Lincoln On South Beach

by Emily

The day’s not yet done, but I can already tell that I won’t feel like blogging after dinner so I wanted to get a post in now. This vacation is tiring me out, whee!

We started the morning with complimentary breakfast. I made oats to eat, and stole a pear and some granola for later.

I topped my oats with skim milk and peanut butter.

Plus had a cup of hot chocolate.

And then we went to the gym! I realize the first morning of a vacation is an odd time to break my months’ long gym hiatus, but what can I say? There was one in-house, Adam could go with me, and Sleepwalk with Me by Mike Birbiglia was begging to be read. I actually extended my workout so I could finish the book; 45 minutes on the stationary bike.

Our first stop of the day was Lululemon for an exciting Christmas gift. I also grabbed a piece of candy.

Then we spotted a Whole Foods, swoon. The husband and I about died over these –

But then we found the crackers Adam has been lusting after and my favorite Pumpkin Protein drink from Odwalla.

We split it.

The husband and I, I mean, though we did consider giving a sip to our new friend.

You know our next stop was my favorite.

I think I got more toppings than froyo.

Rainbow sprinkles, popping bobba, and marshmallow with a bit of plain tart yogurt.

And our day’s activity was one of my favorites: wandering up and down Lexington Ave on South Beach.

Lexington is the best spot in Miami for people and puppy watching.

We spent the day walking, shopping, and eating; it was perfect. I split this Chocolate Cherry Tort Lara Bar with Adam.

And when he stopped for Cuban coffee I snagged this Mamey smoothie.

I’ve wanted to try Mamey fruit for years and after this drink I’m still not quite sure what it is! The taste was almost a watermelon-pumpkin mix.

I also stole a small square of Adam’s chicken parmesan pizza.

And bought a small bag of cola gummies.

I think I’ll be ready for something savory for dinner 😉

Do you people watch? Where’s the best spot for it?

24Nov2011

Happy Thanksgiving

by Emily

We’re in Miami!

Can I just say, how little I did I manage to pack for two people for four days?

And that’s with the husband’s giant boy clothes taking up extra space.

Our day of travel went smoothly, minus my yogurt (in a perfect peanut butter jar!) getting tossed at security. We slept though the first flight and then spent three hours walking around the Chicago airport.

We got a strange 8am meal, splitting a Baja chicken burrito from Burrito Beach.

I asked for chicken, red rice, black beans, corn, cheese, sour cream, and roasted veggies.

Supplemented with a tangerine packed from home.

I was pleased with the job I did packing food for this trip.

(Adam also had a downright gourmet salad in my backpack.)

I ate a sandwich – Applegate Farms Turkey Bologna, Crofter’s Grape Spread, everything Bagel Thin – on flight number two.

Plus Peanut M&Ms bought from the airport.

I also started reading the all time funniest book ever on the plane.

Clearly Webster liked it too. I laughed aloud so many times I’m sure our seatmates were thinking of muzzling me.

Before we knew it, we were on the ground and hugging my parents at the gate. We are so freaking excited to be with them (especially in Miami!).

Our first stop was a nice walking tour of our old haunt, the U!

So fun to see how the campus had changed in little ways. I will admit to becoming a bit nostalgic when we walked past the building where I took all of my English classes. Plus it’s fun that Adam and I got to date here for four years.

Our next stop made my heart sing.

Self-serve froyo is high on my list of things to be thankful for! I did keep the serving small though (we were about to head out to a nice Turkey Day dinner!); dolche de leche and taro froyo with fruit, a smidge of marshmallow, sprinkles, and lots of popping bobba.

If we manage to sneak in a froyo every day of the visit I think this will end up being the best vacation ever.

For dinner we headed to the Chart House.

The shirt that Adam has on here is actually the one he got married in!!!

I started my meal with a Blue Moon.

And a really great roll with butter.

And for dinner I went traditional.

Sliced roast turkey,

cornbread stuffing,

mashed potatoes,

cranberry relish,

and creamed spinach.

The spinach was soooo good, but overall I probably ordered the wrong thing since I actually hate most Thanksgiving foods. I only ate a 1/3 or so of my plate; but at least I won’t have regrets about “missing”anything, and Adam is thrilled with his plate of leftovers.

My meal came with pecan pie.

But there wasn’t a preference issue that kept me from eating this, the pie was just plain nasty. Store-bought (crappy store-bought) pie, Chart House? You can do better.

But what really matters on Thanksgiving is family, and I got to spend the day with my three favorite people. And I hope all of you, Americans or otherwise, got to spend the day with your nearest and dearest too.

24Nov2011

All The Small Things

by Emily

Happy Thanksgiving, guys! My trip plan (fingers crossed!) is to blog from my hotel room each night, but at the moment I’m probably sitting on an airplane.

