Yesterday I woke up feeling a little adventurous and decided to try out Heather’s Asian Fusion oats using tahini, [...]]]> Afternoon and happy New Year’s EVE!  Last year I was working at a restaurant when the ball dropped… not ideal, but it could have been worse.  This year’s going to be a lot more fun!

Yesterday I woke up feeling a little adventurous and decided to try out Heather’s Asian Fusion oats using tahini, miso and honey.

It was good, but I guess in my heart of hearts I was still half-expecting a sweet, nutty breakfast and I just couldn’t get past that.  So, although I hate to waste food, I tossed that batch and made a new bowl of oatmeal with banana, almond butter, and Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter.  I was a happy girl.

There was no time to waste.  After running some errands in the neighborhood with Ari, Josh and I went to a local deli to build-our-own-salads.  I got a small bowl of mesclun with chick peas, red beans, artichoke hearts, corn, carrots, cucumbers and sesame ginger dressing on the side.

Then I met up with my friend Will, who I haven’t seen in almost 2.5 years! Luckily we were able to meet up during his short visit to the city.  We went to Starbucks (and lamented the lack of independent coffee shops on the UWS); I got a grande skim mocha.  ‘Tis the season!

After coffee, I met up with Ari to do some last minute sale shopping (you can always find the best deals between Christmas and New Year’s), then found my little redheaded friend in the same neighborhood for dinner.

We happened upon a cute little Italian restaurant on the Upper West Side; we were so excited for dinner that we didn’t even take note of the name!

As soon as we sat down, we were given plates with soft, warm focaccia and olive oil.

We shared a bottle of Estrella Cabernet Sauvignon to warm our cores…

For my entrée, I ordered the Tre Colore Gnocchi with portobello and shiitake mushrooms, goat cheese and marinara.   A warm bowl of past was just what I wanted, and this was perfect.  Don’t you love gnocchi?!  I did a pretty good job on the dish, and just about finished it.

After spending a couple hours catching up and eating, we made our way to Magnolia Bakery for dessert.  I got the cupcake of the day: German Chocolate!

I wolfed it down in about two bites   Then I made my way downtown to meet Ari and the rest of the family and we piled in the car and drove to their parents’ house for the holiday.  Not everyone had eaten, so we made a pit stop at Roy Roger’s (more on that later!)…

Good times.

Have you sent me your questions entered my giveaway? Git ‘er done!

Have a safe, healthy and AWESOME New Year’s!!! What are you doing to ring in the New Year?

Yesterday I had an early-morning appointment with a new physical therapist (mine is in Orlando competing in a Half Ironman!), so, after flirting with snooze for as long as possible, I dragged myself out of [...]]]> Good evening and happy Tuesday! I hope you’ve had a fabulous, fabulous day.  Mine’s been alright… no complaints here!

Yesterday I had an early-morning appointment with a new physical therapist (mine is in Orlando competing in a Half Ironman!), so, after flirting with snooze for as long as possible, I dragged myself out of bed.  This was a little harder than usual, as I got less than five hours of sleep the night before.  Ari was at the All-American Rejects show in Atlantic City the night before, and while I knew he’d be home late, was startled when I woke up at 3:30 and he wasn’t there.  I couldn’t get him on the phone, and because I was still half-asleep, got myself so worked up thinking that something really awful had happened.  He came home at 4 and all was fine, but I don’t know if I’ve ever been so worried.  I can be a little silly sometimes

Anyway, breakfast was quick but delicious: Sarah‘s microwave pumpkin cake topped with raspberry yogurt and walnuts.

Speaking of pumpkins, our little fella has aged quite a bit since Halloween!

My PT session went well.  My temporary therapist told me my muscles are still really tight… I need to be more aggressive with my foam roller and concentrate on the IT band.  It hurts, but it’ll ease up as the muscle loosens.   He also put me on a pilates machine for some quad work.  I’ve only done mat pilates before, but this was fun! I definitely feel its work today.

I raced home to watch Heroes and get lunch with Ari.  I suggested we go to a bagel place that also makes salads, but when we got there and I saw that their ingredients were no better than the ones I had at home (my rule when eating out is only to get something I can’t make at home) I changed my mind and ordered a toasted low-carb bagel with light cream cheese smoked salmon and tomato.

