Serendipity, Sweets, Sleep

Hi, readers.  Thank you so much for all of the support on the new blog, it means a lot to me.  Today was my parents’ 3rd day of visiting and we are all pretty exhausted so this will be a short, sweet, simple post.

I woke up pretty early (8am) for my late bedtime to clean up a bit and get organized.  I ate a power breakfast while I worked on the computer.  1C Kashi Heart to Heart,

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with a chopped nectarine,

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and some vanilla hemp milk.

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This breakfast was nice and energizing which was good because the first event on the agenda was a 45minute spin class with my mom and the hubby.  This was my 2nd class ever and I liked it, but not as much as the first.  The instructor did a loooooong period of standing and because I have a hurting foot I couldn’t push it all the way and therefore got a less intense workout.  Adam on the other had was dripping with sweat 🙂

After we got freshened up we met back up at the Manhattan bound subway.  My parents brought me this watermelon fruit slice as a surprise.

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And I was very happy to be wearing the new necklace Adam bought me yesterday at the flea market in DUMBO.

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Our first city stop was an area near Penn Station that was home to tons of bead stores.  My mommy makes jewelry (she makes almost all of mine) so this was her #1 request.  It wasn’t too exciting for the rest of us but I did buy Adam this mouse charm.

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His nickname for me is Mouse (I call him Bear) so we love finding things like this.

Adam and I were pretty starving so we split up for a little bit to get some eats.  We found Pump, a health food place that is all about protein and all against added unhealthy fats, so we decided to try that.  A and I split the New York Sandwich.

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We got baked falafel as our protein.  Here is my half.

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Later on I got suckered into some Taste-D-Light when I found out it had only 80calories a cup.  I got a small Milky Weigh. 

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I am usually not one to go for diet choices (unless you mean diet coke!) and this reminded me why – the texture was good, the coolness was nice in the heat, but it was tasteless.  I’d rather double the calories and enjoy the awesomeness that is gelato.

After that we headed uptown and explored Lexington Ave.  We hit up Dylans and Urban Outfitters and I got stuff at both!  I also had some unphotographed bites of my family’s food – cooked nuts and a pretzel.  Finally it was time for our most exciting stop – dinner at Serendipity3 🙂  This is my favorite spot in the city and it never disappoints.  I got the Summer Bries Sandwich.

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So frickin’ good!  Open-faced raisin pumpernickle bread with turkey, sprouts, apple, brie, and Russain dressing.  I also did some major sharing with my dad on his soup, salad, and sandwich.  The sandwiches are my favorite part of Serendipty, but you can’t go in without getting dessert.

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This ooey gooey bowl was pecan pie, butter pecan ice-cream, maple walnuts, almonds, and fudge.  We split it 4 ways (and still didn’t finish it!) but in reality I had the biggest portion.

I’d like to say that the indulging ended there but when we went to a movie later I ate my Dylan’s candy.

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I went mostly with gummy coke bottle variations, my favorite.

Looking back at the day I would say I made a few too many *fun* choices.  I am all for pretzels, ice-cream, and candy but that doesn’t necessarily need to happen in one day.  I will say that we did a TON of walking which is part of why I had a hard time controlling myself.

But now it’s way too late and it is time for bed.  See ya Tuesday!

Does your family like to share food?  My family is all about the passing of plates.  When I met Adam he hated to share (and still would take off your finger if there was something he loved) but now he does it pretty happily.

Welcome to My 1st Giveaway

My 1st2nd food blog ever is a pretty festive event so I am celebrating with a giveaway.  It runs until noon on Saturday, July 4th (another festive date).  The rules are outlined below.  What am I giving away?  A Flogg.

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The fancy (slightly erotic sounding) name basically means a food and exercise log.  The Flogg is a small leather bound book with pages set up to record calorie expenditures and gains.  There is also a reference section in the back with calories for common foods and calories burned for common exercises.

Research has shown that keeping a written record can help you to stick to, and achieve, a goal.  My mom bought me this book as a gift after I spotted a giveaway at Tina’s blog and got intrigued.  It turned out that the Flogg was a little too detailed for me, especially because I already keep a blog, but I think it could be a great tool for someone else.

I will be sending one lucky winner (choosen using a random integer generator) my brand new Flogg free of charge.  The giveaway ends at noon on Saturday, July 4th.  To win –

  1. comment on this page about whether or not your currently keep any sort of food/exercise log
  2. add my new address to your blogroll  OR ‘cc me in an e-mail in which you tell five friends about the blog
  3. for extra chances to win link back to this post from your blog

Good luck!

Welcome to My New Blog

My name is Emily, and welcome to my food blog.  I was born and raised in the Virgin Islands, went to college at the University of Miami, and lived in Brooklyn as a middle school teacher for 2 years.  I quickly discovered that teaching was not for me – I taught English Language Arts at a high needs school in East New York and it was the hardest two years of my life.  My exercise and eating habits got so out of whack that I started my first blog, Super Caloric Chalk Dust, to describe the ways teaching impacts your life.  While I loved parts of my job I was so busy, stressed, and sad that I ended up eating too much and sleeping and exercising too little.  Not everything was bad though, my teaching career gave me an opportunity to live in New York City and it helped me discover my true passion – getting proper nutrition education to low-income areas.  Plus, in December of 2007 I married my high school sweetheart.  A did a two-year stint in Teach For America before medical school; now that he will be a student for the next 8 years I’m using this time to do the same: I am heading back to school to pursue a new degree to become a Registered Dietitian.

This blog will not only show my efforts to get back to ‘fighting shape’ but will chronicle my return from teacher to student.  I’m using this blog as a food and exercise journal for myself, but hopefully to connect with others as well.  I hope to show that a happy and healthy lifestyle can include some splurges as well – I have pretty major popcorn and diet coke obsessions! 

My goals are –

  1. keep a food/exercise record as part of eating healthy and staying active
  2. post healthy and tasty recipes that others might enjoy
  3. share my eating adventures, eatventures, with other foodies

I hope you enjoy it, please feel free to make any suggestions.