It's that time of year...Office Holiday Parties!

Yesterday was my office holiday party! While I was a little bummed because it was right after work and we had to wear business casual, it was still pretty fun.  Normally I look forward to these things because I LOVE to dress up! Now that I'm not in college anymore there are no more formals or socials to wear dresses to so if I get an excuse to play dress up then I'm all in :) 

On our way to the venue we passed the Rockefeller Xmas Tree so I had to take a picture. It looks awesome this year!
This shot didn't work, but I thought it came out kind of cool anyways...
I think that this year has been really hard on alot of people and a lot of companies, so it's nice to have events like this to keep people happy and to just relax and celebrate!

Back on the Band Wagon

Since coming back from Thanksgiving I have been so slothlike (as my friend erica would say).  Perhaps the five days at home were just too relaxing and enjoyable for me to jump right back into my working gal routine. On Monday, I seriously crashed at 8 pm. No joke! Perhaps I'm fighting off some sort of cold? 

No excuses, tomorrow I am getting Back on the Band Wagon with healthier food (now that all my leftovers are gone) and a daily gym visit :)

But for now, I'm going to sit here in my pajamas and watch the tree lighting and then Gleeee!!

Fun fact about the town where I'm from: the tree was from Ridgefield in 2006 -- cool huh?

and the holiday season has officially begun!

Psycho 'Nilla

Okay and here comes the holiday sugar coma in full force.  I definitely had my fair share of pumpkin pie over the weekend, and I don't intend on stopping (look out for a pumpkin pie which I plan on making this weekend).  And then, foolishly, I decided to make a batch of cupcakes to take back to New York with me.  Knowing all well my tendency to indulge in sweets when I get home from work, for no reason except that they are there, I made these cupcakes (above) based on a recipe from Hungry Girl. Hungry Girl is a website that I subscribe to and a new entry is emailed to me every morning. This blog is from a girl who is just plain hungry! (like myself) and loves food but has tried tons of diets and fads and finally feels like she has it under control. Her website offers food tips and tricks for eating what you want but at a lower calorie cost. Some of the suggestions have been pretty cool! 

Recipe for Psycho 'Nilla cupcakes:

For Frosting
1 1/4 cups Cool Whip Free, thawed 
1 1/2 tbsp. Jell-O Sugar Free Fat Free Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix

For Cupcakes
Half of an 18.25-oz. box (about 1 1/2 cups) moist-style yellow cake mix
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1 cup Sprite Zero (or another diet lemon-lime soda), room temperature
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup liquid egg whites or (about 4) raw egg whites

For Topping
3 tbsp. rainbow sprinkles

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the frosting, combine Cool Whip with pudding mix in a bowl, and mix until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until cupcakes are ready t o be frosted. 

In a large bowl, combine cake mix with baking powder and stir until free of lumps. Add soda and vanilla extract, and stir or whisk until batter is smooth. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whip egg whites with a handheld electric mixer set to medium speed until fluffy, about 1 - 2 minutes. Gently mix egg whites into the cake batter until thoroughly combined. 

Line 9 cups of a 12-cup muffin pan with baking cups and/or spray with nonstick spray. Evenly distribute batter among the 9 cups. Cups will be VERY full -- this is okay!

Bake for 15 - 17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out fairly clean. Set aside and allow to cool completely. 

Once cupcakes have cooled, top each evenly with the frosting and 1 tsp. sprinkles. Chomp chomp!

Some cool stats about these cupcakes: Calories: 164 and if you are a fan of Weight Watchers :POINTS® value 4

While I like the fact that these sweet treats are available for me to munch on, I don't think I would serve them to guests....

Races and Turkeys and Reunions, Oh My...

Thanksgiving has never been one of my favorite holidays but this year definitely turned a corner and may creep to the forefront on the "Favorite Holidays" list (if I kept one).  Great things about the past 5 days:

1. Got to go home and see my family and the puppies!  

That would be Chloe :)  My little girl!! (except she kinda looks creepy here eek)

2. I got to run my first race with my dad at the Ridgefield Turkey Trot. It was only a 5K but a little hangover and CT hills made this much more difficult than I was used to...

Chloe again! She loves the camera ...

3. Baking for Thanksgiving. I'm definitely not a chef but I do love to bake and this year I tried to add a slightly healthier touch to the pumpkin pie with a spelt crust. 

I did make a pumpkin pie but also managed to burn it and now refuse to post evidence of my baking blunder it on this site. I did get an oven burn on my arm as proof though!

