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

Happy Halloween!  I hope you are all having a wonderful night, whether you’re at a party, parade, or staying at home watching movies.  Ari and I decided to do the latter, although we’ve been sitting in our costumes all day waiting for Trick-or-Treaters!

Yesterday I started the day with my first (ever!) batch of [...]]]>

Happy Halloween!  I hope you are all having a wonderful night, whether you’re at a party, parade, or staying at home watching movies.  Ari and I decided to do the latter, although we’ve been sitting in our costumes all day waiting for Trick-or-Treaters!

Yesterday I started the day with my first (ever!) batch of Oats in a Jar.

I added 1/2 cup of oats and 1/2 cup of water to the almond butter jar and microwaved it for one minute.

I topped it with 1/2 banana, 2 chopped prunes, 3 walnuts, a little skim milk and brown sugar. It was delicious! I may or may not have rescued an empty jar of peanut butter from the trash so I can make this again…

My mom gave me an idea about how to solve the Ester-C powder problem… try mixing it in something else! I put a scoop into a little bit of plain yogurt.

It’s still really disgusting, and I had to down a cup of coffee right away after I ate it.  But… it did the trick, and it went down a lot faster than if I’d had to drink it.  I’m out of yogurt, though, so I’ll have to find some more creative ways to eat this.

I wanted to get an early start to my day, so I said goodbye to the hair this guy and headed to the gym.

Time was limited, so I just did some arms, abs, PT stretches (which I will post at the end for Melissa) and 18 minutes on the elliptical.  Short and sweet.   Afterward, I met George for lunch at Pizza Gruppo.  Always one for deals, I ordered the salad + 1/2 sandwich special.  The salad was bigger than I’d expected, and came with mushrooms!

My panini came with goat cheese, pesto, and roasted vegetables. It was really good! I haven’t had a sandwich I didn’t make myself in a looong time.

After lunch I stopped by Paragon to pick up a foam roller.  There was so much pre-marathon mania going on… very exciting to be around!  When I got home, I sprinkled 1/4 packet of YouBar‘s YouShake Blended Bliss into the last of my yogurt.

I also split an apple with cinnamon with Ari (who proudly told me he had green juice for lunch!) while we ran some Halloweenie-errands.

For some reason I was snackier than usual, so I had some chunks of energy while getting ready to meet my little redheaded friend for dinner.

Kalle and I found a Japanese restaurant with a great dinner special.  It’s so easy to spend a lot of money when ordering sushi, so the specials are imperative.  I ordered the Sashimi+Roll combination, which came with miso soup and salad.

The sweet potato roll was delicious… and my second in one week!

The sashimi was beautifully presented.

It came with two pieces of cucumber-wrapped fish… what a great alternative to rice!

The special also came with shrimp shumai and edamame.

Kalle’s rolls were also creatively presented and looked delicious.

After dinner, we went back to her apartment to talk and drink Malbec out of black goblets.  I broke the cork in half, but managed to get it out of the bottle! Looks like my waitressing skills are falling by the wayside…

I got home pretty late and didn’t end up going to bed until almost 3… the night was definitely worth it, though.

And now, onto the physical therapy!

One exercise that I’ve been working on with my PT is called the clamshell, which strengthens quads.  Lying on my side in bed or on the floor, I stack my knees at a 90 degree angle.  Clenching my glutes and quads, I slowly raise one knee while keeping my feet together.  I repeat this twenty times, then switch to my other side.  Repeat series.

Another exercise that strengthens quads and calves is done by sitting on a chair or on the edge of the bed.  Extend one leg straight out and flex glutes, quads, calves and toes.  Twist leg to the side, then back to center.  Repeat until leg is fatigued, and switch legs.

Around the blogs: Jungwha is giving away a Sodastream!

Happy Halloween from the Upwelling and LVP… have a great night!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S03bPXh4FFI]

The rolled oats stash still hasn’t been replenished, and I haven’t gotten a new batch of steel-cut [...]]]> Good morning and happy Thursday! It’s going to be a good day, I can just tell   How has your week been going? What was the most surprising or thing that brought you the most happiness?

