As I mentioned in NYC Part II, my dad and I trekked from Central Park to Chinatown on Monday. After Times Square, we headed towards Union Square in search of food.

Along the way, we stumbled upon Bryant Park.

We also found this sketch of Manhattan sitting outside a gift shop. A pencil drawing (!!!). It took Krikko, the artist, 4 years and 2496 pencils to complete this drawing.

I was completely blown away. I mean, is this not the coolest thing ever?

And then a few blocks later, we saw the actual Empire State Building.

We also walked through Eataly, a new Italian marketplace opened by Iron Chef Mario Batali and other restauranteurs, Joe Bastianich, Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Oscar Farinetti.

The place reminded me of a museum! There were different sections based on the type of food (seafood, meat, vegetables, pasta, gelato, etc.). We didn’t stay long because we were hungry. While there was plenty of food in Eataly, we were going for something a little more casual.

Two blocks before Union Square (where Whole Foods is located), we stopped by Garden of Eden and for some odd reason, I decided to get their salad bar to eat for lunch.

I’m still unsure why I didn’t just walk 2 more blocks to eat at the amazing WFs hot bar. We later walked through WFs to see what we missed out on and there were many many more delicious options in their prepared foods section. Oh well.

It was still good though! I got a little bit of everything: tofu crunch salad, sweet potato, turnips, shrimp, a brussels sprout, avocado salad, hearts of palm, Greek yogurt, berries, granola, and a lentil ball.

1 pound of food!

It may have been this lentil ball that convinced me to eat at Garden of Eden instead of Whole Foods. I was so intrigued by this thing. It tasted exactly like it looks–beany, hearty and a little bit mushy. I liked it a lot!

I also split a huge grapefruit with my dad.

We ate in Union Square Park right by this statue.

After fueling up, we walked through the Union Square Farmer’s Market and continued to explore until it was time for us to go our separate ways.

I went to a small blogger meet up while my dad walked to Chinatown.

I met up with Sharon and Rachel at Babycakes Bakery. Babycakes has been on my Bakery Bucket List for awhile now and I finally got to go!

I knew exactly what I wanted and I’m sure you can guess which cupcake I chose .

Spelt Flour Carrot Cake Cupcake!

Mmm!! It was one of the moistest cupcakes I’ve eaten.

Yeah, I said it…moistest.

Moistest. Moistest. Moistest.

My lovely company. Thanks girls for coming out to chat with me! Next time I’ll choose a less obscure time to meet up so more people can come!

Sharon brought me a few of her Pumpkin Oat Choco Chip Muffins that were delicious. They made great traveling snacks.

Then I walked to Chinatown to meet up with my dad.

We window shopped a bit and then bought some pastries/desserts at Canal Cafe Bakery Inc. to take back with us.

Afterwards, we walked ALLLL the way back up to our hotel by Central Park (!!!).

Ha! Just kidding. We took the Subway. My legs surely would have slapped me in the face if I walked anymore that day.

***

Can you believe this and part II ALL happened in ONE day?! Needless to say I was exhausted.

Up next: The last segment of my trip! Then we’ll be back to regular posting.

***

Tell me: What is one restaurant/bakery on your bucket list?

The morning after an indulgent night is never a pleasant one for me. Yesterday morning, I woke up feeling sluggish, parched and still full. I knew a sweaty workout was just what I needed to wake myself up and get my rear in gear!

To my amazement, I had a great workout and I went from feeling like 2 bucks to a million bucks. I originally wanted to go for a run outside but because it was 95 degrees outside I opted to run on the treadmill.

• 4 mile run <--felt like 10!
• 1 mile walk
• 20 min. elliptical
• 10 min. upper body strength training

Whew!

I forgot how much I dislike the treadmill. I have no idea how I ran on that thing everyday in the past. The entire time, I kept trying to visualize where I would’ve been running in my neighborhood had I gone outside.

It was a total snooze-fest. I think I’m gonna call it the snooze-mill from now on!

***

I kept it simple post workout:

Vega Chocolate Shake ‘n’ Go, Frozen Berries, Spinach, Almond Milk

Medjool Dates

I love Medjool Dates. I will always choose Medjool over Deglet Noor now. They are 1000x better in taste and texture. See the comparison chart here.

