I finally took my dying Macbook to the Apple Store genius bar today. Remember when the mouse and keyboard stopped working? Yeah, I put this off for nearly a month! I was afraid I’d have to shell out my entire life savings so…I just let it sit in the corner and hoped it would fix itself (it didn’t).

My friend Maggie sent this bag to me in the mail because she knows my favorite veggie is the eggplant!

So if you were at the Apple Store today and saw a girl with wet, straggly hair, wearing a sweatshirt + spandex, carrying a big bold I <3 Veggies shopping bag on her shoulder…that was me.

At least it was waterproof so my stuff stayed dry in the pouring rain.

Thankfully the genius saved my laptop (AGAIN)! It was a software problem so I didn’t lose any information, thank goodness.

This Macbook must have nine lives. I’m not sure how many more saves this Macbook has left before it dies for real though.

My uncle tagged along to buy the iPad 2 for his brother, except they were out of stock. I wasn’t aware the iPad 2 was still in such demand! We played around a bit while we waited for the genius to work his magic…

LLE on an iPad 2!

I’m obsessed with this photo recipe app.

Of course, we went to Trader Joe’s afterwards so I could pick up some goods.

• Brown Rice Cakes
• Champagne Vinaigrette <–new!
• SSB!
• Just Mango Slices <–LOVE
• Chocolate Covered Sunflower Seeds <–DOUBLE LOVE
• Bananas
• Sunflower Seeds

Whew! Lotsa sunflower…

As you can see I dug into the Just Mango Slices on the way home. I’ve missed those!

***

Between the AllieBars, pita chips and my latest favorite snack of pretzels and almond butter, it was a glorious carbfest over here earlier today.

You know how pretzels get doughy and sticky in your mouth? Okay, I know that sounds a little gross but admit it, it’s delicious. Well, try adding slathery almond butter…

You’ve gotta try it.

(Yes, those pretzels are from Halloween. Don’t ask what happened to my thumbnail.)

Pita chips too.

I mean, you gotta try pita chips with almond butter. I don’t mean you gotta try pita chips because I’m assuming you’ve ALL tried pita chips by now. If you haven’t, you need to shut the computer, walk out the door and buy some…

…now.

Last but not least, a banana to make this plate a little less processed. Heh.

Eventually I got around to doing part of an Insanity workout. I skipped the stretching in the middle and just did 20 min. of pure cardio drills.

Intense!

Sometimes I’d rather give it my all for a shorter time span than go moderate for longer. Sometimes.

***

After we got back from TJ’s, Peter had dinner ready. I had some stir-fried shrimp and celery.

Along with an egg + avocado and then a pumpkin pie smoothie.

I’m now snacking on chocolate covered sunflower seeds and about to open up my Macbook for the first time. Eek.

Have a great weekend, friends!

***

Tell me: Doing anything exciting this weekend? What’s your carb of choice? If you had to choose only one.

I once babysat a 7-month old boy who was infatuated with Dora the Explorer. We watched the same exact episode of Dora several times a day, every day of the week. As a result, I knew the Dora song, played at the beginning of every show, by heart. I had that song stuck in my head for weeks (err…years) thereafter.

Why I just told you that I have no idea besides the fact that the title of this post was inspired by Dora and I did a lot of exploring on Saturday. I didn’t have a backpack or a monkey friend though…alright I’ve gone too far.

***

Moving on…

The Farmers’ Market at Old Town Alexandria’s Market Square (in front of City Hall) is open from 5:00-10:30 AM on Saturdays (who wakes up at 5 AM on a Saturday?!). I wanted to check it out since the chances of me waking up early on a Sat. to drive to another city’s farmers’ market is slim to none. However, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it that early.

As you can see, I did.

I had dogs as alarm clocks on Saturday morning, remember? Dogs don’t have snooze buttons.

I saw a bunch of similar stands as the ones at the Reston Farmers’ Market, but there were new to me ones as well.

One thing that every Farmers’ Market has is delicious samples. Wahoo!

Afterwards, I sipped a half caf grande coffee while people watching.

When do the RED Starbucks holiday cups come out!?!?

Saturday was the peak of my sickness so I could barely taste anything. This made food rather unappealing. I knew I needed something of substance to help me fight off my cold though so I opened a can of TJ’s Organic Split Pea Soup.

For some odd reason, I don’t normally crave soup but all I wanted on Saturday was a bowl of hot salty soup. It was probably the sodium I wanted/needed.

