Yesterday we all went to brunch on campus before [...]]]> Or, The Inner Workings of A College Graduate, Pt. II?  Yeah, I’m sure I’m not the first one to make that joke! The last two days have been a whirlwind… I graduated yesterday (!) and have been having a really nice time seeing my family.

Yesterday we all went to brunch on campus before the commencement ceremony.  I knew we were going to be there for a couple hours as we waited for all my family members to arrive, so I started off with fruit salad and a copious amount of coffee.

An hour or so later, I had a waffle (the only one I’ve hever had on campus, in all four years!) with plain yogurt and berries.

Right before I left, I grabbed a piece of carrot bread.  Didn’t need it, but it was going to be a long day!

The proud mama:

My dad was prepared for every photo op.

My grandmother wanted my uncle’s tray to be photographed… he had a little bit of everything!

The graduation itself was really nice.  We got to choose who we sat with, the speeches weren’t too long, and I didn’t fall on my face! (I didn’t end up wearing my new shoes ) The only bummer was it was cold and windy… there were a couple fur coats in the crowd.  Our president pointed out that it was only fitting that our last official day in Minnesota should be spent in the cold! My high school graduation was blazingly hot, so I guess it evened out.

After the ceremony they set some dessert and coffee out for the reception; I was hungrier for real food, but I had a chocolate chip cookie.

“Graduation dinner” was another special one.  We went to Cafe Brenda; I’d been looking forward to it for months!

We started off with some wine:

Cafe Brenda’s entire wine list is organic.  I chose the Pinot Gris from Oregon from the table.

We ordered the Caspian (Two Dips — Asian Hummus Dip and a Sweet Red Pepper, Walnut, Pomegranate Dip. Served with Pita Bread, Vegetables and Olives) to share.  The walnut pomegranate dip was so interesting.  I have to recreate this!

We also got some shrimp quesadillas (Grilled Shrimp Tortilla with Sauteed Shrimp, Roasted Poblano Pepper, Tomatillo Sauce and Cheese. Served with a Coconut, Mint, Cilantro Salsa), which were so. freaking. good.  (George and I decided we have to go to La Palapa in New York as soon as possible.)

My portion (plus a little more hummus):

I also had half a piece of cornbread.

For my entrée, I ordered the Ginger Glazed Mock Duck Salad.

Warm Organic Mock Duck in a Maple Glaze on a Bed of Mixed Greens, Chinese Noodles and Vegetables in a Peanut, Lemongrass Dressing. This was just what I didn’t know I wanted. So good! It was massive, though, and because I enjoyed my tasting rights and freeloaded from my parents’ meals, I probably ate about 2/3- 3/4.

My mom ordered a special cake and arranged with Brenda’s to plate it for us.  The cake was beautiful, and came from one of Minneapolis’ best bakeries, Yum. It was called a patti cake (chocolate cake with buttercream frosting).  Check out the server’s tattoo!

I’m not usually a buttercream fan, but this was amazing.  It was sort of a cross between traditional buttercream and marshmallow fluff. The restaurant cut me the biggest piece, and as much as I wanted to, I honestly could not finish it without getting sick!

I left the restaurant completely bedazzled with new jewels.

I decided to stay overnight at my grandparents’ house since I don’t know the next time I’ll be out here again. I also didn’t have to worry about driving then, and happily left my car at home!  I brought my exercise clothes so I could take advantage of their treadmill this morning.  I only had a few minutes so I just ran a mile and did some floor exercises.  (I forgot my heart rate monitor at home so I don’t have any stats for you, sorry!)

My grandmother arranged for a beautiful private brunch for us at the country club this morning.

The table was lovely.

My Granny ordered dishes “in my honor” that she knew I would like:

I filled my plate with fruit salad, dry green salad, a slice of artichoke and sundried tomato quiche, toast with jam, and some of the best scrambled eggs I’ve ever had.

More fruit:

A small cinnamon roll:

More toast with strawberry jelly:

My dad and uncle were such a help to me today; we got everything all packed up and the car is completely loaded so tomorrow all I’ll have to do is shower and leave.

I finally threw away my bag of bar wrappers: this is the accumulation since October, minus the ones I’ve eaten outside of Minnesota.  I read about a recycling program that collects used wrappers, but I think it’s now defunct.  Too bad… look how many I have!

