I woke up at 6:50 am today. FYI, my shift starts 7. Uh. Oops? After having a mini-stroke, I got my butt in gear and hauled ass to work. If there’s ONE THING you should know about me, it is this: I HATE CHAOS. Odd, given my job right?
To be honest, I feel like it is actually this quality of my personality that’s one of the reasons I thrive in the ICU. I think the constant drive to create order and stability works to my advantage in such an intense setting.
And yet, in my own life, I work so hard to avoid curve balls. I get to work an hour early every day, so I can sit in Starbucks to read/crossword/wake up with a nice steamy cup of coffee. At any given point, I have 3-5 checklists. I write myself reminder notes, set multiple alarms, and feel at ease with the same routine day in and day out. So you can imagine the anxiety that I felt after starting the day off in such a tumultuous manner. EEK!!
At least I had already packed my food, right? Wrong. In my rush I sprinted out the door without grabbing my salad from the fridge. Double oops. I did have the rest of the eats, though, so the day wasn’t totally ruined.
Plus, PB+J Larabars make errrthang bettah! I also just realized the mini-tub of hummus that I brought didn’t make it into the above photos, but TRUST, I didn’t leave home without it. I’m just gonna put this out there, Sabra should DEF consider making BBQ flavored hummus because the BBQ PoP chips and hummus rocked my world when paired together…try it!
The rest of the goodies were nice snacks, but I was missing my MAIN course 🙁
So, on my lunch break, I hit up WF to replace the ensalada. I was in (and out) like Flynn since the length of the WF line doesn’t exactly accommodate the length of my break.
I ended up reproducing a quinoa dish I recently made at home.
Pretty good substitute, huh?! Quinoa, carrots, dried cranz, and edamame. YUM!
Even though I was behind from square one, my work shift wasn’t too horrible (I think that’s the hindsight speaking now). I just kept reminding myself that my sister would be arriving into town TOMORROW. Woohooo! Having a light at the end of the tunnel helps with yucky shifts.
The one positive side to my absent-minded day, was that I didn’t even have to think about what to make for dinner. My lunch salad was ready and waiting for me 🙂
Check out the Mexi salad…with enough salsa-loading to make my girls proud.
The key ingredients were LightLife’s “meat” crumbles and raw corn, which were pretty bomb when mixed with salsa. Loves it. I also green-ed it up with spinach, clover sprouts, and broccoli slaw. DEE-lish!
All mixed up, don’t know what to do…(well, aside from eat it).
Dessert was dried and fresh. Papaya spears, apple slices, bloobs, and honeydew.
Fruit loading much? I just wanted more and more and more…sometimes I just can’t enough fruit. It’s summer though, so I think now is the time to take advantage.
Does anyone else watch Top Chef? The newest season is in Las Vegas, which I am a bit skeptical of…are they known for culinary genius? I think New York and Chicago were the best locations that they filmed, but LA was good too. I have never missed an episode, including the most recent mini-season of Top Chef Masters. Anyways, I have tivo-ed the first ep of the new season, but haven’t seen it yet. If you DO watch, who’s your fave panel member? I love me some Tom Colicchio, but Padma is pretty much my idea of drop dead gorgeous (no offense to Gail).
OMG–were we separated at birth?! I am the exact same way! I get everywhere early and I have lists upon lists going and I love checking things off of them 🙂 Sorry your morning was so rough! I can totally sympathize…that would have made me bonkers!
And the fruit obsession? Me! Honeydew is one of my faves 🙂 Top Chef? Check! Love it! I don’t have a DVR type thingy, so I video tape the episodes when I can’t see them (yep–you read that right…I am so old school I still have a VCR and use VHS tapes!). I haven’t seen the Las Vegas episode yet, but I have it taped to watch this weekend!
Have fun with your sis!
Courtney
I’m the same way with getting somewhere insanely early… oversleeping or being behind schedule throws off my entire day. It drives me crazy!!
I still have to try raw corn… so much to do, so little time… 😉
Enjoy your time with your sister! 🙂
<3 <3
I ALWAYS mix BBQ sauce with Hummus! Isn’t it the s&#!
I knew we were kindred spirits–I have to run early for everything and always have lists, too! I need a good hour in the morning of my OWN time before I do anything else, and I am willing to get up early for it!
I am going to try to replicate your cran/edamame salad at home!
Hey! I’m just getting into your blog and seeing some similar eating habits to my own..yum! Feel you on the anxiety of being late – I HATE things that disrupt my plans or schedule and hate things being chaotic! I am a to-do list queen as well!
Oh me too, I need to sit for an hour in the morning before work and even at school I was in an hour before everyone, being late makes me feel hysterical.