It was good, from what I could taste!

I had a slice of Cinna-raisin Ezekiel toast on the side.

Indy wanted a piece of the action but he had to settle for a small doggie treat instead. Sorry, little guy .

I had my own treat afterwards: Chocolate Almond Biscotti and Justin’s Maple Almond Butter. Even though I couldn’t really taste, I still needed something sweet to end my meal.

Clearly, my must-end-every-meal-with-something-sweet is all mental.

Before I left to continue exploring, I walked and fed the dogs. This little guy devours his food in about 12 seconds flat! He should partake in an eating contest someday.

The dogs broke the plastic child lock (NO idea how!!!) so I had to find an alternative way to lock them in the kitchen. I may have gone a bit too far but better safe than sorry right?

And I was OFF!! Check out this view from the Metro station. I’m assuming it’s some church. I should probably Google it.

I took the Metro to Georgetown to walk around and do some window shopping.

Not only was the weather beautiful, it was Parents’ Weekend at Georgetown University so the streets were packed with people.

Check out this line at Georgetown Cupcake!!! A line out the door and around the corner just for cupcakes. My brother says this is an every day occurrence. Wow!

After strolling for a few hours, I started to get hungry again. I really wanted some veggie juice to get plenty of vitamins in my body. After a quick search on my phone, I found there was a Whole Foods about 2 miles away with a juice bar. Cha-ching!

The 2 mile trek was up a STEEP slope but it was totally worth it. There were a couple cake + bread pudding samples which I had before sitting down with some juice.

I ordered a kale, cucumber, beet, ginger, and lemon juice. Mmmmmmm!!!!! The juicer guy thought it was an intereeeesting combo .

I also got some hot bar items–curry tempeh, veggie burger, hearts of palm and spring mix.

Plus some chocolate covered pecans from the bulk section for dessert.

Then I walked the 2 miles back to the water.

John F. Kennedy Center on the right!

Later, my parents swung by and we did a little bit of walking around Old Town Alexandria. We stopped at Starbucks where I got a Venti Passion Tea. Just what I needed for my sinuses.

Then it was time to go back and give the dogs some exercise in the form of a long neighborhood walk. I think all in all I walked about 10 miles on Saturday just exploring!

Watch out, Dora! You’ve got some competition .

***

Tell me: What is your ideal form of ‘exploring’?

a. shopping

b. hiking

c. eating/dining/drinking

d. historical stuff–monuments, museums, etc.

e. other

***

P.S. Voting is now open for the Blogger Mushroom Recipe Challenge. Vote for my Mushroom Feta Cornbread Muffins please!! Click HERE to vote (no registration needed, just a click).

Thank you!

1. A New Neighborhood Run

This morning I set out on a run in my new neighborhood. I had no idea where I was going and had no goal distance in mind. I ran 6 miles in just under 62 min. I tried to find a good loop and ended up getting LOST. It worked out that I found my house right as I was nearing the 6 mile mark.

I was totally prepared to knock on someone’s door and ask to use their phone to call my dad though .

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE HERE!!

I felt like Julie Andrews running along the hills of the Swiss Alps in the opening scene of The Sound of Music. Holy smokes! The hills were so steep and rarely was the path just flat. I’d say half the time the slope was equivalent to a 6-9% incline on the treadmill. Whew wee!!

Despite the crazy hills, I’m really starting to feel like I’m back in the running groove again, finally. I think the cooler weather has helped a lot. More importantly, simply knowing I can power through the the most difficult part of the run for me (at around the 1.5 mile mark), gives me a great deal of confidence.

Running is physical but it’s also mental as well.

***

The last uphill portion of my run left me breathless!

Yeah, I have a gum ball machine. I’m cool like that.

2. New Bath Tub and Shower Curtain

I took an ice bath immediately after coming back (in my new bath tub). My tush is gonna be s-o-r-e tomorrow from all those hills.

Like my new shower curtain? I got it at Homegoods (AKA Wonderland).

3. New (to me) Gym

Yesterday, I went over to the club house to use the gym (my first time!). The machines are older than the ones in the condo gym and don’t have personal TVs, but it is pretty nice and just about a mile away from our house.

