Shall we dine?

Good evening! This is going to be quite a busy post, and I'm very tired, so if my words start to slur or ZZZZs start appearing, consider yourselves warned.

Although I got up bright and early (which is getting more and more easy to do), I had lunch plans at noon and didn't have time to go to the gym. It's funny, but I can really feel a change in my body when I don't go (and no, I don't just mean "guilt"). It gives me so much energy and, more importantly, it gets me out of the house and starting my day.

I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast all by my lonesome (Ari's record is being presented to their label tomorrow and he is very busy... wish him luck! Not that he needs it...). It's been awhile since I've had cold cereal, so I had a great big bowl of All Bran Flakes and Smart Start with skim milk. I went out early to get breakfast for the boys and picked a coffee up for myself on the way.


I finally got on the Yoga Download train and did Hip Opening #1. It was great! I expected not to be able to follow it so clearly and have to look at the diagrams all the time (and thus interrupt my "flow"), but the audio was really clear and I actually kept my eyes closed for most of it. I'm glad I figured out that I can do this from home!

I went to the Museum Of Modern Art (MOMA) today to see The Hustler with my friend Howard. Now, I've been a Paul Newman fan (sniff sniff) for quite some time, but to be perfectly honest, I don't know if I've ever seen him look so handsome. The movie is great, if you haven't seen it- I think it's the prequel to The Color of Money.

Before the movie, we went to Maison for lunch. It's a Belgian bistro that's owned by the French Roast/ L'Express franchise, and like the other two is opened 24 hours. (Poor servers!) I went there the last time I went to MOMA and ordered the moules frites, so I wanted to try something different this time. The menu has a lot of things that are suitable for vegetarians (although vegans may not be so fortunate, sorry guys). I ordered the asparagus/swiss/egg crêpe... it reminded me of the crêpe stands in Paris (and one unfortunate night when I thought a 1-lb mushroom/cheese/egg crêpe was a good idea at 3 AM) and I ate every last bite.


After the movie, I found my beautiful Kalle and we went to Levain Bakery for their delicious chocolate chip walnut cookies. Next time you're in New York, go here. Seriously. These are the most amazing cookies (besides my aunt Mary's, of course) that I've ever had... they're half a pound each! They're worth every bite. The women who founded the bakery are bikers, so they understand the need for a little treat every now and then!

I had a couple bites of Kalle's, but was saving up for my new bar and a trip to Starbucks (I fell asleep again during the first hour of the movie, surprise surprise).


At Starbucks, I tried the Vanilla Rooibos tea latte (and forgot to take a picture! I can't believe it). A tall skim is 150 calories, and it was just the right amount for me. I also tried my first Gnu bar, in the Orange Cranberry Flavor.


Nutrition Facts:
Calories: 130
Fat Cal: 30
Total Fat: 3g
Carbohydrates: 32g
Protein: 3g
Fiber: 12g

Ingredients: Gnu High Fiber Blend (whole rolled oats, organic whole wheat flour, wheat bra, organic kamut, psyllium, flax, millet), chicory root, inulin, fruit juices, rice dextrins, raisins, apples, canola oil, plums, cranberries, rice, natural flavors, wheat protein isolate, baking powder.


Kalle and I had entirely different takes on this bar. As someone who doesn't usually consume copious amounts of nutrition bars- a normal person- (she usually sticks to Clif and Luna), I feel her voice has precedence:
"Too tangy and orangy. Yucky. Too berry and seedy. Too grainy. Too tart."
She didn't even want to finish the piece I gave her... not looking good for you, Gnu. When I tried it, I had an entirely different experience. As soon as I opened the package, a waft of orange fragrance breezed out. I liked the texture of it, and although it was very citrus-y, I appreciated the chunks of fruity-goodness. I would definitely buy these again, although I still have four more of the same flavor (I got a box at Whole Foods of 5/$7... hard to beat) so I'd like to try the other kinds.

On to dinner! I was veeeery spoiled, food-wise, today. My mom's colleagues at work gave her a gift certificate to the Daniel consortium, and we chose to go to Daniel Boulud's newest restaurant in Lincoln Center, Bar Boulud. I've been to his other Manhattan restaurants (Daniel, Café Boulud), and they all have very different feels. Bar Boulud was very low-key, unpretentious, and packed.

Empty glasses...


... magically filled by the wino fairy! My mom and I each got a tasting flight; I got white and she red.

In my flight:

Domaine Mardon, Quincy "Cuvée très vignes" 2007. Loire valley, Sauvignon Blanc.

Olivier LeFlaive, Rully premier cru "Rabource" 2005. Bourgougne, Chardonnay.

Michel & Stephane Ogier, VDP "Viognier de rosine," 2006. Rhone valley, Viognier.


The Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier were my favorites. I thought the Viognier tasted like rose; the sommelier told us the taste was jasmine. I'm going to try to find a bottle of this somewhere.

The amuse bouche was a flaky popover-like bread filled with a light cheese. Very good, and yummy with the wine! I wish I'd known it was coming or I wouldn't have raided the bread basket beforehand...


My mom and I split oysters. Yumyumyum.


You can bet I ate that last one!


Don't they look nice? Good food puts everyone in such a good mood.


If you tilt your head (I swear, when I have a free day I'm going to look at all my blogging options...) you can see my striped bass with chestnuts, butternut squash and sautéed greens. I ate everything except for one little scrap of fish that I let my poor daddy have.


Dessert was so scrumptious that I'm going to taunt you with multiple shots of each (we split them both three ways).

Noisette mousse with toasted hazelnuts, milk chocolate, vanilla and chocolate ice cream:



The dessert special: Meyer lemon tart with finely shaved pistachio croutons, meringue and vanilla ice cream.



I am so happily full right now (hence the drowsiness). I'm just going to fold the laundry and fall into bed... have a lovely evening!

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!