The Shame Squad

Before I tell you what I ate, a very important announcement: I bought a hat, in the style of Kate Middleton.  The full RepliKate will come after an October wedding.  Stay tuned.  Chris thinks it is ridiculous.  I think HE's ridiculous. ANYWAY, breakfast was a hard boiled egg, a plum tomato with basil, pumpernickel toast, and coffee w/ 1% milk.  Thrilling, right? For lunch, I made a new Pampered Chef recipe: Skinny Mac N Cheese.  A giant batch has six generous servings, and is only 300 calories per serving!   Here's the recipe: Skinny Mac 'n Cheese 3 cups cauliflower (I used one head, minus the core) 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (I used whole grain) 2 garlic cloves 1 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth (I used low sodium) 1/2 cup milk 2 tbsp. flour 2 cups grated reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese 1 cup 2% plain low-fat Greek yogurt salt and pepper Directions : 1) Dice cauliflower in to small pieces until you have 3 cups, press or ch...

The Shame Squad is back for two reasons: 1) Your many requests (aww, thanks) and 2) I am once again trapped in A Room, implementing yet another ERP.   What is it about me that makes companies want to implement all new software?  And furthermore, what makes them want to involve ME?  I don't even know how to download music to my phone.   (Note: while I appreciate your generous offers to teach me, I'd just rather perpetually hum "Single Ladies" to myself.  No, seriously, that's what I do.  If Chris ever stabs me one day, it will be because he heard me hum the chorus of a Beyonce song one too many times.) I digress. Because this could be A Terrible Tragedy in Eating, I've decided to chronicle it here.  But because I didn't take any pictures today, we're going to use some stolen pictures and fine art. Breakfast was a Skinnytaste Banana-Maple Pecan Muffin (only 142 calories)!  It was very yummy, and a great way to use up overripe bananas. ...

Let's start with my favorite Repli-Kate to date: the yellow dress.  To compare... Kate Dress - Bespoke Roksanda Ilinic $1,385 Earrings - gold and diamond hoops by KKiki McDonough $770 with Annoushka pearl drops $455 Necklace - Mappin & Webb Fortune White Gold Drop Pendant $6,082 Watch - Cartier Ballon de Bleu $4,550 Shoes - LK Bennett Sledge Pumps $345 Total: $13,587 Alyssa Dress - Ellen Tracey at Marshall's $39 Earrings - Faux Pearls from Banana Republic Outlet $5 Necklace - Lia Sophia Elude Necklace $52 Watch - Anne Klein - Christmas gift from Chris a few years ago, we set a $200 limit Shoes - Bandolino at Marshall's $29 Total: $325 I won on price, but Kate wore her dress while checking out Sydney Harbor (while I wore mine while checking out the steps of my building's loading dock) so there's that. Some questions I know you have: Do you already have these clothes and accessories, or do you buy them because of Kate? Both.  ...

Breakfast was a banana pudding shake.  It was delicious.  Delicious in a "this is a dessert" type of way.  I've never been a sweets-for-breakfast gal (especially since I threw up pancakes one time during a bout of food poisoning--TMI), and this was good but just a little too much. At any rate, if you'd like to make your own, it consists of: Ice cubes (12-15) Banana (or you can be clever and freeze banana slices and use less ice) Vanilla Protein Powder (I prefer soy and use a half scoop) Milk (skim, 1%, almond, whatever) Light Instant Banana Pudding, about a tablespoon Snack was as many mini Triscuits as I could shove into my face and still be professional on a recruiting call. Then my boss canceled a meeting, so I went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the exercise bike.  And checked work e-mails.  Multi-tasking!  That's 7.5 miles, 200 calories, and a few HR issues solved. I didn't take a picture of lunch because it was a business lunch a...

So many charity posts lately, but that's because there are so many great organizations. If you yourself or someone you love has been affected by cancer like my friend Katherine has (she calls it "the big C," which she also says can "suck it") I hope you'll donate to her Relay for Life .  And not only because she shares a name with K-Middy. ;) Even better than being compared to a European monarch, if you donate $25 or more , she'll gift you an original print of your choosing from her photography collection, and she is quite the photographer.  You can check out the images here , and her images are featured throughout this post, which is why it's so pretty.   AND, you can donate Luminarias in honor or memory or support of someone for $10 each, the notify the recipient with an e-card.   I did one in support of Katherine, in honor of my cancer survivor dad, and in memory of my grandfathers who both had cancer. Why support Katherine at th...

First, an apology: it has taken me over a week to recognize some of my fabulous donors .  Month-end at work it always a busy time, and quarter-end (which this was) is even busier.  Aaaaand we did 7 TIMES MORE business than we usually did.  So it was insane.  At the end of the week, my CFO boss came in my office, and I leaned back in my chair in an "I give up" type of fashion.  He said to me "it has really been a long week for you, especially with month-end," to which I replied "month-end was last week, wasn't it?"  Nope.  It just seemed that way. You're telling me, K-Middy. That does not mean I love you any less, fabulous donors.  Think of the brief hiatus as similar to the Queen's annual retreat to Sandringham. We'll begin with my mother-in-law, Joyce .  In looking at pictures of my husband as a child, I have to say this: Joyce was a foxy new mom.  Now that Joyce is a foxy mom of teenagers, twenty and thirty-somethings, she has...