Ari and I drove into Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, to meet up with Judy at the registration booth.

There was already a refreshment table out; I grabbed some water while Ari went straight for the Swiss Miss.

I wore the same outfit I had on at the Komen 5K… don’t need any surprises!

There were only about 400 runners; a particularly good size considering I wasn’t too familiar with the area.

Soon it was time for Judy and I to start warming up (and it was a little chilly out); Ari said goodbye and went home to practice.

We got up to the front of the line and decided we would run together, but if one of us wanted to race ahead, she should.  I didn’t want to overexert myself too quickly, but I wanted to set a good pace. Good thing I brought some good tunes!

Mile 1: 9:34

Mile 2: 9:00

We managed to maintain about a 9-minute mile throughout the entire race.  Judy likes to start off slowly, and I tend to peter out towards the end, so we were a very good match and really pushed each other.  There were times, towards the end, that I wanted to walk (or throw up), but I didn’t want to let Judy down.  When we rounded the final corner and I saw the finish line, I sprinted to the end, finishing with an official time of 55:47.  Judy was a mere two seconds behind, at 55:49. (The top female won at 49 minutes; she is the red-headed woman in some of the photos above.)

Total distance: 10K (6.2 miles)

Total time: 55:47

Maximum heart rate: 193 (97%)

Average heart rate: 182 (92%)

Calories burned: 696

After making a quick bathroom stop, I got on the refreshment line and picked up some fruit.  They were also serving bagels, but I wanted to wait until I got home and could have a real lunch.

We hung around to watch the awards ceremony, and is it lucky we did! Look who won FIRST PLACE IN HER AGE GROUP?

Congratulations, Judy!!! The second and third places were about 15 minutes behind Judy’s time.  In case I haven’t bragged enough about her in the past, Judy has done dozens of triathalons all around the world, often placing in her age group.  This was by far not her first trophy, but it was exciting nonetheless.  On the way home, she was stopped and photographed by strangers on the street, including a group of French tourists on the subway.  C’est super!

It ended up being a huge gadinx to get home from Bed-Stuy, and by the time I got off the subway I was ready to eat my leg.  I knew the pickings in our fridge would be slim, so I stopped at the health food store to get a sandwich.

I thought this look like the Whole Foods chicken salad I love, but it ended up just being a wedge of iceberg lettuce, two slices of Tofurkey, and vegan mayo.

Thanks, but no thanks.  I threw out the inside, saved the bread, and plopped on a Trader Joe’s Masala burger with hummus and tomato sauce.  Yes, it may have been a little strange, but I was too hungry to try to figure something else out.

I also had a Blueberry Chobani.

After lunch, I’d planned on getting some work done, but I was so tired that I passed out in bed for the next two hours.  It wasn’t exactly a “restful” sleep, and the only indication that I’d even shut my eyes was the different time on the clock radio.  When I woke up, I was starving again, and had a bowl of Kay’s Naturals Gluten-Free Honey Almond Protein Cereal.

I ate the cereal with skim milk and 1/2 banana.  It tasted a bit like eating air.  Sweet air, but air nonetheless.

Unfortunately, right after I ate this, Ari got home and decided he wanted to go out for a light sushi snack.  Don’t you hate when that happens? I went with him anyway, and we split some hot sake.  We were celebrating Sunday!

I also had a piece of his sweet potato roll.  I wasn’t hungry, but these things are so good!

Then Ilana, Ari and I decided to go to the movies to see Whip It.  Before we left, I had a kiwi.

Ilana and I liked it, but Ari did not.  It may not have been “brilliant”, so to speak, but I thought it was a cute movie.  I saw the Roller Girls once in St. Paul, and it was so much fun! I want to do that again.  At the theater, I ate the better part of a box of gummy bears.

After the movie, Ari and I took ourselves out to Locale for dinner using our Coinstar winnings.  (Yes, this may have been the cause of my food poisoning, and yes, I did order seafood again on a Sunday.  So be it.) We started with bread and olive oil…

We shared a bottle of Washington Merlot.

