Speaking of childhood, I got a fun e-mail from my friend Jenny at 8 this [...]]]> As of 3 minutes ago, it’s officially Thanksgiving! I’m cozy at home in my bed, surrounded by my stuffed animals, Polaroids from high school, and hundreds of books, among other things. What was your childhood bedroom like?

Speaking of childhood, I got a fun e-mail from my friend Jenny at 8 this morning while I was sipping on my coffee. Jenny is hands-down my oldest friend; our mothers grew up together, and although Jenny and I have been separate by half a country for our entire lives and only get to see each other once a year, we’ve always been close. When my grandfather was still living, my parents and I visited him in Indianapolis every winter between Christmas and New Year’s; this photo is from the winter of 1988. (That’s me on the right, with the bowl cut.)

Here we are this past summer, in Lake Michigan.

I miss her so much during the year. We look forward to our week on the lake so much!

After my trip down memory lane, I made a quick breakfast: Ezekiel English muffin with almond butter and a banana, raspberry jam on one side and pumpkin butter on the other.

I went to the post office to mail something; it didn’t open until 10 (which seems a little later) but there was a machine that got the job done. Then to physical therapy I went! It as a particularly good appointment. I learned some new exercises to stretch my hips; I can easily do them from the hotel room in Russia. After PT I raced back home to eat lunch before I had to turn right back around and go to an interview. I made a quick salad:

In the mix:

• romaine
• celery
• tofu
• leftover roasted veggiesM

It was one of the rare occasions where I could not finish my meal. Usually, once I’ve dished a certain amount of food out, I will eat every last scrap even if I’ve long since reached capacity. (Last night’s pasta plate was an example of this.) However, today I started getting a stomachache about partway through, and just picked out what I wanted (roast vegetables, tofu, hummus), leaving a fair amount of spinach.

I felt guilty about throwing the rest out (I won’t be back at the house for two weeks), but it was better than making myself sick. As it was, my tum hurt for the next two hours. My eyes are bigger than my head sometimes, and I think the most important thing I need to remember to do is slow down while I’m eating. I’ve been so rushed these past few weeks that although I’ve been eating foods I love, I’ve barely tasted them as I’ve had to practically inhale them to get from appointment to appointment on time. It’ll be nice to have a little break

There’s always room for sweets, though! I had a couple of these strawberry gummy candies from the Japanese grocery store in our neighborhood. Not bad!

I was starving after my interview. Luckily I had about four different snacks in my bag, so I ate one of the apple-flavored Heart Thrive bars that I was sent to review. I’ll do a formal review once I’ve sampled all of the products, but I liked this a lot!

When I got home I folded laundry and did some preparatory packing for my trip to Russia. I am one of the worst packers ever. I always take too much and forget crucial items, like spare contact lenses or pajama pants. Do you have any fool-proof (or LVP proof!) packing tips?

I snacked on some Concord grapes that were about to go bad while I waited for my dad to help me pack some things up. These grapes are really addicting. There are seeds, which I thought I wouldn’t like, but are actually kind of fun to work through and take longer to eat. Plus, these are the kind of grapes used to make grape juice, so they’re the perfect combination of sweet + tart.

While my dad was at a holiday party, my mom and I had dinner at watched Hannah And Her Sisters. Not only is this a really good Woody Allen film, but it’s told between two years’ worth of Thanksgivings! I ordered a bento box for dinner, which came with a spicy tuna roll, tempura, sashimi & shrimp shumai. (It came with rice, salad & miso soup as well, but I’m saving those for tomorrow.)

I also had a glass of Black Box Wine’s Sauvignon Blanc.

My mom brought home dessert from Billy’s Bakery, the same shop she ordered my birthday cupcakes from.

She bought one pumpkin cupcake and one pumpkin bar; we split them three ways. De-lish.

I’m off to bed. There’s a lot on the agenda tomorrow! Have a great night, a happy holiday, and safe travels wherever your day takes you.

