Well, we are now back from a truly perfect weekend.  It was just what I needed to relax [...]]]> I don’t know what is going on with the formatting… all of the text is aligning to the right of my photos and I can’t change it.  If you’ve had this problem, I’d appreciate your help!

Well, we are now back from a truly perfect weekend.  It was just what I needed to relax and recharge my batteries!  I hope you enjoyed yours as well.

On Friday night, we piled into the car and headed to Southampton.

When we got there, we had no obligations other than to read cozily in front of the fire.

Although it’s been 10 years since I’ve ordered a BLT at the Sip ‘n Soda, I finally discovered a solution: veggie cheeseburger-topped salad!

With a healthy side of onion rings, of course

It rained all weekend, so we decided it was perfect movie-watching weather and went to see Brooklyn’s Finest.  It’s really good, but very brutal- kind of like Training Day, part II, set in New York instead of LA.

After the movie, we grabbed comforting bowls of bottomless pasta at La Parmigiana.  This fettuccine with calamari is my new favorite.

No meal at the Parm is complete without salad and their famous dressing… it’s the only “Italian-style” dressing I’ve ever liked.

I found this clipping in Health magazine, and have been rolling out my ITB every day for a few minutes.  I really need to keep this habit up, and continue start doing more strengthening moves for my hips and legs.

After fueling up with the world’s most addicting bread (also known as Bob’s Red Mill Irish Soda Bread) and warming up to Yoga for Runners and swallowing an Aleve, I head outside to see how my legs were feeling.

My knee started to hurt after a mile, but I pushed through and ran five.  When I got home I used the foam roller on my ITB and stretched, and although my knee was still a little sore (and will probably be today as well), it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

Whatever happens next Sunday, I’m going to have fun!

I restored my energy with a mug of hot chocolate, a big salad and a book.  Hit the spot!

Some of you asked why chocolate milk and hot chocolate is a good recovery drink for endurance athletes.  “Compared to plain milk, water, or most sports drinks, it has double the carbohydrate and protein content, perfect for replenishing tired muscles. Its high water content replaces fluids lost as sweat, preventing dehydration. Plus it packs a nutritional bonus of calcium, and includes just a little sodium and sugar — additives that help recovering athletes retain water and regain energy,” says Fitness magazine.   Pour me another, please!

When we got home, I unpacked, made myself a delicious dinner (grilled salmon marinated in lime juice, agave, olive oil & mustard, steamed broccoli and Trader Joe’s Harvest Grains blend) and watched Up In The Air. I didn’t have time to see all of the movies I wanted to this season, so I added them to my Netflix queue instead!

Well, I’m off to get the work week started.  Today I feel rested and ready for it!  Have a great Monday

This morning I had some things to do before work so I woke up at 5, headed to [...]]]> Thanks so much for your words of encouragement about the running situation… as of now, I’m still planning to run the half-marathon on the 21st, but I’m going to take it one day at a time.

This morning I had some things to do before work so I woke up at 5, headed to the gym for 30 minutes on the elliptical, and came home to git ‘er done.  I had a delicious breakfast cookie waiting for me when I got home; I made a similar mixture last week and it was so good that I had to try it again!

• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/2 mashed banana
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
• splash skim milk
• 1 tbsp chocolate PB2
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• toppings: goji berries, Greek yogurt, pumpkin, dried fig, agave

I brought an orange and apple to work… I’m always paranoid about my apples being too noisy, so today I sliced it beforehand.  Did the trick!

I also had a slice of Gluten Free Bran bread… I love more each time I have some! This recipe is a keeper.

My lunch salad did a good job of cleaning out the fridge…

In the mix:

• mixed greens
• steamed broccoli
• celery
• grape tomatoes
• goji berries
• dried cranberries
• TJ’s Vegetable Marsala burger (I missed these!)
• Goddess dressing (mixed in at work)

Danielle had bought a package of Lemon Poppyseed Heart Thrive bars and wasn’t a fan, so she gave me the remaining bar.   I love these!  They were great snacks when I was in Russia, and just as good today.

Dinner required little planning, but worked out perfectly.