We split the warm mozzarella and olive appetizer, which was delicious.  I have to do this at home… it’s so simple!

For my entrée, I ordered the grilled swordfish with broccoli rabe, purple potatoes, and artichokes in a chimichurri sauce (this was a special).

This was delicious.  I ate about 2/3, and brought the rest home.  You might see it later on grilled bread as a panini, or in spaghetti as a fancy pasta.

Ari ordered steak! He loves it so much.  My mom is going to teach me how to make it perfectly for his birthday.  He looks a little like a vampire here, no?

It was a splurge night in every sense of the word, but we were celebrating The Upwelling‘s upcoming European tour (they leave today), my successful race, and just, you know, life.  So, we ordered the Peanut Butter Bomba to split for dessert.  This is what we call a “tartuffo” at the restaurant I used to work in: peanut butter gelato covered in milk chocolate, with a chocolate center, and drizzled with chocolate and peanut butter.   One thing I can always count on Ari for his love of chocolate+pb together.  (I scraped off the whipped cream so it wouldn’t ruin his evening… too much white and creamy.)

It was a great day.  The band will be touring for the next 10 days, during which I will be watching Charley and getting my life in order.  Tall order? Nah.  I have to start that now… this is going to be a very busy day.  I’m very behind on blog reading and commenting; I hope to catch up in the next couple days, but please don’t be offended if it takes me a little longer than that.  I’m a little stressed out right now, but I love you all very much.

Today is the last day to enter my Chobani giveaway… I will be closing the contest tonight at 10 PM EST so get those entries in!

Have a great day.

I got up bright and early on Sunday morning to go on a long run.  I ate half a Chocolate Chip Clif bar, drank some water, and bagged up my gummies.

I ran at a snail’s pace.  Shouldn’t I be getting faster, and not slower, as I keep doing this?  I think it was my worst time ever.  I’d planned on running 6.5 miles, but ended up stopping after 4.5 and didn’t end up needing my gummies.  However, this didn’t bother me at all! It was not even 9 in the morning on a Sunday, and I’d already knocked out a decent run before breakfast.  Not bad.

Total distance: 4.5 miles

Total time: 48:59

Maximum heart rate: 201 (102%)

Average heart rate: 164 (83%)

I had brunch plans with Kalle, Lisa, and Lizzie, so I grabbed an apple on the way out to keep the hunger beasts at bay.

We ate at City Bakery, and by the time we got there I was so thirsty and so hungry that I wanted to eat everything and it ended up taking me so long to actually pick out my food.  Don’t you hate that?

I ended up loading my plate with smoked salmon, roasted cauliflower and butternut squash with Asian pears and hazelnuts (must make this):

I also got a bowl of fruit.

Black coffee and water was a must…

I also grabbed a bite of Lizzie’s cornbread/jalepeño/white cheddar sandwich.  Great in theory, but strangely sweet in execution.

It was very nice to catch up with my ladyfriends… I do not do this nearly enough.  On the way home, I stumbled upon a street fair and picked up cups of lemonade for me and my mom.

I was still parched… I’m usually very good about rehydrating after a run, but I was in such a rush to get out the door that I didn’t think about it.  This will be a lot easier soon (hint, hint)! I was also, somehow, still hungry, so I made an open-faced sandwich with peanut butter, banana, honey & cinnamon when I got home.

A little later, George and Judy came over.  My mom set out tomatoes with sea-salt and Maker’s Mark… that’s how we do it chez LVP.

I wasn’t feeling the whiskey, so I went for a nice glass of Riesling.

Ari came over, and we got the party started.  My dad made us a feast! We had spicy ginger potatoes… who doesn’t like fancy home fries?

We also had spicy corn chowder (see a theme?), which I’ve been begging for for years.

Fresh-baked bread to sop it all up…

Sweet and spicy scallops…

It was a delicious meal, rounded out with wasabi-spiced cucumber salad.

