Beautiful Day Bento

It's been a beautiful day in the neighborhood *cue Mr. Roger's theme* Really it was a lovely. Sunny, breezy, not too hot. I saw a bit of the weather on the news tonight and it's so very hot in parts of the US. Be sure to stay hydrated. It is so easy for us post weight loss surgery folks to get dehydrated and dehydration is not pretty. Sip stuff all the time and exercise in the early AM or late PM. When we get hellaciously hot here I walk the inside of the mall... just word of warning: leave your wallet in the car or it could be an expensive work out ;)

I started my morning at the Farmer's Market. Got some great stuff... peaches, nectarines, cherries, red & yellow onions, tons of zucchini because once again this year the plants I planted are not producing. Remind me next year to not even attempt zucchini, they don't like me. My tomatoes are gorgeous and making enough for salads for me and the neighbors daily but the zucchini made a few blossoms and nada. I'm going to grill all the market zucchini tomorrow morning for use this coming week. I plan on making my Pastaless Manicotti and taking some grilled zucchini on a picnic with some cold cut roll-ups, a sort of antipasto style bento.

After the market, I walked across the street to Starbucks for a Sugar Free No Whip Cinnamon Dolce Soy Latte and met my pal/boss. I've been working on a little project for her and she was really pleased with the finished product. Yay! She took off and I stayed for a bit. I have to give props to Starbucks because the music has been great the past few times I've been in, usually I want to shove a scone in my ears and run out but this morning I rocked out to Depeche Mode, Radiohead, then some Motown... Dancing in the Streets, Just my Imagination. Good job Bux. Now if you would just make a few Sugar Free holiday drink offerings (SF Pumpkin Spice Latte, SF Gingerbread Latte, SF Peppermint Mocha) we'd be BFF's again.

I ran a few errands and head back to the house to be sure I didn't miss any deliveries. My hottie UPS man has been delivering goodie bag items for the Southern California Weight Loss Surgery Meet & Greet. For those of you non-locals or those who missed out before it reached capacity (WE ARE COMPLETELY FILLED) I'll take pictures galore of the day. I'll share all web pages and links to all the products the attendees receive. You will feel like you went.

We got a little local press. Not so happy they posted a pic of my ugly toes (used the pic they had from the Progress Soup Contest) but hoping it sends a message that having weight loss surgery is not the easy way out and deserves to be celebrated too. 'Cause I am pretty sick of those "... and she lost weight WITHOUT surgery" stories. Fighting obesity with whatever weapons you need to use is worthy of celebration! Take that. Wha-pow ;)

Press Enterprise: TEMECULA: Weight loss will be celebrated at event
The Valley News: A celebration of thousands of pounds lost

The rest of my day...

I packed up my super cool bento box and went to the Lake right next to the Harveston Center - the building we are in for the event. I watched a wedding photo shoot. I even had some feathered friends join me for lunch.

The Harveston Center



The eats...

Pink Box (top left): Mango
Green Box (top right): Cucumber Slices
Blue Box (bottom left): Leftover Greek Grilled Chicken (BBQ'd with a brush of olive oil and sprinkle of Greek Seasoning found in spice aisle) and in little blue container Shelly's Garlicky Yogurt Dip
Orange Box (bottom right): Shelly's Mini Pistachio Protein Muffins

I came home cleaned a bit, laundry, boring stuff like that and now I'm heading outside to make some wishes on stars. Night all. ☆

Listening to: Brandon Flowers "Crossfire" talking about hotties. Nom.