Author Archives: Emily

The Airing of Grievances*

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It’s been a day! <– If I said that instead of typed it my tone would emphasize the words long and frustrating between “a” and “day.”

I couldn’t find a bag that would hold my school books but not throw me off-balance so I ditched the crutches in favor of limping around campus.  Not my best idea, my leg hurt.  I guess my best compromise will be to use the crutches whenever I’m doing an activity with the husband (he loves to doesn’t want to kill me when I ask him to carry my bag).

My smoothie lunch was pretty light so I packed some snacks that were consumed at the library.  Mini Luna Bar from the half expo,

and a package of Berry Acai Teather snacks.

Adam’s tired of hearing me so I’ll just list my complaints here (because it’s the equivalent of calling my mommy to tell her) – 1. I move so slowly it took me 20minutes to walk from the library to class;  2. half of my papers didn’t print and I didn’t have time to reprint them;  3. my leg hurts!  4. the soda machine stole my $.   Ahhh, I feel better.

I spent the evening working on Chemistry assignments (I still have to finish my lab) so the husband ran to the bar down the street to get me dinner.

I got the Turkey Grill, no bacon, no butter (so sourdough with turkey, jack cheese and 1000island dressing).

Not the healthiest – especially after I scarfed those fries, but a far cry better than the jalopeno nachos I was wanting.

Now I’ve got to get back to work.  Tomorrow is an 8am lab day and then we are headed to the grocery to replenish the stores so don’t get too excited for a post from me.  Peace out!

Would you like to air any complaints about your day?  *How cool are you; what holiday does my post title come from?

Like Old Mother Hubbard

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Y’all would not even believe how empty my cupboards and fridge are.  The husband didn’t buy groceries even once during my entire 10 day vacation!  I was a good wife who left him ingredients and recipes, which he dutifully cooked, but now we are running on empty.  Unfortunately we can’t make it to the store until tomorrow because today is so packed.

I pretty much only had 2-3 options for lunch so I went with a smoothie.

A tasty, tangy, tropical smoothie!

  • 4oz frozen passionfruit pulp
  • 1cup frozen tropical fruit blend
  • 3/4 cup pineapple juice – – – from a can of pineapple, literally the only liquid left in the house!

I’m heading off to class soon (it’s my first day on campus with crutches, should be interesting) and I’ve got loads more schoolwork to do when I get home.  I promise after these two tests – Chem on Friday, Anthro on Monday – I will be more interesting!

How do you get creative when the cupboards are bare?

Back to Business

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Good morning!  I’m sorry for skipping yesterday’s post, my flight got in at 10 and I wanted to get into bed as soon as possible.  My head hit the pillow around 11 which allowed me to get up at the early – for me – time of 7:30.  My 8pm bedtimes in St. Thomas rocked my socks and I think this early to bed early to rise idea is going to be my new thing.

I got up at 7:30 and hit the ground running limping.  My bags are unpacked, the house is cleaned, my school stuff is organized….and I made a tasty breakfast.

Scrambled eggs,

and a Cara Cara orange.

For the eggs I roasted some collard greens in the oven, then sautéed them with 2 eggs and a pat of butter.  Topped with Siracha for extra tastiness.

I’ve got a crazy busy day, gotta hop limp to it!

What is the craziest veggie you put in eggs?  This was my first try with collards but I did parsnips and turnips once.

Sandwiches, Smoothies, and Schedules

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Hello again, happy Monday!  This will definitely be the longest recap post I’ve done in a while – Friday through Monday.  Physically things have been low-key but mentally there’s been lots of drama – my flight was canceled!  And since I’m in St. Thomas it could have meant getting into Buffalo on Tuesday and not having a ride and missing class.  I was freaking out a bit.  Thankfully 45minutes on the phone + my firm but calm voice got me on a different flight that leaves/gets in on pretty much the same schedule.  And now my layover is shorter and in Philly and not Charlotte.  🙂

I’m a big proponent of the firm but calm voice.  I was polite, and said multiple please and thank yous, but unwavering.  I didn’t ask whether or not I could get on another flight, I simply said “I will be leaving St. Thomas tomorrow, what can you do to help me make that happen?”  And it worked.

