Author: cheriarmour

Four facts survey.

| cheriarmour

Thanksgiving was pretty bananas, first and foremost.  When I woke up yesterday morning, I started cooking, and did not stop until my parents arrived around 1:30.  I started freaking out that I didn’t make enough food…

Thanksgiving Dinner…that fear was unfounded, as I ate Thanksgiving Dinner for a second for lunch after I popped by work today.

But moving right along….

This thing has been making its rounds around the interwebs, and before I miss that train, here it is!  Four fun facts about me!  (A little disclaimer – I’m supposed to tag folks in these, and I always feel really weird about doing that – please just feel free to steal this and do it.)

4 Fun Facts

Four names that people call me other than my real name

  1. Cher
  2. Pickle <-my husband calls me that
  3. Poop <-also a name my husband has for me
  4. Sure-rhesé.  This was how my name has been pronounced by doctors as they’ve come into the room before.

Four jobs I’ve had

  1. Bakery staff at Whole Foods
  2. Barista at Whole Foods
  3. Fit Specialist at Fleet Feet Raleigh
  4. Now, Group Fitness Director at the Y.

Four movies I’ve watched more than once

  1. Sex and the City
  2. Knocked Up
  3. Pretty Woman
  4. This is 40

Four books I’d recommend

  1. The Help
  2. The Nanny Diaries
  3. Most Talkative (Andy Cohen’s Book)
  4. Where’d You Go, Bernadette

Four places I’ve lived

  1. Brooklyn, NY
  2. Pocono Valley, Pennsylvania
  3. Charlotte, NC
  4. Raleigh NC

Four places I’ve visited

  1. Vegas
  2. New York City
  3. LA
  4. The Bahamas <-One day, I will tell you the story of how I ended up there, and how absolutely heinous that experience was.  I will absolutely never set foot on a cruise ship again.

Four places I’d rather be right now

  1. On the beach somewhere warm.
  2. Eating food outside in LA maybe.
  3. Going for a hike/run thing.
  4. Greece.

Four things I don’t eat

  1. Mealy tomatoes
  2. The gourds.  Pumpkins, squash, zucchini.
  3. Mushrooms
  4. Beef/chicken ->Veg

Four of my favorite foods

  1. Coffee
  2. A burrito bowl type item
  3. Cheese Pizza
  4. Malted Chocolate Balls from Whole Foods

Four TV shows I watch

  1. The View
  2. Real Housewives of Atlanta
  3. Watch What Happens Live
  4. Keeping up with the Kardashians

Four things I’m looking forward to this year (I’m looking at this like 2015)

  1. Warm weather to come back
  2. Saving more money
  3. Rock ‘n’ Roll Raleigh
  4. My house finally coming together and being decorated.

Four things I’m always saying

  1. I’m hungry.
  2. I’m going for a run.
  3. Can we turn up the heat in here, I’m cold!
  4. A-r-m-o-u-r. (Evidently folks have a lot of trouble spelling my maiden name).

So feel free to steal away and share some random things about yourself!

 

Thanksgiving Recap

| cheriarmour

My days/time are all off because of the way Thanksgiving falls just in the middle of the week, so today, you beautiful folks will get a post on a Saturday, which hasn’t happened in quite some time.

Anyhoo, so I had my first Thanksgiving as a:

  1. Homeowner.
  2. Married woman.
  3. Person who cooks all the food.
  4. Person who cleans for people to come over.

…And it was pretty cool.

Thanksgiving 1
The fam gathering around the island to pray and stuff…
Thanksgiving 4
I was feeling like my face wasn’t looking brilliant – very minimal makeup, so I don’t have a lot of pictures of my actual face from that morning. I think all the cooking made me feel like my skin was sorta eh.
Thanksgiving 2
We couldn’t get Chester off the table. Meh.

Thanksgivng 5So I woke up early on Thursday morning after we’d done some Wednesday evening shopping, and immediately got to cooking.  And I cooked and cooked and cooked.  On the menu?

  1. Mashed potatoes
  2. Corn
  3. Stuffing
  4. Hash Brown Casserole
  5. Creamed Spinach (I wasn’t a huge fan of this dish)
  6. White Veggie Lasagna
  7. Southern Made Biscuits

And my parents and sisters brought..