The rolled oats stash still hasn’t been replenished, and I haven’t gotten a new batch of steel-cut whipped up yet, so I had to think a little about what I wanted for breakfast yesterday.  I opened the fridge, pulled out the almond butter, and…

Oh no! Take me to a Trader Joe’s and make no stops on the way!  Well, I don’t know when I’m actually going to get to TJ’s, so I tried to leave a little nut butter on the sides to make oats-in-a-jar when the time is right.  That wasn’t enough for breakfast, though, so I pulled out a sample of Sunbutter that I’ve had lying around for a few months.

When squeezed out, it looks likes this:

One Ezekiel English muffin half had almond butter and TJ’s pumpkin butter, the other Sunbutter and raspberry jam.

The Sunbutter definitely tastes like sunflower seeds.  I think I still prefer almond and peanut butters, but this was a nice change.  I don’t know if I would buy a whole jar of this, but if I had more travel packets I would use them for on-the-go snacking.

I took all of my new vitamins with breakfast (except the melatonin, which is only for when I really can’t sleep at night).

Unfortunately I didn’t read the label carefully when I was at the store and bought the powdered Ester-C (which aids iron absorption) instead of the capsule, which means I have to drink it.  And let me tell you, this is one of the worst tastes I’ve ever known.

I worked and researched most of the morning, and broke for lunch around noon before I had to leave for physical therapy.  I made a big salad through my session:

In the mix:

• 1/2 head of romaine
• grape tomatoes
• 1 orange
• leftover roasted Brussels sprouts
• julienned carrots
• Trader Joe’s Vegetable Masala Burger
• Trader Joe’s Three Layer Hummus
• Cayenne pepper-spiked agave- cinnamon dressing

It was a big salad! I almost couldn’t finish it, but I’m not usually one to leave greens on my plate.  I went into the city to get my H1N1 flu shot (seasonal flu shot has already sold out almost everywhere), then went across town to my physical therapy appointment.  I was early, so I popped into Tasti to get a treat and read a little.  I got a small cup of chocolate raspberry mousse:

My appointment went really well.  I really like my therapist; she’s a former marathoner and current Half-Iron Man-er, and just seems to know what she’s doing (a welcome change).  She  worked with me for over an hour, and came to the same conclusion as the first PT:  my muscles aren’t strong enough to support the kind of running I’m doing. If I want to be an endurance athlete and compete in races, my quads, glutes, calves, etc. have to be really strong.  I need to work on strength moves, increasing my flexibility (stretching, rolling out with the foam roller) and core moves every day. My knees do point in (the first PT diagnosed me with “squinting patellae”) but strengthening my quadraceps will force them back into place.  And the even better news? I can start back up again (slowly) in the next few days, and can run the 15K in December!!!

She asked if I’d be okay with running on the treadmill for a few minutes to analyze my gait, and you should have seen the way my eyes lit up.  Running? Now? Even though I hate the treadmill, I felt like I was flying.  I do pronate, and my hips do come out and come forward when they shouldn’t (which has caused tightness in my IT band that I didn’t even know about until she worked it through with her fingers), but it can all be corrected.  Woohoo!!!! I’m going back today; she wants to see me twice a week for a month or so.  Thank the lordy. If I had a job right now, I wouldn’t have this kind of flexibility!

On the ride home, I was hungry again so I snacked on a Trek Mix bar.

When I got home, I did some more searching and researching, and started to think about dinner.  It was going to take a couple hours to make, so when Ari ordered sushi for himself and Josh I politely requested my very own sweet potato roll.

Seriously, I don’t know how I didn’t know about these until now.  What would I do without Ilana and Ari? Amazing!

My own dinner was based on this recipe.   When I went to the produce store, I found a squash I’d never seen before.  It started with a G… Galaban? Galabaga? When I looked it up on this handy squash glossary, however, I discovered that it was one of the most popular squashes with bloggers: the kobucha!