And I love my lists!
We’re all rain men aren’t we?
OMG I hate being late, rushed, or worse yet, late for work. The panic. The sheer panic and internal meltdown sensation I feel…I hate it. It ruins the day. It’s something about being an obsessive compulsive Type A I think for me that it just messes with my head and send me into an adrenalized tailspin that I hate. So sorry your day started off that way. I too wake up extra early before my hubs and daughter so that I can do fun stuff like surf blogs, and clearout emails that cannot wait. Your fruit looks yum, indulge while it’s summer and good. Soon enough it will be cardboardy and expensive.
Your little introspection about your job and personality makes sense! You’re so wise 😉
PBJ Laras and hummus (naturally) are the keys to world peace. You know I have to try the BBQ PopChips and hummus combo now.
Oooooh yeah on the salsa! I just bought a HUGE jar two days ago and I’m over halfway through it.
Ahh, sleeping through my alarm is like my worst nightmare! I totally would have had a slight panic attack. I really admire you for working in the ICU. I did one shift there this summer and couldn’t really handle it (especially the patients who tried to extubate themselves!).
I am a total Top Chef junkie and absolutely adore Padma. I’ve met her in person and she truly is as friendly as she appears!
I love Tom and Padma, but I can’t say I was happy with Tom’s Diet Coke ad or Padma’s Hardee’s ad. Kinda sell out if you ask me!
Oh my gosh, it’s like you’re in my head! I totally identify with your frustration with chaos. I HATE oversleeping and am a crazy person with my lists and spreadsheets. There is something so soothing about a to-do list…like a baby blankie. 🙂 Of course it’s way mo betta when you get to cross things OFF that list!
Raw corn is da bizness! Totally obsessed with putting it on salad.
I think I would “accidentally” forget my salad a couple times here and there so I could go to WF instead 🙂 (That is, if we had one here.)
Still obsessed with raw corn…thinking of starting a support group.
ugh i HATE oversleeping! it sets the tone for the whole day. bah. dude, i love bbq sauce mixed with plain hummus, it is so good, i first started doing it on burgers because i always put BBQ sauce on my burgers and then i was like dang some hummus would be good on that too. anyway, long story short i bet you could just mix some BBQ into the plain container before devouring the whole thing in one sitting, no? i did just pick up the chipotle flavor of sabra and i am going to try it today, i am a little excited. hope your weekend is fabulous!!
I was da same during the school year! I would get up extra early just so I could chill for a small bit before ChAoS began! Which totally makes me miss going to the gym for spin class at 6am urry morning! Where did motivation go? Oh yes, it went out da door, around the corner, and to the bar.
BBQ hummus would be off the chain!!! I still haven’t tried popchips..who am I? And they are from SF TOO! SF holds the beauties… popchips, food buzz, amazing grass, etc. We own da world.
HAVE A GOOD FRIDAY LOVE!!!
I just found your blog recently and as a vegetarian nursing student, I love it! One thought….Do you ever go to costco? I always get mi Sabra from costco. Buying in bulk saves me $$$
Ack. Totally hear you on the morning routine. Waking up late throws me into a complete spin! Though you had a banging dinner waiting for you so at least it ended well 😀 Have fun with your sister!
Sorry you had a hectic morning – I hate mornings like that!
LOVE LOVE LOVE Top Chef. Never miss an episode! I was psyched about Top Chef Masters, since I love Rick Bayless. Colicchio is definitely my favorite, but Padma is awesome as well. I don’t know if this season is going to be as awesome as the rest. Chicago was my favorite, especially since it was the only season that had a female winner. Wednesday nights are officially my favorite again!
i agree, and now i really really want to go to frontera!!
i WISH WISH WISH we had a costco near by. the east coast living is so frustrating some times. i also discovered recently that costco has larabars in bulk. dang it! all that aside, our apartment is so friggin small, i have no clue where we would even store all these bulk purchases?! another reason to move back home…
seriously! dont forget about odwalla yo!?!
im thinking thats going to be a future recipe, fo sho. does “recipe” even apply if the instructions are remove cap, squirt bbq sauce into hummus, lick clean…
i love finding things out like that! oh and thanks for the sweet comment 🙂
yeah…and the overly obnoxious product placement on the show is sometimes a bit much…but i still heart them 🙂
theres a good chance we are foodie twins 🙂 i sometimes put things on my to do list that ive already done JUST so i can check at least one thing off from the get-go. haha.
1) write to do list
2) …
apparently!!
i think we are long lost foodie twins 🙂
YES!!!
yes…to everything 🙂