I made SELF’s Creamy Lemon Shrimp, halving the recipe and making a few substitutions:

• Greek yogurt in place of plain yogurt/ sour cream
• celery in place of chives
• agave in place of sugar
• spinach in place of arugula

It may not look so pretty, but I really enjoyed this!  It was healthy, voluminous, and filled me right up.

I packed half for lunch tomorrow; I love when I don’t have to think about what to prepare for the next day.

Dessert was Banana Soft Serve with a melted square of Bakers chocolate.

A superoon may have also sneaked its way in

Off to watch Gossip Girl!  It’s a lovely, lazy night.  Have a great one.

Yesterday I was up at the crack of 4:50 to get my booty to the gym and log 7 miles before work.  I popped an Aleve and grabbed two Clif Peanut Butter Shot [...]]]> Looks like you guys really want to win some nut butter! Keep the entries coming; you have until tomorrow

Yesterday I was up at the crack of 4:50 to get my booty to the gym and log 7 miles before work.  I popped an Aleve and grabbed two Clif Peanut Butter Shot Roks (the company sent these a while back) on the way out the door… I liked them! Not two “protein-y” and just hearty enough to satiate me at 5 AM.

Luckily I was so worried about hurting my knee that I didn’t find myself getting too bored on the treadmill.

Warm-up: 5.8 mph

Mile 2-5.5: 6.4 mph

Mile 5.5-6: 7.5 mph

Mile 6-7: 6.2, 5.8., 5.0, 4.5, 4.0, 3.5

Total time: 1:07:55

I dropped my iPod twice while I was running, and the first time after I had to stop and retrieve it and then start up again it really hurt.  It was pretty sore on the walk home, too, so while I ate breakfast, I iced.

Breakfast was the first breakfast cookie I’ve had in months!

This was a particularly good one.

• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
• splash of skim milk
• 1 tsp Maranatha No Stir Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• toppings: goji berries, cinnamon, Greek yogurt, pumpkin, dried fig, agave

As soon as I got to work, I go an ice pack out of the freezer and kept it on my knee for most of the day.

Despite my long run, breakfast held me over really well!  I only needed an orange to hold me until lunch (I ate the apple later in the afternoon).

For lunch I had leftover Chopped Coconut Miso Salad and Everything Pretzel Crisps.

One of our coworkers thought Danielle and I were sisters… I don’t really see the resemblance, do you?

In addition to the apple, I also had a Caramel Chocolate Forze Bar in the afternoon.

After work I went to a networking happy hour (hello, $4 Absolut cocktails!) then came home to a delicious meal grace à Daddy-O: sautéed broccoli rabe, roasted tomatoes, octopus braised in red wine, and brown rice.

I also had a small bowl of mushroom and wild rice soup.

For dessert I had a bowl of Ciao Bella’s Blackberry Cabernet sorbet with chocolate sauce… somehow it was a little camera shy   Before I got into bed, I took one of my coworker’s suggestions (she’s run three half-marathons) and took a warm bath, then rolled out both IT Bands and glute muscles.  My calves are pretty sore today and I have a feeling my knee isn’t going to be much better.  I’m instating a “no running until Sunday” rule.

Off to go walk the pooch and get ready for the day.  Have a great weekend!

But first…

This morning I woke up at 5, a good hour and a half before the sun came up.  No matter!  I was actually surprisingly alert after 5.5 hours of sleep; I packed up my work, laced my sneakers and headed over to the gym.  I planned on just [...]]]> This guy came home today!

But first…

This morning I woke up at 5, a good hour and a half before the sun came up.  No matter!  I was actually surprisingly alert after 5.5 hours of sleep; I packed up my work, laced my sneakers and headed over to the gym.  I planned on just zoning out on the bike and getting a good chunk of reading in, but the bike turned off after 20 minutes so I moved to the stairmaster.  It’s a little harder to read when you’re trying not to fall off a five-foot tall machine! I climbed for 15 minutes, then headed home to work some more, shower, and get ready for work.  Days are a lot longer when you get up early!

Quick side note: I used to post my exercise statistics after a workout (with time, calories, etc.) but I didn’t know if that was “useful” or not… I’ve gotten a few e-mails recently requesting them, so please let me know if you’d like me to post them!