Anyway, back to Friday.  My mom served me a slice of cake,

which promptly got stripped of it’s icing because I don’t eat cake.

Then I moved on to greens, a small container I put together at the salad bar we stopped by.

Lettuce, beans, corn, cheese, 1 hard-boiled egg and a drizzle of light Cesar.

I also made myself some frozen coffee – coffee, ice, skim milk, and 2T sugar.

Soo much better than Starbucks could ever do.

Dinner was all about the leftovers.

Oven baked okra is kind of my favorite.

And I served up some leftover baked tofu on toasted rye with hot pepper raspberry preserves and sharp cheddar.

Friday night I did end up going out to meet some friends.  We had a good time and I had a few drinks but photo-taking was abandoned in favor of trying to keep my balance on one leg!  I don’t know how on earth I managed to stand on one leg past 2am but a fun time was had by all.

For Saturday morning breakfast my mom and I hit up one of my favorite places on earth – Barefoot Buddha.  I had fresh-made lemonade,

and a Bigfoot Bagel Sandwich.

Frittata, smoked turkey, turkey bacon, cream cheese, spicy sauce…

I love these sandwiches so much I ate them on my wedding day!  I know most brides say they are too nervous to eat but I was just nervous my friends would devour them before I got any 😀

We hung out and studied for a bit and I had a passionfruit, banana, coconut smoothie.

We laid low the rest of the day before going out to a fabulous dinner at The Cellar.  We did a lot of sharing and the lighting was low so let me apologize for the picture quality in advance.

There were way too many things I wanted off the drink menu but I finally settled on the Caribbean Champagne.

Champagne with coconut rum and key lime juice.  GREAT combination.

We split a cheese plate that was kind of out of this world.  The goat cheese was my favorite but the stewed plums were pretty fantastic as well.

My plate –

And at The Cellar the chef always sends out an amuse bouche.

Ahi wontons.

Plus homemade bread and butter.

For my meal I got the Vegetable Cutlet – panfried, potatoes, peas, carrots, eggplant and pickled papaya, and tiki masala sauce.

The cutlets were delicious but my favorite part of the entire meal was the eggplant wrapped papaya.  I ate one cutlet and took the other home, and I had a few bites of my dad’s tamarind mahi as well.

We were stuffed, but couldn’t not order a dessert plate to share.  It came with little forks,

because we got four little desserts!

NY cheesecake with fruit sauce and bananas foster,

cinnamon creme brulee and chocolate mousse.

Yum, yum, yum; I wished I could have had a BIG serving of the bananas foster.

Sunday morning I made a nice green monster for breakfast.

My mom and I got our nails done (green again, I’ll show you later!) and then I picked up nachos for lunch from the bar I used to work at.

Yum, but I think it’s time to be fully done with any sort of nachos for a while.

We saw a matinée of “Our Family Wedding,” during which I munched on a box of Nerds.

I would like to show you dinner but it was so dark at our table I never could get a picture.  I shared green bean fries with my parents and ate half of a tamarind turkey burger.

When I got home I had 2 maple pecan sticky blondies for dessert.

Dreena would be sad to know I deveganized these, but at least I made the recipe for my parents!

This morning (Monday) I’m hanging out at school for a bit before I head home to pack.  I brought a pineapple Chiobani for breakfast,

but that didn’t begin to cut it.

I ended up also having an egg and cheese biscuit from Wendy’s.

It is 100% time to stop eating like I’m on vacation!  Especially because I’m not sure what the workout situation with my leg is going to be like.

I had fabulous spring break but I am more than ready to get back with the husband and back on a schedule.  I get in late tonight so I won’t be posting today’s eats but hopefully Tuesday my sleeping, eating, and blogging will all be back on track!  I can tell you now though, that I have a Greek Gods honey yogurt in the freezer for a pre-packing treat!

When you get to the end of a vacation are you sad it’s over or ready to get back to business?

Story Time

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I did NOT do enough Anthropology reading today.  My mom was reading Mr. Maxwell’s Mouse to a group of 3rd graders and I got totally sucked in!  I did have a tasty lunch though.

A turkey sandwich on rye bread with cole slaw.

