Our house guest left this as a parting gift when he left.  I’m sure it’s delicious, but I really didn’t pause to smell or taste it before throwing it back.  I’ll let you know about that tomorrow

I replenished my supply of POMx to dissolve my Ester-C into.  I’m still so proud of myself for discovering this works!  (For new readers: I drink a little bit every day with breakfast to dissolve Ester-C, which aids the absorption of an iron supplement I take for low energy, but don’t photograph it every morning.)

I was excited to try out a new product with breakfast: Stonewall Kitchen’s Lemon Curd.  I’ve been curious about this for years, and my mom was nice enough to buy it for me this weekend.

Breakfast was a double portion of Sarah‘s pumpkin “cakes”, topped with a heaping cloud of 0% Fage, cinnamon, walnuts, and a scoop of lemon curd.  Lemon Meringue Pumpkin Pie before 7 AM? Yes, please!

I had two back-to-back interviews starting at 9 (which I think went well); afterward I needed to unwind a little with some teasing retail therapy (AKA touch everything, buy nothing) at J.Crew and Anthropologie.  How is it that a store (or two) can be filled with only perfect things?  But my bank balance remained stable, and I left satisfied with the clothes on my back.

The tree is going up in Rockefeller Center…

I sat in the plaza and ate my Criterion apple.  Sometimes it’s okay to be a tourist in your own city.

After making sure there were no more stores I needed to browse through, I came home to get some done and eat lunch.  I heated up a bowl of Spinach & Rice soup and added lots of fresh parsley, and served it alongside a small sweet potato with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Perfect mid-Monday comfort food, if you ask me.

I thought I deserved a treat, so I had some 55% Dark Chocolate Peppermint Chococolove.

The rest of the afternoon was spent writing. Welcome to my “office”!  You may recognize it as the kitchen table, but during the day I spread out and use it for reading, writing, researching, and tea-drinking.  I tried the Sugar Plum Spice holiday tea… so good.  I think this might have been the first flavor they came up with, because I remember having it a long, long time ago before they changed their packaging.

After successfully moving to decaffeinated tea, I didn’t want to go back to drinking coffee so late in the day.  Instead, I moved on to a cup of Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride.  I don’t know how they do it, but this smells so much like a cookie! It’s very vanilla-y, but it has a very soft taste without a hint of bitterness.

I finished up my work, then went into the city to meet my friend Ilena at 5:30 for an early dinner at FreeFoods NYC.

Tonight was another example of how many secrets this city has to offer, both food-wise and other.  I never would have suspected that a restaurant like this could exist (and thrive!) in Midtown Manhattan, in the heart of corporate offices and tourist attractions.  Was I wrong!  It goes to show that people do want to eat locally and sustainably, the options just have to be made available.

FreeFoods serves fresh soups, sandwiches and salads; they have raw, vegan and gluten-free options.

I built my own salad with arugula, avocado, spiced mango, shittake mushrooms, spicy shrimp and Manchego cheese with Thai basil dressing.

One of the staff members had made an extra Vitality Berry smoothie (sweet cherry, açai, blueberry- pomegranate juice, ginger-agave), so Ilena and I split it with our dinners.  It was really good, and helped ease the heat in my mouth leftover from my spicy salad dressing!

Ilena and I sat for a while catching up…

…and were treated to another smoothie sample! This time we tried the “orange creamsicle” (it’s new, and the ingredients aren’t listed).  As Ilena said, it really did taste like a creamsicle, “but not in the bad way”!

Since we dined early, I was back home by 7:30 to get some things done before Gossip Girl.  Sadly, it seems like most TV shows have already had their holiday finales, so I did some more work instead.  I did, however, make a fabulous dessert to fill my Chuck Bass-sized void…

My dad found a great deal on takeout containers of Tasti D-Lite, so he picked me up some peanut butter frozen yogurt.  I added frozen berries and Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter.

Another sweet end to a good day.

What was the best part of your Monday? What are you looking forward to about Tuesday?

P.S.  Please vote for Lyle!  She is a talented, beautiful actress who deserves to realize her dreams.  Register, vote, and help here get there!

Here’s breakdown of the teas, in order of my preference.

POMx Light Pomegranate Hibiscus Green Tea

We drank this in the car on the way to Woodstock.

Ari’s review: Spiffily designed package.  I wouldn’t purchase this product, only because I’m usually a water drinker. I might pick it up if I saw it in a deli, or if I had one of Katie’s coupons.  It tasted like a Pomegranate gatorade/iced tea mixture, with maybe a hint of oak.

My review: I wouldn’t have thought this was “light” tea if I hadn’t read the package.  It’s sweet but not overpoweringly so, and very thirst-quenching.  The flavor was very interesting and slightly tropical.  I felt festive drinking it!

POMx Pomegranate Lychee Green Tea

My review: Lychees are one of my favorite fruits, and I can clearly identify it in this drink.  It’s almost a little tangy, and sweet but not syrupy.   I drank this when I was sick with a stomach bug; I usually drink ginger ale when I’m under the weather, but I didn’t want to pump my body with chemicals.

POMx Pomegranate Peach Passion White Tea

My review: This tastes a bit like guava.  It’s tropical and sweet, much better than some other popular bottled peach drinks I’ve encountered.  It has a deep “perfume-y” flavor, and smells delicious.

POMx Light Pomegranate Wildberry White Tea

My review: This has a subtle berry flavor, plus something not quite identifiable.  I drank this after a long run and felt good about using it to refuel; it’s chock full of antioxidants and doesn’t have too many calories per serving.  It was a little too sweet for me; I’m not a big fan of sugary drinks, natural or not.  It had a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Bottom line: Would I buy these? Maybe.  I don’t love drinking my calories, but I enjoyed these teas in small doses.  I imagine they’re on the pricey side so I’d probably save them for a special occasion.

POMx Iced Teas are slated to hit stores soon, so keep on the lookout! Thanks, POM, for giving me the opportunity to try these out!