I.Love.Pilates

Hello there! I am writing from the lovely city of Boston (Cambridge to be exact) tonight as I'm traveling for work. We just had dinner at this amazingly delicious restaurant called Chez Henri - kind of french cuban cuisine it is considered. I ordered the pan seared trout with langoustine & gremolata, a cauliflower puree, and smoked bacon. There were some green beans thrown in there for some good measure so all in all a seriously delicious and well-balanced meal if I do say so myself! Sorry no photos :(

While I enjoy traveling for work, some things I don't like about it are the fact that I have to miss out on some things that I plan ahead for - such as my pilates classes! I've been buying these classes off of groupon.com and now am on to my five mat classes at Pilates on Fifth. The cool thing about this place is that a mat class also covers this special Barre class (such as a ballet bar?). I haven't tried it yet but eventually!! I had a spot reserve this week but had to cancel due to work obligations ... ah priorities. This place is on the top floor of a building and the first time I walked in I immediately was reminded of a gymnasium when I was little. Pilates is fabulous and if you haven't tried it I seriously recommend them - I think it can do wonders for your body! ... but that being said, it's kind of wierd! Sometimes walking into these pilates studios can look like some sort of torture chamber with machines and chains and wheels and pulleys. Very strange.



Still, a great workout. Hopefully I'll get another class or two in before the weekend!

Goooo Knicks!

Happy Thursday! I love thursday because it means the week is almost over but it's not quite over yet so the weekend anticipation / brain dead feeling that occurs on friday hasn't hit.
This week has been flown by so far since I was traveling for work yesterday and on Tuesdsay I got to go to the Knicks vs. Nuggets game at MSG! The last time I'd been there was actually with my brother and his friends for a Knicks game (yes I spent an evening with some high school boys chauffering them around and had a great time thank you very much). But this time I had better company and ridiculously better seats! We were in the fourth row at center court - aka I didn't even need my glasses, although they were readily packed in my purse in the horrific event that I would actually need to put them on (Im not the biggest fan of them in case you couldn't tell).





While the game was fun and all, especially because they WON, I spent most of my time trying to celebrity site. Spotted: Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) and Chloe Sevigny (Big Love) - not to shabby!
Undocumented eats included 2 beers and some chicken fingers. I confess, there was a sushi bar down where we were which I debated but something about sushi at MSG didn't sit right, not to mention I was at a sports game where it's kinda an unsaid rule to eat hotdogs and beer!

Do you like going to sporting games?? What do you get to eat when you are there?

Cupcakes are HOT

Or at least that was the tag line for the Cupcake Workshop 101 that I took on Sunday night at the Institute for Culinary Education. It was a night of learning all about baking, meeting strangers over a common passion, and baking / decorating some delicious things!

Full Circle

Looking back on my first post from this blog, and thinking about why I started it in the first place, really makes me feel accomplished regarding what I've created here. I was in a "rut" of sorts and just needed to spice things up, so to say; or at least try to put my thoughts and actions into words and photos so that I could better see what was missing and what things were apparent in my life. Even though this site is still new, and I have [recently] not followed through on continual updating, especially in regards to what I eat and how I exercise, I still think that the posts that I have written have helped to reshape my outlook on the past few months and the future ahead that I have in New York. While there are a number of things that have changed, for the better, in my life since this blog started, I think that it really has come full circle when last Thursday I attended a blogger potluck at the lovely Leslie's apartment.
Getting together to meet, eat, and chat with five other ladies such as myself who have been able to find an interest and a common ground around food, exercise, and the blog-o-sphere was definitely the highlight of my "blogging career".

When is the last time you've contributed to a potluck and were you nervous about making something that everyone would like!?

While I do not proclaim to be a chef by any means, it was fun to experiment and add to the gorgeous potluck spread that not only looked unbelievable but tasted so good.

Katie's Peanut Hummus which added a nice and unique flavor that I had not yet had in regards to hummus, especially with some Mary's Crack[ers].
In the background there is a creation from Leslie's of white bean pesto with asparagus and roasted peppers which went great with the crackers as well.


Leslie also made this coconut sweet potato dip which I could have/did eat au naturale. Anything with sweet potato is unbelievable in my book and this was no exception.


Danielle's quinoa and broccoli bites - so simple yet so good.


Sophia's Lentil and Roasted Tomato bruschetta that tasted so delicious I think due in part to the fabulous spices and marinades that she explained went into it...mm mm


I prepared some spinach balls that consist of an easy mixture of frozen spinach, 1 chopped sweet onion, some butter, thyme, smashed bread crumbs, and salt and pepper. This recipe was easy to put together and was especially convenient for me because I had 20 minutes from the time I got out of work to get to the dinner - and therefore knew that I would have to make something before hand. After baking these guys for 20 minutes or so you can pop them in the freezer and then reheat them whenever you need!

And last but not least...