Breakfast was another darn fine jar of oats.

• 1/2 cup oatmeal cooked in 1/2 cup water
• canned pumpkin
• pumpkin butter
• 1 tbsp chunky peanut butter
• l tsp lemon curd
• stevia
• cinnamon

I left for work an hour early to get some things done at the office.  Because I’d been up so long I ate all three of my snacks before lunch: apple, orange, and Haribo gummies (how’d those get in there?!).  When you’ve been up since 5, eating candy at 8:30 in the morning doesn’t sound so crazy.

For lunch I had a Pomegranate Chobani and a big salad.

In the mix:

• leftover salad
• plantains
• sweet potato falafel balls
• Goddess dressing

I ate at my desk and worked through lunch… busy busy day!  Around 3:30, I snacked on a Chocolate Peanut Butter Forze Bar.  I know this is Melissa‘s favorite flavor!

This bar reminded me of a combination Chewy granola bar, Oreo granola bar (remember those? I used to bring them to day camp in my lunch box), and Reese’s crisp.  In other words: I can’t believe it’s not loaded with chemicals!

Ari got home while I was at work, and we set up a last-minute dinner date at David Burke Townhouse for Restaurant Week.

We started with warm rolls and fancy butter that was carved into a tree.

I started with the Pretzel Crusted Crab Cake and Sweet Chili Prawn with orange confitand poppy seed honey.  Sweet lordy, this was one of the best crab cakes I’ve ever had, and I’ve tasted my fair share of crab cakes.  8/10

Ari, mushroom fiend that he is, got frothy mushroom soup.  This was good, but a little bland… no salt on the tables.  6/10

For my entrée, I took the Scottish Salmon with braised Napa cabbage, charred tomato and curried apple slaw.  The salmon was very tender and I liked all of the different textures, but again, was a little bland. 6/10

Ari ordered the Mustard-Crusted Tuna with mushrooms and chicken consommé. I didn’t taste this because of the chicken, but Ari gave it an 8.267/10.

Dessert was an easy choice for both of us: we both chose the Bittersweet Chocolate Cake with peanut butter mousse, roasted banana ice cream, caramelized peanuts and marshmallow. 8/10!

It was a lovely evening with delicious food and fabulous company.  We decided to save money and have wine at home instead, so we’re sipping a little white and watching Gone Baby Gone in bed.  I’m hoping to be asleep by 11… I’m a grandpa even on date nights!

Good morning!  Sorry about my little disappearing act, but I had a late night and just wanted to hit the sheets!  I hope you had a nice day.

A couple days ago I went on a mini grocery shop to pick up a [...]]]> Ari was interviewed on Fret 12! Check out his videos

Good morning!  Sorry about my little disappearing act, but I had a late night and just wanted to hit the sheets!  I hope you had a nice day.

A couple days ago I went on a mini grocery shop to pick up a few things to hold me over until I had time to do a bigger shop.  While in the dairy aisle, I stumbled upon this Olympus Greek Yogurt.

It was pretty expensive ($2/ 6 oz), but I’d never seen it before so I gave it a try.  It was thick and very creamy, but I don’t think I’ll be buying this on a regular basis.  The Chobani yogurts were on sale for $.99, so I stocked up on those instead.

I mixed the Olympus with a banana, Trader Joe’s mini blueberry bran muffin, cinnamon and honey.

At work, I snacked on an orange.  I’m pretty sure I will turn into a navel orange one of these days; I eat so many!

Danielle and I had planned all week on going to Chop’t, a fun salad place that stands out amongst the more basic, boring salad bars in our work neighborhood.  We couldn’t remember quite where it was, though, and spent a good twenty minutes walking around in circles trying to find it!

It seemed like half the city must have had the same idea; the line was at least 30 people long. It went quickly, though, because so many people work, assembly-line style, to get people in and out as fast as possible.

I ordered the Vegetarian Powerhouse Salad (any salad can be made into a wrap), and added gouda cheese.

Each salad comes with a strip of whole wheat pita.   I dressed my salad with Rocket Fuel:  a spicy, oil-free dressing that kind of reminded me of cocktail sauce.

