Viva La Vida

On a warm summer night at the shore, there is nothing better than driving home with top down, blaring Coldplay and realizing that you are really, truly happy.

This song makes me happy. Or maybe I’m just always happy when I’m listening to it. Regardless, it’s a wonderful feeling, one that brings me back to the summer after I graduated from high school. Of all things, summer always makes me the happiest.

Know what else makes me happy? Meetups with dear bloggie friends, such as the beautiful Gracie of Girl Meets Health.  Especially when fried calamari, sushi and ice cream are involved.

In light of my disastrous last encounter with raw fish, I played it safe and ordered a vegetable roll (cucumber, avocado, lettuce and seaweed salad) and an avocado roll. Gracie ordered salmon sushi and an avocado roll.

For dessert, I finally got what I’ve been dreaming about all summer: a cup of chocolate-vanilla twist, smothered in rainbow sprinkles. For the record, the sprinkles are the best part.

Gracie and I gabbed for nearly two and a half hours (there’s a reason I’ve been nicknamed Gabfest). It’s always fun to meet a blog friend in person, but it’s especially awesome when the person feels like more of an actual friend than an internet acquaintance. The blogworld is a wonderful but complex place, and it’s great to talk to someone who understands it. I can’t wait to see Gracie again at HLS!

* * *

Backtracking a bit, for breakfast this morning I went back to the usual with a bowl of Fiber One, banana and almond milk. Overnight oats are tasty, but nothing compares to a classic.

Later in the morning I headed to a 50 minute yoga class at the gym. It’s been ages since I’ve yogaed (not a word), so the stretching/relaxation was definitely needed!

Lunch was a salad beast containing beet greens, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli and falafel balls, all topped with oil in vinegar. I also had some grapes…

And a pumpkin ginger muffin. Because they’re delicious.

Car snack: pink lady and a chocolate brownie Z-Bar. Forgot how tasty these are! A million pistachios were inhaled as well.

I’m off to bed loves!! Gotta rest up for the wedding rehearsal tomorrow. I’m not sure when I’ll be posting next, but have a wonderful weekend!

Do you have an “I love life” song?

What’s your favorite ice cream topping?

Eat the Heat

Scared baby!

Beachin’ it

All growed up

I spent the afternoon putting the finishing touches on my brother’s rehearsal dinner roast and unearthed a few gems from yesteryear. My big broski and basically only have looks in common, but I still love him J

Know what else I love? Overnight oats. With coconut kefir, almond butter, oats and blueberries, to be exact.

Today’s workout was the No More Trouble Zones DVD, followed by some extra stretching. All the wedding craziness has made me extra tight lately, so it felt good to spend some extra time working out all the kinks.

I wanted something simple for lunch, so I had a bowl of original Puffins in almond milk with cinnamon and a sliced banana. Hit the spot. I also had a pink lady apple and a handful of almonds.

Snacktime! A pumpkin-ginger muffin, times two. It’s hard not to go back for seconds when all three scanners in your house are mysteriously broken. I finally got it figured out though!

I know I’m not the only one who saves the top for last…

We had a bunch of produce left to use before the weekend, so for dinner I had a salad of beet greens, tomato, cucumber, salsa and homemade guacamole (1 avocado + lime juice + S&P + chopped tomato). On the side I enjoyed some sea salt rice chips.

This didn’t quite fill me up, so I finished off the BBQ tempeh from Monday night as well.

For dessert, I continued the southwestern theme with half of this Theo spicy chile dark chocolate bar. I love anything with a little kick to it, and this definitely fit the bill! A bowl of grapes provided the necessary fruitage.

My plans for tonight include a lot of packing and getting to bed early. I’ve got quite the week ahead of me!

Do you like spicy foods? I hear it’s an acquired taste, so the more heat you eat, the more you can handle!

Favorite kind of muffin? I love chocolate chocolate chip ones. Probably because they taste more like a cupcake than a muffin J

Uncle Sam Cereal Giveaway Winner

And the winner is...