I probably had about 5 over the course of the day. I love these suckers.

I swear they taste like pumpkin puree!

After all the food I ate at the buffet, I just wanted to stick to the basics.

Brown Rice Bread with Greek yogurt and bananas.

I lava guava!

Then my mom brought back some leftover food from a meeting she had and I got snacky.

I immediately went for the pita chips and hummus.

I hadn’t eaten pita chips in awhile. So so so so good!

At some point I made a small salad to get in some veggies and then ate a huge oatmeal raisin cookie that my mom also brought back.

We’ve got a busy day today, including buying some ingredients for my next Project Food Blog submission. Gots to go go go!!

***

Tell me: Do you use the snooze-mill? What are your strategies for staying awake on it (fighting boredom)?

What do you do the morning after an indulgent night to make yourself feel better?

I just found out that I advanced to the 2nd round of the Project Food Blog Contest. Thank you so much for your votes. Get excited for my round 2 post coming up this weekend!

***

Last night, we went out to Todai Japanese Sushi & Seafood Buffet to celebrate my parents’ 30th anniversary. Romantic and classy, huh? We ate at this restaurant over a year ago for my pre-senior year hurrah dinner. <–click to see photos of the beautiful food display!

When my family eats at a buffet, there is no such thing as portion control. In our minds, eating more food means getting your money’s worth. If you think you’re full after 1 plate, you thought wrong. Keep on going! The more plates the better.

*I sincerely wish I didn’t think this way but it runs in my blood!

Things NOT to do when going to a buffet:

1. Workout right beforehand for the sole purpose of getting hungry

I completely ruined my appetite yesterday afternoon by eating several servings of Kettle Chips. BUT I wanted to be hungry for dinner! Some people eat a snack before buffets/parties to avoid going crazy. Not me. I like to be hungry so I can chow down. Thus, I hit up the gym beforehand to work up an appetite. I’m know, I’m weird.

2. Wear a free-flowing/preggo dress

I thought about wearing khaki shorts to dinner but that would’ve just restricted the expansion of my tummy. Enter: a loose-fitting dress!

Healthy living blog, what?

3. Turn a blind eye to your glass of water and the 2 random lettuce leaves that somehow made it onto your plate.

I reluctantly put some veggies and fruit on my plates (yes, that’s plural) to balance things out but they just got in the way . I think I drank ~1 glass of water the entire time. No room for water when there is so much delicious food.

***

A Healthy Buffet

With that said, this buffet was actually quite healthy. There were delicious salads everywhere, soup, noodle soup, sushi, sashimi, and mini bite-size desserts. It is the healthiest buffet I have ever eaten at.

*Before we begin, I’m gonna say I was mindfully overeating last night. I knew I was eating more than I needed to. It wasn’t uncontrolled though. I mindfully ate everything.

Are you ready? Let’s do this…

Plate #1

Clockwise from the top: 1) salad with soba noodles, tuna and avocado 2) sushi and sashimi 3) tempura kabocha and tempura broccoli 3) calamari.

I had never tried tempura kabocha…it was good!

Plate #2

More of the same plus a crab leg.

This sushi had pineapple on top. I loved it. I wish I could remember all the varieties of sushi they offered–they were some really creative ones.

Soba noodle are so refreshing!! I need to make them myself sometime.

Plus, check out those veggies! I tried .

Plate #3

One last plate of nigiri sushi. Eel and some white fish <–my 2 favorites!

Dessert Plate

Chocolate walnut fudge, strawberry cheesecake and some fruit. See how small the desserts are in comparison to the fruit?

Green tea ice cream, red bean ice cream, and strawberry ice cream.

The following were not my plates. I’m just showing you some other desserts….

…but I did have another plain cheesecake sliver. Aren’t these desserts cute? I love that you can try out many different kinds without having to throw anything away.

Peter went to town. Peter has a lightning fast metabolism. We are all jealous of Peter.

Peter thoroughly enjoyed his night off .

Presents

2 freshly baked moon cakes my brother picked up from a bakery in DC. My parents didn’t get to eat any on the actual holiday a few days ago so they were excited.

Plus a bottle of wine.

Afterwards, we walked around the mall to help with digestion. I found an elliptical in a department store and joked that I could hop right back on it after my dinner.