My aunt, uncle and cousins sent a very special Edible Arrangements presentation:

My dad also made one of my favorite cakes…

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake, from this cookbook.  It’s made without butter or egg yolks, but is so rich and flavorful.

I enjoyed my slice with quite a bit of fruit.

It was a fabulous birthday weekend, and I’m pretty sure I sailed through it on a constant sugar high.  But wait! The treats will continue indefinitely; there are still a couple cupcakes left, and George and Judy gave me some fancy dark chocolate as well.

I also enjoyed some snail mail from my long-lost lovelies, Carlye and Luke, great new running gear, fashion items… very spoiled, I am.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend as well!  I’m off to do more reading and job searching.  Have a fabbity fab day!

*Sunday in the city

Yesterday, Ari and I staggered out of bed to meet his family for breakfast at the diner.  We all seemed to be a little sleepier than usual- his father asked if his caffeine could be injected intravenously- and we downed cup after cup of coffee.  I decided to order another menu newbie: the Breakfast Wrap!

This had eggs (I asked for whites), avocado, tomato, peppers, onion and gruyère cheese, all rolled up in a whole wheat wrap.   Très bien! However, does anyone else find that store-bought wraps have way too much of the “wrap” part? There were a few folds of bread that I just nipped off.  I also had a few bites of homefries, but the sandwich and coffee really filled me up.

I spent the rest of the morning catching up on blogs and e-mail, then hustled to get ready to run some errands in the city.  I grabbed an apple on the way out the door:

Somewhere between one errand and the other, I pulled out the Koka Moka Pro Bar from the Summit swag bag.

Pros: I was immediately excited about the ENORMOUS chunks of chocolate chips. I love the mix of textures: soft oats and dried fruit, hard chunks of whole nuts. It has a definite espresso taste without being bitter, which is a result of a lot of mocha-flavored things (like Starbucks’ espresso brownie).  My last bite tasted a little spicy, which I identified as the nutmeg and orange elements. It was a nice surprise, and didn’t overpower the bar.  I wasn’t left with a “protein” aftertaste, because there is zero protein powder in the bar. This was also developed in Park City, Utah, for skiers, hikers and mountain climbers. Cool!

Cons: It was smaller than I’d thought, given that the bar is intended to be a “meal.” I’d like something like this to be a little bigger, and take me a while to eat.

Would I buy this again? I’m not a huge fan of meal replacement bars. However, in theory, they work on busy days when there’s not another option.  I ate this bar two hours before heavy exercise, and I was able to power through my workout quite easily.  It didn’t taste artificial, so I would definitely keep these on hands for busy days when I don’t have time to prepare a full meal.

It was a very grim and rainy day, and I really, really didn’t want to work out.  Even though I’d carried my heavy gym bag all over town, I was ready to just go home and soak in the tub.  However, I forced myself to lace up, get on the stairmaster, and ended up having the best workout I’ve had in a long time. I warmed up with 20 minutes on the stairs, then headed over to the treadmill and ran 3.1 miles (without stopping!) in just under 31 minutes.  The 5K is in two weeks, and since I now know I can do the distance, I’m going to try to work on my speed a little bit. Nothing crazy, but we’ll see what happens!  After my run, I did some strength training and ab work, and let me tell you: I was a whole lot sweatier than some of the muscle men in there

Total time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Maximum heart rate: 186 (93%)

Average heart rate: 149 (75%)

Calories burned: 758

I was a hungry beast when I got back to the locker room, and had bar #2. This obviously wasn’t ideal, but it was better than eating my gym shorts.

I left the gym and went straight to Trader Joe’s to do an all-out grocery shop.  I’d thought the line would be atrocious on a Friday night- their wine cellar queue stretched out the door- but apparently this is the best time to go, and I was in and out in under forty minutes.

I spotted these on the shelf and had to try them.  We serve lobster ravioli at my restaurant; sometimes I ask Ramon to make an extra piece for me.  Anywho, I was in the mood for a whole serving, so I picked these up.