These were sold already halved; each half was about 70 cents.

I changed the recipe a little bit; I halved the “pudding” recipe, only used egg whites (I don’t have whole eggs), didn’t use anise, and used red onions instead of scallions.

It took a long time to cook (about an hour and a half), but the results were worth it.

I ate one half of the squash and saved the rest for another day.  It was really satisfying, and so good that I ended up eating the skin, too! Oops.

For dessert, I smeared a pumpkin bar with peanut butter.  It wasn’t worth it: still tasted bad.  Into the trash they go!

Ari and I took Carlye‘s suggestion and watched the pilot of Psych.  We thought there would be a few more episodes on the first disc, but it was just the one! So off I go to the mailbox… must make sure there’s a Halloween movie here for Saturday!

Have a great day

P.S. Averie is giving away ProBar Fruitition bars!

Yesterday, as I mentioned, I slept [...]]]> Good morning and happy Wednesday! How is your day going so far? Mine’s going just fine, although I can’t figure out how it’s already 10:30! The same thing happened last night: I got home at 7:30, had dinner, and all of the sudden it was after midnight.  Crazy!

Yesterday, as I mentioned, I slept through the alarm.  My training plan had 2 easy miles scheduled in for the day, and since I had to intern and go to an event in the evening, there was really no other time to go.  So I threw on my exercise clothes and raced – slowly, of course- out the door, jamming along to the Gaga.

Total distance: 1.96 miles

Total time: 20:54

Maximum heart rate: 176 (89%)

Average heart rate: 166 (84%)

Calories burned: 216

When I was back and showered I was already running late, so made a quick breakfast of plain Chobani with 1/2 banana, and a piece of whole wheat toast with the rest of the banana, honey and cinnamon.

There didn’t end up being too much for me to do at work, so I was able to leave after lunch.  My mom also had a little time in the morning before her flight to Paris, so she met me in the Village and we had a nice lunch at Doma.

I found this cafe on my first day of back in June, then couldn’t find it again until yesterday. I have a pretty terrible sense of direction.  I wanted a salad but couldn’t decide which one, and at the last minute decided to go for the soup + 1/2 sandwich combo.

The soup was black bean (I removed the white and creamy sour cream):

I chose a grilled gruyère sandwich to feel a little more française.

Everything was good, but the sandwich was a little tough and I left craving veggies.

After lunch, we strolled around and somehow found ourselves in front of a pet store.  I took this to taunt Ari with send to Ari…

No, a pup did not come home with me.  It was sad, but it would be sadder if I couldn’t afford to feed it.  Anyway, Mama and I moseyed along until we hit The Light Choice.  We both got what we agreed was the best Tasti-type flavor yet: Almond Joy! It tasted just like Gena‘s Raw Almond milk, but frozen.

We also stopped and picked up two late-birthday presents: a new gym bag (I’ll post pictures of my old one later… it was gross) and new running shoes. My mom finally had to leave to go to the airport (I really had to twist her arm ) and I went home.

My friend Howard invited me to a cocktail party and kitchen demonstration at Smallbone of Devizes, an upscale kitchen boutique on the Upper East Side.  I knew there would be a lot of good food and I didn’t want to be ravenous when I got there, so I had an apple before I left.

The party was hosted by Architectural Digest and catered by Daniel, one of the fanciest (and tastiest) restaurants in New York.  Everything was amazing, and I really wish I could have documented it for you! Unfortunately, AD was covering the whole thing and wouldn’t allow outside photography.  Trust me when I say that my fingers were itching to whip out my camera and snap photos of the chef poaching partridge breast in Napa cabbage leaves.  I may not eat those myself, but I can appreciate the skill it takes to prepare such a lovely dish. Two glasses of wine later I left and went home to eat dinner.

My knee was really hurting so I didn’t want to schlep all the way out to the grocery store; instead I stopped at Gourmet Garage and picked up some sashimi.

I also had a few bites of cold pasta.

