My ironic prize

Pin It I had this (seemingly) strange phone call a couple of weeks ago.  Some lady "claiming" to be calling from McCormick/Clubhouse Seasonings was phoning to tell me that I'd won a prize!  Yeah right...  She said she had attempted to send me two emails notifying me, but that she had not heard back and maybe her emails had gone into my spam folder.  Sure enough, they were there!!!  She really WAS from Clubhouse and I really DID win a prize!!  I NEVER win anything!!!  Apparently I entered a contest on their website in August where they were looking for healthy cooking tips - I vaguely remember entering now...although I can't recall what my suggestion was... I think it was something to do with using chicken broth rather than fat when cooking and using lots of seasonings :)

So the ironic part of this all... I started selling Epicure in October of this year! :)  For those of you not familiar with Epicure, it is a direct-sales (think Mary Kay or Tupperware) company that focuses on seasonings, spices, dips and cookware products.  So this new Epicure consultant has won a SPICY prize from the competition!! haha  Here is a picture of my prize pack - value of approx. $95 CAD :)  I have to admit that I do love Clubhouse seasonings in addition to my Epicure seasonings - in my world (kitchen), there's room for spices of all variety!

T'was the 3 weeks before Christmas

Pin It Well, slightly more than three weeks, but T'was 3 weeks and 2 days just didn't flow right :) 

Whew, what a week!  My Live at 5 story was on Wednesday night - if you haven't had a chance to see it yet, you can view it here.  My blog hits exploded (I think it was something like 400 hits in 24 hours...usually that's about 2 weeks worth!).  People I have never met have contacted me on my blog or on Facebook to congratulate me (how cool?!)...,there you go - my very own 15 minutes of fame! haha  I was nervous at first, but it's been fun :)

I have now finished my Christmas shopping and decorating, I am somewhat packed for my trip to the UK (did I mention I'm spending Christmas in the UK??), have finished my first (since Junior High) sewing project - a gift for someone in the UK, and I have packed up my latest Epicure order (last BIG one before Christmas).  Crazy weekend!  Thankfully this coming week doesn't hold any major plans.  Just the usual - work, gym, work gym :)

Things weight-wise are somewhat stalled.  Had a great week food-wise / fitness-wise, but saw a gain of 1 lb on the scale.  Not sure why, but am pushing through this week.  I am going to try a "no sugary treats" week (work-week only!) and see if that helps.  I am finding that once I start with sugar, I can't stop these days! 

Not looking forward to resisting the sugary treats over the holidays.  I think I may have to take up knitting or something to keep my hands and my mind busy while I'm away.  I know I just "took up" sewing...but it's hard to lug a Singer onto a plane...and they'll allow me 6" knitting needles through security I believe ;-)  I have to remind myself that it's about the PEOPLE and the place I'm visiting, NOT the food...although the Brits sure do know how to make mean Thai and Indian food... Ok, maybe one of each... My plan will be the same as last year - healthy breakfast and lunch and a slightly relaxed supper on the nights we go out.  I do plan on avoiding the "low fat" lemon poppy seed muffins at Starbucks UK this time though - I ate them last year thinking they were a wise choice, only to find out (recently) that they are 9 points each!  hahaha, ignorance is NOT bliss! 

Happy first week of December everyone!  What are your plans for your health this Christmas season??