My workout:

• 60 min. elliptical
• 10 min. upper body strength
• 10 min. stationary bike

4. Pumpkin Butter

Believe it or not, I bought this jar of McCutcheon’s Pumpkin Butter last year but had to wait until I finished my TJ’s jar to open it. I had a sample of it once and found it was much much better than the TJ’s version (sorry Teej). It’s local too–made in Maryland!

It is much more pumpkiny and less syrupy/sugary than TJ’s pumpkin butter. Meaning, I’ve been eating it straight outta the jar .

This morning, I made a homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte using almond milk, pumpkin butter and cinnamon.

5. New Blender

…not really.

This is our ancient older-than-me blender that is still alive and kickin’. I usually use my Magic Bullet since it’s easier to clean, but it’s still sitting in our old house.

Post run, I made a smoothie using wheatgrass, protein powder, strawberries and banana.

6. New Favorite Snax

I also had a slice of brown rice bread topped with pumpkin butter, Justin’s Maple Almond Butter (free sample), and an Adora Calcium disc (free sample). I’ve been eating this snack almost every day.

Not new to me at all!

I received this jar of Justin’s Maple AB yesterday and I’ve already gone through about 1/3 of the jar. It was one of the first almond butters I tried almost 3 years ago (when I found out I wasn’t allergic to almonds). I will say with confidence that it is my favorite almond butter.

No other brand even comes close.

I’ve also been loving Greek yogurt mixed with eggy oats. The combination of hot grains and creamy cold yogurt is just lovely.

For the eggy oats, I mixed some leftover sweet crepe batter with oats and egg whites and then popped it in the microwave for 2 minutes. I topped the whole bowl with banana and cinnamon.

Clearly, I crave carbs and protein post workout!

7. New Apples!

My mom’s co-worker went apple picking and my mom paid her $9 for this huge bushel. Oh my apples.

I have no idea how these will get eaten up if I don’t bake something with them!

Last but not least….

8. My New Photography Spot!

Welcome to my new photography studio…the outside portion at least.

We got this outdoor table from IKEA, which I’m excited to start shooting on. The deck also has these white pillars that are great for shooting something with trees in the background. I’ve got plenty of chairs to stand on for a bird’s eye view shot .

I also have window sills without those awkward grey things now. Wahoo!

This is where the magic will be happening from now on .

Alrighty, it’s time for me to shower and unpack some more (it never ends!!!). I hope to be back tomorrow with a fun recipe, if all works out as planned!

Reminder: You only have until tomorrow to vote for me and my crepes in the Project Food Blog contest! I need your vote so I have a good excuse to throw a delicious dinner party on Saturday .

***

Tell me: What’s something NEW in your life that you’re enjoying?

Have you seen/heard of the movie Mao’s Last Dancer ?

Well let me tell you, it is fabulous. It left me with tears streaming down my face and a strong urge to take up ballet. It’s an Australian movie about a peasant boy growing up during the communist era in China who becomes a ballet dancer (ballerino?) and moves to the US. It’s based on a true story–the book Mao’s Last Dancer is actually an autobiography written by the main character himself.

I highly recommend it!

My mom was determined to see it, so we set out in the middle of the day to a small theatre where it was playing.

I wanna be a ballerina!! I wish I could go back to 1991 and tell my 3 year old self to keep on dancing!

***

Breakfast was somewhat rushed in an effort to catch the movie. I ate some albino honeydew melon.

Don’t let the color fool you. Greener does not necessarily mean better–this was frickin’ sah-weet!

I was literally racing out the door, so I had to pack the rest of brunch to-go. I mixed the rest of my TJ’s Greek yogurt (~1 cup) with some eggy oats and ground flaxseed.

I sprinkled some toasted pecans after the photo <–excellent decision!

I also packed a couple medjool dates and a guava for the movie.

My mom had a meeting afterwards so my dad and I hit up the tennis courts at the high school across the street. We played for about 90 minutes under the sizzling sun.

Not gonna lie, I feel a bit sunburned right now. Who said Fall was here?

I wore my running skirt (good idea) and running shoes (probably a bad idea).

Afterwards, we went grocery shopping and I was happy to see some samples because I was hungry!

***

For dinner, I made a small salad with the rest of the Costco spring mix (woohoo!!), tomatoes, and Gardein fake beef chunks.

+ piece of toast w/ hummus on the side.

CRABS!! (I just wrote ‘CARBS’ . Craaaaabs were on sale at the grocery store so we bought some. I ate 2 crabs + some extra crab legs.

