The girl with one left shoe

Hello and happy Tuesday! I'm currently blogging from the bathroom (hooray for WiFi) while I wait for my shower water to heat up. Yesterday was wonderful in terms of eats and movies, which makes it an A+ day in my book.

Last night before dinner, I had a glass of white wine as I caught up on the blogs. I wasn't a huge fan of it, so I sipped one glass throughout the course of a few hours.


My parents prepared a wonderful meal, starting out with a loaf of the first bread that my dad and I ever made together (way back when): Anadama bread.


In case you're not familiar with Anadama bread, the history is as follows (courtesy of The Food Timeline):

"Anadama bread. A bread made from cornmeal and molasses. The term dates in print to 1915, but is probably somewhat older. If it were not for the frequency of their citation, it would be difficult to believe the story most often cited is of a Gloucester, Massachusetts, fisherman's wife named Anna, who gave her husband nothing but cornmeal and molasses to eat every day. One night the fisherman got so angry, he tossed the ingredients in with some yeast and flour and made a bread in the oven while muttering to himself, "Anna, damn her!" A more affectionate story has a New England sea captain referring to his wife with the same name expletive as a phrase of endearment. This Anna was apparently adept at bread-baking, and she became well known for her cornmeal-and-molasses loaf among the fishing crews who appreciated this long-lasting, hearty bread. There was, supposedly, a gravestone to this legendary woman that read, Anna wes a lovely bride, but Anna, Damn'er, up and died. One source contends that a commerical bakery called ist product "Annadammer" or "Annadama bread."
---Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New York] 1999 (p. 6)

The meal was a joint effort on my parents part (my role being happy recipient). My mom made a delicious risotto using seven different kinds of mushrooms, with a shaved parmesan garnish. My dad made a lovely spinach curried with Greek yogurt and supplemented with tofu to make a complete protein.



We all split an avocado, which was drizzled with tangerine vinegar, salt & pepper:


The house is being painted, so we had a cozy TV dinner while we watched Midnight. Oh, go see this now... Claudette Colbert is lovely and funny (and plays a girl from Indiana!), and it takes place in Paris.


And then came the desserts. There's a small bakery in the West Village, Patisserie Claude, that my dad sometimes stops at to pick up tasty treats for us. "Tasty treats" is the understatement of understatements, by the way.

Chocolate chestnut cake:


Cappuccino mousse with brulée topping:


Apple tarte tatin:


Heaven, pure and simple. We split each dessert three ways.


When I got home, Ari was finished with work so we decided to make it a movie night (part II, for me). We watched Atlantic City, with Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon (and Wally Shawn in a cameo as a waiter). It's gritty, grimy, and wonderful.


This morning I had another PB&J breakfast cookie. It started off as a peace sign but ended up looking more like a flower...


1/2 cup oats
1/2 scoop protein powder
1 tbsp peanut butter
1/4 cup skim milk
1/2 sunkist orange
1 tsp + extra strawberry jam for garnish
dried fruit (craisins, currants, apricot, dates)

I also ripped off a hunk of Anadama bread.


I had a large coffee with skim on the subway; it was too much liquid for me so early in the morning (well... at 11 AM) so I only had half.


I got all the way to the gym (about a 45 minute subway ride in the opposite direction from both of my apartments) only to discover I had left one sneaker at home. Whoops! I went chez maman et papa to do a 20 minute detox flow from Yoga Downloads so at least I could do something active.

Picked up some staples at the grocery store...


This was my first experiment with butternut squash fries. TASTY.


I made a very voluminous salad for lunch.


baby arugula
1 chopped apple
chik'n strips (Morningstar Farms)
cherry tomatoes
raw green beans
dressing (fig infused vinegar, EVOO, grey poupon mustard)


I'm off to go play with Greg, then hopefully cook something scrumptious. I'm on my own for dinner tonight (movies! empty kitchen! debauchery!), so I'll try to think up something fun.

Have a lovely evening!

Yes, kids, I finally got my Twilight on. It was better than I expected, but still not entirely satisfying, if that makes any sense... I thought Bella was okay, but Edward was a little strange. He definitely took cues from Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands, but not in a good way.

Anyway, at the movies I had some snacks: two mini butterfinger bitelettes (not pictured, we couldn't find the box in the dark), a Peanut Butter Z Bar and a new kind of cappuccino they're selling at the movie theaters. It was definitely NOT skim, and came pre-sweetened, but it reminded me of the coffee from the machines at my school in Paris so I drank half of it anyway.


I was starving and pressed for time when the movie got out, so I got a Tomato Basil and Mozzarella sandwich on wheat at Cosi, with a small baggie of carrots. I went back to the bread sample bin several times... Why does it have to be so addicting?!


During work I had some orange slices and an oyster. For dinner, I ordered a California veggie burger (avocado & cheese) with blue cheese, no bun and a side salad. I ate almost everything on that plate! I also ordered a glass of Albariño (Spanish white wine).


My dad brought be half a Macadamia nut brownie in the car...


I also had an orange before bed.


My breakfast cookie this morning was delicious (and purple!):


1/2 cup oats
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
remainder of yogurt container
1 tsp peanut butter
1 tsp jelly
dried fruit

I'm off to run loads of errands (gym, dentist, pick poodlepie up from groomers). Have a wonderful day!

Yoga To The People!

Hello and happy Friday, my fine blogging friends! I hope you've all had wonderful days off, fun holidays, and all that fun stuff. I've been hopping around all over the place, so let's backtrack a little bit.