While I cooked the pasta, I heated garlic and oil in a skillet. I added some arugula until just wilted, then tossed in the ravioli.

I sprinkled some feta on top, and served it with steamed broccoli.  My plate looked like Fall!

Ari and I coordinated to meet outside and go to Coldstone.  I usually get a “sinless” flavor, but today I was in the mood for something different: coffee ice cream with chocolate shavings.

Ari got something chocolate-peanutbuttery, which he ate with zeal.

We were both feeling a little gross after the ice cream… it was a little too rich.  We plopped down for some In Treatment to settle our tums… nothing like a little talk therapy to make everything better

Well, it may be Saturday, but it’s time for me to get off my bum and ready for the day.  Ari‘s show is tonight, and I have to go track down some of my beautiful girlies.

Around the blogs…

Ada is hosting a fabulous back-to-school giveaway.  Even if you’re only a member of the “school of life” like a certain post-grad  you may know, you can still win some pretty sweet goodies.

Jenny is also giving away some nice gluten-free sweet and savory treats, so you should head over there, too.

Have a great weekend!

Saturday’s breakfast was strange: sweet, sour & nutty oats.

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup waters
• 1 banana
• 1 plum
• 1 scoop PB
• cinnamon

Somehow, the sweetness of the banana and the tart, fleshiness of the plum worked really well.  I didn’t even remember that I hadn’t put any brown sugar or honey in to sweeten it!

After I ate breakfast and Ari had lunch (I’ve been getting up a lot earlier than he has and had breakfast so I can keep myself on a remotely normal schedule), we headed into the city to see The Hangover.  It was a lot funnier than I expected it to be,  but very foul, so if you get offended by college potty humor, I’d think twice before seeing it.

At the theater, we split a bag of Haribo gummies that I brought back from the Duty Free Shop at the airport in Berlin for precisely this reason.  Yeah, that’s a lot of gummies.  I also had a sip of Ari’s Coke Zero, but mostly stuck to slamming gummies

We had a late lunch at a make-your-own salad place nearby. Unfortunately, despite the many promising ingredients, it was one of the worst salads I’ve ever had.

In the bowl, went:

• mixed greens
• grilled shrimp (about 20)
• blue cheese (“a little” ended up looking more like 1/2 cup)
• walnuts (another 1/2 cup)
• roasted red peppers
• corn
• fat free honey mustard dressing

I ended up picking out a lot of the nuts and cheese, and a couple shrimp.  I was so upset I didn’t ask for the dressing on the side, because there was an inch-deep pool of it at the bottom and everything was dripping. Yuck!

But, Tasty D Lite (sorry, The Lite Choice) made it all better.

I got a small cup of hazelnut fudge topped with chocolate chips.  (I knocked a lot of the chips into the trash… there were so many that I couldn’t taste the ice cream!)

After satisfying our sweet teeth, we went home to make a nice dinner for my mom. While shopping for groceries, we saw some copy cats:

I was really excited about this dinner.  Ever since I saw Jenna‘s take on grouper, I knew I had to try it!  The seafood department at my grocery store didn’t have grouper, so I got some halibut (“This is a fancy fish,” my mom said) instead.

I followed Jenna‘s instructions and marinated four filets in a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and fresh rosemary and oregano.

Instead of traditional basil pesto, I went with Cibo Naturals‘ Cilantro Lime Pesto.  I’ve used this brand before… they have a lot of interesting pestos and spreads. I smeared a dollop of this onto each filet:

Then I topped each piece with chopped sundried tomatoes, mixed olives, and a smidgen of feta.  (For Ari, who doesn’t like things that are “white and creamy,” I used mozzarella, as per his request.  His filet is the white monster second from the top.)

I baked the fish at 375 for about 15 minutes, or until a knife can be easily inserted into the center. What a pretty fish!