  1. A Bundt
  2. Pumpkin Pie
  3. Turkey and a Ham (I wasn’t too down with prepping the meat)
  4. Green Bean Casserole
  5. Mac and Cheese

I was terrified at some point that we wouldn’t have enough food, but at this count, I’ve just finished my third plate and I’m growing weary under the pressure of trying to finish these leftovers.  I’m a max, one to two-day leftover kinda girl – this is killing me.  I also don’t eat a ton as Thanksgiving sort of requires you to do so I’m sorta dying here.

So my entire Thanksgiving consisted of cooking, hosting family, and cleaning up later that night.  My workout that I’d sort of planned didn’t happen, my long walk didn’t happen.  Heck, I barely even got dessert.  But I have a lot, a TON to be thankful for.

What was your Thanksgiving like? 

 

If you shop on Thanksgiving, I’m judging you.

| cheriarmour

This will be my only post/rant on the issue, and then I will drop it and we’ll move along and all be friends.

On Thanksgiving, i will be doing two things.

  1. Going for a run so I can enjoy indulging without much guilt.
  2. Cooking.
  3. Enjoying dinner with my family.

So that was three things, but you get what I’m saying.  Nowhere above did I say I was going to go to Best Buy, Target, or Macy’s to stock up on some crappy deal, when I really need to be saving my coins (my car just decided it needed about $600 worth of help, so I really can’t be spending money all willy-nilly anyhow).  And the reason for this is that, after working in retail, Whole Foods and Fleet Feet, there is no way on God’s green earth that I’d get up from my dinner table, run out, and make someone else’s life really mis on that day.

Let me explain something to you about working retail during the holidays.  I truly didn’t experience this as much with the customers from Fleet Feet, however, the Whole Foods schedule, and the customers made me resent them and resent the holidays, a feeling I hated having.  I felt myself starting to hate holiday themed food, answering people’s dumbass questions regarding some weird food we have never carried, and hating people themselves, especially those who took out their holiday-induced stress on us.

Here’s an example.  One Thanksgiving-Eve, a woman called the bakery and screamed at me because she hadn’t realized that the Yule Logs were like chocolate inside when she bought them.  First off, I don’t care.  If that is your worst worry at the holidays, consider yourself lucky.  There is poverty, hunger, genocide, and racism in the world to scratch the surface – none of which take a break on the holidays.  And furthermore, it is not my fault that you didn’t realize that the yule logs were chocolate inside.  Now, if she were actually nice to be, I might actually feel inclined to fix her problem or offer her something of her choosing in the vanilla family, however, she was unkind, and therefore, I didn’t feel too pressed to correct her issue.  Especially, ESPECIALLY given that she seemed to have no concern that while I listened to her yule log lamentations, my family was wondering where I was, and getting started on all the cooking without me.

But I digress.

You can try and slice and dice it any way you want to…

-Those people volunteer to work. (And really, the way it works is that the folks that want to work volunteer first, and then your manager fills the rest of the holes with other folks who may not particularly care to work.)

-These folks make a TON of money in this season. (No on is getting rich on a retail salary.  If they’re making time-and-a-half, that is absolutely wonderful, but a really temporary fix for the anger and resentment that builds up towards folks around the holidays.)

-If they don’t like it, why are they working retail.  (Now, I know jobs are extremely easy to come by ::cough::, however, sometimes folks don’t have a whole lot of choice.  Or sometimes, they actually LIKE their retail situation during months that aren’t November and December.  However, that doesn’t mean they want to get screamed at about your yule logs on Thanksgiving Day.)

…But the fact stands.  You don’t need to shop on Thanksgiving.  And I’m judging you if you choose to do so.

Stevie Wonder – 11/22/14

| cheriarmour

When I was in like, fourth grade, I used to have this dream of inviting Stevie Wonder to speak to my class, and surprising my dad with a meet-and-greet with Stevie Wonder.

Sadly, that never happened, but this past weekend, I did the best that I could.

Stevie Wonder announced a tour in early September, which immediately, I knew that I wanted to go to.  But unfortunately, scalpers made the process of buying tickets extremely difficult, and by mid-October, the price of tickets had climbed to over $700 in some cases.  But after reading a few reviews of the show, I knew I had to go, and if I didn’t go, I’d regret it.

For about a month, I researched.  I entered radio contests, contact virtual strangers, and trolled the internet for a non-scammy, fair ticket price, and finally found one in a lawyer in Atlanta, who I purchased the tickets from for $300.  I gave my dad the news, and Saturday morning, we were cruising down to Atlanta to see the man that gave me my name (My Cherie Amor = Cheri Armour).