These salads were huge! Definite two-pounders… but we finished them!

Have you been to Chop’t or a similar salad bar? What did you think of it?

Danielle brought me two of Anne‘s Sweet Potato Cranberry Coconut Muffins.  Even though I was pretty satiated from lunch, I had to try one!

Delicious! They’re moist without being greasy, and have the perfect consistency: smooth and chunky.  I think I’ll be making these myself one of these days!

After work I went home to do a little cleaning to make the house presentable for my little red-headed friend.   Lunch held me over really well… until it didn’t.  Hunger hit me full-force, but not wanting to spoil my appetite, I just had a couple clementines.

Kalle and I went to Locale for dinner.   It was delicious as usual, but the service was so strange!  Our waiter literally came over upwards of 20 times, giving us about a minute in between each visit to ask if we were ready to order.  As a former member of the service industry I know it’s tempting to try to move a table along, but this was excessive and downright rude.  Grr!  But… we didn’t let it spoil our fun.

We started with Mario Maschio Cabernet Sauvignon…

… enjoyed foccaccia with olive oil…

… and I was so close to branching out and ordering a different dish, but in the end I had to go with the linguine with seafood.   I love it!  It was really salty this time, for some reason, though.

We shared an order of warm chocolate cake with hazelnut ice cream and berry coulis for dessert.

After we left the restaurant, we went back to the apartment and pretended we were 15 again.  The hour got late, more wine was had, and after Kalle left I went back to the fridge and had a little party with the leftover pasta I didn’t finish at dinner.  And may have made myself a Reese’s cup or two.  What’s life without a night or two like this?  Nobody can be perfect all the time.

Well, I have a full day ahead of me so I’m going to sign off.  Have a great day!

Yesterday I was in a rush to get [...]]]> After all of your great advice about fitting exercise into a busy schedule and even sleeping in my gym clothes, I slept through the alarm and didn’t make it to the gym before work!  (I did get there after 5, though, so all was not lost).

Yesterday I was in a rush to get out the door; luckily breakfast was a no-brainer.  I took Ari’s rejected breakfast cookie…

… and turned it into a Breakfast Cookie Parfait! I just cut it up and layered it with nonfat plain yogurt and a little cinnamon.  It was yummy and filling; I think I may eat it this way more often!

At work, I snacked on a Fuji apple (cut into slices to minimize loud crunching).

For lunch, I had leftover tofu, cheezy “pasta” and an orange.

I made the “pasta” by tossing a package of angel hair Shirataki noodles with Elise’s cheeze sauce and cherry tomatoes.  I was a little skeptical about the “cheeze” at first, but I really liked the taste!  And I love having Shirataki noodles for lunch… I tend to prefer to eat heavy pastas for dinner instead of early in the day, and this was nice and light.

Anticipating my post-work sweat sesh, I snacked on a Green Superfood Chocolate Whole Food Energy Bar around 3.  The last time I ate this bar I wasn’t crazy about it, but I really like it now.  The first bite is a little odd, but then it’s smooth, rich and fruity.

At the gym I did 13 minutes on the bike, 20 minutes on the stairs, arms + abs.  Not bad for a total body workout in under an hour!

I met my parents for dinner at Regional, an Italian restaurant on the upper west side.   We started with rustic bread and garlicky bean dip…  (Still learning this camera… sorry again about the lighting!)

We shared a mixed green salad with beets and gorgonzola cheese three ways.

We also split a side of sautéed broccoli rabe.

For my entrée, I ordered spaghettini with frutti di mare.  The pasta was cooked perfectly, but the seafood was tough and overcooked.  The restaurant was pretty crowded and we’ve never had this problem before; I’ve worked in restaurants before and I understand that this happens sometimes.  I still ate almost all of it.

After dinner we walked to Tasti D Lite for frozen yogurt.  It was way too cold to eat on the walk home, but I ate my cup of peanut butter and coffee and cream with chocolate chips as soon as I warmed up.

I slept for a glorious 8 hours and woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the day.  My mom and I made steel-cut oatmeal and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast.