I probably ate twice as much food as I would have at home. However, last night was a special occasion and the food, for the most part, was pretty darn healthy. Much to my surprise/delight, I was NOT overly stuffed. Usually when I walk out of Todai, I am uncomfortably stuffed. Last night, I was just full. Woohoo!

Perhaps wearing a dress helped .

***

Tell me: Do you eat at buffets? If so, do you go all out or try to eat normal portions?

I ran 6.2 miles today.

Running at home (vs. school) has always been harder for me. Home=running drought.

I always find excuses: It’s too hot. There isn’t a beautiful trail here like the WaDuke at school. I’m not stressed out of my mind. It’s just too hard. My legs hurt. Wah.

My endurance always decreases after I come home from school and I always go from running 5-6 miles to barely making it to 2. After one too many frustrating/difficult runs this summer, I finally accepted that I probably wouldn’t run 6 miles again.

Of course the first half of my run today was still challenging. I wanted to stop after 1…2…3 miles. No thanks to the hills. Oh the hills are alive!

However, today I had faith in myself. As I got closer to the 3 mile mark, I thought about completing 4. When I got to 4, I thought about 5. Then it dawned on me that I could actually run 6 miles. At HOME.

I ran my 4 mile loop and then another 2 mile loop. The last stretch was UP hill (whew!). Loops really do make the difference for me. Had I gone out and back on the bike trail, I am almost certain I would have stopped after 1 mile.

No, it wasn’t a particularly speedy run. Minus a couple short walk breaks, it came out to be 6.2 miles in 63 minutes. Average of 10:09/mile. I’ll take it though considering the crazy hills I had to climb!

Today, I didn’t try to run a certain pace. I kept reminding myself slow and steady wins the race.

And today, I won the race against myself.

***

This was almost the run that wasn’t. I got sucked into a Twitter conversation this morning about weddings. Before I knew it, I was designing my own engagement ring. $1,550. Not too bad, right? Any takers?! Keep in mind, my parents will get us a Vita Mix too .

I had some Fiberful Ends & Pieces + coffee before leaving for my run.

Post run, I took an ICE BATH! (For the sake of my shins, hips and achilles) I had a cup o’ hot water and my phone with me to pass the time. Plus a sweatshirt to keep warm!

After using all the ice in the freezer (2 full buckets), the water still wasn’t cold enough so I added our ice packs. It wasn’t freezing, but it was pretty darn cold.

I sat for about 15 minutes. I sure hope this helps!

Post run, I ate a Cinnaraisin Ezekiel English Muffin with Greek yogurt and a drizzle of SSB

Plus a Green Smoothie

Spinach + berries + protein powder

Looks disgust-balls. Tastes amaze-balls.

Shortly after, Peter and I made a Black Eyed Pea Shrimp Salad–my favorite!

I wolfed this down! My appetite was catching up with me and I was ravenous.

Dessert: Grapes and Dark Chocolate

More Fiberful and SSB

…plus a bowl of Pecan Praline Ice Cream (2 servings ish). Mmm Mmm Mmm!

Off to go ice my shins!!

***

Tell Me: What’s something you’ve accomplished recently? Brag about yourself!

I stumbled out of bed this morning and immediately thought of my main man, Mr. Quaker. I opened the pantry door and there he was staring down at me. While I think he’s pretty smokin’ (okay, maybe not), my eyes went straight to that spoon on the box….

I decided to skip the spoon though

Do these really need a ‘best before’ date?

I had ~1.5 cups straight up as a pre-workout snack. Except we all know 1.5 cups of Oatmeal Squares actually means 2 cups. I mean, come on let’s be real.

***

I haven’t gotten a chance to hit up Starbucks for a Pumpkin Spice Crack Latte yet so I decided to make one myself.

Pumpkin butter and a dash of pumpkin pie spice stirred right into my coffee.

[I add cinnamon/pumpkin pie spice directly to my coffee. I've experimented with mixing cinnamon/pumpkin pie spice into coffee grounds before brewing but I've found that it doesn't add as much flavor and takes a lot more spice.]

Plus almond milk for some creaminess.

I also ate a couple handfuls of whole grain tortilla chips before heading down to the gym.

***

Workout:

• 60 min. elliptical
• 20 min. full body strength training
• Ran up 15 flights of stairs
• 100 jumping jacks

I’d say I put those morning carbs to good use!