#25, Katie Ann!

Congrats! Please email me your shipping information so I can get it over to the folks at Attune!

Stay tuned for another post...

Whirlwind

Hey everyone! I hope you’ve all had a great Tuesday…we’re coming down the home stretch with the wedding preparations, so I’ve been helping my parents all day! I’m so excited for the weekend! The next nine days will be a whirlwind:

Thursday I’m headed to the shore and having dinner with Gracie of Girl Meets Health

Friday will be full of last-minute prep and the wedding rehearsal + dinner

Saturday is the wedding!

Sunday-Wednesday I’ll be in Cape Cod with Mike and his family

Thursday I’m going to NYC to see Caitlin promote Operation Beautiful on the Today show!

Clearly, lots of exciting stuff!

I mixed up my breakfast this morning, literally:

This bowl contained:

• Raw oats
• So Delicious coconut milk kefir
• Huge spoonful of Nutella
• Fresh raspberries
• Dash of cocoa powder

The Nutella + raspberries combo is a match made in breakfast heaven, I promise!

It was such a beautiful morning that I couldn’t bear to be in the gym or garage! I didn’t want to stress my knees since I ran yesterday, so I went on a half-hour power walk around my neighborhood instead. It’s days like these that I really miss having a dog!

For the strength part of my workout, I made use of this book I bought yesterday:

I’m always lacking motivation in the strength-training department, so I knew it would be a wise investment! Gracie has given it great reviews, and I agree- there’s an exercise for everything in here! I did about half an hour of glute, core and arm exercises, then snacked on a handful of almonds to refuel.

For lunch, I had sandwich with a Sunshine burger, Sabra sun-dried tomato hummus, an heirloom tomato and fresh basil leaves on Ezekiel bread. Some canary melon rounded out the meal.

I spent the afternoon organizing and counting place cards, tallying the number of each entrée and doing a few random errands. I snacked on a protein SIAB at some point:

• 1 scoop Sun Warrior vanilla protein powder
• almond milk
• handful of blueberries
• sprinkle of xanthan gum
• lots of ice!

Once I’d crossed everything off my to-do list, I whipped up a batch of muffins with the pumpkin leftover from Friday’s pumpkin walnut loaf. I used the recipe for Ginger-Pumpkin muffins in the Babycakes cookbook, and they came out perfectly- so fluffy and moist!

Of course, I immediately sampled one with Naturally Nutty butter toffee peanut butter as pre-dinner appetizer.

Dinner was a salad with honey mustard tofu. I baked a block of firm tofu in a mixture of honey, Dijon mustard and lemon juice, then served it on top of beet greens, tomato, cucumber and carrots dressed in hummus.

Dessert:

Some more Naturally Nutty butter toffee PB slipped in there as well J

Hope you all have a great night!

Any fun plans for the next few weeks?

What’s your favorite way to strength-train? At home, at the gym, in a class?


PS- Tomorrow is your last day to enter my Uncle Sam giveaway!

Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart. (Kahlil Gibran)

Look what I got today!

I went to Border’s today to pick up a copy of Caitlin’s Operation Beautiful book. I’ve already read about half of it, and I love it- I wish I could buy a copy for every girl and woman I know. Caitlin really did a great job- it’s impossible to read it and not feel good about yourself J

* * *

Because our family friends were staying in my room, I spent the night on the couch and woke up at 6 am when my dad started moving around in the kitchen. I enjoyed my daddy’s company while eating my usual cereal bowl of Fiber One, fresh blueberries and almond milk:

My dad is just as obsessed with cereal as I am. I’m convinced it’s in my genes to love the stuff.

The weather today was perfect for running- low eighties with no humidity and plenty of sunshine. I covered four miles in a little less than 40 minutes, and followed it up with Level 1 of Jillian Michaels’ 30-Day Shred. The 20-minute strength workouts are the perfect complement to cardio.