Although I’d already had a treat once today and enjoyed two glasses of wine, I’d been thinking about dessert all day.  I really wanted to contribute to Julie‘s tribute to Gourmet magazine, so I made myself an individual portion of the magazine’s Caramelized Banana Splits with Hot Chocolate Sauce, from their 2009 “Quick Kitchen” booklet.

I adjusted the recipe to be a little more LVP-friendly, substituting Brummel & Brown for butter, skim milk for heavy cream, and La Loo’s Mission Fig Goat Milk Ice Cream for regular old vanilla.

This ice cream, by the way, is unbelievable.

The Banana Split was amazing: the bananas were perfectly caramelized, the toasted nuts gave the smooth chocolate a spectacular crunch!, and the fig ice cream was a wonderful surprise that complemented each different flavor.

We still have the November issue of Gourmet to look forward to, but I can’t imagine a holiday season without their Christmas cookie special.  I’m sure Gourmet‘s demise is going to open all kinds of doors in the world of food media, but it’s going to take a lot of getting used to.  I foresee poring over back-issues from the 1970s in my future…

Except for the lack of vegetables consumed, it was a pretty great day.  I did, however, spend the last few hours with my knee bound up like this…

…icing on and off.  When I went outside to walk Charley, I felt like I could barely walk.  A man, who was clearly on his first few days of crutches, passed me on the street.  I will admit, I’m a little discouraged.  I’m really hoping this isn’t serious, because I am just starting to feel like a real athlete, and that maybe the 2010 NYC Marathon is a goal within reach.  We’ll see.  I’m going to take it slow; I’ll try using the bike at the gym today and see how that feels.

Do you push through an injury or go straight to the doctor?

Have a great day!

When my alarm went off at 8, my mind was filled with that excited dread that often comes with the first day of school and first dates.  Since my day is already jam-packed today, [...]]]> I’ve always thought that the day I ran 6 miles would be the day I finally became a “real” runner.

When my alarm went off at 8, my mind was filled with that excited dread that often comes with the first day of school and first dates.  Since my day is already jam-packed today, I’d written out a list of everything I would do, from waking up to going to work, with corresponding times.  This type of thing doesn’t usually work for me, but I really wasn’t even able to include a margin of error.

Still, I puttered around, wasting time… I checked on the laundry (three times), I did the dishes, I checked the weather (chance of rain)… I was nervous, and I wanted to prolong the run for as long as possible.  But, I was also excited, and had a good feeling.  I knew I could do it!

I quickly put together a no-fail playlist.  These are all songs I’ve run to over and over again, and I know they keep my legs running.

Before I left, I had half a cup of coffee, half a Luna Bar, and a lot of water.

I debated whether or not to run with a water bottle, but I didn’t want the extra awkward weight to sabotage my run. Instead I kept running back to the kitchen for more water, just to be safe.  I should probably invest in a CamelBak sometime soon…

This was my first time running with snacks.I stuffed my baggie of gummies (who needs Shot Bloks?) into the waistband of my running pants.  I’m sure there was a better option… I tried to put it in the side of my sports bra, as I’ve heard other runners do, but it was really uncomfortable.    Where do you stash your mid-exercise snacks?

Finally I set off, with a not-so-brave face.

I’d promised myself I was going to run at a slow, easy pace… it was more important for me to log miles than go for speed. I’m not racing against anyone! To achieve the 6 mile run, I’d planned on fusing together my go to 4.5 mile and 2.0 mile runs.  It started to rain as I passed the 2-mile point, but I powered through it.  At almost the same time as the first raindrop hit my face, I got a stitch in my right side… the same spot I’ve been getting them for the past week or so. I tried some breathing techniques, but mostly just told myself to ignore it… and it worked!

After I finished my 4.5 mile loop, I stopped and ate half of my gummies.  Then I picked the pace right back up again.  I felt as though my legs were carrying me through, and the only thing I had to do was stay awake for it.  I expected to be sore, but I didn’t think that I’d be so mentally tired! But I powered on.  I stopped and ate the last of the gummies during the final mile.