***

Post workout I made another Berry Protein Wheatgrass smoothie. I’ve been on a smoothie kick lately. I think it’s the combination of the heat and our fairly empty kitchen.

I wanted to blend in some spinach, but sadly we were all out. I used this Amazing Grass Berry Superfood packet instead along with some protein powder and fruit.

***

Fry Time!

The other day, my dad and I got a huge bag of okra from the $1 bargain bin at the store (yes, bargain loving runs in the family).

I had one thing in mind…okra fries!!

I also got some parsnips to make parsnip fries.

I didn’t know what to expect with this veggie. While I’m sure I’ve eaten it at a restaurant at some point, I’d never prepared parsnips myself before.

I peeled and cut the parsnips into fry-shapes.

Then I roasted the okra and parsnip slices for about 20-25 min. at 400* F in the toaster oven.

The parsnips tasted just like albino carrots–a tad sweet! They were more fibrous than carrots but had they been orange, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference.

The okra fries weren’t as crunchy as I had imagined. I guess they needed some more time in the oven?

I also threw an Amy’s Veggie Burger in the oven for the last 10 min. or so.

Ketchup for dipping.

An off-centered bird’s eye view shot. This was taken blindly! The patio chairs are gone so I had nothing to stand on .

A Cold Giveaway

I brought this Thermos insulated BPA-free water bottle with me to the gym today. It was sent to me for free to review. While I am a room-temperature water girl (I know, I know, ew) I do enjoy cold water when I workout. The double wall vacuum insulation is supposed to keep water cold for 12 hours. I didn’t get to test the full time span but it sure kept me cool during my workout.

I love that it has a one-touch pop open cap and a straw! It makes for easy slurping while working out.

Thermos is offering LLE readers a chance to win their very own Thermos water bottle. Just leave a comment on this post. I will randomly choose a winner tomorrow night.

So much to ketch up on! My mom ran away with my half-written post on her laptop today, hence the delayed post. My laptop just turned 4 years old (which means 80 years old in generation Y/blogger speak) so it’s somewhat dilapidated. Blogging on my mom’s new Macbook Pro is so much easier, especially because it has a built-in camera card reader. That being said, my laptop better last another 80 years because this gal has no pennies to spare!

***

Yesterday was another active day. I started with 60 min. on the elliptical while watching the latest Top Chef DC episode (Go Kelly!!). Later, I played tennis with my dad. I refueled in between workouts with plenty of carbs and protein so I had enough energy to play. If I don’t fuel enough, playing tennis can get very frustrating, very quickly.

Today, I completed another 60 min. on the elliptical and 15 min. of incline walking on the treadmill. I was feeling a bit sore, so I decided to hold off on any strength training.

***

Now for the highlights and lowlights from this past weekend….

Along with Banana S’mores, I had a tasty wrap and some chips.

Leftover Feta Chickpea Tomato Salad with spring mix in a whole grain wrap.

Side of whole grain tortilla chips. The highlight of this meal.

My dad got these from Target and they are fabulous. The ingredients are quite impressive for chips! Quinoa? Brown rice flour? Sunflower seeds?

I also walked over to Target just to browse and of course came back with food…in the form of more carbs!

I got Quaker Oatmeal Squares and Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel English Muffins. It’s been far too long since I last had these. They are about $1 cheaper from Target than Whole Foods….cha-ching.

I gave myself a pat on the back for getting this cereal. This is my absolute favorite cereal in the whole wide world and to be honest, I’m kinda scared of it. However, it was on sale so I figured what the hey. I don’t like to be scared of food. I don’t want to deprive myself of anything, especially if it’s something I love so dearly. The only way to get over my fear is to embrace it.

It sounds like I’m talking about major life goals…nope, still talking about cereal .

High to the frickin’ light.

Proof that we buy more than just carbs in a box…

I also got this SoBe lifewater from Target. I was drinking it on my walk home when something fell from the bottle into my mouth.

Ummm come again!?!!

THIS!!!!

IN MY MOUTH!!!!

WHAT….IS….THIS!?

Oh my oh my oh my. It was slimy and muddy. Ahhhhh!!! @*($&*@#^&@%#!

Not okay!!!