For funsies – and more for me than you – I wanted to make a quick list of the things I’m small things* thankful for. In no particular order –

diet pop
the two years I spent in Brooklyn
my reusable plastic straws
Archie comics
ruffles
how wickedly funny my dad and grandfather both are
long walks
peeling baked cheese off of the top of a dish
Reef flip-flops
bubbles
bubble tea
how soft the side of Webster’s neck is to kiss
stickers
my ability to be a college student, again
Biscoff spread
the fact that even if I go awhile without plucking, I don’t naturally have a unibrow
scented candles
sharpies
having an apartment, car, and big enough budget to feed and clothe myself
popcorn with butter
how unbelievably smart the husband is
music
… Come Around by Rhett Miller
… Snowfall by Ingrid Michaelson
… What a Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
… Heartbeats by Jose Gonzalez
… Alive with the Glory of Love by Say Anything
… A Light On a Hill by Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s
… Regina Spektor
… Joshua Radin
the fact that I get to sleep curled up with Adam and Webster
roasted marshmallows
the Nancy Drew series
Serendipity 3 in NYC
yoga pants
the feeling you get when you remember you’re about to go on a vacation
blogs, and the fact that they helped me have the courage to quit my job
my experiences as a teacher and the better understanding of the world that they gave me
the movie theatre in Brooklyn that probably saved our lives
really good bread dipped in olive oil
tv shows that, even when I hate everyone, make me feel like the world is going to be ok
… Scrubs
… Buffy the Vampire Slayer
… Firefly
… Bones
… Modern Family
the way Adam just gets my weird humor
self-serve frozen yogurt
my childhood on an island
the fact that my mom read the entire set of Laura Ingalls Wilder books to me as a kid
good books

*Note – small things. I’m so thankful for my husband, family, friends, and health that I don’t even have the words to express it.

23Nov2011

Roasty, Cheesy

by Emily

We have a 6am flight tomorrow, I should already be in bed! But since I still plan on showering, nail painting, and watching Castle before bed I guess I shouldn’t worry about it 😉

Taking the dog this afternoon was hard! I definitely dropped him off with a bag of stuff like a crazy person. And the husband and I have both said at least twice this evening that we miss him.

I had to go pick up Adam after taking the dog and I stopped at the Co-op in between for a soda.

Orange cream just sounded right. I also snagged a sample of their pecan pie.

Ah-mazing! It was all I could do not to buy a whole pie. And way to go on the gigantic sample sizes, Co-op.

Dinner was a roasty, cheesy, winner.

Baked potato topped with butter, sharp cheddar, and roasted broccoli (with truffle oil!), plus more broccoli with cheese on the side.

‘Twas very good. And reminded us both that we love baked potatoes and should make them more often.

We also split this bar.

There were little bits of crunchy peppermint embedded throughout; awesome. Normally I couldn’t stand to open something this Christmas-y before December, but I really wanted dessert!

If I don’t get to blog, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving Tomorrow!

23Nov2011

You Could Eat Cake With Sarah Michelle Gellar

by Emily

My to-do’s aren’t all done but I’m off to a good start. The ridiculous task of packing 4-days worth of stuff, for 2 people, in 1 carry-on did eat up a good bit of time.

Plus I had to plug the Duncan Hines giveaway into the random integer generator.

MaryBe, Anna S, and Julie L; e-mail me (emilyhwaxATgmail.com) with your mailing addresses so I can send out your coupons.

Winners or not, I hope everyone enjoys a nice slice of cake this weekend, with no regrets. You can thank Sarah Michelle Gellar for the good idea. From her interview in the December issue of Self –

“I’ve been doing the birthday-party circuit with my 2-year-old. Every weekend, we’re at two or three parties. Now, I’m not going to eat the cake at every one, but when it is homemade or looks particularly good, I’ll indulge. I like Carvel ice cream cakes a lot. And really, how is eating a piece of cake bad? Being bad is murdering someone. That’s bad. Don’t do that.”

I’ve been obsessed with SMG since Buffy and this interview was wonderful through and through. From the quote I loved both the idea of what she said and the hilarious way that she said it!

Lunch, which started at 10 and ended at 3, was fairly random. A bag of popcorn.

A piece of toast with Smart Balance Light. x2.

And a big pile of roasted green beans.

I’m getting nervous about dropping off the dog. Someone please tell me that he won’t hate us by the time we pick him up!?

23Nov2011

Window Shopping Wednesdays

by Emily

I am not much of a shopper, much to my mother’s chagrin. The woman can spend days at the mall, while I start to feel itchy after just a few hours. It’s not that I’m not materialistic, I totally am, it’s just that the thought of adding more stuff to my life makes it hard to breathe. But I like the idea of things. So I’m an avid window shopper. I browse catalogs I’ll never buy from and hold my breathe when I pass the window at J.Crew. So while I’m stuck at school all day Wednesdays, I thought we could have some fun via blog. Let’s window shop!