We are really running low on fresh supplies (although I have oodles of chocolate!), but I’m going to be [...]]]> Good afternoon, Lovepies! I hope you are having a fantastic day, although by the time you read this it might very well be  nighttime for I am once again on the World’s Slowest Computer (WSC).

We are really running low on fresh supplies (although I have oodles of chocolate!), but I’m going to be out for a few meals in the next few days so I’d rather not buy produce only to have it spoil.  Yesterday I turned to the freezer for inspiration, and heated some of Trader Joe’s Mangolicious blend, which I mixed with a crumbled Apple Berry Vitamuffin and nonfat yogurt.

I’ve been wanting to make a pretty parfait again, but the only clear glass in the house has gone missing.

After I worked around the house for a little, I grabbed an apple and headed into the city for some speedwork at the gym.

I don’t know about other runners out there, but I have a really hard time staying on the treadmill for more than two miles, and even that is a challenge for me.  It’s just so boring!  There was nothing but reality and sports showing on the TVs, and running in place feels a little depressing to me.  I can’t stop myself from staring at the screen as minutes and distances slowly tick by, even if I cover it with a towel. I think I can also run faster when I’m outside; on the treadmill, running less than a 10-minute mile is really a challenge for me.  One more reason that I need a Garmin! Finally, Behind The Music: Pink came on, and I actually kind of really like her, so I watched that and the time passed  a little more quickly.  I ran 4 miles at speeds ranging from 6.0 – 7.5, taking recovery breaks at 4.0, and cooled down for 3 minutes.

Total distance: 4.15 miles

Total time: 42:28 minutes

Maximum heart rate: 192 (97%)

Average heart rate: 176 (89%)

Calories burned: 496

After a very fast shower, I hurried to the subway, eating my Whole Foods meal (which I had wisely bought before working out, to save time) on the way.  I actually wasn’t so excited to eat this… I think I’m beginning to suffer from Food Boredom.

In the mix:

• spinach
• broccoli
• roasted sweet potatoes
• bok choi
• baked tofu
• vegan chicken salad
• seaweed salad
• sweet & spicy dumpling (1)

I almost got a soup to accompany my salad, but I was low on time and wanted to save room for my afternoon treat.  I hopped on the subway, transferred, and made my way to Babycakes to meet Ellie and Leslie.

I’ve dreamed about Babycakes cupcakes and their icing shots for far too long. Even if their pickings were horrible (which is far from the truth, their store is one of the cutest places I’ve seen.  The bake staff have the most adorable little Waitress-style outfits (that I would definitely wear in a non-working environment) And, even better, these treats are actually good for you! Have my prayers been answered yet again?  Here’s what they say about the sweets on their website:

In a city dominated by cupcakes overflowing with sugar, flour and butter cream, it’s easy for those with persnickety diets to feel left out. BabyCakes offers all-natural, organic and delicious alternatives free from the common allergens: wheat, gluten, dairy, casein and eggs. Rest assured, all sweeteners have been chosen responsibly and used sparingly. White sugar will never be found in our bakery, nor will we ever use toxic chemical sweeteners. Instead, most products are sweetened with agave nectar—a natural syrup from a cactus which is low on the glycemia index and often a safe alternative to most non-insulin dependant diabetics. Occasionally, unprocessed and unrefined sugar is used in certain goods, although sparingly.

The menu of the day:

It was very hard for me to choose…

As soon as I saw the Vanilla Cupcake with Chocolate-Fig Ganache and Cinnamon-Nutmeg frosting, however, I knew what I needed.

Leslie got this as well.  We both thought that the cake itself tasted a bit like sweet cornbread, which wasn’t a bad thing! The filling was amazing, and the frosting was un-freaking-believable.  I need to go back and get a shot of that before they stop making their seasonal flavors.

