Sorry guys, but I’ve had a No Good Very Bad Day. I’ll do my best not to project my sour mood on all of you, but let’s just say, the happy, relaxed Meghan from yesterday had to snap back to reality quickly after a 10 hour work day.
I’ll tell the story through my eats of the day. I kind of love this part of WIAW, how you inadvertently recap your entire day. Fun stuff!
Of course, I have to thank Jen over at Peas and Crayonsfor being the lovely hostess of this huge blogger event!
Breakfast
Nothing out of the ordinary here, just your every day breakfast sandwich.
And coffee 
Lunch
Lunch today was very similar to last week, a big ol’ salad with lots of veggies and some turkey meat. I’ve been craving this like crazy lately, which is so out of the ordinary for me. But anytime I’m craving veggies, I totally go with it! It doesn’t happen often.
I also had some string cheese and grapes on the side.
Afternoon Snack 1
Early in the afternoon I snacked on a couple of these yummy no-bake oatmeal peanut butter bites. Seriously, to die for. I followed the recipe from How Sweet exactly, except I didn’t have any mini chocolate chips and I didn’t roll them in any fancy ground almonds. Go make them!
Afternoon Snack 2
I had to do some field work in the late afternoon, environmental engineering stuff I won’t bore you with. This is where my day started to take a turn for the worse. Lots of little things and big things went wrong, and I was looming on one of the worst sneaky hate spirals in recent memory. Then, the straw that broke the camel’s back:
It down poured. Like crazy.
I was outside—had to be outside—for another hour and a half. I was freezing, wet, and hungry.
I don’t think this picture captures just how awful and gloomy it was. But I tried.
Thankfully I had my car to take mini breaks in. Including one to eat this yogurt. I went with the Trader Joe’s version today because I didn’t have time to go to more than one grocery store this week.
When I finally got home, I was drenched, exhausted, hungry again, and emotionally drained. Some other work related stuff was bothering me (which I won’t get into) and it was just a terrible day overall. I really wanted to binge. It was the first time I’ve wanted to in, I dunno, two months? I’ve been doing really well.
I grabbed a pumpkin pie muffin (still owe you guys that recipe, I’m working on it), and snacked on that. Then I stepped away for a minute and thought about why I wanted to binge. After a bad day, I tend to get into a frame of mind like “Forget everything, I hate everything, I’m just gonna sit here and eat.” It’s bad news.
I didn’t let myself do that. I thought about what was really bothering me, and what I could do to change it. Well, duh! Step #1: Put on some dry clothes!
Dinner
After I changed I felt like a new woman, so much better. The urge went away. Then I started brainstorming about what I wanted for dinner. I still needed something comforting. Enter pancakes!
I made a variation of my Four Ingredient Pancakes, this time with a few more ingredients to make them gluten free. I’ll share the recipe very soon They were delicious, and I got to use the xanthan gum I got last week! I topped them with some peanut butter, maple syrup, and half a banana.
After dinner I needed to run some errands. Once I was out and about, I decided a little retail therapy was in order…
Oh TJ’s, how you brightened my day! Here’s what I got:
Some hairspray (I was running low), flavored coffee (caramel fudge brownie, what?), brown leggings, two tops, and a long slouchy sweater I’d been wanting all season! I had a couple gift cards from my birthday, so I only spent $30. Oh and while we’re on the topic of TJ Maxx, here’s some cute fall decorations I got for the apartment on my last trip.
I feel so much better now! Enjoying a hot cup of tea while watching Halloweentown with Andrea.
How was your day? I just realized how awful it is to complain about a little rain when people all over the country are dealing with severe flooding, tree damage, and power outages! Sorry guys, I know I don’t have it too bad over here. I’m being a brat.
Anyway, what are your go-to comfort meals after a bad day? Do you know what I’m talking about when I say sneaky hate spiral? It happens to the best of us!
Oh and, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
Love this! Your day didn’t turn out so bad, after all. I ALWAYS compensate for a bad day with shopping…it’s pretty bad. But, it looks like you got a bunch of good stuff! Especially the coffee and candle
LOVE your coffee mug, too. I’m pretty much obsessed with cute mugs. There are worse things, right?
Definitely not so bad, no day can be bad when it involves shopping. I just enjoyed my first cup of the coffee this morning, it was delicious. And thanks about the coffee mug, that was yet another TJ Maxx find! I’m kind of obsessed
Awwwr sorry to hear that you had some not-so-pleasant moments during your day, but I think you did a really great job at turning the sour mood around and stopping the downward spiral from really hitting rock bottom. You kind of rock
And pancakes, or any sort of breakfast for dinner, make the perfect comfort food.