By 11, I was ready for lunch! I had two Nature’s Promise whole-wheat tortillas slathered with a thick layer of Maranatha creamy PB. I definitely didn’t skimp, and enjoyed every last bite sticking to the roof of my mouth! On the side I enjoyed a Pink Lady with cinnamon.

I spent a few hours going to Border’s to pick up the book, and Whole Foods to stock up on produce. I bought several new-to-me veggies, including beet greens and parsnip! Afternoon snacks were an unpictured handful of almonds and a salad with heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, hummus and nutritional yeast.

For dinner, I made my family a vegan version of an all-American meal: barbeque tempeh, kale chips and parsnip fries.

Kale chips tossed in EVOO, salt and garlic powder, then baked for 15 minutes at 350

Tempeh marinated in a mixture of barbecue sauce and agave, then baked for half an hour at 400

Sliced parsnip tossed with EVOO, salt and pepper then baked for 45 minutes at 400

Everything was delicious! I’ve never had parsnips before, and I loved their mild cinnamon taste. I’ll bet they would be delicious baked with cinnamon and brown sugar!

For dessert, I had a nectarine and half a bar of Salazon sea salt and sugar dark chocolate. This bar was absolutely phenomenal, and the pretty molding makes it feel so special.

With my brother’s wedding on Saturday, this week is going to be absolutely crazy for my family! It’s so bizarre to think that my brother will be married in six days…I feel like he was just yesterday that he was feeding me crayons and locking me in the basement. It’s such a cliché, but time really does fly! Hope you have a great night J

What’s your favorite feel-good quote? I love Jack’s “To making it count” speech from Titanic, and Saint Augustine also has some really beautiful ones.

Do you have any sibings? Older or younger? Have any of them gotten married? 

PS- Don't forget to enter my Uncle Sam giveaway!

Joisey

Hey guys! I hope you’ve all had a great weekend. I am exhausted, but in a good way. Yesterday I drove up to North Jersey to go to a friend’s birthday party in Danielle Straub’s town, for my fellow Real Housewives of NJ addicts.

It was a lot of fun! Confession: I don’t like swimming. Call me a princess, but I hate getting wet. (Cat comparisons have been drawn.) I’m perfectly content to sit in a chaise lounge and relax instead.

I didn’t snap any food photos, but the dinner selection was heavy on meat. I filled up on crudités and rolls, which was fine because I had a ton of room left for dessert. There was a huge buffet of cakes, cookies, candies and cupcakes, and I definitely had my fair share!

Mike and I…the matching oufits were unintentional, I swear.

The whole group

After a late night, I woke up early to hit the road! A few family friends are visiting from California, and I wanted to get home and say hi. I ate a Clif white chocolate macadamia bar while driving (bad choice, considering I still felt queasy from my sugar OD the night before):

My third day without cereal for breakfast? I can’t believe it either!

When I got home, I threw together a slop bowl for lunch. This contained broccoli, tomato, carrots, a Sunshine burger, eggplant marinara (WF brand, for those of you who have asked) and nutritional yeast.

I had a bowl of fruit salad my mom made on the side:

A few hours later, I headed to the gym. I did half an hour on the elliptical, followed by some free weight arm exercises and stretching.

Post-workout I refueled with a protein smoothie containing 2c almond milk, 2 scoops Sun Warrior vanilla protein, a frozen banana and ice:

I also snacked on the last few roasted salted peanuts while watching the Jersey Shore. Trash TV at it’s finest.

For dinner, I wanted something simple. I had a hummus and cucumber sandwich on Whole Foods oatmeal bread, plus a small slice of leftover Amy’s roasted vegetable pizza.

Any wagers on dessert?

Pink lady with cinnamon and slightly melted Hershey’s antioxidant dark chocolate, times two. Never gets old.

I have a hot date with my TV tonight. Early to bed for me!

Do you enjoy swimming, or are you a chaise lounger?

Ever been to New Jersey? Growing up near Philadelphia, it's inevitable. People joke about it, but it's not a bad state- they have the shore, after all!