Restaurant Review: 2.5

Summer time makes me crave good food and good people, and being out in the city definitley finds opportunity for some great eats. Somehow, I've found the extra $$ to fund this little hobby, but all for a good cause :)

Restaurant 1:
A few weeks ago, a girlfriend from college came in for a short and sweet little visit (Hey Jessie!!). I love having friends visit, especially now, because my I have a great group of college girls in NY but we all have our own lives and schedules and it's hard to get together - much harder than living in the same [pink & purple] house :) :)

So in Jessie's honor, we made reservations at Bond ST Sushi. They have a great upstairs restaurant, as well as swanky downstairs lounge. The lounge was perfect for us because with this many girls, our appetites are all over the charts. Sometimes going to restaurants and having everyone order just appetizers or just wine makes for an unhappy waiter. Ironically, this time around we all could not resist the amazing looking menu:


Tuna Avocado Tartare



Spicy Yellowtail



Mish-Mosh of delicious food


Amazing girls


Restaurants 2:
So part of my busy schedule the last month has been....APT HUNTING! I wish I was exaggerating in saying that it was slightly miserable, but - alas - it was painful. However, after mis-matching schedule conflicts, broker lies, $$$$, lots of walking/emails/phone calls to strangers and strangers apartments, we finally found a place! We felt like this a few times along the way, so we continuously decided to treat ourselves to a glass of wine/nice dinner to celebrate. This included one stop to Barbounia. The photos are beautiful on the wall and the decoration of the restaurant and the food was great! However, I think their AC may have been broken (??) so slightly uncomfortable, especially close to the kitchen!
Still we ate a really good meal to celebrate our new apartment and new roommates!


Munching food


Charred Octopus with shaved fennel salad, mint,
grapefruit & extra virgin olive oil


Red Snapper Ceviche with Tabbouleh, cherry tomato, cilantro, olive oil & lemon juice


Restaurant Review .5


Finally, what is a good meal without a great dessert? Especially with this ridiculous heat wave that has been coming through the city, some cold ice cream always does the trick. However, it's nice to throw a little curve ball in there and try something new right!? I stumbled upon this place in Hoboken, NJ called Miami Rice (creative name huh?) It's all these different flavors of rice pudding!! Flavors like Pistachio, Cinnamon Bun, Apple Pie, Canoli, Plain, Chocolate, etc. Then...there was gelato flavors - which you could mix and match with the rice pudding...and THEN there were toppings! Like graham crackers, chocolate candies, syrup, cereals, gummies galore.
Apparently some avid fans had created their own combinations that became so popular they got their name and recipe on the board (ummm yes please?)


Our two creations:
"Pistachio Bashio": Pistachio Rice Pudding, Vanilla bean gelato, graham crackers
"Holy Canoli": Rice Pudding, Canoli gelato, whipped cream, chocolate fudge, sprinkles

Holy Cow - a must visit :)

That's all for now folks - restaurant week is coming up so I'm hoping to get some more good ones in! Stay coooool

Galaxies Collide

Okay enough of this sporadic blogging! Clearly nothing that interesting has been going on..?? Or perhaps waay too many things that I just can't capture it all on film...you decide.

No but really with work/traveling/apt hunting, I have been completely MIA and hope to pick this blog up again very soon in full force!

However, I did want to make sure that I gave credit where credit was due, and I received a package from the lovely individuals at Galaxy Granola, and they definitely deserve 2 THUMBS UP.

Galaxy Granola is made with apple sauce instead of oil, so the calorie content and nutritional benefits are FAR better than the normal stuff. This is an amazing find for me because I have deemed myself a "granola addict". Seriously, I can add granola to anything. You name it. But mostly I could just eat it plain, which is where the stuff kills me. With Galaxy Granola, it's not as "clumpy" so the desire to eat it straight out of the package is a little lost saving me lots of unnecessary granola food comas ;)

However, the taste is still there and it comes in so many different varieties, so it's hard to get sick of them.

This is Vanilla Almond and Raspberry (I also received Not-so-sweet Vanilla, but that one is loooong gone)
Hip-hip hurray for a new found Galaxy of Granola!!

San Francisco loving

I feel like my posts are getting few and far between but between work, friends, summer and sunshine I'm finding less and less time to sit in front of my computer! So I could feel guilty but really I'm still having a fabulous time and while my eating and workouts have potentially slacked from the way they used to, I don't think that I've lost all of the good habits that I picked up when I first started the blog, and I"m still feeling good!

As I said before work has been rather hectic and traveling has definitely been a part of it. Going back and forth between NYC, Boston and San Francisco is something that I'm still getting used to but just trying to make it as stable a transition as possible right now. I recently just returned from amazing San Francisco! San Francisco is pretty well known for their thai and asian food and so I did my fair share of testing the fare - and let me say it was de-licious! A few recommended spots in case you ever make your way out there:
1. Ozuma Sushi
2. The Slanted Door

and most importantly...

3. In-N-Out Burger! I'm normally not a big fan of fast food burgers but this was actually really good! I think probably because they toast the buns :)

Other than the spectacular restaurants, I was able to utilize the hotel menu a few times also

(Oatmeal with walnuts and bananas for breakfast)

- not to mention the mini bar staring at me for a few days. Man those prices are multipled by 5 what they should be, it's insane!
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Until next time..!

Time Flies when you're having fun!

And its the end of another fabulous yet very tiring weekend....
This weekend started off with a little get together at one of my co-workers apartments in the West Village. He has the cutest little set-up in the back with a patio and little antiques hanging up on the fence, lots of foliage, and christmas tree lights hanging up!