I also sautéed some mushrooms up for Ari (cooking spray, salt & pepper) and made a simple romaine/tomato salad with a dressing of white garlic basil vinegar, lemon-infused olive oil, grey poupon mustard, Newman’s Own limeade, and a pinch of ginger powder.

A nice dinner is not complete without nice bread; I had a hunk of toasted baguette and dipped it in a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

To drink, we had some Kauri Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc that my friend Howard gave me.  It was very light and fresh, but a little spicy at the same time. It complemented the meal perfectly!

My mom picked up a delicious chocolate cake from Citarella’s for dessert.

We almost didn’t cut it in time…

It was made with three kinds of chocolate. Nomnomnom.

After dinner, I fell asleep while we all watched O Brother, Where Art Thou?. The concert that emerged from this movie was one of the first ones I ever saw!  We stayed the night with my mommy, too, which was very nice.

And then Sunday started. I woke up 45 minutes late, fifteen minutes before I was supposed to leave to work the brunch shift at work.  I still managed to make myself look halfway- decent, and whip up a good breakfast before racing out the door.

I’d made some rhubarb the night before, which I’d planned to use as a side dish but decided at the last minute to use it for breakfast instead.  I used a 12-oz bag of frozen ‘barb and cooked it in 2/3 cup water, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 garlic clove, and 1 tsp of sugar.   The garlic was quite a kick at 8:30 in the morning!

Into the breakfast bowl went:

• 1 container Fage 0%
• blueberries
• rhubarb
• pecans
• honey

At work, I had one of my snack baggies I prepared, thanks to your suggestions. Each has a handful of Puffins, diced dried apricots, prunes and figs, raisins and almonds.

I also had a small slice of of French toast made with baguette (not pictured), and an egg white omelet with veggies.  I had a couple potatoes, but ended up having to stay an hour later than normal so the rest of them got cold.

As I said, work was not so great… it happens.  I’m just lucky the restaurant is only a couple blocks away from my gym, because I really, really needed to burn off steam, and if it had been any further away I would have just gone home and stewed instead.

My workout was great, and was just what the doctor ordered.  I warmed up with 20 minutes on the stairs, then did some arm work, 35 minutes on the bike, and one ab machine afterwards.

Total time: 1 hour 13 minutes

Maximum heart rate: 185

Average heart rate: 149

Calories burned: 647

My body was still really sore from “HPF” on Friday, and this pushed me over the edge. But, I get to be very demanding in terms of getting back massages!

When I went home, I made the most comforting meal I know: Gliding Calm tofu, a sweet potato with honey and cinnamon, and brown rice.  For some reason, the tofu was a little dryer than usual, so I dipped it in Annie’s Lite Gingerly Vinaigrette. Perfect! (And if you’re wondering what’s on that little cracker, you’ll have to read on…)

I also snacked on a red bell pepper while getting dinner ready…

…and making some of Gena‘s favorite guacamole!

Lunch is going to be pretty damn fine!

Last night ended up making up for a not-so-great day.  Ari and I had some wine and watched The Wrestler, which we both liked a lot.

I’m a big believer that starting the morning right will help shape your day into a great one.  Last night, I stuck this guy into the fridge in hopes of besting yesterday’s ickiness.

Jim was made up of:

• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 banana
• 2 T skim milk
• 1.5 t peanut butter
• cinnamon
• apricot eyes, pecan nose, blueberry smile

The forecast looks good: today is going to be a good day.  I have to do some reading for my internship, but I like doing that.

Have a great day!

Ari and I started the day by going to the diner.  I haven’t been there for breakfast in a few months, and it was a nice way to say goodbye to Amerika (and this boy).  Coffee abounded.

I ordered an egg white omelet with feta, tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach.  I’m not a huge homefries fan, but they’re pretty good here.

I ate about 3/4 of the omelet (loaded with ketchup, of course), a few potatoes, and all of this toast (buttah and all).