I got home, stretched and calculated my total distance: 6.4 miles!!!

Total distance: 6.4 miles

Total time: 1:10:27

Maximum heart rate: 177 (89%)

Average heart rate: 166 (83%)

Calories burned: 739

For a few minutes, I felt a little nauseous and not very hungry.  I couldn’t decide what I wanted for breakfast, and puttered around for a little.  Then all of a sudden… WHAMO! I made the quickest bowl of oatmeal you’ve ever seen, just so I wouldn’t eat my own arm.

This was made with:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup water
• splash of skim milk
• cinnamon
• 1 banana
• brown sugar
• scoop of peanut butter

After showering, I slathered on a generous helping of Bengay and promptly burned the bejeezus out of my glutes.  I also got so cold that I had to pile on Ari’s sweats (shh!) and climb under the covers.  I guess “everything in moderation” doesn’t only apply to food…

I took a bottle of POMx Pomegrante Wildberry Light White Tea to keep me hydrated on my subway ride across the boroughs.

FYI: I will be posting a POMx review once I’ve tasted all of the flavors.

I needed to pick some things up chez maman et papa, so I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up lunch to eat at home.  It was, sadly, my quickest in-and-out trip to the store.

When I got home, there were two exciting packages waiting for me! First… my RoadID came! I wish I could show it to you, but my Photoshop program isn’t working and I can’t edit out my personal information.  It’s very cool, though!

I also received the Kay’s Naturals package I won from Jenny‘s giveaway.

With lunch, I snacked on some Crispy Parmesan Protein Chips.

They look like baby Sun Chips!

And, unlike other brands, this one was filled with chips! Don’t you hate when you buy something and realize you’ve paid for mostly air? They were pretty good… they had the consistency of Soy Crisps.

My Whole Foods lunch was filled with greens, Israeli salad, grape leaves, vegan chicken salad (LOVE THIS), lemon tempeh, glazed tofu, crunch sprout salad, and a farro/wheatberry pilaf.

While I was home, Charley and I played dress-up…

He’s joined the ranks and is now an Upwelling Dog.

I was still snacky, so I ate a raisin walnut roll on the subway on the way to work.

Business at the restaurant was non-existent, so I went home at 7. Wahoo!  I took a salad to go, but decided to save that for lunch the next day and stopped instead at the Japanese mart on my walk to the subway.  I’ve always been curious about these seasoned “wildweeds”:

Unfortunately, I really didn’t care for them at all.  Something about the taste, and the brown weeds (which reminded me of Distric 9… sorry for that gross tidbit!) really turned my stomach and I only ate half.  This looks deceptively small… but as the above photo shows, it weighed 18 ounces!

The brown rice tuna and avocado sushi, however, was just right.  I should have just gotten more sushi!

The weeds left a taste in my mouth that wouldn’t go away, so I had a glass of Pinot Grigio to usher it out.

I hadn’t had a dessert plate in a while, so I helped myself to dried fruit, Israeli pop-rocks chocolate, and almond butter.  MMM!

Yesterday I used up the last of my walnut almond milk and added frozen berries, grapes, and Puffins.  Filling and delicious!

Yesterday was R-A-I-N-Y! It was [...]]]> Good evening! I hope you are thoroughly enjoying your Saturdays.  The day completely got away from me today, so this is going to be a bigger post than usual.

Yesterday I used up the last of my walnut almond milk and added frozen berries, grapes, and Puffins.  Filling and delicious!

Yesterday was R-A-I-N-Y! It was also very windy, so whatever umbrella you may have brought with you (which I did not…) was basically functionless.  I dodged the drops and met Caitlin for lunch in Union Square.  We’d planned on venturing out to someplace a little farther out of our comfort zone than Whole Foods, but it was so miserable outside that we just decided to eat at the hot bar.

As soon as we walked in, we were greeted with samples of Sweet Leaf iced tea.  I’d never tried this before, but I loved both the taste and their cute Grandma-themed packaging!