And then I demolished the rest of the honey dew. I think I ate about 3/4 of that melon all in one day.

***

After dinner, my dad accompanied me to Whole Foods and Safeway to grab ingredients for my Project Food Blog post (coming up next).

He got really into the idea and couldn’t contain his excitement while giving me suggestions . Ohhh Peter.

And then I hit the JACKPOT!!

I only got 1 large can because they were kinda pricey. $2.55 for a 15 oz. can (I once got it for 89 cents!). I figure I can buy it as I eat it now and then stock up when Thanksgiving sales come up.

***

Dessert: I picked up this Blueberry Vanilla Attune bar with a free coupon I got from the HLS swag bag.

I do love dark chocolate but white chocolate will always have a special place in my heart.

I also got a packet of Justin’s Chocolate Almond Butter and ate it straight up while researching recipes.

These two photos were taken within 2 seconds of each other. The only difference was where I focused (dark spot vs. light spot). Cool, huh?

Alright it’s time to stop snacking on wasabi peas (at midnight!) and prepare for my PFB post.

***

Tell me: If you could go back in time, which activity/sport/hobby would you choose to continue doing/playing?

Packed up kitchen

Limited options here

Limited in selection…

…not in taste

Is it September?

Feels like July!

Or 2003?…oops

Less decaf tomorrow

Look very closely

Lion King anyone?

***

Sweaty Betty Workout

• 60 min. elliptical
• 15 min. legweights
• Abs ‘n’ stretch

***

Same ol’ snax…

…in this kitch

Gotta play fair

Nothing But ‘Nut’

***

Nothing…

… new ….

…here

Love this girl

Short on time?

Skip to 1:40

***

Special post coming!!

.

.

(Catch the pattern?)

I got a little too excited about my new nut butters yesterday. I should have put them away after Round 1. Instead, I sat next to them at the kitchen table as I blogged. Danger danger. My pesky little finger/spoon (okay, fork) went back for more and more mindless scoops.

I had absolutely no desire for anything else sweet for the rest of the night….or anything at all for that matter (isn’t it crazy how filling nut butter is?). I rarely burn out my sweet teeth but they were awfully exhausted by the end of last night’s nut butter-fest.

I didn’t eat any nut butter for an entire week because we ran out. I suppose my body/mind/soul missed it dearly…?

(How I lived the first 20 years of my life without nutz/nut butter is completely beyond all comprehension)

I actually started eating Justin’s almond butter over 2 years ago. Fact: I brought 20 squeeze packs with me to London (study abroad) and savored every morsel.

Imagine if I had started my blog back in August 2008 (!!). I desperately wanted to start a food + fitness blog since I had been reading them for several months by that point but I just never got around to it. I did start a silly little blog that focused on my travels in London. It was mostly just to show friends and family my adventures…and photos of the massive London Whole Foods!

Guess what my blog was called?

***

This morning I had 1/2 of a Chocolate Chip Brownie Larabar and 1/2 an AllieBar as my pre-workout snack.

I loved the real chocolate chips inside. Check out the massive nutz!

I got in a sweaty betty workout to cure my nut butter hangover:

• 26 min. run
• 22 min. incline walk
• 20 min. elliptical
• 10 min. arm weights

My post workout meal had to be FAST because I was rushing out the door to go to the dreaded DMV.

I quickly made an egg white veggie wrap with Laughing Cow cheese spring mix and tomatoes + a side of Chobani Pineapple 2%.

Microwaving egg whites from a carton is a lot less scary than egg whites from eggs. Carton whites don’t *pop*!!

Mmmmmmm!

I needed this table to be larger, so I used my firm placemat and then put the flimsy one I wanted to use on top.

Magic.

Actually this was the real magic…

The Chobani Fairy saw that I bought some Plain Chobani last month and asked if I wanted a free sample (FTC disclaimer!) of their other flavors.

Do I want free Greek yogurt?

Is the sky blue?

Does Paula Deen use butter?

I am not one to refuse Greek yogurt.

Dairy sensitivity or not.

‘Twas like Christmas morning!

I love when shipments come with these reusable ice packs! Perfect for my shins and hip.

I usually don’t buy flavored yogurt because of the higher sugar content so I’ve only ever tried the plain, pineapple and pomegranate flavors. Instead of syrup/fruit on the bottom, I like to customize plain yogurt with fresh fruit and honey/agave/stevia. My body most definitely needed sugar (and protein) post workout today so this was perfect. The pineapple flavor was as good as I remembered it! Greek yogurt is creamilicious ‘n’ delicious, especially 2%.

