to the use of dried rosemary over fresh but with a little lemon squeeze and a dash of terriyaki from the fridge it wasn't too bad. Gotta use what I have available. It was quick, easy, and healthy which were the main goals for this pre-lab meal.

Speaking of lab it was nothing to write home about. All we did was go over the lab schedule and lab report expectations (which were the exact same handouts from the summer) and checked in our lab drawers and micro kits. It took me about 35 minutes to get there, we stayed for 30 minutes, and then it took me an hour to get home due to road construction traffic. UGH!! I still ended up getting home earlier than normal and was able to hang out with bf while he was awake. I was pretty excited about this because I was able to share some of the goals that I've set for myself for the month. More on this to come later...

What personal goals have you set for the new school year, season, month, or just because?