4. Thanksgiving Meal!! 

Yeaaa that would be my plate.. there was no skimping on the dinner that night. I loaded up with turkey and gravy, my grandma's cranberries, a mushroom/hazelnut/barley stuffing, green bean casserole, veggies with a maple syrup and pecan dressing, and a sweet potato (which I threw in the microwave for 3 minutes prior to the meal because we had been too lazy to make mashed sweet potatoes during the day). It was aweeesomeeee.  Not unexpectedly the post-Thanksgiving meal nap was in full effect with my visitor Mal and I curled up on the couch watching The Ugly Truth :)

5. My 5 year high school reunion!! 

I can't even tell you how many times we have taken photos just like this one and its so funny to go back and see how much we've all changed. This are my best girls from high school catching up before heading over to our five year high school reunion! It was so great to see and catch up with people who I haven't seen in years, and just to hang out with good friends at an open bar ;) no complaints here! 

I hope everyone else had as great a break as I did!

Next thing post-thanksgiving to get excited about: i can start listening to xmas music!!

Fueling a Thirst for Knowledge...and Hunger

My grandma has been bragging for months now about her special privileges at the Metropolitan Museum of Art since she is a member. Basically, she gets to eat in the Trustees Dining Room (whoo whoo). So to celebrate her VIP status, my mom and I got to have a great brunch with her today! It's embarrassing to admit that I had not been to the MET yet and I have lived in the city for almost a year and a half. Clearly I need to educate myself more on historical things in the city. Unfortunately, I'm reeeeally not a museum person. I just don't get how people walk around and look at artifacts and trinkets from centuries ago.  I did like the Photography exhibit though :)

When we finally got up to the Trustees Dining Room, it was so nice! With a gorgeous view overlooking the park and open tables, and people dressed up in blazers and women in scarves and heels for sunday tea. I kinda felt like I was surrounded by old money..or something. Or I just like making stories up about people I see :)  

Like the avid blogger I am trying to be, I took photos of all the food, despite the man at the table next to us who my mom mentioned was very amused when I whipped out my camera for each course.

Complimentary mimosas and bread basket :)

Crab cake salad appetizer

Some pate concoction - the stuff never looks appetizing to me

I opted for the garden salad app. and the dressing was really good!

I got the vegetarian crepes for my entree with a squash and sweet potato puree and filling. It was delicious!!

The Bass

The gourmet rendition of eggs benedict

And of course...dessert!! I instituted the rule that no one could get the same thing. There was a chocolate torte, sorbet and berries, and a cheesecake. 

It just looked so pretty :)

Both the chocolate and the cheesecake were super rich and heavy, which I didn't really like. But my sorbet and fruit was just perfect, light and refreshing!

Overall it was a great brunch with three generations of lovely women :)

Flashing Room

Last night a huge group of us bought tickets to go and see 2 AM Club perform live at Union Hall in Brooklyn. This band is really good! They were signed about a year ago and are performing at concerts all over the US. I've been to two pretty low key concerts before tonight, and even without knowing the music (at first) they seriously know how to pump up an audience! We finally made it to Union Hall and this bar is a.w.e.s.o.m.e. There are book shelfs and couches and fireplaces right when you walk in. And then...drum roll please..

A bocce court!! How ridiculous. I was loving it. 

Then we went downstairs for the concert and again, these guys out did themselves. The concert was unreal and so fun!

Super sweaty singer -- but no worries we were seriously all sweating just as much jumping around to the music :)


Can't wait for another show from these guys.  Check them out!!   I think I decided that Flashing Room or Dearly Departed are my favorite songs :) Or Worry About you.. they're all good 

I decided that I need to venture out of my Manhattan bubble a little more and do things like go to Brooklyn for the day. It reeeeally isn't that far (a few subway stops).  Brooklyn has really cute boutiques and coffee shops and in general just a really unique culture.  People really seem to love it and I think I miss that sense of loyalty to a place.  My goal before the year ends is to go out to Brooklyn and take photos or read one day and just take it all in. Maybe the flashing room at Union Hall finally turned on a light in my head...

Do you have any good concerts that you've been to recently?? Or how about any suggestions for cute places to go in BK?

Happy Happy Birthdaaay

Last night we celebrated my friend Liz's birthday -- the big 24! It was the first time all of my high school friends that live in the city have gotten together in a while so it was really fun. We started with some cheese and cupcakes platters of course -- magnolia bakery is definitely a good way to celebrate. 

       

And some wine of course :) I made  everyone sing the whole happy birthday song, complete with the "How ooold are you?" and 24 hand claps. It's a family tradition.   I managed to resist the baked goodies since I had a healthy dinner before hand and was pretty satisfied! Not to mention I don't actually like Magnolia that much - I'm a much bigger fan of BabyCakes. yay!

We headed over to Stanton Social afterwards which had a really cool atmosphere! I opted for a specialty drink called the Black Night (I think?) which was Guinness and Champagne. Such a cool combo! I looove Guinness and figured why not splurge and celebrate at the same time.

Until the next birthday celebration -- which is next week actually. Which I am already super excited for . ...

I plan on just spending the day lounging and I can't even watch the MIchigan game because it's only on the big ten network.booo