Since I’ve missed a few weeks of WSW I’m going to double up; here are the 10 things I’m coveting this week –

1. The fabric circles necklace from Boden.

Normally I ignore necklaces because my mom makes jewelry on the side and her stuff is cute and one-of-a-kind. But I’m not sure if she could manage this one and it’s cute! Feels totally ballerina to me for some reason. I can see it in my head with a pink pleated skirt and black cardigan.

2. The Silver Skinny Sparkle Bic Band.

I realize that I actually still haven’t cut my hair or gone to the gym, but once I get around to doing those two things this will come in handy.

3. A Reflective Key Cuff from Lululemon.

As long as we’re pretending, this would be really useful for when I run outside. You know, next spring.

4. These striped gloves from Free Hands.

I always could just get off my damn phone when I’m walking outside this winter, but with these I wouldn’t have to.

5. The Tiered-Pleat Tank from Old Navy.

In Crimson and Clover. I love love love details like the pleats on the front of this shirt. And it looks like it would be adorable underneath a blazer for professional moments this winter.

6. The Humping Bear Salt and Pepper Shakers from Urban Outfitters.

I’m pretty sure I’ve never needed something more. Nevermind the fact that we dont’ keep salt and pepper at the table. I call the husband “Bear” so we’ve started collecting a random assortment of bears and I think these could take any of the bears in our current collection in a fight.

7. This Christmas plates set from Pottery Barn Kids.

How cute are those reindeer?!

8. A Jet Pack Flying Session.

I don’t understand how this works and I don’t care, I just want to fly! The site says come fulfill your James Bond fantasy, but I can’t be the only person who sees this and wants to pretend I’m one of the Monarch’s minions!

9. The Refined Facial Polish from Benefit.

We’re not even into December and I’m already needing to slough winter off my skin. Plus the packaging on this makes me smile.

10. The Bobbing for Baubles polish from Essie.

I wish I had spotted this in time before tomorrow’s Miami trip because I would have bought it. My nails need to be this cool.

What’s on your shopping list?

23Nov2011

Miami Bound

by Emily

I’m not sure how this hasn’t come up on the blog yet (because it’s all I talk about in real life), but I’m going to Miami for Thanksgiving!!! Adam and I are meeting my parents there tomorrow for four days of nostalgic, sunny, fun. We don’t have any family in Florida (we’re spending Turkey Day at a steak/seafood place) but my parents loved visiting when Adam and I went to UM and they thought it’d be fun to recreate a trip.

I’ve been excited for weeks but I hadn’t actually thought logistics until this morning. Today’s to-do list includes –

packing for myself and the husband
packing some sort of “brunch” for the airplane tomorrow
painting my toe nails
shaving my legs for the first time in at least two months (eww!)
putting away tons of laundry
dropping the dog off at the vets for boarding
lots of random schoolwork

Where are you spending Thanksgiving?

I started my morning with the most decadent oatmeal.

I know a lot of food bloggers use that word a lot, decadent, but this bowl seriously was. I had to use up the open pumpkin but wasn’t in the mood for its slightly bitter flavor and I just kept adding ingredients to cover it up.

What I ended up with was –

1 cup skim milk (cooked)
1 medium banana, sliced (cooked)
1 pinch salt (cooked)
1/4 cup oats (cooked)
1/4 cup pumpkin (cooked)
1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese (stirred in at the end)
2 tsp butterscotch chips (topped)
1 Tbsp Biscoff spread (topped)
1 Tbsp light cream (topped)

Dang. And amazingly my least favorite additions were the chips and Biscoff; they strong-armed the other flavors in their bites. My most favorite was the cottage cheese. I’ve used that before but I don’t think I realized how much I like it. I need to put that on the grocery list more often!

Don’t forget, you have until 2pm EST to enter my Duncan Hines giveaway.

23Nov2011

By The Magazine

by Emily

Last day of school before a 5 day break, what what?!! I was actually super busy all afternoon but something about not having to go to class tomorrow just made the whole day feel 100% fun.

I rolled over to look at the time this morning and it was already 7:15. It’s possible my alarm didn’t beep, but more likely that I turned it off in my sleep. Breakfast was on the go, and rushed. A perfect pear,

and this Orgain Iced Cafe Mocha protein drink.

I bought the drink on super-sale at the Co-op and it wasn’t really what I was expecting. It wasn’t thick or sweet at all, which would normally be nice but was strange when I was expecting the opposite. But the nutrients did a good job of filling in my morning.