Megan's homemade peanut butter and chocolate cups. There is something so satisfying about homemade desserts that always makes me enjoy them just a little more than that store bought ones.

All in all a delicious night of wonderful people and wonderful food. I can truly say that these ladies were a joy to meet and I can't wait to do it again soon!! Not to mention I get to start catching up on all of their blogs now, which is always a treat...

Domestication

Do you ever wonder when the time will come when you are ready to settle down, move to the 'burbs, start cooking dinner for a family every night and seeing your girlfriends once a month when you all get together and sit around reminiscing about our crazy / wild twenties?? While I understand that things can always change on a dime and something I say right now may not be true in the future....right now I'm saying that this time is a looong way off for me.
While I may be too immature (is that the right word?) to start thinking about this now, I can appreciate some of the high points associated with this kind of life - a domesticated life...and I have a genuine admiration for girls my age who are makin' it work!

This saturday I had the pleasure of meeting a girl who is my age who I have a lot in common with, except for the fact that she lives way outside the city with her boyfriend. A bunch of us went back to their place to have dinner and have a few drinks and some conclusions that I drew by the end of the night were 1. This couple rocked 2. Their place rocked 3. They can still party like the best of us and 4. This girl could cook!! Having a fully stocked kitchen and cooking for two definitely has it's perks.
We (/ she) made penne a la vodka and a salad that was so delicious!!



Oh yes and the obligatory glass[es] of wine... :)
It was so great to be in a real apartment and have a home cooked meal on a Saturday night that I could really see the positive in living this kind of life... :)

So much so, I even did a little "faux" baking tonight! One of my family recipes is a yogurt pie, which I will make eventually on this blog. However, this weekend I picked up a little Greek Yogurt and some Agave Nectar and decided to try a slight variation on the classic.
Introducing: Berry Tart Yogurt Pie



It was delicious if I do say so myself! And healthy!

Highlights

Hey hey! Again, I have not kept up with my daily eats, but in all honesty, they really haven't been anything special: morning oatmeals, lunch ab&j's (which I am so happy to have reinstated), fruit as an afternoon snack, yada yada.
However...I have had a few highlights this week that I am happy to report:

1. Grocery Shopping at Chelsea Market last Sunday! The fruit exchange has amazing produce and is NOT expensive - who knew! I picked up a few goodies, including some almonds, tomatoes, apples - the basics.


2. My family came in for dinner, since it's my brothers Spring Break, and we went to Market Table It's this nice little restaurant in the west village with great ambiance (personally I think it would be better for a date with a boy, than a date with a my family, but...ah well) The food was really good though...
I had a cod dish with butternut squash risotta; I forgot how much I loooove risotto. Must be the italian in me ;)
My brother god a whole fish -- legit whole thing. And he completely butchered it. I triiied to teach him how to do it correctly, since I lucked out the other night and had my own lesson, but boys will be boys...c'est la vie

Topped off with a fabulous homemade gelato from an ice cream shop on Bleeker.

And 3. saving the best for last...I have been walking by the Cake Boss in Hoboken for the last few weeks just dyyying to go inside but the line is OUTRAGEOUS! Always! All I want are some cannolis...and I don't know how I got so lucky but I got a little gift later that day <3 and let me just say they were everything I dreamed of and more. mmm mmm mmm

Headed to a beer garden tomorrow to resume my favorite past time of day drinking [in the rain]?! Have a great weekend!

Disappearing Act

Whoa, it's been a while since my last post! Between a plethora of vacations and trying to fend off this little cold that I will not let get the best of me, I have been so tired and overwhelmed and as a result have not been eating well at all. I figured, there is not better way to stabilize and regroup than to return from my disappearing act and starting accounting for all of my eats! And having all of you keep me in check ;)

I lucked out last night and had this ah-maze-ing dinner at Barbuto. Seriously so delicious, I'm not joking. I started with a grapefruit salad and then ordered the Seabeam as an entree. The fish comes whole (eyes and all) so I got to cut off the head and take off the spine. There is no harm in playing with your food as an adult!

Fun Fact: if you are stranded on an island, eat the eyeballs of fish for hydration. (Yes I learned this last night...and no I did not eat them, I had a glass of water / wine in front of me so I was all set)

Dessert was an indulgence but well worth it: coffee semifredo icecream, lemon almond pound cake and mint gelato. Mm mm. No worries! I split this between 5 people, but I wish it was all for me :)

After my extra-large dins last night, I started off the morning on the right foot with a killer spin workout (I created 40 wats of energy on the new Green Revolution bikes!) and a protein shake:

1 C organic skim milk, 1 Scoop vanilla protein powder, 2 T ground flax, handful of frozen cranberries. This was delicious, and pink!

What is your take on protein powder? Is it chemicals? Is it better to get protein from "real" foods? I don't know that much/anything about it so any information would be helpful and interesting!

Great to be back folks!