Beantown Bonanza

For the past two weeks I have been lucky enough to start traveling for work; while it's sporadic and short-lived in nature, it's still an experience in a different city, which I have definitely been looking forward to. The destination: Cambridge, MA! The minute you step into this town I immediately feel smarter. Bordering both MIT and Harvard, there is a definite intellectual vibe in the both the coffee shops and numerous libraries that you pass by on the street.
I flew down to Boston on Sunday night and decided to take a stroll down Main Street and look for a little place to sit and read my new obsession : The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Low and behold I stumbled on this little joint -

Toscanini's
Technically, I guess it is an ice cream store ("the best ice cream in the world"), but they serve coffee and tea as well. One thing that I thought was incredibly cool was this brunch menu on the wall (Breakfast @ the big table)with a disclaimer that said you could not use your laptop during that time - guess they get that busy! If I ever get back here I am going to hit up the Strawberry Ice Cream, which is apparently unreal :) And lord knows I love a good ice cream!

Anyways, since it was a little on the chilly side, I opted for tea.

Vanilla Rooibos has been at the top of my list since I tried it a few weeks ago - it has such a strong flavor and it's herbal so perfect for night time when you don't need the extra boost of caffeine!

Unfortunately they were out of lids (??) so the barista let me have it for free - wahoo!

Along with the strawberry ice cream, my next visit will include knocking out a few of these coffee numbers in search for the ultimate goal of FREE ESPRESSO :)

The Po' Girls Drink

I have tried to fight the addiction numerous times, but my love of coffee keeps coming back in full vengence. Unfortunately, my coffee machine broke a few months ago and the coffee at work, while free, is not.good.

Enter Christmas, where I asked Santa for some Starbucks gift cards. Seriously, what more could a bonafide coffee addict who passes 3, count 'em 3, Starbucks on her way to work want (and that's when I take the subway, forget about walking)! However, as much as I love it, Starbucks is expensive $$$ Here are some tips and tricks I've learned so that I can indulge as often as possible!

Poor Man's Latte

An iced doppio. Add milk.

Poor Man's Chai Latte

A chai tea misto with extra foam, two tea bags and a half pump of cinnamon syrup and half pump of vanilla syrup.

Refills

This happens to be something that I am definitley guilty of. Refills are only 50 cents! ($.54 with tax). If you buy a coffee in the morning and save the cup, then you can refill it whenever for cheaper than the carts on the street (for those non-NewYorkers, this is unheard of)! One downfall, the policy is actually for 50 cent refills if you are sitting in the 'buck only. However, I dont think that alot of baristas keep to this policy strictly; hopefully you'll be one of the lucky ones.

Starbucks Cards

One kind gentleman informed me yesterday that if I registered my Starbucks card then the refill would be free. Um whaaaat? I could have hugged the man. Be sure to register any gift card you get for some super sweet rewards!

**Just as a disclaimer, while I do use some of these cheapskate/genius tactics occassionally, I do also support the company by purchasing my $5 grande soy vanilla mistos pretty regularly :)

Ta ta for now - I think my coffee definitley kicked in this morning

Up and [Atom/Adam]?

I started writing the title to this post and realized that I have no actual clue as to how this saying is spelled, or what it is saying at all. Turns out, after a little research, that the saying is Up and At 'Em! I guess I could have figured this out if I had used my brain a little, but it's early...and this guy hasn't kicked in yet...

Oh and just for reference, we got the saying from Duke Wellington's command orders at Waterloo, "Up Guards and At 'Em!" in case this ever shows up on Trivia night ;)

I woke up early this morning and hit the gym with a new killer workout that I read about on Meg's Blog.

PART 1:
Warm up for 3 minutes at 6.5
3-5 minutes at speed 6.8
3 intervals (1 minute each) at speed of 8.0,6.8,8.0
3 minutes at 6.8
2 minutes recovery at speed 6.5
PART 2:
5 minutes at speed 7.0
5 intervals (1 minute each) at speed of 8.0, 7.0, 8.0,7.0, 8.0
5 minutes at speed 7.0
5 minutes recovery at speed 6.8
PART 3:
3 minutes at speed 7.5
3 intervals (1 minute each) at speed of 8.6,7.2, 8.6
3 minutes at speed 7.5
5 minute COOLDOWN @ 6.5
1 minute walking at 3.5

Followed by an additional killer leg workout from Gina's blog:

• Forward and reverse lunges (3 sets of 12 on each side)
• Squat Jumps (25)
• Sumo squat and leg raise (3 sets of 10 on each side)
• Burpees (15 - these killed me!)
• Stability Ball Hamstring Curl (3 sets of 10)
• Pulsing Plie Squat (60 seconds/pulses)
• Bosu Calf Raise (3 sets of 15)

It was a great way to start off the morning, along with a green monster and one of Angela's Be Fit Bars. Clearly i was very impacted by the blogosphere this morning :) Have a great day!