I am eager to try the other flavors!!

***

I had to dash off to the DMV with my dad so I brought along the other half of the Larabar.

Enter: 3 1/2 hours of sitting and waiting.

***

Upon walking in the door, I made a gigantic smoothie with 1/2 AllieBar crumbles.

.
Most of it sunk to the bottom…

.

(whey protein, wheatgrass, strawberries, bananas, spinach)

.
I also had a piece of toast with my new nut butters and banana slices.

.

.
I just ate some veggies and shrimp from Peter’s Kitchen.

.

.
…and dug into 1/2 a carrot cake Larabar and a scoop of Barney Butter. I’m storing them in my closet though so I have to walk at least 7 seconds to reach my stash .

.
Plus some cantaloupe.

.

.
Alright, this Clutter Queen has some packing to do!

***
Tell me: What’s your favorite flavor yogurt?

.
I grew up loving strawberry banana and vanilla.

I don’t have a bar ’stash.’ In fact, I’ve never had one.

I don’t have a drawer full of barz to ‘eat through’ and I don’t keep barz in my purse as ‘emergency snax’

…because barz don’t stand a chance around me.

source

(Obviously, I did not take that photo because I would never have that many barz in my possession!)

I don’t have any barz in my house because I ate them all.

I don’t keep barz in my house because I will eat them all.

If I bring a bar with me in my purse, I’ll eat it even when it’s not an emergency.

If I buy barz at the store, you can be sure that they’ll be gone by the end of the day.

Yes, even if I buy them at 10 PM.

…midnight snack, ya know?

***

The last couple of days have been filled with barz and nutz. No no, not sports bars and crazy psychopaths.

Even better….

This morning, I had a freshly made AllieBar and some coffee in my Duke beer stein.

I made 6 batches of AllieBars last night. I always forget how exhausting it is to make these bars until I’m a hot mess 5 min. into the process. Between making, wrapping, cleaning, packing and delivering to the post office, it took over 5 hours.

5 hours that I did not spend packing up my room .

They may look pretty but don’t be fooled…they’re high maintenance! AllieBars are made with love.

I got this mug exactly one year ago at the start of my senior year.

While packing up the AllieBars, I had half of this Greens+ Chocolate Energy Bar.

This bar is one of my favorites….ever (and that’s saying something!). My brother got me hooked on these a year ago. It tastes like a nougaty candy bar, but it’s filled with good stuff like greens!

It’s hard to read the label but the ingredients are real, wholesome, and green!

Looks wonky but tastes amazing.

Workout*:

60 min. elliptical + 15 min. leg weights

*much needed to fight packing stress!

***

Post workout:

A salad with Mango Ginger tempeh and tomatoes.

I started by sauteing crumbled tempeh with tomatoes.

…and then added some TJ’s Mango Ginger Chutney (a new to me product).

It gave the tempeh flavor, spice and everything nice!

I also used the chutney as a salad dressing yesterday while packing (I warned you about lame meals, didn’t I?).

That’s a Dr. Praeger’s Tex Mex Veggie Burger. Not quite as tasty as the v-burg from The Counter but still good. I must say I went back and squirted some ketchup on the burger after a couple bites.

Boulder Canyon Olive Oil Kettle Chips on the side.

At my new make-shift photography spot….with the darn beach chair that finds it’s way into every photo!

On my way home from the post office, I stopped by Whole Foods just to look around. I didn’t have anything in mind but I figured it couldn’t hurt to browse…

OH

MY

NUTZ…

****JACKPOT****!!!!

First I found the Larabars, then I found the Justin’s and then I found the Barney Butter. My jaw dropped lower and lower as my eyeballs got wider and wider.

I almost got this jar too but I had to exercise some degree of self control.

I was just browsing the Barney Butter website yesterday looking for a location near me that sold it. I was beginning to feel hopeless (because the closest locations to me were in Southern VA). I was also giving up hope that I would ever find the elusive Carrot Cake Larabars.

I couldn’t even wait the 1/2 mile drive home from WFs to dig in. I did save this little nub to photograph for you all though.

How nice of me.

Loved it. Loved it. Loved it. It tasted so much like a real piece of carrot cake. I especially loved the pineapple flavor. I may or may not go back and buy the 2 boxes in stock.