Yesterday Ari and I went to the diner for breakfast. We tried to learn the ways of the heart rate monitor over coffee:


Whole wheat toast with butter (whoops) and grape jelly. I've said this before, but for some reasons toast without butter at a diner is just plain wrong.


For the main event, I ordered an egg-white fritatta with zucchini, tomato, and ricotta cheese. It had sort of a funky taste that I likened to escargot... not exactly what I was expecting out of my breakfast eggs! I was starving, so I gobbled it all up (with ketchup, of course!) and had a couple of the home fries.


Ari's been working really hard, so I didn't want him to have to worry too much about dinner. I whipped up some Gliding Calm tofu and put it in the fridge, along with some steamed green beans and Lundberg brown rice blend.


I made the tofu a little differently this time; I dusted each piece with a little garlic salt on both sides, then dipped them in the combined maple syrup, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, ginger powder, and that spicy red sauce whose name I am forgetting.


I came home and took a much-needed nap before work; I'm on an early-morning schedule so I get up around 8 but then get really tired mid-day. When I woke up, I whipped up a quick soup using this as a base:


Combined with shirataki noodles and chik'n strips. Fast, easy, comforting.


I also had some Fage with strawbs and blubes:


And some cookies on my way out.


Since people were generous with the coat check tips today, I decided to splurge and get some sushi. I'm so glad I did! I got the sushi combo which comes with a California roll and 7 pieces of assorted fish. Scrumptious.


This morning our way into the city, Ari and I split this Hot'n Healthy bar. I've never tried the Cinnamon Roll flavor before, and we had to eat it cold, but it was still delicious. Ari's not a huge fan of nutrition bars, but he loves these because they taste just like cookies!


Grabbed a coffee with skim on the way to the gym. I only finished half of it because you're not really supposed to drink them inside.


Once I got there I realized I had forgotten my shorts, for the second time this week! I didn't want to give up my workout, so I shelled over another $26 for a new pair. Boo! Once I changed into them, I realized I had also forgotten socks, and I came to the gym wearing tights. (I am so scatterbrained since I also forgot my cell phone and have felt disoriented all day.) Lucky for me there was a yoga class just starting, so I joined that.

Now, I absolutely LOVE yoga, but I haven't done it for over a year. This class was a little advanced for me... I fell over when I tried to do a handstand but did manage to get up into crow pose, if only for a few seconds. I am SO glad I went. I've been a little stressed out recently, what with work and the holidays and very little down time, and yoga was just what I needed. I felt so relaxed afterwards and much more ready to take on the day!

I had a banana in the locker room before showering.


After leaving the gym I rushed uptown to have a girls' lunch with my family. Originally, we'd wanted to go to Alice's Tea Cup (which our very own Heather used to live right next to!), but the wait for a table was an hour and a half so we moved on to Le Pain Quotidien instead.

Because it's Friday and my day off, I had some sauvignon blanc with my water. Woohoo!


Cousins!


Sisters!

You'll have to tilt your head for this one: I ordered an open- faced sandwich with black bean hummus, avocados, zucchinis, radishes, diced peppers and tomatoes and lemon with a spicy tahini sauce on the side. This was delicious. I'm going to try to make the spread myself!


After lunch, we had to make a pit stop at Magnolia. Can you imagine a trip to New York without one of these luscious cupcakes?! I got red velvet with vanilla buttercream. It was good, but I should have gone with my old favorite, devil's food with mocha frosting. Lucky for me, my mama let me finish hers up!


Someone left this Texan cookbook downstairs in the lobby (what we apartment folks do when we don't want something). I'm so excited to use it! I just flipped through and saw great recipes for gazpacho, spoon bread, Texas toast...


Abby and I shopped the sales for several hours today (I didn't find anything, but she had her first taste of Betsey Johnson) and I am pooped! They're all at a play right now, and I'm meeting them for a pizza dinner at 6. Hope you all have a fun night planned!

Greetings from the East!

Hello, Sleeping Beauties.  I am finally home, after an uneventful flight (no screaming babies, just chatty businessmen).  I'm going to make this quick... I'm blogging from Ari's fancy shmancy computer (so sleek! so fast!) and we're going to watch movies! 

I managed to make it to the gym, although my cardio session was a little shorter than usual. 

Bike

4.0 miles

196 calories burned

22:17 minutes

Machines

pulldown- 3 x 10 @ 30 lbs

chest press- 3 x 10 @ 10 lbs

shoulder press- 3 x 10 @ 10 lbs

row/rear deltoid- 3 x 10 @ 15 lbs

I wanted to have a real lunch before I left, so I made my favorite Gliding Calm tofu, Kashi pilaf with peas, and three rebel carrots.   I washed it all down with a big glass of skim milk.

Leftovers "salad": more Kashi pilaf, sprouts, tofu, red pepper, tomato, avocado. I brought this to the airport, and because I didn't want to deal with the liquid/ziplock baggie issue, I just poured some sundried tomato vinaigrette on it before I left.  The sogginess actually wasn't horrible.

I somehow misplaced ALL my travel snacks (careful planning will only get you so far) so I bought one of these for $2.19 at the airport. TWO NINETEEN!

My dad picked me up and drove me to Ari (what a nice daddy) and, as usual, came with snacks. I had four of these California rolls, and some grapes I didn't take a picture of. 

Who is this fuzzy man?  

 Hope everyone's almost done with finals... I still have one to write unfortunately.  Bonne nuit!