Cranky McCrankerstein came out this afternoon while I was packing, hauling, and not paying attention to my hunger.  My dad and uncle took me to Whole Foods at 5, at which point it was all I could do not to stuff down my hot bar meal before checking out.

I had an avocado crack wrap for late my dinner/snack; there were a lot of other bitelets that didn’t make it onto the camera, but everything’s been pretty chaotic around the house.  I had to eat this off a paper plate with a plastic knife because everything else is packed!

I went over to Sarah’s to say goodbye to some of my friends, and arrived armed with Holey Donuts.  I had a Coconut Cream.

We’re all watching a cheesy 80s horror movie called Happy Birthday To Me. There’s a lot of strangling, screaming and slicing.  I’ve been in sort of a sugar coma all week, so I have a feeling I won’t have any trouble falling asleep tonight.  I’m meeting my dad and grandparents (everyone else went home) at Hell’s Kitchen for breakfast tomorrow, and then my dad and I are starting our long drive to New York.  I’ve been wanting to go to this restaurant for over a year, so it’ll be a nice way to leave.

I hope you’re having a great night.  Congratulations to all the graduates and their families!

It was cold when I woke up, so I started the day with a delicious hot breakfast.

For some reason it was [...]]]> Good late-night, lovepies! I hope you had (or are out having!) a fabulous Friday.  I had another lovely day with my family.

It was cold when I woke up, so I started the day with a delicious hot breakfast.

• 1/4 cup 10 grain hot cereal
• 1/4 cup oats
• 3/4 cup water
• cinnamon
• brown sugar
• scoop PB

For some reason it was a little watery, so I added a touch more peanut butter. Problem solved!

I enjoyed my breakfast with a side of a Gracie masterpiece.  Gorgeous, no? I love that baby Picasso and her sister (and her mommy, duh) so much!

I snacked on an apple.

My parents, George, Judy and I had lunch at Coffee News.

I ordered a Greek omelet with spinach, feta, tomatoes and olives.

I’m not usually a huge home-fry/breakfast potato kind of girl, but these are so garlicky and delicious.

I ate half the bread, about 2/3 of the omelet and a few potatoes.  I was saving up for a double chocolate chip biscotti, which I spied on the counter when I ordered my lunch! Too bad I didn’t know how good these were before today.

We went to the student post office because I knew a special package was coming…

Holey Donuts! I hit the jackpot in an An Apple A Day contest.

I’d been wondering how these were going to survive FedEx ground shipping…

Coconut cream pie, banana cream Oreo cookie, raspberry graham cracker.

Coconut cream pie (one whole box!), low fat chocolate.

Low fat classic vanilla fosted

Have you ever seen such pretty donuts? An average Holey Donut has less than 200 calories and 3-4 grams of fat, compared to 200-400 calories and 10-20 grams of fat in regular chain-store and supermarket donuts. They’re also not fried, so you can give your arteries a break. Here’s some of the Holey Donut story, written by Frank Dilullo, founder of the company.

Back in 1958, my father was literally one of the first franchisees with what is today the world’s most successful donut chain. Spending my childhood in the back of a donut shop eventually led to me running and owning my own donut shops. Always having a love for donuts, I set out to create a donut like no other; something that would elevate donuts to a new level; something more high-end, more gourmet, and really just the best donut you could make. Then one day, I walked away from the deep fat fryer and began to actually cook my donuts in a different way. Then at first bite, I said “HOLY $#!%, these are really good!” Thus, the name Holey Donuts!

Having a feeling that these donuts had to be very low in fat, we sent samples off to an FDA approved lab for testing… low and behold, they had less than 3 grams of fat. Wow, we were just amazed at the light, fluffy taste, texture and light color (which is the way donuts actually look before they are fried in that same dirty oil over and over again). From there, it was a story of dedication and perseverance to do whatever it took to succeed and bring these great tasting, guilt free treats to the world. After all, the Wall Street Journal put it best when they said “Food companies have been able to take most of the fat out of everything from cheese to Twinkies. But no one has succeeded in designing a marketable low-fat doughnut.”

I couldn’t wait to try these guys!