It came out in one round piece AFTER I finished the whole bottle. I tore it into 2 pieces just to try and figure out what it was…no idea!! Obviously, that was a major lowlight from the weekend. Blegh.

***

Another lowlight? I used up the last of my wheatgrass powder.

No wheatgrass goes to waste over here.

Berry Banana Wheatgrass Protein Smoothie

Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel English Muffin w/ pumpkin butter. Highlight.

Guava!! My favorite fruit is back–a highlight for sure.

We got 3 bargain guava and 3 regular priced guava yesterday at the store.

3 bargain=$1

3 ‘on sale’ for $1.99/lb=$4.48

Yikes.

My camera’s highlight…

I snapped this photo from our balcony. You can see the Appalachian Mountains in the distance.

So pertyful.

Tell me: What were the highlights from your weekend? I hope you didn’t have any nasty-slimy-discs-in-your-bottle lowlights!

My Saturday started off with a bang! I went on a run outside and covered 5 hilly miles. It wasn’t easy. I took a couple walking breaks. But I did it. Afterwards, I felt like I had more to give so I went to the condo gym for 20 min. on the elliptical and 20 min. of full body strength training. I was a ball of energy! Three cheers for carborrific graham crackers and pretzel slims! Okay, my rest day probably contributed a little to that too .

***

Berry Banana Wheatgrass Protein Smoothie

With cinnamon graham cracker crumbs on top. The crumbs melted in the smoothie and tasted like pie crust! Sounds backwards since smoothies are cold, but it made sense in my head.

Leftover Feta Chickpea Tomato Salad on mixed greens.

My mom and I wanted to go out and take advantage of the beautiful weather. We thought about going into DC but my mom had her heart set on frozen yogurt. Surprise surprise, huh?

While there are 2 froyo joints within crawling distance of our condo, we ventured all the way to the mall for self-serve. You can say we were doing ‘research’ because my mom seriously wants to open up a shop. She even emailed Starfruit to get information on starting a franchise over here. I think we should open a froyo/bakery/coffee shop so we still have people coming in when it’s freezing outside.

Alright anybody want to invest? You can get AllieBars for life .

I got taro, honey dew, chocolate and lychee with a lone granola cluster.

We then window-furniture-shopped for a bit. So much for being outdoors…ha!

You know you’re growing up when furniture shopping ain’t so miserable.

I remember my brother and I used to get SO antsy pantsy when we were dragged along to go furniture/home shopping. Now, I’d much rather shop for home stuff than anything else.

…especially when dishes and big mirrors are involved.

Lovely leaf plates.

I wanted this little dish!

A fruit stand in the middle of the mall.

Don’t they look real? They’re actually bars of soap. Really expensive soap.

Look at that peach pit!

***

Dinner was a healthy spin on McDonald’s McGriddles.

The original version consists of sausage, egg and American cheese served on a small pancake injected with pancake syrup.

My Mak-Griddle was more like a waffle-wich.

Wholegrain waffles with an Amy’s V-Burg, egg whites, Laughing Cow Cheese, and ketchup. I wish I had drizzled some maple syrup on top for the full effect.

Once again, Mickey D’s ain’t got nothin’ on me

Dessert was outta this world. However, it deserves it’s own post. I’ll be back with the deets!

***

Tell me: What are some activities you disliked as a child but enjoy now?

I woke up Monday morning to breathtakingly perfect weather. The sky was a perfect shade of blue with not a cloud in the sky. The sun was shining but the sauna-like heat that we experienced over the weekend was surprisingly absent. To top if off, there was a cool breeze and I couldn’t help but close my eyes and smile.

I started off the beautiful day with a short run around the neighborhood. I ran 1.5 miles and walked 1.5 miles. Pre-workout, I had some of a TJ’s Carrot Ginger muffin with half caf coffee. Lauren even bought TJ’s decaf coffee for me!

Post workout I made a small parfait with two more of my favorites. Look at these familiar products–did I even leave home?!

I kept it light because we were heading out the door to brunch. Yogurt, kefir, berries and more crumbled muffin.

After brainstorming a whole bunch of possible things to do, we decided to visit Geneva, a cute town that reminded me of the South! I kept thinking I was in Charleston, SC.