We stopped at a salad bar for lunch.  Salad bars kind of gross me out… I don’t like the idea of all the food being so out in the open (except at Whole Foods!), but hopefully I won’t get sick just this once.  I filled my container with lettuce, canteloupe, honeydew, pineapple, watermelon, kiwi, kidney beans and chickpeas.

I also had some Fage 0% with honey… I had to eat it with a fork because I couldn’t find a spoon.

I had a Maple Nut Clif Bar at the airport and did some important reading.  Yes, I will still be reading teenie magazines when I’m collecting social security.

We forgot to order a proper vegetarian meal for me, but they did have a pasta option.

I took a couple bites of the “canneloni,” but it was pretty gross. Luckily, my dad had stopped at Chili’s Express and bought me a huge garden salad:

And a cheese/apple plate.  I cut up the apples and a few cubes of cheese and added it to the salad.

I woke up a few hours later to blinding light and breakfast: egg/cheese on a biscuit, a banana, and OJ.  I put thoughts of cholesterol and fat aside and gobbled it all up… I was exhausted, and wanted to get my internal clock adjusted as quickly as possible.

We landed an hour early, so our apartment wasn’t quite ready when we got into the city.  Luckily, there’s a nice café right across the street, so we plopped down, sipped cappuccinos, and zoned out for a couple hours.  (Note: full-fat coffee drinks taste so much better! If only…)

We were pleasantly surprised when we finally got into the apartment.  It’s sleek, modern, and very simple.  I know you’re dying to know, so here’s where I’ll be sleeping:

Big wooden dining table (which I’ve unfortunately commandeered for my personal use):

Full-kitchen for maximum cooking potential:

The courtyard view from my bedroom:

I had a giant fig (and some other dried fruit) before taking a 4-hour nap.

When we woke up, we were all tired and starving.  We found a nice Middle Eastern restaurant around the corner from the apartment.  As soon as we sat down, I ordered a glass of Pinot Grigio, which just about put me to sleep.

We ordered a huge appetizer sampler to share, which came with hummus, tabouli, cheeses, grape leaves, fruit (pineapple, apples, honeydew), phylo pastry with spinach, and harissa.  (There was also some meat, but my parents promptly removed that.)

I ate it all with a slice of soft, doughy bread. (Get ready to see a lot of that!)

For my entrée, I ordered a filet of cod in a lemon/wine sauce with salad and potatoes.  I wasn’t expecting it to be fried or covered in a creamy sauce; I scraped most of the sauce off and just ate it anyway.  It was pretty good; I gave 1/4 of the fish to away, ate the rest, ate a few potatoes and all of the salad.

For dessert, we split a platter of bakhlava and honey cake.  The honey cake was divine… it was freshly made, not too sweet, and filled with hunks of nuts.

Since I’m a person with a pretty sleepy disposition to begin with,  I didn’t want to mess around with jet lag so I popped a sleep aide and went to sleep at 10.  I still woke up at 4AM, wide awake and starving.  I had a Quaker Chocolate Chip Chewy granola bar and read a little:

I fell back asleep until 10, got my game face on, and we all went out for breakfast.  We found a little bakery just around the corner, and got bowls of coffee:

And a platter with a hard-boiled egg, fruit, veggies, sunflower bread, butter, honey, and strawberry jam.

The US Dollar : Euro is still about 1.50 : 1, but, with the coffee, this was only about 4.50 Euros/per person. Not bad!

Since we have an apartment here, we went to the grocery store to stock up on some essentials like yogurt, fruit, cheese, bread, and chocolate.

I found another bar of “pour messieurs” chocolate… what’s up on the women-hating, chocolatiers?!

They’re having a sort of festival celebrating asparagus season.  They have cute little displays like this all over!

We stopped at a cheese counter, stocked up, and ate some samples.

The strawberries are to die for here. They’re sweet, tender and have a completely different texture than the variety we get back home.

Well, I’m off to go make something for lunch and plan out the day.  Hope you’re having a fantastic day!

German phrase of the day: Jet lag = Zeitunterschied.