Scrooge??

When I went to the gym this morning, the big TV's right above the treadmills blasted me a BIG disappointment! All I could see was the words underneath the newscaster saying "New Yorkers are the Most Unhappy People in Entire US". Whaaaat?! I mean, sure, we definitely definitely complain, and are hostile, and a little curt at times - in fact I even started this blog in an effort to be happier in New York. But in the whole country? pssssh I don't think I necessarily believe that.. here is the link to the video so you can see for yourself (I tried to upload it but haven't quite figured it out yet): http://news.yahoo.com/video/health-15749655/cdc-survey-new-yorkers-unhappiest-in-u-s-17194563

I was immediately determined to bring about some CHEER to the people of New York! So I opted for this holiday sweater to wear to work. 

See the reindeer! Not so sure this is business casual..but ehh I love it! 

On my way to work I thought about all the things I love that you could only get in New York...

First: The fact that I can walk to work at all! It's about twenty blocks (aka 1 mile) but I just listen to my ipod and shuffle down the streets...it's a nice way to clear my head in the morning and not be staring at a computer/tv screen :)

Second: HUGE, Sparkling, inspirational signs

  

on the side of Macy's nonetheless.

Third: The landmark Coffee&Bagel men who serve us "cranky/unhappy" new yorkers our daily dose of caffeine every morning for $.75!!

Fourth: Bryant Park :) I love this park in the Fall/Winter/Spring/Summer. Right now the fountain was still a-running (i looooove fountains) and this one had some icicles forming (ya it's about 20 degrees here!)
            

and ice skating!!!!

  

                      

Note to self: need to go ice skating at least ONCE this winter!!

Fifth: Daily Deals on anything and everything. Today, if you made a snowflake, you got a free coffee at Gregory's. No question, we sat and cut out snowflakes for those babies...

This was mine.

With a little help with a co-worker since apparently my snowflake making skills were below par (hmmph). I dont think the people at Gregory's minded however, and I got my free coffee (woohoo!!) and was able to add to the gorgeous art display

      

All in all a grrreat day - no scrooges here! 

Let's Backtrack Shall We?

So since I have seriously left any readers hanging on my activity since Friday here is a super-quick mini update:

Saturday: Tried out Sushi Samba for my friend's bf's bday. Two words: seabass appetizer (two words/three?) whatever it was unreal, melt in your mouth. So glad I finally made it down to this west village staple for food, and not drinks. Although the drinks are spectacular all their own and we definitely did our fair share of "classy" sake bombing :)

Sunday: in celebration of my slightly hungover self, I opted for a classic egg and sausage sandwich.

Totally hit the spot.

Mon-Wed has been nothing out of sorts. Just normal eats and workouts. The hardest part has been weathering this cold front that has hit NY like a ton of bricks! It's brutal out!

Today I finished off the last of my giant sized pack of spinach with another green monster!

(1 banana, some strawberry yogurt, 1 cup organic milk, 1/2 cup soy protein powder in chocolate - oh and spinach )

And a lunch of spinach, lentils, chicken and roasted butternut squash. mm mm good (as Campbells would say)

Dessert of Banana Bread Larabar (this might be my favorite flavor so far!! do I say that everytime?)

This afternoon I had a soy misto from Starbs and some leftover fruit from the pantry at work. best holiday platter I have seen in a while with figs and (da dada daaa) peppermint bark! this baby was gooood and definitely his my afternoon chocolate craving. yippee!

After work I'm heading with some co-workers to see Up In Air with George Clooney to revel in the life of a consultant...and then grabbing drinks with some "long-lost" high school friends which I am super excited about. I love catching up with people! TTYL ;)