Who else is excited for New Year’s Eve?  We don’t even do anything fun, but I’m looking forward to 2014.  Not that ’13 wasn’t good to me; our move went well and Adam and I both graduated and got good jobs.

And in the final weekend of 2013, I celebrated my 6th/11th year anniversary with Adam, and one of my best friends (from undergrad round I in Miami) came to visit me!

She is a teacher in Florida and we do not get to see each other often enough.  We had a blast getting some time together in city this weekend.

When I wasn’t celebrating or giggling, here’s some of what I ate…

breakfast

Our favorite smoothie.  Frozen strawberries and chocolate peppermint soy milk.

Whole Foods was having a sale and I was able to grab two final cartons of the soy milk before it disappears for the year.  Normally I’m a stickler for sticking to seasonal treats but this smoothie is so good it’s worth breaking the rules for.

Thai leftovers, cold from the container – aka the best way to eat them.  I added more (cold) rice after I took that picture.

By the by, these were leftovers from Thursday night, not the Thai food I’m going to show you for Friday’s dinner.  Apparently I’ve been doing a lot of Thai!

A lazy Sunday breakfast.

When Adam got home from his night shift, the three of us took a lovely family walk to the grocery stores for supplies and then we whipped up a great meal.

Eggnog french toast (on gingerbread swirl!) with maple syrup and blackberries.

With turkey bacon.

And cold brew coffee with a little skim milk and the last of the ‘nog.

Cold brew is the best!  I think I finally found a recipe with a ratio that works for me.  {1 and 1/4 cups water and 1/4 cup grounds, soaked overnight then pressed}

lunch

Packed on Friday.

TJ’s Vanilla Bean Greek Yogurt with a packet of Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter, quite the tasty combination.

Plus a little apple.

I’ve been finding the tiniest apples this year.

On a fancy and romantic date with the husband.

Ha!  Yes, that is Whole Food’s hot bar.  So not super fancy, but pricy at least.  And I think everything we do is romantic; I legit consider going grocery shopping with my husband a date!  Besides, hot bar is delicious.

I got veggies, salad with salmon, and mac and cheese.

On Sunday we all met for lunch at PJ Clarke’s near Lincoln Square.  I *had* to order a Bloody Mary – “Sister Mary Walks Funny: Juice of Tomato, Huy Fong Sriracha, Worcestershire, Sea Salt, Blue Cheese Olives.”

Sadly it was all tomato, with barely any spice or vodka, but the blue cheese olives were fantastic.

Adam and I split the fish and chips for lunch.

So good!  The meat was almost creamy inside the breading.  And it came with a Shiner Bock remoulade that we both adored.  I want to go back for the lobster roll!

snacks

I was given lots of chocolate to eat my way through.  A honey almond praline chocolate from Adam.

And a Smokehouse BBQ Potato Chip dark chocolate bar from my stocking.

I loved the idea of this bar in theory, but the chocolate was just too dark to pair with the chips.  Such a shame because I’ve been head over heels for the other Wild Ophelia bars I’ve tried.  I think my flavor preference is shifting towards milk chocolate.

I’ve been trying to make a good Greek yogurt “cookie dough” for ages and now that I have almond flour in my kitchen I think I’m finally getting close.

I really dislike chocolate chips though, and always end up eating around them.  I need to try to find some other kind of morsel chocolate.

My fizz idea has been a winner from day 1 though.

This was a lemon dulce de leche popsicle in vanilla seltzer with a splash of lavender syrup.

dinner

Mee Thai in Park Slope with my friend and her sister.

This restaurant was new to me (all of our favorite spots from when we lived in PS before have closed) but thankfully we all loved our meals.  My Pad See Ew with mock duck was nice and spicy.

Lazy Sunday dinner.

We came home from the city soaked with rain and salad and sandwiches were all we could handle.

Romaine with champagne pear vinaigrette, chia seeds, and smoked almonds.

Smoked turkey and light Jarlsberg sandwiches with dijon and Sriracha mayo, on gingerbread swirl cooked in a little butter.

Nothing too fancy but it did the trick.

I’ll see you next year! {hardy, har, har}