This was good, but so filling.  I’ve never had a meal hold me over for 7+ hours before… note even Thanksgiving!

The rest of the afternoon was meant to be spent reading, but our room was so hot that I fell right asleep!  It’s been unseasonably warm here for the past few days, and it was the same in Minnesota.  Hmm…

While I was snoozing, Ari was out running errands, one of which was a trip to the bookstore.  He got us both copies of The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain for us to do on our own and talk about while he’s on tour.  How do you keep up with friends and loved ones when you’re separated geographically?

He also got me a surprise…

French Wine for Dummies (FWfD)!  Just what I need to kick-start my wine education.  What a nice boyfriend! 

We decided to go on a quick run together before dinner; I didn’t want to run at night by myself, and to be honest I’ve been a bit apprehensive about running outside again.  I haven’t had any pain at all in either of my legs for at least three weeks and have run on the treadmill twice since I was given the OK, but I just wanted some company!  While we ran, Ari taught me the rules of blackjack.  I was so engrossed in his casino tales that before I knew it, I was falling… and falling… and falling… it seemed to take a really long time for me to hit the ground, and Ari acted so quickly and caught me so that I only scraped my palms.  I have never fallen while running before, and I shudder to think of what could have happened if he hadn’t been there… I don’t think I’d be able to handle another injury!

We both had more work to do before we were ready to relax, so I made us a quick and easy dinner: Tomatoey Spiced Chickpeas (which I’ve made before), brown rice and Japanese Cucumber Salad with Vinegar.

This chickpea recipe stood the test of time… Ari really liked it, and he’s a pretty tough judge.  We both agreed the seaweed wasn’t quite right on the cukes; next time I think I’ll cut the pieces a bit smaller.  A miso would probably taste good as well.

We had some De Loach Merlot, a 2006 Californian from the Russian River Valley that my friend Howard gave to me.

Although this isn’t a French wine, I consulted FWfD to learn a little about Merlot. I scanned the table of contents… nothing.  I flipped to the back to search through the index… nothing again!  No Merlot?! It’s a French word!…. Isn’t it?  I flipped to the “Cheat Sheet” at the front of the book to see if anything even starting with “M” made an appearance, and lo and behold! Next to Bordeaux (red) (Wine Type) was an a list: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc (Principle Grape(s)).  Merlot is a type of grape, and just one of several that falls under the category “Bordeaux.” It grows in the Haut-Médoc in Gironde, a region in the southwest of France that is located in the city of Bordeaux.   The Merlot grape is the most commonly planted variety in Bordeaux (FWfD p. 36-38).

So what does this mean for California Merlots? According to the Wine Institute, Merlot grapes were brought to the United States in the mid-19th century, and are mainly used to blend and “soften” a more robust wine.

I’m typically more of a white wine drinker, but I want to broaden my horizons.  This didn’t taste too strong to me, and it did feel sort of “soft” in my mouth, if that makes sense.

Ari’s take: Deliciousness in a sleek and spunky package.  I was impressed by  both the amount of flavornoids and antioxidants.   And I was ready to party.

I was also ready to party… with the freezer.  Häagen-Dazs sent me a coupon for a free pint to make up for their almond-less ice cream, so I picked up a container of their five-ingredient Brown Sugar ice cream.

It tasted so much like brown sugar!  Which, I guess, is an acquired taste… straight sugar isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.  Ari wasn’t a fan, but I filled a bowl and topped it with Pure Dark chipotle chocolate.

We did a little more work, and spent the rest of the evening watching Heartburn.  Has anyone seen this?  It was made the year before I was born, and there were so many things I recognized (specific toys, accessories, my mother’s perm…).  The film itself made me a little sad (Mike Nichols directed it), but I liked it a lot.  What movie should I order from Netflix?

P.S.  Holly’s giving away some supa-fancy protein powda!

Yesterday morning, some of us met at 7:30 for a run. We [...]]]> Good morning and happy Monday! By now, I’m sure you’ve all read numerous recaps of the 2009 Healthy Living Summit… I know I have! It’s interesting to see everyone’s take on it, because, like us bloggers, no two experiences are the same.