It was really nice to chat with the girls; I met Leslie in Boston at the Summit, and we really have to get together again soon.  Lucky for me, I’ll be able to see Ellie again on Friday for dinner!  After we parted ways, I headed home.  Ari is leaving on Sunday for Europe, and I wanted us to be able to have a nice dinner together before.  I was mighty thirsty when I got back from the grocery store, and sipped on Goya coconut water while cooking.  This stuff is great… it’s cheap (6/$3.50) and has small chunks of young coconut meat on the bottom!

I also snacked on this silly-looking carrot.

I whipped out my Vegetarian Times Cooks Mediterranean cookbook, which I do not use  nearly enough.  Melissa Clark is one of my present-day culinary heroes.  I wanted to make something with either mushrooms or chickpeas (Ari’s favorites, after steak ), and decided on Garbanzo Cassoulet

The recipe calls for either homemade or store-bought tomato sauce; since the cassoulet was already going to take 2+ hours to make, I picked up a jar of Newman’s Own Sockarooni sauce.

It’s not organic, but the ingredient list is short and comprehensive.

I threw in a couple shakes of Emeril’s Original Essence for good measure…

Instead of using regular breadcrumbs, I used whole wheat panko.

Two hours later, the cassoulet was done.  There is a recipe for “Quick Cassoulet” on the opposite page of the same cookbook, which would be nice if you don’t have time to make this one.  However, if you do have the time, it really pays off.

I served it with some steamed green beans.  We got more than our fair share of veggies!

After a few bites, Ari remarked, “Hey! It’s vegetarian and I love it!” I’m glad it was a hit.  We both went back for seconds, which we enjoyed with some Gato Negro Sauvignon Blanc.

After dinner, we had to run some errands and somehow ended up walking out of Coldstone with huge cups of ice cream.  The photo didn’t turn out, but I got a “Like It” (or “small”, if you are Coldstone-illiterate) with Sinless Sweet Cream ice cream, cookie dough, and hot fudge.  Oof, my tum was not happy about that choice.

Well, I’m off to get some reading done.  Enjoy the rest of your day!

I knew we were going to have pizza, so I brought a salad so I’d have more [...]]]> Tonight was the last class of my senior seminar. It was kind of sad, actually… this professor (also my advisor) taught my first-year course freshman year and has really helped shape “who I am” as a student.

I knew we were going to have pizza, so I brought a salad so I’d have more than cheesy bread for dinner.  This “thai veggie salad” had romaine, cucumber, carrots, scallions, tomato, and a chili/lime/cilantro vinaigrette. I also had some diet coke… it’s hard to have pizza without soda!

I also had three little squares of pizza: plain, mushroom/tomato/olive, mushroom.

One of my classmates brought in homemade chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting.  Isn’t the heart pretty? I had a regular circle-shaped cupcake.

Oh yeah, and our prof gave us some closing remarks: do not go to graduate school for the humanities! It’s a grueling process and does not guarantee a job. Duly noted.

On that cheery note, it’s off to bed.  Hope you had a great day!

As promised, I had an almond 99% chocolate truffle. Holy yum.

I went to the cafeteria for dinner tonight and it was [...]]]> Heyo (listen what I say-o… anyone?)! This is going to be quick because I still have GREAT THINGS to accomplish. Well, I can’t guarantee they’ll be great, but they need to get done.

As promised, I had an almond 99% chocolate truffle. Holy yum.

I went to the cafeteria for dinner tonight and it was exceptionally tasty.  They had my favorite, chili-crusted tofu, although I got totally cheated and only got five little pieces. Boo. But I filled up with some roasted tomato and eggplant, brown rice and corn, and steamed cauliflower.

I also had a small salad of spinach, carrots, cabbage and pea pods tossed with lemon juice and olive oil.

My professor brought mini black forest cupcakes to class tonight… these were so good! They had dabs of jam on top of the frosting, and little dark chocolate shavings.  One day I will get into the kitchen and make these babies…

I had two.

I had this juicy mess of a grapefruit when I got home…

… and now I have to go shower, watch Giant, write a paper… so off I go! Have a great night.