Lauren insisted on eating at Egg Harbor Cafe, with good reason!!

There were a thousand cute signs hanging on the walls.

The menu had a plethora of healthy options. To give you an idea, these were the items that caught my eye: Portobello Benedict, Banana Bread French Toast, Swedish Fruit Roll-Up, Berry Granola Steel Cut Oats, Mediterranean Roll-Up, Key West Crepes, and the Dynamite Veggie Omelette.

Seriously? Seriously. Check out the menu for yourself!

I ordered the Chicken Pesto Egg White Frittata without pesto and cheese (allergic!!). It had artichokes, red peppers, and spinach. I subbed portobello mushrooms for the chicken.

The side of fruit was so elegantly displayed.

Whole wheat English muffin.

Lauren ordered The Harvest Salad, which we renamed ‘the hugh jass salad.’ It had chicken, dried cranberries, apple, avocado, Bleu cheese, slivered almonds, cucumber and raspberry vinaigrette.

Geneva has a bunch of old homes turned cute shops and bakeries. We started with The Little Traveler, a mansion filled with home goods and food.

Tea

I was worried about fitting the HLS swag into my suitcase, otherwise I would have bought one of everything!

We fell in love with the ginger snaps there.

We got to sample some candy too.

Fact: the pumpkin malt ball fell on the floor after I took a small nibble. I picked it right back up, blew on it for 2 seconds and finished it off. You know me…no shame.

I think I said “I want this!!” at least 956 times throughout the store. That is not an exaggeration.

LEAF PLATE!!!

Placemats galore!

The cutest tea spot, located in the courtyard of the house.

We stopped by Graham’s, a chocolate and ice cream shop just to take a peak.

A bunch of bakeries were closed since business is slower on Mondays . I guess I’ll just have to go back someday and check ‘em all out.

The “I want this!!” continued and continued…

Live LAUGH Eat

All these blocks are so ME .

Bumble bumble

More cute shops…

This bag was made out of plastic grocery bags.

I had no idea broccoli grew like this.

With the perfect weather and lovely company, I felt like I was walking through Pleasantville. For the first time in a long time, there was absolutely nothing in the world that could wipe the smile off my face. Nothing at all.

***

A preview of The Princess Adventures Part III…

(not the organ!)

Healthy Living Summit 2010 has officially come to an end! Major sad face. While everyone travelled back home today, I took a train to the ‘burbs of Chicago to extend my trip a wee bit. I wanted to take FULL advantage of my plane ticket!

I’m still behind on blogging though, so you’ll have to wait to see what I’m up to over here.

***

The morning after the HLS Cocktail Party came way too early. I had plans to run some hotel stairs at 6:30 AM but I decided against it as I didn’t fall asleep until around 3 AM (!!!). My mind was racing all night long–so many thoughts about life, new friends, and interesting conversations floating through my noggin.’ Just too excited!!

Saturday (conference day) started with an amazing breakfast buffet. The choices included oatmeal, granola, Greek yogurt, fruit, croissants, muffins, juice, tea and coffee.

I didn’t have a single serving of fruit the day before so I was more than ready to dig into some fresh fruit.

I also picked up a carrot muffin. Looks can be deceiving….those carrot chunks on top were the only ones in the entire muffin! I was totally shafted. I didn’t really care for the muffin so I just ate the top.

As I was walking to get some coffee, the fruit trays were magically replenished so I grabbed s’more berries.

I also grabbed a Chocolate Oikos. I wanted to try the caramel flavor, but they were all gone by the time I arrived. It was my first time trying this flavor…it tasted like chocolate pudding and yogurt mixed together.

Much. much. much. needed. coffee. (Still ~32% decaf )

I ended up adding the granola and berries to my yogurt like so. Surprise surprise, huh?

Afterwards, I loaded up on some more swag–this was only the beginning of the swag train….

A BPA-free water bottle and a thermos.

Chips and Attune Chocolate Bars.

Except my salty tooth friend, Meg (my exact opposite), loves chips and I love chocolate so we swapped.

Muahahaha.

After the first session, my roomies (M+S) and I went out for a 30 min. walk. We walked to the Bean and back to get our legs moving a little.

We got back just in time for a snack.

I picked the Chewy Cocoa Chocolate Swirl granola bar and ate about half during the Stepping Up Your Photography session. It tasted like a Cocoa Puffs bar!