My bowl had:

• steel-cut oats cooked in skim milk + water
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1/3 banana
• warmed frozen strawberries
• walnuts
• cinnamon
• brown sugar

We also sampled my dad’s Turkish flagel (flat bagel) with sour cherry jam.

I went to the soup kitchen, then headed to Brooklyn to have lunch with my little red-headed friend at Kiku, the Japanese restaurant we discovered (and loved!) but couldn’t recall the name of.   We figured out that when it comes to Japanese food, you can get a FABULOUS lunch for under $10!  The same meal, while still a great deal, is at least $5 more expensive at dinner-time.

My meal came with salad + miso soup…

My Lunch Box came with California rolls, salmon teriyaki + vegetables, edamame, shumai and rice.  I took the rice home but ate everything else.

Even though we were pretty full, our playdates are never finished without a treat.  We popped in to Marquet Patisserie, an adorable bakery that transported me right back to the streets of Paris (where I studied abroad).

I had a chocolate brownie with crushed peanuts.

The late lunch + snack held me over so well that I wasn’t ready to eat dinner until after 9 o’clock.  And then I had what I can assure you, nine days yet, was The Most Random Meal of 2010:

Egg whites scrambled with a Dr. Praeger’s Tex-Mex Burger with tomato sauce and parmesan cheese…

… and shredded broccoli stalks with miso-tahini dressing (tahini, apple cider vinegar, ginger, miso paste, agave nectar, salt).  It’s better than it looks!

Inspired by all of Erin‘s pudding creations, I whipped up one of my new favorite desserts using two of my (formerly) not-so favorite products.

Tofu “pudding”

• 1/3 block silken tofu
• 1 T Chocolate PB2
• 1/3 packet stevia

Mix to combine.  Enjoy!

This was the first time I’ve actually enjoyed stevia! I don’t really like powdered sweeteners (I don’t normally take sugar in my coffee or tea, and often find sugar substitutes to be too sweet).  However, blended with the tofu and PB2.  As long as I don’t think of PB2 as a peanut butter substitute, I can enjoy it mixed in to other things.  Peanut butter is what it is, and shouldn’t be messed around with.  Just sayin’!

I also ate about 15 of these throughout the day.  It will be a sad day in the LVP household when  go out of season.

I’m watching Jackie Brown in bed and getting ready to go to sleep.  I think I’m going to pull out my mat and do a quick YogaDownload Lunar Flow.. tomorrow will be a busy day, and it always helps me relax!

Hope you had a great night

On Christmas morning, we headed into the living room to open presents, drink [...]]]> Another Christmas has come and gone, but for the first time that I can remember, I’m not experiencing that “let down” feeling one day, even two days after that’s similar to what I felt my first day home from sleepaway camp.

On Christmas morning, we headed into the living room to open presents, drink tea and coffee, and chat.

I was completely shocked to open a package and find…

the new Canon PowerShot s90!  I’d been debating on whether I wanted to get an SLR or a smaller camera; I wanted an SLR for the quality, but didn’t want the hassle of carrying around another bag all the time.  Well, this camera has the quality of the SLR, and it automatically adjusts to the appropriate setting, be it portrait or macro.

Eager to try out my new toy, I wasted no time by snapping photos of our special Christmas-morning breakfast: banana pancakes!

I wanted some protein…

…so I topped my three pancakes with plain Oikos Greek yogurt and real maple syrup.

It was quite a festive morning.

We hung around the house for a little while (Ari read me the first 20 pages of the camera manual), then headed out to the movie theater to see Sherlock Holmes.  We always see movies on Christmas Day, and tend to go to the big blockbusters.  The rest of New York City seemed to have the same idea as us; the line was so long it snaked up three flights of stairs!  Luckily, my parents got there early and were in the front of the line.  We tease my mom for wanting to get to movies, restaurants, and airports early, but sometimes she’s right

Meanwhile, Ari and I stopped at a deli to get lunch.

My spinach salad had beets, mandarin oranges, carrots, curried shrimp cucumbers, blue cheese and honey mustard dressing on the side.

We also snacked on chestnuts my dad had roasted in the morning…

… and sneaked some homemade, unbuttered (but generously salted!) popcorn in… all of a sudden, I can’t get enough salty snacks!