…and they’ll last a week, tops .

***

Then I did what any other level-headed person would do….

Note: That was 3 hours ago. Those jars do NOT look like that anymore! Oops. Perhaps I shouldn’t keep a nut butter stash either…?

After spooning with my jarz, I decided to spread them on a slice of bread and top it with banana slices. Ya know, to balance it out.

The Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter is a dream come true. It tastes like Nutella but without the random ingredients.

I can’t wait to dig into the Chocolate Chip Brownie Larabar (I was allergic to the other new flavors)!

…hopefully it’ll survive ’til tomorrow!

Doubtful.

***

Tell me: Do you have a bar stash?’What is your favorite bar (just one!!)? What about your favorite nut butter?

If I have to choose…Greens+ and TJ’s Sunflower Seed Butter (duh).

Tater-nana-dillas.

Um yeah. I went there. I totally went there.

I love my bananadillas. When I spotted an ol’ sweet potato sitting innocently on the kitchen counter, I started having visions of tater-nana-dillas dancing through my head. That’s short for sweet potato banana quesadillas.

A whole grain wrap.

Mashed sweet potato and maple syrup on one half.

Banana slices and cinnamon on the other half.

To quickly make the mashed sweet potato, I pierced the tater with a knife in 3 spots and microwaved it on high for about 4 min.

Easy enough, right?

Without a panini maker, I turned to the stove. The stove never fails me.

Pan-pressed to perfection.

How could you forget the almond butter?

I would normally spread the almond butter inside the ‘dilla but I didn’t want it to get lost with both the banana AND the sweet potato inside. When I spread the almond butter on top, I could really taste every gooey morsel.

Very important stuff, people, very very important.

Can you even imagine what this would taste like with Sunflower Seed Butter (SSB)? I’m finishing up my SSB Rehab Program and I’m thinking after my current jar of almond butter, I’m gonna take the plunge and finally get a jar of SSB. It’s been over a month (!!!).

I’m in withdrawal.

Rehab Shmehab.

***

We’ve been loading up on bargain produce from Harris Teeter recently. We usually only go to Harris Teeter for two things: bargain produce and Red Box DVDs. Oh and lotto tickets. Okay, so three things.

The other day, I picked up a huge bag of grape tomatoes for $1.59. Cha-ching!

I’d say there are about 3 pints worth in there.

I also got a bag of ripe bananas (half of which got sliced up and thrown into the freezer). Perhaps I’ll be making some Avocado Banana Bread this week?

The best bargain was on strawberries–buy 1 get 2 free. So 3 cartons for $4!!

These strawberries are fresh and oh so sweet. Double cha-ching!

Unfortunately, these strawberries aren’t organic. However, we got this Environne Fruit and Vegetable Wash from TJ’s, which we’ll be trying out on these strawbs!

Ingredients: purified water, natural cleansing agents (derived from plant oilts), polysorbate-20 (derived from sorbitol/berries), grapefruit seed extract and lemon-orange extract.

It claims to safely remove chemical residues including pesticides, waxes, and oils. I won’t be able to report if it’s effective or not (since I won’t know!) but I figure it’s better than nothing.

Tell me: Do you wash your produce with anything other than water? You do wash your produce, right!? Please say yes.

***

I’m laying low tonight to recuperate from my Chicago adventures. We were invited to a potluck dinner at a family friend’s house but I decided to stay home to get some peace and quiet and work on yet another cover letter. I’ll be back tomorrow with an update on the job sitch.

I’m home! Back to my Craigslist-browsing-job-searching-adolescent-sleeping-schedule-silly-book-reading ways. I have 48 hours (and 200+ photos) worth of culinary adventures to share with you so hold tight as I recap the end of my trip to Chicago.

***

After the Healthy Living Summit, I took a train to the ‘burbs of Chicago to stay with my dear blogger friend Lauren and her husband Joe.

Several months ago, Lauren casually suggested that I visit her someday. I kept the idea in the back of my head but because I rarely travel to the midwest, I didn’t really give it much consideration at the time. Well, the moment I found out the summit was going to take place in Chicago, I immediately contacted Lauren about meeting up!

The idea of staying at a blogger friend’s house is a bit out there if you really think about it. Meeting up for lunch is one thing but staying overnight (when you’ve never ever met before) is a whole ‘nother story.