I loaded my salad box…

It included:

• mixed greens
• steamed kale
• roasted sweet potato
• vegan “chicken” salad
• baked tofu
• wasabi salmon salad
• Shanghai dumpling
• corn

We also were given samples of mini cupcakes for filling out a mapping survey.  Great day for free treats!

We stayed inside for quite some time, taking shelter from the storm.  I sipped on a nonfat cafe au lait with a shot of espresso to warm up:

When the rain started to let up, we ventured over to Barnes & Noble to do a little research.  On our way out, we popped into the music department and spotted The Upwelling‘s An American Stranger on display!

Caitlin snatched up the last copy, and we promptly demanded they order more.

Then I made my way home to take care of my pup’dog.

I immediately raided the fridge, and found these baby green plums.

I had a little snack of yogurt, one pear, and one green plum.

When I went through the mail, I found a package from Sarah.

She’d sweetly sent me the cup that I demanded to use every time I went to her apartment in Minnesota… it made me so happy! I hope you’re drinking plenty of tea in Russia, Sarah.

I spent the rest of the evening going through my closet and getting rid of old clothes.  I had a glass of Black Box Wines‘s Sauvignon Blanc to help me out…

I really liked this. Sauvignon Blanc is one of my favorite wines, and this was pretty good.  If I hadn’t poured it myself, I wouldn’t have known this wine came out of a box! Much better than the Franzia & Carlo Rossi more economical beverages of my college days.

I’d planned on cooking, but the weather was just too nasty and I wanted to stay inside and be cozy.  Instead, I ordered a bento box with shrimp shumai, sashimi, and a spicy tuna roll.

It also came with a small salad with carrot-miso dressing…

… and a hot cup of miso soup.

I was very full! But of course, when Ari called and asked me to meet him for Tasti D, I couldn’t turn him down   I got a small cup of oreo cookie peanut butter with Reese’s pieces.

Ari had to leave very early this morning to get ready for their tour, and although I had every intention of getting up with him at 8, I slept in until 11. Whoops! When I did get myself out of bed, I had a quick yogurt bowl with an apple and green plum.

I met my little red-headed friend for lunch; we went to the Manhattan Diner for California Veggie Burgers (avocado, Swiss cheese, sprouts & salsa).

The first time this came out of the kitchen, it was literally frozen cold.  The second time, it was burned to a crisp… I ate it anyway, with half of the bun.

After Ilana and I met up to pick up our race numbers  and T-shirts for tomorrow, I went to Citarella to get groceries.  Somehow I happened upon a cupcake sample station…

These homemade cupcakes are made with sour cream and buttermilk.  This was one of the richest, juiciest bites of cake I’ve had.  So good! I may just have to pick some up soon.

When I got home, unloaded my groceries and soothed my aching & blistery feet (trying out new boots the day before a race might not have been the best idea), I snacked on an apple.

Ilana came over and I made a cozy and comforting dinner for us.  We started with a mixed green salad with leftover carrot-miso dressing.

The star of the meal was Bon Appétit‘s Multi-Grain Penne with Hazelnut Pesto, Green Beans, and Parmesan.

I added a little more lemon juice than the recipe called for for a little extra zing, and I think it worked.

We dined in bed like queens, and enjoyed a glass of Black Box Sauvignon Blanc.

Ilana’s review: It’s not sweet. Very refreshing, but that might just be ’cause it’s cold.  Not my favorite, but not bad.  Would I buy it? I think so.  It’s growing on me.

We’re still in bed, watching The Devil Wears Prada.  The race starts at 9:20 tomorrow, so we have to get to bed early!  I’ve been mulling over this dilemma all day: I don’t have an armband for my iPod (it’s such an old model that they don’t make them for it), but I also want to run with my camera.  The ultimate question: to double-fist or not to double-fist? Is it a terrible idea to run with both hands full? I need your help!

Many thanks to Erin, who awarded me this award.  Thanks, Erin!

I’m very, very behind on your blogs, but I will catch up as soon as possible.  Love you mucho and have a great rest of the weekend!