Yesterday morning, some of us met at 7:30 for a run. We hadn’t had coffee, but look at all those smiling faces! (Thanks to Caitlin for letting me bogart her pictrures )

I joined the 3 mile group, and enjoyed great conversation (pug or German Shepherd?) with like-minded ladies.

We ended up going about 3.5 miles, and I know I could have gone on longer. Having someone (or 10 someones!) to run with makes all the difference.  Do I see a race in my future?

Total time: 33:36 minutes

Maximum heart rate: 192 (96%)
Average heart rate: 172 (86%)

Calories burned: 380

After the run we had over an hour until breakfast, and I needed something for my tum.  Coffee!  I spent an embarrassingly long time trying to find the filters…

… only to discover they were “tea bag” style, and the filters were the coffee. Doh.

The group reassembled and went to Finagle A Bagle for lunch.

Talk about maximum efficiency! The bagels shoot out, assembly-line style…

They are then sliced by a giant spinning blade.

There were so many interesting bagel choices! French Toast, Honey Grain, Stuffed Vegetable…

The line was long, but we were all in an out in no time.  That’s progress, baby, progress.

We found a grassy knoll to sit on and enjoyed our breakfast outside, enjoying the last minutes of the Healthy Living Summit.

It took me a little while to set up my breakfast (I can be a little high-maintenance about that, if you haven’t noticed : On a toasted honey grain bagel, I spread light cream cheese on half, and Barney Butter with honey on the other half.

I also made sure to get some fruit in.

I was in a little bit of a rush to make the 12 PM checkout, but I managed to grab Heather to take a sunglass-twin photo. Why spend good money on fancy shades when you can get sexy ones like these at Target?

I hustled back to the hotel, grabbed my stuff, and hobbled out.  When I got to the station, I surveyed all of the food choices.  Not great, but I did manage to find a Greek Salad at D’Angelo’s.

I wasn’t a fan of the creamy dressing it came with… a relief, because I knew it would also stink up the bus. (I removed the onions for that very reason!)

There was an absurd amount of feta and olives, and I left a lot behind.

I also munched on an apple while reading my copy of Body + Soul from the swag bag. There are some great recipes in there that I can’t wait to try!

The ride from Boston –> New York is almost five hours, so I needed another snack. I went back to the swag bag for a Fruition bar, made by the makers of Pro Bar.

Here’s an idea of the size of the bar, using my camera case:

Pros: There’s a definite strawberry flavor here.  It’s very soft and grainy, so you don’t have to work too hard to eat it like some other sports bars out there. It reminds me of something I ate as a kid during snack time at school (which is reinforced by the sticky fingers you will get upon eating this). I like its snack size; you don’t have to make the 400 calorie commitment that you do for a regular Pro Bar. It also has very pretty packaging!

Cons: It’s a little too soft for me. I wish it would either be firmer like a Larabar, or crunchier like a granola here. There are oats in here, after all, so it shouldn’t be so soggy!

Bottom line: Would I buy this? Maybe. I want to try the other flavors of Fruition; I’ve heard rumors of Blueberry, which sounds pretty good. I don’t know how widely available they are yet (I’ve never seen them in stores), but keep your eyes open!

I shlepped about 100 pounds home from Chinatown and just wanted a comforting meal.  I made my old standby comfort food:

Gliding Calm tofu; a sweet potato with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar; steamed kale with rice wine vinegar; brown rice. This meal really feels like the equivalent of a big bear hug.

Do you have any comfort foods or meals you turn over and over?

I enjoyed dinner with a small glass of Villa Farnia di Farnese’s 2008 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo that my friend Howard gave me.

Frank Bruni describes this as a “good, solid, dependable wine;”  a staple in Italian restaurants.  It is medium tannin, smooth, and has the taste of black fruit.

I enjoyed the wine while watching Revolutionary Road and munching on one of Jenna‘s chocolate chip biscotti.

Er, make that two biscotti. I didn’t want the first one to be lonely!

Another great day. The Summit was a blast.  I had so much fun meeting over one hundred women who love to do some of the same things I do! Who’d a thought, in high school, that that would be possible?

It’s back to the grind, unfortunately, and I have a lot of reading to do. Hope your week is off to a great start!

