I hope you guys like the blog changes! I am very excited to be back to Eating Chalk!
We are heading up to Toronto for the day, but I just wanted to check in via Adam’s phone to say hi.
Bites and Bytes
This morning we lazed around and then headed to a late brunch lunch at Panos. I LOVE being able to walk to the restaurants on Elmwood! I also love new swag t-shirts.
We were so ready for food by the time our lunch arrived, V for Victory!
I went with the turkey rueban which came with fries.
Tasty, tasty stuff; you can never go wrong with a rueban. I ate about 85% of my food before proclaiming defeat.
We ran some errands (and I got like 8 different forms of bad news, boo!) and then decided that both of us were up for a milkshake so to Coldstone we went.
I ordered a small coffee + cheesecake ice cream blend with Oreos.
Yums! I always request skim milk when I order a milkshake; I’m all for “spending” calories on ice cream, but milk?!
It’s going to be a lazy day around here because tomorrow a group of us is heading up to Toronto. Be on the look out for some MEGA changes to Eatventures this afternoon; while I have Camile here as a tech guide I’m doing some major blog overhaul!
I Am NYC Homesick
I had an amazing time at BlogHer, but it’s always great to be back to reliable internet home! I hate to rush through a recap of a good time, but it’s after midnight and I did miss my husband!
If Thursday night was a healthy living fail, Friday night was a blogger fail – I forgot my camera! We attended an art gallery at BlogHer and then walked down to Lexington Ave for some fabulous Thai food. I stuffed myself silly 🙂 When Camile e-mails me her photos I’ll post some up later.
Saturday morning there was a long lull between breakfast and the first session so we decided to walk over ‘late’ and just pick up breakfast along the way. I got a bagel with egg and turkey bacon, no cheese,
and a Zico coconut water.
Everything was super tasty but I knew the expo hall had samples waiting so I stuck with half of my bagel.
Later in the morning I sampled a new “dessert” line from Yoplait.
So good, I can’t wait until these come to Buffalo.
Lunch was vastly improved over the first day as well.
A bean salad with yellow raisins,
green beans,
and a small piece of salmon.
For dessert I grabbed a Jello Mousse Cup, also good.
Later in the afternoon I also snagged a blondie,
and a baggie of apple slices.
At 5, Camile and I met up with a group of bloggers for some green juice and a power walk.
[thanks for the group shots, Kath!]
I went with spinach, parsley, carrot.
I’ve been missing green juice like crazy since we moved to Buffalo, so this hit the spot!
We walked around Central Park for an hour or so, then hightailed it back to our hotel so we had time to make it back to converge with the group for dinner.
We went to Eatery, which was wonderful.
I ordered the Adobe Salad, which came with grilled chicken, smoked bacon, jack cheese, blue tortillas, black beans, buttermilk dressing, and honey chipotle dressing.
The honey chipotle was out of this world. I ate about half of my salad in total.
We spent some time at the BlogHer Gala (mostly people watching and marveling at the mommy bloggers boogieing down) and then made the long walk back to our hotel. To say we were delighted to find a Pinkberry mid-trip would be an understatement.
Just yum.
I got a small original (tart) froyo, topped with yogurt chips, coconut, and praline crunch.
OMG.
This morning Yelp turned up a brunch spot right down the road with tons of rave reviews, Penelope. It was set up like a country kitchen and the eclectic touches abounded (the coffee cups didn’t match!).
It was too freaking adorable.
And my brunch was out of control.
FBLT – fakin’ bacon, avocado, lettuce, and tomato with black pepper balsamic mayo, served on sourdough with homemade french fries.
Delicious. The mayo put it over the top. It was monstrous too; I only ate a couple of fries but I still could only down 3/4 of the sandwich.
On the way out we stopped by the killer dessert case,
and 7.5hours in the car later I was splitting a peanut butter blondie with Adam.
During that 7.5hours I also consumed a Rockstar.
Camile had read about JP Bullfeathers on my blog and requested that for dinner. I don’t know what is up with me and chicken fingers lately but I went with the buffalo chicken sub.
With blue cheese for dipping, duh.
I spent the rest of the evening showing the husband my swag. Oh gosh, you guys, the swag! I’ve decided I have a mildly unattractive level of excitement about the freebie coupons. Could be a problem.
Do you have a favorite brunch spot in your neighborhood?
BlogHer Day1
We’ve been having a great (busy) time here at BlogHer. We’ve learned a few new things, met some interesting people, and got a ton of swag. Plus we’ve walked and walked, so I’m in heaven.