Then it was time for lunch!

Check out this humongo platter of grilled veggies (!!!)

Various salads (greens, fruit, and chickpeas)

Quinoa, which had some sort of dressing mixed in…totally hit the spot.

I had some of everythang

+ fruit salad.

I grabbed a bag of Terra Chips but didn’t end up eating them.

Then came dessert!

I passed on the above because I had Gina’s life-changing macaroons on my mind! Let me tell you they were hands down, the best I’ve ever had. I also got to chit chat with the macaroon lady herself after lunch and she was such a doll. Of course we talked about our hopes/dreams of starting a baking business.

I also had a sample of Attune’s Apple Cinnamon granola with yogurt chips <–the best part!

Later in the afternoon, I won a giveaway from Stonyfield–a reusable shopping bag, a razor and a toothbrush made from recycled yogurt cups.

After the sessions, Meg and I head over to a super nice gym, XSport Fitness, to get in a workout. I had walked on Thursday and Friday so I was more than ready to get my heart rate uppity up. The gym provided HLS attendees with free guest passes.

I did 45 minutes on the ArcTrainer (shown below) while reading blogs, tweeting, and watching a tennis match. I used to use this machine almost every day in college–I sure missed it! Afterwards, I did a quick 15 min. on the good ol’ elliptical.

Post workout, I snacked on the rest of my rice cakes and sesame almonds while getting ready to head out to a lovely dinner.

To be continued….

Sorry for the late post! I’ve been wrestling with Ecto all night long (grrr). I do appreciate how much easier it is to blog with Ecto, but it likes to throw temper tantrums every couple months or so that make me go cuckoo!

I’m glad you all like my new site design! It’s not too far off from the last one but I have a lot more options to play around with now. My host renewed LLE’s contract for another year (without asking me) so I guess I’m not going anywhere anytime soon .

***

We went back to IKEA yesterday to get some kitchen accessories and bargain wood. I love these wooden countertops! So Food Network.

When I grow up, I totally want this kitchen!

We also looked at some twin beds because I am considering switching from a queen size bed to a twin size bed to make space in my new room.

I found more of my favorite spoons in red. This one was half off!

Moving onto food….

I got a bag of muesli from the food section to snack on. The nice thing about muesli is that I’m not as tempted to snack on it dry as I am cereal….yet it still tastes fabulous in cold milk and/or yogurt. Win-win!

I tried this with kefir, yogurt, and milk this past weekend. So far, I like it best with cold milk and fresh banana slices.

My mom got a cinnamon bun, which I helped devour. It’s hard to resist when they have cinnamon bun fumes wafting throughout the store!!

Berry Frosty. This is actually just a smoothie. Somehow adding more ice, a pinch of xanthan gum and putting it in a parfait glass makes it a ‘frosty.’ That and eating it with a spoon.

Don’t forget the AllieBar crumble topping!

Oh Friday, I transformed my leftovers from dinner at Sunflower into a 2nd meal. I added spring mix and avocado.

Yes, I’m still dreaming about this veggie patty.

There ain’t no thang like cold watermelon on a super hot day.

***

Back to Saturday…

After we got back from IKEA, I went for 65 min on the elliptical and busted out 20 pushups. And then….my brother came home!

My bro arrived just in time for dinner so my dad, mom and uncle whipped up a nice feast.

On the menu:

Pan roasted salmon with yellow chives.

Green peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, chicken and potato stix.

Spinach.

My uncle made a Thai [Green] Papaya Salad.

I’ll ask him for the recipe .

I made a beet salad to go along with dinner. Beets, goat cheese, avocado and spring mix. Ya can’t beet that combo! Har har har…

I got these beets from TJ’s the other day. Steamed, peeled, and ready to eat straight from the package.

I’ve always been pretty neutral when it comes to beets–don’t hate ‘em but don’t love ‘em either. They sure have grown on me recently though and I am craving them!

These were fab.

Just beet it, beet it, beet it, beet it….

Dessert was a monster batch of homemade tart frozen yogurt. My brother wanted to try it for himself and he gave it 2 yogurt covered thumbs up!

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Alrighty, I’m off to watch The Next Food Network Star now. I hope you all had a great weekend!