The movie was really good (as was the eye candy); although I fell asleep for the first hour.  I don’t know what’s wrong with me- you really can’t take me anywhere! The theater was pretty warm, though.  It was pouring rain when we left the theater, so we hurried home to leftovers and a warm apartment.

We had pumpkin/sweet potato/coconut soup…

… pasta using slow-roasted tomatoes for sauce (delicious)…

… and a palate-cleansing fennel-and-navel-orange salad.

We gobbled up the last of the bûche de Noël for dessert, of course!

The magic of the holidays doesn’t seem to be dissipating, no matter how old I get or how “adult” my life may seem to be.  It’s not about gifts or fancy dinners, but a time to share with my family and those I love.

I hope you had a happy, healthy and safe holiday.  Until next year…

Read about last year’s Christmas at the LVP household!

There are few things more exciting and anticipatory for me than Christmas morning… I hope that feeling never goes away! Everyone else is still sleeping, and, “as giddy as a schoolboy,” I am up and ready to bring on the holiday! But I’ll be a nice daughter and girlfriend [...]]]>

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

There are few things more exciting and anticipatory for me than Christmas morning… I hope that feeling never goes away! Everyone else is still sleeping, and, “as giddy as a schoolboy,” I am up and ready to bring on the holiday! But I’ll be a nice daughter and girlfriend and can wait a little bit longer. Let me tell you about Christmas Eve!

I had the best of intentions yesterday… I really was planning to go to the gym before work. I even made breakfast the night before to take with me and eat at the office! Jim really is the best of all portable breakfasts.

• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/2 packet Tera’s Whey Bourbon Vanilla protein powder (I think this made my cookie fluffier than usual)
• 1 banana
• 1 scoop Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter
• 2 T skim milk
• toppings: prunes, goji berries, cinnamon

This was a winning combination. The sweet spicy peanut butter was excellent, and the goji berries plumped up over night and were soft and chewy, not hard and gummy as they usually are on their own.

Anyway, as you’ve probably guessed by now, I didn’t make it to the gym. I just snoozed, and snoozed… and snoozed! I ended up getting up an hour later than I do on regular days! Good thing I packed my breakfast. At work, I also snacked on an apple. (Skirt by J.Crew, tights by Trina Turk for hue.)

We had an early close at the office, so my mom met me and we went to Le Pain Quotidien for lunch.

I wanted something hot, so I got a small soy chai to warm up. It needed the teensiest bit of extra sugar.

For my entrée, I ordered the Organic Tofu Salad with nori, mixed greens, and three savory dressings. It also came with organic bread.

We split a slice of pumpkin pie for dessert… it was Christmas Eve, after all! (I’m not a huge fan of this kind of pie crust, so I cut it off. This can also save you about 100 calories, if you are so inclined.)

New York is in full Christmas swing right now.

We stumbled on a holiday crafts fair on our walk home!

I was very excited to find a stall selling Fine & Raw chocolate.

After chatting with the self-described “Fine & Raw elf”, we knew we had to try some raw hot chocolate.

We split a small cup with a “shake” of sea salt… divine. I’ll have to try their chocolate bars sometime!

Finally, we headed home to get started on the festivities!

Ari came over, and we all started on the tree.

I am very picky about who gets to top our tree… Santa always wins!

No tree-trimming party is complete without champagne…

Cheers!

My dad really outdid himself to make a special Christmas Eve dinner for us to enjoy together.

We had a bottle of Joseph Faiveley Mâcon-Villages to complement our meal.

Whenever there’s wine to be opened, Ari has to do it.

This wine key is supposed to be idiot-proof, but I just can’t figure it out! It’s become a bit of a joke.

We started with a pumpkin and sweet potato soup made with a coconut milk base, sweet spices, cilantro and toasted peanuts:

Curried lobster (!), Israeli couscous with cauliflower, and herbed tomatoes he slow-roasted for five hours. It was a fabulous meal.

As per LVP tradition, we closed the meal with bûche de Noël (“yule log”). Ours came from Balthazar; we’ve been getting these for years and years and after careful research are convinced this is the best one.