Conversations with my friends before I left home sounded something like this:

Friend: What are you doing in Chicago?

Me: Going to a conference and then visiting a friend for a couple days

Friend: Cool! A friend from school?

Me: Um no, not exactly. I haven’t actually met her yet. We’re just online friends.

Friend: Oh. Uhhh…well, hmm be careful!

***

However, Lauren always left me the most thoughtful comments on my posts and although we had never met in real life, it seemed as if we had been friends for years. Also, I knew this girl’s heart was made of gold when she sent me a gigantic jar of Naturally More Almond Butter back in February .

Lauren and Joe treated me like a princess! Despite the fact that I was only staying for 2 short days, Lauren stocked up on all my favorite foods in preparation for my arrival. I opened the fridge to find kefir, TJ’s Carrot Ginger Muffins, shrimp, mini sweet peppers, berries, dates and almond butter!

My goodness gracious.

Internet friends –> real life friends

***

Lauren got started on dinner as soon as I walked in the door. Her equally as sweet and adorable older sister, Katie, joined us as well.

Appetizers: mini pepz, Italian herb pita chips, sugar snap peas, and hummus.

Organic tortilla chips w/ TJ’s Corn and Chile Salsa

Apple Pie Cheese!

Dark chocolate covered raisins and Almond M&Ms (I think I had approximately 8,066 of these).

Dipped in Barney Butter, no less.

She also brought out dates to make me feel right at home!

Lauren baked a loaf of artisan bread for dinner. Don’t you just wanna stick your nose in that doughy center?? Okay, maybe that’s just me.

Also on the menu: Baby spinach, cucumber and cranberry salad

Caprese salad (tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, and balsamic vinegar)

Stir stir stir.

Whole wheat pasta with shrimp and peas

I had it all!

I loaded up on extra veggies because I hadn’t had any all day long.

Her soft ‘n’ doughy bread was absolutely perfect.

I managed to pack it all in despite filling up on oh so many delicious appetizers beforehand.

***

Dessert: Pavlova….or what Katie called Pavlov’s Dogs . Meringue ‘cake’ with whipped cream and mixed berries.

Lauren even gave me, the GUEST, a prezzie (that’s unheard of!!). I’m telling you, it was 100% princess treatment.

TJ’s Chocolate and a cute mini cup and spoon from Crate and Barrel.

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After a 45 min. walk ‘n’ talk outside, I came home to my beautifully made and incredibly comfy princess couch-bed. Joe had everything ready to go along with a little midnight snack….

Almond M&Ms in a little plastic wrap baggie with a curly ribbon. What a guy!

This was only the beginning of my adventures with Lauren. I’ll be back soon!

Love,

Allie, Princess of ‘Burbia

As someone who cringes at the thought of throwing away food, I have become pretty skilled at transforming leftovers into a whole new meal….a makeover, if you will. Rather than viewing leftovers as sub-par versions of the original, I see them as opportunities to create something delicious in a snap.

This past weekend, I ‘madeover’ the leftovers of my Eggplant Pizza Casserole not once, but two times! It was like the dish that just kept giving.

Makeover #1

Served with avocado, whole wheat bread, sweet potato waffle and TJ’s Italian Sausage-less Sausage. <– This stuff is amazing!

I wanted to see which one would taste better–bread or waffle–so I had 1/2 of each.

I’d have to say the waffle won, but not by much. They were both perfect accompaniments to the dish.

Makeover #2

Served again with avocado and sausage-less sausage but this time on a bed of steamed kale and topped with some almond cheese. As you can see, I was a bit greedy with the pizza sauce the first time around!

I bought this almond cheese a few times earlier this year and liked it a lot. I decided to pick up another block at Whole Foods since I am trying to cut back on dairy (let’s not talk about the 2 cups of Greek yogurt I had today!).

Dessert: banana soft serve with Greek yogurt and almond butter. The only ‘making over’ that this dessert needs is making it over and over and over again .

Oprah, are you there? If you’re reading, I’m available to perform makeovers on your show. I’m even taking a trip to Chicago this week. Hit me up, Ope!

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Workouts:

Friday: ET 30 min; Tennis 60 min.

Saturday: ET 40 min.

Sunday: Tennis 30 min; ET 60 min; 15 min. strength training

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Tell me: Leftovers. Love ‘em or hate ‘em? What was the highlight of your weekend?