Last night was a healthy living blogger fail. No lunch and vodka and popcorn for dinner? No, no, no, no! I felt like I was going to throw up when it got in bed and my rumbling tummy kept me up half the night. My poor sleep and poor nutrition also kept me from being able to run this morning, meaning it’s been almost a week since my last workout. It didn’t feel good, and it would have been so easy to just be healthy last night. I’m hoping wisdom came with my 25th birthday because I’m really trying to take this lesson to heart.
This morning I was so hungry I could barely see straight, so I loaded up a breakfast plate once we reached BlogHer.
I ate 1/4 of my bagel with jelly,
a few bites of oatmeal,
and all of my fruit.
As we walked around the expo room there were all sorts of tasty samples, I didn’t want to get too full though so I ate ~ half of all these goodies –
I also met some “celebrities” 😀
Lunch was buffet style, here’s the plate I filled.
1/4 sandwiches, I took a veggie and a chicken,
fruit,
veggie.
Everything was ok but it tasted like hotel food so I ended up leaving half of my plate again.
Dessert more than made up for it; I got to make a ‘smore!
Yay.
We have iffy wifi at our hostel and I’m not bringing my laptop to the event tonight, so I’ll probably be posting again tomorrow morning.
Are you AT BlogHer now? Let me know, I want to meet you!
Five Words or Less
In NYC, Yippie! But yawn….
Caffine to drive = skim latte.
Mike’s split with Camile, yum.
WW Foccacia, egg, cream/cheese.
BlogHer reception, vodka diet coke.
Big movie popcorn bites = dinner.
Dinner for Schmucks was hilarious!
Give me 5 words to describe your day.
Baking and Buddies
I did not work out today (I told you I can’t take a day off, 1 has turned into 4, eek!) but I did manage to do a ton of creating. I feel like I’ve spent the whole day mixing and stirring, and that’s a fabulous feeling!
First I whipped up a batch of natural spider repellant.
It’s h2o and lemon essential oil combined in an old spray bottle. I went spritz-crazy all over the house. I’ll let you know if it actually does any repelling.
Next I cooked up a batch of Maple Coconut Granola.
I used Kath’s recipe but substituted unsweetened shredded coconut for pecans.
Then I tried my first smoothie in a bowl!
First I put a Siggi’s Vanilla in the bottom of my bowl.
Next came my smoothie.
I mixed 1cup frozen strawberries, a packet of Chocolate Infusion Amazing Meal, and water.
This was my first smoothie using water as the liquid and I still adored the Chocolate Amazing Meal! It wasn’t too grassy or too sweet but it totally helped to fill me up. No weird graininess either.
Finally I topped my SIAB with 1/4 cup of my new granola.
Delectable!
I think smoothies via spoon instead of straw will definitely be the new thing in this house.
I may not have done any exercise, but my blender sure got a workout! Next it had to tackle hummus.
I don’t have exact measurements, but I blended up chick peas, evoo, balsamic vinegar, salt, and water.
I wanted fresh hummus for lunch, but I also wanted … purple?
I ended up creating a pretty plate.
Purple bell peppers,
purple cherry tomatoes,
a dollop of hummus,
and some pita pieces; a take-home from dinner with my parents the other day.
Lunch was good, but nothing could top my afternoon snack. I’ll give you a hint…
I cobbled together a couple recipes and my memories of Oko in Brooklyn to create Honey Greek Frozen Yogurt.
I didn’t have any fresh fruit (the horror) but enjoyed this bowl sans toppings just fine!
Make.This. The texture is a tad bit softer than regular ice cream and the flavor is unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. There is a bit of tang and a bit of sweet, but the olive oil totally comes through at the same time. Click here for the link to my recipe.
Dinner was also a winner, and I’d say that even if it didn’t rhyme.
Chicken with figs and blue cheese (follow the link to the recipe, you can click to enlarge).
Soon I’ve got to head to the airport to pick up my friend Camile! She’s flying in today and then tomorrow we are driving to NYC for BlogHer. So excited! The only sad this is that our friend Kristen was supposed to be meeting us in Buffalo on Sunday but due to some personal issues her trip got canceled. I’m feeling a bit down about the breakdown of our trio visit, so indulge me in a little reminiscing?
Our senior year in college –
My 2007 visit to Miami –
Their 2007 visit to NYC –
My 2008 visit to Miami –
Their 2008 visit to NYC –
Their visit to STT –
My most recent visit to Orlando –
Do you keep in touch with any of your college friends?
Grump Grump Galumph
I feel like all I managed to do today is eat a bunch of junk. I certainly didn’t manage to find my good cheer. Or a clever, interesting blog post. This is definitely one of those days that I would usually just not document but I’m making a bigger effort (25th birthday goal) to post everything.