I only ate half of the sandwich, but I did demolish the fries, with ranch.

I’m heading home soon and I’ve got dinner plans with my parents and tentative plans to meet up with some old friends later.  Just FYI – I will probably not be posting again until I come to school with my mom again on Monday.  FYI2 – My bone scan is scheduled for Friday so I won’t definitely know what’s up with my leg until then.

Do you do cole slaw on sandwiches or only ever as a side?

Playing Catch Up

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Hello, hello!  As per the title of my post, I have lots to do so I’ll make this quick.

When we got home last night I munched on some turkey bacon.

I’ll never ever ever eat pork again, but turkey bacon is one of my favorite things and my mom always has it ready for me when I come home.

And I also ate a small bowl of cole slaw while we cooked dinner.

My dad (who’s a little bit picky) was doing leftovers so my mom and I made a roasted feast.

Tofu: cut a block of firm tofu into 6-7 pieces and place on a foiled, sprayed baking sheet.  Rub with maple syrup, sesame oil, salt, and red pepper.  Bake at 450* for 35minutes.

Baked okra.

And my mom made some sautéed cabbage with almonds.

Delish!

Then, for the second night in a row, I passed out fully dressed at 8pm!!!  I had been getting to bed really late and sleeping really poorly for the last few months and apparently my body is finally ready to catch up on some of that lost rest!

I even slept in (6:40) a bit this morning so I was glad I packed a breakfast sandwich last night while preparing dinner.

Although first I had a banana half so I could take Alieve on a non-empty stomach.

Eaten in the car, my sandwich was rye bread with roasted red pepper and goat cheese spread, chive cream cheese, turkey bacon, and spinach.

This was a fantabulous combo.  I thought I was fueling up for my bone scan but unfortunately once I got to the hospital I decided to cancel my appointment.  The scan was not 100% positively going to be covered by insurance and even if it was if I went out of network I’d have a $360 co-pay.  I’m using the crutches and resting my leg this week regardless so I’ll just wait until I’m back in Buffalo for the bone scan.

Equally fun was when I realized that using crutches with a button-up shirt was a bad idea.  There were at least 15men watching me struggle across the parking lot when my shirt popped open all the way down to my belly-button!!  This shirt usually goes in my conservative pile, not my Brittany pile!

Now I’ve got to spend the day catching up on Anthropology reading.  Thankfully I’ve got a lunch date planned with my mom in the middle!

What is your favorite kind of bacon?  I honestly really prefer turkey to pork but I do think that the fakin’ stuff can be pretty tasty.

It Must Be the Jalopenos

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I’ve come to the conclusion that a month spent eating nachos on the couch somehow turned me into a certifiable bad-ass.  I’m probably really a dumb-ass but for now I’ll keep feeling cool.  Why am I a dumbbad-ass?

  • the biggie – I quit a job I hated to persue hapiness
  • I ran a half marathon without training
  • I finished said stupid idea in two and half hours
  • I’m going to lose a couple toenails before all is said and done
  • I got a 2nd tattoo
  • I spent the last 5 days walking around on a semi-broken leg!

That last one came from my doctor’s appointment.  The x-ray was inconclusive and I’ll know more after tomorrow’s bone scan but she’s pretty certain its a stress fracture.  I’m not even going to address what that might mean as far as when I can start running again (bad-asses don’t cry!) but for the time being I’m rocking crutches.

Before I headed to my appointment I ate a Nonfat Peach Chiobani for breakfast.

And once I got back I had lunch.

A baggie of baby carrots,

and the other half of yesterday’s airport chicken sandwich.

Then I spent the afternoon reading blogs, whoops!  I have a TON of make-up work to do for school this week and I have got to get on it.

What have you done lately that made you feel like a bad-ass?

The One Where Emily Whines (and Questions)

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It’s been a short while since my last post, but let me tell you it has felt loooooong!  I’d like start this post by saying I love my husband and I’m so happy I got to see him.  The half was fabulous and I loved getting to run in it.  I love my family and I’m excited to be home.  And now I’m going to complain.  I’m also going to survey (in bold) just for funsies.