There are no words for the concert.  But there are pictures!

Stevie Wonder 1Stevie Wonder 2Stevie Wonder 3
Stevie Wonder 4Stevie Wonder 5Stevie Wonder 7

Concert Highlights

  • No one opened for Stevie Wonder, so literally, when it was go time, Stevie (who I’m apparently on a first-name basis with) walked out, introduced his two kids and India.Arie, and started the show.
  • Speaking of, India.Arie, who I’ve seen a few times, performed a few songs with him.  She is great, and her voice is as velvety as it’s ever been.
  • During Pastime Paradise, If It’s Magic, and Village Ghetto Land, Stevie Wonder straight-up stood up, looked straight into the audience, and just sang the songs.  Kind of a novel concept in the time of an artist flying around on a harness and relying heavily on dancers and a light show, but this was awesome.
  • He also made a few political statements.  Stevie Wonder doesn’t hate guns on their own, but feels we have a gun problem in this country and that something needs to be done so that folks can’t buy guns off Craiglist with the serial number scratched off.  That IS a felony by the way, but the point is, that guns are getting into the wrongs hands, and it needs to be stopped.  The execution is/will be difficult, but it absolutely has to be done. [Rant ovah]
  • Stevie Wonder evidently has an alter ego called “DJ Tick Tick Boom” who likes to play hits other than what’s on Songs in the Key of Life.  He sampled Part Time Lover, Do I Do, he covered some Michael Jackson (The Way You Make me Feel), and sang My Cherie Amor (!!).  It was hysterical and incredible.
  • Stevie Wonder’s daughter, Aisha, whom he wrote Isn’t She Lovely for, was at the show and gorgeous. 
  • Stevie Wonder is also a huge supporter of making love, not war.  He mentioned love, and I nothing but little heart emojis as I left the show.  He especially mentioned it during If It’s Magic, which was backed by this magical harp.
  • Keith John has been with Stevie since the 80s (my dad saw him in ’88).  Mr. John’s voice is stupid how similar it is to Stevie Wonder’s.  Watch all of this video and tell me you weren’t confused at the end of As…
  • And it was really, really cool to turn to my left, and see my dad actually participating in and enjoying a concert.  He sang a little bit.  He smiled during Ordinary Pain when the background singers were cussing Stevie out basically, and stood up for some of it.  The last concert I saw him do that at was John Mayer in like 2008.

Truthfully, this was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to in my life.  And I’ve seen Destiny’s Child, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Gavin DeGraw (more times than I care to admit), and John Legend.  I make a practice out of seeing good shows, and this $300 I spent was the literal best money I’ve ever spent.  Annnd Stevie played for 3 hours, a record for all the shows I’ve ever been to.

What’s on your concert bucket list?  What’s the best concert that you’ve ever been to? 

Simple question.

| cheriarmour

Today’s post will be short and sweet.

Once again, a friend of mine is experiencing a horrible, horrible loss.  He is a good person.  I don’t understand it.  And I have to wonder…

Why do bad things happen to such good people?

Why?  Why should my friend have his entire universe shift in the matter of one phone call?

That said, if you’re celebrating this week with friends or family, remember that stupid petty stuff is just that, stupid and petty.  There is nothing on earth worth bs, especially when there’s no guarantee that any of us will wake up tomorrow.

What are you thankful for this week? 

 

Happy & Hale

| cheriarmour

First off, let’s go ahead and thank the sweet Starbucks angel from above who made me an eggnog latte on the DL today.  I don’t know what Starbucks’ deal is, but for some UNGODLY reason, they decided that they needed to discontinue the eggnog latte in our market.

I mean, not to say that I don’t completely understand that eggnog, on its own, is a horribly disgusting invention, however, in a latte, that is the most wondrous thing that has ever been created.  It’s creamy, it tastes like Christmas, and in small doses, it doesn’t make my stomach hurt that badly.

Starbucks

So, shoutout to the sweet angel, sent by God at the Starbucks on Fayetteville Street. Hashtag blessed.

Happy & Hale 

So a few days ago, the boys from Happy & Hale came to the Y, where I work, and they, in partnership with a local organization, brought lunches for everyone.  The salads and quinoa bowls looked so beyond words, I decided that although I couldn’t partake in the food that day (I was teaching a class, and food + exercise at the same time is not encouraged), I would try and get down there that day.