After lunch, I went on a great “mental health” run.  I ran all around the neighborhoods, twisting around the roundabouts (it’s amazing I didn’t get lost) to look at all the pretty houses.  I had to stop for traffic a few times (including one 5-minute stoplight I always get stuck at), and ended up running about 3.5 miles. I also did 8-minute abs when I got home.  My heart rate monitor was blinking zero for the beginning of my run so my stats may be a little off.

Total time: 43:40 minutes

Maximum heart rate: 195 (98%)

Average heart rate: 167 (84%)

Calories burned: 464

After showering and making myself presentable, my parents and I went to the English and French department receptions (yeah, we party hop like that). I had a plate of fruit and a slice of pepper jack cheese.

Then we all headed back to my grandparents’ house (I wore shoes this time ) for dinner.  We really must be related… they’d set out some pretzel thins! I could eat these all day long.

My grandmother set a lovely dinner table, as usual.

She was nice enough to arrange for a special vegetarian meal for me although everyone else was having shrimp and sausage jambalaya.

I had a delicious vegetable and tofu dish with some rice.

We also had a very nice mixed greens and vegetable salad, which I eagerly helped myself to seconds of.

My grandfather had really nice wine… I only had about half a glass.  For some reason I wasn’t really in a wine mood! Shocking, I know.  Plus, I had to drive myself back to St. Paul in the dark.

For dessert, I made a tasting platter of Holey Donuts for everyone to try.  All you have to do is plop a frozen donut in the microwave, and voila! Hot gooey deliciousness.  You can even put the entire box in! (Which, you know, I might do if I was in private… ANYway…) We sampled the coconut cream pie, banana oreo cream pie, raspberry graham cracker and low fat classic vanilla frosted.

I have to say, we were all blown away.  My mom and George are huge donut snobs (see The Donut Pub), and for George to give it a thumbs up really says something.  (He did, however, not see what “the point” of eating a low fat donut was.)  When I’m craving a sweet treat, I usually go the cake/ice cream route, but these were top rate.  The coconut cream pie is Holey Donut’s top seller; it was really good, as was the plain ole vanilla frosted. I went back for second samplings of the coconut cream pie and the raspberry graham cracker (tastes like a jelly donut).  These are going to be dangerous to have in the house…

I also had a scoop of fat free vanilla frozen yogurt with my grandmother’s famous chocolate syrup and raspberries. Nomnomnom.

My tongue is hurting from the sugar, but it was all pretty guilt-free! (Hmm… I see a Donut Diet in my future…)

I’m going to try to get to bed early(ish).  Our graduation commencement ceremony is tomorrow, and I want to be bright eyed and bushytailed.  Hope you are having a lovely week… I’m terribly behind on my Google Reader but as you know, you’re always in my heart

For 30 FREE donut holes with a Holey Donut purchase, enter code AWNY at checkout.

Bonne nuit!

My grandparents and I ended up going to Volnay, formerly known as Patrick’s but is so [...]]]> Hello hello!  How did the weekend go by so fast?  I still have tons of reading to do, but all I want to do is cozy up in bed and watch movies.  What a hard life I have.

My grandparents and I ended up going to Volnay, formerly known as Patrick’s but is so new that they don’t even have their own website yet!  It was… okay.  I left satisfied and having had a nice time with my family, which is the most important thing! But, the service was not so great (and as a member of the service industry myself, I’m pretty forgiving) and our orders were a little messed up.  Oh well!

I got a Salade Niçoise with the dressing and anchovies on the side (I hate anchovies, but they’re high in iron, so I forced myself to eat two). They seem to have tossed half of my salad with oil, then remembered that I didn’t want it, so they then added more greens on top.   Interesting.  It was still pretty good though…

Golden chai tea…

My grandparents were nice enough to take me to the grocery store to buy fruit.  When I was younger, I used to visit them every summer and besides going to Camp Snoopy, grocery shopping with my Granny was pretty much my favorite thing to do.  It’s still a great way to spend a Sunday, especially because they have… samples!

That’s a little wedge of a cake donut with chocolate frosting.

I’m taking off from the gym today… I’m just not feeling it.  I might do a little yoga before bed, but that’s all.

See you later!