Seriously, I need either a patio or rooftop in my next apartment - ah what a wonderful life that would be :)
I stayed around to relax a little after a busy week and have a drink (champagne actually) with some work friends, and [obviously] munch on the lovely spread that he had out.


I only stayed about an hour or so and then rushed home to eat a quick dinner and go to bed. I was getting up relatively early for a Saturday for this:

The Healthy Kidney 10K! I did this race last year, my first 10K, and really enjoyed it, despite the intense rain that started right away. This year however was absolutely beautiful weather :)
I haven't run 6 miles, without taking a mini walking/water break in a while so I was definitley nervous. However, the adrenaline and gorgeous Central Park surroundings really get you motivated and I ended up with a PB of 53:13! I was very excited :)

Having a great workout like that in the morning definitely kicked my butt for the rest of the day (after walking about 3 miles in addition home and running errands) so I napped up and rejuvenated just in time to celebrate with Sushi & Sake for lovely Erica's bday!! Happy birthday bebe!!

Hudson Terr[or]

I've noticed that I do my fair share of play on words in this blog, and whether they are good or bad I think I'm pretty proud of them most of the time. Cheers to me! ;)
Anyways, the Hudson Terr[or] that I am referring to in the title, wasn't as terrible as it sounds but the saying works so hey, don't judge. On Monday night was another played out episode of a purchased Groupon, that I love o so dearly. My girlfriend Liz and I purchased tickets to an event at Hudson Terrace It was advertised as a night out with the girls that included free martinis, make-overs, massages, hair cut/styling, raffles, and a gift bag filled with samples all for $35! Of course we jumped at this thinking it would be fun, on a Monday night, to get together at a posh little hotel and get pampered (and maybe a little tipsy). :)

Unfortunately, when we got there we were at the front of the line, however they don't explain what really is going on. So we went to the top floor which had a few tables of promotional crap and then 100 calorie drinks, for $12 each. After asking a few of the unfriendly staff, they mentioned that the martinis on the floor below were the free ones. Ahhhh we said, and off we went to the floor below.

The floor below was clearly where we wanted to be! Massage tables, curling irons, piles of makeup and makeup artists...

oh and of course a fully stocked bar! Halleluia!

However, when we took a closer look, this was, how you say, a monet? You had to sign up for all of the free services when you got there and EVERY SINGLE ONE, was completely full. Well except for perhaps the BOTOX station??! Whaat?


So we headed to the bar, since clearly we weren't getting any pampering, and decided we might as well wash it down with an ice-cold *free* martini. Turns out it was only one kind that they were making in bulk, and tasted like robitussin, or some sort of sweetened metal (not sure if that even makes sense but believe me that's what it tasted like).

Okay...bar done.

Well, we might as well get our free sample bags and head on out right? WRONG? Well, yes we got the bags, but the insides left little to be desired.
1. A basketball keychain
2. A basketball nail file
3. Another nail file
4. Muscle Milk
5. A toothbrush with toothpaste already on it
6. A few coupons to use at some yoga studios (not half bad but that was the best of it all)

Seriously? It was a complete let-down. Sorry groupon, i love you, but I don't have to like you right now...

Ooh Casseroohles

Yes I know that's not the actual spelling of casserole but give a girl a break - gotta be witty somewhere ;)
I have been on the hunt for some simple and healthy recipes that will allow me the least amount of time in the morning to prepare for lunch. Doing Jillian's shred in the morning along with a run sometimes has really made me late for work; thus was born the Santa Fe Casserole, adapted from Caitlin's recipe.
It was healthy, tasty, and so so easy to pop into a tupperware for lunch. Three cheers for Santa Fe!
Santa Fe Casserole


- 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tablespoon Coconut Oil
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1/2 tablespoon chopped dried chilies
- 1/2 tablespoon pepper
- 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 3/4 cup organic skim milk
- 1 and 1/2 cup three gain rice, cooked (purchased from Trader Joes)
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 head of broccoli, steamed

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a skillet, sautee the onion, garlic, and coconut oil until tender. Add the salt and chilies.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the pepper, milk, beans, COOKED brown rice, eggs, cheddar cheese, and broccoli.
4. Pour mixture into casserole dish and sprinkle with extra pepper.
5. Bake casserole for 25 minutes or until center is firm. (Mine took a little longer ~ 35, and then I turned the broiler on to get a good crisp on top)
6. Let cool 5 minutes and top in a tupperware for lunch!

Lover of the Arts [& Music]

Hi-yo! Wow my longest hiatus yet..my apologies. I guess my eats/events lately haven't been that blog-worthy? On the contrary, I feel like April flewwww and so quickly that I didn't even have time to take out my camera and document. Luckily, I had my handy dandy photo-taking device this weekend at the Hoboken Arts & Music Festival!
Any one who lives in NY knows that there are these random street fairs that pop up on blocks or avenues throughout the summer and feature a plethora of sunglass stations, dress shops, street meat vendors and fried dough concoctions; aka they're faaabulous. This weekend, hoboken had their own version however it was much larger and more involved: there were art vendors from all over with really nice jewelry and paintings, photographs, signs, the works! Plus the street food - of course:

Sweet potatoes fries sprinkled/doused in cinnamon & sugar. Soo delicious! I kept searching around for the extra crispy ones :)

Kebabs! Decided on a chicken kebab with hot sauce. i tried to be bad-ass and it backfired tremendously. Apparently Franks Red Hot is tooo hot for this girl - my lips were on fire! Still, the two bites I had before running for the ice water were very tasty. My first time eating street meat!
It was so hot out that we didn't last long so a pitcher of red&white sangria was in the near future. mmm mmm