It’s a chocolate cake with vanilla cream, marzipan, and hints of rum and mocha.

After dinner, we all watched Christmas Vacation. We couldn’t find our copy last year (very sad), but this year was a success. The only Christmas movies Ari had seen are It’s A Wonderful Life and The Santa Clause (one of my favorites), and I think he really liked it! After the movie, we migrated back to the Christmas tree to continue with our Christmas Eve tradition…

… reading The Polar Express aloud together.

Charley tried to read a little, too.

Well, I think it’s time! I’m going to go rally the troops. Have a wonderful day, wherever it finds you. Stay merry

My boss has a subscription to Harry and David’s Fruit of the Month club, and [...]]]> Happy Tuesday, chickadees! I hope you’ve had a fabulous day.  My day was nice and easy.  I’ve come to really appreciate the short hours I have when I get home, though! I try to stretch them to their fullest.

My boss has a subscription to Harry and David’s Fruit of the Month club, and this December she received a pineapple!  She didn’t want it and was worried it would rot if she left it in the kitchen, so I got it! Lucky me.  I LOVE pineapple, but never buy it for myself.

I woke up this morning not really knowing what I wanted, so I looked in the pantry and came out with a packet of Tera’s Whey Bourban Vanilla protein powder.

I mixed half a packet in with some plain yogurt, then topped the mixture with granola, pineapple and a drizzle of almond butter.

I’ve gotten pretty good at figuring out what time I need to leave to get to work and still be a few minutes early, so I leave myself with enough time to relax and enjoy a leisurely breakfast.  No one else is up in the house at this time, and it’s nice to have a little time to myself.

At work, I snacked on a pretzel, crunchiness be damned.

I started to get hungry at 12, but knew I would be starving if I ate all of my lunch that early.  So I just ate my side of molasses-roasted Brussels sprouts, and saved the rest for later.

When I was ready to eat the rest about an hour later, I had a salad with romaine, Whole Foods’ tempeh with roasted peppers, and tabouleh from Hummus Place.

…and more pineapple.  Such a treat!

I started to get hungry again around 4, so I snacked on a mini Chocolate Brownie Clif bar.

At the urging of both of my parents, I packed my gym bag last night and brought it to work with me.  At 5:00, I was not only ready to work out but excited to do so! It felt so good to work up a sweat after sitting still for 8 hours.  As soon as I changed clothes, I hopped on the treadmill and ran 3 miles.

Mile 1: warm-up at 5.8 mph, 0.5% incline

Mile 2: intervals at speeds between 6.1 and 7.0 mph, 0.5% incline

Mile 3: intervals at speeds between 5.8 and 6.3 mph, 0.5% incline

Mile 3.0-3.3: walking at 4.0 mph, 3.5% incline

I’m going to have to get used to running on the treadmill as long as the ground is icy outside.  I love the snow, but I have to admit: I’m a little jealous of our Floridian friends who can run outside through the year!  It was a little harder for me to stay focused today because I haven’t been able to find my iPod since my last long run before the 15K (when I borrowed Ari’s).  If I don’t find it soon, I think I’m going to have to use one of my paychecks to buy a new one… I don’t listen to it while walking around anymore (although I used to be plugged into my headphones all the time outside of the house!), but music is crucial when I exercise.  We’ll see.

When I got home from the gym, I was so hungry I thought I would eat my own hand.  Luckily, I’d been thinking about dinner all day so it took no time to imagine and prepare!  I just heated up leftover seafood linguine and last night’s branzino, seasoned my dish with chili flakes, and I was ready to go.

For dessert, I had one of each of my homemade holiday treats (which my coworkers loved, by the way): pumpkin molasses cookie, sugar cookie (dusted with cinnamon sugar), Hershey kiss-stuffed chocolate cookie, Aztec chocolate bark.

Now I’m in bed, sipping a mug of Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride tea, watching the end of Saving Silverman.  Sleep is imminent!

Melissa awarded me with this Beautiful Blogger award.

As the rules dictate, here are 7 random facts about me!

1. I really like the show Golden Girls, but I can never decide who my favorite is! I think it’s Rose (Betty White), but they all play off each other so well.