Friday morning at the airport was… [...]]]> Good afternoon and happy Sunday! I hope you’re enjoying the last bits of your weekend. My mom and I are in one of the most beautiful places on earth right now… sadly, I’ll have to keep you in high suspense for just a little bit longer.  But first…

Friday morning at the airport was… chaotic.  It seems that a lot of us city folk wanted to get out of the humidity!

I spotted a Starbucks near our gate and braved the line for a cup of the Perfect Oatmeal.

I splurged and bought all the toppings: brown sugar (used half), nut mixture, and dried fruit.  I also got a grande coffee and poured a healthy portion of skim milk into the cup.

I’d planned on getting a lot of work done on the 4.5 hour flight, but I was so exhausted from the last week that I slept most of the trip.  I woke up, though, to have a couple bites of my mom’s cheese:

An hour or so later, my time zone-confused tummy was ready for more.  I whipped out the Honey Bunches Grawnola Bar from One Lucky Duck that Liz had generously brought me:

The ingredients of this bar are simple and delicate: organic almonds, organic oats, organic buckwheat, organic blueberries, organic nutmeg, organic vanilla extract, organic raw honey, Himalayan crystal salt. It was both hard and crumbly, sweet and salty.  The flavors and textures blended beautifully and convinced me that I really do need to get myself over to OLD.

I also split an apple with my mom.

After landing in Salt Lake City, we hot-footed it to the rental car agency, got our car, and hit the road.

We drove 45 minutes…

… admired the mountains…

… and decided we were most certainly not in Manhattan anymore.

After we checked into our hotel and unpacked a little, we set out in search of a bite to eat.  We ended up at Clockwork Café, a cute little coffee shop on the main street.  I got the Garden: romaine, spinach, cucumbers, olives, craisins, onions, tomatoes and (upon my special request) a big glob of hummus.

I also had half a bottle of V8.

We wandered around Park City a little, taking goofy pictures…

In the tradition of our annual Mother/Daughter Weekends, we went to Mountain Body for pedicures.  Mountain Body is a  natural spa that doesn’t test on/use any animals or their products.  I wanted to buy everything in the store, including the vegan nail polish that was painted on our toes.

After we got back to the room and dolled ourselves up, we headed over to the Sky Club for the pre-wedding cocktail party.  The Sky Club is a beautiful roof-top bar that overlooks the city.

There was a great spread of cheeses and antipastos.

I started with a glass of Chardonnay and a trout-smeared cracker (which was a little too fishy for my taste).

These tempurah shrimp were my favorite… I had about 3!

My favorite foods of the night were actually the crudités; I filled up my plate at least twice with raw veggies.

In addition to the wine, I also had a dirty martini (which was a little too heavy on the olive juice).

It was wonderful to catch up with my friends!  Usually I only see this select group of people once a year, so I feel spoiled to have gotten them twice in one month.

Although the party spanned four hours, there wasn’t an actual dinner part to it and I left craving chocolate and carbs.  (I blame this more on the double shot of Patron I did with the bride-to-be….) When I got back to the room there was no chocolate to be found, so I had a fig bar.

Well, that’s it for now. Stay tuned for Part II of the Mother/Daughter Utah adventure!

Yesterday started out… whimsically.  Ari’s brother, Josh, has [...]]]> Good morning, lovelies! I hope your week is starting to wind down and you have a fabulous weekend planned to celebrate August. As I said, I’m going to a wedding near Salt Lake City, Utah, for the weekend, so I’ll be blogging from the West Coast!

Yesterday started out… whimsically.  Ari’s brother, Josh, has been threatening to disturb Jim‘s face for more than six months, but I was so surprised when I opened the door and saw him and laughed for a good minute.

Poor Jim! I’m sure he kept his sense of humor about it, though .  This cookie had:

• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 2 T skim milk
• 1 t chunky pb
• toppings: cinnamon, 1 prune (split), dried cherries

Ari had already left for the deli to work by the time I got around to eating breakfast, so I met him there and guzzled down an iced coffee with 1% milk.

I went back home, blogged while watching some great tv, and went out for a quick run.  I went about 2 miles, then came back, showered quickly, and went into the city to meet Liz for lunch.  She’d suggested we go to Bonobo’s Vegetarian, a new place we’d both never tried and thought sounded very interesting.

As soon as we walked in, our eyes feasted on the packaged beverages they had: ginger lemonade, coconut water, coconut chai (a recommendation from Diana).