Tuesday, Kristen came home from school and took me to the airport.  We stopped to get my tattoo touched up on the way; pictures are coming, I promise!  I didn’t get to the airport late, but I definitely got there later than usual, I like a good 2hour buffer.  How early do you like to get to the airport?  My leg was killing me and I ripped the bandage off my tattoo picking up my bag so I was a mess about two minutes in.  Thankfully they let me skip to the front of most of the lines, Jet Blue lets you check 1 bag for free, and I had a nonstop flight.

Jet Blue has free cable onboard, something we don’t have at home, so my 3 hours went by pretty quickly.  I snacked on a package of Teather snacks; yum.

A Muscle Milk Light Bar; meh, too gooey and with a strange aftertaste.

And a little bag of blue chips; blue for Jet Blue, cute and tasty.

I want to say the flight was good, I mean I had chips and “Bones” was on, how could it not be?  Oh yeah, when people who have no business being parents take their little monsters in public!  Before people try to crucify me – I was a teacher for two years, not only do I recognize the signs of most disabilities/disorders, I fully sympathize with the parents who help their children live with them.  This little brat was NOT disabled.  Nor was he that little, the child was at least 6 or 7.  Infants scream on planes, it sucks for their parents and the people around them, but if it happens it is unavoidable.  I’m not going to say this kid needed to be smacked (I don’t believe in that) but his parents certainly needed a smack in the face.  He screamed the entire flight.  Ok, whatever.  But he also kicked the back of my seat the entire flight.  And every single kick felt like someone was shooting me in the leg.  By the time I got off the flight I was in tears.

I dragged myself down to baggage claim holding back tears.  And I even made it to the car and managed to look happy to see the husband.  I probably would have made it all the way home without crying, if we hadn’t been a block from our house before I realized that I left my camera on the plane.  Oh man.  Thank goodness the woman at the Jet Blue was a freaking angel who found my camera, gave us her personal cell phone number, and then met us outside the airport after we drove back.

Adam got dinner during the whole rigmarole and I ate some of his tortilla chips but have no photographs, obviously.  Ever left anything behind at the airport?

We got home around 10 and had to unpack then repack before we headed back to the airport at 3am.  Fun times.  My leg has been getting worse as the days go on so Wednesday I finally sucked up the embarrassment and asked for a wheel chair at the airport.  I am just too slow to make it from gate to gate in time.  Fully humiliated, at least I made it to my flight.

I had a three hour layover in Philly, for which a motorized cart dropped me off at my gate.  Have you ever ridden on one of the airport carts?  There were no healthy breakfast choices close by so I went straight to lunch at 8am.

I ate half of this spicy chicken sandwich,

as well as this side of Waldorf salad.

I also made it to a newstand and had a York Peppermint Patty for dessert.

The husband said I needed to suck it up and go to the ER but as my 2nd flight got more and more delayed that option slipped away.  The flight from Philly to STT was 4hours long (and 2hours late) so by the time we got into the air I was starving again.  I bought a snack box on the plane but was a little disappointed with the unhealthy choices.

I ended up eating the cheese and crackers.

And the mixed nuts.

If you can’t tell by the pictures I played a LOT of Sudoku the last couple of days.  I definitely caught up on sleep as well.  What do you do to pass the time on flights?

I was so happy to see my dad when I got to St. Thomas!  And I was pretty happy about the dark chocolate turtle he handed me as soon as we got in the house.

It was very nice reading magazines on my old bed while my parents cooked up dinner.  And it was a tasty one.

Garlic sautéed asparagus,

homemade cole slaw,

and turkey reubans cooked on the George Foreman.

Mmmn.  I quit eating red meat before I had the chance to try a “real” one, but turkey reubans are kind of my favorite.  I had a tempeh reuban in NYC that was socks rocking and there is a place here that I’m planning on getting one from this week as well.  Like reubans?  Hit up Allison.

After dinner I went in my room to read.  And fell asleep at 8pm.  Yes folks, that is 7pm Buffalo time, out like a light!  It’s just as well because I had to get up around 6 to go to school with my mommy.  My parents don’t have internet so I’ll do all my blogging from here.  I have Anthro work to make up all week/end and I have a doctor’s appointment for my foot at 11am today.

See ya later gators!