2. I can’t wink or snap my fingers.  (I may have mentioned this one before!)

3. I really want a pug or a French bulldog.  Ari also wants me to write down that I am not allowed to have one.

4. I’ve seen the movie Reality Bites more than 20 times.

5.  I hate being on speakerphone. HATE. DO NOT EVEN TRY,

6. If you watch A Positive Rage, the documentary about the Hold Steady, you will see me front row center in the audience at the show at First Avenue in Minneapolis!

7. The first rated R movie I ever saw was Greedy, with Michael J. Fox.

That’s it! Pretty random. Thanks for the award, Melissa.  Everyone else: feel free to list your on 7 facts! I love reading them

Night!

This morning [...]]]> Evening! How was your Monday? Mine was lovely, but very long.  I’m about ready to roll over and go to sleep… then wake up and do it all again!  This is working life, I guess. I actually really like having a routine, I just wish there were  more hours in the day.

This morning I was a little rushed to get things ready (and left a few dirty dishes in the sink for Ari… whoops).  We’re still really low on groceries; I’ve gotten some little things here and there, but haven’t done a big shop.  I think I’ll probably wait until after the holidays, though.  Anyway, I wanted to make a pumpkin cake, but I really didn’t have enough pumpkin.  And thus, the pumpkin-banana cake was born! I just mixed up a banana, pumpkin, pumpkin butter and egg whites together and microwaved them for 3 minutes.  I topped the mixture with plain yogurt, lemon curd and flaxy peanut butter, and mixed that all up, too. Mm-mm good!

At work I snacked on a Mocha-walla bar; I wasn’t exactly hungry, but it was a little slow in the office because of the holidays so I think I just ate out of boredom.  These bars always make me think of my friend K!  This was pretty good… not my favorite, but I’d probably buy it again.  I like the chunks of chocolate!

I stopped at Whole Foods yesterday to pick up some things (mostly protein) that I can mix into salads for fast and easy lunches to bring to work.  I’ll be honest: I’m not too proud that I haven’t been able to cook as much as I’d hoped, but I think I’ll get a better hang of it once I’ve settled in a little better.

My salad today had spinach, edamame salad, cabbage slaw, corn salad and sesame-baked tofu.

I ate with a friend from work, who stopped at Pret-à-Manger for her lunch.  While there, I picked up a container of antioxidant vinaigrette to dress my salad with because it was made with blueberries!  The sales clerk didn’t even charge me for it.  Tis the season for kindness and generosity

Back at work, I snacked on an apple and did some research.  Yep, I get paid to read! I love my job

One of my coworkers made my day when he not only brought me a copy of Sarma Melngailis’ Living Raw Food (which I have been lusting after for months), but a raw coco-nutty treat as well! It had raisins, seeds, coconut, and all sorts of good things. I think it’s high time my food processor was put to work to make some of these goodies.

When I left work, I high-tailed it to the West Village to meet my parents, George, Judy and Anita for Judy’s birthday dinner at Il Mulino.  Almost as soon as we sat down, we were given an amuse boûche of marinated tomatoes, mussels and fried zucchini.

We were each also given hunks of parmesan (which I may or may not have brought home with me)…

…and a bread basket for the table with the most delicious smoked chili oil-soaked strips of crusty bread.

The ladies ordered Manhattans…

… and we toasted Judy.

My dad and I split two appetizers: fresh calamari sautéed in a spicy herbed tomato sauce…

… and black squid-ink linguini with scallops, shrimp and calamari.  I only had a few bites of this (although it was quite delicious)… I wanted to save room!

For my entrée, I ordered the branzino special.  This was the most tender sea bass I’ve ever eaten: light, fluffy, and oh-so delicate.  It really only needed a bit of lemon!

After Jud blew out her candle…

we split three desserts six ways:  The best flourless chocolate cake I’ve had in my life, with the best whipped cream I’ve had in my life.  Seriously.

The sweetest fresh strawberries with cinnamon sabayon…

…and ricotta-mascarpone cheesecake.

We were also brought out glasses of grappa, and toasted again.  (I only had a sip, and gave the rest to George.)

Happy Birthday, Judy!

It was a wonderful night.