Thanks Amanda!! Yea, I was really close to a bad downward spiral, but thank goodness I recognized it and stopped it before it got worse. Pancakes for dinner are my ultimate comfort food
I’m so sorry you had a bad day:( Shopping and tasty treats are two of my favorite things to turn a day around! Hope you’re doing better, girl!!
Thanks! Yea, it was a pretty crappy day, but not so bad in the end with shopping and pancakes!
breakfast for dinner and a trip to TJ Maxx?!? That sounds like the perfect formula to forget a bad day! Hope things are looking up for you
Thanks! It really was the perfect formula to forget a bad day, worked like a charm
I’m sorry you didn’t have a very good day… but pancakes for dinner is the perfect way to make yourself feel better
I’m craving them right now, actually!
Thanks! It wasn’t so bad in the end, I feel bad complaining :-/ and I’m always craving pancakes!
So glad to hear you were able to turn a bad day around! I’m definitely guilty of the “Screw it, I’ll just eat chocolate” mentality when things take a turn for the worst, and it’s awesome you pulled yourself out of the funk. When I’m in a bad mood, exercising or taking a long shower seems to help, although my first instinct is to eat chocolate.
I know it, I think a lot of us are guilty of that mentality! It’s fine to have a little chocolate to cure a bad mood (after all, it does help some) but for me it’s risky because I can definitely get out of hand, especially when I’m in a bad mood. Taking a long hot shower is one of my cures too, it tends to snap me out of my mood, like I’m washing it away. Chocolate’s my favorite cure though, haha
i hope that shopping put you in a better mood. i am sorry, those kind of days just stink. I love your lunch, looks so fresh!
Thanks! Yea, those days are always tough. When it’s just a bad day but you can’t really give an exact reason for why it was bad. Just a lot of little things. Today was better thankfully!
Shopping always seems to help
It definitely does!
I’m so glad that you’re feeling better! Give yourself a break today and snack on a little Halloween candy
I definitely did that! My professor was handing out candy during one of my lectures. Munching on some skittles made time pass a little faster!
Wow. Those pumpkin muffins look wonderful. Can’t wait to see the recipe! And those pancakes look great too!
I haven’t had a chance to stop by any stores recently, so I haven’t seen any Christmas displays yet. Looks like you got some great things though.
Great job at resisting overeating. I have that problem when I’m hungry, tired, bored, happy, or having a bad day. Basically all the time! Lol. But you are totally right. Focus on the problem, not the food.
Thanks! I’m hoping to post the recipe Friday this week, it’s a good one! And yea, I get the same way, wanting to overeat when I’m tired, bored, or having a really bad day. I would take it wayyy too far in the past, so I’ve been working on acknowledging the urge and trying to figure out what to do (besides eating) that will help. Yesterday, all it took was some dry clothes, so simple!
I love TJ Maxx and Marshall’s! I have a bag of that same brand of coffee, only pumpkin spice flavor. So good!
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I totally feel you on that “sneaky hate spiral” sort of thing. I feel like if I deleted my Facebook (especially with the election drawing nearer), I’d get that feeling a lot less. Hope your day is better tomorrow! (or you could just eat lots of chocolate tonight
So cool! I actually bought pumpkin spice last time I was there, and decided to mix it up and get something different this time around! Haha I’m totally with you in terms of getting really tired of all the politics on FB and on the news. Living in New England I’m also stuck hearing ads for the Senate races in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire! Ack, I’ve had enough!
Meg — I’m SO incredilby sorry that you had a bad day, but because you did and you talked about it, your near spiral saved me from one. And for that I’m INFINITELY grateful. Email coming your way to explain, but thank you a million trillion times over. xo
Hey Chelsie! Just got your email tonight, I’ll be responding tomorrow morning
I’m so happy my post helped you out today! You have no idea. I honestly considered taking all that out because I felt guilty complaining about a bad day when people are enduring major hurricane damages around me. I decided to leave it in there because it was already written, and I figured I wrote it for a reason. I think you were that reason! Funny how things work out 
Talk to you tomorrow!
So sorry to hear that you had a rough day
BUT, I’m so proud that you were cognizant of your thoughts and were able to step back and look at how you could rectify the situation. It’s definitely not an easy thing to do- to actually be aware of your thoughts AND alter your behaviour. It’s always easy to sit around thinking intelligent thoughts…the actions are where we slip up sometimes. So glad that you nourished your body and mind after a tough day. Hope things were brighter today 
<3
I love delicious, whole salads topped with so many fillings that it spills from the bowl! And isn’t TJ’s greek yogurt amazing? It makes such a good snack or a great pairing with breakfast cakes!
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