Photo via Bizjournal
Photo via Bizjournal

Happy & Hale is a far cry from what you typically think of when you think of southern food. The south is great for a lot of things, however, nutritional health and well-being is not our strong suit. We have Bojangles, Cookout, and biscuits (which are delish in moderation). However, with the advent of Whole Foods, Trader Joes, local farms, and the influx of hipsters and lumbersexuals that we have here, Happy & Hale has been an interesting and successful business downtown.

First, I checked out the menu online.  I thought it seemed a little pricey, but decided to splurge – plus the option was either that, or a Lean Cuisine because I didn’t pack a good lunch. #fail

I decided on the quinoa bowl, as I’d heard that this was one of the most popular things on the menu, and went for it.  The bowl was kinda similar to the salad bowl, and was packed.  Picture this.  Quinoa on the bottom.  Black beans, feta cheese, pico de gallo, onions, and some sick vinegarette were all included with some tofu for some more protein.

Lunch was DELICIOUS, and super filling.  Though I probably should have done without the onions (had to scavenge around for mouthwash after lunch), it was satisfying on two levels.  For one, it tasted good.  And there’s a lot to be said for that.  For two, it felt way better than shoving something really quickly while sitting in front of my computer.

If you didn’t pack it, where do you go to get your lunch?

30 Before 30 – the beginning

| cheriarmour

So on Saturday evening, I officially turned 27 years old.

I don’t really feel any kind of way about it, certainly not negatively, because honestly, the year that you get married and buy a house, planning some sort of birthday extravaganza isn’t tops on your list of things to do, but I really, truly had an awesome time for the big 27.

I taught a class….

The literal worst photo of me ever taken, but #longhairdontcare
The literal worst photo of me ever taken, but #longhairdontcare

..Went to dinner at Irregardless, which I am fully aware is not a word, but the food there is the absolute BOMB…

…And I drank lots and lots of mimosas with my friends at brunch, one of the most amazing food groups in the world.  (Seriously, I would attribute 99% of my college weight gain to inordinate amounts of brunch, and I was saddened that I had to let it go when I started becoming a little healthier.)

Brunch with my hubby (and a few friends)
Brunch with my hubby (and a few friends)

But, I’ve seen this really cool thing on other blogs, and I think it’s a cool way to hold myself accountable – a 30 before 30 list.

So the list won’t be finalized here, but I think it’s an interesting thing to start thinking about, especially since 30 isn’t necessarily a mythical age that is far off in the distance.  I’m no math whiz, but I’ve got a little less than three years until I start my 40 before 40 list, ya dig?

So a few things I’d like to accomplish before 30?

  1. Run a marathon. Quickly.
  2. Hone my guitar skills and perform on my own a few times.
  3. Get paid for a few gigs.
  4. Pay off my student loans.
  5. Speak Spanish well.
  6. Travel, legitimately travel, with my husband.  (We’ve taken trips here and there, but never a real trip, where we pack up, leave the pets behind, and push off for a few weeks of travel.  We’ve talked about Alaska and Greece for real, and I’m hoping to get to one of these as a honeymoon trip for us.
  7. Throw parties for my friends.  It’s something that has emerged over the past few years as a thing I like to do.  We’ve thrown Super Bowl parties, housewarming parties, New  Years’ parties, and I have never regretted having people over.  It’s something that I’d like to continue doing!
  8. Start an enjoyable and lucrative business.  Me and Austin are looking at a plan, possibly to launch next spring.  It’s a cool thing, because you get to flex your creative/organization/management muscles without too much risk.  If it doesn’t work out?  Hey, at least we have some experience running and maintaining a business right?
  9. Do stuff that makes me uncomfortable.  I’m pretty decent at this, but it’s not something I want to get out of the habit of doing it.  Teaching Pole Dancing (seriously, something I’m starting in the New Year), signing up for a challenging race, keeping myself on a tight budget – all things that I’m a little uncomfortable with, but things that would be a win for me ultimately.

So this is what I have so far.  Any ideas on what I should add to this list?  What is on your 30 before 30 (or 40 before 40 or 90 before 90 list?)