Jordan almonds, x2.
Fruit slices.
Lunch was inspired by two things; my desire to use these adorable squash I picked up at the Farmer’s Market,
and my need to recreate my favorite Subway sandwich. Those two goals came together nicely.
I roasted the squash,
and combined half a can of tuna with miracle whip and pickle relish, on a soft bun, topped with tons of red onion.
I had a bit of tuna salad that I ate straight from the bowl and it also got a big dose of red onion.
Altogether it was a tasty, filling lunch.
Nerds.
This popcorn gets irritatingly burnt. I turned it off even before the popping stopped and it still was smoking.
This Lindt Ice Coffee candy bar was also disappointing, it had a strange sour taste that made me want to rinse out my mouth.
I misread my crockpot dinner directions and ended up with a major time fail. Dinner came from a local spot down the street. A buffalo chicken sandwich,
and some of these –
Ugh.
What is something that makes you giggle even when you are in a bad mood?
48hours of Fun
Aaaargh! Two (FULL) days worth to recap? I actually debated not writing this post but I’ve blogged every single eat since my 25th birthday and I’d like to keep that streak going. I’m keeping this one pretty dry though.
-~-Sunday-~- We did lots of sharing so my photos are more of a basic representation than a spot on accurate one.
We started with breakfast from Pano’s.
I ordered the Artichoke Omlette, which came with fresh spinach, artichoke hearts, and a a touch of basil pesto. I also requested that they add broccoli and only use half cheese, pepperjack, i.e. there is cheese on the top but not the middle.
With some hasbrowns,
and a slice of sourdough.
Delicious, but I couldn’t come close to finishing; we packed up the second half for the husband.
By the way – our leftover situation this week was ridiculous, at one point our fridge had 8 to-go boxes in it!!!
We spent a looooong time at a nearby outlet mall, which was tiring but amazing. At some point I ate this baggie of dried fruit (kiwi, apricot, hibiscus).
And we had to at least get appetizers at Cozumel’s.
Complimentary chips and salsa,
Maryland Blue Crab and Avocado Handrolls.
I love how Cozumel’s has healthified Mexican food; the rolls were not fried, contained no creaminess or cheese, were stuffed with sprouts, and were totally tasty.
My plate –
Dinner ended up being a bit of a fiasco, everything closes on Sunday here! We drove around for hours looking for a place and the husband’s new phone came in totally handy. In the end we headed to Jack Astor’s, which was the perfect choice.
We shared lobster and crab dip as an appetizer.
For my meal I ordered the chicken fajitas, which came with cheese, sour cream, onions and peppers, lettuce, salsa, and smokey bbq sauce.
I never order fajitas but assembling my own meal was totally fun. I ate two fajitas and then packed the rest up to add to our to-go boxes.
-~-Monday-~- We had to get up super early to take my parents to the airport (boo!) so Adam and I stopped at a bagel place on the way home and got a tomato pesto bagel with salmon shmear to share.
We also split the leftovers of my omlet from Sunday.
It was actually a pretty great breakfast.
I was starving (all day, it was insanely annoying) so I also finished off the rest of my chicken fingers from the other night.
The husband headed to work and I passed out. I didn’t wake up until around 1 and then I spent the rest of the day sneezing. It was out of control, I sneezed at least 50times yesterday! I don’t know what allergy flared up but I felt like death warmed over and even had to skip a friend’s birthday party last night because I couldn’t control all the snot running down my face (gross, sorry!)!
Mid sneezes and tissues I did find time to eat a bunch of crap. Strawberry yogurt bar from Lindt.
This came from the outlet store and rocked my socks. It was a single serving (love) and was creamy, and tangy, and crunchy, and perfect.
A piece of whatever this is –
my parents brought it; sort of tastes like a dried crepe with sesame seeds?
An entire bag of chips!
A small piece of banana bread with Smart Balance Light.
Dinner was at least healthy (and epic).
I topped a small bed of lightly dressed spinach with roasted yellow beets,
purple tomatoes,
crumbled goat cheese,
and candied pecans.
OMG!
The combo was out of this world, yellow beets are 10x better than regular ones.
Oh, and I also had a bowl of SmartPop kettle corn.
-~-Today-~- I’m not sure what the day holds. I have a terrible case of grumpies for some reason. I have a dinner I’m excited about cooking and a trip to the gym is definitely in order because I haven’t worked out in 2 days. We shall see….
48hour recap = 4 reader questions
- Have you ever tried beets? Yellow beets?
- What is your favorite appetizer to order at a restaurant?
- What is your favorite flavor of Lindt truffle?
- Are you attending BlogHer this weekend?
Eating Chalk 