Their “salad bar”, which was thankfully behind glass, had all kinds of organic veggies and spreads.

The staff at Bonobo’s is very attentive and willing to give out samples of everything.  I tasted six different things!

We both (er, more like I copied) ordered the Nori rolls.

For the rolls, you pick five veggies and a nut meat spread. I chose beets, zucchini, carrots, cucumbers, and sprouts; I couldn’t decide on one spread and went with two: macadamia nut and sesame tahini.

Again, indecisive girl that I am, I couldn’t just pick one dressing so I had them mix up two! The end result was spicy sweet: a combination of their Diablo (spicy mustard) and agave mustard. Delish!

The meal was fabulous, and the company was even better.  Luckily, we both admitted our gracelessness when it comes to consuming messy food, and didn’t try to eat with poise. In other words, sprouts were a-flyin’!

Unfortunately, on the way back to Liz’s hotel, we got caught in a torrential downpour.  This girl has no luck when it comes to weather! The last time she was here, the weather was also terrible.  Her poor tights were soaked, but she still looked fabulous!

After I dropped Liz off at her hotel (and said a very rushed hello to Diana), I dodged more raindrops and went to work.  On my walk, I drank my bottle of Bonobo’s Coconut Chai.

This. Is. Amazing. It’s sweet and really thick, and, as I described to Liz, almost like a rice pudding. She suggested I freeze it and eat it like ice cream… unfortunately I’d already drank it all! I can’t wait to go back and get more of this.

At work, I was so munchy! I think it was because of the weather.  We were very slow, which made it both boring and tiring.  I nibbled on desserts, went into Black Hound for samples, and ate a Toasted Nuts ‘n Cranberry Luna bar (image recycled).

I sold enough specials to get the special saladfor dinner: mixed greens with shrimp, avocado, apples, tomatoes, walnuts, and goat cheese with lemon vinaigrette.  So good!

Ari surprised me by picking me up from work with the car.  We went to 16 Handles to fuel up for the ride (ha), and I loaded my cup with peanut butter, pistachio, and Eurotart yogurts topped with mochi, blueberries, Reese’s cups and a chocolate-covered pretzel.

It was a pretty great day, I’d say.  Now I’m off to go meet Greg for lunch before work, and tomorrow morning I’m off to Utah! Have a great day

Monday night I ended up staying up really [...]]]> Heya, heyo! Good morning and happy humpday!  I woke up waaaaay too late this morning (midnight showing of Transformers, while fun, was not the best move) and have to be out the door in 8 minutes? Think I can do it? Countdown from 10, 9, 8….

Monday night I ended up staying up really late reading for my internship, so I made a midnight snack of a Kids Flatout, peanut butter, cinnamon and blueberries. PB&J goes fresh!

In the morning, I woke up to a Bullseye Breakfast Cookie:

• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 banana
• 1.5 tsp PB
• cinnamon
• blueberries
• 1 prune

Then Ari and I hit the road and went to…

IKEA! I’d never been before yesterday, and let me just say: holy moly.  It was a little overwhelming, but we got what we went there to get (pictures to show later when everything is all set up).

I was starting to get cranky from being hungry, so I sent myself to the food court to get a salad (mixed greens, carrots, beets, black beans, tomatoes, cukes) with honey mustard + Italian dressing on the side.  Dinner roll wasn’t great, but it was hungry (and cheap!).

I finally spotted the legendary fat-free fro-yo… lived up to the hype!

When we got home I was going through one of my tired spells, so I conked out for almost two hours.  When I woke up, I had some cherries:

I did some work for a few more hours, then caved and ordered delivery.  We need groceries like whoa!  We ordered Greek, so I got a grilled salmon salad:

And a spinach pie.

The spinach pie kind of tasted like feet, but I ate the whole thing.  I only had about 1/3 of the salad, so I know what I’ll be eating for lunch!

Dessert was German chocolate and dried fruit.

Transformers was eh… lots of gratuitous Megan Fox shots and way too many CGI battle scenes, but it wasn’t horrible.

Alright, my 8 minutes are up! Have a great day

Around the blogs: Wanna win some applesauce? Head over to Hangry Heather and Mark’s blog and check it out!