Currently reading…

| cheriarmour

Numero uno. It was my 27th birthday over the weekend. I only worked out a little, I ate ALL the food, and I think it’s nearly time for me to make a 30 Before 30 list. But anyhoo, my birthday weekend was absolute amazing – one of the best parts was this card that my husband gave me…

Orange CatBecause I had to ask him whether the card was custom made because that orange cat, looks exactly like Martin, the cat that I adopted back when we were only going to be a two-pet kind of family.  (We’re up to 4 now, and I cannot express to you what a crazy idea that is.) But I digress…

So first things, I have been able to read my first few books that I read since before I got engaged over the past few months.

So, after a fellow blogger mentioned this book…

BernadetteI went ahead and bought if off of my new, non-broken Kindle, and got to readin’.

A few things, without giving it all away?  This book is dark but hysterical, and if you kind of enjoyed Gone Girl, but you needed a little more lightness, this is the book for you.

But speaking of Gone Girl which I started reading when I was one the plane last week, I am so very much in shock.  Like the book starts, and you’re like, “OMG, this book is this way,” and then all the sudden the book just flips on you and changes the game.  READ IT!

I’m almost ashamed to admit that I haven’t read but two books since we got married, especially given that I’ve always been a reader, but I’m glad to say that I’m actually reading something pretty good!

What are you currently reading? 

 

Food Lion Observation

| cheriarmour

I’m not an absolute Nazi about my diet, but I watch it pretty closely.  In the years after I graduated from Elon, after a summer away teaching fitness classes at a weight loss camp, I was educated on calories, portion control, and the necessity of exercise each day, and managed to lose the thirty-fiveish pounds that had crept up while I made my way through college.

Through the last part of graduate school, as I continued losing weight, I did the best I could with portion control and food, and ate a lot of processed crap like Lean Cuisine, more for the portion control.  I was more concerned with calories overall, and not necessarily what was in the food.  And I lost the remaining weight, as you will when you’re focused on that number.  But once I got down to a good weight, and felt comfortable stepping out of that premeasured box that was Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice, I started dipping my toes into the Whole Foods pond, and discovering how much better I felt, and how much better my body looked when I was eating salads, fruits, and coffees that were locally grown, and not at all prepackaged – the closet thing that I could get to eating foods from the ground without pulling it out myself.

Our last apartment before we bought the house was almost painfully close to the Whole Foods.  Austin would groan when he saw that brown paper Whole Foods bag because he knew that meant that I had spent somewhere between $10-a billion dollars.  Now, even though the Whole Foods is not really more than like 15 minutes away, it’s not as convenient, and I’ve found myself shopping more and more at the Food Lion because I can literally walk to it without breaking a sweat.  And what I’ve seen has been a little troubling.

The nice thing about those more expensive places, is that if you can afford them, they offer you some great selection, as well as the fact that a lot of these stores are expanding into more local and organic options.

But with the Food Lion back across the street from me, I’ve noticed a few things.

  • The produce section is not as robust as it is other places. I’ve had to hunt for certain fruits and veggies, and on more than one occasion, have not been able to find what I’m looking for at all.  Additionally, when you do find what you’re looking for, a lot of times the fruit has been harvested early so that it will make the long journey fresh, and is rock hard, almost unedible, or the opposite.  Mushy from the nitrogen that they pump into the room to make sure the fruit is attractive and ripened.
  • But the freezer section is bangin’. For the first time in years, I’ve eaten a few Lean Cuisines.  They literally have an unending selection of this stuff, however, the sodium is off the charts.  And ‘tis no bueno.
  • Lettuce at the Lion and lettuce elsewhere is not always created equal. In my experience, I’ve purchased lettuce, that once I’ve gotten home, is slimy, so I have to pull out the slime, and use the edible parts.
  • I’ve unwittingly purchased spoiled dairy there as well, which is a pretty nasty surprise when you’re all excited about the little dollop of milk you put in your tea.

Now thankfully, I can afford, once in a while, to make the trip to a Whole Foods or a to a Harris Teeter to pick up some of those items that can’t be found in Food Lion, such a sundried tomatoes, fresh pasta, and fresh lettuce, and fermented teas that I’ve developed a love for.  But for those who can’t afford to make a trip across town, or for those who straight up don’t have access – have never set foot in a Trader Joes, for example, what is the best way for those folks, to make sure they’re getting a full, well-rounded, healthy diet, high in nutrients, but lower in sodium?

Just food for thought…